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Be Careful What You Wish For | Who You Gonna Call? | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 5 - 'Who you Gonna Call?'
When the first rays of sunlight broke through I woke up to see a familiar face that I wasn't expecting to see.
"Well, you certainly caused a reason to cancel the date tonight didn't you?" Discord asked.
I felt Lyra snuggle deeper against me and I looked at him.
"I'm still taking her out tonight," I said.
"Oh Goodie, I have been looking forward to movie. Maybe we should go ahead and wake her up! That way she can weigh in on what movie she wants to watch," he said.
Before I could argue he snapped his claw and a megaphone appeared in his lion paw. He cleared his throat and then opened his mouth.
"Lyra," he whispered.
She didn't move or budge. He shrugged his shoulders, tossed the megaphone behind him and stretched his back.
"Oh well, I guess that didn't wake her up," he said, "Too bad it didn't wake up LYRA!."
She sat up fast and concerned as the sound of his voice amplified as if he was still holding the megaphone. She looked around the room and spotted Discord. Instead of being frightened I noticed that her right eye twitched.
"YOU!" she exclaimed.
"Me?" he asked innocently.
"Yes you! You're the one that possessed all of those chipmunks and made them run in here and then run off with six bottles of wine!" she exclaimed.
He placed a paw against his chest and looked hurt.
"Why I'm hurt. I'll have you know that wine was for a very good purpose. I used it to celebrate dear, dear Fluttershy's birthday with. It was a grand party, although not as much fun as when Pinkie throws one, but still it was quite enjoyable. Why I even managed to get Celestia and Luna both there. It was rather funny seeing Celly still soaking wet from her shower, but fun none the less," he said.
"Discord, did you rip her off?" I asked.
"Rip off nothing! I left her a card promising one free favor. In fact," he said reaching behind her ear, "here it is."
We both looked at the card with the cartoonish version of Discord on the front.
"To Lyra Heartstrings, one free favor from Discord. Warning: Favors outcome are at the discretion of the favorer not the favoree," he read.
She glared at him and after a moment he rolled his eyes and snapped his claws again. When he did a bag appeared and floated in the air. He dug through it for a moment and pulled out a large bit. This one was bigger than the golden coins I had seen them use so far. He grinned and flipped it onto the bed.
"There you go, one Luna bit," he said.
Her eyes widened and she looked at the coin.
"No, that's too much," she said.
"It was six bottles of wine," he replied.
"I'll keep the card," she said passing him back the bit.
He cocked an eyebrow and smiled.
"Fluttershy and I are going out this evening. We thought that if the two of you weren't busy you might want to join us. Dinner and a movie?" He asked.
She nodded, and we watched as he left. I was a little surprised about how easy she agreed to meeting with him. Sure, it was just a double date, or I suppose it was. Damn, this going to bring all of those fan fictions about Discord dating Fluttershy to light. It actually made me wonder if that was going on. Part of my inner Brony hoped it wasn't. Mainly because what I had seen on the show I always thought that she and Big Mac would have been a nice couple.
I felt my girlfriend, or I suppose I should say marefriend, trace a hoof down my chest. She leaned in and gave me a little kiss.
"You are amazing," I said.
She blushed, something that was still interesting to see, and leaned her head on my shoulder.
"You weren't too bad yourself," she said.
I felt like she did. There wasn't any reason to get out of bed. I was happy right here. I, like every guy I suppose, had heard the stories about what happened your first time. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that every story was completely formed from bullshit. It wasn't that I didn't feel connected to Lyra. I did, and I felt like a million bucks, but I wasn't suddenly confident with all of my new found sexual powers either.
I was still nervous, a little awkward, and completely surprised that this beautiful mare actually wanted to have something to do with me. She snuggled against me, and I felt a soft kiss on my neck.
"How are you feeling this morning?" she asked.
I smiled and returned her kiss.
"Good, really good," I replied.
"How good is good?" she asked.
I started to answer when I felt something wrap around my lower appendage. It began stroking and I could see the fire behind her eyes.
"More than good enough," I said.
The next hour was satisfying both of our newly awakened hungers. She was coming off of what had to be a long dry spell, and I was done with what had been a lifelong dry spell. I was more than happy that Lyra was someone who wanted to show me everything. She wanted to help me make her feel as good as I wanted to make her feel.
When we finished she lay on me covered with sweat, and the both of us smelled like each other. She gently nuzzled against my cheek.
"You are so wonderful," she said.
"So are you," I replied.
Suddenly the public displays of affection that I would see working in retail hell didn't seem so odd. It seemed natural to have these kinds of reactions and displays of affection. I kissed the tip of her nose and shifted under her a little. She stretched out, and I could feel the heat rolling off of her. Slowly she began to get up, and I watched the muscles in her flank as she moved to get out of bed.
Lyra was toned. All of her yoga, running, and other cardio showed as she moved in front of me. I wasn't in bad shape, but I had a ways to go before I would even be considered in fantastic shape. Standing beside the bed she looked back at me and flicked her tail.
"So, if we're going to have a date tonight we better get cleaned up. I could use a little help with my bath," she said.
A smile crossed my lips as I followed her. So far I had ended up being one of the luckiest sons of bitches that ever lived. Once inside of the bathroom I noticed that Lyra was already running the water in the tub for a bath. I watched as she filled it to where it needed to be and she slowly got into the tub itself. She floated a bar of Durden's spearmint body wash over to me.
I took the body wash, and the wash cloth on the side of the tub, and began to work lather onto the cloth. I then squirted some of the body wash on her and began working it into her coat. She leaned into the side of the tub next to me as I worked the body wash in. I then worked the washcloth into the finer areas. I took my time, doing it as lovingly as I could, until she was ready to be washed off. I began dipping the water out of the tub and dumping it on her. Like before I worked the soap out, instead of in, and continued. When I was finished she was clean, and I handed her a towel. She smiled and emptied the tub.
She motioned toward it and I began to fill it. Like her once it was filled I got into the tub, and this time she worked on me. Everything I had done she did. She took her time with me. I could feel her teasing, but then that teasing became something different. I felt her magic working a new washcloth under the water. I leaned back and felt her hooves on my chest. I looked up into her eyes and saw all of the promise and want in them.
"How long is it until the movie starts?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," I replied.
She bit her lip, something that looked remarkably cute, and then shook her head.
"We shouldn't keep them waiting. They said dinner, and that means this evening. We can get out a little bit, and I want to get something for our date," she said.
"Oh?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Yeah, I want to look really good for it," she said.
I raised an eyebrow. To be honest I wasn't sure what she wanted to do. It could be that she wanted to have a spa day, or she might want to do a little clothes shopping. From the show I knew she had a dress, but it had been worn to Candace and Shining Armor's wedding. I wasn't sure if she had another dress. I knew she had other clothes. Her workout clothes were evident enough of that.
"What do you want to get for our date?" I asked.
I could see her thinking about it for a moment before a devilish smile crossed her features. She gave me a small kiss on the cheek and batted her eyelids at me.
"You'll find out later," she said mischievously.
I got out of the tub, and she floated a towel over to me. I began to dry off and opened the drain for the tub. The water flowed out of it, and I followed the mare that had opened me up to so many new experiences, the same mare that had captured my heart, and watched as she dug through her dresser for a moment.
I could swear that she flicked her tail, moved her hips, and sung to herself to tease me a little. I grinned and looked at the clothes from the previous night. They would have to be cleaned. And my clothes for the date tonight looked fine. I started to put on the clothes when Lyra cleared her throat.
"Let me see them," she said.
Before I could argue she floated the clothes out of my arms and began to trot down the hall. I followed her and found what looked like a retro made fairly new washing machine and dryer next to each other. She quickly measured out some Summer Harvest Everything and dumped it into the running washing machine. She then looked at the tags on the clothes and made sure that all of it was machine washable. Once she did I watched as she set it to small load and then turned around to look at me.
"It'll take about an hour for them to wash and dry. I know you have your new clothes, but I'd like to see you just wear those for the date tonight. You don't mind hanging out here for a little while right? I mean if you would rather I could go to your hotel room and get you a change of clothes if you don't want to stay here," she said rubbing her hoof on the ground nervously.
"I'm fine waiting," I said.
She smiled again, leaned up on me, hugged me, and gave me a sweet kiss before she trotted back up the stairs. I watched the washing machine and took a seat on a small wooden bench in the basement. She came back down after a couple of minutes.
"You don't have to stay down here you know. I want you to feel free to treat this as your home too," she said.
"Thank you, but I wanted to switch my clothes over when they were ready. That's all," I said.
She nodded and trotted back upstairs. I watched her go and turned back around to face the washing machine. The next hour looked to be fairly uneventful. For the first twenty minutes I didn't do much except for listen to the hyptonic sounds of the washing machine. The next ten had me pacing in front of the washing machine, and then it stopped. I gave a small thanks to whoever was listening and changed the clothes over. I had seen some of these older appliances in some of the other stores that were around the one I worked in. I closed the door, set the dial to small load, and then walked back to my bench.
When it was finally finished I had a clean set of clothes ready to be worn. I quickly dressed in everything, including a clean set of underwear and socks, and went back upstairs for my shoes. Once I was fully dressed I walked outside. I had no idea of where Lyra had gone, but if I was going to do this I wanted to do it right.
I walked up toward Rose's flower cart and noticed that the owner wasn't there and the cart was empty. I scratched my head and looked for another cart that sold flowers.
"How is the date planning going?" came a familiar voice.
"I'm trying to find Lyra some flowers," I said.
I turned to see Discord, who was wearing his Cheshire Cat grin, standing behind me. He produced a bouquet of beautiful red and gold roses. There was at least ten of each rose in the bouquet before me. They were wrapped in a silver and gold foil, and looked as if they had been freshly prepared.
"There, perfect," he said.
"Ummmm... Thanks," I said.
I looked at the beautiful flowers, wondering exactly where they came from, and almost as soon as I wondered I put it out of my mind. Discord had his moments, for the most part he had been trying to help make sure that I was able to go out on a date with Lyra. It could be that Fluttershy's friendship lessons were starting to take effect. I hoped that was the reason. I smiled, and extended a hand.
"Thanks Discord," I said.
He looked puzzled for a moment and then took my hand in his claw and closed it in a firm grip.
"It's perfectly fine," he said.
"Maybe one of these days we can have a guy's day out," I said.
His eyes widened at that. He then put his lion's paw on my shoulder and let out a deep laugh.
"I'd like that," he said.
I carried the roses with me and walked toward Sugarcube corner. Discord seemed interested in what I was doing, and once he realized that I was getting Lyra some chocolates he bought a box as well. I watched as he looked at it, snapped his claws, and Fluttershy appeared.
The little butter yellow Pegasus looked as if she was sopping wet. She looked around, blushed, and then looked at Discord.
"I just wanted to give you a small gift to say thank you," he said handing her the box of chocolates.
"That's sweet, but ummm... could you please send me back to my bathtub? I was in the middle of really relaxing," she whispered.
He snapped his claws again and as soon as she was there she disappeared.
"Well, we'll see you tonight," he said.
I looked at what I had, put the fact out of my mind that I was going to go on a double date with a god of chaos and his friend, and walked back to the Doo Drop Inn. I changed into my other new set of clothes that Discord had given me and quickly went about getting a few last minute items ready. Finally, I grabbed the chocolates, the roses, and walked downstairs and over to Lyra's. What I was greeted with took my breath away.
Lyra looked stunning. She had a dark midnight blue dress that was v - cut down her chest giving the view of her mint green coat. She wore a golden necklace that had a pearl shaped ruby in the center of it, and on either side was a cyan gem stone cut to look the same. Her earrings looked like they were made from carefully crafted black onyx that had been woven together slowly. She walked toward me and gave me a bright smile.
"How do I look?" she asked.
"I... Wow," I managed to get out.
She laughed, and then looked at the roses and chocolates.
"You are so thoughtful, and the roses are gorgeous. They look just like the ones inside of the Royal Garden at Canterlot," she said.
I closed my eyes at the realization of where Discord had gotten the roses. We walked together to the cafe and once there we met Discord and Fluttershy. The four of us laughed, ate, joked, laughed some more, and the entire time Lyra seemed to practically beam. We soon left and walked up to the theater.
"So, which movie do you want to see Lyra?" I asked.
"I've heard so much about all of them, but how about Ghostbusters? I've never seen it and everypony I've talked to says it's an amazing movie," she replied.
We walked in together and all four of us took a seat. I felt Lyra's forelegs wrap around my arm when the library scene happened, and then she laughed at the testing scene next. She alternated between laughing, holding on to me, and then laughing again. Surprisingly I could hear Fluttershy giggling a little at some of the funnier parts. It seemed like the night was really going to go well. It got to one of my favorite parts and I had to say the line along with Dr. Peter Venkman.
"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!" I said at the same time.
I was surprised by the entire evening. I was expecting some kind of prank, but instead Discord looked completely content to watch the movie. A moment later the scene with Gozer the Gozerian began.
"Sub-creatures! Gozer the Gozerian, Gozer the Destructor, Volguus Zildrohar, the Traveler has come! Choose and perish!" she shouted.
"The Choice is Made, the Traveler has come!" she shouted.
Suddenly the entire theater went dark. The movie simply stopped and outside I heard the sound of something heavy pounding in the distance. We all ran outside to see a hundred foot tall Marshmallow mare walking toward Ponyville. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Marshmallow Mayhem | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 6 - 'Marshmallow Mayhem'
"I couldn't help it. It just sort of popped in there," Discord said.
"What just popped in there?" I asked looking at the huge, white, bulging mare coming toward Ponyville.
"I tried to think of something that would never, ever hurt us," Discord replied.
"Discord what did you do?" I asked.
"LOOK!" Fluttershy screamed.
"Oh buck me," Lyra said as the marshmallow behemoth crushed the furtherest building out from Ponyville.
"Okay, Discord, seriously get rid of that thing. It's not a prank because that thing is going to kill everypony," I said.
Discord tried to snap his claws, but for some reason his power failed him. The huge mare looked down at us and a twisted smile crossed her lips.
"Bow before Gozer the Gozerian! Tremble before her might! Lowly subcreatures all of you shall perish!" she bellowed from her gigantic maw.
"Every able bodied unicorn we need you to help us stop this thing!" Mayor Mare shouted from a megaphone.
Lyra looked over at me and I nodded. I wasn't sure what I could do, but I ran with her. She focused on the giant marshmallow mare and fired a blast of fire out at it along with dozens of other unicorns. The effect was short lived as the now flaming marshmallow mare stomped its foot down crushing houses and setting fire to everything else.
I grabbed Lyra, not even thinking, and started to run back toward town. She held on to me tightly as we traveled further in. That's when I heard an all too familiar chant. It was slightly different, but the chant was nearly the same.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders Ghostbusters yay!" three adolescence mares shouted.
Before I could tell what was happening a huge wagon with several old looking computers, a set of parallel iron bars, and Sweetie Bell sitting on top of the thing with her horn glowing pulled up. I watched as Applebloom locked the wheels, and then nodded to Scootaloo.
The iron bars began to glow an unearthly white for a moment before a powerful beam shot out between them. The beam hit the huge marshmallow mare causing a large section of it to catch fire.
"Full power!" Scootaloo shouted.
I watched as Sweetie Belle's horn glowed even brighter. The iron glowed again and this time the blast was even larger, but all it did was completely engulf the marshmallow mare in flames.
"Blast the theater! She's connected to it!" Discord shouted.
They turned the wagon toward it and the Marshmallow mare tried to run to them, to stop them, but before she could reach them they fired their weapon again. The theater exploded in a brilliant flash of light and a cloud of fire covered the Marshmallow Mare.
"NO!!!!" Gozer screamed as she began to liquefy.
A moment later hot marshmallow cream began to cover everything. I ran back with Lyra, screaming at Fluttershy, Discord, and the cutie mark crusaders to follow us. We bolted into the Doo Drop in, slammed the door shut and ran up to my room. We looked down to see the entire street covered in marshmallow cream.
Dozens of ponies caught it in, moving around and finding that they were incredibly sticky.
"Well, that was a fun prank!" Discord said.
"Sweetie Belle! A voice cried from outside.
I watched Sweetie Belle as realization seemed to dawn on her.
"BUTTON!" she screaked She flung open the window.
Lyra looked down and I watched as she levitated a marshmallow covered adolescence up to the room. He looked terrible.
"Oh Button I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Sweetie Belle said as she tried to clean him off.
I looked at this, went to the bathroom, and started a hot shower. I then walked back into the room and led the poor colt to the tub.
"Hop in," I said.
He did and moments later Sweetie Belle was behind me. I watched as she took to scrubbing him and I left the two of them alone.
"Sweetie's coltfriend is a real crybaby," Scootaloo said to everyone.
I looked toward the bathroom, and I had to agree a little bit. Sure, there had only been one episode of Button's Adventures, something I had watched religiously, but it pretty much showed Button as a crybaby. I suppose it was just something else the fandom had been right about.
"Where did you girls come up with the idea of being ghostbusters?" I asked.
"Oh, we had seen that movie a whole bunch of times. I tried to see if I could get a message to Rainbow Dash and see if she wanted to watch it with me, but I guess they couldn't get the letter to her," Scootaloo said.
I studied the little Pegasus and noticed how down she sounded about that. The show had stated that she really looked up to Rainbow Dash, and for her to be cut off from her hero for so long had to be taking its toll on her. I knelt down beside her and gave her a smile.
"Well, I think that what you did today is officially cooler than a sonic rainboom," I said.
"Really?!" she asked sounding excited.
"Really. That was really impressive. I mean you defeated a god out there. That's something to brag about," I said.
"Ya think that the princess is gonna want ta know 'bout it?" Applebloom asked.
"I'm sure she would like to know about it," Fluttershy said.
"Oooo... Why don't we ask her?!" Discord said.
I heard him snap his claws and both Luna and Celestia appeared outside of the window. The both of them fell into the thickening Marshmallow cream. Celestia pulled a hoof up, looked at it, and then looked around. I watched her and for the first time ever I heard the Royal Canterlot voice in real life, coming from Celestia.
"DISCORD!" She shouted.
He opened the window and leaned out.
"Celly, how are you doing today?" He asked.
She closed her eyes, scrunched up her brow and let out a snort.
"Why is Ponyville covered in this mess?" she asked.
"Oh, is it?" he asked.
"Sister, this is Marshmallow," Luna chirped as she licked a hoof.
"Marshmallow?" Celestia asked.
She licked her hoof and her eyes widened.
"Why is everything covered in marshmallow?" she asked sounding confused.
"Perhaps if you both would like to join us in my new friends room here we can explain," Discord said.
A moment later both Luna and Celestia appeared inside of the room. There was a small coating of marshmallow sticking to their hooves, but it didn't appear to be anywhere else.
"Now, what is going on?" Celestia asked.
"Well, there may have been a small prank pulled," Discord said innocently,
"If it helps any you have three subjects that defeated an ancient and evil god or rather goddess I suppose," I said.
"And who are you?" Celestia asked.
Okay, the voice was the same, and the fact that she didn't look like her cartoon counterpart didn't bother me. I was talking to Celestia. I knew that she had the power to do damned near anything she wanted to me, and maybe Discord could, or would, save me, maybe not. I swallowed any nervousness I had and smiled.
"I'm Don Riker," I said with a slight bow.
"Mr. Riker, would you please explain what you mean?" she asked.
"Well, I'm sure it was just meant as a harmless prank, but an interdimensional god like being was pulled into this world. She had taken the form of a huge Marshmallow Mare and started to crush everything in Ponyville. The local unicorns tried to stop it with their magic, but all it managed to do was catch it on fire. These young mares, along with their friend in the bathroom, built a device that was able to stop it," I said.
"Is what he is saying true my little ponies?" she asked.
Applebloom nodded, and Scootaloo smiled brightly.
"Uhhuh! We built a proton accelerator just like in the movie!" Scootaloo said.
"How did you manage to build one of those?" Luna asked.
"Well, actually it was Applebloom that figured out how to put it together," she said.
"We kinda borrowed some of the equipment and stuff from Twilight's house," Applebloom said.
"Oh?" Luna asked.
"Don't get mad at Spike! I totally told him that we would bring it right back!" Scootaloo said.
"And he let you borrow it?" Celestia asked.
I watched as they talked about it and realized that Scootaloo seemed really concerned about the possibility of Spike getting into trouble. For a moment I wondered if the Scootaloo and Spike shippers might have been onto something. It would actually make some sense if they were. I felt Lyra next to me and I smiled at her. She grinned at me, stood on her hind legs, and wrapped her forelegs around my neck before pulling into a deep kiss.
"Well, then it appears that everything seems to be well in hoof. Except for the marshmallow covering ponyville," Celestia said.
"It's too bad that we can't use it to feed everypony," I said.
The entire group looked at me. Celestia's mouth turned up into a grin.
"That is actually a very good idea. There is enough of it here to feed every single orphan in Trottingham," she said.
"If you're going to do that then let me help," Discord said.
Before they could react he snapped his claws again and outside it began raining gram crackers and chocolate bars. Once it was finished he smiled at himself.
"S'mores," I said.
The Princesses nodded, and Luna blinked out of the room. Celestia turned around and glared at Discord.
"Next time, try not to do this," she said.
"I promise I'll be good, well most of the of time," he said the last part under his breath.
She blinked out and we walked toward the window. Lyra stood next to me and we watched as the princesses helped clean off all of the ponies and together they began creating s'mores out of the ingrediants there.
"Want to help them?" I asked.
"Sure, but I don't want to get this dress dirty," she said.
She walked toward the closet and looked at me.
"Mind to help me?" she asked.
I walked over, helped her out of the dress, the stockings, which looked amazing on her, and then out of her panties. She let out a small breath and then looked at me.
"I should change too. I'll go ahead and step in here," I said.
I was sure that the others weren't quite sure why, but I figured that Fluttershy was most likely thankful that I decided to spare the world a view of my nakedness. I pulled off the newer set of clothes that Discord had created for me, and instead grabbed a shirt and pair of shorts that were in my suitcases. I was thankful that they were in the closet and pulled them on. I felt something touching me and turned around to see Lyra's horn glowing.
She smiled sheepishly and then we both stepped out. All three Cutie Mark Crusaders and Button Mash stood out there.
"Nothing again!" Scootaloo said.
"Me neither," Applebloom said.
Sweetie Belle didn't say a word.
"Sweetie, did you get a ghostbusting cutie mark?" they both asked.
She shook her head.
"Did you get one?" Scootaloo asked.
She shook her head.
"I didn't either," she said.
"I'm sorry Sweetie Belle," Button said.
I noticed that Button had what looked like a game controller on his rump. I should have guessed that would have been his cutie mark.
"So, do you guys want to go down and help clean this up?" I asked.
They looked at each other and then nodded.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders S'more makers go yay!" they shouted before they ran out of the room.
Lyra, Fluttershy, Discord, and I walked down together to see all of Ponyville working together to get the mess made into s'mores. Someone stopped after a few moments and shook their head.
"Pinkie Pie really needs to be here for this," somepony said. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Lines of Communication | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 7 - 'Lines of Communication'
An entire week had come and gone. I had said that I wasn't going to stay for more than two weeks. This last week had been amazing. I felt a body move on the bed and looked at Lyra. She was still sleeping, and since I was staying at her place more than the hotel room she suggested that I just go ahead and stay with her. I agreed, and we had brought my luggage over. That had been three days ago. There was a short period of adjustment, and finding the shrine she had in the guest room closet was a little unsettling. We had discussed it, and while I knew she had believed in us humans before I didn't realize how ostracized it made her feel from everypony else. She agreed that the shrine needed to go, and by the second day of my being there Lyra seemed more relaxed.
I stopped thinking about it for a moment, while I stretched, crawled out of bed, and walked toward the bathroom. I relieved myself, and walked back into her bedroom. I looked toward the bed and grinned. Part of me hated that I just had another week before I either re-registered for an extended pass, or declared that Equestria was going to be my new residence. I still had around twelve hundred dollars from what I had won when I called into the radio station, but twelve hundred dollars wasn't really enough to stay an extended period of time.
If I wanted to stay here I was going to need a job. That was another problem I had when I got back to Earth. I would need to find something to do, and that meant working another crappy job. I couldn't really complain too much, but then again all the job really did was let me pay some rent.
A yawn escaped me and I leaned back against the closet door. I stretched, felt my back pop, and then stepped forward. I heard the closet door open slightly and turned around. Lyra had asked me to stay with her in her room, and she let me put my clothes into her dresser, which was nice, but she said that her closet was so full of junk that she couldn't really let me put anything in there.
I turned around and looked at the slightly opened door. I had expected to see boxes of unpacked stuff, but instead it looked mostly empty. I opened the door wider and found a single box on the floor. I looked at the smooth wooden box and pulled it out. It was heavy, but not so heavy that I couldn't move it. I found a single copper latch and opened it. I opened the lid and tried to come to grips what I was seeing.
"Don?" a voice asked.
I turned around and saw Lyra getting up. Her eyes widened as she saw what I was looking at and she began to stutter and fall over herself trying to get to where I was.
"I can explain!" she shouted.
"What is all of this?" I asked.
She closed the box with her magic and shoved it back into the closet. She turned to look at me, and I found that she couldn't look me in the eye.
"Lyra, what was all of that?" I asked.
"Ummm... Well... It's kind of hard to explain," she said as she rubbed her forehoof on the ground nervously.
"Lyra, seriously, that looked like some of the stuff that they have at Frances' Secret box," I said.
She looked confused.
"It's an adult store that's in the same mall where I used to work. I went over there with a friend who didn't want to go into the place alone. She went on a little spending spree and bought a whole lotta bondage gear. That looked like the stuff she bought," I said as I looked at her, "Is that what it was?"
She didn't say a thing, but instead she looked at the ground.
"Don't hate me," she whispered.
"What?" I asked.
"Don't hate me. Please, Don, don't hate me. That stuff... It's looked down on. I mean, the nobles used to use it to punish unicorns that committed some crime or another. They felt that humiliating the criminal was enough of a punishment," she said.
"But it changed huh? Some of the unicorns began to like it right?" I asked.
"Yeah, when Celestia banned its use as a punishment it became this forbidden taboo," she replied.
"So, you're into this stuff?" I asked.
"Kind of. I tried to get Bonny to experiment with me, but she didn't like it. She said it was too much for her. I didn't ever bring it up again," she said.
I smiled, bent down, and kissed her on the muzzle. She looked at me surprised and shook her head.
"I don't hate you. If you're into that then you're into that," I said.
"Do you want to... you know, maybe try it?" she asked.
I looked at her surprised. I had heard of Bondage, Discipline, and Sadomasochism, but to be honest it had never really been something I would have considered being into. I didn't like the idea of hurting someone, or having someone hurt me. It didn't seem sexual in any way, but then again, I did care for Lyra. I was caring for her more and more every day. I didn't want her to feel that our love life wasn't satisfying. Hell, I'd heard about a few guys who found out that their wives decided to step out and find satisfaction somewhere else.
"Is it something you want?" I asked.
She looked at me. I could tell that she wasn't certain about it. I know she most likely did want to experiment, but I wondered if she felt that answering it one way or the other would upset me.
"We don't have to," she replied.
I could see the discouragement in her eyes, and it plucked at my heart strings.
"Let's give it a go. If we don't like it then we don't have to do it," I said.
The smile that beamed on her face was priceless. I watched as her horn glowed for a moment and then I felt something wrap around my wrists as my clothes seemed to disappear off of me.
"I love you, and the safe word is banana," she said.
My eyes widened as I realized what I had agreed to. I seconds I found myself strapped to the bed. The mare I was falling in love with, that I thought so highly of, and that seemed to be falling in love with me as well stood in a faux leather bodice, fishnet stockings, and had a studded collar on. A paddle floated beside her.
"Look at you. You're just a pasty little mama's boy that wants to please a mare. You don't know what it takes to please a mare, but I'm going to teach you," she said.
"Lyra?" I asked.
A sharp sound of wood hitting flesh echoed through the room, and it felt like the skin of my outer thigh had just caught fire. I squinted my eyes shut and tried to breathe normally.
"That's mistress Lyra! Now, what were you going to say worm?" she asked.
"Mistress Lyra, what are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm training you in how to please a mare, and if you are very, very lucky I may desire to let you feast your senses on me. But that is a pleasure you have to earn," she said.
Another sharp sound erupted and I was about a stone's throw away from saying Banana. I love Lyra, but this isn't turning me on. She jumped on the bed, walked up beside me and looked me directly in the eyes. I was ready to let her know this wasn't for me. That I didn't like this at all, and that I would be perfectly happy if we never did this again. I could stand maybe trying some rough sex, but I wasn't about to start trying to get off on getting my ass kicked. That's when I saw what was in her eyes. She wasn't looking at me with hate, but instead her eyes were half lidded, compassionate, and full of love. It was an act, role play, something she wanted to experiment with, and she loved that I was willing to go along with it. I swallowed my thoughts about it for the moment. I was still going to let her know afterward that if we did this it was not going to be an everyday thing, but to see her so happy and touched made me happy. I felt something grab my balls, and I could see her horn glowing.
"Tongue out, now," she demanded.
I stuck it out and felt her squat over my mouth. The wetness of her lower lips touched my tongue and I felt the magical grip on my balls tighten slightly.
"Lick worm, and perhaps your mistress will return the favor," she said.
I began to lick her. Letting my tongue reach into her honeycomb hideout, trace around inside of it, and search for the sweet treasure inside was causing my marefriend to breathe pretty heavily. I felt the grip on my balls relax, and suddenly it reappeared on my shaft. I felt her stroke it, the firm, but gentle, way she worked her magic against it seemed amazing. She began to lean down, but then she stopped.
"No, I don't believe that you've done enough yet," she said.
I groaned out as she pressed herself against my mouth, driving my tongue a little further inside of her.
"If you want me to taste you then you had better make me speechless with pleasure," she said.
I redoubled my efforts. She was torturing me right now. It was different than the paddling's. It was worse. I needed release, and she was just barely doing enough with her magic to keep me hard. I felt her lazily stroke me, the warmth of her magic driving me wild. I needed this release so badly.
"If you experience release before I do then I shall have to punish you," she purred.
This went beyond not fair. I licked her, found her clitoris, and when I did I began to suckle on it. She squirmed, moaned, squealed, and then she went. I caught some of it in my mouth, but most it seemed to cover my face. She let out a breathy moan, and fell forward. I felt the magic release me, and instead of the warmth of a mouth on me I felt warm breath. A frustrated groan escaped me, and a moment later I felt her tongue. It touched me, traveled up me, and then it swirled around the tip. Without warning I was surrounded by warmth and I a pleased moan escaped me. She continued on for several moments before she pulled back. I was at the point of release and she stopped.
She turned toward me. A warm smile on her face and suddenly the bonds around my wrists released themselves.
"Lyra?" I asked.
"Don't talk, I'm a mare, your mare, and I need you to take me like a mare right now," she said.
I moved and she laid down. I watched as she presented and I couldn't deny her. Crawling up behind her I found her entrance and found the furnace inside. I plunged into it. Going as deep as I could and causing a lust filled moan to escape her. I began to thrust hard into her. I grabbed her hips, pulling her hard against me, forcing me to go deeper into her, and at that moment she went again. I know she expected me to go anytime, but she had teased and tormented me for a while, so it was my turn.
It was hard not give into release. She had pushed me there, got me ready for it, but instead I held off. I thought of anything that wasn't sexy in any way, shape, or form as long as I could. She let out squeaks of pleasure, her moans becoming raspy as we continued.
My fuel for denying my own release was finally dried up. Every unsexy image I could think of wasn't doing anything anymore. Instead I pulled her close, and I felt all of my love, lust, desire, and need pour into her. She collapsed on the bed and I collapsed beside her. I could see her breathing heavily, gasping for breath.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too," I said.
"Did you like it?" she asked.
"Some of it," I admitted.
"I did too," she said between gasps.
"Tired?" I asked.
She nodded and scooted against me.
"Don, we're together right?" she asked.
"Of course we are," I said.
"A...Are you going to leave?" she asked.
I knew that was coming. Was I going to leave Equestria, Ponyville, and her? I didn't know how to answer it. There was my apartment back on Earth, my friends, but this was different. This was a chance to live out a dream of mine. It was a real chance to live in a world I had dreamed about. In a way I would be like the guy from My Little Dashie a Threequel. Well, there would be a few obvious exceptions, but the fact that I could live here. I could stay in this bright world meant so much.
I tried to think of a reason to stay. There wasn't the problem with family. I really didn't have any. Mom and Dad had both passed. I figured that I could still communicate with Louis if I wanted to. The mail did seem to work, and it seemed that some of the unicorns were even attempting to get some of the higher tech stuff to work here. I knew the technology they were working on. I had planned on getting a crappy job back home, but what if I could get a job here?
I looked at Lyra and saw the worry in her eyes.
"My official gateway pass is up in a week, and if I don't leave then I have to reapply for another one to go back to Earth," I said as I watched her eyes widen, "There's just not a whole lot to go back for. I want to stay. I know it means possibly losing one citizenship, but it's worth it."
She snugged into me and I felt her forelegs wrap around my waist.
"I love you doesn't even come close to saying everything I want to say," she whispered.
She gently kissed me and snuggled close to me.
"It says everything Lyra," I said.
We fell asleep, and I knew that when we woke up we were going to be sticking together, and possibly to the bed as well. That thought didn't bother me like I thought it would. I was fine with it.
When I did wake back up I felt some of my hair sticking to my forehead. I had no illusions about what we had done, and it didn't bother me. I feel Lyra's warm body close to me. I looked down at her wearing the clothes she was wearing and despite my thoughts about the paddling and submissive part of what we did I couldn't help but think about how sexy it made her look.
I slid my hand down her back to her cutie mark and cupped her flank. She scooted closer to me. I started to move and found that part of my head was stuck to the sheet. I had heard about this. Louis had actually warned me about letting things sit too long before. Now I realized why. I pulled my head loose and nearly let out a curse.
Lyra seemed to have felt my movement, pulled up and looked into my eyes.
"Hi," she said sounding groggy.
"Hi, we need a bath," I said.
"Huh?" she asked.
I got up, holding her, and she began to register what was going on. Within a few seconds we were in the Bathroom, and I was starting to run the water. She began to focus on what was happening and her horn glowed again. I watched as her bodice unlaced itself, pulled loose, and floated toward a chair. Her stockings did the same, and then a bottle of bubble bath floated over to the tub. She poured some in and once it was done I tested the water before setting her down into it. I climbed in behind her.
"It's good that your tub is so large," I said.
"Large? This is pretty normal," she said.
It made sense. Not all of the ponies in Equestria were unicorns. Obviously they needed room to do certain things, and that meant big tubs. The water stopped and I began washing her back. She let out a satisfied moan as I worked up a lather.
"Do you know if there is anyplace hiring in Ponyville?" I asked.
"I know a bar that's hiring. The owner pays pretty well, in a few ways," she said suggestively.
"Lyra, sweetheart, I don't mind helping out in the bar, but I don't want you to think that I'm mooching off of you. Besides, I'd like to make some money to contribute, so is there any retail or anything like that?" I asked.
"Filthy Rich does have a couple of newer stores. I heard that he wants somepony that is comfortable with the technology coming over to work in them, but you don't have to do that. I really don't mind if you just want to work here," she said.
I smiled, leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.
"I know, and I love you for it, but I want to help out. Maybe after we take a bath we can take a trip to one of his stores and see about getting me a job," I said.
The bath took a little longer than it normally would, but then again I had never really took a bath with anyone before. I also found that taking a bath with my marefriend lead to a little fooling around, which was I fine with, and a little teasing. We got out of the bath, and I soon found the set of clothes I had bought at the clothing store. I was clothed, but I had to open the windows. To quote a line from another fanficion that I had read some time ago, 'Aye, this house reeeeeeeks of sin and buggery'.
I walked outside with Lyra and together we walked toward the north end of town. It was there that I saw another store similar to the clothing store Discord and Fluttershy had taken me to. It almost looked like an old Smiley-Mart store before they became super-marts. We walked inside and an older mare greeted us.
"Welcome to the Trotting Tech Central. Anything I can help you folks with?" she asked.
"Actually, I was looking for a job," I said.
"Oh, then you want to go all of the way to the back. I'm not sure if Mr. Rich is here, but if he is then I'm sure that he'll do an interview," she said.
We followed her advice and walked toward the back of the store. On the way I noticed some technology that reminded me of being a kid. There was a few cassette players, walkmen, or Walkpony rather, and a couple of 8-track players as well. I noticed one section had car batteries, an 8-track car radio, and speakers together along with instructions on how to hook them up into a wagon. It almost seemed surreal in a way.
I reached the back and looked at a receptionist. This was certainly different from any other retail store I had worked at. Most of the other stores had managers, but there wasn't a real receptionist. Instead it was usually one of the new shift leaders, or aspiring managers that got to answer phones. The receptionist looked up at me, smiled, and extended a hoof.
"How can I help you?" she asked.
"I'm looking for a job," I said.
"Just a moment," she said.
She pressed her hoof against a button and a moment later there was a response.
"Yes?" a voice asked.
"Mr. Rich, we have an inquiry about a job," she said.
"Very well, give me a moment," he replied.
I watched as the door opened and Filthy Rich stepped out. He walked up toward the two of us, looked at Lyra, and then at me.
"Who would like a job?" he asked.
"I would. I've got several years of retail experience, I know the technology in this store like the back of my hand, and I do have a bachelors' degree. I can promise you that if you hire me I will do everything I can to prove that you've made a good choice," I said.
He walked over to a table, picked up a cassette, and carried it back to me. I could already see the problem with it. At some point the tape had gotten snagged and twisted.
"Could you fix this?" he asked.
I nodded, and looked at it.
"Do you happen to have a set of precision tools?" I asked.
A moment later I was given a small tool kit that had a few small precision screwdrivers and sockets in it. I quickly went to work taking the tape casing apart. When it was I lifted the two reels and looked at where the twist was. It would be easy enough to fix. I moved the tape slightly, causing the twist to come out, and then replaced it back into the case. Within seconds I had it together again and presented it to him.
He placed it into a player, rewound it a little, and then pressed play. It played, didn't have a pause, and he smiled.
"That would have saved me ten bits if you would have been here half an hour earlier. Can you do this to all of these tapes? Repair them like this?" he asked.
"I can most of them. The ones that had been stretched or broken I can splice back together, but there will be sections missing. It wouldn't be complete," I said.
He nodded, and then grinned.
"I need somepony who knows this technology. Most of the ponies here have fallen in love with it, and there is talk about bringing television over. From what I understand there is a tape player in your world that should work here. If it does come over then that would mean the possibility of selling home theater equipment. You said that you know everything in this store, but do you know about these home theater tape players?" he asked.
I nodded.
"I do, and I know how clean them if the heads get dirty," I said.
"That's what I wanted to know. I'll start you out at 80 bits for an eight hour day, and if we ever have you work overtime I will ensure to increase your pay to be double for every hour over the eight hour mark. You'll be given a full hour lunch, and all of my employees get two days off a week, and two paid weeks off a year. Does that sound good to you?" he asked.
"It does," I said.
He extended a hoof to me, and I shook it.
"Welcome aboard. Get with Miss Drops so she can get your personal information. I'd like for you to start tomorrow. Eight am sharp," he said.
"That's fine with me. I'll be here," I said.
He nodded and walked back toward the office. I watched as the recepitionist motioned both me and Lyra over.
"Welcome aboard, since you're going to be working here that means that you'll be geting a discount card to all of Mr. Rich's stores in Ponyville. That includes Rich's Barnyard Bargains," she said as she looked at us, "Also, are you two together, or together together? I'm asking because I could get away with getting her a discount card as well."
"We're together together," Lyra said.
"Good to know," she said.
I told her the information she asked about. I gave her my name, address, my status as an Equestrian citizen, then she suggested that I switch banks to the local Ponyville branch of the Royal Treasury Bank of Equestria. It made sense to do so since it would be so hard to do my banking with my old bank.
Once we were done we walked out. I stopped by the post office and wrote a quick letter to Louis.
"Louis,
What's up man? Hey, look buddy. I think that I'm going to be staying in Equestria for a while. You're really about the only person that I know really would care one way or another about knowing. Hell, to be honest you're about the best friend I had back home. That said man, I like it here. It's nice, really nice, and the folks are super friendly. I've got a job working for Filthy Rich. I'm serious man I'm working for Filthy Rich. That's awesome! Anyway man, I'm going to be sending some money through later, and if you wouldn't mind I might ask a big favor of you in seeing that my stuff in my old apartment gets sent over to me.
Thanks man.
You're the best,
Your buddy,
Don.
PS, dude, I don't know what's going on between you and Pinkie, but seriously man. Don't knock it until you tried it." I wrote.
I sealed the envelope up, wrote Louis' address on it, and gave it to the pony working behind the counter. Hopefully he would have it in a few days. I walked out with Lyra and looked at the place I was going to have to start calling home.
"Lyra, what kind of pay am I getting at Trotting Tech Central?" I asked as we walked.
She stopped, and seemed to consider how to answer.
"It's not bad. It's better than being a hired pony at Sweet Apple Acres, but I wouldn't say it is the best pay in the world. It's kind of like this. You're getting eighty bits a day. So, that would be four hundred bits a week. That means you're getting about sixteen hundred bits a month. Now, that sounds good until you consider the cost of living. Ponyville is fairly cheap compared to other places, but even here sixteen hundred bits covers rent, food, a little entertainment, and that's about it," she said.
"So it's a little above minimum wage," I replied.
"Minimum what?" she asked.
"Minimum wage, back on Earth in my country we have a list of wages that are considered to be livable. Minimum wage is the bare minimum that someone could live off of if they are working forty hours a week. To be honest most folks that end up with a minimum wage job can barely afford to feed themselves. Usually they end up having to get subsidized housing and food vouchers from the Government in order to make ends meet," I replied.
"Then how is it the bare minimum?" she asked.
"It's the bare minimum for one person. It's sort of like telling these folks that they can't have a relationship if they can't get a better paying job," I said.
"Oh, that's cruel. No, that's not how things work here, and your pay might not be over the top, but it's not bad," she said.
I smiled, walked back with her to her bar and thought about everything she said, and everything I was doing. This world, this wonderful world, was beyond amazing. I had a serious chance to live a happy life. It was the kind of life that I know my mom wanted for me. I offered my hand to Lyra, and she placed her hoof in it as we walked. It felt nice knowing that things were looking up. There was a job that I looked forward to starting tomorrow, I was living with my marefriend, and for once I didn't dread waking up in the morning. I hadn't been this happy since the portal had opened between Equestria and our world.
Sure, I was going to miss a few things. I was going to miss surfing the internet, playing some games on my consoles, but all of that was pretty trivial compared to where I was. We walked inside of the bar and Lyra flicked her tail giving me a view of her.
"We should celebrate you getting a new job," she said.
I followed her in and closed the door. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | I guess it's only fair right? | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 8 - 'I guess it's only fair right?'
The past two weeks seemed to be a bit of a blur. There was a moment when I wasn't certain how I felt about declaring my permanent residence in Equestria, but then again it wasn't like I had completely lost my citizenship. The local American Foreign Service Officer, located in the Earth Embassy, had told me that officially my citizenship with the good old U.S. of A. would be solid for seven years. I'd still have to pay a few basic taxes, but until that time was up I was fine and dandy. I had considered telling him not to worry. Then again if Lyra got cleared to visit Earth it wouldn't hurt to have someone with her who was not only a native, but who was also a citizen.
Seeing that as the selling point I decided to agree, and the FSO handed me a set of papers for my employer. I did a quick scan of them and realized that it was basically a mixture of royal and US Federal tax papers. From what I gathered it basically reduced what I used to pay in for my Federal taxes down quite a bit. Instead of a solid ten percent of my wages I was only getting deducted a mere five percent. Apparently the US Government had decided to cut most of the humans migrating to Equestria a break in order to keep getting the revenue from them.
That had been last weekend. The following week had been hectic at work. Mr. Rich decided that since it was possible to repair the cassette tapes before refunding for them then that was what was going to happen. I knew the problem that was happening. It had been something that was pretty common up until Compact Disks had become far more affordable. It wasn't with the tapes themselves, but rather with some of the players.
Brands like Jensen, Kaizer, RCA, and Soni didn't mess up too often, but cheaper brands had a tendency of eating cassettes. It wasn't a problem to fix the tapes, and soon I was working on the players themselves. It wasn't that hard, but I had to stop and remember all of those old tricks for cleaning the heads, getting the spindles to work correctly.
But it was getting off of work that more than made up for it. I was pretty much living the dream. That might sound a bit conceited, but it felt that way. I was happy, and this weekend I was even happier. It seemed that all of Mr. Rich's businesses paid their hourly employees weekly instead of biweekly. I walked into Trotting Tech Central and headed straight to the back. I found Gum Drops working on the schedule for the next week.
"Don! How are you enjoying your weekend off?" she asked.
"It's actually pretty good, and the day's just getting better," I said.
"Here to pick up your pay huh?" she asked.
I nodded and watched as she pulled out a drawer and seemed to nose through it for a moment before pulling up an envelope and handing it to me.
"Don't go spending it all in one place," she said.
I opened it and looked at the check. I had expected to be paid in bits, but then I had to consider that once the Ponies noticed the ease of some of our monetary system they most likely would adapt to it. Three hundred and forty bits was printed across the face of the check. I grinned and walked toward my new bank.
The Royal Treasury Bank of Equestria looked like most of the buildings in Ponyville before the gateway opened. It had a medieval charm to it. That ended the moment I walked inside of the building. Outside it looked like it belonged in the renaissance fair, but inside it looked like any normal bank in a small town would have looked. I walked up to the counter and presented my check. I quickly signed my name using a ball point pen, something the bank still had signs up declaring they were now using for their customers' convenience, and passed the check to the teller.
"Do you want the bits in single bits, or would you like three Luna bits and sixty normal bits?" she asked.
I couldn't help it. There was a part of me that squealed with delight at the thought of carrying a bag full of gold.
"All normal bits please," I said.
She began counting them out, and then she pushed them into a small canvas bag. She pulled the draw string closed and pushed it toward me.
"Thank you," I said.
"You're welcome, but Mr. Riker, have you considered making another deposit?" she asked.
"I will, but not this week. This week I wanted to do something special," I said.
"Very well sir, enjoy your weekend," she said.
I walked out and headed down the street to Lyra's and my place. I stopped when I noticed a large pony trying to work on something in a wagon he had been pulling. I walked over toward him and noticed that it was Big Mac. He seemed to be intently working on something.
"Need some help?" I asked.
He looked up to see me and gave a half grin.
"Eeeeyup," he answered.
I took a look at what he had been messing with and realized that he was trying to hook up a set of speakers and a normal cassette deck to the wagon.
"Mind if I set this down on the wagon for a moment?" I asked.
"Nope," he said.
I nodded and sat my bits down on the wagon while I went to work on the project in front of me. It didn't take long to figure out what had happened. Mac almost had everything together, but he had forgotten to hook up the power supply. I checked the battery and then I looked under the wagon to make sure that the charging generator was hooked up to the wagon. Seeing that it was together I quickly hooked up the radio for him. He passed me a cassette, already out of its case, and I slipped it into the wagon's now functioning tape deck. I picked up my bits and watched as he turned the radio up to a listenable level. The sounds of Billy Idol's Dancing with Myself began to play.
It surprised me a little. I had guessed that he would have been into country. Instead he seemed to happily nod his head back and forth as he pulled his wagon toward the market place. I held my bag of bits, glad that I had grabbed them, and walked on toward Lyra's. I arrived just as Derpy Hooves was making the mail rounds. I watched as the wall eyed mare stopped and grinned at me.
"DON!" she shouted as she gave me a quick hug.
I returned the hug and watched as she handed me something.
"You got a letter all of the way from Amareica," she said.
I looked at it and realized that it was from Louis.
"Thanks Derpy! How's Dinky and Sparkler doing?" I asked.
"Oh, they're both doing good. Dinky has a little colt friend, but she doesn't think that I know, and Sparkler got her acceptance letter! She's getting to go to school in your world! I'm so proud for her! It's somewhere called Yell or something like that. All I know is she's really excited!" she said.
I couldn't help but smile. Derpy had that ability around anyone. She was just so bubbly that it was hard not to smile around her.
"Would you like something to drink or a snack?" I asked.
"Maybe later, but I've got to finish getting the mail out. Old Swifty will be mad if I don't finish my route," she whispered.
"Oh! I'm having a congratulations party for Sparkler, and I wanted to invite you and Lyra," she said.
"Where are you having it?" Lyra's voice asked.
I turned to see my marefriend coming outside.
"Well, I thought I could have it at home, because I'm trying to have enough money saved back to make sure that we can get Sparkler everything she needs for her new school," she said.
"Could we have it here?" I asked.
Lyra nodded and then before either of us could say a word we were gathered into a tight hug by the Pegasus.
"Thank you both so much!!!!" Derpy exclaimed.
"It's fine really," Lyra managed to get out before we were released.
Derpy pranced around happily for several seconds.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Derpy asked.
"Let us take care of it all. We'll make sure that it's a good party for her," I replied.
She smiled, hefted up her mailbag, and began to trot down the street.
"I don't think that we could have made her any happier," I said.
"She deserves it," Lyra said as she stepped back inside, "Wait... We didn't get when she wanted to have it!"
Lyra bolted out the door and I ran after her. After a few minutes we caught up to Derpy, who also felt embarrassed that she didn't even think to tell us when she wanted to have the party. She explained that she wanted to have it tomorrow night if at all possible, and Lyra agreed that we would list the entire place as reserved for the party. Derpy smiled, hugged us both again with enough force I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head, and started to trot back down the road delivering the mail.
We walked back to the bar, walked inside, and I sat down my first bag of pay before opening the letter. I took it out and unfolded it.
Yo Donnie Boy,
Are you freaking kidding me? I have to break in a new drinking buddy now? I mean geesh, I knew you were all gaga over the ponies and shit, but going native seems a bit much even for you. Next thing you know you are gonna tell me you are banging some pony chick, or dude. You never really were clear on which team you were batting for, with all that pink and rainbows.
I'm kidding of course, calm down. I am not in the least bit surprised that you managed to find some happiness over there in rainbow horse land. Got a job and everything eh? They must be really hard up for hand jobs. (hah, get it? You got a job using your hands!) Speaking of jobs, the boss is gonna have an aneurism when I tell him. He's been really cranky and twitchy since you bugged out, and they have me training some asshat that doesn't even know how to do a virus removal. Little fucker can sell his ass off though, so it leaves me alone to do the real work.
Don't worry about your stuff, just send me a list of what you need. Pinkie says she can use her connections to get it all sent over as a diplomatic package. That means no customs inspections! (hinthint) Maybe I can get some of my uncle's special imported Jamaican ganj and you can show the locals how to really dance on rainbows. Can horses even get high?
So tell me how things work out, stay in touch, and don't make us humans look bad. I don't wanna have to come over there and kick your ass or anything.
Peace,
Louis
P.S. Pinkie says she's happy now that she has another excuse to try and get me to visit her home town. No promises though. She also says steer clear of some chick named Lyra, "She's a Man Eater!"
No, seriously. She did the entire fucking "Maneater" song, with choreographed backup dancers. Turns out that waitress we talked to used to date her, and she's some sorta human obsessed freak. Then again, that doesn't sound any different than Pinkie to me. (Fuck, now I have Superfreak stuck in my head) Peace!
I grinned and shook my head as I finished the letter. I knew that I needed to go ahead and make that list before too long. I could go ahead and do it. I started to think about it when Lyra stood on her hind legs and pulled me into a hug. I returned the hug and smiled. She pulled back and looked at the bits on the counter.
"So, what do you want to spend your bits on?" she asked.
A grin crossed my lips. I really wanted to take her out, somewhere nice, and the first thought was Canterlot. I knew she had been there before. She had been in Princess Cadence's wedding, but I figured there would be something we could do together there that we couldn't do here. Of course I also thought about taking a trip out toward Apploosa, Manehattan, or somewhere else, but I stopped myself. I had the money for the tickets, but I didn't want to blow it all on that. I wanted to do something special for her, and then it occurred to me what I would like to do.
"Lyra, how would you feel about us having a picnic?" I asked.
She nodded, and before long the two of us gathered a few things together and left. I had an idea of where we could go. I had seen the place a while back. I figured that I wasn't the first Brony that had come to Ponyville, and I was certain of it when I visited the lake. On the other side of it, near the woods, was a small cabin. Any fan of the series that had read My Little Dashie a Threequel would recognize the cabin. It had been carefully made exactly like the story had depicted, and even outside of it someone had put up a mailbox with the name Mr. Brian Dash painted on it.
I had seen the cabin the last time Lyra and I had walked by here, and I had to explain to her what it meant. She stopped, wrapped her head around the idea that someone had wrote a story about Dash ending up in the human world, and then she asked if there was one featuring her. I left out some of the more, ummm, cloppy stories and instead told her about a My Little Dashie Clone that was written with her being the main character. She seemed to like the idea that she ended up on Earth, but she wondered why they wrote her having to come back.
That had been the previous weekend, and I knew that going out there this weekend would be fun. We stopped by Sugarcube corner, and the market square, before we headed out. Once we were out there we spread out the blanket, set out some of the food we had gotten, and were getting ready to enjoy a little time alone. It was nearly perfect, or it would have been right before we heard the sound of a muffled scream from the cabin.
We looked at each other and both of us ran toward the cabin. I tried the door and found it unlocked, which was weird because whoever had built it had left the building locked. We stepped inside and found two adolescent fillies standing off against each other. They looked upset, and one of them looked like their cheek was swelling.
"Hey, what's going on in here?" I asked.
They both turned toward me and I reconized both of them. I had met Diamond Tiara before, but the other adolescent filly was Silver Spoon. She looked beyond angry, and behind Diamond standing off to the side, while looking guilty, was a light gray Pegasus colt with dark hair. The one thing that was different from the show and how he stood now was a small cutie mark showing a storm cloud with a lightning bolt through it. I reconized Rumble, and I could tell that something had certainly happened here.
"Nothing," Diamond said as she tried to walk out.
"It wasn't NOTHING! I... I can't believe you did this Diamond! I thought we were friends!" Silver Spoon screamed.
"Silver, please," Rumble said before she shot him a glare.
I watched it unfold and I realized what had happened. Apparently Lyra realized what happened as well and she shook her head.
"This is low," she said.
"Why do you care? It's not my fault that he practically begged me to come out here," Diamond said.
I knew there was going to be a fight and I stepped toward them both.
"Okay, we're stopping this right now. All three of you need to come out and we're all heading back to town," I said.
The group looked at me like I had sprouted another head. Diamond started to say something, but Lyra's horn began to glow, and she quickly decided to quiet down.
"I'm sorry about our date," I said.
"It's fine, we can always do this again. Maybe we can even spend a night in here," she suggested.
We walked behind the two fillies and lone colt. I knew there was going to be something said at some point, and I hated that Filthy Rich was going to be pulled in on it. He was quite a bit like the show depicted him, but regardless this was my boss' daughter, and I was a little nervous about letting him know what we had found. When we finally arrived back at town it didn't take long to find somepony, Cheerilee actually, and explain what had happened. She looked at them and I saw her look at Silver Spoon very sympathetically.
"Don't worry I'll take care of it. You too go ahead and finish your date," she said.
We looked at each other, nodded, and decided to head back out to the lake. When we got there it was starting to get night. Lyra had already let everypony know that the bar was closed for the evening, so we decided to spend the night in the cabin. If the attention to detail on the outside was amazingly close it didn't even come close to matching the attention made to the inside of the cabin.
The firepit, Brian's bedroom, Rainbow Dash's bedroom, the living room, even a painting of a field with a rainbow hung on the wall. The entire cabin had been a tribute to a story that was just that. It was a story. I knew the real Rainbow Dash was on Earth somewhere. I didn't know what she was doing, other than the fact that she had visited Louis and Pinkie for a while, but I couldn't help but wonder what she would make of this.
We found the bed that Rumble and Diamond Tiara had used and stripped the sheets. Lyra said she would take them back home with us, wash them, and we could bring them back out here. We ended up getting a fire going in the fire pit, sitting together, enjoying the meal we had put together, and soon we simply curled up beside each other near the fire. I ended up putting it out, and the two of us made it up to the unsoiled room, and checked the bed out. Once I was sure that we didn't have any surprises waiting on it, or in the room itself, I quickly undressed and crawled into the bed with her.
She snugged close to me as we lay in the cabin.
She turned toward me, and captured me in a kiss. It was sweet, wonderful, and led to a fantastic moment between the two of us.
"We've... we've got two sets of sheets to clean now," she said while she giggled.
"Yeah, but it was fun," I said.
She snuggled against me and the two of us quickly fell asleep. When we woke up I crawled out of bed and found my pants. I had gotten so used to having my phone to check the time that I knew a regular wrist watch was something I wasn't going to ever really get used to. Instead I had bought a pocket watch. I fished it out of my pants pocket and shook my head. It wasn't late, not yet, but we had to hurry if we were going to get everything ready for Sparkler's party.
I quickly got Lyra up, we gathered up the sheets, I dressed, and we headed back toward Ponyville. Once we were there the two of us went about getting the bar ready for the party, and I had Lyra go take a shower. When she came back she had me go do the same. I rushed through the shower and came back down to find Lyra finishing up getting everything set up. She gave me a happy smile before I started working the grill.
Within a few minutes dozens of ponies began arriving and standing off in the corners and being quiet. I got what was going on and Lyra and I both got in on the fun.
"Mom? What's going on?" a young mare asked from outside.
We watched Derpy lead Sparkler inside and once inside I could tell that she was confused about what was going on. She got about six steps inside before there was a collective "Surprise!" from around the room.
Sparkler made a very quiet squeak before she removed the blindfold. She looked around to see dozens of ponies she reconized. It wasn't long after that we began serving everyone. The entire mood was fantastic. It wasn't long after that everypony began to give a small gift to Sparkler. Most of it was stuff that she could use in college, and while I hadn't bought anything I did have something. I walked over to her and handed her a card I had in my wallet.
She floated it over and looked at it.
"That's a Fee-bay gift card. I don't know if you'll need it, but it has about ten thousand credits on there. That's enough to get a couple of your text books for free," I said.
She smiled and gave me a quick hug.
"Thanks!" she said.
I walked back and watched the family together. Dinky, who had walked in behind Derpy earlier, had gotten tired and fell asleep against the table. Derpy was supporting her with a wing while she told Sparkler how proud she was of her. Then she said something that made the young mare blush.
"Remember, if you meet a nice stallion or human stallion you've got to test the goods first. Don't saddle up to anypony if you don't know what they're like in bed," Derpy said.
"MOM!" Sparkler exclaimed.
I couldn't help but let a small laugh escape. Finally, the party began to end, and one everyone was gone we began cleaning up. When we finished I found a piece of paper and a pen. I figured now was as good of a time to write Louis.
Louis!
Seriously man, thanks, and please tell Pinkie thanks too. Most of my electronics in the apartment won't work, although I do have my parents old as the Earth itself VCR and television. They're working on getting VHS over here, and I figured we could be trend setters if we had one before everyone else. So, if you don't mind to ship those two items. I also have a pretty large collection of comic books in the closet that I would like to come over, and of course all of my old clothes. By the way man... I don't think that they can get my car through the gate. I'll get it when I get back, but if you and Pinkie need to borrow it there's a spare key in my apartment. Drive it in good health.
About Lyra... to be honest that's who I'm with. I'm guessing that we just kind of fit together. Oh, man... Say, if you both go into the apartment there's a video saved on my computer that you might not want Pinkie to watch. I had intended to delete it off when you told me about Pinkie living with you, but it completely slipped my mind. Anyway, don't let her watch it. I think that it would really bother her. Sure, it's fake, but I'd hate to think that something I had saved on there would hurt her feelings. Before you say that you doubt she could find it remember this is Pinkie Pie we're talking about. Everything you've told me only enforces that rule. So, please, delete Cupcakes HD by MisterDavie. And I wouldn't suggest you watching it either.
Thanks man,
Don.
PS: How in the hell did she get backup dancers in your house? Wait... First rule, this is Pinkie Pie... yeah, got it. Still... That's insane man.
I finished the letter, put it into an envelope, and sat it down. I stretched, yawned, and walked up stairs to our bedroom. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Love and Loyality | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 9 - 'Love and Loyalty'
I looked up at the clock. There was another thirty minutes and then I could take a lunch. Normally I wouldn't be counting down, but I had ended up oversleeping this morning. The end result was that I didn't have enough time for breakfast. Instead I had just enough time to get dressed, get out of the house, and get to work. I felt my stomach reminding me of its empty state again and let out a low groan.
"Excuse me, but I heard that there would be some home theaters coming in soon. I wanted to know if they had arrived yet," a familiar voice asked.
I looked down to see Love Tap. I smiled, grabbed a binder that Mr. Rich had placed by everypony, and opened it up for her. The VHS players and Televisions were on the way. They had passed the initial testing phase, which according to rumors meant both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had played around with it and decided that it was indeed wonderful, and they were on their way to being distributed. Love Tap began flipping pages and I watched as she stopped on a page that had a fifty-two inch television. She studied it for a moment, and then she flipped back through the binder before handing it back to me.
"Chip is so interested in the idea of having a theater at home, and I like it too. It would be nice to invite friends over to watch a movie with us. I like the larger screen, but I think that the midsize one is the one that would be the easiest for us to buy," she said.
"You know if you want the larger size you can put it on lay-a-way. Mr. Rich will let you pay it out," I said.
She seemed to consider it for a moment.
"Let me talk to Chip and see if that's something he would like to do," she said.
I nodded and handed her a flyer. She looked at it and then back up at me.
"Mr. Rich is going to have a free demonstration of the equipment tomorrow, after five, and show a full movie. There's going to be hayburgers, hayfries, Zap Apple Pies, and some fish bites. He wants to give everypony a chance to really experience what this technology could do," I said.
She nodded and trotted off with the flyer. I looked at the tally sheet sitting beside me. Sure, I was mainly here to repair the technology, but if there was the potential to make a sale I was expected to make it. So far I had fifteen confirmed pre-purchases for the VHS players/recorders and televisions. I wasn't trying to sale anything that I felt somepony couldn't afford. I didn't like doing that back on Earth, and here Filthy Rich actually discouraged that kind of tactic. He encouraged us to sale within the customer's means and later if they had the extra to get something more expensive they would.
I thought it was a hell of a lot more fair, and it didn't seem to cause us to lose any customers. My thoughts on Filthy Rich's business practices soon came and went as the minutes ticked by. Finally lunch came around and I walked outside of the store. Usually Lyra and I would meet for lunch, and we'd either eat at a small cafe or we'd go back home and fix something there, but she had told me that Derpy had asked her to come with her to the spa today. She wanted to thank us both for having Sparkler's party, and while I couldn't go I didn't see any reason why Lyra couldn't enjoy getting a little pampered.
That meant today I was on my own. I started walking toward the cafe I normally ate at with Lyra when I noticed a new store opening. I looked at it for a moment and then walked over to it and looked at the name of the store.
"Enchanted Videos," I read as I looked at the sign.
Louis had sent everything I asked him too, including my bottle of Captain Morgan, and a bottle of what he called 'Real Rum'. I had put both bottles up with the plan of enjoying one with Lyra, and most likely gifting the Captain Morgan to someone else. Still, among everything that was sent to me was my parents old forty - six inch television and VHS player. It was one of the few things I had kept after they passed, and from what I could remember from the gateway I knew that the television should work without any problem. The VHS player should work, but just on off chance Lyra went ahead and did an enchantment on it.
There had been a couple of movies, but nothing I really wanted to start us off with. I wanted to give Lyra a movie she would really enjoy, and that meant watching something that was still considered to be amazing. I made my decision and walked into the store. It smelled like fresh popped buttery popcorn. The scent lingered in the air, and I couldn't help but think about all of the old video rental places I had went to when I was a kid.
I could still remember the smell of Poppin' Fresh Theater Style Popcorn lingering around inside of those places as I walked through the rental places with my parents. I looked around the video store as the memory flooded my senses. It was almost as if I could see my seven year old self walking beside my parents, heading over to the newest releases, and seeing what we could watch as a family. I stopped and looked at the movies on display. Beside each of the movies there was a place holder for the ponified version that would be coming out soon. I looked over the movies until I finally saw something that I really thought Lyra would enjoy.
The memories of watching The Princess Bride brought a smile to my face. I had loved the movie when I was younger, and I had a feeling that Lyra would really enjoy it as well. I took the video cassette up to the counter and looked at the unicorn working there. He grinned at me and I felt the cassette lift out of my hands, it glowed a bright green for a moment, and then he placed it into a brown paper bag.
"That's a wonderful story you've chosen," he said.
"Thanks, how much do I owe you Mr... You know I don't know your name," I said.
"Just call me Dusk. That's what all of my friends call me, and well, I like to think of my customers as my friends," the dark Lavender unicorn stallion said.
"Thanks Dusk, so how much do I owe you?" I asked.
"That will be fifteen bits," he replied.
I fished out the bits, handed them over to him, and watched as he put them away. He floated the brown paper bag with my movie over to me and gave me a slight nod.
"Don't be a stranger," he said.
I nodded and walked out of the building. I felt the comfortable weight of the bagged video cassette in my hand. I quickly pulled out my pocket watch and noticed that I still had some time for lunch. I quick glance around told me that going to the cafe would be out of the question. It was busy, and there was no way I had time to run home to get something to eat. Another quick look and I noticed the market place.
I knew that I really needed to eat something other than just something sweet, but there wasn't too many choices. I looked toward Mac's Apple cart, but the line was extremely long, and I didn't have that kind of time. Instead I noticed Carrot Top. I walked toward her stand and smelled the air. She had carrot cakes, carrot salads, raw carrots, and a thin soup.
"What would you like?" she asked.
I studied the foods available, and quickly decided on a bowl of the soup a piece of carrot cake. She dipped out a couple of lattles of the soup and placed a piece of the carrot cake on a napkin. I thanked her, quickly drained the soup, which was surprisingly good. It was creme carrots in rich butter sauce. It was thicker than I had thought, but not so thick that I couldn't enjoy it. I gave her back her bowl, which she promptly put into a container for, and then I took the first bite of the carrot cake.
I had been told that Sugarcube Corner was the go to place for sweets. That nothing could even come close to matching their cupcakes, cakes, or other deserts. Oh, that was wrong. Sugarcube corner was indeed fantastic, but the carrot cake I currently found myself eating was made to perfection.
It was moist, not wet, just moist. The flavor had a hint of cinnomen, sugar, and coconut mixed with the carrot. The buttercream frosting didn't have the sickening sweet taste of mass produced deserts. It tasted completely homemade.
"Lyra would love this," I said.
"Yeah, her and Bon Bon used to buy an entire carrot cake for the weekend. Of course she hasn't eaten one since Bonny up and left. Say, you're her new coltfriend right?" Carrot asked.
"Yeah, I'm Don," I said sticking out my hand.
"Don. It's a good name, a little strange, but then you humans all have slightly funny names. Like Berry's coltfriend. His name's Terrance. Still, damn good stallion, or ummmm... man, he's accepted little Berry Pinch as his own daughter. I was kind of afraid that Berry wasn't going to find anyone. What with her relationship with Shaken Spur going south like did it," she said.
I watched as she shook her head.
"I swear you'd never meet a shorter tempered stallion. He was constantly flying off of the handle at the smallest things. I guess that the arguments got too much for her, and Berry told him that they were done. It was the best thing in world for her though. She met her husband about a year ago," Carrot said.
"Glad to hear it," I said.
"Say, how about I make you and Lyra a carrot cake?" she asked.
"Uh what?" I asked.
"A carrot cake. Seriously, I'd love to make one for you two, and maybe it would make Lyra smile a little bit. Besides, I do miss talking to her," Carrot said.
"Sure, but if this goes south I didn't ask for it," I said.
"How could this go south? Everypony loves sweets," Carrot Top said.
There was a dozen thoughts about how it could south in a hurry. I had never really dated anyone before, but I had heard stories about how someone had made the mistake of doing something or buying something that someone's ex had done or bought before. It seemed foolish, but those hurt feelings, from what I heard, seemed to boil up and cause a fight. That was something I wanted to stay away from. I didn't want to fight with Lyra. I was happy, and I really wanted to remain happy.
Still, if carrot cake had been a favorite desert of hers then it wouldn't hurt to share it with her. I could always make the argument that this was so we could create a new memory with it. It made sense, or at least it did in my head. The decision to go ahead and give Carrot Top the okay with making the cake seemed to be setting better. It would be a chance to do something special for Lyra, and at the same time it would be helping to create a new memory with her. That was something I wanted to do anyway.
"Carrot, why don't you bring the cake over tonight? I picked up a movie, and I thought that we could invite a few friends over to watch it with us," I said.
She practically beamed as she heard that. I watched as she walked around the cart, stood on her hind legs, and pulled me into a tight hug. I returned it and then let go. I stepped back and checked my watch. My eyes bulged as I realized that I had to be clocked back in about four minutes. I gave her wave, and she returned it. From there I ran straight back to work.
The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. I had to fix a dozen or so cassette players, at least forty cassette tapes, and then I had to explain the differences between the different models of televisions. It wasn't hard work, but some of the ponies just didn't quite grasp why RCA was so much cheaper than Soni, and then there was the questions about the three in one cabinets.
These things had been the bane of existence in an untold number of men's lives back in the 1970's and 80's. Huge cabinets that usually had a thirty-eight inch screen, record player, Stereo 8 player, and of course a RF adapter port for Nintari's Home Entertainment System. I was sure that eventually the home video game system would make it over, and these cabinet Televisions would be selling even faster than they were right now. The last pony to look at one, and decide on it, was a white unicorn that I knew all too well. In fact, she was the last customer of mine for the day and I watched as she mulled over the decision for a while. Finally she let out a sigh and looked up at me.
"I really wish that Octi was here for this," she said.
"Where is Octavia?" I asked.
Vinyl Scratch reached into the saddle bags she was wearing and pulled out a picture of Octavia playing along with both of the members of 2 cellos. I really shouldn't have been surprised.
"She had this huge opportunity, and you know I didn't want her to pass it up. She's like a sister to me, and I want her to be happy. Still, it makes decisions like this a serious pain," she said.
"Well, I'm not sure what you want to spend, but I can tell you that the turntable in the cabinet is pretty decent, but it's not mixing decent. It's more along the lines of straight listening. You can do some mixing with it, but it sound really retro with the speaker system the cabinet has. Now, that said the cabinets do have some built in features such as the stereo 8 player. Then again there's every chance in the world that you already have one," I said.
She nodded and looked at the television again.
"Then Vinyl, seriously, why don't you look at a regular television and a VHS player. There's really no reason to get one of these things unless you really just want to combine three or four things," I said.
She looked at a regular set and then back at the cabinet.
"I'll take the cabinet," she said.
"You sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, Octi likes to listen to her classical music, and this will give her a turntable to do it on, and it will actually match a lot of our furniture," she stated.
I shrugged my shoulders and rung her up. She paid for it, and I called up a couple of our delivery stallions. They looked at the sale, groaned, and went to working on moving the heavy piece of entertainment furniture. I watched them both feeling bad about it going down like this, but then again it was just one of those things. I checked my watch and smiled. It was time to clock out, head home, and present Lyra with what I figured would be a very welcomed gift.
I walked to the back, clocked out with the manual time clock, and walked to my locker. It didn't take very long at all until I was out the front doors and heading back home. When I got home I helped work the bar for a couple of hours. There was the normal crowd there, and it wasn't absolutely slow, but then again this wasn't the busiest that I'd see the place either. Finally, after about two and half hours Lyra gave the final call, and she told everypony that she was closing the bar for the night. Most of them nodded and left without a problem.
"So, what are we doing tonight?" she asked.
I grinned as I grabbed the brown paper sack from under the bar and pulled it out. I opened it and revealed the movie I had picked up.
"I thought that we could invite a few friends over, and watch a movie together. I can set up the Television and VHS down here. It should give us plenty of room to move around with," I said.
She nodded, and the sound of someone knocking came from the door. I went and opened it to see Carrot Top coming in with the cake. I wasn't sure why, but I had been expecting to see a normal sized cake. What Carrot Top brought in was full sheet carrot cake. It was huge, and I honestly wondered exactly how Lyra and I were going to eat it all.
Lyra looked at it and then at me. A moment later another knock came and I opened it to see Derpy.
"I got a foal sitter to watch Dinky, and I thought that I might ask Carrot Top if she wanted to go do something, but she was gone. So I thought about asking if you two wanted to do something, and HEY CARROT TOP!" she exclaimed.
Carrot Top smiled and looked at Derpy.
"Derpy, how are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm okay, say, what are all of you doing?" she asked.
"Well, Don got a movie for us to watch on our home theater," Lyra said.
"That sounds like fun!" she exclaimed.
"Would you like to watch it with us?" I asked.
She nodded and I grabbed another chair. A moment later something flashed and we saw Fluttershy and Discord. Fluttershy looked a little confused at first and then looked at Discord.
"Discord, where we are?" she asked.
"Why we're among friends, and I'm sure that they wanted to invite us to do whatever it is that they're doing," he said.
"We were just getting ready to watch a movie," Lyra said.
"Which movie?" Discord asked.
"What he means is that sounds like fun, and could we maybe watch it with you if you don't mind?" Fluttershy asked.
Sure, it's not a problem," I said.
We got the seats together and I walked up the stairs and grabbed the VHS player and Television. As I carried it down I remembered how bulky and heavy these old televisions could be. I nearly dropped both of them, but eventually I made it down and set it up on the bar. I quickly got it all hooked up and plugged it in. Once everything was hooked up I turned on the television and watched as it the screen showed the standard snow that usually accompanied turning on a set. I turned on the VHS player and watched as the screen turned to a light green one. I wondered if it was like that because of Lyra's enchantment, but after a moment I pushed it out of my mind.
I opened the hard plastic case around the movie and pulled it out. I slipped it into the player and the first thing that popped up was the normal movie trailers that usually came with these things. The ponified version of Ghostbusters was first, and then it was Return to the Crystal Kingdom. We had nearly went and watched that at the theater. I grinned and watched as the movie started. Suddenly a bright golden light began to stretch out of the television. I backed up as it began to engulf all of us and a moment later I was looking around in confusion.
"What in the hell?" I asked.
"Don!" Lyra's voice called.
I turned to see her walking toward me. She was wearing a very familiar dress, and that's where it occurred to me what was going on. Somehow we were inside of the movie.
"Why do I want to call you farm boy?" she asked.
"It's because we're in the movie," I replied.
"Really? Wow, this place is beautiful," she said.
She looked at a saddle hanging up and smiled at me.
"Farm Boy, polish my saddle," she said.
"As you wish," I said.
I walked over to it and found a clean rag. Taking care I lifted the saddle down and dipped the rag into a small bowl that was filled with scented oil. I worked it into the saddle, and as I worked I wondered how it was that my hands somehow knew what to do. I had never done this before in my life, but for some reason I seemed to know exactly how to polish a saddle in such a way that not only made it shine, but rejuvenated the leather.
Lyra watched me as I did my work. I wanted to do more than that, but something kept me grounded. It was like a voice inside of me telling me that she was too far above me. I couldn't reach her unless she gave me a sign that she wanted me. The days passed much like this. Lyra would demand something of me, and I'd happily do it. Finally after what seemed like a month she walked up to me, stood on her hind legs, and leaned against me. I felt the warmth of her breath as she nuzzled my neck.
"I love you Westley," she said.
"I love you too Buttercup," I replied.
I had wanted to say Lyra, and I can only assume that she wanted to say Don. Regardless we moved toward each other and kissed deeply. It was a heaven sent. I had missed the feeling of my marefriend's lips upon my own. I pulled her closer and the both of us let out a sigh.
The days passed quicker than I would like from there. We worked together, but still I wouldn't do more than kiss her. After another month I held her against me.
"I have to go Buttercup. Here, I have no way to make the kind of living that you deserve. I need to travel across the sea and start there. I need to set things into motion that will ensure that we're doing better than just getting by. I want to give you the kind of life that I know you deserve, and I want our children to come into this world wanting nothing," I said.
"I won't stop you, but please Westley, come back to me. It would kill me if I were to lose you," she replied.
I nodded and left.
Lyra's P.O.V.
I watched Don as he left. I had wanted to call him Westley, and there was more than a couple of times I wanted him to ravage me to no end. We had been together for nearly two months without actually being together. I shook my head and watched Don disappear in the distance. I didn't like this. I didn't like this at all. It reminded me far too much of when Bonny had left me. Before I had lost myself in taking pictures of the human and pony couples around the area, but now I was just so completely lost.
I didn't have a camera, there wasn't anypony around to watch or take pictures of, and I didn't even have my bar to run. Instead I looked at the modest farm I was on. Sweet Apple Acres was far larger than this place. It completely dwarfed this small homestead. Still there had to be something that I could do here to keep me from feeling so isolated and lonely. I walked out to the shed that acted like a barn and saw a single cow.
"How are you doing?" I asked.
The pregnant heifer turned around and began lowing. I expected some kind of answer. After all the cows in Equestria could talk, but this one didn't say a word. Instead it merely mooed and continued lowing. I saw a bucket hanging up and looked back at the cow. I walked toward the bucket and focused on it.
I stood looking at that stupid bucket for ten minutes and nothing happened. I couldn't move it, I couldn't lift it, and I couldn't blast it to pieces with my magic. Suddenly I found myself in a very odd situation. I didn't have my magic. I prayed that I was wrong and tried to focus my magic into a hand shape. There wasn't even a spark from my horn. I fell to the ground stunned.
"No, nononononono NO!" I shouted as I tried it again.
After four hours of realizing that I didn't have magic, and that if I wanted to eat, drink, or anything else I was doing it the Earth Pony way I found myself crying. I had never been without my magic. Even as a baby I had the ability to use my magic, and actually my mom had told me that I was more than a handful when I would magically spike from time to time. Instead now... Now I couldn't even begin to focus my magic. It was well after dark before I fully accepted that I couldn't use my magic.
When I left the shed it became apparent that I was going to have to get something to eat. I walked into the small farm house, looked at the food, and realized the work I had in store for me. I began to gather the ingredients for a sparse supper and set to work. It wasn't as if I've ever cooked before. I cooked each night, but I was so used to using my magic. I was used to being able to manipulate everything around me, and now I was finding how hard it was to everything in a normal sense. I stoked the fire in the fireplace and sat out the grill on it. I nearly burned myself and cursed my carelessness. I had to do things far more carefully. I couldn't just go about this like a silly little filly.
This began a daily ritual that I followed for the following month. I would cook, learning how to do everything like an Earth Pony, and I soon learned that there was horses, actual horses, in this place that were not sapient beings. When I realized that they were like the cows I began to understand more about Don's culture, or what it had been.
Still, I couldn't bring myself to ride one of them. It felt... weird trying to. It was almost as if I was cheating on Don when I climbed on the back of the large brown stallion. I knew he wouldn't think of it like that, but it felt that way. I went out to milk the cow which I decided to name Bonny, for various reasons, and that's when the one neighbor in three miles came to the house.
She was a plump human, with a heart shaped face. Her cheeks were always rosy, and she was always pleasant. She walked up to our door and knocked. I watched as this pleasant, sweet, and normally wonderful woman began to fall apart. She cried out and pulled me into a hug, one I returned happily, and she began telling me that there is always a reason for terrible things to happen. I was ready to tell her that no matter what it was I would be there to help her when she looked into my eyes and I felt a fear I had never known shake me. Tears began to well up in my eyes, and an understanding draped over me like a warm blanket.
She wasn't here to have a friend tell her that everything would be fine. She wasn't here to listen to me inform her that everything would work out. She was here because something bad had happened, but she was here for me.
"Westley, what happened to my Westley?" I asked.
My voice trembled with the fear I felt flooding through me. Part of me wanted to run away from the news. I wanted go away from here, away from all of this, and simply disappear. But that part of me was weaker than the part of me that loved Don. Fear in this instance meant nothing to me. It would not keep me from hearing about Don.
"My child, the royal port master sent word. He traveled to our house believing it yours, and he left word that... Child I am so sorry, but Westley's ship never made it. It was overtaken by the Dread Pirate Roberts," she said.
"There's not even a chance he could bartered for is there?" I asked.
"No child, the Dread Pirate Roberts never leaves any survivors. I'm truly sorry my child. Know that I am here for you if you need me," she said.
I barely spoke with her after that. I knew she was honest in what she said. She would be here for me, but it didn't really matter. Don was gone. I didn't know how these things worked here, but one thing she did know, and it was something Don had told her once. Humans didn't have magic in their world. It wasn't like he could do what some of the old legends had done in her world. He couldn't beat death. I felt myself fall into despair and I didn't want anything. Food, water, speaking, none of it matter to me now.
For days I sat alone in the small room I had claimed as my own. Finally, after a week a messenger came to the house. He informed me that Prince Humperdinck had heard of me from the locals and wished to meet with me. I followed him, even though I really had no desire to follow him at all I followed the messenger until we entered an inn that was completely emptied. I saw the Royal as he walked into the room.
There had been one time I had the upmost displeasure of meeting Prince Blueblood. The experience was far less than gratifying, and I could easily say that if first impressions were any kind of standard to go by then both Blueblood and Humperdinck were cut from the same cloth. I stood in the dress Don had said looked so beautiful on me as the Prince circled around me. Once again I felt like turning and running. That part of my biological heritage from my ancestors screaming that I get away from this predator. He placed a hand on my muzzle and brought it toward him.
"Open your mouth," he commanded.
Again, I didn't know why I simply obeyed him. My mouth opened against my will and I stood there with him peering inside of it.
"She has good teeth. Yes, I believe the locals were correct in saying that you would easily pass as a royal. Tell me girl, do you truly want to spend your life here? There is nothing waiting for you, except perhaps for a pauper's death," he said.
"Sire, it is not up to me. I merely do what I was born into," I answered.
"That is a very good answer from what I suppose is a very loyal subject. Then it occurs to me that part of what you were born into is to serve the nobility. Perhaps you know, and if you do not then I shall enlighten you, my father passed a law some time ago about how we may choose our brides from the peasants. It was this choice that allowed him to wed my mother, and now, I make my choice. You are well loved by the community here, beautiful, and I believe will be able to bare me strong children. Rejoice that you have been favored upon," he said.
I felt sick. He talked of children so casually. It was as if he didn't realize that bringing a life into this world was only meant to be an act of love. Instead he talked as if those children would be little more than tools for him to use. He looked toward two men and nodded.
"Come Princess," one of them said with a bow.
"Princess?" I asked.
"Of course, you have been chosen to be the bride of Prince Humperdinck. You are to become the Crowned Princess of Florin," the kinder of the two Humperdinck said.
I followed them outside and rode on the carriage toward the castle. As we neared it I realized how different it looked from Canterlot Castle. It looked as if it was designed so differently, but even with the differences I felt the same sense of power from it.
"Prepare her, for she shall be announced to the peasants within the hour!" Humperdinck demanded.
I watched as he took off, and just as quickly as I was brought here I was whisked away into a room where several women stripped me naked. Even though I didn't have the problem with being naked that most humans did I felt a sudden need to cover myself. I felt one of the women begin to scrub my back as she tisked at me.
"Princess, don't try to hide your body from us. We are the royal maiden servants, and trust us, we've all seen what everything looks like. You are not the first royal we've had to wash," she said.
I felt them lift me to my hind legs and scrub down my belly. The nervousness I felt simply climbed as they cleaned my nether bits. One of them giggled as they worked.
"When is the last time you've seen a virgin?" she asked.
"The last time was when a girl was chosen and given to Count Rugen. The poor thing had an entire life ahead of her. The last I heard he completely ruined her for any kind of life once he is done with her. She'll never be a bride. At least this dear one has been chosen for a far better reason," the kinder one said.
"I'm so sure she was chosen for a kinder reason," the other one said.
"Please, do not talk about me as if I am not here," I said.
"I apologize your Highness. It's just that from what I've heard Humperdinck is a bit of a sadist. I fear that his reason for choosing you may have nothing to do with being noble," she said.
I nodded and thought about that for a moment. I wasn't going to give myself to him anyway. I couldn't end up doing that. I looked around, but instead of running I felt as if I had to stay.
"Come your Highness, Prince Humperdinck is ready to announce you to the people," one of the maidens said.
I followed them into the courtyard.
"My people, a month from now, our country will have its 500th anniversary. On that sundown, I shall marry a lady who was once a commoner like yourselves. But perhaps you will not find her common now. Would you like to meet her?" Prince Humperdinck said to the crowd.
I walked out and he stretched his hand to me.
"My people, the Princess Buttercup," he said.
I was surprised at being accepted so well by all of the people there. The introduction lasted for a short time, and then I was led inside. Once inside I met with the King and Queen. Both of them were kind, odd, but kind. As I walked with Humperdinck I expressed the fact that I did not love him.
"My dear, I understand that, but surely you understand that over time you will come to love me. It is the natural progression of things," he said.
I wanted to tell him that I would never love him. That there was nothing he could ever do to make me love him, but instead I nodded.
"Perhaps it would do you good to get out and explore the countryside. Take one of the horses from the stable," he said.
I walked off toward the stable and looked at the different horses there. I had absolutely no intention of riding any horse. Again it felt as if I would be cheating on Don if I did, but regardless within minutes I was helped upon a mare and set off. As I rode the marriage, being forced from the house I had lived with Don at, and all of the potential duties I would have to face simply melted away. Instead I found myself enjoying the ride through the country. I stopped as I neared three figures. Two of them made my heart swell with happiness. There before me was Derpy and Fluttershy. I wanted to hug them and tell them what had happened, but before I could get a word out a short bald man stepped forward.
"A word, my lady. We are but poor, lost circus performers. Is there a village nearby?" he asked.
"There is nothing nearby... not for miles," I replied.
"Then there will be no one to hear you scream!" he exclaimed.
Derpy looked at me with apologetic face as she struck me over the head.
Fluttershy's POV
Seeing Lyra made me feel so happy, but I assumed that Derpy was in the same situation that I was in. We couldn't talk to her. Instead the little short bald man that was with us talked to her for a moment and then he had Derpy knock her out. It was odd that Derpy so large here. She was easily as tall as Lyra on the back of that horse when she stood on her hind legs. I decided not to question it. After all when Spike had used that enchanted comic I became a super hero that turned into a huge monster when I became angry. My attention went to the short bald man as he was ripping something.
"What is that you're ripping?" I asked with what sounded like a Maredrid accent.
"It's fabric from the uniform of an army officer of Guilder," the short bald man answered.
"Who's Guilder?" Derpy asked in a deeper voice.
"The country across the sea, the sworn enemy of Florin," he said as he slapped the horse's rear, "Go!"
We boarded the ship and he came up behind both of us, "Once the horse reaches the castle, the fabric will make the prince suspect the Guilderians have abducted his love. When he finds her body dead on the Guilder frontier, his suspicions will be totally confirmed,"
"You never said anything about killing anyone," Derpy said.
"I've hired you to help me start a war. It's a prestigious line of work, with a long and glorious tradition," he said.
"I just don't think that it's right to kill an innocent girl," she said back to him.
"Am I going mad, or did the word "THINK" escape your lips? YOU WERE NOT HIRED FOR YOUR BRAINS, YOU HIPPOPOTAMIC LAND MASS! Besides, with your eyes I'm surprised that's brains enough for you to realize when to eat and when to breathe. Leave the thinking to those with brains," he said.
"I agree with Fezzik," I said.
"OH! The SOT has spoken! What happens to her is not truly your concern. I will kill her! And remember this, NEVER forget this: when I found you, you were so slobbering drunk, YOU COULDN'T BUY BRANDY!" he then turned to Derpy, "AND YOU! Friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless! DO YOU WANT ME TO SEND YOU BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE? UNEMPLOYED? IN GREENLAND?" he screamed at us.
I looked away from him. I didn't like him at all. He was so angry, and I wished the Rainbow Dash was here. She would be telling him off and maybe even pushing him over the side of the ship. I couldn't help but giggle at the thought.
"Something funny?! Huh?! Perhaps you want to go back to drowning yourself in liquor, and end up on the wrong side of the law once again!" he shouted at me.
I shook my head and he walked away from me and past Derpy toward the front of the ship. I walked toward Derpy and leaned in toward her.
"Vizzini, he can... fuss," I said.
"Fuss, fuss... I think he like to scream... at us," she said with a giggle.
"Probably he means no... harm," I replied.
"He's really very short on... charm!" she exclaimed happily.
"Ah, You have a great gift for rhyme," I said patting her on the back.
"Yes, yes some of the time," she replied.
"Enough of that!" he shouted.
"Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?" I asked Derpy.
I smiled as I watched her.
"If there are, we'll all be dead!" she exclaimed.
"No more rhymes now, I mean it!" Vizzini shouted.
"Anybody want a peanut?" Derpy chirped.
"DARGUH!!!!!!" Vizzini shouted.
I couldn't help but laugh. It felt good to laugh, and to joke. I watched Lyra and knowing that we found her I hoped that we would find Discord, Don, and Carrot Top before too long. At least in Spike's comic we had all been together. I had been here so long already. I worried about Angel Bunny, and had the girls already come home? Oh, if Twilight and Pinkie was home then I didn't need to worry. Twilight would make sure that Angel ate, and so would Pinkie, although I told her no more sugar. Angel was too hard to keep track of after that.
I noticed something behind us in the water. For a moment it was almost nothing, but then I realized that it was another ship.
"We'll reach the cliffs by dawn," Vizzini said, "Why are you doing that?"
"Making sure nobody's follow us," I answered.
Despite him saying what he did to Derpy I starting to wonder if he was the truly stupid one.
"That would be inconceivable," Vizzini said.
I noticed that Lyra was awake and smiled down at her. She returned it to me and then looked at him.
"Despite what you think, you will be caught. And when you are, the prince will see you all hanged," she said.
"Of all the necks on this boat, Highness, the one you should be worrying about is your own," he said before he looked back at me, "Stop doing that! We can all relax, it's almost over."
"You are sure nobody's follow us?" I ask.
"As I told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways, inconceivable. No one in Guilder knows what we've done, and no one in Florin could've gotten here so fast," he paused for a moment, "Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"
"Oh, it's nothing, suddenly, I just happen to look behind us and something is there," I said pointing out toward the distance.
"What?" he asked
He walked over toward me and I felt him lean against the same side of the ship I was against, "Probably some local fisherman out for a pleasure cruise at night... through eel infested waters."
The next sound was one of water splashing. I turned to see Lyra trying to swim away, and inside I cheered her on. I didn't want this big meanie we were with to do anything to her.
"Wha-wh- Go in! Get after her!" he screamed.
"I don't swim," I replied.
"I only dog paddle," Derpy said.
"DYEAH!! VEER LEFT! LEFT! LEFT!" he shouted.
Derpy pointed out at the water as a high pitched wailing sound could be heard.
"Do you know what that sound is, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels. If you don't believe me, just wait! They always grow louder when they're about to feed on flesh," he said.
I watched as an eel swam by her.
"If you swim back now, I promise, no harm will come to you. I doubt you'll get such an offer from the eels," Vizzini promised.
I watched Lyra swim back toward us, but as she was an eel began charging her. Before a thing could be said Derpy reached down and pulled her into the ship.
"Put her down, just put her down," Vizzini said.
"I think he's getting closer," I said.
"HE'S NO CONCERN OF OURS. SAIL ON!" he shouted.
I turned to watch him look down at Lyra.
"I suppose you think you're brave, don't you?" he said.
"Only compared to some," she replied.
He grumbled and walked away from her. I watched him take a seat at the far end of the ship and his eyes closed.
"Lyra, are you okay?" Derpy asked.
"Don... it's terrible he left to go and learn a craft... My neighbor told me that he had been killed!" she cried.
I walked over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. She nuzzled against my neck.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"It hurts so bad. This has been so hard, and I've never known my heart to hurt like this before. Even when Bonny left me it didn't feel like this," she whimpered.
"Shhhh... It's okay. We're here now, and we're going to help as much as we can," I said.
She nodded. We sat together in the cold as the night passed. I looked up and noticed the ship from the previous night.
"Look! He's right on top of us! I wonder if he's using the same wind we are using," I said.
"Whoever he is, he's too late. SEE? THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY! HURRY UP! MOVE THE THING! AND THAT OTHER THING!" Vizzini shouted.
We began preparing the ship to dock and once it was we started leaving it.
"MOVE IT!" he shouted as we exited the ship, "We're safe."
He pointed to a rope and began strapping what looked like harnesses onto Derpy.
"Only Fezzik is strong enough to go up our way. He'll have to sail around for hours 'til he finds a harbor," he said with glee.
Derpy began to climb the rope with a strength that I didn't realize she had. She was always so gentle, and I was amazed at how powerful she was. She would flap her wings every once in a while, but mainly she was grabbing the rope with her mouth, pulling us up, and then holding on with her front and rear hooves. We were well over halfway up the rope when I looked down.
"He's climbing the rope. And he's gaining on us," I said.
I looked over at Vizzini as he looked down. His eyes widened.
"Inconceivable!" he shouted before he hit Derpy in the shoulder, "FASTER!" he demanded.
"I thought I WAS going faster," she said.
He growled and stared at her.
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THIS COLOSSUS, YOU WERE THIS GREAT LEGENDARY THING, AND YET HE GAINS!" he shouted.
"Well, I'm carrying three people, and he's got only himself," she reasoned to him.
"I do not accept excuses. I'm just going to have to find myself a new giant, that's all," he said snidely.
She actually looked heartbroken when he said that. Normally it would be really hard for me to get upset, but he was pushing my buttons. Here he was making fun of Derpy, being a big meanie, and all the time there was something that was keeping from telling him that he should try to be nicer, well if he doesn't mind I mean.
"Don't say that, Vizzini. Please?" she pleaded.
"DID I MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOUR JOB IS AT STAKE?!" he shouted at her.
At that she climbed harder. I felt the edge of the cliff scrap across my wings before Derpy climbed over the edge and managed to set us all down. At that Vizzini ran to the top of the rope and cut it. I walked to the edge and saw the man in black still on the side of the cliff.
"He's got very good arms," Derpy said.
"HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE!" Vizzini shouted.
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means," I said, "Sweet Celestia he's climbing!"
"Whoever he is, he's obviously seen us with the princess and must therefore die. You, carry her. We'll head straight for the Guilder frontier. Catch up when he's dead. If he falls, fine. If not, the sword," he said.
I looked at him and tried to get it through my head.
"I'm going to duel him left-hoofed," I said.
"YOU KNOW WHAT A HURRY WE'RE IN!" he shouted.
"Is the only way I can be satisfied. If I use my right, over too quickly," I replied.
"Oh, have it your way," Vizzini said.
"You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted," Derpy said.
"I'm waiting!" Vizzini shouted.
Derpy glowered at him before looking back at me.
"Do be careful Fluttershy," she said.
"I... I'll be okay," I said.
She nodded and carried Lyra as she followed Vizzini. I watched the little bald meanie leave and for once I never felt so glad to see someone go. I've never known any pony that mean. He was just so abusive. I put it out of my mind and looked over the side of the cliff again.
"Hello there!" I shouted, "Slow going?"
"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but this is not as easy as it looks, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't distract me," he said back.
"Sorry," I replied.
"Thank you," he said sounding very terse.
"I do not suppose you could-a speed things up?" I asked.
"If you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or a tree branch or find something useful to do," he replied.
"I could do that. I've got some rope up here, but I do not think you would accept my help, since I am only waiting around to kill you," I replied to him.
"Well, that does put a damper on our relationship," he said.
"But, I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top," I said.
"That's very comforting, but I'm afraid that you're just going to have to wait," he said.
"I hate waiting," I said as I began to walk away, "I could give you my word as a Maredrian."
"No good. I've known too many Maredrians," he replied.
"So's there anyway you'll trust me?" I asked.
"Nothing comes to mind," he replied.
"I swear, on the soul of my father, Domingo Montoya, you will reach the top alive," I said.
"Throw me the rope," he replied.
I quickly uncoiled it and tossed it over to him. He quickly climbed up the rope and I watched as he began to pull his sword.
"Thank you," he said.
"W...wait, if you don't mind, and go ahead and rest up for a bit," I said.
"Again, thank you," he replied.
"I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?" I asked as he took his boot off and dumped some rocks.
"Do you always begin conversations like this?" he asked.
"My father was slaughtered by a six fingered man. Was a great sword maker, my father. When the six fingered man appear and request a special sword, my father took the job," I said as I looked at him and withdrew my sword, "He slave a year before he was done."
"I've never seen its equal," he replied as I handed it to him.
"The six fingered man returned and demanded it, but at one-tenth his promised price. My father refuse. Without a word, the six fingered man slash him through the heart," I returned to the sword to its sheath, "I loved my father, so naturally I challenged his murderer to a duel. I fail. Six fingered man leave me alive. But he give me these."
I pointed to the scars on my muzzle.
"How old were you?" he asked.
"I was eleven years old. When I was-a strong enough, I dedicated my life to the study of fencing, so the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to the six fingered man and say, 'Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.'," I said.
"You've done nothing but study swordplay?" he asked.
"More a pursuit than a study, lately. You see, I cannot find him. It has been twenty years now and I am starting to lose confidence. I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. It's not a lot of money in revenge," I said.
"Well I," he began rise, "I hope that you find him one day," he said.
"I suppose that we should begin," I said, "You seem a decent fellow, I hate to kill you."
"Thank you, you seem a decent fellow, I hate to die," he replied.
We both quickly unsheathed our swords and they met with a metallic clang. I felt the vibrations run down the sword into my left right hoof. The sword I was using seemed to be made especially for me. We moved seamlessly through the area. Each move a part of a dance that was as beautiful as it was deadly. I loved it, and at the same time I wanted to quiver in fear. This was so dangerous, so frightening, and I just wanted to find my friends and leave.
We shared a short banter, throwing out compliments at our skill until finally he knocked my sword away from me. I went to all fours and lowered my head.
"Kill me quickly," I whimpered.
"I'd rather destroy a beautiful stained glass window than kill an artist like yourself, Fluttershy. I'm sorry," he said.
For a moment I wondered what he said before a terrible pain rushed through my skull and everything blacked out.
Derpy's POV
I watched Vizzini as he looked behind us and his eyes widened.
"Inconceivable!" he shouted.
"What?" I asked.
"Catch up to me quickly!" he demanded.
"What is going on?" he asked.
"I want you to stay behind and finish him your way," Vizzini said.
"Oh, thank you Vizzini!" I exclaimed, "Wait, what's my way?"
"Pick up a rock, when the man in black appears and you see his head hit him with it!" he exclaimed.
"My way is not very sporting," I murmured.
I waited for him to go and when the man in black got closer I tossed the rock barely missing him.
"I didn't have to miss, but I don't want to do it like this," I said.
"What do you propose?" he asked.
"Don?" I asked.
"Derpy... I'm sorry. I really am," he said.
"Don't be! Oh Don Lyra is going to be so happy!" I exclaimed as I went to hug him.
He jumped into the hug and then I let him down.
"Vizzini is going to try to kill her!" I exclaimed.
"I know, I've watched this movie a thousand times. We have to wrestle Derpy. It seems that the movie wants us to follow what happened in it," he said.
"Oh, okay," I said.
He moved around and I swiped at him.
"You're very fast," I said.
"A good thing too," he replied.
"Don, why are you wearing a mask?" I asked' "Did you get burned or something?"
"Oh no, it's just they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone'll be wearing them in the future," he replied.
I swiped at him and he jumped onto my back. I tried to knock him off, but he held on. I could feel my breathing getting shallower, my eyes grew heavy, and soon everything turned black on me.
Don's POV
I didn't want to do that to either Fluttershy or Derpy. They were both my friends, but it seemed like the film really wanted everything to proceed just like it normally did. I had learned that the hard way when I tried to stop the large pirate ship from overtaking the Bristol Packet. I hadn't ever seen what really happened in that time, but I knew that Westley had become an assistant to the Dread Pirate Roberts.
From that point on I followed the movie as close as possible. I did what Westley had said he had done, and eventually I was filled in about how he wasn't the first Dread Pirate Roberts. From there I took over the ship, and I went in search of Lyra. I missed her so much. I hadn't realized how much until I was forced to do without her. All of that lead me to this instant, and I was narrowing in on Vizzini. I could see him sitting beside Lyra with a blade against her throat. Although I knew he was just part of the movie my blood boiled as I watched him.
"So it is down to you, and it is down to me," he said as I pressed forward, "If you wish her dead, by all means, keep moving forward."
"Please, let me explain..." I began
"There is nothing to explain. You are trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen," he retorted.
"Perhaps an arrangement can be made," I said.
"There will be no arrangement, and you are killing her," he said pressing the dagger closer and actually drawing blood.
I stopped and kept myself from getting more upset. I needed to be strong at the moment.
"Well, if here is no arrangement then we are at an impasse," I said.
"I'm afraid so. I can't compete with you physically and you're no match for my brains," he replied.
"You're that smart?" I asked him.
I knew the next words out of his mouth. It was so easy to follow the scene. Although he was just a character I had to remind myself that Vizzini was written to be a very clever man. So appealing to a battle of the wits was the best thing to do. Within seconds he agreed and so began the great Iocane powder scene. I listened to him go through the entire list. Pushing back and forth until he tried the oldest trick in the book. I looked away, more caused by the movie forcing me to than actually wanting to, and then turned back to watch him wave it off. We both drank, he laughed, and then he fell over. I quickly lifted Lyra and removed the blindfold.
From having watched the movie I knew that Humperdinck would be following us. I needed to get her away from him, away from all of this and secretly I wanted to be able to just take her back home. Still we reached the place where I was supposed to say some very unwelcomed things.
"I know who you are!" she shouted.
I felt her eyes burning into me.
"You are the Dread Pirate Roberts, and you killed my one true love," she said.
"It's likely. I kill quite a few people," I replied.
"Don't trivialize my pain!" she exclaimed.
"Life is pain princess," I said as I drew her up to me, "And anypony telling you different is trying to sell you something."
She looked at me and her eyes widened.
"I do remember your farm boy though. He didn't try to beg or barter his way to freedom. No, he simply asked 'Please, please don't kill me'. It was the please that caught my attention. I asked him what was so important to live for, and he replied, 'True love'. He told me of a beautiful creature, so faithful, true, and wonderful that he needed to go back to. I believe that I did your Westley a service by killing him. He didn't have to live to see the wretch his true love had become," I said.
She growled and looked at me with utter hatrid.
"And what is it that I've become?" she asked.
"Faithfulness he talked of, Madame, your enduring faithfulness. Now tell me truly, when you found out he was gone, did you get engaged to your prince at the same hour, or did you wait a whole week out of respect for the dead?" I asked.
"You mocked me once never do it again! I died that day and you can die too for all I care!" she shouted as she shoved me.
I yelled As you wish to her as I rolled down the hill, and once I landed on the bottom I felt her land on top of me. She gathered me up into her forelegs and kissed me deeply.
"DON!" she exclaimed happily.
"I've missed you too Lyra. I've missed you so much," I said as we pulled back.
"Humperdinck... Oh, he's coming!" she said.
"Quick, we'll go in there," I said.
"The fire swamp?! But it's filled with dangers! I mean it's exactly like the Everfree forest!" she exclaimed.
"And that's all the more reason Humperdinck won't follow us," I said.
She nodded. The both of us got up and headed into the forest. Again it was just like the movie. We ended up avoiding the flames, crawling out of the lightening sand, and finally facing down the Rodents of Unusual size. Once through it we managed to make to the clearing. This was the part I was afraid of. I knew what was coming, and I hated it. I hated it because I had just gotten back with Lyra.
"Halt!" a royal voice called out.
I looked up at Humperdinck and drew my sword.
"You've survived the fire swamp which means you are either very brave or very stupid. I am hoping that you are brave because only a stupid man would attempt to fight a prince while he has his guards. Then again, if you are stupid it will provide me with some much needed entertainment," he said.
"Speaking of the fire swamp it wouldn't be hard to go back into there. We know where everything is and together we could live quite a while," I replied.
"Wait, wait... If I come with you willingly, if I agree to go back with you and become your bride will you spare him and return him to his ship?" Lyra asked.
"No!" I shouted.
"Of course, though it is an odd request," he said.
"My love, perhaps this is just not our time," she said to me.
"Count Rugen, Return him to his ship," Humperdinck said.
I watched as he rode off with Lyra and the count neared me.
"Come sir, your ship is waiting," he said.
"We're not returning to the ship," I said.
"No, we are not," he said as he nodded.
Pain filled me, and I found blackness.
When I awoke again I was inside of a dark room. An albino was cleaning my wounds.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"In the pit of despair. Don't even try to es...," he coughed, "Don't even think to try to escape. There's only one entrance in here and only Count Rugen and I know it."
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Tending to your wounds. The count wants you healthy before we begin," he said.
"So torture huh? Well, I can take that," I said.
"No, no you can't. No one can withstand the machine," he said.
I knew what he was talking about. It didn't take long for Rugen to appear, and even less time for me to be strapped into the machine. There are things I'd had happen to me that were unpleasant. Burned, cut, broken a bone or two, but nothing, and I mean nothing, compared to the machine. Westley screamed for a damned good reason. It felt worse than horrible to have a year's worth of life sucked out of me. The whimper that I had seen so many years ago were still there. I whimpered and inside I wanted to crawl off and die. I wanted to because I knew what was coming.
I knew that no matter what happened at this point I was going to be facing something so much worse. For an entire week I was treated, fed, made healthy, and all for the next bump which was going to be five years. Instead Humperdinck ran down the stairs like a mad man.
"You may have truly loved each other. She may truly love you. Which means in all of history there will be no one that will suffer as much as you will," he said.
I watched in horror as he shot the control up to fifty years and pain, pure bright, surging pain went through me and I screamed out as the machine sucked those years from me.
Derpy's POV
I listened to my new boss as he ordered me to get rid of a single pony refusing to leave. I walked to the house and found Fluttershy. She was leaning against a house, actually the same house we had met Vizzini at.
"I am waiting for Vizzini. He said to wait here when the job was done, and so I am waiting here!" she screamed at the men trying to drive her away.
"Go on, take care of her," my new boss said.
I looked at him, and quickly bopped him on the head. He fell over and I turned toward Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy," I said.
"Derpy?" she asked.
"It is me. Come, let us take care of you," I said.
I told her about the six fingered man, Count Rugen, and she promptly passed out in a bowl of food.
For the next hour I set about helping her sober up until finally she shook her mane and stepped back.
"No more, please no more," she said, "This count where is he?"
"In the castle," I said, "But it is heavily guarded. There is at least thirty men."
"How many could you handle?" she asked.
"Ten armed," I said.
"Ten, no... that leaves too many. I could never hope to best twenty armed men in combat. We need Vizzini," she said.
"But Vizzini is dead," I said.
"No... not Vizzini, the man in black, Don, we need Don!" she exclaimed.
"He was captured by the Count and Humperdinck. I'm not sure where they have taken him," I said.
"Do not worry my friend. We will worry about the small details when we need to!" she shouted.
I followed her out into the forest where we saw an albino. We followed him for a bit until we came near a few trees. She asked me to jog his memory, but I ended up knocking him out. I watched as she asked her father to guide her sword and after a few seconds we found the entrance hidden inside of a tree. We walked down to find Don lying on a table.
"He's dead," she said stepping back.
"What do we do?" I asked.
"How much money do you have?" she asked me.
"A little, why?" I asked.
"Let us hope it is enough to buy a miracle," she replied, "Get his body and follow me."
I did like she asked and the two of us headed out toward a small home. Once there she knocked on the door and it opened to reveal Discord. He quickly picked her up into a hug.
"This has been terrible! I can't perform any magic!" he exclaimed.
"Discord we need some help, Don, he's..." she started.
He touched Don and shook his head.
"Not dead, just mostly dead. Set him down and let me see what I have to work with," he said.
I watched as he quickly set upon getting a pair of bellows. He pumped some air into Don's chest and then looked at him.
"So, what's so important that you need to live?" he asked him.
"True love," Don moaned through his nearly closed lips.
"True love is a grand thing, a very noble cause, but he didn't say that. Nope, he said to Blave, which means to bluff," Discord said.
"Stop right there! You know he said True love!" Carrot Top said as she came around from the corner.
"Shut up witch!" he demanded.
"I'm not a Witch!" she demanded.
"Discord, please... Humperdinck has Lyra, and you're our only hope," Fluttershy said.
"Wait, if I do this Humperdinck suffers and we go home right?" he asked.
"Yes, humiliation and then home," Fluttershy said.
"Now that's a noble cause!" he exclaimed.
I watched as he mixed up the miracle and then handed it to us.
"You need to wait fifteen minutes before giving that to him for it to have full potency," Discord said.
I found a cloak and Discord looked at it and then at me.
"If you want it take it with you," he said.
I nodded and picked up Don. I carried him toward the wall and we stopped.
"That is more than thirty men," Fluttershy said.
"Yes, but we have him," I said nudging Don.
"Quick, give him the pill," she said.
"Has it been fifteen minutes?" I asked.
"It doesn't matter, we don't have the time to wait," she said.
We opened his mouth, pushed the pill in and forced him to swallow it. A moment later his eyes opened and he looked at us confused.
"Why can't I move my arms and legs?" he asked.
"You've been mostly dead for most of the day," I said.
Both Don and Fluttershy began talking about how to get into the castle and I pointed out that he was moving his finger, his head, and I asked him if he was happy about it. For a moment he got snippy, but then we told him about the wheelbarrow. I listened as he told us the plan and after a few minutes I was standing on the wheelbarrow, on my hind legs, and stretching out my front hooves.
"I am the Dread Pirate Roberts! There will be no mercy, no one will survive, I have come for all of your souls!" I shouted.
It felt so good to watch them all scatter. I thought about dressing up like this on Nightmare Night.
Fluttershy's POV
It was so good to see everything coming around. We got into the castle, and I knew that before long we could go home. I wanted to go home. I needed to check on Angel Bunny, and I wanted to make sure that everything was okay with all of my other animal friends. I had simply been gone far too long to not get back there with them.
Once we were inside we began walking down a hall and I saw a man standing away from me. On one hand he had six fingers and the memory of my father, of my real father burned in my mind. Even though I knew that my daddy was still alive I saw the man before me brutally murder him.
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die," I said.
He sent his guards toward me, but in an instant I had them all on the ground and faced him. He drew his sword, prepared to face me, and ran off. I flapped my wings, lifting off of the ground and chased after him. I was nearly on him when he slammed a door shut and locked it.
"DERPY! HELP ME!" I shouted.
"But I can't leave Don alone!" she shouted back.
"PLEASE! HE'S GOING TO GET AWAY!" I screamed.
I heard her nearing me and when she got to the door she turned around and mule kicked it off of its hinges.
"Go after him," she said.
I nodded and faster than I've ever flown before I chased after him. I rounded a corner and found a dagger in my stomach. I fell against the wall and slid down it.
"Forgive me father, I have failed you," I whimpered.
I slowly made my way to my hind legs and pulled the dagger out. I held the sword in my right hoof' while my left foreleg was holding the wound I had received from the Count. I felt so much pain rushing through me. My eyes focused on him as I tried to stand.
"You must be that little Spanish brat I taught a lesson to all those years ago. You've been chasing me your whole life only to fail now? I think that's about the worst thing I've ever heard," he said, "How Marvelous."
I struggled to stand up as he watched me. I fell back against the wall and he clicked his tongue.
"You've seemed to develop an unhealthy sense of vengeance. It's going to get you into trouble," he said as he thrust his sword forward. I blocked it causing it to hit my right foreleg.
He thrust forward again and Ireblocked it causing it to hit my left. Finally, I stood to my hind legs and looked at him. My eyes hardening at him.
"Hello My Name Is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die," I whispered.
"Excuse me, what was that?" he asked.
I thrust forward, visions of my father, of my real father being viciously killed by the creature in front of me flashed through my head. I cried out in anguish and struck his sword with an unknown skill. He blocked it and I looked at him, fixing the stare upon him.
"Hello My Name Is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father! Prepare to die!" I shouted.
He blocked me sword as I floated into the air and began fighting him with earnest.
Each swipe I could see my father, having worked on a beautiful sword, being killed, his work stripped from him as the count admired it. I could see the same count giving me two scars on my face as a reminder.
"HELLO MY NAME IS INIGO MONTOYA! YOU KILLED MY FATHER! PREPARE TO DIE!" I screamed.
"Stop saying that!" he shouted back at her.
I batted his sword away, and gave him a cut in the same place he had given me so long ago.
"Offer me money," I said.
"Yes!" he exclaimed.
I slashed his other cheek.
"Power, too, promise me that," I said.
"All that I have and more. Please," he begged.
"Offer me everything I ask for," I said.
"Anything you want," Count Rugen said before knocking my sword away.
He lunged forward, but I caught his arm and drove my own sword forward.
"I want my father back, you son of a bitch, if you don't mind," I whispered as I pushed the sword further into his stomach.
Don's POV
There was mixture of joy and pain as Lyra realized that I was still alive. She ran toward me, wrapped me into her forelegs and cried deeply against my shoulder. I knew the scene we were in, and I said it word by word. Each moment I watched as Humperdinck came in, exclaimed how he would win, and then decide to drop his sword when I explained what would happen to him. Once that was threw it was fairly easy. We jumped out of the window, Derpy caught us, and then the same golden light that had surrounded us before did so once again.
We all appeared back inside of the bar and I looked around. For some reason everything looked the same. I looked at the television and noticed that the credits were rolling on. Everypony else seemed to be looking around at the same time. Discord snapped his claws and a huge bucket of ice cream appeared.
"Oh I have never been so happy to be back home. If that is what Earth is like they can have it," he said.
"We've only been gone a little over an hour," I said.
"I want to go home and snuggle Dinky until we both go to sleep," Derpy said.
"I think that I want to just watch a movie next time," Carrot Top said.
"I'm ready to go home too," Fluttershy said.
With that both she and Discord disappeared. I watched as our other two friends left and then I turned to Lyra. She walked toward me, stood on her hind legs, and kissed me deeply.
"I want you to take me upstairs, and then I want you to rut the living Tartarus out of me. It might have only been an hour, but it felt like years, and I need you badly," she said.
I nodded, lifted her into my arms, and we walked up stairs. Both of us had one thought on our minds. That thought carried over into action. Neither of us really wanted any floor play, but instead we wanted to gorge on each other. I did as she asked, and she did as I hoped for. When it was over she lay beside me, sweating just as I was.
"Don, I love you," she said.
"I love you too Lyra," I said.
"I... Don, I want to spend my life with you. I mean it. I... I want to marry you," she said.
"Are you proposing?" I asked.
She nodded, "Being in there made me realize how lucky I am, and I don't want to even chance losing you. I want to be together forever, and that means being mare enough to admit that I want a ceremony that binds us together."
"I'm already bound to you, but if you want us to get married that would be fine. So, do you want a big one, or just go to Las Pegasus?" I asked.
She hit my arm and shook her head.
"Something here, but not overly big would be fine with me. I just want to have our friends here for it. Maybe you can even invite your friend from Earth to it," she said.
"He might come. Hell, I'm sure that Pinkie might drag him here. Especially if she gets to plan the reception," I said.
"A Pinkie Pie reception? Are you sure you understand what not too big is?" she asked. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Bark at the Moon | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 10 - Mini Chapter - 'Bark at the Moon'
Pain. Pure bright burning pain ripped through me. My eyes opened to see a hospital room, medical equipment, and a very sleep deprived Lyra sitting next to my bed. I tried to sit up, but I didn't make it very far before a gasp escaped me.
"Don! It's okay, just relax," Lyra said.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You don't remember? You saved Sweetie and Button," she said.
The memory began to drift back into my hazy mind. I remembered being near the Everfree Forest with Lyra, and hearing two adolescent foals screaming for help. Without thinking about it I had ran in and saw Sweetie Belle and Button Mash running from Timber Wolves. I hadn't even thought about what I was doing before I grabbed a fallen branch and swung it with all of my might.
It had connected with the first Timber Wolf, and when it did the magical creature simply broke into a thousand pieces. The other three stayed where they were observing the creature that had stood its ground. I glanced behind me to see both Button and Sweetie standing there.
"Get on out of here!" I demanded.
They nodded and a moment later I was left with three snarling wooden wolves. For a moment I wondered if they would simply content to back off when one of them lurched forward. I readied my branch again and the damned wolf ducked under my swing. It instead sunk it's teeth into the flesh of my arm.
There was nothing manly about my scream. I didn't sound like Rambo when he pulled out an arrow and then cauterized the wound with gun powder. Nope, I sounded like a kid that has just broken his arm, and then got dog bit for his trouble. I wrenched my arm away from the wolf only to find deep cuts in it.
"DON!" Lyra screamed as she ran toward where I was.
"LYRA GET OUT OF HERE!" I screamed.
The wolves began moving toward me, and then one of them exploded seemingly for no reason. The last two seemed to focus between the two of us and one of them lowered its head toward Lyra giving a deadly growl in her direction. I watched her horn glow a brilliant mint green for a moment before the wolf was knocked back away from her and slammed into a tree.
I also watched the other wolf jumped toward her from her blind side. I jumped on the things back and drove it to the ground. It rolled around with me on the ground until it knocked me off and I felt it clamp down on my shoulder. I screamed again as it shook me hard tearing away skin and some of the muscle there. The wolf exploded and I felt another stab of pain.
I looked to see Lyra running over to me and then she stopped. There was another deep growl and I turned my head to see a large wolf forming. At that time there was an explosion and the large wolf ran off into the woods. I looked to see Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Button, and Big Macintosh.
"What was that?" I asked as Big Mac helped me up into a wagon he had brought.
"That was some exploding powder that Zecora had taught me how ta make. She said Ah aught ta use it when Ah check on her hut fer her," Applebloom said.
I heard a voice and looked around the room I was in again. The memory of my first encounter with the Timber Wolves wasn't the most pleasant thing I've ever experienced. I felt Lyra touch my arm with her hoof.
"I'm so glad that you're okay," she said before she started crying.
I forced myself up and pulled her into a hug. My muscles screamed, and my skin felt tight in several places. She hugged me back tightly and then she let me lay back down.
"I was afraid that we might lose you. The Doctor had to get blood for a transfusion from Canterlot, and he was worried that you might not wake up," she said.
"Lyra, I've got too many reasons to wake up," I said, "How long does the doctor want me in here?"
"He said that you need to heal up a while before they let you out. I think that Nurse Redheart said you would be here for a good month before they let you out," she said.
"Oh man... I hope that I still have a job," I said.
"Don't worry the entire town knows what you did. Mr. Rich said that when you're able to come back to work you'll have a job, and Love Tap has offered to bring us home cooked meals while you're in here," she said.
The thought of not having to worry about eating hospital food brought a slight smile to my face.
"You've got to get to feeling better pretty soon. We've got a wedding to plan," she said with a sniffle.
I looked at her and motioned for her to lean down. She did and I kissed her. She returned it and then nuzzled my neck. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Friends, Holidays, and Misunderstandings | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 11 - 'Friends, Holidays, and Misunderstandings'
I had never been so thankful for home cooked meals in my life. Everyday Love Tap, Button, and Chip brought in something for Lyra and me. They would set up and the five of us would eat Dinner together. Even with me saving Button Mash and Sweetie Belle I was starting to feel like I was a mooch. Still, without fail I watched as the door opened, and an all too familiar family walked into the room.
Love Tap walked toward the dresser and Lyra quickly levitated everything off of her back onto the dresser itself. I smelled fresh garlic bread, spaghetti - which was vegetarian a personal life choice of Love Tap's, and some kind of freshly cut fruit. I heard the Pegasus who was finally moved into the room with me whimper with displeasure. I looked over to recognize Cloud Chaser.
"Man, that smells so good... They left me some peas, a minced haypatty, and I think this is supposed to be mashed potatoes," he said.
I looked at his meal and shuddered. That was the kind of thing I didn't want to try to choke down. Nurse Redheart had told me that for the most part small hospitals like the Ponyville Hospital didn't make too much alterations for gryphons or humans when it came to meals. I had tried hay once, I didn't like it, and I hated to think that the bulk of my meal would be that.
"Do we have enough to share?" I asked.
Love Tap nodded and walked over to Cloud's tray. She promptly dumped the contents into the garbage, and then put him a piece of Garlic bread, some spaghetti - with vegetarian meatballs, and fresh fruit salad on his tray. He wasted no time digging into the food. I was still getting used to seeing the pegasi using their wings to shovel food into their mouths when they were really hungry.
I smiled and waited for everypony else to get their plates before I started to eat. Once again I was in pure bliss. The food was amazing. I didn't know how Love Tap constantly managed to cook such amazing food, but it was obvious that everyone was enjoying it. A moment later a loud belch echoed through the room and Lyra looked at Cloud Catcher who arched an eyebrow.
"Sorry, but in Pegasus circles I just complimented your cooking," he said to Love.
"Thank you," she said.
"It is fantastic," Lyra said.
Love smiled and nodded. She brought a hoof up with a napkin and quickly wiped off Button's muzzle.
"Thank you so much for bringing this," I said.
"Believe me it's no trouble. It's the least I could do. You saved my little Button," she said happily.
"It was sooo cooool! You were just like Sido the Brave as he faced the Cohorts of Neighbolia! Except that you didn't have a sword, but it was amazing how you knocked that Timber Wolf into a baillion pieces!" Button exclaimed.
"I'm just glad that I was able to make sure that you and Sweetie Belle were safe. What were you two doing out there anyway?" I asked.
He nervously shuffled his front hooves around for a second before he looked back up at me.
"Well, Sweetie Belle wanted to go check on Zecora's hut, and she asked that I come with her, and we got there..." he stopped and looked toward his mother.
"Actually Button I haven't heard anything past that either. I know you said that you were going to go help Sweetie Belle, but that was really early morning. Don didn't find the two of you until late afternoon," she said studying him.
"Ummmm... Nothing was going on," he said.
"Button," she said as she narrowed her eyes at him.
I watched as the poor little brown colt began to sweat before breaking down and covering his face with his forehooves.
"We got to Zecora's hut and made oooouuuuuutttttttt!" he whined.
I watched as Chip covered his mouth, and I heard a snicker from Cloud, then Lyra began to snicker, and before long the entire room began to burst into laughter. Even Love Tap laughed long and hard at the situation. After a few minutes all of us began to quiet down and finally Love Tap touched Button's foreleg.
"Button Sweetie," she said.
"Yeah Mom?" he asked.
"You're grounded," she said.
"Buu..." he started before she narrowed her eyes at him again, "Okay Mom."
The rest of the meal was far more than enjoyable. Conversation held by good friends, and good spirits filled the small room. I was more than happy to have the food, and Love had said that she didn't mind making the meals for me. She ended up giving Cloud Catcher another tray of spaghetti before she left. I watched as he noisily ate the pasta and vegetarian meatballs. He finished his second plate, leaned back, rubbed his belly and then moved slightly sideways before letting loose another tremendous belch. The sound of it was deafening, and I could swear that it caused the windows to vibrate in the room. I shook my head and then looked back at Lyra who wasn't as put off as I thought she would be. Then again she did run a bar, and I knew she had dealt with all manners of ponies in it before.
"So, you're the guy that broke up a Timber Wolf lunch huh?" Cloud asked.
I looked at the dark Pegasus as he leaned into the bed.
"Yeah, it wasn't nearly as much fun as I thought it would be," I replied.
"I guess it wouldn't be. From what I've heard in town and in the hospital you've gotten something of a reputation going on now," he said.
"Like what?" I asked.
"That you're here to stay as a citizen. Most everypony believed it was only a matter of time before you went off and did something stupid enough for Princess Celestia to ask you to please leave Equestria. Being completely honest I kind of thought the same thing. I mean we've had at least six different humans try to settle in here, and none of them really seemed to last more than eight months before either going back through the gate or being asked to leave," he said.
I leaned back in the bed and thought about that. It meant whoever had built the cabin we saw near the lake was gone. They had been either asked to leave Equestria, or they returned to Earth. I didn't just want to last more than eight months. I wanted to live here for the rest of my life right here with Lyra. I felt her lay a hoof on my arm and I looked up at her.
"I have no intention of ever leaving," I said.
Cloud gave a small laugh before I heard him wince in pain. I looked toward him and finally took in that his right wing was bandaged up.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I've been trying to help make sure that the uncontrolled weather from the Everfree doesn't cross over into Ponyville. It's not usually difficult, but a couple of days ago a large storm began to move this way. We had to divert every Pegasus to keeping it under control. The clouds were so thick that it was hard to do anything except move them, and then I slipped through while I was pushing one," he said.
"So the storm hurt your wing?" I asked.
"Actually... One of the tallest trees in the Everfree hurt my wing. I slipped through the storm, rammed into a tree, and fell down every branch. They said I was lucky and only gave my wing a slight sprain, but it feels broken to me," he replied.
"Sounds like it was pretty difficult," I said.
"It was. There's only three Pegasi that fly high enough to monitor all of the weather. Rainbow Dash is one, and she's on Earth. Lightning Dust, who's filling in for her, is another, and the last one is Thunderlane. Thunderlane's on vacation, and Dust... Well... She's a little too showy. She's caused several accidents so far," he said.
"It sounds like you guys really need Rainbow Dash back," I replied.
"Yeah, or we could use Thunderlane back. Rainbow Dash showboated, a lot, but nothing like Dust has been. Thunder is at least smart enough to make sure that some of our clouds don't go over into the Everfree. That happens they turn into massive storms, and we get what we had the other day. Rainbow and Thunder would have seen that storm coming from a mile away and made sure that we kept it from happening," Cloud griped.
"Have you talked to Lightning about it?" I asked.
"Dude, do I look like the kind of stallion that would tell his marefriend that she's being stupid?" he asked.
"Wait a second... You're dating her?" I asked.
"Well, yeah. We've been dating for a couple of months, but what I said about her actions as Weather Captain stands. She's got the skill, but she's just too hung up on showing off," he said.
"Why don't you just talk to her?" Lyra asked.
He looked at her like she had grown a second head. He then looked at me to see if I thought that Lyra was joking, and when it was obvious that I wasn't reacting the way he thought that I should be he shook his head.
"I don't know how she would take it, and the last thing I want to do is hurt her feelings. For all of her showing off Lightning is pretty sensitive about things," he said.
She looked at him and then thought about how he could present it to her. After a moment nothing really came to mind and she shook her head.
"Why don't you make a suggestion then? I mean just suggest that in order to keep the wild storms down that she put a couple of you guys on going over the Everfree every couple of days," I suggested.
He looked at me and then shook his head.
"Where did you come up with that?" he asked.
"What? I mean isn't that Rainbow Dash used to do right?" I asked.
He nodded and then thought about it for a second.
"You're a brony huh?" he asked.
I nodded.
He grinned and looked up at the ceiling.
"That makes sense. Yeah, Rainbow Dash used to have a few of us fly over the Everfree every couple of days. She said that it was easier than trying to deal with the storms. I don't mind making the suggestion, but I'm not sure how to present it to her," he said.
"You said she likes to showboat right? Why not tell her that this is a way she can one-up Rainbow? It would make sense that she would be fine with showing up Dash while she took care of the Weather system here," Lyra said.
He grinned. His eyes then widened a little bit.
"Oh man... if she thinks that it's a chance to one-up Dash she might want to get a few more ideas. Do you mind if I come and talk to you guys every so often? I have a feeling that I'm going to need to get a few more ideas before everything is said and done. You wouldn't mind helping another stallion out right?" Cloud asked.
"Sure, I don't mind," I said.
I didn't mind, and besides if it kept the weather from having a few wild storms from hitting the town then that was even better.
Time passed awkwardly during my stay in the hospital. Cloud's first visitor, besides Love Tap and her family, was Lightning Dust. I was a little surprised to see my suggestion to him go over so well. She instantly thought it was an amazing idea. Well, actually she did after she realized that she would possibly be one upping Dash. After that she kept coming back to visit every day, for a few minutes or a couple of hours. And she did that right up until Cloud was allowed to leave the hospital.
I had three days left, and though I had tried to send Lyra home to get some rest she had ended up staying here, and curling up beside me. It was actually quite sweet, although she seemed to be feeling a little warmer than normal. I tried to think of a reason she might be warmer, but nothing was really coming to mind.
"My, aren't the two of you simply a picture of the happy couple," a voice said from within the room.
I looked around and didn't notice anyone.
"Discord?" I asked.
Discord flashed into existence and bowed slightly. He placed his elbows on the foot of my hospital bed and looked up at me.
"I've got a question, and I thought who would be better to answer than my bestest guy pal who has a marefriend," he said.
"Okay, so what's the question?" I asked.
"Well, actually I wanted to know what I should do for Fluttershy. Hearts and Hooves day is coming up, and this is the first time I've ever been close enough with anyone to want to celebrate it. What should I do for her?" he asked.
The name of the holiday brought the old episode to my mind. It had been one of my favorites, and I remembered that the CMCs had used a love poison on Big Mac and Cheerilee. Still, I wondered how much different the actual events of Heart and Hooves day was from the cartoon. I took an extra minute and shrugged my shoulders.
"Well, I'm not sure about Heart and Hooves Day, but I know on Valentine's Day guys usually get their girlfriends flowers, take them out a nice meal, or do something really nice and romantic for them. Wait... Are you and Fluttershy dating?" I asked.
He tapped his claw and paw together before looking around the room.
"Sort of," he replied.
I knew that he thought of Fluttershy as a friend, but I didn't realize that it was deeper than that. To be honest I always figured that when it came down to it Discord would stay friends, but try to distance himself somewhat from the ponies that lived around him. Everything I knew about him said that he was immortal. I had to believe that Fluttershy and the rest of the Elements, with the exception of Twilight, are mortal.
"Just be nice to her. She's a nice mare, and she deserves being treated like one. Don't take her granted, and do something for her that she'll really like, and if you really care for her then be ready to do whatever she wants on Hearts and Hooves Day," Lyra said without opening her eyes.
He grinned and then snapped his claws together. A moment later he was gone. Lyra snugged close to me and kissed my ear. I felt her gently nibble on it.
"I'm so glad that you're not going to have to spend Hearts and Hooves Day cooped up in the hospital," she whispered.
"What is it like? This is going to be my first Hearts and Hooves day. I know what Valentine's Day is like, but is it similar?" I asked.
I felt her shuffle, her eyes opened slightly, and I looked at her as she smiled.
"It's one of the most amazing holidays ever created. You get to feel so special because your special somepony is doing everything to make you feel good, and it's also the day that if you don't have a special somepony you can find one. It's amazingly easy to do," she said.
I held Lyra close, and wondered what was going to be in store for me. The next three days came and went, Lyra finally went home on the day I was going to be released, but she did so only to get me a fresh set of clothes, and to use our bathtub. When she came back she looked a little more refreshed. She passed my clothes to me in a magical grip and I quickly dressed. As I walked near her I couldn't help but feel the heat radiating off of her.
I walked outside to see Nurse Red Heart squirming in her chair. She seemed to be fidgeting quite a bit before she noticed me, settled down, and passed me some discharge paperwork. I filled it out and walked out with Lyra. It was at that moment I noticed a huge change in Ponyville. There were decorations up, but at the same time some of the stallions looked, nervous. There was actually a few of them walking together, and it looked like they were watching each other's backs.
"What is going on?" I asked.
"Heart and Hooves Day is tomorrow... I'm so glad that I've got you. I know that you're going to take good care of me," Lyra purred.
The weirdness of Ponyville just seemed to elope with the weirdness of the Twilight Zone. I walked past a few adolescent mares and noticed their eyes following me. I was more or less accepted into the community, but the way they looked seemed predatory more than anything else. I tried to shake it off, but a few more stares from some older mares made me wonder exactly what in the holy hell happened on Heart and Hooves day.
I stopped on our way back home and looked at the market place. The Apple Family Cart was there, but Big Mac looked almost as nervous as the stallions we passed earlier. I felt Lyra's fore legs wrap around my arm as she stood on her hindlegs and nuzzled against my shoulder. It felt amazingly good. I wasn't really weirded out by it; after all, she had been this affectionate in public before. Still, this felt different. She was really being affectionate with me while we were around the other mares in the market. It felt almost like she was marking her territory. I walked toward Roseluck's flower cart when I felt Lyra pull on me.
"Don, what are you doing?" she asked.
I looked at her and saw worry flitter across her face. She honestly seemed distressed about me walking over to Roseluck's cart. I gently rubbed her ears causing a soft moan to escape her.
"I just want to get you some flowers. I thought about doing it tomorrow, but I'm not sure if anything will be open," I replied.
She smiled a soft smile and nodded. I approached the cart and asked for a mixture of daisies and carnations. I wanted to get Lyra a dozen roses, but she had told me before that she really didn't much care for them, and one of the few things the show had been right about was that they did eat flowers. Roseluck gathered the flowers together, handed them to me and then her hoof lingered a little on my hand. I heard a light growl and she quickly pulled it back. I turned to see Lyra looking hard at her.
"I'm sorry Lye, but... I just don't have a special somepony this year... Do... Do you think that you could honor the past tomorrow?" Roseluck asked.
"There's several stallions roaming around, and you should be able to find somepony. I'm not a traditionalist Roseluck. I'm sorry, but I've never been one, and besides, this is his first Hearts and Hooves Day. I want it to be special for him," she said looking up at me.
"Oh, I understand..." Roseluck said looking dejected.
"Wait, honor the past?" I asked before Lyra began pulling me away from the stand.
We walked, hurriedly, toward the bar. Once there Lyra shut the door, bolted it, and put up the sign indicating that the bar would be closed. She snorted and looked at me. There was a near crazed look in her eye that was teetering on the edge of creeping me smooth the fuck out, and I was wondering exactly what it was that was going through the head of my marefriend.
"Lyra, what is going on exactly?" I asked.
"Don, Tomorrow kicks off Hearts and Hooves Day!" she exclaimed.
"Okay, it's a cute little holiday that you spend with your special somepony, I get that, but what is going on?" I asked.
She walked over and I felt magic grip my hand, and before I could even argue that same magic dragged my hand toward her tail. She looked at me her eyes still somewhat crazed, slightly glossy, and obviously lost to the moment.
"Heat, we're all going into heat!" she exclaimed.
The realization hit me hard. Ponyville wasn't a huge town. There were a few thousand ponies and a few gryphons that lived here. While the show, and most of the fan fictions, weren't right about there being roughly three times as many mares as there was stallions there was still several mares. The stallions that weren't in committed relationships knew what was going on. I realized what was going on.
"The honoring the past... What is it exactly?" I asked.
She looked at the ground. I knew she wasn't exactly sure how to answer it. I had a feeling. There had been several fan fictions that dealt with this. Sure, there had been a number of times that the fan fictions had been wrong, but it seemed like they might be getting it right this time.
"It's herding. We don't really do it anymore. I mean, there's really not a reason to, and there really wasn't a reason to then either. Sometimes if a mare can't find a special somepony she'll ask someone who has one if they'll honor the past. It's because they need relief, but I don't want to do that Don," she said.
"I don't either. Wow, so... What's going to happen?" I asked.
*Shhpop!*
I looked at her as the wet sound echoed through the room. She walked toward me, her horn lightly glowing. She stood on her hind legs and kissed me deeply. I felt her tongue invade my mouth and she began to battle my own tongue. I was barely out of the hospital and I had a feeling that the actions that I was going to see tonight could lead me to being right back in there.
I broke the kiss and looked at her. I knew what was going on, and I knew what was happening. I felt myself being pulled toward the bedroom upstairs, and I followed. Once we were there the door slammed shut on its own, and I felt something gripping me inside of my jeans. The magical appendage stroked me several times before I began removing my clothes.
Lyra laid down on the bed, her tail moved out of the way, her head on the mattress, and her ass sticking up in the air. She didn't want foreplay, she didn't want to be treated like a queen, but regardless of that I was determined to at least give her both things. I leaned forward and kissed her inner thigh.
A soft moan escaped her. I kissed a little higher, and another deeper lust filled moan followed. As I neared the treasure I heard her gasp, moan, and her breathing became heavy and uneven. I looked at the moist set of lips presented to me. I kissed them, gently tracing around them, and then softly penetrating them with the tip of my tongue.
"Stop teasing," she gasped.
I ignored her protest and probed a little deeper. Her gasps began to fill the room, and soon she was panting hard. I licked down to the edge of her lips and found a small nub waiting, winking, and inviting me. I cautiously licked it and when I did she pressed against me hard shoving as much of her into my face as she could.
"Please! Don! I... need... Want... NOW!" she screamed with desire.
I stood and aligned myself. The heat coming off of her was amazing, and I pushed forward. She let out a satisfied moan as she began to rock her hips back and forth. I wrapped my hands around her hips and began to match her tempo. I slammed forward as she raced back. The wonderful sounds of her pants and moans filled the air along with the squeaks of the bed springs.
Almost every fan fiction I've ever ready talked about the endurance and stamina of the human male in comparison to a mare in heat. That somehow we're all porn stars that can go for ages and never get tired. Those fan fictions are full of it. Since I've been here I've built up my stamina. I've ran with Lyra, had sex with her several times, and I had gotten to the point where I could go off and on for a couple of hours. I would consider that porn star worthy. After about three hours I needed a break. I felt Lyra fall forward and I fell beside her. She breathed out a heavy sigh, sounding like she was content, and scooted over to me. I felt like I had just run a marathon. She kissed my cheek and snuggled close.
"Let's rest for a little while, and then we can go again," she said.
"How long does this heat usually last?" I ask.
"About a week, and I'm so glad that I have you. I knew that you would be taking care of me," she said.
I thought about it. An entire week, of marathon sex, with Lyra, and it sounds great. It sounds fantastic until I stopped to think about it. There was no telling how long she was going to rest. A funny thought came to me as I laid there. If this was happening here, then were the ponies on Earth going through it again? No, I had doubts about that. I laid there and felt my eyes drooping. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Matters of the Heart – a Discord and Fluttershy Heart and Hooves Day romance | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 12 - Bonus Chapter - 'Matters of the Heart - a Discord and Fluttershy Heart and Hooves Day romance'
My thinking tree has always been so comfortable. Of course the fact that I have been given permission to do whatever I want with this small bit of land more than allows me to be comfortable. To the outer appearance the tree is just that, a tree, but the moment someone was to land where I like I think it's something else entirely. I look at the hard wood floors, thatched ceiling, and sigh as I lean back in a faded blue recliner. A squeak gets my attention and I look up to see a horned rabbit's head sitting atop of an alligator's body.
"Yes, it's quite good to be home," I replied.
"Squeak!"
"You were right, going and talking to Don and Lyra did give me some direction," I admitted.
"Squeak!"
"No, I'm still not sure what it is I want to do. This is the first time I've ever allowed myself to feel anything more than friendship. I was curious," I said.
"Squeak?"
"What do you mean have I told Fluttershy? Of course I haven't, not yet anyway. I'm trying to think of something nice to do for her," I stated.
"Squeak!!"
"Oh be serious for a moment... No, wait, don't do that. I hate being serious. Still, I seriously doubt that Fluttershy is going to find another stallion," I replied.
"Squeak?!"
"Now that's just ridiculous! She wouldn't just go looking for relief! To think that sweet innocent Fluttershy would debase herself in such an act. Reginaldus, you're being difficult!" I exclaimed as I puffed out my chest.
"Squeak..."
"She only sees me as a friend if that's all I act like? What kind of madness is that?! Fluttershy is very perceptive of how I feel!" I exclaimed again.
"Squeak,"
I watched as Reginaldus gave his parting words of wisdom and shook his head. He crawled off toward the window to bathe in the sun. I watched as a small toffee humming bird landed and pecked at its own legs just outside of Reginaldus' grasp. I knew what was going to happen and I watched as Reginaldus opened his mouth, a long forked tongue shot out and wrapped around the bird pulling it toward him. It was a sight to watch his sharpened rolls of shark like teeth shredding the candied bird to pieces in mere seconds.
Still, he had made a point that I didn't want to accept. Up until this point I had merely been Fluttershy's pal. There was never really a moment I had ever expressed any desire to be anything else, and perceptive as she might be Fluttershy was mortal. Her time to do things, see things, and experience all that life had was limited. Well, it would be if I didn't interfere.
I snapped my claws and the coat rack walked toward me bringing a menu. I looked over it and rubbed my chin.
"Splinter, I believe that I shall invite Fluttershy into my home for Hearts and Hooves Day. What would you consider a meal fitting a first real date?" I asked.
Splinter, the coat rack, rubbed the knob that was his head and then pointed to an eggplant ala king meal. It called for candied apples as an appetizer, and a thick chocolate mousse for dessert. I nodded and watched as he walked the menu over to a kitchen stool and six puppets. The stool and puppets studied the menu and set upon gathering the ingredients.
"Now, remember this must be perfect. Of course we'll need entertainment. Candeo, do you think that you and the others can give us a floor show?" I asked the center candelabrum.
She nodded before igniting all of the candles around herself. They began to dance in time with one another. I clapped as they moved to an unheard music. Seeing that it was unheard I reached out, found the dial for it, and turned it up. The sound of a classical, prebanishment, Canterlot Waltz filled the air. It was beautiful, heady, and reminded me quite a bit of Luna. Then I remembered that this had been the very song played at Luna's coronation. Beautiful as it was I didn't want Fluttershy to think that I was cheapening our date by using a mere princess' coronation music. This needed to be something else. I reached up and turned another dial. The sound that filled the air this time was lively, spastic, and the dancing of Candeo and her friends began to reflect the music. It was wild, spastic, and so much fun to watch.
"Yes, this is perfect!" I exclaimed.
"Thank you, for tuning into Big Daddy Discord's house of Swing and Jazz. This is Big Daddy Discord playing all of the great hits of Equus and Earth. Next, is a softer song, from Earth, a dedication from Discord to Fluttershy," the voice said.
Earth Angel began to play, and I nodded.
"Yes, that's perfect, be sure to play that song when she arrives," I said.
"Of course, and now, back to the sounds of swing and jazz brought to you by the good people of Anarchy soaps and cleaners remember if needs to be tore down, restructured, and cleaned contact Anarchy," the voice said as the sound of jazz filled the house.
I snapped my claws again and found myself outside of Fluttershy's cottage. Standing outside, with a grimace on his face, was Angel. I looked at the small white rabbit and then looked at Fluttershy's shed which was boarded up.
"What is going on?" I asked.
He looked at me and then made a heart motion.
"Heart and Hooves Day... Oh..." I said realization hitting.
Angel nodded and then turned back toward the door and huffed out a sigh. He quietly kicked the door once and then looked up at me. He studied my face for a moment before an excited chitter escaped his small mouth. He pointed to me, then to the door, and then back to me. I grew amused at his grasp of the situation. I almost expected to see him to show me some gratitude, but instead he rolled onto his back and began to laugh as if this was the funniest thing he had ever saw.
"And what is so funny?" I asked.
He chittered again and then quickly hopped up to the door, knocked on it. I heard a sound behind it and the door opened just slightly.
"Angel Bunny, I told you that I can't have you in here for the next couple of days... Discord?" she asked sounding surprised.
"My dear Fluttershy, I have come to ask you to favor me with your presence on this Heart and Hooves day," I said.
"I... Oh Sweet Celestia you smell so good..." she muttered.
"I... what?" I asked.
Her door flew open and standing there was Fluttershy, with a slightly crazed look on her face, her eyes focused on me and a smile that simply reached too far back to go unnoticed.
"You smell so good Discord!" she cooed as she jumped up and wrapped her forehooves around my neck.
A quick glance around gifts me with the sight of Angel laughing so hard that it's obvious he's having a hard time breathing. I can see why most everypony else dislikes the little white rabbit. I feel Fluttershy tighten her hug against my neck and her breathing becomes heavy and erratic.
"Fluttershy..." I try to say before I pull my head off, step back, and reattach it. Without warning she's on me again, and this time she's knocked me to the ground. She nuzzles against me very affectionately, and I gently rub behind her ears.
"Fluttershy, do you have a special somepony?" I asked as she continued to attack me with her affection.
"Yes, I do now," she whispered.
'Just be nice to her. She's a nice mare, and she deserves being treated like one. Don't take her granted, and do something for her that she'll really like, and if you really care for her then be ready to do whatever she wants on Hearts and Hooves Day,' the memory of what Lyra had said floated around in my head. I reached up, plucked the memory out and watched it for a moment before I pushed it back into my ear so it could disappear back into my thoughts again.
I hugged her back, and she felt warm, exceptionally warm. I had seen the events of Hearts and Hooves Day well over a thousand years ago. Luna, before her banishment, was chasing down a poor Lunar Pegasus and laying claim to him against his will. Things were different then, not exactly better, but a bit more chaotic.
The memories of that poor Lunar guard, the sounds of his pleas not being answered reminded me of a very important thing. This holiday was built on the ideal of insanity that would be forgiven. Normally I would be all for a celebration of insanity. Insanity, much like chaos, is a force much like gravity. The closer one is to it, the quicker one falls into it. There are a rare few that withstand the temptation of either, and even fewer who can overcome having fallen in only to redeem one of the forces.
I felt somewhat jealous of insanity at the moment. It had its claws on Fluttershy. True, I had once done something similar with chaos, but she had overcome falling into chaos. The train of thought stopped when she squeezed and nuzzled me. I wanted to win her back from insanity, and share what I had prepared with her. It was something she would normally enjoy, but it did mean getting her to follow me. I pulled myself in half and stepped back. She looked at me, snorted and pounced. I turned and began to fly chuckling as I heard her following me.
I knew that she wasn't a strong flyer, but that seemed to have changed since the last time she flew any distance. It wouldn't be hard to out fly her, or vanish without a trace, but that would mean leaving her to insanity, and I refused to leave her to something that obviously liked to cheat. We neared my thinking tree, and I turned to see her flying hard at me.
"LOVE ME!" she shouted as she neared me.
I waited, and she tackled me. Whatever insanity had been running through her mind had flooded over her. I held her, snapped my claws, and the sound of the song I had chosen earlier began to play. She lessened her grip on me for a moment and looked around.
"We always have dinner at your home, and I wanted to share mine with you. If I am your special somepony, and I truly hope I am, then I wanted to make this day perfect for you," I said.
She went back to nuzzling against me, and opened her eyes again. The look I had seen on Luna's face over a thousand years ago, the look that was obviously on every mare's face in Ponyville, and I dare say all of Equus, was fading. There was something else on her face. It suited her. Her kind eyes sparkled differently and she leaned up to me. I felt something I had never expected to ever feel.
"This is Big Daddy Discord saying to share your hearts to all of you Avatars of Chaos and mares out there today," the voice said at the end of the song.
"You went through all of this trouble for me," she said.
"Of course I did. You're my friend, and over the years I've realized how close you've become to me. I dare say I wouldn't be the avatar of chaos I am today if not for you. Fluttershy, I..." I found myself unable to finish the sentence.
I found the words stuck in my throat, and even I couldn't pull them out. Instead she kissed me once more, and when she did the words came out. They filled the room with a feeling I wasn't sure I would enjoy, but much like friendship itself I found myself wanting this feeling more and more. She broke the kiss and placed her hind hooves on the floor. Her right forehoof stayed in my left hand and she led me away from the dinner, from the show, from the music and to a place I hadn't dared think of.
The room opened, a complete copy of the bedroom she had allowed me to stay in once long ago.
"I love you too," she said.
Her touch was better than chaos, her kiss sweeter than any torment I could ever give Celestia, and the gift she gave me more precious than the freedom I once held so highly. I held her, hours after she first began, knowing that things were different. Change, now I could stand change. Change wasn't like insanity. Change shared. Change understood that there was give and take. It wasn't greedy like insanity was. If I had to share I could do so with change, and change had given something else in return.
Change had given a marefriend in the place of a friend, and a lover in the place of a playful Avatar. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Crushed | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 13 - 'Crushed'
The quietness of the beautiful lake surrounded me. The past week had been interesting to say the least. I'd wake up to find a very horny Lyra next to me. There was far more sex in that week than I had experienced since coming here. Like with every other mare, gryphon hen, and from what I understand minotaur cow her heat began to lessen. Lyra said that every mare who is in a relationship, or claimed a special somepony on Heart and Hooves Day, was encouraged to report to their local hospital.
When I had asked her why she raised an eyebrow and asked me if I had ever gotten the talk about where little foals come from. I had explained that I knew that, but I didn't know they could check so early. She shrugged and I decided to chalk it up to magic, and realized that I had an entire day to myself. So, taking the day to rest up, since Mr. Rich was kind enough to allow all of his employees to have an extra day to rest before coming in, I decided that a day at the beach fishing, and lounging would be awesome.
"Hey, mind if you get some company?" a familiar voice asked.
I turned around to see Cloud Catcher and Carmel standing behind me.
"Sure, I'm not doing much anyway," I said.
They walked up toward where I was sitting, and Carmel looked at the peaceful water.
"I don't think that I've ever, and I mean ever, been so glad to see and hear so much peace and quiet," he said.
"No kidding, so how was your first Hearts and Hooves Day?" Cloud catcher asked as he looked at me.
"I won't lie man. It was amazing, but damn I didn't realize that when she said all week she meant all week," I replied.
Carmel laughed and shook his head.
"At least you only had one to deal with," he replied.
"Carmel are you going to brag again?" Cloud asked.
Carmel rolled his eyes.
"I wouldn't call it bragging. One of them was a gryphon, and trust me that's a whole new game of hoofball. So, did Lightning wreck your flank like she said she was going to?" he asked.
Cloud shook his head and looked out across the water.
"She was aggressive, but more than anything she wanted to be dominated. It's kind of weird, but she's really into being really submissive during that time. I wasn't stupid enough not to give her what she wanted though," he said.
Carmel laughed as he looked out over the lake. He turned to look at me.
"So, is it true that human females are in heat all of the time?" he asked.
I laughed and shook my head.
"I don't know if I'd call it in heat all of the time. I know the majority of them have a cycle every month," I said.
They both looked at me blankly for a moment before Carmel finally shook his head.
"You have to deal with this every month?" he asked.
"Not quite. It's different. I think because it happens so often it sort of lessens it to a degree. They don't seem as..." I struggled to find the right way to say it before Cloud laughed.
"They don't seem as bucking nuts?" he asked.
"Yeah, that works," I said.
"It'd be nice to not have to see them go all crazy. Don't get me wrong, I think the world of Carrot and I'm finding myself really liking Sveti, but to have their estrus without having them stalking me. I'd pay a princess' ransome," Carmel said.
"I suppose you could always try to get a human girl," I suggested.
He thought about it for a second and shook his head.
"No offense, but I'm not sure how it would work. I mean all of you seem so tall and everything," he said.
"I don't know, but I saw Braeburn with a human girl back on Earth. He looked fairly happy," I said.
Carmel thought about that for a second and then shook his head.
"Naw, I like Carrot too much. I just wish that she'd feel like settling down. Don't get me wrong I'm not exactly pro-herd, but I could stand to have Sveti and Carrot together," he said.
"Nope," Cloud said.
"Wouldn't want to try it?" Carmel asked.
"Not. At. All," he said, "I've dated a gryphon before, and that's something I will never do again. Those girls get violent in bed."
Carmel laughed and shook his head, "You just have to find the right one."
I listened to them, and soon the sound of someone else approaching caught our attention. We looked over to see Big Mac. He tiredly walked toward the water, backed into it, and sat down. There was a sigh of relief before he looked around at us.
"So, I take it that you had an interesting Hearts and Hooves," I said.
"Eeeyup," he replied.
"Want to talk about it?" I asked.
"Nnnope. Ah just wanna relax away from Cheerilee for a while," he replied.
"Just Cheerilee?" Carmel asked.
"Not gonna talk 'bout it," Mac said.
I shook my head and looked across the water. I could see more and more of the male population gathering around the water. It seemed as if they were all ready to relax, get away from everything for a while, and just forget about the week they had been through. In all honesty I felt the same. I love Lyra, I love her with all of my heart, but that was something I won't ever forget, and a day of being in the peace and quiet was perfect.
After a couple of hours there was a complete collection of males from Ponyville, including Mr. Cake. The mood was fairly laid back. I almost expected to see someone start a game of some sort, but the most that happened was the mummer of talk rising up on occasion. I watched as Ironclaw the III dipped into the water. It was interesting to watch for a few moments before finally someone broke the silence.
"So, how many of them do you think are with foal?" Carmel asked.
"If it was my mare's choice she would be with foal this very second," Ironclaw the III answered.
"Purty sure that Cheerilee is," Mac said.
"I'm a little frightened at the prospect, but I would guess that Lightning is," Cloud replied.
"I'm just hoping that it's an Earth Pony this time," Mr. Cake stated.
The answers began popping up, giving the indication that most of the population thought that there would be a new generation of foals running around before long. Finally Cloud nudged me.
"What do you think about Lyra?" he asked.
"I don't know. I don't know if our species are so far removed that it's impossible or not. I know that Gryphons and ponies can have children, but I don't know about humans and ponies," I replied.
"Maybe you will. There's nothing quite like having a little one running around," a familiar voice said.
I looked and saw Chip. He was relaxing a little further down the beach.
"I suppose it's possible," came a slightly gruff voice, "but then again I know that Berry and I have been trying for some time. I'm glad that I'm able to help raise Berry Pinch at least."
I looked to see John, the other resident human of Ponyville. He walked toward the water, waded out into it, and let out a satisfied sigh as he laid back and floated on top of the water.
"So, when are you going to take Berry back to Earth?" Cloud asked.
"We're waiting on the gate pass for Berry Pinch to come through. There's a lot of world over there that I want to show them," he said.
"You're wanting to leave Ponyville?" I asked.
"It's a nice place, but it's just not home. I miss a few too many things about Earth, and I want Berry Pinch to get to experience some of the great things over there," he said.
I couldn't understand why he would want to leave. The town was more or less perfect. There wasn't really any crime to speak of, and while the occasional weird thing happened it wasn't that dangerous. Sure, there was a few things I would want to show Lyra from Earth, but I was certain that I wouldn't want to simply move back there either.
"John, are you planning on moving back to Earth?" I asked.
"That's the idea. Berry Punch and I have already gotten all of the details worked out through the embassy for the two of us, and like I said we're just waiting on the pass for Berry Pinch. Don't get me wrong. I like it here. I really do, but this isn't home, and besides if Berry and I want to have kids maybe the answer is in medical technology," he answered.
I watched him float, and I wondered if he might be right. Humans have done some pretty amazing things in the past, but I wasn't sure if this was something that our medical advancements could really handle. For all of our advancements I had never heard of cross breeding between a anything close to a human and a quadruped. I not going to say that I didn't believe it could happen. After all there are gryphons and minotaurs so obviously the ability to cross breed was there, but both of those examples originated from here. I wondered if it was because of the inherent magic of this world.
It would make sense if that was the case. The magic that surrounded this world, that was part of it, but I wasn't sure if it would work for us humans. Everything I had seen on the news, and everyone I had talked too pretty much confirmed that we weren't magical at all. I decided to stop thinking about it for the moment. Right now I wanted to relax, and just enjoy the day of doing absolutely nothing special.
The day began to pass, and I watched as the final few adult males began trickling in to the lake. I was surprised to see Discord among everyone else there. Being next to a god I figured that he would have simply been able to rejuvenate himself. The air around the lake began to change as the day passed. It was still relaxed, but the various groups of males began separating into different activities.
I smelled fish cooking, and I could see some of the other guys floating around sipping on some Trottingham Beer somepony had brought with them. I had been fishing, and long since given my catch to the group cooking. I wasn't much of a fisher, but they accepted the three small fish I caught and seemed happy to have it. I looked up into the sky and wondered exactly what was going to happen now. Hearts and Hooves was long over, and with that I knew things were going to return to somewhat normal around Ponyville. I also knew that more than likely there was going to be several additions to the community.
I could see every aspect of the lake, including the 'My Little Dashie' cabin, as I called it, being used. I stood stretched, and began to walk. I heard some hoofsteps and looked to see Cloud Chaser following me.
"Is everypony here?" I asked.
"Nearly, I'm sure some of the teenagers are trying to act like they didn't do anything," he said.
"Really?" I asked.
"Dude, I know when I was a teenager I didn't let my family know that I had been caught and made someone's special somepony for a few hours every day of the week after Hearts and Hooves day. I'm pretty sure my Dad and Mom knew, but I wasn't going to tell them that," he said.
"So, they'd rather hang out by themselves huh?" I asked.
"Oh, don't get me wrong. If they've got some friends they're going to be hanging out together, but for the most part they're going to avoid coming out here," he said.
I nodded, found myself near the fire pit, and took an offered piece of fish. Cloud did the same and we took a seat near Ironclaw the III who was currently tearing into a piece of cooked catfish.
"He's right you know. When I was younger I did everything to ensure that my father and mother had absolutely no idea that I had been cornered," Ironclaw said.
"Why go through all of that trouble?" I asked.
"It's embarrassing," they both answered.
I nodded and then looked up the sky again. It was so clear. I suppose that it would be. The only place where there was any storms could be happening was the Everfree, and it even sounded quiet over there. I watched the community gathered together relax, act like old friends, and then slowly everypony began leaving. I waved at Cloud, Carmel, and Ironclaw as they left. Instead for the moment I seemed to be completely alone. Well almost alone. The sounds of some arguments could be heard, and I walked toward them. Standing in the distance was Diamond Tiara and near her was Rumble. She turned from him and started to walk off. I heard her final words to him.
"It was a mistake Rumble. I meant what I said before about how everything we did was just fun, and I don't want to have to settle down with a loser. I don't want you to come near me," she said.
I looked at the adolescent colt sitting there. It had to be hard, harder than I could even imagine, to hold in all of that pain. Tears threatened to spill, and I walked toward him. I took a seat across from him and looked up at the filly which was the cause of it. I gently touched his side and brought him out of his self-enclosed withdrawal.
"Hey, it's going to be all right," I said.
He looked up at me, and his tears began to spill out.
"But... but I... I really like her," he muttered.
It was so painful to watch. I had been where he was so many times. More times that I could ever count. I was lucky now, but I hadn't been before. So, I figured it was time to pass along a little knowledge that my Uncle had passed on to me.
"I know it sucks. Hell, it's seven shades of suck, but that's what a crush is. That's actually why it's called a crush, because eventually that's exactly what it does. No one's immune to it," I said.
"I... I thought that she liked me," he whimpered.
"You want to hear a little secret?" I asked.
He nodded.
"Something like this happened to me. I met a nice, sweet girl, but the problem was she was dating a real jerk. Everyone knew that he was cheating on her, but she loved him. I got to talking to her, and we got to be close. I finally told her how I felt, and when I did she shot me down. She was sweet about it, but it hurt all the same," I said as I looked up at the sky, "I realized that she didn't need another boyfriend, but she wanted a best friend. So I decided to be the best friend I could to her. The truth is that there's always going to be girls breaking your heart, and all you can really do is pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep going. You keep going because eventually you're going to meet someone who's going to want to do nothing more than fawn over you."
"Sure..." he said.
"No, it's true," a different voice said.
We looked up to see Lyra trotting over to us. She sat down on the other side of him.
"He's right you know. You have to keep trying because eventually you will meet your special somepony, and when you do you'll be so glad that you never gave up," she said.
"She's... She's going to have our foal," he choked out.
Lyra took him into her forehooves and held him as he began to weep bitterly.
"My foal... my foal isn't ever gonna know that I'm the daddy," Rumble said.
He brought his wings up to cover himself as Lyra held him. I joined in the hug and wished that I could take the hurt away from the poor kid. Sure, I knew in some way he had brought this on himself, but it wasn't really fair to think like that. The kid at least deserved to have his foals know him.
"It'll be okay," I said.
After a couple of hours we walked Rumble back to the family he was staying with. Since his brother was on vacation at the moment he had been fortunate enough to get to stay with the cakes. Apparently they had put him up in Pinkie's old room, which was surprising to me. I wasn't sure why it was surprising, but perhaps because of the times I had seen the show and always associated Pinkie Pie with Sugarcube Corner.
We walked into the bar and Lyra let out a sigh. I felt a sort of heaviness in the air and touched her hoof.
"Something wrong?" I asked.
"Another year of not expecting," she said.
There was a sad smile on her face.
"I'm kind of wondering if maybe I just can't have foals," she said.
I pulled her into a hug and felt her wrap her forehooves around me.
"So, you'd like to have children?" I asked.
"Yeah, I was a little disappointed this time, although I really don't want them right now. I'd kind of like to be married before getting pregnant," she said, "Do you think that we'll be able to have foals one day?"
"Honestly I'm sure that anything is possible," I said before I kissed her. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Gypsy Brew | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 14 - 'Gypsy's Brew'
I checked the time for the fourth time. It had been four days since the impromptu gathering at the lake, and since that time I had been getting back to work. Well, work and getting Lyra ready for her chance to audition for the Canterlot Royal Symphony. We checked the savings, and it looked like we had more than enough for the train ticket, and for the cost to stay at the hotel the ponies auditioning were required to stay at.
The auditions started in two days, and that meant when I got home tonight we needed to get her ready to travel. She had to be there an entire day early for registration, and while I'm proud that she's going to try out I won't lie and say that an entire week without Lyra here with me is going to be hard. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to sleep with her in the bed with me.
I get back to work and check the repairs. So far I've fixed fourteen cassettes, about six eight track tapes, and I've cleaned nearly twenty VHS players. Finally I looked up again and smiled. It was time to clock out for the day. I walked to the time clock and punched out. I looked up to see Rumble standing outside of Mr. Rich's office.
"Rumble, what's wrong?" I asked.
He turned to me and then looked back at the office.
"I... I want to talk to Mr. Rich about my foal," he said.
Lyra and I had talked about this, and we both agreed that we should accompany him when he goes in to talk to Mr. Rich. We wanted to even if it was for no other reason than to be moral support for the kid. I knocked on the door and a moment later Filthy Rich opened the door. He looked at us, arched an eyebrow and moved over to let us come in.
"Don, is there a problem?" he asked.
"With me, no there isn't sir, but Rumble here wants to discuss something with you," I replied.
He turned to the adolescent colt.
"What seems to be the problem young sir?" Filthy Rich asked.
"Sir, I... ummm... You see Diamond and me... we," he tried to say before he turned to me.
"What about Diamond?" Filthy Rich asked his face becoming one of concern.
"Mr. Rich, it appears that Rumble and Diamond got together during Hearts and Hooves," I said.
His face changed from one of concern to barely contained righteous rage. He stared coldly at the kid.
"Did you harm my daughter?" he asked.
"No... she... I thought that she loved me! She's gonna have my foal and she said that I can't even see them!" Rumble cried out.
Filthy Rich's eyes closed, he breathed out an angry sigh and then pressed a button on his desk.
"Ms Drops, I need you to call send a currier over to our clothing store and have my daughter come here at once," he said.
We stood there in awkward silence, a look of disappointment and anger still etched on Filthy Rich's face. After half an hour the door opened and Diamond Tiara walked into the room. She looked indignantly toward her father and Rumble. I watched, perfectly content to be ignored by the filly.
"Diamond, what is this I heard about your actions during Hearts and Hooves. I had left strict instructions for you to stay at home!" Filthy roared at her.
Her indignant mask cracked almost instantly. Suddenly it was replaced with tears and what almost looked like shame. I was surprised to see how fast she changed.
"Daddy... I... it was so hot, and it burned so much and... and he took advantage of the situation!" she screamed at Rumble.
"Really? Because I recall hearing you telling him something different," I said.
She looked at me her eyes showing the anger deep inside of herself.
"What did she say?" he asked.
"It was along the lines of how what they did was for fun," I said.
"No, she told me It was a mistake, and that she meant what she said before about how everything we did was just fun, and she didn't want to have to settle down with a loser," Rumble said.
Filthy looked at his daughter who was attempting to pretend that she wasn't in the room.
"Diamond, did you visit the hospital?" he asked.
"Daddy..." she started before he stopped her.
"Don't. Just don't. I am so ashamed of you Diamond. It was your mother's greatest hope that you would save yourself as she did. She waited until she found her special somepony. It was hard on her, but she found ways of dealing with her urges. She wanted you to do the same thing, and now... I am truly disappointed in you," he said.
"Daddy, please I'm sorry," she said looking at him.
"You are going to keep the foal," he said.
"But... But I can't take care of a foal! I have a social life!" she exclaimed.
"Diamond, you will keep the foal, you will help raise it. Rumble, wasn't it?" he asked.
Rumble nodded.
"Rumble is going to help in the raising of the foal. As for what the foal needs I will ensure that there is food, shelter, and a bed, but the two of you will be responsible for everything else," he said.
"If... if the foal is a Pegasus I have a crib. It was mine when I was little," Rumble said.
"When the time comes we'll see if it can be used or not. I appreciate the fact that you are thinking ahead. Diamond, I am going to call Nurse Redheart every month for reports on how things are going. I expect you tell me before hand, but I will be calling her. You will go in and get regular checkups. Do you understand?" he asked.
"Daddy this isn't fair! I don't even want a stupid foal with this loser!" she said slamming her hoof down.
Rumble lowered his head. It was so hard to imagine how much it hurt to hear those words. I had been rejected before, and I knew the kind of pain that came with that. Still, to be told that not only was I not wanted, but that the child I helped create wasn't wanted either. I was really glad that I had never felt that.
"Don, would you mind taking Rumble into the Employee lounge for a moment. I need to have a word with my daughter," Filthy Rich said.
I had Rumble follow me into the room that was converted into an employee lounge in the back. Unlike Pencils, or any other retail place I ever worked at, Mr. Rich kept the lounge stocked with free drinks and snacks for his employees. I spotted a package of Potato chips and offered them to Rumble.
"Thank you," he said.
"It's all right. Lyra and I both talked about being with you when this happened. I didn't feel right to let you do it alone," I said.
He looked at the open sack of chips and then at me.
"I don't know what to do," he admitted.
I could see the fear in his eyes. It seemed to just pour off of him, and I didn't know a single thing I could tell him. He was getting ready to go through a very life changing experience, and nothing I said would make a bit of difference. I let out a slow breath and looked toward the wall.
"I don't even begin to know how things will work out. I've had a few friends that had kids, but most of them walked away from the responsibility. It wasn't just when I was a teenager either. Some of these guys have done it recently, and it's a pretty awful thing to do. I'm proud that you want to step up and have something to do with your foal. That shows some major maturity," I said as I continued to study the wall ahead of me, "but I don't know how things are going to work out. I can tell you that if you ever need someone to talk to I'm willing to listen."
He scooted a little closer, crossed his forelegs in front of him, and laid his head down. I heard a snort come from him.
"I was so stupid," he said.
"No one's blaming you," I replied.
"She doesn't love me. She doesn't want to be with me. Everypony knows that Thunder raised me mostly by himself. I mean after mom died," he said.
I raised an eyebrow at hearing this. Most of the theories around Rumble and Thunderlane was that both of their parents had died sometime before.
"What about your dad?" I asked.
"He was some jerk that made mom cry. I barely remember mom. I mean I really barely remember her, but Thunder told me once that he asked about our dad. He told me that if he ever found him he would beat the stuffing out of him," Rumble said.
"I take it that he wasn't a good stallion huh?" I asked.
"He left mom after I was born. Thunder said he liked to drink a whole bunch. He asked where he went, and that's what made mom cry," Rumble replied.
Now I felt like an ass. Obviously Rumble's mother had been a very determined mare. She had somehow managed to raise a colt who was strong enough to raise his younger brother. It spoke volumes about her character. After a few moments the door opened and in walked Diamond Tiara and Filthy Rich. Diamond was looking at the floor.
"Rumble, I'm going to have my lawyers draw up some papers. Those papers are going to ensure that you have shared custody of my grandfoal. Know that I'm going to be checking in as often as I can. I want to make sure that my grandfoal is well taken care of, and I don't want to see him or her living in squalor. I know that at the moment you're still in school, and living with your brother. If my grandfoal is not a Pegasus I will expect you to have some place on the ground for them," Filthy Rich said.
"I will," Rumble said.
"Diamond, there is something that you need to say," Filthy stated.
"I didn't mean what I said about our foal, and what I said about you, but I still don't want to be with you," she said.
"Thanks," Rumble said as he got up.
I walked with him to the door and held it open for him. He walked on out and I felt a forehoof on my arm.
"Don, may I speak with you for a moment?" he asked.
I nodded and we waited until Diamond Tiara was out of ear shot.
"That colt wasn't the first was he?" Filthy Rich asked.
I breathed out a sigh and wasn't sure how to answer the question. Had I seen anyone other than Rumble? No, but if I was to take a guess she had been quite the busy little filly when she began to come into her own.
"Honestly, he's the only one that I know of, but I have doubts that he's the only one period," I answered.
He groaned and looked at the ground.
"She looks so much like her mother. She looks so much like Ruby Broach, but she doesn't act like her. Ruby, her mother, was such a sweet mare. I wish that she would have been here to help raise Diamond. I really do, but I lost her in foal birth. It was before teleporting the foal from inside of the womb to outside of it was such a common practice," he said.
"I know it has to hurt," I said.
"It doesn't just hurt. It's as if she's hitting her mother in the face. Ruby really wanted her to find her special somepony. That's what she really wanted for Diamond," he said.
I touched his shoulder and Filthy slumped. It was almost as if he had just been beaten down over time.
"You could have done worse. I mean things aren't working out the way you'd like, but at least Rumble wants something to do with his foal. He wants to take responsibility," I replied.
"He would make a wonderful addition to the family, but with the way Diamond has treated him I doubt that would happen. Perhaps it is for the best. I feel that my daughter needs to learn a little humility. While it pains me to do it I fear that I must be the one to teach her," he said.
I wasn't sure what to say. I agreed that Diamond needed to learn a little humility, and that maybe it would help make her a better pony. I just hated that it seemed to have broken Filthy down like it had. I could remember every episode that had Diamond Tiara in it, and in every single one she was always a spoiled brat. Maybe if her mother would have lived things would have been different, but then again I just didn't know.
I told him that if he needed anything to give me a call. After that I left and headed home. I knew that I was going to have to head to the market at some point, but right now what I wanted was to get home and spend the evening with Lyra.
I opened the door walked in, and found Lyra working on the bar. She seemed distracted, and while she was busy I walked up behind her. I pulled her into an embrace, and when I did whatever spell she was preforming canceled out. The sound of something clattering to the floor filled the room.
"Don," she whispered.
I felt something touch me, and the same feeling spread out and began touching me in several spots at once.
"I wanted to get here sooner," I said as I held her against me, "The idea that you're going to be gone for a couple of weeks hasn't set well with me."
"I don't have to go... I mean I could..." she started before I turned her around and kissed her.
She kissed me back deeply. My hands moved down to her cutie marks and cupped them. I picked her up and placed her on the bar. I kissed down her, moving determinedly toward my prize. She let out a soft moan, and I felt her forehooves wrap around my head. She pulled me harder against her sex. I felt her tighten around my tongue, her moans and gasps filling the room. Finally, when she came down her grip loosened. I stood up, took her into my arms, and carried her upstairs.
"Do you want me to stay?" she asked once we were upstairs.
"No, I want you to go and try out. Lyra, you have the ability and skill. It's something that I believe you should share with the world," I said.
We settled down together and soon sleep had us both. I felt the bed stir for a moment and I looked up to see Lyra sitting on the side of the bed. I scooted toward her only to watch her distance herself from me.
"I wanted a family," her voice said.
I looked around to see a nearly empty room. The entire thing went dark, and then when the light came on their was a cauldron in the distance. I saw it smoking, and near it I saw Pinkie Pie dancing around it. It wasn't the same Pinkie that was living with Louis, but it was her cartoon counterpart. The entire time she danced I heard her singing the lyrics to one of Friendship is Witchcraft's most memorable songs, Pinkie's Brew.
"Pinkie?" I asked.
"The portal only works one way, one time, one way! Jump through, and seize the day!" she exclaimed.
I walked toward it before the image completely disappeared.
"Mr. Riker, I believe it is time we spoke," a familiar voice said.
I watched as the air rippled around me and Luna appeared.
"Princess Luna? I'm surprised that you decided to visit me. This isn't really what I would call a nightmare," I said.
"It's what I felt was building from the outside. There was a nightmare of epic proportions coming," she said.
I nodded and took a seat.
"I guess Lyra's news is getting to me a little more than I've been admitting," I said.
"It's a hard thing to consider not having a foal. My sister and I have both been through our cycles, and during them we've both conceived, but only Celestia has carried until full term. The last time I attempted... The foal was still born," she said as she sat next to me.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Thank you, and the time has helped, but there is not a day where I often ask what it would have been like if my foal would have lived. Perhaps she would still be alive, though I have my doubts. After all, Celestia's own son had an extended life, but he eventually fell to time," she said.
"Thanks, I guess what I'm the most worried about isn't just having foals, but I'm worried that if proves to be impossible for us that Lyra may decide to find someone else," I admitted.
"I have seen inside of her dreams, and while the want of a family is there she has no desire to be separated from you," she said.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't sure why it relieved me so much to hear that Lyra didn't want to be separated from me. She had told me countless times that she loved me. The was one thing about Lyra, my Lyra, she was full of love. I knew some of the other ponies thought that she was a bit strange, but that was part of the charm of her. I noticed that Luna was studying the cauldron Pinkie's Friendship is Witchcraft counterpart was dancing around.
"I take it this is a brony thing correct?" she asked.
"Actually yeah, although with Equestria being real I'm sort of forced to wonder how many of these other places that people dreamed up might be real. If it is then there may be an equestrian where Pinkie Pie is able to create portals to travel back and forth through time, and Twilight is a little dumber than she is here. That's not to mention that Fluttershy would be a leader of a cult, and a dozen other things," I said.
"You humans, you bronies especially have some odd ideas about us. I still remember my sister's mortified face when she heard the explanation of what Molestia was. She personally wanted to hoof deliver a letter to Twilight Sparkle asking for forgiveness for something she had never done," Luna replied.
"Wow... I'd thought that someone would have had the good graces not to bring that part of the fandom up. She looked like she was okay the last time I saw her, so is she taking it well?" I asked.
"She is, although she is currently on Earth. When she is here she asks me to sit in on her court to ensure that she doesn't act like that version of her," Luna said with a giggle.
"Thanks for helping me feel better Luna, although, why was I dreaming about Pinkie Pie?" I asked.
"I have learned something that explains situations like this from Twilight and her friends. It is simply Pinkie being Pinkie. Trust that, and simply do not question it. If you do that then perhaps you will retain your sanity. My sister informed me that Twilight nearly lost her sanity trying to figure out how Pinkie is able to do the things she does," Luna said as she studied the cauldron a bit more. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Family and Nuptials | Be Careful what you wish for
Chapter 15 - 'Family and Nuptials'
The post card I got from Pinkie and Louis sits in my lap. They took a trip to a place that I was sure Pinkie loved. Then again, who didn't want to go on a road trip and end up at the Happiest Place on Earth? It was funny to read between the lines and see that Pinkie was still trying to win Louis over. I did hope that they both got the invitation. This was a huge step for me. I was going from dating my marefriend to marrying her. Lyra was practically dancing with nervousness, and on top of that she explained that her parents were coming in.
I felt that I should be more nervous than she was. This was her mom and dad, and I was going to be meeting the pair that brought her into the world. For a moment I wondered exactly what it was that I could or would do. I hoped that her parents were just as open minded as their daughter. The show had never covered them, at all, and I knew it was because she had been a background character.
I secretly wished that Jananimations, Animated James, Aligator in the Tub Productions, or Silly Filly Studios had done something over her parents. At least I would have some basic idea of what I could be dealing with. I almost would have settled for Sergeant Sprinkles to have written a fan fiction over them, but then again the last thing I would want is idea of a Cupcakes like set of parents that I had to talk to.
I swallowed down my nervousness and followed Lyra to the Train Station. Fluttershy and Discord had been good enough to come with us, and right now Fluttershy was trying to help calm down Lyra who looked like she was going to wear a hole in the platform.
"You seem to be taking things very well," Discord finally said.
I looked at him and shook my head. A brief smile crossed his face and snapped his claws. Suddenly there was an office chair, fainting couch, and Discord was dressed in a business casual suit of clothes holding a pad of paper.
"So, what seems to be troubling you?" he asked.
"I don't know what they're going to be like, and I don't know if I'm going to screw up when I talk to them. How do I even know if they're going to like me? They're going to become my parent-in-laws. I haven't had a parent in years, and I do mean years! My mom died when I was just barely what they considered an adult back home. That doesn't sound bad, but there were so many questions I wanted to ask. Questions that I will never get the chance to ask her, and now there's going to be a new set of parents that I want to impress. I want to make a good impression, and I want to make sure that they like me. I want to because I want Lyra to be happy, and I want to be happy," I replied.
He rubbed the eraser of his pencil on his chin for a moment before he shook his head and tisked.
"Fluttershy, how was I around your parents?" Discord asked.
Fluttershy turned toward him and she shook her head.
"You are very lucky that I love you. Daddy likes you, but mom said that if you ever turn her home into a thunder cloud again she would try to see if you really are immortal or not," she replied.
"But we all had fun, and your brother thought it was an amazing event!" he said.
"Dissy, he's six. That's why he thought it was amazing," she said shaking her head.
"Do you understand now?" he asked.
I looked at him and then back at Fluttershy. Discord was himself, and Fluttershy still loved him. Sure, he pulled a couple of pranks, okay maybe more than a couple, but it didn't change what she felt toward him. Discord was a little annoying at times, but his heart was in the right place. I got up and walked over to Lyra. She looked up at me, stood on her hind legs, and pulled me into a hug.
That was something I had long since gotten used to. Ponies needed hugs and snuggles. They needed as much as breathing, drinking, or eating. It was part of what they lived off of, and I happily returned the hug to her. She let out a soft hum as I felt her tighten her hug slightly. The sound of the train caught our attention and we watched as several ponies climbed off. Toward the last of the group was two unicorns. One was a teal colored mare with a white mane. She had sewing needle and spool of thread on her flank, and next to her was an Ivory colored unicorn with a lime green mane. He had an ink well and a quill on his flank. I watched as they walked toward us. The mare magically kept her straw hat from flying off. The stallion laughed a little as he watched her and then looked toward his saddle bags. He floated out a piece of ribbon that she took and quickly worked into becoming part of the hat.
"That's so much better. Lyra! Sweetheart it's so good to see you! I wish that you would have told us about your stallion friend," she said.
I watched as Lyra swallowed whatever it was she was feeling and smiled nervously back at her mom.
"Mom and Dad, this is my fiance Don," she said.
They both turned toward me and I swallowed back my nervousness. I didn't need to get upset. Like Discord had explained Lyra loved me, and no matter what she was going to love me. I just really wanted to make a good impression for her parents.
"It's good to meet you both of you," I said extending my hand.
The stallion pushed my hand off. I almost felt as if I had insulted him when he pulled me into hug that made my bones creak. I've been hugged by Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies, but most of the time it was a friendly hug. This felt like he was testing to see how durable I was. A moment later I was passed off to his wife and a similar kind of hug enveloped me. I felt my spine crack in places I wasn't sure it was supposed to, and then she let me go.
"He's real huggable isn't he?" she asked.
"Sure is. That's good, you won't make it in this family if you don't like to hug," the stallion laughed.
Discord watched the ordeal and suddenly all of us were brought into a massive hug. Fluttershy let out a nearly quiet 'eep' of surprise at the action. He released us and then snapped his fingers again. The six of us, all of their luggage, which I didn't know how he did that since none of it had been brought off of the train yet, and all of us were seated around a table in the Hay Burger.
Again, the way this place reflected Burger Queen's competitor McTasty's was really surprising. He snapped his claws again and Luna appeared, dressed in a Hay Burger employee's paper hat and shirt, with a pad of paper in one hoof and a pencil in the other.
"What is going on here? Why am I... Discord," she said her eyes narrowing.
"Luna, I thought that perhaps you would want to enjoy lunch with us," he said.
"Why am I dressed as a fast food employee?" she asked.
"Well someone needs to take our order," he said.
She shook her head and looked at the rest of us. She noticed that Lyra's parents were staring wide eyed and both of them looked as if they were about to fall to the floor and beg for her forgiveness.
"Please, settle yourselves. I am glad to have lunch with all of you, but Discord, I do ask that you do not remove me from my duties. I am currently running a country while my sister is on Earth," she said.
"Your highness, I..." Lyra's father began before she quieted him.
"Poetic Pen it is fine. Neither you nor your wife Stylish Collar have anything to worry about. I would enjoy a meal away the noble houses," she said.
"Oh Sweet Celestia... Princess Luna, thank you for gracing our restaurant," one of the ponies behind the counter said.
"We would like to order something. Tell me, what is the tastiest thing on your menu?" she asked.
"Oh, that would have to be the Ultimate with Cheese. Everypony loves that, and it comes with an order of either Prance Fried Potatoes, or Hay Fries, and both are in hoof shapes," the mare said.
"Then we shall have the Ultimate, all of us, and I shall have three!" Luna excitedly said.
"Are any of you vegetarians?" she asked.
Fluttershy raised her hoof.
"Okay, so ten Ultimates, one of them black bean patties, and the others all catfish patties!" the mare shouted in the back.
"Yeah, we better make them good! We've got a Princess eating here!" another pony shouted.
The food was rushed out, and unlike every restaurant back on Earth the burgers actually looked like they were supposed to. They were assembled to perfection, and not a one of them looked half assed at all. Luna looked at her burger for a moment, took a tentative bite, and then began to munch away without any hesitation. She cleared her three burgers, three orders of fries, and her Super Mega cup of Fizzle Soda.
"While my sister is away I believe I shall make a Royal Decree. There shall be a Hay Burger constructed in the Castle, and It shall serve the royal lunch meals!" she exclaimed.
Luna finished another round of Ultimates, and then she excused herself and teleported away. The rest of us sat around the table for a few minutes before we stood up and began to walk out. Discord and Fluttershy both said their goodbyes to allow both Lyra and I time with her parents. The moment they were gone a question I was hoping wouldn't come up decided to make itself known.
"So, when can we expect some grandfoals?" Poetic Pen asked.
"Dad!" Lyra shouted sounding embarrassed.
"Your father is asking a reasonable question dear, and I would like to know as well. We'd both like to be able to enjoy having grandfoals running around before we're too old to enjoy them at all," Stylish Collar said.
"Mom... Really? You're embarrassing me," she said.
Darling, our little Li-li is getting all flustered," Stylish Collar said.
"Seriously Mom, this isn't cool," she said.
"Well then son, when are you going to make a proper mother out of our little Li-li? She needs a little one running around, getting into mischift, creating havoic, and being a little bundle of joy," Poetic Pen said.
"Well, we both want to have a family," I said.
"It's complicated," Lyra said.
"What's so complicated about making foals? Sweetie, ponies have been doing it since before Luna and Celestia came to power. In truth I don't know a pony who doesn't know how to make foals... Oh that's not the trouble is it?" Stylish Collar asked.
She turned toward me, "If you need some help in learning what to do there's a great class taught in Canterlot. They show everything, and they even have couple demonstrate what they've learned in front of the class. Oh! I know the night professor there! I can get you both signed up for the next course!"
"No, no... it's fine I know how to make foals," I said hurriedly.
"So, what's the problem then?" Poetic Pen asked.
"He's... Different. I mean we just... Dad, I love him. I want to have a family with Don, but they said that they're not sure it's something we can do on our own," Lyra said.
"Okay, so he can't give you a foal without help," Poetic Pen said.
"Well, magical help. We're thinking about asking Princess Cadence or Princess Luna. Maybe one of them would know a spell that would help," Lyra said.
"Lyra, honey, I'm glad that you found your special somepony, and this is no offense to you," Poetic Pen said looking at me, "but if he can't give you a foal, even after the help, then you shouldn't stay married to him. It's every pony's right to have children. Why if it was you that couldn't have the foals we'd encourage him to not stay married to you!"
"Daddy that's terrible!" she cried.
"We want to have children, but if worse comes to worse we've talked about adopting," I said.
"Taking in a foal is a noble thing, but it's not the same as actually having a foal. Why, you'd be no better off than a couple of colt cuddlers," Stylish Collar said.
I felt my anger starting to rise. I could see now why Louis got upset so often. I had to deal with stupid people too, but this was beyond stupid. Both of them were telling my Lyra that she shouldn't be with me if I couldn't knock her up. That the only reason to be with someone was to get them pregnant, and if they couldn't do it then they weren't worth having. I wanted to tell them off, curse at them, throw something across the room, but instead I held it in. I still wanted to do this right for Lyra.
"Are you sure you even want to marry him until you know?" Poetic Pen asked.
"I'm marrying him because I love him!" Lyra shouted.
"And you loved that little Earth Pony too," Stylish Collar replied.
"Okay, I've been quiet this entire time, but this isn't cool. We love each other. I have been, and am going to continue to treat Lyra like a queen. I'm not sure what your problem with me or our decision is, but in the end it is our decision," I said.
"Well, you're willing to step up when your mare is in trouble. Go ahead and check that off of the list Stylish," Poetic Pen said.
"What?" I asked.
Stylish Collar rolled her golden eyes and shook her head.
"He's not too bright though. I suppose that doesn't matter as much. Look, whoever is going to marry our daughter needs to be somepony or somehuman that can take care of her. She's delicate, and she might not seem like it, but she needs to be loved and held. You stepping up for her is the right thing to do. So, we're marking it off of the list," she replied.
"You're testing me?" I asked.
"Of course we are. You've got a week to prove to us that you are worthy enough to ask for our daughter's hoof in marriage. If you can prove to us that you are worthy enough then we'll give you our blessing. If not.. We will become a major thorn in your side," Poetic Pen said.
I stood there looking stunned.
"So, who wants to go shopping for a wedding gown?!" Stylish Collar shouted.
I looked at Lyra with a worried expression. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Ready, Aim, Shoot for Movie Magic! (Mini Chapter) | Be Careful what you Wish for
Chapter 17: 'Ready, Aim, Shoot for Movie Magic! (Mini Chapter)'
I watched as Lyra and her mother went through dress after dress. I was glad to be here, and I was glad to be part of the process, but this was getting a little ridiculous. It wasn't that I thought that searching for a dress was ridiculous, but rather the current style was. Everything was rainbow colors. Lyra was wanting a more traditional Earth/human style dress, and instead everything was reflecting on the movie being made, in Ponyville.
What movie? Well, since a fellow brony had already came through, created the cabin from My Little Dashie a Sequel, it only made sense to make the movie. Granted, there was a fantastic web movie made for My Little Dashie, but it seemed that Hollywood seemed determined to put their Michael Bay stained hands in on it and make a full length feature film.
I had heard that they approached Rainbow Dash about starring as herself toward the end of the movie, but apparently the name of the main human character caused her to back out. There was some rumors floating around that the incredible Rainbow Dash had both fell in love, and lost that love somewhere on Earth. The fact of the name of the character only really seemed to point toward that rumor being true. Still, the buzz about the movie coming to Ponyville caused all of the shops to start sporting rainbow colored wear for one of its favorite daughters.
"Yet, it didn't make anything mint green for Lyra after she was proven right," I thought.
That was still a bitter pill. Everypony before the gateway opened referred to Lyra as obessive at best. Now there was still some that that she was a little past that and instead bordering on insane. As much as I like Cherilee I knew she was one of them. At least, she was until she got a chance to really talk to us both. She found out that Lyra was excitable, but not insane. At least no more than anypony else.
"Did you see that little Earth Pony earlier? Rose Luck? Cute little thing huh?" Poetic Pen asked.
"Actually, I think that Lyra is about the most beautiful mare I've ever seen," I replied.
Yeah, I hadn't forgot about being tested. I wasn't sure what I was being tested on right now, but I was being as supportive as I could while Lyra slowly approached Bridezilla mode. It wasn't that she was being difficult, but she knew exactly what she wanted, and none of the stores had it. The only store not open was Rarity's. It had been, briefly, for a short while. She had worked on something for Pinkie and Louis, and she took a couple of orders from some of her clients. I had even gotten a new jacket from her. It was expensive, but workponyship was well worth it.
I breathed out as Lyra growled in frustration. The next stop was heading toward Canterlot or Manehattan. I opened for Canterlot, and soon the four of us were making our way toward the train.
"So, this movie they're making is based on some kind of fictional story?" Poetic Pin asked.
"Yeah, before the portal opened most people believed this was just a cartoon, an animated series, and some of the more devoted fans wrote stories about some of the characters. One of them wrote a story about Rainbow Dash being sent to our world, reduced to the age of a very young filly, and having to grow up in our world. Her father was a depressed man who found meaning in his life by being a parent," I said.
"It sounds like a lovely story, and there really isn't anything that gives you more meaning than being a parent," Stylish Collar replied, "Which is why I hope that the two of you can start cranking out foals. Luckily I know Lyra has inherited my foal bearing hips. She should be able to have them with no problem."
I don't how I managed to keep from laughing a little while Lyra facehoofed. |
Be Careful What You Wish For | Set the Date, Invite the Friends, and Deal with the Questions | Be Careful What You Wish For
Chapter 18: Set the Date, Invite the Friends, and Deal with the Questions
The last few days of searching for a Wedding Dress finally ended in us visiting Manehattan and walking into a new store ran by somepony I almost expected to see on Earth. I watched as the Earth Pony Mare walked over toward Lyra, took some measurements, and then gave her a gentle smile before asking her to come back.
"Coco?" I asked not wanting to really interrupt anything she might be doing at the moment.
"Hmmm?" she asked back as she held two pins in her mouth and showed Lyra the Human influenced wedding dresses.
"I'm surprised that you're not on Earth. I would have thought that you would be in the middle of the fashion industry," I replied.
She lay the pins on a table next to where she was working and shook her head.
"No, I went over for a short time, and while I was over there I met someone. He's a very nice stallion," she said before someone cleared his throat in the back.
"Man, sweetheart, man," the voice said.
"Miles, I've called the males here stallions for as long as I can remember, and you're going to just have to get used to it. Besides... You like me calling you my stallion at other times," she replied.
I watched as a man walked out. He was tall, large framed, and had the kind of muscle on him that was for work and not show. I looked at his face and then it clicked where I had seen him before. He was one of the combatants on Unchained Fighting Federation. I watched him before he let out a laugh.
"I'm surprised at how many times people do that," he said.
He walked toward me, stretched out his hand, and I took it. He gave me a shake and then looked at Coco.
"The wagon delivering the new fabrics just got here about fifteen minutes ago, and it looks like they messed up on the order again," he said.
She facehoofed and shook her head.
"That's the sixth time. I wish we could get the fabrics from somewhere else," she replied.
"Have you considered ordering them from Barnyard Fabrics?" I asked.
She looked at me with uncertainty for a moment before shaking her head.
"I don't know that place. Is it any good?" she asked.
"It's actually one of the major suppliers in Ponyville and Canterlot. Filthy Rich is the owner, and I know that he takes time to make sure that everything on the list is available," I replied.
She looked toward me and I could see a slight smile on her lips.
"I have a friend who lives in Ponyville, well lived I believe she's an ambassador to Earth right now, and she told me that she normally gets everything for her creations from her area. She has created some beautiful ensembles. Would you vouch for Mr. Rich being able to deliver in a timely manner?" she asked.
I nodded and watched as she nodded toward Miles. He walked toward the wall and lifted a receiver off of the wall. A moment later he was handing it over to me, and I dialed the number for Mr. Rich's office at Trotting Tech Central. It rang for a few moments before I heard the line connect.
I nodded, "He is, and he's usually very fair."
Coco looked at us, then at directly a Lyra. She walked over to the dress Lyra was admiring.
"Try it on," Coco urged her.
I saw both Stylish Collar and Poetic Pen watching as their daughter took the dress into a dressing room and changed into it. I smiled, waiting for her to come back out and when she did I was left speechless. I already considered myself to be amazingly lucky to be with a mare that loved me, and was beautiful to boot. And I felt myself in awe as I looked at her standing in that dress.
The look of uncertainty she had told me that she wasn't sure if I thought she looked good or not. I walked toward her, knelt down, and cupped her face.
"You look beautiful," I said.
She gave me a smile, and then her parents looked the dress over.
"Li-li you look absolutely beautiful," Stylish Collar said.
"She's right, you're a beautiful mare," Poetic Pen replied.
Smiling she looked at me, "I like this one," she said.
"Okay," I looked at Coco and she walked over.
"Of course I will alter it slightly, add a bit of green in for you, if you wish," she said.
"Naw, I like it like this," Lyra said.
Coco nodded, followed Lyra back to the changing rooms, and came back out with the dress. She put it into a clean plastic dry cleaning bag, and handed it over to me.
"How much..." I started before she stopped me.
"Mr. Rich said that my first order was on the house provided that I provide you with a wedding dress, and bridesmaids dresses free of charge. He said to consider it a wedding present from him to the both of you," she said.
I stood in disbelief. I knew that Mr. Rich liked me, but I didn't know that he was going to do something like this for me. I already knew who I wanted as my best man. If Louis could make it, I wanted him there, but Mr. Rich, if he'd accept, I'd like him to be a groomsstallion. Lyra came back out and seemed to be practically glowing. She walked toward me, stood on her hind legs, and hugged me. I hugged her back, and held her for a moment before she dropped back down to two legs.
She looked at a bright, lime green, dress with white trim. It wasn't ugly, nothing here was, but it was certainly a color only a few ponies could really pull off.
"Oh! I love it! That would be a great bridesmaid dress!" she said.
"Um... Li-li, sweetie, I don't know," her mom started to say.
"Mom, come on it's perfect! It looks amazing," Lyra replied.
"Okay," Stylish Collar said with a smile, "Just be sure that you get your closest friends to be your bridesmaids."
Lyra looked at her for a moment and nodded. I figured that it was more of her going along with it because it was her mom's suggestion. I saw Coco walk toward the dress and look it over.
"Be sure to bring your bridesmaids back here so that I can measure them for their dresses," she said.
With that we left Coco's Boutique, and we headed out into Manehattan.
"Poetic, sweetie, I'm kind of hungry," Stylish said
He nodded, "I am too. You know Neighponese sounds really good," Poetic replied.
I watched them and the idea of some oriental food did sound awesome. Not that I didn't mind the stuff that Lyra fixed, it was good, but I hadn't had oriental food in a while. So we stepped out and walked down the strip. After about half an hour there was a large oriental style building to the side. It was made to look like an anime lover's version of a typical temple from Kimchi's Harem. A thought about a half alien kid running around with six full grown alien women wanting him, and one teenage one after him too ran through my head. I smiled, walked in behind Lyra, my future in-laws, and saw something that was beyond amazing.
I've seen the inside of a few oriental places back on Earth. Most of them went way overboard trying to give the impression of what Americans thought people in China, Japan, Korea, and a few other countries looked like. This took it to a whole new level. There was several tables, each of them low to the ground, around five to six pillows around each table, and the waitresses were dressed up like geishas.
It wasn't just the human girls. The pony mares were doing the same, and they had some little Kumamotos that I saw Lyra eyeing.
"I bet that you'd love me in something like that," she whispered.
I pictured her, in one of those, and before I had a very awkward boner I had to picture some very undesirable, and unsexy, things to keep it from happening. The Hacksaw movies, Marlon Brando in a Speedo, Sugarcube Corner's basement if Pinkie Pie was completely insane... That did it.
"It'd be awesome," I admitted as we found a seat.
"So, about grandfoals...." Stylish Collar started.
"Mom, I've been looking into different spells, and I know it's only a matter of time," Lyra said.
"Good, so... That just leaves you," Stylish Collar said as she looked at me.
"Huh?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes and smiled, "You need to get tested. Oh! Poetic! We know that wonderful doctor!"
"Ummm... I've got a doctor in Ponyville. I'm sure that I can have him test it for me," I replied.
"It's not Dr. Stable is it?" Poetic asked.
"No, he's Dr. C. Horse. He's a good stallion, does a good job, and is pretty fun to hang out with. Well he is most of the time," I said.
"Good, that Dr. Stable is one of the meanest stallions I've ever met," Stylish said.
"He told her that she needed to start eating whole oats, drop the sweets, or otherwise she was going to have to have brand new seats designed for our house," Poetic replied.
"That was so uncalled for! Besides, you like what you see don't you Poetic, sweetheart?" she asked.
The two of them joked for several seconds until a mare came over.
"I'm here to take your order, Okay?" she asked.
"Suri?" I asked.
She looked at him and then rolled her eyes, "A brony huh? Okay," she faced hoofed, "get it over with."
"Get what over with?" I asked her.
"Tell me that I was a terrible pony for stealing Rarity's designs and using them as my own, Okay? Just get it over with, and I'll get you a new waitress," she said.
I looked at her and before she could say a word I shook my head.
"It looks to me like you've been paying for this for a while. It's not my place to put more on you," I replied, "besides, I know what it's like to work with the public."
She looked a little surprised at us, and then a smile crossed her face. Before I knew what was happening she practically jumped across the table, tackled me with a hug, and was kissing my cheek.
"THANK YOU!" she cried out.
I hugged her for several minutes. Then I stopped hugging her only to find her still hugging me. I looked at Lyra, not sure on what to do when I felt a familiar tingle around myself. Suri was suddenly lifted off of me, sat down near Lyra, and she gave the mare a glare that I wouldn't want to be on the opposite side of.
"Heh heh... Sorry, okay..." Suri meekly said.
I could see Lyra's eyes narrow, her lips curve almost into an angry sneer, and then I touched her shoulder.
"Lyra, sweetheart, I don't think she meant anything," I said.
She looked at me and then back at Suri who was looking at the floor.
"It's just... I know that most everyhuman that comes through here knows what I did... I never thought that anyhuman would ever accept me. It... it made me feel so... so good to find somehuman that accepted me," she replied.
"Fine, but he's my fiance. He's marrying me, and I don't herd," Lyra said.
"O...okay I got it," Suri said.
"Good, Well, we're all pretty hungry," Lyra said.
I watched her, and I knew she was still upset. With that I wrapped my arms around my wife to be, hugged her, and felt her melt into my embrace. She let out a happy hum and enjoyed the moment. I released her and she looked back at Suri. The poor mare still had her ears folded down. Lyra gently reached out, touched her face with her fetlock, and then she smiled.
"Look it's okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, but I... I love him. And I get a little protective," she admitted.
"It's okay, You're a lucky mare," Suri replied before she handed us the menus.
We ordered, and she smiled then brought us back our drinks. She noticed that there was an extra, but she didn't question it. Then when she brought back the food there was an extra plate. She looked at it, and then at us.
"Do you get a lunch?" Lyra asked.
She nodded.
"Then please, join us for lunch," I said.
She practically beamed and sat down to her shrimp lo-mane. We began eating, and of course we asked Suri how things were going. She told us about what had happened, how she felt so horrible about it, and how she was kicked out of the contest for cheating. It seems that Coco decided to snitch on her afterall. She didn't blame her former assistant. It was the right thing to do, and she took it like a champ... Okay, she admitted to all of us that she cried as they dragged her out of the building and threw her on her haunches.
She lost her apartment, her fashion business suffered, and it was pure luck that she found a job here. The owner had an apartment above the restaurant that he was renting out, and he offered it to her. She made enough to pay the rent, buy a small black and white television, and buy the staples of groceries to survive. From what she was telling us she has been living on spaghettios and ramen noodles for a while.
It made me feel glad that we could at least share a meal with her, but at the same time I hated knowing that we were going to be leaving Manehattan, and she was going to go back to what her life had been. I looked at Lyra and she gave me a small nod.
"I don't know if you're ever going to be in Ponyville, again, but if you are look us up. You'll have at least a couple of friends there," I said.
She grinned and we each finished up our meals. Suri thanked us again, and before we left she gave Lyra and me both a hug.
"Thanks," she said as she started back into the building.
We walked toward the train station, stopping once to look at a little shop that sold saddle bags. Lyra found one made from faux leather, stained green, and had gold trim to it. We talked to the sales colt and she ordered a set with her cutie mark on them. After that moment we boarded the train.
Lyra and I had been the ones to purchase the tickets, and basically, without thinking, we had gotten a sleeper car for all of us. The trip from Ponyville to Manehattan took about three days. We had planned on closing the bar down for a week and a half, and since we found the dress so quickly we were getting back in time to enjoy three days of just relaxing. Unless Lyra wanted to open the bar. I'd help out, of course, but I already had the three extra days marked off of my work schedule at Trotting Tech Central. The four of us talked, ate in the dining car, and even though I offered to sleep in a different bed, for Lyra's parents, they had said that we were adults. Although they did ask that we please try to keep the noise down. They knew their precious little Li-li wasn't a virgin anymore, but they didn't need to hear her in the middle of the night.
That pretty much cut everything out. Lyra was several things, quiet was not one of them. I crawled into bed with Lyra, and like every other time I slept with her, I slept nude. I'd simply gotten into the habit of it. I felt her snuggle against me, her warm coat pressing against my skin, and I wrapped my arm around her. The two of us laid there for a few minutes before I felt something stroking me.
"Lyra?" I asked softly.
"Shhh... I don't want to wake them up," she whispered.
I wanted and didn't want to argue. Part of me wanted to remind her that this was her parents, and another part of me wanted to forget all about that fact and just feast my senses on her. I could see the faint glow of her horn, the slight movement of her forelegs. I moved my hands down to the juxtaposition of her hind legs and began tracing her marehood.
"Oh Don..." she said in a husky whisper.
I continued to do this, tracing her, letting my fingers move inside and then back out. I felt her magical grip tighten a little and move faster. She had me at full mast, and slowly she turned over. I could see her eyes, the love in them, the need, the desire, and she climbed on top of me. I knew this was a little awkward for her, but still she got there, and I felt her magic position me at her entrance. I thrust my hips forward and she let out a gasp. And then she began to move her hips in time with my own.
She grinded against me, matching me, keeping up and her slight moans became louder. She let out a deep, husky whinny, throwing all concerns about waking her parents up to the wind. I rest my hands on her cutie marks, and I began pulling her into each thrust.
"I... I'M GONNA!" she cried out before she let out a deep moan and a surge of magic magnified it.
The room flooded with light and I didn't look around. There was no need to. Instead she looked up at the mare above me. She leaned forward, spent, and I caught her. I pulled her close to my chest and I heard the sound of someone clearing their throat.
"You know... We had the idea to bring a bit and bridle with us," Poetic Pen said. I looked at them to see my future mother-in-law with a bit in her mouth, and a blindfold over her eyes.
I looked at that realizing that they had been doing the same thing we had been. That thought bothered me a little. I looked at Lyra to see her with a content smile on her face.
"We'll try to remember next time," I said.
"Good, good night you too," he said.
The light dimmed down and soon sleep found me as I held onto my mare.
The next two days were a bit better. Poetic Pen and Stylish Collar would leave a little early for meals, and we'd use that time to be close before we'd head out to join them. Finally when we made it home I helped everypony get their luggage into the bar. I watched as Lyra and her mom walked upstairs, and Poetic Pen waited until they were upstairs before he turned to me.
"We've discussed it, and neither of us can see any reason why you can't marry our little Li-li. You've done nothing but be respectful to us and to her. You gave in when you needed to, and you supported going wherever she wanted to go to find her dress. I wanted to welcome you to the family. We still want grandfoals, but I believe that a way will be found," he said.
I smiled, hugged him, and he returned it. We walked upstairs and I watched as they went to their bedroom. I walked into the room with Lyra and she gave me a bright smile before she closed the door.
"I've been practicing this, and I think that it should work fine. I found an astral projection spell in one of Princess Twilight's books in her library," she said.
A moment later I saw what looked like an old Star Wars hologram effect of Louis in front of me.
"Hello? Is this thing working? Oh, awesome, I can see you! Can you see me, Louis?" I said.
"Oh, ha ha, very funny. I suppose you are trying to be Jacob Marley, here to tell me about the three ghosts about to visit me?" he said looking all green and grainy while he crossed his arms.
"What? Ohm shit! It is christmas there isn't it? I totally forgot with all the strange stuff going on here and all." I scratched my head and looked around at my room. "This is so damn cool. I feel like Al in Quantum Jump, standing in the hologram chamber. Lyra is trying out this neat astral projection spell she found in one of Twilight's old books."
"Lyra? Isn't that the crazy ex girlfriend that the pony at the bar warned us to steer clear of?" he said with a laugh. "What have you gotten yourself into this time, Donnie?"
I felt my eyes widening and I looked at Lyra. She cocked an eyebrow at me.
"You saw Bonnie?" she asked.
Nervously I laughed, answered her and then I turned back toward Louis and talked to him for a bit before everything went still. We stood there for a few minutes until everything started moving again.
"Sweetheart I don't know what it is, but I know that something wrong. I can't see anyth... Oh, there you are Louis. I dunno what happened. Lyra says she is getting tired from maintaining the spell, so I need to cut things short. You are invited to the wedding, which should be in a few months. Of course, with Discord hanging around, things never seem to go as planned. Can I count on you to be my Best Man?" I asked.
"Sure thing Don, I'll be there. If I can afford the pass," he replied with a yawn.
"Don't worry about the cost. I have a few favors I can call in. Sorry to cut things short, but I gotta run!" I said before Lyra stopped the spell. She looked beat. I walked over to her, helped her into the bed, and joined her in it.
"Thanks for that sweetheart," I said.
"It's fine," she yawned, "Love you."
"I love you too," I whispered as sleep took us. |
The Flame Prince | pre | "Um, Plasma, are you all right?" I asked.
"Flameheart, I know that it's not my place. But... what is your mission?" she asked. I debated telling her, one on hoof you did not share information like this. Even to fellow comrades-in-arms who weren't part of said mission.
But Plasma, she was a friend. Like Ruby and Firestorm we went back many years. When in politics you could not trust many individuals... but Plasma, she was different.
She was not a politician, noble, or even involved at all in court life. Ever since I was old enough to wield a sword, be it with my mouth, hooves, or wings she had been there to instruct me. Whereas my mother had focused more on the political side of things.
They're weren't many ponies who I could trust with this information. But Plasma was one of the few ponies I could, and so I made my decision.
After checking for any eavesdroppers and finding none I turned back to her. "Plasma, I'm going to Equestria to steal the Elements Of Harmony" I told her.
"Wha-what! That's what you're mission is!" she hissed. "Why the buck would your own mother make you, her only heir do this" she added.
"I don't know, most likely because I am the most capable and in the best position to do so, if you want to know so badly then just ask her yourself" I replied.
"Plus... things are moving forward and if we wish to survive then we need to be prepared for them" I added.
"What do you mean, prepared for what?" Plasma was now more confused than ever. I needed to be blunt if we weren't going to be late.
"Plasma..." I did a quick check again for any passerby's again before I spilled it. "Nightmare Moon spoke to me last night".
At the mention of that name Plasma was understandably shocked and horrified, and after five minutes were spent calming her down I finally told her of the situation we were in.
"So, let me see if I've got this right. Nightmare Moon is apparently returning, knows who you are, knows that we want the elements, is bringing an army of thestrals with her, is probably going to immobilize and defeat Celestia within seconds of her return, and is going to seize power as well" she said.
"Pretty much" I replied. Plasma looked at the floor in deep thought. "Buck me".
"Buck all of us Plasma. But the fact of the matter is that we are not going to solve this sitting on our flanks, we need to be proactive" I replied.
"Have you even informed your mother yet?" she asked. "No, I didn't get a chance too this morning so I plan on doing it as soon as I can tonight".
Plasma let out a long sigh. "Well we've wasted enough time as it is, let's get to it".
Upon arriving at the throne room we caught the last few stragglers leaving. A small band of unicorn nobles. They bowed and I gave my signature nod before we passed them and entered.
My mother was seated on her throne as usual. Her regal appearance not quite hiding the exhaustion plastered on her face, however once she saw me it seemed to melt away.
"Ah Flameheart, how did your training go?" she asked. "Very well mother. Captain Plasma here always seems to produce good soldiers, private Star Fire is an excellent addition to the guard" I replied.
Plasma, ever the gentlemare that she was, gave a me a small nudge with her hoof and motioned for me to get to the point. Upon seeing this my mother spoke up as well.
"Flameheart... is there something that needs to be brought to my attention?" she asked.
"... Guards, leave us" I responded. Everypony in the room seemed surprised at what I said but complied regardless.
"Flameheart, what is going on?" my mother was serious now. I waited for the guards to file out before I answered her.
"Mother, Nightmare Moon visited me last night in the dream realm".
Instantly her eyes shrank to the size of pinpricks, and she began slightly hyperventilating as well.
"What, bu-but why, why you specifically?" she asked.
"I don't know, and I don't know why. But she could be returning in the next few days. Probably with an army to conquer Equestria, and I'm afraid that we could be next on her list" I replied.
"...You're absolutely certain that it was her?"
"I don't know about any other Alicorns besides Celestia and that upstart Mi Amore Cadenza, but who knows. Though the cutie mark was definitely correct" I answered.
My mother took a long, slow deep breath before slowly exhaling. "Okay, this changes nothing. If anything your mission is even more important now".
"Tomorrow morning we, the military, and the court will meet to discuss this" she added.
"Very well mother, am I to receive a legion of guards for my mission now?" I asked.
"More like a legion of knights, though stealth and surprise is still to be valued over strength. At least until the Elements are located".
"Very well then, now if that's all settled I would like to know why you summoned me in the first place?" I asked.
"Ah... right, I almost forgot. The reason I called you here was to see how well you have performed in the past few days, and see if you're truly ready for this mission" she answered.
"Of that I can say with certainty that he is, nothing short of an entire legion of the finest guardsmares or the princesses themselves could defeat his highness" Plasma spoke up. Mother seemed pleased with her answer.
"Very well, while I did want to have a small tournament before this. To gauge your readiness. I see now that we don't have much of a choice, we either succeed or fail" she said.
"Do not worry mother, I will not fail" I replied. Though in truth I said that more to try and calm her nerves rather than my own. I was honestly terrified of the prospect of fighting Nightmare Moon. Especially if I couldn't locate the Elements.
"All right then, let us retire for the night. It has been a long day" mother stated. Plasma escorted us to the dining hall before dismissing herself for the night.
We ate in practical silence, only engaging in the barest of conversation required to get through dinner.
After that I retired to bed to get some shuteye, and tried not to lie awake all night. Since I was still terrified of meeting Nightmare again if I entered the state of sleep.
Suffice to say I did not get much sleep that night. |
The Flame Prince | Departure | My hoof tapped quietly against the stone floor. Myself, along with several important political figures, nobles, and high ranking members of the military were all sitting around a circular table.
Upon said table lay several maps, documents, and other assorted items.
Currently we were waiting for my mother to arrive before we would begin this last second emergency meeting. Afterwords I would depart for Equestria.
I decided to kill some time by trying to eavesdrop on several conversations around the room. I didn't exactly enjoy this but it is an essential skill to have in politics. However, before I could become too engrossed a voice to my right spoke.
"Well now it's not like your mother to be late to her own meeting your majesty. Any idea on what might be keeping her?".
"No idea Cyrus, though I suspect that if it's keeping her occupied. Then it must be important". I replied to the old, dark purple stallion seated next to me.
Cyrus was in his late 70's, and was the oldest living member of the triumvirate. The title for the council of my mother's three advisors.
He had been in politics for the better part of fifty-five years, and had acted as a substitute for when my mother had been too busy to personally instruct me in the art of said subject. Which had unfortunately been quite often.
Still though, it didn't make him any less of a friend. Plus we had grown quite close over the years.
"Well when she does get here I expect there to be quite a tiffy" he joked. "Ha, of that I have no doubt" I whispered back.
But before he could reply the doors finally slammed open to reveal the mare of the hour and her entourage. They quickly filed in before we could salute her and took their respective seats.
"I apologize for taking so long everypony, there was an unexpected issue involving the stability of Mount Vulcan" my mother announced. At this several concerned glances were thrown in her direction.
"Please, rest assured that the volcano is not going to erupt, nor collapse. Rather we believe it was just erosion taking its toll on the old boy" she added.
While initially concerned I chose not to comment on it, I had read several reports on the mountains condition before and aside from the event of a powerful earthquake or eruption. Vulcan would probably stand without pony intervention for at least another five hundred years.
"Now then let us get this meeting underway. I also apologize for it being quite so last minute".
"I believe I speak for everypony here when I say it is not a problem your highness" Cyrus replied.
"Thank you Lord Cyrus" she smiled. "Now then, this meeting isn't actually about me, nor is it about Consilium Vindictae, it is about my son. Or The Flame Prince is what I believe he likes to call himself" she joked.
Ignoring the fact that it was more of a nickname given to me by Changelings I smiled and spoke up.
"Indeed mother, this sudden meeting is because of a dream I had last night. Where I believe... where I met Nightmare Moon". At that several eyes shot up and a few gasps were heard.
"Nightmare Moon!"
"What, how is that even possible!"
"Is she coming for us, we need those elements more than ever now!"
"Your majesties, with all due respect I-"
I raised to a hoof and immediately all conversations ceased. I could have chastised them for these outbursts, and I probably should've. However I didn't have the time nor the energy to do so.
"Listen, all of you. I'm not going to... repeat what she told me. But this changes nothing, if anything we need the elements more than ever now" I stated.
With that the chaotic shouting stopped, and quiet returned to the room as everypony took it all in. The gravity of the situation.
"Do you think that if Nightmare Moon is successful in regaining power she'll come for us?" A dark orange mare named Carmen asked? Like Cyrus she was also apart of the triumvirate.
"I believe so Lady Carmen. From what I gathered a mare like her would sooner or later come for us, and we do not need another Alicorn complicating things. Especially on the eve of our return" I replied.
"Right".
After a few more questions silence reigned once more throughout the room as everypony silently dwelled on what they had been told.
"My prince, what did she tell you?" Spymaster Crimson Blade asked.
"I... she more or less threatened me, and promised that if we continued with Consilium Vindictae then there would be consequences" I replied.
At that several mares around the room scrunched their faces, but my mother actually looked furious.
I thought I'd heard her mutter "Hmph, the cheek of that demon to threaten you" but it was so quiet that I just dropped it.
Cyrus meanwhile looked like he wanted to say something. But chose to stare at the table instead, and the conversation soon moved to other subjects.
We continued for another two hours, after moving on from Nightmare Moon and how this forced us to change our strategies we went over subjects from how we were going to supply our invasion force to what if the assault on Canterlot failed.
However once the clock hit one in the afternoon I prepared to excuse myself since I would depart for Equestria in two hours and would need to prepare.
"And so that is how we will defeat any Equestrian counter-incursion into the Firelands. The same way we have defeated all of our foes in the last thousand years, and should they be able to actually reach Ashen... well. Let them charge into our walls... towards their own deaths" I proclaimed. Several chuckles followed.
"Well then, I believe this is all we have time for. You all have your assigned duties for the next few weeks so see to it that they are properly fulfilled" my mother announced.
Slowly everypony stood up and filed out, save for myself, my mother, her guards and advisors.
"Flameheart" she called me over. "I cannot stress how important this is now. Overnight this has gone from our first actual shot at vengeance in over a millennium to our outright survival as a species". I'm not going to sugarcoat it, if we fail, if you fail..."
"I understand mother, and I will not fail". She smiled and I felt that familiar warmth flow throughout my body.
"Hehe, in that I have no doubt my son. Now, take these last few hours to do your final preparations, as I believe you leave at... three?". At my nod she continued.
"Right, also take these. First this necklace, we swiped it from a Changeling hive a few centuries ago. It will let you change into a normal pony. As for the legion the unicorns they will simply cast an illusion spell on their non-magical members".
"The second item is a crystal that will allow you to communicate with us from anywhere in the world" she explained and I nodded.
"Lastly... I... I just want to tell you how proud I am of you Flameheart. You've really stepped up these last few years, nay, you've gone above and beyond. Words cannot express how proud I am of you, and I know that you will not fail" she added.
"Thank you mother, I love you" I replied. She smiled and we embraced each other.
"Likewise my son, and I know you will not fail me nor our subjects" she replied.
Soon after we separated and I looked at the clock, I needed to get a move on.
"Thank you mother, but I must beg my leave if I am to be on time".
"Of course, I shall see you in a few hours Flameheart" she smiled.
"Let's see, saber check, Changeling necklace check, bag of holding with my other weapons, armor, crystal communicator and other supplies... check".
With that I looked myself over one final time in the mirror before I would present myself to my mother and the soldiers.
I was wearing my polished steel grey adamantium armor set. My usual clothes packed right into my bag of holding.
Once I was certain I was ready I grabbed everything I needed and headed down the staircase to meet my mother in the main hall. My saber at my side and my bag of holding hidden in a cavity in my helmet.
Like I had presumed my mother was waiting for me in the main hall. Conversing with her advisors, guards, and a few other important individuals that I had seen in the meeting a few hours ago.
"Are you ready Flameheart?" she asked.
"Of course mother, always".
"Heh, just be sure to be careful when in Equestria... okay" she added.
"Yes mother I understand" I replied.
"Good, now then let us proceed". We proceeded through the palace and down to the citadel, where the legion 'Aeternum Unicornium' was waiting.
They were the best and most capable we had to offer. The legion was obviously made up of unicorns, though that was only 3/4 of the way.
The other quarter was taken up by Flame Ponies. This was mainly due to them being able to fly and breathe fire, two abilities that we're nothing but foolhardy to give up in combat.
We made good time and soon reached the main parade grounds, were the legion was waiting. Along with their commareder, a purple unicorn with a light grey mane coupled with purple eyes to match her coat.
Upon seeing our little entourage she ordered them into parade formation before walking up to address us.
"Commareder Calla Asteria at your service, my liege" she bowed.
Due to being a unicorn Asteria was a little smaller than the average Flame Pony. Still she possessed a good frame with quite a bit of muscle, and could definitely hold her own against a pegasus or earth pony.
"Rise commareder" my mother replied. She did so.
"I'm certain that you have all been briefed on this already but I feel that I should remind you of just how important this mission is. Our entire existence could be waning on your success" she added.
"I understand your majesty".
"Excellent, Flameheart, do you require anything before you two set off?" Radiance asked.
"No mother, I am ready if she is" I replied.
"Very well then, I shall let you two become acquainted" she said but whispered into my ear. "Be careful please, I love you" before she walked away. I watched her go for a few seconds before turning back to Asteria.
"Sigh well commareder, are you ready?" I asked.
"Yes your majesty".
"Very well, let's not keep the soldiers waiting then" I added.
She nodded and I proceeded onto a small stage overlooking the parade grounds. It was usually for overseeing training exercises or for small events like the graduation of a class or award ceremonies.
This was however the biggest event it had likely seen in quite a while. 39 unicorn mares wearing grey steel armor stood infront of me, while Asteria stood to my right.
"Guardsmares of the fourth legion of the Kingdom Of Fire. Today we begin one of the greatest adventures in our history to date. Today, after twelve hundred years we are leaving the embrace of the Firelands and returning to Equestria". Several eyes shot up at this but I continued on as if they hadn't.
"With the late Queen Vesta Blaze's prowess and courage we will march straight into the heart of Equestria and retrieve five artifacts considered so powerful that they have stopped Discord himself, and we will do it regardless of strength, regardless of fear, and regardless of death".
"For duty, for honor, and for the holy flame itself!" I shouted. "For duty, for honor, and for the holy flame itself!" thirty-nine voices shouted back at me. Satisfied I gave a nod to Asteria.
"Right... Face!" she shouted. It only took one second for the legion to complete that order.
"Forward... March!" The first set of flaming armored hooves slammed down upon the stone they stood upon. Then the next came a second later and the process repeated.
Other ponies around the room stopped what they were doing and saluted the column that was marching past them.
Me and Asteria trotted alongside and slowly overtook them and assumed our place at the front of the two row column. With me infront and Asteria to my back right, four hooves behind me. With four sets of soldiers following us.
We exited Mount Vulcan through a secret emergency tunnel and set off for Equestria.
We circled around the city and began to head east. But in order to reach Equestria we would first have to march through the Firelands, which wasn't going to be a walk in the park.
Once we finally crested a hilltop named 'Discovey Ridge' I looked back, the city of Ashen was directly behind me as the legion marched past.
I thought of everpony behind and on those walls, every Flamepony who'd died defending them, and every single injustice they'd had to suffer because of another's action. But mostly I thought of my mother and late father, and what she had told me.
"I will not fail you, any of you" I muttered. |
The Flame Prince | A Sinister Plot | The ash piled around our hooves every time we took a step. Annoyingly it also managed to get in between every single nook and cranny of our armor pieces as we marched, making us itch all over.
We couldn't focus on this at all however, as we had to remain hyper-focused for any movement in the ground, as well as the surrounding area. Deathworms weren't the only threat out here after all.
I however alternated to looking from my compass and map to the horizon. The legion remaining on guard 24/7.
We were about two days into our journey and I wasn't sure how long it would be until we reached the border with Equestria. Only that it would likely be tonight and I wanted to get this first part of our journey over with as soon as possible. Mainly because I didn't like being out here, where we were exposed to threats constantly. That and I was excited at the prospect of seeing something new, something I had never seen before.
Apart from a few excursions to the Badlands I had never left the Firelands before, and had thus never actually seen an environment with grass, flowers, and trees.
Sure I had read about them in books and looked at pictures, but it was a whole different experience to see it in pony.
But for now I could only watch the ash fall around us and wonder.
"My prince"
"...Yes commareder". Brought out of my daydream I looked up from the tools in my wings to Calla smiling and pointing her hoof infront of me. Intrigued I followed her gaze and my eyes widened.
Right infront of us were mountains, but the difference to the ones behind us were that these didn't have fire and rock spewing out of them twenty four hours a day. No, these were actual mountains.
They were also devoid of any vegetation all the same but they were actual, regular mountains. I looked back to Asteria with a smile of my own.
"Well commareder, it seems we've had our first sign telling us that we are actually exiting the Firelands" I said.
"Indeed my prince, indeed". After marching for about ten more minutes we paused on a small hill overlooking the giant mounds of earth. Mainly so the legion could have a moments rest. We had been marching all day after all.
Meanwhile I sat down against a rock and took a small notebook and pencil out from my bag, I had decided to draw the mountain range infront of me.
I had always liked drawing ever since I was a colt, as it was a calming feeling. One which I enjoyed on the days when I was alone in my tower and wanted something fun to do.
This was also probably the reason why I liked to draw pictures of things I liked or the moments of my accomplishments or adventures. Like winning my first ever duel or my first act as a prince.
After about fifteen minutes or so I had a pretty accurate representation of the mountains drawn in my book. Which also seemed to coincide with the rest of the legion being ready to move out.
The pure black alicorn watched with an annoyed expression.
"That damnable prince is actually going for it" she thought.
Through the massive magical telescope in her chambers she could see him and his "legion" of mares marching ever closer towards Equestria. Marching closer towards the false princess, towards the elements!
It mattered not though, she knew his intentions were not to seek an alliance with her. If they had been she would have just killed him within his own dream a few days ago.
"To think that he thought that he was truly safe from Us, in Our own realm, ha".
While within his mind she had also looked into his memories. While he was a capable warrior he was no match for an alicorn, never mind one as old and experienced as she was. After all, she had been blasted by the elements and lived to tell the tale! Not to mention her foal proof plan for revenge.
The only question remaining was what to do with him. He'd already defied her warning and was now actively working against her. She could just kill him, and she probably should, and yet...
No... once she had Celestia out of the way and him begging for mercy she would kill every single one of his subjects and... conquer his entire kingdom and...
"Hmph, 'Queendom' wouldn't that be the correct term", she would never understand why they chose the term 'kingdom' when they had never had a stallion ruler, and since their nation wasn't founded by one.
Oh well, she supposed she could just ask him when she confronted him. She didn't feel like spending the better part of her evening looking for that little tidbit of information.
However, something continued to not sit right in the mare's gut. Like she'd forgotten something, but what!?
She was on the eve of her return, just a few days away, and yet after a thousand years of planning she still felt like she was forgetting something. With it somehow involving this little Flame Pony prince as well.
With a quick light of her horn the image of the group appeared in a small crystal ball on a pedestal in the center of her room.
"But what am I forgetting, what am I missing?" she muttered.
Disgruntled she looked back at the stallion once more. He was confidently leading his troops through what looked to be a mountain pass.
She'd never seen such bravery from a colt before. They were usually terrified of violence, and yet this one had never shy'd away from a fight. Whether it was Changelings, Dragons, Diamond Dogs, or even those massive Spiders and Snakes of the western mountains and the Badlands region respectively.
She certainly admired that about him, if anything. That and for a hedonist light lover he certainly didn't look all that bad, and just like a few nights ago she began to scrutinize him once more.
His grey fur was a bit of a turn off, she preferred black honestly. Though the red eyes and blackish mane helped ease that off, and although it was hidden by his armor and partially obscured by the accursed flame which surrounded him she could still see a decent bit of his flank, and she liked what she saw there.
A nice and well toned but not overtly in your face plot, coupled with four nicely muscled but still quite coltish looking legs. Nice and lean but with a bit of girth to them, just how any mare would want them.
She couldn't see his "undercarriage" with that undergarment of his, and while a simple memory spell could take her to a moment where that piece of clothing was removed she felt apprehensive. Like it would be all too easy for her to do that.
Then it all came to her, so quickly she felt retarded for not thinking of it sooner. She finally realized what she had been missing, companionship!
While her Thestrals were loyal they had been trained to practically kiss her plot since birth, and while that did make them excellent subjects it didn't exactly make them the most conversible.
It also didn't help that they were either in complete awe or fear whenever she was within a hundred hooves of them, and so a different solution to her dilemma would have to be found, and this colt may be the best opportunity she was going to get.
"Yes, he's brave enough to not drop to the floor in fear and yet... Hmm, We suppose we would enjoy in breaking him to our will. Not to mention that he's... decent, but We suppose a beggar cannot be a choser now can they".
It certainly would be nice having a stallion to come back too after a long night of dealing with moronic nobles in court, hmm...
She certainly wasn't falling in love, that much was certain. But she definitely began to feel something for this colt.
He was small (to her at least), brave, and while not overtly attractive in her opinion he would make a good housecolt.
One for her, her little housecolt.
"Yes" she said to nopony in particular. "He will be ours, and only ours! Hahahahaha!"
The perfect ending to a perfect plan. Yes, she would have her revenge. Equestria would be hers, her subjects. Both Thestral and Pony, would bask in her glorious eternal night! Along with a cute little trophy of a colt just for her, the perfect metaphorical cherry on top.
To rub in Celestia's face the moment before she banished her, like salt to a wound.
She looked back to the stallion once more. He would be hers!
"Alright fillies let's move out!" Asteria ordered.
We began to slowly descend into what looked to be a small pass between two of the mountains.
A quick glance at my map showed that it was the quickest way through the mountain range and into the Whitetail woods. After which it would be a small trek southeast towards the Everfree Forest.
The only trick would be staying undetected by the Equestrians. We could probably fight them off if needed, but I wanted to keep quiet until we secured the Elements at least. Only then would I even consider dropping our disguises and going loud.
In the meantime however I needed to locate a good location to make camp for the night. As glancing at a small watch I had brought with me revealed that it was already three in the afternoon.
After a quick study of my map I believed I had a good location in mind. Now I just had to inform Calla.
"Commareder Asteria". Almost immediately she was at my side.
"Yes, my prince?" I pointed to the small picture representing the Whitetail Woods on my map.
"We will camp at this location tonight once we reach it" I explained.
"Understood my prince" she replied.
"Very good".
"...My prince?"
"Yes commareder?"
"I understand that Queen Radiance let you plan most of our expedition correct?" she asked.
"You are correct commareder, do you have any questions about it" I replied.
Calla seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking up.
"Not so much about it your highness, but if you are going to inform us about it?" she said.
...Huh, she's got me there. I guess I never did share any parts of my plan with them. I just gave a little speech and led them out here. Good job Flameheart, great even. Optimal performance as always".
Only realizing that Calla was still awkwardly awaiting an answer and likely contemplating if she'd just misstepped a boundary was what brought me back from my thoughts.
"Hmm... I believe that I haven't given you mares an explanation of what I have planned, and that will be something I will amend tonight" I replied.
Seeming pleased with my answer Calla smiled.
"Thank you my prince, I'm sure the legion will appreciate this".
"But of course Calla" I looked away, still chastising myself for making such a simple mistake.
"Not a problem at all..." |
The Flame Prince | A Whole New World | Fires crackled and wood popped about the small camp we had constructed. Most of the legion were either resting, making small talk, or cooking small animals we had caught earlier in the day. Along with a group of crossbowmares practicing shooting in a makeshift range.
Meanwhile along the outskirts a few soldiers were finishing putting up spike posts around the camp's perimeter.
I was sat alone upon a small rock looking over what I had cobbled together throughout the day for my speech I had promised to give.
Suffice to say I liked what I had, even though I knew it wasn't perfected yet. But if I were to just use it just as a basis point to go off of I would probably do okay... hopefully.
"Prince Flameheart".
"Gah!" Whipping around I found myself nearly pressing my saber against private Star Fire's throat.
"Oh, uh sorry... sorry Star Fire, what is it?" I asked, wanting to change the subject as fast as possible.
"Heh, I am just here to inform you that the outer fortifications have been completed your highness" she answered.
"That and to tell you that if you want to give that speech you promised us then now is your best opportunity before the first night patrols are sent out" she added.
"Right, thank you. Tell your superior I'll be over momentarily" I replied.
"Understood my prince" she replied, saluted, and trotted off.
"Well then, looks like what I have is going to have to do" I thought.
Skimming over my rough draft I slowly walked over to my chosen spot. It had me standing on a small rock overlooking a small clearing between the tents, fire pits, and other pieces of equipment we had brought with us.
Ponies stood all around me, patiently waiting for me to start speaking.
"Guardsmares of the fourth legion, what I am about to say is long overdue. However it is necessary nonetheless".
"Over the past few days and nights we have been marching together towards the Equestrian Hinterland in order to retrieve five objects. That much you all have been made aware of".
"However I have foundered in my duty as a Royal and as a commander by not fully informing you about the danger this mission poses, and I hope to rectify that now".
"The artifacts that I have alluded to are called the Elements Of Harmony, and they are widely considered by historians to be some of if not the most powerful objects in history.
"Nopony knows where or why they were made but I have a suspicion that it was either commissioned or constructed by Celestia to combat the "Lord Of Chaos himself, Discord. Seeing as he was defeated by them".
"Regardless we are going to retrieve them in my mother's name. The reason being is that after more than an entire millennium we are preparing to take our revenge upon Equestria".
At that several brows raised and eyes widened.
"That and... we believe that there is another threat out there. That plans are in the works against our nation. Plans that could set off a war the likes of which haven't been seen on such a scale since the Great Fire Wars themselves, and so we need to be prepared for that".
"So when we set out tomorrow remember who you're fighting for. For you're friends and families, and for all those that sacrificed themselves to protect you when you were but foals. Remember that tomorrow" I finished.
The guards looked speechless. One even had her mouth slightly open. All was silent until one raised her hoof and at my nod spoke.
"Prince Flameheart, what is this second threat you spoke of?" she asked. "Great, how much of this do I tell them".
"Th-there is a third alicorn. She is pure black save her turquoise slitted eyes, and she is known as Nightmare Moon. Otherwise known as the corrupted Princess Luna" I replied.
Now several terrified eyes stared back at me. We had all heard the stories of Princess (more like 'butcher') Luna when she fought against us so long ago.
Most of them were about how masterful of a warrior she was, even when compared to her sister. With words like, slaughter, demon, and bitch being quite commonplace.
"However, we have time" I conciliated. "We do not know when but we should at least have at minimum two weeks before she arrives" I added. Though it did practically nothing to alleviate the tension in the air, and the silence was only broken when a guard raised her hoof.
At my nod she spoke. "Prince Flameheart, with all due respect how do you know this?" she asked.
"She contacted me, I suppose a few nights ago in my dream. She said a few weird things but more or less threatened me and said what I told you just now" I replied. A few eyebrows raised at that.
"Regardless I and the rest of the monarchy along with the triumvirate believe that she will come for us eventually, and that the elements are key to stopping her" I added.
A few more questions were exchanged but one by one the guards began to disperse. Though I remained until every guard's question was answered.
"Do you think we're honestly ready for a war with Equestria my prince?".
"...Yes, I believe we are. We may not have as many soldiers but that hasn't stopped us from winning battles before. We probably have the most elite soldiers in the world, while Equestria only has a volunteer guard force, and therefore as long as we play our cards right we should be able to defeat them" I replied.
The guard, satisfied with my explanation thanked me and we both retired for the night.
The walk back to my tent thankfully went uninterrupted and as always I nodded to the guard outside my tent before I slipped inside.
What greeted me was a messy collapsible table strewn about with parchment, paper, and a few other assorted items. Completed by a small fold up chair pushed in beneath it. A small bed had been set up against the back left corner where my bag lay against it.
As much as I wanted to just dive into that bed and fall asleep for the night there was still work to be done. As such I grabbed the communication crystal from my bag and sat down at the table.
I tapped it and a swirling image began to be displayed upon its surface. This continued for about two minutes before it changed to reveal my mother's chambers, along with the mare herself.
"Good evening Flameheart" she said.
"You as well mother. How was your day?" I asked.
"Dull... yours?".
"Informative" I replied. "Also we should arrive in Equestria proper tomorrow morning" I said as I switched topics. Not wanting to mentally linger on my most recent failure.
"Good".
"How are things in Ashen?" I asked.
"The same as usual. Though you're absence here has surprised many a pony".
"Not surprising given how active I was in just about everything".
"Indeed".
We continued talking for about half an hour before we decided to call it quits for the night and shut off our respective crystals.
I then attempted to get some sleep without any more Nightmare Moon sponsored dreams plaguing my subconscious.
My efforts were in vain.
"So that's it then?" Asteria asked.
"Indeed" I replied.
"The Everfree Forest. I never thought I would ever see this place" she said.
We were overlooking a small cliff at the infamous magical forest residing about two kilometers east from us, along with a small town to our northeast.
"You've heard of this place before?" I asked.
The Everfree Forest was a place as magical as it was dangerous. Ranging from dangerous fauna to creatures that could outright take on a Deathworm, probably.
"I come from a long line of noblemares that go back centuries, before Nightmare Moon herself. My ancestors once served as guards at "The Castle Of The Two Sisters", and we're there at the beginning of the Equestrian Civil War" she replied.
"I see... but I thought that - That it was once called the Everfree Plains" she cut me off.
"Yes, it once was called that. But once Celestia banished her sister and ended the civil war... something went wrong. Either they casted some weird spells during their fight or the Nightmare attempted one last desperate attack against the Solar Tyrant and attempted to modify her spell" she added.
"Wouldn't that be at a great risk to both ponies?" I asked. Asteria shuddered. "More than you think my prince. Any spell being subjected to foreign interference while being casted can lead to... severe consequences..." she trailed off.
"Let's just say that if that was the case then Equestria got damn lucky that an uncontrollable magical forest was the worst that came about from that fight" she paused and her expression changed to apologetic.
"My apologies my prince, I didn't mean to swear" I smiled.
"Ha, no worries commander, I could care less of a few words to be frank" I replied.
"Right, thank you your highness" she replied.
"Of course, now then" I pointed at a small map laid out on a traditional picnic blanket under us. I had also used the Changeling necklace to modify my appearance to a regular pony, a Pegasus.
As while a Flame Pony could control the intensity and to a degree the shape of the flame around them we could not stop it completely.
Thus for secrecy's sake using the Changeling necklace to alter my appearance was a must, and with Calla already being a regular pony we now just looked like a young couple having a picnic to any would be passerby's.
"Assuming this old map is correct the only nearby town is this Ponyville settlement, correct?" I asked.
"Yes sir, all the scouts have reported this to be correct".
"Good, how far is it from the castle?".
"A fair distance, a kilometer and a half at minimum, two at most. It would probably take a half hour at least to get to it from Ponyville" Asteria replied.
"Right then- oh shit".
"Sir... what's wrong?" Calla asked.
"Calla... do you think that the average Equestrian citizen has a gilded carriage?" I asked.
"No... why do you, oh buck" she realized.
Sure enough flying just above us a golden chariot pulled by two golden armored guardsponies flew overhead, heading for the small town. They had definitely seen us. The only thing in question was if they cared enough to ask why two ponies would be having a picnic this far away from civilization.
"Should we be worried about that?" I asked.
"I don't think so, but I'll assign two scouts to make certain of it. But I don't see why they would think anything abnormal, seeing as they don't really have a reason too" Calla replied.
"Very well, but I want to be apart of that little excursion" I replied.
"Very well your highness. Just be careful please" she asked.
"Of course commander, when am I not careful" I grinned.
Calla met my grin with a blank stare, then shook her head.
"One, I can name three separate occasions of the top of my head. Two, those are just the little stunts I have witnessed, and three, I can name a fourth stunt that happened this month" she replied. |
The Flame Prince | The Town Of Ponyville | Me and two guards walked along the small dirt road. The afternoon sun beat down on my disguised light grey coat and black, brown mane. With the village of Ponyville growing closer every step.
After the chariot had flown over us me and Calla immediately packed up and raced back to where the legion was stationed in a small forest grove. Where we explained the situation to the rest of them. The plan was for Calla and the rest of the legion to secure the castle the elements we're supposedly located in. While we would see if the individual who had arrived on the chariot was a potential threat to us.
We knew it wasn't the Princess herself. Otherwise there would be a small army at minimum stationed in the town right now. As it stood we had yet to see a single guard, which was weird. Which considering only the Equestrian nobility or high ranking military officials used decorated chariots made this even more peculiar.
Soon we began trotting into the town proper, Ponyville was... quaint I supposed. Cobbled roads, wooden houses with thatch for roofing, and ponies that seemed nice.
Of course it couldn't compare to the camaraderie that you saw in Ashen but I could tell they cared for one another. But I couldn't dwell on this for long, me and the two disguised guards that were with me had a carriage to find after all.
Giving my head a light shake I refocused on the task at hoof, and we continued on in an arrowpoint formation, with me at the point and the two guards on my flanks.
After trotting about for thirty minutes we still hadn't located our target, though the locals at least turned out to be nice. Letting off a few "good mornings" or waves of greeting. Though something felt off, for whatever reason it felt like some of the ponies were staring at us. Almost like they could see through our disguises.
At first I simply shrugged it off at us being newcomers to the town. But as we went on it only got worse. Especially when we hit the marketplace, which was fit to bursting with ponies. They even seemed to be whispering amongst themselves, though what they were saying was lost to me and by glance my comrades as well.
Eventually we silently agreed to take a break and headed for a nicely decorated tavern appropriately named the "Ponyville Cafe" and sat down at one of the outdoor tables, away from any other ponies.
"Do you think we've been made already?" a disguised red Pegasus/Flame Pony knight by the name of Fire Strike asked.
"No way, how could they know. It's not like my disguise spell failed" the other mare, a violet unicorn by the name of Delilah Evadne. A very experienced and highly decorated mage from the fourth legion.
"Precisely, and it's not as if our weapons are unsheathed-" I stopped talking as both ponies made shut it motions with their hoofs and I soon found out why. A green 'earth' pony with a green mane and tail wearing an apron was trotting towards our table.
"Good morning and welcome to the Ponyville Cafe, my name is Green Jewel and I'll be your waitress today" she said.
For a second none of us moved or spoke, as we didn't really know what to do. We didn't think anypony would come over to serve us just like that. I don't think that Fire and Delilah even knew what a waitress was. Thankfully however I managed to come out of the shock relatively quickly and speak up.
"Umm, do you have a menu we could browse for a minute or two... please?" I asked. The mare smiled.
"Of course sir, here you are". She pulled three menus' from her apron and hoofed them to us.
"Whenever you're ready to order just wave me down or call me over okay" she added.
"Of course, we'll be sure to do that, thank you miss Jewel" I smiled.
"Not a problem sir, anytime" she replied and trotted off.
"Green Jewel", that's her name" Delilah scoffed once the mare was out of earshot.
"Honestly if that's a perfectly acceptable name around here then I'm glad that I was born where I was" she added.
"Enough, focus on the task at hoof" I replied.
"Agreed, let's just get out of this situation as fast as possible and resume looking for that chariot" Fire Strike added.
We then directed most of our attention down at the menus' before us. It was thanks to Brandy that I actually knew what a "menu" was and what "waitress" meant and so I could guide the mares through the process of ordering. Meaning that it wasn't long before we had our meals before us, if they could even be called that.
"Are you sure this is all that you want" Green Jewel asked. Gesturing to the small croissants and three glasses of water before us.
"No offense but this is kinda small for a breakfast, and we're always happy to wipe ya up anything that we serve" she added.
"Great, now she's suspicious".
"Thank you very much Miss Jewel but we're kind of on a tight schedule and just stopped for a quick break" Delilah replied.
"Well... okay then. If you're sure" and with that said she turned to leave. But not before giving the mares a small but quick glare before giving me what looked to be a look of pity for whatever reason.
Shrugging that bit of weird behavior off we ate relatively quickly and, in our rush to leave probably left far more than required on the table as payment.
Unfortunately, even after another half an hour of searching we still hadn't managed to find the chariot but, something else. A somewhat chubby but not overtly fat pink Earth Pony was literally bouncing through the streets of Ponyville infront of us, only for her to jump into the air when she noticed us and looked to be about to charge.
My guards immediately moved infront of me and Delilah lit her horn, both ready to die if required.
Only for the damn mare to take off in the complete opposite direction at a speed that I didn't even think I could match when I was flying. Which left the three of us just standing there. Completely and utterly dumbstruck as to what had just happened.
I think we were honestly so surprised and dumbfounded that we didn't even move for a good two minutes minimum. Or at least until two beige and green mares walked up to us.
"Hey there, um... sorry about Pinkie. She gets really excited about new ponies in Ponyville. My name is Bon Bon by the way, and this here is Lyra" the beige mare said, and outstretched a forehoof.
"Delilah Evadne, charmed" and tapped the mare's forehoof with her own.
"Fire Strike" she bowed.
"Night Storm, a pleasure." I nodded and finished.
"Well it's good to meet you three, especially new ponies. We don't really get a lot of new ponies here in Ponyville. Which is kinda surprising considering how close Canterlot is" Lyra spoke up.
"Right... well, um we don't need to be worried about this Pinkie... right?" Delilah asked. Bon Bon laughed.
"I wouldn't think so, unless you three are enemy spies or something" she rolled her eyes.
"... uh, right!... ahem, uh, thank you miss but we really need to be on our way" Delilah added.
"Indeed, have a good day you two" I said.
"You guys two!" Lyra called after us as we pressed onwards throughout Ponyville.
For the next five minutes or so all was going well until we stepped out onto "Mane Street" as it was so strangely titled.
"Woah look out!"
"Wha - ouf!", and just like that a cyan blur slammed into me. Taking both of us to the ground. Though apart from a few scraps and scratches I was relatively fine and managed to stand up quickly with the help of Delilah, Fire Strike meanwhile looked to be ready to send the pony that hit me straight to Tartarus.
"What do you think you are doing! Doesn't this town have any rules or regulations on how low or fast a pony can fly!" she yelled. The blue mare, having scrambled to her hooves at Fire's voice, seemed to be dazed and surprised but relatively calm.
"Ah buck, look I'm sorry okay. I was just trying to practice a few new tricks and I lost track of where I was going and how low I was" she replied. Fire Strike only seemed more angry at that.
"Grr... that's no excuse. You could have hurt somepony! You could have hurt my char... my... my-".
"Yeah yeah I could have hurt your coltfriend, and I said I was sorry okay. Jeez, accidents happen mare" she interrupted.
"...I, he, we're n, uh... w-whatever just be more careful in the future, okay" Fire replied. The mare smiled.
"Oh, I see, well don't worry, you're talking to the fastest and best flyer in Equestria, it won't" she said. Then turning her attention to me.
"Are you okay back there hot stuff, I did hit you kinda hard" she grimaced.
"Is, is she actually flirting with me right now. Now!" I thought. A quick glance at my comrades showed they we're just as shocked as I was.
"Okay Flameheart, it's just like fending off those suitors from the court when you we're little. Just tell her to buck off-", "I cannot bucking believe you!". It seemed that Fire Strike wasn't quite done, and Delilah had also positioned herself infront of me as well.
"First you come out of nowhere and barrel into my stallion, and then you have the gall to just play it off like you lightly bumped into him in a marketplace, and then you flirt with him!" At this point it looked like literal steam was coming out of her ears, and the mare who before had been carefree and calm was now scowling herself. If we wanted to avoid a fight then I had to step in now!
"Alright alright, Fire calm down" I said. To her credit she closed her eyes, mumbled something, and then backed off.
"Now as for you" I began. "I am willing to forget what just happened. On account that you leave me and my friends alone, understand" I said.
"Psch fine, whatever colt. Guess you won't get to experience Equestria's best, you're mid anyway. See ya later simps" and with that she took off into the sky. Leaving the three of us standing in the street.
"Come on let's go, we've wasted enough time as it is" I ordered the guards who silently obeyed the order. We got about ten steps before two more mares, a walking marshmallow and the other stereotyping a farmer, trotted up to us.
"Hello there you three" the white one spoke, and both of the guards moved slightly closer to me.
'My name is Rarity and this here is Applejack and we would like to apologize on behalf of Rainbow Dash" she said.
"Indeed, she's a good pony at heart. But she's got this whole macho mare thing going on. I'm sure ya can guess how well that's going for her" Applejack added.
Silently we scrutinized them. Looking for any possible hint of malice, intention, or lies.
"Well... I suppose it wouldn't be right to hold a grudge over an entire town just because of one mare" Delilah said. With me and Fire Strike both giving silent nods.
"Brilliant" Rarity smiled. Applejack seemed just as happy.
"Are ya three stayin in Ponyville long, we could show ya around if ya like?" she asked.
"No we are just passing through, we'll probably be gone by tonight" I replied. The mare's gazes snapped to me, like they almost seemed surprised that I spoke up.
"But ya are here for the Summer Sun Celebration, right?" Applejack asked. Our eyes must have widened to the size of dinner plates upon hearing that.
"Th, the... the what!" Delilah near shouted. The two mares even winced slightly.
"The Summer Sun Celebration" Applejack repeated.
"Darlings, you do know about the-" Rarity began but was cut off.
"Yes I know what The Summer Sun Celebration is!" Delilah replied. "It celebrates the longest day of the year and is the anniversary of Princess Celestia's victory over Nightmare Moon!" she added. Though what Rarity said next only shocked us even more.
"Darling's, who is Nightmare Moon?" she asked. If our eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates before, then they must have been the size of a damn cauldron upon hearing that question. We looked at each other, the message was clear, we had to choose our next words very carefully.
"I... it's an old legend from where we're from" I explained. "It tells of two alicorns who ruled together in "peace" and "harmony". The elder used her sun to warm the earth, to light and guide ponies throughout their days. While the younger used her moon to shine down upon evil and protect ponies. Though in time they grew to view her warlike ways with distrust and hidden malice, while her older sister was loved and revered for her "benevolence'.
"Eventually she couldn't take it anymore, and gave into dark magic in order to get her subjects to pay attention to her. A brutal four-year civil war broke out that claimed the lives of thousands, and in the end the younger was defeated, and the elder victorious" I finished. Of course there was a lot more to that conflict than the brief summary I just gave, but I didn't want to be standing there for six hours.
"Well... ah, I've never heard of that tale ya got there. But I'm not gunna call ya'll liars" Applejack said.
"Indeed, though I must admit that I have never heard of that myself" Rarity added.
"It doesn't matter, or it won't in a couple weeks time. Good day to you both" I replied. Delilah and Fire Strike excused themselves with two small bows and we trotted away quickly. Eager to just get away from those two mares. Eventually we found a small alleyway and ducked down it when nopony was looking.
"Okay what the buck was that!" Fire Strike hissed. "How do they not know about Nightmare Moon! Do they not even know about Luna!" she added.
"I don't know Fire, I don't know... But I do know that we need to find what we're looking for, now! Or get the buck out of this town before Princess Celestia shows up to raise the damn sun!" I replied.
"Alright how about this then, if we don't find the occupant of that chariot by sundown we'll cut our losses and go back, sound good?" Delilah proposed.
"Agreed, Fire?" I added.
"Sounds good" she replied. "Ugh, I just wish we could ask them who was in that damn chariot or where it went" she added.
"Me too mare... me too" I thought. |
The Flame Prince | One Minute To Midnight | To say that we we're scared would be a lie, we we're terrified. But of course we didn't say that to each other. Though our faces betrayed us.
What made it worse was that the residents of Ponyville seemed to notice this as well. As we walked about we noticed more and more ponies glanced in our direction. Like before their expressions we're nice enough, but as time went on I couldn't help but grow more and more nervous around them. Especially the mares, as they seemed to stare more intensely at us.
It also didn't help that like this morning they seemed to be once more whispering amongst themselves, and it was made worse since I could, at best, barely hear what they we're saying.
"Hey, are they those new ponies Pinkie was going on about?"
"So that's why me and my herd all got invitations for a party tomorrow night at Sugarcube Corner".
"Two Pinkie parties in one week, along with the Summer Sun Celebration, buck yeah!".
"Oh, I have got just the perfect outfit for it too".
"Is that the new stallion that was accosted by Rainbow Dash earlier".
"I heard that she almost got into a fight with the red pegasus".
"Well yeah, she's Rainbow Dash. Come on Cloud Kicker, you know how that mare operates".
I sighed, this was going nowhere fast, and I could clearly see just by glance that the mares we're uncomfortable as well. So I decided that I needed to do something to fix this. As we trotted along I noticed a shop on our right with a sign of what seemed like a cat and dog playing together.
"Perfect, a more private place to talk without making anypony suspicious of anything" I thought.
"Come" I ordered, and the mares obeyed without question.
As we approached a set of steps leading up to the front door Delilah cantered past me and opened it, I nodded my thanks and walked into what had to have been the loudest room I had ever been in. Literal hordes of animals barked, meowed, screeched, and hissed.
Though they clearly had been domesticated and thus, we're not hostile. I could immediately tell that regular talking was not going to happen here. Especially if the fillies and occasional colt that we're playing with a few of the animals under supervision by presumably the storekeepers and spurring on their excitement weren't checked by their parents. With most seeming to be in their own little group talking to each other, sitting in chairs lining the wall to our right as we walked in. However that changed once they saw us.
The mare's eyes damn near simultaneously snapped to us, then to me. While the few stallions almost seemed to glare at me. Suffice to say, I was quite weirded out.
"Uh, lets just go find somewhere else girls" I said. Delilah nodded and Fire Strike, who had just shut the door, grumbled but agreed. We reassumed formation with Delilah opening the door once more. Again I nodded my thanks, stepped out, collided with something soft, and fell to the ground, again.
"Cough, cough... buck" I choked out, my vision was obstructed by something fluffy and warm. Though before I could lift my head to see what I had run into a ponies telekinesis ripped me from it. As I flew back into Delilah's hooves Fire Strike raced forward. Vaulting over us and putting herself between me and the yellow pegasus whom I had just run into, pushed backwards onto the ground, and then subsequently landed in her chest fluff. At this revelation I felt my cheeks flush slightly as well.
"Oh... oh my sir are you alright?" she barely managed to squeak out, her quiet voice laced with concern. Delilah meanwhile was checking me over to make sure I hadn't broken anything, while Fire looked about ready to slit the mare's throat. The only reason all four of her hooves we're still on the ground was probably because the mare hadn't moved from where I had forced her to said ground. Realizing that the mare had asked a question and was looking at me I spoke up.
"Uh yes... yes I am fine thank you" I coughed. The mare looked relieved upon hearing that but cowed once more when she noticed the death glare Fire Strike was giving her. I glanced about and noticed that quite a few curious ponies we're also throwing looks our way, ranging from anger to pity. Directed at the yellow mare and myself respectively.
"Damn bastards, mind your own business" I thought. I needed to do something.
"Fire please, that is enough, if she wanted to hurt or foalnap me then she would have made her move already or bolted" I said. Fire Strike didn't look pleased that I was politely ordering her to stand down for the second time that day but complied nonetheless. The yellow pony then stood up.
"Again, I'm really sorry about that mister. I, I wasn't watching where I was g, going and- no" I firmly cut her off. Much to her surprise.
"I am sorry about running into you. I wasn't watching where I was going and I hurt you" I added. The mare, much like the mass of spectators, seemed surprised by what I said.
"B, but I was in your way, and I should have c-checked to see if anyp-pony was coming out, and besides I-it's a mare's job to-to-t..." though whatever she was trying to say died off into little indecipherable squeaks. It was actually kind of cute.
"Well don't dwell on it. It was an accident and I'm fine, and I can only hope that you are as well" I replied. The mare seemed too embarrassed to offer a proper response and so just smiled, which I returned.
"What is your name?" I asked. The mare's smile left and she only seemed to clam up more. So I strode forth and put a hoof on her shoulder to try and calm her down, and it seemed to work.
"What is your name?" I asked again, this time softening my voice.
"I, it's Fluttershy" she whispered.
"I'm sorry" I replied.
"Fluttershy" she blushed.
"Didn't quite catch that" I smiled.
"..." her blush only deepened.
"Well um, my name is Night Storm and these two behind me are Delilah Evadne and Fire Strike" I said, the mare nodded, mumbled something again, and seemed to completely shut down. Looking back at my guards revealed that they we're just as lost as me, and nopony from the gathering crowd seemed to be interested in helping. In fact it seemed that we we're going to be stuck at an impasse until an unfortunate familiar voice made itself known.
"Alright what the buck is going on here!" it said. We turned around to see none other than Rainbow 'Crash' as I had now taken to calling her standing behind us. "What are you three doing to poor Fluttershy!" she added.
"Nothing, there was just a small... err, misunderstanding" I offered, wanting to avoid more trouble with her. Unfortunately, as had been proven many times in my life, trouble liked to follow me around.
"Well guess what buster, this mare right here is the absolute sweetest, kindest, and most caring mare you'll ever meet! Any stallion would be incredibly lucky to have her in his herd. So you'd better be treating her right!" By this point the cyan bitch had taken to hovering a few hooves off the ground. It also seemed like both my guards had had enough of her shit as well.
"So you're not just a shameless flirt, but a dyke as well. I've only ever seen a stallion defend a mare's honor like that!" Fire laughed as she positioned herself between me and the rainbow maned mare. Normally I would have told her to calm down, and her direct superior would have probably demoted her. But as it was we we're stressed from the day we'd had and this mare was a big part of the reason why. So as it stood I would tolerate Fire's insults for now, though I was about one more sentence from snapping at either of them. Regardless of who spoke next, and to the bitch's credit, if she was hurt by Fire's words she didn't show it.
"Well at least I'm not some pathetic simp kissing his hooves twenty four seven- enough!" I yelled. Both mares looked at me with wide eyes, though I would come to learn that both had different reasons as to why.
"Miss Rainbow Dash, we have tried to be nice. But quite frankly we have found you to be prudish, rude, and arrogantly prideful" I then turned my attention towards Fluttershy, who had remained on the ground during the whole affair.
"Miss Fluttershy, you do not have to be afraid of me. I was never upset over what happened and I never will be. You seem like a very kind mare and as much as I hate to agree with the walking rainbow here, any stallion would be lucky to have you in his herd. You're pretty, kind, and while I don't know for certain I bet you're absolutely lovely to live with. Don't ask why, I've just always had a knack for assuming things like that" I finished and gave the mare a hug, and she practically melted into my forelegs.
After twenty or so seconds I released her and turned back to the mares behind me. "Delilah, Fire, let's go. As for you Rainbow "Crash"... I paused to let the insult sink in. "I pray that we never meet again, especially where there aren't witnesses" I muttered. With that I turned forward and began to walk in our original direction, with both of my guardsmares following me.
"H-hey, where do you think you're going colt. I'm not done with you" Rainbow called after us. I didn't dignify her with a response as we walked past stunned townsponies.
I felt tired and just wanted this day to be over with. However I still hadn't been able to help my guards, and I owed them that at least. Especially after dragging them through this forsaken village for half the day, and that was when an idea came to me.
"Delilah, Fire" I looked back once we we're out of earshot of anypony. Both mares seemed concerned that they we're about to get a tongue lashing. "Follow me, you've both put up with quite a lot today. Even though we're on campaign I wouldn't feel right if I didn't give you a reward for what you both have put up with today" I said.
"What!" both mares looked incredibly flustered.
"S-sire, p-please we're just s-soldiers. W-we have a duty to you and the kingdom. We certainly don't need a r-reward" Delilah stuttered.
"I... indeed my prince. You don't have to do t-that" Fire Strike added.
"Oh but I want too" I smiled as we neared the Corner Cafe, and both mare's faces paled and flushed at the same time.
"Sir please I... I must protest" Delilah whispered hoarsely as we trotted past the same table we'd sat at just a couple of hours ago.
"I-I agree, you should save your... ah, oh tartarus, your, y-yourse- you mean my bits" I cut off whatever Fire was trying to say as we walked inside. The stallion at the counter giving us a polite nod as he noticed we we're still in conversation, which I returned.
"Nonsense, I have enough bits at my personal disposal to feed this entire town three times over. Besides, we got a rather poor lunch. Please take your pick of whatever you want and I'll pay for it" I gestured to the menu. The guardsmares looked confused for a moment before they looked at each other, then at me.
"W-wait, y-you're just going to buy us something?" Fire Strike asked.
"Well yes, what did you think I was planning?" I replied. Both mares blushed bright crimson and looked anywhere but at me, which with Fire Strike's fake bright red coat was somewhat of an achievement for her.
"Hehe, I'll give you two a minute to decide what you want to order" I smirked and turned around to admire the menu myself.
"Good ole mares, somethings never change" I thought.
Twilight Sparkle was not having a good day by any stretch of the imagination. She had been force-fed way to much food by Applejack. Then crashed into, dropped in mud, drenched, and had her mane puffed out by Rainbow Dash, had said mane then smoothened out by Rarity before being forced to try on half of her wardrobe, then the whole calamity with Fluttershy's well... shyness, as well obsessing over Spike.
Plus, to top it all off she still hadn't been able to do any research on Nightmare Moon at all. It was ridiculous! Especially how Princess Celestia could just blatantly ignore her warning. Sure it was an old foals tale to scare said foals into obeying their parents and keeping them from eating too much candy on Nightmare Night but come on. Threats like this shouldn't be ignored. Especially as the bucking sun was already beginning to set.
At least they finally arrived at the library she was staying at.
"Oh, do you wanna hear about today?" her number one assistant asked the butter yellow pegasus from his perch atop her barrel.
"No!"
"Oh yes please" the yellow pegasus replied.
"Nope, not gonna happen butterscotch!".
"Woah".
"I am so sorry, how did we get here so fast. This is we're I am staying while in Ponyville and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep" she said.
"No I don't, woah ugh!"
"Aww look at that, he's so schweepy he can't even keep his wittle bawlance" she smiled sheepishly before her eyes caught on to something else. Something so distracting that she didn't even notice Fluttershy dash past her and begin cradling Spike. There, infront of her eyes was probably the hottest bucking pegasus stallion she had ever seen!
"Poor thing, you simply must get him to bed".
To most ponies, darker coats and manes we're a bit of a turn off. But it was still a nice light grey which only accentuated his red eyes and black mane. not to mention his body as well. What she would give to have those wings wrapped around her. If there was one word which could be used to describe this stallion, woah!
It was then she noticed the three mares accompanying him, a red pegasus, a violet unicorn, and a beige earth pony.
"Ugh, of course a stud like him is already taken" she thought. "Here I thought that I might actually get a coltfri... wait where did Spike go!" she added.
Then, remembering that Fluttershy had carried the young drake into the library moments later Twilight all but dashed into the tree. Thankfully she managed to locate the pegasus and dragon quite quickly in what looked to be a darkened room and all but politely shoved the mare back out through the doorway.
"Yes yes, we'll get right on that. Whatever you said, err... good night" she smiled and slammed the door in Fluttershy's face.
"Ugh, sweet Tartarus I thought she'd never leave".
"Huh, rude much" an annoyed Spike declared.
"Sorry Spike" she said and turned to face him. "But I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming and we're running out of time. I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time, now where's the light?" she added.
"Surprise!"
"Ough..."
After we had acquired our treats, and Delilah and Fire calmed down, we began to slowly slink our way out of Ponyville. I had chosen to head west, as the setting sun would partially blind anypony attempting to follow us. Making that task more difficult for them.
"Oof".
However... it also meant that we we're partially blinded as well.
"Faust damn it, how many times am I going to run into somepony today" I muttered as I forced myself to my hooves.
"Ow Celestia damn oh Night Storm, nice meeting you again" Bon Bon greeted me.
"Ah, hello Bon Bon" I replied. The mares giving two small smile's and nods in greeting.
"Are you three going to Pinkie's party as well?" she asked. We looked at each other in confusion.
"Um, Pinkie's party...?" Delilah asked.
"Oh right, you three just got into Ponyville today. When a new pony... or ponies come to Ponyville our resident err, party planner Pinkie Pie always throws them a "Welcome To Ponyville" party" she explained.
"I see" I replied.
"Wait, wasn't she that weird pink mud... err, Earth pony from earlier" Fire Strike added. Bon Bon's face contorted into a glare.
"Well yes Fire Strike. There isn't anything wrong with earth ponies, is there?" she asked.
"No no, just... old habits die hard" she muttered.
"It's all right Fire, you're getting better, progress is progress" I consoled.
"W-what?" she dumbly asked. At this point I yanked her towards me in what to anypony standing more than a few hoofsteps away, ie Bon Bon, would recognize as a simple hug. Though to Delilah, who was standing right next to us, and especially Fire Strike would see me aggressively shoving her into myself.
"Play along!" I whispered harshly, and she nodded dumbly at my order. Then I slowly extracted her from my forelegs.
"You're not that kind of pony anymore, okay?" I asked.
"Y-yeah, thanks si-Night" she quickly corrected herself. I then let her go and turned to face a now very surprised Bon Bon.
"Apologies Bon Bon, Fire here had a very traditional upbringing in a rural pegasi town. To very traditional parents. To a very traditional family" I fabricated. Though based on the earth pony's expression she believed the lie well enough.
"Alright, I'll buy that" she muttered. I wasn't certain if she intended for us to hear that but decided to remain silent.
"Alright Fire, if your stallion is willing to vouch for you then I'll let it be water under the bridge. Just watch your vocabulary in the future, okay?" she asked.
"Oh, well, I uh, well he's- thank you Bon Bon. Don't worry it will not happen again" I cut her off. Eager to change topics.
"So, uh how do these Pinkie parties work?" I asked. Thankfully Bon Bon seemed happy to change topics and humored me.
"Well like I said Pinkie throws a party for every new pony that comes to Ponyville, though that mare will take any excuse to throw a party. I think she once even threw a party for a donkey when he got his teeth whitened" she said as she began walking towards a massive tree.
"Regardless, you three apparently aren't the only ones new in town today. Some unicorn mare arrived in town via a chariot shortly before you guys showed up believe it or not. I think I also heard she's from Canterlot to oversee the preparations for The Summer Sun Celebration" she added.
At this my interest peaked. If it simply was a single mare here to just help plan for their little celebration the following morning then it would be fine, even if she was from Canterlot.
"Wait, did you say she came in on a chariot?" Delilah asked.
"Yep" the beige mare replied.
"A golden chariot?" Fire added.
"Uh, yeah I saw them touch down" Bon Bon answered. The three of us looked at each other, we could practically see the fatigue in our eyes.
"Well, at least that damned mystery is solved. This mare doesn't even look like she suspects anything. Maybe we should've asked around a bit earlier" I thought.
"Well it was nice talking to you Bon Bon but unfortunately we have too-oof" I was cut off by a quite large wooden sign with the picture of a book on it. A sign which I had just trotted straight into, well done me.
The mares it seemed couldn't help themselves and let small chuckles escape their mouths.
"Jeez Night, you just can't catch a break today huh" Bon Bon laughed.
"Ugh, so it would seem" I replied.
"Well come along, you haven't lived if you've never been to a Pinkie party. Now come inside" she said and opened the door for me.
"Oh ah well, we're kind of on a tight schedule and- oh nonsense" Bon Bon cut me off.
"I know what you three have been doing all day" she added sternly
"You... you do!?" Delilah asked.
"Mhm, if you have the time to prowl around this town for the better part of six hours then you can stay the night for the summer sun celebration" she replied.
"Actually miss, we really need to go. Like right now ahh" I yelped as me and the guards suddenly found ourselves being pushed from behind into the tree the supposed party was taking place in by very excited ponies. I even managed to find myself all but shoved into another pony's back side.
"Oof, hey what's the... oh, heyyyy there stud" she looked back.
"Oh uh h-hi" I sputtered out. She was kind of attractive, nice pale shade of purple, with a slighter darker two tone purple mane and tail. Complete with two purple eyes.
"Usually I leave the sex for later, when we're all drunk, socked, and ready to buck. But for a stallion of your caliber... I think I'll make an exception" she purred.
"No way Amethyst I saw him first" another mare yelled.
"No I did".
"No I did!".
"All of you buck off, that stud is mine!".
It was going to be a long night. |
The Flame Prince | The Mare Of The Night | 8:30pm, Sunset
I had found myself subjected to at least fifteen different mares by the time Fire Strike managed to locate me, and it only took her ten Faust damned seconds!
After Delilah casted an illusion spell while Fire lifted me up and away before practically hurtling us up a staircase and through a doorway into the upper levels of the apparent library we we're in. Why and how the residents of this town decided to carve out a tree and make it into a library I just don't know.
Eventually we found what appeared to be a small bedroom and darted inside, Delilah quickly following after us.
"Okay, does anypony have any idea what just happened or what?" the unicorn soldier asked.
"Apparently the mares of this town are crazy for a start" I replied.
"Yes, apparently they are" Fire chimed whilst checking me over. Delilah looked back towards the door.
"We should be safe in here. With the amount of mares that dogpiled onto each other while chasing my illusion we should have a bit of time before they realized what happened, and by then they won't have any idea where we are" she added.
"Excellent, good work you two" I said.
"Hardly" Fire muttered. Though it was quiet I had been straining to hear the ponies of Ponyville's hushed conversation's all day. With the mare herself right next to me it was easy to hear her.
"Fire, are you alright"? I asked, though I already knew what was wrong. The mare looked up at me in surprise, then to Delilah, and then at the ground.
"No sire, no, yes, grr...- take your time Fire" I cut in.
"It, it's just that you tell us we've been doing a good job and yet I feel like where just getting by through the skin of our teeth" she replied.
"From the calamity with Fluttershy, the Rainbow Dash incidents, to what just happened out there" she emphasized by pointing her right forehoof to the door moments before we barreled through.
"I... I feel like I've failed you my prince. I feel useless to you" she added.
"I agree sire, we have failed to protect you on multiple occasions today. With what happened down there being unacceptable. We should have just forced that mob of donkeys back, why didn't we! You... you shouldn't have to suffer by having pathetic guardsmares under your command like us..." Delilah added.
"Delilah, Fire, look at me" I began. Once both mares did I continued.
"You two are not useless to me, I might not have as many years of experience in the army under my belt as you two do but I do know that the unexpected will occur when in the field. What matters is how you react to it, as that can make the difference between life or..." considering our situation I decided not to finish that sentence. "Victory or defeat" I substituted.
"If you say so sire" Delilah replied.
"I know so, and besides I'm still alive am I not. It takes more than a few crazed mares to take me down" I laughed. At this a small smile graced both mare's faces.
"I suppose you are more than a match for a few mares" Fire chuckled.
"Crazed madmares but the point still stands" Delilah smiled.
"Indeed you two, indee- ugh I can't believe this. I swear that every single pony in this bucking town is gah" Immediately Delilah covered the both of us with a shield spell while Fire took down the intruder by diving across the room straight into her. Once she was restrained Delilah dropped the shield and we trotted over.
Fire had her front pressed against the purple unicorn's back. With her hindlegs draped around the mare in a crisscross style, keeping the mares own legs pined. Her right forehoof was against her horn keeping her from using magic while her left was around her mouth, to keep her from yelling.
The three of us looked at each other. We had unknowingly shared sensitive information while she could have been listening. For all we knew we might have to kill her.
"Guard the door" I whispered to Delilah and trotted forward to begin the interrogation. The mare looked terrified, I kind of felt sorry for her. Though if she was eavesdropping that would change quickly. I got right up into her face for maximum intimidation.
"Now, you aren't in trouble. I just want to ask you a few questions. You will answer them when my friend removes her hoof from your mouth, and if you scream things will only get more ugly for you. Do you understand?" I asked.
The mare rapidly nodded her head and so I backed off a bit.
"Good, now what is your name?" I began softly, Fire removed her hoof from the mare's mouth.
"Twi, Twilight Sparkle" she trembled. "Well met Twilight, my name is Night Storm. Now why are you in this room with us?"
Thankfully at my more relaxed tone and stance she seemed to calm down. "I... I accidentally put hot sauce on a cupcake. S, so I tried to find some milk or water to help with the taste. This was the first place I found that had a unoccupied sink" she replied.
"I see, I suppose that we we're not in the room at the time?" I asked. Upon hearing me the mare's eyes seemed to contort ever so slightly before she remembered that Fire Strike had her restrained. We hadn't shown her our concealed weapons yet, but the few spies we had always liked to joke about how weak Equestrians we're when compared to us.
"I guess they we're right, but why do I feel that I should recognize this mare's name?".
"No you we're not" she replied.
"Right... do you have any family Twilight?" That question seemed to have caught her off guard, and even Fire Strike raised an eyebrow.
"W, well I have two parents who live in Canterlot along with my two brothers".
"Hmm, answering my question but vaguely. She's obviously scared but still hiding something, and clever enough to do so... This needs to be explored further" I thought.
It was then that I noticed a saddlebag up against the door to the bathroom, a saddlebag with the mare's cutiemark on it. I nodded to Fire and she released the mare fully.
"What do you like to do Twilight?" While the mare got up and thought over my question I discretely looked at Fire and motioned my right forehoof in the direction of the bag.
"Well I like to read... a lot. Same with studying... anything and everything really" Twilight answered. By this point Fire had reached the bag and began to rummage through it.
"You never played a sport, I know fillies and young mares like to do that?" While it was true that the definition of what a sport was, was quite different in Ashen when compared to Equestria I had done enough research throughout my life to know what hoofball, tennis, and basketball we're. As well as have a basic understanding of how each sport worked.
"I... wasn't really into that kind of stuff" she said sheepishly. Almost as if she was embarrassed by the topic.
I decided to throw her a bone and changed the subject. "All right, though as it happens I also like to read and study things".
At this the mare's behavior changed from reserved at best to almost fanatically interested.
"You do!?" she nearly yelled.
"That's right Flameheart, keep her talking".
"Please calm down, the whole party downstairs doesn't need to hear us" I was only joking but Twilight seemed to almost take it as a threat.
"Oh uh right, s, sorry sir" she apologized.
"It's alright, now what do you like to study about" I continued.
"Like I said before anything really. From science to history, languages to math even" she answered, regaining a little of her earlier proverbial spark.
"Give me an example?" I asked.
She took a second to think. "Well recently I was doing an essay for my teacher about the eruption of Mount Illomarego and how it... sorry that's a bad example. I don't expect you to know about- and how it may have been the direct cause leading to the disappearance of the Mareyan civilization around three thousand years ago?" I cut her off.
Twilight stopped and stared at me for a good ten seconds. While Delilah looked back with a bemused expression on her face, even Fire looked up from the bag with a similar expression.
Twilight meanwhile finally seemed to find her voice. "Y, you know about that, and you actually are knowledgeable enough about it to keep up with me!" she actually yelled this time.
"First yes, second quiet" I admonished.
"R, right sorry. But how do you know about that. All the stallions I've ever met only cared about appearances or whatever their friend group's daily gossip was. I don't think I've ever met a stallion who know when the Mareyans existed, if they ever knew about them at all" she emphasized.
"Well I'm glad that I've been able to impress" I smiled.
"Yes, yes, you have" she replied. Then her expression went from elated to nervous as Fire quietly pulled a book from her saddlebag.
"N, Night um, do you live here? In Ponyville I mean".
"Well that's a weird question".
"No, me and my two friends are just passing through" I replied. Twilight seemed to perk at this for some odd reason, and for whatever reason Fire's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates behind her. Remembering Plasma's interrogation lessons from when I was a young colt I remade eye contact with Twilight.
"Why?" I added.
"Oh w, well, you see I... well" she paused and took a deep breath. Then muttered something I couldn't hear before she spoke up again.
"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to... well, go on a- excuse me miss" Fire interrupted her. If Twilight was angry when she turned around she was absolutely furious when she saw that Fire had been going through her things.
"What do you... hey that's my saddlebag, mine! Why are you going through it!?" she yelled. Fire remained calm and held up the book she had been looking through. Opened to a page with a very familiar mare.
"Sweet Faust, that... that's Nightmare Moon!"
"Do you know who this mare is?" Fire asked.
"What's it to you, and why are you going through my things?" Twilight replied.
"I'll answer your question if you answer mine" she replied. For a second I thought I saw literal steam come from Twilight's ears before she calmed herself down.
"Fine, I... I was looking through an old book because I like to read. I just got this as a gift from Prin... my teacher and I was reading through it when I stumbled across this old legend. It's about- The Mare In The Moon, Nightmare Moon" I interrupted her again.
"Y, you know about her!" Twilight astounded.
"...Yes I know about Nightmare Moon" I replied.
"So... it's not just an old foals tale then?" she lamely asked.
"Old foals tale? Absolutely not, I can assure you of that!" I said. Twilight then did something completely unexpected.
"Yes!" she almost danced. "Haha I was right, I was right, I was... then why did she say to stop worrying about an old foals tale?" she muttered.
"Who?" Delilah asked, having grown bored of standing by the door.
Given the nature our conversation had turned I didn't blame her.
Twilight meanwhile had gone from extremely elated, to confusion, to downright horror in about six seconds. "Wait, if... if you're saying that she's real- which she is" I cut in for the third time.
"Which she is" Twilight continued as she swiped the book from Fire's hooves. "Then on the thousandth anniversary of her banishment, on the longest day of the year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternally!" Twilight panicked while flipping through the pages.
"... no, just no... this is not happening, this is not happening!" I thought.
"Oh no, this bad, oh how I am I going to stop Nightmare Moon if I keep letting distract... wait, how do you know about Nightmare Moon?" Twilight asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Uh... let's just say that where I'm from we like to write things down" I answered.
"Okay..." she replied. However I didn't even hear her, as I was too busy panicking myself.
"This was never supposed to happen damnit, we we're supposed to still have time to prepare. Now we're still without any means of defeating her and she's coming in less than twenty four hours. We are so bucked, we, we've failed, I've failed...".
5:30am, Nine Hours Later
"Make sure the legion combs that castle from top to bottom. We have to find the elements, Nightmare Moon could return at any moment now".
"Understood sir" Fire Strike replied before taking off into the night sky from the balcony. I then trotted back inside the libraries bedroom we had commaredeered, shutting the door behind me. Delilah meanwhile was standing guard on the other side of the room while Twilight was lying on the bed and had been going over books for hours now. Though she looked just as determined and resolute as she had when we began.
"Mare, she really wasn't lying when she said she enjoyed studying".
I however was absolutely exhausted. From the days prior events to an eight hour study session with Twilight had left me dead tired. It also didn't help that "The Lunar Rebellion" had been practically wiped from Equestrian history books.
"How did it come to this, how did we go from being on the doorstep to enact our vengence upon Equestria to scrambling to prepare for the Mare Of The Night's return" I thought.
I was brought from my thoughts when Twilight floated a book over to me via magic. I nodded and she returned her attention to her own book to try and find anything else that could be of use to us, though at this point I was beginning to doubt it. I also wasn't fully certain on the credibility of the book that Twilight had in her bag with her, but with the mare in question having contacted me herself in the dream realm and self-admitting her return was near I wasn't taking any chances.
As I sat down at a small desk and opened the book on the ancient siege of Rudhelm the door suddenly opened. Surprised Delilah moved to intercept the intruder, however it spoke before she could.
"Hey Twilight, Pinkie Pie is starting 'Pin The Tail On The Pony', wanna play?! he asked. Me and Delilah we're shocked.
Meanwhile Twilight, given that she had been concentrating very hard towards her book did not take this interruption lightly.
"No! All the ponies in this town are crazy! Do you even know what time it is?!" she yelled.
"It's the eve of The Summer Sun Celebration" the purple dragon replied with... something on his head. Perhaps a hat of some sort. "Everypony has to stay up or they'll miss the princess raise the sun. You really should lighten up Twilight, it's a party" he added and turned around to head back down towards the festivities. Not seeming to notice me or Delilah thanks t his hat.
Twilight meanwhile muttered out the most mature and intelligent response I had ever heard of.
"Whibididiwibididiwibididi" she whined before noticing me and Delilah still staring at the door.
"Yes he's a dragon, no he doesn't bite, nor is he evil and has never given into hoarding instincts" she grumbled.
"H, hey I... we didn't mean anything by it. Just... back home we didn't get along very well with dragons" I replied. Which was true, dragons in theory where a united tribe under "Dragon Lord" Torch. However they we're mostly more solidary creatures, only coming together to breed or during other events, such as... feasts.
"May Faust have mercy on those poor souls".
Twilight looked at me quizzically. "Where are you two from anyway, I don't think you guys ever mentioned that?" she asked.
"Grr, bad question Twilight!"
Later Twilight, first let's focus on the task at hoof" I deflected. She nodded and she went back to her current book. I however only pretended to read since I already knew how to defeat Nightmare Moon, that and I knew about Rudhelm well enough as it was.
It was only a matter of time before the legion located the elements. The only questions remaining was if the elements we're in the castle, how long until they we're located, how long did we have before Nightmare Moon arrived, and the wildcard... Twilight Sparkle.
She was obviously very smart and determined, why I didn't know, and that made her dangerous. Potentially, but still. She seemed to be knowledgeable in a vast amount of subjects, and if she knew how to fight... Tartarus she could turn into a real pain in the flank extremely quickly. Especially if she was in cahoots with the Equestrian government, which at this point wouldn't surprise me.
"Just my damn luck".
As time went on I asked the occasional question trying to learn more about her. Anything that could answer one of my many questions about her, especially her name. I knew it from somewhere, I just couldn't remember.
However she remained closely guarded against my prodding. Giving only vague answers to my questions. Eventually I just decided to stop with my questions as she appeared to grow suspicious and annoyed.
"Augh this is hopeless" Twilight vexed and threw herself back onto the bed. "We've gone through nearly every non-fiction book in this whole Celestia damned library!" "Here I thought I would have time to learn about the elements of harmony, but silly me. All this ridiculous "friend making" has kept me from it!"
I kept quiet and thought of how to turn this outburst to my advantage while Twilight stood up from the bed.
"Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night" she muttered and brought her original book closer to her.
As I watched the distraught mare I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her.
"I hope the princess was right, I hope it really is just an old foals tale..." she muttered.
"Princess... buck, maybe my hunch on her being a government official wasn't that far off. I'll need to watch my back around her".
I got up from my seat. "Twilight, are you all right?" I trotted up to her. She looked back and I could see the worry in her eyes, plain as day.
"No Night I'm not, either nopony believes me or isn't taking this serious... except you that is" she smiled sheepishly, which I returned.
"Is there anything I could help you with?" I asked and placed my right forehoof on her withers.
"Uh... n,no Night. Thanks it's... just been a rough day" she looked away momentarily.
"Night, why are you and your mares helping me with this... how do you guys even know about Nightmare Moon? Tartarus I didn't even know until this morning".
"Great, more difficult questions".
"Well uh, you see Twilight- come on Twilight it's time to watch the sun... who is this?"
"Oh Spike! Um, uh, this is Night Storm.. He and his mares have been helping me with research on the elements and Nightmare Moon" Twilight replied to the drake.
"Right... okay then" he replied. "Anyway it's almost sunup, you guys coming or what?" he added.
"What! No it can't possibly be morning yet, we still have an hour or so!"
"We'll... be along shortly Spike. Just give us a second okay" Twilight asked.
"Kay Twilight" he replied and shut the door. Meanwhile I looked at Delilah. Twilight opened her mouth to speak but I cut her off.
"Give us a moment as well please Twilight" I asked. She looked like she wanted to protest this but acquiesced.
Me and Delilah then trotted into the opposite corner of the room before she casted a small near invisible shield around us to keep out any eavesdropping spells. She was subtle about it but any experienced enough unicorn could detect magic being casted in their general vicinity.
"All right this is what we're going to do" I began.
"We're going to play for time and be inconspicuous. Princess Celestia is probably already here along with an army of Royal Guards. I've given the legion orders to remain within the Everfree and around the castle as well. If Nightmare Moon or anypony for that matter enters the area they are to either capture them, kill them, or withdraw while remaining undetected, though Fire Strike will be arriving with a small detachment for our own security soon. Though they will be remaining inconspicuous as well, even to us".
Delilah nodded to signal she understood and I continued.
"We are going to stay throughout this event and act like normal Equestrians. Princess Celestia is wise and powerful I'll give her that. But even she shouldn't be able to just look at a mare and stallion and know they're spies. Once the celebration is over we'll quietly sneak out, either alone or in small groups as not to arise suspicion. If anypony asks the cover story is that we're just here for the holiday and nothing more. As for Twilight leave that to me" I finished.
"Huh, that's actually not a bad plan sire. You really seemed to have thought of everything" Delilah complimented.
"Indeed, I've been taught well" I smiled.
"Of course, on your lead sire" she replied. I nodded and she ended the spell. Then we walked back over to Twilight who'd been looking away the whole time.
"Alright Twilight here's the plan. If Nightmare Moon shows up we're going to let Celestia deal with it. Our job will be to help any unfortunate civilians before falling back ourselves. The Royal Guard can take over from there" I stated.
Twilight however didn't like this plan. "No Night, I'm not just going to sit idly by while the princess is in trouble" she replied.
Damn mare, why can't you just make things easy!"
"Then you may do that while we help civilians or afterwards. Though I would strongly advise you to not go horn to horn with an Alicorn... especially one fluent in dark magic" I said.
"Ugh fine... damn colt. This is a mare's job anyway" she muttered.
"Pretending I didn't just hear that are we ready to go?" I smiled.
Twilight's eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks while Delilah just chuckled. "I believe we are Night, shall we go Twilight?" she added.
Twilight, to her credit did manage to make proper words after about five seconds of sputtering.
"I, um, y-yes, let's go!" she squeaked and quickly trotted out of the room.
"Heh, what a beta" Delilah chuckled to herself.
"Come along now Delilah, no need to subside to her level now" I said.
"Uh... yes sir, of course" she replied quickly, and we made our way down. Though as soon as I re-entered the main area of the library I once again found myself as the center of attention.
Though many had seemed to have left by now there still remained a considerable amount.
"Woah, I-is that him?"
"Yep, quite the looker ain't he".
"Sweet Celestia, now that is a stallion!"
"Aww he's got two mares with him already"
"Do you think that they're still accepting?"
"Wow, they might actually be worse than those suitors" I thought as we approached a frowning Twilight. Ignoring the townsponies.
"Remember Twilight, stick to the plan and you'll do fine, alright?" I said.
"Thanks Night, thank you. The main celebration will be at the town hall, follow me" she replied. I nodded and we started off.
"So do you guys live here, I didn't see you earlier?" Spike asked from Twilight's back.
"Just here on business... and the celebration. After tonight we'll be moving on" I answered. Twilight seemed to deflate at that.
"Well... m, maybe we should keep in touch. You know too uh, uh... share theories and stuff?" Twilight said.
"I would very much like that Twilight. Especially when talking about history" I replied. "You've a lot to learn about subtlety little filly".
"R, really! Oh wow that's great. We can study so much together, put forward new theories of spellcraft, even- Twilight!" I interrupted.
"Oh, I got carried away again didn't I?" she said.
"Yes, yes you did" I smiled.
"Sorry" she mumbled.
"It's alright, just try to focus. We seem to be here anyway" I stated.
The townhall was a massive... tower I guess. Like most things in this town it had been built out of wood with a small raised deck that ran the perimeter of the building. Along with massive windows with a smaller tower located at the top with the Equestrian flag flying high above in the night sky.
We trotted up the stairs along with a few other ponies and soon entered into the main hall. Where a massive congregation of ponies was located. There we're a few pegasi hovering and flying about and some balconies we're occupied, but most ponies we're on the ground.
We soon found a spot not far from the exit but still somewhat in the center of the room, this would give us the ability to keep an eye on everything around us while also allowing us a quick exit should we need it.
In addition it also- isn't this exciting, are you excited cause I'm excited I've never been so excited well except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went augh!" Pinkie Pie made herself known.
"Holy shit mare calm down, bucking hell you nearly gave me a heart" however I would never finish that sentence as a group of birds... began to sing? Yes sing, the classic royal attention tune, the room fell silent, and a spot of light landed upon a mare on a small stage.
"Stallions and gentlemares, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of The Summer Sun Celebration". A cacophony of cheers sounded out from the gathered ponies.
"In just a few moments our town will witness the magic of the sun rise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year... and now it is my great honor...". Suddenly Twilight nudged us and motioned to the moon, me and Delilah just happened to catch the last second of a few stars seeming to crash into it... and "The Mare In The Moon" disappear entirely.
"Sweet bucking Tartarus! All right... here we go. Buck, a thousand year old prophecy in the making. Right before us".
"...Princess Celestia!". A band trumpets blew out more fanfare as a curtain was pulled back by a mare i recognized as Rarity, and to the shock of many ponies it revealed nothing but an empty room. Instead of cheers and applause now gasps and murmurs filled the hall.
"This can't be good" Twilight said.
"Remain calm everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation" the mare on stage said.
"Oh oh I love guessing games, is she hiding?" Pinkie asked.
"She's gone!?" Rarity announced.
"Oh she's good!" Pinkie then abruptly screamed as a blueish mist began to swirl into existence upon the very balcony Celestia was supposed to stand on.
"Oh no... Nightmare Moon" Twilight whispered.
Sure enough when it cleared there stood The Mare Of The Moon in all her glory. A pure black coat, blue fluorescent ethereal mane and tail with flickering stars. Accentuated by her blue greenish eyes and purple eyelashes.
"Holy. Bucking. Shit."
Delilah meanwhile was just as in as much awe and terror as many other ponies while poor Spike succumbed to shock and fainted, though he was caught by Delilah's magic.
"Oh my beloved subjects, it's been so long since we've seen your precious little sun loving faces" she purred.
"What did you do to our princess!" Rainbow Dash yelled out before attempting to charge. Though thankfully for her she was spared a gruesome death by being held back by Applejack.
Nightmare just cackled. "Muhahahaha, why, are we not royal enough for you? Does't thee not know who we are" she asked.
"Oh oh more guessing games, um hokey smokes, how about Queen Meanie, no Black Sooty Black Snooty ahm mhm mhm" Pinkie replied before a cupcake was shoved into her mouth. Courtesy again of Applejack who mayi] have just saved the foolish mare's life. Though just to be safe myself, Delilah, an unconscious Spike, and Twilight had moved well away from her by now.
Thankfully however Nightmare took no notice of us. "Does our crown no longer count now that we have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Dids't thee not recall the legend? Dids't thee not see the signs- I did!" Twilight spoke up.
"No Twilight what are you doing!"
"...and I know who you are! You're the mare in the moon, Nightmare Moon!" she growled.
"You dumb, stupid, arrogant filly! You're going to get us all killed!".
"Well well well, somepony who remembers us. Then you also know why we are here" she narrowed her eyes.
"You're here too, too... " Twilight started but wilted under her gaze.
"Mhmmhmhmhm, remember this day little ponies. For it was your last. From this moment forth the night, will last, forever! Ahahahaha, ahahahaha, ahahahahahaha!" she laughed.
"Seize her! Only she knows where the princess is!" the mayor yelled. Almost immediately Nightmare was swarmed by snow white Royal Guardsmares with golden armor.
"Stand back you foals!" She yelled before smiting them with conjured lightning strikes, sending them flying across the room. It was also at this point that ponies began to panic and rush around like headless Cockatrices. Nightmare decided to take this time to escape and began slowly floating down towards us...
It wasn't until she made eye contact with me that I knew something was up.
"Well well well , what have we here?" she purred.
"Oh buck me".
"With pleasure, muhahahaha". |
The Flame Prince | The Nightmare's Return | I did not yelp, I did not jump, but I will shamefully admit I was more than a little intimidated as Nightmare Moon herself approached us.
"A little colt playing the role of a mare? How cute. We warned thee of what would happen should thou attempt to interfere with our plans! But as usual it seems colts do not listen to requests, and only listen to demands and displays of force" she flaunted. Raising her wings to convey power.
Delilah meanwhile moved infront of me while telekinetically placing Spike on Twilight's back. "Oh, and what does thee think thou ist going to achieve... little filly?" Nightmare taunted. Undeterred Delilah rushed forward and teleported just before she collided with the dark mare.
Thrown off by this Nightmare didn't register Delilah reappearing behind her until it was too late. Though fortunately for her Delilah didn't have time to draw her weapon. Meanwhile Delilah's hooves, while not an Earth Pony's, we're still capable of doing damage. Especially when equipped with her still disguised bladed hoofguards.
Nightmare staggered forward with the blow to the back of her head and I capitalized on this by uppercutting her with my right forehoof. While another pegasus mare raced down from above with a barely concealed sword and sliced Nightmare's horn clean off. Me and Delilah then went in for the kill.
Using her magic Delilah held the mare down while I dashed forward with my saber going straight for her throat. But the Mare Of The Moon had her own tricks as well. Turning into a purple bluish mist I soared right through her and collided with the disguised rebounding Flame Pony from earlier.
Nightmare took this chance and summoned more lightning to vaporize Delilah, who by some miracle managed to step back and dodge the worst of it. While Nightmare backed off and retreated out of the building before soaring into the night sky.
"Buck!".
"Sir, are you ok!?" the mare whom I had crashed into asked.
"Yes yes now come on, we need to get moving!" I replied. She nodded and we got to our hooves while Twilight galloped over. Noticing her the guard readied her weapon and leveled it towards Twilight, who stopped a few trots away from us in shock and confusion.
I put a hoof to the guards shoulder. "It's alright, she's with us".
"What, but... isn't she an equestrian?" she whispered.
"Yes, so shut it and press the advantage" I replied. The mare seemed surprised but sheathed her sword.
Glancing about the room thankfully revealed that only a few ponies seemed to notice our little exchange with Nightmare, and those that did seemed to be caught up with their own problems for the moment. Rainbow Dash in particular was causing quite a ruckus. Several curses left her mouth before she finally managed to break Applejack's grip of her tail and dashed out of the building after Nightmare.
"All right, let's move before more problems make themselves known" I ordered and helped Delilah to her hooves.
"Come back here!".
"Stay with your detachment, we'll be fine" I told the disguised guardsmare.
"Wha, but sire you shouldn't even be here... - this is not the time for this guardsmare" I cut her off. "Return to your duties now" I added. The mare thankfully nodded reluctantly and flew off.
"All right we've done all we can - are you kidding me?!" Twilight interrupted. "You... you we're amazing. I've only seen royal guards fight like that, and even then those ones we're veterans at that. Why didn't you guys tell me you could do that before. If you can just kick Nightmare Moon's flank then why did we stay up all night researching the elements!?" Twilight asked.
"Because that was stupid and reckless, had we been a little bit slower. Especially in Delilah's case... one or both of us could have easily been killed" I answered.
"That was still amazing sugarcube, I've never seen anypony fight like that" Applejack praised as she and Rarity walked up. "Indeed darling, that was... well amazing, astonishing even" Rarity added.
"We got lucky, unless Nightmare is a fraud then she's probably just weak at the moment... magic wise, thanks to breaking Celestia's thousand year long imprisonment spell" I said. The mares just looked at me in surprise.
"Well regardless we still need to stop her" Twilight affirmed. "Oh the princess should have been here by now, why isn't she, where is she!?" Twilight panicked.
"Knowing Nightmare she's probably already dealt with Celestia. She's prideful, arrogant, and far too overconfident in her abilities... but she's not stupid".
Me and Delilah shared a look, it was time to hightail it from this town. We had more than overstayed our welcome.
"She's probably already been incapacitated by Nightmare Moon, and we should be moving if we don't want to be either" I said.
"No" Twilight stomped her hoof. "The princess needs me, and as her faithful student it falls to me to help her" she proclaimed.
"...Well you have fun getting yourself killed then. Me and Delilah are going to be doing the smart thing and heading the opposite direction, and I urge you two" I pointed to the two other mares with us. "Too do the same along with those you care about. Good da... poof ah!" I yelled. Suddenly it appeared that we we're back in the library, along with Delilah, Rarity, and Applejack on the ground with me.
"What the... what the buck! Who just teleported us" I barked. Delilah tried to help me up but I was far too tired to have to deal with a mare's chivalry currently and just got up myself. Glancing about revealed that Rarity had seemed like she had fared well with the surprise teleport but Twilight's lit horn told me all I needed to know.
"I'm sorry Night but you two aren't going anywhere right now" she said.
"What"
"What!" the mares yelled.
"Tw... Twilight, what has gotten into you. What has this innocent stallion done?" Rarity asked.
"First, he is far from innocent Rarity, you saw him fight just as I did. Secondly, he and his mare clearly know about Nightmare Moon" Twilight replied.
Rarity looked like she was going to say something but the words died on her lips. "He... did say something about her earlier to me and Applejack today" she acquiesced.
"Well ah don't approve of this at all Twilight, even if he knows somethin holdin him hostage here ain't right!" Applejack added.
"Again I am sorry but - gah!" Twilight shot back just as a bolt of magic hit her square in the tuft, sending her straight into a bookshelf.
"Are you little fillies certain you want to hold us here still?" Delilah asked. Her horn still lit. At that none of them moved while Twilight slowly recovered from her unexpected flight.
"Smart fillies, and you'll stay down if you know what's good for you" she added and we began our way out. However before we could get through the doorway another problem, or rather pest, made itself known.
"Just where do you two think you're going huh, how do you know about Nightmare Moon, and how are you both so good at fighting, and who was that other mare you we're talking too in the town hall earlier!" Rainbow Dash angrily made herself known as she charged right through the doorway, and right into Delilah's face. Who then turned around to face me with a neutral expression.
"Sir, may I kill this harlot?" she asked. To which the surrounding mares eyes went wide once more.
"No, though as much as I would like to see her throat slit open it will lead to far too many problems unfortunately" I replied. "Now then, if you will excuse us we will be making for the other side of Equestria, good day... or evening. Whichever you prefer at this point I guess" I added. However just before we could get through the doorway it slammed shut.
"Wait!" Twilight begged. "Please Night... Delilah... please. I'm, I'm sorry that I did that it's just... Just that I've been trying all day to find a way to stop Nightmare and finally I met you guys and you just seemed like you could help me solve everything and I... I bucked up" Twilight said, and lowered her head in shame.
"I know that I've no right to ask this but... please, I need your help. Equestria needs your help" she added.
"Please, tell me you know of a way to stop her that doesn't involve the elements, please" she all but begged. I wouldn't be lying if I said that I felt bad for her. Even if she did try and hold me hostage. But I couldn't betray my country, my friends, my family! Could I?
"I'm sorry Twilight, I know we need them but I have no idea as to where they could be" I lied. I could almost see the tears well up in her eyes at the end of that sentence, and it genuinely hurt me to see her like that. Though that was about to be replaced by shock and fear.
"Buck, the princess, my parents, Shining, Spike... oh no no no - The Elements Of Harmony, a reference guide" Pinkie Pie blurted out.
"When the buck did she get here!?" I thought. Twilight meanwhile launched herself to the bookshelf Pinkie occupied moments prior, and in the process all but shoving her aside.
"How did you find that!?" she asked.
"It was under e..." the pink mare sang. Me and Delilah just looked at each other.
"Well, it's not likely to have the elements' location or anything. It's just a dusty old book" I whispered to Delilah.
"Agreed, I'll eat dragon shite if it does" she laughed.
"There are six Elements Of Harmony, but only five are known. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient Castle of The Royal Pony Sisters" Twilight read.
Me and Delilah couldn't keep our mouths shut from shock.
"It is located in what is now... The Everfree Forest!" the mares yiped.
"Are you bucking kidding me... are you actually bucking kidding me right now!" I seethed. |
The Flame Prince | The Everfree Forest | We stood at the edge of the forest itself. The mares save Delilah we're all wearing unsure looks at the forest before them. Even Fluttershy, who had joined us as we trotted through town. Where I spent near ten Faust damned minutes trying to convince the mares not to go into the forest. Of which there we're many reasons, but the main one was that it was an uncontrolled magical forest with some of the most deadly creatures in the world calling it home.
"I still don't see why in the seven layers of Tartarus you think you'll find the elements in here just because an old book said they may be here, it's not even confirmed!" I said.
"While that may be the case this is the only lead we have. So like it or not we should at least see if it has any merit" Twilight replied.
"Oh for bucks sake. Do any of you know how dangerous this forest is!?" I glared. The mares either glanced away or softened their features.
"It is on a different level than anything else in Equestria. Dangerous animals, dangerous fauna, uncontrolled magic! You'd be lucky if you went in there and got out with a few scraps and scratches, nevermind death!" I added.
"That may be Night, but I'm willing to risk that for the Princess and Equestria" Twilight said.
"Why, just why do you care for the princess that much. What could she possibly mean to you for this!?" I asked. Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she answered.
"Because she is practically a second mother to me. She saw me at my weakest, when nopony wanted to be friends with me. She took me in under her care. Taught me, listened to me, even helped me no matter what! She was always there for me... so I need to be there for her".
"... Fine then, go in this death trap of a forest. To a castle that may exist, for five shiny objects that may be there, all for a chance that they may stop Nightmare Moon. I bid you lot good luck, for you'll need it. Come Delilah, you can't save those who don't want to be saved" I said.
However just as I started to walk off Fluttershy decided to speak up.
"N, Night wait". For some reason that I couldn't explain I felt compelled to stop.
"Yes Fluttershy?".
"Why... why don't you c, come with us..."
"Why?" I asked.
"Well y, you s, seem to know a lot about t, this forest s, so m, maybe you c, could help us... ifyouwantedto".
"Grr... bucking Tartarus these mares, honestly I... wait a minute. Maybe I can turn this around into an advantage for us" I thought.
"One moment please" I asked and motioned for Delilah to follow me a little ways away.
"Has the message been received?" I asked once we we're a considerable distance away.
"Yes, they know and have acknowledged, and Commander Asteria is handling everything. In addition they believe they are close to locating the elements. I'm assuming you want to play for time with these mares?" she replied.
"Indeed, you catch on quick. Just follow my lead. Yawn, hopefully this is the part of the day where things start to go plan" I joked.
"Hmhmhm, everything will work out sir. One way or another" Delilah smiled. I nodded my thanks and we trotted back over to the Ponyvillans.
"All right you six" I began. They all looked up with what looked like hopeful to interested expressions. "Out of the kindness of our own hearts... Me and Delilah have decided to accompany you on this little endeavor, however..." I cut off whatever Twilight and Rainbow were going to say.
"However, this is not an excursion... this forest is extremely dangerous. You all will do what I say when I say it, understand?" I said.
"Psch, colt aren't you forgetting we live here... well except for little Twilight here. But we've lived here for years. It's us who should be guiding you through here. Come on guys, you gotta agree with me on this right?" Rainbow spoke up.
"Well... ah suppose it ain't appropriate for a colt to be here" Applejack agreed.
"I, I'm afraid I must agree with Rainbow Dash here Night darling. While it is very noble and brave of you to offer to help us we can do this on our own dear" Rarity added. The other mares nodded along.
"I... what! Oh buck this, buck this day, buck these mares, buck this whole bucking situation! Why are we even here! Maybe I should've started asking more questions about my mother's plans before I just went along... No Flameheart she, she knows what she's doing. Just have patience and faith".
"Buck this, come" I ordered Delilah.
"Wait Night, where are you going?" Twilight called.
"To this castle of course" I replied.
"What! Are you just going to go along with this!?" she then called after Delilah. Who in turn just shrugged.
"Jeez talk about a white knight eh" Rainbow added.
"Come now Rainbow Dash, while I agree with your earlier statement may I remind you that the Stallion is acting more marely than you right now" Rarity said.
"Uh, so what! I'm still the one who said he shouldn't be here. That makes me more marely than all of you, ha!" she replied.
"Hehehe, who's the white knight now Dash" Applejack joked. Rainbow just grew red faced and anger began to contort her features before I spoke up.
"In case you colts haven't noticed we're burning moonlight, and unless we want to give Nightmare an even bigger advantage then we should be moving" I called. At that the now red faced mares began to just silently follow me and Delilah as we entered the forest.
"Bloody fools, does't none listen to thee word of a Royal anymore. How far has't this world fallen in Our absence... Fine then little foals, if thee wants a battle, thee shall receive a war!"
We had been walking for about ten minutes now along the same path me and Delilah had used the previous day to get to Ponyville. Along with some detours it would probably take us around an hour or so before we would arrive at the castle. In addition with the time wasted at the forest's entrance this was plenty for the legion to locate the elements and retreat from the castle before we would arrive.
After that me and Delilah would bide our time and then slip away when the coast was clear. Then it was a straight shot back to Ashen and let Celestia deal with Nightmare Moon. We might actually be able to take advantage of the chaos she was going to cause and invade Equestria after it was weakened by her. Or during, whichever was more beneficial to be honest.
"So... none of you have been in here before?" Twilight asked.
"H, heavens no. Just look at it, it's dreadful" Rarity replied.
"And it ain't natural, folk say it don't work the same as Equestria" Applejack added.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"No pony knows..." Rainbow Dash said while slowly flying from the shadow of a tree. As if she was a ghost attempting to frighten young foals.
"You know why..." she smirked and began stalking towards me.
"Rainbow, quit it!" Applejack called but she didn't pay her any mind.
"Cause everypony that's ever come in" she continued. "Has... never... come... out!" she jumped right infront of my face.
"...Is that supposed to scare-" crack!. Unfortunately I was interrupted by the ground beneath us breaking, making us lose our hoofing and thus begin to slide down an embankment. The mares screamed while me and Delilah quickly grabbed hold of each other and steadied ourselves by digging into the ground with our hooves.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy meanwhile managed to grab ahold of and steady Pinkie and Rarity respectively. While Applejack managed to grab ahold of a root growing out of the ground to stop her descent. Twilight however wasn't so lucky and kept sliding directly towards a massive cliff face. Just managing to stop herself before fully going over, though I was already moving at that point.
"Hold on, I'ma comin" Applejack called and gently slid down the rest of the embankment to grab Twilight's front hooves and keep her stable.
"Applejack, what do I do" she cried. I gave a signal.
"... Let go" the orange mare replied.
"Are you crazy!" Twilight spat.
"No ah ain't, ah promise you'll be safe".
"That's not true!".
"Now listen here, what I'm sayin to you is the honest truth. Let go and you'll be safe..." and she did. Fell a distance of about 5 hooves, screamed bloody murder, and then landed in mine and Rainbow's waiting hooves.
"Ah, huh, oh, phew" Twilight let out a breath of relief as me and Rainbow slowly descended towards the ground.
"Thanks you guys, really" Twilight smiled.
"No problem. I could totally catch you in my sleep if I had too". It seemed Rainbow's pride was showing through again. Although I was more concerned with why the cliff face had suddenly given way like that. Especially as the rest of it looked sturdy enough to support a small house at least.
"Oh yeah Night, good job too" Rainbow added. This surprised me.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"What, a mare can't give a stallion a compliment anymore" she joked. "Besides it take guts from anypony to do that" she added.
"...Right, let's just get moving" I replied. The mares nodded and we started off once more. Though not before I saw Rainbow shoot Fluttershy a small glare before turning away.
"Now what could that be about?" However I wouldn't be able to dwell on this for long as another problem soon became apparent.
"Rawr!"
"A Manticore!" Twilight yelled.
"Sweet bucking Tartarus... well I can cross facing one of these off the bucket list".
"We've gotta get past him!" Twilight yelled when all of a sudden it jumped and attempted to pounce upon Rarity, who managed to dodge and then drop buck it in the face.
"Huh, that's actually quite impressive"
"Take that you ruffian!" she taunted. The manticore simply replied by roaring in her face, and she decided to smartly back off rather than risk injury.
"Wait".
Applejack meanwhile decided to use the opportunity Rarity provided and jumped onto the distracted manticore's head.
"Yeehaw, git along little doggie!" she called and even threw a wink at me.
"Wait".
However this didn't last long as the manticore unsurprisingly managed to throw her from it's head by throwing itself around. Sending her careening towards me, Rainbow, and Delilah. Who both had seemed to agree on something for the first time today and that was to protect me from the manticore. Though Delilah lit her horn and caught Applejack with telekinesis before she faceplanted into the ground.
"Thanks Delilah, he's all yours you too" she said.
"I'm on it, watch this Night" Rainbow smiled before she charged the manticore.
"Wait" Fluttershy said. I looked at her but she had already turned her attention back towards Rainbow Dash. Speaking of the blue mare she was currently trying to confuse the manticore by flying fast around it? Unsurprisingly this didn't work with the manticore slapping Rainbow with it's tail, launching her straight back at me. Thankfully for her I was able to catch her and then held her groom style.
"So... what exactly was I supposed to be watching there?" I smirked.
"S, shut up" she blushed. I sighed.
"Well Delilah looks like it's up to us" I said and put Rainbow down. The mare smiled.
"Of course it is, ready?".
"Born ready, drop the spe - wait!" Fluttershy yelled.
"... Fluttershy what are you..." I trailed off in shock as I saw Fluttershy walking up to the manticore! I almost rushed forward again when it raised it's right forepaw to strike but Fluttershy just nuzzled it's left one instead, completely unfazed at the manticore's actions.
"Shh, it's okay" the butter yellow mare consoled. To my absolute shock the manticore instead lowered it's paw and held it's other one out for her.
"Aww you poor poor little baby" she added.
"Little" Rainbow Dash blurted out, and it seemed Delilah was actually going to agree with Rainbow Dash on two things today.
"Now this might hurt for just a second" and without a second thought she leaned down and pulled what looked to be a thorn right out of it's paw. Completely and foolishly exposing her neck in the process and oh my Faust it's actually going to... lick her?
"Tehehe, aww you're just a little old baby kitty aren't you. Yes you are, yes you are" she laughed. Me and the mares all looked at each other before Twilight smiled and began simply trotting past the manticore. Who was now purring and licking Fluttershy fervently.
We hurried past and the manticore eventually released Fluttershy who trotted freely away from it and towards us, while the manticore went on it's way in the opposite direction.
"How did you know about the thorn" Twilight asked her. "I didn't, sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness" she replied.
"Hm, good job Fluttershy, good job" I thought.
We continued our slow trot in silence for about forty more minutes. We we're now getting close to the castle. With just a little bit more of forest to cross, a river to cross, and a ravine to... well, cross and we would be there. The only things remaining in question where how we we're possibly going to have to fight Nightmare and then ditch these mares.
Though it probably would just be foals play to simply teleport away right from under these mare's noses. Nightmare is defeated or victorious, either way Equestria is hopefully extremely weakened, and with us finally in possession of the elements Consilium Vindictae could finally... -
"Ugh, my eyes need a rest from all this blasted muck" Rarity complained. No sooner had she finished that sentence when the forest almost seemed to humor her and the canopy became much more condensed. Plunging us into near total darkness.
"Well I didn't mean that literally" the mare replied.
"That ancient ruin could be right infront of our faces and we wouldn't even know it" Twilight added. Though as we we're plunged into near pitch black I couldn't help but notice a blue cerulean mist snaking it's way past us. Though before I could do anything more acknowledge it we all ran into another problem.
"Just keep calm and carry on oof... at a slower pace if necessary, apologies Delilah" I said.
"I'm not Delilah".
"What? But I was right next to her ow! Damn you too tree!"
It seemed that the ever growing darkness was not making it easy to see. Usually I didn't have this problem as the fiery flames that surrounded our bodies also acted as a source of light, though for obvious reasons I could not use that.
Thankfully though Delilah had another solution of simply casting a glow spell, instantaneously fixing our light problem. Soon Rarity and Twilight realized that they we're both unicorns as well and light their own horns.
"Whew, thanks guys, ah upon thought ah was gonna -squish- ahh dagnabbit" Applejack cried out. The unicorns fixated their light on her, revealing that she had stepped in a mud puddle. We then all about jumped when Fluttershy let out a very unmarelylike scream.
"Fluttershy it's just mud - ahh!" the orange mare then actually jumped and retreated a good ten hooves away from to be honest, a quite terrifying looking tree. It had an open circular mouth with what looked like to be wooden teeth in them, along with eyes and branches looking like outstretched arms. Almost like how an animal tries to be intimidating to ward off predators or competition.
Overall once you realized it was a tree it wasn't that hard to look at.
"Ahh!" though apparently the mares didn't seem to think so. But apparently there was another mare besides Delilah who didn't seem to be terrified of them. Though of course it was the potentially mentally insane one... how fitting.
"Pinkie what are you doing, run!" Twilight yelled. While the mare did pause her... face making... competition? Buck it, face making competition with a tree she instead choose to simply laugh back at Twilight.
"Oh girls don't you see..." she laughed. "When I was a little filly and the sun was going down..." she continued.
"...Tell me she's not - The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown..." Pinkie interrupted Twilight.
"She is" me, Delilah, and Rarity replied. Utterly dumbstruck by what we we're witnessing.
"I'd hide under my pillow...
One Mentally Difficult Melody Later
I'm not writing the rest of this fucking song
"Well, that was hard to listen to" I whispered to Delilah.
"Indeed..." was her single worded reply.
"How... how goes the legion's progress. Has Asteria sent an update?" I asked.
"Unfortunately no, though that probably means they have the elements and are retreating".
"Hopefully... some good news would be a godsend right now". Delilah chuckled.
"Cheer up Night, I'm certain everything will fall into place and work out. We only need to be patient dear" she smiled.
"Oh... first name basis, that's quite bold of you given both of our positions... Guardsmare" I smiled back.
"Oh I am fully aware of all that Night Storm. I know about the little games that you play with those under your... jurisdiction" she deepened her smile into a smirk.
"Oh do you now. Are you interested in joining the next time we play?" I asked. In truth those games we're little more than banter between myself and those that I would call close friends within the guard and knighthood. Like Firestorm, Ruby, and to an extent Plasma as well.
"Perhaps" the purple mare replied.
"Very well, but do know that this is not a way for us to get... involved together. The others understand that and I trust that you will too. But if that is not the case then other arrangements will be made, understand?" I asked.
"Indeed sir, I'm not that kind of mare anyway" Delilah replied.
"Good, I didn't take you for it anyway. Now lets get - oof" It seemed I hadn't been paying as much attention as I thought I was and had run into poor Fluttershy's back, who let out a small squeak.
"What's going on, why are we stopped?" I asked. Pinkie Pie, who had been leading our little herd, no don't say it like that Night err... Flameheart! ...Pinkie Pie pointed ahead towards the raging torrent of a river that was infront of us.
I immediately thought of just flying or teleporting over it, but before I could converse my idea the sound of crying began to reach our ears. Prompting us to investigate. After trotting through some bushes we found what looked to be a... sea serpent? Yeah let's go with that. A sea serpent crying and thrashing about like a madmare in the river we needed to cross.
I again attempted to convey my idea of simply flying or teleporting but Twilight beat me to it.
"Excuse me sir, why are you crying?" she asked. Me and Delilah, wisely recognizing the serpent as a potential threat backed off a good twenty hooves behind them.
"Well I don't know, I was just sitting here minding my own business when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whizzed past me and tore half of my beloved moustache clean off!"
"That's why he's crying like a foal?"
"And now I look simply horrid... ohhohoho!" the serpent replied, threw himself backwards, and promptly splashed the six foolish mares with a wave of water. I was now very happy I had moved. If that water had hit me... it would have been very, very painful. Regardless if I was disguised or not.
"Do you want to just teleport across?" Delilah asked me. With me still agitated over the water I couldn't nod fast enough. I wasn't necessarily afraid of water, just... most Flame Ponies of the modern day hadn't even seen water outside of our underground farms, and even then there's barely enough to fill a single barrel there. This was an absolute torrent of a river that if somepony fell in they could very easily be simply pulled under and drown, and that's before adding a flame ponies body being extinguished... All in all, not a nice way to go huh...
I was very suddenly pulled out of my reverie with six mares along with the sea serpent staring at me. While Delilah had a hoof on my withers, slowing shaking me.
"Wha, what happened?" I asked.
"You blanked out darling. Are you alright?" Rarity replied.
"I what?!"
"Oh... ah, yes thank you Rarity. Apologies let's... get across the river" I said.
"But Night, we are across the river. You and Delilah teleported across while we jumped across on Steven's back" Twilight answered.
"You... you, you jumped onto a sea serpent" I was dumbfounded.
"Yeah he's really nice" Pinkie added.
"What?!"
"Are you okay sir, I didn't frighten you did I?!" the now named Steven asked.
"N, no I just... I... - can't swim" Delilah interrupted me.
"Night here can't swim and with you making all those waves it brought up a few bad memories. That's why I teleported him over here" she added.
"Oh well I'm dreadfully sorry sir, I did not mean to cause you harm!" the serpent near panicked.
"Your... fine Steven, come on let's keep going... Rarity what happened to your tail?" I asked and her eyes turned to pinpricks.
"N, nothing darling. Now come along as you said before we're burning moonlight and it was nice to meet you Steven but we need to be going bye!" she said and began trotting away, albeit at a somewhat faster pace than our one before.
We said our goodbye's to Steven and hurried after her. With me and Delilah ending up at the back of the pack once again.
"Sir are you sure you're okay? I know water is a big deal and threat to you guys" Delilah asked for the umpteenth time.
"Yes I'm certain Delilah. I just didn't think that water could... move like that. It looks so tame in the farms" I replied.
"Well no matter, that's behind us now" she smiled.
"True... has Asteria sent an update?"
"...No she hasn't, this is unusual. Especially since we haven't seen nor heard from Fire Strike as well".
"Indeed, plus I believe we may not entirely be alone out here".
"Sire, what do you mean?" she asked.
"I think that Nightmare may be following - There it is! The ruin that holds the Elements Of Harmony, we made it!" Twilight cheered and took off towards the old castle.
"Twilight wait fer us!" Applejack called after her and they to took off. Leaving us behind
"Well I don't see any activity by the legion so maybe they just haven't had a chance to reply to us" Delilah said and we slowly began trotting after the mares.
"That's possible I suppose, though I just have this feeling that something's gone wrong". At Delilah's deadpanned expression I slightly wilted and corrected myself.
"With them, the legion I mean. We should have at least heard from Fire by this point" I added.
"True, though what can we do in the position we're in. Besides I've been under Asteria for years. You couldn't ask for a more capable commander. As for Nightmare following us... I take it you've noticed that blueish mist as well?" she asked.
"Yes, as well as what Steven said. I saw it earlier moving about those trees too".
"That is... concerning to say the least" she replied.
"So yes, I cannot help but worry" and I really couldn't. These we're my subjects. Those who I was duty bound to protect and guide.
"Well... going back to what I said before sir. I believe that they'll be fine, at that I promise." Delilah replied.
"I hope you're right Delilah..." I trailed off seeing the mares stopped at what looked to be another cliff ahead of us.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"The bridge for this ravine was out, Rainbows gone across to tie it on" Twilight answered me. I looked out over the fog covered ravine where the far end of the bridge disappeared into said fog.
"Very well" I replied.
"Though come ta think of it she has been takin a while" Applejack added.
"Hmm, Rainbow! Are you alright, what's taking so long" Twilight called. Suddenly the fog slightly parted to reveal three other ponies, from what it looked like there was a mare and two stallions talking with her on the other side before the fog closed up again. One look between me and Delilah was all we needed.
I took up into the sky while she teleported across. Unsheathing our hidden weapons and cloaked armor in the process. Though just as I touched down and Delilah appeared Rainbow turned around and the other three ponies who... had a look of shock and anger on their faces...? Dissipate into a cloud of blueish mist before retreating back into the forest.
"Woah guys chill out, they're not a threat they just wanted me to... huh, where'd they go?" Rainbow asked. Not even seeming to notice our weapons and armor.
"I feel that whatever they asked of you they we're not being truthful Rainbow Dash" Delilah said as she reactivated the spell which cloaked our armor.
"They wanted me to be their captain" she said as she tied the ends of the bridge together.
"Though they made the mistake of making me choose between them or my friends and future coltfriend, and I'd never leave either hanging" she added.
"What was that last part?" I asked but the blue mare had already turned away from me.
"Great job Rainbow" Twilight said. The other mares gave her similar praise.
"Come on let's get to that castle" she added.
"Indeed..." I said. The mares slowly trotted past while I moved towards Delilah.
"You saw how those ponies dissipated into smoke right?" I asked.
"Yes, and with it's color being the same that signaled Nightmare's entry into the town hall I'd say your hunch of her following us wasn't that far off" she replied.
"Well, let's just hope this gave the legion the time they needed to get the elements and get out" I said.
"Don't worry sir, I'm sure they did" Delilah smiled. I hesitantly returned it and we both pressed on towards the castle, and destiny. |
The Flame Prince | The Castle Of The Two Sister's | The old castle was certainly showing it's age. From collapsed walls to caved in floors and shattered windows, complimented by the occasional patch of moss or other type of plant growing in the walls or floor. There was also no sign of the legion who just an hour ago occupied the structure.
That was good, it hopefully meant they had located and secured the elements. Now me and Delilah just had to slip away unnoticed.
"Woah, there really is an old castle here. I can't believe it" Rarity said.
"Guess we proved you wrong huh Night" Rainbow taunted.
"No comment" I replied. By this point the mares had all trotted through the front entrance, which left me and Delilah behind them.
"Once we make sure the legion secured the elements we're going to bolt, okay" I whispered.
"Understood sire, ready when you are" she replied.
"Come on Twilight, isn't this what you've been waitin for" Applejack called.
"The Elements Of Harmony, we found them" she proudly exclaimed towards a massive pedestal with five rocks carved with strange symbols atop it.
"Of course... nothings ever that easy is it" I sulked. Meanwhile Rainbow and Fluttershy got to work moving the boulders down onto the ground.
"Have you received anything from Asteria yet? I asked Delilah.
"No sir, I am beginning to suspect that something has happened. Or they are remaining silent for a reason" she replied.
"Indeed, be ready. We may have to get violent here".
"Right... wait, according to the book there should be six elements correct?" she asked.
"...Oh my bucking Faust!"
Meanwhile it seemed the mares had noticed this little dilemma as well.
"One, two, three, four, ah... there's only five" Pinkie counted.
"Where's the six?" added Rainbow.
"The book said, when the five are present a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed" Twilight reminded us.
"Oh, uh right... I'm too bucking tired for this shit" I mentally added.
"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked.
"I'm not sure but I have an idea" Twilight replied and crouched down towards the elements.
"Stand back, I don't know what will happen" she added.
At this point I was starting to get nervous. Although it looked like all Twilight needed to do was simply give a little spark from her horn and the sixth element would appear Nightmare Moon could show up at any moment and we had planned to be long gone by now. The fact we didn't even know where she was didn't help either. Although it seemed we we're about to get a break for the first time this night.
"Come on now ya'll, she needs to concentrate" Applejack said, and for whatever reason the five other mares just followed her out of the room. I was so surprised that I looked to Delilah as if to confirm what I was seeing. Sure enough she was just as stunned as I was and we smirked to each other.
Once Twilight summoned the sixth element all we had to do was simply knock her out and make off with them before the others or Nightmare Moon showed up. It was foolproof.
As Twilight attempted to get the elements to spark we anxiously waited for our chance to strike.
"They don't seem to be anything more than rocks sire, are you sure these are the fabled Elements Of Harmony?" Delilah asked me.
"This what we have to go off Delilah, and until something says otherwise we should assume these are them. Looks can be deceiving after all" I replied.
"Indeed but what if Celestia moved the elements and these are mere decoys?" she asked.
"...If she did then we'll adapt to the situation we'll find ourselves in" I countered. Delilah simply nodded her response.
When Twilight did finally make progress on the elements they did something completely unexpected. A blue mist began to form and encircle the elements. Before spinning faster and faster to the point it completely enveloped them in a practical tornado.
Twilight screamed and before myself or Delilah could react we we're all simultaneously teleported away.
Appearing in what seemed to be another part of the old castle me, Delilah, and Twilight stood facing Nightmare Moon. Who seemed to be charging us down oh buck...
Nightmare barreled straight into Delilah and slammed her hoofguards into her stomach which sent her backwards into a wall. Thankfully for her the armor she was wearing saved her life. But before she could get up nor could I launch a counter attack Nightmare teleported behind me and struck my right rear leg with the same attack. Breaking it and sending me to the ground with three good legs remaining.
"Night!" Twilight, who had been the most disorientated by Nightmare's surprise teleport screamed out in shock. While I slowly staggered to my hooves Nightmare teleported to Delilah and threw her into me via telekinesis. Then she turned towards Twilight.
"Well well if it isn't our sister's star pupil, Twilight Sparkle" the black mare taunted.
"You... how do you know my name?" she gulped.
"Mwahehehe, We have our ways little pony. We've had our eye on thee ever since that fateful day when thou became Celestia's student. Though We expected... more from somepony of thou's position" Nightmare replied.
"You won't get away with this, when Princess Celestia returns she'll - ahahahaha" Nightmare laughed and cut off Twilight.
"Thee still dons't understand do you. Thou's princess is gone, suffering the same fate she bestowed to us a thousand years ago!" she taunted. "Thou shoulds't be grateful that We have been as merciful as We have, though We suppose thou is't not much of a threat?" she taunted.
Twilight either didn't care or didn't show any distress.
"Then why have you hurt them!?" she angrily gestured towards us laying on the ground. Nightmare meanwhile actually looked confused for a second.
"What... what dos't thee...?" then she understood.
"Thee... thee does not know. Thee does not know! Ahahahahaha, thee does not even know!" she bellowed. Twilight meanwhile showed absolutely no reciprocation to Nightmare's humor.
"What are you talking about?" Twilight growled. While Nightmare continued laughing almost like a madmare Delilah helped me to my three good hooves and began slowly helping me towards the exit of the room we we're in.
"Ah... oh there is so much that thee does not know" Nightmare finally calmed herself.
"Now then" she started and teleported both of us to her side. "If thee wants to see this stallion and his mare live thou shall stay we're thy stands" she added while telepathically suspending me and Delilah in the air behind her, with conjured swords to our necks.
Twilight glared at Nightmare but relented, and the alicorn looked back and moved the swords away slightly.
"Good... now oof!" Nightmare cried and fell to the ground. Glancing ahead revealed Twilight was woozy with a slight amount of smoke coming from her horn.
With Nightmare's concentration gone the magic around me and Delilah faded. Which with that gone there was now nothing to keep us aloft in the air and gravity pulled us back to the ground, hard. While I landed less than gracefully with my broken leg Delilah took the opportunity provided by Twilight to attack Nightmare once again.
"You little foal, We shall crush thee!"
Which was probably not a smart decision.
Gazing up revealed that Twilight had probably shot some form of raw magic at Nightmare, if the blackened spot on her chestpiece was anything to go by.
"Quite a bit of p-power behind that too it seems" I thought.
Meanwhile going up against an enraged Nightmare Moon did not end well for Delilah. While she did manage to get a few strikes in with her sword Nightmare was still an alicorn, and therefore able to take an insane amount of damage and simply shrug it off. Which led to Delilah being marehandled by Nightmare's magic, struck multiple times, and then thrown into a support pillar.
Nightmare then shot a magical beam into Twilight. Who was sent back a good twenty or so hooves, and then turned her attention to me.
"Greetings Prince Flameheart" she smiled deviously.
"B-buck you" I oh so gracefully replied.
"Hehehe, do not worry my prince. Soon all thee's pain shall be gone. We can only imagine thou's burden. Being the only survivor of your family apart from thee's mother is already a travesty. Made even more so by the duties that being the only heir to the throne imposes" she continued.
"We should kill thee and raze thou's pathetic little city to the ground for attempting to interfere with our plans, however... We art feeling merciful this evening. If thee comes with and marries us we shall spare thyself along with thou's subjects entirely, though should thee continue down this rebellious path... We will promise that it will only end in pain".
My eyes couldn't have gone any wider.
"Wha, what!"
"Does't thee need it repeated, We understand that thee is a stallion and that it is harder for your gender to...". That was about as far as Nightmare got before my brain had to tune her out to keep any kind of function going.
"D... d... did Nightmare Moon just propose to me!? Am I dreaming!?"
"...and if thee comes and marries us we shall... is thou listening to us!?" Nightmare yelled.
"I... I... I..." at my quite honest pathetic attempts to form a coherent sentence Nightmare chuckled and placed a forehoof on my withers.
"We understand that this is probably a bit of a shock but We intend to make good on our promises" she smiled.
"I... wha, why...?" I skeptically asked. For a moment Nightmare actually dropped her off cocksure smile and replaced it with a smaller, more placid one.
"Because We... it gets... tiring, ruling over a nation. Holding court, holding audiences, reviewing scrolls, planning conquests... among other things" she then lowered herself so that we could look each other in the eyes and our muzzles almost touched. "Thee especially should know how tiring ruling can be. All We wish is to have a companion to come back to at the end of a long night. One whom will not suck up to us nor grovel at our hooves. One who can stand on an equal level with us" she added.
For a moment Nightmare looked more pony than like a god to me.
"What... I... I... I... - rah!" suddenly Twilight and Delilah both appeared from behind Nightmare with sword and spell, and it ended as predictably as last time. Delilah went for the horn and nearly succeeded while Twilight nearly managed to free me from Nightmare. But the dark mare was just too strong.
She managed to intercept Twilight but Delilah was faster. While Nightmare did manage to block her horn from the mare's assault that just made Delilah target her eyes in a follow up attack, which was successful. Delilah struck firm and true right across Nightmare's face with her sword. Crippling both of her eyes.
"Agh, thee will pay for that!" Nightmare yelled. She lit her horn and managed to pick Delilah up and throw her into Twilight. Then she conjured two throwing knives and threw them into Delilah's face. Thankfully her invisible helmet managed to stop them and left Nightmare confused for a second. Before she threw her to the ground hard and pinned her legs using magic.
"Invisible armor... very clever little foal. I wonder what it will look like once We break thee's horn" she chuckled darkly. Delilah's eyes went wide and she struggled to try and free herself. I knew I had to at least try and help her and so forced myself to my hooves and began to slowly and hopefully sneak up on Nightmare. If I could remove her magic from play, even if only temporary, would be a massive boost to us. Though I had failed to account for one factor, Twilight.
The purple unicorn was also sneaking up behind Nightmare, and when she noticed me she held out a hoof in protest to my plan. For once I decided to agree with her in matters related to the martial and let her attack Nightmare, first at least. I would right behind her. With or without her consent and knowledge.
Twilight positioned herself directly behind Nightmare and prepared to fire a spell of some kind before it all went wrong.
When Twilight fired the bolt of magic Nightmare simply turned around, intercepted it, and sent another bolt right back at Twilight, then teleported Delilah behind Twilight. The bolt hit Twilight and sent her careening into Delilah, who in turn was sent into me, and we we're then traveling at such a velocity that me and Delilah we're sent through a window at the back of the room. Twilight barely managing to teleport in time.
We fell about sixty hooves, landed on and then rolled down an embankment of some sort, and just before we came to a stop the ground beneath us suddenly gave way. Having us fall another fifteen hooves before rolling to a stop against a wall in what looked to be some sort of old quarters. While it could have been the fall making me dizzy though I swore I heard about three or so sets of voices come from the castle during our said fall.
"Night!"
"Flameheart"
"Twilight!"
Though I had more pressing concerns at the moment. Like where we we're and the magenta unicorn on top of me respectively.
"Ah, ow. That bucking hurt" I whimpered.
"I c... concur" Delilah wheezed into my chest. For about a minute we just laid there, trying to get air back into our lungs. Eventually Delilah found her voice first.
"We sh, should probably get moving sir. Can you walk?" she asked.
"I think I c-can m-manage a h--hobble" I wheezed myself.
"Come on I'll put you on my back and teleport us away from here" she said.
"Alright, we can always regroup and c-come back for the elements anyway" I replied.
"The elements, buck the elements, we should get you the buck out of here before Nightmare kills that foolish unicorn!" she said.
"Wha-whatever just get us out of... here" I trailed off as the ground beneath us began shaking, slowly building in crescendo. Delilah slid off to my right side as we looked above us through our entrance hole into where ever we we're. From our perspective we could only see the night sky and the top floor of the castle. Where a window now sported a large hole in it with a near blinding white light emerging from it.
"Delilah I think we should leav- noooooooooooo!" A massive magical surge of energy cut me off and nearly blinded the both of us.
"What the buck was that!" Delilah hissed.
"I don't know but I don't think we want to find out..." I trailed off once more as the night suddenly began turning to day above us.
"Did... did Nightmare Moon lose!?" Delilah asked.
"No idea, but again I don't think we want to be around here to find out. Now I care for you as a subject and friend, but please get us the buck out of here!" I shouted.
"Right" she replied, lit her horn, and screamed in pain. Falling back onto me while clutching her horn revealed that it had been cracked at the base. This obviously was quite detrimental to the unicorns magic abilities, but thankfully for her it could have been much worse. Nevertheless I held her and rubbed her head and back to try and take some of the pain away.
About twenty or so seconds passed before I spoke up again.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yes and no, I take it that my horn is cracked?" Delilah replied.
"Yes it is, I take it that magic is a no go now?"
"Yes sir, I can still keep the invisibility spell on our armor since it's low level maintenance magic, though slightly painful. But casting is out of the question" she said.
"Wonderful" I sighed. I glanced back up at our entrance in the ceiling and concluded that we weren't going to be scaling the wall in our current condition. I also noticed that this room's rotten wooden support beams we're probably what gave way thanks to our hard landing above them.
Looking around the room while Delilah took a second to recover revealed that we we're most likely in a servants quarters. Judging by the beds and the other assortment of furniture. There was a door that hopefully led into some sort of hallway, though it would probably lead back into the main part of the castle.
"All right, we'll wait here for a couple hours, let you recover, and then we'll see if we there's a hallway on the other side of that door. With any luck it'll take us back into the castle and we can get topside that way" I said. Delilah nodded her thanks.
"That will not be necessary" a new voice called. Looking up revealed my worst possible nightmare, the one pony besides Nightmare Moon that I had hoped to never cross in my life. This pony went by many names, such as The Paragon Of The Sun, The Eternal Light Bringer, Knight Of The Order of Starswirl, but the most common and known title she boasted was the Ruler Of Equestria.
As Princess Celestia Radiatus Morningstar looked down upon us I could in shock only utter one singular word.
"Buck..." |
The Flame Prince | The Thankful Sun | I do not scare easily, or at least not since I had learned proper combat training under Plasma. But some things... they still... get to me, I suppose? One of them being Princess Celestia. Now I have faced horrible, abominable, and outright ruthless creatures in my life. But... she... terrifies me.
She was thousands of years old, and while nowhere near the levels of Luna she had ended lives before... a lot too if the records and stories are to be believed, as well as imprisoned the aforementioned mare to the moon for a thousand years. On top of all her other achievements and well, she was quite literally a goddess in the flesh.
I never thought that I would've faced her in my life. I had always thought that I would've stayed out in the wasteland that I had called home for my entire life. I was aware upon entering Equestria that I had a chance of encountering her, especially once Nightmare Moon became involved but... I had planned to steer clear of her entirely. Or at least be one face in a crowd of a hundred.
So when the white mare began descending towards me I began freaking out internally. Wishing that I had done things differently, or just stayed away from Equestria entirely. To just go back in time... but I couldn't, and now I had to figure out how to get us out of this mess... and fast.
Princess Celestia touched down as gracefully as I would've expected. "You needn't fear me young stallion, I only wish to help you" she smiled.
"What". Suffice to say that was not what I had expected the first words she would ever speak to me be.
"I have heard from my dear student that you and your mare have helped and even saved her life last night, as well as having helped free my sister. To which I am in a great debt to you for" she continued. Meanwhile Delilah also turned around and began having her own little freakout.
"Huh... wait, does she think that me and Delilah- Are you two okay?" Celestia asked as she interrupted my internal musings.
"I... uh, I... y-yes we are. I-I take it you're Princess C-Celestia right?" I squeaked out. The sun tyrant smiled.
"Indeed I am, now my student has informed me of several things" she began.
"Oh... well I tried, better to just play nice and pray for the best possible outcome I suppose. Wait what does Twilight even know, shouldn't she be referring to Luna in this case-". "First, you both have helped free my sister from the clutches of Nightmare Moon. To which I am most grateful for" she reiterated.
"Secondly, Night Storm, you helped save my student from certain death and the both of you helped in her fight against Nightmare Moon". We both gave a weak smile.
"And third, you both have received grave injuries from your fight with her" she added.
"Now, usually I do not do this. But for your actions last night I would like the both of you to come to Canterlot with me to be treated by my personal doctors and physicians for your injuries" she finished. Me and Delilah looked at each other.
"So that's her plan, lure us into Canterlot with the promise of help. Then detain us in a gilded cage".
"I - thank you for the offer Princess, but we will be fine and need to be going" Delilah interrupted me.
"But I thought I was told you both we're staying for the Summer Sun Celebration?" the goddess replied.
"Buck!".
"Please, you do not need to fear me. I am not angry with you attacking my sister if that is what plagues you so. I only wish to repay the both of you for all that you have done for me. You both are not in any condition to be traveling anytime soon. So please, let me help you. As a thanks to all you have done for me" Celestia said.
"Does... does she not know, but how!? No, she's just playing dumb because she wants to do this sneakily... for whatever reason".
"We do not need your help... princess. Though we appreciate your offer" I replied. Celestia frowned and just before I was certain she would have showed her true colors the other mares appeared in a flash of teleportation, though most notably without Luna.
"Night!" they all yelled.
"Oh great, why now of all times". I thought as Twilight ran up to me.
"Are you okay, Nightmare Moon didn't hit you too hard did she, oh who am I kidding of course she did and it's all my fault and if I didn't suck at combat magic then Nightmare wouldn't have hit you and use me as cannonball and -Twilight!" I raised my voice. This thankfully got her to shut up.
"It is okay, Nightmare Moon is... was an alicorn. Even if you we're a battle mage you wouldn't have stood a chance against her. Alicorns are just too powerful" I consoled. Twilight for her part looked like she wanted to contest my statement with more self-loathing, but decided not to.
"Thanks Night, now I know you probably have this "I don't need a mare thing" going on but the fact of the matter is you're wounded... badly" she began. I chose not to say anything upon glancing down at myself. There was quite a bit of blood on both myself and Delilah.
"You have a broken leg, probably several other broken bones due to your fall, as well as possible internal bleeding, the same for Delilah too" she continued.
"In addition to any other injuries thanks to your fight, so you will be going to Ponyville's hospital to recover and that's that" she finished.
"Twilight- I said was that" she interrupted me.
"But- that was that!" she asserted.
"No! I can't go to Ponyville, we have to get out of... here. That's it! If we go to Ponyville it's us not going to Canterlot!" I thought.
"All right Twilight, I'll go to Ponyville... but!" I said just before she could let out a cheer. "Once me and Delilah have recovered we will be on our way, deal?" I asked.
"Deal" she replied.
"All right, now how are we going to..." Flash "Get to Ponyville?" I asked as Celestia lit her horn and me, Delilah, the mares, and Luna all appeared outside Ponyville's townhall to a crowd of very surprised ponies. Me and Delilah held aloft in Celestia's magic.
"Well then, that works I suppose".
"Make sure that you eat your fruit dear, I'll be back to help change your bandages once you finish okay" Nurse Redheart, a snow white earth pony with a pink mane and tail, told me.
"Yes yes, mother" I rolled my eyes while the mare narrowed hers. "Your injuries are very serious Night Storm, had Princess Celestia not had you brought here you could have succumbed to your internal bleeding, and with your ribs as cracked as they were you are lucky that they did not shatter and pierce your heart or lungs" she admonished me.
"I understand that nurse, I just do not wish to referred to as a foal" I replied and she chuckled.
"Hehe, well if you do not want to refer to me as your mother you could always refer to me as mommy" she smiled.
"Huh?"
"Once you get out of the hospital I wouldn't be opposed to doing something with you" she then rolled her head and puffed up her chest fluff. "If you wanted too" she added.
"Is she... trying to court me?"
"Now remember what I said about your dinner dear, it's getting cold" and with that the nurse trotted out of my room and shut the door behind her.
"Well that was the weirdest attempt at courting I've ever seen" Delilah said from her neighboring bed.
Trying to forget what had just been said to me I looked down at my dinner. A pair of pears (pun unintended) with some tomato soup. After a few test bites I found that it tasted surprisingly well compared to the slop that we had for soup in Ashen. Though what it lacked in taste it made up for in nutrition, and helped remarkably with recovery from injuries which made it popular with our herbalists and physicians.
As I ate I thought back to when me and Delilah arrived back in Ponyville. When Princess Celestia had so unceremoniously teleported us into town the ponies had all but gawked and bowed as quickly as possible. Then when they looked up and saw Princess Luna they cried out that Nightmare Moon had entranced their princess and began to panic.
However Celestia quickly managed to calm them down and explained that thanks to me, Delilah, and the six other mares Nightmare Moon had been defeated, and her sister. Princess Luna had been freed from her clutches.
The ponies then noticed me and Delilah being held aloft by their princesses' magic, our injuries visible for all of them to see. This resulted in quite a lot of looks being thrown at Luna, who began to shrink into the shadow of her older sister.
At the same time Celestia seemed to take notice of this and re-explained that Luna and Nightmare Moon we're not the same pony, and that Luna had been possessed by a madmare. Fortunately for her that seemed to calm the masses. But I could still see the lingering fear in them.
After that Celestia called upon the medical staff of Ponyville General to help both myself and Delilah with our injuries. Many of whom seemed very enthusiastic to help. After that they had all but dragged us off to this hospital where we had been confined to this room together and I had been fawned over by the female medical staff while Delilah had been attended to by two stallions, one a doctor and the other a nurse.
I had also feared that once they began to touch us and begin administering treatment for our injuries our invisible armor would start bringing them to ask difficult questions. Fortunately that didn't happen. As just before Celestia hoofed us off to the physicians I felt our armor being teleported off of us, and my eyes caught Star Fire's in the far back of the crowd before she disappeared back between two buildings and into a dark alleyway.
That was good, it meant that the legion knew what was happening to an extent and that Asteria was not sitting idly by. However it was also apparent that with Nightmare's defeat that they had not been able to secure the elements. How I did not know, they had several hours to comb that castle and locate them. But that did not matter anymore, we had failed, and now we we're in the most precarious position we had ever been in since the founding of Ashen and our great exile from Equestria proper.
Which brought me back to Celestia, and no matter how I thought about it it just didn't make sense. If she knew who we we're then why didn't she just detain or kill us. But she didn't, in fact she acted like we were just two random ponies who had by chance met and decided to help Twilight.
Which supported the idea that Celestia didn't know who we we're, but how! Luna knew who we we're as Nightmare Moon, and I didn't think the Elements could wipe a pony's memory but... they we're known to be extremely powerful artifacts. Plus, with not that much being known about them it stood to consider that as a possibility.
But why, why would they do that then? Was this the universe's way of apologizing after all the bullshit I had to put up with last night or was there some greater plan at work?
More importantly what would my mother think about all these developments. I had never failed her to this great of an extent before. Sure I had let her down but I'd always made up for it, but this... this was nothing short of a catastrophe.
"No, I will... cross that bridge when I come to it. For now I should focus on escaping Ponyville, rendezvousing with the legion, securing the elements if possible, and escaping Equestria... all without alerting said Equestrians to our presence, buck.
But I'm The Flame Prince, I am the Son Of Ashen, and the last of the royal line as well... buck. I need to be more careful in the future. If something happens to me before I can sire an heir Ashen could descend into anarchy, Tartarus the whole kingdom at that.
"I should probably stay away from field duty for a while, at least while in Equestria. If we are discovered at least that gives me a chance to get away".
While I detested the thought of cowering while my subjects fought I knew that in some cases it was better for the commareder to sit and direct from the back. Soldiers existed for a reason after all, and it was their superior's job to guide them, and history had shown that such ponies we're often the target for assassins.
"Alright then, new plan. Recover in Ponyville, rendezvous with the legion, secure the elements if possible, and hightail it back to Ashen. We can always come back in the future anyway, wait for things to die down. Though Luna's return complicates things, buck!
Once me and Delilah finished our food Nurse Redheart trotted back in and retrieved our empty dishes. Thankfully without anymore comments. We we're then told it was lights out and that we would see her or another pony in the morning and she left.
"Sir, about yesterday" Delilah began once we're alone.
"It is fine Delilah, you did a good job and I'm already formulating a plan for our situation. Now keep quiet they could be listening" I replied. She nodded and we both fell asleep, I didn't know what tomorrow would bring but I prayed it would be good. |
The Flame Prince | Curious Mares | "Are you alright Luna, I understand that Equestria has changed a lot since you've been gone, and that you'll need to adapt to unfamiliar customs, as well as the whole... banishment issue". Princess Celestia, the ruler of the Constitutional Principality Of Equestria asked her newly returned and soon to be reinstated as a ruler sister, Princess Luna Argentis.
"Yes... We art well sister, though whilst many things plague us. Including this... change in the Equestrian alphabet we art more troubled by that stallion from Ponyville" she said. The two of them we're currently in Celestia's personal carriage returning to Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria. Celestia looked over at her sister.
"Yes, that's another thing we will need to talk about. Since you've been gone, well more recently in the past twenty or so years stallions have... well..." she trailed off.
"Just speak thee's mind sister, we've been gone for so long that it's a pleasure just to hear thou's voice. Especially when complaining about stallions" Luna teased.
"Very well, in laymare's terms stallions have changed, somewhat. Don't mistake my warning, the colts of the nobility are still the snobbiest, most uncaring, arrogant, vain, whimsical whorses we've both ever had the misfortune to meet. However... some stallions, a very small minority at that. Have taken an... interest outside of the traditional roles our ponies have maintained for thousands of years, so... you're going to see some things... Things that may seem weird to you" Celestia explained.
"Sister, We do not understand. Wasn't... wasn't Starswirl one of these stallions that thee's describing, Flash Magnus... or Rockhoof even?" Luna asked.
"No Luna, they are different from these stallions because I actually enjoyed talking to and being around them. However these colts are only in the guard because they think they have something to prove or are superior to mares... minus a few individuals, to be fair to them" Celestia sighed.
"We see sister... should We be informed of anything else regarding changes in culture?"
"Just do not antagonize them Luna, it will only lead to headaches that we do not need right now. Besides, like you said earlier we need to have a discussion about Night Storm and that other mare. But for now, I am glad to have you back" Celestia smiled and hugged her younger sister.
"Likewise sister, likewise" the Lunar Alicorn smiled back.
I woke to the sound of small squeaks and a tune being hummed outside of my door. A moment later a familiar nurse opened it and trotted in pushing what looked like a cart of some sort?
"Good morning Night Storm, good morning Delilah" Redheart greeted us. Now that I wasn't utterly exhausted and dealing with as much pain as I was last night I noticed that she had a small white hat with a red cross atop her head to go with her pure white coat and pink mane. While a glance towards my guard showed that she had bags under her eyes, likely from staying up all night on guard.
"Here's your morning breakfast dear. Some hay and scrambled eggs along with some coffee and water" Redheart added and pushed the cart up alongside my bed. She then pulled out a small table looking thing out from under the cart and set it over me on the bed, until a faint clicking noise was heard and then placed my food upon it.
After doing the same for Delilah and making sure we were both comfortable she said her goodbyes and gestured to a small red crystal on our night stands and instructed us to speak into them once we we're done eating or if we needed anything else, then she left.
We both looked at the food before us.
"Well Delilah, it certainly has been a week hasn't it" I finally began conversation.
"Yes sir... it has" she replied and bit into her food.
"Did you stay up all night?" I asked
"Mmhm" she answered and began to chew.
"All right then, once we're finished eating I'll take watch while you get some sleep" I said. She nodded and continued eating while I held off for a few minutes. Once it became clear that the unicorn's mind wasn't altered in any way or she wasn't going to drop dead only then did I begin to eat myself. Giving a silent prayer to Faust in the process.
"Sire..." Delilah began.
"Yes Delilah?" I replied.
"Am... am I a worthy mare?" she asked.
"What, where is this coming from?"
"Worthy of what, being in my service?" I asked.
"...Yes, I feel that I am not worthy to be your guard. That I have failed in the mission that you so graciously bestowed upon me, and for that I am sorry" she said sadly.
"Delilah, I'm two years your senior, and I picked both you and Fire Strike for our... reconnaissance because of your successful mission records. You still have your entire life ahead of you. So please, if you ever feel like you aren't good enough, remember this conversation and why I picked you, okay" I smiled.
"Besides, you fared quite well against Nightmare Moon. Most would probably have lost near instantaneously but you didn't, and you never gave up. I and the kingdom need that kind of determination" I added.
"Thank you sire, doesn't really change what happened but... thank you" she smiled herself.
Once we both had finished our food Delilah passed out almost immediately, while a new pony, a stallion this time dressed in a similar garment to Redheart entered and took our plates from us. He also informed me where the bathrooms we're and if we needed help using them then we could call for help via the red crystals.
I replied my thanks and he left. Now I was all alone with Delilah's soft snore's being my only company, though that wasn't to last. As only a couple minutes later six very familiar mares entered our room. Interrupting my musing of a plan to get us out of this town.
"Hello Night, how are you feeling?" Twilight asked.
"I've been better I suppose... what happened with Princess Luna?" I replied.
"She and Princess Celesta both returned to Canterlot" Rarity spoke. An uncomfortable silence followed.
"Night... about last... night?" Applejack began.
"We're really, really sorry about what happened" Pinkie added.
"Mhm, and we want to try and make it up to ya" Rainbow said.
"That is... if you want us to?" Fluttershy finished.
"Hah... of course these mares aren't through with me yet, are they".
"Look, while I appreciate your apology me and Delilah need to be going with haste as soon as we are both able to" I answered. Gesturing to the still lightly snoring mare.
The six non-asleep mares looked at each other.
"That's another thing that we wanted to discuss with you. Who exactly are you Night?" Twilight asked.
"And... here we go".
"Well I don't know Twilight, who exactly are you?" I rebutted.
"Hey now, don't ya try to flip this around on us Night. We asked the question first" Applejack cut in.
"And why exactly is this important?" I asked.
"Well je, I don't know. Some random stallion and two mares show up out of nowhere a mere day before the summer sun celebration. Are the only ones who know about Nightmare Moon, other than Twilight who herself just found out about the story the day before, have weapons that can go invisible, and on top of that are physically able to hold off against an Alicorn in hoof to hoof combat" Rainbow Dash said.
"Faustdammit".
"Well... I wouldn't say hold off - So we'll ask again. Who are you Night Storm?" Rainbow cut Fluttershy off, which only I seemed to notice.
"Buck this not good, how do I get out of - "
"By the way, where is Fire Strike? I don't remember her being with us ever since we left the library" Twilight added. The other mares agreeing with her as well.
"It's nothing that you lot have any business in. So I'd appreciate it if you left this matter alone. Lest you find the answer unsatisfactory" I warned.
"Night... you aren't being forced to do anything you don't want to do, right?" Rarity asked this time.
"Absolutely not, everything I have done in my life has been done voluntarily of my own goodwill" I answered. The mares visibly relaxed at this.
"Okay then, who are you and where is Fire Strike?" Rainbow Dash repeated. Knowing that I was not going to get out of this without giving the mares an answer I gave in and told them about myself, just a little bit.
"My name is Night Storm, my birthday is the twenty-ninth of September, my favorite color is red, and I enjoy reading, art, history, swordsmareship, and helping others with whatever may ail them" I said.
"Swordsmareship, who taught ya how to wield ah sword?" Applejack asked.
"Not important, next question" I more ordered than asked.
"Okay... what about your family" Twilight inquired.
"What about them?" I rebutted.
"Oh fer bucks sake, how does yer father feel about you running around fightin other ponies with swords like a knight?" Applejack, now quite more agitated, queried me.
"I wouldn't know, he's been dead along with my two sisters for over a decade" I dryly replied. At that revelation the girls' eyes went wide and they backed off a bit.
"Oh... I'ma, I'm sorry to hear that Night. Ah, Ah didn't know" Applejack replied dejectedly. Along with similar replies from the others.
"It is fine, you couldn't have. Besides I've come to terms with it anyway" I replied.
"Ah, right... of course darling. Come on girls, I think that we've... questioned the poor colt enough" Rarity regretfully stated. The other mares unanimously agreed with the only outlier being Rainbow Dash.
"What, but, come on girls... after everything that's happened you're all just going to walk away from wha hey!" Rainbow yelped as she was dragged from the room by Rarity, the door shutting behind them.
"Well that was interesting".
"Well, that was certainly something" Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's prized protege, and current holder of The Element Of Magic. Stated as they we're leaving the hospital Night and Delilah had been checked into.
"Something indeed" Rarity agreed.
"I still don't understand why we're just walking away from something like this..." at the number annoyed stares Rainbow got thrown her way over that sentence she reiterated.
"Well... I mean they aren't normal ponies, and I get that he's a stallion. But come on, have you guys ever heard of a stallion fighting like that. Not to mention what happened to his father and siblings, which is bad Applejack" she added.
"What do you think even happened to them? Something really really bad!" Pinkie chimed in.
"I don't know but probably it wasn't good, especially if Night has been forced into fighting like what we saw yesterday night" Twilight said.
"So... what do you think we should do darling?" Rarity asked.
"I think... that Princess Celestia left too quickly" Twilight replied. |
The Flame Prince | A Change In Course | It was the next day at what I had learned was Ponyville General, or more collectively known as the region's hospital. Thankfully Twilight and her comrades had not yet returned, though that could obviously change at a moment's notice.
Presently me and Delilah, who thankfully seemed to doing better with her self imposed depression, we're waiting for the clock in our room to strike twelve. As that was the time set for our release, for it seemed Equestrian healing magic had surpassed our own. and had healed our injuries in record time.
"Five minutes to go".
Suddenly Nurse Redheart opened the door and trotted into our room.
"Good morning you two, how are you both doing" she asked us.
"We are well, thank you nurse" I replied, Delilah nodded.
"Good, how is your leg Night?" the nurse asked.
"Better, it's healed quite quickly thanks to your hospital's healing magic Redheart" I answered. The white mare smiled and puffed up her tuft before replying to me.
"That's good, while we may not be a Canterlot hospital that doesn't mean us Ponyville mares aren't capable of treating broken bones" she smiled.
"Indeed, you are most proficient" Delilah added.
"Thank you, now before we discharge you from here we do need to record some information for your medical records" Redheart said.
"Wait what, medical records?".
"Um, okay... are we going to this now?" I asked.
"We can, or you can do it at the front desk if you want. Did you want to do it now?" Redheart responded. I looked at Delilah.
"Sounds fine to me" she said.
"Very well" Redheart said and withdrew a piece of paper on what looked to be a piece of wood with a metal clip at the top that held said paper in place.
"Huh, that's interesting".
"First off I need both of your full names please" she asked.
"Night Storm".
"Delilah Evadne" after Delilah had to spell out her last name for Redheart we moved onto the next question.
"How old are the both of you?".
"Eighteen"
"Sixteen"
"When was you're last check up?" I looked at Delilah.
"We've never been to an Equestrian hospital before" she answered. Redheart seemed surprised by this.
"Really" she asked, and at my nod she continued. "Well that's not a major issue, what was the name of the last facility you we're in?".
"It didn't have a name, it was just collectively known as the infirmary" I answered.
"Okay then, I guess that's the answer they're going to get then" Redheart muttered.
"Next question, where are you both from?" she added.
"And why does that matter?" Delilah rebutted.
"It's important that we document where our patients are from so that we can help treat for any local diseases or ongoing ailments" the nurse explained.
"Well we don't know, as far as we both can remember we've always been on the road" I replied.
"So you've never sat in one place then...?" Redheart questioned, I nodded.
"I see, I take it that this infirmary also went with you wherever you went?" she asked.
"More or less" I answered.
"Alright then, what are the names of your parents?".
"My mothers name is Radiance, my father's was Solaris" I said, obviously leaving out their titles.
"Cyra and Ignatius respectively" Delilah added.
"Thank you, one last question" Redheart said.
"Oh thank Faust, we can almost finally leave"
"Have you both ever been checked into a medical facility for any reason in the past?" she asked
"No" I answered quickly, hoping to get this over with already. Delilah nodded when Redheart looked in her direction.
"Okay, that's it. Let's just get your bandages off and you'll both be good to go" she said.
"Finally let's hightail it" I smiled.
Sometimes I genuinely hate my life. Be it from having to stay up late into the night thanks to my occupation, training, or some unforeseen issue forcing it's way into my schedule. To fighting on the battlefield and seeing close friends get killed and then having to bury them in the following days.
I thought I had seen it all, I really did. But it seemed that Faust, fate, or whoever governed how the universe was run, always found a way to surprise me. Today it seemed that it was once again the mares of Ponyville. Making anything I tried to do a headache, even leaving. How they managed to give me a headache this way I do not and probably never will know.
"Are you sure you couldn't stay for one more day. I promise I'll show you how much I can give you here".
"I am certain Cherry, thank you though" I responded for the umpteenth time to the alcoholic.
"Nevermind her Night, she's just an alcoholic who'll abuse you. I can provide you - thank you Carrot Top but I unfortunately must be going" I interrupted.
"Unfortunately for you that is" I silently grumbled. This continued on and on until I was not the only pony utterly frustrated with the townsmares. Even Redheart had asked the same questions and made the same suggestions as half the town was to me right now.
"Oh but you like foals right... of course you do all colts like foals, and since I'm a school teacher I'm always around them. Oh you could come to my classroom and read to - enough!" Delilah shouted.
"I have had it with all of you, if the poor stallion wants to leave then just let him!" she yelled.
"And who exactly are you, some stallionizer that's gonna take advantage of him once you're all alone with him" some random mare in the crowd around us yelled. This seemed to ignite Ponyville's mare population into a powder keg about to explode upon Delilah.
Though in any sort of fight my money was still on the unicorn.
The second they started their advance on her Delilah conjured a sword and leveled it at the nearest mare, who stopped in her tracks. The rest following suit after a few moments.
"Enough of this foolishness, my name is Delilah Evadne. Descendant of the faithful and virtuous guardsmare Helia Evadne. Not that any of you harlots would understand that, now get out of my way or I'll blast you out of it" she threatened.
"That got the mares to make a small pathway out of the crowd, and with her head held high and a smirk on her muzzle the young mare escorted me out of Ponyville".
"Hmm, nice work guardsmare" I smiled once we we're at a sufficient distance.
"Hah, I just got fed up with all those remarks my prince, a pony of your station shouldn't have to deal with that" she replied.
"Well thank you nonetheless. I fear I was about to snap myself then" I said.
We made some more small talk as we continued to trudge west, towards where I hoped the legion would be. In truth I had half expected Equestria's royal guard to be stationed in Ponyville, waiting to take us into custody the second we stepped out of that hospital. Thankfully however the greatest foe me and Delilah had to deal with we're excited mares. Which I would almost always take over a battalion of guards.
I was also thankful that we did not have to wait long before a squad of mares in armor sporting our colors raced out of the neighboring Everfree to surround us.
Once pleasantries we're exchanged we we're then escorted to where the legion was encamped, where I noted that it was not in the same location as a couple days previously.
"Commareder Asteria" I said as I walked up to the commareder of the fourth legion, she honestly looked terrible. Much like the rest of her mares, who bore disheveled, exhausted, and panicky but relieved expressions when they saw me.
"Oh Flamehear... Prince Flameheart, thank Faust you're alright. They didn't hurt you did they, touch you inappropriately? We will all gladly raze that town to the ground if they so much as harmed a hair on your mane - Commareder, I'm fine" I tittered. She did not share my amusement.
"My prince, you have been held capture in that town for two days, on top of that been injured by Nightmare Moon and marehandled by Princess Celestia herself, and you just tell me that you're fine!" she near screeched.
"Alright, yes Nightmare Moon broke my leg, yes Princess Celestia levitated me. But I am still alive and no longer injured. On top of that I have seen several things that I want to try and reinvent in Ashen" I replied.
"How can you be so calm about this?" she asked me.
"Because it happened and myself and Delilah came out just fine, now why were we not able to secure the elements" I changed subjects.
At that Asteria froze, and the other guardsmares of the fourth legion shrunk back as well. This was clearly a conversation that they did not want to have.
"We... we tried your highness. But we really didn't know what we we're looking for. Still, it wasn't hard to locate five small stones that resembled the elements" she said.
"Alright, so why does Celestia now hold them and not us?" I asked.
"After thoroughly combing through that castle we took the elements and a few other things of value and began making our way out of the forest, when... she struck" Asteria shuddered.
"Who?" I replied
"The Nightmare, she attacked us and killed the mares carrying the elements before making off with them. We tried to track her down but there we're Equestrian guardsmares in the forest as well. So it was either pursue or keep ourselves hidden" she continued.
"Well it sounds like you made the right decision then..." I said.
"Who was killed?" I asked a moment later.
"It's in a report I have written out for you, right now your mother wants to speak with you. She said that as soon as you we're recovered to have you speak with her" Asteria added.
"Of course, thank you commareder" I said and turned to my tent where my communication crystal and the rest of my belongings I had brought with me we're, Delilah following me in order to activate the crystal.
A moment after she activated it and then stepped out for privacy my mother's concerned face appeared.
"Yes commareder As, oh Flameheart thank goodness, are you okay. If those fillies hurt you in any way I swear I'll - mother please, I'm fine... okay" I smiled. She smiled back and took a second to calm herself before continuing.
"Good good, now then. What the buck happened, why did Asteria report you and another guardsmare being held captive, Celestia now holding the one, or rather six objects which are the only things capable of defeating her, and you being injured by Nightmare Moon herself!" she cried.
"Yeah... about that" I nervously smiled.
I told her everything about my failed reconnaissance mission to how I witnessed Nightmare's return. All the way to me and Delilah's escape from Ponyville. Suffice to say she was not happy.
"So how many throats do I have to slit - mother!" I cut her off.
"They're mares not rapists, need I remind you that you are also a mare" I added.
"Yes, and I never said any of those crude remarks on your father when I courted him" she retorted.
"Perhaps, but that still does not warrant death for them" I replied.
"Very well, now about our next course of action" she began, I nodded.
"The fact that Luna did not immediately order your imprisonment suggests the mind wipe theory. As such that means that unless we are missing something here then the princesses are still none the wiser to our presence. So you will go back to that town and observe the bearers of the elements. Get close to them, learn as much as you possibly can about them and by extent the elements themselves. Then once we have enough information we will choose how and when we strike" she said.
"Celestia is likely to have them under lock and key in Canterlot" I replied.
"Indeed, which is something I'll put our Canterlot agents on. For now you just focus on the bearers themselves and find out they're weaknesses. Everypony has weaknesses" she added.
"Very well..." I replied.
"Is there something else Flameheart" she asked. She had always been good at reading ponies, especially me.
"Yes mother, I... am beginning to have second thoughts about all of this" I said.
"Why?" she asked.
"I feel that we are playing with luck we don't have. We've already gotten incredibly lucky that we haven't been discovered. In my opinion we should hightail it while we've still got the chance" I said.
"Flameheart, have you forgotten the conditions our subjects have to live in. The hardships they endure, because I haven't. Everyday when I see somepony's daughter being buried or colt being forced to father five foals at minimum just so that one might live to adulthood I only think of one thing. Do you know who I think of Flameheart?" she asked me.
"Celestia?" I replied.
"Precisely, I think of her and her betrayal centuries ago that put us into the position we find ourselves in today, and that makes me angry. Makes me want to avenge our fallen, who gave their lives so that we may live. Yes Luna's return complicates things, yes the elements being active again complicates things, and yes the Thestrals potential reinstatement exists now, however" she paused.
"We are Flame Ponies, we do not fear, we do not run, and we do not cower. We fight... we fight and we win. Even if takes us twelve hundred years" she added.
"Do you want the both us and our subjects to continue to have to live like that Flameheart, or are you satisfied with the new normal?" she asked.
"No mother" I replied.
"Good, then get out there and do your late grandmother Vesta Blaze proud!" she cried.
"Yes mother". |
The Flame Prince | Night's Return | "As well as devoting themselves wholly unto their duties".
It was extremely early in the morning, and I was tired. But currently I had obligations. Obligations to those that I had failed.
Fire Arc
Ember Ignacia
Ace Strike
Carmen Cassion
Alna Hellfire
All five of them had died to Nightmare Moon several days ago during her return, and from what I had been told it was in an attempt to delay the dark alicorn long enough to give their fellow soldiers time to escape the castle.
"To give their lives in such a matter. Not only for the realm, but for their fellow comrades-in-arms, their friends... is one of the highest honors that there is".
As a royal I had given this speech many times before. As it had been customary since time immemorable for a royal to preside over a Flame Pony funeral.
"And for such selflessness and bravery I bestow them the highest award there is, the Knight's Cross". I then began to descend from the small hastily constructed wooden platform I was standing on and towards the caskets laid horizontally infront of it, Asteria following me with a plank of wood in her magic with the five crosses atop it.
Once I reached the first one both myself and Asteria halted infront of it.
"Fire Arc gave her life in defense of the realm, her comrades, and her loved ones. May her soul find peace in Elysium" I then placed one of the crosses on the casket of the fallen Flame Pony. Moving down the line I repeated this four more times before myself and Asteria returned to the top of the wooden stage, where we both pulled our sabers from our hilts and presented them with our right forehoofs.
"Soldiers... salute" Asteria yelled.
Almost immediately the mares of the fourth legion raised their right forehooves to their chests while their officers presented their own swords in the same way me and Asteria did.
For ten seconds we stood there, the soldiers in formation facing the caskets and stage, with me and Asteria facing them. Once I lowered my sword and they lowered theirs in response the first row of mares then stepped forward and grasped their designated casket. They would load them onto a newly constructed wagon that we would take with us back to Ashen for a proper burial.
I watched them go with a solemn expression. Those mares had sworn their lives to me, and how did I repay them. By getting them killed....
"Mainly by not being there!".
If I had been then maybe we together we could have driven Nightmare off, but I hadn't been there. I had been in Ponyville chasing something that didn't need to be chased at all!
Or... maybe it did. Nightmare Moon had been stopped by those mares, mares that I had helped find the elements with. Maybe it was for the best that we all met... Celestia has proven that we would benefit more with her on Equestria's throne rather than Nightmare Moon, though unknowingly.
Regardless that didn't change my orders. As now that those brave mares' funeral was over it was back to business, infiltrating... re-infiltrating Equestria and stealing the elements. Though I had a plan, and although I had stayed up all night formulating it it was still extremely dangerous. Mainly because I was counting on the fact we've been largely forgotten about by the Equestrians. Though that still didn't change the fact that if we we're discovered we we're done.
Which was why I was going over every single contingency plan I could think of. I was going all out this time, no exceptions! We had gotten extremely lucky beforehoof. This time we had to be successful.
"Prince Flameheart?"
"...Yes commareder?" I asked, slightly annoyed at her interruption.
"Are you going to dismiss the soldiers?" she asked. I blinked, and realized that the remaining mares we're still infront of me and Asteria. Waiting for further orders.
"Oh right, soldiers... dismissed" I shouted. They saluted once more and dispersed to resume their various duties.
"Sir, are you well?" Asteria asked me.
"I am, thank you commareder. Just... deep in thought" I replied, she smiled.
"Very well, just don't lose track of what's directly infront of you my prince" she replied.
"Of course, I just don't want this to happen again" I said, gesturing to the caskets that had been set down. Now awaiting their cart to be built.
"Well then let's not let it, well go slower this time. Take our time, gather intelligence, then strike when we have the advantage" she answered.
"Yes, though I fear even returning to that town will prove to be complicated" I replied.
"Then we'll deal with it, and with any luck we may not even have to return to that town" she said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Why not just go to Canterlot and knab the elements from there, instead of wasting our time in that backwater village?" She replied.
"Because Canterlot, and by extension the castle, will have many more guards than Ponyville... if there's any guards here at all. Not too mention not two but three princesses now. Besides my mother has given us explicit orders to infiltrate the town and gather intelligence about the bearers" I answered.
"Very well" she replied.
"Are we still on schedule?" I asked.
"Yes sire, the mare's you've hoofpicked will be ready to depart in thirty minutes" she replied.
"Good, tell them I'll meet them just before we set off" I said.
"Yes sire" Asteria replied. With that I parted ways with her and returned to my tent to gather what I would be bringing with me to Ponyville... and review my plan for the umpteenth time.
Princess Luna was not having a good morning by any stretch of the imagination. Ney scratch that, the last thousand years had all but been utterly horrid. She had thought that having been freed from Nightmare Moon's control would at long last usher her into a new era. One where she was looked up to and beloved by her subjects, just like her sister.
Instead nothing had seemed to change. Although her sister had done well in suppressing the legend of Nightmare Moon, rumors and tales from that era continued to persist throughout the centuries and even into the modern day.
Once she had returned to Equestria's new capital city, Canterlot. Celestia had been beset upon by royal guards, nobles, and frightened commoners. While she had been left utterly alone. While Celestia had quickly noticed this and introduced her to them their best reactions had been wariness, while some stallions had practically dragged their mares away from her.
Nothing had changed it seemed, in fact if anything it had only gotten worse. For now she was not just the mysterious and frightening princess of the night. Now she was more commonly referred to as The Nightmare, who had come to conquer the world and plunge it into eternal night.
On top of that her actions in Ponyville hadn't helped either, especially with what she had done to that poor stallion. Her memories of that fight and of the last few days in general we're pretty hazy at best. But thanks to what the new bearers of the elements had told her she now knew she had beaten him, broken one of his legs, and then sent him out of a multi story window. The fact that he hadn't been injured more was in itself a miracle. Not to mention that it seemed that those particular actions wouldn't make it to the Equestrian public's ears, thank Faust.
Alas however it seemed like she was descending right back into the same situation she had been in one thousand years prior. Except now armed with the knowledge of what would happen if she we're to make a deal like that again...
"We art a damn fool..."
Thinking back she honestly didn't understand why she had trusted that... demon. During their many conversations before Luna had let the dark mare fully into her mind and corrupt her something in the back of said mind had repeatedly told her that if she accepted that mare things would only get worse, and they did... fast.
The few friends she did have we're now all dead, along with any respect her subjects ever showed her. Now all she saw in them was fear and anger. Directed directly at her, and the worst part was that she deserved every single ounce of it.
The war, the death, the famine, the countless souls she had led astray...
"No, we art more than a mere fool, we art a monster" she thought.
At least she still had Celestia. Though that was of little solstice in her current situation. She couldn't even count on her loyal Thestrals now, as they had all been but expelled from Equestria during and after her rebellion. In addition to her whole trained army now stuck on the moon. Though thankfully they would survive without her direct supervision.
From her bed the alicorn then found herself looking towards the silver celestial body. It had been so long since she'd seen it from Equus, so long since she'd been able to fully see the one thing in the world that was truly hers.
She didn't even want to look at it anymore.
Tossing and turning also reminded her that she had been unable to get any sleep at all, which was unfortunate as the ceremony where Celestia would pardon and reinitiate her as a Princess Of Equestria was later today... why did they listen to Starswirl when he insisted that their royal titles should be princess and not queen?
...Heh We suppose that perhaps We simply wanted to please thy silly stallion as he always referred to us as his little princesses... no wait, wasn't it Celestia whom still fancied the colt and made Our titles a royal decree out of her devotion to him? Or... mayhaps it was that tyrant Queen Simaneu who's actions soured the word... Probably a combination of all three.
While her reminiscing about simpler times did bring a smile to her face it was short lived as a small clock in the corner of her room struck twelve. This meant she now had to get up and prepare for Celestia's announcement at one, and if there was one thing that she hadn't missed during her thousand year exile it was politics.
A few hours later myself, Delilah, Fire Strike, and four other mares arrived once more back at the outskirts of Ponyville.
Suffice to say I was not looking forward to having to deal with this town again. Though at least I would have a decent amount of guards to help with that now. Though of course that raised even more concerns, what would the town think of us. They already knew who me, Delilah, and Fire Strike we're. Or at least to an extent...
They could take my sudden return as that I had changed my mind about wanting them to pursue courting me. Which would be... suboptimal, to say the least. Along with several other concerns were those six mares as well. Twilight I now knew had personal connections to Princess Celestia herself. That by itself was bad but now with Princess Luna's return from her banishment made our return to this town even more dangerous.
Then there we're the other bearers of our coveted elements. They may be less important mares but they we're still element holders. Along with Applejack and Rainbow Dash both being quite fit if I remember correctly, Rarity could also have connections in Canterlot as well. She did tend to act a bit like a noblemare.
"Always assume that your enemy has the ability to counter you, and be prepared to counter them" Stirrup Sword - The Art Of War.
Fluttershy and Pinkie we're well, Fluttershy and Pinkie. One was a poor, shy, little mare who couldn't hold a sword even if her life depended on it. The other was a potentially insane madmare with unknown variables that could make things complicated.
All in all not an ideal situation, though I had seen and been in worse ones. My surprising victory over Princess Sharn in the battle of Youstergof was testament to that.
I would pull through... we would pull through. One way or another.
"Are you all ready" I asked and my entourage.
They nodded.
"Excellent... and remember. While in this town you are not my guards, you are family of mine that I am traveling with and due to circumstances we do not want to talk about we decided to settle here in Ponyville for the foreseeable future" I added.
Once more they nodded their understanding and we entered the town proper. While Delilah and Fire stayed by my side the other four mares separated off just before the first few residents noticed us. They would be blending in for the time being, so as not to arose too much suspicion.
As we trotted throughout Ponyville, three things became apparent very quickly. The first was that the mares of the town seemed surprised that I had decided to come back. The second was that they we're, as predicted, very happy to see me back, and the third and final were the saddened expressions on their faces when they once again saw Delilah and Fire Strike walking very close alongside me.
I wont lie and say a small smirk didn't come to my face when I saw that ...though perhaps that was a bit cruel. Mares we're well, mares. I had learned long ago that they couldn't help what they we're... though I was still annoyed at their actions from the previous days.
Regardless we made good time towards the town hall. Our first step in settling in would be to purchase a home or if need be build one, though that would require land.
The building looked the same as it did the night Nightmare Moon had returned to Equestria, only now without much of the fanfare it had sported during that night.
While I did somewhat hesitate just as we walked in. As my eyes we're momentarily drawn to the balcony Nightmare had appeared upon, and the memory brought a shiver to run down my spine. However I got over it quickly and managed to spot the mayor who seemed to be in conversation with another mare.
"... Thank you very much Miss Inkwell, it shouldn't be a problem" she said. The other mare, a black maned white unicorn mare who sported glasses and had a cutie mark of some writing utensil I couldn't recall. Though I could see that under it was an inkwell.
"Excellent Miss Mayor, though the guard will still do their best to keep away from the town" the white mare answered and began to trot off, nodding to me and my entourage as we advanced past her and towards the mayor.
"Well that was an interesting sentence". Meanwhile Mayor Mare had turned to head off in a direction that wasn't toward us, though I quickly rectified that.
"Excuse me, Miss mayor" I called.
"Hm, oh hello there dearie. You are uh... Night Storm... if I recall correctly?" she asked.
"Wow, she learned my name fast".
"Indeed, I hope I'm not interrupting something important" I gestured toward the main door that Miss Inkwell had just left through.
"Oh no we we're just wrapping up actually. What can I do for you and your mares?" she asked.
"They're not my! ...Oh for buck's sake just go with it, it's not worth the trouble at this point..."
"We we're hoping to purchase a home here in town. Or, if there's not one available currently then a plot of land to build one" I replied.
"Oh, I see, we do actually have a couple available right now. Do any of you have a creditor?" she answered.
"Um... no, I was hoping to just pay for it" I said.
"Very well" she answered slowly. Almost like she was suspicious of something, which of course set off alarm bells in my head.
"Is everything okay?" I asked, to which she seemed confused by my question.
"Well yes, its just that when most ponies want to buy a house or land they put a down payment on it first or just lend the money entirely" she explained. "...Most ponies can't afford to pay for that big of a purchase immediately unless you're quite wealthy" she added at my confused expression.
"I see... how much would that cost then?" I asked.
"Depends on a lot of things, square hoofage, condition of the building, location, current market prices, among other things" she replied.
"Okay... I, uh..." I wasn't really quite sure where to go from here, as I seemed to be way out of my field. Especially because Ashen didn't really have an economy. Though the mayor didn't wait for any response that I would be able to formulate and turned her attention to my guards instead.
After looking at them for a few seconds she seemed to become irritated for some odd reason, to which after a few more a scowl began to form on her muzzle.
"Are you both just going to sit there and leave your stallion to struggle in a subject he clearly doesn't know?" she finally asked. This took all three of us by surprise.
"Ah, that's what this is then... bucking mares and their chivalry...". I sighed.
"No no, it is fine Miss mayor. I actually asked them to let me do all the talking you see, moving here is kind of a new start for us and I want it to be perfect. That includes finding or building the perfect house" I smiled.
"Oh, that... makes sense I suppose" she said after a few seconds of processing what I said. Though she still scowled somewhat at my guards.
"Well come on then dearie, let's get you that perfect house... you do have the bits to pay for it right?" she added.
"Welp here goes nothing".
"I have this" I said as I pulled out a gemstone known as a Fire Ruby out of my saddlebag. I knew that they we're quite rare outside of the Firelands and we're therefore very valuable.
"I... is that a f-fire ruby!?" the mayor nearly yelled.
"Uh... yes" I replied.
"N-Night Storm, you do understand how valuable this is correct?" she asked.
"It seems that I do not based on your reaction, I know that they go for a decent amount but - Are you serious!?" she cut me off.
"Night Storm, you could literally buy all of Ponyville with what this gem is worth. Where did you even find this? From what I understand they're only found in the farthest corners of the Badlands" she added.
"When I was a colt I found it in a forest one day in a small sack and just kept it" I lied. I had actually received plenty of them as gifts over the years, and had amassed a decent collection of them back home in Ashen.
"Okay... okay then, let's just, let's just get you and your mares settled in town" the mayor calmed down.
"Very well, how does this work?" I asked.
"Please follow me" she said as she gestured towards what I presumed to be her office. "I'll show you what we have for sale".
"Well hopefully this is the most exciting part of my day".
Mayor Mare was in probably one of the weirdest situations of her entire life. Everything about it was utterly baffling.
She was currently going over the legal requirements of owning a house in Ponyville with the new stallion in town, Night Storm and his... entourage of mares that had arrived with him. Both of which didn't have any sort of knowledge about owning and taking care of a house outside of pure maintenance. Not one knew about building codes, regulations, or even taxes!
Well except for the stallion himself, who did seem to know what a land tax was. But besides that and that you needed money to buy a house or plot of land, that was it! That was literally everything he knew. Which was absurd.
Everypony knew that stallions didn't have a head on their shoulders when it came to money, much less economics. They typically went more by their emotions first and foremost. Which when the house they wanted cost more than what they or their mares had available in their bank account bad things happened to the ears of said mares in close proximity to them.
Which is how she found herself going over building codes and certain requirements with the ponies infront of her.
"I really need to have any building 'insulated' in order to be able to live in it?" the stallion asked.
"Well yes, having an insulated building will keep the interior warm when it's winter. You may not be able to tell currently with it being the middle of summer. But believe me when I say that when we get to the winter months it gets cold, and you'll be very thankful that your house is insulated" she replied.
"Couldn't a simple fire solve that issue?" one of the two mares that had arrived with Night, she believed her name was Fire Strike, asked.
"Well yes, but as soon as the fire goes out the heat is not being replaced anymore, and with no insulation to keep it in it will escape a building in any way it can. At windows, doors, the roof, even the smallest of cracks matter" she explained.
"In a nutshell you're always going to lose heat, but having insulation drastically slows that process. As well in keeping the costs down in firewood or electricity if you live in Manehattan or Canterlot" she added. At that the mare looked confused.
"What is el - Ahem, thank you for the explanation Miss Mayor but would it be alright if we got back to the topic at hoof?" Night Storm asked her.
"Oh sure, anyway you don't have to worry about all that. Ponyville has a small contractor service which keeps the houses in order. In addition to fixing any issues that may pop up as well" she said.
"Alright, which houses are for sale again?" he asked.
"Three currently, or we have two three thousand by three thousand square hoofage plots of land for sale as well if you want to build your own house" she replied.
"Lets look at the prebuilt ones first" he asked.
"Very well" she said and trotted over to a filing cabinet titled Ponyville Housing. Where after procuring what I would come to know as three file folders she walked back over to her desk and set them down on it.
The first two we're close to the center of town, while the second was placed farther away. Close to the zoning limit.
"Hmm, the third one looks nice" the stallion said.
It was a nice house, built by a farming herd around some forty odd years ago. Which after about twenty years they had left for Vanhoover. The house had been sold to the town and had ever since been in the town governments care.
"I like it, how about you girls?" the colt asked. The mares nodded their replies.
"Alright, I think we'll take that one" Night confirmed.
"Wow that was fast, usually takes stallions hours to choose stuff like this" Mayor thought.
"Perfect, though we will have to go over the issue of payment. For the time being we can get the paperwork out of the way and get you and your herd into your new home" she said cheerfully, and leaned under her desk to get said paperwork. Failing to notice the mares' looks of surprise and shock along with the stallions left eye twitching. |
The Flame Prince | Ponyville's Elite | Myself along with Fire and Delilah had just left our meeting with Mayor Mare. However, before I could get settled in I still had to actually pay for the house. As the good mayor couldn't just accept a rare gem as payment... apparently.
It seemed that I still evidently had quite a bit to learn about Equestria.
Thankfully however she had an alternate solution. They're was a wealthy family in town whose stallion seemed to like collecting rare and expensive things, but then again what stallion didn't. Regardless the mayor had said I could get a good amount of bits for the gem and use that towards the payment for our new property. So after obtaining his address from her we went to exchange my gem for money.
However, along the way I couldn't help but be concerned about her reaction to the fire ruby. She seemed to know quite a bit about it. What I didn't know was if it was a coincidence or if she knew a bit about the Badlands and by extension the Firelands as well. Either or it seemed I'd have to investigate that matter further, just to be safe.
I at least knew the probability of her knowing about the Fire Wars and by extension the kingdom we're very unlikely, considering I found zero mention of them during my study session with Twilight the night of Nightmare Moon's return.
"Ugh..." I shuddered. I really didn't like thinking about that mare.
Regardless I knew we would still have to be careful during our stay here. But at least obtaining this stallion's money should be fairly easy.
His name was apparently Filthy Rich, which was a rather odd name for a pony if you asked me, but oh well. If he had the money to pay for the house me and my squad of guardsmares would be living in for the next few weeks then my opinion of his name didn't matter.
He lived on the northeast side of Ponyville close to the river which ran between the town and a well kept forested area with several paths. Which meant it was a bit of a trot to get to him but nothing compared to some of the marches I'd participated in my life.
Nevertheless we made good time, especially without the town's female population constantly pestering me now thanks to Delilah and Fire's menacing looks they gave any mare who got too close, and so we arrived at the stallion's mansion within fifteen minutes.
It was a very nice property, with a big wall of finely cut stone and metal gate surrounding it. The house seemed to be made of some type of wood with a stone foundation. While trees and plants of all types surrounded it beautifully. All in all I was very impressed.
"Woah". Evidently I seemed not to be the only one.
Both Delilah and Fire Strike looked to be just as enraptured by the house's construction as I was, it was huge. It had to be at least three stories tall. With a small fountain of constantly spewing water infront of the front door.
"This has to be one of the nicest houses I've ever seen".
"Well, let's uh, hop to it" I said and trotted towards the gate, both mares followed after me.
Thankfully the gate was unlocked and we simply walked into the compound. Here we also noticed the quaint plots of smaller plants and flowers dotted around the fountain. It had to have been the nicest mansion I had ever seen. Sure the homes of the Ashen nobility we're vibrant and well constructed, but in a dark and almost depressing way.
In fact much of Ashen's construction was like that of Ponyville. Well made and nicely decorated, but what I was beginning to notice was that where Ponyville really seemed to shine was in the amenities area. Even me and Delilah's medical room looked nicer than my own one back home. Never mind that she had to sleep in the barrack - ow!
"And I just trotted straight into their front door because I wasn't paying attention, ...well done". Two hooves to my withers showed that Fire and Delilah we're both silently asking if I was okay.
"I'm okay, just... deep in thought" I nodded sheepishly. They both smiled and nodded while the front door opened.
"Hello, how can I help you" said an earth pony mare as she opened the door. She was wearing a black and white outfit which I found odd, but other than that she looked like a regular pony.
"Yes erm, good morning my name is Night Storm. We we're hoping to see a stallion by the name of Filthy Rich, is he here?" I asked.
"Yes, does he know you?" the mare replied.
"No, in fact we only just got into town. I would like to see about selling him something" I answered.
"Sell him what exactly?" the mare narrowed her eyes.
"A rare gem, I need the money to pay for a house here" I replied. At that she softened her gaze.
"Very well, give me a moment" with that she retreated and closed the door on us. We then had to wait about two minutes before the same mare opened the door again.
"He's interested, please come on in. But remember to wipe your hooves" she said. If I wasn't a royal and not trained extensively in etiquette I would've rolled my eyes at that commared. But unfortunately that was one of the very few male expectant things of my youth that I hadn't been able to escape, so I just smiled and walked inside. Though that smile soon disappeared.
The inside of the house seemed just as if not even more luxurious than the exterior. The walls, floor, and doors we're made of smooth, polished wood while various types of furniture we're placed well... everywhere! Where somepony in Ashen would be lucky to have a chair at a dinner table there we're at least three chairs and a bench in one hallway alone!
A glance at Delilah and Fire showed both mares we're just as in awe as I was. They even had an entire vanity in the same hallway as well, why! What was even the point of putting one here of all places! Did they even use it!? How wealthy are these ponies!?
Seemingly oblivious to our culture shock the mare continued leading us through the mansion until we came to a room I believed to be close to the structure's rear, before opening a set of wooden ebony double doors to what seemed like a sitting room.
Like the rest of the house it had polished wooden walls and floor, along with a glass door that led outside to the opposite side of the house. There was also a lot of furniture in the room as well. From multiple couches and chairs, tables, there was even a chandelier that looked far grander than any I'd ever seen back in Ashen.
Inside the room we're three ponies. The first was a light brown stallion with a slicked back black mane wearing... what looked to be a suit of sorts. The second was a peach colored mare with a lavender colored mane, and the third was a young pink filly with a two-tone purple and white mane and tail. All three we're earth ponies and sitting on a couch or chair.
"Hello there" the stallion began. "My name is Filthy Rich and this is my beautiful wife and wonderful daughter, Spoiled Rich and Diamond Tiara" he said. The mare smiled while the filly simply stared.
"Good morrow you three, my name is Night Storm and these are two of my acquittances. Delilah Evadne and Fire Strike" I replied.
"Nice to meet you, please have a seat" the stallion replied, and pointed to an unoccupied couch opposite to where they we're all sitting. Once we we're seated he continued.
"So Tea Kettle tells me that you want to sell me a rare gem" he said while gesturing to the mare who'd brought us in, now standing attentively at the door.
"Indeed, we we're looking to purchase a house here in Ponyville but lack the funds to do so. I was hoping I could acquire them here" I replied.
"All right, lets see the gem" the stallion said.
Nodding I turned and pulled out the ruby once more, and once the stallion saw it his eyes went as wide as dinner plates.
"Y, you... you have a fire ruby!" he near shrieked. The mares didn't emulate his enthusiasm.
"Um... yes" I replied.
"I... Night, you do understand - I do, Mayor Mare already went through this with us" I interrupted him.
"Ah, oh... okay" he calmed down. "How... how much did you want for it?" he asked a moment later.
"Well the mayor said the house was going to cost around ten thousand bits so lets call it at fifteen in case of any required maintenance" I answered.
In truth I just wanted the extra cash. But thanks to my lack of knowledge in the equestrian economy I really didn't know how much this thing went for, and I doubted even a herd this well off could just drop that kind of money anyway. This wasn't Canterlot after all.
"May I see it?" he asked. I responded by lightly tossing it to him, and after he had a near panic attack trying to catch it and then examining it he turned back to face me.
"Maybe I'm really underestimating this things worth".
"Fifteen thousand bits for this gem, right here right now?" he asked.
"Yes" I replied.
"Done" he said immediately. We then both got up and shook hooves.
"Tea Kettle" he called.
"Y, yes sir" she squeaked.
"Please write Mr. Storm a check for sixteen thousand bits" he said.
"R, right away sir" she said.
"Richie, can I talk to you for a second please?" Spoiled Rich asked.
"Oh, certainly Spoiled. Just a moment please you three" he said.
"Take your time" I replied.
"Richie, know that I love you very much. But what the buck are you doing!?" the mare hissed.
"Do you know how much that thing's worth Spoiled!"
It was a bit awkward listening to the couple argue literally right infront of us, and probably even moreso for the poor filly. Though as we waited I couldn't help but notice that her gaze seemed to linger on me, a lot. Intrigued and with nothing better to do while her parents continued arguing I stared back. Usually foals displayed shyness when directly confronted by an adult, however she only continued to stare.
Concerned that my necklace or Delilah's disguise spell on Fire may be failing I looked over myself but found no flaw, then towards Fire but found the same result. Which raised the mildly concerning question of why this foal continued staring at me.
Just before I was about to ask the filly her reason for staring me down her parents finished their little argument.
"Sorry about that Mr. Storm, me and my wife just needed to discuss a few things is all. Now about your payment... Tea Kettle".
"Oh, right here sir. Just show this to Mr. Time Turner, he's the town's notary. Since Ponyville doesn't have a bank he also handles all deposits and withdraws from the town hall itself" the presumptive maid said and hoofed me the check.
"Thank you, though if I may ask, why sixteen thousand when I asked for only fifteen?" I asked.
"Well... you said you're new to Ponyville and need the money to by a house and get settled in. Think of it as a welcome to Ponyville present. Not to mention the steal this is" he muttered.
"Oh, well... thank you sir, that's very kind" I replied.
"Think nothing of it. Now Time Turner usually only stays till three and it's currently two o'clock, so if I we're you I'd hurry back to town hall" he warned.
"Indeed, thanks again. Have a good day" I said.
"You as well" he replied. With that the three of us stood up to leave, with Tea Kettle once more showing us to the door. Though it seemed that the filly wasn't done with me yet.
"Hey Mr. Night Storm" she called out as she ran up.
"Oh, hi, can I help you with something?" I asked.
"Well no... I just wanted to say... have a good day to you" she said.
"Oh well, thank you very much miss..." I smiled.
"Oh, Diamond Tiara sir, Miss Diamond Tiara" she said and puffed out her chest.
"Hah... cute foals, my one weakness" I thought. It was obvious she had a foalhood crush on me, and though I was sick of the constant flirting with the mares that inhabited this town I wasn't a monster, I'd let her down easy. That and she hadn't just made weird sentences and reasons why should go with her instead of another mare, so bonus points to her.
"Well a very good day to you as well Miss Tiara" I smiled. She reciprocated and hearing chuckling we both looked up and behind her to see both Tea Kettle and her parents smiling at the situation she'd put us in. Now blushing enough to match molten steel she smiled nervously at me one last time before running off behind her father.
I nodded once more and the three of us turned to leave, though just as we walked out the door Diamond Tiara would utter one final sentence that I would partially be in earshot for.
"Hey dad why isn't he wearing a -" though before she could finish that sentence the door closed. Forever robbing me of whatever she was going to say. Though I put it out of mind quite quickly, I had to get back to town hall after all. |
The Flame Prince | Settling In | We made good time back towards Ponyville's town hall, and arrived with about thirty minutes to spare before the town's notary, Time Turner. Was supposed to leave.
I quite honestly didn't really understand why the mayor couldn't take care of this. Especially since I held a similar position as Ashen's current regent. Which included the responsibility of making sure everypony had a home, whether it was a family of seven or a single mare. The same went with food availability, basic security, maintenance, among other things.
All in all I couldn't see why she would relegate such a duty to another pony, and if he handled all of that what did she do, public relations?
It seemed kind of lazy on her part, but then again who was I to judge. I was from an entirely different country and culture. A foreigner to Equestria. Maybe the mayor had a good reason to pass her work off to the stallion? Either way I probably wouldn't find out until we got there.
Which we soon did, once more trotting into town hall for what felt like the umpteenth time this week. Thankfully finding Time Turner's office quickly thanks to the directions of a mare reading a weird book filled with more pictures than words while sitting at a desk in the front part of the main circular hall.
I knocked before we entered out of good mannerisms and wanting to make a good first impression. After all I was more than likely going to be living here for the next several weeks at least, However the reception I received seemed less than enthusiastic.
"Hello, welcome to Ponyville townhall, how can I... help you..." the light brown stallion, whom I presumed to be Time Turner said as we walked in.
"Well that's a marvelous way to start our conversation" I thought, noticing how his eyes narrowed as we walked in.
"Hello, my name is Night Storm and these two are my acquaintance's, Delilah Evadne and Fire Strike. We we're looking into buying a house here" I continued. At that statement the stallion narrowed his eyes even more.
"We have a select few to choose from" he said after a moment and started to pull some pieces of paper from his desk.
"Oh we already choose what house we wanted with Mayor Mare earlier today, all we need to do is pay for it now" I replied and hoofed Filthy Rich's cheque on his desk.
"As well as withdraw the remaining bits" I added. Time Turner seemed surprised by this turn of events but collected himself rather quickly.
"Oh, okay this should be rather straightforward then" he sighed. Then retreating into his desk once more and pulled out even more paper.
"Jeez the amount of time and effort it would take to make this much paper back home would be astounding".
"Alright since the property has been in the care of The Royal Housing Commission for a little over two decades, though the actual work is handled by a local service that works in unison with them. So everything should be in order and the house move in ready" he said.
"Perfect, how exactly does this work?" I asked.
"Well I have all of the documentation right here so all you'll have to do is simply have your mares sign off on it and hoof over the check for me to take care of" he said.
"Why do they have to sign off on it?" I asked. Time Turner looked at me confused for a moment before responding.
"What do you mean sir?" he asked.
"What, what is he talking... about. No, not that dumb bucking land ownership law, how the buck did I forget about that!"
Yep, thanks to trying to cram my brain with everything I could learn about Ponyville I had in fact forgotten an Equestrian law that stated mares we're technically the only ones that could own land. How it escaped my meeting with Mayor Mare I quite honestly don't know. Or perhaps it was such common knowledge that the mayor felt it didn't need to be brought up. Though that did little to ease my internal anger.
"Those Faust damned good for nothing pathetic excuses that call themselves Equestrian noblemares. I will curse your entire bloodlines until the end of time and then spit upon them you disgusting pieces of sun loving vermin!" I mused angrily.
Of course Equestria just had to buck with me in every, possible, way! As in Royal Decree Num. 47. 'Any property that is not owned by, or subsequently and explicitly left in the care of a named full grown stallion shall always default it's ownership to that of a mare. Unless as aforementioned is left to a male in that of a will, other documentation, or if other circumstances present themselves'.
Or in other words, a group of noblemares attempt at tax evasion. As two years previously before that law was passed Princess Celestia had stated that any household that housed males and we're struggling to make ends meet could apply for a small tax break. It wouldn't make them immune to being taxed but would help them make ends meet.
As such, some of the nobles, the utter cretins of politics. Along with a substantial amount of the peasantry at the time collaborated together to falsely name several non-applicable herds as actually legible for the tax break as they we're still the ones who ultimately ran towns, villages, and cities back then.
In a rare display of comradery nobles and commoners actually worked together to outplay the princess. The commoners would get a tax break, while the nobles received a small payment from said herds savings for their efforts, a perfectly symbiotic relationship, and in an effort to keep their little scheme a secret they passed royal decree forty-seven along with several other little laws and legislation.
Though of course they would be found out eventually, by a stallion no less. So in a way I suppose it made sense for them to pass decree forty-seven, and all parties we're punished. Though that took years to sort out. The important thing however was that there really was no need to change the ownership law and so it remained in effect to this day, annoyingly.
Though thankfully a male could still own property... if it was left to him in a will or if he was literally homeless without a mare to take care of him, among other reasons. Though one of the very few good things about Equestria was that homelessness was basically non-existent, (good job Celestia... I guess),. Coupled with the fact that a mareless stallion would just be snatched up by one almost immediately meant that there was very little reason, or need, to change the law.
"Sir are you okay?" Time Turner asked, which brought me back to my current dilemma.
"Yes yes I am fine" I replied to Time Turner.
"Are you sure, you look... upset" he said.
"I assure you I am fine, please just write Delilah and Fire's names on the deed to the property" I said.
"Okay, I presume to label you three as a herd correct?" he added.
I remember inhaling sharply at that comment, but not his account of my left eye twitching several times. I was far more focused on my internal musing's again.
"What does that bucking matter, why does it? What is the genuine point of them having that tidbit of information?!"
"Um sir, if you're wondering why we record that it's for the safety of stallions and so the government can know who's with us at all times, f... forsafetyreasons!" Time Turner shrunk back.
It was not until Delilah stroked my withers did I realize that I was scowling and subsequently scaring the colt infront of us that I then forced myself to calm down. Looking over to her revealed she was giving me a concerned look, while then switching over to Fire Strike also showed that she sported the same look on her muzzle, and I looked to the ground in anger.
"Time Turner" I began after thinking a few moments later, and the stallion's posture slowly started to come back from being on the brink of 'bucking terrified'.
"Fine then Faust, if it's going to be like that then it's going to be like that. Besides, I'm only doing it for the crown, I'm doing this for the crown!"
"Put down Delilah Evadne, Fire Strike, Star Fire, Ruby Firetail, Lilith Starstopper, Blazing Skies, and myself obviously as a herd" I said, doing my absolute damnedest to keep a straight face and not lash out at the stallion.
"O-okay... w-was there a-anything else sir" Time Turner squeaked.
"Great, now I have scared him. Great job Flameheart, you've had training in espionage and you still buck it up, do better!"
"Other than withdrawing our extra bits then no, that will be all" I replied.
"All right, I just need Delilah and Fire to sign here please" he said. Once they did and he pulled out a few more pieces of paper for them to sign before then shelving them into a folder, which he then put into a drawer in his desk.
"Since the house doesn't have anypony living there currently you three can just make yourselves at home. Now if you'll just follow me we can get your extra bits withdrawn" he said.
After about twenty more minutes the three of us we're trotting through Ponyville's marketplace. Using our extra bits to buy food. I however was still fuming over what had happened with Time Turner. Though I was more concerned with why he seemed to initially act with disdain towards me before I'd unintendedly frightened him thanks to my own incompetence.
In fact now that I thought about it on the rare occasions I did see stallions here they seemed to almost be glaring at me, which was a far cry from the utmost respect they showed back home.
"Night, is everything alright?" Delilah asked.
"Yes, you seem... distant. Uncharacteristically so" Fire added.
"I am fine, just..." I began. But seeing that we we're trotting up to a carrot merchant I faltered.
I'll tell you two later" I replied. To which they both nodded and we trotted up to the mare, who upon seeing us. Or rather me, smiled brightly.
"Night Storm...? You came back!" she smiled.
"Yes I did Carrot Top, but not because of you, or anypony else here. I've come back for... personal reasons, and I'd like to leave it at that, alright" I replied.
"Oh, okay then..." she said.
"Thank you, now then, you're selling carrots?" I asked.
"Yep, did you want to buy some" she replied.
"Indeed, how much?" I asked.
"Five bits for one bundle of ten carrots" she explained.
"We'll take three then" I said, and I nodded to Delilah and she retrieved fifteen bits from a small coin purse and placed them on Carrot Top's stand with her magic. The golden colored mare then followed suit by hoofing me three bundles of carrots and, with our transaction complete I bid farewell to her.
"Thank you Carrot Top, have a nice day" I smiled.
"Thank you Night, you too" she replied. However, after a few seconds of standing there my smiled disappeared, morphing into an annoyed look, and at her questioning expression I gestured to the two mares standing either side of me.
"Oh! Uh, you two have a nice day as well... uh..." she trailed off.
"Delilah Evadne, Fire Strike" they replied.
"Right, I knew that! Just uh... needed to be reminded" Carrot Top smiled sheepishly.
"Thank you Carrot, have a nice day" I said and began to trot away. My food and... mares in tow.
"Ugh... I know our herd is fake but it still feels weird to call them that now they're (even if only in facade) more than just my guards" I thought.
Eventually as the sun began to set we completed our shopping and began heading out of town towards where our new home was, and about four minutes into our ten minute walk Delilah let out a magical pulse from her horn. This was the signal for four more mares to join us.
We didn't speak until we arrived at the house, Delilah had been given the key to it by Time Turner along with the deed to the property. She retrieved it from a pocket dimension spell all unicorns in the legion we're required to know how to cast and unlocked the door.
True to Mayor Mare's words the house seemed to have been well catered too. Though there was a problem of no furniture, though that was an issue a simple trip to a craftsmare, merchant, or just plain old hooves could fix. We would remedy that tomorrow when I wasn't so fatigued from the day's events, and today was a get everypony introduced to the town day anyway.
But there was one last thing left to do today, besides dinner and setting up our sleeping arrangements. A debrief, or rather a second one now that we we're going to be pretending we we're a herd to the townsponies.
A quick trot upstairs revealed five bedrooms as well as a strange room which had a tiled floor as well as several ceramic tub looking things?
"Washtubs? Whatever, I'm sure we'll find out what those are for in due time" I thought.
Returning to what seemed to be the main bedroom revealed the Flame Ponies putting out our dinner while the unicorns retrieved hide sleeping beds crafted from the animals of the Firelands and enchanted not to catch fire. Though even if they weren't the spells the unicorns we're using to disguise us had a small shield imbedded into the disguise so to stop our fire from lighting things aflame. Also included in the spell was a heat inhibitor for obvious reasons, among other things.
Retrieving a lantern from my bag of holding I had purchased earlier from a store called Barnyard Bargains I placed it in the center of the room to help illuminate everything better in the dwindling light. Once we we're all set up in a circle around the lantern and made sure all the window shutters we're shut we all sat down in a circle and began to discuss our situation.
"So... what did you four get up to?" I broke the proverbial ice.
"I managed to draw up this map of Ponyville and the surrounding area for us" Star Fire replied and lit her horn. Slowly but surely an arcane map of Ponyville appeared before us.
"Good job" I said.
"The only eventful thing that happened to me other than having some random clumsy pegasus with a lazy eye smash into me was managing to procure a train schedule" Lilith spoke up.
"All right that may be useful, good job" I replied. I had yet to see one of these metal beasts but I was very intrigued from what I had read in our Canterlot agents reports. They said that they we're massive machines that could haul heavy loads long distances with minimal effort.
"Have you heard about them Night?" she asked.
"Yes, I have, though I've yet to see one of these metal beasts but from what I've read in our Canterlot agents reports about them I was very intrigued. They said that they're massive machines that can haul heavy loads long distances with minimal effort.
"Sounds useful" Ruby said.
"Indeed, but we have no need from something like that. Especially if the rumors are true and robbers and thieves can rob them as easily as they say" I replied.
"...The reports we're very detailed about why they should not be something we pursue" I added at the mares intrigued faces. I then looked back at Star Fire's map of Ponyville.
Suffice to say it looked very detailed, from the river running between the town, with town hall being next to it in the center of town. The Everfree Forest's outer edge running along the southern, eastern, and parts of the western sides of the town with a small but nicely decorated area in between the river and eastern part of the forest.
"What's that?" I said, pointing towards it on her map.
"I asked a local about it and she told me it was called a park" Star replied.
"It's purpose?" I asked.
"Recreation, apparently" the mare said.
"Hm, what about you Blaze" I asked the last member of our septet.
"When Star wasn't occupied with her map we both engaged in conversation with the locals trying to find out about the towns history, along with little tidbits of information here and there about anything really" she said.
"All right then, do you all think the townsponies reacted well to you?" I asked.
"Well enough I suppose" Ruby replied.
"Very well..." I paused, unsure of how to deliver my next sentence.
"Sire, is everything all right?" Lilith asked.
"Yes just, there's been a change in the plan" I replied.
"What kind of change?" Star asked.
"You six are not going to be posing as my sisters anymore, you are going to be posing as my herdmates" I stated, albeit a little bitterly.
Almost immediately four sets of wide eyes snapped to me, and the faces that set eyes belonged to also began to slightly blush as well. It was probably a good solid minute or so before Ruby eventually spoke up.
"Um... s-so h-how exactly is this g-going to work?" she asked.
"Well we're basically going to be your standard herd" I replied. "Though I'll let you six decide amongst yourselves over the position of lead mare" I added.
At that they all looked at each other. More than likely uncertain on how to feel about all this, and I quite honestly didn't blame them.
"Night, if I may ask. W-why the sudden... c-change" Star asked.
"One, Equestrian noblemares. Two, I'm a bucking idiot, and three - you're not a idiot!" At that my own eyes snapped onto Blazing Sky's steadfast face.
"Prince Flameheart" she whispered after checking to make sure the windows we're closed.
"You are the smartest stallion I have ever met. You've governed Ashen very successfully for many years now, you are one of the kingdom's top fighters, nevermind commareders. You're one of the many reasons, though a very big one, that I get up in the morning. In addition to being an inspiration to many a guardsmare in our ranks, not to mention my idol" she muttered.
"So please do not think you are an idiot. You are so far from one that it hurts to see you call yourself one" she said.
"Oh, well thank you Blaze, I... appreciate it" I fidgeted as I more than likely blushed myself. She nodded her own thanks and then slowly returned her gaze the ground, blushing a little herself.
"Anyway..." Fire Strike spoke up. "The reason is that Equestria apparently has a law that males cannot own property" she explained, as I had to her and Delilah shortly after we had left the town hall.
"Really, but what if his mares get killed or pass away. What happens then?" Lilith asked.
"They don't get kicked out if that's what you're thinking. They inherit the property in that case or if it's left to them in a will, they just can't buy land" I said.
"Celestia could have fooled me" she muttered.
"Regardless, in order to purchase this house I needed to have a mare's signature so... here we are" I explained.
"Sire um... with respect couldn't you have just kept us as family. Just without our parents in the picture" Star asked.
"Well... that ownership law wasn't the only reason I finally folded about this herd facade" I replied.
"Really, what was it then?" Delilah asked.
"Well Delilah, I'm sure you and Fire have both noticed how the townsmares act around us. Or more specifically me" I answered. Both mares didn't say anything but their angered expressions told me, and by extension the four new mares all they needed to know.
"They didn't try anything too untoward but the constant attention would be suboptimal in trying to slowly worm our way into the lives of the element holders" I added. The mares nodded.
"Therefore I concluded it was more beneficial to have us labeled as a herd here" I explained.
"All right then, now that that's sorted what's on tomorrow's agenda?" Lilith asked.
"Continue to get settled in, which means buying furniture or crafting it, we should also make me be seen with not just Delilah and Fire so... Lilith and Blaze. You two are on guard detail tomorrow" I said. They both nodded their understanding.
"Excellent... none of you said you we're my brother right?" I asked, just to be sure. They weren't supposed to say our previous relation to each other unless it was brought up by one of the townsponies, and if they correctly followed their previous orders then they should have barely talked to them at all.
"No sir, we all said barely anything to them at all" Star responded.
"Excellent, at least that's gone my way" I said.
"Night, is there something wrong?" Blaze asked.
"Do not worry Blaze, I am fine" I said.
"Very well sir" she replied.
"All right then let's get some sleep" I proclaimed. The mares nodded and turned in for the night, with me following swiftly. Though what I didn't see were the mares looking at each other before turning in themselves. |
The Flame Prince | The Master Of Tickets | "No... nope..." Spike said, tossing apple after apple onto the ground.
"Thank ya kindly Twilight fer helpin me out. I bet Big Macintosh ah could get all these golden delicious' in the barn by lunchtime" Applejack said.
"If ah win, he's gonna walk down Stirrup Street in one of our father's old girdles, ahaha" she added.
"No problem at all Applejack, though I'm glad the goal is lunchtime. All this hard work is making me hungry" Twilight replied.
"I know right" Spike butted in while throwing an apple and nailing Twilight square in the head.
"Ow Spike, one thank you for hitting me right in the head with that apple. Second, you've been lounging on my back all morning while we worked" she replied.
"Exactly, you two we're taking so long I missed snack time" he said. Which was then further confirmed by Twilight's stomach making it's displeasure at such an injustice known to all it could.
"Ahehehe..." said unicorn replied. "I guess we better get some food" she said while Spike continued counting apples. Until he managed to find the juiciest, most ripe, delicious looking apple of the day.
"Oh Spike, that looks delicious" Twilight smiled, believing it was for her or that he would at least share it. Until naught even two seconds later as it was then consumed by the baby dragon in but one bite.
"Spike!" Twilight scowled.
"What... humph, burgh!" the young drake belched. A sudden burst of dragon fire and magic exploding from his maw. To Applejack this was highly concerning, but to the unicorn and dragon this was something they knew all to well. This was a letter from the princess herself.
The mix of fire and magic coalesced together in the air before then forming into a scroll. Which then slowly floated down towards Spike, who grabbed it.
"It's a letter from Princess Celestia" Twilight explained to Applejack.
"Ahem, hear ye hear ye" Spike began. "Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia Of Equestria. Is pleased to announce The Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capitol city of Canterlot on the twenty-first day of... egh, yadda yadda yadda... Cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle, plus one guest" he finished.
"The Grand Galloping Gala!" both mares cheered excitedly.
"I packed them, I swear!" Star Fire asserted.
"Well they're not here. So if not in your pocket dimension, ours, or none of our knapsacks. Then where else could they be" Ruby admonished.
"I... don't know" Star abashed.
"Then you more than likely forgot them" Ruby said.
"But I swear I - nevermind, it doesn't matter. Just hightail it back to the encampment and retrieve those lava capsules, and make sure that nopony sees you" she added while cutting Star Fire off. Star then nodded begrudgingly before turning and sauntering off. Dragging herself out of the house before heading back to where the legion was camped.
It had been her job to look after twenty or so lava capsules, or enchanted glass jars filled with lava, while we we're in Ponyville. Since lava was a very important part of a Flame Pony's diet. Akin to water for a regular pony, and while we don't have to drink it as often as a regular pony needs to drink water we still did. So it was essential that we had them.
Meanwhile myself, Lilith, and Blazing Skies departed shortly thereafter. In order to get the townsponies used to the new... herd in town. The mares would also be rotating guard duty shifts three times throughout the day. Lilith and Blaze for the first, Delilah and Ruby for the second, and Fire Strike and Star Fire for the third.
Hopefully everything would just go to plan and fall into place today, as I was not looking forward to any potential shenanigans. Though Delilah's little powerplay against most of Ponyville's mare population a couple of days previously had resulted in many mares not really coming near me. Instead choosing to stare at me from afar. But would her removal from the equation keep the mares away or would they be emboldened to try yet again with me.
I more than likely already knew the answer to that question, and it would mean that Delilah wouldn't be the only mare the town was going to fear for much longer. But that wouldn't be a good thing as fear brings attention, and we wanted as little attention brought to ourselves as possible during our stay here.
But we would cross that bridge when we got to it. For I had a big to-do list today and the first thing we needed to do to look like a normal herd was to buy furniture. So when we got to town we headed towards the nearest furniture store that I knew of, which was called Quills and Sofa's. But turning onto a blind corner revealed that before we would make it I would have a run in with several old friends.
"Gee Fluttershy it sounds, beautiful?"
"Wait just a minute!"
"Oh Faust why!?" I bemoaned. I had wanted at least one or two more days before I would actually begin to speak with them. But it seemed that fate had other plans, as the second that I had heard Rainbow Dash's raspy voice we had trotted right around the corner and into full view of the sextet of familiar mares standing, or in the case of Rainbow Dash. Perching upon a rooftop, much to the annoyance of the building's owner I was certain... directly in front of me.
"Girls, just turn around before they notice us" I said. Lilith and Blaze glanced at me looking confused but followed the order nonetheless. Thankfully the six mares seemed to be in some sort of argument and so didn't notice us.
"Rainbow Dash! Were you following me?" I heard Twilight say.
"No, I mean yes! I mean maybe, look it doesn't matter..." the blue mare replied. But by that point we exited hearing range. Only a Thestral would be able to hear them from where we we're now, and they've been exiled from Equestria ever since Nightmare Moon's... original defeat.
"I'll explain once we're in more of a secluded setting. For now we'll just take the long way to Quills and Sofa's" I said. They nodded and we thankfully made good time, and coming early in the morning meant that the store was practically deserted when we arrived. Precisely what I had been hoping for.
"Good morning and welcome to Quills and Sofa's, my name is Davenport and how can I... help you..." a brown colored earth pony stallion with an even browner mane with green eyes said as we walked in. He had a quill and a sofa as his cutiemark.
Again there was that thing with how the stallion's tone changed from cheerful to almost vexed the second he saw me. Though like before I also didn't know what seemed to be causing this other than it only happened when a stallion saw me. But I had accounted for this, and therefore I was going to be backtrotting mostly today and letting the mares do most of the talking.
"Good day, my name is Lilith Starstopper and behind me are two of my acquai, ahem. Excuse me, herdmates. Blazing Skies and Night Storm" she corrected herself and stepped forward.
The stallion only slightly unnarrowed his eyes, but still bumped Lilith's hoof with his own. But before anything else could be exchanged between us another pony, a mare walked in from the back of the store. She had a rustic color in her fur with a pure white mane and tail, along with blueish-gray eyes, with some sort of tool as her mark?
"Hello there" she said. Then upon noticing the stallion's expression she tilted her head. "Is everything all right?" she asked. For her part Lilith just looked confused.
"Uhm yes? My name is Lilith and these are two of my herdmates" She gestured towards us.
"...We we're hoping to buy some furniture from you" she repeated.
"Oh well then please come on in, my name's Silver Spanner and we have a wide variety of sofa's to choose from. From your standard country look all the way to ones that would fit right in at Canterlot Castle. Though those do cost a bit more of course" she said.
"Thank you but we're just looking for something basic" Lilith clarified.
"Of course, I'll take you through what we have for sale" she replied.
While Quills and Sofa's had an excellent stock of sofa's that was quite literally all that they had. Well, other than quills of course. If it was a sofa they had it, but any other piece of furniture... nope, they didn't sell it at all. While this wasn't a major issue perse, as we could just build what we couldn't buy. It was still however annoying. Though after a bit we eventually found two nice pieces that would go well with the sitting room.
"Silver, I think we like these two, but do you mind if we just take a second to discuss it together?" I asked.
"Of course sir, take as long as you like" she smiled and walked back over to Davenport. Who had sulked off over to a counter while Silver took us throughout the store.
"Do you both like these?" I asked them, referring to the sofa's.
"They'll go fine in the main room, but now that we're alone and secluded... what we're you going to tell us earlier" Lilith asked. With Blaze mirroring her expression of seriousness.
"You two are still on that huh?" I smiled slightly.
"Sir, we are your assigned guardsmares, and we take our duty extremely seriously. For you are not just the only living heir to the realm. But, and in due respect, a great many ponies look up to you. You have done a lot, far more than what is expected of a prince. For us, and we want to repay you for that" she said.
"Indeed sire, remember Youstergof?" Blaze added.
"Wow... I uh, thank you Lilith, and yes Blaze. Regrettably I do" I replied.
"I was there too, barely thirteen but I remember it well. Pretty much any mare who could fight was there, and so we're you. You were there with us, and you didn't cower in the back like most of the nobility did. You were right up front, leading us like a true commareder would and should, and we annihilated those pathetic orcs who thought they had us" Blaze said.
"Yes, but it was a team effort. Everypony did their part" I said.
"Indeed, but you united us, led us, and showed us the path to victory. Something not even your mother was able to do" she replied.
"Well... my mother wasn't in a good place at the time because of ... well, you know..." I trailed off.
"Yes, and everypony is extremely sorry for your loss" she frowned, with Lilith following directly after. But Blaze went a step further and hugged me. Which, while a bit bold of her, wasn't something I did not welcome.
"Thank you" I smiled and hugged her back.
"Of course, now what had you so concerned with those mares from earlier" Blaze asked as she released me.
"Well... it's a bit complicated" I explained, and told the story about me, Delilah, and Fire Strike's wild ride of prancing about Ponyville looking for a problem that didn't exist. To then getting pulled into meeting and fighting Nightmare Moon. Getting our flanks hoofed to us by her, to subsequently our waltz through the Everfree forest. All the way to the Castle Of The Two Sister's.
Me and Delilah getting our flanks hoofed to us yet again. To meeting Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, if only for a short while. Our stay in Ponyville General, and of course. The antics of Ponyville's single mare population. Needless to say that by the time I was done Lilith and Blaze we're both sporting looks of wonder and anger.
"Nightmare Moon actually asked you to marry her!?" Blaze asked incredulously.
"Mhm, though why I do not know" I replied.
"Wow. That's just... uh... wow" Lilith added.
"Would you have said yes?" Blaze asked.
"W-what!?" I said.
"Well... from what I've heard she is... was pretty attractive... d-did you like what you saw with her" Blaze repeated, though this time stuttering a little.
"I... I... m-maybe..." I said, thinking back to that night. I had mostly repressed the memories I had of her, mainly because the mare terrified me beyond belief, and although I'd never say that out loud. The more that I did think about her the more I found myself liking the image of a big, strong, attractive, confident mare that could envelop me in a hug and make all of my problems simply vanish within the blink of an eye. A mare that could... and I'm fantasizing about being romantically involved with Nightmare Moon...
If my father knew about this he'd kill me...
What the buck is wrong with me.
"Probably many things...".
"Um sire?" Lilith said.
"Wha, oh sorry, I uh. Maybe if she wasn't... ya know, or maybe... acted a little differently then... maybe. I don't know" I said.
"Oh... okay then, thank you sire" Blaze smiled.
"Not a problem but why did you want to know that Blaze?" I replied. The mare's smile suddenly vanished and instead was suddenly replaced by bashfulness.
"Oh uh! W-well I was... just curious, yes! Just curious!" she answered.
"Okay... well we should probably find Silver and pay for these sofa's" I changed topics.
"Very well, I'll go find her!" Blaze replied and pranced away, and as she scooted past me I thought I saw a hint of a blush on her cheeks. But I put it down to the speed at which she left playing tricks on my eyes. That and my stomach deciding to voice it's anger at me for a lack of food.
"Hehe, is lunch in order after this sire" Lilith tittered.
"He, I suppose I am a little hungry" I replied.
"Very well, after this we'll take you back home to make something" she said. But in that moment I thought of something else.
"Actually Lilith, I want to do something else" I said.
"Augh Spike, what am I gonna do?" Twilight Sparkle asked her number one assistant as they sat down at Cafe Hay.
"All five of my new friends have really good reasons to go to the gala" she added.
"Applejack... or Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy, Rarity... oh who should go with me..." she listed off. Much to the annoyance of her rumbling stomach, and to the misfortune of five flower petals.
"Have you made your decision".
"...I can't decide!" she yelled. Startling the cafe's owner, Savoir Fare. As well as the other patrons.
"Twilight, he just wants to take your order" Spike said blankly.
"Oh..." she smiled sheepishly.
"I would love a daffodil and daisy sandwich" she added.
"Do you have any rubies" asked Spike. To which the stallion slightly narrowed his eyes.
"No... okay, I'll have the hay fries, extra crispy" he said, throwing the menu behind him. Savoir almost scoffed but remembered that dragons age extremely slowly when compared to ponies. So Spike was probably younger than he looked, and so he decided to just trot away.
"What do you think Spike?" asked Twilight.
"I think we have to try another restaurant. I mean I like grass just fine, but would it hurt anybody to offer some gemstones" he replied.
"I mean about the gala and the ticket and who I should take" she clarified.
"Oh you're still on that" he facepalmed.
"Spike listen" Twilight jumped across the table, startling him.
"How do I choose, and when I do choose will the other four be mad at me. I mean I could give up my ticket and give away two. But that would still leave three disappointed ponies" she added.
"What if I - ah your food" Savoir Fare cut in, hoofing her and Spike's order onto the table.
"Oh thank you, this looks so good" she smiled.
"I'm sure everything will be much clearer once I eat" she said to herself, while Spike filled his mouth with hay fries. However, just before she could take a bite of her sandwich, a herd of ponies raced past them and into the cafe itself. Confused Twilight and Spike followed with their gaze's to once again see Savoir Fare holding the door open for the stampeding ponies.
"Err, madam. Are you going to eat your food in ze rain?" he asked.
"It's not raining" she said, but was then promptly cut off by a crack of thunder. Showing her that it was actually raining and the entirety of Ponyville currently being drenched in a downpour. But to their fortune, a small circle of sunlight was encompassing her and Spike's table.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Hi there best friend forever I've ever ever had, enjoying the sunny weather" Rainbow Dash called from a small hole in the rainclouds directly above.
"Rainbow Dash! What are you doing?" Twilight fumed.
"What do you mean, I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rained on. So I thought I'd pick a hole in the clouds to keep her dry so she could dine in peace, that's all" the blue mare smiled.
"Rainbow, you're not trying to get extra consideration for the extra ticket by doing me extra special favors... are you?" Twilight asked.
"Me... no no no of course not" she replied.
"Uh huh" Twilight gazed blankly.
"Seriously, I'd do it for anypony" Rainbow said. However all Twilight had to do was turn her head to the left, which revealed several ponies running this way and that desperately trying to get out of the downpour.
"Ehehe... ehe" Rainbow gulped.
"Rainbow, I am not comfortable accepting unwanted favors. So I'd appreciate it you close up that rain cloud right now" Twilight said.
"Egh, fine" she replied, and did just that.
"That's better" Twilight stated, and went to take a bite of her sandwich. However, in her quest for sandwichy sustenance. She had forgotten that the rain cloud was now directly above her head, and after about two seconds her mane, fur, tail, and sandwich we're properly drenched.
"...Augh!" she groaned, realizing her own stupidity. While Spike barely managed to keep himself from laughing.
"Twilight! It's raining" Rarity suddenly called from the road.
"No... really" she mocked. Rarity however either didn't notice or care.
"Come with me before you catch a cold" she said urgently, yanking Twilight from her seat of hay.
"We'll be safe from this rain at my boutique" she said.
"Rarity you don't have to... do... this..." Twilight replied.
"Nonsense dear I simply... must" the white mare answered, but like Twilight also faltered when she noticed the same thing the purple unicorn did.
"Um, Twilight. Are you seeing what I am seeing?" Rarity asked her.
"Uh, I think so" she replied.
"Hey wait up, ugh. Next time you two could have waited for..." but like the two mares next to him. Spike also trailed off at what he was seeing.
There, standing in the middle of the street naught but twenty hooves infront of them, was Night Storm. Along with two mares they didn't know. The first one, a unicorn who at first glance looked like Delilah. But was actually more of a light pink with a blue mane and tail that had white streaks running through them. The second mare meanwhile was a pegasus like Fire Strike. But she had light grey fur with a wavy yellow/orange mane whereas Fire Strike was light red with a black mane. But the pony currently beheld in her grasp was none other than Night Storm, and he looked completely terrified.
While this in itself was unusual the fact that the mare holding him also looked very disturbed to say the least, and while the unicorn currently all had them under a shield spell was highly concerning. Seeing that the mares weren't locked in a struggle and we're instead both staring towards the sky instead of each other showed that they didn't consider the other a threat, but rather something instead of somepony had clearly put them both into alarm mode.
But as to what it could be the two ponies and drake couldn't for the life of them determine it. Which left one simple solution to them, trotting up and asking them.
> Thunder Storms Plus Crazy Mares Equal Scared Stallions
After we had paid for the new sofa's... or couches, whichever term you prefer. Myself, Blaze, and Lilith began to trot towards the cafe me, Delilah, and Fire ate at, or rather drank at during our first day in Ponyville.
The first time I came here I didn't have the time to appreciate pretty much anything this town had to offer, other than slightly sightsee perhaps, and since I was going to be living here for the foreseeable future I wanted to rectify that. In addition me now being seen with four different mares in public would hopefully demonstrate to the townsponies that I was taken, hopefully.
But I stopped worrying about that for now. It was a nice bright blue day, in near complete contrast to the gloomy, fiery, smoke filled Firelands. Everything seemed so calm, so serene, so peaceful. Without having to worry about politics, military affairs, wellbeing of subjects, tyrannical, egomaniacal, big, strong, attra... madmares! Yes madmares with far far too much power trying to hunt you down and... c-court you, um...
"Ponyville is really serene and pretty when you actually have the time to sit back and admire it without all that! Hehe..."
"Sire, are you okay?" Lilith asked me.
"Ah! Oh, uh... Y-yes, thank you Lilith... and please call me Night Storm when in public okay" I asked.
"Understood s... Night" she replied.
"Night, what is this... tavern, like exactly?" Blaze asked.
"Well it's called a cafe, and it's similar to Brandy's bar. Except you need to pay for the food and drink with bits... the Equestrian equivalent of reales unlike where back in Ashen everypony just gets a weekly limit on how much food and alcohol they can acquire" I explained.
"Really? Why do they have to pay for it?" she replied.
"Well from what I understand and have read over the years Equestria is big, like really big when compared to our kingdom. They're also not as centralized as us and due to their country's size means they will never achieve the same level of efficiency that we have".
"Therefore Celestia needed to create an incentive for ponies to get up and do things not just for themselves or their village, but for other ponies as well. Like farm, build things like bridges, roads, and just really to have a functioning society on a national level" I said, while at the same time looking around to make sure no nosy ponies we're eavesdropping.
"Sounds... weird. Inefficient, and highly complex. Why wouldn't everypony already be helping each other. If they're all on the same side anyway, wouldn't it make sense for them all to work together?" Lilith said.
"Yes, but Equestria wasn't very united when it was first founded. So ponies didn't really want to help others outside of their own communities. Though with time, crown incentives, and national projects that was eventually solved" I explained.
"Or so that's how the story goes. With over one thousand years between then and now who knows what's true or not" I added.
"Huh, that's... interesting I suppose" Lilith replied.
"So why don't we have to pay for things then back home s-Night" Blaze asked.
At first I was surprised by her question but then remembered that the more common ponies didn't really receive an education in their foalhoods like I or the nobles did, and even then mine was leagues ahead of theirs. The only other comparable ones we're those on the triumvirate and in other important government positions.
"Because the complications of economics and money in general became more of an obstacle and outright problem rather than a benefit when we fled Equestria. We didn't have time for merchants to be selling food or armorsmith's to charge reales for repairing necessary equipment to our survival. It was all hooves on deck, everypony had to do their part. Or we would have all died. Eventually Queen Vesta Blaze and her daughter Queen Elixa instituted reforms that did away with currency in general and established several more collectivist organizations and positions that suited ponies in our position much better" I explained.
"Wow, that's... wow" Blaze said.
"Anyway lets get to that cafe, I'm hungry and I'm sure you both are..." Rumble. I stopped suddenly, which both mares mirrored.
"Uh Night... what was that?" Lilith asked.
"I... I don't know" I replied.
Rumble
"There it is again, what could be making that..." But upon seeing the sky darken and the few Ponyville residents around us scarper into their homes realization began to set in. Living in the Firelands all my life I had only heard about these from either books or ancient accounts by long dead ponies. Storms of death... watery death.
"Rain Storm!" I gasped. Immediately Lilith casted a shield around us and Blaze grabbed and hugged me, shielding me from the rain with her own body. Though I knew Lilith's shield would easily hold against the water, and our disguise spells had a built in one I was still glad to have a pony shield. Though unfair as it may seem. But especially because I began to have a panic attack, and given how Blaze was slightly shaking as well I was certain she appreciated me hugging her back.
Lilith meanwhile sat on the ground next to us, dragging a hoof slowly across my withers while mostly focusing on maintaining her shield around us. In comparison she seemed to be fairing better, knowing that she couldn't be killed by the water. But I could still see the fear in her eyes plain as day. We'd all grown up with the old stories about the Death Storms, from times long since forgotten. From when we'd lived in our ancient homeland.
It was one of the very few places in those days that it did not rain and therefore made a perfect home for us, and sadly that was just a few of the little known facts and legends that had survived about that place and into the modern day.
"Shh, it's okay Night. You are safe, w-we are safe here" Blaze said, pulling me close into her chest.
I breathed deeply and let the mare's scent calm my nerves. Which after a few moments I began to feel less scared and more... happy. Then after a few more breaths I felt a smile begin to form across my face and felt elated enough to pull my self out from Blaze's chest.
"Hehe, you look like you ate way... way too much salt" she giggled.
"What..." was the sensical reply that I formulated.
Unsurprisingly both mare's responses we're knowing smirks and giggles, this was what happened to stallions that..." Crack.
Yelping I dove back into Blaze's chest, though this time I decided that I didn't want to let pheromones wrack my brain and at least try to face my fear and so looked up at the raindrops pelting the shield above us.
"Th-there's... so many" I shuddered. Once more recalling old legends of Flameponies getting caught out in these storms, it almost never ended well for them.
For a few moments we stayed like that. Me in Blaze's embrace and Lilith's hoof stroking my back, I thought about repaying the unicorns gesture when a female's voice called out to us.
"Night Storm... are you all right dear?"
Or more specifically me.
"Of course" I thought.
Lilith and Blaze looked towards the newcomers with slight annoyance, until they saw the baby dragon at Rarity and Twilight's side. Instantly Blaze pulled me under herself and Lilith charged her horn with a teleportation spell.
"Wait" I said, putting my own two front hooves on their withers. Calming them down and stopping Lilith's teleport.
"They're alright" I stated. Both mares nodded and Lilith let them enter her shield, though albeit hesitantly.
"Are you all right Night Storm, you look scared?" Twilight asked.
"What, no I am fine" I replied.
"Then why is... apologies darling but you're not Fire Strike are you?" Rarity asked Blaze.
"No, my name is Blazing Skies. Pleased to meet you miss..." she replied.
"Rarity, charmed, and this here is Twilight and her younger brother Spike. Now then Night, if you're fine then why is Blazing Skies comforting you?" Rarity reiterated.
My eyes widened, I had completely forgotten that Blaze was still comforting me.
"Uh, I just... slipped and fell on the wet stone" I lied and wiggled out of Blaze's embrace.
"Hmm... okay then. You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" Rarity replied.
"No no, I'm fine" I said. Crack
"Ahh!" Instinctually I dove once more right back into Blaze's fetlocks.
"Hehehe, all right then" Rarity chuckled. While the rest of the mares and dragon tittered, even my own.
"Traitors!"
"Well since I don't think you three want to be out in this weather even longer, and since we're already going there anyway would you like to come to my boutique?" Rarity asked.
"Boutique...? Isn't that like... a clothing store for stallions?" Spike asked. Twilight lightly thumped him on the back of the head for a reason I didn't understand. But if Rarity was supposed to be offended she didn't appear to be, instead offering a simple smile.
"That it is dear Spikey, but I also sell dresses and other garments for mares as well" Rarity smiled.
"Well, if it gets us out of this rain then I suppose we could come" Lilith said.
"Splendid, just follow me dears" Rarity replied and went to walk out of the shield when Lilith stopped her with a light tug on her tail.
"You don't have to leave the shield, I can move it with us. Just lead the way" she said.
"R-really? You can move the shield?" Rarity asked.
"Um... yes" Lilith replied, and demonstrated by moving it back and forth by about three hoofs.
Both Rarity and Twilight's eyes went wide.
"Is something wrong?" the pink unicorn asked.
"Um, no miss its just that... that's a pretty advanced feat" Twilight said. Now it was our turn to stare back, wondering what exactly she meant. Moving a shield was part of a unicorn legionnaires basic shield training, compared to other spells this wasn't that hard.
"Though perhaps to us it's not that hard".
"I have a brother who literally specializes in shields, and not even he can do that" Twilight added.
"Oh... well thank you Twilight" Lilith said.
"You're welcome, but seriously can you teach me how to do that. I would love to surprise him and my parents the next time I see him" Twilight replied.
"Maybe Lilith can show you another time Twilight. I would like to get out of the r-rain if it's all right with the rest of you" I spoke up.
"Oh... sorry Night" Twilight smiled meekly.
"It's all right, we can" Crack "Yipe!" I jumped, while the mares and dragon laughed again.
"Grr, what even is that!?" I growled.
"You mean thunder?" Spike asked.
"...Thunder?" I replied.
"It's a natural phenomenon formed by electrostatic discharges through the atmosphere. First lightning occurs when frozen raindrops collide with each other in a thundercloud, creating an electrical charge. When the charge builds up enough, it overcomes the air's resistance and creates a plasma channel that rapidly heats the air. The heated air then expands and creates a shockwave that turns into thunder" Twilight explained.
"...Okay, that's... quite interesting Twilight" I said, way out of my depth.
"Thanks" she smiled.
"Anyway darling's, let's get to the boutique" Rarity said and began leading the way.
Thankfully not much happened after that. Other than Spike asking me how I could be afraid of thunder, and getting lightly smacked by Twilight again. We made good time and soon arrived at Rarity's boutique.
"All righty darling's, welcome to Carousel Boutique. Where everything is unique, chic, and magnific" she smiled.
I didn't understand the last two words she said nor what the word carousel meant, but the store was obviously designed with a stallion's taste in mind. With the exterior being painted in a ridiculous amount of pink and purple. Along with a bit of blue and golden highlights as well.
Trotting inside revealed the theme to be much the same. Though in comparison to the Royal Tailor Lord Mateo De La Pallium Rarity meanwhile looked to have far more tools and resources in this one room then the old colt would ever even see.
"What that stallion would give to have a room like this" I laughed. But then noticed something, they looked like ponies but we're clearly fake. I could've mistaken them for stone filled sack practice targets back home if not for the burgundy tailcoat adorning it.
"Some sort of... fake pony to show off clothing" I thought.
"See something you like Night?" Rarity said, trotting up to me.
"It looks nice, did you make this yourself?" I asked.
"Indeed, this was actually the very first tailcoat I ever made. It was a commission for a play... or rather it was before they decided to go with a competitor of mine instead" she grimaced.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. It's really well done" I replied.
"Oh why thank you Night, that's very nice of you to say" Rarity smiled. I returned it and was about to reply when we we're suddenly accosted by water. In a blind panic I managed to jump back in time, though this put me straight atop of Blaze and Lilith. Rarity however was not so lucky. While she wasn't drenched her mane and fur we're very soggy and her expression was not amicable.
I meanwhile rapidly checked all over myself for water before realizing that I was in a rather compromising position between Blaze and Lilith, who both had grabbed me in an attempt to steady us before I fell. Which now left all three of us on the floor, me between the both of them, and their hooves wrapped around my barrel.
In addition due to my hasty look over I hadn't realized both of my hindlegs we're spread apart, giving not just Lilith and Blaze a view no sane mare would pass up but also basically presenting myself to Twilight and Rarity. Though thankfully one was facing away from me and angrily glaring at the other, who didn't seem to notice our little predicament due to the glare she was receiving.
Upon noticing this I immediately shut my legs and stood up but the damage was done, as both Lilith and Blaze we're looking away with heavy blushes on their faces. Looking around it seemed that Spike thankfully didn't notice us either, seemingly having been splashed as well by a sheepish looking Twilight.
Though I should have been mad at her, furious even. I couldn't bring myself to be angry at her. Especially at how sorry she looked.
"Ahehe... oops, sorry" she said while the three of us helped each other up.
"Oh no, it's quite all right... After all, we are the best of friends are we not" Rarity smiled at Twilight.
The three of us stared at the weird spectacle before us before Rarity spoke up again.
"And you know what the best of friends do..." she smiled.
"Uhh..." Twilight trailed off.
"Makeover-help each other look their best! Yes, help each other look their best" she coughed. Then quickly dragged a... the most coltish looking changing screen I had ever seen in my life over to Twilight and after a couple of seconds and several grunts of pain Twilight emerged in a quite nice green saddle with blue and pink highlights along with a blue and pink collar around her neck complete with a multicolored pearl necklace.
"There, oh you're simply darling" she smiled, and I had to agree that it complimented her coat quite nicely.
"Uh... yeah. It is kind of pretty isn't it?" Twilight smiled. Spike meanwhile simply pretended to gag on his claw at the spectacle before him, or at least until Rarity ran over and with her velocity accidentally slammed said claw into his mouth.
"And you, oh Spike. I have a dandy little outfit for the dashing drake" she added. Before lighting her horn and pulling both Spike and the changing screen over to her and repeating the same song and dance with him, which when it was over. Showed Spike with in the most ridiculous outfit I had ever seen.
A blue tunic covered him with a golden sash encompassing his waist along with two clasp buckles along his legs for some odd reason. But the most ridiculous feature of his outfit was the blond wig adorned atop his head.
"Oh Spike, now you just need a hat" Rarity said before adding the most gaudy looking hat I had ever seen in my life. Black with a golden feather adorning it.
Myself, Blaze, and Lilith tried out best but ultimately burst into giggles at the poor drake before us.
"Ugh, I told you I don't want any part of this colty gala gunk. See ya back at the library" he said and took off, somehow managing to leave every single bit of his outfit behind at once.
I didn't know whether to be impressed or scared, but ultimately decided on the former when Rarity turned to us.
"Well if dear Spikey won't appreciate my work then perhaps the giggling trio will instead" she smirked.
"Uhh... Rarity wait-ack!" I gasped as the three of us shot towards her and then... I don't even know what happened as we were pushed, prodded, stabbed, poked, measured, and for a second I thought groped, choked, and fondled before Rarity once again pushed the changing wall away and then pulled a mirror over for us.
I found myself wearing the same burgundy tailcoat I had been looking at earlier with a small rose in my mane. While Blaze sported an orange saddle with yellow highlights and a small red feather next to her left ear, and Lilith was given an actual light blue dress along with purple earrings.
"Oh darlings you look fabulous!" Rarity squealed, with Twilight nodding in the background.
"Ah, uh, thank you Rarity you uh... you did a nice job" I replied.
"Thank you dear" she smiled.
"You all would look so fabulous at anything, even perhaps The Grand Galloping Gala" she added.
"Wait, The Grand..."
"Huh! And oh my goodness, what a coincidence. I happen to have an ensemble of my own that matches yours to a T" Rarity said, though more to Twilight than anypony else.
"We would be the belles of the ball you and I, everypony would be clamoring for our attention. All eyes would be on us, and then everypony would finally know the most beautiful, most talented, most sophisticated pony in all of Equestria is Rarity the Unicorn!" she shouted while hugging Twilight, and I swore I could see stars in her eyes as she winked at me.
"Wait, did she just wink at me!?"
But I would likely never know as now it seemed it was her turn to cower at Twilight's unamused expression this time, for whatever reason.
"Ah, hehe hehe, and Twilight Sparkle of course, hehehehe" she meekly smiled. Twilight however did not seem to care for whatever the white unicorn was trying to pull, whatever it was.
"I see what's going on, you're just buttering me up so I give you the extra ticket. Well it's not gonna work" she said, throwing her dress off and tossing it at Rarity.
"You're going to have to wait for my decision just like everypony else" she added, also throwing her necklace smack dab onto Rarity's horn.
"Now, if you'll excuse me. I've been trying all day just to get some lunch" she shouted.
"Did somepony say lunch" Applejack suddenly spoke up. Appearing in the front door before grabbing Twilight and yanking her out said door.
"What in billowing volcanoes?".
"...Um Rarity, excuse my language but what the buck was that?" I asked.
"You're fine darling" she sighed.
"...If you didn't know Twilight is the personal student of Princess Celestia herself, and so she received two tickets to The Grand Galloping Gala! The most sophisticated party of the year! Alas however she only received two tickets, one for herself and the second for a guest. I presume it was meant for Spike but since he doesn't want to go myself, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and even Fluttershy all want to attend" she explained.
"Ah, that sounds like quite the predicament Rarity" I replied.
"Indeed... but I do enjoy the challenge, especially when the reward is so great! So if you three don't mind I need to get back to it. You can keep the outfits if you want. I haven't been able to sell them and they've just been collecting dust. Think of it as an apology for throwing them at you" she said.
"Oh, well thank you Rarity. That's quite generous of you" I said.
"Think nothing of it darling, I do represent the Element Of Generosity after all, ta ta" she replied as we walked out of her store, shutting the door behind us.
"Well that was certainly something" Lilith said as we trotted away.
"Welcome to my world, or at least the last week of it" I replied.
"Wow, um... I'm sorry if it helps" Blaze said.
"It's fine, but thanks. Now, since the rain's stopped and I'm still hungry lets get to that cafe" I added.
"Here here" Lilith smiled.
"By the way, Lilith, did you teleport our armor off?" I asked.
"Right before Rarity grabbed us yes" she replied.
"That explains why she didn't ask about cold metal when she grabbed us" I said.
"Indeed, I figured what was about to happen and so teleported it into my pocket dimension" she explained.
"Hm, good job" I commended.
"Thank you Night" she replied.
"Actually who do you two think is going to get the ticket?" she added a moment later.
"No idea but it sounds like it'll be an interesting afternoon" I replied.
"Heh, of course the stallion would say that" Blaze laughed.
"Oh, and what's that supposed to mean" I smirked as I rounded on the disguised Flamepony.
"Oh uh... well I, um... sorry" she squeaked.
"Pft hehe oh you should see your face" I laughed.
"Y-you're not mad?" she asked.
"Come now Blaze, I'm not one of those stuck up colts from the court that get upset when mares complain they gossip. Then proceed to do it anyway..." then remembering something that Brandy once said I smirked.
"I'm a big, strong, independent stallion who don't need no mare" I laughed, Lilith followed and Blaze soon joined in herself.
"Pinkie!"
"Hahaha... ah, no offense Night but why do I feel that saying fits some stallions down to a T?" Lilith laughed.
"Probably because it does" I smiled. I had missed this, some of my favorite memories had been made when in the field with mares. Of course I did have stallion friends growing up and still do. But for whatever reason me and mares had always just... clicked when it came to friendship. Excluding most of the noblemares.
"So what's this place called again Night" Lilith asked.
"Well it's - sorry guys but coming through" Twilight interrupted me as she tore past us, Spike hanging onto her her tail for dear life.
"Um, taking a page out of your book Night. What the buck was that" Lilith said. Though we wouldn't have long to wait to learn the cause of Twilight's quite honestly impressive speed. For chasing her seemed to be basically the entirety of Ponyville's young stallion population. As well as a few mares even, and they we're moving at a very high speed.
"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking" Blaze asked as the stampede drew closer.
"More than likely" Lilith replied.
"Run!" I shouted.
Thankfully our superior athletic bodies let us put distance between the mob of ponies trailing after us, but not by much Whatever it was these ponies wanted they seemed to be buckbent on getting it.
"There" I called, gesturing towards a cart of food. Running up we dove into it headfirst after Lilith lit her horn and levitated a majority of the various apple products up and out in order to create a hole for us to fit in the small cart, and then deposited them overtop for us to hide under.
"Hah hah... hah... what the buck was that" I wheezed.
"I don't know, but Faust above what is wrong with those colts. They're acting like madmares" Blaze replied.
"Indeed, I feel bad for their mares having to deal with that whimsy... eh no offence Night!" Lilith smiled sheepishly.
"None taken..." I replied flatly.
"Whimsy or not this is highly irregular behavior in general... you two don't think we caused this right. They did look like they we're chasing Twilight and not us..." I added.
"Oh you didn't know, Twilight has an extra ticket to The Grand Galloping Gala, and that ticket will be mine!".
"...".
"...".
"...Who the buck are you!" I jumped at the stallion sitting behind us.
"And why are you in here!?" Lilith added.
"Well duh I'm trying to get close to Twilight... and my name is Meadow Song" he said. We just blinked at the absurd situation before us.
"Wait, you're that new stallion in town, aren't you!?" he asked, critically examining me before Blaze scooted over and put herself between us. "You are! Well let me tell you-"
"Yeah that's really nice, we've gotta go bye" I interrupted him, and we dashed out of our culinary concealment. Unfortunately ending up right behind Twilight and Spike with the stampede now directly behind us.
For what seemed like hours on end we ran. Trying everything in our power to get away, but no matter what we did. It seemed that either Twilight and Spike found us and therefore the stampede did as well. Or we somehow put ourselves back in-between Twilight and crazed colts. Eventually however I saw an opportunity.
"Into that alley!" I shouted and veered left hard.
Lilith and Blaze mirrored me while Twilight and Spike continued running straight. The alleyway was also thankfully deserted and had some crates for us to hide against, and so the herd of stallions raced past. Uncaring about us in any way. Though this time a smaller stampede of mares soon raced past as well.
"What is happening!?" Blaze cried.
"I don't know, but this is one of the most absurd situations in my entire life" I replied.
"Are they seriously doing all this for a, a... a ticket?" Lilith said, the word being unfamiliar to her.
"So it seems" I answered.
"But why though, what is so great about this... gala that warrants this kind of behavior?" she added.
"It sounds like a party for the wealthy and elite of Equestria, according to Rarity anyway. What brownnosing and self-flattering stallion wouldn't want to go to that" I replied.
Unbeknownst to me Lilith and Blaze shared a concerned expression behind my back. But that was about to be the least of our concerns as Twilight and Spike suddenly and without warning ran into our alleyway. While at the same time I turned around to address my guards.
"All right, let's just oof" I grunted as Spike ran into my backside, shortly followed by Twilight. As both of them had been looking behind themselves at the now parade of stallions crowding around us.
"Have I ever told you I think you're really attractive".
"I'll make you dinner... and wash the dishes".
"I'll let you in my herd!"
"I'll let you hit!"
"No, miss Twilight you wouldn't want a little colt like him, you want a stallion like me".
"What did you say!?".
"You heard me Caramel!"
"Quiet!" Lilith yelled, and instantly the once yappering herd of stallions ceased their talking.
"What in Faust's name has gotten into you all!?" she yelled.
"Running around like madmares, destroying everything in your path. Chasing a poor pony and her younger brother like a bunch of chan!... Ahem, that is to say, like a bunch of excited little foals. Not to mention acting like ones!" she added.
"Hey, where not acting like foals-".
"And to top all of that off. You all have chased around and frightened my stallion!" she growled, interrupting whomever had spoken up and scaring him into silence.
"Not to mention having probably frightened your mares with your reckless behavior as well" Blaze added.
"As well as exhibited behavior most unbecoming for a stallion" I chipped in. Though unlike when Lilith or Blaze scolded them where they showed remorse or fear when I spoke up their eyes instead widened in what seemed like surprise.
"They probably just see their fathers scolding them in me, I always was good with that disappointed father look after all" I thought.
"What is going on here!?" a new voice, a female's this time, echoed throughout the alleyway. I discovered it to be Mayor Mare pushing through the crowd of stallions towards us.
"Night Storm... what is going on here?" she asked.
"These lot we're apparently pursuing Twilight Sparkle for her remaining ticket to The Grand Galloping Gala, and we got caught up in the ensuing kerfuffle" I explained.
"I see..." she replied. Then looked towards the gathered stallions.
"Those of you with a mare, herd, or family member... return to them now. For those who are alone exit this alleyway and wait for me in the street" she ordered. Which ended with a collective grumbling of the stallions.
"Darn it".
"This is all your fault Meadow".
"How is this my fault!?".
"Who does that colt think he is, using words like "kerfuffle" and "pursuing"..."
"I know right, like fancy words would win over any mare of mine".
"I know that this question may sound dumb. But are you three all right?" Mayor Mare asked us.
"I believe so, unless there are any more of them hiding in our house then we should be fine, thank you miss mayor" I replied.
"Of course" she nodded. "And please don't think that this is how Ponyville normally acts, the stallions especially. I don't know what's gotten into them today" she added,
"They saw something they wanted, and wanted it they did" I replied.
"Indeed, though I thought you said that they we're chasing Twilight?" she asked.
"...Yes they we're" I answered.
"...Then where is Twilight?" she asked.
"...What do you mean, she's right..." we turned around, expecting to see both Twilight and Spike behind us. Instead all we we're greeted with was a wall along with a few crates.
"What... but she was right here" Blaze said.
"She probably teleported away with Spike, Spike is the dragon right?" Lilith theorized.
"Yes, and you are more than likely correct. I think I've seen her teleport before... maybe on the night of Nightmare Moon's return?" Mayor Mare theorized. Not noticing my slight shiver at the mention of that mare's name.
"Well I better go find them and have the stallions apologize as well, I'll see you three later" she added.
"Good day miss mayor" I replied, the mares nodding their own goodbyes. For a moment we just stood together in the alleyway, lost in the absurdity of the day's events. Or that was until our stomachs grumbled.
"Oh hehe... you guys still wanna go grab lunch?" Blaze asked.
"Might as well" I answered.
"I'm quite hungry myself" Lilith agreed.
"Very well" I said, and we started walking out of the alleyway.
"The others are probably wondering where we are as well" Blaze said.
"Eh, I don't think we're that behind schedule" I replied.
"I suppose not" Lilith said.
"Besides, if we we're then I'm sure it's night!" I gasped, pausing mid-trot.
Sure enough I managed to catch the last few rays of the setting sun before the stars revealed themselves above us, indicating that yes indeed. It was night.
> Answers
Luna's moon was high in the night sky as Lilith, Blaze, and myself dragged ourselves down Ponyville's now deserted market street. As having spent half a day being chased around by a mob of ponies threatening to trample us while not having eaten anything since the morning meant that we we're now very hungry and absolutely exhausted.
Thankfully we had brought food kits with us to Ponyville should the need for them arise, but unfortunately we had left them back at our house.
Which meant that a short but hunger filled walk awaited us back home... or rather our temporary home anyway.
We didn't speak, we had run out of energy to speak ever since night had befallen us. Though thankfully the streets we're devoid of other ponies. Which meant I didn't didn't have to deal with infatuated mares that thought I was too dumb to realize how bad their courting attempts were, or stallions that seemed to naturally dislike me for some odd reason.
"Hiya Night Storm".
"...Do I dare ask?" I sighed internally.
Still it wouldn't do to just outright ignore them, and so I turned to my left to see Rarity, Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy all sitting down at the same cafe Twilight was eating at earlier, eating food.
"Wait food!?"
"How are you?" Pinkie Pie added.
"Um... I'm fine Pinkie... how are you?" I replied, still mostly just looking at the dinner they had ordered.
"I'm okie-dokie-lokey" she replied, and it was that weird statement that was finally able to shatter their food's hold over me.
"W-what?" I asked.
"Okie-dokie-lokey silly... it means that I'm doing fine" she smiled at my incredulous expression.
"Okay..." I trailed off, not sure what to do or how to continue this. Up until me and my guards stomach's decided to take the lead.
"Hehehe, would you three like to sit down and have dinner with us?" Rarity tittered and pulled three chairs over with her magic from another table.
"I..." looking towards my guards showed that they either didn't mind, care, or just wanted food. All in all I was hungry myself and wanted something to eat that weren't rations. Not that the food in Ashen was very good at all, especially when compared to the hospital's food me and Delilah had both been given. Though discounting Smoker's cooking that is, that stallion could make mud taste good.
"Very well, I suppose we have some things to talk about anyway" I replied and sat down, motioning for Lilith and Blaze to do the same. Once we were seated Rarity spoke up again.
"Night, I would first like to apologize once again for my behavior earlier. It was... unprofessional at best and at worst unacceptable, and I hope you can forgive me for it" she said.
"It's all right Rarity, it's not like you actually harmed us. The only thing that actually got us running... literally. Was when we pursued by that horde of ponies earlier, and to my knowledge none of you six were in league with them" I answered her, and the white unicorn breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you Night Storm, you have no idea how relived that makes me" she replied. I smiled in turn while Twilight spoke up next.
"Indeed, however all of us would also like to apologize for how we treated you and Delilah at Ponyville General just after Nightmare Moon's defeat. It was wrong of us to question you two about things that you both have a right to privacy for and we're sorry about that as well" she said, with the other mares agreeing with her.
"Again it's fine, if three random ponies like us just showed up out of the blue then I would be intrigued about them as well, at the very least anyway" I replied.
"Still it was wrong of us to put you through that Night, as well as Delilah... where is she by the way?" Twilight added.
"She and Fire Strike are at our house currently, along with two other mares" I replied.
"Wait there's even more new ponies! Oh this week just gets better and better!" Pinkie squealed.
"Mhm, their names are Star Fire and Ruby Firetail. I'm sure you'll meet them soon enough Pinkie" I said.
"I've got to throw you guys a 'Welcome To Ponyville' party. Especially since Twilight's overshadowed yours and you, Fire, and Delilah didn't really enjoy it" she said before pausing and looking over at Twilight.
"By the way Twilight I'm gonna throw you another since you really didn't enjoy it either, whichmademereallysadbutthat'sokaysinceyouweredistractedbyNightmareMoon'sreturnand-mmhmmhmhmmhm".
"Whoa there nelly, calm down fer a minute" Applejack chuckled and stuffed an apple into Pinkie's mouth to get her to stop talking.
"Yeah Pinkie, you totally mind-bucked Lilith and Blaze over there" Rainbow laughed, only to then be thumped by Applejack in the back of the head.
"Ow Aj, what the heck?" she glared.
"Ya shouldn't swear infront of stallions now ya hear" the earth pony reprimanded.
"Oh come on Applejack, after everything we've been through. Swearing infront of Night is what you're worried about" The blue pegasus retorted. Applejack for her part didn't seem to take very kindly to Rainbow's logic.
"Well Ah could always just use ma dame's method and git some soap" she smirked, and that was enough to get Rainbow to shut it completely. At least for now anyway.
"Anyway, are you three hungry. I'm sure Savoir wouldn't mind fixing you up something still. As long as you pay him anyway" Rarity said.
"That would be nice... does he just appear or do we have to summon him?" I asked.
"Hehe, nah silly. Savoir is one of the best cafe owners in Equestria. Ah swear it's like he's got a sixth sense of when somepony sits down at his restaurant" Applejack replied.
"You called madam" a pale earth pony stallion with a shiny blue tail and mane trotted up towards our table, I presumed this was Savoir.
"Would you three like something to eat?" he added.
"Sure uh, just get us what they're having please" I replied, still not exactly certain what Equestrian's had for food.
"Very well monsieur" and he trotted back into the cafe proper. This left the nine of us sitting together at the table.
"So, what are you guys doing in Ponyville?" Twilight asked.
"We're just looking for something new, figuratively anyway" Lilith replied.
"Really, well you're not gunna find much here in Ponyville miss" Applejack answered her.
"We're aware of that, and prefer it in fact" I spoke up.
"Alright then" she shrugged.
Soon Savoir returned with our food and we dug in. I had never had flowers before and was surprised by their taste, and while the mares continued to ask questions about us and where we we're from they we're thankfully more reserved this time.
"So where are you guys from?" Twilight said.
"We're from a small village up north, we left because... well... let's just say that some ponies didn't agree with us on some things and leave it at that" I answered her.
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that Night" she replied.
"It's fine, we made our peace with it anyway" I lied.
"All right, though I am sorry if this brings up bad memories darling, but why we're you, Delilah, and Fire Strike so invested with us against Nightmare Moon" Rarity asked us. "It was almost like you all we're sent by Faust herself to aid us" she added.
"We arrived in Ponyville that day by coincidence I guess, and our village never truly forgot about Princess Luna like the rest of Equestria it seems. So when Twilight mentioned that Nightmare Moon was coming we already knew who she was and what she wanted. So it was simply natural for us to work together from then on" I replied.
"Really, your village never forgot about Nightmare Moon or Princess Luna... Do you three have thestrals in your old village?" Twilight asked.
"No, besides aren't thestrals just legend, like the changelings?" I said. Obviously already knowing the true answer to that.
"Well recently archeologists have unearthed several sites that they believe to be ancient thestral colonies. Judging by what they found there" Twilight replied.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yup, though there still isn't any concrete proof" she said.
"All right enough with all this egghead talk, what about your weapons Night. I saw you and Delilah kick Nightmare's flank back in town hall" Rainbow Dash spoke up. "You guys we're so cool, by the way can you teach me some of those moves? I'd love to use them on Gilda when she gets here" she added.
The three of us looked at each other, not quite wanting to teach a potential adversary combat moves.
"Maybe another time Dash, after we get settled in" I replied.
"Aww why not, I totally wanna suplex Gilda" she protested.
"Who's Gilda?" Twilight asked.
"An old buddy of mine from flight camp, we go way back" she explained.
"Another new pony!? Ahh... oh my gosh I've gottagetstartedonmypreparationsseeyouguyslaterbye!" Pinkie exclamined and then dashed off into the night. Leaving a ball of dust in her wake.
"...Note to self, watch out for Pinkie".
"Well... on that ah think ahm gonna turn in fer the night. Have a good one everypony" Applejack said, soon followed by Rarity.
"I agree, especially as I have a couple orders to finish up as well, and we've kept Savoir here long enough anyway. Have a nice night darlings" she said, and then slowly but surely everypony got up and said goodbye. Up until ourselves and Fluttershy we're the only ones remaining.
"Um, h-have a g-good n-night Night, and L-Lilith a-and B-B-Blaze..." she squeaked.
I honestly felt sorry for her, this honestly bordered on the edge of being terrified.
"Have a goodnight Fluttershy" I said. But when the yellow mare didn't get up to move I spoke up again.
"Are you okay, you haven't really said anything all night?" I asked her.
"Y-yes I am f-f-fine. I-I'm just really s-s-shy" she replied.
"Okay, but you do know that there's nothing to be afraid of with us right?" I asked.
"Yes, I k-know that. I'm just... really shy t-towards new ponies" she elaborated.
"All right, would you like us to accompany you home. It is pretty late after all" I offered.
"N-no you g-guys have a g-goodnight. I'll b-be f-fine" she whimpered. Looking at Lilith and Blaze revealed that like myself they both seemed sympathetic towards the poor pegasus infront of them. We knew what needed to be done.
"Come on Fluttershy, it's okay" I said, rising from my seat.
"W-what, oh no y-you g-guys don't n-need to..." she trailed off.
"Come on, we don't mind, now let's go" I said.
"N-Night, L-Lilith, Blaze..." she stuttered. "You three don't need to h-help me. I-I'm a mare a-and-" But by this point I'd had enough.
"Now that's enough of that. I don't care what gender you are Fluttershy, we all have our little quirks and issues. What matters is how we rise from them. Even if we need the help of others in order to do so" I told her.
"I... I suppose" she muttered.
"You know, I myself wasn't very outgoing in my early youth as well" I revealed, this seemed to take the mare by surprise.
"R-really?" she asked.
"Mhm, I was your typical quiet, calm, obedient little colt" I continued.
"But... w-why aren't you like that now?" she asked.
"Multiple reasons, but mostly because I found a great group of friends to help me come out of the shell I found myself... trapped within. They helped me and in turn I promised to help them in whatever way I could" I told her. For her part Fluttershy took a second to reflect on this.
"They... they didn't m-make fun of... y-you?" she asked.
"Not once" I smiled.
"Mostly because I am royalty but that's besides the point".
"Do... do you still talk to them?" she asked me.
"Two of them are standing right behind me" I said.
That was a lie as only one of the five of them, Ruby, was here as she happened to be apart of the unicorn legion. The others we're still back in Ashen. Though we did still talk to each other every now and then these days we we're all unfortunately kept pretty busy thanks to our adultly duties.
"What I would give to have those days back... even if only for one more day".
"Thank you Night Storm".
"Huh... oh you're welcome Fluttershy. Sorry I... just got lost reminiscing" I said.
"You're okay" she said.
"Cheers then, would you like us to still accompany you or no?" I asked her.
"...I think I'll be fine Night, thank you though" she smiled and hugged me.
"Not a problem Fluttershy, though know that my door is always open to you" I offered and she smiled even wider.
"...Thank you Night, thank you" she replied.
"Again not a problem. Now, not to sound like an old coot but it's late and you should get to bed" I smiled myself.
"Hehe... okay Night... and... thanks again" Fluttershy said and began trotting away. I nodded and watched her go.
"Night, not that I'm opposed to what you just did, but why did you?" Lilith asked when Fluttershy was out of hearing range.
"Well, mainly because my mother's orders are to gain the element's trust. But I also do genuinely feel bad for her" I said, to which Lilith nodded.
"Well I think that was very nice of him" Blaze added.
"Thank you Blaze. Now then, to reiterate what I said earlier, it's late and I'm no longer hungry only tired so let's go home" I stated.
"Agreed, I'm sure the others are worried as to where we are" Lilith replied and Blaze nodded.
"Alright let's be off then" I said and we made to leave.
"Err monsieur".
"GAH!" I jumped... again, and at the same time probably woke over half of Ponyville up.
"You three are going to pay for your food correct?" Savoir asked us, having come from what seemed like absolute nowhere.
"Ha... ha... he... y-yes Savoir... um, how much do we owe?" I asked him.
"For yours and your mare's food twenty bits" he said.
"Alright, not great but not terrible".
"Now as for the other six mares that will be sixty bits which makes up eighty bits in total monsieur" he added.
"...What?" I replied.
"Ze other mare's, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, et Fluttershy" he clarified.
"Oh come the buck on!"
"Here you go sir" Lilith said and hoofed him the required bits.
"Merci mademoiselle. Now I understand I frightened you monsieur and I am sorry for that but you don't have to remain in your mare's hooves" he added.
"What? I'm not..." but trailed off as I noticed that I had once again instinctually jumped right into Blaze's embrace when I had been frightened, who sported an amused smile.
"Buck my life...".
> Equestrian Stallions
"Hello you three".
"Hello Ruby, how goes things?" I replied as myself, Lilith, and Blaze trotted into our house.
"Wow, that still feels weird saying".
"Fine, fine. How was Ponyville today?" she asked. The look that Lilith's, Blaze's, and my own suddenly face took on answered that question faster then words would ever be able to.
"That bad huh?" she added.
"You don't even know the half of it" Lilith replied.
"Well you guys are okay, right?" Star Fire asked.
"Yeah we're fine, just... Equestrians..." I said.
"Are they really that bad?" Star responded.
"I wouldn't say that they're bad ponies, just... would excitable be a good term to use?" Lilith asked.
"I'd agree with that, especially when it comes to the stallions" Blaze added.
"How exactly?" Ruby asked.
"They chased us, like madmares, for well over half a day, for a ticket... to a dance" I said. The four of my guards who we're not on duty that day just stared at us.
"That was the reason they chased you into a food cart?" Ruby added.
"Yep" I dryly replied.
"Father of Faust...".
"Wait, you saw them chasing us?" Blaze asked, and at that my curiosity was also peaked. Not at first having registered that Ruby had seen us being chased due to fatigue.
"Mhm, me and Star didn't intervene as it didn't look like you three were in any real danger, and based on how you scolded them I believe my that theory was correct" Ruby replied.
"Well congratulations, as you we're correct. Now then, onto new matters. We bought some furniture today for the house but we couldn't acquire everything we'll need. So that means we'll need to build beds, tables, chairs, and more than likely anything else that we will need furniture wise" I said.
"We could cut down some trees for the wood needed... they are called trees right?" Star suggested.
"Mhm, I was thinking the same thing Star. We'll more than likely need several of them for everything if I'm being honest though" I replied.
"Then again I have literally no experience with carpentry so take everything I say with a grain of salt" I added.
"All right now that that is settled, who's on guard detail for tomorrow?" Ruby asked.
"Well, given that the town has yet to meet you Ruby, and you and Star are technically still next on the roster I would say that it's only fair that you two should take your turn guarding your whimsical prince" I replied.
"Very well" she nodded.
"Brilliant, although we will still need to pick up our new couches tomorrow from Quill's and Sofa's. So it'll be all mares on duty for that. But afterwards we can get started on tree chopping, oh and I also want to see what cuisine the market has too" I said.
"Why the market, we already went the other day and brought food with us?" Fire Strike inquired.
"Yes but that was just your normal everyday food, and as I'm sure Lilith and Blaze saw Equestria has types of food we've never seen nor even heard of before" I explained before an idea formed in my head, a very... funny idea.
"Plus if I'm able to acquire such ingredients then I can make my beautiful little mares the best meals they've ever tasted" I smirked and batted my eyelashes at them. Ruby, having been used to my antics for years simply chuckled and let it be. The others however blushed extremely heavily, to which I burst out laughing.
"Pft, you should see your faces" I smiled.
"S-sire uh... Night I, um..." but Delilah trailed off, unable to form a coherent sentence. Meanwhile the others attempted to form words or some sort of response but just weren't able to. Instead they just gaped like fish allegedly did. Eventually however Ruby did speak up.
"Come on you five, a literal prince just offered to cook all of you a nice homemade meal and all you can do to show your gratitude is gape like a filly at her first time seeing a stallion's unmentionables, how shameful" she smirked. That finally managed to snap the girls back to reality, though they still sported quite heavy blushes.
"Night I... t-thank you for offering to do that for us..." Delilah said.
"You are very welcome Delilah, happy to help" I smiled.
"Um yes, now back to the topic at hoof. You said that we need to pick up furniture tomorrow?" Fire Strike asked.
"Mhm, from a store called Quills and Sofas. Which is literally all they sell by the way" I responded.
"I don't know much about Equestria but from what I've seen about their culture that doesn't sound like a good way to do business, profit wise I mean" Star said.
"True, but they seem to get by quite well" I replied.
"Now after that me, Ruby, and Star will go to the market to buy the food while the rest of you can get started on cutting down trees. Though try to do it a little farther away from town, I have a feeling based on how they zone land that Mayor Mare, the local leader of Ponyville. Wouldn't take to kind to us just cutting down random trees, something about property value I think" I added. The girls nodded their understanding.
"All right, in addition I'll see if I can order anything else of use for us tomorrow as well. But in the meantime let's get some sleep" I said.
The next morning all seven of us trotted into Ponyville at around nine am. It also seemed that this was around the time most merchants began to mare their stalls for the day.
"Good morning Night Storm" A familiar voice called out to us.
"Good morning Pinkie, you seem to be quite chipper today" I replied.
"Yepperuni, I've got a bunch of parties planned for a bunch of new ponies, and by the way here's your invitations for your welcome to Ponyville party" she said and held out seven pieces of paper. Which Delilah took via telekinesis.
"Thank you Pinkie, when is the party?" I asked.
"Three... you'll be able to make it right? Because I can move it to another day if you need me to" she said.
"No no, we'll be able to make it" I tittered.
"Okay! Though while I'd love to stay and talk I've got a lot of baking and hoofing out invitations to do so see ya later" she declared and dashed off back the way we had come.
"...So that was Pinkie Pie huh" Ruby said after she had disappeared from sight.
"Yep, like I said she's definitely something" I said.
"She seems... hyperactive, almost aggressively so" Lilith added.
"Yeah... but she means well and her heart's in the right place" I replied.
"All right then, let's get to that shop. What was it called again... Quills and Sofas?" Ruby asked.
"Mhm, it's just up here. Though..." I paused. Looking around at the few stallions roaming about the marketplace. They we're either with their mares or helping them mare their shops or stalls, though the second they noticed me their looks turned from happy or content to ones of what looked like either suspicion or outright resentment.
"What is it Night?" Lilith asked.
"Hah... for some reason or another the stallions here... don't really seem to like me" I explained. Upon hearing this the girls looked around confused.
"What do you mean...?" Blaze asked while looking around. Though once she noticed a red earth pony stallion mareing an apple stand glaring at me she trailed off, understanding now gracing her features.
"It's not just him Blaze, look there" Fire Strike added. Turning her head Blaze noticed two more stallions, a grey one with a black mane and tail standing with a blue stallion with a slightly darker blue mane and tail glaring at us as well.
"Huh... well I'll be. Why don't they like you Night?" Blaze repeated.
"I'm not sure, they've always been kind of cold to me since the moment we arrived here. Though I suppose me yelling at the majority of them yesterday could warrant a bit of the anger, but again they've acted like this since me, Delilah, and Fire first came to Ponyville" I explained.
"Hmph, are you sure you've never done anything that would piss them off?" Ruby asked. "Something that... I don't know... just... anything really" she tried to clarify.
"Nope... er, well there was that time... or times that Delilah yelled at one to half this town's mare population for not leaving us alone but I fail to see why that would make the stallions mad" I said.
"...You don't think they're jealous do you?"
"What do you mean Star?" I asked her. The light orange mare blushed slightly before answering.
"Well... you are a very attractive stallion Night, though in my opinion moreso without the necklace" she said.
"Oh, um... thank you Star. But what does this have to do with the stallions not liking me?" I repeated.
"Well... maybe they might think that you're trying to or will steal their mares from them" she clarified.
"...What... but that's ridiculous, I already have you six and I don't want any new mares. My previous actions should attest to that" I replied.
"Yes, but they don't know that" she explained and gestured to the still glaring stallions.
"Okay but why would they... why would they think... why would they think I would do that?" I stuttered.
"I don't know... but you could always ask them" Star suggested. I thought about that for a second, and while it did seem like a good idea my gut had doubts that it would go off without a hitch, and I had long ago learned to trust my gut.
"But if I do nothing then nothing will change".
"Damned if I do, damned if I don't" I muttered.
"What?" Delilah asked.
"Nothing, I'll try and talk to them after we pick up the furniture" I replied.
"All right, just don't try to hard. If they don't like you then it will be a waste of time trying to get them to like you" Blaze said which while I found odd I ultimately decided to put it to the back of my mind for the time being.
The rest of our short trek was spent in silence, and we soon reached the store from where just a day previously me, Blaze, and Lilith bought two couches. The first, a normal red one and the second, a blue L shaped one that would both go in the main sitting room.
"Oh hello you guys" Silver Spanner greeted us while loading our new couches onto... weird cart looking things?
"This place continues to surprise me".
"Good morning Silver, this is my herd. You've already met Night and Blaze, and behind them is Star Fire, Ruby Firetail, Delilah Evadne, and Fire Strike" Lilith spoke up.
"Well it's very nice to meet you all" Silver replied. With the rest of the mares following suit and once pleasantries we're exchanged we got on to business.
"Right, well everything's been paid for, and as is customary we do offer our customers the use of trolleys to ferry their purchases to their residences. Provided they return them of course" Silver said.
"Oh, well thank you Silver. We'll make sure they'll be back soon" I replied.
"Thank you Night but feel free to take your time with them. We've got three more in the back and as long as they're returned at the end of the day then I'm happy" she replied.
"Not a problem, though we'll be as quick as we can. Have a nice day Miss Silver, and thank you again" Ruby said. Silver in return nodded and trotted off back inside her store while we began the long laborious task of pushing our new couches a good two kilometers back to our home. Or rather the mares did while I, like a true stallion, sat back and let them do all the hard work.
Though with nothing to do I found myself thinking back to those other stallions from earlier, and with the aforementioned mares also doing all of the aforementioned hard work this gave me the time to also think about what Star had said earlier.
"...You don't think they're jealous do you?"
It was an... interesting issue to say the least, though one that I didn't quite understand. I had shown no interest in courting any mare from Ponyville, and actively resisted any attempt by said mares to court me, and yet the town's stallions still seemed to dislike me.
"You okay Night?" Ruby asked me.
"Hm? Oh yes I'm fine Ruby, just thinking about what you said earlier Star" I explained.
"Oh... well again I might just be talking out of my flank but that's what I'd assume anyway" she replied.
"Right" I said, still mostly in thought. It wasn't until we we're passing... some sort of tan, pink, and brown building. Honestly it looked like somepony had combined a bunch of confectionary into one dish and constructed an entire building based off of that.
A sign out front read "Sugarcube Corner" with a picture of a... pink muffin?... adorning it.
"What an odd building" Fire Strike said.
"Indeed, what do you think it's used for?" Star asked.
"Oh that's Sugarcube Corner, the best bakery from here to Canterlot" a passing stallion said. He was in a group with three other colts that all seemed to be heading into Sugarcube Corner.
"A... bakery?" Blaze asked.
"Uh yeah" the stallion said.
"You know, a place to buy baked goods" he continued at Blaze's blank stare.
"Uhm, thank you sir, we appreciate your time" I stepped in, not wanting to have this continue any further.
"Oh not a... problem" he replied. Instantly going from slightly confused to a glaring expression upon noticing me.
"Have a good day" he added before trotting off to rejoin his compatriots inside.
"Well that went well" I sneered after he had trotted a good distance away.
"I'm sorry Night, I was just curious and-"
"No Blaze, it was an accident, okay" I cut her off. "You remember the cover story for situations like this correct?" I asked her.
"Yes, we're from up north and our village is very isolated from the outside world" she replied.
"Good, now then... why don't we go to the market" I said to Ruby and Star.
"Or you, Star, and Ruby could go inside and see if you can't get us lunch and maybe achieve a peace offering with those stallions while you have the chance?" Delilah suggested.
"...Where is this coming from Delilah?" I asked.
"Well... hah, Night... I am sick and tired of having to keep you safe from everypony in this town. You don't deserve this kind of attention, not to mention that it's... quite annoying" she explained.
"Well... I suppose it wouldn't at least hurt to try, and it's not like they'd really be able to hurt me anyway" I replied.
"Well it's your call, me and Star will be right behind you if you decide to do this" Ruby added.
"...All right, I'll give it a shot" I replied after thinking for a moment.
"Very well" Ruby said before turning to the other mares. "We'll see you guys back home later" she added.
They nodded and continued on their way home, couches in tow. While we trotted inside the bakery after the group of stallions.
"Well if this does go south then at least we might get something nice to eat" I thought.
Entering revealed what looked to be a quaint little shop with chairs, tables with tablecloths, rugs, a chandelier in the center of the room, and dozens upon dozens of... baked goods?. Some of which I recognized from events and parties in the royal palace. Only reserved for such occasions due to us having to acquire the ingredients for them from Equestria and sometimes lands even further away. However most foods I had no idea what they we're and even less of an idea of how to make them.
"Oh hiya Night Storm" Pinkie Pie, who I then noticed was sitting behind a countertop at the other end of the room, waving at us. Around her we're the colts from earlier who had passed us, and they did not look happy when they looked back and saw me.
"Hello again Pinkie Pie" I smiled.
"Hi, and hello to you to Ruby and Star. You aren't here for your party yet right? It's still a couple of hours away after all" she added.
"No no, we just wanted to see what Sugarcube Corner is all about" I replied.
'Oh! Well in that case-"
"Wait, that party is for him and not Twilight?" one of the stallions asked.
"Yeah what gives, I thought it was for her too?" another one agreed.
"It's for the both of them... oh and Night's mares too" Pinkie clarified.
"Oh..." one of them, a light brown earth pony said.
"Actually Pinkie I'm gonna have to cancel, I'm sorry but I just remembered I have something to do later today" he added and began to trot away from the counter and Pinkie Pie. With the others soon following suit.
"But... Caramel..." Pinkie stuttered.
"Sorry Pinkie but I just... remembered that I need to... to help Rainbow Dash with the weather, yeah, I'll see ya later" another colt with black fur and a two tone gray mane said.
"What... but Thunderlane I thought you said you we're off today?" she asked.
"Well... I guess I forgot, sorry" the colt replied before turning and joining Caramel. The last two shrugged before giving Pinkie apologetic looks and then trotted after their compatriots.
"Oh... okay um... no problem then" Pinkie said. However the stallions just continued to glare at me while somewhat shoving their way past us despite there being plenty of room to pass. That combined with Pinkie's outright dejected look made us finally lose our patience.
So just as the lead stallion, Caramel I believe, opened the door to leave Star lit her magic and slammed it in his face. Which caused him to jump backwards and fall onto his flank, and while the other stallions jumped as well due to the sudden noise they we're able to right themselves before falling over.
"Hey! What gives you the right to..." however the third stallion, pretty much an opposite of Thunderlane with light grey fur and a black mane trailed off after snapping his head back at us.
"No I think not, rather what gives you the right, in fact, to pull a stunt like that on Pinkie Pie only after you learn that we are also attending this party!" I rebutted.
"Oh... well I" he stuttered.
"On top of that" I continued, shutting him up. "This isn't the first time that I have seen the way you all look at me. I have seen the resentment, the anger, and the loathing... and I am utterly sick of it!" I paused and looked at the other stallions.
"Well... you're..." Thunderlane tried to speak but ultimately failed.
"I am what, Thunderlane?" I asked.
"You're... striking" the fourth stallion almost whispered.
"I... I'm what?" I asked.
"Ugh, you're striking okay!" he replied.
"...".
"Oh come on, you show up and in ten seconds flat you've got every mare in Ponyville head over hooves for you" Thunderlane added. This time it was my turn to stutter.
"Well y-yes but... it's not like I want the attention" I explained, and at their confused looks I elaborated.
"I already have six beautiful, wonderful mares that I love very much. I don't want nor need any more" I continued, oblivious to Ruby and Star blushing behind me.
"So... you're not going to take our mares away?" the fourth stallion, who I actually recognized as Meadow Song asked.
"Of course not!" I exasperated. "Why would I even want to do that?" I added.
"Well..."
"You're so..."
"Attractive..."
"So why wouldn't you...?" they asked.
At that I just blinked and stared. Contemplating what I had just been told.
"Because that is wrong?" I replied. The stallions just stared.
"Ugh... alright, clearly some misconceptions have been made, so let's start over. Hello, my name is Night Storm and behind me are two of my six mares, Ruby Firetail and Star Fire. Would you like to be friends? I asked and held out my right hoof. The stallions continued to stare, this time at the ground, for a moment before Caramel eventually spoke up.
"It's nice to meet you Night Storm, my name is Caramel and these are my friends, Thunderlane, Lucky Clover, Meadow Song, and there's another stallion apart of our group, Big Macintosh. But he's helping his family on their farm today" he said and bumped his own hoof into mine.
"Thank you Caramel, it is nice to meet you as well" I replied, and slowly but surely the other stallions introduced themselves as well, and once Ruby and Star's introductions we all decided to sit down at one of the tables.
"So Night, where are you guys from?" Thunderlane asked.
"We're from a small village way up north. It's pretty isolated so I doubt you would've ever heard of it" I answered.
"Well what are you doing this far south then?" Meadow spoke up.
"We're..." I paused, as it was important for this next sentence to try and draw as much sympathy as possible from the stallions and Pinkie, who had joined our little chat once we sat down at one of the tables.
"We're... looking to start a new life here Meadow, a lot of ponies, or rather we, I'll say... disagreed with some things that were happening back home. So we decided to leave and start a new life somewhere else" I said.
"Oh I'm so sorry to hear that" he replied.
"Thanks, but it's nothing that we can't deal with" I said.
"Well if you guys need anything Ponyville will be more than happy to lend a hoof" Thunderlane proclaimed.
"Thank you, we appreciate that" Ruby added, when suddenly our conversation was interrupted by a small growling sound coming from Thunderlane's stomach.
"Oh hehe, excuse me" he blushed.
"Hehehe, come on Thunder, let's get those cupcakes" Lucky Clover laughed.
"Yeah and Pinkie..." Caramel said, to which the pink mare nodded.
"Bring a couple extra for Night and his herd, paid for by us" he finished.
"Oh you guys don't have to do that" I said.
"No, but we want to. As an apology for how we treated you guys at first, especially you Night" he said.
"Oh well thank you" I smiled, he nodded, and we then continued to talk for a little bit longer while waiting for Pinkie to return with our food.
"What do you mean you've never had a cupcake before!?" Meadow screeched.
Or rather they yelled while we talked.
"I meant that we've never had them before..." Star sheepishly replied.
"What! But... how!?" he said before Thunderlane interrupted him.
"Meadow, you're scaring her" he said.
"What... oh no he's fine, I just-" Star attempted to save face, however most unfortunately for her, her dice had been cast.
"Nonsense" he said, just as Pinkie was returning with our food.
"Pinkie!" Meadow jumped out of his seat, "Night and his herd have never had cupcakes, nor really any sort of dessert before" he said as he shook her from side to side.
Why in hindsight I expected Pinkie to act rationally and try to calm Meadow down I don't know. But I most certainly did not expect Pinkie to gasp, run to the back of the shop, and shove a bunch of sweets into our hooves when she returned three seconds later.
"P-pinkie please, if you keep shoving all of this into our hooves we won't be able to carry anything!" I said.
"Oh... hehe oops, sorry Night" she blushed.
"Here let me help you Night" Star said and lit her horn, lifting eight boxes of candy as I had learned it was called into the air via telekinesis.
"Thanks Star" I replied and she smiled.
"You can lift all of that?" Meadow asked.
"Um yes..." Star said. "Sure it's quite a few boxes but they're not that heavy" she added at Meadows confused expression.
"Oh uh... wow" he said, and while it may have been the room's lighting I could of sworn I saw the hint of a blush on his cheeks. But I felt that I was seeing at lot of things these past few weeks and so simply wrote it off.
"Alright, it was nice talking but we should get home before the rest of the girls begin to wonder where we are" I said.
"Okay, but you'll all be at the party right?" Meadow asked.
"Yes Meadow, we will all be there" I smiled and got up, followed by Ruby and then Star.
"Good" he said.
"Have a good day guys" Lucky Clover called, and we waved back before trotting out the door.
"Hehe" Ruby chuckled.
"Care to share with the rest of the troop?" I asked.
"I just thought of this saying is all" she said.
"Well, care to share" I reiterated.
"Hmm... no" she smiled.
"Grr... mare!"
"Oh, and why is that?" I squinted while Star began to look worried.
"Because it has to do with stereotypes associated with Stallions" she answered.
"Ruby, we've known each other for how many years and how many times have I complained of stallions acting exactly like how the stereotypes make us out" I deadpanned.
"Hmm fine" she said. "I just thought of this saying is all".
"Well what is it then?" I asked.
"Stallions, whether back home or here in Equestria, are all the same" she smirked. I just blankly stared at her, and the longer I did the more the smirk devolved into a worried frown like Star currently wore.
"Um... Night, you okay? I didn't go to far... d-did I?" Ruby asked.
"Oh no my dear Ruby, I in fact wholeheartedly agree with you" I said. For it was now my turn to smirk, and for good measure I also whacked my tail across the lower part of her back left leg.
"Now then, let's go home" I replied started off. Sashaying and springing a little every now and then, just like every single noblecolt would do back home when they wanted to show off. |
Undead Equestria | pre | "WAIT! STOP!" she cried, clinging to the stallion's front legs.
Braeburn, caught off balance, toppled sideways with a big "Ooof!". This time it was Twilight's turn to gasp as Ditzy Doo leaned her head down toward Braeburn and sniffed his legs. The stallion braced himself for the inevitable bite, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.
But...
No bite occurred.
Peeking his eyes open, Braeburn saw that the zompony was standing still, doing nothing to insinuate an attack. Confused, he turned to look at Twilight, who looked equally puzzled. Moving to Fluttershy, she was just lowering her hooves from her eyes to see the damage. Or lack there of. Finally, he shifted to Pinkie Pie, his eyes begging for answers.
"What's your problem, buddy?" Pinkie Pie accused angrily. "Were you honestly trying to knock her brains out?"
The search-party ponies glanced at each other in shock. None of them could speak.
The pink mare stood up properly, crossing the floor to stand next to Ditzy Doo. The grey pegasus appeared to smile and flapped its wings slightly.
"See? She's fine." Pinkie Pie said, slapping a playful hoof against Ditzy Doo's back. Upon slapping the zompony's fur, one of her wings promptly snapped off and fell to the floor.
The entire room gasped from shock, Fluttershy fainting immediately. Ditzy Doo reacted with a startled moan but otherwise remained still. Pinkie Pie was the only one who didn't react with fright. Instead, she looked down at the fallen appendage with wide eyes, stuttering to come up with a response.
"Pinkie Pie, that's not Ditzy Doo anymore!" Twilight said, shaking her head to clear her mind and stepping forward.
"N-no!" Pinkie Pie said, now backing up and looking around the room to look for an escape. "She's my friend! The only one who didn't leave me!"
"Pinkie Pie," Twilight cooed softly, approaching the pink mare as calmly as she could. She glanced at Ditzy Doo as she passed, still unsure if the zompony was completely safe to be around. "I know you're hurt over nopony coming to your aid until now but I promise we never would have left you alone forever. We're here now which proves that."
Pinkie looked away from her friend, biting her lip. She mulled the thought over in her mind, her hair slowly beginning to fade from straight to curled.
"We want you safe." Twilight continued. "And staying here with this..." she paused, looking at the grey creature to her left with hesitation. "Well, with Ditzy Doo isn't a safe place to be."
Pinkie Pie glanced over at the grey pegasus, who was now sniffing her detached wing, snorting at it. Then Pinkie looked down at the floor, debating her friend's words. A few seconds passed in silence while her hair began to puff back to its normal crazy appearance. Eventually she sniffed, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"I'm sorry." she said quietly, finally meeting the purple unicorn's eyes. Twilight smiled, relieved to see her friend coming back to her senses. She leaned forward to hug the pink mare before turning around to face the other two.
"Okay. Mission accomplished. We found Pinkie Pie."
Braeburn refused to move, still lying sideways on the floor and looking up at Ditzy Doo.
"Uh..." he said, his eyes shifting between the zompony and Twilight.
The purple unicorn understood what the stallion was trying to convey.
"Pinkie Pie," she stated, turning to look at her pink friend. "The entire time you've been here, Ditzy Doo hasn't tried to hurt you?"
"Of course not!" she responded in a suddenly cheerful tone, seemingly forgetting that she had been upset just seconds before. She bounced across the floor to stand next to the zompony, raising her arm in an attempt to hug the grey mare but at the last second deciding perhaps it wasn't the smartest decision. She lowered her hooves. "Why would she?"
"Uh, well..." Twilight began awkwardly, turning to look at the others for help.
"All the other zomponies have tried to attack us." Fluttershy piped up.
"Yeah." Braeburn confirmed, taking the time to finally stand up. "And not everyone has gotten lucky with facing them."
Pinkie Pie blinked at him. "What do you mean?" she asked in a semi-serious tone.
Suddenly the room became quiet and the search-party ponies looked at each other silently, trying to figure out who would be the one to fill her in.
"We have a lot to talk about." Twilight said finally. "But let's all talk on the way back to Sweet Apple Acres. That's where everyone else is waiting for us."
"Oh. Okay." she said with a nod. The grave tones caused Pinkie Pie to drop her smile. It was clear from the other ponies' expressions that this was no time for fun and games. She waited for the others to walk ahead of her before following suit. Just before they left the room, Pinkie Pie turned around to look at Ditzy Doo.
"Are you coming?" Pinkie Pie she whispered, trying not to attract attention from the others. Ditzy Doo raised her head, moaned in delight, and trotted forward with a mangled grin. |
Undead Equestria | Chapter 10 | Pinkie Pie's return caused less of a commotion in the barn than Fluttershy's. Which isn't to say that the yellow pegasus was cherished more than the party-loving pony, but the fact of the matter was that most of the ponies in the barn were asleep by the time the search party had returned.
They had been greeted only by Apple Cinnamon and Apple Split, who had taken the place of Blossomforth and Thunderlane as barn look-outs. They were more than happy to see that Pinkie Pie was safe, however, they were extremely suspicious of the strange mutilated gray mare that had been spotted following the returning ponies at a short distance. Their suspicions only increased when it was discovered that Twilight, Braeburn, and Fluttershy each had no idea that they were being followed at all and when they all turned around to look at the zompony, it was Pinkie Pie who argued for the protection of the tag-along mare. A heated debate continued for more than fifteen minutes on whether or not to leave Ditzy Doo alone. But in the end, Pinkie Pie's refusal to enter the barn without knowing for sure that her undead friend was safe won the argument and it was decided that the grey mare would be tied to a nearby tree (behind the barn, out of sight) to satisfy everypony.
Once they were all in the barn with the door shut behind them, the look-out ponies informed the group that not much had happened while they were gone. The only major thing that had been discussed was the idea that Sweetie Belle would be buried in the morning. Otherwise, the plan was simply to wait until both Pinkie Pie and the Elements of Harmony had been found. Thus, the current best plan of action was to wait until morning.
In most cases, Pinkie Pie would have rather appreciated a more loud and crowded greeting, but in this particular case she was grateful for the quiet atmosphere. For upon having been brought up to speed on all that had happened without her during their walk, Pinkie's mood had quickly turned sour and melancholy.
A lot of pain and hardship had happened without her and the pink mare was distraught at discovering how selfish she had been to remain cooped up in her room. While she had been busy believing everyone had rudely left her behind, the others had been hurt, scared, or even killed depending on the situation. She hadn't even noticed that Fluttershy's back was burned. And the very idea of not having been around to comfort Rarity when she most needed it was heartbreaking to Pinkie and she felt incredibly guilty for only thinking of herself.
When the group had finally dispersed to be alone to think by themselves, Pinkie Pie found herself looking around the area with saddened eyes. So many tired and struggling ponies, all simply trying to survive. Why hadn't she thought of how hard it must be for everypony else rather than focusing on herself? She gasped slightly at the sight of Rainbow Dash, whose crumpled body caused her to bite her lip. How selfish she had been indeed.
Pinkie Pie turned to look at Twilight with a frown. The purple unicorn met her eyes with a glum expression before deciding to force herself to weakly smile. Putting a hoof against Pinkie's, she nodded softly.
"I know." she whispered, careful not to wake anypony. "But it's okay. Let's try to get some rest and we'll talk in the morning."
Pinkie Pie nodded despite her outward appearance expressing that she wasn't really feeling up to sleeping. She obeyed her friend's request by finding a small section of hay in the corner of a nearby stall but she sat upright, staring at the floor quietly.
Twilight shot a concerned look to Fluttershy, who returned the gaze with a pout. Without saying anything, the yellow pegasus trotted over to Pinkie Pie and sat next to her. After a while, the two laid down together, both finding comfort in the other one's warmth.
Twilight, on the other hand, did not need convincing to sleep. She had had only an hour's rest between the Timberwolf attack and the search for Pinkie Pie which meant her body was absolutely exhausted. Her bones creaked joyfully as she laid down, curling her legs to her chest. She let her entire body sigh heavily, telling herself to enjoy the moment knowing that there was no promise of getting a full night's rest in the future. Before she could close her eyes, however, she took a long look around the barn. All six of her closest friends had managed to come together at last. She was beyond grateful to know that they were safe, albeit a bit damaged either physically or mentally. And she was also grateful that the rest of the ponies in the barn were okay, too. It pained her to be so logical at a time like this, but even the fact that Sweetie Belle was the only loss during the prior zompony attack was a blessing. So many more could have been killed.
A rustling sound distracted Twilight from her thoughts. She turned her head to see Braeburn settling in for the night. He nodded at her. She nodded back. Then the stallion laid down his head to rest.
Twilight, too, lowered her head to the floor. She thought of how much hope rested on her. How many ponies were probably thinking of nothing but the Elements of Harmony and how it could help them. Would she be able to get them safely?
She shot a glance towards the pen that Rainbow Dash was resting in. Twilight hadn't even considered whether or not the blue pegasus would be able to use her element once the time was necessary. Would they still work if one of the ponies was not in good health?
Twilight tried to think positively. Perhaps the elements would heal Rainbow Dash. Then again, maybe they'd be forced to wait until she was properly healed to even use them. That wouldn't be too bad if all they had to do was wait it out, right?
But then...
What if the Elements didn't work at all?
Twilight blinked, her heart seeming to jump into her throat the moment the thought crossed her mind. What if?
At first she tried to shake the idea from her mind. Of course that wasn't possible. The Elements of Harmony were powerful artifacts. Of course they'd work. But the more she considered the idea, the more her brain was compelled to ask herself what their next step would be should the worst happen. It was always a good idea to think of all the possibilities, right? Even if they weren't ideal.
Canterlot jumped to the front of her mind and Twilight nodded to herself that that was indeed the right course of action. Should, Celestia forbid, the Elements of Harmony not work, they should head for Canterlot.
Her mind now satisfied with her thinking, Twilight closed her eyes. A few moments later and she was sound asleep, her body thankful for rest. ------
"Twilight."
Darkness again. The same strange yet calm darkness that had happened twice before. It was familiar and yet still unknown. Cold, but not uncomfortable. No breeze. Everything was still.
The feeling of an invisible road beneath her hooves caused Twilight to open her eyes. Which really didn't help her considering the only thing she could see was herself if she happened to look down. But she was not surprised by this lack of scenery. In fact, she expected it. The second the cold darkness had enveloped her she understood that she was dreaming once more.
"Yes?" she called out strongly and clearly to the darkness. If the second dream had truly given any kind of foresight like she theorized, then Twilight was sure to respond immediately to any message she was given, in case the messages were dependent on her being completely focused on receiving them. She also promised herself that she should consider all possibilities of what the messages could mean, should she get one. Having misinterpreted the last message cost them Sweetie Belle and Twilight was sure to not make the same mistake again.
"Twilight." the voice called again.
"Yes!" Twilight spoke louder. "Yes, I can hear you! Or, er, I can hear me? Do I have a message for myself?" she felt silly talking to herself in this manner but she tried to take it seriously. There was always the possibility that the damage she had taken during whatever had happened when she was out for two weeks had caused a disconnect between herself and her self-conscious. Perhaps these dreams were trying to get herself back on track? But then, that wouldn't explain how she'd know about the future...
A paper formed out of nowhere and fell to Twilight's hooves.
Twilight, it's me.
The purple unicorn watched as the paper disappeared as soon as she read it.
"Who?" she questioned. Another paper. This time the message appeared as "Open your mind". Twilight didn't understand but she decided it was best to just ignore who was sending her the messages and focus instead on what the message was. She couldn't afford to waste time.
"What do I need to know?" Twilight asked the darkness.
A third paper fell to her feet and she read the message eagerly. But if she had been confused before, it was nothing to how she felt now.
Look behind you.
What? Twilight shook her head from how discouraged she felt. Look behind you? Hadn't that been referring to the lack of protection at the back of the barn? Perplexed, the purple unicorn stood frozen in thought, her mind racing to try and come up with an explanation for the message. Look behind her? She turned around immediately, incase the message had been meant to be taken more literally. But she saw nothing but more black emptiness. Was the message metaphorical? Was she suppose to look in the past? And if that were the case, could it be referring to the memories she had lost when the zompony outbreak had occurred? How was she suppose to unlock those?
Her thoughts were interrupted by another paper.
Look behind you.
Twilight groaned in both anger at the sender as well as frustration at herself for being unable to understand the message. But no sooner had she expressed her anger when more papers began to form around her. They began to circle her as they had once before, growing steadily in number as well as speed. They whipped around her head, giving no time for the purple unicorn to read them.
"STOP!" Twilight angrily shouted, stomping her hooves to the floor. The papers obeyed, freezing in place before slowly falling to the floor.
Look behind you. Twilight, it's me. Open your mind.
Every paper held one of these three messages. Each disappearing as she read them. When she was finally alone once again, Twilight sighed. Feeling defeated, she sat down on the invisible ground and slumped her shoulders.
"I don't understand..." she said quietly aloud. She waited for a response but it was apparent after a few minutes that she wasn't going to get one. That was fine with her. She no longer felt like engaging with the mysterious messenger. To further prove her point, Twilight laid down fully on the invisible ground and closed her eyes. She felt like ignoring anything that caused her to think and so attempted to empty her mind completely. No more questions, no more mysterious messages, and especially no more trying to decipher them. Just plain regular sleep.
After a minute or two, Twilight's wish was granted. ------
Twilight was one of the last ponies to wake up the next morning. By the time she had awoken, it was already past 11, which was very late for her standards.
She learned that no pony wanted to wake her as they felt that she needed the extra time to sleep. And she hadn't really missed anything anyway since during that time everypony else was simply preparing for Sweetie Belle's funeral (the most of which required making sure the area was safe for everypony to be outside).
Twilight also learned that Pinkie Pie had taken the time to make her rounds with everypony, assuring them that she was fine and apologizing for worrying them. Rarity had apparently clung to Pinkie harder than expected, most likely due to Sweetie Belle's death, which caused her to feel more strongly about showcasing her feelings to her friends.
The last thing Twilight learned was that Rainbow Dash was awake. She was shocked to hear this but also relieved and found herself rushing out of her makeshift bed to see how her friend was doing.
Rainbow Dash was surrounded on all sides. Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, the Cakes, and a handful of fillies were all listening as she boastfully recounted her fight with the Timberwolves. Twilight couldn't resist a smile as she trotted up to the blue pegasus. She should have known her friend wouldn't let her injuries change her attitude. Even with a makeshift cast on her arm and bandages on both her eye and wing she was still acting as though she barely felt a thing.
"...and then POW! I hit the boulder with a huge smack and I was down for the count!"
"Wow, Rainbow Dash, you're so cool!" Scootaloo said, looking at the blue pegasus with dreamy eyes.
"Yeah, I know." Rainbow replied. She tried to cross her arms and grin with her one good eye closed, but flinched when the action caused her muscles in both her arm and her wing to pull painfully.
"It's nice to see you awake and well, Rainbow." Twilight said. Everypony turned to look at her as she approached. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay." Rainbow Dash said. "Learned the hard way about an hour ago that I wasn't well enough to fly yet."
Twilight rolled her eyes but it was Rarity who responded for her.
"Of course you're not okay enough to fly!" she said. "You're going to lay down and relax until you're completely healed."
"I know." Rainbow said in an annoyed tone, laying on her side and brooding towards the floor.
Twilight stared at Rainbow's bandaged eye. She tried not to think about how Rainbow would probably never see correctly out of that eye now, or even at all if the injuries were more severe.
"Thanks for all your help back there." she said. "Without you, we never would have made it out of Everfree Forest alive."
Rainbow's expression changed from moody to pleased in an instant and she turned to look at Twilight with a smile.
"Happy to help." she said.
Granny Smith's voice was suddenly heard behind the purple unicorn.
"It's all set." she announced. Twilight, at first unsure of what the old mare was talking about, took one look around the ponies' fading smiles around her before understanding. Sweetie Belle's funeral.
Twilight looked up at Rarity with worry. Everypony else appeared to have the same idea and soon all of them were staring at the white unicorn. She refused to look at any of them, choosing instead to stand up and focus her attention on Granny Smith in silence. She walked forward with a strength that Twilight admired greatly. She bowed her head slightly as her friend passed, cursing her sudden awkwardness and wishing she knew how better to help.
Remembering her thoughts from last night, Twilight suddenly perked up and walked over to Granny Smith. The old mare looked at her with interest.
"Before we get started, I think it would be best to plan ahead." Twilight said.
"We already have look-outs set up on the roof, there, dearie." Granny Smith explained with a wink.
"No, no." Twilight shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I mean that after the funeral I'll most likely be leaving with a few others to get the Elements of Harmony from my library. I think we should send a scout to Ponyville in order to see how things look there before we leave. And if we send a pegasus now then we'll waste no time."
The old mare stared long into her eyes, debating her request.
"Yeh, I think you're about right." she said eventually. "Go on ahead outside with everypony else. I'll let one of them know."
Twilight nodded her thanks before looking back to see Jonagold and Pinkie Pie helping lift Rainbow Dash so that she, too, could join everypony outside. Twilight waited long enough for Cheerilee and the Cakes to explain that they'd stay inside with the youngest fillies since it would be too great of a risk to take them outside, just in case, before heading out of the barn herself.
Despite the depressing occasion, the morning was actually quite nice. The sun was shining bright but the clouds were spaced just right so that nopony felt the need to shield their eyes. Twilight could see that everypony was gathering towards a tree towards the right of the barn. As she trotted over, she remembered Pinkie Pie's strange request from last night which caused her to pause and look in the direction behind the barn.
Ditzy Doo was still tied to a tree a short distance from the barn. The grey mare was standing motionless but was staring in the direction of the noise. Even in the bright light of day, the pale eyes of the zompony spooked Twilight and she quickly looked away, instead focusing her attention at the yard directly outside of the barn door. She titled her head, suddenly realizing that the ground should have had far more bodies then it currently held, which was none. Alarmed, Twilight looked around in vain to find them, suddenly concerned that the bodies had somehow risen overnight. But her frantic searching was calmed when her friend Applejack approached her from behind.
"Don't worry." she explained. "We spent the morning moving 'em. We didn't want anypony to have to see them during all this."
Twilight didn't have to ask to know that "anypony" was more or less meant to represent Rarity but she understood that a funeral of these circumstances wouldn't feel right by any of them if they were surrounded by dead zomponies the entire time. Good thinking on Applejack's part.
They walked together towards the right of the barn. It took a few minutes, but eventually everypony that wasn't on guard was standing outside. A hole had already been dug near a tree and Sweetie Belle's lifeless body rested beside it. Twilight could see from where she stood that the young filly was covered in crude material. Rarity stood near the body, staring down at the ground mournfully. Rainbow Dash had been sat down next to her (per her request), and both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stood nearby as well.
Twilight exchanged a glance with Applejack before they both moved to stand next to their heartbroken friend. A tight circle had formed around the hole and everypony was respectfully silent.
At first, nopony knew what to do. None of them had actually chosen somepony to lead the event and as such the silence turned to awkward shifting of eyes. But after a while, a brief shuffling ran through the crowd and soon Apple Bloom appeared with Scootaloo close behind. They approached Sweetie Belle's body slowly. Nopony tried to stop them from getting too close. In fact, their movement appeared to be exactly what the group needed to break the ice.
"Sweetie Belle, you were our very best friend." Apple Bloom said aloud, standing in front of the body with Scootaloo beside her. The orange and purple filly nodded to agree.
"You were a great Cutie Mark Crusader." she continued. "And we loved spending time with you."
A sharp sniff broke through the air and Twilight found herself glancing with just her eyes towards Rarity. The white unicorn's eyes were filling with tears, still staring down at the ground in pain. Twilight lowered her head further and listened as Scootaloo began to speak.
"You were always there for us and we wish you hadn't left so soon." The two fillies hesitantly stepped forward before carefully leaning forward to hug Sweetie Belle's body. They stayed still a moment, Apple Bloom starting to cry during the process, before both of them finally let go at the same time.
"Rest easy, Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo said.
"We'll never forget you." Apple Bloom added.
The two friends backed up so that they stood with the rest of the circle again. They appeared satisfied with their goodbye and everypony seemed to respect the maturity the two fillies had just shown.
Everypony waited for the next pony to pay their respects. A few ponies stepped forward to bow their head in respect but none of them provided a speech. Eventually it was clear that it was time for Rarity to say something, if she wanted to say anything at all. But nopony knew how to ask her. Twilight took the initiative to turn and look at her friend with polite expectation.
The white unicorn was trying her hardest not to break. She looked at Twilight with shining eyes before nodding. She was slow, but she brought herself to move closer towards her sister's body, all the while trying to swallow her own tears. Looking down at the misshapen heap below her, Rarity's lip began to quiver. It soon turned to shaking and then her eyes were squinting in agony. Fluttershy was quick to action, stepping up to stand next to her friend in support. Applejack joined in by approaching Rarity from the other side. Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, all three of them agreeing with just their eyes to stay put so that they didn't overcrowd their poor friend.
"I could have made it so much better..." Rarity managed to say through her short sobs. Twilight's shoulders sank at her words. She pitifully looked at Sweetie Belle's outfit made from hay and sacks.
"She deserved better..." Rarity added, her tears increasing. Applejack put a hoof against Rarity's arm and the white unicorn took advantage of the touch by leaning into it, eventually collapsing into the farm pony's arms. The orange mare frowned heavily, lowering her head so that her hat covered her eyes. A single tear could be seen rolling down her cheek.
Rarity continued to cry as Twilight watched two Apple family members approach the hole. It was Half Baked Apple and Golden Delicious, both of whom waited a few seconds before reaching for Sweetie Belle in order to lift her up.
"Oh, wait, please, wait!" Rarity stammered once she realized what they were doing. She released herself from Applejack's arms and stretched out her arms to place them on top of Sweetie Belle's head and back.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle..." she said, pushing her muzzle into her little sister's mane. "I'll miss you so much..."
Half Baked Apple and Golden Delicious frowned at the sight but waited until Rarity was finished. When the unicorn finally pulled away, the two Apple family members continued their duty, slowly lowering the little filly into the ground.
Fluttershy and Applejack each caught Rarity as she slumped forward. She raised her hooves to her eyes and she began to sob once more. The yellow Pegasus and the orange farm pony each hugged her tightly as she cried.
Once Sweetie Belle was placed properly, each pony in the circle took their turn to toss a bit of earth into the hole. The action was done in silence and everypony was allowed their right to pay their last respects to the poor filly. When they were finished, the ponies slowly made their way back to the barn, leaving Twilight with her five friends as well as a few stragglers including Haked Baked and Golden Delicious (who had taken it upon themselves to finish filling the hole).
Twilight approached Applejack cautiously, not wanting to disturb the emotions being felt. The orange mare looked up at the purple unicorn and met her eyes.
"Go ahead back to the barn, Twilight." she said. "We'll take a few more minutes out here."
Twilight nodded before turning to help Pinkie Pie lift Rainbow Dash. She couldn't imagine what Rarity was going through and she wanted to console her friend but knew it was best to leave her with Fluttershy and Applejack. Carrying Rainbow carefully, Twilight looked up at the barn. On top of it were three ponies, all looking in different directions. She was thankful for their assistance in keeping everypony safe.
"I hope Rarity will be okay..." Pinkie Pie said quietly.
"Me too." Twilight responded.
Once back in the barn and most everypony settled, Twilight looked around to figure out what the next course of action was. She didn't want to rush after such an emotional event but she didn't want to lose time either. The barn may have been safe for now but who knows what other cities in Equestria were going through. The sooner she found the Elements, the better.
Granny Smith must have had the same thought for she approached Twilight after only a few minutes and cleared her throat.
"Scout came back." the old mare said. "Ponyville is mostly clear. Only two zomponies were spotted and they weren't near your library."
Twilight nodded. "Thank you, Granny Smith." she said. "Sounds like I'll only need a few ponies with me. Maybe even just one."
"You sure?" the old mare asked.
"I think so." Twilight nodded. She didn't like the idea of running into trouble but she felt strongly that keeping the search party down to one pony would be the best decision.
"Well, alright." Granny Smith said, turning to leave.
"Oh, but I also need to talk to you about something!" Twilight said quickly. The old mare turned back around with a raised eyebrow.
"I actually need to talk to all of you about something." Twilight said a little louder, getting everypony's attention in the barn. All eyes were on her as the purple unicorn stepped into the center of the giant room.
"I know we all don't want to think about it but I really think we need to talk about what we should do if the Elements of Harmony don't work."
Whispers immediately began to flood the barn. Everypony turned to each other in suspicion and alarm. Twilight knew to expect this reaction and waited a moment before continuing.
"I want them to work as much as the rest of you. And I have strong hope that they will. But I think, given the circumstances, that we should think about the worst, just in case."
The whispers died down but nopony spoke up to directly agree with her. It was apparent by the looks on their faces that they hadn't wanted to consider this option, even if it was the logical thing to do. There was an uncomfortable silence until Braeburn suddenly spoke.
"She's right." He said, stepping forward. "It would be smart to have a plan B. We gotta take these things very seriously. That being said, what exactly are you suggesting?" Braeburn turned to look at Twilight with curiosity. The purple unicorn paused, looking at the Applelooza pony with a stiff upper lip.
"I think we should go to Canterlot."
The Apple family ponies met her words with great distaste. While none of them boo'd her idea, the looks on their muzzles were enough to convince Twilight that not everypony was happy with this plan.
"Not all of us." she quickly corrected, turning in a circle to make sure she looked at everypony equally. "I already know that the Apple family has a plan for what to do during emergencies and I wouldn't want to force you all out of the barn. But some of us should go. I think that if the worst should happen, some of us, including myself, should travel to Canterlot in order to investigate more about what has happened in Equestria. In fact, now that I think about it, I think some of us should go even if the Elements of Harmony do work so that we can figure out exactly what happened here and how we can prevent it from happening again."
Most ponies nodded. Some murmuring traveled throughout the room.
"But especially if they don't work," Twilight added. "We should figure out who would want to stay and who would want to leave."
"Sounds like a smart plan." Rainbow Dash said with confidence, bringing all eyes to her. "I'd definitely go with you, Twilight. I'll always have your back."
"Me too!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, nodding with a grin.
Twilight smiled at them both before looking at the rest of the ponies in the barn. Some of them looked away from her uneasily. Others simply stared with blank expressions.
"I don't expect you all to have an answer right away." Twilight said. "But I think everypony should think about it while I'm gone. I'll be leaving soon to retrieve the Elements from my library and my intention is to be back before sunset."
"I hope you're not leaving without me." a voice called from the front of the barn. Twilight and everypony else turned to see Applejack just walking in.
"You sure you want to come with me?" Twilight asked. "I figured I'd only take one other pony with me so if you really want to come along, you should know it would only be the two of us."
"Fine by me." the orange mare replied with a small shrug. Applejack trotted over to Twilight as though she hadn't just come from a funeral. The tears were completely gone from her cheeks and she even managed to smile a bit.
"Alright. Then let's head out soon. There's no time to waste."
"Tch. What's new?" Applejack asked. But her words were meant in a joking manner rather than annoyance so Twilight replied with a roll of her eyes and a smirk.
"Is Rarity okay?" Twilight asked more seriously.
"She will be." Applejack said. "She's still outside with Fluttershy. Probably good to leave her alone."
Twilight nodded, then turned just in time to see Granny Smith bringing her a small pack.
"Short trip or not, yer gonna need some food."
"Thanks, Granny." Applejack said. "We'll be back in no time."
Twilight shifted the pack onto her back before moving towards the door with Applejack. Before she left, she turned back to look at everypony one last time.
"Don't lose hope." she said simply. And then they were gone. |
The Royal Thief | pre | "That's what I thought, but there's nothing readily obvious about it." Wise Guy, who had finished putting away the remainder of the books from the pit in a cart, joined them.
"Let me take a look at it." He squeezed past Az and Longshot in order to get a better look at the switch. He poked his head around the false book for a few seconds before taking a step back with a puzzled look on his face. "It doesn't look like there's any other way it can move, unless..." He placed a hoof on the top of the book and pushed down on it. The circular panel of the shelf shifted down slightly and issued another soft click. Az and Longshot, who had been standing in the center of the pit to examine Wise Guy's musings felt the ground beneath them shift. At once, they both uttered small noises of surprise and stumbled off the now moving block of marble.
The panel shifted down and then underneath the floor where Wise Guy was standing. The low rumbling of the stone moving drew some onlookers around the mouth of the pit, but they went unnoticed by the three examining the new-found secret compartment. The moving marble slab disappeared under the rest of the floor, and Az could pick out the clinking of metallic gears through the growing noise of the crowd at the mouth of the archival pit. At the opening of the secret compartment, a glass case slowly became visible under the now waning moonlight that continued to shine in the room. It rose slowly, taking in and reflecting the light, and as it continued upwards, Az, Longshot, and Wise Guy could see their reflections in the perfectly polished glass. The case was a cube of five-by-five panels of glass, resting on a platform comprised of the same metal as the ancient Guard armor and weapons. At each corner of the base, grooves replaced sharp corners, which Az assumed were the mechanism by which the case was raised.
While the contraption was interesting in and of itself, what resided inside the case caught the attention of every eye in the room. Underneath the glass sat a ponnequin, slightly larger than those scattered throughout the main room, clad in a set of plate and leather armor that could only be described as magnificent. Instead of the same black metal as the rest, it was midnight blue in color, and left very little of the fake pony unprotected. Its structure comprised of shoulder, chest, leg, back, and facial protection. The gaps between each plate showed worn leather, also colored in midnight blue. Upon closer inspection, the plate showed signs of wear, with several small gashes and dents covering the chest and shoulder pieces. What drew the most attention, however was the wing and horn protection that the armor provided. The option for leading edge protection of both wing and horn showed that this armor belonged to an alicorn. Its coloration made it clear whose armor it was.
"No way" Clear Sky breathed from the upper level. She flew down to the floor of the pit and gazed longingly at the set of armor. "This must be Princess Luna's armor from before the Nightmare! I can't believe how well preserved it is!" Az looked over to see her practically ready to burst, the energy apparently spawning from the grin that stretched almost painfully wide across her face. A chuckle sounded from the top of the pit.
"Uh oh, we're about to witness another nerd-splosion" one of Clear Sky's teammates remarked, drawing a few chuckles. Clear Sky visibly deflated, and a dejected look spread across her face in response to the jab. Az walked over to her and shot a death glare at the speaker, who shrugged it off and left the rim of the pit.
"Why don't you open it, then?" he said to her, smiling. A small grin found itself back onto her face as she began nodding emphatically. She walked up to the case and circled around it, looking for a way to open it. Finding none, she reached up and began pushing and tugging on the case, to no avail.
"Maybe you need magic to open it" she said, looking to Longshot and Wise Guy, albeit with a disappointment. The two looked at each other and nodded. Az heard the clip clop of hooves on marble and looked up to see Flow descending the spiral staircase. Longshot and Wise Guy began trying to lift the glass off the pedestal, but it continued to resist any attempts of its removal. Flow reached the floor of the pit and inspected the team's find.
"Clear Sky, why don't you go about cataloguing our new find while we try to get it out of the case?" Flow said to Clear Sky, drawing a nod from her. She spread her wings and flew up to the main room to get her clipboard. He turned to Az, who was watching Longshot and Wise Guy struggle to lift the glass case from over the armor. "Az, would you have any ideas on how to get into this?" Az drew is gaze away from the case to look at Flow.
"Unfortunately, no. There might be some sort of magical trigger, or some kind of artifact that opens it via proximity, but outside of that, I have as much insight on this as you." Longshot and Wise Guy had given up their effort and stood glaring at the case, breathing a little heavier than they had been before. Az walked up to the case to get a closer look at whatever may be holding the glass in place. Seeing nothing, he inspected the contents of the case. The armor on its own was impressive, and Az noticed that nestled beneath the right wing-joint, the hilt of a thin sword in a blue, metallic scabbard was visible. I never took her for a fencer, different times... he mused continuing to look at the case. While inspecting the leg and hoof armor of the suit, the rear of which was emblazoned with a crescent moon, Az noticed a disturbance in the flat surface of the bottom of the case. He could not quite see what it was simply standing on the floor, so he reared up and put his front two hooves at the base of the glass so he could get a better look.
As he did this, a slight hiss escaped from around the bottom of the case. Az jumped back at the sudden release of pressure and landed a pace away from the pedestal. "Looks like the seal's popped. Longshot, you think you can give it another try?" he said over the continuing hissing noise. Longshot nodded and effortlessly lifted the glass from around the armor. Az took to wing and hovered close to the armor to see what the disturbance had been. It turned out to be a sealed envelope, with Her Highness, Princess Luna scrawled across the front of the envelope in elegantly lettered black ink. The paper of the envelope was inexplicably unyellowed by time, and as Az flipped the letter over, he saw that the black wax seal remained unbroken and untarnished by its age. The seal was detailed with the moon and dagger sigil of the Guard, and was as fresh as if it had been pressed the previous day.
Flow walked up to see what Az was holding and looked up at the armored ponnequin on the stand. "There was a magical release I recognized when you put your hooves up on the case." Az tore his gaze away from the pristine letter to look at him. "It was a stasis spell. An incredibly detailed, complex one. I could only catch part of the release conditions, but it seems that only somepony close to royalty could have opened it. It's either your ehem relationship with Princess Twilight," Az shot him a glare "or it could be the fact that you were the first Guard member welcomed into the order by Princess Luna since before the time of Nightmare Moon. Either way, it looks like you get to present her with this." Az nodded and looked back at the set of armor.
"This can't be seen by anyone in Ponyville. We're going to need to cover up the carts with something. The trick is, what could we possibly use?" he said, looking around. Flow nodded, thoughtful for a moment before the metaphorical light bulb clicked.
"You, Lightning Shift, and Shadow Wing will donate your cloaks and fly around Ponyville, meeting us at the train station." Az nodded, agreeing with the idea. Flow collected the ponnequin in his magic and began walking it up the staircase. His magic produced more light than the moon, as the dawn was fast approaching. "In the meantime, everypony should catch some rest, we'll get going out of here around sunset tomorrow."
The sunlight in the room was waning by the time Az woke up the next day. Most of his compatriots were still asleep, and those who were awake were poking around the new sets of armor and weapons they had acquired. He yawned, stretched his wings, and looked around the room. The pit was laid bare, as well as every weapon rack and ponnequin in the room. Princess Luna's armor was already wrapped up in a cloak and sitting in the same cart as the rest of the armor. He noticed Wise Guy poking around a section of wall on the far side of the room and walked over to see what he was doing.
"What's up?" he asked, yawning. "Find something useful?"
"You could say that" Wise Guy answered. His horn glowed and the outline of a door illuminated itself in the wall. "I think I found an exit, not sure where it leads, but it's gotta be easier than going back through those traps."
"Damn straight" Az replied. "Let's get this open then, we should probably figure out where it goes." Wise Guy tugged magically on the door, causing it to swing open. After telling one of the members of Heavy Squad to watch the door and ensure it did not close, thereby locking the pair out, Az and Wise Guy trotted through the opening to see where it led. The passage continued for a decent distance, but light was visible at the end of a lightly sloped tunnel. The rock returned to the dark granite of the original tunnel, and echoed as Wise Guy's hoof-steps bounced off the walls.
"How come your steps don't make any noise?" Wise Guy asked suddenly. Az showed him the bottom of one of his hooves, the shoe shining slightly in the gloom of the tunnel.
"Enchanted horseshoes. Cost me a pretty penny, but they work wonders don't they?" Wise Guy nodded and they continued on in silence. At the mouth of the tunnel, they paused to see where they had been deposited. "That can't be right..." Az started as he looked out at the vista. They appeared to be no more than a mile from Ponyville's outskirts, amongst the apple grove he had noticed on the train ride into town. "There is no way we walked ten miles in those tunnels is there?" Wise Guy shook his head in the negative. "Then how the hay did we end up here?"
"Magic maybe? I thought I felt a bit of rumbling when I was trying to fall asleep last night but this seems slightly absurd." Wise Guy scratched his head, puzzled. "In any case, we probably ought to let Flow know, this changes our plans a bit." As he was finishing the sentence, they both noticed movement outside the tunnel entrance and froze.
"...tellin' you, Pinkie. Ah thought ah felt some tremors comin' from this section of the farm last night." An orange mare with a brown Stetson hat walked in front of the tunnel, looking back at another mare, this one bubblegum pink, that was walking behind her. Az and Wise Guy stood still as statues, barely daring to breath as they watched the two mares come into view.
"Nope! Sorry Applejack, but my Pinkie Sense didn't do anything last night. I would have known if there was an earthquake, 'cause my whole body would shake and by eyes would have gone all whoa!" She sat up on her hindquarters and screwed her eyes up. She giggled before continuing "it might have just been your imagination." The two continued walking, apparently oblivious to the two black-clad ponies watching their every move in silent apprehension.
"Ah guess you're right. Maybe a bit too much cider. That Rainbow sure likes her competitions..." Applejack walked directly in front of Az and Wise Guy and continued on her way without looking at them. "Anyways, what's this ah hear about you organizin' another party? What's it for this time?"
"Oh, the new ponies that came through yesterday!" Pinkie Pie answered. "They were all gloomy and mysterious and went into the Everfree forest! Since they have to come back through Ponyville to get to the train station, I thought I'd throw them a surprise party!" She giggled but suddenly tensed up. He back left leg shook and her right ear flopped forward, causing her to gasp and Applejack to turn around to see what was happening.
"What is it?" Applejack asked, concerned.
"Left leg shake and right ear flap! Somepony's watching us!" The pink mare wheeled around, searching for the source of the sensation. Her gaze passed right over Az and Wise Guy, and settled on a squirrel sitting in a tree a few yards away. "Oh it's just a squirrel. False alarm!" She giggled and bounced off, humming to herself. Applejack shook her head and followed after her, chuckling.
Once they were out of sight, Az and Wise Guy let out a sigh of relief. "Well, we know to steer clear of the center of town tonight" Az said. "We'd best get back and get ready to leave. I guess there was some sort of magical façade hiding the entryway here. Might be worth a look once we're out." They returned to the room and told Flow about what they had found.
"A party?" Az and Wise Guy nodded. "Great, just what we needed, some random pony throwing parties for a secret mission into the Everfree forest. We need to steer clear of the town, take a back route in."
"Should be easy enough" Iron Feather stated from across the room. "Just a matter of avoiding a large group of ponies, likely waiting for us at the edge of town. I say we just go around them." Flow nodded.
"Alright, once the sun's completely down, we head out through that door, get to the station as fast as possible, and get out of here."
Once the sun had finally descended below the horizon and the moon took its place in the night sky, the eight Guard members with cloaks on departed for the train station, and the other seven departed through the sky. The group seeming appeared out of the side of a stone wall, etched into the hill on the Apple family's western orchard. The flying group spread out to avoid detection, and met with one another on the side of train opposite from the majority of the town. Fifteen minutes later, eight cloaked figures made their way from the outskirts of town to the train station, loaded the carts, and departed Ponyville.
Az sighed as he pulled back his mask and hood and gazed out the window at the countryside, which was now bathed in moonlight. Easy enough job, no snags, I could get used to this kind of work. He looked around the train's compartment at the Guard members, who were spending their time chatting and telling jokes. I really can't believe this line of work didn't come up sooner. He spent the rest of the train ride lost in his thoughts about the last few days.
Upon arriving back at the base, they were greeted by Captain Shade, who nodding approvingly at the full carts unloaded from the back of the train. "Well done, everypony. I trust the mission went well?"
"Aside from being berated by a ghost for using rank, yeah, everything went swimmingly" Flow responded. Some of the party chucked at his remark, and Captain Shade looked at him with a puzzled expression. "I'll tell you in the debrief. In the meantime, I think some food is in order." He looked longingly at the long house, which showed signs that food was being served, based on the smoke coming out the chimney.
"I actually need to speak with you and your team first" Captain Shade said, suddenly growing serious. Flow looked slightly dejected at the thought and looked back at Shade. "I have a mission that needs to be taken care of, and your team is the best qualified to get it accomplished. Meet me in my office in fifteen minutes." He turned back towards the building as several ponies stared, dumbfounded, at the back of his head.
"Great, looks like we have to work some more" he muttered to Az. "I'd better go spread the word, see you there in fifteen." Az nodded and began walking after Shade to hear about the new mission.
Pinkie Pie stood at the edge of the Everfree forest, waiting for any sort of movement to allow her to spring her super surprise party. She had been waiting for hours and many of the town's residents had gone home, too tired to wait out the band of cloaked strangers for any longer. She was beginning to lose hope as well, and really hoped that they would love all the preparation she put into the surprise. There were streamers everywhere, balloons, confetti, and cake! So much cake.
The sun dipped below the horizon, and her hoped began to dwindle to nothingness. Only her bestest of best friends were still with her, and they too were showing signs of fatigue. She was about to call off the party (a thought which broke her heart) when all of a sudden she felt a small tap at her shoulder and looked over to see a small paper airplane lying on the ground. Her friends gathered around her as she picked it up. Unfolding the paper, she was able to see that somepony had written her a note.
Pinkie Pie, I'm sorry that my friends and I are unable to attend the party you had lined up for us outside the Everfree forest. We're kind of working right now and can't afford the attention. Thank you for the thought, and tell your friends I said hi. -Az
P.S. The cake is delicious.
Pinkie whirled around to see a slice of cake missing and let out a small giggle before showing the note to her friends. |
The Royal Thief | Chapter 14 | Chapter 14
Az followed Captain Shade into the long house. The main room was largely devoid of any activity, due in large part to the fact that over half the Guard was still outside, taking care of their finds from the room in the Old City. The smell of freshly roasted vegetables hit Az's nose as he entered the building, causing a low growl to emanate from his stomach. He reluctantly ignored the sensation and continued on to Shade's office. The office's decor remained the same as it had been the previous day, with the exception of an added ponnequin in the back corner of the room. It remained largely bare, sporting only the helmet Shade had shown Az two days prior.
"Waiting to complete the set?" Az asked with a small grin as he sat down along the back wall of the room.
"You could say that" Shade replied, as he sat down behind his desk and rested his elbows on its surface. "I trust you did find more armor in there, right?"
Az nodded "along with an armory's worth of weapons, a full library, and what seems to be Princess Luna's armor from eons ago. Flow seems to think I'm going to be the one to deliver it."
"'Cause you are" Flow said as he walked in the door, followed shortly by Longshot, Wise Guy, and Lightning Shift. They each sat down in a line abreast of Az, facing Shade's desk.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Shade waved he forehooves around in the air, jumping up. "You found what exactly? Because it sounds like you said Princess Luna's armor." He eyed each of the members of Nighstalker in turn.
"Exactly what it sounds like" Flow said matter-of-factly, raising a hoof. "It was hidden under the floor of the archive. It took some doing, but it seems Az was the one meant to open it, after all these years." The other ponies nodded in agreement. "Which is why I said he'll be getting it to her, some sort of magical connection. The case was protected by a stasis spell," he explained after receiving a quizzical look from Shade, "and I caught a bit of the release conditions, not much mind you, when he touched to case to get a closer look." Shade's mouth had dropped open and stayed open for another few seconds before he shook the surprised look off his face.
"Right, uh, make sure you take care of that as soon as you can kid, I'm sure she'll love seeing it again." Shade sat back down. "Now, back to business. I have a mission for you. This is a top priority, and I need to reiterate the fact that nopony but the three princesses can know about its details without their express permission. This includes members of the Guard other than myself. Any questions before I get into the full brief?" Five blank faces stared back at him. "Good, now the mission will be taking place in the Tigran Empire, which as you are well aware is a sovereign nation, not some little island in the middle of the ocean. Since this is the case, your abilities will likely be put to the test to ensure that you go undetected throughout the course of the mission. If you are caught, it will likely cause an international incident." Az and Longshot exchanged a confused glance, causing Shade to pause in his briefing. "Something you two think needs to be shared?"
"Uhm, yeah, actually" Az said hesitantly after giving Longshot another glance. "I don't know when you were last there, but Tigra doesn't have a cohesive central government. It's governed by a parliament of the most dominant clans, typically those consisting of tigers, hence the country's name. Just like in any society, there are rivalries and alliances, sometimes outside of the borders of the nation itself. Hay, a few I worked for were close friends with the dragons. That being said, in the unlikely event that we get caught, it's probably not going to cause an incident, as the clan would probably keep us as some sort of leverage over a rival. Only if we manage to piss off the top three or four clans in their parliament will we be brought up."
Captain Shade looked thoughtful for a moment, bringing his hooves together and looking down at his desk. After a moment, he looked up at Longshot. "Can you confirm this?" he asked. She nodded, and he reciprocated the motion. "That uncomplicates things a little, less international politics to worry about. Thank you for your insight, Az. But as you said, it shouldn't come to that." He stood up from behind his desk and walked over to the bookshelf, retrieved a large roll of paper with a pull ring in the middle of the open fold, and attached it to a hook above his window. "Now that we have that cleared up, I need to get on with the mission details. Your target is the Javrash family complex in the capital city of Felisa. Javrash is the top military planner of the Tigran Empire's army, and it has come to our attention that he has recently been drawing up plans for an invasion of several neighboring nations, to include Equestria." He pulled down on the roll of paper revealing a blown-up map of a city. "While it is doubtful that anything will come of these plans, it is better to be safe than sorry. Princess Luna agrees with this sentiment and has asked us to go in, copy the plans, and get out."
"How do we know these plans are final?" Longshot interjected.
"We have a source within the household that has told us as much. The plans were presented to the Tigran government and approved, "should they ever become necessary." Again, the use of these plans is highly unlikely, but we need to be sure Equestria's safe. You will be landing the airship-"
"Wait a sec, the airship? A little conspicuous don't you think?" Flow asked suddenly, with a degree of exasperation.
"I know it's your pet project, but a group of five ponies suddenly showing up via train with sets of armor is also a bit conspicuous." Shade replied with a small sigh. "As I was saying, your landing zone is here, in a small clearing two miles west of the city" he pointed to a point on the map, marked with a red "L". "The trick is, you need to trust the airship to land on its own, since you will be airdropping into the city. Looks like you get to put that auto-land function you installed to the test, Flow."
"It was mostly Princess Luna though, I have no idea how it's supposed to function!" Flow whined as he threw his hooves up in exasperation. "My beautiful airship..." he lowered his head and began moping. Shade shook his head and turned to Az.
"When you bring that armor to her, be sure to ask the Princess how the system works. If she has a manual, all the better." Az nodded, taking a mental note to ask about it. "So like I said, you'll be airdropping in. From there, you need to infiltrate the building, copy the plans, and make it out of the city undetected. As this is a covert op, and largely deniable to the princesses for political reasons, you will be responsible for yourselves; don't expect anypony to come bailing you out if shit goes sideways. The operation needs to be completed within four hours so you can get out of there before the sun comes up. The mission is easy enough, so I expect a complete success. I have managed to acquire the blueprints of the building, and we will be constructing the layout first thing in the morning. From there, you will be practicing both the airdrop and the building infiltration for the next week. Any questions?"
Wise Guy's hoof went up. "When you say constructing the layout, you mean that we'll be working with rough outlines, right? And not a full building?"
"The building is a single-story complex. Short, but sprawling, we'll be constructing walls to mimic the real thing. Does that answer your question?" Wise Guy nodded. Lightning Shift was the next to speak up.
"I've heard that the heat can be pretty oppressive in Tigra. Has this been considered for those of us who typically wear plate armor? And if so, what are we going to do to rectify the situation?" He looked over at Az, who gave him a sideways glance before speaking himself.
"I have this one, Captain." Shade nodded. "This time of year, it's what they consider winter in Tigra. It's pretty comparable to summer here, so it's still pretty warm, but at night the temperature should be downright comfortable, even in plate armor." Lightning Shift nodded at the answer before facing Shade's desk again. Shade, in turn, cast his eyes over the team one more time, ensuring there were no further questions before dismissing them to whatever they needed to do that night.
"One thing more, Az" Shade called out as Az was about to walk out the door. He stopped, looked at Longshot who responded with a shrug, and turned back into the office. Shade was rummaging through one of his drawers and retrieved a badge depicting a dagger crossed over a crescent moon and tossing it to Az. "You'll need this if you planned on getting Princess Luna's armor to her while she's awake. The Lunar Guard takes their jobs far too seriously. Just flash this and they shouldn't give you any issues. If they do, just do what you do best." Az looked up from the badge with a grin.
"Easy enough. I'm assuming no armor?" Shade offered a nod in response, and Az began walking towards the door. "Alright, thanks for this, I'll probably drop it off after I grab some grub, whatever Hammer was cooking up smelled pretty damn tasty."
Two hours after eating, Az neared Canterlot. The flight had been more or less smooth, especially up at altitude, and the moon shone brightly at a three-quarter fullness. The temperature may have been a problem if Az wasn't struggling against the weight of Princess Luna's old armor, which, despite the reduced weight of using the mystery metal, was still substantial due to the sheer amount of overall surface area. He managed to get all of the armor into his saddlebags, but was forced to wear the helmet because of the oblong shape, and needed to sling the sword over his shoulder since it was too long for his bags. As the helmet slipped over his eyes again, he cursed the decision to wear it instead of tying it off and dragging it like Longshot had suggested. Az could see the outer suburbs of Lower Canterlot slipping beneath him, dark with stray houselights dotting the grid-like neighborhoods. He climbed a little more to allow for an uninterrupted flight to the castle.
As he leveled off, Az could see two dots traveling to meet him at a point ahead of him. Here come the good guys he thought wryly. He reached back into his saddlebags for the badge that Captain Shade gave him after the briefing and held onto it as the two dots slowly proved themselves to be members of the Lunar Guard. They came to a hover a quarter mile in front of Az and waited for him to approach. Once he was within speaking distance, one of the bat-ponies called out for him to stop. Az came to a hover and waited for them to say something.
"A little late to be out for a flight, don't you think?" the bat-pony on the left, a large male said. "Mind telling us what you're doing out, and why you have that absurd helmet on your head?" he spotted the sword hanging at Az's side. "Or a sword for that matter?"
"What you don't like my helmet? Aw, shucks, everypony's been telling me it looks cooler than you guys do on a good day." The two Lunar Guards scowled at him and were prepared to charge him when Az produced the badge. "Relax compadres. Special delivery for Princess Luna, courtesy of the Guard."
"Which guard?" the other bat-pony, a female, asked indignantly.
"THE Gua- ah wait, you guys probably aren't allowed to know about it." He waved a dismissive hoof before continuing. "In any event, I was told this badge will get me though. So what'll it be?" The two Lunar Guards looked at each other for a moment before motioning for Az to follow them to the castle. They continued flying over Lower Canterlot before quickly reaching the base of the mountain, and from there Canterlot proper. The castle remained another five minutes away, if Az remembered correctly, and he passed the time sightseeing, since his escort wasn't particularly talkative after being made fun of.
Once they reached the castle, Az made to touch down, but his escorts continued on ahead, so he continued following them to his final destination. They approached the top-most tower of the castle, to which a balcony was attached, protruding ten hoof-lenghts into the air before ending abruptly with a golden banister. In the middle of the balcony, Princess Luna stood behind an enormous telescope, which appeared to be made of solid bronze, and was covered with more mathematical instruments than Az knew names for. He removed the helmet as he landed on the balcony and placed it between his wings. The female bat-pony cleared her throat to catch the Princess' attention.
"One moment, please! I must finish this constellation." She did not take her eye away from the telescope, but placed a hoof on a small, ruler-like instrument and gave it a small push. "Perfect" Az heard her mumble. Her horn glowed, and Az looked up to see a single star appear to finish the constellation of Pisces. She took her eye away from the telescope with a perturbed look on her face to see who had disturbed her. "So what is it this time?" She spotted Az and her expression brightened. "Ah, Azure Wind, how kind of you to stop by. To what do I owe-" her sentence trailed off as she saw the helmet sitting between Az's wings. The Lunar Princess' eyes grew wide and she looked back and forth between Az and the helmet on his back, only to be greeted with a sheepish grin on his face each time she looked back at it. "You may leave" she said quietly to the two bat-ponies, dismissing them with a wave of her wing.
Once they had left, Princess Luna motioned for Az to follow her inside. She magically unlatched the doors, whose gilded frames swung noiselessly inwards to reveal what looked to be part mechanist's workshop, part observatory, and part bedroom. The Princess' eyes rarely strayed from the midnight blue helmet resting on Az's back or the bulging saddlebags he was carrying. She took a seat at a circular table in the middle of the room, and Az followed closely behind, only taking the time to place the helmet and his saddlebags on the table. Luna was the first to break the silence.
"Is that-? I-I mean, did you find-? How-?" Az nodded, and began unpacking the armor plating from his saddlebags.
"I take it this is yours then?" he said with a chuckle. She nodded emphatically, almost savoring the view of each piece as he retrieved them from his saddlebags. "We found it in the Old City, on a little trip we took to collect a room full of artifacts from the early Guard. Hidden away in a secret compartment under the floor, if you'd believe it. We also found this" he retrieved the letter from a side-pouch in his saddlebags. Luna's sapphire-colored magical aura enveloped the envelope as she brought it up to her face. She inspected the envelope for a few moments before breaking the wax seal, sending crumbled bits falling to the table. She opened the envelope, retrieved the letter from inside and began reading it to herself. As she continued, her eyes began to water, and by the time her eyes had reached the bottom of the page, she had held a hoof up to her mouth, as if to prevent herself from crying.
"I can come back later, Princess" Az offered, turning back towards the door. Luna's eyes snapped up, as if she suddenly remembered he was in the room. She rubbed her eyes quickly and cleared her throat before shaking her head.
"No, that will not be necessary, Azure Wind. And please, just call me Luna. All of them did..." she sadly cast her eyes to the letter before returning her sapphire gaze to Az. "So you were telling me about how you came by this armor?"
"Like I said, we found this a secret compartment in the Old City. Strangest thing, we couldn't get the case it was sealed in open until Iof all ponies touched it. Do you have any thoughts on that?" Luna looked up from the armor, which she was arranging in an order which, it seemed to Az, would allow her to put it on rapidly if need be.
"Not particularly, you would need to ask the spell-caster regarding such matters" She replied. With a flick of her horn, the armor came to life, and flew up to surround her. A few short motions later, Luna was clad in her old battle armor, sans helmet. The armor was not exactly the same color as her coat, but it was still striking, as her wings unfurled to test the sheaths now covering them. She cast her head back and forth to see if any of the armor pieces were misplaced before testing it with a few short jumps.
Satisfied, Luna removed the armor as quickly as she had put it on, and reverently placed it by the section of the room that resembled a mechanist's shop. After placing each piece on a workbench, she turned back to the table Az was sitting at. Upon sitting down, she looked over the items still sitting on the table, her helmet, sword, and the troubling letter Az had presented to her. She cast another sad glance at the letter before levitating it to a small table sitting next to the large four-poster bed in the corner of the room. Az could see limited detail on the bedframe due to the low light in that section of the room, but he could tell that its dark-colored linens were bunched and balled up, a point that irked Az to no end. He turned his attention back to the Lunar Princess as she sat down on the red-cushioned chairs surrounding the rounded table.
"So, you managed to come by my effects, did you? I do believe that tonight's constellations can be set aside since you obviously went out of your way to do something remarkably kind for a pony you hardly know." She lifted the rapier off the table, drew it, and stared at it with a critical eye. She stood up from the table, sword still gripped in her magical aura. "I'm sure you must have questions for me, the wayward alicorn sister." Her tone, although grateful at the start, grew bitter. She took a sword-fighter's stance and gave her rapier a few experimental swings before nodding with approval.
"Princess-"
"Luna" she swung the sword again.
"Alright then, Luna, if this is a bad time, I can come back..." he stood up from the chair and began walking backwards towards the door. Luna froze mid-swing, her eyes growing wide and looking over towards Az with a look of apologetic shock on her face.
"What? Oh, no, no, no. Why would this be a bad time?" Az stopped walking and motioned towards the bedside table.
"Well, the letter seemed to affect you a bit, I thought it might be better if I maybe came back later," he watched as her expression dropped from that of apologetic shock to one of dejection and sadness. Az felt a pang of guilt and sympathy hit him once he witnessed the shift in attitude. "Unless you'd like the company, Luna." Her expression brightened as she offered a nod and a small smile, sheathed and set down her rapier, and took a seat at the table in the middle of the room. She motioned for Az to follow suit, and once he had sat down she cleared her throat of the lump that had formed there and spoke.
"I am sorry, Azure Wind. That letter brought back some very old memories, ones I wish I do not have, but alas, such is the passage of time; all you can do is look back and sigh. My mind drifted elsewhere. Did you have any questions for me? We have not had time to talk since you were inducted into the Order."
Az nodded and placed his elbows on the table, much like he had seen Shade do every time he entered the office. "I wouldn't be worth my salt as a scholar if I didn't have a few lined up. And you can just call me Az, everypony apparently does." She offered a small chuckle in response.
"I shall keep that in mind, Azure Wind. Now, what are your questions?"
"First off, what's the deal with this room? I can't quite figure out what the hay is going on in here." Az cast a hoof across the room's cluttered interior and turned back to see Luna simply staring back at him. "Did I say something wrong?" Luna snapped out of whatever she was thinking about, blinked, and looked to Az to answer his question.
"My apologies, you simply reminded me of a...very old friend" she said quietly, a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips. "As to this room, these are my chambers, I thought that much would be obvious" she stated matter-of-factly.
"I just never would have pegged this as anypony's room per se. I mean, the star charts I get, the mess...I kinda get, but the workshop? You lost me there, Luna." Luna. That felt good to say out loud. And judging by her countenance earlier, it must get pretty lonely being the only one awake, I guess she could use the company. Luna looked around the room with a confused look on her face.
"I do not understand what confuses you, Azure Wind. As you said, the star charts are part of who and what I am, as I take charge of painting my canvas each night with the lights of seventeen million, eight-hundred and fifty-eighty thousand, nine-hundred and ninety-one stars. But my quarters are messy?" She looked around again, confused. "And what of my workshop? Why is it surprising to you?"
"First of all," Az said, holding up his forehooves, "the fact that you put over seventeen million stars up each night is a work of art, and nothing less." She rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously!" he continued, "my old job took place at night, and only in the last three years have I been able to appreciate the night sky."
"You are too kind" she said, blushing slightly.
"Not even remotely. I steal stuff for a living, remember?" Az chuckled slightly, with Luna joining in quickly before continuing. "As to messy, I guess I'm just a bit of a nitpick when it comes to that, if you'd seen my place you would understand. Now, as for your workshop, I just never pinned you as a mechanic, or even a tinkerer for that matter. I had never heard anything about it before, either, and I read a lot."
"Oh that is what you were referring to. Not many ponies know this about me, but I do enjoy creating mechanical items for a variety of reasons and applications."
"Like the auto-land sequence for the airship?"
"Precisely!" she replied, her face brightening considerably. "Why, have you tried it? Does it work? Tell me tell me tell me!" She was practically bouncing in her seat, leaning over the table with an overly excited look in her eyes.
"We, uh, haven't tried it out quite yet, but we'll be using it in our next mission." Az was leaning back in his seat, attempting to avoid the alicorn's foalish onslaught. "Speaking of which, Flow asked about getting an instruction manual, he's stumped." Luna sat back in her chair with a humph.
"It does not surprise me that he needs a manual, the dense sod. I will see what I can do, and send it over as soon as I can." Az nodded before thinking of another question to change the subject slightly.
"How did you get into all this mechanical stuff anyways?" He regretted asking the question when Luna's face darkened. "Um, you don't need to answer that, sorry..." Luna waved a dismissive hoof, her face still holding a saddened expression.
"It is fine, Azure Wind. Only my sister remembers me from before my banishment to the moon, and this has been a small mystery to her as well. It is not a memory I revisit with fondness." She looked to Az, who continued watching her expectantly from his seat across the table. Luna took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and collected her thoughts before starting her tale. "As you well know, I returned to Equestria as Nightmare Moon, a version of myself born of the jealousy and hate that I bore towards Celestia. There have been a number of different metaphysical, philosophical, and psychological arguments made as to why the transformation occurred," she waved a dismissive hoof, "but I alone know the truth of the matter. Strong enough negative feelings, coupled with my connection with the Elements of Harmony and the ambient magic native to Equestria combined to create the Nightmare. While I was under its influence, I was prone to orchestrating deprave acts; I had no mercy, no love, no compassion..." She shuddered, took another breath and continued.
"I was eventually stopped by my sister and banished to the moon for the next one thousand years, but the Nightmare lingered with me, tormenting me for all those years."
"Excuse me for interrupting, but I thought you and Nightmare Moon were one in the same?" Az interjected into the story. "You keep referring to "the Nightmare" as if it were a separate entity, why is that?"
"Oh, of course, I apologize, you would not have known about these things. The Nightmare was a physical manifestation of my strong negative emotions. As I said, it combined with some very powerful magic and took shape about me. It was not, however, a simple alteration of my physical form and augmentation of my natural abilities. The Nightmare was...alive. Somehow, it knew how to keep control of me, forcing me doing what it wanted, and it made me believe, truly believe, that I wanted those things to occur. It is a...complex matter." She looked to Az with a small look of hope, to see him nod in response to her explanation. "You understand then? I would not thing one as unversed in magic as a pegasus would quite comprehend what all of this means."
"I think I got the gist. But I'll have you know it's likely I understand more about magic than the typical unicorn" he stated with a slightly teasing tone. When she offered a quizzical look he shrugged it off, "years of study and incessant reading. But anyways, I interrupted your story, please continue." Luna, resigning herself to his answer, carried on.
"Right, where was I, ah yes, banished to the moon. I arrived on the moon, once my charge, my love, my reason for being and found only despair in its luminescent surface. The Nightmare raged against our fate for five, maybe six years before it discovered something about itself that I wish it never had. It...retreated inside of me, as if hibernating. It would resurface after a decade or two, and reassert its control over me, ensuring I was still malleable to its will." She could feel a knot forming in her throat and attempted to clear it with a small cough. "In the interceding years, I learned to shape the rocks and minerals of the moon. I created massive structures, simple machines, and any number of individual trinkets. I soon found solace in my growing skills and was able to use my new inventions and creations as an escape from my punishment.
"Once I was restored by the Elements of Harmony I found myself staying in here, my room, brooding over what had been and what may be as a result of my unjust jealousy. I found myself beginning to tinker with small metal items, and it soon became a hobby that I could lose myself in after finishing my night sky. Metal is much easier to work with than stone, after all." She finished with a slightly happier tone, casting a look over her work space. "And now, Azure Wind, you have heard a story none but my sister can have claimed to have heard before. What say you?" she finished quietly, looking back at her workshop.
"Why did you decided to tell me?" he asked. "Why not somepony else? Somepony you know a little better maybe?"
"I-I do now know, Azure Wind. Something compelled me to tell you my story so I did. It could be that magical connection you spoke of earlier."
"Seriously, you can call me Az."
"Noted. Now I have a question for you." She crossed her forelegs on the table. Az leaned forward, ready for whatever question she had posed for him. "Would you like a refreshment? I have a particularly refreshing wine-cider mix, if you are interested." He almost fell out of his chair. She smirked at his now shocked expression as she hopped from her chair and strode towards a small cabinet situated in the workshop area of her room. The cabinet was a rich mahogany, with stylized brass hinges and door pulls. As she reached the cabinet, she pulled it open with magic and stuck her head inside to inspect its contents. "I also have some brandy, a strangely spicy Draconian whiskey, a halfway decent Tigran scotch, and some juice" she called from inside the piece of furniture.
"I, uh, I'll have whatever you're having" he stammered in response. Luna's head popped out from the cabinet, a clear bottle containing a light amber fluid in tow, held in place by her magic. She levitated two wine glasses from across the room and placed them on the table as she arrived with the bottle.
"Wine-cider it is then" Luna stated, hopping back into her chair. She chuckled at Az's still shocked expression as she began pouring the fragrant liquid into the two glasses. "Azure Wind, you must understand how this relationship is going to work." Az's eyes snapped from the glasses to her face, suddenly going cold with suspicion. "I am a Princess of Equestria," she continued, ignoring his hardened stare, "and as such am burdened with a great number of various topics that weigh heavily on my mind. You are now a trusted confidant in some of those matters." Az relaxed in his chair before reaching for a glass and taking a deep draught of the liquid. "However, you are also a member of the Guard, an institution whose core principle is secrecy." A small smile crept onto her lips. "That means I'm going to need to ply you with drinks to get any good stories out of you."
Had Az not previously swallowed his mouthful of the wine, he would have spewed it across the room. He was, instead, reduced to simply staring at Luna with another degree of shock generally reserved for none but the direst of situations. His surprise soon gave way to a small chuckle, which Luna joined in on quickly. Az took another sip from his glass, an impish grin playing on his lips.
"You're going to need some harder stuff than this then" he said, chuckling again.
"Perhaps," she replied, "but we do have until morning, do we not?" She appeared hopeful he might agree with her, although her face also betrayed some apprehension. A night drinking and swapping stories with Princess Luna. Sure, why not? Az thought. He nodded with a small smile and she beamed and clapped her hooves together. "Oh, this is truly good news! It has been so long since I had a friend to just sit and talk with." There's that word again. I guess friendship can be contagious, and if nothing else, I have a good bailout system. "Now, let us start with something I know you will be more than pleased to talk about: how you evaded the Lunar Guard after they spotted you and gave chase."
Az grinned and put down his wine glass. He looked around the room for a moment before he found what he was looking for on one of Luna's workbenches. He hopped down from his chair, drawing a confused look from Luna, and walked over to the bench where he retrieved two small dowels with bulbous ends and walked back over to the table. "I need props for this one" he explained. "Any chance you can make this one look like a pegasus and this one look like a bat-pony?" Luna nodded, still confused, and transformed the metal ends of the dowels as Az had asked. The pegasus was the spitting image of Az himself, sans armor, and the other identical to a Lunar Guard member. "Wow, you don't mess around with attention to detail, do you?" Az said to Luna, admiring the statuettes. After giving a nod of approval, Az reared up on his hind legs, held the figurine of himself in front of that of the Lunar Guard and cleared his throat.
"So no shit, there I was..." |
The Royal Thief | Chapter 15 | Chapter 15
Flow, Lightning Shift, and Wise Guy stood outside the long house as the sun continued to rise above the treetop parapet, bathing the courtyard of the base in its early morning light. Wise Guy yawned noisily while Flow let out an exasperated sigh. He checked the position of the sun, judging the time to be roughly seven. Looking back towards the doors of the building, Flow could see Longshot returning with a confused and slightly worried expression on her face.
"Nothing then?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"Not even a note" Longshot answered. "This isn't like him," she said nervously, scanning the sky, "I would have thought he'd be the first one out here."
"Maybe he got caught up in Canterlot?" Lightning Shift suggested, looking up from where he was preening his wings. "He was delivering that armor to the Princess, right? It's likely he stayed at his place for the night." He looked closely at his right wing and continued his grooming regimen.
"Still, he would have been here on time. He was there when we agreed on six thirty, right?" Longshot said, her tone growing exasperated. "I mean, what if the Lunar Guard gave him trouble? He can handle himself in a fight, but he isn't a soldier by any stretch of the imagination."
"Longshot, relax" Flow said before she could continue her rant. "I'm sure Az'll be along shortly. And if he isn't, we have something to do today other than build stuff..." he glanced over at the stacks of lumber that were delivered earlier that morning. Wise Guy yawned again, but the sound was cut short by blaring sirens going off, indicating an approaching pegasus. Flow jerked his head over to see his team jumping at the noise. "Lightning!" he barked.
"On it!" Lightning Shift shot up into the air, trailing a stream of static electricity as he flew off. The sirens cut off as Captain Shade came running outside, along with Proxis and Iron Feather, both of whom looked like they had very little time to put on their armor before running outside. Shade gave a hurried look over the group before turning to address Flow.
"How long has he been in the air?"
"About fifteen seconds, he should have intercepted at this point." Flow let out a short chuckle. "Tell me again how you managed to pull the Wonderbolts' top recruit out from underneath them?" Shade returned the chuckle.
"Promises of adventure and excitement the Wonderbolts couldn't match." He squinted to where Lightning Shift had flown off to, and could just make out two shapes flying towards the base. "Made for an interesting meeting when that dragon popped up in Ponyville. All those promises and he got to read about something more exciting that what he was doing in the news. He was not a happy camper by any stretch of the imagination." He shook his head, remembering the experience. "In any case, it looks like he found whoever was flying in. Probably Az?"
"It's likely, how'd you figure it out though?" Flow looked at Shade with a confused expression.
"Pretty easy actually. The kid's not here, and there are only two ponies flying back. Simple process of elimination" he explained nonchalantly, turning to Proxis and Iron Feather. "You two can go about your business, everything here is taken care of." The two nodded and walked back towards the long house. Once they were out of earshot, Shade turned to Longshot, who was watching the two shapes closing in on the base. "I take it this is abnormal behavior?" She turned away from watching the sky long enough to glance at Shade.
"Yeah, lateness usually isn't his thing. Unless he's on a job and made plans to meet with somepony for dinner... But I digress, late isn't his thing." She looked back down to see three curious faces looking at her. "What?"
"Dinner? So you two were an item!" Wise Guy exclaimed triumphantly. His jubilation was quickly silenced with a punch to the shoulder by an irritated Longshot.
"No, we were not" she said, annoyed, to the group. "It was to discuss plans for our next job. It's much safer to meet in public over a meal than trying a whole bunch of cloak and dagger. Ponies tend to notice suspicious activity like that, especially guards." As she finished talking, Az and Lightning Shift cleared the parapet and quickly descended to join the group. As the two touched down, Flow cut the conversation short.
"Nice of you to join us. Get caught in traffic?" he said, walking up to Az.
"Heh, no, sorry about that" Az responded sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I got caught up talking with Luna. Oh, speaking of which, the reason I'm late is because she was writing this up for you" he reached back into his saddlebags and retrieved a slim book. He gave it to Flow who flipped through a few pages before letting out a low whistle and showing it to Shade.
"Manual for the auto-landing mechanism. This looks like it took weeks to prepare though" he flipped through a few more pages. "The drawings are beyond precise, it almost looks like they could jump off the page at me." He looked up to see Az chuckling. "Something funny?"
"She predicted you would say exactly that, intonation and everything. As for the jumping off the page thing, check this out." He reached out to the page of the manual Flow had open and tapped on a small mark in the upper right-hand corner of the page. As he did so, the picture on the page, an exploded diagram of the control board, projected itself into the air, causing Flow to drop the book in surprise. The book remained open as it hit the ground, and the diagram grew, expanding as it moved further away from Flow's face. It glowed a faint blue, weak in the morning sunlight, and Flow leaned in for a closer look, having gotten over his initial shock.
"Well that's something" he breathed. "I'm going to need to take a closer look at this later, actually learn how to use the system I guess." He shook his head, grinning, as he closed the book and turned to Az. "You really have it in good with royalty, don't you?" Az chuckled softly and shrugged.
"What can I say? I guess I'm just that charming." The rest of Nightstalker chuckled along with him and Shade simply shook his head, a ghost of a grin playing along his lips.
"Alright, alright. Everypony's here, now get to work, you have a lot of construction to take care of today." He turned to leave before Az cleared his throat, catching his attention. "Something else, then? You never can leave it as it is, can you, kid?" Az chuckled again, and, reaching into his saddlebags, retrieved a small bag that emitted a faint clinking noise as it moved about in his grip.
"I guess you should have figured that out at this point. In any case, Luna and I came up with these last night." Shade levitated the bag towards himself and retrieved a piece of its contents, a small metal block, sized as if to fit alongside a pony's head underneath a helmet, with two wires protruding from it. The thicker of the two wires remained straight after leaving the body of the block and ended with a small slotted section after three inches. The second wire was curved, and although thinner than the first, was covered with a rubber tube. After inspecting it, Shade passed it to Flow, who looked it over with a larger degree of curiosity.
"This is the point where you tell us what it is, if I'm not mistaken?" Flow asked, looking up from the small device.
"Oh! Right, yeah, sorry about that" Az said, suddenly realizing the design was not as obvious as he and Luna thought it would be. He walked over to Flow and took the small block from him. He fitted the rubber encased wire over his ear so that the thicker, slotted wire sat close to the corner of his mouth. "They're communicating devices, enchanted so that you can talk to each other without needing to be near each other." He took five more out of the bag and passed them to his teammates and Shade, indicating for them to put them on. "Wait right here" he said before winging to the other side of the courtyard and stopping to hover. He began speaking, and much to everypony's surprise, they could hear him clearly enough to understand. "So yeah, they pretty much work just like this. Pretty neat, right?" He flew back to where the other ponies were standing, each sporting a different variation of a surprised expression.
"So Luna and I thought these could come in handy so we put together enough for every member of the Guard" Az said, landing next to Longshot. "We just can't have more than one pony talking at once. It was... painful." He winced and rubbed his ear, as if remembering having his eardrum blown out.
Shade, as usual, was the first to recover from his surprise. "Well between you and the Princess, it looks like we have a decently functioning brain" he said, drawing chuckles from the now recovering members of Nightstalker. "I'll ensure these get used from now on, they definitely seem like they could help out in a pinch." He took the piece out of his ear and placed it back in the bag. "I'll take these back to my office, you guys hold onto those, since you'll be building all day. Now get to it, you ship out in a week." He collected the bag of communicators in his magical aura and walked towards the long house.
Once he was out of earshot, Longshot turned to Az with a bemused look on her face. "What is it with you and Princesses nowadays?" A devilish grin spread across her face. "Does Princess Twilight know you're cheating on her?" she said, causing Flow, Wise Guy, and Lightning Shift to almost fall over laughing with the sudden accusation. Az, in turn, scowled at her.
"As I have told you before, Twilight and I are friends, nothing more. The same now goes for Luna." He coughed before quickly adding "that typically happens when you talk shop over seven or eight drinks." The laughing died instantly, and eight eyes focused on Az as he proceeded to rub the back of his head, looking more sheepish as time passed.
"Wait, seriously?" Lightning Shift asked, shaking his head as if to clear it. "I had heard she's kinda, you know, weird. I mean, after a thousand years on the moon and all..." He looked around at the others for support.
"So let me get this straight," Flow said, "I sent you up there to drop off her armor and she gives you drinks and chats with you all night?" Az nodded. "What the buck?! I should have dropped it off myself!" He sat down on the ground and pouted. Az rolled his eyes and began walking towards the pile of lumber in the corner of the yard.
"Can we walk and talk? I kinda didn't get any sleep last night and the sooner we get this done, the better I think." The others quickly caught up and it wasn't long before the questions continued to flow, causing him to breathe an exasperated sigh and trudge forward, his head closer to the ground and ears flattened.
"But really, is she weird like everypony says?" Lightning Shift asked, pressing forward with his previous line of questioning.
"No more than you or I," Az replied, "but she does slip into old-timey Equestrian now and then, especially when telling stories about her past. Other than that, she was pretty cool to talk to once she opened up."
"And how did you get her to do that?" Longshot interjected, a devious grin spreading across her face.
"Nothing I did, per say" Az responded, shrugging. "Apparently I reminded her of somepony she knew once, though I was never able to figure out who she was talking about." They arrived at the stack of lumber to find it divided by beam length. A set of blueprints was stapled to the front of the stack, folded over several times to account for the size of the building to be constructed. "Well here we are, that's it for story time I think, now we can get started, right Flow?" Hearing no response, Az looked around to see where Flow was. While the group had set off towards the lumber pile, Flow remained seated, still pouting that he missed a chance to drink with royalty. Shaking her head, Longshot whistled loud enough to catch his attention, but also caused those nearby to cringe at its pitch and volume. Flow perked up, looked around to see he was abandoned in the middle of the field, and hurried over to the lumber pile.
"So boss, what's the plan?" Wise Guy asked, grinning, "that is assuming you're done moping." Flow glowered at him, still embarrassed before clearing his throat and walking over to the pile to inspect the blueprints.
"The plan is for you to stop making smart-ass comments, first of all" Flow said, unfolding the plans. Wise Guy winked at him, causing Flow to roll his eyes. "As far as the mission goes, we're going to make the layout today, which should take four or five hours if we push it. Tomorrow is gear check and planning, and the rest of the week is practice, full gear the whole time." Longshot, Wise Guy, and Lightning Shift groaned, while Az looked at them confused. "Hey, hey," Flow interjected, "you know how I work."
"Better uncomfortable now than dead later" the three deadpanned in chorus.
"Right." Flow was about to return to looking over the plans when he saw Az staring at the other three confused. "Oh, sorry, I forgot you're new. Whenever we have to practice for an op this big, I like to run it in full gear to make sure we're ready to go. I'm sure you did something similar in the past?" Longshot barked out a laugh, causing Flow to look over at her with an arched eyebrow. "Something I miss?"
"Plan anything? Mister Fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants over here? No matter how much prep I usually do for a mission or job, he shows up totally unprepared every time." She continued chuckling to herself.
"Whoa now, I'm never unprepared" Az retorted. "Just because I never do run-throughs doesn't mean I don't prepare."
"Whoa, whoa, you've never done a run-through before a job?" Wise Guy asked incredulously.
"Yep" Longshot answered, still smirking. "It's caused a few close calls, if I'm not mistaken?" Az snorted, causing her to chuckle again.
"ANYways," Flow interjected agitatedly, before the conversation could go any further, "we do run-throughs here, and will be doing a lot of them before the week is out. We'll do the gear check at noon tomorrow, that work with everypony? We'll be working pretty hard today to get this framework done, and I want us to get enough rest this week." The rest of the team nodded in agreement. "Right, so let's get started with this. I'll lay down the pattern magically, and we just need to fill in the frame for now. We'll get to securing everything once all the boards are in place." His horn flared, and the outline as shown on the blueprint page lit up on the field with an ethereal glow. "Alright folks, let's get this done."
After five hours of placing, fitting, and nailing together the frame of the building, Nightstalker made their way back to the long house to eat and get some much needed rest. Az, who had spent the previous night awake, was the first to make his way back towards his room. Sunlight still streamed through his window, although it contained the light gold color of early afternoon. He set about putting away his saddlebags and gathering up his armor before heading to bed for the afternoon and night. Az looked his armor over and searched through each of the pockets, ensuring that everything he left in them was still there. Satisfied that nothing went missing since he left the previous night, Az placed his armor by the door and turned back towards his bed, yawning loudly.
Might as well close the blinds at least he thought drowsily. After doing so, he rolled onto his bed to finally get some shuteye. As he rolled onto his side, he felt a slight crinkling sensation underneath him. Weird bed, it feels like I'm lying on paper. He yawned again before his eyes snapped open with the realization that he was laying on a rolled up piece of parchment. Getting up off the scroll, Az picked it up with a wing to get a closer look at it, but having closed the blinds only moments beforehand, was unable to make out any details about it. He hopped out of bed to try and avoid messing up the covers too much and walked over to the window. As he opened the blinds, sunlight once again streamed into the room, hurting his eyes.
Wincing, Az looked back at the scroll gripped in his wing. Despite being wrinkled from having been laid on, he was able to discern that it was neatly rolled up and sent by Twilight, as the crest affixed to the ribbon indicated. What does she need this time? I thought she went back to Ponyville... He slid the ribbon off of the letter and unrolled it, noting it smelled more like books than usual. I guess she did send this then, lives in a library if I remember right. He was about to begin reading when he noticed the penmanship was different than the previous letters she had sent him. Instead of the typical flowing script she regularly used, the writing style appeared rigid and rudimentary, as if the quill was manipulated by a hoof rather than magic. Confused, Az began reading. Az,
First of all, I'd like to thank you for making Pinkie's day yesterday. She was positively ecstatic that somepony actually showed up at her little surprise party. Admittedly, some of my friends still have their doubts about you, but you definitely won her over. That being said, I've received permission from Princesses Celestia and Luna to bring them to your base of operations, pending approval from your commander. After you managed to snag a piece of cake from under our noses some of the girls have been itching to see if you've "improved" after taking Fluttershy's Element. Pinkie also said something about getting some pointers, but I don't think you need to indulge her in that endeavor. I know this is a little short-notice, but we were hoping to come visit as soon as possible, there are a lot of things coming up that we need to get ready for. Could you please talk to your commander about this? If he gives you any trouble about letting random ponies on base, just tell him they're the Elements of Harmony, that should smooth things over.
Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle
P.S. Oh, and if you were wondering about the penmanship (I would too) it's because my assistant, Spike, is writing for me as I dictate.
Az sighed as he finished reading the letter. He rolled it back up and tucked it under his wing before rubbing his temples in agitation. "I'm never going to hear the end of this" he muttered, walking towards the door of his room. He opened the door and almost walked into Longshot as she stood with a hoof raised to knock.
"I was just coming to talk to you" she said, slightly surprised that the door was suddenly replaced with Az's face.
"So I noticed" he replied, looking at her raised hoof. She chuckled nervously before lowering it to scratch at the back of her head. "So what's up, L?"
"Just letting you know what the deal is for tomorrow," she spotted the scroll tucked under Az's wing, "but more importantly, what's up with the letter?" She plucked the letter out from under Az's wing with her magic eliciting a surprised noise from him and trotted down the hallway, opening it. "Oooh, it's from Princess Twilight! Any good lovey-dovey stuff in here?" she teased as Az sprinted down the hallway to catch her. Upon catching up, he lunged for the letter, only to have it tugged out of his reach at the last second by Longshot. He flapped his wings before hitting the ground, and turned quickly to prevent her from getting further down the hallway.
"Oh, c'mon, Az. What're you going to do to stop me from reading this to the whole main room?" she asked, the devilish grin he was beginning to hate spreading across her face.
Better fight fire with fire here, or explosives at least. The angry expression stretched across his face vanished, replaced with a smug look. "Oh, nothing. Later, though, I wouldn't be surprised if all of my grenades suddenly rolled under your door while you sleep soundly in your bed."
Her eyes narrowed "you wouldn't."
"I might" he narrowed his eyes to match hers, as a smirk spread across his face. She humphed and held the letter out to him he took it quickly, rolled it up, and replaced it under his wing. "So what's the deal with tomorrow?" he asked pleasantly, and began walking down the hallway.
"We're meeting up at noon, like Flow said. Make sure you bring all of your stuff that you plan on bringing on the mission. After that, we'll be planning entry and egress routes, shouldn't take more than an hour or two. I just figured I'd remind you since you took off pretty early after lunch." They reached the main room and Az stopped to go into Shade's office. "You're always in there, you know that?" she asked, bemused.
"Much to my chagrin, as well as his, I can assume" Az responded, before knocking on the door. Longshot rolled her eyes and walked back towards the rest of the team. After hearing Shade call for him to enter, Az opened the door to find Shade looking through some new letters. He looked up from the papers and cocked an eyebrow at Az.
"Kid, can I get through a single day without you coming into my office for some reason?"
"Probably not. I do have a question for you, though." He took the letter out from underneath his wing and held it out to Captain Shade. The letter became enveloped in the captain's silvery-grey magic, and floated over to him.
"Still getting love letters from the Princess, huh?" Shade unrolled the scroll and began reading. Once his finished, he levitated the letter back to Az, who tucked it back underneath his wing. "So the Elements consider you some kind of pet project. How lucky for you." Az chuckled dryly. "Well, if they have the three Princess' permission, I can't see any reason to deny them access. Do you have any idea how they'll arrive?" Az shook his head. "Fantastic, well you be sure to ask that when you write back and let me know, will you?" He looked back down at the pile of papers in front of him. "Have them come in later in the week, like Thursday or Friday. You can use them for practice, have them wander the building and sneak around them, that sort of thing." Az nodded and walked out the door. He walked over to the rest of this team to tell them what was going on.
As he expected, they broke into laughter after he told them. Shaking his head, he made his way back towards his room, yawning the whole way. Once he reached his room, Az dug his quill and ink out from his nightstand and set about writing back to Twilight. His response simply read:
Shade's ok with it. I just need to know how you girls will be arriving, and whether Thursday or Friday would work better? Sincerely, Az
Az rolled up the letter, replaced the ribbon around it and said "send." The letter vanished in a puff of green flame and smoke. Az yawned again, put away his writing utensils, closed the blinds and climbed into bed, falling asleep almost instantly. |
The Royal Thief | Chapter 16 | Chapter 16
The next morning AZ woke up to a letter suddenly appearing in a flash of green flame and smoke above his face. He bolted upright, half expecting the hair around his nose to be engulfed in flame, only to let out a sigh of relief and chuckle at his own jumpiness. Wiping the sleep out of his eyes, he unrolled the letter to find Twilight's assistant's sharp penmanship staring up at him. While his eyes were accustomed to the low light from being asleep, it was not bright enough in the room to discern what each individual word actually said. Az sighed as he left his bed, looking longingly over his shoulder as he left the warm embrace of his blankets. Reaching the blinds, he pulled on a string, causing them to open and allowing the grey early morning light to fill his room. It was cloudy outside, with the appearance that a storm would be heading through within the next few hours. Resigning himself to remaining indoors for the remainder of the day, Az looked back to the letter and began reading. Az,
Thank you so much for talking to your commander for me. The girls are excited to get a tour of the base and see whatever else you have in store for us. We will be arriving by chariot, much like Princess Celestia, Luna, and I arrived on during my last visit. As to which day is preferable, Friday seems to be a likely candidate as we can take the day off as an excuse to extend our weekend. Thank you again, and we will see you on Friday.
Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle
Az rolled up the parchment and looked back outside, where he could see raindrops beginning to fall here and there across the courtyard. He looked over his shoulder at the clock on the far wall it see it read six-thirty, thus affording him a little extra sleeping time. He was about to crawl back into bed when he heard a soft knocking coming from the door. He made his way across the room, and suppressing a yawn, opened the door to find a worried-looking Longshot standing outside. Upon seeing Az standing in the doorframe, she relaxed slightly.
"Hey, L, what's the matter? You look pretty spooked about something?" he asked, wiping at his eye.
"Can I, uh, can I come it?" she responded in a small voice, her green eyes betraying a degree of uncertainty Az was not used to seeing in her.
"Uh, sure, yeah, come on in" he said, stepping out of the way. She stepped into the room and he closed the door behind her, following into the main living space. She gave a nervous chuckle upon taking in her surroundings. "What?" Az asked, cocking an eyebrow as he walked up next to her.
"It's just messier than your usual living spaces" she replied, still in the diminished tone that gave Az pause. Regardless of his misgivings, he still snorted at the comment.
"I was pretty damn tired last night, er, afternoon. Staying up all night will do that to you." When she didn't return with a snarky comeback, his concern grew. He sat down on the bed and motioned for her to join him. She paused at first, unsure, but eventually made her way next to him, her ruddy green coat looking mud-like in contrast with the black covers. "L, what's the matter? You've got me pretty concerned right now" he nudged her with a wing, snapping her out of whatever reverie she was in.
"I, uh, you remember those bad feelings I used to get before some jobs?" she asked, looking at the floor.
"Yeah, and then everything invariably went sideways?" He arched an eyebrow. "Why, are you getting a bad feeling or something?"
"I'm not sure, it-it's just that sometimes when I think about the mission I feel like I'm suffocating. Like something really, really bad is going to happen and there's nothing any of us can do to stop it." She continued looking at the floor and Az could see her eyes beginning to glass over. "I don't know why I feel like this!" she growled, clenching her teeth, as if trying to bite back tears. "I mean, I have you and the other guys and we're going to be so well prepared, but I just feel, I don't know, helpless or something..."
"Exactly" Az draped a wing over her shoulders to try and comfort her. "You're going to have all of us with you, and I promise you, nothing is going to go wrong as long as I'm around, alright?" She nodded stiffly, before closing her eyes against what tears were there and sniffing loudly. "And hey, if everything goes wrong, I'll be there to pull your sorry flank out of the fire. Again." He grinned and prodded her in the ribs with an elbow, eliciting a small chuckle out of her.
"Heh, you'd like to think so, wouldn't you?" she responded, a little more strength returning to her voice, although it still remained shaky. She cleared her throat and made to get off the bed, allowing Az to furl his wing back alongside his own body. As she hopped onto the ground, she looked back at him with a small smile. "And, hey, Az?"
"Yeah?" He ruffled his wings, feeling that some of his feathers were out of place.
"Thanks, I really needed that. I mean, I'm not usually this much of a basket case. I don't know what it is."
"Hey, don't mention it, that's what friends are for, right?" He looked back at his wings, searching for the offending feathers.
A thought struck Longshot and her eyes snapped wide open before narrowing to look at Az who, in turn, wore a surprised expression on his face because of her change of attitude. "You better not tell the others. I just got them to start talking to me, much less liking me."
"My lips are sealed" he chuckled back at her, ruffling his wings again.
She smiled at him before turning towards the door. "Alright then I'll let you get back to sleep. See you at breakfast or something." He scoffed, causing her to turn around, confused.
"After all that? I'm wide awake now, not to mention I've been sleeping since early afternoon yesterday. I'm thinking I might do a couple dozen laps around the courtyard, I've been getting lazy since I got here." She rolled her eyes and continued walking towards the door.
"Just don't hurt yourself," she called over her shoulder, "we need you in top shape for the weekend, you know." He chuckled as she left the room and quietly closed the door behind her. Once he heard the click of the latch, Az stretched his wings again, and, furling them, hopped off his bed towards the window. He pushed it open and placed his forehooves on the ledge and took in a breath of the cool morning air before leaping out of the building, opening his wings as he did so. Az banked as close as he could to the wall before leveling out and following the perimeter of the base, flapping just enough to get his heart rate up. A few dozen of these ought to set me right he thought. Longshot doesn't scare easy, I'll need to be sure I'm ready to go once we leave, gotta keep her safe. He paused in his train of thought, thinking over the rest of the team. Gotta keep them all safe.
After completing two dozen laps of the courtyard, a combined length of twelve miles, Az landed in front of the long house. Upon entering the room, he was greeted by the scent of freshly cooked breakfast foods, and walked over to the counter where Hammer had just finished serving Clear Sky, who, after muttering a few words of thanks, disappeared up the stairs and into her room. Hammer watched her go and shook his head, a wry smile on his face.
"Yeesh, that kid never stays around to chat." He turned his attention to Az, who had also watched Clear Sky disappear out of the room. "Anyways, what can I get ya? Oh, wait, don't tell me. Toast and fruit?" he asked with a grin.
"You got it" Az replied, grinning back. Hammer disappeared behind the swinging doors to the kitchen, leaving Az to look around the main hall to try and ease his boredom. I would wonder why Clear Sky is so antisocial if I hadn't seen her teammates being so mean to her myself he mused. Maybe I can talk to Flow about it, see if he can work something through Iron Feather. He could see that he would need to wait for that, however, as he was the only pony in the room at the moment, and likely would be for the next hour. Hammer returned with the tray of food, a simple meal, but more than enough to get his day started. I may even get to eat it this time too. He thanked Hammer and made his way over to one of the benches where he sat down to eat.
Fortunately, his breakfast went uninterrupted by flaming mail. As he finished the last piece of fruit, he stood up to return the tray to Hammer, who managed to pass the time by reading over the daily newspaper, The Manehattan Times, which he inexplicably managed to receive on time daily. Hammer looked up as Az placed the tray back on the counter and, folding up his newspaper, got up to retrieve it and put it in the dishwasher. Az started to walk away before Hammer stopped him by clearing his throat.
"What's up?" he asked, turning around.
"You got a little bit o' time on yer hooves?" Hammer responded.
"Until about noon. Why, what did you have in mind?" Az arched an eyebrow, and walked back towards the counter.
"Yer team's doin' equipment checks today, right?" Az nodded. "Then I need to get the new equipment to everypony and you're in charge of doling it out, since I'm goin' to be workin' all afternoon in the forge, tryin' to figure out how to make that black metal." Hammer walked towards a door to the side of the counter and left the kitchen, leaving a "be back in 15" sign up in the open window. The pair walked to the forge in silence, which Az was thankful for, given the increasing heat and dryness of the hallway as they continued towards the ruddy orange glow at the end of the tunnel. Upon reaching the forge itself, Az noticed it looked remarkably different than it had when he and Flow had visited the previous week. Where once swords and armor adorned the walls, notes and pages copied from the ancient Guard tomes now covered every square inch, up to the height where Hammer could see them easily without the benefit of wings.
"You've been busy" Az remarked with a low whistle, looking around at the walls.
"You could say that" Hammer responded with a low grunt. He retrieved a piece of paper from across the forge and studied it carefully before looking back up at Az. "Now, lessee here. Ya've got Flow, Longshot, Lightning Shift, and Wise Guy on yer team, right?"
"Right."
"Alright, so I only have three things for ya, since I haven't been able to work out how to modify our crossbows to the old materials quite yet." He walked to the opposite side of the forge, where Az could see him looking through a crate that presumably held the weapons that they had picked up on their mission. "Two daggers and a sabre" Hammer called across the forge, catching Az slightly by surprise.
"Who's the sabre for?" Az asked, walking over to Hammer.
"Flow, he was some kind o' big hotshot fencer at the University or something, likes it better than using a crossbow." Hammer pulled his head out of the crate, two daggers in tow in his magical aura. "Well here's these, give me a sec to find the sabre." He walked over to another crate and poked his head back in. Az took a moment to inspect the blades, they appeared identical to the one that he was initially given by Hammer when he first arrived at the base with the sole exception being their coloration, black metal with a black grip, inlaid with the crest of the Guard, also in a matte black color. He looked up as Hammer emitted an "aha!" from inside the crate and removed his head, followed by a long, thin sword with a slight curve to it.
"Alright, so here's the deal, kid" Hammer started, giving Az the sabre. "The two daggers are identical to the ones you and Lightning carry right now, so ya should be all set as far as fitting them into yer sheaths. The sabre, however, is very different than the one Flow already has, so ya tell him to make his way down here later on today to get a scabbard made up for it." Az nodded, looking over the blades with interest. "And the members of yer team with plate armor pieces need to come by to get outfitted too, sooner rather than later." Az nodded again, looking up from the blades. "Alright, good, now the hell outta my forge."
Az absentmindedly toyed with his dagger, spinning it around on its point, effectively drilling a hole into the table's surface. He sat alone at a table in the main hall, his armor's contents arrayed in front of him as he waited for the rest of his team to show up. The sabre and other dagger sat on the table across from him, waiting for Flow and Lightning Shift to take charge of them. The blades did not reflect any light, rather they seemed to suck it in, much like the dark corner of a room in the middle of the night. Az had been toying with names for the mystery metal, ranging from simply black steel to hard shadow. While not seriously contemplating what it should be called, he needed something to do to offset the boredom of waiting around for three hours.
Longshot was the first to join him at the table, placing her hybrid plate and leather armor next to, but across the table from, Az's. She plopped down on the bench on the opposite side of the table and rubbed her temples with her forehooves before looking up at Az with a small smile.
"Hey there bud, feel better after your workout?" she asked.
"More or less, what about you? Still getting those feelings of foreboding helplessness?" he answered, putting his dagger down on the table. Lightning Shift walked up and threw his armor on the table next to Az's.
"Longshot's getting a bad feeling? Shit, the last time that happened was right before the Changeling invasion." He sat down next to Az, who passed him the new dagger. "Ooh, new stuff!"
"It's nothing" Longshot said quickly, suddenly very interested in the table. Lightning Shift made a noncommittal grunt, carefully studying his new blade. Flow then walked up with Wise Guy, each carrying their armor behind them in their respective magical auras. Wise Guy was chattering on about something that obviously was unable of holding Flow's attention for any extended amount of time, and was simply reduced to background noise as he continued towards Az, Longshot, and Lightning Shift at the table. He put his gear down and eyed the sabre suspiciously, then looked at Longshot who directed his attention to Az, who had returned to twirling his dagger around on the table.
"What's the deal with the sabre?" he asked Az, who looked up from his spinning blade to see Flow beginning to pick it up in his magic.
"Courtesy of Hammer. He said you need to get a new sheath though, your old one apparently won't work with it. Oh, and those of you with plate armor you need to see Hammer to get outfitted with the new stuff." Flow nodded, placing the sabre back on the table.
"Alright, let's get the gear check going, see if we can't finish up early today. Longshot, why don't you start?" She nodded, shifting her armor on the table so that everyone could see it.
"Alright, same armor as I've been using, leather and small bits of plate, nothing too fancy. I carry three separate quivers, one with my sniping bolts, two with smaller hoof-cannon crossbow bolts. I keep sleep darts in a small pouch under the sniping bolt quiver." She picked the armor up off the table and placed on the floor in front of her, underneath the table. Her horn flared, and three crossbows materialized in front of the group. The largest Az had seen before, it was her specially made sniping crossbow, capable of hitting a target accurately at half of a mile. The two smaller crossbows looked as if they were designed for griffons, since they were able to be held in a clawed grip. They were significantly smaller, but still capable of delivering a killing blow at a short distance. "Alright, here are my toys, sniping crossbow, and two hoof-cannons, pretty self-explanatory." Her horn glowed again, and the weapons disappeared.
"Good. Lightning Shift, why don't you go next?" Flow said, nodding. Lightning Shift sighed, nudging his armor into the center of the table.
"I'll make this painless" he said quickly. "Standard issue leather armor, lets me be quick on my hooves. I keep my dagger under my left wing, also standard issue."
"Thanks for the brevity" Flow said, chuckling. "Wise Guy, you're up." The unicorn shoved his armor into the center of the table.
"I have the same deal as Lightning. Standard issue plate armor, minus a few unnecessary pieces, standard issue crossbow, bolts on my left side." He shifted his armor off the table with a small flick of his horn.
"Alright, I'm up next" Flow said, placing his hooves on the table and standing on the bench. "I have plate armor, set up for maximum protection when fencing, enlarged left side pauldron and the like." He shifted the armor off the table. "I carry a sabre instead of a ranged weapon since I'm more effective with a sword. I also handle the defensive spells." Az looked around the table to see Lightning Shift, Wise Guy, and Longshot staring off into space, each apparently bored beyond comprehension. "And that leaves the pony with a thousand pockets. Az, you're up."
Az chuckled as his teammates seemed to perk up given the occasion to actually garner some new information. "Well, as you said," he said, looking at Flow, "I kind of have more pockets than I know what to do with. A lot of them are for storing stuff I've stolen, but some actually contain useful mission items. Primarily," he placed five small orbs, each varying in color, in front of him, "these. They're impact-reactive grenades, each with a different function." He motioned to the one on his far left. "White is flash, it makes a bright, blinding light. Next is grey, these produce a lot of smoke. Yellow are what I like to call flash-pop. Bright flash of light, accompanied by a deafening pop." His teammates were paying close attention and nodding along with each explanation. Attentive crowd for once. This usually never works... oh wait, I'm thinking of trying to explain it at a bar he thought bemusedly. "Green is tear gas," he continued, "and red is incendiary. That covers the grenades." He placed each in their respective pockets on the armor.
"My armor is custom made, and is inlaid with a number of different runes that offer me protection from any number of things, the most important being that it can't be manipulated by magic." He produced his signature ebony dagger. "This is an ebony dagger, honed beyond razor sharp, it stays in a sheath in my right breast pocket." He pointed out the pocket in question. "My standard issue dagger sits between my wings so it doesn't get in my way during a scuffle. At least that's how Hammer described it." He shuffled through the remainder of his preparedness equipment, from emergency light sources to a host of different antidotes and poisons to help with most jobs. As he placed the last item back into its pocket, he looked over at Flow, who nodded and produced the blueprints of the complex.
"Alright, folks. Show and tell time is over. Time to start planning how we actually bust into and out of this joint." He unrolled the plans and smoothed them out, while Lightning Shift and Longshot pinned down the edges with a dagger and a crossbow bolt, respectively. Flow and Wise Guy secured the other end of the blueprints in a similar fashion, and five heads leaned in to get a better look at the plans. After a few minutes of close examination, Flow leaned back away from the group. "So, ideas?" he asked them.
The group was silent for a moment, before Longshot garnered their attention by clearing her throat. "Well, we could always go in through the window of the room." She looked around at her compatriots, hoping for a reaction.
"What about neighbors?" Wise Guy asked, looking closely at the blueprint.
"Not an issue," Flow answered, "the whole complex is surrounded by a fifteen hoof tall wall.
"What about patrols in the yard?" Az asked, looking up from the document. Flow opened his mouth but closed it quickly, contemplating his response before actually answering. "Actually, I should have asked what the yard looks like, where we'll be landing, stuff like that. I'm guessing we'll need a wide open area?"
"No, actually" Longshot answered. "You and Lightning can land wherever you want, and we" she motioned to Flow and Wise Guy, "can simply teleport down." She refocused her gaze on Flow, who was rummaging through a saddlebag to find the layout of the complex.
"Then that brings me to my initial question, what about patrols? Three unicorns teleporting in will create a lot of light. Not exactly stealthy." Flow had found the plans and laid them on top of the blueprint. Wise Guy leaned in, scratching his chin.
"What about this stand of trees here?" he pointed to a smaller courtyard in a corner of the greater complex. "These could give us enough cover if they're packed tightly enough." Longshot leaned in to examine where Wise Guy had just pointed.
"Perfect," she said, "it's a bamboo privacy shade, pretty common in Tigra actually."
"So will it give us enough cover?" Flow asked.
"Easily" she answered. "Then all we need to do is sneak past whatever patrols are around and make it in through that window, copy the plans and get the hay out of there." She leaned back from the map with a satisfied grin on her face.
"Um, hate to be a Negative Neighncy," Lightning Shift said, clearing his throat, "but what if we can't get in through the window?"
"What do you mean?" Longshot answered, suddenly troubled.
"We need to have a contingency plan, something I learned in the Wonderbolts training camp" he answered. "Two contingencies, preferably, we need alternate means of getting in and out given the window is barred or something."
"Sounds like a good idea" Flow said, nodding. "So let's say we need to use the back door over here, right next to the window, and if all else fails, the front. Because if one window is barred, it's probably safe to say they all are." He pointed to the aforementioned spots on the map. "This just means I'll need to tweak the fleshing spell to include the yard as well." He looked over the scope of the entire area. "Or I could call in that favor Solemn Chant owes me" he muttered to himself.
"Who's that?" Az whispered to Lightning Shift.
"Leader of Magelight, pretty heavy duty spellcaster as far as Guard members go" he answered quietly. Az nodded in understanding, returning his gaze to the map.
"Alright, so here's what we'll do" Flow said, bringing his gaze to bear on the group. "We'll go out now and do a few run-throughs, see which way is fastest from each door. Tomorrow we'll start full-armored practice runs, starting with the airdrop in. From there, that's how the rest of the week will go." He looked at Az, and remembered the visit that would be taking place later that week. "Oh, right, you have some visitors coming in at the end of the week." He began grinning, causing Az to scowl at him before turning to address the group.
"Right, the Elements of Harmony are coming in on Friday. I guess I'll be the one touring them around, so that's going to take a chunk out of practice time." He could see Longshot beginning to get giddy in the corner of his vision. Sighing, Az continued: "Captain Shade suggested that we use them for practice though, intersperse them throughout the building and sneak around them."
Flow's smile lessened slightly, his eyebrows furrowing as if in thought. "That sounds pretty helpful, actually. Friday you said?" Az nodded. "Ok, we have some work to do between now and then. Let's get this done." He stood up from the table, magically rolling up the blueprint and map and stuffing them in his saddlebags. After picking up his armor, he led the rest of the group outside, and dropped his belongings alongside the side of the long house. Flow walked up to the frame and touched his horn to the wooden beam itself. As he did so, his horn flared, and he frame responded in kind by flaring up, appearing similar to an aurora. After another flash, brighter this time, solid-looking white walls stood where once there was nothing but a clear view of the rest of the courtyard. Flow straightened up to admire his work before turning to the group. "So, shall we get started?" he asked, grinning.
The rest of the week was spent running practice drills, trying different avenues of approach to the compound, and continually attempting to move faster and faster throughout the building itself. During their downtime Flow could be found studying the instruction manual for the auto-landing sequence, Lightning Shift did time trials around the courtyard, continually attempting to set a new speed record, Wise Guy disappeared to nap, and Longshot spent her time scoping out the building with Az for possible locations for traps. Friday consisted of nothing but downtime until the Elements of Harmony showed up, so Az and Longshot walked around the framework, this time accompanied by Lightning Shift, who was on detail with Az to intercept the chariot as it approached the complex. The morning sun, while not particularly strong, still managed to bake them within their armor, causing them to continually tug on the loose openings to get more airflow.
"So I think we've covered every single possible trap location in this building" Longshot said with a small note of satisfaction. "Unless Tigrans managed to up their security since the last time either of us were there, I think we should be all set to take care of whatever comes our way." She closed her notebook, a small flip-top pad that contained all of her notes on potential threats and locations that could cause the team difficulties. To Az's surprise, she somehow managed to fill up half of the book. Between her endless scribbling and drawing, it was a wonder her pencil was still more than just a paper-thin piece of wood and graphite.
"You certainly did a good job documenting it" Az said, and Lightning Shift nodded with bemused agreement. "How many other notebooks like this do you have?"
"One for every mission like this I've done" she responded matter-of-factly, blinking in confusion, "why?" Az was about to respond when sirens started going off around the base.
"Just wondering if we should be concerned about you wasting paper or something" he said quickly.
"Looks like that's our cue" Lightning Shift said, spreading his wings. Az followed suit after pulling up his mask and hood, and the two took off in unison, leaving Longshot standing in the middle of the wooden framework.
"Oh, he was mocking me" she said in sudden realization.
Meanwhile, Az and Lightning Shift sped towards the incoming golden dot. As they approached the chariot, they spotted a separate dot, more brilliantly colored, yet smaller than the chariot, and speeding along the treetops instead of staying with the group. Az called over to Lightning Shift and pointed towards the wayward flyer. Lightning Shift nodded and sped off towards the separate dot, static electricity following him as he increased in speed. Az continued on coursed and pulled up to a hover two hundred or so yards in front of the advancing chariot.
"Halt! Who goes there?" he called out, mimicking what he had heard Proxis call the last time he was on escort duty. The chariot detail pulled up to a hover to mimic his fifty hoof-lengths away, and Twilight looked over the side to the chariot, past the heads of the Royal Guard, to answer.
"Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony, um, minus one" she grinned sheepishly at Az who arched an eyebrow in confusion. Before he could open his mouth, however, Lightning Shift flew to his side, escorting a rather put-out looking Rainbow Dash back to the chariot where she sat down with a humph. Twilight coughed out a nervous laugh and forced a painful-looking grin at the two black-clad ponies, one of whom wore a full-faced mask to hide any semblance of expression. Az and Lightning Shift shared a look, and Az began chuckling once he could no longer contain himself. Lightning Shift shared in his amusement after a moment.
"If you don't mind me askin', what's so funny?" Applejack asked, stepping up next to Twilight along the railing of the chariot. She shot Twilight a nervous look, who returned the expression with even more apprehension.
"Hm? Oh nothing" Az replied. He pulled back the hood and lowered his mask, smiling. "Good seeing you again, Twilight, girls, elephant" he looked at each of them pointedly, finishing with Rainbow Dash, who snorted in reply. Twilight shot him a glare before shaking her head with a bemused grin. Her friends shared expressions varying from confusion to indignation. The sole exception being Pinkie Pie, who could barely keep her hooves on the chariot's floor she was so excited.
"You know that really wasn't necessary? You had us pretty concerned" Twilight said.
"Yeah, couldn't help myself though" Az replied with a shrug. "In any case, you girls already know me, but my compatriot here is Lightning Shift, one of my teammates."
"Wait, you play well with others?" Applejack asked. "I thought you ran a one-pony show or somethin'."
"It's a new me" Az replied with a wry chuckle. "Now if you gentlecolts will follow us" he addressed the Royal Guard ponies, who nodded stoically and took off after Az and Lightning Shift towards the courtyard a half mile out. Az dropped back so that he could fly next to the chariot while Lightning Shift remained in the lead. "You'd think that one of you would remember that my armor had a hood and mask attached to it" he commented towards the chariot.
"Of course I did, darling" Rarity responded. "I was just surprised nopony else noticed it was you. I mean, Twilight, dear, you spent quite some time talking with him, how did you mistake is voice for somepony else's?" Twilight grinned sheepishly and blushed under the scrutinizing stares of her friends.
"Well he sounded different yelling" Twilight explained with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah, whatever" Rainbow Dash interjected. "Hey thief, did you say that your buddy up there's name is Lightning Shift?" Az shot her an annoyed look, and was pleased to see Applejack shove an elbow into her side drawing a small yelp from the technicolor-maned mare.
"Yes I did, why?"
"Like, the Wonderbolt number one candidate that disappeared Lightning Shift?" Her voice was steadily growing more excited.
"Uh, I think so, you could ask him yourself you know." She had zipped out of the chariot before he could finish the sentence. Rolling his eyes, Az continued flying alongside the chariot as they approached the base, which was now showing signs of population since guests would be arriving soon. Az could pick out Captain Shade standing at the end of the landing strip, and had donned his new armor, which refused to shine in the bright sunlight like his last set had.
"Ladies, if you would please be seated for arrival, we would appreciate it" one of the Royal Guard said over his shoulder. The five Elements sat down as requested, causing Az to roll his eyes.
"Somethin' we should know?" Applejack asked accusingly after spying Az's reaction.
"Just that our landing strip is the smoothest in the nation. Not sure why you need to worry about jarring your legs on landing" he replied nonchalantly.
"Why, because the kind gentlecolt asked us to" Rarity cooed. Az arched an eyebrow but said nothing, and peeled off to allow the chariot to land without incident. He alighted next to Captain Shade and Lightning Wind did the same on the other side of the pony-in-command. A flash of green light later, and Longshot stood next to Az, looking over the landing party with a degree of bemusement.
"Don't you even start with me" Az grumbled to her out of the side of his mouth.
"Why, that's no way to treat your fellow tour guide" she retorted chucking. Az's eyes widened and he turned to look at her, as she continued staring straight ahead with a grin plastered across her face. "What, you didn't think I'd let you be alone with six mares, did you?" She looked over to see Az slack jawed and reddening and chuckled again. "Plus, I know more about this place than you do, remember? Liven up, it'll be a good day." Az's surprise turned into a small scowl as he turned to face the chariot again, now half-empty, given the Elements of Harmony had begun disembarking onto the runway. Rainbow Dash had ceased in her efforts to pester Lightning Shift and had rejoined her friends, now looking almost as giddy as Pinkie Pie.
As the final member of the party, Applejack, departed the chariot, Captain Shade moved towards the group, flanked by Az, Lightning Shift, and Longshot. He cleared his throat to get their attention, but found that he was largely ignored while the mares jabbered on about their new surroundings. He rolled his eyes and cleared his throat again, louder this time. This caught Twilight's attention and she quickly quieted her friends, who turned their attention to the four black-clad ponies now arrayed in front of them.
"Thank you, Princess" Captain Shade said, with a small nod. He turned to address the whole group, straightening up to look more commanding. "Now, ladies, I understand that you all wished to visit us here due to one of my agents, is that correct?" The group nodded as a whole, some more emphatic than others, causing Shade to look over his shoulder with a ghost of a grin at Az, who instantly felt his stomach drop. "Quite the fan club you have here, kid" Shade said teasingly to Az. "So, I'll leave it to you to show these fine mares around the base for today. Oh, and before I forget," he turned back to the Elements, "I've decided to have you all participate in a bit of an exercise later on today, if that's all right with you." The six mares exchanged nervous-looking glances before Twilight turned back to Shade.
"Uh, what would we be doing?" Twilight asked him and shot a questioning glance over at Az.
"Just acting as guard stand-ins, nothing dangerous. Nightstalker will fill you in once they start the exercise with you" Shade answered nonchalantly.
"Nightstalker?" Fluttershy asked in a small voice, and took the opportunity to hide in her mane when Shade looked over at her.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot you're not spun up on what that would necessarily mean. Nightstalker is one of our teams here, the team your friend Mr. Wind is on, in fact." Az took the opportunity to step forward and prevent any further damage or insult from occurring.
"Right, I'll take it from here, Captain" he said, shooting Shade a slightly annoyed look, resulting in the Captain returning a bemused grin to him.
"I'll be in my office you need me kid" Shade said, turning back towards the long house.
"I'm, uh, gonna go see if he needs help with anything" Lightning Shift said, after shooting a quick, nervous glance over in Rainbow Dash's direction. Az nodded, grinning slightly, and turned his attention back to the group in front of him.
"Alright then, welcome to the base, all of the ponies you'll see around today are highly trained members of the Guard, so please don't go poking around away from the rest of the group." Six multicolored faces looked back at him, with expressions ranging from friendly familiarity to cold skepticism written across each separate visage. Twilight, alone, showed confusion more than anything else.
"Wait a second, you said the Guard, as opposed to the Secret Guard, which I had heard Luna say before" she said, cocking her head to the side.
"That's because this organization is significantly older than the Guards that you are familiar with" Longshot said, stepping forward. "The Royal, or Palace Guard only came about after Princess Luna was banished to the moon. The Lunar Guard is only two or three years old."
"And you are?" Rainbow Dash interjected. Rather rudely, in Az's opinion.
"This is Longshot" Az responded, shooting Rainbow Dash a quick glare. "She and I go way back, but only started working together again after I got recruited here."
"And here ah was thinkin' criminals didn't have any friends" Applejack drawled with a stern gaze. Longshot took a step back, as if she had been struck, and a hurt expression crossed her face for a brief moment.
"Applejack!" Twilight shouted at her friend, surprised.
"Ah'm just callin' it like ah see it, Twi."
"Well you don't even know what she did before she got recruited, or how she and Az met!" Twilight fumbled over her own tongue trying to come up with more explanations.
"Well what did she do then?" Rainbow Dash asked heatedly. She looked at Longshot who gazed back at her, expressionless. "Huh? What sort of job did you have before you came out here?" Az looked over at Longshot and instantly grew more cautious. She was showing several of her typical tell-tale signs that she was about to attempt to murder somepony. Her eyes held an expressionless gaze, the right side of her mouth curled up in a miniscule, almost indistinguishable smile, and small sparks had started forming at the base of her horn, indicating she was about to bring her crossbow to bear on the rainbow-colored pegasus.
Deciding to intervene before Longshot did what she typically was best at doing, Az stepped between the two and glared at Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "I thought you were here to vet me, not my friends. Longshot has been here for nearly a year and a half, and has probably saved each of your lives a few times when you've been around the capital." He turned and gave Twilight a quick pleading glance before looking back at the two offending mares. "Whatever she did before being recruited here doesn't matter, nor is it any of your business." Before either of them could retort, Twilight's horn flared and Rainbow Dash and Applejack's mouths were sealed shut magically, rendering them silent.
Twilight smiled sheepishly and let out a nervous chuckle as she turned back to face Az and Longshot. "So, about that tour?" |
The Royal Thief | Chapter 17 | Chapter 17
"So, about that tour?" Twilight Sparkle grinned sheepishly at Az and Longshot, switching her view back and forth between the two and growing increasingly red under their hardened stares. After a few awkward moments, Az finally sighed, looked back at Longshot, who seemed deeply embarrassed with herself, and refocused back on Twilight and her friends before relenting.
"Fine, but please keep your personal statements to yourself. I can't just send you guys back right after you got here, right?" He forced a small grin to put the remaining four mares more at ease. Luckily, the non-silenced Elements of Harmony seemed more ready to forgive his past actions, based on the smiles given back to him. "Can I just talk to these two first? Like, alone?" Twilight looked unsure at first, but eventually nodded, removing the gagging spell she had placed on her friends. Az shot a quick glance at Longshot, who seemed to have relaxed after the impromptu grilling. She nodded, and looked at the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with the two belligerent mares.
Az motioned with his head at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, indicating that they should follow him just outside of earshot of the rest of the group. Once Az could be sure that the others would not be able to hear their conversation, he stopped walking and turned to the two mares, who each glared at him, seething quietly. He looked at each of them in the eye, trying his hardest not to simply start yelling.
"You two don't know how lucky you are that Twilight shut you up when she did" he said quietly, shaking his head. Rainbow Dash and Applejack left their glares behind for confused and shocked looks once Az started talking.
"And why would that be?" Applejack asked, arching an eyebrow. Az looked her dead in the eye, fixing her with as cold a stare as he could muster.
"Are you really sure you want to know that?" he asked through his teeth.
"Yeah, thief, we do. What the hay was she gonna do? Stare at us to death?" Rainbow Dash asked, brazen as ever. Her attitude was beginning to grate on Az, despite her earlier giddiness, her disdain for anything related to him was more than disconcerting. "Oh, and another thing, what gives you the right to talk about Twilight like she's your friend, huh? She's our friend, and you have nothing to do with any of us."
"First, I have a name. I suggest you use it." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, and Applejack looked like she wanted to be indignant, but something held the emotion back. "Second, because she asked me too. I'm on a first name basis with Luna too, just in case you were wondering. I consider them both my friends, and they see me as the same. Don't believe me? Ask them yourself." Rainbow Dash was about to retort when Applejack, sensing that the bad news was about to drop, put a hoof on her shoulder to silence her. Az paused momentarily, sensing that his next bit of information would unlikely go over very well with the two, especially considering Applejack's now worried expression.
"I'll address the third thing with another question. Do you have any idea as to what Longshot did before she got recruited for the Guard?"
"Well, like, uh, like Twi said, she coulda done anythin'" Applejack said, her confidence starting to waver under Az's scrutinizing gaze.
"True, but I'd like to hear what you two thought she did" Az responded, sounding more like a scolding schoolteacher than he would have liked.
"Was she a thief like you?" Rainbow Dash asked, her attitude fading less than Applejack's had.
"No, she wasn't. Applejack?"
"Uh, a chemist?" she flashed a sheepish grin at Az and winced under Rainbow Dash's now harsh stare.
"What the hay kind of guess was that?" Rainbow half-yelled at her country friend. "You just trying not to look bad or something? Sheesh..."
"Are you done?" Az asked, fixing Rainbow Dash with a cold look. When the pegasus mumbled something incoherent back at looked at the ground angrily, Az looked back at Applejack. "She could have been. Went to University and studied chemistry there, actually, so it wasn't a bad guess. Still, her former profession was not as a chemist. Do you both remember what I said when I first brought you over here?"
"Uh, somethin' about us bein' lucky Twi knew that magical gag trick?" Applejack asked, now more confused than nervous. Rainbow Dash continued her grumbling.
"Exactly, would either of you know why I said that?" Wow I really do sound like a schoolteacher. The two mares shook their heads and Az looked at each of them before sighing and continuing, not entirely dedicated to his course of action. "It's because you were about ten seconds away from not being identifiable by next of kin." The gazes of the two mares snapped to Az's face as panicked and fearful expressions crossed their visages. Rainbow Dash's scared expression quickly turned into indignation as she looked back and forth between a calm and collected Az and a now panicky Applejack.
"How the hay do you expect us to believe that? And why were you asking us if we could guess what her job was?" She flared her wings quickly and furled them again in agitation.
"So I could make you understand that she is likely one of the most dangerous ponies on this base, and that you not only hurt her feelings, but insulted me as well. We are very good friends, and have been for a long time." He looked at Rainbow Dash and narrowed his eyes. "Now settle down and neither of you breathe a word of this to the other Elements. Her previous job, before Princess Celestia recruited her, was as an assassin."
"A what?" Applejack asked in a small voice, her pupils turning into pinpricks.
"An assassin, a hired killer, an incredibly precise mercenary. She is absolutely unstoppable with her crossbow, and can hit a once-inch, moving target from nearly a half mile away. Please understand me when I say that she is very good at what she does and you really hurt her feelings. While she is used to seclusion and being shunned, she is not all that experienced in handling outright cruelty from anyone that wasn't about to receive a steel crossbow bolt through their chest." The two mares had finally been silenced, and shocked expressions sat fixed on each of their faces. Az sighed, suddenly sympathetic to how they were likely feeling, given the information that he just dumped on them.
"Now, I don't know if either of you have families, significant others, or what have you, but I can only assume that each of you have something to live for. Look at me" he said suddenly, drawing the mare's gaze to his own. "Twilight just saved your lives because I asked her to. Give that a moment to process. Now understand that everypony on this base has received supplemental training from Longshot." He looked at each of them in the eyes. "Alright, so I think I've sufficiently scared you two straight. Will I be having any further trouble from you while you're here?" He received two nervous head-shakes in response. "Good. Say what you will about me when you leave, I don't care, just do not go insulting my friends, because Twilight and I may not be there to pull you out of the fire next time. Now let's get back to your friends."
Az walked between the two towards the rest of the group, where he could see Longshot standing further from the group than she had been, looking uncomfortably at the ground. The other four mares were whispering to each other, occasionally shooting a glance either at Longshot, or at where Az was talking with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Pinkie Pie noticed that the trio had started walking back towards and hopped towards them, chipper as ever. Upon seeing Rainbow Dash and Applejack, she stopped bouncing and cocked her head to the side, confused.
"Heya guys, so, uh, Applejack? Rainbow Dash? You two feeling OK?" She looked back and forth between the two mares, each of whom shared a quick glance then looked down at the ground, ensuring they did not look at either Az or Longshot in the process.
"Yeah, you two are looking a little pale" Twilight said, concerned, as they rejoined the group. She shot a questioning glance at Az who did his best to feign a smile and shrug it off.
"We're fine, Twi" Applejack said, forcing a grin. She turned nervously towards Longshot, who still was focusing on the ground, apart from the rest of the group. "Uh, hey Longshot?" The black-armored mare looked up to look at Applejack, her eyes betraying her newfound state of melancholy. "Uh, Rainbow and ah are mighty sorry we started grillin' you like that. We didn't have the right to say the things we did." Rainbow Dash begrudgingly nodded behind her, still reluctant to look at Longshot in the eyes.
Longshot looked back and forth between the two mares, coughed to clear her throat and took a step back towards the group. "It's alright Applejack, no harm done, thank you." She grinned warmly at the cowpony, although it still looked to Az like she was biting back whatever sadness had found its way through her mental armor. She rejoined the group, and looked towards Az and gave him a look that he was unable to decipher before Twilight started talking again.
"So, uh, where were we?" she asked the group.
"Ooh! Ooh! I know!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, beginning the jump up and down again. "Azzie was telling us about the Guard and then Longie was telling us why it's called the Guard instead of the Secret Guard!"
"Please don't call me that" Az stated flatly, leveling a gaze at Pinkie through the group.
"Awww, why not? I give all my friends nicknames!" she pouted. To the surprise of the group, Longshot actually chuckled at what she had said. Pinkie Pie looked at her, confused. "What's so funny about that? I wasn't trying to make a joke. I think."
"Hm? Oh, no, it's not that." She grinned at Az, who looked at her with an equal amount of confusion that Pinkie had displayed. "Only his sister gets to call him that is all, I've tried a few times and got my head bit off in the process." Az felt his jaw go slack after hearing what Longshot had just told the group.
"Wait, wait, wait. Az has a sister?" Twilight asked Longshot, then switched her gaze over to Az. "I thought you told me you were an only foal?" Az found a grip of his senses, glared at Longshot, who simply grinned back, and then turned to address Twilight.
"She's your sister" he said over his shoulder at the armored unicorn. "She just lives with my mom is all, we grew close."
"That's one way of putting it" Longshot muttered, still grinning.
"Shut it. Now, enough about my past, where were we regarding the Guard? Oh, right, how old it is, especially compared to the Royal and Lunar Guards."
"Alright, out with it, how old is this place?" Rainbow Dash interjected, having regained her bravado with her color.
"The Guard as it is known today was founded around the time of the Crystal Empire incident."
"I hate to break it to you, darling, but that is hardly very old. That only puts your organization at about a year old" Rarity said, looking at a forehoof.
"What? Oh, no, not that one. I mean the first time, when King Sombra was rising to power in the Fifth EAD." He grinned with satisfaction as he saw Twilight's jaw practically unhinge and the rest of the group look at him, confused.
"But, but, there's nothing about it in any of the history books I've ever read! How is that possible!?" the lavender Alicorn sputtered. Rainbow Dash began chuckling at her friend, who seemed to be at a loss for words
"Heh, there's something the egghead didn't know after all" she said, grinning. Twilight paused in her spluttering long enough to shoot Rainbow Dash a glare before turning back to Az with a confused look on her face, then turning to Longshot who nodded in confirmation with what he had just said.
"In any case," Az said, "we ought to get this tour going. Gentlecolts?" he addressed the two golden-clad ponies standing stoically behind the group. When he was sure he had their attention, he continued on "if you need someplace to cool your hooves, you can make your way over to the long house, I'm sure Hammer will be able to whip up some food or drink if you want any." The two golden-clad ponies nodded, unhitched themselves from the chariot harness and walked off towards the building.
Once they were out of earshot, Longshot leaned to Az and whispered "you just sent them into the lion's den, you know."
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I was well aware" he stated, looking back at Longshot with a satisfied grin. "Those two chuckleheads have tried to arrest me a few times. Never worked out well for them though." Longshot barked out a laugh, causing Az to chuckle, thinking about the fate that awaited the two Royal Guardsponies. "So, where were we?" he asked, turning back to the Elements of Harmony. "We just finished giving you a brief synopsis as to why this is the Guard. I guess next is the big tour." He looked over at Longshot, who, despite their rough start, looked happy that everything was going moderately well.
"Oh, actually, we can start over at the hanger. I think Flow and Wise Guy are getting the airship prepped for later today. It might be our only chance to show it to them before it gets airborne." She looked at the group of mares arrayed in front of them. Rainbow Dash, despite her previous misgivings, perked up significantly at the mention of the airship. Twilight Sparkle also showed an immediate interest, demonstrated by her ears perking straight up and her eyes widening when she looked over at Longshot.
"You have an airship!?" the two mares asked simultaneously. They shared a shocked look with each other before looking back at Longshot, who seemed equally stunned at the impromptu synchronization.
"Uh, yeah. We can walk over there now if that's okay with everypony." Longshot looked over at Az, who nodded and started walking towards the open hanger door, which rested perpendicular to the end of the runway. After a brief moment, she had caught up and looked back at the group to ensure that they were following, but far enough away to have a private conversation. Az looked at her, expecting the same smile he had seen a moment before, only to see Longshot's face in a twisted state of sorrowful agony as she fought back tears. "Az, I-I almost k-killed them" she whispered, instantly looking towards the ground. Az saw a single tear fall to the grass underneath her head.
"But you didn't, and that's what matters" he responded, also in a whisper. "Truth be told, I thought of it myself when they kept laying into you like that." He smiled when he heard her chuckle, although the sound remained choked due to the sudden onset of tears.
"Like you'd have the sack for it" she said, her voice still strained. Az snorted in indignation before deciding to continue comforting his friend.
"Hey, everything's fine, L. Just put it out of your mind and the rest of the day will turn out alright." She nodded, and was about to raise a hoof to wipe away what tears had formed when she and Az walked face-first into what appeared to be simply thin air. As they pried themselves off of whatever they had walked into, they could see Wise Guy just look up from what he was doing inside the hanger and begin walking over to them where they had found their path blocked, an apologetic look on his face. Az looked around the massive doorway to try and find what they had walked into, only to find that a dim light shimmered around the edge of the frame.
The Elements of Harmony walked up behind them, confused as to why their tour guides had stopped so suddenly. Upon reaching the new-found magical barrier, Twilight put a hoof up to the barrier to test it, and finding it sturdy, dropped her hoof with a shrug. Wise Guy finally made it over to the hanger door and smiled apologetically at Az and Longshot, each of whom was rubbing their now sore noses and glaring at him.
"You mind telling us why we can't get in?" Az asked, annoyed. When Wise Guy stared at him blankly, Az knocked on the barrier to emphasize his point.
"Oh! Sorry" Wise Guy whispered. Az arched an eyebrow and looked over at Longshot, who simply shrugged. "Flow is putting the new magic crystal cell into the airship and needs almost absolute silence so he doesn't mess up." Az made to respond, but was waved off by Wise Guy, who continued talking in a whisper. "I can't hear a word you say, the barrier is set up to block all noise and, well, visitors from getting in" he looked pointedly at the group of mares who had started chatting amongst themselves a few paces away.
"When-" Az stopped himself and drew a clock in the dirt, followed by a question mark.
"Ten, maybe fifteen minutes. I think he's almost done." Az nodded and turned back towards the larger group, then cleared his throat to get their attention.
"So, we're going to need to wait a little bit, since Flow is installing the new magic crystal cell in the airship. Apparently he needs absolute silence or something bad is going to happen" he said. This garnered a few confused looks before anyone spoke up.
"Like what?" Fluttershy asked in a whisper.
"Boom" Twilight said simply, causing the pegasus to "eep" and hide behind Applejack, who she was standing next to. Twilight sighed at the reaction and turned back to Az and Longshot. "Anyways, now that we have some time, I'd like to hear about this sister of yours" she said, her growing grin matching Longshot's typically demonic impression. The other five mares quickly huddled in around Az and Longshot, expectant looks on their faces (with the exception of Rainbow Dash, who attempted to look cool by remaining aloof).
"Seriously? We're back on this?" Az asked Twilight, who responded with another grin and a small nod. "She's your sister, you get to start" he said to Longshot, resigning to his fate with a sigh. Longshot gave him an annoyed look before glancing over at the six mares, and heaved a sigh as well.
"First thing I'd like to point out is that Nurana is eleven years younger than me, and ten years younger than Az. Also, she isn't a pony, she's an ocelot." The second statement drew a collective surprised gasp from Longshot's now captive audience. "There's a bit of background to that, as well. See, ocelots are considered lower than second-class citizens in Tigra, which is predominantly ruled over by Tigers, Lions, and various other big cats. As a result, they are rarely ever able to get actual jobs, and are occasionally forced into slavery. Otherwise, they typically turn to crime in order to get enough money to scrape by. This usually involves robbery, smuggling, and selling off whatever they can get their paws on."
"That's simply awful!" Rarity exclaimed, holding a hoof up to her mouth. Her friends nodded in agreement. "If they are so mistreated, why don't they just leave?"
"Because the Tigran Empire borders two countries: Equestria and Draconia. Ponies generally don't trust any of the big cats, and dragons are, well, dragons" Az responded. Longshot nodded in agreement before continuing.
"In any event, I was on a job with my dad in Tigra when I was thirteen or so. We were sent in to...assist in a business takeover. The identified individual that we would be dealing with was, as luck had it, an ocelot crime lord. Really bad guy all around. We got the job done and a lot of bad stuff happened, chiefly some large explosions rendering a small drug ring penniless. The trouble with explosives, though, is that the resulting fires can destroy entire cities if left unchecked. This was exactly what happened after my dad and I finished up the job. We needed to more or less sprint to get away from the worst of the fire. Once we had reached the outskirts of town, I could hear a sort of mewling cry coming from one of the back allies that had started to fill up with smoke. I investigated the sound and found an ocelot cub curled up in a ball, crying.
"I'd like to point out at this point that it is not uncommon for cubs to be abandoned at a young age and left to their own devices. Once the parent feels they can live on their own, they just abandon them in the street." Another collective gasp sounded off around Longshot, causing Az to roll his eyes at the group. He looked back inside the hanger to see Flow slowly moving towards the airship from the far side of the structure, a large glowing cylinder held in his magical grip.
"While I'd like to say that the deed is abhorrent," he began, looking back towards the group, "every big cat goes through it. Tigers, lions, the whole lot of them. The whole "right of passage" thing is an integral part of the Tigran society. Ocelots just do it ten or so years earlier, and hope for the best with their kids." He nodded at Longshot, who continued on with her story.
"So I grabbed the cub and ran to meet up with my father, who instantly gave me an earful about picking her up. I was about to just leave her behind when we noticed that she had stopped breathing. Luckily, my dad knew CPR, and we got her breathing again, or at least coughing up some of the ash that she had managed to inhale. I convinced him that she would die of we left her behind, and he finally relented, and let me take her home with us. Once we got back to Canterlot, I nursed her back to health, and was tasked by my dad to take care of her, teach her to talk and read, that whole bit.
"We got along fine for the first few years, my dad working, and me taking care of Nurana at home while he was out. I actually had to convince her that I wasn't her mother at first." Longshot chuckled at the memory before continuing. "Once she got older I was able to let her be alone for a few days at a time, or at least have somepony check on her while I went out with my dad on a few jobs every now and then, just enough to keep my skills sharp. Around my eighteenth birthday, I got accepted into the University, and decided on getting a degree there.
"Around this time, though, my dad died while on a job. Without him around the house, I was forced to take Nurana with me to where I was living up at the University. It had to be really hush-hush, though, since I technically wasn't allowed to have her living with me."
"What about yer mom?" Applejack asked uncertainly, rubbing a foreleg with the other.
"Never knew her" Longshot answered simply. Applejack's eyes widened and she looked down at the ground, starting to play with a tuft of grass. The reaction went unrecognized by Longshot, but Az noticed and filed it away for later use.
"Anyways, it was around this time that I met Az, actually. I had heard some of the girls talking about this "cool guy" trying to pick up University mares by saying that he was an archaeologist, and sometimes claiming he was a master thief. So, I figured I'd check out what all the fuss was about, and that's how I ran into him." She looked at Az, a small smile on her lips, and a genuine warmth behind her eyes. "So this is where you pick up the story, right?" Az chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah, that was a weird period for me. Can't say I was ever successful, nopony would believe me, up until Longshot found me and started asking some really pointed questions. I figured out that she was also in the trade and invited her on a job with me. She agreed, but we needed to go back to her place since I was still providing for my mom at the time, and was living with her. Once we got to her place, Nurana practically tackled me, the goofiest grin you've ever seen on a cat's face plastered across hers. Without ever seeing each other before, she apparently already liked me. That was how I met her, and after doing a few jobs with Longshot, I volunteered that she could stay at my mom's house so L didn't have to hide her every time somepony came over. She's been living there since, and we both make a decent effort to drop in as often as possible. Since joining the Guard though, I guess Longshot hasn't been able to all that much, since seeing her here was the first time I had seen her in over a year."
Longshot looked at the ground briefly before looking back up at the group, most of whose visages had softened from the cold stares she had expected to see from them, given her initial reception. As she was about to speak, she heard a throat clearing behind her, and turned around to see Flow and Wise Guy standing at the mouth of the hanger.
"Hey there everypony, we're all set in here. No more explode-y crystals or anything" Flow said with a small grin.
"Well then, I guess story time is over" Az said, turning back to the group. "Now if you would be so kind as to follow Flow and Wise Guy, they'll be conducting the tour of the airship. Longshot and I will wait over here, since neither of us are particularly knowledgeable when it comes to that thing." The group nodded intermittently and followed after Flow and Wise Guy into the hanger, and Az chuckled as he heard the gasps of wonder as they actually saw how big the airship was from close up.
"Well there's a story I never thought I'd be telling anypony" Longshot said, a small grin on her face.
"Tell me about it" Az replied, shaking his head, also grinning. "Especially to those six, and after what happened when they first got here."
"So how is she, anyways? I never got a chance to ask before."
"She was well, the last time I dropped by the house. It was tough getting home, even before joining the Guard." Longshot gave him a questioning glance, to which Az shrugged. "A lot of jobs cropped up, no idea what the impetus was. And figures the one job I do for myself I get pinched..." Longshot barked out a laugh at this, causing Az to shake his head, a rueful smile apparent on his face.
"Sounds like you were getting a bit soft" Longshot teased.
"Seems like it, doesn't it?" Az chuckled softly before looking back into the hanger, where he could see the Elements boarding the airship. "Applejack seemed to warm up to you, though" he said, his eyes lingering on the orange mare before she disappeared into the black undercarriage of the zeppelin.
"Oh? What makes you say that?" Longshot asked, drawing her eyes away from the hanger.
"Body language, facial expressions, the whole deal. She probably has a younger sister that she's raised almost on her own or something." He shrugged, looking at Longshot, "doesn't mean she's going to be any nicer to me. I gave her and Rainbow Dash quite the lecture back there" he motioned back to the landing strip with a nod of his head.
"Well, you just be nice to them, kill her with kindness." She paused, then chuckled softly, "just not literally." Az chuckled in response.
"At least two of them like me. I think Fluttershy is still scared, and Rarity seems pretty aloof" he shrugged, "ah well, not my top concern right now anyways." Longshot nodded, but said nothing. The two remained silent for the majority of the time Flow and Wise Guy were showing the Elements of Harmony the airship and its capabilities, which lasted another half hour. They stood up once the group left the airship and began walking towards the hanger door. Az could hear them chatting animatedly, with Rainbow Dash still quizzing Flow about the airship's capabilities, although it seemed Flow was starting to get tired of the incessant questions.
"Like I said last time, it's a zeppelin, not a pegasus, I can't make it do any tricks" Flow said, almost exasperated.
"Well, why not!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "It flies! It should be able to do some really cool stuff!"
"It can drop up to ten highly trained operatives into enemy territory and land itself, ready for immediate take-off. I'd call that pretty cool" Flow retorted. Az chuckled, drawing an pleading and slightly angry look from Flow.
"Alright Flow, Wise Guy, we can take it from here" Az said, cutting off the stream of chatter. Flow nodded appreciatively, and walked with Wise Guy back into the hanger, grumbling at the other unicorn. "So we hope you enjoyed the tour of the airship, next up is the long house, where we might be able to get you into the forge area if Hammer is in a good mood." The six mares nodded, in noticeably higher spirits than they had been before entering the hanger.
It was a fairly short walk over to the long house, where Az and Longshot briefly explained the layout of the building, and the purpose of each individual room. When it became apparent that Hammer was actually in the forge, Longshot decided it would be better to ask for forgiveness than permission from the grizzled blacksmith and led the way down the long, heated corridor. Upon entering the forge, several "oohs" and "aahs" could be heard from the six mares as they looked around the room.
The papers that Az had noticed covering the walls earlier in the week were gone, and were placed in a neat pile on the floor next to Hammer's main work bench. The original decorations of the forge, various weapons and armor of every shape and size, had resumed their rightful place, albeit the shiny steel displays were now interspersed with the matte black metal of the Old Guard. In the ruddy orange glow of the fires, the displays almost looked menacing. Looking back at the group, Az could see Rarity attempting to coax Fluttershy out from behind her mane.
Hammer was working a new sword on the grindstone on the far side of the room. He looked up from his work momentarily and caught sight of the large group standing in the doorway to the forge. He carefully put down the sword, took off the protective goggles he was wearing and walked over to them, intermittently wiping his forehooves on an already stained blacksmith's smock. "So what can I do ya for?" he asked, arriving in front of the group. "Six sets o' armor and matching weapons?" He noticed Twilight's wings in addition to her horn, and his eyes widened. "Wait, nevermind that." He turned to Az and Longshot and fixed them with an angry glare. "Ya mind tellin' me why ya brought guests here?"
"Just showing them around the Hammer, relax" Longshot responded with a small smile. "Just figured we'd give them a glance at the armory, maybe ask our master smith a few questions before we move on." Hammer rubbed his chin for a moment, smudging it with a fair amount of soot and grease from the various instruments that he had come in contact with since beginning to work that morning. He looked over the six mares, each of whom were either looking at him or looking about the room, still in awe at the various instruments of death arrayed before them.
"I s'pose I could work with that" he finally said. "But the next time ya want to bring somepony down here, make sure ya ask me first" he said, pointing accusingly at the two black-clad ponies, each of whom nodded quietly. "Right!" he said loudly, turning to the waiting mares. "Now I'm the smith here, and as ya can see, I take care of outfittin' the Guard with any manner o' weapons and armor. My work is relatively self-explanatory. Any questions?"
"Why is some of this silver and some of it black?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking around the room.
"Ah, a very good question. Had ya come a week earlier, all o' this would have been pure steel." He motioned with a hoof at the walls of the room. "Granted, it's stainless, enchanted to resist damage, corrosion, and to improve its sharpness. Not to mention they are also completely non-stick. Liquids roll right off." He grabbed one of the black blades off the wall with his telekinesis. "Now these black ones, these are new. Some o' them are over a millennia old, but you'll be hard pressed finding them amidst all o' this. They're made of some sort o' strange obsidian-infused steel. Extremely durable, very easy to sharpen, and completely resistant to anythin' ya can throw at it." He flipped the blade over in his grip a few times, looking it over. "O' course ya gotta be a unicorn to make it, though."
"Huh" Rainbow Dash answered simply.
"Ooh! Ooh! I have a question!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping up and down, a hoof raised.
"Sure, kid, shoot" Hammer replied with a cocked eyebrow.
"How come everypony has different armor? Like the Royal Guard all has the same golden armor and the Lunar Guard has their super scary purple armor!" She stopped bouncing and looked between the three Guard members standing in front of her.
"And here I was thinkin' ya were gonna ask somethin' strange" Hammer said, shaking his head. "Long an' short of it is that everypony is built different. That means that different armor fits each individual differently, and each has their own preference." He motioned for Az and Longshot to move in closer so that the group could get a better look at their armor. "There are two types o' armor that I make: leather and plate. Different groups tend to like different types o' armor. Pegasi, for example, prefer leather armor, much like Az here. Granted, is set is custom, but that's beside the point. Others who simply prefer mobility over solid protection also use leather, like Longshot. Granted, she had quite a bit o' trouble when the Changelins invaded Canterlot, which is why you see bits o' plate here and there.
"Wait, you were in Canterlot when the Changelings invaded?" Twilight asked Longshot, drawing a simple nod from the unicorn.
"Heh, that's an understatement" Hammer laughed. "She took down an entire company o' them by herself. Damned impressive work, if ya ask me." The group drew back momentarily, each casting wary glances at the now embarrassed unicorn before turning back to Hammer as he resumed talking. "Anyways, most earth ponies an' unicorns will wear plate armor, and right now I'm slowly workin' on gettin' them phased into the new stuff, which is a hay of a lot stronger than enchanted steel. A fraction o' the weight too. With the plate armor, you'll see a significant amount of personalization, more so than with the leather. Who else have ya met?"
"Captain Shade, Rapid Flow, and Wise Guy" Twilight answered.
"Well the Cap'n and Wise Guy aren't very good examples to work with as far as personalization goes" Hammer stated, scratching the back of his head. "An' Flow ain't much better, but he does have a few personalized bits here an' there. For example, his right pauldron is significantly larger than his left one, an' his left foreleg has very little armor on it at all. This is 'cause he uses a sabre in combat, an' fights in a fencer's stance."
"So each member of the Guard has different armor based on their tastes and fighting styles?" Rarity asked. Hammer nodded. "As a fashionista by trade I guess I can respect that," she continued, "but must you use the color black darling? It's just so...ugly. Black is definitely not in this year."
Hammer barked out a laugh, surprising Fluttershy back into hiding behind her mane, from which she had peeked momentarily to listen to the questions and answers. Applejack noticed her surprise and gently rubbed her on the back until she had regained herself. "Black's jus' the way it's always been, ma'am" he said, chuckling. "Plus, what's a black ops group without their cool lookin' black armor?"
"So there are earth ponies here?" Applejack asked. "Cause Ah ain't seen any since we landed."
"That's 'cause they mostly keep to themselves" Hammer responded. "Trust me, they're around." Applejack nodded slowly, not wholly satisfied with the answer, but remained silent. "Anythin' else?" Hammer asked the group.
"I have one, actually" Twilight said. "You said that some of the equipment in here is millennia old, but it's only now being phased into use. Why is that?"
"Like I said, we only got it about a week ago. Without goin' into too much of the specifics, the exact... recipe for making this style of metal was lost to the Guard when we abandoned the Old City, which is in the Everfree Forest."
"Well that certainly explains the cloaked ponies moving through town with carts last week" Rarity remarked, drawing startled expressions from her friends.
"Bingo" Hammer replied. "So yeah, I finally managed to recreate the metal, an' we're startin' to get it into use. These two are among the first to receive it, along with the rest o' their team on account of the mission comin' up."
"Which explains the training exercise later today" Twilight stated.
"Yup. Well unless you fine mares have any other pressin' questions, I gotta get back to work. All this metal ain't goin' to forge itself." When nopony from the group spoke up, he nodded, wiped his hooves off on his smock again and grinned.
"Well it's been nice talkin' to you, I'll see you later. Or not. Either way." He turned and walked back towards the grindstone where he picked the sword back up and continued refining its edge where he left off, as if nothing had happened.
"Alright, so that's the forge" Longshot said, starting back down the hallway. "All that we have left is the obstacle course before we start with the exercise later today. Oh, and lunch."
"So what was Mister Hammer talking about when he said mission?" Fluttershy asked Longshot timidly.
"Sorry, but we can't really go into that" Longshot answered with a warm smile, attempting to hearten the easily-frightened pegasus.
"Oh come on!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, drawing surprised looks from her friends and the two black ponies. "We got permission from the three princesses, didn't we?"
"Yes," Az replied with a carefully leveled tone, "you got permission to come here, not to be privy to mission details that not even Princess Celestia knows."
"Why-?" Applejack began.
"Plausible deniability" Longshot answered, cutting her off. "There is the distinct possibility that any of us could be captured or killed on a mission, and the less the Princesses know, the less the political repercussions could be." She looked over the group, who had stopped dead in the hallway. "Although, we always make our best effort to recover the individual or body, whatever the situation dictates. Political ramifications or no, there is still a great deal of sensitive information that we know that many would kill to get to." Six horrified faces still stared back at her in the gloom of the hallway, their eyes visible against the glow of the forge behind them. "Uh, we like the think we're good enough to never get caught though, if that helps." She smiled sheepishly at the group, hoping to relieve some of the tension that was apparent within the group.
"Alright!" Az said quickly, before further damage could be done, "so onto the obstacle course! I think Pinkie Pie had said something about wanting some pointers?" This at least snapped the bright pink pony out of her daze, and a smile stretched from ear to ear as she looked back at Az. The smile almost seemed evil, in its own way. I'm definitely going to regret saying that Az thought wryly. |
More Than a Sister | pre | Looking out the window, Applejack spotted a small rectangle in the air going towards Canterlot in the distance, and somehow she knew, knew that was Scootaloo.
Without saying a word she sat back down as she looked around the car meeting the eyes of all the others as she nodded.
Rarity bowed her head and seemed to be forcing herself to hold the tears in, Pinkie Pie looked lost with no way to make anypony smile, Rainbow who had not said a word since they boarded the train got up and sat next to Pinkie, pulling her into a hug. As Pinkie finally broke and her tears started to fall it seemed to be the catalyst for the rest.
Though she could feel her own tears falling Applejack felt little Applebloom next to her shaking with suppressed tears. Applejack lifted her up and held her close. "It's alraht 'Bloom, let 'em fall, ahm here." That was all the words needed as Applebloom buried her little head in her sisters fur as she cried.
Sweetie Belle in an amazing scene of role reversal had jumped up to the backrest of the seat she and Rarity were sat on, and had pressed her head next to her older sisters - offering what comfort she could.
Even though their tears died down as time went on, their mood remained sombre.
When the train pulled into the station they all thundered out the carriage and along the morning lit streets, Applebloom holding tight to Applejack's back, Sweetie Belle the same with Rarity. Rounding the final corner the hospital came into view.
Applejack lead the charge as they ran into the main reception.
"Where's my daughter? Scootaloo" Rainbow all but demanded of the receptionist on the desk.
"Just one moment please." The earth pony receptionist replied as she pulled up Scootaloo's file before her eyes widened slightly.
"I'm sorry but she's still in theatre, all this says is that there were complications en route, such that the ponies who brought her in all collapsed of exhaustion I ca-"
"Wait, Where's the princesses! Ah ain't movin' 'till you tell me!" Applejack demanded.
"I'm sorry miss, I can't just tell anypony where the Princesses room is, I'm sure you understand." The receptionist answered her.
"Nah you look here missy, ahv know Twilight since afore she were a princess, spend mah birthday's and holidays with her - hay I battled DISCORD at HER SIDE! Celestia and Luna I count as a friends! They has a standard invite to stay at th' farm! we were Princess Celestia's guests at THE GRAND GALLOPING GALA! Finally, Princess Cadance? She's the one we helped save the CRYSTAL EMPIRE! Now don't you tell me you cain't let us near our friends!" Applejack finished losing some control of herself.
"Now see here miss I can't let you, scruffy, uncouth, uneducated ruffians just in to see the Princesses, I mean just look at you, you expect ME to believe the likes of YOU are friends with the PRINCESSES?! next you'll be saying you know Spitfire Captain of the wonderbolts and Shining Armour Captain of The Guard. Now please leave and stop wasting my time!" The receptionist finished turning away.
"Hey I told you I WANT TO SEE MY DAUGH-"
"STAND DOWN LIEUTENANT!" Spitfire's voice rang throughout the reception area, making the receptionist freeze, turning around to see Spitfire in the doorway.
-o.O.O.o-
Spitfire heard Rainbow's voice half a corridor away and picked up the pace, this was a long corridor. Swearing to herself she wondered what the receptionist was playing at.
She had been informed that a group of ponies would be arriving to see the princesses and Scootaloo. If this turned out to be another case of a pony using their power to deny others Spitfire would soon be having words with them.
She ran into the room and saw Rainbow was just about to completely lose her temper and did the only thing she could. Calling out at the top of her considerable vocal range she got Rainbow to settle for a moment before striding forwards to the reception desk
"I believe I informed you we would be expecting more to arrive. Why did you not simply send them to me? I gave you their descriptions!" She demanded. The receptionist who had now gone pale spoke.
"I-I'm i-in charge of who is allowed on - the premises if, if, if they don't need tr-treatment." Noting that Spitfire hadn't interrupted her the receptionist gained strength in her voice.
"You can't expect me to allow these, obviously uneducated ponies in to-"
"QUIET!" Spitfire snapped out. "These 'Uneducated Ponies' have saved Equestria more bucking times than anypony else in this room. You are looking at the bearer's of the Elements of Harmony for BUCK'S SAKE!"
"no..." The receptionist gasped out looking once more to the angry visages of the ponies she had decided were beneath the worth to be admitted and started trembling.
"I will certainly be having words with your supervisor." Spitfire ground out before turning to the others, ignoring the sobbing mess that was the receptionist, she hated those that let their perceived authority get to their heads.
"This way." she said guiding the others out the reception area and along the corridor.
She felt a little hoof nudge her and looked down to the little yellow face of the filly - Applebloom if she remembered correctly - she'd helped back in Ponyville.
"H-hows mah friend?" Applebloom asked her. Sighing Spitfire started to speak.
"Not too good I'm afraid, now I know most adults would try sugar coat it because of your age but I'm guessing you've been raised to know that no matter how bad something is, it's better to know than have it hidden from you?" Spitfire asked.
Spitfire was not surprised when she heard Applejack reply of "Darn tootin'", looking towards the other filly she saw the elegant white unicorn nod.
"Ok, when we were flying here the fastest, most direct route is along the mountains near the edge of the Everfree Forest." Applebloom nodded.
"Well as we flew we came upon a storm - not a normal one, this had blown out of the Everfree" she said looking onwards, trying to suppress the shudder that went through her.
"Oh. Bucking. Hay." Rainbows monotone voice said, the lack of emotion telling the others just how bad that was.
"Well, as we Wonderbolts and Princess Twilight got to work on trying to destroy the clouds in the path, Luna went back to Ponyville to get some help. I must say I didn't expect a flight of over 100 Pegasi to suddenly descend on the storm, but it turned out necessary, it turned into a cyclone." Spitfire noticed Rainbow's face pale at this.
"How the buck did'ya get out of that mess?" Rainbow asked as they went into what was obviously a relatives and friends waiting room, that currently held Twilight's parents, Shining Armour and Soarin'.
With a grimace she looked back to Rainbow. "We nearly didn't, it was thanks to your cross-eyed friend spotting where the weakness in the storm wall was - I tell you now, she was brilliant at directing every single pegasus to where they needed to be. I don't think nopony but Soarin' noticed it was me at one point, but she even chewed me out when I lead the wonderbolts wrong, AFTER she told me where she wanted me. That mare is going to be offered a place as a weather-pony trainer if I got anything to say about it." Rainbow smiled at this.
"Derpy might have issues flying near buildings, but put her on stormwatch and she's the best." Rainbow said voice tinged with pride.
Spitfire carried on to explain about how after the storm the Ponyville Pegasi went on to battle the ferocious cyclone without a second thought, but when they landed to change-over the doctor instructed them to fly as fast as they could safely.
"The princesses are all in that room there resting. They passed out as soon as they knew Scootaloo was with the hospital staff, I think they may have subconsciously been using their magic to keep them going." Spitfire said pointing out the window to a room down the corridor.
"Scootaloo though" Spitfire sighed. "They think a lot of her magic got pulled out in the storm - they're doing what they can to save her - that and some of her injuries decided to deteriorate on the way. They're trying their best, but. . ." She trailed off as Soarin' came up next to her, laying his wing across her back.
"Rookie, I don't care how long it takes, You may be on full pay and a front line listed, but you ain't gonna fly as part of the team until that little filly's safe at home okay?" Soarin' said in his gruff way. Rainbow nodded as she sat down and her shoulders started to shake as the suppressed emotion burst out now they were here and all she could do was wait.
Surprising everypony in the room except Spitfire, Soarin' went to over to Rainbow and pulled her into his arms like a father would his filly and just held her as the tears fell.
"It's ok Rainbow, She'll pull through, you'll see." he whispered in her ear.
Spitfire had a small sad smile on her face, not many pony's got to see this side of soarin'. Everypony thought he was this tough wall of granite, yet here was the side of him that made him perfect for the position of Second-in-Command. He saw all the flyers reserve and active, as surrogate children.
Rainbows shoulders shook with the cries tearing out her throat, had she not had her face buried in his shoulder Spitfire was sure Rainbow's cries would be echoing down the corridor.
Spitfire moved closer as she heard Rainbow trying to speak.
"I... I'm a useless mother though! E-Even a-a-as a sister I didn't spot the trouble! How can I protect her now!" Soarin' just kept running a hoof through Rainbows mane, making shushing sounds as she cried her frustration and fears out.
*sniff-sniff* Spitfire looked down to Applebloom who was desperately holding in her own tears.
Gently extending her wing, Spitfire drew the tip down the filly's deep rose red mane, catching her attention. "Hey, it's ok to let go sometimes." Spitfire said as she saw Applejack approach and rers a hoof on the back of Applebloom.
"bu - but I - I - What can ah do to help?" Applebloom asked. "Ahm just a little filly, an ah know she'll need help." She said quietly as a few tears fell. Applejack lay on the ground so her head was level with Applebloom and spoke quietly.
"Ah know yer only a filly at the moment, but you'll always be there for Scoots and Rainbow wontcha?" Applebloom nodded looking into her sisters green eyes, jumping a bit when Spitfire spoke.
"Then that's all you need to do." before smiling a little.
-o.O.O.o-
Rainbow was lost, she'd managed to contain her fears, her doubts and worries on the journey but then her world crumbled. Scootaloo was back in surgery - they didn't know if she'd survive. She didn't know if she'd ever get to hear Scootaloo call her mum.
As Soarin's words impacted her, the last shreds of control she had failed, her cries clawing up and out, she tried to stifle them, couldn't be weak now.
When a strong stallions arms came around her, protecting her from the world, it felt just like when the Orphanage manager used to look after her. Strong, yet gentle, firm but kind.
She completely broke down, lost in her tears, all she could register was Soarin's voice, not even the words, just that he held her through her despair. If she had ever known her father this was how she would have imagined he would hold her.
Soarin' didn't answer her self recriminating words, just held her, proving by his actions he believed her worthy of being a mother.
She registered that others were speaking but again not the words, completely lost to her tears as her eyes were clenched tight as she cried out, only Sorain's shoulder muffling her cries.
Eventually the door opened and she heard an orderly speak. "Miss. Scootaloo is out of surgery, you can see her now." Rainbows hear shot up as she looked to the door.
"Really? I can see my daughter?" The Orderly nodded with a small smile.
"Indeed. We've put her in the room next to the Princesses. Follow me.
He turned and led the way out the door and along the corridor, stopping outside a whitewashed door.
"She'll be waking up any minute now so please, try not to start-" He was interrupted by a little fillies cry, a cry that caused Rainbow to ignore her own battered body, it was a cry of terror, despair and need all in one, It was Scootaloo's cry, a cry Rainbow could not ignore.
"DAAASH! I WANT RAINBOW!" |
More Than a Sister | To Build a Family | Pain... that was the first thing that registered to Scootaloo. Pure pain. She barely managed to open her eyes as she looked about the room she was in - recognising a hospital room, she groaned.
"Oh! You're awake!" a voice spoke from out of her vision. A white unicorn with a stethoscope for a cutie mark soon came into view. "I'm Doctor Good Health, I've been your primary doctor during your stay here at the hospital." His voice was a gentle low timbre as he approached the bed levitating a chart in front of him.
"Wh-where am I?" Scootaloo asked quietly. Ouch, even talking hurt.
"You're currently in the pediatric ward here at the Royal Canterlot Hospital. You were transferred here by the princess' from Ponyville. You're one lucky filly to have such friends that care about you."
Looking around once more, Scootaloo realised, apart from the doctor, she was alone in the room. As her nerves began to rise, she started to get slightly worried about being alone in the Capital, she asked Dr. Health if any of her friends were here.
"Miss Dash and her friends arrived earlier; don't worry, you'll see them soon."
"Please, can I see Rainbow... please?" Scootaloo asked quietly, remembering how at one time Rainbow had said that if she was ever ill, all she had to do was to get someone to ask for her, and she'd be there.
"Not yet. You can't just seek them on a whim. But you'll be allowed to see her soon."
"No! I want to see Rainbow!" Scootaloo burst out heatedly. She couldn't understand why this doctor wasn't letting her see Rainbow, the only pony who she felt ever truly cared about her.
"Young lady, will you please calm down?!" the Doctor asked with a slightly stern tone.
Scootaloo tried to back away from him as he spoke, she knew what happened next. If she stayed calm, she wouldn't be hurt. But with the way he spoke, if she didn't, she would be... disciplined.
"S-sorry s-sir," she squeaked out, causing him to look up from his paper-work, his face startled at her change in attitude.
"Oh horseapples..." he murmured, before setting her chart down and backing away from the bed.
"Easy there, young one, I'm sorry if I scared you, I'm not gonna hurt you. The only time there's pain with me, is when I'm trying to heal ponies, okay?" he asked quietly.
Scootaloo nodded, she knew what he meant of course. Sometimes, when a pony was hurt, helping them heal hurt them as well, usually they were better afterwards... most of the time.
Finally able to move a little, she looked around, before looking down towards herself. Seeing the casts on her legs and feeling the bandages around her wings... wait! Wing?!
Her head whipped around to look at her side. There, where the bandage should be bulging out, was nothing but a thin red line. Panic starting to roar through her system. "M-my wing?" she gasped out.
The doctor moved closer. "I'm sorry, little one, there was nothing we could do," he told her as she shook her head.
Scootaloo's mind began to race, her mind not being able to comprehend the loss of a wing. 'No, no, no no..' "NO, NO, NO, NO!" she cried out as her inner turmoil became vocal. She threw herself off the bed before charging to the door, or at least trying too before her legs collapsed.
"Where's Rainbow?! Twilight!" she screamed out, trying to pull herself along the floor. But was soon engulfed in a magical field and deposited back on her bed.
"Now you stop that!" the doctor said sternly, but not unkindly.
"WHERE'S DASH?!" Scootaloo shouted.
"I'll send for her in a minute, now please... calm down!" Dr. Health said, but by now Scootaloo was far too panicked to listen. Trapped by this strange unicorn, away from her friends, away from Ponyville - she was terrified.
Doing the last thing she could think of, she called out at the top of her voice, even as the doctor started pulling restraints across her, "DAAASH! I WANT RAINBOW!"
"Please... calm down," the Doctor pleaded, pulling another restraining strap across Scootaloo, pinning her head to the bed along with her body just as the door to the room opened with a resounding crash.
Scootaloo eyes, wide in fear, couldn't see a thing. She nearly didn't recognise the voice that spoke with the rage contained within, "What. The. Buck. Are. You. Doing. With. MY DAUGHTER!"
Rainbow's voice rang out in the room along with the sound of deliberate hoof steps before coming into Scootaloo's sight, placing a wing over her as she stared at the doctor.
-o.O.O.o-
"DAAASH! I WANT RAINBOW!" echoed into the corridor, causing Rainbow to jump through the doors to a sight that made her blood boil.
There, strapped down so she couldn't move, was Scootaloo. The unicorn was tightening the last strap forcing her head down. Her violet eyes wide with fear.
Rainbow could not remember any time she had been this angry before. She completely disregarded the orderlies words as she started stepping forwards. Her words forced their way up her throat as she moved next to the bed, good wing extended over Scootaloo as she waited for an answer.
"Sh-she was panicking, Miss Dash," the doctor tried to tell her, as Rainbow turned to undo the restraints. However, before she could a magical field about the straps stopped her.
"I'm afraid I can't let you undo those until she's calmed do-" he was cut off as Rainbow shot forwards and threw the unicorn against the wall, her hoof flush against his neck as she spoke in a quiet, yet dangerous tone.
"You will let me release my daughter, now!" she grated out, but still the Unicorn still held firm.
"I'm afraid I can't do that until she calms down."
Rainbow glared at him, before pressing a bit harder. "Let. Her GO!"
"I'm sorry but n-" he started but was cut off by a voice from the side of the bed. Twilight stood on the other side of the bed - glaring at the Doctor.
"I did not carry Scootaloo on a litter, fly through a bucking cyclone, and then break the sound barrier for her to be restrained and scared out her mind! You want her to calm down? Then do as Rainbow asks," she told him.
"I'm sorry, Princess, but I can't grant that request," the Doctor told her as Rainbow backed away and moved to Scootaloo, wincing when she saw the fire in Twilight's eyes.
'Rather you than me. Idiot,' Rainbow thought towards the unicorn.
Twilight lit her horn up, pulling in her magic as purple glow surrounded the straps on the bed, completely snapping them in half. No sooner were they off when Rainbow picked Scootaloo up and carefully sat in the chair. She held the trembling filly close; glaring to the doctor, listening as Twilight reprimanded the doctor.
"I did not realise I gave you the impression it was a request. Next time I tell you to do something. Do It." Twilight finished, a tone of command in her voice that Rainbow had never heard before, yet almost had her jumping to attention.
"Y-yes! Your Highness!" the doctor replied as he backed away to the door before Twilight spoke once more.
"You May Go."
The doctor fled.
Rainbow nodded her thanks to Twilight, who had collapsed upon the other chair near her as soon as the doctor left. Looking down to the fear filled filly in her arms, Rainbow started to gently run her hoof through Scootaloo's mane, quietly singing a song to let Scootaloo know just how much she was there for her. Scootaloo's trembling lessened, yet didn't stop.
Holding her close Rainbow slipped a hoof under the filly's chin, lifting it so she could see her tear streaked face. "Scoots, it's okay, I'm here now, an' I ain't goin anywhere. You don't have to hide no more."
Scootaloo's eyes widened at this statement before the words impacted and the little filly fell against Rainbow, sobbing against her as she cried out, "Y-you wo-won't w-w-want m-m-m-meeee!"
Rainbow gently enfolded Scootaloo in her arms and bringing her good wing around, shielding Scootaloo. "Scoots, it's okay, I know. I know what's happened, okay?" she said quietly, before continuing to the sniffling orange ball of fur, "not only that, but even after I knew, I still adopted you."
Scootaloo's head shot up as her cries slowed, eyes wide, her purple gaze bored into Rainbows magenta orbs."Y-you mean it?" she asked her quietly, almost as if she didn't dare to believe it.
"I do Scoots. Your father can't hurt you no more, and if you want, I'll be your Momma Dash." Rainbow said quietly, not noticing the other ponies who'd entered the room. The only pony she was worried about, was sat right here in her lap.
Scootaloo's face lit up with a huge smile as she threw herself into Rainbow. "Yesyesyesyes!" she gasped out into Rainbows blue fur, tears falling against her as Rainbow carefully ran a hoof through her mane.
Spitfire approached the chair after looking towards Twilight for permission. "Hey kid, I've got a surprise for you," Spitfire said quietly, causing Scootaloo to look around, eyes widening when she saw who had spoken.
Rainbow chuckled with the expression the normally 'cool acting' filly was pulling, it reminded Rainbow of her own reaction at the Best Young Flier contest a few years ago.
Spitfire smiled knowingly at Rainbow, before looking back to Scootaloo. "First off, kid, your new mom is now a lieutenant in the Wonderbolts. She proved to me she was ready for the responsibility when, without hesitation, she was willing to leave the Wonderbolts so she could adopt and raise you."
Scootaloo looked back to Rainbow Dash who could feel the blush on her cheeks, but ignored it to smile and nod her head. "Hey, don't worry about it, Scoots, you are more important to me than any uniform," Rainbow said quietly, deciding that honesty over coolness was needed here.
Rainbow saw Spitfire nodding her agreement, before the captain continued, "Secondly, we would like to make you an honorary Wonderbolt, Scootaloo. That is, if you'll have us?" Spitfire continued quietly, Soarin' stepping up next to her with a smile.
Scootaloo's smile was only rivaled by those of Pinkie Pie's proportions! "Really?! You mean it!" Scootaloo squeaked.
Spitfire nodded with her own small smile. "Sure thing, I'll see you when you're all better and come visit okay?"
Scootaloo nodded and leaned back against Rainbow, being careful of her casts. She watched as Spitfire and Soarin' left.
Waiting until the two lead Wonderbolts had left, Rainbow turned to Twilight, nodding towards her saddlebag. Twilight levitated it over so that Rainbow could reach it with one hoof, without displacing Scootaloo. Reaching in she grabbed the form and held it in front of Scootaloo's face so the little filly could read what was on it.
Adoption Certification
This form certifies that the young colt/filly Scootaloo is now under the Legal Guardianship of Mr/Mrs/Miss Rainbow Dash who has been cleared to be the aforementioned colt's/filly's adoptive parent.
Should Mr/Mrs/Miss Rainbow Dash at any time in the future, for any reason become unable to continue to care for the colt/filly Scootaloo then guardianship and all responsibilities shall be held dually by Mr/Mrs/Miss Applejack and Mr/Mrs/Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie.
Signed 1: Princess Twilight Sparkle - Princess of Magic
Signed 2: Princess Luna - Princess of The Night
"Is th-this for real?" Scootaloo asked quietly, looking at the form. Rainbow smiled down to the bruised and battered young filly, who leaned back in to Rainbow as she looked about the room smiling. Scootaloo buried her head in Rainbows fur once more, her next word bringing emotional tears throughout the room.
"Mummy."
-o.O.O.o-
Twilight looked on with a smile as a couple of happy tears fell from her eyes, it was easy to see how much that word meant to Rainbow. It was obvious to all the ponies left in the room just how much Rainbow truly cared for Scootaloo - it was unfortunate that the realisation came at such a cost, but now she could at least start to heal. And maybe, just maybe, Rainbow would be able to learn to show her own emotions better.
Wincing as she adjusted her sprained wings, she went up to the two emotional pegasi, resting a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder.
"Hey, I'm sorry... but I really need to go lie and down again - I'll just be next door if you need me." Rainbow nodded with a smile on her teary face as she mouthed the word 'thank you' to her. Twilight just smiled and nodded before turning and leaving the room.
Returning to the room she shared with the other princess' she climbed on the bed, not noticing the others were awake, at least until Luna spoke, "Is everything okay, Twilight? Mine ear's did detect your voice using a tone very rarely heard from thee." Twilight looked up to the concerned alicorn as Luna continued, "I was about to come to thine aid, yet our sister prevented us, she told us that if thou didst need our help we would know?"
Twilight looked between the three alicorns with a gentle smile, before relating what had happened. Originally, all that the three had known was that they had heard Rainbow's loud voice reverberating through the wall. She had been screaming about letting Scootaloo go. Twilight had leapt from her bed and shot out of the room.
She told them of what she'd seen as she entered the room before chuckling. "Believe me, I don't think I ever want to get on the wrong side of Rainbow's maternal instincts. She didn't realise it, yet when she pinned the doctor it like he was a paperweight; she was using her injured arm!"
She carried on to let them know about Scootaloo's realisation that she truly had a family that loved her at last, and not one that would abuse her.
"I swear, there wasn't a dry eye in the room when she finally called Rainbow 'Mummy'"
*Sniff* Twilight looked up to see all three princess' eyes were now welling up - Luna's more so. After levitating a couple of tissues over to them, she waited for the three to regain control of themselves.
"We are sorry, Twilight. It's just for Scootaloo, this has been her dream for so long. She has wanted Rainbow to see her as a daughter for ages." Twilight smiled at this, it seemed that one little filly's dream had come true.
-o.O.O.o-
*Knock-Knock* Two days later, Rainbow was roused from sleep in the guest room that she was sharing with Fluttershy when Twilight Velvet -- Twilight Sparkle's mother -- called through that breakfast would be ready in half an hour.
"Oh, okay." Rainbow heard Fluttershy's whisper and chuckled, it had been so quiet that she had hardly heard it.
"Thanks!" Rainbow called out loud enough to be heard as she stretched, wincing as the tendons where her wing had been dislocated were still sore.
She thanked her lucky stars that the doctor at Ponyville General knew the bone-knit spell. It was a shame that it was unsafe to use on young ones, or Scoots would be out of her casts now.
Fluttershy had gotten out of the bed and had made her way to the en suite room while Rainbow was still pulling herself together. The rainbow maned pegasus went to the little clothes chest that had been delivered yesterday by courier to her surprise.
She opened it to pull out one of her new Wonderbolt Uniforms. This wasn't a flight suit, but more along the lines of Captain Spitfire's suits, only major differences being instead of the Captain's rank on the epaulettes, it was the Lieutenants.
She was surprised when she spotted she had got three "Courage Above The Line of Duty" ribbons and two ribbons that indicated medals of "Honourable Duty" had been awarded. Something that she would be asking the Countess Lady Twilight Sparkle - Princess of Magic - about later.
Snorting a laugh at that, she couldn't help the smirk at how embarrassed Twilight was when Celestia had suggested that her mother - the Baroness Velvet - would be delighted to see her daughter and her friends as they weren't in Canterlot for a battle... this time.
Finding out that Rainbow's down to earth friend had been nobility had been one of the most shocking things she'd ever found out. Yet, she didn't really mind. The thing that did make her blood boil, however, was when she thought about what Twilight Sparkle's father - Night Light - had informed them last night:
Prince Blueblood had been promised Twilight's hoof in marriage to join the Families.
-Flashback-
Night Light hadn't expected the vehemence of their reactions when he had said he had been happy to accept the betrothal from such a well placed family. Twilight fled the table in tears with her mother following, looking at Night Light in disgust.
The others in the room had made their opinion of the stallion who would barter his daughter for prestige well known.
Rarity and Applejack though had said it best when Rarity looked directly at the stallion.
"You sir have sold your daughter to a stallion who has NO principals, will treat her as low as the dirt on his hoof, and will insist that she submits to his whim. I hope for your sake there is an out in that contract." With that she and the group had left the table.
Applejack had then looked at the stallion as she spoke, "Ah don't get it. You said to Twiliht you love her an' miss her. Then ye take her choice away of who she'll marry? Ahm jus' a farmpony but ah know you'd hate anyone who'd force themselves on Twah, then you force a stallion on her? You can ferget bein' welcome in Ponyville when this gets aht."
Fortunately, by the time they got up to Twilight's room, Fluttershy had read over the contract and had spotted an obvious loophole that Twilight could readily use.
"Should one of the aforementioned parties be proven to be unacceptable to the other through word, deed, action or inaction then the other party may break off the betrothal."
Rarity had readily agreed to allow Twilight to use how Blueblood had treated her at the Grand Galloping Gala as the reason. Twilight had been so relieved that she had completely broken down in the room as her father had walked in to hear her whispering her thanks to Rarity and Fluttershy before turning to her father, eyes still red rimmed.
"Why?" Was all she'd asked but the broken tone she'd said it told everypony the depth of hurt that she was feeling. Rarity moved closer to the Alicorn and nuzzled her neck, trying to offer some comfort.
Night Light had stood proud as he answered, "I did it for the family, think how well connected our two houses will be! You must not use that clause I forb-" *CRACK* A magical blow struck the unicorn stallion, rocking him back; Twilight's horn was still glowing.
"Get out of my home," a deathly cold voice that shouldn't have been possible from the sweet tenderness of Twilight's mother.
"I beg you pardon?!" Night Light said as Rainbow kept looking between the three like some strange tennis match.
"You married into this family under the same contractual clause. I am using it now.
I want you gone. Leave, no pony, not even you have the right to treat MY DAUGHTER Like that! She's not even YOUR CHILD!" She screamed out.
"See here mare! I shall not be spoken to like thi-" Rarity sent a bolt of lightning from her horn, forcing Night Light to shield as Twilight stood and stepped between her... Stepfather?... and her friends.
"Well. You can stand and fight us, Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, one who is the Princess of Magic, Defendor from Discord, Rescuer of Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon, Saviours of the Crystal Empire, and Victors of The Battle for Canterlot against the Changeling Empire... Or You can leave. In. One. Piece!"
As she finished, her horn flared while Rarity stepped up next to her, her own horn lit. Flanking either side of them were Applejack and Pinkie Pie with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash standing at opposite ends.
Night Light's colour faded from his face when he realised the true danger he was in. Fleeing from where he stood, the sound of a bag of bits being summoned was shortly followed by the front door opening and slamming shut. Twilight collapsed, tears running freely. Rarity looked at her before she turned to the group.
"I think it best if everyone gives her and her mother some time." They all nodded and went to leave when Twi's hoof caught Rarity's.
"S-Stay," Twilight whispered looking to Rarity. The white unicorn had simply nodded and knelt down next to her as the rest left.
The last Rainbow had seen of Twilight that night was leaning into Rarity while the fashionista was whispering to her.
-End Flashback-
"EEP!" *CRASH* Was heard from the bathroom as Rainbow threw the uniform on the bed and flew into the room. She stopped dead at what she saw. The canary mare had obviously finished her shower as evidenced by the way the water clung to her sleek toned body.
'Wait, whaaaaat?!' Rainbow thought as she examined her previous thought.
Fluttershy had obviously gone to put some toothpaste on her toothbrush, slipped and dropped the toothpaste. As she landed she had somehow got the tube stuck up her nose and was currently looking cross eyed down her snout. Rainbow tried not to laugh, she really did, but when Fluttershy started laughing as she removed the tube, the blue pegasus lost it and fell to the floor in loud guffaws.
Thankfully, nothing more untoward happened as Fluttershy finished sorting herself out and nodded to Rainbow that it was safe to use the shower.
Twenty minutes later, a now uniformed Rainbow Dash was sat at the table with her friends, providing a good description as to what the ruckus was. Surprising them all though, was Fluttershy, as she poked fun at Rainbow, who hadn't had any quick witted words to say when she first saw what had happened.
Rainbow's face when Fluttershy of all ponies had a dig at her set the table to laughing once more. Shaking her mane Rainbow turned to Twilight who was sitting suspiciously close to Rarity, who didn't seem to be bothered one whit.
"Oooh Counteeeesss!" Rainbow called over in a slight pitched teasing tone, grinning as Twilight's eye twitched.
"Yes, Rainbow?" Twilight said quietly, in a tone that Rainbow knew too well.
"Eh *Gulp* Why does my uniform say I Got three ribbons for courage and two saying I got medals?"
Twilight blushed at this before she looked about the table as she spoke, "Technically, we're a unit that reports to the Princess', so we get the same honours as the guards. But the Princess didn't want to make a big fuss as we're 'Civilians'. Except for you now, Rainbow."
The Rainbow Dash of one week ago would have gone on about how awesome that was, the Rainbow of four days ago would have claimed Bragging Rights. But today's Rainbow did neither, she just nodded and carried on with her breakfast. She looked up to see the shocked faces of her friends and the two CMC's with them and snorted.
"Hey, I've got what I wanted with my dreams, I got nothing I need to prove anymore; I'm in the Wonderbolts, an' I'm gonna work hard to be worthy of keeping that honour, but I got a bigger dream now. Be the mother that Scootaloo deserves."
She said the last few words with such emotion that her throat choked for a moment, not noticing the emotional tears she'd instigated.
*Knock-Knock* "Royal Canterlot Guard!" was called through the door. This caused the ponies around the table to raise their eyebrows in surprise.
"I'll get it," Twilight said as she went to the door. Rainbow moved to watch from the doorway as Twilight went down the hall. She knew when the earth pony guards had spotted her, as they straightened up a bit smarter being Privates.
She shook her head internally at that. She would never get used to commanding ponies she thought.
"Miss Sparkle?" one of the guards said, casting a wary eye towards Rainbow as well.
"Yes?" Twilight answered. Before she could move, a magic suppressing horn ring had been put around her horn, and she was under arrest for forcibly removing the owner of the house from his property.
"HALT!" Rainbow shouted down the corridor before stalking towards the guards, remembering the posture and tone used by her Captain she tried to emulate it but in a way that was her own.
"Who gave the arrest warrant for a PRINCESS?" Rainbow demanded.
The guards looked to each other, and stayed silent.
"Well? I'm waiting," Rainbow said pulling Twilight behind her.
"Er... That is it's... orders from the Captain... yeah! Thats it!" one of the guards said, unconvincingly.
"Really?" Rainbow said with a glare.
The two nodded.
"Twilight, send a message to your brother," Rainbow all but ordered. Twilight nodded as she went back inside. A moment later, Rainbow heard her dictating a letter and then there was a *woosh* as the grey smoke of bottled dragonflame left the doorway.
"If you two are correct when Shining Armour or Princess Celestia arrives, then okay. If not, I suspect they'll want answers as to the illegal arrest of the Guard Captains sister!" 'Damn that legal stuff they drill in the academy's useful. I won't tease Twi about bein' an egghead so much anymore,' Rainbow thought as she watched the guards faces pale, which was quite impressive to do under the guard illusion that makes them all appear white.
Moments later, a Pegasus drawn carriage landed and Shining Armour stepped out, approaching the guards. He looked about and seemed surprised to see Rainbow Dash standing to attention.
"Report Lieutenant," Shining Armour ordered.
"Sir. These two guards arrived approximately thirty minutes ago. When the Lady Sparkle confirmed her identity they put a Magic Suppressing Horn Ring on her, and informed her she was under arrest for forcible eviction of a house owner. I intervened and asked who signed the warrant as aside from yourself, only the Princess' can sign the warrant on another Princess. They proceeded to claim it was on your authority."
Shining Armour nodded, before he turned a glare to the now visibly worried guards.
"Okay, now the truth you two. I signed no such warrant," he practically growled out.
"Sir. Lord Night Light told us he'd been barred from his home by his illegitimate daugh-"
"SILENCE!" Shining Armour roared out.
"Lieutenant Dash, Remove the Horn Ring from the Princess Twilight Sparkle. Immediately." Rainbow nodded and turned back into the house silently. She was cursing her luck because she hadn't even been in uniform an hour, and she was dealing with idiots. But thanking her luck because although she hadn't been in uniform an hour, she had the authority to deal with said idiots.
Stepping into the drawing room where the rest were she moved straight to Twilight and within moments had the ring undone and removed. The Purple Princess sighed in obvious relief as her access to her magic was restored.
They could hear Shining Armour's voice inside chewing the guards out when his voice rose to a thunder. "YOU TOOK HIS MONEY! PEGASUS GUARDS, RESTRAIN AND REMOVE THESE COLT-WANNABE-SOLDIERS TO THE BRIG IMMEDIATELY!"
Moments later Shining Armour entered still looking visibly angry before looking around.
"Sorry about that. it seems my... father... bribed those soldiers and would have had Twilight held elsewhere." He looked straight to Twilight Velvet as he spoke the next words, "Mother, I have to ask, what the hay did you see in that Horseapple?!"
"Oi! Ahm jest a filly!" Apple Bloom shouted, making Shining Armour cough an apology to his mother's approving nod.
Twilight Velvet seemed to shrug as she spoke.
"It was the same as he was about to do to your sister - a betrothal contract I had no choice over it. This is the first time he's stepped out of bounds enough that I could break it."
Shining Armour nodded. "Okay, I'll have words with Grandfather Velvet about that later. For now, I need to head back to the castle." He then turned to Rainbow. "Oh Rainbow, Princess Luna would like a word with you and Scootaloo's doctor, ASAP!" Rainbow nodded, not quite getting the subtle order until Shining Armour rolled his eyes.
"That Rainbow means get your flank to the castle yesterday," he said with a smile as Rainbow bolted out the house and took to the air, ignoring the twinge in her wing-joint. She'd flown on weather patrol every day with worse.
A few minutes later, she landed in the forecourt and made her way to where the Princess' held their audiences. She expected to wait a while, but as soon as the guard at the door saw her enter he waved her forwards.
As the doors opened and a fuming Night Light was led out to the amusement of Rainbow, she was told to go in. "Ah! Lieutenant Dash, I asked to see you as I believe I have found a way to speed up young Scootaloo's recovery. But it needs your permission as her mother."
Rainbow raised her eyebrows at hearing this. If it needed her permission then it was probably dangerous.
"We have found the foal version of the spell that was used upon your own broken bones. However, as she is just a filly, the discomfort you felt would be magnified to a rather painful experience for her."
Rainbow took a breath as she faced the princess who she knew Scootaloo had started calling 'Aunty Luna.' "Well, the fact you're even considering it says you think she might be able to handle it, but you asking me instead of just going ahead tells me you're uncertain."
Luna nodded.
"Right, is there a spell you can cast on me that'll simulate the amount of pain she'll feel? If I know what she'll go through I'll know better whether I think she can handle it. But be warned even if I think she can and after it's been explained if she say's no, then I'll withdraw my permission. She say's stop at any time, then you stop the spell." It didn't matter to her that she was going head to head against the princess' on this, the only thing that mattered to her was Scootaloo.
Luna smiled at her as she answered, "And with those words thou hast proven that thou are the mother she needs. I agree to all thy points. When do you want me to cast the spell that simulates the pain thy daughter shall feel?" Rainbow looked about the room and went over to one of the couches and lay on her front on it.
"Now," she said with finality. Luna nodded as Celestia who had stayed silent through their exchange cast a spell that no sounds could be heard outside.
"Art thou ready?" Princess Luna asked. Rainbow nodded and closed her eyes.
She felt the spell impact her and grunted as the pain struck. It was more than she'd anticipated as she grit her teeth while her legs felt like they were being repeatedly stabbed with needles. Never mind her barrel, that felt like it was being pounded with a meat tenderiser!
Seconds later, it was over, and Rainbow gasped. "Damn! That hurt like Tartarus!" Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked up. "No way, no how! If you can at least half the pain, then maybe."
It was at this point Celestia stepped forwards. "What about the pain-syphon spell? It is in two parts, one half is cast on the one known about to receive pain, the other half on one who will take all the pain the other's feeling, leaving them without feeling any of it."
Rainbow nodded, understanding what this implied.
"I'd go through a lot worse for her," Rainbow smiled as she answered.
"We know," Luna said. Still surprised at how fast Rainbow had healed once she'd had a couple nights sleep. "Okay, let us go see to Scootaloo," Luna added, as she led Rainbow to the hospital that was on the grounds.
They hadn't even fully entered the room when Scootaloo looked up to them. Her face showing all the signs of crying.
"Oh Scoots," Rainbow breathed out going over to the little depressed filly and pulling her into her arms.
"Talk to me, what's wrong?" Rainbow said quietly as Celestia and Luna hung back to give them the appearance of privacy.
"I-I don't g-get it. W-why would Y-you w-want mmmee? I-I won't ever b-be able to f-fly. I'm j-just gonna b-be a drain on you. J-just like my f-father said. I'm a drain. U-useless! W-whe I w-was born I k-killed my f-first mmommaaa!" Scootaloo wailed into Rainbows jacket as Rainbow held her, tears falling down her own face.
"Shh, I told you before Scoots, I ain't ever gonna give up on ya. I don't know about what your father told you, but I want you to listen to me now." Rainbow pulled away from Scootaloo a little, and looked down into those depressed violet eyes that just days ago held so much life.
"It. Is. Not. Your. Fault," Rainbow said quietly, emphatically. As she finished she pulled Scootaloo in to another hug, wrapping her wings about the filly.
"I promise you it isn't scoots."
"H-how can you know?" Scootaloo sniffled. Rainbow gently lifted Scootaloo up off the bed being careful not to aggravate her injuries before sitting in the chair by it settling Scootaloo on her lap.
She saw Luna and Celestia fighting tears at what they were hearing and nodded that they could come closer.
"I know because you were just a tiny foal when you were born. Whatever happened was not your fault," Rainbow said, her own tears falling into Scootaloo's purple mane.
"B-but h-he said I was born wrong! Tore something and made her bleed too much. That it'm my fault! An now you're my mummy and - an I d-don't wanna l-lose you tooo! Y-you'll realise how much o-of a waste I aaam," she cried.
Hearing the true fears that Scootaloo had Rainbow held the filly close. "Scoots, I promise you I will never ever regret adopting you. I wanted to be your momma for weeks before this happened. You are not a waste, you are my daughter and I love you," she said, the truth shining through her words.
Both the princesses had come and sat by them at this point and could hear the filly's crys slowing, before she spoke again, "B-bu-but I can't even fly!" Rainbows eyes closed as she held back the emotions at hearing the pain in Scootaloo's voice.
"I know Scoots... I know, okay? I still want you. I won't ever abandon you. I promise."
"P-Pinkie promise?" Rainbow had to smile at this little bit of Ponyville culture that had wormed it's way into everypony's lives courtesy of the pervasive pink party pony: Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie Promise," Rainbow said quietly, holding Scootaloo close.
While Scootaloo was distracted and holding on to Rainbow she nodded towards the Princess' who with their own tears falling smiled and started the spells. Rainbow knew when the pain spell had taken effect. She felt like her own legs were broken, but she didn't react in the slightest. She was not going to let Scootaloo feel even more guilty for something she couldn't help.
Luna quickly cast the bone-knit spell and Rainbow had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying out, it took all her effort not to stiffen up or show signs of the pain she felt.
As soon as the spell was complete she felt Scootaloo become a completely relaxed and looked down to see she had fallen asleep. "She will sleep a while, although you may have taken her pain, you could not give of your energy for her." It was with a gentle smile when Luna finished and stood up, leaning forwards to place a small kiss on scootaloo's forehead before she backed away.
"Know this: thou doth have my full backing and mine trust in regards to thy guardianship of my pseudo-niece. Look after her well," Luna said as Celestia stood and repeated Luna's actions before she too spoke, "The same can be said for me."
Her horn shone with a gentle golden glow as Scootaloo's casts came off. Rainbow nodded and quietly promised them she would try to be the best mother she could.
"That is all we ask," Luna said.
"That... and to babysit sometimes," Celestia added with a smile as they left, leaving Rainbow no time to answer her.
Smiling, she lay Scootaloo down on the bed and sat back in the chair. She knew she would face many challenges as Scootaloo's mother, but she silently swore to meet them head on.
Spotting that Scootaloo was shivering slightly in the draft, Rainbow carefully got up on to the bed and laid her wing over her as an extra blanket, before settling her head down between her hooves and letting her eyes close as she allowed herself to fall into a light sleep.
The end...? |
Burning Day Reckoning | pre | Fawkes and Philomena cautiously ascended to the mountaintop, where the dragon had ceased its erratic movements and lay still, grunting heavily. A low moan escaped its maw as Celestia and Luna conjured up more ethereal restraints around its legs, mouth, and claws.
This is no Pokemon.
Ho-Oh joined the group, appearing from below, followed by Twilight, who flapped up to the dragon's head and examined its eyes and neck with a frown.
"Not like Giratina, you mean?" Celestia asked, her horn glowing still. "Then where did it come from?"
I... I think I know.
All eyes turned to Fawkes.
This is... I mean, it's been in better shape of course, but...
"What is it, Fawkes?" Twilight asked.
This dragon... it used to guard a high-security vault in Gringott's Bank, back in my world. It's a Ukrainian Ironbelly: the largest known dragon species.
"Another dragon from another world..." Twilight flapped up around the dragon's sides and examined its spines. "It doesn't look like any dragon from Equestria, that's for sure," she said as she squinted and flitted from end to end of the dragon's tail. "It looks much more... vicious, and... well, I wouldn't want to face it by myself. I'd sooner take on both Ursas than this."
It appears that Giratina's dimension hopping has had some rather... far-reaching consequences.
Ho-Oh frowned upon the dragon, which had finally succumbed to Celestia's sleep spell and begun to snore. Puffs of smoke escaped its nostrils while its eyelids fluttered rapidly.
Twilight settled in front of the dragon's maw and examined its teeth. As she noted the fangs' curvature, the dragon snorted, shooting forth a splash of cinders. A few caught her mane, causing it to instantly flare up.
With a yelp, Twilight jumped back and quickly blew upward. Although she snuffed out the offending flame, the pink streak in her mane was left with a short, uneven patch. After a groan and shake of the head, her eyes roved over the chains around the dragon's neck, where the fresh marks continued to bleed, albeit slowly.
"You know," she grumbled, "now might be a good time to get Fluttershy involved after all." |
Burning Day Reckoning | Comet Burst / Chapter Four: Like a Dragon Scorned | Giratina snarled as the idiotic little dragon she followed rambled on. What was supposed to be a short walk to meet some other dragons that hated phoenixes had become nothing more than aimless wandering through a couple of fields, another forest, and up a mountainside, all the while being informed of the dragon "social norms" in this dystopian mess.
"Dragons here also like to have their egos stroked by being referred to by their titles," Garble continued, oblivious to Giratina's growing impatience. "They spend most of their lives trying to obtain fearsome and exceptional titles to replace their boring names, so the best way to get on their good side is to call them by their titles alone. Like, there's The Terror of the Mines, The Sun's Wrath, The Reclaimer of Mt. Dukaan Kendov and a few other really famous ones where we're going. They're probably not going to be too happy when we arrive because this is about the time of year they hibernate, but you should be able to handle them without a problem. Am I right?" Garble nudged Giratina's leg with his elbow.
Touch me again, and I will rend your soul from its body, Giratina growled.
Garble blinked. "What's a soul?"
Giratina's eyes seemed to glow with excitement as she looked down at him. Do you want to find out?
"Uh, never mind," he replied, turning away and looking at the mountainside. "So, as I was saying, they like to hibernate around this time, but a fight usually wakes them up. It also helps to fabricate something about riches and glory, since they love that kind of jazz. The hardest one to convince is the Alpha, though. I mean, I've only heard of the treasure hoard he's gathered, and if it's even remotely close to true, he's got enough treasure to sate any dragon's greed."
Giratina rolled her eyes as she trudged along, wishing to be anywhere else but next to the miniature moron. Sure, it wasn't like she had to keep him alive. He'd probably squeal out all the information she wanted if she only crushed one of his legs under her girth. She began to imagining crushing more of his body and a savage grin crept onto her mouth. It had been too long since she had a toy to break, especially since her "egg-mates" always rescued the dumb Trainers and Pokemon who somehow stumbled into her realm.
As they walked, she thought about her past, and the madness around her melted away. Thoughts were her only real friends, some of them going as far as to talk back to her. Sometimes they were friendly and comforted her in the emptiness of home, but others had ire that terrified even her. Warm summer days filled her mind one moment, and the yawning maw of the black hole beneath her home ate it up the next. She engrossed herself in so many thoughts at once, she failed to notice the soft grass become jagged granite or the air go from comfortable to unnaturally hot.
Below her, Garble stood at an enormous cave in the mountainside and gulped, looking up at the gigantic cavern. Glancing back to Giratina, who stomped by, he could tell she'd easily be able to walk inside without needing to duck. Scratches the size of his body carved out the solid rock above while the walls were lined with scrape marks from numerous scaly hides. From deep within, a warm breeze wafted past him and out onto the barren rocks surrounding the entrance, as if the cave itself was about to breathe fire.
"H-here it is," he mumbled, twitching as he looked back at Giratina.
When all he saw was her backside stomping away from him, his fear vanished, and he tore off after her, yelling at the top of his lungs and waving his arms in the air.
"Hey! You're going the wrong way!" he yelled, spreading his wings.
With a mighty jump, Garble forced himself into the air and flew up near her gold crest, wary of surprising her. He cupped his claws around his mouth and took a deep breath.
"Yoohoo! Equestria to Giratina! Can you hear me?" he bellowed.
As soon as he finished speaking, Giratina froze mid-step. Garble grinned as he lowered his claws, but his elation died as he saw her red eyes glow again.
Yes, I can hear you. Her voice took a terrifying edge in his mind. How can I not? You have yet to shut up for more than ten seconds since you offered to take me to this blasted place, and yet you still think it is a good idea to question if I can hear you?
Giratina's head swung around so fast, Garble had little time to react as her crest slammed into the side of his body. Knocked off balance, he flailed his claws around and caught one of the mandible pieces. He shook his head, clearing the spots from his vision, and suddenly wished he still had them when he saw both of her red eyes glaring down at him.
Before he could react, her maw opened and she shrieked at the top of her lungs for the second time that day.
Can you hear me?
Garble nodded like a hatching, his pupils tiny.
"Y-you know," he stammered. "Your c-crest is really pretty."
Shut up, whelp. Giratina snorted, but the intense glow in her eyes seemed to dim a bit.
"No, really, it is," Garble said, trying to lay on the flattery. "In fact, I think these dragons may like it too."
If you try to flatter, suck up, or flirt with me one more time, Giratina said, her eyes burning again, I will eat your soul like a Heatmor eats Durants.
Garble opened his mouth to say something, but never got the chance as Giratina stomped her leg, causing the ground to shake. Amidst the rumbling, a loud roar came from deep inside the cavern, making both of them look into the darkness at the same time.
"I, uh, think they're awake," Garble said, fear edging his voice.
Good, Giratina grunted. They had better be. Nothing sleeps in my presence and lives.
As soon as she finished speaking, she strode into the abyss, head held high and girth ghosting through the boulders. With a terrified squeak, Garble took off after her.
"Wait! There was something I forgot to tell you!" he cried as the darkness swallowed them.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Garble said as he climbed over the various stalagmites, following the trail of footprints Giratina was leaving. "I mean, I don't think they would very much appreciate a dragon of your... uh, grandeur striding in unannounced."
Then they will have to deal with it, won't they? Giratina snarled as her head passed through yet another stalactite. Besides, it was you who told me about meeting them, so it's your head if anything goes wrong.
"You seem extremely intent on killing either me or something else," Garble remarked. "Have you ever tried taking some time away from living beings to relax? I hear some alone time works wonders for stress relief."
Garble had just finished clearing a small pit of stalagmites when he noticed the angry glowing eyes of Giratina looking back at him.
Since you know nothing about me, I will let that slide. However, never speak to me about being alone ever again. I have spent millennia alone, so do not attempt to advise me on 'stress relief.' Understood?
"Oh, well then, uh, do you have friends in your world?" Garble replied.
What did I just say about stress relief?
"Y-yes! I meant, uh, I was wondering if you had any, er, friends back in your world. You know, so we can get to know each other better."
I also told you not to try to flirt with me!
Garble gulped, fear gripping him for a second before he regained his courage. "I just want to know more about you!" he shouted, starting to back away from her. "I mean, why are you so mean to somedragon who is trying to be your friend?"
Sure she was about to rend him apart with her mind, Garble threw his arms up as her voice thundered in the cavern.
Because the last two dragons I trusted locked me away for over three millennia! My own brothers did that to me, so what makes you think I will ever trust another dragon ever again?
A tense silence followed as Garble peeked between his claws. He wondered for a while if he would feel Giratina biting him in half, when he noticed she stood there, one glowing eye still on him.
Draaf. I've said too much. She stomped away.
Garble waited until he was sure he was behind her before following again, his mind running afoul. The fact a beast like Giratina had siblings was scary, but the idea they had both forced her into isolation for thousands of years was even more terrifying. Dragon feuds in Equestria were a dangerous thing, especially after the last one between Kratotoa and Zasagamesh that left half of the eastern mountain hatching grounds in ruins.
"I'm, uh, sorry they did that," Garble said.
Spare me your pity.
"Well, you know you can trust me, right? I'm way too small to even stop you from walking, so I doubt I'll ever be able to lock you up for any length of time."
And if you tried, you'd be dead seven times over before you pulled your claw back.
Garble allowed himself a small smile. At least she only threatened his life on the basis he did something to her.
Even if you did try such a thing, you would be dead long before a plan even came to you, Giratina growled. And yes, I can read your thoughts.
Garble froze at that, but another rumble echoed through the cavern before either one could say more. Glancing around, he shivered as he noticed the spike in temperature.
"We must be close..." he mumbled.
They had better be here, Giratina responded before stomping off in a hurried pace, stone fragments falling from the walls as she shook the ground with each step.
Garble yelped and ran after her, ducking and weaving his way around the stalagmites in order to keep up. A few large ones pressed in on him, and he had to slide underneath an arch of sediment, but eventually, a massive wave of heat washed over him at the same time a bright orange light lit the place around him.
"Holy!" he shouted, looking around the cave they had entered.
If the entrance was huge enough for Giratina to walk in without any problem, the space they had entered made her look small. The cavern was large enough to house some of the mountains around where he was hatched. Gigantic glowing pools of lava lit the area, some with rivers seeping off them at a glacial pace and even a few cascading down the walls. They all flowed down into a hole that boggled Garble's mind, as if the cavern stretched into the very center of the planet. Fearlessly, Giratina marched forward and peered into the hole before turning back to him.
Is this the way?
Garble shook his head and walked towards the hole, shivering the whole way. "I, uh, actually don't know," he admitted. "I've never seen the den myself."
What do you mean, you've 'never seen the den'? Giratina's telepathy shook the ground. You promised these dragons would help me and that you would lead me to them!
"I am!" Garble whined, rubbing his ears and temples.
Then explain how you cannot know if this hole leads to their dens!
Garble had no time to react as one of Giratina's legs pressed down on him, crushing all the wind out of his lungs.
Fahral zey, hefhah!
A strange urge overtook Garble as she spoke and he mysteriously found the strength to answer. "I've only heard legends about this place!" he cried, hoping she wouldn't squish him. "One of our elders told us how to get to the entrance. I told you all I know of this place. Honest!"
So I'm following directions from a fool hatchling remembering some old crone's story.
Another loud roar echoed in the chamber, causing both Garble and Giratina to look back at the hole.
"T-that's..."
Who? Giratina narrowed her eyes at the hole.
"The Terror of the Mines," Garble whispered. "Terra."
The roar echoed again as the cavern shook, loosening rocks from the ceiling. Giratina gave off a low growl as she removed her leg from the clutching Garble.
He sounds big.
"He's the dragon that stole all the wealth from the northern kingdoms of old," Garble said, slowly pulling himself up from the floor. "He raided all the diamond dog settlements and stole the Crystal Empire's entire treasury all by himself."
Is he who we are looking for? Giratina asked.
"He's only one of the dragons that are rumored to live here," Garble said, approaching the ledge. "There are others, like Sun's Wrath--who aided the Pony Princess Celestia in stopping the Shadow Serpent's invasion--and Zoniiz, the only existing ice dragon left."
As soon as the words left Garble's mouth, more roars came from within the hole, causing him to scramble back from the edge.
It appears they know we are here. Giratina snorted. And they apparently have stupid names. Who names themselves 'Icicle'?
Garble looked up at her, confusion written on his face. "Who's Icicle?"
The fool who uses the ancient language as a name, she hissed. The blasted idiot probably has no idea what it means.
"Ancient language?" Garble said with a tilt of his head.
Only dragons that were around when... never mind. The point is there was an ancient language all dragons spoke--even those like my brothers and Arceus knew it. Now, only old and foolish dragons use that language.
"And you know it?"
Giratina's head twitched.
I am speaking to you in it right now, she said, her tone cryptic. You only hear it in your language because all dragons understand it in their own tongue.
"Whoa," Garble said. "How old are you then?"
Giratina turned to him, her eyes blazing. I helped form my world, fool.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds before another roar rang out, causing both of them to look back into the endless hole stretching down into the heart of Tartarus.
I am going to see them, Giratina said before spreading her massive shadowy wings, each of her crystals glowing dangerously.
Garble yelped and grabbed onto her leg, causing her to snort before she bent and leaped off the rock, straight into the hole. He screamed as she dove, but Giratina let out a happy bellow, enjoying the sensation of flying and the tiny red fool's cries.
The sound of crumbling rubble filled the room as Giratina's six legs smashed the ground beneath her, leaving a series of craters in the igneous rock. Around her, lava poured down in one large flow, a perfect lavafall around a central platform. Glancing upwards, she saw the hole above extended far past what she could see. For the first time in this world, she felt uneasy; if she needed to escape, she would have to wind back up that long, dark path where other dragons could catch her along the way.
"Wow," Garble said as he let go of her leg. "That was long."
It will be longer getting back up. Giratina turned to the only other way out of their chamber.
An arch twice the size of the cave opening above loomed before them, tastefully decorated with numerous bleach-white bones. A tremor shot through Giratina's spine.
"Whoa," Garble said. "Diamond dogs, wyverns... what is that?"
He pointed at a horned skull hanging near the bottom of the arch, right above the lava waiting for it. It had a giant frill behind it with two large horns and a smaller one sticking out of its nose.
I do not know, and I would rather not find out, Giratina said as she started to walk forward.
The duo entered through the arch--wide enough for three dragons of Giratina's size to walk through comfortably--and paused to take in what lay beyond.
If the cavern above was huge, this one dwarfed it. Jagged walls reached up into a ceiling of pitch black, the true ceiling nowhere to be seen. Around them, a lake of lava bubbled and frothed below large walkways leading further in. Some branched out into the walls where more archways revealed the vast extent of the lair's contents: mountains of gold and jewels filled the alcoves behind the archways, some of them taller than Giratina herself.
Nestled between the many golden peaks, though, lay the leviathanic keepers of the hordes, basking in lavaglow. The ones closest to the entrance snored loudly, their black breath swirling above them like thunderclouds, two of them pouring brown rain down on them and their spoils. More alcoves similar to those stretched farther into the cavern, reminding Giratina of the great halls of ancient humans she had so enjoyed destroying long ago.
"Wow," Garble said, his voice breathless. "That's... and that's..."
Giratina let loose a throaty growl as she took a step forward, the rock groaning beneath her legs. Immediately, she spied the ominous glint of their eyes opening and she froze, tensing as the set on her left met hers. A long and pointed head rose, the black scales glittering in the orange light.
"Who goes there?" he spoke, his voice rumbling like boulders down a mountainside.
"That's Mountain Breaker, the one who gouged out the mountain the ponies made their capital on," Garble said, his voice tiny and squeaky.
Giratina hissed at him as Mountain Breaker eyed her over, his fangs hanging out from beneath his scaly chops. She maintained eye contact with him, but saw him flex his claws, each digit as big as one of her legs.
"My, my," he rumbled. "What an exquisite creature. Why don't you come over here into my lair?"
If I did, your insides would soon be painting those walls, Giratina retorted.
He grinned, revealing his long teeth glittering with pieces of gemstones embedded in them.
"Temper, temper, young one," he sneered. "You'd make a fine mother for my brood."
I will rend you limb from limb if you speak to me like that again, fool, Giratina hissed.
As she finished speaking, the stone trembled beneath her legs. She glanced further down the pathway, wondering what else was listening.
Mountain Breaker's grin fell from his snout, a puff of smoke escaping as he gave a loud snort. "Fine," he said. "Be that way, but you won't be able to deny Him."
"'Him'?" Garble asked, peeking around her legs.
Mountain Breaker narrowed his eyes at Garble before snarling. "You have the audacity to bring your hatchling here? Bah, he'll be a snack once you are made into His broodmother."
He is not my hatchling, Giratina said, her eyes and crystals glowing bright.
"Then is he your broodsire?" Mountain Breaker asked. "Either way, his death will be quick."
Mountain Breaker began to rise from his hoard, shifting and dumping piles of gold and gemstones into the lava. Although he was much bigger than Giratina had initially thought, she still only put him at the size of a fully grown Arbok.
Only I get to kill him, she growled. Touch him, and I will put you through pain beyond mortal comprehension.
Mountain Breaker froze at her threat. He watched them for a few seconds before falling back down onto his piles of gold and gemstones. The mountains trembled, but only a small fortune dropped into the lava around him.
Satisfied, Giratina turned and trudged down the rock pathway, passing each alcove with her signature indifference. From within their depths of gold and scorched rock, intense glares followed her as she strode by, each one growing more menacing as she descended deeper into the lair. Garble ran between her legs, dodging each step long enough to cast awed stares at the dragons before darting away back into the safety of her shadow.
"Magnus, Spiral Edge, Thorntail," he listed as they went, speaking barely loud enough for Giratina to hear him. "I thought... I thought they had all died..."
Runts, the lot of them. Giratina snarled. They are no bigger than a Steelix or Gyarados in my world. These are the legendary beasts that will help me bring down Ho-Oh? Pah! They would be naught but ashes after a single breath of his Sacred Fire.
She glanced down at Garble to see him shake his head emphatically, his eyes as big as dinner plates. Immediately, a chorus of roars rang out of each alcove, shaking the very air around her. Flailing her head around, Giratina roared back and flared her shadowy wings, each crystal glowing like a gemstone bathed in blood as she readied herself for a fight.
"G-Giratina," Garble said, his voice shrill and terrified.
What, whelp? she snapped back.
Wordlessly, he pointed to a spot behind her, his arm shaking and the color draining from his face. She blinked at him, curious as to what was making him react like that and how she could elicit the same look in the future. As she began to turn, she noticed the roars were more organized than the random mad rabble of senile old wyrms she had taken it for. It sounded almost like....
"T-they're chanting," Garble squeaked, taking a step back.
Giratina looked up at the rows of alcoves behind them and noticed each resident had stuck their heads out of the openings, watching her.
"Kinbok," they chanted, their voices rising in unison. "Kinbok, Kinbok, Kinbok, Kinbok!"
Leader? Giratina glanced back at Garble. The puny dragon had backed away quite a few paces since she had last looked at him. His gaze was still behind her, and his claw hadn't moved an inch.
"Kinbok, Kinbok!" the dragons continued.
For the first time since she had arrived, a pang of fear struck Giratina as she slowly turned around. What could command such respect that an army of dragons would chant for it like a ritual? As she spun, she noticed other alcoves, some she had not even passed yet, had their residents watching her and chanting in the same chilling screams. Once she had fully turned around, she stared down the path of bedrock and magma and noticed what she had perceived to be the end of the walkway... was in fact not.
Glancing up, she noticed there were dozens of pillars holding spires of gold and other relics reaching for the ceiling from within an ocean of lava. A gigantic dome arched around the body of liquid rock, lifting up the blackened walls rife with claw marks as big as her legs. Jagged ledges littered the walls, each one barely holding the sheer amount of treasure piled upon them.
What in Arceus' name?
Dreh ni hi seik dii for? came a voice from the dome.
"Kinbok! Kinbok! Kinbok! Kinbok!" the dragons behind her shouted.
Giratina felt the very air harden around her as she noticed a slight bulge growing from within the middle of the magma ocean, steadily growing as more of the molten rock bent to fill the arch. To her astonishment, a spire of pure obsidian pierced the surface, rising as if the planet itself was pushing it free of its clutches. As it rose, another spire broke the surface, followed by another and another until a row of them lined the ocean, leading straight to her. A low rumble shook the rock beneath her; she anchored her legs as firmly into the ground as she could.
The chanting subsided, the lair becoming silent. Inside the lava, an island of black obsidian rose up underneath the spires, forming a perfectly rounded shape that made Giratina gulp.
Arceus, she said, her voice shaking. It's larger than a Wailord.
More of the island pushed itself to the surface, revealing more and more of its titanic body. More spires rose from the lava--marginally smaller than the ones on the monster's back--and continued tracing a path right to the outcropping she was standing on. Before the last spire rose, a pitch-black crest flanked by two smaller horn-like protrusions lifted from the lava, forming a W-shape as the rest of it hid the obsidian spikes behind its sheer girth. The crest kept rising as lava cascaded down the armored plate, leaving brightly glowing yellow lines tracing around the crest in a bizarre pattern, like some kind of mutant Tyranitar.
Rivers of lava snaked their way down. Two slits of pure white split the crest and widened.
Giratina took an involuntary step back as they opened into a set of blank white eyes that stared back at her.
Wo yin vodremt dii slumber? the voice asked again, the rocks quivering as it spoke.
Giratina felt a twinge of anger stab at her mind. Rearing her head back, she roared at the eyes and crest as loud as she could, shaking the air like he did.
Gein wo fund lost hin mir!
A rumbling laugh echoed around the room as the crest bobbed in the lava. The eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly.
You speak well, young one. Few are those left who speak the true dragon tongue.
The ground rumbled again as the crest rose further into the air, revealing a long, bladed snout that accentuated the crest perfectly. Teeth the size of Giratina's wing crystals hung down below the chops of the dragon, glittering in the orange light.
"Why did you come here?" he asked, his rumbling voice lowering. "That crown you wear, the stripes on your belly, and the exotic way you speak--you reek of a drakaina ripe for the taking."
The dragon leaned in closer as more of his neck snaked from the magma pool. His tri-forked tongue flicked out from between his teeth.
"An unspoiled drakaina," he cooed, his voice wrapping around her like velvet. "You will be the pride of my hoard. Our brood shall blanket this planet."
You know not who you address, fool. This drakaina will remain unclaimed until the end of time. Giratina's eyes glowed red.
"Vogahriin los vunek," he said, his voice still smooth. "The Alpha is never denied."
History will be made here today, then, she hissed.
The Alpha chuckled again as his head backed away, his neck looping in the air.
"Perhaps a deal, instead?" he asked. "You come to me with a mission, one you need my help to complete. I have not left this den in over seven hundred years, and do not plan to for many centuries to come..." His jagged tongue ran along his lips. "Ah, but should you become my broodmother, I might consider making an exception."
Does the lure of glory and destruction not rouse you anymore? Giratina roared. Has your fat, lazy self lost the inner rage all self-respecting dragons nurse within their hearts?
A tense growl rang out around the room, causing the temperature to drop steeply.
"You would be wise to remember who you are speaking to," the Alpha warned. "It was not I who entered your lair with nothing to offer."
Giratina snorted, a burst of pink melting the rock at her feet. Your pride as a dragon means nothing if the fires of destruction in your belly no longer burn! Those on the surface cower at my very presence. What are you to those same insects? A legend? A mere myth? She spun and glared at the wall of dragons behind her. Whelp! Do I not speak the truth?
From behind a green dragon's leg, Garble poked his head out and nodded, quickly retreating after. Satisfied, Giratina spun back to the Alpha and and roared at him.
What say you now, wuth dovah?
A tense silence followed as she locked eyes with him.
A deep, throaty laugh made her spines stiffen. The dome began to shake, loosening streams of gold and gemstones into the lava. The Alpha's deep chuckle continued as the lines on his body brightened.
"You seem to think mere words will wound my pride and force me into actions of your design, drakaina," he spoke in the same smooth tone as before. "But those mean little to me, for I know that if I should rise from this pit, I would lay waste to the world above, and nothing would stop me--not even my own kin."
From behind him, the lava rippled again as two long lines made the surface bend. In perfect synchronization, two claws the same color as his teeth broke the lines, followed by walls of black as deep as his scales.
"My body throws the land into darkness when I fly overhead. My breath melts entire mountain ranges." His voice rose. "I am the Alpha, the first, and the most powerful of all the dragons in this world. Before me, there was no light on this rock. I made the sun with my own breath, giving light to the world and all the snivelling creatures on it. To them, I am no mere dragon of legend."
His eyes narrowed as he paused.
Wah niin, Zu'u los rah! His wings broke free of the lava, spraying the molten liquid around the dome.
"Kinbok! Kinbok! Kinbok! Kinbok!" the dragons behind Giratina began to chant again.
Giratina stared with a hard gaze at the Alpha in his majestic stance. Pure, unadulterated loathing seethed through her thoughts, demanding she put this pompous fool in his place. Creating the sun of this world was nothing compared to what she had done in her own; weaving the very fabric of reality with her wings and sheer force of will.
Then we are finished here, she spat back. Believe yourself to be whatever you want, but I will never bow to you or shout that you are my leader.
Turning around, she kicked a small trickle of rocks into his lava pit and took one step toward the crowd behind when he chuckled again.
"I told you," he said, his voice still smooth. "The Alpha is never denied."
The lava shifted violently as a claw the length of Giratina's tail flew from the depths of the pit and reached out to her, raining lava onto her back. Giratina's initial reaction was to scream, but she spun as the claw began to close around her and she lifted her foreleg. Immediately, the golden points widened into a trio of ferocious looking claws and she raked them across the Alpha's palm.
An ear-splitting scream shook the air as the Alpha withdrew his claw, droplets of acid-green blood dripping from the wound and dissolving the stone below. His empty eyes looked at the center of his claw and Giratina stomped her legs before roaring her challenge at him.
You are no god! she screamed, her eyes glowing like small stars. I will rend you apart for touching me!
The Alpha's gaze shifted from his claw to her as he dipped it into the lava. Slowly, he reared back and brought more of his body out of the lava. His neck went on for a few more meters until his hulking barrel sprouted from the magma, the glowing lines becoming thicker and brighter toward his chest. Two muscular legs flexed scythe-like claws on his digits, perfectly complimenting his wings. Their full span hid the dome's walls from her vision. If he hadn't treated her like a fool, she might have found him rather impressive.
"No dragon has struck me like that and lived," he said, his tone cold. "First, I will tear off those claws of yours; then, I will teach you to give me the respect I deserve. Only when you have learned your place will you then be honored with bearing my offspring until the day you die."
Giratina glared back at him, her stance solid and her gaze murderous.
And I will hang your skull on the cavern entrance when I kill you. |
Burning Day Reckoning | Cerulean Voice & Comet Burst / Chapter Five: The Weeping Heavens | Screams bounced around the cavern as the stones shook. Tremors rippled through the magma pooled around the spires before another cry of a dragon rang out, shaking loose dust and ash from the ceilings. Above the pool, a torn and faded flag bearing a sun sigil fluttered in the still air, reaching down to the magma as if asking to be immolated. As if to answer its request, the walls shook violently, knocking the banner loose from the piles of gold.
Outside the alcove, acid green blood etched black lines into the brown rocks around the den. The Alpha roared, flashing his tusk-like teeth as he bit at the drakaina swooping down at his face, a blob of shadow forming at her open maw. The blob shot forward and painted itself across his burning white eyes, hiding their harsh light. Another roar escaped him as he swiped blindly at the air, slapping Giratina with the flat of his claw. She tumbled through the air before his claw passed through her body and her form slowly faded from vision.
Bringing his other claw up, the Alpha raked it across his eyes, ripping off the shadow as if it was nothing more than mud. Blinking, he sniffed the air before spinning in place, opening his maw and loosing a torrent of fire at Giratina as she materialized. She screamed in response, but darted away from the intense inferno, her scales glowing from the fire. The Alpha followed her, his breath a continuous jet of fire and pain as he melted the gold stores into solid lumps in his wake.
Giratina swooped between the mountains of gold as she circled the Alpha, looking for some way to hurt him. His hide was nearly impenetrable, even for her claws. Her Shadow Ball did little other than annoy him, and he could sense her even when she was in the distortion dimension. His hoard apparently meant little to him as he melted parts of it and his reflexes made getting close dangerous. Even though she despised him, she had to admit he was as immune as his legends said. There seemed to be no gap in his armor or weakness in his fighting ability.
As she ducked underneath another swipe of his, she managed a surprised scream when his tail rose from below and smacked into her, sending her tumbling backwards. She flapped her wings furiously and dug into the obsidian hide with all of her claws, but only chipped the dense armor.
Tol fen ni kroson, miil! the Alpha cried out.
Roaring defiantly, Giratina slashed at his tail with renewed vigor. Her efforts paid off as a few scales ripped away from him, spraying a fountain of green in their wake. The Alpha roared again and Giratina felt his tail whip through the air for a split second before her breath was crushed out of her. Her head snapped back violently as her crest dug into the wall behind her. The tail snaked away from her and her legs flopped limply as she gasped for air.
With her vision blurring, she barely saw the black tail whip back to her, slamming into her body once more. She felt her chest explode with a stabbing pain as a loud crack rang out into the room. The tail pulled away and Giratina glanced down to see a white bone protruding from her chest, violet gore dribbling down its fragmented edge. Her rage firing her limbs, she screamed as she looked back up to him and wrenched her body free of the wall, the pain fueling her energy. Her crystals began to glow...
Mahfil! Gunaar!
Above them, a dull rumble shook the air. Boulders the size of the Alpha's spikes rained down upon the titanic dragon, shattering on impact and crushing more of his armor than her claws could. Bright patches of green began to pool in spots around him as he roared in anger and pain, diving back into the magma below. The liquid rock splashed about as his form disappeared beneath the surface, painting the walls an angry orange.
Gasping at the sudden lack of energy and surge of pain, Giratina stopped flapping her wings and collapsed onto an outcropping below her, wailing in agony as the bone scraped across the stone underneath. Steadily, a pool began to form of her own violet blood, soaking her side and forelegs. Her head began to spin as her left legs gave out, forcing her to kneel. She frantically tried to think of some way to heal the wound, but the silence made her uneasy.
Vah-- she thought before an explosion came from below. Spinning to face the magma, she had only a few seconds to register the open maw of the Alpha flying up to her. Throwing herself to her right, she screamed in pain as the bone shifted and the teeth of the Alpha pierced the stone just inches from her. Forcing herself to stand, her legs went numb as cracks formed in the rock. Leaping into the air and flapping her wings furiously, she watched the rock crumbling in the Alpha's mouth. The sound of bone crushing rock filled the room as the Alpha violently chewed.
Steadying herself in the air, Giratina shook her head as her vision spun. Below, she could still see the Alpha's pale empty eyes and his tongue snaking between his teeth. Her violet blood coated his front fangs and dripped from the bone down to his tongue, which twitched with every drop.
"Duliig," he rumbled. "Were you not a drakaina, I would love to devour you. Your blood alone is an exotic delicacy."
Her head starting to clear, Giratina roared back as she dove at him. Her wings tucked in and her eyes glowed with a raging red light. The Alpha threw his head back and opened his mouth, his teeth wet with saliva. Just as they were about to collide, Giratina flared her wings and extended her claws as his mouth snapped shut. The claws found purchase in the soft pink flesh of his gums and green blood sprayed onto her. An immediate searing pain covered her weakened body as the acidic fluid drenched her, but even worse was the immeasurable scream of pain from the Alpha himself. Giratina felt her whole form vibrate as he screamed and thrashed his head about, a cascade of green pouring from between his teeth.
With all the strength she could muster, Giratina ran her claws through the soft flesh as more green gore poured out. The spiny tongue of the Alpha ran itself across her body, forcing her to scream in pain as well. Eventually, it found the bone and began to rub around the wound, tearing at the already weakened hide and flesh beneath. Pain overwhelmed Giratina's senses, and she curled up, ripping out chunks of sopping greenish-pink flesh and her body flew from the Alpha's maw, out into the cavern.
Her vision swam as she tried to register anything around her, but all she could sense was the neverending agony from her wound. Everything began to feel detached from her as she sensed her body striking the wall and falling limply to another outcropping. Unsure of why she miraculously landed on another rock, her thoughts began to slip as her vision grew black around the edges. She knew she had to heal herself, but the word required evaded her cloudy mind.
V-Va... she thought, trying to force the word out. Vvvv-vah... Vah...
Her eyes began to roll to the back of her head as she threw herself onto her back and stared at the black ceiling.
Vah... Vah... Raan, she moaned before her eyes glowed again. Vahraan.
Immediately, a soothing wave of cool air washed over Giratina as strength began to fill her limbs. Her head pounded in sync with her heartbeat, but her mind cleared and the black faded from her vision. Her chest clicked and shifted as bones began to realign and patch their fractures, but the relief that followed was most welcome.
* * * * *
"Thank you so much for coming, Fluttershy. Princess Celestia insisted that you were the only one for the job."
Twilight hugged Fluttershy as her friend stepped out of the golden chariot. She looked over her shoulder and nodded at the Guardsponies, who saluted and flew back toward the royal garage. "Now, do you understand how important this is to keep quiet?"
"Oh, yes, Twilight." Fluttershy beamed. "I'm the best at keeping quiet. I'm still the world champ, you know."
Twilight chuckled and spread her wings. "Great! Okay, so we need to fly to the mountain summit." She pointed over their heads. "That's where Princess Celestia is keeping it. It's a very special case that requires only the most soothing and gentle treatment. Did you bring the letter?"
Fluttershy nodded and lifted her left wing, revealing a small saddlebag slung over her back. "Yes, Twilight. I read it, and it's in here. But what in Equestria needs my help? Surely there are other animal specialists in Canterlot? You didn't say anything about what it is."
"'What in Equestria' indeed."
"Huh?"
"Er, never mind," Twilight said. "Come on, let's get up there. It might die without proper treatment."
Fluttershy's gaze hardened as she spread her wings to full width. "No little critter dies on my watch. You'll see."
"Let me go let me go let me go let me go--eeep!"
Fluttershy strained against the purple stasis field surrounding her tail, still beating her wings and galloping hard through midair. "P-please let me go, Twilight," she begged. "I don't w-want to be d-d-dragon dinner!"
"Fluttershy, it's not going to eat you. Calm down, and let's talk about this--"
"No!" Fluttershy shook her head, clenched her eyes, and flapped harder. "You know how I feel about d-dragons, Twilight. Spike-size is adorable, but anything larger is j-just terrifying!" She covered her eyes with her hooves even as she continued to beat her wings. She moved a few inches, but Twilight grabbed harder.
Next to Twilight, Spike rolled his eyes. "Come on, Fluttershy! This one's asleep, and not moving, and all tied up by Princess Luna. It can't hurt you!"
"B-but what if it wakes up? Or breaks free? Or wakes up and breaks free? Oooh, I don't want to even think ab-bout it!"
Twilight and Spike exchanged bemused glances and sighed together. Twilight concentrated harder on her spell, fully enveloping Fluttershy in her aura. Fluttershy stopped resisting and simply whimpered as Twilight's prison globe floated back to the assembly. She stared at the behemoth's spines, quivering while eyeing its wrinkled body.
"Please, Fluttershy. We're all counting on you. This is a very important task that only you can perform."
As Fluttershy let out a "meep," Philomena flew down off Celestia's shoulder and perched on Fluttershy instead.
"Oh... um, h-hello there, Philomena. How are you?" Fluttershy asked. She lifted a hoof to stroke the phoenix's scarlet plumage.
To be honest, things have been better.
Fluttershy gasped, staring wide-eyed. "You can talk?"
With my help, yes, she can communicate with ponies, Ho-Oh said, landing in front of Fluttershy. He looked at everypony and tucked away his vast pinions. I have covered much of Equestria's south--alas, I detected no trace of Giratina. It is possible that it ripped through an alternate dimension yet again, however I think it more likely that it is currently resting in a deep dark cave somewhere, waiting for its chance to strike back at me.
"Wh-what's a 'G-Giratina'?" Fluttershy asked, shrinking back from the enormous phoenix.
Another dragon, fair pony. Not quite as large as this one, but far more dangerous.
Fluttershy looked to her other shoulder at another phoenix who had perched there. This one was different: crimson instead of scarlet, with longer tail-feathers--it looked like a different breed to Philomena, and its "voice" seemed deeper. A male, then.
"Dearest Fluttershy--" Fluttershy looked up into Celestia's grave face "--this dragon is not from Equestria. It has come from an outside realm, as has the one called Giratina. But unlike our new adversary, it seems to have only attacked after provocation. Please... come with me? I promise you will be perfectly safe."
Fluttershy gulped, nodded slowly, and took Celestia's wing. They approached the snoring behemoth, still held in place by Luna's blue tendrils. She watched its mountainous back rise and fall, her ears full of its blustery snoring. It flicked its ear, of which she noticed had a piece missing close to where it joined the head. Her eyes traced that injury to the others, seeing the chains and the inflamed red flesh beneath. Along the length of the chain, other thin red marks connected the cuts.
"Princess?"
"Yes?"
Fluttershy bit her lip and stopped. "Did you or Princess Luna... I mean, those marks--"
"No, we did not. This dragon appeared to us with every injury you see. We have simply subdued it."
"We may have... aggravated it during our encounter, however," Luna said. "I was forced to distract it from attacking Celestia, and its neck seemed a viable weak spot."
"I... see." Fluttershy looked away and released Celestia's wing. She fluttered up over the dragon's wing, eyed its ridged crown, and landed next to its mouth. Shaking, she extended a hoof to the side of its snout, and stroked--slowly. At her touch, it snorted, giving her pause, but then resumed snoring at a level pace. Its eyes fluttered rapidly, and she saw a thin line starting from its forehead, passing over the eyelid, and touching the base of its snout. Breath held, continuing to stroke, she leaned in closer toward its mouth; several teeth were chipped or missing, and all that remained were yellowed and rotting. She recoiled, lifted her comforting hoof from its snout, and stepped back.
From there, she moved around its head to its neck. The chunk missing from its ear looked nasty, but it seemed responsive enough; she made a mental note to test its hearing later. The gashes beneath its chains, however, made her bring a hoof to her mouth and retreat.
"Oh, you poor thing," she whispered. With that, she rose into the air and landed next to Twilight, still shaking as she touched down.
"What do you think, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy took a deep breath. "He's in really bad shape. His right ear is only just hanging on. His teeth are horrible. I think he might be blind, at least in the left eye. But those gashes under the chain are my main concern." She pointed at the angry red welts. "They're old wounds, and they look like they've been reopened many times, as recently as a few hours ago--I can smell the onset of infection. I think whoever kept this dragon in such horrible conditions did so for a very long time, and cared nothing for it."
"You see now why I requested you, fair Fluttershy," Luna said. "This one has come from another plane of existence. The other, Giratina, came from yet another plane. But this one attacked out of confusion and self-preservation rather than malice. If it could be swayed toward our side, we might have a valuable ally against Giratina when it inevitably strikes again."
"'Ally'?" Fluttershy gasped. "Oh, no no no, you can't do that to this poor darling."
Luna blanched. "I... I did not mean this moment, in his present condition."
"Oh, of course, Princess. I was not implying..." Fluttershy shook her head. "No, even if he was well looked-after from now on, he probably has terrible mental scarring. He's very old, and I can tell he's had a very hard life. He deserves a nice, long rest after having his wounds dressed, his teeth checked, his scales shined--"
"Wow, Fluttershy," Twilight said. "A minute ago you were flying away, screaming." She grinned, and Fluttershy blushed.
"Hey, Fluttershy--" Spike walked over and elbowed her side "--maybe we could both talk to him together. Uh, that is, if he talks at all, y'know..."
"Sure, Spike. He might appreciate having another dragon around. And I would love your help." Fluttershy turned back to Celestia. "I'll be needing some quinine, disinfectant, lots of towels, bandages..."
Celestia nodded; her horn flashed, and a scroll, quill, and inkpot appeared before Fluttershy. "Write down your list, and I'll send one of my personal guard to fetch it all for you. Note that I insist the hospital staff give you everything you require--they'll see the insignia on the back in any case."
Fluttershy unravelled the scroll and nodded at the glowing sun glyph, identical to Celestia's cutie mark with a signature underneath. "Thank you, Princess. Come on, Spike!"
As Spike scribbled down Fluttershy's dictation, Twilight looked back to Celestia. "So, should we discuss a plan of action, or something?"
Celestia and Ho-Oh nodded at each other.
That would be wise. There is no telling when or where Giratina will strike. We must prepare.
"I agree. Everypony, let us head back to the palace. Meet in the throne room."
"But..." Twilight frowned at the dragon. "What if Fluttershy and Spike run into trouble, or need help?"
Celestia nodded as Spike jogged over, scroll held high in his claws. Her horn flashed, and the scroll vanished. "Thank you, Spike. And, Twilight, you make a good point. I'll leave some more rolls of parchment here. Spike can send me a note if they make any observations or--Luna!"
Everyone gasped as Luna collapsed; she groaned on the ground and rubbed her head.
"What is it, Princess?" Twilight was by her side in a flash as Celestia and every phoenix surrounded her.
"M-my stars..." Luna's voice came as a whisper. "What has it... done to my p-precious stars?"
"Stars? Who? Done what?" Twilight shook Luna's shoulders. "What, Princess?"
Tears streamed down Luna's cheeks. "Arcturus... Pollux... Betelgeuse... oh, not Sirius too!"
Tell me, Celestia, Ho-Oh said. He pointed to the south. Are meteor showers a common occurrence in Equestria?
All followed Ho-Oh's gesture. A dark cloud flashed in the distance as shining lights plummeted from the sky, all in one place.
"Elysium above..." Celestia swiveled back to face Ho-Oh. "Is this that foul dragon's work?"
Ho-Oh bowed his head. I recognise that technique. Something must be pushing Giratina to its limits. That, my friends, is Falling Star, otherwise known as Draco Meteor: Giratina's ultimate attack. We must accelerate our plans if we are to avert another cosmic catastrophe.
Celestia glared at the cloud. "Everyone, throne room. Now.
* * * * *
Giratina roared once again as vigor returned to her limbs. The uncomfortable shifting of bones and the itching of her hide repairing themselves left a soothing cool over her body, allowing her mind to refocus on the important task of taking down the foolish dragon.
For his part, the Alpha gurgled and screamed hoarsely as he whipped his head around, green blood pouring from his mouth in a disturbing torrent. Black smoke puffed from his nostrils, looking more like the chimneys of the pathetic human villages she used to crush back in Sinnoh. He flailed about wildly, knocking over towers of loot as his screams echoed around her.
Fool! she screamed. You call yourself master of this world, yet cannot best a single drakaina! What must your subjects think of you now?
The Alpha paused his flailing and locked his empty white eyes onto her, panting heavily as his fangs began to smoke. A tense silence filled the chamber as Giratina stared back defiantly. She could only recoil, though, when his voice filled her head at a volume she never imagined possible.
"Silence, insolent one!" he thundered. "Do not mock me! I am a god in this world while you are nothing but a snack! Using your claws to prolong your death makes it no less inevitable!"
Your words mean little to those you cannot defeat, oh great devourer! she replied with a defiant roar.
The Alpha's eyes seemed to twinkle at her words. At once, he began to rise out of the magma below, spreading his gigantic wings and revealing the obsidian-clad body beneath; Giratina had to crane her neck to keep eye contact while he stood taller and taller.
She suddenly felt very small.
"My words mean little to you, young one?" he asked. "You, who speaks the ancient and forbidden language of our kind, who claims to have helped shape her world and dares to defy me with paltry magic think that my words mean..." Nid?
With his last word, the dome shook violently. Giratina dug her claws into the stones below to steady herself, but the very air seemed to vibrate with it.
"It is you whose words mean nothing here!" the Alpha roared. "You come to my home, challenge and slander my honor and then accuse me of being unable to defeat a single drakaina, yet you hide behind magic not of this world--Pokemon!"
Giratina's head snapped up at that, a stab of dread filling her chest. A sadistic smile crawled across the Alpha's snout as the green acid still dripped from between his fangs.
"I know what you are, fool. Your precious Arceus will not be coming to save you from me, either. You are alone in my den, in my cave, in my mountain, in my world!" Vahraan!
Giratina watched as the acid stopped flowing from his mouth, and his teeth realigned perfectly with his jawline. Several green patches on his hide instantly reverted to the glittering black of his scales, sparkling as if he has just cleaned them. She gulped as she looked back into his eyes, noticing the harsh light coming from them.
After throwing his head back, the Alpha snapped it forward and roared his unparalleled fury at Giratina.
Fus... Ro Dah! |
Burning Day Reckoning | Comet Burst / Chapter Six: Yun Jud | The screams of the two titanic dragons burned in the chamber, leaving resounding echoes in Garble's ears as he hid behind the leg of another. Peeking out ever so slightly, he caught a glimpse of Giratina unleashing a torrent of fiery breath at the Alpha, who was roaring and spewing his own emerald fire in return. Numerous scorch marks painted the walls cinder black, and once-glorious piles of golden loot now stood as solid lumps, looking like twisted idols of melting greed. Huge chunks of the stone pillars had been gouged out; long claw marks marred their base while countless fortunes of gold and gemstones cascaded into the yawning lava below.
Giratina shrieked and Garble ducked behind the leg once more, covering his ears and shivering slightly as the dragon he hid behind roared with approval. The ground trembled underneath him as other dragons stomped their claws, cheering on their chosen warrior. Garble shook his head again and dared to look at the battle again; his eyes went wide and his pupils tiny as he saw Giratina struggling to free herself from the Alpha's claws.
"Fool!" the Alpha roared. "Did you really think you could best me in my own lair? I will crush you like those pathetic ponies!"
Giratina screamed in response, her red eyes burning like small suns. The Alpha grinned for a split second before a howl of pain escaped him; he released his grip on Giratina as acid-green blood dripped down his claws. Giratina flapped her shadowy wings furiously as she kicked away from him. Her golden talons flashed, ripping more scales and skin from his own. She darted to her left as the Alpha's jaws slammed shut on the space she had been in. She easily flew around him as his empty white eyes traced her path and a low rumbling formed in his chest.
Giratina slowed herself and angled towards the line of obsidian spikes tracing his spine while he again murmured the spell of healing. The flesh began to repair itself, but Giratina extended her claws once more and dug into the hard scales on the Alpha's back. The force of her slash chipped his proud armor, and she slipped her golden spikes into the gaps between them, anchoring herself to him as he roared again and flared his wings. Pulling one claw out, she planted it farther up as she attempted to climb the base of his neck while his claws flew at her. His errant flailing drew his talons - each the length of his fangs - across the scales right next to her.
She managed to take two more steps before the Alpha's claw caught her tail and tightened its grip like a vice. He tugged with a force unlike any she had ever felt; he yanked her from his neck like she was a mere toy. He released his grip and Giratina tumbled through the air, flaring her wings to steady herself before she slammed into the solid stone wall. Stars flashed before her eyes and she fell through space, trying desperately to catch her breath once more. The Alpha's claws flashed at her once more, but she managed to maneuver herself away from his crushing grip as her wings found their strength again.
She ducked and weaved between his swipes, her wings burning, mind cloudy with fatigue and pain. Glancing at him once more, she screamed curses at him as she reached out with her mind. A small dimensional hole appeared in the air before her. She dove through and into the pitch blackness as the Alpha roared once again.
"Hiding from me will not help you!" he said as he sniffed the air once more. His keen senses could trace her scent, even if she did not visually manifest herself. He knew she was circling him, once around to see if she could fool him and then again, edging closer to his back to strike him unawares. Spinning in place, the Alpha opened his maw and let loose his fiery breath once more as Giratina's crest and striped belly materialized again.
Pinning her wings back, Giratina rolled in the air as the Alpha's intense fire swept past her, leaving a long scorch mark on her left rear leg and tail. Forcing herself to ignore the pain, Giratina shot towards his face.
The Alpha's eyes widened; Giratina raised her golden claws and shrieked her all.
The tips met the soft cornea of the Alpha's right eye.
A piercing scream shook the very air in the chamber as Giratina dug her claws in deeper, feeling the soft tissue shredding at her touch. She roared in delight as the Alpha's claw fell on top of her, gripping her with all the strength he could muster. She spread her claws further even as her leg bones snapped from his pull. Her roar of delight became one of pain as the front half of her body remained rooted in his eye while he tried to be pull her away by her rear. With gritted teeth, she kept her grip until a loud pop rang out and she was flung back, her claws still rooted in her prize.
The Alpha's screams reached such a terrible pitch that Giratina felt she might go deaf. She was thrown from him and landed on a pile of rubble; it collapsed under her weight, and she skidded into one of the many golden pillars in the room. She screamed the words of healing to herself and winced as she rose to her claws, her front legs squishing through the shredded remains of the Alpha's eye. Giratina reared back and roared once again as the eye slipped from her claws and fell to the lava below.
You are nothing to me! she taunted. I have taken your eye. Now you will submit like the whelp you truly are!
The Alpha bellowed long and loud as his claw covered the wound, green blood seeping between his digits. He flailed his other leg around, trying to grab something--anything. He found the craggy wall and gripped it tightly as he turned to Giratina, his remaining eye blazing with rage.
"You dare take my eye and think me defeated?" he shouted back as he removed the claw from the still bleeding hole in his head. "You will pay a thousandfold for crippling me!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Alpha lunged. His speed was impressive, but Giratina jumped straight up and, flapping her wings furiously, managed to dodge the toothy maw of the Alpha once again. The instant his jaws snapped shut, Giratina dropped herself onto his snout and took a deep breath before unleashing a torrent of pink flames at his gaping eye socket. Another howl of pure pain erupted from the Alpha; he jerked his head back, claws closing over the open wound.
With one more triumphant roar, Giratina gave a mighty flap of her wings, summoning a gale of purple wind. The wall of putrid air collided with the Alpha, toppling him onto his back and into the lava with a thunderous splash. As his scaly belly disappeared beneath the molten rock, Giratina looked up to the crowd of other dragons screaming her name and chanting.
"Yun Jud! Yun Jud! Yun Jud!" they repeated in perfect unison.
A sense of exhilaration washed over Giratina as she roared back at them, listening to the horde cheer her name. Turning back to the lava, she saw the surface arch again before the back and crested head of the vanquished rose from the molten stone, a claw still covering his empty socket.
Begone, whelp! You have no place here any longer!
The former Alpha rose higher from the lava, a hateful gleam in his remaining eye. He drew his chops back into a snarl, but he stayed his free claw.
"No, Drakaina, this is not over. I may have lost, but mark my words. I will return, and when I do..."
He threw his head back and roared one last time at Giratina. Zu'u fen DU hi! came his dragon-voice, causing the rocks to tremble beneath Giratina's claws.
Turning away from her, he pulled himself upright to grip the remaining pillars for support. The mass of dragons gathered as he rose up to face the platform, each snarling curses at him and some blowing smoke at his face.
"Fallen!" one shouted.
"Disgraced!" another chimed in.
"Exile!"
The fallen, disgraced exile roared at all of them, silencing their words as he spread his gigantic wings. With a mighty flap, he rose from the depths of the lava, revealing his gargantuan body. As the air below his wings swirled, he rose higher and higher, finally disappearing into the darkness above.
A thunderous blast rang out in the chamber, followed by boulders tumbling through the air. Each one matched the surrounding pillars for size, and the lava waves they made washed the walls clean of scorch marks, leaving them glowing with a faint orange light.
Looking up, Giratina saw a small dot of white light at the very center of the darkness and roared at it, raking her claws into the stone below. The blasted fool can't understand when he has lost, she mused.
"Yun Jud! Yun Jud! Yun Jud!" the crowd of dragons chanted again.
Throwing her head back, Giratina let loose another column of flames into the air as the last boulder splashed into the lava. I am Giratina, Queen of this den! If anydragon disagrees, speak now so that I may gut you!
The dragons roared in response, but not one of them dared to challenge her. Their approval caused Giratina to smile, something she had not done in a long time.
Then fetch some food and feed your new Queen, fools!
As the dragons scrambled back and stumbled over each other, Giratina looked back up at the spot in the darkness and blinked. What was once one shining light was now four, each slowly swirling in the air down to her. Giratina sniffed the air and watched warily as the lights descended, revealing themselves to be glowing chunks of rocks more luminescent than any gemstone.
A sudden urge overtook her as Giratina spread her wings and flew out to the glowing rocks, gathering them before the lava claimed them forever. When she returned to her perch, she set the rocks down and looked at them closer. Each one glowed with an otherworldly aura and seemed to want to float in the air, reminding her of the orange stones from her old prison. Her first instinct was to destroy them, but a nagging thought stuck to her.
Why should I not keep these as trophies?
Giratina sat on a cache of golden coins while each of her new subjects dropped a small pile of gleaming gemstones at her feet, each smiling stupidly as they complimented her new crown of glowing stones, or sang praises of her monumental victory. Giratina snorted at the last one when she bit into an emerald, noting the sweet and minty taste of the gem. Stuffing the rest into her mouth, she chewed and looked at each dragon, observing the dumb grins they wore.
Begone from here, she said, biting into a diamond. Leave your new Jud to enjoy her meal and rest. Should anydragon dare wake me, they too will know the pain of losing an eye.
As one, the dragons all nodded and lumbered back to their alcoves, leaving a timid Garble standing in front of her. Giratina snorted again and glared at her puny charge while she crushed a sapphire in her jaws.
Whelp! I have a job for you.
"Y-yes?"
Go speak to the others while I sleep. I want to know who they are and why they earned ranks here in case I need to make use of them later.
Garble snapped a salute and shouted, "At once, My Queen!"
When he scampered off, Giratina bit into the pile of gems and chewed as much as she could before flying off to one of the remaining outcroppings. Settling herself behind one of the deformed pillars of gold, she closed her eyes and allowed the comfort of rest to overtake her.
Soon, my fiery-feathered foe. Soon. |
Burning Day Reckoning | Cerulean Voice / Chapter Seven: Myths and (Supposed) Birthrights | Celestia paced outside the bedroom, anxiously glancing out at the sky through a nearby window. The sun was well past its zenith by now, and the shadows grew longer by the minute. Soon enough, everypony would be expecting it to rest its sleepy, blazing head and give way for the moonrise.
The question was: could Luna perform her duty?
She shook her head and took a deep breath. Worrying about her sister's health would benefit neither of them; besides, Canterlot's best doctor was already in there with her, running various tests. If it came to it, she could once again substitute for her sister. Nopony needed to know what sudden illness had overcome the Princess of the Night, especially if it was not serious. It was no cause for alarm if Princess Luna did not appear atop her tower to raise the moon; she could have been playing host to an exclusive dinner party, or perhaps her royal biology cared more about her necessary bodily functions than the day/night cycle. Any excuse would suffice, and might not even be needed.
But if it was serious...
Celestia refused to entertain that particular thought. Luna would recover. This was only a minor setback in their plans. She would be back on her hooves in no time, ready to help defend Equestria from all its natural and unnatural nasties.
No, what truly had Celestia on edge was the vulgar display of power she had witnessed. Ho-Oh had made it sound like what Giratina did came effortlessly to it; Draco Meteor was just a simple technique that it had learned over time during its banishment inside the Distortion World. In fact, further chilling Celestia's blood, Ho-Oh had said that all of the dragon-type Pokemon in his world could potentially learn it.
What if more of those portals opened? What if more Pokemon came through with the ability to learn Draco Meteor?
Under happier circumstances, she might have been fascinated to learn about the so-called "Weather Trio," a group of legendary Pokemon with the ability to shape the lands, seas, and air currents as they saw fit. She might have been enamoured by the myths regarding Celebi, a Pokemon capable of traveling through time and restoring barren environments to their former lush glory. She might have even been excited to hear about one of Ho-Oh's oldest friends, the legendary dragon Dialga, who had complete and total mastery over the river of time.
But if one single Pokemon--although not an ordinary Pokemon, she conceded--could bring her sister's stars crashing to the ground at will, how long would it be before Giratina used the technique again? What if it brought down more than just four stars next time? What if it kept using the attack again and again, steadily depleting the night sky of its glory, and her sister of her strength and sanity?
Oh, but why would it stop there? If Giratina was as nihilistic as Ho-Oh described, could it not then turn its attention to Equestria's most critical target? Each of Luna's stars were miniature suns, after all--
"Celestia?"
She stopped. She would not be seen like this by anypony--especially her most faithful ex-student.
"Yes, Twilight?" she said, keeping her voice as level as possible.
"I just wanted to know if you were all right. I know this whole situation is a mess, and Luna... how is Luna?"
Luna. Celestia lifted her lips into what she hoped was a relaxed smile and turned to Twilight. "Doctor Booker has not yet emerged from my sister's room. It is still too early to know for sure what exactly ails her, although--" she cast her eyes down the darkening hallway "--I suspect we both already know the true answer."
"Are you and Luna that strongly connected to the celestial bodies?" When Celestia nodded, Twilight sidled up next to her and nudged her shoulder. "But, everypony knows that regular unicorns maintained the night and day cycles before you and Luna adopted them. Why would falling stars affect Luna so much?"
Celestia took a deep breath. Three seconds passed; and then she pivoted on the spot, meeting the eyes of the Royal Guard also standing outside Luna's door. "Sam, I have matters of national security to discuss with Princess Twilight Sparkle and our other guests. Should Doctor Booker emerge in my absence, please direct him toward the throne room."
The earth pony saluted. "Of course, Your Highness."
Celestia closed her eyes and nodded once before taking Twilight under her wing. A flash of gold later, both appeared at the top of the red-carpeted steps.
"Hello, everyone. Please forgive me for keeping you all waiting," she said as she planted her regal rear end onto her regal gilded throne.
You can hardly be blamed for wanting to ensure your sibling's safety, Princess, Ho-Oh responded. I would, and have, done the same thing for any of my own.
Besides, Mistress, Philomena added, I had just finished telling Ho-Oh and Fawkes a story about two of your guards. You know, the bumbling pegasus and the psycho nightguard that you set to be my 'playmates' once?
It was... an amusing story. The ghost of a grin crossed Ho-Oh's beak. But I am glad you had time to wrap it up, for now we are all here, and we must think as one in these uncertain times.
"Princess Celestia?"
Celestia looked to Twilight with a "Yes?"
"Should I... stand down there next to Philomena and the others?"
Celestia immediately shook her head. "You are my equal now, Princess Twilight, the same as Princess Luna. If there were two thrones in this room, I would ask you to take the other for this session." While Twilight blushed, she added, "For the time being, you may stay at my side."
"Uh, sure, if you insist."
With Twilight sitting next to her, Celestia took a deep breath and cleared her throat.
"We need to stop Giratina as soon as possible. Equestria is in grave peril. I think we can all agree on that."
All present nodded.
"I have seen a taste of its truly monstrous capabilities... and yet that is what it is--a taste. But I promise now, with all of you as my witnesses, that I will never allow Giratina to harm any of my subjects. I must know for certain that all of you are prepared to dedicate yourselves one-hundred percent in aiding me to stop the vile beast."
Of course, Mistress.
Giratina's going down!
My power is at your disposal, Your Highness.
Celestia shared a look with Twilight, both of them nodding together.
"Excellent. Now, first things first: we must try to anticipate its actions." She eyed the rainbow giant. "Ho-Oh, is there any information you can share about Giratina that you did not before?"
Actually, yes. Given what has transpired with Her Royal Highness Princess Luna, I feel I can and must share some more specific information regarding Giratina's capabilities... or in this case, its limits.
Celestia's eyes gleamed. "Limits will be good to know. We've seen enough of its strengths for the time being."
This will be of specific interest to you then, Your Highness. I sense that something troubles you beyond your sister's health, so I will set your mind more at ease.
"Go on."
Giratina's Draco Meteor attack, although extremely devastating, is most often used by dragons as a last resort. A final trump card, if you will. It uses immense amounts of a dragon's energy to call down meteorites orbiting Earth's upper atmosphere--or in this most recent case, your sister's stars. As such, any Pokemon that uses this attack slashes its special attack power in half. Only the most foolish Pokemon and trainers will use the technique more than once in a single battle, and most pay dearly for it, potentially becoming only one-sixth as powerful as when they began the fight.
Celestia breathed a sigh, held longer than she was consciously aware of. "Thank you, Ho-Oh. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that. I admit, I worried for a good while about what-if scenarios involving that attack."
Understandable. The thought needs not to be spoken.
Philomena and Fawkes shared a quick look.
"So, if Giratina was using Draco Meteor, that means one of two things," Twilight said. "Either it was simply testing its power to see what happened... or it was engaged in battle with something. Something that threatened it. Like a rival, maybe--something of equal strength."
Fawkes' beak fell open. Are you kidding? What else is out there that could challenge it?
Twilight shrugged and shook her head. "Princess?" she asked, turning her head.
"I... do not know for certain. It's true though that there are many great and terrible forces imprisoned in the realm of Tartarus. Something might have broken out--or she might have broken in."
"I don't think it's something from Tartarus, Princess." Twilight pointed toward the throne room doors. "Princess Luna's stars fell far further to the south than the Everfree Forest, where Tartarus' entrance lies." She shifted her attention onto Ho-Oh. "Does Draco Meteor bring the stars down on top of the user's opponent?"
It does. The user aims to bury their opponent under tonnes of space debris.
"So then, if Giratina was battling something and not just throwing its weight around, it has to have been exactly where the stars fell, which means--Princess?"
She looked up, for Celestia had gasped and brought a hoof to her mouth.
Mistress? Philomena left Fawkes' side and fluttered onto Celestia's shoulder. What is it?
Celestia said nothing, but closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. Memories began to surface, given sudden buoyancy from the depths of her mind. Oh, it had been thousands of years since she and Luna battled such a mighty foe; could he truly have survived all this time?
"Judging by how Luna and I failed to even slow Giratina down," she finally said with all eyes upon her, "no creature in Equestria's entire bestiary would stand a chance against it. There is nothing in the known modern world that could push it to using one of its most powerful attacks. And I personally doubt it would risk weakening itself simply to show off."
Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Princess, we're close enough for me to know that you choose your words to the letter whenever you speak. You very clearly said 'modern' world."
"I did," Celestia said. "And yet, by all rights, he should have died a long time ago. If he has survived all this time..."
"'He'?" came four voices.
"He who represents all that was evil in the world--a monster that Princess Luna and I fought and defeated millennia ago: Zaiako, the Emperor of Sin and former King of Dragons."
"Zaiako? Emperor of Sin? King of Dragons? But..." Twilight's ears fell flat. "But I've never seen any of those names or titles in any history book... dragons have never had a specific leader or monarchy--fully grown dragons are too greedy, lazy, vain--"
"--I regret to inform you, Princess Twilight--"
The throne room doors swung open, encased in a blue aura; Tibbles skittered through the gap first, followed by a pair of midnight-blue hooves and a dark ethereal mane.
"--that my sister speaks the truth."
Princess Luna entered the room, a little unsteady, but no less determined. Doctor Booker walked behind her, an odd look upon his face. While everyone else proclaimed their relief at Luna's well-being, he approached the throne and bowed quickly.
"Princess," he said once the relief had died down, "my tests conclude that Princess Luna suffers from no lasting illness. Her crippling headache is all but gone, and all vital signs are normal. Whatever brought her low appears to have passed. That said, I recommend she takes it easy for the next few days, to minimise the risk of relapsing."
Celestia stood and smiled down at him. "Sincerest thanks to you, Doctor. Trust me, I will ensure she does not strain herself. Now return to your home and family, for night approaches quickly."
Doctor Booker glanced out through the stained-glass window depicting Nightmare Moon and the Elements; the horizon over the mountains glowed a deep red. "Thank you, Your Highness. As you wish." He lowered and lifted his head once again and turned to leave. Before taking another step, his eyes lingered on Ho-Oh and Fawkes.
"Also, I would appreciate your silence regarding our 'guests'," Celestia added.
Doctor Booker closed his mouth and simply nodded. The doors swung closed, pushed by one of Luna's Nightguards as he trotted through and out into the Canterlot streets.
"As we all knew, sister, there was nothing wrong with me that any doctor could possibly hope to remedy," Luna said as she walked up to stand on Celestia's left. "I still believe Doctor Booker examining me was pointless from the beginning."
"Perhaps to you, Luna, but the ponies of Equestria might have asked questions if you did not recover in time to raise the moon. Even if the doctor had nothing conclusive, he could have simply announced to any who asked that your affliction was 'fatigue', and that I raised the moon in your stead."
Celestia smiled and closed her eyes. With her horn aglow, the land was plunged into darkness. In the following moment, Luna's blue aura was all that illuminated the room, until bright white moonlight streamed through the windows.
Awesome, Fawkes said as he stared at the spectacle.
"Now, sister, I believe you were telling everyone about the Emperor of Sin?" Luna reminded Celestia.
This so-called 'King of Dragons' intrigues me as well, came Ho-Oh's thoughts. With such titles as his, and such an age if he is still alive today, he may very well have been a match for Giratina. If we are to assume that she ran afoul of such a monster--which she is more than capable of--the next question is: who was the victor?
"That is what worries me the most right now." Celestia could not hide the shiver that ran down her spine.
"Celestia and I fought the beast long ago, many years before even Discord arrived," Luna said. "Zaiako was merciless, greedy, but most of all, he was prideful. At the height of his prime, he challenged my sister and I for possession of the sun and moon."
"What?" Twilight recoiled as if slapped. "But dragons can't move the sun or the moon! Why would he possibly want such things?"
"Zaiako believed that the sun was his rightful possession, as a descendant of the ancient dragons who forged it in their flame."
"Forged the... the..." Twilight shook her head. "You know what? Just continue."
Celestia chuckled and stroked Twilight's shoulder with her wing. "I know this must be a lot to take in, but I assure you, Luna and I have a very good reason for striking this myth from the story books."
"I... if you say so, Celestia."
"I will give you the essentials now," Celestia said. "Perhaps later, during less pressing times, I will impart the full story to you. But for now, what I ask is for you all to gather around and listen to the short, quick version."
With that, she rose from her throne and walked down the steps toward Ho-Oh's perch. Beckoning Twilight and Luna over, she sat at its base; Philomena and Fawkes fluttered up onto the larger perch.
"This is a long-forgotten legend, passed down to me from an old friend..."
"Before the sun, there was barely any life besides primordial plants. Although the planet surface was perpetually cold, two moons in the sky shined enough light for plants to photosynthesise energy and grow. Due to the cold, every animal larger than a rat lived underground, closer to the warmer magma vents, only venturing beyond the surface in search of food before quickly retreating. There were lizards, salamanders, small marsupials, larger mammals, and gigantic wingless drakes. Everything then either ate the plants above the surface when braving the cold, or turned to eating each other.
"But there was a single large species that lived above the surface, and had free reign over all the land: a pair of fiery avians known as phoenixes. The creatures below coveted the phoenixes, cloaked in their flaming hides; but they knew not to attack them, for gathering food was much easier whenever a phoenix was nearby, giving off its radiance.
"Eventually, this desire and respect turned to resentment. The largest among the drakes began to hate the freedom that the phoenixes appeared to laud over them. How dared they possess the land above for their own, able to stretch their wings and do as they pleased while everything else was forced to live underground?
"The drakes wished and wished for a way to illuminate the planet. And then, one day, the eldest had an idea.
"In secret, he and his mate crept up on the other drakes and, one by one, devoured them in their sleep. Consuming their brethren made them much tougher, much stronger. The pair then dove deep into the earth and washed down their meal with gallons and gallons of hot magma, their newly strengthened biology capable of withstanding the intense heat.
"When they rose above the surface, the emerged as engines of destruction. They set about spewing the magma every which way, creating pools of light and heat everywhere. But the endless dark began to cool the magma, hardening it into solid rock, and both the heat and glowing light soon disappeared.
"Now completely enraged, the drakes roared into the night, shaking the foundations of the planet so much that mountains rose up from the depths, carrying the great amounts of hot magma with them. The drakes continued to roar, the ground continued to quake, until the mountains erupted with magma of their own accord.
"But though the volcanoes continued spewing hot magma everywhere, the planet did not remain hot; the magma still cooled, and now it covered almost all of the plant life. The drakes had managed to destroy almost all organic life, and they were beginning to freeze themselves. Overcome with defeat, the drakes collapsed to the ground and shed rivers of tears, prepared to waste away and die.
"The phoenixes saw what the drakes were doing, and realised what their goal had been. And in a moment of pity, the male phoenix flew up to the male drake and grabbed its back in his mighty talons. The drake struggled at first, but caught in the phoenix's strong grip, it could do nothing save allow the phoenix to carry it into the heart of the largest volcano.
"And then, the phoenix said to the drake, 'Eat your fill.' So he did; he gorged on as much magma as his belly could contain. Now, on flaming wings, the drake was taken high above the surface, up above the atmosphere, up to one of the moons.
"He belched up all of the magma onto its surface, creating a gigantic red spot. He waited for the inevitable, for the magma to cool and harden as it had on the surface... but it did not.
"The drake was overjoyed, and so continued to make the trip back and forth between volcanoes and the moon. Its surface quickly became covered in magma., and the drake could feel the heat rising from it.
"Alas, it was not to be; soon, the drake had exhausted the available supply of magma, and the moon still needed much, much more coverage.
"The phoenix realised what must come to pass, as it had seen the scurrying creatures darting back and forth in its domain, simply trying to eke out a meagre existence while he and his partner soared with majesty and bliss. So the phoenix lowered the despairing drake back to the surface one last time, and said again, 'Eat your fill, friend.'
"This time, the phoenix itself flew into the drake's jaws.
"Caught unaware, the drake slammed his mouth shut.
"In a blast of heat, red wings sprouted from the dragon's back as a blazing fire--hotter than any he had consumed before--filled his belly. The dragon wept first from the pain, then from the phoenix's sacrifice... and then he stretched his new wings, roared to the skies above, and took flight.
"And from his great maw, a seemingly inexhaustible plume of fire spewed forth, slowly heating up the moon. Hours and hours passed as the dragon breathed out the very essence of the phoenix onto the moon's surface.
"Finally, the dragon could breathe no more fire, and plummeted back to the earth. The planet shook from his meteoric crash, a gigantic crater spreading from where he landed. Opening his bleary eyes, lifting his fatigued head, he beheld the majesty above--a flaming ball in the sky. Already he could feel the ground around him beginning to warm up, but the new sun's intensity did not waver in the slightest.
"The dragon and his partner were overjoyed at his success. He leaped into the air, carrying her in celebratory loops.
"Feeling suddenly ill, the dragon lowered them both back to the ground. His stomach heaved until smoke began rising out of his nostrils. He sneezed hard... and out from his depths came a cloud of ash. The ash settled on the ground in front of him into a large pile, a single golden feather coming to rest on top.
"Saddened once again, the dragon wept, for he remembered that the phoenix had called him 'friend.' He wished with every fibre of his being that the phoenix could have lived, expressed his greatest regrets at ever having resented them for their fire and freedom.
"In that moment, a passing comet flew overhead.
"Suddenly, the ash blew apart, enveloping the dragon in its cloud. After rubbing his face and shaking his head, the dragon was astonished to see the phoenix floating before him, bearing a wide grin on its beak.
"'You did well, friend,' it said to the dragon. 'May your offspring ever remember your great feat today.'
"With that, he and his partner flew away at the speed of light, vanishing in a burst of flame."
"Wow..."
Twilight rubbed her head. "What an incredible story, Princess."
It is an incredible story, Philomena agreed. It makes me wonder then, how the dragons came to hate us again if our ancestors worked together in such a close way.
"It is the oldest dragon myth--the story of their creation--which I was told by Zaiako's father." Celestia sighed then. "He was grand and wise, a friend of mine for many years... before his treacherous son slayed him in cold blood."
"Zaiako k-k-killed his father?" Twilight gulped. "But... that's horrible!"
"It was also unfortunately common in those days," Luna said. "Equestrian society was not as harmonious as it today. The country was still young when my sister and I ascended the throne, and there were still those as-of-yet unadjusted to living with others not of their kind. I must say, my sister appears to have done a fine job ruling all these years--in fact, one of the first things I did when I returned was check crime records and updated laws. It seems that Equestria has had exactly zero murders in the past two-hundred and fifty years."
"I actually knew that," Twilight said. As all eyes turned to her, her cheeks turned pink. "Uh, heh heh. Sorry. I read the records too when I was a filly. I guess that's what happens when you pass a law that states the punishment for murder is a one-way trip to--"
"--Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight's mouth froze in an open position, but she closed it after catching Celestia's eye. "Right. Off topic. Sorry."
Returning to the original problem, came Ho-Oh's telepathy. Princess Celestia, we have to consider every possibility. As I see it, with your assessment, we ought to assume that the King of Dragons could have still survived to this day. What we have yet to learn is who emerged victorious between he and Giratina.
"Sister," Luna said, stepping forward. "Regardless of the battle's outcome, Equestria is in danger. If Giratina defeated Zaiako, that means it is surely the new Alpha Dragon. We now have an example of its capabilities--if it was to mount an attack with an entire flight of Equestrian dragons under its command, who knows what level of destruction it could bring?"
"I... have an idea," Celestia murmured, sharing a solemn look with Luna.
How about the flipside? Fawkes asked. If Zaiako beat Giratina, what then? Would he just go back into hiding... maybe pick his teeth with her bones and go back to sleep?
I don't know how dragons act in your universe, Philomena said, but here in Equestria, when a dragon defeats another in battle, whether it was challenged or issued the challenge, it misses no opportunity to seek out others and boast of its victory far and wide.
She took wing and settled on Celestia's shoulder. Mistress, what do you think? If Zaiako is alive, and he managed to defeat Giratina... would he come out of hiding?
"I... I..."
Celestia started to shake. Her pupils retracted. Memories flooded through her.
A dragon's claw, larger and more jagged than any stalagmite, barely grazing her flank--
Her sister, flying backward into Mt. Macintosh, flung by a dragon's tail--
Seemingly endless jets of flame, enveloping her body as she poured every ounce of concentration into maintaining her aural shield--
The blinding, concentrated light of the sun as she called upon it to pierce the dragon's heart, watching as it continued through to scorch the innocent paradise--
Desolation. Craters. Lifeless. Ruined. Dead.
No. Never again. Never again. Never-nevernever--
"Celestia!"
Celestia gasped. All present were staring at her; it took a moment longer to realise that Luna had her by the shoulders.
"Sister, regain thy composure! Lose not thyself within ancient reverie!"
Celestia blinked and met Luna's glimmering aquamarine eyes. After a short breathless pause, she inhaled deeply and nodded.
"You're right. Thank you, dear Luna." She took a second deep breath and stood tall while Luna stepped back onto the floor beside her.
"Guards!"
Two uniformed unicorns galloped into the throne room, brandishing halberds. "Your Highnesses!" they barked after a short bow.
Celestia summoned a scroll and quill to her side out of the aether. "Based on discussions with my guests and considerations of our shared intelligence," Celestia stated officially, voice clear as a crystal bell while she scratched away at the parchment, "I, Princess Celestia Solaris--"
"And I, Princess Luna Selenia," Luna interjected.
"--Have deemed that there is an imminent threat to the Royal City of Canterlot. We therefore decree that the capital be placed under martial law. Everypony is to remain inside their homes until further notice."
Celestia strode down toward the stallion on her left and passed him the scroll, adorned with her sun seal. "Give this to Acting Captain Seb Striker. See that Captain Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire is also alerted. We may need the Crystal Empire's aid."
"Yes, Highness," the guard said with a salute.
Celestia nodded. "Dismissed." As he ran off, she turned to the guard on her right. "I want patrols around the perimeter and scouts at their posts along the ridges of Mount Canterlot, as well as upon the ramparts and towers of Canterlot Castle. Keep your fires and spotlights bright."
"Yes, Highness," came the identical reply. He made to turn, but hesitated before bowing. "Your Highnesses, what are we on the lookout for?"
Celestia met his eyes and set her face into a grim frown. "Tell the others: Code Luciferis Draconis."
"C-code... Yes, Highness. As you wish." With a brief shudder, the guard followed his fellow through the throne room doors.
Celestia sighed then, collapsing back into her throne.
Mistress... Philomena nudged Celestia's cheek.
"Luciferis Draconis. Wow." Twilight's eyes resembled dinner plates. "Princess, that order... it's been over seven hundred years since you issued that, when General Shrikefeather's griffon armies and the great wyrm Merystallistryx laid siege to Canterlot."
"I read about that battle too," Luna said. "The records will say that Merys struck Celestia down, but I know the truth. It was not his might that bested hers, but--"
"Luna." Celestia's voice cracked like a whip. "Not the time."
Luna fell silent.
With all due respect, Highnesses, we can postpone the history lesson. Ho-Oh's telepathy filled everyone's ears, and they faced him upon his perch. We operate under the presumption that Canterlot will be targeted--it is merely a question now of when, and by whom.
"Oh, gosh!" Twilight's hoof shot to her mouth. "I have to warn Spike and Fluttershy!"
I'll join you, Fawkes said. I can teleport us both there.
"I can teleport too, you know."
Oh. Well, in that case.
Phoenix and princess vanished in a flash.
* * * * *
"Oh, my. Sundown already?"
Fluttershy looked up from the gauze she was applying to the dragon's neck. The shadows had admittedly grown long, but she didn't think it was that late. With a sigh, she pressed against the wound a final time. Much of it was still open, but she would need more time and light to properly see.
"Spike? How's he doing?"
Spike stuck his hand up from atop the dragon's head and flicked it out just once. "Still sleeping! That quinine must be some amazing stuff!"
"It should be. The hospital said this compound is the strongest tranquilizer ever created, and we gave him enough to sedate a herd of buffalo."
The dragon snorted, emitting a puff of smoke and a few sparks.
"It's too dark to work on him anymore, though. I'll just have to hope the poor darling doesn't awaken in the morning before I finish patching him up."
Spike vaulted over the dragon's head, landing just next to Fluttershy. "Eh, I wouldn't worry about that too much. If anything, you'll probably have a harder time waking him up than keeping him asleep. We dragons can sleep for aaaages!"
Fluttershy giggled. "Well, as long as he wakes up before I die of old age, we should be--ohmygoodness!"
A flash of magic and flame together made Fluttershy leap back, pressing into the newly patched neck. With an additional "eep" she turned around; fortunately, the dragon seemed deeply asleep as ever.
"Fluttershy! Spike! Urgent news!"
Fluttershy gasped. "What is it, Twilight?"
"Urgent? What's the deal?" Spike asked as he jumped onto Twilight's back.
"The princesses have declared Martial Law on Canterlot. I need to escort you and Fluttershy back to safety, right away!"
"'Martial Law'?" Fluttershy tilted her head. "What's going on?"
"No time to explain--just come with us, now!"
"B-but--" Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder "--but what about--"
"Fluttershy! How often does Princess Celestia ever give us explicit orders?"
"I... but... oh, okay." Fluttershy nodded and touched her wing to Fawkes'. "I just hate to leave him alone out here in the open, overnight..."
"Trust me, he'll be fine," Twilight said. "Neither of them know he exists."
"Um, neither of--"
A flash of flame and magic--
"--who, Twilight?" Fluttershy finished.
A mighty roar shook the Golden Oak Library.
Spike promptly dismounted from Twilight's back. He leapt toward their bedroom window, just in time to point a claw at a gigantic silhouette blotting out the sky--a gigantic silhouette heading directly for a distant mountainside city, illuminated by bonfires and spotlights.
"Uh... I would guess that."
All the blood drained from Twilight's face. "Spike," she said, slowly and deliberately, "I want you and Fluttershy to stay put. Right here. In this library. Don't go outside for any reason."
Fluttershy raised a hoof. "But--"
"Any. Reason. Trust me on this, please. I'm counting on you both."
Fluttershy gulped and nodded as Fawkes and Twilight disappeared yet again. She shot a sidelong glance at Spike.
"So..." Spike coughed and twiddled his thumbs. "Wanna... read some of my comics?"
The depths beneath Twilight's bed had never looked so inviting. |
Beyond Sisters Love | pre | They would either come back together or they wouldn't come back at all.
They hesitated for only a moment, one look at the other gave them all the courage they needed as they stepped into the chariot. The guard that knocked down the door nodded to his companion and they both took their place in front of the chariot. Cloudchaser noticeably shivered as the chariot started to move. They left their home for what might have been the last time, on a journey what would seal their fate.
Flitter raised her hoof and rested it on Cloudchaser's cheek for just a moment. That small action stopped her sister from shaking. "Everything will be alright as long as we're together," she whispered into her sister's ear before lowering her hoof.
Cloudchaser smiled at her with all the warmth she could manage. "Thank you, little sis."
"No problem, big sis."
Both of them found the journey nerve-racking in the extreme. Several times Flitter thought about grabbing her big sister and flying away to parts unknown. They passed several different mountain ranges -- while it would be an extreme measure, they could hide in one of those and be left alone. The only thing that gave her the strength to continue was having the pony she loved by her side. Before long, Canterlot was in sight and they were forced with no option but to continue. Flitter felt her sister's coat press up close against her. She smiled at that -- Cloudchaser was her strength, she was her sister.
As the chariot landed upon the paved gravel road in front of Canterlot Castle, they nearly lost it again, tears welling up in their eyes. The castle was the last place they wanted to be, but they couldn't enter anyway -- a huge crowd of ponies blocked their path.
A red maned mare started to shout and soon the others joined in. "There they are! Incest is illegal and disgusting! Take your perversions and get out of Equestria!"
Flitter shivered even more and her ears dropped. The guards climbed out of the chariot and gestured towards the castle. "Stay beside us; we will protect you until you're safely inside and we deliver you to the defender."
The guards flanked the sisters as they made their way through the crowd. No face was friendly; every single one was filled with fear, disgust, and even hate. The guards increased their pace and soon they were at the entrance. The two unicorn royal guards at the front doors opened them with their magic. With spears drawn, they slammed the door shut once the sisters had made it inside, preventing the mob from following them.
Their escort led them through various corridors to a large door at the end of a long hallway. The guards nodded and positioned themselves beside the door while the sisters gave each other one last glance before moving to open it. What they saw inside the room shocked them.
Inside the room was a table with a chair at one side and two chairs on the other. On the lone chair sat a white pegasus with a cerulean mane, cyan eyes and a lightning bolt cutie mark over a dark cloud that neither of the sisters could ever forget.
"Mom?" |
Beyond Sisters Love | Under Celestia's wing | Chapter five: Under Celestia's wing
Cloudchaser recovered from the shock first. "Mom? What are you doing here?"
"Well, I'm your official defender, dear." White Lightning chuckled softly before continuing. "And I don't think that's a good way to greet your mother after over a year apart, do you?"
"Why did you accept the case? With what we've been accused of?" Flitter mumbled, not really knowing what to say.
"I think that we should talk over that in private," she replied softly, surprising the sisters. It was like she was okay with all what they were accused for. Or perhaps she just didn't believe it. Either way, Cloudchaser and Flitter both found themselves dumbfounded by this turn of events. Celestia had said she would hoof-pick their defense and boy, did she ever. "Are you going to follow me now or would you two like to stay there all day?" White Lightning chided from the back door, snapping the sisters from their thoughts.
"Where are we heading, mom?" Flitter asked nervously.
"To see Celestia, of course. She has some plans for the court. We'd both like to do what we can without causing any more trouble." White Lightning chuckled softly.
"Wait. You know it, believe it, and you're okay with it?" Cloudchaser yelled now.
"Quiet, dear. We don't want anypony to hear us," Lightning whispered, still leading the way.
"I don't understand. How are you okay with it?" Cloudchaser asked, this time in a lower volume. Her brain was refusing to process any more information until it got an answer to this burning question.
The white mare sighed. "Let me explain it later. We have a lot to do before the court begins."
"Mom?" Cloudchaser stopped, refusing to go on.
With a stern look, White Lightning turned back and faced her oldest daughter, "Cloud, some conversations are meant to be had behind closed doors. This is one of those. You will get an explanation, but not right now and especially not while the princess is waiting on us. Now, as you so elegantly pointed out, I am your mother, so you will either come along, or I'll paddle your flank until you do. What's it going to be?"
Cloudchaser blushed slightly, remembering that her mother wasn't one for empty threats. "Alright, alright. But we want an answer later."
Flitter found herself in a very awkward position as she watched the exchange. Part of her really, really wanted to see that. However, when Cloudchaser gave in, she had no choice but to sigh and continue walking. Still the image of her sister with a tender red flank refused to leave her mind.
"Flitter, are you okay?" Cloudchaser asked as she draped a wing around her. The action startled Flitter and she jumped with a silent 'eep'.
"I'm fine -- just worried about the court," she replied, trying to get the image out of her head.
"If you two would hurry up there would be less to worry about," White Lightning said with a sigh as she was forced to keep waiting.
"Yes, mom," both sisters said at the same time and they started walking forward. Lightning eyed the wing over Flitter but said nothing. Circumstantial evidence was worthless at the best of times. Besides, they are sisters -- it would be unusual for them not to show some affection with each other. She knew it meant more and so would any onlooker, but court wasn't about what you knew, it was about what you could prove.
And that's exactly what I'm worried about with Celestia's idea, Lightning thought.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. The three mares soon approached a large door with two royal guards posted on either side. When they got closer, the left guard nodded at them and opened the door with a flick of his horn. "The princess is waiting for you."
They went inside and the door was quickly shut behind them. Princess Celestia was lying on some cushions, scribbling notes on a piece of paper. "It's good to see you again, Lightning. Please, make yourself comfortable. I just have to finish these here."
White Lightning smiled. "Thank you, Celestia," she said before motioning her daughters to some cushions.
"You know Celestia personally?" Cloudchaser whispered, eyes wide.
The princess answered. "Yes, I've known your mother for some time now," she said with a small chuckle, and Lightning laughed too.
The sisters looked between their mother and the princess, trying to follow, but they were unable to get it. "What?" they both blurred out.
"I don't have to explain myself to my daughters," Lightning replied with a blush before nodding to the princess. "Let's head back to the subject."
"Why do you both want to help us?" Cloudchaser asked bluntly. "You haven't visited us for over a year, you never even write," she said to her mother, then turned to Celestia. "And you, the Princess of Equestria herself, are trying to help us with everything too. Why?"
Celestia and Lightning shared a gaze before sighing. "Let's say Celestia and I can understand what you're going through and what complications you have to stand up against." White Lightning said, her voice barely a whisper.
"Mom, you understand?" Cloudchaser said, flabbergasted. "You don't have a sister."
White Lightning stood up on her hooves. "Celestia, what's said in this room is confidential, yes?"
"Yes, this is an official meeting and rules of attorney-client privilege apply. I'm present in an advisory role and as such I'm held to the same rules. Nothing said here can or will be used in court."
"Good. Cloudchaser, I know you and Flitter are in a romantic relationship with each other. Heck, you two did such a piss poor job hiding it that all of Equestria knows by now. I might not have a sister, so I can't know exactly what you're going though, there are other types of relationships that are equally taboo in this land."
"Like what?"
"Celestia and I have been an item for some time now. And before you ask, yes, we buck every chance we get."
Cloudchaser raised her eyebrows. She looked at Celestia who nodded, confirming everything her mom had just said.
"What about Dad?" Flitter asked, her voice shivering slightly.
"I love your father and I don't regret anything, especially not you two. But, to be honest, I'm not really into stallions," Lightning replied with a sad smile. "I keep him happy, and he allows me this. We both love each other deeply and when I told him that I really wasn't satisfied by him, we decided that this was an equitable solution for the both of us."
"So dad is okay with you loving and bucking the princess?" Flitter blurted out.
"Yes, is that so hard to believe? He wants me to be happy too. Outside of the bedroom, we love each other and care for one another like any other husband and wife. Inside, I satisfy him, and he lets me be satisfied by Celestia."
Cloudchaser looked worried at Flitter who started to whimper. Crawling closer, she curled her sister in a winged embrace, pecking her cheek.
"I-It's just a bit much to take in," Flitter said, but rested in the warmth, relaxing a bit.
"For two sisters that are each other's special someponies, I figured you two would be more open to unorthodox relationships." Lightning smiled.
"You're our mother, and all those years, we've seen you and dad as a normal married couple. What did you expect?" Cloudchaser asked her. "We love each other, but that doesn't mean that we aren't aware how wrong it is in other's eyes. We just ignore it most of the time."
Celestia frowned. "So you don't approve?"
"We never said that," came Flitter's muffled response. "It's just a lot to take in."
Lightning walked up and wrapped a hoof around both her daughters. "Girls, nothing's changed. I love you both, your father loves you both. I simply have two lovers in the bedroom, one that happens to be the Princess of Equestria. Because of that, it saved my marriage. Before we came up with this, your father and I were going to get a divorce. He said that if he couldn't make me happy, he wanted me to be with somepony that could."
"I understand," Cloudchaser said with a smile towards Flitter, deeply snuggled against her chest. "I don't want a stallion or any other mare. I know that she makes me happy, even if it is wrong. Everything we do, I can cherish with her. It's something that makes my heart burn with desire time and time again."
"Good, I assume we can get back to the matter at hoof now?" Lightning asked. As the sisters nodded, she continued. "Celestia has an idea about how we can get you through all of this without any harm, and without causing any trouble to the royals."
Both sisters' ears perked up at that and Celestia faced them with a small smile. "As you know, incest is forbidden by a law that was created over a thousand year ago. It wasn't even created by me, but the royals that were worried about the clean bloodlines in Equestria. Before then, incest was quite common. Mostly between sister and brother, but also occasionally other parts of the family. The royalty took note of this and forced me to pass a law against incest." Celestia sighed and looked at Lightning, who continued.
"This law is old, and if you ask me, outdated by now. You won't believe it, but there are a lot of incestuous pairings out there, they just do much better jobs hiding it. And that's where Celestia's idea comes into play. She will banish you from Cloudsdale, a town where you two are well known. You will move to a smaller, much quieter town or city where nopony knows you. If you stay under the cover we give you and as long as nopony that knows you gets wind of it, everything should be fine."
Celestia chuckled. "I suggest that you two will move to Ponyville. It's a nice, peaceful town as far as I know."
"What if somepony sees us? I think Rainbow Dash is already planning on moving there," Cloudchaser asked.
"Cloud, Rainbow supported us all the time. Why would that change once we moved there?" Flitter gave her a deadpan expression.
Cloudchaser thought about her sister's reply. It made sense; however, before she could accept there was only one thing she still needed an answer to. "We'll get to be together?"
"Of course," Celestia said and laughed, with Lightning chiming in. "Why should we try to separate you two? Your love is clear, even to a blind pony."
"But how will the royals react if we are still together?" Flitter asked.
"Why do they have to know that I banished you together?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow.
Cloudchaser smiled and nodded at that. However, Flitter still wasn't happy. She wanted one more thing answered. "What about Cerulean Skies?" At the mention of his name, the room went dead quiet.
"We have enough witnesses to prove that he was trying to do it again. Don't worry, dear," Lightning said with a slight scowl in her voice.
"Cerulean might have been able to force our hooves on the incest issue, but his trial is completely separate. He'll be in court next week, and as a repeat offender, well, let's just say the laws allow for a little more leeway in sentencing." The devilish grin on Celestia's face was all the comfort Flitter needed. Although it wasn't even a match for the one on their mother's face.
"Don't forget what I said," Celestia said with a chuckle to Lightning, "you're not allowed to flay him."
"What? His skin will grow back, or not. I don't really care either way." Lightning said as she blew the princess a raspberry.
"His coat will, not his skin. And you should let that tongue stay where it belongs." Celestia blew her one back.
"Or what?"
"You'll see then."
"Oh, I'd love to try it out."
Cloudchaser looked uneasily between the two older mares. "Uh... can we stay on topic?"
Celestia and Lighting blushed, giving each other a look that said, 'later,' before looking away.
Flitter coughed and Lightning focused on her. "Uh, well, where were we? Ah, yes. We hope that this plan leaves the royals a bit in the dark and that it grants you a life together."
"And you think they will just let it go like that? Are they that dumb?" Cloudchaser asked in disbelief.
"They are quite smart, actually. But all you have to do is make it seem like it was their idea all along and they'll go along with it. Trust me, I've been dealing with them over a thousand of years," Celestia replied with a wink.
A knock on the door startled the group. As soon as Celestia replied, the door was pushed open and a guard looked in. "Your highness, they're all here now. Court can start on your demand."
"Thank you. Please tell them we will convene in thirty minutes," Celestia said softly.
Sharply, the guard saluted and left, closing the door behind him.
"I think it's time to prepare. Everything that was said in this room, stays here. I hope you two can improve your acting skills by then." Celestia smirked at the sisters. Both Flitter and Cloudchaser blushed at that. They both knew they had completely dropped the ball with hiding what they were doing before now.
The twenty minutes were filled to the brim with Lightning walking her daughters through everything they had to expect during the trail. To the sisters' credit, both of them stood up to their mother's questioning without issue. Celestia simply sat back and watched. True to her word, she only served as an advisory role for Lightning. Something the experienced mare had no need for.
At the twenty minute mark, Celestia left to go to court room. Lightning got each of her daughters a glass of water and told them to use the restroom, even if they didn't have to go.
Soon, both girls stood outside of the courtroom with their mother. "You two ready for this?" Lightning asked her daughters.
"Yes." They both said, surprised that they actually meant it. The talk with their mother and Celestia had instilled a certain confidence in them.
That feeling faded when they walked through the door. The courtroom was full of pegasus ponies, all of whom looked at them with hatred in their eyes. Instantly Flitter knew the reason: the pony glaring at them with the smug look on his face had them all come in for this. Cerulean Skies -- or more likely his father -- had had them all pack the courtroom.
Flitter held her head high as she walked behind her mother. Nopony was actually dumb enough to say anything in the court precinct, but that didn't prevent looks of disgust from being thrown their way.
As they took their seats at the table for the defence, Cerulean blew little kisses to Cloudchaser. While she pointedly ignored his movements, Lightning did not. She pulled out several acorns from her briefcase and made a point to violently smash them to bits with her hoof on the table, an action that drew every eye in the room. Without ceremony, she calmly swept the remains of the nuts into a trashcan under the table.
There were no more kisses after that.
"All rise for Princess Celestia," the guard at the door announced to the room.
As every mare and stallion got up, Celestia walked in and headed to the front of the courtroom. "Please be seated," Celestia said. Everypony took their seat. "We're here today to review the accusations Cerulean Skies made against the sisters Flitter and Cloudchaser. For the prosecution we have?"
A white unicorn bowed for the prosecution. "Swift Justice, your highness." Lightning stiffed up just a little at the sound of his name. Swift Justice was one of the best lawyers bits could buy. Still, it wouldn't change anything.
"For the defence we have?"
"White Lightning, your highness." Lightning bowed her head.
"Swift Justice, your client has accused the defendants of incest under the Incest is not Wincest Act. Please proceed with your opening remarks."
"Thank you, your majesty. Incest, the disgusting attraction to someone you're related to -- someone that you share blood with. A thousand years ago it was outlawed, and for good reason. It is my intent here today to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants are guilty of those very same acts, and to insure that they are punished, and labeled, accordingly."
"Swift Justice, I might have to remind you now, that you have no say in any possible punishments and labeling ponies is against the law," Celestia said with a stern look.
"Of course, your highness, forgive me, I misspoke."
"Of course. White Lightning, for the defence?"
"Your highness, my clients are nothing more than sisters. They're sisters; sisters that were born together, that grew up together, and that love each other with a special bond that only sisters can share. Any possible evidence that the prosecution may have is circumstantial at best. I intend to prove that these accusations are nothing more than the actions of a convicted rapist that was simply trying to repeat his office."
"White Lightning, Cerulean Skies is not on trial here. That's next week."
"Indeed, your majesty." Lightning bowed before taking her seat.
"Prosecution, you may proceed."
"I'd like to call my first witness, Cerulean Skies."
They all watched as the cocky stallion made his way to the front of the room. When he took his seat, Swift Justice walked up to him. "Cerulean, in your own words, what did you witness that day? Keep in mind, you're not on trial today."
"After I approached Cloudchaser we were... regrettably caught up in a small scuffle, during which the poor mare hit her head on the ground. I was taking her to see a doctor, and that's when her sister accosted my person."
"Cerulean Skies, you're not on trial here today and neither is Flitter for that charge that she has already been acquitted of," Celestia interrupted.
"Forgive me, your highness. During our... talk, Flitter herself admitted that Cloudchaser was her marefriend. Instantly I knew how wrong that was and reported it to the authorities at the first possible opportunity."
"No further questions, your majesty." Swift Justice bowed before moving back to his seat.
"Cross examination for the defence," Celestia said.
White Lightning stood up and took one last drink of her water. She then moved forward to approach the stallion she wanted to flay alive. "Cerulean Skies, is it true that you were involved in an incident with Cloudchaser when you two were in flight school?"
"Objection: relevance?" Swift Justice asked.
"Motivation to lie, and integrity of the accused, your highness."
"I'll allow it," Celestia said.
"Yes, she accused me of rape when we were in flight school."
"And you were convicted?"
"Yes."
"And the day you made this accusation was what, the first or second day you were released?"
"Second."
"So, on the second day as a free stallion, after serving time for rape, you just happen to run into your victim, you just happen to get into a 'scuffle' with her, and she just happens to get knocked unconscious? What an unfortunate stallion you are."
"What's your point?"
"Simply this, doesn't it make more sense that a loving and devoted sister might say something like that to keep her sister's rapist away from her?"
"That's not what happened!"
"Of course it isn't. I mean the word of a convicted rapist carries so much more weight than that of a devoted sister, aren't I right?"
"There were others that heard it too!"
"I've already covered that -- she simply said it to keep you away from her."
"No, she meant it."
"So you say, but we're in court, it's about what you can prove not what you say." Lightning glared at him before looking up. "No more questions, your highness."
"Cerulean Skies, you may step down." When he did, gone was the smooth swagger of his walk. The stallion didn't feel nearly as confident as he had coming up. "Your next piece of evidence, Swift Justice."
"My next piece is simple: Flitter and Cloudchaser's cloud home," the unicorn said before levitating several pictures from his briefcase and projecting them on the back wall. Flitter gasped as she saw the pictures. There were four in total: two shots of the outside of their home, and two that seemed to have been taken from inside.
Lightning scowled. "Objection! These pictures invade the privacy of my clients."
"They were made by guards as they were tasked to find evidence. They fall under law and are admissible," Swift Justice said.
Celestia frowned nearly unnoticeably. "Objection overruled. Continue please."
"As we can see here, the guards examined every room. Now, what is interesting about these photographs is that there appears to be only one bedroom. It was just a minor detail they noted during their search, but I think quite telling. Why would they only have one bedroom, if not to sleep together in it?"
"Your highness," White Lightning said as she stood back up. "Allow me to... educate those that may not be aware of a few facts of life. You see, not all of us can afford to simply move into a lavish house that's fully constructed and furnished. Those, like my clients, that are perhaps not -- how should I put it? -- as fortunate as the prosecution, have to make do with what they can afford. My clients are currently in the process of adding a second bedroom and have been for some time. However, building and furnishing a house is not cheap. As such they are forced to make do with one bedroom, not because they want to, but because they have to."
"And your clients sleeping arrangements?" Swift Justice said with a frown.
"None of your business. However, even if they do share the same bedroom from time to time, I feel I must remind you that they're sisters. Most likely they slept in the same bed growing up. Why would that change just because they are adults now?"
"And that's not the least bit suspicious?" Swift asked.
"It's circumstantial. I trust I don't need to explain what that word means?"
Swift Justice looked visibly struck by that as White Lightning sat back down with a smug smile on her face.
"Anything else to add, Swift Justice?" Celestia replied, doing her best to keep her expression neutral. Inside she had a grin on her face to match her marefriend's.
"I would like to hear what the accused have to say to this," he growled.
Celestia looked at the sisters. "Your reply on this?"
Cloudchaser laughed out loud, much to Swift Justice's confusion. "These pictures are really old. We were just starting the cloudshaping of our new home when the incident happened. We'd barely even finished shaping the bathroom. As far as our bedroom arrangements are concerned, since you seem so interested in that, most of the time Flitter used the bed while I slept on the couch. It might be true that we sometimes shared the bed, but that wasn't much different than in our old home. I guess you simply don't understand how good it is to have your sister in your embrace, Mr Justice. However, only a short time after my release out of the hospital, we completed the house and added the second bedroom."
"That seems good enough for me," Celestia said, cutting off any further conversation.
"Your highness?!" Swift Justice turned to her.
"You didn't call them as a witness and one cannot be forced to testify against oneself. I've... entertained your line of questioning but now I'm putting an end to it. Do you have a problem with my ruling, Swift Justice?"
"N-no, your highness," he replied weakly and slumped back onto his chair while Lightning did her best to stop herself from laughing like a filly. "Is there any further evidence you would like me to take into consideration, Swift Justice?"
He paused in his chair, almost like he was collecting his thoughts. "My last witness, Rainbow Dash, refused to show, your highness."
"Do you have any witness to call, White Lightning?"
"Just one, your highness. The defence calls to the stand Rainbow Dash."
If Swift Justice's jaw was able to fall off, it would've at this moment, seeing as he watched the rainbow-maned mare flied into the courtroom. He glared at her with a look that could kill a pony at a thousand yards. If Rainbow noticed, she paid it no mind.
The cyan mare did a small flip in the air before landing right in the witness stand. "Sup?"
Lightning couldn't help herself, she cocked a little smile of her own. "Rainbow Dash. You are the manager of the Cloudsdale weather team, no?"
"Was. I transferred to Ponyville a few weeks ago."
"I heard that you spent quite a long time with the sisters, and even trained Flitter to cloudshape?" Lightning continued.
"That's right. They're very good friends of mine."
"Flitter worked under you, correct?"
"Yep. She was always a hard worker. Occasionally I'd find her with her head in the clouds, but hey, we're weather ponies -- that's almost part of the job description."
Not even Celestia was able to hold back her giggles at that.
"So if I asked you to describe their relationship with each other, how would you describe it?"
"Two sisters that love each other and live in the same house together?" Rainbow shrugged.
"No further questions, your highness."
Swift Justice stood up and walked towards the cyan mare. "Rainbow, I'm curious, why didn't you accede to my witness request?"
"Objection: the witness is not on trial here!" Lightning said.
"Sustained. Swift Justice, keep your questions relevant to the trial."
"Understood, your highness. Rainbow, you said that they love each other, how do they love each other, precisely?"
"Uhm, like sisters?" Rainbow replied.
"Not like, lovers?"
"Objection: leading the witness!"
"Sustained. Swift Justice, do not make me warn you again."
"Dude, that's sick. Is that what you fantasize about?" Rainbow asked him.
Swift Justice simply frowned. "Miss Dash, did they do anything that could lead to more than sisterly love?"
"If you think that cuddling with each other is more, then sure. They are one soul, always there for each other. Heck, Flitter once burned her wing on a thundercloud and Cloudchaser freaked out, worried about her. But I never saw them doing anything more than simply care for each other like sisters should do. And on a side note, you should really leave your fantasies at home."
"Permission to treat the witness as hostile?"
"Denied. Are there any further questions for Miss Dash?" Celestia asked, looking between White Lightning and Swift Justice.
"No, your highness," White Lightning said.
"No, your highness," Swift Justice said as he turned to retake his seat. Rainbow blew him a raspberry as soon as his back was turned.
"Miss Dash, you are dismissed," Celestia said.
"Just Rainbow, princess," Rainbow said with a smile as she leapt over the table and left.
"Do the defence or prosecution have any more evidence they wish this court to consider?"
"No, your highness."
"No, your highness."
"I'll now hear closing remarks before considering my verdict. Swift Justice, we will start with you."
Swift Justice took a quick drink of water, placed it back on the table, and stood up. "This trail is a sham."
"What was that?" Celestia stood up now, facing Swift Justice directly.
"I said that this trail is a sham! All your decisions have favoured the defence!" Swift Justice raised his voice further with each word.
"Give me some more evidence or proceed with your closing remark, Swift Justice." Celestia sternly replied.
"Firstly, you chose White Lightning, the mother of the defendants as their defender. Secondly, I wonder what they did in your chambers, just before the court started? I hereby question the validity of this trial and demand an investigation."
The entire courtroom went into an uproar at that. Even those ponies that Cerulean Skies had packed the courtroom with couldn't believe that Swift Justice would raise such accusations against the princess.
One of the three noble pegasus ponies sitting along the wall behind the Princess stood up, facing the room. "We do not concur with Swift Justice's accusation. We can't see any evidence that Princess Celestia favoured the defence, or their clients. Your baseless accusations are a blatant attempt to cover up for your failure during this trial. Swift Justice, give your closing remark and keep down otherwise!"
"This is nothing but a farce!" Swift barked. "You are all simply denying the obvious offensive facts!"
White Lightning stood up behind him. "The facts are that your client has a reason to have a grudge against mine; the facts are my clients acted to protect each other; the facts are that you just accused a Princess of Equestria, Princess Celestia of conducting a sham trial in front of an entire courtroom of ponies and the presiding nobility of Cloudsdale. As far as your accusations go, yes, they are my daughters, but who better to defend them then their mother? There's no law against that, and I'm sure that you don't believe that I, their mother, would defend them if I thought there was something wrong going on between them?" Her voice was bittersweet at the last sentence.
"This is absurd!"
"SWIFT JUSTICE!" The voice boomed throughout the courtroom as Celestia fell back to a voice she had not used in decades. When the echoing stopped, everypony was staring at her. "One more outburst like that and I'll find you in contempt of court. Now, do you have any further closing remarks?"
He gulped, shook his head and sat back down.
"White Lightning, any further closing remarks?"
"No, your highness."
"Very well, I shall consult the nobles of Cloudsdale, and we will reconvene in five minutes time. Swift Justice, I never want to see you in my courtroom again, is that clear?"
To his credit, he didn't try to fight it. The stallion just nodded his head in agreement.
"Five minute recess," Celestia said with finality before she stood up and went into the back room, followed by the small group of noble pegasus ponies.
"Five minutes? Is that good or bad?" Cloudchaser asked her mom.
"It means she's already made up her mind and that she only needs to confer with the nobles. Based on how the prosecution acted, it's pretty much in the bag." White Lightning laughed. She had never imagined that Swift Justice of all ponies would lose his cool like that.
While she'd requested five minutes, Celestia had only needed one to discuss the case. Before anypony was ready for it, the royal guard announced her return. "All rise for Princess Celestia."
She came back out and resumed her seat, along with the nobles that each reclaimed their own. "Please, be seated," Celestia said with a smile.
"Despite some unpleasantries, I've reached a decision that is fair to the defendants, and in the best interest of all parties involved. Cloudchaser, Flitter, please stand."
The sisters did so.
"It is the opinion of this court that you are both found innocent of all charges levied against you. The prosecution presented nothing but circumstantial evidence -- hearsay at best. However, it is the nature of ponies that once you are labeled as such there is no way to remove that label. As such, upon the advice of the Cloudsdale nobles, in order to ensure the least disruption to the weather system there and the weather across Equestria, I have no choice but to banish you from Cloudsdale. At the expense of the city, your home will be relocated to a small village called Ponyville, where you will each be given a job equivalent to the one you have now."
Cloudchaser looked at her mother. "There is no weather factory in Ponyville as far as I know..." she whispered.
"Maybe you can join me on the weather team?" Flitter asked. "Or we can take up foal sitting, I've always loved watching little foals run around."
"Court dismissed." Celestia spoke and everypony raised while Cloudchaser and Flitter smiled happily, along with their mother. Even Celestia couldn't help but smile.
Sure, things were going to be different now, but it didn't matter to either sister. They would be able to stay together, and that was all that really mattered. Even if they did have to move into a new town. |
Beyond Sisters Love | Leaving everything behind | Chapter six: Leaving everything behind
Flitter and Cloudchaser sat nervously in Celestia's room, waiting for her to discuss the last details of their move. They weren't really looking forward to it, but they had little choice. Maybe, just maybe, the new town would allow them to live their lives as they wanted.
White Lightning sat in another corner, playing with her mane as she looked at her daughters. "Now will you two finally brighten up a bit? You're looking like you were banished from Equestria or worse."
Cloudchaser sat forward and glared at her. "It is worse, mom. You haven't been around for over a year. You have no idea how hard we've worked for everything! The new house, all of it; it was our dream!"
Flitter laid her hoof on Cloudchaser who sighed and slumped back down against her sister again. Lightning looked hurt and shocked, but she had to concede that her daughters were right. She hadn't been there; she wasn't supporting them.
Just as Lightning opened her muzzle to speak, the door opened and Celestia walked in. She didn't looked too amused.
"Sometimes I wonder why I bother with those nobles at all. I'd have a more intelligent conversation with a wall, and it would be less stubborn too," she sighed before sitting down beside Lightning, who unfolded a wing and laid it over her.
"What happened?" Lightning asked.
"The nobles denied funding to move your cloud home to Ponyville. Their reasoning is it that there would already be a cloudhome floating over Ponyville, and that yours would be far too big. Ponyville is only a small town." Celestia focused on the sisters. "I'm sorry, but it seems like we have to change a few parts of the plan."
"So we have no home now? Great! Bucking great!" Cloudchaser blurted out before Flitter laid a hoof on her muzzle to silence her.
"Hey, we're together -- that's all that matters," Flitter whispered to Cloudchaser as she ran her hoof down her sister's muzzle. "I don't care about where we live, as long as you're there, it will be home to me."
"But... everything we worked for?"
"Means nothing to me. You're all I care about, Cloud."
Cloudchaser tried to stay angry -- she tried. It was a fruitless effort. Looking into her sister's eyes, seeing the cute bow she always wore in her mane and the adorable look on her face. It melted her heart.
Flitter smiled before turning to Celestia and her mother to ask, "so, what do we do now?"
Celestia smiled upon the display of affection. "I found a small, cozy house for you two. It's near a sweet shop at the center of Ponyville."
"And about our work?"
"You will work at the local weather team under your old captain, Rainbow Dash." Celestia smirked. "She's already agreed to hire you both. She sounded eager, if you ask me."
The twins smiled at each other, at least they were going to have one friend in this new town.
"And..." Celestia paused with a sly grin on her face.
They looked back to her, confusion on their faces. "And what?"
"Well, since the nobles were too stuck up to move your house, I politely informed them that it's against the law to simply take another pony's property. As such they had no choice but to pay you full market value for it."
"Wait... you mean?"
"Yes, there should be a nice amount of bits deposited into your bank account in the next few days." She leaned in to whisper the next part. "The truly stupid thing is, it will cost them ten times more than it would have cost just to move the house."
All four mares snickered at that.
"It's not enough to retire off, mind you, but it'll be enough to help you settle very comfortably into your new place."
Cloudchaser laughed at that. "I could have all bits in Equestria, but all I truly need is my sister."
At that moment, Flitter leapt at her, drawing her in for a deep, passionate kiss.
Celestia smiled as she watched the sisters display their love like that. She had no worries for them in Ponyville. It was a small town, relatively new with only a few high class ponies in it. Even if they were outed there, nopony would care.
"I've already called for a chariot to take you back to your cloud house and ordered a few royal guards to help you pack up."
"Wait... now?" Flitter asked as she sat up on top of her sister.
"I'm afraid they want you gone at once. So yes, now."
"Oh, okay..." Flitter said as she stood back up onto her hooves. She knew that they were moving, she accepted it even, but... she thought they'd have a least a day before they had to move. It was fast -- a little too fast.
A muzzle pressed against hers, causing her to sigh as Cloudchaser pressed her face against her sister's. "It's fine. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can move on with our lives... our lives together."
Flitter pulled back and saw the smile on her sister's face. It became contagious as they pressed their lips together once more before both sisters pulled back and rested their foreheads on one another, staring into each other's eyes.
"I'll help too."
Flitter, Cloudchaser, and Celestia all turned to look at Lightning, shocked expressions on the sister's faces. "What? You were right Cloudchaser. I wasn't there... I want to make up for that, if you'll let me that is."
"I think it is a good start." Cloudchaser smiled for a moment before her expression turned darker. "But what about father?"
"He's still in Fillydelphia, but at some point we have to talk to him. For now, we should focus on getting you two settled."
A loud knocking on the door startled them all. "That should be them now," Celestia said with a sad smile.
LIghting noticed this and returned to her side. "I'll be back soon enough."
"Yeah, I know," Celestia said. "It's just been a while since we spent any time together."
"Then we'll have to make up for that," Lightning replied.
"Get a room, you two," Cloudchaser jokingly said.
Both, Celestia and Lightning blew her a raspberry. A gesture that was very unlikely from Celestia and caused Cloudchaser to gasp back.
The knock sounded again, more urgently this time. "Come in," Celestia replied with a lackluster tone in her voice.
A royal guard walked in and saw the four mares. Without so much as a double look he simply gave his report. "Princess, the chariot is ready."
"Well... you heard him," Celestia said, keeping the sigh out of her voice.
"Let's go, girls," Lightning replied as she started walking out the door, followed by her two daughters walking side by side. A little closer than they should but they had just win a court case over it.
Buck em, they can't prove shit, Lightning thought with a smile.
The three mares walked the length of the hallway and out of the palace. To the twin's surprise, the entrance was cleared. They did not know if the crowd had dispersed by itself, of if the royal guard had asked them to leave, but either way they were glad for it.
"Have you given any thoughts to what you want to take with you?" Lightning asked as the chariot started to take off.
Both sisters shared a knowing look. "A few things."
Lightning didn't know why their answer was so cryptic, but she decided not to push the issue herself. She smiled as she watched her two daughters so close to each other. Flitter and Cloudchaser were side by side, their coats touching as they pointed out odd the sights to each other on their flight back to Cloudsdale -- things they had been too apprehensive and nervous to notice on the way to the trial.
She chuckled a little at the sight before her. It should upset her -- she should be shocked at the fact that her two daughters loved each other, that they made love to each other, but oddly, she wasn't.
They had always been close growing up, taking baths together, looking out for each other, and even sleeping together far longer than they needed too. It was a special bond they shared with one another. Was it so wrong, so unusual that the bond might become something more? That they might want to express that love in more intimate ways?
She didn't think so. Seeing them now, seeing the love they have for each other, the love they'd always had for each other, only brought a smile to her face. Her daughters loved each other -- they had empathy, compassion, and respect. Sure, it might mean that she'd have to hope they adopt for her to have grand foals, but she'd love them all the same.
No, Lightning wasn't disgusted by her daughters' actions. She was proud, just as any good mother should be. Sure, her family may not be considered normal by any stretch of the word, but normal was abnormal anyway. Every family has skeletons in their closet -- hers were just a little more obvious than the most.
"Hey, sis, look at that!" Flitter yelled as she pointed over to a new mountain chain.
"Oh that-"
They were cut off as a hoof wrapped around both sisters and pulled them away and to a pony's chest.
"Mom!" both sisters yelled at the same time.
"Mother's prerogative," Lightning said as she held her two daughters tightly to her chest. They both moaned and complained about it, but neither did anything to actually get away from her.
Neither really wanted to.
When a tear fell upon Flitter's muzzle she couldn't help but look up. "Mom?" she asked.
"Girls, I'm... I'm so sorry," Lightning cried. "I thought... I thought you wanted space. I thought you wanted to be left alone so I... I..."
Flitter and Cloudchaser both wrapped a hoof around her and hugged her tightly. "Don't cry mom," Flitter said, her voice muffled by Lightning's mane.
"I want you to know that I'm proud of you -- both of you. You two girls are amazing -- more than I could've asked for. I love you both and I'm happy that you two found each other the way you did."
Cloudchaser was taken aback by that -- part of her couldn't believe that her mom had just said it. It was one thing for her to say she was okay with their relationship, but... this was something different. "Do you mean it?" she asked.
"Yes, I mean it Cloud. I'm happy for you both." Tears were falling freely now as she held her daughters tighter.
Cloudchaser sobbed. "Thanks, mom."
The three mares were able to enjoy each other's company after that. They laughed and talked like a family -- like the family they were. Flitter started a game where she would test her mom's knowledge of all of Equestria's landmarks, only for her mother to ace every single one.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. The last landmark that was pointed out on their journey was Cloudsdale itself, and not by any of the sisters.
"We're here," said the guards pulling the chariot.
His tone of voice killed the fun for the three mares. They all stepped off the chariot and Lightning gave her thanks for their assistance, only to be meant with a stern nod in return.
"Well, he's just a basket of joy," Cloudchaser said.
"Too bad he's not a basket of kittens," Flitter replied, earning herself a laugh from her mom and sister.
"Don't ever change, Flitter." Lightning kissed her on the top of her head. "C'mon, let's get you two packed up and to your new house."
When they went inside Cloudchaser's jaw dropped as she saw ten royal guards waiting on her. "What are you..."
"Remember, Celestia said she had sent them to help you move. Just tell them what you want to take with you and they will handle the heavy lifting."
Cloudchaser looked over to her sister. She looked nervous -- beyond nervous. "What's wrong?" she asked Flitter.
"I... can you handle this? I want to hoof carry a few thing from upstairs."
"LIke what?" Cloud asked, unsure what items Flitter was so apprehensive about that she wanted to handle personally. Their more... intimate items were kept in a nonchalant box in the closet. There was little risk of the guards seeing them.
"I... they're precious to me," Flitter said.
"I guess..." Cloudchaser said.
"Thanks," Flitter said before running up the stairs.
Cloudchaser gave her sister one last curious look before turning back to the guards. "Okay, you three start packing dishes. The pantry is empty so there is little that needs to be packed up as far as food goes. I want you three to get into the living room and you four follow me up the stairs to start working there."
Once she saw that everything was going according to plan and all the guards seemed to take their orders without issue, Cloudchaser turned to her mother. "Mom, will you keep an eye on things down here?"
"Of course."
"Thanks."
Cloudchaser gave her a warm smile before leading the last four guards up the stairs. She directed one of them into the extra bedroom, a room they hardly ever used. The next guard she sent into the bathroom to pack up there. The last two she had follow her into the master bedroom.
"Alright, the dresser goes, and the clothes in the closet," Cloud said as she gestured a hoof to the dresser. The two pegasus guards got on either side and lifted it together, careful not to let the drawers open up as they did so.
Cloud looked around, wondering where Flitter had gone. When she checked the closet there was no sign of her, although the box was still there. "What did she want?"
"What did who want?" Flitter asked from the doorway.
"Oh, I was just wondering what was so important."
"I'll show you when we get to our new home."
"Uhmm... okay."
The two sisters started to unpack the closet and throw their clothes on the cloud bed. They both sighed as they saw it. As much as they'd love to take it with them, it just wasn't doable. The bed was part of the house -- it couldn't be removed.
Flitter grabbed the box out of the closet and put it on the stack of clothes. Cloudchaser threw a few extra clothes on top of it before the guards came back.
"You can take those too." Cloudchaser said as they came back to get the rest.
The two guards nodded and picked up the stack of clothes to carry it off.
Flitter looked at her sister. "I can't recall why we bought so many clothes. I can't remember even wearing half of them."
Cloudchaser approached her, whispering into her ear. "Maybe because you look stunning without clothes."
Flitter blushed and shrieked silently. "Cloudy! Not now!"
Cloudchaser removed the tip of her wing from a very unsisterly place to touch. She smiled as she sniffed it. "You're right, after all, we'll need to break in our new house anyway."
"Yeah, if we can get rid of mom for that long."
"Getting me rid for what?" Lightning stepped in with a raised eyebrow. "What are you two planning now?"
"Downstairs all packed up?" Cloudchaser asked, ignoring her mother's question. For her part, Flitter just blushed at almost being caught by her mother. It was one thing to know your mother's okay with your actions, quite another for her to see it.
"They're packing up the boxes now. I have to say for a bunch of stuck-up-their-own-flanks guards they move pretty quick. Although it's helped by how little you two have."
"Hey, we did just move in after all. It ain't cheap to furnish a house."
"You're telling me?" Lightning asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, yeah, right," Cloudchaser said as she lowered her head.
"C'mon you two, let's get going."
"Yeah, okay," Flitter said as she walked out the door. She didn't go downstairs though. She wanted to take one last look around just to make sure they didn't forget anything.
Cloudchaser smiled as she went to follow her sister, only to be stopped by a wing from her mother. "If you two want some alone time, all you gotta do is ask."
"Wait, you knew?"
"C'mon, it's not my first time around the block. I've seen the blush that was on your sister's face more than once, you know."
"Who knew you were so cool?" Cloudchaser said with a smile.
"There's a lot about your mom that you don't know," Lightning said, wrapping her daughter in a wing.
"Yeah, I'm getting that."
"I'm learning a lot about you two too."
"Oh, like what?"
"For starters, that you both need to go shopping."
"Hardy har har."
"And that I've raised two wonderful daughters."
"Thanks, mom."
"No need to thank me. I... I failed you two. No, don't interrupt, I did. I'm going to make it up to you though -- to both of you. I promise you that."
"Well, you've gotten off to a great start."
"Hey, Cloudy! Mom! They've got it all! We're ready to go!" Flitter called from the doorway.
"Well, do you want to say goodbye to your home before we leave?" Lightning asked Cloudchaser.
"No. I'm not leaving my home. Home is you two -- this is just a place."
Flitter cried a little at that as she walked up to hug her sister and mother. They both returned it in equal measure. After a few moments they broke apart, smiling.
"Let's get going," Flitter said.
"Right behind you, sis," Cloudchaser said with a smile as she let Flitter take the lead. Together, the three mares made their way downstairs. "I'll double check the kitchen," Cloudchaser said.
"No need -- already did," Lightning said.
"They finished that quickly?" Flitter asked.
"You two don't have much. We're going shopping for... everything when we get to Ponyville."
"We don't have a lot of--"
"My treat!" Lightning cut off Flitter's comment.
"Thanks, mom," Flitter said as she wiped a tear away.
"Alright you two, let's go."
"Eh-hem." One of the guards cleared his throat.
"Oh, yeah, you're all dismissed. Thank you for your hard work."
As one they turned and left.
"Wait, aren't they going to help us unpack?" Cloudchaser asked.
"No need. A Miss... Pinkie Pie already has everything ready for us."
"Who?" both Twins asked at the same time.
"I don't know. Apparently, she's the town resident party pony. As soon as she found out you were coming, she started to prepare everything for your arrival. Apparently she had to be talked out of throwing a huge 'Sorry you got kicked out of your home town' parade."
"That's nuts," Cloudchaser said.
"Yeah, a little," Lightning agreed. "C'mon let's get out of here." She led the way, her daughters trailing a little behind. When they got in the chariot, Cloudchaser noticed a little silver box tucked under her sister's wing. Lightning noticed it too.
"Is that?" Cloudchaser asked.
Flitter noticed what she was gesturing it. "Yeah, I hadn't intended for you to see it until we got there though."
"Can I see it now?" Cloudchaser asked.
Flitter looked at her sister and then to her mother. She sighed and placed the box down. "I guess, can you block the wind though?"
Both mares opened their wing as Flitter opened the small box. What they saw surprised both of them. There were pictures in the box, little photographs of the twins.
She moved through each photo one at a time. The first one showed them both on a slide in Cloudsdale. The next their first day of school. The one after that was Cloudchaser helping Flitter with her bow. The next showed them both opening their acceptance letter for flight camp.
In each and every one, Flitter looked nervous and Cloudchaser was always right by her side, there to cheer her up.
"I... I don't understand," Cloudchaser admitted.
"These..." Flitter said under her breath, "these are the most precious moments of my life." She continued going through each picture for the two to see. "These are the memories I've always cherished with you, Cloud."
Both of them watched as Flitter went through the rest of the photographs with tears in their eyes. The last photo made Lightning gasp.
"What is this?" Lightning asked
The photo showed a big, shaped cloud with lots of slides on it and a big, home-nearly shape on top. On its sides, Flitter and Cloudchaser's cutie marks were shaped out of the cloud. "That was our cloud. We shaped it for each other. First at Hearth's Warming Eve, then at Heart's and Hooves Day."
"I never knew that you took a photo." Cloudchaser said, tears starting to form in her eyes at the memory.
"I took it before we had to destroy it." Flitter sobbed slightly and Cloudchaser unfolded a wing to hug her close.
"It's simply beautiful." Lightning said, smiling at her daughters.
"You should've seen it at night from the inside. The inactive thunderclouds in the walls and roof made the bedroom glimmer with blue light at night," Cloudchaser said, smirking.
As her daughters embraced each other, Lightning carefully packed up the photos and placed them back in the silver box. Now they all understood why Flitter didn't want anypony else to carry these. Next to her sister, these were the most precious possession she had.
White Lightning held the silver box tightly under her wing with tears in her eyes. In front of her were two wonderful, beautiful daughters, and she didn't even know a day ago. Her girls had grown up and she wasn't there. She missed it. That realization stabbed her in the gut. She silently renewed her vow that she wouldn't miss anything else. She'd be the mother they deserve. |
Beyond Sisters Love | A normal day in Ponyville | Chapter seven: A normal day in Ponyville
The chariot soon reached the small town. The buildings were mostly old-fashioned cottages with thatched roofs, the streets barely more than dirt tracks. Cloudchaser huffed as she took in the scenery, but Lightning and Flitter seemed to like it.
The chariot came to a stop right in front of a small, cozy house with two floors. Cloudchaser wasn't impressed -- it was not even a quarter the size of their old cloud home, and to make matters worse, it was ugly. She loved the look and consistency of clouds, not stacks of brick and... other ugly things.
Flitter clapped her hooves. "It's nice!"
Cloudchaser gulped her displeasure away. Flitter's attitude always had a way of putting a different perspective on things, of allowing her to see things in a better light. Cloudchaser found herself simply agreeing because it brought out that smile. "Yes, it's... cozy." She smiled weakly.
Lightning shot her a suspicious glare, but quickly smiled at Flitter. "It's a nice house for a new start. Maybe you can buy a bigger one later."
"I know, but I think that this will be fine." Flitter left the carriage and approached the front door.
Cloudchaser hesitated, but a glare from her mother made her sigh and join Flitter. Together, they opened the door and stepped in. The door itself opened onto a large room that served as a living room. On the left was a kitchen that looked as if it had seen better days -- nothing looked broken or too delipidated, it just needed some TLC. Directly in front of them was a staircase that led to the second level. It looped around so Cloudchaser couldn't see what was there, but she wasn't in any hurry to.
"It looks... nice," Lightning said.
Then you live here. Cloudchaser bit back her retort.
"Sis, see how much room we have!" Flitter flapped her wings and started to fly around. "Look at this living room -- it's so nice and cozy. Oh, look at the kitchen -- we can do so much here!"
Cloudchaser found a smile on her muzzle as she watched her sister fly back and forth. Lightning wrapped a wing around Cloudchaser and brought her in close.
"I know it's hard, but try and keep in mind what's important," she whispered.
"YOU'RE HERE!!!!!" A shout startled all three mares, and their heads snapped to the stairs. They were all forced to take flight as a literal tidal wave of confetti made it's way downstairs. "OH, oh, oh, we're going to have so much fun! I've already got the party worked out and all my friends are coming, who will be your friends too. We'll help you, unpack for you, and make sure that you're welcome!" a pink mare shouted as she rode a small surfboard down the wave of the confetti.
"I'm scared," Cloudchaser whispered.
Lightning watched the entire living room become engulfed with confetti, a large portion of which made its way outside, almost as if it were water seeking the path of least resistance. "And you are?" she asked as the mare jumped off the surfboard and did a triple backflip into the ocean of confetti.
At that question she shot up, her cotton-candy mane going straight in surprise. "AH, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Pinkie Pie! But my friends can call me Pinkie, or Pink, or Pie, or anything. I prefer pie myself, but only because it tastes super scrumdelicious when you eat it for lunch!"
Flitter was hiding behind her sister, hooves and wings wrapped around her, but now, as the strange mare seemed friendly, she felt safe to emerge.
"Ah, Miss Pie. I do belive Princess Celestia said you were going to help my daughters move in?" Lightning did her best to sound calm, grateful that the excitable earth pony didn't have wings.
"Of course silly-billy. What sort of friend would I be if i didn't help my friends move in? I mean, duh, naturally I'm going to help you move!"
Pinkie took a look around at the mess, "Well, let's clean this up first!" At that she pulled out a wet vac from her mane and switched it on. Vacuuming up way more confetti than should have been able to fit in the thing.
After that she shot them a smile. "That's better! Now it's time for the party!" she exclaimed and with that she pulled up a small, green animal and a cake out of nowhere.
"What the-" Cloudchaser started but was soon stopped by a prismatic mane peeking through the door.
"Hey Pinkie! Where's the party you talked about?" Rainbow Dash asked before her gaze met Flitter and Cloudchaser.
Flitter flew away from Cloudchaser and landed directly behind Rainbow, cowering behind her. Rainbow took one look around and at the mess outside before her brain put two and two together.
"Pinkie, I hear there's a new arrival at the south end of town. He looked lonely."
"GASSSPPP!!!!" the pink mare shouted before bolting out of the house at an insane speed. She left behind a flash image of herself that stated, "I'll be back in a bit!"
Rainbow ran her wing through the image, causing it to disperse. "Sorry about that."
"Who... what... when... where... how... why?" Cloudchaser mumbled.
"If I could answer any of those questions I'd probably go insane. Just... with the exceptions of her parties, do your best to avoid her. That's what I do."
"Are her parties really that good?" Flitter asked.
"They're amazing," Rainbow admitted. "Enough about the town crazy pony, I heard about the verdict. I'm sorry about that."
Cloudchaser took one more look out of the door before closing it and locking it. Rainbow just chuckled. "That won't stop her."
"Well, it makes me feel better," Cloudchaser said.
Lightning walked up to Rainbow and grabbed her in a giant hug. One that caused quite a noticeable blush on the cyan mare. "Thank you," Lightning said though several tears.
"It's easy to get rid of her -- no big deal," Rainbow replied, a blush on her face.
"No, not for that. For what you did at the trial. You helped my girls, that means more to me than you could ever know."
Rainbow chuckled a little, closed her eye, and accepted the hug. It wasn't anything she needed thanks for. Cloudchaser and Flitter were her friends -- she'd always stand by them. However, Rainbow knew that her actions meant more to their mother than words could ever say. So she accepted it even if it was quite 'uncool' by any interpretation of the word.
Cloudchaser spoke up after a while. "Mom, I think you can let her go now before she turns blue."
"Well, bluer," Flitter added with a smile.
Lightning squeezed her one more time before letting her go. Rainbow calmly ran a hoof through her mane to try and regain some cool points. "So it looks like you are going to be working for me again," she said, trying to change the subject.
"That's right, you got a supervisor position when you moved here," Flitter said with a smile.
"Who else has the skills to pay the bills. Look, this may be a small town, but I run my shift as thoroughly as I did back in Cloudsdale, so I expect the best from you, even here."
"So that you can take a mid-afternoon nap?" Flitter jabbed at her.
"Hardy har," Rainbow laughed.
"Umm... Rainbow, am I working for you too?" Cloudchaser asked.
"Yep, orders from Celestia and such -- well not really orders, more of a request. Both of you start bright and early in two days' time."
"Two days?"
"Gives you today and tomorrow to settle in. If you want I can show you around town. There's not much to see, but it's good to know where everything is."
Lightning took a quick look around the room. She saw her two girls and decided on something right then and there. "Rainbow, why don't you show me around instead. I'll fill them in on everything later. That way they can get settled in."
"Umm... Okay?" Rainbow looked confused. It didn't make much sense to do the tour twice, but it seemed to be what they wanted.
Lightning opened the door and led the cyan mare out of the building. As it closed Cloudchaser and Flitter were left with the distinct impression that she was going to ask a LOT of questions -- questions that it was doubtful Rainbow would know the answer to.
Flitter walked over to the window and watched them go. When she turned around she saw the depressed look on her sister's muzzle. However, before she could ask what was wrong, Cloudchaser volunteered the information. "I hate it here."
"What?" Flitter asked surprised.
"It's not about you. It's the house, the town... I want our old life back." Cloudchaser looked down and a lonely tear dropped from her muzzle. "I want the feeling of clouds under my hooves back."
Flitter listened to everything her sister had to say. When it was over, when she understood what Cloud was getting at, she frowned. With a sigh she pulled out the little box from beneath her wing one more time and opened it. "Cloud, come look at these."
"I've seen them," Cloudchaser replied, a little colder than she meant too.
"Come look again," Flitter's tone brokered no argument and Cloudchaser found herself walking forward against her own volition.
Flitter calmly spread out each of the pictures for Cloudchaser to see. She laid them out in such a way her sister could get a good, long look at them. "Tell me what you see," Flitter said.
"Pictures of us," Cloudchaser replied.
"Are we happy?"
"Yes."
"What caused that happiness?"
"... I don't know what you mean."
"Why are we happy in these pictures?" Flitter asked again, a deadpan expression on her face.
"'Cause we're together?"
"What's not the focus in any of the pictures?" Flitter asked.
"I... I don't know," Cloudchaser admitted.
"Where we were," Flitter answered for her. "It was never about where we were -- it was always about us, us being together, us making each other happy. Cloud, I know you miss what we had. Together, we were creating something that was ours, something we'd built with our own four hooves. That's gone now. It's gone and we can't get it back. But... but I don't care. I look forward to what comes next. Forget what we lost, think about what we get to build next."
"Flitter, I..." a hoof placed lightly on her muzzle caused her to close her trap.
"I want you with me. I want to build our new dream together, here, in this new place. I can't do it alone. I don't want to do it alone -- I want to do it with you. I know you miss our cloudhome, but here... here we get to be together. That's worth more to me than any stupid clouds. What about you?"
A tear fell down Cloudchaser's muzzle at her sister's words. "What if they take this from us?" she cried.
Flitter stood up and walked over to her sister. She rubbed their two muzzles together and whispered softly into her ear. "Then we'll do it again, and again. We can rebuild our lives as many times as it takes until they leave us alone. As long as you're with me, nothing else matters."
Cloudchaser enjoyed the touch and melted into it. She couldn't believe that she'd been so stupid, that her mind had focussed on such a stupid thing. "You are way more important than some stupid clouds," she whispered into Flitter's ear.
"Cloud, will you build our new home with me?" Flitter asked.
"I'd love to," Cloudchaser replied.
They sealed the deal with a kiss. Flitter pressed her lips to her sister's and simply enjoyed the feeling of being so connected to somepony, so loved. When they broke apart Flitter was smiling, an infectious smile that caught Cloudchaser in its grip. "Good, 'cause we have a LOT of cleaning to do before our stuff arrives and I call dibs on downstairs," Flitter said as she blew her sister a raspberry.
"Hey, no fair!" Cloudchaser complained. Thoughts of the pink mare's mess and what the upstairs must look like came to her mind.
"All's fair in love and war. Don't worry -- I'll make it up to you tonight," Flitter replied, winking at her sister. "Now get up stairs and get to work!"
Who knew my sister was such a slave driver, Cloudchaser thought with a laugh as she made her way upstairs.
"Three, two..." Flitter counted down out loud as she watched her sister go up the steps. As soon as she said, "one," Cloudchaser's scream echoed down the stairs.
"It's a gigantic mess!" Cloudchaser called out.
"Then you'd better get to work!" Flitter replied with a laugh as she made her way to the closet in search of a broom. ***
"So, you've known about it since before Hearth's Warming Eve?`" Lightning asked as Rainbow and she glided through the sky.
"They weren't exactly subtle about it. But I'm loyal to them, not some dumb, outdated law," the cyan mare replied, chuckling. "I have to say it still surprised me."
"What do you mean?" Lightning asked, confused.
"Well, think of Flitter. Did you picture her like this? As long as I've known her, I thought she would run away from Cloudchaser." Rainbow Dash sighed, adjusting her course. "But as far as I know it was her who made the first move."
"Really?" Lightning was a bit shocked.
"Yeah. Kind of awesome, huh? Sometimes I'm jealous of them. I never thought much about it, but coming home to an empty and lonely cloudhome can sometimes be depressing. You want somepony to greet you, ask how your day was, and so on." Rainbow groaned. "Great, I turned sappy, thanks to your daughters."
"Flitter rubbed off on you," Lightning replied with a wink.
"Well, I wonder where she got that." Rainbow blew her a raspberry.
"Me?" Lightning mocked innocence. "I'm innocence in flesh and blood."
"That's exactly what I mean."
"Rainbow, I've known you nearly as long as my daughters and I still remember what your mother used to say. She was right. If you didn't focus on your pride and competitions so much, you'd easily find your special somepony," Lightning spoke softly.
"I don't really need one. I'm awesome enough."
"Do I have to repeat back to you what you told me earlier?"
"Hey, no fair using my words against me."
"Who else would be awesome enough to get through to you?"
"Ehh, fair point," Rainbow said with a smile.
"Besides, if you stop and think about it, you'd realize that the only thing truly awesome is having somepony to come home to at the end of a hard day."
Rainbow paused in her flight as her mind went there. She imagined what that would be like, really imagined it. Having somepony that was there for her, that kissed her when she entered the door, that loved her. She felt her heart grow heavy in her chest as the thought that maybe, just maybe that was really what she wanted all along.
"Thanks for getting that into my heart," she muttered before increasing her speed.
Lightning smiled as she watched her take off. It took some effort but she was able to catch up to the cyan mare. "Of course that can always come later. Maybe after you tour with the Wonderbolts?"
"You know about that?" Rainbow said, surprised.
"Flitter told me about your fangirling over them at work," Lightning said with a smile. "I read all about you in her letters."
"She wrote about me?"
"Rainbow, it's Flitter."
"Wait a second. She told me you never wrote or visited them." Rainbow shot her a glare that could've burned through a wall.
Lightning practically fell out of the sky. She landed on all four hooves and looked down at the ground. Concerned, Rainbow flew down and hovered slightly above the old mare. Rainbow's worry increased tenfold when she saw a tear fall from Lightning's eye. "That's because I never answered their letters. I was stupid," came the sad reply.
"Why did you..."
"Rainbow, things haven't been going well for me. I've been in a... a bad place these last few years. I thought they'd be better off without me. I stupidly thought they didn't need me anymore."
Rainbow landed on the ground, facing Lightning. "That was stupid," she said without any tact to her words. Lightning looked up, surprised that Rainbow would say something like that. "You're their mother, Lightning. Whatever may come, they will always need you."
"Do you think it's too late?" she asked the cyan mare. In spite of her conversation with her daughters earlier, Lightning still held out doubt about being able to fix things.
"Depends... are you going to stop trying?"
"No."
"Then you've answered your own question."
Lightning smiled at her. It was the kind of smile that said more than words ever could. "Thanks."
"No problem. Now lets get going -- they're going to need beds, right?"
"Well, at least one," Lightning smirked.
Rainbow just laughed at that. "There's this great little shop, although its choice of products is really strange."
"How so?"
"They sell beds and quills."
"Wait, what?"
"I know, right? Welcome to Ponyville -- it's a strange place, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't have a certain charm."
"This shop... it only sells normal beds, right?" Lightning looked concerned.
"Yeah, this town has ponies of all races, but it was still founded by earth ponies."
"We should get them a soft cloud bed. Do you know of any good place for that, Rainbow?" Lightning asked.
Rainbow thought about it for a while, she perked up as she thought of one place. "Race you to Cloudsdale?" the cyan mare suggested while fluttering with her wings.
"You're on." ***
"Hey, aren't you finished yet?" Flitter shouted up the stairs.
A growl met her back. "This huge mess? You could at least help me!"
"You don't understand the point of calling dibs, do you?" Flitter said with a laugh.
"I call dibs on your flanks if you don't come up here and help me right away!" Cloudchaser answered.
"That sounds fun..." Flitter replied, giggling.
"FLITTER!"
"Alright, alright, I'm coming."
Flitter took one more look around. It had taken her thirty minutes of hard work, but the rooms downstairs were more than ready for their stuff. Everything had been dusted and cleaned, the trash thrown out, and she even managed to clean the windows. A task made easier with the use of her wings.
Sighing, she saw no further excuse to avoid it. She flew upstairs, dreading what she might see. Under normal situations, the upstairs opened up to a hallway that led left or right. The right hallway led to a master bedroom with its own bath. The left led to two rooms at the end and a shared bathroom between them.
But this was not a normal situation.
Despite thirty minutes of hard work, the carpet in the hallway could barely be seen. Ten large trash bags were piled up at the end of the hallway, each filled to the brim with confetti. "That. Mare. Made. Such. A. Mess." Cloudchaser grunted each word out as she filled up another bag.
"Holy Celestia!" Flitter replied as she took in the devastation around her. Briefly, she considered getting Pinkie back here to clean it up. However, that thought was quickly forgotten. She didn't want that mare stepping one hoof in here again.
"I guess I'll start at the end?" Flitter asked as she flew over to the left and went to start at the end of the hallway.
"No, don't!" Cloudchaser yelled, but it was too late. As soon as Flitter passed the entranceway to one of the rooms, a hidden party cannon went off. Blasting the mare out of the air and onto her back.
She landed on the pile of confetti. Dazed, but not hurt. "What was that?"
"More little... gifts. I saw the first one on the way up and quickly found out there were more. How many more is anypony's guess."
Flitter lay on her back, her eyes glued to her sister's, her hearing buzzed with the after effects of a cannon going off in close proximity. However, what she did next surprised Cloudchaser. She laughed.
It started off small, just a slight chuckle that grew as the seconds past. Cloudchaser looked at her confused, annoyed, worried, and then she started smiling at her sister's laughter. A laughter that proved infectious as she started laughing too. Soon both mares were in a full on giggling fit as they laughed about everything and nothing all at the same time.
Before long, Cloudchaser pounced at her sister, making them roll into the pile of confetti, still laughing. As they stopped, she softly nuzzled Flitter, enjoying the touch deeply. "Despite what I said earlier... it already feels like home." She looked deeply into her sister's beautiful eyes. "Thanks to you."
Flitter did not say a word. She merely reached up and kissed her sister's lips. It was an action that Cloudchaser was more than happy to reciprocate.
While no words had been said, they both read the same thing in the other's actions.
You are, and always have been, my home. |
Beyond Sisters Love | Surprise, Surprise! | Chapter eight: Surprise, Surprise!
The day dragged on and the cleaning took the sisters quite a while. Exhausted and aching from their hard work, they decided to take the evening slowly and enjoy their time together. Cloudchaser made her way down to the living room and slumped upon the carpet, as they didn't have a couch yet.
Meanwhile, Flitter inspected the bedroom: it was big, but something necessary was missing -- there was no bed, no closet, or anything else. Just a bare room with curtains and a small flowerpot on the window ledge.
Sighing, she made her way downstairs to find her sister snoring quietly on the carpet. She stepped closer slowly and planted a peck on her sister's muzzle, just to be abruptly pulled into her winged embrace after that.
"They're taking too long," Cloudchaser mumbled.
Flitter looked confused. "What?"
"Dash and mom -- they've been gone for hours," Cloudchaser mumbled against her chest, softly nuzzling her.
"Are you worried?"
"No, not really. I thought they were only going sightseeing. I can't imagine why that would be taking so long in this little town." Cloudchaser pulled her closer. "You know, I could stay like this for my whole life."
Flitter felt the same, she just didn't say it back with actual words. The mare closed her eyes and inhaled deeply of her sister's scent. She was sweaty from a hard day's work; they both were. Still, she smelled like Cloudchaser, and that was one smell she would always love.
"You were right, Flitter." Cloudchaser spoke softly into her sister's ear.
"Oh, what about this time?" Flitter laughed as her sister started to nibble on her ear in just the way she liked.
"This house... us being together. That is what's important -- what I needed. I just needed you."
"Seems like it's something we both need reminding of from time to time," Flitter said as she started kissing the side of Cloudchaser's neck.
"Promise me you'll always remind me of that?"
"Sure. Just promise me the same thing," Flitter replied with a smile.
They both pulled back and held their foreheads together with their eyes glued on the other's. With a smile upon their lips they both said, "I promise."
They sealed their promise with a kiss. There was no tongue play, no fancy maneuvers to try and rile the other up into taking it someplace more. Rather, they simply pressed their lips together as a way to seal the deal.
When they pulled back, Cloudchaser let loose a small yawn, an action that earned a giggle from her sister. "Sorry I made you work upstairs all day."
"Ah, don't be, it had to be done and one of us had to do it. I'm happy I could do it for you."
"Still," Flitter said as she ran a hoof through her sister's mane. Cloudchaser was never a mare that cared all that much about her looks, but even she would be horrified by its current state. Flitter frowned when her hoof ran though a small clump of confetti that was caught in a few tangles.
For her part, Cloudchaser felt her eyes starting to shut again. She'd already been half asleep when she'd heard Flitter coming down the stairs and only awoke when she tried to steal the kiss. Now being held in the hooves of the pony she loved more than any other she couldn't help but feel the cold grasp of sleep coming back to claim her.
"Sleep," Flitter said as she held her sister's muzzle against her chest.
Cloudchaser was taken aback at first. Then she closed her eyes. The sound of her sister's heartbeat became the trifecta that guaranteed she could not keep her eyes open. Her sister was always such a caring soul, and being held the way she was only made Cloudchaser feel that much more loved.
Flitter looked down at her sister's muzzle and saw the smile on her face. It was a smile that conveyed appreciation and love, happiness and contentment. It held all of these emotions and more at the same time. She kissed her sister's forehead, an action that earned her a coo of pleasure from Cloudchaser in her dreamlike state.
"I love you, Cloud," Flitter said with a smile. She glanced around the living room. In her mind's eye she didn't see an otherwise bare carpeted room, with plain walls and no furniture whatsoever. She pictured a couch, framed photos hanging up of the two sisters, scatter cushions, coffee tables, guests, books, and them. She pictured them, being together, holding each other, laughing with each other, smiling with each other, and most importantly, she pictured them happy.
They were happy here... together.
That thought made her smile. She closed her eyes and buried her muzzle in her sister's mane. Flitter wasn't tired per se, but resting her eyes wasn't out of the question.
"This is our home, because this is where we can be together," Flitter said right before sleep came to claim her.
Held in the wing of the pony she loved more than her own life, enjoying the warmth they shared, she truly was no longer worried about the future. Whatever came, they could face it with their heads held high -- after all, that was what was really important. ***
Cloudchaser awoke drowsily, raised her head, and tried blinking her eyes clear of sleep. She thought she had heard knocking, but now there was nothing but the sweet snoring of her love in her wings. She went to close her eyes but then she heard it again; several sharp knocks on the door.
Sighing, she looked for an escape from her situation without waking Flitter. With careful movements she folded her wings, doing her absolute best not to disturb Flitter. As she left their shared embrace Flitter's muzzle scrunched and she curled up into a ball, but thankfully, she didn't wake up.
Cloudchaser walked to the door and opened it, to be greeted by a muscle-packed earth pony. "We've got your stuff here," he said and gestured behind him where several guards were unpacking a few carriages.
Cloudchaser couldn't fight back a rather rude yawn. "Oh, thank you. Please bring it in," she said with a blush at the scowl on the pony's face.
The pony frowned but turned back to the others. "Alright guys, bring it in."
Turning around, Cloudchaser realized she had to do the one thing she really did not want to do: she had to wake up Flitter. But, if she had to do it, she would do it just the right way. Smiling, she approached her sister, looking down at her.
Carefully, so nopony else would see it she laid down, slowly trailing licks around her sister's neck and peppering kisses at her muzzle.
"That tickles," Flitter said with a few giggles.
Cloudchaser pulled back with a grin on her face.
"Don't stop," Flitter replied.
There was a small amount of laughter as she looked down at her. "Sorry, but our stuff's here."
It was at that moment Flitter noticed the moving ponies hauling in the first of the boxes. "Oh, right," she said with a blush as she stood to her hooves.
The two didn't have a lot of stuff, but packed up it still filled quite a few boxes. For the most part the girls spent the time just telling them where to drop off the boxes. The actual unpacking would come later.
However, what happened next surprised both of them. "Knock knock!" Lightning said with a smile as she walked in.
"Hey, mom!" Flitter yelled as she ran up and gave her mother a hug.
Lightning wrapped a hoof around her daughter's neck and smiled at her. As she held her she took a quick look around. The girls had done quite a remarkable job cleaning up. Of course it would still take another few hours worth of work to unpack everything and put it away, but that could wait until the movers were finished. "I thought you two were going to clean up?" she said in jest.
"Hardy har, what took you?" Flitter asked with a pout on her muzzle.
"Is mom back?!" Cloudchaser yelled from upstairs.
"Hey, we don't yell!" Lightning yelled back upstairs. It was an action that earned her a bit of laughter from both her girls. That had always been the number one rule in their house growing up.
"We need to make room so they can take the bed upstairs," Rainbow said as she flew in and saw that the boxes were definitely going to be in the way.
"Bed?" Flitter asked.
"Rainbow, you've ruined my surprise."
She blushed at that. "Sorry, but they're not going to wait around outside forever."
As she saw the confused look on her daughter's face, Lightning just shrugged. "Well, cat's out of the bag now. I got you two a bed, and a second one for one of your spare bedrooms too."
"Cloud!" Flitter yelled. "Come down here!"
Cloudchaser flew down from upstairs. "What's up?"
"Mom got us a new bed," Flitter said with a smile.
Cloudchaser didn't exactly look happy at that. She had wanted to go pick one out with Flitter -- one that would be their bed. Lightning noticed this look and smiled. "Trust me. Let's just move these boxes out of the way so they can bring it in."
"I'll make sure the path upstairs is clear," Rainbow commented as she flew up the steps.
There was hesitation in Cloudchaser's movements, but she did as instructed. In no time at all, there was a clear path for the bed. Lightning flew to the doorway, "Alright, you can bring in the big one," she said to unseen ponies.
Unlike the moving ponies, these pegasus worked for the sales company. They would not simply bring in the parts and let the ponies that purchased the bed assemble it for themselves. Their product was purchased directly and assembled by professionals at the location the client wanted.
Flitter and Cloudchaser watched as the strangest assortment of parts were brought into the house and flown upstairs. It had the basic design of a bed, but a lot of what was there did not look like a bed. There was no mattress, no boxspring, but there was a lot of pipes and other devices that neither mare could recognize.
"I thought she bought us a bed?" Flitter asked her sister.
"That's... that's what she said," Cloudchaser whispered back.
"Stay down here for a minute. I'll call you two up when it's done," Lightning replied with a wink as she flew up to the bedroom, the last of the parts having made their way upstairs.
Cloudchaser and Flitter looked at each other in uncertainty, an uncertainty that was short lived as another set of boxes made their way inside. "Where do you want these?" the pony carrying them asked.
Flitter took one look before replying, "kitchen."
The two sister's shrugged and went back to work. With a glance outside Cloudchaser saw that they were almost done bringing the boxes in and that soon all that would be left was the couch at the back of the truck.
"Well, we'll find out what my mom bought soon enough," she said to herself as she heard some very strange noises coming from upstairs. ***
The moving ponies finished first. With the couch brought in, they simply held up a piece of paper for Cloudchaser to sign. She did so and watched them leave from the doorway with a smile of gratitude. Not so much because they provided excellent customer service, but just to see them gone. With a quick glance to her right she saw the other moving truck that had brought whatever 'bed' her mom had got them. The second bed in the back of the truck looked a lot more like what she had expected to see.
"What did she..." Cloudchaser said before stopping herself. The side of the truck gave her the biggest clue yet -- it was from Cloudsdale.
"Girls, it's ready!" The shout came from upstairs.
The sisters shared a look before slowly making their way upstairs, each of them trying to guess what kind of bed it was exactly. As they made their way upstairs and to the master bedroom, what they saw shocked them both.
"A... a cloudbed?" Flitter asked, surprised.
"You like it?" Lightning asked as she stepped to the side allowing both sisters a better view of the bed she had purchased for them.
To say it was easy to get a cloudbed on the ground would be the same as saying it was easy to raise and lower the sun. The cloud has to be generated and maintained in place by mechanisms in the bed itself -- something that is not easy to do even for the most talented unicorns.
The number of bits it cost spoke volumes for the difficulty in a cloudbed's construction.
"Mom... I... I don't know what to say," Cloudchaser mumbled.
Flitter had no such issue, with a flap of her wings she leaped on the bed, a shout of "YAHHH!" in her wake as she bounced once on the cloud before sinking down into the bed itself.
Lightning smiled, "Sorry it took so long. They didn't have what I wanted to buy, so I paid extra for them to make it specially."
"What do you..." Cloudchaser stopped herself before she noticed something off about the bed. When they brought in the pieces she had thought it at least had the shape of a normal bed. Assembled, she could see that thought had been wrong. She flapped her wings and flew above the bed. Cloudchaser had indeed been wrong -- she had been wrong about a lot.
The bed was not in the shape of a normal bed. It was in the shape of the cloud she and Flitter had made all those months ago. They'd even managed to reproduce their cutie marks in the design. It wasn't to scale, but there was no denying what it was made to look like, or just how right it felt.
Flitter looked up as she felt tears falling on the top of her head. "Sis?" she asked.
Cloudchaser beelined it straight to her mother and tackled her to the ground. Lightning looked confused, afraid she had done something wrong until she felt Cloudchaser's head smash into her coat. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," the mare gave off muffled cries into her mother's fur.
Flitter looked on, confused about what was going on. That was until her eyes fell to Rainbow's and she saw the mare glance up into the air, a gesture that told her to take a look herself.
With a small amount of apprehension, Flitter did just that. She flapped her wings and gained what little height the room allowed for. When she looked down at the bed she saw exactly what her sister had seen. The pipes and the devices they had brought in made the cloud conform into a very familiar, very welcome shape. "You... you did this for us?" Flitter asked with a gulp.
"She sure did," Rainbow said with a smile as she placed a hoof on the bed, pushing it. "She even paid extra for the self-cleaning option."
"Cleaning option?" Flitter looked at her mother who blushed.
"What? I don't know what could... well, cloudbeds are very fragile against any dirt..."
"Mom!" Cloudchaser yelled and blushed as she realized what her mother meant.
Flitter flew down and joined her family in a hug. Rainbow Dash felt uncomfortable. After everything her friends had been though, she was happy to see them happy, but touchy-feely had never been her thing. Her saving grace came from the delivery ponies walking to the door. "We've set up the bed in the other room. Sign here and we will be out of your manes."
"I'll take care of it," Rainbow said eagerly as she flew over and signed for the bed -- something Lightning was eternally grateful for as it let her hold her daughters a little while longer.
It was Flitter that finally broke the silence. "Why did you buy two beds?"
"Oh, that," Lightning said as she started to get up, an action that forced the girls to move off her. "Well, if you want me too, and you're under no obligation to say yes, but I'd like to stay with you two for the next few days -- just until you're settled in," she said with a blush.
Cloudchaser walked over and hugged her again. "Of course you can stay with us, You'll always be welcome here."
"And I don't want you girls to act any different just because I'm around. Well, there will be one thing different: you'll be eating better," she said with a smile.
Flitter walked over and kissed her sister's lips at that. When she pulled back there was a smile on her face. "We've got the best mom ever."
"Yeah, we do," Cloudchaser replied with a smile.
"Well, if you girls don't mind, I'm going to head home now," Rainbow said as she saw the sun's rays starting to lower though the window.
"Thanks for everything, Rainbow," Lightning said.
"Yeah, thanks," Cloudchaser added.
"Thanks," Flitter said cheerfully.
"Remember, you two, in two days time I expect you to report to work. No slacking on my crew!"
"Yeah, that's your job," Flitter joked.
Rainbow just smiled as she flew down the stairs and out of the house.
Once she'd left, Cloudchaser and Flitter moved to a pile of boxes at the other end of the room. Using their wings they started to unpack, in the hope of getting one room done before it was time for bed.
Lightning saw this and went to the other side of the room. She lifted a box herself and started to lay out clothes that needed to be put away. In the second pile she felt something strange, a box in the clothes. Her curiosity piqued, she opened the box and looked inside.
"You know, strapons are a lot more fun," Lightning said as she pulled out a small collection of dildos, "and the double-headed ones give you both enjoyment at the same time."
"MOM!" both girls yelled at the exact same time.
Lightning just giggled a little before putting most of the items away. She hid one under her wing as she pulled out another collection of clothes. After all, she had her own needs that had to be taken care off. ***
Flitter held her sister tightly against her chest as she laid on the bed. This, this small little gift from their mother, meant so much. It symbolized their love for each other, where they came from, where they were going, and most importantly, their acceptance by the only other mare that truly mattered to each of them.
She closed her eyes, her sister already asleep after a hard day of moving and unpacking. That morning they'd awoken in their cloud home, but tonight they were falling asleep in their new ground home -- a home neither of them had wanted, but they were both quickly learning to love.
After all, it was their home now. What was not to love about it?
"We should do something nice for her," Cloudchaser said with a smile.
"You're still awake?" Flitter asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Too good company to fall asleep," she laughed. "We should do something nice for mom."
"I agree. What'd you have in mind?"
"Menage à trois?" Cloudchaser joked, an action that earned her a small hit on the back of her head by Flitter.
"Seriously," Flitter said with a laugh.
"What if we make her something? You know, like we used to?"
Flitter thought about that for a while, "That's... that's a great idea."
"I just don't have any clue what." Cloudchaser pouted. "I guess we already did everything for her when we were just little fillies. Is there anything left that could surprise her? I doubt that."
"Don't be so negative, my love," Flitter hummed.
"We'll come up with something together," Cloudchaser said as she nuzzled deeper into her sister's stomach.
"That's better," Flitter smiled softly.
In her gentle embrace, Flitter felt the mare in her hooves drifting off to sleep. She smiled as she looked out of the window and saw the moon hanging over the sky. The mare in the moon seemed to be looking down at them. Flitter probably imagined it, but a small twinkle seemed to come from the tip of her horn. With a smile, she closed her eyes and soon joined her sister in sleep's peaceful embrace. ***
Lightning awoke the next morning to a pounding coming from downstairs. Groggily, she stepped off her bed and onto the hard floor. "Ugh, who could that be?" she asked nopony in particular as she made her way out of the room. As an afterthought she used her wing to cover a particular item that was sitting on the side of the bed with a sheet.
"Mom?" Flitter asked when Lightning made her way out into the hallway. Lightning looked up. Seeing the forms of both her daughters looking at her, she was sure the look on their muzzles matched her own.
Before anypony could say anything, the knocking began again, louder this time.
"Ouch," Cloudchaser said as she ran a hoof over her head, no doubt nursing a small headache that was only getting worse.
Lightning shrugged in response and made her way downstairs, her two girls in tow behind her. Whoever this was, they really wanted to be noticed, and were not going away without a conversation.
She threw opened the door with all her might. "WHAT?!" Lightning yelled at the pony on the other side.
The steel-blue stallion with the dark blue mane waiting in front of the door wasn't amused and examined her with his turquoise eyes.
"Wave Chill!" Lightning whispered, stepping back.
Flitter and Cloudchaser both stuck their head beside their mother, only to quickly duck back after they let out a weak, "Dad!?"
This wasn't what they had expected at all. |
Beyond Sisters Love | Familiar Complications | Chapter nine: Familiar Complications
"Dad... what... what are you doing here?" Cloudchaser asked.
Wave Chill huffed at that. "Am I not allowed to know what's going on with my own daughters?"
"We thought you were on tour with the other bolts, father," Flitter replied quietly.
The stallion huffed again, reached around his side, and pulled out a rolled up newspaper that he dropped on the floor. It unrolled right in front of them. "I was," he said with no small amount of venom in his voice.
Lightning looked down and read the newspaper title: Lesbian Incest Couple Kicked out of Cloudsdale.
Lightning looked in shock at the paper. "What?! They were found innocent of incest!"
"Don't you dare make a fool out of me! I can take Celestia for the sake of our marriage... but this... this is simply too much!" he shouted and stomped his hoof hard onto the ground.
Lightning glared at him with a look that had brought lesser stallions to their knees in the courtroom. "Come inside, dear," she hissed every single word. He knew better then to air their dirty laundry in public.
Wave hesitated, but stepped inside nonetheless. He looked around before growling. "Nice enough for some earth ponies, I guess."
Lightning kept silent only until the door was closed before she lost her composure. "What, in Celestia's name, do you think you are doing here?! Not enough that they have to suffer all this, now you decided to throw salt into that open wound? Are you completely out of your mind, Wave?!"
Married to Lightning for as long as he was, Wave was more than used to dealing with his wife's attitude. "Let me explain what happened to me today. I show up to work, thinking it's just a normal bucking day, only to be greeted by several laughing muzzles looking my way. Then, when I go to the locker room to change, my locker is full of these papers. And that's how I find out that my own daughters are bucking each other. Why am I only just now hearing about it, when you... you knew, you knew and hid it from me?!" He paused, closed his eyes, and sighed. "I thought... I thought we were in this together. I thought even with your... proclivities... we were still a team in this marriage..." He let the last part hang in the air.
"How dare you..." Lightning said with a growl.
"How dare I?" Wave said as he stood up, glaring at her in the eye. "Really?! You're really going to try and turn this around on me? You're really going to try and pretend this is my fault?"
"Yes, because you don't think about them at all!" Lightning shouted, pointing to Cloudchaser and Flitter who tried to take cover behind the couch.
"And when was the last time you did?!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"At least I've accepted my idiotic behaviour and support them! What are you going to do? Insult them? Disown them? Punish them?" Lightning smiled. "You only try to do one thing and we were a team for most years."
"Are you completely mad now? You're my wife!" Wave exclaimed flabbergasted.
"They love each other, Wave. There's nothing more we need to know then that."
"It's incest, Lightning. They're sisters. What sort of life can they have? They can't marry, they can't adopt, they can't have foals."
What happened next caused every jaw to drop. Flitter scowled before standing up behind the couch and approaching her father. "I don't have to marry her to know how much I love her. I don't have to have foals to know that what we have is special. I don't need your permission to love her 'til the end."
"Flitter, I love you, but you're too young to understand what this will do to you. What it means in life."
"And you're too busy with your bucking famous status to even care! The only reason you're acting like you do now is because of what happened at work! If it hadn't interfered with your dreams, you wouldn't even care!" Flitter cried out.
"My dreams are what have kept us afloat. My dreams are the reason why you girls were raised in such a nice house, why you had everything you could possibly want. Yes, I had to be away, but I was away for you girls, all three of you!"
"Yeah." Cloudchaser joined in with conviction in her voice. "You're right, dad, we had everything we ever wanted in life because you were a Wonderbolt. Everything but one thing."
Wave looked surprised at that, "What, what was this one thing you didn't have?"
"A father; a father that was there for us, one that supported us, the one I needed when I was raped." Cloudchaser yelled the last word.
Wave tried to find words but Cloudchaser cut him off. "Flitter was there for me when he tried again. She defended me! I don't care if you accept or like it, but I won't let you interfere with it or try to destroy it. If you are here to help and support us, be welcomed. If not, get your bucking flank out of my house!"
Wave sat back on his flank, not in denial at his daughter's words, but because he couldn't find the strength to stay standing. "I did it all for you..."
Lightning closed her eyes. "No, we did it for us." Wave looked up and saw the tears in her eyes. "Wave... I've realized something these last few days: we've been horrible parents. Sure, we had good intentions, but... we didn't give them the one thing they wanted, the one thing they needed: we were there for them, but we weren't there for them."
It was rare to see his wife cry, yet here she was with tears in her eyes, crying over her... no, their mistake. "I just wanted them to be happy," he said.
"And we are, dad," Flitter replied as she walked up next to her mother. "But not because of you. We are happy because of us, because of what we have."
He glared at nopony in particular. This wasn't supposed to be about him -- this was about them; this was about the thing they were doing. Yet, somehow they'd made it about him. It infuriated Wave how they had turned it around.
"I need... I need to think about this," he growled and turned his head away from them.
"Dad?" Cloudchaser asked.
"Not now..." Wave said as he made his way to the door.
"Wave," Lightning said in her 'you're going to answer or I'm going to buck you in the nuts' voice.
He turned around, shocked to see that there was tears and anger in Lightning's eyes, each in equal measure. "We need to talk about this -- just you and me. There's an inn just down the street. Tonight, six thirty?" she said.
"Six thirty," he said back, his voice deadpan.
"Please... be there," Lightning said through her tears.
He didn't reply. They watched as he opened the door, spread his wings, and took off into the sky.
Flitter and Cloudchaser watched him go, surprised and angered that he'd do something like this. Yet, the real surprise didn't come from him, but from their mother. Lightning broke down, sobbing on their floor.
"Mom!" Flitter yelled as she ran to Lightning's side.
"I bucking hate you," Cloudchaser said as she stared at the open door. ***
Six hours. Six hours is not a long time, relatively speaking. It's a quarter of a day. You spend more time asleep each day than when six hours passes. Yet, for Lightning, the next six hours felt longer than it took to carry her girls to term.
Wave had been right about so much, but wrong about so much more. She hated him for this, but she loved him more than anything as well. It was a play in contradictions: a knife to the gut and a kiss on the cheek all at the same time.
It was that part she hated the most. They had been through everything together, every hardship, every bad thing she never imagined in her life they'd have to deal with. He... her Wave, he had always been understanding, he had always said their love would see them through. That as long as they loved each other, it didn't matter.
But there had been none of that today. It was almost like... like he had given up, like he didn't see how they could get past that. It was that part that weighed so heavily on her mind. 'Giving up' and 'Wave' did not belong in the same sentence.
"He's right, I should have... I should have told him," Lightning admitted to Cloudchaser as she left for their meeting.
"There's a lot we should have done, mom..., a lot we all should have done. We... we can't change the past, only decide where we're going from here," Cloudchaser replied.
"What if he's... what if he's not there," Lightning gave voice to the biggest worry on her mind.
"He's a few things, but dumb isn't an adjective I'd use." Cloudchaser snorted.
Lightning had to stifle a silent laugh at that before turning serious again. "I fear that all this will drive us apart."
"Mom, we never want you to go. It's father that chooses to be this way," Flitter said with a soft smile.
"Do you think that we can fix this?" Lightning sobbed.
"Nothing important is broken, mom. Just dad's dream and his ego," Cloudchaser chuckled.
"Girls, he really did do it for you two. I know it doesn't feel like it, but... he, he always had you two on his mind. The long hours, the backbreaking practices, and yet... yet he'd come home each night and kiss you two while you slept, regardless of how tired he was."
"Too bad he couldn't figure out the difference between what we needed and what we wanted," Cloudchaser snorted.
"Am I not just as guilty?" Lightning asked.
"Why are you defending him?! Cloudchaser practically yelled.
"She still loves him," Flitter replied with wide-eyes and a smile on her face.
"I do," Lightning said with a sad smile.
"Well then, what are you still doing here?" Cloudchaser asked. While she had been taken aback by that, she was in no position to judge -- not really. Love was love, whatever form it took.
Lightning kissed her two daughters on their foreheads and took off. She was more scared now than when she argued her first case in a courtroom, and yet... yet she would not back down. This... this had to happen, it just had to.
"Please be there," Lightning whispered as she flapped her wings and flew to the inn. ***
"Room seven, eight, nine..." Lightning counted as she walked down the hall. At this point she was talking just to drown out the pounding of her heart. The stallion at the front desk had been more than helpful once she had told him that she was looking for her husband. He told her that Wave had checked into room ten earlier that day and had not yet checked out. Of course that didn't mean anything -- not really. After all, he had prepaid for the room.
"Room ten," the mare said as she stopped in front of it. It was just a door, but whether or not it opened determined her future. Worst case scenario: her husband of twenty years was gone, she'd never lay in his hooves again, her girls would never know their father's kind words. He'd just be... gone.
It was so much more than a door. It might as well have been a dragon. A dragon that wanted to burn her whole -- wings, coat, and all.
"No... I will do this," Lightning stated as she stood up to her full height, pulled back her hoof, and kicked it against the door three times.
"Wave!" Lightning called out.
There was no reply.
"Wave!" Lightning yelled out again. "I know you're in there!"
Again, nothing.
"Wave, don't... don't do this to me..." Lightning said through sobs. She pounded again and again at the door.
Still no reply.
"Wave... you... you bastard," Lightning cried as she placed her head on the door, crying into the floor. "You... you weren't here."
"Hey."
The voice was like a gift from Celestia. Lighting looked over and saw her husband walking down the hallway, a bucket of ice in his mouth. "I... I thought you'd left," she said while wiping tears from her eyes with a feather.
Wave placed the bucket down on the floor. "You said six thirty. It's only six twenty-five. I stepped out to get ice." The monotone in his voice was like a dagger in Lightning's heart.
"I don't know if I should kiss you or hit you," Lightning said.
"Whatever you do, let's do it inside," Wave replied as he fished out a key from his bag and opened the door, letting Lightning in.
"Drinking again?" Lightning said as she noticed several empty bottles of beer on the floor.
"Eeyup," Wave replied.
"You know you can--"
"Don't, just don't. This isn't about me; it's about us, and our daughters. If all you want to do is point out my flaws, then just leave."
Lightning shut her eyes and took three deep breaths. "I'm sorry," she said as she opened them.
"What did I... wait, what?" Wave looked up in shock. "Celestia, I must be drunk."
"I'm sorry," Lightning said again. "I mean...I'm sure you're drunk, but, no, you heard me correctly. You were right, Wave. I should have told you. It was wrong for you to have to hear the news like you did."
"Why are you okay with all this?"
Lightning didn't hesitate for even a second. "Because it makes them happy."
"But long term...?"
"No, no long term." Lightning cut him off. "Ten years ago we were a happily married couple living the dream. Look what's happened in that time. I've started having sex with the princess, our daughter was raped, and you retreated into the Wonderbolts, completely ignoring your family."
"Hey, what did I--"
"No, shut up, Wave. You're right, this is about us. That means we each need to admit what we did, and if we don't, then it's up to the other to point it out. You're a wonderful husband, a loving father, and the greatest stallion I've ever met. I mean that too. I love you, I always have. It... it broke my heart when I realized that I was to blame for our sex life; that it was me; that I just wasn't attracted to stallions. It broke because of what I'd have to do to you -- because I knew that you loved me and even if I wasn't attracted to you, I still loved you back."
"I told you I was okay with it," he hissed.
"But you're not, are you? Not really?"
He looked up, tears in his eyes. "Would you be? Would you be okay with it if I found a stallion I wanted to buck because you didn't have a dick?"
His vulgar language shocked her. Lightning went to answer but bit her lip. He deserved a real answer, not one in anger. "No..."
"You said I'd still..." Wave said, then trailed off.
"Still what?" Lightning asked.
"That I'd still have you," Wave replied. "It's been months since we've been together."
Lightning paused. "You looked like you hated me last time..." she said, remembering the look in her husband's eyes the last time they made love.
"You... you said we needed to just get it over with, that you needed to get back. You left me with the impression that you were treating it like an obligation -- like a box you just had to check off on your to-do list."
There were only a few times in her life that lightning could remember seeing Wave so hurt. This, like those other times, broke her heart. "I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so, so sorry."
"Lightning," Wave said as he slumped down to the floor. "Do you want to leave me?"
"No!" she cried out.
"There are times... times that I think if I didn't love you this much, it wouldn't hurt this badly." He cried now. He cried for everything that he had -- everything that life had led him too.
It's the cruelest twist of fate: not never getting what you want, but losing what you had. Losing it because you didn't value it -- because you didn't fight for it as much as you should have.
He felt that way now. He felt like this was all his fault; that if he just loved her more, had he been around more, maybe... just maybe she'd still be his; that maybe their marriage wouldn't be a sham.
Lightning tossed herself onto him and cried, just cried. She cried for everything she had done to him, for everything they used to have, everything they were losing because of her.
"I'll.... I'll tell her it's over. I just want to be yours!" she yelled.
"No," Wave replied. The stallion stood up, forcing Lightning to do likewise. He raised a feather and moved a strand of her mane from her face. "I've never seen you more radiant than when you're with her."
"But it's killing you," Lightning protested.
"Better me than you."
"No, this... this cannot stay as is," Lightning said. Her eyes were glued to the floor now, not willing to look up at the stallion she loved, the one she married, the one she was hurting so much.
"What if you... what if you joined us?" The idea was ludicrous, but it was the only one she could think of. They couldn't keep lying to each other, they couldn't keeping going as is. Yet, Wave didn't want her to give up Celestia, and Lightning didn't want to give up Wave.
"Now I know I'm drunk," Wave said, blinking three times. "It sounded to me like you..."
"I did," Lightning confirmed. Now that she said it, it almost seemed like the perfect solution.
"Isn't Celestia only interested in...?"
"She's thousands of years old, Wave. She's had both mare and stallion lovers over all that time -- more than I could hope to count. She wouldn't even blink an eye at this. I'm not even her only current lover."
"What if she's not interested?"
"Then... then I'll tell her we can't continue."
"Lightning, I--" Wave's comment was cut off as Lightning pressed her lips to his. He was taken aback by that action. He didn't fight it though, this was... this was too much like the old days, the days before...
Tears fell down Wave's face as he kissed his wife. He pressed himself against her lips. There was no big fanfare, no fighting of tongues. It was just a kiss, and yet... yet it was everything he had missed, everything his body had needed. He had needed her. He had missed her so much it hurt. It felt like he was living without his heart all this time.
When she pulled back they were both crying. "Do you want to make love now?" Lightning asked.
Wave shook his head, surprising her, but the truth was he just wasn't in the mood. "Will you just hold me?" he asked, surprising her again with his question.
She smiled at that. "Bed?"
He nodded and jumped up on the bed. Laying down on his stomach his wife jumped up and joined him. She lay by his side and wrapped a wing around the stallion she so loved. She buried her muzzle into his mane, tears still falling.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you too," she replied.
They lay like that for seconds, minutes, or hours -- in truth, time just failed to have any meaning. It could have been a day for all they knew, however unlikely it might have been. At some point Wave rolled over to his side, Lightning did likewise and found herself in her stallion's hooves. He simply held her close, her wing wrapped around him. Her muzzle buried into his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
It was Wave that broke the silence. "Is this what you want? You really want me to join you and her?" he asked.
Lightning pulled her head back and nodded.
"And you're willing to risk her saying no?" Wave asked.
"I could live without her. It would hurt, but I could. I can't live without you though."
Wave smiled and kissed her forehead, "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay," he said back with a smile. "If it means I get to be with you again, I'll do it."
"And getting to buck the princess isn't so bad either," Lightning said with a smile.
"Somehow, I'll just have to deal with that little drawback," Wave said with a small chuckle, one that Lightning soon joined in on. The couple laughed for quite some time after that. When they finally came down, Lightning buried her head back in his chest, enjoying his warmth.
"You were right," he said as he smelled her mane.
"I usually am," she replied back with a giggle.
"That's true, but you were right. This is more about us then our girls."
"You... you're okay with them now?" Lightning asked, surprised.
He rested his muzzle upon her head. "Well... no. But it's our fault, isn't it? We... I didn't give them what they needed. I was so concerned about buying them things, about making sure they had what I thought they needed that I missed what they actually needed. I missed..." he trailed off.
"We missed everything important," Lightning finished. "We did, not just you."
"I don't even know who they are anymore," Wave admitted.
"That makes two of us," Lightning said, "but... but I'm learning, Wave. They're two of the most wonderful mares I've ever meant. Cloud she's... she's so strong, so capable. Flitter she's... she's so kind, so nice. They have hearts big enough to care for others, and they love each other."
The sigh he gave out at that was hard to miss.
"They're not our little girls anymore," Lightning said as she lay in her husband's hooves. "They're two grown mares that have their own life. I'd... I'd like it if you met them. I'd like you to get to know them -- not as who you think they are, but as who they actually are."
When he didn't reply, Lightning continued. "Wave, they were all they had. Because we weren't there, we didn't give them what they needed, they were forced to find emotional support from each other. Is it so strange that they'd also find physical support from each other as well? They're sisters -- they're used to doing everything together anyway. This is simply one more aspect of that."
"I'd... I'd like to meet these wonderful sounding mares," Wave said after a few moments of silence.
"Really?" Lightning asked.
"Really," Wave said after he kissed her again.
"I'm sure they'd love to meet you too," she said back. "We can get together for lunch tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Why not tonight?" Wave asked.
"Like you said: it's been a while since we last made love. A mare has needs you know, and I can't keep sneaking off with my daughter's vibrators," Lightning said with a wink.
"Well, what sort of husband would I be if I didn't see to my wife's needs?" Wave asked with a grin. ***
"Are you sure about this, mom? Cloudchaser asked as the twins followed their mother into Sugarcube Corner.
"I think everything will be okay," Flitter whispered into her sister's ear. "You saw how happy she looked when she got in today."
"You know they spent the night having sex, right?" Cloudchaser whispered back, causing Flitter to blush.
"I also know that I wasn't the only one," Lightning said back, causing Cloudchaser to blush.
"Speaking of which, if you borrow our toys, you should put them back, mom," Cloudchaser replied back, fighting and failing to keep the grin off her muzzle.
It was Lightning's turn to blush now.
"There's my girls!" Wave called out as they passed into the shop.
Both sisters just stood motionless and shocked as their father jumped up from his table and approached them, pulling them both into a bone-crushing hug.
"Dad, too tight!" Flitter squeaked and Wave let go with a sheepish grin.
"Heh, sorry," he said before turning to Lightning. "Good morning, my sweet honey bucket."
"Honey bucket?" Cloudchaser asked. "Really?"
"What do you call Flitter?" Lightning asked with a smirk.
"Just my love," she said. Lightning mouthed the word 'boring' silently with her muzzle, winking at Flitter.
Wave whispered something into Flitter's ear that caused the mare's eyes to go wide and the color to drain from her face. She turned to her dad and asked, "now?"
"No, not now," Wave said with a smile before turning back to the mares he so loved. "Come, I know you two have to get back to work. Let's have lunch together."
Cloudchaser nervously followed her father. There was a lot to talk about and the foremost was his new attitude. Wave led his family past all the tables to a booth at the end of the shop, just enough out of the way where they wouldn't be overheard.
He climbed into one side, followed by his wife. Flitter climbed in the other, followed by Cloudchaser. "Dad, what's going on?" Cloudchaser asked, unsure about just what was going on.
"I... we talked last night, girls," Wave said as he gave his wife a peck on the side of the muzzle. "I... I'm sorry."
"We're sorry," Lightning corrected, holding one of his hooves. "Things... things have not been good."
"With your marriage?" Flitter asked.
"With our family," Wave corrected. "Please... please understand that it's our fault. We know that and it's up to us to earn your forgiveness. I know it won't be quick. I know it's a long road in front of us. But I'd like to try -- we'd both like to try."
"Mom... we already..."
"I know, but we're a team in this, Flitter. We each have our sins, our sins against two beautiful mares that deserved better. We'll make it up to you together, as the family you deserve."
"Dad... does this mean you're okay with us?" Cloudchaser asked as she held Flitter's hoof.
Wave took a deep breath before letting it out. "It's every parent's dream that one day their foals would know the greatest joy in life and have foals of their own. I won't lie to you two, I wanted that for you -- I did. But... it was my dream because I knew what happiness it brought me. I know I got lost along the way, but please, believe me when I say I did it all for you. You two were my motivation and drive to push myself, so I could put a smile on your muzzles when I bought you that new toy. I was a fool -- I was -- I admit it. You didn't need some toy, you needed a father. I wanted you two to be happy, I wanted to buy you things so you'd be happy, I wanted you to marry and have foals so you'd be happy. And all this time, you found your own happiness. You found it in each other."
"Dear?" Lightning said, only to be stopped when Wave held up a hoof.
"You two are happy with each other. You found what I wanted for you not because of me, but in spite of me. Even if it doesn't exactly match what I had in mind, your happiness is all I've ever wanted for you. So yes, as long as it's what you want, I'm okay with it."
Wave did his best not to look away when Flitter grabbed Cloudchaser's muzzle and kissed her. A hoof squeezed his own even tighter. He looked at his wife who was smiling at him. "Baby steps," she said with a grin.
He pecked her on the side of her muzzle when an excited pink pony showed up to the table.
"Ohhhh, hi there!" she said before looking at Flitter and Cloudchaser, gasping. "Oh, it's you! We still have to do your welcome party! Are you free tonight? Tomorrow? Maybe on the weekend? It will be the best party ever! Trust me, I'm the best for parties... at least the Cakes and my friends told me... and you know they would never lie to me... and I also know that they like my parties and you will like it too and..." Pinkie stopped and looked at Wave. "You're new!" she shouted before vanishing in pink smoke.
"What was that?!" Wave asked.
"That... was Pinkie Pie. The town's party pony," Flitter said.
"Pinkie Party Pony Pie?" Wave asked.
"That's about it," Lightning laughed.
"You should have seen the mess she left!" Cloudchaser gasped.
Just then a five piece orchestra burst into the restaurant, lead by that very same pony dressed up in a marching band costume as she sang out, "Welcome to Ponyville, we know you'll enjoy your stay, welcome to Ponyville, it's such a lovely, lovely, day. Welcome to Po--"
"Pinkie!!!" a shout came from upstairs.
"Yes, Mister Cake?" Pinkie called back, her body frozen in mid air.
"Mrs Cake is having a bad day. Please... not now," he said as he went to attend to his pregnant wife.
"Oh, my bad," she said with a smile as she removed her outfit with her hooves. Without taking it off over her head or placing it anywhere when she was done. For all intents and purposes it was just gone, as was the marching band.
"Did... did I just see that?" Lightning asked.
"Rainbow said not to analyze anything she does too closely. The last mare that tried ended up in the insane asylum with a new cutie mark." Flitter said.
"New cutie mark?" Wave asked, surprised. he had never heard of a cutie mark changing.
"Apparently she used to be a scientist, after a weekend analyzing Pinkie's behaviour her cutie mark changed from a beaker to a screw and a ball."
"Well, how about that party?!" Pinkie said as she popped up at their table again.
"Umm, how about we schedule that later. For now we'll just get some drinks and a few sandwiches," Cloudchaser said.
"Four drinks, four sandwiches, and a party raincheck! Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie shouted before taking off.
All four ponies looked at each other and laughed. There was nothing else they could do. When it was over there were simply four smiles. Four smiles from an unusual family, but a family all the same.
After all, it doesn't matter who you love, but how you love, and nopony could doubt that these four ponies loved each other with all their hearts. Especially after Cloudchaser had to use the restroom.
"Be right back!" Cloudchaser said as she got up.
"Flitter, now," Wave whispered to his daughter.
"Come back soon, my Silver Moaney Bear!" Flitter yelled in her sexiest voice.
"Dad!" Cloudchaser yelled.
Another round of laughter surrounded the table. |
Beyond Sisters Love | We're home | Chapter ten: We're home
"Oh Celestia, that was one crazy week," Flitter said as she walked in through the door.
"I know what you mean," Cloudchaser laughed, following behind her.
"Welcome home, girls," Wave said with a smile as he kept busy in the kitchen.
"Dad, when did you learn to cook?" Flitter asked.
"He's full of hidden surprises," Lightning said with a smile as she walked down the stairs. Both sisters noticed that she was walking a little bull legged, but rather than say anything, they just giggled to each other.
"Oh, I wanted you to know that my extended leave was approved. I get to stay with you two for another week!" Wave practically shouted the words.
"Another week... great..." Cloudchaser said in a monotone voice.
"You don't want me to?" Wave asked.
"It's just..." Flitter said with a blush.
"What?" Lightning asked.
"Well... mom's a screamer," Cloud finished.
Lightning smiled, "I'm not the only one, Moany Bear."
All three mares laughed. It was true -- more than one night everypony had been kept up, secretly trying to outdo the others. For Wave, it had been an... unusual adjustment. But Lighting had been right. These mares, his girls, they were not his daughters -- not really. The girls Lightning had given birth to were gone. He lost his chance with them.
These two mares, these two were not them. These two were two mares that had their own life, that loved each other, and had found their own happiness together. He had spent the last three days getting to know them, and he had to say, they were wonderful mares.
Lightning and Wave were connecting with each other like they hadn't for years. The two had found new passion in their marriage -- a new respect and love for each other. One that would see them through even this rocky time. While Lightning still found mares more appealing than stallions, she truly did love her husband. His happiness became hers, his pleasure became hers.
And it wasn't like the experience didn't come with its own pleasure.
"Oh mom, how did it go with Celestia?" Flitter asked as she took her spot at the table -- a spot that was practically connected to Cloudchaser.
Lightning and Wave smiled. "She's fine with it. Both of your parents are now officially royal courtesans."
"Yeah, great, our parents are the princess's sex slaves," Cloudchaser said sarcastically.
"Jealous?" Lightning asked with a smile.
Cloudchaser was about to answer, "maybe", but a hoof grabbed her own. Cloudchaser looked over and saw a smile on her sister's muzzle, one that lit up her world. "No, not really."
"Is that so?" Wave asked.
"Of course, I have something way better than a princess," Cloudchaser replied with a smile before kissing Flitter.
Lightning watched their exchange with faux interest. While she was facing her daughters, her attention was only on her husband. She smiled as he watched his girls kiss -- no cringe, no look of disgust, and no hesitation was on his face. Just a grin of his own. He had accepted their unusual relationship, and his unusual family.
"Normal's boring anyway," Lightning said under her breath.
"How right you are..." Flitter said after they broke the kiss.
Wave whistled. "Get a room you two."
"This is our house. You and mom should be the ones getting a room," Cloudchaser laughed.
They all laughed at that as the stallion brought over the soup he had been cooking. He placed it down before filling everypony's plate with it. "Enjoy it. Something new just for you."
Flitter looked critically at the soup. "If it's half as good as mom's, you're hired."
"Thank you," Wave said with a smile as he took his seat next to his wife. He was in the chair for exactly two seconds before his wife grabbed his muzzle and pulled him in for a long deep kiss.
When they held it, Flitter started to giggle and swoon a little at the open display of romance. For the soft hearted mare, it brought back memories of her fillyhood. A time when she would eagerly await her dad's return from his latest practice session, or when her mom would kiss him as she headed off to night classes for her law degree.
Cloudchaser simply looked embarrassed. "Ugh... now I lost my appetite."
Lightning pulled back with a smile on her face as she stared at her husband's shocked expression. "Great, more for us," she said with a laugh.
"Well, I guess I can eat," Cloudchaser responded, earning another laugh from her sister.
"What was that for?" Wave asked in a whisper.
"For being the greatest husband and father I know," Lightning whispered back.
"Says the wife that got her husband laid by the princess," Wave said back with a smile.
"What can I say? Being married to me has its perks," Lightning laughed back.
"That it does, but she was never one of them."
"Could you stop that talk at the table, at least?" Cloud asked with ears folded back. "Or do you want to see me seduce Flitter right now?"
"Dinner and a show?" Lightning said back as she turned her attention to her two girls.
"You can't be serious," Cloudchaser said back, some understanding of what she just walking into dawning on her. "Dad?"
Wave laughed. "Don't mind us, Silver Moany Bear, after all, it is your house."
Flitter looked at Cloudchaser who was grinning now. "No, Cloudy. If you do this, you can sleep on the couch tonight."
"Aww, no risk, no fun!" Cloudchaser said before leaning in, peppering small kisses on Flitter's muzzle. "Besides, you won't let me sleep on the couch."
"Cloudchaser! Stop it!" Flitter tried to sound hard, but the voice that came out was more of a coo than anything else.
As she watched her daughter pepper her sister's muzzle with kisses, Lighting leaned into her husband's coat. She sighed as she enjoyed his warmth, his touch. He surprised her with his next action, the stallion wrapped his wing around his wife, completing their embrace.
Flitter found her stern gaze dropping at the sight. She began giggling at her sister's actions, then laughing as they became more and more ticklish on her skin. Cloudchaser had been right -- she was never at any risk of sleeping on the couch. In truth, Flitter did not know if she could fall asleep anymore without her sister's hooves wrapped around her, and she didn't want to find out.
"Give up yet?" Cloudchaser asked with a grin.
"Yes, yes, you win!" Flitter replied, her voice in a full-on laughing fit.
"Still going to make me sleep on the couch?" Cloudchaser queried, a faux pout on her face.
Flitter grabbed her muzzle and pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips connected, their tongues finding each other as they shared in their embrace. When she pulled back, Flitter asked one question: "What do you think?"
Cloudchaser sighed loudly as she got up and left the table. "I'll get the spare blanket."
"Cloudy!!!" Flitter yelled as her sister started to walk up the stairs.
Cloudchaser looked back and laughed.
"We kinda took it..." Lightning said under her breath.
"What, why?" Flitter asked, confused.
"The bed in the spare room isn't self cleaning," Wave said with a blush on his muzzle.
Flitter didn't need any other explanation, but Cloudchaser made it worse. "I bet I can top that mess!"
"We're not going into any kind of competition with that! Now eat!" Flitter said before leaning in. "We'll see tonight who will make the bigger mess," she whispered into Cloudchaser's ear.
The grin on Cloudchaser's muzzle was all their parents needed to know. They looked at each other and laughed.
Flitter looked down at her soup and took a sip, smiling as the smorgasbord of flavor hit her tongue. "Wow, this is really good, Dad."
"Thanks. It's one of a few recipes I learned on the road."
"It can't be that good," Cloudchaser teased before taking a sip herself. "I stand corrected. W-what is it?"
"Ratatouille," Wave replied. "I learned how to make it on the road."
"I hope it wasn't ran over by a carriage, but it is good."
"Glad you like it and no, it was the landing path from the headquarters," Wave joked back.
"Okay, stop, you two," Lightning said, looking up from her plate. "With you on the kitchen table I feel like I'm back in flight school canteen again."
"Oh, you mean where you met dad?" Flitter asked.
Lightning laughed. "Yep, the very same."
"Didn't he dump his tray on you?" Cloudchaser asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Dropped," Wave corrected.
"I would'a kicked him in the flank for that one," Cloudchaser said.
"I tried," Lightning said with a raised eyebrow.
"She did. She chased after me for almost thirty minutes," Wave replied as he reached out a hoof and grabbed ahold of his wife's.
"Even then he was a superb flyer, a true sight to behold."
"You weren't too bad yourself," Wave said as he kissed Lightning on the side of her muzzle.
"But then, how did you two?" Flitter asked, confused.
"Well, I think we can tell them the rest of the story now," Lightning said with a grin.
"Oh, really?" Wave replied with a smile.
"Oh no," Flitter said with a blush, having a good idea of where there was going to go.
"Well, much like today, we had ratatouille for lunch that day. And, well, when I tripped, the tray fell on your mother. As you can imagine it left quite a mess. She was so pissed off that she started to chase after me. Well, I took off as fast as I could, just seeking to outpace her."
"You tried to outpace me," Lightning said back with a glare.
"I'll admit now, I didn't really want to."
"What?!?!" Lightning yelled.
"I had a cute mare chasing after me -- why would I want that to end?" Wave asked.
Lightning felt herself torn between wanting to kiss him or cuff him over the ear, so she did both.
Wave rubbed the small bruise on the side of his head with a smile. "Well, I did make her fur a mess, so I led her on a small chase around the outer edges of Cloudsdale. Soaking us both. After thirty minutes she started to tire out, and when I saw her land, I dropped down right behind her."
"Wait, you just landed right behind a mare that was looking to whoop your flank?" Cloudchaser asked, confused.
"What can I say? Her mane... wet... I wanted to see more of that."
"I made him pay for that," Lightning replied.
"What happened?" Flitter asked.
"I jumped on him, pinning him to the ground while staring at him in rage."
"She had you pinned?" Cloudchaser asked.
"Yep, I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to," Wave said with a smile.
"What did you do?" Cloudchaser asked.
"The only thing I could do: I told her she was the most beautiful mare I'd ever seen, then I kissed her."
"Wait. The only thing?" Flitter asked. "That's kind of hard to believe."
"Well, that's how it happened," Lightning chuckled.
"I bet you kicked his flank first for that," Cloudchaser grinned.
"Not really. I just kissed back," Lightning blushed slightly.
"Wait, why didn't you tell us this part earlier?" Flitter asked.
"You know how you said it was kind of hard to believe?" Wave asked, Flitter just nodded. "Well, it wasn't the only hard thing."
"Wait... no, you... you didn't," Cloudchaser said in disbelief.
Lightning blushed as she looked down, smiling.
"Mom, you didn't even know him," Cloudchaser replied.
"I spent thirty minutes chasing after him... he had a cute butt."
"You two just bucked after one tried to kill the other? You two are insane. Even more than us," Cloudchaser exclaimed shakily.
"I think it's kinda romantic," Flitter said with blushing cheeks.
"Don't you get any fancy ideas now," Cloudchaser just growled.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Flitter replied with a soft kiss.
Lightning watched her daughters kiss. It was so easy to see the foals they had been, and yet... yet that wasn't what she saw now. She saw two mares that she loved, and that loved each other in turn. They had grown into strong, independent mares. It made her smile, a smile that she also saw on her husband. She glanced over and took a look at Wave Chill.
The stallion's silver-gray fur and ragged blue mane always looked unkept. He kept a rugged, manly look to him, almost as if he were always ready to do whatever needed to be done whenever it was needed. It was that attitude that had caused her to fall in love with him. He simply seemed to be this rock, the anchor to her boat.
He wrapped a wing around her and pulled her close. She smiled at that; somehow, the stallion always smelled like the ocean. Over the years it had stopped being a surprise to her -- it simply was. Lightning's favorite vacation spots had always been the sea shore. She told Celestia it was because she enjoyed the smell of the sea, and while that was true, it wasn't the only reason.
It always reminded her of him.
Suddenly a blue hoof appeared in front of her face and ran along the side of her muzzle. "Why are you crying?" Wave asked softly so as to not alarm his daughters.
She looked at his hoof in shock, surprised to see a small amount of liquid upon it. Closing her eyes, Lightning knew the reason. She reached her muzzle up and whispered into his ear. "Because I'm happy."
Despite her whispering it, all three ponies in the room heard it. When she pulled her head back there were three sets of grinding faces looking at her. All of which were full of kind eyes. Two of those had tears running down their muzzles.
"You two are too sappy," Cloudchaser said with a scowl on her muzzle as she saw her sister and father crying at her mom's words.
"Come here, you!" Flitter said as she practically jumped on her sister's lap, wrapping her up in a very unwanted kiss.
"I'm happy too," Wave said as he did nothing to wipe the tears from his eyes. It had been so long since the two of them had truly felt like this. Lighting pressed her muzzle to her husband's and just held his embrace as the two enjoyed their shared warmth.
"Why don't you two call it a night -- we'll clean up down here," Flitter offered, surprising both of her parents. They each looked up, seeing their daughters already cleaning the table.
How long were we? Wave thought before he realized a critical truth, he didn't care how long he had embraced his wife. He simply glared into his wife's loving eyes. She nodded and smiled back. "Well, if you girls don't mind."
"Just don't wake the neighbors, mom," Cloudchaser said in a half joking, half serious tone of voice.
"Yeah, can't have two of us doing that," Lightning said as she started to work her way up the stairs, a small swing in her hips.
Before Wave could follow his wife, a hoof wrapped around his neck, bringing him in for a hug. Wave looked down in shock as a pale green haired mare with a pink bow hugged him. "Flitter?"
"I love you, dad," Flitter said, her voice sounding like she was holding back tears.
Wave felt tears falling from his own eyes. He wanted to ask why. He wanted to say he had been a horrible father and didn't deserve her love. But that's the thing about love: it's not earned; it's given, freely.
It's an irony of life that the greatest treasures have no price. They cannot be bought, stolen, or taken. They are only given freely. Often when we feel like we are the least deserving of such things.
"I love you too, my daughter."
Another hoof wrapped around him. Wave cried openly as he felt Cloudchaser wrap her wing around them both. "I love you too, Cloud."
Cloudchaser didn't say it back, but she didn't have too. Her actions said it for her.
Flitter pulled back first, surprising Wave. Cloudchaser took longer to let him go, only doing so when she heard her sister giggling at them. "Now get going. It's rude to keep a lady waiting," Cloudchaser said with a wink.
"You're right about that," Wave said. Although he wasn't looking at her, his eyes were glued to another set at the top of the stairs. A set that looked at him with kindness and love, and, a little... a lot of lust as well.
The two girls watched as their father ran up the stairs, a noticeable purpose in his movements that spoke of a certain motivation to his actions.
Flitter giggled while Cloudchaser just huffed. "I'm glad I'm with you and not a horny stallion."
"Cloudy, sometimes you're no better, especially in heat."
Cloudchaser blushed. "That's not true..."
"It is or shall I count all the times?" Flitter raised an eyebrow.
"That's not fair!" Cloudchaser rolled her eyes while Flitter just blew her a raspberry.
Cloudchaser frowned as she watched her sister walk away. That frown became a small smile, and then a grin when she remembered something. "Shall I remind you who bought all of our little toys."
Flitter paused in her walk, her face draining of color.
Cloudchaser grinned. She knew she had just played her trump card.
Flitter turned to her. "Yeah, you're the one that insists on breaking them in though. Or should I remind you how many batteries we go through."
Cloudchaser laughed, soon joined by Flitter. "Maybe we are as bad as stallions."
"I think we are," Flitter replied as she walked over and kissed her sister on the side of the muzzle. "But with a lover as hot as you, can you blame me?"
"Have you looked at yourself lately?" Cloudchaser asked as her sister turned away. She caught an eyeful of her sister's flank.
"Now, now... no sex in the kitchen," Flitter reminded her.
"Who said anything about the kitchen?" Cloudchaser asked with a smirk.
Flitter only needed a moment to figure it out. "Race ya!" she exclaimed before rushing to the stairs, her lover and sister hot on her tail. ***
The sunlight shone through the window, illuminating Cloudchasers fur. She woke to its gentle warmth, a warmth that paled in comparison to the body laying next to her. Looking down she saw her sister's muzzle pressed firmly against her coat, softly nuzzling up to her in a loving embrace.
Cloudchaser did her best not to move. She didn't want to wake her sister -- not yet anyway. Besides, her own body did not want her to move either. Last night had been kinda... rough and her body had no compunction about reminding her of that fact. Still, she took pride in one thing: between the noises heard around the house last night, she had won.
Of course she knew her mother would win the 'most dirty bed' challange, but the sisters' bed was self cleaning, so that wasn't really a fair challenge.
So much had happened, so much had occurred over the last few months. It was scarcely believable at times. And yet, if given a million do overs, she wouldn't change a thing. The journey had been rough; it had been full of anxiety, terror, and heartbreak, but it ended just as she had wanted it to. She got to wake up each morning to her sister's touch, to simply holding her as she slept.
The smell of waffles wasn't bad either.
"Wait, waffles?" Cloudchaser said as her mind put two and two together. Either her dad or mom were already up -- up and cooking breakfast.
"Flitter, I think we got breakfast," Cloudchaser said as she lightly shook her lover.
"Not again, Moany Bear. I'm a little tired," Flitter said back, half asleep.
"Oh, too tired for me?" Cloudchaser said with a pout.
Flitter blinked her eyes clear as she stared at her sister's face. "Well..." she started before her nose picked up on the smell, "maybe after breakfast."
Cloudchaser giggled at that. "Come on. I don't think it will wait forever."
Flitter groaned, but got up slowly from the bed. She was the first to leave the room and go down the stairs, Cloudchaser needed much longer. She could feel every single muscle and more. She was completely sore, the reason for that a certain sexy mare walking in front of her.
She wasn't really surprised to see that indeed their parents were up and had already prepared breakfast. What surprised her more, however, was that her parents looked extremely fit and well, despite everything she had heard last night.
Flitter looked back and saw her sister making her way down the steps. She recognized that walk and felt a little guilty about it. Maybe we overdid it last night, she thought. With her right wing she pulled out her sister's chair, letting her sit down without having to do it herself.
Cloudchaser nodded her thanks as Wave walked over with a plate of waffles held in his mouth. Wave laid out a plate of waffles for each of his girls as Flitter took a seat beside her sister at the kitchen table. He grinned when he saw Cloudchaser's face contort as she struggled to get comfortable on her flank, a noticeable soreness from her activities last night.
Lightning was much the same when she sat down, Wave thought with a smile.
"What do you two have planned for this weekend?" Flitter asked.
Lightning and Wave looked at each other, a small giggle passing between them. "Well, I am still on leave from the Wonderbolts and your mom did take a few weeks off from her job, but, well, we have another job now too."
"Oh, princess duties call?" Cloudchaser said, chuckling.
"You could say that," Lightning smiled.
"Oh, oh, you just gotta fill us in on all the gossip with the princess!" Cloudchaser said.
"Really, what makes you think we know any of that?" Wave asked.
"C'mon, really? You're both bucking her. You gotta know something," Cloudchaser said with a smile.
"Cloudchaser, language!" Wave said more on reflex then actual offence.
"Said my sex slave parents." Cloudchaser blew him a raspberry.
"Well, she has us there," Lightning admitted, laughing.
Wave grumbled under his breath, but said nothing.
"Well, as you both know, the summer sun solstice is coming up. Celestia has mainly been getting ready for that."
"Oh, this one is special, no?" Flitter asked.
"Yep, she's even sending her prized student to come oversee it."
"Celestia has a student?" Cloudchaser asked.
"Yep, a... Twilight Sparkle if I remember correctly."
"She found another alicorn?" Flitter asked, remembering when she took on Princess Cadance as her niece.
"No, apparently she's just a unicorn," Lightning replied.
"A unicorn?" Flitter asked, surprised. Celestia only took on the best of the best as her personal students. For a unicorn to make that list... well, that said a lot.
"Yep, she should be coming in on Monday, so we'll have this weekend to help Celestia... relax." Lighting said with a wink as she placed her hoof on her husband's thigh.
"It's a tough job, but somepony's gotta do it," Wave said sarcastically.
All four of them laughed at that.
Flitter turned to her sister and saw the smile on her face, "Do you think we'll get to meet her?" she asked Cloud.
"Maybe, I doubt somepony that has the princess's attention could come to town and not leave at least a little impact."
"Yeah, but how much impact can one pony leave?" Flitter asked.
"Well, if you're anything to go by, I'd say a life changing one," Cloudchaser said as she brought her sister in close for a hug.
Flitter leaned into the hug and breathed in her sister's scent. "I love you, Cloudy."
"I love you too, Flitter." |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | pre | "...groan ... Equestria's Friendship Academy is a place of learning and discovery... about how friendships are formed, as well as a standard curricular of advanced learning for those who have graduated from regular elementary school... we have fun learning, as we learn to have fuuuuuuuuuun..."
The last word was apparently meant to be said enthusiastically, but Thunderclap seemed anything but excited about it.
"Basically, it's more classes - yawnfest." To illustrate, she gave a large, loud yawn and stretch.
Mica simply shook his head. "Clap doesn't like school; I do. It's pretty much what she said. Ponies learning more about both education and friendship."
That sounded completely, utterly ridiculous and absurd; did future ponies really make an academy dedicated to basically teaching young minds how to waste time? Why would anypony be learning about friendship?
Was that something that only the commoners were learning?
Thunderclap then gave a small smile, "Heyyyyy... wait. You sayin' you're interested in going?"
Mica, with a curious look on his muzzle, raised an eyebrow at Obsidian. "Are you?"
"I... don't know. I don't know of any other alternatives yet, or even if it would be possible. As far as I am aware at the moment, I'm not even supposed to leave this very room without my liaison - so for the time being, any enrollment to a school would be somewhat... difficult."
"Oh, if you're a lost princess with nowhere else to go, with the family history YOU got, I'm pretty sure they're gonna MAKE you go there!" Thunderclap shrugged.
Mica sighed, then nodded. "Yeah. Probably. But it's not so bad."
Another groan and eyeroll combo from the muscular mare. "Says YOU, Egghead."
Mica didn't flinch. "That's right, Musclebrain."
Thunderclap looked a bit angry at first... but her stare dissolved into laughter as she clapped Mica on the back. "Yeah, yeah, yeah... so maybe it won't be that bad, sure - but if you're anything like me," she smiled smugly, "then you don't really need it."
Mica slowly, sadly shook his head. "Better to be smart; easier to keep up with in old age."
Thunderclap just gave him a skeptical look, then tousled his mane. "You're a RIOT, Mica!"
Unflinching, he said, "I know; I get it from my Mom." He turned back to Obsidian. "A liaison? Maybe we would count?"
"Hey, yeah," the mare chimed in as it dawned on her, "WE could be your lee-... liayz-... lee-... your guards!"
They would make her go to the 'Friendship Academy'? Granted, the thought of attending a real academy sounded good - but friendship sounded wholly ridiculous. However, with the utter lack of any other ideas about her options, it was as good as any other goal in her life. She couldn't just waste her time waiting for the inevitable return of her most honourable father, could she?
"I'm not sure if Lemon Custard would approve of it. Besides, I'm waiting for Butter Churn, as I've asked her for some books from the library." Eh, why these ponies forbid her from going there? They could just forbid her from taking books about magic and so on - it would work just as well.
"Butter Churn!" Thunderclap smiled broadly. "If she said she was comin' back, then she is - that one is as honest as her mom, but stronger!"
"Well," Mica pondered, "we could wait with you, if you want."
"Or we could just cut out the middle-mare and take you to the library ourselves!" Clap's grin doubled in size. "Wouldn't be a problem; we could just say we were acting as a leeay-... uh, guards... and if there's any trouble, I'd be happy to take the blame!"
Mica lifted an eyebrow. Clap actively ignored him.
"Besides, it's gotta be BOOOORRRRRR-ing, sitting here with nothing to do; you look like you need some adventure!"
Mica shrugged. "I guess we could - if you want. Maybe we'd meet Churn on the way." Clap laughed and gave Mica another swat on the back; he seemed unfazed, as if she did this a lot.
So everypony knew each other here, hmm? Perhaps there weren't too many servants... or it was just a coincidence.
Oh, and everypony was FAR too enthusiastic for her tastes. It seemed as if it would be quite easy to manipulate them into doing things for her... but, on the other hoof, it was also somewhat irritating... but hopefully nopony would be as bad as Cupcake.
"I'm not allowed into the library," she said. That should explain everything - nopony would insist on taking her to the place that was forbidden to her, right? And... boring? Boredom was a sign of weak minds; it was becoming more and more obvious that Clap wasn't exactly the brightest pony around, but she shouldn't practically brag about it!
"Allowed, shmallowed! You'd be under MY watch, and no one would have a thing to worry about!"
"... plus, Lemon isn't really in charge here - he just thinks he is," Mica added with a nod. "He has some authority... but I'm pretty sure Aunt Twilight wouldn't approve of just shutting you into a room like this."
"See? There! We'd be poor friends if we just let you waste away here for nothing! I say we forget Custard and take Siddy here to the Egghead Emporium!"
"Don't call her 'Siddy'; she's a princess, remember?"
"And?" Clap tilted her head a bit. "Friends give each other nicknames, right? So, if we're gonna be her first friends, then we gotta do stuff like that! Mom says nicknames are a sign of friendship!"
"... or a lack of couth," Mica muttered, sotto voce, to Obsidian.
"So, whatcha say? Are we headed to the library now? I mean, I don't care for it, but that hardly means anyone else doesn't. Wait..." Clap stepped closer and examined Obsidian from mane to hooves.
"... you're not The Princess of Eggheads, are you?"
Mica facehoofed, sighed, then remarked, "Probably not." Then, facing Obsidian again, "So. We going?"
So Lemon wasn't as important as he was trying to appear to be, eh? It was an important lesson; Obsidian had witnessed it once or twice - servants trying to use the little power they've got from her most honourable father to improve their lives or boss around other servants.
That never lasted too long...
And who was this 'Siddy'? What's a 'nickname'? Who was 'aunt Twilight'? Surely, they weren't talking about the local princess, right?
"... no, I'm the princess of the Crystal Empire. In this case I think I can... risk..." she said this word with a great dose of hesitation, "... going to the Academy. Not to the library, as it was explicitly forbidden. Also... is this 'Aunt Twilight' you are talking about the local princess? And who is Siddy?"
Being Sombra's daughter she didn't know too much about the existence of nicknames. And she certainly would never think that anypony would try to give one to her.
Clap and Mica both stared at her for a moment. Then, slowly, Mica turned to his companion and spoke softly.
"That's... somewhat sad."
"You don't know what a nickname is? What, did you live under a rock your whole-"
"No - she was Sombra's daughter," Mica cut Clap off before she said something else stupid. The words, once there, hung in the air for a moment, nopony saying a word.
"Nicknames," Mica cut the silence, "are a form of familiarization between friends; it's something friends call each other, rather than using their full name, over and over again."
"Yeah, like me - Mica calls me Clap, because we're friends and I kinda like it. And it's sometimes - but not always - something to do with the proper name, so... instead of Obsidian, I figure you could go by Siddy! Pretty cool, right?"
Mica sighed, then turned to face the princess. "And yes, Aunt Twilight is the Princess of Friendship here in Equestria. She governs along with her council-"
"Which my mom's a part of!" Clap interrupted.
Mica just nodded, his muzzle remaining expressionless as always. "Right. Each one holds a title of 'Element Bearer', but the only one who ascended to alicornhood was Aunt Twilight."
"Or Twily, as Shining Armor calls her!" Clap added with a grin.
Oh... so 'Clap' was not just a shortened version of 'Thunderclap', it was an entire nickname?
"Siddy sounds like 'seedy'," she noticed. It wasn't a protest, or taking offense or anything like that - she just noticed it and wanted to bring it to their attention.
Ascended to alicornhood... Shining Armor... who was that pony?
"... does it mean you are royalty too? Is this Shining Armor princess Twilight's husband?" She tried to guess.
Everything - literally everything - would be far, far easier if she could just lock herself in the library for a few hours, but noooooo... they had to forbid it, so she had to ask about everything. Her distinct lack of knowledge was humiliating...
Clap burst into peals of loud, hearty laughter. "NO! EWW! Shiny is Twily's brother!"
"She didn't know that," Mica tried to explain, but Clap was so amused at the thought that she continued to laugh aloud.
Obsidian shot Clap a glare; not knowing something was bad enough - being laughed at by anypony from a lower class than her was even worse (of course it meant that the only pony who could laugh at her was her most honourable father).
With a roll of his eyes, Mica went on, "Technically, I suppose Rainbow Dash and the other council members would be more considered..." he eyeballed Obsidian for a moment, "... barons, so to speak. If that analogy works for you. So, no - she's not a princess. And my aunt Pinkie is on the council, but my mother - Maud - is not. She is Pinkie's sister, however, so that makes us cousins."
Clap paused from her gigglefest to think over what else 'Siddy' had said. When she realized the comment about the nickname, she spoke up.
"Sounds like 'seedy'? No, not Seedy - that's rude! I said Siddy!"
Sighing, Mica returned to his conversation. "So, no - not royalty. In fact, there is a princess at the Academy; her name is-"
"Awwwwww, not Hurry Fart!" Clap groaned and made a show of rolling her eyes exaggeratedly.
Mica made a small, almost chuckle-like sound before saying, "... yes. Princess Flurry Heart." He slid his gaze sideways toward Obsidian. "Of the Crystal Empire."
Internal politics of the Equestrian Nation probably weren't too complicated, but the mere fact that Obsidian wasn't allowed to just calmly read about it was annoying. She would pretty much prefer to just, well, read all about this council, princesses, their family trees and so on - and only then have a small-talk with these ponies, being on an equal footing. Right now, she was only making a fool of herself!
"... I assume 'Hurry Fart' is another nickname. It doesn't sound too friendly, however." Princess... with all princesses around did it mean she was a ruler of the Crystal Empire? Or perhaps she was a daughter of the new queen?
"Oh, Celestia," Clap groaned, "you have no idea how much of a brat she is! Always dressed to the nines-"
"Like top-of-the-line gym clothing?" Mica cut in, pointedly staring at Clap's highly fashionable sportswear.
"... and how she's always trying to be the center of attention and stuff!" Clap continued.
"Sounds familiar," Mica added, looking at the boisterous and loud Thunderclap.
"... and she just seems to think she's got the whole of Equestria under her hoof!" Clap ended with a huff. "I mean, yeah, her mom's in charge, whoop-de-doo, but really, she's SO... STUCK... UP!"
"Technically," Mica said, "she does stand to rule the Crystal Empire when she's old enough. But that's hardly all of Equestria. And no, she isn't all that spolied - you two just don't like each other."
Clap bristled a bit, then breathed a sigh and relaxed visibly, as if trying not to show how it got to her. "Well, we can agree to disagree, Chippie."
"And yes," Mica turned to Obsidian again, "sometimes nicknames can be purposefully hurtful - like, for instance, 'Chippie'," he glanced at Clap, only to have her smile and tousle his mane a bit.
"Yeah, sure, okay... but I mean Siddy as a GOOD thing, Siddy!"
She might not have been bright, but Thunderclap seemed truly sincere; she meant no harm to Obsidian - she was merely familiarizing herself.
So some ponies didn't like this 'princess' and she seemed to be... rather decadent? It was terrible that such a lowly creature was under the impression that she would rule anything! Luckily, Obsidian wasn't planning to just leave it that way.
Crystal ponies will be glad to learn that their true rulers have returned.
"... I will keep it all in mind. And, perhaps, we could at least leave a note for Churn, if we are going to this whole Academy."
Mica nodded. "I can leave a note."
"Yeah, hey!" Clap smiled enthusiastically, "Why not show Siddy the Academy! I mean, it's not that far from here, and since classes are over for the day, it'd just be us and whoever's still doing club-type-stuff! C'mon, you two! Let's DASH!"
Mica shook his head bemusedly, then took a sheet of paper and a pen from his small satchel and began to write. Meanwhile, Clap trotted out the door, then came back and said, "Come oooooooonnnnnnn, Mica! Churn doesn't need a whole BOOK!"
Mica finished, then set the letter down on the bed where it could be seen easily, and turned to the door. He then made a sweeping motion with a hoof. "After you, princess - ladies first."
"Race ya!" And, with that, Clap was off like a shot, flying exceedingly fast towards the front hall, presumably to beat them outside. Mica simply looked after her, then turned to face Obsidian.
"Now that my loud companion is elsewhere, maybe we can talk." He now gave the tiniest of grins; it had the effect of making his whole muzzle light up, as it was the first time she'd seen him with any facial expression whatsoever.
"Is there anything else you want to know about, or would you prefer companionable silence for the trip - because I'm certain there will not be much of it left when we finally catch up to Thunderclap." |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Four: Additions & Sweet Treats | So the easiest way to get rid of Thunderclap was proposing a race and then ignoring it? Good to know. With that thought she left the suite.
"I want to know about... everything. But I suppose that's a bit too much for a short discussion, I'm afraid. However, could you remind me how old are you two...?" She wasn't sure if they told her in first place, though. Had they? She was still reeling a bit from Cupcake's display earlier, so she wasn't exactly certain if she'd asked at all.
Mica nodded, his smile slipping back into his neutral expression.
"Thunderclap is fifteen summers, going on five," he shook his head, "and I am just recently of seventeen summers, myself. For all her bravado and brashness, I do hope you don't see Clap too unkindly; she's loud and somewhat arrogant, but I promise you, if you're ever in trouble, she will most likely be the first one to stand up for you."
He sighed again. "Her first impressions may be... less than stellar... but she has heart where it counts." He then cocked his head a bit. "So, since we're relaying information... may I ask how many summers you've seen?" He gave a slight shrug. "Apart from the 'frozen-in-time' moments, that is?"
After meeting Cupcake, Obsidian wasn't going to dislike Clap... too much. It wasn't her fault she was born a simpleton, even if her mother was a member of lesser nobility. She didn't say that aloud, though.
"Sixteen... at least as far as I am aware of," she admitted with some hesitation.
Mica nodded. "I guessed you were about the same age as we were. I'm glad to hear it - there's always room for more friends around here. If you're actually interested in friendship; with your particular background, I wouldn't be surprised if you said you didn't have any interest in it at all."
He nodded. "I would be disappointed if you didn't want me as your friend... but I would respect your decision."
Friends, friendship, friendly... unfortunately for Mica, Obsidian had heard this particular word today more times than during her entire life before. What was the meaning of that? The purpose? How could anypony be interested in friendship? Probably, these commoners had their mysterious, lowly reasons, but as a princess Obsidian had to see the world in more... precise ways.
"As far as I'm concerned, I don't even know what's so alluring in this 'friendship' you are talking about. And truly, even if I could understand it, the current circumstances would be probably inadequate for discussing it".
It wasn't 'no'. It wasn't 'yes'. At best, it was a 'maybe'.
Mica lifted an eyebrow. "I suppose the most succinct answer I can give you is that friendship is its' own reward. Clap and I have been friends for quite some time, and though she may be... challenging to deal with at times, she's still worth knowing."
He didn't look as though he was trying to instruct or belittle her words; he seemed to be making an earnest attempt to give Obsidian an idea of what the subject was about.
"Friends... tend to be concerned for your welfare, and can ally with you against trouble. They can help you solve problems. Plus, honestly? It does feel good not to be alone. And I should know - I was... highly studious, shall we say? And I spent my time pouring myself into learning, barely coming out of my room or the library."
Mica now gave a tiny smirk. "Thunderclap changed that for me. She discovered me by accident, then seemed to be determined to annoy me constantly until I came outside to join her in playing games. For fun."
"At first, it was slow going, and I really didn't want to make time for this... foolishness either. But she was persistent, and eventually I decided to humour her one time, just to get her to leave me alone."
Lost in thought, a full smile spread across his features - and he seemed to enjoy it.
"The problem was... I had fun. I actually ended up being quite entertained by not only the games we played, but by Clap's shenanigans also. She made me laugh - out loud - and I discovered I had more enjoyment when I was around her than when I went back to my studies."
"I began looking forward to her visits, and soon I found myself going to visit her. We became good friends, and I truly have her to thank for helping to bring me out of my proverbial shell."
He sighed, the smile melting away as he looked at Obsidian again.
"But I had to come to that conclusion myself - and not everypony, or anyONE, will have the same feelings and experiences as I did. As I said, I'd understand if you wanted nothing to do with the concept of friends..."
He looked to the distance. "But I will say you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't try it at all, Obsidian. Just food for thought."
It left Obsidian a bit distressed, though not for any 'friendship' or 'fun' reasons. "What for thought? I don't have any food..."
Mica reached back into his satchel and brought out a shiny red apple. Holding it out to her, he simply sighed. "You'll figure it out for yourself, I'm certain. Just keep an open mind."
And so, he had food. It made everything even less understandable than before!
"No, I don't need any food. You just said... nevermind." She looked forward, to see how far they were from the main hall. "Let's advance; I think your friend may be already at the academy, considering her speed."
The academy itself was... opulent. It looked as though it would be the college of royalty alone... yet there were so many others here. And not just ponies, either!
Griffons, hippogriffs, changelings, yaks... even dragons!... were all here, milling about, or headed to classes, or even just chatting in groups. There were beings everywhere!
What were these creatures? Some of them looked familiar - but most of them didn't. Were they even discovered by ponies during her sleep? Or perhaps she just never got her education up to where she would learn about them? She wondered if her illustrious father had this knowledge.
Was it possible to gather so many creatures in a single building? None of them were wearing slave collars! While it was obvious that this world of future was different, she still had trouble understanding how much different it was. It was making her a tiny bit anxious - and, though she didn't realize it, she was trying subconsciously to walk closer to Mica. It also took some effort on her side to walk upright.
She had never seen so many creatures so closely.
At the front doors, there stood Thunderclap... along with two others. One was a tall, lanky-looking and dog-like biped, and the other was a rather short unicorn mare who appeared to have a scowl on her muzzle. When Obsidian approached, Clap rolled her eyes and groaned. "You two didn't even try, did you!? I mean, I know I'm GOOD... but it's no fun when you give up before I can win!"
Mica gave Clap a glance. "But this way, you're still the best, yes?"
"Doesn't mean much when you're the only one competing," Clap grumbled.
The scowling mare's eyes flicked between Mica and Obsidian before she spoke. "Is this who you were talking about, Thunderclap?"
The large pegasus nodded. "Yeah, that's Siddy - she's all royal and stuff, so be nice."
"Royalty?" The mare gave Clap a skeptical look, but turned to face Obsidian. "How? What's your lineage?"
The little mare could have passed for a filly... save for those eyes, which were intent and mature. She had a grey-colored coat, and a stark white mane and tail that was trim and short. Her cutie mark was a pair of longswords crossed behind a tower shield; fitting, as she looked as though she might be somewhat combative.
The dog, a male, simply gave a sheepish, shy wave. Was this bipedal creature next to her sentient? Just what was it? Obsidian was starting to regret leaving her room... oh, and how wonderful; it seemed that Clap was already spreading rumors about her.
"I'm the daughter of the illustrious and honourable King Sombra. And who are you...?", she focused her eyes on this unknown little unicorn. She didn't seem half as 'friendly' as Mica or Clap were.
The unicorn's eyes widened... then narrowed quickly. "Sombra!? You'd-"
"Before you EVEN get started, Wart," Clap interrupted, "we already went through all that, me and Mica. She's NOT evil, she's new to here and confused, and she's coming to Friendship School too. So don't even start with the speeches or talk about 'if you don't behave' stuff - she probably already got all that from Custard, honestly."
The unicorn seemed to ponder this for a moment, then simply said, "Fine... but I'm watching you." Her eyes, a vibrant green, said that this pony meant what she said.
Mica nodded. "She knows that, and I'm sure she appreciates you saying it," he said with a roll of his own eyes and a reassuring glance at Obsidian.
The dog-being lifted his paw... but seemed to crumple at the last second and shuffle a bit more behind Thunderclap.
"Gypsy," the large pegasus turned and spoke, "there's no need to be scared or stuff like that - it's just SIDDY, for cryin' out loud - she's not here to enslave everyone or some junk like that. She's here to learn how to be a friend!"
The dog (Gypsy, was it?) stepped out a bit from behind the towering mare.
"... th-this one will w-w-wait to be addressed, p-p-please. H-he wishes not to i-i-intrude." He looked nervous, but repeated the little wave again.
The little unicorn didn't reply to her question - which was rude, and Obsidian didn't like when others were rude to her... at least, as long as they didn't have the authority to behave that way, like her father did. At least it seemed that this... uh, strange creature was both sentient and well-behaved. The princess wasn't used to the others behaving like that in her presence, but it was easier that way.
And, hmm, enslave everyone? She never even thought about that... perhaps she should?
"Watch me as much as you'd like, I am quite used to it. However, you didn't respond to my question," Obsidian said to the unicorn mare in a somewhat bored voice.
The unicorn closed her eyes and took a deep breath, seemingly to calm herself, before she spoke again... this time, with a calmer tone. Those eyes, though, were piercing.
"Stalwart Stance. I'm in training for the Royal Guard, so it's best that I know of royalty as they show up. And, though your... heritage... has some dark history behind it... a princess is a princess." Surprisingly, Stalwart then bowed to Obsidian. "Understand that it's my duty to stay vigilant... but that..." she sighed, "... hardly excuses being rude. I'll try to keep it in mind. Princess."
Clap laughed, "Don't worry about Wart, Siddy - she's just all gung-ho for being a royal guardspony. Honestly, she's not gonna hurt ya."
Stalwart balked. "CLAP! I... I w-would never-"
"Yeah, yeah... we know. 'I would never harm any hair upon a royal head, except for those who stand against my country'. We get it.'" Clap sighed.
Obsidian glanced at the creature next to Thunderclap. "Do you want to say something... uh... Gypsy?".
As 'Wart' was now shooting angry looks at Thunderclap, Gypsy took a single step towards Obsidian and nervously smiled.
"Th-this one is... Gypsy Rover. He w-wishes to greet y-y-you, and h-he would b-be quite interested i-i-in asking ab-b-bout your l-lineage, as he i-is currently tr-tr-trying to m-master pony h-history."
"Gypsy," Clap groaned, "I don't want to have to sit through a history lecture! I wanna show Siddy around the school! Y'know, since she'll be here and stuff, she might as well see what she's in for!"
"You two can always talk later, if Obsidian doesn't mind, of course," Mica spoke up, nodding to Gypsy who returned the gesture.
"A-as you s-say, Mica."
Ah, so finally she's met two pon... er, creatures that were able to behave in a proper way in her presence. It was nice to feel acknowledged - especially after she was treated in such a less-than-royal way by Lemon and his brother. Two insolent, rude fools...
"Wonderful. I am pleased to meet you both," she said, honestly relieved. Being in presence of four familiar creatures was easing her anxiety a bit... though standing there was still wrecking her nerves, with so many others walking around her. "I can reply to any questions you have, Gypsy... but later. Especially as I have a thousand years of pony history to catch up on."
Gypsy's eyes lit up like little stars. "Oh! This one w-would be very happy to sp-p-peak about Pony History! I-if she wishes, th-this one w-w-would be m-more than honored to assist her in learning about what has taken place s-since the days of Sombra!" Gypsy's tail was wagging madly behind him; was that how they showed excitement?
"Y'know," Clap started, "you don't always stutter - like, when it comes to boring ol' history, you barely do it at all."
Gypsy blushed a bit. "Th-this one... knows this, C-c-clap."
Almost everything that Obsidian had seen in this odd world of the future was strange, distressing or outright utterly alien and confusing - but learning? That was something she knew and liked, quite a lot. Of course, up to this moment in her life she was used to learning either with her most honourable father or with teachers chosen by him, but Gypsy's offer was good enough.
Even if listening to him was a bit painful.
Obsidian has never explored so much - but it seemed that it was only a beginning.
Mica looked to them all. "Well, now that we've arrived, we should show you around."
"Yeah!" Clap grinned. "Classes might be kinda boring, but this place is at least 20% cooler than the grimy ol' schoolhouse! C'mon!"
With that, Clap, Mica, Wart and Gypsy all looked to Obsidian. The small unicorn mare stepped forward and opened the doors, gesturing inside while the rest waited for Obsidian to go first.
She followed the rest of her, uh... pack? Acquaintances? Entourage?
The grand hall was... well, grand.
This place was certainly befitting of a princess; it seemed no expense was spared in its' making, and each and every hallway, classroom and section was tastefully opulent and beautiful.
The classes were... interesting, to say the least. Certainly, there were maths and writings and history... but there were also classes on things like 'teamwork' and 'introductions' and 'listening' - which seemed quite unlike an average school.
Though, granted, this was no average school.
All the while, the others surrounding her interacted with each other in ways Obsidian hadn't experienced before: Thunderclap lightly teased, Mica made observant remarks, Wart seemed to be all business and Gypsy stuttered his way through explaining things.
And all of them interacted with her from time to time; they weren't trying to overwhelm her, but each gave her a portion of their attention during the rather eclectic tour.
At the lunchroom, Gypsy sniffed the air and licked his lips.
"Th-this one smells something d-d-delicious... could his n-nose be r-right? Does he sm-sm-smell..." he sniffed deeply, closing his eyes to savor the scent... then, they popped W-I-D-E open.
"... cupcakes!"
He took off like a shot, towards the cafeteria. The others looked after him, then Clap looked to Obsidian.
"Siddy, you hungry? They always have good stuff in here - it might be one of the baking clubs, doing some extra credit work... and I loooooove eating me some mistakes!" Clap trotted off after Gypsy, and Mica and Wart turned to her.
"Are we following? Or would you rather not?" Mica asked.
It wasn't the kind of school Obsidian was used to - after all, during her education she was the only young pony around as she didn't know about any other foals in the castle and young slaves were, obviously, not learning with her - but it was... vaguely familiar. Some of the classes more than the others - 'math' and 'history' were, obviously, known to her. 'Listening', though? Why would anypony want to learn that?
However, in a way, her most honourable father had taught her to listen. Oh yes, he taught her well...
... and what was this smell? ... wait, what? WHAT did the dog just say?
Though Obsidian was a little bit hungry, she immediately lost her appetite as soon as Gypsy spoke his word and immediately ran away from them.
"... I, uh...", Obsidian stuttered, not sure what she should do. This future world was surely strange, and each time when she thought she understands it, something confusing was happening. "... I can't say I liked Cupcake, but I don't think that baking and eating him was an acceptable idea."
Were these ponies cannibals?
The two stared at her for a moment.
"Obsidian," Mica said slowly, "cupcakes are a baked sweet treat." Oh.
Wart cleared her throat and spoke up, "They're a bit sweet for my tastes, but as royalty, you might find them delectable." She shrugged. "After all, Princess Celestia loves her cake, and cupcakes are no exception."
"They're called cupcakes because they're usually contained in little paper cups - be sure not to eat those," Mica warned.
Oh. It was now starting to make more sense. And now she knew why Cupcake was named like that... though it didn't change the fact that her cheeks were burning right now.
"Oh. Oooh. Erm... well, I can try that, I suppose," she coughed a bit to clear her throat. "And... Princess Celestia? She is still alive? Wouldn't that make her..."
... more than a thousand years old? Perhaps she slept most of it as well.... Obsidian had already heard ponies swearing with her name, but it was still a bit surprising to hear about Celestia in present tense.
"Well over a thousand years old, yes," Mica finished for her. "She retired from her position as ruler of Equestria about ten years previously. Lives in Silver Shores, now."
Retired? Royals can retire? Alicorns can retire? It just couldn't click in Obsidian's mind - one is usually royalty until death. Perhaps it was different for creatures that can, well, live far longer than an average pony? At least she learned where she lives now - it would come in handy, if she would ever want to avenge her fallen father or something like that.
Beating an old, retired alicorn wouldn't be too glorious, but, eh... a victory is a victory, right?
The three of them began making their way to the kitchen, where the sounds of talking could be heard. She could pick out Clap's laughter, and even an embarrassed giggle that might've been Gypsy. Wart led the way into the kitchen, with Mica gesturing to Obsidian to enter before him.
The kitchen itself was quite large; big enough to be a classroom on its' own!
There were multiple ovens and grills, and what looked to be a walk-in pantry (where someone was currently digging through ingredients), and a massive rack of hanging pots, pans, and other baking paraphernalia hung within reach of the stove areas.
At one of the ovens, Clap and Gypsy were standing there; the diamond dog's entire muzzle was smeared with what looked like colored sauce and crumbs, while the large pegasus laughed at his dishevelment. They were eating what looked like fat mushrooms with colors on top that didn't look like natur-
Then, the scent hit her nostrils.
It was the first time in Obsidian's life when she had ever walked into a kitchen. Obviously, back in the crystal palace, she wasn't allowed near it - or, to be more precise, she was told it was beneath her. That it was a place for slaves, and she shouldn't waste her precious time near it. As such, she was completely unprepared for the mix of scents, heat and noise.
However, it also reminded her that she is a bit hungry - but she tried to stay cool. "So... those are the cupcakes you were talking about, I assume?" She moved closer.
Clap turned to the group. "Siddy! You have GOT to try these! They're incredible!"
She strolled over to the three of them and held out a cupcake with lime green... stuff... swirled on top of it.
"Here," she offered, smiling, "I usually love the green ones, but you can have it - it'd be cool to share a favorite cupcake!"
Wart looked to Gypsy. "Clean yourself up! That's no way to appear in front of royalty!"
Gypsy blushed, then extended his tongue - a very dark purple color - and swished it around his muzzle madly, licking clean even the slightest hint of his food. Clap laughed, Wart sighed disdainfully, and Mica just shook his head.
"C'mon - it won't bite!" Clap waggled the cupcake in front of her.
It probably won't bite - though Gypsy looked as if a whole pack of these things had attacked him. Obsidian carefully took the offered green cupcake with her magic, checking it out. So... a baked treat.
She took a bite. ...
It was overwhelmingly, utterly, completely sweet. Frankly, it was the first time in her entire life when she had something so sweet in her mouth. It was almost as if she poured sugar onto her tongue. She swallowed. Maybe the second bite would be easier... it took her a while, but she eventually finished it, leaving only a paper cup.
"... interesting, that's for sure." Especially this green stuff. Frankly, it was so sweet that she was feeling a bit sick right now.
"Are you kidding!?" Clap looked incredulous. "Cupcakes are, like, only the best thing ever!!! I mean, really, you just can't go wrong with them! They can be made to fit any occasion! They can be super-sweet, not-so-sweet or even slightly sweet, and they'd still be absolutely awesome!"
"Thunderclap!" Wart spoke up. "You can't talk to royalty that way! That's almost insulting!"
Clap looked at Stalwart. "And? I mean, it's Siddy; what, I can't be all friendly-like to her? I figure she should try some of the others, after maybe a sip of punch!"
She motioned to a pitcher, half-filled with blue water. Exceedingly blue water.
"Blueberry punch?" Mica asked, and Clap nodded. Mica shrugged and got one of the plastic cups from the countertop, pouring some of the blue water into it, then offered it to Obsidian.
"Here - in case the cupcake was too much."
Obsidian was starting to like Stalwart - the little unicorn mare was very respectful, and it was making Sombra's daughter feel better. She gracefully took the offered cup and took a sip.
Strange... the blue water didn't taste like water. If anything, it was very sweet too - but not as much as the cupcakes had been. Still, she was thirsty after eating it, so she quickly dried the cup.
"Is there anything... less sweet, perchance? I won't be able to stomach anything else so very... cupcakey, methinks," she muttered, feeling a little bit strange. Hopefully she didn't overdose on pure sugar...
"Well, I guess that'd be up to the baker..." Clap pointed a hoof towards the pantry, where somepony was backing out.
"... okay, that should do the trick!"
She knew that voice...
The stallion turned as he spoke. "Now I should have enough ingredients to..."
He stopped short as he saw Obsidian... it was Cupcake Sprinkles! |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Five: Knowing One's Place | The stallion's muzzle went from happy to sorrowful, and his ears drooped low as soon as he saw her. "... you..." The others seemed completely surprised by his reaction.
Clap, however, wasn't known for being subtle. "Wait... you know her already!?"
"I..." Cupcake looked close to tears again already.
"Cupcake," Mica asked, "what is this?"
"I... I..." he took a deep breath.
"I was supposed to be a liaison to her, but we had an argument, and I got mad then so did she, and I said bad things to her, and she called me a MEANIE and I wasn't trying to be a meanie, I just thought she was being rude first, but I think I messed up, so I came here to bake, because baking calms me down, but now she's here too, and I don't wanna be mean anymore, but I don't know if she'll ever forgive me, and I-"
"BREATHE, Cup!" Clap interjected. "Jeez!"
"Wait - you yelled at a PRINCESS!?" Wart sounded equally shocked and agitated.
"Yeah, but... I didn't mean to! I was so excited to meet someone new, but then I got all mad, and then I... I..." Cupcake's bottom lip wobbled.
"Obsidian," Mica asked calmly, "is this true?"
Obsidian's eyes narrowed at the sound of his voice. It wasn't a sound she found good; it was loud and obnoxious - just like Cupcake Sprinkles. And obviously he was talking way, wayyyyy too much, as usual. "Yes. He was behaving in a deliberately insulting manner, taking advantage of my temporal adjustments, even when I calmly asked him to stop!" She practically hissed the words; right now, Cupcake was the last pony she would ever want to see.
Perhaps baking and eating him wasn't that bad of an idea... or more like just the baking part.
"Cupcake! You can't BE like that around royals! I can't believe that you, of all ponies, behaved in such a manner! What were you thinking!?" Wart seemed almost as angry as Obsidian was, her green eyes almost seeming to flash with rage.
"Stalwart," Mica tried to calmly interject, "hold on. Maybe we just need to calm down and go over things again. Sometimes better judgment is seen in retrospect."
Clap looked back and forth between them. "So, that's a yes to you two knowing each other, right?"
Gypsy facepawed.
"Look, I... I'm really, really sorry, okay? My mom says I keep letting my brain get ahead of my heart, and I just thought you were insulting me back there - and I lost my head and said a lot of stupid things. I just... I didn't mean... I... I..."
Clap looked at them both, then shrugged. "Okay, you didn't mean it. You apologized." She looked at Obsidian. "Siddy, this is a good moment to learn something about friendship, here. Cup screwed up, yeah - but he apologized, and he obviously didn't mean... whatever he said to you. This is where you accept the apology and try to just move on as if it never happened."
"That," Mica spoke up, "would be up to Obsidian to decide if she forgives him or not." He turned to her. "For what it's worth, Cupcake is my actual cousin, and I've known him for much of my life. He means well, but can be... grandiose... when he makes a mistake. Still, it's up to you whether or not you accept the apology."
"Inexcusable!" Wart said, eyes firmly locked on the sad visage of Cupcake. "You'd best bow and beg for a royal acceptance from her!"
"Wart," Mica said, "shush."
The unicorn glared at Mica Chip... but said nothing more.
Cupcake was annoying, but he truly looked remorseful for the way he'd acted. However, there was always the idea that she truly didn't need to forgive anypony at all... but there was this whole 'friendship' thing she was going to be put through, whether she liked it or not.
Holding a grudge was a new idea for Obsidian - but accepting apologies was completely different for her as well. Until her recent awakening, she either didn't have to care about insults or wasn't in a position to hold a grudge - it all depended on if she was accidentally offended by a slave (in which case said slave was usually quickly removed from the castle, never to be seen again) or by her father (in which case she had to obediently and humbly accept it as a lesson from a mind much brighter and better than her own).
... still, he was, unfortunately, her liaison.
"Next time try to be more calm when you meet a pony that just woke up after a thousand years of sleep and learned that her entire known family is dead", she couldn't stop herself from making a rather painful jab right into his feelings. "... but apologies accepted."
It was quiet for all of a single heartbeat. Then...
"Okay, then! Apology accepted, and all you gotta do is be calm and stuff!" Clap smiled broadly, then made her way over to Obsidian and gave her a meaty pat on the back. "See, Siddy? It wasn't all that hard at all, was it? I think you'll do just fine here at the academy!"
She gave Thunderclap a nasty glare as she patted her back; what in Tartarus was that? Why did she touch her?
Mica looked as though he was pondering the situation... but he nodded to her and looked at Cupcake. "You understand, right?"
Cupcake nodded rapidly, though his expression was still repentant.
Wart, however, shot Cupcake a look of irritation. "You... and I... will speak... later."
The stallion nodded, sighed, then looked back at Obsidian once more. "I was... I really was being a meanie, I guess. I really am sorry."
"Point made, Cup - enough of that." Clap simply went on as though there'd been no problem here. "You gonna bake anything else?"
Cupcake looked longingly at the oven... then at Obsidian, then at the floor. "I... sh-should probably go." He began to make his way towards the pantry again, but turned back to give Obsidian a look of shame over his flank. "I'll... meet you at your room tomorrow, okay?"
With that, he entered the walk-in pantry and began returning ingredients to their places on the shelves.
Gypsy's ears drooped s he saw Cupcake putting the ingredients back. "This one i-i-is... going t-to miss the t-t-tasty treats. Perh-haps an-n-n-nother time."
"Royalty is held to a high standard; it was very generous of you to forgive him." Wart said to her. "It does me proud to see a royal treating others so well..." Her eyes narrowed at Cupcake. "Even if they don't deserve it," she muttered.
Mica sighed, then looked up at the princess. "It does bode well that you did that; you may have a promising future here, after all."
It was more logical to 'forgive' him than not - after all, she (mistakenly) chose him as her liaison. There was no point in antagonizing him, even if she truly couldn't stand his blathering. Hopefully from this point on, he would behave more rationally - and if anything happens, it should be possible to sic Stalwart on him. She would be a good vassal. But didn't change the fact that Obsidian's mood had soured somewhat.
"... I still would like to look for something less sweet; my last true meal was over a thousand years ago," she said as she attempted to change the topic. Yes, she said she accepted the idiot stallion's apologies - but it didn't mean she was going to like it, or want to talk about it more.
"Ummmm... I could... make you something... if you want?" came from the pantry. "I mean, I'm a pretty good cook... a-and I could make you a really good meal, fit for a queen, even. And... it would help me make things up to you."
Mica looked toward the pantry, pondering. "He is a good cook."
"How about we wait out in the lunchroom," Clap offered, "and you do what you do, okay?"
There was a renewed shuffling from the pantry. "Y-yeah... okay, I can do that. Yeah!" As he spoke, it sounded as though he was slowly regaining his previous chipper attitude. Wonderful. At least he'd be in here while they were out there. Making their way out, Clap and Gypsy made themselves at home by taking a seat. Mica simply leaned against a wall, casually. Wart, ever helpful, pulled out a chair for Obsidian.
Yes, waiting in the lunchroom was a better idea; the further she was from this stallion, especially when he was in a good mood, the better.
"So, hey," Clap began hesitantly, "was... was all that... I mean, I don't think you're lying or anything, but..." she leaned in a bit.
"Was all that true? Being missing for a thousand years? That... sounds like it sucks."
"Thunderclap," Wart began.
"No, really - I mean, I guess I'm just curious, but... what was it like for you? Y'know, all that long ago?"
Mica looked to the pegasus. "She might not want to talk about it, Clap."
"And maybe she does," the mare countered. "Uhm... do you?"
"Yes, it was true. And no, I don't really want to talk about it right now." She rubbed her temples - this day was far more... exciting than she was used to. And she met more named ponies than during her entire lifetime; until now, most of creatures in the Crystal Palace were far beneath her - more like tools than living beings. "Maybe later. Perhaps. Or not."
Accepting apologies didn't make her very happy, apparently.
Thunderclap looked a bit put out, but she heaved a sigh and simply sat back in her chair, rear hooves on the table as she put her forelegs behind her head. "Okay - so Wart, I'll bet you're all sorts of happy that you've got another royal to play with, eh?"
Stalwart gave Clap a narrow stare. "I don't play, Thunderclap - being a royal guardpony is serious business. They have to be seen after and meticulously protected from any and all threats they might encounter. Not to mention..."
As Wart continued, Clap began to silently mimic her words, mocking her as she spoke at length about the duties guards had to be certain of when they took up the 'mantle of responsibility' for taking care of royalty. Honestly, though it worked in Obsidian's favor, Wart did seem to go on and on about it. Gypsy, meanwhile, sat cautiously at the end of the table. He reached a paw into the pocket of his hooded sweater, removing several small slips of paper from it. He then started to carefully fold them in strange ways, all the while concentrating on what he was doing.
Mica simply sat there, looking at everyone else with a pondering look on his muzzle.
Wart's discussion (and Clap's mocking) quickly turned into a kind of background noise - as soon as the unicorn's words stopped carrying any interesting or useful information, Obsidian lost interest in listening to her. However, the only non-pony creature was apparently doing something far more interesting. She leaned forward with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
"What is that you're doing?" Perhaps it was a cultural thing?
Gypsy looked up at Obsidian shyly. "Er... th-this one does this t-t-to stave off the b-b-boredom."
His paws twisted around the little folded piece of paper, and then he reached out gingerly and placed it in front of her. It looked like... a swan. Gypsy had folded and creased the paper slip until it resembled a swan, complete with beak and wings. He gave a small smile. "He c-can do o-oth-others too. W-would she l-l-like to s-see?"
An art... made of paper? Interesting... her magic wrapped around the sculpture of a bird placed in front of her and levitated it closer, so she could check it out more thoroughly. It seemed that this creature's paws were more agile than she thought. "Yes, I'd like to - it's quite interesting. Does this type of art have a name?"
Gypsy smiled, his mouth filled with sharp teeth, but the kindness in it staving off the fear-inducing points. Of course, considering Obsidian's father's own teeth, she had no reason to be scared of Gypsy's smile. If anything, she wondered from time to time why her own teeth were not as sharp as King Sombra's.
"It d-d-does. This i-is called 'origami', which is an ancient form of art that was passed down through g-generations of creatures from distant eastern shores. It was first taught to the diamond dogs roughly two hundred years ago, and is a major form of entertainment f-for us."
As he spoke, he worked his paws over the other pieces of folded paper, producing a tiger, a manticore, a dragon, and finally an alicorn - complete with wings, mane and tail. "This one's chosen great-father taught him to make the folds just s-so," he said as he began to fold another piece in his curious way. "And this one is p-pleased the princess likes th-them."
Origami, hm? And it was invented by creatures from... distant eastern shores? Obsidian wondered what he could be talking about; it seemed that Equestria discovered even more lands than she thought initially.
Fascinating.
"... diamond dogs? Is that what your species is called?" That was a promising start. She really would love to lock herself in library and just catch up with everything that was invented or discovered during her time asleep.
"Y-yes," he replied, "we are named such due to our love of g-g-gemstones... most prominently, diamonds. We d-do love our sh-shiny rocks, yes. B-but since the first of our kind began appearing in Equestria, we have been mostly stand-offish with p-ponies, but that h-has recently changed in favor of being all-inclusive to this school."
Perhaps these diamond dogs would be useful allies... or rather vassals... for her most honourable father? As far as she could tell, it seemed that their 'love for shiny rocks' would have attracted them to the Crystal Empire.
He gave a short chuckle. "Before such, most diamond dogs k-kept themselves apart from ponies... mostly due to their attitudes. P-ponies, not dogs." As he spoke, he folded two more slips of paper to go with the one he was currently holding, then folded them out to reveal a palm tree, a pineapple and a griffon - which he perched perfectly in the palm tree.
"But, this one is s-so glad the p-p-p-ponies invited everybeing t-to attend this school. Th-this one has made these f-f-friends, and is l-looking f-f-f-forward to making m-more. Hopefully, a p-princess am-mong them?" He smiled sheepishly at her.
... and then he started about 'friends'. The more Obsidian heard about it, the more it sounded like an STD - and everypony around her was interested in getting her sick as well. It didn't sound very useful - at the moment, she saw it more like some kind of strange union between creatures to indulge themselves. No hierarchy, no real goal, only 'fun'.
Why would anypony need something like that?
"We'll see when I understand more of what this term means," she said as a diplomatic parry.
"Oh," was all he said. He went back to his folding, though he no longer seemed to feel like chatting about it, as he became quiet once again. These creatures were really crazy about this whole 'friendship' thing, eh? It seemed as though it was addictive - like a drug - and they didn't like not receiving it. She really should avoid it, to keep a clear mind...
It wasn't long before there was a... tantalizing aroma that began to drift from the kitchen; the tang of spice, the savory scent of mouth-watering proportions that filled the room. Then, with a slight spring to his step, Cupcake brought out a bowl filled with... chopped vegetables? But they smelled exquisite...
"Appetizer course - sizzling broccoli and cheese, a local favorite!"
"You can say THAT again!" Clap practically ate the bowlful with her eyes alone. "Got any more?"
Cupcake grinned. "Sure - but she gets the first helping. Lemme get back in there - I still have more to do!"
Cup returned to the kitchen, followed by a slightly drooling Thunderclap. Mica leaned forward. "Go ahead - tell us what you think."
It was hard to keep her mind separated, as for the moment her stomach overtook any higher functions of her brain. She had never smelled anything like that - but it seemed that it was going to be at least fairly good. What's more, it also seemed that she was going to get it first, without having to fight for her own helping.
Obsidian didn't waste a second, and there was no reason to encourage her - she quickly helped herself with this 'broccoli' thing. She took a single bite. ...
For a moment she was purely dumbfounded, almost forgetting that she was supposed to be keeping her cool; that taste... as far as she was concerned, this dish was as rich in flavor as her father was rich in power!
"I've... never eaten... anything that good before," she whispered, overwhelmed by the incredible experience.
Mica simply nodded, as if he'd expected the reaction... but Wart looked curious.
"But... royalty usually has the best of the best at their table. Cupcake, for all his faults, is a good cook, but... I'm sure you've had plenty of rich, wonderful foodstuffs before, have you not?"
She should have rich and wonderful foodstuffs like this? Why had nopony told her before? Her life would have been far more pleasant, had she known this sort of delicacy!
Mica looked over. "New tastes are new tastes, Stalwart - maybe she's simply never had this sort of cooking before."
Wart seemed mollified at that. "Well... it's a good thing to see you enjoy it, princess."
Within another few moments, Cupcake returned with second bowl, this one a touch bigger. In it was what appeared to be some sort of... soup?... but a soup with a simply delectable aroma to it. And he brought even more food?
"Stir-fry, with water chestnuts, bamboo chunks and snow peas! Carefully stewed in soy sauce, lovingly sprinkled with a bit of paprika, a squirt of lemon, and just the teensyest dash of pepper! Enjoy!" He turned and practically skipped his way back to the kitchen, pleased that his food was so well-received. Perhaps he could have some uses, after all... as long as she could keep a gag on him.
"No, not really," she spoke in answer to Stalwart's question, "my father always told me that 'luxuries' are like a poison to the mind, and none who were both a royal and a warlock should have a weak mind. In this case, it meant that my food was mostly..." she tried to conjure a word that could describe it properly, "... edible. Well, after a day or two of fasting it tasted well enough. Anyway, I'm not used to sweets... or this amount of food... or to anything that could have such a pleasant taste."
In this case, should she eat it at all? When she was going there to sate her hunger, Obsidian had no idea that she would find a veritable banquet fit for a true royal instead of a humble meal for a princess-in-training. Her most honourable father would probably disapprove.
The lot of them simply stared at her for a bit; no one spoke a word. Then Chip spoke up. "I'll bet your father was practically swimming in luxury... so, what would that say about him?"
The others turned to look at Mica... and were shocked to see an actual expression on his muzzle... smouldering anger.
"I don't like the way it sounds like you were treated. Not... at... all."
Thunderclap's eyes went wide. "Whoa... that's something you don't see everyday. Mica, y-you okay, there?"
"Tell me," he continued, "did he treat you like a daughter... or-"
Wart interrupted. "And what business is it of yours how she was treated? Royalty usually has a plan for whatever is to come, and perhaps he simply was preparing her for the worst possible outcome?"
"You think Celestia OR Luna would've treated her like that?" he retorted.
Wart visibly flinched, but stood her ground. "You didn't make the rules - he did."
"Wait," Clap bristled, "are you siding with Sombra?"
"I side with ROYALTY, Thunderclap, and I'm surprised you forgot that." Wart leveled a stern gaze at the pegasus. "It's not our call to judge-"
"He was a tyrant, you blockhead!" Clap practically shouted.
"Tyrants, however distasteful, are STILL royalty, numbskull."
Now the two were glaring daggers at each other. Mica still looked upset, but now his own muzzle evened out and he looked to Obsidian.
"I apologize... I just do not like the idea that anypony was treated such a way, especially by their own parent." He cocked his head slightly. "Do you believe he did the right thing?" The group as a whole looked to her for her answer.
Obviously commoners born in the modern age just couldn't understand the idea behind her upbringing. With the overwhelming amount of personal freedoms they had and the inane focus on unnecessary pleasures like 'friendship', they were just unaware of their true destiny. They were tools... just like everypony around, herself included. Good tools at least were aware of that and kept striving to improve themselves.
"My most honourable father was shaping me in a way he considered fitting, and I'm not in a position to place any doubt upon his wisdom," she replied calmly, though she glared a bit at Mica... and at Wart, for even if she had defended King Sombra, she still called his supposed tyranny 'distasteful'.
Wart gave Clap a smug look. "You see? She approves."
Thunderclap shot an annoyed look back at Stalwart. "Brainwashing isn't approval; it's forced enjoyment of being treated like dirt." She looked at Obsidian. "Siddy, don't tell me you actually enjoy being treated like dirt?"
"How dare you!" Wart cried, looking ready to fight at the drop of a hoof.
Their quarrel was becoming annoying - why would commoners ever be allowed to argue about monarchy? Especially in a way that would be demeaning to a monarch and everything he stood for? Wart, at least, had a lot of potential to become a very passionate, useful vassal - but as far as Obsidian was concerned, Thunderclap and Mica both had already more than overstepped the boundaries of her patience.
"This isn't doing any good..." Mica observed. "We can discuss this without-"
"Oh yeah? I'll dare, alright! I'll dare ta knock your block off, Wart!"
The two of them went muzzle to muzzle, each one growling fiercely as they sized each other up. And it was quite likely they would've fought right then and there, if a voice from the back spoke up.
"B-but she had a p-p-parent."
Heads turned to look at Gypsy, who was now on the other side of the room, away from the aggressive emotions and ponies. "Though you m-may not agree with what was d-d-done, this one n-notes that she still had a parent... and she gi-gives that parent resp-p-pect." His gaze slid across all those within the room as he made his point.
"Obsidian knew what it w-was like to want to imp-p-press a p-p-parent, to love a p-parent, to be tended to b-b-by a parent. Perhaps her treatment was f-fair, perhaps not - but it is clear t-t-to this one that she still loves her f-father. And to t-t-tear him down in f-front of her is... it is c-c-c-cruel and thoughtless."
Gypsy gave a soft sigh. "This one w-w-wishes he knew his t-true p-parents."
An awkward silence filled the gap, and even Wart & Clap looked somewhat ashamed of themselves. Gypsy set down the current paper-folding he'd been working on (which looked like the castle at Canterlot) and sighed softly before looking up at the princess. "Tell us... how d-d-did you see your f-father, princess? Was he m-m-mean, nice, or something in bet-t-tween?"
"Although you may consider my most honourable father tyrannical, your conclusions are flawed. Mean? Nice? Enjoyment? Love? Those are but empty words, merely masquerading self-indulgences, a perspective that there could possibly be something more important than duty. And... there... is... NOT!" She raised her voice as she spoke, anger flaring to the surface of her carefully controlled manner. "I may not enjoy my upbringing, but it means nothing in the face of the world! I was being prepared for my duty, and being taught to be useful!"
Obsidian cleared her throat and got up; she was full anyway, and she shouldn't eat too much.
Silence.
Thunderclap looked as though she'd been slapped. Mica's eyebrows raised... then lowered as his muzzle took on that totally neutral look. Gypsy tucked his tail between his legs and couldn't look up from the floor.
"My most honourable father was aware of the nature of this world and was treating every creature accordingly, and I have only respect for him for that... whether you do or not. Stalwart, I wish to go back to my current accomodations; will you accompany me?"
While it might have sounded like a question, Obsidian would be quite surprised if the unicorn mare refused. But Stalwart Stance seemed to be the only one who was completely unsurprised. "Of course, princess - as you wish."
Cupcake entered from the kitchen again, this time with a trayfull of edible things... but he looked around and quickly ascertained something was amiss. "Uhm... I didn't mess up again, did I?"
"No," Mica said quietly, glowering at Obsidian as he stood up abruptly, "but we might have. Come on, Clap."
"... y-yeah..." the pegasus said with little conviction as she followed her friend out through a different doorway. Gypsy, unsure as to what to do, simply sat down at the end of the table again and began folding once more, a sorrowful look on his muzzle.
"Th-this o-o-one... on-n-n-nly w-w-want-t-t-ed t-to... t-t-t-t... t-t-t..."
He shut his mouth and focused on his origami, an embarrassed blush crawling across his cheeks.
Good - if they felt shame and personal pain, then maybe they would behave better the next time they'd meet. For now, Obsidian was fed up with their attempts to befriend her and with their short quarrel over if her most honourable father was 'tyrannical' or even a bad parent. As if kings could afford as much lackadasial nonsense as commoners could, when it came to preparing their offspring for their future roles. This world was crazed, but Obsidian had to resist its influence.
Wart went to the door and held it open for Obsidian. "Right this way, princess."
At least Stalwart was a promising start. Obsidian, without another sentiment to these commoners, made her way out.
"They tend talk a lot, don't they?" she said aloud, though not truly caring if unicorn mare would respond or not. At the moment she only cared if Butter Churn had gotten her the books she had asked for. It seemed that she would have to catch up a lot and...
Damn, she was walking without her liaison again. It was a violation of the rules set upon her and she was already feeling ashamed for that. It didn't matter that these rules were made by her enemies - she was already behaving like an anarchist!
Stalwart said nothing for a moment... then, softly: "They're only upset because they believe you were treated unfairly, princess; they meant no harm - even the birdbrain."
She kept her eyes forward, and continued to escort Obsidian until she reached the Rarity Suite once again. Outside the room, carefully stacked, was a small pile of tomes, each one titled with something about history.
Books... they were just waiting there for her, all fully available. And so many of them!
Under her most honourable father's care, Obsidian was never allowed to just go into library or his rooms, pick up a book and read it. No, everything was carefully planned by the king; at best, she could ask for something supplementary - and only hope that he would provide it. But, right now, there was no one to order her to read a specific thing. She was, at least in this matter, completely FREE.
Wart made her way to the door and opened it for Obsidian. "Would the princess care for anything further, or shall I leave?"
Her muzzle was inscrutable; there was no way to tell if she'd been upset or not by the outburst, but she was determined to continue to act the part of a royal guard until she was dismissed.
... ah, Wart said something.
"Their views on the world, parenthood and personal values don't seem too compatible with my own... I don't need anything else, and if you want to leave, I won't stop you."
Wart stood there for a moment. "As I believe I have nothing more to offer you, princess, I will leave you alone... as you apparently desire to be." With that, she stepped out of the door and into the hallway, gently closing it behind her; Obsidian could hear her measured hoofsteps as she walked away.
Now... Obsidian now had a number of books to read through... and at her own leisure, no less! And without interruption, either; she'd managed to ditch her annoying liaison and the far-too-chatty others that had been taking up her attention.
Now, she was as alone as she had been in her old room... this one simply looked nicer... or perhaps 'nicer' wasn't the best term. The more appropriate would be... more flatulent, if such a term could be used to describe rooms. Ah, but at least it was providing the perfect conditions to learn! It would be nice to have something to write with, to make notes, but at the moment she would just be glad to read, read and read, until she could read no further.
Truly, books were great tools. Valuable, patient... quiet... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Six: Twilight Time | Hours passed.
By the time she had finished reading the fifth history book, she now had at least a fair and passing knowledge of how history had unfurled since the days she knew. Pony wars, pony peace talks, pony civilization, pony events... so much had occurred since she was last a part of this world, and it was mind-boggling just how much had happened.
Not surprisingly, there were many tomes that spoke of the importance of Harmony and Friendship, and how the two had helped to shape the Equestria of today. The Six Virtues, the Elements of Harmony, had been quite powerful in their own rights - but what they had accomplished in merely a decade or so was... impressive.
There had even been mention of her most honourable father's return... and his subsequent and unimaginable defeat, at the unlikely hands of a dragon who sealed his fate with the same crystal heart she bore on her flank. And nothing further, as if his appearance was merely a footnote, and unworthy of an entire tome! She was a bit... disappointed... by that. However, if he had returned once, he could surely do so again, yes?
The latest book added an interesting fact to what knowledge there was of these Elements; since the revelation of Grogar's false appearance and the Fall of The Villainous Trio, the Elements hadn't been seen in years... and the former bearers didn't speak one way or another about them. Were the Elements of Harmony no longer under the control of their previous bearers? From what she read, it certainly seemed that way.
All in all, it was an impressive history, to say the least. So many monsters attacking Equestria - and so many successful defenses. It seemed that, somehow, this borderline anarchistic state was able to survive and thrive... and even spread its corrupted values.
How it was possible? According to Obsidian's knowledge, at least changelings should have been able to defeat these ponies. Of course, it seemed that Equestria had plenty of luck - just like with the story of her father's... uh... temporary defeat. The Crystal Heart caught in the last possible second by a thrown alicorn? It was almost like cheating! Her father had been brilliant, and was always prepared for anything - except for such acts of madness...
Truly, it looked like Equestria was quite often on a brink of a total defeat - and their victories were connected with these Elements of Harmony. That was a promising start - now she knew what she'd have to study more thoroughly. And since she knew the offspring of at least some of these 'Bearers'...
Obsidian's lips curved upward a bit, imitating a cheerful smile. Perhaps they would be more useful tools than she thought?
Suddenly and without knocking, the door opened and two royal guardponies stepped inside... followed by a tall, very purple alicorn whose mane flowed regally behind her. The look on her muzzle was one of seriousness, and she stopped a fair distance from Obsidian, seemingly out of respect for personal space. The alicorn was most certainly the most royal being she'd seen since her awakening, and with just her presence nearby, Obsidian could feel the power of this being within.
"Greetings," she began, "I felt that it would be proper of me to speak with you at some point, seeing as you're a guest in my home. Princess... Obsidian, is it?"
Truth to be told, Obsidian didn't expect any more guests today - and she expected even less that they could not knock. And even, even, EVEN less that it would be the ruler of the entire realm herself!
Truly, this day was full of surprises.
She gave a slow, regal bow. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. And I am here to witness for myself, the daughter of Sombra. At least, that's what I was told - and from the look of your horn, I'd say they were correct."
She glanced about a bit. "Are your accommodations appropriate?"
To say the least, Obsidian was shocked - but she maintained enough clarity of mind to carefully put down a book she was currently reading, quickly get up and bow respectfully. Maybe it wasn't her father... but it was royalty. Very powerful royalty, at that. It was only obvious that she, an untrained heir apparent, had to treat her with a certain level of respect.
Even if she was the enemy.
"Yes, your majesty; I am Princess Obsidian. I feel honored that you would consider me worthy of your attentions," she replied quickly. So much power... it was hard to believe that she couldn't feel that she had been approaching her room. "And, t-truth be told..." she glanced quickly sideways. Her father had always valued direct honesty - even when he had to punish her for whatever foolish things she had spouted.
"... I'd say it's a bit too big and too luxurious, your majesty."
The alicorn took in Obsidian's greeting, nodding in return. However, when she spoke about her ostentatious surroundings... the princess gave a small, almost shy chuckle.
"That doesn't surprise me, actually - Rarity has always been fashionable, but not everyone is into fashion as much as she is. If it's too much in here, I'd be happy to let my guards know you require a room that's more... down-to-earth, so to speak."
She turned to her royal guards. "Vista, please make sure to let the quartermaster know that our guest will be moving to another room, more suited to her tastes. Grim, the door please."
The mare saluted smartly, and the stallion trotted over to the door and opened it, holding it at the ready for them both.
She then returned her gaze to Obsidian. "If you have nothing here to gather, I would be happy to escort you to more fitting quarters, if you like? I won't have my guests saying I was a poor hostess." She smiled, warmth apparent in her eyes as she looked on Obsidian without either fear nor judgment.
Oh, so asking for better quarters went smoothly... well, that was good. It also seemed that Princess Twilight wasn't interested in getting rid of her - at least not enough to execute her on spot. "The only things I have here are these books, your majesty," she admitted, levitating them with her. Maybe a room that would look more similar to her old one would calm her down a bit...
Twilight looked over the books. "Ah, I see... books from my library, no less."
Before Obsidian could speak, the alicorn gave another soft laugh. "Though you were told not to go to the library, I just can't find it in my heart to be angry about anypony wishing to learn; we had requested that more in respect for how you would take it, as we were afraid you wouldn't have handled it well if you took on more information than you were ready for. However, you seem to be just fine - I'll have the library ban rescinded, and you should be able to go there whenever you like."
They left the room and began making their way down the extravagant hallway, flanked on either side by the royal guards. Twilight even moved regally; she seemed as though she were the epitome of alicorn royalty.
"Now, I would like to ask about something that came to my attention, as of a few minutes ago. Apparently, you had managed to make your way over to the School of Friendship - without your liaison, no less - and seen it for yourself. Tell me: what did you think of it?"
Obsidian's heart froze for a moment - a very, very long moment. Did this princess believe that she actually went into the library herself? And... a-and yes, she ALSO went into the school without her liaison! Perhaps she could blame Clap and Mica for that...?
But no, it was her decision, her fault, her blame! SHE WAS COMPLETELY GUILTY!
To say that Obsidian became very nervous and uncomfortable would be an understatement; after all, she was taught well by her father about the painful price of disobedience. Modern Equestrians had probably invented new ways since her slumber to punish those daring to break the law!
"It... it looks like a respectable place of knowledge," she answered hesitantly, "as at least a few subjects taught there seem to be similar to ones I had back home." She swallowed loudly. "And yes, your majesty, I ignored my liaison. I'm aware of my crime and ready to receive my fair and just punishment. However, I didn't go into your library, I swear! I merely asked somepony to get these books - I wasn't forbidden to do that, a-at least as far as I was informed!"
Hopefully, her punsihment wouldn't be too harsh; the world around her was quite interesting, and she couldn't learn more about it as soon as she'd wanted if she received too severe of a beating.
Twilight gave a raised eyebrow. "Ready for punishment, you say? Hmmmm..."
The alicorn actually looked as though she were considering it; oh, what would it be? Chains? Holding up buckets for hours on end? The whip? Starvation? Or maybe just an old-fashioned beating?
However, the alicorn gave a slight smirk. "Yes, your punishment for breaking my rules. It will have to be considered carefully - I'll have an answer for you before I leave your presence. But for now," she stopped and gestured to another door, "let's get a look at this room, and see what you think of it."
Oh, so she was cruel enough to keep her in a state of doubt and fear? That was a good tactic to deal with unruly subjects, as her father had taught her - especially as their own fear was able to fuel Dark Magic, basically forcing them to 'fund' their own punishments. However, considering that Dark Magic was apparently illegal, Princess Twilight couldn't do it... could she? Or perhaps, as in a despotic monarchy, she was above the law and thus able to disregard this ban?
Pushing open the door, the first thing Obsidian noticed was a complete lack of frills; the whole room looked utilitarian and simple. The only thing that seemed off about it was the apple symbol that seemed to make appearances throughout the room, though it was still nowhere near as garish as the Rarity Suite.
There was a simple four-post bed with a wooden frame, with matching dresser and end tables, and simple tan curtains that hid the view - as well they should. There was also a small desk with a chair, towards the corner. Otherwise, the apple motif was about the only other thing present.
"This is the Applejack Suite; is this more to your liking?"
At least the room seemed to be far, far better. It was still very big (at least in Obsidian's opinion), but it wasn't as over-the-top as the last one. Also, desk would be useful. "Yes, your majesty", she replied shortly.
"Very well, then... welcome to your new quarters. I hope this will be sufficient until you can afford your own place, of course. But I won't have you homeless; you'll be expected to work off your debt while you stay here... but I promise, it won't be anything you can't handle."
She seemed so royal, yet... her kindness... was it merely a trait of Equestrians?
"I also received word that you were seen in the company of others - very particular others that I happen to know of. Since you seem to be meeting others already, I would like to hear your thoughts on them."
Was... w-was that an order? Debt... oh, to think that an heir apparent such as herself could be suddenly so deep in someone's debt! O tempora, o mores!
"By your command, your majesty. I consider Lemon Custard rather unpleasant and I felt as if he was behaving in deliberately antagonistic manner. I didn't spend too much time with Butter Churn, but she seems to be a solid and useful pony. However, I have some small problems with her... manner of speech. Nothing too hard, however, as we didn't have any problems with talking to each other, it was just surprising a bit. Cupcake Sprinkles..."
She hesitated for a moment.
"... is very strange, I don't think I understand him too much. I thought a talkative liaison would be useful, but right now I think that we are pretty much opposites when it comes to... well, everything. Mica is very calm and collected. Thunderclap is pretty much the exact polar opposite of him, and it surprises me that those two get along so well. Stalwart was the most useful of all ponies here. Also, finally, Gypsy is probably the most interesting creature I've met - especially considering that I've never even heard about diamond dogs before, or about this origami thing he likes to do."
Hopefully it would do. "... I can write a more proper reply in a form of written treatise, if you so desire."
Though Princess Twilight seemed to earnestly consider Obsidian's offer, she eventually waved it away. "That won't be necessary; I was just curious as to how you saw them. I know my subjects well, as royalty should, and I'm interested in what you might have had to say about them."
She began to pace a bit. "Lemon Custard is antagonistic, yes... but he also gets the job done, and his abrasiveness has made those under his scrutiny reveal more about themselves than they would have otherwise. Yourself included. Still, I also find his attitude less than pleasant. So you're not alone, there."
"Butter Churn is fairly simple - though she's far from dumb. She tends to be of the 'slow and steady' variety. Cupcake is... well, he takes a lot after his mother - unlike his brother Custard - and he's easily excitable. He does have his moods, though - but if you like, I'll have a talk with him about it."
"Mica and Thunderclap do make a strange pair, but that's what makes their friendship so unique - and they seem to like it that way. She's brash and headstrong, and he's aloof and steady... they balance each other out, I suppose."
"Stalwart Stance is a very serious pony - she wants so much to be a royal guard. You've seen her size, though - unless she gets any bigger, I don't know that she'll be able to wear the armor, much less do the necessary duties expected of the guard. I'm still hoping she'll get taller... but each year, it seems like the only thing that grows is her desire to be a royal guardpony."
"Gypsy... Gypsy Rover? Yes, he's one of our few diamond dog students at the School of Friendship; we're hoping that his experience here will prove to his community that the school is a good thing, and that they may send more to enroll next year. And yes, the origami he does is rather neat - he made an airship for me when we first met."
She turned to look at the dark princess. "I'm glad to see that you're finding friends, Obsidian - those are far more important than you know, especially in this day and age. Here's to hoping you make even more. In fact..." she gave a small, mischievous grin, "I think that would make an appropriate punishment for you. Princess Obsidian," she said regally, "I charge you, as an act of penance, to..."
Smiling kindly now, she leaned in closely. "... make more friends."
Friends? No, they were just ponies (and a diamond dog) who happened to be nearby; they weren't her friends! She still didn't even know what it truly meant! Obsidian already wanted to correct that mistake in Princess Twilight's reasoning, but stopped as soon as she declared her punishment.
... oh.
"T... that's all, your majesty? I am used to more... direct punishments..." Perhaps there was something more? "And no, your majesty, I don't think that Cupcake needs any more talks about his moods right now, but I humbly thank you for this offer."
So there were more diamond dogs around... except that Obsidian didn't really learn of anything else... except the current status of Stalwart Stance. Perhaps if she wasn't going to be big enough to become a royal guardian, she could make a useful assassin? Her size and magic could create a very dangerous murderer on the monarchy's leash...
Twilight gave her a solemn look. "With how we found you, and what it says about you in Sombra's personal records, I was worried as to what sort of pony you were... but if you're hanging out with the likes of Mica, Thunderclap and Gypsy? Well, I suppose that speaks well of you. And certainly gives me hope that you'll find your place here, as well."
She took on a wistful, distant smile. "Once upon a time, I was under the impression that I didn't even need friends... but Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville, and that's where I met my most favorite ponies of all. More than that, though - through our friendship, rocky as it may have been to start with, I discovered my own purpose... and they discovered theirs as well. And if it hadn't been for us supporting each other, well..." she shrugged, "we wouldn't be having this conversation right now - most likely, you'd still be in suspended animation."
She stepped lightly toward the window, gazing out as she spoke more.
"I hope the experience you have here is one that you will enjoy - or grow to enjoy - over time. And I also hope that the friends you make will be at least as wonderful as my own are."
She looked at her knowingly. "But angry outbursts won't do much good towards that, you know. Still, they didn't have any right to push the way they did; my sincerest apologies. I hope they didn't deter you from having their friendship?"
Wait... his personal records? Did they find some writings of her most honourable father? While Obsidian was indignant at the fact that they basically stole the written personal thoughts of King Sombra, she was at least a bit curious what her parent wrote about her. She had been doing her best to satisfy all of his demands - was it enough for him? Or perhaps there was something about... her mother? Maybe it wasn't the most important issue in the world, but she was, for obvious reasons, interested in it.
But, alas, there were more pressing matters ahoof - the fate of her father, of course, and her punishment. Considering that apparently 'friendship was magic' maybe she could try to understand it a bit more, too.
"Um, an angry outburst? Your majesty, I merely corrected a few mistakes they made. I assure you that this last discussion we had didn't change my attitude towards them, I swear it." It would be hard to change it, though - after all, she was treating them quite coldly at the moment, all according to King Sombra's lessons, of course.
"Well, it may not have changed your attitude much... but I'd be worried that it may have changed their attitudes towards you. Maybe it's a good thing we found you; it seems like the School of Friendship could do you some good in that measure."
She nodded to the guards, who then made their way towards the door.
"Princess Obsidian, I look forward to seeing how you fit into this new world around you; if you should have any issues or questions, my door is always open... and if you cannot find my door, ask anyone here - they know where to find me. For now, however, I have to depart; dignitaries from Yakyakistan are coming tonight, and I have to make certain everything is ready for their arrival."
She took a few steps towards Obsidian, a look in her eyes that said she was trying not to pity the dark princess... but why she wore that look, Obsidian couldn't tell.
"And don't worry - I'll send Cupcake to meet you here... tomorrow; read, rest, and prepare yourself for the morning. Good night, princess."
With that, she gave a slight bow and left the room, the guard closing the door behind them swiftly and quietly.
Yakyakistan? It sounded as if... the yaks had made a civilization for themselves? Well, they did have a thousand years for that, but it was surprising nonetheless. Just another reminder that this world was a bit different from one she knew.
She bowed humbly as the alicorn princess was leaving and... well, she was free to do anything she wanted again.
And, of course, she wanted to read. A lot.
So the local ruler wasn't half as scary as her most honourable father, even though she was probably as powerful as he was. As far as Obsidian was concerned, she had nothing to worry about - it seemed that a transgression worth any painful punishment back home would be almost unnoticeable here.
Thus Obsidian sat down in front of the desk to read comfortably - she didn't want to face the world unprepared, so she had to learn, learn, LEA... ...
Zzzzz.... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Seven: Take Two | [-]
"Your place is HERE."
The jingle of chains ground against her ears like sandpaper.
"Your POWER is the KEY."
She could swear she heard the crack of a whip.
"You WILL obey me."
The stomp of an angry hoof echoed in her head.
"MY will be done!"
Pain... a seemingly endless flow of pain...
"You WILL be properly prepared for the future..."
Bright red eyes with green energy pouring from them, wisps of purple mist issuing from them, in the darkness, staring at HER.
"MY FUTURE!"
Were those teeth, tearing at her flank?
"Because YOU have NONE."
One long, roaring, terrifying scream of conquest, triumph, POWER... [o]
There was a slight, meek knock at the door to the Applejack Suite; was it morning already?
Ah, for a moment she felt almost as if she were back home. The constant mental assault, sounds of chains, overwhelming dark magic and the voice of her most honourable father all around her...
There was no doubt that she would be proud of being a child of such a powerful king as he was - or that she wouldn't do anything she could to fullfill his dark will. To think otherwise would be foolish, and fools weren't known to live very long in her Father's Crystal Palace. She had to live to ensure she didn't let him down. In his presence, she felt... she was... nothing but a dust mote...
... knocking?
It seemed that she fell asleep at the desk - apparently she was more tired than she initially thought, and unfortunately it seemed that sleeping in a chair wasn't too effective. Still, she stood up. "I hear you..." she said with sleep thick in her voice as she trotted over to the door.
Outside stood Cupcake... but he looked as though he was about two seconds from crying. "Um... h-hiya."
He fidgeted for a moment, looking like he was half-expecting her to just start yelling at him. "I, um... made... uh, breakfast. I-if you're hungry, that is. I mean, if you're NOT hungry, we can skip it, it's okay to skip it, we don't have to do anything you don't want to... but I figured, since you seemed to like my cooking yesterday... well, I thought maybe you'd like more of it today, before everything gets started?"
Even when he was feeling miserable, he apparently still had to speak as much as possible, it seemed. Obsidian barely managed to stifle a yawn. She was used to sleeping in rather uncomfortable conditions, but the hard wooden chair was even worse... and using a book as a pillow didn't help either.
"Good morning. Why, yes, I am hungry; how very considerate of you. I need a moment to refresh myself, though, as I just woke up." It seemed as if she didn't even notice his current state... at least until she rubbed her eyes, to wake herself a bit more. Then she saw his expression, and quirked an eyebrow.
"Is everything fine? You seem to be behaving strangely. You aren't sick, I hope?"
It was a very important question, in her opinion. After all, a sick pony could potentailly infect her... and there was no telling what sorts of maladies and viruses might exist in this era.
Cupcake looked at her for a moment, seeming shocked. He then looked outside the door again, then back at her. "This... is the Applejack Suite, right? A-and you... you're Princess Obsidian, right? You..." he gave her a skeptical look, "... Markannus, is that you??? Are you messing with me again?" He looked the dark princess over. "If it is you, Markannus... you're doing an amazing job! You even got the frazzled mane right!"
What was going on? And who was this 'Markannus' he mentioned?
If Cupcake had any doubts about her, they vanished after the glare that Obsidian pinned him with. It was a very glare-y glare. It helped that she was still tired and, thus, she didn't have to work too hard to look unfriendly and irritated.
"What did you say about my mane?"
His eyes grew wide, and he took enough steps back to bump the bed. "OH! That... th-that's m-more like what I was expecting..." He ran a hoof nervously through his mane, and looked at her with a mix of embarrassment and apprehension.
"Well, I mean... your mane always looks so... um, f-frazzled. Like you don't brush it out at all. I mean, yeah, you've only been awake for, like, a single day... but still, I mean..." he gestured to the mirror at the back of the room, "look at it! Honestly, you should take better care of your mane... you are a princess, right? It's just... I've never seen a royal mane so unkempt and... a-and... uhm, fr-frazzled." He looked down a bit. "I'm not meaning to make fun or anything; I'm just surprised, is all. I swear, I'm not being a m-meanie."
Brushing? Hm, it sounded like a waste of time; she was fine with her looks - it was easy to keep and it didn't disturb her lessons.
"One day, perhaps, I'll get the same shadowy mane as my most honourable father has and... oh, right, I forgot. Dark magic is illegal, so that won't happen anytime soon," she growled quietly. Maybe it would be a good idea to at least wash it before going out...
"And I know you aren't being a meanie. However, you failed to reply to my question - you aren't sick, are you?".
"No... N-NO! I just, well..." he sighed, "after yesterday, I wasn't expecting... um..."
His voice got tiny and quiet. "... I wasn't expecting you to be so... um, nice." He blushed and looked down at the floor. "It made me think my changeling friend was playing a prank on me. But no, no..." he gulped as he looked up, "you're you."
The sheepish grin he put on was sincere.
She was behaving... nicely? It seemed that she had to be more careful - otherwise they were going to think that she was becoming fri-
...endly, ah, but there was that punishment given to her by princess Twilight, which meant that she probably HAD to behave that way, right? Obsidian briefly wondered how much truth was actually in the words 'friendship is magic' and how many friends she'd have to get before noticing a difference with her own magic. Perhaps her father would be impressed with Obsidian - Empress of Friendship! What could go wrong?
"Changeling... friend?" It shouldn't surprise her, considering how diverse this place was, but it did anyway. However... it was an opportunity to learn a bit more, perhaps. "I've never heard of one before; I might like to meet him later. However, right now... I need a moment. Excuse me," she apologized before leaving to the bathroom; she probably shouldn't just walk out without at least refreshing herself a bit.
Cupcake nodded (exceedingly glad he wasn't about to be destroyed), and stepped out into the hall. "When you're ready, I'll be waiting out here - we'll head to breakfast as soon as you're ready. After that..." He gave a groan. "After that, I'm supposed to take you to Lemon. For your work assignment. Sorry." The door shut, and she was alone again.
Oh no. Not Lemon. He was, from her experience, NOT a friendly pony. And she didn't want to do some piddling, pointless work! What happened with 'you don't have to do anything you don't want to'? Maybe she should threaten him once again or something... Princess Twilight didn't forbid her threatening others, right?
After moping a few minutes in the bathroom while she cleaned herself up, she came out looking a bit better than before. "... fine. I'm ready. Any ideas what your brother may have prepared for me?"
Cupcake nodded approvingly at her changes... yet he still eyeballed her mane, even if only for a moment, before he began to lead her down the hallway. "Knowing him? Lemon's probably got some mundane little thing to keep you busy - I doubt Princess Twily would make you do anything too hard. But Lemon does like to push his authority around; likely, he'll try to make you nervous about it before he gives you the assignment."
He made a grumpy face. "Lemon, by the by, is a bit of a meanie - just in case you hadn't noticed. But I'm sure you did, 'cause you're pretty smart. And he's a jerky-jerk-face."
Cupcake led her around the corner, and already the smells of his cooking were floating on the breeze. Whatever it was, it smelled like pure ambrosia - mouth-watering and delectable. "I made you some honey-basted biscuits, lemongrass toast with blueberry jam, and some strips of hay bacon - and a tall, cool glass of OJ to wash it down! I hope you'll like it!"
They reached the dining hall, where the spread he'd spoken of was all set out, ready to eat. Aside from the two of them, there was no one else in the big, roomy hall.
The blowhard stallion trying to make Obsidian nervous right now probably wouldn't work out very well for him, or would possibly end quite badly - especially as Obsidian learned that Lemon didn't have as much authority as he wanted others to believe he would have and not even his princess or his own brother seem to think too highly of him. If anything, dealing with him could be, potentially, relaxing for Obsidian... ah, right - no dark magic; such a shame.
"You just spoke so very many words that I don't quite understand..." she admitted as she sat down to her breakfast. Lemongrass? Bacon? Jam? Everything was so new here... but, as her taste buds told her while she ate, utterly delicious. Frankly, if this was setting a precedent, she would gain a bit of weight... which honestly wouldn't hurt, as she was a bit skinny. She did attempt to eat slowly and with diginity, though; as good as it was, it didn't excuse her from her manners.
Cupcake was all smiles as he saw her enjoying the meal he'd prepared. "Y'know, it always makes me smile, smile, smile when I see others enjoying my cooking! I'm glad you like it so much! I'd be happy to make you lunch and dinner, as well, if you're interested?" He seemed so happy, just watching her devour his hard work... and it had to be hard work, because there was so much flavor! And plenty of food, too!
Well, having a personal chef was one of the advantages of being a princess, so she was coming to understand... it would only help her feel more like the proper royalty she should feel like.
"I am indeed interested," she said briefly. "and will the rest of group attend as well?"
Now that was an interesting thought - Princess Twilight told her to 'make more friends', but it was under the assumption that the ponies (and one diamond dog) she met were already friendly with her. However, she first had to be sure about that.
Cupcake lifted an eyebrow. "Uhhhh... they're all in school, right now. I don't think they'll be able to, at the moment. Plus, ummm..." he looked awkward, "... I don't know what it'll be like, after yesterday. I mean, yeah, they were being kinda rude, but..."
He sighed. "You may have hurt some feelings."
Hurt feelings? How could feelings be hurt? She just told them that her father was the greatest king in the world and they were all wrong! Ugh, these modern ponies (and the one diamond dog)...
Maybe it would be a better idea to give up on them and find other friends? Princess Twilight didn't set any sort of deadline, but Obsidian was afraid that she had to hurry - she just had to deal with this annoying thing and get back to the books, just as He liked from her... she assumed. She just had to decide what would be faster - finding new friends or fixing these 'hurt feelings'...
"Oh," she said, chewing on some of the toast with a dollop of jam. "Can you help me with it, then? I'm not sure how to deal with... hurt feelings."
He blinked for a moment, an incredulous look on his face before he said, in almost a whisper, "... haven't you ever had a friend? I mean, I just thought you had friends long ago, but they weren't, uh... a-around anymore. But... honestly, you've never had a friend before?"
His grin suddenly sparked to life. "Well, hey - the School of Friendship would be perfect for you, then! That's where they TEACH all that stuff, and you even get the chance to use it! But, hmmmm," he pondered, "dealing with hurt feelings... okay!"
He reached over, turned a chair around backwards and sat down in it, facing her. "Now, you remember what it felt like when they said all that stuff, right? That angry, angsty, no-goody-feeling? Well, they feel that, too - they're complete folks, too. So the key is to have what's called empathy; put yourself in their horseshoes, and try to imagine what it must've been like to get yelled at like that." He grinned. "That's the first step - because once you understand, you can apologize sincerely. All it takes is thinking like they did, or at least trying to understand what it was like for them. Try it!"
... but of course she didn't have a friend she could 'empathize' with. Where would she get one?
"Cupcake, when you are wondering how many friends I had in my life, remember my castle; the subjects there were either slaves that I couldn't befriend, or my most honourable father that... well, I do not believe anypony could call 'friendly'" she finished in a whisper, as if using the words 'father' and 'friendly' in the same sentence was a terrible curse, or at least a vulgar term.
So... empathy. Hmm. So they felt right about what they said, even though they were wrong? Silly ponies... and of course she didn't have to imagine what it was like to get yelled at - King Sombra wasn't exactly the most quiet teacher or parent in the universe.
"... so we need to steal their horseshoes, so that I may put myself in them. It doesn't sound very hygienic, honestly."
Cupcake gave a giggle. "No, no... not literally! It's like, put your perspective in their place; think what it felt like for them to be told that what they thought didn't matter... remember, they felt like they had the right idea. Have you ever felt what it was like to have your feelings, your opinion just shoved aside? Like, like..."
His muzzle suddenly took on a stern glare, but not at her. "I'll bet Lemon treated YOU like that, didn't he? Like your opinion didn't matter? You remember what that felt like? Well, that might be the way they feel, too." Come to think of it, there had been the whole 'princess' thing, where he'd not only refused to call her by her title, but he'd also told her she was no longer a princess at all, no matter how much she'd tried to say otherwise.
"Yeah," he pointed a hoof at her expression, "THAT is what I mean! I'll bet he was a real butt! I mean, I dunno what he said, but... he's always been like that, so I'll bet he made you mad too, right?" He then gave her a look of understanding. "Now... imagine that they felt the way you did when you effectively told them their opinion didn't matter."
There was a difference, though - her opinion mattered and she was right, while Lemon was stupid and wrong. And stupid.
She obviously didn't say it aloud, though - it would be a shame if Cupcake would realize that she really didn't get this whole 'empathy' thing.
"My most honourable father has been doing things like that to me constantly, so I think I have some insight here," she said. "I think I'm starting to understand, however... So who felt the most hurt? We can make a list, and go with whomever was the most upset first..."
She didn't feel she had to apologize, though - and didn't like this idea. However, it was for the greater good... maybe she'd be able to reach a compromise - or, at the very least, a compromise with herself.
Cupcake shrugged. "I... don't think it works that way, princess; the only one who really knows how it hurt them... is them. But, for what it's worth, we can try to find them and give a simple apology for upsetting them; we'll see where it goes from there. Hey, after all, maybe all it'll take is saying sorry, right?"
He then paused as he thought back on what she'd said. "Um, princess? I'm not gonna assume that your father was... whatever he was... but I do know that the things I've heard you say about how you were treated... well, I don't know what the plan was, but... well..." He sighed, then shook his head. "... never mind; I don't want to upset you again; I like Nice Obsidian! So, after breakfast, maybe we can see if we can work Lemon over a bit." He grinned like a colt stealing from the cookie jar. "When we finally see him, just follow my lead, mmkay?"
"Mmkay" - whatever that meant. She stood up. "I'm quite full already; I'm not used to eating that much. However, Cupcake, mind you - I've been nice Obsidian since I woke up... but if your brother pushes me too much, you will have the honor of seeing a very not nice Obsidian for the first time in your life," she assured him.
Of course even 'not nice Obsidian' wasn't going to be too threatening. After all, dark magic was illegal here. "So... I think it would be the best for us all if he didn't behave in the same manner as he did yesterday."
Cupcake sighed and went to put a hoof on her shoulder... then thought better of it, and simply lowered his hoof. "I can't speak for him, so I can't promise any change in his attitude... but, if you work with me, you'll get to see what can be done to outsmart him."
He grinned... the mischievous one.
He led her out of the dining hall (after cleaning up), and down through several hallways until he came to a row of offices. Following the line, he stopped outside one and, with a conspiratorial wink, knocked loudly and quickly. "Lemooooooooon! We're HEEEEEEE-eeeeeeeere!"
From inside, there was a hefty sigh, then, "Yes, come in."
Cupcake opened the door for Obsidian, then bounded in with more energy than he'd projected yesterday. "My faaaaaaaavorite brother! Didja see, I'm a liaison now! Didja? Didja, hunh? Didja?"
"CUP!" He growled loudly. "For Twilight's sake, how much candy have you had today?"
"Just my usual regimen!" His smile was bright enough to light a cavern.
"Good grief," Lemon groaned... then he saw Obsidian, and he gave a small smile. "So, Obsidian," he sat back in his chair and regarded her, "I take it you're ready for your assignment today, hmmmm?"
At least it seemed that Cupcake was finally learning how to treat her - as putting his hoof on her would be probably a big mistake. It was especially nice as she kept envisioning his ability to be an overly annoying, loud weapon of mass eardrum destruction - but pointed at Obsidian's enemy.
And hopefully Lemon wouldn't be too annoying, as right now even Obsidian was scared of Cupcake's abilities.
"Yes, I am," she walked into the proverbial lion's den, wondering about Cupcake's words. No, not the ones about outsmarting him or anything - rather about Lemon being his 'favorite brother'. Did... did it mean there were more than those two?
"Oh, she sure is!" Cupcake blurted. "She even managed to make some friends and see the school and read some books-"
"What!?" Lemon sat bolt upright. "I specifically said-"
"Didn't you get Princess Twilight's orders? She told Siddy she had access to the library now! If the orders aren't on your desk, you can ask her yoursel-"
"A nice try," Lemon began with a haughty grin, "but you'll never get me to buy tha-"
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes locked on a rather full {INBOX} tray. He reached forward and took a paper from the top with a flick of his hoof, read it thoroughly... then, with a dark scowl, he gave a single grunt, and shoved the paper into a drawer, turning back to face them both.
"Fine." Lemon grumped, his muzzle carved in angry stone. "I don't see why she would allow such a thing, but... well, orders are orders. Though I still don't think it's a very good idea to give her access to potentially dangerous information!"
"But brother," Cupcake said, sounding wounded, "if she's working here in the castle, then it only makes sense that she get the chance to use the library! I mean, there's the one at the School, but she didn't seem to like that one very much..."
That brought a wicked little grin to Lemon's muzzle. "You... didn't like Princess Twilight's School of Friendship? Oh... oh that is perfect. Because, you see, your assignment is there, Obsidian!"
Cup placed his hooves on the sides of his muzzle in mock horror. "Lemon! NOOOOO! That's no way to treat a newcomer! I mean, it's not like she's a meanie or anything-"
"Oh yes," he grinned like the cat who ate the canary, "I'm certain the School of Friendship is EXACTLY where I want you to report to! When you get there, you're to go directly to the headmare's office - they'll keep you busy, I'm sure!"
"Lemon, pleeeeeeeeease don't send her there! She really didn't like it, and-"
"My mind," Lemon said slowly for emphasis, "is made up, Cup. That means she's school-bound... and you are too, o brother of mine."
Cupcake's entire face fell, his body language crumpling like a piece of used tissue paper, and he looked pathetic as he looked at his brother. "But... but Lemmyyyyy..."
"NEVER CALL ME THAT! NOT IN PUBLIC!"
Lemon looked like any satisfaction he might have gotten from bullying Obsidian was effectively stymied by Cup's antics. "Now, get out of my sight! Both of you! And you'd better be at that school, Obsidian! I don't want to hear you've skipped out on this!"
Cupcake hung his head as they walked out of the office... but as soon as the door was closed, he smiled broadly at Obsidian. "Ta-daaaa! Now, onto the school to find the others!" And he began skipping down the hallway, grinning like an idiot. But perhaps not as much of an idiot as he appeared to be?
Oh, so that was that. Obsidian really regretted right now that she couldn't feel other ponies emotions - at least except fear, of course... but, alas, dark magic was illegal, so even that was out of her reach.
Too bad - she was curious if Cupcake was really playing with Lemon that well, or if he was just going along with his brother's nudges and suggestions. Well, at least she didn't seem to get any real, physical work... and Friendship School was close to the place she was currently occupying. It was a welcome bonus.
"I admire your cruelty, Mr. Lemon," she said before she left the office. So now... headmare. And friends.
Oh Father, where art thou? Why couldn't you just come back and take over this entire place? |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Eight: School Daze | The two of them made their way to the school, Cupcake skipping along - practically bouncing - as they reached the campus.
He held the door for her as they entered, and he began whistling a whimsical tune as they made their way through the halls and towards the main offices.
Inside the large office, there was a secretary's desk, a stack of filing cabinets, a typewriter, and two individuals chatting with each other. The mare behind the desk had a dark green coat with a violet mane and tail. She seemed bored... but was still constantly typing, not even looking at what she was writing; she changed papers without ever breaking eye contact with her guest.
Who was a griffon.
The griffon had tan and orange feathers, and there was a big white circle of feathers around his right eye. He wore a school uniform, but looked like he was almost too old to be in school anymore. He spoke with a confident tilt to his attitude. "... so's then, I sized him up an' said, 'look here - this ain't YOUR lunch, but if you don't back off, it'll be your fashion statement, as yer gonna be wearing it, bucko!"
"Sure," the mare said with a bored inflection, "then what?"
"Well, he thought he was big an' bad, so I just-" The griffon now noticed the two newcomers. "Oh, hey Cupcake... who's dis?"
"Princess Obsidian! Here on orders! With me!"
The griffon smiled and rolled his eyes. "Lucky her."
Frankly, she really wanted to try to find a map to this whole place - sooner or later, she would have to walk around without any help from liaisons. Cupcake could easily walk her into a trap and she wouldn't even take notice before she would be surrounded by earth ponies with swords... or something even worse and more modern!
Though, of course, Cupcake didn't look like a pony that would try something like that, luckily. This office where he had brought her, however... a mare and a griffon. Was she the headmare? And this half-bird seemed to be a bit too old for school...
"Good morning. Is... is this the headmare's office?" She could only guess where Cupcake brought her; as far as she was concerned, he could just want to come with her here only to greet his... ugh... friends or something like that. It didn't help that he didn't introduce those two to her.
The griffon smiled, revealing a long scar beneath his beak. "Name's Gunther - Gunther Gadfly. Nice ta meetcha." He thumbed over his shoulder at the typist. "That's Bold Verdana; she's the secretary here."
Bold, still not looking at her work, nodded to Obsidian and Cupcake. "Hiya."
"If yer lookin' for the headmare," Gunther said, "she's in her office."
"Awww, I know that!" Cupcake said. "The princess here has to report to her to find out what we're doing today!"
"Yeah, well - best'a luck with that, Cup. I'm sure it'll be a riot, whatever it is."
There was a buzz from the secretary's desk, then she said, just as disinterested as she'd been before, "I've buzzed you in; go ahead."
"Okie dokie lokie! Thanks a heap, Boldie!"
"Mmm-hmm."
Cup motioned her to follow him as he went into the office. Gunther gave Obsidian a grin and a wink. "Don't mind Cup too much, ma'am - he's hyper, but he can be a heckuva loyal friend, once you get ta know 'im."
Another strange accent... not too strange, though - as long as she was able to understand the basics of what he was saying, it was fine. She could only wonder how much griffon civilization changed since the good, old times that, to her, were only the day before yesterday.
"Well, it's a bit hard not to notice that," she replied to griffon's advice with a calm voice. Cupcake was 'hyper'? Oh, who would think that? After all, he was only speaking more words in a minute than she ever did in a day... and he wasn't even walking, but practically bouncing. Yup. Hyper.
Without any further questions or small-talk, she followed her (apparent) friend into the office.
The office was nice, but not ostentatious; it was professional enough... though the sight of a box kite hanging from the ceiling did lend it a slightly whimsical feel. When she came in, Obsidian found Cupcake talking rapidly to a pink mare with a purple mane, with what looked like some aqua in it to match the slightly creeping grey.
The mare looked past Cup and grinned at Obsidian. "I'll guess you're the one Cupcake here is talking about," she said, "hi there - my name's Starlight Glimmer; welcome to the School of Friendship. I'm the headmare here, and I'm happy to welcome you." She stood up, and it was obvious she was still somewhat spry, even though the marks of age were beginning to show.
"Of course, Princess Twilight already filled me in on what the situation would be... but, I have to admit, I didn't think I was going to see you here so soon." Cupcake grinned, but looked around innocently. Starlight looked skeptical, yet didn't say anything more about it.
"So, if Cupcake's right, you're here to do a little odd-jobbing? Don't worry - it's not like I'm going to ask you to wrangle Shock Bees or anything; just a few light tasks, and you'll be free to go."
"See?" Cup beamed. "Easy-peasy-Lemon-got-squeezied!"
"Lemon? As in your oldest brother, Lemon Squee-... I mean, Custard?" Starlight sighed. "He never did get very high marks in Friendship... and I take it he's still a bit of a bitter pill to deal with?"
Now there was a hard question that began to flit about in her head - should Obsidian bow or not? She wasn't a princess... however, she also wasn't a mere slave. Back in the Crystal Empire everything was far, far easier. Headmare wasn't a royalty, but she had authority over her, so obviously she should pay her respect - but how much?
She bowed eventually - just a bit.
"Good morning, miss headmare. Yes, Lemon assigned me to do some jobs here. Yes, he is behaving like a pony that got too much authority and is trying to get even more." Starlight Glimmer... wasn't there something about her in the history books? Obsidian tried to focus on it; too bad that she fell asleep in the middle of one...
"He's always been like that," Starlight sighed, "even though his mother did everything she could to help him find friends, he just... never saw any merit in it, I guess. I just can't help but feel like I failed him, somehow..."
"Oh no, Headmare! He's just a stick in the mud! He's my brother, though - so I still love him like one... I just don't like him very much!"
Starlight shook her head, then addressed Obsidian. "So, I have a delivery for the guidance councilor, a notice for one of our teachers, and reorganizing the first two shelves of the non-fiction section in the library... after that, I'll be happy to sign you off for the day." She leaned in closely, "Unless you're interested in attending? If so, we can start the paperwork when you're done?"
Well, if one would add Lemon to Cupcake and then divide by two, a result would be two completely normal, average ponies. It seemed, however, that little Cupcake took most of 'friendly' traits completely for himself.
The assignments didn't sound too hard, though. Obviously, she would need to rely on Cupcake's help, since to properly find any councilor or teacher she would need to know who they were first. Or know where to look for them. Or...
Ahem, anyway, she needed Cupcake. And it seemed that her freedom of choice was even bigger than she initially thought, as they were asking her if she wants to attend? Obsidian assumed it would be forced upon her, sooner or later!
"I..." she hesitated for a moment. "... I'm not sure, headmare. Since yesterday, my life changed a bit, and I'm still adjusting. Thus, I'm not even sure if I know enough about anything around me to make a conscientious decision about that."
"Trust me," Starlight said with a knowing smirk, "I understand being hesitant to embrace friendship... but okay, just let me know if you make the choice."
Cupcake smiled at Starlight. "Headmare, since I'm officially excused from class for now, it would be okay for me to accompany the princess around the place?"
Starlight chuckled, "I expect she'd need you to get around... or a map, which I most certainly have." Reaching into a desk drawer, she brought out a printout of the school's basic floor plan - pocket-sized. "Here... in case Cup gets, eh... 'distracted' away from you."
Cup held a hoof over his heart in mock horror. "Headmare Glimmer! I would never-"
Starlight, nonplussed, simply held up a peppermint candy in its' wrapper. Instantly, Cup cut off his sentence and chased it as she lightly tossed it out the door. She then turned to Obsidian once more. "Really, though - Cup's a good friend. Just not a calm or reserved one. Okay," she smiled, "my secretary, Bold, has the deliveries for you, and Cupcake knows where the head librarian is. You should be all set for today. OH! And if there's anything you need, anything at all, don't hesitate to ask!"
It was a bit disconcerting to see a unicorn able to control other pony without dark magic or a mind-control helmet. However, it was apparently an easy trick - and as soon as Obsidian herself would get some candies, she could turn Cupcake into her obedient slave as well!
And everypony was encouraging her to ask in case of trouble or issues... that could prove to be useful as well.
"It's less about being hesitant to embrace friendship, miss headmare, and more about still trying to figure out what exactly I'm doing in a foreign country, thousand years into the future, with no one familiar and with every single life expectation thrown out of the window!"
She couldn't help herself but correct Starlight, surprising herself with a hint or two of bitterness in her voice. Friendship... as if it was the only important thing in the modern Equestria. "I'll do my best to finish everything in as timely a manner as possible. Good day, miss headmare." She turned away to leave the office.
The headmare's voice came to her from behind. "I... may be more able to relate than most; I had my life expectations shattered, no friends, and a lot of bitterness."
The look on her muzzle was actually genuine, and she seemed concerned... but wasn't going to force it. "If you feel like it's overwhelming you, you're always welcome in my office. I may not be in your exact shoes, but I've been close enough. Trust me."
Perhaps it would be a good idea to visit this place again, sooner or later. Obsidian bowed once again, turned away and left. Delivery, notice, shelves... she wondered how big this library could be. A thousand books? Two thousand? Surely no more than that, as the area around them wasn't truly a full-fledged city, but rather an overgrown village; there was no reason to keep so many books nearby.
Hopefully, Cupcake was done with his candy. A pocket-sized map could be useful, but Cupcake's main value was the fact that he apparently also already knew everypony around; no map could replace his experience.
Sure enough, he was seated like a squirrel, on top of Bold's desk, munching noisily on the candy disc. Bold, unperturbed as usual, simply continued on with her typing... though she was leaning back in her chair far enough to avoid his rump, which was practically in her face.
"Odd job, right?" She sounded completely bored. "Fine. There's the package," she pointed a hoof at a plain-brown wrapped box, about as big as a breadbox, "and the letter's under Cupcake."
"OH!" He reached down and pulled it up, holding it out to Obsidian. "Okay, I guess we're off, then!" The front of the letter said {To Professor Fluttershy, c/o Twilight's School Of Friendship}, and had a stamp of a pony she didn't recognize on it.
"Don't lose them," Bold said before she refocused on the window, looking out at the sunny day outside, sighing longingly.
"We won't! Okay, princess! Let's go DO THIS THANG!!!" Cup sprang off the desk like a rabbit, and skipped his way out into the hallway.
Fluttershy... oooh, one of the bearers of the elements of Harmony. Wonderful. Hopefully she would be an easy target - plotting against Princess Twilight would be hard, but Professor Fluttershy should be able to provide Obsidian with some information... with or without her knowledge.
The young mare grabbed both letter and package with her magic and rushed after Cupcake. Errands like these shouldn't take up too much time, and it would be wise to get something to read about Starlight Glimmer, as well.
In his own erratic way, Cupcake led her about the campus a bit before finally getting down to business and bringing her to another block of offices. This one had a name placard on the door: [THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GUIDANCE COUNCILOR IS IN!]
Cupcake smiled. "This is Councilor Trixie - she's lots of fun, and a former stage magician to boot! Don't mind if she gets loud and obnoxious and stuff; she's still really nifty!" He knocked on the door.
"Councilor Trixie, ma'am? Deliveryyyyyyyy!!!!!" From inside came a single word: "Enter!"
Cupcake's smile got brighter. "Heh, watch this!"
With that, he opened the door. At first, it simply appeared to be an office like Starlight's... though there were a number of promotional posters for 'The Great & Powerful Trixie' pinned to the walls in numerous places. However, there was nopony here...
}POOF!{
Smoke filled the room, and a proud voice called out, "Behoooolllllld!" As the smoke cleared, there was a powder blue mare standing on the desk, her forelegs out in a grand gesture, with what appeared to be a cloak on her back, festooned with stars.
"You have reached the offices of The Gr-r-r-r-reat and POWERful..." She stopped mid-sentence, then put on a small scowl. "Oh. It's you, Cupcake - why didn't you say so? Waste of a perfectly good smoke bomb..." She then noticed Obsidian, and she went stock still for a moment.
Then: ".... The, uh, Great - I MEAN, Gr-r-r-r-r-reat and POWERFUL Tr-r-r-r-rixie!"
Cup put on a goofy grin. "Yeah, she's STILL awesome!"
"So," the blue mare took her seat, waving away the last of the smoke and giving a slight cough, "what can I do for you?"
Considering that it was Cupcake calling councilor 'loud and obnoxious', Obsidian was expecting a small disaster, a pony that would be so repulsive that she wouldn't be able to force herself to enter her room - and his comment that she was 'lots of fun' didn't exactly ease her mind.
If anything, for obvious reasons, Sombra's daughter was intrigued by this claim of power and greatness - just who exactly was this mare, and why she was behaving that way?
Could she be a... challenge?
Maybe it was the same thing as with Lemon - a case of pony with a little bit of authority and far too high an opinion about themselves. And what was a 'stage magician'?
As soon as Obsidian entered the room, however, she saw something very, very familiar - smoke. A lot of it. Her first reaction was panicky and not too pleasant; usually smoke like this meant that her most honourable father was nearby, and in a VERY foul mood, if he was able to emit so much of it. Luckily, the councilor had immediately announced herself, putting her nerves on ease a bit.
Obsidian breathed deeply a few times to calm herself, before she levitated package forward. "Good morning. The headmare asked us to deliver this to you."
"A package? I don't recall ordering anything... why did-"
Trixie's own magic enveloped the box... and as soon as it did, the lid flew clean off, there was a loud }POP!{, and party streamers and confetti shot into the air as a score of filled balloons drifted out, and somewhere, a kazoo blew a single note.
Tied to the string of a bright pink balloon was a note that read: [HAVE A GREAT & POWERFUL HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!] Along with this, another balloon floated nearby, a small gift box hanging from its string.
Trixie jumped at first, then gave a half-smirk. "Hunh. Looks like your mother's still got it, Cup; I hardly expected anypony, apart from my Bestie, would even remember! I'm flatt-... ooh, what's in the box?"
She reached over and took hold of the smaller wrapped gift, eyeballed it for a moment, then opened it carefully... and her eyes grew wide when she saw whatever it was. "OH! Oh, WOW - it's perfect!"
She used her magic to withdraw a necklace with a pendant that was shaped like a magic wand; the star at its tip gave off a soft, blue glow. It was fitting, as the glow matched the color of the councilor's coat. With a giggle, she used her magic to fasten it around her neck. That done, she smiled beatifically at Cupcake and Obsidian.
"Trixie is most pleased! Make sure to let your mother know how kind this was of her! Oh, I can hardly wait to show it to Starlight - in fact, I'll show her right now!" She drew herself up onto the desk again, and smiled broadly.
"Please, show yourselves out - The Gr-r-r-r-reat and Powerful Tr-r-r-r-rixie is off!"
There was another large }POOF!{, and the desk was completely empty... though Obsidian caught the last glimpse of a silvery tail slipping out of the doorway behind them.
Cup beamed from ear to ear as he looked around at all the confetti. "That's my momma!"
Now just wait a second - while Obsidian was a bit put-off by the loud sounds around her, she quickly got over herself and started to think about this whole situation: there was literally no possibility that even a few of those balloons would fit into the package! And there were far, far more than balloons inside. Was it magical? Unfortunately she didn't think about scanning it before - it could be interesting, to taste modern magic, even when it was used in a such vulgar way.
"... is your mom a unicorn?"
Wait, that wasn't right - wasn't he the son of Pinkie Pie? Mica tried to explain his family tree to him, but without making notes there was no feasible way for her to remember it all.
"Hold on... as far as I remember, your mother is Pinkie Pie - I believe that, in the books, she was shown as an earth pony? Which makes this whole situation right now..." she sighed with exasperation, "... impossible!"
Cup gave Obsidian a knowing smile. "As I said... that's my momma."
He made a flourishing gesture with a hoof. "She has a magic that's pretty much practiced in defying the laws of... well, everything! She used to be the Element of Laughter, but she's always been weird and wondrous! I think she said something about a 'fourth wall' at one time, but I think she broke it. Still," he continued, "she's always been able to do things that a lot of others say is impossible."
He grew a proud expression. "Impossible just means momma hasn't tried yet! Heck, even ol' Discord says she's one of his favorite pones... after Miss Fluttershy, of course."
Earth ponies with magic... defying the laws of the universe...
Perhaps Obsidian wasn't learned enough to be able to research it properly, yet she was intrigued nonetheless. It seemed pretty chaotic, though, and was used in a way that Obsidian just couldn't approve - but it didn't change the fact-
"Discord? That name sounds familiar; are we possibly talking about a very, very... unconventional creature? At any rate, let us go to Miss Fluttershy already, and you can explain to me the rest during our travel".
"Oh, YEAH! I keep forgetting you're so new to all this!" Cupcake led the way as they left the office, but fell into step next to Obsidian as they continued down the hall.
"Discord the draconequus! He was a problem a looooooooong time ago, and got turned into a pigeon toilet - at least, that's what HE called it - for a thousand years. He got out, though, and tried to go back to his ways of being a TOTAL meanie... but Miss Fluttershy made friends with him - his first friend - and that's what started him on the road to redemption!"
"Since then, he's... been kinda troublesome, 'cuz he likes chaos and stuff, but he's no longer trying to turn Equestria into Chaos Central; he's living in his place in the Outer Realms, where he and Miss Fluttershy have tea parties and such." He smiled. "He used ta foalsit me and my siblings; he's sooooooo much fun, and he's really cool, too! This one time, he gave us all wings, and we flew all over the place, just like pegasi! Well," he amended with a sheepish grin, "more like clumsy, blind seagulls actually - we had the wings, we just couldn't control them very well! I had a blast, though!"
They reached the end of the hallway, where it almost looked as though the doorway to the last classroom was nothing but a bunch of vines.
"The doorway's a bunch of vines," Cup explained, "because Miss Fluttershy just loves nature and animals and stuff like that; she says it makes the critters feel more comfy!"
So modern Equestria had a problem with a mad god of chaos - a problem that they brought on themselves. He sounded pretty tame right now, but it didn't change the fact that he was THE spirit of disorder, brought to heel only with this so-called 'friendship'. It had to be a powerful force indeed; to hear such casual talk about such a legendary powerful being was a bit unnerving, to say the least.
In Sombra's daughter's humble opinion, the situation was far too delicate to just ignore... but it wasn't her problem. At least not now, and not too big to handle, perhaps? Besides, giving wings to foals didn't sound too unreasonable... in fact, it was downright tame, in comparison to what he was before.
"Vines? Inside?" She trotted forward to examine them closer. Honestly speaking, there wasn't much in the way of plantlife in her Crystal Empire... especially under her father's rule. Especially especially in his palace.
"Critters? Cupcake, what exactly does she keep in her class?"
Cupcake laughed. "Well, come find out!" With that, he easily pushed the vines aside and entered the classroom. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Nine: Critters & Bugs | Inside, there was a LOT of plantlife; ivy covered the walls and ceiling, and there were overgrown planter boxes everywhere. But, even with all the foliage, everything was trimmed back well enough away from walking spaces, so there was still plenty of room to move.
All sorts of exotic-looking flowers were scattered about the classroom, but there were also animals here! Along the walls were a number of birds and squirrels, all nested in and cozy, and there were a few raccoons, some small foxes, and several rabbits. Seeing the large, grey-streaked bear sitting calmly at the rear of the class was a bit disconcerting, though.
A small jungle in the classroom? It was probably driving the cleaning slav-... er, staff mad, especially if these critters weren't taught to 'do their business' only in specified areas. Particularly especially the bear - stepping into his waste probably wouldn't be too pleasant, she wagered. Especially especially if there were things stuck in it... like, for instance, equine bones.
In the midst of all this was a small gathering of students, mostly ponies but a few other races were present, all paying rapt attention to a single mare at the center of it all. She had a creamy yellow coat, and a mane of long, flowing hair of a soft pink, the grey in it standing out like slivers of silvery dew.
Her eyes, however, held the kindest look that Obsidian had ever seen; it was almost alien to the cruelly-abused princess.
She was currently speaking to them... something about animal care... when she spotted them entering the classroom.
"Oh! Class, would you please excuse me for just a moment?" She made her way over, a long tail trailing behind her, flowing like water. She stepped close, and those beautiful eyes widened as she saw Obsidian.
"Hello, Cupcake... oh! I see you brought a friend! One I don't recognize... is she a new student?"
Cup smiled. "Oh, I hope she will be! Professor Fluttershy, meet Princess Obsidian of the Crystal Empire!"
The kind-eyed mare gave a polite, humble bow. "A Princess? Oh, it's an honor to-... wait." She looked at Cupcake curiously. "She doesn't look like one of Cadence's children, so who is-"
"Uhhhhh... no. She's... not. She's the one that Princess Twilight found in... i-in Sombra's old dungeon."
Fluttershy's eyes went wide. "Oh my! You poor, poor thing..." The mare's eyes teared up a bit. "When Twilight told me about finding you down in such a cold, hard place... why, my heart just went right out to you! I'm so sorry; you must be going through a LOT, adjusting to life in this time period!"
Though Obsidian wasn't exactly an animal expert, she was willing - in this case - to give miss Fluttershy the benefit of the doubt when it came to their relative safety... and aside from that, she just couldn't force herself to dislike her. There was something so... non-threatening in her.
No, that didn't quite sound right... maybe 'counter-threatening' would be a better term?
That was surprising - considering the fact that she was one of the much-lauded Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, she probably had a lot adventure in her life; to see a pony so gentle after those possible experiences was something to think about. And it spoke much of Fluttershy, as did her manners; she found the pegasus mare to be quite polite and respectful.
"Good morning, Professor," she bowed a bit as well, in response, "yes, I have to admit that everything is... er... rather different from the conditions I had back home."
She peeked a bit at Cupcake, the number one of those Very Different Things she'd met here.
"Headmare Starlight ordered us to deliver a message," she added quickly, levitating a scroll to the pegasus mare. After all, she was in a middle of class - Obsidian felt that she really shouldn't interrupt it.
"Oh! Thank you so very much." Fluttershy took the scroll in hoof and placed it gingerly into her mane, just behind her ear. "I'll have a look at it first thing, as soon as class is over; I appreciate you taking the time to do this for me."
Cupcake was, meanwhile, waving at members of the class, who quite apparently knew him personally. Four ponies (including one lovestruck-looking mare), two griffons and a... dragon?
There was a dragon in this classroom, and she hadn't noticed? A fire-breathing, gem-chewing, greedy lizard among ponies? Well, this school was surely SOMETHING - but she wasn't exactly sure what yet. To be fair, the dragon itself wasn't exactly looming in size; he was just a bit bigger than a regular pony... so maybe he wasn't a threat at all?
At least, he was nothing near what her tutors had taught her about - maybe they'd been excluding information, or perhaps it was merely outdated?
"Well, I do hope you manage to find something in this era that will bring you happiness, Princess Obsidian; with all you've been through, and what Sombra had planned for you... well, I'm just glad we found you!"
Carefully and gently, she reached out and gave the timidest of embraces to the dark princess; there was barely contact, and no squeeze to even consider... but the genuine care and affection was still most certainly there - and she did so without hesitation.
The contact was the least-intrusive touch she'd ever felt in her life... and the most loving one.
"I-if you'll excuse me, I still have a class to teach... but you're always welcome to stop by and visit me, if you'd like that. And I do hope to see you in class, should you choose to attend. I would be so very happy to see you there!"
With that, she gave another respectful, gentle bow and returned to her podium, giving a sweet little wave before she returned to her lesson. Cupcake waved back, and most of the animals returned it. The animals were so calm around Fluttershy... she also seemed to have a magic, all her own.
Fascinating...
Wait. Waaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiit... what was that about what her most honourable father had planned for her?
Princess Twilight had already mentioned that they had found his writings... but did Professor Fluttershy possibly know something more? And... why in Tartarus did she touch her? If it had been an attempt to strangle her, it certainly didn't work - but she truly didn't look like the type that would enjoy choking the life out of ponies, so most likely it was something else. Something friendly.
Then she noticed that animals were waving to them.
It was too much - she simply bowed and quickly left the classroom, flustered, confused and kinda excited about everything that happened here. Cupcake followed her out, a look of concern writ large on his muzzle.
"Ummmm... you... don't look okay. Princess, what's wrong? Are you okay? I mean, yeah, sometimes Miss Fluttershy's kindness is a bit overwhelming at times, but..." He continued to look at her with concern. "If you wanna talk about it, I'm right here - I might be able to answer it, if it's a question that's bugging you?"
She didn't even look at him; she was still mulling over everything that had happened to her. Maybe Professor Fluttershy would tell her more about her most honourable father's plans... she certainly seemed to know something or other that Obsidian didn't.
"I'm used to many things, Cupcake. Professor Fluttershy is a complete opposite of all of them! Every single one.
Just cultural shock, honestly; thou need not concern yourself about that," she intoned as she shook her head.
Those waving animals... it was not natural. It was so sweet that her teeth almost started to hurt.
Cup still wore a look of concern... but, with a small sigh of resignation, he nodded. "Princess, I... get the impression... that you haven't had very many nice things in your life. And honestly? I think that's a crying shame."
Almost as if the words conjured them, slight tears formed in the corner of his eyes.
"Not allowed good food, not taught how to care properly for your mane, never having had a friend... and kindness seems so foreign to you... oh, it actually kinda hurts me that you weren't treated like you were loved."
He held up a hoof, "No, I'm not being a meanie by saying that, I just... it's not fair. It's just not fair that you were treated so harshly that you don't even know how to handle meeting the Element of Kindness."
Cupcake wore a look that was a mixture of sorrow, pain and concern. The first two emotions, she was well aware of, but... the concern for her - not pity, but actual concern - was so obvious... but why?
"I wish I could help you understand friendship faster, but... but it's kinda something you gotta discover for yourself. I mean, forcing friendships is just... well, it's not being a real friend; it's just controlling someone." He sighed. "And history shows that that never ends well."
She literally told him just now that he doesn't need to be concerned, and yet he got concerned! These modern ponies just didn't know when to stop. Eww, it even seemed that he was crying! Disgusting!
"Life is not fair, Cupcake. I understood and accepted my role and everything that was connected with it. Everything... er..."
Pausing, she looked to the sides, to be sure that nopony else was there to overhear them. "Um... you have... pardon my language... tears in your eyes. Tell me, are those considered, in this world... indecent?"
She still remembered what happened last time when she dared to cry; her father had personally made it a certainty that she wouldn't ever dare to do so again in his presence.
Of course, she'd like to argue that controlling others is great, but this time she knew better - considering that her last 'outburst' (though she didn't consider it as one) left her without any 'friends', she didn't want to start a quarrel... especially in front of professor Fluttershy's classroom.
Cupcake wiped at his eyes, but tears still lingered. "Princess... no."
He sighed heavily. "Whatever was going on a thousand years ago, it's no longer relevant. Plus, the kind of treatment you were getting wouldn't have just been considered harsh... it would be called cruel and terrible."
"And I know life isn't fair - but that's why we do so much to make it as good as possible now! There's no call for starving anyone, or beating them, or punishing them for every tiny infraction!" Though it was obvious he felt passionately about the subject, he was following Obsidian's example and keeping his voice low.
"You were treated so mean... but, you don't have to suffer that stuff anymore; Sombra is gone, and he can't do anything to you anymore. He does NOT own you - you're free to be yourself now! No more harsh treatment, no more painful lessons, no more torture... and there's a lot of folks here that would probably be glad to be friends with you, help you learn about this world, maybe even help you get by in it!"
Again, he went to put a hoof on her shoulder... then thought better of it, and put the hoof back down.
"I really, reeeeeeally want to see you happy, y'know? My momma always said that spreading happiness to others is a gift: joy and good cheer help others feel better, so they actually end up having a better quality of life for it."
"I... I wish I had the words to help you see what I mean, but..." his face fell, "I gotta have patience, and keep on trying. You're smart - I'm 101% certain that you'll figure it out, and it'll stop being so frustrating for you. I just hope you do so sooner than later."
Especially with this stallion as her liaison - even his breakfast was royally-good, which meant that Obsidian was at risk of turning into a gluttonous, fat pig...
He was about to go on, when Obsidian heard a familiar voice:
"... yeah, and then I managed to finish my laps around the track before anyone else; that's why I'm a top-notch flyer, just like my awesome mom!"
That was the voice of Thunderclap Dash, bragging to what looked sort-of like a changeling... but the carapace was all colorful and such. Cupcake was so busy talking about feelings that he didn't even notice.
It seemed that Cupcake was, more or less, understanding her situation - though he was still looking at it from different, strange angles that were twisting her entire life into a series of cruelty, pain and tortures for no reason. Hopefully he'd sooner or later realize that her most honourable father was just doing everything he could to shape her into a proper tool.
Was there a better fate than to be used properly and fit into the world?
In a way, he was right; her father no longer owned her - at least not until his glorious return. It meant that she had to take care of herself, recall his lessons, and behave as a royal would... though she wasn't sure how long she would manage to avoid all the self-indulgent happiness and other joyful things that could corrupt her.
"Cupcake. Thunderclap is coming this direction, with... er..." she hesitated for a moment. "... I have no idea what it is. Let's intercept them."
He looked up, surprised but quickly recovering. "Oh? OH! Okay, yeah - now would be the time to try your hoof at apologies! I mean, she'll have to apologize too, but it's not impossible. Plus, as Professor Fluttershy always says: Apologizing first opens the way for others to do so, too!"
Clap and her... friend, one would assume... were almost right on top of them before they were noticed.
Thunderclap stopped short, and the accompanying entity stopped with her. "Huh? Oh, hiya Sid-..."
She abruptly stopped, then a look of neutrality settled onto her features. She didn't look... angry... as much as she seemed... cautious? Wary? Whatever the expression was, it didn't look right on the mare's muzzle.
"... Obsidian." She glanced next to her. "Cupcake." She looked like she wanted to be friendly... but it seemed like she was reserving herself, in case Obsidian didn't want to be friendly with her.
Apologizing first... so, that was like a war strategy?
She just had to start a pre-emptive attack, then. Hmmmm... perhaps the key of understanding 'friendship' was comparing it with an armed conflict? Of course she had a long way before she could call herself a Supreme General of Friendship - at the moment, she failed to even notice that Thunderclap seemed so hesitant.
"Good morning, Thunderclap. I'd been planning to find you later, so I'm glad we found each other. I truly hope I didn't hurt your feelings yesterday, and I'm s-..." she coughed - nothing serious; she just had a dry throat! Really! It's not like she literally choked on apologies or anything!
"... I'm sorry for upsetting you". It was probably the most dry apology in the universe, but at least she tried.
The change in Thunderclap's attitude was almost instantaneous.
"Whaaaaat, that thing yesterday? Ah, that was nothin', Siddy - friends argue all the time, y'know? Don't worry about it; we're cool! And hey, I'm sorry too - I mean, I don't know what-all you had to go through, where you're from... I didn't mean to pree... prez, uh... pree... um..."
"... presume?" Offered the weird beetle-thing next to her.
"Bless you," Clap said. Cupcake giggled behind a hoof.
"But yeah, it's all good - no harm, no foul, right?" Regardless of her words, Obsidian got the distinct impression that Clap was very relieved that 'Siddy' was still wanting to be friends. The bug-thing, whoever it was, simply stood back and allowed conversation to happen.
"So, you enroll in Friendship School already?" Clap asked curiously. "If so, you pick up fast; Fluttershy herself says 'apologizing first opens a road'... or something like that. Anyhoo, what're you doin' here, Siddy?"
That one was easy, it seemed. Nothing too complicated. If Mica and Gypsy will accept her apologies that quickly as well then, apparently, Cupcake was just making too much fuss about this whole situation yesterday.
"We've been told to run a few errands in the school by Lemon. I didn't enroll, but I consider it very likely in the close future. I will also have to meet Mica and Gypsy later, of course. Maybe Butter Churn as well", after all she needed all friends she could get, right? She trotted forward and went to put a hoof on Clap's shoulder... then, as if she thought better of it, she put the hoof back down.
Cupcake had done it twice already, it was surely something friendly?
"Now, could you perhaps introduce us?", she peeked a bit at the colorful, walking... something near Thunderclap. It looked like a... uhhhh... maybe a bug? Or a very, very weird pony. A very weird bug-pony?
Clap's lip curled in disgust. "Uck... Lemon! Cup, why in the wide, wide world of Equestria do you have him as a brother? How could he come from your mom?"
Cupcake shrugged. "I ask myself that all the time... and I never answer. Hmm."
"Still... uck. Anyhoo, you feel like... me, um... t-tagging..." she watched Obsidian raise & lower her hoof. "... what was that? Were you trying to do this?" Clap reached out and gave Obsidian a firm pat on her shoulder; it didn't hurt, but it sort of made her take a step back; Thunderclap Dash was a rather muscular pony, after all.
Was that what Cup had been doing? Avoiding touching her?
"Cute. But hey, y'gotta learn somehow, right?"
When she mentioned Gypsy and Mica, Clap's ears drooped a bit. "Uhhhhh... yyyeeeeaaaahhhhh... Gypsy was kinda, just... I dunno... he kinda felt bad, like he'd messed up or something. Mica..." she sighed, "... he might need some time. He kinda took it personally when you said... uh, that stuff you said." Great.
"Oh, but yeah - this here is-"
"Markannus," the bug pony said, "a Reformation Changeling. Charmed." He gave a little bow, then straightened up with a smile. "I hope Cup here hasn't been talking your ears off."
Cupcake pointed at Obsidian's head. "Nope - they're still there!"
Yesterday she had truly regretted that she still had ears on her head; today... well, she had at least gotten used to it somewhat, and of course Cupcake was a bit more humble.
Right now, however, Obsidian was more concerned and shocked by a sudden pat on her shoulder, and realization that maybe Cupcake tried to do the same with her. She had risen one hoof and started to rub the patted place, not sure what to do with this sudden physical contact.
Apparently it was her lesson for today - never try to parrot Cupcake's actions. Especially without asking him what they mean; it was just a bad idea that led to unsolicited contact.
"Cupcake, I'll have to talk with you about patting others later, apparently... just to be sure that I understand everything I can about it."
Cupcake's mouth opened and closed for a moment, confused at what she meant... then, like watching a little light turn on inside his cranium, understanding dawned on his muzzle.
"Oh, uhhh... I didn't do it 'cuz you... umm, you seem like you don't... really wanna be touched. I wanted to, 'cuz it's supposed to be for comfort - unlike some ponies who don't know their own strength, who make it hard and awkward."
Clap looked confused. "Whaaaaaaat? I just-"
"It's okay; I'll explain it all later, Princess."
At least she learned what happened with the rest of the group... and who Thunderclap's companion was. "A changeling... hunh. Your species looked different in the books I've read..."
Of course it was thousand years ago, so apparently something had happened to them that altered their physiology. In her opinion, something obviously quite terrible and cruel.
"I am Princess Obsidian - would you like to be my friend?"
Another friend - it would be a good start. Unfortunately, Princess Twilight didn't tell her how many friends she had to make... better safe than sorry, right? Besides, more friends meant she was excelling in her task; the alicorn would be duly impressed by the sheer size of the roster she would gather!
After her observation on changelings, Markannus nodded. "There are two types of changelings, and both have different appearances: those who feel that taking love to survive is their birthright, or 'Forthright Changelings', hold the classic look the stories all give... and those who feel it better to share love between creatures, or 'Reformation Changelings', have more color to them, like I do. The kind you're familiar with is probably the former kind, like most others."
At her asking if Markannus wanted to be her friend, both Cupcake and Thunderclap's muzzles lit up with smiles.
"THAT'S the ticket, Siddy!"
"Yeah, that's wonderful!"
Markannus, confused, looked at them both before giving Obsidian a half-grin. "Sure... but those two seem to think it's some sort of momentous occasion or something. Weird. Anyway, nice to meet you, princess; you might like meeting our king, someday."
Good. Another friend made, and apparently one as interesting as Gypsy.
'Reformed' changelings with their own king... maybe she'd be able to find something in the history books about it? And, of course, both Cup and Clap seemed to be overjoyed at the gesture.
But why? They reacted as if it was something strange, yet they were, literally, in a school of friendship. Surely it was something normal they should be used to by now?
"They both tend to surprise me with their reactions, and yes, meeting a king sounds very interesting."
Now, what sort of things should friends be doing? Did it count already as being done? Maybe she should be making a list - and each of her friends would have to sign it, stating that that, yes, they are definitely her friends, officially.
"I still have one thing to do, in the school's library, and then I have to go to meet with Gypsy and Mica. Are you possibly interested in going with us?"
Clap smiled broadly. "Yeah, I would! I mean, it's not like I'm really missing anything from mom's class, so I'd be happy to join you two!"
"As for me," Markannus said, "I'm afraid I'm only out of class to check on my brother; he's been shedding his carapace, and always has trouble-"
"-coming out of his shell!" Cupcake finished with him, laughing.
Amused, he continued. "So I'll have to take a pass on that for right now; another time, perhaps?"
Shedding his carapace? Obsidian, for a moment, was curious about that - how did it look? What did they do with it afterwards? There were so many things she felt she could learn from this creature... but alas, she already had her duties and there were other things that she wanted to understand today.
Cupcake waved a hoof at the changeling. "Sure, no problem - I'm sure Obsidian wouldn't mind, would you?"
Clap laughed. "Of course she doesn't mind! Siddy here is poised to make more friends than anyone else in the history of this school!"
"That," Cup intoned, "would be up to her. I mean, I hope she does, but it's her call; no way am I making decisions for her - how will she learn, otherwise?"
She also had to be careful around Thunderclap - this 'more friends than anyone' sounded like a threat. She already had far more 'friends' than she felt comfortable with, and still wasn't sure what exactly this whole 'friendship' deal was.
"I'm looking forward to our next meeting, then," she replied calmly. Diamond dogs were already a curiosity to her - these 'Reformed Changelings' could prove just as interesting.
Markannus smiled. "As do I - farewell." He glanced at Thunderclap. "And behave yourself."
"Whaaaaaaat??? I'm always behaved... even when I'm not!"
The changeling shook his head bemusedly, then made his way down the hall. Clap fell in behind Obsidian and Cupcake; smooth as if she'd been there the whole time. "So, we're headed to where to see who?"
"Library, to visit some non-fiction books!" Cup seemed to almost gleam with that statement. Clap, however, stuck her tongue out in disgust.
"Ick. Sorting duty. Sucks to be you..." she sighed, "... aaaaand ME, by proxy, so we might as well maintain our partnership here. Can I just sit back and... I dunno... read something?"
"If you're sorting," Cup perked up, "I could pitch in & help it go by faster!"
Hm, so Cupcake was offering her help... good. It looked like she wouldn't have to work too hard - not that sorting was truly all that hard, though. After all, placing things in their proper order was a monarch's duty - so she had to do it as well.
If anything, it should be entertaining... for a bit, anyway.
And maybe, MAYBE... there would be some information about Headmare Starlight among the stacks - Obsidian was certain that she'd already noticed her name in one of the history books, but she had read too much in too short of a time and didn't retain as much as she'd wished.
"Library... I can hardly wait to see it with my own two eyes," she sighed.
Oh right, there was one more thing: "I also assume that you two are already my friends. I am correct, yes?"
After all, Obsidian never asked those two officially; she just wanted to be certain.
Clap gave a bark of a laugh. "Well, sure we-"
"Acquaintances, actually!" Cup interrupted. "We're still getting to know each other, so we're technically acquaintances, or 'friend potentials', so to speak... once we really get to know each other, we'll graduate to friends..."
His eyes got big, wide and teary. "But the thought that you're concerned enough to ask us if we're friends? Oh, that's exactly the kind of things friends do!"
Clap scratched her head, looking confused. "They do? I've never asked Mica if HE was my friend before; he was just... y'know, there."
Cupcake laughed. "Silly filly! You two have spent so much time together, you're practically siblings! Of COURSE he's your friend! Once you reach a certain point, you won't even need to ask - it'll be obvious!"
He glanced back at Obsidian. "Might wanna make a note of that, princess!"
It was only about a minute before they rounded a corner and beheld the large double-doors of the school's massive library. There were shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books, everywhere and almost as far as Obsidian could see! There were a few ponies milling about, but for the most part, they were pretty much by themselves.
After a moment of staring at the handy map next to the checkout desk, Cupcake proclaimed the non-fiction section to be 'over this way', and led them towards the back of the book-canyons around them.
Reaching the location, the three of them found two ponies already there... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Ten: A Bookish Sort | "Where IS that stupid tome!" came a cultured, regal voice with just a hint of distress.
"If the card catalogue says it's here, it has to be here. Calm down, okay?"
"I swear, if you tell me to 'calm down' one more time..."
Two stallions, their muzzles buried in piles of non-fiction books that were currently not at all on the massive shelf where they belonged; if she had to organize all of these, she'd be busy 'til midnight!
One stallion was impeccably dressed, in a suit of a deep pine green with golden trim and a simply divine overcoat of what looked like ermine. Definitely a fashion plate. Otherwise, he appeared to be lean and wiry, made more for speed than muscle.
The second one had a velvety-black coat, and was chiseled and firm. Honestly, he looked as sturdy and proud as her father once had... except this stallion was not her father. He wore a simple barding, but one made to fit a workhorse... which, if his powerful frame were any indicator, he was.
Thunderclap instantly blanched. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh- how does my mane look! Cup! Do I look okay? I don't wanna be caught looking frumpy by... by..."
Cupcake rolled his eyes. "Eloquence hasn't even seen us yet, Clap - calm down!"
Cup had called them 'aquaintances'... was this a betrayal? At the moment of triumph? Did it meant that, to gain "more" friends, she would have to get even more than she initially thought - to make up for Cupcake and Thunderclap being only 'acquaintances'?
Truly, she was going to remember that treachery and one day... one day... perhaps she will understand what Cupcake was talking about enough to decide whether or not it was worth punishment.
Oh, wait - he wasn't her slave, so she wasn't in any position to punish him.
And besides, she could always ask about it later to get a far better explanation from him. After all, making friends was HER punishment for her crime of walking around without liasion, and she didn't feel like she could properly explain to Princess Twilight why she had ignored it.
However, Obsidian's mood quickly got better as soon as she saw the library. She had never seen so many books in a single place before - which was not exactly surprising, as she'd never seen much of a world before - but it was enough to stun her for a moment.
Of course, she wasn't very talkative anyway, so Cup and Clap would hardly notice much change.
"Shouldn't we first report ourselves to the library's supervisor?" she asked as Cup was leading them inside, to the non-fiction section... however, it seemed that there was now a new problem:
Other ponies.
Of course, it was normal; they were surrounded by so many creatures... but these two got a strong reaction out of Clap - and out of Obsidian, as at the first sight of the sturdy black-coated stallion, she stepped back for a moment before she got ahold of herself.
"... what's happening with Thunderclap, Cupcake? Who are these ponies?", she asked, slightly nervous.
Cupcake smiled broadly. "The one wearing the fancy-schmancy outfit is Eloquence-"
"The most together and hip fashionisto in all of Equestria!" Clap practically sang, her eyes looking rather soft and UN-Clap-like.
Cupcake chuckled. "And he happens to be the child of another Element Bearer, Rarity! He certainly gets a lot from his mother, but he's also his own pone, so to speak. The other one..."
Cupcake grinned even wider. "That's Licorice Twist. He's a ladies' stallion, all suave and stuff - that's his trademark. The fillies all swoon over him, and he's always schmoozing somewhere around. He's just like that. A liiiiiiittle on the dull side of the knife, but he's not dumb by a long shot."
Cupcake then walked over and tapped the black stallion on his flank. The stallion lifted his head from the pile... which revealed a rather attractive male muzzle. That muzzle looked curious until those dark violet eyes locked on Cupcake; the look was replaced with a small, collected smile.
"Brother... what are you doing here?"
"Brother? Which one? Is it Lemon, because HE would know what I'm looking for..."
The other stallion lifted his head, and-GWWAH!!
"Oh, it's Cupcake. Salutations."
The primly dressed stallion was as ugly as sin! His eyes were mismatched and off-centered, his teeth crooked, his lip split and his nostrils were two different sizes! He was hideous!
And she was certain she wasn't related to Licorice - a good thing; for a moment she was really worried about... well, about something not really specific, but it was enough to stop her heartbeat for a moment. Luckily her, uh, aquaintances quickly explained everything.
Obsidian liked explanations. Getting into new situations without any prior knowledge was scary, annoying, stressful or outright infuriating, after all. However they didn't explain what was happening to Thunderclap. It was strange. Nopony used any sort of spell on her, right? However, she hadn't known her for too long, so maybe it wasn't as strange as she thought it was...
And, oh, wonderful, another brother of Cupcake's! How big was his family? His mother probably deserved a medal for birthing new slaves taxpayers and friendship-bringers... and hopefully the other pony didn't have any brothers and sisters. It wasn't right, to spread around genes that could result in something like THAT.
Despite that she followed Cupcake, hoping for him to introduce her. She was supposed to be meeting new ponies... but there were too many of them, and she still didn't know how to exactly welcome one! Until now she was either welcomed by them (just like with her first meeting with Cupcake and Churn) or introduced by her companions.
Hopefully she would never have to go through this process alone...
Cup smiled. "Licky? Elo? This is Princess Obsidian, of the Crystal Empire!" He made a grand, sweeping gesture as he did his utmost best to give as grand an introduction as he could.
"Princess?" The ugly stallion pondered, "Crystal Empire, you say? She doesn't look like one of Cadence's children - too dark - but she certainly has the regal posture of one... and those cheekbones, oh darling! You would be simply smashing in something crimson or royal purple - maybe even orange could work, though it would have to be for a Fall ensemble..."
As Eloquence spoke, Clap simply stared at him with dreamy-eyed awe. What Thunderclap Dash saw in such a stallion, there was no telling.
Meanwhile, Licorice gave Obsidian a short, neat bow. "A pleasure." His eyes lingered a moment on her, but he managed to pull them away to look at his brother once again. Strangely, side-by-side, she could now see a family resemblance between them - but she'd have never guessed unless she'd seen them both together.
"My dear, have you ever considered the world of 'Modeling'? With your looks, I'd dare say you would be all the rave this season! Perhaps brush a few kinks out of the mane and tail, a good coat-scrubbing, maybe even a horn polish..." he chuckled, "Oh, yes - you'd be quite the heartthrob, I assure you. Lick?" He looked to the dark stallion, "you may have some competition here, with the 'dark and broody' look. And I believe she would pull it off better than you do."
Licorice simply gave a half-hearted shrug. "Whatever - I never said I claimed a monopoly on brooding, Elo."
Eloquence gave Licorice a flat stare. "You know, when I'm actually trying to get a rise out of you, it would work so much better if, y'know, you actually got offended."
A shrug from the handsome stallion. "So you're trying to offend me?"
Elo rolled his eyes and muttered, "Yes and no, darling - yes because it gets the blood flowing, and no because you are my friend. I just sometimes wish my friends were easier to rile up."
Licorice simply shrugged again.
... oh damn, they were talking. A lot. Again.
That was a serious downside of being introduced to new ponies by Cupcake and the other 'acquaintances' of hers - each time it happened, they already knew each other and were talking, laughing and carrying on. For a moment, Obsidian felt like an intruder... or like an invader - which, in her eyes, was a far more favorable term.
"I'm not Princess Cadence's child; I am an heir of her predecessor, the most honourable and illustrious King Sombra," she explained calmly, trying to get first things first. It would be a shame if somepony would think she belonged to the usurper's dynasty.
"And... thank you?"
At least she thought that this comment about cheekbones was a compliment. What did he want from her? Well, her father DID like crimson...
It was hard to believe, at least for the moment, that the handsome stallion could be related to Cupcake - and to Lemon! She wouldn't complain as much if his brother would talk as much as he did... also, black licorice was one of her favourite rare sweets. Not that she'd tasted too many of them in her life...
Frankly, her father hadn't given her much of a choice.
"I'm not even sure what modeling is, I'm afraid.. which by extension means that I have no idea what you want to do with my coat and horn... or why."
Future ponies were strange. And what did 'heartthrob' mean? Was that an idiom?
"Darling. Pookie. Sweetheart. Are... a-a-are you serious?"
"Uh, Elo?" Cupcake began, worry writ large on his muzzle, "She isn't-"
"Modeling," he began with a grand flourish, "is what all the properly beautiful mares and stallions do, of course! To wear the latest and greatest fashions, to have your photo taken & printed in fashionable magazines, to be seen all over the world! My dearest, Modeling... is...life!" He struck a dramatic pose, and held it firmly... until Cupcake gave a short giggle, then Elo straightened himself and smoothed his mane back.
He may have looked ugly, but Elo seemed like he had enough personality to make up for his physical shortcomings... in spades.
"What I want, simply put, is for you to consider taking up Modeling - after all, I have access to some pristine fashions, and I am quite the shutterbug; it would be an honor for such an exquisite creature as yourself to allow humble little me to take your photos and share them with all of Equestria! Why, I daresay with a face like yours? You could conquer Equestria by looks alone!"
Eloquence pulled out a notepad and began jotting notes with the pen held aloft by his horn, but Licorice stepped a bit closer.
"King Sombra? So... you're from... another time?" Licorice's voice was silken and deep, it was like chocolate for her ears.
Ok, so modeling was wearing fashions. Now she only had to learn what 'fashions' were... and fashionable magazines... aaaaand photos. Maybe not now, perhaps - it would be probably be a more wise decision to ask about it from somepony who wasn't so much into it.
... but conquering Equestria? Yes, that something she could appreciate!
She made a mental note to talk to Eloquence later, she could always avenge her father's defeat by placing herself on an Equestrian throne. Maybe modeling was some kind of warfare?
She nodded to Licorice. "Yes. My last memory before waking up here was apparently from the day when my most honourable father was planning a battle against the Equestrian princesses," she explained to him.
Licorice looked intrigued. "So that would mean... you've been suspended for a little over a thousand years?" He considered that for a moment. "Wow. I'll bet there's so much that's new to you, it all seems so much to take in. And I'm sure being placed with my crazy brother hasn't helped much, has it?"
He regarded her solemnly for a bit. "I'm sorry you're having to go through so much change at once; I'm surprised you're even able to be out & about, with so much new around you."
"Darling," Elo spoke without looking up from his pad, "the princess looks to me to be as soft and squishy as a diamond; she's made of firmer stuff than anyone's giving her credit for, I'm certain."
Cupcake nudged Clap. "You're drooling."
Clap jumped as if she'd been bitten, then quickly wiped her lip and straightened her stance... though her eyes were still locked firmly on the horrific visage of the suave fashionisto.
Licorice cocked his head a bit. "And you're here now, trying to do what? I mean, broad goals... not book-fixing."
Ugh. Hearing this line yet again about 'a thousand years' hurt. She knew it was a long, long time, but hearing it aloud hurt her each and every single time she heard it. Even Lemon had dropped his mockeries for a second, after she heard it for the first time and reacted as if she had been struck with a mace.
"Yes, that long," she sighed, "Cupcake is as different as possible from anything from my old life, so being placed with him is, in a way, oddly balancing; no matter what happens, I can be sure that I won't be any more shocked than during my first meeting with him." The way he'd behaved during their first meeting was still a sore point for her, but she managed to deal with it, for the most part.
Really, what was wrong with Thunderclap? She wasn't sick, was she?
"Now? Well... I shall survive and learn, one would assume. I woke up yesterday only to find out that everything I knew is gone, so I'm not really in a proper mindframe to have any other goals as of yet. I believe I'll need more information about the modern world first." Of course, it was quite possible that 'conquer Equestria with modeling' had a firm chance of becoming a means to an end.
Licorice nodded. "I see. Well, a school would be the right place to look for that sort of stuff - the library? Doubly so."
"OH!" Elo suddenly jumped and turned back to another stack of books. "I almost forgot I was looking for... something..." With the ugly muzzle hidden away again, Elo searched through pile after pile.
"As for Cupcake," Licorice continued, "I would have to say you're the first being to ever put 'Cupcake' and 'balancing' in the same sentence." He gave a rich chuckle, then turned back to face his brother.
"I see Thunderclap still has a crush on Eloquence..."
Crush? Did Thunderclap... want to... crush Eloquence? No, it couldn't be that; Obsidian doubted she would react that way if she simply wanted to hurt him. Modern ponies were strange, and it surely didn't help that she was a princess and they were... well, from the lower classes. Maybe not too low, as they were related to local nobility, but lower than her, still.
"DO NOT!" She looked ready to fight the black stallion, but he just raised a hoof and grinned. Elo, judging by the fact he didn't seem to react to his name being used, was probably too involved in looking to notice.
"Okay, my bad, you're right -" he was grinning, "you're just standing there drooling because your I.Q. is that low, then?"
"HEY!"
"Kidding, geez." He looked to Obsidian. "So... you need to learn more to make better goals? Maybe I could help out there?"
"I don't think so, that's something I need to figure out myself, at least partially. Oh, right! Would you like to become my friend?" She practically beamed as she realized that she could get one step closer to the meeting the terms of her punishment.
Licorice raised an eyebrow, his muzzle turning stoic. "Why would you wanna be friends with a stallion like me?"
From the pile behind them came a groan. "Oh, sweet Luna's plot," Eloquence grumbled, "here it comes..."
The look on the dark stallion's muzzle got heavy and brooding. "You wouldn't want to be friends with someone so lost and alone as me..." He put on an extra layer of brood, looking stern and pouty. "I don't know that you'll actually get any enjoyment out of-"
"For crying out loud, Lick, just say yes!" Eloquence sounded as if he, himself, would squash the two of them together if they didn't find a compromise.
Licorice stopped abruptly, then gave the smallest of blushes as he said, "Uh, yes. S-sure."
Cupcake grinned. "He takes a minute to pick up on stuff... but that's my little brother!"
Little? Cupcake was barely half his size! How could he have been the older sibling? And how many Pie heirs were there?!?
Wonderful - another friend! Princess Twilight should be most satisfied with this development!
"I'm not looking for enjoyment, I'm looking for friendship," she explained calmly. Besides, if she would want 'enjoyment' she would either just sit in her room and read (according to her own definition of the word) or just rely on Cupcake (according to more modern definitions).
"I'm certain we shall do many friendly things... as soon as I can figure out what is friendly and what is not." She peeked at Eloquence and his piles. "Please, ah... Eloquence?.. what book are you seeking?"
"Academia In Fashion; A Treatsie By Rarity; it's one of my mother's best sellers, right after 'For Spike' and 'How To Tame A Diamond Dog'. The fershlugginer thing should be right... in... here... SOMEwhere..."
Actually, from where she was standing, she could see the book in question; it was on a shelf that wasn't in order, gathering dust. Not far above Eloquence's styled and braided tail.
Licorice gave Obsidian a look. "You really don't know much about friendship at all, do you? Maybe you should; I'm sure it'll help you in the future, and I'd be... available to help you learn. And I promise I won't make fun of you for not knowing."
"No promises here, darling," Elo quipped, "if I see something bad, I'll say what comes to mind."
"He will," Cupcake agreed. "He does so quite frequently."
Yes... she already noticed that he was talking quite a lot. And apparently trying to annoy Licorice, at least a bit. Well, in her case she could always just... no. No Dark Magics allowed. Damnation! "I can take a critique... as long as it's reasonable," she assured both of them.
Reasonable being somewhere between her father and Cupcake; something like Lemon Custard's idea of such would be right out.
"Here, I have found what you seek."
Without a second thought, she levitated the book in question from the shelf, towards the Eloquence. Her horn flashed with unhealthy looking dark light (even though it should be, in theory, impossible). While she wasn't used to using her dark magic for such a simple task as moving a book, she still had little other experience with anything but what she had.
"What was that thing about diamond dogs? I've met only the one, and I wasn't even aware of their existence before - I would gladly enjoy learning more of them."
Four sets of eyes watched the book levitate over to Eloquence, and the unicorn stallion in question took it... but he wore a somewhat shocked look on his muzzle. They all did.
"Siddy... is... i-is that your magic? Why does it look so... so..."
"Dark Magic, darling," Eloquence said, almost reverently. "always looks like that. Chic and hip, maybe, but... Dark Magic itself is forbidden. But that wasn't exactly 'dark', bringing me a single book?"
"I thought it looked interesting," Licorice intoned.
"Of course it did, dearie," Elo said, "there's been no Dark Magic in Equestria for quite some time; I'd daresay that Obsidian here may be the last living bastion of Dark Magic in all of Equestria."
Cupcake balked, "That can't be-... there's no way-... how could they-..."
"The last known utilizer of such magics," Elo continued, "was Stygian, before his reformation." He looked to Obsidian. "Though he's gone well on his way; no need to look for him, as you won't find him in Equestria. He travels abroad, teaching an spreading the joys of Harmony. At least, that's what the general rumours say."
"Stygian? You mean The Pony Of Shadows?" Licorice chimed in.
"The two were separate creatures, Lick - don't forget that - and Stygian had mercy and compassion; the dark entity that had twisted him did not. That's why the entity is gone, yet the Stygian remains. Separating him from that darkness was a challenge, but success was had, so now we have only the one."
He looked at Obsidian, smiling. "I'd dare say you're possibly the very last caster of any sort of Dark Magic in the known world."
Dark Magic? It wasn't any sort of complicated spell or concentrated energy; she didn't even have to power herself up with anger or fear or...
Wait. Waaaaaaaiiiiit... surely they didn't mean that even her 'normal' magical aura was too dark for public use? Would that mean that she couldn't use her magic AT ALL?
"That is merely the color of my magical aura; you haven't seen much Dark Magic in your life, have you? Dark magic looks like it's... um, boiling. Yes, boiling. Angrily."
Now she was worried. Pony of Shadows? That sounded somewhat familiar; didn't she hear some kind of legends about this creature? Ones from her own time?
This world was so very mysterious. Maybe it was possible that an ancient creature such as this could rise in this modern era - just like her. And she surely wasn't to be the last? After all, her father had to be somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
"The last caster of the most illegal kind of magic... unfortunately, I don't think THAT helps me very much," she said somewhat dryly. Her mood soured at the mere idea of getting this kind of reaction - or worse - every time she used her magic.
"It just... looks so angry," Clap said. She looked a bit put off by the fact, but Licorice and Cupcake seemed to handle it well... and Eloquence seemed to know more about it than the others surrounding her.
"Obsidian? It's... i-it's okay, really. I mean, so, there's a bit of Dark Magic in your aura, so what?" Cupcake tried to smooth it over. "I mean, it's not at all like you want to enslave Equestria and take over like your father tried to do, right?"
"Hey, yeah," Clap began warming to the idea, "Siddy's okay - she's not evil or anything, so even if her magic shows some... uh, stuff... no one'll judge her for it, right?"
Eloquence sighed loudly, while the other two simply looked on.
"... right?" Thunderclap asked them, then turned and repeated the question to Obsidian. "They'll know you're not evil, right? Y-you're... not... evil... r-right?"
Cupcake now got a look of umbrage, and stepped forward to stand next to Obsidian. "Clap! NO! She's not evil, you know that! Why would you even THINK such a thing! She might be a bit moody, but everyone is from time to time! Plus, a thousand years removed from society! Did you forget that?"
"Hey, whoa, whoa!" Clap put up her hooves and sat down. "I just... I mean, I didn't mean anything bad by asking, I just-"
"Thunderclap Dash, I..." Cup took a deep breath. "I know you didn't mean any harm, but you don't just ask others if they're evil like that! Aside from being rude, it's mean!"
Clap sighed and huffed, "Okay, geez, got it. Calm your bridle, Cup."
Licorice stepped closer; she could almost smell the candy in question as he leaned in to speak softly. "For the record, I think your darkness is... nifty. I've never seen anything like it before."
Oh, so another strange discussion about her morals started, whether or not she was evil and so on. No, she didn't really plan to enslave Equestria - conquer it at the most, but only with MODELING! - and that was something Eloquence offered her himself! Why they weren't discussing if he wasn't some kind of evil wizard or something like that?
Obsidian scowled, more than a bit annoyed. "Oh yes, I'm so evil that, when we walked into the kitchen for the first time, I thought that we were going to eat Cupcake and was terrified with this idea," she said dryly. "I may not adhere to the same morals and values as you are in the futu-... in modern times, but I wouldn't call myself 'evil'."
Of course, she wouldn't call her own father 'evil' either - which meant that her definition of the word was perhaps a bit different from theirs. The unicorn mare stepped back half a step after Licorice approached and said his opinion. It made her strangely uncomfortable... and she wasn't quite certain as to why.
Probably some kind of friendship thing or something.
"Erm... thank you, Licorice? So now, that we are hopefully finished talking about how terribly evil I am, perhaps we could do... something else? I still hope to meet up with Gypsy and Mica later, and possibly meet with madam headmare again, as well."
Clap took the hint; she simply sat there, staring a hole in the floor as she tried to think up some way to apologize. That might take a moment or two. Cupcake, however, nodded then turned to face the shelf.
"Well... we are here to do something else - organizing these books, remember? C'mon - the sooner we get started, the sooner we'll finish!"
Seeing an opportunity, Thunderclap got up and started gathering books into neat piles. She still didn't say anything, but she was determined to get something done right. Though her handling of the books was a little... rough... she was still gathering them quickly and stacking them efficiently.
Eloquence, his snout buried in the book he'd been given - an improvement to the scenery, to be sure - waved a hoof towards the three of them. "Darlings, so good to see you - Obsidian, dear, you simply must consider my offer of stardom; no rush, but I simply find it hard to wait to see you in some of my more regal works!"
Licorice looked up towards Elo. "We'll... catch up later, Cup. I hope we meet again, Obsidian."
"Very well, my fine friends. Excelsior and such, darlings - TTFN!" With that, he made an exit just as exaggerated as the introduction earlier. Licorice just waved as they left, looking smooth and silky as he walked out after his unicorn friend.
"So..." Cupcake looked at the piles being formed, "how are we gonna organize this stuff, Siddy?"
She looked at the pile. Then at Cupcake. Then at the pile again.
"I'd say we should ask the librarian about that; I'm sure there is some kind of system of organizing, and it would be a waste of time to try to figure it ourselves or do it in a wrong way and then have to fix it all."
Otherwise it would be probably the best idea to sort it by authors' last names, and then by books' names, but she really didn't like wasting her time.
Cupcake nodded. "Then we need the Librarian! Oh, Libr-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-rian!" Cupcake yelled out. "Yoo hoo! I'll betcha if I keep talking loudly, that you'll-"
Just like that, there was a unicorn standing behind Cupcake, a solemn look of duty on her muzzle. She was appropriately bookish, with huge-lensed glasses on her muzzle, and had a look on her face that could have made a Manticore slink away behind the trees in reproach.
"SHHH."
"Hey, you're th-"
"SHHH."
"Aren't yo-"
"SHHH."
"But wha-"
"SHHH."
The Librarian now looked over at the other two, and her firm gaze came to rest on Obsidian. "What. Do. You. Want?"
That was a highly unorthodox method of calling for a librarian. Very Cupcake-y, but also somewhat dangerous - it really showed that he was raised in a very, very different place than Sombra's Crystal Empire. If he would try to attract an overseer's attention that way... or, worse, her father... no, she couldn't even finish this thought. She wasn't squeamish, not by far... but she didn't want to think about Cupcake's possible fate, were it the situation at hoof.
"Yes, er... we're here because Lemon Custard sent us, and we-"
"Ah, you must be here for the sorting; he sent a message ahead, so I've been expecting assistance."
Obsidian bowed lightly to the guardian of knowledge, overseer of temple of wisdom. "We just wanted to ask how we should organize the books... and I apologize for my liaison's loud behaviour."
After all, a good ruler can take the blame and - oh, right. She didn't rule him. He didn't tell her his plan for calling out, or even gave her a chance to stop him. It was a completely different situation from yesterday, when she absolutely couldn't blame Mica and Thunderclap for allowing her to walk around without her liaison - after all, it was her fault.
This time it wasn't. She hoped.
It suddenly dawned on her that she'd forgotten to ask Eloquence if he would be her friend too; a greivously wasted opportunity, especially if he was supposedly going to help her with the conquest of Equestria. Not that she was really planning for it too seriously before, but if the opportunity arose...
The librarian looked at Cupcake with a glare of spite, then turned and gave a neutral muzzle to Obsidian. "Thank you for being polite."
She glanced over the books, then straightened her huge glasses and spoke sternly. "These books should be organized in alphabetical order, from top to bottom, left to right. In case of discrepancies with titles, use the Dewey Decimal mark to place them - the numbers will tell you the order."
She looked at Thunderclap. "And no racing."
Clap innocently looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Glowering at the pegasus, she turned to face Obsidian again. "At least YOU seem capable. Just keep these two out of trouble while you work, and keep the noise down."
Cup opened his mouth to speak, but the librarian covered it with a hoof.
"SHHH."
With that, she then turned and began to make her way back towards the front desk. "I'll be back to check in twenty minutes."
When she left, Cupcake looked to the princess with a dour expression. "I'll bet she hates anything that isn't BOOK-related," he pouted.
"So?" Clap said with a smirk. "Who cares what she thinks! Let's get busy here - the sooner we're done, the sooner we can leave!""
So... she was tasked with overseeing these two as well. Eh, too bad that Mica or Gypsy weren't there - the former wouldn't make any troubles and the latter would be useful with paws and height. However, she had to make do with what she had.
And... racing? In the library? Obsidian glared silently at Thunderclap for a brief moment before she turned to the pile of books and stretched her neck strongly to the left, then to the right. Properly warmed up, she now began to concentrate.
Fires of growing enthusiasm for this work were heating up in her soul. She would turn this chaos into order! Find the rightful place for these books! That's what TRUE rulers were supposed to do - though normally with ponies, not with books. Still, it was good enough for her.
"And we have only to organize these two shelves? A shame; I almost wish I could do the entire library..."
Her eyes were almost burning with zeal as she envisioned her goal. Then her horn flashed with her 'boiling' magic, and the books began to levitate off the floor.
Cupcake and Clap simply watched, amazed as they saw the books making their way from the piles and floating in circles around her, allowing her to see the titles correctly and send them on their way to the shelves. To Obsidian, it may have been a simple task; to her two observers, it was a show of what power could be, were it properly motivated and cultivated.
"Whoa..." Clap whispered softly.
"I gotta admit, princess," Cup said with a smile, "you certainly have all the earmarks of Royal Power - especially the POWER part!"
It didn't take long at all. In close to ten minutes, the shelves were organized and correct, and Cupcake gave a light but excited clapping when the last book slid into place.
"Bra-VO! That was inc-"
"SHHH."
Again, there she was - no sound, no clue that she'd been anywhere around... and yet, before Cupcake's volume could get the better of them, she'd just sort of materialized next to him! Well, maybe not literally, but as fast as she'd shown up, one might as well say it.
She looked over the shelf accordingly, scrutinized carefully, then gave a short nod to herself. After that, she made her way over to Obsidian and gave her a disarmingly kind smile.
"Thank you, sincerely. As far as I'm concerned, you've done a grand job, here. I appreciate your efforts." Making a slight sweeping gesture to the library around them, she continued. "This library is meant to be a major repository of knowledges... and I am overjoyed to meet someone who has as much interest in history as I do. I am pleased to meet you - you may refer to me as Miss Tome."
She looked to the shelf again, admiring the work. "And you're welcome in this hallowed hall whenever you wish, should it fancy you."
That's it? It felt as if only a few seconds had passed. Frankly, she would gladly continue - it was an interesting exercise for her focus, as she had to constantly check all the books, sort them and move them into the proper places... and for her magic, as she was trying to keep up a truly terrifying pace. It was almost as if she was a biological sorting machine, and just found her purpose in life.
Too bad she already had her cutie mark!
And it seemed that she'd won a possibly valuable ally; a pony with so much power (after all knowledge IS power!) was going to be useful, quite possilbly.
"I'd gladly organize a few more shelves, should it be required," she admitted. So many books... so much organizing... If only she didn't have to make more friends due to her punishment, she could probably try to stay right here. Perhaps for more than a day.
"Thank you for your kind words, Miss Tome. I am Princess Obsidian, and I hope to be a frequent guest here."
So, now... Mica? Gypsy? Or maybe...
"Before I take my leave I... would like to find something about madam Headmare, Starlight Glimmer. I'm almost certain I'd read something about her yesterday... but sadly, I can't remember enough details."
"Princess... Obsidian?"
Miss Tome now looked somewhat surprised, bordering almost on shock. "You... wouldn't happen to be the mare that was discovered in the Crystal Dungeons a few days ago, would you?"
Cupcake, ever-so-helpful, answered before Obsidian could. "Yah-huh! It's her, all right! Princess Twi said that she was a... uhhh... a 'boney-fried' member of Dark-And-Slavey's entourage-"
"No. Not an entourage. In fact, she's not the only one, either... though she may well be the last one."
Clap scratched her mane. "Last what?"
Miss Tome looked up at Obsidian again, hearing her question. "Yes. Yes, we do. And perhaps more, depending on certain... factors..."
She pondered for a moment, then abruptly said, "I would like for you to return later, after school hours, if you're able to. I have... knowledge of certain things that you may be interested in."
"What," said Clap, "like, I dunno, princessy books or stuff?"
She was... what? A member of what? And what was this drivel about not being the only one, but the last one? Obsidian didn't expect to hear something like that in this place - how much did this librarian know? Did she get access to her father's personal records, or perhaps she had a close contact with Princess Twilight?
And what did she mean by 'not an enourage'? As far as Obsidian was concerned, that term would be fairly fitting for the gathering of 'friends' she had... or had she mistaken what Miss Tome had meant?
"I shall return, then. For now, I'd like to request specific reference material regarding the headmare, to learn more about her as soon as possible. Preferably, before my next meeting with her."
"Yes, I believe I have something..."
Miss Tome made her way over towards another non-fiction shelf, and motioned for Obsidian to follow. Reaching the shelf, the mare removed a book titled Friendship Is Magic: The Rise Of Twilight Sparkle.
"There are mentions and even a treatise on Starlight Glimmer in this book, if that would help. Otherwise, there are a few other books, but I'm afraid that many of them are dramatizations of the struggles between Starlight and Princess Twilight, not factual."
She pondered a moment. "I... may be able to come across some other forms of information, but I'll have to dig to get to them; when you return, I can possibly have what you need." She offered the book to Obsidian. "Mind the overly-scientific explanations in that one; there are quite a few of them."
Struggles between them? But how could a mere headmare 'struggle' with an alicorn princess? Was it some kind of administrational conflict? Had she requested more pay? Perhaps a disagreement over a student?
"It should be enough for now. As I said, I only want to quickly peruse some information about her - it's not truly proper research, just... a catching-up, especially after missing a thousand years," she admitted. Her own lack of knowledge was starting to vex her fiercely.
"Is there anything else I need to loan this book from here? Fill out a form? Sign something?"
Miss Tome's muzzle grew serious. "If you are Princess Obsidian, I daresay I will most certainly remember who you are and what book you have... it would be difficult to forget."
"Hey now," Clap started, stepping forward with a slight menace to her actions, "you're not tryin' to take a dig at Siddy, are you? 'Cause if you are..."
Miss Tome gave the pegasus a haunted look. "Comparitively? That would be a mercy." With that, she turned and made her way back to the front desk.
Cupcake looked at Clap, then Obsidian. "I... I don't like what that sounds like. Princess, if you're coming back here, then I should probably come with you, right? I mean, as someone who's trying to do the whole liaison-thing, it'd only be right... right?"
Who was this librarian? What did this 'if you are' mean? She knew who she was - it was transparently obvious. After all, there was only one daughter of the most honourable King Sombra in this entire school!
"Yes Cupcake, you should accompany me - I truly appreciate that. This... all of this is..."
She shook her head. She had come here only to sort books and find something interesting about the headmare, but instead she got what turned out to be the most mysterious and ominous permission ever to borrow a book.
"Let's go. Quickly, please..."
It was unbelievable - she was actually hurrying to leave the temple of knowledge! Even despite her all upbringing in the dark castle of King Sombra, she was spooked by a librarian! Miss Tome was surely the dark heart of many a Nightmare Night celebration.
Thunderclap and Cupcake were about as spooked as she was; they wasted no time in getting out of here.
"That was freaky-weird! I mean, I know the librarian's, like, bookish and eggheady and stuff, but... wow, that was... I mean..."
"Yeah," Cupcake shook himself to knock the shudder of fear loose. "I've seen Miss Tome a few times, but I think that's about the most I've ever heard from her. Ever!"
"Still, I mean, that was waaaaaaay too 'out there' for my tastes. I mean, is she trying to freak Siddy out, or is that just me?"
Cupcake frowned. "I honestly don't know."
Obsidian was afraid that she wasn't just 'trying to freak her out' - but that it was a genuine attempt to warn her about something. But what it could be? Did Princess Twilight have any plans for her? Did they know about her (potential) brothers and sisters? Or... by darkness... perhaps her father had already returned - and was not satisfied with her!
After school. She still didn't know when it was, but Cupcake would surely help her with it - she felt that she could hardly wait for that moment, to dispel any doubt and find out exactly what the creepy librarian meant.
It was at that point that Obsidian saw a familiar face in the crowds... well, more like off to the side of the crowds, folding little paper boats at a table by himself. He seemed preoccupied with his task and didn't look to be paying much attention to the interactions around him.
Well. First things first. While Obsidian was not a diamond dog specialist and could probably easily mistake one dog for another, there was probably little to no chance to mistake a paper-folding dog with anycreature else.
Thus, without waiting for Cupcake and Clap (after all, they would surely follow her) she trotted to her origami-making acquaintance. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Eleven: Gifted & Galled | As she approached the table, Cupcake saw him first. "Hey, Rover!"
Gypsy gave a slight start, but looked up with a smile on his muzzle... which quickly melted into a very guilty, very ashamed look when he saw Obsidian. His ears drooped, and he set aside the boat he'd been working on to fidget with his fingers.
"Yo Gypsy," Clap asked as they approached, "you okay?"
Looking at the floor and drawing into himself to appear as small as possible, a wispy and whimpering voice spoke up. "Th-th-this o-o-o-one d-did not m-m-m... did n-n-not m-m-m... meant no d-d-d-d..."
He curled his hands into his lap, his face blushing with both shame and frustration. "... th-th-th-this o-o-one is s-s-s-s-s... s-s-s-s... groan s-s-s-s-s-s..."
Cupcake sat next to him at the table. "Easy, Gypsy... breathe. Relax." The poor diamond dog looked absolutely mortified.
It seemed that his stuttering got only worse after yesterday's meeting; luckily, Cupcake was able to help - without him Obsidian wouldn't be able to understand her doggo 'friend' at all.
Clap reached over and nudged Obsidian softly. "I think," she whispered, "he blames himself for the other day."
She raised an eyebrow; he was blaming himself? Of all the creatures around who were involved?
"Gypsy, out of the lot of us, you have nothing to blame yourself for. If it helps, I'm s-s-so-..." she stuttered, just a bit. It may have been difficult, but at least this time it didn't look like she was choking on her apologies.
"... I'm sorry for scaring you yesterday." Maybe it would be enough - she hoped so, as right now listening him was practically painful.
The diamond dog gave a single, mournful look up at the Dark Princess. "... th-this one... h-he... he was j-j-just-t-t... you w-w-were so... a-angry. This o-o-one... d-d-does not l-like... c-c-c-c-c-c... c-c-c-confront-t-t-tation."
"Easy... settle down, it's okay, we're all friends here..." Cupcake soothed.
Gypsy swallowed a lump in his throat, then gave a soft sigh as the stallion began patting his back. It was the same gesture Obsidian had seen from him, but this time, he actually touched the doggo. For what it was worth, Gypsy didn't flinch.
Clap strolled closer, and smiled at him softly. "Gypper... you're gonna be okay, okay? I mean, intense and such yesterday, yeah, but that doesn't mean it'll be that way every day!"
He wiped a paw across his eyes. "Obs-s-s-s-sdian... is n-n-not h-h-hating th-this o-o-one?"
Hating? Hate was such a strong word... did she truly hate any creature around? While Lemon managed to anger her, she didn't hate him. Cupcake was very, very annoying at first (honestly he still was somewhat, but at least the mockery and poor attitude were absent), but obviously she didn't hate him either.
"Of course not. Of all ponies around, Cupcake is the one who has managed to anger me the most... but, as you can see, we are all just fine now," she replied with a look of blunt honesty. "You? You didn't get even close to his level, and you didn't do a single thing that could even slightly annoy me. You don't have to worry about such as that, and I do hope you are my friend."
Hopefully this one wouldn't deny it - she needed this confirmed!
"Yeah," Cupcake added, "I said all sorts of stupid stuff, and we're okie dokie lokie now! Folks get mad - but it's a passing thing; no one stays mad forever."
"... exc-c-c-cept Sourp-p-p-puss." Gypsy softly spoke.
Both Clap and Cup smiled at that.
"Yeah - except Sourpuss." Clap grinned. "But he doesn't count; WE are the only ones here right now, and we're happy to have you with us, Gypsy!"
He looked at the three of them for a moment, then back at Obsidian. "Th-this one... w-w-would very m-much like to b-b-be your f-friend... i-i-if you will accept h-h-him."
Who was this Sourpuss? Was he threatening her main non-book source of history knowledge? She'd have to try to remember that name, just in case.
"Yes, I gladly accept you." BAH, this entire situation was starting to sound like a ceremony of vassalage! "Is everything fine now?"
Gypsy sniffled, nodded, then reached into his coat and pulled out a small baggie. His fingers fiddled around inside it for a moment, then he brought out a small, folded piece of paper. "Th-this one... w-w-wanted to d-d-do something n-nice, so... s-so this o-one..." He took hold ever-so-gently of two edges, and pulled slowly.
The paper form folded out, with four legs, ears, muzzle, mane, horn... and a cape?
It took a moment because of a lack of color... but slowly, Obsidian realized that Gypsy Rover had folded for her... a little white Sombra. Complete with eye smoke, as little curves of paper that stood out from the head. There was even a little crown!
"... th-this one w-wants you t-t-t-to have it."
It may have taken her a moment to make any sense out of these shapes - but when she did, instantly she felt her throat dry up like a puddle in a heatwave.
"Wow," Cupcake leaned in close to stare at it, "it's almost uncanny! Like, it looks just like him! With, uhm, a lot of pointy angles."
Clap looked at it for a moment. "... is it a dog?" Cupcake snickered, but shook his head.
Gypsy looked at Obsidian. "Is.... i-i-is it good?"
It was truly remarkable how it resembled him, this small piece of art - especially considering it was made out of simple paper. She knew it wasn't him, but the revelation was shocking enough to make her shudder visibly - it was completely unexpected, and felt distinctly out of place.
"Y... y-y-y-y... yyyyyeeeeessss, it is," she managed to squeeze out of the desert of her throat. Perhaps it was TOO good... feeling that level of shock and fear over a scrap of folded paper was pathetic! She should feel ashamed for herself for acting like such a weak creature!
"What... w-what do you... mean... you want me to have it?"
After all, it was her first friendly gift in... well, EVER. She wasn't really familiar with the idea, especially in her current state of mind; she could fathom no reason why he would want anything from her - else, why would he be giving her a gift?
The diamond dog blinked at her a moment. "W-w-well... e-each time Obs-s-s-sidian's father was b-brought up, it s-s-s-seemed, with h-how you sp-spoke about h-h-h-him, that you m-missed him. So, this one f-f-found a pict-t-t... a pict-t-t-t... a painting of h-h-him, an studied it s-so he would g-g-g-get it r-r-right."
He sighed. "This o-one was only t-t-t-trying to m-m-make you feel b-better, princ-c-cess. This o-one does not h-h-have p-parents, b-b-but he would m-m-miss them if he d-d-did." He now gave a weak smile. "Th-this one d-didn't want you t-t-to miss him t-t-too much."
Now there was a question: did she really miss him? She knew he had to be right, and that he would eventually come back. Knew that she had to do everything she could for him, to live up to what he had to have seen as her potential.
Missing him, however? She honestly didn't know...
However, her emotions at the sight of this small paper sculpture were wildly different from the typical ones that a normal pony teenager should have in this sort of situation, that much was evident.
She was left speechless. Gypsy was wrong about her feelings, at least partially, but he surprised her by taking action to influence them. What was there for him to gain from such a thing?
"I... um... I-I'd need to take it to my room, I think. Otherwise, I'll have to carry it with my magic the entire time, and some ponies," she glanced at Clap, "do not seem to care very much for how my magical aura looks."
Thunderclap's muzzle hardened. "Well, we can't have THAT, can we?"
With that, she reached back and unlatched her rather sporty saddlebag, then came right over to Obsidian and held it up. "If you got something to carry it in, you'll be fine. And anyone who'll judge you by the color of your magic... well, they'll have to deal with ME."
The saddlebag was actually rather well made; it looked as if it was expensive enough to adorn a princess' flank.
"Clap," Cupcake said, "that's your bag, though."
Thunderclap shook her head. "Naaaaah, it's hers - and she can use it to carry whatever she wants, regardless of magical auras and stuff." Clap grinned at her. "So? Put it on, let's see you in it! C'mon, I wanna see you with a pack, Siddy!"
How very interesting; the words had come from the mare who claimed that any offenders would have to 'deal with ME'... and mere moments ago, that same mare had asked her - to her face - if she was evil. Right now, Obsidian couldn't care less about Thunderclap's sudden charity or if this saddlebag was good enough for her - she just took it and put on, trying to feel its' weight.
In fact she did such as if she just assumed it was normal to do such a thing, and that she deserved it. At least the bags seemed to be practical, not just for show - good.
"See? Better on you than me, anyway - ya look good, Siddy!" Clap grinned.
It fit rather well... even with her height, it seemed to be juuuuuust snug enough to stay in place, but not so tight that it caused problems. It settled against her coat just fine, even still slightly warm from Clap's body heat.
"Princess..." Cupcake asked hesitantly, "... is something wrong?"
That got both Clap and Gypsy's attentions. Cup paid them no mind, however - his eyes were locked on Obsidian's.
"Hey, hey... what's wrong? You looked... panicky. More than after the library. You wanna tell me... or, uhm... would you rather talk about it later?"
"Later?" Clap asked, "What, can't we solve problems now?"
"It w-would be Obsid-d-dian's choice, Thunderc-clap."
His eyes locked on hers, Cupcake looked as though he was searching her eyes for... something...
"It... the gift... just surprised me a bit, Cupcake. It's nothing important; I just never expected to see my most honourable parent, even in a form of paper figurine, here and now."
She was getting used to having company... at least enough to stop constantly thinking about HIM, like she did in the castle. Without HIS presence around, it was far easier to just... well, do anything that she wanted to.
"Keep in mind that I'm still thrown off-balance by the fact that I'm not at home anymore... nor even in my own time. I can appear... confused... from time to time, if I so desire."
Cupcake smiled. "Well, it's okay - you've got friends here, and we care about what happens to you, okay? I just thought I saw... something not-fun in your stare, like you were afraid of..."
The stallion's eyes flicked briefly to the paper statuette, then back. "It's okay, princess... we're happy to help out."
"Yeah, anything that'll make you feel better, an' we'll do it!" Clap struck a pose of determination, smiling broadly.
"This o-o-one will t-too... bec-c-cause it's what friends d-d-d-do." The three of them there, all smiling at her, all paying attention to her.
"You wanna go somewhere else? Back to your room, maybe?" Cup asked meekly, before the pegasus mare's muzzle suddenly lit up.
"Hey, why don't we get some grub? I'm hankering for a hayburger! OOH!" Clap looked at Siddy with excitement. "You ever had a hayburger before?"
Having her own slav-... serva-... vass-... 'friends'?... surely was useful, especially if they all wanted to be useful on their own. They were even quite enthusiastic about it!
"There is still Mica left to gather... and, um, 'getting grub' means eating, I assume? And no, I do not believe I have ever had anything that was named such, Thunderclap."
Clap smiled. "That's the thing; Mica usually hangs out at McDonkey's after school - and they serve some fantastic hayburgers there! We could get two apples with one buck!"
Cupcake nodded, "They do have great milkshakes... and I'll bet you've never had one of those either, have you?"
Gypsy even gave a small grin. "Fried p-p-potato sticks are g-g-good to eat with m-mustard."
"They are at that, Pupper! So, Siddy - you up for it?" Clap looked excited enough to resmble a filly on Hearthswarming.
"What are these... apples... and why do they need a buck?" Obsidian asked, just to be sure that she got the idiom right. It sounded similar to 'one slave finishing two jobs'...
Cup gave Obsidian a momentary glance. "You don't know what an ap-... you've really gotta get out more, princess!"
"Aaaaand no. At my last recollection, there were not many 'milkshakes' in the ancient Empire." Milk was obvious, but why was it shaken?
"Well, if it is the best option, then I suppose." Perhaps she could, on the way there, ask Gypsy about the supposed 'struggles of Headmare Starlight'...
Thunderclap laughed. "Ask Butter Churn about applebucking; her mom's the champ, and she's pretty awesome at it, too! Okay, BURGAAAAAAAHZ!"
With that, the excitable pegasus mare took off like a shot... leaving the others behind again. Why did this seem like a repeat of yesterday? Perhaps Thunderclap didn't like walking and talking with them - considering that it was the second time she just flew off, it surely seemed like a possible explanation.
So, she'd have to ask Butter Churn about it - that would be fine. However, there was a hidden danger in asking experts about something - there was a risk that they wouldn't know when to shut up, and instead of providing only a bit of basic information, they would just go on and on and on...
Cupcake gave a chuckle as he trotted up beside her while they walked. "To let you know, that saddlebag she just gave you? She's a bit of a fashion plate, so I promise you it's not cheap... but that's just like Clap; when it comes to her friends needing something, she'll give whatever she can."
He looked over the bag again, resting on her flank. "I think it's a Poochi; all the rave this year, from what I hear. Diamond dog designed and manufactured, and anything from Poochi is usually a LOT of bits!"
Cup continued on for a moment... but Obsidian saw something he apparently did not: By the back wall, there was a small circle of griffons, all seeming to be laughing and carrying on.
Something was going on in the middle of their circle, but the observers were packed so close together, she couldn't make out anything... except what looked to be furitive, quick movements. Every now and then, one of the collected griffons would look around, as if keeping watch for authority figures, before turning back to whatever spectacle they were enjoying.
Cupcake just rattled on as usual, oblivious of the griffon circle.
Obsidian just gave an empty stare when Cupcake started to talk again. So these were good Saddlebags, but what was this statement of 'Poochi'? ... it sounded like some kind of slang. Instead of asking for further explanations, she only stopped to stare in the griffons' direction.
"Cupcake? What are they doing?" she asked curiously.
He stopped and looked around. "Who? Doing what?"
When he saw it, his eyebrow cocked and he looked at Obsidian. "Uhhhhhhh... folk dancing? Wait," he observed for a moment, "that doesn't look like any of their traditional dances - and trust me, I know them ALL - but why would..."
Cupcake's eyes suddenly lit up... anxiously. "Oh, by Celestia's crown, are they fighting???"
Cupcake looked over at Obsidian. "You wanna wait here, or are you coming with me - 'cause I'm not gonna let them just fight like that, but... it's not your fight." He turned to face the circle. "Technically not my fight either, but the school has a STRICT 'no fighting' policy."
Obsidian stared at him for quite a long moment, wondering why she was surprised at all; this world had banned or changed almost everything she knew, so it was obvious that it would cover any possible fighting as well.
"It's good you told me that before I had any opportunity to use too much force here... but fighting outside the school is fine, right?" Eh, these modern ponies; if violence doesn't solve a problem, then it's a sign that not enough violence was used! "I'll go with you; I'm curious."
Cupcake gave her a slightly embarrassed look. "Uhm... I'll explain more later - c'mon, let's put a stop to this!"
He made a fast gallop over towards the circle, where a number of griffons now looked back at the new interlopers. There was a voice that said, "cheezit!", and all the harried activity within the circle seemed to stop.
"Hey," Cupcake began, "what kinda deal is this? What's going on? What are you doing, there?"
One of the taller griffons gave them both a distasteful look, then glanced at the other five griffons present. "You see this? Just blatantly accused of something awful here - and it's just our first day, too... y'see what kinda stuff ponies do to griffons like us?"
Cupcake's eyes narrowed a bit. "If you're not hiding anything... then move."
The griffon rolled his eyes. "Scram, dipwad - you're crusin' for a-"
The griffon stopped, staring at Obsidian. "Hey... what's up with that horn? Wow, that thing melting? 'Cause it's all bent and stuff!"
Cup suddenly seemed to s-t-r-e-t-c-h his legs up to meet the griffon eye-to-eye; it was utterly impossible... but there it was, right in front of her.
"The next words out of your claptrap had better be, 'sorry, my bad, won't happen again'... because I promise you, as the Thirteenth-Year-In-A-Row Champion Chicken-Plucker..." His muzzle came to rest on the griffon's beak, Cupcake menacingly glowering at his opponent.
"... I'll have you skin-bare in ten seconds flat."
The griffons all looked to their 'leader' while he seemed to be pondering a few things for a moment. Nervously.
It was either very bold or very stupid of Cupcake to try to stop those griffons from fighting - Obsidian wasn't sure which one it was, considering her complete and utter lack of experience with modern social norms. However, they seemed to dislike the fact that they were interrupted - enough to say the equivalent of 'we'd like to be violently beaten and thrown out of this country!' or something to that effect.
At least that's what she heard when one of them disrespected her horn.
"It's a side effect of dark magic, griffon; a very interesting kind of magic," she spoke only loud enough for the gathered griffons to hear. Cupcake was truly surprising her right now - she was sure that it was physically impossible for him to become that tall... and it looked like he was behaving in his very antagonistic, mocking manner again.
Though this time it wasn't directed at her, so she had no reason to complain.
The griffon looked at her, then back at Cupcake, then back at her again... and she saw a single bead of sweat roll down his face. "Eehhhhh... this ain't worth it. Forget you two. C'mon boys; we're finding somewhere else to be."
At that point, all the griffons took wing, and shot into the sky, headed elsewhere. Cupcake slowly lowered back to his original size, watching them warily until he heard a groan from in front of him. He looked down...
Standing there, bruised and a little bloody, was Stalwart Stance, beaten but visibly refusing to fall over.
"WART!!!!!" Cupcake was instantly at her side, looking her over frantically.
Of all the creatures around...
Obsidian stepped forward as her feeling of satisfaction over threatening the griffons into submission was rapidly evaporating. Right now, for reasons that weren't exactly familiar to her, she was frustratingly regretting that she didn't strike down one or two of them for daring to lay their claws on Stalwart.
She quickly started to check unicorn mare's wounds, to figure out how serious they were. With her magical training, directed by her most honourable father, she knew a bit about healing magic... after all, it would have been a shame if she had to stop her training each time she got wounded. She had that knowledge, and was willing to use it - regardless if her magical aura would scare a few ponies.
"Stalwart, were thou attacked? Should I follow them and beat them into bloody submission?" Obsidian hoped she would say yes.
"... n... n-no."
Wart looked up at them both, but the look in her eyes was one of rage, not cowardace. "They... Galen Grout knows that I... that I'm trying to become a... Royal Guard... and he knows... that I am... trying... to maintain a... a spotless school record when it... c-c-comes to discipline... to improve... my chances..."
Cupcake's eyes watered up as he listened, a comforting hoof on Wart's unbruised shoulder.
"... so I... didn't fight b-back... wouldn't fight back... a-and it made them..."
"Shhhhhhhh, Wart; take it easy, it's gonna be okay, now. Don't blame yourself for their-"
"I don't."
Cupcake was a bit surprised by such a quick answer, but he nodded his understanding.
"... besides... I can use..." she began to try to step forward, catching herself at least twice, "... the training... to... t-to toughen up." Wart started to reach up to fix her wild mane, but gave a grunt and returned her forehoof to the ground.
"Wart! You know who they are; aren't you going to report them? If you don't, I WILL."
Stalwart's gaze turned and locked on Cupcake instantly. "N-no! If a report like that comes in... (grunt)... then it'll go on my record, and... and I will NOT have my record sullied... even slightly... for some... s-some petty sense of revenge."
She gave a weak chuckle. "Years from now, I hope they show up to... the throne room to see the princess... and I'll tell them to... t-to go and find somewhere else... to be."
Even in the obvious pain she was in, she not only remained standing, but was trying to literally 'walk it off'.
So they compunded their cowardace by taking advantage of the fact that Stalwart wouldn't fight, using her ambitions against her. Obsidian growled quietly with anger, but for now she refrained from comments - she had to focus on healing the intent little mare.
Her horn flashed with a sinister aura as she magically started to clean up the more prominent wounds first.
"They most certainly do deserve punishment! Galen Grout, you said? I shall remember that name..." How dare they place abuse on such a proud mare that had acted as her bodyguard!
"If something hurts more than the rest, please tell me; I can't heal broken bones, if you happen to have any. You would have to go to a trained medic for that... and what will you do, should they ask you what happened?"
The magic surrounded Wart, and her eyes widened as Obsidian healed her... yet, she looked at her in shock. "Y-your Majesty! You... y-you're above healing those... beneath you! I'm not worthy o-of-"
"Wart," Cupcake said with a kind, warm smile, "shut up and let Obsidian be a good friend."
Wart, still unsure if she was worth the effort, simply gave a single nod, then looked back at Obsidian. "I am... honored that y-you would find me... w-w-worth your notice, Your Majesty."
As the energy enveloped the little mare, the bright red glow coated the surrounding area in a light sheen of crimson. It also attracted more than a little attention, and a number of creatures began to slowly meander towards them, curious and concerned looks on their muzzles.
Cupcake stood up and held out his hooves. "Move along, folks - nothing to see here!"
"Then what's that?" one earth pony spoke up.
"Healing."
"... healing?"
Cup nodnodded. "Healing."
The other stallion looked skeptical. "Really?"
Cupcake sighed. "Yes, really. Now, if you'd simply move on, we can-"
"Dark healing?"
Cupcake froze, then reached behind him and pulled out... what in Tartarus...
The thing was shaped to look like a cupcake, turned on one side, suspended between what appeared to be two large chocolate-chip cookies as wheels... and one wheel even seemed to have a bite taken out of it. There was a pull-cord that came from the top of the cupcake, complete with what looked to be a cherry at the end of it.
"PARTY CANNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!" >BOOM!<
The thing was a CANNON!? But... it shot out what looked like... candy? And ribbons? And... little pieces of colored paper that went seemingly everywhere. What was..?
Whatever it was he was doing, it was attracting more attention than Obsidian's light show, so the heat was off her and Wart, who was healing up nicely.
Wart looked up at her. "I am sorry that... I wasn't able to... to greet you this morning. I'd have been there, but... but I had chores and school. I give you my... my word, Your Majesty, I'll be right behind you, once my... m-my lessons are through for the day..."
Did these ponies not even know what true dark magic looked like?
It wasn't THAT hard to miss - especially with all this ill-looking violet light boiling out of her horn, while tiny little dark crystals sprouted up like weeds around their hooves. Truth be told, real dark healing would probably hurt Stalwart more than help her; she wasn't THAT experienced with it... and apparently, helping her was more of a 'friendly' act, which made it a touch more difficult.
Was it, though? Frankly, she thought it was just a matter of saving her own useful assets... but if they were going to think that there was something more behind that, then they were welcome to; there was no reason to correct that mistake on Cupcake's part.
However, even though Obsidian didn't want to think about it, there was the possibility that she was actually starting to care about this whole situation (and those involved) a bit more than such a cruel, pragmatic approach would typically justify.
Obsidian paused in her healing of Wart - but not because she was done; when Cupcake pulled this out strange device - wherever it came from and however he did it - the dark unicorn sat bolt upright, looking around frantically for the source of the explosion.
"Wart, I should insist that you make sure you are well, first - and what, by Darkness, was THAT?"
Pinkie's child had done it to distract other ponies from her healing - but it broke her focus far more than a few babbling bystanders would have been able to.
It was an explosion, right? That's when she took stock of the scraps of paper, ribbons and so on - they looked like the same sort she'd seen from the package delivered to Miss Trixie, hadn't they?
"Actually," she said, gathering herself, "you should probably go there anyhow - I don't believe that any of your teachers are as... strict... as my most honourable father, so they probably wouldn't punish you for trying to heal yourself."
Where was Gypsy? Didn't he follow them? Chances are, he would be probably scared of griffons...
Wart looked about at the effects of Obsidian's magic, but not once did she hesitate or seem intimidated; she would make a grand guardpony... if they allowed it.
"Your Majesty... I will do as you say. I think," she rolled her shoulder a bit, "I'll be able to make it without a problem; I'll tell them I had a... rough training session."
She now seemed as though she were much better off, even with the interrupted healing. Wart looked over at Cupcake, then turned back to face the Dark Princess.
"That thing he's using... it's called a 'Party Cannon', and every one of Miss Pinkie's children has one... I think. Cupcake uses his more frequently than his siblings do. I assure you, Your Majesty, you have naught to worry about."
Cupcake looked back, saw the magic was no longer visible and as quickly as he'd pulled it out, Cup picked up the cannon and swept it behind him. When he stood up and came back over to them, there was not a sign of the large thing to be seen. Where was he keeping it!?
"Wart, you okay now?"
She smiled at them both. "I am headed to the medic's office... but otherwise, I believe I'm going to be okay now. Thank you so very, very kindly, Your Majesty, for your mercy. I beg you forgive my leaving your presence." She began to walk back towards the main school building, with only a slight limp instead of the dragging-herself-bodily-across-the-floor shape she'd been in earlier.
At least Stalwart was doing her best to make Obsidian feel like a proper princess, contrary to the rest of their group. Too bad that she got away before Obsidian had any opportunity to ask her about being friends - she just had to focus harder on Princess Twilight's order!
Cupcake was beaming at Obsidian. "You're getting the hang of friendship faster than even I thought possible! Is she going to be okay?"
"Probably; the wounds weren't too deep and I tried to clean and fix the worst ones. I am uncertain they would believe in any lies about training - assuming that you don't have any vicious, sentient training dummies lying around - but at least she doesn't look like she had a warm-up with a minotaur. However, I believe it's our duty to teach these griffons a lesson."
Obsidian huffed angrily. Bastards...
"May I ask, Cupcake, where... where did your, eh... cannon go?"
Cupcake blinked. "What cannon?"
That's when the ground in front of the two of them slowly parted from a pair of claws, and a hole formed. The claws vanished into the hole, but the head of Gypsy came up to replace them. He looked right at Cup and Siddy.
"This one s-s-saw them; th-they stay in Hall E, rooms 524, 525 a-and 526. Fifth floor wind-d-dows. Floor is m-mostly unoccupied."
Cupcake looked at Gypsy, then at Obsidian... and gave a small but wicked grin.
"I think you're right, princess... but not now. We'll have to wait a bit to properly exact vengeance for poor Wart. Now, I don't want to do anything too harsh, but just enough to make certain they'll think twice before doing this again."
Gypsy gave a small grin. "This one c-can get you i-i-i-inside, after hours."
Cupcake leaned down to help the diamond dog out of his hole, which he buried behind him with his rear paws, without even looking. Apparently, paper wasn't the only thing he could easily manipulate.
"So," Cup looked at them both, "on to McDonkey's?" |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twelve: Apology Excepted | "If only I was allowed just a sliver of Dark Magic..." Obsidian muttered under her breath.
Hopefully, these griffons would be too terrified of the possibilities to think about attacking anyone in her group, ever again! Maybe she could find a way to shackle them; perhaps they could become useful slaves? Oh, it would be so easy, so quick to just rip their deepest fears out of their minds and show them how weak and pathetic they are in comparision to a TRUE creature of Dark power!
"But... you are correct, Cupcake - nothing too harsh or life threatening. And yes, on to this McDonkey's, whatever it is. Although, Thunderclap won't like the fact that she missed this situation."
And it seemed that she had apparently sorely underestimated the diamond dog. She had fully expected that he would cower somewhere, too afraid to even yip, or maybe he would just pretend that he hadn't seen anything. And yet, he turned out to be a valuable scout, even employing some spy tactics. Clearly, he was more of an asset than she'd first surmised.
Cup chuckled lightly. "Yeah, Clap would've probably taken a number of swings at 'em; she's very... uh, 'excitable'. In fact, it miiiiiiiiight be a good idea not to bring this up to her - she might just haul off and go get them now."
Gypsy nodded. "Thunderclap would c-c-certainly be moved t-to action. She d-does that."
At length, they reached a building with a large 'D' emblazoned on the sign out front, and a number of creatures inside, seemingly eating... things that she couldn't quite identify. Cupcake opened the door and held it for Obsidian. "Royalty first, princess!"
The smells from inside were... interesting.
Perhaps it was it some kind of local inn? Not likely, as she couldn't smell the pungent reek of alcohol - but on the other hoof, it's not as if she'd ever truly visited any inn before; at best, she'd read about them in history books. With as much mead as they spoke of, she'd always thought the scent would linger at such an establishment.
Well, at least she'd be able to eat something. At the moment, she wasn't too hungry - after all, she did have a good breakfast - but it surely wouldn't hurt to have a light lunch? And, of course, there was the hope they'd find Mica as well. With that goal in mind, she stepped inside.
It was a cavalcade of scents that greeted her first, followed by a nasal, "Welcome to McDonkey's!" as she entered, from one of the cashiers behind the tall counter. There was a lot of activity back there, but it was more or less calm on this side.
There were a few ponies seated with trays, eating... things.
One looked like a roll with something brown and flat in its' middle, and small open-ended boxes of... yellow sticks? Were they whittled corn? Maybe they were the potato sticks Gypsy had mentioned earlier? Nothing here was shaking, so perhaps she'd misheard that part.
She didn't see Mica, but she did see Thunderclap sitting at a table with a tray in front of her, piled high with all sorts of (presumably) food items. She saw them at about the same time, and waved them towards her.
Well, there was plenty of food, a few ponies, and a lot of places to sit. No alcohol though - at least none visible. Was this, mayhaps, a restaurant?
And no Mica... what a shame. He was the last one to apologize to, then afterwards she only had to visit the headmare one more time today... assuming she would still be working.
Without waiting for the rest of the group she trotted over to Thunderclap to take a seat. "It seems we are truly unlucky. I had really hoped Mica would be here already, as you said," she mused.
Clap was munching on the yellow sticks, and she smiled at Obsidian when she sat down. "Yeah, if he's not, then he will be. I know that stallion like the back of my own hoof; he'll be here. You'll see. Anyhoo," she reached over, took hold of one of the rolls with the brown stuff in it, and offered it to the princess. "Here - double hayburger with special sauce, cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions and tomato on a sesame seed bun! Give 'er a try, Siddy!"
Gypsy shyly sat next to her, but Cupcake had gone to the high counter and was looking over a blackboard with a number of titles on it, like "Whoppah" and "McDonkshake" and "McDonkfries". He seemed to be communicating with the cashier about what was on the menu; the cashier looked utterly and completely bored, unlike the one who had greeted Obsidian.
Well, they could probably wait for him a bit here - it wouldn't hurt, and she'd already done most of the things she had planned for today. As for the place itself, it seemed that they were making... sandwiches? She took the roll and examined the offered food closely: bun, vegetables, cheese... and fried, shaped hay. It also seemed that there was some kind of sauce inside as well, as she could smell it.
"Jugding by your previous reactions, this is a well known place, I assume?" She carefully lifted the sandwich up, and took a small testing bite of it... which unfortunately made the tomato slice slip from the other side of it, hitting the wrapper beneath her with a dull plop. Wonderful.
"Eeyup," Clap went on, "it's a grand place, and the food is cheap and plentiful. My kinda place!"
Gypsy was steadily taking one yellow stick at a time and munching them down. He seemed almost like a machine, stick-mouth-stick-mouth-stick-chew-swallow-stick-mouth... it was almost mesmerizing.
It seemed that Gypsy was addicted to these sticks - they weren't riddled with addictive poisons, were they?
"McDonkey's was the brainchild of a donkey couple - they're living RICH now, I guess. The food's awesome, the shakes are creamy and place here is nice and... uh, 'homey', y'know?"
Homey? Obsidian looked around - no slaves begging for mercy, sinister laughter or dark whispers in the air. Apparently, Thunderclap wasn't talking about her kind of home, it seemed. But, she had to admit that this place seemed to be quite... charming, in a manner of speaking.
"Here," she held out a cup with a straw and a strange-looking lid, "strawberry shake - I'll bet you'll love it."
"We shall see... and by the way Thunderclap, what does it mean 'have a crush on somepony'?" She carefully took the cup from the pegasus as she finally got around to asking about the term she'd heard earlier. Hesitantly, she took a sip...
Hmmm... sweet, but not as sweet as the blue water they'd offered her yesterday. Plus, it was tasty, too... and cool, but not cold.
"An interesting drink, I'll admit," she said, expressing her opinion in a very reserved way; she liked it quite a bit actually, but there was her dignity to consider.
Thunderclap looked at her and grinned a bit. "Oh, crushes? Where'd you hear about those - wait, never mind, it's just easier to explain it." She sat back, the bench beneath her flank creaking with her weight.
"Well, a crush is kinda like falling in love, but not quite - more like a kind of... I dunno, a lust?... for someone else. Like, y'know, when you find a stallion - or mare - that you really like and want to smooch and snuggle."
Gypsy nodded. "This one w-wants to snuggle a 'sp-special someone', s-s-someday. He knows n-no one yet he c-c-cr-crushes for, but this one thinks it w-w-w-will happen for him. E-eventually."
"It's like, you want 'em so you can do, y'know, romantic stuff and such," Clap said, taking one of the hayburgers and nearly swallowing it whole.
Cupcake finally joined them, a tray piled with burgers and a bunch of the yellow sticks jutting from his mouth. As soon as he sat and put his tray down, he gulped down the mouthful, turned to Obsidian and gestured.
"Here ya go! I didn't know what to get for you, so I just got a typical meal for both of us."
There were two sandwich boxes, two stick boxes, and two cups, complete with straws. Cup leaned over to Obsidian. "Careful, drinking that - don't get greedy, or you'll get a brain freeze; they're harmless, but very uncomfortable."
Gypsy paused long enough in his routine to offer one of the small, yellow sticks to Obsidian directly. "... w-want one?"
Well, it was hard to not have heard about 'crushes' after the meeting in the library... but now everything was beginning to make sense. "Ah, so that meant the strange actions you took due to Eloquence being in the library was a 'crush'," she said almost happily, enjoying the newly acquired knowledge.
So she didn't want to kill him, she was lusting for him! Luckily such a thing was absolutely, completely and totally impossible for Obsidian herself to ever know; she had been raised to be above such base desires, and was meant for bigger things than mere supposed pleasantries of the body.
And besides, romantic stuff wasn't for the monarchy - arranged marriages were the norm, after all. The good of the empire comes first... doesn't it?
And it seemed that Cupcake was seriously trying to make her gain more weight - not that it would be such a bad thing, as she was quite thin and drawn. She took the gathered food from him: another sandwich, another drink and sticks like ones Gypsy was offering.
"No, I have my own, though your offer is noted," she showed Gypsy her own box. "So basically, from what I saw from you, having a crush doesn't seem very pleasant to me."
Thunderclap's cheeks began to turn bright red. "Nuh... nuh-uh! Who's got a crush, me? Nope, no way, no how!" She crossed her forelegs, and looked somewhat chagrined. However, Cupcake and Gypsy both gave a good hearty laugh. Apparently, her crush was embarrassing to her.
"Clap," Cupcake grinned, "it's not like nobody knows. Heck, at this point, Elo himself might know."
Clap blanched for a moment. "Wait - you think he... whaddya mean he already kno-..." Again, she seemed somewhat annoyed at the prospect.
"Thunderc-clap," Gypsy whispered in Obsidian's ear, "is a bit m-m-mortified by her c-crush; she seems m-m-mad, but she also knows w-w-we mean no harm."
Cupcake answered the princess' question. "Well, that sorta depends... like, if they also like you, then it could be True Love..." Cup sighed and stared wistfully into the distance for a moment, then snapped back to the here and now.
"Yeeeeuuuuucccckkk!!!!!" Thunderclap retched, "Lovey-dovey stuff! Really, should I have to be subjected to this as our meal conversation?"
Cupcake laughed. "Don't mind her - she may act sore, but secretly, she's enjoying the attention!"
"Keep it up, Cup," she bristled (but with a small smile), "and I'll teach you what 'sore' means." Cup stuck his tongue out at her playfully.
So that probably explains the light salivating and her empty stare when she was in the same room with him. Talking about this 'True Love' was becoming steadily more interesting... but it was still an alien concept to her.
"Unfortunately for you, Thunderclap, your behaviour intrigued me. I've always expected that, sooner or later, I would have a marriage arranged for me; there simply weren't any appropriate stallions of my own age... or any non-slave stallions around, to be honest. So this topic is something completely new to me," she explained.
That sandwich wasn't bad. Not a miracle of food creation, no... but not bad.
Cupcake looked at her and chuckled. "Princess... 'arranged marriages' don't really... uhhhh, happen... anymore."
"Yes, The F-F-Freedom of Love d-decree... this one s-s-studied that."
Thunderclap rolled her eyes as Cupcake placed a hoof over his heart and recited: "Anypony who shall marry must do so of their own Free Will; magical coercion, hypnotism, and other forms of manipulation, should they be discovered, shall render such unions null and void from the moment of their discovery."
Gypsy seemed to ponder for a moment, then looked to him. "It is n-n-not exact, yet c-close enough."
He leaned in close to Obsidian, grinning. "This means you're off the hook when it comes to someone picking your prince for you."
"Yes... i-it was about t-two hundred years ago, when that decree was made - and it was in light of what almost happened in the Crystal Empire, when the ch-changeling ruler Chrysalis almost duped her way onto the throne, that m-made it even more important to emphasize the c-clarification of such. With such a prospect over their heads, it was decided that emphasizing the decree would make certain that such a trick would never win out in the l-long run."
Thunderclap huffed and looked at Gypsy. "Yay, history lessons." She made a big production out of yawning.
Gypsy just smiled and shook his head. "Those who d-do not learn f-f-from history are d-doomed to repeat it."
Clap groaned. "Just like classes..."
"Hm, but unions such as these aren't really coercion, hypnosis or manipulation; it's just a diplomatic arrangement." Obsidian rubbed her temple with a hoof; why would commoners marry at all, if they weren't treating it as a mutually profitable agreement?
Probably more propaganda about 'True Love' and so on... complicated stuff.
"... Anyway, history is quite interesting, especially as for me, it's more akin to hearing about the future. Now... why won't you merely inform Eloquence that you like him, Thunderclap?"
The muscular pegasus mare paled a bit. "TELL him!? Siddy, he's, like, incredible... and if you don't wanna be seen as some sort of creepo-stalker-type, then you don't just walk up to someone incredible and tell them you like them!" Then she gave a start. "N-n-not that I l-like him o-o-or such!"
Gypsy chuckled. "I-is my vocal t-t-tic catching?" Thunderclap Dash shot Gypsy a heated look, while the diamond dog merely spread his paws and smiled.
"But diplomacy's already been achieved with every known kingdom on the face of Equus - there's no need for it now. Actually, it's more like the government has moved beyond 'marriages of coalition'; they're more likely to give each other large sums of gold, jewels or yummy food to negotiate," Cup explained. "Arranged marriages are a thing of the past."
"Y-yes. Only those i-in love are the ones wh-who get m-m-married."
Thunderclap even gave a small grin. "Eh, I guess if you care enough about someone, committing to them isn't so bad. But still," her eyes flashed, "I do NOT-"
"So princess," Cup interrupted Clap before she could lie again, "did you have a lot of prospects to have your hoof? I hope you don't get upset, but I'm fairly certain that if you wanted one of them... well, it's probably not gonna to happen now."
And so, marriages stopped being diplomatically beneficial. A true shame. And nothing that Thunderclap was saying did anything to change Obsidian's mind - the pegasus mare liked Eloquence, yet was too afraid to tell him...
What was the point, then?
"Hmmm... no, not really. I think that one Equestrian duke was considered, as a means to convince him to ally himself with our nation's might, but it could have been mere rumours. My most honourable father himself never told me anything about any specific plans." Besides... he could always have a political marriage himself, should he have decided it.
Cupcake looked at her with curiosity. "Princess... what was royal life like for you?"
"Yeah," Thunderclap leaned forward a bit, "I wanna hear about you for a while."
Gypsy also looked interested. "This one i-is also c-c-curious; c-can you tell us th-th-this history of you?"
... it wasn't surprising that Thunderclap was trying to change the topic, it seemed that it was somewhat embarrassing her.
"My history... is filled with constant training and lessons. Dark magic, fighting, focus, meditation, math, history, geography... all of this, and I never once left the palace. I was eager to satisfy my most honourable father's expectations, and had little time or room for anything more in my life."
The last time they talked about this, they'd started to argue...
"But..." Cupcake looked a bit glassy-eyed, as if he were close to tears, "where was the Love? The Affection? Did he ever play games with you?" He gasped, then amended, "FUN games? Fun for YOU?"
"Did your m-most honourable f-f-father ever brush your m-m-mane or coat for y-you?" Gypsy looked at her with curiosity.
"Heck, did he read to you at bedtime?" Clap intoned. "My mom did that."
"My momma used to play with all of us! She really put a lot of personal time and effort into raising us right!" Cupcake grew thoughtful. "I can't imagine why Lemon turned out the way he did - it wasn't his upbringing, I Pinkie Promise you that!"
Gypsy shifted uncomfortably. "Those th-things sound... like he w-was preparing you f-f-for something. I-isn't that a sort of l-l-love?"
Cupcake shrugged. "We weren't there; unless the princess tells us, we have no idea." He then turned back to Obsidian. "Was he nice to you? Or no?"
She gave them a rather blank stare. Brushing her mane? Playing games? Reading at bedtime?
"I was only being prepared to become his heir, as both a warlock and a ruler. I was purposed to study, to gather my might and wisdom for the time I would bring my most honourable father great pride - he wasn't wasting his time over... unnecessary activities." That should answer all of these questions at once.
Now it was Cupcake's turn to balk. "Whaaaaaaat!?" He stood up, and even looked a bit hurt by her words.
"Unnecessary? Unnecessary!? Princess, my momma giving me that love and attention is why I have so much self-confidence now! It's why I feel secure and happy with my life! Why, a foal without love is the saddest thing I can imagine!"
Gypsy seemed to nod at that, but only slightly. Clap seemed as if she were pondering something. Obsidian could almost smell the wood-burning in the pegasus' skull...
"Princess, Love is not only the cornerstone of Equestria... it's one of the most powerful forces in the entire universe! Love can start a nation, or bring it down! It can move mountains... uh, proverbially! It can build you up or break you down! It-"
"Cup," Thunderclap interrupted, "can the theatrics; I think you communicated that you're upset over this."
"YES, I AM!" he looked as if he'd been personally insulted. "How could someone be that way? Grooming someone for a future, yet giving them not one iota of Love!?"
Cupcake was really into this whole 'love' stuff, wasn't he? He still couldn't understand that Obsidian was confident that everything her father did was necessary... and the only reason why she wasn't as great and powerful as he'd wanted her to be was that her training got cut short quite suddenly.
She could be better. She should be better. And there was no place for 'love' in that vision.
Gypsy leaned in closer to Obsidian. "Do not be a-a-al-alarmed at Cupcake's ire; moments from n-now, I am certain he will c-calm himself," he whispered.
"Loving your children... i-it's important! I have the confidence I have because my momma helped to foster that in me. She didn't just teach me about love - she showed me what a little love can do for others! And it's like MAGIC!"
"Clap."
The conversation stopped as the new voice spoke up. The others turned to see Mica Chip there, looking at them all, with his tray on his back.
"Gypsy. Cup."
His eyes found Obsidian, and they held no expression at all for her.
"... you."
Thunderclap visibly winced at that.
And now the true reason for their coming here had finally appeared! Obsidian was very glad that something had happened to stop Cupcake from ranting. She very eagerly got up; Mica was always very calm and useful, it was good to have him back.
"I'm glad to see you, Mica. I was looking for you to apologize for upsetting you yesterday." This time, she didn't even stutter!
Mica stared at her for a moment, then took a deep breath and spoke softly.
"Oh... am I suddenly important now? Because yesterday, I got the distinct impression that our 'self-indulgences' were something you found distasteful... which is quite an insult to me. And after making such an impression with us by basically saying what we believed in was pointless, I believe it was quite clear that you don't even want friendship, as it would probably take away from your duty to even acknowledge us low-born creatures."
Everyone just stared at Mica.
"As I said yesterday, I believe we made a mistake - and that mistake was trying to befriend a child of darkness, who thinks the things we believe in are trivial and worthless."
He looked over at Thunderclap. "If you want to join me, fine. But excuse me," he now gave the slightest of glares to Obsidian. "I'm going to eat my meal somewhere away from those who would tell me how much my thoughts and beliefs don't matter."
With that, he simply made his way across the restaurant, out the glass doors, and sat at a bench outside - by himself.
Well, now... that was unexpected.
Cupcake was fine with her now - even though he should have still had some reasons to be wary of her. Thunderclap was even more fine with her. Even Gypsy, the one who'd felt guilty even as he was completely innocent, was now fine with her. Of all ponies, only Mica wasn't accepting her admittedly half-hearted apologies? Surprising.
She turned back to the table to face the others. "I liked the term 'child of darkness' but, Cup... it didn't work," she said with a puzzled muzzle.
Hm, if friendship was like warfare... she could storm him, besiege him or abandon the battle altogether. Did she really need Mica? Not particularly, to be honest. She could get information from anywhere and anyone else.
But he was right about her... and it made him leave, while the rest were still here. Were they possibly more patient? Or was it that they just didn't realize her truth as well as he did?
"I was only explaining why my father's actions were justifable..."
And yet, for reasons she wasn't quite able to understand yet, she was more conflicted and bothered by this turn of events than she typically should have been.
Clap stood up slowly. "Mica... was really mad at what you said yesterday," she sighed, "I mean, really mad. It took him about five minutes just to stop breathing hard. I'm... gonna go see if I can't talk to him for ya. I dunno if it'll work, but... well, don't know if ya don't try, right?"
She made her way outside and sat opposite of Mica, him looking up and speaking to her as they began to converse.
Cupcake also gave a heavy sigh. "Princess, sometimes... how do I put this... sometimes, words aren't enough. Or a few words aren't enough. And sometimes, the damage you do with some words is deeper and harder than you'd think."
"Mica is a very intelligent stallion, and he values knowledge and information. With his upbringing, he also knows what love is like, and has a very healthy appreciation for it. And you..." He fidgeted for a moment before looking like he had an idea.
"Remember how you said you'd felt when I was being... not-so-nice... that first day? Well, Mica feels a lot like the way you felt when I... um... said those... not nice things. And did an apology from me help things any?"
Well, Obsidian valued knowledge and information as well, and in theory Mica was calm and intelligent enough to be the most useful pony out of all of them... yet unfortunately, it seemed she made a mistake somewhere.
"Yes Cupcake, I remember," she sat down again at the table. "But he isn't actually wrong. In fact, I should be more surprised that the rest of you are remaining with me, than the fact that he isn't. Except you, Cupcake - you are my liaison; the rest of them, however? My morals and thoughts have proven to be as alien to you as your own are to me. At best, I'm trying to understand what's going on with your heads, and usually failing to do so. Mica just... made the most logical decision."
She didn't even want to finish her sandwich now. She'd have to, though - wasting food was expressly forbidden, and it was specifically her portion. Yesterday... well, hopefully nothing that Cupcake made was wasted.
"Princess... you..." Cup closed his eyes and gave a sigh before opening them again, focusing on her.
"Okay, I admit - I honestly have no idea about your world... and your world seems... cold. And our world is warm, in comparison - which, being as you didn't know Love, is as confusing to you, too. In other words, we need to try to communicate better with each other, especially if we want to get you acclimated to this new world."
"To do that," Cupcake stood up, a determined light in his eyes, "we'll have to seriously do our utmost best to teach you about the things you never knew - Love, compassion, friendship - while you could help us understand by teaching us about how you know and feel about it."
Gypsy seemed to agree, as he nodded and his tail gave a slight wag.
"What do you say, Princess Obsidian - are you willing to learn, as we learn from you?"
She didn't exactly have too much choice in matter, did she?
Didn't have much to do besides that, as well. As far as she was concerned, the entire modern world seemed to be based around the overpowering belief in the almighty power of friendship! She could try to fight this power... and very probably lose before being able to finish saying 'kneel before me', as Equestrians have a long and vaunted history of defeating any foe who dared try anything.
"I suppose I am willing, yes," she eventually replied with a sigh.
Of course she was willing to learn... but now she had to pledge a commitment to it. Feh, too many creatures with too many emotions in far too short a time; it was all so... tiresome.
Cupcake's muzzle lit up. "Okie dokie lokie! This'll be... new! And different! Unlike anything we've tackled before! Which also makes it a unique experience too! Oh, the things we're going to have to go over, the ideas we'll have to discuss, the situations to plan for, the moments..." Cupcake continued to go on, but at more of a self-aimed mumble.
Gypsy, however, sidled up to her. "This o-one is pleased t-t-to hear this. He will try not to be p-pu-p-pushy about it, Majesty. He also wishes t-t-to thank you for g-g-giving this a ch-chance; this one f-f-finds you int-t-teresting, and would enj-joy sharing history w-w-with you."
"I also find you interesting as well, Gypsy. I can hardly wait to spend more time discussing history with you." This was completely genuine - after all, it was the first diamond dog she had ever met, and he was interested in things that were interesting to her.
Outside, the conversation between Mica and Thunderclap seemed to be getting a bit heated, as Mica's eyebrows dipped a bit, while Clap looked as though she was getting more animated with her speaking. Before too long, Mica simply got up, dumped his tray in an outside bin - including what appeared to be only a half-eaten hayburger - then walked away. Clap's ears drooped deeply. Then, she too got up... but she made her way towards the doors instead of away.
Before she entered, Obsidian watched the pegasus wipe a tear or two away, and shake herself out of what looked like sadness... which, of course, Obsidian knew well. Once inside, there was not a single trace of sorrow on her muzzle, and she sat back down with a lackadasial manner, betraying nothing of the emotions she was feeling mere seconds ago.
"Eh, he's being a jerk - give 'im a few days to calm down, and he'll..."
Her hesitancy was only a second, but Obsidian caught it anyway.
"... he'll be fine. You'll see. AAAAAANYWAY, so what're we doin' now? I mean, we've done the school chores, and we ate, so... now what?"
Cupcake, who seemed only a little put out by Clap's lack of success with Mica, gave a smile and looked to Obsidian. "Well, is there anything you'd like to see, or perhaps some other curiosity to check out, or maybe just back to your room?"
Alas, it appeared that there would be no reunion with Mica... which wasn't just inconvenient and bothersome, but it made her feel as if she had broken something that she actually might not be able to fix. And that bothered her...
... but why? |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirteen: Counseling Principles | So, at least in theory, they should know how to deal with each other, right? Or perhaps she got it wrong?
Thunderclap was clearly distressed, even though she was doing her best not to show it. Curious - why was she acting like that, especially if they weren't taught that crying was a punishable sign of weakness? She could just, well... be sad.
"I only wanted to meet with headmare once again, if possible, and that's all. Er... what time is it? Perhaps we could do something with Thunderclap before calling it a day?" she offered.
"Whoa... hey, yeah? You serious?" Clap had been taken by surprise from Obsidian's offer, and the smile that grew in place of the frown said it had been a good surprise.
Cupcake stood up with a grin of his own. "Well, that sounds like a plan! Okay, so we'll head back to the school and see Miss Glimmer, then I suppose it's up to you, Clappie!"
The diamond dog gave a large grin at hearing Obsidian speak so kindly, and his tail began wagging again. He said nothing else, but stuck close and remained attentive, his eyes echoing the smile on his muzzle.
The four of them made their way out of the restaurant (where Cup showed her where trash went for cleanup), down the street and back to the school just as the bell for final class sounded. Students were eager to leave, yet still had one more class for the day, whatever it was.
Why did she do it? Probably because... well, having a sad Thunderclap wasn't working out as well as happy one.
In this situation, an attempt to fix this issue - especially as Obsidian didn't really have any further plans - was the best possible idea. Yes, that seemed to be a good explanation. And the next time Mica would see them, he'd regret that he missed out on all interesting things that would come of it, and would realize that Obsidian is learning how to treat non-royals properly.
... and this milkshake really wasn't bad at all. It was surely much better than the 'punch' beverage... in fact, Obsidian felt almost as full as if she'd had her typical 'lunch' back in the Empire. Perhaps even moreso!
"Gypsy? Is your tail reacting to your mood? And do you possibly know something about the past of miss headmare? I think I've seen her name in the more recent chapters in history books, but I didn't retain as much as I'd hoped to. I borrowed a book about her today as well, but haven't had any time to read it, as of yet." It was her last chance to find something interesting before they met again, after all.
Gypsy looked back at his tail and actually blushed just a bit. "Y-yes, this o-one's happiness is shown in his t-t-t-tail, Majesty. It is a d-d-diamond d-dog's way - tails and ears c-communic-c-cate as well as words to us. And Headmare Glimmer? I know a b-bit, yes... shall I t-t-tell it now?"
Cupcake gave a chuckle. "Why not? En route entertainment!"
Gypsy pondered a moment, then began to speak. "M-M-Miss Starlight Glimmer was first noticed by the Elements of Harmony when they went to a small village in the mountains and found a whole society which had ch-chosen to rid themselves of their Cutie Marks, in a supposed show of equality. However, eventually it was revealed that she had, in fact, coerced them into allowing her to r-remove their marks magically and keep them in the village as willing guests."
"When the Bearers discovered that Starlight had done such a thing - and had hidden her own mark, stating she'd removed it as well - they f-fought her and managed to break her control over the villager's marks, reuniting them with their destinies when her magical hold was b-broken."
Oh, and what was this? She had commanded her own village? Where she was forcing ponies to get rid of their marks? By coercion... and she thought about her reading material... of course! The Bearers of Harmony! That's where Obsidian had noticed her - in the chapters about their many past battles.
She didn't expect, though, that miss Headmare had first appeared to them as an enemy! And yet, she somehow ended up in this position? That was truly curious...
"Later on, she appeared again, a-and this time-"
"Cupcake Sprinkles... well, how do you do?"
The voice that had interrupted sounded slick, smooth and slightly snarky, but Cupcake smiled. However, the same voice that had brought out such a smile in Cup was also apparently a voice that brought fear to Gypsy, and his eyes widened as his mouth snapped shut.
"Jinx? Is that you?" Cupcake asked nobody in particular; he may as well have been speaking to thin air!
"Indeed, my most emphatic fellow! In fact, I've been along for the ride since McDonk's, and I have to say, Thunderclap - you should exercise more, with all those hayburgers you've been eating."
Clap wore a look like she was annoyed. She let out a gruff sigh. "Hello, Jinx."
Gypsy scooted behind Obsidian, and she could feel him shivering behind her. "And this must be the enigmatic Obsidian I've heard so much about, hmmmmm?"
Where WAS this entity?
Wonderful - before Gypsy could finish his story, something had interrupted them. Something that either was invisible, hiding itself with magic or... or... well, something else! Cup was smiling, Gypsy apparently was quite afraid and Thunderclap was merely annoyed... it made for a rather confusing first impression.
"Yes, I am Obsidian... random voice... thing... show yourself, as I don't care much for talking to air," she said dryly, looking around in case this trickster was hiding somewhere and only using magic to project their voice away from them.
"Well, far be it for me to deny the decree of a royal, I suppose..."
There was an audible >SNAP!<, and a rush of green smoke suddenly filled the air in front of them, with jets of emerald shooting off to the sides, making it quite a spectacle. Suddenly, the ball of smoke was parted down the center like a curtain, and out stepped... stepped...
What in Tartarus was this?
It was somewhat dragon-shaped and was about as tall as one... but that's where the resemblance stopped cold.
It had what looked to be the tail of a lion, a bright red bird's wing next to a dusty moth wing, two completely mismatched horns, arms and legs. It had a wild, flowing mane with pink and black stripes throughout it, and big yellow eyes with green pupils. All of this was topped off with buck teeth and a pair of floppy bunny ears hanging from it's... head. The look in its' eyes was one of mischief... and perhaps not-so-innocent mischief.
The... thing... gave a low, sweeping bow, a monkey's forearm tucked in close to its' chest while gesturing with... a lobster's claw?
"Greetings, princess... please allow me to introduce myself; I'm a girl of wealth and taste..."
It was... female?
"Siddy, Jinx, Jinx, Siddy - now scram, willya?"
Jinx gave a somewhat unsettling grin toward Clap. "Oh, Thunderclap Dash - always sooooo happy to see me, aren't you?" Obsidian could almost hear the pegasus roll her eyes.
"And my dear friend Cupcake - I hope you're still up for you-know-what this weekend, hmmmm? Quite a bit of fun planned out for us, oh yes!"
"Yeah! I-" Cup suddenly looked over at Obsidian, and his features fell a bit. "Awww, wait - no, Jinxy; I got liaison duty, and I gotta be responsible about it, so..."
Jinx lifted an eyebrow. "So, princess... you're delaying Cupcake all weekend? Not even a spare minute?"
Was this one of the so-called creatures of chaos? Obsidian had only ever read about them... but during her time, the memory of Discord's reign of terror was as fresh as crimson blood on the snow. She'd had to learn about them - even if there hadn't been much factual information available, due to how mysterious their powers were. She had to be exceedingly careful about this one.
At least Cup didn't seem to be scared - which might have been a good sign, perhaps?
"That... depends. What is so important for this... 'weekend' thing?"
Both Jinx and Cupcake looked at each other and smiled broadly and answered in unison: "OGRES AND OUBLIETTES!"
Clap facehoofed.
"It's GRAND fun!" Cupcake began to gush. "We have characters and dice and sheets and little stand-ups and... hey..."
"Uh oh..." Clap said, then looked at Obsidian. "Run, Siddy!"
"HEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!! Princess, you could join us for a session!"
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA NELLY!" Jinx said, holding her claw toward him as if to signal a stop. "Now hold your relatives for a moment there, Cup - you can't just invite someone new without consulting the game master first!" She crossed her arms in annoyance... but her little grin said it was possibly all in fun.
"Oh, COME ON! This could be a great opportunity for her to interact with others! She's, like, really new here, so-"
Jinx held up the claw again, and Cup got quiet... though he was still bouncing in place a little bit. Jinx looked at Obsidian.
"Hmmmmmm..." She then moved even closer, pulling out a magnifying glass and scrutinizing Obsidian closely.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... oh, hello Gypsy..." The diamond dog gave a small, mewling sound as a reply, yet stayed cowering behind Obsidian. His quivering redoubled, though.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..."
Jinx then stepped back, and her eye was comically large through the lens of the magnifying glass... then she put the glass away, and her eye was STILL larger than the other side! With a shake, she set herself right and fingered her lip in ponderance.
"Welllllllll... tell you what, Cupster: bring her on the right night, and we'll see what the whole group says, eh? From there, we'll see what happens - perhaps she'll be allowed, perhaps not. But still," Jinx grinned, "if that's what it takes to get my best gaming buddy to the game, so be it."
"NERD CENTRAL," Clap groaned aloud.
Jinx turned up her nose at Clap... literally; she spun her nostrils upside-down and gave a humph! as she turned away from her... but the umbrage taken was a sham, as the draconequus turned back with a smile. "Awwwww... I can't stay mad at YOU, Clapparino!"
"... I wish you WOULD..." Thunderclap muttered.
Cupcake looked at Obsidian. "Well... are you interested? It's a game where-"
"AH-ah-ahhh! Not around the 'straights', Cupola! Save the surprise for later, hon!" She then turned and, her wings flapping, lifted into the air and looked at Obsidian, leaning on her own hands in midair. "So... what's new, tall, dark and gruesome?"
Jinx was worse than Cupcake - though it should be obvious, she was able to express herself in many ways that Cupcake lacked. Obsidian was doing her best to stand still, even though she'd gladly turn into a shadow and move away. Their description of this 'game' was somewhat lacking as well.
However Obsidian hardly cared about any of that - Gypsy's total fear was interesting, but she didn't like the fact that this creature was scaring him. Besides, without permission to use her Dark Magic, all this tasty fear was just wasted.
"You know, Cupcake... I can just stay in my room all day and read during this holiday or gathering or whatever it is. Or I could simply ask the princess to assign me another liaison for the day..." She found herself glaring daggers at Jinx.
Cupcake looked disappointed. "Awwww... but it's so much fun! And it'll give you the chance to chat with others, and learn teamwork, and-"
"Eh! Tut tut, Cup-Cup. If she doesn't want in, then it's her decision; far be it for me to try to push our fun on anyone else... or don't you recall that particular lesson we learned?"
Cup's ears drooped for just a moment. "Yeah, I remember... butbutbut she could be really GOOD at it!"
Jinx shrugged. "Her choice. Just means more of you for me," and her smile went wide. Then she turned to Obsidian.
"A week consists of seven days; the weekend is technically the days at each end of that week, and they tend to be days most folks have off of work. You might not understand 'days off of work', though... considering where - and when - you're from."
Clap gave Obsidian a determined look. "That's it, mare... fight it... don't fall prey to The Geekness..."
Cupcake looked back and forth between the two, Obsidian and the draconequus, before finally fixing his gaze on Obsidian, a small plea in his eyes. "Are you absolutely sure you don't want to come?"
Days off of work - was that even possible? What were they doing with this time? They should be ashamed, wasting it without an important reason! Or perhaps their work wasn't as important as others, and could therefore go wanting for a while? And this 'more of you for me' statement? She apparently didn't want to eat him... at least, as far as she could tell. Perhaps it was another one of those 'crush' things?
"Small steps, Cup. Or, at least, smaller. I have enough on my mind, and this 'weekend' offer would be a bit much or me to consider, at the moment."
Cupcake gave a long, drawn-out sigh... but nodded and even gave a smile. "You're right, of course... miiiiiiiiight be a bit much after everything else of late. Maybe some time to adjust isn't a bad idea... but you'll consider it when you get more used to things, maybe?"
Thunderclap looked at Jinx with not a whit of affection. "Okay, the question asked, the answer had, now go away."
Jinx just giggled... which sent new waves of fear from behind and beneath her. Good grief, Gypsy was now hiding under her to get away from the draconequus!
"Well, it's all for the best, I suppose... after all, it gives me plenty of time to come up with some new ideas specifically for vous, my dear Dark One. But still," she leaned in close, and Obsidian could smell scorched sugar on her breath, "DO feel free to let me know when you're feeling more... confident, will you?"
Jinx looked over at Cupcake again and smiled... genuinely, in fact. "Same bat-time?"
Cupcake's smile tripled in intensity. "Same bat-channel!"
The earth pony and draconequus shared a brohoof, then she reached into some sort of pocket Obsidian couldn't see... which then proceeded to swallow the entire draconequus, the final ball of flesh vanishing with a >SNAP!<
Cupcake sighed happily. "I'm so glad she and I are friends; she can do the coolest magic!"
"Yeah," snarked Clap, "and annoy the heck out of everyone else around you as well! C'mon - I already have a thing to do in mind, and the sooner we forget that... noodle lizard... the better. C'mon Siddy - let's find you a Headmare!"
While Gypsy's fear was quite tasty, it was only reminding Obsidian that she wasn't allowed to use Dark magic.
"Get out from underneath me - it's embarrassing." She muttered through gritted teeth, getting more and more of a blush on her muzzle from embarrassment. What in Tartarus was that dog thinking?
Gypsy shot out from under her like a bolt of lightning, his eyes wide, looking everywhere for Jinx, presumably.
""G-g-g-g-g-g-g... i-i-i-i-is i-i-i-i-i-it-t-t-t g-g-g-g-g-g.... g-g-g-g-g-g-g..."
Gypsy covered his muzzle with his paws and breathed very raggedly through his fingers, sounding as though he were struggling to get his breathing under control. Cupcake gave him a sympathetic look and slowly came close, gently beginning to stroke Gypsy's back until his breathing began to slow.
"Discord," Thunderclap said, "did a real number on the diamond dogs as a whole, when they insulted him a few years back; nasty stuff - you could ask for an explanation from them as to what he did, but they're scared to death of him - and his daughter - and they'll go through the same thing, every time."
"There, there, Gypsy... it's okay. No worries, no worries..." Cupcake comforted the shaking dog. Gypsy simply nodded, then looked through his fingers at Obsidian.
"Th-th-th-th-th-th... th-th-th-th-th-th-"
"Yeah, we know, 'this one apologizes'... it's okay," Clap said.
The diamond dog nodded, then simply sat there and let Cup pat his back and stroke his head.
Thunderclap Dash looked towards the school, gesturing. "Well? We gonna keep going?"
Gypsy simply nodded, and Cupcake followed suit. Soon, they were all headed to Twilight Sparkle's school once again. The walk there wouldn't be much longer, from the look of it.
It took Obsidian a while to shake off such embarrassment - but even then, she was eyeing Gypsy carefully from time to time, just to be sure he wouldn't try any more ideas that could be socially awkward or uncomfortable.
"If you knew that Gypsy would be that scared, you could have asked to talk with her somewhere else - all this fear felt as if my magic would-"
Wait. Waaaaaaiiiiiiit... did she hear that correctly? "... do you mean... THAT Discord?"
"Eeyup," Clap confirmed, "THAT Discord."
"But... but... he was far older than my father! And he was defeated, yes?" It was unnerving; was modern Equestria infested with chaos? Why was a known tyrant free, even with a spawn of his own? How did he escape and convince them to not blast him with rainbows or some similar fate?
Thunderclap gave a frustrated groan. "Yeah, he was... then Celestia decided to try to rehabilly... rehubba... rebabble..."
"Rehabilitate," Cup added with a grin.
"Yeah, THAT... THAT for him. And, wonky as it sounds, it worked. Sorta."
"Ol' Discy's okay," Cupcake piped up, "did I mention he used to babysit my siblings and I? He's sooooooooooooo much fun, and Jinx is, like, the only one who can completely keep up with me - heck, she can even outdo me, sometimes!"
"And if you're wondering how they did it," Clap said, "it was Miss Fluttershy who got him to change. You met her - does it make sense?"
By the darkness that dwells in the depths of the deepest oceans! Discord, on the Equestrian side of the coin, babysitting foals, having a daughter? Perhaps she could go back to sleep, and wake up in another thousand years - it might be the safest option...
"Yes, it makes perfect sense," Obsidian shuddered slightly when she remembered the mare that was so completely contrary to her father that it was unnerving to her. "yet it doesn't change the fact that I find this entire thing terrifying, even without feeling Gypsy's own fear."
Jinx outdoing Cupcake. Scary, scary, scaaaary.
Thunderclap gave a slight chuckle. "Hey, don't be chicken, now... Discord's more of an annoyance than any sort of villain, anymore... and Jinx puts on a show, but she's REAL insecure-"
"Clap!" Cupcake looked up sharply at her. "That's NOT nice! You don't just start blurting out people's personal stuff!"
She rolled her eyes and sighed, "Okay, MOM - fine."
Cup continued for her. "Jinx... has her issues, yeah... but she's really not all that bad, princess. In fact, she's really nice, once you get to know her..." he looked in Clap's direction, "unlike SOME ponies who keep JUDGING her without KNOWING her."
"Blah blah blah, whatever. She's janky, and I don't care for anything janky." The large pegasus set her firm frown in place, determined to prove how much she disliked the subject matter.
Cupcake pouted a bit, but didn't try to argue; he knew better than to butt heads with her over the subject, it seemed.
Finally, they reached the school just as the last bell went off, and a number of students came out of the front doors like a small river, made up of various critters. There was still enough room to squeeze inside, but Gypsy seemed hesitant to engage such a large crowd. He still hadn't spoken since seeing Jinx, but he seemed somewhat calmer now... probably from Cupcake's comforting.
"Headmare's office, it is," Clap said as she strolled down the hall towards the doorway in question.
Considering that Jinx's mere presence was enough to make Gypsy terribly scared and for Clap and Cup to argue, Obsidian was even more wary of the mishmashed creature. It certainly didn't help that, as a draconequus, she was quite possibly even more powerful than she was... and that didn't sit too well with the Dark Princess. Not at all.
"Truly, I did not care much for how Gypsy was utterly terrified of her," she said quietly when Clap and Cup stopped arguing. Jinx had popped up and interrupted the diamond dog from talking about the headmare's past - and now it was too close for him to continue, at least without delaying the meeting much further.
"So how should I deal with it, Cupcake? Do I simply... ask Bold Verdana if I may visit miss Headmare?"
Cup thought it over for a minute, then nodded. "Sounds like the right way to do it to me!"
"Hey," Clap said, "you want us to come with, or is this a thing where we wait out here while you ask her strange questions?
Either way is fine with me."
"With us," Cup added.
"Yeah, what he said."
Obsidian looked at the doors, pondering the situation. "I do believe I'd like to try to deal with this one myself; I shouldn't rely so much on others... at least, those who are not my most honourable father." With these words she trotted forward, knocked on the door (to prevent another possible accident) and slipped inside.
Hopefully, miss Verdana would allow her that visit.
Bold was behind her desk as before, only this time there was nobody else in the office. She looked up at Obsidian as she entered the room, and she straightened her glasses before she spoke.
"Miss Obsidian, again - a pleasure. I take it you finished the assignments given to you, so... how may I help you?"
Hm. Empty. One would think that this office would be always busy. Obsidian bowed slightly to the secretary. "I, uh, would like to talk with miss Headmare - she said before that I could come visit her, and I have a few questions about the school and other such things. May I enter?"
Bold gave a small grin. "She's speaking with the guidance councilor at the moment... but I'm certain they wouldn't mind your presence. Just one minute." She reached over and gingerly pressed a button on a small, beige box.
"Madam Glimmer?" she spoke into it, "Miss Obsidian has returned and wishes an audience with you."
With the guidance councilor present, it meant they would have superiority in numbers; a bad tactical situation to be stuck in right before a battle! Luckily they weren't actually going to fight... right? Still, Obsidian had asked the rest of her group to stay with the hope of a nice, quick muzzle-to-muzzle chat - frankly, this unexpected turn of events was a bit irksome.
After a moment, the box spoke back! And in Starlight Glimmer's voice! "Sure, send her right in!"
That box was interesting... apparently, modern magic was a wonderful thing, indeed. If her father's Empire had access to something like that, the slave overseers wouldn't have to waste their time going directly to the slaves to give them orders; they could hear their orders and obey them promptly - all at the same time!
Bold nodded and gestured to the Headmare's office door. "Go right ahead."
Obsidian sighed deeply at how much her world had changed in so short a time and entered the headmare's office; when she opened the door, happy laughter floated out on the breeze.
Inside, the Headmare and the Councilor were both giggling over something hopefully unrelated, but as she entered, the two of them turned to greet her with amicable looks on their muzzles. The councilor adjusted her necklace - the new one from the package, no less - and used a hoof to straighten her silver mane.
Headmare Glimmer smiled warmly at Obsidian. "I already heard you got those errands done - I very much appreciate it, you lightening my load, even if it was just a few things - every little bit helps!"
"Yeah, and hey," the councilor added, "I appreciate that, too. This means we can get out of here at a more reasonable hour, so we can stop for dinner before we head home. Thanks! No really... thanks!"
Glimmer grinned. "I... take it you wanted to talk about something else?"
Obsidian wasn't used to older ponies at higher positions smiling at her... or frankly any ponies smiling at her at all, for that matter. This place was just too different, too alien from the Crystal Empire of ancient times that she'd known.
She still bowed respectfully to both of them. "I, er... was thinking about that offer to attend the school, miss headmare. You hopefully recall how you offered me the chance... uh, earlier?... that we might start paperwork after finishing today's agenda? Well, I... that is, I decided to inquire as to the, ah... current status of this offer?"
She was getting nervous. She was actually getting nervous! With Cupcake around, she was more or less able to rely on his social charisma... but right now, she couldn't help but think that barging into an official's office with any form of request was wrong; if she'd tried that with her father, it would likely have ended with pain.
Both the Headmare and the councilor's muzzles flashed with smiles. "Well, it's what I offered you, isn't it? I'm glad to hear you're coming around to the idea, actually. Yes, the offer still stands. Trixie," she turned to the other mare, "can you grab me a 17-B form and a 12-Q while you're at it?"
"The Gr-r-r-r-reat and Powerful Tr-r-r-r-r-rixie is not a secretary!" She looked a bit pouty, but then looked at Starlight's grinning face and her expression turned into an embarrassed chuckle.
"But... uh, she thinks they may be in that drawer, by your left?"
Checking the drawer, Starlight said, "Ah, here we are; thanks, Trix. Okay! So, go ahead and fill out what you understand, and when you reach the point you can't figure it out or you've finished, hand it to me and I'll review it, on the spot."
She pointed to the chair next to the councilor. "You don't even have to go anywhere else - fill it out right here, if you like."
Obsidian knew that there was no real reason to worry - but still, deeply, she felt that something was wrong. Actually plenty of things lately were wrong: from the lack of her most honourable father's wisdom and guidance, to the loss of so much time and re-learning of knowledge she once thought to be cold, hard fact, to having to deal with so many words and so many personalities, to the ban on her Dark Magic capabilities, to the fact that for the first time in her life, she found she had the dubious liberty of making her own choices - who wouldn't be stressed out with such a great burden of instant responsibility?
The unicorn's horn flashed, once again showing its' boiling and angry aura, as she levitated the proffered forms closer to examine them more carefully.
"As far as I am concerned, I have nothing; my own money, my own place, my own... nothing. Which is ironic, considering that a week ago, I woud have been considered the second the richest pony in all of the entire Crystal Empire. Sadly, this fact does not hold up well after an entire millenium, so... will finance become an issue?" she asked while starting to fill in the more obvious parts.
'Birthday'. Uh... well. So. Obsidian wondered if there was a little box to write an explanation of how long she'd been technically alive. She then went on to consider what day would have been considered the day of her birth... had she ever even known it; her most honourable Father wasn't into 'birthdays', so he hadn't exactly told her.
The councilor got a little nervous when Obsidian fired up the ol' red aura, but Starlight was unfazed.
"I can't even imagine what that must be like for you... but I know what it feels like to have nothing at all. Where've you been staying? I sort of assumed you were at Twilight's palace, since that's where I was told you came here from."
"Maybe she's been staying at the hostel, near Sweet Apple Acres? That place can be fun, but they can sure wear out an entertainer quickly with requests!" Trixie chuckled. "Still... usually ponies with nowhere else to go end up there, so it wouldn't surprise me."
The form wasn't horrible, but it would most certainly require someone to tell her what some of these questions meant! All the same, the majority of them were easily figured out. There was a single line allotted for a birthday; maybe the actual amount of years need not be on there, right?
"I'm currently staying within the Applejack Suite. A place to stay was arranged through Princess Sparkle, and I doubt I would be turned out onto the street so swiftly." Although, come to think of it... there was the matter of her supposed debt.
O tempora, o mores.
"However, shall I assume that attenting the school means some kind of financial restitution... or am I wrong?" She was learning a bit how to become a good imperial administrator, so she was somewhat prepared for these forms... but far less than she'd hoped for, unfortunately.
"No," Starlight answered her earlier question, "the school is free to any and all who want to attend, regardless of social standing, race or disability! Making money off of friendship-"
"... sounds like that fiasco that Flim and Flam tried to make work!" Trixie finished with a smirk.
"Exactly. It's wrong to try to profit on the pursuit of friendship, so Princess Twilight offers the school for free to anyone at all. Because the less others have to spend on their own education, the more likely they'll be able to spend it in other areas they might need to."
"Er... should I explain that, despite being born more than thousand years ago, I'm technically still sixteen?" she pondered to herself.
"Eh," Trixie said, waving a dismissive hoof, "don't worry about the age stuff so much - put sixteen and be done with it. I'm sure that, if it's important, it'll come up... right?"
Glimmer sighed, then put on a smile. "Well, there's a notes section; if you truly feel the need for it, you can make a notation of it there. Shouldn't cause an issue with enrollment, I'd think."
But it was important, so there was need for it. Besides, more information was always useful - she might suffer from amnesia, someday; in this situation, she could at least know why things seemed weird to her. So she made a notation anyway - just to be safe.
"I assume that education here differs from the one I received in the Crystal Empire, especially when it comes to teachers. Students here are grouped together, correct?"
As a princess, she hadn't exactly had any contact with things like 'classes' before. "I, uh... is there any chance that I could join a group with anycreature I already know?"
The two mares exchanged looks, then Starlight gestured to Trixie, who turned and gave a smug little half-grin as she spoke. "Lemme guess - you're already making friends, and you wanna know if you can stick with your buddies, right? That's not a bad idea, especially when you're just learning..."
"... but there's the possibility," Starlight took over, "that if you stay with the same group all the time, you'll never make new friends after those. So we'll have to try to balance things out, but that shouldn't be too difficult."
The two of them regarded her for a moment, then Trixie spoke up. "Well, if you want to get placed correctly, then you mind telling us who your other friends are?"
By Darkness, just how many friends did they want her to have? She already had quite a few, and still didn't even know what exactly it meant! It felt like a form of trade capital, really - as if she would find out that she had to pay some enormous debts...
"Cupcake, Thunderclap, Gypsy, Stalwart... and mayhaps Butter Churn and Licorice Twist, but I barely spent any time with those two." In fact, she almost didn't know Cupcake's brother, but there was something in him that made Obsidian sure he'd be a fine choice...
As she spoke the list of names, the two of them listened raptly. When she was done, they looked at each other, then sat back and started thinking.
"Cupcake Sprinkles... that makes sense. He's a lot like his mother, Pinkie Pie, so he's always trying to be a friend to everyone he meets."
"Except," Trixie added, "when his mood swings show up. He's kinda creepy, how he can go from joyful to sour in a flash."
"Also, like his mother, if you recall." Trixie waved the response away with a hoof.
"Now, Thunderclap Dash? You might be able to help us out, here," Starlight leaned forward, "she's just barely getting by in her classes, but not because she doesn't understand - she's smarter than other people think-"
"She just doesn't really care," Trixie finished. "That, and her attitude can be pushy and abrasive at times, like she's got a chip on her shoulder."
"... or a big ego, like a certain somepony I know?" Starlight teased, looking pointedly at the blue mare. Trixie stuck her tongue out at her, then they both laughed.
"So try to help her get more interested in her classes... if that's possible, of course. Don't force it if you're not comfortable trying."
"Gypsy Rover," Trixie said, "is one of the cases we're trying to set as an example to other diamond dogs. There's only five in the entire school, because they don't know if they trust the world at large yet. Plus, in his case, he's an orphan, and his guardians are very suspicious of ponies in general."
Oh, so Gypsy was an orphan... that made some sense. Obsidian hadn't been sure whether his talk of not having parents had been some diamond dog social decision - as in, they didn't nominate birth-givers as 'parents' - or perhaps they had wildly different ways to reproduce, or that he just existed... like her. At least it meant she didn't have to ask him for clarification on that subject.
"However," Starlight countered with a grin, "he's also gifted in historical studies, and his academic grades are among the best in the entire school! Plus, he's very sweet, and he has a genuine interest in learning about friendship..."
The headmare paused, then looked at Obsidian as if she was trying to recall something particular.
"Wait... did you say... Stalwart Stance?" Starlight's jaw hung open for a moment. "Stalwart doesn't make friends easily; if you managed that..."
"Starlight," Trixie said with a bored drawl, "she's royalty, remember?"
The Headmare's eyes lit up with understanding. "Ohhhhhhhhhhh... that's right. Well, that makes more sense, then. Still, if she wants a loyal friend, she could do worse."
Trixie looked at Obsidian seriously. "You realize she's waaaaay to short to qualify for the Equestrian Royal Guard, right? We've even told her that, but she refuses to believe it. She thinks she'll have a chance simply because she wants it bad enough."
"Well... maybe she will. You never know, Trixie," Starlight shrugged before she went on. "Butter Churn? Well, she's not bad friend material at all, and has her mother's honest streak-"
"Yeah, to a bigger fault than Applejack ever did," Trixie chuckled. "Careful what you tell that one; she won't lie for you, not one bit."
"Trixie," Starlight said with slightly forced calm, "not lying is a good thing."
"Really?" Trixie turned around in her chair to look at her friend with a wicked grin. "So, who was that stallion I saw you with last Saturday, hmmmmmmmm?"
Starlight's eyes bulged for a moment. "Ah-heh-heh-heh... ummm... sooooooooooooooooooooooooo... Licorice Twist, did I hear you correctly?"
"Licorice?" Trixie looked at Obsidian closely for a moment, then a slow smile spread across her muzzle. "Oh... ohhhhhhhhh, I see. That makes sense, too. Maybe you can get him to let go of that little black stormcloud he seems to carry over his head when he's trying to impress the fillies?"
"Licorice," Starlight interjected, "is a good student, and I'm sure his habits will rub off on Obsidian, Trix."
The blue mare's smile widened. "I don't think it's his habits she'll want to be rubbing with..."
Starlight looked back and forth between them for a moment, then gasped and blushed a bit. "Trixie Lulamoon! Behave yourself!"
Trixie only laughed. "There's nothing wrong with having a little crush; she'll be fine..." She leaned forward with a smirk. "Especially if they share some classes together."
It was interesting that she was able to learn more about the rest of her group; not everything was new, as she obviously already noticed Cupcake's admirable intimidation tactics - his meeting with the griffons being the best example, and Princess Twilight had already told her about Stalwart's size situation.
However, Thunderclap being smarter than she looked? That was new.
However, Guidance Councilor Trixie was trying to tease a mare that only recently discovered that it was possible to engage in an heir-producing relationship without it being arranged by her father - Obsidian was completely oblivious to the prod and stared blankly at miss Trixie.
"... Crush? I... do not believe that is the case."
The two mares looked at each other and smiled knowing smiles. "Let's just say that we'll see what happens, okay? Well," Starlight went through a drawer and pulled out some folders, then floated them over to Trixie and plopped them into the guidance councilor's lap.
"Wha-" Trixie began, eyes widening in surprise.
"She's wanting to have her friends with her during this experience, Trixie - with this list, it would probably be best if she had, say, one or two friends per class; this way, it won't disrupt the other's schedules too much. As that's the case, then she needs somepony to help figure out which classes to take, and who to have with her in each one. Or, to put it bluntly, she's asking for guidance... councilor." She giggled.
Trixie glared daggers at Headmare Starlight, then gave a heavy sigh and picked up the paperwork with her magic. "Great. Thanks. SO what I wanted to do..."
Starlight smiled kindly, then turned back to Obsidian once more. "The paperwork should be complete by tomorrow, just in time for you to attend. First Bell is at 8 in the morning; make sure to be in class by then, and you should be fine. Your friends should be able to help you with where to go."
Trixie sighed, then looked back at Obsidian with much less of a sour face than before. "Show up at my office when you get here tomorrow morning, and I'll give you your schedule; when the semester changes, we'll discuss what you want to take, but for simplicity's sake, I'll... I'll assign the right classes for you, don't worry."
Starlight nodded. "Trixie's been at this for a good while - she won't let you down."
"A vote of confidence is nice," she grumbled as she went out the door with her paperwork, "but The Great and Powerful Trixie would rather have help going through all these papers!" Her magic closed the door behind her.
Starlight turned back to face the princess. "Anything else? Don't be afraid to ask questions."
So, she just had to come early tomorrow to get her schedule of activities, and then she would just have to attend classes.
Everything seemed to be fine, and the school's guidance was at work for her benefit. After all, her father had told her many times that she was too inexperienced and ignorant to know what was best for her. School wasn't exactly the best equivalent of her father's brand of education... but it seemed to be the only option left.
"I... ah, also thought..." she hesitated a bit, "... that perhaps, with all this debt thing, doing chores from Lemon and so on... is there possibly any more *ahem* permament work I could be doing... perhaps in the library? Miss Tome seemed to be duly satisfied with my work, so I thought that, maybe..."
Ugh, to think that a princess would be worried about work and money... like a peasant!
Starlight lifted an eyebrow. "Really? Wow, you sound like Twilight..."
She stood up and came around her desk, coming muzzle-to-muzzle with Obsidian... or nearly so, as the princess was a bit taller than the headmare.
"I think I can take a look into something more permanent... and less Lemon-filled, so to speak." She gave a slight chuckle. "Personally? I also think he's a bit of a jerk... but really, he's got some good points, too."
She began to pace the office as she spoke. "He was the youngest entrant into the Equestrian Intelligence and Espionage Information Offices, and he was the one who organized the resistance to The Great Parasprite Flood. He worked hard to get through those things, and he wouldn't have done so if he didn't care at least a little bit."
She smiled. "Not saying you have to make him a friend, mind you - just making a point that there's something worthwhile about everyone, and you just have to learn how to keep your eyes open for it. And that is part of what this school is for."
Why did she sound so much like Twilight? Well, they were both princesses, but of different kinds... so to speak. And frankly, she didn't care about Lemon; keeping him away would be just a nice bonus.
Come on - even his own brothers didn't seem to like him.
"I just think it's a rather nice library, and it wouldn't hurt to try to get a more stable and secure position, would it?
Especially as back home, I wasn't even able to visit our library without escort - and my father's expressed permission." The fact that her most esteemed father usually was her escort wasn't important.
Starlight gave a thoughtful look for a moment, then nodded to herself. "I can look into it, sure - Tome certainly doesn't seem to need help, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want help. I'll put in an inquiry, and I can get back to you whenever she gets back to me."
Starlight stood up and made her way over to a filing cabinet, shuffling through papers. "I know there's a lot going on for you right now, but you have to keep an open mind about how things will go in this day and age; you'll be experiencing a LOT of changes, and not all of them will be fun. But whatever happens, I hope you know you can talk to me, or Trixie, or just about anypony on staff here."
She pulled a paper from the cabinet with her magic, then floated it over to Obsidian. "Here's a map of the school, for tomorrow. Wouldn't want you to get lost getting to classes on your first day, right?"
Frankly, though her encounter with Miss Tome had been a bit strange, working in the library could give Obsidian a good reason to stay near her - she surely knew a lot, could become quite a font of knowledge... and, of course, Obsidian needed a job. One that would have her surrounded by books sounded like the kind of job she wouldn't mind at all.
"Thank you, miss headmare," Obsidian said; with both a map and a promise of inquiry, it seemed that everything was going to be OK. "And I've already found quite a lot of changes. Mind-breaking ones. I think I'm doing fairly well, all things considered."
She had her falling out with Mica, mayhaps, but that was all. Everything else she'd tried had come to very acceptable conclusions. She'd even managed to get her own small entourage, with the loyal Stalwart and the knowledgeable Gypsy as probably the most useful of her assets.
Obsidian was curious to ask miss headmare about her rather, er... 'villainous' past, but Thunderclap was waiting for her to go do the promised activities, and Obsidian still felt she didn't know enough to ask any proper questions - courtesy of Jinx, who'd scared Gypsy in the middle of an info dump.
"I do believe that's all for now, miss headmare; I'll do my best to avoid any problems as a student."
Starlight smiled. "Glad to hear it - the fewer issues, the better, I say. If you're sure there's nothing else, then at least I hope things get easier for you. Trust me," she gave a half-smile, "I know what it's like to be a proverbial 'fish out of water', but you're doing great so far. Keep it up, and you'll be a part of things here in no time."
She then moved back around her desk, plopping into her chair with a heavy sigh. "Now, if you'll excuse me - I have a lunchroom budget to balance. One I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy."
Balancing a budget didn't sound that bad - if anything, it was one of the more calming, relaxing things her father had been instructing her on; her lack of mistakes had meant it was more likely that punishment would be minimal, if at all.
"Then I bid you a goodbye, miss headmare." Obsidian bowed once again and began to make her way out of the room, feeling a small sense of relief. Maybe it hadn't been her father... but meeting ponies in a position of power was still more stressful than she'd thought it would be.
Even if they were clearly doing their best to help her. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Fourteen: Thunderstruck | Starlight waved to her as she left, and in the office outside, Bold Verdana was still seated at her desk.
"Your friends," she said without looking away from her monitor, "are waiting in the hallway; they seem eager for your return."
Ah, her friends were being impatient... well, she couldn't exactly blame them - standing in the hallway and waiting for her surely wasn't the most interesting thing in the world. She'd had to deal with her fair share of punishment before she learned that being impatient did NOT please her most honourable father.
But as she opened the door and went to leave, someone else walked right into her, coming in. Obsidian's head collided with the other's, who fell against the door frame.
"OH!" came from the other victim, the voice being pitched enough to identify as a mare. "I am SO sorry! I-I-I thought... I mean, I... I'm so sorry!" The mare was about the same age as she was, a unicorn as well, and was rather well-groomed and stylish, but in a subdued manner.
She looked mortified at having such a social faux-pas, taking a moment to check on Obsidian before she straightened her mane. "Are you alright?"
The mare was physically similar to Obsidian in a number of ways; long legs, sleek figure, and an ash grey coat with a long, luxurious black mane which faded into red tips, with colors to match in her short, neat tail. She had deep, sensual blue eyes, and held herself with poise.
Her voice... there was something about it that Obsidian noticed. It wasn't exactly a familiar voice, but something about the voice was bugging her; she couldn't seem to pin it down.
And then suddenly she stopped thinking about it, as for the first time in this new, modern Equestria she was feeling real, physical pain. She stumbled backwards, slightly stunned, and rubbed her temple with a hoof.
"OW. I, uh..." she shook her head - which was a mistake, as it made her pain worse.
"... unless doors suddenly open with alarming frequency, then I'm sure it's not too difficult to notice somepony walking out," she growled, annoyed, "but yes, I'm used to worse things - who are you?"
Maybe she had heard her talking in passing before? She had frankly no idea where she might have heard the voice from - maybe it was similar voice to of one of her friends?
Her smile was clear and wide. "I'm Looking Glass - I'm sorry our foreheads met before we did." She wore a simple barding, with a single saddlebag on her right side, and a silver bracelet on each forehoof. Though she wasn't dressed and styled like a princess, she certainly looked and unconsciously acted like one.
"A-again, I'm terribly sorry - I normally watch where I'm going; I'm just afraid I had more on my mind than I thought..."
THAT was it! She was speaking with the slightest hint of a Crystal Empire accent - like she herself had!
Well, maybe she was sorry... but this time, Obsidian didn't have any reasons to have to accept these apologies.
Without Mica, and with Cupcake and Clap saying that they were only 'acquaintances', she actually had less 'friends' than she thought she had yesterday!
"You're... from the Crystal Empire too?" Obsidian asked. The mare's accent was only a small hint, but it was familiar in such an alien world. And thanks to her father's magic, there hadn't been much time to adjust. After all, most ponies in the Empire were in a somewhat similar situation to Obsidian's... weren't they? Displaced in time, and having to adjust to modern ways?
This one, however, seemed to be young enough to be born after her father's demise. "Eh... nevermind - I won't keep you occupied, if you're too busy." Looking Glass just had to take a small, tiny step to the side to let Obsidian leave the room. Talking in a doorway felt strange, anyhow.
Glass gave a surprised smile. "Oh! I thought your voice sounded familiar! Yes I am, as a matter of fact," she nodded, "and it's grand to meet a fellow Crystallian!" She fully entered the room, but kept focused on Obsidian.
"There aren't many of us here at the school, so we tend to stay together when we... hey! I actually have a few friends that would love to meet you, when you have time." She reached into her saddlebag with her magic (a lovely rose color), and brought out a pencil and a small piece of yellow paper. Jotting a note on it hastily, she floated it over to Obsidian. "Here - we meet there every Friday, after school; you'd be welcome to join us, if you like!"
Ah, more friends... and from the Crystal Empire, no less! Frankly, Obsidian wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not, as she'd already rejected one proposition of a social meeting anyway - even though in this case, she'd done it mostly because of Jinx and the strange, mysterious game they wanted to play.
"I'll consider it. Can I take my liaison if he isn't from the Empire?" she asked, just to be sure.
The mare's muzzle fell a bit. "Well... do you have to? I mean, we've kept it reserved for Crystal Imperials for so long... it would be a bit... awkward..."
She sighed, then her smile returned. "But, if you have no choice, then I suppose we'll accept them if it comes down to that. It's not like we'd turn YOU away, and if he absolutely HAS to be with you, then I see little choice in the matter."
"I'll have to ask Princess Twilight Sparkle if he MUST be with me all the time, so perhaps I won't have to..." Obsidian admitted. That mare was pretty cheerful for a pony that, seemingly, had a lot on her mind... and who had just run into her head first. It was making her feel rather awkward, to be honest.
She grinned. "With you, that'll make five of us here! Oh, WOW! What an opportunity! I have GOT to tell the others I met you today! They'll be so pleased!"
"Very well; as I said, I'll consider it. Farewell, Looking Glass." Obsidian nodded primly, looking to get back to her entourage.
The other mare nodded and made her way toward the headmare's office, smiling as she waved. "Thanks - we'd love to have you! Sorry about the bump!"
Between Cupcake's practiced and frequent introductions to others and the light throb in her head from the collision, Obsidian hadn't even had the thought of introducing herself.
In the hallway, Obsidian found Cupcake standing on a chair and singing at the top of his lungs, while Thunderclap watched with passing interest, and Gypsy was sitting and behaving politely, watching more passers-by than the earth pony with a volume problem.
"... fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshiiiiHEY! There you are! I was just passing some time, singing for the others!"
Clap gave a smarmy chuckle. "One of his mother's tunes - he doesn't have her voice, but he's got the spirit for it, I guess."
"EEEEEEEEE-YUP!" He beamed brilliantly.
Obsidian had never felt so lucky that she'd left Cupcake for a moment. Still, hearing Cupcake sing was a strange experience, watching him doing it in a middle of a corridor felt even worse.
"So, what'd she say?" Thunderclap leaned forward and looked curious.
"Classes start at eight, but before that I need to visit the guidance councilor to receive specific information as to what classes I should be attending. I also received a map... well, another one." She showed it to them, then hid it away in the saddlebag she'd gotten from Thunderclap. "I also asked if there were any jobs I could do in the library. However, there were no definite prospects yet."
Cupcake jumped down off the seat and dashed right up to Obsidian... then stood there, eyes wide and practically running in place for a moment, mere inches from her, before finally reaching next to him and grabbing Gypsy up in a huge hug that seemed to squeeze the air out of the diamond dog instantly as his eyes bugged out.
"Woof!"
"YOU ENROLLED, YAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!! I'm so happy I wanna hug ya, but you don't wanna be hugged, so I'll just hug a puppy until I'm over it already, but oh wow, you'll be in school with us, I KNEW you'd want to, squeeeeee..."
"... C-C-Cup..."
"We'll have to sit together at lunch, and we'll hang out between classes, and join the same clubs - OOH! We could make our OWN club!"
"... c-can't..."
"There'll be crystal collecting, and we can learn to write backwards, and we can make TONS of cookies, and there'll be folks who talk about us all the time, saying how there goes the coolest club in the entire school!"
"... br-br-breeeeeathe..."
"We're gonna have SO MUCH FUN!!!!!"
"Cup," Clap smirked, "Gypsy's turning blue."
"Hunh? OH! Sorry about that, buddy!" He let go of the excited death-squeeze his forelegs had around the diamond dog. When Cupcake released Gypsy, the canine took in a huge inhale of oxygen.
"*GASP* Ohhhh... this o-one... loves... the a-a-air..."
He hit the ground and just stayed put for a moment, breathing with great relish as Cupcake giggled with glee.
"Still - ISN'T IT EXCITING!?!?" The blue unicorn stallion looked ready to explode on his own.
Cupcake seemed to be as dangerous to his allies as he was to his enemies! At least he was wise enough to notice that Obsidian pretty much didn't want hugs - especially in such a bonecrushing manner.
She even nearly turned back to tell the headmare that she'd changed her mind; watching a supremely enthusiastic Cupcake was a truly terrifying experience... aaaaaaaaaand it was sort of her fault that he'd just tried to accidentally murder Gypsy right in front of her.
"I don't even know what this 'club' thing is that you speak of; all I know is that miss headmare and miss guidance councilor will try to set me up to have classes with one or two of you... or Butter Churn, Licorice or Stalwart."
Thunderclap grinned. "Welp, sounds like you've got things taken care of here; school enrolled, head honchos spoken to, and now we just gotta see to it you're ready for school... which brings me to what I wanna do!"
She stood up, stretched, then smiled just slightly. "We're going... shopping."
Cupcake lifted an eyebrow. "Again? Didn't you go just a couple of days ago?"
Clap laughed and waved a hoof at Cupcake. "Eh, there's always time to shop - plus, I think Siddy should have a couple of nice outfits to wear tomorrow. And ya know what?"
She looked at the princess, grinning. "... I'll even buy 'em myself!"
Shopping? That was, in a way, a new concept for her - until now, she'd been used to 'trade' as something happening between states, as a part of an economy. Obviously, lowly subjects were able to do it as well - but as a royal, Obsidian was fully expecting that these kinds of things would be done by her servants, sooner or later.
Outfits, though? Well, to be completely and utterly fair, she always wanted to have a cape like her most honourable father.
Also, Obsidian had been certain that Thunderclap would've liked to do something more... athletic.
"Well, I don't believe it would work any other way, as I, uh..." Obsidian shrugged, "don't have any capital of my own, actually."
She rubbed her temple; a princess with debt... The Princess of Debts... damnable Equestrians! Hadn't her father owned anything that could be passed to her as an inheritance? Even if she didn't really think he was dead, he was a king! Maybe he was deposed, but there should have been... something!
Thunderclap laughed. "A broke princess? NOW, I've heard everything! It's okay - I gotcha! You've got nothing to worry about there."
Obsidian shot Thunderclap a very nasty glare. So she was doing her best to cheer her up - even if the chosen activity was of her choosing - and now she was mocking her? What an annoying creature... in fact, compounded with the two times when she touched Obsidian without permission, she was already moving towards the top of the list of annoying friends and acquaintances - possibly threatening to surpass Cupcake, who at least had proved his worth.
Meanwhile, Thunderclap had only... given her a fancy saddlebag. And had paid for her earlier meal. And had offered to buy her clothes.
Yes, well... maybe it was quite generous of her, but Obsidian still didn't like that she was laughing at her shoddy financial situation. It wasn't her fault, after all!
"Th-th-this one could... c-c-could use some m-more p-p-paper..."
"Oh, this should be FUN!" The unicorn started to skip along again, when a voice cut through the air.
"Cupcake Sprinkles!"
Cup froze, then smiled broadly. "Sister, is that you?"
He turned to face two mares that stood side by side; one had an almost electric blue coat and a deep violet mane, styled into a mohawk that gave her a punkish appearance, with a black vinyl jacket to match, the other had a tan coat with a few dark brown dappled spots, a black bowler hat, a little bowtie and a massively curly red mane.
The blue mare strolled right up to Cupcake, getting muzzle-to-muzzle with him as she spoke.
"Cup, did you forget about the stupid birthday party you told Mom you'd help out with? She's almost got everything ready, but she's gonna need your help to get it moved, you dink."
"Nice to see you too, sis!" Cupcake seemed unfazed by her attitude.
The other mare simply waved politely and sat down, watching the proceedings with interest.
"Princess Obsidian," Cupcake started, "I'd like to introduce my darling sisters: this is Blue Raspberry..."
"Yeah, yeah... princess or not, I don't really care," the blue mare grumbled.
"... and this is Peppermint Patty!" The tan mare simply smiled bashfully and waved at everyone else.
Cupcake turned to face Obsidian. "Blue's a snarky, impatient rascal, and Pepper's the quiet genius of the family!"
"Rascal... sure, okay - are you comin' or not, dork?"
Cupcake looked back and forth between Obsidian and his sisters. "Uhmmmm... oh, good grief... uh, princess? I'm supposed to be your liaison, but I did make a promise to my mom. Is... there any chance you'd be okay with Clap while I go do this? Or would you rather I not go?"
Blue rolled her eyes. "C'mon, hurry up. Make a decision, crown-butt."
By Darkness, how many siblings did Cupcake Sprinkles have? And why were they so very different from one another? Maybe there were so many that no one would notice if a particular blue mare went missing? For some reason, Obsidian immediately disliked her.
"If you'll go, then I'll put all the blame on you if Princess Twilight Sparkle questions me about it," she warned him, "or I can just lock myself in my room - this way, you'll be able to keep your promise, and I won't have to walk around without a liaison. But we would have to delay shopping... unless there's there any chance we'd be able to do it later?"
Obviously, she had no idea how long shops stayed open, or how long it would take for Cup to deal with all this 'birthday party' stuff. The last alternative would be Obsidian going with Cup, but she didn't really want to meet his mother. She really didn't think it would be a good idea.
Blue glared at Obsidian for a moment. "I don't think I like you very much, prissy pants."
Cupcake, however, just rolled his eyes with a smile. "Blue Raspberry doesn't like someone... oh, call the papers and stop the presses!"
That statement was rewarded with a chilly glare from the blue sister, and a silent giggle from the bowtied one. Cupcake sighed, then looked at them both.
"Blue, let Momma know I'm doing something special; direct orders from Princess Twilight and all... aaaaaaaand that I'm sorry I couldn't ma-"
"Yeah, yeah, ditching her to go make out with your marefriends, I got it, buzz off then, stupid. Stop wastin' my time, which I already HAD to waste to come and find YOU, dork..."
Thunderclap gave a slight grin. "Say, Blue... anyone ever tell you you've got a porcupine stuck to your head?"
"Anyone ever tell YOU," Blue replied, "that your mom's getting old and slow in her senior years?"
Thunderclap bristled. "Glad to see you're still just as spiteful as ever, jerkmuzzle."
Blue grinned wickedly. "I learned from the best, snail-brain. C'mon, Patty - since Cup's bailing, we'll have to be the ones to pick up his slack. I'll make sure mom knows you don't care about that promise, and that you didn't want anything more to do with her stupid parties!"
When she turned to leave, Patty looked back and winked at Cup... who winked back.
Once they left, he let another smile fly. "Blue might try to start something, but Patty'll let her know the truth; I'll be fine." He paused for all of a single breath. "I think."
"Anything to get away from that dipstick... how in the world could she be related to you, Cupper?"
He shrugged. "You can't pick family; you just gotta endure 'em."
"You know, a bit of dark magic and she would behave properly until her very last breath," Obsidian said with a grim glare at Blue as she departed.
Cup gave a giggle. "You miiiiiiiiiight wanna think about that, first - she's pretty tough. I mean, REALLY tough. She's a meanie who can take all sorts of fighting. She usually starts it, honestly. Mom tried for years to straighten her out, but it just made her rebel even more. Finally, mom just decided she'd grow up on her own."
"C-c-c-could she be a s-s-s-senior c-citizen... n-now, please?"
Cup chuckled. "Don't let Blue rattle you, princess; it's what she does for fun. If she sees she can get under your coat, she'll do it every time."
"Yeah," Clap growled, "sorry about her. She's kinda... my... fault."
"Thunderclap used to be a big bully, and Blue followed her around a lot. One day, she just decides to be a jerk... and here we are. But no, please," Cup said, "no hoopajoo magic for sister Blue."
"Well... it would be illegal, anyway. And even if I didn't care about that, I'd have to be brain damaged to try it in a place where your princess could send me straight into Tartarus in ten seconds! And... AND..."
Obsidian stopped - she was very angry, of course... but it didn't change the fact that she was still thinking. Granted, she was mostly thinking of how she could punish Blue, but it was somewhat connected. Sort of.
"Princess Twilight told me that her doors were always open; we can check to see if she's there, and possbily ask her to do something with this liaison-thing. Then hopefully, you will be able to go help your mother, we will go shopping and I won't have to be punished for ditching my liaison again."
"I appreciate it," Cup began, "but that'd take too long; I was already behind, and to do all that would make it waaaaaaaaaaaaay later than that! It's okay, I... Momma'll understand. I know she will. After all, it's about being a good friend, right? Mom would never get upset over making friends!"
"And don't let Blue get to you," Clap added, "because it's not worth it. She's mean and nasty, but only because she wants to be; don't allow her to make you mean and nasty, too. Then, she wins."
Gypsy stepped up next to Obsidian and held out a small paper pony. "You c-c-can use this t-t-t-t-to help; p-p-pr-pretend it's her." He offered the folded paper to her. He'd even colored it blue, to help with the effect.
It was a fair bet that Cupcake knew his mother well enough. Obsidian wasn't too happy that her attempt to deal with all their problems at once wasn't carried out, but there was always a chance that Princess Twilight would visit her again, sooner or later.
She also knew that Twilight wasn't supposed to act in place of her father, but she was still surprised that she found herself angry enough to propose bothering a higher authority figure with her pathetic issues!
"I'm fine, and we can go. Gypsy, I won't vent my frustration at a paper pon-... wait." She blinked. "How... h-how did you do that so quickly?" He didn't have his own brand of diamond dog magic, did he?
Gypsy blushed slightly. "This o-one is d-d-deft."
He then held up his paws, and she could see a number of colored markers just inside his hoodie's floppy sleeves. "... and prep-p-pared."
Apparently, it seemed that Gypsy wasn't just doing it because it was relaxing - he was a true artist. An interesting skill, even though not terribly useful - at least not in a grand scheme of things - but low-borns weren't too concerned about their usefulness to the state. Without slavery and dark magic, there weren't too many options to force them to take a more useful course.
Not that she truly wanted to enslave Gypsy... but perhaps enslaving all the rest of the town would surely soothe Obsidian's nerves?
Thunderclap turned and led the way, as the four friends journeyed out of the school and towards town proper. There were a number of houses and other ponies along the way, but many of them had their own lives that they were involved in, so nobody gave the lot of them much notice.
They eventually came to a double row of shops, all along the main street on either side... and there were a number of different articles of clothing on display. From conservative overalls to fancy-schmancy petticoats and practically everything in between!
"We can start wherever you wanna - there's shops here for just about any kind of clothing you'd want; tell me what you like, and I'll take you where they've got it!" Clap enthused.
Just how many creatures were there? How could they stay sane in such a crowded place? It was madness!
Obsidian was doing her best to stay as close to her group as possible; one could even say she was clinging to them - but it was only a natural reaction of a mare that was stunned with her first contact with a full-blown and active city like this.
All the information about trade, local economy and so on seemed far more organized when she was reading about them.
"... maybe some decent plate armor and a cape..." she muttered, remembering the preferred clothing of the only pony that had any kind of worthwhile clothes in the Empire - her most honourable father, of course. Why would anypony need any clothing that wasn't already armored? The climate was quite pleasant, and most of ponies were wearing nothing anyway!
These Future/Modern Ponies were a strange breed.
Thunderclap laughed as if she'd just told a grand joke. "You kiddin'? Plate armor is for wartime, not strolling around town! And capes? So last century," she joked, her eyes taking in the surrounding shops and tallying what might be available (and reasonable) for a recently unearthed princess. Cupcake and Gypsy seemed more drawn to the store window displays than the shops themselves.
There was one for Fall fashions, including scarves, jackets and caps, and another one with summer fashions like swimsuits and large, floppy hats... no winter displays yet, but it wouldn't be long; the summer was nearing its' end, and the seasons would be changing soon.
"I say we start with a decent coat; weather'll be getting chillier soon, and I'm sure you don't wanna be shivering all winter long. Whaddya say?" Clap had her eye on a shop by the name of "Beauteous Concessions", display windows filled with sleek, fashionable outfits.
With Obsidian's mental attempts to fit friendship into warfare terms, it wouldn't have been too out of character for her to wear armor from time to time - especially during future attempts to make up with Mica - and capes? Being so last century, they were still more modern than she was.
"I'll go with whatever you say, Thunderclap; in these matters, I am less than a novice," she admitted somewhat shyly. Regardless of her upbringing, she was still somewhat subdued by the surroundings and her complete and utter lack of experience with this situation.
Clap grinned. "It's fine - I got enough experience for BOTH of us! C'mon!"
Obsidian was led into the Beauteous Concessions store, and was instantly surrounded by fabrics beautiful and bold, sweet and subdued, precious and powerful. Even with her time in royal court, Obsidian had never seen so many rare and valuable fabrics in a single place - in her time, such things were rare indeed to come across...
Here, they were all on display, all part of fully-formed outfits, all merely a reach of a hoof away.
Clap took a few minutes and got a glance around the shop; it didn't take long before she'd returned to Obsidian with three outfits, all made from rich and tasteful materials.
One was a traveller's outfit, consisting of a blouse, leggings and a well-tailored coat, all a deep, royal violet color. The second was a bit more colorful, with greens and blues featured throughout the dress and overcoat that accompanied it. The third one was a red and black outfit that was made to fit tightly, with a large red overcoat that looked to be the pinnacle of fashion.
"Any of these appeal, or is my fashion sense off?" Clap asked.
Clap's experience was the only thing between Obsidian and being naked all the time... or being an utter and complete eyesore. Hopefully, she knew as much about clothing as she claimed to.
And as soon as she returned with three sets of clothes, young princess immediately noticed the one that looked the most familiar... even if this familiarity was very sparse.
"Um... this one, perhaps?" she pointed at the third outfit, her ears laying flat; for a pony that had survived Sombra's tutoring, she seemed to feel rather nervous in a simple clothing store.
Clap looked at her for a moment, then turned and poked Cupcake's flank. As he turned, she spoke to him directly while looking at Obsidian. "Cupster, you and Gypper go look at hoodies - Siddy an' I have to try on stuff."
Cupcake nodded absent-mindedly; he'd gotten his own eyes locked on something he saw as desirable, delicious and delectable... the ice cream stand on the far side of the shopping center. He made his way in that direction, Gypsy right behind him.
This done, Clap took up the outfits and led Obsidian back to the changing rooms... but when she got there, she entered one of the stalls and reached out, pulling the dark princess in with her!
Inside, there was more room than initially surmised, the two of them in here without needing to bump into each other; a good thing, as Thunderclap Dash was no small filly.
"Okay, Siddy... you look like you're all nerves and shivers; what gives? I mean, we're out here shopping, and you look like you're waiting for ghosts to start popping outta the woodwork! Why are you so spooked, girl?"
So many things to learn... though she'd prefer to simply read about them in a book or two, or something like that. Getting empirical experience first hoof was... strange.
To be fair, shouldn't her liaison stick with her? Of course, as Headmare Starlight proved earlier, it seemed that it was rather easy to lure him away as soon as he noticed something sweet and tasty.
However, it also seemed that Thunderclap wasn't too thrilled to see Obsidian's current mental state. The Dark Princess shivered for a moment, looking around in dazed confusion before addressing the pegasus softly, as if she was afraid to be overheard.
"I... I apologize for my behaviour, Thunderclap. I, uh... believe that I may just be a bit... nervous, as I've never stepped hoof outside of the Crystal Palace before and there are so many creatures here and... I-I'm not sure, everything is just so new to me... I apologize profusely."
Thunderclap looked at her for a moment, then gave a nod. "Okay, first off, y'don't need to apologize - you didn't do anything wrong, so don't offer up an apology unless you know you did something wrong."
"Secondly," she began to pace a bit, "nervousness is something I can try to help with. Look, shopping for clothes is supposed to be fun... and a large part of that is how outfits make you feel. I mean, c'mon - the blue/green one I brought? I mostly brought it to show off different styles; those colors clash so hard with your appearance, there's no way I'd have let you buy that one."
"But it's also a measure of personal taste... a measure that girls like us should be proud of! Heck, when you put on an outfit, you're supposed to look at yourself in the mirror and picture yourself in a moment of real pride - like winning a race or something - and picture what everyone would be thinking or saying about you in that outfit."
"It's all about having the right attitude towards clothes. Anyone can just wear some old clothes and be perfectly comfy with that... but mares like you and I? We should be admired for who we are! And nothing says, 'I am big, bold and beautiful' like a sweet new outfit and some swagger to go with it!"
She paused. "Swagger means attitude, by the by. The knowing smirk, the fabulous walk, the effortless style... all stuff we need to help you practice, Siddy! I swear, it's as easy as simply imagining yourself as being..." she chuckled, "... as already being a queen."
She grinned. "Here - put on this AWESOME red and black one, then check yourself out in the mirror... tell me what you see."
Why did it seem as though modern ponies had found a way to make even the simple act of buying clothes FAR more complicated than it needed to be? She couldn't possibly have imagined that shopping itself could be considered entertainment, let alone trying on said clothes.
Attitude, posturing in a mirror, clashing with appearances... Obsidian was so green in these matters, she may as well have been a potted plant! But she had been the one to offer Thunderclap an opportunity to share something she enjoyed; nopony had forced her to.
What's worse, as they were apparently friends, Obsidian had to remember to act friendly - and even though she still didn't exactly know what that truly meant, she had to try. Act according to the role; become the friend.
Obsidian nodded and took the clothing. It took a bit longer than she'd expected, as she'd usually had simpler garments to wear... but eventually, she triumphed over the outfit. Then, she turned to the mirror.
Well, perhaps not exactly what she was used to wearing, nor how she'd picture herself as a queen, but... it didn't look bad, honestly. The colours were fitting for her coat and mane, that was certain... and the overcoat almost felt like a cape. She turned a bit to the side to see more.
She pictured herself in a moment of great pride... her father standing tall, saying 'you have done well, my daughter'; that's what she wanted to hear, yet at the same time her mind wouldn't allow the complete mental image to fully coalesce.
"Is it possibly connected to this whole 'modeling' thing which Eloquence was talking about?" Something clicked in her head - all the blocks fell into the right places as she connected his words before, and all she knew about his mother, and the fact that modern ponies seemed to enjoy clothes SO MUCH.
But how in Tartarus would she be able to conquer Equestria with it?
"Picture it," Clap held out a hoof, "you come strolling out of the palace, looking like a proper monarch, your subjects all bowing before you as you pass, their eyes unable to meet yours, because they know YOU are special!"
She smiled broadly as she affected a bit of an accented voice: "Ho! The queen approaches! Hearken to prostrate yourselves, in awe to the power and the glory that is..."
She turned Obsidian to face the mirror again. "... Queen Obsidian, the Dark Princess!"
Clap then put her hooves over her mouth and made a sound similar to ponies cheering. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Our grand and regal queen! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! Our powerful leader! HUZZAH!"
She leaned in. "Imagine it - nothing but rows of bowed heads, all in reverence to their ruler supreme! HOLD that feeling! Keep it in your head! When you feel nervous in public again, just imagine being part of a royal parade, with YOU as it's most important pony!"
Clap's smile was genuine. "Sometimes self-confidence is just pretending you have it all, even when you don't. Instead of fear, show them pride! Pride in who you are, what you do, and how you look... and right now, Siddy?" She motioned towards the mirror. "You look mahvelous!"
"See... THAT is what Elo meant by 'conquering Equestria with fashion'! If you look even half as good in high fashion as you do now, then Equestria itself will celebrate you, and you'll have the admiration of soooooooooo many folks! They'll LOVE ya, I just know it!"
Maybe Thunderclap was trying to help Obsidian... but in the unicorn mare's mind, everything she could imagine inevitably included a vision of her most honourable father. Power, glory, status - everything that he had... and yet, she did not.
But at least she looked nice.
"I think I understand..." she answered simply, still checking herself out in the mirror. "It won't be easy to follow your advice - at least, without dark magic - but I'll remember it. Do you think Gypsy and Cupcake would approve this outfit?"
Clap chuckled. "Gypsy probably would; he's got an eye for artsy-type things, and would probably be the one to most likely enjoy the little details in the trimmings and stuff... but Cupcake?"
She gave a sharp laugh. "That stallion wouldn't notice a good outfit if it walked up and bit him on the flank - he's no fashion horse, not like me!"
Clap looked Obsidian over. "Wow... you really do have a good look for fashion, y'know? Sleek, elegant, and even exotic... I think you'd be an absolute hit as a model, personally. You even-..."
She made a big show of looking around, ensuring nobody was listening in. "... you even outdo ME - but don't tell anyone I said that!"
Well, seeing as how Obsidian's interest in modeling had fallen sharply when she realized that it wasn't connected to warfare, being a 'hit' didn't really hold any military advantage. A conqueror's appearance wasn't that important, after all...
"I shall not utter a word of it," Obsidian promised. Who would she tell anyway... and why? "so... what happens now?"
Clap grinned. "Now... we check the racks, and find more outfits that say 'hey, I belong on a beautiful pony like Siddy', then you try 'em on, and if they look as awesome as they make you feel, then those are the ones we buy!"
She slipped out of the curtain, motioning for Obsidian to follow her. "So much fashion, so little time to try it all on!"
For the next two hours, Thunderclap Dash took Obsidian from store to store, encouraging her to try on different things, to pose in front of the mirror to see them properly, and even made an effort to try to teach Siddy how to walk in a saucy manner, one hoof in front of the other.
Clap wasn't exactly any sort of petite little mare, but she did have some style and class to her that wasn't immediately obvious... but over time, Obsidian could see that Clap, for all her faults, was actually rather astute when it came to clothing... and confidence. To demonstrate, she even found a bright yellow sweatsuit and put it on herself; it looked awful on the rack, but on the pegasus mare, it actually looked acceptable... even interesting.
All from what she wore and her attitude when she wore it - in a way, it was fascinating.
With all this, Clap continuously did her best to try to bolster Obsidian's mood and courage - she even led her to a beauty boutique, where she began talking to the mares behind the desk about 'a spa day'.
"Okay, Siddy?" Clap asked. "I can arrange us a couple of spa relaxation packages, but only if you're okay with the idea of somepony else touching you. Like, your back and stuff. I regularly get rub-downs each week, and let me tell you, they do wonders for your state of mind. Trust me, it's totally worthwhile, and I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't know it was completely safe."
She gave her a questioning look. "So... spa day? Believe me, it's woooooooorth iiiiiiiiiiiiiit..."
By Darkness, these ponies were really able to turn even the most boring and unimportant events into a chore on its own! Before today, Obsidian couldn't even have imagined spending so much time on shopping for clothes - but here she was, spending these very long hours with Thunderclap - and without her liaison; Princess Twilight would surely run out of patience one day, and order her execution!
Luckily, Obsidian was taught very well by her father to deal with things like boredom or impatience, so she was able to deal with Thunderclap without being off-putting... but as soon as she started to talk about 'being touched', the unicorn felt her nervousness returning once more.
It was her body, and she didn't want anypony to get closer than she wanted them to get; touching was completely out of the question - completely. To her experience, it had never ended well and she would have to be out of her mind to just allow anypony to do so - thus, she very vigorously shook her head.
Clap's muzzle fell, as she seemed eager to share the experience... but it didn't stay down for long. "Well... eh, okay, besides, maybe it's just not for you... no big deal, s'okay - we still have a number of shops, and-... wait. Waaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiit..."
A grin slowly marched across Clap's muzzle until it stretched all the way across her features. "Say... I'll bet you like jewelry, right? What if we, oh I dunno, went over to the jewelry store over there; I think I see someone we know there, anyhoof!"
There was, indeed, a gem and jeweler shop across the street... and Gypsy was there, his muzzle pressed against the window as he took in the sight of a rather large diamond on display. His eyes were round and wide, staring at it as though it were a full meal, and he was a starving manticore.
"You wanna check and see if they have anything there worth a princess' time? I'll bet Gyp could tell you a few things about gems..."
How did Clap get an idea that Obsidian might like jewelry? She never paid any attention to it - she wasn't even wearing it! Why would anypony think that she was interested in such pointless baubles?
"I never was interested in jewels - more in crystals, though only as a part of my magical studies. What reason would I have to like such a thing?"
When Obsidian had offered to spend time with her as a way to improve her mood after The Mica Affair, she really didn't think that their interests would be so wildly different.
Clap lifted an eyebrow. "I... I'd have thought that you'd maybe, I dunno... like a tiara or something? A sort-of crown? I mean, you're the one who was going on about ruling, and conquering, and... and..." Clap sighed, then looked at Obsidian with concern.
"I'm... messing this up, aren't I? I mean, here I thought we could, y'know, enjoy shopping or spa treatments, or..." She looked down the street at all the shops there, and something in her eyes said she might have felt... inadequate.
"Well, pshaw, don't worry about it, then. It's no big deal, right? I mean, I'm sure the others'll find stuff you'll like, and I can just learn from their examples. Yeah, that's..."
She gave another, quick sigh. "Yeah, okay, so... since this is apparently SO not your scene, how about we just meet up with the boys and... well... do... something else, okay? No big deal, y'know?"
The look in Clap's eyes said it may possibly be a big deal, but the pegasus wasn't about to force her idea of a good time on anyone.
"So, yeah," she said, headed for the door, "let's go see what the boys are up to, 'kay?"
Obsidian felt she'd messed up again. She didn't know how exactly, how much she'd messed up or how she could have prevented it - in fact, why did she even care about her feelings at all? It was the first time she was choosing to spend her 'free' time with another pony, of their own free will and so on... she shouldn't really mind if the pegasus was upset, should she?
She very, very reluctantly stepped forward, sighed lightly and carefully patted Thunderclap on the shoulder.
"I... I apologize, I sincerely hoped it would... um, lift your spirits. If you truly wish to, we can go to this jewerly shop - it's really not an issue." This whole 'friendly' thing was so difficult to keep in mind, and it didn't help that Clap was apparently expecting her to enjoy things she didn't even know were considered as entertainment!
Clap looked at her for a moment, then began to study the floor intently. "Siddy... I just wanted us to have fun. But it's kinda obvious you're not having fun. Not like I do. And, well... I don't wanna make you do stuff you find boring. I hate boring stuff, and I really hate being the one who's doing boring stuff."
She looked at Obsidian. "You're, like, from an entirely different era, y'know? Here I am, trying to get you involved in shopping, when you've probably never even seen such luxuries like these clothes..." She gave a humorless laugh. "I guess... with all this gallivanting around, acting silly over clothes, talking up confidence... heck, I probably come across as the dumb one, I'll bet. Heh, it'd be fitting."
"I... I'm just trying what I know. I'm... sorry it's not what you like. You don't have to do this because of me; if you want, we can just go do... I dunno, something else. I just..."
Her gaze returned to the floor. "I just wanted to help you feel welcome. I know I'm not as social as Cup, or as balanced as Mica, or even as in control of myself as Princess Twilight... but I was hoping you and me could, well... bond and stuff..."
She huffed a sigh. "Yeah, okay, it's fine, it's good. What would you rather be doing right now? I'll make it happen, I promise."
Oh no, no, no - that would not d-... wait, why was Obsidian even caring at all? It was just another pony, one of a lesser status at that, and she didn't even seem offended or anything - merely sad. As long as she wasn't going to stop serving Obsidian's purposes, nothing else mattered! She was just supposed to be a tool - and it didn't matter if tools were happy or sad, as long as they fulfilled their purpose!
And yet... Obsidian felt uneasy, listening to Thunderclap and seeing the pain of failure on her muzzle. Not quite understanding why, she cleared her throat and spoke up.
"Thunderclap, everything I've experienced since I woke up yesterday surrounded by guards has been rather overwhelming; I'm not used to the idea of 'free time' or 'free will' at all. I'm still getting used to everything around me. However, I will assure you that you have done your part to help me feel welcome."
She tried, in her own way, to convince Thunderclap that everything was fine. "Please... Clap... there is no need to feel bad about this."
Clap looked up at Obsidian. "You... yeah. I guess it IS a lot to take in, in such a short time. You haven't really had much time for... well, anything, I suppose. Maybe I'm just... trying too hard. Or something."
The small smile she put on seemed less like her usual grin, but it was genuine; she wasn't trying to 'act tough'. "Well, maybe... maybe it'd be better if we tried this again after you get more acclimated to this world. Maybe you would like... some of this stuff... if you had time to absorb everything that's been going on with you."
"So hey," she said, "we can do this stuff another time. I mean, we already hit a number of shops, and you've got a good start at a wardrobe with all we bought... nothing wrong with simply saying we'll hold off 'til another time, right?" She shrugged.
"Besides, I'm... kinda at a loss, here. I shop and I race... and I get the feeling you don't race, either. So..." she shrugged again, as if to emphasize her point.
Ok, it seemed as though she'd made things better - or at least Obsidian didn't feel as if the pegasus was still disappointed
with her expectations... as much, anyhow. She felt as if she was becoming an expert at it - she was disappointing her father quite often, after all. And now, yet another pony was aware that she felt confused and disoriented in modern Equestria - wonderful.
"A-actually, to be honest," Obsidian started cautiously, "I thought initially that we would be doing something more physically active; I didn't have any idea you liked things like this... and to be fair, I think that I could most certainly benefit from the physical training."
"Yeah? You'd actually be up for something physical instead? I..." she gestured to Obsidian. "... well, you don't look like an active sort, but I guess it'd be something we could do next time, right? I mean, I'd be all sorts of stoked to help you get in shape... well, in better shape. Honestly, you have the kind of bod the stallions like..."
She gave a slight chuckle. "I mean, they like mine too... but you're the more 'shapely' of us two, and I'm the one with more muscles. Still hot for some stallions, yeah, but you've got natural looks, girl. So, if we work on getting you even more toned and in shape..."
As she spoke, Obsidian observed four members of the Royal Guard making their way down the street, looking in shops and around at the crowd.
"Now, are you saying you wouldn't mind some help getting physical, or are you wanting to join me on my morning jogs?"
Ooooh, guards - interesting. Were they looking for someone? Hopefully it wasn't a sign of something dangerous here...
"Morning jogs? That sounds like a routine... and I DO like routines... very well; I am interested." Obsidian seemed to be almost cheerful. Well, cheerful in her own stoic, I-Was-Raised-By-An-Evil-Warlock kinda way.
Then her expression dropped. "I feel I should inquire to Princess Twilight about this whole 'liaison' thing. So that you know, Cupcake is supposed to be with me all the time... and I'm not sure if he'd be interested in getting up early to jog with us."
"Maybe..." Clap pondered aloud, "we could talk to Princess Twilight, and have the whole liaison-thing shuffled over to me for the duration of my morning exercises? This way, we could go jogging and work out, and Cup could sleep in and stuff. It sounds like a plan to me!"
The guards now made their way down towards the area where she and Clap were at. One of the guard ponies saw Gypsy, and went over to him to speak to him directly. Though she couldn't hear words, the expression on Gypsy's muzzle said that whatever the guard asked him about, it made him nervous. He fidgeted with his sleeves for a moment, then Cupcake came out of the same shop and started speaking to the guards himself.
"Okay, so we could possibly start this as soon as tomorrow morning. I mean, I'd just have to work you into my morning routine... with you staying at Twilight's castle, that actually puts you right in the path I take! Stopping by for you wouldn't take any time at all!" Clap continued on.
One of the guards, idly looking about, spotted Obsidian and his eyes went wide. He then turned and poked his superior, who was still talking to Cupcake. The other guard turned, looked right at Obsidian, then nodded and spoke back.
The four guards were now headed right towards Obsidian and Thunderclap.
"... or maybe a turn on the obstacle course would help work some kinks out, y'know?" Clap seemed oblivious to the presence of the guards.
"Obstacle course?" Obsidian asked, "I'd have to see it first, I think - I've never done anything quite like that... not without access to my magic, you understand. But yes, I think that having this duty shuffled to you would be a perfect idea. After all, Princess Twilight wants me to have many friends, so hopefully she won't object that I would want to spend time with you."
While Obsidian noticed the guards, she didn't care about them too much; she hadn't done anything wrong, so she had nothing to worry about... right?
"So, how early should I wake up? Remember, I still have to visit Miss Trixie in the morning, as she has my schedule prepared."
"Oh, I'm up at five in the morning! I get started at about six, so it should be fine - school doesn't start until eight, and my route takes me directly to school for the first bell. We shouldn't run into much trouble."
So there was plenty of time, and she wouldn't even have to wake up any earlier than she was used to. Besides, if it turned out to be too bothersome or Thunderclap too obnoxious, she could always just quit. It wasn't like the exercises that were practically forced on her by her father - she had the freedom to leave, and at the worst she would risk disappointing Thunderclap. Which wouldn't be nice, but it was nothing compared to the consequences she was used to from her most honourable father.
She smiled. "Heh - who'da thought we could bond over exercise? I mean, we-"
"Excuse me, ma'am - Miss Obsidian, your presence is requested by Lemon Custard for questioning purposes. You are to accompany us immediately to speak to him."
Clap looked back and forth for a moment, then simply looked at Obsidian. "Any idea what this is about, Siddy?"
Strange...
"Not really, Thunderclap... but, as I am required elsewhere, I suppose I shall see you in the morning."
The unicorn mare nodded to the pegasus, then turned to the guards, ready to go. Why would Lemon want to meet with her? She had been behaving so perfectly today that it was almost scary.
The guards made their way around her until she was surrounded. "Now, we shall dep-"
"Hold up," Clap said, "we're coming with her." From behind the guards came, "You betcha!" and a softer, "Y-y-y-yes."
Turning, the royal guards saw both Cupcake and Gypsy standing directly in their way. "This situation does not call for-" one guard began, but another leaned in and interrupted.
"Sir? We weren't told to bring her alone... just to bring her."
The guard pondered a moment, then looked at Cupcake for a moment before simply saying, "alright; let's go, Miss Obsidian."
"Princess Obsidian," Cupcake reminded them.
From the marketplace, the guards escorted Obsidian (and, by proxy, her three friends) back to the school's campus... to the main building... and eventually, they led her directly to the library once again. Waiting outside the door was Lemon Custard... who was speaking with Princess Twilight at length.
It was actually quite kind of her friends to accompany her, even though they really didn't need to. After all, there was nothing she'd done wrong... well, overwhelmingly wrong; she did upset Mica so much that he didn't want to talk with her anymore. Considering that Princess Twilight was a ruler of friendship, was there a possibility that annoying her friends would be a punishable crime?
Probably not... though seeing Princess Twilight in the company of Lemon Custard did make her question that thought.
When he saw the arrival of the dark princess, Lemon gave the smallest of sighs before making his way over to where they were. "Well... a surprise to have to deal with this, Obsidian; here I thought you were trying to behave yourself, yet I find this, and it bothers me to no end."
He glanced at Cupcake, who gave him a questioning look, but all he returned was an eerily grim glare.
"Brother, you really should have gone to help mother with that party - if you had, you wouldn't have to be witness to this." As much as the words he spoke sounded formal, almost apologetic... the impression was easily had that he was in full-on professional mode.
Princess Twilight looked at Obsidian, and her gaze was steady and inquisitive... yet she said nothing. Yet.
"You should already know what you've done," Lemon said, "because the evidence is overwhelming. All the same, is there anything you'd like to own up to, before we reveal the truth to your friends?"
The Mica Affair wasn't important enough to get attention from both Lemon and the ruler of the land... was it? Or perhaps it was about ditching her liaison during her shopping trip... Princess Twilight didn't seem to be quite as calm and welcoming as yesterday, that was for sure.
"I... Princess, I apologize for ditching my liaison again. It wasn't intentional; we just spent a few hours shopping and I didn't pay too much attention, though we were still in the same area and he knew where I was. I should know better by now, and should have asked him to join us... even in the changing room, if you so command it!"
She said the very first thing she thought, and she even managed to say it without stuttering. Even though situation was starting to make her more than a little bit nervous.
Lemon's eyes flashed as she mentioned escaping her liaison. "So... left him behind, did we? Which is, if I recall, against the rules?"
His stare was almost predatory. "Follow me, Obsidian, and we'll discuss things..."
He began to walk... and, as she was led, her friends and the princess followed her along.
"The point of having said liaison with you was to ensure we could monitor you at all times, to make certain that some of the more... unsavory elements of your family's history didn't rear their ugly heads. However, they most certainly did."
He turned at the door to the library, walking through the lobby and headed for the back offices.
"Your father's particular form of magic is unique, is it not? One of those things that could possibly be duplicated, but never exactly so? The sort of thing that's usually reserved for those within his own family line, if not directly from himself, correct?"
Clap looked at Cupcake, who simply shrugged.
"Th-th-there are st-t-tories of those who could d-d-d-do exactly that - but they all d-d-d-d-died out roughly a c-c-cen-c-century ago, so that would mean it is highly unl-l-l-l-likely. This o-one wonders why you s-s-s-say these things?" Gypsy was more vocal in his approach.
"Because," Lemon said, his voice a rumbling growl, "of this."
He opened the door to Miss Tome's office, and there she was... completely and utterly contained inside a mass of dark black crystals, held fast. Her eyes were open and wide, and she was in a position that said she'd tried to run when things happened.
But Miss Tome was completely covered in crystals... and frozen in place.
Dark Crystal magic.
Lemon now sounded justified. "And, let's see, only a single instance of anyone with connections to dark magic... hmmmmm, I wonder who it could POSSIBLY be?"
"OOOOOH! Is it Derpy?" Cupcake guessed.
Lemon looked stunned. "What?"
"... n-never mind," Cup said. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Fifteen: Shards Of Truth | Obsidian froze in place when Lemon opened doors to the office. Just... this was... she didn't... how?
Of course her father's magic was unique - after all, he was the greatest pony that had ever lived and everything he did was unique... but her father had disappeared with the Empire a thousand years ago; what exactly was this magic? Who were those ponies Gypsy had mentioned? Why did she feel as though she were being left completely left in the dark?
This whole place fairly reeked of dark magic, and it had happened right after Miss Tome wanted her to come back to speak of her heritage. It was obviously connected - somepony didn't want her to talk, but WHOM? Only a few ponies were around when she checked out Obsidian's work - though, of course, it should be possible to eavesdrop.
"I am curious as well, Mister Lemon; it's a very powerful spell, cast with great precision. If you think I would be capable of such a feat, then I'm flattered... but I am sorry to have to dissapoint you - it wasn't me." She carefully stepped inside the room, feeling goose bumps across her back.
"And if you don't believe me, then ask my friends - I spent this entire day with them. Even when Cupcake wasn't with me, I was still present with Thunderclap. Since we left the library, I was only in public places, like... er... the donkey food shop, and Miss Headmare's office."
But if she wasn't responsible for this... then who was? It wasn't exactly her father's magic, yet it was cast by somepony skillful and powerful enough to form the crystals properly.
Lemon's eyes froze in their contemplation as Obsidian gave her alibis. He seemed a bit disappointed, but his muzzle set into a more serious look by the time she finished talking.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... this seems very convenient, especially at the admission that you got away from Cupcake. But..." he contemplated for a moment, then turned to look at Obsidian. "You were accompanied all day long, eh? Well, that means you may not have done this... but I'll bet bits to biscuits you may have some inside knowledge... maybe you even know the name of who might have done this. After all, there aren't many Dark Magic practicioners left in Equestria anymore..."
"Lemmy," Cupcake started, "she's innocent; she has about as much of a clue as you do. Besides, if you want her help, it might be best if you, y'know, 'acted civil to her' and stuff, brother."
"And she's been shopping with me for the last few hours, and she HAS been with us all day... so you'd better start rethinking things, Lemon - because this princess is totally innocent, got it!?" Clap bristled, looking ready to start a fight, if need be.
Lemon looked concerned, yet began to contemplate what was being said.
"Obsidian," he finally said at length, "you're quite possibly the one pony in this entire kingdom who knows about Dark Magic from first-hoof experience; if you're truly innocent, then I'll need to know if you'll be willing to assist in finding out who did this, and if it's possible to reverse the effects."
It seemed that having friends around didn't just 'feel nice' - it was useful too. Without Cupcake around, she would have had to wait for him to get her alibi and waste all of their time.
"As far as I'm aware of, the only pony that can reverse the effect is the original caster," she informed with a touch of regret.
She did want to work with Miss Tome, after all. "It certainly resembles one of the spells used by my illustrious father, but it is most certainly not his magic. May I go inside, to examine things more closely?"
Lemon nodded. "You'll understand, I hope, when I say I will be... accompanying you during your investigation; you may have alibis, but I rule out no one until I have direct, empirical evidence of such."
"NO one? So that means I'M a suspect, too?"
A sigh. "No, Cup - I know it wasn't you."
"But... what if it WAS me, and even I don't know it?"
"Cupcake..."
"AH SHALL PUT DA COISE ON YAAAAAAAAH!"
"CUPCAKE ALBERT SPRINKLES!"
"Yeeeeeeeessssssssss???"
Lemon facehoofed. "Just... stop talking and let us investigate in peace!"
Cupcake winked subtly at Obsidian. "Okie dokie lokie!"
Cupcake didn't seem too concerned about the fact that a rogue Dark Warlock was possibly wandering nearby, or that the librarian was silenced... at least, for now.
Miss Tome's office was neat and tidy, with no visible evidence of a struggle. Her desk was a bit cluttered, but in an organized fashion. The shelves were almost completely full of books... except for an obvious missing book that left a noticable gap.
"From what we've found," Lemon began, "there was no physical struggle, nor was there forced entry... from what we can see, there's no damage to Miss Tome, and aside from the typical library books, we found nothing out of order."
The garbage can only had a few bits of paper in it. The [OUTGOING] file on the desktop had a single letter in it. Already, a group of ponies had come in and were in the process of transferring Miss Tome to a freight dolly.
"Princess Twilight's orders are to place Miss Tome in the royal vault, until such a time as she can be cured. Until then, she's to be kept safe."
"Gypsy?" Obsidian asked, "Do diamond dogs, perchance, have any skills that could be especially useful here?"
She was sure that she'd heard somewhere that dogs could be used for tracking; perhaps diamond dogs were similarly skilled? Whoever did this apparently either made a successful surprise attack or knew her well enough to get close.
Obsidian checked to see if the books on the shelves were sorted - maybe it wasn't too much, but there was no telling what or where a clue might be.
The diamond dog's ears perked up at mention of his name, and he stepped forward hesitantly. "This o-o-one can a-ask his nose."
Lemon gave a skeptical look. "Ask... your nose?"
But Gypsy was paying him zero attention; he had slumped down to the floor, and was studiously sniffing next to Miss Tome... bringing concerned and annoyed looks from the ponies trying to move her.
"Missing a book... only one letter... plenty of Dark Magic in the air..." Obsidian thought about her training, and tried to remember how long could casting this spell might take. Surely, Miss Tome would have noticed the chanting involved?
Frankly, it would have been far easier if she had just told Obsidian everything before she was crystallized... but noooooooooooooooo...
Gypsy wandered in a small circle for a moment, then turned abruptly and headed straight for the trash can. Reaching it, he then reached inside and started pulling out papers and sniffing them, carefully placing them on the desk until-
"THIS p-paper smells like s-s-s-s-sulfur."
The smell was most certainly a sign of Dark Magic, and the paper that caught his attention practically dripped with an aura of ominous spells. Written on it was a single paragraph:
[Bring the books to the Black Pool at midnight; fail me, and you shall fail no more. There is no time to waste, as they have discovered The Last Shard. As she is awake, time is of the essence - deliver the books, or feel my wrath.]
Underneath that was a small circle; otherwise, the paper had nothing else on it. It had been crumpled thoroughly, and had taken Gypsy a moment to un-ball it before presenting it to her.
Lemon gave the note a look. "We hadn't gotten to the wastebasket yet; seems we should have." He glanced at Obsidian. "What does it say?"
It took her a moment to realize why he couldn't read it; it was written in Ancient Crystallian... her father's native language.
For a moment Obsidian simply thought that they found an important clue. Then, as soon as she realized that it wasn't written in Equestrian, she realized that it was VERY important clue - and she briefly felt a sting of panic.
It wasn't supposed to go this way - this new, strange world of Equestria seemed to be so calm and peaceful compared to her home that the lightest scent of Dark Magic was a terrible dissonance, like a flat note in a song or a typo in a good book.
"It seems as though Miss Tome may have had some connection to the pony who did this... there's something here about a black pool - whatever that is - and bringing books there. There is also a threat that disobedience will be punished."
She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell Lemon the part about the 'Last Shard'... by darkness, it could only mean Obsidian herself!
She was discovered quite recently, and it surely wasn't an accident that Miss Tome was crystallized right after their meeting. What had this mare wanted to tell her?
She turned to face Lemon. "Please, may I speak with Princess Twilight? Privately?"
Perhaps she should assume that any possible Dark Magic users were her father's allies... but nobody tried to reach to her, and they silenced a mare that had wanted to tell her something more. A mare that, as Obsidian specifically asked, was hopefully going to work with her. Summed up with the rest of things Obsidian knew, she truly doubted if she should trust these ponies without at least a bit of healthy skepticism.
"Connections?" Lemon looked surprised. "Miss Tome? She hardly ever left the library, spending long hours pouring over book after book... how could she have such an unsavory connection? It makes little sense."
Well, being blackmailed was a connection too - nopony said that Miss Tome was doing anything out of her own free will, especially as she apparently tried to warn Obsidian.
"Well," Cupcake mused, "if she was corresponding with others about gathering books, it's possible she may have had contact with some... less than savory folks, right? Maybe one of those were the ones who did this?"
Lemon shook his head. "All we've seen note of entering and exiting the library have been faculty and students; the cameras told us so. Of course, there are other thoughts..." He turned to Obsidian. "Did your father's court ever entertain Changelings?"
"Hoo boy," Cupcake sighed, "heeeeeere we go."
Obsidian thought about it for a moment. "I don't know, as I haven't seen any changelings before this very day... but it doesn't mean my most honorable father didn't use them." It would probably make sense - perfect spies and assasins.
"Because that would explain a lot," Lemon began, "being as there are a number of Changelings who still side with Chrysalis, and I can most definitely see her Loyalists joining forces with Sombra..."
"Lemon," Cupcake deadpanned, "it's NOT Changelings."
The stuffy stallion raised a hoof in protest... then thought about it for a moment, finally lowering his hoof. "I'm... not counting them out completely, but... you may be right."
"Still," he turned to eyeball Obsidian, "a private audience with the princess, especially in light of what's happened, would be well-neigh impossible. We should be doubling our-"
"Lemon, I have no qualms with her request." Twilight spoke up, walking over from her viewing place at the back of the office.
"Your Majesty," Lemon said, "I don't know that it would b-"
"Obsidian," Twilight turned and addressed her, ignoring Lemon Custard, "choose one of your friends you know you can trust, and bring them with us."
She glanced over at Lemon. "Will that do?"
Lemon said nothing. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded.
Obsidian wondered about the choice of her friends. One she knew she can trust... normally, Stalwart would be the best choice... but she wasn't there. She trusted them all equally, to be fair. What exactly it meant was up to anypony's guess, Obsidian included, considering her confused state of mind lately. But at least she got an opportunity to talk with the princess, even if it wasn't as private as she wanted.
"Cupcake, would you want to join us, then?" He was the simplest choice, to be fair - he was already her liaison, so it made sense to ask him.
Cupcake beamed. "Awwwww, you really trust me! Yaaaaaay!!!"
Lemon rolled his eyes, but Twilight smiled kindly. "As you wish; here, follow me to the back room - we can speak privately there."
Gypsy and Thunderclap stayed with Lemon, both seeming as though they had a few choice words for the stuffy stallion, yet they were keeping those words to themselves for now. Lemon, meanwhile, looked skeptical and a bit concerned... but continued his search of the office, determined to find something of use.
The alicorn princess led the way out of Tome's office and around the rear shelves to a small room in the back with weird-looking television screens hooked to tables. Their purpose was not easily discernible, but since they seemed to have a layer of dust on them, it probably didn't matter. Cupcake followed, acting strangely reserved and behaving admirably.
Twilight closed the door with her magic, then turned to Obsidian with a questioning look in her eyes. "What's on your mind?"
"If you recall, the last time we met, you mentioned my most honorable father's writings and that he was writing about me. I... I may have reasons to think that it wasn't just a coincidence that Miss Tome was attacked after our meeting. May I ask about what my father had been writing?"
And if he mentioned anything about shards...
Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn princess of Equestria, gave a huge sigh and hung her head.
"I... can tell you, Obsidian. It's hard to hear, I'm sure... and I can't say for certain that what we know is the complete truth, but if it helps you put the puzzle together, then... then maybe it's time to tell you."
Cupcake looked a bit worried. "Auntie Twily? I've... never seen you like this before."
Twilight took a deep breath, preparing herself mentally. "According to what I've read, Sombra had an immense amount of paranoia as to his legacy and how best to preserve it. He called upon his greatest court wizard, and bade her to create a spell he could use to ressurect himself with."
She sighed softly. "Sombra needed heirs to pass his kingdom onto, but he was... unwilling to produce, as the books put it. So instead, he had portions of his own soul removed from him and placed within self-sculpted shards of crystal, so that each piece could have a chance at returning to the throne."
Twilight began to pace as she spoke. "Each shard, according to the writings, was transformed into a pony - Sombra's illegitimate children, so to speak - so that they would be much more difficult to locate. Each of these was then, in turn, trained by Sombra and his minions for the sole purpose of becoming his successor..."
She sighed. "But it's more than that; the shards were merely a means to an end - through a single shard, it's quite possible that Sombra can return... by mentally taking over one of the embodied shards of his dark soul."
Cupcake gasped. "You mean-"
"Yes Cupcake," Twilight sighed, "if Sombra's magic took hold in Obsidian... she would become Sombra, and the mare we know would just... cease to be. She would be no more than a tool for him to use and break as he saw fit..."
She resumed her pacing. "Many of the shards have simply vanished, with only five accounted for from the original thirteen. The shards have all been lost to time, yet he still must have kept some hidden for his purpose to be fully realized."
Now, she turned to focus on Obsidian. "We found you in a small chamber... but when we found you, you weren't 'sleeping' or 'frozen'... you were a dark crystal shard, and you transformed into this form when I touched that crystal with my magic. That is why the others who were present seemed so surprised by you; we thought you were only another crystal until that point."
She sighed. "The writings claim that, should he get his magical hooks into you, you'll become Sombra, and cease to be yourself."
Princess Twilight was truly a honest mare - just as she said, it was exceedingly hard to hear; one could even say that it was a bit of an understatement. Each word that escaped the alicorn's lips kept getting worse and worse, until Obsidian could barely comprehend what the ruler of Equestria was really talking about.
It was just so... strange, yet completely and utterly logical. But still... as soon as her majesty hung her head, Obsidian knew it wouldn't be a pleasant discussion. She didn't expect that she was getting more than she bargained for - at the best she hoped to learn something more about 'shards' mentioned in the short note she found.
Meanwhile she was learning more and more about her own history - and while her initial reaction was to deny it, she really couldn't. This thing about heirs... or planting portions of a soul... or about her own return to this world.
Why would she be turned into a crystal? Why would this crystal react to Princess Twilight's magic?
The young unicorn mare was doing her best to remember what exactly happened at the last day of her old life, yet she drew a continual blank.
"Do I... understand you correctly... that my most honourable father... wasn't my birth parent?"
That was the most pressing matter. Taking it simple, and not trying to comprehend it all at once... or she'd go insane, a poor mare trembling under the weight of the truth that she knew she couldn't deny. Her eyes widened with shock, her composure utterly lost.
This crystal... by darkness, this crystal!
Twilight wore a grim look, but spoke kindly. "It depends on how you see it - you weren't born naturally, but Sombra most certainly has no other heirs that we know of... so, technically speaking, you're his creation, which could be considered a child."
Cupcake simply sat down, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. However, after a moment's shock, he looked at Obsidian and stared for a moment.
"But... you're real to me, princess. To all of us, I'm sure of it. I don't see you as some... shardy-thingy... I see you as... as a friend. As someone who needs a friend in return, especially right now."
Sombra's creation? Shardy-thing? But... but, there was... she didn't...
Twilight looked at them both for a moment, then turned her eyes to the dark princess once again. "At this point, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do. I know of a few who might be able to help, but... I'm not sure how much help they would be. Against something like this? How..."
"Princess Twilight," Cupcake spoke with not a scrap of foolishness in his voice, "if she is in danger, I would like to volunteer to stand guard for her. A-and I'm sure the others will too, once they know what's happening..."
Twilight gave him a small smile. "Cupcake, you remind me so much of your mother sometimes... thank you. I have no idea what we can do for now, but I do know one thing - that the lot of you are stronger together than apart."
She turned to face Obsidian. "I know you just met them, but you've gathered an interesting group of friends around you - and in such a short time, no less. This tells me that you, Obsidian, have a future... and it's one you deserve to choose. As long as I still rule Equestria, then I shall see to it that you are protected."
Obsidian was barely listening to their discussion, completely lost in her own thoughts. There was something that really, really didn't make any kind of sense, and it was bothering Tartarus out of her.
"But... I have memories - plenty of them." Obsidian began to sound as though she was trying to convince herself. "Muscle memories. Magical lessons. Your Majesty, I wasn't born the moment when you touched this crystal, right? My father just had to... somehow turn me into it, and this contact just broke the spell... r-right?"
The mere idea that she could possibly be a complete and utter fake was so terrifying to her, even the slightest chance that it was true was enough to make her forget about calling Twilight 'her majesty' - something that she wouldn't normally use to refer to someone who was NOT her father.
"Most likely," Twilight said somberly, "he created the shards, then began training you in the manner you remember; you probably existed for a while before you were, ah... 're-shard-ified' and placed in the dungeon. I think it was just magical contact that released you... but I have no way to know for certain."
Cupcake beamed sweetly. "Princess Siddy... don't you worry; I'll stick by you, no matter what happens! And with the rest of us watching out for you? Well, ol' Sombrero might just have to pack up and head for the hills! So don't worry - you'll be fine with us!"
"Obsidian, I can't even imagine what you're thinking right now... but I want you to know that you aren't alone in this; we're all here for you, and we want to help as best as we can," Twilight added.
"And I promise," Cupcake raised a hoof, "nopony will ever kill you - not while I'm still around to stop 'em! Yeah, you're 110% protected, no worries! E-even though I'm sure you'll still have worries..."
Twilight turned to them both. "Shall I summon more guards to the palace for an escort?"
But of course, no one would kill her - it's impossible to kill something that never lived, after all.
'Killing' is something that happens to real ponies, not to the artificial beings. Oh, how powerful and great was her father, that he was able to do such a great deed! She was merely his unworthy creation, just clinging to the ideas he taught her.
"... why not just dispose of me? It's the easiest choice," she eventually spoke, with a voice utterly and completely devoid of any emotions.
"NO!" Cupcake yelled at the top of his lungs.
Twilight, however, was more collected and calm. "Because, Obsidian... you alone have shown that you have the capacity for friendship, something the other shards never evidenced, at least by what the records say. I feel that YOU, of all of them, have the true potential to be something truly remarkable, and I I want to help you become that."
Cupcake got almost directly in Obsidian's face. "Princess... Obsidian... Siddy... I believe in you. I think, with everything you've been through, that you count as a miracle - one so unique that the likes of which will never be seen again. You are ALIVE, do you hear me!? A-L-I-V-E! There's no need to feel sorry for yourself! YOU are as ALIVE as I am, and don't you dare think otherwise, young filly!"
Well, she didn't really consider it 'feeling sorry for herself' - at best, some kind of magical reaction was simulating a means to feel that way, to make her believe that she was a real creature. Perhaps her most honourable father simply did something differently with her, if she was able to behave that way - and hey, Equestrians would be able to ask him about that as soon as he returned.
In her body, that he constructed for himself; she was merely... renting it. Temporarily.
So Twilight thought that Obsidian had a potential to be something truly remarkable. Well, as King Sombra was truly remarkable, in a way, she was right. Just not in a way she imagined.
She wasn't even really alive... tools are meant only to serve.
And the worst part was Obsidian's opinion about herself; the more she was praising her father in her mind for being able to go along with such a great plan, the more she saw herself as just a tool - a thing - for somepony else's use.
"... if you say so..." Obsidian muttered miserably. Frankly, if this mysterious attacker appeared here and now, she would gladly let her father return and take over her body, satisfied that at least she turned out to be useful at the very end of this parody of life.
Cupcake grimaced and turned to Twilight. "This... isn't going well, is it?"
Twilight sighed, then looked at Cupcake intently. "Perhaps not, but the fact of the matter is that we have to keep Obsidian from whom-or-whatever did this to Miss Tome. We cannot afford for Sombra to return yet again - that will not do. Cupcake, do you think you could ask your mother if she-"
"If she what?" Asked a mare's voice, filled with curiosity.
Twilight spun around to see a pink mare with an extremely poofy mane standing behind her, smiling absently. She looked to be as sappy-silly as Cup himself was... but there was something in her eyes that spoke of far more than what others saw on the outside.
"Pinkie!? How did you-"
"Well, when my belly made a rumble, and then my right ear twitched and my eyes were blinking like crazy..."
"Pinkie Sense?" Twilight asked skeptically, but with a small grin on her muzzle.
"Pinkie Sense," the other confirmed, apparently calming Twilight a bit for having heard it.
Cupcake gave a happy squeal, then came over and hugged his mother tightly - which she returned, squeezing hard enough to make his eyes bug out a bit.
"What's up, Cup?" She said nonchalantly as he smiled back.
Oh, so that was how normal ponies - or, rather, normal, living ponies - interact with their parents? Cupcake didn't stand at attention, didn't bow respectfuly, wasn't met with immediate scorn at his past failures... they were even touching without any kind of malice, without the slightest shivers of fear.
Well, lucky him.
Twilight, meanwhile, turned back to Obsidian. "I can feel the despair in you - don't hold onto it. Let it go as soon as you possibly can... or else it'll weigh you down to the point you won't know how to get back up. Trust me, even if I've never been in a situation like this before, I know what feeling worthless is like." She gave a rueful grin, then returned to her concerned expression.
"Talk to us, Obsidian... tell us what's going on, how you feel, what you're doing... we want to help, but we can't help if we don't know how to."
"I don't feel, princess," Obsidian - The Last Shard - replied with a voice like solid lead, "you said it yourself; I'm no more than a tool. At best, the mere fact that I ever pretended to be something else means that I'm a mistake - an error - as you said that no other shard behaved in any similar manner..."
To be fair, she would try to escape as soon as possible, to reach her father on her own... but it was her idea, and she wasn't created to think - just to hold a precious part of King Sombra's soul and keep this body warm for him.
Would it mean that her father would count as her mother? Queen Sombra? Or would he mould her body to fit his own appearance? That was probably the most obvious option...
"I never said any of that," Twilight insisted, "but it seems like you might... need a moment, to work all this out. Honestly, I can't blame you, but..."
She stepped close. "Obsidian, regardless of whatever purpose was in mind for you, you have already proven to be far more than one stallion's backup plan. I can't make you see that, but I can try to help as best as I can."
She turned to face Pinkie and Cupcake. "You two, please get Obsidian back to her room and keep her safe; I'll be sending others as soon as I can contact them. And please," she pleaded, "give her some space? She will probably need a while to come to grips with all this."
Cupcake nodded, and Pinkie gently put a hoof on Obsidian's shoulder. "C'mon now... let's get moving, okay? Once we get to the room, you can... uh, sleep? Rest? Read? Whatever it is you do to unwind, you can do that!"
Last Shard immediately shivered and stepped away from Pinkie as soon as she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Even if she was a fake, her experiences with father were true - which meant that she still didn't like being touched without warning.
Cupcake simply looked exceedingly concerned. "We'll talk later, when you're more... uh, stable. Please, think it over before doing anything, okay?"
She nodded absentmindedly in response to their questions. Unwind...
Thunderclap would probably be a bit put out that her plans for jogging with a defective back-up body wouldn't work.
And Miss Trixie may be somewhat upset that she wasted her time, preparing a schedule for a mere tool, destinied to be used by somepony greater than any other creature in Equestria. Oh, the disappointment would be rampant, yes...
"... let's go," Last Shard said miserably. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Sixteen: Tool | Pinkie and Cupcake led Obsidian to the doorway, with Cup looking as though his very heart was breaking.
Pinkie turned back to Twilight. "We got this, don't worry - you just go find whoever you gotta to make the bad stuff stop, okie dokie lokie?"
Twilight smiled. "Okie dokie lokie; thank you, Pinkie."
The three of them made their way out of the room, and waiting for them were Thunderclap and Gypsy... both of which immediately looked concerned when they saw Obsidian's face.
"Cup, what-" Clap began, but he cut her off.
"Uh uh, not now. She... needs a mo'. I'll fill you in later, but... not right now, 'kay?"
Clap looked surprised at Cup's seriousness... but nodded solemnly. "Can I help?" Nearby, Gypsy's ears fell, but when Clap asked about help, he was all sorts of attentive.
However, Cup simply shrugged and said, "Later, definitely... but for now, we just need to get her to her room."
And so, now she had an entourage of four with her, all headed to the Applejack Suite. It was strange, being around these folk who were usually talkative, yet now were silent as rocks. They made it to her room, but before she could make it inside, Thunderclap spoke to her.
"Whatever it is... I hope we can help, somehow - even if it's later. Feel better soon, okay?"
"Th-this one does n-n-not like to see you in s-s-s-such distress; pl-please let him know if h-h-he can help."
"Yeah, let us know, okay Siddy?"
Last Shard nodded to them with sullen apathy and, head hung low, entered the room. Pinkie looked at her two friends and grinned slightly. "She will. Go on, now - come check on her tomorrow, okie dokie lokie?"
They both nodded and, with one more concerned look at Obsidian, they both headed off down the hallway. Pinkie, meanwhile, turned to her son and motioned towards the room. "Proooooobably shouldn't leave her by herself, y'know; go keep her company, even if you don't say a single thing."
Cupcake nodded, and entered the room behind Obsidian, closing the door for her. Once inside, he fidgeted for a bit before sitting down on the corner of her bed.
"... y-you wanna talk about it? Because if you do, that's okay - and if not, that's okay too. I just... it hurts, seeing you so shaken. I wanna help, I really do... sooooooo, I'll just sit here and be a bump on a log. You need me, I'll be right here, okay?"
Ah, her 'friends'... she'd once thought that maybe trying to use warfare metaphors would help her understand things better - another means to acclimate and adjust. But now, it was utterly and completely useless. There was no point in researching this topic, or satisfying terms of Princess Twilight's punishment... or doing practically anything, for that matter.
Thunderclap had wasted her saddlebags and money on a creature that only looked like a pony, but was as alive as a knife or a fork. Gypsy was trying to entertain something that shouldn't be even able to be entertained. Only Mica was wise enough to cut contact with her, even if he had no clue that she was just a fake. Poor Stalwart would never be properly avenged... and of course, the little mare would still act with reverence for just a simple tool; she could praise her most honorable's father's toilet, and it would make as much sense.
As soon as Last Shard was left alone with Cupcake and sat down on the bed, however... she felt that something in her mind was stretching and breaking. It was just... she couldn't... too much...
During her entire artificial life, she had been doing her best to hide all of her weaknesses, all the pain that she felt during training, everything that could make her father look upon her with any amount of disdain.
But she was just a tool. As long as she would be able to provide king Sombra with a well-working, living body, she would be useful.
"Cccc.... Cccc..." To her horror, she began to weep and sob. Oh, how absolutely gross and humiliating...
But she couldn't help it; her whole body began to shiver, as if she was freezing. "Cccccupcake, I.... I don't... I'm not..."
The first tears she'd experienced in ages - in fact, more than a millenium - started to gather in the corners of her eyes. "I... I'm not a princess... not a heir... not even a pooo-ho-ho-nyyyy..."
Cupcake wanted to hug her so badly, it stung. "Oh, Obsidian... I... I don't see it that way. Not at all."
He shuffled closer to her, their flanks almost touching but not quite. "Everything I've witnessed up to this point has me thinking-... no, knowing that you're more than just the sum of whatever that jerk thought you were. It's not fair that he's not even here, yet he's hurting you so much."
He looked at her, regarding her clearly. "Besides... if you're not real, then neither am I."
"I don't talk about it much, because it's a... weird... subject with me, but... I'm a Spell Foal. Momma had me magically implanted inside her, since dad was doing his civic duty as a Super Duper Party Pony... but with his help, of course... and after I grew big enough, I was officially born. But I'm NOT the product of a normal life, either; I'm as magic as you are, in that way."
He raised a hoof to place on her shoulder... but stopped himself, his restraint visibly bothering him. "I wanna hug you so bad right now..."
But he sighed and sat up straighter. "Obsidian, you are whatever you think you are. It's not up to anyone else to tell you who you are - you may have been made as a backup plan, but with everything I'VE seen in the past few days? You're real to me... and you didn't even like me at first, remember? Only a REAL pony could do something like that, could make the decision to accept a friend."
He looked at her. "I don't like that you're being so hard on yourself... but I kinda get it, too. If..." his own eyes began to tear up, "... if you wanna cry it out, it's okay - I won't judge, and I won't blame you, and if you like, I won't tell a single soul." Now his own tears began to flow down his cheeks, his empathy eating him alive with all the pain he saw in her muzzle.
There was surely a lot of difference between being just magically created by a pair of married ponies and being crafted out of magical crystals and implanted with a portion of the soul of her creator. But Last Shard didn't care about it enough to say it aloud, or even to think about it too much. She just... just...
Her hoof moved a bit to the side and poked Cupcake slightly. "... he... he is not a jerk. He is wise and powerful... at least enough to create me. I am honored... t-to be his... creation..." she muttered, trying to stop her tears - and failing.
"... if you s-so wish... I would accept a hug right now..." After all, it wouldn't hurt her any further, right? It should be impossible to hurt her even more right now; when Cupcake mentioned crying, she'd lost it completely. Tears flowed openly from her eyes, as she was facing the reality of being just a defective crystal body.
And so, Cupcake slowly and gently wrapped his forelegs around her middle and laid his head next to her own, squeezing (but not too hard) and sobbing right along with her. There was a lot of pain to let out, a lot of hurt to expel... and crying worked wonders to that end. It was as if liquid misery was pouring straight from her heart into her eyes, then down her cheeks.
The same went for Cupcake as well... but his tears were all for her, not himself. And they felt as though they would never stop coming; he felt so bad for her, he simply couldn't help himself but to cry for the poor mare.
It lasted quite a while, and by the time she'd reached the end of it, she felt just drained. Better, maybe... but drained, all the same. But he'd stuck with her through every tear, and he had continued to hold her during the entire crying session. It was a touch without pain... which was almost unheard of with her.
But the proof was right there - he'd held her during their entire crying jag, and had not once shown any hesitation for doing so. They hadn't exactly stopped crying... but they were no longer sobbing, at least.
At the end of the worst of it, Last Shard felt even more empty and void than before this humiliating, shameless act of crying - but, to be fair, it wasn't neecesarily a bad thing.
After all, it meant that she got rid of at least a bit of her overwhelming sadness and despair. And after a moment, she almost forgot that Cupcake was touching her - which was a good thing too, as she wasn't sure if she'd be able, even in her current state, to stand anypony's touch. It was... a promising start, to be fair. Even if the circumstances were very, very special.
"... I think I feel a bit better," she admitted quietly, wiping away tears with one of her forelegs. "but... this isn't anything like this 'crush' thing, is it?"
Cupcake gave her a teary grin. "By Twilight's Crown, no! It's... i-it's just sadness. And there's n-nothing wrong with feeling sad, either - that's how the heart cleanses itself, after all. Love is... well, I guess it's different for everyone, but mostly I'm sure you'll know it when you really feel it."
"I just hope," he added, "that whomever it is, they treat you well. You deserve that."
He sniffled, then gave a big sigh... but he was still holding her, though not nearly as tightly as before. "You have folks who genuinely care about what happens to you - YOU, not your body, but YOU. I'd say that's at least worth thinking about, y'know?"
Reluctantly, he slowly slid his forelegs out from around her waist and settled himself into a laying position on the bed, yawning absently. He then motioned to the other side - which he'd given plenty of room - and said, "You can take that side, if you're sleepy; after today, I could use some real rest... and I'm sure it'd do you some good, too."
He nestled against the top of the bed, snuggling down for what he hoped would be a good little nap. He opened a single eye, trained on Obsidian. "I hope I helped; you looked like you needed it right then."
Maybe there were one or two reasons to do something more than sit down and wait until her most honourable father claimed her artificial body...
Last Shard couldn't agree more with Cupcake at the moment - she was exhausted, not only physically but also mentally. As such, she had to sleep; apparently, even a mere object with false life had to rest.
"... you did help. And you're right, I need rest - especially as I did not cancel the morning jog with Thunderclap; I have to wake up early enough to greet her."
Even if she wouldn't jog - or if Thunderclap wouldn't want to jog with a pony-shaped tool - she had to at least meet with her. Even though she never did get around to asking Princess Twilight about switching liaisons...
She also didn't expect her forehooves to encircle Cupcake and embrace him as she drifted off into the realm of sleep. [-]
She was standing in the Crystal Palace throne room... and he was in attendance.
But he was... wrong...
Her most honourable father was... sleeker? Shorter? It was hard to put a hoof on what was different, until she realized that, as she stood in the throne room, he was in her body as he sat on the throne. Her own, crown-bedecked head turned to face her, and she saw her own visage grin with pointed teeth and purple mist in her eyes.
"At last, I have returned... and all thanks to YOU... my precious tool."
Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad fate; in fact, it would be a honourable end - to be useful to her maker, to be used according to her destiny, yes. The vision in front of her was not a nightmare, but a short glimpse of the future...
A future without Obsidian.
Only a moment ago, she was... well, maybe not too keen on the idea, but at least able to accept it. However, now that she was thinking about it, she found her heart to be a bit conflicted about this possibility.
Exist? Or serve? It was either one or the other, because both felt as if it would have been impossible to achieve.
Sombra/Obsidian reached forward, as if to touch her - even if she had no idea how she was both here and on the throne - but before that visage could do anything more, it dissappated into black ash that simply fell to the floor in a scattered pile.
"You... you are not what we expected," said a rich, regal and proud voice next to her, "yet you are the one described to us. And so, we meet."
Standing next to Obsidian in her dreams was a midnight blue alicorn with a rippling and flowing mane and tail, luminous eyes and a crescent moon for a cutie mark. "I am Luna, defender of dreams... and in this case, sent by another to ensure you are safe."
"Princess Luna?" Obsidian turned her head, surprised by the sudden appearance of another alicorn.
She had seen enough artwork of her, or read descriptions in the books about Equestria, to recognize her immediately - in fact, she looked as if she hadn't changed a single iota during these past thousand years. Why would a creature made by King Sombra dream about an Equestrian princess?
"... you... are NOT a figment of imagination, I hope. Isn't this... one of your much-lauded powers?" she guessed, based on her knowledge. Then, she suddenly realized what it really meant - and immediately bowed before her. "...y-your majesty!"
Father or not, this was Princess Luna - and even if she didn't believe in calling the current ruler of Equestria a 'Majesty', she most certainly felt that such a legendary princess had at least earned that right properly.
Luna smiled. "No need for titles - I gave that position up some time ago, and the one who has replaced my sister and I has been doing an impressive job. Therefore, I continue to protect ponies from their nightmares... though I hold no true power in Equestria anymore. Which, to be honest, is refreshingly dull."
Her smile slimmed down a bit as she looked at Obsidian. "Now, thy situation has been explained to me, and I shall be your guardian as you slumber. You shall be rested when you awaken, and thy plight will not seem as enormous as it feels right now."
She was beautiful, as far as mares went. And the way her mane just seemed to... flow... from her...
"Now... Obsidian, was it?... let us walk a bit, and perhaps discuss things as they stand." She began to stroll through the throne room as if she owned it... which, considering her time in Canterlot, she most certainly had experience with throne rooms in general. "Tell us, what troubles you, Obsidian? Aside from the threat of thy father's return, from what I witnessed."
She really looked as if taken straight out of the books Obsidian had read thousand years ago. Was it just a part of the dream? Or maybe she really hadn't changed at all since ancient times?
Obsidian followed her. "I... recently learned that I am... an artificial creature. While I was aware that I was to be used as a tool, I had no idea that I was... er, how should I put it... that I was literally nothing more than a tool. There is also another practicioner of Dark Magic around, and they are apparently quite willing to attack others to achieve their goals. Those are the most pressing issues at hoof, I believe."
Luna nodded sagely, considering her words carefully. "A tool is an instrument that is used to make one's work easier," she began, "but true tools never develop their own actions, minds or feelings. Tools are manufactured for a purpose, yet they can never fashion a purpose of their own design. Tools can make an impact, but never without the action of another to direct them."
The two of them now made their way out onto the balcony, where the view of the Imperial City was breathtaking. In the fog of the dreamlike haze, it seemed to stretch on forever before the two of them.
"However, from what I have gathered from the dreams of your friends, thou hast demonstrated all of the qualities of a living being... and not a mere tool, as thou would seem to be enamored with."
"In the days before my sister and I ruled Equestria," she sat on a nearby royal couch as she spoke, "the vile draconequus Discord was of the opinion that all of ponykind were his 'tools', and he treated us accordingly. Yet we refused to accept that our lot in life was to suffer at his command, and fought back to regain control of our fates. And we won."
She looked at Obsidian kindly. "And if we can fight the likes of chaos and win, then would it not be possible to do the same for thyself? There is no need for thee to merely roll over and allow thy existence to vanish on the whim of a tyrant... because thou are not a mere tool, but a living, breathing, thinking and feeling creature."
Her muzzle went hard with an expression of anger. "Sombra is naught more than a slave-master; it is his duty and interest to keep those whom he sees as his possessions under his hoof... and thou fit directly into that category. He has even supposedly invested some of his own soul into creating thee..."
Calming herself, she looked to the blue skies above. "Yet, here thou art, questioning thy supposed 'fate', feeling fear and dread over the prospect of losing thyself, and unsure as to what to do about such."
She smiled at Obsidian. "And the last time I checked... tools don't react to such things in such a manner. Ergo, thou are NOT a mere tool... but a unique creature who deserves a chance to be thine own pony. And, last I checked, tools don't have friends, do they? Thou art far more gifted and blessed than thou realize, Obsidian. Make certain to give thyself proper credit."
So she was not only a tool, but a defective one, a tool that was acting out of line. The fact that she apparently was enjoying (more or less) everything that happened to her today and yesterday, even if it was confusing and disorienting, didn't change the fact that she was brought into this world for a single goal, made by the greatest pony that ever lived.
It would be selfish of her to think of herself instead of the greater good. The Crystal City in front of her was very different from one from her times; it was beautiful and breathtaking - but was it useful as well? Had it gained a new purpose after her father - or perhaps 'maker' would be a better term - was temporarily defeated?
Last Shard winced at the comparision of the most honourable king Sombra to such a lout as Discord. However... Discord was still around, wasn't he? He even had a family, had been reformed and somehow was allowed to terrorize all diamond dogs into complete and utter cowards at the sight of ANY draconequus.
Maybe... maybe there could be a way to let her father coexist with modern Equestria? Not on the same terms perhaps, but if they could forgive a monster like Discord, then surely - sooner or later - they would find real value in the words of her father!
"Since I was born... or rather, crafted... I've been doing everything I could to satisfy the many expectations of the illustrious King Sombra. The only thing I ever truly wanted was to see him proud of me... and yet, now it turns out that I just had to live long enough, and provide him with a back-up shell. Everything I thought about my purpose or destiny, or even about my past, turned out to be either blatant lies... or the whimsical fantasy of a delusional filly," she concluded bitterly.
Luna looked at her as she spoke, taking in what she said. Once she was done, the alicorn looked to the night sky above them and stared at the diamond chips that hung there.
"From my own recollections, the Sombra we challenged was hardly illustrious - his only goals were subjugation and domination. Not something we look well upon in Equestria, for the record."
She looked back at Obsidian, and her voice sounded so weary when she continued. "There was... once... a time where he showed a great potential to be the sort of ruler that all of Equestria could have lived under. He was fair and kind, and ruled his kingdom well... but when he began to learn and use Dark Magic, he lost the parts of himself that were admired and cherished... and gained hate, pain and arrogance in its' stead."
"No one wants to be owned like property, which is why my sister and I fought back against his rule. He saw each pony as nothing more than a tool for his use, to discard at a whim... much like his designs for thee, I would wager."
Now she stepped closer, giving Obsidian a look of compassion. "But ponies are NOT tools. They are NOT possessions to be traded, and they are not slaves to be worked. They are alive... and sometimes, when one knows they truly live, they must fight to ensure they are not seen as mere toys."
"Obsidian, I feel that thy mind is convinced that thou art not 'real'... yet, as I stand here in the realm of dreams, I insist to thee that tools do not dream. Therefore, perhaps the designs of Sombra are not what thou are destined for."
Hope tried to blossom in Last Shard's heart... but the cold realization of her supposed purpose had done far more damage than a single speech would help. Still, she hearkened to listen to what the Prin-... uh, the former princess was saying.
"Destiny," Luna continued, "is never chosen by another being; it is something that calls to us, and our souls yearn to answer that call. I sense in thee a want to perform the task thou were seemingly created for... yet, there is a conflict where thou finds thyself wanting to continue to be as thee are now. I tell thee, from my centuries of experience, that the second calling thou feel is the one thou should hear, and cease listening to the first."
She then simply stepped up onto the balcony railing, then into the open air, standing on nothing at all as she kept speaking. "I shall not order thee to listen to my words, as that is not our way... however, I beseech thee - as a fellow pony and not as an alicorn ruler - to consider the words of those who hold you in their hearts; these are the ones who will support and defend you in times of great peril, and the opinions of those who care oft outweigh those opinions from those who do not."
Ponies were not tools?
Now that was something completely new; a fresh idea contrasting with everything that Obsidian learned during her life. It was... interesting, to say the least - especially as it would require her to change her entire perspective. Especially as Luna, right afterwards, had stated that perhaps a Destiny chosen by her father wasn't one that should await her. But... how?
Last Shard defined herself only as a piece of King Sombra's life; she was barely able to think about the possibility of divorcing herself from his designs, plans and lessons - and yet, an alicorn that defeated him insisted that there was something more for her than being... a mere tool.
Of course, the alicorn was her father's enemy, and it was obvious that she wouldn't want him back, but... did this simple Last Shard want-
No. She couldn't force herself to finish that thought.
"Your words... what you have said stands against everything I was taught, but... I believe I should think about it more deeply... perhaps," she said, rather hesistantly. "So as far as I understand, you knew my most honourable father before he took over Crystal Empire?" To be fair, she had never heard about his life before he sat upon the Crystal Throne.
Luna nodded. "In the olden days of the Crystal Empire, a young colt was discovered on a shoreline. At first, all this colt could speak was the word 'sombra', and so it became his name. He lived for many years as an orphan, yet he also had a single friend, one named Radiant Hope. She was as close to him as the Element Bearers are to each other, and they both supported each other through times good and bad."
Luna's expression darkened. "But an Umbral shard found its' way into Sombra's hooves somehow, and it was shortly afterwards that he began to become corrupt and vile, believing ponies served better as playthings than subjects. From there, he simply sank further and further into the darkness, until..."
She sighed. "Until he could no longer be reached. At that point, he became Sombra, the Slave King... and ceased to be the stallion that his potential had shown he could be. In that moment, he became our enemy... yet before we could usurp him from his throne of misery, he cursed the entire Crystal Empire with a banishment spell, as thou well know."
"Had he not crossed that boundary of darkness, we would have gone to any lengths to save him... yet it was not within our ability, and the grip his dark madness held upon him was complete."
It was strange, thinking about her father as an orphaned colt, enjoying life, adventuring... and even having a friend! That was completely different from anything she could imagine - and she could only wonder what had possibly changed him so much. She involuntarily shivered at the word 'shard', but couldn't help but wonder what it might have done to him.
Perhaps... there was something more to it? This calm, peaceful discussion with Luna already gave her so many things to wonder about...
The alicorn seemed to consider things for a moment before speaking again. "Obsidian, wouldst thou like to see what sort of impact thou hast had upon thy friends? They dream of thee, at this very moment - and as I normally would not allow such a thing, I feel moved to show thee what thou mean to those who have accepted thee as a friend. Perhaps thou would gain a better grasp of thy self-worth if thou were to see how others see thee..."
And it seemed that the dream protector still had an ace or two up her own sleeve.
She held out a hoof. "Take my hoof and follow me, if thou wish to know."
"... I... I wish to... t-to know, yes..." Hesistantly, she reached out to her hoof - she trembled as if it were a snake she were reaching for - but she took it, the fire of curiosity beginning to kindle in her soul. Just what could they possibly be dreaming about her?
Luna's smile broadened. "Let us go, then..." |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Seventeen: Dream A Little Dream Of Me | The world around her seemed to fade into a swirling whirlwind that she couldn't feel, then slowly settled around her...
They were standing on the parapet of a humongous castle - an overexaggerated version of Canterlot, actually - and there was a massive battle that seemed to rage all around them... yet, regardless, there was not a sign of any sort of defeat.
In fact, it seemed as if the ponies were winning against... changelings?
Yes, it looked as though Chrysalis' followers were once again storming Canterlot - but this time, the ponies were prepared.
And the fight looked heavy-hoofed, in favor of them.
And there, on the battlefield, in the thick of the fray was Obsidian herself... but one that was wearing royal plate armor and smashing her hooves into the enemy as grandly and heroically as any of Equestria's heroes. She looked marvelous, a warrior queen without equal, and wore an expression of determination on her muzzle that spoke of confidence and power.
As she fought though, a number of changelings began to swarm her, dog-piling atop her and making her scream in anger and frustration until she was almost swallowed under, until...
"HAVE AT YOU, VILE FIENDS!"
With the sound of a ton of bricks slamming into the ground, the changelings were scattered in all directions, freeing Warrior Princess Obsidian from the ganging up she'd been enduring. She wiped sweat from her brow, then turned to face her savior...
Stalwart Stance was standing there, nearly thrice as tall as she normally was, bedecked in a full suit of Royal Guard armor, complete with a properly battle-damaged cape.
"Your Majesty, we have secured the Eastern wall, and the Southern gate has turned the foul creatures away... by your command, we shall storm the Northern wall, and chase them out of Shmanterlot once and for all! We are on the verge of winning this war!"
Obsidian nodded. "Then send out the call; it is time to push them out of our home!"
Wart smiled broadly, and bowed before her. "Your words are my driving goals, Your Majesty..." She then turned to the other guards present, looking ready and fierce.
"Onward, fellow ponies! Let's prove that we're not going to endure another SECOND of their presence! AD VICTORIAM!!!!!"
With Obsidian in the lead and Wart right beside her, the whole group surged forward as one against the tide of changelings, and when they met, the black bug-like beings were found lacking, and began to turn back.
Ah, loyal Stalwart - the unicorn mare that was too short to achieve her goal. A pony dreaming about great victories over beasts that were, as far as Obsidian knew, already defeated... but there was something strange about this battle...
Surprisingly, even despite the knowledge that Obsidian was connected to the dark King Sombra, one of the greatest enemies of Equestria... Stalwart was dreaming about fighting alongside her? On the Equestrians' side? Admirable, really - even though everything in this dream was wrong... Obsidian kind of liked the idea that her loyal little friend could imagine her in such a flattering way.
"She won't be happy about the fact that I'm not truly a princess," she admitted. However, she and Cupcake had helped her with the griffon problem, so maybe she wouldn't get quite as angry as Mica currently was with her.
Luna turned to her. "I do not believe that will matter quite as much as you think... or as she thinks..."
The castle, the battle and the warriors around them swirled away, and this time Obsidian could only see puffy whiteness all around her.
The world slowly came into bright focus, and they were high up in the clouds. There was a large stadium beneath them - The Cloudsdale Coliseum, according to the signs - and there was a massive gathering there of ponies of all sorts... and dragons, changelings, diamond dogs, and even races she didn't recognize! They were all here, all present for some sort of show...
Yet, there wasn't anyone to be seen.
"I... I-I don't think I can... can d-do this, Siddy..." Thunderclap's distinct voice was clear among the massive crowd, as if she was right there next to them.
Slowly, Luna and Obsidian drifted down until they reached one of the backstage areas, where a Thunderbolt-Flightsuit-clad Thunderclap Dash was pacing worriedly, while Obsidian - who was dressed in high fashion and looking like a beautiful model - was nearby, watching with veiled concern.
"I mean, my mom's the ONLY one who's ever pulled it off, and I... I-I'm too big, Siddy! I mean, lookit me! I'm a freak, like Bulk Biceps! How am I ever gonna pull... that... off?"
Obsidian stepped forward, her voice soft but strong. "Thunderclap, I have faith in you. I have seen you do amazing things, and you even managed to pull me back from the brink of depression. This is a feat that not many can accomplish."
"You had other help, too," she murmured.
So that thing Obsidian was feeling was called 'depression'? And her visage in Thunderclap's mind was quite different from her own vision of herself - in fact, she barely recognized the decked-out mare. Dressed up? Makeup? Confidence? That was pretty far from her current state.
"Regardless," she continued, "you stood by me and generously gave of your time and effort, and did what you could to help me in my time of need... and now, I shall do the same for you. You are more capable than you think, Clap. You can do this - we ALL believe in you."
Thunderclap sighed, then opened her eyes with a spark of fresh determination in them. "Y'know what, Siddy? You're RIGHT. Okay, then," she turned and saluted Obsidian, "watch me burn ozone, girl! And... thanks. MUCH thanks."
"That is what friends do, correct?" Obsidian the Fashion Plate smiled.
With a nod and a quick hug shared between them, Clap stepped out into the main arena and the crowd cheered LOUDLY at her arrival. The announcer's voice cut through the din, broadcast on megaphones all around the stadium.
"Fillies, gentlecolts, and creatures of all ages and walks of life, Cloudsale proudly presents, attempting to demonstrate the power of the legendary Sonic Rainboom - Rainbow Dash's own daughter - THUNDERCLAP DAAAAAAASH!!!!!"
She raised her hooves in a victory stance, then hunkered down and launched herself into the air, turning and heading outward away from the coliseum rapidly, until she was a mere speck in the distance.
"I guess that she truly cares about her mother's legacy," Last Shard - Obsidian - mused, watching as Fashion-sidian and Thunderclap were talking about... whatever it was that the pegasus was attempting to achieve - she was dreaming big... and somehow, it included Obsidian in a manner which was both helpful and friendly. Even though she had already seen her at her lowest point and the shopping trip had gone bust, Clap saw her kindly.
"I still think that I'd look better in plate armor, just like in Stalwart's dream. Preferably with a nice, red cape."
There was a tiny flash in the distance, then it began to approach. It was Clap, who was flying so hard she was visibly panting, but the smile on her face was broad and shining with excitement. She slowly angled downward, her form beginning to look as though it were... narrowing?... as she rapidly picked up speed.
Luna smiled, then pulled a pair of sunglasses from her mane and put them on. "Brace thyself - 'tis a glorious thing to behold."
As she got closer and closer to the coliseum, there was a moment where some attendants seemed to think she was going to crash into the bleachers... yet, as she was almost directly above the stadium itself, an amazing thing happened...
>>>>>sssssSSSSSSS-BOOOOOOOOOM!<<<<<
A miracle of color and power surged out in a ring from where Clap shot through, and the ring was utterly amazing in how bright and incredible it was. Something about it felt as though it struck a chord in Obsidian, as she had never, ever witnessed anything quite like a Sonic Rainboom before in her entire life - she'd never even read about the phenomenon!
Last Shard stepped back when the sudden surge of colours and lights washed over everything. It was... incredible. Completely and utterly grand, a show of skill and determination which finished with a rainbow explosion, far different from any dark, bland magical feats she had ever seen back home.
Luna simply smiled knowingly. "She dreams of following in her mother's hoofprints and perfecting it... yet, in her entire life, she has never been able to duplicate the act, not even once. Still, she dreams of accomplishing it every single night, even if the methods used differ. Since meeting thee, thou hast very quickly become a bolstering presence in her mind... and quite the fashionable mare, if I may say."
For a moment, she forgot about everything - her father, her current situation, even the slightest worries about her future or her friends - and just let herself admire it.
"... it's... I... I would wish to see this phenomenon with my own eyes, someday," she admitted, observing the colorful rings as they continued to spread until the colors covered the sky.
So Clap's mother, Rainbow Dash of the Element Bearers, had already done such a feat? Then she simply had to read about it now; maybe it could be useful - at least for Thunderclap.
Luna nodded. "Rainbow Dash's ability to do this has typically heralded some major, powerful change in some fashion or another. I have grown to take it as a sign of Fate, heralding soon-approaching changes in the direction and history of our great nation... but enough; come now."
The world once more swirled away as the dream realm shifted again, bringing them to...
The School of Friendship loomed large before them, swimming into focus as they got close. However, there were posters all over the place - posts, mailboxes, walls, the flagpost, and even a few benches - advertising some sort of conference... a history conference, in fact.
Slowly, they drifted toward the lecture hall, which was crowded with folks here to see the proceedings. When they reached earshot, Last Shard - Obsidian - could hear a rich, warm (and somewhat familiar) speaker's voice who was waxing almost poetic on the subject that was spoken upon.
"... and that was when the Elements of Harmony came into play. Each one, strong separately yet powerful as a whole sum, was of the utmost importance as the sole, solitary reason that the Villainous Trio were put into their place. The statue that stands in the Royal Gardens is proof positive that friendship is a magic all its' own, and one of the most powerful magics ever witnessed by our kind."
At the podium was none other than Gypsy Rover, dressed impeccably and looking as a professor should look; intelligent, calm and collected. He looked out over the audience... which, in the front row, included a turtleneck-wearing Obsidian, looking as smart as he did.
"The school here has it right, everyone..." and he glanced at Intellectual Obsidian, where he smiled at her, then she returned it, warm and content.
"... friendship most certainly is magic. And those who know it well couldn't be happier."
The audience broke into thunderous applause, giving the astute diamond dog a standing ovation as he stepped forward from the podium and took a grand, sweeping bow before the masses. Even Intellectual Obsidian stood and gave a soft clap, smiling broadly at seeing her friend succeed so thoroughly.
Last Shard - Obsidian - smiled at this sight; Stalwart's vision mainly reminded her both about her friend's problems with height and her opinion of the dark mare, and Thunderclap somewhat surprised her with the vision of her as fashionable pony, but this dream... there was something about academic pursuit that soothed her, somehow. It was exceedingly kind of him to think of her in such a flattering way.
"He... he has no stutter! He's fantastic as a scholar!" she cheered. Now, wouldn't listening about history be far less awkward if he could speak without problems? However, the ideal that he was striving for was practically perfect, and this time her own role was far less pronounced - but at least she could believe that she could end up like this.
Leaving the stage at last, Gypsy came over to meet Obsidian directly. "This one hopes he wasn't too boring, was he?" The diamond dog wore a smarmy grin as he questioned Intelli-sidian.
She responded by giving him a flat look, then chuckling softly. "Oh, I believe you did a passable job of it, my friend," she replied, "good enough for common practice, anyway. Might even be that a few of the ponies here actually liked it."
With this, they both gave a hearty laugh.
Gypsy smiled at her. "This one is still incredibly grateful that you gave up your precious time to come and see him do this - he was so nervous about getting onstage, but your presence helped him overcome this obstacle."
"Nervous?" Obsidian looked surprised. "You haven't been nervous since you conquered your fears..." she cleared her throat, "... and since the disappearance of Jinx and any other draconequui, you haven't had a single instance of fear that I have witnessed."
He grinned. "And YOUR fears are defeated as well, friend. We conquered them together, which made it such a sweeter victory."
"Yes, yes," Obsidian waved the compliment away, "now, shall we go and celebrate with some ice cream and chewy treats?"
Though his nod was all intellectual, his tail began wagging rapidly behind him. "This one would have it no other way, dear Obsidian. Shall we?"
He offered the crook of his arm, which Intellectual Obsidian gladly took in hoof, and they both proceeded out of the lecture hall as the janitors began their cleanup. The banner hanging above the stage read, in large bold lettering:
Equestrian History - As Told By Expert Historian, Gypsy Rover
"The thought of such a vision... glorious," Last Shard/Obsidian spoke softly, as if saying such a thing too loudly would shatter the moment. That sight had been most pleasant... she wasn't too sure about turtleneck, though.
The world around them swirled away as usual, and when it reformed, it seemed as though they were simply inside a marble-lined hallway - in a high-class building, by the look of the decor.
In this hallway were a number of different doors, but only one stood open with a shaft of light pouring out of it. Inside, there were voices... familiar ones...
Reaching the open door, Luna carefully pushed it open until they could see what was going on in here. And what they saw was... weird.
There was a stage, as if a play were being performed, yet the only ones onstage were Obsidian... and Obsidian?
To one side stood an Obsidian who wore a warm red cloak, lined with fur, that made her appear both stylish and regal, and her horn was completely straight and clear of any of its' sinister red coloration. This Obsidian looked as though she were slightly annoyed, but concerned about something or other.
"You have no ground to stand on over this, fiend. There is not even the slightest chance that I would ever harm the citizens of Equestria - my place is among them, not above them. You would do well to learn from this."
The other Obsidian stood at the opposite end of the stage. She was a direct opposite of her counterpart; her horn was fully red and curved, and wisps of purple smoke curled from the base of it, as well as from her eyes. Her teeth were sharp and jagged, her coat slick with the blood of innocents, and she wore an outfit that was eerily similar to her father's armor, though it was cracked and dripping with blood.
"But they BLEED so WELL! Each and every one, with screams that bring me delight upon delight! And YOU do not exist, impostor! WE shall overcome you, WE shall take back what our father left us, WE will RULE them ALL!" As the Dark Obsidian spoke, spittle and purple smoke issued forth, leaving a slight string of drool between her mouth and her breastplate.
The audience for this play was empty... except for a single pony seated up front, observing quietly as the debate continued. Mica Chip was engrossed in the sight, apparently considering which side would ultimately win out, leaning his head on a forehoof as he watched things unfold.
Luna spoke. "Even those who have known thee only shortly and have issues with thee still think of thyself. And debate whether or not thou art a product of Sombra... or Equestria."
Ok, that was unexpected; she really didn't think Luna would bring her into Mica's dreams, of all ponies. However, Princess Twilight seemed to consider him her friend and apparently didn't know about their last small discussion - the one that hadn't ended in a pleasant way. Just how big were the odds that they would all dream about her, though?
"... why not both?" she mused.
She was surely a product of Sombra - in many, many ways. However, she finally had experienced an opportunity to develop in ways that her father hadn't planned for her, so it was true that his influence over her wasn't as great as he... or she... thought.
"But no matter what... I cannot imagine myself wallowing in wanton destruction and carnage like that." To be fair, she felt a bit offended.
Luna nodded. "And yet, Mica does not know this for a fact; he may have severed connections with thee for the time being, yet a dream like this tells me that he still wishes to be thy friend... yet he is afraid thou will turn out... well," she gestured to Dark Obsidian, "like so. I believe, if thou simply reassure him that this is NOT the case, then perhaps he will warm to thee once more."
"As intelligent as he can be," Luna grinned, "he can be quite stubborn. Be honest with him, let him know his fears are unfounded, and that you mean neither ill will nor harm - I doubt he will be able to stay away from thee for long, as he makes few actual friends."
"C'mon, Chippie," a voice whispered in Mica's ear, sounding a lot like Thunderclap Dash, "she's not all that bad, is she?" Mica's muzzle wrinkled in a frown.
"She finds our opinions... unimportant."
Again, the disembodied voice spoke up softly. "She, like, JUST woke up after a really looooooooong nap; you think she's thinking clearly this soon?"
Mica looked down, considering the words whispered in his ear. "I... I just don't know. I mean, I want to associate with her, but... I just don't know if I can trust her. Especially with you, love; if she ever hurt you..."
Oh, wasn't THAT interesting?
"... I just wish I knew for certain." Sighing, he looked up as the debate continued between the two Obsidians.
Obsidian blinked. Then blinked again. Then, she turned to look at Princess Luna, a look on her muzzle a mix of embarrassment and unsettling discomfort.
"We... uh..." She rubbed her temple. "... n-next dream, please?"
Luna nodded. "Come." Again, the swirl of energy was all around her. It was both beautiful and mysterious at the same time - much like the alicorn accompanying her, which was fitting. When the world came into focus, it was... bright.
VERY bright.
All around them were cartoony versions of Twilight's Palace, the Friendship School, Ponyville... and they were all repeatedly bobbing up and down in the background, as if they were dancing to some unheard song. Trees, grass, rocks - everything was moving to some unheard beat, as if it were all alive and in vibrant color that almost hurt her eyes. However, when she noticed that even the sun was smiling down on everything... it was all a bit much.
As they watched, coming down a path lined with lightly bobbing daisies were two individuals: one of them was bouncing up and down like a spring gone amok, while the other was calmly trotting along. As they got closer, their identities could easily be seen... and they were BOTH Cupcake Sprinkles!
The bouncing one wore a big, sunny smile... while the other one had on a dour, grumpy face. They walked side by side, seemingly oblivious of the day-glow world around them.
"... and did I mention she's wonderful!? And she's got that niftycool horn, too! Oh, I hope she knows how to make fireworks! That'd be TOTALLY AWESOME!"
"She probably doesn't know any firework spells; her father wouldn't have taught her anything fun... and the thought of that makes me SO angry..."
"I know, but that's why we have to help her out! We have to get her to see that she's not just some dumb ol' shard, but a REAL pony!"
Sullen Cup looked at Sunny Cup with a sidelong glance. "Well, she IS a real pony... but it'll be a tough time convincing her otherwise. She's determined to be a tool."
"Naawwwwww... she just doesn't realize how special she is yet!"
Cupcake Sprinkles. Obviously.
This dream practically screamed that it was him, as if he was purposely dreaming of everything that would be contrary to her old home in the Crystal Empire. Did he actually perceive of his reality this way? How could he possibly stay sane... or perhaps the better question would be, how could he ACT so sane?
Obsidian was already surprised by two versions of herself in Mica's dream, but seeing two Cupcakes - not to mention the entire lunatic world around her they existed in...
"Oh, how very sweet of him. Does that mean I should seek out a spell for fireworks, perhaps?"
That's when they both stopped and stared at each other for a moment. "You... feeling strange, me?" Said Sullen Cup.
"Yeeeeaaaaaahhhhh... like we're... being... watched?" Sunny Cup replied.
At that moment, both Sullen and Sunny turned and looked directly at Obsidian and Luna.
Luna held out a hoof, "Do not worry - he does this on occasion, as I have seen throughout his years. Only his mother and his sister have the ability to sense us - they do not actually see-"
"Uh, yeah, we do."
"Yup yup yup! You're riiiiiiiight THERE!"
Luna's eyes bugged out, and she took a step back. "I... how can this be? You have n-never... how can you..."
Sunny Cup shrugged. "Eh, we dream lucidly all the time, Used-To-Be-Princess Luna!"
"Yeah," Sullen Cup spoke up, "we've known you check in on us for years; we just figured you were either a part of our dream-"
"- or being nosy!" Sunny finished.
They both turned to look at Obsidian.
"Hiya, Siddy!"
"Hi there."
Luna looked back and forth between them, stunned, then looked at Obsidian. "I assure thee... this has NEVER happened with him before."
It was truly terrifying to see - an earth pony, utterly flummoxing an alicorn princess. How could any stallion possibly be so mind-bendingly powerful and aware?
"But it's happening NOW! And hey, would you two like to join us for a bounce in the Ponyville Fountain!?"
"I filled it with gelatin dessert - it's fun."
"Yeah! TONS O' FUN!" Sunny finished his exclamation with a peal of laughter, bringing an eyeroll from Sullen.
Luna seemed to smile a bit, then cleared her throat. "As fun as that truly does sound, we were showing Obsidian how she has become important to her friends, and hoping that she might learn something from the experience."
"Sooooooooo, lemme guess - Clap?" Sunny guessed.
"Yes."
"Gypsy, maybe?" Sullen spoke.
"Also, yes."
"OOH! Didja go see Stalwart?" Sunny seemed to be excited by the prospect.
"We have."
"And I'll bet Mica Chip was in there too." Sullen murmured, seeming... well... sullen.
"In... deed... how dost thou know these things, Cupcake... er, Cupcakes?"
They looked at each other, then turned to Luna and spoke at the same time. "Pinkie Sense."
Luna facehoofed.
She - Obsidian - blushed and stepped a bit to the side, closer to Luna. "Ah. Well. It is... nice to see you, too... er, to see you two, Cupcakes. I, eh, hope I didn't cause you any problems falling asleep," she said shyly, blurting out the first thing her brain could think of to speak.
At that, both Cupcakes smiled, though Sunny FAR more than Sullen. "Not a bitty-bit-bit! Getting all huggy with you was SO nice, and your mane smells wonderful!"
"And it felt good to make contact with you - I still sorta felt bad that you didn't like the reassurance of a pat."
"But it's okie dokie lokie now!"
"Yeah. That. Thanks for letting me in, Obsidian."
"Yeah! THANKIEEEEEEES, 'cuz hugs are wonderfully wonderous and wonderful!"
Luna simply shook her head in wonder. "I am... certain she also appreciated such a gesture as well." Luna turned to her once more. "Did thou not?"
Obsidian blushed even more. "Y... yes, I did. It was a... new and interesting experience... thank you, Cupcake. Cupcakes."
Luna cleared her throat softly. "I believe I have made my point, have I not? Come, Obsidian... allow us to return to thine own dreams, that thou might now have much to consider."
"Awwwwww... no fountain? Well, that's dine and fandy! We can always see you when we wake up! And sure, you can hug us whenever you want to!"
"Yeah, agreed. Just stop being so insistently HARD on yourself, you got me?"
"I believe she does. Thank you, Cupcake Sprinkles."
"Okie dokie lokie! Byeeeeee! Tell awake me that I said HIIIIIIIIII!!!"
"Yeah, no problem. Just take care of yourself, okay? And stop moping."
"YOU'RE one to talk, me!"
"Oh, hush."
They both waved as Luna led her towards a shining swirl that enveloped them both... and just like that, she was back at the Crystal Palace... but this time, it looked neutral and sterile - nothing but background scenery.
"Obsidian, now that thou hast seen thy influence, dost thou still insist that thou art no more than a tool?"
She felt strange, and couldn't put a hoof on it - perhaps it was a passing thing and she'd forget about it, especially after a bit of jogging with Thunderclap. She'd almost agreed to the ridiculous fountain escapade!
"My father always told me that ponies can be tools, but..." she looked to the side, her eyes suspiciously moist, "... at least I realize now that perhaps... well, perhaps a chance stands that I may find another purpose in life."
Luna gave a sage nod. "Perhaps, given time, thou may even accept that. But it must come at the proper moment, not merely because others say it."
She gently placed her endlessly soft wing on Obsidian's cheek, giving it a slight caress. "Thou hast such potential, just as he did... but still, a future lies ahead of thee to live."
Obsidian could feel herself fading from her own dream world, details becoming hazy around her.
"And that future hath promise beyond anything thou might realize."
The last thing that she could make out of her dream was Luna's large, luminous eyes as she stood there smiling at her with warmth, kindness and acceptance. [o] |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Eighteen: Oh, Brother | When she awoke, she could almost still feel that wing on her cheek. Cupcake was asleep next to her, softly breathing in her ear. Adorably, he seemed to have a small smile on his muzzle, as if dreaming something nice.
And she still had her forehooves around him.
Had she hugged him in her sleep, or was it the other way around? She wondered idly if he'd eaten any fruit; his breath was sweet and warm. It was the longest physical contact with anyone that she had ever experienced in her entire life - should she freak out?
But it felt, well... nice. Safe. Soft. Totally unlike any physical contact she had ever known during her lifetime in the Crystal Empire. In fact, she honestly didn't want to leave the bed at the moment. True, she was full of energy, just as Luna said she would be, but this bed was so soft... and Cupcake was so soft too...
What a nice alicorn. Luna had helped her greatly, and she'd been able to figure out a few things, even though she had a feeling that maybe looking too deeply into Mica's dream was a bit... invasive?
Obsidian very, very carefully looked for a clock, to check what time it was. The clock on the wall, a classic cuckoo clock, told her that it was roughly about 6 in the morning. Which would mean that Thunderclap would be along soon to fetch her for their morning jog.
Clap's dream... that had been interesting, and that Sonic Rainboom was incredible... but what would it mean if Clap were to learn that Obsidian had actually been in her dreams? Maybe she would keep that to herself for a bit.
Obsidian really didn't want to get up, but she couldn't risk missing her meeting with Thunderclap... or risk Thunderclap barging in and finding out that she'd been hugging Cupcake the entire night. It would be impossible to explain to her that Obsidian still didn't like being touched without warning after that!
Thus, rather hesistantly, the mare tried to unwrap herself from Cupcake in a way that wouldn't wake him. She had to wash herself properly - especially her mane; Cupcake mentioned something about her mane yesterday, so maybe she should try to take better care of it?
First things first: Bathroom. Washing. Eating, jogging, then Miss Trixie. And avoid any dark magical unicorns trying to turn her into her father. Sounded easy enough.
Cupcake smacked his lips as she moved him over. He spoke, but all he said was: "... zzzzz... bouncin' higher den da skoolhooowwss... zzzzz..." With that, his smile grew, and he redoubled snuggling into the blankets. If she'd still been there, it would have been her he'd have snuggled into.
The bathroom provided was clean and orderly, even if it was heavily scented with apples and cinnamon. There were clean towels with little apples embroidered on them, as well as apple-shaped soaps and even an apple peel shampoo for her poor mane. Such an obsession with apples...
Once done in the bathroom, Obsidian came back out to the sound of a sharp knocking at her door. Cupcake didn't even register it; he kept right on sleeping peacefully.
Perfect timing - perhaps she didn't have enough time to eat something but she was used to worse - a fast from time to time wouldn't kill her, especially as yesterday she'd eaten quite a lot. She happily trotted to the doors to open them - and realized a few seconds too late that maybe she should wake up Cupcake as well. After all, he WAS her liaison.
At the door was... not Thunderclap.
It was a stallion who looked small and unassuming. He had a soft orange coat, and a fluffy red mane and tail. His eyes were a vibrant green, and he smelled of mint and paste.
"Oh! Miss Obsidian, I take it? I was told by Miss Dash to come and see if you were awake, and to bring you to where she begins her run, if you were ready. Are you ready, because I assure you that she is, Miss."
He stood back to give her a look over. "My name's Mirror Shine - nice to meet you, Miss." He gave her a slight bow before standing back up. "If you need a moment more, I'm sure it would be fine. Miss Clap says that 'the whole liaison thing' was taken care of, and that you'll be okay with her. I'm... not sure what it's about, but it's probably not my business anyway, so..."
He began to pace slowly, looking the room over as he did. "Whenever you're ready, Miss Obsidian."
That was... unexpected. "Just, er... give me a moment, please." Didn't she say that her jogging path went next to the castle? Did she change her mind and decide to start a training track first? Maybe this was just one leg of her path, and she was planning to go the full length?
Obsidian backed into the room, got closer to the bed and shook Cupcake slightly. "Pssst... Cupcake... I'm going out to jog with Thunderclap."
"Mmmmmhhh?" Cupcake opened a single eye, looking at her with a bleary gaze. "Hokay... jush be safenmshgh..." The eye closed again, and his breathing returned to the calm, even flow it was when she first awoke. He really did look... interesting... lying there like that. At least, that was the closest word she could come up with.
So he was a heavy sleeper, eh? Well, as long as everything about liaisons was sorted out and nopony would try to arrest her for stepping out of the room, she should be fine.
"So... who are you to Thunderclap, Mirror Shine? She didn't mention anything about sending anypony for me," she asked as she stepped back into the main room. Now, what should she take to school... well, she didn't really have too much, except for her clothes, and she had no idea what she should wear. In fact, she'd hoped to ask Thunderclap about it before heading out with her.
Shine grinned. "Oh, I know her mother - my own brother is a 'Wonderbolt', and Miss Clap and I see each other from time to time. She merely asked me to perform this favor for her, and I did exactly that."
Mirror sounded calm and collected, but his pacing seemed almost impatient. Almost.
"As for sending for you, she felt that perhaps an easier route would be a bit better to get acclimated with. And she mentioned that you had an... incident yesterday?... and she didn't wish to overwhelm you with her regular route, as it's somewhat lengthy."
Well, it did sound logical. She had no idea what a 'wonderbolt' was, but it was starting to make sense. And besides, if something did go wrong, she could always fight back. "Fine - let's be off, then."
"Wonderful. Follow me please, Miss." Mirror began to walk at a lively pace, but not too fast for Obsidian to keep up.
As they made their way out of the palace, he began making small talk. "So, if I may ask, I've heard that you're a relative newcomer here. I feel as though I have to ask: what do you think of Equestria?"
"An interesting place," Obsidian remarked, "very different from my own home, I have to say. There's plenty of opportunities to be had, and I've been looking into what this 'friendship' thing is all about..."
Really, she should've come by herself if she wanted to take a less overwhelming jogging route; at worst, they would end the run early, eat breakfast together and head to Miss Trixie's office afterward.
"Fine, that's fine. Most certainly, there are a number of opportunities here, I agree." Mirror nodded in agreement, smiling at her as they walked along.
The two of them made their way out of the palace grounds and down the path that led to Ponyville. However, when they reached the fork, it seemed as though Mirror was leading her towards the edge of town instead.
"Miss Clap wanted to see what you would make of her... 'practice route', around the edges of Ponyville. Hopefully, you aren't adverse to a little sweat, eh?" Mirror seemed as if he were chipper and ready to go.
As they got further from town, he spoke again. "I hear you're from the Crystal Empire - what exactly in the wide, wide world of Equestria would bring such a fine mare as yourself to this humble little town? Looking for someone, mayhaps?"
Why were they headed towards the outskirts of Ponyville? That would take a lot of time... and didn't he say something about Thunderclap not wanting to overwhelm Obsidian with her regular route? "What is Thunderclap's regular route? I find it difficult to believe that jogging all the way around Ponyville would be shorter."
She didn't bother with responding to his question - incidental mental meltdown or not, she was still somewhat trained to be a princess.
The stallion slowly came to a stop, almost at the edge of the Everfree Forest. "Well... I suppose that would be an important question Miss... if that was actually where we were going..."
The stallion turned to look at her... and his eyes had a slight wisp of what looked to be purple mist rolling from them. "But actually, I figure it's about time to drop the act and simply get on with the show, so to speak. So, hello... sister..."
The pony's coat seemed to char in a wave from his tail to his muzzle; he was now a uniform grey, the same as her illustrious father's coat, and his thick mane had gone a deep, blood red. As he turned, she could make out sharp canines visible in his cruel smile.
"Greetings - my name is Tourmaline; make sure you remember it... for the rest of your short, miserable life, you traitor!" His eyes lit up like small suns, and Obsidian barely had time to move aside before a blast of green energy shot from them, leaving a scorch mark where she'd just been standing!
Truth to be told, she should have expected this; Obsidian knew that there was another warlock, one able to use her father's magic. However, she didn't really expect that they were able to mask their magic so well, or to be able to change their appearance - and most of all, she didn't expect that they could shoot energy from their eyes!
She had no choice except to stand, or fall. Her horn flashed as she had risen a shield - evasion was effective, but she would have had to evade every single attack, while he had to get lucky only once...
"Cease and desist! Stop! You NEED me!" she growled - and to show that she was serious, an unholy aura covered her horn as she prepared to return the favor and send her own blast right into his face.
"HAH! You honestly believe so? Sister Onyx has almost all she needs to replicate the spell that will bring father home to us! And YOU, worthless, have spent your time... fraternizing with the enemy! What would our tremendous father say if he saw how you were actually making friends with these slaves-to-be!?"
He blasted another eye beam at her shield, but when he saw it held fast, he gave a growl and his own aura became apparent; a sickly green color that made Obsidian think of infection and poison.
"You are not even worrrrrthyyyyy of her attentions - so I plan to take you out before she has to! Now, taste THIS!" The blast came not from his eyes, but from a horn that had grown from his forehead during his change; it was bent and ruddy red, looking much like her - their - father's.
The horn blast had more kick than his eye beams, and she felt her shield buckle a bit... but it still held. However, she couldn't take that sort of punishment for too long, else she might burn out her horn simply trying to defend herself!
"Your DEATH will BRING more POWER to HER!"
Slaves to be? Oh yes, that was all too easy to imagine: Cupcake trapped in chains, Thunderclap with scars after a whipping, Gypsy forced to spend days in the mine instead of learning history as he loved...
Obsidian's eyes burst with purple mist as she imagined all these things - and realized that the insane pony in front of her was possibly able to carry out his threats - even if he didn't know how much they meant to her.
"Brazen fool! All that you will find is your PUNISHMENT!" she bellowed.
For a moment, she felt the energy filling her; her raw anger and hate being turned into dark magic of the purest quality. Did her father feel that way too, gathering the shadows to exact pain on his foes? Did he ever lose himself to the sensation?
At the moment, none of that mattered. She poured her energy into a powerful blast, aiming straight at her unfortunate brother - and right now, her greatest enemy.
Tourmaline also projected a shield... but his was far inferior to her own, and it shattered upon impact. The shield had managed to provide enough time for the vile pony to dodge, but she could see he was clearly shaken by the amount of power she'd just harnessed.
"You... you..." he panted as he gathered himself again, his piercing green eyes glowing with barely contained corruption. "YOU do NOT de-SERVE such POWERRRRRRRRR!!!!!"
With that, he fired a number of green beams above his head; all of them curved and bent to focus on her, multiple beams of green death headed directly at her at breakneck speed. "TRUE power IS what WE have ach-IEVED! You will wallow in the... fffffffilllllth... you have surrounded yourself with, traitorous worm! Have you for-GOT-ten your PUR-pose... or are you FLAWED and re-BELL-ing a-GAINST your FATE!?!?"
The beams slid toward her as though they were greased lightning, while Tourmaline smiled manically at her; he was, indeed, crazy - at least, the look in his wild eyes said so. She wasn't that level of crazy, right?
He had as much grace and style as a mudworm; if not for his magic and appearance, she wouldn't ever honor him with a comparision of herself - let alone their illustrious father. Obsidian quickly reinforced her shield with Dark Magic, their heated battle already saturating the air with the brimstone tang of corrupt magic. He wasn't exactly good enough to make her too concerned for her own life - at least as long as she was using Dark Magic as well; without it, she'd probably already be a bloody carcass.
"You seem to have a speech impediment; a friend of mine has issues too - maybe you'd like him? Perhaps if I deem to let you live, I'll introduce you..." she smirked, as her eyes were practically burning with purple mist. That power was... aaaaaah, wonderful!
"Maggot," she added as an afterthought.
Tourmaline actually laughed sharply at her jibe. "YOU think I would RISE to SUCH a JIBE!? FOOL! WORM! IDIOT!"
The lines of green energy struck her shield, but not all at the same time; they slammed against her barrier, one after another, each shot driving harder into her magic and costing her more concentration with each landed blast. When the mass of shots had finally all landed, she felt her shield waver; that attack had been deceptively powerful, and another such as that might shatter it, if she weren't careful.
"Fiiiiiilllllllthhhhhhh... you are FILLLLLLLTHHHHHHH!!!!! Tainted FILTH that KEEPS my SISTER from OWNING these TOYS! You are due for your COMEUPPANCE, TRAITORRRRRR!!!!!" He released another barrage of beams... but these beams split when they reached their apex, then fractured again and again as they flew at her - turning six beams into thirty!
"DIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!" His voice was raw and raspy, eyes intent on seeing her dead.
Maybe she should've paid a bit more attention in her magical offensive studies, or perhaps she was needing only more instruction - though she wasn't sure about how succesful that would be. She couldn't just pour more magic into her shield - so many offensive spells would damage it faster than she could repair it! There was also no real point in evading them - there were far too many of them to dodge them all.
So instead, she panicked and went for the first idea she got - and fired off another attack spell... but this time, she aimed at the green beams instead of her deranged brother, with the hope that it would take out at least a portion of them.
Her shot struck a section of the beams, turning them to so much smoke in midair... yet, it only got some of them. The next few shots struck her shield as they had before, but there were so many of them, that her horn was sparking! When her shield did go down, she was only struck by three beams in total...
... three beams of pure, tendon-twisting agony. The shots struck her left side, and almost instantly, she felt the muscles in her ribs and barrel suddenly wrench up tightly, taking her breath away and making her see spots before her eyes. Tourmaline laughed loud and heartily, seeing Obsidian in pain. "THIS is BUT a TASTE of THINGS to COME, foul WOOOOOORRRRMMMM... now, I shall end this farce... once and for aaaaallllll..."
"HAVE AT YOU, VILE FIEND!" >>WHAM!<<
From seemingly out of nowhere, the minute form of Stalwart Stance slammed headfirst into her brother's mid-section. He gave a WHOOF as the breath was knocked from him... and Obsidian could pick out the sound of a muffled snap, a surefire sign that he'd broken something.
"ROT-ten LIT-tle PO-ny!!!!" He shrieked, grasping at his ribs as Wart took up a place between him and Obsidian.
"Attack Her Majesty again, and I shall end you, filthy cur!" Wart stood fast between Obsidian and Tourmaline, the scowl on her muzzle said she was hoping he dared make another move towards her.
Tourmaline looked back and forth between them both... then grimaced and hissed through his teeth.
"... another time then, sister... but our next encounter shall be our last."
Wart took another step forward. "Get. Lost."
Tourmaline glared daggers at the small mare... then, with a sharp snap of light from his horn, he vanished into thin air. Teleportation; that wasn't a good sign.
The second he was gone, Wart turned to Obsidian. "Your Majesty, are you okay? PLEASE tell me you are okay!"
A rescue at the last moment; somewhat humiliating, but she welcomed it anyway - and would do so in a more verbal, maybe even happy and cheerful way... if it weren't for the fact that she was trying to cough her lungs up.
It hurt - which meant a lot to a pony that had survived King Sombra - most pain shouldn't even budge her, but this was enough to break her focus and leave her at the mercy of one of his shards. Bah, she hoped at least that she'd be able to reason with them - if not, then her only alternative would be to defeat them. With extreme prejudice.
However, apparently she was unable to do either of these things - at least, not yet. Obsidian had to train more... train harder... if this encounter were any indicator of her future.
"I... have survived worse things, Stalwart. I thank you for helping me... with my brother."
She tried to straighten her side out and hissed in pain. The bastard... just what was that spell of his? It couldn't have been just a simple attack spell, or he would have had to train with it extensively. She never should have let him go on offensive - in fact, the best option would've been to kill him right from the start.
"I hope I won't be late... for school," she bemoaned.
"That... w-was your brother!?" Wart looked shocked. "Does... d-does that mean I've actually struck a PRINCE? I..."
She watched Obsidian groaning from pain, and a dark look crossed her features. "... well, that does NOT matter, if he is such a fool as that. Trying to kill his own sister - has he no shame!?" She eagerly and carefully helped Obsidian to her hooves, then scowled at where Tourmaline had been standing.
"Your Majesty, might I offer that we speak directly to someone about this attack? I'm certain the teachers will understand the circumstances, in light of what has happened. My only regret is that I was unable to corral the brute properly. Please forgive my shortcomings, Your Majesty."
She bowed low, then stood up and looked towards town and the school. "You have my word, I shall accompany you today - that lout won't have a second chance at you like that, not while I draw breath!"
"I'm certain you've noticed that my family is rather... unpleasant, at least by modern standards," she tried to chuckle but it hurt too much, so she held back. "... and yes, that's something I need to report as soon as possible. I'm also sure that... Thunderclap has to be worried by now."
From what she recalled, she'd gone out at six, classes began at eight... there was no possibility that they would walk two hours straight, so hopefully she still had some time.
"... thank you, Stalwart. You are a good friend." She gave the small mare a pained grin.
The pride was almost palpable coming off Wart's muzzle, but she simply said, "At your command, Your Majesty," and bowed humbly. But Obsidian could tell her words pleased the little mare overwhelmingly.
She looked off into the distance, toward the castle. "Clap usually has a jogging route that passes the castle - I could take you there to meet with her, should you wish?"
"That might be a wise idea... I believed this tool when he claimed to know Thunderclap, and that she'd... that she'd asked him to bring me to the route directly and fell right into his trap. He was masking his Dark Magic quite well..."
She shook her head, frustrated at her own carelessness. She was either too foolish for walking into such a trap, or too naive for believing she could properly defend herself... or both. Probably both.
"Let's go, then... and, eh, Stalwart?" Obsidian hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was the right call to tell her the truth. Stalwart was quite useful, but she was acting under the false conviction that Obsidian was a bonafide princess... and she most certainly was not. However, lying to her just didn't feel right.
"You don't have to... refer to me as 'your majesty' and so forth; I've recently learned a few things about my origins, and my siblings' as well. Honestly, I'm not sure if we should be considered TRUE royalty, anymore..."
Stalwart stared at her for a long moment, then spoke slowly. "You have all the bearing of royalty. You have all the necessary training for royalty. And you come from a ruler, even if he was not a kind ruler, he was still royalty. In my book, those things make you royalty to me. And besides..." she looked down a bit, not looking Obsidian in her eyes, "... you're... the only royal who will allow me to guard them."
That admission looked as though it hurt, but she shrugged it off admirably. "So, Your Majesty, that is where I stand on it - take it or leave it as you wish, but you shall always be regal to me. Now, shall we go?" With that, Wart - the small knight with the huge heart - turned and began to lead the way towards the path again.
Obsidian tried to smile, even despite pain. Now, she just couldn't turn into Sombra - Stalwart would be terribly dissapointed, wouldn't she? Maybe she could at least convince her to call her something more casual? But she didn't want to debate it right now - not after just being rescued by her.
The two of them made their way back towards the palace. As they passed Ponyville, Obsidian could hear, see and smell the little hamlet waking up and starting their day; pies to bake, laundry to hang, chores to do... it seemed like a bustling little town, though not so busy it was hectic. Each step was like someone grinding a rock into her ribs, but she managed with as much dignity as possible.
When they reached the road outside of the palace, Wart came to a stop. "Here is where she passes each day, Your Highness - and I believe... I see..."
Down the path, Obsidian could make out the bulky, muscular form of Clap, jogging along at an even pace, breathing with rhythm and sweating just a tad. "There she is, Your Majesty. She'll be here shortly." When she saw them, Clap gave a wave and kept coming toward them.
At the sight of Thunderclap, Obsidian wanted to immediately trot over to her... but as soon as she tried to move, the sharp pain in her side reminded her of its' presence; she grudgingly resigned herself and just stood where she was, to let Clap catch up with them on her own.
"Next... we need to meet with Princess Twilight - do you perhaps know where she would be at this time of day?" If Clap was still jogging, then there was still plenty of time until classes - a good sign, no doubt.
As Clap jogged up, she looked at Wart with surprise. "Wart? What are you doing here? Your exercise is more strenuous than mine is!"
"Her Majesty was attacked; ambushed." Wart spoke solemnly.
Clap immediately got a look on her muzzle that said she wanted to beat someone down. "WHAT!? Where are they!?"
"The situation was handled, the coward retreated," Wart said, making sure to allow Obsidian's honor to remain intact, "but we must speak to Princess Sparkle about this."
"YEAH, we do! Siddy, what happened - wait, c'mon, let's head to the palace - what happened!?"
"A family quarrel, shall we say?" she just replied shortly. "You'll hear the rest as soon as we meet with the princess. Have you seen Cupcake today, perchance?" She immediately started to walk towards the castle; considering that her ribs felt pulped, it was easy to assume that her two friends could easily outpace her, so she maybe needed a head start.
"Nah, he's never up before school - yet he always makes it there all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, so to speak. How does he DO that? But," she shook the distraction out of her mind, "you said a 'family thing'? Sweet Twilight's Crown, it's not Sombra, is it?"
Wart scoffed. "No - he was a pushover, honestly. As much as we've heard about Sombra's fighting ability, this was a pathetic attempt, at best. This was more like dealing with an unruly unicorn than anything significant."
"I'd say that Siddy getting attacked is pretty friggin' significant, wouldn't you?" Clap's eyes kept searching Obsidian for wounds... which were all internal, so her search was effectively fruitless.
Wart gave a sigh. "It will be, that much I promise you." They walked into the palace once more, and made their way to the throne room side by side by side.
"Whoever they are, they'd better not try that stuff on MY watch! I'll pound 'em into the ground like tent stakes!"
If it had truly been her father, she wouldn't have even noticed that anything attacked her. It wouldn't be a fight - it would be more like a force of nature, brought down squarely upon her head.
"Both of you need to be careful too - I can only hope that my brothers and sisters won't try to attack my friends... but it's possible that you can become their target."
If her twisted siblings dared ever come after her friends... she'd have to rip them apart to avenge them.
Clap balked. "Whoa whoa whoa... brothers and sisters? What in the wide, wide world of Equestria is going on here!?"
"You will hear about it," Wart said as she stepped to the throne room doors and knocked, staccato and loud. When they opened, it wasn't Twilight there, but a mare with a rainbow-colored mane and a flashy, stylish flight jacket.
Clap looked at her and her eyes flew open. "Mom! What are you doing here!?"
"Whoa, Thunderclap - now isn't a good ti-OH! You're Obsidian, right? Get in here!" The sky blue mare reached out and pulled Obsidian inside, where there were a number of ponies all surrounding Twilight Sparkle, who looked worried.
When she saw Obsidian, she stood up from her throne. "Obsidian - Miss Tome is gone from the vaults! There's no trace of her, not even a sliver of crystal - and my most talented magicians tell me they sense... Dark Magic in the vaults where she was kept."
She began to pace. "This is bad, this is bad..." She then stopped and took a deep breath. "But we can handle this... right, girls?" The others in the throne room were as follows:
A muscular earth pony with a soft orange coat, with three apples on her visible flank for a cutie mark.
Another unicorn, but this one was an alabaster white with a gorgeous purple mane that seemed to follow her own curves, of which she had plenty, even for her age.
The sky blue mare who was apparently Clap's mother... though she didn't look like a mother; she looked like an adventurer.
Then Cup's mother... and Professor Fluttershy was here too? What was going on here?
However, upon seeing the gathered mares, Stalwart's eyes went wide. "By the crown... the Elements of Harmony have reunited for this!?" |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Nineteen: Siddy And The Six | So... Equestria had brought in their heavy artillery - good; it looked as though they might possibly need it.
Obsidian really didn't want them to think she was rude or possibly hostile, so she bowed to them. "I was attacked by one of my brothers, princess - he said his name was Tourmaline. Unfortunately I wasn't able to reason with him, as he was raving like mad about punishing me and allowing our sister, Onyx, to rise into power... and I had to use Dark Magic to defend myself."
She had to admit to it; more than mere honesty, her father taught her well to readily admit to her sins - or else. There was no point in keeping anything from ponies of authority, as they'd always find out the truth.
"They... er, they may actually have found a way to bring my illustrous father back to us..."
Strange - she normally thought those words would accompany much more fear or pride... but instead, Obsidian was beginning to feel a rising anger, as if she'd been cheated somehow, yet wasn't quite able to understand (or accept) the details yet.
"Well, that just ain't good news, n'matter how ya slice it. You okay now, Sugarcube?" The orange mare had an accent which sounded a lot like Butter Churn's... maybe this was her mother?
"Well, she's with Stalwart and Thunderclap, so I'll bet she's okay," Cup's mother said, then leaned in close to her, speaking softly, "you... are okay, right?"
"I am... sore," she winced, "but it's nothing life-threatening - though I thank you kindly for your concern. My brother... could use a few lessons in friendship as well, it seems."
Could she really kill him - even if it wouldn't be so difficult to do? She'd never taken a life before... but in this case stakes were far too high to ignore.
"And worse yet, he masked his Dark Magical aura and was able to use an illusion to change his appearance." To be fair, she should start to suspect everyone and anyone right now. She could probably trust most of her friends, but... who else would have heard that Miss Tome had wanted to speak to her?
Overhearing bits about her jogging with Thunderclap wouldn't have been that hard, as they had been talking publicly, but that thing about the library... "And they were apparently well informed; he used information about my plans for a morning jog with Thunderclap to fool me into trusting him."
"Oh my," Professor Fluttershy said softly, "that just can't be good!"
Clap shook her head. "I shoulda got there earlier, Siddy... I'm so-"
"Thunderclap, you have nothing to apologize for," Wart spoke up, "as none of us could have possibly known what that fool was up to. Don't turn your needless shame into needless blame."
"Twi, you got a plan yet?" The orange pony asked bluntly.
"Not yet," she said, "but I'm working on one. Obsidian, if you're hurt - even a little bit - then I want you seen to medically."
It was probably very reasonable advice - after all, getting medical help was important. She had no idea when they might attack again, which meant that she simply had to deal with her injuries as soon as possible.
But... what if her doctor turned out to be yet another one of her murderous siblings?
"And as for the Dark Magic," she sighed, "I understand that it was your automatic defense, and I accept that. However, I would suggest that you might want to start trying to learn Light Magic, if nothing else than to give yourself more options than you currently have available to you."
"And of course, darling, they won't see that coming," the white pony spoke up, "as they quite possibly wouldn't believe that you might have any access to Light Magic whatsoever. I would say it could be quite satisfying to see the look of surprise on their faces when you show them a little diversity." Her accent sounded familiar too... but she couldn't place it just now.
Wart seemed to be almost frozen, with only her eyes moving from mare to mare, utterly awestruck by the sight of them all in one place. Of course, if they truly were the Elements of Harmony, then this could be a legendary reunion indeed.
"I'd gladly learn Light Magic, of course... but, um, do we truly have that much time? After all, if my brother wasn't lying, they could be days... or even just hours from bringing back my father! We... I... may not have enough time."
There was no denying it. Right now, she was negotiating with her most honourable father's greatest enemies. Not that she really had any other choice, of course - the only contact she'd had with her siblings had ended in a rather painful manner. Those fools... if they were as clever as they thought they were, they could have just reached out to her yesterday; she would have gladly joined... BAH! She would have been honoured!
Twilight looked as though the mere thought of Sombra returning made her feel ill. "We might not, but we can still try. I'll put one of my best magicians on it; you'll get training as more of a crash course-"
"DON'T... say 'crash', okay?" Clap's mother said.
"Anyway," Twilight continued, "at this point, you are now a priority to protect... though I can't spare much in the way of guards. I expect your siblings will raise their heads again, and soon - we'll just have to prepare you as best as we can. Which means..."
She turned to Wart and Clap. "Stalwart Stance, Thunderclap Dash... are you willing to take up the mantle of 'protector', and keep Obsidian safe from harm?"
Clap nodded. "Yeah, we got this - no worries!"
Wart stood there for a moment, tears standing in the corners of her eyes before she stepped valiantly forward and saluted. "It would be an honor, Your Majesty - I shall guard her with my very life!"
Twilight nodded hesitantly, then turned back to the professor. "Fluttershy, can you call for one of your medical students? I'm sure they'd be able to get a better look at Obsidian's injury."
"Oh! Of course!" The fair pegasus nodded, then gave a slight, melodious-sounding whistle. A small robin flew in from an open window, and she let it land on her outstretched hoof.
"Thank you for responding so quickly, Herbie - would you possibly be a dear and get Summer Flare to come to the throne room? I would really appreciate it." The bird chirped a reply, then flew off her hoof and through the doors, headed down the hallway.
"Herbie's fast," she said to Obsidian, "and help should be here fairly soon. I wish I could do more to help, though."
What in Tartarus was that? Did she just... talk... to this bird? And it listened? And it UNDERSTOOD, then FLEW TO GET MEDICAL HELP?! Obsidian had to learn to calm down - it wasn't even the strangest thing that she'd seen since she'd arrived in this crazy world!
"So," the orange mare asked, "what 'zactly are we gonna do about findin' Sombra an' puttin' him back out ta pasture? I mean, it wasn't easy when we did it b'fore, but this ain't really gonna be a fight against a single pony; didja hear Obsidian sayin' there were at least two more of 'em? That's sounds more dangerous than a hydra hidin' in a high haystack!"
Twilight nodded. "We'll have to see what else we can dig up - the book that I used to help me find Sombra's crystal catacombs should be in the vault; maybe it'll have more information about the shards in there."
"Shards?" Thunderclap asked.
"Ask your pal Obsidian over there... once you get a moment to breathe, that is," her mother replied, "but yeah, shards. Twilight explained most of it to us, but I still don't get it."
"My... father put shards of his own soul into his creations - and I'm one of them," she gave Thunderclap the quickest possible explanation. Then she turned back to Princess Twilight, as something Butter's mother had said was really troubling the poor unicorn mare.
"Would it be really... necessary to, as you said, put my father back out to pasture? A-a-and the same question goes for my siblings as well! They... well, I'm certain... maybe they can... be reasoned with?"
She had just discovered that her family was a little bit bigger than she'd initially thought - and no matter how screwed up it was, or even if they wanted to kill her... family is family, right?
"I... I don't know, Obsidian," Twilight said truthfully, "we've reformed some of the wickedest beings in Equestria, but... when we faced Sombra, he was more gone than we could reason with... though I'll give any of them you feel could be capable of reforming a chance, as we gave you. Given the nature of these attacks on yourself and poor Miss Tome, it doesn't exactly speak well for your siblings, but..." she sighed, "I will certainly try, at least for your sake. But please understand, I have to be aware of what is best for my subjects, and if that means banishment to Tartarus for your family... well, I hope you can accept that."
"But..." Clap looked at Twilight, seemingly wondering something, "if... these are, like, Siddy's family... and she just found 'em? And you've gotta send 'em away forever? That's... that's not fair!"
"But it's hardly fair to simply allow them to come and take over Equestria, isn't it? Honestly, darling, I know it's a difficult call to make... but we also have to protect our families and homes, and if they can't be reasoned with, then we will have to do what we must. Even if we don't like the idea." The alabaster mare had a point.
"Of course, princess. I would willingly go as well, if the only alternatives would be to exile us or suffer my friends' slavery," she admitted. What she didn't say, however, was that she got disturbingly close to killing her own brother after his threats against them. She may not have done the actual deed, but it still bothered her how close she'd come...
"I would assume the Friendship Academy should be safe, yes? Because my first classes begin soon, and I'd hate to miss them... or maybe it should be locked up, to keep the students out of danger?" It would be terrible if she would be unable to finish not one, not two, but THREE of her plans!
Twilight looked concerned, but the white mare stepped forward. "Why yes, the school would be quite safe; Twilight, can't we send a few more guards that way, just to make certain the young ones are better protected?"
Twilight nodded. "Of course, that would be a good idea - and I can send one of my elites to coordinate things. In fact, I'll send him with you, if that's okay Obsidian - that way, you'll have a strong stallion to ensure you're all okay, and I'm sure he could teach you a spell or two, since he's one of the best spellcasters I have in my service."
Cupcake's mother looked up. "Ooooooooh, I think I know who that will be!"
Twilight smiled briefly at the pink pony's comment... and that's when it struck Obsidian. They weren't just the Elements of Harmony... they also appeared to be close friends. If Obsidian stuck by her own friends, would she become this powerful?
It was a somewhat worrisome thought; she had only just learned that her friends were able to care about her - for different reasons - and had seen more in her than she could in herself. Obsidian was still learning what it meant to be a good friend and to genuinely appreciate her group as much as they truly deserved. She didn't want to start thinking about them as mere tools, sources of knowledge, money... or power.
In Obsidian's case, the saying 'friendship is magic' seemed to carry plenty of potential danger.
"Yes, that would be quite reassuring. May I inquire whom it's going to be?" Obsidian asked.
"I'll summon him; he'll be here shortly." Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated; her horn put out a soft purple glow, which faded as she opened her eyes again. "There, he's-"
There was a flash of light, and a stallion was standing there. "Your Majesty, I got your message, and I am more than ready to-..."
It was at this point the stallion noticed Obsidian... and she noticed it was Lemon Custard.
Lemon sighed. "You. Of course, it's you. Marvelous."
Of course it was Lemon Custard; every time she kept trying to distance herself from him, the antics of her wonderful siblings kept practically shoving them together.
"Lemon, I expect you to keep Obsidian out of the hooves of her siblings, as they have no good designs for her. Teach her some of your Light Magic spells, and act as coordinator for the guards when you arrive at the school."
"The school?" Lemon balked. "Your Majesty, wouldn't it be more feasible to keep me here, and allow another pony to-"
"No. I trust you, and I now command you to do what needs to be done to keep her out of harm's way; I expect you to do your best, of course."
Lemon's face fell and he sighed... but only for a moment, before he stood up straight, saluting the princess. "By your command, Your Majesty."
He spoke directly and clearly, yet when he turned to Obsidian he sighed, then muttered, "Please don't make this a waste of time..."
"I do not think I have anything else to report on or ask about, princess... w-wait, no. There's one more thing; it's not really important but... can we possibly circumvent the entire 'liaison' requirement? I'll be doing my best to stay with my friends, but attempting to keep Cupcake around at all times can be... challenging, sometimes."
Not that she would have something against keeping Cupcake with her, so much - she just didn't want to inconvenience him again, as was the case yesterday, concerning the birthday party he'd promised his mother to help with - and that he'd had to break that promise, on her behalf.
"Wait... what's wrong with Cupcake!?!?" His mother was suddenly a pink blur that ended up muzzle-to-muzzle with Obsidian.
"Did he do something wrong? OOOH, if he was a meanie again, I'll... I'LL... OH! Wait! NO, he didn't actually embarrass you, did he? I promise, he really doesn't mean to do anything like that, he's just the sweet little treat he is because he- waaaaaaait... did he play a prank on you? Because that might be funny, but if he did it over and over and over and over and over and over again, it may have gotten on your nerves; did he get on your nerves? He's still just a little thing, don't judge him so harshly - unless he was rude to others around you, then OOOOH - you know he has a temper problem, right? That wouldn't be good if he lost it, especially around someone who's trying to stay inconspicuous, which is what you're trying to do, right? Stay inconspicuous? Because Cupcake isn't very good at that, most days, unless he's been practicing - gasp WAIT... did his stealth training creep you out? Did he even try stealth training with you, because he hardly ever does it with anyone else, so maybe he's just anxious and nervousOH OH OH! THAT'S it, isn't it? He's too nervous for you to stand being around him for too long, isn't it? Oh, puh-LEEZE understand that he really doesn't realize what his actions can do sometimes..."
Oh no. "No, no, no - quite the contrary! I just... felt a bit upset that I kept him from helping you with the birthday party your daughters mentioned, Miss Pie."
He really DID take his manner of speech from her!
"And I didn't want to drag him along while jogging with Thunderclap today... I assure you, i-it's really nothing serious. And never mind my request - it's, ah... probably better in the long run, after all."
The pink pony's smile grew wide as she stepped back. "WHEW! Glad to hear that; I thought it was gonna be muuuuuuuch worse! But don't worry about it - the party went off without a hitch, and I actually sent Blue home 'cuz I had it down like a clown... in fact, I was a clown!" Now, the family resemblance came through. "But no, if you're taking my tart lil' Lemonade-"
"MOOooooOOM!" Lemon's voice hit a high whine as he said the one word.
"... then having BOTH of them together would be a LOT better than just one of them. Because they do incredible work together... when they WORK together, that is."
Lemon rolled his eyes. "I'll look for him, mom. Okay? I'll LOOK..." He then leaned in towards Obsidian again.
"Can we go before she says anything else, please?" Muttering through clenched teeth like that couldn't have been good for him.
"I'm waiting for medical help, I'm afraid," Obsidian whispered back to Lemon. In fact, she would gladly leave... except there was medical attention coming, and with how her side felt, she would need it.
"Also," she added louder, "I think Stalwart broke a few of my brother's ribs during the fight. A small detail, especially if he can heal up quickly... maybe even futile, considering his illusion spells... yet it's a sign that could expose him."
Twilight nodded. "It's something, at least, thank you - and Stalwart? Excellent work."
The little mare looked about to burst from pride overload, yet she only bowed - too full of joy to even speak.
"I'll make sure the word gets out to keep eyes peeled for a pony with broken ribs," Clap's mom said, then turned and flew to the window. "DIVER! GUST! FRONT AN' CENTER!" she bellowed.
Two ponies dressed in uniforms similar to Thunderclap's in her dream came zipping into the room, stood at attention in front of Clap's mom, and saluted.
"SIR, YES RAINBOW DASH SIR!" they said in perfect unison, almost sounding like one pony.
"I want you two to start patrolling the area; we've got a creep around, and he's got some busted ribs. He can make illusions, so don't trust your first glances. Keep your eyes w-i-i-i-d-e open, your goggles on tight, and your radar set for 'find that flankface'! He's armed with Dark Magic, so no fighting - just come back and report what he looks like now, you got me?"
"SIR, YES RAINBOW DASH SIR!"
"Alright - then what're you waiting for? Vamoose!" The two tore through the air so quickly, the door shut itself behind them from sheer velocity.
Scouting from the air was a sensible choice. Hopefully they would find him quickly, though Obsidian didn't really believe that; even if he had been rambling and carrying on like a lunatic, he was at least wise enough to isolate her from friends before his attack. He had to be hiding somewhere...
The door opened, and in came... was it a pony? It... kinda looked like one, but more... fluffy... and scaly? And what was with the weird, double-pointed horn?
"Summer Flare!" Fluttershy sounded so glad to see her... whatever she was. "Oh, thank goodness you've come! Our friend Obsidian here has been hurt by some bad magics; could you possibly help her, please?"
The creature looked at Obsidian for a moment, then nodded. "Sure... where's it hurt, hon?"
This world got stranger and stranger, the more she lived in it; there was no reason to be surprised by anything anymore. Yes - she had to remember that. "Left side, m-midsection. I don't know what spell was used, but... it really, really hurt."
The strange pony-like creature looked at Obsidian's side, then her eyes began to glow. "Oh, wow - that's not too bad, but what were you fighting that threw Bonetwister Spells at you? Enough strikes, and your skeleton simply gives up the ghost and shatters; I haven't seen that kind of spell injury in quite a while... but easy enough to fix, at low exposure like this. It shouldn't take long; hold still."
Summer's eyes and weird horn began to glow brighter, then she lifted a cloven hoof and gently touched Obsidian's side; almost immediately, her muscles relaxed and her breathing stopped hurting.
"There ya go... now, I'd definitely suggest NOT getting hit by those spells in the future, mmm-kay? Miss Flutters, is that everything?"
"Oh, thank you so much, Flare; I truly appreciate it!" The professor's smile was payment enough for just about any doctor.
"Anything for sweet lil' you, Miss Flutters!" She looked at Obsidian. "You be careful out there, okay hon?"
"My deepest gratitudes unto you, kind healer..." she bowed a bit, enjoying the fact that she could do it without feeling that sharp pain anymore.
And with a smile and nod, Flare left as well. Obsidian felt soooooooo much better after she'd gotten her ribs mended; breathing without searing pain was most certainly one of the better things in life.
Obsidian didn't even want to mention that she'd received only a minimal amount of damage, managing to avoid the rest. Thirty beams... it wouldn't have broken her ribs, only because they would have been literally vaporized. Too bad that her first family reunion in ages turned out to be so violent and brutal - but at least she knew that she had to catch up with her fighting skills. "... do you need me for anything else, Princess Twilight, or may I continue on to school?"
Twilight looked at her solemnly. "You are welcome to attend school, Obsidian - and believe me, I am very glad that you still have such an interest - but I ask you to keep your friends close to you, and to please listen to Lemon, if an emergency happens. He's got experience, and he should be able to handle whatever comes up."
"But what if he can't, Twi?" The orange pony looked concerned. "No offense there, Lemon."
"Then, as the ruling ailcorn," she sternly imparted, "I hereby grant Obsidian permission to defend herself... however, I'd ask that you try Light Magic first, leaving anything Dark for a last resort."
"Twilight, darling! If she keeps using it-"
"I know, Rarity," (so THAT was Rarity!) "but we don't have much choice - especially if an attack should happen again today. In time, she can learn other ways, but if the situation is this dire? I'd rather have her alive than... well, the subject stands as it does."
"Lemon..." The pink mare (Pinkie, was it?) made her way over to them, and gave them a very serious look. "You be nice to each other, back each other up, and don't let your brother get hurt, okay? I MEAN it - if... i-if something hap-... h-happened to either of y-you.."
Her eyes stared to tear up, but Lemon nodded. "He's in the best hooves, mother, they all are," Lemon said softly.
Pinkie fretted for only a moment more, then gently reached out and embraced him. "I love you - be careful."
... so that was how a family was supposed to behave...
Lemon nodded to his mother, then looked at Clap and Wart and gave them all a once-over as he stepped up beside his charge. "Right - ready when you are, Obsidian."
"Thank you; I'll do my best to learn, princess. If there was anything that was taught to me by my most honourable father that could be applauded in Modern Equestria, it's my ability to focus on my lessons."
Though hopefully, it would be less painful with Lemon than with King Sombra.
"Farewell, princess," Obsidian politely bowed to the Bearers of the Elements and left the room, shutting the large doors behind her.
-=+=-
When the doors closed, Applejack turned to look at her friends. "Did y'all feel somethin' weird, back there?"
"Yeah, kinda like a... tingling-type-feeling?" Rainbow Dash added.
"I thought I felt an ear-wiggle, hip-shiver, tail-twitch, hoof-itch combo!" Pinkie said with a smile... but then, a look of confusion crossed her features. "But... b-but I've never felt THAT one before..."
"Almost as if something unique were on the very brink of dawning," Rarity observed quietly.
"Something wonderful, I think," Fluttershy said warmly, then added, "I hope," with a touch of worry.
Twilight nodded with a slight smile. "I think I did, Applejack... but also feels like it's still too soon to know what it means for certain." She looked over her gathered friends, her concern writ large over her muzzle. "I just hope we can figure this out before something awful happens to poor Obsidian... or to Equestria."
-=+=-
"So... I think we can check my bed to see if Cupcake woke up already, as we are not too far from my room," she proposed, looking around curiously. Where was she headed? She'd have to get a map of this palace... that, or start memorizing hallways.
Lemon, Wart and Clap all stopped dead in their tracks in the hallway - Lemon in mid-stride.
"Obsidian." He spoke slowly, as if trying to comprehend her words. "Did you. Just say. My brother. Is in... your... BED?"
Clap smirked boldly. "Whoa... Siddy, you work fast! Plus, I'da never thought..."
Wart just blushed.
Sighing and facehoofing, Lemon turned and headed down the hall towards the Applejack Suite. As he did, Clap came over and said, softly, "Did... d-did you two get, like... cozy?... or-"
Wart's eyes bugged out, and she crossly interrupted her. "Thunderclap Dash! How dare you insinuate that Princess Obsidian would ever be anything less than a lady!"
"Whoa, hey!" She held up her hooves in defense. "I wasn't-"
"I would suggest you shut your mouth about it, and just assume they were both proper and decent."
Clap rolled her eyes. "Yeeesh, fine, okay!"
What did she mean about 'working fast'? Obsidian didn't quite get that, though it seemed that Clap was asking about things that weren't acceptable - at least according to Stalwart. To be fair, she gathered that Stalwart's standards were a bit different from average. Obsidian's were a bit different too, of course - probably part of why the two of them were getting along so well.
"Well, Thunderclap... I think that I may have gotten used to being touched enough to visit this Spa you've mentioned before," which was a rather subtle way to say 'I spent an entire night touching Cupcake'.
Thunderclap threw BOTH hooves over her mouth and made a sound like she was trying to hold back an outburst, while Wart turned and stared at Obsidian.
Then, after glaring daggers at Clap, the little unicorn looked at Obsidian and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me... but I think you should simply stop now. Let's just gather Cupcake, and we shall not speak of this until later."
Clap brought her hooves down, but gave Wart a salacious smile, to which the little mare replied, "Oh, go soak your head, Clap!"
Had she said something wrong? Maybe she should explain to Stalwart that everything was fine, because Cupcake was so soft and his breath smelled of sweets? But no - apparently her friend had some kind of problem with this and didn't want to discuss it further right now.
Maybe she had her own crush on Cupcake, and was jealous?
Meanwhile, Lemon reached the doors to the AJ Suite and calmly, politely knocked on the door. After a moment, he simply opened it and crept inside.
There was a second of silence. Two. Three...
"CUPCAKE ALBERT SPRINKLES!!!!!" There was the sound of a squeak, a flailing, and a >THUMP< from inside the room.
"WhaaaaAAAAAaaaAAAAAT!?" came Cup's haggard and wailing voice.
The speaking in the room became murmuring, then suddenly Cup came zooming out of the room, stopping at Obsidian and looking worried as could be.
"YouwereattackedohmygoshwhathappenedareyouokaydidtheygetawaydidyoubeatthemohmygoshObsidianareyouokaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!?!?"
Bah, he was talking even faster than usual - which made him utterly incomprehensible. Obsidian managed to pick out the words 'attacked' and 'okay', so she could guess what he was going on about.
"I'm fine, Cupcake... my brother just isn't as charming as any of yours. Stalwart delivered a final blow, forcing him to escape. Er... did you sleep well?" She tried smiling at him, to calm him down a bit.
Cupcake's expression s-l-o-w-l-y softened when she said she was fine, but then he began to pace as he spoke. "I'm so sorry, I should've been with you, but I just was so sleepy, and with the night we had-"
"Sweet Twilight's Crown, SHUT UP, CUPCAKE!" Wart cried out.
The stallion stopped and stared at her for a moment, then looked at Clap. Thunderclap's smile was so big, if it got much larger, the corners of her mouth would meet in the back and her head would fall off!
"WhaaaAAAaat?" Cupcake asked, looking confused.
Thunderclap Dash burst out laughing, in great rolling peals, until Lemon made his way back from her room, then covered Clap in a field of his magic and carried her unceremoniously along as he began to head for the doors. "Come on - this is already becoming a chore."
Thunderclap seemed to really appreciate that Cupcake had a nice, proper sleep and that Obsidian would be able to visit the Spa with her. What a great friend! The dark unicorn was truly happy to hear her generous laughter... even though she didn't quite understand why she was that cheerful about it... nor why it was making Stalwart so irritated.
"No... it's my fault, Cupcake. I fell for a trap because I didn't want to interrupt your sleep. Hopefully, that will be the last time that ever happens - because next time, I won't fall for such a cheap tactic."
Of course, she still had to find a way to detect illusions made by Dark Magic... or become far, far less gullible. After all, her brother sounded both logical and believable, otherwise she wouldn't have followed him.
"Now, off to see Miss Trixie, then to attend my new classes." She trotted after Lemon. Her little circle of friends was almost complete again - maybe they'd run into Mica on their way to class? She had a few things to say to him - including a real and honest apology.
Once Clap finally stopped laughing, Lemon dropped her on her flank and they all began to make their way to the school.
Once arriving on campus, Lemon turned to them all. "Okay - plain and simple, my job is to protect Obsidian; the rest of you, I'll do my best... BUT. I expect ALL of you to pull your weight in a fight; don't expect me to be able save your lives, simply because you're with her," he pointed a hoof at Obsidian, "because I have my orders directly from Her Majesty Twilight Sparkle."
Cup gave his brother a look. "And you're gonna tell me that Mom said nothing about-"
"Can it, Cup!" Lemon growled; Cupcake pantomimed the motion of locking his mouth, turning a key, then tossing said key over his shoulder.
"Anyway," Lemon continued, "if there are any other members of your, er... club... then I would suggest you find out what classes they're in, and round them up as the day goes. When we leave this school," he looked at Obsidian, "I expect we'll have the entire gang, crew, whatever... and I won't be very keen on adding anyone else."
He then turned and looked at Wart. "You, at least, have some knowledge and training; I expect you to assist, should an attack occur."
"Yes sir!" Stalwart saluted proudly.
"Good... good." He faced the group. "Now, where are we headed first?"
Why it was so important to get them all, she didn't quite understand - perhaps to defend them as well? Yes, that would be the most obvious answer, as her family could use them against her; now it made more sense.
"To Councilor Trixie, methinks. Cupcake, do you know where and when we might find Gypsy and Mica, perchance?"
Cup pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Mmmph mmmphhh murph mmmmmphh mmph mmmmph."
Lemon rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "Cup. Really?"
Cupcake looked at his brother with wide, innocent eyes.
Lemon gave another exaggerated sigh, then reached down onto the floor, acted like he picked up something, then held his hoof to Cup's mouth and turned it.
"AAAAaaaahhh... thanks, broski! Much better!" he smiled broadly.
Wha... w-what did Lemon do to Cupcake? Was this some kind of Pie Magic? But Obsidian couldn't feel any magical auras... was that thing he did with his hoof some kind of a ritual? Maybe a curse? By Darkness, was Lemon able to curse ponies?! Considering that he was apparently some sort of expert about magic and a valuable intelligence officer (even though his mother seemed to be the only pony who truly liked him), it could be possible.
On the other hoof... the ability to silence Cupcake at a whim could be useful; she was getting used to him, at least she thought so. But Cupcake was Cupcake, and she was an ancient crystal creature that was still learning how the Modern World worked - and sometimes, it could still be frustrating to figure that strange stallion out.
Lemon closed his eyes and began to count quietly to himself as Cupcake spoke up, clearly now.
"Well, Gypsy usually starts his day in Art classes, but I don't know wher-"
"Mica's in the gym," Clap spoke up. When Cup looked at her questioningly, she said, "Hey, as much as we hang out with each other, knowing his class schedule's a piece of cake."
Cup nodded. "Okay, so that's that. Miss Trixie's, then the gym, then we swing by to gather up Gypsy, too."
Lemon led the way as they ventured towards the Guidance Councilor's office. Cup and Clap flanked Obsidian, with Wart bringing up the rear. When they reached her office, the door was open and she was lounging in her seat.
"Well, here you are! It took for-EV-er, but I managed to put together a schedule that would probably work out for you, Obsidian. Take a look and tell me how wonderful a job I did!"
[Schedule: Obsidian something]
1ST: Teamwork - Rainbow Dash
2ND: Mathmatics - Abacus Bead
3RD: Creative Skills - Rarity
-Lunch-
4TH: Equestrian History - Dusty Shelf
5TH: Science - Doctor Whooves
-Study Hall-
6TH: Empathy - Fluttershy
"See? All set for this semester! So c'mon, who's the best guidance councilor ever?" The blue mare smiled proudly.
Aaaaah, her class schedule! Just the fact that ONE of Obsidian's goals had been achieved today made her feel better - and that it was her schedule for learning meant so much more; she did like order, after all.
"You did a fantastic job, madam councilor - and you are the best guidance councilor I have ever known." Granted, she was the only one - which technically also made her the worst one, but Obsidian wasn't about to say that out loud. "Is this my schedule for each day, or shall I visit you tomorrow for a different one?"
Trixie clapped her hooves together in glee. "Glad to see you recognize that I'm that good! But no, this is your schedule for the semester - that's a quarter of the school year - and you'll have the option to pick your classes for the next semester... in abouuuuuut... ten weeks from now?"
She looked quite pleased with herself... then cocked an eyebrow as she saw the others with her. "Well, I know for a fact that the rest of you usually don't gather until lunch, so... what gives?"
Lemon stepped forward. "Miss Lulamoon, Obsidian has been found to be a special case, and permission has been given by Twilight Sparkle herself for them to accompany her today."
"Oh," Trixie said in a flat voice, "she said it, did she?" Was there something sore between the princess and the guidance councilor? Perhaps a lesson gone wrong? Either way, the ire on Miss Trixie's muzzle didn't last for very long, so it must not have been that serious.
Trixie pondered for a moment. "Well, okay - but each of you need to make sure to ask about today's assignments & do catch-up work. Starlight'll be all fussy and stuff about it, but I say just get to it when you can." She waved at them with a dismissive hoof. "If that's all, then hurry and get to class; I've got some things to do, and it's hard enough to get to it with all of you just standing there."
Hm, ten weeks... hopefully she would survive that long. Choosing her own classes would be a grand liberty, but she should get used to simply making her own decisions until then.
"Thank you, guidance councilor - I shall head to class now, and I truly appeciate your work on my behalf." Obsidian bowed slightly and turned to leave, her entourage in tow.
Hm, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy... three Bearers of the famed Elements of Harmony; hopefully, they could come up with a good plan to deal with her errant family members.
Mathematics shouldn't be too much of a problem, though she had no idea what was currently being taught in school - she could only hope that her archaic, antiquated knowledge wouldn't embarrass her. After that, Equestrian History and Science... those should be quite interesting.
"Teamwork is first. Do you think we would be able to meet Mica before the start of class, Clap?"
Clap looked to Lemon. "Well, he's gotta be in the gym right now, so if Yellow-&-Grumpy over there says it's okay-"
Lemon's muzzle soured. "Fine. We can stop there first, Big-&-Foolish."
Clap gave him an irritated glare as the lot of them made their way toward the gymnasium.
As they left the office, Obsidian's group almost collided with another pony coming in. "OOP! Careful!" It was Looking Glass, the mare she'd (literally) ran into the other day - in fact, the same mare looked up and saw Obsidian and gave a little gasp.
"Oh, hey there! Seems like we keep running into each other... but not literally this time, thank goodness!" Her smile seemed to dip a little as she saw the entourage. "Well, you seem to be fairly popular today! But... why all here, especially with classes starting so soon?"
Could that be that Looking Glass was yet another spy in disguise? Obsidian quite literally saw dreams of her friends, so she knew she could trust them - Cupcake was in a perfect position to assassinate her if he'd like, Thunderclap was alone with her yesterday, Stalwart literally saved her life... but Looking Glass?
Who knew this pony? And even if they would know her, could it be possible that she would be in disguise long enough to fool everypony? Obsidian looked slightly to the side, attempting to catch the look on Cupcake's muzzle. If he didn't know that mare, then it surely would be QUITE suspicious...
"I have a quick thing to do before classes, but I'm sure I'll manage to finish it before start of the first lesson." At least she hoped so - she had asked if they would be able to do it in time, but nopony told her otherwise.
Cupcake was eyeballing Looking Glass closely. "Hey, Glass," he said, "you okay?"
She blinked at him. "Why wouldn't I be? Is... something wrong? OH! Is it my mane?" She darted back into a small saddlebag and brought out a fancy-looking hoof mirror, quickly looking herself over in it. "My mane doesn't look out of place... does it?"
Cup shrugged. "It looks fine to me."
Glass gave him a slightly suspicious look, then put the mirror away and glanced over at Obsidian again. "Well, if that's the plan, then I guess you'll be okay - you've got a good fifteen minutes. Okay then," she brightly spoke, "I have to get to the councilor's office; you have a grand day, okay?" She stepped into the office, closing the door behind her.
"I swear," Cupcake said, "it's like that mirror is a part of her!" |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty: A Touch Of Class | Reaching the gymnasium, Obsidian was treated to the sight of a large sports-type building; within were rows of bleachers on either side, with a smooth and shiny wooden floor where were a number of ponies who were in some sort of gym uniforms were milling about.
At each end was a water fountain, and it was at one of these that Obsidian spotted Mica, sipping at the stream of water arcing from the spigot; he hadn't seen them yet.
Cupcake had seemed to recognize Looking Glass... or maybe the real Looking Glass had been knocked out, and this had been yet another one of her siblings in disguise...
By Darkness, she was getting downright paranoid!
Cupcake knew Looking Glass, so she was probably fine... after all, her brothers and sisters couldn't have known that she would enroll into Friendship School, especially that quickly.
"Do you know of her, Cup? Could you tell me a bit about Miss Glass? We ran into each other yesterday," her forehead momentarily throbbed at the memory, "yet I feel I should be more cautious after this morning's trap."
Cupcake thought for a bit. "Looking Glass? Well... she's a transfer from the Crystal Empire; got here about, what, two... no! Three years back! She's sweet, but is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay obsessed with making sure she looks good. Not snobby, though - just really self-conscious! Has a fairly decent school average, had a few passing friends, likes to listen to music and style her mane. If she's a spy, she's a LOOOOOOONG term one."
Well, she could safely assume that Looking Glass really wasn't a spy, then. However, she had to be careful with the rest of her group, obviously - ponies from Crystal Empire sticking together, eh? Well, she knew at least some who might not want much to do with a certain somepony - but hopefully she didn't belong to that category.
But first things first.
Obsidian took a breath, preparing herself for her talk with Mica Chip. "A moment, if you please; I should handle this myself, as would only be properly respectful of him." She carefully trotted over to Mica, moving along the walls to stay clear from the path of any other sports participation. With Lemon, the rest of them stayed at the doors while they allowed her to handle the situation.
As she approached, he finished his drink and lifted his head... catching direct eye contact with her.
"... you."
However, even though the greeting was the same as the other day, there was something in his tone and his eyes that said he had, indeed, been thinking things over a lot. He didn't seem completely open just yet... but he wasn't as cold as he'd been yesterday.
Fifteen minutes... a pretty short amount of time to deal with all the stuff that was between her and Mica, but she had to try. After all, he had been nothing but friendly, while she had been the one to offend - she understood that now.
"Hello, Mica. I've been looking for you, because I have to tell you something. I'm..."
Even now, after two CRAZY days and quite a few life-changing revelations, she still wasn't quite comfortable apologizing. But this one was important to her. "... I'm..."
She sighed, just say it!
"... I'm really, truly sorry, Mica. I wasn't in the right, and I most certainly don't think that anything you believe is worthless. I... had to learn a lot yesterday," she turned her head a bit to the side, embarrassed but bearing her shame to reach this stallion.
"There are probably plenty of reasons to not want to be my friend, but... but I'm really trying to fix it." Well, taking into account that her crazed siblings wanted to raise a slave lord from the dead and conquer Equestria? It was probably the main reason not to befriend Obsidian to begin with.
Mica was quiet for a bit, just looking at her. Then he gave a tiny sigh, and regarded her earnestly.
"Opinions matter to those who have them, Obsidian. It's not as though you were actually trying to be a brat, I... suppose I get that. But if you want friends, you have got to learn that their feelings matter, too. Maybe not to you, and maybe not as much as other factors, but... you cannot just tell people their beliefs and opinions are worthless - no matter the comparison."
He regarded her for a moment more... and his eyes did slide over to look at the group in the back - specifically Clap, who waved timidly - then returned his gaze to Obsidian.
"I... I get it, I do." He closed his eyes. "I should have realized you simply didn't understand, and that you were just frustrated and... I actually shouldn't have acted the way I did. It certainly wasn't very Equestrian of me, and I apologize as well."
He opened his eyes again, and they looked as warm and kind as they had when she'd first met him. "Apology accepted... as long as you also accept mine."
He added, "Please."
"But of course, Mica! But of course!" Obsidian said cheerfully, satisfied both with the outcome and with herself - she didn't need to beg Thunderclap for help or even ask Cupcake how she should deal with it; she did it herself! On her own! Well thought, well planned, well executed!
And... honestly? Something inside her felt better... whole... complete.
... and now she had to hurry to class! "We'll meet later, ok? I have teamwork class now, and I need to hurry."
Mica's usual neutral muzzle actually put on a grin. "You enrolled? Excellent! I'll see you later, then." Though his even and neutral face returned, he did seem to be a bit more eager about his class now.
Reaching the group, Clap looked at her and asked, "Soooooo... I take it that went well?"
"Very well; Mica is with us again. Give me a few more days and I'll become an expert in apologizing and meaningful self-criticism," Obsidian smirked a bit as she trotted to the doors leading out of the gym... then stopped.
"Umm... please, lead the way - I have no idea where to go."
Lemon actually gave a short chuckle. "Follow me, then."
The group was led down two halls and to a door with a number of merit awards tacked to it, displaying the names of teams that had apparently excelled at the class. Inside, there were several students, and the sky blue mare from earlier.
As soon as she saw Obsidian, she flapped over and landed next to her and Clap. "Ya made it - great. I hope you're ready, 'cause I plan to really get the teams goin' today!" She looked at her daughter, her pride thinly veiled. "You coming in too? If so, I'll partner you with Obsi-... wait, wait, there's gotta be an easier name than that!"
"I call her Siddy, mom!" Clap looked pleased, and Rainbow gave a smirk.
"Siddy? Eh, that works." She winked at Obsidian, then turned and motioned to the desks before she began class. "... just sit where there's an empty desk - OKAY, EVERYONE! Flanks in seats!" Her other students made their way to their seats, and class began.
Being partnered with Thunderclap would probably do wonders for Obsidian - they had to get along as well as possible, considering that she had honestly started to truly like her... and obviously, she didn't know anypony else.
The fact that the teacher knew them both, and Obsidian knew the teacher, did little to relax her - after all, most of the studies she had experienced until today were hardly pleasant. Luckily Equestrians weren't as, ahem, strict as her father, but he practically burned this anxious and serious approach to lessons into her psyche.
So she very, very quickly took a seat, along with the rest of the class.
Teamwork class was interesting. They were all paired up, and each was presented with a different problem to solve as a team. It hadn't been too difficult to solve, but it was certainly a clever way to get students to work together, and it was even somewhat entertaining, like solving a logic puzzle. Clap hadn't cared much for the class, but she was more than happy to pair up with Siddy and assist her.
It was during this time that Obsidian got proof of what Starlight had told her earlier - though she'd been listless at the start of class, her mind was a steel trap when it came to puzzles like these; between the two of them, they managed to solve eight problems, which was three more than second place.
When Rainbow Dash gave them accolades, Clap smiled proudly... come to think of it, so did the teacher. Just as she was getting the hang of the class, though, it was time to head to the next one. Lemon met her in the hallway, and began to lead her to the next class on her schedule.
Very, very interesting - Obsidian for some reason thought it would be more physical in nature, but instead she had to deal with logic problems that were able to force her to think them over, craft a good and proper solution...
And rely on Thunderclap. That was a novelty - her life and her lessons, up until now, had been pretty lonely. No help from the outside, not a single other pony that she could rely on. Her father was very demanding - a strict teacher - and she wouldn't even dream of begging him for any form of support, as it would mean she'd dissapointed him and had shown her own incompetence.
Here, however? The entire lesson was built around the idea that ponies should work together. It may have been strange to her... but Obsidian was beginning to - dare she think it - like what these classes might be like for her now.
So next was... mathematics? It would be interesting to see what Equestrians were learning about, and whether or not one plus one still equated to two - though she was fairly certain math hadn't changed THAT much.
As they walked, Clap nudged Obsidian chummily. "Hey, you were pretty good back there - I think you might just ace that class, especially with me as your partner! You've got a better head for teamwork than I thought you would."
Obsidian winced slightly at the nudge, but said nothing. She really had to get used to that...
"Good at teamwork?" Cup asked. "I was good at teamwork too! OH, the stories I could tell you about it! I guess it's something we can both talk about together!"
She turned her head to peek at Cup and smiled at him slightly. "Well, I'd gladly hear them all, when you have the time," she practically... chirped? Now that was something new.
"But to learn proper teamwork, I think that sooner or later I'd have to be partnered up with other ponies as well... so, you know, it would be a lesson at teamwork, not at Thunderclapping. Not that I would complain, of course. It was... fun."
Mathematics was nothing new... but the way class was done was certainly a change to her. Lessons alone weren't nearly as... social... as these classes were, and the way the entire class participated made learning seem like much less of a chore, and more enjoyable.
If all her classes were like this, she might actually truly like school in Equestria!
Creative Skills class, led by the alabaster mare from earlier, was something different; the class had been assigned an art project, but could only use three colors - no more than that. Mixing and blending were allowed, but nothing other than the three chosen colors were to be used... and the picks were at random, from a fishbowl filled with slips of paper. The colors Obsidian had received were Red, Orange and Purple.
By Darkness, just what was the lesson here? What was the point of it? Teamwork - she got it... mathematics - but of course; she understood the advantages of learning the most pure and noble theoretical knowledge in Equestria.
Creativity skills...? She didn't even know if she had any.
So at the end of the class, a somewhat worried Obsidian had created an orange blob surrounded with a red blur, with spots of purple. Obviously, it was a dying pony, lying in a pool of his own blood, surrounded by Dark Magic; she would call it 'Failure' - just as her creative skills were a failure.
Rarity, however, looked at her work and gushed. She talked to the class about flow and structure, and went on about how Obsidian had made a piece that wasn't just a pattern or a realistic view - she seemed to genuinely like the artwork, though Siddy got the feeling that she probably shouldn't tell the teacher what she saw it as.
That was the first time that Obsidian had ever been praised for a complete failure - which only disoriented her more. With her lack of creativity skills, or even any comprehension about art, she didn't even know why professor Rarity was complimenting her at all. Did she, completely by accident, make something good?
Even if it was true, it was merely a fluke of luck that she wouldn't be able to repeat - which, to her, meant that she hadn't learned a thing. She didn't just leave the class - it was more like a tactical retreat.
At least it was lunch time - wonderful, as she had left the castle this morning without breakfast. Normally she wouldn't be too hungry, but it seemed that living in Equestria was GREAT for her appetite.
She was eagerly led to the cafeteria where there were three cooks, all working to put food on the trays of the students. Today was what they called 'vegetable medley', which tasted rather good, as well as kerneled corn, two slices of wheat toast, and a small cup filled with a cinnamon-apple mixture that was sweet and tasty.
Plus, another treat - Gypsy eagerly came over to them, waving happily to Obsidian as he sat down, tail wagging like mad. "P-princess, this one i-i-is so very hap-p-p-p-py t-t-to see you here in c-cl-c-cl-classes! How has your f-f-first day gone?"
"Good morning, my friend! Everything seems to be in perfect order, at the moment - it's quite different from the lessons I had with my father, but I suppose I can't complain about that."
Gypsy simply seemed happy to hang out with them. All of them (possibly even Lemon, as he simply hadn't said much) were there, and it made her feel... strange... when she saw her friends all having fun, cutting up with each other and her, and generally just being friends.
Perhaps she couldn't quite understand it, and maybe couldn't quite describe it... but it certainly seemed as though she... belonged here - with them. How could her father's plans be so important, yet this way of life seemed just as fulfilling?
Maybe there was something to what Luna had said to her about choosing her destiny. Though she most certainly didn't want to throw away her illustrious father's plans... something inside her was definitely considering things.
History was next... but lo and behold! She was apparently sharing the class with Gypsy!
The diamond dog's tail never stopped wagging as he sat right next to her, grinning from ear to ear. "I am s-s-so glad we ha-ha-have my f-f-favorite class tog-g-gether!" His puppy-dog eyes were adorable, and he looked fit to split, he was so happy.
"I can hardly wait for it as well, Gypsy... though for me, it's more like learning about the future," she admitted quietly, waiting patiently for the lesson to begin.
It should be interesting on its own, and having a history maniac next to her surely wouldn't hurt - especially now that she had seen Gypsy's greatest dream. She had read a bit about things that changed since her birth, but there were still so many things that she could learn... that she WANTED to learn... and history was on the top of the heap.
The class was, in a word, wonderful. The section they were covering currently was the Attack on Canterlot by Queen Chrysalis, and the teacher was rather animated and truly interested in the subject as well. The same teacher also apparently treasured Gypsy in his class, and when the diamond dog leaned over to her to fill her in on events, individuals or just plain trivial knowledge, the teacher just grinned, knowing his star pupil was helping out a fellow student.
Obsidian wasn't used to so much talking during a lesson - even though most of it was done by Gypsy. Even more surprising, it seemed as if the teacher approved of this behaviour. And Gypsy apparently was able to talk more clearly - he just had to... well, forget about his stress? About Jinx? About everything around him? Obsidian promised to herself that she would try to help him with his issues.
When class was over, Gypsy tagged along with the group and chatted excitedly about history to Obsidian and the rest; as usual, when he spoke about actual subject matter, his stutter all but vanished.
Study Hall.
For this period, she was taken back to the cafeteria, but there was only the residual smell of food - nothing to eat this time. Seated at the tables, students all around her were busily doing work or chatting softly with each other. A single teacher was at a table towards the front, but she seemed to doze off after a few minutes.
So, there she was. In Study Hall. With Lemon seated across from her, looking as though he were caught up in distant thoughts.
Hmm, free time to learn - what a strange idea. Ponies these days seemed to enjoy wasting too much time - and with her siblings running around, she herself had far too little.
She looked immediately to her escort. "Mister Lemon? Might we possibly train in Light Magic now, perchance?" she asked him without any meaningless small-talk. She had to learn more, and the sooner the better.
"Mmmm?" Distracted, Lemon looked at her, taking a moment to realize she was speaking to him. "Eh... that... wouldn't be a bad idea. Alright, fine," he said, "but you're to do as I say, and not stray from the lesson - I've no time for foolishness like my charming brother's when it comes to spells."
He closed his eyes and his horn began glowing a sharp, vibrant pink - almost the same color as his mother's coat. When he did, Obsidian saw the same glow wrap around several stacks of chairs by the wall. Slowly, each one drifted into the air and began to stack themselves on the other side of the room, smoothly moving and quietly stacking, showing great control and ability from the dour stallion.
"Telekinesis was the first spell I mastered, and you can see how well I did so. I have no doubt you have some grip on it already, but I have honed my skills to the point where I can use it to strike my enemies. Hard."
Once finished with moving a total of six stacks chairs in this manner, he opened his eyes and focused on Obsidian. "We will start with that; once you've mastered teke at least well enough to strike effectively with, we shall move on. But not before. You must respect the process if you're going to be a student of mine, is that clear?"
Obsidian nodded. "Yes, my most honourable teach... umm... I mean, yes. Yes."
Now that was something at least a little bit familiar to the good old (well, partially good) days - countless hours filled with the constant struggle of controlling magic, subjugating its mysterious powers to serve her needs. The fact that Lemon obviously was not her father didn't change much - in fact, the less stress she felt, the easier it should be. Hopefully, she would live up to his apparently stringent expectations.
Lemon regarded her for a moment, then he levitated a pencil from her saddlebag, placing it on the table between them. It became covered in his magical aura, and as soon as it was obvious he had it in his thorough grasp, he looked at her.
"Here's where we start; lift the pencil." His aura stayed around it, apparently holding it in place. Was she supposed to take it from him?
She lifted her eyebrows, then her horn flashed as her dark magical aura surrounded the pencil. Then, keeping to the exact letter of the command, she tried to lift it a bit - enough to fullfil his requirements.
It didn't budge; he held it fast with his own magic. "Good. Keep trying. And, while you're at it..." Her saddlebag opened again, and out came an eraser this time. But when he reached the table with it, the glow around the eraser vanished and it dropped to the table. "... lift that, as well."
This should be interesting - lifting a few things at the same time wasn't much of an issue, as her father had somewhat similar exercises for her, from time to time - so she lifted eraser as well, while still trying to force her will on the pencil.
When she did this without question or complaint, she was given an unexpected reward... Lemon smiled.
"Good, good. Most ponies your age don't bother with learning to levitate multiple objects under pressure; it's good to see you already have some training in that area."
He nodded in her direction, "Now, while continuing both, lift your saddlebags."
Her saddlebags... ah, the ones given to her by Thunderclap - her friend! A small smile appeared on Obsidian's muzzle as she followed that command as well. Now, how should she lift the pencil... just overwhelm Lemon's magic? He was most certainly skilled, of course... but she had a part of the soul of King Sombra, and was probably quite powerful herself - she should be able to break his hold, sooner or later.
Lemon Custard was looking at her quite differently now; though he'd been, frankly, a jerk since day one, he now saw potential in her that he'd outright ignored before. He could now see that she wasn't just some ditzy court fop, parading around like she was entitled while not doing anything... no, she was proving that she had real training, and that seemed to please him quite nicely.
"Alright, good... now, maintain those... and lift..." he looked around a bit, seeking a new target. Then, a smirk crossed his features.
"The teacher's glasses. Without waking her."
She looked at him, looked at the teacher, then looked back at him again... now this was something new. Perhaps not completely new, as lifting something specific in a group without disturbing the rest was a part of her exercises... but she never had to do with an actual living pony - obviously, as no pony would DARE sleep in presence of her father.
But it didn't mean she was just going to dissapoint her teacher or give up without a fight! Very, very carefully, after making certain she was maintaining the lifted objects AND still pulling on the pencil, her magic surrounded the sleeping teacher's glasses...
Hopefully, Lemon wouldn't ask her to pickpocket things next.
Slowly, the glasses lifted from the mare's muzzle, and began to float quietly and smoothly above her sleeping form. Lemon, meanwhile, was grinning eagerly - strangely enough, with an actual smile on his face, he resembled Cupcake - a LOT. His whole sour look had made it hard to tell they were related; with a smile, they were almost twins.
"Yes... yes... good... very good..." he whispered excitedly. Then, once the glasses were airborne, along with the other objects and the stubborn pencil, Lemon looked at her and said, "Now... maintain that for five straight minutes. I'll time you."
Only five minutes? It shouldn't be too hard... in fact, this magical load was nothing compared to what she was forced to use that morning, when her brother was doing his best to beat through her shield. She maintained her full focus; there was no way he could surprise her and break her concentration.
He sat back, watching as she continuously kept the objects in the air. After a moment, he simply said, "So... what in the wide, wide world of Equestria were you and my brother doing last night? Because if it was sex," he smirked, "then you and I are going to have a very long talk."
"If it was what?" Obsidian asked, completely unfazed, "No, I... I had a little, er... breakdown, let's say. He comforted me, then we fell alseep together in the same bed."
"Slept together, eh? JUST sleep? Or, in your early teachings, did nopony tell you about how foals are made? Either way, I have to admit, he's never done that before; sleeping next to a mare that wasn't mother. And it's... interesting... to note that you seem fine with it." He smiled as if he were considerably amused.
"Heirs are made after marriage, of course," Obsidian shrugged slightly. No marriage, no foals - it was plainly obvious. The details hadn't really ever been important to her, anyway. And apparently, Cupcake trusted her like his own mother? That was... a bit strange, yet somehow it was also kind of flattering.
"Know this, however," he leaned forward, but his expression didn't change, "that my brother hasn't really ever paid much attention to other mares - he's just this carefree, happy-go-lucky spirit that always seems to be ready with a smile or a hug or a goofy song."
Now, his smile folded to become a look of concern. "If there IS anything romantic going on between the two of you, then just know that my brother will have no idea if you're manipulating or using him toward... less than pristine goals. If you try to introduce him to Dark Magic, or break his heart, then you and I will have to have a much different, much more serious conversation - one that might hurt, if you understand me clearly... because, as annoying as he can be, I love my brother dearly."
"Oh please - as if I would risk bringing him into the world of Dark Magic; could you imagine him as a warlock? Maybe with cursed puns and corrupted jokes, prepared to torment his enemies with? Putting the 'laughter' into 'slaughter', and so forth..." She waved her hoof dismissively. "No, just... no."
His stern look disappated into a grin as he gave a light chuckle. "Point taken. Well then, if your intentions are indeed pure, then I suppose he could do worse. Besides, it'll make sure that someone who can handle themselves will be with him most of the time."
He glanced back at the floating objects. "Now, that's enough time - place the glasses in her front blouse pocket... again, without waking her. Then, you may cease floating the other objects in the reverse order you stared with... but you'll maintain that pencil's pressure, even after you're done."
She carefully lowered the glasses, slipping them deftly into the teacher's pocket. "Now wait a moment; are you talking about this 'crush' thing?" It had taken her a moment to realize what he had said earlier.
Lemon had actually given a chuckle as she spoke of Cupcake the Warlock, but when she mentioned the 'crush thing', he outright gave a short yet rich laugh.
"Why yes... didn't you realize it when I spoke about the two of you together? I would figure that, perhaps, the two of you were possibly trying on a bit of romantic affection... so, it would only make sense that it might indeed be a crush you two have on each other."
His smile then grew wider, "Or is it just you?"
A laughing Lemon - the world must have been ending. It didn't help that he seemed to find amusement with her lack of understanding of this world, but it was still quite an accomplishment to see the stallion being pleasant for a change.
"I have only learned of this phenomenon recently... in fact, just yesterday. In my life before, I never knew of such a concept - perhaps I should speak further with him about it?" She began to drop the rest of things, starting with her saddlebags.
Lemon pondered her a moment, a small smirk still settled on his features. "Maybe you should, at that. Of course, you're always able to look up books on the subject, if you like - there are quite a few, though I would stick to the school library, as anyplace else might have... less than savoury novels about such."
But with mention of the library, his brow furrowed yet again. "I do hope Miss Tome is alright; she has been a fine librarian and a patient mare, and I would sincerely dislike if she were hurt... or worse."
Now, only the grip on the pencil remained. Obsidian started to struggle against Lemon's magic once again, now with her full focus.
"Rest assured that I will seek out more information, as I detest ignorance and it sounds as if education is an important part of life in Modern Equestria. And Miss Tome will be alright as soon as we capture the sibling responsible for her current state. After all, I directly asked for a job in library; I'm still looking forward to it."
"Well, here's to hoping you're correct." He looked at the pencil, and it suddenly flew straight up and began erratically moving about in the air. "Now, again... but this time, you'll attempt to stop me from moving the pencil about while you pick up the other things again, in the proper order - glasses included."
Sleeping on the job or not, Obsidian thought this poor teacher didn't deserve being used as a training tool.
She gritted her teeth, fully focused on stopping that pencil. Exactly how much strength he was putting into this test? She absolutely had to stop him... while lifting everything once again, in order. Simple lifting was easy, even in groups; lifting and stopping the erratic movements felt much, much more difficult.
Impossible, in fact - as no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even slow him down, much less stop the swooshing, flipping motions of the writing instrument. The other objects were more difficult to maintain a grip on with his erratic, rapid patterns, and it took a fair amount of concentration to achieve all the tasks at once - and even then, as she removed the glasses from the blouse pocket, the targeted mare roused a bit in her sleep.
Lemon's voice was low and tense, as if he was watching a wild tiger in the jungle. "Yes... yes yes, that's right... continue..."
She lowered the pair of glasses, holding them right above the desk - to avoid any unwanted problems from a loss of control. There had to be a way - maybe not just trying to stop it in place, but make an opposite vector of movement? Forces working on the pencil might be nullified that way.
She began to sweat, concentration written across her muzzle as she tried to create a counter-force to bring the pencil to a halt.
Lemon seemed to grin a bit wider as she made the attempt. "Ah, there's the pressure... but you're pressing against something that can change angles quickly." He seemed to get a bit more animated as he leaned forward and spoke softly.
"An opposing factor can work, but only when the item in question is on a set path; don't think from a single direction, but imagine a circle around the object, or more like a ball, perhaps. Don't resist against a single direction - resist against them all at once."
Wouldn't that apply to her own pressure too? But she wasn't asked to think about that, but to do it - so that's what she did.
After all, if she were as well-trained as Lemon apparently was, he wouldn't need to teach her.
Well, here goes nothing!
His eyebrows lifted in surprise, and the pencil's erratic movements slowed... not stopped, but still visibly and obviously slowed. However, there was almost a sparkle in Lemon's eye as he continued to float the pencil in different patterns, though he did seem to be concentrating a fair bit more.
"Excellent! It normally takes beginners some time to put so much resistance against such a task, but you already have surpassed second-year students - bra-VO, Obsidian!"
It was strange... but positive encouragement during her lessons was utterly alien to her, yet it almost seemed to be bolstering her abilities just a touch. Her father either usually scolded and punished her for failure... or said nothing at all when she succeeded.
Lemon, however, seemed as though he were trying to be Obsidian's cheerleader, encouraging her to not only continue, but to excel and praise when she accomplished such. It felt... quite different...
She bowed respectfully, though with a small smile on her face. Being praised at all (contrary to her father's actions) was nice - though with Miss Rarity and the obvious waste of paint Obsidian had made, it felt strange to receive praise for such a dismal failure.
However, Lemon's genuine approval was truly a nice change, filling her with a feeling of accomplishment. "I thank you for these kind words, Mister Lemon. Now, may I ask what the next step is... and may I stop stealing the teacher's glasses?"
Lemon gave the teacher a look, then glanced back at the rest of the students... then back to her, with a grin on his muzzle that eerily matched his brother's mischievous one. "By all means. Because I want you to now levitate her chair without waking her."
His smile said she couldn't possibly do it... but his eyes held hope that she could.
Obsidian gave him a rather frightened look, followed by a loud gulp. Levitate her chair... without waking her? Taking off her glasses was one thing; moving the chair someone was currently sitting in was something quite different. Maybe she wasn't teaching Obsidian herself right now, but she was a teacher, and thus worthy of some praise and respect.
And yet Lemon wanted the dark princess to move her. "O-okay... by your command, then," she muttered nervously as her aura slowly surrounded both the teacher and her chair, to keep her immobile during this dastardly deed.
As she did, Lemon smiled... and redoubled his efforts to sling the pencil around. It was frightening as she realized he was only using a fraction of his power earlier; this was like trying to wrestle food from an Ursa Major!
Slowly, s-l-o-w-l-y... the chair and mare combo began to lift up from the floor... but the effort was bringing beads of sweat out on her forehead, and Lemon's increased vigor with the pencil-waving was throwing her off, making this much more difficult than she'd surmised.
Suddenly... Lemon let go of the pencil!
>CRASH!<
The teacher and chair both dropped, but at the angle she'd been leaned back in, the chair had unceremoniously dumped her onto the floor. She came fully awake, sputtering and looking about wildly. Obsidian, dumbfounded and terrified out of her mind, was shivering with fear. She could have injured the poor teacher, or worse... made her furious! She didn't even know who this teacher was!
When she spotted the two of them staring in her direction, she lifted a hoof and - with fire in her eyes - she took in a breath to speak... until Lemon spoke up first.
"One word, and I'll ensure the camera footage of you sleeping is made a priority watch for Miss Glimmer."
The teacher stared for a moment... then, with a huff, she sat back down, crossed her forelegs, and pouted as she looked over the rest of the cafeteria, purposely avoiding eye contact with either of them.
Lemon gave a chuckle. "No worries; if she hadn't been sleeping on the job, I wouldn't have chosen her for a target. You're completely in the clear, and if she does try to punish you later... tell me, and I'll handle it."
"But, eh... er... i-if you say so," she muttered nervously. At least it seemed that Lemon's blackmailing skills were on point; they would be getting away with this, though she still felt bad for dumping her in the floor like that.
He looked back at her. "I must say, I am quite impressed at your ability level - much more than I'd anticipated from a royal such as yourself. I..."
He suddenly stopped and seemed to have an epiphany which made his look grow, not hard, but serious.
"... I... may have underestimated you, Obsidian. And, believe it or not... I think I owe you an apology for such." He gave a small chuckle. "Imagine that - I was wrong..."
He then leaned in close, his former dour look crossing his features for only a moment. "Do not make me regret saying that."
It seemed that everypony's assumptions about royals were quite different from the ones she had - first, they were surprised that she never had any decent food... next, that her upbringing was a little bit harsh... and now Lemon hadn't expected her to have proper magical abilities... had they really thought her to be so pampered and helpless?
With that, he seemed to visibly relax and sit back in his seat. "Now... we start again with the pencil."
The rest of Study Hall was taken up with more examples and exercises... though no more live subjects were targeted by Lemon, who actually turned out to be more than just a sour curmudgeon after all. At least the rest of the lesson was more peaceful... and at the end, still a bit shaken, Obsidian very profoundly apologized to the teacher before practically fleeing into the hallway.
Now it was time for her Empathy class with Professor Fluttershy; what would she be in for? Her entourage was in full attendance as she and Lemon joined them and made their way down the hall. Her friends all seemed to be interested in what she thought of her classes.
"You like your other stuff?" Clap asked.
"Yeah, how's it been for you?" Cup added.
"Th-this one wants t-t-to know as w-well, please?" Gypsy smiled, wagging.
"Stop crowding her!... but yes, Your Majesty, how are you liking it?" Wart leaned in closer.
"Everything is... actually rather good. In Creative class, I wasted a lot of paint and still somehow got praised by Professor Rarity... but except for that one mishap, I'd say it has been a grand experience," she admitted to her friends.
Strange; she hadn't seen Mica yet... and she had been sure that they would have met him during lunch... or maybe even during Study Hall?
Reaching the classroom with the vines around the doorway, the group started to separate off... but Clap stayed behind. "Hey Siddy," she asked, "you seen Mica? I'da figured he would've joined us by now, but... no show. You did make up with him, right?"
"I did; I was just thinking about that as well," Obsidian admitted. Hopefully, her crazy brothers and sisters hadn't gotten to him... oh dear, that would be bad - very bad! "Do you know where he should be, normally?"
"He should be... well, here; Empathy is his last class for the day too, but..."
She poked her head into the classroom, looked about, then came back with a worried look in her eyes. "Nope, he's not here. You don't think..."
Lemon scowled. "That is NOT good; Obsidian, attend your class - I'll search around, as well as inform the Headmare that a student seems to be missing; I'll be here when your class is over, but with all that's happening, he needs to be located."
Clap looked serious. "I'm helping."
"No, you go to class," Lemon started, "I can handle thi-"
"You don't GET it, Lemon... I'm helping. You don't send me to class when my best friend is missing. Period."
Lemon sighed, but nodded. "Fine, but partner up with me; neither one of us needs to be alone right now." He turned back to Obsidian. "We'll find him, don't worry. Until then, DO NOT LEAVE CLASS... for ANY reason. Do you understand?"
Oh, darkness and damnation... he WAS targeted! And it was HER fault, because she didn't think that anypony would be attacked within the school, especially considering she was with Lemon and the additional guards Princess Twilight had sent here! She was stupid, dumb, a failure, a waste of oxygen...
If he was hurt, or worse... then his blood would be on her hooves.
Everypony would have a right to blame her, and only her - her mere presence in this school was a constant danger to everypony around her. She nodded, her muzzle somewhat pale.
"Good luck... and please, stay safe." She faced the doorway before adding softly, "... I'm sorry."
She walked into the classroom; at this rate, she would become the Princess of Apologies... and would still have a lot to apologize for, as she seemed to be utterly unable to learn from her past mistakes.
Even though Fluttershy was preparing for her class, she took one look at Obsidian and was almost instantly right next to her. "Oh! Obsidian, what's wrong? You look so upset! What's happened, and do you need any help? Please tell me..." Wow, she really had a knack for this stuff, didn't she?
Was this some kind of magic? She wasn't reading her mind, right? Poor Obsidian didn't have much knowledge about things such as body language and so on. "I'm worried about this situation with my family; Mica Chip didn't meet up with us, and I'm afraid that they might have... done something to him," she explained quietly. "Mister Lemon will deal with it, though, and I'm sure there's no need for further help."
With a soft sigh, she added quietly, "At least as far as I'm to be involved..."
Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh my goodness! Poor Mica! But... but I didn't know he was family to you! Does that mean you're related to the Pie family? Oh goodness, this is bad! Headmare Starlight should be told about this, and Twilight too!"
"Er, no... Miss Fluttershy, I'm afraid that my brothers and sisters did something to Mica." Pies related to Dark King Sombra... that would be pretty ironic, all things considered. And more than a bit scary.
Fluttershy gave Obsidian a soft, reassuring hug. "Don't worry, I'll call in some friends." Again, she whistle/twittered, and this time, and entire flock of birds, of many different kinds, all flew down from the rafters and landed around them both - a sparrow even alighting on Obsidian's back!
"My friends, Mica Chip is missing! Oh please, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could I ask you to fly over the school and see if you can find him?"
The birds all seemed to nod some sort of compliant agreement, then they all headed out through a venthole near the top of the walls, apparently made for birds to go in and out through. She then turned back to Obsidian.
"Under these circumstances, I'll understand if you don't think you can concentrate on today's lesson... oh dear, I hope Mica's alright!"
However, Obsidian felt far better when Professor Fluttershy sent all these creatures to help in searching for him. And though it was still a strange sensation, being hugged by the professor didn't make her flinch. Perhaps it was because of the fact that she seemed so much an antithesis of violence? She was the Bearer of the Element of Kindness, after all.
"Please... I would rather focus on my lessons; I promise you, even though I worry, I will still do my very best," Obsidian assured her.
Fluttershy looked at her. "Oh, you're being so brave... a-are you sure you want me to simply teach today's lesson? I really wouldn't mind at all if you didn't feel up to it, or if you'd rather we all go look for him?"
She sighed. "But... I also understand if you just want to occupy your mind while everyone else searches for him; this must be so hard on you!" She looked at her directly. "How would you want me to handle this situation? I'll understand, either way."
"I was ordered to remain in class, under Mister Lemon's direct orders, Miss Fluttershy." She didn't want to occupy her mind, to be fair, and she didn't want to endanger anypony else; class was probably best for everyone involved, right now.
"I... I really think that your animals should be enough help for Lemon - especially those with a good sense of smell." Hmmmm... what if Gypsy could be able to find her brothers and sisters? Was his nose that level of talented? And did her siblings account for scent when they were making their illusions to hide with?
Fluttershy looked at her with sadness and sympathy in her eyes... but she nodded sagely. "Okay, then... I'll teach the class, if that's what you want. Just know that, if you need anything, just ask - I promise you, you're much, much more important than my lesson plan."
Fluttershy stepped up to her podium and began to teach the class. The other students, having been somewhat privy to their conversation, kept glancing over at Obsidian and making faces similar to Professor Fluttershy's.
The lesson today was, ironically, trying to explain what others might feel if you felt bad, and how sympathy could be kind - but too much could become a problem, such as developing an annoyance or even a reliance on that sympathy.
As the class went on, there was no word back yet... until a cardinal, bright red and quite pretty, flew down and lit on Fluttershy's mane, twittering at her for a moment before she said, "Oh, Carey, thank you!"
She turned to Obsidian. "Carey says he saw him close to the running track on the athletics field, and also said he showed Mr. Custard the way; he says not to worry, Mica didn't look hurt. But he was..."
She looked up at the bird, who twittered again at her. "He says he was wearing a... helmet?"
A helmet... A HELMET? Like the ones worn by the slave-soldiers of her most honourable father? The ones made to force ponies to serve his will, and fight without even the slightest signs of hesitation or mercy?
Oh dear, oh dear...
"My father was known to use magical helmets to force slaves to fight for him," she whispered, utterly terrified at the prospect. Luckily, Lemon was skilled when it came to light magic, and should be able to restrain him without too many problems.
"Could this bird... er, Carey... send Mister Lemon a note about this?" she asked timidly.
"Wait..." Fluttershy suddenly gasped. "You mean... THOSE helmets!? Oh my oh my oh my..." She jumped up and looked back at the rest of her class. "All of you, please, stay here with Obsidian to keep her company while I go tell Headmare Starlight about this horrible situation!"
Without waiting for a reply, she darted out of the classroom, leaving her students all looking towards Obsidian. There was an awkward silence for a moment, then...
"Uh... don't worry," a pegasus stallion from the back row spoke up.
"Yeah - don't worry, you'll be okay," came from a griffon, seated next to her.
"Yes, and Mica will as well, I'm sure," said an earth pony mare behind her.
"Yeah, so don't worry - it'll be okay, you'll see," reassured a young dragon with orange scales.
Her classmates, not even a full day with her in their class, were trying to comfort and encourage her; apparently, Fluttershy truly was a good teacher.
But it was all her fault, and she had plenty of reasons to worry; what if these mad ponies attacked the school - whether out of spite or design - and brought her father back while the defenders were busy?
She had to remember to talk to Gypsy and check if he could smell the Dark Magic in front of her room. Her brother was surely quite reeking of brimstone, and if Gypsy could track that, then every diamond dog in the school could just look for ponies that smelled of Dark Magic... except herself, of course.
It was betrayal of her family - yes, true - but she had to do it, to ensure her own survival... right? Besides, there was a history to Equestria about these kinds of things; one of numerous attacks against Harmony, all won by its current rulers. No invader ever won - not even her father, on his own home turf. Twice.
Obsiiiiiidiiiiiiaaaaannnnnnn...
What was that?
Obsiiiiiiiidiiiiiiiaaaaaaaannnnnnnn... come to usssssssssss...
It was so soft, she almost didn't hear it at all... but in the back of her mind, she swore she heard a mare's voice, with a thick Crystalian accent, whispering softly, almost seductively.
Come to ussssssssss... join ussssssssss...
There was a flicker of a vision; she saw a slight overlapping of reality and what seemed to be... was it... yes, it was a set of bleachers... and a shiny wooden floor...
Coooooooome...
Obsidian stood up, looking around her carefully. It was not real, it couldn't be... how could her sister call out to her?
Was it some kind of communication between shards, perhaps? If so, then why she didn't call her earlier, when she was far less invested into fighting them?
Or perhaps she was close...
"Onyx...?" Obsidian whispered, so focused on the vision that she forgot she was in a classroom.
Coooooooome... heeeeeerrrrrreeee...
Again, a slight overlay of... the gymnasium! That was where she was being shown!
Speeeeeeeaaaaaaaak wiiiiiiiith meeeeeeee... Obsiiiiiiidiiiiiiaaaaaaaannnnnnn...
Wait, was she... suggesting a parley, perhaps?
Coooooooome...
Obsidian smirked - luckily, Mister Lemon specifically told her that she wasn't allowed to leave on her own, and she had been taught well that disobeying her teachers was a bad idea.
Even when your siblings want to play and dance.
After a moment, her head began to swim just slightly, and the vision of the gym became more clear... and standing there, in the center court of the wooden floor, was someone else in a helmet, standing there with her grinning brother Tourmaline standing beside them, a look of vicious spite on his muzzle.
Gypsy Rover.
Cooooooooommmmmeeeee... NOOOOOOOWWWWWWW...
Tourmaline's eyes glowed, and a cruel-looking dagger levitated up from behind him, and came to rest against the diamond dog's neck, right before the vision faded completely away, the barest whisper floating through her mind beofre it went silent once more.
Cooooooooommmme...
Of course, merely a spooky whisper or two wouldn't have brought her - so they naturally had upped the ante.
She was told to stay in class; don't leave under any circumstances. However, nopony told her what to do when one of her friends literally had a dagger pressed to his throat.
"There is a pack of warlocks in the gymnasium - please tell the professor or Mister Lemon when they return," she said out loud, not exactly caring if her classmates understood her or complied with her wishes, before she darted into the hall, headed for the gymnasium as quickly as possible.
She wanted to finish this... and the ponies responsible. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty One: Twisted Sister | Her classmates may have tried to say something to stop her, yet she heard not a word of it; her goal was the gym.
Arriving there, Obsidian could very much feel the foul presence of Dark Magic in the air... though it was thicker than Tourmaline's aura had been; perhaps it was due to more than one of her siblings being present?
It didn't matter - if anything had happened to poor Gypsy...
Without even noticing the slight purple mist that began to issue from her eyes, she opened the doors. As in her vision, there was Gypsy - with a helmet-clad Mica standing nearby. And there was a third stallion standing with them - Lemon Custard in a helmet!
This was BAD... but Tourmaline was nowhere to be seen, curiously.
In a way, she had satisfied Lemon's command - she was in a presence of an adult pony sent to guard her... too bad that he was currently brainwashed into helping the OTHER SIDE.
"There you are. Good. Now that I have your attention..."
There was a roll of purple smoke from the corner, and a form shimmered into sight as an invisibility spell dropped around a mare about the same age as herself, with a braided mane and tail - both jet black - while her off-white coat seemed to fade to a dull grey at her hooves. She looked angry, and purple mist rolled from the corners of her mouth as she spoke, revealing wickedly sharp canine teeth.
"Obsidian... it's about time I met you - glad to see the little illusion I whipped up brought you here. I was beginning to wonder if you were somewhat retarded, not taking the hints I was sending you!"
She looked a bit... manic... yet she also seemed to be taking her time and gauging Obsidian carefully. This mare might not possibly be as foolish as Tourmaline had been, but there was a 'harried' look to her, even though she strode confidently forward.
"This doglike one, by the way, is very interesting." She slid a hoof across Gypsy's shoulders, without a single flinch from him as she did. "Able bodied, uniquely clawed, strong armed... I think he'd make quite a good strip miner, once father's kingdom is back on track." She smiled, and it was like seeing a shark's cold grin.
Obsidian narrowed her eyes, not daring to leave this sister out of her line of sight even for a moment. Invisibility... that was bad, very bad. Her mad brother could be anywhere, planning darkness-only-knew what.
"Onyx, I presume? I wondered when we would eventually meet..." Life would be far too kind for them to meet in any peaceful way, of course. "Yes, diamond dogs seem to be very able miners, with at least a few other interesting abilities. Using them only for industrial work would be a waste, honestly."
There was somepony else coming, right? After all, Professor Fluttershy went to raise an alarm, Lemon had also supposedly gone to meet with Headmare Starlight... for Darkness' sake, animals were running and flying everywhere! This whole mess had to attract somepony's attention! She just had to stall for time. "The messages, in my head... can you speak this way to all shards?"
"Onyx!?" She growled low and guttural. "Don't you DARE confuse me with her! I'm nowhere near the level of power she's got amped up inside her... and neither... are... YOUUUUU!"
The crazed mare suddenly whipped out a dagger very much like the one she'd seen Tourmaline holding earlier, and it floated in front of her, wavering as if it were a pendulum in her magic's grasp.
"No, you have it wrong... I am Amethyst, a creation of our incredible father's magic, and superior to anypony created after me!"
She began to pace, her eyes glued to Obsidian as he let her blade follow her pacing, while occasionally making false passes at the helpless diamond dog, coming within inches of cutting him. "And you... we've been watching you, and I find you lacking... BUT..."
She paused, and the blade seemed to come to a stop. "... she does not, for some reason that's beyond me. She... is so very close to our goal, to bringing our most honourable father back from the grave, but she says she... requires... our power, which was a gift from father... a gift we must now re-gift unto him, so he may return..."
She grinned again. "Still, I'm sure you're FAR more interested in your own slaves here, yes? Have I made you mad by threatening to break your little toys?"
Oh, so she had not one, but TWO sisters! Obsidian would have been quite happy to hear that... if they weren't so crazy. And murderous. And evil. Obsidian was beginning to understand more and more about what Princess Twilight had said about the rest of the shards - that perhaps she was the only one among them able to actually have friends.
"Maybe a little - frankly, I'm a bit surprised that you got Lemon too. Do you want to keep him - I'm certain he has some redeeming values... though I'm not completely sure what they may be..." Obsidian said carefully, eyeing the dagger. In a way, though she was being somewhat flippant, Lemon's presence reminded her that she knew of a few things herself - and she may have had experience with some things that her erstwhile sister wouldn't expect...
Like a pencil.
"So, Sister Onyx seems to have a higher opinion of me than you and our brother - good. You've effectively admitted you're lacking in comparision to her... so why not just agree with her, would you kindly?"
Obsidian stepped closer. Was she really that keen to die to bring back their father? "Your loyalty to our father is admirable... even I had second thoughts about dying for his return."
"Of course you did, you damnable traitor!" Spittle flew from her lips as she shrieked at Obsidian, murder in her eyes. "You are a coward and a waste of father's glorious power! How could YOU have gotten so much of his magic!?"
So, if she heard correctly, they all had aspects of their father, and Obsidian's trait was his magic?
"No matter!" She suddenly shifted her attitude from crazed to calm and collected, smoothing her rumpled fur with a hoof. "The issue here is your cooperation, so I come to you with an offer, you traitor. If you come with me NOW, then we can have you available for the spell, once Onyx finishes her research... and she will finish soon, thanks to the tome we 'acquired' from the Royal Vaults!"
She laughed madly; it had all the quality and charm of a cat's claws snagging nylon.
"Our lives matter not one bit, compared to father's! And should Onyx have her way, she will have the distinct honor of freeing his essence, giving him life once again! And in the heart of Equestria, no less, with more power than he has ever held before!" The dagger was spinning in place, wavering slightly as light reflected off its' blade with each turn.
How wonderful - Obsidian had often wondered who her mother was... and now, it seemed that her father was her mother! Just as she'd always wanted!
... gross.
And Obsidian couldn't help but wonder which aspects were given to Tourmaline and Amethyst - his sublime sense of humour? Perhaps some unknown of tendency to stare? Maybe he had a habit of screaming? It couldn't be anything important; those two weren't exactly regal or dignified - a bit crazy, at best.
Magic, on the other hoof - did it mean that her siblings were potentially more skilled than her, but their powers were weaker?
"In the HEART of Equestria... you do know what that means, right?" Obsidian focused her mind and her magic. It was just a pencil - a very sharp one. Slowly, she began to imagine a ball of resistance around the dagger, hoping that Lemon's advice would save Gypsy's life.
"It means that he would be defeated even more quickly than before; look at the history of this land! All that you could possibly give to our glorious father in such a place would be a humiliating defeat. Now, I have asked the princess to spare him... and the lot of you... but I'm not certain if she means to honor my request."
Obsidian taunted her crazy sister further. "Assuming you'd be able to pull it off in the first place, as incompetence seems to be rampant among you! Were you simply too foolish to even attempt to reach out to me before that pathetic attempt to kill me?"
There had to be someone on the way...
"That impostor princess is just a glob of muck under our father's hooves! She will be his concubine! AND YOU WILL LEARN YOUR PLACE!"
She strode forward, and Obsidian felt her jerk HARD on her dagger... yet, to Amethyst's great surprise, it didn't budge. "Wha... what is this!? LET GO!!!"
She began pulling magically on the dagger, so intent on gaining it back from Obsidian that she was paying absolutely NO attention to her sister at all - her eyes and focus were all on that blade!
"MINE MINE MINE MINE MIIIIIIIINE!!!!!"
At this point, she began trying to struggle it out of Obsidian's grasp... but the dark princess was managing to hold it in place, if just barely. She wouldn't be able to continue this for long though, as her sister's magic was frantic and agitated - and she'd wiggle out of it before too long.
The doors on the other side of the gym suddenly slammed open, and somepony stepped forward.
"... OH, TARTARUS NO!"
With a roar of frustrated anger, Amethyst completely lost her grip on her dagger as she turned, surprised, and saw another mare storming over towards them both. "What-"
"NOBODY PLAYS ROTTEN WITH MY FRIENDS, SCUMBAG!" bellowed Thunderclap Dash, looking mad enough to spit fire.
The massive mare lunged at Amethyst and grabbed her midsection, then did what looked almost like a dance move, and smoothly (and POWERFULLY) twisted her around and >WHAM!< slammed the errant shard-pony into the floor with such force, the high windows rattled in their frames!
"Obsidian!" Also charging through the doors came Cupcake, with a potion in one of his hooves. He ran towards his brother and, uncorking the bottle as he made his way over, he poured a splash of what looked like green water over his head... and the helmet merely sizzled away.
"... uuuugh, wha... what? H-happened..?" the unicorn looked a bit dazed, but Cupcake spoke up.
"Lemon! Danger!"
The word was like a lightning bolt as Lemon snapped out of his daze and spotted Amethyst, who was screaming on the floor while Clap began to twist all her hooves behind her and sit on them. "Obsidian! The dagger! Get it to me!"
Whatever aspect Amethyst had gotten from their illustrious father, it surely wasn't his wits; her crazed ranting, her failure to approach Obsidian in a parley fashion... and now she seemed to be more focused on her weapon than her enemy!
Truth to be told, Amethyst was very lucky that Obsidian didn't continue her assault - with her apparently potent Dark Magic, she would be in a world of pain; at the moment, the dark princess was simply doing her best to stall her... then Thunderclap rushed in, personally redefining the term 'world of pain' for Obsidian's unlucky sibling.
Obsidian immediately levitated the rather sharp dagger to Lemon - for the first time in her life, so glad to hear his voice. She'd been lucky that Amethyst hadn't thought about using her puppets against her; Gypsy should be probably easy to restrain, using Dark Magic, but Lemon would have been a far more formidable opponent.
And so; first things first.
Obsidian's horn flashed, creating magical binds that kept Amethyst in place as Thunderclap restrained her, then she rushed forward, with the very clear intent of putting her sister into a more manageable mood... by knocking her unconscious with a kick to the horn.
It was at that point that three things happened:
First, Gypsy suddenly moved like greased lightning, moving between Obsidian and Lemon, and yanked the dagger from the air so fast that Obsidian didn't even have time to pull it back from his grasp. He then turned and, with a quick swipe, drew a slash across Lemon's barrel.
Second, Mica leapt forward and slammed his hooves into Thunderclap's back, making her yelp. She turned with anger in her eyes - and stopped cold when she saw who it was. "M-Mica!?" And then he struck her again, this time in the head, drawing blood from a gash on her temple as she cried out in pain.
Third, Amethyst growled... and a helmet appeared out of thin air, right over Thunderclap!
The crazed pony began to laugh maniacally. "You lose! You lose! You-"
Obsidian's kick landed, and the scream of pain that erupted from her erstwhile sister was loud enough to hurt her ears! Yet the very moment the kick connected, all of the helmets vanished in puffs of smoke, as if they were unstable to begin with. Gypsy and Mica fell to the floor, while Lemon merely let out a hiss of pain as he brought a hoof to his chest, which was beginning to bleed.
"I'll live," Lemon rasped through gritted teeth, "just restrain that psycho!"
Frankly, if you have to scream about your victory for your enemies to know that they'd lost... then it wasn't exactly a victory yet. Obsidian made sure that Amethyst would remember this lesson... though it wasn't like Obsidian had to let off some steam and was enjoying it, right?
"AND STAY DOWN!" Obsidian shouted with a righteous fury, as she delivered a second kick to Amethyst's head. It wasn't civilized or pretty - but she had to be sure her crazed sister was thoroughly pacified, or at least too dazed to cast any spells. Again, a bloodcurdling scream issued from the shard-pony as she squirmed underneath Thunderclap's weight and Obsidian's restraining magics.
She was just making sure.
"LEMON!" Cupcake called out to his own sibling.
"NO, Cup, I'm fine - check on the other two!"
Hesitantly, Cupcake - still looking towards his brother with extreme concern - made his way over to Mica's limp form, trying to shake him awake gently.
"You sorry little... I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR FLANK SO HARD, YOUR WHOLE FREAKIN' EMPIRE'LL FEEL IT!" Clap yelled as she leaned down into Amethyst, causing her to screech yet again... and this time, there was an accompanying >snap<, which brought an even higher pitched scream from Obsidian's sister.
"Thunderclap, back off!" Lemon yelled. The massive mare grit her teeth so hard, Obsidian could hear it... yet she stopped pressing the dark mare down into the wooden floor like she was trying to bury her through pressure alone.
"... ooooohhhhhh... th-the head..." Gypsy started to sit up, yet held his head and groaned. Mica, meanwhile, was beginning to rouse as well, also groaning and holding his head in his hooves as Cupcake patted his back.
"Mica? You okay?" Cup asked anxiously.
"... I feel like... a freshly-shifted tectonic plate... in a state of geothermic distress..." the earth pony muttered.
"... he's fine," Cup said with relief as he turned to see to their diamond dog friend next.
"Th-th-this one... d-d-does not enj-joy... the h-h-head-poundies..." Gypsy groaned, but his tail gave a light wag as Cup came to check him over.
Amethyst, her muzzle pressed to the floor and bleeding from the base of her horn, stared with an almost palpable spite at Obsidian. "I hope... she... skins your slaves alive... and force feeds their flesh to y-"
"SHUT YOUR PIEHOLE!" Clap yelled directly into her ear, which made Amethyst squeeze her eyes shut in pain.
Well, the first meeting with her sister could have gone better, but at least she didn't escape... at least not yet, as Obsidian had no doubts that her siblings were pretty crafty... when it came to running away with their tails between their legs. However with her bleeding horn, inferior magical skills, and now what may have been a broken bone or two? She would probably stay down, for now.
Obsidian barely managed to resist the temptation to taunt and belittle Amethyst and instead turned her attention to Lemon Custard. She trotted quickly to him to examine the slash wound and, if possible, heal it.
"... I'm sorry for disobeying orders... and I await the appropriate punishment," she whispered to him, not wanting Amethyst to hear it.
Lemon muttered back, "Don't worry about it - you did fine; far be it for me to punish you for saving me."
The wound was mostly shallow, but the cut ran all the way across his barrel in front, leaving an ugly red line from his shoulder to the opposing foreleg. It was most certainly within her realm of healing however, and she began to prepare the spell for him and Thunderclap.
"I... what happened? I don't recall," Mica said, holding his head with a hoof.
"Slimeball here had you under a Sombra helmet, 'til Siddy kicked the fire outta her!" Clap proudly boasted for Obsidian.
As the group gathered themselves, Obsidian got a look at Clap's forehead; it was a gash that seemed to be bleeding somewhat freely - but also not a difficult fix for her healing magics.
Amethyst said nothing, but if looks could kill, they would all be corpses with the seething and furious glare she was giving them all.
Her magic gathered, Obsidian cast the healing spell on Lemon's wound, and then on Clap's head... the Dark Magic of Sombra, being used to heal 'lesser' ponies - who would have thought?
"We should call for Princess Twilight, right? I mean, since we have performed pest control... and successfully captured the pest," Obsidian smirked at Amethyst, enjoying the futile rage in her eyes. Such a foolish little pony, daring to attack HER and her FRIENDS...
"Mister Lemon? Did you get to the headmare before you were attacked?" There was still no Tourmaline to be seen - was his appearance in her vision a mere illusion?
"No, I didn't; I picked up a trail - left intentionally, I'd wager - and followed it to the restrooms on the second floor; next I know, I'm waking up here, coated in green... Cup, what IS this stuff?"
Cupcake grinned, "Professor Fluttershy reached us in the science lab, and Doctor Whooves had a concoction that he said could dissolve solid magics, just in case. I... think he wanted it back... wait... he said he didn't want it back. I think."
"And I was drawn to the cafeteria... it looked like my mother was walking inside, but she doesn't work here - so I naturally followed. And you know the rest." Mica rubbed his head again, absentmindedly.
"Th-th-this o-one... rec-calls seeing y-y-y-y-you after c-c-class... then he w-was th-th-thirsty, and w-went for a d-d-d-dr-drink at the f-fountain... then s-s-suddenly, he w-w-was here." Gypsy looked down, unsure of what else to say.
Clap looked up at her as she healed her cut. "Thanks, Siddy - that feels lots better."
Lemon nodded. "Yes, thank you - NOW," he walked over and leaned down, his face inches from Amethyst's, "as for YOU, I believe you're familiar with the concept of a dungeon, hmmmmmm?"
"I. SPIT. ON. YOUR. ENTIRE. NATION. SLAVE."
Clap spat directly onto the crazed pony's muzzle. "Beat you to it, you garbage," she scowled.
"Now now," Lemon glanced at Clap, "that's enough of that... no need to rub it in." As he spoke, he reached up and did exactly that, smearing Clap's spit into Amethyst's muzzle fur... but carefully avoiding her rather sharp teeth.
"Okay," Lemon stood up and gave the group a most serious look, "I'll fetch guards and take her where she can't harm anyone but herself, but I want all of you to report directly to Princess Twilight, immediately. Let her know what's happened, and for Twilight's sake, stay together."
With that, he turned and, with a final glance at Amethyst and her dagger encased in his magic, he left to do as he said. As soon as he'd left the room, Clap began leaning on Obsidian's sister again, making her groan in pain through gritted teeth.
Obsidian frowned at the treatment of her sister. "Thunderclap, there is no call for that - if my siblings hadn't been so incompetent by not trying to reach out to me - not to mention trying to kill me - thus forcing me into the Equestrian camp... well, I'd possibly be the one on the floor."
Despite herself, she looked at Amethyst and smirked anyway. "... or not; I wouldn't focus on a simple dagger during a fight, ignoring everything else around me. Anyway, does anypony have a handkerchief?"
Gypsy, of course, reached up his sleeve and pulled out a hankerchief. "Th-this one d-d-d-does." He reached down and, amidst growls from Amethyst, kindly and cautiously cleaned her cheek of spittle.
Clap's brow darkened. "She was gonna HURT everyone; trust me, if I hadn't done that, I'da done much... much... worse. But," she sighed, "fine. FINE. No more spit. Because YOU asked." She also sat up a little more, allowing a bit more room for Amethyst to breathe... for which, she seemed so grateful for...
"You had better hope I don't get my blade back, or I will skin you all alive!"
"LOOK," Cupcake was suddenly right in her face, crouched and eye level with her, "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR MANURE, YOU WARMED-OVER EXCUSE FOR A CONQUEROR'S JOCKSTRAP - SHUT. THE. TARTARUS. UP!"
Amethyst glared at him... but said nothing more. Cup stood up, smoothed his mane back, and gave a short sigh. "Well, I guess we have to get to Princess Twilight, as soon as dark-&-gruesome here is safely put away. Are you okay, Obsidian?" The others looked to her, apparently also concerned.
Obsidian nodded. "I've just discovered that I have another sister... managed to survive my meeting with her... everypony seems to be alive... and we captured her. It's ideal, I would say. As soon as she stops talking about skinning ponies alive, I'm sure we'll become Best Big Sister Friends Forever," she grinned to them, reaching levels of sarcasm and irony she didn't even know about a few days ago.
Clap grinned. "Heh, I think you're getting the hang of this stuff, Siddy - just don't invite me to your family reunions, 'kay?"
"Considering everything she said before," Obsidian pondered, "I think my sense of self-worth feels a bit improved, too." Knowing that you were made from the best part of your father does wonders for one's stress and anxiety.
"Gypsy, I was wondering..." she trotted to him and leaned toward his ear, whispering, "... do you think you would be able to possibly smell Dark Magic? My siblings can mask themselves, and I don't have any other ideas on how to detect them..."
Gypsy looked down thoughtfully at Obsidian's question. "Well... th-this one c-c-c-can certainly s-smell your sist-t-ter, th-that is cert-t-tain. Perhaps he c-c-could. He w-w-would be willing t-to find out-t." It was better than nothing, right? Perhaps it should be enough to at least prepare for fight instead of getting two surprise attacks in a row.
"What she said before?" Mica asked. "I don't believe we were privy to that part of the conversation, Siddy - care to fill us in?"
"I believe that Amethyst had stated that I was the recipient of my father's magic when he created us; I consider it very interesting information..."
"What do you mean? How did you get his magic?" Mica asked curiously.
Cupcake looked as though he understood though. "Wait... this has to do with the shard-thing Auntie Twilight was talking about earlier, doesn't it?"
"What in the wide, wide world of Equestria are you yammering about, Cuppie?" Clap asked.
"Well... it's not my story to tell, Clap," he looked at Obsidian, "because I don't know if she feels like she can share it with everyone yet."
"C'mon, Siddy," Clap looked to her, "spill it."
That's right - they didn't know; only Cupcake had been with her when she'd experienced the worst meltdown of her life.
"Oh, how should I put it... my siblings and I were made from parts of King Sombra's soul, infused into crystal - and isn't that interesting too? We are literally shards of him!" Her eyes practically beamed as she spoke.
Maybe she actually, truly DID like this modern Equestria and didn't exactly want to go with this whole 'bringing father back by killing you' idea, but she still considered the power and skill from her most honourable father to be the BEST... THING... EVER!
The rest were quiet for a moment. Two moments. Three.
"So... what, you're... not actually a pony?" Clap blatantly asked.
Cup's eyes went wide, and he jumped in immediately, apparently recalling how bad Obsidian had taken it when she'd heard it herself. "Nonononononononono!!! She's REAL - as real as I am, Clap - and she already had a mini-crisis over that, so I think it'd be a good idea to not-"
"Whoa, no, yeah," Clap turned to Obsidian, "I didn't mean... I just... yo, I am SO sorry, Siddy! I just... it's weird, y'know?"
"I'm sure she does know, Clap," Mica said evenly, "after all, how would YOU react to being told you were a magical shard?"
Clap stood up and walked right over to Obsidian and embraced her tightly, but not so hard it would hurt. "Oh manure, Siddy, no, I'm sorry, please don't take it bad! You're real to me, I swear!"
"You're real to us all," Cup said as he also came to her and wrapped his hooves around them both.
"Never a d-d-doubt," as Gypsy joined them.
"As real as each and every one of us," Mica joined the group hug.
Well, maybe she wasn't really 'real', but she had proven was at least as good as real! It was nice of Cup to try to protect her, though before she managed to reassure both him and Clap that she was in a rather fine mental state right now, they'd all ganged up on her!
Thunderclap's hug had been a bit rough; it truly felt as if she could absolutely crush anypony around - no wonder Amethyst went down that easily! Then the rest of her friends went along with the idea, quickly surrounding the poor unicorn mare who didn't really like being touched with hooves and paws...
But... it actually wasn't as bad as she'd expected - though it was still a bit of a nervous experience.
It lasted for all of ten seconds before Mica spoke up. "Okay, we should consider what's going on here."
They all separated, with Clap leaving a lingering hoof on Siddy's shoulder for a moment more. Once parted, Mica began to pace. "Okay, so if each shard supposedly contains an aspect of Sombra, then we need to take stock. It seems that you have the magic, while your charming sister has slavery magic. Not to mention illusions, as my mother was quite probably nowhere near this place today. What did your brother have?"
"Hold that thought, Mica; I'd say not now, not here. In a moment, we can go see Princess Twilight - we should be able to talk there, especially as there would be no spying sisters around."
Amethyst glared in anger and narrowed her eyes, but said nothing at all.
"Right," Mica said, "you're correct." He gave the groundbound mare a glance, shrugged, then looked back at the group. "So then, my guess would be that, if you've been attacked by two siblings today, then perhaps there will be another; I'd wager they're close to their goals, so they've reached desperate measures."
This was when the doors opened, and Lemon stepped in, followed by Professor Fluttershy, four fully-armor-clad Royal Guardsponies... and a very pouty and comparably tiny Stalwart Stance.
"Amethyst," Lemon began as he levitated out a unicorn magic shackle, fitting it into place over her horn, "you are under arrest for the assault on Obsidian, as well as the forced enslavement of Mica Chip, Gypsy Rover and myself. And given time, I'm sure I can come up with plenty more to keep you imprisoned for a loooooooooong time."
She still seemed defiant, and struggled at the sight of the restraint - but as soon as it locked into place, Amethyst simply sort of deflated against the floor, looking as though she had finally given up... as well as slightly scared.
"Take her away... and get her to a cell quickly, as she could have accomplices." The guards saluted, took hold of her (where she went completely limp), and dragged her bodily from the room, bound for a cell in the Royal Palace.
It was admittedly a bit painful to see Amethyst treated that way; if her siblings had amicably approached Obsidian first, or at least tried to reach her before she started to enjoy friendship, or at the VERY least hadn't tried to kill her... she could be on their side...
And most likely, she'd meet a similar fate. In a way, Tourmaline had actually saved her from this possibility with his surprise attack... but at any rate, at least one shard out of four was defeated and captured. And beaten into submission. With maybe a few broken bones, an injured horn, and without her magic...
Obsidian really hoped things would end well for her; perhaps after a while in a cell, she would realize that there were other ways to live her life. Amethyst may have been crazed, but she was still her sister.
"That's done," Lemon sighed, "but now we have to report this incident to-"
There was a flash of purple light, and Twilight Sparkle, in all her glory, was standing among them! "Fluttershy, I got your message - what's the problem?"
Professor Fluttershy looked to Obsidian. "I think she could tell you more than I could, Twilight. Obsidian, if you would, please explain?"
"Princess," Obsidian bowed lightly, "if I may? Everything started after I apologized to Mica; we were going to meet up later, but he never showed up, even when it was time for Empathy classes with him. It turned out that he was slave-helmeted by my sister Amethyst, along with Gypsy and Mister Lemon as well. She then called out to me magically... I think... and then, I managed to stall her for a moment, then Clap and Cup joined in, and when she was bested, the helmets vanished."
It wasn't bad for a recap of the events; Obsidian hoped she wouldn't have to recall too many fine details, as it had been somewhat fast and furious when the entire affair had gone down.
"She said that another sister, Onyx, is quite close to bringing back our father, thanks to the book she claimed she'd recently gotten from your Royal Vaults. Each of us shard-ponies apparently holds a specific part of my father - from what I gathered, I've got his magic, and she probably got his enslavement spells."
Twilight Sparkle's muzzle looked grimmer and grimmer as Obsidian told her story. "It's worse than I thought, then - I would assume that to mean the other shards are somewhere nearby, and that their plans are coming to fruition. If they're getting desperate enough to attack you on campus, then we can't be certain they won't try something more."
"Wait," Obsidian pondered, "my sister didn't say 'book' - she said 'tome'. I wonder if she meant Miss Tome..."
She turned to Fluttershy. "Gather the girls and meet me in the map room; we're going to discuss what we can do, then we're leaping into action." She then turned to face Obsidian again. "As for you, please keep your friends close to you - are you missing anyone else?"
Stalwart was still pouting by the doorway, seemingly staring at the carpet.
Obsidian looked among her friends, making note of Wart's arrival. "No, not that I can tell; I don't count ponies that I've only exchanged a few words with, of course." She then spoke to the little mare. "Stalwart, friend... please join us."
Stalwart Stance looked up, then her eyes slid over to Twilight... then they returned to the floor.
The alicorn sighed. "Stalwart, I'm sorry, but I've told you this before - you simply wouldn't be able to keep up with the rest of my Royal Guard; I can try you out as a number of other positions, though. You could-"
"Thank you, Your Majesty," she uncharacteristically interrupted, "but I cannot do what I do not feel that I should do."
Twilight sighed, but nodded. "... as you wish, Stalwart. And I truly am sorry."
Wart said nothing, yet made her way into the room and stood next to Obsidian, unable to look at her.
"Now," Twilight said, "if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for what might be an invasion from within; please be careful, my subjects. And let your fellowship protect you." With that, she vanished with a >POP<, leaving them on their own once more.
Perhaps there was really no other option to help Stalwart, other than help her deal with fact that her dreams were only that - dreams, and nothing more.
Obsidian carefully raised her hoof and slightly patted Stalwart on the back. "You... you missed a group hug. Do you want to make it up?" Hugs seemed to cheer the others up, so maybe it would work on her as well?
Stalwart's bottom lip wavered. "I... w-will be fine..."
Cupcake looked at her earnestly. "... but you're not fine, Wart."
That did it. With those words, Wart let out a whimper, then a sob that just repeated as she stood there, eyes closed, tears tracking down her muzzle to the floor. "It isn't fair! I've been training and training and training... I'm even better than most of the guards already IN the guard, but... but because I don't fit their image, I cannot do what I so desperately wish I COULD do! I have pushed myself to my limits and beyond, and yet I am a FAILURE!"
"Wart, you-" Mica began.
"NO! NO! I shall NOT merely roll over and accept this! NO!" She stamped her hoof, putting a small crack in the wooden floor.
"Wart, c'mon..." Clap said.
"I... I... I... i..." She began sobbing again, and everyone else seemed as if they were hurting right along with her.
"... failure," she repeated.
Well, Obsidian knew that feeling fairly well - especially lately, as her self-worth was wavering between very low and very high values, depending on how many terrifying truths she learned about herself or how badly she'd fallen into her sibling's traps.
So she very, very carefully - urrrrgh - wrapped one foreleg around the diminuitive mare. "Stalwart. you are not a failure - it was you, not one of the guards, that forced my brother to escape... and how you stood against griffons yesterday?
You can do so much more than just wear shiny armor, stand next to the throne and try to look intimidating."
She tried to cheer her up - in her own, very non-experienced way. "Especially if you stick with us, because I'm afraid that our lives may be quite exciting, soon."
Stalwart sniffled, tears still running from her eyes... but she looked up at Obsidian, red-eyed and miserable. "I... but, why would... I..." She looked across all the others as well, her gaze drifting from one to the next.
"Stalwart, you are one of the best fighters I've ever seen. You don't need validation from the throne," Mica said to her.
"Th-this one ha-a-a-as, many t-t-times, seen your b-b-br-bravery, and h-he envies y-you. You are a-a-already a m-mighty warrior t-t-t-to us," Gypsy smiled kindly.
"Yeah, you're totally awesome in a fight, and you kick some serious flank!" Cup laughed.
"Wart, they're just afraid you'll take over - that's all, girl." Clap grinned widely.
She looked at them all, then back at Obsidian, then she sighed and wiped her eyes. "... thank you. All of you." Her pain was still obvious, but it was no longer eating her alive. Maybe Stalwart didn't seem to be as happy as before, but at least her meltdown had ended for the moment.
"Okay, Obsidian?" Mica spoke up. "We need to figure out what we're doing; shall we head to the Applejack Suite, then?"
"Oh dear... I think that my coming here might count as 'skipping a class'," Obsidian muttered under her breath when she realized that. What a terrible student she was - her father would be severely dissapointed.
She looked at all her friends. "Yes, let's go. I'd like to check if Gypsy could still smell my brother's scent anyway," she suggested, she had no better ideas for now anyway.
Gypsy instantly put his nose to the floor, his hoodie all but covering his entire head. He snuffled around for a moment, then looked up. "There is n-n-no other sc-scent th-th-th-than Amethyst-t-t here, p-princess. But if we enc-c-c-counter a scent like th-this again, I will ch-ch-chase it d-d-d-down for you." Proof positive that Tourmaline's image had been an illusion... but then, where was he and what was he up to, if he wasn't here?
With that, the lot of them began to make their way down the hall. SIX of them, all grouped together, travelling as one. There was something that felt... whole... about it, and Obsidian could almost feel the static charge of something special happening, though there was no clue as to what it could be.
Perhaps it was just being surrounded by her friends? Frankly, walking around with them like this was something Obsidian could get used to.
At any rate, it was only about ten minutes before they reached her current room in the palace, and with them all inside, it seemed somewhat full, but livelier than it had ever looked before. The colors around them almost seemed sharper, crisper than they'd looked before she'd brought them all here. The Applejack Suite was much bigger than her old room in the Crystal Empire, so there was still enough room for everyone.
"Alright," Mica started, "as I said, we have magic, illusions and slavery. What did your brother attack you with or specialize with?"
"My brother was using an illusion as well to hide himself. As soon as it dropped, however, he used very powerful offensive magic - including some charmingly named Bonetwister spells." Obsidian shivered slightly; if those thirty beams had hit her, she would have turned into jelly.
"Either each of my siblings can use illusions, or one of them specializes in it. I have only encountered two of them so far, but from what I've learned, apparently their leader is my sister, Onyx. They spoke of her plans being almost complete... which would lead me to the conclusion that she may be the recipient of our father's wits."
"His wits? That sounds wonderful," Cup bemoaned.
"Still, we have at least a few things to go on. And if all of you are required to give your power to Sombra, then having Amethyst locked up may give us some time." Mica pondered the point. "And more time is better than less time."
"Look, if we're gonna do all this, we've gotta find something that can tell us more about what's up here." Clap looked a bit frustrated.
Gypsy sighed. "W-we d-d-did... Miss Tome, who is n-n-no longer anywh-where we c-can f-f-find her, unf-f-fortunately."
Clap kicked the bed. "Dangit! How're we gonna find HER?"
Gypsy pulled out a piece of paper and began folding, his mind elsewhere as he thought it over. Cup started pacing. Clap and Mica looked as though they were truly trying to figure something out.
"We... could use a... Locator Spell?" Wart offered, timidly.
The others stared at her for a moment, then- "Wart, that's brilliant!" Mica exclaimed. "As long as she's not shielded from such, we should be able to cast a Locator Spell on her, then we could find-"
"No," Wart interrupted, "I mean, on the dark crystal surrounding her. That way, even if she's shielded from detection, the crystal might not be."
"We'd have to have a dark crystal first, Wart... but not a bad idea at all," Mica mused.
"Hey, Siddy... can you make one of those dark crystal thingies?" Clap looked to Obsidian, an eyebrow raised. "Maybe we could use it to track the rest of 'em?"
Obsidian couldn't help but wonder how the disappearance of eight of her other siblings could have influenced the rest. Could it possibly hamper the return of their father? Or perhaps, as her brother said, their power was distributed among the rest of them? Or maybe Onyx found a way to gather it after all...
And Miss Tome - the mare who was apparently was working with her siblings for reasons unknown, but wanted to alert Obsidian. How was she involved in all of this? And how did her kidnapping help them with bringing back their father?
She wondered for a moment. Dark crystalssssss... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty Two: Crystal Clarity | "I... can try. That's very Dark Magic, though; it may take a moment..."
What should she tell them? That she felt far too happy with them to be sure it would work?
She tried to focus on her negative feelings, starting with the proud triumph she felt after the utter defeat of Amethyst. It was... pathetic to see her crushed so utterly. Maggot! Mongrel! Unworthy of carrying even a portion of such a soul as wonderful as their father's!
Hopefully scorn and pride would be enough to cast the proper magics...
Obsidian concentrated, trying to build up the energy needed to produce one of the sinister Dark Crystalsssssss... she pushed and struggled and focused her immense willpower...
Aaaaaand nothing; she was too happy. There was no way she'd be able to make even a hoof-sized crystal, never mind one of the size required.
"Wait," Cup blinked, "Dark crystals need Dark energy, right?" He looked at the others. "We've been pumping her full of goodwill; I don't know that she could right now... could you?"
"Hmmmmm... Obsidian," Mica said, "does the energy have to be Dark to work?"
"Well, no one has yet tried to cast the spell with Light Magic before, as far as I know so - yes - you could say that," she sighed, clearly unhappy about her humiliating lack of ability to cast Dark Magic on a whim anymore. It almost felt as if she was magically mutilated.
"I can use others' negative emotions, but allow me to be clear: I do NOT want to use any of you in any way..."
She cut her eyes to Cupcake; 'hugs' weren't exactly using others, right?
"Perhaps you could make an attempt to embarrass or possibly even anger me? With that sort of motivation, I may possibly be able to cast it. For example, Lemon tried to disorient me during our exercises, asking me about some, er... romantic stuff, but his tactics were unsuccessful."
It was Wart who got the idea. "Your Majesty," she said, "when I saw you dealing with your brother, he said something that made you very angry. I... didn't say so at the time, but you had... purple mist... coming from your eyes."
"Whoa," Clap said, impressed, "what'd he say to you?"
Cupcake trapped in chains... Thunderclap with scars after whipping... Gypsy forced to spend days in the mine instead of learning history as he loved...
Just the thought of what Tourmaline had implied about the fate of her friends under the rule of the Slave King... and purple mist began to seep from her eyes, making wisps that flowed back toward her mane.
"WOW!" Cupcake took a step back from Obsidian, and the others just stared.
"There!" Wart exclaimed. "That was what your eyes were doing when I found you!"
She could feel it. ANGER! Maybe if she imagined more and worse, the power would possibly come?
The thoughts came rapidly and, after years of experience with her father, shockingly naturally to her: Cupcake impaled on a Dark Crystal shard, his still living body twitching in unspeakable agony, tears running down his blood-stained muzzle, mouth open and gasping for a scream...
Mist practically erupted from Obsidian's eyes as she growled and shot a beam of inkwell-black energy at the floor.
Kill! Destroy! She had to defeat every single creature that threatened the lives of her friends! IT DIDN'T MATTER WHETHER THEY WERE HER FAMILY OR NOT!
Obsidian's growl grew until it reached a fevered pitch, and she opened vengeance-filled eyes that were gowing like hot steel in a forge! "... damn you... CREATE!!!"
The floor of the Applejack Suite split wide open, and a Dark Crystal rumbled up from the ground beneath, stopping just short of the ceiling. The others backpedaled from the occurrence, all simply thunderstruck by the power they just witnessed.
Mica and Cupcake exchanged a worried look, then Cup stepped forward. "Princess... Obsidian... you did it... calm yourself down, it's done. It's okay."
"Wow - if you get THAT powerful when you get riled up, remind me not to get on your bad side!" Clap gave a chuckle, the look on her muzzle changing from shock to gritty good humour. "But keep whatever you thought ready for if we gotta fight again, 'kay?"
Mica came closer to the crystal and examined it closely. "I... am impressed, for the record. I didn't think-" He then made the mistake of touching it, though only gingerly.
"... oooohhh..." Mica stumbled back, catching himself on the corner of the dresser that had been shoved against the wall by the crystal's entrance. Gypsy came towards him in concern, but Mica held up a hoof.
"That was... ohhhhh... no, no, I'm... I'm f-fine, but..." he shook his head vigorously, as if clearing his mind of cobwebs, "remind me never to do that again."
"I truly hope that Butter Churn's mother won't be using her suite for a while... otherwise, I'm dead," Obsidian muttered, even though she was rather... pleased by its size. She had never managed to make it quite that size before; quite a noticable difference.
The Dark Princess stepped forward, touching her crystal lightly with a hoof, in an almost motherly fashion, practically petting it.
"Yes... crysssssstalssssss..." she purred huskily. With such power, she should be able to defeat all of her foolish siblings... and take their own magics for herself! Yes, nopony would be EVER able to stand against her!
... okay, maybe Cup was right.
"Cupcake, please... you don't have to call me 'princess'. However, I believe I require a calming hug - would you please come forth and provide one?" She slid her hoof along the crystal tenderly, her eyes never leaving it - even as she made her request.
And while the others had eyeballed her 'loving caress' of the large black crystal, they ALL turned to stare at Cupcake when she asked directly for a hug. He looked at the others, chuckled sheepishly, then came directly to her.
"Whenever you want, Siddy," he said kindly, then he wrapped his forelegs around her and nuzzled into her mane. She could smell the sweet scent from him that she'd encountered before... his touch was so kind, his fur so soft... "whenever you want."
It was like he was the cooling balm to her angry rash, the soothing drink of water for her anger-parched throat, the ice for her fire...
By Darkness, was she having a crush on Cupcake!?
The rest of them simply stared. At one point, Clap looked over at Mica and blinked. Gypsy looked at Wart, and she simply shrugged. Slowly, the purple mist from her eyes ceased its' flow, and faded from view.
An interesting experience, truth be told - of course, it could just have been the fact that it was thinking about his horrific death which had angered her; his touch reminded her that he was still alive and right next to her. She held him at foreleg's length and smiled. "Thank you, Cup. Your hugs are quite powerful, I daresay - nothing has ever brought me to peace so quickly..."
With one last smile at Cup, she turned to Wart. "Now, what was it you were saying about a Locator Spell? I do believe this crystal will... be... er, sufficient?"
Why were they just staring at her like that? A mere moment before, they'd had a group hug - without asking her first before including her - and now they were surprised by her actually asking Cup for a warm, wonderful hug?
Were they possibly jealous?
It was quiet for a moment, but then Wart stepped forward, clearing her throat to speak. "A... *ahem* a Locator Spell isn't exactly a commonplace spell, as its' uses are far too tempting - yet I believe there's a copy in the library here; I can fetch it, if you like, Your Majesty?"
Mica pre-empted Obsidian's reply. "Actually, I had designs that Obsidian, Thunderclap and I could fetch it; I want you here with Gypsy and Cup, watching this crystal; it may attract something we don't want, so I'd want the three of you to guard this room, and keep the door closed and don't allow anyone besides us into the room."
Cup looked at Wart and Gypsy, then smiled and saluted. "Yus yus yus, you can count on us!" However, his gaze lingered on Obsidian for a moment before he turned back to the others...
Mica nodded, then turned to Clap and Obsidian. "Shall we go? I have a feeling it'll be in the rare book section, am I right?"
He looked to Wart for approval, who nodded an affirmative. "Towards the back corner, last bookcase on the right, on the middle shelf - behind the front desk," she added. Mica gestured for them to follow, and headed out the doorway.
Well then - a trek to the library; she'd hoped that it was something they already had available... as in, 'in hoof'. Splitting the group up like this could be dangerous; hopefully her siblings wouldn't risk attacking them in a middle of Princess Twilight's castle... but it seemed as if they had no other choice.
Her fault, really - she should have asked for more details, then gotten hold of spell first and then... THEN she could have created this beautiful cryssssstal... but she left the room with Mica and Clap anyway; perhaps it was the for the best, splitting up so they could fetch the spell. There was no doubt in her mind that Stalwart and Cupcake, backed by Gypsy, were more than capable of guarding her room.
As soon as they were out of range of the room's earshot, Mica looked over at Obsidian. "I'd like to ask a few questions, if I may, Obsidian?"
"Of course, Mica - after all, we are friends." She didn't see a single reason why Mica shouldn't be allowed to ask questions; friends didn't have to ask to ask, right?
"First question," he began, "what would you want to see as the ideal outcome for all this? I'd like to know so that I can plan accordingly."
Her ideal outcome, eh? She hadn't really thought about it before... well, not very much. "Everypony lives, that's for sure. Hopefully my siblings would learn to adapt and integrate, without spending their time plotting the return of my father. I also wouldn't complain if I could find out exactly why my most honourable father turned... well, into the Slave King Sombra you all know from the history books."
Mica nodded. "Save Equestria, save your siblings if we can, find the reason behind your father's corruption... okay. Got it. Now, next question: if Dark Magic is required to win this battle, do you think you can use it and keep yourself controlled from the backlash?"
"Backlash?" Clap asked.
Mica nodded. "You saw her after she summoned the crystal, Clap - if she has to do that in a much bigger way, I want to know if we'll ALL possibly need to help her calm herself, or if she can manage it on her own."
"Well, Cupcake seems to deal with it pretty well, does he not?" Obsidian chuckled lightheartedly. "But the more Dark Magic I use, the the more calming I would require; your presences would be quite helpful, methinks."
"Alright, be prepared to help if and when we can, especially if for some reason Cup isn't available. Got it. Question thr-"
"Hey," Clap interrupted, "does she get to ask anything?"
Mica considered it. "That's fair; do you have any questions in return?"
"No, not currently - I'm too concerned about this situation, and my only goal is to learn something more, which would be the spell we currently seek." Obsidian shrugged lightly. "Trust me, Mica, Thunderclap - if I have any questions, about any topic, I will most certainly be asking."
Mica nodded. "Good. Excellent. Very well, question three: when this is over with, do you plan to return to the Crystal Empire, or will you be staying with us here in Equestria?"
"Please say you're staying!" Clap said with a smirk.
Obsidian raised her eyebrows and peeked sidelong at Mica. "I spent my entire life inside Crystal Palace, limited to only a few rooms... so I'm not sure if there are any real reasons for me to return. No friends, no empire, existing as a body back-up for my father and so on... so, I think - at least for now - I'd prefer to stay here."
"YESSS!" Clap hollered, receiving a look from Mica for it. She just smiled back at him. "What? I'm glad she's staying - I like Siddy!"
Mica gave a slight grin. "As do I, Clap. As do I."
"And I like both of you, too," Obsidian admitted, pleased by their reactions - especially Mica's, as they had wasted a potential day of friendship, and she was maybe a bit afraid that his brief brainwashing by her manic sister would have made him reconsider their relationship.
As they reached the library, a passing pair of guards saw them approaching. Mica nodded to them, and Clap gave a slight wave. They didn't stop any of the three friends as they entered the doors, continuing their patrol.
The library was quiet... but eerily so. Without Miss Tome behind the desk typing away softly, it was completely devoid of sound, except from the trio's footsteps... and the floor was carpeted.
They made their way towards the back, where the section was filled with books from floor to ceiling. So many books... Obsidian could practically live in here, reading for an entire decade, and she still wouldn't be able to finish them all! The shelf they were looking for was where Wart said it would be, and Mica and Clap began searching through the titles.
So many books. That's why she asked for a job here - it was calming to see it, and the realization of just how many books were there was quite humbling.
But first things first.
They had to find this spell Stalwart had mentioned. There had to be something here they could use... her siblings couldn't have known what they were up to - for the first time, the element of surprise would be on Obsidian's side.
There was a dull thump, and the doors to the library opened slightly, then closed again moments later. Mica's head popped up from where he was searching.
"Stop." He froze in place, listening intently. After a moment, with as quiet as it was, they could hear hoofsteps headed this way.
"... hide," Mica said, and crept over behind a nearby table, where he positioned himself so he couldn't be seen. Clap looked at Obsidian and motioned to a shelf, where she then slid her large frame behind it and out of sight, with just room enough for Obsidian if she wished.
No no no no NO! Don't tell her that they were ONCE AGAIN hot on her tail!
Just how could it be possible!? Did they plant a stealthy magical listening spell in her room? Did they have a spy? Were they using tons of invisibility spells? How did they always manage to keep one step ahead of her, By Darkness!?
But she didn't have either the time nor the want to think about it right now - instead, she quickly joined Thunderclap behind the shelf. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to fight in the library - so many books would be in danger...
All they heard were soft hoofsteps for a moment... then, a slight muttering, as if someone was talking to themselves. More hoofsteps came, and a form appeared around the corner of the shelving...
It was Looking Glass. Alone.
She made her way down the row, searching the shelves carefully for a particular book, one would guess. Clap looked at Obsidian and shrugged. "Should we say hi?" she whispered.
Yesterday, Obsidian more or less trusted everypony... well, perhaps a touch less. Today, she wasn't sure she could even trust herself. And another thing - it was a sizeably large school; just how many times could two ponies accidentially run into each other? Obsidian hadn't even come across Eloquence or Licorice again - and she was spending time with their family members and unrequited crushes! Was it REALLY an accident that they'd met again, right before she made up with Mica? How much time would Onyx have truly had to create a facade of a normal life for herself?
So Obsidian shook her head slightly; better safe than sorry. Looking Glass was officially suspicious. Clap nodded, and turned to watch the young mare.
Glass began scanning the shelves, looking back and forth for a few minutes before she suddenly exclaimed, "A-HA!" and pulled a single book from the shelf. Looking it over, she smiled to herself.
"Grim Shadows: A Treatise on Dark Magics! YES! I told you I could find it! Let's hear you tell me I'm just a 'frilly researcher' now! Oh, they'll be so happy, I just KNOW they will!"
Clap lifted an eyebrow.
She hugged the book to her, smiling and turning a pirouette. "And when father comes home, we can all be a family - no more fighting!"
Clap's eyes widened in shock as Looking Glass began to do a cute little victory dance.
Obsidian smirked at Thunderclap's shock. It truly felt good - being able to be right about something at least once. Even if it meant she almost fell into another trap. At least this one didn't seem to ramble... and she couldn't risk the chance that her siblings would get their hooves on this apparently important book.
She stood up and stepped out fom her hiding spot. "Interesting choice, I daresay - pray tell, is your real name 'Onyx'? Or perhaps I have a third sister?"
"G'FAGAHAGAH!" Glass fell over with a flurry of legs, the book hitting the wall behind her.
She looked up at her interloper. "OBSIDIAN!? I... oh, I j-j-just... it'snotwhatyou... you..."
Her ears drooped as she made the connections. "I... uhm... eh..." She fidgeted for a moment, then sighed and looked up. "No, I'm not-... uhm, I... h-h-hi. I'm... Ruby." She looked ashamed of herself.
Obsidian's horn flashed, as she surrounded book with her aura and immediately brought it to her. "So I have not one, not two, but THREE sisters? Such good news," the dark unicorn grinned at Ruby... though, not in a mocking way. Maybe two out of four siblings had tried to kill her, but they were still a family.
Her eyes widened as she took the book. "NoPLEASENO!" She reached desperately for it, falling onto her face as she missed
"I may have forgotten to introduce myself during our past meetings... but it seems you already know my name. Good. So... what would you say to a quick chat? Brother Tourmaline and sister Amethyst didn't seem to want to explain very much, amidst the ranting and death threats."
Lying there, she sniffled and began to tremble. "Please... they don't think I'm capable of anything! I've been trying to locate this book for so long!!! If I don't get it, I'll be exactly what they say I am! Oh, Obsidian, PLEASE give me the book! Please please please! I'll... I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just PLEASE don't take it away from me! Not after I tried so hard to find it!"
Great. Now she was crying. Wonderful.
But Obsidian, as it turned out, had become fairly sensitive to crying lately - at least, when it was one of her friends crying. A potentially dangerous sibling, though? She didn't care...
Much. Well, too much, anyway.
"Sister Ruby, please... calm yourself. After two separate assassinations attempts, I'm not just going to give you a book about Dark Magic that could possibly be used for sister Onyx to kill us all with." She stepped closer a bit, but not before moving said book right into her own hoof. Now it should be safe - unless Ruby wanted to fight for it. "Did you really spend three years living here amongst the Equestrians? Or maybe there's a real Looking Glass, imprisoned somewhere or possibly even murdered?"
Ruby looked up, tears flowing freely. "I... it's me - ALL me. When the empire returned, I was stuck there for a long time, until Onyx came and freed me. She... (sniffle) she said, when the time was right, we would all be a part of something special. Something BIG."
She sat back, wrapping her forehooves around herself and letting a few tears roll onto the floor from her muzzle. "That's... that's when I made this persona, Looking Glass, and came to Equestria. I've been searching for that book," she stared at it in Obsidian's grasp, "for the past several months, as it was what Onyx told me we needed to... t-t-to... finish it."
She trembled a bit. "Please. I don't wanna be seen as the useless one anymore. Please." Her eyes locked onto the book.
"So instead, you want to be seen as pony that allowed Sister Onyx to kill herself? Ruby, you've obviously spent plenty of time in this school; do you really hate it so much that you want everything to end?" Obsidian tried to convince her by appealing to the propects of her current life. How could any creature willingly spend time with Tourmaline and Amethyst, yet manage to live in the school without exposing herself? There was no fooling Obsidian; Ruby was good.
She now turned her tearful blue eyes toward Obsidian. "Oh NO! No no no - that's not it at ALL! Onyx assured me that father won't want to end all this... he'll want to take charge!"
Now a dawning look of hope crossed her features. "Father will come back, and he'll take over so we can have a big, happy family, and then he'll bring Equestria into the Crystal Empire, which is where everything here will last forever! Why would he want to destroy it; he wants it to be our new home, Obsidian!"
She sniffled again, glanced at the book, then back into Siddy's eyes. "I remember father teaching me about what ponies needed - do you remember? He said they needed order, they needed structure, they needed discipline if they ever wanted to survive for more than a few centuries. He said they didn't know self-control, so it was his job to bring it to them, remember?"
Obsidian DID remember. All too well.
"Yes, father got... g-g-got angry at us when we failed, but when you're trying to build a stronger tomorrow, you have to be strong, or you end up dead. Father may have disciplined us, but he never actually tried to kill us! And besides, do you think you would have been able to survive in the world at all, if he hadn't made you tough? Resilient? Would you have made it as an undisciplined princess?"
Ruby shivered again. "Obsidian, please understand - I kept bumping into you because I was so excited to meet you! I couldn't help it, because you're so powerful... and you seem so nice, not like-"
She covered her mouth with a shocked look on her muzzle, then continued after a moment. "I just want us to be a family, Obsidian. Please. Please. If you ever want a chance at having a family, please give me the book."
"Ruby, By Darkness, are you fully aware of how long Equestria has survived, especially with how many dangers it faced? And even though it may sound unbelievable, ALL of these dangers were most effectively neutralized, in many different ways - including Discord and Headmare Starlight. It's already a number of centuries old, and yet Equestria still exists, and Celestia and Luna are still alive. I'd even say that it flourishes, accounting by the number of griffons, diamond dogs, changelings... even dragons in this school. Does it look like a failed society to you?"
To be fair, it had already gone well beyond the point where Obsidian was trying to provoke Ruby, in order to get more information out of her and so on. In fact, the longer she kept talking, the more logical it sounded.
"... I... I don't think even our father would be able to take charge here, Ruby. He would be struck with the Elements of Harmony, o-or maybe a small dragon would accidentially put the Crystal Heart into the right place... or something else would happen! The world seems to be rigged in Harmony's favour..."
"Can you deny it, sister? Even our father once had a friend - he had a life. Then, he... h-he found something, and everything changed."
Please Ruby, deny it, Obsidian hoped. Show me all the holes in my logic, present all the knowledge that you've gathered during these past few years, and counter everything I've learned from reading a few modern books about history... tell me it isn't so...
Ruby looked at her for a moment, then looked down. "You don't know, do you? Equestria is not even a minute's length, compared to the Umbral Empire... like, did you know, it lasted for almost half a million years? It was the most advanced civilization in all of Equus, and it only fell because the Darkheart was shattered."
She now looked at Obsidian with curiosity. "You don't even know about the Umbral Empire, do you? Oh... oh Obsidian, I can teach you! I'd love to teach you!"
She stood up, happiness in her eyes as she wiped her muzzle. "That's what father discovered! He was the last Umbral, and the remnants of the Darkheart were only a fraction of what he found; they taught him all about his ancestry, about his heritage, and charged him with returning the Umbral Empire to its' former glory - and he accepted!"
She stopped, and put on a worried face. "Equestria kept trying to stop father because they were formed in the bones of what was the old regime - not even using their own devices, but stealing from the unmarked graves of the Umbrals! Who would want to give back what they stole from us?"
She now looked kindly at Obsidian. "And I know father had a friend... you look a lot like her."
Now that was an interesting bit of information. If Mica and Clap hadn't been here with her... well, more like her with them... she could have had a far more in-depth discussion about this subject. So their father wasn't even a true pony? And ponies were using Umbral devices?
And... um, that bit about being possibly purposefully crafted to resemble a dead mare? Yeah, THAT was totally NOT NOT creepy. Obsidian wasn't sure what to make of the thought; instead, she started to try a different tactic. "How did this Darkheart shatter?"
"Naw, uh-uh, no way!" Thunderclap suddenly burst out, coming out from her hiding place with an angry look on her muzzle, storming over to where Ruby stood, making the smaller mare cower.
"That's a HUGE load of manure! Equestria isn't a bunch of scavengers! We grew up of our own accord, and we did NOT steal from any 'Bumble Empire! You'd better take that back!'"
Ruby stared at her, then at Obsidian, then the book... then shut her eyes, and with a >POP<, she was gone.
Clap stared for a moment, then gave Obsidian a sheepish grin. "Ah heh heh... oops." |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty Three: Into The Parlour | Obsidian GLARED.
"Thunderclap Dash!" Mica exclaimed as he got up from his hiding place. "How could you do that!? We were learning something important, here!"
"Well, all that stuff she said was stupid!" Clap countered, "Equestria isn't some land full of thieves and scavengers! We had every right to exist as much as they did! For her to just put down our ancestors like that, I couldn't help it!"
Mica facehoofed. "Well, if you had helped it, Obsidian might have talked Ruby into joining our side, Clap. As it was, I think Obsidian was doing an excellent job of milking her for info - until YOU messed it all up because you PRIDE was hurt."
Clap glared at Mica... but after a few moments, she looked down. "I just... couldn't help it. I'm sorry, okay?"
Mica closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them and looked at Clap. "... I... I get it, Clap. BAD timing, though." He turned to Obsidian. "Sorry. But at least we learned a few new things, plus we have the book, so it isn't a total loss."
"Very bad timing," Obsidian growled. "It was going to be so exquisitely easy: I would have put the book on a table near where Mica was staying so he could grab it quickly, while I walked closer and hugged her in sisterly fashion... granted, I have no idea how sisterly hugs work, but I'm sure it would have allowed me to distract her from teleportation! Then we would have continued our nice little talk - the first proper one I've yet had with any of my siblings!"
First things first. Always, first things first.
"Now, we need that spell, and to possibly speak with the princess, as well. If sister Ruby ends up getting hurt, I shall be most upset, so let's act quickly." And once again, she felt like a traitor.
Mica nodded, and with a sigh, Clap did too. Together, the three of them began making their way out of the library.
"Do you think she really would've joined us? I mean, she seemed like she was so freaking happy about him coming back - and even she admitted he'd hurt her! How could you take beatings from somepony and still care about them like that?"
Mica huffed. "Well, I suppose we'll never know now, will we?" Clap glared, then pouted... but after a moment, Mica spoke again. "That was uncalled for; sorry."
Clap looked up at him, and he was looking right back at her. "I suppose it's out of a sense of duty," he said, "brainwashed so hard into the very core of her that she can't even fathom that anything he would do could be wrong. She simply feels as though it's all she can do, and it's the only outcome that she would want... because it's what they told her to want."
"Still," Clap muttered, "she didn't have to say all that stuff about being garbage-pickers."
"Thunderclap, I would be pleased myself about the return of our father as well, and maybe even more keen to help my siblings if they hadn't tried to kill me twice already," Obsidian growled, still rather annoyed with Clap over the situation her rash actions had caused.
She felt she'd been so close to possibly forging a meaningful relationship with a sister... and maybe even convincing her to join their side, after all.
"And not a single word about 'Looking Glass' to anypony beyond our circle, got it? If she'll join us, I'm certain she would appreciate us not revealing her identity to the rest of Equestria. And, for the record Mica, our loyalty... well, it isn't just what others have told us. Do realize, the only thing I cared about previously was our father's approval - literally the ONLY thing."
"But that's not the case anymore, I hope," Mica said, looking at Obsidian, "you have friends now, others who are concerned about your welfare. I mean, you can certainly still care about his approval, but it shouldn't be the only thing you care about anymore. And I agree with her; not a word about Looking Glass and her reality, not to ANYPONY else, Clap."
The pegasus nodded, then pondered for a moment before she said, "But I don't get it, Siddy - WHY do you still care? You said so yourself, that he beat you, and it's already been shown that his plans are to just take you over, making the Siddy I know one dead pony. How do you still care, after all he's done to you!?"
"Because he is my father, Clap - the one that literally crafted me, put part of his soul into me and then trained and taught everything I know. I'm not really keen to die, but I don't want any of my siblings to die as well, and at the same time I would like to see him... hopefully with no explosions or slaughter..."
She pondered for a moment. "... maybe even, you know, in a more fatherly fashion; more of your modern Equestrian sensibilities? He was different before he found out about the Umbral Empire... but probably just as powerful, wise and wonderful as he was later."
The thought of her family being similar to other families in Equestria... that dream was worth a shot. Sister Ruby was kind of cute, anyway - she could be Obsidian's big sister! Best friends forever!
Mica looked over at Clap. "I think what she's saying is that Siddy's seen how families are in Equestria, and she wants the same with her own."
"Oh. Ohhhhhhh... okay, that, I get. Okay Sids," she smiled, "if that's what you want, well... your sister's a butt, but we can try, right? I mean the other sister, not... well, she did say-"
"Clap," Mica smirked, "she gets it; let it go." Clap nodded.
The three of them made their way back to the Applejack Suite, where Cupcake, Stalwart and Gypsy were still waiting. Upon seeing them, Cup smiled. "Hey guys! Did you fi-"
"STOP!" Stalwart stepped forward to the door, holding it only a crack open as she looked out at them... which meant it was a single green eye at knee-level. "How do we know it's you?"
Ah, Stalwart - perhaps a bit paranoid, but maybe a touch of paranoia was perfect for their current situation. "I literally called Cupcake a 'meanie' during our first meeting and he ran away crying afterwards; the first time you met me, you were immediately suspicious of me when you heard who my father was; Cupcake threatened to pluck a griffon bare after they beat upon you... and Thunderclap has won every race that she has proposed with me. Is that enough?"
"It's her!" Cup called out from inside, and Wart nodded, opening the door.
Again, Obsidian was treated to the sight of the lovely Dark Crysssssstal she'd created; she wondered idly - would Princess Twilight have an issue with the broken floor? Hopefully not too much... though, to be fair, the crystal was rather big.
"D-d-d-did you f-find the sp-sp-spell?" There was a small army of paper ponies around him of all different colors and some of different sizes... along with a paper diamond dog, surrounded by five paper ponies, in the center.
"I hope you were successful," Wart said, "because I am a bit bored, guarding a rock."
"Yes, yes, we found a book that's apparently far more interesting than I initially thought, and even came across yet another one of my siblings; Sister Ruby is actually really cute."
Obsidian then quickly rushed to the crystal, checking to see if it was damaged or, Darkness forbid, cracked!
"I hope everything's alright here? Nopony treated you badly, did they? You are the greatest cryssssstal I've ever made, and I'm so proud of you, my little nugget of Darkness..." Obsidian cooed, sliding a calming hoof against its' surface.
Wart blinked as Obsidian cooed over the crystal. "It... er, i-it made not a sound, nor was it damaged, though Gypsy did sniff it thoroughly and decorate it a bit." She pointed a hoof at a single spire that branched out; it was wearing a paper hat, and had a paper griffon perched on it. Otherwise, the crystal was unmolested.
Cupcake lifted an eyebrow. "Another sister? Uh-oh... she didn't hurt anyone, did she?"
"Ooooh, did you have fun with my friends? Oh, I'm so glad you like them..." Obsidian made a fuss over the cryssssstal a bit more before she turned to face Cupcake. "No, she didn't; in fact, she didn't even try to fight - as I said, she was cute and kind. She was also looking for this book," she levitated it to Stalwart, "but got scared when I startled her, so I managed to grab it. Too bad that I wasn't able to talk her into joining us, I think you'd have liked her."
Cupcake smiled. "Sounds like I would; I hope we get to see her soon!"
"Okay," Mica gathered their attention. "Now that we have the Locator Spell, we have to cast it. Obsidian, if you'll do the magics, Cup can assist you while the rest of us stand back and keep an eye on the doors; once it's active, we'll travel together and find where the source of it is. Hopefully, we'll find Miss Tome while we're at it."
"Yeah," Clap said, "I'm kinda worried about her - I hope she's okay."
Wart looked to Obsidian. "I have every confidence you can do this, Your Majesty - just please, be careful."
Cupcake stepped next to Obsidian, grinning. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's find Miss Tome!"
"It would be wise to send a message to either the princess or the headmare after casting this spell - I'd prefer to have potential reinforcements... or at least know where the proper authorities should look for our bodies, in the worst case scenario."
Obsidian said it very casually, but was not allowing herself to think about it - the mental vision of her dead friends could bring her back to that very dark place in her mind. She levitated the book back to herself to look for the Locator Spell - and maybe a quick peek at what else it had to offer.
The book itself didn't seem to have any actual Dark Magic spells in it - but there were some interesting defensive spells in the back, geared toward defending oneself against said Darkness. A shield spell (which her own was already more powerful than), a taint-cleaning spell (for small things, like food or clothing), an alignment spell (for distinguishing motive... interesting...), a spell to produce dark-rending light (about a candle's worth)... AH! There it was!
"I'll have to check this book more thoroughly later - my sister was certain that something here would possibly be able to bring our father back; I need to find it before they do," Obsidian informed her friends as she started to read the spell.
[LOCATOR SPELL]: This spell is often used to locate concentrations of Dark or Chaos Magic. It was created for the purpose of locating and properly identifying items or objects, as long as there exists a sample of what is being sought out. The sample is destroyed in the spell's casting, and the effects will last for roughly two hours. While the spell is active, it will direct the caster toward the nearest target; targets further than one mile will be exempt from the spell's effects.
The writing underneath it was easy enough to understand; casting this would be a breeze. Of course, there was the notation that the 'sample' would be destroyed...
"... th-the... sample is... destroyed?" She looked with teary eyes and a heavy heart at her beautiful, wonderful cryssssssstal.
"Oh, you poor lovely thing, I'm so sorry I have to do this... I really don't want to, but I have to..." She actually stopped reading, trotted closer and embraced the beautiful crysssssstal, as if she was calming a filly before their visit to the doctor... to be put to sleep.
Cupcake placed a hoof on her back. "If you want, I'll paint you a picture of it later, okay?"
Mica looked at her. "Okay. We're ready. Begin the spell, and we'll be right here."
The first part of the spell was the setup, and it was simple enough to speak... though the language was weird, it wasn't undecipherable. After a few false starts, she felt something click as she finally got it correct. Now, all she had to do was touch the 'sample', and the spell would be complete.
It was a tearjerking moment; Obsidian struggled to overcome herself, knowing that the spell would destroy the most wonderful personal creation in her entire life... but she had to do it. To save Miss Tome, and to stop her siblings. Hopefully, they hadn't broken Amethyst out of the dungeon already.
Finally, with a tear and a sniffle, Obsidian touched the crystal.
With a sound like a shattering wind chime, the crystal seemed to fold in on itself, then >FOOF<... it was nothing more than a pile of purplish ash, piled onto the break in the floor.
... and Obsidian felt the world slide away from her. It was when she felt the magics go off that the truth of the matter became clear; this was no Locator Spell at all... it was a teleportation spell! As the world shifted, she felt her body disintegrate, then reform; the process wasn't painful at all, but extremely disorienting, and not to mention a little surreal.
When everything around her finally swam into focus, she was standing inside a circle of purplish ash (the same color as her poor, poor crystal), with a seven-pointed star painted in the center. Around her were massive shelves, reaching farther than she could see above her, the walls curving around as if she were at the bottom of a massive well... and those shelves were filled, even crammed, with books of all sizes and colors.
To one side, there was a small alcove and a doorway; the door was open, and there was a greenish-blue, almost sickly light coming from the other room. The dark red candles that littered the huge well-chamber she was in were lit, and the wax looked almost like... blood...
The floor was ancient stone, worn and slightly damp. The air was chilly and musty, as if she were in a cavern that had not seen fresh air in a long, long time. The bookshelves went on for what looked like many stories above her head; with the lack of proper light, she couldn't see the ceiling at all.
How was such an upset possible? This book had supposedly been there for a long time, as sister Ruby had been looking for it - it just couldn't be a trap! She didn't even know they would be looking for the damnable spell until a few minutes ago! Her siblings would have had to prepare a fake book, then would have to manufacture a reason to ensure that she'd fetch it and so on, and so forth. Too many strange events that would have had only the very slightest of chances to succeed... and yet, here she was.
What was this place? So many books... did her siblings really have to look for any more? The entire place seemed to be underground - and considering the air quality, it was a terrible place to keep books - at least as long as their owner didn't want them to get molded and rot.
And it seemed that none of her friends had accompanied her... how wonderful. A feeling of frustration started to grow in Obsidian's heart, a light purple mist wisping slightly from her eyes. She walked to the shelves, to check out these books - were they titles that Miss Tome had been bringing her siblings?
Scorched Earth: The Legacy of Fennestri
Lazander's Law: Volume Six
Shadows of the Night
The Razor's Edge: Finding the Chasm
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Darkness Falls On Crystalia
Darkheart's Curse
Blood Sacrifices and Rituals
The Craft of Flaying
... these books were rather serious, or at least their titles sounded so. And there were so many more she couldn't read without levitating them down. And those shelves seemed to go on forever...
Craft of Flaying? Blood Sacrifices? Somepony was taking this whole 'bringing father back' thing very seriously. It didn't sound good - Obsidian was sure as Tartarus (pardon her Prench) that she didn't want anypony passionate about flaying anywhere near her friends.
She levitated "Lazander's Law" over to her, to quickly check out its' contents - everything would have been far easier if her dear sister Onyx would have been the kind to hoard, say, romance novels...
From what she gathered from a quick skim of the book, it looked like a set of laws and decrees that seemed draconic and ancient, dealing with things she had no idea of; death for those who spoke ill of the Umbral, drawing and quartering for betrayals, removal of... hands?... for stealing, eye removal for looking directly at an Umbral, via a hot steel rod, and so on...
Lazander was supposedly some sort of ruler or king, but none of the things mentioned made her feel as if this entity had even existed in the past few thousand years. There was even a few hoofdrawn pictu-OH SWEET DARKNESS, THAT WAS DISGUSTING!
Even for how she had grown up, it was far too graphic, and made her hardened stomach lurch a bit.
Well, that most certainly might be what could explain why some creatures would really, really wanted to shatter this Darkheart, to be fair. It was pretty harsh; Obsidian herself would probably already be put to death - multiple times - for all the things she had done since she first woke up.
So her father... was looking to bringing back things like that? These umbrals weren't seeing ponies even as tools - they were something far, far lower. The title gaining her interest, she picked up the next book, 'Darkheart's Curse".
Hopefully this one wouldn't have pictures.
The words were written in what appeared to be blood, and the book had no table of contents, nor an introduction; it was as if it had been hoofwritten.
When the world still cooled the skies rained stone
and the Darkheart fell to us and spoke to us loudly
in a hundred voices of night
For seventy revolutions the Darkheart brought
shadows and when light returned nothing green survived
and the world was stone and mud
We were much afeared for there was no hope
no manner to save ourselves from the terror that was
and the terror that had now become real
Yet the Darkheart spoke and it demanded blood
and it was fed out of fear and it brought back the green
but it was not the same and never would be
Before she could read any further, a voice spoke from behind her. "YOOUUU... I see YOU have COME at LAST!"
She knew that voice...
She immediately set up a shield - better safe than sorry... or in this case, better safe than dead.
"It's a true joy to hear your voice, o vastly inferior brother of mine," she growled as she turned to face him. Of all of her siblings, this one had to be neutralized most quickly and thoroughly. And without her friends or any other help, she had no other choice but to use everything she had.
Tourmaline was standing at the doorway, his psychotic smile wide and bright as he looked at her like she was made of hay, and he was starving. "Oh, are we already at jibes? Well, then I would LOVE to reMIND you that YOU are the LEAST of my WOR-"
"Hush, Tourmaline; that's no way to welcome your sister home." The voice came from the blue-green room, and it sounded... familiar somehow.
The effect the words had on her erstwhile brother was immediate; his mouth closed so fast, she heard his lips pop. He glared daggers at her... yet, slowly and with great visible reluctance, he stepped back towards that doorway and, without taking his red eyes off her, he moved away far enough to allow her plenty of room to enter.
"Please, Obsidian... meet me," the voice from the other room requested, "we have much to discuss." |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty Four: Fly, Meet Spider | Jibes? To be at jibes, Tourmaline would need to have something on his mind other than his apparent psychopathy. Ah, but now, she was going to finally meet the mastermind behind all this - the pony who was seemingly both respected and feared by her siblings.
Obsidian pointedly smirked at her brother, and walked to the room. What other options did she have right now, after all?
First things first... and at least without Amethyst present, they shouldn't be able to use slave helmets on her.
The enormous room was almost as massive as the library/well, but across instead of up; the walls only rose three stories, but seemed to go outward forever. There was a relatively small thatch of an island in the center, with a stone path leading directly to it... the entire rest of the floor, all around the room, was nothing but a pool of black water - it reached from one end to the other, disappearing out of sight after what looked to be a few city blocks.
And the walls? They were absolutely covered in Dark Crystals that were the size of entire houses!
They took up every single centimeter of wall-space and most of the ceiling, and glistened with sheer power in their own malevolent light. They were all so varied; tall, short, fat, thin, column-sized to straw-sized... and practically everything in between. It put the crystal she'd created to utter shame; this was what successful crystal growth truly looked like!
The island in the middle was about as big around as the Crystal Palace's throne room, and there was a rise of steps that ended at a throne on a dias, all made of the same Dark Crystal. The throne was elegant and seemed to be decorated with runes of power; it was even more incredible how it looked to have not actually been chiseled that way... but to have been grown in such a manner. No seams, no added pieces - perfect.
And seated on that throne was none other than Miss Tome, smiling sweetly at her.
"Hello, Obsidian. I am quite pleased to finally meet you, after all these centuries. Please, come." She beckoned with a single hoof. Tourmaline stared at Obsidian as she passed him by, but said not a word.
Cryssssstalssssss... something deep in her soul was whispering to her that she should spend more of her time here - she could research these crystals, use them, perhaps even try to grow them herself. Alas, but there was no time for that now - not when she was about to speak with her greatest nemesis. The largest threat to her existence.
Such a shame, as this place was perfect - everything was masterfully crafted, prepared with great care... and it even came with its' own throne...
"And to think, I was toying with the idea that you might have been behind things for a moment before discarding it as insane - woe on me," Obsidian said dryly, as she stepped closer. It didn't make any sense to her - of all ponies, Miss Tome had the greatest opportunity to recruit her; in fact, the only reason why Amethyst was sent to Twilight's dungeon with broken bones and a bleeding horn was because Miss Tome had failed to bring Obsidian into the fold.
This was this legendary mastermind she heard so much about?
She grinned as Obsidian came close. "There you are. I do apologize for not speaking with you sooner, but my plans were... derailed a bit, thanks to your discovery. I'd planned to release you... but not for another decade. Still... I suppose your appearance should be considered a good omen, as it brought me opportunities I hadn't had before."
She looked past her to her brother. "Bring your sister a chair, Tourmaline. Now."
He jumped like he'd been bitten by something, and scampered back into the library well. Miss Tome looked her over calmly, seeming not at all interested in attacking her.
"And so, with your presence, many of my plans are very close to fruition. But I'm sure you have some..." she grinned, "confusion as to how all this happened, and what shall happen next, yes? Then please, by all means, I am more than happy to answer anything you need explained, dear sister."
Tourmaline returned with a moldy, yet sturdy chair and placed it on the dias, within ten feet of that magnificent throne. "Please, make yourself comfortable," the mare offered.
Derailed, eh? Considering that Obsidian still had not even the slightest idea of what Onyx could get from her 'kidnapping', except having far less freedoms to implement her plans and allowing Princess Twilight to realize that a bunch of Sombra's children were trying to bring him back... but perhaps this local librarian had a good explanation?
At first, she wanted to just ignore the proffered chair, but there was no point in it; Onyx was obviously trying to act like King Sombra, and it would be useless to annoy her before milking some information from her first - so Obsidian 'made herself comfortable'.
"Now... why didn't you just speak with me in the beginning of all this? I even asked madam headmare for a library job, just to get close without any suspicion." Perhaps Obsidian was better at planning than Onyx, and simply had less time to prepare...
Miss Tome sat back, taking in the pony in front of her and steepling her hooves. "If you recall, you were being watched at the time, plus your being here ten years early threw me off, just a bit. And honestly? It brought about the need to advance my plans... so I had to improvise." She smiled a bit at that.
"Twilight Sparkle just so happened to possess a certain book that I required for our Father's ressurrection... and I've been here in this blasted country for years, undercover, trying to find a way to get into the royal vaults to get it... a way that you, though your impeccable timing, allowed me to manufacture..."
She smiled wickedly, as if pleased with herself.
"It was already known that you had connections to Father, so it wasn't much of a stretch to encase myself in crysssssstal, to make it obvious that someone was trying to 'frame' you... and of course, Twilight Sparkle would want to keep me safe, yes? So, into the vault I went, and once I released myself, the book was mine - and with my prize in hoof, I merely escaped by using Ruby to pop me right out with her teleportation magic. So thank you, Obsidian; you helped me to achieve my goal, and nopony was the wiser for it. In fact, I'm willing to assume that they probably still think 'Miss Tome' is in peril..."
She reached a single hoof into the air and swirled it in a lazy circle... and as she did, the form of 'Miss Tome' swirled away like so much dust. Underneath...
Onyx was a tall and thin mare, with a jet black coat and a mane of black and red. She was exquisitely beautiful to behold, any stallion's dream come true (save for the sight of her sharp teeth, perfectly white and intact), and her coat was crimson red around her hooves, making it appear as though she'd been stomping in a pool of blood. Her eyes were a vivid purple, glowing green like they were aflame inside with balefire. She wore a long, sensuous bodysuit that was black and slick like oil, and a necklace of silver with a small red jewel in it, gleaming on her chest amidst her dark fur.
"I am so very done being a librarian - though I still have quite a collection of books. Always room to read up, don't you know?" She sat back again, proud and regal, looking the part of a true Umbral princess. "Any other questions, dear Obsidian?" she asked.
These damned illusions... Life would be far easier if they wouldn't keep changing their appearances on a whim. Grudgingly, though, Obsidian had to admit that her older sister looked quite lovely.
"And everything happened in such a grand manner that I had to fight not one, but two of our siblings," the Dark Princess complained, though she admitted to herself that it was making at least a little more sense. However, couldn't they have used Ruby for that same purpose?
"Yes... might I ask about your necklace, dear sister?" For some reason, she had a feeling of forebodance over that silver trinket...
Onyx laughed, and it sounded melodious and pleasant. "Amethyst and Tourmaline are quite useful, given exact directions and little room to debate... but they aren't exactly very intelligent." She glanced over at Tourmaline. "Isn't that right?"
Her brother almost seemed about to glare back in defiance... but instead, he shamefully looked at the floor, impotent rage in his eyes. "Yes, Onyx."
"But they are loyal. They wanted to kill each other, once upon a time - but I put a distinct stop to that activity. After all, they are holders of Father's power; it would be a waste to lose them so close to the magic moment to come."
She smiled so sweetly... and yet, it was filled with poison.
"So, as they haven't much thought on the matter, I simply directed them to attempt to harm you. Being who you are, I was quite sure they would not succeed... and I was right, of course. Tourmaline's attempt showed me what you knew and how you fought. A bit sad," she smirked, "but with potential. Also, he truly does need to be put in his place, every now and then. Something you accomplished admirably, with assistance from that little whelp who mewls at your heels, calling you Majesty."
She sneered at the thought, but recovered quickly and went on calmly.
"As for Amethyst? She was so you would feel a sense of urgency to find me; it worked out beautifully, to be honest. As I was certain somepony would come seeking me someday, I had placed that book into the library only days after I'd started working there... and when I was ready, I sent Ruby to fetch it, letting her think it was important to me... which it never was; I only needed her to lure you here, by getting you to take that specific book and utilize the spell I'd put in it."
"Ruby is the researcher of our little gathering, who I've been using for years - but she's far too loyal to realize she's just a tool to me. A foolish and weak-willed tool, at that. But she makes for a grand innocent, and has quite an ability to garner sympathy, does she not? Not that she knows I lied to her about the book... not that it mattered to me."
She then looked down at the necklace she wore and smiled. "To answer your question, it's a key, dear sister... a key that will very soon open a door that I have been seeking for FAR too long."
The moment Obsidian heard the word 'tool', she knew she wouldn't like Onyx. To be fair, she didn't really like Amethyst or Tourmaline either... but it didn't change the fact that they were her family - and she was doing her best to save them, even going as far as demanding Thunderclap to stop abusing Amethyst as soon as she was defeated.
Onyx, however? She was no better than their father... bah, worse, even - he technically had the right to their loyalty, bodies and souls, as he'd made them himself. She was just another artificial pony with no right to treat herself as somepony better.
And she was a bit too smart for her own good; these plans sounded over-complicated in places where they should be simple and vice versa. If Obsidian was in her place, Amethyst and Tourmaline would be properly used and she would be sitting on...
... well, considering the history of Equestria and its' villains, she would most likely end up as a statue.
"You say it's a... key to our father's glorious return?" She tried to guess - was it possibly a shard of the Darkheart?
Onyx gave another toothy smile. "Something like that."
At this point, there was a flash of light, accompanied by a staccato >POP<, and Ruby appeared directly in front of the throne, with a bandaged and irritated-looking Amethyst. The latter was still a bit disoriented, but Ruby herself seemed fine for the trouble.
"I fetched Amethyst, like you wanted me to." Ruby spoke quickly, "a-and it was difficult talking my way past the guards, but it worked - but I think one of them might have seen me leave. I don't know if he can identify me, but I told you I wouldn't have to use... violence..."
Her eyes widened as she saw Obsidian, and a smile almost had time to appear on her muzzle before Amethyst caught sight of her. Instantly, the wounded mare stood forward, taking an offensive stance and gritting her teeth angrily.
"You! I'm gonna-"
"DO. NOTHING." Onyx said with a voice that echoed off the crystalline walls. Instantly, Amethyst shut up, gritting her teeth tightly but saying nothing else, her gaze turned to the foor. Ruby froze in place, a bead of sweat rolling down her muzzle.
Done with her warning, Onyx continued. "Good - that means we're all here, where we should be. Now, as soon as we can, we need to ensure that we are ready for the great and glorious day to come. If you have anything else to ask, now would be the time... because time grows short."
She stood up, her mane flowing out behind her; it reminded Obsidian of Luna's mane, as it seemed to flow on its' own. "Are you prepared, Obsidian, to do your part?"
Onyx didn't really want to bring their father back, did she? Such a manipulative pony wouldn't waste so much time on someone else's sake, and she certainly didn't seem to want to kill herself...
And of course Ruby, Onyx's damned tool, somehow managed to fetch Amethyst; just as always, the fact that Obsidian did things in the wrong order was biting her in the flank. If she'd only sent word to Princess Twilight before casting the 'Locator' Spell...
First things first, eh?
"You didn't exactly explain my part, sister," Obsidian rose from the chair, eyeing her siblings. Hopefully, Amethyst was still hurt and sore, so she wouldn't be as much of a problem... she might be able to defeat Tourmaline with a sufficiently powerful attack... Ruby didn't seem to be willing to fight...
It would mean using a great deal of Dark Magic - so much so that, in the end, Equestria might find out that Empress Obsidian was claiming the throne - but she was willing to risk it, if only to save her friends and Ruby.
"Oh, that's the easy part, my darling Obsidian... you see, from all I've gathered, each shard that Father created had a purpose, a base, that they were required to carry for him. Amethyst had the power to enslave, Tourmaline the ability to project illusions, Ruby has teleportation... and you, dear sister, have a significant portion of his POWER."
She now looked at Obsidian gravely. "And that power is what we need now. Oh! But I suppose we should discuss something I believe you have some interest in, hmmmm?"
She stepped towards the pool's edge, looking out across the still and silent black waters. "Your... favored tools, shall we say?" She smiled with a wicked glimmer in her eye. "I believe you should be allowed to keep one or two, but not all five of them; too close to Equestria's favorite number for heroes. No, you may be allowed to choose up to TWO that will become your personal slaves. However, the rest?"
She gave her lips a lascivious lick. "Well, we'll simply say that they will... provide for us, shall we? So, which of them interests you the most? Don't be shy; they'll be completely yours, so I'd choose carefully..."
No living ponies were just tools for Obsidian or her inferior sister Onyx to use as they pleased - and that definitely included her friends, her siblings (even those who may have been mentally challenged) - NOPONY. Their illustrious father could technically claim his children for his own use, as he'd actually created them - but they were, in a way, equal. And, as far as Obsidian was concerned, it made them equal, more or less, with the rest of the world.
Was Onyx trying to get under her skin?
"Surely Gypsy, as he could be quite useful," she said, containing a fury that was growing in her mind. "For the second one, may I choose from outside this group? There is another pony I'd like to keep for myself..."
"The Diamond Mutt?" Onyx questioned, "Oh, I'm certain it could be quite useful - especially in the crysssssssstal mines of our glorious Empire... in fact, I daresay I have plans for that entire race of," her lip sneered in disgust, "... vermin. But, if you so wish to waste space on it, then I suppose you can have it."
Ruby looked at Obsidian with a curious look, as if wondering why she was making such decisions in the first place.
Meanwhile, Amethyst had slunk her way over to Tourmaline, and the two of them simply stared daggers at Obsidian.
"But another outside your little group, you say? Well, that's fine I suppose - no need to stay within the boundaries of what you know; hopefully, you'll be present when I put an end to them... tell you what, I'll even allow you to have the first bite, once they're flayed, seasoned and roasted at Father's coronation."
She smiled at Obsidian with razor-sharp teeth. "How does that sound to you?"
Then again, it looked as though Onyx really DID want to bring their father back; Obsidian couldn't be sure of anything right now, except the fact that her sister was trying to make her furious - and was making progress with it.
"Bah, I wanted to kill Cupcake and Lemon myself," she said casually, moving carefully closer to Ruby; now, that Amethyst was standing next to Tourmaline, it should be safe. In a way, it was the truth - she could almost smile at the memory how terribly they had both angered her, after her arrival... and how nice it had felt to receive Lemon's approval and to enjoy Cup's crazy antics...
And she really, really shouldn't think too much about that flaying part.
"But eating Thunderclap? Have you seen those muscles - she'd taste terrible, sister."
Just a bit closer...
"And you wouldn't have too much use for a broken researcher, sister Onyx - you described her yourself as 'foolish and weak-willed' - our sister Ruby," As much as she was trying to hold her anger in, she growled the last part, feeling her Dark Magic building and boiling inside her - she was starting to hate Onyx far too much, far too quickly.
Onyx casually breathed on a hoof, then daintily brushed it on her chest fur. "Oh, I enjoy a challenge. You see, I am well aware of how tough muscles are... whch is why I have plans to tenderize that one."
She smiled as she began speaking her list. "She will be beaten thoroughly first, of course - have to take the fight out of her, don't you know? Plus, bones broken in the process will just add more delicious marrow to her meat. Once she's pacified, I'll have Amethyst tend to her with her blade, though I want the pegasus alive and conscious for this - I do so love the screaming part!"
Cannibalism... though Tourmaline was psychotic and Amethyst was crazy, Onyx crossed the line into the realm of horrifying by the idea alone that she not only could eat other ponies, but that she apparently enjoyed it.
"Once she's flayed, I'll have her boiled. Sadly, that will most certainly kill her, but alas, the pursuit of flavor, eh? Anyway, once she's boiled down enough, I'll probably endeavor to have some enslaved cooks separate the fat for butter, then begin grinding the remaining bones for broth flavoring."
A small drop of drool started to work it's way down her lip, but she licked it up with a grin.
"And that will just be a single course - with her size, we'll eat well for a day or two, but I suggest it won't be too long before we're, eh... rid of her for good, once that's done." She let her eyes slide sideways to look at Obsidian. "Shall I tell you my plans for the tiny whelp?"
Kill kill kill KILL KILL KI-
"Stalwart? A salad, I'd wager - there's barely enough meat to serve as an appetizer."
Obsidian growled inwardly, trying to fight against her hatred as it grew with each word of Onyx's descriptions. So this was her glorious mastermind of a sister, who was supposedly leading her siblings to ressurrect her fallen father? Such a waste of space and oxygen...
ObsIdiAn wAs bEttEr iN EverY Way THaN tHiS FOoliSh MArE!!!
"You know, Cupcake could cook her - he is a rather skilled chef, and it would be entertaining to use one meal to make another," she proposed pleasantly... through gritted teeth. She reminded herself all the wonderful food he'd cooked for her... and wondered what he would make tomorrow.
Obsidian wanted to immediately impale Onyx with the biggest crystal she could create - but there had to be reason for this discussion. At least it seemed that her vile sibling was really into her descriptions - perhaps she could make her dream about eating ponies long enough to reach Ruby...
"Oh, no - far too small for food... however, she would most certainly make a fine vest. Skinned, alive preferably - and I do happen to know a number of spells that will help... preserve her, so that I can take my time enjoying her skinless form. As she's so tiny, a bite a day should be sufficient to make her pain last for weeks."
She smiled broadly at Obsidian. "Won't that be delightful, dear sister? Not only will we enjoy the company of your so-called 'friends' one last time, but I'll have a nice little addition to my wardrobe to remember this occasion by - I'll even share it with you, should you like!"
She then shrugged lightly. "Of course, we could simply skin them all - except the mongrel - and make an entirely new wardrobe! Oh, the screams will be delightful!!" Onyx threw back her magnificent head and laughed with the voice of a lunatic, echoing all around them before she caught her breath and smiled again.
"And you want Ruby? Come now, you can't have her - she'll be feasting right along with us! You cannot own a piece of Father!"
"Ah, with the way you were talking about her, I thought you wouldn't want to share with her. Well then... hooray for a nice, happy family, I suppose. Maybe... Licorice, then? In case you've forgotten, he is... very well-built, I daresay. I may enjoy his slavery quite a lot..."
What in Tartarus had Miss Trixie told her about crushes? "You know, rubbing stuff..." Hopefully it was believable enough - Obsidian was almost close enough to reach Ruby! Almost there! Just a little bit more!
Onyx's smile faltered, just a touch.
Obsidian continued. "There are also Mica and Cupcake - and frankly, I expect Mica to taste rather bland... and for Cupcake to make us sugar-sick." Yes, Mica was a bit bland, wasn't he? He was probably the closest thing they had to 'normal' in their group, and had been the only one to not accept her half-hearted apology when she'd offered it - but had accepted it when she spoke honestly and from the heart.
Onyx's smile faded, and she gave a long, drawn out sigh. "Obsidian... do you truly believe I'm buying into your sham?"
She turned to look at her, and shook her head as she clicked her tongue. "I was pulling stunts like that while I was still fresh - even Father was impressed by how ruthless I was. And now, you speak as if you were nothing more than a foal, with your 'rubbing stuff' - did you believe that would work?"
She now stared directly into Obsidian's eyes, and locked her gaze there. The green aura of those violet eyes felt vile and diseased, as if she had a plague right behind them, ready to unleash upon the world. "I've been watching you, you idiot - since the day you strolled into the library and confessed your name, I've had you on constant monitor... and I've seen it all." She now stood up from the throne, her focus completely on Obsidian.
"The argument with the boring meat, the hugs and... snuggles... with the candy meat, the yelling from muscle meat at Ruby, the 'apologies', oh sweet Darkness... ALL OF IT. And may I say that I'm frankly disgusted that you would find anything worthy of your time in any of them at all."
Her stare redoubled, and the smile left her features entirely. "I plan, wholeheartedly, to tear your little slave-toys apart right in front of your idiotic eyes... and once I complete that, I'll devour whatever's left, and force your leftover 'comPANions' to eat whatever I leave behind! Your group will dwindle while they fatten up on each other, and then I'll turn the last one into high-quality manure MYSELF!!!!!"
She started walking towards Obsidian, her brow beginning to furrow disturbingly as purple mist began to pour from her eyes... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty Five: Broken Glass | The only one that was going to be devoured was ONYX HERSELF!
Long-contained fury erupted from Obsidian; her eyes didn't simply start to emit mist - they looked as if they were aflame with purple fire!
"RUBY! PLEASE, RUN!" She shouted a considerably shortened version of everything she wanted to tell her sister, while at the same time she set up a shield - the strongest one she could. Even if it wasn't enough, it would have to do.
"DEVIANT! MAGGOT! I'LL ENJOY YOUR SUFFERING," Obsidian cackled with a deranged voice as her horn flashed with enraged Dark Magic - aimed straight at her perverted, gluttonous sister. Ruby, unfortunately, was transfixed by what was happening so much, she only blinked and gave out a "hunh?" when Obsidian spoke.
"Ruby! Please! Is THAT future you want?!" She desperately pleaded to the only sister she felt she could connect with.
Onyx paused, staring at her glowing horn. "And what do you plan to do with that, pray tell?" she asked with contempt.
"THIS!" was the only thing Obsidian managed to say before she blasted Onyx with every single shred of spite and fury in her heart. The sheer POWER and FORCE behind the bolt of red energy that shot from her horn was bigger than she'd ever known before; no less than THREE layers of overglow burst from her horn as the shot fired, and the light from it made the entire cavern shine like a small sun...
And as soon as it got close to Onyx, the entire beam went directly into the amulet... and kept going!
Obsidian couldn't stop projecting the blast, and now she could feel her energy being pulled into the amulet itself, syphoning off her own power! Helpless, she looked up and saw Onyx's oily smile return... in spades.
"Dear Princess Twilight," she began to orate, "I learned something today: that any tool can be manipulated into doing whatever needs doing, should you push it hard enough. And no matter how intelligent they may THINK they are... they truly have no chance against a superior intellect!"
Turning somewhat sideways, the amulet was now glowing a bright red color, which made the cavern glow intensely as the power kept draining away from Obsidian's horn. Onyx then lifted her hooves and stood on her back legs, gesturing at the water.
"Uoy fo sdnammoc esruc ruoy sa, yebo dna pu esir!"
A pencil-thin beam of red energy shot from the still-draining amulet, striking the water and making it glow where the beam met the surface. At first, nothing happened... then, bubbles began to surface; few at first, then more and more as the energy continuously fired into the now rippling pool.
"You see, Father knows he cannot defeat Equestria alone, or even with an army of slaves... but... his chances are FAR better with a horde of Umbral undead!!!!!"
From the black water rose a pony's foreleg... but it was unlike any foreleg she'd seen before, as it had wickedly sharp claws on the end of it, which flexed and creaked like old leather. Then another. And another. And five more. Then twenty more. Then a hundred more...
"Thank you, my dear, foolish sister! Because of you, Father has his army, and Equestria will witness its' supreme defeat as it comes under attack in the very heart of the nation! YOU have helped bring about the end of the Equestrian Era, and the renewal of the Umbral Nation! Under Father's rule, all shall kneel before him, and he shall own every last one of their pathetic lives!"
The first Umbrals broke the surface... and they were horrifying. Fanged maws, clawed hooves, jet black coats, rotten and stinking manes and tails, decayed frames and dessicated and vile horseflesh that was stretched taut over blackened muscle and mouldy tendons. And yet, even in their awful state, each one stood taller than Thunderclap!
They began to slough up from the bubbling, roiling depths, forming lines that became flowing rivers of undead, rolling and creeping through the tunnels and headed towards the outside world. Towards Equestria.
Obsidian now felt as though the amulet was nearly done with her magic, and was beginning to feast on her very soul! Her knees felt weak, her breathing shallow, her head pounding, her vision growing fuzzy; at this rate, she would be drained completely dry in mere minutes!
Looking over at her, Onyx gave a contemptuous sigh, then turned to Amethyst. "Her power is gone, and-... PAY ATTENTION!!!"
Amethyst was staring at the churning, rippling water filled with dark shapes, all headed for their position, hypnotized... at least, until Onyx snapped at her, where she jumped and looked to the eldest sister with shock and thinly-veiled contempt. "The spell is cast, and she is done; finish her."
"NOOOOOO!" Ruby suddenly bolted directly towards Obsidian, a look of fierce determination in her eyes as she ran directly into the gap between Obsidian and Amethyst. The crazed mare howled in anger, and using her magic she threw the dagger...
There was a >POP<...
... and Obsidian did collapse, as the line of draining energy was suddenly cut off. She hit the ground, and she felt as though she hadn't slept for days, though she strangely wasn't tired.
Around them was the Rarity Suite, in all it's overachieving elegance; ironic, where she was back where she started... but now there was a new issue; she couldn't feel her magic. At all. It was as if she was an Earth Pony; not even the tiniest blip of energy was present in her entire body. Next to her was Ruby, who was holding her tightly and crying silently; aside from that, it was deathly quiet.
But at least the plush carpeting felt good against her fur.
Dear Princess Twilight, my siblings (most of them) are real bastards - too bad that I'm an idiot. Yours, Siddy
To be fair, Obsidian was fairly certain she couldn't have fared much better; her plan had been very simple - to quickly convince Ruby to teleport away and call for help while she would try to hold off the rest of their siblings... or even teleport with her. It would ALL depend on Ruby - she'd find help, guards and bearers charge in, arrest everypony - a happy ending.
It a way, it had worked... too bad it had worked a bit too little, a bit too late. But really, how was she supposed to win a victory against someone who'd been plotting and scheming for longer than Obsidian had even been awake in the Modern World! She didn't feel well... then she realized Ruby was crying.
"No... nononononono - no crying! Father hates crying! Teleport us to... t-to somepony important..."
Ruby slowly looked up at her, tears silently making rolling rivers down her cheeks. "Oh, Obsidian... I'm so glad you're... okay..."
Ruby didn't look all that well either, now that she looked at her sister. She seemed a bit... weak? Pale? But the smile that slid across her features was just as sunny as it had been in the library.
"I... I wish you hadn't... h-hadn't had to ever... meet her..." Ruby still hadn't gotten up; the two of them were laying in the floor, her forelegs wrapped tightly around Obsidian. "Onyx. She knew this would..." she gave a slight whimper, "... would happen. She even told me you'd come to us, but... I never knew... it would actually... h-happen.."
Her adorable appearance began to shift, and slowly the form of Looking Glass melted away.
What was left was a rather pretty young mare, about her own age, with a cream-colored coat slashed with stripes of black and red - almost like a zebra, yet more like lash marks - and a long, luxurious black mane that was even longer than Glass' had been, which seemed to sparkle with red flecks. Her eyes were a soft, warm pink, and her tail was a cute little bob, neat and trim behind her...
About ten inches below the jagged steel dagger hilt sticking out of her back.
"But she didn't... d-didn't count on... on me... making my o-own... ch-choices..."
"Buck... my... life..." Obsidian stood up, almost feeling anger rising in her - almost. Her head was fuzzy and she was barely able to think properly. She was acting more on instincts, really - she knew that daggers in the back were very bad things and thus, somepony had to deal with it. But not her - not without her magic.
"Ruby... oh, Ruby, you precious thing... s-stay here, I'll call for help..." Hobbling, Obsidian moved towards the doors of the Rarity Suite; there had to be guards there, right? The universe couldn't hate Obsidian that much, could it?
Obsidian's legs collapsed under her the very moment she tried to take a step; she tumbled to the floor, feeling too weak to walk... almost too weak to move.
From the floor, Ruby smiled at her sister. "Obsidian... without me, they-" She drew in a sharp hiss of air, and her muzzle contorted in pain for a moment... then, sweating, she continued. "... th-they won't be... able... to t-teleport... anymore..."
A sliver of light flashed off the dagger as she tried to move, but with a sharp and pained whine, Ruby merely settled back down onto the floor. "... l-listen... to me... my b-bag..."
She made a feeble gesture toward her saddlebag, lying on her hips. "T... t-take it. In it, th-there's a book... I've been ... r-reading... and my notes on the p-... the p-... the prophecy. Notes I... n-never told... her... about..."
Her watery eyes almost seemed to be eagerly drinking in the sight of Obsidian, as if they would never see her again.
"... I w-wish we... could h-ha-have had...a t-tea... party... together..."
She gave a sharp cough, and blood bubbled across her dainty pink lips. "... oh, it... i-it's getting... why is it so c-cold? Ob... Obsidi... an... w-would you..."
Those pleading eyes looked to her. "... h-hold me? I'm sc-scared... of the... d-d-dark..."
Buck life. Buck everything, buck Equestria, buck Twilight, buck Onyx! Nothing mattered... nothing really mattered anymore.
Obsidian crawled back to Ruby, wrapping her hooves around the best sister ever. "We... w-we will, Ruby. You'll love my friends, I'm sure of it. We have... ha-have a lot to catch up on... right?" Obsidian was practically choking on her words.
Buck. Everything. Why she was such a damned failure? Not even a single attempt she'd tried to use to improve anything worked; she felt like she should just jump off the roof of the school - this way, she wouldn't screw anything up anymore...
Ruby nuzzled against her coat; her sweet sister smelled of exotic herbs and parchment, and her mane was softer than even Cupcake's coat. Her smile, dotted with tiny flecks her own blood, widened as Obsidian held her closely. "You're... a good... pony..."
She gave a soft sigh that became a light, almost polite cough... though the cough produced even more blood. Gauging from the angle they'd been lying at, Obsidian would have taken that dagger fully into her chest; Ruby, with her sacrifice, had saved her life twice now; once from the magical drain, and once from Amethyst's blade.
"I can't... w-wait to... chat about... ghosts... and... books... and..." Obsidian felt her shuddering inside.
"... friend..." Her eyelids began to slide down, Obsidian being the very last thing those warm pink eyes ever beheld.
"... ship..." Her eyes finally slid closed, and her breathing became very, very shallow.
"Ob... sid... i... an?" She attempted to lift a hoof, but to no avail as it thumped back down. "Is... my... mane... ok-kay?"
"Your mane is beautiful, sis," Obsidian assured her. Stupid Onyx. Stupid Amethyst and Tourmaline. Everypony involved was stupid, really - her father's legacy was mothing more than a parade of failures and idiocy!
Ruby's smile twitched wider, and she sighed with relief. "Thank... you... I...I..."
Her voice grew so soft, Obsidian could barely hear her. "... l... l-love... y... you... sis... t..."
There was a twitch from deep inside... and then, with a soft sigh, she settled against Obsidian. Her shallow breathing silenced. A small smile on her lips. She looked adorable, like she was just sleeping, and she'd be awake soon to do all the things that sisters should do together when she woke up.
The room was still and quiet.
Honestly, Obsidian had no real reason to even to try to get up; even the thought of using the same dagger to bring about her own sweet release was a total and complete lack of energy... or care.
Stupid Equestrians! Everything would have been perfectly fine if they hadn't allowed an ancient conspiracy to appear in the very middle of their accursed school! And stupid Thunderclap, why she couldn't she have just shut her trap for a moment?
Stupid Stalwart, where did she even hear about this spell? Stupid Twilight, she really should've just destroyed her yesterday!
... and stupid Obsidian, for trusting ANYONE - even herself - to do something properly.
By her count, it took roughly fifteen minutes for Ruby's body to cool. It was several minutes after that when the door to the Rarity Suite opened up, and Butter Churn stepped inside. She started to look the room over, but when she saw the bloody mare and Obsidian in the floor, she jumped. "Sweet sufferin' succotash! Obsidian!? What in-"
Then it registered, and she stuck her head out the door and into the hall. "'MERGENCY! 'MERGENCY! HELP! GUARDS! HELP!"
Like lightning, three guards galloped down the hall and hit the doorway. As soon as they saw her, one turned to speak quickly to another. "Inform the princess that we've found her! I'll gather the doctor!" He pointed to the third. "YOU stay and guard!"
Two of the guards headed off, and the remaining one gave Obsidian a worried look. "Miss Obsidian, are you alright? We've been searching all over for you!"
Butter Churn looked at the two of them, then pointed to Ruby. "Is... is she..?" One look at Obsidian's muzzle, and sorrow rolled across her own like rainclouds. "Oh, sugarcube..."
Obsidian just stared at Butter Churn with a completely empty look, devoid of any emotion in her eyes; after all... Father didn't find tears acceptable, did he?
"Hon, ah am so sorry. Did... did she mean a lot to ya? Should we... y'know... maybe put her up on th' bed?"
Obsidian turned her head and shrugged slightly. "Equestria is ending. Why not simply end it all, together, quickly and painlessly... shall we?" Her voice was utterly deadpan.
That drew the attention of both Butter and the guard. "Miss Obsidian? Did you just say... Equestria is ending!?"
Butter Churn looked at her for a moment, then made her way to the door. "Ah'm gettin' Cupcake - he'll know what to do, ah'm sure of it!" With that, she was out the door. The guard, still in position, felt extremely awkward... so he said nothing more.
Perhaps she could strike a deal with Discord? Or maybe there was something about the Magic of Harmony? But... why bother? It was done. Nothing really mattered anymore to Obsidian - nothing at all.
Why was she even bothering to try to live, if she couldn't fix anything, make anything better, or was only succeeding in screwing everything up? She was just a complete and utter failure, that tried to accomplish something worthy and commendable... and only bucked it all up.
In fact, it felt as though she was only truly dangerous to the side she was trying to actively support.
It was only about five minutes before the clattering of a mass of hooves came barreling down the outside hallway, and the poor guard was almost bowled over as they all charged into the room.
"SIDDY!"
"Obsidian! Sweet Twilight's Crown, are you okay?"
"Your Majesty!"
"Ob-b-b-b-b-b-b..."
"Ohnononononononono..." Cupcake raced forward and knelt beside the two shard ponies. He looked to the cold sister, then his teary eyes rolled to look at the still-warm one.
"Do I LOOK okay? Does ANYTHING look okay?!" Obsidian cried out in a voice more weak than angry, feeling just a sting of anger... until even that burned out too.
Stupid friends.
Mica shut himself up immediately; he saw how upset she was, and wasn't about to make it worse with any further questions, stupid or not. He knew she was angry, and didn't take it personally... but he seemed to be aching over her sorrow.
Oh, Obsidian... if I could take a million wounds for the one you've clearly suffered here to not have happened, I would languish in agony the rest of my days. Your smile is worth that pain.
Thunderclap got down on her knees and sat next to Obsidian, tears forming even as she tried to wipe them away.
If I find out who put that look on Siddy's mug, I'll smash 'em into powder with everything I got! And then I'll PISS on that powder! Then I'll smash the pisspowder again! And AGAIN! NOBODY does this to MY SIDDY and gets away with it!
Gypsy, timid but concerned, laid a gentle paw against Obsidian's hind hoof, not daring to touch anything else.
A precious life, taken - and one she cares about, no less. A pity - the mare looks as though she was kind and lovely. Poor Obsidian, with a family full of thorns, she is forced to watch the one rose die. My heart to you, my dear friend. My heart to you...
Mica began to pace, his muzzle looking lost in thought.
The last instance of a Phoenix Potion was over two hundred years ago, so that's quite possibly out of the question; any spells for the use of reanimation would all be necromantic in nature, so they wouldn't truly resurrect her; I will NOT tell her about the 'Life For A Life Spell', no; Luna-dammit, WHY CAN'T WE HAVE BEEN MORE THOROUGH!?
Wart stood the furthest away, looking ashamed of herself, and full of sorrow for Obsidian's loss.
By every hair upon my body, by every step I have ever taken, by every fiber of my being... if I should EVER find the one who did this to you, fair Princess Obsidian... they shall know only of pain and death from that moment forward, and that shall come at my furious hooves... and I shall smash the very souls they claim to keep, and burn the bodies they inhabit, and destroy any trace of them upon the face of Equestrian history.
Cupcake simply wanted nothing more than to hug his dear friend... but if he did, he was sure she'd strike him or shove him away right now. He looked as though his very soul was melting inside of him.
BLOOD. FIRE. DEATH. MISERY. PAIN. MAIM. KILL. SLASH. TEAR. BURN. DESTROY.
Was... was she hearing their thoughts? But... why did it really matter anymore?
It wasn't long before the guards returned, and Princess twilight was with them, her eyes nearly popping from her skull as she saw Ruby and Obsidian. "Oh no... Obsidian!" |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty Six: One Little Spark | =====
Two hours.
It had been two hours since Obsidian experienced utter defeat at the hooves of her wicked sister Onyx, and she was now lying in bed in the Fluttershy Suite; the AJ had a huge hole in the floor, and the Rarity had bloodstains on the carpets that would probably never come out.
It was lovely and quiet, much like the mare it took its' namesake from. Almost every aspect of the room was nature-themed, with ivy covering the walls and the posts of her bed being actual tree trunks, seeming to grow into the ceiling of the room itself. Her sheets were large, cured leaves sewn together, and they were silken and smooth. Her pillow was a mushroom, but one that was sturdy enough to withstand typical handling.
She lay there, under the covers, in a room where it was quiet and peaceful. Her friends had run a gamut of emotions, all about poor Obsidian, but had eventually deigned to put her where she could get some rest, after cleaning her up a bit. Ruby's blood had been ev-
Best not to think about that.
Across from her, seated in a chair and just watching her silently, was Cupcake Sprinkles. He had refused to leave her side - which Mica had said was not a bad idea. He'd been here ever since, but he hadn't said a single word since crossing the threshold into the Fluttershy Suite. He just sat there, looking at her as if he wanted to hug every last care away.
Which was fortunate, since Obsidian didn't feel like talking. In fact, she would quite possibly vomit - either with very unkind yet undeniably true words... or more literally. She had no magic, no strength, and absolutely didn't care about anything... she couldn't even sob; at the first signs of incoming tears she reminded herself harshly that father hated that. It was all so tiresome.
Her siblings missed reaching her first, which forced her squarely into the Equestrian camp. Then the Equestrians, including herself, turned out to consist mainly of idiots and failures, and failed to accomplish anything. She couldn't help either side on her own, and still couldn't feel anything - even hate or anger at Onyx, the most stupid schemer ever, that succedeed only because her plans were too addle-brained for anypony to figure out in time!
Stupids.
There was a gentle knock at the door, and Cupcake got up from his chair (a huge, hollowed-out walnut) to answer it, walking softly. Reaching it, he carefully opened it and looked outside. She could hear Mica's voice from the hallway.
"... how is she?"
A sigh. "She still hasn't moved."
Silence for a moment. "When she wakes up, make sure she eats something."
"Mmm-hmmm."
"Cup? Are you-"
"Not now, Mica. I... I have to get back to her."
"Wait." Slight shuffling sounds. "Here; these were Ruby's bags, and I have a feeling she'd want them."
A sigh. "I don't think she wants anything, anymore."
Another sigh. "Well... if she says or does anything... anything..."
"Yeah. I will. Sure." Cup didn't sound very convincing.
"Okay. Alright. You... don't you get yourself worked up, Cup - we need you. Both of you."
"Thank you Mica I'll take it from here bye." It was all one run-together sentence; he apparently felt just about as miserable as she did. He closed the door before Mica could say another word and went back to his seat, pausing long enough to make a noise of setting down a saddlebag. It went back to being quiet again.
About five minutes later, when she finally spoke, Cup jumped a bit in surprise.
"It was a bucking accident. A step to one side. A one second quicker teleportation. I was right next to her, and it still took her time to teleport... it doesn't make any bucking sense. I did everything I could to reach her so nothing would happen to her or me, and it still happened. No damned sense! Do you hear that, Cupcake? NONE!" Obsidian growled, pressing her muzzle into pillow as she fought back yet another round of tears.
Cupcake sat in the seat, watching his friend grieve over the loss of her sister. "Sometimes... Life doesn't make sense." He wanted to tell her everything would be okay... but even he didn't want to hear those words like that. Still...
"You could have done probably a million, billion things differently, and it still might have ended... the way it did. There's no way to really know for sure." He gave a single sniffle; like hers, his eyes had remained puffy since their first tears. "The world we live in really hurts sometimes."
He now stood up, and slowly walked his way over to the side of her bed. He knelt down, crouching so they could be eye-to-eye. "That's why we have to help each other to make it. She did that for you, because she loved you. I'm here because... because I love you. And the others, out in the hall? They love you too." His own tears started flowing again, but slowly.
"A wise pony once told me 'love is all you need'... granted, he was wrong, but in times like this, he couldn't have been more right. I know it hurts. I know it does." He blinked and swiped a hoof across his eyes. "And if I could die so she could live, I would. In a hoof beat."
Then, it... i-it was just a... 'friendly' love... that Cupcake had for her? But... it didn't matter; it was all so stupid.
"Stop being stupid, stupid - don't you talk about dying, don't annoy me any further... but if you must sit there, then check those saddlebags; maybe you'll find something that could help your incompetent princess who missed a conspiracy growing near her own castle," Obsidian growled and turned to the other side.
Cup sighed. "O... okay. I just wanted to... t-to help. I'm sorry..." He rose and crossed the room, sat down and dragged the saddlebags into his lap. There was the sound of buckles jingling, then cloth moving. A momentary 'hunh' from Cupcake. More shifting. The crackle of paper. And...
"Wh-what's..?" There was a jingling sound, like a small chain or a necklace. From where he was sitting, a soft blue light gave a feeble glow. "Oh!" Then a sharp jingle, as if it was dropped onto the grassy floor.
"... oh, manure..." Now there was the sound of grass shuffling around.
Sighing, she rolled her eyes. "... whaaaat?" Even in her current state, Obsidian couldn't help herself and had to turn around to see what had just happened.
Cupcake was on the floor on his knees, waving his forelegs through the grassy carpet. "It... i-it was a necklace of some sort. It glowed and I... dropped it here somewhere..." He continued searching. On the log table next to the walnut chair were the saddlebags, a yellow-covered book, some papers, a hoof mirror and a red and black scarf.
... just wonderful. Obsidian levita-... reached for the papers and book, to check what they were about. She tried to ignore the mirror as much as possible. She idly wondered what would her father say if he caught her wasting valuable training time in a bed? 'FITTING FOR A FAILURE - WHICH IS WHAT YOU ARE!'
Well, he wouldn't be wrong right now, would he?
The book had a bright yellow cover, and had a simply-drawn pony on the front, pointing to the title: Light Magic For Dummies. It seemed to be an instruction manual on how to cast Light Magic spells, and it was apparently made to ensure the subject matter was well understood.
The papers, however, were more interesting; they were written in Crystallian, so obviously Cup hadn't bothered to read them... but Obsidian saw them and knew each word at a glance.
If I can find the Light Shard, the writing at the top said, maybe I can save our family.
What was this?
The legends all say the same thing, and even though there are differing opinions on when it will occur, all of them agree on one thing: that it will take an Umbral shard to undo anything these prophecies foretell.
The writing was loopy and frilly, but clearly legible to Obsidian; Ruby's hoofwriting.
The only way to fill an Umbral shard with Light sounds impossible though - first, it must be emptied, then refilled with Light Magic. It does not say how to do this, nor does it say anything of what will become of such an Umbral shard.
But it DOES say that it will be the ONLY way to stop the Umbral army that Onyx is raising.
Stupid Ruby. Everything would have worked out just fine if she had the chance to talk with Obsidian, to tell her something other than 'the Umbral Empire is sooooooo wonderful' or that 'Onyx wants to make us a family again', and so on, and so on. Obsidian grumbled slightly as she continued reading.
"Cupcake," she said without looking up, "I think I've found something which may be very important; if you could ask Princess Twilight or anypony else in a position of authority to join us, I would be grateful. Maybe Lemon? He was said to be skilled with Light Magic, wasn't he?" Stupid Lemon, stupid princess.
Stupid, stupid Obsidian.
"It's possible that we could still save this worthless world from the horrid cruelty of my stupid sister." Obviously she wasn't in a good mood... but it didn't mean she couldn't think - even if she could be pretty sour in process.
Cupcake stopped searching. "But... the neckla-..." He stopped, then nodded, "y'know what? You're right - this is more important." He stood up and brushed off his knees... then he looked at Obsidian standing there, upright and awake, even if sour, and simply admired her for a moment... then, without warning, he reached over and quickly planted a kiss on her cheek, right before he zipped out the door, leaving it standing open.
Obsidian blinked at this strange gesture and rose hoof to her cheek. Interesting...
Ruby would surely explain a few things about this phenomenon to her... if she could. The dark, magic-less unicorn mare shook her head and sighed heavily as she started to look for the necklace as well.
This thing glowed, right? Maybe... maybe it'll start glowing again?
In fact, it was glowing; she could easily see it among the grass. The azure glow was soft and wavery, but it was most certainly visible. The necklace was on a platinum chain, and the blue gem in the center of it was exquisitely beautiful; it looked almost exactly like the one that had been around Onyx's neck, the one that had drained her of her Dark Magic and used to raise the long-dead Umbrals from their dark slumber.
It simply sat there, the light blue glow it gave off seeming soothing and comforting.
If it looked the same... could it be possible that it worked the same? That it could be used to be filled with Light Magic and... uuuhhh, and used to do something light-centered and goody-goody? Just what could Light Magic do, except for maybe moving things around? Too bad stupid Lemon didn't manage to teach her anything really useful between second and third attempt on her life IN A SINGLE DAY...
Maybe her father wasn't exactly the kindest pony around, but at least she knew what to expect with him; strangely enough, she was sort of missing the good old days. At least she found this thing - and insted of waiting for the princess to show up, she decided to read this book about Light Magic. She picked it up, flipped it open and turned back to her bed as she casually scooped up the necklace with zero concern...
... and the gemstone let out a brilliant burst of blue light as soon as she touched it, covering the entire room in the same azure glow and glowing with the brightness of a small star!
Obsidian... my sister... I somehow KNEW it had to be you.
That was Ruby's voice!
I had thought maybe Tourmaline would eventually give in, though I knew Amethyst was a lost cause. But you... I somehow had a feeling it would be you. That's why I kept running into you; I wanted to make sure I was right.
The gem pulsed with each word spoken, as if her sister were inside the amulet itself.
Obsidian blinked once, then twice. Though Ruby may have been smart, she was pretty sure that 'Looking Glass' would have come up with a better plan than getting stabbed in the back, so she could pass on a necklace to a sister she'd never known.
"Ruby..?" she said aloud. Was it some kind of spellbound message? Maybe something about their own abilities as shard-creations? Possibly some manner to learn what the Tartarus was going on?
Obsidian, YOU are the Umbral shard we need to end this. I always wondered how it was possible to empty a shard of Dark Magic... but when I saw Onyx drain your power away, I KNEW, in that moment, how it was done.
The voice was soft and etheral, and seemed to fill her head - but not headachey-like.
With your energy stolen from you, you no longer had any Dark Magic to use... and were now ready to receive the Light that you'll need to defeat her. I had thought we would be able to work this out together... but Fate, it seems, had other plans.
No kidding.
Regardless, the matter still stands, my sister - you, an Umbral shard who is completely devoid of Darkness, are now in place to fill yourself with Light, and to put an end to our insane sister's plans, once and for all.
Well, that part was more or less obvious, though Obsidian wasn't sure if the term 'empty shard' meant 'devoid of magic' or 'utterly dead'; after all, what was more empty than lifeless magic? But there were some things that still cried out for an explanation.
"How... how did you put yourself in this necklace? It's obviously you, if you can talk about Onyx's last actions, but... h-how is it possible at all?" She didn't want to stop hearing her voice - damn Onyx and her plans, damn Equestria and damn herself, but she had actually cared about Ruby!
What you are hearing isn't truly me... but the LOVE I have for you, Obsidian.
This pendant is the opposite of the one Onyx wears; it channels Dark Energy, yes, but it also feeds that energy - and Onyx's power, by proxy - with FEAR. That FEAR is why she's so powerful, and it's that FEAR she's been cultivating from myself - from all of us - for years that has made her powerful.
This amulet, however, functions as a beacon of Light Magic, and is fuelled with the exact opposite emotion that fuels hers: LOVE. Only through the power of LOVE can FEAR be countered, and only through LOVE will you be filled with Light.
What is here in this amulet is the LOVE I have for you... and if you can gather the LOVE that's around you into you, you will find yourself far more powerful than any Umbral has ever witnessed.
Obsidian scowled, gritting her teeth in frustration. Bah, LOVE!? A hollow word, an utterly unnecessary feeling, forcing ponies to act completely out of their minds. How could something so pathetic be able to counter the driving power of FEAR? And it really didn't improve her mood that the voice was just an echo, a shadow of sister Ruby - not Obsidian's sister herself.
At least she knew that Onyx wouldn't have to worry about a gathering of emotions towards her; Obsidian held nothing but scorn and spite in her heart towards her... the pathetic, foolish Queen of the Stupids!
"It sounds like I'll have to turn to my friends, then, and wait for some sort of magic to happen?" She still wasn't quite accepting it.
The glow in the amulet faded ever-so-slightly as Obsidian thought such harsh things about love.
Obsidian, you must not only take in the Light, but you must learn to accept it, too. Light will not survive in the Darkness of despair; only the fires of hope and LOVE can cleanse away the shadows that are coming, even as we speak...
And do not despair so bitterly, my sister; so long as you carry the Light of my LOVE in your heart, I shall always be with you, forevermore in your heart, in your soul... and I will always LOVE you, no matter how grim things get, how dire the straits, how close the defeat. Though my body has passed on, my LOVE for you will never die.
Wear this pendant, and let your friends show you how much their LOVE can do. For you. For Equestria. For all of Equus. Use my notes if you can to decipher what to do. Don't give up, but surge forward with determination, and the truth that you will succeed and conquer the Darkness, not only here in the world... but in your own heart, as well.
I love you, sister... and I always will.
The amulet's glow faded somewhat, but was still alive enough to put off light.
This necklace kept using the 'L' word waaaaaaay too much... but Obsidian still ended up clutching it tightly to her chest as soon as the words stopped, unable to take off her hooves off it for a rather long moment, shedding quiet tears.
"... Your... Majesty?"
Standing at the doorway was Stalwart Stance, eyes wide and jaw hanging open as she stared at Obsidian. "What... what was that light... and that voice..?" She looked completely taken aback; she had apparently seen much, if not all, of what had just occurred.
"My sister, apparently. At least a part of it. A disembodied part... but at the moment, it's good enough." Obsidian perhaps wasn't in the best possible mood in the world, and she wasn't sure how much she cared about Equestria as a whole... but Darkness damn her if she was going to allow Onyx to make a vest out of Stalwart or ignore her sister's pleading.
She had to beat Onyx into a twitching, bloody pulp as soon as possible - then have an official vacation. She'd kill for two or three dull, boring days with her father - or better yet, with her friends, doing... uh, friendly things?
"I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that I believe we can best Onyx and save Equestria, Stalwart." But still, why did she have to bring up Amethyst - couldn't she lie, and simply state that it was too hard to free her?
Wart looked at her for a minute, pondering before her reply. "Your Majesty... do you think I don't know that?"
Now, she let a small slip of pride cross her features. "I have every faith and confidence that, together against the storm, we shall persevere and overcome whatever your mad sister has planned. We are not mewling cowards; we are Equestrians! There is no surrender in our vocabulary! There is no doubt in our camp! There is nothing but the upcoming victory to celebrate, and which path to take to reach it!"
She proudly strode forward, and took a knee in front of Obsidian. "Your Majesty, there is no force on Equus that can stand in our way; victory is assured. I swear it."
"Oh, by Darkness..." Obsidian rolled her eyes. "Stalwart, friends don't have to kneel in front of friends... or, a-at least I think so," especially as she wasn't feeling very royal at the moment. "Let's finish it quickly and have a fun weekend, shall we?" she added as she turned to her papers.
Notes, book, pendant... she had a lot of work to do. Ah, but it was research work - the best kind of work, in her opinion. Maybe it'll put her mind at ease, at least a little bit, at least for a short while. As she turned, however...
From the moment Wart began speaking, Obsidian had felt a... tingle... in her horn. And what's more, the amulet now began to glow just a bit brighter.
Stalwart was seemingly oblivious to this, as she stood and smiled broadly at her friend. "It will be an honor to enjoy a weekend with you, Your Ma-... Lady Obsidian."
... ah, yes, behold the power of friendship. Referring to her in this manner was apparently a very big step for Stalwart. With the guidance of this pendant, maybe things would work out even better than she believed?
"What are you doing with your free time, Stalwart? Because I'm not sure what I'd like to do, once this is over - perhaps I would be available for this 'spa' thing that Thunderclap was talking about; after saving the world, I don't think I should be scared any longer just by thought of being touched... oh, and maybe Eloquence could do something different with my mane..."
She sat down, took the book up in her mag-... with her hoof... and started to look for any possible useful clues. Maybe Ruby had marked something specific?
"In my... f-free time? Well, I... uhm, I train, of course. I have to, if I want even the smallest chance at joining the Royal Guard; my small stature hinders me greatly, so I compensate with accelerated training regimens!"
The yellow book wasn't exactly as 'For Dummies' as it had claimed to be; it was actually rather intelligent, yet explained things in a way that was clear, concise and easy to repeat, should she try to. There were notes and highlights, written in Crystalian, that made mention of similar spells & the pages they could be found on, alternate wordings for certain incantations, and even an occasional doodle in the margins - usually of crystals and ponies, but frilly and pretty ponies. With LONG manes.
Ruby really liked manes, didn't she? Or, rather, 'does she' - as part of her seemingly lived inside the necklace and... well, it seemed as though Obsidian's life had most certainly gotten quite interesting, as of late.
Still... would it be too much to ask the universe for something surprising and good to happen, at least once?
"I may not be able to add up to the stature of a standard Royal Guard, yet I swear to you that I am at least three times as capable as any one of them might be, due to my strict training regimen! If Princess Twilight would only let me try, instead of telling me 'no' without even a chance to make a display... she would see I'm Royal Guard material, I am sure of it!"
Ruby's notes were not in any visible order, yet each one seemed to be important in some fashion. The Umbrals are far more disconcerting than I thought; they lived in a time where ponies had clawed hooves, and fangs the size of Amethyst's Foci Dagger! Plus, they could see in total darkness, and felt no pain nor fear.
Creatures that couldn't feel pain? How were they able to survive at all? Pain was quite useful when it was coming to, well, sensing that something important was struck. Did they torment ponies to feed on their fear, because they weren't able to feel it themselves?
"Obsidian?" came the voice of Twilight Sparkle from the hallway. "I came when Cupcake told me you were awake, and he said you had something important to tell me?" Stalwart looked at Obsidian, visibly wondering if anything about the voice should be mentioned.
"Yes, princess - I've just looked at Ruby's notes and had a short talk with what was apparently a portion of her spirit within this amulet that was found in her saddlebags. Do you, perchance, read Crystalian? It would most certainly help the process along, if you did..."
Twilight Sparkle actually gave a smirk. "I learned to read Crystallian before I was six, because the library said it was a 'dead language'... and, to be fair, at the time it most certainly was."
She stepped over to where Obsidian had the books, and looked down at them. Her eyes flew over the words quickly, like a mare who had given herself over to a great deal of reading practice, and she flipped the pages carefully with her magic.
"According to this, it says that there is supposedly an army of Umbral undead ponies that can be resurrected and controlled by whomever casts the spell; the counter to this Darkness is a..." her eyes flew across the pages, "... shard of Light, it says. An Umbral shard filled with... um, is that a pony with a really long mane?... a-anyway, it says that this shard of Light is key to changing the way things are going."
"Do we know anything about this shard?" Twilight asked aloud, looking a bit frustrated.
"Yes, your majesty - my sister really likes long manes," Obsidian confirmed, "and apparently I am suposed to be this shard. Back at the Black Pool, sister Onyx drained me of all my magical power - including my Dark Magic - leaving me unable to use my horn at the moment. However, as sister Ruby concluded, it makes me the perfect vessel for being filled with Light. Then I should be able to counter Miss Tome's control over her hordes, beat her up and..." she stopped.
And kill her? Maybe imprison her? Obsidian clearly didn't have any warm feelings towards her pathetic and completely stupid sister.
"So, by accident, Onyx created a weapon to counter her own actions. Pretty ironic, methinks. And apparently the key to this Light Magic is obviously friendship." To be more precise, it was supposed to be 'love' but, uh... those two concepts were similar enough, right?
Twilight scowled. "We already discussed the fact that 'Miss Tome' wasn't real; what's important now is that we study up every single note Ruby left behind, and see if, somewhere in there, we can locate the things we need to know to win this battle!"
"Your Highness! Your Highness!" A mare in Royal Guard armor slung the door open, looking panicked and panting profusely. "Scouts... report that... large army... headed towards... Ponyville..."
Twilight gritted her teeth. "No NO NO! We need more time!" She turned to the guardpony. "Thank you, Civil; I'll get right on it. Tell the scouts to monitor closely, but stay out of range! They need to watch, not fight, if they're going to be our eyes."
Civil saluted, "Yes, Ma'am!" and headed off in the direction she came from, still panting.
"Obsidian," Twilight started, "I have to look out for my subjects in Ponyville - a horde like that will lay the town to waste, and probably kill all the innocents inside. I can't let that happen - so, unfortunately, I'm going to have to leave you inside my palace for the moment. I'll try to get back when I can to check on you, but I'm afraid you'll have to research this without me. I'm sorry; good luck." With that, she promptly teleported away, leaving Obsidian holding the bag... er, book.
... well, manure. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty Seven: A Few Light Changes | "Stalwart, if you could please bring the rest of our friends here, I would be grateful; I really think we should stick together for a moment, both for security reasons and to get this... Light stuff... working. They didn't return to Ponyville, did they?" It would be a very bad thing, if they ended up in the path of the oncoming horde.
Stalwart straightened and smiled. "Not a chance in Tartarus would they have left you, Lady Obsidian!" She leaned out the doorway. "She says she needs us! ALL of us!"
The door opened, and in they came:
Thunderclap Dash, broad and muscular, who may not have always been the one with the bright ideas... but she was always the type to give 110% of herself to everything she did, and often turned out to be just as generous with her friends.
Mica Chip, whose own brand of calm, collected honesty had almost been set too far out of reach for her, yet he had warmed to her once more, and was now more inclined towards being the 'egghead' of the group.
Gypsy Rover, the timid diamond dog with the stutter, who not only became clear when he spoke on a subject he loved, but exuded kindness in almost every deed, and was clever and gifted, whether creating art or scouting unruly griffons.
And Cupcake Albert Sprinkles, who was annoying, gabby, a little bit crazy... but was also one of the best friends she had ever known, playing up his silly antics in order to give his friends just that little jolt of laughter they needed.
Stalwart Stance joined them, exceedingly proper and stern, yet determined and steadfast, and with bravery, loyalty and a fighting spirit that would put even the most seasoned warrior to the test.
Obsidian smiled - though it was one tinged with her current sorrow - at the sight of her friends. She stood up to embrace them, each one, no exceptions... even though figuring out how to properly hug a diamond dog was only slightly awkward at first.
She also returned the earlier favour to Cupcake - by doing the lips thing on his cheek.
"My dear friends," she spoke as she went to each one, "I'm not sure whether or not you are aware, but apparently sister Onyx, completely by accident, prepared me to become a vessel filled with the magic of Light, which has the side effect of forging me into the perfect weapon to crush her, completely and utterly. We need to be the biggest, bestest, most friendship-choked warband in the history of the world; all of it meant to smite Onyx with everything good that she kept mocking." Obsidian then redoubled her smile, with a slight smirk to it. "I hope I can count on you?"
When she hugged Clap, the huge mare looked surprised for a second... then grabbed Obsidian up in a hug and swung her around in a circle! "Awwwww... Siddy, ain't you sweet? Of COURSE, we got this - yeah, we got this together!"
The amulet's glow picked up a bit more strength.
Mica looked a bit taken by surprise, but he didn't hesitate to return the embrace. "Obsidian, this... is good progress... thank you."
There was another tingle in her horn, and the pendant's glow increased.
Gypsy watched her embrace the others, and welcomed her with a smile, open arms, and a waggly tail. It took a moment to figure out how hooves and paws worked together, but when they finally did, his hug was warm and tight. "Th-this one thanks you, f-friend. He is g-gr-grateful for your f-f-fr-friendship."
The gemstone gave another pulse of blue light.
Cupcake threw his forelegs around her and gave her a huge squeeze... with a bit of a blush in place. Especially when she kissed his cheek in return. "OoooooOOOOOOOH!" Clap taunted, good naturedly.
The amulet's glow jumped up a few points at that interaction.
Wart looked hesitant, yet when Obsidian hugged her, she simply threw her little legs around her and squeezed like a vice grip. "Lady Obsidian, our hearts are yours."
The pendant was now visibly glowing brightly.
"Say," Clap noticed, "that necklace-thingy is putting off a LOT of light, Sids - that little thing isn't gonna explode, is it?" Well, if nothing else, she could use it for a torch... which would be at least ONE thing she knew how to use it for, as she was still clueless as to how to tap the contained Light energy within.
"Okay Obsidian," Mica looked at her, "what do we do now? We're here, we're ready... what would you suggest?"
"We need to get through my sister's notes to find more information about how to use the amulet; I want us to be prepared. Onyx's putrid army rapidly approaches Ponyville, and Princess Twilight left to defend her subjects. If we want to repeat anything like our shopping trip yesterday, we have to hurry - the sooner I find out how to annihilate dark ponies with friendship, the sooner I can beat Onyx into submission. And to answer your question Clap, I'm fairly certain that the necklace won't explode - its' dark counterpart absorbed A LOT of my magic and it never exploded. Too bad, as it would have saved us plenty of trouble..."
Mica nodded. "Okay, we'll need to figure out who can read-"
"Crystallian?" Gypsy smiled. "The ancient l-language of the Crystal Empire? This one c-c-CRAVES the challenge!"
"Good, that's another set of eyes," Mica grinned, "now, we'll probably have to deal with some of these things coming here, especially if there's any way Onyx can sense what we're doing here."
"I volunteer," Wart stepped forward, "as I know the most defensible areas here, and understand how the Siege Mechanisms work; I can lock down the gates on the lower levels-"
"And I gotcha on the higher ones," Clap finished, "if you can run me through what to do. Like, s-l-o-w-l-y, you know what I mean? Step by step and such?" Wart nodded firmly at the request.
Mica turned to Cupcake. "Cup, we need you to see if you can gather your siblings in one place; there's no way Darkness could ever stand up to all five of you."
Cupcake saluted. "Roger roger, mon cappy-tan!" By Darkness, all five Pie siblings together, in one place? Obsidian almost pitied the Umbral monstrosities that were trying to invade Equestria... and was a bit afraid what would happen if they also lost a sibling to this.
Mica gave a small smile and shook his head. Then he addressed them all. "Please, be careful - and if danger gets close, don't be a hero; come back here, to this room, and we'll gather our forces together after securing this place."
Cupcake looked at Obsidian and gave a slight blush again. "Obsidian, uhm... please be careful; I don't want anything else to happen to you, okay?"
"Take care, everyone. Good luck. I'll do my best to figure something out before enemies will make contact with us." Then Obsidian turned to face the Pie stallion. "And don't worry, Cup - I don't want anything else to happen to me as well!"
She smiled, but it was mostly forced, and it felt weird; she just hoped it was enough.
"Wart, be certain to leave some monsters for me as well, yes?" She looked to her friend with a rueful chuckle. "When future Equestrians read about this upcoming battle, I want to make certain that I am remembered for more than reading."
Wart saluted, Clap waved and Cupcake gave a big, dramatic bow as the three of them headed out. Mica then turned back to her and Gypsy. "I'm headed to the armory; if we're going to fight, we'll need armor and weapons, and that's where I'll find them. You two figure out what you can, and I'll return as soon as possible." Armor... finally! PLATE ARMOR!
Gypsy looked at him. "B-b-be careful, M-Mica."
"I will - no worries. Until then, Gypsy... Obsidian..." He headed out the door, galloping away rapidly.
The diamond dog turned back to Obsidian. "Now... w-w-wh-what are we l-l-looking at?"
"We're looking for any mention of shards - mainly Light shards, but any mention might yield results. Maybe we'll be able to find something about my siblings? The more we know, the easier sister Onyx will be to defeat... especially as sister Amethyst has already experienced such; I truly don't wish to injure her any further."
Obsidian turned to the texts - ah, yes... research. During an oncoming siege. And her friends at risk. But, as she knew, she didn't have time to accompany them all... and besides, first things first, yes?
Gypsy took up the small stack of papers and separated them into two piles. "Here... y-you take this p-p-pile... and this o-one shall take th-the oth-th-ther pile." He handed it over to her, and dug into his own stack. As the diamond dog read, he took a sheet of paper from his pocket, a marker from his sleeve and began taking notes in short, neat handwriting. Watching him use his fingers was fascinating... but she had to get to work herself, so she did.
It was fifteen minutes later that they both heard a distant >THUD< as the gates to the castle slammed into place, proving Wart's tenacity had paid off. That was followed by a similar sound from above, meaning the upper floors were shuttered, thanks to Thunderclap.
To be fair, it should have been the palace's guards who were dealing with the gates - not a gaggle of teenagers - but apparently the peaceful and friendship-happy Equestrian heartlands hadn't dealt with any truly serious dangers in quite some time... or they were busy as well, but perhaps outside the palace? Either way, it seemed a bit disconcerting that they'd been left here 'for their protection'... and there was very little of said protection to be seen.
Shortly after that, Mica returned with a dessert cart that was loaded with armor and weapons! The stallion himself had chosen a light steel barding, leaving him plenty of room to move. On top of the cart, in full view of Obsidian, was a full suit of Equestrian Royal Guard plate armor, complete with helmet and cloak. There were a number of other armor pieces as well, and an assortment of swords, knives, axes... and even a lance!
"Here's the best of what was in there," Mica said, "but I can go back once we offload this bunch, if you think we'll need more?" Obsidian rose her head from texts and for a moment her eyes glimmered when she saw riches brought by Mica.
Plate armooooooorrrrr... a royal clooooooooaaaaak... and a laaaaaaaance...
She would take that lance and impale her feeble-minded sister upon it, and then rename it for its' glory! The Lance of Light, perhaps? Of course, said impalement couldn't be mortal or anything... heh heh heh...
"Could you perhaps find something for Gypsy? If there are no exact armors for diamond dogs, then at least a nice shield, maybe?" she proposed as she was eyeing the plate armor greedily... though she might have to ditch the helmet. Too bad she didn't have time to paint her coat of arms or at least her house colours on it.
Now that she thought about it, was it an Umbral Empire invasion or a war of succession? Was she fighting for Equestrians, or was she just allied with them? Well, first things first; it wasn't important right now. Besides, if they proved victorious, she could always convince future historians to fix their books a bit, right?
Mica nodded, and started unloading the cart onto the floor.
Meanwhile, Gypsy sat up at his seat. "OOH! Th-th-there is a mention of the fourth dynasty, which says that the Umbrals were particularly succeptable to fire," the diamond dog said, with nearly no stutter at all, "and that they will possibly flee from a b-big enough bonfire - though, t-t-to be fair, this is p-probably also the c-case with living Umbrals, but... we c-c-can try, yes?"
"Yes," Mica answered, "which means, on my next trip to the armory, I should fetch some torches and lamp oil. Good, we now have armor, weapons and deterrent - and that's a start."
Fire... it was as good as anything else - though to be fair, plenty of creatures were afraid of fire, and rightfully so. "Good. We could use it to defend our positions... and maybe set up a few traps. Hopefully we can find something to light them up with." She couldn't count her own magic in this category, sadly - her lack of magic was even more frustrating than she first thought.
Through the doorway came Wart and Clap. "Okay, folks," the pegasus chirped, "we're all closed up, 'cept for the north and south gates; those aren't equipped with big steel doors to close."
Wart, in the meantime, had eyes for nothing but the Royal Guard armor, watching Obsidian put it on and then staring at the helmet for a moment before shaking her head and digging through the pile of weaponry.
Clap looked at the armor lying on the floor. "Wow - that's a lot of steel! Got anything, uhh... lighter? If I'm gonna fly, I gotta make sure I can maneuver properly!"
Mica grinned and pointed to the chainmail shirt in the corner. "Will that do?"
"Tartarus, yeah!" Clap replied, taking it up and wiggling her way into it. It was very tight-looking on her large frame, but she'd managed to get her wings through the holes in the back, and was now flexing in it to test its' capacity. "That'll hold... probably. You find out anything else yet? And where's the Cupster?"
"Cupcake went to collect his siblings, which may be quite a boon to our cause. Oh, and Gypsy discovered that our enemies should be scared of big bonfires, so maybe we could block them that way..."
And if they would turn out to not be deterred, Obsidian and her group wouldn't have to fight with undead monsters - but with fiery undead monsters - not a nice thought. "Sadly, we found nothing more about shards - more's the pity. Out of curiosity, which gate should be easier to defend, just in case?"
"The southern gate," Wart spoke up as she searched through the weaponry, "will be the easier of the two to defend; it has a partial drawbridge, which will potentially limit them to single-file movements across it. The northern gate has but one bridge in, but it is cement and stone and does not lift."
Standing up, Wart took up two longswords in her magic and sheathed them, placing them on her back. "I shall be taking position on the northern bridge."
Clap lifted an eyebrow. "You... think you can handle that by yourself?"
Wart looked at Clap with a rare smirk on her muzzle. "I have not a doubt in my heart."
Clap looked at her for a moment more, but when Wart didn't flinch, she smiled. "Okie dokie lokie - guess you've got the northern bridge." Wart's smile doubled, and she began gathering small pieces of armor to try to fasten them together.
Obsidian eyed Stalwart for a long moment. The northern bridge, all by herself... by Darkness, where in Tartarus were all the palace guards? Why would a princess leave a bunch of teenagers to hold this palace by themselves? Or perhaps they were sent to Ponyville to deal with the menace? Regardless, the lack of guardponies was a bit worrisome.
"Remember about fire, Stalwart... and do be careful - if anything happened to you, I would have no choice but to slay my siblings to avenge you." She patted Wart lightly on the back and returned to the books. Maybe there would be some way to restore her magic with this necklace... she felt fairly useless without it. Though to be fair, she was considering herself a huge failure at the moment, anyway.
Mica turned and looked at the yellow book, pondering. "Give me a moment with that book, Obsidian... I have a thought. There might be a Monitoring Spell in there, which would allow us to keep an eye on everyone from here."
Clap grabbed a morning star, swung it around a bit, then shrugged and tossed it back on the pile. A sudden sense of danger skittered across Obsidian's brain when the pegasus grabbed the weapon... but luckily, it took her only a few swings to realize that it wasn't a weapon for ponies that weren't already good with it - and at least this time she didn't cause any additional damage. Whew.
Meanwhile, Gypsy's tail began to wag rapidly. "H-here! There's a section h-h-here about something referred to as the 'Darkheart', and it says that the only remaining pieces of it were gathered by King Sombra at the height of his reign; they were fashioned into am-m-m-mulets, and bestowed with the power to counter each other - and only the one with more power would b-be victorious. This one believes th-that we c-c-can work to build the L-L-Light up, as soon as we f-f-find out how to."
Mica stood up. "Okay, I have the spell, now Obsidian, you just have... to... cast... it. Manure!" He looked at her.
"Have you tried your magic lately?"
Hm, to gather more light... but, why would a Darkheart be able to gather energy that countered its' true power? After all, it was called 'Darkheart', not 'Dark & Lightheart' or something of the sort. Too bad that she personally filled Onyx's amulet with so much power that she was able to control army of undead monstrosities - she hoped it was a strain on Onyx's abilities anyway, giving her at least a rotten headache.
"In fact, I have not." She tried to focus on something simple - like lifting a book. Maybe she'd gotten at least a little, teensy sliver of her own magic back? She had not a single clue that Onyx could so thoroughly drain her magic... and, more frightening, she was unsure if something like that even could regenerate. She concentrated, hoping for the best, dreading the worst.
The glow surrounded the book, and it lifted from the table - it felt like she was trying to move it through tar, but it began to lift all the same. However, that wasn't as significant as the detail she noticed the most: the glow was blue; the same blue as the pendant she was wearing.
Thunderclap lifted an eyebrow. "Siddy, uh... that doesn't look like the same stuff you used last time I saw it. You okay?"
"No, not really," she replied with a slight sigh, "my Dark Magic has been completely drained, but I've got this necklace. I will risk saying that, for the time being, I am completely dependent on it." It seemed that the stored power was... meager, to put it mildly.
Just how could she get more magic, love and so forth? Propose marriage to Cupcake?
"Unfortunately, it is quite weak, at the moment; I can barely move this simple book. I'm fairly certain I wouldn't even be able to write with it, let alone fight," she rubbed her temple.
Friendship, love, affection... and she was but a rank amateur in light of it! She had sworn these concepts were utterly useless, the day before yesterday! She had trained all her life to use the powers that she was intent to counter now; how in Tartarus did she get herself in such a mess?
"Maybe I could get some power from Cupcake's family, if they love each other as much as I think they do - it should give my necklace at least a bit of light.... or maybe meet with the Element Bearers, though I would assume they're probably too busy. Gypsy, would you possibly have any ideas?"
Gypsy looked at her and thought for a moment. Then, slowly, he got up from his table, walked over to Obsidian, and once again embraced her. "This one knows what love is."
He stepped back and looked at her with kindness in his eyes. "D-do you r-re-r-remember when this o-o-o-one made for you some p-p-paper anim-m-mals? He was t-trying to make friends with y-y-you - he b-b-b-believed that you would l-like them, and you d-did."
The pendant's glow grew a bit brighter, and the diamond dog nodded at the sight of it. He looked over at the others. "It is the a-a-a-affection which she needs; p-p-p-please, give it to her."
Mica nodded, turning to her and speaking up. "Obsidian, I... I had a dream that you were split in two - one side was thoroughly good and noble, the other was vile and wicked. I debated for quite some time as to how you would turn out in the long run, and I have to say the prospect... it frightened me."
"But when you came and apologized earnestly to me, not like the back-of-the-hoof apology from McDonkey's... I felt that. And I realized that it was most likely that you would be a mix of both sides... but without guidance and friendship, you'd be lost before long. I didn't want to lose you, even after everything that happened." He smiled. "I'm glad I gave you that chance, Siddy; thank you for helping me see your truth."
She could now feel, not a tingling, but almost a soft pulse in her horn, and some weird sensation from it as well.
"Hokey smokes, lookit that!" Clap said, pointing at Obsidian. The others also seemed to stare at her forehead...
Mayhaps this would be enough energy - she hoped there would be more of a reaction than struggling to lift a single book. Perhaps... yet Obsidian was feeling strange, even though it was almost familiar...
When she was using her dark powers, she tended to lose herself in anger and hate, but now... now it was something completely contrary to any previous experience.
It felt nice.
"Dearest Mica, I do hope you know that I'd like to turn out to be the best and the most noble example of myself, right?" She gave a light giggle; maybe she would possibly have time to sit down and try to understand everything that had happened to her since her rescue from the Crystal Empire...
As soon as they put Onyx down.
"... wait, what's happening with my horn?" She crossed her eyes trying to look up, but obviously she couldn't see very much.
Mica reached over to the table, his eyes not leaving her head, and picked up Ruby's hoof mirror, holding it out to her as they all watched, transfixed.
Obsidian's heart ached at the sight of Ruby's mirror.... but still, she looked onto its' surface to look at herself.
Reflected back at her, she now saw what they were staring at - her horn, curved and red since as far back as she could recall, was now radiating a soft blue glow... and, right in front of all of them, it was straightening... slowly but unmistakably straightening out. She felt the tingling and the pulsing, and as she watched, it looked as though other indicators were also active, as a pure white mist began to seep ever-so-slightly from her eyes.
"... I've never seen anything like this before in my entire life..." Mica said, sounding shocked and amazed at what he was witnessing before him.
She quickly turned away from the mirror, hoping that somewhere there she could fine some fine brain bleach. Solid objects, like bones or horns, weren't supposed to move that way! Obsidian paled a bit, trying not to think about it too hard.
How was it possible... and why didn't it hurt?
"I... assume it's a good sign, then," she said in a reserved voice. At least the mist was quite familiar - though she was far more used to it being the standard purple color. "So... shall we continue? I'm really glad you've accepted my apologies, Mica - I'm well aware that being my friend is not safe, so I didn't want to force you into liking me, but I really, really didn't want you to think that I consider any one of you beneath me."
Wart stepped over towards her and stared at her horn for a bit... then spoke, in a soft, gentle voice that was very unlike her usual tone. "All my life, I only wanted to protect others. Even as a young filly, I had a want to stand up and shield those who I knew were important. Because they needed to be safe, so those under their rule would be taken care of."
"When I heard you insisting on being called 'princess', I hoped beyond hope that you would, in your infinite mercy, allow me to do for you what everyone else would not allow me to do. I desperately desired to be able to protect someone royal, no matter whom it was." Now, her smile broke through... and it was so very sweet.
"And you did. You allowed me the opportunity to put my hard-won skills to use in your defense... and by doing so, you made my dreams come true, even if it wasn't quite in the way I'd imagined it would be."
She looked over at the Royal Guard helmet and cloak, sitting on the table. "Someday, I may even have that chance I want, I need, so badly... but until then, if all I am able to do is protect you, Obsidian... then I will consider my wishes fulfilled - because, to me, you are one of the most noble beings I have ever had the fortune and blessing to have not only known... but kept safe."
"Thank you, Obsidian... thank you so very much." She could feel it now; a swelling in her chest, a surging in her head, an undeniable strength that was starting to charge her very being.
Mica looked at her for a minute, then held out the yellow book to her. "Care to try that Monitor Spell, now?"
It was interesting, really - with her Dark Magic, sooner or later she was overwhelmed with desires to control, conquer and subjugate... even when trying to create an absolutely BEAUTIFUL dark crystal. Yet now, she didn't seem to have any issues or problems. Quite the contrary, in fact; Obsidian felt that she was in the mood to snuggle Cupcake a bit.
... she had a crush on him, okay?
"At the beginning, I was merely satisfied that somepony treated me the way I thought I should be treated... but since then, I really started to appreciate you as much as you deserve, Stalwart." It wouldn't hurt to admit it, and a bit of honesty would be appreciated.
"Yes, Mica, I think I could try it right now... in fact, I feel quite powerful. Luckily I'm used to magical influences taking a toll on me, though the type of influence here is something new." Focusing herself, she made another attempt to lift the book.
Casting a spell with Dark Magic took some finesse; the energies were warped and potentially lethal, so the caster had to keep in mind each and every aspect of what could go wrong with it. There were potentials for mutilation, illness or even straight-out death for some spells, so a Dark Magic user had to pay the closest bit of attention to every single little possibility, hence the need for so much training.
But when Obsidian cast the Monitor Spell, it just... happened. No peril, no malevolent energies, no malice or anger, not even discomfort... it just happened.
Bubbles issued forth from her horn - five of them - and slowly grew in size until they were as big as globes. Each one seemed to focus on a different individual; she could see herself through Mica's, Wart's, Gypsy's and Clap's eyes, all at once, and-
Wait... was that her?
Obsidian, in each of the globes, looked more like Professor Fluttershy than she did her old self; her mane was long and lovely, her coat seemed to be lighter, and her body itself no longer looked ravaged by hunger with ribs countable... she looked almost like a different pony, though she was most certainly herself.
Ruby had been right; Onyx's amulet had drained all of the darkness from her... and what it left behind was quite lovely to behold. She looked healthy. She looked pretty. She looked honestly happy, which was the most amazing thing of all, and she had never thought, even for a single second, she could ever look so nice.
... and there went the look that Eloquence seemed to like so much. Hopefully Cupcake would accept it, as Obsidian was barely able to recognize herself right now. Maybe she could frown a bit, to add just a touch of the old to the new... maybe she looked fine, but why she had to endure so much change that even her old appearance was no longer a part of her? How much of the original Obsidian would be left at the end of this battle?
If her scars dissapeared as well, she was going to be annoyed.
"Well, the good news is, I can use magic once again," Just at the cost of everything she had, from her sister to her dark disposition. At least she would be able to use her wonderful lance now. "Gypsy, how many books do we still have to check?"
Gypsy, staring at the orbs, shook himself out of it and looked to her. "If you w-w-wish to look through the b-book, you may; I th-think the pap-p-p-pers will be our b-b-best b-bet. I shall look th-through th-th-them now, i-if you wish?"
The orbs above her all showed what was happening with each of her friends... including Cupcake, who wasn't here. In this orb, she saw what looked like a sweets shop of some sort, windows blocked and doors sealed shut against... oh... sweet...
Each one looked as though it had only roughly been referred to as a 'pony', as there was very little about it that was pony-like. Long legs that ended in hooves with flexing, menacing claws... tails that were more akin to a scorpion, wicked barbs extending from rotten-looking strands coming from their rear... flesh that was closer to wet parchment than actual skin or fur... manes that were wet and greasy-looking, dripping with ichor... and mouths with large hinges, filled with shark-like teeth... and the eyes... the eyes...
There WERE no eyeballs in their rotten black sockets... just tiny marbles of red light which all glowed with malevolence. And there wasn't just a small basketful, nor a busload, nor even a houseful...
There were thousands of them.
In the distance, there was obvious action as flashes of magic went off over and over again... but surrounding the shop, there was nothing but a veritable ocean of Umbrals.
In a completely different set of circumstances, Obsidian wouldn't even bat an eyelid over such as these creatures. Bah, she should admire them - they looked like monsters out of a pony's worst nightmares, terrible machines of nightmarish warfare that could be used to spread terror and destruction, under the command of a capable warlock (say, for instance, herself). The mere sight of them would make most of her enemies tremble, and she would bet that they could rip limb from limb of any creature stupid enough to stand against them. And this glow in their eyes - it reminded her of her childhood!
Ah, for the older days... when everything was simpler and her biggest worry was being rightfully punished by her wise father. And, though stolen from her, it had been HER magic that brought them back to life! She was just THAT powerful!
Unfortunately for her, these creatures were under control of her cruel and blighted sister. Even worse, they were threatening ponies that were important to Obsidian herself... which made admiring them a bit more challenging, regardless of how they made her feel.
Her magic glowing brightly, she took the lance from the stack of weapons, carefully checking to see if she could use it without problems with her new magic. She had to help Cupcake and his family... she had to DESTROY EVERY SINGLE CREATURE THAT COULD THREAT-
...ah, yes, and she had to do it without the Dark Magic that she'd been using for most of her life.
"These creatures do not appear to be too friendly... and I don't think that a simple sweet shop will hold them off for very long. I suppose I shall witness first-hoof if this much-lauded Light Magic is worth anything. Gypsy, keep looking through papers; as soon as I return, I'd like to hear about everything you've learned."
She'd be damned if she would allow her pathetic sister do even more damage. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty Eight: A Feast Of Pies | "Okay Sids, we'll head out there and do what's gotta be done!"
"Clap," Mica said, obviously worried, "she said she would take care of it."
"Yeah," Thunderclap Dash said with her characteristic smirk, "and it'll be an open cage night in Tartarus before I let her do it alone." Again, Obsidian felt a rush of energy at her friend's insistence on being with her.
Mica looked at her for a long moment, then walked over to her, reached up, took her muzzle in his hooves, and planted a long, deep kiss firmly on her lips. When he disconnected with a soft >pop<, she simply stared at him, dumbfounded. "Stay alive, Clap," he said with a small grin, "and we can discuss that after this is all over with."
"Bbluhmsgnnrr... o... kaaaaaay..." she replied, looking a bit thunderstruck at the turn of events, but she shook her head as if to clear it, then looked at Obsidian. "Well, uhm, uh... r-ready?"
Did this strange ritual with the lips have a lot of importance? Obsidian was both kissed on the cheek and kissed one herself, but in this case, hooves were involved... maybe THAT was an important part of it?
"Interesting - I felt a rush of energy as soon as you offered to join," Obsidian noted to her pegasus companion, "as apparently, fighting alone wouldn't make much sense..."
Obsidian peeked at her amulet. It was an interesting thing, that much was certain, but... what would happen if she lost it? Would she lose all of her powers in an instant? Regardless, she could test her dependence on this thing after the battle - as soon as everypony was safe.
"Let's leave through the northern bridge; we'll check to see if Stalwart is well. Clap, would you kindly lead the way, as I still don't know this castle very well..?"
Clap was busy looking at Mica, but she jumped a bit when Obsidian addressed her. "Hunh? Oh... OH! I mean, uh, yeah! We got this - c'mon, Siddy!"
With that, they left the room, headed for the northern bridge. However, they were down the hallway before Clap spoke.
"That... that was... I mean, it... it felt..." she stammered, trying to articulate what had just happened (and failing). After a couple more attempts, she simply gave a big, hard sigh and kept flapping along next to Obsidian. Then...
"... he's a good kisser; who'da thought?"
And she gave a lazy, loopy smile. And bumped into the wall. "OH! Manure! Let's just... yeah, let's go already. And don't tell anyone I said that." Her blush was adorable, and she may have been speaking such a way about it... but she still had that dreamy smile on her muzzle.
Sooooooo... apparently, there was no longer a crush on Eloquence? "I assume, this, er... kissing, you called it?... is something important?" Obsidian asked, just to be sure.
Since, you know, Cupcake kissed her cheek... oooooh... oooooooooooooooh, and she kissed his!
"Mica really cares a lot about you," Siddy spoke up, "Try to avoid any damage; I'm less scared about Onyx than about the possibility that I'd have to explain to him why one of those Umbrals got 'snuggly' with you."
"He... he does?" Even with the display mere moments ago, she still didn't seem to be certain? "I mean, I know we're best friends and all, but... I mean, he never mentioned that he... honestly, it's not like I never thought about him that way, but... wow... I just didn't have a clue..."
She blinked again. "Kissing? Yeah, it's a big deal - mostly, kissing is one of those things folks do either when they really, really care about someone... or when they're related, but never on the mouth when related. That's just weird."
"My mom used to kiss me on the forehead, so that meant she loves me... but Mica? On the lips?" She smiled. "THAT means L-O-V-E. At least," she looked thoughtful, "I hope so, in this case. He really does like me like that, doesn't he?"
She then smiled at Obsidian. "And I think that also means that Cupcake likes you."
Now it was Obsidian's turn to almost run into the wall. "Y... y-you really think so? I mean, it's obvious, we are all friends here..." Listening to someone talk about it was kind of pleasant, to be fair; another part of everyday life that she'd never experienced before. Considering that she was made to look like father's oldest friend, maybe it was better he had never kissed her in any way.
"Oh, totally Sids! I'll bet he even wants to do the whole 'family' thing with ya! Y'know, marriage, foals, the whole nine yards!"
They made their way towards the front, and in a very short distance, they came across their destination.
The bridge in question spanned a large, rushing river that ran beneath. It was made of mortar, sturdy wood and stone, and looked solid and resilient. Lined at the sides by bricks, it sat a good fifty feet over the water; it was wide enough for two carriages to roll down, side by side, without bumping each other.
And standing on their side of the bridge was Stalwart Stance, who was levitating both longswords she'd picked at the same time and glowering down the bridge towards the distance.
Waiting. Watching. Guarding...
"Heya, Warty!" Clap called out.
Wart jumped about three feet off the ground! "Cuh-cuh-CLAP! Don't DOOOOO that!"
Clap smiled. "Heh, sorry - how's it going over here?"
She frowned at the pegasus, but looked back towards the horizon. "Nothing yet... but I can almost feel their hoofbeats coming... and there will be MANY."
ENEMIES, YAY! Monsters that had to be brutally destroyed - now that, she knew how to deal with. Marriages, foals, something about yards - not so much. She'd just have to explain to Cupcake that she really doesn't feel ready for foals right now. Of course, if he would insist...
Also, she never thought that Clap could be able to sneak up on Stalwart like that.
"More enemies, more glory! Stalwart, Clap and I need to leave castle for a moment, we should be back soon with the Pies; we may attract some attention, so on our way back we... we..."
Obsidian looked at the bridge. "... do we possibly have any explosives? Please, tell me we have some manner of explosives - I'm sure Princess Twilight will understand any damages, yes?" Enemies rushing through a bridge, a short explosion and boom, hundreds of Umbrals shredded... or better still, some explosives could completely block this path!
Eh, with Dark Magic, she could've just made a crystal wall... but alas...
"No, Lady Obsidian - no explosives. However, you do not need them; you have a Stalwart Stance, and that should be sufficient." She grinned proudly.
Clap chuckled. "You've always been a heckuva brave one, Wart - but do you think you can hold off an entire horde when they show up?"
The little mare stood up proudly and levitated her two swords up next to her. "Watch me and be amazed, Thunderclap."
Clap smirked, then nodded to Obsidian. "C'mon - your sweetheart's waiting for us."
"The best of luck to you both, and may Celestia and Luna protect and guide you!" The two of them were a good ways from the bridge when they heard Wart behind them call out, "Wait, WHAT!? Sweetheart?!?"
Clap grinned. "Just keep movin', Sids; she'll figure it out."
"She's quite loud when she is surprised, isn't she?" Hopefully, such a fact will allow them come with help if Stalwart got surprised by power of the horde. "You know this place, Clap - is there anything we can use to our advantage?"
"Well, from what I could tell through that bubble-thingy, it looked like they were holed up in Sugarcube Corner; when the Cakes retired and moved to Manehattan, Pinkie Pie bought out the whole place. She... had a surprising number of bits to do it with, too." So, then the Pie family was rich? They didn't seem to be...
"Anyway, ever since then, she's employed her kids and others in town to work the counters while she keeps the tradition of celebrating birthdays alive. Heck, before you showed up, that was almost always where you could find Cup. Honestly, you showing up got him out of that place more than he'd been in, like, a year or two."
Clap then took on a smirk. "Rumour has it, she had an underground bunker underneath it, where she kept intelligence on each pony and always knew all sorts of stuff on everyone... but she never used it for bad stuff; she'd know what your fave flavor of ice cream was, what sort of presents you liked, how old you were... stuff like that."
She then gave a bit of a distant expression. "But nopony knows that for a fact, except her family... and Cup won't blab, so there's no telling. But they have great food there, at least."
Obsidian lifted an eyebrow at this news. "So you're saying we have to hope that they DO have a bunker... and that it has escape routes." Nothing else about this sounded even slightly useful... well, hopefully Umbrals couldn't fly.
"Could you get inside from the air, while I engage in distracting our enemies?"
Clap grinned. "Actually, I was thinkin' the same thing, Siddy... except I got the distraction part, and you get inside. Think you can handle it?"
Ponyville, when they reached it, was under siege by the Umbrals... but the citizens seemed to be mostly protected by Princess Twilight and the other Element Bearers; they were hiding out in City Hall, a bubble of purple magic keeping the Umbrals out and the ponies in.
Sugarcube Corner was surrounded on all sides by at least five-score Umbrals, and they seemed intent on trying to break in, or at least break down the walls. Other than the terrible creatures, there didn't even seem to be anypony there... but the orbs had directed them to this place, so here she was.
"In case you've forgotten, I can't exactly fly, Clap; you make a better fit for a quick scouting mission, and I should distract and destroy, to relieve my bloodlu-..."
She stopped talking and snarled lightly. "I'm still trying to rile myself up, to get my Dark Magic flowing.... how exceedingly annoying." So many enemies... so many bodies that would have to be buried...
Oh well - at least sister Onyx wasn't playing around.
"But sure, I can get inside, no problem." Huh, Cupcake will be absolutely shocked with her appearance, she was sure of it.
Clap grinned. "Okay then, Obsidian my friend... here we go, filly!"
She shot directly straight up into the air, flared her wings out (which gave her an appearance like a phoenix, for a moment), then she dove down and swept towards Sugarcube Corner. When she got close, she flapped low and, with a hearty yell, plowed right into the crowd, sending several sprawling and a few flying through the air backwards.
She was like a flying battering ram, sending them packing as she kept flying on. "Catch me if ya can, Umbrellas!"
She then took off towards the other side of town, and had a number of the Umbrals right on her tail, even if they were safely below her. A few back-n-forth passes, and the majority of the horde ended up following the pegasus around the corner and down the street.
There were now roughly about fifteen or twenty of them left outside the place, and they were sniffing about, still looking for a way in.
Oh dear... with that many undead trailing the pegasus, Obsidian really hoped that she would be okay; a single hoof in the wrong place, and her attempt to ram Umbrals would end with Thunderclap being buried by these monsters!
But, ah yes... first things first. Obsidian took up her lance with her newfound magic - and it was going to be the biggest pencil-like weapon around... but before a more direct attack, she tried to power her horn - and cast any form of magical missile she possibly could.
There was a flash from above her vision, and three small balls of white light began to circle her horn. Meanwhile, she could feel her magic growing inside her - she was gathering it back a bit at a time, and it actually felt like the Light was easier to recharge, quicker, more concentrated. The lance was almost weightless in her magic's grip, and she hefted it with ease.
Three spheres... multiple targets... reloading time, unknown... hmmmmmmm...
Obsidian stepped forward, attempting to unleash a barrage of missiles at her enemies. She wasn't delicate about it, either - she wanted to feel her powers and learn to wield them properly.... aaaand if it ended in overkill, she'd just have another reason to be pleased with herself.
The three small spheres didn't leave the orbit around her head; instead, each one began producing smaller balls of light, which started immediately streaking towards the Umbrals like darts. Each one popped as it struck the ghoulish forms, and each pop was like a small explosion; a ripple of pops, like firecrackers, and the closest one lost a leg, part of its' barrel and an eye. Now THAT was superior firepower!
It made very little sound, but the attack most certainly did NOT go unnoticed.
Others turned, and they began to charge at Obsidian at a breakneck pace, scrambling as if they were running for their... uh, unlives. When more of the Light missiles struck, the damage began to rack up; limbs were taken clean off, bodies damaged to the point of collapse... even a skull burst like a balloon! Jet black ichor flew everywhere, and even splashed onto Obsidian; it smelled like raw sewage that had been boiling on a stove for, oh say, six centuries or so? The odor threatened to make her gag, but she managed to hold her stomach's contents down.
The lance? THAT was a different category of fun...
The things may have had vicious claws and teeth, but their waterlogged bodies weren't made for resisting damage. The first one she speared, it went right through them! Pulling it free actually broke the creature in half, sending its' torso to the ground as its' back end stood there. Wait... it didn't fall?
No. It didn't.
That's when she noticed the dismembered limbs were all still moving, writhing, squirming... and advancing, as if they instinctively KNEW where their enemy was! Still, whatever the Light bullets didn't destroy, the lance was sufficient to make short work of. However, now she knew that the only way to guarantee their demise was to smash each part into paste; otherwise, it was just a smaller, more limited foe to fight.
Obsidian didn't stop assaulting the wretched creatures with her magic (as well as a growing hope in her heart that she'd be able to clean herself quickly) while striking them at the same time with her lance - impale and wound to slow their momentum, reduce their mobility and then Light missiles to finish them off for good.
Hopefully lancing them first would reduce a bit of pressure in their bodies, so they wouldn't burst in such sickening ways... but as long as the smaller parts were less dangerous than the full creatures, she was more focused on the Umbrals that still had a complete set of limbs.
It didn't take very long before she'd managed to work her way through the Umbrals outside of Sugarcube Corner, and eventually she found herself stomping the last piece into gristle.
The worst part hadn't really been the icky goo, nor the fighting itself... it had been the eerie silence. The horrible things never made a sound, save the echo of hooves on the ground; it had been like fighting while wearing earplugs, and it had been dangerous due to the fact that she realized she would never have heard them coming, were she not already aware of their existence. It made her wonder what the initial flood had been like, and how large the toll had already been on the population.
The last of the nasties dealt with, the way was clear for Sugarcube Corner. In the distance, Obsidian heard Thunderclap laughing her fool head off; good, because it meant she was still living, breathing... and by the sound of things, having a blast.
Granted, it would have been helpful to have a partner here, to keep her plot safe; otherwise, she could have severe problems during a prolonged fight with these creatures. At least Clap was safe - good.
Obsidian quickly trotted to the shop and knocked harshly. "Cupcake? Mister Lemon? It's clear!"
There was nothing but silence for a moment, then there was the sound of something heavy being moved from behind the door. After a moment, the doorway cracked open and a bright pink eye looked back at her.
"Oh great. It's you." It was Blue Raspberry, the smarmy sister who was so pleasant, last they met. "Let me guess; you think you're some kind of big-freakin-hero, and now you wanna come in here and parade your alicornier-than-thou attitude among the poor little Pie family, right?"
"Blue?" The door opened wider, and Licorice Twist stood there, looking dreamy and gorgeous, his sister Blue standing off to the side with a pout on her muzzle. "You put down the Umbrals?" He poked his magnificent head out and looked around. "I could have sworn there had been a lot more of them. Thank you kindly, stranger."
Oh, so of those two ponies it was less pleasant one that recognized her - how sad.
"Yes, you're correct, Blue," Obsidian grinned at her, not willing to play with her hostile approach, "Licorice, it's me, Obsidian. Thunderclap lured the monstrosities away - we should leave quickly!"
Licorice's eyes flew open. "... Obsidian!? That's... is that you?"
Blue rolled her eyes. "Yes, stupid - she still has that same stupid face, she just looks... less evil, that's all." The angsty mare motioned inside. "Get inside, you dumb nag; we're not leaving yet. The others and Mom are downstairs."
"Mama..." Licorice said with a visible fall in his demeanor.
"Yeah, yeah, save the waterworks, let's GO."
Oh, dear - had something terrible happened here too? Hopefully Equestria didn't lose one of the Element Bearers - besides, Cup, Lick and the rest of the Pie family would be devastated. Hopefully Obsidian was right on time to help... for a change.
Even through the nasty stuff on her coat, she could smell the delectable scent of sweet treats all through the place. It was decorated in pastels that were bright and warm, but with the lights off it looked more lonely and abandoned.
Blue trotted over to one of the counters and reached onto a high shelf, tipping a cookie jar to the left. As soon as she did, there was a shifting sound, and Blue vanished down below the countertop, out of sight, as if the floor had fallen out from under her!
Licorice walked over to the shelf. "Come stand on the floor mat; I'll send you along, and I'll be right behind you." Licorice looked handsome... but seemed quite bothered and glum.
As instructed, she stood on the floor mat. Licorice reached up and tilted the cookie jar.
{WHOOSH!} The floor mat slid out from under her, and Obsidian found herself sliding down a long tube; it had what looked like multi-colored lights imbedded in it, so it wasn't dark... but she was moving quite fast, and sliding around turns and bends too rapidly to properly take in.
And then, she shot out of the tube and landed in... a bunch of colored balls? Yes, she'd come out of the tube and landed in a pool of soft plastic spheres of many colors. The descent had been rapid, but these balls at the end were what kept any injuries from happening. Interesting mode of travel.
However, when she looked up, there was much more to see.
It was a warehouse... underground! There were shelves and filing cabinets, each filling the wall on each side, which were chock-full of papers and pictures, photos and notes, and looked as though they were utilized often, as there was no dust on anything down here, and the shelves were filled with all sorts of gear, like packs of 'party balloons', party plates, party hats, party tablecloths, party presents... just about anything one would want for a celebration, and then some!
Standing at the head of the aisle was Lemon Custard... and he did not look like a happy pony - he looked as though he was fighting tears. "Obsidian. You..." He blinked and looked at her again. "You... you're different."
By Darkness, it was the most ridiculous fortification she had ever seen. The long tube was clearly meant to confuse and disorient any enemies, but was also used for allies - including those who, like Obsidian, had no clue what they should expect. Her recent skirmish with the Umbrals didn't traumatize her as much as that had!
She quickly moved forward, to avoid being crushed by Licorice. "Yes, Mister Lemon... Light Magic; I can explain later. What's the situation?" Who knew Lemon could cry... yet, considering Blue's behavior, Obsidian hoped the situation wasn't THAT serious.
Lemon Custard looked over his flank, down the aisle behind him. "Mother. She... wanted to make sure we were all okay, so she naturally came here, where we were holed up. We held off a number of those things, but the fight did not leave us without... casualties." Lemon shut his eyes for a moment, then sighed and turned.
"Mother is hurt. She says she'll be fine, but..." Lemon cleared his throat, and motioned for her to follow as he made his way along the shelving, towards the rear of the place.
"Obsidian, I swear to you, if I lose her, I will personally kill anyone and everyone who is responsible for this blasphemy against Equestria. I've had contact with Princess Twilight, and she says that she's holding Ponyville's Town Hall, and has the majority of the town's population amassed there. It's good news... but unless we can find a way to end this siege, we will eventually be overrun with these horrid creatures."
Should Obsidian be worried about his threat? She was partially responsible for this mess after all, which was seemingly making her a potential target! Maybe Lemon had warmed up a bit to her lately... but it didn't mean he wouldn't pull her kidneys through her ears, if he felt she was a part of it.
"Well, Mister Lemon, the good news is that we probably found a tool designed to counter magic that controls this undead army, and..."
They reached the back, where it was set up like a living room, so to speak, with couches and chairs and a few tables.
Sitting on one of the couches was a drab grey mare with a flat purple mane and a completely disinterested look on her muzzle. She reminded Obsidian of Mica, for some reason. Pacing back and forth in front of her was another grey mare, this one seemingly agitated as she continued to stalk back and forth, back and forth. "I swear, if anything happens to her, I'll-... I'LL..."
"You know," the mare on the couch said, "your stress really isn't doing her any good. Or you."
"Cram it, Maud!" The pacing pony stared at her. "If Pinkamena had just stayed with her friends, she'd be-"
"She'd be knee-deep in zombie ponies, Limestone," the couch mare intoned, "just like she was here. The difference is, now she knows her foals are okay."
Pacing mare (Limestone?) grit her teeth and made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat... then she saw Obsidian and Lemon, and rolled her eyes. "Great. More ponies in trouble - are we just a problem magnet today!?"
Couch mare (Maud?) just looked at her. "Hey."
Hm, Mica's mother? Obsidian bowed respectfully to both mares; Maud surely looked even more stoic than Mica.
"...a-and I know some healing spells, and currently I am enjoying a rather large reserve of magic. I haven't had much of a chance to practice with it yet, but... umm... it wouldn't hurt to try, methinks?" She then looked around curiously. "Where are Patty and Cupcake...?"
"Light Ma-" Lemon balked, utterly shocked. "You're telling me that you have completely switched magical capabilities!? But... b-but HOW!? That shouldn't even be empirically possible! How could-"
"Wait," Limestone now stared at Obsidian. "THIS is the refugee from Sombra's dungeon!? What in Tartarus is SHE doing here!?"
"Offering to save Pinkie," Maud stood up, and looked at Obsidian. "They're in the back, with our sister. Come on, I'll show you."
"Maud!? What do you think you're do-"
"If you're not going to help, then keep thinking; you're capable of coming up with good plans, so you should do that right now - leave this to me. Unless you have a reason not to trust my judgement?"
Limestone's muzzle twisted up into an angry moue... which fell with an exasperated sigh. "FINE." She then marched right up to Obsidian, and pointed a hoof at her, almost right in her face. "But if you mess up and something happens to Pinkamena because of it!?" She then brought her hoof back and drew it slowly across her own throat.
Maud blinked at her, then turned and walked along. "Come with me."
"I can explain later, Mister Lemon," she called back as she followed the drab grey mare. It was quite a good thing Mica's mother wasn't being weepy or angsty; now she saw where Mica got it from.
When they were out of earshot, Maud spoke up again. "Limestone's just angry that she wasn't able to stop Pinkie from getting hurt; don't judge what she says too harshly."
And a doubly-good thing nopony was actually dead; it was going to stay that way if Obsidian had anything to say about it! No more ponies dying on her watch. Including herself, of course.
"Well, I don't have too much choice, methinks," she mused as she followed Maud. In theory, healing magic should be better attuned to Light Magic, and would therefore make the act of healing easier, right?
They reached the back area, and Obsidian could see the ponies gathered here. On a moth-eaten old couch was Pinkie Pie. She didn't look all that bad, but there was a thick red stain at about waist-level on the blanket that covered her midsection. She looked almost as chipper as she'd been when Obsidian had seen her last time... but her muzzle looked tired, as if she were silently struggling with something.
On one side of her was a beautiful mare, about Pinkie's age, whose eyes widened as Obsidian showed up. She gave a soft, almost polite gasp and watched with apprehension as she and Maud approached.
On the other side was Peppermint Patty, the quiet sister. She had a number of books and charts out, pouring over them all and seemingly searching for as much info as she could find.
Next to her was dear Cupcake Sprinkles... with twin rivers pouring from his muzzle as he held his momma's hoof in his own.
"OOOOOH! Obsidian, you look so pretty!" Pinkie said to her as soon as she saw her. "I am loving the new you! Not that the old you was all that bad, but this new look is definitely YOU, filly!"
Patty looked up, smiled and waved, then went immediately back to her work. Cupcake looked up at Obsidian; he looked so sad and pitiful, heartbroken as if his mother's corpse was cooling under his hooves. "(sniffle)... S... Siddy? What're you doing here?"
Was the other mare perhaps Pinkie's mother? No... no, she was too young; the aforementioned other sister, then? Regardless, Obsidian bowed to her anyway, as well as the rest.
"Miss Pie, please save your strength; we'll be able to chat soon," she assured the wounded mare as she approached the group. Was this blanket sterile at all? "I'm here to help, Cupcake; Patty, did you find something useful? I know healing magic, but I have to know as much as possible," she surrounded the stained blanket with her magic. "If somepony doesn't wish to see this, you should avert your eyes now." Obsidian carefully lifted it to inspect the wound...
"STOP!" Pinkie shoved her hooves down on top of the lifting blanket, then glared at Obsidian. "I do not want anything wrong down here to be seen by my family! I won't have it, I won't, I won't!"
Her muzzle softened then, smiling at Obsidian. "But send them out, and I'll let you see to me. I don't want my little ones having nightmare fuel filling up their brains!"
Cupcake looked at her earnestly, "But momma-"
"No no no! Marble, would you please get these two out of here?" she asked the unknown Pie.
"Mmmhmm," the quiet, lovely mare said and made her way around, putting hooves around Patty's shoulders as she reached her, making her way to Cupcake. Cup looked at his momma, then turned and threw his forelegs around Obsidian, squeezing her tightly. "Please, Siddy... help my momma."
Pinkie Pie smiled at her colt. "Don't worry - I have a feeling she's gonna be able to do quite a lot, here. You go on with Auntie Marble now, you two go see to everypony else in there, I'll be fiiiiiiine!"
With great reluctance, the three of them left the area where they all were. Once they were no longer about, however, Pinkie Pie breathed a sigh of relief.
"Am I glad to see you! You can't imagine how hard it's been to just keep them from freaking out! So," she threw back the cover, "your job's easy..."
To Obsidian's great surprise, other than some scratches and a bruise on her left flank, she was completely unharmed!
"... all you have to do is convince my kids that I'm wounded, and they'll take care of the rest!" She was all smiles now, and stood up and stretched, as if to confirm. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Twenty-Nine: Bringing The Boom | Obsidian blinked. Then blinked again. She looked at the mare's unharmed flank, then at Pinkie, then again at her flank...
"... WHY?" This mare was crazy, right? Why were they all THAT crazy-sad if she was fine?
Pinkie dabbed a hoof into the red on her blanket, then tasted it. "Mmmm, strawberry!" Then she turned to Obsidian and sighed.
"You've met my kiddos, right? Do they really look like the type to work together very much? Well, they don't - not unless... well, something really bad happens."
"When I got here to check on them," she began, "they were so busy arguing and yelling and being mean siblings to each other that they almost died! They couldn't even set their petty differences aside long enough to save each other's lives! I couldn't believe it!"
"But when I tripped and fell, they all came to check on me... which gave me the idea to 'pretend' I'd gotten badly hurt; as soon as they saw that I was 'injured', they all banded together to get me and the others down here as fast and safe as possible."
She looked Obsidian in the eye. "If I hadn't, then we would have been overrun with those nasty things, and we'd all be ghosties because they would rather argue than assist!"
She sat down. "So. I need you to let them know that I may recover, but the wounds I've taken are pretty bad. I need them to rally together, because that's how they're the strongest. I don't want them to die - and if this is the only way they'll do it, then a mare's gotta do what a mare's gotta do." Her eyes turned to Obsidian, pleading silently.
"I Pinkie Promise, I'll tell them everything after this is over and everyone's safe; until then, my children need a reason to work together, and their shared feelings of worry and anger at the gruesomes will do exactly that." She smiled sheepishly. "I hope you don't think less of me for this, but it's the only way that's worked."
Obsidian stared... then, she glared at the pink mare. Was one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony lying to manipulate her own children? Using them as... as tools?
"So in other words, the Bearer of the Element of Laughter made multiple ponies soul-crushingly sad... oh, the absolute irony," Obsidian was not amused, "including Cupcake, whom I happen to be very particular about."
A few hours ago, Obsidian was holding her own sister's cooling body in her hooves... and here Pinkie was playing mind games? "Ponies are not tools to play with," she growled quietly. "Besides, I wanted to evacuate you all to the castle and I'm not really able to do that if they'll think you're too hurt to walk!"
Pinkie looked down, but there was determination on her muzzle.
"I'm not playing with anypony here; I tried to get them to listen to reason when I first got here, but Lemon was trying to tell Blue what to do, which she hates, while Cupcake was busy telling Licorice about how he'd finally kissed a mare," she smirked at Obsidian for a moment, "and nopony was even paying attention to Patty, who was trying to point out which direction those things were coming from! It was chaos, but the bad kind of chaos! I tried and tried to get them to work together, but it's like herding manticores, I swear!"
Oh... so Obsidian was Cupcake's first with this whole kissing thing? It was good to hear that, even if she wasn't exactly sure why it felt so nice.
Pinkie Pie now looked angry, but not at Obsidian. "A friend taught me, a while back, that sometimes you need a push in the right direction to prepare for the worst. I didn't like it when HE did it, either - but in the end, it got the results that we needed, and nopony got killed."
"No, it's not the bestest idea ever... but I've already tried talking to them, signalling them, explaining to them and even tried some semaphore... Nothing. Else. WORKED." She looked up at her now, eyes serious but not angry; they were seeking understanding. "If a lie can save my children's lives, then why shouldn't I do it?"
"Because, uh, it's lying? Dishonest? I don't really know - I'm still a touch green with this whole friendship and harmony thing... I suppose just have my own personal reasons to be annoyed when I think there's a manipulation going on."
Obsidian then sighed, and shrugged with resignation. "But I would still like to move you all to the castle, especially Cupcake. What if... oh, fine; I'll tell them that your life is no longer threatened, but we need to evacuate and that you still can get worse? It won't be a lie... technically speaking..."
She pondered that for a moment, then gave a smile. "Okie dokie lokie - but I'll leave it to you to deal with them, then!" With that, she turned and started gathering up a bunch of seemingly needless things: packs of uninflated balloons; spools of kite string; a pouch of jacks; hoofuls of streamers; bags of confetti... and more, each making seemingly less sense than the last.
Don't question it, don't question it... Equestrians were crazy. And with that thought, Obsidian turned around and left the mare to rejoin the others.
"Good news, everyone...!" she said as she stepped out into the larger room.
Even though there were countless conversations, grumblings and arguments... every single one of them stopped cold as Obsidian spoke, and all eyes were very suddenly pointed directly at her.
"Your mother's life is no longer threatened... and she can move about freely. However," she held up a hoof, "I did what I could, but it would be... preferable... to move her to a safer place - somewhere that would be easier to defend... with more medicine and supplies. You know, just in case of any side-effects from the, er... wound."
She looked at Cupcake, somewhat pleadingly.
There was a moment of pure silence. Then, with a shake of his head, Lemon came back to life first. "Okay, you heard her! We need to move our little family reunion to Twilight's Palace! Auntie Limestone, Auntie Marble and Auntie Maud? I need you three next to Mother, and stay together for safety!"
The cranky mare, the skittish mare and the stoic mare all nodded and moved almost as one toward the area behind her, to join their sister.
"Licorice! Peppermint! Cupcake! I want you three to flank Obsidian, and watch her back as we head outside," he glanced at her, smirking, "she can hold her own, but the more, the merrier - and I'm sure she'd appreciate the backup!"
The dark stallion on her left, the quiet mare on her right... and Cupcake directly behind her, looking ready for a rumble with a big, smarmy grin plastered to his muzzle.
"Blue..." The mare may have made a distasteful expression, but she waited for him to speak. "I need you up front... with me." She looked at him for a moment, surprised... then gave a solemn nod.
Turning, Lemon began to make his way towards the front of the group, and his sister fell into step next to him. The wicked grin was still there on Blue's muzzle... but now, there might have been just a smidgen of pride, as well.
Lemon cleared his throat and began to speak as they moved. "Now, we Pies aren't here because we want to be, nor are we here because it's what is best for us... but we are here. And since we're here..."
He looked to each of his family members... and smiled. "... then we are here to PARTY!"
That drew smiles and chuckles of approval from the Pies, and Obsidian could feel that tingle again; Hope. Courage. Strength. Connection. And yes, even Love.
"By Twilight's Crown, we will ROCK this party to the ground! Are you with me!?" The next thing Obsidian knew, she and the others were making their way out of the hidden doors at the rear of Sugarcube Corner, innocently disguised as a small toolshed. The Pies seemingly marched in formation, a surging energy surrounding her that Obsidian might not have been able to identify... but she could most certainly feel.
As they reached the outside, they were treated to the sight of countless Umbral undead, amassed at the sides of the sweets shop and in the process of breaking it open like a pinata. However, as soon as the group left the tunnel, the Umbrals began to take notice of the new arrivals.
Hopefully, Clap was already safe in the Castle and enjoying some relaxation after covering Obsidian's passage into the sweets shop. Such a shame these creatures were going to ruin it; hopefully Onyx had gathered enough assets to pay for its rebuild after all this mess!
But first things first. These beasts returned in numbers and while Obsidian would gladly dance with them a bit, she had their entire group to escort into safety - and to do that... she tried to cast a shield over all the amassed Pies, hoping to use this energy surge they were creating.
Not only was she able to tap into the energy around her... it surged into her shields and doubled their effectiveness! It was like feeling those energies harden and reinforce themselves as they came into existence, without even a need to even try very hard - it just felt natural to her, and the energies seemed to simply accept her directions.
Light Magic may have been alien... but the rush was intense!
The Umbrals that saw their presence seemed to hunker down as if to prepare for an explosion of activity, and they began to surge towards the lot of them, all Tartarus-bent on tearing the entire Pie family - Obsidian too - into tiny, bite-sized flesh gobbets that would either dry in the sun, or rot inside a corpse's shell!
"SIBLINGS! FRONT AAAAAAND CENTER!"
As the elder Pie sisters - Pinkie included - joined them from the tunnel, Lemon yelled his order, and all of his siblings lined up next to each other, side by side, in a line. All facing toward the oncoming hordes of wicked, horrific undead pony-things.
"PREEEEEeeeee-SENT!"
Now, each pie reached behind them and pulled out... what in the name of Father's crystals..?
Licorice Twist brought out a party cannon; it had an iron black barrel with white, loopy scrimshaw across the rim and large, dark red wheels underneath - it looked as if it were made of brooding thoughts. He gave a grin that would melt any mare's heart and slammed in down in front of him.
Peppermint Patty brought out a party cannon; it was a severe bell shape, with an almost tiny back end supported by what appeared to be train wheels, and a wide-mouthed cannon at the front, covered in brass gears and pistons, a little steam whistle at the top giving a toot of readiness. She smiled fiercely and lowered her goggles into place.
Lemon Custard brought out a party cannon; it was black-and-white checkered, but splotched with garish, rainbow-colored splashes of paint, almost looking like a paint store exploded around it, all standing on two caterpillar treads that were well-oiled and sturdy-looking... and mustard yellow, like his coat.
Blue Raspberry brought out a party cannon; it was cast-iron black, but covered in graffiti and skater stickers, with a spiked band wrapped around the middle and steel-belted radial tires as supports. She climbed aboard it and revved her hooves in mid-air; the cannon under her roared like a motorcycle, with no evidence of any sort of engine.
Cupcake Sprinkles brought out a party cannon; it was the tall cupcake on it's side, with huge, sugar-frosted donuts as wheels, as she'd seen before. She was fairly certain they were simply made to look like food, and weren't made of food... but there was still a bite taken out of one wheel.
"PIES! FOR-WAAAAARRRRD FIRE!"
The thunder of the first shot from each cannon going off simultaneously echoed across Ponyville - possibly across all of Equestria! An entire row of Umbrals went down, bursting rottenly and flailing as the next rows surged forward... but they weren't making a single inch of headway, as the Pie children all began blasting a path through the oncoming hordes towards the castle.
Non-unicorn artillery? A wonderful idea, really - it wasn't dependent on magic and every pony tribe could use it! Obsidian was trying to help, using her own magical missiles, but very carefully - her priority was upholding the shields. Hopefully they wouldn't run out of ammo before reaching the castle.
The might of the Pie Army continued to blast its' way through the masses of swarming undead until they reached the palace grounds. There, it became a different story...
The entire palace was utterly surrounded with Umbral undead things, charging forth as they pressed in on all sides, trying to surmount the moats and defenses. Luckily, those seemed to be holding up just fine - each shuttered window doing its' job and keeping out anything that wasn't welcome. The only two directions that seemed to have any chance of entering would be the north and south gates.
South seemed to have a number of defenses in place - including some of the previously unseen Royal Guards - but the North was supposed to be where they might find the best way inside, at the hardest end to defend.
Where Wart was supposed to be.
Stalwart needed support - besides, Obsidian was sure they'd all be able to defend themselves perfectly as soon as they reached the bridge. Perhaps she could even seal this path afterwards? Could she even cast crystals with Light Magic?
But no time for experiments - she had to escort this group to safety first. But if the Umbrals broke in, they would be doomed anyway. Too bad they had to destroy these undead creatures - they were such wonderful machines of destruction!
"To the north - we can make our way in through there, and shore up our defenses once we're in!" Obsidian called over to Lemon, who nodded and readjusted his glasses as he bellowed out more orders.
"NORTH END! SWING WIDE, DRAW TIGHT!"
The Pie Brigade did exactly that, continuing their rolling wall of bombardment as they forged ahead, making way toward the north bridge.
As they reached the point where they could see it, the guardhouse doors swung wide, slamming into the walls on either side as a lone defender came strolling out.
Stalwart Stance wore only light armor barding, but a captain's cloak flowed out behind her, tied at the neck and waist, and on her head - slightly too big but padded to fit - was a helm of the Equestrian Royal Guard.
There was a confidence, a physical assured-ness, that the fight to come was a foregone conclusion - in her favor. At her sides hovered two greatswords, both many times larger than she was, and wielded in a dual-hoof style in her magic.
She strode to the middle of the bridge, facing the oncoming hordes and completely oblivious of Obsidian and her crew.
"Lo, tremble and quake, you foes of all that is right and good in this world! Know this, that you stand before Stalwart Stance, defender of Equestria - for evil such as thee, there shall be no quarter given, no mercy spent, no chance in Tartarus of victory on this day!"
As she spoke, a surge of undead horrors continued to charge towards the bridge; when they were nearly on top of her, she threw back her head and her voice blasted with power before her, as if she had found her own Royal Canterlot Voice:
"HAVE AT YOU, VILE FIENDS!"
And with those words, she began to tear into the horde with her greatswords, slashing and thrashing like a mare possessed! She leapt back and forth, pummeling Umbrals with her hooves as she ducked and jumped over her own blades, tearing them apart faster than they could reach her.
As Obsidian watched, the horde kept coming until Wart was forced to use the blades as gates, holding back the enormous flood of foul creatures until one of the swords broke in half! She pressed her shoulder against the other, straining to hold the horde at bay, until she spoke up in a voice that screamed thunderously:
"YOU... SHALL... NOT... PASS!!!"
Her cutie mark, a green tower shield with twin longswords crossed behind it, suddenly BLAZED to life with a blue aura that matched the one in Obsidian's necklace; it almost looked as if it were on fire as she met the massive wave of Umbrals head-on... and undead pieces and chunks went flying in every direction!
Wart became a tiny dynamo, smashing, slashing and crashing through the masses as if she were a one-mare army! The roar of triumph that came from her shouldn't have been physically possible from a mare of her size - yet it rivaled a lion's! Scores of vicious horrors flew to pieces as the victims of Stalwart's onslaught began to amass at her hooves while she tore through them like they were made of clay and straw.
... maaaaaaaaybe she didn't really need their help?
It was quite a sight to behold, truly - Obsidian almost regretted picking a lance herself after seeing how easy it was for Wart to use those massive greatswords! The bravado speech she had given may have been wasted on enemies that were literally already dead, but eh - at least it seemed to bolster Stalwart's confidence.
"To the bridge! Crush everything in our path!" Obsidian exclaimed with enthusiasm. Blocking the enemy's escape path was usually considered a tactical mistake, as it typically made them fight more desperately... but Umbrals were dead - they had no morale or emotions...
Which meant they could blast them as much as they wanted to!
It took a moment, especially for Lemon Custard, who was just staring, open-mouthed, at the tiny mare's incredible feat of warrior-hood; he shook himself out of it, but it was certain the sight of what she could do had not been lost on him.
The Pies rallied, and began blasting their way towards the bridge as Obsidian covered the rear, sides and wherever else they came from. Eventually, they managed to cut off the stream headed to the bridge, and they met up with Stalwart as she cleared the last of them from the bridge.
Seeing the Pies and Obsidian, Wart visibly sighed with relief... but only briefly, as she went completely professional again. "Your Majesty, the North Gate is held, as well as the East and West gates. The Southern Gate may be breachable, but as the majority of the remaining guards are there, I find it highly unlikely. And our friends are safe, as of the last time I checked on them."
She then actually bowed on one knee to Obsidian! "Shall I escort you all inside?" She looked up at the Light Princess; from what she could see under the helmet, it looked as though the mare was feeling more alive than she had in her entire life.
Well, at least one of the gang managed to somewhat achieve her dream - terrifyingly effectively. Good for her - and for the rest of ponies inside, as it seemed that the horrific creatures summoned by Obsidian's vile sister were too weak to defeat her in a fair fight. "What about Thunderclap? Has she already returned?" Mica would kill Obsidian if she returned without the pegasus...
Wart shook her head. "No, I have not seen her come this way - but I have seen her on occasion, flying around Ponyville. I believe she may have decided to stop by and check on Princess Twilight Sparkle and company." Wart then cracked a smile. "It would be just like her to try to check up on her mother, mid-fight."
That was when her eyes glanced over at the elder Pie sisters... and they suddenly grew wide. "M-mother?"
Limestone Pie looked at her and grinned proudly. "Heh, that's my filly!"
Stalwart smiled back, and saluted her... then turned to Obsidian, who could feel her horn tingling again. "Your orders... Lady Obsidian?"
Wow, so Stalwart was ALSO related to the Pie family? That left... hmmm... Gypsy, Clap and Obsidian herself out of the lineup. However, considering that Mica got kissy-kissy with Thunderclap, she could technically also be included into their house as well.
Obsidian herself had no idea if she was intimidated by this fact, especially as her current knowledge about crushes, relationships, marriages and so on was... misty, at best. After all, she didn't even react to the teasing about her sleeping with Cupcake or their kisses - even when his own brother was asking if she were doing this 'sex' thing or his own mother was smirking at poor Siddy...
Uh, right, orders. First things first.
"We need somepony to guard the bridge; we've smashed plenty of these beasts, but they are too quiet for my own tastes, so we'd need a volunteer... Stalwart, escort those who aren't fighting," she turned to look at the pink mare with a pointed expression, "especially miss Pinkie Pie, who can walk only after my treatment..." it wasn't technically a lie, right? "inside and join us in our room. Peppermint, can you come with us? We need to know where these creatures are coming from and Gypsy could gladly use some help, methinks... Cupcake and I shall join the rest, but I just want to quickly check on where Thunderclap is... and then, I'm going back to get her."
Wart saluted smartly, and motioned to the Pie sisters. "Mother, if you would all follow me, I'll get you to safety as quickly as possible."
Limestone nodded, then turned to her siblings. "Okay, get inside! The LAST thing we want is another injury! Follow my daughter - and show her some respect, y'got me?"
As the sisters passed Obsidian, Pinkie let go with a single, sly wink at her; she apparently appreciated the act, and approved of Obsidian's taking charge. Peppermint, still bedecked in her goggles and vest, nodded and saluted Obsidian before putting her own cannon away (where in Tartarus did they put them!?) and sidling up next to her.
Lemon, Blue and Licorice grouped up, and he looked towards her before he spoke. "As it stands, I believe we may be capable of holding the line at the Southern bridge," he then smirked at his sister, "unless Blue here needs a breather?"
"Ah, blow it out yer feedbag," Blue snarked with a grin. Licorice simply smiled and waved at Obsidian, then gave Peppermint a quick, tight hug as he passed her. The three headed through the palace to the Southern bridge, where they would probably set up their cannons for the next wave.
Okay, everypony had something useful to do; good - and hopefully Gypsy would appreciate the help.
Cup stood next to her. "Where is Thunderclap?"
"She volunteered to distract the Umbrals to allow me sneak into your shop. They can't fly as far as I can tell, so when I saw her last time she was having an absolute blast... but now I need to check the Monitor Spell to get a more precise location."
The spheres of the Monitor Spell were still working when they arrived at the room. In Clap's sphere, she was zipping back and forth alongside her mother, and the two of them were seemingly playing a game of 'who can kick an Umbral head the highest'. From the spectacular kick she witnessed as she took in what was going on, it would seem that Rainbow Dash was the winner so far.
Cupcake grinned. "Well, can't say I'm surprised."
A good thing, as Obsidian was worried she'd see her friend's torn and broken body... but it seemed everything was okay so far. It would be nice to have her with them, but at least she wasn't in any current danger. After all, her mother should take care of her, right? At least Obsidian thought so; she admittedly didn't have too much experience with moms. "So... Gypsy, did you find something new? Any important news we missed during our little rescue mission?"
The diamond dog was still seated at the little table, but he was surrounded by notes, all scribbled with different colored markers. He looked up as she spoke, his tail wagging as he saw her. "OH! This one has b-been busy translating lots of p-p-prophecy and sp-p-peculation, as well as much of the Umbral social standp-points, and there has been quite a lot of mention as to how they t-tr-treated their so-called 'subjects'; they were incredibly f-f-fond of ritual sacrifice, especially anything that was gory or loud. They have a seemingly tribal na-"
"Gypsy," Cupcake laughed, "did you find anything we can use right now?"
The pup smiled. "As a m-m-matter of f-f-fact, yes th-this one has!" He turned and held out a sheaf of pages, all marked in red marker. "These are sp-sp-spells that have been known t-to stand ag-gainst the Umbral p-p-p-powers... t-try them!"
Ritual sacrifices... but were they for a purpose? Or were they cruel just for the sake of cruelty? Obsidian really hoped that her most honourable father wasn't trying to bring back an empire that was so incredibly wasteful.
She levitated the pages closer to examine the spells - hopefully there would be something really useful. Onyx would make such a funny face if she discovered that her better, wiser and more beautiful sister had wrecked her entire army!
There were spells against rot, spells to combat the undead, spells to seal off Dark Magic, spells to summon... oh, THAT was certainly not a Light Magic thing to do... spells to cleanse a corpse to ensure they couldn't rise as one of the Umbral, spells to turn water into the equivalent of Umbral acid...
Gypsy had indeed been a busy fellow.
A spell to seal off Dark Magic? Now that could be useful indeed when she found her siblings! Spells to combat the undead were surely quite useful as well. Turning water into acid - that would require a very specific set of circumstances, but Obsidian was sure it could be a wonderful spell of a mass destruction! Cleansing a corpse... well, hopefully they wouldn't need it, as well as the spell against rot... but lately, Obsidian's wishes meant less than zero, so it could be important too.
"That's wonderful, Gypsy! It should greatly increase our chances to survive this battle, that's for sure. Peppermint, did you find, perchance, where these creatures are coming from?"
Peppermint nodded vigorously, then whipped out a piece of chalk and wrote quickly on the table in front of them: {Originates from Everfree Forest, from a portal}
Hmmm... well, if she were mute, that would explain why Obsidian didn't hear her speak even once - and here she thought that Peppermint was merely shy.
"P-portal?" Gypsy grimaced. "That can't b-b-b-be good. Th-that would m-mean we might have t-t-to go through the p-p-portal to get to wherever th-they are."
Cupcake looked at Obsidian. "You feel like portal-hopping?"
"Of course... it makes sense, considering the size of my foolish sister's Black Pool. She couldn't just build it near Ponyville, as somepony would notice that an underground fortress filled with Dark Magic was being constructed. And," she looked at Gypsy. "I think it's something we should do together. All six of us. How do you feel about that, Gypsy?"
Gypsy's eyes widened. "A-a-all of us? Together?"
Cupcake grinned. "Yupper, pupper! We all gather together like the Element Bearers, and we go take the fight right to Onyx, and BAM! POW!, we make 'em surrender to our incredible might!"
The diamond dog looked skeptical. "Is... is th-th-this wise?"
Obsidian tapped her chin, thinking. "On one hoof, considering how this Light Magic amulet gathers energy from our companionship, it seems like the best option. It would also mean we would have a very versatile team of combatants, each with a different fighting style and advantages that could be used to protect the rest. A team of six creatures should still be small enough to be able to sneak into a portal without attracting too much attention..."
"Yet, on the other hoof... we are just a bunch of teenagers. However, it's either that, or prolonging the fight and trying to destroy all the Umbrals in the village, and counter-attacking with the help of the Bearers of Harmony and any remaining guards... however, it would possibly mean plenty of needless property destruction and, Darkness forbid, giving my siblings time to either escape or use other ancient rituals."
Cupcake nodded. "Sounds perfectly logical to me!"
Mica simply shook his head. "It... makes for a plan of attack, at least. And if we can all band together, then it's far more likely we'll be able to keep each other safe, like she said. I say, why not?"
Gypsy looked apprehensive, but stood up and joined them, pocketing a number of sheets of scrawl-covered paper as he did.
Cupcake, Mica, Gypsy... Wart had returned to guarding the Northern bridge, so she was nearby... and Clap was towards the center of Ponyville. Gathering them all in one place shouldn't be too hard, right?
...right?
It would be far easier if they simply had another pegasus to get Thunderclap back. Now, how to get her attention... maybe she could make an enormous illusion of Mica kissing Clap? That would surely catch her eye and make her return to the castle! Or at least a very, very big message of 'CLAP, COME BACK', projected into the sky. It seemed to be a safer option than moving through the Umbral army - though Obsidian wasn't even sure if she would be able to cast illusions, especially that big.
"So, Mica, Gypsy... you should look for some nice, sturdy armor and weapons for yourselves. Cupcake, you too... but first, can we talk... in private?"
Mica nodded and began looking over the pile of armor he'd brought... but Gypsy's eyes went wide, and his tail and ears drooped low. However, Mica saw it, and moved in close to the diamond dog. "Don't worry, Gypsy - we'll be together, and we'll keep you safe. I promise, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you don't get hurt."
"B-b-but th-this one i-i-sn't w-worried ab-b-b-bout hi-hi-himself... h-he w-w-w-worries ab-b-bout a-all of y-y-you."
Mica blinked at that... then smiled kindly. "Thanks, Gypsy - but I think we'll be just fine, as long as we're together." The diamond dog gave a small grin in return, and his ears lifted as he also began shuffling through the available armor - now with Mica's help.
Cupcake gave Obsidian a curious look. "Okay, uh... sure. It seems important, so I'll guess it is. We can, ummm..." he suddenly smiled, "... use the CLOSET! YES!" Without another word, Cup swept both himself and Obsidian into the closet - which was okay, as it turned out to be one of the walk-in varieties.
He then closed the door and turned to her with a smile. "So... what's up?"
As long as Gypsy was worried about everypony around... well, he should be able to carry on, right? Obsidian wasn't really sure if taking him along was that great of an idea, but what other choice did she have? They couldn't just walk into Onyx's lair incomplete... and if they left Gypsy alone in the castle, he would be even more worried! Poor diamond dog; hopefully everything would end soon, and then he'd get a really nice, long chance to relax.
However, first things first - and right now, the firstest thing of all was Cupcake. She didn't even give him any chance to protest - she just hugged him without mercy (or any real experience - but hey, that's thought that counts, right?).
"I just wanted to say that I'm glad I've chosen you as my liaison; I thought initially that it was a big mistake, as you've been completely different from anything I've ever known... but it turned out to be a good thing. And I need you, not just as a liaison..."
To be fair, she was still firmly set that his behaviour at the beginning was really annoying, and she would still get mad if he acted that way even now... but she was fairly certain that was behind them both.
She raised her head to look at him. "I also think I may have this 'crush' thing on you... however, I'm not sure if I understand this idea correctly. But both Thunderclap and Lemon seemed to be sure about it, though."
Cupcake was stunned by the hug (though he DID return it, after a moment)... but he was floored by her confession. He simply stared at her for a moment. But before she could voice any doubts, his muzzle turned bright red, and his smile went sweet and wide.
"Obsidian... you're not like anyone I've ever known. You're from a whole 'nother time, and you know darkness well, and you're not really silly or loud... but..."
He looked straight into her eyes. "... but I think I have a crush on you, too. I mean," he chuckled, "I KNOW I do. It's been weird, as I don't really think I've felt this way about anypony before... it's like, whenever I see you, my heart wants to sing and dance, even if you're mad at me. I don't even know when it started, it's just... b-been going on for a while, now."
"I never really had an interest in anyone before... not like the interest I have in you. Heck, I don't even know what to expect or say or do or..." He leaned over and hugged her again... and this time, he planted a lingering kiss on her delicate lips.
Once done, he gave a sheepish, embarrassed grin. "I didn't know if you... felt the same. Then, you hugged me - and THAT was wonderful, honestly! It let me know that you DO have a heart, and that I was reaching it! It felt so good to know it, but... but then, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I mean, REALLY I couldn't! You're just so... you!!!"
His smile was now broad, and he looked at her in a way she'd never seen him look before. "So... I guess this means that, when all this is done with, we should do stuff together? Like a... d-d-date?"
Well, he was still talking quite a lot... however, having a crush on somepony more quiet would be probably pretty boring, and she was learning a lot from him.
And she was finally kissed on the lips! Such an interesting sensation...
She smiled back at Cupcake. "Of course I have a heart, silly pony! It's a very important organ; I would be dead otherwise!" To be fair, did anypony ever check to be certain of that? After all, she was an artificial pony...
"And yes, I think, to your 'date' idea; just remember we also planned to do something together as a group. And you have this game with Jinx. And of course..." she lowered voice. "... uhm, what actually are dates? It's not something about foals, I hope?"
Cup's blush threatened to overtake his whole body, but he just gave a nervous chuckle. "A-actually, foal-making is usually something that married couples do, Siddy. Dates, however, are just time together with a Special Somepony, whether it's out at a movie, or getting food, or shopping, or even just being together at the park; it's about being-... uhm... well, we can talk more about it after all this is done. But now, we both have to realize that we now have an obligation to NOT die during all this; if one of us goes, the other will be sad."
He nuzzled her gently. "And I can't stand the thought of losing you... not after we just realized we have something nice together! So now, we both have to try extra hard not to get hurt, okie dokie lokie?"
Ha, so her previous knowledge was right - first marriage, then heirs! At least that ancient right was still true. "Of course, Cup; I'll do my best to avoid any deaths on our side, both of us included," Obsidian promised him. "So... You'll need a weapon now. Or at least some sort of armor..."
"Oh, armor, yeah... but I already have a weapon!" Once again, he reached behind himself and (how does he do that?) retrieved his Party Cannon from seemingly nowhere, putting it on the ground with a >THUMP<.
He patted the cannon's bell. "This baby'll get me through a lot, and when it can't, I can always use my horn!" His horn began to glow... and the glow, unlike the typical fare, was not the same color as his eyes; it was white, with little multi-colored dots floating around inside it. His magic was full of sprinkles! "But yeah, I'll grab some armor and put it on; I'm in no hurry to get nicked by one of those things!"
"Wonderful. Let's get out of the closet then, shall we? Unless... you want another kiss, of course," she added invitingly. After all, it was quick, right?
Cupcake couldn't say no to an offer like that.
The warmth and sheer POWER she felt was almost intoxicating, but even though the amulet simply put off the same blue glow, there was now a richness and a depth to it... and even if it wasn't a spectacular change, she could certainly FEEL it!
When the kiss was done, Cupcake exited the closet with a bit of a goofy grin on his muzzle. Mica looked over and lifted an eyebrow, then gave Obsidian a questioning look... but said nothing. Cup went straight to the pile of armor and started digging.
Meanwhile, Gypsy had found something... and was wearing it. Sort of. It was half a chestplate, and two chainmail sleeves that stuck out of his hoodie. The chestplate had been fashioned for ponies; diamond dogs would just have to make due.
He looked at her with an embarrassed grin. "This o-o-one has st-st-strapped armor t-to hims-s-s-self. He hopes i-i-i-it will h-ho-h-hold."
Mica nodded. "With how I tied it to you, you should be fine. Now," he turned to Cup and Obsidian, "we have to fetch Wart and Clap, then we should be set to do... whatever it is we're doing."
Aaaaaaah, so much power! But it was only a side-effect; Obsidian would hate herself for even thinking of using Cupcake (or any of her friends) as just a source of power... but it was a very, very nice side-effect, and there was no point in denying it.
She smiled proudly to Mica, before trotting to Gypsy to examine his... umm, 'armor'. Why was it that Princess Twilight didn't have any armour for diamond dogs? They seemed to be the perfect candidates for shock troops... or spies, considering the time he scouted the band of griffons.
"Well, we just have to stop my sister. It doesn't matter how many Umbrals are there - they are all under the control of a single pony. If we take that pony down, we win. It's practically like chess..."
Only they couldn't afford losing a single piece... but she didn't want to say that out loud.
"It would be good to locate and defeat my other siblings before meeting with Onyx, but it would be stupid of her to let them wander off." She pondered for a moment. "After all, there were supposedly thirteen shards - if those two are all that are left, then perhaps she's not quite as intelligent as she would have us think. Anypony want more weapons? Armor? Potions or books, perhaps? OH! We could certainly do with a few more healing potions..."
There's always some healing poultices in the kitchen, for burns and stuff! "Sure," Cupcake said aloud, "if we hit the kitchen before we go, there should be a few; they usually keep 'em there for burns and stuff!"
Wait. What? Why did she hear him speak twice?
"Good, that should do nicely." Mica added. "Now, if we're all armored up and armed... let's go."
By Darkness, she didn't just hear his thoughts, did she? The last thing she wanted was an ability to read mind of her crush, that was also crushing on her. "Er... y-yes," she murmured.
Mica, Gypsy, Cupcake and Obsidian made their way through the palace. It wasn't as empty as originally surmised; there were guards here, though surprisingly few, and they were busy shoring up the areas that the Umbrals were trying to break through. They seemed to be holding up well enough, though they obviously couldn't last forever.
They also came across the occasional 'other'; a dragon here, a griffon there, and so on... but for the most part, the palace had been evacuated of the majority of average citizens. Most of those were possibly in Ponyville, which would certainly make it imperative that Twilight Sparkle and her friends were defending it.
With the exception of Pinkie Pie; she and her siblings had also armored up, but only Limestone held a sword. Marble looked ready to turn tail and run at any second, Maud seemed completely unfazed, and Pinkie herself simply seemed to be waiting for... something.
We're coming, love - hold on... "Alright," Mica spoke up, "to the Northern gate; the sooner we gather Wart, the sooner we can head to Ponyville to get Clap. Then, we're golden."
Should she perhaps ask her friends not to think so loudly - it was embarrassing to hear that! At least Cupcake wasn't thinking any shameful thoughts... besides, it would be much, much better to read minds of their enemies! Wouldn't it be just great to know everything that Onyx was thinking? (Or not thinking, considering her meager mental capabilities?)
"If I may, does anyone have any good ideas on how to call Clap from a distance?" If everything else failed, she could perhaps try one of those illusions she'd considered earlier...
FIREWORKS! "FIREWORKS!" Cupcake cheered, as he looked to his mother, who grinned brightly and (from somewhere behind her) produced a number of rocket-like devices.
"Which ones, Cuppie? Do you want the 'sploders, the twitchers, the shiners, the BOMP-BOMPers, the spazzers, the sparklers, the golden starburst, the big blue blast, the screamers, the laughers, the OHMYGOSH level extravaganza, the fireflies, the-"
"ALL of 'em, momma! Use 'em all!" Cupcake practically sang.
Pinkie grinned. "Yeah, that certainly will get her attention, that's for sure! Marble, Maudacious, Limey - you three help me get to the roof to set up!"
"Good grief, Pinkamena - you can't possibly be serious about-"
"Limestone. It's Pinkie," Maud interrupted, "when it comes to fireworks, do you honestly think she's NOT serious?"
One look at the drab grey mare, and Limestone sighed. "FINE. I guess you are serious about it! Then okay, roof time; c'mon, you two."
"Mmmhmm."
"Okay."
Pinkie looked back at Cupcake, fixing him with a gaze that only a mother could have for her child. You make me so proud, Cupcake - you've grown up so much, and it's hard to realize you're not my little pony anymore. Your HERS. But I like her, so I think you'll be just fine.
Pinkie then turned and smirked at Obsidian. And hopefully, she'll learn how to control that telepathy of hers before you two try your hooves at foal-making. With a wink, she and her sisters headed down the hall and up the spiral stone staircase, roofbound.
By Darkness... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty: An Element Falls | Gypsy suddenly lifted his head, cocking it slightly to allow his ears a better angle. "Th-th-this one hears a s-sc-s-sc-s-scream!"
Do not be Stalwart, do not be Stalwart, do not be Stalwart, PLEASE do not be Stalwart... Mica turned and charged up the hallway, the others in tow. Reaching the Northern gate, he made his way to one of the windows overlooking it, his attention riveted to the bridge beneath them.
Stalwart Stance looked as though she'd been wrestling with a manticore... and slowly but steadily losing. From where she had held them back at the middle of the bridge earlier, she was now backed almost all the way to the gate itself. She was still fighting like a pony possessed... but now, it looked as though the superior numbers were finally starting to wear her down.
To be fair, there were so many Umbral bodies surrounding the bridge, they could have possibly just climbed them to reach the doors. And the bridge itself was no longer visible under the carpet of broken bodies and viscuous slime.
Stalwart was one Tartarus of a fighter, that much was certain; Obsidian hoped she would never be on the wrong side of her blade...
But, as it goes, first things first.
She cast a shield spell to separate Wart from her enemies, and to give her at least a moment's respite - and then tried to push the shield forward, with the clear intention of seeing how many Umbrals could be knocked completely off of the bridge. Plus, it would be nice to get rid of all these bodies too, considering they probably had to walk through this mess.
As soon as the shield went up (which was surprisingly easy) and the Umbrals began to slam against it, Wart fell to a knee and began panting like an overachiever at the Running of the Leaves.
"LUX INVICTA!" Obsidian screamed a new war cry as she took her lance and charged. Her horn surged with light as she tried to cast the familiar light missile spell from earlier - the one that had worked so nicely at Sugarcube Corner.
When Obsidian charged, not only did she begin to glow with a blue aura, but the missiles that she created weren't just three like before; she now had eight swirling balls of light orbiting her, and each one produced five shots each!
If Stalwart's attack had been impressive, then Obsidian's charge was awe-inspiring. Umbrals flew apart in great chunks, limbs and ichor flying in every direction as she tore through them like they were rice paper! By the time she reached the head of the bridge, the river of dark, nasty undead had become a slight trickle... then, just like that, they simply stopped coming.
Wait... why have they stopped? "Why'd they stop?" Cupcake intoned.
"Either they were waiting for me to come here, or perhaps my Light Magic has scared them away?" she tried to guess, looking around and reinforcing her shield, just to be sure. After all, both Tourmaline and Amethyst preferred surprise attacks, right?
"Stalwart, were you wounded? Let me check you..." She moved closer to her, to examine and, if necessary, heal the brave little mare.
She shines... like... a star... Wart looked up at her, her eyes wide as she did... yet, with a shake of her head, she refocused herself.
"I... did not... f-fail you, Lady Obsidian." She tried to stand, then winced and returned to her knee-bent position, taking in a sharp breath as she grit her teeth against her pain.
Not good... not good at all. "Obsidian," Mica said, "the incoming Umbrals have stopped; I don't like this. At all."
That's when she felt it: One of the Elements had fallen.
Almost immediately after that sensation, a massive burst of purple energy domed out from the center of Ponyville, and threw off arcs of violet lightning as whatever was happening there intensified.
BY THE DARKNESS FROM THE DEEPEST PITS OF TARTARUS!
"Something... s-something has happened to Princess Twilight and the Element Bearers!" Obsidian shouted, not caring if she caused a panic or not - all she knew was that something very, very bad was going on and they had to help somehow!
"Stalwart Stance! We need your help, here and now, so tell me about even the smallest scratch..." She lowered her horn - perhaps she could transfer some of this energy to her? She had to do something, and QUICKLY!
Wart, seeing the energy dome in Ponyville, rallied herself and s-l-o-w-l-y got to her hooves. "I... c-cannot... rest, until... all are... safe..." The mare had multiple small cuts, bruises and a few open wounds - and was apparently missing a tooth. However, none of these wounds would be any trouble for Obsidian - especially now that she had a humongous charge in the amulet!
She cast a healing spell... no, she cast THE Healing Spell - the mother of all healing spells, hoping to take care of all Wart's minor wounds in one single shot. Time was of the essence, and there was no telling how much they had left.
There was a flash as bright as the sun... and in its' wake, Stalwart Stance was completely unharmed.
What in the wide, wide world of Equestria was THAT!?
By the blades on my cutie mark...
Incredible... a historic moment, for certain!
HOLY SCHPAMOLI!!!!!
Stalwart looked down at herself, shocked, then back up at Obsidian.
"Your Majesty... I..." Her eyes narrowed and her jaw set firmly. "I feel like I could take on the entire Umbral armada!"
"Well, you'll get your wish, if we don't get-"
>BA-BOOOOOM!<
The first of Pinkie Pie's fireworks suddenly swooshed off the rooftop of Twilight's palace and burst loudly in the sky; even in daylight, they made one heckuva show!
"Siddy," Cupcake spoke anxiously, "I think we might need to join Clap - we may actually be needed!"
"Yes! Quickly!" She didn't dart towards the center of Ponyville alone, though - she kept up with her friends, and they began to run together. Especially as the formation had plenty of strategical advantages, and they would cover her back as she would cover theirs, and they wouldn't be overwhelmed easily. The five friends charged across the bridge and made their way toward Ponyville.
When they finally arrived, the small village was... not doing well.
Houses and buildings were ruined; whole walls taken down, rooftops caved in, fires in some of the debris, broken plumbing shooting water into the air...
And there were bodies. Not scores of them, thankfully - but there were enough to turn even Cupcake's muzzle sour as they passed them. Each one looked either shredded, pulled apart or just plain broken - the Umbrals were vicious; that much was certain.
Reaching near the center, they all began to hear desperate screaming coming from the town square...
"RRRRRRAAAAGGGHHH!!!!!" Princess Twilight stood there, generating the massive field while also throwing wicked purple magical bolts at the amassed Umbrals. There were even more undead bodies here than there were at the bridge!
Behind them, the town hall stood firmly, windows shuttered and boarded... although, inside, Obsidian could see the townsponies watching the carnage, scared to death that what was out there would get in here. She could also make out the forms of Professor Fluttershy and Rarity, trying their best to keep the others safe and calm... even as they both looked extremely distressed.
Twilight Sparkle was holding a shield, directing her bolts of damage... and shedding a river of tears.
If it was Rainbow Dash... then Thunderclap would be devastated. Were it Applejack, then poor Butter Churn. Pinkie was in the castle, so it couldn't have been her. Rarity and Fluttershy were with the townsponies. And Princess Twilight was right in front of them.
Whatever happened, whoever had fallen - Obsidian was more than eager to avenge the death, and make these damnable Umbrals pay! Especially as she still hadn't seen Thunderclap yet...
Her horn flashed as she started to cast her explosive Light Missiles, to get the monsters' attention. "Tight formation around me! Cover the sides! If something attacks from another angle, I will cast shields!" She tried to formulate a plan and give some proper orders, albeit a bit nervously. "Stalwart, do you see any strategically advantageous position for you?"
Stalwart nodded with a grimace of determination. "Indeed, Lady Obsidian - THE FRONT!!!"
Wart charged out only far enough to be at the limit of Twilight's shield dome, drawing her sword as she did, and became a pony whirling dervish; Umbrals, here by the droves, fell like so much detrius as she made short work of the ones around her, then began to move along the edge of the dome, slaughtering Umbrals left and right as she made her way around, clearing the borders.
Cupcake and Mica flanked her easily, covering the sides like professionals... but Gypsy leapt up and literally dove into the ground! The moment he vanished under the dirt, she could see him burrowing with lightning quickness towards the Umbral hordes...
An undead thing who was among the masses suddenly sank down into the ground, and became encased in dirt from the waist down. A clawed forepaw shoved its' way through from beneath, impaling the head on sharp, earth-rending claws before pulling the whole undead corpse beneath the surface. As she watched, it happened again... and again... and yet again.
It was almost terrifying how efficient her friends were in a fight! With Obsidian as their center, they were able to push forward - and bring plenty of damage to the invading army. Just how many of these disgusting creatures did her sister bring forth from that Black Pool? It already felt as if they'd wrecked a million or two... yet they just kept coming! Obsidian put some shields around Stalwart, to keep her sides safe from attack, while she led the rest to advance.
There was no strategical advantage in staying away from Princess Twilight - especially as she would be the most likely one to know where Thunderclap was. Also, if they could possibly combine their shields and magical missiles... well, these rotten Umbrals would have one Tartarus of a time, that was for sure!
"Momma..." The voice was soft, wavery and wracked with pain.
Behind Twilight, down in the dirt, was Butter Churn... who was kneeling over a limp orange pony, unmoving on the ground.
"... oh, momma..." Churn's mighty figure looked like it was trying to melt off of her; she was inconsolable, her hooves holding up her mother's head as she stared down at her in abject misery. And there, next to Churn and holding her tightly in both forelegs was Thunderclap Dash.
Applejack's eyes were closed, and she showed no signs of breathing. Of life. There was a single, bloody hole in the side of her barrel, and what looked like a shard of black bone was jutting out at an angle.
The Element of Honesty had fallen.
As her daughter was crying over her corpse, Princess Twilight Sparkle raged at the Umbrals for taking her dear friend from her. Meanwhile, Clap was doing her best, amidst her own tears, to console the poor Apple.
"Churnie, I wish I could've stopped 'em! I tried, I really, really-"
"Ah know, s-sugarcube," Butter intoned morosely, "ah know. Momma just... j-just..."
"She saved our lives, that's what she did! If she hadn't been there when I swooped down to rescue you-"
"Oh, momma..." Butter Churn's voice was heartbreaking... And OH, could Obsidian feel it! PAIN in her heart, unlike anything she'd ever experienced before! The poor mare was devastated... and to the Light-empowered Obsidian, the residual empathy felt as though someone was trying to rip her own heart out through her ribcage while she was still alive.
The longer the fighting continued, the less Obsidian wanted to keep her stupid, moronic sister alive; not only she was too incompetent to defeat Equestria with a single strike, because she managed to lose her greatest strategical advantages, but also she was killing ponies Obsidian liked!
The death of Applejack was both a mistake and a sin - and for that, Onyx had to pay.
That pain could have brought so much Dark Magic... but she was unable to do it! All because it had been stolen from her by her stupid, stupid, stuuuuupid sister, and replaced with something entirely different. So Obsidian just had to grit her teeth and keep pushing forward - the sooner this place was cleared of the Umbral threat, the more quickly they could confront Onyx... hopefully before they lost any more good ponies.
Twilight Sparkle, on the other hoof...
Her stance was one of sheer aggression; with each lash of sparking, powerful energy at the Umbral forces, her eyes flashed with power. Her muzzle was a rictus of pure RAGE, and her tears and screams of anger kept coming again and again.
However, what Obsidian noticed most was the growing red glow that was beginning to come into her energy aura, and the red mist that was beginning to seep out from the edges of her eyes.
I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL! EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU! THEN I'LL DESTROY YOUR CONTROLLER! YOUR NATION! YOUR HISTORY! I'LL LAY WASTE TO EVERYTHING YOU EVER KNEW!
If those were Twilight's thoughts... well, let's just say that Obsidian had an exquisitely personal knowledge of what could happen here.
On the one hoof, it would be interesting to see Dark Magic cast by an alicorn - it could possibly solve all of their problems quite quickly and efficiently! Twilight could simply destroy all Umbrals in a span of mere minutes, capture Onyx, punish her and who knows - maybe she would even be willing to learn some necromancy!
However, there was the small detail that Obsidian herself would be considered a part of Umbral history - considering her connections to them and to their last ruler. Besides, Dark Queen Twilight probably wouldn't be too... well... Harmonious. And of course, there was always the rather high chance that she would forego fighting the slippery slope of darkness, and leap of her own free will into the abyss.
Obsidian herself could request a hug from Cupcake to calm her when she was feeling the pull of Dark Magic's siren call - did Princess Twilight perhaps have a husband? A child? Anyone?
"Princess! Calm thyself, or you run the risk of becoming like my father!" Where were Celestia and Luna? At this point, she would even accept Discord! Why was this murderous crisis in the heart of Equestria happening to begin with?
Twilight turned to face Obsidian, seething with anger. "YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO HIM!?"
"Well yeah! LOOK at ya!" Clap yelled from where she was holding Butter Churn, who was still crying. "Ya LOOK like you're gonna EXPLODE!"
Twilight's eyes went wide as those words broke through her fury, and she shuddered as she visibly made an effort to rein herself in.
But the moment she did so... down came the dome.
Umbrals from every angle surged in the very millisecond that the dome vanished; Obsidian lost sight of Wart almost immediately, and the fighting on both sides of her began in earnest. By Darkness, they were EVERYWHERE! Magic flashed, blades swung, hooves struck... yet for every one that fell, three more took their place - they would be overrun if this continued!
They would all die! Civilians! The Princess! Her friends! The remaining Element Bearers!
And they couldn't waste any more time, if they wanted to find and defeat Onyx before she got another stupid plan in mind, or possibly even escape!
Spells to combat the undead, eh? Well, whatever had been discovered, it was Obsidian's best bet right now - so she tried to cast one of the spells found by Gypsy earlier, putting into it as much power as she could possibly muster.
She was the avatar of light - Lux Invicta - phos epiphanes!
AND LIGHT! IS NOT! AFRAID! OF DARKNESS!
The ripple of pure white energy that rolled out from Obsidian's hooves passed harmlessly over her, her friends and the rest as it sent the ring of light outward, a halo of power that seemed to roll all the way out of Ponyville!
But the Umbrals...
As each Umbral corpse was touched by the ring, it simply dissipated into ashes, falling to the ground with a small cloud of dust in its' wake to mark the passing. In mere seconds, the horde that had been threatening to crush them underhoof was now so much dust and ash on the ground.
Then, it was quiet... except for the sniffles of Butter Churn. "Was... w-was that it?" Cupcake asked.
The malevolent chuckle that filled the air said otherwise.
"Obssssssssidian..."
It was the voice of Onyx... and she sounded as though she had found her own Royal Canterlot Voice.
"I... didn't know I could... c-could DO that..." She truly hadn't - if she had, she would have done it immediately, so as to save as many lives as she could... possibly including poor Applejack, had she gotten here in time. She wouldn't have had to walk into this madness to save the lives of her friends.
But - first things first.
Onyx. Right now she was the most important and pressing issue. Later on, perhaps... well, anything goes, right? Maybe she could try healing mortal wounds or missing limbs? Raise the dead?
Well, not exactly right now, obviously - if she failed, it would make her quite gloomy, dampening her fighting abilities and spirit. That was the last thing they needed right now, honestly.
"Does anyone else hear where that came from?" Obsidian had very little patience for her most stupid sister right now.
"Hear what, exactly?" Mica asked. Was it possible that nobody had heard Onyx except Obsidian?
Cupcake looked her in the eye. "Siddy... did you hear somethi-"
Onyx's words drowned out any and all sound around her as that voice, that oily voice, rang in her head.
"You mussssssst be congratulated; I've never KNOWN so much power, and it ALL came from you! And to think, I'd believed that I needed YOU here by my side! If I'd have known it was THIS easy, I'd have done it sooner!"
"...an't hear you, Cup. She seems to be focused on something el-"
"If you wish to end thisssssss... then, by all meansssssss, come to me. You can even bring your little 'pals'. I DO feel a bit peckish..."
"...ight it, Siddy! Don't let her control your act-"
"And wouldn't it be lovely to have a Cupcake for dessert!? HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA!"
"...ack to us, Siddy! Come back to me!"
... that was maddening, truly - just how stupid was Onyx? Truly, it seemed a small miracle she was able to walk and breathe at the same time! And to think Tourmaline and Amethyst had such high opinions of her - it was sad, really. They apparently hadn't spent enough time with their most honourable father if they thought that Onyx was worth anything besides contempt.
"... so, shall we meet in the Everfree, Onyx?" She was determined to find her and end this stupidity, once and for all.
"I believe the slaves call it 'The Palace of the Two Sisters... appropriate, don't you think sssssssssssso?'"
"...ant to hold you forever! You can't leave me! I just disco-"
"As I said, feel free to bring your toysssssssssss with you; bring anyone more, and I PROMISSSSSSSSSSE you, you'll find out why I was Father's favorite!"
"... ove you, and I wanna make foals with yo-"
"Now... allow me to send a SECOND wave as incentive!"
All of those had only been a single wave!? How many WERE there!?
"...eeeeeease come back to meeeee, Siddy!!!"
What did Cupcake say about... foals? NO, NO, NO, NO, not now! What was Cupcake saying while she was talking with that stupid sister of hers - she went into the closet to talk with him privately FOR A REASON!
"Then our father had the single flaw of having very bad taste," she growled as she tried to focus on Cupcake's voice - even if she did it so she could be certain he didn't say TOO much about their newfound relationship.
"Cupcake? Gypsy? Princess Twilight? ...hello?"
"SIDDYYYYY!!!" Cupcake crushed her in a hug that was similar to the one she'd given him earlier... he was even crying a bit. "Obsidian, what happened? Your eyes went pitch black, and you were speaking that Crystallian stuff!"
Twilight Sparkle seemed to have gathered herself under the given situation, and though the Light Princess could still feel her pain, she was now controlling herself the way an alicorn properly should. Of course, her break was understandable; if Siddy had lost, say, Gypsy to the Umbrals... or Cupcake... or Wart...
"Cup! Stand down, dude!" Clap said, standing up from Butter Churn's side and coming over, most likely to jerk the stallion away from her.
GAAK! Was he trying to kill her? Did he become an Umbral agent while she was chatting with her lovely sister? It wasn't just a hug - it was a direct frontal assault!
"We... don't... talk about... foals... before... the fifth date... understood?" She managed to squeeze the words out of her embrace-crushed throat, desperate to address this very important issue. "Onyx... in the Castle of... Two Sisters... second wave... incoming..."
Cup let go of her, blushing hotly, while Princess Twilight grew a determined look. "Then she has to be dealt with - right now. I'll gather my..." she struggled to choke back a sob, "... friends... and we'll head for it right away; I know EXACTLY where that is!"
"Yo, Princess!" Clap broke in. "This is SIDDY'S evil sister, y'know? Might be a better idea to let her handle it?"
"No," Twilight stubbornly shook her head, "this is my kingdom, and I won't have anyone step in to do my job as protector for me!"
"With all due respect, Princess," Mica said flatly, "I think your job would be more towards protecting the ponies inside the town hall. They're your subjects, right?"
"But-"
"P-p-p-princess... they n-need you, far m-m-more th-than WE do, at the m-moment."
She glanced over at Gypsy. "You don't under-"
"Your Royal Highness, we most certainly DO understand... which is why we are offering to deal with this particular quest in your stead!" Wart stood proud, backing Obsidian's play.
"You too, Stalwart?"
"Princess Twilight," Cupcake said earnestly, "if it were Uncle Shiny who was corrupt, but Celestia was still in charge... how would you feel?"
She sighed, then after a moment, she looked at Obsidian as she spoke. "Very well... Obsidian, you have chosen your friends wisely, and as long as they stand behind you on this, then you have my permission - and my prayers for luck - to accompany you to the castle. Do you know wher-"
"Bet your fur I do!" Clap said.
"Very well," she sighed, "but please, be cautious - Onyx is nopony to be underestimated."
Well, the option to allow Twilight and her friends to deal with this whole mess wouldn't be so bad... if they were complete. However, there was now a breach in their ranks. Obsidian might try to find a way to bring Applejack, Ruby and potentially the rest of the fallen ponies back... but until then, the Element Bearers might not be the best choice for this mission.
"Please, Princess... stay here with your citizens. If you wish, I can provide some magic to help restore the dome before the next assault arrives. And I will not underestimate my sister." She was stupid, of course - but it didn't change the fact she was still quite dangerous.
"I'll bring her justice - in any capacity I can," Even if it meant destroying her forever.
Twilight reluctantly nodded, then slowly made her way over to Butter Churn. With infinite care, she gently lifted the orange mare's body with her magic, placing her upon her own back as she moved to put a hoof around Butter's neck. "Come on, Butter. Let's take her inside; she wouldn't want us to be out here when they come back."
Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, had just lost one of her best friends... but she was trying to be strong for Butter. Her strength, however, couldn't hide her own tears. They ambled over to the town hall and opened the door. With one last look back at Obsidian and her group, she went inside and shut the doors.
"... rrrrrRRRRRRRAAAAGH!" Clap kicked at a fallen chunk of rooftop, sending it flying. "If I hadn't gone after Butter, Mama AJ would still be ALIVE!"
"And Butter would be dead. I think you did the right thing," Mica looked at her solemnly.
Clap glared at him. "Yeah, well... tell that to my aching heart. I knew Mama AJ all my life! So did you!"
Mica sighed. "Yes... and it does hurt. But Clap, she died protecting those she loved - and I'm certain Mama AJ would tan your flank if she heard you talking like that."
Clap looked down, tears standing in her eyes. "Maybe... but she's dead, so it doesn't matter anymore."
With that, Mica also looked down. Clap buried her muzzle in her hooves and began to cry... which was when Mica simply walked to her and held her while she sobbed. Mica's eyes weren't exactly dry, either.
Cupcake let his own tears fall, yet he kept himself standing straight and true. "C'mon - we need to get to the Palace of the Two Sisters. We'll have time for memorials later, I promise... okay?"
Clap, still held by Mica, nodded and backed up, wiping her eyes. "Yeah... yeah. We need to go and flush that pile of manure. For Mama AJ."
Wart added, "For Equestria," as she sidled up to Obsidian, taking up the opposite side as Cupcake.
Cup looked at the Light Princess. "For Siddy."
Gypsy made his way over, covered in dirt. "F-f-f-for Siddy."
Wart nodded. "For Lady Obsidian too."
Mica looked over at them. "For Siddy," he agreed.
Looking at her, even with pain in her eyes, Clap gave one of her best smirks. "Yeah. For Siddy."
Onyx's sadism was hurting far too many ponies and diminishing her chances for victory. When their father ruled, did he unleash hordes of zombies against the Crystal Empire? No - he turned it into a tool to further his own goals and magic.
Onyx was wasteful. The Umbrals were wasteful. Even if Obsidian was on their side, she would have been disgusted by the sheer lack of efficiency, especially as she was certain it would be possible to take over Ponyville without destroying more than half of it.
Well, it seemed that the ruined floor in the Applejack Suite wasn't going to be as much of an urgent problem anymore.
"For minimalising losses and bringing justice," she offered as her own addition. "So, how we get there without running into entire waves of Umbrals? I'm not sure if I can repeat the trick with turning them all into ash, I'm afraid..."
Mica gave her a pondering look. "Well... can you teleport?"
"WHOA! Nah nah NAH NAH NAH nah! Nooooooo way!" Clap vehemently shook her head and waved her forelegs in front of her in a negative manner. "I've done that before with Aunt Twilight, and it makes me sick every single time!"
"Well, then are you gonna fly all of us there?" Cup questioned. Clap went to say something, even opening her mouth to speak... then just sighed and shook her head, pouting.
"Okay, I suppose it's up to whether or not Obsidian feels she can do it." Mica looked at her. "You wanna try, or no? Either way, it's okay."
"Well... my father didn't exactly like the idea of teaching me anything that would, er... let me leave the palace so easily, I'm afraid," Obsidian admitted hesitantly.
Mica shrugged. "Well, then I suppose we'd best get to wal-"
"Wait - I have an idea. And it's something that Momma can help with! Quick, to the palace!" And with that, Cup turned and sped off towards Twilight's Palace, pausing long enough only to yell out over his flank, "C'MON!"
Wart glanced at Obsidian. "Why does that make me feel... apprehensive?"
-={+}=-
The airship sliced through the sky like a hot knife through cottony butter, and tufts of cloud went wafting away from the bow as they sailed the sky over the Everfree Forest, searching for the ruins of what remained of Celestia and Luna's ancestral home.
Mica paced the floor, trying to come up with possible strategies or backup plans, just in case. Clap alternated from flying along with the airship and scouting around below, looking for the proper path in case they had to land. Cupcake spent much of his time speaking with (and sneakily snuggling) Obsidian. Wart, who apparently wasn't fond of heights, stayed well away from the side rails, much more focused on cleaning her armor and blades. Gypsy simply had stuck his head out of the side, his tongue flapping in the breeze while his tail wagged happily.
Truth be told, Obsidian was behaving mostly like Wart; doing her best to stay away from any side rails, objects that could move suddenly and so on. She didn't know that she wouldn't like flying - at least, flying on an artificial machine that could... could... ugh.
At least Cupcake was doing his best to divert her attention from the fact that they could fall out of the sky and die at any moment.
To be fair, why didn't she see any of these airships before - especially now? They could be used as a moving weapon platform, or at least a scouting vessel! Did these Equestrians want to die, that they weren't using any of the supposed technological or strategical advantages that they could?
"... couldn't we just bomb this castle from the air as soon as we get there?" she muttered.
Cup chuckled at her. "That'd make it a lot easier... but no, I don't think we have enough fireworks to even damage the place, let alone bring it down."
However, as they brought the airship around toward the southern end of the forest, Obsidian could see distant, broken spires that jutted up from the forest canopy. She could also see what looked like creeks and rivers of Umbral undead, all flowing from the castle ruins.
Mica looked down over the side. "Clap!" he yelled to her as she passed, "Can you go get a peek and see how bad it is, and if there's a way in that doesn't involve Umbrals?" Clap saluted, then sped down and dove through the canopy, vanishing from sight.
A few tense moments later, she spiraled up out of the forest, and touched down on the airship's side railing. "I think I saw a cave, but there's NO way we're getting through the palace's ground floors - they're swamped with Umbrals. Smells dis-GUS-ting!"
Explosives. Explosives were an answer to everything. "Cave?" Obsidian asked aloud, "Does anypony possibly know what's in this cave?" Ugh, maybe singular Umbrals were rather weak soldiers, but Onyx was compensating with sheer numbers.
Just how many of these creatures were there? Was the whole Everfree forest some kind of ancient graveyard for them? It may have been sizable, but it STILL didn't seem possible to fit so many Umbral bodies in the place where Obsidian first met Onyx!
"C-c-c-cave?" Gypsy's ears perked up, and he turned to address the group. "If th-there's a cave, then it must be the one set up by Luna as a d-d-defense mechanism, back when she and h-her sister used to live here; rumour has it th-that she was prankish in her younger years, a-a-and she used it in conjunction with other devices and such t-to make all sorts of jests and such."
"That sounds a lot like, 'this place is booby-trapped'." Clap sighed. "Please tell me it isn't."
Gypsy shrugged. Clap sighed louder.
"Booby-trapped sounds better than Umbral-filled, methinks." Obsidian wondered if she could turn herself into a shadow or something like that - was there any Light Magic spell to increase her mobility? She'd have to check that out later...
Cupcake nodded and made his way to the steering wheel; it was his mother's airship, so of course he was the one who knew how to fly to it. He brought them down carefully, along the edge of the ruins, so as to block sight of them from the undead hordes. They disembarked and walked only a short distance, and Obsidian was very appreciative for the ride.
When they reached their destination, it was a small cave set back into the rock at such an angle as to look invisible from the ground; Clap was the one to show everyone where it was. They shuffled in, one by one, until they all got themselves inside.
The cavern was big - though nowhere near as big as the one Obsidian had seen - but along the walls and ceiling, there were small veins of dark crystals that seemed to widen as the cave progressed downward and onward.
So... that's it, eh? The path for the final fight, the ultimate trial, light versus darkness - and due to the whim of fate or the stupidity of Onyx, Obsidian was standing on quite a different side she would have first imagined. She trotted closer to the vein of dark crysssssstals; were they connected to the ones in Onyx's lair? She tried to analyze them, to learn something more. If only she still had any of her Dark Magic...
There were a number of little cracks in these crystals, which may have meant they were unstable; they weren't useless, because they could vary in power and ability, but they were a luck-of-the-draw variety, and one would have to search for days before finding enough to make any significant difference.
And yet...
There was a familiarity to the feel of their magical pressure; it made her think of blood and smoke, but not in such a way as to choke her. On the contrary, it was a scent she was well-familiar with, during time in training. Oddly soothing, with everything else happening around her.
Which is why she felt the interloper before he spoke... but only seconds before.
"... and SO... here you are." Tourmaline's icy voice sent a shiver down her spine; now that she was 'filled with Light', he sounded... more sinister. More vile.
Instantly, her friends tightened up around her, save for Wart and Clap, the latter taking to the air. Gypsy began to growl softly in the back of his throat; it was a delightfully threatening rumble that would be worthy of a warhound. Cupcake's horn flashed its' sprinkly-white aura. Mica stood back coolly and yet his eyes were taut and alert, tracking every movement within his sight range. Thunderclap hovered above, looking ready to knock some sense into a pony. Wart took her defensive stance, standing about four meters out, sword at the ready.
She couldn't see Tourmaline, but ohhhhhh, she could sense him.
"I'm actually glad you came, believe it or not... I didn't want it to be over that easily." She could almost hear him smirking.
Ah, so the loving family reunion was about to begin. Obsidian didn't wait - she immediately put up shields around the entire gang. Considering his love for crushed bones, it was better to be safe than sorry with her sibling.
"I'm happy to hear you, little brother; I was afraid you were already discarded by Onyx. Don't worry, your sister is not angry that you tried to kill her - especially as I obviously wasn't in danger," she welcomed him in the most friendly, family-like and cheerful manner she could.
Which, in this specific case, was not actually too family-like or cheerful, but hey - she was doing her best! It's not her fault her experiences with family issues were rather poor!
"Are you here to surrender? It would be very wise of you to leave our dim older sister, I daresay."
There was a great, big sigh from the unicorn stallion. "I am... weary... of all this, to be honest," Tourmaline huffed, "it's just another day under Father's plan. As the day before. And before that. And before that. It makes me sick; waiting all this time, and now? I don't even get a front seat to the carnage."
He merely stepped out from the shadows, looking as tired of the whole event as he sounded. "I don't want to go with you, 'dear sister'... but I'm sick and tired of her. Besides... she won't let me kill Amethyst, and hasn't allowed it for years - and that was one of my FAV-o-RITE PAST times!"
A ripple of black energy rolled across his form... yet he just sighed and gave Obsidian and her friends a disinterested look.
"If you really want to come at me, then do so - far be it for me to deny you a death - but I would much rather ignore you and your little friends," he singsonged, "and focus on doing what I want to do. For once."
Now what was that? "So... Instead of wasting your time with us you just want to... go to the city and entertain yourself with all these guards, Umbrals and the rest?" Honestly, she didn't really expect that... or that he would say he was sick of Onyx.
"And what was that about killing sister Amethyst being a past-time? Perhaps do you mean wounding her mortally, healing the wound and repeating the process, just with different spells?" Lovely family.
He leveled a flat stare at her. "I mean to create an existence where she no longer lives and breathes. This existence, hopefully."
Wart glowered at him. "I would not trust this situation for even a moment; he would backstab you in a hoofbeat, Your Majesty."
"However," Mica added, "it would be one less problem to deal with; possibly two less problems, if he goes after your other sister."
Well, he could enjoy it for far longer with healing magic; after all, why just kill somepony once if you can make them suffer for hours or days at a time?
Uh, n-not that Obsidian would be interested in that, of course. Totally not. Nope.
"Do you happen to know where Amethyst is?" Obsidian was considering the option... and it was a HARD choice.
His smile grew, and he chuckled. "Why, looking for you, of course! She was upset that she wasn't able to kill you... but she did seem to be a bit surprised about Ruby's fate. Did you know, we felt her die? Frankly, I didn't really care," he waved a hoof dismissedly, "but Onyx gave her the fifth degree over it. Something about an amulet..."
He shrugged, then looked at her group with disinterest. "So, are your little toys wanting a fight, or are we done here?"
"I'll toy you, ya lunkhead," Clap muttered.
Obsidian chuckled. Ah, yes... the amulet. HA! Foolish, stupid sisters! And to think, Onyx just had to say a word or two about their plans and Obsidian would be standing in the palace this very instant, smiling wickedly above the cooling body of Princess Twilight Sparkle...
"Well, I talked with Ruby two or three hours ago - she died, but she then got better." Obsidian was telling the complete truth, right? "I'd love to help you and bond over the hunt for Amethyst, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. By all means, go get her... and try not to get hurt, okay?"
Tourmaline looked at her with uncertainty for a moment, then simply shrugged. "No fur off my back - I'd rather hunt a sister I hate then one who just irks me. Just stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours... for as long as I feel like it, anyway."
With that, her brother slipped back into the shadows, and blended with them easily.
"I do not like this," Wart said with thick apprehension, "it leaves an enemy behind us - one with power - and he even claimed he might still come after you! I do not think that was a wise decision," she sighed, "however, I shall not question royalty; I shall follow orders."
"Yeah, Siddy," Clap added, lighting on the ground once more, "that jerk ambushed you once already... who says he won't do it again?"
Cupcake cleared his throat. "Right, because she totally plans to put him completely out of her mind and never suspect anything from him, ever again." He rolled his eyes. "Of course she expects him back - but this way, we can save up our strength until we need it, instead of getting worn down before we reach Onyx. C'mon - give Siddy a little faith!"
"My faith, she has," Mica chimed in, "it's Tourmaline I don't trust."
"Ruby said she believes in him, so I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, we ARE in a hurry, right?" Hopefully, it wouldn't be a mistake; Obsidian figured that it might buy them some time and keep her murderous siblings occupied - long enough for her to finish this 'game' with Onyx, and possibly give her a chance to get between Amethyst and Tourmaline... mayhaps even try to help them see the other side of things?
"The quicker we stop the Umbral assault on Ponyville, the better - if we win, Tourmaline won't be much of a concern with all of Equestria behind us. Now, let us go."
They continued down the tunnel, all the more apprehensive for the encounter with the very strange Tourmaline. Though he'd seemed to be a staunch enemy, he simply turned out to be bored with her.
Or... was it something else? Maybe he really did care about Obsidian, under his exterior of madness? Maybe he really did want to be an older brother to her? Maybe...
Naaaaah, couldn't be. But at least he wasn't a problem right now.
The tunnels began to grow cold; the temperature sunk as they progressed, to the point where Gypsy tightened his hood around his head, keeping his ears warm. The crystals grew in number, but their size wasn't much bigger. It was almost as if they'd been harvested...
"Th-th-this one smells m-m-more Umbrals ahead," the diamond dog spoke softly.
"Well, they'll just have to be ready to get turned into ash, 'cuz Siddy is on her way to crash that party, Gypper!" Clap grinned with a wild gleam in her eye.
The tunnel narrowed, all the way down to a single door, set into the cavern itself. It appeared to have chunks of Dark Crysssssstals all over it, as if it had been chiseled free from the growth. Had this doorway been hiding under the crystals, and if so, how long had it been there?
"Ohhhh... th-those are pre-dated Equestrian runic g-glyphs!" Gypsy pointed out some strange-looking symbols etched into the door itself. "They're sigils of... w-warning, and... containment. Most likely, this has b-b-been here for millennia - at least, if this one is a-aging it correctly."
"If it's containing something, should we be opening it?" Mica asked.
"Wasn't it supposed to be a part of some sort of defense mechanism, you said?" Obsidian really hoped it would be an escape tunnel - and that's all. Of course, things always had to be more complicated. "We haven't seen any other possible path inside, have we?"
Cupcake shrugged. "I can try to open it up!" He whipped out his Party Cannon again. "It'd be a BLAST!!!"
"Wait!" Gypsy threw his paws up. "This one m-m-might be able to read the glyphs, if you g-g-give him long en-n-nough!"
Clap groaned. "UGH! Why can't we just kick some flank, already!?"
"Because we want to be sure that our flanks won't be kicked first, Clap." Mica, of course, being the level-headed one. "We've saved some time avoiding the fight with Tourmaline, so I'd say you can spend a few minutes on these glyphs, Gypsy."
The diamond dog's tail wagging happily, he made his way over to the door and began looking at all the different symbols there, studying them intently while Thunderclap rolled her eyes and sat down in a huff.
"Fine. Guess we could just sit on our butts while Auntie Twi and company hold off the Umbral hordes and stuff. Not like time is of the essence or anything like that..."
"Clap, don't pout - act your age." Mica admonished. Clap simply stuck her tongue out at him in response.
Wart began pacing a patrol while Gypsy decoded. While that happened, Cup reached into whatever pocket he was pulling things from and brought out a plate of cupcakes, all coated with sprinkles. "Here - in case anyone's hungry!"
"Cup... where do you put all this stuff?" Clap asked curiously.
He grinned impishly. "Momma's secret place; she taught me when I was a foal how to do the kinda stuff she does. That's what makes me the one most like her!"
Thunderclap chuckled. "Yeah, peas in a pod, you two."
But no, really, where was he keeping it? Was it even hygenic to eat them? Strange, really - and to think that his mother could do it as well; she wasn't even a unicorn! Obsidian could easily accept, as a fact, that a unicorn could be able to create small pocket reality to stash things there... but an earth pony?
No, enough - she had to focus. Light magic, her awesome lance, five friends... and Onyx with her Umbral armada standing against them. She'd probably have a few thousand Umbral bodyguards, as well as the entirety of Obsidian's Dark Magic... the filthy thief!
And to think that she could have simply ASKED - it wouldn't even have been difficult: 'Cupcake, can you check if there are any sweets on my desk? And Miss Obsidian, I think I have a book that would interest you...'
A few minutes after that, Obsidian would have simply joined them as a sibling, but noooooooo... Onyx had to try to kill her. Foolish, idiotic, STUUUUUPID sister!
It took roughly fifteen minutes, but when Gypsy let out a yip of excited glee, it was clear he most certainly could decode in a relatively short amount of time. He jumped up and with his tail threatening to wag itself right off his backside, he began to relate what he'd discovered.
"This is IT!!! This is where the final resting place of the Umbral beings is! The glyphs speak of holding b-b-back the dark things within, and it claims to keep them contained... but we know that isn't true, as we've seen th-them firstpaw! Er," he smiled, "this o-one means, firsthoof, if y-you please."
Clap made a gesture for him to go on, and Gypsy nodded before continuing. "B-but if this is meant to contain, b-b-b-but it doesn't, then that means th-they had to find another way around it s-somehow; if they g-g-got around it, then we can t-too!"
Mica mused on the thought. "Or, accordingly, if they aren't using this entrance, then they wouldn't expect us from this direction, would they?"
Clap sighed heavily. "Go around, go through... can we just decide on something already?"
It would be a waste of time to just decode this entire thing, then decide that their best option was to walk around. Umbrals were already crawling all around Equestria, so using any way they were using was probably going to be far more dangerous.
"I say we go through - if there are any entrances the Umbrals are actually using, then I'd prefer to avoid them. I don't want to accidentially stumble upon a few million zombies, even after that stunt I've pulled back in Ponyville. So, Cupcake, you've mentioned your artillery, right...?"
Cupcake's grin redoubled, and turned the teensyest bit vicious-looking. "Oh-ho-ho-HOOOO, yeah!"
Once more, the cupcake cannon came out, and he flattened the barrel against the doorway as Gypsy's eyes widened and he dove into the ground, making a little foxhole before poking his head up to watch the proceedings. Wart and Mica both stood a respectable distance back, eyeballing the cannon suspiciously. Thunderclap simply covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut.
Oooooh, EXPLOSIVES! Explosions always work; it's like a law of nature - if you don't know what to do during a war, blow something up! Walls, bridges, ancient mysterious paths towards the final showdown - it worked for everything, and always seemed to drastically change a situation! Hopefully, in their own favour...
Cupcake jumped onto his cupcake cannon and, with a wild whoop, grabbed the firing cord in his mouth and gave a firm yank, his eyes manic and wild with excitement. "Fuhr en duf HOOOOOOLF!" he muttered through his clenched teeth.
>Ska-DOOM!!!!<
The cannon flew backwards, taking a laughing Cupcake with it as it smacked into the opposite wall and sent the stallion onboard flying! He curled up into a little ball and ricocheted from wall to wall, little bursts of sprinkles spraying out from every place he bounced off of!
The door, though smoking and blackened, was still in place... until Cup struck it, when it simply gave way and broke into chunks as he smashed right through it like it was glass!
On the other side, the tunnel Obsidian saw looked almost exactly like the one she'd been in before... it even smelled the same.
"Well... that's one way to do it, I guess," Clap said, impressed, as she started through the entrance after Cupcake. Gypsy followed, curiously looking about as Mica accompanied him.
Wart looked over to Obsidian and gave a grin, gesturing lightly. "Royalty first, Lady Obsidian," she offered.
What in Tartarus happened just now? For a moment, Obsidian thought that her request to blow up the doors just killed the poor unicorn, but instead he... he...
Obsidian didn't even know she could open her eyes THAT wide... or keep them open for so long. In fact, they started to dry out before Wart forced her to shake off her utter and complete shock. Trying to look at least somewhat diginified, as if she hadn't just experienced a short circuit in her brain, Obsidian entered the dark tunnel. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty One: A Stabbing Pain (In The Neck) | Sure enough, the walls were exactly as she recalled them to be; covered with crystals - dark, foreboding, yada yada yada...
Well, now she knew where she'd been... and frankly, it was a bit anti-climactic to have the final battle here, after she'd already seen it once. Though, now that it came to mind, wasn't Onyx most likely going to be in the room with the Black Pool, where the Umbrals had originally been summoned from?
That... might not be good.
Mica kept staring at the crystal formations on the walls. "Fascinating. Mother would be stuck here, going on about the quality and formations... but all I have to relate is that these crystals hold magic - probably Dark Magic - and you should probably not touch them."
Clap looked at the wall, then moved herself closer to the center of the path, giving a slight shudder. "Siddy," she said, trying to get her mind elsewhere, "when we find Onitwit, what're we gonna do? I mean, you got a plan or something? If so, it'd help to know what it is..."
"Well, er... unfortunately everything depends on what she is doing right now. She apparently chose this place for the upcoming battle, which isn't exactly a good sign for us. After all, she could be trying to raise herself another army of Umbrals for the occasion, or perhaps she's simply building her power. But, as far as I'm concerned, the greatest danger comes from her amulet; it's the counterpart of the one I'm currently wearing. Our main goal will quite probably be provoking a direct struggle between our respective magical abilities."
"Ruby said that the amulet with the greater power stored inside should win - and considering that she's currently using it to power her entire Umbral army, then it stands to reason that without it, she should be far less dangerous. If she loses her amulet's power, then we need to take her down quickly; I will block her Dark Magic, then if Cupcake has some ropes in his secret hiding place, we tie her up and promptly deliver her to Princess Twilight."
"If I lose with my amulet... well, we either evacuate very quickly and try to find better place to live than an Umbral-infested Equestria... or try to do it in the old-fashioned and time-honored Equestrian way - and count on our friendship." She shrugged slightly.
Too bad the Bearers of Elements of Harmony were effectively neutralized.
"Hey, don't knock the power of friendship," Cupcake pointed out, "Momma told me about the kind of stuff it was capable of, back in her day - and lemme tell you, it was a doozy!" He grinned. "Why, Twilight Sparkle didn't even have any friends when she was first sent to Ponyville; she made 'em while she was there, and then they all came together to deal with a BIIIIIG problem, and they blasted Nightmare Moon with RAINBOWS!"
Mica gave a smirk. "That's... close enough to the truth, actually."
"And then, there was chocolate rain!" The Pie smiled broadly.
Clap chuckled this time. "Cuppie, don't you ever change, you hear me? You're a riot!"
Cup looked over quizzically at Gypsy and Wart. "I thought I was a stallion?"
The diamond dog and the little mare both fought to contain their laughter, while Clap just rolled her eyes and Mica kept looking at the walls.
The caverns bent and twisted for a while, but eventually led to a pathway that brought her and her friends around a severely sharp corner, and eventually to...
"By Howler's claws and maws!" Gypsy exclaimed in a whisper as they came into the library well that Obsidian recalled from when she'd first shown up here. The books were still shelved all the way to the ceiling, so far above them. Gypsy was practically drooling over the amount of knowledge here, and Mica was scanning book titles rapidly as he walked alongside the shelves.
"Lady Obsidian," Wart asked, her voice uncertain, "all this knowledge... do you believe your sister had time to actually read all of these? Because if so, we might be in for a far more difficult fight than I thought..." She suddenly puffed out her little chest. "N-not that I will be incapable of dealing with any threat we encounter! I am merely... uh, concerned, for the possible situation ahead."
"Yes, I do believe so. I assume she is at least as fast of a reader as I am, and she had plenty of time to gather all this knowledge... Gypsy, don't get too excited; some of these books were too gross even for me, and I only checked a few random novels - I assure you that there are things that should be forever forgotten by the world."
Nightmare Moon with rainbows, eh? Well, her magic of Light could be split into rainbows, all right - she just needed a prism. Though she doubted it was literal. "Oh, and if she starts talking about, er... eating or skinning you just... uh... try to ignore it, ok?"
The diamond dog had been fascinated by the seemingly endless bookshelves, yet at her comment, his ears darted up and he looked right at her. "Wh-what?" However, as he turned to look at her, Obsidian saw the shelf behind him shudder slightly, then begin to tilt outward from the wall - it was going to fall on him!
Damnation! Her horn lit up quickly to try to hold the shelf in place. "Get out of there, Gypsy! Cupcake, help!" Just how cruel was Onyx, using bookshelves as traps?
The shelf was heavy, but she held it well enough... the books, however...
Gypsy was struck by a few, but Clap zipped through and grabbed him out of the way before the rain of tomes could really come down with any real threat... but he was only saved by inches. With this, now other shelves all around them began to rock and topple, sending an avalanche of books down toward them all.
Wart held her own magic above her, acting as an umbrella while protecting Obsidian, Mica and Cupcake as well as herself. Clap and Gypsy now could find no respite, as the pegasus kept having to dart around collapsing shelves and heavy books pounding down among them.
Above the sounds of the shelves creaking and the books slamming into the ground, there was a distinctive, high-pitched laughter that echoed from all around them, acting almost as a twisted metronome to the beat of the falling novels.
Amethyst had found them.
Maybe she really should have cast a shield first? Obsidian did exactly that now, if only to relieve Stalwart a bit, and darted to Gypsy to check his wounds. If he needed any healing, she had to deliver it as soon as possible. And it seemed that Tourmaline either completely missed Amethyst, or was trying to get out with other goals in mind. Too bad; the fight between them might have been fun to watch.
"Amethyst! Did our father forget to teach you to RESPECT THE BOOKS?!" she bellowed, trying to be heard above the cavalcade of falling tomes.
Gypsy rubbed at his noggin. "Th-th-this one is b-b-bumped, but not damaged... th-thank you f-f-for your c-c-concern." He smiled at Obsidian warmly... a warmth that turned to cold fear as Amethyst spoke up, her voice echoing through the entire library/well.
"I was taught that books are TOOLS, and when they are USED as such, one can do marvelous things!"
A greenish glow began enveloping different books on the floor... different, large books... and when one darted off the floor and attempted to hit Obsidian, the others began to try to follow suit.
Cupcake suddenly jumped in front of her, wearing a simple white robe with a black belt; he began to slap each book away as it approached her, making nonsense "WA-TAH!" and "Hoo-WAH!" sounds as he did. His muzzle looked dead serious, but mockingly so, as if purposely deadpanning to make it funnier.
How was Cupcake doing that?
Maybe they could just leave him here after asking him nicely to get rid of Onyx and Amethyst, and wait for his inevitable victory? It seemed that he had more aces up his sleeve (and right now he actually had sleeves!) than Obsidian would ever guess. And they got snuggly-wuggly and kissy-kissy before this mission... no doubt, it was going to be a very interesting relationship...
There was an annoyed growl, then the shelves themselves began to smash into wooden shards... which were then telekinetically hurled at Obsidian and her friends!
Obsidian rose a second shield so she wouldn't have to deal with the shards (heheheh, SHARDS) very much, and pulled Gypsy closer to keep their defenses more centered. "Amethyst, the last time we met, I had to be very careful to not kick your horn off your skull - why won't you just lie down on your back, expose your belly and surrender?"
Where WAS she at? There had to be a way to feel her Dark Magic - even though this whole place was positively reeking with it. "Gypsy, can you possibly catch her scent, perchance?"
"Why don't YOU just roll over and betray your so-called 'friends', already! With your blood, we all know it's going to happen, before long! Besides," the voice teased, "Onyx is... busy. She wants ME to deal with you, and she even said I could have my pick of your toys to play with!"
The venomous laughter that echoed through the library/well/deathtrap was spine-tingling. "Oh! Except for the cupcake - she wants to eat him personally!"
Cupcake grinned haughtily. "Well, tell her to bring it; this cupcake ain't so sweet when it comes to handling sour mares like her!" He turned to give Obsidian a wink... and was almost instantly covered as a large pile of gathered books landed on him all at once.
"Awwww... did I mash your little pastry into-"
The books suddenly flew off to the sides as Cupcake rose from the pile, now wearing a yellow tank top that said 'CUPAMANIA' across it in red letters. Cupcake himself now wore a red headband with a blond handlebar mustache, and he flexed like a bodybuilder.
"The question you should be asking yourself, sister, is whatcha gonna do when these big, bad guns come for you!" With that, he then reached up and, taking his shirt into his hooves, tore it open across his barrel, flinging it off to the side as he assumed a wrestling pose.
"Cupamania's runnin' WILD tonight!" he proclaimed, posing and flexing with a determined smile on his face. The idea of leaving Cupcake here and just hoping he would emerge victorious without a single wound (and with Onyx's head in his hooves) was getting more and more feasible with each passing second.
"Why can you not simply die already!?" Now chunks of the wall began to break off and sling downward at the group!
Mica gritted his teeth as a piece glanced off his left side ribs, while Clap nearly fell out of the air when her wing was assaulted. Stalwart Stance kept her attention focused, trying to generate a shield whenever she saw another chunk coming their way. Gypsy, looking towards Obsidian, pointed to his nose, then to one of the far shelves that was still attatched to the wall, indicating the very top of the lowest shelf.
Obsidian gritted her teeth when her friends were getting hit with more stuff thrown at them by her less stupid sister. "I'll keep her attention - healing all around for everyone afterwards, but first..."
She gripped her lance more firmly with her magic, shielded herself - and darted straight to the shelf pointed out by Gypsy. The very top, eh? It was a good thing she had some reach with her weapon, then!
"GRRRRRAGGHHH!!!!" As she was almost at the shelf, Amethyst suddenly appeared out of nowhere (right where Gypsy had pointed her out) and leapt across the gap, her hooves slamming into Obsidian's shield and flashing with sparks of green flame. Her hooves had been enchanted!
"Worthless cur! I was supposed to be the one to take that STUPID amulet from Ruby when she was gone! But YOUUUUUU!!!!!" Amethyst may have been a little upset at Obsidian.
The crazed mare began sending blast after blast of green energy against Obsidian's shield, trying with all her might to smash her way through it. And, with the force she was using, she would succeed quickly... if it hadn't been for her friends, all pitching in to attack Amethyst.
Thunderclap had repositioned herself over the fight, and was bucking downward toward the now-visible Amethyst's muzzle, attempting to strike her with those powerful back hooves. Mica was throwing his own hooves at her from the left, while Wart slashed with her sword at her right. Cupcake eventually reached out and grabbed Amethyst about the neck and, with a mighty roar, attempted to bodyslam her into the floor...
She caught herself with her magic, and took hold of both of Cup's forelegs... and started to pull them apart like a wishbone! However, when the floor opened up and a clawed paw reached up and grabbed the crazed mare by the tail, it jerked her downward hard enough for her to crack her jaw on the stone floor. She howled in anger, struggling to keep the diamond dog underneath her from dragging her underground.
Her horn flashed, and she burst up out of the floor, now hovering and surrounded by an aura of green energy, purple mist issuing from the corners of her eyes.
"I'LL END EVERY ONE OF YOU MYSELF!" She threw her forelegs to the sides, and the books surrounding them began to swirl and spiral through the air, coming together into what looked like a book-built giant mace, complete with a spiked ball on the end!
Obsidian had been under the impression that, without her dagger, Amethyst would be less dangerous. However, it seemed that her power levels had been boosted (possibly by Onyx) for the occasion. She was now far more dangerous than she was in the gym, where she'd failed to defeat Obsidian - despite having the numerical advantage with the use of the Slave Helmets.
It also seemed as though she'd had herself a few telekinesis lessons too...
And while it seemed that Obsidian's initial idea of pinning Amethyst with a few feet of pointy, sharp steel failed, her friends had once again saved her - by distracting her crazed sister and dealing her a bit of damage. This mace, however, looked dangerous... but at the same time, Amethyst looked vulnerable right now. So Obsidian made a very quick decision and hurled her lance with magic, straight at her.
The lance sailed through the air, right at Amethyst's barrel... but as it almost connected, it was surrounded by green energy and stopped in mid-air. The mare glared at it as if it were actively insulting her, then turned to them all as she held it in the air, hovering right in front of her. "Don't tell me you expected this puny throw to actually hit me?"
"Actually," Mica deadpanned, "the throw doesn't have to."
And with that, Mica Chip simply seemed to run up to her and turn a backflip... which resulted in his hooves stepping onto the pommel of the lance, where he pushed off... and sent the lance just far enough out of the magical grip to pierce her chest! The mace fell apart with the sound of a book-rain slapping the stone floor beneath her.
Amethyst didn't make a sound; her eyes slowly and crazily slid down until they looked at the lance sticking out of her. Then they looked back up at Obsidian.
"... oh... NO... you didn't..."
With a flare, Amethyst's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull as she suddenly GRIPPED the lance in her own magic and began to pull with a force unlike her previous strength - it was like Obsidian was suddenly playing tug-o-war with an elephant! No... more like multiple elephants!
It was almost the perfect outcome - but almost didn't seem to distract Amethyst as much as Obsidian had hoped; she was also far stronger than before and well... Obsidian didn't really want to kill her, but with the lance piercing her chest, it was the most probable outcome right now.
The (former) Dark Princess huffed and sweated as she started to struggle against Amethyst's magic. Why couldn't she just break her focus, fall to the ground and just let Obsidian turn off her magic and heal her wounds?
"Dis... tract... her..." Damnation - they'd come too far to stop now! "Sister, give up! I don't want to be forced to kill you!"
The ragged voice that answered her sounded more like a dragon's snarl than Amethyst's own.
"I WANT TO SUCKLE THE FLUID FROM YOUR EYEBALLS AS I CRUSH YOUR SPINAL COLUMN INTO CHALK DUST, YOU LOATHSOME WASTE! I WANT TO LICK YOUR STILL-COOLING BLOOD FROM MY HOOVES AS YOUR ESSENCE FADES AWAY INTO NOTHING! I WANT TO DANCE IN YOUR CORPSE'S RIBCAGE! I WANT TO BATHE IN YOUR ENTRAILS AS I SHATTER YOUR SKULL! I WANT-"
With that, Stalwart Stance reared up and slammed her hooves into Amethyst's head with enough force to bounce it off the wall; the blow broke the grip on the lance, yet forced the mare's body backwards, pulling the length of the steel pole out of her. Though it hadn't gone deep enough to hit an organ, her chest was now seeping lifeblood at a steady rate.
Amethyst growled like an animal, wounded and angry. "I WANT TO WEAR YOUR SKIN AS A RAINCOAT!"
"Ewwwww! You're a sick, sick puppy! Siddy, end this feeb!" Clap called out.
"NO. I SHALL END YOUUUUUUU..."
Now, in front of her, green magical energy began to form into the familiar shape of a curved dagger... eighteen of them, to be exact! "ONYX WAS RIGHT - YOU ARE EXPENDABLE!" Those daggers would be fully-formed in mere moments; there were only a few seconds to react.
It wasn't really a choice - just a reaction - as Obsidian once again plunged her lance forward. This time, far more desperately than before. It was only to be expected - she already saw, far too closely, what even a single one of these daggers could do.
The lance jutted forward... and connected. With Amethyst's own shield. And bent.
The mare let out a jagged, crazed giggling that sounded like the complete antithesis of 'laughter', and her daggers formed completely. They gleamed in the wan light, each one glowing that diseased green color as they began to wave back and forth, like before... but where a single blade looked like a cobra about to strike, the group amassed before them looked more like a small wave on the ocean, movements rolling down the line, copied by each blade in turn.
"NO. YOU WILL... NOT... WIN... THAT WAY..."
Each dagger suddenly twitched into place, all of them poised to strike and going stock still as Amethyst's eyes widened. They were the eyes of a mare who no longer had anything to do with the concept of sanity. "YOU... YOUUUUUUUU..." She stopped, staring at Obsidian with clear, unadulterated hatred in her eyes for the Light Princess.
"... PAIN... HATE... ANGER... SLASH! DESTROY! KILLLLLLLLLL YOUUUUUUU!!!!!"
All eighteen daggers flew right at her... and flew straight into the barrel of a cupcake-shaped cannon that was suddenly held out in front of the group.
"Ooops! Looks like I got some junk in my cannon!" Cupcake said with a smirk as he lowered the contraption, then turned it to face Amethyst. "Let's clear the barrel, shall we?"
When he yanked the cord, the eighteen daggers rocketed out of the device and straight towards Amethyst... but when they connected, they didn't penetrate; they made little 'boing' sounds and bounced harmlessly off her coat.
As she stared, Cup smiled. "What, you think I'd stoop to your level? Naaaaaaaaaah... not my style."
Amethyst stared... then began to roar and charge, but Cup just chuckled and pulled the cord a second time. The large pie that flew out of the cannon hit the crazed mare with the force of a battering ram, and she slammed into the wall behind her, plastered to it with whipped cream and pie crust.
Dazed, she merely hung there a moment. Cup looked back to Obsidian and motioned to her sister. "She's kinda stunned... now's your chance to... uh, do... whatever..." he shrugged.
By Darkness, she couldn't have a family and foals with him; if there was even the slightest chance that they would inherit powers of Darkness from Obsidian's father, powers of Light from her and powers of just plain crazy from Cupcake? They would be unstoppable! They would probably turn into eldritch abominations by the age of ten!
But still, Cupcake had saved her... AND defeated Amethyst (again, couldn't they just leave him here and wait for him to wreck Onyx's plans, self-respect and sanity?)
"Yes," Obsidian said as she charged her horn - and for the first time, she tried to use the Dark Magic sealing spell she'd gotten from Gypsy.
Amethyst's horn began to sparkle, and as they watched, a shell of stone began to roll down from the tip, encasing it in a shell of rock.
"... wha..? No. No! NOOBSIDIANIWILLNOTALLOWITNOTALLOWITNOTALLOW-"
Her magic aura began to try to flare up again, but Obsidian had her in place, and the spell was tough, but she had enough concentration to finish the incantation.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" With a small >clink!<, the spell finished its' magic, and Amethyst simply stared at Obsidian as she slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
"You... you... you've killed me."
The mare simply sat there as tears began to pour out of her eyes; no sobs, she had more dignity than that... but the look on her muzzle said it all. She was finished, and wouldn't be a viable threat any longer.
On her head, her horn was completely covered in stone, and the stone had turned completely black, moulding to fit the shape of the horn until it just looked as though she had a black horn, naturally. However, Obsidian couldn't feel even the slightest spark of magic coming from her sister.
Amethyst stared incredulously at her. "H... h-h-h... h-how? HOW do you know the sealing spell? How? Not even Onyx knows that spell... d-did you... h-h-h-how?"
'You've killed me'? What a whiny mare Amethyst actually was! It was just a small sealing off spell! Good grief, grow up!
"I had a lot of magical training with my father... and then I've got friends, which can be very surprising when it comes to research. Now, hold still..."
Obsidian's horn flashed once again as she healed the wound on Amethyst's chest. "Now, anyone else have any serious injuries? Mica, what about your ribs? Also, we'll also need to, er, 'take care' of Amethyst. I was fine with idea of Tourmaline hunting her - it would have been like torturing two slaves with a single lash, but considering we found her first, I'd prefer to keep her alive."
"Uh, Obsidian?" Mica offered. "Maybe you shouldn't use anything about 'torture' to explain things in the future? It's a bit... creepy, to anyone who doesn't know you."
Clap shrugged. "Heck, it's kinda creepy to me - and I DO know you! Not that you're creepy; just some of the stuff you say, sometimes."
Amethyst looked up at her as she healed the wound. "You... why are you doing that? I want you flayed and in agony; you're healing me." She now got a worried, almost scared look on her muzzle as she looked around at Obsidian's friends. "In Father's glorious name, what have these ponies done to you?"
"Terrible, horrible things, dear Amethyst... and you know what? The same will happen to you; I will see to it personally,"
Obsidian lowered her voice as if she was threatening her. "You will be laughing while basking in the light of the Sun, playing with your friends. Every single thought about hurting others will perish from your mind, replaced with dreams of long, happy days, filled with personal development and important friendship lessons. The only knife you'll ever want to touch will be to cut alfalfa - and I will look at it and laugh, Amethyst."
From the look on Amethyst's muzzle, what Obsidian promised her was the worst possible punishment that anypony had ever cursed her with... and she was visibly shaken as Siddy went on to describe what her future would be like. By the time she'd finished describing, there were tears of horror in her sister's eyes.
Obsidian straightened up. "After all, you are my sister... and I want you to be happy. And I will be happy to see you happy," she turned head to look at her friends. "Now, does anypony have any idea where we should put her to keep her safe until our glorious, victorious return?"
However, when she asked her question, she got a few different answers:
"Um, how about a safe?" Clap suggested.
"I am certain there is a cell in Princess Twilight's dungeon that would have ample room for her," Wart smirked.
"Another t-t-tunnel, except t-t-t-t-tie her t-t-tail to a root, to k-keep her there," Gypsy glowered at Amethyst.
"Maybe we could shove her into my cannon..." Cup said thoughtfully.
"Can you seal her legs up, like you did her horn?" Mica asked.
"I can't seal her legs, I'm afraid... and I don't think we have a safe nearby. A cell is too far away as well. Hmmmmmmm... well, the side tunnel or even the cannon doesn't sound too bad... Cuppy, do you have a rope somewhere, perchance?"
Cupcake smiled and reached into his... whatever it was... and brought out a bright red rope that looked thick and sturdy. "Will this do, Siddy dear?" He offered her the rope as he winked at Amethyst, making her shudder in revulsion. "I promise, it's 'one size fits all'!"
Wart, without even a signal from Obsidian, grabbed it and ran a whirlwind around Amethyst until she was wrapped from chin to flank in rope.
"Whoa... new hogtie record, Warty! Good go!" Clap cheered, and the usually stoic Wart smiled and bowed to her appreciative audience.
"Without my magic," Amethyst said distantly, "I am dead. Utterly dead. You've killed me."
"Lighten up, buttercup," Clap said, "you're alive and in the hooves of the good guys; you got off easy on this one, Thystie - trust me on that!"
Mica motioned to the doorway at the far end... the one Obsidian herself had used, only a few hours or so ago, yet it was like a lifetime ago. "Is that where we're headed?" he asked.
Obsidian nodded. "Don't worry Amy; we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Tourmy went another way, so he shouldn't be a problem... and you'll have your magic returned as soon as you start behaving properly. See you later, sis!"
Obsidian hugged her, then quickly stepped back.
When she embraced her, Amethyst shuddered and shrieked unintelligibly; she was having none of whatever Obsidian was giving her, and wasn't giving up without a fight... as hopeless as it was.
"Ok," Obsidian remarked as she turned back to the group, "that's all for now. Any wounds I need to take care of? Any last confessions before reaching Onyx's chambers? If not, then we can go straight there."
Sigh... bye-bye, lovely lance; apparently, you weren't meant to be turned into a magical artifact that would be forever remembered in history, after all.
It didn't seem like anyone had any wounds, but when she mentioned confessions... the group sort of listed about a moment, looking awkward and embarrassed, until Mica sighed and spoke up.
"Yes, I do - I love Thunderclap Dash, and have since she got me out of my shell. I can think of no other mare for me, and I don't want to. She's perfect, to me."
The others stared - and Clap looked thunderstruck - but that wasn't all...
"This... th-th-this o-one ch-ch-cheated to g-g-g-get into the F-Fr-Friendship S-S-School," Gypsy said ashamedly, then quickly added, "b-b-but d-diamond d-d-d-dogs don't r-r-really know h-h-how t-to m-m-m-make f-fr-f-fr-friends! He w-w-wanted in s-so b-b-b-b-badly!"
"I... like Siddy. I mean, really like her... as in, 'like-like' her. I mean, as in, I can see us married and... a-and stuff." Cupcake smiled at the Light Princess. "And I guess she counts as my first... uhh, marefriend. Which is okie dokie lokie by me."
"Um, Cuppie?" Clap spoke as if she were ashamed to. "... I did it. Me. I'M the one that bit the wheel of your cannon. It just, I mean - it looked so tasty! I couldn't h-help myself! I just saw how MAD you got about it, and I didn't wanna disappoint you, so... I just... y'know... kept it q-quiet. And stuff."
Wart looked at them all. "What? I've done nothing salacious; don't expect any confessions from me, Lady Obsidian!"
Wow, they really treated this 'last confessions' stuff seriously! Obsidian didn't mean it to be treated that way - she just said it in an out-of-hoof way, and yet they went full-in, charging through it as if they'd seen a defenseless party of limbless Umbrals!
Well... perhaps it WAS the best time for this kind of stuff? After all, nopony could tell if they would all survive the upcoming meeting with Onyx.
And who would have thought that Mica would start first? Hah, Clap looked as shocked as when he kissed her back at the castle! Then it was Obsidian's own turn to be a bit embarrassed when Cupcake mentioned marriage - especially considering that they'd just met...what, the day before yesterday? These Equestrians moved FAST; they didn't even ask her father for permission!
Though, admittedly, in Obsidian's case it would be a bit difficult - wait, Equestrian's didn't have arranged marriages, so that part probably wasn't important.
And eventually Obsidian really couldn't help herself but start to giggle when Thunderclap mentioned biting Cupcake's wheel - HA! And here, she thought it was Cup himself! Considering how serious all the other confessions were, the Light Princess just had to notice how terribly humorous was Clap's mention in contrast to the others.
"D-Don't worry, Stalwart. I'm sure that with us, sooner or later, you'll start doing salacious things too!" She barely squeezed out the words between giggles. "And I'm really glad you cheated, then, Gypsy. And, as for me... well, I've taken Cupcake into the closet in Twilight's Palace to test this kissing thing... and I liked it! I believe that's the only confession I can think about at the moment..."
She still couldn't stop giggling, even in the face of the adversity to come. "L-Let's show my sister that using zombies, fooling Equestria and being STUPID is a bad idea, shall we?"
The others all looked at her, and nodded as one.
"Yes. It's time to put this to rest."
"A-a-and bring in a n-new day's d-d-dawn."
"And bring peace and protection to all of Equestria, royal and civilian alike."
"And throw Onyx a huge 'going-away party'!"
"And kick some flank!"
They were ready. Her friends took up positions on all sides of her, and she could feel her own energy roaring inside; strong, potent and powerful. Onyx would have no chance in Tartarus to win. Not while Obsidian had her friends.
It was time to put that mare in her place.
"Fine... now, with power on our side, it is time to finish this." And by Darkness AND Light, she was eager to show Onyx that her stupid, easy-to-avoid mistakes were going to bite her right in the flank. Hard.
The doors to the library/well banged open, and Obsidian and her friends made their way out into the area she'd seen before. However...
There were no walls of crystal anymore; they were replaced with a thick, wet blackness that seemed oily and oozing, even dripping in a few places. On closer inspection, it actually turned out to be Umbral corpses, all running together like threads of snot, forming over the lovely crystals that had blessed the wall before.
The black water was now a constantly roiling surface that seemed to crank out an endless amount of undead... but not a one of them were headed towards Obsidian or her group; they seemed preoccupied with making their way out through a glowing red portal that stood at the far end of the chamber.
The dias and throne were still in place, but now they had an unmistakable aura of vileness about them, and they looked as though they were seeping drips of black ichor too. And seated on the throne, of course, was the mare they had all come to see... and she wasn't angry, irritated, surprised or even miffed...
She was smiling.
Aaaaaaah, this felt like home, but moreso - even during magical training with her most honourable father, Obsidian never knew so much power and Dark Magic - and the reason was obvious, wasn't it? She would love to spend her time here, researching every spell used by Onyx, trying to figure out the meanings of the Umbrals covering the walls... maybe there would even be something more in the books.
Assuming, of course, that she'd survive the upcoming battle.
"Hello, dear sister - we really need to stop bumping into each other in such circumstances, don't you think? I'm starting to worry that you're a bit of a workaholic." To be fair, during each one of their meetings, Onyx was working. All. The. Time.
She cast a shield around her friends and herself - better safe than sorry, in case magical bolts began to fly. Then, she touched her own amulet with a hoof; if only Ruby was here to see this moment...
With Obsidian's words, Onyx simply grinned wider.
She stood up and, looking at the lot of them together, she lifted her hooves... and the entire chamber began to glow a dull, ember-like red. Obsidian could feel the Dark Magic all around her, under her, over her... even through her, though she had not even the slightest bit of control of it.
The red energies all pulsed around the room, then slowly drifted towards Onyx, who simply chuckled as the red light swirled about her, then traveled to her muzzle and entered her throat, her ears, her nostrils... even her eyes!
"NOT... good," Mica understated.
It continued to flow into her until she thrust her hooves to the sides, the aura in front of her dissipating instantly. She looked at the group of friends, all ready to fight and possibly die for each other, and said a single word that would spell doom for them all...
"... SLEEP..."
"Oh, no... no, not like this... n-not..." >THUD< Mica.
"Aw, you gotta be... k-kiddin'... me..." >THUD< Thunderclap.
"Oh n-n-n-n-n... n... n..." >THUD< Gypsy.
"No, NO! NOT... not when we... were so... c-c..." >THUD< Stalwart.
"Siddy!" Cupcake turned to her. "Siddy! You... gotta... gotta ruuunnn..." >THUD< Cupcake.
And the last thing Obsidian saw before she passed out was her sister, waving to her.
>THUD< |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty Two: The Nightmare Spell | The collar around Obsidian's neck was heavy and cold.
The chains around her limbs were even heavier and colder.
But the smile on Onyx's muzzle was the heaviest, coldest thing in the entire room.
Obsidian was collared, chained and locked in a cell that was covered with runes against magic. There was a single, high window, and only a dull, red glare came through it - there was no other light in the room, save for Onyx's glowing red eyes, and the matching glow from the amulet on her chest.
"Wakey-wakey, dear sister. Aren't you eager to see where you'll be spending the rest of your existence?" She smiled smugly. "And don't give me that look; I'd say I did an excellent job of improvising so much since you stepped into play; I daresay I deserve a medal, when this is done. But that shall be at Father's discretion - if he wants to, then he will, and if not, he shall not. I was not created for praise, after all..."
Onyx wore a resplendent royal robe of inky black and red velvet, with a set of jet-black steel boots to accent the sharp angles of the outfit. She also looked as if she were... taller, somehow? Bigger? She most certainly looked more substantial at any rate, seated on the cushy chair outside of Siddy's cell.
Well, that wasn't good.
Obsidian really didn't like getting her firepower reduced again - unsurprisingly, after meeting for the second time with Onyx. But who would think that she would prepare so strong a spell, that she would just avoid all of their defenses and knock them ALL down with a single strike? Obsidian surely hadn't thought that - otherwise, she would have been a bit better prepared, and would've been dancing on Onyx's grave by now!
It was especially annoying as her sister didn't even use her amulet...
"But I admit, I'm curious to see what he has in store for you, dear sister - I'm certain it'll be rather interesting! After all, you operated perfectly according to my plans - I'm almost disappointed you didn't deviate in the slightest." She chuckled. "Now, do you care to guess why I was so happy to see you again?"
She gave Onyx a deadpan look. "It's just a guess, but... you needed a second shard of Darkheart, filled with light... and I brought it straight to you. Is that the reason? Or did you have something more sadistic in mind?"
Onyx clapped her hooves together gleefully. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you're a smart cookie! Yes, my dear - that is exactly what I needed!"
She stood up, walking close to the bars as she began to speak. "You see, the spell Father wanted to use for his ressurrection wasn't a Dark Magic spell OR a Light Magic spell - it was Grey Magic, which spans the gap between the two. In order for any significant effort to return to be successful, he needed to ensure that it couldn't be countered by either kind of magic... therefore, to activate it, there had to be shards charged from each side of the magical spectrum, used in conjunction with the right Grey Magic rituals, to perform the act."
"The act," she smirked, "which I shall be performing tonight, in that painfully bright and happy little town these foolish Equestrians seem to love so much! Ponyville will act as the stage I set... then, I'll use this amulet AND its' counterpart - which BOTH are operating at peak efficiency, thanks to you - and perform the ritual that will mark our glorious Father's return! Oh, I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you for the favor of doing SO much of Ruby's dirty work for me!"
"She'd been useful, but too quick to trust whatever I told her... including about that other Darkheart shard! She told you it would be 'the way to stop wicked, naughty Onyx', I'll bet! Oh, that mare would buy oceanfront property in the Everfree, if you asked her!" Onyx's laugh was jeering and cruel... but when she finished, she knelt down to look at Obsidian on an even level.
Obsidian shook her head; so she'd been right about that one, eh? And Ruby, apparently unknowingly, had convinced her to bring this little artifact of doom straight into Onyx's hooves. To be completely fair, Obsidian was actually relieved to hear that Ruby didn't know anything about it and was just manipulated... like she herself had been.
"But you... you, Obsidian, performed exactly as I'd planned for you to. You even brought me dinner! How thoughtful; I'll be sure to feast on them tonight, after Father returns. With everything I need finally in my hooves after so long of watching, waiting and planning... oh, it feels so wonderful, being this close to finishing my long-lasting mission!"
She stood up again. "Now, I have a moment or two... if you want to beg for your or your friends' lives, I have a minute to listen to you plead. Or, if you would rather throw more useless bravado at me, I'll be happy to tell Father all about it over dinner tonight..."
She grinned wickedly. "Maybe we'll share a Cupcake over it!"
"I'll admit," Obsidian said dispiritedly, "it was clever. I had no idea about this whole 'Grey Magic' thing, so I was furious since I learned about the Light Amulet that you'd risked our most honourable Father's entire plan for - only because you didn't care about reaching out to me earlier. Now everything makes sense, though - antagonizing me was a far quicker way of gathering Light Magic than waiting for Ruby to accomplish the deed."
She rubbed her chin (unfortunately, her chains were making rubbing her temples difficult) and thought for a moment before speaking again. "How is Amethyst, by the way? She was complaining rather loudly that by taking away her magic, I was killing her. Is she alright?"
The look on Amy's face when Obsidian threatened her with friendship was priceless... she could almost giggle at the memory.
Almost.
Onyx chuckled. "Amethyst? Oh, she'll be fine, I'm certain... of course, with no magic at all anymore, she's probably useless to Father; most likely, she'll end up as another slave. But such is the way of things, don't you know?"
She leaned forward, pressing her cheeks to the bars. "You know, plotting everything out at a moment's notice was SO difficult to do; if we'd have stuck to my original plan, you wouldn't have been free for another decade, at least. Ruby would have eventually been the 'good sister' to take and charge the Light amulet, and I would have 'recruited' you to get it back. So you see? If Twilight Sparkle hadn't stumbled across you, you would have been eagerly dispatching with Ruby, right before Father's triumphant return!"
She sighed. "Though I have to admit... you're smarter than Tourmaline, more calm and collected than Amethyst, and not as naive as Ruby; you were a sister I could've possibly learned to get along with... maybe even liked, one day. More's the pity."
She now stood back from the bars. "Ah, well - no use crying over spilt blood, right?"
Obsidian shrugged. "Probably. I'd like to re-re-REstate that things might have been different if you'd just reached out to me in the first place... but I suppose I'm on the wrong side of bars to criticize your plans."
So... what now? Father returns, probably gets rather angry over many things - unfortunately, plenty of them done by Obsidian herself - and wreaks havoc on all of Equestria? It was surprising to learn that Onyx herself didn't know how to reverse the sealing off of Amy's Dark Magic - one could think that she'd already found a way to counteract it.
Well... at least Amethyst wasn't dying, not yet. Now she had to wonder if Onyx's sadistic talking was just a part of her plot as well - at the beginning, she needed it to get more Dark Magic from Obsidian... now, it was just plain mean-spirited. "Well, all I can is hope for is that our most honourable Father will return in a good mood." She shrugged slightly again with resignation.
Onyx lifted an eyebrow... then simply scoffed. "You've grown to be no fun anymore. No tears, no anger, no begging... how disappointing." She shrugged. "But at least soon, I won't even have to worry about you at all. You'll be stuck here for the rest of your life, knowing you brought about the end of Equestria, of your friends, of your 'sweetheart' sister... ALL of it."
She turned and opened the steel door behind her, stepping through and taking one last glance back at her. "Honestly? Familiarity breeds contempt - I'm glad we didn't get to bond. And now, I'll never have to. Au revoir, mon petite morte."
With that, she slid out of the steel door, its' shutting being a thunderous, final boom... then nothing but her chains, her cell... and herself.
Obsidian smirked - tears? Begging? It was far too obvious that Onyx would enjoy that far too much, and it would give Siddy literally nothing in return. Anger, though? Now that was something she would gladly use - but couldn't, due to her complete lack of Dark Magic.
Luckily, she was taught to be pretty calm when she had to; none of the threats used by Onyx were new enough or harsh enough to get under her skin. At best, Obsidian could despair... but she would be damned if she would do it in front of her sister, even (or, maybe, 'especially') if she wasn't as brain-dead as Obsidian had initially thought.
"... about time that cow shut up!"
Who was that? She started to look around. Outside... or maybe hidden? Invisible?
"Yo, genius... down here."
In Obsidian's lap was a tiny, willowy-looking pony with large, butterfly-like wings and weird little antennae. She had tiny black and red stripes, and a very long and luxurious tail; her mane, however, was short and neat, almost a crewcut. She looked at Obsidian with an annoyed expression.
"Yeah, hi. How ya doin'? Okay stupid, you ready to get the heck outta here already? Or you want another minute or two to pretend Onyx didn't just piss in your oats?"
Wow. This tiny pony was rude.
Obsidian lowered her head, dumbfounded. It wasn't a snack, was it? No wait - it was apparently her rescue. Too bad; for a moment, she was curious to see if eating other living creatures was as satisfying as Onyx seemed to imply. "Er... y-yes - I'm ready to get out of here now, please."
The tiny pony flew up to the collar around her neck, and now Obsidian couldn't see her at all. However, she could feel movement and shifting around of the restraint she wore, so it may have been safe to assume that the tiny rude pone was doing something useful.
"Couldn't have just let the Royal Guard take care of things, couldja? Or the Princess of Friendship? FEH! Even your pals could've done the job without you - but nooooooOOOOOOOOooooooo... you just HAD to face her directly, didn't ya? HAD to try to overpower her, because 'Light is stronger than the Dark', hunh?"
Her tiny head momentarily appeared within sight, scowling at her. "How's THAT workin' out for ya, ya idiot!?"
"Well, the guards were quite busy, and the Princess of Friendship was thoroughly shaken by death of Miss Applejack. Based on our data, we thought that this amulet was the only weapon that could defeat Onyx," Obsidian admitted. Honestly, it was a clever ruse, really - there had been no single mention in any of their texts that Dark and Light magic could work together in any meaningful way.
She dipped back below Obsidian's sight line. "Well, regardless... we don't have a lot of time, if you wanna save your stupid friends. You DO want to save 'em, right?"
"Of course I want I want to svae them! There are better uses for Cupcake than turning him into a meal - even a royal meal!"
The jostling below her jawline got more active. "Well then... unf... that means... hnnnnng... that we gotta... rrrgh... get... MO-VING... hnnnnnng..."
>clink!< Something gave way, and the heavy collar fell off and into Obsidian's lap. "THERE! Turd-buckin' thing! Okay, now to get to the other chains..."
With that, the little rude pony flitted over to her left hind leg and began to work at it. Obsidian watched as the little winged pony put her tiny hooves into the lock and began moving them around.
"Okay, so - first, do you know where you are; second, are you ready to look into other ponies' heads... and third..."
She suddenly stopped, frowning at Obsidian. "Never mind - you'll probably just make fun of me for asking."
Going back to moving her hooves around, she gave Obsidian a glare. "So, answer the first two and we can go from there, pit-for-brains."
It wasn't Cupcake's sister, Blue Raspberry, turned into an itty-bitty flying creature, was it? Obsidian had no idea if ponies could be transformed in this manner, but there had to be a finite reservoir of rudeness in the world - so it would make sense.
"No. Yes. And go ahead and ask this third question; compared to other Equestrian ponies, I'm practically devoid of 'fun' to make." She encouraged little creature to continue. And ohhhh, it felt so good to have this heavy collar off her neck. Onyx would regret not sealing off Obsidian's magic in a more permament way!
The little mare stared at her for a minute, then sighed and spoke as she continued to reach around inside the lock. "You're in the Dream Realm, but you're in a version that Luna can't reach; it's a section that's been pulled out of the collective consciousness and given its' own power and existence. You should be flattered - this is one of Onyx's signature creations; you just fell victim to the Nightmare Spell! Well... you and your five other feeb friends."
The lock on her hind leg popped open, and the tiny rude pone moved on to the right rear leg. "I swear, casting a spell like that just for the six of you? Yeah, you must scare her; she normally only casts a spell like that for when BIG mistakes were made - and not for anyone else; maybe you and your little glee club are onto something, here."
She glanced up at Obsidian again, then looked back behind her, sighed, and turned to look at Obsidian with a skeptical pout on her muzzle. "You laugh, and I'll leave you here to rot, you got me? But..."
She sighed. "... does my tail look okay? And don't you lie to me!"
Tail? Obsidian locked her eyes on it; where had she heard somepony asking her something similar..?
"Yes, it looks okay, in my humble opinion - very well-cared for. So, if I may ask, if we are trapped in a nightmare, then who are you? A construct of our minds, perhaps?"
So they were just in a dream - well, more like they were stuck inside a prolonged nightmare; trapped inside their own minds. In fact, they were most likely still in the same place where they'd fallen, she was willing to bet. Obsidian wondered how differently time flowed between this nightmare world and the real one. A 'signature' spell, eh? A nice trick... especially if the caster of said spell already knew the greatest fears of their victims. If only Obsidian could know more about how to use it against its' caster...
But first things first - she had to gather her friends and wake up.
The rude pony scoffed loudly. "HA! Like your useless imaginations could fathom something as complicated as me! Don't make me laugh, you big stupe! Construct of YOUR mind?" She leveled a look at Obsidian. "It's me, stupid - Ruby. Who'd you think it was, hunh? I mean, you might think I'm nothing but smiles, sunshine and rainbow farts, but did it ever occur to you that there actually IS a mean side to everyone?"
>clink!<
"Yeah. See, I knew Onyx was keeping stuff from me, and I did NOT like it - not one bit. So, instead of freaking out and making a dumb mistake like bringing my magic to allow her to charge an amulet or confronting my sister with a fully charged one... I just shunted my Dark Magic side into the hoof mirror I kept in my saddlebags."
She glanced at Obsidian again as she began working on the next lock. "At least you weren't stupid enough to break the mirror; that would have really been a loss for you, because you'd be up Piranha Creek without a paddle right now without me!"
"But yeah - what you saw... um, die... was my Light Side. And yeah, before you even ask, I can't exist outside of this dream realm - and I don't have long, goofball - without it. So hey, consider this as getting to meet the side of your sister you never knew, 'kay?"
>clink!<
"Now, while I get this last one, you care to tell me which one of your dumb friends you wanna find first? I mean, it's up to you - it'll be YOU going through their worst nightmares to free 'em, so where would you rather get started?"
Oh. That... well, that kind of made sense. And to be fair, it was far better than thinking that a dream version of Blue had somehow saved her skin. "To be fair though, you were the one who told me about using this amulet to counter her own, or about gathering as much power as possible to do it."
Even though she was exceedingly glad for the help, Obsidian just had to mention it.
She stood up, enjoying her newly-restored freedom of movement. "Cupcake Sprinkles, of course - that's where we should begin." It should be the easiest of her friends to shake out of his nightmare, and then he would be quite useful with dealing with the rest of the group... that is, assuming he wouldn't just wake up immediately.
The tiny pony flew up in front of Obsidian's muzzle, looking annoyed. "Look, unless you want me going over every single mistake you've made since you woke up, I'll thank you to keep in mind that I'M the Snarkmaster, here - I already told you I knew something was wrong, just not what - are you grateful for me being here, or what?"
"Oh, I am very grateful; I'd hug you to show how much, but it could be... eh, fatal." With their size differences, she could easily kill her... or at least heavily dream-damage her, if such a term even existed.
She flitted over to the window, looked, then returned. "Okay, then we're gonna have to find where the passage to his doorway is; because you dopes share a bond of friendship or some junk like that, you're all connected somehow - but because of her shenanigans, those portals won't be easy to find. Most likely, they're either hidden in difficult places, or hidden somewhere innocuous..."
"But simple enough: find the door, enter the dream, find 'em, wake 'em up... hopefully, in a way that they don't end up all depressed and junk. Y'know... umm... like, not smack 'em in the head or such... I think. Either way, she's trying to break their spirits, and you gotta make sure that doesn't happen... got it, dinky?"
Little rude Ruby rolled her tiny eyes. "Always gotta be told everything..."
"Yes, I get it. I'll be three times more cheerful, friendly and Equestrian than I am normally, just to keep their minds in a preferred state. Are you going with me in? Do you want to see their worst nightmares as well?"
Work, work, work... a somewhat difficult task for a mare who'd learned that something like 'empathy' existed only yesterday. Finding the doors wouldn't be too hard, hopefully - especially after she got more helpers.
"Thank you, Ruby - for everything." Because she most certainly WAS grateful... and knew it would probably be best to acknowledge that fact.
The little pony pouted for a moment... then grumbled. "Yeah, you'd better thank me... if I hadn't been so smart, you'd be screwed right now. But... yeah. Okay. Fine." She flitted over to the cell door and, with her hooves in the lock, began working it like the others.
"And the super-happy crappy? Yyyyyeeeeaaaahhhh... how about you just be, y'know, yourself? I mean, after all, did they only start being on your side because you were being nice? Or did they start with that stuff before your nicey-wicey act?"
"You got an advantage right now, Obzy; you don't have Light OR Dark in you... but you could have 'em. BOTH of 'em! But it's up to you, how you refill your reserves; Light, Dark, whatever... but you get to decide. What's more, that flexibility will end up being your greatest strength, dipwad... so, with all this wisdom pouring out of me, you'd probably do well to pay attention and stuff, y'know?"
With a grunt, the door's lock gave, and the cell door creaked slowly open. "Now, I can appear in these other dreams, yeah - but only in a limited capacity, or you'll run my spiritual batteries dead within the hour! And trust me, once I'm drained, BAM!, no more Ruby, period."
"But I can see inside your head, and the head of whoever you're looking into... so there's that. And once you gather the entire Losers Club, I can make that last push to get you out of your stupid heads and back to reality."
"Honestly?" Obsidian pondered, "I have not a single clue why they started being on my side... but I suppose you're right." Well, a joke or two about torture and her friends would surely relax... like, what do you call a slave after a long torture session? A three-dimensional puzzle! Yup, that would certainly remind them why they liked Obsidian so much!
Being able to use both kinds of magic? Frankly, she had been enjoying her Light Magic antics... but it was worth a try.
"Then please, Ruby - don't overburden yourself. You happen to be my favourite sister, and I don't want you to dissapear," she said while she lowered her voice. "Granted, the rest of our sisters aren't really able to rival with you for the 'favourite' title, of course... but you get the idea, right?"
Obsidian stepped out of cell and immediately started to look around. Doors, doors... hidden doors...
Ruby just groaned, "Yeah, yeah - whatever you gotta tell yourself to move yer fat flank. Just get to it, toots - Equestria's not gonna save itself this time!"
The room outside of the jail cell was as drab and bland as the inside of the cell was. Featureless and boring, the only thing that stuck out in this place was the desk in the far corner... and it looked just as dull as the rest of the room.
"Well? You expect a hidden door to just jump out and say, 'hey, lookit me, here I be'? I swear, the brains ran downhill after me..."
The desk had a single, non-swiveling chair and three drawers. In the opposite corner from it, there was the single door that Onyx had left through; she hadn't seen what was on the other side, so there was no way to know. There was also the window, back in her cell with her chains and collar on the floor.
"I'm looking, dear sister of mine, I'm looking..." Obsidian trotted to the desk to check the drawers; just how well could hidden doors be hidden? Did they have to be literal doors in this strange place? She didn't seem to have many options in that regard.
Inside the desk drawers were a pencil, a rubber band (broken), three push pins... and a colorful flyer for the Flim Flam Brothers Circus, 'the greatest show on Equus'.
Standing out like a sore hoof, the flyer's colors were nothing like the rest of the place; they were warm, bright and happy. The flyer showed lions, tigers, an elephant, clowns, trained monkeys...
And, toward the back of the picture, there was a very familiar-looking cannon... with donut wheels. And a single bite missing from one of them.
Could this be...?
She reached for the flyer and picked it up. It was solid in her hooves... but she could feel it almost vibrating in her grasp; it felt alive, and it filled her with feelings of mirth and merriment.
"... what, you expect it to just whisk you away, like some mare's advertisement for mane shampoo? No dummy, you have to think of the pony you're looking to find! Think about... I dunno, his stupid face, or his... whaddyacallit?... charm, or some manure like that?" She had to think of Cupcake?
"Sometime this year, beets-for-brains!" Ruby impatiently grumbled.
Ruby could be pretty interesting, even without removing her dark side and placing it in the mirror. Of course, it would probably have ruined her cover as Looking Glass. In fact, it was really hard to think of her as dead when she was so insistant on chatting with her so often.
And so, Obsidian focused on thoughts of Cupcake Sprinkles... more specifically on the memory of their second day - when he slowly began to realize that they were quite different... he'd made such a face when he thought that she was a changeling only pretending to be Obsidian, and how the mention of her mane made her GLARE at him...
The world around her suddenly just seemed to... melt away... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty Three: Cupcake | It wasn't the circus.
What she saw, instead, was a Ponyville... defeated.
Houses all around her were either on fire, blasted to splinters or boarded up and graffiti'd over. Not a single green thing grew anywhere within sight, and a cold wind sent random garbage blowing down the main street. Once alive with activity, it was now dull and lifeless.
Not a single pony (or anybeing else, for that matter) was in attendance, and Obsidian even saw the occasional equine skull or ribcage, some half-buried in the dirt, as if whatever had caused this had happened ages ago.
From where she was standing, the most prominent building was Sugarcube Corner... but it didn't look right. The paint was bland, peeling and colorless, the windows were all boarded over, and the smokestack collapsed. In fact, the only thing about the place that stood out now was the fact that the front door was lying on the ground, well off its' hinges, and there was a wavery light that seemed to be coming from inside it.
Ruby, unfortunately, was nowhere to be seen... nor heard, as her attitude would have helped Obsidian to find her; just follow the insults, right?
Yup, it certainly was a nightmare... and considering the main focus, it was most assuredly Cupcake's. A ruined Ponyville, vulgarized houses, the defiled sweets shop... a truly terrible vision, though Obsidian had no doubt that Onyx would probably be able to do something even worse to this place.
She went straight to Sugarcube Corner - though very carefully, just in case something inside would be hostile, hungry... or possibly even both.
Inside was no better; the walls, shelves and even the kitchen had been systematically stripped of anything that might be used to cook or make merriment with... almost. Towards the counter where sales had been made, the books and stuff that had been on the shelves next to the register were gone... but there was still a lone cookie jar, sitting with a layer of dust on it, which remained untouched out of everything else here.
Okay, either Cupcake wasn't even here, or he was shackled somewhere inside. Otherwise, this cookie jar wouldn't have any chance to get so covered in dust. Obsidian trotted deeper, looking around for any clues; maybe she could find him in the underground basement... but... how should she get there without the books? Maybe touching this jar would do the trick, or at least do something?
When she touched the jar, it tipped in a familiar way... and with a rusty grinding sound, she saw a square section of floor slide away, revealing the slide-tunnel to the underground area. The tunnel itself seemed to have its' colors a bit washed out also, as if the gloom above had been seeping into the ground over time. How much time, however, wasn't stated nor revealed - it simply seemed as though the tunnel itself had been abandoned.
Except for the wan amount of light that seemed to be coming from the bottom of it.
There was something down there, and Obsidian was fairly certain that it would be her best chance to get to Cupcake. Thus, no matter how much she disliked the idea of this tunnel... she decided to slide on down anyway.
The tunnel seemed about the same... until the halfway point, where she slid face-first through a mass of cobwebs that felt like sticky silk across her muzzle and barrel. However, the spiders that had made them were long gone, so when she reached the bottom, she didn't have any new mane accessories, so to speak.
Thankfully, the ball pit was still there; if it hadn't been, this would have been a very tragic rescue attempt.
The shelves that had once held rows and rows of party supplies were now empty and barren, and spotted with rust here and there. There was a single cannon wheel in one corner, but its' spokes were cracked and a section of the wheel itself was missing.
The dim light was originating from the back room, where she'd tended to a not-so-injured Pinkie Pie, not too long ago. The room itself had no door - it was separated with an old blanket, now moth-eaten and ragged. There was a smell, like rotten cotton candy and stale popcorn, that seemed to permeate every corner of this area.
Cupcake really should clean his nightmares more often. Even if these cobwebs weren't real, Obsidian was rather unhappy about getting her muzzle - as well as the rest of her body - cobwebby and messy. But at least she'd almost reached the source of the light!
The whole place looked as gloomy as the rest of the landscape, so Obsidian wasn't paying too much attention to it - though there was a cannon wheel, even if it wasn't a donut, so she felt as though she was on the right track, which was the important part. She trotted straight through the rotten curtain, unsure of what she was going to find there... but hoping it would be Cupcake.
The back room. Before, it had looked a bit like a makeshift lounge paired with an office; it had been somewhat tight, due to the boxes and presents that had covered almost every inch of flooring, but it had felt... comfortable. Like it would have been okay to hide back here if you just needed a moment to yourself.
Now, it was rather empty without all the presents there. There was a chill in the air, even though there was a fireplace that had a fire going quite well in it. She could see the stains of wear and water on the walls, and there was only a half-rotten old couch, a small pile of meager sticks to fuel the fire, and a foul-smelling bucket at the other end on the floor.
Sitting on that couch was a stallion so old, Obsidian thought he might turn to dust if she breathed too hard on him. His mane was sparse and thin and his tail was languid and limp; both were completely stark white. There were so many wrinkles on his muzzle that he looked more like he was wearing a pile of soggy pancakes on top of his neck. His body looked frail, worn and rail-thin, and he shook with some sort of palsy. One of his eyes was completely blind, the eerie milky film inside it reminding Obsidian of spoiled cream.
The other eye, though, was a vivid emerald green. This was Cupcake?
He simply sat there, his gaze distant and detatched from his surroundings. "Worthless. Useless. Meaningless." He said with a creaky and haggard voice as he sat there shivering in a ratty excuse for a shirt, as bereft of color as the rest of Ponyville.
Well, Onyx most certainly wasn't playing around with this Nightmare Spell, was she? Cupcake was barely recognizable in this state! Obsidian tried to figure it out: Was he afraid of getting old? Afraid of being useless? All of it, mixed into a single, powerful nightmare - possibly one of the worst, if not THE worst, of his life?
At least there weren't any horrific monsters, mutilated bodies of family members laying around - nothing like that.
As an outside observer, it wasn't too scary - which was a very good thing, as she would be better able to simply focus on her target. Obsidian trotted closer, to look Cup straight in his one healthy eye.
"Cup? Cuppy? Are you there?" she asked softly, looking around for something to cover his shivering form with. Nightmare or not, he was definitely cold. The search mostly fruitless, her horn flashed as she started to gather sticks to at least build up the current fire.
"Worthless. Useless. Meaningless," he repeated, his eye still not focusing on her - or anything at all, for that matter.
"HEY!" One of the sticks cried out as she lifted it with her magic. "Put me down, carrot-brain! It's ME!" The stick, upon closer examination, had a long and rather fetching trail of ivy hanging from the back (?) of it, and had little black and red stripes along its' surface.
"About time! I swear, if I have to listen to this jerk repeat those same three frickin' words much more, I'm gonna stick it to him, alright! FEH! What a chump!"
"Worthless. Useless. Meaningless."
"Yeah yeah, go soak yer head, ya corpsicle!" Stick Ruby yelled.
"Ruby, you really shouldn't waste your energy by yelling at him like that... but I'm glad you're here, dear sister of mine." Well, at least the rest of sticks should be fine enough to use for making the small fire a bit bigger. It seemed as though the direct approach wasn't reaching him at all; what could she do?
She reached out and gently touched his hoof - if he couldn't see or hear her, then maybe he could at least feel her?
He gave a slight start, taking in a quick breath... but not a single sign of recognition, even having been touched, was in his single eye. His gaze was almost as if he were seeing something beyond what anyone else could... and it was causing his mind to wither away.
"Okay, I'm no expert at 'chatting with friends' - especially 'cause I didn't really have any - but if you wanna get through to them, you're gonna have to let 'em know what they mean to you, dummy. Onyx's spell is affecting their very thoughts, their souls... and connecting with 'em, actually letting them know how much they mean to you, is probably your best chance at saving 'em!"
The stick huffed. "I still say we should just cut out of here and go grab the pegasus and the midget first; at least THEY can fight back well enough." As an afterthought, "Maybe the pup, too."
"Worthless. Useless. Meaningless."
The Ruby Stick groaned. "Look, just please shut him up, okay? Even if you gotta stick some of that nasty blanket in his mouth to gag him - I honestly think it'd be a favor, at this point!"
Stupid Onyx. How dare she send her friends through this sort of agony! Obsidian would gladly trap her in a nightmare herself and force her to relive the worst moments of her own meaningless, artificial life for all eternity!
Or... well, at least for a day or two, maybe - just to show her that her sister was NOT happy with her recent behaviour.
Talking to Cupcake in this state didn't seem to be much of a good idea, at least in Obsidian's opinion - after all, he was completely ignoring her attempts to reach him. She sat down next to him anyway and took his hoof in her own, detrmined to try again.
She noted the feel of the grimy couch beneath her - she just had to keep telling herself it was just a nightmare, that layer of nasty on it was just in her mind.
Oh, but there would be a thorough bathing when she woke up, if she had any say in it!
"Cupcake, you are not worthless, useless or - Darkness forbid - meaningless. You have a wonderful family, a group of loyal friends and plenty of skills and traits that help make the world around you better. And you are most certainly not meaningless to me, especially with these 'crush' things we have on each other! Do you remember that?"
Stalwart... Thunderclap... Mica... Gypsy... she'd get them back - ALL of them... but she HAD to start with him.
"Worthless. Use... less..." He blinked, once.
The look on his muzzle slowly became one of concentration. "... they came. They took... everything. Everything. They took the princesses... they took the stallions and mares... they took the foals... they took it all... but... they left... me... behind."
Now, the one green eye slowly turned in its' socket to meet hers, though it still looked more like he was looking through her than at her. "Took them all... except me... said I... I was... worthless. Useless. Meaningless."
"NO! Good grief, not that again!" Stick Ruby wailed helplessly.
"They... they wanted... s-slaves... they said... I was... was..."
"If he says it one more time, so help me Sombra..!"
Oh, by Darkness... enough of this!
Obsidian kissed him, squarely on the lips; effectively it was shock therapy, plus Ruby wouldn't explode with Dark Magic for perhaps a little bit longer.
It was like kissing sandpaper... at first. As she held the liplock, she heard a groan... then a questioning murmur... then a soft, relieved sigh as he began to put the slightest of pressure against her lips in return. A pressure that started to grow, and the feeling of kissing a dry rock began to change into something softer, warmer, and all together more involved.
The old stallion began to glow with a strange aura; it looked like a dappled bright blue and an inky jet black, rolling with each other in harmony as she continued... and when she finally pulled back from the kiss, it wasn't the elderly stallion on the couch, but Cupcake - her Cupcake - who sat there, his eyes bright and merry, his smile broad and a bit sheepish, and his being returned to the lovable stallion she remembered.
"Siddy, I... Sweet Luna's Plot, that was scary! It felt like I was trapped inside my own skin, and I couldn't get out! I was even trying to reach you, but," he grinned, "I guess you found a quicker way, hunh?"
He threw his forelegs around her and squeezed her tightly. "Thank you, Siddy... I..." He kissed her lips again, then smiled at her brightly. "I love you."
The stick made a sharp gagging sound, but Cup didn't even seem to take notice.
If she had any idea it would have been that easy, she would have gone for that move to begin with! Too bad it probably wouldn't work on the rest of the group... though if she rounded up Thunderclap before she found Mica, it would possibly be the right idea to ask her to get this kind of snuggly with him. Cupcake always rather liked getting physical, and this time was most certainly not an exception.
Obsidian still had only the haziest of knowledge about relationships, hugs, kisses and so on... but she knew he was hers right now - even his own mother had said such - so she had to get used to it, she supposed.
Not that it was a bad thing, of course.
"I love you too, Cuppy." She graciously nuzzled him. "It's good to see you a hundred years younger once more! Now, let's show the world we are not worthless, useless or meaningless, and save the rest of our gang, shall we?"
"Yeah," he smiled, "then after that... you and I have a date to plan, once this whole thing is dealt with! I'm thinkin', what, dinner? Whatever you feel would be a good meal, I'm sure I can make it!"
Cupcake then got up off the couch, then strolled over towards the blanket that sectioned off this room from the rest. Pushing it aside and looking out into the storeroom, he gave a low whistle. "Wow. I guess momma was right; you never really realize how much something means to you 'til it's gone. All that stuff that was in here? I don't think I've ever given it a second thought... until I see it like this, all bare and empty."
He looked back at her. "I am SO glad you saved me from being like everything else here." He then looked around a bit. "So, like... are we waiting for the next place to form up around us, or..?"
"Dinner sounds nice, but first things first - we have to stop Onyx." After all of this madness and chaos, it'd probably take a moment before life around them would return to any semblance of a normal state... including one where any places would be available where ponies could eat at - though Cupcake's cooking would be just as good as anyplace available.
She idly hoped the school wouldn't be in too bad of a shape after this.
"... and no, we need to look for figurative 'doors'; the path to you was a rather simple flyer for a circus - it was sticking out as the only colorful thing in the entire room. And it could literally be anywhere..."
She picked up Stick Ruby and put her behind her right ear, to keep her sister close. "But friendship, bonds and such things should help us make the discovery. Ruby, can these doors to the nightmares be found in another's nighmares, or must we go back to the place with that awful cell?"
"Eww, do you even wash back here!?" Stick Ruby admonished, but she still answered the question, "but like I said before, the lot of you have one of those sappy little bonds together; because of that, there are connections between all of 'em, so no, you don't have to go back to Blandsville to reach the next dream, dummy! You should just have to start thinking about who you're looking for next, and keep that in mind while you search."
Cupcake looked at her quizzically. "You're talking to Ruby? Is she here? I thought she was... well, you know? Is she invisible, or..?" He looked at her for a moment, then said with a grin. "You've got a little stick in your mane; here, let me get it..."
"Don't you let him touch me! He'll throw me in the fire!"
"No, Ruby is the stick; don't question it. She was far more cute in her previous form as a very small pony with a rather nice tail... but in this version, she's fairly easy to move around."
So, thinking... thinking... thinking...
"I say we should look for Thunderclap next - it would be nice to have air support for our search." She remembered their first meeting, when she proposed 'racing', took off ahead of them so that Mica used the opportunity to chat with Obsidian for a bit without interruption...
Cup looked at her flatly. "The stick. Behind your ear. Is Ruby."
He looked as if he was about to question her sanity... yet instead, he smiled and nodded. "Okie dokie lokie - if you say it's Ruby, then I'll take your word for it. I don't know everything, so I'll just fall back on the faith that you know what's going on better than I do!"
"At least he's trusting," Stick Ruby muttered.
Cupcake began looking about the place, though he actively avoided the rusted bucket at the end of the couch... and even draped a corner of the ratty blanket over it. To cover the awful smell, no doubt, but probably to cover the sight of it, too. The stallion looked under the couch, out in the storage area and around the blanket.
Then, looking back to her, he shrugged. "I don't see any doors... in fact, I don't see much of anything, aside from all this stuff that REALLY needs a good cleaning... or replacing. My vote's for the replacing."
"Think, stupid!" came from behind her ear, "what sort of stuff do you remember most about Blunderfat? Did she have a dumb walk? Was she a drooler? Did she need to have her name written on her hoof, so she wouldn't forget it?"
Stick Ruby was being a jerk... but maybe she had a point; what were things Obsidian remembered about Clap?
Well... she was surprisingly into shopping. Very, very much into it - Obsidian didn't even know half of the terms that she had used, or what reasons she had for caring about it so thoroughly. Without her, Obsidian would just buy the first clothing around and leave the shop as quickly as possible! Though 'as quick as possible' still wouldn't have been as quick as Thunderclap was...
Obsidian still regretted that she didn't get to jog with her, because of Tourmaline's sneak attack. It wasn't exactly surprising how athletic she was, though - Clap wanted to make one of those 'Sonic Rainboom' things all on her own, and had even acted as a bait for the Umbrals. She had to be fast! There was also that absolutely priceless look on her muzzle when Mica kissed her...
That's when she saw it, sitting over next to the fireplace; it had been overlooked because the fire's light had been bright, and it had been so close to it that it almost looked a bit burnt, at least on the side she could see. It was a saddlebag. An expensive one, from the look of it. And it looked exactly like the one Clap had given her, off her own flank.
Cup was still looking around out in the storage area. "Hey, Siddy... d'you think it would be in the ball pit?"
Aaaah, yes - good ol' Clap! Obsidian didn't have a lot of opportunity to walk around with these saddlebags lately because, well, zombie invasions and so on... so she'd almost forgotten about them.
"Cup, it's here - I found it! Get in here quickly!" She trotted closer, anticipation building up inside her; it was Thunderclap Rescuing Time!
Cup made his way back into the room, then balked when he saw the saddlebag. "That wasn't there earlier! How could I have missed THAT!?"
"Okay, look - confession time," Stick Ruby piped up, "Your guy over there? He is NOT a bright bulb, is he? I mean, yeah - he's a hunka hunka burnin' hotness - but I'm pretty sure you're gonna have to make all the smart decisions in the relationship. He's-"
"Of course," Cup continued, "maybe it just shows up for you, y'know? Like Ruby the Stick; maybe it's only for you to find?"
Ruby Stick pouted. "... I still say he's a stupe..."
Reaching out and taking up the saddlebag, Cup brought it to her. "Okay, we got the thing. Are we... um, supposed to, uh, get inside it?" He looked at it quizzically, turning it over curiously.
Cup couldn't hear Ruby, eh? Even if he would ignore her insults, calling him 'hotness' surely would have gotten a reaction out of him. "Nope - we just take it and think about Clap as hard as we possibly can."
Obsidian touched saddlebag herself. Thunderclap was actually quite brave, like when she volunteered to bait the Umbrals away from Sugarcube Corner - it had been a lot for her to give of herself...
The world around them melted away like before. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty Four: Thunderclap | And now, they were on a cloud... no really, they were actually on a cloud!!!
Around them was what could only be assumed was the famed city of Cloudsdale... but it wasn't the bright and pleasant place it should have been; the colors and sense of freedom here were dull and listless, and felt like only a sham of what was supposed to be. It was as if something had sucked every single bit of warmth and life from this world... much like Ponyville in Cupcake's nightmare.
Obsidian got the feeling this was going to be a recurring theme.
At any rate, there was an exception to this rule in this particular case, as she saw it across the ground: The crimson stain of blood, bright and wickedly red, was in little droplets that were spattered and flecked, and there was a small drag-trail leading off in the direction of a large structure which was indentified by a nearby sign: Cloudsdale Coliseum.
Cupcake, however, took one single look at the trail and visibly blanched. "Oh no. No no no no no... if these are nightmares, and this is what we're seeing here, and this is Thunderclap's nightmare, then... ohmigosh! Obsidian, we need to FIND her! Fast!"
What exactly was this place? A city in the clouds, it seemed - it looked like quite the perfect place for pegasi, obviously. And a trail of red droplets in these otherwise bland surroundings was obviously the best way to track down Thunderclap that they could possibly find. Hopefully she was okay - or at least alive; this much blood loss could be a concern. In fact, what would possibly happen if you did die in a dream?
Cup charged forward and began to gallop after the trail on the ground. "It would have to be that! It'd be the one thing that I would figure would haunt her dreams..." Cup seemed to be muttering to himself, but the look of worry on his muzzle looked severe and scared.
She darted after Cupcake; what could possibly be in this nightmare that had him so worried? Perhaps a memory of Applejack's unfortunate fate..?
Cupcake made a distinct beeline for his destination, as if he already knew where he was going. How could a unicorn like him know his way around a pegasi city in the clouds? It wasn't like he would have had wings to be able to visit the place frequently enough... unless that was more of his strange Pie magic, perhaps? With everything she'd seen come from him so far, she wasn't certain if such an idea could actually be put completely out of hoof for the stallion...
Regardless, they rounded a corner and the grisly trail led right up to a group of clouds outside of the Coliseum, arranged like decorative hedges in a park-like cloud garden of sorts. There were a number of clouds here that were painstakingly shaped rather artistically, and even with a lack of color, it still seemed like a nice place to while away one's time.
Then, she heard the tiny sniffle.
Behind one of the larger 'hedges', the trail of blood circled and apparently stopped, as there was no trail leading out. Somewhere behind that cloud, someone was crying their eyes out. Cup darted around the hedge, then began speaking rapidly.
"Thunderclap! Listen to me, it's not-... oh, by Celestia's Tears, no!"
Then, she heard Cup himself start to cry. "Those... THOSE ANIMALS! They actually DID it, this time! Oh, Clap, I wish I could... c-could... uhh, C-clap?" He came out from behind the cloud as Obsidian got close; he had been crying, but he now wore a look of stunned shock.
"I don't think she can even see me, Siddy... how can I help her if she can't even see that I'm here?"
Animals? What animals? And what had they done? "It's just a dream, remember; you couldn't see me at first either, Cup," Obsidian reminded him as she stepped around the cloud-hedge herself.
The sight was not one she was expecting; on the ground was a rather small and quite young Thunderclap Dash.
She had her mane done up in little golden braids that made her multicolored roots look like adorable rainbows braided in, and her tail was neatly trimmed and short. She was very small and very thin; she looked almost nothing like the Clap that Obsidian knew.
This Clap looked exceedingly vulnerable and tiny, like someone who might blow away in a fierce wind. This Clap was wearing a pretty sundress, though it was smeared and stained with blood, and a cute little necklace with a picture of a parasprite carved onto the pendant.
This Clap also had two wingless stumps sticking out of her back, dripping blood all over the place and flexing weakly. She was surrounded by feathers, but the remainder of her proud wings were nowhere to be seen.
"When she was still really little," Cup spoke softly into Obsidian's ear, "Clap got a LOT of teasing; it was why she became a great big bully for a while, later on. But this moment's like one of the ones she told me about, where some other pegasi were jealous of her and of who her mother was, so they attempted to... to..."
He choked back tears. "... so, of course, it'd be the biggest, most terrifying thing she could ever see in her nightmares; if they'd succeeded. Oh, poor Clap-"
"Hey! Heeeeyyyyy! Down here, dummy!" One of the feathers on the ground was far removed from Clap's color scheme; it was a feather with red and black stripes, and it was actually a rather pretty feather. "If I hear one joke about being any sort of 'birdbrain', you're on your own, got it?"
"Poor Clap," Cupcake looked at her, his heart breaking, "losing her wings would be like losing herself."
And right now, Obsidian was currently reminding herself that feeling some very murderous intentions was able to feel quite nice - especially as it was followed with the knowledge that she was more than powerful enough to go through with it. Of course, most ponies would probably disagree with the idea that craving murderous revenge was a good thing... but for Obsidian, it felt quite natural.
She calmly scooped up the Ruby Feather from the ground and stuck it behind her ear, just like she did with the Ruby Twig. It would be far easier to just stick (pun not intented) to a single form, but as she tended to take a nearby example and inhabit it, it was probably something about energy conservation.
But being in the mindset and the right mood for killing anyone was a bad idea, though... especially when there were no ponies to kill around, and someone had to be cheered up. It may have been just a dream, but Obsidian's blood was boiling, nonetheless.
"Well?" The Ruby Feather groaned, "You gonna do that 'comforting' thing again or what?"
And thus, at Ruby's suggestion, she trotted over to poor Thunderclap to make an attempt to heal these stumps and give her a strong, comforting hug. Honestly, after all they'd been through as of late, they both needed one.
The little pegasus jumped when she was first touched... but her little barrel hitched, her eyes watered anew, and she threw her forelegs around Obsidian and began to wail with all the fury and anguish of a child's broken heart.
Cupcake came over to join the both of them, encircling the two with his own embrace; she could see the tears tracking down his cheeks, and his jaw working not to just let go with his own sobbing. He was being strong... which was helping Obsidian to feel strong as well, as she felt an influx of anger at those who would do such a thing (Dark), to the infinite love for the devastated little filly who bawled with her head in her lap (Light).
Tiny Clap looked up into her eyes - her fear, misery and loss being slowly being replaced by a careful look of hope. "How can I ever follow mommy if I can't fly after her?"
A soft blue glow began to roll across the filly's body, coming to settle at the base of her horribly mutilated wings. There was a soft, yet audible crackling sound, and the bone began to grow rapidly from the twisted stub, reforming from nothing more than the sheer POWER inside Obsidian.
She winced cutely as the healing energy began to knit sinew and flesh, recreating her lost wings bit by bit, before the feathers began to sprout along the length of the pinkish, shiny wing skin.
Though it was just a dream, Obsidian really hadn't expected this interesting effect; healing magic looked rather strange and uncanny when it was restoring lost limbs right in front of her eyes. She had felt similarly when her Light Magic was straightening her horn; after all, bones and flesh were simply not meant to react that way...
"You don't need wings to be awesome, Thunderclap. Even on the ground you are quite fast, and even if you wouldn't be able to move at all, you would still be awesome... because you are a loyal, trustworthy and generous friend," Obsidian patted that cute little head as she spoke softly to her, "... and besides, you're already getting your wings back... see?"
The little pegasus mare looked back, then at Obsidian directly with those big purple eyes of hers, made all the more adorable by her tiny visage. "When I thought nobody wanted to be my friend, and that anyone who did was tryin'a trick me, I figgered I could be as mean as they was, 'cuz I was fulla mean stuff too... but... but it wuzza bad thing. But it was Mica who stayed nice ta me, even when I wazzunt nice ta him at first."
She then sniffled, and grinned up at Obsidian. "You make me wanna be nicer, 'Sidian."
"Oh, good grief, I forgot how gushy this stuff was!" Ruby complained, "Just get it over with, okay?"
Her body began to glow as well as her wings fluffed out, proud and strong and once again fully grown.
In fact... when the glow finally faded away, the filly that had been there on the ground was now a fully-grown Thunderclap, lying there with her head in Obsidian's chest fur, smiling as she held her tightly.
"Heya, Siddy... I just knew you'd come for me, I knew it. Oh!" She suddenly sat up. "Hiya, Cuppie! When did you get here?"
Cup's mouth dropped open, but he gave her a tight hug anyway, his muzzle all smiles. Clap stood up and shook herself thoroughly, her wings fluffing and settling into place as she did. All in all, she really was quite a memorable sight to see; maybe not classically attractive, but with a charm and charisma all her very own.
"So, now that we managed that little bit of Tartarus, I'd say we should be good-to-go for anything else that might get thrown our way! Okay, then," she smiled, "care to fill me in on what the fig is going on around here?"
It was kind of easy, Obsidian thought; the Darkness was once again defeated with a kiss and a firm hug. BAH, Onyx couldn't even trap them in nightmares that would twist their minds far enough! If Obsidian was the one trapping ponies in their dreams, they would be begging for the sweet release of death after only a few scant seconds...
N-not that she wanted to trap ponies, no - she was simply certain that she could do it better, was all.
"Onyx trapped us in our nightmares, and we are working on gathering our entire group together, moving from dream to dream to do so, Clap. And now, I say we should look for Mica next; we need to focus on thinking about him and look for something that would pertain to him... after which, we shall search for Stalwart, and then finally we will rescue Gypsy."
Considering that their diamond dog companion was terribly scared of Jinx, Obsidian really didn't think it would be a safe idea to rescue him without a lot of firepower behind her. Just in case.
Cup and Clap began looking around, both thinking things over as they did... which, interestingly enough, led to Miss Dash blushing hotly.
"Uh, guys," she asked hesitantly, "do you... really think that... y'know... me and Mica... well... y'know... would make a good, uhhh..."
"Couple?" Cupcake filled in. Clap's blush deepened, but she smiled.
"Y-yeah, that." Cup nodded vigorously.
"I think so, yeah - you two are always together anyway; might as well stick with the pony you know, right? And you two know each other pretty well, I'd say!" That got an even deeper blush. "N-not like that!" Cupcake hastily amended.
"Yes, I concur. Such a pairing would leave only Stalwart and Gypsy in our group without a mate... well, maybe we should get them together as well?" Obsidian mused.
Cupcake pondered, "A diamond dog and a Shetland warrior? Would that even work?"
"Hey," Clap shrugged, "you never know - look at me and Mikey, yo."
Well, it would at least leave no romantic deficiencies in their group... and what was this 'Shetland' that cup mentioned? She may have to ask the little mare about that particular detail herself.
But, as always, first things first.
Mica. The only pony in their group wise enough to leave Obsidian's company behind and not even bother with her when she was still seeing them as useful tools, or at the very least as a shrill and unwanted nuisance. He also managed to see that her apologies were as honest as water was dry, at that time. All in all, he was a pretty sharp guy... Obsidian wondered what could possibly be happening in his nightmares.
A small slip of paper, from the looks of it, was caught up in the fluff of a nearby cloud hedge, simply sitting there. Upon closer inspection, it looked as though it may have had some sort of picture on the other side of it. Cup and Clap were busy looking over everyplace except where the paper was.
Was there some kind of curse that made it to where they couldn't see anything like that? Or was it just an accident that Cup couldn't find anything twice, each time looking in all the wrong places? Obsidian levitated the slip of paper down, closer to herself.
It wasn't just a paper - it was a photograph... and on the other side was-
Darkness preserve!
It was a picture of Thunderclap Dash, wearing a fetching and rather revealing swimsuit of high fashion that made her appear sultry, even with her grand size! It was undeniably racy, and in the photo, Clap was tossing a wink casually at the camera. She may have been a bit bigger than average, but with the right clothes and style, Clap was quite a looker!
"See anything?" Cup asked over his flank, searching the cloud hedges on the other side.
But it puzzled her a bit - why would ponies ever wear swimsuits in the first place? Wearing something when it was cold, now that made some sense. Wearing official uniforms made sense. Wearing armor made a lot of sense.
Wearing something that couldn't even truly make you less wet while you were swimming? Now that made no sense whatsoever to the Dark Princess. Modern ponies were weird.
"Yes, here, uhhhh... well now. Cup, Clap, come here, please; I believe I have made the proper discovery... um, I think."
Cupcake made his way over, a look of curiosity writ large over his muzzle. "Did you find something? Oh! Looks like you did!" He trotted up, looking. "What did-"
His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "WHOA! Now that is a photo!"
"What's a photo?" Clap said as she made her way over to them as well.
"This!" And Cup showed her.
Thunderclap's expression went from curious to extremely embarrassed in the space of a single second. "Where did you get that oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh I'm gonna KILL him he was NEVER supposed to show that to ANYONE it was for Spring FOOLS Day but I swear I'm gonna knock his fool HEAD off!"
Cupcake just started laughing uproariously.
Obsidian could only blink, not understanding in even the slightest way what was happening. So, what was the purpose of this photo? Why she was wearing such an outfit in the first place? Why was she reacting this way, and why was Cupcake laughing about it? And, for the love of Darkness, what was this Spring Fools' Day?
"Well, he didn't exactly show that to us, per se. Considering that only you and he know about this, er... this picture, it can be safely assumed that it took this form because of your own shared memories," she said with a completely straight face.
Clap eyeballed them both for a moment. "Yeah, well - whatever this spell is, it needs to stop doing that!!!"
Cupcake smiled. "Oh, I dunno, Clap - you look way hot in that outfit! Totally not kidding, either - it looks good on you!"
Clap's blush dimmed a moment. "Y'think so? I mean, yeah, it's a bit racy, I guess, but the suit's made to accent curves and such; I just figured that it- HEY!" she suddenly bristled, "Don't go staring at me like that in my swimsuit, Cup!"
"And why not?" he teased with a salacious grin.
"'Cause," she motioned to Obsidian, "you've got a special somepony already! And it ain't me!"
With that, Cup began to give quite a blush, and Clap started laughing at him.
Obsidian blinked, looked at the picture, looked at Cup, looked at Clap... "So, is this perhaps some kind of... uhm, tradition of sorts?"
The world around them melted away (with good timing, too)... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty Five: Mica | This time, Obsidian found her and her two friends in what appeared to be a big city.
Around them was a bit of a fog that seemed to obscure the rest of the place... except for the building directly in front of them. It seemed to have floors upon floors, and soared high enough to where the top was obscured by cloud cover. A sign outside gave the building a proper label:
[ Library of Information: Equestrian Services, Inc. ]
Obsidian looked at Cupcake, then at Thunderclap. "Er... does anything here make any sense to either one of you?" she asked, hoping they would be able to properly explain to her what they were seeing in front of them.
Cupcake shook his head, and Thunderclap simply shrugged. "I guess if we wanna know," she said, "we'll have to go inside this weird place to find out, right?"
As it seemed there wasn't exactly much they would be able to do just standing in the middle of the empty street, Obsidian sighed and moved towards the strange building, her friends right behind her.
The doors opened automatically, and they made their way inside. There was no front desk, no reception area, no one waiting to greet them; it was just an entranceway into what appeared to be an office workfloor, filled with cubicles and workstations.
The atmosphere here was one that had more in common with Sombra's slave pits than any Equestrian businesses; all around them were ponies that all looked exactly the same; even their washed-out coat colors and drab suits and dresses all seemed to blend into each other when they passed in the hall.
However, the biggest (and creepiest) detail was that each and every one of them had loudspeaker boxes attatched to the front of their muzzles, where their mouths should have been. They were like watching ants, making their way from one area to another, showing each other not even a single, solitary hint of emotion or acknowledgement in their routine paths.
How in the wide, wide world of Equestria was this supposed to be a nightmare for the stoic Mica? This didn't make much sense to Obsidian; maybe he was afraid of a drab workplace? Pondering the thought - and coming up mentally emptyhooved - she looked over the desks and cubicles, hoping for a sign of their earth pony friend among the professionally boring masses.
It didn't take long to find whom they were looking for, fortunately.
Over in the far corner, at the very back of the office space, was a single cubicle where there were mounds of paperwork that were piled higher than the walls, and a small hill of even more papers surrounding the solitary desk. Due to the gry cubicle walls anound the worker inside, much couldn't be made out properly... but the posture and hairstyle of Mica Chip could be seen from behind. From the motions he was making, he seemed to be working at a snail's pace, and his movements were listless and tedious, as if he was mostly working in a daze.
As they watched, one of the speaker-headed professionals made his way over, dropped a large load of papers into the 'INBOX' tray on the desk (which was already overflowing) and shouted at him in an ear-splitting volume:
"Princess Celestia set on taking the throne back from an ineffective Twilight Sparkle! Make sure it reaches the headlines! No pony uninformed!"
With those words spoken (well, more BLARED) to him, the speaker-head turned and walked away, leaving a still-slow-moving Mica to do... well, whatever it was that he was doing.
What in Tartarus was Mica nightmaring about? Was Mica afraid of, uh... boring paperwork? About working as a news-pony?
About Celestia returning to the throne to possibly resume her solar tyranny?
"Do you think perhaps the situation would allow him to get better if we just burned all these papers?" Obsidian asked curiously as she stared at the ocean of forms the surrounded the desk and the stallion seated within. Many of them were stamped so many times, they were impossible to read.
Cup scratched at his chin. "Hmmmmm... well, what sort of stuff do we know about Mica, and what could something like this mean for him?"
Thunderclap, as non-chalant as ever, just made her way over to the pony in question and leaned against the wall, making it teeter precariously. "Hey, Mica," she stared amicably enough, "what's shakin', hay... ba-... con..?"
When he turned to glance back at them, Obsidian saw what had made Thunderclap stop.
There he was, his muzzle looking sallow and gaunt, his eyes distant and drained... and, where his mouth once was, there was now a knot of stitches and sutures, along with what looked like seared flesh, moulded together. Over this, someone had stamped the word [VOID] in blaringly red ink.
Mica's mouth had been completely sealed, in what had to be the creepiest way Obsidian had ever seen... and she'd seen her most honourable father do some rather horrible things before.
Another speaker-head, oblivious to the three's arrival, walked past them as if they weren't even standing there and dumped another batch of papers into the wretched 'INBOX', then turned to face the mutilated Mica and blared:
"The foul usurper Obsidian surrenders in shame to the great and powerful Onyx; execution carried out last night! No pony uninformed!"
As the speaker-head tottered off, Clap looked over at Mica and frowned. "Yeah, that makes sense - Mica can't stand when anyone lies - he's always believed in the truth... no matter how bad it hurts. But a world where he's not just unable to speak that truth, but he's being forced to peddle lies?"
She stepped close to him and reached out to caress his mane. "Oh, Mica... I'm..." And her hoof went right through him, as if the pegasus mare was a ghost. "Wait... why can't I touch him?"
Cup shrugged. "From what I've seen from your nightmare, the only one who can interact with us when we're like this is Siddy, 'til she rouses us from our state. It's a plot-device thing."
"What?" Clap looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. "A plot device? What are you talking about, Cuppers?"
"Never mind," Cup said sheepishly as Mica just seemed to sigh heavily, then turn back to the massive reams of paperwork and write as lethargically as he could, his expression completely devoid of any true sign of consciousness.
Obsidian was still fairly certain that setting fire to everything that was here would be a fine plan... besides, sewing someone's mouth solidly shut was such an awful idea - any given slave subjected to such treatment would simply starve to death sooner or later... and just performing the surgery alone would take a good bit of time and effort. Meanwhile, merely putting a muzzle on them would work just as well, as it could be re-used for different slaves and...
Well, it didn't matter at all in these modern, slaveless times, right? It was just a small mental exercise; she didn't actually think about it for very long. Still, the sheer wastefulness of it...
Too bad that Thunderclap couldn't solve this problem; it seemed as though Obsidian's perfect plan to just get her free, then sit back and relax while the pegasus would easily rescue Mica wouldn't work. Oh, well - it had been a good plan too, she thought.
The Dark Princess trotted right over to Mica herself, and put a hoof on his shoulder to get his attention, and hopefully break him out of his monotonous workload through a simple touch.
"Onyx is going to have her stupid plot handed to her, and Obsidian and friends will celebrate her downfall with a delicious feast; no pony uninformed, Mica."
She leaned forward a bit to analyze his mouth, perhaps to discover if she could mayhaps free his mouth without hurting him. Maybe it was just a dream, but she didn't want to accidentially wake him up right in the middle of their small dream quest... especially under the current mental duress he must have been experiencing.
His soulless eyes saw nothing as he turned to look at her - no, through her - then he turned back towards his work...
And paused.
Slowly, achingly slowly, he turned back to look at Obsidian again. And those eyes, which had been bland and empty, now held the first ribbons of a question, as if he was just starting to wake up. His gaze drifted to the hoof on his shoulder, then squinted as he was apparently having an actual, real thought for what must have felt like the first time in ages.
"You're reaching him, Sids! Keep it up!" Clap cheered her on, her concern clearly visible on her nervous, yet hopeful muzzle.
"Yeah!" Cup added with enthusiasm. "Yank him right out of his bad-dream-having state!"
"And you know what?" she continued, "I just so happen to have with me a beautiful pegasus mare that would surely love to have a great deal of fun with you - in a rather racy swimsuit, no less! And she would perhaps even wish to have foals with you or, uh, do the whole, um... the whole nine yards thing!"
Thunderclap mentioned something like that before - so it sounded like it was possibly a good way to reach her friend right now. She still had no clue what a yard had to do with anything in this particular context - let alone NINE of them - but if it reached Mica, she was willing to give it a try.
Mica blinked at her. He then gave himself a look-over, slowly - as if moving in molasses - and then returned his gaze to her, uncomprehension in his eyes as he apparently was trying to figure out what was going on with himself. Cupcake stood close, his muzzle a portrait of suspense, while Clap kept chanting 'c'mon, Mikey,' under her breath.
Again he blinked, then started to go back to his paperwork... and once more, he stopped, looking confused.
"Is it working? Is it WORKING?" Clap stared at Mica intently. "Dangit, even if they DID see that stupid photo, don't give up, Chippie! You can do this! FIGHT IT!"
Mica make a weird, muffled sound, then reached up and felt around his mouth... after which, his eyes went to Obsidian, seeking understanding... or at least an explanation.
Well, it WAS a bit more of a delicate operation than she was usually used to doing, but she had to try - especially as this was just a dream, after all, and she probably didn't have to worry about things like permament facial scars... or other kinds of damage.
So, stepping lightly to his side, she started to both heal Mica's mouth and, at the same time, carefully undo the numerous ties and strings that were making it impossible for him to speak. As the energies rolled out of her, she could feel a definite sense of Light coming from the very center of her soul, awashing her friend in its' protective glow. Slowly, the scars and stitches vanished, and as she watched, Mica started to regain his (admittedly subdued) color.
"Uhhhhh... uhb... s-sidd... eee... uhnnn?" Mica said blearily as his mouth was finally free to open once more. It sounded as if he was trying to speak through a tub of jelly, his voice thick and murky.
Successful, she smiled as she lightly patted his head. "I would have never thought I'd be so happy to hear your voice, Mica! Do you feel better now? Are you ready to burn every last one of these papers and go do something far more interesting and engaging with us?"
Mica stood up slowly and looked around a bit, rubbing his head as he gradually took on the form she already knew so well, the drab suit he had been sporting fading like mist as he regained himself. After looking at her for a moment, he glanced over her flank to see who was accompanying her.
"Cup? Well, I have to say I'm glad to see you're- THUNDERCLAP!"
"No, I'm just me," Cupcake answered, with a smirk.
Mica leapt up with a grand smile and threw his forelegs around Clap, and she followed suit, squeezing him tightly without even so much as a tiny pop from the earth pony's back. The two hugged each other for a solid minute, then Mica turned to look at Obsidian as he took on his neutral expression once more.
"Allow me to take a guess; we've all been cast into a deep sleep and divided up mentally due to a spell from Onyx, and you're gradually working to bring us all back together, am I right? And I assume Cupcake and Thunderclap were your first stops?"
"HA! Good to see there's no dust on your brain-pan, Chipperino!" Clap smiled.
"So," he looked to Obsidian again, "if you would be so kind as to indulge me, what are the details of our current situation?"
It was wonderful that this had worked out so well; thankfully, it seemed as if the rescuing of her friends wasn't going to be very difficult... well not physically, anyway; some of these scenes she was seeing were a bit mentally off-putting, to be fairly honest.
"We are trapped within our nightmares; in order to have a chance to remove ourselves from this situation, we need to gather together. If you would assist, Mica, it would help move our plight forward if you could start thinking about Stalwart... at least until something connected in some way to her appears, allowing us direct passage into her nightmare to rescue her, if at all possible. Then, we repeat the entire process in order to locate and liberate Gypsy."
She nodded firmly to herself. "Once we manage to locate everyone in our group and make our remarkable fellowship whole again, we can try to return to the waking world once more... and prove to Onyx that mistreating one's younger siblings is often a very bad idea."
Hmmm... how very strange; it was the first dream without Ruby's presence among them; a bit concerning. Well, hopefully she was still nearby and merely trying to conserve some of her energy. The alternative could be unpleasant to consider.
Mica nodded. "Thank you; I can't even begin to explain the personal horror I was experiencing at having myself stuck in a nightmare of this caliber."
He then began to glance around. "Right, so I suppose the next question would be, where would a load of speaker-faced liars keep their armory? If indeed this is a dream, then it stands to reason that we can control things to a degree."
"Wait," Clap asked, "you're saying WE are the ones choosing what's in our dreams? Like, Nyxie's just reaching into our skulls and pulling out what's there?"
Cup shrugged. "Kinda-sorta? I think the nightmares might possibly be projections of our inner psyche, an abstract idea of what haunting fears may have fermented within our own subconsciousness..."
Clap and Mica stared at him for a moment, taken aback. Cup looked between them. "What? I'm not allowed to be a smarty-smart sometimes, too?"
"But... why are you searching for their armory?" Obsidian asked, a bit surprised. Did Mica want to kill all these liars with his own two hooves? She'd never suspected him of being so bloodthirsty! However, contrary to Clap and Mica, she wasn't surprised by Cupcake's sudden busrt of intellectualism; after all she'd seen of him, if she was still so prone to being surprised by his actions, she wouldn't have time for much of anything else.
Mica looked at Obsidian and lifted an eyebrow. "Where else would one find a sword or a shield, both things that would lead to Stalwart, I would think."
Clap nodded. "Yeah, I'll say - that little mare's a heckuva fighter! Okay, Mikey - that makes sense! So... if I were a sword... where would I be hiding..?"
Cup began searching around. "Heeeeeeere, swordy, swordy, swordy, swordy..."
"Well, considering that I found the particular objects leading to you and Thunderclap in places where they really shouldn't have been... especially the one that brought us to you, Mica... I would say that we may have to search odd places where we wouldn't suspect them to be."
Obsidian rubbed her temple; in a way Mica was making perfect sense, but she was sure that they would just as likely trip over a suspiciously displayed full set of extra-small Royal Guard armor. She should at least try to focus on Stalwart... like when she was staunchly defending the bridge to Twilight's Palace, or standing against Tourmaline and kicking his mewling flank, that time when he tried to ambush her. Or maybe even the time when she was standing her ground and not fighting those bullying griffons...
And sure enough, there it was - and it wasn't some big, brash suit of armor, or a sword, or even a helmet; it was a recruiting poster for the Equestrian Royal Guard.
[Do you feel the need to PROTECT your fellow Equestrians? JOIN THE EQUESTRIAN ROYAL GUARD!]
[There is always room for those who believe in JUSTICE!]
It was half-buried under a mound of paperwork on Mica's desk, and it was the only thing there that held any color to it at all.
"Hey, I found it, here it is," she said as she carefully took the recruitment poster out from the mound of backlogged announcements. Ha, she was right again - they didn't even need any armory at all!
Cup pouted. "You're too good at this; I haven't even found a single one!"
Mica nodded to him. "As long as it gets found at all, that's what matters; who finds it isn't as important. Go ahead, Siddy - do whatever it is that you do."
Clap chuckled, "Maybe you'll find the next one, Cuppers. Chin up, okay?"
Obsidian grabbed the poster and continued to think deeply about Stalwart - their group's cute little weapon of mass destruction who, despite her small size, was able to wreck numerous Umbrals, headbutt her brother into next week or stand stoically against a few pushy griffons. A really great friend, overall - though they'd most certainly have to work better on her integration into a bit more of a... peaceful life, as soon as this whole crisis was over, mayhaps?
The drab office cubicles and the disturbing speaker-heads around them melted away into grey blobs once again. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty Six: Stalwart | "!dezilaer ew naht regnorts s'tI !saw ti thguoht ew tahw T'NSI sihT !ooooononoN"
Was that... Ruby's voice?
When things faded back in again, they were standing on a street corner, looking at rows upon rows upon rows of little cottages, all looking exactly the same - all drab and grey. Each one had a stallion outside, pushing a lawnmower and smoking a pipe, walking in step with ALL the other stallions.
At each residence's front stoop was a mailbox, and all those boxes had names on them; they were the only thing here that was different from everything else. The stallions even wore the same clothing...
Mica looked around, puzzled, while Cup began scanning the area and Clap took to the skies to get a better view.
There had to have been some sort of problem, but whatever Ruby was trying to tell them, Obsidian had no idea what it meant. She could recognize her voice, but the words themselves were merely a mumbled sort-of babbling.
And this place surely couldn't be Stalwart's nightmare. Obsidian would suspect her of... well, nightmares about her size, or maybe about lack of acceptance in royal guard, or anything connected to her militant dreams - not this Tartarus of uniformity.
"Please tell me that Stalwart is secretly terrified of society," Obsidian groaned, hoping it wasn't another trick. There had to be something here to point them in the right direction; maybe the mailboxes were arranged alphabetically? She trotted closer to check her theory.
Sure enough, they were arranged alphabetically... and they were already in the 's' section! Indeed, about three mailboxes down, there was one that said, very plainly:
{Dream Smasher & Stalwart Stance}
The stallion (supposedly Dream) who was working outside seemed no different than any of the others; all smiling soullessly, all mowing their lawns, all smoking their pipes, all waving to each other as they passed. The stallion didn't even flinch as they came close.
Obsidian looked to the left, then to the right. "So, guys... do any of you actually know this stallion?" she asked the rest of her group.
Cup shrugged. "No idea; never seen him before in my life."
Clap shook her head. "Nuh-uh - not a clue."
Mica looked at the stallion a moment, then at the mailbox. "Well, if the name is anything to go by, then I'd say he more represents what's wrong here, rather than actually existing. I mean, would you want anything to do with anypony by that name?"
"But," Clap asked, "how does a stallion like this smash anyone's dreams?"
A look of understanding fell across Mica's muzzle, and he looked toward the house. "I think... we should knock."
So here goes the hope that this guy represented somepony real. Too bad - it could give them something to work with instead of dealing with a mysterious representation of Stalwart's internal terrors. Was he supposed to be somepony from her family? Or maybe one of the leaders of the Equestrian Royal Guard?
They didn't have too many other options, so she followed Mica's advice - and made her way closer to the house.
When she knocked on the door, a harried and anxious Wart answered from inside. "Oh manure, something else to handle! Please come inside, I have my hooves full!"
Mica nodded, as if his suspicions were playing out like he'd imagined. Clap just looked at him, but he motioned to enter the house anyway.
"By Darkness, don't tell me that her greatest fear is being a slave!"
Mica mumbled, "Not exactly..."
Obsidian opened the doors to invade the house - whatever had happened to poor Stalwart, she had to rescue her!
Inside, the house was decorated sparsely yet tastefully... however, not a bit of it was anywhere near the realm of decorative, as much of it was in rather shoddy condition; there were little hoofprints everywhere, stains on the walls from who-knew-what, cracks on the floors, and a few utensils stuck into the ceiling.
And everywhere, there were foals, foals, foals!
Obsidian lost count after fifteen... because they wouldn't stay still long enough to be counted! Each and every foal, filly and colt were all running about, yelling and screaming, kicking and fighting, playing and crying - there was no escape!
And at the center of it all, with two young foals in twin bassinets across her flanks, was a very tired and worn-out looking Stalwart Stance. She looked as though she hadn't slept in weeks, had another colt riding her back, two fillies hanging from her rear legs, and was massively pregnant with what looked to be at least two more.
The tiny, belly-swollen and exhausted mare looked up at them with zero recognition. "Please, I do apologize for the state of the house, b-but if you give me just a few moments, I'll join you in the living room, okay?" On her flank, her cutie mark of the twin swords crossed behind a shield was gone; in its' place, a single word scribed across her back end: {BREEDER}
Clap and Cup just stared, blown away by it all... while Mica nodded sagely. "I was right," he said with grim satisfaction.
Obsidian didn't know the word 'octane', but if she knew, she would call this dream high-octane nightmare fuel, pure enough to make practically anypony wake up in a middle of the night, screaming endlessly! It seemed as if Onyx had focused on poor Stalwart... which was why Cup, Clap and Mica got off so easy.
"I never thought I'd be so terrified by a group of foals," she muttered.
Mica, meanwhile, began to explain. "It's fairly simple, really; as Wart is obsessed with becoming a Royal Guardpony, she possibly believes that if she should fail, then a life such as this one will be the only future she has to look forward to - giving birth and keeping house. Both of which are about as far from her personality as I can think."
"Er, pregnant with foals?" Considering that Obsidian's current knowledge about making foals was limited to 'when daddy really wants a child, he crafts a crystal and infuses it with his own soul', and at best she was aware that a mare normally needs a stallion to have children; she didn't get as much from the horror around her as the rest of the group was seeing, apparently.
Which didn't change the fact that it was still the most traumatic of all the nightmares she had seen up to this point.
"Please, just another minute and I'll be there!" Came the exasperated call from the kitchen, followed by, "Sid! Get off the countertop! Cups, stop antagonizing her!" The crying from the kitchen doubled in volume, and another call came back, "Just another few minutes, please wait! I do so miss company!"
Clap shook her head. "Poor Warty."
"But she could do so much with her skills!" Obsidian stated, "Like... become a mercenary! Or found a fighting school and train others! Maybe even gather a group of supporters, conquer some place, declare herself to be its' queen, enslave the citizens and study Dark Magic!"
She paused, then looked at her friends. "Well... it worked for my most honourable father; it would work for her too, I'm sure." She shook her head... of course, Stalwart in a royal cape might look rather strange, but as long as she would be able to carry two swords at the same time, she would be able to do whatever she wanted.
"Okay, let's disregard that last option, but GAH, why she couldn't have nightmares about, I don't know, planting carrots or something? I'm really creeped out by this... and why she is so fat?"
Mica lifted an eyebrow. "She's pregnant with even more foals, of course. What better way to top off the nightmare than to be constantly making more work for yourself? Of course, I'm sure that the Dream Smasher outside has done his part as well. Appropriate name; it's what gave away what the circumstances might be, to me."
Wart waddled into the living room, now with three foals riding her back, and trying to gently kick away the one filly still gripping her right rear leg. She was looking straight at Obsidian, but recognition seemed to be nowhere in her features.
"Now, hello! Oh, I do hope you're here to give me a presentation or such; I would love to have a sit down!"
At that moment, the doorway opened wide, and Dream Smasher came strolling into the living room. "Ah, there you are, darling wife! I've finished up the lawn, so if you'd be so kind as to go upstairs, it's time to make more foals!"
Tears begin to pour down her cheeks. "Oh, Dream, please... I h-h-have comp-"
"Now, now, wife - no stalling your stallion, isn't that right, dearie?"
She shuddered... then sighed and looked down at the cracked, cheap floor. "Yes, dear."
"Alrighty then! I shall be awaiting you upstairs, ready to go! Let your company out, and I will meet you at the top of the stairs, honey! Those foals won't make themselves, ha ha!" With that, he jauntily pranced his way up the stairwell, while Wart gave Obsidian a heart-breaking look.
"I'm... so sorry, miss... but I'm afraid I have my..." she winced, "... duties to perform. Please excuse me..."
She turned and began to waddle towards the stairs, still being a ride for her bratty children, who were now all chanting how 'mommy was gonna take another pony ride with daddy'.
"She can't see us, Siddy - don't let her go up those stairs!" Cup cried out.
Her horn flashed as she grabbed Stalwart with her magic. "Okay, guys, you can explain this 'pregnant' thing later. Cupcake, considering your mysterious magical powers inherited from your mother, could you perhaps give me a sword?"
Cupcake reached back behind him and pulled out... a bicycle.
Then a hat rack.
Followed by a bag of turnips.
Next came a hammock.
After that, an emu, who darted off out the door as soon as it could.
Then a hockey stick.
Then, a spare tire.
No matter what he tried, a sword was something he couldn't produce. He looked to Obsidian and shrugged. "It's never done that before," he said with surprise.
Well, if things went sour, Obsidian was fairly certain she would be able to attack using the hockey stick - not that she knew anything about hockey, of course.
She focused herself and tried to cast... well, essentially a Sword Spell - a beautiful and razor-sharp crystal sword with a black blade... she'd never tried anything like it before, but right now she had plenty of horror around to fuel her Dark Magic, so she hoped the concept would work.
Slowly, to her surprise (and with a touch of a burn between her eyes), the sword began to form in front of her.
Held fast, Wart began to sob hysterically as she fought Obsidian's pulling, trying to pull herself up the stairwell! "P-please! I must serve my husband! If I miss a breeding, he will not allow me to have my ten minutes of sitting tonight! PLEASE! It's the only rest I ever get - I beg of you!"
The crystal hilt formed first, with swirls of Light and sharp tines of Darkness. The blade itself grew from the hilt, smoothly and with wicked barbs that formed across the ends. It was as dark as her namesake, and smooth enough to look like still water. In the pommel, a small shard of a milky, cloudy, colorless gem with sharply-cut facets.
"PLEASE!!!" Wart begged.
Obsidian would have ZERO mercy - or rather, in this particular case, her act of holding Stalwart in place was merciful - letting her go upstairs would be a cruelty. Obsidian started to pull little mare closer to her.
"Stalwart, this is not your destiny; it's not the only life you will be able to have! You are a warrior who stood against hordes of Umbrals and forced my foolish brother to escape."
She trotted forward, displaying the sword to her. "You. Are. A. WARRIOR. You don't beg for anything... you TAKE it! You crush every creature that threatens you, your friends or your liege. Wake up from this foul nightmare, Stalwart... because your princess, your country, and your friends need you! And we need you NOW, more than ever before!"
Wart looked at her through tired, harrowed eyes. "B-but... my country doesn't want me," she whimpered. She had stopped trying to pull herself upstairs... yet she was still holding onto the guardrail.
"We need you, the one who does the protecting!" Mica shouted at her.
"You're worth SOOOO much more than this!" Clap followed suit.
"The yelly-ones are RIGHT, Stalwart!" Cup screamed.
There was a flicker of doubt behind those green eyes; she was trying to get free!
"You said you wanted to protect me... you swore that victory was assured, Stalwart! Are you going to follow your own words?" Obsidian didn't stop in her mental assault; she levitated the beautiful sword closer to her.
"Here, take this sword - we need you, our dear friend and protector; we cannot save the world without you."
Wart's eyes darted back and forth between the sword and Obsidian's determined gaze. "I... I'm... I'm..."
"Yer our RIDE, horsey!" came in unison from two of the foals riding on her back, "now, giddyup!!!"
"...I'm..."
"Oh, wiiiiiiiife! I'm expecting yooooouuuuu!"
"... I'M..."
"You're a TAX-i! You're a TAX-i!"
"... I AM A WARRIOR!!!!!"
She threw her hooves forward and grabbed up the sword, and there was a flash of light around her entire body; when the glow faded, there stood Stalwart Stance - the one Obsidian knew and, yes, loved - with a confident expression and without foals or a pregnant belly.
"... and I have some friends that need me, even if my country does not."
"YA-HOOOOO!!!" Clap grabbed up the tiny mare up in a hug and swung her around in a circle. "THERE she is!"
Cupcake just threw his forelegs around Obsidian and bounced up and down in place. "That was awesome! Where did that sword come from? Did YOU do that!? WOWWEE!"
Mica smiled. "Now that is a rescue."
When Thunderclap finally put her down, she smiled to the others, then turned and locked eyes with Obsidian.
"Your Majesty..." Wart slowly took a knee in front of her. "I apologize that I was fooled by such trickery; I shall NOT fall to such folly again, I swear it. And my gratitude... I shall never be able to repay my debt to you - I am unworthy of such a friend."
She stood and gave Obsidian a Royal Canterlot Guard Salute. "You make my honor greater with your own, milady."
Clap, who was wiping her eyes on her sleeve, suddenly gave a silent start, then began to look around rapidly, as if trying to locate something that could run away at any moment.
Uh oh, what was it now? Obsidian stepped closer to Clap and started to look around as well - it was a shame, as she would prefer to properly enjoy the return of Stalwart to normalcy, but if their pegasus friend sensed something awry... well, Obsidian knew that she didn't want to get ambushed again.
"Guys," Clap said as she searched, "where's the thing?"
Cup jumped like he'd been bitten. "The THING! I'm gonna find it first, this time!"
Wart looked around in confusion, then to Obsidian. "The... thing? What thing?"
The thing? OH... The Thing; the item that would take them to their final destination!
"... you scared me, Clap! For a moment, I was sure you thought we were going to be attacked," Obsidian huffed, both relieved and annoyed. "Stalwart, to get into the last nightmare - Gypsy's - we need to think about him. Something that reminds us of him will appear, allowing us to reach him."
To be fair, she hadn't even thought about getting to their diamond dog friend yet - she was concerned why they never came across Ruby. Her sister did try to say something before, after all. She got the gut feeling that she may have been right to be worried... but there was, as of yet, no hard evidence of anything amiss. Save, of course, for the subtle absence of Dark Ruby, that was. Which gnawed at her, terribly.
"I'll bet it's an ice cream,'cause he LOOOOVES ice cream!" Cup shouted as he searched, the game being afoot. "Something related to that, right?"
"Maybe something about his markers? OH! Look for colors, remember?" Clap was into the hunt as well, looking in the higher places while hovering.
Mica and Wart, however, were looking at Obsidian. "What's up?" Mica inquired.
"I met Ruby in my cell... and I've also met her in Cup's and Clap's nightmares, but... she's gone quiet now; I'm worried."
Maybe she was somewhere on the first floor... she really wished she knew more about the Nightmare Spell; there would be a better chance of her figuring out what could be wrong here...
Cup stopped looking, and his attention went straight to Obsidian. "Ruby with the what now? She's missing? That... can't be good."
"Ruby?" Mica lifted an eyebrow. "Your, uhm... 'good' sister?" Darkness bless him, he didn't want to say her dead sister; how thoughtful.
Cupcake nodded vigorously as he made his way back over. "Uh-huh, Siddy told me she saw her at first, and was talking to her at some points... but y'know, I haven't seen you do that for a bit. That's... kinda ominous and stuff."
Clap's voice interrupted. "Found i- wait, no, no... just a foal's toy. Never mind."
Mica glanced over towards Clap, then looked back at the rest of the group. "Well, what do we know for certain so far? Siddy," he gestured to her, "would you kindly run down the basics as you understand them, seeing as how you were the one to reach all of us?"
They all watched her expectantly; it was not a sensation she was used to... but not a bad one, either.
Ruby's disappearance couldn't be good; an entity that had intitially led them through these wretched nightmares had stopped speaking to them. Considering that Onyx eventually turned out to be less brain-dead than Obsidian had originally thought (though, let's be honest, she had never heard about mixing Light and Dark magic before), it was a very bad sign. Maybe Ruby was busy putting up additional safety measures?
"Alright - we are trapped in our nightmares, put here by my older sister. She got the Light amulet, and wants to mix its' power with its' Dark counterpart to bring back our dear father. Ruby helped me escape from the place I was kept, and instructed me on how to save you all - the power of friendship and so on - so we could feasibly return to the real world. Normally, she appeared as something related to the dream to save her strength, as first a stick, then a feather... however, Ruby has not spoken up since Mica's nightmare, the one before we came here."
Mica pondered. "So you had a guide, but now you don't. Worrisome."
"Ya think?" Clap snorted. "I mean, maybe she just left early to go get stuff set up..?"
But Mica was already shaking his head. "If she was going to do that, she'd have said something to Siddy; I say it's safe to assume that she's otherwise occupied... but is it absolutely necessary for us to leave just yet? If not, then we should try to find her - if so, we should go on, but keep our eyes open for any signs of her."
"Won't do any good," Cup chimed in, "I haven't seen or heard her yet - I think only Siddy can."
"She was saying something in the last dream, right before we arrived here... but it sounded like pure babble, and I didn't get anything from it," Obsidian admitted. "maybe we could all quickly check around this location for a moment - sticking together, no going solo - to see if there is a sign of either of them; if we come across The Thing, then we shall simply go and retrieve Gypsy, as Mica suggested."
"Yeah - staying together at this point sounds like a reeeeeeally good idea," Cup said, "especially if we DO find The Thing; I wouldn't want anyone left behind!"
Wart shuddered at that thought, glancing around at her surroundings. "I would much rather be out of here, as soon as we possibly can."
Cupcake, Thunderclap, Stalwart and Mica all began looking around for any single trace of anything that reminded them of Gypsy... but the four were having zero luck at such. What would represent Gypsy Rover?
Origami, of course, Obsidian thought - a folded piece of origami. That was one of the more original parts of their canine friend, after all. Perhaps a history book, to represent his love for the subject... but more likely, it would be origami; after all, he had even made an origami of her most honourable father.
... and just like that - there it was.
The little folded unicorn with cloak and crown, colored appropriately, was simply sitting there out in the open with all four of the others just completely overlooking it. No... they really didn't see it; they were walking around, over and past it, but not once did their eyes lock onto the little conqueror horse. Maybe that was why no one else could find the items - it had to be her, for some reason? Regardless, the little paper horse simply sat there, waiting for her to step forward and claim it.
Was it because Ruby had boosted her senses somehow? Or maybe because Obsidian was Onyx's sibling? Perhaps because she was the only Dark Magic practicioner here?
"Guys... it's here; I found it." They all turned to look at her.
"Where!? Dangit, I wanted to be the one who found it!"
"Awww, don't be a spoilsport, Clap! Siddy's just reeeeeally good at this game!"
"Or, possibly, she's the only one capable of finding it."
"Lame."
"Yeah, that's no fun!"
"Lady Siddy, I... cannot see it."
Lady Siddy? Now that was an interesting way of putting it; quite original. After all, up to this point Stalwart had only used her full name or title.
"How about rest of you; can anyone aside from myself see it?" She pointed directly at the little origami horse.
Cup got down on his belly on the floor, his muzzle almost right in the origami horse's mane... but his eyes didn't focus on it at all. "Right here? You're sure? I mean, I don't see a thing..."
That's when it occurred to her that she was the link; the only thing all five of her friends here had as a connection was HER; they connected to each other in different ways, but all of them together didn't really make connections all around - until Obsidian came into the picture. Maybe that was it? Maybe she was the lynchpin that held it all together? That... sounded right. But, why did it still feel like something was wrong?
"Cup, you saw each linking item before, right?"
Cup nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I certainly remember that photo..."
"Tartarus NO you don't," Clap glared.
"And the saddlebags, the recruitment poster... but I can't see THIS one. Why?"
Obsidian got an ominous feeling of worry and doubt.
"If something has changed," Mica stated, "we have no way of knowing from this side of the nightmare; we have to get out of here."
"Well, Siddy," Clap shrugged, "since you're the only one who can see it, I guess it's up to you to grab it."
It felt wrong. Really wrong. It also didn't help that Obsidian had proved before that she was paranoid when she should be trusting, and naive when she should be very cautious. "Cup... what did I call you during our very first meeting?"
By Darkness, she wasn't going crazy, right?
Cupcake looked at her for a moment, then intoned slowly. "You... asked me and Churn if we were your liaisons. In fact, you chose me... though I recall you seeming to regret it within minutes." He gave a slight grin. "And I thought your horn was cute."
"And I called you something. You reacted rather poorly to it..." Right now, she was having none of this little love-talk; she was seriously worried.
With that mention, his ears drooped a bit. "Oh. That. You... you called me a meanie, because I was being a butthead."
"Okay," she sighed with relief, "you are real; I started to worry for a moment there..."
She looked at the origami; it didn't seem that there was anything else they could do, right? She simply hoped that Ruby was alright, in whatever situation she'd gotten herself into. She carefully reached out a hoof to touch the little paper Sombra.
The world around them faded away once more... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty Seven: Gypsy | "!uoy sah llits ehS !uoy sah llits xynO !LAER TON S'TI !laer ton s'tI"
When their surroundings faded into view, the five of them were in a voluminous cavern, but not one that Obsidian recognized. And from the expressions on her friends' muzzles, neither did they.
It was an open area with a number of strangely decorated wood, stone and mortar buildings all around them, fixed into every square inch of side space; even on the walls and the ceiling! There were posts sticking out of the ground, and there seemed to be... strings?... that ran between them, and even a squat well in the center of town.
Once again, Ruby spoke up between dream-worlds... and again, she couldn't understand a single, solitary word she was saying! RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGH! Annoying! Worrisome! Mind-numbing!
By Darkness, why had Fate seen fit to curse her with this family of hers!? She should either be lazily spending her time in Ponyville while being annoyingly herself to her gang of friends and still not actually caring about pursuing Dark and Light Magic (at least not too much)... or she could be cackling maniacally while collaring Equestrian slaves in Twilight's palace!
And there was only one pony guilty of making this entire damned day much too stressful and exciting for poor Obsidian... oh, the taste of her revenge would be so exquisitely sweet!
The entire cave-town around them was completely devoid of any signs of life... except for a single individual who was huddled over next to a small bonfire, the single source of light barely keeping the shadows at bay.
And when they spoke up, they spoke up.
"Such an ADORABLE little bitty PUP-py! Oh, father would ab-so-LUTE-ly love to have you FOR DINNER!"
A large, grotesquely exaggerated version of Jynx was flying loops around the kneeling form of Gypsy, who seemed to give a shudder at her words. The mock draconequus laughed with a gurgling quality, before swimming through the air and back into the darkness. But she was no sooner gone than replaced by...
"NOD IMPORTUNDT! Yu think diamond dogs not GOOD ENUFF for liddle GYPSY? You think you need dis 'FREMSHIP' stoopid thing? YU KNOWS NUFFING!"
This one was a rough-looking, over-muscled and angry diamond dog, just like him, that seemed to cause him to shudder again, just as Jynx did. "Stoopids will be pud OUD! No more FAMULY! Gon FOREVURRRR!"
The form on the floor shuddered, but said nothing as the huge & horrific entity slid back into the shadows. Strangely, he hadn't even looked up from the dirt-cave floor at any of the ghastly sights.
And then... "Nyah nyah nyah! Big bruvver luvs his paypurz! He LUUUUUUVS demz - an I'mma EET demz!"
Another diamond dog, this one quite small, but looking cruel and sinister, covered in scars and dirt. "Gunna nom emz all upz, cuz big bruvver is big dum STOOPUDZ!" The dog on the floor shuddered again, but said nothing as the spirit vanished back into the shadows, the jeering laughter fading with its' presence.
"Alright - enough of this; I'm going in." Obsidian began to go to him, as the rest waited in the wings. "I'll simply explain to Gypsy that he is going to become great one day, and we shall be there to support him." As long as Onyx didn't eat him, of course.
As she moved towards the diamond dog, a familiar voice came from the darkness around the tiny bonfire. "Although you may consider my most honourable father tyrannical, your conclusions are flawed! Mean? Nice? Enjoyment? Love?"
Out of the darkness came an exaggerated version of Obsidian, her coat dark, her horn big and glowing crimson, and her eyes ravenous and enraged.
"Those are but empty words, merely masquerading self-indulgence, a perspective that there is something more important than duty. There is NOT!" Again, the diamond dog shuddered, but did not speak.
Mica leaned forward, "Don't let that get to you, Siddy; just go get him out of there."
The enraged eyes didn't seem all that bad, but she always preferred to have her anger more focused and cold. She wasn't able to always have such a tight lid on it, but that was more the fault of her new surroundings and situation than her own shortcomings.
Had she strayed too far from her initial path? Of course it did feel rather good to actually have friends, care about them, have them care about her in return... but in the long run, it could possibly ruin the strict discipline that her father had painstakingly taught her.
At least she didn't have to worry that she had betrayed her father - after all, it was Onyx's actions that forced her onto the Equestrian's side!
She hesitantly had to admit it, though; it was bothering her a bit that her appearance was there among the other diamond dogs and a creature whom Gypsy feared so much that he almost soiled himself. But this was a version of herself who hadn't understood how important these things were to others yet - and now, she at least had an inkling.
She trotted straight to him.
The apparition of Obsidian faded to the background as the others had as she approached him. When she got close enough, she could now see a gathering of tiny little scraps of paper in front of him; they were shaped weirdly, and though they looked like random paper chunks, Gypsy was picking them up, examining them and putting them down with a slow but steady pace and ease. When she got to his side, he looked up at her...
The diamond dog that was sitting there couldn't have been Gypsy Rover - the look on it's muzzle spoke of countless years of stupidity. It had Gypsy's features, but quite noticably had none of his intellect; she might as well have come to free a rock!
He glanced up as she got close. He said not a word; the string of drool racing down his jawline said volumes, though.
Damnation! With this look on his muzzle, it was clear that the lights upstairs were out. In this current state, he wouldn't even be a proper slave...
Obsidian once again glanced at her friends and shook her head slightly. This entire fiasco was getting tiresome, and it certainly didn't help that she was still worried sick about Onyx's plans, and what she may have already done to them while they were sleeping! All the nonsense they'd been through should be easier; in the history books she picked up on her first day here, there'd been nothing written about any undead-army-raising enemy of Equestria who was possibly as diffcult and frustrating as Siddy's sister!
"Gypsy. Come now, don't look at me like that - YOU are one of the cleverest creatures I've ever met. Even in your worst nightmares, you should still be aware of that."
His eyes blinked... off-beat. The drool continued to roll from his lips, and he nodded dumbly and went right back to examining the paper pieces of...
In his paws was a small wooden model of a brain; it was incomplete, and he was shuffling through the pieces and locating stuff that fit together properly. The diamond dog seemed to be rather taken with his brain teaser, and even held it out towards Siddy in dumb pride.
When did she last have a nice, proper sleep? A thousand years ago, maybe? Since awakening in this modern world, she first slept with her face on a desk... then fell asleep after a rather shameful meltdown, after she had learned about her true functions - and since then she had been forced to fight, learn, rescue her friends, require rescuing herself and so on.
She just wanted to kick Onyx's stupid flank and get back to the palace!
"Let's see..." Obsidian's horn flashed as she tried to move a few of the pieces of paper closer - then took a close look at the strange 'brain-teaser'. Mayhaps she could finish it herself?
The brain teaser was... a brain. What the diamond dog held in his paws was a complex-looking three-dimensional puzzle of a cerebellum; the rest of the paper chunks on the ground were parts of it as well, but they were flat paper as opposed to the model.
The big, dopey grin across Gypsy's features was surreal, as it almost looked like he was a different dog altogether. Again, he held it up with a foal's sense of pride, grinning like a fool as he showed Obsidian his incomplete work.
Behind them, an enormous griffon of unrecognizable origins flew into view and just howled a cackling, jeering mockery of a dog's howl... and, as if on cue, Gypsy flinched. He wasn't doing it out of fear - he never had been; he was simply reacting to the 'fears' by giving them the reaction they apparently wanted from him.
Seemingly brainless, yet still smart enough to pick up on such a thing as that!
Oh, how wonderful... Gypsy got his brain literally removed, apparently, and turned into a puzzle! And to think, Obsidian believed that beating Onyx would be the biggest challenge...
First things first.
She had to analyze this thing; examine the details of how the rest of papers fit into it... mayhaps she really could finish it! And while she was at it, some support for her friend wouldn't be a bad idea either.
"Gypsy, you have no reason to listen to these shadows - you are not a target, not a pariah, and NOT a big, dumb stupids." She was almost deadly serious, even as she continued to look at the unfinished and somewhat sparse model. "You have friends that truly appreciate you for everything you represent within your very presence; shy charm, good humour and kindness to spare. You are our friend... and we would wish to have you back."
When she spoke to him, there wasn't even a glimmer of recognition. However, she felt that something in his eyes was still there... a spark of hope, mayhaps?
The puzzle was... weird. The pieces were made of paper, but when one was placed into the brain model correctly, the piece became some strange form of wood, and seemingly locked into place. All the pieces might have been here, but it was hard to really tell if they had them all. There were just so many pieces, and they were only two-dimensional!
Gypsy simply smiled at her in that nobody's-home way, and drooled a bit more-... oh Darkness preserve... he was chewing on a piece! Even using her magic to pry it out of the dog's mouth, she could almost feel that nasty drool, and gave an involuntary shudder. However, he didn't put up a fight, and the piece came to her easily enough. Dripping, but she got it all the same.
"ALWAYS the observer! NEVER the observed!"
Great; another apparition. "This one is worthless! He has abandoned his family! His home! His life among his own kind! This one is a failure! A laughingstock failure!"
EEE-yuck. At least she could use magic to grab the piece, and didn't have to cover her hooves with diamond-dog-drool. With this piece gathered, putting the entire puzzle together should be easier... a-at least a bit? Hopefully she wouldn't have to take any more pieces from him...
And apparently, Gypsy himself had come forward as a part of this neverending theatre of shadows. Was it a projection of his self-doubt? Then again, mayhaps it was his true self, raging against his lack of self-confidence represented by this drooling and sorry excuse for their canine friend? Still, she wasn't about to allow those words to go unchallenged.
"This one joined friends that have come to truly appreciate his worth. This one is also a grand pupil, well liked by many of the teachers in Friendship School. And perhaps this one left for a reason; I wonder - perhaps because he was not properly appreciated there?"
Sure enough, the apparition that floated into view was Gypsy, though a grotesquely malformed version of himself. It had a fang-filled maw and long, gangly arms that ended in a mass of claws.
The spectre glared at Obsidian evenly. "This one was never as the rest were! He is an anomaly! He must be stopped before he believes there is more than the life of a diamond dog ahead of him! Why should he care for the world of ponies?"
She continued to play with the unusual puzzle as she replied, "Because the world of ponies is awesome, of course... and apparently, the life of a diamond dog could use some more variety."
"Diamond dogs need no variety! We have been living our lives for centuries without other ponies butting in, and we can continue to d-do the same!"
... did it just stutter?
"There is NOTHING worthwhile enough t-to throw away one's family! You speak of how he is seen by teachers - but what of the other p-p-ponies!?"
Gypsy's dumbfounded body continued to paw at the puzzle, trying pieces and failing, trying and failing, trying and succeeding - which brought another shift from paper to wood - then back to trying and failing. Even in his stupidity state, he was still trying to beat this!
"Well, I personally think Gypsy is wonderful; I didn't even know about origami before meeting him, or anything about diamond dogs at all! And he is a grand researcher who has probably saved my life already at least once with his dilligence. When his family realizes that too and apologizes for being jerks, I'm sure he'll forgive them."
To be fair, even in his current state he wasn't much worse than Obsidian herself with this brain-thing.
"The rest of our group surely thinks highly of him as well. We'll have to find him a nice pairing though; since we already have two pairs, it's only logical we should matchmake the rest." Maybe with Stalwart...? Everything would stay within the gang that way!
The apparition balked visibly, almost looking as though Obsidian had bitten it. "LIES! The pony world is for PONIES! There is no p-place for a diamond dog among you!"
"Buhhhhh..." The dumb-Gypsy was trying to speak! "Tuh. Heeeeeeeeed."
The spectre bristled. "THIS ONE is worthless to himself! He c-c-cannot-"
"B-b-b-buht. Hed. Buhthed." The puzzle was now coming together nicely... and was becoming more complete as they both worked on it.
"This one has NO DEFENSE! There is n-n-nothing it can say to justify th-this behavior! Inexcusable! Useless!"
"Shuu-uup. Buhthed." The spectre looked ready to have a heart attack from pure rage.
"There are griffons, changelings, even dragons and moving, talking artificial ponies made of crystal shards; I think that diamond dogs would fit in too," she smirked, looking on with wry amusement at the 'discussion' between the two Gypsies. "And yes, he has his own defenses - have you ever seen him fight? And even if he couldn't, he has friends willing to stand up for him."
"N-n-n-NO! This one h-h-has i-issues! He has p-pr-p-problems! He h-h-h-"
"Haz uh c-cloo. B-b-b-big wun." The dumb-Gypsy now was sitting upright, and had wiped his mouth free of spittle. He still looked... wrong... but that was changing before Obsidian's eyes.
"There are MATTERS that y-y-you do NOT underst-st-stand! They s-say they c-c-c-care, but th-th-they d-d-do not! They... th-they..."
"Dey... THEY care. About th-this one." Now the puzzle was mostly complete, with only a few pieces missing, and the face of the apparition began to take on the dumb-Gypsy look, even as Gypsy himself became more... well, himself.
"NO! NOH! Dis... i-i-is wrong! Dis is... i-i-i-is a NOH!"
"Why? B-b-because you have been t-t-told that it's h-how it is supp-p-posed to be? That diamond d-d-d-dogs belong at h-home? No. Only other d-d-diamond dogs have said this. N-not ponies."
"NOH! BAAAAAAD!"
"This one agrees. VERY bad. F-for you."
The ghost, wailing in agony and stupidity, faded from view in front of her, leaving only Gypsy Rover, complete at last, smiling at her. "This one is g-g-glad you are his f-friend. Th-thank you. Now," he casually tossed the brain teaser over his shoulder, where it vanished into nothing, "what is our n-n-next g-goal?"
The others all rejoiced over their reunion with Gypsy, and the diamond dog's tail was wagging fiercely enough to knock an Umbral over! There were hugs and exclamations all around, and they simply felt good to be together again. And it felt right inside Obsidian - it felt whole and complete, as if it was always meant to be this way.
It went better than she thought it would; luckily they weren't exposed to the horrors of Discord's and Jinx's crimes against the entire race of caninekind and instead just had to deal with Gypsy's sense of self-worth. Nothing really mind-blowing, insanity-inducing or anything like that - just a few personal issues.
Let's say that Obsidian was very relieved.
"Now..." she looked around, "we really should seek out Ruby." Maybe thinking about her would work, similar to how she located the rest of the group? She tried to recollect their first meeting, in Headmare's Starlight's room...
Gypsy gave a questioning glance. "I-is she n-not... n-n-n-not..."
Mica stopped him. "It's a loooooong story, but the short version is that an aspect of Ruby has been helping us escape, and now we may have to go find her."
"Oh." Gypsy seemed concerned, but he just put on a smiling muzzle. "Well, as l-l-long as we h-ha-h-have each other, w-w-we should b-be f-f-f-fine, yes?"
Cupcake pondered, "Now, If I were a Ruby... where would I hide?"
Thunderclap began searching around... the stopped and crossed her forelegs. "Uh-uh. I ain't getting fooled again with that trick. Only Siddy can see 'em, remember?"
Mica shrugged. "Well, you're welcome to think that, but I still think it'd be better to look anyway."
Cup grinned. "Maybe we're supposed to be thinking about her?"
"Well, at least some of you surely knew Looking Glass, right? And Mica and Clap heard our discussion in the library..."
Of course, Thunderclap did a bit more than just 'hear' the chat, but that was a sore point. And it was the past, which should stay in the past... at least until Obsidian got irked at her again.
It wasn't a matter of 'where was Ruby hiding' - the Dark Princess really doubted that her 'good' sister would avoid them without a very good reason, like being held as a prisoner by Onyx or something like that. However Clap was right that only she might be able to see Ruby, especially after nopony had seen Gypsy's Sombra origami.
"...SLATSSSSSSSSSSSSSYRC"
"!PUTES A S'TI !diputs ,em retfa emoc t'noD !potS"
There was that voice again... but that first one was... NOT Ruby. Not by a LONG shot.
"We didn't know Ruby very well, Siddy," Clap said softly.
"But wait - we knew Looking Glass, right?" There were some sparse acknowledgements all around at Cup's question. The stallion was undaunted. "So... what about Looking Glass?"
Clap gave a small grin. "Heh, her mane. It didn't matter what she was doing, she always made sure her mane was good."
Mica nodded. "Yes, she was pretty proud of it."
"Th-th-this one," Gypsy added, "rec-c-c-calls how she a-always smelled of manespray and c-ca-c-ca-candy."
Wart rolled her eyes. "She was kind, yes... but her obsession with her mane was, by and far, severe."
Then, Ruby's voice came to her...
"...part a part a part a part A... -rt a... a trap! Obsidian, it's a trap!"
Oh, manure. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty Eight: Dream Warriors | The world melted away... but this time, it didn't fade any new world in.
Instead, Obsidian found herself back in the jail cell in Blandsville, still chained... and Onyx herself still sitting there, smiling broadly until Obsidian fully came to.
"Oh, that was wonderful!" The mare lightly applauded. "I suppose you honestly thought it was going to be that easy, hmmmmm? Oh, I'd hoped you would; it's SO much fun to watch you work to get your friends back... only to fail all over again! And that is why this is YOUR nightmare; you'll get free, then just when you get all your precious little toys back, you'll end up right back here, to do it all over again!"
Her head rocked back, and her cruel laughter echoed throughout the cell. "Oh, but don't think your friends are excepted, here - they will all remember the event as well... which will serve to drive them even further away from rescue, each time you do it! Oh, this was such a fun plan! I feel that we will see plenty of each oth-..."
A look crossed her features for a moment, but she simply shrugged. "Bah, half a shard is as foolish as her entire shard was - if Ruby wants to try to help you again, I see no reason why I should care... it's not as if she was much help the first time around, and all she's doing is draining the last bit of energy she has away. And the sooner she's finished, the sooner we can-"
The blast that caved in the far wall was loud enough to deafen the dead! Onyx coughed and sputtered, and picked herself off the floor as she gawked at the new arrival.
"Y'know, you're just such a butt, you can probably guess what all that hot air coming out of you is, can't you?"
Standing there was Cupcake... but more. He was wearing a sharp-looking bright yellow suit and hat, and his muzzle was... green? He had a bigger, more manic smile on his face than Obsidian had ever seen before, and his eyes held a glint of mischief as he nodded back towards his smouldering cannon. "SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS-SMOKIN'!" he grinned.
Behind her, Obsidian felt her chains drop, and a tiny Breezie with a long, luxurious tail was panting as she dropped a metal key to the floor.
"... hey... stupid..." she panted, "... since you... were supposed to... come back here... I just... let the... others out... first, this time..."
Onyx's muzzle blackened with disbelief and anger. "You... did... WHAT!?"
Dark Ruby smiled. "I pissed... in your... Corn Flakes... bitch."
It made sense that Onyx had prepared something for Obsidian, of course... but she'd really hoped that Ruby's interference was enough to break it in the first place, or that there were other variables (i.e. her own nature as a shard) that could render their older sister's plotting null and void. Unfortunately, it seemed that Onyx once again turned out to be more powerful and/or clever than Obsidian hoped for and was prepared for that. Well, perhaps it was time to just give up...
But as soon as Onyx started to REALLY rub the salt into the wound, something happened. Something really unexpected. Something...
Considering the nature of Cupcake, was it really unexpected, though? She could always count on the fact that he'd do something strange; if unexpected things were expected, then were they truly unexpected? Now Obsidian had a philosophical question to ponder upon for at least a week...
But first things first.
Obsidian didn't want to waste time being surprised, or for wondering if THIS was a part of her nightmare also, as another cruel teasing of hope - she just grabbed Ruby, put her on her head and darted towards Cupcake, to join her friend at his side. They had to kick this mare's shiny dark flank together!
Onyx scowled at them. "You... honestly believe you have a chance like this? Only the two of you?"
The ground suddenly tore open, and the form of an armored diamond dog leapt up out of the hole, landing next to Cupcake. The armor he wore was small and efficient-looking, but appeared to be made for hard labor; there were tool pouches, bandoliers, belts and many other pockets that looked full of stuff. The strange helmet had a visor that looked more like three slits than a full-plate visor, and seemed to glow with some sort of energy.
"Th-three," Gypsy said.
The wall behind them suddenly grew a single crack that spiderwebbed out until the entire wall was covered with cracks. With a slight rumble, it came tumbling down... and standing behind it, dressed in a bright orange gi, was a stallion with a hoof extended; he'd apparently just tapped the wall, and it fell into rubble! With calm and collected confidence, he stepped forward to stand beside Obsidian.
"Four," Mica casually spoke.
The door shattered into chunks, spraying the floor (and Onyx) with splinters. Stepping into the room came a proud, tall Knight of Equestria, complete with flowing cloak and twin greatswords floating next to her, a bright tower shield on her back, and a look of fierce determination on her muzzle.
"Five," declared Wart.
And that was when the entire roof came flying off as a black-clad Wonderbolt flew straight up, taking the crumbled and broken chunks of masonry with her before spiraling and sending the shards flying. She then came straight down and landed with a powerful >THUD!<, right behind Obsidian and Ruby.
"Give it up, Onyx," Thunderclap smirked, "you can mess with us, and you can hurt us... but you can't take us down! You made the mistake of not keeping us separate, ya moron! And now..."
"... we're here to kick flank and chew bubble gum," Mica nodded, taking a fighting stance as he flexed and a glow began to form around him, his mane turning a bright golden color.
"And I believe our reserves of gum happen to be empty." Wart stood tall, and along with her greatswords were a score of daggers, four shortswords and two morningstars, swinging in tandem.
"Give. Up. Now." Gypsy pulled out a strange-looking weapon that seemed to revolve around the base before locking into place, bringing up three small dots on Onyx's forehead.
Cupcake simply reached into the inner pockets of his coat and brought out several crossbow launchers, each one loaded with pies... but NOT standard pies: one with a sizzling bomb fuse in it, one with a concrete block in it, two or three with visible knives sticking out, one filled with nails, and one that had wires attached to it and arcing sparks.
"Go ahead," Cup said with a giggle, "make our day."
Ah, it seemed that they were truly a stubborn bunch! Maybe it wasn't too familial, too kind or anything of the sort, but Obsidian was rather satisfied with this opportunity to show Onyx that treating her own family members like mere tools - to use and discard at her own whims - was a very, very bad idea. Especially if one of the said family members was Obsidian herself!
Even if they didn't win, they would be an enomous pain in Onyx's flank... and it didn't matter if it was a real world or a realm of nightmares!
Though to be fair, right now Obsidian herself was the least impressive pony in the whole room, considering the various outfits of her friends. Too bad; she'd love to be an alicorn, or at least Queen Obsidian. But she could at least power up her horn with Dark Magic, fueled by all the negative emotions she had towards Onyx... and, experimentally, with Light Magic as well, fueled by her friendships.
"You've made a grave mistake, Onyx..." They had to tear their way out of this nightmare and get back to the waking world. "Taste friendship."
But when she powered up her horn...
Twin threads of jet black and bright white swirled out of it, spiraling around her and encasing her in a sphere of darkness and light that pulsed for a moment before shattering like glass. Standing there was Obsidian, wearing plate armor that was a solid silver color, but with stripes of white and black accenting it. There was a burst of energy from behind her, and large black and red wings unfurled from the armor, large enough to dwarf even a dragon's wingspan! On her head, sitting at a jaunty angle, was a crown that was black stone on one side and pure white wood on the other.
The others there all turned to look, as Obsidian was now radiating magic energy, of both kinds. The friends all flexed and posed as Obsidian could feel some sort of... build up... going on between them all.
The howl of anger that clawed its' way out of Onyx's throat was unidentifiable as anything natural, or even anything equine... and her body ruptured open, spilling out no less than seven hydra heads, all with her vicious eyes and venomous ichor dripping from their maws.
"Well," Mica spoke, "that's different."
"I shall taste friendship... as I crunch your feeble bones into dust!!!"
They stood there, facing off; the massive Onyx-hydra on one side, the gathered friends on the other. The tension was thick enough to cut with a blade.
Now that was epic.... sometimes nightmares can have a really nice angle, it seemed. She just had to remember to perhaps not insult Onyx too much, even in her own thoughts - it bit her in the flank already a few times.
One head for each of them, eh? Including Ruby, of course - though in this case, she will probably cede this privilege to somepony else, considering her size. Obsidian just blasted down a beam of energy at the floor below Onyx's new legs.
The second she fired at the floor... all Tartarus broke loose.
The shot Obsidian fired was a bolt of twining black and white energy beams, and they pulverized the floor under that leg, as well as the floor underneath the rest of her! Hydronyx fell into the floor, but was far too big now to vanish below; instead, she was now stuck fast, right where she was!
Gypsy began firing his weapon rapidly, beams of light sizzling and scoring the hydra's thick grey hide and making small patterns there, as if he was trying to weaken the flesh there.
Clap took to the air, and began flying circles around the various heads, keeping them occupied as much as she could.
As Hydronyx began to roar and lash out at Clap and Gypsy, Mica began to hover in mid-air, and his glow grew brighter as he darted in close to the creature, subjected it to a number of hard strikes, and zipped back to avoid a head chomping down on him.
Stalwart didn't hesitate, didn't stall and didn't pause - she charged at the thing and began swinging ALL her weapons at it, coming from various angles and even flanking attacks!
Cupcake launched all his pies at the thing, then laughed like a lunatic as he began running circles around it, a strand of red licorice issuing from a pocket as he began to tie up the Hydronyx's body, making his way up to wrapping those necks together.
Onyx, meanwhile, wasn't in the mood to play. She snapped at Clap, and stomped great holes in the ground around Gypsy. Once Mica had started attacking, at least two heads were dedicated to keeping him from doing too much damage. Most of the rest of the heads were just barely keeping Wart from slashing the thing to pieces... but one head spoke up, addressing Obsidian.
"This is MADNESS! You already know I'm going to win, yet you keep on coming!"
And now Obsidian had Onyx right where she wanted her - in a very, very big hole. Now she just had to fill it with manure! Ah, what a beautiful sight it was; a group of good friends slaughtering a beast together! A truly heartwarming sight.
For the moment, Obsidian was mostly trying to keep Gypsy safe - it seemed his weapon was well designed for tasks such as this, so she carefully covered him with a magical shield and was doing her best to knock a few teeth or scales from each head stupid enough to get too close.
"We are very stubborn group of friends, Onyx. Even if we won't save Equestria, at least we'll go down together - and give you seven headaches at once in the process!"
"YOU'RE ALREADY WORTH SEVEN HEADACHES!" There was a sparkle from Hydronyx's eyes, and suddenly one of the heads reared back and >FOOOOOOSH!< green fire poured out of her mouth, bathing the ground where Gypsy had been standing with flames!
HAD been standing, if it hadn't been for Thunderclap Dash streaking in and snatching him up at the last second, setting him down before returning to the distraction act she'd been pulling.
"Too fast for ya, too hot for ya, too good for ya!" Clap taunted as she kept flying in between and around the dangerous heads.
Gypsy, meanwhile, turned to Obsidian. "If we c-can keep her where she is, w-we have a chance to t-try to seal her up here! Then, if we ret-t-turn to the waking world, she may still b-be asleep!" He turned his focus and began firing at other places in the floor, trying to weaken the structure a bit more.
It would be much easier if this particular hydra couldn't use fire against her enemies but, well... nightmares shouldn't be too easy to conquer, right? But as far as Obsidian was concerned, they weren't doing badly - none of them was even scratched at the moment, while Onyx herself was taking a lot of damage and was already stuck in the floor, limiting her movements.
And, if Gypsy was correct (and she had no reason to not believe him; maybe he wasn't able to use magic but he WAS a great researcher), then Onyx truly made an exceedingly stupid mistake this time and decided to actually enter into this dream herself, possibly making her quite vulnerable.
Up to this point, Obsidian thought that they were merely fighting for a way out - but if they could, as an added bonus, defeat Onyx HERE...
She focused entire stockpile of anger and hate she felt towards her stupid older sister: her fury at being used and then subsequently rejected, her memories of the damages in Ponyville done by her Umbral army, the sight of Ruby's dead body, the various threats against her friends... she pooled all of that rage to cast some powerful shots, directed at the places pointed out to her by Gypsy.
Trapping Onyx in a dream... that was a beautiful vision!
The focused shots into the flooring from Obsidian's horn were FAR more damaging than the weapon Gypsy had, and there was a creaking, groaning sound that was coming from the structure itself, sounding as if the integrity of this Blandsville prison wasn't going to hold for long. Granted, thanks to Clap, there was no ceiling, but the walls still could fall in. Parts of the flooring began to buckle under the weight of Hydronyx, and the creaks and groans became grinding, splintering sounds.
"This is naught but a dream! I have endless power here!" Hydronyx screamed from three different heads.
Mica's brow furrowed. "Unfortunately for you, the same goes for us." He then concentrated harder, and with another bright flash, Mica's mane and tail went from golden to a vibrant, glowing blue! He then lifted a hoof and pointed it at the Hydronyx, sending a beam of dazzling energy directly at her.
The blast struck, and Hydronyx howled in both anger and pain, the section of flesh scorching and cracking. The heads lashed around, and now the fire-breathing head was joined by one breathing lightning, one breathing tar, and one breathing a thick, greenish vapor that frankly dissolved the walls it came into contact with. Mica dodged and counter-dodged, making it almost impossible for him to be struck.
Wart, in the meantime, continued to press her advantage, all the while with a constant barrage of strikes from her varied weaponry; she'd made holes and cuts that were bleeding, but none of them seemed to have enough effect to bother Hydronyx.
"It is too large!" she yelled to Obsidian, "we need to free her heads from their sockets!"
A sudden >BOOM!<, and one of the heads exploded into blood and bone chunks! Laughter issued from Cupcake, who was already reloading his Party Cannon with what looked like silverware. He still had the green face, but now he wore an outfit that looked like a storybook pirate; he even had an eye patch! "Avast, mateys! Thar be plenty o' chances ta take out this scalliwag! Focus on the heads, ya bilge-rats!"
It seemed that even though it was 'just a dream', Onyx could still feel pain - and with Obsidian and the gang more-or-less freed from the shackles of their nightmares, they had plenty of power to torment this mad mare. Despite all of her feelings for her family, even the fact that she spared Amethyst and (in a way) Tourmaline, Obsidian was rather settled with the idea of making Onyx suffer for every pain she'd brought them - especially as she could merely give up at any time.
It was only her fault they had to hurt her, right? BAH, she was getting too many ideas of her own!
Obsidian focused, trying to gather as much negative feedback from her emotions as possible; with that, she cast a spell that brought forth beautiful, shining and sharp crystals around the partially-trapped hydra - all of them aimed towards her multiple throats! Let's see if her dream powers would allow her to continue fighting with her windpipes punctured...
Meanwhile a banner appeared in her hoof - a dark piece of fabric, with a unicorn horn within a crystal shard background. A fitting rendition of Sombra's banner... but the horn pictured wasn't exactly his; Obsidian had dreamed herself into alicornhood here, right? Why not think big?
Each shard was a beautiful and unique crystal in its' own right, looking as though it were made of naturally fused obsidian and quartz, specked and striped with both white AND black. And more to the point, each shard found its' mark, and slammed into the Hydronyx's many throats, opening some and merely piercing others... but each was a hit, and the horrid form shuddered as they struck.
Obsidian could see veins of both black and white forming where the shards were lodged into Hydronyx's flesh; apparently they worked as some sort of poison to the offending sister. Good to know.
A wounded head rose up and began to breathe lightning, but was stopped mid-breath as Clap zoomed straight at it and turned swiftly, giving the creature a skull-smashing buck to the face.
"You're... going... DOWN!" she yelled as her hooves connected.
The head burst in a spray of blood, gore and sparks. Two down. Of the remaining heads, two more were struck down and didn't rise up again. To these, Wart swiftly moved and used her various bladed implements to begin ensuring the head was useless; she stabbed at the eyes, nostrils and ears, attempting to further cripple them.
Now Mica brought his hooves in close, and placing them near each other, a small ball of light began to form between them, growing in intensity as he began to speak. "KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA... MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..." The ball was growing brighter, and even Obsidian could feel the power growing in that one single spot.
Hopefully Onyx fully appreciated how much her dear sister wanted to hurt her right now, or how much power they could put into their attack in this dark place. Four heads out of seven were down; even if it was just a part of nightmare, putting these crystals through those throats was a truly satisfying experience! In fact...
Obsidian spread her wings and attempted to fly - both to see what it felt like (even if it wasn't real) and to see Mica's powerful shot from a better angle. There were only three heads now - and none of them was even bothering to talk. It was a good sign, hopefully.
The wings flapped seemingly very little, and she was instantly airborne. It was magnificent, and the freedom she felt was intoxicating! She looked majestic and regal, dressed in such fine armor and with such a power coursing through her... she NOW felt as though she were in the form that she needed to be to best her erstwhile sister.
The three remaining heads kept trying to harass Wart and Clap, only to have seemingly forgotten about the stallion charging his power up.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA..." The ball of energy was now letting off arcs of electricity; the sheer, raw POWER in the blast was beginning to make the other magics in the room feel... outshined.
Cupcake's cannon roared... and suddenly, there he was, standing on a cannonball as it flew towards Hydronyx.
"CHAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGE!" he screamed as he flew right at her, bound for her midsection. He rode atop that cannonball as if he was Discord himself, his face green as a pea.
The head not busy with Wart or Clap quickly snapped at the shot, and Cupcake vanished into its' gaping maw with a rather hard clack of teeth.
Obsidian hadn't the slightest idea what Cupcake was planning when he decided to ride a cannonball, nor why he decided it was a good idea or... for that matter, how did he manage to get onto the cannonball in the first place? However, she was pretty sure that, while the rules of wild dreams could make it possible for him (let's be honest, he was able to do impossible things even outside of dreams), being swallowed by Onyx was not a good thing!
Who would think that her crazy sister would eventually eat poor Cupcake, just as she said?
However, Obsidian was having none of it. To be fair, she didn't have to dive at Onyx herself - she could just use her magical alicorn dream powers to rip the offending head straight off of its' neck, without getting into any danger. Unfortunately, at the moment she was practically blinded by rage that she felt at the sight of Cup being swallowed. So she did just that - she dived, aiming at the neck, with her whole body practically bursting with Dark Magic. She wanted to rip, tear and maim Onyx, make her suffer - and to free Cupcake; nothing else mattered much at the moment.
She flew directly at Hydronyx, her wings trailing Dark Magical energy behind her as black mist rolled from her eyes, which were now glowing an intense red color. She reached the head that had swallowed him, and-
>SPLAT!<
Before she could react, the head itself exploded with a sickening wet pop, and on the remainder of the stump stood a bloody, but unharmed Cupcake (with Party Cannon smoking), who rode the falling neck down to the ground, turned a backflip to land on his hooves, and a wicked grin that plastered itself to his face.
"HOO-AH! Somebody STOP me!" He was now dressed in all black, with a large white pony skull emblazoned on the front of his outfit. He held up more crossbows, this time loaded with multiple bolts, and began firing them rapidly at Hydronyx and her remaining heads.
Cupcake was impossible... and the more dreamlike this place was getting, the more impossible he was! It seemed that he was fine, which was most certainly good news - but unfortunately, Obsidian still had plenty of magical energy stored.
Everything that she planned to use to tear Onyx apart was still there waiting for a release.
"...MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..." The ball of light between Mica's hooves was now disturbingly bright, and radiated magic that rivaled an alicorn's; if he EVER let that thing go, it would possibly destroy not just Hydronyx, but perhaps even this entire dream realm itself!
Wart charged in and sent all her weapons at once into the place where the necks met the bloated body. Blood went everywhere as she turned into a whirling dervish of sharp steel, severing a number of stumps from the whole.
Clap, meanwhile, kept it's remaining heads occupied - which, as each head fell, was becoming easier to do. She even got in another buck to one, blackening its' eye.
Gypsy had stopped firing, and had dove headfirst into the ground; he was leaving a raised hill of flooring and stone behind him as he circled the border of the room, weakening the floor directly in front of the remaining walls. "Th-the walls! Obsidian, c-collapse the walls! Aim for the floor in front of th-th-them!"
Clap laughed. "You kiddin'? C'mon Sids - let's blow this thing so we can go home! Aim for the heads!"
"NAY!" Wart spoke up, "I have opened a hole in its' wretched body! BLAST HERE!"
What a wonderful thing that she got not one, but THREE plans to work with - but it was a very quick decision; she never regretted listening to Gypsy before, and hopefully it wasn't going to be the first time. She aimed for the floor, to bring the walls down on her poor, unfortunate sister... while diving to collect her friends, to keep them out of the way of the rubble.
As her bolts struck the flooring, the walls began to waver and teeter above them. Gypsy's tunnels made short work of any sort of support for them, and they began to tilt inward, towards Hydronyx. The diamond dog had already made his way to safety; Obsidian grabbed up Wart as she flew by, the once-tiny mare being a bit heavier in their dreams. Though she seemed disappointed that her idea wasn't used, she still was smiling as if she'd just seen Queen Chrysalis wet herself in fear.
Clap snagged up Cupcake, who flipped around her barrel and landed on her back, riding her as they surged away from the battle.
"Thunderclap, HO!" he yelled triumphantly.
"Watch what you call me!" she yelled back.
Now there was only Hydronyx, thrashing and shifting to get free of the hole she was stuck fast in... and the hovering form of Mica, who was now smiling ear to ear as the blindingly bright orb in his hooves flashed.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"
The blast from the Earth Pony's hooves was bigger around than one of Hydronyx's necks. It blackened the floor under it as it flew towards its' target, then connected with a massive explosion that sent wet and rubbery chunks of hydra in every direction.
And such a concussive blast was all that was needed to bring those walls crashing down on top of the beast, burying it in rubble. There was a massive cloud of dust, and blood and flesh gobbets all over the place...
"Whoa, Mica," Cupcake looked sideways at his friend, "I didn't know you had it in you! Where in the wide, wide world of Equestria did THAT come from?"
Mica shrugged. "T.V." he said plainly.
Well, whatever this TV was, Obsidian certainly didn't want to mess with it! She also hoped that Hydronyx was still in good enough shape to get trapped here instead of returning back to her real body with a nasty headache. Obsidian felt a bit unsatisfied by the fact that the biggest explosion here was done by an earth pony, not by an alicorn - even if she was one only temporarily, until the dream's end.
"Now, with that done... Ruby, how do we escape this place?"
Ruby... didn't look so good. The tiny Breezie looked faded and washed-out, as if her bright colors were being drained from her. She didn't even have the strength to stand; she simply lie there in Obsidian's mane, somewhat panting for breath. "This is a... a dream realm... based on a spell by... oh, crud... by Onyx. So, if you... all... concentrate, you might... maybe... be able to... counteract and end the sp-... the spell..." It looked like just speaking was taking a toll on the tiny Dark Ruby; she hadn't even called anyone a name. "Just...concentrate... on each other."
Obsidian really didn't want to see Ruby die once again. She very, very carefully took her out of her mane and hugged her tiny form gently. "Even if the rest of our siblings didn't consist mainly of murderous psychopaths, you would still be my favourite sister, Ruby."
All of negative thoughts aimed at Onyx perished from her mind, and she fully focused on her most dear sister. "Guys... get closer, please; you heard the best sister ever..."
Ruby looked up at her, at all of them, and gave a tiny, pained look of curiosity. "But... I'm the... bad one... why would... would you-"
"Because you helped us, even in your Dark state," Mica said gently. "You've done so much for Obsidian, and all of us - both sides of you are great, not just your Light side."
"Yeah, you got her to us fast, which might've taken years to do without help," Clap chimed in. "You didn't have to, but you DID."
"What's m-m-more," Gypsy continued, "you have a k-kind heart, e-even in your D-D-D-Dark form. That sp-s-speaks volumes ab-b-bout your personal ch-character."
"Besides," Cup smiled sadly, "if you hadn't come and got all of us when Siddy needed us most, she probably would've just given up at that point! So you saved HER by saving US!"
"None here will argue," Wart spoke up, "that your efforts to our cause were not only key to our victory, but they were essential to our survival. We owe you a debt of thanks, Ruby."
She looked at them all, and gave a tiny, sad smile. "Heh... yeah, I... I'm g-glad I got to... finally... m-meet all of you... ya morons..."
Tiny Dark Ruby shuddered, her tiny muzzle a tiny picture of great pain. "Just... win, okay? P-prove my sac-... prove this was... worthwhile... for me... make it c-c-count..." She coughed, and the color in her became barely visible to their eyes; she may as well have been black and white at this point.
"H-hey, stupid..." she wheezed with a grin, "is... i-is my tail okay?"
It seemed that no last-minute-miracles were going to save Ruby from her fate, but at least Obsidian could finally say how much she appreciated her... and her friends followed suit. Even if it was just a piece of her fallen sister, and a dark one to a boot, it felt good to do so for her. She should know their hearts... even if it wouldn't be very useful to her soon.
"Yes Ruby - it's perfect. I think it's impossible for you to have a frumpy mane OR tail." Obsidian was struggling to keep her tears from falling and kept trying to speak calmly.
The little Breezie smiled. "Well... then I g-guess... this... i-is... g-good..."
"NOT. SO. FAST."
The rubble pile began to heave and shudder, and Onyx's voice issued forth from every angle, it seemed. "If you cannot be tortured... then I suppose I shall just have to leave you here!"
Swirls of energy began to rise up from the pile, slithering out to taint the very air they floated in with a sickly greenish hue. From the pile, a gathering of rubble stirred, then rolled away from the hole as Onyx herself, whole and unharmed, came floating out.
"I can simply leave the spell's effect - and leave you all here while I KILL you in the waking world!" She began to laugh triumphantly as she began to fade from existence... well, from existing here, at any rate.
Tiny Dark Ruby squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating even in the midst of death.
"Make it... count, Obsidian - bring... Onyx... DOWN."
>POP!< |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Thirty Nine: Awakenings | Obsidian awoke to a feeling of dread.
She was still in the underground cavern, but she was trussed up in some sort of hardened ichor that was brittle and snapped the moment she put pressure on it. She wasn't alone, either.
"I just... don't... GET it. HOW did YOU get FREE!?"
On the wall next to her was none other than Tourmaline, sealed in a similar ichor-like stuff - except his looked sturdy and solid. "She's used that spell on us over and over, and we never got free until she wanted us to! HOW did you DO it!?"
The others, unfortunately, were not here.
One day, Obsidian's altruism would kill her, really. Wasting time for comforting an already dead pony during a fight for the fate of Equestria - well, it certainly wasn't the brightest idea she'd ever had, and the fact that it felt good and correct meant nothing. BAH, she had spent only a few days in this cursed modern land and she was already softened up to the point of being outright suicidal! Or at least suicidally stupid, it seemed.
And apparently even a mortally wounded Onyx was still strong enough to get out of the dream realm on her own - too bad.
So it seemed that they truly HAD lost and...
... huh. What did Tourmaline do to deserve such a fate? Did he try to rebel... or maybe he actually killed Amethyst for real? He surely wasn't placed here as a guardian - otherwise he wouldn't be trapped.
"I am strong, stubborn and have the strength of a group of very dear friends... of which, have you seen them, perchance?"
She started to look around, perhaps a bit frantically - there had to be doors or tunnels leading to them; she had to save them! "And... why are you trapped here as well?"
Tourmaline scoffed. "You honestly believe, after all that back there, that I am still under the pretense of getting to live a life of freedom? BAH! If Onyx is the one father wanted to use for his plans, then I would much rather be somewhere where she isn't. And the nag could sense that in me. So, she dragged me in here and gooped me up. With YOU."
His irritation was evident, and he glared at Obsidian as she asked about the others. "My reason for caring about them is smaller than Onyx's capacity for mercy; she has them, all of them, at her stage in the center of Ponyville..."
He suddenly smiled. "Oh! And if you're expecting the remaining Elements of Harmony to save you, don't bother," he rolled his eyes, "Amethyst has already done her job, and they now work for Onyx. ALL of them."
He struggled in his bonds. "I'd ask you to get me down... but I'm fairly certain you would laugh at me for asking."
All of them? Uh-oh... hopefully there was still only ONE dead Element of Harmony at the moment - everything would be far, far easier if the rest were merely mind controlled, not murdered and zombified like an Umbral.
So Obsidian just had to get back into Ponyville without stumbling into any Umbral armada along the way, save her friends, save the Elements of Harmony and cruelly murder Onyx...
At least ONCE it would be very, very nice to have something SIMPLE and not SUICIDAL as a quest!
Maybe she should try to escape, just as Tourmaline tried? She wasn't really sure how she was still able to walk and breathe at the same time, considering how many stupid choices she'd made lately. Her horn flashed as she targeted the solid ichor trapping her brother.
"I'm FAR beyond the point of laughing, brother - QUITE far! Now, escape... I'll keep Onyx entertained for a moment or two, until she gets bored with torturing me, so you should have plenty of time to make a hasty retreat." Now, where was the exit..?
The blast smashed the hardened ichor... but the blast itself was an interesting thing. Dreams often didn't exist in reality, because they were, well, dreams. Flights of fancy borne upon the sleeping mind. It was foolish to believe that anything that happened in a dream was to exist in the real, waking world. And yet, the blast that popped Toumaline free was a twin rope of black and white energy, twined together like the one she'd used in the dream realm!
Tourmy fell from the wall, then popped up in shock. "That... that... where did you learn that!? Grey Magic? But that doesn't EXIST anymore!"
"Honestly, I really hope Onyx underestimates me as much as you do, dear brother of mine," Obsidian said with a straight face... though honestly, she was just as surprised as he was - though she was hiding it better. It was a nice bonus, though she would prefer to just keep the Light amulet and go straight to Ponyville, glowing with an ungodly amount of energy and blasting darkness right and left.
Being able to control both sides of power was nice - but at the moment she'd prefer quality over quantity. It felt exceedingly satisfying to just evaporate an entire Umbral horde at once, after all. "You should be fine. Now, which way do I go to get quickly to Ponyville?"
Tourmaline stared at her for a moment. "You... really aren't like the rest of us, are you? Ruby kept saying you were 'different', but I had no clue how different... until now, that is." He looked as though he were sizing her up for the first time, honestly gauging her as she was, instead of what he'd believed her to be.
"... South," he eventually said, "Ponyville is to the south from here. And don't worry about the Umbrals - when Amethyst finally got Twilight Sparkle, she rerouted all of them to her location; this place should be clear of them."
He stepped towards the door, then looked back at her again. "If... are you going to take over? I mean, if you defeat Onyx somehow... what then? Will you take her place? Turn everything back over to the Equestrians? What will you do?"
Obviously, Obsidian was different from them, especially from Onyx - she was at the moment victorious, while Obsidian herself seemed to be suffering failure after failure. Honestly, if her dear sister wouldn't make threatening her friends a habit, Siddy could just give up at the moment... but noooooo; apparently her the oldest sister was too stupid to just kill her or simply live and let her live, without giving her any new reasons to stand against her! It was almost as if Onyx really, really wanted to be sure that Obsidian wouldn't get bored of fighting with her!
"Oh, so Amethyst got free of my magical blockade? Interesting, Onyx seemed to imply that without magic she is useless." Hopefully Obsidian wouldn't have to go out of her way to spare her AGAIN.
Apparently, Tourmaline believed more in Obsidian than she herself did - at least it seemed he assumed she could win this fight.
"I liked the Light amulet of mine, so I'll probably try to get it for myself in a more permanent manner; I won't take her place, that's for sure - I consider all of her last actions quite ineffective and wasteful, and her goal of bringing back the rotted Umbrals is rather unsavory as well. At the moment, I just want to be sure she won't use another creature as a tool - ever again."
He nodded, as if he expected something like that. "Yes, well... were you considering taking over, I might have joined your cause, sister... but I am no creature of Light. There is far too much darkness inside me to ever bear being a 'goody-goody', such as YOU apparently are."
He turned back to face the doorway. "Still... I actually, honestly hope you find what you seek, Obsidian. And I also hope it's worth all the time and effort you've put into it. Go, face your destiny. And I... shall face mine." With that, he walked out, leaving her there alone in this cavern to do as she pleased. Eventually, the sound of his hooves on stone faded away.
Truthfully speaking, she was still too inexperienced to take over, but she was sure that Light didn't always have to be used for good. There had to be a way to turn Equestria into a kingdom basking in her glorious light, right?
Not that she really planned to do it. It was just a random thought, a reaction to being called 'goody-goody'. She just wanted to make a big, painful imprint of her hoof on Onyx's flank, get back everypony alive and then get some well-deserved sleep! It wasn't 'good'! If anything, it was practically selfish! The nerve of him... 'goody-goody', indeed; she wasn't a 'goody-goody'! Rrrrrgh...
First things first. She can be annoyed about that later.
South, south... now she just had to figure out which direction south was, preferably with the use of magic to do it as quickly as possible - and then start running.
It actually wasn't difficult to locate, once she got outside... the ominous black clouds over Ponyville were a dead giveaway. At a gallop, it took her about five minutes to reach the borders of the little village, and another two to reach the town center.
Upon arrival, she got a much better idea of how bad things had gotten; the 'stage' in the middle of town had completely flattened the pretty fountain that had once been there. It rose in layers, like the stone dias in the cavern, and was splashed with black ichor and red blood. In a cage next to it, Obsidian saw the tied-up forms of her friends; both Cupcake and Thunderclap had gags in their mouths, but the rest were simply exchanging worried looks as they seemed to have all formed a barrier around Gypsy, tight enough to where no one could see him. Hopefully, he was okay...
Onstage was an enormous Dark Crystal shard, and guess who was standing close by, holding both the Light and Dark amulets in her hooves?
"... and I beseech the power within to grant my wish, heed my calling, and return Sombra from the grave he so woefully was forced into... bring Life back to the conqueror who ruled an Empire with his black hoof... lead him to arise! Arise! ARISE!"
Standing off to one side was a very subdued and cowed Amethyst, who watched with a mixture of excitement and personal horror at what was unfolding in front of her, her horn notably free of the sealing spell Obsidian had put on her. Surrounding the entire affair was a circle of Umbrals, standing shoulder to shoulder, about seven deep - a barrier wall of undeath, prepared to fight anything that wasn't aligned with their Mistress. Onyx continued to chant and gesture with the necklaces.
Oh, great - Obsidian was in a wonderful place to admire the end of Equestria, decapitated with a single, decisive strike into its heart, with its' government in the hooves of the conqueror, its' defenders shackled... and with said conqueror summoning an even bigger fish, just to be sure that Equestria wouldn't have a single chance to get up after all these kicks it received lately.
Really, there should be walls around Ponyville... and far more soldiers. A barracks worth or two... even three. Placing a ruling princess's palace in an undefended village was a bad idea... but where was Discord? Celestia and Luna? Reinforcements from Crystal Empire, ruled by the usurper? Did nopony want to stop Onyx?
Now, could she just... sneak closer to the cage with her friends inside?
As she snuck closer, she got the feeling she was being watched... but fortunately, that feeling was correct due to the fact that her friends saw her! The looks of relief and hope passed between them as they all looked over to her... well, except the diamond dog; she still couldn't see him. But it was obvious they were overjoyed to see her.
Get us out, mouthed Mica.
Stop Onyx, mouthed Wart.
Meanwhile, though none of the Umbrals made any motion towards Obsidian, Amethyst's head suddenly jerked around as she began looking pointedly in Obsidian's direction; she hadn't seen her yet, but she could obviously sense her, at least somewhat.
Obsidian managed to get around to the side of the circle closest to her friends... but there were still several layers of undead between her and them at the moment.
Obviously, Obsidian was going to listen to Stalwart, and the best way to stop Onyx would be... ding, ding, ding, correct answer! Rescuing her friends!
How to do it, however, was a completely different issue. The current strategical position of the Equestrians and their allies was somewhat lackluster. The most important ponies here were already defeated and/or caged, there was an undead armada between Obsidian and the captured, and even despite the fact that Onyx was busy with her little chanting there was still the matter of Amethyst, who had a few reasons to dislike her younger sister and was most likely still sore about it. Wonderful.
Maybe there was some lamp oil in one of the nearby houses, and she could-... no, it would take too much time. Too bad she couldn't just use the lovely Light amulet to destroy the entire zombie army at once - but considering what little she had to work with, it was her best option at the moment. So she started to cast the undead-destroying spell, hoping it would be enough.
Before, Obsidian had the Light amulet around her neck, and had been emptied of all darkness... which meant the spell had been supercharged when it was cast before, and had decimated the Umbrals almost instantly.
This was not the same circumstance.
It was difficult at first; she had to work to get the first sparks of the spell going, due to the fact that she was no longer a paragon of Light... however, sure enough, she felt the spell building up and gaining strength as she concentrated.
"Return from beyond the veil, o Sombra! Return and bring forth your mighty power to RULE all of Equus! Bring back the darkness! Bring us into your fold!" Onyx kept chanting, still gesturing with the amulets and practically begging Father to come back to them. Amethyst was there onstage, pacing nervously as she both admired and feared her sister. "The covenant of Harmony is over! There shall be no saviors for Equestria this time! The Elements of Harmony have been broken, and there shall be none to stand in your way! Come home to us, and let us bask in your glory once again!"
The spell was almost complete... but it was still nowhere near the power level she would need to take out the whole wall of them; she might, however, be able to at least clear a path to her friends.
"... and you can come out now; I know you're here..."
DAMNATION! How did she always seem to know when-
"... draconequus."
Oh? What was this?
Slowly, the serpentine form of Jynx faded into view, coiled atop one of the nearby buildings... and she looked terrified; she still stood defiantly and glared at Onyx.
"You... took my father! I couldn't j-just stand here and do NOTHING!" Her voice sounded somewhere between an angry scream and a cowardly whine.
"You mean," Onyx smiled wickedly, "other than wetting yourself in fear?"
Jynx's glower grew harder, and she began to blush. "THAT was a coincidence, nothing more! I'd had a lot to drink, and I was, uh, coughing! Yeah, COUGHING!"
Onyx chuckled wryly. "Your power is sealed; I fear you not."
BY HARMONY-DAMNED DARKNESS, how Onyx could defeat a DRACONEQUUS? For that matter, two of them? And in the process, making one of them wet herself? Considering that poor Gypsy almost suffered the same fate when Jynx appeared near them, Obsidian could hardly feel any empathy towards her.
However, she was a nice distraction - Obsidian was truly grateful for that. Bah, Onyx had even stopped chanting! If she only had, say, a longbow, she could just snipe Onyx and it would all be done with.
Well, here goes nothing, Obsidian thought as she threw the prepared spell at the zombies - and braced herself to charge into the opening to reach the cage.
The blast was... different... than before. The wave of energy that came from her was both black and white in color; the white energy seemed to sap away the Umbrals' power, while the black energy ripped them apart! No, it wasn't as complete a destruction as the last time she'd cast it... but the path between herself and the cage was now clear.
Onyx's head snapped to face Obsidian as if it were spring-loaded. "OBSIDIAN!"
And that was when the draconequus launched herself at Onyx. However, before she could reach the dias, Amethyst's horn flashed, and a larger version of a Slave Helmet appeared over Jynx's head, and attempted to fasten itself down onto her.
Onyx turned to face her sister, and completely ignored the draconequus as she focused on what she perceived to be the greater threat. "Are you seriously trying to outfox me? Truly?" She began to walk slowly and calmly towards Obsidian, her own horn and eyes glowing with dark, pulsing red energy. "You utterly foolish idiot - you could have merely left here, walked away... and yet, here you are, no doubt trying to-"
"NYAAAAAHHHHH!! SHUT UP!" Jynx said, struggling to keep the helmet off her head, and snapped her claws.
Onyx smiled broadly. "I told you, you cannot affect me - I've had Chaos Magic sealed against me, thanks to your slave of a father. Stop. Trying."
"I can't... affect... YOU..." Jynx groaned as she struggled, "... but... I can affect... other things!" She snapped again, and the humongous Dark Crystal shattered into slivers.
Onyx's glare turned deathly cold. "You... overgrown... worm..."
A bolt of pure red hatred blasted from her horn and hit the draconequus full-on in the chest. Granted, it wasn't enough to kill the creature... but it was enough for the Slave Helmet to finally lock into place; Jynx went limp. Onyx's smile was like rock-solid ice, and her eyes were the North Winds.
Wonderful; on one hoof, her plan had certainly worked somewhat... yet on the other, she was obviously noticed. And on the third hoof, Jynx turned out to be a bit more useful than Obsidian thought by shattering the big crystal shard - which, as Obsidian assumed, was a very good thing that could delay Onyx's plans a bit longer. Of course, on the fourth hoof, Jynx was now turned into Amethyst's puppet.
Now that Obsidian was out of hooves, she could at the very least dash towards the cage while charging her horn to shatter the doors to her friends' prison in the simplest possible way.
The blast from her horn, black entwined with white, smashed the front door of the cage into splinters. Her friends stood up, all five of them slipping their ropes off; so THAT was why they'd been backed against Gypsy - he'd freed them all from their ropes with his sharp digging claws!
In a moment, all five of her friends were beside her. Clap, Gypsy, Mica, Wart and Cup. All together again. With their close proximity and the swell of their emotions, Siddy could feel that tingling in her horn again - even though she wasn't wearing the amulet!
Onyx, however, simply laughed mockingly. "Truly? I have to say, this is the BEST joke I've dealt with all day... Amethyst, if you please?"
Amethyst squeezed her eyes shut, and Slave Helmets appeared over Obsidian and all her companions.
"Now, I wonder who I'll have 'volunteer' to be eaten first?" Onyx cooed with obvious relish in her voice.
The helmets dropped... but all five of them were holding them back; physically holding the helmets as far away from themselves as they could, they all struggled and fought against them. Amethyst was sweating profusely, concentrating with all her might to bring those capture caps down on all their heads...
Until Tourmaline tackled her from behind, when all the helmets vanished.
It was actually a well-thought plan on Onyx's part to both throw her friends into a cage and tie them up - after all, it surely decreased their chances to free themselves... but even though it eventually failed, it was still a decent idea. It was also a novel idea to have a pony able to enslave others at her side. Plus, the zombie horde was a good measure.
Well, let's be honest, here - Onyx was crazy-prepared, while Obsidian had nothing but her luck and the 'fairy magic' of Friendship, and was making rather rash decisions that, if the world would be fair, should have already killed her.
Luckily, it seemed that the universe was amused by her antics.
But now, she didn't have too many options; she had her friends, and she could use magic, and she knew a few spells... she just hoped it would be enough. She focused on the tingling in her horn - trying to charge enough power to cast a spell that could possibly block Onyx's Dark Magic.
Onyx gave her a look. "Wait... are you trying to actually win???" She laughed uproariously... then, the red magic around her horn began to billow out around her, until she simply began walking on the cloud of red energy, making her way into the air for about a meter of two before stopping and smiling at her with wickedly sharp teeth.
"Well then, little froggy... let's see you jump!"
"HO-KAAAAY!" Cupcake yelled before whipping out his party cannon and firing it directly at her. A shotgun-blast of red bricks flew out and pelted the unicorn, making her cry out in surprise and anger... and maybe even a little pain, too.
"I will have your head for that!" she screamed at Cup.
"Why do you want it; 'cause yours is so far up your flank, you need a replacement!?" he retorted.
Multiple beams of angry red energy shot out of Onyx's horn, aimed for the lot of them... and smacked into Obsidian's shield, dissipating harmlessly.
The mare roared in rage. "NO! You had none of this power earlier! What did you DO!?"
Clap smirked. "She got friends, ya blowhard!"
Onyx now sent a torrent of beams their way, rapid-fire, and every one of them smashed on the shield that protected them all, doing no damage to them whatsoever. The shield, with each impact, manifested as an orb that was white with black waves rolling up the sides, and the red bolts made black ripples... but no holes.
"Way to go, Obsidian!" Mica piped up. However, the assault Onyx was making was draining Obsidan's magic; she couldn't keep the shield up forever.
Well now, her Friendship-powered shield turned out to be far more durable than Obsidian thought - and it seemed that protecting others with these things really was her specialty. However, no battle was ever won by defense alone, especially when enemy had so much magic in reserve.
"Gypsy... could you somehow collapse the stage?" Obsidian struggled to mutter while upholding her shield. They had to attack, and if Gypsy was going to succeed, they should distract Onyx, right? Or, er... distract her even more?
"Hey, Onyx, how does it feel to be the ugliest mare in the family?" Okay, maybe that was a bit lame.
Gypsy nodded vigorously, then grinned like a shark as he dove directly into the ground below him, leaving a hole where he went underground. Onyx continued the assault, but gave Obsidian a look that told her the jibe was ineffective.
However, Clap came to her rescue. "Naw, Siddy, like this: Hey Onyx, with a face like yours, you should style your tail and walk backwards - it'd be an improvement!"
It was good to have an underground fighter able to suddenly attack from each side and turn the soil itself against their enemies. Considering the entire situation, it was a wonderful strategic addition.
"No wonder you couldn't summon back our Father - it's obvious he would prefer the serenity of death to seeing the failure named Onyx!" At first Obsidian was going to just say that death was preferable to looking at her ugly muzzle - but in the current situation, it would sound a bit too grim for Siddy and her friends.
"I am NOT a FAILURE!!!" Onyx screeched before she sent a HUGE wave of blasts at Obsidian; the shield buckled, but still held strong.
"That's the way, girl!" Clap proudly proclaimed. "Make her feel like the manure she is!"
"How DARE you! As much as I've done, as hard as I've been working, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DECLARE ANYTHING ABOUT ME!" Apparently, Obsidian's insult had touched a nerve - in a BIG way.
"Oh, I have all the right! I've been crafted to look like Father's best friend - but you were crafted to be an eyesore! You are just an ineffective prototype! A lesson for our father to avoid repeating the same mistakes as he made with you!"
Hopefully Gypsy would deal some serious damage to the stage's physical stability before Obsidian would completely ruin Onyx's mental stability and kill them all in the process, as it seemed that Onyx was taking it rather personally.
"Prototype? PROTOTYPE!? All YOU are is a desperate shot at wish-fulfilment because Father wanted her back! I was the first! The greatest! The most intelligent and powerful!"
"What you are is one of the biggest windbags I've ever seen!" Clap spoke up louder. "Is your plan to talk us to death? 'Cause, with that case of Halitosis you're nursing, it just might work! Might do you some good to stop feeding yourself your own manure!"
There was a dull rumble, and the dias settled slightly to one side... then seemed to be sinking into the dirt slowly, with Onyx still atop it.
"You are a disgrace to our family! A disgrace to our Father! A disgrace to those stupid slaves of yours!" Onyx howled as the rage settled into place on her muzzle, making her ignore the tilt of the dias beneath her.
There was a yell, and the struggling forms of Tourmaline and Amethyst both rolled into view, both of them slinging hooves, biting, spitting on and otherwise being exceedingly unfriendly towards one another. They slammed each other into the floor, rolling on the ground like puppies at play. Harsh play.
"WILL you two stop!?" Onyx yelled at them both, but their fight continued. The mare pointed a hoof at them, turning to Obsidian. "Even these two are still worth more to me than you ever were!"
To prove her point, she turned and blasted them both, sending each one sprawling across the dirt, Amethyst on her back and gasping for air, and Tourmaline face down and shuddering in pain. "... and if I'll do that to them... imagine what I have in store for all of YOUUUUUUU!!!"
Then, with a muffled crack, the entire dias shifted to the left, sinking into the dirt a few meters on that side. So tilted, Onyx stumbled and fell from the dias... only to catch herself with the red magic, and lift up into the air with pure murder on her muzzle.
"You shall not live to see another day!"
That threat wasn't anything new, actually - considering that Onyx once tried to imprison her in an eternal nightmare, where she would have rescure her friends again and again, a mere death threat was an improvement. But there was still a chance she could make good on it; Onyx, just like always, was being the most stupid sister and boss ever, and hopefully it was going to bite her in the flank once again.
"Company - to the side!" Obsidian yelled, moving with her shield towards her two fallen siblings. One of them was - more or less - friendly after all, while Amy was... uh... well, they shared blood right? So Siddy should care about her too... at least a bit. Luckily they were both hurt by Onyx, so they might not be in the mood to backstab them.
The group moved as one, keeping close to Siddy while she scooted her way over to her siblings. They reached Amethyst first... and found her with a rictus of agony on her muzzle. Behind her, just below where her stomach would be, was a black steel dagger, sticking out of her back in almost the exact same place she'd stabbed Ruby at. Her pain was visible as they got near, and Mica stepped towards her.
"This way," he said, "I have some first aid training; I can try to see to her... if that's what you want, Siddy." Gypsy, meanwhile, popped out of the ground behind her and kept his head down as the others stood nearby.
Well, well, well... wasn't that some ironic yet poetic justice? To be fair, Obsidian briefly thought about just leaving the blade in place, or maybe even shoving it in a wee bit deeper - but alas, she was fully aware that Amethyst wasn't guilty of killing Ruby. No, that was only Onyx's fault - blaming Amethyst was just about as logical as blaming the blade itself.
Besides, Obsidian still wanted to see her words come true, with Amethyst surrounded by friendship, laughter and happiness... even if there was that tiiiiiiiny bit of malice that was making Siddy second guess it.
"Yes please, Mica - I'd do it myself, but..." she gestured towards the shield. Now she had something to look forward to, something so ironic that she couldn't possibly ever repeat it - the hateful dagger stuck in her older sister. Hopefully non-lethally, but well... accidents DID happen, yes?
"We don't have to be afraid of you, Onyx! You are just a damnable thief - stealing books, stealing amulets, stealing the lives of ponies better than your worthless, sorry hide! But don't you worry, sister - just give up and I promise to be lenient!"
At the moment, her shield was working quite well, and the angrier Onyx was getting, the more mistakes she would make... hopefully.
"Gypsy, is there any chance you could get to Jynx, perhaps? And where is Princess Twilight?" Obsidian asked, gritting her teeth to keep the shield powerful enough to withstand whatever came next.
Onyx's cheeks flushed crimson. "Stealing lives!?" She suddenly grinned sweetly. "Thank you for reminding me..." She threw her head back and bellowed, "DESTROY THEM!"
The remaining Umbrals now moved as a wall of undead, crowding in on all sides and pushing the shield to its' limits. Obsidian could feel herself sweating; this can't hold for much longer!
Mica moved to Amethyst and, despite her feeble protests, he began to check her over and do what he could - which, admittedly, wasn't much without at least bandages. He could possibly try to heal her... but she had no idea if he even knew how to heal others with magic; he WAS an earth pony, after all.
"Lady Siddy!" Wart called out, "allow me to leave the shield, and I shall carve us a path!"
"Are you nuts?" Clap said in response, "you're good, but not THAT good! Let ME out, Sids; I'll make short work of that worthless nag!"
Well, Obsidian didn't really think about the Umbrals; after all, they didn't exactly have any life to steal - they were merely animated bodies and so on. Too bad Onyx was too stupid to undertand what her younger sister said. Unfortunately, it also meant that they couldn't get to Jynx, and she still didn't know where the princess was! If only she could give the task of shield upkeep to another pony...
There were so many things Obsidian could do - heal Amethyst, cast her anti-undead spell and so on - but instead, she was stuck there on defense, and forced into a corner.
"No! No trading lives, no splitting up the group! We are together, whilst she is alone! Cupcake, do you think you could help me with the shield?"
Cupcake looked at her with a nervous glance, which was quite different than she was used to seeing from him. "Ummmm... I can t-t-try?"
His horn lit up with that weird 'white with sprinkles' energy, and Obsidian instantly felt some relief as the burden of the shield was shared with Cup. "A-am I doing it right?"
Meanwhile, both Wart and Clap seemed a bit disappointed that they weren't given any leeway to kick some undead flank, but both nodded at her explanation, and neither of them argued the point - they trusted Siddy with their lives.
As the Umbrals continued to rally around them, they shuffled their way over to Tourmaline... who was groaning and bleeding from his mouth and left ear as they got close enough for Mica to check him over. "... don't... touch... m-me..."
"Quiet, you," Mica muttered, "I'm only here because Obsidian wishes it; if it were up to me, you'd just keep lying there. Now, hold still..."
Onyx looked like the poster child for Unadulterated RAGE... and then, the necklaces around her throat began to glow.
"... wait... it worked... IT WORKED!" She began to laugh, sounding more like utter relief than madness. "Father is returning to us! He heard my call, oh it worked!"
The unicorn mare actually locked eyes with Obsidian... and surprisingly enough, she was so excited that she didn't even seem to bother hating her; she was just so happy that her actions had worked that she didn't even seem to care who it was she shared the moment with. Sadly, it was a fleeting glimpse of what might have been, if Onyx hadn't been so vile. "Oh, he's coming! I can feel it!"
Obsidian's problems were about to get much, much bigger - in fact, it was a problem for the entire realm of Equestria! Just a mere day ago, she would have been thrilled to see her father once again... but today? In this very specific set of circumstances? After seeing that her sister was a stupid flankface? Well, her enthusiasm was somewhat diminished...
But she wasn't going to suffer this parody of a mare winning!
So, with all the desperation from their situation, with her anger at Onyx for being an awful sister and leader, her extreme desire to erase that smile from her muzzle, the hope that she could ever defeat her older sister, and the connection she felt to her friends... she once again powered up her horn, to shoot a magic blast straight at Onyx.
Chances of one in million work in nine cases out of ten, right?
The shot fired out from Obsidian's horn and went straight at Onyx... and was split in two, and sucked into the amulets evenly.
Onyx gave an actual, fillyish giggle at that. "Obsidian... we've WON! Don't you see it? Father is... he's coming BACK! It's what we've always wanted! He'll return, and he'll set things as they should be, and you and I - we'll BOTH be sitting by his sides! No more disasterous mishaps or Equestrian meddling..."
She stepped back, both pendants glowing brightly - one blue, one red - and the necklaces floated up from around her neck, orbiting her head for a moment before they both gave up an orb of energy that floated around lazily.
"Siddy! What the Tartarus is THAT!?" Clap asked in bewilderment.
The orbs pulsed and sang with a keening vibration. They floated in lazy circles around Onyx's head for a moment before they both shot like bullets into her barrel. She gasped, then held her chest for a moment.
"Oh..." She gave a small grin. "Oooh, that kind of tick-"
>BLORTCH!<
Onyx exploded like a water balloon filled with blood, stuck with a pin. Blood and vile gore went in every direction, coating Siddy and her friends in a layer of... well, a layer of Onyx. And standing there, right where she had been...
"YESSSSSSSSSSSssssssss..."
Was King Sombra, The Slave Lord of the Crystal Empire.
"... oh manure," said Cupcake. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Forty: Sombra | The alarming dissonance in Onyx's behaviour was striking - just a moment ago, she was screaming madly about Obsidian's incoming cruel punishment and was treating their other two siblings like dirt... and yet, she was now speaking as if they would all join him; in all honesty, she would have saved herself a LOT of trouble if she would have behaved that way since the beginning, and wouldn't have given Obsidian all the reasons she accumulated to dislike her - from Ruby's fate to trapping her in the Nightmare Spell.
Obsidian really had no idea if she would even want to continue fighting if Onyx would simply apologize for using her and show her even the smallest sign of gratitude for helping... unknowingly or not. It would surely also help if the eldest of Sombra's spawns wouldn't threaten to eat or wear all of Siddy's friends! Luckily, Obsidian never had an opportunity to test her real allegiances and whether she would choose her friends over her family...
But right now it didn't matter - they had lost.
Completely and utterly lost, and no matter how much Obsidian was getting desperate, angry, furious or just plain frustrated that Onyx won ONCE AGAIN, she could - at best - hope that her older sister would retain that good mood for a long time...
Sadly, that good mood had only lasted until her rather messy and explosive end; at least she died happy.
Meanwhile her poor, surviving sibling was left seriously traumatized by that unexpected turn of events. Obsidian had expected a number of possible things - that their Father would use Onyx's body as his own, that the remnants of the Dark Crystal destroyed by Jynx would form a new body for him... Tartarus, she wouldn't have been too surprised if Tourmaline, maybe Amethyst (though she was rather heavily wounded) or even Obsidian herself would suddenly find their minds completely suppressed by their parent.
She most certainly didn't expect such a gruesome end of Onyx's life, especially in her finest hour!
Obsidian started to feverishly clean herself of her sister's remains - though she stopped when she heard the VOICE. It seemed that they had all woken up from one nightmare into yet another one. This one, however, was quite real; would her father even recognize her? She looked a bit different than she used to, courtesy of the amulet of Light. However, this could turn out in her favour - after all, she was sculpted to look like a pony her most honourable father once knew...
Obsidian did the very first thing that instincts told her - she bowed.
The mighty monarch's eyes swept the entire area, and eventually focused on Obsidian and her friends. He stared for only a moment before he spoke again.
"Chains," was all he said, and his horn gave off an eerie purple glow. From the ground erupted manacles and chains that instantly locked around the necks and limbs of her five companions, and they were all jerked to the floor, all forced to bow before him as Obsidian was doing of her own accord.
She heard Clap and Wart struggling to pull themselves up, but to no avail. Gypsy began to whimper softly. Mica was silent, staring at Sombra intensely. Cupcake's eyes were wide, and he also stared... but not at Sombra. He was staring at Obsidian, the question in his eyes being 'will you let this happen?'
Now, with the interlopers captured, the tyrant finally turned to look at her, his gaze being heavier and more powerful than she had even remembered. "You. You are the one named Obsidian." He looked around, then returned his eyes to her. "Explain this situation we have returned into."
Truthfully, her friends really should stop struggling so much; it wasn't as though Onyx was more, uhm... 'defeatable'; as far as Obsidian was concerned, her Father was the most powerful pony in the known world. There was little point in resisting in such an undignified way. Would it hurt their pride so much to bow, as she had? At least he had recognized her in an instant.
"Most of my siblings are lost, my most honourable Father; Tourmaline, Amethyst and myself are the only known ones to have survived. The current leadership of Equestria has apparently been soundly defeated by Onyx, but their whereabouts are unknown to me. She also raised an army of undead Umbrals for you."
She stopped for a moment. "I've been fighting with her, but I could only prolong the battle, at best. Was... w-was her death an expected outcome, my most honourable Father?" She dared to question him and his actions - what a fool she was!
He strode forward, his eyes rolling over her friends as she spoke, seeming to take them in and judge them silently. Why did that make her feel... tight inside? When she was done speaking, he looked back at her. "Of course; tools are made to be expendable; it matters not which one performed the act - the outcome was to be the same."
He stopped at the diamond dog, staring. "These... Equestrians..." He said it as if it were a distasteful word. "Why are they here? What purpose are these, that they are not with the rest of our slaves already?"
Ah, so she was just a tool to him - that was good to know. When Onyx had been insinuating that, Obsidian had been furious - they were supposed to be siblings... maybe not so much as equals, but at least they should have shared a similar position. However, King Sombra had made them himself; it was his right to use them as he pleased, was it not?
So... why Obsidian was starting to feel it was wrong of him to say such? It would mean that he killed Onyx only for his own gains... killing a real, sentient pony merely to restore himself. And it was just blind luck that Obsidian wasn't in her situation. Maybe he created them, but... how much power over them all did it actually give him?
It was a heretical thought - her father was supposed to be perfect - thus, his choices and ideas were supposed to be perfect as well. "They are with me; they are my friends, my most honourable Father."
His head swiveled to face her, quick as lightning.
"NEVER use that word! NEVER! Friendship is a word of Equestria - a word of those who DETHRONED us! A word-"
He stared at Obsidian c-l-o-s-e-l-y for a moment... then frowned. "A word that YOUR appearance brings forward. But we do not want this word used... EVER... in our presence. Friends are NOT to be tolerated; they shall be slaves, and nothing more... as they SHOULD be."
With that, his horn began to glow again, and green eldrich fire began to roll up from the ground through the chains. When that fire reached her friends, they all screamed in agony.
"They will be conditioned. They will OBEY," he spoke grimly.
Their screams grated on her ears, and felt as though they were tearing at her heart.
"They will be worthy slaves, and you will put them to work for us. We now assume control of ALL we survey here, and we care not for the supposed welfare of anything we own - including YOU - to speak of any form or sort of 'friendship' they may be under the delusion that they possess."
As she watched, the eyes of her friends began to take on the same greenish glow that their chains were putting off. Along with this, Obsidian could feel another tingle in her... but this tingle was not nice or empowering; it hurt. It hurt horribly, as if every single terrible thing she'd experienced previously was mere peanuts compared to what was happening right in front of her.
Clap's eyes suddenly flashed green... and she stopped struggling. Slowly, she lowered herself to the floor, bowing deeply and staying stock still. Like a good and proper slave... and completely unlike Thunderclap Dash.
And with that occurrence, something inside Obsidian howled in helpless anger.
He seemed somewhat more lenient than Obsidian remembered him to be... but maybe it was because her most prominent memories were about her lessons - and, by Darkness, King Sombra expressed such hatred with any failings while teaching her magic. However, by modern standards, even a more lenient King Sombra was still somewhat tyrannical...
And he was hurting her friends. Her friends! They weren't tools or slaves, and it would be a waste to use them in that manner!
"... a-and then what will happen, Father? Equestria is yours - and I assume that the Crystal Empire will be next to witness your return, correct? What then shall be next? What is your ultimate goal?"
"EVERYTHING," he growled, "is our goal! Our new kingdom shall span as far as exists! It shall ALL be under our hoof, to crush and use as we please..." He swept a hoof out, indicating everything around him. "And we SHALL crush a number of them - as they believe we are no threat to them! There shall be examples to be made, yesssssss... and once it all comes into our control, we shall be known as MASTER to one and all, and we shall rule however we wish to."
At this point, there was another flash from behind them, and now Gypsy Rover's eyes began to glow as the diamond dog slowly bowed and acquiesced to Sombra's control. Two down, three to go.
"You... seem to have many questions," he frowned. "Are you so ignorant of our rule, or... do you DARE to have something other than our complete control on your mind?" Her head told her to be wary of how she answered him, even as her heart wanted to scream at him to stop hurting her friends.
Just... the utter conquest of everything? Conquest for the sake of conquest? No further goals but complete control over the entire world? It was hardly a worthy ending - there had to be something else... something more worthy of her most hon-... of her Father. After all, merely ruling over everything in sight with no other goals would just be a terrible headache.
"You've crafted me as a sentient creature, my most... honourable... Father, so I'm doing my best to observe, learn and understand - in this particular case, I am merely hoping to understand what wisdom lies behind your motives and your life."
Poor, poor Gypsy.
A bolt of energy lashed out of his horn, red as blood, and slashed across her barrel leaving no mark, but causing her searing pain. "You are a TOOL, and nothing more! You are not supposed to UNDERSTAND - merely OBEY. And we now charge you to OBEY us, and cease your questions - they serve no purpose, and we do not CARE if a tool understands its' place!"
He glowered at her a moment, then turned back to look at her (remaining) friends. "When we control ALL, there will no longer BE any questions... only OBEDIENCE from our SLAVES, our PROPERTY, our RIGHTFUL tools!"
As if to illustrate the point, a flash went off in Mica's eyes, and he slowly lowered himself into a bowing position, no longer fighting against control.
"Lady Obsidian!!!!" Wart cried out in pure agony.
Sombra turned to look at the tiny mare. "And what is this? This slave refers to you as royalty? Why? You were NEVER royalty - ONLY OUR TOOL. As you should be. This one is obviously deluded, or you have lied well."
His horn glowed brighter, and Wart let out a scream of pure pain. "It matters not. This slave's mind will be broken, and they will join the rest."
Cupcake's stare never wavered; he kept looking at Obsidian, as if waiting for her to stand up for them, to rescue them... even if he thought it impossible, he still seemed to have faith that she would stand up to her father. Was he mistaken?
Being told by your Father that you are just a tool, twice in a row, followed by a rather painful punishment was not a nice experience - especially considering that Obsidian, in a rather twisted way, had honestly loved him, and was craving his recognition and appreciation.
However, everything she had learned during few past days was clashing with the entire life she had experienced before. And no matter how much she was thinking about it, everything that her father was saying just seemed wrong - and his actions were even louder than his words.
Could a perfect being be mistaken? Could Obsidian get angry enough to stand against her Father, especially as it seemed that she had nothing to lose but her own chains?
Considering that she powered up her horn to slash at the chains holding her friends, the answer was, surprisingly, 'yes'.
She tried to cast a shield as well - her powers were obviously on a completely different level than her Father's... but she would like to at least enjoy her righteous anger for a moment.
"NOW I understand, dear Father; your reasons are so petty that I shouldn't even bother trying to learn them! Did you treat Radiant Hope in this manner as well? It must have been a very moving friendship..."
He'd killed her sibling. He'd hurt her friends. And it was WRONG.
If surprise was water, Sombra would have been soaked clean to the bone; he gawked as she slashed at the chains...
... and they shattered like glass under a lance of Dark and Light energy!
But he wasn't taken aback for long, oh no... The glow from his eyes and horn doubled and REdoubled again, and he hovered into the air, surrounded by violent Dark Magic. "YOU DARE!? You are our TOOL... and YOU DARE!?"
A ball of pure, black hate formed over his head, and he pointed a single hoof at Obsidian. The orb streaked forward and connected with her shield. The shield tore apart, but she'd been protected. However, it was all she could muster; she couldn't block another shot like that one - it was too powerful to withstand a second assault.
"Then we suppose YOU must learn your folly as well, tool! Allow us to SHOW you what you MEAN to US!!!"
A second blast came much too quickly for her to form even the smallest of shields... but, as it turned out, she didn't have to; Cupcake had leapt up, and thrust his party cannon right into the line of fire, between the two of them.
The blast slammed into the cannon's barrel... and blew it to pieces.
Cupcake landed next to Obsidian, and smiled at her. "I knew you wouldn't let him win. I just knew it! He's nothing but a big ol' MEANIE... and I'm glad you finally see it."
Sombra roared in anger, but Cup didn't even cower in the slightest; he had Siddy next to him, and that was all he needed to stand bravely against the coming storm.
"Slave Lord Sombra..." came the strong and sure voice of Stalwart Stance, "thou art craven and manipulative, lending nothing more to your legacy than tyranny and shame... yet WE stand defiant against thee! There is no spell, no chain and no darkness that can stand against the light of our fellowship, and thou art a FOOL for thinking thou hath bested us. And so standing, we STRIKE at thee, and aim to send thee back to the realm of dead things, where you fully belong!" She came and stood next to Obsidian and Cupcake, looking as mighty as the warrior she was, regardless of height.
"Nothing you put forward into this world," came the voice of Mica Chip, "has proven to be of any true value - save for Obsidian, and SHE is worth far more than YOU ever were, regardless of your callous teachings and in spite of your grip of control. She knows the TRUTH of you now, and she will no longer abide it." He moved next to them, actually grinning at her as he did.
"The history you have left behind is wrought only with pain and forced obedience, and is marked only by the fear you have caused," Gypsy Rover's voice sounded confident and stern... and, she noticed, was also stutter-free, "and the only worthwhile thing you ever brought into existence is now FULLY aware of what you truly are... and she defies you, you wicked tyrant!"
"And y'know," Thunderclap Dash added as she flapped over to them, hovering just over Siddy's head, "you SUCK, Sombrero. Your goals suck, your ideals suck, your attitude sucks, and you personally have to be the suckiest flankface I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. You have NO idea what Siddy's capable of now, because she doesn't have YOU holding her back!"
The lot of them stood there, all six together, and now Obsidian felt that tingle again... but it was far more than a tingle - it was a surge of power that filled her like the light from the rising sun; power beyond even what she'd known with the amulet, with her father, with anything else she'd ever seen or experienced up to now.
And now, she knew that power's name - it was the Power of Friendship, and it was flowing through her like water, strengthened by the fierce loyalty and love of her friends surrounding her, backing her as she made the toughest choice of her life - to stand against her Father, who she now realized was far from honourable.
"Have at you, vile fiend!" Wart growled.
Sombra howled in rage, and a MASSIVE blast of dark energy shot forth from him, as big around as a full-grown dragon! As she hastily cast up another shield, the blast surged forward, intent on turning the lot of them to cinders...
Yet Obsidian's new shield not only held it at bay... but the shot felt as weak as a simple gust of wind!
Truth to be told, Obsidian was surprised that her previous shield had managed to counter that first strike at all... and she was even more surprised that she survived the second strike - the time for mourning Cup's fallen cannon would come later.
The entire situation was getting even more surprising with each passing second, as not only all her friends came to help her, not only the third blow from her father turned out to be practically harmless... but Gypsy had stopped stuttering - in the face of the greatest Dark Magic user in known history! Just how could something like that be possible?
Not that she completely agreed with everything her friends were talking about; despite everything she just heard and witnessed, she still hadn't quite passed the point where she would aim to send him back to the other side, like Stalwart said (though far more eloquently).
The feeling of power surging within her was incredible... she doubted that her Father, in his quest for domination, magic and control, had ever felt anything like that!
"You are merely a slave to your own desires and Dark Magic, dearest Father of mine. You tried to dominate a world ruled by Harmony using nothing but Darkness, and failed twice already - and right now, it will be my pleasure to grant you your third loss! All you saw was a reflection of the stars in a pond, and thought they were real - but it's just your own foolish blindess."
Yes, she could be sophisticated as Tartarus too, if she wanted - and this particular moment was a perfect opportunity for that... especially as her shield was protecting her from any possible side-effects of badmouthing him.
She shortly nodded towards Tourmaline and Amethyst, casting a healing spell on them as they lay there stunned, their wounds beginning to heal and close.
"I WILL open your eyes, dear Father! I will force you to acknowledge us, I shall make you remember Radiant Hope..."
She actually smirked. "And when I beat you, I can get all your titles and belongings as the rightful heir, right?" Yes, even a touch of humour at this moment felt right.
"Well, my dear father... FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC." Her horn flashed - but she didn't have to kill him; after all, she knew a spell that would do just the trick nicely.
The glow that came from around her only cemented the fact of her own friendships being her power source, as each of her friends' cutie marks - and Gypsy's eyes - began to glow with magic.
"NO! It is IMPOSSIBLE! It cannot BE! You are a TOOL! NOTHING MORE!"
Tourmaline and Amethyst began to glow, and their wounds sealed up, the >Clank!< of the dagger falling from Amethyst's back being the true indicator of the healing effect. The two of them sat up and, the current scene becoming evident to them, both stared dumbfoundedly at the sight.
"NO!"
"Yes," said Mica.
"Yeah," said Clap.
"Eeyup!" said Cup.
"Of course," said Gypsy.
"Indeed," said Wart.
Obsidian's spell went off.
The effect was immediate, as twin beams of Light and Dark fired out from Obsidian's horn and enveloped the Slave King, whirling about his form as she watched his magics all being shut down; his eyes stopped misting, his horn's glow subsided, and he fell to the ground, unsupported by his magic.
The final sign was clear, as the whirlwind of Light and Dark energy coalesced onto his horn and, before her very eyes, turned it a solid black color. She could no longer feel even the slightest iota of magic from him.
And just like that, King Sombra was defeated, his magic sealed, his tyranny at an end at long last.
He staggered a bit where he stood. "... you... this... kill you... you... you cannot..."
Clap laughed. "I think she just did."
With that, Sombra pitched forward and passed out, hitting the ground like a sack of potatoes - out cold.
Now how was she supposed to be able to brag about her victory when he was unconscious? She couldn't! She'd have to wake him up and then force him to listen to her rant that she was better than him! After all, it took her only three days (and the personal Tartarus that Onyx had put her through) to best him, and his mastery of only Dark Magic had rendered him basically useless in the face of an opponent that could counter it... but no, he just HAD to pass out!
He had no idea how lucky he was.
"Well, my friends... I think that was possibly the worst family reunion ever - especially considering that we are still covered in Onyx's remains."
She thought for a moment. "Either her grave will have to be empty, or there will be a lot of very careful scrubbing involved. I still can't believe how smoothly you were speaking at the end, Gypsy! I hope you keep it up!"
Poor Onyx. To die in her moment of triumph... of course, Obsidian had been doing her best to rob her of that triumph - and had she succeeded, her sister might be still alive.
She looked around; there would be plenty of work to repair Ponyville, it seemed.
"We have to locate and gather the rest of ponies, and put my dear Father in a cell or something..." There was also the chance they'd need a cell for Tourmaline and Amethyst as well... though it was more probable for her sister - she didn't seem to show even a hint of remorse for her actions earlier, after all.
There was also the case of Jynx and her father... and was the magic of friendship able to resurrect dead ponies? Butter Churn was probably still quite upset about her mother's demise.
There were also still Umbrals hanging around; she could possibly learn how to control them, but did she truly want to? They turned out to be rather lousy soldiers, considering that a bunch of teenagers was able to wreck their army and force their way out and into the village... and just how in Tartarus were Obsidian and the gang still able to stand? It had been quite a while since they had rested or ate properly...
"But first... perhaps it would be time for a well-earned group victory hug?"
She was suddenly covered in her friends, all hugging her and laughing, crying, or both.
"Siddy, you were AMAZING! When you did the BOOM, and then the WHAMMO, followed by the BA-DINGGG! It was all, like, WOWEE! Family reunion or not, you were the belle of the ball, so to speak! YOWZA!" Cupcake was animated as he described her actions with sound effects rather than words.
"And that surprised you, Cuppers? Heh, it didn't surprise me, not for a minute - that's our Siddy!" Clap gave a grand laugh and then gave Obsidian a hearty pat on her back.
"This one... thanks you, Obsidian. You're our friend, and you've proven it beyond all d-doubt. We love you - all of us." Gypsy blushed, but meant every word he'd said.
"I admit," Mica began, "I wondered if this would be the point where you turned... but I'll say I was glad to see that you didn't. And somewhere inside, I think I knew you'd stay by us all along. Thank you for proving my earlier suspicions wrong." Mica wiped away a single tear, his face now more expressive than she'd ever seen it before.
"Lady Obsidian," Wart declared in her strong manner, "we are all greater for having you in our lives, as I hope we enrich your own. I have never served a royal more regal, more honourable than yourself. I salute you... my friend."
"Hey," Clap joked, "our friend, y'little dynamo!"
That's when Obsidian noticed three things:
The army of Umbrals were simply standing there, unmoving... looking at Obsidian. Every last one.
Amethyst and Tourmaline were looking at each other as if they were trying to decide to continue to attempt to kill one another or not.
And, one by one, the sound of slave helmets snapping in half repeated over and over again, echoing throughout all of Ponyville. Following this, a number of ponies (and other races) began to slowly issue from City Hall, all looking around curiously.
Obsidian pointed her hoof at Amethyst and Tourmaline. "If you so much as even TRY to kill each other, or anypony else, I'll do everything I can to turn your lives into a Tartarus of friendship, so much so that you will start each day with a song about how the whole world is beautiful, and you hold nothing but love for everyone," she threatened them, though with a rather tired voice.
Her two siblings both went wide-eyed at her threat, and they immediately scooted back from each other and rose to their hooves, pointedly looking at anything but Obsidian, obviously embarrassed at being put in their place... but not arguing one whit.
"And I love you too, guys; rest assured, Mica - I was very concerned about your well-being... I just hoped I could at least try to talk my dear Father into something less... you know, magical and deadly. Especially as apparently I look just like his only true friend."
No matter how much she thought about it, being crafted to look almost exactly like a dead mare sounded creepy to her... in fact, was Hope dead? Maybe she was still living in the Crystal Empire somewhere...
Obsidian looked at the Umbrals, unsure of what to do with them. "Drop dead, please," she asked them nicely as she started to power-up her anti-undead spell, just in case.
As soon as she spoke her command, every last one of them simply crumpled where they stood, becoming piles of dead flesh and muck. Ew. But at least they were no longer a threat... though maybe she should have asked them to return to the black waters and drop dead. Well, what's done was done, and they were no longer a threat.
Her friends all stared at the lot of the undead horde dropping like flies. "Uh, Sids?" Clap spoke up. "You... did that?"
"Are you all alright?" Twilight Sparkle, cut and bruised, but alive, made her way over to the lot of them, looking them over. "How... how? What happened?"
Cupcake smiled. "Friendship happened, DUH!"
"I... I didn't know they would listen! I wanted to turn them into dust, just like I did before..." Obsidian was somewhat embarrassed by this small accident. She didn't want to cast that spell without being at least a little bit snarky, but it seemed that she didn't have to tire her horn any further.
"Good evening, princess. Onyx won and brought back our father - who is right here," she pointed a hoof to the unconscious form of the former king. "We've friendshipped the Tartarus out of him and took away his magic; I suppose it means I am his main heir now... unless my erstwhile siblings would like to contest that?"
Let's be fair - Obsidian liked her appearance as an avatar of Light, or as an alicorn with her own version of her Father's banner. Maybe her claim was pointless, as her father didn't really have anything interesting to inherit from him... but she'd have some PRIDE about it!
Tourmaline and Amethyst actively didn't protest diddly-squat; they were making sure they didn't anger their sister at all.
Twilight Sparkle looked at the unconscious form of Sombra on the ground, then back up at Obsidian and her friends... and smiled. "Obsidian, you have saved all of Equestria from an insidious threat that could have spelled the end of us all. As far as I am concerned, you are a full-fledged citizen of Equestria, and are eligible for all the rights that includes. Even if you don't make a home here, you're always welcome as one of us."
"Now," she turned, looking about, "we have messes to clean up, homes to fix, and..." she swallowed back a lump in her throat, "funerals to arrange. It is time to rebuild, and personally, I would like for everyone to be a part of it."
She turned her smile on the young mare. "Especially you, Obsidian. And, if it's okay with you, I'd like to ask you about and study your Grey Magic; there hasn't been the like of anything in modern Equestrian history about it - and I'd like to add your knowledge to our Royal Library," she smiled, "and the position of Royal Librarian, by the way, has very recently become available, in case you're interested?"
So there probably wasn't some magical, friendship-y way to bring back the dead... Butter wouldn't be happy. Obsidian herself certainly wasn't happy about Ruby, though the shock was somewhat softened by the fact that she had barely known her, and spent far more time with her after her demise.
Too bad that the Light amulet was destroyed; it was the last remains of Ruby's will, after all. Her mirror surely stopped storing her darker personality as well, considering the amounts of energy she used.
"I... I think I am interested, princess - at least as long as it won't collide with my studying." It felt somewhat surreal, to be surrounded by a decaying mass of Umbrals, to have her defeated father nearby and to talk about studies and work...
Cupcake suddenly popped up in front of her and kissed her solidly, right on the lips! "I get the feeling," he grinned, "that things are gonna be okay; maybe not the best, hopefully not the worst... but okay."
"And that is... okay?" Wart questioned.
"It's fine and dandy!" Clap laughed.
"Absolutely." Mica grinned.
"G-good to hear it." Gypsy added. |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Forty One: Epilogue | "Hey," Cupcake nudged Obsidian from her dream, nuzzling her cheek to gently wake her up. "Hey, Siddy... time to wake up. Today's the day, and we have to meet with the others before we head to the show tonight!"
It had been two whole weeks since the events of that fateful day.
When she finally awoke, it was in the bed that she now shared with Cupcake; the Pie family had gladly accepted her, but it had taken only one week for them BOTH to tire of Pinkie's constant spying, so they'd moved into a house of their very own, using Cupcake's savings. Now, she got to wake up every day to Cup's snuggles - it was a paradise she hadn't expected.
"C'mon, sleepyhead," he teased gently, "if we don't make it on time, they're gonna be disappointed."
Could be worse... could be far worse. She was learning a lot, very quickly, and could only hope she'd catch up with the insanity called 'a normal modern life'. It didn't help that she had decided to have a crush on a pony who was basically the antithesis of her entire past life and, believe it or not, was one of the most normal ponies in his own family! At least she was cured of her phobias about being touched; if she'd still suffered from that, her life would have been completely, utterly insufferable.
"Yes, yes, I'm moving," she muttered, getting out of the bed and stretching. Maybe she should follow her habits from the good old days and spend some time fasting, training and doing anything she could to maintain physical and mental fitness?
Downstairs in the kitchen, the table was set with a number of Cup's culinary delights, all hoofmade - and one or two dishes made just for her, of course.
At the sink, Amethyst grumbled as she washed the dishes and pans, a rag in her hoof as the mare scrubbed them down. The grey horn on her head didn't even spark once; the ring she'd been ordered to wear meant her magic had been locked away until she 'redeemed herself', however long it would take.
"This would be so much easier if I had my magic, y'know," she groused.
Cup just grinned. "I'm sure... but you know you have to earn that right back. Auntie Twily's decision, don't you know? Just make sure you get it done before the ceremony - you are invited, you know."
"Yeah, I know," she growled, "don't rub it in." As she went on with her dishwashing, she gave Obsidian a slight look as she entered. "Did you get yesterday's homework assignment? 'Cause I have no clue what a 'crush' is, and I don't think I'll be able to write about the one in that miserable storybook until I figure it out! Why does this always happen to me?"
Cup grinned at Siddy. To be fair, the fact that Amethyst had access to their culinary utensils was making Obsidian somewhat worried - tool or not, she proved herself to be rather deadly with knives, didn't she? Luckily without her magic, and with a constant threat of being so brainwashed that she'd be hugging even trees and houses, she seemed to be somewhat less dangerous.
Obsidian shrugged slightly. "Ask Tourmy first, Amy - I'm really interested what he'd answer for that one."
What could she say, 'a crush means that you can live through hugs even if you hated it before, and there was also this lips thing too'?
Her muzzle soured. "I'd rather ask that one jackass outside of town to discuss Equestrian politics," she grumbled.
"Hey, don't slander Cranky," Cup spoke up, "he's momma's friend."
Amethyst waved a forehoof at him and resumed washing dishes. Of her two siblings, Amy had been having the rougher time of things; Tourmaline, strangely, had adapted to Ponyville life fairly quickly, and had even made a single friend - Gunther Gadfly, the griffon. The two of them spent a lot of time talking about everything under the sun.
Amy still didn't have any friends; she had a long way to go, but she still might one day finally let go of her own past. Until then, she lived in their attic and did her schoolwork and chores like she was told. Most of her free time was still seemingly dedicated to herself... but hopefully, it wouldn't last forever.
Breakfast was, as always, delicious. She ate her fill, as did Cupcake and even her sister, and after clean up, Cup insisted that she get ready for tonight's big night.
And what a night it was going to be.
Once she was ready, Cupcake smiled at her. "Okay, we have to go by Sugarcube Corner and gather Mica up, then we go by the school and fetch Gypsy from his studies. After that, it should be close to time for the presentation - then the show!" He gave her a tiny kiss on the cheek. "You ready?"
To be fair, all things considered, Amy could ask Cranky - not about politics, but about this crush thing, considering what she'd heard about him. The fact that he ended up with a wife seemed to indicate he understood this topic pretty well, or at least much better than Obsidian and, of course, Amethyst.
"I was crafted ready, Cupcake," Obsidian said with a calm voice. Yes, that fasting idea should be pretty good. She already looked much fatter than before, courtesy of the Light amulet making up for her malnourishment. At this pace, she would look like a shameless, obese hedonist soon! The amount of food that modern ponies were eating was insane, at least in comparision to the meals she used to eat in the Empire...
The two of them headed for the doorway, though before they could get through it, that door opened and Tourmaline himself walked in, talking over his flank.
"... and then she tackled me! I mean, sure, points fr bravery, but- OH!" He stopped short of bumping into Cupcake. "I didn't know you were heading out - my apologies."
"Hey-o," Gunther waved from behind Tourmaline, "you kids doin' okay?"
"Of course they are!" Tourmy grinned. "They have help indoors fom my charming sister-"
"Oh, HA HA," from the kitchen.
"... and outdoors help from yours truly; what more could they ask for?"
Gunther laughed. "Prolly some peace an' quiet, I'll bet!"
Tourmy rolled his eyes and smirked. Since his own change of heart, he'd become more and more sociable; it gave Obsidian something to smile about, and had led to some interesting and eye-opening conversations between the two. Honestly, he was beginning to turn out to be the big brother she'd hoped he'd be - it was actually nice to chat with him. And he NEVER spoke THIS way ANYmore.
"Tonight's the night, correct?" Cup answered with a vigorous nodding, and her brother chuckled merrily. "Well then, I'll just grab a bath, and I'll be along with Amy later on."
"Yeah, right," from the kitchen again.
Did Tourmaline got into a fight? Wait... maybe he was talking about his altercation with Wart? It seemed that, eventually, Ruby turned out to be correct; Tourmaline, as soon as he stopped trying to crush her bones, seemed to integrate fairly well. And he even didn't want to try to kill Amy anymore. And he'd made a friend! To be fair, considering how merrily he was spending his time here, Obsidian could suspect he was integrating better than she herself had. Too bad Onyx wouldn't ever see it.
"If she wouldn't like to go, be gentle; sedatives instead of violence, and so on."
Tourmy waved a hoof at her and rolled his eyes playfully. "Yes, yes - I know. Her choice, of course."
Even though his own horn had been ringed as well, he seemed to miss it far less than Amy did. He'd gotten to working in the small yard they had, and he was beginning to show some muscle. In fact, it was a fair bet that if he continued doing as he was, he'd have the eye of a few mares on him, sooner or later.
"Okay, T-Line," Gunther said, "I gotta get home an' get ready myself - don't think I'm missin' this fer the world!"
"Fine and dandy, my friend," Tourmaline retorted, "I'll see you there - save me a seat!"
"You betcha!" The griffon said as he took off. Tourmy gave them both a slight wave and headed downstairs to his room.
The walk through town was actually rather pleasant; the repairs had been going so smoothly, it was hard to tell that less than a month ago, the place had been besieged by an undead horde.
Cupcake skipped merrily along, talking rapid-fire about his cooking, his mother's promised gift of a new party cannon for his birthday, Obsidian's test scores (which, coincidentally, were quite high), and anything else he could jabber on about. To be honest, even if he was babbling, just the sound of his voice warmed Obsidian's heart.
They reached Sugarcube Corner, where Maud, Mudbriar and Mica all were busily sweeping the shop out.
"Oh, it's you guys," Maud said in her typical monotone, "hey."
"Yes, hello there," Mudbriar followed. Mica's father was... kind of boring... but nice enough, in his own way.
"Hey, Siddy," Mica said, giving a small nod. "Mom, may I..?"
"Sure," she said, totally deadpan, "you kids have fun. Oh, Boulder says hi."
Cupcake smiled, "Tell him I said HI right back!" Maud nodded, and Mica moved to join the two as they walked along.
"Big night tonight, right?" Mica seemed the tiniest bit more animated than usual; which, in his family, meant he was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.
Everypony was thrilled about tonight, right? At least Mica would remember to put this on his calendar and avoid unnecessary asking. But at least Cupcake was going to get a new cannon; his combat competence should increase after that. Of course, no undead armies had been spotted lately, but it would be far better to be armed than not. "Yes. Gypsy now, I assume?"
Cup nodded. "Yeah - he's probably in the library. Again." Mica rolled his eyes and nodded, but with a tiny smile to accent his expression.
As they walked along, Obsidian realized that tonight would also mark the two week anniversary of Mica declaring his heart to Thunderclap... and her later declaration of her own heart to him. They'd been seriously dating ever since then, and she'd even seen them exchange a kiss - when Clap though no one was looking, of course.
Cup and Mica made most of the small talk until they reached the School of Friendship; it was a place of learning, but more than that, it was a place of friendship - something Siddy had considerably more interest in since two weeks prior. The surge of power she'd felt back then had yet to manifest as boldly again, but she'd grown to understand that her power was now sourced in it. Which, of course, meant she'd studied it quite a bit now.
In fact, it was rapidly becoming a favored subject, though she still had much to learn. One thing she could certainly say about it - it wasn't nearly as boring as she'd thought it would be.
Sure enough, they found the diamond dog with his snout in a book, with a small stack nearby, reading and taking notes. When they approached, his ears perked up and when he looked, his tail began wagging happily. "Salut-t-tations, friends. This one guesses you're here t-to gather him up for tonight, c-correct?"
Considering that Thunderclap and Mica had known each other for quite a while, Mica had withheld his crush on her for a long time. Yet they were much more estabilished in Ponyville than Obsidian herself, and the fact that they were only kissing each other from time to time and dating a bit (though they were dating 'seriously', whatever that meant in this context) was making her think that maybe that living with Cupcake in the same house was perhaps a bit too... rushed? Add to this the fact that her ideas of 'family love' were still somewhat confused by the idea that she still somewhat craved the attention of her weak, yet cruel father, certainly didn't help.
"Yes, hello Gypsy. I see that being a part of history didn't sate your hunger for it," she said bemusedly. Maybe defeating another Sombra-class villain would cure Gypsy's stuttering for good? She wondered sometimes if his biggest dream was still about him being a lecturer; it most certainly wouldn't hurt his chances if he could get over this one little obstacle... but he was as he was, and frankly, she accepted him anyway.
He smiled. "This one is uncertain i-if history would r-remember him... but he still wishes to know, and it shall n-not escape his s-searching eyes! This one will know it ALL!"
Mica gave a light chuckle. "If it were anyone else, I'd be skeptical - for you, however... I'd say you have a chance."
Gypsy gathered his varied books and stored them in his knapsack, joining them as they exited the library. As they made their way through the hallowed halls, they passed Headmare Starlight and Councilor Trixie, who waved to them all in passing.
"They've come a long way, don't you think?" Trixie asked the Headmare.
Starlight Glimmer smiled. "I think she's the one who's come the farthest. Good on her for it, too."
Trixie turned to her friend. "'Farthest?' Is that even a real word?"
The group of the four of them now made their way through the other side of town, headed towards Twilight's Palace for the ceremony in question. In fact, there were a number of folks headed that way; it was supposed to be a large ceremony lead by the Princess herself, followed afterwards by a show from the Wonderbolts. Clap had raved about the famed pegasus team enough to pique Obsidian's curiosity; stunt flying sounded intriguing. She'd find out soon enough, she supposed.
As they walked along, Mica and Cup began to chat again. Meanwhile, Gypsy fell back next to Obsidian.
"This one w-was thinking of you last night, and made you a p-present." He reached into the floppy sleeve of his hoodie, and brought out an origami alicorn, which the diamond dog had colored to resemble her from their shared 'nightmare'; it was clearly Obsidian, and it was just as clear that he'd spent a great deal of time coloring it properly. He handed it over to her. "For you, friend," he grinned.
That actually managed to make Obsidian chuckle a bit as she thanked him for it. In a sudden fit of fantasy (or perhaps mild insanity), she actually put it on her head, next to the ear, even using a bit of magic to keep it in place and not lose it by accident. Sadly, at the moment Obsidian herself could only fold paper into... well, wasted paper, but sooner or later she'd catch up... ooooor get bored with her attempts. Of course she had plenty of other things to do, so she couldn't practice it too often...
Cup, Mica, Gypsy, Obsidian... and Wart and Clap surely would be waiting for them at the castle.
Twilight's Castle was already bustling with activity when they arrived, and they followed the crowd until they reached the great hall, where the ceremony was to take place. As they shuffled in and got to their seats, a few of the Royal Library regulars waved to Obsidian; taking the job as Royal Librarian for Twilight Sparkle had been more work than she'd imagined; how could a single mare have so many books!? But she'd adjusted fairly enough, and was even seen as a boon to the regular library-goers, due to her knowledge of where things were, and her totally awesome method of sorting, which had gained some minor fame for her.
They shuffled down the rows to their seats, and took them as the ceremony began. Princess Twilight Sparkle stepped out onto the stage, looking regal in her tiara and a gown of great beauty and style; in the wings were Miss Rarity and Eloquence, her son - both looking proud as could be. Eloquence was even sharing his mother's hankercheif to wipe his eyes with.
"My little ponies," she began, "I come to you tonight with the hope of tomorrow held high, making ourselves safer and more secure than ever before."
"Recently, there was quite a stir here in Equestria, and we have done our utmost best to rebuild and recover from those events. Though we lost some dear, dear friends," she took a deep, steadying breath before continuing, "we made even more."
With this, her eyes moved to look at Obsidian and her crew, and she smiled.
"And now, this batch of Royal Guard hopefuls have finished their preliminary training, and are here to dedicate themselves to not only myself, but to all of Equestria in their service to defend and serve each of us as they strive to become full-fledged Knights."
"I will now introduce to you one of my greatest trainers, Lemon Custard, who will commence the sworn oath ceremony. Lemon, if you please?"
Lemon Custard, dressed impeccably with medals in full view, proudly marched onstage and came to the podium as Princess Twilight retreated into the wings, looking on beside Rarity and Eloquence. He brought a list from his inner coat pocket, and began to look it over as he lifted his voice to speak loudly enough to fill the room.
"Steeleye Grimshaw..." A strong and capable-looking stallion made his way onstage, marching his way over to the podium before standing at attention next to it, his newly-minted armor gleaming.
"Pillar O'Strength..." A mare, muscular and sure, followed suit, her armor polished and shining.
Lemon continued to name names, and soldiers continued to step out onstage and stand for all of Equestria to see. Though Cupcake made snoring noises (softly), Mica nudged him and Gypsy occupied himself, folding soldiers to match the ones onstage.
The list continued for fifteen minutes, until a long line of Guards-In-Training had amassed upon the stage. Lemon then claered his throat and spoke up again. "And last, but hardly least, Stalwart Stance."
The tiny mare came strolling out from behind the curtain, bedecked in her own Royal Guard armor, made specifically to her size dimensions. She marched perfectly towards the line and took her place, standing at full attention...
... but wore an enormous smile, and had tears running down her cheeks as she stood as tall and proud as her little form would let her.
"YAAAAY, WARTY!!!" Cupcake cheered, which brought forth a few chuckles from the rest of the audience, and a redoubling of Wart's grin... and a glare from Lemon. Twilight Sparkle smiled warmly.
Lemon adjusted his spectacles, then gave a subdued smile as he spoke once more. "May I present the latest class of Royal Guard Trainees; may their honor and duty serve Equestria well, and may they grow to become the Knights they aspire to be." The audience cheered, their applause rattling the rafters.
Truth be told, to Obsidian that smile on Wart's muzzle was almost bigger than she was... which, taken literally, would break laws of the universe - but of course, she meant it figuratively. But it was a well-deserverd reward; after all, how many guards could say that they were as useful? Or that they had single-hoofely defended a bridge from an incoming Umbral horde? Or that they helped to take down King Sombra himself? Not too many.
To be honest, probably the only other guardian that could say that last thing was Prince Shining Armor himself, so the bar was set pretty high. Hopefully, Wart's newfound duties wouldn't be a problem for their little gang of friends. Obsidian joined in the raucous cheers... in her own, rather subdued way. Of course, in comparision to Cupcake, everypony was subdued, as he howled and stomped with fervor for their little friend.
The ceremony went on, where Lemon made them all swear their loyalty and fealty to Equestria and its' rulers, but that part of the ceremony went slowly... another hour, and it was finally over and done. When everything was finished, Wart came from behind the curtain and went to the seats to greet her friends.
When she arrived, she accepted hugs from each of them, and gave them in return. When she reached Siddy, she bowed deeply.
"Lady Siddy... were it not for you, I would never have been noticed by Lemon Custard; his testimony alone made today a reality for me. I thank you with ALL of my heart!" Then, she leapt up and hugged Siddy tightly, whispering, "you are my best friend, ever," in Siddy's ear.
Compared to the Stalwart that Obsidian met two weeks ago, the change was striking. From a very obedient mare that had been lying to herself that one day her dream will come true... she had become a (still) very obedient, yet far more friendly mare who had achieved that dream.
The world was insane, truly; without a zombie invasion and King Sombra's return, Wart just wouldn't have had any opportunity to prove to the whole of Equestria that she was a serious fighting machine - just a bit compressed. And it seemed that compressing those fighting skills of hers was a good idea.
"Oh?" Obsidian replied with a smirk, "Then perhaps will you join myself and Thunderclap during our upcoming Spa visit?" She still had no idea what was so interesting in other ponies taking care of your fur and so on, but she DID promise she'd try it, right? "And without you, Equestria would be in chains - so I guess we're even, yes?"
Wart gave a chuckle. "As you wish, Lady Siddy - far be it for me to miss a chance to protect you from the evils that a spa may or may not have!"
"Speaking of which," Mica said with a grin, "if we're going to catch my Clappie flying with the 'Bolts tonight, we should make our way to the Royal Gardens here, right away; I'm certain she'll be stoked to see us all."
"What're we waiting for?" Cupcake asked, "Let's shake a leg or four!"
They issued out of the rear doors, as everyone else had, and made their way to Twilight's Royal Gardens in the back. The plants there were tall and well-kept, and her flower gardens rivaled even the ones in Canterlot. As they made their way through, they did make a single stop, for Obsidian.
Her Father's statue was still where Twilight had placed him; facing the sunrise, looking stoic and proud, refusing to be turned to stone in any sort of cowardly pose. Though he was sealed in stone and his magic locked away beyond that, he still looked menacing. Powerful. Tyrannical.
"You, uh, want a moment alone with him, or..?" Cup allowed his words to trail off.
"For what, Cup? To talk with a pillar of cold stone? Do I look crazed enough for that?" Obsidian shrugged, though rather bitterly. Her Father had lost his magic - or, to be more precise, his youngest daughter had locked it away.
Still, placing him here as a statue felt pointless - or worse, possibly damaging. There were so many things they could do to him... that Obsidian could do. For the moment, he'd just barely escaped her grasp; as far as she was concerned, Princess Twilight had gone surprisingly soft on him, and prevented anypony from learning more about him, his plans or his past. He moved from being a menacing, terrifying villain straight into the position of being a menacing, terrifying statue. What a shame.
But Obsidian was more or less sure that she could find a way to bring him back... if she'd ever actually want to. After all, as history had shown, the position of a librarian was perfect for plotting.
Mica stepped close to her. "You know... someday, we might actually be able to reach him. After all, he never had to be an evil ruler, if he so chose. Maybe one day, he'll be ready to understand."
Obsidian was less interested in his understanding than in his utter submission to her power. His compliance. She had shown him the power she held, and had used it to take away his prized Dark Magic. She had triumphed! But she still didn't understand why he was seemingly rewarded by turning him into a piece of art.
"But for now, he really does make a pretty decorative pigeon-toilet," Cup chuckled.
They walked onward, headed towards the area prepared for the show. There were bleachers that had been moved in for this occasion, all enchanted to ensure they did no damage to the grounds or the foliage here; each one floated mere inches off the dirt, ensuring no unsightly marks left behind. The bleachers were mostly packed already (it almost seemed as if there were more in attendance here than there were at the ceremony), but Siddy and her friends found a spot where they could sit together, and took it.
Things seemed to settle in, but after a few moments, a pegasus wearing a 'Security' shirt flew over the crowd and seemed to search for a moment before zeroing in on Obsidian and flew over to her.
"Obsidian, right?" he said, "Your presence is requested backstage - alone, if you please. Miss Dash requires you for something, and NO I don't know what, but I was sent to fetch you. You comin'?"
The last time anypony asked her to come alone, she was ambushed by Tourmaline and almost killed after learning that underestimating an opponent is always a bad idea, and that her shields were not as powerful as she once thought. However, the last two weeks had been rather peaceful - and there was no pony around that could supposedly endanger her. To risk fighting with a mare that had saved Equestria? HA!
So, Obsidian just nodded and followed the security stallion.
Her other friends looked a bit curious (especially Mica), but she didn't have to wave them away as she followed the pegasus. She was led to an area sectioned off for Wonderbolt use, or so the signs said, and he brought her to a single door. The stallion gestured, knocked, then flew off to go do his job.
The door opened, and there was Thunderclap Dash, wearing a Wonderbolts training outfit... and a VERY worried expression on her muzzle. "SIDDY! Get your flank in here, girl!"
The muscular pegasus reached out and yanked her into the room, shutting the door behind her. She simply stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, before turning and looking at her with fear in her eyes.
"Siddy, I... I don't know if I can DO this!" She began to pace as she talked. "I mean, I've been trying to train for this, like, all my life, and what if I still can't pull it off!? I mean, it's a freaking Sonic Rainboom! I'm the one who should be completely stoked to do this, but... I mean, LOOK at me! I'm a... a-a FREAK! How in Tartarus am I supposed to be able to pull this off, Sids?"
Deja vu...
Whew, Obsidian heard Clap's full name so rarely that she practically forgot that term "Miss Dash" could mean her friend as well. It could have been worse, really - after all, they were using her nickname so often that Obsidian could possibly forget her name at all.
There was also another issue - Clap had some problems with trusting her skills and spirit, and instead of calling her coltfriend (yes, Obsidian finally got to learn this term and what it implied) to support her, or maybe a constantly cheerful Cupcake... she asked specifically for Obsidian?
"Well, Clap, I had wings only for a few minutes, and it was a dream at that... but I'd say, fly very, very fast."
Technically it was a correct answer, right?
"Imagine that one of the distant clouds is my Father's muzzle, and remind yourself about how much you'd like to hit him hard enough to rattle his bones; the rest will be just a matter of working up the proper momentum." Obsidian patted Thunderclap on the back, though with nowhere near the same enthusiasm as she did to her friends - mostly because she wasn't that physically strong.
"Besides, you are not a freak; you are a mare that's going to achieve her dreams today, just like Stalwart did moments before, and your performance shall give Gypsy another thing to write about in the future book he shall doubtless write about our glorious adventures. We believe in you, girl."
Obsidian had learned a lot about friendship speeches and such in the past few weeks; faith and believing in yourself, you are not alone, et cetera. Truly, it was like a game of throwing darts - she just had to strike upon the proper combinations.
"You're... you're sure?" She seemed skeptical still, and looked toward the door anxiously. "Well, I mean... I don't know, but..."
She looked over at Obsidian. "Y'know, I had a dream like this once... that's kinda why I called you here instead of any of the others. I just, well, it felt right, and I figured you would have a way to put it that could work for me."
She paced a bit as she pondered her friend's advice. "Hmmmmm... Sombra's muzzle, eh?" She chuckled. "You've come a heckuva long way since that first day, Sids... and I'm glad you did. You're one great friend, y'know that?"
She came over and gave Obsidian a hug that lifted her off the ground, then set her down and huffed a sigh of resignation. "HO-kay! I guess I'm gonna do this, yeah? Make sure Gypsy gets something to write on ready, 'cuz this mare's about to make history!"
She opened the door for Obsidian, but before she could leave, Clap said, "Thanks, Obsidian - love ya, girl! Now go get a good seat - this is gonna be awesome!"
Hopefully, Clap would manage to do the Sonic Rainboom correctly - it would be quite embarrassing if she would fail because she called the wrong pony, all because the famed Princess of the Night decided to engage in a dream tour with the daughter of her greatest enemy.
"You can do it and you will do it, Clap. And don't forget to have fun," Obsidian said with her calm voice, as soon as her internal organs got better after the hug (group hugs with Thunderclap were fine, but as soon as she had an opportunity to lift someony in the air... there just had to be some internal damage).
Now she just had to get to a good seat - and by 'good seat' she meant 'a seat with her friends'. Truly, it would be nice of Equestrians to keep prepared places for them - after all, they were heroes and royalty, even if her own Father had discarded that claim. Luckily, she didn't have to pay any heed to fallen, villainous ponies. It didn't matter what her father meant; she was his daughter and, as such, she was as royal as he was. So there.
She got back to her friends just as the announcer's voice kicked in through the loudspeakers.
{Fillies and gentlecolts! Welcome to the Wonderbolts Air Show! If you'll look to the east, you'll see our beloved flyers coming in right now!}
Sure enough, streaks of blue and gold shot by the bleachers so impressively fast that they nearly took Obsidian's little paper Siddy with them! They banked, they rolled, they made some very impressive maneuvers in mid-air, often coming dangerously close to hitting each other... but like the professionals they were, they had not a single flaw or mishap.
{And presenting, as part of a special request performance, the talented daughter of our Wonderbolts' leader - 'Bolt In Training, THUNDERCLAP DAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!}
The cheers went up as Clap strolled out to the center field like she owned it, a microphone in her hoof. She didn't wave (though she did drop a wink toward her friends), she simply put her goggles on. She seemed to take a moment to decide what she was going to say - perhaps something bold and brash - but instead, she closed her eyes and when she spoke, the speakers allowed her voice to reach everyone present.
"This is dedicated to the memory of Applejack," she said with great gravitas.
With that, she dropped the microphone and shot straight up into the air. As the Wonderbolts began to fly an orbit around her, she started heading off towards the distance, presumably to get room to gather speed.
While she did, Obsidian saw Tourmy and Gunther in a closer row... and Amy, surpisingly, on the other side of the bleachers, forelegs crossed but still watching with interest.
The crowd could now make out the sight of the Wonderbolts circling around a single speck that began to outpace them, and they fell behind as that speck picked up more and more speed, until-
>>>>>sssssSSSSSSS-BOOOOOOOOOM!<<<<<
It... was... beautiful...
The ring that travelled outward was a bit different than Obsidian had seen in her dreams; this one was a ring of pure, bright gold, with trails of rainbow colors blasting outward behind it. It was most certainly something that only Thunderclap would have been able to achieve; it reminded her of the pegasus' hair, golden blonde with colored roots. Totally Clap.
It was really a shame that the Magic of Friendship hadn't been powerful enough to bring back the deceased, otherwise they wouldn't have had to do anything 'in memory of Applejack'. Clap had given herself no other option but to succeed - trying to make a Sonic Rainboom to honor a fallen mare and failing would be worthy of writing into history books, but not in any positive sense.
As Obsidian looked on, something caught her eye; at the back of the stage, there was a ghostly image in pink - a unicorn mare with a lovely mane and tail, and a smile on her muzzle. And next to her, pouting morosely, was another spectre... another unicorn, this one with a slight purple hue - but she wore a scowl, and had her forelegs crossed over her barrel. The pink ghost waved, and wrapped a forehoof around the purple one, who rolled her eyes before they both vanished.
Obsidian balked mentally; was... was that Ruby? And Onyx? But... b-but HOW!? How had they appeared like this? What was the meaning of this? She blinked and looked at where they were... but there was no evidence of them having been there at all - but she knew she'd seen them!
Could there possibly be a way to find the fallen some new bodies? Her father had apparently sculpted living ponies from crystal and had infused them with his own soul - would it be logical to repeat the entire process and use portions of deceased spirits, like the ones she'd just seen? Obsidian had no idea how it would work with things like their memories and so on, but the idea was promising.
The Dark Princess (or, considering that she had beaten down Sombra, QUEEN) was thinking about the possibilities so deeply that she almost forgot about cheering on Thunderclap.
But the pegasus mare had done it - she truly managed to fly very, very fast. It looked wonderful.
So, she had to find out more about crystals, as she doubted that merely any crystal would work for the situation. Maybe there was something among Onyx's books she could learn... but to properly research them safely, she'd have to find a calm place. Unfortunately, her home was 'Cupcaked', so it was not exactly calm.
There were also her other two siblings, as well - the living ones. They probably couldn't help too much, as Onyx seemed to use them only as dumb muscle, but she could certainly investigate to see if there was more to them than that.
Maybe the answer would be to work overtime in her librarian position? Nopony seemed to complain that she worked hard. She could only wonder if Onyx's more personal books were in the library at all. If the legends about the fabled Mirror Pool were at least partially true, she could probably use it to copy them and place the originals back. Alas, some of the titles she owned were probably her private property, at least assuming Princess Twilight wasn't interested in claiming them for her vaults. Obsidian wasn't interested in the gorier ones, true, but she needed knowledge...
And of course, probably Dark Magic. Perhaps Light Magic, too. And cryssssstalssssss... |
Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra | Forty Two: Random Access (Credits +) | This is where I thank the folks who helped me bring this story to you all.
An eternal waterfall of heartfelt thank yous to my partner-in-crime, the amazing Wungiel, for bringing Obsidian into the world, and allowing me to build a world around her; she's such a fascinating and rich character that I just HAD to write out a roleplay for her... which eventually became the story you just read! Without you, Wungi, I never would have accomplished this hefty task. My humble thanks.
To Illiad Easle, for the fun we had in A Cultural Exchange, and for editing and presenting the first roleplay I did with him; his putting our RP onto this site in story-format was the catalyst for me believing I could do the same. Good buddy, you are one in a million, and I'm so grateful to have you as a friend. Thank you for being a mentor/hero to me. }:)
Next, I feel obligated to thank my friend who created the cover artwork, Valtasar; the work was a gift for my birthday, and it was ultimately what REALLY got me hyped about doing the whole story. Actually SEEING characters I created come to life like that was SUPERB, and actually brought tears to my eyes when it was done. Oh, and if you didn't notice, I have now put up the finished version of the cover, to match with the finished story. Thank you, Valty - you are awesomeness personified.
Then, I have to address the amazing talent and skill of Rutkotka, the artist who brings to life some very Don Bluth-style artwork, and is so very gifted with how she can make expressions tell so much of the story. Kudos, you incredible artist you! 'Broken Glass' wouldn't have been the same without your heart-wrenching scene!
Next, I go to my other various artists for this project: thank you to each and every one of you who brought your talent to my humble story, and I would be honored to direct others to your shoppes and queues, for the purpose of helping such great artists to continue what they do. Naiya The Brony, Ariida-Chi, NoKkun... thank you.
And especially to all of you fine readers who kept me going. I am an entertainer at heart, and each and every upvote and comment brought a smile to my face... and occasionally, happy tears to my eyes. This work was for two people to enjoy roleplaying... but I felt it should be shared. And each and every one of you were TOTALLY worth the work. Excelsior, True Believers... and thank you ever so kindly for your time and interest. One is glad to be of service. *bows humbly*
But... IS Obsidian's story done with? HA! Not by a LONG shot!
The next arc in this story gets a bit longer, a bit lengthier... and a bit grimmer. But the unfolding story has ALREADY been roleplayed out... and I plan to bring it to YOU FINE FOLKS, now that the first arc is complete!
For those of you who've been wondering about Siddy's 'lost' siblings... worry no longer! The next arc introduces the rest of them - ALL of them - and brings the story of Obsidian and her friends even deeper into the mystery and history that was merely hinted at in this one... and also, there will be a number of cameo appearances by some canon characters, since I felt like I had to focus on the newer ones first.
Ah, but I'll bet you want something to whet your Whistle with first, eh? Very well, friends and colleagues... have a taste a things to come:
[A preview of the next story in the arc:]
[Obsidian: Shards Of Sombra]
She quickly checked over the diary, to see if there were any pictures - maybe Onyx, somehow, managed to get some sort of artwork of her siblings...
In the back of the notebook, after the pages ran blank due to Onyx's untimely demise, there was a single square of what looked like wax paper... and inside the carefully folded paper was...
A drawing?
Yes, it was a drawing, and an old one at that. The drawing consisted of what appeared to be headshots of a number of different ponies - ten of them, to be exact. Each one was a unicorn, and each one bore at least a passing resemblance to Sombra, in some shape or form.
None of them were labeled... but Obsidian saw Ruby's smiling muzzle and picked it out almost instantly. Further along the parchment, there was Tourmaline, looking haughty and sullen... Amethyst, with her teeth bared in a glare... Onyx herself, wearing a self-important smile...
... and among them, a rather studious-looking stallion. Wearing spectacles.
Obsidian herself wasn't in the drawing, but with her sepatation from her siblings, it wasn't hard to determine why. Who had done such an artwork? There was no signature, but the level of detail was plain as day; the drawing was exquisitely done, and the faces looked so alive, she almost expected them to start moving!
Hopefully they WOULDN'T start moving - otherwise Obsidian would freak out juuuuust a little bit. A little, tiny bit. Yeah.
So... hello there, Mister Peridot.
She had to make a copy. She really had to. After all, it was the closest thing to 'family photo' she had. Hm, maybe Tourmaline will know who made this picture? To be fair, Obsidian already had to make a copy of photo she had with Clap and Wart, after their visit to the spa - she could slash two enemies with a single sword and get copies of both photo and this picture.
But first things first - The Delvar Libratorium... perhaps she could find more information about it's whereabouts...
Interest piqued yet? Then please, stay tuned for the further adventures of the Dark Princess from the past, as she gathers steam while heading towards the future of Equestria... and what lies in store for our heroine as well!
Excelsior, fine readers! |
Where We Come From | pre | "So, back to the lightning. Did you happen to go out there at all?" Agent Lewis asks.
"Uh.... yes. I actually did." I say as I start to run the garbage disposer, the best thing I could think of to cover the sound of my truck starting.
"Ma'am... is everything alright?" Agent Thompson asks, glancing to his partner.
"Yep! I mean no! I... uh..."
"Did you see something out there?" Agent Lewis asks as he steps over to me and shuts the garbage disposer off. "This could be a threat to national security ma'am. You need to tell us everything."
"*sigh* fine. Ya got me. You see, the thing is..." I start to say but stop when I see Barbra in the back. She gives me a thumbs up before flipping off the two government workers. "The thing is... I... lied."
"You... lied."
"You got me! I saw the lightning but I didn't go out there at all. I was too worried about my horses and crops. That and I've been feeling bloated, cramps you know. That and I've been having mood swings ever since my husband left and I just-"
"Okay, okay, we get it. Look, do you mind if we take a look in the forest on your property? We need to do a thorough search and-"
"Oh go right ahead. Don't mind me, I'm just a... single... lonely... woman in search of a....*gulp* man *shiver*." I say, hating myself for saying it.
"Uh.... we'll keep that in mind. What can you tell me about the residences on you property?" Agent Lewis asks as he gives an odd look to his partner.
"Oh, I rent three campers to some elderly people. They're on medi-care and that kind of stuff so I don't think they'll be much use-"
"We'll keep that in mind. Thank you for your cooperation." Agent Thompson says before downing the rest of his lemonade. "We have to get going now-"
"Don't you have any other questions.... big... guy?" I hate myself so much right now.
"Uh... no. Anyway... we have to get going now... you should stay here... in case... just stay here." He says as they look to one another and begin to slowly back away from me. Crap, I need to buy them some more time.
"Are you sure there isn't anything else you need? Anything?" I ask as I walk after them.
"No, we'll be fine on our own. You just... stay here and.... keep an eye on your horses." Agent Thompson says as they turn to leave the building. I walk after them and try to think of another way to stall them more, but nothing comes to mind.
"What are you flat foots doing here?" Barbra asks as she walks through the front door.
"Barbra? What are you doing here?" I ask in a panic.
"I saw these two knuckle heads waltz into my peaceful little town and decided to see what's going on. What is it? Trying to find the perfect spot to hide you gov-"
"You're Barbra Sainen, the blogger of 'Not Alone." Agent Thompson says, getting Barbra to freeze up as he approaches her. "Lewis you go ahead and check out the forest, I'll stick around to question her."
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Mathew
I sit up on the bed and continue to watch Lynn pace around the room. I think I did something wrong, but I'm not sure what. Hopefully they don't get too mad at me, I don't really have anywhere to go...
"Miss Lynn?" I ask, getting her to pause. "Did... did I do something wrong?"
"Oh no honey. Its just... there are some-"
"The fuzz is down stairs trying to take you away! But we won't let them..." Barbra starts but is stopped when Lynn covers her mouth.
"What Barbra meant to say is that there are some bad people down stairs and we don't want anything bad to happen to you. You didn't do anything wrong. Now... what to do?" She asks aloud as she continues to pace about.
"Why don't we just take him to my fallout shelter? It's only a short walk away." Barbra offers.
"You have a fallout shelter? Why?" Lynn asks.
"Built it back in the eighties to hide from the commies. Shame though, never really had to use it. Four feet of reinforced concrete hidden from any prying eyes. Stocked with weeks worth of supplies as well as weapons and ammo." Barbra says proudly.
"... weapons? Like... guns?" I ask nervously.
"Guns, swords, crossbows, grenades, you name it I have it," she tells us, proud as ever.
".... why?"
"I ain't gonna be a no commie."
"..."
"What's a commie?" I ask, but am ignored.
"Anyway, how far is this shelter?"
"Not far, a mile at most."
"Alright lets go to it then." She says as she goes to the door and opens it slowly. "Okay, stay quiet and follow me." We all sneak our way out of the room and down the stairs. I bump into Barbra as she stops to signal Rose. I wonder what it means to show somepony your middle... appendage... thing. We make it out to the front porch where we find Lynn in some kind of carriage thing.
"What are you doing!?" Barbra yells in a whisper as she runs over to her. The metal carriage thing roars to life as two bright lights shine from the front. I wanted to run out of the way, but the lights kind of... froze me in place. "We can't take that! They'll notice it's missing!" I shake my head as the lights shut off. That was... weird.
"Well... lets get walking then." Lynn says as she steps out of the carriage.
"Just go north for one mile and-"
"Wait, aren't you coming?" I ask as I walk up to Barbra.
"Sorry kido, but I live on the farm. They'll come to question me soon. Don't worry though, Lynn will take you somewhere safe, I promise." I look between the two of them before nodding and walking over to Lynns side. "Right, go north for one mile and look to the two leaning trees. Here's the key, just... stay there until one of us come to get you."
"Alright. But be sure to trade with me. I still have work tomorrow." Lynn says as she takes the key.
"We'll try. Take care-"
"I will."
"I was talking the kid." She says before looking back inside the house. "Now get going!" She says before turning around and marching straight back into the house. We both look to one another before taking off for the forest.
A thick layer of fog covers the forest floor as we run through. Due to my smaller size Lynn decided it would be quicker to carry me. The early morning sun begins to brighten the world around us, shining a light on two fallen trees that are being held up by each other. The one on the left has long thin branches that has bright pink flowers while the one on the right is dead and has a hole in the center of it. Lynn and I glance to each other before trekking underneath the two trees.
Lynn sets me down and begins to search the ground for something. I look around for something as well, but... it's just the ground. No matter where I check or how deep I dig there isn't anything here. After a few minutes Lynn starts to cuss a lot.
"HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE?!" Somepony calls from the distance.
"Shit!" Lynn shouts as she begins to look around frantically. As the sound of plants being crushed by steps becomes louder and louder she picks me up and shoves me into the hole in the tree. "Just stay here and be quiet. I'll deal with these guys-"
"What if they take you? What should I do then?"
"Then-"
"MA'AM? CAN YOU COME HERE PLEASE? MA'AM!?"
"Just stay in here okay?" She says before walking away. I sit back in the cramp hole and try to keep calm as I hear them begin to talk. What did I do to deserve this? I didn't mean to cause everypony all this trouble, I just... I just want to know what's going on. I try my best to stifle my tears as I hear the two of them begin to argue. I rub my eyes as the tears begin to fall-
... strong stallions always press on. No matter what they face they always find a way to continue. One day you'll understand this...
I shake my head as the deep voice echos in my mind. I... I remember... somepony told me that... but why? Who was the one who told me that. I sit back as I try to think-
CLICK
"Uh oh." Suddenly the tree opens up and I fall straight down. The surface starts out as wood but quickly turns to metal, making my screams echo all the way down. I look down and see what looks like a grate blocking the end of the tunnel.... NONONONONONO! I begin to flap my wings as hard as I can in an attempt to stop from crashing through, but I've already gained too much speed.
CRASH
I slam into the grate and break it off it's hinges. With a loud thud I crash onto something metal and fall off onto the stone floor. I sit up and rub my head a bit as I take in my new surroundings. I've fallen into a stone room that has flimsy furniture scattered about. I had landed on a stove that's in between a refrigerator and a sink. To my left is a wall with a poster that says:
'United We Stand, Separated We Die.'
To the right there is a hall that leads to other rooms while in front of me is a table... with Stephanie sitting in one of the seats. She's wearing blue pants and a white t-shirt with her hair tied back. She looks as if she's barely woken up and is eating a bowl of cereal.
"*gasp* my pony! How did you find my secret place?" She asks as she runs over to me and hugs me again.
Whoa.
There's that feeling again, in my tummy. I don't know why, but I like getting hugs from her. They feel.... nice.
"Uh.. h-hi Stephanie. I.. uh... well..." I stumble as I try to explain the situation, but find it hard to do as she continues to hug me.
"Are you hiding here to? You can hide with me! No one knows how to get in here anymore so it'll be just the two of us." She says as she releases me.
"Just.... just the two of us?" I ask.
"Yeah."
"Alone?"
"Pretty much."
"With nopony having anyway of getting to us."
"Yup."
FWOOSH
> Chapter 5 Safety Dance
Chapter 5 Safety Dance
I sit there stunned as I try to grasp why my wings are holding themselves out like this. I've never had this problem before, why are they doing it now? And in front of Stephanie no less! She'll probably think I'm weird or something! No matter what I do they refuse to go back down, popping straight back up when I push them back.
"What's up with your wings?" Stephanie asks as she inspects my back.
"Uh... it jUUSST WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I yell as she grabs one roughly. A sudden wave of butterflies washes over me as she yanks my wing one way then the other. This is too weird. I pull my wing free, getting the weird feeling again, and back away from her.
"What's wro-"
"Why don't you show me around?!" I blurt out as I try to change the subject, keeping my wings as far away from her as possible.
"Are you blushing?" She asks with a giggle as she leans down to get a better look at me.
"N-no. I... I'm just... WHATS THAT!" I yell as I point to... actually, I don't know what that is. Stephanie looks at it and laughs a bit as she walks towards it.
"It's a juke box. They're not used anymore, explaining why Barbra would have one, but they were used to play music.... you know what music is right?" I have to roll my eyes at that.
"Of course I know what music is." I say, slightly offended. "Like polka and orchestral stuff.."
"Polka!?" Stephanie says with a laugh. "Okay, here. This one is a good one." She says as she presses a button.
The sound of music I've never heard the likes of fills the room. It immediately makes me bob my head as the drums begin to fill the back. I don't know what instrument could make this sound; possibly a guitar but I've never heard one so... not acoustic. It's also a lot faster than anything I've ever heard... where did I hear polka? What is-
"Come on!" Stephanie yells as she reaches down and grabs my forelegs. Before I could protest she pulls me up and begins to bounce around, throwing her head back and forth as our hops move about the room. I can't help but smile and join her antics. Jumping one way then the other as I drop all of my fears.
"GO, GO! Go Johnny go, go!" Stephanie sings aloud. "GO JOHNNY GO, GO! GO JOHNNY GO, GO! GO JOHNNY GO,GO! Johnny be good." Stephanie drops my legs and begins to dance on her own, tossing back and forth as her hair blurs about her. I couldn't help but gawk a bit before closing my eyes and letting the music take over.
This music felt... alive. Much better then what I think I remember of music. It just has this weird way of getting under my skin and making me want to move. I can't help jump, hop, and kick around as I throw my head from side to side, trying to match the same energy of the music.
Stephanie runs back to me and begins to dance with me again. I can't help but smile as I hold her... claws? Hmm... not hooves but not claws either. What ever they are, they're really soft and warm. I look up to see she's staring right at me, a large smile plastered on her face. I shrug and smile back as I try to keep up with her movements, finding it hard to do rearing up like this.
I feel the butterflies again, this is starting to get annoying. Why do I feel this around her so much! I don't feel it when I'm with Barbra or Rose! How does Stephanie do this to me almost every time we're around? Maybe it's because we're the same age?
Stephanie begins to giggle suddenly as she begins to spin around, still holding my hooves. I nearly trip over myself at first but stay standing by running with her. Faster and faster win spin around, the world around us becoming a blur as we focus on one another. She lets out a high pitched scream as we reach our top speed, nearly everything turning hazy as we let the music guide us. I let out a scream of my own as I feel my wings begin to flap along, trying to match her enthusiasm.
THUD
Stephanie trips over herself and falls to the ground. Due to the direction we were running, I follow right after her, landing on top. We both giggle a bit until Stephanie rolls onto her back. This proves to be a problem, because it puts us face to face with our chest against each others.
BUTTERFLIES!
WHOA! Okay, maybe not butterflies now. Now I think a couple of massive birds flew in, ate the butterflies, and then started dancing in my tummy.
"Uh..." UH!? Really?! That's all I can come up with! UH! I stare nervously into her eyes as I wait for her to respond. I'm unsure what to do here...
"You're weird." Stephanie says with a giggle as she begins to sit up. Weird... I quickly make my way off of her and sit to the side, too embarrassed to say or do anything else. "But that was fun. Come on, that's enough rock and roll for now. I'll show you the rest of the bunker."
"O-okay." I say as I follow her out of the room, giving one last glance to the bright music machine. Yeah... that music does things to you... gets in your head. That rock and roll....
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Rose
I can't help but pace about my living room as I wait for any word from the others. I know I won't hear from Lynn anytime soon, but Barbra was taken back to her trailer hours ago. And I haven't seen the other agent either... THAT'S IT! I'm going out there to take a look for myself. If I don't I'll have a heart attack! I run to the door an-
"Hey Rose-"
"GAH!" I yell as I nearly fall back. "Lynn! What are you doing here!? Where's Mathew? Is everything alright? Did they take him? What about Barbra? What happ-"
"ROSE! Calm down, everything is alright... for the most part." She says as she casually walks inside. I gawk out the door for a few seconds before turning back to her.
"What do you mean 'everything is alright for the most part'? What happened?" I ask as I follow her to the couch, where she drops down and sighs. She sits there for a few moments, eyes shut, and just relaxes. "Lynn."
"Huh? Oh right. Well, I took Mathew into the forest and tried to hide him in a tree, but then I was found by Agent Lewis. He asked me what I was doing out there and if I had seen anything. Of course I lied to him and made some bullshit excuse-"
"Language."
"... then when he decided that I was telling the 'truth' he took me to his car and ran a device over me. It beeped a bit, then he told me I could go."
"... and then?"
"And then I came here," she tells me matter of factly.
"... and then?"
"And then I scared you, and then I sat on your couch, and then I told you everything that happened, and then it's the future and I don't know what happens then." She says calmly as she sits there relaxing. "It's too early for all this crap."
"Watch your mouth!" I snap at her.
"You cussed in front of the kid!" She snaps back.
"Yeah! Because a damn horse started talking! Now the government is looking for him and are probably going to take him away! And because you and Barbra want to fucking lie to them we're probably going to go to jail for this! So forgive me for trying to-"
"Whoa whoa whoa. Hold it right there." Lynn says as she looks up to me. "You agreed to help us hide him. You didn't have to do any of that, but you did. And don't call him a horse, you know he's not-"
"I KNOW!" I snap as I begin to pace again. "I know... look, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just... don't know how to deal with all of this." I say as I cross my arms and continue to pace around.
"I don't either Rose." Lynn says as she stands up. She walks over to me and takes a hold of my arms, holding me still. "But I want to keep him safe, and I know you want to as well."
"Is he safe?" I ask her. "Lynn, are you sure he's somewhere safe? Somewhere where they won't find him and take him away?" I ask her, seeing the uneasiness of the answer.
"Hi Rose." Mathew says as he and Stephanie walk by.
"Hey, Lynn you tell me- WHAT THE FU-U-I mean Mathew! What are you doing here!?" I ask as I run over and pick him up in a tight hug.
"GAH! Too... tight... can't... feel... lungs..."
"Sorry!" I say as I set him back down and back off. I didn't mean to hug him like that! I was.... just worried about the poor kid. That's all.
"Well Stephanie and I were in the bunker together, taking a tour, when she stopped at something called, a monitoring station. We watched Miss Lynn talk to somepony in a suit and then leave the area. The guy in the suit reminded Steph that she had to go to Sunday school and asked if I could be her, 'show and tell'. Whatever that means. I said yes, so we left. We stopped by here to let you know where I was going."
"I... I..." I stutter as I try to piece everything together.
"Give us one second!" Lynn says as she pushes me into the kitchen. "This is perfect."
"In what way is this perfect?" I ask her as she begins to pace about.
"Look, they're going to search this place high and low. So the best coarse of action would be to remove him from here. If we write a note to Ben explaining the situation I know Ben'll help us-"
"And why would Ben help us?" I ask as I cross my arms.
"Are you joking? Ben is a softy when it comes to children-"
"And that's another thing. I don't trust Ben with children."
".... are you kidding me? What is Ben going to do except tell boring stories. Look, this is our best shot. I'll take him-"
"And why do you get to take him?" I ask, getting her to stop and stare at me.
"Why are you being so defensive of him? We're on the same side Rose. I want to keep him safe just as much as you do." I turn away from her as I try to think why I am being so protective of him. I barely know the kid, not to mention the whole species thing.
"I... just want him to be safe Lynn. Okay, take him into town. BUT KEEP HIM OUT OF SIGHT! I don't know how the rest of the town will react to him so lets keep this on a need to know basis."
"Don't worry, we'll be fine. But I'll need to borrow your truck." She says as she pulls the keys from her pocket. I nod to her and follow her out to the front room, where we find the two of them on the couch. "Alright, I'll go ahead and take you guys to Sunday school-"
"YES! No old people music!" Stephanie exclaims as she jumps off the couch and pulls Lynn out the front door. Mathew jumps off the couch and was about to run off, but walks over to me instead.
"It's alright if I go... right? You aren't... mad at me, are you?" he asks me. I drop down to my knees and rest a hand on his shoulder, trying to find the right words.
"I'm.... a little disappointed that you didn't listen to me." I tell him, getting a worried look on his face. "But, it's okay this ONE time. In the future, if I tell you to do something, do it. I only want whats best for you." I tell him, getting a slow nod from him. He takes a few steps towards the door before coming to a stop. "Mathew is-" I start but stop when he turns and jumps into my lap for a hug.
"I'm sorry I disappointed you Rose. I promise I wont do it again," he tells me as he holds on tightly. I lightly wrap my arms around him and stroke his mane slowly. I have to take a moment to catch my breath and find my voice before responding.
"I know you wont. Now get going before you make Stephanie is late." I tell him quietly.
"Pony-feathers!" He exclaims before jumping out of my lap and running for the door. "Don't leave me!" I laugh a bit before I realize what just happened.
"Take it easy Rose Cassaway. You're playing this one too close. Don't do it again." I warn myself as I stand up and head to the door. I watch as my truck leaves the yard and drives down the dirt road, leaving a trail of dust behind them. It won't be like last time... he's too different for it to be.
> Chapter 6 Sunday Thoughts
Chapter 6 Sunday Thoughts
Perspective: Mathew
THIS CARRIAGE IS AWESOME! It goes really, really fast! It's a bit bouncy, but thanks to the cushioned seats it's not much of a problem. Though the seats don't really matter, I can't help but look out all of the windows as we travel down the dirt road. I look between Stephanie and Miss Lynn and wonder how they could possibly have such bored expressions. This has to be some kind of extreme magical device of awesome.
"Guh, can't this hunk of junk go any faster?" Stephanie asks in a gruff.
"FASTER!? We're already going... like... super fast! What more could you want? Wait... can it fly?" I ask, getting laughs from both of them.
"Super fast huh?" Miss Lynn asks with a chuckle. "Sorry, but we aren't breaking the speed limit. You'll just have to deal with it until we get to town."
"Can we at least put the radio on?" Stephanie begs. Miss Lynn just rolls her eyes and turns a nob, making the thing before me glow as sounds come out from the doors.
"Whoa... that's cool." I mutter as the slow music fills the carriage.
"Meh, it's only FM." Stephanie says as she looks out the window. I just shrug as I listen to the music as I look out every window.
Rose's house has disappeared from sight behind the gentle rolling hills of farmland. Large fields of golden yellow crops sway in the wind as large trees fill the horizon. The road we're on has been raised a bit, just enough so we could see over all of the tall crops. In the distance I can see a cluster of small buildings. Most of them look as if they're made of bricks or wood. The road turns black and smooth as we begin to near the town. I think I can see more pon...er... people to!
"Okay kid," Miss Lynn says as she pulls me back to sit down. "You need to stay seated now."
"Why?" I ask, tilting my head slightly.
"Well... it's against the rules to stand in a moving vehicle. You don't want me getting in trouble now, do you?" She asks as we slow down, barely making it to the edge of town.
"I'll stay seated." I say quietly. Sitting like this doesn't give me a good view of everything, but I don't want to get Miss Lynn in trouble, so I'll just deal with it.
At least I can the see top of the buildings though. Some are pointed while others are flat... this is boring. I want to see the people and the inside of the buildings and all the other stuff they have. We come to a stop as I hear some ponies talking outside. It sounds like a mare and a stallion. I tried to sneak a peek, but Lynn held me back.
"Shh..." She says as she puts a finger over her mouth.
"Why?" Stephanie asks loudly.
"Well... a talking... person, like Mathew is... strange. We don't want a ton of people rushing Mathew all at once now do we?" She asks us. We look to each other before looking back to her and shaking our heads. "Good, so lets try not to be seen by-"
"Lynn?" A mare calls from outside. "Lynn Darenger, my heavens what a surprise."
"Oh... Mrs. Mouldouth, Hiiii." Lynn says slowly as she moves her body to cover the window.
"My my my, up early aren't we. Will we be seeing you at service today?" The mare asks as she walks up to the window. I try to sneak a peek, but can only see a pink dress and blonde hair.
"You know, I was just on my way to drop off Stephanie with Ben, don't want-"
"Stephanie Allen? How... what is that?" The lady asks as she leans over and looks at me.
"HE'S MY PONY!" Stephanie yells before I can answer as she holds onto me tightly. "We're going to Sunday school together, his name is Mathew." She stares at the two of us for a second before shifting her gaze over to Miss Lynn.
"Honestly Lynn, church is no place for play things-"
"Huh? Oh! right, we'll just leave it in the car then-"
"I hope you do." She says in a tone that sounds almost nice, but leaves a lot of room to be mean. "Well I wont keep you any longer. Be sure to send my regards to Ben." She says as she walks off.
"Okay!" I yell back to her, getting Lynn to cover my mouth.
"What-"
"BYE!" She yells before making the carriage lurch forward. She lets out a long sigh as she shakes her head and rubs her forehead. I guess I wasn't suppose to talk... this place has too many rules.
We ride around a bit more before finally coming to a stop behind a tall white building. It's only two stories high, but the front part goes up more and comes to a point, kind of like an upside down ice cream cone. On top of that part of the building is metal cross, not sure why though. Lynn takes a few glances around before opening the door and escorting us inside. I wanted to look around a bit more, but Lynn wanted to get inside as quickly as possible.
"Hello? Ben?" Lynn calls out as we walk through the door. The wood paneled hall goes down three doors before ending with a set of double doors. I like the shaggy red carpet, but I wish the lights were on a bit more, it's fairly dark in here.
"Lynn? Groooovey baby, you came on down to volunteer, right on." From the last door on the right comes a woman with waist high purple pants, a very loose white shirt that has a massive collar, and a vest that has long cut up strands that go down to her knees.
"No, Ben, I'm just here to ask you a-"
"BEN'S A GIRL!?" I yell in surprise. I honestly thought that we were looking for a stallion.
"Whoa, I, am a vestige of life, not some company label of stereotypes that the man tries to keep down." She tells me.
"Sorry."
"Okay, so Lynn, what brings you to my humble abode?" Ben asks Lynn.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Ben."
"Yeah."
"Do you notice anything... odd in the room?" She asks her as she glances down to me. Ben takes a look around, waving her arms around slowly, as she tries her hardest to find the source of the oddity. I just wait for her to notice me.
"Mmm... OH! You brought Stephanie to class, far out sister." She says as she high fives Stephanie.
"No Ben, the pony." Lynn says as she face palms. Ben looks down to me, to which I wave, and looks back to Lynn.
"Right, right. Hows it going love child." She says as she shows me two fingers. I'm not sure what that means, but at least she isn't freaking out like everypony else.
"Ben, there's a talking horse in the room..."
"Where?"
"RIGHT HERE BEN!" She yells as she points to me.
"You said that was a pony." She says as she pulls out some sun glasses and puts them on. Lynn face palms a bit harder now. "Anyway, I have to start class now. You coming little love pony?" She asks me with a large smile.
"What are we learning about?" I ask hesitantly.
"Well.... that 's a good question." She says with a pause as she thinks about it. "Huh, I forgot to make a lesson plan..."
"Again." Stephanie whispers to me.
"Ben, can I talk to you over here please?" Lynn says as she pulls her down the hall, leaving Stephanie and me alone.
"So..."
"Let's go get something to eat." Stephanie says as she runs to the middle door and opens it. I run after her to find the room inside is a small kitchen. We go to the fridge where we start going through the food. Stephanie makes the comment 'there's never any meat in here' and I nearly fainted. Meat? They eat... meat? But there's nothing in here other then veggies! Not to mentions all of the farms. Are... are they growing the food to feed others JUST TO EAT THEM! "Hey Mathew, want an apple?"
"MONSTERS!" I yell as I hop away from her.
"... what?"
"I mean..." I stutter as I suddenly feel very silly. "I don't really like apples that much."
"But you're a pony." She states plainly. "Ponies like apples. It's law."
"No it's not!" I snap back.
"Is to!"
"Is not!"
"Is to!"
"Is not!"
"Is to!"
"Is not!"
"Is to!"
"Is not!"
"Is to times infinity!" She argues, folding her arms in confidence.
"Is not times infinity plus one!" I retort, pleased with my clever response. There's no way she can one up-
"Is to because I'm a girl and I say so."
"... what!? NO IT DOESN'T!" I yell back at her, only to have her smile and turn away from me.
"That's how it works here, so eat up." She says as she tosses me an apple. That's... that's... that's just not fair! Why do girls get to boss us around like this!? Why don't we get a say in anything? REBELLION! I start my revolution... by not eating the apple. TAKE THAT GIRLS!
*GURGLE*
I look down to my tummy as I feel the emptiness eat away at me. I haven't eaten in awhile now.... NO! I'm not eating the dumb apple! I look over to the fridge and see Stephanie leaning against it, waiting. NEVER! I sit on the floor and stare back at her as she bites into an apple, smirking as she chews loudly.
*GURGLE*
My tummy quakes again. I curse my luck as I chance a glance down at the apple. I guess a couple bites couldn't-NO! I have to do this. To crush the tyranny of girls! For all stallions, big or small. FOR EQUESTRIA! Wait... where?
"Alright my little star eyed vessels." Ben says as she walks into the room. "Lets go to the classroom to get started-"
"Did you make a lesson?" Stephanie asks innocently as she follows her out.
"Uh... I thought we'd expand our minds during some soul searching Ti- Chi, you coming Mathew?" She asks from the doorway.
"Huh? Oh, yeah." I say slowly as I follow them out. Equestria, why does that sound so familiar?
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Lynn
After I dropped off the kids I move back to the truck, unsure of what to do next. I pull the door open, only to have it slammed shut. After the initial shock of the door being shut I take a look at the arm holding it shut. That's a military uniform...
"Jason?" I ask weakly as I turn around. "JASON!" I yell as I leap into his arms, kissing his cheeks and hugging him tightly. "I though you were in Afghanistan for a few more months!" I say as I continue to kiss him.
"Well, taking a shot in the leg gets you a ticket home-"
"YOU WERE SHOT!" I yell as I back off him.
"Well, shrapnel, but don't worry. It was only a flesh wound." He reassures me as he moves back to embrace me. I lean up on my tip toes to kiss him more passionately on the lips, moving my hands through his blonde hair. He chuckles a bit before breaking the kiss to grab his bag and toss it into the bed of the truck.
"My place?" I ask eagerly.
"You know it, but why do you have Roses' truck?" He asks a he takes the driver seat. I run around and jump in, barely registering his question.
"Oh, she let me borrow it to drop some stuff off in town, now lets go!" I tell him. We take off for my place, getting naughtier and naughtier the closer we get. Why did I have her truck... don't care. I'll figure it out later. After spending some time with my man. |
Where We Come From | Chapter 7 First Flight | Chapter 7 First Flight
Perspective: Lynn
Jason and I make our way back to my place as quickly as that rusty old truck could take us. We waste no time removing clothing as we hurry to my bedroom, where Jason throws me down. He crawls the length of my body so slowly my desire begins to burn, only being teased further by the soft kisses he plants occasionally. When we're finally face to face I grab the back of his neck and pull him in for a deep, passionate kiss. My focus falls to the dance between our tongues; where I'm trying to make an intricate waltz he's simply mashing. I don't mind today.
I let out a low moan as his hands begin to explore my body, finding its treasure quickly. I begin to pant slowly from his gestures, grabbing his broad shoulders to steady myself. I run a hand in his hair and accidentally pull when I feel his rigid member enter.
"Grah, ease up babe." He says as he begins to rock his hips.
"NNHG, a little....a little warning next time." I pant back as I release his hair. I move my hands out and grab at the sheets as his movements begin to become more powerful, guided, meaningful. My entire bed begins to shake as he grabs my shoulders and takes full charge over my body, becoming...
SLAM
We both freeze and turn our head to watch Rose march straight in and glare at the two of us. Everything falls deathly silent as we stare at one another, waiting for someone to speak.
".... heeey Rose. Look, Jason's back...."
"Where. Is. Matthew?" She asks slowly.
"I just dropped him off at Sunday school..."
"Lynn.... THAT WAS THREE HOURS AGO!"
"WHAT!" I yell as I grab the nearby alarm clock to see the time... twelve o' clock.
"Told you we shouldn't have done it back in the parking lot." Jason murmurs as he sits up. I pull the sheets to cover myself as I try to think where all the time went..... oh, yeah.... three times.... worth it.
"Did you two have relations in MY TRUCK!?" Rose yells, on the verge of as mental breakdown.
"No." I answer.
"Yes." Jason answers at the same time. Rose lets out an annoyed groan as she rubs the bridge of her nose. "It's OK, I went inside so there's no mess..."
"Jason, I thank you for your service and sacrifice..."
"Thank you..."
"But if you keep talking I'm going to cut your junk off."
"..... sorry." Jason and I share a look before falling silent. Knowing Rose, it would be wise to heed her warning.
"Where are my keys?" She asks, still rubbing her eyes.
"Uh... they're in the truck." Rose stops rubbing and glares right at me. "Don't kill me." I beg as I scoot away.
"So, Mathew is stuck with Ben at the church, where a town meeting is going to be held, my truck is out of gas, and my horse threw a shoe. What else is there to plague me?"
"..."
"..."
"Well, I may have not gotten it all in." Jason says, getting an irritated look from Rose. "Who's Mathew?"
"I swear Lynn, if your little treasures weren't so easy to get I'd say you were selling them." Rose says as she leaves the room. I pull the covers closer to myself as I begin to blush.
"I'm not... I'm not a whore... am I?" I ask Jason, who thinks about it for a second.
"No, no... well, maybe a little."
"Thanks Jason." I say flatly.
"So... who is Mathew?" He asks again.
"A little talking blue horse that came from lighting. He has some kind of memory loss and can't recall anything about where he came from or who he is." I state simply.
"No seriously, who is he?" I just pat his shoulder as I try to think of what to do.
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Mathew
"And push the ball away." Ben says as she makes a slow pushing movement to the right. I try to mimic her movement, but fumble through it and nearly fall over. It's hard to do stuff on your rear legs only! "Alright my star eyed vessels, we'll call that a day."
"FINALLY!" Stephanie exclaims as she falls back. I drop down to all four and stretch my shoulders a bit, what? Standing is weird!
"Alright, you two just hang out here while I give Abigail a call." She says as she heads to a different room. Stephanie and I look to each other before she gets up and runs to the door. She takes a peek outside before motioning for me to follow her out.
"Where are we..."
"SHH!"
"Why are we whispering?" I whisper to her as we sneak our way down the hall.
"Because I want to go to the tower, and we're not suppose to go there so we need to be sneaky." She whispers back to me as we find some stairs.
"Wait, what?"
"SHH!"
"Stephanie! Stephanie! I don't want to get in trouble... STEPHANIE!" I yell to her as she climbs up the steps. I check to make sure the coast is clear before running after her. I can't help but keep looking back as we climb higher and higher up the steps. Why does she want to go up here? What could possibly be up here that could be worth breaking the rules for?!
"Why are you being such a scardy cat?" Stephanie laughs.
"... I'm not a scardy cat."
"You're sweating..."
"YOU'RE SWEATING!" I yell back, only to get more laughs from her. "Why do we have to go up here anyway?" I ask as the stairs suddenly meet a hatch door.
"You'll see." She says as she undoes the latch and pushes it open. A strong, cool wind blows through the opening as we step out to the tower. We step out to a small square opening that has large, open windows. Above us a large metal bell hangs above us, shifting slightly in the wind. I walk to the edge of one of the windows and stare out over the town and surrounding farmlands.
"Whoa..."
"I like to come here to get away from... well, to get away." look back to her as she takes a seat against on the window sills. "It's nice up here. No one messes with me. Nothing happens. You just have to get out before the bell goes off."
"Huh." I mutter as I step onto the ledge and continue to look out to the surrounding area. There isn't a single cloud in the sky, letting the sun shine down. The wind here is fast and crisp . I can't help but close my eyes and open my wings, letting the wind fly though my feathers as I lean further out the window. I feel free up here. Wind in my mane, nopony telling me to stay hidden, just me and the world.
"Mathew, what are you doing?" Stephanie asks nervously. I open my eyes and smile back to her before stepping completely onto the window sill. "Whoa, get down from there before you fall." She says as she stands up. I can do this. I look forward and give my wings a few test flaps before stepping forward and letting gravity do its work.
For a brief moment everything slows down as the feeling of weightlessness takes over my body. I close my eyes and hold my arms out as my weight begins to drop down. The hair on my body flattens out as the wind blows wildly through my mane. I can feel my wings begin to stiffen in response to the air moving around them, preparing for my commands.
With all my might I begin to flap my wings as hard as I can. Each push sends gusts of air that help slow me down. Soon I peek out to see I'm hovering in the air... wait... I'm... I....
"I DID IT!" I yell at the top of my lungs as I strike a victory pose. I drop a bit more when I do so, but recover quickly enough. I look up to see Stephanie hanging her head out the window, cheering me on from above. With a confident smile I flap harder and take off through the air.
"WOOOOOO!" Stephanie yells as I zoom past her, heading high and higher through the air. I climb and I climb and I keep climbing until everything below me is just a spec. I spin around and take a glance at the world around me. Blue skies fill most of the world as farmland and forest cover the ground below me. Far, far in the distance I can see specs of light glimmering in the air. I wanted to go investigate, but I don't think my weak wings would carry my that far.
Maybe one day...
...but for now.
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Rose
After ciphering most of Lynns' broken sedans gas to my truck I finally make for town. I can't help but tap my fingers against the steering wheel as I speed down the road. I know I shouldn't worry, but... I can't help it. I keep thinking that someone will find him and give him to those suits or he'll get hurt or.... something! I know I shouldn't worry. I know Ben will take good care of him. But....
CLU-CLUNK CLU-CLUNK CLU-CLUNK
"DAMMIT!" I yell as my truck slowly starts comes to a stop. I should have guessed that there wasn't enough gas for my truck. I pull over and park as I continue to curse my luck. I step out and kick the door shut, cursing a bit more. I begin to pace around as I try to think of a way to get Mathew without him being spotted. Maybe I can just stuff him into a jacket... I'd just need a jacket.
"Hi Rose!" I stop as I hear a voice somewhere. I take a look around but.... there's no one here. Unless they're hiding in the corn.
"Hello?" I call out as I look between the rows.
"Rose! I'm flying, look!" OK, now I know it's Mathew. I just don't see him...
THWUMP
I fall to the ground as a light teal blur crashes into me and knocks me on my back. I blink a few times before sitting up right, feeling something stand on my lap and bounce in excitement.
"Rose! Rose, did you see? Did you see me!" Mathew asks as he bounces some more.
"Mathew? What in the name of Sam Hane happened?" I ask as I rub my head.
"I was FLYING Rose!" He yells as he jumps into the air and hovers there. I can't help but gape as hiss tiny wings defy logic and gravity itself. His smile begins to deflate as I continue to silently stare at him, unsure on how to approach this. Does this mean he's grown up? Like a bird finally being able to leave the nest, will he leave now to?
"Uh..."
"Did... did I do something wrong?" He asks as he lands on my lap again.
"No! No no no no no, no. I was just.... so surprised to see you flying it took me a second to process it." I tell him, getting a massive smile on his face.
"It was so awesome! I just jumped out a window and closed my..."
"You jumped out a window!" I yell.
"Well, I think it was a window. It was up in the bell tower..."
"YOU JUMPED OUT OF THE BELL TOWER!" I yell again. He seems to think I'm OK with this, because he just nods enthusiastically.
"Yeah! Stephanie brought me up there after our Ti-Chi lesson, I don't like Ti-Chi by the way. It's boring. Anyway, we went up there and I felt the wind on my wings and I went for it! I fell to just about the sidewalk and took off! I flew really, really high up and fell back down. I was going so fast Rose! I even did a few loops and stuff!" He tells me excitedly.
"That's... was this your first time flying?" I ask him.
"Uhuh." He nods. I take a deep breath as I take a look around, making sure no one sees this.
"That's.... amazing, Mathew." I say as I pull him in for a hug. He squeezes back as I feel his wings flutter a bit. "I'm.... I'mm so proud of you. This is... just.... just don't jump out anymore buildings OK."
"I wont." He tells me as we let go of each other.
"And try not to crash into me anymore. I'm not as tough as I used to be." I say as I rub my gut.
"Sorry, I didn't figure out the whole landing thing yet." He says as he rubs the back of his neck and blushes.
"That's alright, we'll figure it out later. Let's just head home for now... home. Mathew, I have a very important question to ask you. And I need you to really think about your answer, OK?" He takes a serious face as he slowly nods. "Do you.... do you want to stay with me? Until everything gets sorted out that is." He looks up to me and smiles a bit. His answer is a simple hug. One that I return with much more enthusiasm.
Be careful Rose Cassaway. Don't repeat yourself.
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Stephanie
Wow! Mathews flying was awesome! I think the rest of the town thinks so too! I can tell because they're all coming here, probably to congratulate him for doing TWO whole loops. That was so cool! |
Where We Come From | Chapter 8 A Good Home | Chapter 8 A Good Home
Perspective: Rose
After our tender little moment together, Mathew and I start to head back to town. We need to get to my truck as quickly as possible, or we chance someone seeing him. I wanted to try to hold him, to hide him of course, but he was too darn excited to hold still. I don't blame him though, a first flight like that would have anyone just as excited... or terrified. I guess we should do something special, but what do you do for a pony? Can they eat sweets? Do you buy sweets for something like this?
"Hey Mathew," I ask slowly, trying to hide the fact that I have no idea what to do, "this is a pretty big... thing. You flying and all."
"Uh-huh.... sure.... is." He says as he glides around me.
"So... we should.. celebrate?" I didn't mean for it to come out as question, but I'm so lost on this one. If it was a normal kid getting an A or winning some kind of contest I would know what to do. But flying... I have no clue. Mathew lands in front of me and gives me the biggest smile he can muster, practically standing on the tips of his hooves.
"Can we get pie? Please." He asks, leaning forward enough to nearly fall over.
"Pie?"
"Apple pie!" He adds, stepping forward.
"Uh.... sure..."
"YES!" He leaps into the air and throws hiss legs out in excitement. He grabs my arm and begins to pull me along as he talks about all the pie he's going to eat. I laugh along but.... yeah, we need to get him some pants. Especially with him flying now.
When we make it to the edge of town I notice how little activity there is. Now, it's a small town, but there's always something happening. Cars driving by, people checking out the local stores, elders sitting out to enjoy the sun, but not today. For some unknown reason the streets were empty. Mathew doesn't seem to notice, or care, but I make a small detour to see if somethings happened.
We take an alley to Main street and look around. Like before there isn't a soul in sight. There's even a truck still running with the doors wide open! What is going on...
"I don't think they're open." I spin around to find Mathew, reared up, looking into the window of a diner. I was about to tell him to hide, when I noticed that there wasn't anybody in the diner. "Think they're on break?"
"I don't think so... stay right here while I check inside." I say before stepping through the front door, a bell chiming above. "Hello?" I call out as I walk down the row of booths and counter seats. Unfinished meals dot a few of the tables as timers go off in the kitchen. I make it to the back of the diner where I take a look into the kitchen, finding it empty.
"Uh... Rose..." Mathew mumbles as he steps inside.
"Mathew, I thought I told you to stay outside." I say as I jump the counter and try to find... anyone.
"Uh.... I think you should..."
"Here." I say as I slide open the dessert cabinet and pull out a pie. "Go nuts while I try to figure this out."
".... whatever you say." He says as he runs over and jumps up onto the seat. I can't help but laugh a little when he shoves his face into the apple pie and begins to devour it. I shake my head and continue looking for anyone here. The kitchen is empty, as well as the small office in the back. What could have happened to make everyone disappear like this? I step back out and lean against the counter. Trying to think of what to do.
"Can you pass the whip cream?" Stephanie asks.
"Sure." I respond as I- "Stephanie!? Where did you come from?"
"Church. Whip cream-"
"What happened here? It's like a ghost town. Where is everyone?!"
"At church." She deadpans as she looks over to Mathew, who's licking the crumbs off of the pie pan. "So much for pie-"
"What do you mean they're at church?! Why are they there? Start talking missy!" I demand as I lean over the counter to get in her face.
"Well, I think everyone saw Mathew flying around and wanted to question it. But then they ran into Ben..."
"... oh dear God."
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Ben
"What was that thing flying over your church?" One of the towns folk asks me, making me laugh.
"Dude, you need to chill and take that negative energy elsewhere." I tell him, making the crowd of people groan again.
"Ben, focus. There was a little blue thing flying around here. What was it?" I look to the other person and try to think of the best, logical answer.
"Hmm... *gasp* You... You all need to get in here as quickly as possible!" I yell as I throw the double doors open and begin to pull people into the sanctuary.
"What is it Ben? Did you remember what it was?" A towns lady asks eagerly.
"What? Look, I didn't see the angel flying around. But we need to get you all baptized and saved for the rapture." I say happily, getting a collective groan of joy from all the new found church members. I knew today was going to be a good day.
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Rose
"Okay, so we only have a hours to get out of here and hide Mathew before people start looking elsewhere. We can't go to the farm, can't go back to the church.... hmm, where can we go?" I ask aloud as I pace about the diner. We can't go too far, I still have to tend to my fields, not to mention hiding a kid isn't going to be easy.
"Why don't we ask her? She seems to be just as worried." Mathew suggests. I look out the window and nearly faint as the worst possible woman walks through the door.
"Oh my word... is that what everyone is looking for?"
"Stacy Mouldouth." I practically growl as she walks over to Mathew and inspects him closely.
"Uh.... hi?" Mathew greets as Stacy takes a seat beside him, never taking her eyes off.
"Oh my word... what is it?" She asks slowly.
"His name is Mathew, and he's my little pony." Stephanie corrects, adding a little bit of sass in her tone.
"He's.... your pony. Stephanie I think you need to stop watching so much tv and come back to the real world. Ponies don't talk-"
"I talk, and I'm a pony. I'm just not her pony." Mathew adds, getting an upset look from Stephanie.
"Can I talk to you outside Stacy?" I ask before leaping over the counter. She starts to protest until I grab her arm and forcefully drag her out. I take her out of site of the children before letting go of her. "OK, here's the deal-"
"How dare you grab me like that! I am not one of your farm animals to man handle! I.... am a lady."
*Eye twitch*
"Look lady, the government is searching for Mathew and I'm trying to keep him hidden-"
"Why would you want to hide him from the government? They could probably take better care of him then you could."
*Eye twitch*
"Do you see what he is? Do you know what they would do to him? Probably lock him up in a cage and do all sorts of test on him. Do you want to be the one responsible for ruining that kids life?" She leans over and looks back into the diner, biting her lower lip as she thinks about it.
"He does seem a bit of a softy. I guess that wouldn't be the best answer, not now at least. Where is he from? Is there anyone else looking for him? How long has he been here?" I tell her all the main details. The lightning, finding him and Stephanie together, the Government boys, his memory loss, all the major details. By the end of it, she finally agrees with me to hide him.
"Good, then you're going to hide him in you place until the two government boys are gone-"
"My place? What are you talking about, why my place?"
"Because you're the fricken town mayor and your husband is the town sheriff! If you can get him on board with this, he'll have the best chance of staying off their radar."
"And then what?"
"And then.... I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when we get there." I say as I step away from her. She lets out a sad sigh as she step towards me, softening her face a bit.
"Rose, don't repeat what happened last time. Look, I'll take him in for now, but you really need to find him a home, a good home. Somewhere safe and nurturing. A farm... well, like you said, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I'll go tell him that he's coming home with me. You just go and make sure that no one comes looking for him at my place. Now... anything I should know about him?"
"Uh.... he just learned to fly."
"And..."
"And... he can't remember about his past, so don't try prying. He gets fairly upset about it."
"Well no duh he gets upset. I swear Rose, sometimes you can be so brutish."
"Well excuse me miss high and mighty. Some of us have to work for a living without getting to depend on our husbands!" I defend, getting her to roll her eyes.
"Anyway, lets get him over there while everyone is distracted with Ben.... I'll give you a moment to say goodbye."
"...... goodbye?"
"Yes, Rose, given your past I don't think you're the best candidate to be a foster parent. He needs stability, and-"
"I can be stable!" I yell as I step towards her. She just raises an eyebrow to me shifts her stance a bit. "Oh don't you try and act all high and mighty missy! I don't care what you think, I am perfectly capable of taking care of Mathew." I tell her, the tone in my voice rising a bit.
"Rose, no you're not. You have a farm to tend to. A big farm. Just what exactly will he be doing when you're out working?"
"Well.... plenty of stuff-"
"And what about education? Di you finish school yet? What happens when he needs help with math, or science, or-"
"I still got my GED from Cuesta community college! I know my stuff!"
"What about when he's crying because he cut his knee?" she asks, a small smile forming on her lips.
"He wouldn't cry from some little cut-"
"But if he did? Not everyone is as devoid of emotions like you are Rose-"
"You better watch your mouth," I warn as I step towards her.
"What happens if his memories come back and becomes distraught over losing someone close? What if he's repressing the memories of his dying parents? Who knows what he's seen? Are you actually going to stand there and tell me that you're ready for these talks Rose? This is a defining moment in his life Rose, not yours. Look me in the eyes and tell me your ready to help him through this Rose. Look me in the eyes and convince me that you're capable of this, right now."
I stare deep into her eyes and glare my response to her. He could help around the farm. I know enough to help him early on in school work. I just need to make sure he studies hard for the later years... or take another semester of school. Farm work will toughen him up, and its not like I'll yell at him for crying. And if his memories came back.... I'd say what would be needed.
What ever that may be. What do you tell a kid who watched his parents die? Maybe there's a book on this or something? But when could I read something like that? I'm still doing my dusting, as well as reworking my irrigation network. Not to mention I still have to get my southern field tilled and seeded.
....
"Well Rose? What's it going to be?" She asks me as I step back from her. I keep thinking over how daily things would go about. Would he be happy living with me?
Could he live with me?
I take a deep breath before turning away from Stacy. I know what needs to be done, I just need to get it over with. I open the door to the diner and walk inside, finding Mathew and Stephanie spinning on the counter seats.
"Stephanie, could you give Mathew and I a minute please. We need to have a serious talk." Stephanie tried to complain, but I shot her a look that made her run, waving goodbye to Mathew as she did so. I take the seat next to Mathew and bury my face in my hands. This isn't going to be easy.
"Am I in trouble?" He asks quietly, lowering his head in shame.
"No, you didn't do anything wrong Mathew.... I did."
"Oh... did you apologize?" I look over to him and raise an eyebrow, getting him to scoot closer. "When you do something wrong, you have to apologize. Everypony knows that."
"... I can't apologize.... not anymore." I admit, my eyes starting to water.
"Its never too late to say sorry," he says, making me face him again. "The best apologize are the ones that are from the heart.... huh. I think I just remembered something! Somepony told me that once.... I don't know who though.... hm, I think I was getting in trouble though. Probably best I don't remember that." He laughs a bit at the end as he racks his mind over it, trying to pry every bit of information from the memory.
"Mathew.... you're going to stay with Mrs. Mouldouth for a bit, but I'll be back, I promise." I say as I stand up. He looks a little worried by this, but nods anyway.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to go apologize.... but more importantly, I need to build a good home. I'll be back as soon as possible, I promise."
I leave the diner in a hurry. I know what I have to do... I just hope it's not too late for it. First things first though, I need to buy some flowers. |
Where We Come From | Chapter 9 Say You're Sorry | Chapter 9 Say You're Sorry
Perspective: Mathew
Rose leaves in hurry, trying to hide her face as I hear her sniffle a bit. I try to run after her, but the other pony lady blocks the door by stepping in the way. I try to move around her, but she simply steps in the way.
"Can you move? Please? Rose is-"
"She has to go take care of something personal right now. Why don't you come with me to my home for a bit while she takes care of that?" She asks as she keeps moving in my way. I take a few steps back and sigh in irritation. She's probably long gone by now anyway.
"I.... I guess."
"Great! Don't worry about her; she's a lot tougher than she looks. Now, let's get going before anyone else see's you," she says with a quick glance around.
"Why would it be bad if somepony saw me?" I ask, but am ignored as she walks out of the diner. I follow after her and glance back to where Rose ran off towards. I don't see her, she must be far away by this point. I hope she's okay, she seemed really troubled by something. I hope it wasn't anything I did.
Mr. Mouldouth takes me to another one of those motorized carriages and buckles me into the back bench. The seats have some weird smooth cloth over them and are really comfortable, I just wish I didn't have to wear a seat belt though. I don't get why they would want to make something that chokes you for safety. It must be a... none pony thing.
She starts the thing and begins to guide it to her home. It's a lot smoother then the carriage Rose has, and a lot quieter. Though I miss the music from Rose's. Mrs. Mouldouth is playing something that has two boring old stallions talking to each other about... something threatening the family foundation?
I don't get it.
After a short ride we make it to her home. It's a really fancy looking two story building with light blue paint and white trims. She parks the carriage on the driveway beside the house and steps out. I quickly undue the chocking hazard and bite onto the handle as I try to open the door.
"Mathew... what are you doing?" Mrs. Mouldouth asks from outside.
"Ahm trern ter erpen de deur." I mumble with the handle in my mouth, pulling it with all my might. I rear up a bit as I give one final pull.... and fall back when it snaps back. Whatever this door is made of, it's tough to move. And tastes like soap.
"Honey, the child locks are on," she says before opening the door with total ease. "Why would you use your mouth to open the door?"
"What else would I use?" I ask as I get back on my hooves and jump down from the seat. She eyes me a bit before closing the door and walking over to the front door.
"Well, next time just wait for someone to open it for you. We don't want to have your drool ruining the interior upholstery." I look back to the carriage and shrug, not really knowing what upholstery is. She guides me to the front door and holds it open for me.
Wow.... ritzy. Everything in here looks shiny and new looking. Fancy drapes, super uncomfortable looking furniture, random plates in cabinets set up to be viewed... it feels more like a museum than a home. I begin to walk in when Mrs. Mouldouth runs ahead of me.
"Uh-"
"Can you wait here please? We need to clean your fe- er- hooves," she tells me worriedly.
"... why?"
"Honey, you've been walking around that dirty old farm all day. You'll track dirt into the carpet." I glance down to my hooves and exam them a bit. They seem fine to me, but it's her home, so I'll just deal with it. "Good, now you just... wait here while I go grab some cloths."
"Okay... I'll just wait here then." I call out to her as walks off into the large home. I l huff a bit as I stand there, waiting...
Alone...
By myself...
With nothing to do...
FOOOOOOOOREEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR...
I glance over to the couch and mull over the idea of taking a seat there. I could at least lay down, even if it looks stiffer than a log. I already went this far into the living room, what's the harm in going three feet? I take one last look around before taking a deep breath and stepping over to it. I glance back towards the kitchen area before climbing up onto the seat.
Not half bad, I guess. Stiff, but I'm not standing so... meh. I don't really get why I couldn't just come over here and sit down. Nothings happening. I lay down on my stomach and let out a sigh. It's pretty boring here. Maybe if I can somehow convince her to let me-
"Mathew? Mathew, It old you to wait over there! Why are you on the couch!?" She asks as she comes storming over.
"I-I just wanted-"
"Now we'll have to get it cleaned. Mathew, when I tell you to do something I expect you to listen, am I clear on that?" she asks firmly.
"Yes ma'am." I say as lower my head. I don't get why I'm getting in trouble, but I don't want to argue with her either. Especially if laying on a couch is enough to get in trouble. I don't want to even imagine arguing back.
"*sigh* okay, now... just follow me and keep off the carpet. First things first, you need a bath... you do bathe, right?" She asks, her disappointment still in her voice.
"I think I washed recently. Maybe-"
"Well, now you'll have washed even more recently. Follow me, and remember to keep off the carpet." I look around and try to see where I can get down without stepping on the carpet... this may be a bit tricky. I look over to her and watch as she climbs the steps upstairs. Better get moving then...
Okay, if I can glide to the path in one jump I'll be home free. I take my stance and wiggle in anticipation. Gotta hurry, here I go! I jump of the couch-
THUD
Well... at least my face caught my fall. I get up and quickly run off the carpet before I could get in any more trouble. There are so many dumb rules here. Don't sit on the couch, don't walk on the carpet, what's next? Don't eat the food?! Whatever, maybe Rose will finish whatever she's dealing with and take me back to the farm. It was way better there then here.
I make my way up the stairs and find myself in a hallway that goes two ways; each way having two doors. I don't see where Mrs. Mouldouth went, and any-
CRASH
I jump a little when I hear something hit the ground, hard. It sounded like toys being tossed about, and it came from the right. Well... I guess it beats just standing here thinking to myself. I go to the first door and open it. Inside is what looks like a mini library with a large wooded desk at the end of the room. A decorative rug covers the wooden floor as tall bookshelves, filled with many thick books, cover the walls. In the middle of the room is what looks like the remains of a toy, smashed into a million pieces.
"Oh man I'm in trouble." Says a younger kid as he walks out from behind the desk. He's pretty skinny and has lightly tanned white skin. He's short blonde mane is spiked up, making his blue eyes stand out. He's wearing blue pants and a red and white stripped shirt. "Whoa... I was joking when I said I wanted a pony-"
"What happened to your toy?" I ask as I walk in and look at it.
"Oh! You talk to! Wow... oh, that wasn't my toy, it was my dads model air plane... I may have- accidentally- thrown it across the room and broke it," he says in a casual manner, shrugging it off.
"... why would you throw something that isn't yours?" I ask as he joins me by the broken... airplane? Not sure what that is.
"I was-"
"What was that!" Mrs. Mouldouth yells as she storms into the room, making us both freeze up.
"HE DID IT!" The other colt yells, stepping away from me and the mess.
"WHAT!?" I yell as the kid points at me. "No I-"
"I told him it didn't fly, but he wouldn't listen! I even told him we weren't even supposed to be in here! But he came in here anyway!" He lies as he goes to Mrs. Mouldouths side, giving her his best puppy dog eyes possible.
"No-"
"Mathew! Not another word from you!" Mrs. Mouldouth snaps as me, glaring down at me with intense eyes.
"But-"
"What did I just say!?" She asks in a firm, demanding tone. I literally have to fight myself to yell back. "I swear, I thought I could expect better from you. Just go wash up and I'll deal with you later."
"But-"
"NOW!" I huff a bit before leaving the room. This isn't fair! I didn't do anything wrong! Why am I the one in trouble? That jerk, I didn't even say five words to him.... well, still! He's a jerk! WHERE'S THE BATHROOM! "And don't think you aren't apologizing for this afterwards Mathew." Say sorry... SAY SORRY!? But I didn't do anything wrong!
I want to go back to the farm...
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Rose
I wipe the last of my tears as I drop from my knees to a sitting position. There were so many things I should have done. So many things I should have said. I was never brave enough to do either of them. I always thought that things would solve themselves and we could have just been happy. But... that's not how things turned out.
As the wind picks up I look up to the area before me and let my mind go blank. There's a field of tall, golden grass standing before a lone tree line. As the wind races before it, they sway to and fro, bending to the wild elements. Several birds fly from one tree to the next as they go about their daily, carefree lives. The trees just stand there, growing in the sunlight without a worry in the world.
The wind pushes harder, forcing me to look back down at the ground. I bring a hand to the exposed soil and grip it between my fingers. I feel the dry dirt crumble between my fingers and fall back to the ground below, bits blowing away in the wind. Everything has to come back to earth, one way or another. You can't just pretend that things will get better, you have to till the soil if you want anything to grow.
I drop the dirt and look back to the lonely stone standing before me. It's nestled before a weeping willow and has a bit of dirt in its engraving. I reach up and run a hand over the top, closing my eyes as I feel its smooth surface. Two words. Just two words and... and... then... I don't know what happens after those two words. That's partially why I've never said them. What happens next? Do I just pretend that it never happened, live as if everything is a-okay? Or is this something that will burden me for the rest of my life? Do I carry this weight until I meet my own fate and pay the price? What happens when it breaks my back and forces me down?
What about Mathew? I just met the kid but... I... I already feel protective of him. I don't know why, but... I need to get him back from Stacy. Lord only knows what she's putting him through. I don't care what she says, he's coming home with me and that's final! I don't care if I have to leave town forever, I am going to be the one to provide for him. Because I must. But... first...
"*inhale/exhale* I-I'm.... I'm sorry... baby girl. I'm so, so sorry. I promise, I'll do better." I stand up and dust myself off before marching back to the road, a final tear rolling down my cheek. |
Where We Come From | Chapter 10 Runaway Cassaway | Chapter 10 Runaway Cassaway
Perspective: Mathew
This is just dumb. Actually, no. This is beyond dumb! Because I refused to admit fault -for something I didn't do!- I now have to stand here in 'time out'. I've had my face pressed against the corner of the room for nearly ten minutes! I have to 'think about what I did' and learn to respect authority'. I can think of a certain somepony that could use these lessons. But nope! I get to learn them! All because that kid had to be a little fawning foal! It's not fair.
I don't want to be here anymore...
CREAK
I tense up when the door opens and heavy hoof steps enter the room. Whoever this is, it's not Mrs. Mouldouth. I gulp the lump in my throat as I slowly peer behind myself, seeing the stallion standing in the doorway. He has short blonde hair that barely coverings his pinkish head. His belly goes way out as his tan shirt tries to stay tucked in to his tan slacks. He has a star pinned to his chest, as well as a belt that fits snugly underneath his large gullet. He leans down and stares at me with those beady blue eyes, squinting a bit as he looks me over.
"Um... h-hi?" I try to be polite, but his large stature is scaring me a bit. He goes wide eyed for a second before he turns and leaves the room. I swallow another lump. That can't be good. I hear him start to talk with Mrs. Mouldouth. I don't get everything from them, but I do get a few words here and there.
Freak...
Alien...
Orphan...
Animal...
I'm none of those things. I'm not a freak... I'm not an alien... I... I can't be an orphan... I can talk, think, I'm not an animal... I'm... I'm...
TAP TAP TAP
I hiccup as I look up to the window and see Stephanie's face in the window. I wipe my eyes and look back to the door before I head over to her.
"Why are you crying?" she asks me quietly through the window. I was about to answer, but stopped when a burst of yelling came from downstairs. "Oh... sorry-"
"Am I a freak?" I ask her, feeling a few more tears roll down my cheek. "An alien? Am I an animal or-"
"Hey, hey... Did they say that?" she asks sweetly. I nod to her, wiping my eyes again. "Don't listen to them. Everybody in this house is a jerk, trust me on that. Mr. Mouldouth yells at me all the time."
"Really? Why?" Knowing that I'm not the only one that they yell at is comforting.
"He's the Sheriff, I guess it's his job to. Hey, I've got an idea. Let's get out of here. My grandma is making her famous rhubarb pie for dessert. Plus... we can hang out some more that way. Sound good?" I look back to the door and listen to them yell some more before I nod to her. She smiles back to me, making my stomach turn on itself a bit. I'm not sure why though.
"Back up so I can climb out with you." I tell her as I open the window. She nods and shimmies over the edge. I look down and see that the building goes straight down. How did she even get up here in the first place?
"Think you can fly me down? I don't think I can make it without dropping into a bush," she asks me, glancing down for a moment. I think over for a second before I nod to her. I just flew around that one building, I think I can manage getting the two of us down safely.
I climb out and hold onto the railing as I flap my wings. With my hooves supporting me, I get airborne easily enough. I reach out to Stephanie, getting her to hold onto me lightly. In one quick motion I pull her in for a tight hug and START TO DROP WAY FASTER THAN I SHOULD! I try to force my wings to flap harder, but I can only manage to slow our descent a tiny bit! Stephanie either doesn't notice, or doesn't care. She's giggling along, smiling as if we weren't about to hit the ground. Well... this beats being in there still.
THUD
Luckily for me, there was a planter just below us. The soft, tilled soil -along with the squishy flower- made the landing much softer for the two of us. Well... me at least. Steph at least had me to break her fall. She giggles some more before standing up, dusting herself off a bit before stepping out of the planter.
"The landing could have used a bit of work, unless you wanted to destroy Mrs. Mouldouth's garden. Then good job. Now let's get going! If we don't wake granny soon enough, she'll sleep right through dinner!" she tells me before running off. I look back to the window and stare at it for a moment before chasing after her. I don't like leaving without telling anypony, but... I really don't think I was wanted there.
As we run through the town I start to see more and more people coming from the church. Most of them just stare at me, mouths open. A few started to run while most would whisper to their friends and family. I was going to ask Steph about it, but before I could she made a sharp turn into an ally. I try to keep up with her, but nearly crash into her when she slides to a stop. I was going to ask her what happened when someone grabbed me and picked me up, shoving a bag over my head.
"HEY! Let me go! Let me go!" I yell as I try to wrestle free. I can hear Stephanie struggling as well, but she's getting quieter and quieter. The pony grabbing me suddenly tosses me onto a cushion before slamming a door shut. I pull the bag off my head and look up at the person before me. It's one of the people from the farm house, the darker one. He's just sitting there, looking between a folder and me. I turn around and try to pull the door open, but I think it's locked.
"I don't believe it." The person mutters. I spin back around and press my back against the door, scarred out of my mind.
"Wh... what are you going to do to me?" I ask, trying to find another escape route. It doesn't look good.
"I'm just going to ask you a few questions, okay? I'm sorry I grabbed you like that, but I had to make sure no one saw us here. Do you think you can manage that?" I look around a bit before nodding to him. I don't trust him, but he did apologize. "Good. What is your name?"
"Um... M-mathew." He nods to that, writing something down.
"Can you use your wings yet?" I nod, making him write more stuff down. "How about your horn?" I shake my head at that. What would I use it for? "Interesting. Do you know where you came from?"
"Uh... I can't remember. The last thing I remember is waking up in the forest with Stephanie... where is she?"
"She's over by the street. We'll let the two of you go after this last question. Do you feel safe here?" I cock my head at him, making him chuckle. "Obviously not in this car. But, here as in this town. On.... a scale from one to ten; one being perfectly fine and ten being scarred beyond belief, how would you rate Manton?" I think about this for a second. The people here stare at me, call me names, yell at me for things I didn't do. But, there are good people too. Ben was nice, so was Ms. Darenger. Stephanie is a good friend and Rose...
"Um... three." he nods to me, writing something down. "But... if I was at the farm... one."
"The farm? You mean Ms. Cassaway's farm?" I nod to him, making him flip over a few pages. "Did the two of you meet already?"
"I thought you said that was your last question." He rolls his eyes at that, putting the folder on the front seat. "C-can I go now? Please?"
"Huh... yes. But! I have one last thing I would like to tell you." I pause for a second before nodding to him. "Don't let anyone take a picture of you, understand?"
"Um... okay. Why?" He doesn't answer me. Instead he just opens his door and steps out, holding the door for me. I hesitate for a moment before jumping out, putting a bit of distance between the two of us. "Sir?"
"I have to get going now, lots of paper work to do. Take care Mathew." He tells me as he takes his seat in the front of the car. The other person in the suit comes walking up and takes the other seat, completely ignoring me along the way. I stare at them as they talk for a second before turning the carriage on. I run to the side of the alley as it backs up and drives away, leaving me confused.
"Mathew! Are you alright?" Steph asks as she comes running back to me. I jolt a bit from her voice before nodding to her, still staring at the carriage as it leaves. "What did they want with you?"
"They... he..."
"Yeah?"
"They wanted to know if I'm scared." I tell her, getting a confused look from her. "Does that make sense to you?"
"... not really. Look, let's just keep this between the two of us for now, okay? If we tell the adults... they'll just worry. Plus, we'll get in trouble for sneaking out of Mrs. Mouldouths house. Agreed?" I look to her for a second before nodding to her, still feeling slightly shaken from the encounter. "Alright... well, let's get going. I don't think staying here would be a good idea."
"Right." I start to follow her out of the alley when I pause to look back. They're still sitting over there, watching me. They say a few things to one another before finally leaving the alley. If they wanted to dissect me, then why would they care if I was scared or not? Maybe... maybe they aren't as bad as we thought they were.
--o-0-0--
Perspective: Rose
There seems to be a lot of commotion at the church today. Practically everyone is there. I would stop by there to see what's going on, but I'm on a mission. I march right past it and head straight for Stacy's house. I go straight to her door and and march right-
THUD
... into Frank. I rub my nose a bit before straightening my posture to stare him in the eyes.
"Look here Frank. I-"
"Take the farm animal home." He tells me bluntly before pushing me aside and walking past me. Well... that was easy. I walk in and see Stacy sitting at the couch, trying to remain as dignified as possible.
"Where is Mathew?" I ask her.
"In the study upstairs, left hall, second door on the right. Please try not to walk on the carpet." I look down and note that the stairs and walkway are covered with carpet. So... I ignore her request and head up to the study. At the door I pause to take a moment to collect myself. I can't just take him back int my life, not without telling him what happened before. Twice in one day... I can handle it. I've been tough before this, and I'll be tough through it now. I have to be.
I open the door slowly and peer inside. I don't see him at first, so I walk in and look around. Everything seems to be in order. No little talking ponies hiding in here, or, so it seems. I check under the desk and between the bookshelves, but I can't seem to find him. I stop and rub my hands together, trying to think. Maybe he's in another room? But this is the room Stacy told me he was in. And she tends to tell the truth, mostly. Maybe he just left to use the facilities?
I go to leave the room, but something stopped me. The window drape brushed against my skin thanks to the gentle breeze from outside. I take a look out the window, but don't see anything. That is, until I look down. Stacys garden has been flattened. In a panic I rush out of the room and head towards her backyard. Stacy tried to asks what was going on, but didn't stop to fill her in.
When I make it outside I rush to the garden. All of the flowers have been flattened and the soil has been compacted. I can't believe it. He wouldn't...
"What in the world has gotten into you!?" Stacy demands as she rushes over to me.
"What did you say to him?" I demand, pointing a finger at her face.
"Do not threaten me- AAH!" I grab her wrist and twist it around, pinning her. She tries to struggle out, but my grip is strong.
"What did you say to him!" I demand again, adding more pressure.
"Frank didn't want an animal in the house so he said he was going to send him to the pound. But we weren't in the room when we said that- Oowowowow!" I add more pressure for a moment before relaxing it back, letting her speak. "I didn't think he would hear us arguing."
"Half the town hears you two arguing." I tell her before letting go. She backs off and rubs her arm, mumbling her censored insults to herself. This can't be good. That boy is too sensitive for something like that. He probably ran off, but where would he go? He has nowhere to go... well, except my farm.
"Where are you going?" Stacy demands as I start to walk off.
"Mathew ran off and I am going to find him." I tell her as I make it out to the street and head towards my truck. Most of the townsfolk are still at the church, but Frank is there as well. I'm sure he's going to muddy things up for sure. I go to open the door when Stacy steps in the way.
"I want to help!" She practically demands. "I have to apologize to him. It's only fair." I think about it for a second before nodding to her. She moves out of the way and heads to the other side, where she pauses. "Um... would you mind if we took my car? It's...cleaner."
"Git in, or I'm leaving." I tell her flatly, making her sigh in defeat. I start the engine and race back to the farm. Just hang in there kiddo. Don't do anything stupid until I get there. |
Where We Come From | Chapter 11 A Lot of Nothing | Chapter 11 A Lot of Nothing
Perspective: Rose
"Just haaad to take your truck, didn't you?" Stacy asks dejectedly as we hurry back into town. We made it about a mile down the road before my truck completely died. How I had forgotten that I was out of gas is beyond me. I let her complain tough, I have plenty on my mind at the moment. We make it to the edge of town soon there after and rush towards her house.
The town is still empty, more so than before. Where is everyone? Are they all at the church still? Did something else happen? Could they have found Mathew? I shake all of the questions from my head as I focus on hurrying to Stacy's house. There's no need for working myself up over something that doesn't concern me right now. I just need to stay focused on the task at hand.
When her house comes into view I book it down the street. I have a lot to say and I'm done waiting. Stacy started yelling something at me, but I ignored it as I burst through her door and rush upstairs. I go to the office and pause at it. Slow and easy, no need to worry him any further. I open the door and slowly step inside, feeling my palms start to sweat a bit.
"Mathew?" I call quietly, looking around the study. There doesn't seem to be anyone in here, but this is where she said she left him. Maybe he's hiding? He did get in 'trouble' and he is pretty sensitive. I step in and shut the door behind myself, locking it. This needs to be just me and him.
"Mathew? It's me, Rose. You can come out now." I keep my voice calm and quiet. If he's hiding, he probably doesn't want to be seen right now. Maybe that's alright. What I have to say would be easier if he wasn't looking up at me. No, no, I have to say it to his face. He has a right to know everything.
"Mathew, I'm sorry." I check under the desk, but he's not there. "I shouldn't have let Stacy take you like that. There are a lot of reasons why she did what she did, and why I did what I did. And you have a right to know, Mathew. You have a right to know because... because I care about you."
I pull open every drawers, check every cabinet, and on top of every bookshelf in this room. When he doesn't show up I start to double check them all again. And again. And again. I start throwing books off their shelves and turning drawers over in my attempt to find him. But he isn't here. In desperation I start to go through the piles of books and papers that I've thrown in the middle of the room. Maybe I scared him off and he hid in here! Pile after pile I search for him. He has to be here! Where else could he have gone!?
THUD
I slip over something and fall on the floor. I let out a few sobs as I sit up and look over the room.
"I'm worried sick about someone who's basically a stranger Mathew," I cry to him, rolling to my and pulling my knees into my chest. "I just wanted everything to turn out okay. I didn't need happily ever after, I just wanted to be okay. But she wouldn't stop crying. I didn't know what to do. I was alone, afraid, in way over my head. What would you expect from a seventeen year old kid? How was I suppose to have the answers when no one was there to help me?
I've been bitter ever since. Figured... figured it was just the person I was. What else was I supposed to do? What else would a kid do? I pushed everyone away, and worked. It was all I knew to do. I'm not like other people Mathew, I know that. I'm blunt, forceful, I can even be mean sometimes kid. I guess it was my way of getting back at the world. I wasn't given anything, why should they, right? It's bitter thinkin, but it's the way I am. Until I saw you...
I don't know what it is about you Mathew. I found you in that little crater with that brat and... I was drawn to you. Like, I had to take care of you. That I needed to take care of you. I know that sounds mighty silly, but it's true. I saw you there, laying in bed, and I knew we had to protect... that I had to protect you. I wish I could tell you more, but that's just how I felt. I guess... I guess that's just how I've been then, huh? Living by how I feel and never considering how others might. If you're mad at me, that's fine. You are right to feel that way and I deserve it. But you need to do better than me and tell me. I didn't face my emotions and it destroyed the person I was. Please Mathew... please-"
THUD THUD THUD
"Mathew ran off!" Stacy yell from behind the door.
"... WHAT!?" I yell as I jump to my feet and run to the door, throwing it open. "How do you know that!?"
"I stepped out back to... what did you do to my study!?" she yells as she looks behind me. I grit my teeth and take her by the shoulders, shoving her against the wall behind her. She lets out a small scream and freezes up, shaking slightly.
"How do you know?" I ask with heavy breaths. She tries to speak, but the words escape her. "Stacy!"
"My garden!" she yells back in fear. "All of my flowers were flattened and there were hoof prints all over! That, and the window is open." I think about what she said before finally setting her down. I take a few steps back and begin to chuckle to myself. I just said all of that, to no one. I literally spilled my heart and soul... to no one. I BROUGHT UP MAGGIE... to no one. I think about it a little more and start to laugh harder. Stacy presses herself against the wall and forces out a few chuckles and she watches me carefully, unsure of what to do.
"Are you... are you... okay?" she asks carefully.
"Me!? Oh I'm just peaches and cobblers! I couldn't be happier!" I tell her, laughing even harder.
"Oh? Do tell-"
"I'm so happy I could strangle something. Something small, blue, with wings! In fact! I'm going to go find something that fits that general description and tan its hide! Isn't that funny!?" I ask as I rush forward and grab Stacy again. She lets out a small yelp as I start to spin around with her, laughing hysterically.
"You're joking... right?" she asks me carefully. I come to a stop and start to walk down the stairs. Check list: get gas and gas can, pick up Lynn, find Mathew, capital punishment. "Rose?"
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Mathew
"*Achoo*" I shake my head after a rather powerful sneeze takes me by surprise.
"Bless you!" Stephanie yells back to me as she hops from one boulder to another.
"Thank you!" I yell back. We've been following the road back to her home, but then she remembered these rocks and we've been having fun on them for awhile now. We're still heading to her home, we're just taking a slightly longer method to get there. It's been fun though, so it's been worth it.
--o-0-o--
Perspective: Lynn
After getting decent, Jason and I made our way back to town. It looks as if there isn't anyone here, which means one of two things. They're all talking to Ben, or hunting Mathew. Along the way I brought Jason up to speed and he's... taking it pretty well. He didn't laugh or anything. He just asked why we avoided the government and nodded in agreement. I'm a little shocked he's this excepting, but we can talk about it another time. With little other options, we make our way to the church where we hear the murmur of conversation. We share an uneasy look before opening the doors and entering.
The pews are filled to the point where even the only room left to enter are the side aisles, and even those are filled. There's a loud murmur in the audience, but it's nothing compared to the people yelling up front. It looks like the Mayor Al Slouzy -a middle aged European man with a receding hair line and a large nose-, Sheriff Mouldouth, and Ben -for some reason- are all trying to discuss something at the front. But the sheriff and mayor are just yelling at one another. Ben seems lost in thought, something that scares me even more than the yelling. Jason and I step to the side and just watch. It looks as if all of town is in here. I knew our town was small, but it's weird seeing how small it is.
"LYNN DARENGER!" I jump when someone yells my name. I look around in confusion when I realize the person yelling was Sheriff Mouldouth. I look around as everyone suddenly turns to look at me. Some people look mad, while most are just curious. "Get up here!"
"Um.... why?" I ask timidly, looking to Jason for support. He just shrugs... thanks Jason.
"NOW!" I jump again and hurry to the front, feeling every eye on me. "Tell everyone what you know about this horse."
"Um..." Shit! Did they all see him? Where is he then? "Where is he?"
"He ran off with that Stephanie girl," Al tells me. "What do you know? Please, there are a lot of people here who are confused and would like answers. Just take a deep breath and let us know when you're ready." I take his advice and breath in a long breath, letting it out slowly. Hey, that kind of worked! I take another long breath and let it out even slower, feeling a bit better. Maybe one more-
"Spit it out woman!" I jump when the sheriff yells and start to talk.
"I was in bed when Rose came to me asking for help because something happened and she needed my help badly enough to hog tie me and toss me in the back of the truck and didn't let me in until we were halfway there but I-"
"Slower dear. Slower," Al tells me, rubbing the bridge of this nose. I nod to him and take a breath. This is going to take awhile.
"The... person you saw is Mathew. He... appeared on Roses farm recently and I was called in to give him a check up. We didn't know he was sentient until a little afterwards. We; by which I mean Rose, Barbra, and myself, took him in to hide him from some... official looking people. Our fear was that they were going to take him away and do... things to him. After talking with the kid, because he is just a child, it was the unanimous thing to do. But things got complicated when those people started searching the town. And now-"
Before I continue the room explodes in debate. A lot of the yelling is directed at me, but there are a lot of people arguing between themselves. The general gist I get is people being mad that we hid him from the government and what that means for them. Are they accomplices? Will they get in trouble? Should we turn him in? All of that general stuff. I look back to Jason for help, getting him to rush up to me.
"You okay?" he yells over the others. I shake my head, getting him to take me into his arms. I didn't want it to come to this, but there was no avoiding it. People were going to find out eventually, I just didn't think it would explode like this. Or be pointed at me, for that matter.
"WAIT!" Ben yells as she jumps to her feet. The room goes silent as we watch Ben, waiting for her to speak. "Mathew... is a horse!"
"..." The room stays silent.
"Mathew is a living, breathing, understanding, talking horse!" she yells at us, stepping forward to be the center of attention. "... why didn't anyone tell me!?"
There's a collective groan from everyone as they return to their seats. Leave it to Ben to diffuse the situation with ignorance. Sheriff Mouldouth steps forward and guides Ben back to her seat, whispering something to her. She doesn't look happy about it, but nods anyway.
"Look everyone," he starts out, turning back to us. "This is clearly something that this town doesn't need. Not like this. I'll have my deputies search out these officials and bring them in so we can have an understanding. While they do that, I'll go find the kid and bring him into the sheriffs office. Just to have him somewhere safe for the time being. The rest of you need to go back to your lives and worry about this another time. We'll gather everyone when we have the answers. But we won't have any answers until we get all of those people together, understand?" Everyone murmurs to themselves before starting to file out of the church. I try to leave with them, but Sheriff Mouldouth grabs my shoulder to stop me.
"You know you can't do that, right?" Jason asks, eyeing him.
"I have a right to detain anyone who could be involved in a missing persons crime," he retorts, eyeing him back. "Now, Lynn. We need to know where that kid is so we can bring him in. This is for his safety, okay?"
"I actually don't know where he is," I tell him as I wiggle out of his grasp. "The last place I saw him was here, when I dropped him off for program." He nods to me and walks past me, roughly brushing against Jason along the way. He glares him down as I try to ignore it. He's an ass. Always has, always will be. Ben walks up and motions for me to come closer, so I do.
"This is very important," she whispers to me. Words I never thought she'd say. "But you have to be the one to find him."
"Why me?"
"Because he is just a child. And if the police take him in, it won't be good for him. He needs someone there for him, to tell him that everything will be okay. And that person shouldn't be wearing a gun with them." I nod to that. He's a sensitive kid, that wouldn't end well for him. "Do you have time to tell me everything?"
"That was pretty much all of it." I tell her. She puts a hand on my shoulders and looks me in the eyes. I try to stare back at her, but she's unmoving. I look away, getting her to rub my shoulder a bit.
"From the beginning." I nod and take a deep breath. This is going to take awhile. |
Where We Come From | Chapter 12 Where I Want To Be | Chapter 12 Where I Want to Be
Perspective: Mathew
Steph and I laugh and giggle as we run down the driveway to Roses farm. I didn't think walking all the way here would have been this fun, but it was! We played a ton of games to pass the time. Eye spy, hop scotch, tag -even when it was completely one sided. We're racing back to her home now, but I'm not trying to win. I can run a lot faster than she can, so I'm running at her speed. It makes it more fun that way. Plus, she really likes to win.
We rush towards the metal tube thing she calls home and I let her pull ahead to win. She jumps up on the step and slams her hand on the door, cheering herself on. I just laugh and slow to a stop, catching my breath along the way.
"I win! Whoo! That means you have to eat an apple!" I roll my eyes at her. I may have wanted to lose so I can eat an apple without being judged too harshly. I'll never say though.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Should we be yelling like this? Isn't your grandma asleep?" I ask her.
"Don't worry about her. She could sleep through a bulldozer tearing through a glass factory. Smells wake her up instantly though. She'll wake up once she smells us inside. Oh! One last thing, watch out for the orange cat inside. He's... not the nicest cat." She opens the door and rushes in quickly, leaving me a little confused. Am I supposed to wait? "Your turn."
"My turn for what?" I ask as I step up to the door.
"You have to rush in or the cats will run out." Oh, that makes sense, I guess. I look up to the door handle and realize my first obstacle. I'm too short to reach the handle. I could just ask Steph to open the door for me...but that's just not happening.
I rustle my wings as I try to think through this. I could rear up and open the door, but then I can't get in that quickly. Maybe I can do that just enough to open the door slightly, then rush in. But, I'm not that smooth on my hind legs. Plus, the step up looks a little loose, so I doubt 'd be able to get the door open that quickly. I give my wings another shake as I try to think of an answer. I could just try to open the door and go for it, but I really don't want to lose any of her grandmothers cats. Hmm... ... ... ...
"Um... do you need help-"
"I got it!" I yell, conveniently at the correct time. I flap my wings and get airborne long enough to open the door. Then, using gravity, I rush through the door and buck it shut. A few cats tried to rush out, but I got through just in time. Score one for Mathew! "Right, now you said something about rhubarb pie?"
"Right, took you long enough." Steph jibes as she steps over a few cats to get to the kitchen.
There are a lot more cats in here than I had anticipated. I was thinking five or ten cats, not twenty or thirty cats! Most of them are mewing at me, eyeing me curiously. A few are even sniffing me, but I don't think they'll do anything. I take a look around and try to find a way to get around them, but they won't let me be! I would fly over them, but that just seems rude. I don't want to send a draft through the building and knock stuff over.
"Come and get it!" Steph yells from the kitchen. I start to get nervous as I try to find a way though, but there are too many cats! Maybe I can just push through them? Not roughly of course! Just... a little persuasion out of my way. "You coming?"
"Just a sec!" I yell back to her. I take another look around as I try to see if there is anything that would break from a little draft. Porcelain figurines, fancy photo frames, stacks of books; oddly enough, this place is really clean. They must spend hours cleaning this place daily.
With no other options, I start to tip hoof my way through the ocean of cats. Almost immediately they start to walk away, giving me a path to walk. Strange. I guess I just needed to let them know what I wanted to do. I make my way to the kitchen and join Steph at the table. She slides me a slice of pie and an apple. She giggles at my response, but I begrudgingly eat the apple. If it lets me eat in relative peace, then why not?
We each go through two slices of pie together. It was nice. No one talked, no one was in a hurry or telling me to stay down, we just ate. I thought it was weird at first that we weren't talking, but when she smiled back at me I just let it be. She's happy, I'm happy, nothing needs to change. When I finish my pie I push the plate away and sit back, content and full of pie.
"Do you hear that?" Steph asks after a brief pause. I flick my ears back and listen intently, hearing muffled voices outside.
"Do you think it's Mrs. Mouldouth?" I ask nervously as I get out of my chair. Steph shrugs back to me, moving towards the door. I follow her into the living room and watch as she goes to check outside. I really hope it's not her. I don't want to go back.
"It's Ms. Lynn and Ms. Cassaway," Steph whispers to me.
"Who?" I ask absentmindedly.
"Rose." I blush at that. How did I forget that? "They're talking pretty loudly, but I still can't understand them. Whatever they're talking about, it looks pretty serious." She shuts the door and turns back to me, concerned. I think about it for a moment before I make up my mind.
"Step aside. I need to talk to them," I tell her, trying my best to look brave.
"Why? We should just run to the hide out in the woods or-"
"I can't run from this forever. I'll have to face them eventually. Heck, I want to face them again! They're some of the only ones who have been nice to me, so far. It would be the right thing to do." She tries to form an argument, but she quickly sees how serious this is to me. She rushes forward and gives me a quick hug. Nothing like the one before, but enough to give me a boost of confidence. I walk to the door and take a deep breath before opening it... letting all of the cats out.
"*Sigh*, don't worry about it. I'll work on getting them back." Steph drones to me as she walks past me. All of the confidence I had before has left me now. All I can do is stare back at Ms. Lynn and Rose and blush. Why did I have to do that? Now I just want to run and hide! Pony feathers!
"H-hey Mathew," Ms. Lynn starts out nervously, stepping towards me. "We were looking for you... and now we found you... and this is getting awkward so I'm leaving! Later!" She quickly turns around and quickly walks away.
I feel my nerves begin to falter as I look back to Rose. She looks... scared. More scared then I am. which puts me at ends. What is she scared of? Shouldn't she be mad? Even worse, I'm too scared to ask her what's going on. I know I'm in trouble, but what else has happened to make her this scared? I want to be the one to ask, but I can't find my voice. I can't even move out to the porch!
"Mathew," she forces out with a heavy breath. "We need to talk... a-and I need to show you something too. Can you come with me... please?" We stare at each other in silence for a moment before I nod to her. She nods back to me, but grows paler. I swallow the lump in my throat and look around, though I don't know what I'm looking for. "Let's go."
"O-okay." I step out and shut the door quietly. We share another look for a moment before she turns and starts to walk away. I try to say something, but nothing comes out. I leave it at that and follow after her, head held low.
--o-0-o--
The walk was long and silent. I could see the fear in her eyes, the doubt. Whatever it is that she's going to show me, it's something big. Something I don't think she wants to talk about. But, apparently, she has too. I tried to ask her what was going on, but I couldn't bring myself to break the silence. This is already hard enough for her as it is, there's no need to make it harder by asking a thousand questions. I'll let her say what she needs to say when she's ready.
She takes me down the road and out along the corn fields. There isn't anything out here besides the occasional crow, the corn, and us. The road we're walking on follows the corn fields as they roll along the hills. Each row of corn is evenly spaced from the others. It's kind of creepy how organized they are. How could they have done all of this by hand? Unless they used that carriage thing from before. How could such a small town need so much corn? I'm sure they sell if elsewhere too, but that's still a lot of corn out there.
We finally make it to the bend in the road. Rose leads me off the path and towards a tree on a hill ahead of us. I can see a small forest in front of a grassland all around us, giving a peaceful glow in the area. I grow more and more curious about the tree and we step closer, but I keep my questions to myself. I'm sure I'm about to get all of the answers I want soon enough. We make it to the tree and walk around the back to find a stone hedge standing there. It looks a little weathered, but is mostly well kept. Rose kneels before it and starts to sob a little, so I take a seat beside her and wait. It takes her a bit, but she eventually forces herself to speak.
"This is... this is Cadie... my daughter." I lose my breath when she tells me that. I look to the stone again with a new appreciation. Rose had a daughter, and she... I swallow the lump in my throat as I try to think of what to say to her. But here isn't anything to say, nothing that comes to mind at least.
"I was seventeen when I had her. I was just a kid really. I met a boy and... well, I thought we'd be together forever. When I found out I was pregnant I told him first and... he didn't really seem too moved by it. I guess... I guess he always thought he'd leave town as soon as he could. Do something bigger with his life. But with a kid on the way, that wouldn't allow him to chase his dreams. So one night he just left. No goodbye, no note, nothing. It was just me and my old man for a bit... until he found out that is. He had... an old way of thinking. He didn't want a bastard in his house, so he kicked me out. I was lucky enough to be able to stay at the church for a while, but that was just the beginning.
When Cadie was born... she was the only thing that mattered to me. I thought, 'I may not have Johnathan, but at least I have her.' I had to work every day to be able to afford rent, food, the babysitter, everything. I worked from sun up to sun down, sometimes working multiple jobs. And as soon as the sitter would leave, she would start crying. She must have really hated me. She would cry, and scream, and push me away! She couldn't stand to be near me! I didn't mean to shake her that hard! I was scared! And hurt! And I just wanted her to love me the way I loved her!"
She breaks down again, clutching her lap tightly as her tears fall to the ground. I can feel myself start to tear up as well. Why would her father send her away like that? What kind of person sends their child away when they need them most? And why wouldn't this Jonathan guy stay? Didn't he love her?
... Did my parents do that? Is that why I'm here? Was I so much trouble that they decided to send me away? What could I have done that would force them to do that? Didn't they love me?
"I know this is a lot to take in right now." Rose continues, gaining slight control of herself. "You probably have more questions than I have answers right now, and I'm sorry. But I had to tell you what happened. You have a right to know what kind of person I am. Right had to know what kind of monster I've been."
She breaks down again, crying to herself. I look down and wipe my eyes when I feel a tear roll down my cheek. I don't think she's a monster. She... made a mistake. A really big mistake. But... that doesn't make her a monster, right? I don't think a monster would care so much about their victims. Or love them as much as she does. I don't think that just because you make one bad decision that you are forever a bad pony. She apologized, and I'm sure she faced whatever punishment there is for that. I don't even want to know what that would be.
If she could, I'm sure Cadie would forgive her. She's still her mom after all.
Rose is still crying. I don't know what to say to help her. I don't even think there is something that could be said. I want to make her feel better... but what can I do?
I jump forward and grab her arm in a tight hug, burying my face against her sleeve. She flinches from the contact and pauses in her tears. The two of us just stay like this for a while. I can feel a few tears soaking into her shirt, but I tighten my grip on her regardless. I don't want her feeling like this. I don't want anypony feeling like this! But this is all I can think of to help her. Maybe I should say something, but I don't know what to say. I guess I could try to say something from my gut... I hope this goes well.
"I'm sure Cadie would forgive you if she could. Nopony can stay mad at their moms forever... no matter what." Rose chokes on her tears a bit before scooping me up in a tight hug. I hug her back, hoping that I helped in some way.
While we hold each other I can't help but think to my own mother. Why did she do what she did? When I meet her, will I be mad? And will I be able to forgive her as well? It seems mean, but I don't want to find her right now. I want to stay here a bit longer. Just so I can help Rose.
Perspective: Agent Lewis
Carter and I sloth into our motel and move to cover all of the widows. It's been a long day, and it's only getting longer. The talk we had on the way here only made things worse. We don't know what to think. We need to call HQ. We need more answers. Once everything is close, locked, and sealed, we start setting up for the call. Encrypted computer, smart link satellite connection, voice modulators; this is a covert as things go. Once everything is set up we sit back and look to each other. We're both unclear on what to do, and none of the options we thought of were optimal. Carter pulls out a cigarette and lights it, ending his five-month streak. Where did he even get those?
"*Puff*, start the damn call." I nod to him and start connecting. It takes a minute, but we eventually get through to HQ.
"This is Eclipse, give me your code name," a distorted voice demands. Carter and I each pull out our wallets and bring out blank business cards. We check them against the screen to see our name.
"This is Morning Star, checking in," I tell him, knowing that I sound the same on the other end. He stays silent for a moment, verifying our identities no doubt. Carter takes a long pull from his cigarette and finishes it off. I don't care right now though. There is too much going on for me to care right now. How did it even get to this?
"Verification checks out, what's your status Morning Star?"
"Confirming contact with subject A-6. Unclear how to proceed sir." The other end stays quiet again. Long enough for Carter to start another cigarette and get halfway through it. I just keep my eyes on the screen. Waiting for them to respond.
"We're off the books now boys, speak freely." Carter and I look to one another again. This was unexpected. Then again, so was everything else.
"He's just a kid sir," Carter starts out, leaning forward to talk more directly into the computer. "I don't think taking him to the compound would be wise. He needs to be out-"
"How was the public reaction to him?" Eclipse cuts him off, not caring about his opinion. Carter takes a drag before continuing.
"Mostly normal. Several were able to look past his appearance rather quickly. Some even were willing to lie to us in order to protect him-"
"And the boy? How is he adjusting?"
"Fairly well," I chime in, pulling out some of our notes to read. "He appears to have amnesia, of some sort. He doesn't recall his people or himself. I don't even think he remembers the Anomalies. Though, he could be repressing them."
"Did any of the others make it?" Carter asks bluntly, making me cringe. No matter how much I want to know, I know what the answers will do to me. We wait for Eclipse to answer. They always take forever to respond, clarifying each bit of information.
"None of our contacts have activated. As far as we know, he's the only one. They've also been silent since the first landing. We sent teams Alpha through Geronimo, but they've all missed their check-ins for the past few days. As of now, we are assuming the worse."
"Total fucking annihilation," Carter muses, flopping back into his chair. I swallow the lump in my throat as I think about the implications of this. An entire planet, gone. What has the power to do something like that? How are we going to stand against them? They had magic for Christ sake!
"If Equis has fallen, then we have to assume that we are next. Even if they can't find us, the threat is real. We need the child here to prepare him for what may come."
"So he's a slave now, is that it?" Carter asks, getting angry. "If Celestia were here I'm sure she would-"
"If Celestia had followed protocol, she would be here. But she's not, so we need to make the best tactical decision. And as of right now, he will be our greatest asset-"
"He's a fucking kid you drone!" Carter yells, sitting up in a rage. "If we force him to grow up in some facility we can't even guarantee that he'll want to fight for us! We need to let him-"
"Carter!" I yell, slamming my fists down. "Enough! This is more than just the kid! It's about what's best for the rest of us! If we can find a way to combat this, then we need to make sure we utilize this to its full potential!"
"Do you even hear yourself? Utilize? Full Potential? We're talking about someone's life here? He needs to grow up like a normal kid-"
"But he's not normal! He's a fucking talking horse! He's never going to be normal here, never! And what about the public? What if word gets around that there's a talking, winged horse? Do you really think his life will be normal then?"
"Don't give me that bullshit," he scoffs with a wave of his hand. "We were able to trade Paul McCartney with some blue freak from space, I think we can keep this quiet. Look at where he landed! It's the perfect location for this! It'll take more effort than the alternative, but it's the best option for him!"
"But is that something we can afford?" Eclipse asks, making us both go quiet. "Transfer all of your files. We will send you a package with your next orders as soon as possible. Until then, stay silent. Eclipse out." The call drops and Carter leaves the room in a huff. I sit back and sigh. What are they going to do? What are any of us going to do?
I hope you knew what you were doing Celestia. We as sure fuck don't. |
Love Story | pre | Suddenly Rainbow Dash's voice cut through their thoughts.
"Hey lovebirds! Let's get this moving!"
Rainbow pushed past them as they laughed, intertwining their hands together as they made their way after her towards the exit of the plane. |
Love Story | The Inner Workings of a Wedding | Rarity scurried around Carousel Boutique, waiting for her next client to arrive. It had been a long day of dress fittings, stitch-ripping and resewing. She had had a particularly rough time with a very picky six year old, who demanded her dress be a rainbow that excluded orange for whatever reason.
She only had one fitting left, and she was beyond excited. As she heard the doorbell ring and someone step inside, she raced to the door to usher Twilight Sparkle inside.
"I'm not too late am I?" she asked, taking off her coat. It was February, which meant the weather was just starting to get warm. Normally, Rarity would hate to do all her fittings so far out, but with famous musician and longtime-childhood friend of Applejack's Rara going on tour for three months just before the wedding, it was her only option.
"Not at all darling, in fact you're ten minutes earlier than the time we scheduled." Rarity took Twilight's coat from her and hung it up on the wall. She pointed to the clock, showing her the time.
"Oh! I can wait a few minutes if you're busy!"
"Not at all. Fluttershy left an hour ago. Right this way," She led Twilight to the fitting rooms where she had Twilight's dress up on a rack. It wasn't finished, but it was enough of the way done for Twilight to try it on and get a feel for how it would look.
"Rarity, it's beautiful!" Twilight gasped as she laid eyes on the dress. Rarity smiled.
"Go ahead and try it on darling." Rarity took it down off the rack and ushered Twilight into the nearest dressing room, going about the shop and tidying up while she waited for Twilight to change.
She spun around upon hearing the curtain open, Twilight stepping out dressed in a beautiful gown. It looked like something out of a fairytale, so far removed from any wedding stereotype that it was perfectly Twilight.
Twilight made her way over to the mirror, gasping as she caught a glimpse of herself. She looked beautiful, her dress was everything she had ever dreamed of.
"Oh Rarity! You've really outdone yourself!" Just the sight of herself wearing the dress he would soon get married to Sunset in brought tears to her eyes.
"I was so happy when you wanted something so different, I've never made a dress quite like this. It surely is gorgeous." Rarity nodded her head, watching Twilight go through all the emotions as she admired herself from every angle.
"Thank you, Rarity. Really. I never imagined I would look this good on my wedding day." Twilight spun in a circle, admiring how her dress flowed out and around herself.
"Does it fit okay? I still have a few little details to add, but I wanted to make sure it fit you the way you want it too," Rarity said. Twilight nodded.
"No, it fits great. I really love it. It hugs just the right curves." She smiled, the same smile she always did when Sunset was around or she was thinking about Sunset. Rarity couldn't help but pull out her phone and snap a picture, just this once. She wanted to remember how happy Twilight was when she first tried on her dress. She couldn't wait to see Sunset wearing her's the next day.
Twilight left the boutique that day with a huge smile on her face and a pair of the most expensive shoes Carousel Boutique sold. Rarity had refused to accept her payment for the dress, but Twilight couldn't help but want to give her payment for her work. She had plenty of cash to spare now that she had finally landed a high-paying job working in a lab in downtown LA, where she was starting to research for a project she had wanted to work on for years now. The shoes were tacky, but Twilight couldn't find it in herself to care she was so happy. ...
Sunset walked along the dock of Camp Everfree with Gloriosa Daisy.
"Are you sure Timber's okay with this?" she asked, looking out at the still lake.
"Oh of course he is! I tonly took him a little while to get over Twilight and stop planning your murder, he's great now. If you don't want him to, he won't even be at the wedding."
Sunset's eyes widened at the possibility that her fiancee's ex had been planning her murder for a period of time. She shrugged it off, hoping Gloriosa was just exaggerating.
"I'm sure Twilight would be okay with him coming, but he doesn't have too." Sunset pursed her lips.
"So, you said you wanted a piano," Gloriosa changed the subject.
"Yes! Rara was so excited to play at our wedding, but somehow we need to get a piano all the way out here..." Sunset looked around the area.
"We could put it up on the gazebo, but if you wanted it closer to the dock I'm sure we could prop it in place with wooden blocks or something."
"We planned to have Rara step off the docks and to the piano when it was time for everything to start, so we'd prefer it be closer," Sunset said.
"We'll figure it out! Now, I heard Pinkie mention fondue..."
"Oh sweet Celestia."
"That's what I thought too." ...
"Are you sure we need at 1o layer cake, Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked.
"Of course we need a ten layer wedding cake! What kinda question is that?"
Pinkie Pie had been tasked with baking and decorating Sunset and Twilight's wedding cake just a week before the wedding. Now, she was hyped up on a combination of Fun-Dip and raw sugar as she, Fluttershy, and Cheese Sandwich baked.
"How about just six? You know Sunset was never big on cake after Princess Celestia made her eat an entire three layer cake when she was a filly." Fluttershy shook her head.
Pinkie pondered this for a moment.
"Six it shall be!" Pinkie declared, tossing four of a cake pans back into the cabinet below the kitchen island. "Now, do we dye the frosting rainbow colors or the lesbian pride flag colors?"
"Pinkie, that's a fantastic idea!" Cheese exclaimed.
"Pinkie, Sunset's bi and Twilight's pan. Neither of them are lesbians." Fluttershy shook her head.
"Rainbow it is then!" Cheese shouted cheerfully.
Fluttershy sighed, picking up a bag of powdered sugar and dragging it to the electric mixer on the counter behind them. She grabbed the box of food coloring.
"It's gonna be a long day." ...
"I can't believe you dragged us to Vegas for our bachelorette party." Twilight said as Sunset let her through the bright lights of the vegas strip. Applejack and Rainbow walked ahead of them, acting as some sort of body guards as the pushed their way through the crowd down towards the hotel and casino they were staying in. Pinkie and Fluttersh were right behind the almost-married couple with Rarity and Rara holding up the rear as they looked around at all the bright lights for inspiration.
"It'll be fun Twi! They say it's our 'last night of freedom'," Sunset laughed.
"We've been dating for five years and we've always had freedom. Are straight people okay?" Twilight asked as Sunset led her into the hotel and casino. Rainbow and Applejack had all of their bags, somehow, while Rara and Rarity wheeled their suitcases behind them.
While Pinkie and Fluttershy went to check in, Twilight looked out across the lobby. It was simple, but beyond the lobby was the casino portion of the hotel, filled with people trying their luck at a million dollars and gambling in games of poker.
While Twilight wasn't keen exactly on wasting her money on machines she knew were rigged, Las Vegas was a beautiful city at night and Twilight wanted to make sure she got the full experience.
Soon they were in their hotel room, which was more of a lavishly large condo, much larger than the one Twilight and Sunset lived in back home in Los Angeles.
"Woah, this place is gigantic," Rarity marveled, spinning around in the entryway.
"Yeah, how the hell did you afford this, Sunset?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm an Equestrian Princess, I have more pure gold coins than a human could reasonably need. We could all retire today with less than 1% of all my money. Not to mention, animation at Hasbro pays decently for being just out of college" Sunset said. Rara looked at her like she was crazy, but accepted this fact and rolled with it.
"We've got to explore this place later tonight when we get drunk." Pinkie giggled.
"Oh yeah! I wonder if the mini bar is stocked!" Rainbow ran off into the hotel room, searching for alcohol.
"Ah doubt a place as fancy as this has a mini-bar, Rainbow" Applejack said, but in a flash, Rainbow was gone.
"So, should we hit up a strip club tonight then explore the casinos tomorrow night, or the other way around?" Sunset asked.
"A strip club, really?" Twilight asked almost in disbelief. Really, she should have expected it. Sunset could be extremely vulgar at times, and she knew Sunset was no stranger to strip clubs.
"I'm down," Rainbow said, running back into the room holding what looked to be a very expensive bottle of wine.
After figuring out where the bedrooms and bathrooms inside the hotel room where, and even getting lost in the master bathroom, they finally changed and made their way out onto the strip.
They ended up in a strip club that catered to both male, female, and non-binary audiences. Pinkie and Sunset had raided an ATM and now as Twilight got a lap dance from a beautiful girl definitely much older than her, she was now extremely glad she was here. She was trying not to think too much about how happy and, as cliche as it sounded, blessed she was considering a stripper was gyrating her hips in her lap.
She glanced over at Sunset who was on her third drink now.
She couldn't wait to be married now with just a week left until the wedding. Her life was about as perfect as it could possibly be, and all she could imagine was how much better it would get once she was finally married to the love of her life. |
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