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My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Bonus Scene | "One moment Giratina. I have a question I would like to ask about the Distortion World before you drag Lord Tirek away to it." Princess Celestia said.
"The question wouldn't have anything to do with the concept of time would it?" Giratina asked.
"Err...yes. Yes it does. How did you know?" Celestia asked.
"Because I know where Tirek was. Don't worry, time doesn't really have a meaning in the distortion world. Meaning time will not effect Lord Tirek while he's inside of it. I should know. I once trapped a human in the distortion world, and when I brought them before Arceus after he made his whole declaration of all humans with un-pure hearts are to be killed, I told him about the human who was trapped in the distortion world and the human was proptly booted out and killed by Arceus's Judgement attack." Giratina said. "And that human had been there for thirty years yet didn't age a day."
"...Well that's convenient." Sunset said.
"Of course the Distortion World is a lot harder to escape from since it's my playground essentially. Both figuratively and litterally." Giratina said. "It's nice to have a dimension where I can just go nuts with my gravity powers."
"...Me thinks Tirek will go insane being in there." Twilight said.
"Better then him escaping Tartarus for the second time and wreaking havoc on equestria for the fourth time." Throsten said.
"True." Celestia admitted. "Wait, you know about the ancient times when humans existed alongside our ancestors?"
"Arceus explained it to me." Throsten said.
"...That makes more sense." Celestia said. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5 Prologue - Pre-Friendship Games | Future Spike hovered his writing quill over the book again. This next part was difficult for him to write down, due to how messed up things would get in this part.
But steadying his resolve, Future Spike began writing again. What happened next was something none of us were prepared for. Not even Princess Celestia could've seen something like this coming. Such an innocent gift...tainted by something otherworldly beyond belief. I am getting a head of myself though... was written down.
Twilight was thinking back to that point when she had went to the human world three days before her staged wedding with Flash Sentry in order to stop the suitor requests coming enmass.
She had received a message from H Applejack that a group of girls called The Sirens had come to the school and were utilizing magic.
So Twilight went over, and that was when she had heard about how Sunburst basically went AWOL.
Sunset was back now with Starlight. This couldn't wait right now. "Sunset, we need to talk." Twilight said.
"What's up?" Sunset asked.
"It's about Sunburst. I know I told you he went missing, but Principal Celestia; the Celestia from the human world; put the word out and just got back to me. Not a single being from that world has seen neither hide nor hair of Sunburst since his defeat that one time." Twilight said.
"So Sunburst is missing. Again." Sunset said before sighing. "No one dare tell my mom about this. If they do, not even I might be able to stop her from killing herself over Sunburst going missing this time."
"Isn't that a bit dark?" Starlight asked.
"She was starving herself to death. Whose to say she won't try a quicker solution if this gets back to her?" Sunset asked.
"...Point taken and received." Starlight said.
Meanwhile in the human world, the human version of Sunset Shimmer was going through Crystal Prep School hoping to get to Instructor Rex's personal off-campus labatory to talk with him today, when sounds of a Pokemon battle could be heard coming from that location. "...Let me guess, Principle Cinch has decided to try and defeat Instructor Rex in a Pokemon battle today?" H Sunset asked.
"Seems that way." One of the students said.
H Sunset managed to come up on the lab just as the battle ended. There, she saw Principle Cinch practically on her knees in pure defeat. "That's your third loss in a row Cinch. I've told you before, your not capable of ever defeating me." Rex Lauren said as he walked up to his currently active Pokemon, which Sunset recognized right away as a Zangoose.
"I...I thought that Smeargle was your ace...I mean...that's what makes the most sense!" Cinch said.
"You thought wrong. You really thought you could force me to stay with Crystal Prep with a battle Cinch. And you know that's the only thing I take at face value. But you've dug your grave enough these past few years. You should be thankful I don't trust the justice system, otherwise you'd be loosing your job faster then your school wins the friendship games." Rex said.
"Your seriously going to accept that job offer from Canterlot High?! They don't deserve someone of your talents." Cinch said.
"Sometimes, those that don't deserve something, get that something they don't deserve. That's the way it goes, Abacus Cinch." Rex said. "I'm transferring to Canterlot High following the conclusion of the Friendship Games, and that's final."
"...Fine. I just need your protoge to do me one little favor first." Cinch said. "I know about her studies into the magic that's coming from that school. And I...I want to give her something that might help those studies."
Rex cocked an eyebrow. "This is new, coming from you, Cinch. I never pegged you as the type to accept something like that at face value." Rex said.
"Who said I am? Besides, if it turns out there never was magic coming from there, then that's a closed book scenario, don't you agree? But if there is magic there, and they use it to cheat at the friendship games, that's a really bad look for them." Cinch said.
"You even try to shut down the school Cinch, or even get it's funding pulled, and you can bet your sweet ass that I will turn over all the evidence I've gathered on you over to the authorities. So don't even try to do that." Rex said.
"Fine...but all the same, I'm curious to see if your protoge can understand that magic. It might be something to look into." Cinch said.
"This doesn't change anything, Cinch." Rex said.
"I've already given her a gift that'll help by the way. I expect you and the two sisters to be at the Friendship Games as attendees." Cinch said before leaving.
"...She never learns, does she Instructor?" H Sunset asked.
"No. No she does not. Did you get your mom to sign those transfer papers I sent with you last night after class?" Rex asked.
"She couldn't sign them fast enough." H Sunset said, handing over signed papers. "It's almost like she was waiting for such a tranfer. The fact that your funding the transfer of both me and Twilight is something else."
"You've been putting in just as much work of learning how to use Pokemon move pools to your avatange. Speaking of, is that Terrastilization study paying off?" Rex asked.
"I still need to do a few more tests. Considering how much this project would mean for you and your father Sparky if I get it to work right, I want to make sure it's the best it can be." H Sunset said.
"That's what I like to here." Rex said, as the two entered the lab to find a human version of Twilight in a science outfit there with a familiar Snorlax.
"Rex, are you sure you want to trust Abucus Cinch's device?" H Sunset asked.
"It could prove useful. It might even lead to a breakthrough on the Terratilization studies." Rex said. "So be ready Twilight."
"I'll be ready sir." Twilight said. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 1 - Friendship Games Ending Change | "Sis! Stop this!" Sunset said. "Please..."
"Twilight!" H Twilight's Dog Spike suddenly spoke. This stopped Twilight's magical rampage and calmed her down. Rex quickly took the magical clam and absorbed the stray magic into it. Though D Spike was still able to talk.
"Guess that must be a side effect from being in one of those rifts caused when Twilight went all cookoo from the magic." Rex said. "Twilight...I know researching this magic was a pet project, but I think it's best that...we stop any more usage of it until we know more."
"Speaking of, I have half a mind to go to the school board and get them to shut down this school for what happened here today. Unless of course, you forfeit the compition to my school." Cinch said.
"Seriously? Your going to black mail Canterlot High?!" H Sunset exclaimed.
"Hold this for me." Rex said, handing the magic clam over to Principal Celestia and then grabbed Cinch by the arm in a griplock.
"Wait, where are you taking me?" Cinch asked. But she received no answer as she was dragged into the gym.
"Wonder what that's about?" H Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh, Rex has had it out for Cinch for a long time now. But I hope he doesn't do anything drastic." H Sunset said.
"MY LEG!"
Everyone was suddenly silenced as they heard Cinch screaming as a crash came from the gym. Rex soon emerged solo from the gym, dusting his hands. "Where's Cinch?" H Shining Armor asked.
"In the gym buried under some gym equipment. I suspect she's going to be on crutches for a good, long while. Just enough time for me to put all her crimes in front of the school board. She'll be lucky if she only losses her job from how much she's been getting away with for so long." Rex said. "Trust me, I've dug deep into her history. Let's just say, I wouldn't be surprised if she goes to prison, but I'm not holding out hope on that front."
"Still, standing up for this school was enough reason to solidify your contract with us for me." Principle Celestia said.
Rex then noticed Principle Celestia was not holding the magic clam. "Wait, where'd that clam holding all the magic go?" H Rainbow Dash asked.
"Looking for something?" It was Marina the Mawile, and she had the clam. "I have to hand it to Cinch. she came up with the perfect thing for me to finally enact my ultimate plan. And I'm going to make sure, you have front row seats to it!" Marina said, before using the magic inside the clam to start tearing the fabric of the world apart.
"Everyone, stick to each other; I'm warping us out of here!" Rex said, suddenly pressing a button on the device H Twilight made for him.
Meanwhile in Eqeustria, Twilight, Sunset, and Starlight came in through the front door of Twilight's Castle, only to find a lot of ponies passed out in the entrance way. Only one was conscious. It was Rex in Pony form. "...I can explain everything, but would you mind telling me why this castle was empty when we got here?" Rex asked.
"Funny you should mention it. How about you tell us your story after we tell you ours." Twilight said. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5 Interlude: Book of Human Things & Pokemon Techniques | From the Book of Human Things & Pokemon Techniques...
Ultimate Weapon: This weapon was created by the ancient king of Kalos known as Az. It used the life force of many Pokemon to revive the king's beloved Floette and end the war that cost the Floette her life. As a result of firing the weapon, both Az and Floette were granted eternal life. Not even Arceus's omnipotent powers could overide Az's immortal life once humans were deemed too ill fit to mingle with Pokemon. As a result of this, Arceus has AZ stashed in the Hall of Origins with his beloved Floette. Az's Floette had returned to him when a human managed to restore Az to the Pokemon lover that he was prior to building the Ultimate Weapon. The remains of the ultimate weapon are also now on display at a public museum alongside a statue of Az and his Floette as a message for future generations.
Mega Stones: As a result of the Ultimate Weapon, the life force of most of the Pokemon who died when Az used the Ultimate Weapon to end the Great Pokemon War between the Kalos, Galar, and Paldia regions after Az used it to revive his Floette turned into these Mega Stones. Not all of the Pokemon who lives were ended by that blast became Mega Stones though. Still, once humans were deemed ill fit to continue existing, Arceus created Awakening Seeds to bypass the need for these things. To this day, the Mega Stones are being hunted down by a group of Pokemon under Arcues's orders to destroy them all called Arceus's Bishops. Any Pokemon caught using one of these to Mega Evolve instead of an Awakening Seed is to be considered a wanted criminal by order of Arceus themself.
Key Stones: Stones used by humans to trigger Mega Evolution. After humans were made extinct by Arceus's hand, these stones became useless. They are not as fragile as the Mega Stones. A substantial reward is offered to any Pokemon who turns any Key Stones they find into their local police stations, despite how pointless these things are. The reward in question is three Awakening Seeds.
Z Rings: While also made useless due to the lack of humans, these things were created so Humans could work together with Pokemon to perform moves of great power. Just like Key Stones, any Pokemon who turns one of these things in is given a reward of three Awakening Seeds.
Z Crystals: Ironically, these things can still be used and; unlike Mega Stones; are not illigal to be used. That's because Arceus had made it so they take a day to recharge their power while also enabling Pokemon to be able to use these on their own now. However, despite Arceus not making them illigal outright, there are some cities and towns that do consider usage of these crystals within city/town limits a crime that results in a 100,000 Poke Fine. Often times, the places that do carry a 100,000 Poke Fine are places where property damage is highly probable.
Dynamax Bands: These bands are similar to both Z Rings & Key Stones in that while they are also inoperable by Pokemon, and that any turned into local authorities will have the Three Awakening Seed reward mentioned before. These bands were used by humans to control a Pokemon's ability to Dynamax/Gigantamax while a Power Spot is detected.
Dynamax & Gigantamax: Despite humans no longer able to control this phenomon, Dynamaxing & Gigantamaxing still exists to this day in the Gala Region (one of the few regions that kept it's human given name) thanks to Eternatus. Eternatus now makes sure Pokemon that do undergo Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing are able to control themselves but if they can't, Eterantus will personally help Zacian, Zamazenta, and Calirex in calming these out of control Pokemon. While every Pokemon can Dynamax while near a Power Spot, certain Pokemon have a Gigantamax Factor that will make them change form completely while Dynamaxed. Ironically, while most Pokemon glow Red when Dynamaxed or Gigantamaxed, when Calirex dynamaxes; either atop one of his noble steeds or not; he glows blue.
Terrastilization: While humans made devices that allowed for this phenomenon to occur outside of Area Zero, reports of it still being able to happen inside Area Zero are still occurring to this day. Reports of this happening outside of Area Zero located in the Paldea region have not been documented yet, so it's unclear if this can still be done without human help or not. Investigation is required. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 2 - Stormy Skies Part 1 (The Cutie Map AU)) | Twilight closed the book she had gotten from Lightning. This was around five hours before the Friendship Games would start up in the Human World. "Wow, the humans sure did a lot." Twilight said.
"Yeah. Z Crystals are probably the only true accisable thing. While they were originally exclusive to the islands of the Alola Region, Arceus convinced the Tapus to allow the crystals to be more wide spread to the rest of the world. The day long recharge is a consequence of that process though." Lightning said.
Soon the rest of the main six and Raiden entered. "So, why'd you need me to round up the rest of the girls again?" Raiden asked.
"I was hoping that, with my friends help, we'd finally be able to figure out what this map is for." Twilight said.
"True. This holographic map of all of Equestria is something else." Lightning said.
The girls began to sit down as Bart & Minx entered too. "I've got a system in place in case we need to go somewhere far." Fluttershy said.
"That's Fluttershy, always prepared." Rainbow Dash said.
Once the ponies sat down in their respective seats though, suddenly the thrones all glowed and then, holographic versions of their cutie marks started flying over the map. "Whoa! What's this?" Twilight asked.
"Facisnating. It seems to be a detection system of some sort." Lightning said. "Father said humans used these all the time."
"Are we ever going to meet this father of yours?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I've been wondering the same thing myself, actually." Raiden said. "You've never once told me who your father is. You always tell me he's still alive, unlike your mother." He added.
"Maybe someday I'll introduce you." Lightning said. The holographic images stopped over a small town.
"Huh. Wonder why our cutie marks are there, when we are in Ponyville." Pinkie Pie said.
"Maybe we should go there to find out." Twilight said, pointing to the place in quesiton.
"Hold up there, Princess, your not going without Lightning or I there with you." Raiden said.
"Why? I don't need a baby sitter." Twilight said.
"The place on the map your being summoned to...that's our hometown, it's Lightning Town!" Raiden said.
"Wow. We're actually going to be going to Lightning Town?! Sweet!" Rainbow Dash asked. "Don't see why Twilight needs to bring you and Lightning along to see your hometown though."
"For once, Ah agree with RD: Ah can't see a reason why you two need to accompany her; she's got her friends with her." Applejack said.
"Because Lightning Town has a strict anti-royalty policy; your position as a Princess means you hold no authority there. Even with the mafia gangsters gone, there are a few 'mons in that town who wouldn't hesitate to injure a visiting royal of any sort. The only one whose become safe from that is Throsten, but that was because he exposed the truth about Lightning's undercover work." Raiden said. "Which in turn, rekindled our friendship like it never left in the first place."
"He was only a Prince still at the time, and he wanted to prove to his entire family once and for all that he wasn't like he was before. He did that and then some." Lightning said.
"Woof..." Twilight said. She had much more respect for Throsten now.
The gang soon arrived on the outskirts of Lightning Town. On Raiden's guidance, they were going to stop at an orphanage outside the City Limits that was part of the Lightning Strike Orphanage Chain to check in on it and it's caretaker a female Alolan Raichu named Rain. However, the group soon found a familiar Manectric standing guard outside the orphanage: Cheif Marison, the one that brought the file on Raiden's Grandpa.
"Ah ha! Caught you!" Marison said, pointing a paw at Sunset.
"What?" Sunset asked.
"I knew you'd come to this place soon. Reports of an orange unicorn who looks just like you has been going around terrozing the children of this town. Well, that stops today. You are hearby under arrest." Marison said.
"You've got the wrong Unicorn, Cheif Marison." Raiden said.
"Look, no offense Raiden, but whose to say it isn't her?" Marison asked.
"I am." A new male voice said. Suddenly a male Luxray appeared. He looked like an older version of Lightning. "Because she can't be in two places at once." He said.
"M-mayor Sentry...what do you mean she can't be in two places at once?" Marison asked.
"Because while your here, about to falsly arrest this Unicorn Mare, I just recieved word that the unicorn responsible was spotted near the old in-town orphanage terroizing a few of the children. Several officers tried to detain him, but he got away from what I heard. And that oprhanage is a good thirty minutes from here. And that JUST happened a minute ago." The Luxray said.
"Oh..." Marison said.
The Luxray turned to Lightning. "And isn't this a treat? You don't call, you don't write...we'eve never even interacted with each other since that day I chose your safety above all else." The mayor said.
"Yeah...I should probably do better then this huh. I should really let go of that, since you were actually being a good father and doing what you thought would be better for my safety in the long run, rather then being the mayor." Lightning said.
"You know the mayor?!" Marison exclaimed.
"I was about to ask a similar thing." Raiden said.
"...Raiden, Ponies...this is the mayor of Lightning Town, Mayor Flash Sentry." Lightning Said. "...And...he's also my biological father."
All the ponies were stunned. "Wh-WHAT?!" Every pony and 'mon outside of the father and son suddenly shouted at once.
"Wow, not even my Pinkie Sense saw THIS doozy coming." Pinkie Pie said.
To be continued... |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 3 - Stormy Skies Part 2 (The Cutie Map AU) | Deca's Notes
We had just learned that, in the Pony World is Flash Sentry is not only not a pony, but rather a Luxray, he is also Lightning's Father. This means that for all this time, we had been hanging around the son of the mayor from Raiden's own hometown; the very same one where he had become so famous from. And now...this is the continuation...
"Let me see if I got this straight: The same father who casted you out from his family, effectively making you an orphan all those years ago, was the mayor of Lightning Town?!" Raiden exclaimed.
"On that day that I had done that, it was the day after I had recieved a blackmail letter from Marina the Mawile. Yes, you heard correctly: She had contacted me personally." Mayor Sentry said. "'You have a choice to make, Mayor Flash Sentry...' the letter had stated. 'Either give us full autonomy of Lightning Town, or I'll personally find that son of yours, and kill him myself.'" He quoted. "It seems, that the gangsters had discovered my one weakness, my Achilles heel if you will. Since my wife had passed away during child labor, my son was the most important thing to me, surpassing that of even the town itself." Sentry said.
"...So you did the only thing you could do to protect him: You cut him out of your life and made him legally an orphan. That way, Marina couldn't kill him as he was no longer legally your son." Sunset said.
"Yes. I didn't care if doing so would end up in my death rather then his if I did that and still refused to hand over my authority to the mafia gangs." Mayor Sentry said. "My plan worked though: My son was safe, and because I had made Lightning no longer legally my son, Marina couldn't kill him since as far as she and the town were concerned, I had no son for her to kill."
"I know why you did it dad. I just wish you would've at least, found some way for me to help you." Lightning said.
"I didn't want you involved in this town son. I didn't want what was going on to be something you should become responsible for. I never wanted you to have that kind of life. You deserved better then that. And yet, you got involved anyways, in the best way possible." Mayor Sentry. "...That was ironically probably my proudest moment as your father."
"Wait a second, Cheif Marison said that the unicorn looked a lot like me, right?" Sunset asked.
"Yeah? That's what he said." Rainbow Dash said.
"...Then that means the criminal can only truely be one pony..." Sunset said and ran off.
"Sunset? Sunset get back here!" Twilight said, rushing after Sunset. The others followed, even the mayor.
Marina was soon petting the now ponified Sunburst. "Such a good boy. Probably my best partner yet. Thanks to your efforts, I'll have no problem launching my master plan now." Marina said.
"I aim to please." Sunburst said. "You don't seem too upset I keep getting spotted though."
"Heh heh. Actually, that's working in my favor for my master plan. But don't worry, you're playing such an intergural role, that I'm sure going to make sure you are recognized for being such a crucial part of my plan." Marina said.
"Marina! And Sunburst!" Sunset said, the entire group soon arrived with her.
"Marina...so, your behind this unicorn." Mayor Sentry said.
"Sunset?!" Sunburst exclaimed.
"YOU HAVE A BUCKING SISTER!?" Marina exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.
"Because my plan, was to frame my own sister." Sunburst said.
"...Huh. Actually, that's kind of smart. That only makes it easier for me to pull off my master plan." Marina said.
"Your not going anywhere Marina. Playtime's over." Sunset said.
"I suppose I am bored of just doing nothing for this whole time. But I assure you: Playtime is FAR from over!" Marina said. Sunburst got away from the action quickly. Suddenly a bunch of the orphans showed up.
"Wait, your not starting this battle without proper music. Hit it!" One of them said.
Deca then brought up something on a holoscreen.
Crime Boss
Marina the Mawile
Deca's Power Level Reading: 898,000,000,000,000
"What's with that power level reading?" Twilight asked.
"Chat later, fight now!" Raiden said.
Twilight barely dodged a ghost Mawile Jaw that came out of nowhere. "...Noted." Twilight said.
Ghost Mawile Jaws were just the opening act. Marina was teleporting around the general area they were fighting in, sometimes even coming out of nowhere as she rushed them with her jaw forward but unopened attemting to ram them with Iron Head.
Suddenly out of nowhere though, Marina brought out a doll and suddenly began to roughhouse it with a dust cloud traveling towards one of them for a while before stopping. "She's able to just...use Play Rough like that?! What's with these powers?" Lightning said.
The ponies were fighting back all the while though. Using magic, rocks, and kicks while avoiding Marina's various attacks. They were winning though.
"Huff...okay, your good. Have you been training? Forget I asked, that's a retorical question with Raiden there." Marina said. "You get to go free today, but next time we meet, I'll be going full throtle." Marina said.
"If you think your leaving Marina, you've got another thing coming." Raiden said.
"You should savor your victory." Marina said, before suddenly she brought out a strange clam. "Because every victory has it's price." She added before using the clam to summon...Sparky?!
"What the...she dragged Rex's father from who knows where?!" Rainbow Dash said.
"You may have beaten me here..." Marina said, before she put something on Sparky's cheeks. "But Lightning Town will fall today!"
"What did you just put on Sparky?" Sunburst suddenly asked.
"A little device that'll force him to use Storm's Rage. That'll cause a thunderstom that'll level this entire city and everything close to it's center within a hundred miles. And it'll happen in a few minutes from now." Marina said before grabbing Sunburst. "That should give you enough time to get everyone away from here in time. Or don't. It's your choice." Marina said before she disappared in purple smoke with Sunburst in Tow.
"No...I won't allow this!" Raiden said as he suddenly started spritning.
Sparky suddenly unleashed Storm's Rage out of nowhere, breaking the device used on him in the process. Passed out, Twilight grabbed him in her magic just as a thunderstom came into existence.
"Bad news: Marina wasn't joking about that thunderstorm: It's going to level everything from within one hundred miles of Lightning Town's Center where a statue of Raiden sits. Any pony or Pokemon caught in that destructive wake is going to die." Deca said.
"No...you don't think..." Mayor Flash said.
"He's Crazy! Not even Raiden could withstand a thunderstorm of that magnitude! Not without dying in the process!" Twilight said.
"I...I think he knows that...and he doesn't care..." Lightning said. "...He won't allow Marina even the slightest victory..."
"Raiden!" Twilight yelled out.
They saw Raiden suddenly tank the thunderstorm fully, and drop to the ground, seemingly dead. "...No..." Sunset said.
"He-he has to be dead from that right? No way he could survive that." Rainbow Dash said.
"He ain't dead yet." It was Rain from the orphanage. "I just need to do this..." She said before she suddenly hit Raiden with a Thunderbolt which somehow, revived him.
"Ugh...how am I not dead?" Raiden asked.
"You were near death, but I brought you back." Rain said. "No hero of Lightning Town is going to die on my watch."
"Huh...so, how can I thank you?" Raiden asked.
"A date at a local resturant would be nice." Rain said.
"...I'm in." Raiden said and went off with Rain.
"...Why did he just agree to that?" Twilight asked.
"Because she didn't ask for his hand in marriage, that's why." LIghtning said. "I think Raiden's just gotten himself a girlfriend."
"SERIOUSLY?! Raiden gets a special somepony; or in this case, a special somemon; before I do?!" Sunset exclaimed.
"Sunset, your emotion's showing." Twilight said.
"Right. Sorry. Still, that was the last person I expected to get a special somepony before I do." Sunset said.
"What about Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"...I have no further comment at this time." Sunset said.
"Got it recorded." Marina said, putting down a video camera.
"So...you knew all along he was going to do that huh? And somehow by miracle of miracle survive?" Sunburst asked.
"Yep. And that plays into my plan perfectly. Soon, all legendaries will no longer be allowed to control common Pokemon." Marina said.
"Wait, that's your big plan? Make all common Pokemon rise up against the legendaries?!" Sunburst exclaimed.
"Yep. And cause a war against Legendary Pokemon." Marina said.
"No...no I never wanted that..." Sunburst said. He then used his magic to destroy Marina's camera.
"You! Do you have any idea what you've just done?!" Marina excalimed.
"The right thing. You can't cause a war without evidence to back up your philosophy. There's a line not to cross, and you were crossing it. Hard." Sunburst said. "I only wanted to either frame my sister for a crime she didn't commit, which is impossible now, or make her into my slave while I ruled Equestria. I never wanted to start a war that would've killed thousands. That's just going too far!"
Suddenly, Sunburst was caught by Marina's giant jaw. "You really, really shouldn't have done that..." Marina said.
Suddenly, the scene shifts back to just after Twilgiht, Sunset, and Starlight found Rex and the unconcious ponies at the castle. "...We later found Sunburst's dead body outside the city. He had ended up another of Marina's victims. Another death in her path of bloodshed." Twilight said.
"Then it seems...we are after the same villain." Rex said. He then told them of what happened in the human world.
"That...that bitch!" Sunset said.
"Sunset! Langauge!" Twilight said.
"I don't bucking care! That Mawile was already on my hit list from when she killed my brother. Now she's endangered the human world into collapsing if we don't get that magic back." Sunset said. "My brother was right after all: She's crossing the line hard."
"Since it seems we are after the same enemy, perhaps it's best we work together then?" Rex asked.
"We could really use that help. Marina must be stopped if we wish to stop her war. Thankfully Sunburst had left that audio file that played back his talk with Marina before she killed him. Must have been something from the human world." Sunset said. "Mom was pretty upset when she heard that Sunburst was killed though. However, I promised her, I'd bring Marina to justice; some way, some how."
"Hmph. The justice system is overrated. But I shall assist in capturing her." Rex said.
To be continued... |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 4 - Broken Normalcy | Sunset, Starlight, and Rex were enjoying some time. The suddenly ponyized humans sans Rex were currently being kept at Twilight's castle to avoid confusion with the world. Twilight had gone up to Canterlot to speak with Celestia, Luna, and Cadence to talk about what Marina's grand plan is and what to do about it as well as some advice on what to do with the ponyized humans.
However, Rainbow Dash suddenly came down from the clouds with Gilda. "Sunset, your not going to believe who I just spotted outside town." Rainbow Dash said.
"Was it Marina?" Sunset asked.
"Nope. It was Lightning Dust." Rainbow Dash said.
"Didn't you say to me that that pegasus is still wanted for the tornado stuff?" Rex asked.
"In a sense. She is going to have to serve time for all the reckless endangerment stuff she's been doing. But right now, she was seemingly with a Pegasus colt. So she's probably just on a babysitting job. Probably not a good idea to be arresting her while she's in proximity of a child." Rainbow Dash said.
"Is that all? I'll deal with this then. I've got a way to get that child away from her." Rex said, and then left with Sparky following close behind.
"Are we sure Sparky should be allowed to roam so freely? I mean, we saw what his power almost did to Raiden." Starlight said.
"Maybe so, but Sparky went on a destructive rampage the last time he was threated with imprisonment. Best not to try that. Besides, that was more Marina's fault then Sparky's thanks to her little device." Sunset said. "I may not be able to understand what Sparky was saying verbally, but I could tell, whatever that device was, it put him through a lot of pain."
"The emotions thing again huh? Your getting good at telling those." Rainbow Dash said.
"Wait, what's this about not being able to understand Sparky?" Gilda asked. Sparky was soon passing by the group, playing chase with the colt Lightning Dust was with. However, despite hearing the Colt's playful giggles clearly, Gilda couldn't understand a thing coming from Sparky. "...Huh. What do you know?"
"It's probably got something to do with how he was fused with a Rotom. The way that he was made into what he is now must've made him unable to be understood by almost every pony and Pokemon alike." Sunset said. "Rex seems to be the only being in all of existance who seems to be capable of understanding him. Must be a blood thing."
"Wait, what blood thing?" Starlight asked.
"Did we forget to mention that Sparky is Rex's biological dad?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well I didn't even know much about Sparky until now so...no comment." Gilda said.
"I've been here for how long now, and your just telling me this now?!" Starlight exclaimed.
"I guess it just never came up before now...sorry Starlight. Guess we just forgot. That happens sometimes. No pony is immune to it." Sunset said.
"Guess you've got a point there." Starlight said.
"MY WING!"
A shout from Lightning Dust suddenly made foursome approuch Lightning Dust and Rex, the former of which now has an obviously sprained Wing. "Wh-what did you do?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Made sure this Pegasus wouldn't be getting just a slap on the wrist for her crimes. I didn't want that colt to end up as another of her victims." Rex said.
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh that's right. No pony would know because her personal files were sealed." Rex said, before suddenly bringing out a criminal record with his magic. "Well, I've personally unsealed them." He said, using his magic to make sure Sunset could grab it with hers.
"...What the..." Sunset gasped. "Five counts of arson, fifty counts of reckless endangerment BEFORE her time at Wonderbolt Academy, sixty-nine counts of of endangerment towards children, two accounts of assault, accidental murder, assult with a deadly weapon, murder by proxy in the sense a pony drove themselves to suicide because they were bullied by the subject...and this is just page one!"
"Where are the other pages?" Gilda asked.
"Trust me, this first page is enough." Rex said. "Seems Lightning Dust's father paid millions if not billions of bits making sure his daughter didn't see a single second of jail time."
Twilight soon approuched the group. "So that's all--WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED HERE?!"
"It's all the same. Both in this world, and the other, it's all the same: The justice system lets criminals like Lightning Dust get off with merely a slap on the wrist." Rex said.
The rest of the elements soon arrived. "What's going on here?" Applejack asked.
"Look, just because the justice system didn't do anything before, doesn't mean they can't do anything now. You should trust the system." Sunset said.
"Trust the system? You want me to trust the system?!" Rex suddenly looked unhinged. "You want to know how exploitable your 'system' is? When my mother was killed during the raid that was done to recapture my father, the soldier responsible for her death wasn't even reprimanded. In fact, I learnt he was later given an honorable discharge. Honorable my flank. That man was a murderer, killing my mother in cold blood because she refused to corporate with authorities." He explained. "So don't give me your friendship talk, or tell me to believe in the system. I have my own ways of making sure Criminals pay for their actions. These criminals deserve to be punished and punished harshly. But every time, they can get away with murder simply because they believe themselves to be above the law in every way possible. So that's why I decide to do what any justice system won't do: Punish the criminals." Rex said. "Besides, I mearly broke one of her wings. Lightning Dust will live." He said.
"But most Pegasi practically depend on their ability to fly to live a normal life. Take that away, and they will have a hard time surviving." Rainbow Dash said. "Yeah, I know Fluttershy's an exception, but that's because she found a way to survive without needing the ability to fly. She can still fly when push comes to shove, but she mostly doesn't do flying like other Pegasi depend on their ability to fly to survive."
"Thank you Rainbow." Fluttershy said.
"Wow, you actually said the plural form of Pegasus right for a change." Twilight said.
"Your interupting her moment." Gilda said.
"Moment's over. I ain't afraid to get my hands dirty when it comes to dishing out punishments towards criminals." Rex said.
"Fine. Guess it's time to rematch your team then. We've been training with Raiden since our last encounter." Rainbow said.
"Interesting. Then let's see just what you've learnt. Just know this: Regardless of what you think, I believe all criminals should have a bad time." Rex said.
Wounded by Justice
Vigilante Rex Lauran
Rex began by sending out his Linoone first. "No commands need to be given by me this time. My pokemon will be going nuts as much as possible." Rex said.
True to his word, the Linoone began using water, electric, and something else in his attacks. "That's a fighting type move known as Rock Smash. Be on guard." Deca said.
Despite the attacks being more unpredictable now, the Linoone went down. Rex's second pokemon was new though. Twilight recognized it as a Furret.
The Furret was digging underground, using the grass itself to attack, and was even using a punch attack that was Fire elemental in nature.
After it went down, next up was Rex's Delcatty, which was using Water Pulse, Shock Wave, and Ice Beam.
"This guy really thinks of everything, doesn't he?" Rainbow Dash asked.
After Delcatty went down, came in the Pokemon that the group was told about: Smeargle.
"Your sending your ace out now?!" Sunset exclaimed.
"Who ever said Smeargle was my ace?" Rex asked.
"It is what makes the most sense, with how many types of moves your Pokemon know." Applejack said.
"No. I can tell his ace is something much more personal. We need to be ready for it." Twilight said.
The Smeargle was unleashing Psychic Energy, a ball of pure poison, and even some fairy magic. However, once it was down, Rex smirked. "Well you've made it this far, but you should know: I was taken in by my ace Pokemon as a sort of, surrogate father. And he raised me as his own. So, now you witness my Zangoose!" Rex said, before sending out the same Zangoose that Abucus Cinch had faced. Suddenly, Rex pressed a button on his machine and was now a human. "This is going to be a great field test for this new function." Rex said, before showing off he had a Z-Ring with a Z-Crystal inside.
"He's got a Z-Ring?!" Twilight exlcaimed. "Every pony, watch out!"
"It's no use; you can't defend against this Z-move that I requested on behalf of the Tapus of my world to help get my father back." Rex said before he activated his Z-Ring and the crystal inside. Rex began making motions before suddenly Zangoose went zipped right up to Gilda.
"What the--" Rainbow Dash said. Before any pony could do anything, Gilda was knocked up into the air and then repeatedly hit by what appered to be a bunch of chops from many angles, before the Zangoose pulverized Gilda into the ground. Gilda was injured and made unconcious. Not dead though, just injured and unconcious. "B-by Queen Faust, that's powerful." Rainbow Dash said.
"Consider this battle a draw for now. Obviously, your not ready to take on my true strength yet. But next time, we really will finish our battle properly." Rex said before turning back into a pony with his device and walking off with his Zangoose close behind; Sparky soon going after them.
Just how strong was Rex's Zangoose really? It had to be crazy strong if it could do this with a Z-move. No wonder it was his real ace. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 5 - Barrier Breaker | Rex's Z Move had actually attracted the attention of Arceus themself. Gilda was currently undergoing treatment for her injuries, and Lightning Dust while also arrested, was having her wing mended.
"That was not like any Z Move from the video of Z Moves you showed me Lightning. I should know, I memorized the whole thing." Twilight said.
"Of course you would do that." Sunset said.
"But that video I gave you was the one my father gave me. So if Rex's Z Move wasn't on the tape, you have to ask why." Lightning said.
"Because Rex and his father don't exist in this version of events." A god voice said. Suddenly, what appeared before them was none other then Arceus themself!
"L-lord Arceus! You've never made a personal house call before." Lightning said.
"The Arceus from the human world had informed me that Marina had caused that world to start to collapse. Right now, that Arceus is keeping the ones who weren't there when Rex pulled the ones at Canterlot High here in a state of suspended animation at the Hall of Origin." Arceus said. "Marina is becoming too great of a threat to ignore even for me if she's capable of pulling that sort of stunt."
"Starting to wonder if Marina even is an alternate personality of Milissa with how much we've been learning about Marina." Sunset said. "Especially sense, I could sense some kind of...ghostly presence in Marina's voice."
"Something to take note of then, just in case. Regardless, I am unable to interfere at this stage right now. I am counting on you to find a way to stop whatever her big plan is." Arceus said.
"Apperently, Marina wants to start a war against legendary Pokemon. That's what she said to Sunburst in his audio file." Sunset said.
"...Wait, let me listen to this file." Arceus said. Sunset played it. Afterwards, a forelorn expression crossed Arceus's face. "That voice...that's impossible..." Arceus said.
"You recognize Marina's voice?!" Raiden exclaimed.
"That...is not Milissa's real voice. In fact, she's being possessed by the spirit of a Mawile long thought dead: Marina the Merciless Mawile. She was infamous for how she killed her victims. And by now, you know all too well how her victims died; one of you has even found how merciless she really is." Arceus said.
"The animals in the Everfree Forest..." Fluttershy said. "They...they were drained of their blood, and then their bodies were just...left there to rot."
"Exactly. She was so brutal, many humans began to hunt her. For once, that was the one time I was glad humans were there. However, they found her too late: She had met her end in quicksand." Arceus said.
"So, did a version of Marina exist in the human world then too?" Twilight asked.
"I did ask after Marina the Merciless's death; and it seems that a version did exist. However, in the human world, Marina had been successfully captured by the humans, and was personally executed by that world's Arceus in front a gathering of humans and pokemon alike." Arceus said.
"That's it! That's the divergance!" Sunset suddenly shouted.
"I beg your pardon?" Arceus asked.
"I've been wondering for a while what would make our world turn out the way it did from the human world, and what you just said explains it. In one version of events, Marina was executed by a version of you publically after being successful captured and brought to pay for her crimes. But in another, she was lost to a patch of quicksand and thus, humans never would learn the consequence of growing too greedy." Sunset said.
"That can't be everything though right?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Perhaps. I would need to compare more notes with this alternate version of myself." Arceus said. "For now, there is one more reason for my visit: Rex's Z Move. It was created by the Tapus and authorized by the human world's Arceus. It's called Barrier Breaker. It's a Z Move that upgrades the moves Fient and Brick Break into a super powered attack. This Z Move is super powerful, so safty measures were put in place for commercial use of the Z Crystal." Arceus said. "However, make no mistake: Trying to cast some sort of protection spell against that Z Move is pointless. Unlike most Z Moves which lose twenty percent of their power when they hit a pokemon protecting itself through the means of moves like Protect and Detect, Barrier Breaker acts like a combination of both Brick Break and Feint at the same time. It actually powers up if something is trying to protect itself by doubling it's power. It also powers itself up to double it's base power if the opponet currently has the effects of the moves Reflect, Light Screen, or Safe Guard up. All the while, it not only doubles it's power if these moves are used, but also removes the effects of those moves as well. It's extremely powerful, but after Sparky was calmed down, the Z Crystal was made weaker for commercial use." They explained. Suddenly they levitated a Z Crystal just like the one Rex had to Raiden. "Here. You may take a copy of the Z Crystal for yourself. Raiden has Brick Break, so he can use this same Z Move. Just remember, the day long recharge. This Z Move may prove useful in defeating Marina and knocking her spirit away from Millissa." Arceus finished.
"Thanks you, Lord Arceus. We'll make sure to use this wisely." Raiden said.
"I am counting on you to free MIlissa from the spirit of Marina the Merciless. You must do so before it's too late." Arceus said.
"But...but what happens to Milissa? Wouldn't she be robbed of her childhood?" Sunset asked.
"Not my concern." Arceus said before he disappeared.
"...Welp. This Marina situation just got a whole lot crazier. But also much more serious too. If Arceus of all legendaries is practically asking us to take down Marina and save Milissa from the spirit's grasp, then we need to do everything we can." Sunset said.
"I just remembered something..." Cheif Marison said.
"What's up, Cheif Marison?" Raiden asked.
"You said Milissa had a mega stone on her neck right? I just remembered: Supreme Chief Jackson had given a Mawilite to Milissa on her sixth birthday shortly before...the incident that cost her her mother happened." Marison said.
"Aren't Mega Stones illigal to be used though?" Raiden asked.
"Yeah. But Jackson said there was no way Milissa would dare use something she knew was outlawed. It'd be safter that way. It was meant as just some accessory, nothing more." Marison said.
"...I think I just realized how Marina's Spirit possessed Milissa: The Mega Stone Jackson gave Milissa must have had the spirit of Marina inside of it!" Sunset said.
"YOU MEAN ALL THIS STARTED BECAUSE OF A BIRTHDAY GIFT?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed before she fainted.
"...She's really passionate about birthday parties huh?" Marison asked.
"Eeyep." Twilight said simply. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 6 - Castle Sweet Castle AU | "Ugh..." Twilgiht could be heard with her head on the cutie map. "Even with the ponified humans living her for the time being while we search for the possessed Milissa so we can save her from the spirit of Marina the Merciless, I know they'll be able to go home eventually." The purple alicorn said. "But just thinking of how empty the castle is going to be once they are gone is starting to hit me now even before we have a great plan on capturing the possessed Milissa so we can exercise Marina the Merciless from her."
"I don't think I've ever seen you this distraught before." Sunset said.
"Hey, I have an idea." Starlight said. She then whispered to Sunset.
"Huh. That would be nice to do. I'll go get Flash Sentry." Sunset said. "...The one who came from the human world originally, not the Luxray whose in charge of Lightning Town."
"Yeah that's going to take some getting used to." Starlight said.
"Wow, I never expected you to be the one to approach me about taking some time away from the castle." Twilight said.
"Hey, as your guard captain, it's supposed to be my job making sure you takes some personal time. Plus, from what I heard, your friends are going to be busy with personal projects today, so this is the perfect time for a date." Flash said.
"What kind of projects are my friends working on?" Twilight asked.
"Beats me. I only confirmed it with them." Flash said; thankful that Twilight couldn't detect lies like Applejack could.
"Decorate Twilight's Castle?" Rainbow Dash asked Sunset.
"Yeah. We're going to do some interior decorating today. I've got the Flash from the human world distracting Twilight with a date. So, hit me with some great things we could do to make this castle more homey for Twilight." Sunset said. "Even I'm having a difficult time deciding on something that would just scream Twilight, so...hit me with whatever ideas you got."
"Wow, Sunset having trouble with her surrogate sister? That's a new one." Rainbow Dash said.
"Rainbow Dash, that was just rude!" Applejack said.
"Sorry." Rainbow Dash said.
"I wonder if her realization of cabin fever may be because she still has memories of the Golden Oaks Library." Fluttershy said.
"...Hey, that gives me a great idea. C'mon everypony, I've got a plan!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Rainbow Dash has a plan? Why do I feel like this could either be something really good, or really bad?" Sunset asked.
"Yer not the only one, partner." Applejack said.
As the sun began to set, the two lovebirds returned to the castle, only to find a new chandeliar made from a similar oak to the golden oak library hanging above the map. "Oh hey, we were just finishing up here." Rainbow Dash said.
"You all helped make this?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah. That way you could remember all the things we did in the Library. It's not the exact same tree, but we found a nearly dead one from the same oak that grew that library to begin with." Rarity said.
"We created these memory crystals so you could look back on the times we spent at the Golden Oak's Library any time you felt like it. Sunset helped Rarity make them." Fluttershy said.
"Gems are my speciality after all." Rarity said.
"It's...it's perfect. It's just what the place needed." Twilight said.
"Though, one thing: Pinkie Pie couldn't help but hide a few of her party cannons around the place. So...do be careful of that." Rainbow Dash said.
"What can I say? I made hid them so well, not even I could find them now!" Pinkie Pie said. Every pony laughed.
"Oh Pinkie..." Twilight said through her laughter. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 7 - Time Marches On (Bloom & Gloom Replacement) | Sunset was with Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner helping out with the Baby cakes. "Thanks for the assist Sunset. These two can get wild." Pinkie Pie said. The cakes soon arrived back from their grocery run.
"Oh Sunset, seems you came by to help Pinkie Pie." Mr. Cake said.
"Yeah. There was a bit of a mix-up with one of the recipies you left Pinkie Pie and the twins got sick. Like, really sick." Sunset said. "Trust me, you should be glad you weren't home to see that mess."
"Yeah. It was quite the mess. So much so that I had to get some extra hooves to clean it up. Hope you don't mind." Pinkie Pie said.
"Not at all. It's our fault for not double checking. I wondered why the list we brought looked more like a recipe then a list of the things we needed at the market." Mrs. Cake said.
"So that explains why there was a mention of seven tulips on the list." Pinkie Pie said.
"Wow. And that didn't jump out at you as odd?" Sunset asked.
"Well the cakes have been running this place for much longer then I've lived here so..." Pinkie Pie said.
"...Touche." Sunset said.
"Hey, why are your cutie marks glowing?" Mr. Cake asked. Soon, holographic versions of Sunset and Pinkie's cutie marks starting flying away.
"Hey, come back Cutie Marks!" Pinkie Pie said.
Sunset used her magic to hand over the Baby Cakes. "Seems we better go chase our floating Cutie marks. See you later Mr. and Mrs. Cake." Sunset said and followed after Pinkie Pie.
The two ponies soon followed the holographic cutie marks to the map room where Twilight was waiting. "I got here as soon as I could. Seems this map was able to ping my magic to let me know that it was summoning ponies. Looks like it's you two this time." Twilight said.
"The last time the map summoned any pony, it turned out to be a friendship quest that clued us in on what Marina the Merciless was doing. So, is this going to be another quest like that?" Sunset asked.
"Wait...why are our cutie marks hovering over Lightning Town again?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Not sure. Perhaps there are still some friendship issues there that requires just the two of you to go. Seems the map wants you two in particular to solve whatever leftover issues from when Sunburst was working with Marina to tear the town's friendships apart." Twilight said.
"I'd like to go with. Rain's asking if we could have another date, and this would be the perfect way to go have another." Raiden said. "...I...may have really enjoyed the date last time..."
Every pony in the room rolled their eyes.
Sunset and Pinkie Pie had let Raiden off at the Lightning Strike Orphanage outside Lightning Town, and the duo then proceeded to find the mayor. "Oh! Sunset and Pinkie Pie." Mayor Flash said as the two entered his office. "Put my ten o'clock meeting on hold for the time being. Two equestrians are here." He said into an intercom suddenly.
"Yes Mayor." A female voice answered over the intercom.
"Cheif Marison filled me in on the whole Marina situation. To think, all this time...a six year old girl has been possessed by the spirit of a merciless killer long dead." Mayor Sentry said. "...I can't imagine it'll be easy for that girl to reintegrate into society, having her body flung twenty years ahead of her mental age..."
"I'm sure once we save Milissa from her possession, Supreme Cheif Flamer Jackson will be more then willing to assist there." Sunset said. "He seemed...very adamant about doing something he should've done twenty years ago..."
"Yes. I know that incident from twenty years ago still haunts Flamer Jackson to this day. However, he recently sent me a letter that was essentially him resigning from his position. Saying that what he needs to do goes beyond the call of duty, and is something he needs to see through to the end personally." Mayor Sentry said. "I accepted the resignation of course, a cop is never supposed to get this involved in a case..." He then sighed. "But this one time...I am making an exception, and will authorize Flamer Jackson's early retirement from the force so he can take Milissa and give her the life she was robbed of. Miracles have happened before, and I have no doubt one will occur again." The Luxray Mayor said.
"Speaking of why we're actually here, have you noticed anyone bottling up their emotions lately?" Sunset asked.
"Or maybe, you've possibly seen someone need some cheering up? Seems there's still some friendship trouble around here." Pinkie Pie said.
"...Actually, there is one thing that might be related. Follow me." Mayor Sentry said.
The Luxray Mayor had brought the duo to the wrecked orphanage inside the city limits. "While the Lightning Strike Orphanage branch outside town has allowed the remaining orphans from the Mafia Gangster period of our town's history to have a place to go, ever since Marina the Merciless had almost killed Raiden, I noticed it seems the townspeople were beginning to lose trust in one another all over again, just like just before the Mafia Gangsters took over. We were only in such a state once before: When the Storm King took over our town and ruled it with an iron claw." Mayor Sentry explained. "It seems to me, like history will repeat itself, and we'll just end up in a second Mafia Gangster Period."
"Not if we can help it. We just need to find a way to give the citizans hope again for the future." Sunset said.
"Good luck with that. You'd need to do something akin to what Raiden's Grandpa and Raiden himself did to inspire that kind of hope in this town." Mayor Sentry said.
"Wait...that's it! Pinkie Pie, I have an idea, but I'll need your building expertise to make it work." Sunset asked.
"Wait, how did you know I have building permits?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Because your you. It'd be stranger if you didn't." Sunset said.
"Can't argue with that. Let's build whatever it is your thinking of building!" Pinkie Pie said, suddenly putting on a hard hat she got out of her mane.
"Where did you get that hard hat? And what building permits?" Mayor Sentry asked. He was suddenly smacked in the face with building permits Pinkie Pie had stowed in her mane. "Okay, how exactly are you able to put so much stuff in your mane?" Mayor Sentry asked.
"Word of advice Mayor: There's a rule in Ponyville about Pinkie Pie." Sunset said.
"Really? What rule would that be?" Mayor Sentry asked.
"That you shouldn't ever question Pinkie Pie." Sunset said.
"...That's a pretty sound rule..." Mayor Sentry said after he witnessed Pinkie Pie take an entire steel guarder out of her mane. The mayor quickly signed the permits without a second thought and let the mares get right to it.
Three days later, the ponies then revealed the big project that folks had become interested in. "Citizans of Lightning Town, I figured that the best way to give you hope...was to not only remind you of what hope you've already been given, but remind you of why you were given that hope." Sunset said. "I present to you, the Lightning Town Museum." She said, and the tarp over the now repurposed Orphanage was taken down.
Ponies and Pokemon alike soon began to go inside to get inspired. Within minutes, they were all chatting, being friendly, and even taking photos together. "I can't believe it..." Mayor Sentry said. "I've never seen the town like this in my entire lifetime. It's...it's so wondrous and beautiful!" He added.
"You two did a really good job." Raiden said, coming up with Rain. "You even gave me an excuse to have a THIRD date so soon after the second."
"Yeah, I think the townsfolk are going to be inspired to hold onto hope for years and years now." Rain said. "You've done good."
"Thanks. We did have to move the Raiden Statue inside here, but I think it was worth it." Sunset said. Suddenly, the flanks of both her and Pinkie Pie glowed.
"Oh! I think that means we solved the issue here." Pinkie Pie said.
"You two have become real heroes today. In fact, I think this museum could use one more statue..." Mayor Sentry said. A bit later, he unvieled a new statue: One of both Sunset and Pinkie Pie, memorialized as the founders of the museum.
However, meanwhile, a weakened Chrysalis began crawling her way to Ponyville, accompinied by Thorax and Pharynx. "We got to warn those ponies. That freaking Mawile is insane!" Thorax said.
"For once, I'm in agreement. Even the Queen is." Pharynx said. "Dear god, we barely got her and most of the changelings away from that...that monster!" He added.
"I...must...make it...gotta warn..." Chyrsalis.
"Easy there. Let us help you." Thorax said. He then knocked on the door.
Twilight answered. "What the...what happened to Chrysalis?!" She exclaimed.
"You...you need...to be warned..." Chrysalis said. "A-a monster...a pure psychopath..." She then fainted from her injuries.
"CHRYSALIS!" Twilight exclaimed.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!" Pharynx exclaimed.
To be continued... |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 8 - The Ponyville Orphanage | It was a seemingly normal day out across Equestria. There didn't seem to be anything wrong going on today. Which was a nice change of pace.
If anything, things were about to become pretty great for Ponyville in a few days.
"Your seriously going to let the Lightning Strike Orphanage absorb the orphanage in Ponyville?" Raiden asked. He and Team Strikers were in audience at canterlot with both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
"After it was discovered by Soarin during his Shadowbolt Testing that the Ponyville Orphanage was under poor & abusive management, I promptly had the current pony in charge of the orphanage arrested on foal abuse charges." Princess Luna said. "After all, ponies that were attending that orphanage were suffering constant nightmares all resolving around abuse."
"So, it while the pony in charge of the orphanage has been changed, with how well received your Orphanage chain is considered outside Equestria's borders, I took the matter of orphanages found within Equestra to the High Council. And they all agreed: Better to have some pony, or rather, some 'mon, whose well known for having the best interest of kids at heart take ownership of any and all questionable orphanages in Equestria." Princess Celestia said. "You must be doing something right if even the equestrian high council is singing high praises about your orphanage chain and how well the kids there are taken care of."
"I grew up outside of an orphanage due to the the kind of place I grew up at. I didn't want any kids going through what I went through. That was why the orphanage became so widespread. Still, if even your high council is on board, then they have to admit that a non-pony is able to provide a better home for orphans then some other ponies." Lightning said.
Meanwhile, at the E.E.A. there was one member who did not take well to this news. "I will not tolerate this." A unicorn stallion referred to as Chancellor Neighsay. He got out and got out of his office.
"Chancellor, are you going somewhere?" One of the E.E.A. members asked.
"I'll be gone for a while. So if some pony comes looking for me, tell them I'll be in Ponyville on official E.E.A. business." Chancellor Neighsay said.
A few days later, Chancellor Neighsay would arrive at the Ponyville Branch of the Lightning Strike Orphanage. The stallion soon headed inside. "Chancellor Neighsay! What an unexpected surprise." The pony at the front desk said.
"Where are those Pokemon?" Neighsay asked.
"You mean Raiden & Lightning? They're in the back with a few of the kids. But I wouldn't interupt what they're doing right now. Right now, it's music lesson time." The Pony said.
"Music lesson?" For the first time in his life, Neighsay was confused. So he decided to take a peek through the doorway only to see many foals and one of Ponyville's local musicians there.
"Wow, music sounds like it could be complicated." A colt said.
"It can be, yes." Octavia said.
"But don't get discouraged by that. When you get real good at making music, you can make something like this." Raiden said before playing a piece of music.
"Yeah. And practically every 'mon and pony alike knows about the Orphan Band; a group of orphans who grew up at the LIghtning Strike Branch near Lightning City which is used to be the only location. Now it's the flagship location." Lightning Said.
"Ooo. Do you think we might get to hear them?" A filly asked.
Raiden laughed. "Who knows? You may get lucky." Raiden said.
"Alright, that's enough." Chancellor Neighsay said. He suddenly barged in. "I will not have non-ponies running orphanages in Equestria Borders." He said.
"Oh really now?' Raiden asked before he snapped two of his paw fingers. "You must be Chancellor Neighsay. I did my homework. And must I just say, that your policy that prevents non-ponies from recieving proper education is a load of Tauros Dung." Raiden said.
"What's Tauros Dung, Mister Raiden?" A colt ask.
"Better you don't know, for your own innocence." Lightning said.
"You best not test me, I can and will have this oprhanage shut down if you don't relinquish it back to Equestria at once." Neighsay said.
"Yeah no. That's not happening. Neither thing is happening actually." Raiden said.
"I warned you." Neighsay said before he touched his medallion. But nothing happened. "What? Why isn't it working?!" He exclaimed.
"See Chancellor, I have this ability to neutralize magic. And I had a feeling you'd try to do some to strong arm me. Well, that ain't happening around these kids. And I'd highly advise trying to get physically violent in front of some kids. Because I already have half a mind to take your policy to the High Council. So, why don't you walk away, and we can pretend this never happened? Because I don't think you want to look like you can't keep it together in front of a bunch of kids." Raiden said.
Chancellor Neighsay sweetdropped. He was cornered without a second thought. If he did anything, that would warrent a full investigation by the High Coincil into his entire dealings, which would unearth the Ponies Only policy that he put in place and then he'd be in mega trouble. He'd be lucky to even have a job if he resulted to voilence here and now. "...Fine. You win this round, but I'll be back." Chancellor Neighsay said and left.
Raiden snapped his fingers once it was confirmed Chancellor Neighsay wasn't going to try anything right now. "You think he'll find a way to shut this orphanage down, Raiden?" Lightning asked.
"I have a feeling that he's no longer going to have the authority to do so." Raiden said.
Neighsay teleported to the E.E.A. grounds where a bunch of High Council Guards were moving his things from one room to another. "Hey, what's going on here?!" Neighsay exclaimed.
"Chancellor Neighsay; or should I call you Superintendent Neighsay now?" The High Council member asked. "Someone had approached us this morning with evidence that you were preventing non-ponies from recieving a proper education in Equestria's borders. So effective immediately, your pony only education policy is being veto'd, and you are being demoted back down to being a Superintendent." He said. "Perhaps this will get you to get your priorities in order before we consider removing you from the E.E.A. entirely and putting you in jail."
"But...but that's impossible. I was with Raiden all day today. So who in Equestria put forward this evidence?" Neighsay asked.
"Princess Luna, though the evidence was gathered by Soarin who is currently undergoing Shadowbolt testing." The High Council Member said.
"...Wait, your telling me a PONY gathered that evidence?" Neighsay asked.
"Ironic, isn't it?" The High Council Member asked. Neighsay could do nothing more then just faint on the spot after recieving that dose of irony.
Meanwhile, while that conversation had been happening, some royal guards had a Pegasus Filly with them. "What's going on? What is this?" Raiden asked.
"This Peagasus Filly was found with abusive parents. There was no room for her at the Manehatten Orphanage, so she's being transferred here." One of the royal guards said.
"Does the poor kid have a name?" Raiden asked.
"Cozy Glow." The other royal guard said.
To Be Continued |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 9 - Two Stories (Tanks For Memories Background) | The Following day, Twilight was entered a different part of her castle where Pharynx, Thorax, and Chrysalis were waiting; the last of which had been nursed back to health over the past few days in secret since the damage done to Chrysalis was done by Marina the Merciless.
"I'm more surprised that you would come to me, instead of one of the other Princesses." Twilight said.
"Let's be real here: Princess Celestia would've probably sent me straight to Tartarus with both Pharynx and Thorax without a second thought. Princess Luna would've probably suggested turning me to stone before sending Pharynx and Thorax to Tartarus. And there's no way your brother was going to even let me have a single chance before he finished what Marina started and then who knows what would've happened to Thorax and Pharynx after." Chrysalis said. "You were quite the only logical choice to at least ensure the surival of my hive. I could care less if I'm ultimately turned to stone or sent to Tartarus once I'm done explaining what happened to my hive, but please, I beg of you to spare the rest of my hive. They were only following orders."
"You are the one that's fully to blame for what happened, though you said that Marina attacked you?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, that is what I said. It's that Mawile who killed that kobold from the wedding." Chrysalis said.
"Marina the Merciless. I'll have to fill you in on what's been uncovered, and you can trasmit that to the rest of the changelings. And while I'll try to convince Princess Celestia that your hive should be spared from whatever punishment she deems fit for you, everything will be a decision all four princesses will have to make together so I can't make any garentees." Twilight said. "But I think the fact that the enemy of the changelings is currently an enemy of both Ponies and Pokemon alike will assist in making the case that only the queen of your hive shall be punished."
"If Chrysalis is no longer our queen...then who gets to be in charge?" Pharynx asked.
"I have no royal heir...in hindsight, I should've probably made one. So alas, the hive's leadership will default to the youngest female." Chrysalis said.
"Occelus...she was just born before Marina attacked us. She's way too young." Pharynx said.
"Well then until she's old enough, if I should be removed from power by the Princesses, then I am trusting the two of you to make sure the hive survives." Chrysalis said. "I care not how you do it, in fact, I'd rather you not cause any further trouble with the ponies. Focus on making sure the hive can survive. I could care less on how."
"Right, let me do some explaining..." Twilight was about to begin when a knock occurred at her door. "I'll be right back." Twilight said.
Meanwhile, the Pegasus Filly known as Cozy Glow was off on her own at the Lightning Strike Orphanage when Lightning approuched her. "So, still adjusting huh?" Lightning said. "Noticed you had a rook for a cutie mark. Do you like chess?"
"I'm the best from Manehatten. No pony was able to match me." Cozy Glow said.
Lightning got out a chess board. "Would you like to play a game while we talk?" He asked.
"Only if you can solve a puzzle I made up first. Solve that puzzle, and I'll certainly consider you worthy enough to waste time on." Cozy Glow said. "The puzzle in question will be a situation that you could see in chess. You'll be allowed one move and one move only. The puzzle will be a situation where your king will be in check, and you must make the one move that'll either result in your king being unable to be put right back into check, or the move would result in checkmating your opponet."
"Sounds like you have a lot of these puzzles in your head. Exactly how many have you made up?" Lightning asked.
"About one hundred or so. We'd be here all day if you wanted to attempt them all though." Cozy Glow said.
"Actually, I was only going to suggest making the condition more steep: I have to solve five of your chess puzzles." Lightning said.
It took all of Cozy Glow's willpower to not do a spit take just then. "Are you crazy? You really believe you can beat five of my puzzles?" Cozy Glow asked.
"Just watch me~" Lightning said.
Meanwhile, Twilight had explained everything to Chrysalis and then informed Princess Celestia that a meeting between the four princesses needed to be made.
"Can't believe it...a little girl possessed by something she was given as a late birthday gift..." Pharynx said.
"Is there any hope for her?" Thorax asked.
"I'm unsure. But I wouldn't bet against a miracle occurring. This just sounds like the sort of thing that would cause a miracle." Twilight said.
"...For some reason, I believe you." Chrysalis said.
Back with Lightning and Cozy Glow, Lightning had just managed to solve the fifth puzzle. "Wow. Your actually pretty good. Guess I'll entertain you for the time being." Cozy Glow said.
"Told you I could do it." Lightning said. "I'll take white." He said.
"That's good for me, because I do better on black." Cozy Glow said.
"So, mind telling me why your parents were abusing you?" Lightning asked as he moved one of his knights.
Cozy Glow raised an eyebrow at that opening move before she moved a pawn forward. "Actually it was mostly my father. He comes from a long line of rich Unicorn Ponies. My mother lied about her family herritage to marry into it, and it caused a lot of tension. Thing is, if he doesn't produce a unicorn heir before grandpa dies, he gets cut out of grandpa's will. But my mom doesn't want a second kid. So my father started abusing me, trying to get me to die so my mom would be convinced to have a second child. Only for her to recieve some of that abuse too." She said. "Of course now that I've been made an orphan because of what he was doing, the family money is no longer his to begin with."
"You know, you could make a name for yourself amongst the chess community; I'd even help make sure you'd be able to handle the big tournaments." Lightning said, moving one of his own pawns this time.
"Sounds tempting, but I don't know if I want that..." Cozy Glow said as she moved one of her rooks next.
"Look, even if your not a unicorn, you can be influential in your own right. I hang out with Raiden, and he has the power to just make magic within a one hundred mile radius of himself be unable to be used. Well that, and actual Pokemon moves as well as items Pokemon are able to use." Lightning said as he moved another pawn. "So don't think you have to be magical to be good. Raiden and I practice battle a lot where he uses his special power just to toughen up."
"I don't think your capabilities to do that correlate well into chess though." Cozy Glow responded by moving her rook again.
"You say that, but then you fall into a trap." Lightning said, using the knight from earlier to capture her rook. "By the way, check; checkmate in two moves." He said.
"Wait what?" Cozy Glow took a quick glance. Sure enough, she had no real response to the knight to stop it from capturing her king in two moves. "H-how? How did you do that? Not even I've ever managed to win as fast as that." She asked.
"Well, I did have to basically live a lie for a lot of my devolopmental years. That was when I was undercover trying to sus out the Elite Four of the Mafia Gangsters because no one in town; not even the police force; had ever seen their face and lived to tell the tale. And after I rescued Raiden from being added to that list...I decided that I had to do something to finally put the lid on the mafia gangsters once and for all. And I did." Lightning said. "So yeah, I'm really great at doing some clever stuff."
"...I have so much to learn..." Cozy Glow said, almost in awe of Lightning now. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 10 - Pokemon Bikes (Power Ponies Background) | While the Cutie Mark Crusaders wanted to help other ponies get a getter understanding of their cutie marks, it was Diamond Tiara who had mentioned something.
"You know, I just realized: We have next to no knowledge about Pokemon. So if we come across a Pony whose special talent turns out to relate to Pokemon, we'll be dead in the water." Diamond Tiara said.
"I guess you've got a point. But, who can we turn to to get that knowledge?" Scootaloo asked.
"Actually, ah think we may know a couple of experts we can talk to." Apple Bloom said.
"We do?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Ah'm talking about Lightning and Raiden of course. Who better to ask about Pokemon then actual Pokemon?" Apple Bloom asked.
"She's got a point you know." Diamond Tiara admitted.
"Plus, Lightning in particular seems to know a lot about the Legendary Pokemon. So, yeah, I guess that is a fair point." Scootaloo said.
"Then let's go find them." Sweetie Belle said.
The quartet found the duo with Fortus Vile who was being lifted onto the back of a strange Pokemon.
"There you go, your getting it." Raiden said.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Just helping Fortus Vile out with getting onto this here Cyclizar. A discussion of bikes came up, and how humans would ride around on bikes." Lightning said.
"Yeah, but then Fortus wanted to know if there were any bikes left from that period, which sadly, there aren't any human made bikes left; Arceus destroyed them all after the human extinction." Raiden said.
"So then why is this Cyclizar going to be giving Fortus a Ride?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Because while most humans did make their own bikes, those bikes were made because of accounts from the Paldea Region of people riding around on Cyclizar. See, in that region, humans would ride around on Cyclizar to get from place to place. It's actually a symbiotic relationship, because Cyclizar love giving others rides." Raiden said.
"And there just so happened to have been living in Ponyville for a while now. So, we just asked them for a favor, and they agreed." Lightning said.
"Huh. I didn't know there were Pokemon like Cyclizar out there. Well, that's good to know." Scootaloo said.
"Of course a Cyclizar isn't anything compared to the Paradox Legendaries of Koraidon and Miraidon.
"...Me ride on?" Sweetie Belle said.
"No, me Rydon!" A nearby Rydon said. "...I couldn't resist, sorry."
"...Okay, that was just random." Lightning said.
"Wait, why do you have to call those two Paradox Legendries? What's the difference between them and the other legendary Pokemon?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Because it's unclear where they came or how they came into existence. Even Arceus themself is baffled by the how. And when the creator of the majority of legendary Pokemon says 'I have no clue where something comes from' then you KNOW there's nothing really known." Raiden said.
"How can Arceus; the creator of...wait, what do you mean the majority of legendary pokemon? I thought he created all Pokemon. At least, that's what Miss Cheerilee taught us." Sweetie Belle said.
"Yeah, I'm going to have to have a talk with her later about that. See, while it's believed Arceus created all Pokemon but himself, that's simply not true. Arceus created the majority of Legendary Pokemon. All the common Pokemon such as Raichu or Luxray actually originate from Mew which was the last Pokemon Arceus created before he took his five-thousand-year nap. Mew is special even amongst all other mythical Pokemon, in that it was given the DNA of all legendary Pokemon. The common Pokemon actually share a bloodline with the original Mew that Arceus created, as at some point, the Original Mew began to want other Pokemon to play with. So while Arceus snoozed, the Original Mew used the DNA it was given by Arceus to create the first more common Pokemon. And after creating enough, began to pair them up to propagate others. That eventually led to the Pokemon of today." Lightning said. "Of course, the Original Mew didn't stop there. Origin Mew; the nickname given to the first Mew; also created humans from it's own DNA too. But, what Origin Mew didn't know was that when it was finished, that it had used up the last of it's DNA, becoming just a regular Pokemon by the end. Completely undistinguishable from what it was before. So, Arceus decided to wake up a bit early and then create a second Mew. The knowledge of the Origin Mew eventually passed into total myth, which is why Mew are still considered 'Mythical Pokemon' even though they are much more widespread now a days." Lightning explained.
"How does that answer my earlier question though? I asked why you're calling Koraidon and Miraidon Paradox Legendaries." Scootaloo said.
"See, that's the thing: In the Paldea region, there's this place called Area Zero. It's where these things called Paradox Pokemon come from. The Paradox Pokemon exist thanks to the mysterious crystals found in Area Zero. The humans were unable to solve the mystery of the crystals, and not even Arceus knows how they formed in the first place." Raiden said.
"But here's what is known about those crystals: After one human researcher went down there, suddenly Paradox Pokemon began to spawn in Area Zero. That human researcher became lost in Area Zero after being attacked by the Paradox Pokemon. Even now, the term 'Paradox Pokemon' has stuck to them like glue, because some look like they could be ancestors to today's Pokemon, while others look like they are cybornetic versions of the ones from today, so humans assumed they come from the future. And while Arceus is not fully convinced of that, when those same Pokemon continued to exist despite humans being made extinct, it made Arceus realize that the cybernetic Paradox Pokemon must originate from some kind of future where something will go horribly wrong with our environment." Lighting said. "Even Arceus does not know what yet, they want do all they can to make sure that the same thing cannot happen. It's likely the Paradox Pokemon from the ruined future will still remain around, as they have become trapped here because of those crystals."
"Wait, those Paradox Pokemon can leave Area Zero now?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Thanks to Arceus, they are able to. It was the least they could do since all Paradox Pokemon seem to be stuck here now." Raiden said.
"Koraidon and Miraidon are special though. There were originally two of each, but two of them were brainwashed by a time machine discovered in Area Zero. Those versions of them were ultimately defeated and the Time Machine was decommissioned. However, when the Time Machine was decommissioned, the Paradox Pokemon became stuck here." Lightning Said. "That includes the Paradox Legendries themselves. So, Arceus has given Koraidon and Miraidon the task of keeping the more common Paradox Pokemon in check to make sure none get as aggressive as the Koraidon and Miraidon that were brainwashed by the Time Machine to defend it did."
"Arceus did find out that Koraidon and Miraidon are absolutely blood related to Cyclizar though. Koraidon is an ancient ancestor that did much what Cyclizar still do. And Miraidon is a future descendent of Cyclizar, made cybernetic just like the other Pokemon that were made cybernetic; meaning it must come from the same apocalyptic future that the others came from. And since the Cybernetic Paradox Pokemon were still discovered to be coming through DESPITE humans becoming extinct, it means that something non-human created an apocalypse, but Arceus is still looking into the who, and what. Once that is figured out, the why should become obvious." Lightning said.
Meanwhile, Marina the Merciless was sneaking into the forbidden Starswirl the Bearded section. "The blasted Sunburst...because of that stupid audio recording, all my plans are ruined here in the present." Marina said. "But I just have to have the ability to travel into the past. Before I figure out what I must change about the past to ensure my plans succeed, I will need a time travel spell. Many unicorns seem to praise Starswirl the Bearded for his magical talent." The Mawile said as she looked through the forbidden wing. "So that old unicorn has to have made a time travel spell. All I'll need, is the perfect Pony to modify it if need be. And I already know the perfect candidate who would do anything for Sunburst." A Dark look crossed Marina's face. "...Anything~" Marina added.
To be continued... |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 11 - What Time Forgot (Princess Spike Background) | It was a seemingly normal day in Ponyville where Raiden and Sunset were taking some toys to the Ponyville Orphanage.
"Thanks for agreeing to help me get these toys for the children while Lightning is discussing things with his father." Raiden said. "You know, it's so strange to know that my best friend's father was the mayor of Lightning Town this whole time."
"Sometimes life has a way of surprising you. I still remember how cruel my brother had become." Sunset said.
"At least Starlight Glimmer has been mingling with every pony in town. It's sad that Sunburst and Starlight never got to reconcile. I guess not all childhood best friends can reconcile." Raiden said.
"There's also the fact that Spike is up in Canterlot with Twilight who are going to be talking with Celestia about this whole sitaution with Chrysalis." Sunset said. Suddenly out of nowhere as the duo brought the last of the toys to the front of the orphanage, Sunset's Cutie Mark suddenly glowed and then a holographic image of it started heading for Twilight's castle. "A Friendship Mission? Now?" Sunset asked.
"I'll come with. The toys can be brought inside by the staff from here." Raiden said.
The duo was soon joined by Rainbow Dash and Night Wing, who ironically, were chasing Night Wing's Cutie Mark. "Okay, I can understand Sunset being here because of her connection to the elements, but why am I getting summoned?" Night Wing asked.
"Beats me. The one time I wish Twilgiht was here." Rainbow Dash said.
The Cutie Marks of Night Wing and Sunset were hovering over an area that looked rather barren. "Wait a second, I recognize that place: It's the area where there's a tribe of Pokemon & Ponies have been doing these strange practices for a long time." Raiden said. "Lightning and I went there once because we were given a job to investigate the place."
"Well, it looks like Night Wing and I get to go there now." Sunset said.
When the duo got there, Night Wing was quickly recognizing a few things. "Hey...this looks like a Wonderbolt Airtrip." Night Light said. "It's the same design as what we used for the Shadowbolt HQ's airstrip."
"But then what's with all the stuff made out of wood and bamboo?" Sunset asked.
"It looks like the stuff both Wonderbolts and Shadowbolts use for our practice drills & our training exercises, but it's just a bunch of replicas." Night Wing said.
"Strangers are not--" A pony wearing tethered Wonderbolt garb said, before they suddenly gasped. "You! You wear material of the past. Not same color, but same design." The pony said.
"Why is a unicorn using old Wonderbolt garb?" Night Wing asked.
"You must be a Wonderbolt. Finally, prayers are answered! Come, come teach us your ways oh great being from the sky!" The Unicorn said.
"Slow down here, first off, I think your getting confused. Second off, I'm only here because there seems to be a friendship problem here. So before we even think about teaching you anything, I need context. Lots of context." Night Wing said.
"Oh of course. You must be decendent. That why you don't know us. Come, me show you two to village." The unicorn said.
"...Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?" Sunset asked.
There were more ponies and Pokemon in the village centered around the airstrip; all of them wearing remnents of old Wonderbolt Uniforms.
"What...the heck...is all this?" Night Wing asked. "There's not a single Pegasus amongst you; why are you wearing that Wonderbolt Garb?"
"We were hoping sky beings would come back. They visited us long time ago. Built strange pathway you see here. Built other strange things. They do strange drills. They build strange devices. They somehow summon supplies from sky above. And then, they leave. They take strange devices with them. The strange drills stop. So we've been trying to summon them back. Because we want their miracle supplies. We've been waiting generations. You be sky being. You might be able to bring supplies back." The Unicorn host said.
"...You think the pegasi are gods of some kind." Sunset said. "You've been...worshiping them all this time because of how rural your civilization is."
"Do not speak of Sky Beings as if they are normal ponies. They are gods!" The Unicorn host said.
"...I'm afraid, there's been a big mix-up with what you've been lead to believe." Night Wing said. "But I think me and my friend here can set you straight." She said.
"You...you teach us great knowledge of the ways of sky beings?" The Unicorn asked.
"Something like that..." Night Wing said.
With some help from Sunset providing some magical projections, Night Wing was able to educate the populace on what exactly they had been witnessing, and then proceeded to tell them the cold hard truth about what they were witnessing. The brutal side they didn't get to witness. The ancient wars between Ponies & Griffons. It's what marked the foundation of the Wonderbolts and would give rise to Princess Luna's own Shadowbolts.
The education took a few days, but ultimately, the ponies of the colony were now much more educated in what they didn't understand.
"It's sad that you've been forgotten about all this time though." Sunset said. "When we get back, we'll make sure we tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about your colony. You might want to prepare yourselves though; they have both wings and a horn."
"There be a race that takes Pegasi and Unicorns and mixes them together?" An Earth Pony asked.
"Earth Ponies are also included in an Alicorn's magic pool, believe it or not. But just because they live much longer then we do, that doesn't make them gods. They are simply ponies who happen to have the benifits of all three tribes." Night Wing said. "But they are in charge of both the Wonderbolts and the Shadowbolts. Well, Princess Celestia is in charge of the Wonderbolts, while Princess Luna is in charge of the Shadowbolts. The later of which is what my uniform is of."
"We keep that in mind, Captain Night Wing. Thank you for gracing us with all this knowledge." The Unicorn leader said.
"Before you go, we give you special thing. Been in our tribe for decades." One of the Pokemon said. They then proceeded to gift a strange blue rock to the ponies.
"What...is this?" Night Wing asked.
"We don't know. The Pegasi once used it to summon storm once. Now it do nothing." A different Unicorn said.
"We'll see if the Princesses know what this is. Because I'll be honest, I have no clue what this is." Night Wing said.
"That okay. You tell Alicorns all about us, and maybe they find out why strange stone don't work." The Unicorn Leader said.
"We'll do that." Night Wing said.
Meanwhile...
"This...is serious." Celestia said. Twilight had just told the Princesses about what had happened to the Changelings.
"On the one hand, I'd love nothing more than to put them all in jail, but then it's one of those situations where they were just following orders." Shining Armor said.
"I'm willling to give Chrysalis a chance to prove that her hive was simply following her orders, so long as she's willing to let her hive help us in tracking down Marina the Merciless." Celestia said.
"Sister, are you really willing to let the changelings help us?" Luna asked.
"I've seen first hoof just how cruel Marina is. And so has Fluttershy." Twilight said. "She's dangerous if left unchecked. There's no telling what she'd do if we didn't find a way to exercise her from Melissa's body."
"And that in turn requires us to capture Marina. Hopefully once she's in custody, whatever Flamer Jackson has planned, it might be just what we need to exercise Marina from Melissa." Cadence said.
"...That's a fair point..." Shining Armor said.
"This order would make it that much easier for the populace to forgive the changelings under Chrysalis for what they did. Because then it would make it out to be like they were no different than our royal guards, the Wonderbolts, or even the Shadowbolts." Celestia said. "And Soarin has been spilling things that both myself and the high council have been overlooking all this time in regards to the Wonderbolts. Suffice it to say, the entire Wonderbolt branch is going to have to be scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up. And any current Wonderbolts that both myself and the High Council feels is too old to continue duty, well they'll be forced into retirement."
"That's going to make several ponies unhappy." Luna said.
"Both the High Council and I agree on one thing: Better to make a few ponies unhappy, then to continue to only let Pegasi who would be the best for publicity be allowed to be Wonderbolts. Because popularity is never what the Wonderbolts should be about anyways." Celestia said.
"You can't blame yourself for what had transpired." Twilight said.
"Then who can we blame?" Celestia asked. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 12 - The Future is Theirs (Party Pooped AU) | Fortus Vile was currently carrying some bricks for a pony in town. He was nearing his destination. "Here you go, this is the pile of bricks that you ordered." Fortus Vile said.
"That's great. These should help fix up some of the school walls that was damaged when Lord Tirek and that Marina came around." Miss Cheerilee said.
"I'm glad to lend a hoof." Fortus Vile said.
"Oh no, you've done plenty just getting these here. How's the...community service stuff going anyways?" Cheerilee said.
"It's doing fine, actually. Raiden's been organizing all the tasks I'm doing." Fortus Vile said.
Suddenly, Sparky showed up out of nowhere, and was in-between Fortus and Cheerilee.
"Fortus Vile; a colt with a record." Rex was behind the colt suddenly; though in pony form. "Honestly, I'm surprised a criminal like you wasn't given jail time."
"You leave him alone. He's suffered enough from his father." Cheerilee said.
"No. He isn't getting off scott free for his crimes." Rex said. Sparky then grapped Fortus and took him away. Rex followed suit.
However, without warning, Raiden saved Fortus from Sparky's grasp. "Get out of here." Raiden said.
"Got it!" Fortus said before running off.
"You're letting that criminal get away!" Rex said.
"That's a child Rex. You have to punish them differently. Fortus had a very abusive father who had a very twisted view on the world. So, I've sort of taken the boy under my wing. And he's not getting off scott free. I've had him been running some errands around town as a community service gig for the past few weeks." Raiden said. "The hard work will help him gain a better appreciation for the world around him, and teach him how wrong his father was. It's changing his destiny, Rex. Better to help him fix his destiny, then let this thing snowball."
"What? What do you mean?" Rex asked.
"If Fortus Vile isn't given a child's punishment like I have been doing, where he gains a better appreciation for the world at large sot that he'll realize that his father's outlook on the world was wrong, he'll devolop the same mindset as his father, and then the cycle will repeat with Fortus's own child down the line. Do you want that, Rex? Do you want a future child to undergo the same abuse Fortus has? Or did you even read Fortus's file all the way through?" Raiden asked.
"You don't stand a chance against my team." Rex said.
"Maybe. But I'd rather take a stand, then see you cross a line that you can't uncross." Raiden said.
Meanwhile, Lightning was with Twilgiht, Sunset, and Pinkie Pie up north near Yakistan. Though there was one other pony in the group.
"So, this is Cozy Glow?" Twilight asked.
"Yep. Hope you don't mind if she comes along. She's a bit of a...special case I'm working with." Lightning said. "Figured teaching her about delegation would be something she could find herself wanting to put her super intellect to good use in managing as a side bit."
"This is meant to be a side bit for her?" Sunset asked.
"Trust me, if she wanted to, she could handle managing delegation stuff, and still do some undercover stuff in order to corner a natorious crime boss in under a day." Lightning said. "So, yeah. Giving her some insight into the wider world at large in order to encourage her to treat delegation as a giant chessboard where one has to be careful what pieces to move when, will be a great side project."
"It's...something I figured I'd be interested in, the moment Lightning made it sound like this is a chess game where losing is defined by all the pieces turning on each other." Cozy Glow said. "...And that's how I prefer to play chess. Even the pieces I lose, I still treat as more than just pieces. Even the pawns. Every piece has its part to play. This delegation stuff is just much bigger pieces that need to be handled delicately. Otherwise, it's a powder keg waiting to explode. Lightning made it very clear that letting that powder keg explode would be a bad thing."
"Don't worry, I didn't get physical with the example." Lightning said. "...Just very methodical."
"...Remind me never to play chess with you." Pinkie Pie said to Lightning.
"You have no idea." Cozy Glow said. "He actually got me in a clever trap when he played me. A trap I didn't even see coming. And it was a rather quick win on his end. No one's ever beaten me before, let alone that fast."
"...Woof..." Was all Twilight said to that.
Thankfully, with Cozy Glow there, things were rather smooth; the pegasus really proving herself a great delegator without question.
Some time later, in Ponyville, the group was coming in.
"It's nice Cozy Glow has found something she can have as a side gig, but I think she needs some actual friends." Twilight said.
"Way ahead of you. I was planning on introducing her to the Cutie Mark Crusaders tomorrow. Sure, they may not be super intelligent like she is, but I think she'd appreciate the company." Lightning said.
"Well, it'd be boring if they were as intelligent as me. Besides, Lightning and Raiden are totally different mentally, and they are best friends. I'd like some best friends even if I'm totally different from them mentally." Cozy Glow said.
"It's not just a mental difference; Raiden's one of the strongest mons I know. He could rival the power of some legendaries." Lightning said.
"...Dang. that's some physical power." Cozy Glow said.
"I don't think there's many who can serously damage--" Lightning began but soon found Raiden face down in the ground; bruised all over. "Raiden?!" Lightning helped his best friend to his feet. "What happened to you? Who did this?"
"It...it was Sparky..." Raiden said. "I...I managed to get through Rex's five pure normal types...when he used a terra orb on his father."
"B-but that would mean...that Rex can use Sparky as a pure normal type if that means what I think it means..." Lightning said.
"It does..." Raiden said.
"Great. Just great. We already have trouble with his five other normal types. But from what I understand, Sparky is in a league of his own." Sunset said.
"That's an understatement." Raiden said. "Twilight...we need to tell everypony about this as soon as possible. If Rex pulls that out in an effort to upend the governments across the globe, you and your friends need to be ready to defend against it." He said.
"U-understood." Twilight said, and ran off with Sunset to grab everypony else. Pinkie Pie went her own way.
"Why did you and Rex even get into a fight?" Lightning said.
"Rex wanted to hurt Fortus Vile. And even though I got him to back off, despite the disadvantage I was at, he did admit that perhaps ther was some merit to the way I was handling Fortus Vile's punishment." Raiden said.
Meanwhile...
Rex was currently with Soarin while the former was in Pony form again while looking at a rather large file. "What...what am I looking at?" Rex asked.
"The hidden atrocities of the Horris family lineage. Seems that there's a precedent of a lot of female Mawile being born. Each one, has kept hidden a stash of bodies from the world at large. The only time a male was born into the family; which had managed to keep its atrocities hidden from the world at large to the point where they looked like saints so males that married into the family would often choose to have their last name replaced instead of it being the female's last name replaced; was of course Milissa's father, Victus Horris. He is currently the family's second known biological masculine heir to the name, with his daughter Milissa going back to being a female heir to the name." Soarin explained.
"...But there was one other male heir." Rex noted.
"Yeah. The brother to Marina the Merciless: Holden Horris." Soarin said.
"...So, Marina's real biological name is Marina Horris. I can see why the family chose to disown her of her biological name." Rex said. "...But this would mean, that if something isn't done, then even getting rid of Marina's possession over Milissa won't save her..."
"That's the way the wheel of fate turns sometimes." Soarin said.
"Leave. I have much to think about." Rex said. Soarin left. "...Changing a child's destiny...huh..." Rex said to himself as he looked at one of Milissa's drawings. "...Perhaps Raiden's way, isn't the only way. Better to nip destiny in the bud now, then let it snowball...right?" He asked no pony in particular. Rex was eyeing the one part of Milissa's drawing in particular: The one that had labeled what was obviously Flamer Jackson as "New Daddy". |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 13 - Friends Old & New (Amending Fences AU) | Raiden was currently resting at the Castle of friendship. "Sparky really is no joke." Raiden said. "Still, I got Rex to listen to my reason. And that's enough. You have to punish kids differently than adults. Because they still have time to correct themselves."
"Something I know we can do for both Fortus Vile and Milissa. The later of whom I believe Jackson may be able to assist with." Lightning said.
"Well, I do know I have some preperations to make. Moondancer is coming to Ponyville for a visit, and I'd like to make her feel welcome." Twilight said.
"Whose Moondancer?" Raiden asked.
"A friend from Canterlot." Sunset said. "I made sure she and Twilight have been pen pals ever since we left."
"Heh. You really take to being the big sister figure." Raiden said.
"Wasn't able to be a big sister for Sunburst. Not going to make that mistake again." Sunset said. "On the plus side, Starlight and I have been getting on quite well."
"Where is she right now anyways?" Lightning asked.
"Well, since you aren't able to introduce Cozy Glow to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I had Starlight take over that role." Sunset said. "You need to be here for your friend. And I'm sure Starlight can handle things with Cozy Glow. It's just introducing her to some potential friends."
Meanwhile...
"So...your the cutie mark crusaders?" Cozy Glow asked.
"Yep. This is our club house." Apple Bloom said.
"We're dedicated to helping other ponies either understand their cutie marks better, or we help them get their cutie marks if they don't have them yet." Sweetie Belle said.
"That actually sounds kind of...fun..." Cozy Glow admitted. Especially since Arceus knows just what some ponies will be able to get cutie marks in. It actually sounds like something I can have some fun with.
"By the way, you know Fortus Vile?" Scootaloo asked.
"I have heard the name. I know Raiden stood up for him, and is working to make him a better pony. But I haven't met the pony personally." Cozy Glow said.
"Then you would know that Fortus Vile was being both physically and mentally abused by his father. We sort of helped him stand up to his abusive father." Diamond Tiara said.
"So, where is Fortus's father anyways?" Cozy Glow said. "In jail, I'm hoping."
"He would be, if Marina didn't get to him first." Apple Bloom said.
There's that name again... Cozy Glow thought to herself. "I've heard about Marina a few times now. What do you know about her?" She asked out loud.
"That's going to be a long tale. You might want to land and sit down. I'll make sure to get you some juice." Sweetie Belle said.
Back with Twilight, Moondancer soon came to Ponyville. "Thanks for taking the time to get me a tour of Ponyville." Moondancer said.
"Of course, Moondancer. Anything for a friend." Twilight said. "I wouldn't really be doing my duties if I wasn't making the time for my friends."
Moondancer couldn't help but chuckle at that. "So, you've been mentioning the other elements in your letters. Where is every pony?" Moondancer asked.
"We'll be meeting them on the tour. Sunset's currently helping Pinkie Pie with something for later." Twilight said. "Just do yourself a solid when we see her: Don't question her antics."
"You've been hammering that nail in your letters a lot. Surely, it's not that bad." Moondancer said.
"Trust me, you have no idea. Words cannot do it justice." Twilight said.
Moondancer would proceed to meet with Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, before finally meeting Pinkie Pie and realizing just how loopy the party-happy mare really was.
"You...weren't kidding when you said not to question her. Tatrarus, I'm not even doing it yet and I've already got a headache just even trying to think about how she can do what she does..." Moondancer said.
"Like I told you: It's better to not question Pinkie Pie." Twilight said. "You'll save yourself a lot of headache that way."
Meanwhile, in the corner of the party that had been thrown for Moondancer at Sugarcube Corner was the CMC and Cozy Glow. "I can barely wrap my head around Pinkie Pie. How'd she know we were even at the clubhouse? And what was with how she short-cutted us here?" Cozy Glow asked.
"Want to know something that's basically a rule here in Ponyville in regards to Pinkie Pie?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"There's a rule?" That was news even for Cozy Glow.
"You don't question Pinkie Pie. That's one of the few rules set in stone here in Ponyville." Scootaloo said.
"Another is that she will throw you a party. It's only a matter of time till you get yours." Diamond Tiara said.
"...Good to know..." Cozy Glow said. She was already having so much trouble even trying to wrap her super intellect around Pinkie Pie. And it was giving her a headache. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Special Movie: Getting Back Time (The Cutie Re-Mark AU) | Twenty years earlier; Lighting Town, Horris Residence...
Milissa Horris, age six, was your impressionable child. Her greatest talent was drawing. Boy did she love to draw. One look at her room could tell you that. But it would become obvious quickly from that, just how much she didn't like her biological father.
While there were some happy drawings here and there of normal things; the walls of Milissa's room were covered with various drawings Milissa made where what was obviously her biological father being killed in various ways: From an obvious firing squad, to what was supposed to be toxic gas, to being murdered by a street thug. It was obvious that Millissa had no love lost for her biological father. It would bring one to tears on how broken Milissa must feel inside to hate the man who gave her birth so much.
But those drawings were earlier ones. Some more recent ones seemed to be filled more with hope that, her birth father would be jailed, with her and her mother being looked after by an Arcanine. One she had gone out of her way to re-write some older drawings of the Arcanine where she scribbled over his name "Flamer Jackson" and above it put "New Daddy".
It was clear from this, that Milissa Horris saw Flamer Jackson as a true father figure. She believed this with her very soul. She believed that it wouldn't be long before Flamer Jackson could save her & her mother from the clutches of her fake father.
And tonight, thanks to the slaming of a door signaling that her fake father had had a terrible time at work, meant it was time to put Flamer Jackson's plan in action. With hope in her heart, Milissa picked up a recorder disguised as a toy. She was given specific instructions on how to work it, so she could record an altercation between her father and mother so the females can be saved from such an abusive man.
Quietly, Milissa began making her way to the living room after activating the recorder. Thankfully, the yelling her fake father was making was loud enough to be picked up from where she was in the house.
"I don't believe this!" Her fake father yelled. "Not only was work terrible, but I come home and am greeted to this sad excuse you call a 'dinner'. This isn't a dinner. This is slop. I work all day, and I expect to come home to a proper meal."
"I-I'm doing my best here. I slave away at the stove the entire time making sure to get you a meal worth eating. And nothing I've ever made for you is good enough." Her mother yelled back.
"I've had it with your excuses!" Her fake father said. Milissa had gotten to the living room just in time.
...Just in time to see her fake father use his much larger iron jaw to lift her mother up, pierce the skin, and let the blood drain right into the iron jaw Mawile like the three of them are known for. By the time her mother was back on the floor, there was no blood left to pool out from the body. She was dead before she had hit the ground.
At that, Milissa dropped the recorder, and rushed over to her mother. "M-mommy?" Milissa asked. "Wh-what did he do to you mommy? Why don't you move anymore? Mommy? Speak to me mommy. MOMMY!" Milissa was in tears by the end.
"O-oh shit..." Her fake father tried to bail, but was promptly caught by the local police.
"It's over Victus. You are under arrest. And we're going to have audio this time." Flamer Jackson said. "...Wait, what happened here?"
"Please speak to me mommy! Please!" Milissa said as she continued to cry.
"...You...you didn't..." Flamer Jackson said.
Present Day, unknown location...
Flamer Jackson suddenly woke up in a cold sweat. "...T-that wasn't just any nightmare." He said. "...I...I have to get to Princess Twilight's Castle on the double!"
Meanwhile...
"This medicine will really help get Raiden back up to fighting strength sooner rather than later." Fluttershy said.
"I honestly can't believe you've managed to recreate medicine from ages ago from the Hisui Region." Lightning said.
"Where's the Hisui region exactly? I've been studying the maps of the various regions humans created, but I couldn't find any region called 'Hisui'." Twilight said.
"That's because the Hisui region is known as the Sinnoh region these days. Long ago, it used to be called the Hisui region." Lightning said.
"Why was the name of the region changed then? If you ask me, that makes little sense to change a region's name." Sunset asked.
"Because back in the days when the region was called 'Hisui' there were these two clans called the Diamond Clan and the Pearl Clan who each worshiped who they believed was the 'almighty Sinnoh' with the Diamond Clan crediting this 'almighty Sinnoh' as being a being of time, while the Pearl Clan believed the 'almighty Sinnoh' was a being of space." Lightning said.
"You just described Dialgia and Palkia respectfully." Twilight pointed out.
"That's the thing; they were worshipping two legendary Pokemon created directly by Arceus themself. They had no idea that Arceus even existed, nor the fact that both their revered deities were in fact two additional Pokemon. However, because one of the two deities began going crazy, Arceus summoned a human from modern day Sinnoh to travel back in time to set things right and complete the earliest form of what would become known as the Pokemon Index or 'PokeDex' for short. It was all handwritten back then, and it was only later when Professor Oak of the Kanto Region created the first electronic version that the PokeDex became more widespread." Lightning said. "I'll see if I can't find a unit somewhere for you ponies to use. Distortions, I bet Arceus would even be willing to make one for Pony Use if we asked them nicely."
"Why do you keep referring to Arceus as 'they' when Arceus sounded masculine to me?" Twilight asked.
"Because Arceus can go female if need be and prefers being called 'gender indifferent' and 'gender neutral' terms. But your free to use whatever gender terms you wish if you want. Arceus doesn't really mind." Lightning said. "Trust me on that. Raiden refuses to call Arceus anything other than masculine terms, and he hasn't gotten put to the gallows for it."
"...I'll keep that in mind..." Twilight said. The trio found Starlight outside the castle; all beat up. "Starlight? What happened?"
"She...she tricked me...dammit, how did I not see through such an elaborate trick?" Starlight asked herself mostly.
"Who? Who tricked you?" Sunset asked.
"She's inside...she's here..." Starlight said.
"Who? Whose here?!" Sunset exclaimed.
"Marina...the Merciless..." Starlight said before fainting from her injuries.
"I'm going in after her!" Sunset said, rushing in.
"Sunset wait!" Twilight tried calling out.
Everything was a bit of a blur for Sunset past that point. But, she tried to remember what had happened from there. She remembered finding Marina the Merciless in the Map Room, using the magic shell that Abbicus Cinch had given the Human Twilight Sparkle. On an unrelated note, Sunset thought to ask Rex about her human counterpart's relationship with Twilight's Human Counterpart once Marina the Merciless was excersized from Milissa.
After that, Sunset grabbed a scroll that the mawile discarded and followed through the time portal the Mawile had created to go after her. That's when Sunset had found Marina the Merciless and how she had prevented Young Rainbow Dash from performing the Sonic Rainboom.
As Sunset finally remembered this, she was surprised to find a familliar blue dragoness at her bedside. "Hey, your a pony right?" It was no doubt Ember. "There haven't really been any ponies ever since Arceus judgement killed them all." She said.
"What..." Sunset was confused. "What's going on outside?"
"Oh just the war against all the legendaries. I'm surprised you don't know about it, if you've lasted this long." Ember said.
"This...this isn't right..." Sunset said. "This isn't supposed to be what the world is like..."
"What do you mean?" Ember asked.
"I'm from...an alternate timeline of sorts I guess you could say." Sunset said. "In that timeline, ponies were never killed off by Arceus."
"For real? So...then every one is happy in your timeline?" Ember asked.
"Yeah." Sunset said. "I know how to get back to mine though. Is there some sort of crystal map around?" Sunset asked.
"Oh that thing? It's right over there." Ember said, pointing to a nearby crystal map of Equestria.
"Thanks. I really don't belong here." Sunset said and used her magic to use the spell on the scroll she grabbed, which opened up the time portal.
Sadly, despite Sunset's best efforts, she was unable to stop Marina from preventing the Sonic Rainboom. When she got back to the future, she had been woken up by Gilda that time.
A similar song and dance happened, though Gilda did mention that Sunset didn't seem to have been gone for that long before coming right back. This confused Sunset, but she paid it no mind at first. So, she attempted the spell again.
And even though Sunset had somehow successfully stopped Marina from stopping the Sonic Rainboom this time, she was unfortunatly dropped off at the same exact point again, but the one who woke her up, was some kind of strange creature.
"What the...what are you?" Sunset asked.
"Are you...the one Ember and Gilda found?" The creature asked her.
Sunset's eyes went wide when she recognized the voice that came out of the creature's mouth. "...Chrysalis?!" Sunset exclaimed.
Sunset's mind was reeling. She didn't know how Chrysalis got like this, but she's super surprised the changeling queen isn't evil. "I...I don't understand...what the...how is this possible?!" Sunset exclaimed.
"You...know of me?" Chrysalis asked. "Ember did say you acted like you knew her. Gilda did too." Chrysalis said.
"I know of a version of you. But...last I checked, changeling don't look like you do." Sunset said.
"Oh. You must have encountered Changelings who had yet to start giving love generously rather than taking it." Chrysalis said. "I...had realized when the Ponies fell, that there were too many things I loved to let Arceus or any other legendaries control my life. I realized that, if I wanted to assist in bringing Legendaries down and capturing them, that my Changelings would need a way to not rely on love as much. That's when I tried to give as much love to my subjects as possible. The result is before you. Admittedly, this look was so new, yet, I no longer felt hungry. So, I encouraged my subjects to give love willingly towards other creatures, and in time, my entire hive became pretty colorful. I have to admit, the various colors were alarming at first, but...when I realized how helpful we were now, well, I didn't think much else of it." Chrysalis siad.
"So...this is the result of what happens when a changeling gives love willingly rather then takes it..." Sunset said.
"I won't lie to you: I had my doubts about the look at first, but once the effectiveness of changelings changed for the better, and we could assist in greater and greater aspects with this war, the colorful aspect became an oversight. Sure, we looked so very different, but we were still Changelings. We had not changed internally, only our outside changed." Chrysalis said. "The only difference is now, we no longer depend on love to live."
"But why did I end up back here? I went back in time, and I stopped Marina the Merciless from preventing Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom. So how could I have gotten dropped back into the warzone? I thought that letting the Sonic Rainboom happen would allow me to go back to my proper timeline." Sunset explained.
"Perhaps, the answer to your issues lies not in the Sonic Rainboom, but in something else." Chrysalis asked. "For instance, that spell your using. How did you aquire it?" Chrysalis asked.
"Marina dropped it in my original timeline. So I grabbed it and used it." Sunset said.
"And where exactly did Marina get it?" Chrysalis asked.
Sunset didn't know the answer to that. But then, she remembered something Starlight had said.
"She...she tricked me...dammit, how did I not see through such an elaborate trick?"
Sunset's eyes went wide. "How could I have missed that?" Sunset asked.
"Hmm?" Chrysalis asked.
"Before I chased Marina, a friend of mine said they were tricked by Marina. How could I have missed it?" Sunset asked. "I know what other change Marina has caused now. I know how to get back to my timeline."
"Sunset...there's a chance that, if you succeed, this timeline will cease to exist but..." Chrysalis started. "...I...I would rather ponies be in this world, then let this war be a thing."
Sunset smiled at Chrysalis. There's only one kind of trick Marina could've played on Starlight that would've been so easy to overlook. The worst kind of trick at that. I can't believe it. I overlooked something so crucial. But, with this knowledge, I can stop Marina.
This time, Sunset had gone further back. Several months prior to the Sonic Rainboom, in fact. She had gone back to the day that has haunted her to this day: The day her brother fled to the human world. That's the event Marina changed the most.
Sunset found herself back into the past, where she dropped onto Marina who had grabbed Sunburst. "What the...HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO FOLLOW ME TO THIS POINT IN TIME?!" Marina said. The impact caused her to let go of Sunburst who just fled the scene.
"What's going on--Sunset?!" Princess Celestia had discovered the scene.
"Crap. She's here." Marina said. She then quickly fled the scene.
"Just what is going on here?" Princess Celestia asked.
"There's no time Princess. That Mawile, she's being possessed by an evil spirit. We got to catch her and excersice the evil spirit." Sunset said. "Short version: I'm from the future, and if we don't stop her, all of ponykind is going to get killed. Don't ask me how I know."
"I...I trust you, Sunset." Celestia said. "You've never given me a reason to do so yet." She added.
Sunset and Past Celestia got on Marina's trail, soon finding the Mawile having Sunset's past self in her iron jaws. "! No!" Sunset said.
"Better come chase me, unless you want to die~" Marina taunted as she fled the scene again.
Sunset and Past Celestia then chased Marina who had Past Sunset in her grip. Yet, the Mawile snuck past them a few times.
"I am curious...why exactly did this Mawile get possessed in the first place?" Past Celestia asked.
"She got possessed by a---wait, did you just ask why and not how?" Sunset asked as the two continued chasing Marina.
"I did. Why? Is that important?" Past Celestia asked.
Sunset eyes suddenly diluted, then expanded again before a shine appeared in them. "...Princess Celestia, your brilliant! That tells me everything." Sunset said.
At the next room, Sunset then used her magic to quickly blast Marina away, allowing Past Celestia to grab Past Sunset with her magic. "Ow! Okay, I was admittedly getting tired of our little game of chase anyways." Marina said.
"Milissa Horris...there's a reason you were so easily able to possess her." Sunset said.
"...Hmm?" Marina asked.
"I know how you possessed Milissa: It's the Mega Stone around your neck. That's the how." Sunset said. "But never once, did I ever question why: Why was Milissa so easily possessed by you, Marina? I didn't begin to even think that, until Princess Celestia asked me the same why question. I know how you possessed Milissa; but I never understood how Milissa was so easily possessed." She explained. "...That's because I was asking the wrong question: Instead of asking how Milissa was so easily possessed, I should've been asking why. The moment Princess Celestia asked me why Milissa was so easily possessed, it all clicked." She continued. "Marina the Merciless...your real name is Marina Horris...isn't it?" Sunset said.
For a while, no pony moved. Marina didn't either. Please...let me be wrong... Sunset thought to herself.
And then, Marina began to laugh an evil laugh like no other. "I suppose some congratulations are in order." Marina said. "Oh yes, what you just said is one hundred and ten percent correct."
"That's not even mathematically possible." Past Sunset said.
"That's beside the point: You, Sunset Shimmer, have hit the paravirtual nail on the head. My real name is indeed, Marina Horris." Marina said. She then began using the magic in the conch shell, and it warped reality all around them.
When things stopped, the elements both their grown-up selves and their past selves suddenly found themselves with past & present versions of Princess Celestia, Starlight Glimmer, Raiden, and Lightning. Rex was there too, but there was no past version of him there. "What the heck...?" Future Twilight asked.
"It's Marina's doing." Future Sunset said.
"So, how'd you figure it out huh?" Marina said, suddenly appearing and floating. "How'd you managed to put something like my true name being Marina Horris together through just one question?"
"The breadcrumbs were there the whole time. I only pieced them together right then." Future Sunset said.
"Be that as it may, I simply cannot allow you to live now. None of you." Marina said. She touched her Mega Stone. "And this time, I won't be so...easily defeated." She said.
A red orb suddenly grew around the Mawile, as she underwent Mega Evolution.
Behind the Slaughter
Mega Marina the Merciless AKA
Ghost from the Past
Mega Marina Horris
Deca's Power Level Reading: Unable to Determine
"I'm going to unleash hell on earth for you all. I'm going to beat all of you into your last legs one way and then do it all again another way. Then, and only then, will I kill you." Mega Marina said. She then started unleashing what amounted to bullet hell: Ghost jaws came flying at super crazy fast speeds, iron shields came raining down nearly instantaneously, mysterious clouds of hearts came flying out of nowhere rivaling Mach 4 speed.
"Yikes!" Both versions of Rainbow Dash were able to outspeed everything, because they were naturally fast. But this was approaching even their limits.
"This is one Mega even I'm going to struggle with." Future Raiden said.
"...Dang, I get cool." Past Raiden said.
"Uh huh..." Past Lightning said. "Let's just hope we live long enough for you to get that cool, kiddo."
"Did I always sound like that?" Future Lightning asked.
"Now's not the time for idle chatter." Past Rainbow Dash said.
Future Sunset looked over at Mega Marina, and then got close to Future Raiden before whispering something. "Go grab the mega stone; I'll cover you."
Future Raiden smirked then he grabbed his past self.
"Hey! I don't care if you are my future self, let go of me!" Past Raiden said.
"Trust me: You'll thank me for this." Future Raiden said before he tossed his Past Self at Marina.
"Hey what the..." Marina was caught off guard.
"Hmm? What's this shiny thing?" Past Raiden then tore off the Mega Stone. Future Raiden managed to grab his Past Self after that, then took the Mega Stone and crushed it into little itty-bitty bits.
"! No! Not that! Anything but that!" Marina said as she suddenly de-mega'd. Everything started to revert back to Future Twilight's Castle.
Marina was holding her head in pain. "You...you destroyed my Mega Stone..." Marina said.
"Like I aways say to Megas: You get way too cocky with all your juiced up power, that you leave yourselves wide open." Future Raiden said.
"Aww...why'd you have to go and destroy the shiny?" Past Raiden asked.
"Trust me: It was better this way." Future Raiden said.
"As...pleasant as this is. How do we get back to...our time?" Past Celestia asked.
Suddenly, Arceus appeared out of nowhere. "I can take care of that. But it'll be better if these events are left forgotten until the time is right." Arceus said before teleporting the past versions of everyone who had past versions away.
"...Dang, I remember that now." Starlight said.
"Wow. Arceus did NOT joke about that." Sunset said.
"We came as quick as we could!" Cheif Marison announced as he and Mayor Sentry barged into the room with Flash in tow.
"Seems my counterpart saw Marina heading to this castle. Looks like we got here just in time." Mayor Sentry said.
"Gah...you broke my Mega Stone! How could you break my Mega Stone?!" Marina exclaimed.
"...Did we miss something?" Flash Sentry asked.
"I'll tell you later." Twilight said.
"You should do that." It was suddenly Flamer Jackson who spoke, as he soon entered the Room. "It's over Marina. Let Milissa go."
"What...?" Marison asked.
"No! You failed her! I took over fair and square!" Marina said.
"He told you to let Milissa go, and I think it's high time, Milissa got back the childhood she lost!" Sunset exclaimed. Suddenly, as if responding to Sunset's claim, the spell she had suddenly reacted to her magic, and a blast hit the possessed Mawile Square on.
"No! No! Noooooo!" Marina yelled. Suddenly, while the body of the Mawile became a six-year old again, a seperate more mature ghost version started to float above Milissa. "I'm not ready; not ready to go..." Marina said.
"The nightmare is over. I'm going to give Milissa the childhood you stole from her. What I should've done in the first place. I should've never had denied becoming her father. I should've accepted becoming her father the moment she asked me. Even if that meant turning in my badge as a result." Flamer Jackson said. "So you lose Marina. It's over."
"No. It can't be over; you can't stop my influence this easily..." Marina's Ghost said.
"Yes I can; because I will." Flamer Jackson said. "MOVE ONTO THE OTHER WORLD AND NEVER BOTHER THIS WORLD AGAIN YOU MONSTER!"
"How? How did everything go so wrong?" Marina's Ghost said. "I should have never trusted Lightning..."
"Perhaps. But it doesn't matter if you had, or hadn't. In the end, you would've still lost Marina." Lightning said. "And that's your reality: A loser who will never get what she wants."
"No, Impossible, I-I..." Marina's ghost said, before the ghost turned into a blue ball of spirit fire. Suddenly, it was like something supernatural happened, as flashes of the past appeared, showing off Raiden's initial tanking of the lightning bolt for the mayor's office, then the moment the Elite Four were rounded up, then the moment when Marina had found Lord Tirek, and then even some from the time mess she created. Before the images started flashing rapidly on repeat for a good, long while and when it finally stopped...Marina's ghost simply vanished altogether.
After a bit of silence, the restored Milissa only said one thing. "...Is...is she gone daddy?" Milissa asked.
Flamer Jackson smiled, as tears rolled down his cheek. "...Yes...yes she's gone now Milissa. It's over." He said.
"...Good..." Milissa said, before she yawned and started to sleep.
For a bit, no one said anything as Flamer Jackson put Milissa on his back. "I never should've let Milissa become an orphan. That orphanage in town; it was going to be bad for her. And I was right: The others there bullied her constantly. That's what allowed Marina to possess Milissa. It's my fault. I had a chance to prevent Milissa from ever being possessed to begin with, and I blew it." Jackson said. "So...that's why during the town's first catastrophic thunderstrike, I-I burned down the orphanage."
"You did WHAT?!" Mayor Sentry exclaimed. "You mean the fire that killed several Pokemon and caused massive damage to several homes beyond repair was YOUR doing?!"
"I-I just couldn't bear it. Milissa had gotten possessed because of me. So, I tried to make up for it. But I knew it wasn't enough. I pinned the fire on an Absol I had spotted on the outskirts of town; made everymon believe that an Absol had caused the fire. And I kept the truth hidden." Flamer Jackson said. "I just wasn't able to stomach that I had become responisble, for one of Lightning Town's most notorious gangster mob bosses existing."
"...You do realize that, I'm going to have to arrest you now." Cheif Marison said. "I...honestly never thought I'd be arresting my own boss."
However, before Marison could get close, Sparky got between Marison and Jackson. "What the..." Rainbow Dash said.
"Rex?" Twilight asked.
"...Well what are you waiting for? Get out of here." Rex said. "You better make sure that girl gets a proper childhood this time. Because the next time I see you, you had better have been arrested by that girl."
"...What are you--" Marison said.
"Better to nip the problem in the bud then let it snowball. Isn't that right, Raiden?" Rex asked.
"...Thank you." Flamer Jackson said, before he fled with Milissa on his back.
"...Raiden, what just happened?" Mayor Sentry asked. Suddenly, Rex tossed him and Marison a file on the Horris family. It didn't take long, before they just dropped it. "...Dear Arceus, all that time..."
"Jackson knew. This file was apparently originally his." Rex said. "So better to let Milissa change her destiny, then let this problem snowball into something much bigger and harder to break in the future." He said. "Seriously, the next time I see Flamer Jackson, he better have made sure that girl becomes a bonifide police officer of her own right."
"...That...would be ironic..." Lightning admitted.
"If anyone can help her...it's Flamer Jackson." Raiden said.
"Wait a second...where'd Sunset vanish off to?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Every being in the room looked around. Sunset was indeed suddenly missing.
Sunset came to. She didn't know where she was now.
"Sunset Shimmer..." Arceus suddenly appeared. "Congradulations are in order." They added.
"Wh-where am I?" Sunset asked.
"You are in the realm where Celestia had given Twilgiht her alicornhood. The Realm of the Beyond. I'm sure Celestia wouldn't mind if I took this one. Especially since I have so much thanks to give to you, that it's not even funny." Arceus said.
"Wait; are you saying I'm about to become an Alicorn?" Sunset asked.
"That is exactly what I'm saying." Arceus said. "You have gained such a mastery over emotions themselves, that it transcends time itself beyond scopes even I cannot comprehend. Therefor, I hearby christen you, Sunset Shimmer, as the Alicron of Time; where you duties will simply be to make sure what Marina did cannot happen again any time soon."
Sunset wanted to argue, but then, she was suddenly gifted wings, and transformed into an Alicorn.
And that was before she was sent back.
Outside, the group had gathered just in time for Sunset to return, now an Alicorn. "Whoa...these are going to take some getting used to." Sunset said, touching her own wings.
"Dang Sunset, did you HAVE to go and get on the alicorn action like Twilight did?" Applejack jokingly asked.
"Oh ha ha ha. Very funny Applejack." Sunset said, but she was smiling. Arceus soon appeared again.
"Forgive me for taking this one. I just figured you had other matters to see to first." Arceus said. "But tell me straight: Where's Flamer Jackson?"
"He already left." Rex said. "Milissa deserves a better life then her predecessors." He added.
"...I see." Arceus said. "I suppose that was the best outcome for her."
"Still can't believe it...Flamer Jackson committed a crime and blamed an Absol for it..." Marison said. "And you!" He then got in Rex's personal space. "You let him get away!"
"...Judge me all you like. Milissa's future is more important to me then Flamer Jackson's arrest." Rex said.
"...Wait what? What'd I miss while Arceus was making me the next Alicorn?" Sunset asked.
"I'll tell you later." Twilight said.
"Do you think we'll hear from Milissa again?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Twilight smiled. "...I have no doubt, we might hear from her sooner then you think, Pinkie." Twilgiht said.
And so, Sunset Shimmer had officially become the Alicorn of Time. News spread fast and quickly. It was honestly quite the news breaker. Future Spike wrote down in the book he was writing. And we did indeed hear from Milissa quite soon after that. In a way no pony or Pokemon ever expected.
Future Spike couldn't help but look at a framed drawing signed by Milissa on his desk. This one had everyone who was there, all labeled, with either 'aunt' or 'uncle' in front of their names. There was one part in particular that made Future Spike smile every time he saw it.
An obvious drawing of Marina's ghost with an 'x' over it, as it was floating away. A symbol of Milissa's changed future. Her future was hers after that moment. And Spike couldn't help but think of the Mawile she became as she grew up.
"But that's probably a chapter for another time." Future Spike said as he got up to go grab some snacks.
Post Author's Note: Four thousand, eight hundred, nighty-one. That's how many words the main bulk of this chapter ended up becoming. I did say this was going to be a long one folks. If I somehow misspelled somethings, or there's obviously bad grammar in parts, let me know down in the comments so I can fix it, because this has turned out to be one of my longest chapters to date. And I don't see it losing the crown as the longest chapter I've ever written anytime soon. Not counting this bonus Author's note. This is only here to tell you that the bulk of this chapter is 4,891 words long. That's a lot of words. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 14 - Shadows | Sunset would mention something she had learned about from the alternate timeline Marina had created.
"Giving love instead of taking it?" Chrysalis was confused by the revelation.
"I know it probably sounds really crazy, but the you I met in that alternate timeline explained it fairly well." Sunset said.
"What I'm more concerned with, is how preventing Marina's interruption of the Sonic Rainboom still resulted in the same exact future. The odds of that occurring should be zero when one event that caused the war to happen was not present. The theory of the time space continuum says that you should've experienced a different timeline." Celestia said.
"But that's all it is: A theory. Not actual fact." A gruff male voice said.
"...Okay Rainbow Dash, first off, what do you know about the time space continuum?" Sunset asked. "And second off...how did you disguise your voice so well?"
"Uh...Sunset...that's not Rainbow Dash..." Starlight said.
Confused, Sunset looked to where every pony else in the room was looking, only to see what she recognized as a Victini...only it's colors were not the standard ones, or even the shiny ones.
What's more, this Victini had on some kind of cape. But before Sunset could ask who this was, Raiden suddenly lept at the strange purple Victini. "It's a Shadow Pokemon; I'll handle this!" Raiden said.
He was stopped by what was obviously psychic power. "Please. If I was going to go crazy and start attacking randomly, I'd have already done so, yes?" The purple Victini asked.
"...That...is a really fair point." Lightning said. "How are you able to--"
"I'm no ordinary Shadow Pokemon. The ones you probably know of aren't natural like I am." The Shadow Victini said.
"There's such a thing as a natural Shadow Pokemon?" Raiden asked.
"You should know better then to ignore the evidence that's staring you in the face." The Shadow Victini said.
"...Okay, so...you still have wraithful attributes...but you have an easier time keeping them in check..." Lightning said, genuially surpised.
"Am I the only one that's having a hard time following along here? Because what's a Shadow Pokemon? Nothing in the book on humans explained Shadow Pokemon." Twilight said.
"For good reason, actually: Shadow Pokemon were a product of a criminal organization known as Cipher which operated in what used to be called the Orre Region. This criminal organization once worked with a second group known as Team Snaggum. Team Snaggum would go around using these devices they called 'Snag Machines' which allowed them to steal Pokemon from their trainers." Lightning said.
"A device allowed for such a thing to occur? How facinating. But then, how does Cipher fit in to that?" Twilight asked.
"Because Cipher would then take the Pokemon Team Snaggum stole, and artificially close their hearts off, turning the Pokemon into fighting machines that weren't afraid to attack humans." Raiden said.
"So, is that the incident where Arceus said 'enough is enough' and killed off humans?" Celestia asked. "Because such weapons of destruction would've warrented such rash action."
"Actually, before Cipher could realize their goal any further, a Team Snaggum member called Wes betrayed Team Snaggum, took a portable version of the Snag Machine, and then with the help of a girl called Rui who had the unnatural ability to see Shadow Pokemon, Wes set out to foil Cipher's plans to make a Shadow Pokemon army." Lightning said.
"That's not the end of that story. During a five year period, a Pokemon Professor called Professor Krane worried that someone would pick up where Cipher left off, and so, began development on a new snag machine for if and when someone would make Shadow Pokemon again." The Shadow Victini said.
"His fears were founded when after a five year absence in Orre, Cipher returned, only this time, they did were not backing Team Snaggum. They did however, did not seem to have gone the five year gap without trying to make Shadow Pokemon even more dangerous as they had successfully captured a Lugia and not only did they make it a Shadow Pokemon, but they went one step further: They made it resistant to the methods that were done to purify Shadow Pokemon five years prior." Raiden said.
"Professor Krane wanted a method to purify as many Shadow Pokemon as possible, so during that same five year gap, he was developing a new method called the Purification Chamber. During Cipher's comeback, Professor Krane's team was able to finish the Purification Chamber which ended up becoming the key to purifing the Shadow Lugia. Since the original methods of purifying Shadow Pokemon did not work on the Shadow Lugia, the Purification Chamber's functions ended up being the key to purify Shadow Lugia. As such, thanks to Professor Krane, a Shadow Pokemon that was thought to be unable to be purified ended up being able to be purified." Lightning said. "It was thanks to the son of a man Proffessor Krane worked with the son's name being Michalle that Cipher's new Shadow Pokemon Plan was put on hold."
"The color scheme I'm sporting? It's the same the Shadow Lugia adopted. But unlike those Cipher created, I'm much more in control." The Shadow Victini said. "As for my name, it's Shallor; I am the Shadow Lord."
"...Uh...you wouldn't happen to have any relation to Nozrog would you?" Sunset asked.
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Sunset was held by the gruff of her neck. "You've seen Nozrog? Where?!" Shallor suddenly asked.
"He was in Ponyville a few weeks ago, but he's vanished and has been apperently laying low ever since." Twilight said.
"...I see. Then consider yourselves having a new ally." Shallor said. "I still have a bone to pick with Nozrog from when he managed to take a hold of my mind."
"...Noted..." Twilight said.
"And, as your ally, I'm going to give you quite a bit of training. But I'll just be upfront about this: My training methods will seem like the Fire Pits in comparison to whatever you've been through so far." Shallor said.
"Fire...pits?" Raiden asked. "Don't most Pokemon mention the Distortion World?"
"The Distortion World has got nothing on the Fire Pits." Shallor said.
"...Suddenly I'm scared." Sunset said. "But we'll need the extra training."
"Good answer." Shallor said. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 15 - The Realm of Subnotica Part 1 ("Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" AU) | It's a seemingly normal day all across Equestia. A day that is just about to end as a matter of fact.
"It's getting late. We can wrap up training for the day." Shallor said.
"When you said this training would be tougher then the Distortion World, you weren't joking." Rainbow Dash said. "I don't even know what that is, but considering it's the Pokemon equivalent of Tatarus; or so I'm guessing; it must be harsh."
"Bah. Your maximum security prison of Tartarus pales in comparison to the Distortion World. And trust me, I took a peek in Tartarus." Shallor said.
"Wait, you went inside of Tartarus and got out?" Twilight asked.
"I'm the Lord of Shadows; what did you expect?" Shallor countered.
"What even does that mean anyways; being the Lord of Shadows?" Sunset asked. "Because it doesn't sound like I think most of us here think it means."
"Maybe I'll tell you once you've finished my training courses. Is that a fair enough trade for you?" Shallor asked as he walked into the Castle of Friendship.
"How harsh can someone act?" Fluttershy asked.
"Seriously Fluttershy? Are you already whimpering out?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not really, but...Shallor acts so harshly, yet...there's a longing there." Fluttershy said.
"I thought I was the one who could pick on emotions here. Sounds to me, like there's just some normal teasing going on." Sunset said.
"Oh there's emotions there. You probably can't feel them because they're not on the surface." Fluttershy said. "Trust me, as the expert on all things animal based, I can sense emotions. And Shallor has them, as much as he tries to hide them."
"...We did hear that Shadow Pokemon have a tendacy to have their basic emotions surpressed. Maybe the main reason Sunset can't feel them like Fluttershy can, is because Shallor is still a Shadow Pokemon at the end of the day. Albiet, not one that's on some kind of rampage." Twilight said.
"Well, if we somehow come across a Shadow Pokemon that's not Shallor, we can test that theory." Sunset said.
Things did not go well that night for any of the ponies, they woke up feeling groggy and tired. But they weren't the only ones: Team Strikers who were all staying at the castle, were feeling the same way. Shallor seemed to be the only one who wasn't.
"Hmm...this is odd..." Shallor stated. Spike too was pretty tired and groggy as well.
"Ugh...I feel terrible." Spike said. "I could barely sleep at all last night."
"Same..." Raiden said.
"Normally, I'd count this as not getting enough sleep, but I don't think that's the case. Did any of you dream at all?" Shallor asked.
"That's oddly specific, but to answer your question: I surely didn't have any dreams at all last night." Sunset said.
"Same here." Twilight said. Every pony and pokemon there confrimed the same, as did Spike.
"...Interesting..." Shallor said.
"Maybe Princess Luna knows something. Spike, let's send a letter." Twilight said.
"I'll get on it." Spike said. But then he spat up a letter barring a royal seal none of the ponies saw before.
"...That's a new royal seal." Applejack noted.
"That's Princess Luna's royal seal!" Twilight noted, opening up the letter. "...It's asking if any of us had any nightmares last night."
"...Well we certainly didn't have nightmares. We couldn't even dream." Raiden said.
"In that case, I better make a response." Twilight said before writing to Princess Luna the reply. Shortly after that, Princess Luna suddenly appeared.
"...Well that's one way to respond to a letter." Shallor said.
"What do you mean none of you had any dreams?" Princess Luna asked. "That shouldn't be possible."
"Well take it from me, Luna; not a soul in this room sans Shallor dreamed last night." Raiden said.
"Actually, I never even went to sleep at all. I don't require sleep." Shallor said.
That had raised some eyebrows from Sunset. Wonder why that is. Come to think of it, has he eaten anything at all? She thought to herself.
"This is strange. Last night, an entity that I had created to punish myself known as the Tantabulus escaped from my own dream last night. Since I was only dreaming in regards to the bearers of the elements, I thought that would mean that the seven of them would experience nightmares. But, the fact remains that not a single one of you had a dream last night." Princess Luna said.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, every soul in that room was put to sleep my a strange power. That is, every soul but Shallor.
"...Oh. I think I may know of a certain someone who knows exactly what the cause is." Shallor said. "...Well on that note, I better check in at The Fire Pits." He said, before suddenly he became a purple ball of light. "I'll make sure to come back when they are all wake up." At that moment, Shallor vanished.
"Okay, what just happened? Where are we?" Sunset asked. The ponies, Team Strikers, Spike, and Ray were all floating in some kind of strange voidless space.
"This place is kind of loopy." Pinkie Pie said. "And that's ME saying that."
"That would be because you are somewhere where you real world logic does not work." A voice said. Suddenly the space around the group changes to a grand hall with many destroyed statues, and a huge purple light on a platform above them which soon turns into what looked like a Zorua on two feet holding a spear. "I apologize for the abropt nap, but this could not wait. As we speak, a certain creation of that night princess is roaming this realm and causing mischief that is becoming hard to contain. If it continues, all dreams across all of reality will cease to exist." The figure said.
"Who are you? And more importantly, where are we?" Twilight asked.
"I am known as The Guardian; one of two Beings of Fate. And as for where you are, well...this is the realm of the subconcious, where dreams take shape. This is the Realm of Subnotica." The Figure said.
Sunset was pointingly silent. "...Sunset, what's wrong with you?" Applejack asked.
"...For some reason, I can't seem to faint." Sunset said.
"Of course you can't. You are already unconcious." The Guardian said.
"...Now I really DO wish I could faint." Sunset said.
"Your not the only one..." Princess Luna said.
To be continued... |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 16 - The Realm of Subnotica Part 2 | "You mind explaining something to me? What exactly is Subnotica?" Twilight asked. The ponies were in the strangest of places to say the least: Subnotica the Realm of dreams.
"Allow me to answer your question with one of my own: Have you ever wondered what happens to your dreams after you wake up from them?" The Guardian pondered.
"...Sometimes I do. But because Princess Luna here makes sure we understand our nightmares, I've not put much thought into it beyond that." Twilight said.
"Nightmares are just another form of dream here in Subnotica. Which is where the collectiveness of dreams that were dreamt take shape. It is thanks to Subnotica that dreams exist at all. And of all the dreams that take form here in subnotica, some dreams take on certain themes often enough to create lands here in the grand collection." The Guardian stated. "So, six figures emerged in those lands to serve as Subnotica's Pillars; the very glue that allows dreams to continue their existence."
"So basically, what your saying is that without those pillars, there are no dreams." Rainbow Dash said.
"That is admittedly a simple way of looking at a very complex structure. A structure so complex, I would spend hours explaining it. But yes: The simple way of putting it mildly would be to say, without the six pillars, dreams will cease to exist. And because of your Princess's creation, they were kidnapped early last night in your world." The Guardian said.
"So let me guess: You want us to find them since this is technically our world that has responsibility?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That...is remarkably straightforward, but to make a long story short, you are absolutly correct..." The Guardian said. "Once you've found a PIllar, bring them here and I can transport them back to their lands. Just bare in mind that, this realm does not function like the waking world it--"
"Is the realm of dreams. Meaning if I wanted to, I could just make myself an alicorn for the funsies. Right?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Okay, can you just stop making things so simple and uncomplicated please? I normally spend hours explaining this, and you just summarized things into a few short and simple sentences." The Guardian said.
"What more is there to know? We're in the land of dreams after all. Kind of figures anything is possible here. Not that difficult to understand if you just simplify it." Rainbow Dash said.
"Yer not wrong there..." Applejack said.
"Spoilsport..." The Guardian said. "I would've asked my apprentice to assist you at the least but I've been unable to contact her for whatever reason. I'm not worried that she's been kidnapped by that creation of the night princess, as it's impossible to kidnap someone's unconciousness."
"I'm here I'm here!" A female voice said before suddenly what Twilight recognized as a Cinderace appeared.
"Sorry I showed up late. I just needed some time to--"
"You...evolved?" The Guardian asked.
"...That obvious huh?" The Cinderace said.
"Who is this?" Raiden asked.
"Name's Score. Apprentice of The Guardian at your service. Also...kind of his adopted daughter too. It's complicated." The Cinderace said.
She's a Cinderace and her name is Score. Someone's birth parent wasn't very creative. Sunset thought to herself.
"Go back a moment: Your an adopted daughter to one of the fates? Didn't Deca mention that they aren't supposed to get involved with other mortals?" Ray asked.
"I was given special permission. After all, when I adopted Score as my daughter, she was only ten years old. Her father was presumed dead at the time, and her only other living retaliative which was her Uncle was put to death for murder. The full story is way too complicated to tell in full." The Guardian said.
"So...she had no living family. Shouldn't she have been put in foster care then?" Raiden asked.
"Yeah about that: My father was a human. So it wouldn't matter where I would end up, I'd always have cursed blood. I've essentially been living as an Orphan on the road since I was ten." Score said. "Because officially, I have no family. The Guardian is only my adopted father through a technicality. See, I have a really rare gift of being able to Lucid Dream very easily."
"But wouldn't that require you to you know, be able to dream?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not me. See, my ability to Lucid Dream so vividly, has allowed me to access Subnotica like it's my own back yard." Score said.
Luna suddenly gasped. "You mean...you can lucid dream on a wavelength that allows you to dream walk."
"Yeah. Exactly that." Score said.
"That's incredible. It took me several months before I could start dream walking. And yet, you were able to pick that up at such a young age." Luna noted.
"Yeah. I've been able to do this since I was ten, and I had it down in only three days." Score said.
Luna's jaw dropped to the floor. "...I'm no expert, but even I'm willing to bet that due to Princess Luna's reaction to what you just said, means that what your talking about would normally takes months or even years to perfect to that degree." Rainbow Dash said.
"Are you kidding? It would take even the best dreamwalkers most of their life to get to Score's level of control. And yet, she was able to do it in just three days." The Guardian said.
"But...that would make her the youngest dream walker ever." Princess Luna said.
"Not to brag or anything, but yeah, I am officially the youngest being in the meta-verse to ever be able to Lucid Dream as easily as breathing." Score said.
"...Luna.mlp will stop working now..." Princess Luna said before actually falling over.
"...Wait, how'd she faint when she was already unconscious?" Rainbow Dash asked. Suddenly Luna vanished.
"Oh that's easy: The shock of that news was so great, that she just woke up from it." Score said.
"Who can blame her?" Applejack asked.
To be continued... |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 17 - The Realm of Subnotica Part 3 | Our heroes were still in the Realm of Subnotica, the realm of dreams, and Princess Luna had become shocked awake due to the talent of one Cinderace known as Score who was able to dream walk via Lucid Dreaming since she was ten years old as easily as breathing. The Guardian was in the process of re-summoning Luna to Subnotica.
"So, if your able to Lucid Dream as easily as breathing, then why are we here?" Sunset asked.
"We've got six missing pillars of the realm. Even with my ease of access, it'd take me days to find all six by myself. Do you even realize what could happen in that time frame?" Score asked.
"You mean, something more then no more dreams?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah. That little creation of Princess Luna is going to grow in strength. If it grows too strong, it's going to book it from Subnotica, and escape into the real world. And it'll be like having a rogue being of fate on the loose. I'm talking a threat level on the same page as The Omega." Score said.
"Thanks to Deca, we know all about The Omega. So if your saying that if Luna's Tantabus isn't stopped as soon as possible..." Twilight was piecing together.
"Yeah. You don't need to say anymore." Score said. "Think you already can see why your help is nessasary. To save all the pillars in time, a group is necessary. I would've gotten here earlier, but...I had evolved overnight."
"So you were a Raboot before last night then?" Raiden asked.
"Yep." Score simply answered.
"I have no further questions..." Raiden said.
Luna was finally brought back and then briefed on what was about to happen. Twilight suggested that every creature go in pairs. With Twilight suggesting they go in more unusual pairs this time.
Subnotica
Machines & Magic Area
"Of all the pairings I get ended up with, I of course get paired up with the one princess I haven't really gotten to know well." Raiden said.
"If it'll ease this situation, I personally don't consider myself much of a princess. Between when I became Nightmare Moon and this incident...there's a lot of things I've done wrong." Luna said. "I might start letting ponies adress me as just Luna after this."
"...Whoa. That's a little extreme. Don't think I've ever seen royalty want to stop being addressed as royalty before. Even if it's only a consideration." Raiden said. "Though, I heard about the Nightmare Moon thing a little bit. But they say there's two sides to every store."
"It wasn't just jealousy towards my sister that drove me to become Nightmare Moon; it was also the fact that ponies only ever respected my sister." Luna said.
"Okay, being jealousy of your sister can be normal when it comes to siblings. Even if we're not related by blood, Lightning still feels jealous of the time I tanked a lightning strike meant for the mayor's house back when I was just a Pikachu." Raiden said. "Yeah, Lightning's become more and more like a brother to me in recent years ever since we patched things up from his undercover mission."
"And we both know Sunset felt a little jealousy towards Twilight for similar reasons in regards to Flash Sentry." Luna said.
"Oi, that's one day I'll never forget. Speaking of, did you know that Twilight and Flash are thinking of doing a more legit wedding soon and not that speedy version they did to stop all those suitor requests?" Raiden asked.
"This is news to me..." Luna said.
"Yeah well, keep it to yourself will you? Twilight wants to really make her brother realize how much waiting until the last minute to inform his sister of a wedding really had the girl reeling." Raiden said.
"I'm honestly not surprised." Luna said. "...also, is it just me, or do some of these machines look like giant toys?"
Raiden took a look around. "...Okay yeah, that is a little weird." Raiden said. "But back on topic while we look for the pillar that's in this realm: Jealousy towards your sibling is one thing, but that jealousy combined with being outright ignored is something else entirely."
"All that anger and jealousy is what turned me into Nightmare Moon to begin with. It made me lose control of myself." Luna said. "Even still, I felt responsible for it."
"You've got to let that go. Things are different now." Raiden said.
"Except I can't. It was the guilt over becoming Nightmare Moon that lead to our current situation." Luna said. "Figured I'd punish myself for going down that road by giving myself nightmares. That's what lead to the creation of the Tantabus in the first place."
"Then you need to face that guilt head on. Only way your going to get over it, is if you confront it." Raiden said.
"Hey, is something there?" a male voice said. The duo soon discovered what looked like a magician in a steel cage. "You've gotta get me out of here."
"...Well, considering this is the land of dreams, why am I not surprised a human is here?" Raiden asked.
Suddenly a bunch of parts around the duo suddenly configred into a giant toy dragon. And unlike a real toy, this one could breath legit fire. "Suddenly I have a strong desire to want to know who in the Meta-verse dreamed up a dragon toy with real fire breathing action." Luna said.
"Do you even need to ask? It's children. Children sometimes dream about things that are as far from reality as possible." Raiden said.
"You would know about the mind of a child." Luna said. She quickly called up her dream magic, and in one blast, just destroyed the toy dragon.
Raiden blinked. "...Remind me not to get on your bad side."
"Oh that? That was nothing." Luna said. Lucky, the defeat of the toy undid the cage.
"Ugh. Thanks for that. Now, I must get back to the castle of magicians." The magician said.
"...Castle of magicians?" Luna asked.
"Kids and their imaginations, I swear." Raiden said.
"...I'm starting to see the theme of this area..." Luna said.
Subnotica
Swamp Area
"Yuck. Why'd we have to get the swamp area?" Rarity asked.
"You do realize that everything here isn't going to tranfer over to the real world, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"It's the principle of the matter, Rainbow Dash." Rarity said.
"Still, if this place works the way I understand it to work, even if you get your mane all messy, it's not going to matter in the end." Rainbow said.
"Let's just...try to find the realm's pillar and get out of this place as soon as--" Rarity was interuptted by the loudest frog croak she ever heard. "...What...was that?" Rarity said.
It happened again. "...Dude. Those are pipes." Rainbow Dash said. But when the duo discovered a giant frog being dangled by his feet from a tree by a metal wire, she quickly backtracked that statement.
"...Of course it had to be a frog..." Rarity said.
"Finally someone hears me. Could you come cut me down please? I don't like this position; it's very uncomfortable and I would very much like my feet on the ground now if you would be so kind." The frog said.
"...Why am I not surprised this thing can talk?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Suddenly a giant monster tree rose out of the swamp, covered in moss and drooling swamp water. "...I...I must remian calm I--"
One kick from Rainbow Dash was enough to destroy the monster tree. "Wow. That was surprisingly easy." Rainbow Dash said.
"...Never mind..." Rarity said.
"That thing will regernate, so if you would be so kind as to GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" The frog said.
"And they call me impatient." Rainbow Dash said.
Subnotica
Animals Area
Fluttershy was currently petting a kitten as she and Lightning were going through the animal area.
"...I don't think I've seen dogs and cats in such close proximity with each other and not doing the standard cliche thing." Lightning said. "And this is coming from a Pokemon that's a lynx-lion hybrid."
"Lions and lynx are very different from traditional cats though." Fluttershy said.
"True. But I'm just saying, you'd expect felines and canines to have some beef with each other. I mean, it's such a common cliche, that I'm surprised this realm isn't following said cliche." Lightning said.
"You do realize this a dream realm, right?" Fluttershy asked. "Maybe some people dream of a way for canines and felines to have great relationships."
"Or a certain guardian could prevent them from fighting." A male voice said.
"Yeah, or the realm's guardian could stop them from fighting." Lightning said. "...Wait, who said--"
Fluttershy squeed again as she looked a the giant squirrel trapped in a cage. "...What's with this one?" The Squirrel said.
"She really likes animals." Lightning said.
"Well, she might want to rethink that in a hurry..." The Squirrel said.
Suddenly out of nowhere, a giant three headed beast showed up. But while Cerberus was a three headed dog, what was before them had a wolf head, a lion head, and an eagle head. "What...am I looking at?" Fluttershy asked. Suddenly, a snake head slithered out from behind the creature.
"It's...it's a...a...a..." Lightning was finding the word hard to say.
"What? What is this?!" Fluttershy was worried now.
The three main heads suddenly roared at the duo. "Chimera!" Lightning finally got the word out.
Fluttershy punched the thing. "Now you listen here you. Roaring at folks like that is not nice. And you should really be ashamed of yourself for even doing so unprovoked."
The chimera whimpered. ...What in the Distortion World am I looking at? Lightning thought to himself.
"You should be very, very sorry indeed. I want you to go and do nice things for all the others you've roared at." Fluttershy sternly said.
The chimera limped off, despite only getting punched in one of it's faces. It was like it just got told off by it's own mother. "...It's always the quiet ones..." Lightning said.
Subnotica
Water Area
"Well, I'm surprised we can breath underwater." Spike said.
"Of course we should be able to. This is Subnotica after all. It's not called the Realm of dreams for nothing." Score said. "Plus, being a fire type Pokemon, this is my second favorite area to come to on a regular basis."
"I can understand that." Spike said. "...Wait, what's your favorite area if not this one? Is there even a sports area?"
"There is, but that's like my second least favorite area." Score said.
"...Okay, then which area is your favorite?" Spike asked.
"It's the Night Life Area. The werewolf pillar is super duper hot~" Score said.
Note to self: Leave this out of any biography I make in the future. Spike thought to himself.
...Yeah I didn't uphold that note to self. Mostly because I wanted nothing to be left out in the end. Would seem weird if I left out the fact that Score thought the pillar for the Night Life Area was hot. Future Spike would write in the story he was making.
"So, you must know each and every pillar then." Spike said.
"Most of them. I know of the mage, the squirrel, the frog, and of course, the Werewolf. No surprise which one is my favorite." Score said.
"...What about the water area?" Spike asked.
"Never really met them before. I have a few guesses, but I never could get a conformation." Score said. The duo found a trapped dolphin. "...Really? I guess in hindsight, a dolphin would make the most sense."
However, suddenly an evil looking orca appeared, having a trapped shark in a net. "Should've censored known my decoy would get found out sooner or later..." The Shark said.
"...Okay, I did NOT expect that." Score said.
"Let's toast this fish!" Spike used his fire breath, roasting the evil orca. which quickly swam away, releasing the shark which then released the dolphin decoy.
"Looks like that Orca didn't want to become Fish Sticks~" Score said.
"...That was terrible, and you should be ashamed of it." Spike said..
Subnotica
Night Life Area
"Seriously makes you wonder what kind of people would dream up vampires and zombies on a regular basis." Starlight said.
"Yeah. I can't wait to tell Sunset about this." Ray said. "Wonder if there's any werewolves around here."
"Probably. I mean, they are another night based creature after all." Starlight said.
"Hey, get me down from here!" The duo found a werewolf in a metal cage.
"...Shouldn't you be able to escape from that cage on your own?" Starlight asked.
"Normally yes; except this cage is made of silver metal. And werewolves are weak to silver. Little known fact: It's not just silver bullets that can depower a werewolf; it's silver metal in general." The werewolf said.
"...Huh." Ray said.
Suddenly an evil vampire appeared. "...seriously?!" Starlight said.
"Eat garlic breath!" Ray said, before he roared at the vampire, and his breath was surpisingly garlic smelly instead of how it normally was.
"...You just used the fact that we're in the realm of dreams to do that, didn't you?" Starlight said as the Vampire suddenly ran off.
"Yep." Ray said.
"Little known fact: Garlic is actually not a real vampire repellent, but because it's become so ingrained into society as an acceptable vampire weakness, it still works in Subnotica." The Werewolf said.
"Wow thanks, I hate that. I'll have to figure out how to remove that fact from my mind now." Starlight said.
Subnotica
Fair Area
"...When I heard the name of the area..." Sunset said as she looked around. She was in the middle of a giant fairground. "...I was expecting either a princess themed area, or some kind of area where every thing is giving fair treatment. Not what is essentially, a carnival."
"Not a carnival Sunset: A Fair! Big difference!" Pinkie Pie suddenly popped out of nowhere, to squish Sunset's face.
"...Your doing my face again, Pinkie." Sunset said.
"C'mon, we should have some fun here!" Pinkie said.
"...Pinkie, you do realize that if we don't find the pillar that was kidnapped here, you can never dream up all your various fun activities ever again." Sunset said.
Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped. "That...that would be worse then a clown being the pillar we have to find."
"...Luckily, I have a feeling it's not a clown." Sunset said, as she noticed that a living balloon nearby trapped in a cage.
"Ah, good day there to you dear ladies. How ironic is it that two females are my savoir? Talk about a complete role reversal. I would welcome you one and all to the greatest fair ever created; but alas, I have come captured and imprisoned beyond my will." The balloon said.
"...Wow. It's a gentlestallion balloon. That's surprising." Sunset said.
"I prefer the term, gentleballoon; yet I understand your statement, dear lady. Let's just hope that you don't have a fear of clowns, for I'm afraid, one has captured me." The Balloon said.
"...Even gentlestallion enough to tell us that we're about to face an evil clown." Sunset said. But when she looked at Pinkie, the mare had already tied up an evil clown with some rope.
"...What? He was trying to sneak up on us. That wasn't very nice of him." Pinkie Pie said.
Sunset facehooved. "...Never change Pinkie..." She said.
To be continued... |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 18 - Demon & Spirit | Now that the group had found the missing pillars and gotten them back to their proper locations, the group met up with the Guardian again.
"You know, we didn't see hide nor hair of the Tantabus." Twilight said.
"But it had to be the culprit right?" Raiden asked.
"Agreed. It's the only thing that would have that kind of cordination and power to manipulate all those monsters." The Guardian said.
"Your forgetting me." A male voice said. the group suddenly spotted a strange charcol based being with horns on it's head.
"It...can't be..." Score said. "I thought The Guardian defeated you."
"He did. And he trapped me in the realm of Subnotica at that." The charcol creature said.
"Who are you?" Twilight asked.
"He's got the Tantalbus!" Luna pointed at what was in one of the creatures...hands? Were they hands? They looked like goat hooves.
In an instant, the charcol creature crushed the Tantabus in front of all their eyes. "Yes, snatching this thing and using the monsters to buy me the time required to absorb it's power so I may cross back into the real world was a great plan." The creature said. "You can call me Astrotal Mandoli. I am the demon of hate."
"How dare you do that to Princess Luna's creation? I don't care if it was used to punish her, you do not get to do something like that and get away with it!" Rainbow Dash said.
"I just did. You get to enjoy your victory for now Ponies. But I'll in your neighborhood sooner rather then later. And once I am, I'm going to show you just how fragile your so called 'friendship' truely is. And once I'm done, you'll let your true natures out; the hateful, spiteful, greedy, sinful, and betraying kinds!" Astrotle said and as a black portal began to teleport him away, the demon laughed. And even after he left, his laugh continued to echo.
The group soon woke up from the induced sleep they were given. "Oh good. Your awake finally." Shallor said, suddenly passing out some food. "Thought I'd get you something to eat since you all slept for an entire day."
"...Does not feel like we were knocked out for a whole day." Sunset said.
"Time can be fleeting like that." Shallor said.
Sunset took notice of the amount of plates and drink glasses. "...Aren't you going to eat or drink anything?" Sunset asked.
"Nah. I don't really need to eat anything. Don't really need to drink anything either." Shallor said.
"But everything living needs sleep, food, and hydration." Sunset said.
"What's your point?" Shallor asked.
"My point, is that your not amongst the living." Sunset said. "At least not anymore."
Shallor was silent for a time. "...Wow, not even three days of knowing me, and you already put the pieces together. Rob was right: You are good." Shallor said.
"Wait...how are you here then?" Rainbow Dash asked. "If your supposed to be dead, how are you here physically? Are you another ghost like with Cole?"
"...Huh. I didn't even realize that hamster was even dead. But no, I'm not a ghost." Shallor said. "More of a spirit. What your seeing is just the form I took when I was alive."
"...Okay. So then, how are you allowed in the land of the living?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Because it's special privilages that come with being the one in charge of the Fire Pits." Shallor said. "It's where those who are just pure evil and demons go when they are either killed or cleansed."
"...Huh. Speaking of Demons, we just met one." Sunset said.
"Please tell me it's not Haywire. Creator help you if it's Haywire." Shallor said.
"Whose Haywire?" Twilight asked. "...Wait, no, stay on topic here: We met Astrotle Mondoli."
"...YOU DID WHAT?!" Shallor said.
"...Why do I feel like he would've done a spit take just then?" Sunset asked.
"Because he most likely would've." Pinkie Pie said.
One explanation later
"Oh great. Just great. As if Haywire still being on the loose wasn't bad enough. Astrotle Mondoil is planning another attempt at making mortals seem like they only have hate in their bodies." Shallor said.
"He's done this before?" Twilight asked.
"At least seventy thousand other times to my knowledge. Maybe more." Shallor said.
"...I'm sorry, but I swear you just said seventy thousand. I misheard you though, right?" Twilight asked.
"Nope. You did not mishear me." Shallor said.
"...Twilight.mlp will stop working now..." Twilight said before fainting.
"...Was it something I said?" Shallor asked. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 19 - Woods of the Sisters | The elements were still undergoing Shallor's training. Though, for today, he had taken them to some woods the ponies had never been in before. Team Strikers had been strongly advised to stay behind in Ponyville for the trip.
"So, you saw Raiden's loss against Sparky and that's why you came up here to train us?" Sunset asked.
"Rex has good intentions, but they are directed in the wrong way. Better I train you up so you can set him straight once and for all then risk major changes happening." Shallor said.
"Still not sure why you had Team Strikers not come with us on this trip specifically. Raiden would make a good sparring partner." Rainbow Dash said.
"I had some different partners in mind." Shallor said. "It won't be long until we reach our destination."
"Wonder where we're even going." Sunset wondered. The group soon came across a very big building.
"...That's almost as big as the Friendship Castle." Twilight noted.
"It'd have to be, considering who lives here." Shallor said. He then knocked on the door in a very weird sequence.
"Shallor? Is that you out there?" A female voice asked.
"Yeah. I got some friends I'd like you to train with." Shallor said.
"Any of them happen to be 'chus?" A different female voice asked.
"It's Shallor. No way he's got a 'chu with him." A third female voice said.
"I know your policy. Don't worry, no Pichus, PIkachus, or Raichus out here." Shallor said. "...Wait, hold on." He then launched a Shadow version of Shining Flare at a nearby tree, causing a Pikachu to fall out of it. "We got a sneaker out here. I'll take care of it." Shallor said.
"You do that. Thanks." A fourth female voice said. "Neutra, show our guests in."
"On it!" A fifth voice said before a Pachirisu opened the door. "Oh hey, ponies. Come in, quick."
The ponies went in.
Inside, the group was treated to a lot of different Pokemon. Twilight recognized them all as what humans would call "Pika-Clones". There was a Plusle, a Minun, the Pacharisu they already met, an Emolga, a Dedenne, a Togidemari, a Morpeko, and a Pomi. Though there was also a Luxio that quickly began sniffing them. "...Smells like you've been near a 'chu." The Luxio said.
"We do hang out with Raiden a lot." Rainbow Dash said.
"Oh, that Raichu from Lightning Town? He's actually not that bad of a Raichu." The Emolga said. "I mean, any mon who has the ability to fight against crime and look out for kids can't be that bad."
"I still doubt that there's not some secret agenda." The Luxio said.
"The secret agenda is making sure those orphaned kids don't grow up to become criminals." The Togidemari said. "I've been to one of the Lightning Strike Orphanages once. The kids there were really enjoying themselves."
"...Huh. I didn't know about the Orphan angle." The Emolga said.
"I guess if he's looking after orphans then he can't be too terrible. I still got my eyes on him." The Luxio said.
"Well it's nice to meet you girls. I'm Sunset Shimmer." Sunset said. "This is Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack." Sunset said.
"Well if you're going to introduce yourselves, allow us to do the same." The Plusle said. "I'm Plusla. The Minun is Mina; we hatched next to each other."
"Hi there." Mina said.
"I'm Neutra. I was the first one Plusla and Mina recruited into the Sisterhood." The Pachirisu said.
"Call me Emily." The Emolga said.
"Darina's my name." The Dadenne said.
"Alola; name's Tori!" The Togidimari said.
"You can call me Mora." The Morpeko said.
"And then there's Poli. She's only two years old." Plusla said.
"Don't forget about me. Name's Lori. I may not be a Pika-clone, but I'm an honorary member, so I get all the benefits of being part of the sisterhood with no drawbacks." Lori said. "There's one other honorary member: This Pikachu from Alola. Except she's really a Pika-clone trapped in a Pikachu's body. She's our Trapped Sister."
"Lori's idea, not ours; because Solena identifies with Pika-clones more then other 'chus, and even dresses up as some of our species, Lori likes to call Solena a 'Trapped Sister'." Plusla said.
"So why do you have a two year old living with you? Don't get me wrong, you all seem very capable of raising her, but, what's the deal with having a baby amongst your group?" Sunset asked. She could tell that Lori really did feel passionate about calling Solena a "Trapped Sister".
"It was about one week before I evolved into a Luxio; there was this Pawmot who carried her baby straight to the doorstep of the sisterhood, who had been abused and nearly beaten to death by her Raichu husband. From what I was told, that mother was determined to get her baby to the sisterhood's doorstep. The Pawmot's body was buried not too far from this estate." Lori said.
"I did see a grave nearby on our way in. So that's where the Pawmot was buried huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yep. It was a bit later then that when I heard the news, and decided to come visit. That's when I met Solena. And then Mimi showed up, said some things, and then Solena practically tore into her birth species. I have...honestly never seen so much animostiy towards 'chus before, not even from myself. So yeah...it was eye opening." Lori said.
"...Whose Mimi?" Sunset asked, but was suddenly worried.
"This Mimiku that was a member. Because of an argument over me, she left." Mora said. "But it was later, that she revealed the forest's location on a talkshow, and it lead to a tribe of 'chu to invade our estate."
"I did my best to defend the estate, and then the sisterhood joined in. Still, Mimi is now considered one of our enemies because of the 'chu tribe." Lori said.
"Anyways, Shallor wants us to train with you, and whatever it is he wants to train you for, it's gotta be important, otherwise he wouldn't even bother." Mina said. "Shallor can be...a bit aggressive since he is a Shadow 'mon. But you honestly couldn't ask for a better trainer then him."
"Yeah. So, we're going to do our absolute best to train you. So I hope your ready." Lori said. "Too bad Solena's not here..."
"Hey girls..." Shallor said, before he brought in a female Pikachu who was mostly using make-up to look like a Pachirisu with some of it wiped off. "This 'chu was coming in, and keeps insisting she's welcome here."
"Oh that's Solena. She's cool Shallor. She's a Trapped Sister." Lori said.
"What?" Shallor said.
Sunset got the Pikachu out of Shallor's grasp. "We'll tell you later." Sunset said. "For now, let's train!" |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 20 - The Dynamic Duo | "That was a great training session with you girls." Twilight admitted. She and her friends were outside of the Electra Sisters estate.
"It was great having you over. Maybe we'll stop by Ponyville sometime soon. Even if there's a 'chu there." Plusla said.
"Well, we look forward to hosting you." Sunset said as the ponies and two dragons left.
"Girls, you'll never believe what I found out about Raiden!" Neutra said.
"Oh? This I gotta see." Lori said. The sisters were gathered around a computer scene.
"According to this, not only was Raiden's grandpa the one who liberated Lightning Town from it's tyrannical rule, his parents used to run an orphanage outside the city limits." Neutra said.
"Huh. So he comes from good stock then. Well, that makes him different then most 'chus we've seen." Emily said.
"Yeah but get this: His parents were killed when he was only six years old." Neutra said.
"Wait...you mean he was once an orphan himself?" Lori asked. "But he acts so...so tough and confident."
"Yeah. It seems he built up that kind of attitude to survive in the crime ridden town." Neutra said. "Still, it looks like now a days, he's more well known for the infamous Orphan Band that goes around place to place performing various songs."
"Whoa. For being a Raichu, this guy has a heart." Lori couldn't help but admit.
"Maybe being around him won't be so bad after all. I mean, he lost his parents when he was four years older then Poli after all." Emily said. "Poor Poli. She's not old enough to understand this kind of loss. Yet Raiden was."
"And he's stayed tough because of it. He actually might not be too bad to be around. I don't have to socialize with him, after all." Lori said.
The ponies had gotten back to Ponyville with Shallor. "Seems you've learnt enough from the Electra Sisters. They're really good at teamwork." Shallor said. "Tomorrow, we're putting what you've learnt into practice with a battle against Raiden & Lightning."
"Whoa, your giving us the final exam already?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Nah. That would be something more then this. No. The battle against Raiden & Lightning is more like a pop-quiz. I got much more difficult battles lined up for the likes of you." Shallor said.
"But there's still time in the day. Can't we do it now?" Twilight asked.
"Raiden wants to build an arena that can have the audience protected from any stray attacks. He doesn't want this to be open field." Shallor said.
"Wow. He's really considerate on that." Rainbow Dash said.
The next day, the elements, Spike, and Ray entered an arena where the stands were full of ponies and pokemon alike spectating. And a couple of griffons too. Gilda was even present too.
"Wonder what Gilda is doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"We can ask later." Twilight said.
"Didn't think we'd be battling like this, Twilight. Over the time I've spent here, I've come to see you for what you're really like." Raiden said. "But just because we're friends, doesn't mean I'll be going easy on you. Lightning and I will be giving you a battle to remember."
"That's fair." Twilight said.
Raiden then took out a hat that had a Pichu and Shinx printed on it. It took Twilight's group to realize Lightning was already wearing the very same hat. "...You know, I was upset by Lightning when he went undercover like that. But I understand now." Raiden said. "So, let's show you our dynamic power! Our battle shall be orchestrated by the legendary Orphan Band!" At that, several Pokemon in the stands began playing a song.
As the song began, there was a huge overview shot of the stands, and at one point, in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, Raiden and Lightning's Shadows turned into a Pichu & Shinx respectfully, before quickly turning back.
I swear I'm not imagining that. Rainbow Dash thought to herself.
As the music really hit off, that's when the true battle began.
Dynamic Duo
Raiden & Lightning
Lightning began by sending a Discharge attack arcoss the battle field. Raiden expertly dodged the stray bolts while the elements were quickly separated from each other. It was obvious this was a ploy to get them all seperated quickly.
Thankfully, Sunset quickly reconginzed this and countered an approuching Raiden with some fire magic. However, Raiden was able to dodge it last minute. Still, it prevented him from getting any closer.
Yet Raiden had his own surprises it seemed, using a Thunderbolt to Target Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was able to see the attack coming from a mile away, and thus dodged it very adeptly.
In the audience, Night Wing took notice of how adeptly Rainbow Dash dodged Raiden's Thunderbolt. It was like she was able to perceive the attack from her flying position. Makes me wonder...
Meanwhile, Lightning was trying to close in on Fluttershy with a Thunder Fang attack, but Fluttershy confused him with a cloud that was modled to look like her before hitting Lightning with a hoof strike.
"Dang, that was pretty clever. What was that, some kind of Cloud Substitute?" Lightning asked.
"Focus Lightning." Raiden said.
Using the distraction, Twilight managed to hit Raiden with a magic blast of her own. It obviously did quite a bit of damage. "Oof! Raiden, you okay there bud?" Lightning asked.
"Yeah. I think it's time to stop playing around." Raiden said before he quickly started running fast. At first, Twilight thought this was quick attack, before the attack started gaining electricity behind it.
The Electra Sisters were on a black cloud that could be seen not too high from one side of the stands. On this cloud, Neutra suddenly gasped. "Isn't that Volt Tackle?!"
"Dang, those two guys thought of everything." Lori couldn't help but admit.
The elements did their best to counter attack, with Sunset managing to use a strong magic blast to deal critical damage to Lightning, forcing him to bow out of the battle so his injuries wouldn't become life threatening, and shortly after, Sunset & Twilight used a magic spell together to make it so Raiden had to bow out too.
Raiden looked like he was frustrated over his loss from the way he grabbed his cap, but, then he smiled. He quickly threw his cap up in to the air where it landed in the middle of the arena.
"Seems no matter where I go, it's creatures such as yourselves that really show me that just like how the sun will eventually shine through a thunderstorm, so too will the light dispel the darkness. So, despite my loss, I am content with it, as your victory was one you earned and weren't given. I can take pride in that much at least. Seriously, what can I really say? You've really earned my respect here today, and I don't give it to royalty all willy nilly like. My hat goes off to you, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer. You two and your friends really gave us your all and did not hold back in the slightest. And for that, you deserve nothing less than my full respect. What else is there to say? Congratulations on your victory; you've earned it." Raiden said.
The Electra Sisters were now on the arena field. Not to battle, but to really size up Raiden. "Seems Raiden really is different then most 'chu out there. He's got a real good heart. I seriously doubt even non-royals get his respect willy nilly." Lori said.
"You've got a point there. Seems so strange though." Emily said.
"Yeah. Raiden's like a major exception to the rule." Plusla said.
"...Hey, is it just me, or is there smoke coming from the woods where the Electra Sisters live?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"...Well now that you point that out, yes; it does look like there's smoke coming from that general direction." Shallor said.
"Is there a forest fire going on?" Night Wing asked.
"I couldn't tell you, but I bet we should hurry and contain it before it spreads." Twilight said.
"Leave this to the Shadowbolts!" Night Wing said.
However, as it turned out, the fire had started at the Electra Sisters estate, and unfortunately, it was too late to salvage the building. The fire was contained though and didn't spread too terribly far "Wha...who did this to our house?!" Mina exclaimed.
"I'll tell you who..." Raiden said, as he examined the soul around the area now that the fire was out. "It's this Evil 'Chu Tribe my team's been trying to capture for the longest time. They give 'chus like me a bad rap. And most other 'chu think it's okay to copy their behavior. Believe me, it's not."
"We did experience a 'chu tribe that tried to attack all of us a while back. Could it be the same tribe?" Emily asked.
"There's only one 'chu tribe that would go out of there way like that to attack Pika-clones like the lot of you mostly are; and it's the very same one me and my team have been trying to capture. We've just never been able to get anything to stick before." Raiden said.
"But between the attack you can testify too, and this? I think we've finally got something that can stick." Lightning said.
"My only question is, would you be willing to testify about the attack you underwent?" Raiden asked.
The grin on Lori's face spoke volumes as she said four simple words.
"We'd be glad to~" |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 21 - Go North Young Ponies | The elements, the CMC, the Electra Sisters, The Shadowbolts, Fortus Vile, Silver Spoon, Spoiled Rich, Spike, Ray, and Smolder were all on a train heading north past the crystal empire.
"I can't believe we're finally going to see the Eeveelution Kingdom. We've never physcially been here, only heard about it from Throsten and his wives." Night Wing said.
"I know it's been some time since we've last seen them, but Throsten did send the invite." Twilight said.
"Can somoene tell me why Throsten has eight wives? Or is this just some thing that has to be public knowledge at this point?" Fortus Vile asked.
"...He's got a fair point. Aren't there other princes or something in places as big as this Eeveelution Kingdom?" Spoiled Rich asked.
"There were. But because of a prophecy that was brought on by the hero of the kingdom, that sort of changed. A prohpecy that the Glaceon were really into apperently." Sunset said. "I don't know all the details."
"I do! I did research!" Twilight announced.
"Of course you did." Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes.
"Long ago, the dojo on top of the central mountain that the lands that make up the Eeveelution Kingdom revolve around was actually crafted by an entity whose evil knew know bounds. This evil being spread darkness across the nearby areas around the mountain, subjugating all sorts of Pokemon under the evil's cruel and merciless command. However, thanks to a Vaporeon that was visiting from outside the area, the lands were freed from the tyranny of the evil, and before the Vapreon vanished, he mentioned that one day evil would attempt to take over the lands once more, but that a courageous soul bearing his bloodline would be revealed and they would unite the lands under benevolent rule." Twilight said. "The words of the Vapreon hero becamed so ingrained in the culture of the royal Glaceon bloodline, that it wasn't wierd for that bloodline in particular to arrange marriges with the heirs that proved the most heroic. It just became pure chance that Throsten ended up making the prophecy come to pass."
"What do you mean?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Throsten wasn't originally going to be Gloria's husband, it was going to be this Flareon Prince. And that same prince was evil. He simply hid it away while he did everything he could to prove his own bravery. It led to Gloria's father wanting Gloria to be married to the Flareon Prince. However, Throsten was in love with Gloria, so to challenge the arranged marriage at all costs, Throsten invoked an ancient Glaceon test for males of the Glaceon Royal Bloodline: A race to the top of the nearby inactive volcano known as Mt. Death; it became known as Mt. Death because the icy terrain on the mountain made the path to the top a trecherous and dangerous climb. The Glaceon Royal Bloodline had a test for whenever multiple males are born to the royal family, where whoever reaches the top first was considered the bravest of the candidates, and became the true heir to the bloodline, where as the others were to be exiled from the kingdom and have any acknowledgement to their existance erased." Twilight answered.
"...That sounds harsh. So, Throsten invoked that very same test to win favor with Gloria's father so he and Gloria could become bewedded. Sounds both epic yet sappy at the same time. And I don't know how I feel about that." Rainbow Dash said.
"I honestly think it's sweet, it's like something out of a fairy tale." Diamond Tiara said.
"I suppose if things had been normal, it would've become a fairy tale in and of itself. Except the evil flareon prince was a sore loser, and from what I understand, he unleashed the spirits of some evil dragons from within the long dormant volcano. Of course, Throsten managed to call upon the blood of his forefather and revealed himself to be the fabled descendent of the Vaporeon Hero that saved the Eeveeltuion Kingdom long ago. So, because Throsten ended up being the fabled descendent of the Vaporeon hero, not only did Gloria become his wife, but the other royal bloodline princesses were made his wives too. Well, outside of the Flareon Princess. Due to her being so closely tied to the Flareon King who was just as evil as the Flareon Prince, she was spared from death on the sole condition that she would exile herself from the unified kingdom." Twilight said.
"I thought we already went over that last bit when Flare showed up?" Sunset asked.
"None of the kids were part of that discussion Sunset." Twilight said.
"Oh...right..." Sunset said.
Throsten and his wives would meet the ponies at the trainstation platform. "Hey, I'm glad you could make it. Sorry I haven't been down in a while. I've been kept busy between making sure the kingdom doesn't fall to pieces, and dealing with my kids."
"...Did you just say kids? As in plural?" Sunset asked. Suddenly, she was trappled over by NINE different Eevee kits that suddenly began jumping on Throsten's back.
"...Yes. I did say kids as in plural. I already thought one kid was a handful. Now I've got nine little bundles of joy. But I wouldn't have it any other way." Throsten said.
"Some 'mon's been busy it seems." Sunset said, recovering from getting runover by the Eevee kids.
Meanwhile, Fortus Vile had fainted as had Silver Spoon. "...Wait, why did they just faint?" Scootaloo asked.
Fluttershy began squeeling uncontrollably before she suddenly fainted. "...I think they just experienced cuteness overload." Throsten suggested. "Especially Fluttershy."
"...You know what? That would be Fluttershy's thing." Rainbow Dash admitted. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 5: Episode 22 - Lori | Electra Sisters Estate - Two Years Ago...
It had been tough, but now, the Electra Sisters and Lori can all rest. The 'chu tribe had fled the forest, and the estate was safe.
"You girls really know your teamwork. It's very good." Lori said.
"Yeah..." Plusla said. "Listen Lori...we're sorry if we were a little...mean about how we were saying you couldn't join."
"Water under the bridge." Lori said.
"It's nothing wrong with wanting to join. It's just...we've never really thought about having any non-Pika-clones as part of the sisterhood before." Mina said.
"But...I think we can come to an arrangement." Plusla said. "It's unprecedented, but I think all of us Electra Sisters can consider you an honorary member, Lori."
"Honarary member? What's that mean?" Lori said.
"It means you have permission to come and hang out with us whenver you want. And with your parent's permission, stay the night too if you want." Mina said.
"You'd...talk with my parents about this?" Lori asked.
"Yeah. But if they say no, then that's just mean. They shouldn't control you like that." Neutra said.
"Agreed. No parent should choose their child's friends." Emily said.
Lori smiled. "Heck, if they say no, I'd rather move away from my parents."
"Don't...run away from your parents. I'm sure we can talk things out with them." Darina said.
Present Day...
"Can't believe that same 'chu tribe damaged the Electra Sisters Estate. I hardly say the forest is safe anymore." Lori's father said.
"I'm worried about you dear. You sure your going to be okay in Ponyville for a while while everything calms down around the forest?" Lori's mother asked.
"I'll be fine mom. I'm not a baby anymore." Lori said.
"No. No I suppose your not. Your a Luxio now. You can have a lot more independence from us now." Lori's mom said.
"But if anything comes up, daughter; you know where to find us." Lori's father said.
"I know dad. I just hope nothing ever comes up that will require me to find you." Lori said before returning to Ponyville.
"...Can you believe it's been two years since we agreed to let her hang out with the Electra Sisters?" Lori's mother asked.
"Heh. I think she's maturing way faster then she would have otherwise. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if one day she became a Luxray in order to really show us how mature she's become." Lori's father said.
Lori arrived in Ponyville, and was about to pass by the Lightning Strike Orphanage Ponyville Branch when she accidently bumped into Lightning when she had gotten distracted when a gray pegasus hit a lamppost and said "I just don't know what went wrong."
"Oof! Oh hey Lori." Lightning said. "Let me guess: You got distracted by Derpy."
"...Is that that pegasus's name?" Lori asked.
"Yep. She's a mailmare for the post-office here." Lightning said. "Say, perhaps you'd like to observe Raiden and I at the orphanage today."
"You really want to invite her along?" Cozy Glow asked. Lori did a double take and noticed the Pegasus Filly on Lightning's back.
"...Whose the kid?" Lori asked.
"Her name is Cozy Glow. She was sent her from Manehatten because the orphanage there was bursting at the seems. Or so I was told. She's currently somewhat of an understudy of mine. Been teaching her how she can put her super genius towards some big things." Lightning said.
"Before Lightning, I've never once lost a single game of chess, let alone lost one so quickly. What can I say? He's been a great teacher." Cozy Glow said. "Better than the foster family I was with."
"...Wait, back up, I thought you were an orphan?" Lightning asked.
"I am. Legally, anyways. My birth parents disowned me for being born a Pegasus, while they were both unicorns. As such, I got put into the foster care system. I got adopted pretty quickly by one foster family, but they just couldn't handle being outsmarted by me, and returned me to the orphanage, which is how I got transferred here." Cozy Glow said.
"...Okay, that's just not cool. Your birth parents shouldn't have disowned you just because you weren't a unicorn. Talk about all kinds of bad. I'll certainly tell Twilight about this later. This sort of thing cannot go unchecked." Lightning said.
"...Well now I do want to observe you and Raiden at the orphanage." Lori said. Plus, this give me an excuse to see if everything I've read about him is true or not.
Later that day, it was time to put the orphans to bed for the night. "Well, it's pretty late now. Want to just stay over here at the orphanage tonight Lori? I'll help you back to Twilight's Castle in the morning. Have to head there with Cozy Glow anyways to let Twilight know about Cozy's birth parents." Lightning said.
"That's...fine. I guess." Lori said. "I'm just a little nervous still. Raiden makes Gallade look like evil tyrants. And that's so wierd to me."
"...Yeah. Plusla mentioned to me that you have a thing against all 'chus." Lightning said. "But, you can trust me when I say that Raiden's trying to do his part, to flip around the mentality of all 'chus one way, or another."
"...Ironically, if any creature of any species could probably do that, Raiden could do it. I believe it." Lori said. "Something about the way you trust him...makes me want to trust him. Which is a first for me. I've never trusted a 'chu before I even met you and Raiden, and now...now everything Raiden is flies in the face of my own philosophy. And despite that, I don't hate that I want to trust him because you trust him."
At that moment, there was a white glow from Lori, before she suddenly evolved into a Luxray. "...Whoa. Looks like you just evolved." Lightning said.
"Huh. Seems your evolution was triggered when you decided you could trust Raiden by trusting Lightning." Cozy Glow said. "...Or something like that. For once, even my super intellect has nothing."
"Well...I honestly don't care what the reason is." Lori said. "I really got to show my parents tomorrow after I let the sisters know I'm okay."
Suddenly, Twilight burst in through the door. "...Oh huh. Looks like Lori Evolved. Well, that's some good news today." The purple alicorn said.
"Twilight, what's wrong?" Lightning asked.
"Flash found Spitfire bleeding out near the edge of the Everfree Forest. Her injuries look serious. You and Raiden might want to take a look in case they were caused by that 'chu tribe you guys are after." Twilight said.
"Well that's more then enough reason then." Raiden said, suddenly appearing. "Take us to where Spitfire is being treated."
Sadly, as it turned out, Spitfire's injuries were caused by something much, much worse than what the 'chu tribe was capable of doing. She was barely hanging on to her own life. Future Spike wrote down. It seems Spitfire knew her time was up, because she called out to Rainbow Dash, where the former wonderbolt captain whispered three words to Rainbow Dash. Three words, yet they were obviously meant to be a warning. Just three words, yet they spoke volumes.
"Beware the Reaper". |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 1 - The Bravest Ever Part 1 | Ponyville was a complete and utter wreck to say the least.
Many houses were in shambles, with some parts of them just lying in the streets.
Or what's left of those streets, since the normal pathways were so unreconizable, it would be easy to become lost amongst the clutter.
And then, as the damage is being surveyed from some strange outside world, Throsten is suddenly flung right through a part of a destroyed building towards a very bruised and very battered main six.
"I've quite enjoyed this battle, which is something I can't say for any other battle I've had." Nozrog said as he suddenly came into view of the ponies and Throsten. "But I think we've reached the end here, you and I. Seems I finally found something you're afraid of Throsten: Death. But then again, who can blame you for being afraid of dying?"
Three Hours Earlier...
It was bright sunny day in Ponyville, and what was making this day super special was that well...the changelings were changing.
As it not shapeshifting. "I honestly can't believe what I'm seeing here..." Chrysalis said as she too was bearing witness. It had been a gradual process, but now every changeling aside from the queen was freeingly giving love. And this was causing a change to them all.
And while every changeling besides the queen was now in a glowing cacoon, it wasn't long before they came out of it, now a pastel of colors like the ponies.
"Wow. This is incredable." Sunset said. "I didn't get to meet any changelings besides Chrysalis in that other timeline, and while I knew something would change, seeing it happen live was something else entirely."
"I honestly can't wait to throw a 'changelings are the good guys' party soon." Pinkie Pie said.
"I'd love to help with that!" Cheese Sandwich was there, as he had actually come to ponyville to hang out for a few days.
"Ooooooo! I can't wait to attend that party!" Serendipity said.
"Wait...SERENDIPITY?!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed.
"Where'd she come from?" Flash Sentry asked.
"From the Eeveelution Kingdom silly~" Serendipity said.
"That's not what I asked!" Flash Sentry said. Twilight then tapped Flash Sentry on the shoulder before pointing at Throsten and his other wives and his children suddenly running their way.
"Serendipity must you always rush ahead?!" Throsten exclaimed.
"...Oh. Never mind then..." Flash Sentry said.
"It's nice for you to grace us with your presence Throsten, but what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Celestia asked.
"Well since Twilight and her friends decided to come up to the kingdom last month, I figured the least I could do in return was come and return the favor." Throsten said.
"Well that's very nice of you." Twilight said.
"Besides, Serendipity said that Ponyville was about to get a lot more color. She wasn't kidding it seems." Throsten said, looking at the new forms of the changelings.
For some reason though, Thorax had antlers and his brother had some horns to him. "...Not sure what's up with the horns on Thorax and his brother though." Chrysalis said.
"Yeah not even the alternate timeline's Chrysalis had those." Sunset said. "Apparently, there's still a lot about changelings we just don't know yet."
"In that sense, perhaps Chrysalasis's punishment can be that she helps me unravel some of those mysteries." Twilight said.
"That's honestly probably for the best. After all, as of this moment, I think it can be agreed on that when Ocellus becomes of age, she will become the new Changeling queen." Sunset said.
"That is the rule of changeling hives. And I know that mine was not the only one." Chrysalis said. "The others though...I am unsure of them. I know what kind of changelings they are, sure, but not where they are."
"You can forget looking for them..." A sudden evil voice said. It was Nozrog! "I've already wiped out every other hive in existance."
"Nozrog!" Throsten growled.
"You've returned again?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Oh yes. And I've also got Shallor distracted with something way up in the mountains." Nozrog said. "By the time he returns, there won't be an Equestria left as the Storm King will have taken it over."
"The Storm King? But that guy was dealt with hundreds of years ago by my grandfather." Raiden said.
"While that's true, this is that king's son I'm referring to. And he and I have the same enemies: You ponies and you Eeveelutions." Nozrog said. "So, I cut him a deal: If I make sure Equestria is all ready for take over by the Storm King, he'll return the favor by making sure the Eeveelution Kingdom is all good and ready for me to take over."
"Do you honestly expect him to hold true to that deal?" Twilight asked.
"Perhaps. But he would be wise to do so if he knows what's good for him." Nozrog said. "The Time for talk is over; now I unleash utter hell on you!" He said as he suddenly sliced with a strange syth object; aiming for Twigliht.
However, Chrysalis blocked the strike; taking the full brunt of the blow. "...Run...while you still can..." Chrysalis got out. "Try and buy time...for Shallor..." She said before she instantly fell limp and dead.
"...Stupid bug got in my way..." Nozrog said before the ponies and Eeveelution sans Throsten ran to buy time for Shallor. "...You believe you can fight me?"
"You have no idea what I'm capable of still." Throsten said.
"I am fully aware. But you won't be able to let those ponies get away from me." Nozrog said before suddenly a whole bunch of undead puppets in the forms of many of the ponies and Eeveelutions appear. "Go my puppets. Raze this village to the ground. Show these locals what happens if you cross Nozrog!" He ordered as the puppets set out to do just as they were commanded.
To be continued... |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 2 - The Bravest Ever Part 2 | Throsten watched as the puppets went off to find the Main six. "You...just what purpose are you trying to accomplish with this?"
"Why...death of course." Nozrog said. "I find the fact you mortals keep clinging to life in the ways you do to be total gag fests. Honestly, I'm surprised the speeches of friendship haven't made that Rainbow Dash turn into an utter villain just to spite you all. All this talk of friendship and hugs should make someone like Rainbow Dash turn into a villain. Yet, most of the time, she doesn't. And even when she does, she's still somehow miraculously defeated because some rule says only the good guys can win."
"Well, that's because you evil doers continue to try and take over the world and other such things." Throsten said.
"I don't want to take over the world though. I plan on eventually killing off every last mortal in all of existence. That's my goal. Because for all the talk of friendship and whatnot that worlds like this try to encourage the spread off, often times mortals still refuse to take that to heart and end up what you heroes would call 'evil'." Nozrog said. "And that's what makes me so sick of you mortals: You talk the talk, but you don't walk the walk. For every Twilgiht Sparkle there's at least ten other mortals who will seek to do terrible things. Maybe not 'take over the world' levels, but still terrible things. Such as destroying coral reefs, or polluting the oceans, or even grievingly hording their wealth. And that all funnels back to the elements of harmony these ponies just love to treasure so much. For all their worth, the elements of harmony are essentially just glorified deus ex machinias. And that's further sickinging to me."
"You...really just don't care who gets hurt..." Throsten said as the puppets began to tear Ponyville apart. "You only care about death and destruction. That's really your only goal."
"Oh yes, someone finally gets it." Nozrog said. "I want to kill for the sake of killing. What other reason do I need when you mortals continue spoting these positive messages, only for them to basically mean little to buck nothing?!" He exclaimed. "So I say, the only real solution is to just kill all mortals so that the undead can rise, and take over all of existance. Because the things you mortals want to protect won't matter to the undead. They don't need the things you mortals require to survive. And when everything doesn't need anything to survive...then it won't matter in the end if something gets polluted or destroyed, because the undead can live without it. There will no longer be anything to fight over or fight against. Everything will finally be as you heroes want it, peaceful."
"But that's just going way too far." Throsten said. "We can have peace without needing to basically kill everyone."
"And yet that peace never lasts does it? The only solution in the end is to just kill everyone and everything. And it seems, I have to appoint myself as that executor of mortal kind since no god or fate or whatever dares take that kind of extreme solution." Nozrog said.
"No matter what, we will never let you succeed." Throsten said.
"You can't defeat me." Nozrog readied his sythe weapon. "I'm The Reaper."
The Reaper
Nozrog
Nozrog was using all sorts of tricks to outsmart Throsten, in fact, almost right away, Nozrog had put Throsten on the back foot. Even when Throsten used his ancestral blood, nothing was going his way.
Meanwhile, the Main Six plus Throsten's wives were dealing with their own battle.
Undead Army
Nozrog's Puppets
The puppets were using their own tactics against them, it was literally like they were fighting themselves. It was quickly becoming an eternal stalemate with neither side gaining an inch, since the puppets had access to everything the heroes did and more.
Eventually, the group decided to change things up with the ponies going after the Eeveelution Puppets and Throsten's wives going after the Pony Puppets. However, it was quickly discovered that the damage was still intense, and it left Ponyville in a state of near and utter ruin.
Ponyville was a complete and utter wreck to say the least from the battle.
Many houses were in shambles, with some parts of them just laying in the streets.
Or what's left of those streets, since the normal pathways were so unreconizable, it would be easy to become lost amongst the clutter.
And then, as the damage is being surveyed from some strange outside world, Throsten is suddenly flung right through a part of a destroyed building towards a very bruised and very battered main six.
"I've quite enjoyed this battle, which is something I can't say for any other battle I've had." Nozrog said as he suddenly came into view of the ponies and Throsten. "But I think we've reached the end here, you and I. Seems I finally found something you're afraid of Throsten: Death. But then again, who can blame you for being afraid of dying?" He added before he readied his sythe.
"That's where your wrong." Throsten said as he got up; suddenly be began glowing with dark power, but something about it was different this time. "Sure, I'm at risk of dying, but so what? I'm not afriad. I know you can easily end me if I get in close. But that's a risk I'm willing to take. I don't care if you kill me, because at least, if I go fast enough, even that won't stop me. You'll still lose in the end." Throsten finished before he suddenly started going insanely fast at Nozrog.
For Nozrog, it was like time had suddenly stopped. I...I don't understand...he...he should be cowering in total fear after the beating I gave him! Nozrog thought to himself. And yet...even now staring into his eyes, I just can't see any fear in his actions. There's no hesitation, no fear, no regrets... the thoughts continued. He...he isn't afraid to die...not in the slightest. Because really, in his mind, so long as he takes me down with him, he doesn't care if he dies at all... the thoughts went on. I...I never thought I'd actually ever admit this...but Throsten...Throsten really is the bravest ever... the thoughts concluded before things resumed and Throsten rocketed right into Nozrog, sending the reaper flying off. "YOU STILL HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME!" Nozrog yelled as he disappeared like a star in the sky. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 3 - Throsten's Kids | It had taken less then 24 hours to repair Ponyville, as the newly reformed changelings gladly helped out.
"Ugh...that Nozrog's gotten clever suddenly. He wasn't like this before, I can tell you that much." Shallor said. "It's like suddenly everything about him has been cranked up to an eleven."
"All the same, thanks for your help in repairing the town." Twilight said to Thorax.
"Hey, no problem. You've been letting us stay at the castle which somehow, was the only structure that didn't get damaged. So, the least we could do to repay that was help rebuild the town." Thorax said.
"That's not wrong I suppose..." Pharyanx said. "But I am a little curious as to how the Castle didn't get damaged when there was that huge of a battle going on."
"Beats me..." Twilight said.
"Wee! Look at me!" Pinkie Pie said, as she was suddenly bouncing around with all of Throsten's kids on her.
"Uh oh...I think Pinkie Pie's got that babysitting look in her eyes again..." Twilight said.
"I was actually hoping one of you ponies could look after my kids for a couple of days. I could really use some time with my wives for a while. Especially Gloria." Throsten said.
"...Err..." Twilight was about to argue.
"So I'm glad the kids have latched onto Pinkie Pie. Makes that process easy." Throsten said as he and his wives left.
"...Wait, did Throsten and his wives just leave?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"...You just had to have Throsten's kids attach themselves to you, didn't you?" Sunset asked.
"Well, I'm sure I really can handle this this time. Because this time, I know what I'm doing!" Pinkie Pie said.
"...I guess in all fairness, you would." Sunset said.
Surprising every pony, Pinkie Pie did in fact do well with Throsten's Kids, plus the Baby Cakes had some fun with them too.
...Though it did cause a mess at Sugarcube Corner at one point...
A few days later, Throsten and his wives came back. "Aw, the little bundles of joy are all sleeping." Throsten said as his wives picked up the kids. "Thanks for looking after them, Pinkie Pie." Throsten said.
"No sweat. Just ah...don't do that again sometime soon. Mr. and Mrs. Cake are still cleaning up the mess they and the Baby Cakes made while they were here." Pinkie Pie said.
"Kids will be kids no matter what species they are, huh?" Throsten asked.
"You have no idea." Pinkie Pie said. "Especially those Eevees and the Baby Cakes..."
"Well, here's hoping that they'll still be tired for bedtime tonight." Throsten said as he and his wives left with the kids.
And once they were fully out of sight, Pinkie Pie just...crashed and started sleeping.
"...I'm guessing we should probably not wake her..." Sunset whispered.
"Good idea..." Twilight said.
The Ponies then proceeded to get Pinkie Pie into Sugarcube corner and in her usual bed before they left her to sleep for the day. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 4 - Not so Vile (On Your Marks AU) (Easter Madness 2024) | It's was yet another great day in Ponyville, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were at their clubhouse.
"So, are we ready to go find ponies to help with their cutie marks?" Apple Bloom asked.
"And maybe help those that don't have cutie marks yet find theirs." Diamond Tiara said.
"Hey, we should check up on Fortus Vile, see how he's doing." Sweetie Belle said.
"Sounds great. Let's do that." Scootaloo said.
The group found Fortus Vile doing some things around the school after hours for Miss Cheerilee, and there was something else.
"Hey, is that a Gold Star (S64) from Miss Cheerilee?" Diamond Tiara asked noticing what Fortus Vile was wearing.
"Why yes it is. I've actually gone pass the need to keep doing community service, but I figured I'd do some stuff for Miss Cheerilee. She does spend so much time teaching us that she deserves a little something." Fortus Vile said.
"Well that's very good for you. Just don't go and get a big head about it." Diamond Tiara said.
"Nah. But, I did come across some fliers for activities you girls might want to consider doing." Fortus Vile said before handing over some fliers.
"What's this about?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Hey, you can do things on your owns you do realize that yes? You don't have to do everything together. Plus, think of it this way: You're that much more likely to run into a pony you can help with your special talent that way." Fortus Vile said.
"Not a bad idea. We could give that a shot." Apple Bloom said.
Each member of the CMC did their own thing, with Apple Bloom doing a dance class that ended up with her meeting Tender Taps. Who had a passion for wanting to dance, but he had a serious case of stage freight. Apple Bloom wasn't very good at dancing though herself, yet she could tell Tender Taps was.
So when Apple Bloom revealed that Tender Taps didn't have his cutie mark yet because of his stage frieght to the others, using the skills they learnt through their classes, they helped Tender Taps overcome his stage frieght and get his cutie mark.
"That was...amazing. I mean really, props where props are due, I didn't think you girls would be able to pull off something like that." Fortus Vile said.
"Hey, it was your idea to try so many different things that made this possible." Scootaloo said.
"Indeed, don't sell yourself short." Sweetie Belle said.
"You did real good with that." Diamond Tiara admitted.
"What more is there to say? We'll have to see if we can do this again some time soon. Hopefully, next time it's with a class I can actually do." Apple Bloom said. All five foals laughed at that. "...I'm being serious by the way." Apple Bloom interrupted the laughter.
"You're starting to sound a little like I did. So you might want to reign that in." Fortus Vile said.
Apple Bloom then spent some time calming herself down. Though when Tender Taps tried to do some flirting with Apple Bloom, he got glared at by Diamond Tiara as he walked away. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 5 - Tales from the Past | It was quite the normal day in Ponyville, though what was quite intense today was the fact that the mayor of Lightning Town, Mayor Flash Sentry the Luxray, was visiting.
"It's a pleasure for you agreeing to give me a tour of Ponyville today. Even if you are a royal, I have to say, between the museum in Lightning Town and your part in finally ridding the world of the curse of the Horris Family curse, I'd say you have a bright future ahead of your nation of Equestria if I do say so myself." Mayor Flash said.
"Well that's very nice of you to say, Mayor." Twilight Sparkle said, and she was with Flash Sentry at the railroad station of Ponyville.
"I do hear there's some concerns though about something in regards to the Storm King's own son being in league with that shapeshifter formally known as Gorzon yes?" Mayor Flash asked.
"That is true. Though he goes by Nozrog now." Flash Sentry said.
"So I've heard." Mayor Flash stated.
"Were you...alive at all back then?" Twilight asked.
"...I was actually born shortly after the first Storm King was defeated. My father however was very much keen on telling me the tragic history of that dark time as I grew up." Mayor Flash said. He then shook his head. "While I won't recount the full details, the basic summery is this: 'The first Storm King was a very ruthless and tyrannical ruler who; as his title implied; was able to manipulate the weather at will. Whoever dared to even stand up to him was always overpowered, and then struck by a deadly bolt of lightning summoned by the Storm King himself.' According to my father, it was because of that, that it was hard for any rebellion to be started."
"But a rebellion did start. According to what Sunset discovered, it was Raiden's grandfather who led a large rebellion that defeated the first Storm King." Twilight said.
"My father's recollection of when that happened paints a darker picture. According to his own eyewitness report, he knew that there was one Pichu who grew up under this ruthless command who hated the Storm King with a burning passion. He was able to somehow outsmart and outwit the Storm Soldiers at every turn, using his small size to his advantage. Years would pass, and that Pichu would evolve into a Pikachu, who quickly was rising up to be a true thorn in the Storm King's side. The Storm King was getting desperate, and wanted the Pikachu caught alive or dead; and declared that anyone that helped the Pikachu would be seen as a traitor. This actually led to a few of the townsfolk to resent the Pikachu at one point. In fact, it got to the point where a large chunk of the town just wanted the problem to go away." Mayor Sentry said.
Meanwhile abord the Storm King's Vessel whose exact location is unknown...
Nozrog quickly got up from the healing tables. "Ugh...that wretched Umbreon. Next time I see him, I will end him personally. No one makes a fool of me like that twice."
"I thought you had planned for his being there." A load booming voice said.
"What do you think the puppets were for? I wanted to see that Umbreon squirm, as I filled him with fear." Nozrog said. "...But I underestimated just how brave that Umbreon has truly become. That's a mistake I don't plan on making a second time, I assure you of that."
"Hmph." The load voice said.
"Besides, the data I was able to collect based on the memories of those puppets will allow you to truely break the so called 'holders of the elements' down and allow you to not have to worry about their friendship laser or whatever they call it." Nozrog said. "So we do have that advantage."
"...Very true you are Nozrog. Those ponies will not see this coming. And I am glad you were able to confirm that no one of the Voltage Family lives in Ponyville." The load voice said.
"Heh heh. That would be something else. Also, I did tell those ponies one lie, in regards to your identity that is." Nozrog said. "I would love to see the despair on the folks who live in Lightning Town, when it's revealed who you really are..." He then grinned. "...Storm King the First~"
A mighty figure soon turned around in the chair Nozrog was talking to the back of.
"That would be a sight to see. Something I will be very keen on seeing firsthand. Especially after that Pikachu accomplished what he did. I don't even know how he got that rebellion to commence, but he did." The Storm King said.
Back in Ponyville...
"If the town wanted the problem gone, how did the rebellion start if they thought Raiden's grandfather was the problem?" Flash Sentry asked.
"Because Raiden's Grandfather was able to turn the town on the real cause of their woes: The Storm King. Soon, it was more than just a lone Pikachu attacking the troops of the Storm King, it was a much larger crowd. At one point, one of the soldiers dropped a Thunderstone which Raiden's Grandfather used to fully cement himself as the leader of the massive rebellion whose goal was to take down the Storm King and demolish his tyranny once and for all." Mayor Flash said. "...And well, you know the rest from there..."
"...Raiden's Grandfather cornered the Storm King, and forced him out of town." Twilight asked. "I do have to wonder something though..." Twilight said.
"Oh really? What's got you curious Princess Twilight?" Mayor Flash asked.
"How long...does the species of the storm king even live for? Did anyone check?" Twilight asked.
Mayor Flash's eyes widened. "No...no you don't think..."
"I...I wish I wasn't thinking it, but there's a chance. A slim chance, but a chance...that the Storm King from then, is the same one as of now..." Twilight said.
"Th-that won't be good. We need to convince Shallor to really get us ready for such a large invasion." Flash Sentry said. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 6 - Prelude to the Test (Easter Madness 2024) | "You seriously want me to prepare equestria for a large scale invasion force?" Shallor asked Twilight. It was only a mere few hours later from when Twilight and Flash Sentry wanted to convince Shallor to prepare equestria for an invasion.
"Look, your on about making sure the darkness doesn't get a lot of power right? So, you should help us." Flash Sentry said.
"I could...on one condition and one condition only." Shallor said.
"Okay...what do are you going to ask for in return now?" Twilight asked. Over the past few months, whenever one of the ponies around Ponyville wanted to ask a favor of Shallor, he would always ask for something in return. And it always varied, though it always seemed to be at least an equivalent exchange for whatever it was the Ponies were asking for in the first place.
Shallor pointed at Twilight suddenly. "If you want my help in defending Equestria, you and your friends are going to have to pass my final exam." Shallor said.
"Wait...wait what?!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed.
"Are...are you insane?! They may not be ready for such a thing." Flash Sentry said.
"That's not your place to say. It's mine." Shallor said. "Just know that if you fail to pass, Eqeustria will be doomed to this tyrannical menace unless you find some way to stop it on your own. Which you won't, trust me on that."
"I'd rather take my chances with finding a solution without your help then!" Flash Sentry said.
"No. I'm taking the risk. I know it'll cost us some time we could use to prep otherwise, but I don't want there to be any doubts here." Twilight said. "You want me and the girls to pass you exam? Then we'll take your exam."
"Heh. I was hoping you'd say that. Just don't expect me to pull any punches. You and your friends have three days to prepare yourselves for my final exam. During which time, you won't see me around Ponyville while I pick out a location for my Final Exam to take place. For it will be a true test of your skills, a Final Trail." Shallor said. "And you have accepted the right to the Final Trail."
Suddenly a V burn mark appeared on one of Twilight's legs. "What the...what's this?" Twilight asked.
"That is the mark of the Final Trail. By accepting the Final Exam, you have accepted the right to attempt The Final Trial. You best start preparing. You and your friends only have three days to get ready after all." Shallor said before he suddenly vanished into a purple fire that he conjured up.
"T-twilight..." Flash Sentry said.
"It's alright Flash. This Final Trial thing won't do anything bad. This is just the way Shallor likes to do things it seems. We shouldn't worry about it too much." Twilight said. "I have full confidence in me and my friends to pull this off."
The Elements were already making their preparations upon being told about Shallor's Final Exam. As it turned out, Twilight wasn't the only one who received the mark of the final trial; Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity all received the mark as well.
Still, the seven ponies had no time to waste: They needed to get started on their training and reviewing everything they know in preparation for Shallor's Final Exam.
Pinkie Pie was doing things that made some fun out of the skills they learnt.
Fluttershy got her animals involved. Even Angel was willing to help out. Butterscotch too. (The story of why Butterscotch is still there, will be revealed at a later point in time.)
Rainbow Dash got the Shadowbolts to assist her, though there was one day where Derpy fell out of the sky with a letter from the Cargo Cult that Night Wing and Sunset helped out some time ago that had the Golden Seal (S66) of Princess Luna.
"Ah, a letter from Princess Luna. It's basically a report on how she and her sister are helping the Cargo cult understand things from beyond their little neck of the woods." Night Wing said. "I should go check up on them down the road. After you pass that Final Exam Rainbow Dash."
"Heh. I won't fail you, Captain!" Rainbow Dash said.
Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, and Sunset worked together with a training regimen that was testing their absolute limits.
This continued for the entire three days up to when the Final Exam would take place.
And after the third day of training, a mysterious purple envolope appeared before Twilight Sparkle. Seeing as how the Envolope had a gray "V" marked on it, she opened it.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I do hope you and your friends haven't been slacking off in my absence. We'll see soon enough just how strong you and your friends have really gotten. Meet me just outside the old Griffonstone Border; the place now turned into a desolate desert by you know who. There, I will conduct the final trail. Spectators are welcome and stands will be provided. But only you and your friends may actually take the trial, Twilight Sparkle. No help from anyone outside of your core group of friends who wield the other elements of harmony. Oh, and just so your aware of this other fact: You won't be allowed to use your friendship laser on me at all during this exam. Using even once is an instant failure. You and your friends must learn the hard way not to not rely on it.
"...Guess it's time." Twilight said.
The group headed for the old Griffonstone Border. Little did they know what Shallor had in store for them. And some ponies, griffons, and even Changelings came to spectate.
"...So, you didn't run away. Good. I was hoping you wouldn't." Shallor said.
"I gotta know something first Shallor: Weren't you at some point known as Shadow Rob?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Shallor suddenly closed his eyes and titled his head towards the skies above. "...No one's called me that name in four hundred ninty-four months to the date exactly." Shallor said. "But the time for talk is over."
"...Wait, why do I suddenly hear boss music?" Rainbow Dash asked.
To Be Continued... |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Special Episode: Showdown with Shallor! - Both the Same | Previously, Twilight agreed to Shallor's Final Exam; a final trial. This would be a battle consisting of the purple alicorn herself, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Appljack, and Rarity all against the Shadow Lord himself, Shallor.
But if they really thought this was going to be a cakewalk, their world was about to get wrocked.
"...Shadow Rob..." Shallor suddenly reflected. "...No one's called me that name in exactly four hundred ninety-four months."
"...I knew it..." Rainbow Dash said.
"...That being said..." Shallor said as he suddenly snapped his fingers. Suddenly, purple flame began to surround a set part of the area.
Rainbow Dash suddenly looked around. "...Why do I hear boss music?" She asked.
As the flames began to fully circle the area, Shallor cast off his cape in a dramatic fashion before a giant purple tornado apeared to lift him up high. "I did warn you that I was not going to hold back in the slightest, and I meant it!" Shallor said.
The Shadow Lord - Shallor
The first thing that happened as the battle began was that smaller purple tornados covered the ground, preventing any of the earth ponies from getting close, though the high winds from the big one made it hard for Rainbow Dash to even get close, but she was able to quickly dispurse the big tornado as Shallor got comboed by the others, but he quickly teleported out of the combo before he summoned the giant purple tornado again.
"...Not bad. But I'm just getting warmed up." Shallor said. Suddenly he had a huge ball of purple fire that he was summing above his head, and it was launching small purple fire balls out like crazy.
Though Applejack and Pinkie Pie worked together to quickly disappaite the large purple tornado again, and sent Shallor into a second combo beat down, but he still teleported out of it and summoned another large purple tornado. "You really should realize the time for niceties are long over!" Shallor said before there were sudden purple explosions going off right left and center, keeping all seven ponies on their toes this time.
However, Rarity, Twilight, and Sunset still managed to dismantle the big tornado and sent Shallor into a third combo. But once again, he teleported out of it. "Play time is officially over; I'm done warming up." Shallor said now he was sending out flying purple Vs off his forhead.
As Rainbow Dash tried a second time to disappate the shadow tornado like the last three times, suddenly, she felt herself slow down for some reason as Shallor suddenly jumped above the shadow tornado. "YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THEN THAT!" Shallor said before he suddenly callpased the tornado himself, and Rainbow Dash's speed returned to normal.
"Wait, what just happened?" Rainbow Dash said before what seemed like a bizillion copies of Shallor just charging out of the fire that deditacted the areana started pelting all of the ponies within, and it was impossible to dodge them all.
The pelting went on for quite some time before Shallor suddenly emerged into the air, holding another large purple fire ball. "LET'S SEE YOU WITHSTAND THE LIKES OF THIS!" Shallor said before he suddenly came crashing down with the purple fire, causing a massive explosion that threw the ponies for a loop and caused them all to get quite injured from it.
"Oh come on, don't tell me your done already." Shallor said. "If this is really the extent you can muster against me, perhaps I'll have to take drastic measures." The Shadow Lord paused for dramatic effect. "...I'll have to remove your connection with the elements."
"Wh-what?!" Sunset suddenly exclaimed. "C-can you even do that?"
"Of course I can do that. It's my job to make sure those like the seven of you can stand up to the likes of the Storm King. And if this is really the extent at which you are capble of fighitng, it means your group is flawed. In that case, there is only one solution: Remove your connection with the elements so that they may find a new group to bound with!" Shallor said.
"Y-you can't do that! We've come so far." Sunset said.
"Wrong! If you really had come as far as you claim, you would actually stand up to me and start taking this seriously. Because if you can't defeat the likes of me, you don't get to call yourselves the chosen of the elements." Shallor said. "So, are you really going to let me take away your connections to the elements? Or are you going to do what you should do; and treat this seriously?"
I...I can feel it... Sunset suddenly thought to herself. I can feel...Shallor's Emotions. He...he really only wants the best of the light. That's his job. Her thoughts continued. "...I was wrong about you. You can feel emotions." Sunset said. "But this isn't about what you feel right now. This is about how I feel. And I won't let you take away the path I've carved for myself; no matter what!"
"Heh...will admit you got us, but we ain't backing down. Not after that speech." Appplejack said.
For a moment, there was a smirk on Shallor's lips. "...Good..." Shallor said before he suddenly put a dark aura around himself. "I WAS HOPING YOU'D SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"
The music suddenly restarted as shots of both sides suddenly happened.
Shallor smirked again, and the ponies got ready to face his true potential, which involved all the tricks he used before.
Standing Here
I realize
You are just like me, trying to make history.
But who's to judge
The right from wrong?
When our guard is down, I think we'll both agree
That violence breeds violence!
But in the end
it has to be this way!!
The battle ranged on amongst the lyrics, as the ponies started to retaliate in much smarter and better ways.
I've carved my own path,
You followed your wrath;
But maybe we're both the same...
The world has turned,
And so many have burned;
But nobody is to blame.
Yet staring across this barren wasted land;
I feel new life will be born
Beneath the blood stained sand!!
The ponies were starting to use their own tactics to counter Shallor's various attacks, and even started parrying them back to the Shadow Victini in question.
Standing Here
I realize
You are just like me, trying to make history.
But who's to judge
The right from wrong?
When our guard is down, I think we'll both agree
That violence breeds violence;
But in the end,
it has to be this way!!
The battle was hitting it's climax now, the ponies had a plan they wanted to put in motion.
I've carved my own path,
You followed your wrath;
But maybe we're both the same...
The world has turned,
And so many have burned;
But nobody is to blame.
Yet staring across this barren wasted land;
I feel new life will be born
Beneath the blood stained sand!!
And as the music finally was hitting it's last beats, a final buck from Applejack sent Shallor right into the shadow fire barrier.
Shallor teleported into the center of the arena though before he hit the ground, he was clutching an arm. "Dang...you really got me good there. I'm not ashamed to admit it. You really left your mark on my physical form. No joke there. It'll take me several weeks to heal this up." Shallor said before he snapped his fingers. The shadow fire barrier was now gone.
"...Phase two?!" Sunset excalimed.
"...No. I admit defeat." Shallor said. "By the way, I don't really actually have the power to remove your connections to the elements. That was just something I said to get you to take the fight seriously."
"What? You mean you lied to us?!" Applejack exclaimed. "Ah don't know if ah should apploud you for being so creative with your lie, or embarrased that even I fell for it."
"There are several kinds of lies in this world Applejack; and one kind is one that's so convincing, that even your connection to the Element of honesty can't get you to spot it. Especially if such a lie is told in the heat of battle." Shallor said. "Such a lie, is so easy to believe, so capable of being true, that in that sort of scenario, you can really lose what's really true, and what's effectively false. Honestly, you shouldn't blame yourself for letting your own emotions get the better of you."
"...I had a feeling it had to be a lie." Sunset said. "The moment you said that lie, I could sense your true emotions and intentions clear as day. And it worked. You made us take this fight seriously, all so you could really tell how far we had come."
"But of course. After all..." Shallor said. "...The best defense Equestria can have, can be found in the seven of you. I only help where I can. And while I will certainly prepare you some sort of additional defenses, just remember how you fought with me here today. Because I can garentee you, the Storm King won't be as nice as I am."
"...That was the lesson you wanted to impart on us by doing this, isn't it? That was your goal along." Twilight said.
"Heh heh, what can I say?" Shallor asked. "I knew you could win from the outset, I just wanted you to believe that for yourselves."
"...You're a strange being Shallor..." Sunset said. "You may always be forever shrouded with alterative motives for everything you do, but one thing will always remain with you: You want what's best for our world, and that's something you can't stop yourself from exposing on your sleeve."
"...Hmph. That's one thing you could interrupt about my actions. We're all entitled to our own opinions, aren't we?" Shallor asked.
Sunset smiled. Try as he could to hid it, the smirk on his face gave away the pride he was feeling about knowing he had helped the seven friends who came together to defeat Nightmare Moon realize their full potential. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 7 - Nozrog's Lie Exposed | A party was now at the old Griffonstone border and the Pokemon from Lightning Town were participating in this celebration. Every pony, ling, mon, and griffon alike was having a great time.
But in the middle of the party, Twilight approuched Shallor. "Excuse me for a moment, I'd had to break up the mood, but there's something I need to talk about."
"Alright. We can talk. Just don't expect many answers." Shallor asked.
"This is important. It's in regards to Nozrog." Twilight said. "Something he said bothers me, and I need to get to the truth."
"...Huh. If this is about something Nozrog said, that changes things." Shallor said.
"First, I'd just like to confirm if knowing how long a specific species can live for is part of your job." Twilight said.
"...Well not really. But it is information that I'm allowed to have knowledge of on the off chance it helps the light beat out darkness." Shallor said. "Yet so far, not a single time has it proven useful. I can sense that might change based on what Nozrog said."
"I see. In that case, do you know what species the Storm King was? The one that took over Lightning Town years ago?" Twilight asked.
"Ah. You are referring to his exact species. From what I understand, he's a kind of creature called a 'Storm Creature'; a giant hedgehog like creature. The Storm King is an even more advanced version of his own troops, in fact I'd go so far as say he's his own kind of species." Shallor said. "But if your asking if I've dealt with such a soul, I have not. And I checked the logs, such a creature has not been cast through the Fire Pits yet."
"...In that case, his species lives for a long time, yes?" Twilight asked.
"Well yeah. I'd say about a thousand years or so, why do you ask?" Shallor asked.
"....Mayor Sentry, how long ago did you say the Storm King conqured Lightning Town?" Twilight asked.
"Well, it was...about...oh...oh no..." Mayor Sentry looked tense.
"Father? Father is something wrong?" Lightning asked.
"Th-the storm king's reign...it had begun only seventy years ago!" Mayor Sentry said.
"Y-you mean...when Nozrog said that--" Rainbow Dash picked up what was being thrown down.
"Yes. Nozrog pulled the same trick on us that Shallor did during the Final Trail." Twilight said. "...He put forth a believable lie, and we let our emotions believe he had to be telling the truth for we didn't know better."
"...Wait hold up, are you saying the Storm King from back then, is coming back and planning on doing things on a much grander scale then last time?!" Shallor exclaimed.
"That's the logical conclusion I'm reaching, based on everything we know." Twilight said.
"...I...I don't believe this." Shallor said.
"Let him come." Raiden suddenly said.
"...R-raiden?" Lightning asked.
Raiden used a fist to strike an open paw. "If this really is the same Storm King of old, then I owe it to my grandfather to make sure he can't succeed." He said.
"...You know what. Your right. We can't allow that tyrant to succeed." Lightning said.
"Twilight Sparkle..." Raiden said. "I insist you allow Team Strikers to assist in taking down this tyrant."
"Of course Raiden; I was going to ask anyways." Twilight said.
"...I'm not about to allow just Team Strikers to see this through." Mayor Sentry said.
"...Father?" Lightning asked.
"I stood by and couldn't stop the mafia gangsters from seizing the town. I care not if Equestria is ruled by alicorns princesses; I absolutely refuse to let tradegy repeat itself." Mayor Sentry said.
"Father!" Lightning was shocked to say the least.
"Heh heh. Now I see it. Now I see where Lightning really gets his courage from." Raiden said.
"...No Raiden. It's the other way around." Mayor Sentry said. "I'm getting this courage because of my own son showing courage."
"Dang...well count me in too in that case." Cozy Glow said.
"As if we'd let this Storm King try and change the way of life we're accostumed too now." Gilda suddenly said. "I think we griffons are assiting too."
"Well don't think your counting us Changelings out either. In fact, I think Chrysalis would prefer if we assited in the takedown of the Storm King; the very same guy Nozrog's alligned with." Pharynx said. "Or has any creature forgotten the fact that...that monster killed Chryaslis?"
"To be fair, he was aiming for me; she just blocked the attack." Throsten said. "But I understand what your getting at. There's just...something I need to get home to first."
"Eh? What's up Throsten?" Raiden asked.
"It's my father...he's on his death bed." Throsten said.
"...Oh..." Twilight said.
"He's had a good run, but he wants to tell me something before he goes." Throsten said.
"Ah. I see. Well, you should go to your father young prince." Mayor Sentry said. "He may have a secret to beating the Storm King. Even if that chance is slim, that's a chance we need."
"I know. I'll be back soon though." Throsten said and left with his wives.
"...I hope Throsten's going to be okay." Pinkie Pie said.
"He will. I believe in him. I believe he will survive the Storm King's assult." Twilight said.
Meanwhile...
...Wh-what is this feeling I'm getting? Nozrog suddenly thought to himself, bolting up in a cold sweat from his bed. Wh-why can I suddenly feel that...that someone...someone is going to die when we invade Equestria? And how could I possibly know that? Wh-what is happening to me? |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 8 - Rumble at Heart (A Hearth's Warming Tail Background) | It was time for things to be getting ready for Hearth's Warming Eve, though Scootaloo was having issues with the falling snow.
"Ugh. I am able to fly just fine without all the snow falling." Scootaloo said.
"Yeah, that took me a while to have to work out too. Sure, I still struggle some too, just not as much." Rumble said.
"So, I"m willing to bet your wanting to help me deal with that." Scootaloo said.
"Sadly, there's not really any big secret here. It just takes practice." Rumble said. "But don't let that discourage you. You are Scootaloo, and you shouldn't let something like this stop you in your tracks."
"Heh. Thanks Rumble. Let's really have this take flight then." Scootaloo said.
It didn't really go as well as Scootaloo wanted, but she didn't give up. And she still had issues with the snow falling. Still, thanks to the practice, she felt like she could get better from here.
"Honestly, I'm actually surprised you got up to this sort of level. Guess I'll have to really start pushing myself before you get too far ahead of me." Rumble said. "I wouldn't want you to get a big ego after all."
"Heh, mom would probably put me in my place in a nanosecond if I let this go to my head. But it is nice to hear you care about that." Scootaloo said.
"Yeah. Your an awesome filly Scootaloo. Like, super amazingly so. And that's got nothing to do with Rainbow Dash essentially having been your mom for three years. If anything, that's just a bonus I'd say." Rumble said. "You are awesome in your own way; don't ever forget that."
"...Geez, why does that sound so sappy?" Scootaloo asked.
"Sorry, I wasn't really trying to sound that way. I'm just saying that I think your special in your own way." Rumble said.
"Well thanks for that, though I could've worked that out for myself." Scootaloo said.
"Dang it Scootaloo, I'm trying to compliment you here. I know Pegasi like us can be stubborn, but you don't have to take after Rainbow Dash to this degree." Rumble said. He then sighed. "Look, you should really just be your own pony; devolop your own style. You don't have to match Rainbow Dash to the nth degree or whatever." Rumble then took off on his own.
"...Uh...uh oh..." Scootaloo said. "I-I'm suddenly a little worried I...I ran him off..." She then flew off after him.
Rumble sighed as he perched on a stray cloud. Honestly, I really hope she doesn't get too much like Rainbow Dash. I'd hate for her to change who she is at her core... Rumble thought to himself.
"Rumble." Scootaloo said, coming up onto the cloud.
"Oh. Hey Scootaloo." Rumble said.
"Don't you hey me. Be honest, have I actually upset you at all?" Scootaloo asked.
That caught Rumble off guard. "Where's that question coming from all of a sudden?" Rumble asked. No seriously, where did that come from?
"Well, you sounded like I made you really upset and then just flew off without much more of a word. So I hope your not running away because I'm being a little stubbern." Scootaloo said.
"What? No. I wasn't running away. I just thought you know...we were done for the day is all." Rumble said.
"Well now we're not. Something's obviously bothering you. And I have to know what exactly that is." Scootaloo said. "I'd hate to hear you want nothing more to do with me, because I...I think I'd hate that."
That actually caught Rumble further off guard. "...Okay, where is this coming from?" Rumble asked, now genuially worried.
"I-I don't know. I just...I just can't stand it if you decided you no longer wanted to support me." Scootaloo said.
"...Th-that's just redicious. But I guess...I guess I would hate to have to do that too." Rumble said.
Scootaloo don't know why she was smiling, but she was. "Well that's good to hear. Look, we're Pegasi. We're ment to be stubborn. So please, don't think I'm taking too much after Rainbow Dash. Because I'm not. I honestly couldn't stand it if you decided to utterly bail on me." Scootaloo said.
"...Well, you may not be taking fully after your mother, but you certainly got something from her. Namely her loyalty." Rumble said. "Besides, I think...after this much time together...we're more then just friends aren't we?"
"Yeah. Yeah I'd say we've connected on a level beyond what I have with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Diamond Tiara." Scootaloo said.
"So, the feeling's mutual huh? I know we're a little young to be thinking about love and stuff like that, but we know each other pretty well at this point don't we?" Rumble asked.
"Heck yeah we do. I'm surprised how not sappy that sounded." Scootaloo said.
"Hey, that just goes to show, maybe we're rubbing off on each other a little." Rumble said. "Still, I'd think we've grown together. And I'd like to keep growing with you, Scootaloo."
Scootaloo was suddenly blsuhing, but she had a straight face on. "I think I'd like that." Scootaloo said. "A lot." |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 9 - Trouble in Manehatten (The Saddle Row Review AU) | The entire group was on their way to Manehattan, ready to help opening week at the Manehatten Branch of Rarity's business.
"This is rather stressful. Especially since we know we'll be helping to make sure Saddle Row doesn't give the shop a low score." Sunset said.
"Well, the shop location is up ahead." Twilight said. "We'll be meeting up with Coco Pummel there."
Upon entering, the group found Coco Pummel looking a little frantic. "Um...Coco? What's up with you?" Applejack asked.
"Oh! I'm very glad your here. This...this is just terrible. And during opening week too." Coco Pummel said.
"Wh-what's wrong? Did you do something wrong?" Twilight asked.
"I-I hope not. I've barely even started working, and already I've got issues." Coco then showed the group a letter she was holding onto.
Dear Coco Pummel,
You don't me, and that's going to change soon. For you see, you and I have some business later today. That is, me killing you in a fashion that's going to bring about utter despair. It's nothing personal, but some pony wants you bucking dead. And they are paying a fortune to see to that end. Seems you must have really pissed some pony off somehow, and now I get to come to you to make everything drown into a pit of despair. I'll be seeing you soon, hope you keep your body warm enough for me to keep my money. Ta ta until then.
-Slade Johnson
"Who in Tartarus is Slade Johnson?" Applejack asked.
"I have no clue, but when I opened my mail up this morning, this letter was inside." Coco Pummel said. "Who could I have possibly pissed off to such a degree that they would want me dead?"
"...I can think of one pony in particular, actually." Twilight said. "Girls, you stay with Coco, I'm going to be making a personal call to some pony I know would have a reason to want this shop shut down as much as possible."
While the rest of the elements were helping Coco get the shop advertised and ready to open up later in the day, Twilight walked into the apartment of one Suri Pulimare.
"Princess Twilight. For what purpose have you come to see me." Suri said.
"Honestly, you should already know why, seeing as how Coco Pummel received a threatening letter in her main this morning." Twilight said. "Based on it's contents, I'm guessing you want Rarity's shop shut down at any cost."
"Tch, that mare doesn't know how brutal opening a new shop is around here when your an out-of-towner. Part of me wonders why she would bother. Oh well, I suppose she'll have to learn the hard way that around here, you have to look after your own selfish interests, or you get swallowed up by the competition." Suri said.
"By that, you mean hire some pony to remove Coco Pummel from the picture." Twilight said.
"Now why would I want to have Coco Pummel killed? She was the whole reason I was able to stay in business. Not going to lie, ever since she decided to quit on me and work for Rarity, things haven't been well for me. I think I'll be declaring bankruptcy soon." Suri said.
"...I don't believe you on that front. In fact, I don't believe you at all with anything you just said." Twilight said.
"Oh really? Last I checked, you're not Applejack." Suri said.
"I don't need to be Applejack to know your lying." Twilight said.
"Oh really? And just how do you think that?" Suri asked.
"Because I specifically said to remove Coco not kill her." Twilight said.
"Well, isn't that what removing her would mean?" Suri countered.
"True, except I can think of many, many other ways a pony can be removed without killing them. Ways that you would have access to. So then, why did you specifically ask about your reasons for having Coco killed?" Twilight asked.
To say Suri Polomare was shocked, was an understatement. "You...you tricked me!" Suri Polomare said.
"Indeed. And I'm afraid to say, that makes you guilty of murder by proxy." Twilight said.
"Hmph. Well, I'm okay with being executed, thrown into Tartarus, or even turned to stone. Because at the end of the day, what really matters is shutting down Rarity's store. I barely even gave that strange creature more than a few bits before they agreed to take on the job. And from what I heard, he's good at what he does. I've even heard he'll tie up any pony who gets in his way of his target." Suri Polomare said.
"You mean you paid up front?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Why wouldn't I? It was only fifteen bits, and I would've found a way to make that up easily once Rarity's shop was closed down once it was heard that a murder took place there." Suri said. "Speaking of, I think the Contract Killer should be arriving there in a few minutes. Maybe if you hurry, princess, you'll be able to stop him with your 'friendship'." Suri said.
"...You won't get away with this." Twilight said before teleporting away.
"That's what you think, Princess." Suri said. There was a knock on her door. "Oh, who is it now?"
Upon opening the door, Suri was suddenly shocked a second time. "What...no, not you!" Suri said before she was promptly arrested.
Twilight Teleported to find a scene where her friends were having a tussle with a strange bipedal creature, one she recognized.
What's a human doing here? Twilight asked. And how is he on this side of the mirror without having gotten turned into a pony?!
"Oh great. That Princess is here." The human said. "As if things here weren't bad enough."
"Just what do you think your doing? You won't be harming any pony today." Twilight said.
"Oh please. You think you can stop me? I'm Slade Johnson." The human said. Applejack rushed him which was dodged. "...Though maybe you can. Gah, why of all the times did I have to get ganged up on."
"It's over Slade. I know who hired you. It was quite easy to figure out too. After all, there was only one pony who wanted this shop to fall." Twilight said.
"...What? You mean you actually found out my client's identity? But that's impossible! My clients are supposed to be anonymus." Slade said.
"Let's just say that Suri Polomare was an obvious answer. I was hoping it was wrong, but it was the correct choice." Twilight said.
"Well, no matter. She paid in full up front. So unfortunately for you, unless you can shell out more cash than she did, I've got a job to do." Slade said.
"Yeah no, not happening buster." Rainbow Dash said, before she grabbed Slade's left hand and twisted it until it started hurting like crazy.
"G-gah...you-you broke my arm!" Slade exclaimed. "And why did you go for my left? Most people go for the right you know."
"Saw the way you were swinging those swords of yours around. You always led lefty style." Rainbow Dash said. "That was a clear indication that you were a lefty."
"Grr...don't think your world is safe from me just yet. I'll be back, and I won't be so easy to defeat next time." Slade said before he suddenly used dark magic to vanish.
"...Well, let's hope that that's the only bad thing this week." Twilight said. "...Oh, wait, I forgot to call the Royal Guard on Suri!"
"So, she's most likely gotten away." Applejack said. "We can worry about her later, we should be making sure this store does well."
"Yeah. Your right Applejack." Twilight said. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 10 - Half-Blood (Sensitive Subject Warning) | Things with Opening Week at the Manehatten store were honestly a bit...hetic. Still, the review was nothing but praise, so it was all good. A commotion however, drew the attention of the element barers and it is there they saw a rather wounded Nozrog, Rex (in human form of course), and Sparky.
"Tch. Seems I underestimated just how powerful Sparky there is. Seems my plan to kill him is going to have to be sidelined for the time being." Nozrog said.
"Nozrog again?! What exactly were you doing here and now?" Twilight asked.
"Actually, I came here to kill Sparky, so I baited a trap for Rex. Still didn't expect to be this overpowered and so easily." Nozrog said.
"That's less then someone like you deserves." Rex said.
"Your one to tell me how I should be punished. Especially since your father should've stayed sealed away." Nozrog said. "It's a fitting punishment for committing something so taboo in the first place."
"Taboo? What taboo thing did Rex's father even commit?" Twilight asked.
"Now that I think about it, Rex, where even is your father right now?" Sunset asked. "And I mean your biological father, not Sparky of course."
That statement made Nozrog start laugh histarically; but not evilly like he normally does. "...Did Sunset say something funny?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh this is just too good. You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" Nozrog asked.
"Don't you even dare." Rex warned.
"Well at some point, you will have to tell them. So better for the beans to get spilled now. Unless you'd rather me do it for you...Half-Blood." Nozrog emphasized the last bit by pointing right at Rex.
"Half-blood? What kind of insult is that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"A correct one." Nozrog said simply.
"Rex, why aren't you countering him?" Sunset asked.
"...Because...he's not wrong in saying it's not really an insult..." Rex said before he brought up the one hand that was covered by a glove.
"What's wrong about wearing a glove anyways?" Twilight asked Nozrog.
But then, Rex took off the glove, revealing... "I-is that a brand in the shape of a Raichu's Paw? W-why were you branded like that, Rex?" Sunset asked.
"You mean you ponies still haven't figured it out yet? The clues are all there for you now. So, either they realize what that brand means, or one of us spells it out for them; Half-blood." Nozrog said to Rex.
"...Wait...Rex, is he saying what I think he's saying?" Twilight realized what Nozrog was hinting out now.
"...He is..." Rex said. "I'm biologically half-Pokemon."
That's what did it. That caused a silence for a good while.
"Honestly, I find it hilarious that you didn't tell them. And it only took me giving them such a huge hint, that they realized it." Nozrog said, breaking the silence after a good while.
"So wait, all the time Rex has been calling Sparky his father...that wasn't just because Sparky raised him?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh please. Sparky had no paw in raising this boy. It was that Zangoose of his that got that honor because Sparky got sealed away when he went berserk over the loss of Rex's mother and the disappearance of Rex in the resulting chaos." Nozrog said.
"P-princess Celestia once told me, that it's illegal for Pokemon and Ponies to get into a relationship." Sunset admitted.
"Well, it's no different in that human world. It's not only illegal for a human and a Pokemon to have a romantic relationship, but it's heavily forbidden and considered taboo." Nozrog said. "Your worlds aren't that much different in that aspect when you think about it. Any child found to be half-bloods like Rex here, are given a branding just before they and their parents are to be hunted down and killed with extreme prejudice."
"Even now, thirty years later that remains the case." Rex said before putting his glove back on. "But it's such a stupid and unfair law if you ask me. Especially since my birth proves the old myths true."
"And that's exactly why the human world considers you a freak of nature. Because they don't want humans and Pokemon to be equal like they were in the past." Nozrog said. "So, now you understand his true motivation: Rex seeks to overthrow the government of the human world, so he can do away with that law so things can be just like how they were in the past. Of course, also aiming to ensure a harsher punishment system for the actually immoral acts such as stealing is a nice bonus I'd say. It's just too bad, that he himself is considered a criminal by law."
"You have no right to call me a criminal; with how much pain you've inflicted." Rex said.
"Yeah well, you've had your time in the spotlight now." Nozrog suddenly used his dark magic to activate Rex's machine that let him switch over at will to send Rex back to the human world.
"Now what in Equestria did you do that for?" Twilight asked.
"Because princess, this next part is for your ears only. I may be evil, but that boy shouldn't have to live with murdering his own father; even if it's unintentional." Nozrog said.
"Wh-what are you talking about now? Rex could never commit murder. He just doesn't seem like the type." Twilight said.
"Yeah, that's where the 'unintentional' part of my statement comes in. Rex doesn't even realize that by terrastilizing his father, Rex is slowly killing Sparky with each use." Nozrog said. "And when that happens, that boy's facade will crack hard."
"Wh-what are you talking about now?" Twilight asked.
"Being a half-blood, Rex is going to live twice as long as an ordinary human. So, while he may be both mentally and physically thirty years old, on a spiritual level, he's no different than an eight-year-old child. So, if he kills his own father, it'll break him." Nozrog said. "Like I said, I may be evil, but it'd be better for that boy if his father was killed by someone else. And that's a hit I'm willing to take if it makes it so that boy doesn't have to live with the fact he killed his own father."
"So, it's essentially a mercy kill..." Sunset realized.
"But don't take what I was trying to do as mercy, I am planning on killing Rex myself at some point. I just...I just really need to figure something out first." Nozrog said before he then vanished.
"Do you think Nozrog was lying to us again?" Sunset asked.
"...I doubt it this time. Mostly because he was right in calling Rex a half-blood." Twilight said. "Regardless, we need to convince Rex to stop using terrastilization on his father. Even if there's a slight chance Nozrog is lying to us about it, is that really a risk you're willing to take?"
"...Yeah, fair enough. For some reason, the emotion Nozrog gave off was different than usual when he talked about Sparky's death. It...it was almost like it was coming from some pony else." Sunset said. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 11 - Gauntlet of Fire AU | It was a normal day in Ponyville, but things suddenly changed when Ray, Spike, and Smolder all started glowing.
"Oh...this is going to be interesting..." Smolder said.
"Wh-what's going on?" Sunset asked.
"I think we may need to ask Twilight about this." Spike said.
"No need; this is basically the call of the dragon lord, and the only way to make it stop is to answer it." Smolder said.
"Still, we better grab Twilight and perhaps Starlight as well." Sunset said.
The three ponies had managed to sneak their way into the dragon lands to hear about Dragon Lord Torch's challenge about the Gauntlet of Fire. Smolder was not really too interested in participating, and while Spike & Ray were the same, Garble went off about how he was going to declare war on the ponies and kill them all when he won. The Red Dragon went towards the place that had the scepter.
"Oh of all the rotten things for that no-good brother of mine to even do. That's just so uncalled for." Smolder said. "He can't win this. No matter what."
"Don't worry Smolder, I'm not about to let him win. And neither is Spike." Ray said before he dashed off.
"Hey, wait up!" Spike said before heading off after Ray.
To say the volcano where the challenge took place was treacherous was putting it mildly. Place was fairly challenging, though Spike & Ray were detirmined to beat Garble to the prize. Neither one wanted him to win. Along the way, the duo found a blue dragoness trying to get out from under a rock. To which, Spike managed to lift up off her.
"What the...why did you do that for?" The blue dragoness asked.
"Well why not? I don't care if this is a race, you were in trouble." Spike said.
"Tch. You must be those two I heard that came from Ponyville. Listen here you two: In this race, it's every dragon for themselves. Though that's the way it's always been around here." The Blue Dragoness said.
"Hey, weren't you with the dragon lord earlier?" Ray asked.
"So you noticed that." The Blue Dragoness said. "I came here to prove to him that I was worthy to succeed him."
"So, that means your his daughter, huh?" Ray asked.
"Wha-how did you..." The Blue Dragoness said.
"Pretty easy to figure it out, to be honest. When you live with the two ponies we have, you tend to figure things out quickly. Me more so." Ray said.
"We better get on ahead. We don't want Garble to wage his war against the ponies." Spike said. "And you, try to be more careful. I'd hate for some dragon to have to tell your father you got trapped in here."
The duo left, but the dragoness known as Ember was a little stunned. "War? Why would any dragon want to--" Ember then gasped. "Th-the egg that was reported missing...I'm fairly sure that it belonged to Garble's family." She then started to head after Spike & Ray, and even managed to catch up.
"Oh hi again." Ray said.
"You want to stop Garble right? I'm not saying this because I owe you one, but I also don't want a war between the ponies and the dragons. So, let me tag along." Ember said.
"If that's what you want to do, I'm not about to stop you." Ray said.
"Neither am I. But is there a reason you don't want the war?" Spike asked.
"Garble wants the war because he blames ponies for the egg that went missing. There was this egg that was unaccounted for and Garble believed ponies stole it." Ember said. "But from what I've learnt being near dad, is that Princess Celestia gives dragon eggs she finds or is handed to dad. There was this one time, she found this yellow dragon egg, and she handed it over to dad. Thing is, he told her to keep it since all of the dragon eggs that year were accounted for. That's what dad said anyways." Ember said.
"Yellow egg? Did your dad ever say if the egg had red spots?" Ray asked.
"Actually yes, that is the egg dad was referring to." Ember said.
"That egg was mine then. Funny how that works." Ray said.
"Wow. That is ironic. So, got a name then?" Ember asked.
"Names Ray. Nice to meet you." Ray said.
"Ember, it's a pleasure." Ember said.
"And I'm Spike." Spike said. "I think we're getting close now."
Thanks to the combined efforts of Spike, Ray, and Ember, Garble failed to be the one that grabbed the sceptor, in fact, Ember was the one who managed to grab the sceptor.
"Gah...the ponies should've paid...they should have paid..." Garble said.
"Ember told us everything. And even told us more then that. She told us not only had an egg that belonged to your family went missing and how you believed ponies stolen it; but she also explained about the yellow egg with red markings that Princess Celestia found and tried giving to Torch, only for it to turn out that all the eggs were already accounted for." Ray said.
"Why do you care so much about that egg anyways? At least that one I can't blame for." Garble said.
"Because Ray hatched from that egg, and thus, if Princess Celestia found out about an egg theft, don't you think if she was given a second dragon egg, she'd inquire about it with Ember's father?" Spike asked.
Garble's face fell. "I...your right...your absolutely right..." He said.
Some time later, there was a meeting between Celestia, Torch, Ember, Garble, and Smolder with Twilight, Sunset, Starlight, Spike, Ray, and Smolder present.
"So...you didn't inform me that an egg had gone missing until now." Celestia asked.
"That's strange. I thought I sent a messenger to the castle when it was discovered the egg was missing..." Torch said.
"...By any chance, did you send them to the castle in the Everfree Forest?" Celestia asked.
"Why yes actually; is that important?" Torch asked.
"Because you should know I haven't been in that castle since the construction on the new one was finished, which was fifty years ago." Celestia said.
"Oh. I thought you were still in the Everfree at that point. I'm going to say that one's on me." Torch said.
"Way to goof dad." Ember said.
"So, whatever happened to that dragon then?" Garble asked.
"I'm willing to bet the Everfree Forest got to them. That place is always known for having some wonky physics to it." Twilight said.
"...Yeah, I guess that would be something." Garble said.
"Well I'm just glad everything got cleared up. In fact, I was hoping that since we cleared this up, you might like to attend a festival next week." Twilight said.
"Well, I suppose attending the festival is the least I can do to make up for the huge misunderstanding." Garble said.
"We can do better: We'll help set it up." Ember said.
"That'll be great! It's going to be my first ever planned festival. And I honestly would love it if everything went well." Twilight said.
Little did any pony or dragon knew at that time, but the festival Twilight was planning, would mark the return of one particular tyrant that we knew was coming, we just didn't expect when they'd show up... Future Spike wrote down. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Season 6: Episode 12 - Incoming | While it is a very peaceful and so far uneventful day across Equestria, that's only for the most part. As tomorrow, Twilight is hosting her first ever Friendship Festival. So, all of Equestria is looking forward to it.
The Changlings, Grifons, and Dragons are participating in helping out as well. Though one oddity right now is Night Wing talking with Gilda.
"Rainbow Dash seems to speak very highly of your flight capabilities." Night Wing said.
"Well, we did go to the same flight school." Gilda said.
"Regardless, I think I'd like to let you know this: In two weeks time, the public is going to be voting on a law put forth by Princess Celestia that'll remove all restrictions from non-ponies. Safe to say, that'll allow me to increase the roster size." Night Wing said. "And with Rainbow Dash's recommendation, you can be one of the first ones to take the Shadowbolt test."
"Sh-she did that for me?" Gilda asked.
"What did you expect? It's classic Rainbow Dash." Night Wing said and then flew away.
"...Always with the surprises, huh Rainbow Dash?" Gilda asked; not really wanting an answer.
Not everything was sunshine and rainbows however, for coming from outside Equestria was the Storm King's army.
"You're sure you made it so that one human can't aid them, correct?" The Storm King asked Nozrog.
"You bet. Still a little sore though from that special Raichu from the human world's attacks, but I figured what I did was a better alternative. It'll take that human way too long to fix his machine to come help." Nozrog said.
"I'd much have preferred you killing the Raichu." The Storm King said.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. At least I was able to double check if there were any Equestrian residents who share the bloodline of the Raichu that defeated you once before." Nozrog said. "And good news: There isn't any. At least, not in Equestria's borders."
"What about outside?" The Storm King asked.
"Yeah, that's the thing. Seems a local hometown hero from Lightning Town has been hanging around Equestria for a while now. And they are the grandson of the Raichu that beat you before." Nozrog said. "With the enhancements I provided you though, he shouldn't be able to defeat you."
"Are there any other hiccups that you can think of that can hinder this invasion?" The Storm King asked.
"Only one, and that would be the Wolf Queen." Nozrog said. "However, let's just say that the ponies would have a better chance at winning the lottery in the human world, then the Wolf Queen is likely to be in Equestria."
"I like those odds." Storm King said as his fleet approached.
Meanwhile, on foot heading for Equestria as well, was Throsten. Something was different about his attitude now though. "...Seems there is one thing that scares me after all." Throsten said to himself as he trekked towards Equestria. "I have to use this technique, it's the only way to end the menace of the Storm King once and for all." He continued his monlogue as he trecked further. "...Gloria...I only hope you'll be okay without me...as I won't be coming home this time." Throsten finished, as he started to sprint towards Equestria.
But these weren't the only parties heading for Equestria, there was one female Plusle and her Sneasel companion who were on their way too. "Time to add a new planet to my empire." The Plusle said.
"But of course, Mistress." The Sneasel said as he helped the Plusle put on a pure black robe. |
My Little Pony: When Friendship Shimmers - Reboot | Special Movie: The Wolf Queen (My Little Pony: The Movie AU & To Where & Back Again AU) | Skies were blotted out by smoke, and a lone Pokemon was providing the light of the sun because of it.
The smoke was because of something the Storm King had done as part of his grand invasion plan, however, everything was currently at a standstill.
Why were things at a standstill? Because Throsten had suddenly appeared, and asked for a ceasefire while he talks with the Storm King & Nozrog.
"I don't know how much time I've got to talk, so listen good." Throsten said. "I managed to convince my father to tell me about the last royal technique that his royal line was known for using. But after he told me all about it, for the first time, I felt fear enter my mind."
"Y-you being afraid? After the attempt I made earlier this year, I'm very surprised you've actually found something to be afraid of." Nozrog said.
"What I'm afraid of, is the fact of someone else finding out about this technique and using it. Regardless of what happens here today, I'd rather the secret of this technique die with me." Throsten said.
"...I suppose that is a fair request to make." The Storm King said.
"Gah...my headache's getting stronger now..." Nozrog said. "I'm still seeing a big explosion. The color of which is pure black."
"Nozrog, it's up to you to make sure I am the last person who ever finds out about this technique. Because I learnt it specifically to kill The Storm King. And I'm praying...that it works." Throsten said.
"You really want me dead, don't you?" The Storm King asked.
"You have no idea." Throsten said. Just then
"Wasn't bright of you to basically say that to my face." The Storm King said.
"That's what you think." Throsten retorted.
"Once the cease fire ends, you'll be the first targeted." Storm King said.
"You won't have the time." Throsten said.
That confused the Storm King. "What is that supposed to mean?" He asked Throsten.
But the Umbreon King wasn't able to answer before Twilight's scream rang out.
"THROSTEN, DON'T DO IT!"
Twelve hours earlier...
The sun was shining brightly, as if the day itself was blessing Twiilght's first ever Friendship Festival which was being held in Canterlot.
"A friendship festival, that really is a new one on me." Sunset said. "Still, I suppose if anyone was going to make one of these, it was going to be you, sis."
"Everything seems to be in order too." Flash Sentry said from nearby.
"Yeah. Seems everything is going perfectly right." Twilight said. "We've got the perfect weather, everything is in order for the go-ahead, and what's more, everyone I invited has come to take part in the festival. I couldn't imagine something more perfect than this."
"...Then why do you sound like something's bugging you?" Sunset asked.
"That's just it: Everything is perfect. Nothing seems to be going wrong." Twilight said. "And that worries me."
"Not everything has to be as crazy as our daily lives Twilight." Flash Sentry said.
"I know, it's just...I can't help but feel like everything is just too perfect." Twilight said.
"Twilight, we got a little problem." Rainbow Dash suddenly flew in to say.
"Of course there's a problem. I should've known." Twilight said.
"Well, it's just, Applejack and Pinkie Pie found one of these strange machines in the ground nearby. We're not exactly sure what it is, but it doesn't look like anything you've authorized." Rainbow Dash said.
"Is it doing anything?" Twilight asked.
"...Well no but...it's still odd it's here." Rainbow Dash said.
Suddenly Gilda showed up. "Hey, who authorized a strange machine that looks like it could spew out smoke? Because Gabby and a couple of other griffons found one. It might not be doing anything, but it's strange that it's on top of the castle."
"Was that machine blue and gray by any chance?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yes it is, how did you know?" Gilda asked.
"Because Applejack and Pinkie Pie found one just like that right in the castle gardens." Rainbow Dash said.
"Okay, now there's a small cause for alarm." Twilight said.
"Princess Twilight..." It was Thorax this time. "My brother and I found this strange blue and gray machine that I'm certain wasn't on your authorized equipment list right on top of Luna's tower."
"...Okay, that's three of those we've found so far..." Rainbow Dash said.
And that's when Ember showed up. "Hey Twilight..." She started.
"Let me guess: Some dragons found a blue and gray machine that isn't authorized?" Twilight asked.
"...Yeah actually, how did you know?" Ember asked.
"Because three others that matches it's description have also been found." Twilight said.
"Okay, whose the wise guy who--" Rainbow Dash started when suddenly smoke began to start filling the air from the machines.
"! Their blocking out the sun!" Twilight said.
"We got other trouble..." Night Wing said coming inside from the balcony. "A few Shadowbolts have spotted a few unfamiliar airships. And based on the design on the flag that's leading the pack based on what Mayor Sentry told us about the Storm King, it's the Storm King's Armada."
"...And that means, Nozrog's here too..." Twilight noted. "I'm willing to bet this is one of his ideas..."
"I'm willing to bet the same thing. Sounds like something he'd do." Sunset said. "Of all the times for us to not have contact with Throsten or his wives..."
"Actually, a Griffon said they spotted that Umbreon King walking here on foot. Estimated time is seven hours away." Gilda said.
"Then we'll have to buy him some time." Twilight said. I'm just hoping that Throsten's power is going to be enough to end this quickly...
(...Yeah that's all I had written for this finale before I made the decision to cancel this project.) |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 8: Strike of the Sacred Beasts Part 2 | School had just let out, and Thunder met Burst by his locker. "So did you hear about Streak and Blitz beating one of Streak's siblings?"
Burst nodded. "Blitz told me about it at lunch. But the crazy thing is the card of Uria disappeared in a swirl of darkness."
"You think Streaks other sibling took it?", Thunder asked. Burst shook his head.
"From waht Streak said, he didn't sense the sacred beast that's controlling his brother. But I got the feeling we'll be facing him soon. Chances are he'll be looking for you since you're bonded to Slifer. And the god cards and the sacred beasts have quite the history from what Blue-Eyes told me."
"They do. Slifer, Ra, and Obelisk defeated the sacred beasts a long time ago in the monster world. A long time after that, Streak's family became the keepers of the sacred beasts. That is, until Uria and Hamon tainted Streak's siblings with their power."
"If that's the case, we'd better stick together. Besides, I've always wanted to see a god card up-close!"
"And I've wanted to duel alongside the champion of Duelist Kingdom!"
"Hey, there's been something I've wanted to ask. How DID you get Slifer? I thought only Yugi Moto had the Egyptian Goc Cards."
"Well, believe it or not, Yugi gave Slifer to me. Slifer is the god of potential back in the monster world, and he sensed great potential in me. So he bonded to me, and he's been my partner ever since. Helps to have a monster that's immune to all card effects."
"Yeah.", Burst said with a small smile. "I know how good that feels." The two began to leave when a lightning bolt struck outside the school's front door! "Well, well. Right on cue. Let's rock the dragon." Thunder and Burst opened the door to find Silver Sword waiting for them.
"So. It appears my brother and a friend of his managed to beat my little sister." Sword then activated his duel disk. "But I assure you. I am nowhere near as easy to defeat as she was!"
"Trust me. We weren't hoping you were.", Thunder said as he and Burst activated their duel disks.
"LET'S DUEL!"
Burst and Thunder: 16000
Silver Sword: 16000
"I got the first move!" Burst took a look at his cards. 'Let's see here. How to kick-off the duel? Ah! There we go!' "I'll summon White Stone of Ancients! Then I'll target him with Sage with Eyes of Blue! I'll send both to the graveyard to special summon a 'Blue-Eyes' monster from my deck! Come on out Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Then I'll set two cards and end my turn! Now that my turn's over, White Stone's effect activates! Now I can special summon another 'Blue-Eyes' monster from my deck! I'll bring out another Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Sword smirked. "You've set quite the field. Now to ready my field! I draw! I play the continuous spell card Card Trader! This lets me shuffle a card from my hand into my deck and draw a card!" Sword shuffled a random card from his hand, and shuffled it into his deck. He then drew a new card. "Ah. This should prove to be useful! I play the continuous spell Yellow Luster Shield! This boosts the defense of all monsters on my field by 300 points! Now to make use of it! I summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"My turn!" Thunder drew his next card. 'Looks like he knows his monster won't survive this turn. But why bother with setting up a field composed of mainly continuous spells? Wait....he's gearing up his field to summon his sacred beast! Uria had to be summoned by sending three traps, so Hamon must need three continuous spells! He's already got two cards ready, so all he needs is one more! But at least I should be able to get in some hits before he brings out Hamon!' "I summon Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior! Now that he's been summoned, I can add a level 8 'Magna Warrior' monster from my deck to my hand!" Thunder searched his deck, and added a Magna Warrior to his hand! "Then I'll set a card and end my turn." 'Just gotta be patient now. I've already got one piece of my strategy ready.'
"Hm. I thought for sure you'd have taken down my monster.", Sword said as he drew his next card. "This should add some decent protection. I end my turn."
"My move!" Burst looked over his hand. 'Weird. He's only got one monster. And he's not made any moves this turn. Either his face-down has a good effect, or he's got a card that prevents battle damage in his hand. Well, there's only one way to find out! I gotta give Thunder extra time to get Slifer on the field!' "I draw! I'll attack your face-down monster with one of my Blue-Eyes!" Burst's first Blue-Eyes annihilated Sword's face-down monster with a blast of white lightning! "Now I'll attack you directly with my other Blue-Eyes!" Burst's second Blue-Eyes charged at Sword directly!
Sword smirked at the coming attack. "I don't think so. I discard Kuriboh to make all battle damage zero!" Kuriboh jumped in front of Sword's life points, and blocked all the damage! "And since Kryuel was sent to the graveyard by battle, I get to toss a coin and call it! And if I get the call right, I get to destroy a monster you control! I call heads!" Sword tossed a coin, but it landed on tails! "So much for that effect."
"I guess I'll end my turn." 'That would've been trouble if Thunder had brought out Slifer. Now we've bought some more time to build our strategies.'
"Since it's my standby phase, I can activate Card Trader's effect! I can shuffle a card from my hand into my deck and draw a new card!" Sword shuffled a card from his hand into his deck, and drew a new card. "Perfect. I play the continous spell Banner of Courage! Now all monsters I control gain 200 attack during damage calculation! But I have no need of these spells! I send all three to the graveyard to summon Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!" Hamon took the field in a massive bolt of thunder! "Now I'll destroy your Blue-Eyes!" Burst cringed as one of his Blue-Eyes was destroyed by a bolt of lightning shot from Hamon! "Now Hamon's other effect activates! Since I destroyed one of your monsters by battle, I inflict 1000 points of damage to you!" Burst winced as another bolt of lightning struck his life points! "It doesn't matter how much you hide! I'll slowly chip away at your life points!"
'Now's my chance!', Thunder thought! "I tribute Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior to summon Alpha The Magnet Warrior!"
"So you've decided to make your move have you?", Sword said with a smirk. "Very well. I end my turn. Execute whatever pitiful strategy you have in the works."
Burst and Thunder: 14000
Silver Sword: 16000
"My move! I draw!" Thunder looked at the card he drew. 'Nice! Just what I needed!' "I activate Ties of the Bretheren! This lets me target a level 4 or lower normal monster on my field, and special summon two monsters with the same type, attribute, and level but different names from my deck! I special summon Magnet Warriors Beta and Gamma in defense mode! Then I'll switch Alpha into defense mode and end my turn!"
"So you think your monsters can keep you safe? Fool! Did you forget Hamon's effect? When he destroys a monster by battle, I can inflict 1000 points of damage! Destroy Alpha the Magnet Warrior!" Hamon fired a blast of lightning that fried Alpha! Thunder cringed as Hamon's effect kicked in! "Too bad you activated that spell. It only accelerated your defeat! I end my turn."
Burst and Thunder: 11000
Silver Sword: 16000
'Not good. His monster's got high attack and defense. Then there's that burn damage effect.', Burst thought as he drew his next card. 'But Hamon still has a key weakness! He's vulnerable to effects! And I know just the monster to explot it! And this card I drew should help!' "Your monster's pretty impressive! But I've found a work-around! I play Return of the Dragon Lords! I revive Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my graveyard! Now I'll contact fuse him with the other Blue-Eyes on my field! I fusion summon Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon! Then I'll attack your monster! Twin White Lightning!" Blue-Eyes Twin Burst fired a blast of lightning at Hamon! Burst winced as he took damage!
"Fool! Hamon has greater attack points than your monster!" Sword then noticed that Twin Burst was still on the field! "But it appears your monster is much more durable than he appears."
"I know. Twin Burst can't be destroyed by battle! Which is why I'm activating Twin Burst's effect! At the end of the damage step, if he attacked a monster you controlled and it wasn't destroyed, I can banish that monster!"
"NO!", Sword howled as Hamon was banished by a mighty roar from Twin Burst!
"That's all for me.", Burst said with a confident smile. 'That should even the odds a bit.'
Burst and Thunder: 10000
Silver Sword: 16000
"You may have destroye Hamon. But I'm far from finished!", Sword spat as he drew a card! "I set a card and end my turn."
"I draw!" Thunder took a look at his cards. 'Perfect! Now my board is set!' "I play Double Summon! I'll bring out Gamma The Electromagnet Warrior! Now I'll tribute all three of my monsters! I summon Slifer The Sky Dragon!"
"I activate my trap! Trap Hole!" A pit appeared below Slifer, but sealed up immedaitely!
"Slifer's normal summon can't be negated! Now Slifer gains 1000 attack for each card in my hand! Last I checked, I had three! Attack him directly Slifer! Thunder Force Cannon!" Slifer fired a blast of divine thunder from his first mouth! Striking Sword's life points full force! "I end my turn."
Burst and Thunder: 10000
Silver Sword: 13000
"Blast!" Sword scowled as he drew his card. "I end my turn."
"Then it's my move!" Burst drew his next card, and smiled. 'Time to take this duel to the next level!' "I play the spell card Harmony Absolute! I'll banish Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my graveyard to summon Blue-Eyes Absolute Dragon from my deck!" A ray of rainbow light appeared on Burst's field as Blue-Eyes flew up the ray, he soon descended in a new humanoid form wearing platinum armor! "And since he's on the field, he gains 300 attack for each monster in my graveyard! Now I'll attack you directly! Absolute White Lightning!" Blue-Eyes Absolute fired a gigantic blast of white lightning! Wiping out most of Sword's life points! "I end my turn."
Burst and Thunder: 10000
Silver Sword: 7100
'This power....this is the power that surpasses the god cards!', Sword's mind panicked as he drew his next card! "I...I...I summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn!"
"If you think that's gonna keep you safe, guess again! I draw!" Thunder looked over his hand. "And now to power up Slifer! I activate Magnet Conversion! This returns up to three "Magnet Warriors from my graveyard to my hand! This lets Slifer gain 3000 attack points! Then I'll play Trade-In to discard Valkyrion The Magna Warrior to draw two new cards! Then I'll activate Magnet Reverse! This revives a rock-type monster that's banished, or is in my graveyard that can't be normal summoned! Then I can special summon it! Welcome Valkyrion the Magna Warrior! Valkyrion will take down your monster while Slifer attacks you directly!" Valkyrion slashed Sword's monster to bits with his blade, while Slifer fired another blast of thunder at his life points! "I end my turn."
Burst and Thunder: 10000
Silver Sword: 2100
"Hamon...why has your power failed me?!" Sword fumed as he drew his next card, and his eyes widened in horror. "Impossible....I have nothing to protect myself!"
"Let's end this together Thunder!"
"Right!" Burst and Thunder then got both of their monsters ready to attack!
"ABSOLUTE THUNDER BLAST!" Both Blue-Eyes Absolute and Slifer fired a rainbow-colored blast of thunder! Wiping out the last of Sword's life points and purging Hamon's taint from him!
"Nnnnngggghhh!", Sword groaned as he recovered. "Feels like I got hit by a truck..."
"Yeah. Being hit purified of evil power tends to have that effect on people.", Burst said with a nod. "Now to get rid of the card that's causing so much trouble..." Before Burst could reach Hamon's card, it vanished in a swirl of darkness! "What?!"
"Just like Streak said.", Thunder noted. "But what could this mean?"
"I don't know. And I'm not too eager to find out." Burst then turned to Sword. "You'd better head home. I got the feeling your siblings are gonna be pretty happy to see you."
"Oh man. I have SO much to apologize for!" Silver Sword ran home leaving Burst and Thunder to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Well, the Sacred Beasts shouldn't be a problem anymore.", Burst stated. "But I got the feeling things aren't over just yet. Well, that's a problem for another day. Nice duel Thunder!"
"Same to you Burst. Neven thought I'd see a monster that's got even Slifer impressed!" Burst and Thunder went their separate ways.
'Man. Talk about your rough week.', Burst thought as he headed home. 'Never had to deal with badguys during the school week before. At least the week's almost over.'
"So how're we gonna celebrate the victory Burst?", Blue-Eyes Absolute asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Pizza."
"Sweet!" |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 9: Magnetic Attraction | Magnet North had a smile as he headed home for Ace and his family's house. It had been a good week so far, and nothing of note had gone on. That is, until Applejack came up to him. "Um...North?"
"Yes? Something on your mind lass?", North asked.
"Well...Ah was free after school today. And...Ah was wonderin' if you'd like ta hang out..."
"Yes."
"Beg pardon?"
"Applejack, I'd love to get to know you better.", North said with a smile. "I could use some more friends besides Ace's family."
"Heh. Guess Ah know how ta make a big deal over little things, huh?", Applejack asked with a small smile. "Ah don't know about you, but Ah've got a major sweets craving."
"Sounds lovely." Noth then offered Applejack his arm. "Shall we?" Applejack blushed!
'Rarity'd go CRAZY for this guy if she wasn't already with Inferno!', Applejack thought. "Sure." The two walked off to Sugar Cube Corner.
"So Applejack? Anything you want to share with me about yourself?"
"Well, Ah'm really honest. And Ah've got a lotta good friends. We've also got access to the magic of friendship. Plus, ever since a previous adventure, Ah've got super strength thanks ta this magic geode necklace. Ah'm also really close to mah family. Ah've got a little sister named Applebloom to take care of, so Ah wind-up worryin' about even the most minor things sometimes. So, yeah. That's me in a nutshell. How about you North?"
"I'm a pretty down-to-earth kind of person. Kind of like my Magner Warrior deck. Most people are surprised about my nature despite my lineage."
"Whadda ya mean by that?", Applejack asked.
"Oh. I'm the long lost grandson of the King of Britain. So in a way, I'm a prince. But I certainly don't act like one. And I'm pretty glad that I don't." Applejack let out a giggle. "Something making you crack a smile lass?"
"Rarity would be all over you if she hadn't found Inferno.", Applejack said with a smirk. "Never thought Ah'd wind-up walkin' with royalty."
"Heh. Funny how attraction works isn't it? You probably assumed I was into stick-thin super models!"
"And you probably assumed Ah like country-type guys.", Applejack said with a chuckle.
"Yeah. In reality, I like girls who're down-to-earth. And ones that have an actual body, and are quite strong and confident."
"Really now?"
North nodded and grinned. "I should know. I'm looking at quite the beautiful one right now."
Applejack blushed. "Gee....no guy's ever thoughta me that way before..."
"A shame.", North said with a smile. "They don't know what they're missing."
"Say...you wanna duel?"
"Smashing idea."
"How about....we make it interestin'?"
"Oh? What did you have in mind?"
"If Ah win...Ah get yer number. But if you win...you get a kiss."
"I think I'll do the first one regardless of the outcome.", North said with a smile as he pulled out his duel disk. "I'll take the first turn if you don't mind."
"Go ahead.", Applejack said as she pulled out her own duel disk and activated it!
Applejack: 8000
North: 8000
"I summon Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior! Since he was summoned, I can add a level 8 'Magna Warrior' monster from my deck to my hand!" North searched his deck, and found the card he was looking for. "That should do for monsters. Now I play Terraforming! This lets me add a field spell to my hand!" North searched his deck, and found the field spell he was looking for. 'This ought to give my monsters decent protection.' "I play the field spell Magnetic Field and end my turn!"
"Ah draw!" Applejack looked over her cards. 'His monster's got decent attack points. Maybe Ah need to go on the defensive.' "Ah play Gagaga Academy Emergency Network! Since you've got a monster and Ah've got none, Ah can special summon a 'Gagaga' monster from my deck! Ah special summon Gagaga Gardna! Then Ah'll summon Gagaga Magician! Now Ah overlay my two monsters! Ah Xyz Summon Gagaga Cowboy in defense mode!" Gagaga Cowboy crouched into defense mode as soon as he hit the field! "Now Ah'll activate his effect! Ah can detach one overlay unit to inflict 800 points of damage to you!" North flinched as Gagaga Cowboy fired a stun shot at his life points! "Ah set a card and end my turn."
Applejack: 8000
North: 7200
'Her monster's got quite the amount of defense points. Time to see if I can bring out a monster that can breakthrough!' "I draw! Now I'll activate Alpha's effect again! I'll add another level 8 'Magna Warrior' monster from my deck to my hand! Now I'll summon Gamma The Electromagnet Warrior in defense mode and end my turn!"
"Ah draw!" Applejack eyed North's field carefully. 'He's got two monsters on his field. Is he gearin' up for a tribute summon? Well, only one way to find out!' "Ah switch Gagaga Cowboy into attack mode! Then Ah'll equip him with Xyz Unit to him to boost his attack by 200 times each of his ranks! Attack Alpha the Electromagnet Warrior!"
"Not so fast! I activate Alpha's other effect! I tribute Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior to special summon Alpha The Magnet Warrior in defense mode from my deck!" Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior faded from the field, and a new magnet warrior stood in his place in defense mode! North winced as his monster was destroyed!
"Pretty good monster swap.", Applejack said with a smile. "Ah'll call it a turn. Your move sugarcube."
"Don't mind if I do.", North said as he drew his next card. 'Just what I needed! Time for my magnet warriors to combine!' "I play Trade-In! I'll discard a level 8 monster from my hand to draw two new cards! Now I'll play one of the cards I just drew! Magnet Reverse! This lets me special summon a machine or rock-type monster that's banished or is in my graveyard that can't be normal summoned or set! I revive Berserkion the Magna Warrior!" A mighty new magnet warrior larger than any Applejack has seen took the field! "Now I'll activate his effect! I can banish one level 4 or lower 'Magnet Warrior' from my graveyard to destroy one card you control! I choose Gagaga Cowboy!" Berserkion fired a bolt of lightning from his sword! Destroying Gagaga Cowboy! "Then I'll attack you directly! Electro Magna Slash!" Applejack braced herself as Berserkion charged up his sword with electricity, and struck down a huge chunk of her life points with a single slash! "I end my turn with a face-down. Excellent job Berserkion."
"Hope she doesn't hate you after this.", Berserkion joked.
Applejack: 5000
North: 7200
"You kiddin'? Ah like a guy who doesn't use kid-gloves 'cause Ah'm a girl!", Applejack said with a smile. "Ah draw!" 'This oughta even the odds a bit!' "Ah play Gagagawind! This lets me special summon a 'Gagaga' monster from my hand as a level 4 monster! Ah special summon Gagaga Girl! Then Ah play the spell card Gagagabolt! If Ah control a 'Gagaga' monster, Ah can destroy one card on your field! Ah choose your monster!" A bolt of lightning fried Berserkion! "Ah can't make a dent in that other monster you have, so Ah end my turn."
'She's pretty good. Even managed to take down one of my best monsters.', North thought with a smile. "Good move Applejack. But now it's my turn!" North smiled when he looked at the card he drew! 'Nice!' "I play Fusion Conscription to reveal a fusion monster in my extra deck! Then I can add a fusion material whose name is specifically listed on that fusion monster from my deck or graveyard to my hand! I'll retreive Berserkion the Magna Warrior! Now I play Polymerization to fuse Berserkion with Valkyrion in my hand! I fusion summon Imperion Magnum the Superconductive Battlebot!" A monster that seemed composed of Valkyrion and Berserkion arrived on the field as the two monsters disassmbled and reassmbled! "Attack Gagaga Girl with Conductive Slash!" Imperion Magnum charged up his sword with energy and charged at Gagaga Girl!
"Ah activate my trap! Gagaga Shield! Up to twice per turn, a spellcaster-type monster Ah control can't be destroyed by battle or card effects!"
"Not if Imperion's effect has anything to say about it! Once per turn, during either of our turns, when my opponent activates a spell, trap, or monster effect, I can negate the activation and destroy that card!" Imperion fired a bolt of lightning from his sword! Destroying Gagaga Shield! Applejack shielded herself as Gagaga Girl was destroyed! "That's all for me. I'll end my turn."
Applejack: 2000
North: 7200
'That's a pretty strong monster he's got on his field. Hopefully my trap can help!' "Ah draw! Ah'll set a card and end my turn. Yer move North."
"In that case, I'll attack you directly!"
"Ah activate Negate Attack!"
"Not if I use Imperion's effect!" Imperion Magnum fired a blast of lightning from his sword! Destroying Applejack's Negate Attack!
"Just what Ah was hopin' for!", Applejack said as Imperion Magnum slashed at her life points! "Ah activate my other trap! The Golden Apples! Since Ah took damage while Ah had no monsters on my field, Ah gain life points equal to the damage Ah took! Then Ah can summon a token with attack equal to the life points Ah gained!" A token with 4000 attack points appeared on the field!
"Not a bad move lass!", North said with a smile. "I'll end my turn."
Applejack: 2000
North: 7200
"My move then! Ah'll attack your monster with my token! Ah might not do any damage, but at least Ah'll take down your monster!" Applejack's token collided into Imperion Magnum! Both monsters' equal attacks destroyed each other! "Ah end my turn."
"Not bad destroying my strongest monster." North drew his next card. 'Time to bring a close to this fun little duel.' "It's been quite a blast Applejack. But now I'm ending this! I activate Magnetic Field's effect! Since I have a level 4 or lower EARTH rock-type monster, I can special summon a level 4 or lower 'Magnet Warrior' from my graveyard! I special summon Alpha The Magnet Warrior! Now I'll switch Gamma the Electromagnet Warrior into attack mode! I'll attack you directly with both of my monsters!" Applejack braced herself as North's monsters wiped out the last of her life points!
"Well, Ah lost fair and square. So..." Applejack walked up to North and kissed him. She then blushed after she broke the kiss. "Us Apples are people of our word."
"Here's a little something for you too." North pulled out a piece of paper, and wrote down his number. "I know I wouldn't mind keeping in touch. And..." Applejack's eyes widened when North kissed her back! "Consider that a 'thank-you' for the fun duel. I believe we had a prior engagement at Sugarcube Corner?" Applejack smiled while still retaining the blush from the kiss North had given her.
'Shoot. Ah'm fallin' for 'im. Might as well enjoy it...', Applejack thought as she took hold of North's arm. ' 'Course it helps that he's my type.' |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 10: The Duelist and The Designer | Silver Streak was smiling like he never had before. He had his siblings back, and now his family was complete again. While it was troubling that the other two sacred beast cards had vanished, he was focusing more on the positive aspects. 'I guess maybe...this week was pretty good after all.' Streak was so caught up in his good mood that he didn't notice where he was walking and bumped into a girl! "Oof!" Streak hit the floor on his back. As he started to recover, he noticed a girl with cream colored skin and light blue hair standing over him with worry in her eyes.
"Oh! I-I'm so sorry! I should've been watching where I was walking!", the girl said with a blush. Streak's heart was pounding as he looked at her.
'Oh, man she's adorable!', Streak thought. "N-no need to apologize. My mind was somewhere else." Streak then noticed the papers the girl had dropped. "Oh man! Sorry if I made you drop these! Let me help you with those..." As Streak collected the dropped papers, he noticed they were designs. "Wow...these are really good." Streak then snapped his attention back to the girl. "Oh! Here you are."
"Oh...thank you.", the girl said with a shy smile. "Thanks for your help. I'm Coco. Coco Pommel."
"Name's Silver Streak.", Streak said with a smile. "But my siblings and I all have the first name. So call me Streak please. I noticed your papers were clothing designs. Are you a designer or something?"
"Oh! Yes!", Coco beamed. "I was on my way to work until...well...our run-in."
"Mind if I tag along? I bet you could use some company.", Streak said with a kind smile.
"That sounds...nice. I'd like that." Coco blushed lightly at Streak's offer.
"Then let's be off." Streak walked Coco over to her workplace. Carousel Boutique. "So is this the place?"
Coco nodded. "Yes. This is where I work. No use in putting things off." Coco opened the door. "Hello Rarity! I'm here!"
"Ah! Coco, darling! I've been expecting you!", Rarity greeted. "So how are things so far?"
"Well I've been making some new designs. But....I'm not sure they're good enough."
Streak went up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I wouldn't say that. You won't know until you show her your work. And if nothing else helps, I thought they looked nice." Coco gave Streak a small smile. "Well what're you waiting for? Show her what you've done!" Coco pulled out her sketches and showed them to Rarity.
"Darling....these are lovely! You simply HAVE to help me create them! They would not be the same without your touch!"
"I...I'd be honored!", Coco said with a smile. Streak smiled as he went to leave. However, he was stopped by Coco.
"Um...Streak?"
"Yeah? Is there something else that's got you bothered?"
"No..." Coco kissed Streak on the cheek! "I just wanted to say thank you for helping me get my ideas out there."
"Oh...n-no problem!", Streak said with a blush. "I...um....are you free this Friday? I've got nothing better to do, so...wanna hang-out?"
Coco smiled. "Sure! I literally bumped into you, so I might as well get to know you more."
"Great! See you then!" Streak left in an even more elevated mood than before. Dark Gaia took note of his good mood and decided to investigate.
"Well. Looks like someone's found a reason to be happy.", Dark Gaia said with a smile. "So what's got you in a good mood?"
"I met a cute girl and I've got my first date.", Streak said with a grin. "Couple that with getting my family back, and I'd say today was pretty good."
"Just hope that you don't mess up the date.", Dark Gaia joked as he returned to the monster world. Streak let out a chuckle, but froze soon after. He felt a dark presence near him. "Who's there?!" A dark portal opened, and a hooded figure stepped out. But it was what the figure was holding that sent Streak over the edge. "Hamon and Uria!"
"Yes.", the figure nodded. "And you have the missing piece of my set." The figure then activated his duel disk. "And I will be taking it. One way or another..." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 11: Dark Ambitions | Silver Streak stared coldly at the hooded figure before him. 'So he's the guy responsible for making Uria and Hamon disappear!' "Those cards aren't meant to be handled by anyone! Give them back!"
The figure chuckled. "You misunderstand. I have no interest in using their power. I'm simply trying to complete my collection. So if you wish to avoid a swift defeat, hand over Raviel."
"I'm Raviel's keeper.", Streak said sternly. "I was chosen to guard him from all those that seek his power. And at the moment, that's you!" Streak pulled out his duel disk and activated it! "That means you're going to have to get through me!"
"You are committed to your duty. Most comendable. Sadly, that will only aid you so much." The figure activated his own duel disk! "Come then! Show me just how good of a keeper you are!"
Streak: 8000
????: 8000
"I got the first move!" Streak looked to his cards. 'Not bad! Dark Fusion on my first hand! Just gotta set up some defenses now! "I'll set two cards and end my turn!" 'I don't know what this guy's got planned, but I can't let him get Raviel!'
"I draw!" The figure looked at his hand. 'His resolve to his duty is truly admirable. That doesn't change the fact that he stands in my way. A pity he didn't make this easy on himself. But it can't be helped. I will claim Raviel. Then I can move on to the next stage of my plans.' "I discard a card to activate Twin Twisters! This lets me destroy up to two spell or trap cards on the field! I'll destroy your two face-downs!" Two twisters blew away Streak's face-downs! "Next I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and activate his effect! I add a ritual spell to my hand!" The figure searched his deck, and picked out the ritual spell he was looking for. He then shuffled his deck once again before putting it back in its slot. "Now it ends. I play the spell card Advanced Ritual Art to send a normal monster whose level equals the level of the monster I want to ritual summon! I'll send Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to the graveyard!" Streak's eyes widened! "Now I ritual summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon! Attack him directly! Chaos Neutron Blast!" Streak cringed as half of his life points were decimated by a blast of chaotic energy! "Now Manju attacks you directly!" Streak braced himself as Manju punched him with his multiple arms! "I end my turn. Be thankful that I'm showing mercy by making this quick."
Streak: 2600
????: 8000
'Not good! REALLY not good!', Streak thought as he drew his next card. 'He wasn't kidding when he said he was making this quick! Almost down to a quarter of my life points! And in ONE turn! Who is this guy? There's only person known for a Blue-Eyes deck besides Seto Kaiba is...!' "Who are you?!"
"Wouldn't you like that answer?", the figure chuckled. "Don't you have a move to make?"
Streak glared at the figure before looking to his hand. "I play Magical Mallet! This lets me shuffle as many cards from my hand into my deck to draw the same amount of new cards!" Streak shuffled three cards into his deck, and drew three new ones! "Now it's time to turn the tables! I summon Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior! His effect lets me add a level 8 'Magna Warrior' from my deck to my hand! Then I play Dark Fusion! I'll fuse Raviel, Lord of Phantasms with Valkyrion the Magna Warrior! I fusion summon Evil HERO Dark Gaia! And since he was fusion summoned, he gains attack equal to the combined attack of his fusion materials! Destroy Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX! Dark Terra Force" Dark Gaia annihilated Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX in a single, devastating punch! "I end my turn." 'Good thing I scored these cards when I did thanks to Magical Mallet! Now I've got a monster that's got Chaos MAX beaten in terms of attack points! He pushed me to the wall. Now it's time for me to push back!'
Streak: 2600
????: 4500
'So he's managed to bring out a monster who outclasses Chaos MAX in terms of raw power. But there's always more than ONE kind of power that one can draw upon. Time to show him the truth of that fact.' "I draw." The figure smiled as he looked at the card he drew. "I play Cards on Consonance. I discard a dragon-type tuner with 1000 or less attack to draw two new cards. And since you destroyed a 'Blue-Eyes' monster on my field and I have a dragon-type monster in my graveyard, I can special summon Deep-Eyes White Dragon from my hand!" A magnificent looking dragon descended onto the figure's field! "Now that she's on the field, I can inflict 600 points of damage for each dragon with different names in my graveyard! There's three dragons, so you take 1800 in damage!" Deep-Eyes fired a ray of blue energy from the ring on her back! Striking Streak directly! "Now I can target one 'Blue-Eyes' monster in my graveyard and have Deep-Eyes gain its attack! I target Chaos MAX! Now I'll attack your monster!"
'Is he crazy?! He'll take damage!', Streak thought. Deep-Eyes crashed into Dark Gaia! "Not the smartest move! You've taken another hit and lost a monster!"
The figure smirked under his hood. "What makes you think I didn't plan on this? Now Deep-Eyes' other effect activates! When she's destroyed, I can destroy all monsters you control!" Deep-Eyes unleashed a wave of energy! Destroying Dark Gaia in the process! "Now I play Return of the Dragon Lords to revive Blue-Eyes White Dragon and end my turn with a face-down!" 'Let's see how strong his resolve is now.' "I'll give you one last out. Surrender Raviel to me and I'll forfeit the duel. And you leave with your pride intact."
Streak: 800
????: 1000
'My PRIDE?!', Streak's mind screamed! 'He obviously doesn't know what my pride lies in!' "You're wrong. If I give in to your offer, then I've lost all my pride! A real duelist duels until the last card is drawn! Go ahead and toss your offer in the trash! I draw!" 'This could be just what I needed!' "I play Reload! I shuffle my whole hand into my deck and draw the same amount of cards I shuffled in!" Streak shuffled his whole hand into his deck, shuffled it, and drew the same amount of cards! "I play Dark Calling! This lets me banish fusion materials from my hand or graveyard who are listed on a fusion monster that can only be fusion summoned by Dark Fusion! I banish Raviel and Valkyrion to summon another Dark Gaia!"
"No you won't!", the figure countered! "I activate my trap! Champion's Vigilance! This can negate the summon of a monster since I control a level 7 or higher normal monster!" Dark Gaia was destroyed as he tried to step onto the field! 'How foolish for him to think he could beat me. And the same fate awaits the one who robbed me of my victories...'
"I...I end my turn.", Streak said as he hung his head in defeat.
"I don't need to tell you what I'm going to do next. Blue-Eyes. Finish it." The figure's Blue-Eyes unleashed a blast of White Lightning! Wiping out the last of Streak's life points! "No need for you to hand me my prize..." The figure's hand leaked darkness, and Raviel faded in a swirl of darkness only to reappear in the figure's hand. "I applaud your valor. But you lack might. Farewell..." The figure vanished in a dark portal and arrived at a new location. The figure removed his hooded robe and hung it in a closet. He soon heard knocking on the room's door. "Come in." A woman walked in.
"I trust you were successful my son?", the woman asked. The figure nodded.
"I have the Sacred Beasts. Now can we make our move?"
"No. There's one last bit of craziness to throw their way. And maybe you can help orchestrate it.", the woman had an evil smile. "Don't worry my son. When this is all over, it's you who'll be recognized as the greater hero!" |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 12: Catching-Up | Sunset sat in her room and took a deep breath as her mind drifted to the past. Her own personal journey. The Dazzlings trying to take over the school, and being reformed as well as gaining lovelier voices. Sunset finding another being from Equestria and finding a new boyfriend in said being. Then there was Burst's wins at Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. The Friendship Games. Nightmare Moon coming to the human world and becoming Burst's girlfriend. So mush had happened and she had seen it all. Sunset then turned her attention to the journal Princess Twilight had given to her. With all the craziness that had happened over such a short amount of time, Sunset decided there was no better time than now to write. Sunset grabbed a pen and opened up a blank page in her journal. "It's been so short a time. And it feels like so long..." Sunset then set to work writint down all the events that had happened after the Battle of the Bands. "Dear Princess Twilight...."
Equestria, The Castle of Friendship...
Twilight was enjoying her library when she heard a particular book buzz. "Huh. I've been wondering what was keeping Sunset so busy. Time to see what she's been up to." Twilight levitated the journal over to herself. Twilight's eyes widened at hearing Burst's adventures and triumphs over evil. "Wow. Sounds like their Burst's been quite busy...." Twilight kept reading up to the point where they had met their world's Starlight Glimmer and how she'd found someone to love her. "Aw! Just like the Starlight here! Hmmm. I wonder how the lovelife of their Burst is." Twilight went back to the section that mentioned Burst Stream's exploits. Her heart saddened when she heard about Burst's break-up with that world's Celestia. "Poor Burst." But Twilight soon smiled again when she heard Burst had found a new girlfriend. "That's great! I wonder who the lucky girl is..." Twilight froze when she read who Burst's girlfriend was. Nightmare Moon. "It's not possible....there's no way!" Twilight's mind was panicking, but she soon regained her composure and did the only logical thing to do. "Spike? Take a letter to the princesses. This can't wait. Sunset and her friends might be in BIG trouble." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 13: Reconciliation | Twilight had just arrived at Canterlot, and teleported into the castle! Princesses Celestia and Luna were waiting for her. "I came as soon as you received my letter!"
"I'm glad you could make it Twilight.", Celestia said with a nod. "It's most troubling to hear of Nightmare Moon's resurgence. But what's odd is that Sunset seemed so calm about it. Like she wasn't a threat."
"NOT a threat?!", Luna growled. "That monster was the reason I was stuck on the moon for a thousand years! If the nightmare wasn't over before, I'll be the one to end it with my own hooves! Even if it means we must journey to the human world ourselves to put an end to her!"
"Well....there's an even MORE unsettling part.", Twilight said nervously. "You see...the human world's Burst broke up his world's Celestia. And his new girlfriend is....well....Nightmare Moon." Both Celestia and Luna's eyes went wide at hearing this. "And she's living with him."
"Okay. We're going. As in NOW.", Celestia said sternly as she, Luna and Twilight headed for a carriage. The three soon arrived at the Castle of Friendship, and made their way towards the mirror portal.
"I know I'M one to say this, but aren't we going the LEAST bit overboard with all this? I'm sure Sunset and the others can use their magic to defeat her."
"This was problem born from OUR actions.", Luna hissed. "My sister and I will be the ones to resolve it. Now to put an end to the Nightmare." The three stepped through the portal and soon found themselves in the human world. But as opposed to their counterparts, Luna and Celestia were decked out in full royal regalia. "I suppose this should maintain a difference between our counterparts in this world." The three noticed the Dazzlings and their boyfriends walking out. "You there! Sirens!" Needless to say they were pretty surprised to see three of Equestria's princesses.
"Not that it isn't nice of you three to visit, but why are you here?", Adagio asked. Luna's gaze steeled.
"There is a great evil lurking this realm. Nightmare Moon has been living in this world. No doubt she plans to bring eternal night. Tell us where to find her. I'll personally put an end to all this."
Ace whispered into Fang's ear, and Fang nodded. Fang then transformed into his wolf cub form. "Maybe I can help sniff her out? Got anything with her scent on it?" Luna noticed Fang's tranformation, picked him up, and squeezed him tightly!
"HEY! He's my boy!", Aria snapped! "Quit hogging him!" Luna pouted. As the two were about to clash over Fang, Veenus and Fang went off to find Sunset. They didn't have to search very far.
"Oh. Hey you two. What's up?", Sunset asked.
"Sunset. We've got a problem.", Veenus said. "Princess Twilight's come here with Princesses Celestia and Luna."
"Wasn't expecting them to drop by."
"Sunset? They're not here for a visit.", Ace said. "They're here for Moon." Sunset's eyes widened. "And Luna's on the warpath." Sunset face-palmed.
"I should've figured that Twilight would freak-out.", Sunset sighed. She then got out her phone. "Burst's going to need to hear about this." Sunset text Burst about the princesses arrival and their intentions. "Well now that that's been taken care of, I need to have a few words with my former mentor." Sunset walked to the CHS entrance and addressed Princess Celestia. "Good to see you again teacher." Sunset was caught off-guard when Celestia ran up to her and hugged her.
"It's good to see you again Sunset.", Celestia said with a smile as she held Sunset close. Sunset had a smile smile as she returned the hug.
"Let's move on to why you and Princess Luna are here.", Sunset began. "Nightmare Moon's not a threat."
"Sunset. I know you and your friends can probably handle her, but this is a problem Luna and I need to take care of ourselves."
"But she hasn't hurt anyone during her time here!", Sunset protested!
"Time? She's been here for a while?"
"Well...yes. She's dating and living with Burst. The point is, she's not the same person who got Luna stuck on the moon! Moon's changed for the better."
Luna scoffed. "I doubt that. Surely you must be under her enchantment if you are so quick to defend her! But speaking of that mare, how is she even alive?!"
Sunset took a deep breath. "Princess Celestia told me that the elements have the power to purify, seal, or imprison. But there was never ANY mention of destruction. Moon told us that she'd been little more than a pile of magical mist. That is, until Burst came to Equestria. He left some residual magic. Moon used his magic, and reconstructed her body and came to this world."
"Why are you calling her that?!", Luna snapped! "Call her what she truly is! A nightmare! That's all she is, and all she shall ever be!"
"Why's it so hard for you to believe she's changed?!", Sunset spat. While Luna and Sunset were going at it, Burst was walking Nightmare to her locker. He then noticed a new text from Sunset. Burst opened the text, and his pupils shruk to pinpricks.
"Moon. I think you've got company."
Nightmare was puzzled. "What makes you say that?"
"Princesses Luna and Celestia just arrived in this world. And they're looking for you. From the sound of things, Luna's looking to destroy you. But...it's your call. You can either run, or face them." Nightmare took a deep breath.
"It's an easy choice...." Meanwhile, Celestia and Twilight had managed to calm things down with Luna and Sunset. Nightmare noticed things had become stable, she addressed the group. "Hello Luna." Luna glared at Nightmare the second she spoke.
"YOU!", Luna roared. Nightmare just shook her head at Luna's anger.
"Princess, please!", Burst pleaded. "Just hear her out!"
"So. You've fallen to her charms.", Luna said with her voice full of disgust. Burst was about to counter, but Nightmare stopped him.
"Burst. It's alright. If they don't believe me, then I see no reason in trying to say otherwise. Sunset. Gather the rest of the girls. I believe you know what Luna has in mind. There's no escaping it." Sunset sighed as she texted the other girls. They soon arrived. "All of you. Use your magic on me. If it gets Luna some closure, I wouldn't mind enduring another thousand years of isolation." The girls' hearts sank. "Don't try to stop me." The girls powered up and readied themselves to unleash the magic. Nightmare closed her eyes. 'I found a new life only to leave it once again. I guess it ends the same way as it began. Me being...' Nightmare then felt a familiar pressure around her waist. '...Alone?' Nightmare opened her eyes to find Burst holding her tight! "Burst....what are you doing?!"
"I'm not letting you go Moon. At least, not alone. You were alone for a thousand years Moon. And you shouldn't have to go back to being alone." A tear trickled down Burst's face. "It'll be alright. Because I'll be with you." Nightmare held Burst tight and smiled as tears fell from her closed eyes as the other girls unleashed the magic.
"Thank you...." The magic hit both of them full force! Leaving the two in a pillar of blinding light! When the light died-down, Luna's jaw dropped as she saw both Nightmare and Burst still standing! But most surprising was that Nightmare had sprouted her wings and gained a horn as well! Nightmare opened her eyes to see Burst standing before her. "I guess we're not going anywhere.", Nightmare said with a small smile as she let go of Burst.
"Would you REALLY wanna be somewhere else?", Burst asked with a grin.
"But...how?", Luna asked. Celestia let out a sigh.
"Because when you think about it, it's our fault Luna. My ignorance of how neglected you felt, and your jealousy of how beloved I was. Your jealousy gave her life. She's your child. In a way, all she wanted to do was make her mother happy. And all we've ever done was pin the results of our actions on her." Luna wanted to protest, but she knew that Celestia was right. Nightmare Moon was born out of her own jealousy, and Celestia's ignorance of her plight had only fueled Nightmare's creation. She was her daughter. And all she had done was curse Nightmare's name. Luna approached Nightmare feeling so disgusted and ashamed. Not with Nightmare, but herself.
"I'm sorry...." Luna grabbed Nightmare and fell to her knees. "I'm so sorry!" Nightmare knelt down to Luna's level and pulled her into a hug.
"No tears Luna. Now, the nightmare is truly over.", Nightmare said with a smile. "For you and me both." Both of them stood once again. Smiling that things had been patched-up. "From now on, call me Moon."
"I'll see you when you dream my little Moon."
"Looks like things are done here.", Celestia said with a smile. "It's time for us to return home. You're welcome to come with us."
Nightmare shook her head. "My place is here." Nightmare then looked to Burst and her friends. "And I have plenty of reasons to stay."
"Before I leave...here." Luna pulled out a necklace from the bag she had brought with her. "It's a piece of the armor we wore. Just so you can have a little piece of home." Luna returned to Equestria with Celestia and Twilight. Nightmare smiled at the piece. Rarity took an interest in the piece of armor.
"Moon, darling? May I borrow that?"
"Sure.", Nightmare said with a smile. "Hoping to get an idea for new designs?"
"You know me so well! I promise I won't keep it long!"
"Just be careful with it." Nightmare handed over the piece of armor, and Rarity happily accepted.
Later that night...
"Aaaannd, done!" Rarity smiled at her latest design which was inspired by the piece of armor Nightmare had given her. "Looks like I'll be dreaming well tonight." Rarity let out a yawn, and got into bed. However, a dark substance leaked from the armor piece, and entered Rarity's dreams. Rarity was unaware, and continued to sleep as if nothing was wrong. That is, until she saw her dreams. |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 14: Dark Dreams | Rarity stirred as her dreams changed. In them, she saw all of her friends having a good time. But in the place of her, there was another girl. One who seemed to have her beat in every field. And they seemed toignore Rarity each time she called out to them. "Everyone! I'm right here!", Rarity called out. But it was of no use. Her friends couldn't hear her, or they chose to ignore her. Soon, Rarity was all alone in a black area and a single spotlight shined down on her. "Maybe...I'm not so rare after all..." Rarity began to cry. The black substance that had seeped into her dreams began to twist and condense into a familiar form and approached Rarity. Rarity heard footsteps, and saw Nightmare looking down on her. "Oh. Moon. I'm so sorry you have to see me like this."
"Bad dreams?", the false Nightmare asked.
"Yes.", Rarity said with a sigh.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"In my dreams...I was replaced with another girl. One who was far more generous than I ever was, and my friends kept ignoring me no matter how loudly I cried out to them! Not even Inferno heard me..." The false Nightmare smiled.
"What if I told you there was a way to make sure that dream never comes to pass?"
"What do you mean?"
"Allow me to give you my power. Power that will make sure those fears never trouble you again. All you need do is Let. Me. In."
Rarity hesitated before taking a deep breath. "Proceed." The false Nightmare smiled, and entered Rarity! Back in the real world, Rarity underwent a transformation. She grew in height and her skin turned dark purple. Her hair grew longer and became more ethereal and gained a streak of white. As the transformation finished, she opened her eyes. They had become pale, cold blue and had vertical pupils like Nightmare's. Diamond-like glimmers were withing her irises. "So my friends think they can find a replacement? Well I'll show them. Bacuse now...there's nobody quite like me. And Inferno..." Nightmare Rarity briefly flared her power and smiled. "It's you who will become MY treasure." A new deck materialized in her hand. "And now I also have the tools to make it all possible." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 15: A Rare Nightmare Part 1 | Nightmare Rarity drifted through the dreamscape until she found just the dreams they she was looking for. "Ahhh. Perfect." She was gazing at her friends' dreams. "I was afraid they'd leave me behind. But I know just how to fix that...." By using her new powers, Nightmare Rartiy made her friends suffer through their worst nightmares. Fluttershy was being chased by a dragon, Applejack's whole farm was destroyed, Rainbow Dash was stuck in a dimension full of singing flowers, Pinkie was stuck in a world where no one wanted a party, and Twilight and Sunset saw Nightfall and Gold respectively abandoning them. "HA HA HA HA HA! Oh this is just lovely!" Nightmare Rarity revelled in seeing her friends suffer through their worst nightmares. "I'll make them stay by my side for eternity. That will be the price they pay for the end of their nightmares. And if they don't, I'll torment them with nightmares every night." Nightmare scanned the rest of the dreamscape, and smiled. "Now for my prime target." Nightmare Rarity drifted over to Inferno's dreams. "I'll be sure to give this one my own personal touch..." Nightmare Rarity entered Inferno's dreams and assumed Rarity's normal appearance. In Inferno's dream, he was waiting for her.
"Hey gorgeous! It's always nice to see my treasure.", Inferno said with a grin.
"A pity I can't truly say the same for you.", Nightmare Rarity said with a smirk.
"..What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I can't believe I EVER loved someone as replusive as you.", Nightmare Rarity said with a sneer. "I couldn't possibly ever fall for a dragon." Nightmare Rarity then stroked Inferno's cheek with her hand. "Farewell darling. I'm off to find a much more suitable boyfriend." Inferno's heart sank as Nightmare Rarity's words pierced through his heart.
"Rarity please! Don't leave me!", Inferno pleaded as Nightmare Rarity exited his dreams and resumed her true form.
"Don't worry darling. In fact, now that you fear losing me, I'll be able to keep you forever. Now, you shall be MY treasure.", Nightmare Rarity said with an evil smile. She then picked up on something! "Well, well, well. It appears there's another great source of malevolence. Perhaps I should investigate." Nightmare drifted over to the source,and found a door. She opened it to find a room. "Hmmm. Not your typical villain's lair."
"It appears I have a guest." A hooded figure noted. Nightmare Rarity spun to find the figure sitting in a chair. "Please. Have a seat."
"Looks like you're awake while you sleep.", Nightmare Rarity said a smirk. "My friends don't have the priveledge of being fully aware of the terror they're going through. Well as interesting as this was, I have to move on to Burst's dreams."
"As in...Burst Stream?", the figure asked. Nightmare Rarity paused.
"Yes. Is he a friend of yours? You're welcome to try and stop me..." Nightmare Rarity flared her magic.
The hooded figure chuckled. "I have no love for him. In fact, I want you to give him the worst nightmare possible!"
"What did he ever do to you?", Nightmare Rarity asked.
"Let's just say that it would serve our best interests to make the lives of him and his friends difficult.", the figure said with a smile.
"Then I'll be sure to make his the worst. He's the strongest duelist, so that makes him the biggest threat." Nightmare Rarity left. "Next stop: Burst Stream." She floated over to Burst's dreams. "Oh the terror I'll inflict here..." Nightmare Rarity watched as Burst's nightmare began. In it, Nightmare Moon was leaving him. Walking away and leaving him by himself. Burst ran after her! Reaching out to grab her! But the more he ran, the farther he reached, the farther away she slipped. Burst began to cry as she got farther and farther away. "Oh this is good.", Nightmare Rarity said with an evil smile. She wasn't smiling for long. Nightmare Moon was coming back to Burst! "WHAT?!" In the dream, Moon pulled Burst in for a tight hug. "What's happening?! Who's changing the dream?!" Moon then turned and stepped out of the dream to face Nightmare Rarity! "YOU?!"
"You thought I wouldn't notice the disturbances in the dreamscape?", Moon asked. "I don't know what made you accept this power. But you have to stop this Rarity. This isn't you."
"Well I guess I was wrong. There IS another one like me. Though soon....THAT WILL BE RECTIFIED!" Nightmare Rarity fired a blast of magic at Moon! However, Moon reflected it!
"You may have power similar to mine." Moon then activated her full power and ponied-up! "But what you accepted was only a remnant. I'm the original!" Moon fired a powerful blast of magic! Knockning Nightmare Rarity to the ground! "Rarity, please! I'm your friend. Let me help you."
"This isn't over!", Nightmare Rarity hissed as she retreated from the dreamscape! Moon sighed as she set to work undoing the damage Nightmare Rarity had done.
"I guess a piece of my past self must have hidden in that armor plate. Rarity has to be saved. Someone has to bring her back." Moon then noticed Inferno's dream. "And that someone is you Inferno." Moon vanquished Inferno's nightmare.
"Thanks Moon! That was one really bad dream.", Inferno said with a sigh of relief.
Moon sighed. "Inferno. That dream was more real than you think. And you'll be in danger of losing Rarity forever."
"What're you talking about?"
"Rarity's been overtaken by a remnant of myself.", Moon said sadly. "It latched onto her when I gave her that piece of my armor. Now Rarity has been turned into a nightmare creature similar to me. She may look like her, but make no mistake. There is little to nothing left of the girl you loved Inferno. Save for her love of fashion."
"So when Rarity said those things....that wasn't her talking? It was that...thing she's become?" Moon nodded. "There's gotta be a way to fix this! There has to be a way to save her!"
"There is. But it's incredibly dangerous."
"I'LL DO IT! Even if I have to face her alone!", Inferno declared.
"Good. Because you will need to face her alone. The way to wake her from the nightmare's power, she must be awoken by one who holds her close to their heart. It must be you Inferno."
"Just point me in the right direction!"
"She'll come to you Inferno. But take the advice of a former villain. She'll try to trick you into joining her. Maybe by assuming the form of the Rarity you know and love. But remember: that ISN'T her. She's still asleep within that creature. Waiting to be woken up. When the time comes, it'll just be you and her. Until then, goodnight." Moon returned to Burst to inform him of the situation. Leaving Inferno to his thoughts.
"Rarity...." Inferno clenched his fist. "I WILL save you. Even if I need to protect you from yourself." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 16: A Rare Nightmare Part 2 | Moon informed the rest of the group the next morning. Needless to say, everyone was reasonably troubled about it. "Don't get too sad. There is a way to save Rarity from what she's become. And it lies with Inferno."
"Then I'm going in with him!", Burst declared! Moon shook her head.
"Burst. You and the others can't do this. It has to be Inferno. He's the one Rarity holds close to her heart, and the one that wants to save her more than any of us."
"Great. We don't get to see any action!", Rainbow Dash groaned.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that Rainbow.", Nightmare said with a small smile. "Thanks to her new nightmare powers, Rarity can summon nightmare forces. Chances are, we'll have our hands full dealing with them. We've got to protect our home don't we?"
"...I guess that's better. So when can we expect Nightmare Rarity to hit us?"
Inferno tried sensing for Rarity's energy. He found something! It was faint, but it was still present! And from the feel of it, it was pretty close. 'Either she's baiting me...or she intends for me to go to her.', Inferno thought. As if on cue, the sky began to darken. "I'd say right about now." Inferno narrowed his eyes. "And it looks like we're gonna have company." A castle made of diamond appeared almost out of nowhere. Soon, pools of shadow slithered across the ground and condensed into dark creatures. Inferno summoned his Duelist Arms. "Hope you guys are ready for a long morning." The others summoned their own Duelist Arms. "I'll take care of any in my way. You can handle protecting the school." Inferno charged forth! Firing his blaster at any of the creatures that took a swing at him! "NONE OF YOU ARE GONNA STOP ME!" Inferno slashed at any nightmare creatures unfortunate enough to get in his way! Burst and the others decided to engage any nightmare creatures that were advancing on CHS.
"Well guys. At least we can't say it was a dull morning!", Burst joked as he lead the charge against the creatures! At the same time, Inferno was burning her way through the horde of nightmare creatures that stood in his way! Either by blasting them, or by slashing them down! The further he advanced, the harder Inferno fought!
"So it looks like Nightmare Rarity's not bothering to deal with us herself.", Inferno noted. "Time to show here we can't be ignored!" Inferno sent out a wave of fire in a single slash by charging up his sword! Incinerating a large number of nightmare creatures in the process and clearing a path to Nightmare Rarity's castle. "I guess I'll just stroll up to the front door now." As Inferno walked toward the castle, remains of the nightmare creatures began to slowly piece together. As Inferno got closer to the castle's front door, the pieces created a giant pool of shadow! A gigantic nightmare creature formed from all the pieces, and blocked Inferno's path. "Heh. Looks like she wants me to earn an audience with her. Well the bigger they are...." Inferno activated his powers, flew up to the giant's face, and unleashed a charged shot from his blaster! Taking its head off! Inferno then dove down with his sword! Splitting the creature down the middle! Shadow leaked from the area Inferno had slashed. Inferno then slowly sheathed his sword. As he almost sheathed it, he uttered a single word. "Ignite." The creature burst into flame! Leaving nothing behind but ash. "...The brighter they burn." Inferno then noticed the castle's doors open. "Looks like I've been invited in." Inferno walked through the doors, and they slammed shut once he was inside. "Ok...this just got a little bit creepy.", Inferno said as he noticed how empty the castle was. In another part of the castle, Nightmare Rarity was watching Inferno through a gem orb.
"Most impressive darling.", she said with a dark giggle. "Now. Come to me...." Nightmare Rarity sent out a series of gem beacons to lead Inferno to her. "It's rude to keep a lady waiting." Inferno noticed the beacons, and followed them.
"Seems like she was expecting me." Inferno followed the beacons to a set of grand doors. "I guess there really is little left of Rarity left in her." Inferno then steeled his gaze. "Just means I've got to fight harder to get her back!" Inferno kicked down the door, and found an empty throne room. "Rarity?! Where are you?!"
"I knew you'd come for me darling.", 'Rarity' said as she stepped out wearing an azure dress and matching fingerless gloves. For a moment, Inferno felt unrestrained joy!
"You're alright." Inferno smiled. Rarity smiled as she walked over with her hips swaying.
"You told me that you'd always protect me Inferno. Now I have a question for you..." Rarity leaned in and whispered into Inferno's ear. "Inferno. Would you forget about the others and stay with me? To guard and love me forever?" Inferno froze. He remembered Moon's warning, and what Rarity had just said confirmed it.
"Rarity? Do you remember that necklace I gave you?"
"That old thing? It was cute, but not really my color..." 'Rarity' was pushed away by Inferno!
"You're not her. This is probably the first time I've hated you saying the word cute.", Inferno glared at her. "You're not Rarity. YOU'RE NOT THE GIRL I LOVE!" Inferno fired a blast of flame at her! Dispelling the illusion and revealing Nightmare Rarity. "Don't you DARE try to hide your face with hers!"
"Impressive darling.", Nightmare Rarity said with a dark smile. "Truly a shame you didn't except my offer. You could've lived a life of great luxury and power. Plus, I'm MUCH more attractive than the Rarity you know."
"No. You're hideous.", Inferno said harshly. "What really made Rarity so beautiful wasn't anything trivial like her body. It was her heart!" Inferno was about to draw his sword, but Nightmare Rarity just giggled.
"Can you really strike me?", she asked with a sneer. "Who knows? That could hurt me as well as Rarity." Inferno flinched, and sheathed his sword. "Good boy. Now I can really have some fun!" Nightmare Rarity shot a blast of dark magic! Knocking Inferno to the floor! "I've been waiting for someone to entertain me. Now that you're here..." Nightmare Rarity picked up Inferno with her magic, and stroked his cheek with her hand. "...I plan on playing with you for a good while." She flung Inferno across the room with her magic! "I know your dragon powers make you durable. So I won't have to worry about you breaking on me." Inferno slowly rose to his feet, and began to walk towards Nightmare Rarity. "Oh? It appears you want more punishement. Well fortunately for you...." Nightmare Rarity fired another blast of magic! Knocking Inferno to his knees! "I have plenty in store for you." Inferno grimaced as he got to his feet again, and walked towards her once again. "My, my. Ever the determined one are we? No wonder Red-Eyes partnered with you. Maybe after I've worn you out, I'll put that potential to good use by making you my slave. Blasts of magic are so trivial. Time to change-up the formula!" Nightmare Rarity used her magic, and several small but sharp gem shards levitated in the air. "Shard storm." Nightmare Rarity snapped her fingers, and an endless stream of gem shards were sent flying at Inferno! Inferno put his arms up to shield himself, and pressed on! "Someone's determined to get to me.", Nightmare Rarity said with a slight purr in her voice. "I hope you don't mind I'm playing hard to get."
"Yap all you want...", Inferno growled. "Nothing's gonna stop me from getting to you!"
"More power to you.", Nightmare Rarity said with a smirk as she increased the intensity of gem shards that were sent flying at Inferno! Inferno had dragon scales for skin now, so the shards didn't cut into his skin. However, that didn't mean that them striking his skin didn't sting. Inferno winced in pain! The closer he got, the more furious the barrage of shards grew!
"You can hurt me all you want...BUT I'LL NEVER SURRENDER!", Inferno roared. "Rarity...would never forgive me if I ever gave up easily...." Inferno was no more than a foot away from Nightmare Rarity as he reached out to her. Only for a gem barrier to block his hand. Inferno fell to his knees as his hand slid down the barrier. He was exhausted from fighting his way here, and the nearly endless barrage of gem shards striking him didn't help in the matter. Nightmare Rarity smiled as she dropped her barrier, and walked over to Inferno. Kneeling down to his level. "It hurts so much..."
Nightmare Rarity caressed Inferno's cheek. "Shhhh. There, there. Let me end this. Just submit Inferno. It'll all end then." Inferno looked up to her eyes, and wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"Rarity. I don't know if you can hear me in there, but please listen. I told you were my treasure and that I'd guard you with my life. That also means me protecting you from yourself. Because there's no one like you Rarity! I couldn't replace you even if I tried!" Tears began to fall from Inferno's eyes. "Please Rarity....wake up from this dream...." Deep inside of Nightmare Rarity's mind, Rarity slowly opened her eyes.
'Inferno...' Rarity's eyes snapped open, and she gazed in horror at what had happened and saw herself chained up. 'What have I done?...No. NO! I won't let things end this way!' Nightmare Rarity's eyes widened as she felt a pain in her chest!
"AGGH! WHAT'S....HAPPENING.....?!", she howled as she tore herself from Inferno! A bright white light shot from the core of her being! "NO! NOOO!" Rarity forced her way out of the light, and landed on the floor! Rarity quickly regained her senses, and ran over to Inferno! She gently picked him up and caressed him.
"Oh darling....I'm so sorry.", she said sadly.
"Hey...no need for that.", Inferno said with a weak smile. "That wasn't you...it never could be. You'd never be so selfish or cruel."
"And I'd never call your gift to me simply 'cute'.", Rarity said with a small smile as she and Inferno shared a hug as she clutched the necklace Inferno had given her. "But now it's time to bring this bad dream to an end!" Rarity turned to face Nightmare Rarity, and summoned a duel disk modeled after Gem-Knight Master Diamond! Nightmare Rarity gazed at her hatefully and summoned an obsidian duel disk!
"LET'S DUEL!"
Rarity: 8000
Nightmare Rarity: 8000
"You may have your body back. But I'll be the one to make sure you sleep forever!", Nightmare Rarity hissed as she drew her hand! "I summon Gem Shard Onyx! Then I'll set a card and end my turn." A monster made of pure black gemstone full of jagged edges materialized on Nightmare Rarity's field!
"And I'll be the one to make sure you never hurt anyone else!", Rarity spat as she drew a card! 'Time to show this knock-off how a true gem shines!' "I summon Gem-Knight Garnet in attack mode! Destroy Gem Shard Onyx!"
Nightmare Rarity smirked as Garnet charged at her monster! "My shard will be the one to shatter your knight! Whenever a shard monster battles, their attack points double! So now Onyx's attack is boosted to 3000! Shatter her Garnet!" Gem Shard Onyx cut Gem-Knight Garnet to pieces! "I end my turn."
Rarity: 6900
Nightmare Rarity: 8000
'Her gem monsters reflect how dark and twisted she is!', Rarity thought as she drew her next card. 'And only a few of my monsters can actually beat her shard's effect in terms of attack points!' Rarity then looked at her hand. 'Blast! These cards can help me. But it'll mean wasting them this early in the duel! But if I want to keep my life points safe, I'll need to make use of them.' "I summon Gem-Knight Alexandrite in defense mode and end my turn with a face-down!"
"If you think you're safe, think again!", Nightmare Rarity said with a savage grin! "I activate my trap! Shard's Edge! Now all 'Gem Shard' monsters I control can inflict piercing damage! Destroy Gem-Knight Alexandrite!" Gem Shard Onyx charged at Gem-Knight Alexandrite! Shattering the monster!
"I activate my trap!", Rarity said with a smirk! "Brilliant Spark! Since you destroyed a 'Gem-Knight' monster I controlled, I can inflict its attack points as damage to you!" Nightmare Rarity winced as a bolt of energy struck her life points! "So much for a flawless duel."
"I end my turn.", Nightmare Rarity said coldly. "Now the effect of Shard's Edge activates. I have to discard a 'Gem-Shard' monster from my hand or deck." Nightmare Rarity discarded a card from her hand.
Rarity: 5100
Nightmare Rarity: 6200
'It's not much of a start. But I've at least gotten in a small hit on her life points! But I know my Gem-Knights won't let me down! Let's show her how bright we truly shine!' "I draw!" 'Yes! Just what I needed!' "I play Brilliant Fusion! This lets me send monsters from my deck as the fusion materials! I fusion summon Gem-knight Master Diamond!" Master Diamond appeared in a brilliant flash of light!
"I stand ready to fight by your side my lady!", Master Diamond said proudly!
"Unfortuanately, Master Diamond's attack points are reduced to zero by Brilliant Fusion's effect. But that won't be for long! I can discard a spell card from my hand to restore his strength! Now I can make use of Master Diamond's other effect! He gains 100 attack for each 'Gem-' monster in my graveyard! Now I'll have him attack your monster! Master Prism Slash!" Master Diamond shattered Gem-Shard Onyx in a single slash!
Nightmare Rarity smiled as he monster was destroyed."Since he's been destroyed, my shard's effect activates! You take his original attack points as damage!"
Rarity winced as gem shards cut into her life points! "I end my turn." 'Looks like her monster is as jagged as she is! Not to mention my life points are falling quite low! I'm going to need to be careful with how I proceed with this duel.'
Rarity: 3600
Nightmare Rarity: 5800
"Now it's my turn!" Nightmare Rarity grinned at the card she drew. "AHHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! And now it all ends! I play shard fusion! I can banish fusion materials listed on a fusion monster from my hand, deck, or graveyard! I banish three 'Gem-Shard' monsters from my deck!" A dark vortex appeared on her field! "Now to bring out the monster that will shatter your hopes and send you into eternal rest! I fusion summon Dark Gem-Knight Aerneth!" A monster wearing pitch black armor with jagged black crystals on it stepped out of the vortex. It boasted 4000 attack points! "Now I'll attack your Master Diamond! This activates Aerneth's effect! The attack and defense of your monster is cut in half! I call it the luster drain!" Master Diamond's color began to fade as Aerneth advanced upon him and shattered him with a single slash! The force of the attack brought Rarity to her knees! Nightmare Rarity let out a dark chuckle at the sight. "I wonder how you were EVER the Element of Generosity. You were so eager to keep your friends that you let me in! And now? You'll lose them all the same. Once I'm finished with you, I think I'll pay them all a visit. But before them, I'm going to enjoy making your precious Inferno my slave."
Rarity: 1300
Nightmare Rarity: 5800
Rarity instantly stood up at hearing Nightmare Rarity go on! Rarity took a deep breath before staring down Nightmare Rarity. "You're right. I was selfish in wanting to keep my friends because of one silly nightmare. But I want to fix my mistakes. No matter how long it takes, or how much it hurts, I WILL make things right and to protect the people I love! And to do that, I would gladly throw myself in harm's way to keep them safe! I AM the Element of Generosity!" Rarity then felt a surge of power well up inside her! In a flash of light, Rarity had ponied up! But in addition to the tail, ears, and horn, she had a pair of wings that looked like they were made of diamonds they shone so beautifully! Rarity then noticed a rainbow-colored glow coming from the card on top of her deck! "All you are...is a knock-off! I draw!" Rarity smiled as she saw the card she drew. "I play the card Brilliant Harmony! This lets me banish materials listed on a Gem-Knight fusion monster! I banish Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond and Gem-Knight Master Diamond!" Both the fusion materials jumped into a swirling vortex! "I fusion summon Gem-Knight Lady Adamant Harmony!" A female Gem-Knight made of pure diamond and wearing a purple cape stepped out of the vortex as it faded! "Now I'll attack your monster!" Adamant Harmony charged at Aerneth with her blade drawn!
"We'll see how impressive your monster truly is when Aerneth activates his effect!" Aerneth unleshed an aura of shadow, but Adamant Harmony shined right through it! "WHAT?!"
"Adamant's name is very fitting. She's unaffected by card effects! Making her unyeilding and unbreakable! And her attack points match! 4500! And all of them are directed at your monster! But I'm not done yet! I'll activate another one of Adamant Harmony's effects! I can banish one 'Gem-Knight' fusion monster from my graveyard and have her gain that monster's attack! I banish Gem-Knight Seraphinite to boost her by 2300! Destroy Aerneth! Adamant Prism Slash!"
"AAAAGGGHHH!", Nightmare Rarity screamed as her life points took a massive hit as Adamant Harmony destroyed Aerneth!
"A flawless attack Adamant.", Rarity said with a smile.
"Always a pleasure to assist my lady.", Adamant said with a bow.
Rarity: 1300
Nightmare Rarity: 3000
Nightmare Rarity scowled as she got to her feet! She then noticed her body fluctuating on her. "No...NO!"
"Struggling to keep it together darling?", Rarity asked with a sly smile.
"You....you think you're better off without me? My power can get you anything you want! You would be nothing without me!"
"There's nothing from you that I want.", Rarity said sternly. "I have all that I need. And considering you need a host, it's YOU who are nothing without anyone."
"I draw!", Nightmare Rarity hissed. She thenscowled at her cards in anger! "Impossible....I can't make a single move!"
"Then you won't mind me making mine!", Rarity said as she drew her next card! "Finish this Adamant Harmony! Radiant Harmony Slash!" Adamant Harmony's blade began to glow radiantly with the colors of the rainbow as she charged forth! Slashing away the last of Nightmare Rarity's life points! Nightmare Rarity growled as she got to her feet again. "You beat me in the duel....BUT NOW I CAN DESTROY YOU MYSELF!"
"You got to her while she was alone ugly.", Inferno said as he drew his sword. "Let's see how tough you are when I'M by her side!" Inferno then looked to Rarity. "That is, if you don't mind the company." Rarity smiled.
"No one I'd rather be with right now darling." Rarity summoned her own Duelist Arm. "Let's put an end to this bad dream!"
"RRRRAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!" Nightmare Rarity roared as she unleashed a storm of gem shards at Inferno and Rarity! Rarity saw it coming, and generated a gem shield! Blocking the shards from hitting them! Nightmare Rarity scowled and fired blast after blast at Rarity's shiled!
"Time for a little misdirection Inferno!"
"I gotcha gorgeous!" Inferno rolled away from the shield and fired some shots from his blaster into Nightmare Rarity! Nightmare scowled at him, and began to fire blasts of magic at him! Rarity saw her chance and charged forth! Striking Nightmare across her back!
"YOU INSECTS!", Nightmare howled as she fired a flurry of magic blasts all over the throne room! Inferno and Rarity took to the air to dodge the blind fury! Nightmare Rarity's rage left her incredibly vulnerable, and both Inferno and Rarity took note. Nightmare was at the center of the storm. Inferno and Rarity powered up their swords, and dove down! Executing powerful twin slashes that caused darkness to leak out of Nightmare!
"Well Rarity? Would you like to finish this together?", Inferno asked.
"Time for a dazzling finish Inferno!", Rarity said with a smile. Rarity and Inferno crossed their blades, and combined their energies.
"I...IMPOSSIBLE!", Nightmare roared!
"BLAZING PRISM SLASH!", Inferno and Rarity shouted as they launched a blazing energy projection of a gem! Causing Nightmare Rarity to be trapped in a flaming prism! Destroying her with the series of burning slashes that burned away her dark essence!
Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that's over." Rarity then turned to Inferno and gave him a loving smile. "Looks like I'm the one who saved you this time around darling."
"Nice change of pace isn't it?", Inferno said with a grin. Rarity pulled Inferno into a hug, and they wrapped their wings around each other. the castle then began to fluctuate! "I guess our make-out scene will have to wait."
"Indeed. No sense in staying here any longer!" Rarity and Inferno took off out the nearest window and watched as the castle faded away into nothing. The others had finished destroying the last of the nightmare creatures, and cheered at seeing the two of them make it out okay. "Now. Where were we?", Rarity said playfully as she pulled Inferno into a deep kiss which he gladly returned. The two soon landed on the ground, and their friends rushed over to them. "It's good to see all of you again too."
"Welcome to the alicorn club Rarity.", Moon said with a smile.
"AWESOME wings Rares!", Rainbow Dash said with a grin.
"Yes, yes. They are quite lovely." As the group celebrated, Blitz Surge approached.
"I take it I missed all the fun?", he asked.
"Oh. I was wondering where you were at Blitz.", Burst said. "I forgot to introduce you to everyone we've been so busy lately. Everyone. Meet my half-brother. Blitz Surge." Most of Burst's friends were quick to greet Blitz, but Rarity was hesitant. "Rarity? You alright?"
"Sorry Burst. Just a bit tired." Inferno shot her a puzzled look. The group then dispelled their Duelist Arms and headed inside. Once they were inside CHS, Inferno stopped Rarity.
"Rarity. You looked like you recognized Blitz earlier. What's up?"
"Inferno. While that creature was using my body, I could hear everything she said. She met with someone in the dreamscape and agreed to give all of you nightmares. That person's voice..." Rarity then looked to Inferno. "Inferno. I think Blitz is bad news. Especially for Burst."
"So what're we gonna do? Burst would snap at us for accusing without any proof."
"I don't know darling." Rarity let out a sigh. "But let's hope I'm wrong..." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 17: Same Desire, Different Path | 'From the day I was a child, I was taught a lesson by my mother.', the figure thought. 'All that matters in your life is your own desires. How you obtain them and who you use doesn't matter. So long as you get what you want. But at the time I had no desires. And she looked at me in disgust. To her that meant I had no reason for being. Then...HE came into my life. My mother's desire was to find one who could be a worthy spouse for her a woman of her caliber. She found it in Aether. He was a kind man. Our first meeting went very well. Whoever my father was, he couldn't compare to Aether. Aether made sure that he was there for me. He raised me like I was his own, and it was no surprise that he constantly mentioned his old family that he had left behind. But most frequently, he mentioned his son who he had left behind. Aether would go on about how he thought that one day, his son would become a hero. It was then that I found my desire. I would become a hero. I didn't care how. I would become a hero that would make Aether proud where his real son couldn't! So I began to learn Duel Monsters. I'd seen great duelists like Yugi Moto face-off against threats that would have brought an end to everything. So I built a deck based on the most legendary dragon. Blue-Eyes. But it occurred to me that something was lacking. There was no evil for me to face and destroy. Then my mother's words played in my head. If I couldn't find an evil to defeat, I would create one. I told my mother of my desires, and for once she seemed pleased with me. She led me to a chamber where evil monster cards dwelled. Ones she had assembled. She even gave me dark powers to assist in acheiveing my desires. From then, my path was clear. I would seek out duelists who desired to rule, or wished to gain great power and give them these evil monsters. Then, I would defeat them as all hope seemed lost. I would stand triumphant as the champion! And Aether would forget about the son he left behind. Each time he mentioned his actual son, my heart seethed with envy. However, my plans hit a wall. Instead of me standing triumphant, another duelist had defeated Sombra at Duelist Kingdom. One who used a Blue-Eyes White Dragon deck. At the time, it was of no concern. For as strong as Sombra and Zorc were, they were weak compared to the Wicked God cards I had given to Tirek. But yet again, they were bested by the same duelist. One who wielded a deck identical to mine! It was then that I found the name of the one who had robbed me of my glory. Burst Stream. Aether noticed my frustration and tried to dispell my foul mood. But when he heard the name of the duelist that had been defeating the foes I had made for myself, he froze. It was then revealed to me that this duelist was Aether's real son. The one that he had left behind. And now...here we are.' Blitz removed his hood and stared hatefully at the mental image of Burst. 'You robbed me of my victory. You and that stupid smile! But what I hate most of all...YOU became the hero Aether thought you would be! The one he constantly talk about. But soon....soon that will all be rectified. When I'm done with you, I'll have everything that is rightfully mine! And I'll be the one hailed as the hero!' Blitz then noticed Burst and Moon strolling towards the cafeteria and grab a seat with their friends.
'Tonight Burst. Tonight is when I take back what's MINE...' |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 18: Battle Between the Blue-Eyes | Burst had a troubled look on his face. He had noticed Silver Streak's bad mood. 'That sacred beast card Thunder Force and I faced off against faded away. And the same thing happened to the one Silver Streak and Blitz faced-off against did the same thing. Streak mentioned that he was the keeper of the last sacred beast. Raviel. Maybe something's happened.' "Streak?"
Silver Streak picked his head up. "Oh. Hey Burst."
"So what's got you down?"
"Well....I've got a date."
"...How is that bad?"
"I meant to say what happened after I got my date. Some guy wearing a hood showed up and dueled me. Then he stole Raviel. Raviel vanished in the same swirl of shadow that took Uria." Streak sighed. "I failed in my responsibility of guarding Raviel."
"Not quite Streak.", Burst said with a smile. "Now we know who's responsible for taking the sacred beast cards."
"In that case, I think I'll be able to help.", Blitz answered. "I'd looked into the disappearance of the sacred beasts. And I think I've found the one responsible. Burst. You and I could finish this on our own!"
"You sure about that?", Burst asked. "This is a force that can capture monsters whose power is on the level of the god cards."
"You took on monsters who had power on the level of the god cards. I'd say we'll be enough. I got a good look at their lair. They summoned the Castle of Dragon Souls. One way or another, it ends tonight."
Burst sighed. "Fine. But if we don't make it, I'm having the others on standby in-case we don't make it. Better safe than sorry."
"I'm glad you saw it my way.", Blitz said with a smug smile. As the school day came to an end, Burst texted his friends about the information Blitz had found out and that the two of them were prepared to take down the duelist who'd taken the sacred beast cards.
'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?', Burst thought as he looked over his deck. Moon noticed Burst's troubled state and came up to him.
"Feeling a bit scared?", she asked.
Burst sighed before looking at Moon. "Moon. For once I don't feel like everything's going to turn out alright." Burst shook his head. "Maybe it's nothing. All the same, I can't help but wonder how strong this next foe is and what power they have to subjugate monsters on the level of the god cards..." Burst was interrupted as Moon shared a deep kiss with him.
"Listen to me.", Moon said as she pulled out of the kiss. "Whatever you face, I know you'll make it Burst. Because you always have hope. And you know that even if we're not right by your side, we're always in your heart. This time, it's my turn to tell you this. Everything will be fine."
Burst smiled as he pulled Moon into a tight hug. "Thanks Moon. You don't know how much I needed that." Night had soon fallen, and Burst and Blitz headed for the Castle of Dragon Souls that had been summoned by the duelist who'd taken the sacred beasts. "I guess this is it. No use in delaying any further." Burst and Blitz headed inside while Burst's friends watched the two head in. "Don't know why this duelist would pick a place like this to serve as their base. I thought they'd try to stick to something more along the lines of the sacred beasts."
"I think I've got a good feeling where this duelist is waiting to challenge us.", Blitz said. "This way..." Blitz lead Burst to an empty courtyard.
"Okay...so where's the duelist we've gotta beat?"
Blitz had a dark smile as he pulled out three cards and faced Burst. "Closer than you think Burst." Blitz had the three sacred beasts in his hand.
"You're behind all this?!"
Blitz let out a dark chuckle. "Oh I've been behind MUCH more than this Burst."
"What're you talking about?", Burst asked sternly.
"Sombra and Zorc. Tirek and the wicked god cards. I was the one who gave them their power. The plan was going so well. That is....until YOU showed up.", Blitz said with a scowl as he pointed at Burst.
"Let me guess. The three of you were gonna split-up the world after one of you took over?"
"No. I was going to defeat them. I would be hailed as a hero and receive glory!" Blitz then glared at Burst. "And most of all, I would prove to Aether he didn't have to bother thinking about YOU all the time! I would become the hero he thought you would be! But then YOU beat Sombra at Duelist Kingdom and then Tirek at Battle City! YOU became a hero and stole my chance for glory! And worst of all...AETHER'S COME BACK FOR YOU!" Blitz's eyes were full of hate. His heart brimming with rage! Burst closed his eyes, and opened them.
"I pity you Blitz. But I could care less about the glory that came with my victories. I pity you because you wanted to be a hero for the glory and fame. You wanted it for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to become a hero because I wanted to do what was right. But Blitz...you can still be a hero too! Please. Just hand me the sacred beasts. We can walk away with no one getting hurt. Come on. Let's go home."
Blitz sneered at Burst. "I have no need of the sacred beasts. I was just delivering them. Are you here yet mother?" A dark portal appeared, and a woman with pale white skin and pitch black hair wearing a black dress stepped out. Abyss smiled at Blitz as he handed her the sacred beast cards. "Just as you wanted them."
"Perfect Blitz.", Abyss said with a dark smile. "I'll be sure to be at full power when you defeat me." Abyss returned to where she had come from. Leaving Burst and Blitz alone to face each other.
"It's you and me now brother." Blitz spat as much venom as he could into that last word. "Time to see who's Blue-Eyes will stand as the victor. And who will truly be recognized as the hero!" Blitz activated his duel disk.
"Looks like you're not giving me a choice in the matter.", Burst said as he activated his own duel disk.
Burst: 8000
Blitz: 8000
"I got the first move!" Burst looked carefully at his cards. 'This is going to be like fightning my own reflection. Blitz uses the same Blue-Eyes build I have minus Blue-Eyes Absolute. Good thing I don't depend on Absolute to win!' "I'll reveal Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand to special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative! Then I'll summon White Stone of Ancients and target it with Sage with Eyes of Blue from my hand! I'll send both to the graveyard to special summon Dragon Spirit of White from my deck! Then I'll activate Spirit's effect! I'll tribute him to bring out Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my hand! Then I'll contact fuse my two Blue-Eyes to fusion summon Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon! Then I'll end my turn. And since I ended my turn, I can special summon a 'Blue-Eyes' monster from my deck thanks to White Stone of Ancients' effect! I'll bring out Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" 'We've got pretty much the same deck. Now let's see if we have the same strategy.'
"I draw!" Blitz grinned in sinister glee at his hand. 'You may have the first move Burst. But I'll be the one to get the first strike! And I'll make sure it's extra devastating!' "I play Trade-In to discard a level 8 monster from my hand and draw two new cards! Then I'll play Cards of Consonance to discard a dragon-type tuner with 1000 or less attack and draw two new cards! And since I discarded White Stone of Legend, I can add Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand!" Blitz searched his deck, and added Blue-Eyes! "Now I'll reveal the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand to special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative! I'll then play Dragon Shrine to send Blue-Eyes Alternative from my deck to my graveyard! Then I'll play Dragon's Mirror!"
'Not good!', Burst thought! 'If I'm right about what he's gearing up for, then I might not last that long! However, I'll at least have one monster left standing on my field.' Burst looked to Blue-Eyes Twin Burst. 'I only regret that I've gotta put my monster through such a beating.'
"I banish the two Blue-Eyes in my graveyard and the one on my field!" A vortex appeared above Blitz's field, and a fearsome roar thundered from it! "I fusion summon Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Neo Ultimate descended onto Blitz's field! "Now! Destroy Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Burst cringed as Blue-Eyes was destroyed in a massive neutron blast! 'No. He doesn't get off that easy!' "Your suffering isn't done yet! I'll send Blue-Eyes Twin Burst from my extra deck to the graveyard to let Neo Ultimate attack once again! Attack Blue-Eyes Twin Burst!" Burst braced himself once again as his monster tanked a devastating hit! But thanks to his effect, Twin Burst was still standing! "I'm satisfied with the damage I've done. For now.", Blitz said with an evil smile.
Burst: 5000
Blitz: 8000
"Hey...Twin Burst...you alright?", Burst asked.
"A little banged-up.", Twin Burst grunted. "But I'm far from broken!"
"That's good....", Burst said with a weak smile as he drew his next card. 'Looks like I've got a chance after all.' "Sorry to ask this of you Twin Burst. But I need to use your effect!" Twin Burst nodded in response. "Twin Burst! Attack Neo Ultimate!" Twim Burst charged at Neo Ultimate, but was swatted out of the air! "Now Twin Burst's effect activates! Your monster is banished since it wasn't destroyed by battle!" Blitz frowned as Neo Ultimate left the field. "I end my turn." 'I didn't do any damage. But at least I was able to get rid of Neo Ultimate!' Burst then steeled his gaze at Blitz and looked at his life points. 'Although...I don't know if that's really much of an accomplishment now. But the duel's not over yet! If I can still draw a card, I've got hope!'
Burst: 3500
Blitz: 8000
'How cute. He really thinks that he can somehow win this.' Blitz sneered at how damaged Burst looked. "Well, well. Still standing are we? In that case, TIME TO FIX THAT!" Blitz drew his next card, but frowned at the sight of it. 'Curse this hand!' "You're fortunate that I can't make any plays that would really do any harm to you. So I'll end my turn for now." 'This is but a delay. Nothing will stop my victory! NOTHING!'
'Seems like I've still got a turn or two left in me!' Burst drew his next card! 'Nice! A chance to turn the tide! It's a good thing that I saved this card in my hand!' "You might've started this duel pretty strong Blitz! But I'm gonna end it!" 'Or at least, this turn should bring me pretty close to the finish!' Burst then thought of all his friends, his family, and Moon. 'Not yet! I can't fall yet! Everyone's waiting for me! I can't hold back anything!' "I play the ritual spell Chaos Form! I'll banish Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my graveyard! Now I ritual summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!" A swirling vortex of chaos appeared on Burst's field, and Chaos MAX stepped out! "Then I'll have both of my monsters attack you directly!" Both of Burst's dragons fired powerful blasts of energy! Wiping out most of Blitz's life points! "I end my turn. Nice work you two." 'If I didn't beat him in this turn, I at least managed to get rid of most of his life points. I got in at least one good hit.'
Burst: 3500
Blitz: 1000
'One turn....he's managed to push me this far back in ONE TURN!', Blitz screamed in his mind! 'I shall make him pay dearly for damaging me this much!' "I draw!" Blitz grinned savagely at his next card. "I set a card and end my turn." 'This should keep at least his current monsters in check.'
'Chances are that face-down's his big game changer.', Burst thought. 'And I bet he's waiting for my monsters to trigger it! Well, better to find out what he's got lying in wait now! That way he wastes it!' "I draw! I play Return of the Dragon Lords to revive Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
'NO!', Blitz mentally screamed!
"Let's rock the dragon Blue-Eyes! White Lightning!", Burst cried out!
"You're a disgrace to the Blue-Eyes users Blitz!", Blue-Eyes cried out! "Let's see how you like being on the receiving end of our power!" Blue-Eyes fired a massive blast of white lightning! Wiping out the last of Blitz's life points and knocking him to the ground! Blitz growled as he got to his feet. He then sneered and laughed.
"AAAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!"
"Something funny?", Burst asked.
"You may have won the duel. But I win the fight!" Blitz began to channel a massive blast of darkness!
"So you're gonna take both of us out?!"
"Wouldn't you like to know?", Blitz said with a smirk. Blitz unleashed the blast! It was so big that Burst's friends saw blast from the outside! They rushed inside the castle and found both of Burst and Blitz unconscious! They breathed a sigh of relief as Burst slowly rose.
"Dude...what happened?", Inferno asked.
"Turns out Blitz was responsible for taking the sacred beast cards. He revealed himself here and he was also responsible for giving Zorc to Sombra and the Wicked God Cards to Tirek. Fortunately, it looks like he won't be a problem anymore."
"So this creep's been behind everything! Maybe I oughta rough him up a bit for good measure!", Rainbow Dash said. But Burst stopped her.
"No." Burst looked down at Blitz, and smiled. "He's beaten. I made sure he learned his lesson. Let's all head home." Burst and his friends headed home. But the second they were out of sight, Blitz began to rise.
"Nnnnngggh! My head....", Blitz groaned. "Last I remember was the blast and...." 'Blitz' stared at his body in shock. "...No...." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 19: Our Hero? | The next day had come, and Burst and his friends went about their day. Gold went over to talk to Burst about the last duel he had. But as he got close, he stopped. Burst noticed and approached him. "Something you wanted to talk about Gold?"
"...Not really. Just wanted to see how you're feeling after beating Blitz Surge. That's all."
"The happiest I've ever been.", 'Burst' answered as he walked off. Gold went on his way and decided to look for Sunset. He soon found her.
"Sunset. I think something's up.", Gold said with a grave tone.
"Gold, what are you talking about? Burst beat the badguy.", Sunset said with a puzzled look. "End of story."
"I'm not so sure. You know how I can sense energy?"
"Yeah?"
"When I went to talk to Burst this morning...I got a completely different energy reading from him. And no. A person's energy signature doesn't just up and change completely. A person's energy can alter and shift, but the overall feeling is still the same for that person's energy. What I picked up from 'Burst' was a dark energy and full of malicious intent. It was NOTHING like the energy I've picked up on from Burst in all the time I've known him."
"What're you saying?"
"Sunset. I don't think that's Burst walking around in that body. Which is why I'll need the help of you and the others. See if you can get a read on his thoughts."
"What are you gonna do?"
"If I'm right..." Gold patted the duel disk he had in his backpack. "...I'm gonna get answers out of this imposter." As the day went on, 'Burst' and his friends went about their day. Moon was at her locker getting books for her next class when Burst showed up at her locker.
"Oh. Always nice to see you Burst.", Moon said with a smile. "How're you feeling?"
"Better than I've ever felt before.", Burst answered with a grin. "But enough about me..." Burst slid up to Moon with a devious smile. "I'd like to know what you'd like to do. In specific, with me. Maybe we could make a little bit of trouble together."
"This....isn't like you Burst...."
Burst frowned. "I thought you'd appreciate a guy like me getting in touch with his dark side."
"Sorry. It just doesn't suit you."
"Maybe this will change your mind..." Burst leaned in and kissed Moon. And she immediately shoved him off the second his lips made contact! "What was that for?!"
"Don't come any closer.", Moon said with a cold glare. "You're not Burst. Not the one I love."
"Maybe I'm better than I once was.", Burst said with a scowl. Moon shook her head.
"No. You never could be." Moon walked off leaving Burst to fume. 'That's not Burst. Whenever I look at him, I see someone else.' Moon then looked at a picture she had taken of her and Burst. 'Burst...where are you? And what's happened to you?' Lunch period soon arrived, and Moon had discussed her encounter with Burst. "And now her we are."
"Well darling...people change in a relationship.", Rarity said with a small smile. "I know Inferno got a bit more romantic since we started dating."
"Yeah. But did he act like a totally different person?" Moon sighed. "Trust me. Whoever this is, it's not the Burst we know and love."
"Looks like Gold was on the right track.", Sunset thought out loud. "But there's one way to find out..." Sunset got up and walked over to where Burst was sitting and put her hand on Burst's shoulder. Using her magic, Sunset looked withing Burst's thoughts. And she was shocked by what she saw! In it, she saw Burst facing off against Blitz. However, she was watching from the perspective of Blitz! She then saw the massive blast of darkness and found herself staring at Blitz! But the mosti horrifying thing was Burst was smirking at Blitz's body as he fell to the floor. Sunset pulled out and was met with a confused 'Burst' looking at her.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No...I just needed to talk to Gold. In private." Sunset grabbed Gold and took him out of the cafeteria. "You were right. I picked up on 'Burst's' thoughts. And that wasn't Burst in there."
"Then who is is?", Gold asked.
"Blitz Surge. I think he used that blast of darkness to switch his body and Burst's."
"Then I'm gonna find out how to get Burst back. You'd better head back to the girls." Sunset returned to her table while Gold approached 'Burst'. "Burst. Could I have a word? It's important."
"Why not?" The two went outside the cafeteria. "So what's up?" Gold pulled out his duel disk and activated it!
"You can drop the act Blitz. We both know Burst's not in there."
Blitz sneered. "Well, well. Nothing gets by you does it? Bravo Gold. Bravo."
"So you used that blast to switch bodies. But why?"
"Simple. I was behind Sombra and Tirek. I was supposed to defeat them. Then I would be hailed as a hero! But each time Burst showed up, HE beat them! His life should have been mine! Now I have it.", Blitz answered with an evil smile.
"Nor for long. One way or another, I'm going to find out how to get Burst his body back!", Gold spat. "And you'll never be a hero! You intentionally unleashed evil just so you could defeat it! Burst fought because if no one took a stand then, no one ever would! And it's because of him I'm taking a stand now!"
"And soon you shall fall." Blitz summoned a duel disk from the darkness.
Gold: 8000
Blitz: 8000
"I got the first move!" Gold looked carefully at his cards. 'Nice! Not a bad hand to start with!' "I summon Phoenix Spirit in defense mode and set two cards! I end my turn!" 'I just hope I can last long enough to find out how to get Burst's body back! But since this guy's got Burst's deck, I won't stand a chance if he summons Blue-Eyes Absolute!'
"My move!" Blitz grinned savagely as he looked at his cards. 'Time for me to strike first!' "I play Advanced Ritual Art to send Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to the graveyard to ritual summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon! Destroy his monster! Chaos Neutron Blast!" Gold crigned as his monster was destroyed! "Now the effect of Chaos MAX activates! Since he battled a defense mode monster, you take double piercing damage! I end my turn." 'Fool. You think you can beat me? My deck and Burst's are identical. You stand no chance.'
"Forgive me.", Chaos MAX said sadly. "I can't control my actions."
Gold: 6800
Blitz: 8000
'Scratch that. I might not last long with Chaos MAX on the field!' Gold then drew his next card. 'Then again, maybe not!' "Phoenix's special ability lets him revive from the graveyard!" Phoenix Spirit returned to the filed in a burst of flame! "Now I play the spell card Free of Charge! I can normal summon a level 5 or higher monster with not tribute cost! I summon Gold-Eyes Crimson Dragon!" Crimson descended onto the field in a pilar of crimson light! "Now I'll attack and discard Honest to boost Crimson's attack by the attack of your monster! Go! Crimson Plasma Arc!" Blitz scowled as Chaos MAX was destroyed in a blast of plasma! "Then I'll have Phoenix Spirit attack you directly!" Phoenix Spirit wrapped itself in flames and crashed into Blitz's life points! "I end my turn." 'Looks like he's not too big on strategy! Unlike Burst, he's just relying on brute force!'
Gold: 6800
Blitz: 4000
Blitz dusted himself off and gazed at Gold-Eyes Crimson Dragon. "An impressive monster.", he said with a smirk. "Hope you don't mind if I use it for...inspiration." Blitz focused dark energy, and a card materialized in his hand.
"What did you just do?!", Gold demanded. Blitz sneered at him.
"I've improved upon your dragon. Allow me to show you what I mean! I draw! I play Trade-In to discard a level eight monster in my hand to draw two new cards!" Blitz grinned as he saw the two cards he drew. "Now I play Return of the Dragon Lords to revive a level 7 or 8 monster in my graveyard! Rise! Obsidian Dragon!" A pool of shadow appeared on Blitz's field, and a pitch black dragon with purple crystal wings crawled up out of the pool of shadow. But unlike Gold-Eyes Crimson Dragon, this dragon's crystal wings were jagged and purple.
"Hello weakling.", he said with a sinister grin.
"Now for his effect! He gains the attack of all monsters that you control!" Obsidian let out a fearsome roar as an aura of shadow erputed around him! "Destroy Gold-Eyes Crimson Dragon!" Gold cringed as his monster was destroyed! "And now that there's one less monster on your field, Obsidian's attack points drop. So I'll end my turn with a face-down." 'This should prove to be a fitting taste of despair for him.'
Gold: 2800
Blitz: 4000
'That thing's like a twisted version of Crimson!', Gold thought as he drew a card. 'And it looks like the monster he's created reflects his twisted nature! This dark power. I can't believe it lets him create dark versions of monsters! I might've been off guard and forgotten to use my traps. But that won't happen a second time!' "It's my move now! I play Return of the Dragon Lords to revive Gold-Eyes Crimson Dragon!"
"No. You won't. I activate my trap! Dark Bribe! Your spell is negated. But hey. At least you can draw another card.
Gold frowned as he drew a card. "I guess I'll end my turn."
"Wise choice.", Blitz said with a sneer as he drew his next card. "Hmmm. Harmony Absolute."
"NO!", Gold screamed.
"A good card I take it?", Blitz asked with a smug grin. "Well now I have to play it! I play Harmon Aboslute to summon Blue-Eyes Absolute Dragon!" Blue-Eyes Absolute descended in a pillar of light. "Magnificent! Now! Attack him directly!" Blue-Eyes Absolute remained rooted in place. "Perhaps you didn't hear me right. ATTACK!" Blue-Eyes Absolute didn't budge. "STUPID BEAST! OBEY ME! I AM YOUR MASTER!"
"....No.", Absolute said with a gaze full of cold fury as looked down on Blitz. "I follow my partner. Not a master. And you're not my partner. You're not Burst." And with that, Blue-Eyes Absolute faded from the field.
Blitz was about to counter when he clutched his chest in pain! "AGH! What's....happening....?" Blits removed his hand and saw what looked like his soul trying to be forced out! "NO! NOT NOW!" Blitz was literally struggling to keep himself together! GRRRAAAHHHH!" Blitz was panting heavily as he finally regained control. "I....end....my turn...."
"My turn then!" 'Looks like the power of harmony rejects Blitz! That gives me a chance!' "I draw! I play Soul Charge! I pay 1000 life points to revive a monster from my graveyard! Welcome back Crimson! Now I'll activate his effect! I can target and destroy one monster you control! I choose Obsidian dragon!" Obsidian Dragon was destroyed by a bolt of crimson energy! "Now Crimson gains that monster's attack points! Attack him directly Crimson! This is for Burst! Crimson Plasma Arc!"
"Time to free my brothers from your chains!", Crimson shouted as he fired a searing blast of plasma into the last of Blitz's life points! Knocking him unconscious! While Blitz was out, Gold rushed over and reclaimed Burst's deck. He then bolted over to the others and told them the news. "That blast of darkness we saw last night? Blitz used it to swap bodies with Burst. I just dueled him earlier and reclaimed Burst's deck while he was out."
"Then where's Burst?", Inferno demanded. "We gotta get him back to his real body! We left him back there at the Castle of Dragon Souls! And I'll never forgive myself if we let that creep run around in his body!"
"Burst's probably moving on his own now. He's probably trying to get a grip on this.", Gold answered. "In the meantime, we'd better be careful around Blitz while he's in Burst's body. He was able to create an evil version of my dragon. And there's no telling what twisted version he'll make of your monster partners." Moon was listening in and sighed.
'Burst. Where are you?', she thought. Outside, Burst stood in Blitz's body.
"Blitz is in there doing who knows what." Burst then thought of Moon and his friends and family. "If he's done ANYTHING to hurt them, I'll never forgive him." Burst walked home. Hoping that if anyone would understand, if anyone would know it was him in there, that it would be his parents. "I just hope they haven't bought whatever lies Blitz told them..." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 20: True Friends | Burst had arrived at his house still in Blitz's body. 'I hope they don't try to tackle me or anything. There's no telling how much they're convinced that I'm not in this body.' Burst was about to knock on the door, but his mom opened it.
"...Blitz...no. Burst." Lumina pulled Burst into a tight hug. "You're alright."
"Mom? How did you know it was me in here?"
"Burst, I'm your mother. Do you think I wouldn't know my own son when I see him? You have the body of Blitz, but I can still see your heart clear as day. Your father also sensed that it wasn't you in your body.", Lumina said with a smile. Burst smiled in kind, but his stomach grumbled. "I'm guessing you could use something to eat." Burst ate the lunch his mom fixed up. "So what's your next move from here?" Burst finished eating before speaking.
"I guess that'd be convincing my friends. Chances are Blitz already told them plenty of lies about me not being in this body." Burst sighed. "I just hope they don't blast me with magic the second they see me. No use putting it off. I'm off to Sugarcube Corner. Wish me luck." Burst walked over to Sugarcube Corner, and took a deep breath before headin through the doors.. 'Here goes nothing....' Burst opened the door and was tackled when Pinkie hugged him!
"BURST!", Pinkie cheered.
"Pinkie?! How did you know I was in this body? Or that I was outside for that matter...."
"Your smile silly!", Pinkie chirped. "The meanie running around in your body had an awful fake smile. It was never genuine either! C'mon! Everyone's waiting for you!" Pinkie dragged Burst inside. "Hey everyone! Look who came by!" Applejack was the first on to inspect Burst.
"If that's really you in there Burst, how did we first meet?", Applejack asked.
"I was really digging into the lunch your granny whipped up. You even told me she made all the food for the cafeteria. Fluttershy. You comforted me when Hoops and his cronies made fun of me. I met you outside the school. Rainbow Dash, you crashed into me. Pinkie threw me a party, and I met Sunset during my first time at Discord's card shop. Rarity, I didn't meet you until my birthday party during Freshman Year. I met Twilight during the Friendship Games. My advice about tuning out the crowd helped you almost win against me in that duel." All the girls smiled. "Inferno. You're the one that got me into dueling by taking me to Discord's shop. Steel, I met you at the tournament held Sophomore year. Your first move was a self-destruct that wiped out most of my life points. Gold. I remember when you joined out band. You took up the bass position. It was also the first time we saw the spirits of our monster partners. Ace and Ice. I met the both of you after the Battle of The Bands. Ace joined my band, and he was dueling to free Ice from the monster controlling him. I also met Veenus and Fang at that time. Night, I met you at Battle City. Your Cyber Dragons put up a pretty good duel. As for the new faces, I've not met you yet. But all the same, nice to meet you." Burst looked at his friends. "Is that everything?"
"You're forgetting someone very important." Moon stepped forward. "So what do yo know about me?"
Burst sighed before wrapping his arms around Moon. "Does this feel familiar? I held you like this when I chose to-" Burst was cut-off as Moon kissed him. "...I take it you believe me?" Moon smiled.
"I knew before. I just missed kissing you. I knew it wasn't you at schol today. You'd never act like such a flirt. You're too sweet for that. And Blitz tried to force a kiss onto me. You just let it flow." Moon then hugged Burst tightly. "Right now I'm just glad you're back."
"Yeah. Now it's time to get my body back!", Burst said confidently.
"Then you'll be needing this." Gold handed Burst his true deck. Burst took out Blitz's deck.
"Time to have a little chat with my 'brother.' " Burst left to find Blitz. He didn't have to look far. Blitz was standing outside. "You're a pretty sore loser."
"I've worked so hard to get this point. And I won't have you messing up my plans again!" Blitz snarled. Burst tossed Blitz's deck back over to him. "This time I'll make sure you never get back up!"
"We'll see about that.", Burst said with a smile as he and Blitz activated their duel disks.
Burst: 8000
Blitz: 8000
"I'll take the first move!", Blitz declared! "I'll reveal Blue-Eyes in my hand to summon Blue-Eyes Alternative! I end my turn with a face-down."
"I draw!" 'Good to have you back Blue-Eyes.', Burst thought as he looked at his cards. "My turn! I play Trade-In to discard a level 8 monster from my hand to draw two new cards! Now I'll play Return of the Dragon Lords to revive Dragon Spirit of White from my graveyard! Now I'll use his effect to banish your face-down!" Blitz scowled as his face-down was banished in a flash of light! "Now I'll reveal Blue-Eyes in my hand to special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative! I'll use his effect to destroy your monster!" Blue-Eyes Alternative fired a bolt of lightning that struck down Blitz's Alternative! "Now I tribute Dragon Spirit of White to special summon Blue-Eyes from my hand!" Blue-Eyes let out a might roar as he took the field!
"Good to be dueling under you again Burst!", Blue-Eyes said with a grin.
"You too Blue-Eyes! Now on to business! White Lightning!" Blitz cringed as he took a huge chunk of damage from Blue-Eyes' attack! "Then I'll set a card and end my turn." 'Now that I've got my friends back, nothing's gonna stop me now!'
Burst: 8000
Blitz: 5000
'Years of plotting. So much planning. And he comes along and ruins it in a matter of days!', Blitz screamed in his mind as he drew a card! 'I've been planning for this for a long time. And this time he will not stand in my way!' Blitz had a savage grin. 'Now to make him and that stupid smile fade away forever!' "I play Chaos Form to banish Blue-Eyes Alternative from my graveyard! I ritual summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX!"
"No you don't!", Burst countered! "I activate my trap! Champion's Vigilance! Since Blue-Eyes is a level 7 or higher normal monster, I can use this trap to negate the activation of a spell or trap, or the summon of a monster! Then I can destroy that card!I'll negate your monster summon!"
"NO!", Blitz roared as Chaos MAX was destroyed before it even hit the field! Blitz scowled hatefully at Burst. "I end my turn."
"My turn then! I draw!" Burst smiled as he looked at his cards. "I'll attack you directly with Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Blitz once again cringed as he took another large hit to his life points! "Too bad you're relying on only one card to win. You also treat your monsters as tools. My monsters are my friends! And because I stand by them, they stand by me! You should try talking to them.", Burst said with a smile.
"SHUT UP!", Blitz screamed! "I can't stand you! Treating your monsters as friends?! Having others to support you?! But worst of all...I HATE THAT STUPID SMILE ON YOUR FACE! YOU AND YOUR STRENGTH DISGUST ME! YOU'VE NOT PURSUED YOUR DESIRES BY USING WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY! IS THERE NOTHING YOU WANT?! THE ONLY WAY ONE CAN BE STRONG IS TO BE ALONE!"
Burst sighed. "I pity you Blitz. It's because I have people to fight for, people who give me a reason to take a stand that I've been able to come so far. I've got a family who loves me and taught me to be a good person! And as for my smile, the reason for me is far from stupid. I smile because I enjoy every duel I fight! No matter how high the stakes or how close to losing I am! Because at those last few turns, anything is possible!" Burst smiled. "And with that remark, I end my turn. Your move."
Burst: 8000
Blitz: 2000
"Spare me that trash!", Blitz snarled as he drew his next card! "I play The Melody of Awakening Dragon to add two dragons with 3000 or more attack and 2500 or less defense from my deck to my hand! 'NO! There's nothing to summon! And I've got no traps that can protect me! How?! How is he beating me again?!' "I end my turn."
"I draw!" Burst smiled as he saw his next card! "Now everything can be made right! I play Harmony Absolute!"
"YES!", all of Burst's friends cheered!
"I tribute Blue-Eyes from my field to summon Blue-Eyes Absolute from my deck!" Blue-Eyes Absolute descended onto the field in a majestic pillar of light! The second Absolute hit the field, Blitz clutched his chest in pain!
"GAAAGHH! WHAT'S....HAPPENING?!" Blitz stared in horror as his soul was dragged out of Burst's body! "No...NO! NOOOOOOO!!!" Blitz's sould was ripped from Burst's body while Burst's soul floated out of BLitz's body! Both duelists' souls returned to their original bodies and their decks did the same! When the light faded, Blitz scowled. "NO! I spent so much time on that plan and you ruined it in less than a day!"
"That's not all I'm about to spoil for you!", Burst said as he stretched in his real body."You forget. It's still my turn. And you've got an empty field. And I've got Absolute on my field. Time for some overkill. Would you care to do the honors buddy?"
Blue-Eyes Absolute grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "It would be my pleasure punishing this creep for running around in your body."
"Then let's rock the dragon Blue-Eyes! ABSOLUTE BURST KNUCKLE!" Blue-Eyes Absolute chraged his fist full of energy and brought it down hard on the last of Blitz's life points and leaving a crater in its wake! Blitz was revealed to be unconscious once the dust cleared. Burst stood triumphant! "Now that's how you finish a duel!" Blitz slowly rose, and scowled at Burst before fleeing through a portal. Burst's friends ran up to him and squeezed him! "Yeah. I'm happy to be back too.", Burst said with a smile. "But something tells me we haven't seen the last of Blitz. And his mother should be showing up soon too."
"Then we're just gonna have to kick their butts again!", Inferno boasted. "And this time you won't be going it alone!"
"Thank you. All of you. I couldn't ask for better friends than you." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 21: Slay the Sacred Beasts! | "So what's this Abyss woman look like?", Gold asked.
"She's got pale white skin and pitch black hair.", Burst answered. "I saw her when Blitz gave her the Sacred Beast cards. Meaning that the Sacred Beasts must have some sort of combined form that requires all three to be used. Whatever she has planned, it can't be good. And chances are she's gonna put it into action really soon. Especially since I just defeated her son."
"I guess we know where Blitz gets his dark nature from.", Inferno noted. "But where'd he get the desire to be a hero?"
"Probably from my dad. Before he left, I told my dad about a dream I had as a little kid. It was that one day I'd be a superhero. I thought he'd laugh at it, but he just smiled and told me that he thought I'd be one sometime.", Burst had a fond smile as he remembered those happy days. "I guess you could say that now I've been living that dream. I've taken on foes that threatened two worlds, and triumphed over them. But I think Blitz is probably the most dangerous villain so far. Not because he's driven to conquest like Sombra or Tirek, but because he wanted to unleash evil just so he could prove himself as a hero. The worst villains are the ones that wear the mask of a hero."
"Well said..." Burst and his friends turned to see Abyss step out of a portal. "So nice to meet you formally Burst Stream. I am Abyss. You're quite well-acquainted with my son. Blitz Surge."
"Funny. I can't say it's nice to meet you.", Burst said with a frown. "Aren't you concerned that your son's unleashed multiple threats to the world?"
Abyss had a proud smile. "Actually, I couldn't be more proud. He finally gave me a reason to acknowledge his existence."
"How....how can you say that about your own child?!"
"It's simple really. I live by one code. All that matters in your life is your own desires. How you obtain them and who you use is irrelevant. I taught that same lesson to Blitz when he was but a chiled. But he had no desires at the time. So I saw little to no reason for him being. But the answer to my own desires solved that problem. My desire was to find a mate who was worthy of a woman of my caliber. And I found it in your father. Aether. He raised Blitz as his own. Fitting since Blitz had no father. Oh how Aether would talk about you. He'd go on about how he thought you'd become a hero. That was all it took for Blitz to want to become a hero. It was then that I finally acknowledged him as my son. So like any good mother, I did my best to support him. There was no evil for Blitz to defeat, so I helped him unleash it. I gave him Zorc and the Wicked God Cards. Now I have the cards that were meant for me. The Sacred Beasts! And now, I'll unleash them on you!"
"Someone's got to put an end to you.", Burst said sternly as he activated his duel disk.
"Don't leave me out of the fun!", Inferno said with a smile as he activated his own duel disk. "I let you take on Blitz alone and look what happened. I'm not making the same mistake this time! No way I'm missing out on this duel!"
"Oh, I don't mind you inviting your friend on the fun Burst.", Abyss said with a sneer. "The Sacred Beasts would like nothing more than to destroy the champions of the God Cards!" Abyss activated her own duel disk! "Ladies first!"
Abyss: 16000
Burst & Inferno: 16000
"I play Banner of Courage! This boosts the attack of all monsters on my field by 200 during the damage step! Now I'll play Card Trader! I'll also set two cards and end my turn."
"I draw!" Burst looked carefully at his hand. 'She's already got two continuous spells on the field. She's only one away from bringing out Hamon. If I'm gonna strike, I shoud do it now! However, her traps could be trouble. Only one way to find out!' "I summon White Stone of Ancients! Then I'll discard a card to activate The Melody of Awakening Dragon! This lets me add two dragons with 3000 or more attack and 2500 or less defense to my hand! Now I'll reveal the Blue-Eyes I added to special summon Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon! Then I'll tune him with White Stone of Ancients! I synchro summon Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon! Now I'll activate his effect! I'll tribute him to special summon a LIGHT dragon-type synchro monster from my extra deck! I summon Stardust Spark Dragon!" A dragon similar to Stardust Draogn appeared on Burst's field! Only he had markings on the orbs in his chest. "Now I'll play Return of the Dragon Lords to revive Blue-Eyes Alternative! Attack her directly!" Both of Burst's dragons snet out blasts of energy from their mouths!
"I don't think so!", Abyss said with a smirk! "I activate my trap! Wall of Revealing Light! I pay 4000 life points! Now monsters with attack less than or equal to the amount of life points can't attack!"
'Darn! She's locked down most of my monsters! Too bad I don't have Twin Twisters in my hand. That card would be poison to her deck right about now! I guess now I'll just try and brace for the coming assault.' "I guess I'll end my turn."
'This is the same pest who messed up my son's plans? Hmph. How disappointing.' "I draw! I'll activate the effect of Card Trader! I can shuffle one card from my hand into my deck since it's my standby phase! Then I can draw a card!" Abyss shuffled a card from her hand into her deck, and drew a new one. "Ah. Perfect! I play Yellow Luster Shield! Now I tribute my three spells to summon Hamon! Lord of Striking Thunder! Then I'll activate another one of my face-downs! Skill Drain! I pay 1000 life points to negate the effects of all face-up monsters on the field as long as they're face-up! Now I'll attack your Blue-Eyes Alternative!" Hamon fired a gigantic blast of thunder at Blue-Eyes Alternative! Destroying him instantly! "I end my turn. Since your monster was destroyed, you take another 1000 points of damage!" Burst winced as another blast of lightning struck his life points! 'Only my second turn and I've already crippled both of their decks.', Abyss thought with an evil smile. "If you think the Sacred Beasts are bad right now, wait until you lose! Not only will they drain your cards of their energy! They'll sap you of your very will to duel!"
Abyss: 11000
Burst & Inferno: 14000
'Not good! She's locked-down our monster's effects! Even if we activate our monsters' effects! Meaning I can't make any use of the burn damage effect of Red-Eyes! Not to mention we still can't attack thanks to Wall of Revealing Light! Also, Hamon's effect makes it so we take damage no matter what battle position we put our monsters in! But it's like Burst says! The duel's not over until the last card's drawn!' "I draw!" Inferno smiled as he looked at his cards! "I summon Black Stone of Legend! Now I'll tribute him to special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my deck in defense mode! Then I'll set a card and end my turn!" 'This trap might set us back a bit. But at least it'll get a good hit in on Abyss! You mess with a Red-Eyes, you get burned!'
'I suppose I could humor them by triggering whatever trap they've set.', Abyss thought with a smirk as she drew her next card. "I set a card and attack your monster with Hamon! " Inferno cringed as Red-Eyes was destroyed "Now his effect is triggered!"
"So's my trap! Red-Eyes Burn! Since you destroyed a 'Red-Eyes' monster, I can inflict that monster's attack as damage to both our life points! Burst, Inferno, and Abyss cringed as flames crashed into their life points! "I might've taken a chunk out of our life points, but at least you got burned too! Not to mention we've still got a good amount of life points left!"
"That won't last long.", Abyss said with an unnervingly calm smile. "I end my turn by switching Hamon into defense mode. Now his other effect activates! When he's in defense mode, he's the only monster that can be attacked. How ironic considering I've prevented your monsters from attacking me or using their effects to strike down Hamon."
Abyss: 8600
Burst & Inferno: 10600
"I draw!" Burst looked over his cards carefully. 'She put Hamon into defense mode just to rub it in our faces! And chances are that her face-down is a continuous trap! I'd better build up my defenses!' "I'll switch Stardust into defense mode and set a card. I end my turn." 'Now I just have to get her to attack!'
"I draw!" Abyss had a dark smile as she saw the card she drew. "Things are about to get wrose for you two! I activate my face-down! Metal Reflect Slime! This continuous trap also counts as a monster! Now I sacrifice my three traps to special summon Uria! Lord of Searing Flames!" Uria hit the field in a pillar of flame! "Now that he's on the field, Uria gains 1000 attack for each continuous trap in my graveyard! And once per turn, I can destroy one face-down spell or trap card my opponent controls!"
"No!" Burst watched in horror as his Mirror Force trap burst into flame!
"I've let Hamon have his fun attacking you. Now Uria will burn your field!" Uria unleashed a blast of flame at Stardust Spark Dragon!
"I don't think so! I activate Stardust Spark's effect! I can target one monster on the field and protect it from being destroyed by battle and card effects! I choose Stardust!" Stardust Spark Dragon put up a barrier around himself as the flames crashed upon him! When the smoke cleared, he was still standing! "We're not out of this duel yet!"
"You two have spirit. I'll grant you that much. But that alone won't save you.", Abyss said with a sneer. "I end my turn."
'Abyss made a BIG mistake in getting rid of her traps! Now I can use my burn effects as much as I want!', Inferno thought with a smile. "You know, I should thank you for giving me such a big target to shoot for Abyss! I draw! I play Dragon Shrine to send a dragon from my deck to my graveyard! I'll send Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! Now I'll play Return of the Dragon Lords to revive Black Flare! Then I'll summon another Black Flare Dragon! This unlocks his effect because he's a gemini monster! Then I'll equip Black Flare with Black Metal Dragon to boost his attack by 600 points! Since Hamon's in defense mode, I can only attack him! But he's the perfect target! Attack Hamon! Black Flare Inferno!" Red-Eyes Black Flare launched a huge fireball at Hamon, but it bounced off and Inferno took damage! "Just what I was hoping for! Since damage calculation was performed, I can inflict the original attack of Red-Eyes Black Flare as damage!" Abyss winced as flames crashed into her life points! "I end my turn."
Abyss: 6200
Burst & Inferno: 9600
'How irritating.', Abyss thought with a scowl. 'They've barely landed an attack on me and they've depleted most of my life points.' "I draw!" Abyss smiled as she saw her next card. "Ah. Just what I needed! I play Fires of Doomsday to special summon two Doomsday Tokens! Then I summon Giant Germ! Now I tribute my three fiend-type monsters to special summon Raviel! Lord of Phantasms!" Raviel appeared out of a haze of shadowy mist! "Now the time has come to unleash the true power of the Sacred Beasts! I banish Uria, Hamon, and Raviel!" The three Sacred Beasts swirled together in a vortex! "Rise! Armityle the Chaos Phantom!" A fearsome monster that looked like the three Sacred Beasts stepped out of the vortex! "Now for his effect! He gains 10000 during my turn! Now. I think I'll destroy Red-Eyes Black Flare! Chaotic Oblivion!" Armityle fired a blast of chaos energy at Inferno's monster! Destroying it and wiping out a good portion of his and Burst's life points.
"I end my turn with a face-down. Now Arimtyle's attack drops back down to zero." Abyss smirked at Burst and Inferno at the edge of their defeat. 'Even if they do decide to attack, my face-down will ensure that they can do no harm to me. Also, Armityle is immune to destruction by battle.'
Abyss: 6200
Burst & Inferno: 2600
'Her monster's nearly unstoppable in terms of attack. But it's still vulnerable to effects!', Burst thought. He then noticed a glow coming from the top of his deck. 'Time to show Abyss the power we have when we duel as one!' "Hey Inferno!"
"Yeah?"
"Let's show Abyss the power of our dragons combined!" Burst flashed the new card to Inferno, and both got the idea. "I play the spell card Absolute Fusion! It allows me to banish fusion materials listed on an 'Absolute' fusion monster from my extra deck from my hand, deck, or field! And since Inferno and I have the same field, I can banish from his deck too! I banish Blue-Eyes Absolute Dragon and Red-Eyes Absolute Dragon!" Both monsters entered a swirling vortex! "Storm forth! Dragon who wields both power and potential! Let your coming herald endless possibilities! Purple-Eyes Ultimate Absolute Dragon!" A humanoid dragon with purple eyes and grey scales that looked like Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes fused together stepped out of the vortex! It boasted 7000 attack points! "This fusion of friendship is gonna finish you next turn!"
Abyss let out a dark chuckle. "Are you serious? One attack from Armitylem and you're done for! It's my turn now! That means he gains 10000 attack points! Destroy their dragon!" Armityle unleashed a blast of energy, but Purple-Eyes was still standing! Not only that, but Burst and Inferno's life points had increased! "WHAT?!"
"Hope you like Purple-Eyes' effect!", Inferno said with a grin. "Purple-Eyes can't be destroyed by card effects or by battle! And if we would take damage, we gain life points equal to the damage we would take instead!"
"It can't be! Armityle should be unstoppable!", Abyss howled! "I end my turn."
"Let's end this Burst!"
"Right!"
"ABSOLUTE AETHER BLAST!", Burst and Inferno yelled as Purple-Eyes fired a blast of rainbow-colored aether! Wiping out the last of Abyss's life points! Armityle faded from existence once the blast hit! Abyss slowly rose as he body began to distort and twist.
"IT'S NOT OVER! I HOLD POWER THAT RIVALS THE GOD CARDS!" Abyss's then looked like the Sacred Beasts had fused into her body!
Burst and Inferno summoned their blasters and began to charge them up! "Inferno? You know what to say?"
"Haven't we both beenhoping for this moment?"
Burst and Inferno then aimed their blasters at Abyss, and uttered a singleword before firing. "JACKPOT." Twin energy projections of Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes shot out from their blasters! The blasts hit Abyss full force! Destroying her as the enveloped her in a blast of blue and red light!
"AAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHhhhhhhhhh!", Abyss screamed as her body crumbled into nothing! Burst and Inferno's friends ran up to congratualte them on their victory.
"Way to go you two!", Ace cheered.
"Figured you guys could handle this.", Ice said with a smile.
"Eh. Would've been more awesome if ALL of us took her down.", Steel said with a shrug.
"Wouldn't that take up too much of the chapter?", Akage asked.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just something Pinkie told me."
"You two rose to the occasion.", Gold said with a smile.
"Well done lads! Well done!", North congratulated.
"Now THAT'S how you rock the dragon!", Shadow cheered.
"That was a fantastic finish darling!", Rarity said as she held Inferno tight.
"As much as I'd like to enjoy your praise, I can't.", Burst said solemnly. "There's still one matter of business to take care of. Something tells me we haven't seen the last of Blitz just yet." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Duel 22: Fathers and Sons | The battle was over. But Burst had told Pinkie to hold off on the party. "There's someone I need to talk to. I won't be too long. I promise." Burst summoned his dragon wings, and flew off for his home. Once he landed, he went inside and found his dad sitting in the kitched. Burst was nervous before speaking to him. "...Dad?"
Aether's head picked up as soon as he heard his son call for him. "Oh. Burst. It's been a while since we last spoke. Is something wrong?"
Burst sighed. "I haven't really caught you up on some of the events that happened during your absence. In specific, events in my Senior Year. And also...events from today."
"Burst. I'm your father. I always have time to listen."
"Here we go." Burst took a deep breath before starting. "You know that I won Duelist Kingdom and Battle City right? Aether nodded. "Well, what you don't know is that during those two tournaments villains showed up who tried to take over our world and the monsters'. But each time I was able to defeat them. I destroyed Sombra, but was able to save Tirek at Battle City. Since then, my friends and I have fought villains and saved the world a lot of times. But this time? This time was probably the hardest battle I've fought." Burst sighed. "Dad...this isn't easy to say. And it's probably even more impossible for you to believe. Dad. Blitz and your new wife were behind Sombra and Tirek and the evil monsters they received. But the worst part is, Blitz did all this so he could become a hero. He'd defeat Sombra or Tirek and be hailed as a hero by everyone. But I foiled his plans without even knowing it when I defeated those two. And he hated me for it. He thought that the life I had should've been his. And so, he lured me to a duel and revealed himself to me. I tried to convince him that he could still be a hero. All he had to do was abandon the path he was walking on. But he refused and switched our bodies after he lost the duel. Fortunately, I got my body back and defeated him again. But after that, he disappeared. Then Abyss showed up. Inferno and I destroyed her and the Sacred Beasts Cards." Burst's eyes began to tear up. "So know that you know this...I've got a question. Do you hate me because of what I did to the new family you had? You raised Blitz as your own son. And I'm sure you loved Abyss like when you met my mom. And I took it all away in a matter of days."
Aether stood up and put his hand on Burst's shoulder. "No Burst. I don't hate you. I never could. To be honest, I'm proud of you. I never told you this, but part of the reason I left was because of that dream you had. The dream you had that you were a hero. Burst. I KNEW you'd become a hero one day. And your actions have proved that to be true. But whenever I saw you get to this point, I was nowhere there on your journey. As for Blitz, I should have known something like this would happen. When I was raising him, I always brought up how I thought you'd become a hero. And the teachings of his mother drove him on the dark path he so freely walks. But you tried to change his mind. You tried to get him to see a different way. As for Abyss, she never truly returned my love for her. I knew I held no place in her heart. I don't blame you for what's happened to Blitz. For that, I have myself to blame. As for Abyss, I have the feeling you'll be seeing her again. She wasn't evil. She just wanted someone to love." Aether then smiled. "You're my son Burst. And I'm proud of how far you've come. But remember. Me and your mother love you. No matter what." Burst pulled Aether into a tight hug.
"...Thanks Dad.", Burst said as a tear trickled down his face.
"I wasn't there for you for a long time Burst. But I'm here now. And speaking of now, I'm sure you and your friends want to celebrate your triumph over evil. Better get over to them.", Aether said with a smile. Burst smiled and summoned his dragon wings as he left the house and flew off. "That's my boy." |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Friendship is Dueling 8: Reunions | Epilogue | Burst landed at Sugarcube Corner and smiled. "Well what're you all waiting for? It's party time! Pinkie. You know the drill." Pinkie smiled as she bolted inside and Akage went after her. The two set up the party in almost no time! "Now we're talking!" Everyone had a good time until Thunder Force showed up. "Thunder? What's up?"
"Well...see for yourself.", Thunder said nervously. Peeking out from behind Thunder was a younger version of Abyss. Judging by the look of her, she was about the age of the CMC. "I'm guessing you want an explanation?"
"Yes. I think we'd ALL like to know why she's alive again." Burst had a puzzled look on his face as he stared at the younger Abyss.
"Well...the God Cards brought her back to life. She's got all the memories of what she's done but none of the evil intent."
"It's nice to know she's not gonna try and waste us. But why would the God Cards leave her memories?", Inferno asked.
"Her rebirth came with a price. She must find someone to love her despite her acts.", Thunder answered. "The God Cards are firm, but fair when it comes to second chances. She should count herself lucky." Abyss walked up to Burst and was shaking when she was about a foot away from him.
"I...I'm sorry!" Abyss closed her eyes expecting Burst to scream his lungs out at her. But to her surprise, Burst just smiled.
"You were insanely prideful. But you were also very lonely. Not many people get another shot at life. Just try not to make the same mistakes as last time. Now come on! It's weird if you're sad at a party!" Abyss managed a small smile. "That's better." Everyone had a good time as the party raged on.
Far away....
"Curse him. Curse him!", Blitz scowled before he slammed his fist into the ground! "CURSE HIM!" Blitz then threw his deck to the ground! "You failed me! All of you are worthless! WHY?! Why can't I use you like Burst's Blue-Eyes?!" Blitz then had an idea. And a cruel smile creeped onto his face. "If I can't have a Blue-Eyes like Burst....I'll MAKE one of my own!" Blitz channeled his darkness and pictured his Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The card that materialized, and the dragon that was born of it soon stood before Blitz. It looked like a twisted version of Blue-Eyes. "Yes. YES!" Blitz then materialized an entirely new deck as the white of his eyes turned black. "Perfect. Now I have a deck that reflects me. But maybe there's something else I should consider. Burst has plenty of friends to stand by him." Blitz then sneered again. "Maybe I should get some 'friends' as well." Blitz sensed for any large evil auras, and smiled when he found them. "Yeeesssss. They'll do nicely. But first, I need to prepare." Blitz vanished in a dark portal. Planning his next strike against Burst and his friends.
Back at the party...
Gold was stroking his chin in thought. "Hey Moon?"
"Yes?"
"Could you bring Abyss over here? There's something I want to check." Moon shrugged, and brought Abyss over. "Thanks. I'm going to sense the energy of both of you." Gold focused, and sensed both Moon and Abyss's energies. His eyes snapped open when he was done. "Abyss. I think I know how you were able to tap into your dark powers and why you were able to find those evil monsters. You're this world's version of Nightmare Moon. Your energies are almost identical." Moon and Abyss's eyes widened. Moon then smiled at Abyss.
"Welcome to the reformed villain club Abyss. Trust me. Things are only gonna look up from here. You never know. You might find that special someone." Moon then looked at Burst. "I know I did." Fang noticed Abyss and Moon talking and walked over.
"Hey you two! Thought I'd introduced my little brother to Abyss!", Fang said with a smile.
"You have a brother?", Moon asked.
"He's adopted. But he's still family. Come on out Narico." A young teenage boy stepped out from behind Fang. with grayish skin and a purple scar on his eye wearing brown pants and a purple shirt. Narico blushed when he saw Abyss.
"H-Hi.", Narico said nervously. "I'm Narico." Abyss blinked and smiled.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Abyss." Abyss then noticed Narico's deck box. "You like Duel Monsters too?"
Narico beamed. "You kidding? I love it!" The two seemed to hit things off pretty well. Moon went over to Burst.
"Another happy ending.", Moon said with a smile. Burst was about to answer when his mom and dad entered Sugarcube Corner.
"Mom? Dad? What're you two doing here?", Burst asked.
"Me coming back made me realize something Burst.", Aether said with a smile. "Your mother is the best thing I've ever had in my life next to you. I was an idiot to leave both of you."
Burst smiled. "Welcome back. ....Dad." Burst shared a hug with his reunited family. Now his life was truly complete. |
Vampires of Ponyville | pre | Rainbow just nodded. "If I don't find you in one minute, then you're home free."
Vinyl managed out a bold but quiet, "But this is my apartment."
"You know what I mean, don't play with me," Rainbow said, baring her fangs.
"Not playing with you, got it," the normally ongoing D.J managed in a little fillies' voice.
"Personally," Rainbow whispered, "I'm hoping that you don't make it." She slipped her muzzle against Vinyl's neck, inhaling largely. Sniffing. Holding it in place with her hoof so Vinyl couldn't get away.
"You would taste," she said, bending it back, lightly brushing her lips against it, "so good."
Vinyl stiffened, feeling taken aback by this sudden display of affection. She liked it. But hated herself for enjoying the feeling. It was just giving Rainbow more power.
"Oh and one more thing", Rainbow added. "Might wanna run."
But Vinyl hardly had enough time to process the warning, before Rainbow bit her.
Vinyl squeaked.
"Again," Rainbow said, stopping, "just so I can track you more easily." Rainbow remixed her mouth from Vinyl's neck and brushed her off. "There," Rainbow joked, "good as new."
Vinyl just looked at Rainbow confusedly.
"Well you have only ten seconds. Better start running."
And as Vinyl crashed out of her apartment, Rainbow called out one last thing, "Oh, and watch out for Octavia."
Vinyl ran, tearing down the steps from her apartment level. Heart pounding, mouth gasping for air that she just wouldn't quite let herself get.
"Ten", Rainbow yelled, backing away from the wall, smiling. Looking at what Vinyl had in her liquor cabinet. Nothing good, in Rainbow's humble opinion. She guessed a bourbon would have to do. Grabbing it, she popped off the cap.
Vinyl continued to tear down the steps, sprinting toward the one place she knew would be safe. It was ironic, but it was a large crowd, so Rainbow would likely get confused. Or maybe not such a large crowd... No it was a Saturday night, of course the crowd would be huge.
"Nine," Rainbow boomed, her voice shaking Vinyl's apartment. She took a swig of Bourbon. She would've had hard cider, but that wasn't strong enough. And she would rather not to be sober for what she was about to do. Plus the cider was drugged.
Vinyl dashed toward the apartment doors. Pushing them open, she surged out into the street, heading straight for the place she thought Rainbow wouldn't possibly think to look for her.
"Eight!", Rainbow said, quieter than usual, as she was taking another swig of the Bourbon.
Vinyl ran into the club, not noticing that there was in fact, no crowd. No music, no thousands of heartbeats, that could distract from her own.
"Seven," Rainbow said, gulping down the rest of the Bourbon, and sighing in undead contentment.
"Well that's about as close to drunk as I'd care to get."
Vinyl, not knowing that Rainbow had been counting ridiculously slow in order to build suspense, thought that surely Rainbow was done counting. So, cringing in fear, she hid behind a table.
"Six.", Rainbow said, examining, her hooves. They looked just as dirty as always. Whatever, maybe ponies were onto something when they got those hooficures.
Vinyl was trembling with suspense and fear. If Rainbow wanted her scared, she had got her way.
"Five," Rainbow said, dragging it out as long as she could. It would make it a lot easier to deal with Vinyl if she was already petrified. Less commotion. That type of stuff. But then she felt guilty for a split second. Should she do this? Should she kill Vinyl?
Vinyl by this point was just damned pissed. She was sick of Rainbow, and sick of hiding.
So, feeling bolder and more mad than ever, she raised her voice and called out, "Come and get me you stupid piece of horse shit!"
Rainbow's ears perked up, her motivation to kill was back. Her eyes narrowed. "So be it," she thought, throwing Vinyl's wineglass against the wall.
But, hearing a sound from the doorway, Vinyl peeped back down, her confidence suddenly spent.
Then, she heard the door open, and wheels turning. Somepony was whistling. It was a low tone, sure, but Rainbow already had a voice like a stallion, so why not a whistle?
The whistling continued, and Vinyl just had to know. Was it her doom, or a savior?
Vinyl poked her head cautiously up above the table.
It was just a cleaning stallion...
Rainbow made her way down the stairs to the apartment, and walked out onto the street. She could literally smell Vinyl's fear. And she followed it. All the way to the nightclub they were walking home from when it all started. And now it would all end here. Rainbow ran a tongue across her fangs. Was she ready for this?
The cleaning stallion was whistling cheerfully. He was maybe in his early thirties? Vinyl couldn't really tell.
Rainbow heard Vinyl's panicked heartbeat, but it was slowing down. That sucked.
She could also her somepony else's heartbeat, somepony else's unrecognizable whistle. She pushed open the doors quietly, hearing the heartbeat and the whistle.
She followed the two sounds to the dance club's main dance floor and bar.
There, she peeked from behind the corner at the stallion sweeping in the doorway with his cleaning cart.
He was in her way. She was just called a 'stupid price of horse shit' from one of her oldest friends. She wasn't in the mood to be merciful, or patient. Or kind or compassionate. She was in the mood, to drain Vinyl dry. She was also in the mood to kill anypony who got in her way. To bad for the cleaning stallion, he looked like a very nice pony. Oh well, too bad for him. She wanted to make an entrance. One that would scare Vinyl more than the quiet stallion and the yelling stallion combined. And that was what she was going to do. 'Quickly now,' she told herself, 'before he gets too far from the doorway.'
Vinyl poked her head up further. The cleaning stallion looked harmless. Maybe if she just asked him if he could help her...
A light flickered.
The stallion looked up nonplussed, before going back to his sweeping.
Two lights flickered.
The stallion looked up, and this time gave an inspired shrug, before simply ignoring it again.
'Okay,' Rainbow said, 'obviously Mr. Tough stuff needs more of a show.'
So, Rainbow raced over to the light switch. But of course, she just looked like a blur to other ponies.
The cleaning stallion included.
As soon as Rainbow got over to the light switch, she shut off all the lights. Mr. Tough stuff whinnied like a filly.
"Mr. Tough isn't so Celestia damned tough anymore, now is he?", Rainbow mumbled to herself, smirking.
Vinyl kept hiding behind the table, trying to be quiet, and inconspicuous, yet she couldn't stop watching. Squinting, she tried to make out who the stallion's mysterious torturer was.
A menacing laugh echoed throughout the dark room.
The cleaning stallion yelled, and tried to get out of the room, but Rainbow had had it jammed.
"No one gets out," Rainbow had mumbled to herself as she had blocked it seconds ago.
The stallion rattled the door handles, to blind with fear to realize that the door was only jammed by a bit. Then again, not everypony had vampire night vision, so she couldn't blame him.
She grinned, flipping on the light switches on either sides of him on dim, so he could see that somepony was coming for him, but he would never see who. He would see her silhouette, but not her. He would have one last sight of blood red eyes before dying. And so would Vinyl. Knowing the curious D.J, she was probably watching right now. Good, the arrogant mortal should see this.
She hadn't been gorging herself for fear of being caught, but tonight, no, tonight would be the exact opposite. She wanted it, and she was going to get it. She had played decent, morally inclined vampire in Vinyl's presence for too long.
She wanted it, and she was going to have it.
In the darkness, Rainbow felt her body come alive once again. Her predatory instincts kicked in. Crouching, she plotted what to do. Should she just go straight for the kill? Should it be silent? Should she be theatrical?
The idiot cleaning stallion was still banging against the doors. Sucker.
All Rainbow wanted to do was crouch, leap, and kill. But no, she wanted Vinyl scared. She wanted Vinyl at the point where she wouldn't even try to hide. She would just be paralyzed. She wanted something theatrical. Something that made a statement. Something bloody.
Her eyes were beginning to glow red. But the stallion and Vinyl hadn't seen them yet. She wiped away her urges for one second, and tried to be more civilized. That didn't make it, and she just ended up even more red eyed.
So she hid.
She didn't have much time. Soon enough, the stallion's adrenaline would wear off, and he'd figure out the door, and get a flashlight or something. Rainbow couldn't have that.
But still though...
Rainbow had it. She had a plan. She had it now.
And she was gonna do it.
Grinning, she flipped back on the lights. But only the ones where it would be useful to her setup.
He cringed, noticing half of the lights coming back on.
She crept up behind him, taking in it all. Yes, she had missed this. She had missed this so much. It was so much more satisfying to scare them first.
She came from the shadowy side, crouching down low, and purposely crushing a can beneath her hoof.
He tensed, body on fire with adrenaline. Should he run, should he hide?
Vinyl looked on from behind the table. Heart pounding, she wished the stallion mercy.
'That's right,' Rainbow thought, 'go ahead, get worked up, it'll be over soon anyway.'
In the heat of the moment, Rainbow allowed her eyes to flash. And it gave her away.
The blood red betrayal was far from useless, in fact, it gave the stallion a motivation to run.
Which ultimately made it more theatrical. "Thank you, creepy eye thing," Rainbow mumbled as the stallion stumbled off, weaving through the dark and light parts.
Rainbow threw a wineglass one foot in front of him.
He shrieked, stumbling back.
Interesting, he was a tough stallion who in fact was actually a scared little colt. Dually noted.
She let him run for a bit, stumbling more often than not, and almost killing himself once.
He even ran into a wall.
He reversed, only to make another mistake, to run into something. Something strong and lean. Something that was Rainbow Dash.
Putting her strength to use, she wrapped him in a headlock, flashing over to the light switches, turning on the one spotlight that was above them, and transporting them back.
"Vincenza," she called out. "I know you're here."
The stallion struggled in her iron grasp.
Vinyl watched with dark rapt anticipation as Rainbow prepared to kill him.
"Cmon, don't be such a mama's colt," Rainbow said. "Stallion up!"
Vinyl rolled her eyes at Rainbow's joke, but then remembered that they weren't friends anymore. Averting her face from the vampire's face, Vinyl flushed a deep red. They weren't friends, she told herself. She was the hunter, and I'm the hunted, was what she told herself.
"Vincenza," Rainbow whispered. "You may as well quit hiding, you're going to keel over either way."
'Maybe,' Vinyl thought. 'But isn't there still a chance?', she thought.
"You have no chance," Rainbow said, shaking her head. "But he might," she added, gesturing to the stallion in her arms.
'Wow, so she's a mind reader too,' Vinyl thought sarcastically.
The stallion looked up, curious.
"See," Rainbow started, "I don't want you to die," she said looking at him.
He looked confused.
"No no no.", she said. "All I want is for Vincenza to see what happens to ponies who threaten a supernatural being.", she said, putting extra enunciation on Vincenza.
He looked less confused, more relaxed.
"And you," she continued, "were my example."
He didn't look confused, just terrified.
"But...", she said trailing off, knowing he was hanging onto her every word.
He looked interested now.
"If you can bring her to me, maybe scare her a little bit, you don't have to die."
He looked determined.
Vinyl looks scared.
"If you bring her to me, I won't kill you.", Rainbow said, simple as that.
He looked shocked.
Vinyl hid behind the table, chest heaving. Not believing what she was seeing. Would the stallion do it? Would he trade her life for his?
He spoke. "Seriously? Are you serious?"
Rainbow nodded impatiently. "Your voice is annoying, yes or no?"
He looked at the creature before him. Her blood red eyes, her affinity for mind games. He didn't wanna die at her hands.
Vinyl waited with baited breath, hoping against all hope that the stallion would just be morally satisfied, and stop wearing such an ambiguous face, and do the right thing.
"No," he said.
Vinyl silently shrieked with joy.
Rainbow raised a eyebrow and said, "really?"
The stallion nodded.
"Well you're boring.", Rainbow said.
"Thanks," the stallion said smugly.
'Okay that's it', the voice in Rainbow's head said, 'make him pay.'
"Unfortunately," Rainbow said, her eyes turning redder, her fangs coming out, "I'm not a fan of boring people."
"Well than you obviously weren't a fan of your mom.", he said, as he was looking at the ground out of fake boredom.
Vinyl gasped. She partly gasped because he had said something incredibly stupid, and was sure to get killed now. And she also gasped partly, because she had never seen Rainbow's fangs before, or her face, when she was a vampire for that matter. At least, not in light.
He looked up, when he heard a little raspy chuckle, and a voice to go with it. And he panicked.
"My mom died a long time ago," Rainbow said, opening up her jaws, her eyes getting as red as vampirically possible. "And now, so have you."
And with that, Rainbow latched onto his neck with her fangs. He screamed. Oh how he screamed. But it was in vain. He was helpless.
Rainbow drank and drank and the liquid rubies flowed down her throat, quenching her undying thirst.
The voice in her head shut up.
She grabbed onto his neck, nurturing it, as she was killing him, as though it would shy away.
"Don't struggle," she whispered against his neck.
He saw her red eyes boring into his pearly grey ones with a hellish intensity.
He flailed, fought, clawed, screamed, but in ten seconds, he was dead.
Vinyl recoiled in horror from what was happening to the stallion.
Rainbow continued to drink, feeling quite content with finally feeding the beast.
"Now Vincenza," Rainbow said, as she unattached herself from his neck. "It's your turn," she said, smirking. The blood running down her chin. She let it do just that, knowing it would make Vincenza want to run far, far away.
Advancing toward her at a steady rate, Rainbow walked toward Vinyl with a bemused expression on her face.
"I have to admit, I didn't want it to come to this," Rainbow said, wiping a hoof across her mouth to remove the excess blood.
"Uh huh," Vinyl said, "just like you totally didn't enjoy drawing the life out of that stallion," Vinyl said, keeping her wits about her while shaking in her metaphorical boots.
"What? And here I thought Ponyville was the place where all differences and mistakes were accepted.", Rainbow said connivingly.
"I will never accept the mistake you just made," Vinyl said, pointing at the dead stallion laying on the floor.
"Well, the mistake you made walking with me down an alleyway late at night wasn't very wise either.", Rainbow said, her gaze burning into Vinyl's.
"Screw you.", Vinyl said. "And this was different," she added. "You killed somepony!"
"I'm a vampire, it's kinda what I do.", Rainbow said. "However, your mistake was just stupid."
"You made the mistake with me, and that mistake didn't cost a life!", Vinyl screeched.
"I don't know about that.", Rainbow said said sadistically. "That mistake lead to this mistake.", Rainbow said, gesturing all around them.
"And the mistake previously mentioned," she said pausing to roll a table top speed toward Vinyl, "lead to this mistake."
Vinyl barely mentioned to dodge in time.
"That wasn't a mistake," she said through teeth gritted with worry and anger.
"How should I know? I'm a cold blooded vampire, who's been alive for about a hundred years now. It's not like I have feelings or anything.", Rainbow said raising her voice. "I don't feel anything when my friend tries to poison me, or drug me, or whatever crap you tried to pull back there.", Rainbow said raising an eyebrow.
"How should I have known?", Vinyl asked. "I mean you're a vampire for buck's sake!"
"Oh I don't know, maybe if you would've asked the question? Or maybe given me more time to explain before you tried to kill me!", Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.
"You know what? You're right," Vinyl said sarcastically. "I'm sorry Ms. Dash, would you like to explain anything to me before I freak out and try to kill you?"
"First of all, that was not funny, or witty", Rainbow started, "and second of all, Celestia dammit would ya just start running!", Rainbow said motioning wildly.
Vinyl just stood stock still.
"Oh, I'm sorry Vincenza, would you like for me to wave a checkered flag for you?", Rainbow said glaring at her.
"I wish you wouldn't call me that," Vinyl said getting more and more pissed by the minute.
"Yeah? Well you can wish a lot of things Princess, but they're not gonna happen.", Rainbow said smirking.
Vinyl huffed.
"Do you want me to run?", Vinyl asked.
"Yeah!", Rainbow said, getting exasperated.
"Do you really want me to run?", Vinyl asked.
"Honestly, what do you think?", Rainbow asked.
"Yes?", Vinyl asked, pretending to be clueless.
Maybe if she stalled Rainbow long enough somepony would show up to help. It was doubtful, but it was something.
"Honestly? This is the oldest trick in the book.", Rainbow said rolling her eyes.
"What trick?", Vinyl asked nervously, sweat running down her Dentyne white coat.
"I see what you're trying to do here," Rainbow said.
"You do?", Vinyl asked, her nervousness showing more.
"Yes, I'm not stupid," Rainbow said, "you're trying to save your furry little flank by buying time."
Vinyl gulped silently.
"But it's not gonna work.", Rainbow said, getting closer.
Vinyl scooted back.
"You know why?", Rainbow asked.
Vinyl shook her head, knowing but not wanting to believe it.
"Because you will be dead."
Rainbow stated it simple, for something that held such precious meaning. She kept a level gaze, a lukewarm one, and an honest stare.
It made goosebumps raise in Vinyl's arms. "No.", she said, stumbling back. "No. No.", she said two times, trying to run backwards. Then eventually she turned tail, running the right way.
"And now she runs," Rainbow mumbled. "It's about time."
Walking at a brisk pace, Rainbow tended to let her victims say what they needed to say before they died. You know, give them a chance to speak whatever they needed to get off their mind. But Rainbow had done something this time. Oh yes, she had brought someone. Someone who Vinyl was going to be so scared of once she figured out what they were, or at least, who she thought they were. Rainbow smiled. This was going to be a good reveal. A very good one indeed.
A couple minutes later...
"I hate vampires!", Vinyl said, glaring at Rainbow.
"Does that mean that you hate me?", Rainbow asked dully, amused by the mortal's bravado.
"Probably," Vinyl said, "actually, yes, yes I do hate you. I hate you a lot!", Vinyl said, rage dancing in her eyes. She was throwing wine glasses at Rainbow. Rainbow nimbly dodged each one, though. Not getting hit once.
"Huh.", Rainbow said. "Well if you hate vampires so much, why are you with one?"
"I'm not with you.", Vinyl said, shaking her head and throwing another wineglass.
"Oh, you think I'm talking about me," Rainbow said, shaking her head. "No no no," she said, "I'm talking about 'Octy.'"
"Did you do anything to her? What do you do to her? Where is she?", Vinyl demanded, getting in Rainbow's face.
"Relax, cupcake," Rainbow said.
"I am not your cupcake!", Vinyl said, glaring and spitting in Rainbow's face.
Rainbow pushed Vinyl back away from her face with her hoof, saying, "first of all, that was rude."
Vinyl rolled her eyes.
"And second of all, of course you're not my cupcake, you're her cupcake."
"Octavia," Rainbow said, sweeping her hoof in a grand gesture toward the darkened corner.
And stepping out of the corner, was the cellist.
Well, if you could call her that.
She looked the same. Except for one thing.
Her red eyes.
"You are a psycho. A bucking batponyshit insane psycho.", Vinyl said flatly to Rainbow as Octavia stepped out of the shadows.
"I know," Rainbow said, smiling, not at all ruffled by the unflattering comment.
"Hello Vinyl.", Octavia said with her accent.
"Octy?", Vinyl said nervously, sweat running down her face.
"Yes," Octavia said quite impatiently. "And if you could be so kind, don't use those types of words around me."
Octavia was still classy, no, incredibly classy. But the joy and fire that Vinyl was so used to seeing in her eyes was long gone. They were glossed over, red.
Vinyl scrambled back, finding the first thing she could grab, and bringing it in front of her for protection. She hissed with frustration when she realized that it was a frying pan.
"Vinyl, put down the frying pan.", Rainbow said, rolling her eyes.
Vinyl shook her head.
She moved it in front of her toward whatever pony moved.
"You can't seriously think-", Rainbow started to say when Octavia cut her off.
"Vinyl, if you'll just put down the frying pan...", Octavia said, trailing off. Not knowing what to say. I mean, Vinyl was trying to defend herself against two vampires with a frying pan. What was she supposed to say?
"Look," Rainbow said trying again, "I know you hate vampires so, so much, but if you'd just put down the Celestia damned frying pan, we could get this over with!"
Vinyl was still uneasy. And really, why shouldn't she be? I mean, she was trying to trust vampires.
"Get what over with?", Vinyl asked, gulping and praying to the Goddess Sun-butt that this would all just be an elaborate prank or something, and everypony would just laugh it off. Because that's what you do in this type of situation, you laugh it off.
"Well, I was going to kill you, because, you know, that's normally what I do with arrogant mortals who call me a 'stupid piece of horseshit.'", Rainbow said moving threateningly toward her. "But then again," she said backing off, "you're still my friend no matter how many incredibly irritating Luna damned remarks you make. So, I decided that I couldn't kill you. No, that would make me guilty for another few several hundred years."
Vinyl cocked her head, trying to find out what Rainbow was planning. She also put down the frying pan that she had raised when Rainbow had started to move toward her.
"And," Rainbow said, continuing, "I was going to torture you but that's reserved for my best enemies, and no offense, but I don't really think you qualify."
Vinyl was slightly offended. But also glad. If she wasn't going to torture her, or kill her, what was she going to do then?
"Then, I thought about how much you seemingly hate vampires.", Rainbow said, slowly clopping toward Octavia.
"I mean, your reaction when I showed you Octavia, it was to die for!", Rainbow said, pointing at Octy.
Vinyl rolled her eyes.
"Bad joke, I know.", Rainbow said, "but don't get smarmy with me, I hold your life in my hooves.", she said, smirking.
Vinyl gripped the frying pan even harder.
"So then I thought some more.", Rainbow said, stroking an imaginary beard. "And even more," she continued. "And then," she said, grabbing her head with her hooves exaggeratedly, "I had an epiphany!"
Now Vinyl was scared. Rainbow had an idea. Normal Rainbow's ideas were always already kind've unagreeable and epic. But this one, Vampire Rainbow's ideas? They would no doubt be insane!
"Ponies already fear what they fear the most very powerfully.", Rainbow said, walking toward Vinyl.
Vinyl blindly slashed the pan, demonstrating her skills with it like a stinja.
But then the betraying kitchen device flew out of her grasp and slid across the room.
"Well shit," Vinyl said.
"You mean, well shite?", Octavia asked.
Vinyl rolled her eyes.
"No, she means 'well shit' Octavia. Jeez.", Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, as I was saying before some ponies started their oh so important argument," Rainbow said, "Vinyl are you afraid of what Octavia is?"
"No," Vinyl said, shaking like a leaf in a tornado. Staring at Rainbow, she silently hoped a house would fall on her head.
"Be honest.", Rainbow said, suddenly in front of Vinyl. There they were, eye to eye. Rainbow's hooves reache up to grab Vinyl's face, and hold it in place. Rainbow's red eyes stared into Vinyl's struggling purple ones, and she said the same thing a second time. Vinyl squirmed. "Be honest.", Rainbow said, staring into Vinyl's soft purple irises.
Vinyl blinked. "Yes.", she said. It was as if she wasn't controlling herself anymore. She had to speak the truth. It was in her. An instinct to not disobey. It was controlling her. She had more to say. More to get out. She was also feeling a bit aroused for some reason, what with all the close contact. Rainbow could easily just lean in and bite her. "I'm afraid that now that I know, she'll come into my room at night and do what vampires do. She'll drink my blood. I won't know, but by the time I do it'll be too late. And then she'll kill me.", Vinyl finished, shuddering.
Rainbow let her shiver a little more, then broke eye contact, and the connection broke. Vinyl gasped, still in shock at what Rainbow could make her do. Rainbow straightened up. "As I was saying," she continued, "ponies already fear what they fear the most very powerfully."
Vinyl looks up at the pegasus, fear clouding her gaze. What was she saying?
"But if something they fear is a certain thing that they could become themselves," Rainbow said, cracking her neck, "then it gets more personal."
Vinyl thought for a moment.
Rainbow waited for Vinyl to understand.
Vinyl's memory was still clouded by Rainbow's compulsion so it took longer to think. But when she realized what Rainbow meant, the results were spectacular.
Vinyl's eyes widened to a size Canterlot scientists would have named impossible. They were roughly dinner plate sized. Next came her scream. Which I'm pretty sure broke an all time record. At least it was entertaining.
"No.", Vinyl said. She flat out refused to turn into one of them.
"Well it's either that, or I kill you.", Rainbow said tactfully.
"I'd rather be killed.", Vinyl said, still managing to hold onto her pride.
"Well too bad, you're going to live.", Rainbow said.
"What?", Vinyl said, panicking, "No!", she shrieked.
'Wow,' Rainbow thought as she backed away from Vinyl, giving her space to freak out, 'I have never met another pony that was that upset about getting to stay alive.'
"Well you're going to sort've live.", Rainbow said, shrugging haphazardly. "I guess you'd kinda be half dead."
"Oh," Vinyl said, thinking for a moment. "Well I still don't like it."
"See, you're missing the point," Rainbow said, stamping the ground with her hoof indignantly.
Vinyl flinched.
"It doesn't currently matter what you think.", Rainbow said, the words stinging like alcohol on an open wound.
"Rainbow," Octavia said, her voice a tone thick with warning.
"Look, Vincenza, one of us is going to turn you. And it's going to be me, or Classy Lassy.", Rainbow said. "And Classy has been waiting to do it for a long time."
"Rainbow Dash," Octavia scolded.
"Fine, fine, I'll stop.", Rainbow said, enjoying the blush that was glowing on the earth pony's cheeks. "But just out of curiosity how long have you wanted to do it?", Rainbow asked.
"Rainbow," Octavia growled, but answered anyway. "Since you were a foal," she mumbled.
"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to speak louder.", Rainbow mocked.
"Since you were a foal," Octavia said, in a now audible tone.
Vinyl was shocked. Her marefriend was a vampire, and kind of a stalker one at that, and then there was Rainbow. Rainbow Dash, whom she'd also thought she'd known. She'd thought that she was awesome, but scary at times, and now she was finding out that it was the opposite. Rainbow Dash was incredibly scary, but awesome at times.
So now she had to choose. Or, did she really? I mean, she knew that Octavia was a vampire, but she wouldn't possibly have let Rainbow turn her, would she? She was about to find out though, because if you can't trust your vampiric marefriend to have your back, who can you trust?
"Not Classy or Sassy.", Vinyl said, feeling sure of herself as she spoke. Even if it was for a completely unfounded and stupid reason. Vinyl fully believed that Octavia would stand up for her.
"I'm sorry, what?", Rainbow said, looking at her, annoyed.
"Not Classy or Sassy.", Vinyl said, beaming.
It was working, Rainbow was getting pissed. Now after Rainbow snapped, Octy would stop her.
"Okay so you don't want Octavia to turn you, but who's Sassy?", Rainbow asked, still holding on to one more smidgeon of patience and sanity.
"You," Vinyl answered calmly. Those two emotions were blown quickly away as soon as Rainbow heard Vinyl's response.
"Why you little-", Rainbow started to say, but stopped before she blew a fuse. She took a deep breath. "Nevermind, we'll choose for you."
"Octavia, me or you?"
This was the part where Octavia would swoop in and save Vinyl's butt.
But that part never came.
"I frankly don't care as long as it's done," Octavia said without emotion.
"Octy!", Vinyl gasped. A tear started to slide down her cheek.
"It needs to be done," Octavia said, looking at Vinyl with determined hard eyes. It held hesitation in them, which Vinyl took for a good sign, but then Octavia continued. "Nopony can know about us." And with that her gaze turned hard again, and she turned to leave.
"Okay then, that was cold, I was kind've expecting her to try something stupid like charge behind me and try to tackle me with a-", Rainbow was cut off as Octavia tackled her from behind, holding something.
Upon a closer look, Vinyl realized that it was indeed the frying pan.
Octavia smashed Rainbow into the ground, shouting at Vinyl to run. Even though earth pony vampires had mighty strength, regardless of their past skill, battering Rainbow's skull with the kitchen device did nothing, since Rainbow's strength was increased by about one thousand percent more. Since Octavia as a cellist really didn't have that much arm strength, regardless of her added power, Rainbow was stronger. Rainbow had also been turned about 950 years longer than Octavia.
And it was showing. Octavia hit Rainbow as hard as she could over and over, while Vinyl stood and stared. But Rainbow wasn't even dizzy. No, Rainbow just lay sprawled below Octavia letting her win, and drumming her hoof in the floor impatiently.
"Well!", Octavia said as she saw Vinyl still just standing there, "run!"
Ironic how many vampires had told her to run.
"Are you done yet?", Rainbow asked looking up.
Her response was a frying pan to the face.
"Wonderful.", Rainbow stated, seeing stars for one second.
Vinyl ran. She tore out of the club. Wheezing and panting, she ran as hard as she could- right into the crowded street so of Ponyville Square. 'That's great, just great', she though sarcastically to herself. Now there would be a massacre. And it would be all her fault.
Starting to turn around, she saw that the crowd had grown around her in ten short seconds. 'Magnificent', she thought, 'just magnificient.'...
"No seriously though, can I follow your marefriend now? We've given her like a two minute head start.", Rainbow said, flipping Octavia over after she had gotten sick of being hit over the head repeatedly with the cursed kitchen device. The aforementioned device spun away from them.
"Quit acting like this is a game. It's not.", Octavia said, struggling to get out from under Rainbow.
"And silently feeding off of her is?", Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow cockily.
"I'm not going to let you hurt her," Octavia said, punching Rainbow on the mouth.
"I'm not hurting her, I'm turning her," Rainbow said, spitting blood.
"Same thing," Octavia said, somehow managing to keep a level calm voice despite her obvious record breaking rage.
"Oh cmon, lighten up gloomy pants.", Rainbow said as she smirked, punching the earth pony in the face.
Now it was Octavia's turn to spit blood. "Hard to do that when somepony's trying to kill me.", she said, gritting her teeth.
Rainbow smiled darkly. "My pleasure."
"Curse you, arrogant ass!", Octavia yelled, trying to push Rainbow off.
"Right back at you, goody two horse shoes.", Rainbow said as she continued to straddle Octavia, not budging an inch.
Octavia groaned. "Okay," she grumbled. "You've clearly won, you've established your dominance, now what?"
Rainbow took a moment to sit on top of the earth pony and think...
'Where do I go now?', Vinyl thought as she was surrounded by the pony horde. 'Then again,' Vinyl thought, 'maybe Rainbow will get confused, and not find me.'..
"Now," Rainbow said, "I'm going to kill you."
"What?", Octavia said, struggling to get out from under the murderous vampire.
"What?", Rainbow asked. "Did you not hear what I just said? I said I'm going to kill you."
Octavia just shook her head in disbelief.
Rainbow took that as a sign that Octavia didn't know what she meant.
So she decided to explain it to her.
"You know, right? I'm going to make you kick the vampiric bucket. I'm going to make you go bye bye. I'm going to make you bite the supernatural dust."
Octavia nodded.
"Good, now that we have that out of the way, we can just finish what we started.", Rainbow said. Her eyes glowed red, her fangs elongated and she said one last thing. "Before I terminate you, I just want you to know, that killing with a stake just seems impersonal. So I'll be draining you dry. Personally." She smiled, the malice lighting up the room.
Octavia tried to struggle from beneath Rainbow, but to no avail.
Rainbow saw Octavia's desperation, and bit into her, reveling in the taste of vampire blood. It was just so much more, filling. She shivered, nursing the wound with a rough barrage of teeth. Octavia sighed. So this was how it ended. Well this was not the most satisfactory death. But it was definitely not the worst.
It was just very personal. |
Vampires of Ponyville | Pilot Part Three | Amassed in a swirling crowd of ponies, Vinyl weaved her way in and out of the tight knit frays, wondering if she could just do this all night long. Maybe then it would make it harder for Rainbow to find her...
Rainbow wiped blood off her mouth for the second time that night. 'Well,' she thought to herself, 'she kind of had it coming.' Getting off of Octavia's limp form, she cracked her neck. 'Time to find Vincenza.'...
There was a door to the right of the circle that lead to a crowded bar.
'Perfect,' Vinyl thought, 'maybe she won't find me there.'
Vinyl had so many questions. She hadn't even been able to ask them all, because she had been so excited to just escape from Rainbow. The notion was enticing, so enticing, that it had drive her to try to kill Rainbow. Perhaps it was her fault...
Looking down upon Octavia's limp form, Rainbow thought about where to put her. There was always the dumpsters, but that might make enough noise to alert someone of her presence. Then again, if someone came, she could just snap their neck. No problemo. Rainbow grinned.
So, picking Octavia up, Rainbow sped the long dead and drained vampire outside. Outside into an alleyway. Outside into the dumpster. Not sterile, but honestly more than Octavia deserved in her opinion. She dumped her in.
"So you're just going to leave her there?", a voice asked from the shadows. Red eyes flashed, a growl verbally illuminated the darkness.
"Oh, another problem, great.", Rainbow said, recognizing the voice. Spinning around, she faced the shadows.
Only to see a a lavender unicorn with a navy blue mane with pink and purple highlights step out of the dark.
"Saint Sparkle!", Rainbow greeted her with false enthusiasm. "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you on such a wonderful night in an extremely pleasant dingy alleyway."
"You owe me something but it's not pleasure!", Twilight said, grumbling.
"So you're the good vampire.", Rainbow said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I can see it, a good sense of morals, weakness because you refuse to drink pony blood."
"And you're the vampire that's been draining several ponies dry a night.", Twilight said, in stark contrast to Rainbow. Her words held no humor. Rainbow's words were spoken lightly, with dark humor.
"You know you could use a chill pill Sparky.", Rainbow said, smirking.
"Do not call me Sparky!", Twilight said, her voice reaching a dangerous tone.
"What, are ya gonna do something about it?", Rainbow asked dauntingly. "Or would you prefer Saint Sparkle?"
"Neither," Twilight said, serious as always.
"Well it's no fun if you don't pick one-", Rainbow started to say before Twilight tackled her. Well, tried to tackle her. In actuality, Twilight too was weak from only drinking animal blood to even lay a hoof on Rainbow, so ultimately, Twilight ended up grabbing thin air and crashing headfirst into the wall.
"Ouch," Rainbow said laughing. "That looks like it hurt. You know it wouldn't have if you would've just drank pony blood like the rest of the normal vampires."
Rainbow took a few moments to think of a good burn. "Now would Fluttershy think of you hurting all those poor little animals?"
Twilight grimaced. "Everything's a joke with you, isn't it Dash? But wherever you go, people die."
"Well, that's a given.", Rainbow said, bristling.
"You can't hurt these ponies, Rainbow."
"Well somebody's ballsy today. Not that female ponies have balls but you get what I mean, don't you?", Rainbow grinned as Twilight's blush threatened to turn her face into a tomato.
"Of course you do," Rainbow continued, "and you also got it when Midnight turned us, remember?"
Twilight set her jaw. "That's why you're acting like this, isn't it?"
"Does it matter?", Rainbow asked, brushing it off casually.
"You were really upset about that weren't you.", Twilight said somberly.
"You lead me right to him!", Rainbow yelled.
"I didn't know any better.", Twilight said, trying to stay calm amidst all the regrets in her head.
"Oh yes. Of course you didn't know better! Because you knew he was normal the second you gazed into his freaking eyes and saw that they were red!", Rainbow said, punching the brick wall and leaving an indent. She turned to look at Twilight, eyes swirling in a mixture of magenta and dark red.
"Okay, I'll admit to that.", Twilight said, then took a deep breath.
"And then you had the audacity to let him turn me too!", Rainbow said, walking over to the dumpster.
Continuing in an eerily calm voice, Rainbow carried on. "Rather than warning me, you let me wait, for an hour until I finally saw it, and by then it was too late, wasn't it? You saw it go down Sparky. You saw everything." Rainbow's eyes burned into Twilight's eyes, and for one second she saw a little glimmer of pain in them before it was flushed out by the rage.
"And then, after it was over, you told me to embrace it. Whatever the buck that meant. Oh I was turned into a bloodsucking night parasite, whoopee!", Rainbow said sarcastically.
"Well let me tell you something Sparky, when you were first turned, you embraced the night to its fullest. Oh yeah, you went all out! 10 ponies a night. I mean I get that you were inexperienced, but wow, could you drink! And then to make it even better, you tried to coerce me into it. I mean, it was already new, it was already creepy. But hey, you made it work somehow. I guess. I mean you've grown into a very impressionable 1000 something vampire. Good for you."
Twilight struggled to get up.
"I had a future, but now, since I've taken your advice, I've found a new future.", Rainbow said smiling.
Then all of a sudden, Rainbow was nose to nose with Twilight. "Making you pay", Rainbow finished. And with a solid smirk, she threw Twilight across the alley to smash into a wall.
Twilight groaned.
"Until next time Sparky.", was called out behind Rainbow as she strolled away.
'Now, to find Vincenza.'...
In her haste, Rainbow had forgotten about Octavia. Luckily for her, she could still be saved. But she would have to be saved a different way than most. Nevertheless, Twilight picked herself off the ground where she had fallen, and started to hobble towards the dumpster. Picking Octavia up, she walked home with her in her arms, ready to nurse the earth pony back to health.
Making her way through the crowd, Vinyl tried to keep her beating heart at bay. Now since she wasn't by Rainbow, she could think more clearly. She'd must've been wandering in the crowd for a half hour. Rainbow should have found her by now. Unless she wanted to make her anxious... Vinyl shook her head. It had already happened once, it wouldn't happen again. Making her way calmly to the door on the right in the bustling circle, she trotted at a brisk pace, much unlike her pursuer. And she failed to notice the onlooker staring at her neck.
Rainbow casually strolled through the streets, looking for Vincenza. Keeping her eyes peeled for her while walking with a purpose, was no daunting task, but she did get some curious looks, no doubt encouraged by her clopping rather than hovering. If only the ponies could hear what she heard. Then they would stare. And probably run away screaming. 'Where are you Vincenza?', she thought. 'I've got all night and the rest of eternity, I'll wait you out.'
Pushing through the hubbub, Vinyl trotted at a fast pace, and reached the handle of the door. It glistened like silver. And was flecked with red. From afar she could not see the sign, and by then it was too late. She had not realized just how isolated the door was from the rest of the ponies, and missed the loud boisterous chatter. Yes, she was isolated, and had not seen the sign. Those were her two first mistakes. Her second was listening to the voice that called to her from the shadows, and her third was screaming when the mysterious stranger pulled her into the darkness...
'Where are you?', Rainbow wondered again. But her hearing picked up a scream. A scream that had no doubt came from the white unicorn. Despite her ill intent, Rainbow was troubled by the idea of someone hurting Vincenza, and so she took off flying toward the haunting sound, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake, because no matter how threatening and dangerous or dark she was, she was still a pony in Ponyville, and little ponies like her with rainbow manes, and pretty blue pelts left little rainbow trails.
"You should not touch this door.", the voice said in a rough, unintelligible drawl, while holding onto her foreleg. The pressure of the stranger's grip combined with the low menacing tone elicited a yelp from the pony, as she tried to break free.
"Would you stop fighting?", the voice asked, clearly a stallion.
Vinyl tried to see who he was, and of course his eyes flashed.
"Well of course, another vampire. That's just great.", Vinyl verbally bit back impulsively.
The stallion was clearly not used to this type of attitude, but nonetheless handled the situation with grace.
"You will not address me that way", he said, greatly offended by Vinyl's aptitude for brashness.
"Yeah? Whatever, vampire.", Vinyl said, cursing her situation, to tired of being pursued by evil blood sucking parasites to even care that she was probably about to die.
Actually, yeah, at least this way she would die and not be turned.
"I am not a vampire!", he said, stomping his hoof. "I am clearly a shapeshifter. Changeling if you may. I most certainly do not feed on blood."
"But your eyes flashed,", Vinyl asked, choosing to argue, even though she had clearly learned nothing last time; that arguing with a supernatural creature must be the stupidest thing possible.
"My eyes flashed green, not red. And I don't even feed on anything. Changelings used to feed on love, but we've evolved. And you would know the difference if you stopped and took time to listen rather than being so impulsive all the time.", he muttered, after huffing at the unicorn's inferiority. "In fact, you're rather a lot like my friend, what was her name again?" The so-called shapeshifter rubbed his chin.
Vinyl had a hunch. And it wasn't a good one. "Her name wasn't by chance, Rainbow Dash, was it?", Vinyl asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"Yes, yes it was.", the shapeshifter said, smiling in the darkness.
"And, how do you know her exactly?", Vinyl asked, half anticipating, half dreading the answer.
"Well, we met a couple years ago I believe. She knew me when I was merely 20 years old.", he said, with a thoughtful tone to his voice one would only get if they were really thinking about what they were saying.
"And how old are you now?", Vinyl asked, trying to lighten the quite literally dark mood.
"About 80, why do you ask young mare?"
"I have a name ya know.", she said impatiently. "And," she added, "just trying to make time pass before my doom gets here."
But the stallion didn't have time to process that before a voice appeared in the calm darkness.
"Heard my name", they said through the darkness.
And with a light tone, the shapeshifter addressed the speaker. "Ah, it's been a long time."
"Yes. Yes it has.", Rainbow replied back, keeping her patience intact, if only to talk to an old friend.
"How are you doing?", the shapeshifter asked, sounding as if he was genuinely curious as to what Rainbow had been up to.
"You know, revenge on Saint Sparkle, making sure I get my fill."
"That doesn't sound like you.", the shapeshifter said, surprise hinting in his voice.
"Well it's me now. If you'd be so nice as to hand Vincenza over to me, please.", Rainbow said, being very courteous, even if venom secretly laced her facade of kindness.
The shapeshifter went to hand Vincenza over, but stopped trying when he realized that the pony was shaking. And her comment about doom earlier definitely helped in his decision.
"I don't think she would Iike to go with you.", the shapeshifter said.
"Well she's been running for too long, she has to."
"I don't think she should."
Rainbow, with her special vision, could see the worry lines painted on his face, reluctance between doing the right thing, and pleasing an old friend.
"That's not your decision.", she said finally, breaking from her observation of the shapeshifter.
"And it's not your decision either."
Vinyl was still held within the stallion's steel grip, and was getting more frantic though. She could feel him loosening his grip bit by bit though, hesitant to hand her over to her doom.
"I'm going to get her either way", Rainbow said, her words projected with deadly accuracy, aimed right at the stallion's choice.
It hit. "I'm sorry.", he said, unnerved by Rainbow's drastic change in tone.
"Don't be.", she said, her eyes flashing red.
"I'll do better next time", he tried, a hopeful tint to his words.
"See, that would be great ", Rainbow said, perfectly casual, even though she was about to bring forth the words that would condemn him to his ever nearing suspicion. "If there was a next time."
And with that, she rushed forward, ready to take what she had heard screaming. And lo and behold, what she had been ready to take, had disappeared into the night...
"You are going to be the third pony tonight.", Rainbow muttered.
The stallion would have asked what she had meant by that, but the answer was unbelievably clear when she dropped into a hunting stance. He was going to be the third thing tonight, that was killed.
"I don't want to fight you", he had tried to reason.
"Well I want to fight you", she had snarled back.
He had sighed, but before he had said another word, she had sprung, and was on top of him, tearing into his flesh, draining him dry embarrassingly fast.
He transformed into a lion, clawing at her fur, causing cringe inducing gashes, but it all just healed. He silently damned her healing abilities, and promised that he would win this. So he transformed into a bird. And he tried to fly away. And he succeeded. Almost. He was caught after just a few seconds up, forgetting that she could fly as well, and could track him, as the blood droplets were found laying on the dirty ground as well as the coppery scent of his demise. It was wretchedly hopeless, but he had made himself a promise. And he never broke promises.
Ever.
And so he fought and he turned into a Saddle Arabia elephant. But he couldn't shake her. It just gave her more space to latch on. And he eventually couldn't think with all his blood almost gone. So he just turned into one last time thing. And that was a pony that had a coat as black as pure darkness, and a mane and tail as red as blood spilled at midnight.
And had Rainbow seen what he was, she would have mutilated him. For he had turned into the instrument of her demise, the cause of her hatred for, quote, 'Saint Sparkle.' He had turned into Midnight...
And that was his silent taunt as she drained him. When he died as the sun was rising, Rainbow looked at the last thing he had turned into, and she silently screamed. Her mind racked with unfelt sobs and emotions. She did indeed mutilate him, and she even got a wonderful, horrible idea. Wouldn't it be terrible if Sparky thought Midnight had died? It would of course put off Vincenza for a while, but she could afford to put the D.J on chance. She would get her eventually. She had all night and all of eternity...
Hobbling away into the night with Octavia on her back, Twilight's mind spin. How could she be so daft! Of course Dash would've been able to dodge her! I mean, she could heal abnormally fast, like all other vampires, but she had heard what Rainbow had said just as much as you had, reader.
"I'm not going to be able to heal fast enough to defend anybody from Rainbow.", she said to herself.
She processed that for a minute. Then she kicked a loose pebble. It bounced away, and she cursed.
Then she cursed again for cursing.
"Flappy Lips!", she said to herself as she made her way home.
"Who am I kidding?", she continued. "I haven't been able to defend anybody against Rainbow so far anyway! An injury is just an excuse to get beat again."
She continued to stumble, and mumble incoherently to herself in little burst of self aggravation, until she noticed that she was grinding her teeth.
"Calm down," she said, to nopony but herself.
"It's okay," she said to nopony but herself.
And then she stopped for a second and did a breathing exercise that her brother's wife had taught her. Cadance. Yes, her brother's wife had a nice name.
And a nice neck, her vampiric thoughts included, barging in.
No no no, she told herself. I won't feed on Cadance. I refuse to feed on Cadance.
I will never go so far as to feed on Cadance.
And so she continued her jaunty walk, mumbling to herself and sometimes the pony on her back, even though the pony couldn't hear her.
"What do you think she'll end up doing?", Twilight asked the unconscious cellist on her back. Normally the unicorn would be galloping full speed back to her house, but in her state she quite simply couldn't. Nonetheless, she kept at an admirably intense pace.
"I mean, she could do anything and nopony will be able to stop her!", unless I drank pony blood again. Twilight said the last part of that sentence in her head, for if Octavia were to wake up on her back would would she say about being taken away by a pony who drank ponies?
"But what about what happened last time?", she asked herself, her thoughts frazzling her mind.
It was a rainy, gloomy day outside. Mist surrounded the house that the stallion was in. Galloping in, running toward the light in the one room. The light, the one candle that burned in that room was his one chance to escape her, the thing that had followed him. It and started out fine, in fact it had started out as a nice quaint birthday party.
He had entered the house when she had beckoned for him to. She had looked homely. A purple unicorn with a little penchant for reading books and organizing couldn't hurt anypony could she? If your answer is yes, you're wrong.
He should've pulled her out into the sunlight, made the bright beams dry out her skin nice and painfully. But instead, he went inside to her.
"Welcome," she said with a cheery tone of voice. "Please enjoy yourself." She flashed him a smile. A seemingly genuine, non-predatory smile.
He followed the sounds of the party to a homey, comfy room lined with tables full of refreshments and food.
The carpet was blood red, but he had jus thought of it as regular carpet. He had not thought of it as once off white carpet now dyed with the blood of ponies.
The walls were covered in paintings with red splotches on them. And he had just thought of it as merely an addition to the warm colored color scheme, but he was wrong. He was so wrong. I mean, it's not like they were splattered with ponies' life juice or anything...
The room was abuzz, and darker, faded ponies mingled with lighter, more colorful ponies alike. He had never seen such ponies as the darker faded ones. Their manes looked as if faded by age, and their coats looked as if they had grown darker year by year, but they all looked perfectly fine. They all looked smart, fit, and ready for anything.
He made himself at home amongst the throngs of guests. He chatted for a bit, moved on to the next group. After an hour, though, the apparent special guest of honor hadn't showed up. It was very unlike Rainbow to be late for a party. Especially her party. The ponies in the room wondered feverishly, where was that prismatic wonder to be found?
But in a short time before the ponies exploded with curiosity, the door opened, and Twilight walked in.
She made her way to the right side of the room, through the masses of ponies, , until she was standing on a podium in the right corner of the room, then tapped the speaker attached to it, and cleared her throat.
The ponies quieted down, knowing that whatever the hostess had to say, that it would probably answer their questions.
"I guess you're all wondering about a lot of stuff right now.", she said, and tapped her hoof on the podium.
The ponies at attention all nodded, their necks bobbing up and down, all looking so delicious. Twilight licked her lips.
They would taste good, so good.
But with all the blood Twilight had been collecting, she was at peak intellectual performance, and she refused to deviate from her perfect plan. Of course, if this plan didn't work, she had plan B. She Ben had a plan Z!
Imagine how much more powerful she could be with all these ponies' blood.
She stopped thinking about it to prevent her eyes from turning red.
"As you ponies probably didn't know, this is in fact a surprise party. It's why the guest of honor isn't here yet. In fact, she doesn't even know! So I need you to hide and stay quiet. She'll be here in exactly one minute."
Then, she flashed one last smile, and flashed off the podium to teleport behind a plant.
All the guests hid, and silently waited for the pony they were celebrating to walk through the door.
They were all very excited, but for different reasons.
The darker, faded ponies were excited because they were starving, and the lighter more colorful ponies were excited to please a friend!
58 seconds, they said silently, scrambling for places.
47, they counted internally.
30 now, they thought, stretching.
23, they kept track of it, leaping to better hiding places.
Until they got to ten.
And then they got to five.
5, they thought, and heard the knob turning to the room.
Fortunately for Twillight, they were all to much anticipating the coming event to wonder how she knew when Rainbow was going to walk in the room.
4, they thought, seeing a hoof step through the door.
3, they tracked, seeing a body enter the room.
2, they counted with baited breath, as she fumbled and flipped on the light switch, and 1, they thought, exhaling as she turned on the light, and they shouted "Surprise!"
Rainbow recoiled in shock, but once she saw the Happy Birthday Rainbow Dash sign, she smiled anyway. It was a fake smile, but the longer she dragged this out the less ponies had to die. She knew from experience. She silently cursed Twilight.
She had pulled this in all the other towns since they had been together. She had said it was Rainbow's birthday to lure them all here, and then invited all of her vampires over for dinner. An added bonus was that each time she could try repeatedly to convince Rainbow to give in to the blood lust. But guess, what it would never work. And each time, ponies died.
She said a fake "Wow, thanks guys!", as if she were in shock and then took a quick count of all the ponies here. Fifty in total. Thirty colorful, fifty dull. The dull were vampires, the colored were normal ponies.
"You shouldn't have Twilight.", Rainbow said, narrowing her eyes, and plastering a happy expression across her face that looked entirely real to everypony but Twilight.
Twilight knew she was faking.
"Well at least there's plenty to eat," Twilight said cheerily. "Unless of course you're not hungry?" The last sentence of course had another meaning that Rainbow picked up on rather quickly.
"Why don't we eat outside?", Rainbow said, "It's such a lovely day. And surely you wouldn't object to the birthday mare." She knew, of course, that Twilight's coat still hadn't gotten used to the sun after several months as a vampire. She knew that. And that was her plan.
Twilight grimaced for a second, but remained calm. "No thank you. Rainbow, if you would like to do that, feel free, but I'm going to eat inside, where it's nice and cool."
Twilight had passed the first obstacle. But would she pass the second?
"We could stay in the shade!", Rainbow said, giving Twilight her best, please-do-this-for-me-puppy-dog-face-especially-since-you're-going-to-eat-all-of-my-guests face.
Twilight seemed to hesitate.
"Who here wants to eat with Sparky?", Rainbow asked peppily.
Most of the ponies in the room raised their hooves.
"C'mon Sparky, it'll be fun. Just like old times. But don't eat to much, you might get a stomach ache."
Twilight rolled her eyes at the meaning behind Rainbow's words, but managed to make it look playful in front of the guests.
"All right Birthday mare, you win.", Twilight said jokingly, as they both moved toward the food line.
But when nopony else was looking, they gave each other death glares.
Twilight's was filled with the promise of death, and a hint of insanity, and Rainbow's was filled with a saint like quality of I'm-going-to-do-my-best-to-protect-these-ponies-from-you.
When they had both almost physically burned the other's eyeballs out, they stopped, and moved forward in line.
But when they made it outside with all the guests, it wasn't what Rainbow had expected. The guests were sitting down, chatting idly, and peacefully, but the sky...
Unfortunately, Rainbow's plan was flawed, and it turned out that Twilight would only have to use her first plan, because in the hour that they had spent waiting for Rainbow, the sun had set. No more sun, no more burns. No more burning, no more limits for killing. No more limits for killing, and no place is safe for the unfortunate normal equines at the party.
The vampires would have no boundaries, and no area would the average ponies ever be safe from the vampires. No area.
Rainbow gulped and trained around to see Twilight staring at her with a maniacal, almost dream-like intensity. "Ready for dinner?", she asked.
Rainbow shook her head curtly, her undead heart pounding in her chest.
"Don't do it Sparky.", she whispered, narrowing her eyes. "Or I'll-"
"-You'll what?", Twilight cut in smirking, "you'll defend all these helpless ponies?"
"Yes. I will.", Rainbow said, pushing her muzzle up against Twilight's muzzle.
"We'll see," she said, and then turned around, waving the little bell that had caused the deaths of many ponies in many towns.
She rang it three times.
The duller ponies looked up from their food that they didn't really have an appetite for.
Their eyes flashed. A chorus of screams echoed across the lawn, as ponies young and old alike ran for their lives from their 'friends.'
Twilight laughed darkly. "Will you defend them now?", she asked, turning around, cackling as she watched the scene unfold.
"I'll try," Rainbow said, preparing to fly in and do what she could.
"Wrong answer," Twilight said rolling her eyes, and with a twisted grin, she pulled a pony that was hiding behind the tree with her magic in between them.
She was merely a filly. She was orange, with purplish pink hair, and big pink eyes. She looked up at Rainbow with fear.
"Stop it Twilight, this is sick. Leave the kid alone.", Rainbow said, narrowing her eyes. And they glowed red until they hurt Twilight to look at.
"You want me to leave her? Fine then. I'm sure somepony will come pick her up eventually", Twilight said with a sick grin, raising her up in the air, and preparing to drop her.
And drop her she did, but she dropped her right into the arms of Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow dived onto the ground, and slid below, catching the filly, and flying back to an upright position.
"She is a filly! She doesn't deserve this! And she certainly doesn't deserve you!", Rainbow shouted.
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Hey listen Sparky!", Rainbow said shouting, a little bit of her future darker self showing in those magenta eyes, "you may be smarter, but I'm faster and stronger. I know that without pony blood I'm not as good as I could be, but I'm still good enough to protect her."
Rainbow hovered victoriously, clutching the orange fur ball in her forelegs. "Leave this filly alone!"
For a moment, Twilight could see through her drainer instincts, and really see what she had done to the little mare huddled in Rainbow's legs, scared for her life. She also backed away from the rainbow haired mare, because she was right, she really was more powerful physically.
But she did have an advantage.
"You won't do anything with that little fuzzball in your possession. You're to noble to risk her life for damaging mine.", Twilight said triumphantly.
"You say that as if it's a bad thing," Rainbow said, shaking her head, then looking down at the scared creature in her possession, and flashing up into the night sky with her signature trail behind her, and a little equine in her legs.
"No." Twilight said to herself. "It's out of the question. Never, never ever again."
She hadn't realize it, but by the time she had finished with her guilt flashback, she was standing, and staring blankly at the door to her house.
The next day, Rainbow whistled as she went through town.
Whispers surrounded her moving form. She could hear them all of course; with her vampiric abilities strengthening her abilities that had once been satisfactory before, she could hear every word that they were saying. And then some.
"Dash is back in town.", they whispered.
"She looks so much like a pony I once knew," Zecora mumbled.
"I swear I knew somepony who looked exactly like her 30 years ago. But that can't be, right? How could she have stayed alive?", a pony that Dash remembered as Cheerilee whispered.
"Hey? Hello?", a young colt who she thought was named Featherweight said as he ran up to her.
"Yes," she replied, patiently.
"Can I just ask you some questions?", Featherweight asked, the adorable gap in his teeth moving as he talked.
"Why not?", she asked agreeably, figuratively of course. Because unless they weren't about what she thought, and Vincenza had in fact blabbed rumors, she was safe. But just to be sure...
"Really? Yay!", he shouted enthusiastically.
"Uh huh," she said absentmindedly as she noticed Vincenza making her way through the hordes.
"So, ready to get started?", he asked, practically bouncing on his hooves like Pinkie Pie.
"Sure squirt," she said, hesitantly sitting down on the bench he had taken a seat on already, and getting into a comfortable position, before announcing, "Ask away."
"Is it true that you've been around for about 1,000 years?", he asked, quill poised to write her answer down, eyes staring at the paper.
Her mouth feel open in blind shock. Had Vincenza really told him? If so how many people had she told? She closed her mouth when he looked up from his notebook, waiting for an answer.
"What do you mean by that?", she asked, trying not to look at him too suspiciously.
"I mean, is it true that your family name, the Dashs, have been around for several hundred years?"
"Well of course," she said, regaining her composure. "We Dashs last a long time. No matter what ponies do, they can't seem to get rid of us." She smirked, in her usual cocky manner, and waved at Vincenza as she stared at her.
"So why did you come back to Ponyville?", Featherweight asked, looking up at her with those questioning eyes.
"I came back because I wanted to. It's my life anyway, I'll do what I want.", she said, shrugging nonchalantly, as she looked at Vincenza who was still staring at her out of the corner of her eye.
"Right," Featherweight said trailing off. "That was vague.", he said, writing it down.
"Sorry, I'm just a little distracted.", she said, apologizing sheepishly.
"Anyway," Featherweight said, continuing. "Is it true that you're related to Twilight Sparkle?", he said, the quill poised perfectly above the next sheet of notebook paper.
"Ya know, I actually have no idea.", she said.
"Uh huh," Featherweight said dejectedly, dropping the quill and notebook.
"Ugh," Rainbow said, mentally berating herself for being so distracted.
"What?", Featherweight said impatiently.
"Maybe Twilight can answer your questions. She was always good with history."
At this suggestion, Featherweight's face lit up.
"And if you want something really juicy, you could really just ask her what her family has done the past few hundred years. Of course, you could just ask her in the weird way you asked me in. In fact, she responds especially well if you ask if she's been around for about a thousand years.", Rainbow continued. Featherweight was confused, but a scoop was a scoop.
So he headed over to Twilight's place.
And Rainbow had a nice long stare match with Vincenza from across the street, just playing innocent until she could get her in an alley or something...
Rainbow was staring at her weirdly because she was staring at Rainbow weirdly. 'Was it a dream?', she asked herself.
The last thing she remembered was stumbling into her bed that night, and feeling the dried blood on her neck. Then she had drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
Unless the uneasy sleep was in fact the night she had had with the pegasus? Either way it was confusing. She had to talk with Rainbow about it. But something in the gaze they held each other at told the other to stay away. On purpose or not, they both communicated that message to the other. She was a confrontational pony normally, but this? This was too much. Nevertheless, she was about to walk across the street to meet her, when she broke her gaze, and when she looked again, Rainbow was nowhere to be found...
The colt was on her doorstep and had just asked her a very personal question. Keep in mind that Twilight had been sleep depraved, worrying about Dash's plans as much as was equinely possible, and Twilight was not of sound mind. No, not at all.
But nonetheless, she had seen him through the peephole, and just to be polite, had let him in. Conveniently forgetting about the other discomforts she was exposing him to. *Cough*, morning breath, *cough*.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?", she asked, trying not to let her eye twitch too much.
Featherweight sighed, today was not his day. "I said, is it true that you've been around 1,000 years?"
Twilight's eyes widened, and she started saying "Nonononononononono!" She looked quite frazzled, so Featherweight shut the door quietly, and walked away slowly, so as not to startle the pony who's sanity was slowly crumbling away...
Featherweight was not having a successful day.
Vinyl continued to stand by the side of the street, scanning for Rainbow.
At last, after five minutes, she gave up, and was about to leave when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
It was Rainbow.
Vinyl squeaked.
"Woah!", Rainbow said, "didn't mean to scare you, just wanted to get your attention.", she said backing up.
"Dash, we need to talk about what happened last night.", Vinyl said, meeting Rainbow's reluctant gaze.
"Oh right.", Rainbow said, wincing.
Vinyl was puzzled. If it were real, she would've thought that Dash would have tackled her in rage by now, or her eyes would've turned red, or she would've yelled out a solid no. But none of that happened.
"Hey listen," Rainbow said grinning, and embarrassed. "I'm sorry for leaving you in that alleyway." She averted her eyes.
"Oh, that's what this is about?", Vinyl asked. "Cause for a second there I thought that you were-", she said, cutting herself off. "And they were-", she said again, before giving up completely. "Nevermind," she exclaimed, frustrated.
"Okay," Rainbow said, giving her a you're-crazy-but-I'm-still-your-friend-so-I'll-play-along-look. "Wanna go get lunch?", she asked.
Vinyl hesitated.
"C'mon, Scratch, we need to talk this out!", Rainbow said, putting her hooves on the D.J's shoulders and shaking her.
Well at least she wasn't calling her Vincenza.
"Okay," Vinyl said, finally relenting.
Rainbow started to walk away.
Vinyl cleared her throat.
"Well why are ya just standing there?", Rainbow asked, a joke evident in her tone, turning around.
Vinyl shrugged in confusion.
"C'mon," Rainbow said. "We're going to Sugarcube Corner, we're going to talk through this, and we're going to get last night sorted out! Oh, and I'm paying."
Vinyl just gawked.
"Well are ya just gonna stay there?", Rainbow asked, smirking.
The place Rainbow had taken her to was Berry Punch's Bar and Grill. And it was their lucky day, because they were being served by the manager herself.
"Oh Rainbow Dash!", Berry called out in a drunken stupor, as she stumbled over to their table.
"Berry," Rainbow said with a good natured tone, and a clap to Berry's back.
"Oof!", Berry stumbled, then righted herself. "What can I start you gals off with?", she asked with a little tipsy note in her voice, and both forelegs on the table to keep from falling drunkenly on the floor.
"Could you give us some time to order?", Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. "We just got here, ya drunken mare."
"Of course," Berry said lightly and then stumbled away, mumbling to herself, as every drunken mare should. Not.
Rainbow shook her head as Berry ambled away, pecking at the ground with her hooves. As if she were walking on clouds. Which she was not. But who is to say whether she knew that or not?
"So what's going on with ya?", Rainbow asked Vinyl, as she squirmed in her seat, trying to get comfortable.
"It's good. Everything's fine.", Vinyl replied, looking troubled.
"For the last time, I am so sorry that I left you in that alleyway. You must be so scared right now. Ooh. You must've been so scared then. Did they get you? What happened to your neck?" Rainbow pelted her with questions. When she noticed that Vinyl looked overwhelmed, she stopped and apologized. "Sorry.", she said sheepishly.
"So what are you getting?", Vinyl asked, eager to change the subject.
"Oh, I'm actually not that that hungry.", Rainbow said, stifling a yawn.
Vinyl saw this as her chance, "Are you thirsty?", she asked.
"Yeah, why?", Rainbow asked coolly.
Vinyl gulped, "nothing!", she said nervously.
"No, what is up with you?", Rainbow asked, peering at her intensely. She could swear that she saw a flash of red but that was crazy, wasn't it?
"Are you hungry?", Rainbow asked, looking at her weird, as if she were the crazy one.
"Yeah- no- I don't know!", Vinyl said, freaking out.
"Scratch, you are clearly not okay," Rainbow said reaching over and touching Vinyl's hoof lightly.
"I can't do this. This is just too weird!", Vinyl exclaimed, and ran out of the bar.
Rainbow got up and chased after her.
"Wait, Scratch!", Rainbow yelled as she ran, terrified, out of the doors of the safety of the loud clanging silverware, and blaring music.
It was just too risky. She didn't wanna take that chance, in fact, she didn't even wanna know. She didn't care. At least that's what she thought. But she would've been safe that night if she would've just stayed with the blaring music and clanging silverware.
Vinyl kept running, and Rainbow flew after her.
"Scratch!", Rainbow called out from behind her, she was gaining.
Vinyl kept pushing herself. Run, she told herself, run as if your life depends on it, because it does.
"C'mon Scratch, would ya just let me explain?", Rainbow yelled as she pretended to be winded from the pursuit on hoof.
"Nope!", Vinyl said, panicking extensively. "Nope nope nope nope nope!"
"You sound like Big Mac," Rainbow huffed.
"No, I don't.", Vincenza yelled back. Sweating from the exertion of the race on hoof, she was beginning to break down.
She didn't know how much more of this she could take.
"Vinyl! Just stop running!", Rainbow said, starting to fly after Vincenza.
"No, no I won't!", Vincenza yelled back. Her legs were burning, but she knew what could have been real, what Rainbow could be, and she wasn't willing to sacrifice her personal safety for her physical wellbeing.
Vincenza ran, and ran. And she ran some more, until she just couldn't go anymore. But her mind was just, just screaming "No! No! Run! Run!"
It was fight or flight, and the muscles she had gained spinning beats didn't nearly match up to the athlete's strength Rainbow had.
Rainbow was getting sick of this. She was going to take care of Midnight's corpse first, but this was stupid and she was impatient.
"Vincenza!", she shouted. "Vincenza Scratch. You want the answer to your questions? Well here's that one answer is that you seem to be so scared of finding! Last night happened. And I'm going to get you."
Luckily for Rainbow, nobody had heard her death threat except for her target, because Vincenza had a habit of picking alleyways rather than open, safe, and busy streets.
Vincenza had her answer. She was screaming in her head, and her voice was getting hoarse. "It was real", she mumbled to herself. "It was real."
But wait, she wasn't just screaming in her head, she was screaming in real life. She was really screaming.
She squealed, and picked up the pace, only to come to a dead end.
"Don't worry, I'll make it easy for you," a menacing voice said from the only exit. A dark shadow, with glowing impenetrable blood red eyes, staring at her soul.
And then, in a flash, Rainbow Dash was on her, latched onto her neck, feeling the blood rush into her mouth, and in a blind frenzy, she grabbed Vinyl's neck in a tighter position, and turned her around. Rainbow unattached from the wound just long enough to run her tongue over it. It made Vincenza shiver, and Rainbow laughed.
"It'll all be over soon, don't worry Vincenza.", Rainbow said, looking at her in the eyes. "You'll be done before long. Any last words?"
Vinyl just made an "Mmph" sound.
"Didn't think so.", Rainbow said, pressing Vinyl up against the wall into an even tighter position.
Rainbow bent her neck back, and let her fangs pierce so deep into her jugular that she was surprised Vincenza didn't shriek.
It was rather impressive how Vinyl could keep her emotions so silent.
If Rainbow were in her position, she would've kicked the vampire several times by now.
When Vincenza had almost been completely drained, when she was on the precipice of disaster, Rainbow forced open the pony's mouth to force feed her some of her own blood. Once Rainbow was sure that Vincenza had taken in enough, she tilted her head upward so that the blood rushed down her throat.
Then she headed home, Vinyl in tow.
Meanwhile at the house Rainbow and Twilight shared, Twilight was in a deep restless sleep.
Rainbow layed Vinyl down in her bedroom, on the bed, beside her, but headed outside to do something first.
She walked around the house, unlocked the cellar door, and took out the shapeshifter that had last transformed into Midnight. She took one look at his mangled form, and decided that that would be enough to freak out Twilight. Then she got a stake, and a nail, and found a nice part of the house where Twilight would surely see her mangled 'love interest'.
'Oh yeah,' Rainbow thought, 'this'll work.'
So she set to work nailing in the corpse, so it looked purposely like he was murdered. Then she jutted the stake through his heart for extra effect. And when she was done, she looked at her work with a satisfied smirk. This would have Saint Sparkle screaming for days.
At least she was satisfied, until she's heard the whimper of a filly behind her, who was orange, with purplish pink hair, and looked at her with fear in her eyes...
> Season One, Episode Two, Discovery
The filly stared back at the mare she'd thought she'd knew. The fear in her eyes kept increasing to impossible lengths. What would you do if the pony that was once your protector turned into the thing; acted like the thing, that almost killed you?
Run. At least, that's what Scootaloo did. She ran. And she ran some more. She expected Rainbow Dash to chase after her. So she kept running, knowing that, no, thinking that the once noble vampire was behind her, nipping at her heels. And she ran away from the house, she ran away from the pony she had waited to find for 998 years...
Flashback 998 years ago........
Today was the day. Today was the day Rainbow Dash was leaving. Rainbow was the one who had protected her, and what would she do now that she was leaving, now that she was as good as gone? The small filly ground her teeth in frustration as she saw the house that Rainbow and Twilight had owned for 2 straight years. That house had held terror, and mischief. And all awful memories of torture and all the times Twilight had almost gotten her. Twilight. She said that name with fear and conviction. Twilight was the one that had tried to kill her, smash her skull into a thousand pieces without batting an eye.
Rainbow had always been her savior, and Rainbow had been her relief from the mean colts that prowled the streets in the dead of night. Scootaloo lived on the streets, as it was well known that she was an orphan. Everypony wanted to help, but nopony had the time, the room, or the money. And the ones that did were unwilling.
They thought that she might be scarred from living in the house with the two murderous mares, rumored to be cousins, with rumors flying around them like a class one hurricane.
They thought that she might be tainted from the time spent with the pegasus and the unicorn, as it was never possible to tell which one was the good one, and which one was bad. Because nopony who investigated made it out alive.
So as she watched Rainbow leave that day, fly out of her life probably forever, she made a promise to herself. As she watched Rainbow prepare for takeoff, to leave this town forever, she thought up a promise.
And as the rainbow-maned mare wrapped her hooves around her, she promised herself that she would find this one supernatural protector no matter how long, and be wrapped in her hooves again. She would be muzzled goodnight, and fed and loved by this pony. And she wouldn't stop until she was reunited with her.
She lived in a box, with pitying glances from all who surrounded her. She had never had a good role model. She had never had anypony tuck her in. She had never had anypony care for her, defend her as much as the pegasus had. And she hadn't even known her! Scootaloo wiped away a tear, about to drop down her cheek and disappear into the air in a short while, like her idol.
"Rainbow," she said softly, as she gazed up into those cerise eyes.
"Yeah squirt?", Rainbow said in return as she looked down, trying not to cry.
"I'll find you. I promise, one day I'll find you.", Scootaloo replied. And then she buried her face in Rainbow's chest and sobbed.
It wasn't fair. Why was it that the only thing that had ever made her feel right in this Celestia forsaken world had to be taken away from her?
Her, of all fillies! It could have been Prim Proper, the jewelmaker's daughter, but no, here the universe was, punishing her for something she hadn't done. What had she done? Tried to have a normal life, check. Tried to open up and be loved, check. And look where that had gotten her! Bawling into her one light in this world's chest? Check.
Sobs racked her spent body. Days of anxiety about this moment left her body in the form of tears, splattering on Rainbow's fur.
"I don't want you to leave," she whispered, her words muffled by Rainbow's fur.
"I know," Rainbow said softly. "I know squirt."
She looked up. Her idol was crying, surely she could cry too. So she showed her face, no longer ashamed because her idol was crying as well, and then they held each other in a tight hug, for as far as they both knew then, that could've been the last time they would see each other for the rest of eternity.
'998 years of her trying to find me, wasted', Rainbow thought. "What have I let myself become?", she asked herself out loud.
She looked at the changeling in the form of Midnight. She had done too much to stop now. Sparky had to pay. Revenge above all else.
Scootaloo could wait. Midnight before all else. Then again, that was how it always was.
Twilight would put him before her. It made her so angry all of a sudden she couldn't even see straight.
She needed something to numb it. And she needed it now. Before she lost it. Before she blew her cover. But Scootaloo had already seen her. Then again, would she tell? 'No', she told herself, 'if she does I'll take care of her.'
Now Rainbow was pretty far gone. But not far gone enough to not slap herself for thinking about doing something that horrendous to her little filly. So she did. Slap herself, I mean.
Hitting again and again. Berating herself for letting it come to this, and then restarting the cycle.
After 15 minutes she was tired, and spent, and so forlorn with her own mind, that she could have hardly looked at herself in a mirror without breaking the glass of it into a million tiny shards.
"Why?", asked herself out loud.
"Why did I let myself become this."
But it was a statement, not a question. She knew the answer. It was because of Sparky.
"An eye for an eye," she grumbled to herself, in the backyard of the house she shared with Twilight.
Rainbow was a good pegasus, no matter how impulsive or dangerous, or lost and hardened she could become. Deep down, she had feelings, and she was good.
But her stubbornness, and hatred, built up by years of seeing everypony she cared for, tormented by Saint Sparkle? That was what was winning currently.
So she rode that emotion, all the way back inside the house, to wait until daybreak, for her plan to start. It wasn't just Midnight. Oh Celestia no, she had something much bigger planned. Something that would make Twilight crack. Something that would make the unicorn pay. Something dangerous.
'It can't be,' the little filly thought, rocking back and forth in the shadows of the alleyways.
"She can't have changed that much," she said to herself, trying to reason with herself.
Even the street urchins moved away from the little filly, she was that manic. But in her state of panic she didn't mind. No, she didn't mind, not one bit.
"I don't mind", she said to herself.
"Yes you do.", she said in a frantic tone, answering herself.
"No, I don't. It's not like the one pony I cared for totally turned into a psychopath!"
"Yes, she did," she deadpanned, attacking herself with contradicting words.
"No. She's still in there. Maybe I should go back, knock on the door.", she said to herself, rolling faster and faster, eyes darting back and forth as fast as the bullet trains in Cloppan.
Beads of sweat rolled down her mangy coat.
She opened her mouth, and streams of no came forth.
"No." She said.
"No," she said again, trying to stay calm.
"I can't go back there. She'll kill me."
"Little filly," an old mare that she hadn't noticed before said.
She regained her sanity, to say "what?"
"Little filly," the old mare said again, reaching for her.
"What?", she asked again.
The old mare reached for her again, trying to drag her into her old crony hooves.
"Have you got my rusty horseshoe?", she asked.
"No!", Scootaloo yelled. "Geez, leave me alone!"
Now Twilight couldn't sleep, hadn't been able to sleep. What if the little colt knew? Featherweight was his name, was it not? What if the news would be out by tomorrow?
Would the news even be out? What if she misinterpreted it? A long time ago, she used to have an assistant named Spike. He had always told her to not get to worked up, to clear her head before her mind was lost for the night. Sadly, the one night that she hadn't listened, was the night that she had lost it. The night that she had lost it, and by doing that, lost him.
She had lost a lot of friends.
It was time to be a better pony. She had been telling herself that the past 1000 years though, and only through 400 of them had she ever stayed through her promise.
So before she lost it, she decided to take a little walk to clear her head. Spike had always said that that had always worked. Back before she had gotten high and killed him. She swallowed. Yet another sure fire reason that Rainbow had lost it, and was out to get her.
She threw off the covers on her bed, that were covering her lithe form, and trotted out of bed. She clomped down the hall, and took one look at Octavia through her doorway, sleeping soundly, still holding on in her room, before leaving.
That was a mistake.
She clopped down the stairs, almost silently. She went out the front door, just like Rainbow knew she would. Twilight went out the back door in the morning, and the front door at night. That's how the pegasus was sure that the unicorn would be sure to see the carnage when she wanted her to see it.
And as she trotted away from the house she shared with Rainbow, she kept on thinking of all of the things she'd left for the pegasus back when she was reckless, and cunning, and conniving. And, (in fact), pretty evil.
She was ashamed of the pony she used to be, and if only she could make the pegasus feel her guilt; surely she wouldn't torture her so after she had felt the emotions that the unicorn had felt. Felt the regret and the sorrow. Felt all the self hatred that was manifesting in her gut again and again every time she thought about who she used to be.
She looked down at her hooves. They, like her, were in Equestria, just being controlled by everything. Everypony.
She felt bad for her hooves. She felt bad for herself.
She felt bad for everything.
Everypony.
Every mistake she had ever made.
Every pony she had ever made a mistake with.
She felt crappy.
So she kept trotting. She kept trotting and trotting. Because in her mind, the worse place her hooves could take her was a place she deserved to go to.
And she trotted right into a bad neighborhood.
Now, given her homely appearance, she didn't look very tough. Ironic, she could drain you in ten seconds flat.
"Ten seconds flat," she said to herself. 'Now where have I heard that?" But she got her answer when an image of Rainbow Dash popped into her head.
She groaned lowly.
Scootaloo scooted back up against the wall.
"You got my rusty horseshoe!", the strange old crone accused her, waving her hooves in the air.
All the other street urchins looked on as if this was normal. Some even laughed.
The old crone crept closer.
Scootaloo could smell the old mare's dusty, musty, stinky breath as she cornered her up against the wall.
'Where are you Rainbow Dash?', Scotaloo thought to herself as she shook, her little body racked by the stink of desperation on the old mare's coat.
"Give me my horseshoe!", the crone said, raising a hoof as if to slap her. Her eyes were aglow with something Scootaloo hadn't seen in years. Love, was it? Yes, that could be it. But what stung was that the love was not for her, it was for that rusty horseshoe.
There was a commotion in one of the darker corners of the alleyway, and Twilight could recognize taunts and jeers, and the whine of a filly in terrible peril, praying for a savior.
As she looked closer, she could see two shadowy figures, surrounded by ranting crowds of street urchins all slumped up against the walls in pockets of darkness. The first aforementioned figure was raising her hoof as if about to strike the smaller figure, probably a filly.
And as the hoof came down, Twilight leaped toward the shadows...
And as she was thinking about the love being not for her, the hoof came down, and was inches from her muzzle, when all of a sudden, another hoof stopped it, the hoof of a stranger, or could it be, Rainbow Dash?
But when the crone cried out in surprise, she was spared, not even a threatening bark. It was very peaceful of her savior.
It was very unlike the Rainbow Dash she had known. Until a whisper was heard, and the sound of bone snapping reverberated throughout the alley.
A quaint sentence was whispered into the dead pony's ear, "Somepony may have taken your rusty horseshoe, but that doesn't mean you can take Scootaloo's life. I tried to once, and it was wrong. Which means you have no excuse."
I had gotten over to the little corner just in time to get a good look at the offender and who I was saving.
It was Scootaloo. The little pony I had tried to kill once. It made me so mad, to be reminded of that, that I guess I kind've snapped.
And I might've taken it out on the old putrid mare, but she deserved it!
Trying to hurt a little filly like that for no reason but a rusty horseshoe? Really?
Then again, I was so much worse.
Back then, I was horrible.
But Rainbow had never tried to take my life!
And when my protector turned around, I saw that it was not who I'd hoped, who I'd ran away from recently. It was who I'd been running away from for centuries.
It was the unicorn mare with the navy blue mane, and the purple and pink streaks. This time, though, unlike all the other times, it wasn't stained with the coppery tone of blood.
And the angry look in her eyes wasn't directed at me for once, it was directed back at the dead mare.
And when she looked at me with a kind look in her eyes, I almost cried. Who knew that Twilight could be so protective. So generous with her abilities. So much like, like Rainbow Dash.
It made my filly heart flutter.
But when she looked at me, there was also sadness in her purple eyes. There was regret, and sorrow and words that she didn't have the strength to say.
I passed myself up against the wall, thinking that it must be a dream, Twilight was the bad one, and Rainbow was the good one. That's how it always was.
But when she came closer, and I expected to be touched harshly, I was instead initiated into a warm hug, despite her cold form. And an "I'm so sorry," was whispered from her mouth to my ear.
And then I cried for what must have been the thousandth time since I'd lost Rainbow. I'd since I'd lived in fear of Twilight, yet here she was, hugging me. The irony was painful.
"Well well well, what do we have here?", I said as I noticed Vincenza waking up.
She groaned, rubbing her hoof against her head.
"Feels like you just had a massive hangover, doesn't it?", I asked, rubbing my hooves together.
She sat up suddenly, but just fell back down from the sudden pain that came with darting upwards, mumbling, "Dam it."
"Hey, only nice words in the Sparkle household.", I said wryly, pouring myself a glass of Neighpolese wine.
She sat up slowly, managing her temples. Then all of a sudden, she panicked.
"Oh Celestia! We didn't?", she asked, trailing off, trusting me to know what she was implying.
"Yes.", I said, smirking.
Her face paled considerably.
"Geez, I'm just kidding. No, sadly, we did not."
She exhaled in relief. "Wait, what do you mean, sadly we did not?", she yelled, her face contorting that way it does when she's trying to look intimidating.
"I'm just saying I wouldn't have had a problem if we did," I mentioned, downing my glass.
Her face scrunched up like one of Fluttershy's bulldogs.
"Breakfast wine?", I offered.
She shook her head, making a very disapproving look at me.
"What? You're going to have to have some sort of routine, given that you'll unofficially live for eternity."
Her mouth opened, and then closed. Then opened and then closed. And then she glared and made some offensive words come out of her mouth.
"Ouch," I said, nursing my pretend wounds. "You sure you don't want any wine?", I asked again. "It helps dull the cravings."
She just stared at me like some Fluttershy would stare at somepony asking her to eat a quarter pound of meat.
"Let me put it in terms you'll understand.", I said slowly. "The more wine you drink, the more time you get to prepare for draining Octavia."
Her face turned purple, almost as if some invisible force was choking her. And then she reached toward my neck at an impressive speed, and tried to strangle me.
But I stopped her hoof halfway, effortlessly.
"Look on the bright side," I said, smirking. "At least once you're a vampire you'll be able to punch me without it feeling like a pesky mosquito."
She just growled, and I let go of her hoof.
"You're in the transition phase," I said, as she rubbed her hoof, glaring at me benevolently. "Drink Octavia's blood, and you're good. Changed for eternity, in fact. But don't drink it, and you die."
She cowered, disgusted by the choice she had to make.
"Personally, I'm hoping you avoid the latter. I mean I already fed you my blood, so all you need to do is kill Octavia, and you'll be immortal. Invincible. Dangerous.", I said, filling my wine glass back up.
"Alluring.", I said swishing the blood red wine around. "It's pretty new. But you'll learn to love it."
I looked up, glancing at the clock on the wall of the room we were in. "And will you look at that it's time to bring Octavia in.", I said with fake enthusiasm, downing my wine and setting the glass down with a loud bang.
"Unless you want breakfast wine."
I held the filly as she sobbed into my coat, shaking and muttering about Rainbow Dash and how she'd changed and how nothing was right anymore.
I sobbed into Twilight's fur as she held my tiny frame.
"There there," she said, soothing me with the same voice she'd once used to soothe her prey.
But this time it was for real. And it was directed at me.
She didn't want breakfast wine. The pony didn't want breakfast wine.
What was she thinking?
It would dull cravings, it would make her susceptible to numb feelings so when she killed it wouldn't sting as much, and it would make her feel better.
Her loss. Breakfast wine is awesome.
And I whistled as I thought about breakfast wine, all the way to where Octavia lay, conked out on the chair, snoozing away, barely holding onto her life force. But she still had plenty of blood.
I licked my lips. So much blood. I could hear it rushing through her veins. It was so tantalizing. So delicious. So, so, mine. It would be easier to tempt Octavia if she could see what she was missing by not completing the transformation.
By the time I was done, she would live for the blood.
I picked Octavia up, and carried her to the room with Vincenza, where she was drinking gulp after gulp of breakfast wine.
I put Octavia down immediately, and took the glasses of wine out of her hooves.
"You're going to get sick.", I said, glaring at her.
"I thought vampires couldn't get sick," she said defiantly, sticking her muzzle up in the air like a stuck up prench mare.
"You're only halfway to being a vampire, which means you can still get sick.", I said with a tense, kind of worried tone to my voice.
"You sounded like you actually cared deeply for a second there.", she mumbled.
I rolled my eyes, and stole the wine from her desperate prying eyes.
"Look are you gonna murder Octavia or not?", I asked, raising an eyebrow.
She shrugged, not out of defiance, but out of terror and confusion. Actually, it was probably the first motive.
"Here," I said sighing. "I'll make it easier for you. Either you kill Octavia and complete your transformation, or I'll find a way to make you do it either way.", I stated, smirking.
"I love how subtle you are," she said sarcastically, groaning.
"I love how subtle I am too," I said, setting Octavia up closer to her.
"Can I have more wine?", she half whined, half asked.
"No," I said, glowering at her. "Look, just get to it, otherwise I'm going to make you."
"You wouldn't.", she said, gulping back a pained lump in her throat.
"Is that a challenge?", I asked, eyes flashing a shade of red.
"No," she said.
"Well too bad, so sad. I'm taking it," I said, pulling Octavia over to me.
Vincenza looked shocked that I was actually going to do it.
"See the special thing about ponies like Octavia is that they're vampires. And drinking the blood of a vampire is so much more filling than the blood of a regular mortal. It may even make you stronger than most.", I said, peeling back the curtain of hair that hung over Octavia's neck.
I leaned in close, feeling my fangs elongate, and brush the top of her perfect grey coat. "They smell so much better too.", I added. "Once you've tasted their blood, there's nothing else like it in the world."
I looked up at Vincenza's face. She had her eyes shut tight. Ah, she was probably at the part when she could hear every rush of blood in her desired prey's body. "You can hear it can't you, Vincenza?", I asked. "You can practically smell it," I continued, stroking Octavia's hair that hung across her face.
I buried my muzzle in the tender flesh of Octavia's neck. "In fact, if you're close enough, you really can smell it. The nice coppery taste filling your body with more lust then you care to admit. It'll make you crazy, and you'll do anything to get every last drop."
She shuddered, fighting the urge to feed, and I could see that her eyes were rolling up in her head.
I brought my face out from the folds of Octavia's perfect, tantalizing neck, and whispered in Vincenza's ear. "Open your eyes, I want you to see what happens next."
She did indeed open her eyes, to glimpse what was going on. But that did nothing to help her terrible cravings. Her whole body shook as she fought to not give into the ripe smell of Octavia's blood, and just drain her and be done with it.
Her eyes, stayed open, glued to mine, and my fangs were showing as I carefully carressed the skin covering Octavia's jugular.
She groaned in frustration.
I pulled Octavia's hair back. I sniffed at her neck, and then ripped a controlled stream of blood down it, licking at it, making sure that Vincenza saw all of it.
She was gripping the chair so hard, that her legs were turning white. And that's saying something, because she's already white.
I continued to sink my fangs into the wound, expanding the wound, making it bigger and bigger. I let bloody trails leisurely run down her grey neck.
"You have to feed," I said, pulling back Octavia's neck with an audible snap. My red eyes flashed at her, and blood dribbled down the corners of my mouth.
She began to let go of the chair, shuddering more profusely, but still holding back.
I disconnected from Octavia's neck, and smiled. "C'mon, there's room for two. She has a really pretty neck."
And then I moved onto the other side of Octavia's neck.
Taking special care to let the blood drop down her neck slowly and strategically, I continued to suck her blood, hearing Vincenza gasp.
'Give it a couple more seconds,' I said, watching the unicorn through half lidded eyes with intent.
I nuzzled Octavia's neck a couple of times too, just trying to get a feel for my target area.
I let the blood continue to cascade down my prey's neck, and looked up to see Vincenza barely holding onto the chair.
Good, it was working.
"Don't try to tempt me!", she yelled.
"Oh I don't have to try, Vincenza," I said, enunciating her name perfectly. "You'll give in yourself. Eventually. Having me going after your prey just awakens some instincts that will be activated soon enough. Soon enough for you to kill Octavia, and soon enough for the transformation to be complete."
Her face turned from an expression of blood lust, to an expression of shock, and then to one of pure fear.
"It'll also be soon enough for your equine instincts to be lost. You're going to end up helping me, whether you like it or not.", I said, smirking darkly.
She said, "no!", and grabbed the chair again.
"You can't make me.", she said, her voice shaky and trembling.
"I'm not making you do anything. You're the one still holding onto the chair. You could've ran out of here a long, long time ago. But you didn't. I think your new body is trying to tell you something." I said it all with a razor sharp truth that probably made her head hurt.
She trembled in huge waves, and then as I drank Octavia's blood, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her. She crept closer, her purple eyes taking on a nightmarish red hue.
She had given in to the bloodlust.
I smiled, thoughts already circulating in my mind about what I would do with Vincenza once she was turned.
I broke off from Octavia's neck. Looking at the pony crouched before me, and ready to attack for Octavia's blood, I smirked.
She should only be able to focus on the sound of the blood.
She was hesitating, though. Perhaps her vampiric and equine instincts were at war?
Either way her vampire side would win.
"Oh dear Vincenza, you seem to be having a struggle.", I said, gazing at her form, torn between natural and unnatural.
"Let's make it easier for you," I said, using my fangs to pierce a long winding trail of blood down the side of Octavia's body.
I let it drip.
She smelled the blood, I know she smelled the blood.
She practically felt the blood rushing into her mouth.
She could imagine how good it would taste to kill.
And in a split second, her eyes flashed red in a total eclipse of her usual purple eye color, she growled primally, and she leapt onto Octavia, tearing into her neck with the intensity of a killing machine.
"Like I said," I said, after she had drained Octavia, "I know its new, but you'll learn to love it."
And when she turned around and smiled, I could tell that she wasn't done yet. The blood that was on my lips was still beckoning her.
But she wasn't gonna get it without a proper chase first...
After a couple minutes of shooting the street urchins mean looks, and having the filly cry into my stomach, I decided to let her stay at the house I shared with Rainbow.
"What could possibly go wrong?", I asked myself, as I was walking along with Scootaloo.
"Who are you talking to?", she asked, looking up at me with those big filly eyes that I once wanted to rip out of her skull if I remembered correctly.
But no, that wouldn't happen ever again. I shuddered at the memory.
"Myself," I replied, nervously.
"That's not heathy you know?", she said, looking downward, expecting me to scold her, or snap or something like that.
But instead, I just said, "I know," and sighed, and we kept walking.
"But will she care? What will she do?", I asked myself again, making myself crazy with worry over what the vampire currently living in a house with me would do to Scootaloo.
"Is- is she, Rainbow Dash?", Scootaloo asked, eyes downcast, dreading the answer.
I took a deep breath, thought abut sugarcoating it. But it was far too late for sugarcoating. Way too late. The filly stopped being able to be sugercoated at that stupid party I threw 998 years ago.
I groaned.
"Does she want to hurt me?", Scootaloo asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. She looked up at me with big trusting yet worried eyes, and I just had to take a page out of Applejack's book. And tell the truth.
"Honestly, little filly? I have no clue.", I said, wishing I could reassure her. But looking down at her eyes that shone with tears unshed, I realized that I wanted to protect this filly. A lot.
"You know what? On second thought, if she does, I'll try my very best to protect you.", I said, meeting the worried filly's eyes with a measured and determined gaze.
"But it might not be enough," I said, looking away, and mumbling the last part at a volume where she couldn't hear me...
As I met the unicorn's gaze, I couldn't help but wonder how she'd changed this much.
How she could be this good inside after having been so twisted for all the time that I'd known her?
I didn't know, but I wasn't complaining.
After all she was giving me an actual bed, rather than a dirty old mattress and a crusty old box.
She looked away, mumbled some thing, and I didn't think much of it.
But there was still one thing I had to know.
"Twilight?", I asked in a meek voice.
"Yes," she said, turning around, and looking at me with a knowing and encouraging stare, that spoke of patience through her eyes.
"Why is she like this?", I asked with a tremor to my voice. "Why have you changed? Why does she want to hurt ponies?"
Make that several things I had to know.
The questions came like lightning. Never ceasing, so many I wanted to ask.
"What happened to make her so hateful? So dark? What happened without me? Why isn't she here right now holding me?" My voice shook, threatening to crack.
My eyes had started to produce what seemed like thousands of tears with every word, my body that had been so spent before from the sobs, making up for the lost few peaceful quiet minutes.
"Where is she?", I asked, nervous.
"Why is she doing this?", I asked, my body collapsing into he ground like a saggy balloon.
"What is her problem? Can we fix it?", I said, looking up, and I must have been displaying serious levels of franticness in my eyes, because Twilight looked like she knew where this was going.
"How could you let her get away with this?", I said, suddenly filled with rage at her calm expression. She was acting as if there was nothing we could do, but there was so something we could do!
And finally, the last one. "Who did this to her?" I stared into her eyes, already knowing the answer.
I could see her answer in the way she shifted her weight, and clomped her hooves.
She looked at me, eyes full of guilt, and started to say something.
I raced through the house, Vincenza stumbling behind me. She had to get all the blood that was left, her new instincts wouldn't let her refuse to. If she didn't get all that was left, she couldn't become what she wanted to be. But that didn't mean that I had to let her get it easily.
"Come on Dash!", she shouted from behind me.
"Nope," I said, laughing playfully, zooming through the house at an even more fast pace.
"Aww," she said, whining, as she was left in the dust again.
I took off from the second story kitchen to the main floor, and darted down the stairs as fast as possible.
"Can I at least have more wine?", she asked, batting her eyes from the top of the stairs.
"I don't know, can you?", I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
When she realized what I was teasing her about, she clomped down the stairs, running at me. "This is not school and I'm not a filly and you can't lecture me about my grammar!", she yelled, charging me.
When I dodged, she asked, "Can I at least just get the last of the blood?", she said, in a whiny tone. "And slow down!", she yelled, as she prepared to charge.
"You mean, may I get the rest of the blood? And I can't slow down, I'm a vampire. Even when I was normal, I wasn't capable of slowing down.", I said, smirking as she barreled toward me again.
I dodged her again, and asked, "I thought you didn't wanna be a vampire?", with a look on my face that read of intrigue and suspicion.
"Well I wanna be one now!", she bellowed, and all of a sudden had me on the ground. Legs wrapped around my waist, and a triumphant look in her eyes, she had me in a position where my wings were on the ground.
I couldn't move without throwing her off and injuring her. And I didn't wanna do that. Well, not enough to actually do it.
She moved in closer. And closer, and her face was getting closer and closer to mine when all of a sudden the door swung open, and a hearty shriek was heard. She darted upward, turning to glare at who had interrupted her.
And I looked too.
And I wish I hadn't.
Because there in the doorway stood Saint Sparkle, (that's one cringe right there,) and Scootaloo. I still felt bad for what she saw me doing. (So, Scootaloo is cringe number two.)
I barely had enough time to mumble out an "oh crap," before Scootaloo's and Twilight's faces turned red at what they thought we were doing.
Well, that was a first, I told myself, as I saw my 1,000 year old maybe idol, mottled with blood, being straddled by DJ Pon-3.
"You know, sadly that is not the most disgusting thing I've seen today.", I said out loud, expecting a scolding from the mare standing next to me, but her face stayed red and she said nothing.
But I did get something from Rainbow. She sat up, pushed off Vinyl and laughed like she hadn't laughed in a million years. She also gave a weird smile.
"Yeah that was a good one squirt, but we gotta get going so...", and she let it hang on that, and zipped out of the room with DJ Pon-3.
My face was as red as one of the Apple family's relative's tomato gardens.
What was she doing? And in the entry hall too? Ugh. This was too much!
I'm pretty sure steam started coming out of my ears.
I guess that's when I started to walk away, to try to see where she had gone. This was useless, for all that I know, she might be on my bed by now.
In fact she probably was on my bed by now, doing some questionable things.
There was a voice coming from behind me, but I didn't care, I needed to find Rainbow. That was all that mattered at the moment.
The voice got louder, and I ignored it, vying for the appearance of Rainbow over addressing the voice behind me.
The voice got to an unbearable volume and I turned around and shouted. "What?", very loudly.
I'm pretty sure that my eyes flashed because the filly that owned the persistent voice was starting to gallop away.
And when she galloped away, it took me a second to process what was happening. "Wait!", I called out, trying to get her to stop. To just stop. To not see me as the monster I used to be.
I had rushed down the halls, into Twilight's bedroom.
Then I had locked the door, and let go of the hoof I'd been using to pull Vincenza out of there as fast as possible.
Then I had seen all the blood that was in Octavia's body, that was smeared all over me.
Then I had seen all the blood on the floor.
"Man, Saint Sparkle is gonna kill us.", I said, grinning as I looked all over the room. Turns out Vincenza had thrown Octavia's bloodless corpse into one of Twilight's prized paintings. And it was a Poney one too. The one with the water lilies.
Oh well.
Then I looked around some more, and discovered that the room was now splattered with blood, making it a deep, richly enticing shade of red that only a real vampire could appreciate.
Saint Sparkle would obviously hate this; I whistled. It smelled better than the spring flower air freshener she always put in here.
I looked up at Vincenza, who was looking at me with a great lust in her eyes.
"Guess the chase is over," I tried, laughing a little bit as she trotted closer, shushing me.
"Stop talking, it makes it harder to get the blood on your lips.", she said, eyes flashing.
She came closer to my lips, and closer, and this time when she was a centimeter away, she paused, making sure that no purple unicorns or little orange fillies would barge in.
"In fact, it makes it harder to get the blood, everywhere.", she said, pulling me in.
It felt like an eternity, but really it was a couple of seconds, until she touched her lips to mine.
Bringing her tongue up to lick the blood off of my lips, she backed off, somewhat hesitant to continue her quest for blood.
But I made her inner conflict easier. "Looks like I'm just gonna have to make this easier for you as well, Vincenza," I said, my eyes no doubt dancing feverishly in the moonlight streaming through the window.
The window. My eyes flicked over to it. With too much light, we were sometimes hesitant to feed.
Maybe this was her case. And even if it wasn't, feeding in the dark was much more satisfying than feeding in the light. I guess it was just more comfortable?
I walked over, and closed the window, leaving no light left in the room.
As soon as there was no light, her red eyes lit up the dark, like a hellish, possessed nightlight.
I laughed at the prospect of it.
Then again, my eyes were probably burning mini-pits of hellfire right now too.
She listened for the slightest sound.
And as soon as she was sure that nopony was coming, she leapt on me. Tackling me onto the bed, she pressed her lips against mine. Sucking on them to get all the blood she could, she soon moved on to another part of my body. Like my neck. As she nipped at that, I sighed. I had forgotten how good it felt. She started biting at it, and I let her kiss it, whatever she had to do to just be turned. And when she moved on to even more unusual parts of my body, it was obvious that this wasn't just blood lust..
Oh Luna no. This was something more than just bloodlust. This was lust. When she crawled on top of me though, I had to ask.
"You're not just lusting for blood, are you?", I asked, tickling her ear when she leaned down, eyes glowing, to try to plant her kisses down my body.
"No, not anymore," she purred, slitting her eyes in what every vampire knew as the eternal bedroom eyes.
"Well okay then," I said.
I knew she hadn't changed. Why would she have changed? It didn't make any sense. I was almost to the door.
I wanted to get to that door more than anything in Equestria. But when she had told me about how Rainbow had lost control, what she had done...
I shuddered. She had seemed so sad, so guilty. And yet I had seen the look in her eyes. I was an inconvenience currently. And I would probably never be anything more.
So why was it so hard to run away for the hundredth time?
She was galloping behind me, I could hear her panting.
Then, all of a sudden, I was almost to the door, and my body was slowing down, when a bright flash attacked my eyes, and I found myself on the floor, thinking back to when Rainbow had lost it...
Flashback 600 years ago (Rainbow POV)...
There was blood on the floor, blood everywhere. I snorted in disgust as I flew into the living room of the tenth house we'd been in. We'd had to keep renting out new houses in the town to keep our presence from being connected with the recent string of deaths.
I dropped down to the floor, trotting into the feeding room, which was, ironically, not the dining room or the kitchen, rather, the living room. Ironic how many ponies died in the living room. I almost laughed. Almost.
But any chance I had of laughing was extinguished when I saw how many ponies were lifeless on the ground. There must have been about ten, easy. And I couldn't even tell who they were, they were so covered with blood. I wanted to get it. I shook myself out of the urge, focusing on finding Twi. My little psychopath.
"Twi.", I said, finding her, laying on the couch, in a bored pose like the Queen of Saddle Arabia. Blood framed her mouth, and she wore a contented smile, while her eyes were glazed over yet concentrated on something.
"Twi," I said, again, louder to make sure she heard me.
She focused her glassy eyes up at the ceiling. "Not now Rain, I'm focusing."
"Hey!", I said, trotting over and waving my hoof in front of her placid features.
She grumbled, but her eyes darted over and looked over at me. "Hi.", she said curtly, before returning her eyes to the ceiling.
"Whatever you're planning, I'm telling you in advance, stop planning it.", I said, rolling my eyes, and once again taking in the carnage that littered out living room floor.
She shrugged and stared, in a death glare at the wall. "They won't see it coming," she said, sighing, a disturbing smile gracing her features."
The tension in her eyes and the easiness of her smile unnerved me. This couldn't be good. She was on it again.
"Did you drink all of this blood?", I asked, sighing.
"Maybe, maybe not.", she said, smirking at the ceiling.
"What are you looking at?", I asked exasperatedly, laying down with her just to see what the buck could possibly be so Celestia damned interesting on the ceiling!
But to my surprise I saw it. She was on it. She was definitely on it.
"What the buck is wrong with you?", I yelled as soon as I saw what was on the ceiling.
I darted off the couch, gesturing to what she had done to the poor equine.
"How the Tartarus you come up with this is beyond me!", I said, bellowing. "You shrunk and killed a stallion then had him glued him to the ceiling!"
She nodded. "What the buck is wrong with you?", I asked again. And when she didn't answer for a couple of seconds, a pregnant pause could be heard in the dead room.
"Hello!", I yelled, waving a hoof in front of her face.
She flipped over, turning to face me. "You won't see it coming," she said.
Now I was pissed and curious. "Okay that's great.", I said, rolling my eyes yet again.
"Who is that anyway?", I asked, flying up to get a closer look.
"Soarin?", I asked, eyes graced with the presence of disbelief. His eyes eyes were graced with the touch of disbelief too. Imagine, being invited to tea with the town librarian, only to discover that she was a bloodthirsty monster.
And as soon as I turned around to face Twilight, my eyes were also graced with anger.
"What the Hell is wrong with you?", I asked, glaring at her with more heat than Celestia's precious sun.
"They never see it coming.", she said, getting off the couch. "You never see it coming." Her moves, smooth and practiced, she was an equine representation of death.
"You can't do this!", I said, shaking my head, as I tried to figure why she would do this.
"Come on Rain, why do you care about him so much? He's only a colt, a silly colt.", she said, moving toward me.
"He's MY silly colt!", I said, my voice cracking with emotion. My eyes peered at her from beneath my mane, accusing her, tormenting her with their gaze.
She was coming slower toward me now, her movements seeming less fluid and more shaky and forced.
She was not a representation of death, I realized, she was a representation, of dead souls. They were shaky, dark, and haunted, and moved as if being pushed or pulled by something, be it lust or need for control. No, not with vampires. Vampires didn't thrive on the need for control. The most dangerous vampires thrived on not being able to control. On controlling others instead.
"Why do you keep yourself so under control?", she asked me in a conniving, almost pitying voice.
"Because it's the right thing to do. I made her a promise. I made him a promise.", I said, my voice shaking as if possessed with 800 wing-power.
She just shrugged.
"Where is she?", I asked her, glaring her down. "Where is he?", I asked, becoming quite insulted when she didn't cower.
"You mean your parents?", she asked with a flat, lackluster tone.
"Yes!", I said, "don't tell me you did anything to them, too!"
She didn't seem to want to respond. But she was going to. Even if it took some special convincing.
I growled, and grabbed her neck with my hoof, forcing it against the wall. I pressed against it, enjoying the sounds she made when she struggled to bring air into her undead lungs. "This feels good. I like the fear in your eyes," I said, listening to the words she was trying to squeeze out. "So I would suggest telling me where they are, and what you have down with them before I find the vampire everypony's been looking for and bring her into town. Dead or alive." My eyes flashed red at this point. I was done with her, and she knew it.
She struggled to pry off my pressing hoof from her trachea but she couldn't. She began to gasp, trying to yank at my hoof, trying to breath.
But her eyes, they sparkled with enjoyment, because if I killed her I would have lost control.
I wouldn't let her win.
I couldn't let her win.
So I released my hoof and she fell down, clawing her neck with her hooves. "Now where are they?", I asked in a hardened, lackluster tone similar to hers.
When she just stared down, I yanked up her head, forcing her to look me in the eyes and tell me what she'd done with them.
"Where are they. What did you do with them.", I asked, but there was really nothing of a question about them, they were weirdly, in a way, just statements. Because I guess, somehow, I knew.
Somewhere along the lines, I knew that among the bodies on the floor, I would find my parents.
Somehow I knew what she had done with them.
Somewhere along the lines I knew, that when I saw how she'd disposed of everypony I'd cared about I'd lose it.
And she thought that it would be all one big bloody party when I lost control. That we'd plan together, that she'd always win, that she'd always be on top.
But deep down, she didn't have the knowledge that I had. See, I had a certain type of knowledge. I had knowledge of my own mind. How could she plan against me if she was too busy trying to find a way to survive?
And when I saw the bodies of my parents, I screamed.
"Why the Hell did you kill them?", I yelled, tears streaming down my face.
"Because they were keeping you under control.", she replied, coldly. Her eyes flashed a heated shade of red, and they danced with the fires of obvious attitude.
"And you killed him for the same reason?", I asked, staring at her straight in the eyes.
Somewhere in the verbal hale, I was gonna lose control.
Sorry mom and dad, I just have to.
I have to.
"I killed him because he was distracting you from your nature. He was making you mentally and emotionally weak. By depending on him for comfort you were losing critical-"
I cut her off. I cut her off hard.
"Critical what, Twi? Critical what?", I screamed. "Do explain why the only stallion who ever made me feel good, is bad!"
"He changed you.", she accused, staring at me flatly.
"He changed me for the better!", I yelled. "He helped me control it and so did they. And now they're gone. They're all gone!"
"If he had you, I couldn't.", she said, averting her eyes.
"You couldn't what, Twi? You couldn't what?", I asked, yelling my lungs dry.
"I couldn't have you!", she yelled back. Her eyes rocketed back up. "If he had you, I couldn't have had you." Her eyes were actually showing real emotion now. Shining, I looked at them and saw that they were full of tears. I almost felt sorry for her, almost. But then I remembered that she had slaughtered my family to get me to join her.
"Why did you want me to lose control?", I asked.
"So you could join me and Midnight!", she said, a note of urgency shining through in her frantic voice.
"What would we even do?", I asked, hysterical with all that she had done, and drunk on her decision.
"We would do whatever we wanted. Who would be able to stop us?", she asked, snarling with a ferocious leer in her words.
She wasn't crying anymore. Now she was angry, and desperate. Her eyes shone with greed and lust for power and the blood.
I flew up to the ceiling, trying to pinpoint the corpses of my parents. There they were, and the room was full of blood. So much blood.
In order to lose control, a vampire needed three things. One, lots of blood. Two, the desire to turn off all of their feelings in favor of bloodlust. And three, motivation. My fangs came out, and I ran my tongue over them, hoping maybe the pain from my punctured tongue would ease the pain from my punctured heart. Spoiler alert, it didn't.
The room was full of blood.
I didn't want to do whatever we wanted. I wanted to do whatever I wanted. And right now, I wanted to find my parents, and hold them before I lost control for good.
Spotting my mother's prismatic mane, I flew down to her, and picked up her light body, cradling her frame against my body.
I just wanted to feel this moment.
I just wanted this moment before I lost control.
Then I kissed her on the head one last time, and let a few tears dribble onto her pearls. She always loved her pearls. And now, she would never get to love her pearls again. Because she was dead. And she was dead because of Twi.
Then I trotted over the blood-ridden floor to my dad's dead body. I kissed him lightly on the cheek, and then sat there, in silence. I began to find it weird that Twi hadn't interrupted my silent vigil, when she cleared her throat.
"You will be joining me," she said, trotting over to me. Her eyes had calmed. But my eyes hadn't. They may have looked calm, but my eyes were the picture of a calm magenta ocean right before a storm.
And the storm was coming. I got up off of the ground, and stared at her in the eyes. I had lost it. Now I had lost control. I had let my emotions go, and I had no feeling for her left. And somehow it still managed to feel so good to think about how she would be when I was done with her.
"Actually," I said, "I don't believe I will."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Just because I've lost my control doesn't mean I would ever join you. Why would you assume that?", I asked, gathering my wits up again. My eyes flashed red, a darker shade then she'd probably ever seen.
"What's the matter Sparky? You look scared.", I said, developing a haughty smirk. I began to push my muzzle up against hers.
"One little problem with your plan. I'm gonna do whatever I want, and you're gonna try to stop me.", I said, grabbing her and pulling her in. Getting her into a position where she couldn't escape, I locked her legs behind her back, and pulled her neck back.
I tucked her hair behind her ear, and she struggled, but my grip was iron.
"You were right," I cooed in her ear, venomously. "I was fighting my true nature.", I said, my fangs grazing her ear. "I'm so grateful you got me to stop."
She shivered under my touch.
"You smell good.", I said. "Might be a little too much, though."
She stiffened. "Did you just insult my taste?", she asked.
I hesitated for a moment, then finally settled with an honest, "Yes."
She tried to stick her muzzle up the air haughtily, but since I already had her neck, she couldn't.
"Ah ah ah," I said. "Careful Sparky. We don't want this beautiful neck going to waste."
"Don't you dare," she mumbled.
"And how exactly do you plan on stopping me?", I asked, cocking an eyebrow, and smirking against her neck.
"I don't need to stop you. You're not going to do it. You're a good pegasus," she said, shakily.
"And you're not that smart today Sparky." Before she could respond, I had my fangs in her neck, drinking her in.
Her jugular had been ruptured right on point, and I drank her blood because I hadn't drained in months.
Her blood was the best thing I had ever drank. Drinking a friend's blood was special, but slowly making your enemy weaker is so much more satisfying.
"Stop me, Sparky. Stop me.", I whispered in her ear.
She struggled while I fed. "Oh wait, you can't, because you had me turn off my emotions," I said, faking sympathy.
I looked up, and she was staring at me in fear as I fed from her. Her whole body was trembling in terror and it was delicious.
She must have seen how dark my eyes were, because she trembled like a leaf. She gasped. "Shh," I said, "you're my prey now. And I don't intend on doing anything with you. I plan on doing everything against you."
I drank the rest of her blood, leaving her to deal with the immense pain that comes after being drained by another vampire. And I wasn't done. No, I wasn't even close to done. She would suffer. I would make sure of it. She would pay for killing my family. She would pay for tricking me. But above all, she would pay for challenging me.
And right before I left I whispered one last thing.
"Hey Sparky, I'll be back. Don't worry, I'll always be back."
And the last thing she saw was my saccharine eyes, flashing, before she passed out...
She had fainted. The filly had actually fainted. I knew I shouldn't have told her, shouldn't have let her know all that had happened to make Rainbow this way. She probably viewed me as a monster.
Rushing over, I pressed a hoof to her heart. It was beating strongly, pumping blood healthily to all parts of her body. Her blood was healthy too. Nice, healthy blood. I inhaled, and closed my eyes.
When I opened them I jerked back because I had realized that my fangs were an inch away from her chest.
'What is wrong with me?', I thought as I scooted back away from the filly on my haunches.
"Well I'll be damned," I said, glancing around at Twilight's room.
"You already are damned.", Vincenza mumbled as she nestled into the crook of my neck. The post-transformation haze. I loved the post-transformation haze. They were so quiet.
And cuddly...
Wait what?
Oh no. Oh no no no no no.
I am not falling for a newborn vampire. I am like a thousand years old, and she's the first one I've turned in a long time.
I don't love her, I love...
Him.
But he died a long time ago. He died the second Psycho-Twi stuck him to the ceiling, dead and shrunken.
He was gone before then, too. I wasn't going to turn him if he didn't want to be turned, and he would die. That was how it would end.
But he didn't die the way he should have.
I don't love her, I love...
Her.
But the mare I loved died a long time ago. She died the second Psycho-Twi crushed her slowly, from the inside. Until the mare I once loved was shrunken.
She was gone before then, too. She was going to be turned, he could feel it, and the real her would die. Of course I would always wonder. That's how it would end.
"She is gonna have a Hell of a time cleaning this up," Vincenza said, interrupting my own haze of thoughts.
I snorted, brought out of my stupor. "Heh, yeah she is!", I exclaimed, then nestled closer to Vincenza.
There was silence. I guess we were both just looking at the mess we had left in Twilight's room.
More silence.
And more silence.
And shattered silence, when Vinyl said, "I'm bored."
Wait, Vinyl? Apparently now I'm using her nickname!
I. Do. Not. Like. Vincenza.
I guess I stayed quiet for too long. Cause Vinyl decided to speak again.
"Will you finally stop calling me Vincenza?", she asked, huffily.
I thought about it, but I already knew my answer. I was already thinking of her as Vinyl not Vincenza, so...
"Yeah.", I said, and she lit up the dark room when she smiled.
"Thanks. It was creepy.", she said, pulling Twilight's covers over us.
"That's the point," I said.
I blinked. Another bright flash appeared in front of my eyes.
---Flashback 500 years (Twilight POV)
In every town I'd been in, she'd been there not a few days after. One or two days later after I'd settled in, mysterious deaths would suddenly start happening. And everybody would blame the bogey-pony.
Since I was new and Rainbow was also new, but also a conniving, and social charmer, unlike me, they tended to see the weird recluse as a more likely murderer than the social flirt that was Rainbow Dash.
And every time I got ran out of town, I would always see her sitting off to the side casually, waving as they chased me away with pitchforks.
But then again, psychopaths always look normal.
And it happened again and again, and after several days, and she'd hunt me down, and make her moves.
It was all a game to her.
Revenge was a competition.
Maybe she could be more volatile than I was. Maybe not. But she proved she could be one summer evening during a lovely town meeting...
I was already slowly turning my emotions back on, and learning that good had to balance out the bad. One fact I had missed while on a very high amount of blood. It was ironic for me to miss anything factual like that when I was on the blood like I was then. Then again, intelligence of feelings and integrity doesn't come with the super-smart-brain-vampire-package.
It was so peaceful when the Head of the Town Council stood up to talk; the collar of his shirt fluttering in the light breeze. You could see the feeling in his sparkling, twinkling eyes when he talked. And as the Grandfatherly figure stood up to talk...
The sun was high in the sky, but the windows closed.
A string of words were intended to come from his mouth, but instead a mighty holler was heard.
And when everybody tried to get the lights, a loud snap was heard.
The power had been cut. I panicked. Oh yes, I panicked alright, the lights were off, the power had been cut, and there was only one pony I knew who would be gutsy and conniving enough to do this.
I heard a pony shriek about how the door was locked.
Celestia, she was being smart about this!
A chorus of loud snaps was heard from the room. A snap on the right, then a snap on the left. An agonized cry of course signaled each little one, and before too long, it felt as if there were only 20 ponies in the room with me.
A whispered plea of a middle-aged upperclass unicorn, then a snap.
The threatening language of a desperate stallion, then a snap.
The silence and mere squeak of a kid. Then the snap of their neck being broken like a twig.
I waited a little longer, and soon it felt as if only 15 were left.
I dropped down underneath a table, not wanting to face my demons.
My demon.
Saint Sparkle, Demon Dash.
Shouldn't be this way though...
Thinking fast, I went out the back door, hoping to maybe get a bucket from outside, to fill it with water from the hose.
Clomping out the back door, I hummed to try to keep my sanity.
And as I trotted through the threshold, I caught a view of a sight that was quite repulsive. It was a sight repulsive enough to make me scream.
As nice as it was, it was getting pretty tiring just laying with Vinyl.
But I hadn't gotten bored or tired in centuries, and I wasn't gonna start now.
So, I suggested that we see how Squirt was adjusting, and how Saint Sparkle was reacting.
As we left the bedroom, and clomped down the stairs, I couldn't help but wonder if she'd seen him yet.
The bright flash of light stopped when I heard a scream.
It sounded like Twilight.
Maybe Rainbow had done something to her!
But that didn't sound right. I mean, I wasn't used to it sounding right for Rainbow to do something like that.
But maybe she had.
Another scream sounded.
I followed the shrieks and wails outside, where I saw Twilight bawling, and shaking uncontrollably.
"Midnight," she mumbled, hiding her head inside her hooves. She was curled up in a fetal position, rocking and shivering.
"Twilight?", I said, trotting over and gently touching her on the foreleg.
She just cried harder, and gently pushed my hoof away from her frail form.
"Midnight," she screeched, pointing behind me.
"Just rock a little bit Twilight," I told myself.
"You'll be fine Twilight," I told myself.
"But I won't. Not without him. Not with him dead."
"Rocking makes everything better. Like I'm in a nice comfy chair, anywhere but here. Like I have a nice house with the pony I love.", I told myself.
I felt a hoof, touching my foreleg in silent reassurance.
But I didn't need silent reassurance.
I needed him to come back.
I needed him to come for his little China Doll.
"Come back, I'm still your China Doll," I said, the words blazing a trail in my mind when I closed my eyes.
And as tears blazed a trail down my cheeks, I gently pushed the hoof off of my limp, shaking form, and focused on holding onto my sanity.
"I'm still your little China Doll," I whispered, pushing the strands of hair that dangled in front of my face away forcefully. I yanked on them, pulling them harder and harder, until some came out.
Somepony was saying hey, over and over again, and trying to get a grip on my hoof.
I ignored them, preferring to dwell in my own pit of despair, that was quickly graduating into a pitiful whirlwind of deep depression.
When the heys got louder, I still ignored them, opting to continue to do the one thing that dulled the pain of losing Midnight.
And when a couple more heys were said, each increasing in volume, my hoof was finally grabbed.
And she wouldn't let go. I yanked and pulled away, but she had strength. She had too much strength.
I looked up, and it wasn't Scootaloo who was holding my hoof. It was Rainbow. She had this look in her cerise eyes like she had always had 600 years ago, like she was disappointed in me for letting myself get to this.
She stared into my eyes, and her silent chastisement burned a hole through my breakdown like an arrow perfectly piercing a bullseye.
My heart hiccuped. It had been so long. "I'm sorry," I croaked out.
And I blinked. But when I opened my eyes, I was looking at Scootaloo.
And Scootaloo didn't have a knowing stare, she didn't even have a silent scolding hidden in her pupils. In a way, I was strangely disappointed.
'Calm down,' the voice of Rainbow 600 years ago, said, echoing in my mind.
"Okay," I said aloud. And I must've sounded insane, because Scootaloo looked at me like I was a Hydra or something.
"I'm sorry," I said, apologizing to her. Scootaloo, I mean.
"It's okay. Let's get you inside," she said slowly.
"No," I said. "First I have to know something."
Her eyes looked back at mine, searching them for another brief loss of sanity, but they found nothing.
"Did you see her?", I asked slowly.
She didn't process it at first. But then she asked, "Did I see her doing what?", with a curious look.
"Did you see her kill Midnight?", I asked, with baited breath.
But when she started crying, it was my answer.
"Oh you did, didn't you?", I asked.
"Yes," she breathed, more than said, as she shook with sobs again that night.
"You know what?", I asked, rising up, and staring down at her with a motherly gaze.
"What?", she asked, sniffling.
"We're gonna go to bed.", I said, with a finality that rivaled Luna's Canterlot voice.
"What?", she asked, again, pouting, and looking up at me with puppy eyes.
But when I met her gaze, all she could say was "yes ma'am."
So we walked inside. I would deal with Midnight in the morning. For now, what mattered was getting her into bed.
We had a guest bedroom, though it wasn't used really, at all.
So she slept in there, and I got her settled in.
And as I walked out of the room, she called for me one last time, and said, "Promise you'll protect me?"
And as she looked at me with those eyes, I already knew what I had to do to get my Rainbow Dash back. Scootaloo was the one thing that was keeping her tethered to her equinity at the moment, and if I was correct, Rainbow would get her equinity back with an event involving the filly. Whether it was forced or not, Rainbow would save Scootaloo if she were faced with a choice of being her savior, or watching her die. And I planned on using that to my advantage.
As I looked back at Scootaloo, I couldn't bring myself to say yes, because if I needed to trade her life for Rainbow's equinity, I would. I would in a heartbeat. Don't get me wrong, Rainbow is a selfish, hazardous dick, but she's my selfish, dangerous asshole. I need her back. I thought a long time ago that I would need her gone, that her losing her equinity, her loyalty, would be beneficial, but I was living in a bloody, messed up nightmare world. A world that she hasn't left yet.
So I nodded.
And she looked back with those shiny eyes, and trusted me...
She found Midnight.
She found Midnight and there was nothing. Nothing.
All I get is a little psychotic breakdown and that's it?
Let's just say that it was disappointing, and a way less grandeur turn out than expected.
But I've got an Ace up my sleeve. I've got Vinyl.
And she's got squirt. Yeah, cause she can play Squirt real well when it comes to actual fighting.
I mean, yeah, I guess she could use the kid as a shield. Or throw her off a building to help me regain my equinity and emotions, but it's not like Saint Sparkle is gonna do that.
I really hope Sparky finds her room soon...
As I lay in the guest room, I stared at the ceiling in the dark, thinking about what the two friends I already had in this town, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, would think. They each had a sister.
I wonder who their sisters were?
I heard another scream. Twilight was screaming again. Guess I'd better get used to it. In this household, I could already tell that quiet would be a rare and appreciated occurrence.
What did she do to my room?!
She just had to get the painting bloody?
Really?
It was the Poney one, too!
I would say that I would get her back for this, but I don't have the slightest clue how.
Or maybe I do?
I screamed. I couldn't help it.
It was too much.
First Midnight, then this?
Really Rainbow? Really?
"Is this the best ya got Rainbow?", I yelled in my hoarse voice.
I saw how muddled and dirty my sheets were, they were very bloody. Almost as if two ponies had been tossing and turning half the night. Together, roughly and, wait. Passionately? So I was right!
"Rainbow!", I yelled. "Get in here!"
"Yeah?", she asked, rolling her eyes as she poked her head through the door frame.
"What did you do with Vinyl?", I asked, choosing to ignore her attitude.
"We had sex," she said, casually, flying into the room.
"Ugh.", I said, moaning. "Wait," I said, "you had sex with someone who is like, 1,000 years younger than you? She's a minor. That's against the law!" I glared at Rainbow.
She rolled her eyes again, sighing at my ignorance, "Yeah, but according to modern law I'm only 20, the same age as Vinyl."
My mouth fell open and stayed in that position. For a minute at least.
"Shut your mouth Sparky," she said smirking. "It's rude to gawk. Plus," she added, "she'll be a couple hundred years old soon."
"You turned her?", I asked, incredulously.
"Yeah, and you're invited to the Birthday party. After all, mine were always so much fun," she said.
Of course one second, she was casually blowing her bangs out of her face, and the next she had me up against the wall in a choke hold.
"But you always had more fun then I did, didn't you Sparky?", she said, and I could smell Vinyl's blood on her breath as I was losing air.
She narrowed her eyes. "In fact, you always had more fun then me, Birthday party or not."
I struggled to breath, clawing at my throat.
"This feels good," she said, smirking. "I like the fear in your eyes."
And her eyes, they were burning. In the moonlight they cracked and sparkled like a bonfire in the night.
They were mesmerizing.
But in the worst way.
They pierced into me, making it hard to breath two different ways.
Looking past my front, to how scared I was, shaking because she had taken over my role from 400 years ago, and the tables had turned.
This time, she wasn't letting go.
But she still wasn't letting me win.
She could kill me and she knew it wouldn't give me any satisfaction, because I'd be on the ground, crumpled like a paper doll.
Her equinity was already lost, therefore if she killed me I won nothing. There was no strategy this time, no win-win mutual relationship.
Only her hard, burning eyes.
She searched me, as if peering into my soul for an emotion that her hard gaze seemed to think I should possess. And when no recognizable spark came, she relented.
She let go of me, letting me crumple to the ground alive,
"Did you find Midnight yet?", she asked, casually, almost as if this were an everyday occurrence. Rubbing the hoof she used to hold me up against the wall, she continued talking casually, "Apparently he's been dead for quite sometime now. Last night he was found, roaming the streets. Got roughed up and drained from messing with the wrong pack of Lycans. Then of course a close clan of vampires stepped in, and got their revenge on him. They say he was a real dick.", she said, putting extra emphasis on the word dick.
"But I don't know," she said, meeting my eyes as I looked up into her eyes, sparkling like red wine. "Was he a dick?", she asked me, plopping down on my chaise lounge. Smirking as she did.
I wanted to tell her to get off of my chair, but that would've just made things worse. So instead, I told her what I thought, whether she chose to slam me up against the wall for it or not. "No, no he wasn't. He was a good vampire. I know it's hard for you to see, but he was. He was a good stallion." I looked up at her with pure, shining faith, and she stared back with this look of, what-the-hell-did-he-do-to-you.
"Was he? Was he really?", she asked, quirking an eyebrow in that smart alek way that always made all the other vampires want to punch her in the teeth.
"Yes, yes he was," I said, looking sure, but not really sure of how I felt anymore.
And I thought back to what he had done, and wondered if Rainbow really was right...
It was a dark and stormy night, and the place he had told me to meet him in was fairly huge. It was a castle, actually, with huge turrets with flags, flapping in the violent wind, and tapestries decorating the very lavish interior.
Why he had me meet him here I did not know. It gave off an unsettling vibe, yet I was somehow intrigued.
Somehow fascinated, once he had not shown up, I began to look around. The architecture was breathtaking. Once you got used to the gothic feel, you could really admire the unique embellishments.
I climbed up many stairs, as I always seemed to do in castles. Even in the smaller ones, there always seemed to be so many stairs!
Whatever was the deal with all the stairs in a castle?
Following the harsh glow of the dim candles in their positions on the stairwell walls, I squinted to make out what I thought to be a note.
Turn Back, it said, and was scrawled in frighteningly messy handwriting that appeared to be written in blood. Of course, I was a pony of logic and science, and ponies of the two aforementioned things took no heed to notes that appeared to be written in blood. It simply wasn't logical.
So, I continued onward on my quest to understand this mysterious castle and it's probable ancient knowledge.
Trotting ever so stealthily up the stairs, I forgot that I could not actually trot stealthily up the stairs. There were various cracks in the hard stone I walked on to get up the stairs, and I was never a very active, or physical pony. As such, I was not as coordinated as I should have been.
Missing a step, I feel backwards, and I found myself toppling down the stairs.
I closed my eyes and whimpered.
This was it, I could feel the wind rushing toward the back of my head.
I was going to hit my head and die, just like my mom had always told me never to do.
I could remember the first time I was scolded for playing on the stairs. My mother was very gentle about it, but as I grew older, when I was 5 years old, she grew weary of my escapades on the long winding staircase in our three story house. The stairs were carpeted, of course they were carpeted.
But these stairs were stone. How many more seconds did I have before I died? It felt like I had been falling forever.
I could feel my ears lightly touch the ground first, flicking the cold, hard stone before I toppled and would die, my soul knocked into oblivion, with my body stuck here.
But all that the bare stone kissed, was my ears.
I was suspended, hanging in thin air.
Opening up an eye, I squealed momentarily from the shock of almost dying, while simultaneously yearning to know what had broken my fall.
I got my answer when I saw Midnight standing with a rather serious look on his face. As I looked around, I realized I was enveloped in a violent red aura, which was nonviolently holding me from my stony death.
I giggled nervously, my face taking on a hue similar to the ripest strawberry in Equestria. "Hi," I managed out shrilly.
"Hello, China Doll," he said, raising an eyebrow as he levitated me upright into a standing position.
I giggled nervously again as my hooves touched the ground.
"I'm sorry," I said, "I'm horribly clumsy today, I'm afraid."
He responded with, "You must know, my fair lady, that part of the reason why you're tripping might be because of the rather unbelievably frilly thing that the ponies of Celestia's royal court call a dress."
I looked down at the atrociously accessorized thing. Frowning, I analyzed all of the lace trim.
"Not to say that you don't look horribly alluring. It does look quite fetching on you, hugging your form in all the right places.", he said, smiling naughtily which sent my heart a flutter.
I blushed. "Midnight," I said, "you must stop." Remembering what my friends Prim and Proper always said, I took it upon myself to scold him for such a lascivious comment. "That is no way to treat a lady," I said, taking it upon myself to set a reasonable standard. Raising my nose, as if I could avoid the flood of his rather uncouth comments, I couldn't see how Prim and Proper did this. Not only did it strain your neck, but it also made you look quite stuck up.
I looked at him from over my muzzle that was still raised ridiculously high in the air.
He looked as if he was quite entranced by me.
His eyes followed my face, and then dropped from my face to my neck, and then dropped lower and lower until they stopped at my chest.
I pulled at the neck line to my layered dress uncomfortably, afraid he was not pleased with what he was seeing.
'But that's ridiculous,' I thought to myself. 'I am a perfectly attractive mare. I have good confidence in my image and body.' Nodding to myself, I pulled down the neck line.
He came closer, entranced by something on my body.
I watched as his eyes never left that one part of my body.
I had thought that it was my chest that he was staring at. It had never occurred to me, that Midnight hadn't ever even looked at my chest.
I didn't realize it yet, but he had been captivated by my neck the whole time.
He trotted almost soundlessly up the stairs.
I never dropped my head. Instead my mane was draped over my neck in a perfect wave, and with my head raised high, I was showcasing my neck for him to see.
Eyes still glued to that one part of my body, he stopped, hesitated, and then all of a sudden he was in front of me and on me.
"Twilight," he said, grabbing me and pulling me into him. My lips melded with his, him pushing his against mine so hard it was sure to leave a very unladylike bruise. But still, he persisted, grabbing the small of my back, and stealing my oxygen. It was ironic how he never even seemed to have to breath.
He kissed me till I was breathless as one of the housekeepers in Canterlot Castle on Celestia's Cake Day.
When we separated, it was like all of my air had been sucked away for several years. I gasped, panting, exerting a lot of energy to try to heave precious air into my lungs.
He was dashing, even with his piercing red eyes, and as I breathed a heavenly deep breath, he pulled me under again.
Pressing me up against the wall, he pressed his tongue against my lips in an uneven, desperate rhythm.
In the light, through partially closed eyes I could see his eyes. They always were red, an unusual shade of red, actually.
But now it appeared as if they were glowing.
But even though it was insane, my irrationally alert instincts were telling me to run far away from Midnight. I ignored them, in favor of my more logical thoughts.
Thoughts that told me that I liked the feeling.
I kept those thoughts, and imagined pressing the unsettling ones down my many frills and ruffles.
Not quite ready to let him in, I denied him satisfaction, not opening my lips.
I must have imagined it, but I'm pretty sure that he growled.
A roar of thunder sounded outside, and the candles flickered eerily.
I shivered, and he brought his soft lips to my ear.
"Are you scared m'lady?", he asked.
I whispered a soft "No," despite my frightened state.
I did not want him to stop.
He kept his lips by my ear, kissing at it, and nibbling at it, which he knew I enjoyed from all the starry nights we had spent looking up at the galaxies above us.
When he nibbled at it, though, it felt painful then heavenly. It felt as if he was nibbling at it with sharper teeth than usual, but I knew not of his true state.
Either way it was blissful.
When he let go of my ear, he brought his lips up to it yet again, whispering another little question.
"Why are you not scared, fair lady?", he asked, his breath tickling, my ear. It was like a frozen blizzard, his breath, and it chilled my ear.
I shivered again, and I might have been imagining it, but I'm pretty sure I heard a dark laugh.
"Because I have you to protect me," I said, opening my eyes, and looking at him puzzled.
He just smiled.
The candles flickered. Thunder rolled, and lightning flashed, and I shivered again.
The candles lit again, and as he asked another question, not that I would've known it at the time, but this was his last question, he stroked my neck with a hoof.
He nipped at my ear, and he was smiling like a cat getting his canary.
"And what if I'm the one you need protecting from fair lady?", he asked, his eyes dancing seductively in the dim light of the wildly blowing candles.
He smirked, and I was so sure that I could see something sharp in his mouth. His eyes, they seemed different too. Even more red, if that was possible.
He dragged his lips down the side of my face, planting tender kisses along my cheek, and my forehead.
Once he got closer to my neck, I felt something sharp protruding from his mouth, tearing down my neck.
I closed my eyes, gasping, shocked and somewhat aroused by the sudden change in affection.
He kissed my neck, sucking at it, nipping at it, and even grabbing it.
I gasped quite a deal to his methods. They were strange, but they worked.
I felt something sharp pierce my neck and draw blood.
"Midnight!", I gasped.
The thunder cracked, and the lightning flashed again. And the candles were blown out. This time, however, they did not reignite.
My eyes flew open, and I looked around the stairwell.
We were in fact, all alone. He could do whatever he wanted, and get away with it, and I couldn't stop him.
The lights were out, and the thought occurred to me, that perhaps the impossible was maybe a little bit possible.
"Am I hurting you, m'lady?", he asked.
I closed my eyes, sighing.
I felt two things pierce into my neck.
And as I screamed, I was sure I heard him laugh.
"What if I'm the thing that you need protecting from?", he asked, again.
And as I opened my eyes, I saw a faint red glow from below.
And as I seeked out the blood red glow, I saw Midnight, ask again, this time looking up at me with blood red eyes that shone in the dark.
"What if I'm the thing you need protecting from?"
And I tried to scream, but terror took the sound before I could make it. Tried to look away, but that just shocked and terrified me more, because there, in the glow of his eyes, was his entire face highlighted in the eerie color.
And, protruding from his mouth, was the last thing I wanted to see.
Fangs.
As I tried to stretch away, it just opened up my neck area more, and he looked at my cowering form, and gladly whispered one last question.
"Are you scared now?"
And with a flash of his blood red eyes, and a glint of fangs, he was feeding on me. He imbibed himself with my blood, although it was slow and painful for me.
He was on my neck, and his fangs were buried deep in my jugular.
Grabbing my struggling form, he kept a steel grip on my wiggling body.
I could scream now.
So scream I did. I screamed so much that my throat hurt.
He pushed me up against the wall, drinking from me rapidly, sucking my blood like a parasite. It was painful.
Once he detached himself, he bit me on my lips, drawing blood.
"I could've compelled you. But it's just so much more satisfying when you scream. It makes your blood that much more filling.", he whispered in my ear, blood dripping down my earlobe, and cascading down my face. He licked it off.
He kissed me, forcing himself upon me. Using me. But even after he turned me, even after hundreds of years, I'll still refuse to admit that Midnight is a dick.
Because I still remember the Midnight that nibbled my ear when we went stargazing....
"Hey, Sparky you okay?", Dash asked, knocking me out of my stupor.
"Yes, I'm fine Rainbow," I assured her, giving her a slight nod as a sign that I had heard her question and processed it.
"Good, that means I can still make you not okay," she said smiling. And before I could process what she meant by that, she left.
Before she fully exited, though, she turned around and winked, saying, "Good luck."
Before she left though, I just had to know something. "Rainbow!", I called to her disappearing figure, and when she turned around, I asked the one question I was afraid to know the answer to. "Where's Octavia?", I asked, and was answered with a smirk and a roll of her eyes.
"Vincenza had to feed on somepony to turn, and a vampire like Octavia, we'll, she was the very best option," Rainbow said, and looked me dead in the eyes as she said so.
"Of course," she continued. "Sometimes ponies like Octavia are just in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong unconscious state of mind."
And then she walked out.
And I was left in my room, wondering what else she could possibly do. She'd made me have a mental breakdown, trashed my room and made it smell very tempting, and then proceeded to brag about killing the vampire that turned me, while simultaneously being nonchalant about all of her other little surprises she had left for me. Wonderful. There was literally nothing else she could do. Oh wait, I forgot, to top it off, she went and made Vinyl kill off Octavia.
So, after several hours worth of cleanup in my room, I finally fell asleep on my only partially bloody sheets.
As I trotted out of Twi's room, I took a glance back at her expression. She was horribly distraught. Sweet Luna, tears already Twi? You're too damned easy. It's time to find somepony else to incorporate into this tiny bit of mass destruction.
And I know just the person.
If I'm gonna torment the egghead, I'm gonna torment her the right way. Cause if I'm playing the game, I might as well play to win.
Where was Vinyl? I needed her for this to work.
Trotting up the stairs, I got to my bedroom and peeked inside. She was snoring very softly. I swear if it were anypony else, I would've waken them up, but there's something about Vinyl. I don't want to take this peace from her. As long as I'm in her life, she'll get very little peace.
So I take my head out of the doorway, and go to Scootaloo's room. For a second I linger outside of her door, not sure about what I'm about to do. But then I go inside. Braving the chance of my image of toughness crumbling, I gingerly fly in, hovering over the filly. Closing my eyes and not letting myself doubt, but first checking to see if she's awake, I lean down, and plant a gentle kiss on her forehead the way I used to.
"Good night Squirt," I whisper to her sleeping form. "I wish you didn't see me like this."
Then, with a small sigh, and a ginger beat of my wings, I glide out of the room, and land in the hallway, closing her door softly.
When I woke up in the room Twilight had me sleep in the night before, sunlight was streaming in through my window. I grinned happily, enjoying the feeling of the beaming rays on my face.
I could hear through my door, the sound of a blender. It sounded like somepony had stuffed a cat in the blender, but the appliance still seemed to work fine, despite the disturbing noises I heard coupled with it.
And through the thick wood of the door, I could smell the most wonderful thing, wafting up to my room.
'Wait, was this my room?', I asked myself. I mean, Twilight had given it to me to spend the night in. Was it mine?
Never mind, I could ponder that later, right now, all I could smell was the glorious scent of, ooh, eggs, and bacon? Woah, ponies eating pigs? Well, pigs tasted good, but Twilight would probably say that it was barbaric.
I threw off the blankets that were laying haphazardly on top of me, and fell out of bed.
If Sweetie Belle's big sister Rarity was here, she would have had a cow with just how, 'ungraceful' I was being. Then agin, stumbling out of bed while rubbing sleep from your bleary eyes and coming close to falling again from almost tripping on a rug isn't exactly a flawless wake up.
Grabbing the door handle with my hoof, I exited the room, and actually took a moment to look at my body. Saying some words a filly my age shouldn't know, I looked at the cracks in my hooves and flinched. I was covered with dirt, and I could really use a shower.
So I trotted downstairs, stumbling a bit on the steps, but I righted myself. Regaining my balance after half the flight, I trotted mostly awake completely down the rest of the way with no trouble.
Twilight was the one making the smoothie, and trying to smash several fruits uncut and unchopped into the blender. A foul looking mess decorated the inside of the appliance, and poor Twilight was having quite some trouble.
Grinding her teeth together, Sparkle was jamming as much fruit as possible into the blender, while simultaneously trying to write various scrolls.
"Good morning," I chirped, happily trotting into the kitchen.
"Hi," Twilight said, taking a break from the pounding of the fruits, and her furious scribbling.
Looking up, she wore a face of relief, as if she was happy I had made it through the night. But what could have happened to me?
The jingling of keys and a chorus of whistling started to come from the back room, and Twilight sighed, for she knew who it was.
"Rainbow Dash!", Twilight yelled.
"Yes," Rainbow said, popping her head into the kitchen. "Morning Scoots," she said, nodding to me.
"Where do you think you're going?", Twilight asked, glaring at her. "You know you have quite the mess here to clean up, correct?"
"Yeah, I know. Get off my case Sparky," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "And I got somewhere to be."
"So are you going to clean it up?", Twilight asked, miraculously completely disregarding the last part to Rainbow's response.
"Soon," Rainbow said waving a hoof.
"How soon?", Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Only about a hundred years," Rainbow said casually.
"No, we are not doing this again," Twilight huffed.
"You never cleaned up your messes anyway, back when you were a big drinker," Rainbow said, smirking.
I shivered, remembering when Twilight was a 'big drinker.'
Rainbow noticed and rolled her eyes. "Aw c'mon squirt, she's a saint now."
"Where do you have to be?", Twilight asked, trying to find a wormhole in Dash's story, but I knew she wouldn't. When Dash wanted to be smooth, Dash was smooth.
"Why do you wanna know, you jelly that I get to leave the house and you're stuck here?", Rainbow asked raising an eyebrow.
Hoof steps came from by the doorway, and then another head popped in, this head with electric blue hair, and a coat as white as porcelain. And her eyes, her eyes were already red. She was a unicorn, too.
"Hey, what's going on in here?", the head asked.
"Guys, this is Vinyl," Rainbow said, messing up the pony's hair.
"Hey," Vinyl said, growling playfully, and grabbed Rainbow's hoof.
"Help. I'm being attacked by a menacing vampire," Rainbow said sarcastically.
"Oh there's a menacing vampire in this room but it's definitely not her," Twilight retorted angrily.
"Oh, so we're gonna play that way, huh? Because I may be menacing, but I haven't broke your all time massacre record yet, have I?", Rainbow asked mockingly. "No I don't think I have," she continued, "maybe this'll be the town?" She smirked as she said it, knowing she was getting a rise out of the purple unicorn.
"Rainbow Dash," Twilight said with an element of warning in her tone.
"Fine, fine," Rainbow said, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes, "But you did ask where I was going, so I better tell you before you explode."
I cracked a small smile.
Rainbow noticed out of the corner of her eye and I think she winked. But was that a friendly wink, or was she just trying to get me on her side?
"A mystery place," Rainbow said wiggling her eyebrows. "So we'll be going now," she finished casually.
Pulling their heads from out of the doorway, they both walked away, and I followed their hoof steps with my ears until I couldn't hear them any longer.
As we drew away from the kitchen, back towards the back door, and got ready to leave, Vinyl pulled me along, wanting to get away from the house as soon as possible.
It was quite early morning, actually, about 5:00 AM.
The perfect time for feeding. Not to late that it would be suspicious. But early enough that not many ponies are out, so less chances of being caught, and if we're seen, less witnesses.
As soon as we were outside, though, she shrieked, and darted into the shade, motioning at her pelt. I looked, but wasn't too surprised.
"Beginner's Burn," I said, rolling my eyes.
"What?", she asked.
"It's sunburn," I explained, "but worse, because you get it every time you're in the sun for the first few months that you're a vampire."
"Well is there anything that can help it?", she asked, wincing at the pain that was probably blossoming across her body from the harsh rays of the sun.
"Sunscreen," I stated flatly.
She raised an eyebrow, laughed a little, and then said, "Oh, you're serious."
"Yep, I'm serious," I said, laughing a little. "Lemme go get the sunscreen," I said, and turned around to trot back inside.
"Okay," she said, "but hurry."
I popped open the door, and trotted back inside.
"Sunscreen," I mumbled to myself.
Finding it quickly, laying around on the table nearby, I picked it up and popped back open the door, trotting back outside and applying it to Vinyl.
She groaned as I applied it to her, not expecting for me to actually put it on her.
"Dash!", she exclaimed, after I had lightly slapped some on her nose.
I just laughed, and said, "Let's get going."
This time, when she stepped out into the sun, she just inhaled deeply and smiled.
"Better?", I asked, but I already knew the answer.
"Yeah," she said, popping on her shades.
"Let's go get something to eat," I said, casually flying low to the ground beside her.
She followed behind me, occasionally asking questions, like, "Where are we going?", and "Aren't we getting pretty far from civilization?", and "Isn't civilization where all the ponies are?"
"You'll see where we're going," I said casually, as we made our way toward the Everfree Forest.
"We're going to the Everfree Forest?", she asked.
I nodded confirmation.
"But aren't there seriously dangerous things in there?", she asked.
"What kind of seriously dangerous things?", I asked.
"Things that go bump in the night," she responded, but quickly realized her flaw in judgement.
"Vinyl, we are the things that go bump in the night," I said, smirking, "Besides, it's nice and dark in here. In some parts regular ponies can't see a thing. Which is wonderful for us. The darker it is, the better we are."
I continued to fly to the forest, and she still followed faithfully.
Once we had reached the edge of the forest, I asked her if she was ready.
"Now this is the perfect place to show you the ropes. Even if we fail to hunt successfully, or leave a loose end, our mess is easily cleaned up. The prey can't get away," I explained.
She nodded loosely, looking nervous.
"I know, the first real kill is always hard. You're just not used to it."
She gulped still though, not used to the prospect of being the hunter, and no longer being one of the hunted.
"Well, come on in," I said, disappearing into the foliage.
"There are always plenty of ponies trying to explore the Everfree. Trying to be brave. But there's a reason only a few ponies ever make it out alive."
"And why is that?", Vinyl asked.
"Because of me and all the other creatures in the forest," I replied.
She gulped again.
"Aw c'mon Vinyl, you can do it," I said, and with a hesitant step, she crossed into the forest.
"Good," I said.
And then I started walking again.
"Where are you going?", she asked.
"Wherever fresh blood is," I answered. "I can smell it."
She continued to follow me, just going where I went.
"Okay," I said, stopping at a point where I could hear a pony's blood.
Peeking out from where we were, it was hard to see the pony because of the leaves and foliage in front of our faces.
Standing serenely by a stream, about 20 paces away, stood a very important figure head in the town of Ponyville. And in all her glory, there she stood, greying hair, and luxuriously boring tan coat. It was Mayor Mare, the perfect pony to aid in a little piece of mass destruction.
Of course, she was wonderful for the plan, but Vinyl needed somepony she could really kill, not somepony I needed alive.
"We're moving on," I said, trotting silently away.
"What? Why?", Vinyl asked impatiently.
"Because she's crucial to the plan," I said, continuing to trot the other way, forcing Vinyl to submit to my direction.
"What plan?", Vinyl asked.
"The plan where I give Twilight the Grandaddy of all pain," I casually replied. And after walking for a couple more minutes in comfortable silence, I stopped and put my hoof up to my lips.
"Do you hear that?", I said, turning around and asking Vinyl.
"No," she said, shaking her head, confused.
"Okay," I said, walking over to her, "Close your eyes, and listen very closely."
Vinyl looked at me with distrust in her eyes, but I trotted over and wrapped my forelegs around her barrel.
She sighed.
"You're breathing heavily," I said, "slow your heart rate, and silence your mouth breathing. You need to learn to breath through your nose."
She glared at me, but closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, closing her mouth and taking in silent, long exhales of air soundlessly.
"Now what?", she whispered.
With my legs still wrapped around her barrel, I brought my lips up to her ear and whispered one word. "Listen," I said, my breath chilling her.
"What am I listening for?", she asked.
"You'll get it, just keep hearing the sounds around you," I said, confident that she could figure this out on her own.
After one peaceful minute, she whispered, "I can hear something."
I whispered, "Elaborate," and she did.
"It sounds like rushing water," she said, sighing pleasantly. "But it's not water," she said, sniffing the air. "It smells metallic, like a coin, but I know that I can drink it. So, my best least obvious guess would be an edible penny."
Rainbow silently sighed.
"I know it's blood though, jeez, I'm not stupid Dash," Vinyl joked, poking me in the ribs.
"Vinyl!", I said. "Don't be such a menacing vampire!", I teased.
She shushed me, and I was quiet for her sake.
After waiting a second, I spoke again, blowing on her ear first, though.
She neighed because of the ticklish sensation.
"So, you wanna try to track the scent?", I asked, blowing on her ear more while she squirmed.
"Dash!", she whined.
"Hey, it's not my fault that you're hopelessly ticklish," I added, whispering.
"Hey!", she shrieked.
"Careful," I said. "We don't want our food getting away, do we?"
"No," she said, after a second of contemplation.
"Can you tell me how many there are?", I asked.
"Yes," she said after a second, hesitantly.
Sniffing deeply, she made her assessment. "Two?", she guessed.
"Yes," I said. "Good job."
She exhaled, relieved that she was correct.
"Can you take us to them?", I asked her. "Of course you'd open up your eyes first," I added, reminding her that she would, in fact, need to pay attention to where she was stepping ; that she was powerful enough to see in the dark but not powerful enough to see through her own eyelids.
"Right," she said, giggling nervously and glancing around.
"C'mon Vinyl. Don't be nervous," I reminded her.
I could tell she was speaking through her teeth when she said, "I'm not, but you should be."
There were two ponies about eight hooves behind me, with cute little vampire hunter weapons, I knew that. One was big, and built like a workhorse, and the other was comically tiny, and scrawny. A little glance from behind me by Vinyl confirmed my suspicions. "They're right behind me aren't they," I whispered in her ear.
She slightly nodded to confirm her answer.
I thought for a minute, broken out of my trance by her shaky whispering, "They're right behind you, Rainbow. Only about 5 hooves away."
"I know Scratch I know," I cooed in her ear. "But it's okay, you know why?"
"Why?", she whispered.
"Do you want easy food or hard food?", I asked her.
"Easy," she squeaked.
"Okay, so I guess we won't drain these guys," I asked quietly.
"I don't know. Do you think we can take them?", she asked nervously.
"Scratch, we could take these guys in our sleep," I said breezily. "They have tasers. Tasers don't work on vampires, we're partially dead. We have no nervous system for them to shock. They clearly have no idea what they're doing."
"Two hooves away. And they're readying their tasers," Vinyl whisper yelled.
"Game on," I said, smirking. "Just follow my lead," I whispered.
I watched as the two ponies raised their tasers behind us, and just as they were about to plunge them down onto our seemingly naive figures, Dash spun around, and punched them both in the gut. While they were reeling from that, she roundkicked one towards me.
"You know what to do Scratch," she yelled, and as she looked over at me, I could see that she expected me to do what I could.
Smiling, I looked at the pony's hunched figure. He looked dazed, albeit he looked to be very strong. But he couldn't probably fight very well in this state.
As he was getting up, I realized that he was the bigger one, and for a second I was worried. But then I looked over at Rainbow, and remembered that she wouldn't give me anything I couldn't handle.
As he rose to his full height once more, he ran at me, lowering his head, and got ready to ram me. 'Is he for real?', I asked myself. But I soon found out.
He was the bigger one, and even though I at first wondered why she would give me such a large, intimidating opponent, I soon figured out that what he lacked in speed, he made up for in strength. Which was bad for him, because vampires are stronger than mortals. Therefore, his normal advantage was useless in this fight. With my magical strength advantage, he was destined to lose.
As he got up from the second smack down, he grunted in pain. I could see that blood had begun to leak from his head. I licked my lips and could feel my fangs elongate.
I could hear it rushing again. My eyes zoomed in on the crack in his head that had begun to bleed. He raised his head, and I must've been a sinister sight, counting in my sunglasses-less face that featured no longer concealed piercing red eyes and sharp fangs.
He squeaked a little, and I laughed, finding amusement in the notion that a big stallion like him would be afraid of somepony so much smaller like me.
"Well, come at me Blood-Bitch," he snarled though, keeping his tough facade up, and raising his bloody head high into the sky.
The insult made my blood boil, and would make killing him even more satisfying.
I glimpsed his neck, and that was all it took. I could see his taser pitifully hid behind his back.
He was grinning like a sick, sick bastard, and that was it. I was so done.
"Game on," I said, cracking my neck and grinning.
To my satisfaction, this seemed to scare him a lot. Picture this, a maniacal twenty something vampire grinning at you evilly and cracking her neck with sickening sound effects to go with it all.
How would you feel?
So, with those last words, I rushed over, knocking the taser out of his hand as he tried to drive it into my neck.
Instead, I went for his neck, slamming him against the bloody tree, and sinking my fangs into his flesh. Using my magic to cast a paralysis spell so he couldn't move, I carved my initials into the skin of his neck. Blood Bitch. Ha, right. He was gonna see what a real blood bitch looked like if I could help it.
Burying my teeth deeper into his flesh, and listening to him whine while drinking from him was satisfying. Even more satisfying than the best track on the market at the hottest club in Equestria.
I removed my fangs and relished in the taste of his blood.
"Mommy," he squeaked.
He was not as strong as originally thought.
It was time to finish him. Plunging my teeth back in the bite mark, I pulled back his head to reveal more of his neck.
"Let me- let me go," he said, shuddering.
"No," I whispered, as I ripped a steady stream of blood down the other side of his neck.
He shivered again.
I sank my fangs into the other side of his neck, and dug around in the wound.
He gritted his teeth, trying not to yell.
Drinking his blood felt almost as good as drinking from Octavia.
I moaned. Drinking faster and faster, until his tense body was limp, I stopped only when he was dead.
Looking up, I noticed Rainbow leaning against the one of the trees, applauding me for my efforts.
"See, I told you, you knew what to do," she said smiling.
I got off my haunches, and trotted over to Rainbow, sick of sitting by the dead pony's body.
"Who were those ponies?", I asked, curious about why they had chosen to attack us.
"Those were vampire hunters," she said, "and they were hired to dispose of yours truly," she said, gesturing to herself.
"Who hired them?", I asked, fascinated as to who they were working for.
"Mayor Mare of course. She can't have a dangerous vampire running rampid in her town," Dash replied, giving me a toothy grin, "but she already does, and once she figures out that she can't stop me with her pitiful mortal forces, she'll try to control me with something too big for her to handle."
"What happens when she tries to control you with something too big for her to handle?", I asked, interested in what would happen to Ponyville's prominent figure head.
"Then she gets killed in an accident," Rainbow remarked casually.
I let my jaw drop at what Rainbow was implying.
Rainbow looked up, saw my shocked expression, and smirked.
"What?", she asked, "she'll end up killing herself anyway. It's not like she'll survive one fourth as long as she thinks she could. She doesn't even know that she's one of the very few normal equines in the town. Her ignorance and naivety will be her downfall. If I'm chosen to help her demise along it'll be secondary."
I closed my mouth.
And before I could stop myself, I opened back up my mouth and said, "I want in."
I slapped a hoof over my mouth as soon as I made the demand, wondering what in Equestria made me try to order around an 1,000 year old vampire.
"You've got spunk, I like it," she said, looking me over. "Yeah, sure, I'll let you in," she said casually.
When my only response that I gave her was very noticeable balking, she looked amused.
"What?", she asked, "you second guessing already, Scratch?"
Maybe it was all the blood. Maybe the blood made me bolder...
"Nah, Dash," I responded. "We can do this."
And she looked back at me with a sparkle in her eyes that I'd seen so many times before. When we would do something that could get us in trouble. When we were putting ourselves in a risky situation that somehow always turned out fine.
"We good then Scratch?", she asked, with a curious look on her face.
"What do you mean?", I asked, cocking my head to the side, and making her grin, thoroughly entertained by just the look on my face.
"I mean, are you good to hunt on your own?", she asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"Yeah," I said, nodding like I was kind've a nimbus. "Yeah I'm great Dash."
"Okay, cause I got some stuff to take care of," she said, winking, before turning around and taking off in the other direction.
And I was left alone to hunt.
I took off away from her, trusting her to find her own food, while I worked on finding the first cog in my plan.
Last time I checked she was standing right over here by the river...
And after flying a bit, I landed right where I was before. Peeking through the bushes, I caught sight of Mayor Mare staring at her reflection in the water, and mumbling about certain plans.
I heard a bit of information about a plan to keep supernatural creatures contained, but that was as much as I heard before I grew weary of collecting information from hearing her talk to herself.
Taking off from the ground, I silently flew to another point where I could pretend to trot absentmindedly into her view in a clearing and then approach her as if I had just got here.
Touching down softly, I gingerly trotted into a clearing where she could clearly see me. I made sure to make some casual noise, "accidentally" nudging a rock.
She looked up, and as a startled look flashed across her face, I glimpsed at her, feigning an are-you-okay-because-you-seem-way-too-paranoid look.
She responded with the visual equivalent of an elephant dying from asphyxiation.
I rolled my eyes, and started to trot over.
She averted her eyes, and trotted back.
I shot an are-you-kidding-me look, and she responded with a look that screamed, stranger-danger!-stranger-danger!
I started to trot quite a bit faster, and she started to canter.
I started to canter, and then she'd start to gallop.
This was never going to end. So I did the only thing I could, I chased her.
If I was gonna control this town, I was going to control it the right way, using the right people.
Starting with the Mayor.
After a couple seconds, I had caught up to her, though, and was standing expectantly in her line of sight.
She tried to get around, but I just blocked her. Eventually, after she still hadn't settled down, I slammed her against the tree, and was already perusing her neck.
"Tried playing nice with you," I said. "But it didn't work," I continued, "so here I am playing dirty."
"As your Mayor," she said, shaking, "I must ask you to leave me."
"Or what?", I growled, biting into her jugular.
She screamed, struggling feebly.
As the blood rushed down my throat, I could feel the high coming on. "What are you gonna do Mayor, burn my records at Town Hall?"
"Maybe," she blubbered.
I dug deeper into the wound, getting a shriek out of her.
"Stop! Just stop," she yelled. "I'll do anything!"
"Anything?", I asked, finally detaching from the wound.
And as I looked up to see her dull, frightened eyes, I realized that I really did have to keep her alive.
"Fine," I said, "you tell me what goes on in our great town, and I won't kill you."
And as she looked into my eyes, I could tell that she knew she had messed with the wrong vampire.
And as I pulled her in closer, activating compulsion, I whispered, "You will tell me everything. I want to know your plans for getting rid of all the supernatural creatures, and your true intentions when it comes to disposing of all of the unnatural equines. I want to know everything that anybody of authority is planning, and I want you to leave nothing out. You will call me and address me with respect, calling me Ms. Dash. There's this thing called professionalism, but I don't expect you to understand as fully as a real agent of government. You will report to me and tell nopony of our agreement or the circumstances and events surrounding it, is that clear Madame Mayor?"
And as her eyes flashed, I could tell that it had worked.
"Yes Ms. Dash," she said.
"Good," I said, straightening her tie, patting her perfectly coiffed mane, etc. "You might wanna cover up that bite mark," I said, averting eye contact for a second.
"Do I have to Ms. Dash?", she asked.
"Cover up the bite marks," I said, compelling her again.
"Yes Ms. Dash," she said, and pulled up her collar, after pausing for a moment, and asking, "There will be more?"
"Yes," I said, never breaking eye contact. "You are not allowed to speak of those either."
"Understood," she said.
And after taking one last look at her and deeming her good to go, I dismissed her, and went to see how successful Vinyl had been when it came to hunting.
Dash had said she was going somewhere but wouldn't tell me where. This just reeked of suspicious activity. As I was thinking this, I accidentally dropped the scroll to plan a funeral for Octavia into the uncovered mess of fruit in the blender.
"Horseapples," I muttered, and my eyes shot up to see if Scootaloo had heard me.
"Whuh?", Scootaloo asked as she looked up from her food. Celestia, I could swear that that filly was just as lost in thought as I was.
"Nothing Scootaloo, just go back to eating," I said, but Scootaloo was way too engrossed in something on the floor to respond.
Come to think of it, it seemed like Scootaloo was comatose at times. She had only known reckless Rainbow for a day now, and I think it was taking a toll on her.
Celestia, I wished I could do something for the little filly to help her get her mind off of Rainbow.
Looking back down at the now fruity flavored funeral scroll, I sighed and levitated it out of the blender.
What was I gonna do?
Octavia's friends and family had to know that she had passed away. I didn't want them looking for someone who would never be found.
Unless they could just go through the grief on their own? Maybe I could just plant her bloodless body somewhere and wait for them to find it?
Celestia Twilight, don't be so brainless, I scolded myself.
Octavia's family deserves to know, and yet, I can't bring myself to tell them.
I can only picture the revelation.
Oh hey, by the way, your daughter's/ wife's/ mother's body was found in my house, because I have an old 1,000 year old vampire friend who kills for kicks. And she has a friend too, so that's why there are two teeth marks and not just one...
Because that would just end swimmingly.
Adding onto the stress of Octavia's departure and funeral ideas, I figured I might as well put Scootaloo in school.
Now that I was thinking about it, the last time I had seen Scootaloo until last night was 1,000 years ago. How did she survive?
What was Scootaloo?
Had Scootaloo been cursed, spellbound to stay this age, maybe?
Who was Scootaloo? I always knew her as an innocent filly, but she was probably more, and wise beyond her years.
I guess I might've zoned out, because when I woke up from my trance, I saw that Scootaloo was looking at me curiously, and when I looked down, I discovered that my scroll had plopped back down into my blender and the fruity mess of crap in it.
Ugh, I thought, cursing my weak levitation abilities when I was concerned with other matters.
It was my second kill, and I had dragged it out.
Yeah, I knew it was wrong.
Yeah, I knew it was bloody, give me a bucking break.
After that came my third kill, and then my fourth, and my fifth.
By the time Rainbow came for me, my muzzle was covered with blood, and I probably looked incredibly deranged.
"Aw, my little vamp is growing up," she said, looking me up and down.
"Shut up," I said, smiling, rolling my eyes playfully.
"Okay then," Rainbow said, "Fine, how about my little vamp is growing old?"
I pouted.
"Hey, why are you so upset? You'd still look just as attractive with grey hair," she said, and trotted over to look at what I'd done.
She whistled. "Correction," she said, "My little vamp is growing into a psycho. What is this, eight ponies dead? You have a serious problem with your bloodlust."
Her eyes bored into mine. "Not that it's bad. It's just unexpected."
Her mouth sailed up into another one of her smirks, and I knew I'd just surprised her again.
"We should work on your technique though. You're getting sloppy," she said, looking back down at the carnage that surrounded her.
I opened up my mouth, waiting for a stinging insult to fire back to her to come to me, but none came.
I internally cursed.
"But we can fix that," she said, staring back up at my face. Raising an eyebrow, she projected an expression that screamed this is gonna be fun. "Are you still hungry?"
I said, "I will never be full," and listened to what we were going to do.
I mean how does someone survive for 1,000 years without having an unnatural life span like that of a vampire, werewolf, witch or shapeshifter? She's probably under a spell. Maybe she's cursed?
I couldn't stand this, so I had to ask.
"Scootaloo?", I said, grabbing her attention to me rather than the floor.
"Yeah Twilight?", she said looking up.
"How did you survive?", I asked, expecting a denial, or a close to my question, but instead she uttered one word out.
"Zecora," she said like it was no big deal, but it was a big deal.
I was very surprised that Zecora would do that for Scootaloo given who Scootaloo wanted to stay and meet again. Zecora was one witch that didn't get along with vampires, especially not Dash or I.
"What did Zecora do?", I asked, now consumed by questions.
"She gave me a life pause," Scootaloo said matter-of-factly.
"What is that?", I almost asked. But I knew what a life pause was. Why didn't I think of that before. Of course!
A Life Pause spell was a merely basic spell if one had the appropriate ingredients and qualifications. It was a spell where someone was allowed to live but pause their age, therefore never getting older. For example, if Scootaloo was 8 when we left, even after a thousand years she would still be 8, because the spell paused her age and her aging process. A set person that the client of the spell cared about deeply was required to end the spell. The spell would end when that certain person that the client loved and was searching for was found. The Life Pause spell was a spell designed for searching for immortal beings. However, the caster would have to know who the certain person was in order to cast it correctly. So what I was wondering was, why would Zecora cast the spell and help Scootaloo when she hated the person Scootaloo was trying to find?
At least, I assume the being Scootaloo was trying to find was Rainbow...
I must have been very deep in thought, because Scootaloo decided to ask me if I was constipated.
And then she proceeded to ask why I got constipated, which lead to me telling her I was in no way shape or form constipated, which lead to her rolling her eyes and smirking, and saying sure sarcastically.
Sometimes that filly is too much like Rainbow Dash.
I drop Vinyl back off at my house, wait, now our house, and go to a place where I can bring back something good to eat. After I get my fill. What can I say? She had plenty. The least she can do is wait an hour.
Pony's Best Bar and Grill, oh, how I love thy name. Shall I count the ways? Good hunting, good food, good hard cider. Oh yes, I love it.
And if Vinyl hadn't gorged herself so much, she'd probably be here too.
I drifted in just minding my own business when out of the corner of my eye I saw none other than Rarity, the town flirt. And Rarity was of course drunk, again.
When a pony is drunk they're off and unobservant, a target that's off and unobservant is an easy one. And I don't want a fight, I just want a bite.
Rarity is the epitome of the drunken high class pony. Normally stuck up ponies are fun ponies when they're chock full of alcohol. Drunk ponies are fun, therefore Rarity is like the new flavor of the century, or something. Whatever the kids are saying nowadays.
"Another drink please," she said, setting her glass down on the table. I swear she was the only pony who ever drank wine at this place.
"Lady I think you've had enough-", the bartender started to say but was caught off by her lips.
"Mmmffff," he said, trying to talk but her lips blocked his words.
Grabbing his face, she pulled him in.
By the time she was done, he was starstruck and ready to offer her as many exotic wines as she wanted for free.
Trotting over, I plopped my keister into a stool by her and said, "Hello," with a smile. I recognized her, I didnt know if she recounted any memories of me, but she should've. She was Prim Proper. The jewelrymaker's daughter.
She turned around and said, "You look like trouble," with a cautious look on her face.
"Don't worry you can spank me if I'm bad," I said, ordering a hard cider.
"Darling I'd hate to break it to your surely very dirty mind, but I'm as straight as a board," she said smiling teasingly.
"Not anymore," I said, looking into her eyes and trying to compel her but nothing was happening.
"What the Hell?", I said, after she wasn't affected.
"What?", she asked, rolling her eyes. "Really, if you are going to use that type of ruffian language I'd suggest censoring it around ladies such as I."
"Why isn't it working?", I asked myself internally.
"Why isn't compelling me working?", she asked. "Is that what you're wondering?"
She must've not known, how could she have known what I was thinking, how could she have known what compelling was? How could she have known about compelling in the first place?
"You see this necklace I wear?", she asked me.
"Yeah," I said, acting bored, but very interested now, "What about it?"
She rolled her eyes at my suddenly appearing lack of interest.
"It's filled with enough magical concentrated garlic in a big enough enchanted dose that it could burn you if you touched it. It prevents compulsion and the touch of supernatural creatures that I don't want near me. That includes you.", she said batting her eyes tauntingly. "Don't even try to get with me. Like I said, I'm straight and already taken."
"Honey," a voice said from the doorway of the bar in a warm fatherly tone.
"Sweetie," Prim said in an excited tone.
The stallion that the voice had come from was none other than Blueblood, another somepony I had managed to aggravate a couple hundred years ago.
Blueblood was in short, an arrogant jerk. He had bit off more than he could chew, and I thought I had killed him but he was obviously back. Wonderful.
"Come here Man of the House!", Prim said, and I guess that was her nickname for him.
"Talk about Daddy issues," I mumbled under my breath.
As Blueblood made his way over here, he recognized me.
As soon as he was close enough to Prim, he started whispering, but my ears could hear what he was saying.
"That is the vampire that almost killed me," he whispered, glaring and gesturing toward me.
Prim asked him if he was sure, and lectured him about how rude it was to point at somepony.
I winked at him, and then made the beheading motion slicing my hoof beneath my neck. I then glared right back.
He flipped me off. I flipped him off twice.
He stuck out his tongue. I bared my fangs. He growled. I growled. And so on...
Until him and Prim turned around. I guess Prim recognized me then, because she wasted no time identifying me.
"Murderous Cousin?", she asked.
I face-hoofed, and she took that as an incentive to guess again.
"Scootaloo's adoptive mom?", she wagered, and I smacked my head down onto the bar.
"I'm Rainbow Dash. But most people call me Dick," I said with an artificial smile.
Prim's smile disappeared. Blueblood growled.
"Why do they call you Rainbow Dash?", Prim asked. "You don't have many colors on you."
"When you've lived for 1,000 years, your color tends to fade a little bit," I said.
"Ohhh," she said.
"Come Rarity let us go and leave this humbled peasant coven," Blueblood said.
Rarity? So it wasn't Prim Proper?
Okay then. So I take it Prim Proper is dead. Yet there's a pony who looks exactly like her named Rarity. Dually noted. Not creepy at all.
Another note to self. Blueblood is alive. Saint Sparkle is gonna like this even less than I do. This is just peachy.
Oh well, time to have some fun.
"Hey Rarity," I said as she was getting up. "Ever wonder why your 'Man if the House' talks so old fashioned?"
She turned around, eyes flashing full of curiosity. "Yes I am quite curious. Although I am getting the, how do you say, vibe, that you are not a truthful vampire."
"The only reason I tried to kill him was because he played a part in killing my boyfriend."
"Blueblood," she asked, her eyes piercing him now. "Is this true?"
Blueblood was pleading with me with his eyes, begging me not to reveal him. Pleading me not to expose him.
But Blueblood defiantly shook his head even though sweat was beginning to bead on his perfect porcelain forehead.
"In fact," I continued. "How many years ago was this?", I asked Blueblood. "Was it only a couple?"
He nodded his head vigorously, sweating like a pig on a pork farm. I got that analogy from AJ.
"You're right, this was only about, what, 1482?" My eyes glared at him demanding the truth. He shook his head.
"Nope nope nope nope nope," he said, his eyes darting back and forth.
"Blueblood," Rarity said. And only now could I see the tears gathering in her eyes like little pools of clear colored blood. "What are you?"
"Fair Rarity," he said, sweating as if on fire. "Please let me explain!" His voice shook. He actually cared about the mortal. Adorable. Stupid and meaningless, but adorable.
"Go ahead, tell her what you are Blueblood," I said, smirking lightly. "Tell her the secret you've been hiding."
Rarity looked between me and Blueblood with terror clearly visible in her face.
"What are you?", Rarity asked. And for a second I felt bad about their doomed relationship. Just a second.
But then I smiled. This dick killed Soarin. This is the least he deserves.
"I'm a vampire," he whispered, his mane falling front of his glassy eyes.
"Burn in Hell," Rarity said, her voice ragged and rough. Then with one last shudder, she left.
"How could you?", Blueblood asked.
"Easy. I told Rarity your secret. The end."
He looked up at me with burning hate from the pits of Tartarus in his eyes.
"You killed Soarin," I said, my eyes flashing a hellish red. "I'll be damned if I miss a second of making you suffer."
"You already are damned," he said, voice shaky and cracked.
"So are you," I whispered.
He glared at me with what I'm sure was all the hatred he could muster.
I forcefully pulled him in close, ripping him apart with my expression. "Let's get one thing straight. I don't know how you survived that stake I drove through your heart, but if you ever look down at me from your Luna-damned porcelain nose again I swear I will rip your heart out. Slowly and painfully. Don't forget, you damned me, so I'm gonna dam you."
I let go of him, carefully averted my eyes, and put on a false satisfied expression.
"We all clear?", I asked grinning.
He nodded, his expression now exactly similar to that of a pony who had just seen a ghost.
"Great," I said. "I'm gonna walk away now, just like this never happened."
And as I trotted away I could feel his gaze burning into my flank.
I smirked. As long as the bastard knew his place.
"It's about time!", I said, as Dash paraded in with several ponies in tow.
"Do you want party pony, posh downtown pony, or designer hick from the south?"
"I don't know," I said.
"Well the hick fashion designer, her name is Suri Polomare. High maintenance but very tasty. Then there's Berry Sweet, who's blood is ironically very sour. And last but not least we have Pinkie Pie, I believe," Dash said.
"Yeah I didn't even need to compel Pinkie Pie, she just came of her own free will," Dash said, clearly baffled. "Hey can you watch them?", she asked. "I have to go deliver some bad news to Saint Sparkle," she sad, her face darkening with a dangerous smirk.
"Is there a squirrel under this pot?", Pinkie asked, lifting it and tossing it around in the air, all while singing, "Mr. Squirrel is that you?"
I face-hooved. Maybe Dash should've compelled Pinkie.
I was in my room reading, when Rainbow came trotting in.
"We need to talk," she said, smacking my romance novel out of my hooves.
"Hey," I said. "I was just about to find out if-"
"I don't care about Pony Princess Poofy or her husband Prince Shmoofy," Rainbow said with a deadpan tone.
I huffed.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Look, like I said before, we need to talk."
Normally her eyes would be full of amusement or mischievousness. But they were serious and focused. That was a warning sign.
"What happened?", I asked sighing.
"You knew Prim Proper, right?", she asked, snorting a heavy breath out of her nostrils.
"Yes I did," I said. "In fact, she helped me study to get into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. We had so many sleepovers and-"
"Don't care Sparky," she said cutting me off.
"Hey!", I said protesting.
"Luna Dammit Twilight we are in danger!", she said, eyes wild and angry.
"What did you do?", I asked, eyes glancing ominously into hers.
"Prim Proper has a doppelganger named Rarity!"
"So?", I asked.
"She knows about us!", she said urgently. "Anytime somepony could come knocking at our door."
"How could you tell her!", I yelled.
"Well ya see I kinda tried to compel her..." , Rainbow started to say then trailed off as she saw the death glare I was giving her.
But then she developed her cocky smirk back. "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Blueblood is back in town as well."
My face paled.
"Don't worry I won't be worried. In fact why am I worried?", she asked. "If any pony comes knocking at our door I'll just kill them," she said, realization dawning on her face. "Yeah in fact that's exactly what I'll do. I'll just kill them."
"Problem solved," she said with a sick grin on her face, and walked out of my room leaving me to remain in my state of extreme shock. She was worried and then completely freaking calm. What the heck? Was this all part of her plan to get me to break down? I was so confused.
Celestia why must she be so complicated?
I made my way up to my room, where Vinyl was waiting with all the ponies. Suri Polomare was currently being sucked dry by Vinyl.
Which left Berry Sweet, or Pinkie Pie. Wait, no. On second thought, Berry Sweet was dead, too.
Which only left Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie was curled up in a corner, rocking back and forth. "I thought this was just a weird party," she said, tears streaking her cheeks.
"Are you gonna kill me?", she asked, fear ever-present in her baby blue eyes.
Yeah she needed to be compelled. Or maybe not. My more animalistic side screamed at me to just kill her and be done with it. But the small bit of equinity I had left lectured me about killing such an innocent pony.
I trotted over, tilted her head upwards, made eye contact, and compelled her not to be afraid.
Her crying stopped. The fear disappeared. The bubbly pony I had known before at the bar sprung back in her place.
"Are you gonna kill me?", she asked with those baby blue eyes and that genuine smile, but as a tear dripped from my eye, I knew what I had to do.
"You're not gonna move," I said lowly. She nodded.
I came up behind her pulled her mane back behind her ear, and...... |
Fallout: Equestria - Determination | Chapter Seven: Once Upon A Time | Once upon a time, there was a town called Glyphmark. It was the smallest place in the wasteland, home to the smallest zebras. Even though there were no mangos in Glyphmark, the village suffered. Every week, it'd be raided by the rotten mangos in the nearby cities, and when the invasions were over, they'd lose some villagers. Sometimes Glyphmark had new villagers delivered back to town, but the cycle would start again.
A long time ago, they thought the world was evil because of the mangos. The mangos were the adults, hard on the inside and soft on the outside. They figured adults were trouble, born liars when they were done being children. But one day, they stopped believing in the old ways.
And when they prayed to the ancestors, to free them from the hate curse that brought the balefire to the wasteland, the wind brought the Blue Pony. The Blue Pony brought mango weapons and mango medicine. At first, they felt the Old Curse in their hearts. But as time went on and the Blue Pony taught them strength, they followed her teachings. The town prospered after the long rituals of crop tending and combat training. All of the lands were plagued by taint and radiation. But Glyphmark, the special place, stayed pure from the influences.
I found New Glyphmark with Tesla after we'd assembled some defense turrets for Rockopolis. The numerous gears and springs we needed for more would be in New Glyphmark. The once desolate hub of disenfranchised children was now a peaceful oasis. I noted the large garden of mutfruit and pingas crops, watching carefully to find a hidden .556 defense turret. The clever devils put the traps around blind corners and camouflaged them in vegetation.
In awe, I found the schoolhouse, which was comprised of scrap metal, dead wood and twine made from dead hair. Though it didn't seem much, the grandiose stature did more than impress me. I knew children were always thought to be the future of Equestria, but that was ridiculous. The schoolhouse had three floors of height, three classes at a time and three teachers for various subjects. It seemed the educators, blabbing their lips about, were the only adults present. I noted the fine craftsmanship along the doors and windows, the windows made of stained glass, the school bell of a scrapped warhead.
I kept my eyes on our surroundings, shadowing Tesla to the beat. We trotted side-by-side and kept my radio on for Bruise. She'd acquired a ham radio setup thanks to Tesla Coil's bounty hunting yield.
"Tesla."
"Shoot."
"You said we were here to guard the schoolhouse. Who would target a filly educational center...? And why?"
He gave a soft chuckle, working into a grin that agreed with me. From the nonchalant shrug, to the way he kept his eyes ahead, he felt my frustration. I was grateful Tesla was so down-to-Earth.
"Yeah that's a douche move, isn't it? I'm sure it's probably that psycho Sunflower Seed. I hear he's the reason Little Pip started focusing on building a military instead of the economy. You know, it's funny... ponies in the Commonwealth complain about robots disguised as people. At least they don't target children, right?"
I froze in my tracks and stood paralyzed, alone in time. The news of a child killer sent my mind scattering. And, in the eyes of the sun, I became a patch of stone detached from the moving cosmos. I saw her face, my little Pane playing with her mother in the kitchen. And just when they were giggling, the doors and windows shattered inward. All at once, they were assaulted by the KBG.
"Glass...?!"
"Glass...!"
An instant falling sensation kicked me awake and I gasped for air, finding my back against the soil. Jagged rock bits stung my spine. I stumbled forward and back on my hooves. When I finally saw the sky, I realized it was darker. Thicker with grey.
"How long was I out...?" I coughed, finally able to breathe again.
He didn't even check my pipbuck.
"Hour and ten minutes. I'm lucky they found you some fucking oxygen, man. How long were you going to keep this from me? Were you trying to hide it to look tough?"
"I... I don't understand. Whaddyou mean by that. What's wrong with me?"
His face went pale. I knew he was finally showing weakness because he took two hits of jet, sweat swimming down his temples. The talk was cut short as he helped me over to a comfortable sofa and bought me a drink of ice cold sparkle cola. I tried initiating conversation, but Tesla just raised his hoof and shook his head, ordering two bowls of steaming tofu ramen. He wouldn't say much at first, other than 'please eat your noodles.'
"Glass..."
"Yeah...?" I replied, slurping up my first bite.
I knew what he was doing. Cloak and dagger types did it all the time. Negotiators were a special breed of manipulation. They didn't specialize on attacking. They specialized in making you ripping your defenses down. I understood the briefly salty, rich and creamy ramen broth was seasoned with green onions, carrots and corn to make it extravagant. And the tofu was fried crispy around the edges to absorb the oil and add new depth to the merciful textures.
In laymare's terms: he was buttering me up to get me comfortable, so no matter what I said, it'd weigh less.
"I... You woke up in Stable 13, right? You know where that vault was? And why it was built?"
"Well, no... No I don't."
I could see his cheeks twitch. His eyelids wanted to scrunch up, but they never did. In fact, they always stayed uniform. His pokerface could've fooled anyone. But it didn't fool me. No one honest kept a pokerface all the time.
"I saw Operation: Cauterize, you know. I saw it happen. They bombed the place clear of life for miles on end. Couldn't hear a bloatfly for hours if you stood in the center. In fact, you'd probably be dead if you were a basic lifeform like us.
But you're more than a ghoul, Glass. You're a taint abomination. For some reason, even though the taint in Stable 13 should've melted you, the cryostasis kept you together. The pink cloud must've morphed your DNA till it was loose enough to mutate..."
There was that word again. Mutate.
"Look, you didn't hear it from me, but... you know how back in the old days, your... island was bombed? Radiation over time can change DNA. And most times, you know, that does things like morph your skin and give you cancer. But... sometimes, that, that radiation-warped DNA comes into contact with magical fallout."
Tell me already.
"The taint... it twists you. Makes you a different person. Makes you lose your mind. But, sometimes, it mutates you. You just collapsed after staring off into space for an hour. That's a common symptom of taint poisoning. Hyper aggression, increased bone growth, muscle growth, and... severe psychotic episodes. This is all part of the mutation process. It might feel good now, but, if you keep mutating, who knows what'll happen. The closest thing we have to taint mutants is Alicorns."
I finished my noodles and barely placed the chopsticks right. They clinked obnoxiously against the countertop and forced the clerk over. He apologized, as if it were his mess, and then he scrubbed the counter all over again. Top to bottom.
I watched him obsess over that one spot and wondered how he didn't go insane, doing the same thing over and over, trying his best all the time. How did he avoid disappointment when some asshole like me spilled broth on his ramen stand.
"So... I'm changing. And I'm only gonna get worse. I'll lose my mind the more I mutate. But I'll be stronger either way. What happens when I reach the last level...? No one knows, right?"
I glanced up at that lovely, blue sky and smelled that lovely wasteland air.
"Then do me a favor and actually tell me when you do. Because I'm gonna use my energy to take down Sunflower Seed."
"Woah, woah- Sunflower Seed is an advanced taint mutant, man- what if he kills you just by looking at you? Then what'll we do? Find someone else that can punch bears to death?"
I closed my eyes and sighed, killing myself with smokes.
"Trust me. I can handle some wannabe child serial killer. I already demolished Pride. Doesn't matter what the wasteland throws, I can take the hits. The wasteland can move on without me. But it can't move on with Sunflower still alive. We need to send a message to the rest of the monsters in Equestria."
I glanced up and back at him.
"You're history."
Once upon a time, there were bad people in the world that did whatever they wanted. That was, until people like me were born. |
Fallout: Equestria - Determination | Chapter Eight: Get Dunked | Hoowee. What's the cliche?
So close, yet so far away?
That was me and my mission right there.
Glass was in Cockopolis and I was just wondering if my brothers in wings could hook him up with prosthetics. The problem was that coolant. It wouldn't work without a steady electron signal. His limbs would respond in a delayed fashion. Because, you know, the microthermal environment would slow everything. Even the lighting quick electrons.
Pretty neat, huh?
But I wasn't having fun, yet. I finished complaining to one of the school teachers but all that cat did was tell me he had no handouts. What kind of response was that? Why would I want handouts if I was rambling about my situation. I decided to let him do his own thing and trotted away.
The day felt arid, almost empty because of how arid. I thoughy a quick drink of purified water would help, but the thirst would always be there. No matter how many bottles I'd drink in my lifetime, or how little I did, I'd always need water. I was alive just like everypony else.
I came to terms with how I felt about the wasteland. I knew I wasn't anything special by myself. On my own, I was just a colt with a labcoat and some bad jokes. Knowledge on temporal quantam anomolies and non-linears didn't do a thing. It just helped your understanding of the world around you.
And that was what I did, cool cats.
I watched the world go by one second at a time. I played by the rules, but most days, I had to play the rules, too. The first order was a side of circuitry. Then, a few vacuum tubes. The liquid nitrogen, copper sulfate and other chemicals would be handled by Pip's R&D team.
Figures that when I went to go buy some, my usual junk vendor was all out.
Grasshopper had that look about her. Her cheeks were all flushed and stubborn and I was all too eager to calm her down. I strayed away from the main road and met her in the sand, tossing her a bag of chilled grapes. I could taste the sand as it struck my coat and wrecked my wicked Rainbow Dash wig. The best thing about feeding that poor kitty was the glimmer in her eyes.
"Hey, cutie. Something wrong?" I asked, lighting smokes for us.
"Y-yeah, it's just awful... I-I was accepting a shipment of circuits and steel when these two griffons held me up. I tried to run but they... they..."
I went to hold her and kept her from spilling over. No mare should live through that. I stayed silent and let the wind do the talking. I told her it was okay, cats. I told her she was strong and she'd already made it. That's when Hopper started sniffling, burying her face into my shoulder. I knew her pain.
"I just... I feel so... wrong. They were so rough. I can't believe they just- I can't believe they made me play basketball with them."
What.
"What?"
"Yeah they... they made me play so much streetball. They were dirty, too. Elbowing and sometimes they travelled- i-it was horrible."
The next few minutes were extremely awkward, but we managed. I agreed to return the shipment by dealing with the mercenaries myself. Most of the hoof distance was painful. Loose shoe leather was probably the worst part. Some punks with good boots ambushed me along the way. Or, they tried, anyway. We met down by an old apartment conplex called Hotel Curiosity.
Most of the building lacked functioning windows. But, hey, wooden boards worked too right. Speaking of boards, I spotted a gross bag of meat strung up by the roof of the building. Didn't really know what it meant, since cannibalism was popular by then. I figured it was raiders, but I could've been wrong. Alicorns could eat meat.
Scouting the building was easy. Most of it was walled by this jank chainlink fencing. A massive portion of it was rusted and torn off the posts. I couldn't imagine why a hotel needed a fence. Or why the inside of the lobby was turned into bleachers. Before I could snoop around, I realized half the building was blown to bits. All there was besides the lobby was a cement basketball court.
The stench of B.O, gunpowder and chicken coop rammed my nostrils. Gross. Extremely gross, man. Soon as I entered the court, two griffons swooped down from the sides and landed in the center. They kept quiet at shooting distance and pulled out a righteous weapon: a single, pristine basketball.
The taller griffon had an afro that took up most of his head. Probably a wig. Far as I remembered, griffons didn't grow hair. He wore these wicked sunglasses and dribbled the ball between his legs, looping it back and forth like a pendulum.
"Looks like we caught a pony cruisin' all alone. You ready to get dunked, son?"
He and his friend had a giggle. But I wasn't any ghostie. And they were in for a world of hurt. Soon as I saw the short one chuckle, I knew he was the beta. Typical follower cat to the big cheese. He wore a torn jersey with the letters B.B stitched over the original letters. I wondered why they needed combat armor to wear jerseys, but, hey... style, right?
"Rustle's right, cheese ball. We're gonna smoke you right outta da court."
I lowered my stance and slipped on my leather hoof boots. I knew right then and there they'd only respond to one thing: slam. They weren't armed. And they weren't actually that dangerous. So I couldn't just shoot them and take the shipment orders back.
"Let's just get to the point." I said, lacing up my hikers.
"It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. And on days like these, cats like you should be slamming in Hell."
We went half court and started their ball. I sprung away, shifting left and right to block the advance. They used every trick in the book. Twirling dribbles. Sliding the ball back and forth along their legs. These were some righteous mothers. And I couldn't beat them at their own game. I nearly toppled when Rustle shoved me backwards and went to shoot.
I remembered my old man's advice.
B.E.E.F.
Balance. Eyes. Elbow. Follow-through.
I tripped him at the hindlegs, yanking him back. I caught the ball at a blindspot and juked from around his ribs to dribble it forward. The other dog tried to skip out my play by bashing my ribs. I employed an elbow block, stuck it to his shin with a hoof kick and shifted my weight, taking the shot when I ceased motion. I followed the old man and his drills every morning, guiding with my right, shooting with my legs all at once and putting my hoof in the cookie jar.
I scored the ball with a righteous bank shot. It curved back and slid against the rim before circling the hoop and falling in. I stretched my forelegs wide out. They sat down on the stone, watching me strut my stuff. The amount of swag I just rocked them with sent shivers down their spines. I knew because neither Rustle or his goon Two Dog could look me in the eye.
"We havin' fun yet?" I called, dribbling between my legs and dancing twenties' all over the court.
They tried for half an hour straight. Couldn't even touch me. I saw their pittsburgh jacks and punks from a mile away. Everytime their shoulders slid up or to the side, a punch was coming. Everytime their head went lower than usual, it was a jack.
Wasn't long before I caught them with their pants down, juked them halfway from away to home and leapt up with the ball. I grit my teeth in a hard, macho grin, so alive, so unsung as I hung in the cosmos. Rustle tried to run jump and catch me, but I spread my legs far out, put my hooves on the ball and dunked.
19-02 |
Fallout: Equestria - Determination | Chapter Nine: Dear You [Final] | Glass was sitting beside me, holding my hoof. He always did that, the cheeky bastard. I didn't want to know what it felt like... melting away in your own skin. But he knew. The thought of him suffering through that nonsense just shook me deep down. What happened when that coolant ran out and his suit didn't work anymore. What happened then. I had to fight the questions in my head because I didn't use the dash or med-x anymore. I couldn't.
He gave me those potions when he didn't have a damn reason in the world. And even though I slammed him against the wall and wanted to strangle every last breath away, he never even told me. He never told me he tried to save Glance. He let me think he was some sort of monster that wanted to keep me around for his own reasons.
That was the thing about Glass. Even then, when I watched him sit and read his tiny art books, he wasn't a selfish person. He didn't really have his own reasons. He just wanted to make everyone's life better. I didn't know how to respond in kind, or anywhere near it.
Glass and me glanced around waiting for Tesla to come back. He'd been away for two days at best, but the suit needed a battery made from cryocells. And those would only be collected or made from random egghead chemicals. Random egghead chemicals weren't infinite. I knew that much.
"Bruise...?"
I snapped out of it and found meself trembling. I was right cold, yeah. But we both knew it wasn't the suit, or the annoying spray from his collar. No, that wasn't the problem. Glass held my hoof and came closer, scooting against me to inspect my face. I was pale, yeah. But the damn proximity made me blush harder than ever. I mean, come on, Glass. Your muzzle was almost touching mine. You and your pretty, dainty snout...
"Y-yeah, what is it, bucko? If you're askin' for a kiss, you'll have to do better than that."
"No, I was just worried. You're so... tense. But you're shivering, too. Is it the stress. Or, maybe I found some bad food on the last supply run?"
"Heh, yeah right bucko... I'm just a little sick. Didn't talk because I was trying to sneak a look at your book there. Never read a 'man-guh' before."
Deep down, I didn't say anything because I was scared.
It wasn't perfect. But there he was: the second person to ever give a shit about me. The first might've been gone, and I could never replace him. We had time together, though. I had something to remember him by. Glass, no matter what I did to bitch, was the only person I really wanted to see at the end of every day.
He took me in and didn't take advantage of me. How could I not be scared.
"Really...? I can just show you, you know. It's not that hard to follow the pictures alone, either."
A genuine good person. That's the type I never cared for. But I never knew what they could do till it was too late. A bad person could tear your limbs off. Make you a sex slave. They could break you and keep you broken. But bad people were bad people. They could only do destructive things, you know?
Good people... they could make you feel things you never understood. They could teach you the secret to happiness. And if you didn't want to learn, they'd show you how it felt to know a good person. The sky was brighter. The sun was warmer. Everything flourished when someone good took care of you.
I spent the rest of the time pretending I was interested in 'man-guh'. Sometimes I peaked over his shoulder just to keep the ruse. Because I needed that disguise. I couldn't be myself alone with Glass. There was something different about him that said I could never stay too close.
Maybe it was the way he held me and made my stomach go tingly. Or the way he nuzzled my neck and told me it was okay. Eventually, he fell asleep on me, bored of that same volume he'd been reading for the past few hours. I put my forelegs around him and wished it could last forever.
Tesla came in wearing a jersey or something scented like Boston sewage. I could feel the urge to never skip baths again as he neared the edge of the stairs. I politely asked him to perform maintenance.
"Can you take a fucking shower, mate?"
"Sure. But don't you and your boyfriend wanna take one first?"
Typical. I already had heat in my cheeks. The comeback didn't even make it hotter. It just annoyed me, in a way. I didn't know where we stood. Glass was an open book, but he was written in another language. What could I do to assume anything, when the words could mean anything. Tesla ran the water in one of the nearby showers, tapping the generator before he went in.
When the door closed, I let my guard down.
I couldn't let it down around anyone else.
The way the moon played over the cavern was breathtaking. I knew it wasn't much compared to the glowing lights in Diamond City, but a night under the stars, that was irreplaceable. The light stayed away from us, me and him. It made the shadows hang over Glass and over my blanket. Between us was that teddy bear from the other day.
I never thought about it before, but the talk we had yesterday... it made me realize that Sunflower fellow was still out there. At first, he seemed like a legend or an old hag tale. Never made much sense to me if you didn't explain it. Not even raiders were that cruel. They might've been that bad near Ponyville, or even near Maripony, but they were drugged up, depressed, psychotic malcontents full of shit that welled up in their hearts. Childhood beatings and bad homes, that's what raiders were. Something inside them just snapped and made them the waste they were.
What about Sunflower Seed.
He didn't have a reason. We knew he was powerful. We knew he was out for kids and their families. But what kind of sick, twisted thing would want that. As far as I was concerned, he was up there with slavers. Sunflower Seed, the bogeyman of the wasteland; I'd never forget it.
I was alone with a sleeping Glass and my hatred for the predators of the wastes.
Maybe I was nervous to go out alone. Maybe I didn't want to leave him alone. That would've explained my frozen body. I didn't want to leave where I was. Out there, in the big, old wasteland, there were ponies that would've split me in two with a rusty pizza cutter. In there, somewhere safe and warm and quiet, I didn't have to fight anymore.
Stained Glass nudged my ribs with his muzzle, glancing up half-eyed.
I turned my head and lit a cigar, pretending my way forward.
Just like always.
"Hey, handsome. Ready to go to New Glyphmark?" I said, running my hoof through his mane. |
Earth Ponies Are Overpowered | pre | After Applejack and I parted ways, I was left with nothing but my own thoughts. What I'd learned that day had given me hope, but also new worries.
When came home, I found Spike in his room, reading a comic book.
"Hi, Spike. Are you feeling up to taking a note?" I asked.
He peeked over the top of his comic, lifting his eyebrows. "It's been a long time since you asked me to write out a note to Princess Celestia. But since you asked nicely . . ."
"Oh, it's not for Princess Celestia." I trotted into his room with a grin. "It's for Cadance."
Shrugging, Spike flipped over his book and set it down on its open pages to mark his place. Then he walked over to his desk, grabbing a scroll and a quill.
I cleared my throat.
"Dear Cadance,
"I talked with Pinkie Pie today, and she told me that when we were in the Crystal Empire, Flurry Heart used life drain on her. I've only begun learning about this power, and I've been told that it's not supposed to be possible to drain the life out of another pony. Regardless, I trust Pinkie Pie, and we both saw Flurry's precocious use of other types of magic, so it makes sense that her earth thauma would be at least as advanced. I think it would be best to keep an eye on Flurry and look for a crystal pony tutor when she is ready. That is assuming crystal ponies have the same abilities as other earth ponies.
"Your loving sister-in-law, Twilight."
Spike had stopped writing after my first sentence. His pupils had shrunk to narrow slits.
"Could you run that by me again?"
I managed to catch a few hours of sleep after conversing with Spike late into the night. When morning dragged me awake, I prepared tea and breakfast - in that order - and wrote out my to-do list for the day. Spike strolled into the kitchen around eight o'clock, which was earlier than usual.
"Good morning, Twilight. Can you tell me Pinkie's secret now?"
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, instead taking a sip of my Griffish breakfast tea. "Spike, I told you I don't know."
"But you said you had a guess based on what she told you," said Spike, climbing onto a step stool and grabbing a plate out of the cabinet.
"Yes, but it's just a guess. I could be wrong. Besides, Pinkie Pie didn't want to tell me, so I should respect her privacy," I said, manipulating my fork with my aura to cut a bite-sized chunk of pancake.
"Aw, come on, can't you just tell me your guess and I'll promise not to tell anypony?"
"No. She'll tell us when she's ready." I shoveled the bite in my mouth, savoring the sweet maple flavor.
"Do you think she's a secret draconequus?"
I almost choked on my bite of pancake.
"Whoa, are you okay?"
After coughing up the pancake, I swallowed and took a sip of tea, which was not the best liquid for attempting to prevent aspiration.
I drew a raspy breath. "Just swallowed wrong."
Spike waddled over to me and patted my back. "Sorry, but would it be that shocking if Pinkie was a draconequus? It would explain her strange, random powers."
"I suppose it would, but there's only one draconequus that we know of." I shook my head. "Besides, how could a creature so chaotic bear one of the Elements of Harmony?"
Spike peered at me with half-lidded eyes. "You do realize you could say the same thing about plain old earth pony Pinkie Pie, right?"
"Huh. I see your point." Still, Pinkie's story of using her thauma to tap into the earth's possible core indicated that she was, at least at one point in her life, fully an earth pony, albeit a powerful one. "I'm still not sure if you're right, though. Anyway, you can help yourself to some pancakes." I glanced down where I had written, Talk to RD, FS and Rare. "I don't know if Applejack has made up her mind about the experiment yet, but before I talk to her, I figured I should go see the other girls and explain what I'm planning. After all, we'll need to decide who is going to be the first volunteer for the life infusion. Do you want to come, too?"
"Sure, I want to help with this experiment any way I can. I also want to see their faces when you tell them about it." He rubbed his hands together.
"Okay, but don't mention Pinkie's secret."
"Why not?" he asked. "You told me."
"Yes, and I'm starting to regret it." I took a final drink of tea, noticing the specks of leaves at the bottom.
Holding up his hands as if surrendering, Spike said, "Okay, okay, I won't say anything about it."
With Spike on my back, I soared toward Carousel Boutique. Out of my friends' homes, it was the closest to the Friendship Castle, and Spike was eager to latch onto this excuse to visit his crush.
When I'd flown halfway to my destination, I heard Rainbow Dash calling.
"Hey, Twilight! Hey, Spike!"
I turned my head to the left and spotted Rainbow zipping toward us. She sidled up to me and slowed to match my pace.
"Hey, Rainbow. Nice work on the weather these last couple of days."
"Oh, thanks, but I can't take all the credit. Thunderlane and Cloudchaser have taken over a lot of the weather control while I've been training for the Wonderbolts."
I blinked. "That's very modest of you."
She rolled her eyes. "You don't have to sound so surprised." Then she shook her head. "But that's not what I wanted to talk about. Have you seen AJ lately?"
"Not since last night. Why do you ask?"
"She came to talk to me while I was doing my warm-ups this morning, and she was acting weird," she answered.
Spike and I shared a meaningful gaze. "In what way?" I asked her.
"She asked me if I wanted to live as long as you," she answered, rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess she thinks you're going to live as long as Princess Celestia or something. I don't know, I never really thought about it until now. I told her that it would be awesome as long I could still take care myself and Tank and everything. I mean, I wouldn't want to leave anypony hanging. And then she said . . ." Dash flipped her head, and suddenly her forelock was identical to Applejack's in shape, capturing its slight wave and unruly nature. "'Shee-yucks, that helps a whole heap.'"
Spike laughed. "That's a great impression of Applejack!"
I was staring at her mane, however. "You can do capillurgy?"
"Do what now?"
"Your mane." I pointed.
"You mean the sticky hair? Pfft, it's just a stupid pony trick," she said, waving her foreleg.
"No, it really isn't. I thought only earth ponies could do it."
"Really?" She wrinkled her forehead. "Who told you that?"
"Every book I've read that mentions capillurgy." I gazed upward. "Which is only about four books, but still . . ."
"About four books. Like you don't remember the exact number, Twilight," teased Spike.
"Okay, fine, it was exactly four books," I said.
"Well then the books must be wrong," said Dash, folding her forelegs.
"Maybe the books are partly true." Spike held up his hand. "Maybe anypony can do this cappa-thingy, but it's easier for earth ponies because they don't have any wings or horns to distract them."
"That's a strange way of putting it," I said, tapping my chin. "But you may be onto something."
"It's not that hard to figure out." Rainbow shrugged. "Everypony can stick stuff to their hooves. Just do the same thing with your hair. I like to make it stick to itself." She tossed her head, and her forelock was even and smooth like mine.
"So, did Applejack say anything else?" asked Spike.
"That's the weirdest part," answered Dash. "She galloped off without another word. Do you have any idea what that was about?"
I put my hoof on her shoulder, my flight wobbling a bit. "As it so happens, I do. You will be a perfect volunteer for our experiment."
She raised her eyebrow. "Experiment? Um, don't I have to volunteer to be a volunteer?"
I chuckled. "I think you'll want to volunteer after I explain what we're trying to do."
"So explain already."
"I will, but I want you to come with me to Carousel Boutique. That way I'll have to explain it one less time. This is already starting to get repetitive for me," I said.
"Me too." Spike nodded.
Rainbow released an impatient sigh. "Fine, but this had better not end with one of us turning into a vampire bat-pony."
The bell tingled as I entered Rarity's shop along with Spike and Rainbow. Displayed front and center were a new line of clothes accented with tiny diamonds.
At that moment, Rarity was adjusting an unusual wide-brimmed hat on Fluttershy's head.
I grinned. "Hi, Rarity, Fluttershy! Just the ponies I wanted to see."
"Hello, Twilight!" Rarity practically sang. "Oh, and you've brought Rainbow Dash and Spiky-Wiky!"
"Rares, I told you, you don't have to call me by my full name all the time. Just Dash or Dashie is fine."
"Oh, um, of course. If you insist, Dashie." She shuffled her hooves as if the mere utterance of a nickname caused her discomfort.
Rainbow flew over to Fluttershy. "Why does your hat have a hole in the front?"
I focused on the hat. It had a high, rounded crown with a small cut-out circle. A tiny brown bird with a pale throat and eye stripe stuck out its head.
"It's to keep these baby wrens safe with me until they're ready to strike out on their own. They're cavity nesters," explained Fluttershy. "Rarity's helping me figure out where to put the container for the worms."
Meanwhile, Opalescence stared up at the bird with enormous eyes, sitting still except for her lashing tail.
"Applejack said she liked it," added Fluttershy.
"Yes, and frankly that makes me reconsider how stylish this chapeau actually is," said Rarity. "I just don't know if I can integrate live animals into a pleasing design." Using her telekinesis, she set two cups onto Fluttershy's hat. "Perhaps you should keep them in panniers. You can do a lot more with them without making them look completely ridiculous."
Spike slid off my back and ambled toward them. "Applejack was here?"
Fluttershy and Rarity nodded, Fluttershy holding her hat steady with her hoof.
"I'm guessing she didn't just stop by to talk about Fluttershy's hat," I said.
"Yes, actually, it was very odd. She asked us if we would like to live as long as you, Twilight," answered Rarity.
Dash touched down next to Rarity. "She asked me the same thing."
"What did you say, Rarity?" asked Spike, leaning forward eagerly.
"I said that it would be wonderful to spend so many centuries with Twilight, and you too, Spike." She favored him with a smile. "Think of all the adventures we could have together! And I'd love to influence the fashion industry as long as possible, and do what I can to make the world a more beautiful place. On the other hoof, I couldn't bear to outlive Sweetie Belle. But then Applejack asked how I would feel if Sweetie Belle could live just as long. Well, of course that would change everything. It would be nice if we could both live even as old as Granny Smith. But that isn't very likely, is it? My magical talents lie in finding the beauty in things, not adding years to my life. Besides, my father always says that it's not the number of years you have, but what you do with them that matters."
While Rarity was speaking, I was struck by an uncomfortable realization. I hadn't even thought about using life pulse on our families. Of course, the living embodiment of Generosity would be the one to bring it to my attention. And it had taken the bearer of Honesty to get to the heart of the matter. But once we opened it up to immediate family, extended family and friends would wish for near-immortality, too. And who could blame them? But where would it stop? Should it stop? This could be the key to true equality between all ponies of every tribe - and not only ponies, but every sapient being. But what would be the consequences of doubling, tripling, or quadrupling everyone's lifespan? Could the earth ponies grow enough food to support the population explosion?
Granted, this was all assuming the experiment would even work the way I intended.
"But if you have a long life and you do a lot with it, isn't that even better?" Spike asked Rarity.
"Yes, well," said Rarity, turning her gaze toward one of her dress forms, "I suppose it's just something we mortal ponies say to comfort each other."
"Oh." Spike tapped his claws together. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. Actually, there's something important that we need to tell you."
"Not yet, Spike! I want to hear Fluttershy's answer first." I met her eyes in expectation.
"Um, I sort of want to hear what Spike has to say," replied Fluttershy. Her baby birds peeped as if in agreement.
"Yeah, come on, Spike. What the hay is going on?" Rainbow fluffed up her wings.
"Twilight had this idea that Applejack can use life pulse on the three of you to make you live longer!" announced Spike.
The girls stared at him. Fluttershy's eyes were wide, and Rarity brought her hoof to her mouth.
Dash tilted her head. "Life pulse? What's that?"
Lowering her hoof, Rarity replied, "It's what an earth pony does to grow plants and live longer."
"I knew they can grow plants really fast, but this is the first I've heard about them living longer." Rainbow scratched her head. "Are we talkin' a few years, or . . ."
"Do you know how old Granny Smith is?" I asked.
Shrugging her wings, she said, "I don't know, in her eighties?"
"Two hundred nineteen."
"What?" Her mouth fell open. "Is that even possible? Is she like a tortoise?"
"Earth ponies can slow their aging by draining energy from plants." Fluttershy lowered her head. "At least, that's what I heard."
"That's partly true," I confirmed. "They can also draw life force from the earth itself."
"Did everypony know about this except me?" Rainbow waved her foreleg in frustration.
"I'm in the same boat." Spike shrugged one shoulder. "I only found out about this power last night."
"And I first learned about it yesterday," I said. "Why didn't either of you tell us?" I asked Rarity and Fluttershy.
Rarity arched her eyebrows. "I assumed you already knew, Twilight. You know so much about magic already."
"Unfortunately, my education only covered unicorn thaumaturgy. That's why I'm researching this now," I said, trying not to sound as disgruntled as I felt.
"Yeah, can you tell us more about this experiment?" asked Dash, flicking her tail. "What exactly do we have to do?"
"My hypothesis is that an artificial barrier will concentrate earth magic so it can be infused into another pony, thus giving that pony the same life-extending benefits. All you have to do is stand inside that barrier with AJ. I'd do it myself, but I've only begun training in earth thaumaturgy, and I'm impatient. I want to start this right away." I shifted my wings.
"Um, why can't it wait?" asked Fluttershy, twitching her ears.
"Well, I've known for a while that alicorns don't grow old. And I . . . I've had a lot of anxiety about watching all of you die."
Spike gasped quietly.
I sucked in a deep breath. "There, I said it. That's why this experiment is so important to me. And that's why Applejack asked you that question. Maybe you won't live a thousand years, but you might live to be five hundred. I just have to do what I can to try to make it happen."
Fluttershy brushed her mane away from her face and gave me a knowing gaze. "You sound like Discord. You see, I already sort of talked about this with him. He hates death because it's so final, and there are no more surprises after that. But even his magic has limits. He told me that he thinks he could grant immortality if he really tried, but he'd have to give up some of his chaos powers. And he doesn't think he would be able to get them back. But, well, I don't want to brag, but I am technically Discord's oldest friend. If he lost me, he doesn't know what he'd do." Her cheeks turned pink. "At least, that's what he told me."
"That settles it, then," said Rarity. "Fluttershy, you must be the first to volunteer for this life pulse experiment. I shudder to think what would happen if Discord ever went mad with grief." A tremor passed through her entire body.
"On the other hoof, I wouldn't mind too much if he lost at least some of his chaotic powers," said Rainbow.
"But Discord would mind," said Fluttershy, idly dragging her hoof over the floor. "If I could live a lot longer without him having to give up some of his powers, that would be best for both of us."
I beamed. "I'm so happy to hear you say that, Fluttershy. I'll go start the preparations."
"Do you need any help?" she asked.
"No, thanks. I think Spike and I can take care of the next step. I'll let you know as soon as we're ready for you."
Windorama did excellent business in Ponyville. Since the town was struck with all manner of accidents of both natural and magical origin, there was always somepony in need of a new window. The company had expanded into doors and aluminum siding, although the latter hadn't yet caught on in Ponyville, where wood and stucco were preferred.
Stepping through the front entrance, Spike and I gazed at the glass panes, metal shutters, and various other building materials. I started to estimate how many windows it would take to build an enclosure large enough for two ponies. Metal would be ideal for the floor, since hooves would probably crack the glass. It was fortunate that the store had an entire row of metal doors that appeared big enough to form the base.
The unicorn clerk inside was already assisting another customer - none other than Applejack.
"Wow, she's always a step ahead of us this morning," said Spike, scratching the side of his head. "Are you sure she didn't want to do this last night?"
Applejack turned at the sound of his voice. "Howdy, y'all. Surprised to see me here?"
"A little. You were reluctant to help with the, um, project last night." I glanced at the clerk, who furrowed his brow. "But then we talked with Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy this morning."
"Oh." She frowned in contemplation. "Well, I reckoned if I could help 'em live longer, then it wouldn't be right for me not to try just 'cause I was afraid o' change. But I had to make sure that it was somethin' they really wanted. Not everypony wants to live forever, or even a few hundred years."
The stallion cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I couldn't help overhearing."
"That's because we were talking right in front of you," Spike pointed out.
"Right. Applejack here told me that she needs an airtight glass house. Is this for the project you're working on together?" he asked.
And so AJ, Spike, and I gave him as much information as he required to assemble the structure. Although the unicorn didn't fully comprehend what we were planning, he went along with the policy that the customer is always right. He advised us that the order would be delivered to the castle the following day. Applejack said that this would work out for the best since she needed to be rested in order send out a strong life pulse. She planned on spending the next morning absorbing a few years' worth of life force from the earth.
"Could you give me a more specific number?" I asked. "It'll be helpful to know exactly what you're doing and how much magic you're using."
"Maybe eight to ten?" She adjusted her hat. "I can probably give you a closer figure tomorrow, but I don't know how to measure it."
"Then maybe I should add measuring earth thauma to my list of experiments."
The next morning, my friends gathered inside the Friendship Castle throne room. Spike offered Rarity a bag of popcorn, which she accepted with a gracious smile. He asked me if I wanted a bag, too, but I had my quill and paper ready to record observations, and I didn't want to be distracted by something as messy and crunchy as popcorn, especially the way Spike makes it. He always coats it with cheese-flavored powder that sticks to everything, and sometimes a stray gem finds its way into the mix.
Meanwhile, Applejack stood motionless with a distant gaze, as if she were either trying to talk herself into the experiment again, or running through a mental checklist of what she needed to do - or possibly both.
As for Fluttershy, the birds in her hat had her undivided attention. "Oh, Caroline, why do you keep begging for food and then closing your beak when I hold it in front of you? It's getting . . ." She gritted her teeth. ". . . Frustrating!"
One of the wrens - Caroline, I suppose - hopped out of the crown of her hat and landed on the brim, letting out a defiant peep.
"Well, that's too bad, because mealworms are all I have. If you want moths, go find someone else to feed you."
Applejack snapped out of her reverie and stared at her. "Why, our little Fluttershy's all grown up!"
The baby bird threw herself at Rainbow Dash, crashed into her, and fluttered to the ground.
Dash let out a noise that was halfway between a groan and a sigh. "Do I look like I have moths on me?"
Tilting her head, Caroline gave her a raspy peep.
"Caroline! Where did you hear that word?" scolded Fluttershy. She paused, listening to the bird's answer. "Oh. I'll have to have a talk with Angel Bunny about age-appropriate language."
"Hellooooo, everypony! And dragon!" sang Pinkie Pie. She bounded into the throne room. "I know you were all waiting for me to get here before you got started! And I guess you need the window thingy, too. Don't worry, it's in the entrance hall."
"Great! Let's go see," I said to the others.
To Spike's credit, he didn't say a word to Pinkie as we trekked down the stairs into the front hall.
Rarity sidled up to me and whispered, "You are going to let me pay for part of this, aren't you, darling?"
"We'll talk about it later," I murmured.
She frowned and opened her mouth.
"And no, I'm not just saying that and hoping you'll forget later," I said, anticipating her concern. "Bits later, experiment now!" I picked up my pace to a canter as I reached the bottom of the stairs. In the middle of the hall sat the glass enclosure. I circled it; then flew over it to view it from all angles. It was a rectangular prism twice as long as it was tall, and wide enough for a mare to turn around inside. The windows were joined with pale metal framework. One end had a thicker frame with outward facing hinges and a clasp on the inside.
"Well, it looks functional," Rarity said tactfully.
"You were expectin' stained glass?" AJ asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, but perhaps some beveling or etching would have been a nice touch," she answered, narrowing her eyes.
"We want to see what's going on inside, Rarity," Spike pointed out.
Pinkie opened the glass door. "You should name it."
I hovered in place and stared at her.
"Yeah, we can't keep calling it the little glass house," agreed Spike, licking powdered cheese off his fingers.
"I never called it that, but I see your point." I landed on the floor in front of it and rubbed my chin. "How about the Thauma Containment Device?"
Spike stuck out his thumb and turned it downward.
"Ooooo, that's dragon for 'no good,'" translated Pinkie.
I couldn't resist the impulse to roll my eyes. "I've picked up on that, thanks."
"I wanna call it the Greenhouse," said Applejack, pushing up her hat, "but that'd be a mite confusin'."
"How about you combine the two names and call it the Thauma House?" Pinkie grinned.
"I guess that's the least bad name so far. Let's keep working on it." I stuck my head in the house to inspect it. The seams where glass met metal had a transparent sealant over them.
"Rainbow, could I borrow one of the clouds? I want to put it in here to see if it's airtight."
Dash shrugged. "I don't own the clouds, except for the ones that make my house. Knock yourself out."
"Okay. I'll be right back." I flapped out of the castle and spotted a cumulus that appeared to be an appropriate size. Using my hooves and wing power, I pushed the cloud down through the front doorway. I could have used telekinesis, but I wanted to practice my pegasus skills. As I flew back inside, I saw Rarity lifting Fluttershy's hat in her blue aura. Two baby birds peeked out of the hole in the crown.
"I'll just hold this for you while you take part in the experiment, Fluttershy. I'm sure your birds will be fine without you for a few minutes." Her mouth curved down in thought. "It shouldn't take longer than that, should it? I don't think there's enough air in the Thauma House for two ponies to last very long."
"Should take less than a minute, if it's gonna happen at all," said Applejack.
"That's good, because I wouldn't want to have to worry about supplying you and Fluttershy with more oxygen." I eased the cloud into the Thauma House and shut the door. I observed that the cloud was a little smaller than the house, so I shifted the enclosure with my telekinesis to touch all of it to the cloud.
"Nothing's getting through that," commented Rainbow.
Rarity held up a curry comb and mane and tail brush in her magic and ran some quick passes over Fluttershy. Out of her silky mane came a squirmy mealworm. I was a bit surprised Rarity didn't find anything more unsanitary than that.
"You know what? You can keep the brush," said Rarity, who I imagine did a deep cleaning of her shop after Fluttershy left the day before.
"Um, thanks." Fluttershy shifted her weight.
"Now, Applejack-"
"I showered this mornin'." AJ lowered her eyebrows.
"I wasn't implying that you didn't, darling. But you didn't see that this got stuck to your tail on the way here." Rarity plucked a cottonwood seed out of Applejack's tail and lifted in her aura.
"No, I didn't. Thanks, sugar cube. Wouldn't want to accidentally sprout the seed and ruin the experiment." She let out a soft chuckle.
"Okay, everything is finally ready." I opened the glass door and tugged out the cumulus. The glass was left fogged. I sighed.
"Almost ready." I teleported to the kitchen, too impatient to spend any more time doing things the pegasus and earth pony way, and teleported back with a cloth. In a few seconds, I wiped off the condensation.
"Now everything is ready," I said, willing it to be so.
Rarity tilted her head. "There are streaks from this angle." Her blue aura enveloped the cloth. "Perhaps I could help clean it."
"Rarity, I sympathize with your perfectionism, but it can wait. As long as we can see inside, that's good enough for me."
"Twi's right," said Applejack. "No sense draggin' this out any longer." She entered the Thauma House and turned around to face the door. "C'mon, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy walked inside and pulled the door shut behind her, closing the latch. Glimpsing the clock on the wall, I jotted down a note.
9:35 am - Life infusion experiment begins with AJ and FS
Applejack placed her front hoof on her friend's barrel. She glanced out at us for a moment before closing her eyes, perhaps so she could concentrate with greater ease. Nothing seemed to happen for about twenty seconds. Then Fluttershy's jaw dropped, and her eyes grew enormous. Her mane and tail waved as if in a gentle breeze, and her colors became brighter and more saturated.
AJ was straining, though. Stray hairs came loose from her mane and tail, and bags formed under her eyes. Her legs began trembling. I'd never seen her like that, even when she overworked herself during that first apple bucking season after I moved to Ponyville - or even after Tirek had stolen her thauma.
Rainbow Dash flew up to the glass house. "Stop!" She tapped on the window. Flinching, Fluttershy gazed up at her, as if she didn't expect her to be there. Applejack's eyes creaked open, peering at Rainbow. Then she pulled her hoof away from Fluttershy.
Suddenly there was a blinding flash, and Fluttershy was alone in the Thauma House. All that was left of Applejack was a scorch mark in the shape of three apples. Fluttershy let loose a muffled scream and fumbled for the clasp. After a few seconds, she undid the latch and shoved open the door.
"Oh, Dashie, Twilight, everypony, I'm so sorry!" She jumped out of the house. "I should have stopped her when she started wearing herself out. I should have just opened the door. It was right there! But it happened so fast, I didn't think of it in time!" She sounded louder and more frantic than I'd ever heard her.
I drew a shaky breath, still frightened by what could have gone wrong, but comforted by the knowledge that Applejack was most likely all right. "It's okay, Fluttershy. I think I know what happened to her."
"Those scorch marks," said Rarity, walking up to us, "look awfully familiar. Twilight, when you became an alicorn, you left behind marks shaped like your stars. Do you suppose it's possible . . ."
Fluttershy and Rainbow gaped at the sooty apples. "What, are you saying AJ got zapped to wherever Twilight went? And she's gonna come back an alicorn?" asked Dash with a furrowed brow.
"I don't know, but the signs do fit," answered Rarity.
"Yeah, Twilight and I kinda figured this would happen." Spike shoved a piece of popcorn into his mouth, unfazed by the whole ordeal.
Rarity, Fluttershy, and Dash stared at him.
"You did? Since when?" Rainbow flew toward Spike and brought her muzzle up to his face, causing my assistant/brother to lean away from her.
Before he could respond, Pinkie spoke up, breaking the silence she'd kept for the duration of the experiment. "You should go to her, Twilight. She's alone and she might be scared and confused." Her face broke into a manic grin as her eyes darted around. "Not that I would know!"
Silence reigned as everyone scrutinized her.
"Pinkie Pie, is there something you'd like to tell us?" prompted Spike.
Her mouth twitched. "I sort of don't want to but I feel like I have to now. But I want to wait until all my friends are here, first."
I nodded to her. "I'll look forward to it, Pinkie. Spike, please send a letter to Princess Celestia explaining what happened. I'm going to go to the Thaumic Plane." I had traveled there once before, although I was not conscious of how I had accomplished it at the time, and I had the Elements of Harmony to give me a boost. But if Applejack could transport herself there without the Elements, so could I.
Picking up my quill in my aura, I scribbled: 9:37 - AJ disappeared. Attempting to search for her on Thaumic Plane
I resolved to record more details as soon as I had time. Then I closed my eyes, remembering how I had felt on that fateful day, how the power had coursed through me - too much power for any single pony in Equestria. I did a mental calculation of the amount of thauma per gram I would need to force my mass out of this world and into the Thaumic Plane, and figured that I could channel just enough.
My horn flashed, and I found myself in the starry, milky expanse. The strength and scope was overwhelming - infinite, without end. And there was Applejack, her orange and gold colors standing out in the cool, ethereal plane like a buoy in an ocean. The lines were gone from her face, but her hair was still messier than normal, and her legs quivered like they were standing in ice water.
I walked toward her, the thauma forming glowing motes to support my hooves even though there was nothing physical holding me up, or even any gravity as we know it on Equestria.
"You gave us a scare, AJ." I offered a reassuring smile.
She glanced down, swallowed hard, and tilted her head up. "Sorry I scared ya."
To steady her, I put my hoof on her shoulder. "What happened, exactly?"
"Well, I tried to use life pulse on her, but her magic was pushin' back, so then I gave it my all and it was like a dam burst. The life force poured outta me so fast, and the only way to stop it was to pull my hoof offa her. Then I ended up here."
"If you hadn't stopped, you might have ended up like Granny Smith. If I had known that was a risk, I never would have asked you to do it." I shook my head.
"Don't be too hard on yerself. I knew there were risks, and I was willin' to take 'em to help Fluttershy and the other gals. I . . ." She blinked a few times. "They made me realize I don't wanna live without 'em any longer than I have to."
"But I could have found another way," I countered. "I could have waited until I learned how to use life pulse and tried it myself. But I was too impatient to think it through."
"Maybe. But the same thing might've happened to you no matter how much you prepared." Then she swiveled her head. "So, what do we do now, Twi? I don't like this place. It's nothin' but sky! Ain't even no proper clouds. And there's too much power and it's not doin' nothin' except makin' these little lights." She glanced down again, her pupils shrinking.
"AJ, look at me." I put my hoof on her chin and gently lifted it. She met my gaze and seemed to calm, her trembling hardly noticeable except for a twitch here and there. "On our first adventure together, just one day after we met, you didn't hesitate to go with me into the Everfree Forest to protect me from danger. You saw me hanging from the cliff and slid down to catch me, and then you told me to let go of your hooves and asked me to trust you that I would be safe. I heard your voice and looked you in the eye and I knew that I could trust you, even though I didn't understand why. And you've proven time and time again that my trust was well placed. So now I'm asking you to trust me the way I trust you."
Her green eyes softened. "'Course I trust you, Twi. I don't think I would be here if I didn't." She waved her foreleg at the starscape.
I grinned. "You're one of the few ponies to come here, you know. Princess Celestia named it the Thaumic Plane. Not much is known about it, but my hypothesis is that none of this is real in a material sense. The magic responds to our minds and bodies to create physical sensations. You teleported here on reflex because it's the ideal environment for magical transformations."
"I did?" Her eyebrows knitted together. "Earth ponies can't teleport. Does this mean it's too late to stop this whole transformation?"
I frowned. "I think Pinkie Pie can answer that question better than I can. But let me ask you this: could you go back and act like nothing happened?"
Her ears twitched. "No, I couldn't."
No sooner had these words left her lips than an undulating green light emerged from her chest. It was fascinating, seeing the earth pony's aura for the first time. It turned out to match her eyes.
"Whoa, Nelly!" She raised her foreleg as if trying to pull her thauma back into her chest.
"It's all right. Your magic knows what to do. You just have to let it do its work."
Her ears flattened against her head as her aura spread out and swirled around her, whipping her hair and lifting her above the path of lights.
"I'll meet you back at the castle!" I called, before she vanished in a blaze of light.
Rearing back on my hind legs in excitement, I teleported back to Equestria.
In a flash and a tingle of thauma, I was back inside the castle lobby.
"Twilight!" exclaimed Dash, zipping over to me. "Spike caught us up to speed on the alicorn thing. Did you find AJ?"
I glanced around, seeing only four ponies and a dragon. "She's not here yet? What is she doing?"
"Well it is only her second time teleporting," said Pinkie with a shrug.
Spike gave her an expectant look. "Pinkie . . ."
"Nopers! Not telling yet!"
As she spoke, the lighting changed, warming like a hearth. I glanced around for the source until Rarity tapped my shoulder and pointed toward the ceiling. Above our heads floated a pony-sized apple.
"That's the second biggest apple I've ever seen," commented Spike.
Pinkie brought her hoof to her lips. "Sshhh, you're ruining the moment."
"Sorry."
The apple descended to the floor, where it materialized into Applejack . . . plus a few extra body parts. She stood there blinking, hesitantly stretching her wings. She brushed her hoof over one of them, and then she reached up and felt her horn. And there were more changes besides those. Each hair on her head was tucked neatly into her hair ties. And perhaps the most remarkable transformation of all was her cutie mark. The three identical apples had morphed into one large apple with five tiny apples gathered around it. I almost said something, but I decided to wait and see how long it took everypony else to notice.
My own mark had a more subtle modification after I ascended - in fact, it was Spike who pointed it out to me two days after I'd cast Starswirl's spell. A sixth white star had been added, showing a more complete fulfillment of my destiny. At least, that's how I interpreted it.
"Awesome!" Rainbow hovered over Applejack and lifted one of her orange wings with her hoof. "Now I can put you to work on the weather team."
A smile warmed Applejack's face. "You offerin' me a job? I can only work part time. I already got a full time job."
Dash waved her foreleg. "No problem. We have flexible hours."
"All right, when do I start?" AJ held her front hoof out to her, which Rainbow bumped with her own hoof.
"Tomorrow morning at eight. Oh, and newbies have to get coffee for everypony else."
"Um, Applejack?" Fluttershy stepped forward, ducking her head. "I'm glad you're safe. It looked like you were hurting, and I'm sorry if it's because of anything I did."
"It wasn't yer fault, sugar cube. Don't you worry 'bout it," said AJ. "Now, how do ya feel?" she added with a curious expression.
"I feel - I feel rejuvenated! Like I could migrate to the Mysterious South without getting tired." She raised her wings.
"You could revolutionize the spa industry, Applejack," said Rarity, putting her foreleg over Applejack's withers. "Just think of all the ponies who would want to receive this treatment and add years to their lives. You could change society as we know it!"
"Yeah! Just think of all the birthday parties we'll have!" Pinkie bounced up and spun her mane like a propeller, defying gravity for several long seconds. "What?" She dropped to the floor, her hooves echoing through the hallway. "Why are you all staring at me like that?"
Applejack lowered her eyelids. "Pinkie Pie, are you gonna tell us the truth now?"
Pinkie opened her mouth.
Then the doorbell rang.
"Saved by the bell. I mean, I'll get it!" Pinkie dashed toward the double doors.
Spike slapped his forehead.
"I agree, Spike," I told him.
Pinkie opened the front doors and stepped back, bowing. There stood Princess Celestia with Luna at her side. The rest of my friends lowered their heads toward the royal sisters, but I merely nodded in greeting. The princesses had told me enough times not to bow to them that I had finally become used treating them as I would my bosses instead of the Supreme Diarchy of Equestria.
Princess Celestia had her typical serene smile as she strolled inside, and Princess Luna seemed ecstatic, trotting ahead of her sister.
"Rise, fair ponies!" Luna grinned from ear to ear. "Long have I desired to witness another alicorn's ascension." Her smile faltered a bit. "I appear to have just missed the actual transformation, but I hope that I am the first to congratulate you, fair Applejack. I regret not being there to guide you through your metamorphosis, but it seems that you were in capable hooves." She turned her beaming face toward me.
"I don't know if I coulda got through it without Twilight," said AJ. "Probably woulda gotten stuck up there for who knows how long. I don't even think I coulda teleported there in the first place without her. It was her idea." She glanced at me before studying the floor.
"Twilight Sparkle may have accelerated the process, but she did not make you thus. You chose to use life infusion on your friend Fluttershy, did you not?"
Applejack nodded.
"Using magic to help your friend is what unlocked your full potential. And this was the culmination of a series of positive choices you have made. Indeed, I would not be free of my own darkness if not for your help. You have proven yourself to be ready to serve as a princess of Equestria," said Princess Luna.
Blushing, Applejack tugged off her hat and held it in front of her. "With all due respect, Princess Luna, I ain't ready to be a princess. I don't know if I'll ever be ready, to be honest. Ever since I got my cutie mark, I knew I was meant to work at Sweet Apple Acres, to provide for my family and Ponyville. I don't think that should change. When I tried to live a different life, I was as miserable as a yak in Ponyville. And I felt even worse when I was forced to try a different career. So, I'm sorry if I'm breakin' a rule or tradition, but I ain't gonna be a princess."
Rarity held her hoof over her mouth, her eyes wide. Pinkie rubbed her foreleg and stared at the polished floor. The rest of my friends leaned forward, anxious to hear Luna's response.
"I don't think that anypony is ever fully prepared to become a national leader. There is no other life experience that can compare. Yet I think that you are more ready than I was when I became a princess. You are a mare of integrity who has taught other ponies to be true to themselves. And you have helped save Equestria several times over, when my sister and I failed. However, I will defer to my sister on this matter." Princess Luna gazed over her shoulder at Celestia. "What say you, sister? Would you have Applejack crowned a princess?"
Princess Celestia stepped toward the two of them. "I concur with my sister's assessment of you, Applejack. But I would not force you to take on a leadership role if you truly believe that you are not ready. There is no rule that all alicorns must be royalty, but most ponies expect it because that is all they have ever known. I propose a compromise. Applejack, you will spend a year learning how to be a princess with Twilight, and learning meteorolurgy with Rainbow Dash, I would imagine," she added, glancing at Dash. "In the mean time, you would help Twilight learn life drain and life pulse. This would be very helpful to all of Equestria. And with all ponies and other species living much longer, we will need to figure out a way to accommodate the growing population. They may choose to slow their birthrate, but if not . . ." Pausing, she spread her majestic wings, gazing upward. "There are other worlds that we can explore, to see if we can move there. Our society will have need of other princesses. And I believe it is only a matter of time before each of you achieves ascension." She smiled, her gaze sweeping over each one of us.
Fluttershy let out a squeak, while Rarity grinned wide. Pinkie Pie seemed to be doing her best to act nonchalant, which for some reason involved putting on a pair of sunglasses and a fedora.
"Wait, hold the mail. You think we're all gonna become alicorns?" asked Rainbow.
"Is it that surprising?" Celestia folded her wings. "You bear the Elements of Harmony, something only alicorns have done before. Each of you understands true friendship and has special magical skills. If anything, it's a little surprising you aren't already alicorns."
"But what does it mean for us as ponies?" Pinkie spoke up, sliding off her sunglasses. "They tell you your whole life that your cutie mark shows what you're meant to do for as long as you live, and if you don't live up to it then you're a loser." Her hair lost some of its volume as she removed her fedora and set it aside. "If I can't be silly and make ponies laugh and feel good about themselves, then - then who am I?"
"I know how ya feel, Pinkie," said AJ. "If I become a princess, whether it's today or a year from now, would I still be a farmer? And would that mean that when I came back home from Manehattan and got my mark, none o' that mattered?"
Luna gave her a gentle smile. "Sometimes I wonder if we put too much emphasis on cutie marks, or at least the wrong kind of emphasis. Applejack, have you looked at your mark since you transformed?"
Applejack furrowed her brow. "No." She peeked over her shoulder and lifted her wing to get a better view of her flank. "What in tarnation?" She was so surprised that she dropped her hat. "What's it mean?"
"Your cutie mark does not control your destiny." Princess Luna rested her hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "It is merely an outward expression of your talents and magic. It does not define you. You define it."
"You said it, sister," said Princess Celestia. "Twilight, you expressed similar concerns when I made you a princess. You worried about not being my student any longer."
I flicked my ears. "Yes, I had no idea what I would do if I wasn't your student. I earned my mark by getting into the School of, uh, Magic. So, for a long time, I assumed I'd be a career student."
"And what have you learned since then?"
"Well, my mark changed, too." I peered over my shoulder at my magenta and white stars. "It was more than it used to be. And I realized that I was still a scholar, but more than that. My passion is education: teaching and studying all kinds of subjects, not just unicorn magic. And being a princess hasn't hindered that in any way. If anything, it's helped."
Celestia nodded. "Well done, my faithful student."
My cheeks burned at the nostalgic praise.
"You see, your cutie marks have broader and deeper meanings than you ever realized. You are the same ponies you were as fillies, but you are capable of so much more. So, Applejack, you still haven't told me whether you accept my compromise. What do you think?"
AJ took a deep breath. "I reckon this trainin' is worth a try, as long as I still got time to take care o' my orchard. But what if I decide I'm still not ready when the year is up?"
"Take all the time you need. Time is one thing we all have plenty of, now."
"Thanks, Princess." Applejack smiled and shifted her wings. "When you put it that way, I'm willin' to give it a try."
"But won't other ponies still treat us differently? I mean, treat Applejack differently?" Pinkie sat back and rubbed her front hooves together. "I want to mingle with everypony. I don't want anypony bowing to me. I'm not better than anypony else just because . . ."
"Because what?" I prompted.
She inhaled deeply. "I guess there's no reason not to tell you the whole story, now." Gazing around at the other ponies (and dragon) in the room, she continued, "I already told Twilight and AJ part of this, but when I was still living on the rock farm, my granny tried to teach me to use life drain on the earth. My magic went deep underground until it reached a place with more explosive force than I'd ever felt before. The force zapped into me and it was too much for one pony, so I tried to jump away from it, and I ended up in that place with the magic lights, the place you called the Thaumic Plane, Twilight. I didn't understand what was happening. I couldn't feel anything except the lights. I thought maybe I was in Elysium, but that didn't seem right because there were no other ponies there. And then my magic went out of me - I could see it coming out of my chest. That really scared me, and I don't scare easily unless I want to. So I grabbed my magic in my hooves and popped it back in."
Princess Luna's mouth fell open. "I did not think that was possible."
Pinkie shrugged. "Story of my life."
"I wanted to do the same thing, Pinkie," said Applejack. "But Twilight said that the magic knew what to do, so I let it." She touched the base of her horn.
"What happened next?" Dash asked Pinkie.
"Well, I didn't want to stick around where my magic could escape, so I teleported back home. Granny Pie said I disappeared. Nopony could explain what happened, but I wasn't hurt, so we didn't worry about it. But ever since then my powers were stronger and harder to control. I didn't have any idea what happened until Twilight became an alicorn."
Princess Celestia regarded at her with sympathy. Then she walked over and put her wing over Pinkie. "You poor little pony. Do you understand now what happened? You have had the magic of the three founding tribes within you, and could only express it with earth magic. It's no wonder it was so difficult to control. I'm sorry that you had to go through that with no support. But we are here for you now. Whenever you are ready, I would imagine that you could teleport to the Thaumic Plane again."
Pinkie smiled, seeming more like her old self. "Oh, you don't have to feel sorry for me, Princess. I love finding different ways to use earth magic, especially if it makes other ponies laugh! But now that my friends know what really happened, I feel like I spoiled the joke." Her mouth curved down again, but she looked thoughtful instead of sad. "And thanks for offering to go back to the Thaumic Plane, but I'm not ready for that yet. I only just worked up the courage to tell you guys the truth - I don't know if I want the whole world to know yet. I still don't want ponies to be too intimidated to ask me to plan their showers and wedding receptions."
"If any princess can become approachable to the little ponies, I am certain it is you," said Luna, taking a step toward Pinkie. "You can show them that you are the same as you have always been, no matter how you look on the outside."
"I guess." Pinkie sounded unconvinced. "But it's fun being a souped-up earth pony. The only thing ascending would do for me is make it easier to fly."
"Easier?" Princess Celestia arched her eyebrows.
"Yeah, she can hover with her mane," said Rainbow. "Show her, Pinks."
Pinkie folded her forelegs. "Well now you're putting me on the spot. My powers work best when others aren't expecting it."
"Is that why you kept all this a secret for so long?" asked Applejack.
"That's part of the reason," said Pinkie, dropping back down on all fours. "It also wouldn't have meant anything to anypony before Twilight turned into an alicorn, and afterward, I didn't want anypony to know. But I am glad I finally told somepony besides my granny and mom and dad."
"Pinkie Pie," said Princess Luna, "when you are ready to ascend, I would ask a favor of you. Would you please tell me first? I am tired of always being the last to know such important developments." She lowered her head and turned up her eyes, looking almost pouty.
"Aw, don't worry, Princess Luna." Pinkie's cheeks rounded as she beamed. "I don't know when it would happen, but I wouldn't leave you out of the loop."
AJ put her hat back on at last and moved closer to me. "So, looks like we got a lotta work to do, changin' the population of Equestria and all."
I put my forelegs over her withers. "Yes, and I can't wait to get started. We have so much to teach each other." My eyes widened as I remembered something. "Oh good night, I still have to finish my notes! I have so much to write down." I reached out with my thauma, lifting my notepad and quill.
Then there was the sound of tiny wing beats as a rebellious baby wren flew into Princess Celestia's tail. Celestia peeked over her shoulder and lifted her tail.
"Is this one of your birds, Fluttershy?" she asked.
"Yes, and she hasn't eaten in thirty minutes. She's probably desperate enough to eat mealworms by now." Fluttershy beckoned the wren with her foreleg. "Come on, Caroline."
Caroline launched herself toward Fluttershy, landing on her muzzle with a peep.
Dear Shining,
I have big news! You and Cadance are invited to an alicorn party in Ponyville next Friday! You see, Flurry Heart is no longer the newest alicorn. Yesterday, Applejack used an enhanced form of earth thaumaturgy and achieved alicornhood. She already has a list of ponies wanting to receive her life infusion. If you don't know what that is, ask Cadance. The work I am doing with Applejack could quadruple the lifespans of all sapient races. I want you especially to come for a demonstration, but of course I would love to spend more time with Cadance and little Flurry Heart. Is Flurry's magic suppressed everywhere she goes, or only in proximity to the Crystal Heart? It is imperative for public safety that her powers be kept under control.
I can't wait to tell you all the details in pony.
Love,
Twily |
Heroes for Friendship | pre | "You've been given the power of Moira O'Deorain, a controversial scientist of dubious ethical standards. With your left hand, you can heal your allies. With your right, you drain that life force from your enemies."
Aria smirked hearing that, "Sounds good to me."
Grimoire pushed a button and sent them on to their game. \/
The group's pod opened, and they found themselves in a futuristic city. Beyond the bounds of city was an expansive grassland. There were a number of banners and posters advertising a museum exhibit with someone named Efi.
Welcome to Numbani.
"Woah! This is awesome!" Pinkie jumped up in excitement.
Round 1: Begin.
As the robotic wave began, the group started to get a feel for their powers. Aria primarily focused on hurting as many robots as she could before begrudgingly healing her team. Pinkie found out how to set up her turret, keeping it at high HP while attacking with her molten gun. Rarity... had some difficulties. It took her time to adjust to her position and how her mech actually worked. She was the slowest of the group to learn how to work her abilities, but she got their eventually.
Luna, on the other hand, was a natural with her bow. Head shot after head shot, she broke the wave with little effort.
"Oh wow!" Pinkie jumped over toward her. "You're really good!"
"Thank you. Archery was always a favorite hobby of mine. And this is certainly easier than in real life. Of course," she smiled, "I can't usually do something like this in life either." She readied an arrow and it began to glow. "Okami yo, waga teki wo kurae!" From her arrow, a pair of energy wolves erupted from the air and began to twist around one another. The wolves broke the robotic presence in front of Luna.
A few minutes later, the round ended and everyone had gotten better with their abilities. They were set to start the next round when something odd happened.
R-r-r-round 1: C-c-complete.
"What's going on?" Pinkie looked up to the sky, as if it would answer her.
Round- Round- Round- 2... Com...en...sing... Daisy. Daisy...
The group found themselves outside the game and back in the main room.
Grimoire was fiddling with a console to the side shouting to himself. "No! No! No! NO! Damn it!"
"What's going on?" Sunset walked over, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Vinyl raised an eyebrow at this.
Grimoire sighed. "Seems I overestimated the machine's abilities..."
"So, we just have to wait longer. That should be fine." Luna took the events in stride.
"Not quite..."
"What do you mean?"
"Well..." He pressed a button to shut the system down for recharge only to have it spark and break a screen.
"Yikes." Rainbow jumped at a realization. "Aw man! We won't get our second chance!"
"Well, this sucks." Timber sighed, but didn't seem too terribly affected. He would have enjoyed the game and getting to play it with Twilight, but he was able to go with the flow.
Grimoire tried to fix the machine for around half an hour, getting Sunset and Vinyl to help him. Sunset understood the magical systems and tried to get things to work. However, she was surprised to see Vinyl helping. It was odd. Vinyl seemed to be keeping up with the technical side of the magic console. Sunset wasn't sure how to take that. She knew Vinyl had enough technical knowledge to fix her headphones or DJ deck, but not about any magical tech.
Thirty minutes of sparks and magical feedback later, Grimoire hit his head on the console in defeat. He took a deep breath and turned to the remaining group. "So... I'm sorry about this... but the machine is shot and it's not getting fixed any time soon."
"So, what do we do about the prize?" Aria asked with a hint of disappointed anger.
"Well... We can either reconvene and you'll all have to start over, whenever that would be... Or I can go with plan B and hand them out to one person per team. It would have been the MVP, but one team didn't get to go. So..."
"One per team is fine." Aria leaned back in her chair. "I don't feel like coming back here anyway."
Grimoire shook his head and opened the issue to the group. They ultimately decided on the one per team as a fair way to decide the issue. "Okay," Grimoire pulled out a note pad and a pen, "Who's getting the stuff?"
"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie jumped up and down with her hand raised.
"Yes, Pinkie?"
"I vote to give our teams prize thing to Vice Principal Luna!"
"Just trying to butter up your teacher..." Luna was about to give the prize back, but was cut off.
"You said you liked archery, right? So why not take it?!"
"Well, what about your friends?"
Rarity was sketching something down, "I can make my own suit if I want. But I think I'd prefer to put my own spin on it."
Aria waved from her chair, "I really don't care."
Pinkie smiled, "There you go!"
Luna sighed and smiled. "Alright then. I guess I accept."
Grimoire wrote something down and tore the paper. He placed it on the table and it began to shift into a parcel. "There you go. One Okami attire for the Vice Principal. Wear it in good health."
Luna wasn't sure how that just worked, so she opened the parcel to see what's actually in the box, and it was indeed the attire she wore in the game. It was an amazing material and felt very comfortable. "Impressive."
Grimoire prepared the next page. "Okay, who gets it from Team 4?"
Thing was, there was only two members of that team still there. Fluttershy made it clear that she didn't want the Reaper's attire. Vinyl shrugged in indifference.
"Okay... I guess Vinyl gets this one." He created another parcel and handed it to Vinyl. "Now, Team 3."
Sonata thought a moment before answering. "I'm okay without the costume."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I'm good!"
"Alright then. That leaves Rainbow with Widowmaker, AJ with McCree, and Big Mac with Mei."
Rainbow chuckled a little. "I'll pass. That's not really my style."
AJ shrugged. "I'm okay with giving the costume to Big Mac. He needs a new coat anyway."
Grimoire created another parcel and passed it to Big Mac. "Your new coat. Good for subzero temperatures too negative 70 degrees Fahrenheit."
"Thank you." Big Mac opened the parcel and even found a backpack designed like the tank on the character's back, complete with detachable robotic drone.
"Not bad there, Big Mac." AJ let out an impressed whistle.
Grimoire turned to the remaining four. "Now... whoever gets it, I'll have to run a randomizer again for your kit. So... who wants the prize?"
Lyra thought for a while. "I don't know... I'm not sure this stuff is for me, really."
Twilight and Timber were distracted in each other's company.
Grimoire rolled his eyes and turned to Sunset. "Well? What do you say?"
Sunset looked over to the two and back to Grimoire. "Okay. I'll take it."
"Alright then." Grimoire used his paper to spoof the randomizer system. The symbol appeared, showing the number 76. The parcel appeared and he handed it to Sunset. "You've been given the kit of Soldier:76. Formerly known as Jack Morrison. Once the leader of the Overwatch strike team, Soldier: 76 is now a vigilante and international criminal. Still working to make the world a better place, but working outside the law."
Sunset smiled and took the package. She opened it to reveal a long, blue coat with matching armor.
Grimoire looked over her shoulder. "Looks like you got the Strike Commander Morrison version." Grimoire clapped his hands again, "I want to thank you all for coming. I'm sorry not all of you got the chance to play. I'll do what I can, if we ever decide to do something like this again, to fix the issues so everyone gets a chance. Seriously, I am very sorry about that."
Lyra stood and smiled. "It's fine. Anyway, I'll see you guys at school on Monday."
The groups started to leave after that. Twilight and Timber left to go on an impromptu date (Timber's idea). Sonata and Rainbow Dash left with Applejack, showing the progress made even if it was minimal. Aria and Lyra left on their own in two separate directions. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie left as a group as well.
Sunset was about to leave before she saw Vinyl still sitting in the tent, "Vinyl? It's time to go."
Vinyl stretched and gave a motion that said I know that, but she didn't move.
"Um... Then why are you...?"
"Okay. This machine turned out to be a bust..." Grimoire was only paying partial attention to the world around him, likely unaware Sunset was still there. "Still, some new friends were made and the barriers for others are breaking down. So, good work all around I think. Should probably get back to Equestria for a while, though. Vinyl you ready to... Sunset? You're still here?"
"Wait. You're taking Vinyl to Equestria? Why?"
"Um... She lives there."
"Oh. Oh... Okay. Hold on. You brought her from Equestria to play this game?"
"Octavia, her roommate, said it was better than leaving her alone at their home and Vinyl said she had nothing better to do."
"That makes sense... I guess. Anyway, I'll see you next time." Sunset walked off, parcel in tow under her arm.
Vinyl looked over the back of her chair toward Grimoire.
"What's with the look?"
Vinyl didn't say anything, but was able to convey her words.
"She's an old classmate. Remember, making friends isn't exactly easy for me, but what friends I do make I stick with for as long as possible." Grimoire pulled the plug and the tent returned to its normal interior. "Now, let's get moving."
Vinyl stood up and walked out with Grimoire.
The tent behind them shrunk into a small satchel, which Grimoire picked up before they walked over to the portal. Grimoire and Vinyl had returned to Equestria. \/
An hour after Grimoire and Vinyl left and a few miles down the road, Sonata and Rainbow were watching an old wrestling tape Sonata kept from the heyday of her favorite wrestler, Commander Solaris. In the middle of a less impressive match, Sonata turned to Rainbow, "Do you think the game really worked? You know, helping everyone become friends?"
"I don't know," Rainbow was uncharacteristically melancholy about the issue. "AJ is willing to give you the chance at least, and that's improvement. I don't know what will happen next, but at least we have the chance to patch things up with everyone."
"I guess that's all we can ask for."
"Still kind of stinks about the machine breaking down."
"Yeah. No kidding." Sonata looked back to the recording. "Oh! This is a great part!"
The two enjoyed the remainder of their day watching old wrestling matches. |
Spectacular Seven | pre | Moondancer leaned back and hummed. "Well, I do like this look for your hair," she said, playing with one of Twilight's tresses. "I must admit, this look does reflect your inner you: the sparkling genius I know you are!" She raised her hands above her head. "Look at my little flower, blossoming into her own!"
Twilight blushed. "Thanks, Moony."
Moondancer held a hand over her mouth and giggled. "I'll spare every compliment for you." She pointed down the hall. "Now, I must adjourn to see the principal for my class schedule. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me, my dear Twilight?"
"I'd love to!" She looked to Sunset. "You don't mind, do you?"
"Oh no, of course not," Sunset said, her voice an octave higher than usual, and a smile stuck on her face. "Go and catch up, have a good time!"
Twilight leaned up and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you at lunch. Come on, Moony."
Moondancer crossed and arm over her chest and bowed. "It was lovely to meet you, Sunset Shimmer. I can't wait to learn more about your character." She rose and draped an arm around Twilight, leading her away to Celestia's office.
Sunset continued to stand there, staring after them, still painfully smiling. She didn't stop until Fluttershy tiptoed up and tapped her shoulder.
"Sunset, are you okay?"
"Yep! Totally fine! Peachy!" Her voice was still an octave too high.
Fluttershy took a half-step back. "Are you sure?"
Sunset's shoulders dropped and she uncrossed her arms. "No. But, I'm just being, you know, me. Twilight hasn't seen her friend in months, I should be happy for her. Instead, I'm..."
"Jealous?"
"I am not jealous!" She saw Fluttershy flinch back, and cupped a hand over her eyes. "Sorry. I'm not jealous, I'm just... annoyed. And... and... " Sunset stomped her foot. "I mean, did you see her? You can't deny she's beautiful!"
"I wasn't going to," Fluttershy mumbled, her cheeks reddening.
Sunset released an aggravated sigh. "It's okay, I'll get over it. Is it a little suspicious that she transferred from some private school to here, just to see Twilight? Yes. But, I'm going to be reasonable and responsible, and trust Twilight."
Fluttershy smiled. "That's good."
"And if this Moondancer tries anything, I'll snap her like the twig she is."
Fluttershy frowned.
*******
The new semester began with no fanfare or excitement other than the murmurings of Moondancer's acrobatic feat earlier. Vice Principal Luna greeted the students and read off the morning announcements, repeating much of what had been on the posters.
Sunset took her seat in the front of her history class next to Rarity, who flashed a radiant smile. Before they could exchange a proper greeting, Mr. Noteworthy cleared his throat, ceasing all side chatter.
"I hope you all had a good break," he said, scratching chalk against the blackboard. "Now, just because you've turned in your college applications, doesn't mean you can slack off. I won't tolerate 'senioritis' in my class. Now then..."
Sunset began taking notes, her mood made more sour by the mention of 'college applications.' She filed it away under 'bridges to cross when she got there.' Unfortunately, that just left her filled with images of Moondancer backflipping in the hallway. Had Sunset still been the iron-fisted hate monger she had once been known as, she'd already be conspiring to find ways to drag Moondancer through the mud, figuratively, and if she got the chance, literally.
All right, reel it back, girl. You're not a vindictive megalomaniac anymore. As fun as it would be to entertain the thought, she hasn't even done anything yet. 'Yet' being the key word.
And besides, what could Moondancer actually do? Sure she was an overdramatic ham like Artemis, and could backflip while wearing pumps, but that didn't make her a threat. Yet.
And furthermore, Twilight had picked her, Sunset, right? She had known Moondancer years before, and apparently nothing had come of it. Heck, maybe Moondancer really was just Twilight's best friend and Sunset was reading too much into it.
'Hi, Sunset. Moondancer just confessed her love to me and I realized, I've felt the same way and didn't notice until now. So, I'm leaving you for her. Bye!'
There was a tiny crick as Sunset gripped her pencil a little too tightly. Okay, you're being stupid. You know Twilight isn't like that. Don't turn this into the stupid dramas Rarity's into. Just relax. If Twilight picked you after learning how terrible you were before, there must be a reason.
As the period progressed, Sunset relaxed to her usual indifferent contentment. History remained her least favorite subject and the only one of her classes that wasn't advance placement. Having Rarity as a work partner was the only thing that made it bearable now.
"So, tell me about this Moondancer character everyone is whispering about," Rarity asked when the class broke into group work.
Sunset tapped her cracked pencil on the desk. "You know how you have some of your 'drama moments' from time to time?"
"Yes?" Rarity said, raising an eyebrow.
"That's her. Set to eleven. It's like, she thinks we're in a play or something."
"I see. Interesting." Rarity looked through her textbook and wrote an answer on their assignment paper. "So, what was she wearing?"
Sunset pushed the eraser against her forehead. "Rarity, I'm honestly trying not to think about her right now."
Rarity gave her a cat-like smile. "Sunset Shimmer, you're not jealous are you?"
"No, I am not jealous!" Sunset said in a raised voice, getting half the class to look at her. Her cheeks burned, and she said in a quieter voice, "I'm not jealous. Sure, she's pretty, but I know Twilight isn't going to run off with her at first sight."
"Good." Rarity nodded sagely. "Although, you shouldn't discredit your own beauty, Sunset. You're a very attractive young woman."
Sunset looked down at her paper, blushing. She didn't know why. She knew she was sexy! Still, it was nice to hear it from her friends.
Rarity closed her book and dug through her bag to find her nail file. "And personally, I think a smidge of jealousy is healthy for a relationship. It lets your partner know you care about them. Just a smidge, mind you."
"I know, I know." Sunset waved her free hand as she she finished her paper. "Don't turn this into some friendship lesson. Jealousy is bad, leads to anger, blah, blah, blah, she-demon."
Rarity paused her filing to give Sunset a concerned stare. "Well, I wasn't going to go there, but... as long as you understand." When Sunset kept her head down, Rarity asked, "Is something else bothering you, darling?"
"No."
"Sunset..." Rarity pursed her lips and tapped a newly manicured nail against the desk.
Sunset sighed. Next to Twilight, Rarity could read her best. Not that Sunset was making the best effort to hide her emotions. Honestly, there were a plethora of things bothering her. Still, Rarity had proven time and again to be a good shoulder to lean on. She looked up and met Rarity's eyes.
"You know at New Years, I said I wanted to be a good friend?"
Rarity nodded.
"Well..." Sunset inwardly kicked herself. She felt like a five year-old. An insecure five year--old learning how to ride a bike without training wheels. "I'm just worried about how long I can go without messing something up. You know how I can get sometimes: snippy, abrasive, angry. What if I do take this jealousy thing--which I'm totally not by the way--too far and do something stupid? I don't want to go back to being mean, but sometimes, it feels so easy."
"Oh, sweetheart." Rarity laid a hand over Sunset's. "That's why you have us. We're not going to abandon you over one little mistake you might make. Yes, you can be quite sarcastic and a little rough around the edges, but so is Rainbow, and we tolerate her." That got a chuckle out of Sunset. "I've seen your growth, Sunset. I'm not concerned in the slightest about you turning back to the proverbial dark side. None of us would let you."
Geez, we did turn this into a sappy friendship lesson. Though, Sunset supposed it was these moments that kept her from, as Rarity said, 'turning to the dark side.' Of course, now she just felt stupid for feeling worried in the first place. You're just all over the place, aren't you?
Outwardly, she nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Rarity. I don't know why I get so worked up. I guess between having actual friends and dating Twilight and everything I did before and..." Sunset slapped a hand over her eyes. "Ugh, I sound so pathetic right now."
"Darling, it's okay to be worried. Your life has changed rather dramatically in only a few months. But, I'll be here for you, every step of the way."
Mr. Noteworthy walked over, more papers clutched tightly in his hand. "If you girls have time to yammer on for ten minutes, then you have time to do extra work." He slapped the papers onto their desks. "Less talking, more learning."
Sunset groaned at the new set of short answer questions. She looked over to Rarity, who gave an encouraging smile. At least she didn't have to do this alone either.
*******
Noisy chaos: the cafeteria's usual state. Complimented by reheated pizza, veggie burgers, and open milk cartons melding together to create a pungent smell that could only be produced in public high schools.
Sunset sat down at the regular table, Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie already seated. It wasn't long before everyone else gathered, including Moondancer. Sunset was glad to see she wasn't the only one perturbed by this, if Rainbow's scowl meant anything.
"It's a delight to meet you all!" Moondancer said sweetly. She sat on Twilight's other side, leaning too close for Sunset's liking. "Thank you so much for taking care of my little star while I was gone. I hope she wasn't too much trouble."
"Are you kidding?" Pinkie said, leaning out of her seat. "She's one of our bestest friends now! And besides, she always follows the rules! I don't think she's broken a single one!" Pinkie tapped a finger against her chin and looked at the ceiling. "Well, except for the time we all snuck into detention to throw Sunset a party. But is that breaking any rules? I don't think there's a rule saying you get in trouble if you break into detention..."
Applejack picked up the conversation while Pinkie dove into her own ramblings. "What she means is, we love havin' Twi around, and any friend of hers is a friend of ours."
Moondancer held a hand over her heart. "You're all very sweet. I simply must repay this favor somehow."
Rarity waved a hand. "Please, darling, it really was no trouble. You don't have to do anything."
"Oh, but I insist! 'Twould be most ungracious of me to not show my appreciation."
Rainbow looked between Moondancer and Rarity, a look of revulsion on her face. "Oh, God, they're multiplying."
Moondancer snapped her fingers. "I know!" She traced a hand through the air. "You are all cordially invited to my home this Saturday for afternoon tea. Does that sound enjoyable to all?"
Rarity bobbed her head. "A tea day sounds lovely! I can't wait!"
"Moondancer!" an incoming voice shouted.
"Oh, God, here comes another one!" Rainbow said, looking at Trixie as she ran over.
Moondancer stood up and held her arms out. "Trixie, sweetie!" She kissed Trixie on both cheeks and gave her a squeeze. "My dear, it's been so long! How are you?"
"Trixie is doing fantastic! She sees you're looking just as good as ever."
Twilight tilted her head. "You two know each other?"
Moondancer put a hand over her mouth. "That's right, I never got a chance to introduce you to most of my family. Yes, Trixie here is my cousin."
Sunset's eyes widened in realization. She had seen Moondancer before, the first day she had walked into the Lulamoons' house and saw their vast collection of pictures on their living room wall. Moondancer had been there, a little girl being measured next to Trixie, and jumping with her on a trampoline.
The idea settled over her like a cold fog: Moondancer hadn't stepped into her life.
She had stepped into Moondancer's. |
Spectacular Seven | 3. The Upper Villa | Tuesday brought Sunset much more cheer than her first day back to school. Twilight shared her new AP Economics class. And, due to budget cuts, the two AP Chemistry classes had to be combined into one, not that they were very big separately to begin with. Combined with their final period of AP Trigonometry, Sunset and Twilight had a whole day of classes together.
The best part? Moondancer wasn't in any of them.
She may be pretty, but I bet her head's mostly full of hot air. Even as she thought it, Sunset knew it wasn't true. Moondancer may not have been her and Twilight's level of smart, but she was far from dumb. Still, petty insults were how Sunset relieved her frustrations. That and enjoying her quality alone time with Twilight.
They leaned over their high-powered microscope, examining the chemical reaction to their isotope. Though only one of them could look into the lense at a time, they kept their cheeks pressed against each other. As Sunset pulled away to fill in their chart, Twilight cleared her throat.
"So, uhh, Sunset... do you like science?"
"Obviously, Sparky, otherwise, I wouldn't be here."
"Because I have my ion you."
"What?" Sunset looked up at her, finding Twilight's face red. She twisted a finger through a tress and stared at the floor.
"Get it?" she asked meekly. "Because... ion... eye on... I...umm..."
Sunset pressed her lips together, trying not to burst into hysterical laughter. "Twilight, are you trying to flirt with me again?"
Twilight looked up. "Is it working?" There was a hopeful gleam in her eye.
"No, sweetie, it's not. You're still terrible at it."
Twilight slumped her shoulders and groaned.
Sunset reached for Twilight's hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. "But the fact that you're trying is adorable as hell." She leaned to give Twilight's blushing face a kiss, but remembered that public displays of affection were frowned upon in the classroom setting. The fact that they were at the front of the class where everyone could see them didn't help either. So she settled for pushing her cheek against Twilight's while she looked into the microscope again.
Twilight's pout continued even when the period came to an end. She and Sunset headed for their lockers to put their books away before heading to the cafeteria. "I don't get it. Cadence makes flirting look so easy."
"It's all about timing and delivery, Sparky," Sunset said, pushing her book into her locker. "And honestly, asking me if I liked science? You should have known you were going to get a snarky answer."
Applejack came over, sack lunch in hand. "Howdy, girls. How was class?"
"It was fun," Twilight said, perking up. "We studied isotopes and their reactions to certain chemicals and other stimuli."
Sunset wrapped an arm around Twilight's waist and whispered into her ear, "You must have eleven protons, 'cause your butt is sodium fine."
Twilight locked up, her face turning red again. "S-Sunset!"
She laughed and kissed Twilight on the cheek. "Consider that a lesson." She let go and sauntered away, smirking at Applejack's confused head tilt.
"That's not fair!" Twilight shouted.
*******
At home, dinner had been a relatively calm affair. After Sunset had helped clean up the dishes, she retreated toward her room, pausing in the living room to look at the picture of Moondancer. With her was a woman who looked like, simply put, a female version of Artemis. She had longer hair and lacked a goatee, but they shared a childlike smile.
Sunset made another detour to her room, stopping at Trixie's and knocking on her open door. Trixie looked up from the magazine she was reading and took off her headphones. "What do you want?" It wasn't said unkindly. Trixie's natural tone just made everything she said come out as snappish.
"How are you and Moondancer related?" Sunset knew the answer but wanted to make sure she was right.
Trixie rolled herself into a sitting position. "She's my first cousin, the daughter of my father's sister. Why?"
Sunset leaned against the door frame. "Just curious, really. Artemis never talks about his sister."
"Well..." Trixie looked away, a grim shadow over her face. "She... she isn't around anymore."
The shadow from her face spread over her words as well. Sunset decided to leave it alone. Whatever the story behind it, it wasn't her place to know. "So, what's Moondancer like?"
Trixie rose her head to the light and shrugged. "We used to play together a lot when we were little. Honestly, Trixie thinks she was a little full of herself."
No one in this family understands irony.
"She loves the stage, like every Lulamoon before her. She's a pretty good actress and can dance very well." Trixie sat up straight and stuck her chest out. "Unfortunately for her, she did not inherit the amazing, mind-blowing magic our family is capable of! So, it's up to The Great and Powerful Trixie to continue on the legacy of magical feats of wonder and amazement!"
By now, Sunset had turned her back and retreated to her room, ignoring Trixie's indignant shout of, "Hey!" She closed the door and greeted Spot who had taken up residence on her bed.
"I thought you weren't going to collect information on her to prepare a diabolical plot?" Princess Twilight squeaked.
"I'm not," Sunset said defiantly. "I still want to know more about her. Apparently, I'm going to be spending an... unfortunate amount of time with her."
"You could always use more friends in your life."
"I'm happy with the amount I have, thank you very much." Sunset may have accepted love and friendship, but she was no social butterfly. Besides, something about Moondancer irked her.
"You're just jealous."
"I am not!"
*******
Saturday arrived, much to Sunset's displeasure. She wasn't sure which was worse: going to Moondancer's house for tea, or going there with Trixie. She and Trixie didn't dislike each other anymore, but any time they were in the car, an odd silence hung over them that Sunset could never quite hurdle over.
She followed Trixie out the door, hands in her pockets. The air was chilly, but the sun was out and shining, occasionally covered up by a puffy cloud. Sunset kept her leather jacket zipped up, thankful for the thermal interior.
Artemis walked the girls to Trixie's little blue buggy. "Give Moondancer all of our love. I've tried to go over there, but they always seem to be away. Lord knows how busy her father is."
Sunset waved goodbye as they pulled away and took off down the road. The drive to the Upper Villa would take an hour and a half with good traffic. She had never been to that side of Canterlot, but according to the stories, it was supposed to be their version of Beverly Hills.
Trixie turned the radio on the break the silence. As usual, it was set to Cadence's radio station. Sunset made a small noise in the back of her throat but said nothing. It didn't bother her as much as it used to.
When the song came to an end, Cadence popped on. "And that was Ambrosia's 'Midnight Love' one of my new favorites! Now, I've been getting a lot of requests recently to play songs from the Dazzlings. Guys, you should know better," she said in a fake scolding voice, "I only play love songs, so when they write one, I'll play one."
Trixie shook her head. "Trixie doesn't understand what people see in them. They're okay at best. She can't figure out why half the country is going gaga over them."
Sunset shrugged. "I've never even heard of them."
"They're just the next girl pop band. In a year, no one will even remember who they are."
They fell back into silence, though Sunset got some satisfaction that they had held a conversation, however short. She watched the suburban scenery fly by before they got onto the freeway heading north. Moondancer had offered to pick Twilight up herself, and in a limo no less. To Sunset's unspoken chagrin, Twilight had said yes.
Sunset resisted the urge to smash her forehead against the window. Who wouldn't say yes to riding in a limousine? And what could Sunset say: no, Twilight couldn't go and spend time with her best friend? Although Sunset was sure Moondancer was doing it to prove some point, she had no counter for it.
Well, nothing legal at least. She shook her head. She was past that stage in her life. The easy and grown-up thing to do was sit down and have a calm talk with Moondancer. Or punch her in the face, but Sunset was sure Twilight would resent that action.
The hour ticked by, filled with love songs accompanied by Trixie's humming, and Cadence giving love advice on the air. Sunset found that desperate lovestruck idiots asking for help on live radio was more entertaining than she would have thought.
"...And he always makes it up to me with expensive gifts, but I don't know if I can handle coming home to find him in bed with someone else again," a forlorn woman told Cadence, sounding close to tears.
"Sweetheart, once is a mistake, twice is counselling. He's done this to you seven times. You should have dumped him a long time ago."
There was a loud sniffle. "You're right. Should I give back the puppy then?"
"Oh no, keep the puppy. Dogs are more loyal than men anyway. Love you, Shiny!" she quickly added. "But... you might want to leave the knife sharpener."
Sunset scoffed. "Should keep the knife sharpener."
The road elevated and began to zigzag and curve up the mountain side. Sunset could see the pricey homes and luxurious condos sitting on the cliffs, surrounded by the limbs of dead trees. Still, these mansions were beautiful to behold, and Sunset could only imagine how much they cost.
Trixie pulled up to the community gate, where a bored looking security officer sat in his booth, playing his radio. Sunset could hear a trio of voices singing.
"We're here to see Moondancer," Trixie said.
The guard simply nodded, barely looking away from the radio. He pressed a button, and the gate creaked open. "Very top, you literally can't miss it."
As they drove on, Sunset made out some of the lyrics to the song.
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh,
You didn't know that you fell.
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh--
They continued to drive upwards, passing mansion after mansion, fountain after fountain, sculpture after sculpture. The community parks even had play structures painted ivory and gold. It reminded Sunset of Equestria's Canterlot.
A three story manor sat at the top of the Upper Villa, with its own open gate and a marble wall surrounding the property. Trixie pulled into the roundabout driveway and stopped.
Stepping out of the car, Sunset had to tilt her head back to see the top of Moondancer's mansion. There were four pointed spires at the corners of the arched roof, giving it a castle like appearance. Large windows decorated the front, and four stone columns flanked the entrance. Another fountain sat in the middle of the rotunda, this one painted gold and with three cherubs spitting water.
Sunset turned around and looked at the view of the city. She could see everything, even the Everfree Forest miles off on the other side. She crossed her arms and looked away. "All right fine, I'm jealous."
Trixie let out a longing sigh. "Trixie wishes she had enough money to buy a house like this. I always loved it when we got to come over."
A tall man with salt and pepper hair and an expensive looking suit stepped out from the oak front doors. "Ah, Miss Lulamoon, how nice to see you again."
"Hello, Mr. Porter, it's nice to see you too."
Mr. Porter turned to Sunset. "And you must be Miss Shimmer. Lady Moondancer is awaiting you both in the back garden; please, allow me to escort you."
She even has a butler, Sunset thought bitterly. In essence, Moondancer had everything Sunset did before she ran through the mirror. She's like Princess Twilight... Sunset stopped at the threshold, eyes wide with smoldering fury. They narrowed to dangerous slits. Congrats, Princess. You have competition.
Upon entering the manor, Sunset looked down at the polished floor only to stare at herself in an immaculate reflection. Above her reflection's head hung an enormous chandelier with hundreds of mini crystals dangling off its arms. Caught in the light, they shone in a spectrum of colors.
Porter led them past the grand staircase, with its rich red velvet carpeting and bronze handrails. Instead, they went down a large corridor, passing the kitchen, where a maid was setting out porcelain tea cups, and the dining room, with a black table large enough to sit twenty people comfortably. They finally reached the back door and exited into the garden.
It was impossibly full of life! Roses, lavender, honeysuckle, snapdragons. Azaleas and orchids and firebird dahlias--flowers of every type were in full bloom, releasing heavenly fragrances that numbed Sunset's brain upon first contact. Hummingbirds and bumblebees lazily drifted from flower to flower, taking in the sweet nectar of the floral paradise. Perfectly trimmed green hedges ran along the garden walls, where ivy hung in abundance. A stream ran through the garden, splitting it in half and wrapping around the gazebo in the center where Twilight and Moondancer waited.
Sunset approached, keeping her arms crossed. "How on earth are you keeping this garden alive in the middle of winter?"
Moondancer spun in place and stuck her thumb out. "I've got a green thumb!" She paused, then shrugged. "A professional gardener doesn't hurt either."
A loud shriek of delight made all four of them jump. Fluttershy stood with Rainbow at the front of the garden, the former covering her mouth with her hands, her cheeks as pink as her hair. "Sorry... I just... I got excited." Fluttershy took her time down the path, stopping several times to smell the flowers are watch the hummingbirds.
Rainbow cut straight for the gazebo and took a seat at the glass table. "Nice garden, Moonprancer."
"Um, it's Moondancer," she said, "and thank you."
Fluttershy took a seat next to Rainbow. "Oh yes, it's absolutely lovely! I can't believe it's flourishing like this in the winter time! You even have honeybees! My mother keeps a garden in our backyard, but it's nothing like this!"
Moondancer flicked her wrist. "Oh, Fluttershy, you have such kind words, you're embarrassing me. But do go on." Twilight pinched her shoulder and she giggled. "I jest, of course."
Rainbow leaned over to Sunset and whispered, "Seriously, who uses the word 'jest'?"
Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack were the last to arrive, each marveling at the miniature Eden. "Whooweee," Applejack said, "that's a lot of flowers. Ah tip mah hat to whoever keeps this place lookin' perty."
Everyone gathered at the table, and Moondancer's maid Lemon Fresh brought out the tea, served in a silver teapot, and an assortment of cookies on a silver plate. Pinkie quickly snatched three cookies and shoved them into her mouth. "Manks fer the cookes, Moomrancer."
Moondancer grimaced. "You're welcome, love."
Rarity tutted. "Pinkie, do not talk with your mouth full. You know better."
Pinkie made a loud swallow. "Sorry, they just looked so tasty!" She reached for another one, but Rarity smacked her hand.
"Let everyone else have one first." Rarity relaxed herself, taking a careful sip of her tea. When she finished, she pressed her hands to her face and squealed. "I can't believe it! I'm having tea in the Upper Villa, the height of Canterlot high society!"
Moondancer waved a hand. "Oh, it's not that special. We just have a nice view."
"And a giant house," Rainbow said, eyeing her tea with a scrunched nose.
Moondancer brushed her bangs over her shoulder. "Well, that is a bonus." She raised her cup to her lips, keeping her pinky out as she took a dainty sip.
Sunset took a sip of her own tea, surprised to find it a rich cinnamon flavor. It was so well-blended, Sunset didn't feel the need to add milk or sugar. All right... that's one point for her.
"So, Moondancer, Twilight told us you did some modeling in France," Rarity said, leaning forward excitedly. "You must tell us how that went."
"Well, there isn't much of a story to tell really," Moondancer said with an airy laugh. "I originally went there for some cosmetic and hair care products." She gave her hair a light fluff. "Then, they were so enraptured by my natural talent, that they wanted me to model a few dresses, so I stayed a bit longer than I thought I would. In between shoots, I got to tour the country--it's beyond lovely, you should really see it for yourself."
"Did you see Paris? What was Paris like?" Rarity bounced in her seat.
Moondancer raised a hand to the sky. "Absolutely stunning! There are no adequate words to describe the sheer beauty of the City of Lights!" She turned and cupped Twilight's cheeks. "I promise, I'll take you there myself someday, my little star."
"That's really sweet of you, Moony," Twilight said between her squished cheeks.
Sunset gripped her cup extra tight, wondering if she could break it with enough force. If that didn't work, she could always try beating it over Moondancer's thick head.
Composure, Sunset. She took another sip of her tea. She's lucky it tastes so good.
Applejack spoke up. "So, Moondancer, got any hobbies or pastimes?"
"Well, theater is my pride and joy. Gymnastics, ballet, piano," she said, counting off her fingers.
"Don't you play any sports?" Rainbow asked. She had pushed her tea away and focused squarely on the cookies.
"I just said gymnastics."
"Pfft, barely counts," Rainbow muttered, leaning back in her chair.
Pinkie waved her hand. "Ooh, ooh, do you have any embarrassing stories about Twilight?"
Twilight bolted upright. "No!" She looked at Moondancer. "Of course you don't!" She looked back at Pinkie. "Why would you even ask that?"
Sunset brushed against Twilight's arm. "Your strong denial tells us otherwise, Sparky."
"You stay out of this!"
Moondancer wrapped her arms around Twilight and pulled her into a hug, eliciting a mental hiss from Sunset. "Oh, I would never dream of embarrassing you, Twilly." Her lips curled upwards. "Buuuuuuut... there was this one time in tenth grade--"
Twilight struggled against Moondancer's grip, raising her hands to try and cover her mouth. "Moony," she whined.
"--I convinced Twilight to try out for the school play with me. I thought it might help her come out of her shell and shine like the pearl she is! Naturally, she landed a role--"
Twilight struggled harder now, but it appeared Moondancer was stronger than she looked. Then again, Sunset thought, caught between amused and thoroughly annoyed, Twilight isn't very strong to begin with.
"--So, being the adorable, studious bookworm she is, Twilight memorizes the entire script. She'd make any true thespian proud. Come--mmmph! Peh..." Twilight had finally gotten a hand near Moondancer's mouth, but still couldn't silence her. "Come opening night, Twilight gets up on stage for her first speaking line and--mmmhmmph! Poor dear was so nervous, she accidently says the other actor's entire speech before realizing her mistake."
Twilight went limp and pressed her face into the table. She let out a loud muffled groan. "It was so embarrassing. The other kid didn't know what to say, so we were both just standing there while the audience stared at us. I had to start all over again, and I was even more nervous then. I tripped over every word."
Sunset pet Twilight's hair bun. "Come on, Sparky, I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
"Indeed," Moondancer said. "I found it comically delightful. Besides, not everyone starts off a master of the stage. Many great actors have terrible first experiences." She brushed her hair back again. "Except for me; my debut was perfect. But that's beside the point."
Sunset rolled her eyes. She leaned over and whispered into Twilight's ear, "So between that and fondling me, which was worse?"
Twilight shot up, her cheeks Sunset's favorite shade of red. "I didn't fondle you!"
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "You fondled Sunset? Is this before or after you starting dating?"
"I didn't fondle her!"
Rainbow whistled. "Wow, Twilight, I didn't think you had it in you."
Twilight pulled at her bangs and let out a pained whine.
"Tell the story, tell the story!" Pinkie said, hopping in her seat.
Sunset smirked, catching Moondancer's eye as she began. "Well, Twilight and I went to the mall a little before Halloween last year. She bought me a strawberry milkshake, and while we were sitting down, she knocked it all over my chest and tried to clean--Mmmmph!"
Twilight shoved a cookie into Sunset's mouth. "Sunset cuddles and makes baby noises at the puppies in the animal shelter!"
Sunset nearly spat her cookie out. She forcefully swallowed the part she had bit off and dropped the rest into her lap. "How do you know that?" she asked over her friends' loud snickers.
"Fluttershy told me."
Sunset tried to lock eyes with Fluttershy, but she had already retreated behind her wall of pink hair. My justice shall be swift and merciless, Fluttershy.
Pinkie snorted. "Come on, Sunset, that's not that embarrassing. Not like the time you turned in--"
Wham!
Clank!
Pinkie pressed her face into the table while she held her shin underneath. Sunset sat up straight, trying her hardest to play off her lightning quick kick. She took a bite of her cookie and asked, "You okay, Pinks?"
"Uh-huh," she said in a higher pitched voice. "I meant to say the time you turned your paper in late. Ha... ha."
Moondancer tilted her head. "Is she going to be all right?"
Sunset nodded. "Yep, she's just being Pinkie."
"Well then..." Moondancer crossed her fingertips. "That was certainly more entertaining than I thought it would be." Lemon Fresh came out and restocked their tea and cookies while everyone waited for someone to start the next part of the conversation.
Surprisingly, it was Rainbow who spoke, looking a little more relaxed than when she had first came in. "All right, I gotta know, how the heck are you so rich?"
"Rainbow!" Rarity chided.
"What? We're all thinking it."
Moondancer just made a throaty chuckle. "It really isn't anything too glamorous. No rags to riches story. My father already came from a well off family. He just took their fortune and made it even larger. He now owns a multi-million dollar conglomerate. Simple, really." She pointed off the mountain. "The headquarters is actually downtown. You've seen Canterlot Tower, yes?"
Applejack whistled. "That's the tallest building in the city."
"Again, we just like the view."
Sunset quietly sighed through her nose. While this wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, she had grown quite bored, and her leg was starting to cramp up. "Where's your bathroom?" she asked, standing from the table.
"Down the hall, across the foyer--" Moondancer stopped and hummed. "You know, it might be easier if I show you."
Sunset fought to keep her face straight. "You really don't have to."
"Oh it's no trouble, really." Moondancer got up. "You girls talk amongst yourselves, we'll be right back." She led Sunset back into the house and across the entrance hall. They crossed through a large sitting room with shelves stacked with books and atlases, and a fireplace. Moondancer pointed to the door on the other side. "There's the bathroom. But you don't actually have to use it, do you?" The pleasantness never left her voice.
With a small harrumph, Sunset said, "So I just wanted to stretch my legs. That's not a problem is it?"
Moondancer just continued to smile at her, but it was the intelligent kind of smile Sunset knew all too well. She had given it to her opponents whenever she knew more than they did, which was most of the time. "Sunset, as an actor, I've learned to read people quite well, and I have the distinct feeling you don't like me."
Sunset looked away. She supposed she hadn't been doing a very good job to hide that fact, though Moondancer didn't seem torn up about it. Sunset shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. "Don't take it personally, I don't like a lot of people."
"Oh, it's quite all right. I have reservations about you as well."
Sunset looked back at her with a smirk. "Is it because I stole your best friend?"
For the first time, Moondancer's smile fell to a thin line. "That's a vast proportion of it, yes." She walked over to the window and stared out at the front lawn. "Twilight Sparkle is one of the few true friends I have. She's pure and honest and sweet." Moondancer let out a dreamy sigh. "And her eyes.... Simply cosmic!"
"Ahem."
Moondancer looked over her shoulder. "Right. My point being, I was enticed by her very aura the moment I saw her. But she was an introverted and shy soul. I could never force myself upon her. So, I made myself content to just be near her, making her happy whenever I could, cultivating and tending to her like a delicate flower." She fully turned to Sunset. "And the moment I leave, she blossoms for someone else. Do you know how that makes me feel, Sunset?"
With her voice neutral the entire time, Sunset found it hard to tell. "I'm gonna go with furious."
"Beyond all measure," Moondancer said in clipped tones. "However..." She took a step forward. "As I understand it, you saved her from a fate most vile. You were there for her when I could not be, and she speaks of you in such a high regard."
Sunset's cheeks heated up. "She does?"
"Of course she does!" Moondancer threw her hands up. "She looks at you the way I wish she had looked at me for four years!" She took a deep breath and brought her hands down. "But... it is not to be. I am angry... and jealous. And I hate having these dark emotions outside of my acting roles." She took another step forward. "But, I am also thankful. Without you, my beautiful flower would have been sullied, and I would have to tear the world asunder in retribution." She crossed an arm over her chest and bowed. "So, Sunset Shimmer, you have my deepest thanks."
"Err, you're welcome."
Moondancer straightened up. "However..." She pointed a well-manicured finger at Sunset. "I find your character dubious at best. Twilight deserves only the finest, and I will always be there to make sure she has it."
Sunset narrowed her eyes. This was honestly the sort of conversation she expected to have with Twilight's parents. "Are you sure you're her best friend and not her mother?"
"I'm whatever she needs me to be. Above all, I am her guardian angel, and I shall be watching you, Sunset." Her smile returned. "In the meantime, I will endeavor to further our... acquaintanceship."
Sunset smirked again. "What's the matter, Moondancer? Don't want to be friends with me?"
"No."
Sunset paused. Then threw her head back and laughed. "Huh, maybe you're not as bad as I thought. Too bad the feeling's mutual." She crossed her arms. "But sure, I'll play along with our 'acquaintanceship' for Twilight's sake, on the condition that there are ground rules."
Moondancer raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"
"One: stop touching her face."
Moondancer pouted for a second, sticking her bottom lip out, then perked up like nothing happened. "Fine, no touching--"
"Or the rest of her body."
She pouted again.
Sunset raised a finger. "You get her arms and her shoulders. Touch her anywhere else, and I might be forced to hit you."
"Brute."
"Rule two," Sunset continued, "no trying to sabotage our relationship."
Moondancer smiled and closed her eyes. "Oh, I won't have to. You'll screw it up eventually. And when you do, I'll be waiting for my little star with open arms."
Sunset growled. "We'll see about that." She struck her hand out. "So, do we have a deal?"
"Very well." Moondancer gripped Sunset's hand. "I find your accords acceptable."
To Sunset's surprise, Moondancer had a very strong handshake. Sunset increased her own pressure, and Moondancer responded in turn, trying to crush Sunset's hand.
Both girls continued to smile at each other with false pleasantness. |
Spectacular Seven | 4. Rockin' Rainbow | The blustery wind carried rhapsodic cheers expelled by the stadium crowd. Thick clouds hung over Canterlot on this dreary Monday morning. But the gloomy weather did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Wondercolts.
School had concluded, but students, parents, and teachers filled the entire stadium, cheering for their soccer team. Today was the first league match against the Appaloosa Settlers.
"Woohoo! Go, Dashie!" Pinkie cheered, shaking a pair of pink pom-poms. "You can do it, Wondercolts, Whooo!" Her upbeat cheers were almost drowned out by--
"Come on, Dash!" Sunset screamed, leaning on the guard rail. "Don't let her push you around like that! Yeah, that's it, show her who's boss!" However, Sunset's encouraging cheers paled in comparison to--
"Let's go, Rainbow Dash! Make those Settlers settle for second place!" Fluttershy bellowed the loudest of all, having scared Sunset out of her skin when the game first began. It was the loudest Sunset had ever heard the girl, compounded with the fiercest look she had ever donned. "What? Ref, are you blind? That was a foul!"
Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack sat in the bleachers behind the screaming trio. "They're certainly passionate, aren't they?" Twilight asked.
Applejack grinned in satisfaction. "Yep. That's the spirit of competition for ya." She jumped up and twirled her hat, cheering with everyone else as Rainbow brought home another goal, turning the score to 5-1 in the Wondercolts' favor.
Sunset took a seat next to Twilight. "I'm glad we're winning, but this is a pretty one-sided game."
"Agreed. I feel bad for the other team."
"As do I," Rarity said. "I mean, brown uniforms? What on earth is their coach thinking?"
Twilight adjusted her glasses. "That's not quite what I meant."
Rarity clicked her tongue. "You'd be surprised at how much an outfit can help or hinder your performance."
"I just wish they'd put up more of a fight," Sunset said. "They're letting us walk all over them." The crowd erupted in cheers once more, as Cloud Kicker scored another goal. "Dear Maker, now they're just giving up."
"That's right, Settlers! You don't have anything on us! Go, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy screamed, jumping up and down, her hair a wild mess.
Twilight looked in her direction. "Is that normal?"
Sunset raised her shoulders. "I don't know, this is new for me too."
"Likewise," Rarity said.
Applejack stretched her arms behind her head and leaned back. "It's nice to see her come out her shell once in awhile."
They watched Pinkie and Fluttershy cheer Rainbow and the team on as they dominated the match. When it was over, the Wondercolts had won 8-2. The girls waited outside the locker room along with other parents and friends eager to congratulate the soccer team on their first victory.
Rainbow emerged first, looking like a triumphant hero coming home from war. Her bangs still stuck to her sweaty forehead, and she had a towel draped over her shoulders. She met the rest of the Spectacular Seven, giving Applejack a high-five, and Sunset a fistbump.
"Four goals scored in one game," Applejack said. "Someone was on fire today."
Rainbow grinned. "Yeah, I was pretty amazing, wasn't I? Too bad they weren't more of a challenge. But hey, if we keep playing like this, no one can beat us!"
"All right there, champ," a deep, jovial voice said. Out of the crowd came Rainbow's dad. He was tall and toned without being overly muscular. Sunset could see where Rainbow had gotten her hair from, as her dad also had messy multi-chromatic hair. "Don't get overconfident just because you beat one team."
"I know, I know. Still, did you see me out there?"
Rainbow Blaze ruffled her hair. "Yeah I did. You brought your A game like always." He smiled at the girls. "I also saw all of you cheering for her. Especially you, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy blushed and brushed her boot against the sidewalk. "I just..." She winced at the gravelines in her throat, cleared it, and tried again. "I just wanted to show my support." She was still a little hoarse.
Rainbow pulled her into a half-armed, sweaty hug, making Fluttershy blush harder. "You're the best, 'Shy."
The girls gave Rainbow another round of congratulations before going their separate ways. Night had nearly settled upon them, allowing the brighter stars to twinkle in the violet sky. Twilight followed Sunset to the parking lot, where Sunset's black motorcycle sat. It carried a few pink scuff marks and scratches from the time it had been vandalised, but it remained Sunset's pride and joy.
Lifting the seat up, Sunset pulled out her red helmet and Twilight's purple one. They hopped on, Twilight scooting as close to Sunset as she could, locking her arms around Sunset's waist.
"Good to go, Sparky?" Sunset said from underneath her helmet.
"Uh-huh," Twilight responded, her voice shaking. Her grip around Sunset tightened when the motorcycle lurched forward, letting out proud roar as it rolled onto the street. Twilight always said she liked riding Sunset's bike, yet acted like she was going to die every time she got on it. Sunset supposed it was how she got her adrenaline rush.
Unfortunately for Sunset, suburban speeding laws kept her from burning rubber and giving Twilight a real rush. Thirty mph was probably enough for her anyway. Sunset enjoyed the peace-shattering din her bike produced, the rumble she felt each time she turn the throttle. To the houses she sped past, it was a noise-complaint waiting to happen, to her, it was sweet music.
The ten minute ride to Twilight's house flew by. Both girls disembarked, stowing their helmets back under the seat. Sunset could already hear Spike barking at the door. He had learned that the rumble of a motorcycle meant his master had come home.
Twilight opened the door and there he was, jumping at her leg. She picked him up and carried him inside, scratching his belly all the while. "I'm home!"
Mrs. Velvet came out from the dining room, still dressed in her nurse scrubs. "Hi, sweetheart, hi, Sunset. How was the game?"
"We pulverized them," Sunset said, taking off her boots. "A bit of a let down, really."
"Rainbow made four goals though," Twilight added.
A whistle came from the living room couch. Sunset looked over to find Shining lounging across it, reading a comic book. "Four goals in soccer? Either she's really good, or they're really, really bad."
"A little of both," Sunset said.
"So, what are you two up to tonight?" Velvet asked.
"We're going upstairs to practice violin and do some homework," Twilight said.
Shining looked up from his comic. "Why can't you do that down here?"
Sunset gave him a toothy grin. "Because then, we can't make out." She grabbed Twilight by the wrist and ran upstairs before Shining could retort.
"Leave the door open!" Velvet called.
Twilight's room sat at the end of the hall, square with violet walls and lavender carpet. What wasn't taken up by the bed, desk, dresser, and closet was used as space for bookshelves. All of them were completely full, leaving some books to be stacked in neat piles on the floor. From the ceiling hung a model of the solar system. On Twilight's desk was her laptop and a picture of her and Moondancer. Sunset tried not to let her eyes linger on it too long.
They sat on Twilight's bed, and she pulled out her violin case from beneath. Sunset held her breath in anticipation, watching as Twilight delicately took her instrument out and tuned it. She tucked the maple brown body under her chin and gave the strings a few test strokes with her bow.
The moment she began playing in earnest was the moment Sunset breathed again, closing her eyes in bliss. Every note, perfect, every stroke, wholeheartedly delivered, even her occasional mistake added to the heavenly delivery of Twilight's performance.
Twilight would never admit it, but she was a master of the violin. If Twilight asked, Sunset would gladly give up her day plans to listen to her play.
The piece was short and left Sunset wanting more. Twilight giggled at the euphoric look stuck on Sunset's face. "I'm guessing you liked it?"
"'Like' would be a severe understatement."
She giggled again and scooted closer, handing off the violin. Sunset gently gripped it, letting Twilight make all the necessary adjustments. Ever since they had started dating, Twilight had been giving Sunset violin lessons. Like her old guitar lessons with Flash, Sunset didn't think she was making any progress, despite Twilight's reassurances. Sunset just liked to have an excuse to sit close to her.
She had one arm around Sunset's shoulder, fixing the curl of her fingers around the bow. "There, how's that?" she asked, her voice dancing in Sunset's ear.
Sunset nodded. "That's good." Her mouth was dry. She played a few notes, creating a scratchy wail that made them both cringe before she made the instrument produce something closer to music. She practiced her scales as per Twilight's instructions, then played 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'. She got some of the notes mixed up, but she had prevented it from making anymore wails.
"You've gotten a lot better," Twilight said, still hovering over Sunset's shoulder.
Sunset tilted her head toward her. "I have a really good teacher." Their eyes met, and Twilight leaned in, pressing her lips against Sunset's.
Like always, it started out gentle. They broke away, smiling and giggling before coming back. Sunset carefully set aside Twilight's violin and brought a hand up to cup her face, running a thumb across her cheek. Something warm pressed against Sunset's teeth, and she parted them to let Twilight's tongue explore the inside of her mouth. Sunset moaned in delight, playfully pushing back, and twisting her whole body toward Twilight.
Twilight ran her fingers through Sunset's hair and leaned forward, showing a surprising amount of force. It wasn't anything Sunset couldn't match though. She leaned against Twilight, pressing their breasts together.
"I'm not hearing violin!" Shining shouted from downstairs.
It was enough to make both of them jump back, but whereas Twilight fell back against her bed, Sunset fell onto the floor with a thud.
"Sunset, are you okay?" Twilight asked, leaning over the edge.
"Yep," Sunset said tonelessly. "Peachy."
*******
'Holy crap, guys! You're not gonna believe this! You have to come to the music room at lunch! It's gonna blow your minds! Twilight, don't bring Moonlancer.'
Sunset looked over the group text Rainbow had sent them, keeping a straight face at Rainbow's typo as she walked with Twilight to the music room. They had all gotten it just before school started, and Sunset would be lying if she said it hadn't kept her curious all day.
"Do you think Rainbow is still mad about Moondancer calling her a boy?" Twilight asked.
"Probably. She knows how to hold a grudge."
Canterlot High's music room was one of the school's more up to date features, and thus, quite popular for the creative students. Trying to book time for it proved to be a hassle on occasion. Treble clefs and half notes hung on the beige walls, and three soundproof windows in the back gave the room excellent lighting. A grand piano sat against one of the walls with a small bandstand set up across from it. Next to it was the storage room that contained rental instruments, of which the school had a generous amount.
Rainbow stood at the top of the bandstand, a blue, electric guitar in her hands. She bounced with excitement, making a very good impersonation of Pinkie. "Oh my gosh, guys! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you are not going to believe this!" she said when everyone had gathered. "Rarity, close the curtains."
Rarity exchanged questioning looks with the others, but complied to Rainbow's wish. She closed all three curtains, leaving the room lit only by the florescent lights.
"Okay, okay!" Rainbow took a controlled breath. "No one bother sitting down, 'cause you're all just gonna jump right up when you see this." She tested the chords on her guitar, then began passionately strumming and breaking into song.
"Awesome as I wanna be!
"First you see me riding on a sonic boom,
"Got my guitar shreddin' up my latest tune!
"There is nothin' you can do to beat me,
"I'm so good that you can't defeat me!"
The girls stared in shock and awe, with Sunset giving into the urge to facepalm. Had Rainbow really dragged them here so they could hear her brag about herself?
"Mah God," Applejack said, "Ah can feel her ego in this."
"I can taste her ego in this!" Sunset said.
"I'm awesome, take caution!
"Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be!
"I'm awesome, take caution!
"Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be!"
Rainbow broke into, what Sunset guessed would have been a guitar solo if Rainbow had a full ensemble. She bounced up and down on her toes and began performing tricks like flipping her guitar in the air and playing it behind her back.
"Is there a point to all this?" Applejack shouted over the echoing acoustics.
"Wait for it!" Rainbow said, grinning ear-to-ear. Sure enough, after several more seconds of guitar shredding, a blue aura appeared around Rainbow, growing more intense as she continued to play. She rose into the air, and in a flash of light, blue wings sprouted from her back, her ears elongated into equine shaped ones, and her hair extended into a ponytail.
She played one last chord, then looked down at her friends. "So, what do you think?"
Stunned silence and open mouths were the general consensus. Sunset gaped like a fish, her brain replaying the transformation in her head several times, then locking onto Rainbow floating near the ceiling. "I... how... what... why?"
Twilight had a similar response, only with additional finger pointing and hyperventilating. "She--she--how--that--music--floating--wings--magic!" She started laughing hysterically. "That's magic! She has wings! Wings that came out of nowhere! That's not scientifically possible! Hahahaha! You're not scientifically possible!"
Sunset grabbed Twilight's shoulders. "Sparky, breathe. Nice and easy."
Twilight nodded and took in large gasps of air, bringing her hand in toward her chest and back out with every inhale and exhale. "Okay," she said after a full minute. "Okay, I think I'm good."
Sunset let go of her shoulders. "Good, because I'm not." She turned back to Rainbow. "What in Celestia's left teat is going on?" she shouted.
"What?" Twilight said quietly.
Rainbow floated over, giving her wings a gentle flap. "Okay, so last night, after I got home and took a shower, I was still feeling pretty pumped about our awesome win at the game! So I decided to practice my guitar and get ready for the showcase." She played a few chords. "I don't know what happened, but one second, I'm on the ground, and the next, I'm floating in the air with these babies on my back again! It's so awesome!"
Pinkie squealed. "Yeah it is! I want to be a pony magical girl again, too! It was so much fun floating around and shooting a giant friendship rainbow to stop Sunset's demon form." She blinked and looked over to Sunset. "No offense."
"Offense taken."
"I don't understand," Rarity said, "I thought Princess Twilight took all the magic back with her to Equestria."
Applejack lifted her hat and scratched her head. "Apparently not. Question is, why is Rainbow... ponying up now?" Hers and five other pairs of eyes looked toward Sunset.
Sunset shifted uncomfortably. "What?"
"You're the one from magic land," Rainbow said. "Don't you have some idea of how this happened?"
"Not really, hence my outburst from earlier." Sunset put a hand to her chin and paced the floor. She didn't have a theory yet, but her mind already raced to find one. Rarity was right, when Princess Twilight took the crown back through the portal, the magic should have gone with it.
Then again, that's not necessarily true, she reasoned. The magic released could have just as easily stayed to fill the vacuum of this world having such a low amount of magic. But, did we really release enough to create any lasting effects? She stopped pacing, aware all her friends were watching her.
"Okay, well, my first theory is some of the magic lingered because this world has almost none of its own. As for why Dash 'ponied up'..." she paused and thought for another moment. "You five did come in contact with the Elements of Harmony, one of the most powerful forces from my world. It's possible that that magic just stuck with you. You do represent five of the virtues that make it up."
"That makes sense, I guess," Rarity said thoughtfully. "But why only Rainbow? And why music?"
"Yeah, for that, I have no idea."
Twilight gasped and squeed, holding her hands under her chin while she bounced from one foot to the other. "We should run some experiments! Test out why and how this phenomenon is occurring!"
Fluttershy stepped back. "You aren't going to cut us open, are you?"
"Of course not! We'll start with basic tests, like seeing if the same reaction happens to the others with the same stimuli! Then we can change up the catalyst and see if the effects are different! We can monitor brain waves and heart patterns, and--"
"Glad to see you're taking this in stride, Sparky," Sunset said.
Some of the excitement left Twilight's face. "It's how I cope with the fact that one of my friends has wings and pony ears and is floating over my head!"
"Fair enough."
Rainbow finally came down to the floor. "Well, as long as she doesn't go Area 51 on us, I'm for it." She fluttered her wings. "Wouldn't it be so cool if we got superpowers from this?"
Sunset crossed her arms. "I'm pretty sure the only 'superpower' you guys get is that stupid rainbow cannon."
"Well, it proved pretty effective at the Fall Formal," Rarity said. "Er, no offense, dear."
Sunset bit her tongue and growled. She didn't want to use vulgar language on Rarity.
Twilight clapped her hands. "So it's decided then! We'll study magic for the sake of science! This is going to be so exciting! Groundbreaking!" She flashed her hopeful eyes at Sunset. "You're going to help, right?"
"Umm..." Sunset shifted her weight between legs. "I will... help you take notes from a good distance away."
Twilight frowned. "Why, what's wrong?"
Sunset sighed and looked at the ground. Guess it's time to pull this cat out of the bag. "I'm... scared."
"Scared of what?"
Sunset clenched her fists. "Scared of magic, scared of myself." She loosened her hands and let her shoulders fall. "As you all kindly keep reminding me, the last time I messed with higher powers didn't end well for me. So I'd like to avoid coming in contact with anything magically related if I can. Especially anything with the Elements of Harmony."
Warm fingers curled around Sunset's hand, and Twilight smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry then. You can be my number one assistant."
Rainbow held a finger to her open mouth and pretended to gag.
"Thanks, Twilight," Sunset said, thoroughly ignoring Rainbow. She looked to the others. "Well, first things first, you're all going to need an instrument to play."
Rarity put her hand on the piano. "Well, I'm a little rusty, but I can play this after a few practices."
Pinkie waved her hand in the air. "I can play just about anything!" She hummed in thought. "Maybe I'll try the sousaphone? Or the electric triangle! Oh, oh, I'll play the theremin!"
"How about the drums?" Twilight offered.
Pinkie smacked herself in the head. "Duh! I rock at the drums!"
"Ah can play the banjo," Applejack said.
Sunset gave her a half-lidded stare.
"What? ...What?"
Turning to Fluttershy, Sunset asked, "What about you, 'Shy? Do you play anything?"
Fluttershy wrung her hands. "Um, no, not really."
"Well, can you sing?"
Fluttershy's eyes widened in horror. "S-sing? In front of all of you? I-I..."
Rainbow put a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Relax, Fluttershy, it's just us."
"Uh-uh." Fluttershy resolutely shook her head. "I'll... I'll find an instrument to play, but I'm not singing."
Twilight wrote down everyone's names and instruments on a piece of paper. "Okay then. Fluttershy, think about what you're going to play. Everyone else, start practicing with yours. Tomorrow after school, we'll meet in here and start experimenting!"
While Rarity sat down at the piano, and Pinkie and Fluttershy dug through the rental equipment, Sunset stood in the corner. What would happen if all five of them ponied up? Would they form another rainbow beam? And would it home in on Sunset in an attempt to eradicate the evilest force it could find?
Sunset shook her head. You're being paranoid. Besides, they need all six parts of the Elements of Harmony to launch the rainbow. Right? An uneasy tingle crawled down Sunset's spine. She, once the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, was now surrounded by magic wielders while she could do none herself. She looked down at her hands. Not without turning into a monster again, or some other dark repercussions.
She couldn't feel her demonic claws hiding beneath her skin, but she knew they were there. She had pushed her dark half down, deep down beneath her newfound love and acceptance of friendship, and refused to give it any chance to resurface. She refused to give the Elements any reason to hit her again. If the price to pay was no more magic, then so be it.
"I'm not going back," Sunset whispered. She balled her hands into fists. "I'm never going back." |
Spectacular Seven | 5. The Science of Magic | The first test was simple, and consisted only of seeing whether or not the other girls could, as they now officially dubbed it, 'pony up' like Rainbow. Wednesday after school, the Spectacular Seven occupied the music room with all of their instruments. Fluttershy had decided on playing the tambourine, though Sunset and Twilight doubted it would produce any satisfactory results.
Twilight had with her a clipboard and a spectrometer to measure any energy readings. Sunset had tried to tell her that it wouldn't be able to pick up the thaumetic energy Rainbow released, but Twilight was obstinate in trying anyway. Sunset let her be, since she had already told Twilight any data collected here was strictly confidential and would not be shared with anyone.
That caveat had put a major damper on Twilight's mood during the day, but as everyone got set up, she bounced back to her peppy, sciency self. "Even if I can't share it with the scientific community, at least I get to learn something," she told Sunset.
With sound checks out of the way, they began with Rainbow. "Just play like you did yesterday," Twilight instructed.
"Easy-peasy," Rainbow said. She launched into her song, appropriately named 'Awesome As I Wanna Be.' She got past the chorus and started her set of wild guitar moves, getting more into the song as time passed. The blue glow returned and in a few seconds, Rainbow's pony features burst into existence with a flash of light. She finished with one last power cord and slid across the bandstand on her knees.
"Show off," Applejack muttered.
Twilight ran over, stethoscope around her neck and a mini flashlight in her gloved hand. "Sunset, did you start the timer?"
Sunset sat atop the piano. "Yep." She shook the stopwatch being used to measure how long Rainbow's form lasted.
Twilight first ran a hand through the aura surrounding Rainbow. "Note: magical aura can be felt. It's warm and kinda tingly." It faded away, but Rainbow kept her pony enhancements. Twilight checked the spectrometer, frowning and knitting her brow. "It tried to pick up on something, but now it's just giving me an error sign." She set it down with a disappointed sigh, and held out the cold silver disk of the stethoscope to Rainbow. "Could you, um, put this over your heart for me?"
Rainbow smirked as she took it and slid it down her shirt. "Pretty sure doctors don't have their patients measure their own heartbeat."
"You're not a patient, you're a test subject," Sunset said.
"Okay, quiet, I'm trying to listen." Twilight put the plugs in her ears and hummed. "It seems to have accelerated, but that could just be adrenaline." She had Rainbow hand the stethoscope back, then shone the flashlight in her eye. "Nothing out of the ordinary," she murmured. "How do you feel?"
Rainbow shrugged. "Magical, I guess? A little warm, but like, the happy, sappy kind of warm on the inside, you know? Plus, I can feel the wings on my back, and these cool ears."
Twilight moved up to the ears next, gently pulling and pushing them. "Fascinating. Has your hearing improved?"
"Not that I can tell."
"Write that down, Sunset."
Sunset complied, jotting notes down on the clipboard Twilight had provided.
Twilight moved to Rainbow's wings, running her fingers through the primary feathers. "I can't believe it. They're really real." She ran her finger along the carpal joint.
Rainbow shuddered, taking in a deep breath, then swatted Twilight's hand away. "Don't do that."
"Wings are sensitive to touch," Twilight said, barely fazed by Rainbow's quick attack. "Write that down, Sunset."
Sunset paused mid-sentence and pursed her lips. Why does this seem familiar?
Twilight quickly tugged off a feather, making Rainbow jump. "Oi! Be careful!" But Twilight was already on the other side of the room, stowing the feather in a ziplock bag.
"I'll have to examine that more closely when I get home." She turned toward Pinkie, Rainbow's glare going completely unnoticed. "Okay, that's it for Rainbow's preliminary test. Now let's see if we can reproduce these effects with the rest of you. You first, Pinkie."
"Yes!" Pinkie punched a hand to the air. "Canterlot High, are you ready to rock? Because Pinkamena Diane Pie is in the house!" She tapped her drumsticks together three times before banging them against the drums in a furious rhythm. It was loud and fast, but managed to carry a good beat. Twenty seconds in, Pinkie glowed pink and floated out of her seat. Her poofy hair produced a ponytail, and she grew a set of ears to match Rainbow's. She dropped back into her chair and threw her arms up. "Woohoo, look at me! I'm magicy!"
Twilight frowned. "Why doesn't she have wings though?"
Sunset tapped the pen against her lip. "My guess would be because her pony counterpart is an earth-pony, while Rainbow's is a pegasus."
"Acceptable explanation. Though, now I want to know just how deep this link is between us and our pony counterparts. Questions for later." Twilight took to work looking over Pinkie. "So, how do you feel?"
"Hyper and bubbly, super happy, a little hungry--"
"Anything new?"
"Oh, well, I feel all warm and tingly like Dashie."
Sunset continued to scribe, watching Twilight flex Pinkie's arm. Going off just Rainbow and Pinkie's data, if Sunset had to hazard a guess, she'd say that the warm and tingly sensation was friendship magic. Since it originated in Equestria, it gave them Equestrian characteristics.
Still, why music? Does anything else trigger it? Sunset made sure to keep a record of her personal thoughts for Twilight.
Rarity's turn came next, and Sunset moved to the other side of the room, getting cozy in the corner. When she sat down, Rainbow's magic timed out, and she returned to normal. Sunset stopped the timer and called, "Five forty-three."
"Thank you," Twilight said. "All right, Rarity, your turn."
Rarity flexed her fingers. "I hope I can do this right. One day's practice certainly didn't clear all the cobwebs." She ran her fingers over the keys, lightly tapping each one. She faltered in a few spots, but never quit. Soon, she closed her eyes and the melody came much smoother and refined than at the start. After a minute, Rarity took on a purple hue and underwent the same transformation Pinkie and Rainbow had.
Her hair extended into a ponytail and gained a lustrous shine. Instead of gaining wings, a white horn appeared on her forehead.
"Huh, so Rarity's a unicorn," Sunset said. "Not surprising when I think about it."
Twilight immediately began poking it and running her finger along the grooves. "Interesting, it has the same texture as your nails but is the color of your skin."
Rarity smacked Twilight's hand away. "Twilight, I know this is for research, but you need to ask before you violate my personal space."
"Hehe, sorry," Twilight said, sheepishly.
Rarity opened her compact and examined her horn in the mirror. "Hmm. I wonder if I can make accessories for this?"
"Rarity, you ain't supposed to be walkin' around school with a horn on your head," Applejack said. "Students would flip."
"Well, they took Sunset turning into a demon and the princess with wings pretty well." Rarity's cheeks turned pink as she looked at Sunset. "No offense, dear."
Sunset gripped the clipboard, using all her will to not break it in half. "All right, new rule," she said through gritted teeth. "The next person to mention the Fall Formal, and then follow up with 'no offense', gets a fist to the face."
There was an awkward murmur of agreement before the testing continued.
Rarity tried to use magic with her new horn, but even with Sunset's instructions, she failed basic levitation, leaving them to wonder if the horn was just for show. They moved onto Applejack and her banjo. Sunset had to keep her face pressed into the back of the clipboard to stop from saying anything. After five minutes of torturous country strumming, Applejack ponied up. It didn't come as a shock that she was an earth pony.
Finally, it was Fluttershy's turn. Rainbow helped by giving her a rhythm to shake her tambourine to. Fluttershy's took the longest, but with some encouragement from the girls, her wings and ponytail appeared in a slow flash instead of a burst like the others.
"Hmm," Twilight pondered aloud. "Perhaps cheering from comfort sources can serve as a substitute for musical passion or ability in relation to the transformation."
Pinkie scratched her head with a drumstick. "Wha?"
"She said friendship might trigger the pony ups instead of just how well you play," Sunset said, writing Twilight's version.
Twilight remembered to be gentle when looking over Fluttershy. Unlike with Rainbow, Twilight gently wiggled one of Fluttershy's feathers loose before stowing it in another ziplock bag. She checked Fluttershy's pulse, flexibility, and coordination, making sure Sunset took down every note.
"All right, that concludes our preliminary tests," Twilight said, clapping her hands.
"You mean there's more?" Rainbow whined.
"Of course! There's not nearly sufficient enough data with just this, especially with the spectrometer acting on the fritz."
"I tried to tell you," Sunset said.
Twilight ignored her and pulled a list from her pocket. "Next, I want to see what happens when you all play as a group. You all seem to emit some sort of energy when you play individually, so what would happen if you coordinated your music?"
Rainbow perked up. "Play together? Like, as a band? That sounds awesome!"
"A rather odd sort of instruments though," Rarity said, looking from her piano, to Applejack's banjo, to Fluttershy's tambourine. "Can we really play a song and have it sound good?"
Sunset shrugged. "Aside from A.J.'s banjo--"
"Hey!"
"--as long as you guys are in time with each other, any arrangement should sound all right."
"We can try playing 'Awesome as I Wanna Be," Rainbow said with an eager smile.
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Or, we could play somethin' that doesn't revolve around your ego."
Fluttershy gave her tambourine a little shake. "What about 'Shine Like Rainbows'?"
Sunset gave her an encouraging nod. "That could work. Fluttershy did write the original composition. I'm sure she could think of an arrangement for you guys."
"Maybe," Rainbow said. "But the only time we actually heard the song was at the Winter Ball."
"And the only time we heard your song was yesterday," Sunset argued.
"Yeah, so it should be fresh in your minds."
"All right then," Applejack said, "let's put it to a vote. All in favor of playin' 'Shine Like Rainbows', say I."
"I!" six voices cheered.
"The I's have it."
Rainbow threw her arms up. "You didn't even ask if anyone wanted to play my song."
Applejack sighed. "Anybody want to play 'Awesome as I Wanna Be?" She let the silence speak for itself before smirking at Rainbow. "Happy now?"
Rainbow just grumbled and started tuning her guitar. The corner of Fluttershy's lips turned upwards, but Rainbow's sour attitude seemed to keep her from enjoying her moment. Fluttershy gave the basic composition for the song, giving details to Rainbow and Pinkie, but letting everyone else, herself included, improvise.
"It doesn't need to sound perfect," Twilight said, "just enough to make magic." She giggled with a hint of hysteria. "I'm studying magic. Yep, that's still a thing that's happening."
Sunset tucked herself back into the corner since the others scattered themselves around the room with their instruments. She knew she was probably being paranoid at this point, but it paid to be prepared.
The girls waited until they had all powered down before playing again. It was a shaky first attempt with Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy trying to find their place in the song. While rough, Sunset could still feel the emotion put into it.
"Once... upon a time," Applejack sang, "you came into my world and made the stars align."
Rarity followed. "Now, I can see the signs.
"You pick me up when I get down so I can shine."
Everyone joined in on the chorus. "Shine like rainbows, ohohoh.
"We shine like rainbows, ohohoh."
All at once, the five of them glowed, their separate colors coming together to form a brilliant white light. Their pony features popped back into existence, and with them, a light shockwave that expanded across the room.
Sunset watched it rush toward her, mouth open in a silent scream. She clenched her eyes shut and raised the clipboard as a feeble shield. The light wave washed over her, and a scream echoed somewhere in her mind.
Sunset raised an arm at the six girls floating before her, bathed in heavenly light. It burned and blinded her, even with the distance between them. How could this be happening? She had the Element of Harmony--the only source of magic in this world! How did Princess Twilight continue to defy her?
A lavender beam shot from Twilight's forehead and connected with the crown atop Sunset. Another force began clawing its way into her mind. She was already in enough pain! She didn't need anymore!
"The crown may be upon your head, Sunset Shimmer," Twilight said, her voice strong and fearless, "but you cannot wield it, because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all: the magic of friendship!" The beam between them broke, but in its place, a rainbow rose up from the six girls, poised to strike Sunset.
Sunset screamed, raising her hands to defend herself, but it proved absolutely powerless against this magic. The rainbow spun around her, locking her in. "No! What is happening?" The vortex grew closer and closer, burning her skin, trying to burn away the darkness in her soul. Sunset's scream rose to a roar of agony.
Then, she floated in a white void.
"Sunset?"
Sunset snapped her eyes open, seeing the checkered tiles of the floor. Her arms were thrown over her head, and something wet snaked down her cheeks. Several shadows loomed over her, and she turned up to find all her friends staring with concern, Twilight at the forefront.
"Sunset, what happened?" Twilight put a hand on her shoulder.
"Nothing," Sunset said quickly, wiping her tears away.
Applejack straightened up and crossed her arms. "That wasn't nothin', sugarcube. Ya squealed like a pig, then tucked yourself into that corner."
"It's like you were having a nightmare," Fluttershy said. "You were shaking like a leaf."
Sunset stood up and dusted her jacket off. "I'm fine, okay?" she said tersely. "I overreacted, that's it." Even as she said it, she could still feel her core trembling. No one said anything, they just kept looking at Sunset with pleading eyes. She turned her back to them and let out an irritable sigh. "I told you, it's nothing. I just... I just had a flashback, okay? Of when I got hit by the rainbow." Her voice softened and she bowed her head. "It burned. It burned everywhere. And then, I was just floating in a void. I thought I was dead. And I was still angry. After all of that, I was only mad that I had lost."
She held a hand over her face. "I just freaked out for a second, okay? I thought maybe the Elements changed their mind and thought I hadn't learned my lesson yet. It's stupid."
Her friends didn't say anything. Instead, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist. Sunset made a noncommittal grunt at Twilight's hug. Twilight wasn't alone, however. Five more arms wrapped around Sunset, followed by their respective bodies.
Sunset squirmed, her face turning red. "What are you doing? Who said you all could hug me?"
"This is what friends do, duh," Rainbow said.
"You know I hate this!"
"No," Rarity said, winking at her, "we know you pretend to hate this. We're showing you our support, darling. You've got nothing to fear."
Sunset relaxed her arms and surrendered to the hug. "Thanks, girls."
Pinkie beamed at her. "See? I knew you liked group hugs!"
"I never said that." She wiggled her arms until her friends got the hint and let go. "I know the Elements aren't out to get me. It's just..." She didn't know how to finish that sentence.
Twilight took her hand, gently running her finger against Sunset's palm. "We can stop if you're uncomfortable."
Sunset shook her head. "I'm not going to let my stupid paranoia ruin your fun."
"It's not stupid--"
"The point is, I'll be fine." She took a slow relaxing breath, then gave everyone her most convincing smile. "See? I'm good."
Twilight picked up the clipboard forgotten on the ground. "Well, either way, I think that's enough for today. I've got plenty of data to analyze, and I need to prepare the next round of tests."
"Which are...?" Rainbow asked.
"Don't worry, it won't be anything too intrusive. I just want to take a closer look at any biological effects this magic has on you, and try converting your magical output into readable data.."
Rainbow laid her guitar in its case. "Well, like I said, as long as you don't go mad scientist on us, I'm down for whatever."
The Seven tidied up and headed out, the school hallways completely desolate. They could hear the basketball team practicing in the gym, the only signs of life on campus. Outside, puffy clouds filled the orange sky, pushed by a frigid wind.
They parted ways, with Sunset and Twilight heading for the parking lot. "Guess we should work on our chemistry homework, huh?" Twilight asked. "Unless you want to call it a day."
Sunset gave her a sideways look. "I know you want to look at your samples the second you get home."
Twilight twiddled her fingers. "I mean, yeah, but not if it makes you uncomfortable."
They stopped in front of Sunset's motorcycle. "Twilight, I told you, I'm fine. It was just a little leftover anxiety. I'll get over it." She pulled their helmets out and tossed Twilight hers.
"Are you sure? We can talk about this, you know?"
"Oh, so you're a scientist and a therapist now?"
Twilight puffed her cheeks. "I'm trying to help you."
Sunset placed a hand under Twilight's chin. "I know, and I appreciate it completely." She gave her a kiss. "But I've already told you everything. I just have to get over it."
Twilight narrowed her eyes, trying her best to be intimidating. Some of the effect was lost with her having to look up at Sunset. Eventually, she gave up and said, "Fine, if you say so." Her eyes softened. "But you know you can talk to me--to any of us, right?"
"Don't worry, that's been firmly established." Sunset mounted her bike and patted the seat behind her. I just don't want to talk about it.
*******
Unfortunately for Twilight, the samples she had gotten from Rainbow and Fluttershy had vanished by the time she got home. Come lunch on Thursday, she was still put out, moodily eating her sandwich.
"Twily, tell me what's wrong?" Moondancer cooed, leaning on Twilight's shoulder. "I can't stand to see your precious face so glum."
"It's nothing. Just a science experiment that didn't go so well."
While Sunset took no pleasure in seeing her girlfriend upset, she had to fight to keep the smirk off her face. She quickly shoved some salad into her mouth and smiled with her eyes. I know something you don't know! I know something you don't know! she mentally taunted Moondancer. This is incredibly childish but I don't care!
Moondancer stroked Twilight's hair. "There's no reason to be blue. Being the genius that you are, I know you'll be able to figure it out."
Sunset sense of superiority faded, and she gave Moondancer a searing glare. Touching clause!
Moondancer met her eyes, gave Twilight one last long stroke, then moved her hands away. "Why don't I take you to get something sweet after school? Just like old times?"
Twilight smiled but didn't meet Moondancer's eyes. "I'd love to, but, uhhh, I s-still have more of my science experiment to work on today. How about tomorrow?" She looked in Sunset's direction.
Sunset rolled her eyes and gave a subtle nod. She saw the cheshire grin Moondancer flashed, and went back to chanting, I know something you don't know!
Lunch came and went, pushing Sunset into her Advanced Trigonometry class with Twilight. Like usual, they had finished their class work early, leaving Twilight to fiddle with her notes. She had drawn up diagrams and charts, though they held many blank spaces.
"Sunset, how does magic work in your world?" Twilight whispered, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was paying attention to them.
"Well, there's different schools of magic, like thaumaturgy, abjuration, transfiguration, etcetera, and each of them have their own principles, rules, and theories." She saw Twilight's starry-eyed interest and continued. "So, thaumaturgy is the manipulation of elemental energy, like fire or water or wind. It's the basis for most combat magic and was one of my specialties," Sunset said, letting a hint of pride ooze out.
"It's kind of hard to explain, but the best way to think about it is like the transformation of energy in this world, only with shortcuts." Sunset tapped her fingers together. "Like, if I wanted to make fire, I essentially just generate enough friction in the molecules in front of me until they ignite."
"Fascinating," Twilight breathed. "So, you wrote down that you think this is 'friendship magic'?" She gestured to the rather poor sketch she made of Rainbow's pony form and the notes Sunset had made.
"That's my first guess."
"How does it work?"
Sunset gave Twilight a deadpan stare. "You're asking me how friendship magic works?"
Twilight looked down at her paper. "Sorry."
Sunset leaned back in her chair, kicking her boots up onto the desk and stretching her arms behind her head. "Right now, your notes are all we have to go on." Ms. Vector glared at Sunset from her desk. Sunset just smiled and pointed to her completed work.
"Do you think the princess knows how it works?" Twilight asked, her head still bowed.
"Well..." Sunset chose her words carefully. "Even if she did, she's not here, so it's up to us to figure it out. More importantly, it's up to you." She ruffled Twilight's bun. "And you're smarter than she is, so you'll figure it out no problem."
With a blush and a giggle, Twilight said, "Thanks."
*******
"Twilight... I think this falls under 'mad scientist."
Rainbow stared wide-eyed with the other girls as they joined Twilight in one of the science labs where a large machine was set up. A helmet with wires and a dial connected to its side. Twilight finished plugging the machine in and whirled around, a white lab coat draped over her shoulders.
"This isn't 'mad science', this is perfectly normal science." She gestured to the machine. "It's just a bigger spectrometer. I'm going to measure any energy output you release from your music and record it. As well as any deeper readings in your biochemistry."
"Ah didn't even know we had a machine like this," Applejack said. "What do they normally use this for?"
Sunset shrugged. Like Twilight, she was also adorned in a white lab coat. "Who knows?" She lifted the helmet up. "So, who wants to go first?"
Everyone save for Fluttershy took a step back.
"Fluttershy, thank you for volunteering!" Twilight said.
Fluttershy looked behind her, realizing she had been sold down the river. She made a whimper and clutched her tambourine to her chest.
Sunset fitted the helmet onto Fluttershy's head. It looked more like an upside down colander than a scientific device. "It's not going to hurt, 'Shy," Sunset said, putting a hand on Fluttershy's shaking shoulder. "Just play like you did yesterday."
With some help from Rainbow, Fluttershy found a rhythm to shake her tambourine to. It didn't take as long for her to pony up. Sunset watched the monitor over Twilight's shoulder, observing the wavelengths change from flowing lines... into butterflies.
Twilight cocked her head. "What?" The ceiling lights flickered for a moment before becoming stable again. Twilight and Sunset turned back to Fluttershy, who had stopped playing and was looking at a pink butterfly fluttering around her.
"Where did that come from?" Sunset asked.
"I don't know," Fluttershy said, her eyes and voice full of whimsical wonder. "It just appeared when I was playing."
Twilight stalked toward it, hunched forward with her hands outstretched. She made a lunge for it, but the butterfly floated higher, leaving Twilight to trip and fall face first onto the floor. It then floated over and landed on Sunset's nose, where it lingered for a moment, then vanished in a puff of pink wisps.
Sunset blinked. "Okay, so that was weird."
"Write it down!" Twilight said from her place on the floor.
They repeated the process with Applejack, Sunset strapping the helmet over her head while Twilight prepared the monitor. Applejack strummed her banjo, producing noise that made Sunset want to break the unholy instrument in half. After a minute of playing, Applejack ponied up in a yellow light, and looking at the monitor, Sunset saw the wavelengths now looked like an apple.
Twilight threw her hands up. "These readings don't make any sense!"
"Maybe--" Something hard collided with her skull, and the next thing Sunset knew, she was looking up at the ceiling. "What happened?"
Applejack leaned into her view. "Sorry, Sunset! My banjo just shot out an apple."
"... What?"
Applejack pulled her to her feet and pointed to Twilight. "See?" Twilight held a glowing apple in her hand, examining it from all sides and holding it up to the light.
"Thanks for the help, babe," Sunset said, rubbing a small welt on her head.
"Sorry, Sunset." It sounded genuine, but Twilight still had her eyes on the apple. "I'm just trying to make sense of this apple. It was produced from thin air! It's not a hologram! I think it's a real apple just conjured up by magic."
Sunset walked over, snatched the apple, much to Twilight's objection, and continued on to a table. She pulled out one of the dissection knives and cut the apple in half, showing the insides to the others. Both halves consisted of only a white void.
"Arcanus' Second Law of Transfigurative Properties: 'food cannot be created or conjured from nothing.'" Sunset watched the apple disappear the same way Fluttershy's butterfly had. "Glad to see at least that makes sense here."
Applejack chuckled disappointedly. "There goes mah idea of ending world hunger."
They planned to move onto Rarity next, but ran into a large complication upon realizing the grand piano could not be moved from the music room. Rarity examined the doorway with a determined squint.
"Maybe if we turned it on its side..."
"Rarity, it ain't gonna fit," Applejack said. "Plus, we don't have the muscle to move it."
"Well, what else am I supposed to play?"
Rainbow came out of the storage room, a retro looking device in her hands. It looked like a guitar, only it had piano keys instead of strings. "Here, play this."
Rarity cringed and held her arms up, like Rainbow had offered her a snake. "Please, Rainbow, that's so.... synthetic pop."
"Pssh, like you don't listen to synthpop."
"As a matter of fact--"
Applejack groaned. "Rares, just play the dang keytar so we can get this over with."
Rarity wrinkled her nose, but reached for the keytar, gingerly taking the instrument like it might bite her at any moment. "But I don't even know how to play this."
Sunset waved a hand. "So? Fluttershy's never played a tambourine before. Besides, it's just like a piano, only portable, right?"
Rarity mumbled something about the tambourine not being hard to learn as they headed back to the science room. Twilight lit up upon their return.
"Oh good, you found a substitute! This'll be a good time to see if the magic effects are only specific to the first instrument you play. I really hope they aren't, otherwise, this'll make even less sense, and I don't know if I can handle that." She untangled a bunch of wires with suction cups on the ends. "Also, I found these!"
Looking slightly paler than usual, Rarity asked, "What are those, exactly?"
Twilight walked over and stuck one on Rarity's forehead. "Don't worry, they're just going to help get a better reading on your biochemistry." She stuck several more on Rarity's arms and legs.
"I feel violated." Shoulders hunched, she tested out her new keytar, pressing the keys and fiddling with the knobs. While it sounded very little like a piano, the sound it produced was not unpleasant. It was enough to make Rarity smile again. "Maybe this isn't so bad after all."
She started playing in earnest, letting the notes and chords come naturally. Her smile turned into a giggle, which then moved up into inspired laughter. Her purple aura blazed, and she floated into the air, horn, ears, and ponytail bursting forth.
"Oh goodness!" she said, taking a break. "I didn't think this could be so much fun! I'm feeling so inspired now! Perhaps it's time for an 80's comeback!"
A purple aura appeared around Sunset as she took notes and slowly lifted her off the ground. The weightlessness settled over her, knocking her off balance. Sunset fell back, only to flip around in Rarity's magical grip. "Rarity?"
"I'm thinking big, bold colors! Something attention grabbing, but not obnoxiously loud," Rarity continued, throwing her arms out.
Sunset jerked to the side. "Umm, Rarity?"
"Oooh, I can see sequence working well into some of my designs! Maybe rine encrusted boots. And pleats! Hmm, maybe not pleats. Then again--"
"Rarity!" the entire room shouted.
"What?" She clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my... Sunset, am I doing that?"
Sunset glared at her from her upside-down position, arms crossed. "Yes. Now, would you kindly put me down?"
Rarity tugged at her collar. "Ahaha... err, sure thing. Just a second." She squeezed her eyes shut and produced a few sparks from her horn.
The magic around Sunset wavered, then shot Sunset up toward the ceiling before dispelling. With a loud, "Eeep!" Sunset dropped back to the ground, landing on her stomach.
This time, Twilight ran to her aid. "Sunset! Are you okay?"
Sunset coughed and rolled over. "I forgot how much magic hurts." They took a quick break to ensure none of Sunset's ribs were broken, with Rarity apologizing profusely the entire time.
When Pinkie's turn came up, Sunset made sure to stand on the other side of the room, though she was pretty sure Pinkie wouldn't produce anything harmful, or be able to telekinetically lift things.
"Pinkie Pie, second encore!" Pinkie shouted before banging away on her drums. She was the fastest to pony up, and continued to play after her transformation finished. She and her drumset lit up the room, and a light humming noise joined her percussion.
Balloons exploded out from her drums and rocketed forth on a direct collision course with Sunset. She had no time to acknowledge, let alone move out of their way, and in a few scant seconds, found herself sticking to the wall. Her hair was a frazzled mess with leftover balloons sticking to it, and residual discharge danced across her body.
"Sorry, Sunset!" Pinkie shouted.
Sunset merely sighed. "This is karma for something. I'm just not sure what."
*******
Rainbow was last, and to ensure that nothing bad would happen, Sunset chose to observe the last test from the safety of the monitoring booth. It was convenient since Rainbow's guitar could be plugged into the recording devices inside. Sunset gave a thumbs up while keeping an eye on the music guages. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but if something magic popped up, she'd know it when she saw it.
Outside, Rainbow started shredding on her guitar. She forewent singing her new theme song, opting to just play. Once she was into it, her wings appeared, and she started performing tricks in the air. Unnoticed to both Rainbow and Sunset, a rainbow snaked its way down the connection cord and into the booth.
Sunset stared at the readings on the computer screen. "Huh, it's picking up some sort of energy reading. Maybe it thinks it's joules? Or volts." The readings climbed higher, and electricity crackled across the screen. Sunset leaned back. "That can't be good."
Boom!
Splat!
Fury, revulsion, sadistic mirth, and sadness all raced through Sunset in one moment. Mostly revulsion. She brought a hand over her eyes, wiping up some of the rainbow goop that had somehow exploded out from the monitor and covered her face.
Someone tapped frantically on the glass. "Sunset, are you okay?"
Sunset spit out some of the rainbow clinging to her lips. She walked over to the door, and pulled it open, hearing her friends gasp as one when she stepped out. She opened her eyes and glared at them.
"One word from any of you... and I will murder you in your sleep," she said, voice drained of emotion.
Rarity eased a finger into the air. "But, Sunset--"
"In your sleep!"
*******
Twilight and Sunset sat in Sunset's room, after she had thoroughly cleaned herself of Rainbow's rainbow residue. She had come dangerously close to choking Rainbow after the latter had burst into gales of laughter. Thankfully, Applejack was strong enough to hold Sunset back.
Between Sunset and Twilight sat pages and pages of notes, hypothesis, observations, and wild guesses. Sunset had explained thaums, the unit of magical measurement, but they had a hard time figuring out a conversion between thaums and an earth equivalent to remeasure the collected data.
Sunset flopped back on her bed, prompting Spot to settle on her stomach. "I don't know why you're focused on the 'how.' You should be focused on the 'why.' Why do they have magic again? And why music?"
Twilight sat up from her place on the floor, leaving her calculations alone. She rolled out a crick in her neck. "I'm getting to that. I want to know the 'how' first. How does magic work in this world? How do they get all those ears and tails and wings? How do I explain this with science?" she shouted.
Sunset reached over and patted her head. "There are some things you can't explain with science. Maybe this is one of them."
"Impossible." Twilight wildly shook her head. "You even said there's rules and laws to magic. There has to be some reason behind this, and I'm going to find it!" She held a determined fist in the air, then went rigid. "Sunset... isn't Artemis supposed to be a magician?"
"Yeah."
Twilight flipped over, gripping the side of Sunset's bed. "Why don't we ask him for help? He has to know how magic in this world works! Maybe he's the link we need!"
Sunset ran her hand across Spot's back. "Huh, yeah, we could ask him," she said casually.
There was an impatient pause. "So?" Twilight asked, bobbing up and down.
"I really don't want to feed his ego."
"Sunset!"
"All right, fine, geez." She picked Spot up and set him down on her pillow. "But if he goes off on a tangent about his wild adventures, don't blame me." |
Spectacular Seven | 6. Of Myths and Monsters | Artemis' study took up the tower added on to the back of the house. It was a circular room lined with shelves featuring an assortment of oddities, trinkets, and books. It looked like a smaller, more personal version of the emporium he ran in town. Artemis sat in a carved armchair behind a mahogany desk in the back. He fiddled with a half finished ship in a bottle.
"So, what can I do for the adorable little couple?" he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the back mast he attempted to set up.
Sunset and Twilight stood side-by-side, Twilight clutching some of her papers. Sunset cleared her throat. "So, remember when I told you about... you know... how I messed with some dark magic and six girls stood up to me and hit me with a rainbow friendship laser?"
Artemis snickered. "Yes. That's also when you told me you're a pony from another dimension. I still get a kick out of that. I'm playing host to a magical pony girl. Life is just full of wonders!" he said jovially. He looked up at the puckered expression Sunset gave him. "Ahem, but you were saying something?"
"Yeah, see, recently it seems five of those girls have kinda gotten some magic back."
Artemis set the bottle down and gave them his full attention. "Really?"
Twilight nodded. "We've been trying to research it and figure out why based on Sunset's knowledge of her homeworld's magic. We were wondering if you could help us in any way?"
"Ha ha!" Artemis vaulted over his desk and landed with his arms spread wide. "My dear Miss Sparkle, I'll help anyone with an interest in the mystical arts!" He slipped his black and white wand from his pocket and gave it a whirl. "Lulamoon!"
Beanbags appeared behind each of them, and a force of gravity compelled Sunset to collapse into hers. To her annoyance, it was pink.
Twilight sat comfortably and had a pen out for her notes. "First question: how did you do that?"
"First answer," Artemis said, tipping his moon and star decorated hat down over his eyes. "A good magician never reveals his secrets."
"But... I thought..."
Artemis laughed and wiggled his fingers, shooting off a few sparks. "Sorry, natural response. I can't go giving my secrets out to everyone." He tugged at his goatee. "Though that might be a moot point since you have to have magic to do magic. Regardless, that was a simple materialization spell. Beanbags are quite easy to make."
Twilight scribbled on her notepad, her brow furrowed. Before she could ask her next question, Artemis said, "Now, tell me about these magical friends of yours."
Sunset tried to get comfortable, but the beanbag kept trying to swallow her whole. "Well, erf, the thing is--" She punched the beanbag a few times before settling down. "The thing is, their magic only pops up when they play music."
"Is that all that's stumping you?" Artemis put his hands up. "And I thought you were a genius, Sunset."
She growled.
"All right, all right, no need to get testy. Sunset, music is magic! It's one of the oldest magics in the world! It soothes the savage beast, it tames the wild heart, it makes entire stadiums sing together in unison!" Artemis finished, dramatically lifting his hand into the air.
Sunset put a hand to her chin. "Huh, when you put it like that... In Equestria, we do have a tendency to break out into song. Things seem to get done faster when we do that." Sunset shuddered. "It's one of the few things I don't miss."
Artemis nodded. "See? Music is magic."
Twilight paused from her furious scribbling. "But that doesn't really explain why they're transforming. Or how."
"Transforming?"
The beanbag pulled Sunset deeper into it. "Yeah, the magic that they get gives them pony features. Ears, wings or horns, and a ponytail. We call it 'ponying up.'"
Artemis let out a bark of laughter. "'Ponying up! How cute! I love it!" He twirled a finger around his goatee. "Well, if I had to hazard a guess... You said that they first gained magic when a princess from your world joined with them, yes?"
Sunset pursed her lips. "Yes."
"Well then..." Artemis sat up and lifted his wand. "Lulamoon!" A clear screen popped up between him and the girls. Artemis held his wand like a pencil and drew on it, starting with a straight line. He then made a girl in a simple dress. "I'd say, when you and your princess crossed over to our world, you brought some magic with you." He made squiggles flowing from one side of the screen to the other. "Sadly, there isn't too much magic in our world these days, and the magic that you originally brought was probably barely recognizable."
He added five more simple stick figures with long hair. "However, when she and your friends made that 'rainbow friendship laser', I'm guessing that released a substantial amount of magic." Artemis paused and scratched his head. "I wonder how I didn't feel that?" He looked at Sunset. "Does this sound right so far?"
Sunset nodded. "Yeah, that's where my theory started. The Elements of Harmony are pretty powerful, enough to leave a lasting impression."
"Good." Artemis drew music notes around the girls. "Now, when your friends were exposed to magic from your world, I'm guessing they managed to retain it if these Elements are as strong as you say they are." He tapped his wand against his chin. "Magic has a tendency to attract more magic. But, since there's so little magic in this world, that's probably why nothing has happened since then."
"Until this week when Rainbow started playing music really passionately," Sunset said.
"Ah." Artemis drew more squiggles flowing directly to the girls. "My hypothesis is that your strong pony magic has resonated with some of the last magic on earth--one of the most ancient ones."
"Music?" Twilight guessed.
"Music!" Artemis threw his hands up. "Their residual magic has mingled with music and drawn out the effects of this Equestrian magic now floating through the world." He tapped the screen, making it vanish. "That's quite some deduction if I do say so myself. I amaze even me sometimes."
Sunset rolled her eyes. Narcissism aside, Artemis had pushed more than one of Sunset's hypotheses into theory. If her friends had residual magic from the Elements of Harmony, then Sunset was positive she had some of its corruption as well. And if they ponied up from crossing their magic with earth's, Sunset shuddered to think what would happen if she did the same.
She kept her somber thoughts to herself. The solution was simple: just don't do anything that would trigger her magic. Though, as the events of the day had shown, magic seemed determined to chase after her. Was she a walking danger to her friends? They couldn't perform the whole rainbow, could they? They managed to release a small shock wave, but would it be enough to put her down if she lost control?
Sunset raised her arms to hug herself, playing it off like she was tightening her jacket. Twilight didn't notice. Her rapt attention was on Artemis.
"Okay, that explains the why. What about the how?" Twilight asked. "How are they transforming? Does it change their body structure? Where does it go when they're normal? Are there any side-effects to this? How does magic even work in this world?"
Artemis reached over and tapped her nose with his wand. "You ask a lot of questions; it'll get you far in life." He leaned back. "But, you're asking questions I can't give an answer to. I only know simple transfiguration, and this sounds like it's leaning further to your Equestrian magic. Magic in the human world works because you believe it will." He wiggled his fingers again. "And you have wizard blood in you."
Twilight scrunched her nose, and Sunset could see a muscle tightening in her jaw. "That's all you can tell me? Even supernatural forces have to work off of some sort of laws and principles!"
"Well, there's a certain amount of work and concentration that goes into it. And there are certainly laws even magicians have to abide by." A thoughtful frown dragged down his normally cheery face. "But I'm afraid, Twilight, you're looking for answers I can't give you. If you asked me how I pulled a rabbit out of my hat, I'd tell you it's because I have a small pocket dimension stored in there and because I believed I had the power to pull it out. Then you'd ask me how I created a pocket dimension, and I'd tell you I made a sealed space and condensed it until it could fit in my hat. Then you'd ask me how again, and I'd tell you 'magic.'" He turned his eyes to the ceiling. "Very few magicians ever asked 'how'. 'What' and 'why' certainly, and even the fundamental 'hows'." He looked back at Twilight with respect and pity in his eyes. "You're looking for the root 'how', and I think that's an answer that doesn't want, and possibly can't, be found."
Twilight made a frustrated sigh and pressed her papers to her head. After some incoherent muttering, she said, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Lulamoon."
Artemis stood up and walked back to his desk. "Please, I told you to just call me Artemis. Mr. Lulamoon just makes me sound old. At any rate, I'm sorry I couldn't give you all the answers you wanted." He sat down and started playing with his ship in a bottle. "But sometimes, you don't need a complicated answer for a complicated problem."
Sunset helped Twilight up from the beanbag after struggling to free herself from its spongy clutches. Twilight kept her head bowed until they reached Sunset's room, where Spot laid on the bed and chewed the Princess plushie.
Good boy, Sunset thought. She moved a hand to Twilight's waist, wincing at the disgruntled aura pulsing off of her. "Listen, Sparky--"
Twilight snapped her head up, a determined fire in her eyes. "I want you to teach me everything about Equestrian magic."
Sunset took a step back. Twilight rarely ever demanded anything. "Woah there, Twi. That's a lot of information, half of which I can't remember off the top of my head."
"Then teach me the things you do remember. If you can tell me that, maybe I can figure out how magic in this world works."
"Okay, hold on." Sunset rested her hands on Twilight's shoulders. "Twilight, take a few deep breaths and calm down."
She did as she was told, inhaling and exhaling slowly. Sunset could feel the tension in her shoulders ebbing away. A shadow of a smile crossed Twilight's face. "Usually I'm the one telling you to calm down."
"Guess we're rubbing off on each other." Sunset guided Twilight over to the bed and sat her down. "Sparky, you're brilliant, the smartest girl I've ever met... besides me, of course." Twilight gave her a playful shove, and Sunset continued. "I get you want to figure this out. You like understanding things--that's how you work. But maybe Artemis is right, maybe we're looking too deep into this. We know why the girls pony up; do we really need to know how?"
Twilight hunched over. "I'd like to."
"And what would you do with that information anyway?"
"I don't know," she said, her head hung in defeat. "It's like you said, I just like knowing."
Sunset ran her fingers through Twilight's hair. "And there's nothing wrong with that. I'll tell you everything I can about Equestrian magic if you think it'll help you figure this out." She turned Twilight's head toward her. "Just promise me you'll take this magical studies thing easy and won't obsess over it. If something doesn't make sense, it's because magic isn't supposed to make sense." She kissed her on the nose. "Okay?"
The cheerful light returned to Twilight's eyes, and she rested her head against Sunset's chest. "I guess that's fair. And you're right, I have enough to be studying without adding magic to the list." She nuzzled closer and lifted her head to Sunset. "Still, I'm excited to learn more about your home."
Sunset smiled, hoping it didn't look too pained. "Always happy to talk about it." She supposed it gave her some closure. Talking about Equestria was the next best thing to being there.
Her thoughts became muddled by Twilight's lips pressing on hers. For a brief moment, Sunset forgot what she had been worried about.
"Eegh, at least close the door. Trixie doesn't need to see that," Trixie said, walking past Sunset's room.
Sunset pulled away with an annoyed grunt. "Now I know why so many people make out under the bleachers."
*******
"So, the magic we got from Equestria and Princess Twilight is being triggered by the magic from this world, and that's what's makin' us pony up?" Applejack summarized in a low voice.
"More or less," Sunset said.
"Neat!" Pinkie said. "Twilight must be happy."
Sunset wiggled her hand. "Eh... she's still wants to learn how, but she's content for the time being." She walked with her friends through the rotunda and out onto the campus lawn at the end of their Friday school session. Twilight had already departed with Moondancer.
"So, no more experiments, right?" Fluttershy asked.
"No, I think were done for now."
Rarity tossed her scarf around her neck. "It's too bad. I was starting to enjoy playing that keytar. Oh well, I got plenty of fashion ideas out of it." She looked at Sunset. "Though, remind me why we kept this all hush hush from Moondancer?"
Sunset shoved her hands into her pockets. "Because I don't want to tell her anything." She flinched at the withering glare Rarity cast. "I'm joking... kinda. I mean, do you want everyone knowing you have magic?"
"I suppose not. But Moondancer is Trixie's cousin. Don't you think she'd be able to handle that information?"
From Sunset's other side, Rainbow spoke up. "I'm with Sunset. What Lunedancer doesn't know, won't hurt her."
Sunset smirked. "You're doing that on purpose now, aren't you?"
"Oh, totally."
They shared a subtle fistbump.
Applejack leaned past Rarity, copying her expression. "We get it, Dash, you're mad that she called you a boy. Don'tcha think you've held a grudge long enough?"
"Ask me again next month."
Applejack rolled her eyes and put a hand up. "Fine, whatever. Lord knows you can't be reasoned with."
Rainbow lifted her chin. "Don't act all high and mighty. You don't like her either."
"Ah never said that. She's an actor. Ah just don't trust her 'cause you never know when they're actin' or not." She adjusted her backpack straps. "Anyways, she's a friend of Twilight's, so Ah'll give her the benefit of the doubt."
Rainbow jerked her thumb. "The last time we gave someone the benefit of the doubt, we got stuck with Sunset."
"Hey!"
"Well, I like her!" Pinkie said, popping up between Rainbow and Sunset.
Sunset lidded her eyes. "Pinkie, you like everyone. That's a moot point."
"That's not true; I don't like everyone."
Rainbow snorted. "Name one person you don't like."
Pinkie stopped walking and stared off into space, her head tilted to the side. As the girls watched her, Sunset could swear she could hear a small ticking noise.
"Well, as fun as this is, I should get home, Sunset said. "Homework to do and all that."
Rainbow's lips curled up. "You're just saying that because Moontrancer is off with Twilight."
"Nothing gets past you, Dash," Sunset said listlessly. She gave a wave and turned at the corner.
She shoved her hands in her pockets and hunched her shoulders. Of course she was upset Twilight was with Moondancer, but she wasn't going to give Rainbow, or Moondancer for that matter, the satisfaction of saying it out loud.
Besides, she did have homework to do. She just would have preferred to do it with Twilight.
Sunset grunted. "Stop acting so codependent. You managed perfectly well before Twilight walked into your life; you can manage a day." Sunset smiled. "A nice evening of me time."
Her plans fell apart the moment she walked through the front door. Artemis appeared in a puff of smoke, a frantic look on his face. He grabbed Sunset by the wrist. "Emergency family meeting! Now!"
"Wha-"
When she blinked, Sunset found herself in the kitchen standing next to an equally confused Trixie. Across the table, Selena had her attention on a newspaper article.
Artemis relentlessly paced behind her, making wild gestures with his hands. "How could I have missed this... Doesn't make any sense... This is what I get for not following social media!"
"Can someone please explain what's going on?" Sunset asked. "You're acting stranger than usual. Mind you, that's a high bar to hurdle."
Selena looked up from the paper, a grim look in her eye. "Artemis has told you the tale of our fight against the Sirens, right?"
Sunset tapped her chin. " Sounds like something he would go on about, yeah. Something about Greece and a heart."
"How did they get past my barrier?" Artemis shouted. "That was my strongest spell!"
Selena reached over and rubbed his arm. "Sweetheart, calm down." She turned back to Trixie and Sunset and pushed the newspaper over to them. "You should read this."
Trixie picked it up and cleared her throat. "'Singing Sensations Spark Another Riot. The overnight pop phenomena, The Dazzlings, continued their tour across the country with their latest stop in Tall Tale. Like all of their concerts before it, the performance ended in a riot amongst fans. While no deaths occurred, several people were injured and hospitalized.
"'When asked for a statement, bandleader, Adagio Dazzle--'"
Artemis growled.
"'--had this to say. 'We are worried that some of our fans might get hurt, but we're just happy they're so enthusiastic about our music.' Neither she nor her sisters, Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze, show any indication of stopping their one-hundred city tour. Some have likened their spontaneous and zealous fan base to a cult, showing growing concern over the devotion the youth culture has given them. They're scheduled to play in Canterlot February 12th.'"
Trixie looked up, mouth hanging open. "The Dazzlings are the Sirens?"
Sunset looked over her shoulder at the picture provided with the article. Three girls stood on stage wearing costumes the eighties spat out. The girl on the right had blue hair and skin, and a wide smile. On the left was a girl with purple pigtails with green highlights. She smiled too, but it was one of pure superiority. The lead singer was a girl with a mass of orange hair that put Pinkie's to shame. Her smile was a combination of the other two, filled with enjoyment and superiority with a hint of sultry deviance. All three of them wore black necklaces with bright rubies at the center.
"Those are the Dazzlings?" Sunset asked, raising a skeptical brow.
"Don't underestimate them," Artemis warned. "They're three of the most devious and dangerous creatures we've ever fought."
"I'm sure." She shrugged. "So they're causing concert riots. What's the big deal? Teenagers riot over a lot of stupid things."
Artemis threw his arms out, nearly smacking Selena in the head. She glared at him while he said, "The 'big deal' is that they feed off negative energy! Their songs stir up negativity and tense emotions, getting friends to bicker over even the smallest of things! One second, you're in a cafe with your friends talking about the weather." He raised his arms above his head and waved his hands. "Then the next thing you know, you're fighting over whether that cloud looks like a puppy or a turtle!"
Sunset's eyebrow rose higher.
Artemis lowered his arms. "All right, that was a poor example. The point is, the Sirens create negative emotions, then feed on the emotions released. Feeding makes them stronger. Another caveat to their powers is that their voices have a strong influential effect, making the hearer susceptible to mind manipulation." Artemis grit his teeth. "If they grew strong enough, I'm sure it would evolve into all out hypnotism."
"Okay, now this sounds bad," Sunset said.
"Even worse," Selena said, pushing Artemis to sit down at the table, "is if they found the Crystal Heart."
Sunset took a seat as well. "Why does that sound familiar?"
"Don't you listen to anything my father says?" Trixie snapped.
"Is that a rhetorical question?"
Selena cut in. "The Crystal Heart is an ancient artifact of magical power. It amplifies and reverberates the strongest emotion emitted. For instance, if it picked up on happiness, it would double that happiness felt with everyone in its radius."
Sunset nodded in grim understanding. "But if the Sirens got it and used it while they were feeding..."
"It would double the output of negative energy they were creating," Trixie finished.
"That was their plan twenty years ago," Artemis said. He proudly put a hand over his chest. "Luckily, I--"
"We," Selena said.
"--were there to stop them." Artemis stood up, a heroic gleam in his eye. "Yes, it was quite the thrilling adventure, full of action, peril, sabotage, and intricate disguises. It all started when--"
Selena clapped a hand over his mouth. "Sweetheart, I love when you recount our adventures and I get to correct you, I really do, but for the sake of time, just give them the bare bones and skip to the point."
Artemis deflated, his hat sagging to one side. He made a grunt, and Selena removed her hand. "Fine." He straightened up and cleared his throat. "Greece. The eighties. Your mother, my sister, and myself came to the ancient country on the trail of the Crystal Heart and--can I at least make pictures for this?" he whined.
Selena rolled her eyes and waved a hand. "Go ahead. But again, bare bones."
"Yes, yes, I know." Artemis whipped his wand out. "Lulamoon!"
A bubble appeared over the table, pearly smoke swirling inside of it until it formed three figures, their features growing more defined with each passing second. Sunset recognized the younger versions of Artemis and Selena; neither of them had any significant changes, save for Artemis' missing goatee. The third girl Sunset had only seen in the pictures around the house. She looked like a female version of Artemis, or perhaps a grown up version of Trixie, only slightly less smug. She had waist length silver hair, bright green eyes, and the same mischievous smile Artemis always wore. On her head was a blue witch's hat with a wide brim.
"There were the three of us," Artemis continued, "three of the most talented and good looking adventurers in the world! We spent weeks following myths and legends about the Crystal Heart, finally tracking it to a city on Greece's coast."
He waved his wand, and the image changed to a town sitting by the water. It was grimy and dust ridden, with swollen grey clouds hanging overhead. It certainly wasn't something to put on a postcard.
"Unfortunately for us, the Sirens had gotten there first, and were already spreading their magic. Everyone in town was on edge and ready to snap at the drop of a hat." Artemis winced and rubbed his shoulder. "And I mean that quite literally. I walk past a guy, the wind knocks his hat off, next thing I know, I'm being assaulted."
"You bumped into him," Selena corrected.
"My point still stands. Anyway, with the natives acting extra hostile to tourists, it was hard to procure information on the Crystal Heart. Fortunately, finding the Sirens was a bit easier." With another wave of his wand, the image in the bubble melted and reformed, depicting the three girls who hadn't aged a day between the bubble image and their picture in the newspaper. They sat on three makeshift thrones made from white wood and pillows, and had a crowd of people surrounding them, offering baskets of fruit and bread.
Artemis wrinkled his nose in disgust. "They weren't exactly subtle in their use of power. I don't know how long they've been around, but they've been piggybacking off of a number of human conflicts, literally adding their voice to the dissent, then feeding off the negative energy. They had enough power to put the entire city under their thrall right when they arrived."
"Hypnotism?" Sunset asked.
"Not quite yet. The people still had free will. Their will was just skewed to make whatever the Sirens wanted take first priority."
"All while acting like complete jerks toward one another," Selena added.
Artemis nodded and crossed his arms. "Needless to say, trying to boot them out the old fashion way was... ill thought out." He lazily waved his hand, and the bubble showed the three adventurers fleeing from an angry mob complete with pitchforks and torches.
Selena took over. "We spent the next few nights sleeping on the outskirts of town. Since we couldn't take on the Sirens directly or find the Heart, we would have to wait for them to make the first move."
"It took time, patience, and some clever illusions from yours truly," Artemis said with a self-important grin, "but we finally followed the Sirens out to a remote island. It was there, in an underground cavern, that we found the Crystal Heart." With a flourish of his wand, a brilliant blue and white diamond appeared over the table. True to its name, it was cut into the shape of a heart, and gleamed in an unseen light. Just looking at it filled Sunset with a cozy warmth.
The image changed again to show the two groups squaring off against each other. "What followed after," Artemis said excitedly, "was a death-defying battle for the ages!"
"It was a game of magical keep-away," Selena whispered.
"A game that we won!" Artemis rubbed his ears. "Although I went temporarily deaf thanks to their maniac screeching. But our magic and teamwork trumped theirs! It was Apalla's crafty escape artist skills that got us out of there."
"Apalla?" Sunset asked.
"My aunt," Trixie said.
Artemis sighed wistfully. "My sister could get out of anything if she wanted to. Because of her, we got off that island before the Sirens did, and I was able to put up my barrier spell. A spell that should have held as long as I drew breath." The image bubble dispersed, and Artemis started pacing again. "Now they're free, and I can only assume they're going to pick up where they left off."
Sunset hummed, processing everything she had been told. Perhaps I should start listening to him more. Sirens and magical artifacts. Sunset had thought the strangest thing to happen to this world was herself. Turns out she was just a new player in an old game. "So, where is the Heart?"
"I sold it to the Canterlot museum," Artemis said casually.
Sunset gaped at him. "You sold a magical artifact to a museum?"
"Yep. Sunset, if you saw it's beauty in person, you would understand why. Yes, it's magical, but it's also a priceless artifact of history. I can't just keep it to myself. Besides, its primary function is to spread happiness and joy. It does a much better job doing that in a museum than in my store."
"I suppose you're right." Just looking at the picture had made Sunset feel delightful.
Trixie asked, "So, what did you do with the money?"
Artemis ruffled her hair. "Put it into your college fund. You're welcome."
Selena stood from her chair. "We should probably put in an anonymous tip to the museum that someone might try to steal the Heart."
Artemis ran a finger down his goatee. "Yes, that should make it a little harder on them. They'll be here in a few weeks, which doesn't give us a whole lot of time to plan." He stretched a hand out to Selena. "Come, turtle dove. We have much to discuss."
Selena giggled as he whisked her away from the kitchen, leaving Sunset and Trixie alone.
Trixie smiled from ear-to-ear. "Trixie has the coolest parents ever! Someday, she'll go on adventures just like they did." She glanced to Sunset. "You can be Trixie's sidekick if you want."
"Not in this lifetime."
"Suit yourself. Trixie is going to see if she can assist in saving the world!" She sprung from her chair and sprinted after her parents.
Sunset looked at the newspaper again, examining the picture of the Dazzlings. The more she looked, the more they felt familiar, like they shared a certain bond with Sunset. She shook her head and headed for the stairs. Bond or not, this was one fight she had no intention of joining. |
Spectacular Seven | 7. Frenemy Mine | "So, the Dazzlings are actually evil sirens?"
"Yep."
"And they want this Crystal Heart thingy to power themselves up and take over the world?"
"Pretty much."
Six pairs of eyes stared back at Sunset, each filled with varying degrees of shock and amazement, and in the case of Fluttershy, fear.
"That's pretty hardcore," Rainbow said.
The Spectacular Seven sat in Sugarcube Corner, having picked a table tucked away in the back. A spread of pastries sat in front of them, most untouched after Sunset began explaining what Artemis had told her last night.
Applejack rhythmically tapped a finger against the table. "So, does that mean we're puttin' the fate of the world in the hands of Trixie and her parents?"
Sunset shrugged. "Hey, they stopped the Sirens before. Who says they can't do it again?" She took a sip of water to ease her parched throat, then started on a strawberry scone.
"Still," Rarity said, tapping a finger against her cheek, "I feel like there's something we could do to help."
"Yeah!" Pinkie raised a hand. "We have magic now, too! We could totally swoop in and go pow, right to the Dazzlings' faces!"
Sunset snorted. "What, like superheroes? You girls grow horns and wings when you play music, but that doesn't make you superheroes. Besides, for all we know this could be some passing thing until the Equestrian magic in you just, I don't know, runs out."
"Could it work like that?" Twilight asked.
"I dunno. They're humans with pony magic; who knows what'll happen?"
"That's why we were running tests. Which reminds me, I have a new idea, but it's going to require a few blood samples--"
The collective chorus of, "No!" quickly shut Twilight down into her seat. Sunset stroked her hair, trying not to laugh. "Maybe we should hold off on the tests for a bit."
Twilight muttered something about stifling her scientific mind and started moodily chewing through a cookie. The humor of seeing Twilight dejected wore off quickly, and Sunset brainstormed a way to cheer her up, or at least get her mind off magical science.
She groaned inwardly as her thoughts stopped on one particular subject. "So..." Sunset swallowed her petty demeanor. "Did you have fun with Moondancer yesterday?"
Twilight rose out of her slump and smiled. "Yeah. We walked around uptown and got cupcakes from this little pastry shop--"
Pinkie made a small, "Harrumph."
"--then we went ice skating." She looked down at her cookie, but continued to smile. "I fell a lot."
"I'm glad you had fun." Sunset counted that as a half truth. Was she glad Twilight had fun? Yes. Was she bitter that said fun was had with Moondancer? Only a little.
Why didn't you ever take her for ice skating? Because I don't know how to skate! Then you both could have fallen down and laughed about it!
Sunset blocked the taunting voice in her head. "Maybe you and I can do something special next weekend. Maybe hang out at the mall?"
In an unexplainable way, Sunset knew she would dread Twilight's answer. Her smile was genuine, her eyes bright, but the second Twilight opened her mouth, Sunset's entire body tensed.
"Actually, Moondancer thought it'd be a great idea to have a day for all of us to hang out. We could all go to the mall together!"
Hayseed, ponyfeathers, rotten Tartarus below! "Yeah, that sounds like a fun plan!" Sunset said, her voice raised an extra octave. "Doesn't that sound like fun, girls?"
"Sure does," Applejack said, her eyes pointed to the front door. "Too bad Ah've got a lot of farm work planned next weekend. Y'all know how it goes."
"Actually..." Rarity twisted a finger around a lock of hair. "Flash and I have a... prior engagement on Saturday."
Pinkie gasped and pointed. "I knew you two would get together after the ball!"
Rarity tried to hide her pink cheeks behind her mug of hot chocolate. "Don't be silly. We're just seeing a movie together. We're not an item."
"Yet," Sunset said, smirking in satisfaction. Perhaps the poor, lovestruck dope would finally find a good girl this time. "Well, what about the rest of you." Do not leave me alone with Moondancer!
Fluttershy pulled on her longer bang. "I'm really sorry, girls. But I already promised Pinkie I'd give Gummy a check up."
Pinkie nodded fervently. "Yep. Can you believe most veterinarians won't look at baby alligators? Good thing Fluttershy is super-duper awesome!"
Sunset's pleading eyes fell onto Rainbow, but the blaise look on her face already told Sunset she'd find no backup there.
"I just don't wanna go," Rainbow said flatly.
I hate you, Dash.
Twilight wilted momentarily but sprouted back up. "So I guess it's just the three of us," she said to Sunset. "We can still have plenty of fun. Besides, I really want you two to get along."
"What are you talking about? We're practically best friends already!" Sunset said, still fighting to get her voice to normal. I've lost my touch at lying.
It was enough to convince Twilight at least. The rest of the girls just smirked in amusement.
*******
Sunset had a whole week of school to suffer through before her play date with Moondancer. Once Artemis and Selena had told her about the Sirens, it seemed the only thing on most of the students' minds were the Dazzlings and their music. Either she hadn't cared to notice before, or their influence spread like wildfire.
Having learned from their previous mistakes, Artemis knew attacking the Sirens directly would only paint himself as the villain. For now, his and Selena's main objective was to make it as hard as possible for them to get the Crystal Heart. In the meantime, they would track the Sirens' progress while working on a plan to reseal them.
Like Artemis, Sunset found herself wondering how the Sirens escaped from a deserted island surrounded by a forcefield. Part of her wanted to attribute it to Artemis being not as good at magic as he thought, a trait that seemed to run in the family. However, she had seen first-hand some of the feats he was capable of. She rubbed her stomach, remembering when he had sawed her in half upon their first encounter. When he stopped goofing around, he could do incredible things.
So how were the Sirens walking free?
The only answer Artemis had drawn was that someone had set them free. That theory meant someone incredibly powerful had to have intentionally released them, taking down the barrier without Artemis noticing. Of course, he had managed not to notice Sunset and Princess Twilight's showdown, so it remained feasible. That added the questions of who set the Sirens free and why?
Sunset paused her train of thought and slowly came back to her AP English class. This wasn't her fight. Why was she spending so much time pondering this? She cared and hoped the Lulamoons could stop the Sirens and whatever sinister plot they had up their sleeves. But she had more important things to worry about.
For instance, as her subconscious mind now liked to remind her constantly, what the hay was she going to do after graduation? As welcome as she now felt, Sunset had no intention of living with the Lulamoons and working in the emporium for the next two years. And when the portal opened up at the time, did she even want to go back? Going back meant looking Celestia in the eye and admitting, once again, that everything Sunset had done in the past had been wrong. Sunset was sure she could get over that part, but there still remained the issue of sharing a dimension with Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Sunset shuddered in disgust. She held onto the urge to punch the princess in the face the next time they met.
Third and finally, when the portal opened, Sunset would have to say goodbye to everyone here that she had come to love. Her friends, her foster family, Twilight... The thought of it made her heart tighten. But the thought of never seeing Equestria again gave her equal pain.
In the end, she would have to give up something.
The bell rang, dismissing the students for lunch. Sunset packed her bag, moving slow so she could massage her head. Too much thinking. You're just giving yourself a migraine. She stepped out of the classroom and headed for the cafeteria, wondering if it was too much to ask for Pinkie to be quiet.
Arriving at the lunch table, Sunset found Pinkie's volume level was the least of her concerns. Both Moondancer and Trixie had taken seats next to her friends. You know, it's hard to be the Spectacular Seven when there's nine of us.
She dropped into the chair next to Moondancer, forcing Twilight to sit on Sunset's left when she arrived. Moondancer and Sunset exchanged pleasant smiles while their eyes traded silent jabs.
Rainbow sat across from Sunset and spoke first after initial greetings were through. "So, gonna be honest, I kinda got curious enough to listen to some of the Dazzlings songs. I gotta say, not impressed."
Trixie threw her hands up. "Finally, someone agrees with Trixie!"
Applejack ran a hand against her forehead. "Phew. Ah thought Ah was the only girl whose curiosity got the best of her. Yeah, they sound okay, but Ah don't see why everyone else is goin' gaga over them."
"I personally find their voices a musical treat for the cultured ear," Moondancer said. "Which is saying something, because as a matter of course, the pop and rock and roll genre is a degenerate and garbled mess of sounds trying to pass as something akin to music." She clapped her hands together and held them to her chest. "Their voices, however, are a melodic harmony words cannot describe."
"Oh I bet you could if you tried hard enough," Sunset said.
Pinkie eagerly raised her hand. "Can I try?"
"Please don't."
Trixie sighed and picked up her sack lunch. "Well, Trixie has to go put up with more talk about how great the Dazzlings are from her friends." She made eye contact with Sunset, glanced over to Moondancer, then back with a small shake of her head.
Sunset nodded, savvy enough to understand the message. Still, it meant a change in subject for the rest of her friends. "So, who's ready for the musical showcase next month?"
Rainbow pumped her fist. "Oh yeah! I'm gonna remind the school why Rainbow rocks!" She played an air guitar and banged her head, ponytail flipping wildly about.
Applejack twirled a finger, her face deadpan. "Five whole minutes of you showing off for the entire school. Can't wait."
"Actually, I've gotten my guitar solo to six minutes now," Rainbow said smugly.
"Great. Six minutes of our lives we won't get back." Applejack snorted as Rainbow took her stetson and shoved it further down her head.
"I'm really excited too," Twilight said, bouncing in her seat. "Mrs. Carol wants the school orchestra to perform at the end, so this will be my first performance for the school!"
"That's awesome!"
"How extravagant!" Sunset and Moondancer said over each other. They shared sweetly poisonous smiles again.
Pinkie gasped and reached over to grab Twilight by the shoulders. "You're going to play in front of the entire school! That's so super swell! You must be so excited! You must be so nervous! Is there a word for that?" She gasped again. "You must be so nervouscited!"
Sunset rubbed her temple. "Pinkie, please remove that word from your vocabulary forever."
"Awww." She slumped back to her side of the table. "You never let me have any fun."
*******
"Shouldn't you tell Moondancer about the Sirens?" Sunset realized how hypocritical that sounded when she had just told her friends to keep their magic tests a secret. But this was a matter of safety. As much as Sunset didn't like her, she didn't want anything bad to happen to Moondancer.
Trixie sat up on her bed, dropping her textbook into her lap. "Trixie did. In fact, Moondancer already knew the whole story. But since she doesn't have any magic in her, she's still vulnerable to their effects." Trixie sighed. "She's already been infected by their black magic. If she came over, I'm sure father could put a protection spell over her, but she's always busy with something after school." Trixie rolled her pencil between her fingers. "Which reminds Trixie, how come your friends, or you for that matter, don't seem to be affected?"
Sunset leaned against Trixie's doorframe and tilted her head back. Why hadn't Rainbow and Applejack started to fall in love with the Sirens like everyone else? The answer presented itself as obvious. "Because they've been touched by magic. The Elements of Harmony. It's probably impossible for them to fall for any mind control now."
"What about you?"
Sunset cringed. "Well... I touched magic too. Bad or good, I guess it blocks out the Sirens' influence."
Trixie gave her a dark smile. "Guess that black magic was good for something after all."
"Good night, Trixie." Sunset turned on her heel and stalked to her room.
"Oh come on, Trixie was joking!"
Sunset shut her door and pressed her back to the mirror hanging on the other side. "She's lucky she didn't add 'no offense' to that." Still, Sunset supposed she should be grateful. Whether it came from putting on the crown or being hit by a rainbow beam, at least she could count on not being mind controlled.
She bit her lip. She was safe. Her friends were safe. What about Twilight? Until she had seen Rainbow transform, she had never been exposed to magic. Luckily, Twilight didn't use the radio very often, and only listened to public broadcasting when she did. Sunset made a mental note to see if Artemis could cast a protection spell around Twilight just to be safe.
Sunset stepped away from the mirror, but a burning hand grabbed her by the wrist. "Or, we could do it instead," a voice hissed into her ear. The hand yanked her down to the cold ground, and she stared up at her demon. "Hi, Sunny!" it said with false sweetness.
"Ponyfeathers!" Sunset rolled onto her side in time for her demon to kick her away. She rolled across a black floor. Everything around her was black. Only she and her dark half existed in this place.
"There's still power within you, Sunset." Her voice drifted hauntingly in her ears, a siren song of its own. "Power that you could wield to stop these little Sirens. To put Moondancer in her place."
Sunset got to her feet. "I don't want power," she said through gritted teeth.
Her demon inhaled deeply, a sadistic grin sliding across her face. "I smell regret. I smell fear. I smell guilt." She rushed forward, three times larger than Sunset when she closed the space between them. She grabbed Sunset in her claws. "And I smell a liar!" Her hair blazed, licking Sunset's face with scorching embers. "You still want me--you still need me!"
"No I don't!" Sunset wiggled and squirmed, but the grip only tightened until she could no longer breathe.
"When all your friends abandon you, when you have nowhere left to turn, when you claw desperately at the mirror begging to go home, you'll come crawling back to me! You can't outrun your shadow!"
Sunset's eyes snapped open. She sucked down gulps of air, like a great weight had just been lifted off her chest. Something wet touched her cheek, and she bolted upright just to find Spot wagging his tail at her. She felt her bed beneath her and a notebook in her lap.
"When did I fall asleep?" She looked out the window. The sun had yet to rise, but her clock read 6:17 A.M. "Well, guess I'm up now."
"This fear isn't healthy," Princess Twilight said, sitting on Sunset's night stand. "You should tell someone."
"Tell them what? I've already told them everything. I'll get over it. Eventually..." Repeating that mantra again and again ad nauseum, eventually it had to become the truth. She gathered up her clothes and headed to the bathroom, grateful that Trixie still slept. A thirty minute shower was just what the doctor ordered.
*******
The week progressed, talk of the Dazzlings' upcoming concert growing louder each day. No one seemed hypnotized, just overly excited, much like the days before one of the school dances. Sunset thanked Celestia when the weekend arrived to escape the talk of pop divas, but dreaded what came next. On Saturday before their rendezvous with Moondancer, Sunset brought Twilight to Artemis. They stood in his study once more, no beanbags thankfully. Artemis sat on his desk, twirling his wand between his fingers.
"From my--"
"Our," Selena said, walking past the door.
"--Investigations, the Sirens don't have any true influence over people via the radio. Moderate suggestive properties at best--enough to get people to want to see them in person." He stood and held his wand up. "Still, dangerous in its own way. Listening to them could lead to an obsession." He moved over to Twilight and put his wand level to her forehead.
She closed her eyes and flinched back. "This isn't going to hurt, is it?"
"Nonsense, you won't feel a thing!" He pushed the wand against her. "Lulamoon!" Twilight's eyes dilated after a short flash of light. When it passed, she shook her head and stared in astoundment.
"I... just had magic done on me."
"Yep!" Artemis pocketed his wand. "I'm quite amazing, aren't I? As long as I'm around, you shouldn't have to fear the Sirens." He gave both of them a grave look. "But that isn't an invitation to go looking for trouble. Let me and Selena handle this."
Sunset nodded her head. "Don't worry, we won't."
"Good. Now, off with you! Go have fun! And please, tell Moondancer to visit us the next time she's free." Artemis said with exasperation.
"Will do." Sunset took Twilight's hand and led her away, feeling a small weight lift from her shoulders.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Twilight squealed as they got to Sunset's motorcycle. "A whole day with just the three of us! We can go shopping and get food and go ice skating and--"
"Yep, it's gonna be a great time!" Sunset tossed Twilight her helmet with more force than she intended. "Come on, we don't want to be late."
They sped off down the street, Twilight hanging on for dear life. Remember, this is all for Twilight. If Moondancer can keep her word, so can I. Moondancer had been pretty good so far about upholding their agreement. She hadn't sabotaged anything yet, just stolen time away. The least Sunset could do was act cordial.
A Saturday afternoon meant crowds of teenagers swarmed the mall. Finding parking even for a motorcycle proved difficult. Moondancer awaited them just inside the door. She wore a purple coat that matched the highlights of her hair, and a wide, welcoming smile.
"Little star, Sunset! How are you two?" She gave Twilight a long, warm hug, then exchanged a much shorter one with Sunset. "Are you ready for our outing together?"
Twilight nodded enthusiastically. Sunset gave a single dip of her head.
Moondancer clapped her hands together. "Excellent! Let us peruse this middle-class melting pot of boutiques and services. And remember, Twilight, if there's anything you see you want, I'll be more than happy to buy it for you!"
Sunset narrowed her eyes. Oh, that's your game?
"Moony, you know I could never let you do that," Twilight said.
"Of course, of course. But the offer is always on the table." Moondancer turned and held an arm aloft. "We're off, my friends!" She skipped forward, spun around, then moved across the sparkling tiles, sashaying from right to left, dancing to a melody Sunset couldn't hear.
Twilight caught Sunset's deadpan expression and gave a sheepish shrug. "You get used to it after a while."
"I'm still getting used to Pinkie."
First on the docket were clothing stores, and of course Moondancer brought them to the most expensive one. Sunset still saw no point in 'window shopping.' If you couldn't afford it, why bother torturing yourself by looking at it? Though she supposed for Moondancer, it wasn't really window shopping.
Sunset ran her fingers against a silk nightgown. A little over-extravagant for her tastes, but she wouldn't have minded falling asleep in it.
"Sunset, how do I look?"
She turned around, the silk falling out of her limp hand. Twilight stood in front of her wearing a form fitting white dress and holding herself in such a demure way, Fluttershy would have been jealous. Sunset notice that what Twilight lacked in breast size, her hips made up for it judging by the way the dress hugged them.
"Uuhhhh..." Way to ditch me, brain!
"You look like the first lavender flower of spring rising from the snow!" Moondancer said, materializing over Twilight's shoulder. She gave Twilight a second appraisal. "Actually, no. This color is all wrong for you. Back to the fitting room!" She took Twilight by the arm and retreated.
Sunset's brain rebooted and she swore under her breath. Moondancer kept the ball in her court, doing things she and Twilight had in common and previously enjoyed. What did Sunset and Twilight have in common? Superior intellect, a love of ice cream, listening to classical music. How could any of those activities be applied here?
Also, note to self: find more activities to do together.
Moondancer continued to play dress up, using Twilight as her doll. While Sunset devised a way to turn this day back in her favor, she played along, putting on fancy skirts and designer shoes she would normally never wear. Moondancer even handed her a dress, and to Sunset's surprise, it looked good on her.
Twilight picked the next store. She searched the directory for anything interesting, but eventually gave into her instincts and took them to the bookstore. At least here, Sunset had even footing. Sort of. They spent a majority of the time listening to Twilight gush about the newest astronomy guide or historical biography.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can buy you?" Moondancer asked as they headed for the front door.
"Yeah. I've still got a mountain of books to get through before I buy anymore," Twilight said with a wistful look back. At least Sunset knew what she could get as a surprise present for her.
Sunset got to pick their next activity, and as she had no desire to visit any stores, she picked something only she and Twilight shared. They moved to the center of the mall where a giant chessboard was set up. It took a little while to get all of the kids to stop playing with the pieces, but soon, Twilight and Sunset took their places on opposite ends of the board.
Moondancer waited on a nearby bench. "Good luck, both of you. I expect a grand show."
Sunset tuned her out. Now, it was just her, Twilight, and their respective intellect and strategy. She popped her knuckles and waited for Twilight to take the first move. She opened by moving one of her central pawns, setting it down with a knowing smile.
Either a King's Gambit or a Sicilian Defense. I love it when you don't hold your punches, Twilight. Sunset countered by moving her knight first, putting it within range of Twilight's first pawn. Like many of their other matches, it dissolved into a counter and re-counter game, each girl trying to out move the other. Sunset prided herself on being able to make the necessary sacrifices for the greater good, while Twilight always hesitated when she had to give up a piece to capture something of Sunset's.
They hardly spoke a word, their actions and eye contacts speaking for them. Acknowledgement of the other's tactical prowess, complimenting a well-thought move, the occasional flirtatious wink. The last one was mostly done by Sunset.
She lost track of time, but snuck an occasional glance over to Moondancer. Throughout the whole match, she kept an interested gaze and bemused smile. Sunset admired her patience if anything else.
Twilight and Sunset whittled each other down to a few pieces. The match was decided after Sunset lost her second castle. Twilight put her into checkmate with a bishop and a knight.
Sunset hung her head. "One of these days, I'm going to beat you."
Twilight moved her pieces back to their proper places. "You won the first time we played, remember?"
"That didn't count; you gave up!"
Moondancer ran over and gave Twilight a large hug. "Oh, my little star! Shining brilliantly as always! Your moves were precise and graceful! Bold and decisive!" She lifted a hand to the ceiling. "Surely, Minerva favors you on this day!"
"Thanks, Moony."
"And you, Sunset. You performed most admirably. I learned a lot watching you play," Moondancer said with an unreadable smirk.
"Uh, thanks?" Something cold crawled down Sunset's neck, and she suddenly knew how her past enemies felt when she was calculating dark machinations. "So, I guess loser buys hot chocolate today instead of ice cream?"
Twilight licked her lips. "Hot chocolate sounds delicious right now."
"Allow me," Moondancer said, giving her purse a little shake. "A treat for the riveting bout you two put on."
Sunset forced herself to smile. "How sweet of you." She would have protested more, but her wallet would be grateful somewhere down the line.
One line for hot chocolate and scones later, the trio found themselves gathered around a round table instead of sitting in a booth like usual. Twilight scooched a little closer to Sunset, but the space between them still felt infinitely wide.
Moondancer took a careful sip of her chocolate. "So I turn around and standing behind me in line is Prim Hemline herself. She recognized the dress I was wearing was one of her originals. So we start talking and I told her I was in Paris for a little modeling. Of course, she saw my natural talent and asked me to model her new line of dresses. One of my best days all in all."
"That's so exciting!" Twilight said.
"Yeah, what are the odds you run into a famous fashion designer in the middle of a random pastry shop in Paris?" Sunset said, stirring her drink.
"Well, perhaps it wasn't a random pastry shop. I just chose at random... from a list of the best shops in town." She took another sip. "But enough about me. Anything exciting happen that you haven't told me about in your letters, Twily?"
"I don't know. I already told you about the science fair and the Winter Ball. Those were the most exciting things I can think of."
"Ah yes, your school dance." Moondancer looked over at Sunset. "That's where the student body attempted to persecute you for misdeeds, correct?"
Sunset shifted an eye over to Twilight. How much did you tell her?
Twilight nervously blinked twice. Not too much. Maybe.
"I can't help but wonder what sort of transgressions you partook in that would rouse the ire of most of the school. None of Twilight's friends appear to be agitators." She sipped again and gave Sunset a level look. "Though I suppose you do wear that rebellious look quite well."
"Moondancer," Twilight said quietly.
Sunset put a hand up. "I did some things I'm not proud of. But my work at the dance was me trying to make up for it." She pierced Moondancer's steady gaze with one of her own. "I learned my lessons."
Moondancer's expression didn't change. "Indeed. A lesson learned is a lesson earned." Her entire face changed to that of a doting mother. She took a napkin, reached over and dabbed at Twilight's nose. "Twily, you have whip cream on you."
Twilight rubbed her nose when Moondancer finished. "Thanks." She squirmed in her seat. "Actually, I think that hot chocolate went right through me. I'll be back." She stood and hurried toward the restrooms.
Sunset watched her go until she was out of earshot, then whipped around to Moondancer. "Are you trying to make me mad?"
Moondancer propped her chin on top of her folded hands. "Is it working?"
Sunset took a deep breath. "No. It's not. I'm not letting you get under my skin."
"Oh? That's good to know." Her unreadable smile returned. "I heard you used to have quite the nasty temper, Sunset."
Guard doubled, Sunset asked, "Really? What else have you heard?"
"Oh, this and that," Moondancer said with a wave of her hand. "Your fellow students have a lot to say about you. It's difficult to discern fact from fiction. But as I told you before, I find your character dubious at best. However..." She moved her mouth behind her hands. "The more I examine you, the more... interesting you become."
Sunset raised an eyebrow and leaned her body back. "Interesting?"
"Yes. How does one get from queen of the school, to shunned outcast, to where you're sitting now? How do you go from hateful and hated to... courting Twilight Sparkle?"
"Through a long and painful road," Sunset said, keeping her voice even.
"Perhaps. But I've found that zebras don't change their stripes."
Sunset balled her fists. "You think a little second hand information and staring tells you everything about me?"
"Oh, not everything. But a lot. I can tell you were a lonely child growing up. Either your parents didn't love you or didn't have enough time to spend with you. So you shunned everyone else and focused on making yourself the center of attention through power. Then, to hold onto that power, you used fear and manipulation. But something happened and you lost that power you clung to so tightly. But I still see it in your eyes. And in the way you play chess. You're not afraid to crush or sacrifice anyone in your way."
Sunset fought to keep her face stoic, but Moondancer's words cut dangerously close to home. Aside from the magic and world hopping, she had practically nailed Sunset's past story. Sunset breathed steadily through her nose. "You still don't know everything about me. I've changed. I'm in a much better place now."
Moondancer's lips rose above her hand again. "'The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.'"
Sunset raised her hands and pressed them into the table. "All right, princess, you wanna go right now?"
"'Go'?" Moondancer raised an eyebrow. "Are you challenging me to a duel of some sorts?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, I am! How about you and I play a match of chess? Let's see what I can't learn from you."
Twilight came back, a smile on her face. "Hey, girls, what did I miss?"
Instantly, the negative energy flowing around the table dissipated. Moondancer moved her hands and beamed at Twilight. "Nothing much. But Sunset seems eager to make up for her earlier loss, so I am going to be her next opponent in chess."
Twilight gasped. "Oh, that'll be great! I'll get a fresh perspective on both of your strategies. It'll be so much fun!" She drained the rest of her drink and sprung from her chair again. "Come on, let's go."
Sunset finished her cup and slammed it onto the table before shooting Moondancer one last challenging stare. They moved back to the board, devoid of any children needing to be shooed away.
This time, Sunset faced Moondancer on the other side of the black and white tiles. She thinks she can read me through the way I play? Then I'll give her a whole novel!
Picking the white pieces, Moondancer had the first move. She kept a hand under her chin while she thought. Sunset swore Moondancer stared more at her than the board. She moved her first pawn, taking time to ensure it fit perfectly into its square.
Sunset took her turn, following her usual set up to let one of her bishops move freely next turn. She hesitated as she set her pawn down, keeping a hand on it. Moondancer had just watched her play. She no doubt expected Sunset to play in a similar fashion. To take necessary sacrifices whenever she saw an opportunity.
That doesn't reflect how I act in real life... does it? No, of course not! I would never sacrifice my friends! This is just a game. She took her hand off the pawn and stepped back. Moondancer wouldn't get to her, not under her skin or in her head.
But as the match progressed, Sunset found herself second guessing what should have been particularly easy moves to take. Moondancer played a defensive game, setting a good wall against her king and making sure most of her pieces could quickly be avenged if one was taken. She offered up bait for Sunset to take, but seeing three moves ahead, Sunset knew it would only be detrimental to her in the long run. Occasionally, Moondancer would move a piece only to move it back the next turn.
She's waiting, Sunset realized. Most of the pieces remained on the board; only pawns had captured. Neither of them had struck a real blow. She wants me to make the first move. She wants me to prove her point. One look into Moondancer's eyes confirmed her suspicions. Throughout the entire game, she wore a calm smile, and her eyes held a superior see-all gaze.
Sunset's turn came around again, and she couldn't decide on an action. Her knight stood ready to take Moondancer's rook, but then her own knight would take Sunset's. Three squares over, Sunset had a pawn that could be taken by Moondancer's white bishop. If Sunset moved her rook a few paces and Moondancer took the bait, Sunset could take the bishop. It was just a pawn. It was worth it, right?
You can't win this game without sacrifices! It's strategically impossible! She glared at Moondancer. I know what you're doing.
Moondancer wiggled her eyebrows. Do you?
It's just a game! I'm allowed to be ruthless! In fact... Sunset moved her rook into position, firmly setting it down. Moondancer stepped onto the board as soon as Sunset stepped off. She nudged her bishop forward a single space instead of the full three it took to reach Sunset's pawn.
So, she's not stupid.
Moondancer tipped her head to the side. This is the best you can do?
I'm just getting started! She moved her knight to take Moondancer's rook, and as predicted, Moondancer captured Sunset's knight with her own. What followed was a lightning quick exchange of moves and captures. Sunset beat into Moondancer's defensive line, losing several pieces, but opening the path to the king.
With half her key pieces missing, Moondancer switched to the offensive. She left her own king with little defense, but persistently dogged after Sunset's, making it impossible for Sunset to target her. Sunset didn't switch to a defensive strategy, she just tried to outmaneuver Moondancer, creating an elaborate dance across the field.
Turn after turn, they cornered the other's piece or moved their own out of danger. Sunset had no more pieces she could sacrifice. Everything mattered now. As the fight dragged on, Twilight danced on her toes, running from one side of the field to the other to examine each of their moves, sucking in air at the excitement.
Sunset placed her last knight on a square in radius of attacking Moondancer's remaining bishop. If Moondancer moved it, Sunset could put her rook in front of Moondancer's king for a check.
"Oh dear," Moondancer said, the first words spoken the entire game. She quietly scanned the field for a few minutes, then crossed an arm in front of her middle and bowed. "I concede defeat."
Sunset slouched over, adrenaline fading fast. "What?"
"I know when I am bested. You play this game marvelously, Sunset. Kudos on your victory."
"But... I..." Sunset sighed and ran a hand across her face. "What is with you people and just giving up?" Twilight's tackling hug, lifted her up from her disgruntled spiral.
"Sunset, that was great! You looked so focused out there." She ran over and hugged Moondancer too, sucking away what little feeling of victory Sunset had. "You played really well, too! Have you been practicing?"
"Oh, a little here and there. I miss having you as a partner though. No one else can push me to my mental limits." Moondancer raised her head to Sunset. "Though, Sunset might be a good contender."
Sunset crossed her arms. She didn't... throw the match, did she? No, she put way too much effort into this just to lose on purpose. Then again, Moondancer's entire reason to play seemed to just be so she could prove a point. Sunset looked into Moondancer's eyes, determined to discover something herself.
She wore her mask well, better than anyone Sunset had intimidated thus far. But behind the smug confidence, Sunset could see something. A crack in the Shakespearean veneer. Just like her defensive wall around her king, Moondancer was trying to protect something.
Rich girl. Busy dad, absent mom. Comes from a family with unusual abilities and inherited none of it. Sunset smiled at Moondancer. That's right, two can play at this game. You're not as great an actress as you think. |
Spectacular Seven | 8. Dazzling Dissonance | Sunset came home with a sore butt and knees from falling so much during her first ice skating session. After the chess match, Moondancer had insisted on going to the ice rink at the back of the mall. Twilight eagerly agreed, offering to teach Sunset how to skate. While it gave plenty of reason for physical contact between the two, Sunset remained silently annoyed at Moondancer's jumps and twirls around them.
Fancy footwork aside, Sunset had an enjoyable time with Twilight's arm around her. Standing on the ice skates alone took the better half of an hour. Sunset thought learning to stand on two legs had been hard; standing on two thin blades of metal proved downright insane. Twilight laughed everytime Sunset fell but helped her up in a heartbeat. Sunset let Twilight have her fun since that would be the only time she was more coordinated than Sunset.
Walking through the front door, Sunset realized she had forgotten to tell Moondancer to see her extended family. Oh well, I'll tell her on Monday. Spot welcomed her home first, sniffing her boots and rolling over when Sunset put her hand down. She scratched his belly, then carried him upstairs, stopping at the door to the study where she found all three Lulamoons and several floating books.
Selena looked up from the crumpled notes she had in her hand and smiled. "Hello, Sunset. How was the mall?"
"Fun." A book floated past her. "So, what are you guys up to?"
Artemis tossed a book into the air and snatched a different one. "Putting that spell on Twilight made me realize we don't have a proper counterspell against the Sirens' magic. That was merely a precautionary defense. I'm not sure if it'll work on people who have already been manipulated. Moreover, that spell won't work on a larger scale. They're influencing people by the thousands."
"Once we seal them away, the spell should wear off eventually," Selena said. "Theoretically at least."
"And how are you going to seal them away?" Sunset asked.
Artemis swept his hat off his head. "I'm going to create another pocket dimension and keep them nice and safe in here. You know what they say: keep your friends close and your enemies closer." He pushed his hair back and put the hat back on. "Yes, we have the means, just not the method. We can't just march up and fight them. Learned that the hard way. And unless we break the spell they already have on half the youth of the country, we can't just make them 'disappear' without raising some sort of alarm."
"Trixie doesn't see why not. It's not like anyone could prove we did anything."
Artemis glanced at Selena. "She's not wrong."
Selena didn't look up from her notes. "We'll call that plan B."
*******
With the Dazzlings' concert on Friday, they were the only thing most students at Canterlot High talked about. Anyone who hadn't heard them sing was quickly indoctrinated. Their music played in between classes and during lunch. By Wednesday, if Sunset never heard 'Under Our Spell' again it would be too soon.
"They're not exactly being subtle, are they?" Twilight said during their sixth period. Sunset took comfort in knowing Twilight found them equally irritating. Ms. Vector, however, seemed to think they made great learning music since she made no effort to stop Lemon Hearts from blaring them out her Ipod.
"They're not even in town yet and everyone's on the verge of being obsessed with them," Sunset said, disgusted. "Flocks of sheep."
"It's like the Greek myth of the Sirens, actually," Twilight said. "A Siren's voice was so alluring, it was like hypnotism." Twilight frowned. "But at the end of their song, sailors would meet their deaths. At least, in some variations." She returned to their math problems. "I just can't believe Sirens are real. Gosh, if I could get them to sit down and answer some of my questions! Are they really the Sirens from mythology? If they are, does that mean all the other myths are real too?"
"A threat to everything we love and hold dear, and you want to ask them questions." Sunset pinched Twilight's cheek. "You're so cute when you're being nerdy."
Twilight pretended to bite at Sunset's fingers. "I'm just as concerned as you are. That doesn't stop me from being curious though."
Twinkleshine turned around and shushed them. "I can't hear the Dazzlings!"
Twilight lowered her voice. "I'll be glad when this is all over though. Do the Lulamoons have a plan to stop them yet?"
"Define 'plan'. Artemis is going to do reconnaissance tomorrow night when they arrive. Aside from that, they're kinda stuck. Trying to deal with them publically will just backfire. And with everyone watching their every movement, it'll be almost impossible to do it privately too."
"So what can they do?"
Sunset tapped her pencil against her desk. "Right now, they're banking on the idea that they'll steal the Crystal Heart. With tightened security around the museum, Artemis is hoping they'll get caught in the act."
"Well, I guess that's better than nothing." She bit her lip. "I don't like this. Knowing something bad is going to happen but not being able to do anything about it."
"What can we do about it? Just because the girls come preset with special effects when they play music now, doesn't mean we can go toe to toe with ancient evils." Sunset rubbed her chin. "Although, when I say it like that, it sounds pretty awesome."
Twilight sighed. "I know. I'm just worried about Moondancer and anyone else who isn't protected by magic. I don't want anything bad to happen."
Sunset wrapped an arm around her. "It's gonna be fine. If Artemis and Selena beat them before, I'm sure they can do it again."
"Sunset! Twilight!" Ms. Vector barked. "Stop talking, and do your work! You're interrupting--" The school bell went off, releasing them for the day. "Oh, well, I guess class is over. Whatever you didn't finish is homework for tonight."
"I might just bring earplugs on Friday," Sunset said as they walked out the classroom. Vinyl Scratch walked by them, dubstep blasting from underneath her headphones. "She's got the right idea."
"Twilight, oh Twilight!" a melodic voice called.
"Speaking of ear grating noise," Sunset whispered to herself. From down the hall glided Moondancer.
"Little star, guess what I obtained through my various social connections."
"Umm..."
Moondancer pulled out two tickets from her purse. "Ta-da! Tickets to the Dazzlings' concert! An evening of music just for the two of us! Box seats even!"
Is this sabotage? This feels like sabotage.
"Wow, Moony, I don't know what to say." Twilight tapped her fingers together. "It sounds like a lot of fun but.. Uh, let me talk to Sunset for a second."
Taking her cue, Sunset linked arms with Twilight and took her down the hall before Moondancer could protest. "Yeah, so I hate to be that girlfriend. But no."
"I figured you were going to say that." Twilight took a deep breath, the kind where Sunset knew she wasn't going to like what was said next. "Sunset, you're not... jealous I'm spending time with Moondancer, are you?"
"What? No! Of course not!" Sunset said loudly.
Twilight crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow in a way very reminiscent of Sunset.
Gee, I wonder what tipped her off? Sunset folded her arms and leaned against the lockers. "Okay, just a little. Have you met me? I don't know what else you expected."
"I expect you to be mature about this," Twilight said with a scolding wag of her finger. "Moondancer and I are just friends."
"I know that. That's why I let you go out with her."
"Let me?"
Sunset facepalmed. "You know what I mean, Twilight. Besides, this isn't even about that." She got off the locker and put her hands on Twilight's shoulders. "I don't want you going to that concert because it's dangerous. One, the riots, and two, I don't know if that spell will hold up if you're standing right in front of the Sirens."
Twilight looked down, considering Sunset's words. "That's fair, I guess. I just feel bad."
"Hey, if you don't go, Moondancer probably won't go, so you're protecting her too."
"You're right. This is probably the safest option. But what do I tell her?"
"Study date." Sunset and Twilight walked back to Moondancer, casually fanning herself with her tickets.
"Sorry, Moony, I already made plans for a study date with Sunset." Twilight said, her expression tight.
"On a Friday?"
"It's also a sleepover," Sunset added.
Moondancer gave her a wary look.
"Adult supervised!" Twilight quickly threw in, sweating and blushing.
Moondancer pursed her lips for a moment, then shrugged. "Disappointed? Yes. But I shall respect your previous engagement." She waved her tickets. "What am I going to do with this extra concert ticket though?"
A line of guys appeared behind her, starry-eyed and hopeful. Moondancer looked back and shooed them away with a wave of her hand. "Plebeians."
*******
"Artemis, I don't like this." Selena protested but put the headset on and adjusted the microphone. "I should at least go with you for backup."
Artemis tapped his own headset. "Turtle dove, if we didn't have two beautiful girls to look after, you know I would say yes." He took her hand. "Any minute away from you feels like an eternity."
Selena blushed and looked away. "Don't try and charm me when you're about to dive off into danger."
"It's just a little stakeout. Hardly what I'd call dangerous." Artemis took a few steps back and turned his mic on. "Testing, testing. Can you hear me, love?"
"Yes, I can hear you. And if it's so safe, why can't I come with you?"
Artemis put on his trusty grin. "Do you think Sunset and Trixie can be left alone in the house together?"
"They're getting better. Besides, Spot will watch them."
He laughed. Selena was right. In the two months Sunset had been in their house, Trixie had warmed up a considerable amount. And having a dog for the to bond over (even though they both tried to hide it) helped their relationship even more.
"Just in case something happens, you need to be here for them."
Selena took a seat on Artemis' desk. She looked at the books lining the shelves in the back with thoughtful eyes. "You worry me when you talk like that. You used to never make contingency plans. One plan, and if that didn't work, we'd just wing it."
"Back then, I didn't have a daughter and a foster child to raise." Artemis tried to soften his words with a smile. He never liked sounding this serious. "Everything will be fine though. I'm not actually going into the hotel. I'll be on the roof, out of sight the entire time." He pointed a hand to the crystal ball resting on a golden frame. "And you'll be able to see everything I see through that."
Selena tapped the ball. "You'll be fine. I know. I just can't help but worry. I don't enjoy sitting on the sidelines."
Artemis crossed the room and rested a hand on her cheek. "I know you don't. But you'll have your time to shine again. And when this is over, you'll have another story to share with the world." He bent down and kissed her tenderly. She moved her arms around his neck, locking him in place and turning tenderness into passion.
The door behind them creaked, and they broke apart. Trixie and Sunset tried to duck their heads away, but the attempt was meaningless. "Yes, girls?" Artemis asked.
They opened the door, shamefaced. "Sorry, Daddy," Trixie said. "We just wanted to see you before you left."
Artemis raised his hands. "Honestly, girls, I'm just going to do a little stealth work. The big, epic battle comes later." He swooped over and wrapped both of them in a hug. "I appreciate the concern though." He stepped into the center of the room and tipped his hat. "Now, mind your mother. Get to bed on time. I'll see you all in the morning." He took in all their faces, each of them trying to smile in spite of their concern. He winked and raised his wand. "Lulamoon!"
Everything vanished in a plume of smoke, and Artemis spiraled through nothing, sinking down, down, down, until he hit something solid again. The cold night air blew away the residual smoke, and he found himself on the rooftop of The Castle, Canterlot's most famous and expensive hotel.
"Turtle dove, this is grand wizard. Do you read me? Over." Artemis said into his com.
A faint crackle, then, "Grand wizard. Really?"
"Too ostentatious?"
"Well, that's one problem with it. But yes, I can hear you, Artemis. And I can see as well. That's quite a view."
Stretching twenty-five stories, The Castle gave a magnificent view of downtown Canterlot. The city lights glowed like fireflies in the dark, illuminating the marble architecture and green parks. Cars crawled below him, mechanical rolly-pollies rolling through night.
A few blocks away, Canterlot Tower loomed over the rest of the city, still twenty-five floors higher than where Artemis stood. The top floors remained dark, masking it with the sky. Artemis made a longing sigh. "Forgive me, Apalla. When this is over, I'll be a better uncle. I promise."
"What was that?" Selena asked.
"Nothing, nothing." Artemis set about navigating the rooftop. The Castle ended in a domed spire that cast an impressive shadow over the rest of the bare roof. Just below him was the penthouse suite, and if he was a betting man (he performed in Las Vegas, of course he was) he guessed that's where the Sirens stayed.
He placed the tip of his wand against the cement. "Lulamoon." A pulse of light spread out from his wand and washed over the roof, then snapped back. He felt two surges of power burst into life beneath him with a third a few floors down. "Yep, they're here."
"Be careful," Selena said.
"You worry too much, my love." He tapped each ear and said, "Lulamoon!" He winced at the sudden jump in the noise level of everything around him. The wind sounded like a hurricane, the cars below like monster trucks, and each conversation was a wild party. "Refocus that... Lulamoon!" The noise fell considerably, but he could still pick up exchanges happening in the hotel. He knelt down and concentrated on the room below him.
"...this one, or this one tomorrow?"
"I don't care, Sonata."
"Well, what are you wearing tomorrow?"
Artemis heard the crunch of potato chips. "This probably."
"Eww, Aria, that's gross."
"I'll have it dry cleaned, geez. Stop sounding like Adagio; it's annoying."
Artemis rolled his eyes. "This might turn into a long night."
"Why, what are they talking about?" Selena asked.
"Absolutely nothing." He listened to Aria and Sonata bicker back and forth for the next twenty minutes, most of which consisted of childish insults. Remind me again how we almost lost to them? The door slammed open, and a new voice entered the mix.
"We've been here an hour and this place is already a mess!"
Ah yes. Her.
"Aria did it!"
"Sonata, you are literally the worst!"
"No, you are!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Girls," the third voice started sweetly, "as much as I would love to hear this conversation for the umpteenth time... please shut up!"
"Sorry, Dagi."
"Sure, whatever."
"Thank you. Now according to the ticket manager, we have a sold out show tomorrow."
Sonata clapped her hands. "Yaaay! It's going to be so much fun!"
"Quite. I told you this plan would work, Aria."
Aria scoffed. "Yeah, you keep reminding me every city. I'll keep being skeptical until the Crystal Heart is sitting in our hands."
Artemis tensed.
"I can't believe we circled the whole country just to find out it was where we started," Aria continued. "Talk about full circle."
"I don't know, it's more of a squiggly square... or a rhombus," Sonata said.
"Sonata, stop breathing."
"Ha, I'm not falling for that again!"
Artemis heard two dull thuds and cries of, "Ow!"
"I swear, if you two screw up tomorrow..." She let the threat hang in the air. "We're on the cusp of victory. One feast with the Crystal Heart will bring us back to full strength, magic or no magic."
"Then the whole world will be ours to do whatever we want," Aria said smugly.
"Dibs on Australlia! I'm going to get a pet kangaroo!"
"... Just get ready for bed, both of you. We have a lot to do tomorrow."
Doors slammed shut and the room lapsed into silence. Artemis drew his lips into a thin line. That had been less helpful than he had hoped.
"Did you learn anything?" Selena's voice made him jump.
"Nothing definite. They might try to steal the Heart tomorrow."
"But that's the concert."
Artemis stood and rubbed his sore knees. "Exactly. Everyone's attention will be drawn to the coliseum. They'd have a great alibi, too."
"Looks like Dagi was right," a cool voice said from behind. "The hotel has a rat problem."
Artemis spun around, wand raised. Two pairs of eyes looked back at him from the shadows. They stepped forward, Aria looking annoyed and Sonata confused.
"That's not a rat. It's that old guy from a long time ago."
Artemis bristled. "I wasn't old then and I'm not old now!"
"Artemis, don't fight them," Selena said sternly.
He chose not to respond, keeping his attention trained on two of the Sirens. He chanced a peripheral glance for the third one but found nothing but darkness.
Aria crossed her arms. "Figures we'd find you here of all places. Come to take the Heart from us again?"
"It isn't yours to begin with. I'm here to make sure it stays out of your grubby hands."
Sonata showed her hands with a triumphant smirk. "Our hands are clean, thank you very much."
Aria pressed on like Sonata had said nothing. "Last time, you had help and you barely won. You don't stand a chance."
"Artemis, get out of there!"
"As I recall, it was a rather decisive battle. Besides, I've learned a lot since then," Artemis said calmly. "I think I can handle you two." Something cold and hard slammed into the back of his head, sending him to the floor and placing stars in front of his vision.
"Artemis!"
"How about three of us?"
Artemis pushed himself up to his feet. His head throbbed worse than any hangover. "Adagio," he spat. Behind him, Adagio gave a nasty smile. He turned around. "Well, you haven't aged a day."
"And you've aged several." She gave the metal pipe in her hand a twirl. "Did you really think you were being sneaky? I could smell the magic on you a mile away."
"A mere oversight on my part." Artemis kept his wand high, raising his other hand to his hat. His eyes bounced between each Siren as they closed in, flanking him from three sides. Before they got too close, he swept his hat off and shouted, "Lulamoon!" White doves soared forth, swooping and pecking at the Sirens. Artemis jumped through an opening in their circle to gain some distance.
He conjured an image of home in his head, but the headache still lingered, making the picture fuzzy. It would be a miracle if he made it back in one piece, but it was better than the alternative.
A dissonant wail broke his concentration and forced him to cover his ears. His doves scattered into the night, leaving the Sirens free to draw in close, circling him like hungry sharks. He took satisfaction in seeing the cuts on their faces and feathers in their hair. He raised his wand, but Aria struck first, grabbing and twisting his wrist until his wand dropped from his hand and rolled away. She followed up with a knee to his stomach, then threw him onto the ground.
"Artemis!"
Adagio leaned over him, hands on her hips. "Consider this retribution, Artemis. You left us stranded for twenty years on that island. We nearly starved to death."
Artemis propped himself on one arm, eyes subtly looking for his wand. "I'm curious," he said after getting his wind back, "how did you manage to escape?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Adagio said with a sultry grin.
"But I thought we didn't know either."
Adagio's grin quickly flipped over at Sonata's words.
"You kept saying you felt some magic and Aria said you were crazy, then we found a glowy portal and then we were here."
Aria sighed and facepalmed. "You've reached your word quota, Sonata. Stop talking now."
Artemis' lips curled up. It was a start.
Adagio finished giving Sonata a death glare and turned her attention back to Artemis. "I hope you're not as stupid as her and came here alone. Where's the rest of your little team?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Showing false bravado? Admirable. But you won't be singing the same tune when we're done with you." Adagio took a breath, and her sisters followed suit. Artemis snapped his hand out, calling his wand back from under the ventilation shaft and threw a barrier around himself just as the Sirens emitted another vocal attack. Even from within, he could hear their harmonized otherworldly wails, see the vibrations disrupting the air in front of their yawning maws.
Artemis kept his hands up, holding his force field aloft while the Sirens screamed. It was now a contest of who would break first. They needed to breathe eventually, but Artemis couldn't hold a shield against a direct three way attack.
"Artemis, you get out of there right now!" Selena yelled.
"Love to, sweetie, I'd really love to," Artemis said, the strain taking its toll already. To his left, Sonata stopped to take a breath. Aria and Adagio followed her lead, giving Artemis a window of opportunity. He lowered his shield and prepared to teleport, but a sonic vibration caught him in the side. He flew toward Aria, who punched him in the jaw, making him stagger back to the middle of the circle where Adagio struck him in the chest with the pipe.
"Ha, made you look!" Sonata sang.
Artemis fell to one knee, wheezing and feeling warm blood trickle down his lip. Come on, Lulamoon, you've still got a few tricks up your sleeve.
Adagio crossed her arms. "What do you have to say now, Artemis?"
He looked up at her with his boyish grin. "Would you like to play a game?"
"I would!" Sonata yelled, waving a hand.
Adagio rolled her eyes again. "Sure, we'll humor you."
"I do love a good sense of humor." Quick as lighting, Artemis reached into his sleeve and threw an entire deck of cards at Adagio. It hit her square in the face, then broke into fifty-two separate cards that flew around with a wave of Artemis' wand. "Fifty-two pickup!"
The cards cut into the Sirens' clothes and skin, shallow but numerous. Artemis twisted his wand in a sideways figure eight, causing the cards to double back on themselves. While the girls shrieked and tried to fight them off, Artemis stepped back to a clear spot.
He clutched his chest, hoping he had enough strength to teleport back home. He said softly, "Lula--"
Adagio hurled her metal pipe with perfect accuracy. It hit Artemis's right hand, knocking his wand high into the air. The cards lost their vigor and scattered on the wind. Bleeding cuts on her face and hate in her eyes, Aria charged at Artemis.
Artemis reached into his other sleeve and pulled out one end of a multicolored handkerchief. He brandished it like a whip and threw it around Aria's arm as she drew near. It knotted itself on its own accord and reeled her in, throwing off her balance.
"Mother said never to hit girls," Artemis said as Aria flew forward. He slammed a fist into her jaw. "But for you, I'll make an exception." The handkerchief released Aria as she spiraled backwards. Sonata caught her and held her upright.
"Are you okay?"
Aria shoved Sonata off and ran forward again while Artemis dove for his wand. Adagio's pointed heel smashed down, snapping it in half, then stepped on his fingers. Artemis' yell was cut off by Aria's headlock. She focused her strength into her forearm pressing into Artemis' windpipe. The handkerchief rose up to whip Aria, but Adagio grabbed it and began to tug. It stretched out for yards, but eventually the other end came out and it fell limp.
"Game over," Adagio growled.
"Artemis! Artemis!"
Adagio laid eyes on the com set around Artemis' ear. "Oh, so there's your backup. Sonata, if you would."
Sonata skipped over and plucked the microphone off him. "Helloooo?"
"You let go of my husband right now!" Selena screamed.
"Sorry, wrong number." Sonata tossed it over the side of the roof with a delightfully evil grin. She took the long handkerchief and bound Artemis' hands in an impressive knot.
Adagio gingerly fingered one of the cuts on her face. "A minor annoyance, nothing more. Old age isn't becoming of you, Lulamoon."
Artemis had a number of comebacks, but with Aria crushing his windpipe, none of them could be said. He settled for glaring defiantly.
Adagio breathed deep. "Ah, I can taste your anger already." She pat his cheek. "But there's no need to be upset. We're going to take good care of you." She smiled at his quizzical expression. "What, you thought we were going to kill you?" She laughed, a throaty cackle that grew louder each second. "Oh no, that would be too easy." She dug her nails into his cheeks. Artemis saw volcanic fury waiting to explode just beneath a thin veil of calm. "I spent twenty years on an remote island with nothing but those two idiots to keep me company."
"We're right here, Adagio," Aria said.
"Besides, it wasn't that bad. We found fifty different ways to cook crab! And remember the seashell fort?"
"Word quota, Sonata," Aria snapped.
The volcanic fury began to melt through Adagio's facade. "I rest my case," she said in clipped tones. "So no, I'm not going to kill you. Instead, you'll get a front row seat to our greatest show yet!" She let go of his face and turned to the Canterlot skyline. "Thanks to all your fancy gadgets and technology, humanity has become a hivemind. An idea becomes a fad, and then a trend, and then everyone wants to be part of it. We sing one song over the radio, then every recording label wants to make us stars. The more the world hears us over the radio and internet, the more they want to come to our concerts."
She spun around, her feral grin illuminated by the moon. "Thousands of teenagers packed into a crowded, sold-out stadium. Every night is a three-course meal!" She curled her fingers, crushing the air in front of her. "Now just imagine what would happen if we doubled that output of negative energy."
"It'll be the biggest feast we've ever had," Aria said with a sadistic grin equal to her sister's.
"We're gonna be invincible, we're gonna be invincible!" Sonata sang.
Artemis choked out, "You're going to create a bloodbath."
Adagio's grin widened. "Oh, I hope so. After tomorrow night, the Crystal Heart will be ours, then all we'll need is one concert to get enough power, we can get people to do anything we want, even through radio." She snapped her fingers, and Aria finally let him go. Artemis fell forward onto the dirty rooftop, coughing and wheezing.
"In the meantime," Adagio said, strolling forward, "you'll make a nice magical snack to nibble on."
"Like most trends... you'll fade away," Artemis panted. "And no one... will remember you."
"History is written by the victors, Artemis." Adagio lifted her boot. "So as far as I'm concerned, we're already immortal, literally and figuratively." She brought it down on Artemis' face. An explosion of pain, then the world faded to black.
Heh... maybe I am too old for this... |
Spectacular Seven | 9. Overture | Sleep did not come for Sunset that night. No one in the house slept. She listened to Selena and Trixie weep, then went into the kitchen and warmed up soup for both of them. The family appreciated the gesture, but the soup went untouched.
Sunset didn't cry, but her stomach heaved and her heart hammered at double-speed. She had been moments away from turning out her light and falling asleep when Selena's scream paralyzed her. Sunset had raced behind Trixie back to the study to find the crystal ball had gone dark, Selena shaking it with desperation, her face soaked with tears.
Artemis wasn't dead. Sunset refused to believe that. Selena and Trixie held onto that hope as well. But it didn't stop the creeping dread nor the air of distress that now permeated every corner of the house. It created a cold, deeper and more bitter than the late winter chill.
The three of them took residence in the living room. Sunset sat in an armchair, knees up to her chin. Selena and Trixie sat curled together on the couch, the forming stroking her daughter's hair.
"Mom... what do we do now?" Trixie croaked.
The heavy pause spoke for itself. Sunset could see it in Selena's puffy eyes, the urge to walk out and confront the Sirens herself. "I don't know. But we'll think of something." She looked at the clock over the fireplace. "It's almost five. You should both try to get some sleep. I'll call the school and tell them you'll be absent."
Sunset shook her head. "No. I'll go." She certainly wasn't up for social interaction or mental stimulation, but she needed to tell her friends. The Sirens had just made things personal.
"Are you sure, Sunset?"
"Yeah." She let her legs down, feeling her knees pop and the blood circulate freely. "Guess I'll get ready now." She stood and stumbled a few steps, muscles tingling at the sudden reuse. Spot remained on Trixie's lap, reaching up to lick her tears on occasion.
Sunset took an hour long shower, though the chill persisted. Warm and clean outside, cold and sick inside, Sunset almost decided to lay down and go to sleep instead of trudging her way to school. Still, she forced herself to get dressed, then sat on her bed, watching the clock slowly eat up the hour she had left.
"What do we do now?" Princess Twilight repeated Trixie's question.
"Not sure." Sunset rubbed at her heavy eyelids. "But... I think a place to start is at the concert."
"That sounds dangerous."
"Probably is. But it's where the Dazzlings are going to be. Maybe there's a clue somewhere about Artemis or how they're going to take the Crystal Heart."
"But you don't have a ticket."
Sunset tugged at her collar anxiously. "No. But I know where I can get one from."
*******
"No."
"But, Twilight--"
"I said no."
In their first shared class of the day, Sunset had picked the farthest lab station from unwanted ears. She had expected some trepidation from Twilight, not outright refusal. But Twilight firmly stared at the textbook in front of her, scowl plain as day while Sunset pleaded her case.
"I don't think you understand--"
"What I understand is that you want me to extort a ticket from my friend and give it to you, then lie to my friend again so you can go to a concert you just told me I couldn't and shouldn't go to."
"That's because it's dangerous!" Sunset said in a heated whisper.
"So? You're trying to go."
"Someone has to!"
Twilight looked up, violet eyes hard. "And that someone has to be you?"
"Who else is going to do it?"
Twilight removed a latex glove and rubbed at her eyes. "You just told me Artemis was kidnapped by them. On top of extorting and lying, why would I agree to let you get anywhere near them?"
Sunset paused, tapping a knuckle against her chin. "You know, you're really cute when you're protective."
"Don't try to change the subject! I'm mad at you!" Twilight snapped.
"I'm not changing the subject. The subject of this part of the conversation..." Sunset snapped her mouth shut as Twilight's icy stare became sub-zero. "Right. I'm sorry, Twilight, but I need to do something to help."
"And I love that you do," Twilight said warmly. The cold edge creeped back into her voice. "The part that makes me mad is the hypocrisy behind it. The concert's too dangerous for me to go but not for you?"
Sunset held a beaker up to keep an appearance of productivity. Mr. Doodle had given them a few too many side glances. "I told you: I don't know if the spell will hold up if you're right in front of them."
"What about you? What if your magic shield thing doesn't hold up? What then?"
"Then the girls hit me with another rainbow and I learn friendship all over again." She set the beaker down and shuddered. "I see your point. But the magic around me isn't from this world. The source of your magic was Artemis, and now that he's..." A lump rose up in Sunset's throat. It proved difficult in pushing back down, but Sunset managed. "Now that he's indisposed, there's no guarantee the spell's active anymore."
Twilight took the beaker and started adding chemicals to it. "Then aren't I in danger regardless?"
Sunset bit her tongue. She hadn't considered that. "M-maybe. But that's no reason to go charging into the dragon's mouth."
"Like what you're about to do?"
"Stop that!"
Twilight gave a resentful shake of her head and flipped to the next page in her book. "I'll get the ticket for you, but only because I'm worried about Artemis."
Sunset stopped herself from cheering. "You're the best, Sparky!"
"Don't call me Sparky, I'm still mad."
"And I swear, I will make this up to you. We'll do anything you want for Valentine's Day."
Twilight made a noncommittal grunt and returned to her chemicals. The remaining class time was lukewarm at best. Twilight gave terse responses to anything Sunset said. Still, at the end after they washed their hands and packed up their belongings, Twilight slipped her hand into Sunset's and gave it a light squeeze.
*******
Lunch proved no better than the class periods, only instead of tense, the atmosphere around the table was grim. Twilight had gone with Moondancer to have lunch with the theater kids in the drama room, Moondancer's normal hangout when she wasn't hovering over Twilight's shoulder. Everyone else sat gripped to Sunset's recount of the previous night.
"That's horrifying," Rarity said, pushing her full tray of food back. "I can't imagine what Trixie is going through."
"Can't the police do somethin'?" Applejack asked.
Sunset scoffed. "No. First, we'd have to explain why Artemis was on the roof of The Castle in the first place. And second, even if they did investigate, the Sirens could probably spin a story painting them as innocent even without their magic."
Fluttershy wiped a tear away. "So then, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to the concert to look for clues. Anything to help the Lulamoons out."
"By yourself?"
Sunset gave a guilty shrug. "It's not like I have a lot of options."
Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow exchanged a similar look of guilt. "Well, darling..." Rarity said. She leaned forward, eyes flickering to the table where Sweetie Belle and her friends sat. "You don't necessarily have to go alone."
"What do you mean?"
"You see, after you told us about the Sirens, Rainbow, Applejack, and myself learned that our sisters had obtained tickets to the concert."
Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. "We snatched them up as quick as we could. Luckily, we had the excuse of tellin' them they couldn't go because of the riotin' and such."
Rainbow tagged in. "But, judging from their expressions--" she pointed a thumb at Applejack and Rarity "--they were like me and didn't actually get rid of the tickets."
Sunset sat straight in her seat. "So, you girls could go with me?"
"Technically, yes, we could." Rarity twiddled her thumbs. "I just feel... dirty about it. I told Sweetie she couldn't go and now I'm going."
"Yeah, that seems to be a common theme today," Sunset muttered. "Listen, I appreciate the gesture, but if it makes you feel guilty, you don't have to go."
"What, and leave you there by yourself?" Rainbow asked with personal offense. "That's not gonna happen."
"But..."
Applejack crossed her arms and sighed. "Yeah, it's probably the most dishonest thing Ah've done. But it's for helpin' a friend. And potentially the world. 'Sides, it's not like we actually have to tell them we're goin' to the concert."
Pinkie bobbed her head. "Yeah! We'll just tell them we're having a giant sleepover at Sunset's house while we're all doing super stealth missions right under the enemy's nose." She struck a series of what Sunset guessed were ninja poses.
"We?" Rainbow asked.
Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out two tickets. "Marble and Limestone wanted to go. But I was a responsible big sister and told them they couldn't because the Sirens are actually evil brainwashing monsters who feed off negativity. Boy, was Limestone mad." She dropped a ticket onto Fluttershy's tray.
Sunset blinked. "Did we all just cheat people we care about into getting tickets for a show?"
Everyone but Fluttershy murmured and hung their heads in shamed agreement. Sunset patted Fluttershy's hand and said, "Stay pure."
Lunch ended and Sunset moved onto her last period, finding Twilight already seated. "Here," she said grumpily, handing Sunset the ticket.
"Thank you, babe." Sunset tucked the ticket into her pocket.
"Don't 'babe' me."
"When are you going to stop being mad?"
"Tomorrow, when I'm done lying to Moondancer about suddenly being sick, and you come back safely."
Sunset sighed. "Fair enough."
"Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh,
"You didn't know that you fell."
Sunset's eye twitched. She shot a venomous glare at Lemon Hearts, walking into the classroom with her music turned up loud and wearing a Dazzling t-shirt. The realization that she would be in a stadium full of this nonsense hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Out of the fire, and into the dragon's mouth," she groaned.
*******
The strongest proof Sunset had that she had changed was her unwillingness to lie. Before, she could do it without batting an eye. As she paced a circle in her room, her stomach coiled and her conscience revolted. Selena had been nothing but nice, and here Sunset was, preparing to lie to her face right after Artemis had fallen into enemy claws. Yes, her intentions were noble, but that didn't absolve the guilt. Well intentioned or not, Sunset was leaving the Lulamoons in their time of need to dive head first into danger.
"If it makes you feel any better, you've done worse things," she said to herself. It didn't help. She checked her phone. Twilight hadn't talked to her since they parted ways after school. The rest of the girls agreed to meet up in front of Canterlot Coliseum, where the concert would be held.
Sunset threw on her jacket and a pair of fingerless black gloves. She looked in the mirror. "Soft as you've gotten, you still rock the bad girl look."
"I'm disappointed in your lying, but good luck," Princess Twilight squeaked.
Sunset rubbed her temple. "When this is over, it might be time to get professional help." She slipped out of her room before her reflection could add anything. Downstairs, Trixie and Selena sat at the table, mugs of hot chocolate in their hands. Selena mustered a small smile at Sunset's appearance. Trixie just stared blankly.
"Hey." Sunset waved awkwardly. "Are you..." She shook her head. "Do you need anything?"
"No, thank you," Selena said with a dip of her head. "How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess. I was just..." Sunset flinched. Even if it had been the truth, it still felt like twisting a knife. "I was just going over to study with Twilight for a little bit. A distraction, you know?" Sunset wished she still had that sledge hammer to give herself a good beating with.
Selena gave a slow nod. If she was angry or disappointed, she showed no sign of it. "Don't stay out too late, please."
"Yeah, of course." She stepped back out of the kitchen. Trixie's blank stare hardened into a glare at Sunset's retreat. Sunset couldn't blame her.
The days had begun to lengthen again. Outside, the sun still gave the world a faint glow. The February wind still proved bitter, forcing Sunset to zip up her jacket. She started her motorcycle and let it warm up. Go to the show, see if I can't sneak around backstage, find something useful, and leave. Easy plan.
Cars packed the highway into the city. Being a Friday evening, Sunset couldn't say she was surprised, but she had a suspicion most cars were going to the same destination. Even with her motor skills, it proved a hassle to weave her way through traffic.
Canterlot Coliseum lay at the heart of downtown. Oblong and painted silver and gold, it held a grandiose air. Six columns of light rose to the sky and curled inward to the center, like a dying monstrosity making one last grab for the pale moon floating just overhead.
Sunset parked two blocks away and joined the foot traffic flocking to the coliseum entrance. The crowd around her consisted mostly of teens her age, but she saw many kids with their parents looking just as excited as anyone else. Shirts, hats and balloons with the Dazzlings' faces were worn by the vast majority, but no one gave Sunset dirty looks for her lack of paraphernalia.
She broke away from the crowd and waited by the main gates. At half past six, the sun gave its final wave and disappeared behind the horizon. Sunset could faintly see her breath under the coliseum lights. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long before her friends showed up, still looking guilty.
"We better get something good out of this," Rainbow said.
"Well, there's plenty of food we can get!" Pinkie said. Her smiled faltered against her friends' withering stares. "What? It's a two hour concert; we're gonna get hungry, right?"
Sunset melded back into the crowd. "Come on, let's just get this over with." The courtyard had two bronze statues of football players, one catching a ball and the other pushing forward with the ball tucked under arm. Memorabilia stands flanked the path to the front entrance. Inflated posters of the Dazzlings hung over the doors and ticket counters.
The lines became congested as security checked off tickets. Sunset saw several teenagers hauled off by a mob of guards.
"They're real! I swear they're real! Please, let us in!" they screamed. Their protest fell on deaf ears.
Fluttershy shivered. "Oh, please let out tickets be real."
They pushed up to the check in counter, and to their relief, their tickets were indeed authentic. The burly security guard handed back their stubs. "Field standing is straight ahead." To Sunset, he said, "Box seats are to the right. Just follow the building around until you see the red carpet. Take the stairs to the top."
"I forgot these were box seats," Sunset said once they had moved to the concrete corridor.
"Ah can't believe Apple Bloom got field tickets. We'll be right in front of the stage with these," Applejack said, staring at her stub in wonder.
"Be careful," Sunset warned. "If things get violent or you start to feel weird, just get out of there. I'm going to watch the concert start from the box, then see if I can sneak around."
Rarity held her phone up. "We'll call you if we see anything suspicious."
"Go Spectacular Seven!" Pinkie cheered, pumping a fist in the air.
"There's only six of us here," Applejack said.
"Twilight's with us in spirit!"
Sunset sighed and broke from her friends. The crowd thinned out more and more as she navigated the circumference of the building. Posters of famous football matches and other concert performances decorated the walls. Concession stands offered a variety of fried and greasy food. Finally, a crimson carpet rolled out under her boots, and she followed it up a curved staircase. It broke out to the second floor, then continued up to the third, and finally to the top where another security guard checked her stub. He moved aside and let her into the box.
There were only two rows of seats in front of the large window whose glass had been retracted. Some of the seats were already filled, and to Sunset's dismay, she recognized the hair of one of the occupants. "Oh, ponyfeathers, it's you."
Moondancer turned around and scrunched her nose. She muttered something in French then said, "What on earth are you doing here?"
Sunset stepped down the aisle and hovered over an empty seat. "Since Twilight is sick, she gave me her ticket so it wouldn't go to waste."
"Oh, my little star." Moondancer let out a dreamy sigh. "She's far too kind for her own good."
Sunset leaned close and dropped her voice to whisper. "What are you doing here? I know you know what the Dazzlings really are. Why would you want to come to their concert?"
Moondancer closed her eyes. "I find their music delightfully enchanting. I just had to hear it in person. Besides, they've committed no crime so far. Perhaps they've learned their lesson."
"They kidnapped Artemis," Sunset said, clenching her teeth.
"What?" Moondancer's eyes snapped open. "P-preposterous!"
"It's the truth. They're dangerous, Moondancer; you've got to believe that. They're up to something sinister that's going to threaten everyone."
A drowsy expression came over Moondancer, like she was trying to wake up. "Maybe... maybe you're right."
One by one, the stadium lights switched off, and crowd erupted into cheers. Moondancer jumped to her feet, her sleepy expression replaced by excitement. "It's starting!"
Sunset moved to the window and looked out over the open stadium. A stage had been set up at one end zone, and green fog drifted out from underneath it.
"Hello, Canterlot!" a voice echoed out of the sound system. "Your Dazzlings are here!" Three columns of smoke erupted on the stage, and from them, three girls strolled out.
"Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh,
"You didn't know that you fell.
"Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh."
The one Sunset recognized as Adagio stepped ahead of her sisters and posed with a hand on her hip.
"Now that you're under our spell."
Even with the deafening roar of the crowd, Sunset could hear the Sirens' song plain as day. She looked over to Moondancer, who swayed in time to the music.
Well, she's a lost cause. Let the records show that I at least tried. Sunset stepped away from the window and retreated up the aisle. No one seemed to notice or care.
"We've got the music,
"Makes you move it,
"Got the song that makes you lose it.
"We say jump, you say how high?"
"Put your hands up to the sky!"
Sunset exited the booth, receiving little attention from the security. "They really are not being subtle about this." Downstairs, the corridors were empty. The people at the concessions stood transfixed at the video feeds of the show outside, though the music could still be heard quite well through the concrete.
"All right, if I were a dirty secret, where would I hide?" She walked at a brisk pace, but not fast enough to look suspicious. With everyone's attention diverted, she realized it probably didn't matter.
She moved toward the stands behind the stage that were empty and roped off. Security stood watch at the end of the hall, so Sunset slipped down an adjacent path. She found bathrooms and a blocked off staircase, but no guards.
With an easy hurdle, she got over the block. On the second floor, the lights were turned off, creating an eerie darkness.
Bzzzt!
Sunset jumped with a gasp at the buzz in her pocket. She pulled her phone out and flipped it open. "What's up?" The ovation of the crowd echoed through the phone, nearly drowning out Rarity's voice.
"Just checking in. The crowd is a little rowdy, but nothing unusual has happened so far."
"That's good." Sunset kept her voice low. She appeared to be alone but kept her eyes peeled and looked over her shoulder every few seconds. "I met Moondancer in the box. She's already lost to them."
"Oh dear. Twilight is not going to be happy about that."
Sunset hunched forward. She felt a little bad about Moondancer, but felt worse telling Twilight her best friend had joined the cult of the Sirens. "How are you girls doing?"
A cheer rose through the crowd again that Sunset could hear without her phone. "We're doing fine. At least I think so. I don't feel anything. Though I guess their music isn't that bad."
"Rarity?" Sunset arched an unseen eyebrow.
"I'm just saying from a subjective standpoint, it's not utter garbage," she said with a defensive tone. "I've heard worse."
Sunset let it slide. Putting her grudge down for a second, she supposed she could agree that the Sirens did have good voices, magical or not. "All right. I'm making my way through the blocked off section of the coliseum. Keep me posted through text."
"Be careful, Sunset." The phone clicked off, though the throbbing bass and roar of the crowd remained. The absence of silence made Sunset's trip through the dark more bearable. She broke off from the main path and turned down one of the smaller halls.
"This is patrol six, making a sweep of second floor, east side, over," a gruff voice came from behind Sunset. Her heart quickened, and she sped down the hall as fast as she could. At the end was a maintenance room with the door left open a crack. She slipped inside, making sure not to move the door too much lest it squeak.
Someone placed a hand over her mouth and jabbed something blunt into her back. "Don't move," came a familiar voice. Both stayed quiet until the footsteps faded into silence. The voice continued, quiet but harsh. "Now, you're going to tell me--"
"Trixie, it's me, you dunce!" Sunset hissed between Trixie's fingers.
"Sunset?" Trixie released her and spun her around. "What are you doing back here?" Sunset could barely make out her features in the dark.
"Same thing as you, duh. I'm looking for clues."
"Oh... Trixie thought... well..." She cleared her throat and returned to her normal, haughty tone. "Trixie accepts your assistance in looking for Trixie's father." She pushed Sunset to the side and peeked out the door. "The coast is clear. Come on."
Sunset allowed Trixie to take point, despite her gut feeling telling her they were more likely to get caught. Trixie held her wand out in front of her as she creeped along. They found another set of stairs and took down to the ground floor.
"Trixie bets they'll keep anything important close to the stage."
"Not a bad idea, but..." They stopped behind a pillar so Sunset could point at the line of security one-hundred feet away, standing under florescent lights. "How are we going to get past them?"
"You create a diversion, while Trixie sneaks around them with her magic," she said with a vainglorious grin.
At least she's starting to feel better. "Okay, how about--"
"Hey!"
Both girls flinched and became still as stone. Sunset slowly peeked around the pillar, her stomach unclenching when she saw an officer run up to the three standing watch.
"We've got trouble in Section G. Some of the brats are starting to get real rowdy." His walkie-talkie crackled and he brought it to his ear. "Double that, kids in J and Q are getting aggressive as well."
Sunset's leg vibrated, and she pulled out her phone. On screen, a text read, "Getting dangerous. Trying to get out." Sunset cursed and put a hand on Trixie's arm. "All right, whatever you're gonna do, do it fast. I have a feeling cops are gonna be all over this place really soon."
Trixie twirled her wand, fumbled it on her wrist, then quickly caught it and played it off. "Watch Trixie be brilliant. You might learn something."
Sunset rolled her eyes and moved after the first dispatch ran down the hall. Only one guard remained, and Sunset ran at him with the best high pitch scream she could muster.
"Oh my God, the Dazzlings! I have to meet them!"
The security guard grabbed her around the middle and wrestled her away from the door. "Sorry, little lady, VIP's only."
Sunset struggled against the guard's bulk. She proved forceful enough that he had to pick her up and carry her away. Over his shoulder, Sunset saw Trixie sneak forward and point her wand at the door. A puff of smoke came out and Trixie silently gagged. She tried again, and a few sparks sputtered out of wand. The door opened and Trixie slipped inside.
The guard dragged Sunset to the front entrance. "Sorry, missy. End of the show for you." He tossed her onto the concrete, then retreated past a second group of guards manning the entrance.
She wiped the dirt off her face and looked back to the stadium walls. "All up to you, girls."
*******
Another foot crashed onto Rarity's toe. She cursed whatever part of her brain that told her heels were a good idea tonight. To be fair, she didn't expect to be standing for hours. She yanked her foot out from under the boot crushing it, and stumbled back into Rainbow, who moved back into another crowd goer.
"Hey, watch it! You wanna start something?"
Rainbow rolled up a sleeve. "You know what, I--"
Rarity held her back. "So sorry about that," she said with a nervous laugh. "It was just an accident. Crowded field and all."
The boy glared at them, but his attention jumped back to the Sirens the second their next verse started. Rarity spun Rainbow around and wagged a finger at her. "Rainbow, you're acting almost as hostile as they are."
"They've been shoving and glaring at us all night! Excuse me if I get a little pissed off after a while!" Rainbow yelled over the music. "We're not getting anything out of this. Sunset hasn't found anything, and other than the fact that the lead singer is making eyes at me, we haven't found anything either."
"Ah hate to say it," Applejack said, pushing her way next to Rarity, "but R.D has a point. Sure, we've seen first hand how these Sirens operate, and we know for sure we're immune, but other than that, this might have been a waste of time."
Rarity looked around at the crowd around her, a glazed look in all their eyes while they cheered and sang along. It made her spine tingle unpleasantly and reminded her of the Fall Formal, not that she'd ever tell Sunset. She conceded to Rainbow and Applejack; while everything was suspicious, it didn't do them a lot of good.
"You're right," she said with disappointment. "We should get out of here now before things get dangerous." She looked over her shoulder to the doors at the end of the field, barely visible through the horde of people. Navigating out would prove a challenge.
Applejack spoke into Rarity's ear. "Do ya think us leavin' is gonna look suspicious?"
She waved a dismissive hand. "Of course not. People leave concerts early all the time. Just be polite and act casual." She held an arm out in front as she delicately pushed through the crowd. "Excuse me. Pardon us. Enjoying the show?"
Several people grunted or shot them distasteful looks, but no one impeded their progress. See? Nothing can't be handled with a little tact and grace. They were halfway to the door when she heard a shout from behind. Another one followed it, and even over the music, Rarity heard the distinct thud of someone hitting the floor.
She teetered off balance as someone fell onto her, but Applejack's quick reflexes stopped her from toppling over. Rarity looked back to see Fluttershy sitting on the ground looking dazed, and Rainbow drawing her fist back against another boy.
Oh dear, was the only thought Rarity could process before Rainbow's punch connected. The boy fell over, taking several others with him to the ground, and disrupting several more. Yells of fury and furor rose around them. The tension building up since the night began finally burst open and with it, a flurry of kicking, shoving, and punching from all sides.
Rainbow swooped down and grabbed Fluttershy, then ran ahead, using her elbow to knock over anyone in her way. Rarity danced out of the way of a nearby scuffle and followed after them, making sure Applejack and Pinkie weren't too far behind. The chaos followed them as they pushed their way back. Cheers of admiration for the Dazzlings turned into shouts of aggression toward one another. Security moved in to break up any fight they could reach, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the volume of adolescents.
Rarity breathed a sigh of relief upon reaching the corridor. She then let out a whimper at the state of her dress. The hem was torn and she could see smudges of dirt all over it. Not to mention her aching feet.
Pinkie popped in from the field last, her hair a more frizzy mess than usual. She put her hands on her hips and frowned. "You know, when I pictured a mosh pit, I thought it would be a lot funner than that."
Rainbow dusted Fluttershy off and said, "All in favor of never doing that again, say aye."
"Aye," they chorused.
"Smoke bomb!"
A wall of smoke erupted from the hall to their left. Out of the grey clouds came Trixie, running at top speed. She caught sight of them and ground her heels to a stop. "What are you...?" She shook her head. "Trixie has no time to wonder. Come on, we're leaving!"
No one needed to be told twice. They followed Trixie past the ticket counter, through the courtyard, and out to the main gate. Sunset jumped up from her place against the wall and ran to meet them. "What happened?"
"The Dazzlings happened," Applejack said, before she caught her breath. "We tried to get out, then lo and behold, everyone starts goin' at each other."
"Some jerk pushed Fluttershy to the ground just for bumping his elbow!" Rainbow yelled.
Rarity tried to straighten her dress but quickly saw the futility in it. "All in all, it wasn't a good time. We didn't learn anything either."
"Not true!" Trixie said, pointing her finger to the sky. "Trixie knows they don't have the Crystal Heart yet! And she felt it! Her father's magic calling out to her! He's there, somewhere under the stadium!"
"That's some good news at least," Sunset said. "But what do we do now?"
The others could only look back at her in equal puzzlement.
*******
Adagio could still hear her adoring crowd from her seat backstage. She breathed in the negativity: anger, irritation, frustration. She licked her lips. Simply delicious. And that hadn't been the only thing she had tasted out there...
Her heart beat faster as the wheels in her mind turned. After two decades of torture, the universe had turned back in her favor! A vivacious smile pulled at her cheeks. Sonata could spout her dumbest nonsense yet, and she still wouldn't be mad.
Speaking of which.
Adagio brought her head down from staring at the ceiling and looked over to the stage curtain. "What's taking her so long?"
Aria sat across from her, looking bored as usual. "You know she takes this thing too seriously." She sat up straight and screwed her face up into the dopiest expression she could make. "'We have to, like, connect with our fans! Show them we care about them!'" she said in a high pitched attempt at Sonata. Finished, her face dropped back to its dour state.
"At least she's entertained." Fun aside, they had a schedule to keep, and Adagio would be damned if her plan was ruined tonight of all nights. She stood to fetch her sister when Sonata backed in from the curtains, giving one more wave to their fans.
She turned around, a giant smile plastered on her face. "I love signing autographs!" She wandered over to the snack table and picked up the bowl of chips before grabbing a seat.
Aria crossed her arms. "I'm surprised you know how to write your own name."
Sonata opened her mouth to retort, but a sharp glare from Adagio stopped her cold. "None of your stupid bickering. You can do that on your way to the museum."
"What museum?" Sonata asked.
Adagio facepalmed while Aria scowled and said, "The one with the Crystal Heart, you dunce."
"Oh yeah. We're doing that tonight!" She shoved a handful of chips into her mouth. "Almost forgot."
Maybe I should go instead. Adagio looked at Aria. No, she'll keep Sonata focused. And I'd rather talk to the press than have Sonata do it. She waved a hand. "We'll talk about that in a minute." She gave both of them a sharp and excited look. "Did you two feel it?"
Aria and Sonata gave each other a quizzical glance, then shrugged to Adagio. She had figured as much. "Magic!" She brought her voice to an excited whisper. "Equestrian magic!"
"Oh boy, here we go again," Aria said with an eye roll.
Adagio clenched her fist. "I'm positive this time. Out there in that crowd was the magic I felt when we got off that wretched rock! It's here, in this city!"
Aria continued to look unimpressed. "You said that the first time we were here, and when we looked, guess what we found." She held her hands out. "Nothing."
Sonata held a finger up. "We also didn't find the Crystally Heart, but that's here too."
Adagio smirked. As dumb as she was, Sonata occasionally said something worthwhile. Of course, that was just basic probability. "I almost tasted that magic," Adagio continued. "I don't know how or why it's here but it is."
"Okay, fine." Aria held her hands up. "Let's say it is here. How do we get it, and what are we gonna do with it?"
Adagio rubbed her hands together and purred with mirth. "Well, it had to get here somehow, didn't it? Imagine if we traced it back to the source."
Sonata gasped. "We could go home?"
"Very good, Sonata," Adagio said, patting her on the head. "At the very least, we could get our original forms back."
Aria perked up, her dispassionate mask slipping. "Okay, I'll entertain this idea if it means I don't have to walk around looking like this anymore."
Adagio ran a hand down the curve of her hips. "Honestly, I've grown to like this body. But yes, I would take our true forms over this any day." She raised an empowered fist and grin sadistically. "With the Crystal Heart's amplification and Equestrian magic, there won't be a human alive who can resist us. And once we find a way back to Equestria, we'll have two worlds to adore us!"
Sonata threw her hands in the air. "Whooo! Think of all the fans we'll have!"
"But how are we going to find this magic, Dagi?" Aria asked, her skepticism returning.
Adagio steepled her fingers together. "Oh, I think I have an idea. I hope you girls like Canterlot. Because we're going to be here for a while." |
Spectacular Seven | 10. Said the Jokers to the Thief | The night wind tried one last time to snatch her ponytail, but she kept a tight grip on it as she stuffed it under her black hood. The skin tight leather snapped against her ears, and she brought the mask down over her eyes while bringing her collar up over her mouth, leaving only her nose exposed.
She stood and felt the leather rub her in all the right places. She raised her arms up, proudly sticking her chest out before bending backwards and touching her palms against her heels. "Oh, that feels good." Her collar doubled as a muffler.
A light hiss sounded next to her, and she lifted her legs over her body before bringing them down behind her and settling on her stomach. "Is someone ready for the big heist?" the woman said in a babying voice.
A black snake with white stripes slithered across the rooftop, stopping in front of the woman's face and flicking its tongue at her exposed nose.
"That's my Jormungandr. So eager to help mama. Well then, let's get this show on the road." She rolled onto her back and jumped up onto her heels. Utility belt wrapped around her waist and laptop bag over her shoulder, she strutted over to the domed skylight. Jormungandr quietly trailed behind her, gently rocking his body side-to-side.
"Alarm is already disabled," she said, patting her laptop. "Wasn't even a challenge. We've had a harder time stealing from babies." She lifted a panel of glass and looked down into the Canterlot Art and History Museum. Shadows consumed most of the blue velvet carpet, driven away only by the spotlights surrounding each exhibit.
Jormungandr slid up his master's back and coiled his five foot body gently around her neck. The black clad woman removed a grappling hook from her belt and attached the claw to the metal frame, then slowly lowered herself into the building.
She landed in shadows, just outside the range of one security camera. With a click of a button, she recalled her grappling hook, then slunk across the floor with measured and precise steps. Her eyes browsed over the displays of Canterlot's History. Old wagons, pottery vases, muskets, and oil paintings of mayors past.
Silence covered her, a cool blanket that masked her every movement. A sound brushed against her ear, and she instinctively dove for cover, choosing a small alcove behind a porcelain vase. It was quite nice, catching a gleam even without direct light. But, the thief was here for one thing, and one thing only.
A security guard walked past her hiding spot, flashlight in hand, eyes forward. The thief frowned even as he walked away. He wasn't supposed to show up in this room for another six minutes.
Waiting precisely twenty seconds, she got up and moved on. She'd deal with him later if need be, but first, the cameras. She made it to the end of the western exhibit hall, having to make two more unexpected stops in the process.
There wasn't this much security during my stakeouts, she thought, lip curling under her mask. She was going to have to leave a bit of a scene if she wanted to escape with her prize. Oh well. I do love it when they know who to blame when things go missing.
She grinned. Because, try as you might, you'll never catch the Snake Queen Lamia!
Lamia zigzagged across the tiled floor of the decoart exhibits, avoiding the spots she knew the cameras were zoomed in on. At the back wall, Lamia reached up and pressed her hands against it with all her might until the sticky adhesive came to the surface of her gloves. When she tried to pull away, she felt a steady resistance and pulled herself up, bracing her knees against the wall. She climbed quickly, her hands making soft, squelching noises each time she moved. An air vent waited for her at the top. She switched the latch, opening the grates as wide as they could go.
"Go on, Jorgey, you know what to do."
The snake flicked his tongue, then slid off her shoulders and into the vent. Lamia dropped down and waited behind a curtain, watching another security officer walk by. This was always the moment of truth: whether Jormungandr could make it to the security room, and whether or not he could subdue any guards inside.
Two minutes passed, and she heard a soft hiss come from above her. Lamia stood and smiled. Seventy-four thefts, and Jormungandr hadn't let her down once. She cartwheeled across the room, freely enjoying the open movement. She reached the door to the security room and picked it with ease. Inside, three guards lay on the floor, their eyes glazed over and their muscles tense beneath their uniforms.
Lamia tutted and nudged one of them with her boot. "Were the big, bad policemen overpowered by a wittle snake?" There were only supposed to be two. Still, Jormangandr proved to be her greatest asset. She kneeled down and reached into their pockets, swiping a total of eighty dollars from their wallets. Next, she reached into her belt and pulled out three vials, slipping them into their breast pockets.
While she wasn't above killing, Lamia wanted to be remembered as a thief, not a murderer. As such, she always left an antidote for Jormungandr's neurotoxin. Said snake lowered himself down from the vents and coiled himself around Lamia's neck again. She scratched him under the chin and cooed, "You're such a good boy, Jorgey. They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"Hissss."
"Good. Mama's proud of you." She looked at the large monitor in front of her, split into twelve smaller screens, each showing a different part of the museum. Lamia squatted down in front of the control panel and pulled her laptop and a USB cable from her bag. While her laptop booted up, she connected it to the computer. When the startup initialized, she opened one of the files littering the screen and ran her fingers over the keyboard. A loading bar popped up in the corner, taking only seconds to fill in.
"You guys should really invest in better security. You never know what might slither in." She looked back at the monitors, watching the images flicker out for a moment before settling in again. To the untrained eye, everything appeared normal, especially with the timestamp still running. Lamia, however, knew it was all an illusion: the same ten second loop playing over and over again and being recorded into the security history.
Her work done, she packed up her laptop and walked out, making sure none of the remaining security guards were around. The priceless artifact collection was a quick jaunt away. Without the cameras, Lamia found outmaneuvering the roving guards much easier. Not that it had been particularly hard in the first place.
She rounded the corner and grinned, her hungry eyes falling on her long-awaited reward. Centered in the middle of the hall with surrounding gems to compliment it was the Crystal Heart. A single spotlight illuminated it from above, making its blue surface gleam with an otherwordly light. It was big enough that Lamia would need both hands to cradle it.
"Beach house in Greece, here we come."
Jormungandr bobbed his head in agreement.
Lamia crept closer, her reflection appearing in the glass case around the Heart. Lift, swipe, and run. She was on the homestretch now.
From the hall to her left, voices floated in, tearing through her blanket of silence. She hissed under her breath and retreated behind a pillar. "Jorgey, get ready to sick. My patience with this patrol is running thin."
However, it wasn't just an officer that walked in. Two figures flanked him, also dressed in black with theater masks covering their faces. The one on the left wore the white, happy mask. A black, sad mask decorated the figure on the right.
"Good job," the sad mask said, a gruff, feminine voice coming from beneath. "Now, make sure to delete any footage of us off the cameras. And when you wake up in the morning, you'll say you don't remember anything."
The guard nodded absentmindedly and walked out, stumbling a bit as he left. The sad girl doubled over and took a deep breath. "Crap, that took a lot out of me."
The happy mask put a hand on the other girl's back. "Are you okay, Aria?" The voice reminded Lamia of a valley girl, and she could already tell, that one was not the brains of whatever was going on.
The sad girl, Aria, waved her off. "I'm fine, just give me a sec." She straightened up and took another breath, then smacked her partner over the head. "You could have helped."
"You told me not to," the girl whined.
"Whatever. Let's just get the Heart and go home."
The happy mask cocked her head to the side. "I still don't get it. Why didn't we just, like, ask the people to give it to us? Why did we have to be all sneaky about it?"
Aria held a hand to her mask. "Because, you dunce, then we'd have to explain why the museum gave it to us to the police, then to the city, and literally everyone else who asks. It'd be a waste of energy to keep manipulating everyone into just accepting it. This way's easier."
"But, like, it's not gonna matter in the long run, right?"
"Yeah, but it's annoying in the short run. Sonata, just let me and Adagio do all the thinking. It's not your strong suit."
"Ha! I don't even wear suits."
Lamia rested her head against the pillar. Well, I was right about the ditz. Still, she had no idea what they were talking about, only that they were after her prize. Well, if she had to leave two more paralyzed bodies on the ground, then so be it! The Crystal Heart belonged to her!
She lowered her arm, allowing Jormungandr to slide down. "Sic."
He weaved around the pillar and hissed on approach. Sonata let out a loud, "Eeeep!"
Aria punched her in the shoulder. "Shut up! It's just a snake."
Jormungandr lunged at Aria's ankle, fangs extended from his wide mouth. With surprising deftness, she stepped diagonally, moving like it was a choreographed dance move. Jormungandr twisted and struck again, and Aria jumped out of the way, spinning her foot back to kick the snake across the room.
"Okay, as cool as that is, why the hell is there a snake here?" Aria asked.
"Maybe it's a secret agent," Sonata offered.
There was a soft thud as Aria facepalmed her mask. Lamia counted on a scathing retort to follow, but approaching footsteps cut the conversation short. From the same hall the two jokers had entered from, another security officer came running in.
"What the--how did you get in here?"
Joormungandr reacted before either of them could move. He whipped around and struck like a whip, sinking his teeth into the guard's ankle. The guard gasped in pain and tried to shake Jormungandr off, his movements becoming more sluggish with each kick. The snake let go and slithered back, but the damage had already been done.
The guard fell over, twitching and spasming as his muscles locked up. He managed a few gurgles before he fell onto his back, his arms freezing by his sides.
The cool silence returned for a brief moment before Aria ruined it. "Okay, that was pretty wicked."
Lamia pressed a hand to her forehead. Of all nights. She pushed off the pillar and stepped around it, hands on her hips as she strutted forward. "Past your bedtimes, isn't it, kiddies? Does mommy know you're out this late?"
"Jokes on you!" Sonata said. "We don't have a mom!"
Aria, still eyeing the snake, sighed deeply. "Just... stop talking." To Lamia, she said, "Who are you and what do you want?"
"Who I am is none of your business. What I want, however, is that Crystal Heart."
Sonata put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "Well, too bad! Finder's keepers, loser's weepers, and we found it first!"
"Listen, kid, it's a bad idea to cross me. Just ask that poor man on the ground." Lamia pointed to the downed officer. "I'm not afraid to add your bodies to the pile."
"Tough talk for someone who's outnumbered and outmatched," Aria said smoothly. She snapped her fingers. "You know what to do."
A pause. Then Sonata asked, "I do?"
"... Sing, you halfwit!" Aria hissed.
"Oh, yeah, duh!" She clutched her hands in front of her chest. "Aaah aaah ah. Aaah ah..."
Every instinct tempered by years of experience told Lamia that whatever was happening was wrong. Yet the soft melody that floated out from under the happy white mask sang to her a song of tranquility. Her muscles loosened up and her eyes started to droop.
Do I really need the Crystal Heart? These girls seem nice; I should just let them take it.
"Aaah aaah ah. Aaah--eeeeeep!" Sonata barely evaded a strike from Jormungandr, falling on her back and rolling away as the snake struck again.
The haze around Lamia instantly dispersed, leaving her with an itch inside her skull, and several questions as to what just happened. Questions she would ask later. She had had enough of whatever freaky voodoo was going on around here.
With Aria helping to fend off Jormungandr, no one stood between Lamia and the Heart. Approaching the glass, she threw prudence to the wind, the night's operation having already been butchered, and grabbed the sides of the case. With a mighty heave, she flipped it back, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Hey," one of the girls shouted. Lamia couldn't tell which, nor did she care. She grabbed the Crystal Heart, feeling its hefty weight.
The sad mask girl jumped over Jormungandr and charged. Her speed was impressive, Lamia gave her that, and she gave no tell of how she intended to strike.
Lamia heaved the Heart straight into the air. She blocked a low punch from Aria with the back of her arm and a high kick with her other. Lamia pushed both Aria's arms back, then raised her right leg high while Aria regained her balance. Lamia brought her boot across Aria's face, then quickly brought it back across, sending her spiraling to the floor. She put her hands out and caught the Crystal Heart as it fell.
"Well, this has been fun," Lamia said, "but we really must be going now."
Sonata flew at her, left fist drawn back. As she brought it forward, Lamia held the Heart up. She heard a satisfying thwack from the other side, and a loud whimper of pain. Sonata buckled to her knees and held her hand to her chest.
With a smirk of satisfaction, Lamia turned to leave. Something yanked on her ankle as she stepped forward, and she fell to the ground, the Crystal Heart slipping out of her grasp skidding across the floor. Aria clambered over Lamia trying to reach it, but Lamia struck out and took her back down to the ground while Jormungandr slithered around both of them and coiled himself around the heart.
Aria twisted out of Lamia's grasp, and both girls got to their feet. Lamia made the first move, striking high with her left hand. Aria ducked out the way and punched with her left, only to be blocked and pushed back by Lamia's arm. Lamia brought her leg up again to kick Aria's already crooked mask, but Aria was wise enough to duck this time. With Lamia's leg still raised, Aria jabbed forward into Lamia's gut and sent her to the floor.
"Get up, scatterbrain!" Aria shouted to Sonata.
"But it huuuuuurts!" she said, rocking back and forth, hand clutched tight to her chest.
Lamia flipped up to her feet and struck her palm out for Aria's chest. Aria grabbed Lamia's arm and threw a punch for her head. With her wild flexibility, Lamia bent backwards, forcing Aria to overextend. Lamia then dropped to her back, bringing her knees up as Aria came down. Aria wheezed at the impact to her gut. Lamia followed up and tossed Aria overhead before hopping up again.
Just in time to see happy mask Sonata rush her again with surprisingly fast punches. Lamia kept up with blocking each of them, noticing Sonata favored her right hand. She waited for Sonata to hit with her left again and took the blow to her shoulder. When Sonata recoiled, Lamia broke into her guard and made a two-fingered jab at her right shoulder, then followed it up with a full jab to Sonata's stomach and a palm strike to the chest.
"Oooowwwww," Sonata moaned from the ground. "My arm feels funny."
"Freeze!" two voices yelled. Lamia uttered a stream of curses as two well-dressed officers ran in from the hall on her left, guns drawn. From the right, two more museum security rushed in, unarmed but putting Lamia into a pin.
"So, the tip we got was right," the blonde female officer said. By the lines on her face, Lamia guessed she had never had a day of fun in her life. Her strapping male partner, however, looked like he might know how to have a good time. He had shaggy blue hair, charming purple eyes, and looked quite handsome in his suit.
Not now, Lamia chided herself. She had to find a way out of this crappy situation first. Jormangandr kept himself curled around the heart. The handsome detective noticed and pointed his gun at the snake. The other woman kept her gun on Lamia.
"Well," she said stepping forward slowly. "I know who you are, Lamia. I didn't know you operated with accomplices."
"They're not with me," Lamia said coldly. "In fact, do me a favor and arrest them first."
"Aaah aaah ah, aaah ah. Aaah aaah ah, aaah ah."
Lamia's muscles relaxed again and the tranquil calm washed over her. Something wasn't right... but why did she care? The music sounded so pretty. Through a green haze, she could see the officers lowering their weapons. The two girls eased their way toward Jormangandr, who snapped at them, coming dangerously close to Aria's ankle.
The singing stopped and the haze cleared away. Everyone save for the two girls looked confused, but Lamia got her bearings first. She reached into her utility belt and flung a throwing knife at the blue-haired officer while she charged the blonde one. The knife hit his hand knocking his gun away.
Lamia roundhouse kicked the remaining officer, knocking her off balance. She jabbed her in the solar plexus with two fingers then again in the sternum and sent her to the floor, then spun and blocked her head from the other detective's second attack. On the other side of the room, Aria and Sonata fought off the museum guards, Sonata fighting with only one working arm.
As Lamia defended herself from his attacks, she caught sight of the name on the officer's badge. Shining Armor. She smirked. "It's too bad you're a cop," she said with a sultry purr. She ducked under his swing. "You could be my knight any day."
Shining took a step back and raised his arms to block Lamia's side kick. "Sorry, I'm happily engaged."
Lamia pouted. "You're no fun." She dove to the side and scooped up Shining's gun. He froze and held his hands up when she pointed it at him. "Sorry, officer, but I'm leaving with this heart." She took two steps back.
A rough hand clawed into the side of her face, and another one grabbed her arm at the joint, forcing it down. With her unobstructed eye, Lamia could see the remaining security on the floor, while Sonata tried to fight Shining Armor.
Under Aria's tight grip, Lamia dropped the gun, but drove her other elbow into her attacker's gut multiple times. "Piss off already!" She threw herself to the ground, crushing Aria with all her weight. Using her momentum, she threw her legs up and back into the air and performed a backflip, freeing herself from Aria's grasp. Unfortunately, she didn't get out of it unscathed.
Shrrriiiip!
A quick breeze brushed over Lamia's left eye, and a bang came undone from her ponytail and fell over her face. She jerked a hand up, finding only part of her mask had been torn, but it was enough to turn her blood to magma. She turned to Aria, still lying on the ground with the black fabric in hand.
Lamia marched over, her exposed eye wide with fury. "You meddling piece of s--"
"Aaaiiie!" Sonata skidded across the floor, mask askew but still covering her face. Shining reached for his partner's gun, but Lamia threw another knife, knocking the weapon away. She kicked Aria in the side as hard as she could for good measure, then finally turned back and grabbed the Crystal Heart and her snake.
She didn't spare them a hateful glance as she ran down the hall, shoving the heart into her laptop bag. Footsteps echoed behind her. Without looking back, she knew Armor had followed. She made a sharp turn around a corner and pressed herself against the wall. The second Shining came into her line of sight, Lamia shouted, "Sic!"
Jormangandr struck him in the shoulder, lightning fast. Shining cried out in pain before falling silent thanks to Lamia's boot in his gut. He fell to the floor, going still as the neurotoxin raged through his body.
Lamia dropped another vial next to him. "This is only because you're cute," she said softly, keeping her face in the shadows. "See you never." She bolted for the nearest window, throwing herself through the glass and onto the pavement.
A block away from the museum, she pulled her grappling hook out and fired at a low rooftop, propelling herself up and vaulting over the edge. She took a breath of victory, then spat in disgust. "Those brats turned this into a freakin' disaster." She felt the torn part of her mask and growled. "Better find a place to lay low." She patted Jormungandr on the head. "At least we got our prize, right, baby?"
"Hisssss."
*******
Aria leaned against the alley wall and ripped her mask off, greedily sucking down air. Sonata collapsed next to her, moaning and clutching her arm. Aria ignored her. The image of the thief running away with the Heart in her hands blinded her everytime she closed her eyes. She sank to the floor, letting out a groan as she did. Everything hurt, most notably her head and sides. Now that she was down, standing up would prove to be a struggle. Next to her, Sonata attempted to try, feebly propping herself up before resting against the wall.
"I can't feel my arm. Is that normal?" she asked, her mask in Aria's direction.
Anger provided a great muffler to Sonata's asinine questions. Aria's patience to deal with her sister's stupidity had reached its limits for the night. This was supposed to be easy! Aria clenched her teeth until her jaw ached. We were supposed to walk in, take the Heart, and walk out! That snake loving bitch ruined everything! It was right in front of us and it got away again!
"Adagio's going to be mad, isn't she?"
"Shut up, Sonata!" Aria snapped, putting as much vice into her words with what little energy she had left. It worked as intended. Sonata curled in on herself, knowing that Aria was not in the mood for one of their back and forths.
In fact, Aria realized she might have used too much vice when she heard Sonata sniffle. With a roll of her eyes, Aria lifted a hand and pat Sonata on the head. While she loved knocking her sister down, Aria couldn't stand it when Sonata blubbered like a baby.
"Stop crying," she said, keeping the edge to her voice. "I'm sorry, all right? Didn't mean to snap at you like that." She forced herself up, muscles yelling in protest. When she got steady on her feet, she held a hand down. "Come on. Can you stand?"
Sonata quickly lifted her mask to rub her eyes, then dropped it and held her good hand out. "But, Adagio's still going to be mad, right? We didn't get the heart thingy. And we don't even know who took it."
As dumb as she was, Sonata had a point. Despite the beating they had taken, Adagio wouldn't be above punishing them further for failing to return with the Crystal Heart. Aria couldn't entirely blame her. It wouldn't make coming home any easier though.
She looked at the skyline, wondering where the thief was now. "You're right. We don't know who took it." The gears in her mind started to turn. Adagio wasn't the only one who could come up with a plan. "But I might know how we can find it."
When she looked in Sonata's direction, she could feel the blank stare from beneath the happy mask. Aria facepalmed and sighed. "Just follow my lead, stupid." |
Spectacular Seven | 11. The Best of Intentions | Twilight took up the rear end of the procession, heart hammering. She wished the doctor moved faster. The smell of antiseptic and her shoes squeaking against the sterile tiles only made her more tense. After an endless walk down the blue and white checkered hall, they reached their destination, and the doctor pushed the door open. Night Light entered first, followed by Cadence, then Twilight.
Her heart stammered upon entry. Shining laid in bed, looking pale and grumpy but otherwise fine. Nevertheless, he laid in a hospital bed, the second-to-last place Twilight wanted to see him resting. Twilight Velvet hovered over him, dressed in her scrubs.
"Do you need me to get you anything, sweetie? I can get more pillows for you to make you comfy."
"Mom, for the fifth time, I'm fine." He broke into a relieved grin as everyone else filed into the room. Cadence rushed over and wrapped her arms around him.
"Are you okay? They just told me you were in the hospital from police work! I came as fast as I could!"
Shining patted her back. "I'm fine, I promise. It was just..." he mumbled something, not making eye contact with anyone.
"What was that?" Night asked.
Velvet crossed her arms. "Poison. It was just poison."
"Poison!" Cadence screeched into his ear. "Someone tried to poison you?"
Shining gave his mother a cross look. "Yeah. Her snake was venomous. But, she left the antidote right next to me, so it was administered almost immediately. It's just some bruises now."
Twilight breathed out all of the tension she had held onto since being awakened to the news her brother had been hospitalized, only to seize up again at the mention of a snake. It's okay. Snake isn't here. Just breathe. She stepped closer to the bed and tried to level out Cadence's hysteria with calm. "What happened last night?"
"Well..." Shining took a second to reposition himself and get comfortable. "They needed more security for the Dazzlings' concert near the end, so Harshwhinny and I were put on standby. After it was over, we hurried back to the museum, just in time to see it being robbed."
Twilight tensed. "Did you see who it was? What were they after?"
Shining thumped his head on the headrest. He closed his eyes in concentration and grunted, "There were two parties. But the one with the snake, Lamia, she's the one that got away with the Heart.
Twilight inhaled sharply.
"I never got a good look at her. Her mask got torn at one point, but she ran afterwards. Her eyes though... I think they were green? Maybe blue."
"And even if he could remember, that's sensitive information, Miss Sparkle," a stern, cool voice said from behind. Twilight looked over her shoulder, finding Shining's senior detective Ms. Harshwhinny standing in the doorway. She looked back at Twilight with her famous stoic frown and flat eyebrows, giving her an appearance of perpetual displeasure.
Shining made a half-hearted salute. "Good to see you're up already, ma'am."
"Caught by surprise, nothing more," Harshwhinny grunted. But when she stepped further into the room, Twilight could see her limp. "As for the events of last night, the details remain on a need to know basis." She glanced around the room. "All you need to know is that last night, the museum played grounds to a theft. Three suspects all got away, and the Crystal Heart was stolen."
The tenseness that had embraced Twilight's whole body centered itself in her stomach to the point of nausea. She leaned on Shining's bedside for support. Oh no... oh no, no, no. First Artemis, now the Crystal Heart. What are we going to do?
"Do you at least have any leads?" Cadence asked, sounding fuzzy in Twilight's ears.
"One," Harshwhinny said tersely. "Fortunately, it's the only one we need." Her eyes scanned the room again. "But, I can see I'm interrupting a family moment. I just came by to see how you were doing, Detective Armor, but I can see you're in good hands." She turned for the door. "I expect to see you in my office as soon as you're discharged. Good day."
They watched her turn down the hall, then Night Light broke the silence with an awkward laugh. "Must be fun working for her, eh, Shining?"
Shining sank back into his pillow. "That's one word you could use." He sighed. "Anyway, the doctor said I should be free to go tomorrow evening."
Velvet made a disapproving tut under her breath.
"Mom, I told you, I'm fine. I could get up and walk around right now if I wanted."
"Oh no you don't!" Both Cadence and Velvet said from either side. Cadence put a hand on her hip and wagged a finger. "You're not moving until the doctor says you can."
Velvet nodded. "I still say you need an extra day of rest, but you'll at least wait until Doctor Stables clears you before you go chasing after thieves and criminals again.
Shining groaned and gave a pleading look to his father. "Dad, say something."
Night gave him a guilty shrug. "Sorry, Shining. I'm smart enough not to pick a fight with your mother and your fiance."
Despite knowing the hidden gravity of the situation, Twilight couldn't help but giggle at her brother's plight. He was alive and doing fine if he could complain so much. Still, her mind ran in circles, running between the identity of the thief, what the Sirens would do without the Crystal Heart, and what it all meant for everyone else. Were things better or worse now that the Heart sat in the hands of a third party?
"You okay, Twily?"
"Huh?" Twilight looked up at Shining. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just relieved you're okay." Now if Sunset would just text me she's all right.
Shining reached out and squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, Twily. I'm not going anywhere." While she appreciated the sentiment, it felt a bit redundant considering the state he was in. But Twilight put on a good face and kept up with the small talk that went around.
Eventually, Velvet had to get to her rounds and Night still had papers to grade. They gave Shining a kiss on the head, with an additional warning from Velvet not to get up before leaving.
"Why don't me and Twily go get you some snacks, sweetie?" Cadence asked. "I know how bad hospital food can be."
"That be nice, yeah." Shining gave her a sheepish grin. "And maybe a comic book while you're out?"
Cadence rolled her eyes, then leaned in to give him a kiss. "You're such a dork. But anything for my brave knight. Come on, ladybug."
Twilight kissed Shining on the cheek and waved as she followed Cadence out. They passed Velvet in the hall, wheeling another patient to their room. Canterlot General was pretty quiet today aside from the host of security guards occupying various beds across the second floor.
Outside, Cadence had parked her cherry red car in the front row of the parking lot. She and Twilight buckled in, and they took off down the road. Cadence kept the radio low, just enough so that Sapphire Shores made more background noise than the engine. "So, how are you and Sunset doing?"
"Fine," Twilight said a little too quickly and tersely for Cadence to brush it away. Refusing eye contact didn't help either.
"Would you like to add anything to that 'fine'?" Cadence asked gently.
Twilight leaned against the door. "Really, we're fine. She just... frustrates me sometimes."
"Well, no partner is perfect," Cadence said as they came to a stoplight. "I'm picking up comic books for your twenty-seven year old brother." She reached over and stroked Twilight's hair. "But it's better to talk about these things rather than bottle them up."
Twilight nibbled on the inside of her cheek. Part of the problem was that she couldn't talk about what was bothering her. Not to Cadence at least. That would require explaining magic and evil Sirens. Still, faced with Cadence's disarming and loving eyes, Twilight felt the need to get something off her chest.
"Sunset went to that stupid concert last night," she said crossing her arms and staring at the light as it turned green.
Cadence shifted her focus back to driving but kept a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "Without you?"
"I mean, I didn't want to go. I just wish... Sunset hadn't." Twilight knew how that sounded and wished she could add more to it. It had already been said, and she pressed her lips closed to listen to Cadence.
She kept her eyes on the road but smiled sympathetically. "Sounds like someone's got a small case of envy."
Maybe, but not for the reason you think.
"You guys don't have to do everything together, Twilight. You're still two independent people. If Sunset wants to do something you don't want to, that's okay."
"I know. It's just..." Twilight huffed. I don't want her doing something that puts her in danger!
Cadence gave her shoulder a light squeeze. "Well, are you and Sunset doing anything tomorrow?"
Having known her since kindergarten, Twilight knew just about all of Cadence's tell as much as Cadence knew hers. While no resentment leaked into her voice, Twilight knew Cadence enough to know the context behind the question.
"I don't know. Sunset said she'd make up for going to the concert without me, but she never said what we'd do." And she hasn't texted or called me to say she was okay! What if the Sirens got her too! Twilight tried not to hyperventilate while Cadence drove. Instead, she whipped out her phone, shot another urgent text to Sunset, then shoved it in her pocket.
"Well, I'm sure whatever it is, it'll be lovely."
Twilight could hear the falseness in Cadence's voice. It was nearly impossible to pick up on unless you knew her as well as Twilight or Shining did. "I'm guessing you'll be working all day tomorrow?"
"Yep." Her smile strained, and her grip on the wheel tightened. "Mi Amore in the Morning's Valentine's Day Special! Don't miss it!"
Twilight pat her on the knee. "You'll get through it. You always do."
Cadence loosened her grip and sighed. "I know. It's just, now I have Shining to think about the entire time on top of the manipulative commercialization of this holiday. On a slightly better note, the Dazzlings are coming in for an interview."
Twilight's blood froze. "The Dazzlings?" Her voice cracked. "Why?"
"Not sure actually. My producer just called me this morning and told me it was happening. Maybe they want to drop a new love song."
Twilight chose her words carefully. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, your fans are so accustomed to hearing only love songs and advice. What if the Si--Dazzlings, don't have a love song? You're ratings could plummet! Fans would revolt!"
Cadence held a hand to her mouth and laugh. "Twilight, I think you're over exaggerating. I appreciate the concern though."
Biting her lower lip, Twilight tried to think of another approach. She couldn't find a subtle way around this though. No doubt, Cadence had already heard their music and was under their influence to some degree, but Twilight still had to try. "I just think this interview is a bad idea, Cady."
"Oh? And why is that?"
Twilight weighed her options. Either she told the truth and A: sound like a crazy person, or B: possibly protect her sister-in-law. Or, remain silent and allow Cadence to go through with meeting the Sirens without even trying to help. It wasn't a hard choice.
"The Dazzlings are actually Sirens and they use music to mind control people and make them feel negative emotions so they can feed off it!" she said in one breath.
The car fell silent as they came to another red light. After coming to a complete stop, Cadence burst into laughter. "Twilight, you've been reading too many of Shining's comics." She pat her on the head. "I know you're mad Sunset went to their concert but don't be silly."
Twilight slumped in her seat. The fact that she had tried did nothing to assuage her fears. Sure, the Sirens weren't going to do anything worse than what they did to everyone else, but it still meant Cadence was walking straight into their hypnotism.
And if the Lulamoons couldn't get the Crystal Heart, there would be no recourse.
They pulled into a small shopping outlet and disembarked. Cadence gave Twilight a twenty dollar bill. "You go get his comic. You'd probably know what he'd like more anyway."
Twilight faked a smile and walked off before Cadence could tell it was counterfeit. She passed through a small plaza with a fountain in the center, and an open coffee stand to the side. Twilight shuddered, remembering the last time she had been wired on caffeine. At least Sunset had gotten a good laugh out of it.
She whipped out her phone and furiously typed Sunset's number. Twilight half paced, half stomped back and forth in front of the fountain, listening to the phone ring six times before going to the voicemail. She opened her mouth, angry rant at the ready, but as she pivoted on her foot to turn again, her scathing words tumbled back into her throat.
Stepping away from the coffee stand was a woman with a familiar presence about her. She wore a loose white shirt and baggy jeans, and a wide sun hat covered her head, falling just over her sunglasses. Yet underneath it, Twilight swore she saw red and gold hair rolled up into a tight bun.
Her stomach squirmed. No, it can't be. The girl looked about the same height as Sunset. She had the same skin tone, too. Twilight crouched behind the fountain and reached for her phone. When the woman turned around, coffee in hand, she tipped her hat up, and Twilight saw more of her face. Leaning into Sunset so many times, sitting in her lap, reaching up to kiss her, Twilight recognized her facial structure. Her soft cheek bones, her round chin, and the way her lips folded down like she was always dissatisfied with something.
Twilight snapped a quick photo and threw herself down against the base of the fountain, aware that she was now hyperventilating. She clapped a hand over her mouth and remained completely still, praying Sunset--the other Sunset--hadn't seen her.
When a minute passed and nothing happened, Twilight chanced looking over the fountain again. Human Sunset had vanished. Twilight stood and slowly backed into the comic store, gripping her phone extra tight in her sweaty palms.
Sirens, magical artifacts, doppelgangers of my girlfriend! Twilight hit the send button for the picture and shut her phone. She looked at the display of comics on the shelves. When did my life get so weird?
*******
Sunset scrubbed as hard as she could, hoping her guilt would wash away with the dirt. If there was any dirt. Selena kept her kitchen clean as a whistle. Sunset's knees ached from sitting on them for an hour while she and Trixie cleaned the floor with scrub brushes.
They had walked through the door at a quarter to eleven to find Selena waiting for them in an armchair. The minute they made eye contact, Sunset knew she knew where they had been. She also understood why Selena made the rules in the family. The anger in her eyes reminded Sunset of Celestia.
Pushing her brush back and forth across the tiles, Sunset's stomach churned, too upset to be hungry despite not having eaten anything in the last sixteen hours or so. Just like Celestia, she had betrayed the trust of someone who cared about her. Yes, it was for a good cause, but it stung all the same.
Trixie paused her scrubbing. "Mom--"
"Don't talk." Selena sat at the island table, arms crossed and eyes closed. After yelling at them and sending them off to bed, only to wake them up at the crack of dawn to clean the house top to bottom, Selena hadn't said much beyond basic instructions. The silence forced Sunset to reflect and agonize over her deceit. She had already apologized profusely, but Selena had been in no mood to hear it.
"Can't believe you two would do something so foolhardy," Selena muttered. She opened her eyes and looked down at Trixie. "Actually, I can. You're your father's daughter after all."
Trixie turned her head away, but not before Sunset saw a proud smile. Sunset wished she could emulate it but couldn't find the heart. Geez, you have gone soft. Things like this used to never bother you at all! Now here you are, scrubbing floors like an earth pony!
Sunset shook her head and scrubbed harder. Need to work on that. And at least I feel guilt. Let's me know I actually learned something.
Her pocket buzzed. She tried to ignore it, but it buzzed again. It had been buzzing all morning, but Sunset could never find a good time to pull it out. Selena had her eyes closed, but Sunset had the distinct feeling that she was still watching like a hawk. Her phone proved persistent though, and Sunset finally yielded. She continued scrubbing with one hand while reaching for her phone with her other. She found nine texts and two missed calls from Twilight, the first time she had made contact since school yesterday.
Her eyes bulged. Oh crap, I forgot about Twilight! Sunset quickly scrolled through her messages, wincing at each of Twilight's frantic texts asking if she was okay. They rose from concerned to angry with each message save for the last two, one of which was a file trying to upload at 22%. Stupid ancient flip phone. Sunset looked at the attached message.
'Sunset!? 'Do you see her? She looks like you. Sort of, it's hard to tell with her hat on, but I'm sure that's you!' 'And for the love of science, answer your phone! You better be okay! Sunset, please answer.'
Sunset's heart twisted at the last message and she started typing a hasty and typo ridden reply with just her thumb when her eyes saw the file still trying to load a few messages up. Wait, what is she talking about? The file still had 48% to load.
"Sunset, please give me the phone." Selena's frosty glare found her. Sunset winced, She sent her half-finished message and placed her phone in Selena's outstretched hand. "Now go wash up while I make some lunch. Then I'll find something else for you to do."
Both girls sighed in relief and headed upstairs to the bathroom. At the top landing, Trixie whispered, "Trixie blames you for us getting caught."
"Me? How the flying feather is this my fault?"
"If your motorcycle hadn't made so much noise, we could have easily snuck back in."
"Or maybe if you had snuck out better, your mom would never had been suspicious in the first place!" They both tried to enter the bathroom at once, only to get their shoulders stuck in the door frame. "Trixie, I am so not in the mood for this!"
"Then let Trixie go first!" Trixie wedged her way past Sunset and shut the bathroom door in her face.
"Everytime," Sunset hissed. She leaned on the wall next to the door, mind quickly turning to more important matters. What had Twilight been trying to show her? Someone who looked just like her? Twilight couldn't have been talking about the Human Sunset, could she?
Impossible. I've been here three years and no one's ever mentioned her before. But maybe... Sunset rubbed her throbbing temple. Her human doppelganger running around was the absolute last thing she needed to happen. I need to get my phone back.
Sunset ignored the pit in her stomach and headed back downstairs. She could already smell eggs and toast cooking. Perhaps Selena would be in a slightly more reasonable mood. She stood in front of the stovetop scrambling eggs. Her lips remained tightly pressed, but her eyes had warmed a few degrees.
"Selena..." Sunset pulled her fingers and shuffled in place. "I'm really sorry about lying to you. I just wanted to help in some way. After everything you and Artemis have done for me... I know sneaking into the concert was dangerous and risky, but it was the only thing I could think of to help save Artemis. I..." Sunset sighed, out of words to defend her actions. "I'm sorry."
Selena turned the eggs over one more time and set the burner low before facing Sunset. Her lips were no longer pressed together, and her stare didn't freeze Sunset's soul. "You're a very sweet girl, Sunset, and it's not that I don't appreciate the gesture. I admire your drive to make something right when it's wrong," she said with a smile. "But this fight is too dangerous for you and Trixie. I stayed behind so I could protect you in case something happened to Artemis, and I'll burn all of my manuscripts before I let those monsters touch you."
Heat rose to Sunset's cheeks. She suppressed the rare urge to hug someone other than Twilight and said, "Thanks. That really means a lot." Sunset rubbed her arm. "The last adult I stabbed in the back kicked me out. I mean, I kinda deserved it--I was a lying brat!" Sunset's voice steadily got louder with an added hint of hysteria. "She trusted me completely and I spat in her face! So, I'm just really glad you're giving me chores and still care about me and aren't kicking me out even though I, um, yeah, haha..." Sunset's entire face burned. The toast popping out of the toaster provided her a great distraction to stare at.
After shoveling the eggs into a bowl, Selena ran a hand through Sunset's hair and smiled. "I would hardly call what you did a 'stab in the back'. You're a good girl, Sunset with a big heart." She moved to put the toast on a plate. "I just need you to stay out of trouble."
"Right. Yeah. Sorry, I don't know where all that came from." Her heart clenched, remembering her ulterior motive for coming to apologize. So much for being a good girl. "I, uhh, know you're trying to punish us, but..." She pressed a hand to her face. "Nevermind, forget it."
"You want your phone back?" Selena asked, cutting into a cantaloupe.
"I forgot to tell Twilight I came back safe. And I think she was trying to tell me something really important."
"That explains why it's been ringing non-stop." Selena reached into her pocket and handed Sunset her phone. "Here. But don't make any plans today. I'm not finished with you two yet."
The minute Sunset touched it, the phone vibrated again. "Understood. Thank you!" She rushed upstairs to her room, shut the door, and flipped her phone open. She got one ring before Twilight picked up. "Twilight, I'm so sorry--"
"Oh thank God, you're okay!" A pause. "Sunset Shimmer, do you know how worried I was?"
Sunset held the phone away from her ear. She's using my full name. I'm in so much trouble. "Listen, I can explain--"
"You better! I woke up to find my brother in the hospital and still no messages from you! And when you finally do send a message, it's a garbled mess of typos that cuts off after the first sentence!"
"Wait, what happened t--"
"I thought you had been kidnapped! Or texted while driving and crashed! Teens our age have the highest statistic for dying in car related accidents! And you ride a motorcycle! Do you know how much worse that makes it?"
"Twilight--"
"Not to mention the fact that I think I just saw you! I mean, the other you! The you from this world and not yours--a concept I am still trying to wrap my head around! You're actually a magical unicorn, not a human! Yep, there it is again! I'm dating a magical unicorn from another dimension and I just saw her human doppelganger! Nothing about this makes sense! This whole day has been nonstop crazy! Some random thief has the Crystal Heart, the Sirens are going onto Cadence's show tomorrow and she won't believe me when I say they're evil, and I had to spend the last five hours wondering if you were even alive! And now, there's a second you! Why is there a second you? Why is all this crazy stuff happening now? Why is it happening to me?"
Sunset heard Twilight flop onto her bed and breathe heavily like she had just finished a sprint. She gave it a half a minute before asking, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah..." Twilight took a few short breaths. "Yeah, I think I'm good."
"All out of your system?"
"For now."
"Okay then." Sunset sat on her bed, only to hear something scratch at her door. She let Spot in, who quickly took up residence on her lap. "I'm sorry I didn't call or text you when I got back. Selena was kinda waiting for us when we got home. So Trixie and I have been doing chores all morning."
"Trixie went to the concert?"
"She snuck into the concert. But she found out the Sirens didn't have the Crystal Heart, and that they're holding Artemis somewhere under the stadium."
"So he's alive! That's great news!" Twilight paused. "Well, I mean, he's still being held prisoner, but it's still better than, you know..." She cleared her throat. "But yeah, the Sirens don't have the Heart, someone else does!"
"I know, you mentioned that during your freakout. Care to elaborate?"
"Last night, someone snuck into the museum and stole the Heart with the help of their..." Twilight gave a shuddering breath, "pet snake. It bit Shining and poisoned him, that's why he's in the hospital."
Sunset grimaced. "I hope he gets better soon. But who else would want the Heart?"
"For money, I guess? It is a giant diamond... that happens to be magical."
"Well, this is just fantastic," Sunset said, voice bitter. She fell back onto her bed, allowing Spot to curl up on her stomach. "More complications to an already complicated game."
"Look on the bright side, at least the Sirens don't have it."
"Sure, I guess. But now neither do we. And what's this about another me?"
Twilight took a delicate pause. "I think I saw this world's version of you. Did you see the picture I sent?"
Sunset shook her head. "Old phone. It was still loading when I called you."
"Look at it as soon as you can. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I swear, she looked a lot like you. At least from a distance. Where do you think she's been all this time? What would happen if the two of you met?"
Sunset closed her eyes, trying to shut out the pressure building between them. Dazzlings, diamond thieves, now doppelgangers? It was becoming too much to handle. She opened her eyes and glared at the ceiling. What the hell, universe, I thought we were cool!
"Sunset," Twilight said gently, bringing her back, "what do we do now?"
Sunset took a second to collect her thoughts. "I don't know. I just promised Selena I would stay out of trouble. I... I know it's not good if there's a second me running around. But we've avoided each other so far, hopefully we can stay out of each other's lives a few more weeks at least. I'll tell Selena about the thief. Hopefully she'll think of something."
"So you're really going to leave this alone?"
"With everything else going on.... Yeah, I think so. For now, at least." Sunset's base instinct told her not to let it go so easily--to look into it just a little. She had always been curious about her parallel other. But to actually have a chance to meet her? What would they do? What would happen if they occupied the same space? Could reality handle that?
She brushed the thought away. Science fiction or not, Sunset wasn't quite sure she wanted to look her doppelganger in the eye yet. "Yeah," she said after what felt like too long a pause. "We need a break, Twilight."
"What? Why? I know I told you I was a little mad but--"
Sunset sat upright and waved her free hand as Spot tumbled onto the bed with a growl. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! No! I didn't mean us! I meant we need a break from all this stuff going on."
"Oh.... Oh, right." Twilight made a feeble laugh. "Of course that's what you meant. Ahem, right."
Sunset let out a breath of relief for both of them. "Tomorrow, just me and you. I'm taking you to the park, we'll have a picnic, we'll talk, we'll laugh, we'll pretend just for a few hours that we're normal and not being threatened by power-hungry monsters. Think you're up for that?"
"Yes." Twilight's voice grew more excited. "Yes, that sounds like a great way to spend Valentine's Day. I'll even bring my violin."
"Sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yeah. Tomorrow."
Sunset heard a hitch in Twilight's breathing, like she wanted to say something else. It never came though, leaving just an awkward air between them. Sunset started to say something but hesitated as well. "Umm... see ya."
"Yeah, see ya." More awkward air.
Sunset finally broke it by snapping her phone shut and throwing herself against her bed again. Butterflies danced around her heart, then fluttered into her stomach and stayed there. "I hate you, Sparky."
At least she could still lie to herself.
Sunset raised her phone over her head and flipped it open again. She scrolled up to the fully downloaded attachment and clicked to enlarge it. The photo was a grainy, but Sunset could see what Twilight had captured and why it had freaked her out. Twilight said she hadn't been perfectly sure, but for Sunset, it was like looking into a mirror. The hat and shades could only hide so much.
"Sunset Shimmer," she said softly. "It's nice to meet me." |
Spectacular Seven | 12. Sgt. Shimmer’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | Cadence pulled up to the studio parking lot at 5:32 A.M, before the sun had even risen. Turning off the engine, she wanted nothing more than to curl up and go back to sleep, preferably wrapped in Shining's arms.
Her head thumped against the steering wheel. She didn't register the pain. Her groan was for an entire different reason. "You can do this, Cadence. It's just one day of the year."
Her most hated day of the year. Valentine's Day.
She loved love. She loved spreading it and encouraging it. Pure, honest love. Not commercialized horse manure that told vulnerable teenagers when it was appropriate to tell someone you cared about them and that you had to do something special on this particular day otherwise you were a bad partner, while the single men and women of the world were left out and reminded they were alone.
She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Being Canterlot's Goddess of Love and Fortune, she spread the message of love and kindness through music and talk segments. Being a radio personality with a contract, she had to spread the commercialized manure around through sponsors and romantic cliches she abhorred.
"Just one day," she grumbled. "You've done it before. Then, there's a nice hot bath waiting at home." She brought her head up, a cheery smile stuck on her face. "Happy Cadence! Perky Cadence!" she said, taking deep breaths.
After repeating her mantra a couple of times, she stepped out of her car, taking her cup of coffee and scarf with her. Her breath appeared in little puffs in front of her face as she crossed the nearly empty parking lot.
Cadence warmed considerably upon entering the radio station. She waved to Clear Note, the early morning receptionist, and headed upstairs to her studio. Her new intern Vinyl Scratch waited on the loveseat outside the door.
"Morning, boss," Vinyl said, removing her expensive looking headphones. Her shades, however, never left her face. In the two weeks she had worked here, Cadence still hadn't seen her eyes.
"Good morning, Vinyl. How are you?" Cadence unlocked the door and allowed Vinyl to step inside first. The studio was comprised of two rooms, the first of which belonged to Vinyl. She kept track of incoming calls and gave Cadence her cues. It also served as a staging area for guests. Visible through a glass screen was Cadence's recording room. A large desk with mixers, mics, and other miscellaneous objects curved along the wall. A comfy black rolling chair sat in the middle.
"I'm okay. Octy got reservations for some fancy-shmancy restaurant downtown tonight, so, you know, that'll be fun."
Cadence held in a sigh and just nodded. She pushed into her recording room and crashed into her seat. Only fifteen hours to go. She flipped the system on, fit her headphones and mic around her head, and rolled out the kinks in her neck.
"You doing anything today?" Vinyl asked.
"A very long bubble bath," Cadence said with relish. "Shining and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day."
Vinyl bobbed her head. "Riiight. Forgot you hate today. Heh, irony."
Cadence sighed. "Yes, it's not lost on me." She checked the clock. Only two minutes to showtime. She warmed up her voice with a few exercises and ran through her mantra again, coming out of it with her best smile.
"Ready?" Vinyl asked before shutting the recording door.
"As I'll ever be," she said in a chipper voice.
"All right." Vinyl's voice now came through a small speaker. "You're on in 5... 4... 3..." Through the screen, Vinyl counted off the last two seconds on her fingers, then pointed to Cadence as the sign over head blinked green and read, 'On air.'
Cadence clapped her hands and held them to her cheek. "Good morning, Canterlot!" She sang into her headset. "This is your Mi Amore in the Morning wishing you the happiest of Sundays! But not just any Sunday; that's right, it's that time of year again! Grab that special person in your life, partner, parent, sibling, or friend, and tell them Happy Valentine's Day!" She had to sell it, but that didn't mean she had to only sell it to couples.
"I'll be with you all day, playing all of your favorite love songs, and starting at noon, I'll be taking caller requests, so have your phones ready! Plus, I have three special guests here for an exclusive interview at three, so stay tuned!" She flipped a few switches and set the queue for the first ten songs. "Well, let's get right to it! Start your Valentine's Day right with some soothing love songs courtesy of your Mi Amore in the Morning!" She hit play and switched her microphone off, then slumped back in her chair. Only fourteen hours and fifty-seven minutes to go. She rubbed the space between her eyes.
"You okay, Boss?" Vinyl asked through the intercom.
Cadence sat up and took a large gulp of her coffee. "Yep! Doing great! When are the Dazzlings arriving?"
Vinyl checked a clipboard. "They promised to be here an hour before the interview."
"Great, thank you." Cadence leaned on one of the arm rests. Why the station and the Dazzlings wanted her to interview them still puzzled Cadence. Had the Dazzlings heard her remark that she wouldn't play any of their songs? It wasn't anything personal; it was in her contract: only play love songs. That was her thing. The Dazzlings could be the nicest people she ever interviewed, it wouldn't change anything unless they wrote a love song.
Besides, every other station already played them around the clock. Something Cadence found a little odd. Sure, she liked the Dazzlings' music and found herself humming it at odd times, but playing them every fourth song seemed overkill. No one had done that when Countess Coloratura debuted last year.
Cadence made a mental shrug. Maybe today she'd see what all the hype was about.
*******
Sunset laid the blanket out over the dead grass. Despite being the middle of winter, Canterlot Park still looked nice from the top hill. She put the basket on top and took out two bowls, two cups, a thermos, a small pot, and some bread.
"I know you don't like Valentine's Day that much, but still, it's been awhile since we've been on a date," she said. She sat down and patted the the spot next to her.
Twilight sat close and nuzzled up to Sunset. Her thick jacket took some of the intimacy away, but Sunset still appreciated the closeness. "Yeah, you're right. Anytime we're alone together, we're usually studying." Her pink nose twitched. "Mmm, it smells really good."
Sunset pointed to the pot. "I made my special: vegetable ramen with egg."
"How gourmet." Twilight giggled. "Cadence kinda rubbed off on me in regards to Valentine's Day. But the fact that you made all of this yourself and that we're out having a picnic instead of fighting for a space at some dumb restaurant makes up for it." She leaned over and kissed Sunset on the nose.
Sunset cupped Twilight's cheek and kissed her back on the lips. "You're cold," she said afterwards. She dug in her bag for the ladle and opened the pot up. "Here, hot ramen before you freeze to death."
"It's not that cold." Twilight took the bowl and fork from Sunset and started blowing on the heap of noodles and vegetables.
"She said while wearing her giant jacket and gloves."
Twilight glared at her through the steam rising from her food. "You can't go one day with being snarky, can you?"
"Where's the fun in that?" Sunset ladled herself a bowl, the poured each of them a cup of hot cocoa. "Happy February 14th, Sparky."
Twilight raised her cup and clinked it against Sunset's. "Happy February 14th, Shimmy."
Sunset snorted, thankful she hadn't taken a sip yet. "Shimmy?"
Twilight blushed. "You don't like it?"
"I never said that. It's just, you never call me anything other than Sunset."
Twilight threw a hand up. "I know. But you call me Sparky all the time." She tapped her fingers together. "I kinda wanted a pet name for you."
Sunset's heart fluttered in the way all the cheesy romance novels described. "Awww. Wait, what about Sunny?"
"Pinkie and Artemis already call you that. I wanted one to myself."
"Awwww," Sunset repeated. "Well, Shimmy isn't bad, but keep trying." She dug into her ramen, pleasantly surprised at how it turned out.
Twilight hummed in delight and nodded her head. "This is really good, Sunset!"
"Well, it's one of the few things I lived off of for three years, so I hope I'm good at cooking it." They let their quiet munching and slurping speak for themselves for a time.
Twilight set her bowl down, melancholy leftover on her face. "I know you wanted us to just forget things for a day but..." She laced her gloved fingers together. "Is it wrong for us to be having a good time when there's so much going on around us?" She looked at Sunset directly. "I mean, the Sirens kidnapped Artemis, and the Crystal Heart is in the hands of a thief. But we're here having a picnic."
Sunset took her time responding. She had thought about it a lot between their conversation yesterday and now. This did feel like something her selfish version would have done: had fun while others suffered. It bounced back and forth through her head all night; she thought she wouldn't sleep. She laid a hand over Twilight's fingers. "I know, it kinda sucks. But we've done all we can right now." She tightened her other fist. "I know Artemis is gone right now, but you know what he'd tell me if he were here?"
Twilight shook her head.
"He'd tell me to go out and have fun, and to smile more." Sunset actually allowed herself a small smile. "Just because we're out having fun doesn't mean we don't care. We can't be consumed by bad events all the time."
Twilight leaned against her and closed her eyes. "I know that. It just feels different when it's happening right in front of you."
Sunset rested her head atop Twilight's. "It's just one day, remember? That's all we're taking. We'll get through it. I promise." A cold wind blew over them, but in each other's embrace, they hardly felt it.
A yawn escaped Twilight, and she leaned up and stretched. "Hold on. I need to give you your February 14th present before I fall asleep." She reached back for her violin case and pulled it onto her lap. "I composed a song just for you."
Sunset's heart did that cheesy romance novel fluttering again. "R-really? Just for me." Her cheeks heated up. "Twilight, I don't know what to say."
Twilight tuned her violin and tucked it under her chin. "Don't say anything. Just listen." She made a quick test of her strings, then began to play. It opened with a quick tempo composed of many short and sharp notes that created a harsh sound. It Twilight's hands, it still sounded elegant, but Sunset knew it was meant to be rough. Twilight's strokes became slower and softer, and she played in long low notes. Sorrow and loneliness welled up in Sunset, almost bringing a tear to her eye. Something else stirred within the music. Nostalgia perhaps? It wasn't her own sadness Twilight tried to capture in her strokes, but the emotion proved strong enough for her to shed a tear. She rose up to higher notes and played a much more jovial and heartwarming melody.
Sunset thought of her time spent with her friends, getting to know each of them, their hobbies and likes. She sucked in a sharp breath, realizing why this song was written for her. This song was her. Starting from the moment she and Twilight had first met, to Sunset pouring out her all of her painful fears and sorrow, to them spending time with each other while Sunset grew as a person. Twilight drew to a close, finishing with a regal and confident flourish, the last note echoing off the hill. Sunset's future: that she would do something incredible.
"That..." Sunset couldn't help it anymore. She wiped away the tears running down her face. "That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. And-and you made it for me. It was like a symphony of angels."
Amidst her modest blushed cheeks, Twilight said, "Huh, Symphony of Angels. That would be a good title for it." She set her violin down and snuggled up to Sunset again. "I'm glad you liked--mmmmph!" Sunset pressed her lips onto Twilight's and brought her to the ground.
Hands tangled in hair, bodies pressed against each other, Sunset proudly called this her first sloppy make-out session with Twilight. It was a good thing the surrounding area was empty. Twilight kept her hands on Sunset's waist, moving them in a way that warmed her more than any winter pants.
When Sunset let up so they could both breathe, Twilight asked in a winded and hesitant voice, "We aren't about to...?"
Sunset rolled off Twilight, face scarlet. "Oh, oh n-no, no. I was just... sorry, I got caught up in the moment. I-I mean... unless..."
Twilight sat up, glasses askew. She looked away as she took them off and cleaned them on her shirt. "N-no! I mean, not right now! I mean, we're in public! Th-that is to say, I don't not want to! I-I just..."
Sunset put a gentle hand on Twilight's leg, prompting her to turn around. "It's okay. I get it," she said sincerely. "It hasn't even been two months yet. And I like where we are right now." She was relieved Twilight had shown enough sense for both of them. A primal and longing urge had started creeping up on Sunset; one that she knew she was nowhere near ready to give into.
Face-to-face again, Twilight smiled and set her glasses on again. "Yeah. This is good for us. The books I've read--and Cadence--say it's important to go at a pace that is comfortable for both of us and that we communicate to make sure we both know what that pace is."
"There's my little nerd," Sunset said with a laugh. She gave Twilight a much gentler kiss. After Twilight pulled away, she lowered her head into Sunset's lap and closed her eyes.
Sunset kept one hand on Twilight's head and used the other to lean on while she looked up at the patchy sky.This is all that I need. This is all that I want to happen right now.
"Umm... did you ever... do it with Flash?"
Tranquility broken. Sunset looked down at Twilight with a lidded glare. Twilight opened an eye and recoiled. "O-open communication!" she pleaded.
Sunset sighed and looked to the sky again. "No. Flash and I never had sex. Of any kind." She could feel a tense breath leave Twilight.
"Sorry, pooky."
Sunset looked down again. "Pooky?"
"No pooky?"
"No pooky."
*******
Surprise and gratitude filled Sunset. The universe had seen fit to give her two uninterrupted, drama free, Moondancer free hours with her girlfriend. Of course, she should have known the second she let her guard down something bad was due to happen.
She and Twilight had just finished their last mugs of cocoa when Sunset's phone went off. A second later, so did Twilight's. They looked at each other then examined their phones. "Mine's from Rarity," Sunset said.
"Mine's from Rainbow."
Sunset flipped her phone open. "This can't be good. Hey, Rares, what's up?"
"Hi, Sunset!" Rarity said in a voice that sounded a little too chipper for Sunset's liking. "How's your date going?"
"It was going great," Sunset said, not trying to be subtle. "Aren't you supposed to be on a date with Flash?"
"We had brunch earlier and saw a movie. Oh, it was such a wonderful time! Ahem, but uh, that's not the reason I'm calling."
"What?" Twilight's outburst made Sunset fumble with her phone. Sunset looked over to see her on her feet, pacing the blanket.
"Rarity, Rainbow just called Twilight, so if you don't want me to hear a second hand account, you better tell me what's up."
Rarity took a deep breath. "The Dazzlings were just on the radio, Cadence's radio station to be exact. She just had an interview with them, and they're hosting a city wide Battle of the Bands competition. The winner gets 50,000 dollars and a chance to open for them at an encore concert here in Canterlot."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know. But I sincerely doubt it's for publicity alone."
Sunset looked up at Twilight, still walking the length of the blanket. A competition? And an encore performance? With them around, any competition is sure to breed negativity for them to lap up. But why a Battle of the Bands? And why let the winners perform with them? Her phone buzzed in her hand, and her screen told her she had a new message. "I'll call you back, Rarity. Thanks for letting me know."
"Of course, Sunset."
Her new message was a short one from Selena. 'Come home.'
"Right then." Sunset tucked her phone away and stood up. "Not even a full day, huh? It was nice while it lasted though." She started packing everything away while Twilight wrapped up her conversation with Rainbow.
"This is... unexpected," Twilight said.
Sunset rolled the blanket up and put it in the basket. "Yeah. But it does mean we get to keep an eye on them. Text the girls and tell them to meet at my... Trixie's house in half an hour."
Twilight took to typing while Sunset continued to think. That Lamia thief has the Crystal Heart, so they don't want to leave without it. Sunset lined a few of the pieces up, but she couldn't help but think there was something missing.
She and Twilight left the park as the wind grew colder and the sun sank lower in the sky. It was a short ride back to Sunset's house, where Selena and Trixie waited in the kitchen, along with the last sound Sunset expected to hear in their house.
"Battle! We wanna win it
"Let's have a battle, battle of the bands
"Let's have a battle, we'll go all in it
"Let's have a battle, battle, battle
"Battle of the bands!"
Sunset dropped her supplies at the sound of the Sirens' voices. "Why are you playing that?" She raised an eyebrow. "And I thought you only listened to Mi Amore in the Morning?"
Selena gave her a glum look. "This is Mi Amore in the Morning."
"That's right!" Cadence's upbeat voice came on as the song faded out. "You just heard the Dazzlings' brand new song, tying in perfectly with their announcement of the Canterlot City Battle of the Bands! Anyone between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are eligible to sign up for a shot at winning 50,000 dollars in prize money and the chance of a lifetime! Opening for the Dazzlings themselves when they play Canterlot in an encore performance! Do you have what it takes to shine with the brightest? Remember: there can only be one winner!"
Twilight whimpered and dropped her face into her hands. "They got to her too. She only plays love songs. I tried to tell her they were evil but she wouldn't listen to me!"
Sunset wrapped a comforting arm around Twilight's shoulder. "It's gonna be all right. This is all temporary, I promise."
Selena switched the radio off. "They're trying to extend their stay so they can find the Heart," she said, matching Sunset's thoughts. "I just don't understand why they're offering such extravagant prizes. You would think they wouldn't want to share the stage with anyone."
"But this means we have another chance to rescue Father," Trixie said excitedly.
"Actually--" A knock at the door cut Sunset off. Huh, they got here faster than I thought. "Sorry, Selena, I didn't think they'd be this quick, but I invited some friends over," Sunset said as she went to let them in.
"Hello, Sunset," Rarity said, standing at the front of the whole group. "Sorry your date got interrupted."
Sunset stepped aside to let them in. "Yeah, it's a bummer, but this is kinda important. I'm just surprised you all got here so fast."
Applejack said, "The four of us were already at Rainbow's house spendin' the day together. We just had to wait for Rarity before we could move."
"Selena," Sunset said as she led them into the kitchen, "these are the rest of my friends." They all gave a polite wave.
Selena smiled genuinely at each of them in turn. "It's nice to meet all of you, truly. Sunset speaks fondly of you." She looked at Sunset. "And I don't want to sound rude, but why are they here right now?"
"Because I think they can help. They're the ones that..." Sunset sighed and looked at the floor. "They beat me when I turned into a demon." She perked up again. "They have magic now that resists the Sirens."
All eyes were on her now. Selena gave her a trusting nod, urging her to continue. Trixie looked dubious at best but gave Sunset her attention.
Sunset took a deep breath, lining up the pieces in her head. "So, the Sirens want to have a music competition while they look for the Heart so they can feed off the negativity it'll create. The bad news is, no matter what, they're going to get stronger. But, I think I might know how to stop them." Everyone leaned forward, hooked onto Sunset's every word. "Before Artemis... left, you guys were trying to find a counterspell against the Sirens' magic, right?"
Selena nodded. "That's right. We didn't find anything conclusive though."
"That's okay, because I think the answer was in front of us the entire time." Sunset raised her arms. "What's the best way to forget a song you don't like?"
Pinkie flailed her hand about. "Oh, oh! I know! Another song!"
Sunset snapped her fingers. "Exactly! The best way to counter the Sirens' is with more music! We need a musical counterspell! Artemis said it himself: music is one of the oldest forms of magic. If we can create a counterspell and win the competition, we can play it at the concert! Everyone who's already being influenced will be there or be listening, so the spell will break!"
Her friends looked back at her with amazement and pride. "That's not a bad plan at all," Twilight said.
Selena nodded, looking contemplative. "No, it's quite good. It just..." She pursed her lips. "It requires you girls standing in harm's way."
"But that's just it," Sunset continued, "it's the safest plan we have. The Sirens already captured Artemis; they probably think they don't have any enemies left to worry about aside from you. They won't suspect a thing as long as the girls don't pony up. The hard part is just getting to the finals and winning."
"That's a pretty big hurdle to jump, Sunset," Applejack said. "Ah mean, Pinkie can play anything and Rainbow can play the guitar pretty well--"
"Amazingly well."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "But the rest of us aren't all that great."
"It's a competition for teenagers, Applejack," Sunset said. "You don't have to be amazing, just stay in rhythm and sound better than the other garage bands playing."
Rainbow punched a fist into the air. "I'm all for this plan! We get to rock out and kick some Siren butt! We'll make a band, save the world, get paid for it, and become stars! There's no downside to this!"
Applejack held a hand out in front of Rainbow. "First and foremost, we'll do it to protect our loved ones. It's gonna take some practice, but if it means keepin' Apple Bloom safe, Ah'll do it."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun along the way!" Pinkie said, bouncing on her toes.
"Or look fabulous doing it," Rarity added.
Selena yielded a sigh. "Technically, I can't stop you girls. But since you're all dead set on trying to help, then I'll do whatever I can to assist." She smiled again. "If anyone can save Artemis, I have a feeling it will be the eight of you."
"No."
Every head turned toward Trixie. "What?" Sunset asked.
"Trixie said no!" She balled her fists. "You all just waltz in here like it's no big deal, claiming you all have magic and can beat the Sirens and save Trixie's father! Well, Trixie won't be upstaged or held back by a bunch of talentless nobodies! Especially if you're going to treat this like a game!" Her heated glower hyperfocused on Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow.
Selena narrowed her eyes to cold slits. "Trixie, watch yourself!"
"I am!" Trixie pointed to Applejack. "She said it herself: half of them don't know how to play an instrument, and you want to place all our hopes on them?" Trixie ground her teeth. "Trixie won't have it. Trixie has the magic and the skills to win the competition and save her father! She doesn't need or want their help."
Selena grabbed Trixie by the ear. "Enough of this foolishness. We can't afford to fight amongst ourselves. They'll have a better chance at beating the Sirens if you add your magic to theirs."
Trixie yanked her ear free with a cry of pain. She looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe you're taking their side. I have the magic to beat the Sirens and save Dad! I'll prove it!" She turned and ran for the stairs.
"Beatrice Lulamoon, get back down here!" A slamming door was the only response. Selena rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think she would act this way."
Sunset responded first. "Maybe she has a point though. She does have some magic." However weak. "If she competes as one team and the girls compete as another, we have two shots at getting to the Sirens."
"It also means you'll be fighting against each other, which is exactly what the Sirens want."
"Don't worry," Rarity said. "If that time comes, we'll be sure to act with cool heads and keep our confrontation graceful and dignified."
"Even though we're totally gonna whoop butt! Ow!" Rainbow rubbed the shoulder Applejack had jabbed.
"I don't know," Fluttershy said, hiding in her hair. "I don't think I have what it takes to 'whoop butt', especially in front of a c-crowd."
Sunset put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Fluttershy. You've already ponied up twice. And if it makes you more comfortable, we'll keep you in the back of the group."
Rainbow beat a fist against her chest. "Besides, everyone will be paying attention to me and my awesome guitar skills! No one will even notice you. Ow!" She glared at Applejack again.
"All right, we've finally got a plan," Sunset said. "Go home, get some rest, and get ready to start practicing tomorrow. I'll start trying to figure out the counterspell." She walked them to the door and saw them out. Twilight made sure she was last and lingered in the threshold.
She looked down at her shoes. "Should... I be in the band too?"
"What? Of course! Why wouldn't you be?"
"I don't have any magic."
Sunset shrugged. "Well, I don't think that's going to hinder them or anything. Besides, you're the best instrument player out of all of us."
Twilight looked up and beamed. She leaned in and kissed Sunset, long and soft. "Thank you for today," she said softly when she pulled away.
Sunset gave a dazed nod. "Yeah, no problem. Thanks for the song. I really, really loved it. See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." They both hesitated again before Twilight turned and hurried after the group. Sunset slowly shut the door and made her way back to the kitchen, finding Selena was already gone. Off to talk to Trixie if Sunset ventured to guess.
She pulled up a chair and sat at the counter, drumming her fingers on the surface. "A counterspell, huh?"
*******
"Happy Monday, everyone," Luna said over the PA as first period began. Sunset sat next to Rarity in the front row, pencil and paper out as she continued to scribble notes for her spell. "I hope you all had a good weekend. Due to the announcement of the Battle of the Bands hosted by the Dazzlings, we have seen this as a conflict of interest with our school's musical showcase. As such, the showcase has been cancelled so anyone participating can focus on the battle. You can pick up official registration forms in Principal Celestia's office along with rental waivers for the instruments in the music room. Good luck, everyone. Remember: there can only be one winner."
Sunset lifted her head, face twisted into a scowl. "Great, looks like they got to the principals too."
"We may as well resign to the fact that we're the only ones not influenced in any way," Rarity said.
"Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Now, if Miss Shimmer and Miss Belle would stop talking, we could begin the lesson," Mr. Noteworthy said. Sunset was almost relieved to see him acting normal.
The beginning of the day passed without incident. Sunset picked up the registration forms and a few rental papers, and discreetly filled them out during English. When lunch came around, all they needed was a band name.
The atmosphere Sunset walked into upon entering the cafeteria was a far cry from the usual warmth and openness. In fact... a chill went down her spine. It reminded her of when she had the school divided. The tables were still integrated with students from different cliques and interests, but they all seemed cut off from one another, scattered islands on a vast sea.
Sunset paddled over to hers and sat down. "Anyone else feel a mood shift here?"
Applejack nodded. "Everyone here is more tense than a turkey before Thanksgiving dinner."
Sunset rolled her eyes and pulled out the registration form. "Anyways, I'm almost done filling this out." Rainbow snatched it from her hand and started reading over it. "We just need a name," Sunset said irritably.
"The Spectacular Seven, duh!" Pinkie said.
"But there's only six of you playing."
"Yeah about that," Rainbow said, holding the form up. "Why aren't you on here, and why is Twilight playing violin?"
Twilight winced like she had been hit.
Applejack looked ready to thump Rainbow again, but her eyes caught sight of the paper. "Wait, why do you have me playing bass?"
"In order," Sunset said, counting off on her fingers. "I can't play any instruments, and even if I could, you know why I'm not playing in the band. Twilight's amazing on her violin, so be thankful she's here. And because, Applejack, if I have to go through the whole competition hearing you twang on your banjo, I guarantee by the end of it, either it or you will be broken in half."
Applejack crossed her arms and sat back in her chair.
Rainbow snickered. "She's got a point, A.J. But then, why can't Twilight play something else? A violin is going to cramp our rock and roll style. We already have a tambourine."
"And a keytar," Sunset said, patience starting to strain. "You're not a rock band, you're pop. Get over it. Now, names?"
"Little star! Little star!" a voice sang.
Ponyfeathers.
Moondancer danced over, a form of her own in hand. "My cosmic flower, I'm sure you heard the news! A music competition with fabulous prizes!" She swooped down and took Twilight's hands into her own. "What do you say, Twily? You and I, on stage together, bringing an air of class and refinement to the drove of ameture performers and homemade bands doomed to toil in obscurity! Your sweet strings and my delicate keys could sweep them all away into stardust!"
Sunset smiled, but felt a muscle in her cheek straining. "Well, as one of the 'homemade bands doomed to toil in obscurity' Twilight is playing with us."
"Yep, a violin in a now pop band," Rainbow said, making a poor attempt to hide her bitterness.
Twilight turned her hurt look into a sharp glare. "Moondancer," she said sweetly, "could you give me a second? We need to have our first band meeting."
"Of course," she said. Sunset took some satisfaction on seeing her put out. Irritation replaced it as she joined Twilight in staring Rainbow down.
"What's wrong with the violin?" Twilight asked in a heated whisper.
Rainbow held her hands up in defense. "Nothing. I'm just saying, having it in a pop band seems weird. How many pop songs on the radio do you hear with violins? Now, if we were still a rock band..."
"Rainbow, get over it. Twilight's playing violin in a pop band. End of discussion," Sunset said.
"Actually..." Twilight spared a glance to Moondancer. "Maybe I should play with her instead."
If looks could kill, Sunset would have committed first-degree murder on Rainbow. "Why?"
Twilight wrung her hands. "Well, like I said yesterday, I don't have any magic. And I know you said it won't effect anything, but we don't know that for sure." She dropped her voice lower. "Besides, if I play with Moondancer, we can help make sure other bands don't make it too far. Then in the semi-finals, I'll have a bad day and get us disqualified, helping you girls make it to the end."
"That's rather devious of you, Twilight," Rarity said. "But certainly appreciated."
"It's a fair compromise, right?" Twilight asked Sunset. "Rainbow gets her violin free band, I get to spend some time with Moondancer and play violin, and I'll help you girls save everyone!"
Sunset heard the slight resentment in Twilight's voice and wanted to sock Rainbow square in the mouth. 'No' formed on her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Twilight had sound points. Still, Sunset couldn't look Twilight in the eyes. "Yeah, it's a good plan. I'm sure you two will sound great together."
Twilight kissed her on the cheek and squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, we're just friends. I'm doing all this to help you, okay?"
"I know. I appreciate it, really."
Twilight nodded and stood from the table. "Moondancer!"
Moondancer reappeared in an instant, as if coming from thin air. "Yes, my little star?" Her eyes shone with hope.
"I've decided to team up with you. It'll be just like old times!"
Moondancer threw her arms in the air and spun around. "Oh, joyous day! The Muses have granted me their favor!" She took Twilight by the arm and whisked her off. "Marvelous, simply marvelous! Come now, we have so much to do! Compose, practice, dress up! We're going to shake the heavens, you and I!" As they exited the cafeteria, Moondancer looked back with vain triumph in her eyes.
She wrote you a song. Remember, she wrote you a song. Even then, Sunset couldn't help but clench her fists under the table. She turned back to Rainbow, who now found her fries were incredibly interesting. Applejack raised her fist and slugged Rainbow in the shoulder.
"Ow!"
"Thank you, Applejack."
"No problem, sugarcube."
Pinkie picked up the form. "Well, we can't be the Spectacular Seven now. Anyone else got a name?"
Rainbow rubbed her arm. "How about the Rain--"
"Rainbow, I swear to every god listening, if you try to name this band after yourself, I will reach over and strangle you until you're purple," Sunset said in a dark monotone.
"...booms. We can be the Rainbooms. That's totally what I was going to say."
Fluttershy raised her hand. "I like it."
Pinkie nodded. "We are going to shoot a rainbow at the Sirens, right? I say it fits."
Sunset rolled her eyes and wrote 'Rainbooms' at the top of the paper. "All right, you girls are officially the Rainbooms."
"What about you, Sunset?" Rarity asked.
"Consider me your band manager, I guess. You girls focus on practicing, I'll worry about everything else." The lunch bell rang soon after, and everyone shuffled into the halls, bumping elbows and brushing shoulders without acknowledgement or apology. And it's only going to get worse, Sunset thought.
"Hey, Rarity!" The rest of the girls stopped and looked back as Flash strolled up to them.
Rarity twirled a finger through her hair and smiled. "Hello, Flash dear. How are you?"
"I'm good. Totally psyched about this Battle of the Bands. Once my band wins, my music career will be set!" He straighten the collar of his jacket and gave Rarity that smile that made other girls swoon while Sunset inwardly gagged. "So, do you wanna come listen to my band practice after school?"
Rarity's smile became pained. "I'd love to, Flash, but... the girls and I are set to practice after school as well."
Flash stared dumbfounded at her. "Practice? For what?" Sunset could tell he already knew the answer.
"The Battle of the Bands. We're competing as well."
He looked over Rarity's shoulder to the other girls for a moment, then stared back at her. "You're joking, right? Aside from Rainbow, none of you play any instruments. You don't even have a band."
Rarity wilted, still trying her hardest to give a polite smile. "It's not a joke, Flash. Most of us have some musical background, we're just learning to play different instruments."
Flash's calm veneer split, revealing the scowling teen beneath. "I can't believe you." He jabbed a finger at her. "I can't believe you're going to compete. Against me! I thought you liked me!"
"Flash, you don't understand!"
"I understand that you're trying to take my one chance at proving to my parents that I can be somebody--that music isn't just a hobby! You knew how badly I wanted that!"
Sunset stepped in front of Rarity. "Lay off, Flash! This isn't just about you, okay?"
Flash narrowed his eyes. "It never is, is it? Not when you're around. You just like seeing me miserable, don't you?"
"What are you talking about?"
He banged a fist against the locker. "Every time something good is about to happen to me, you're around and it goes away. The first Twilight comes to Canterlot, you turn into a demon and then she goes home. The second Twilight, turns out she likes you instead. I start dating Rarity and have a shot at my dreams, you turn her against me to make sure I lose!"
"You're out of your mind!" Sunset yelled, blood boiling.
"And you're out of your league! There's no way I'm going to let you beat me this time!" He snorted and stomped past them, hands still curled. "I can't believe I thought you changed! We're not friends, Sunset." He looked back at Rarity. "And whatever we were, we're not that anymore."
They watched him go, as did the small crowd that had gathered during the escalation. Applejack gently ushered them to keep moving to class while Sunset kept an arm around Rarity's shoulder. She looked more shellshocked than anything, but soon, the tears started falling.
Yeah. It's only going to get worse. |
Spectacular Seven | 13. Vs. The World | Trying to rent instruments had been a battle in and of itself. Sunset counted them lucky they didn't need an electric guitar, as that had been the first to go. Getting the bass for Applejack and drum set for Pinkie required some aggressive maneuvering, as everyone who wanted to compete crowded around the music office, rental papers in hand, and pushing and shoving to be the first in line.
How many of these kids even know how to play an instrument? Sunset wondered as she shoved Roseluck out of her way. Not that she could think much of it; half her friends barely played either, yet here they were. Still, they were doing it out of necessity. Everyone else just wanted their ten seconds of fame.
Mrs. Carol, head of the music department, waded through the sea of students to get to her office door. "Okay, okay, settle down please," she said, trying to ignore the papers being shoved in her face. "Just let me get to my office first and--ooof! Please, no shoving! You'll all get an instrument, I promise!" She finally got to her door and opened it up, allowing the students to pour in before she even made it to her desk.
Agile and forceful, Sunset ended up at the front of the line. Someone pulled on her hair, and she kicked her boot back into someone's shin. She smiled sweetly at Mrs. Carol and laid her papers on the table.
"Hello, Miss Shimmer," Mrs. Carol said in a tired voice. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," Sunset said, pressing herself against the desk thanks to the crowd behind her. "Sorry about the mob."
Mrs. Carol waved a hand while she read over the papers. "It's fine. I'm just glad the students are taking such an active interest in music now. So, you need a bass, a drum set, a tambourine, and a keytar?"
"Yes, please."
She stamped all the forms and handed Sunset a key. "They're all yours. Take good care of them, and good luck!"
"Thank you." Sunset turned to find the mob glaring at her. She stuck her tongue out and pushed past them, ignoring the unsavory whispers. Just like old times. She met the girls in front of the band room and they loaded the instruments into the back of Applejack's truck. Not wanting to bother with trying to book the room for practice, the girls headed out to Sweet Apple Acres.
The paved roads of the city gave way to gravel, then dirt as they rode out to the edge. Farmland rolled in front of them with the Everfree Forest spread out just over the last hill. Applejack made a left and pulled into her long driveway, Rainbow tailgating right behind.
The last time Sunset had been here, the trees had been full of golden leaves, their apples just plucked from harvest. Now, the trees were skeletal, naked branches clawing at the sky. Stepping out of the car, Sunset found the ground hard and cold, and the grass limp and brown. She knew all of it would be alive come spring, but still found it a sorry sight.
The group moved everything into the barn while Applejack herded the animals out to graze. The smell of cows, pigs, and hay still lingered. Sunset pinched her nose. "Well, this isn't ideal, but it'll have to do."
"Hey, no fair!" three voices said in unison.
Sunset turned and found Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo standing at the mouth of the barn, instruments in hand. Apple Bloom pointed an accusatory finger. "We were gonna use this for our practice space! You stole our idea!"
Applejack walked back into the barn, wiping her hands on her pants. "Sorry, sugarplum, we got here first. Why don't y'all go practice on the hill outside?"
Apple Bloom gave her sister a vicious glare. "Don't 'sugarplum' me. You know the acoustics are great in here. Ah can't believe you're trying to sabotage us already!"
"I can't believe you're helping her," Sweetie said to Rarity.
Rainbow stepped up. "Hey, quit with the accusations! Why would we want to sabotage you?"
"To make sure we can't see the Dazzlings," Scootaloo said with venom. "Just like the way you took our tickets."
Applejack waved her hands in a calming motion. "Ah told you before, it was for yer own good. Those concerts are dangerous."
"Stop treating us like babies, Applejack," Apple Bloom said, stomping up a puff of dirt. "We're in high school now; Ah don't need you hovering over me like Ah'm a little chick." She held up her guitar. "And Ah'll prove it by winning the Battle of the Bands!" She turned on her heel and stormed away, her two friends following along after another set of glares to their older siblings.
The three of them sighed, and Applejack tipped her hat over her eyes. "Today just ain't our day."
"Tell me about it," Sunset and Rarity said, both of them emotionally drained. The girls finished set up and took their positions. Fluttershy stood in the back next to Pinkie while Rarity and Applejack flanked Rainbow in the middle. Sunset sat on a crate to the side, a pen and notebook in her lap. Everyone looked at her expectantly.
"What?"
"What do we play?" Rainbow asked. "You're the one making the counterspell."
"Oh.... well..." Sunset pulled at her hair. "The spell isn't ready yet. Besides, you girls need basic practice anyway. So just, I dunno, play some composition pieces or something. We need to win the competition before we can play the spell anyway."
"Alrighty then," Applejack said, giving her bass a few plucks. "Guess Ah'll get used to playin' this. Can't be too hard."
"We can practice with 'Shine Like Rainbows'," Rarity suggested. "That'll be a good song to play at the preliminaries on Saturday."
Sunset smacked a palm against her forehead. "Right, you're gonna need at least three other songs to sing through the battle. I'll see if I can't try to compose something else too."
Rainbow waved a hand. "Don't worry; I've already got some songs written and ready to go."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Are they all as egocentric as your first one?"
"No!"
"Umm, I also wrote a song or two," Fluttershy said from the back.
Sunset clapped her hands. "Well, this is great. We'll just tune them to the new instruments and use them to practice. Hop to it, girls."
The first hour of practice wasn't easy on Sunset's ears. Many strings were off key and Fluttershy rattled her tambourine either too softly to hear or off beat from everyone else. As they practiced, Sunset kept her pen tapping against her paper. How did one make a musical counterspell exactly? Was it in the lyrics? Or did the girls just need to pony up while singing? She thought about the Sirens and their hit song. Right in the chorus, they bragged about everyone being under their spell, and lo and behold, it came true.
Sunset scribbled a few lyric ideas. Might as well cover both bases. The lyrics would be the easy part; it was the composition that would prove tricky. She only had two classes worth of experience.
A flash of light caught her attention. Looking up, she found Rainbow hovering a foot off the ground, pony ears up and wings spread wide. She played a quick solo and laughed. "Still awesome!"
Good to see that still works. "Yeah, make sure you don't do that at the competition. We don't want the Dazzlings to know we're onto them. Or get disqualified."
"Right, right," Rainbow said with a casual wave. "Be awesome, but not too awesome. Tough, but I think I can manage."
No one else had ponied up by the end of the day, leaving Sunset to wonder if that was a good or bad thing. She had a page full of notes and ideas, but hardly anything she could call concrete yet. She had at least a few weeks, but wanted time so the girls could practice.
Rainbow dropped her off at home, and stepping through the door, Sunset could hear an electric guitar coming from upstairs. She found Selena in the kitchen, slowly putting together a casserole. "I take it Trixie's still mad?" Sunset asked.
Selena smacked her serving spoon onto the counter. "I don't know where she gets this stubbornness. Even Artemis isn't this foolhardy. I don't know what she thinks she's trying to prove, saving him and beating the Sirens by herself; I'm already proud of her!" She sighed and looked at Sunset with sorrowful eyes. "I know she doesn't want it, but you'll be there for her if something happens, right?"
"Of course," Sunset said automatically. Unapologetic as Trixie was, Sunset wouldn't let anyone else in her pseudo family get hurt.
"Thank you, Sunset," Selena said, her sorrow turning to gratitude. She moved over to the cutting board and began dicing green onions with a little more vigor. "How was your day?"
Sunset took a seat at the table. "I've had better. Twilight joined Moondancer because she didn't think she could help us, not having magic and all. Flash hates me because he thinks I'm out to ruin his life, and the sisters of my friends think we're trying to sabotage their chances of winning."
"That's a lot to handle in one day. I'm sorry to hear it." Selena set the knife down and washed her hands. "How's the counterspell coming?"
"It's... started." Sunset put her notebook on the table, and Selena came over and started reading through it. "I'm trying to think of lyrics to counter everything the Sirens say in their songs."
Selena nodded. "You're off to a good start. I don't know what you're going to rhyme with 'orange' though."
Sunset took the notebook and scribbled it out. "Yeah, I knew that was dumb."
*******
Saturday came all too soon. Sunset considered it good fortune she shared three classes with Twilight, for Moondancer snatched her away every lunch and after school, always with a look of sheer elation, and a hint of smug satisfaction if Sunset caught her eye.
Practice for the Rainbooms had been slow but steady, with them running through 'Shine Like Rainbows', 'Awesome as I Wanna Be' (to much disgruntlement), and a few short instrumentals Rainbow had thrown together. In between practice, Sunset had a few of them test chords for her composition of the counterspell. She had the first verse down and had an idea of how she wanted it to sound.
In the meantime, they had the preliminary auditions to get through.
The Battle of the Bands would be hosted at the Canterlot Fairgrounds, not too far from Sweet Apple Acres. When the Rainbooms arrived, a large crowd had already gathered around the three stages set up. Stands for food and Dazzlings memorabilia flanked the outskirts.
"Boy, they're sure goin' whole hog, aren't they?" Applejack said when they settled in the dirt parking lot. "The Dazzlings are havin' people eat this competition idea up like it's the greatest thing since apple fritters."
Rarity stepped lightly, trying not to get dirt on her new designer boots. She had dressed fancy for the occasion, sporting a new purple dress with fake glittering diamonds around the waist. "The least they could do is put in a paved pathway."
"Ah told you we were goin' to the fairgrounds," Applejack said, annoyed.
"Yes, but I didn't think it would be so... dusty. It's going to completely ruin my ensemble."
Sunset messaged her temple. Personally, she didn't think the judges would care about a little dirt as long as they didn't look like hobos on stage. "You can come with me to check the schedule then," she said. "There's grass further in."
"I'll go too," Rainbow said. "The rest of you stay here and guard the equipment. I don't trust any other band out here today."
A justifiable paranoia, Sunset thought as they moved to the heart of the fair. Like Canterlot High on Monday, tension polluted the air, creating a toxic atmosphere that made Sunset's skin crawl. Collectively, a dull murmur could be heard through the crowd, but upon further inspection, Sunset saw only bandmates talking to fellow bandmates with no outside communication. Just like lunch.
And like renting equipment, Sunset had to fight her way through the crowd gathered in front of the scheduling board. She found the Rainbooms under the 2:00 P.M. column, giving them three hours until showtime. She pushed her way back to Rainbow and Rarity finding them staring open mouthed down the main thoroughfare.
Sitting on a black grand piano being carried by four muscular men was Moondancer, legs crossed, hands folded, and surveying everyone beneath her like she was a princess and they her loving subjects. Twilight walked beside her, trying not to look too embarrassed.
"Set it next to the stage, gentlemen," Moondancer said while Twilight broke away to the Rainbooms.
"Hi girls," she said, still looking flustered. "Hi, Sun."
Sunset drummed her fingers against her lips. "Nah. Keep trying."
Twilight sighed exasperatedly and leaned up to kiss Sunset. "How's everything coming along?"
"They're all getting better, but I guess our first test will be today."
"Pffft." Rainbow waved a hand. "Please, we got this on lock. We sound awesome! We just have to make sure we don't sound so awesome we let you-know-what slip out."
Sunset glanced over to Moondancer, stepping off her piano. "How's your practice coming along?"
Twilight brightened like a purple lamp. "It's been a lot of fun! I forgot how well Moondancer can play! We wrote a lot of great songs and I can't wait for you to hear them!" She dimmed and cleared her throat. "I mean, it was okay. Just fine." She wrapped herself around Sunset and leaned into her. "I've missed spending time with you though."
"Awwww," Rarity gushed.
"Make way! Here comes Trixie and the Illusions!" Trixie pushed her way past Twilight and Sunset, barely sparing them a glance.
"I'm guessing she's still mad?" Twilight asked.
Sunset gave a sad nod. "Yep. Now all we need is--" Someone shoved past her from behind, and she turned to see blue spiky hair disappear into the crowd. "And the gang's all here."
"Attention everyone," a perky voice said over the loudspeakers, "Please gather at the center stage so we can begin the competition! We have a few announcements to make and a special guest performance!"
The voice sounded familiar to Sunset, and one look at Twilight confirmed her suspicions. "That was Cadence, wasn't it?"
Twilight gave a regretful nod.
Everyone migrated toward the center of the fairgrounds and gathered in front of the stage. Indeed, Cadence stood front and center, smiling and waving to her admirers. She caught sight of Twilight and gave her an extra large smile.
Twilight returned it halfheartedly. "Why is she here?" she whispered.
Rainbow shrugged. "Celebrity judge maybe? The Dazzlings did announce this thing through her station."
"Hello, everyone!" Cadence said once the crowd had calmed down some. "I'm Mi Amore in the Morning, but you can call me Cadence! It's my pleasure to welcome you to Canterlot's first Battle of the Bands!" She let the crowd roar before continuing. "From today's preliminary auditions, eighteen bands will move on to the quarterfinals. Nine bands from there will make it to the semis, and three bands will move on to the finals! From there, only one will win the battle and get to play with the Dazzlings!" The crowd cheered again.
"Of course, I will be one of your judges! And now, here are the others!" Cadence gestured to the curtain behind her, where green smoke began to rise up from underneath. "Your favorite songstresses and your judges, The Dazzlings!"
"What?" Sunset and the girls chorused. The curtains rose and the Sirens sauntered out, fog drifting with them. They rose their arms and began to sing, the pendants around their neck glowing in the sun.
"Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh,
"ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh.
"Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh,
"ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh."
Sunset clapped her hands over Twilight's ears and pressed down as hard as she could. Twilight squirmed in discomfort but Sunset refused to let up.
"Me and you, you and me,
"Why don't we see who is better?
"We don't have to be one and the same thing.
"Oh, what's so wrong with a little competition?
"Are you afraid of failing the audition?"
All around her, Sunset could see agitation flowing through the crowd. They were caught between adoring the Dazzlings and trading quiet insults and competitive glares. And looking closer, Sunset saw something she hadn't noticed before: a green shimmer in each of their eyes, the same green as the fog flowing off the stage.
Well that's ominous.
By the time the song ended, the crowd was in an angry murmur. Sunset let go of Twilight, allowing her to take off her glasses and rub her ears.
"Are you feeling okay?" Sunset asked.
"I think so?" Twilight set her glasses back on. Sunset couldn't see any green in her eyes, but couldn't shake the sinking feeling in her stomach.
Adagio stepped up to the center mike. "We hope you enjoyed our little performance. Now, it's your turn to dazzle us and prove which one of you is the best in Canterlot!"
Everyone broke into a scramble, shoving and shouting and scrambling over each other to get to their instruments. Sunset huddled close to her friends while the frenzy swarmed around them. As it thinned out, they linked arms and pulled themselves away, finding a safe space near a corn dog stand.
"Great," Rarity said, dusting her dress off. "The Sirens are the judges, and everyone's nice and riled up. It's like they expect us to actually battle."
"More power for them if we did," Sunset said. "I thought they might be here, but I didn't expect them to be judges." She looked at Rarity and Rainbow. "Now it's super important you don't give away your magic. If they see it, there's nothing stopping them from knocking you out."
Rainbow put her hands on her hips. "You know, it's gonna be really hard to show off my awesome guitar skills if I have to hold back this much."
"We're here to save the world, not make you look awesome," Sunset snapped.
"No reason we can't do both." Rainbow wilted at Sunset's guttural growl. "Right, save the world first. Got it."
Sunset ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Okay. We've still got a few hours before you go on, so let's--"
"Twilight!" Moondancer came around the corner, eyes passing over Sunset, Rarity, and Rainbow. "There you are! I was worried you had been captured by a rival band." Her eyes finally found the others, however briefly. "Come, come; we're due on stage in twenty minutes and..." She licked her thumb and rubbed it against Twilight's cheek. "Sweetheart, you have a little smudge right there."
Sunset wished she had magic just long enough to set Moondancer on fire. "Hey!" she said loudly, draping an arm around Twilight and turning her away from Moondancer's hand. "Good luck, baby, I'm totally rooting for you!" She pulled Twilight in and gave her a long kiss. She kept her eyes close, choosing to imagine Moondancer's expression of pain and sadness. Sunset released Twilight and finished rubbing the dirt off her cheek.
"Uhh, thanks," Twilight said, partly dazed. "Good luck to you, too." Moondancer quickly draped an arm around her and led her away, giving an extra venom filled glare to Sunset.
Sunset turned away and held her arms while she looked at the ground. "I feel sick."
"Why?" Rainbow asked.
Rarity closed her eyes and tutted. "Because she kissed Twilight to prove a point. And only to prove a point. Isn't that right, Sunset?"
She just nodded. Sunset was the jealous type; she knew that. But to kiss Twilight in front of Moondancer like that--to show Moondancer the one thing she couldn't have... Sunset cringed. Perhaps the Sirens' magic brought out her old habits. Or she wasn't as reformed as she thought.
Rarity put a hand on her back. "It's okay, darling, just breathe it out." Sunset did as she was told and exhaled a tight breath. "There," Rarity said soothingly. "Now, you know what you did was wrong, and you can make up for it the next time you see her. There's no need to beat yourself up over it. To be honest, I can't say I blame you."
Sunset unwrapped herself and feebly gestured to the parking lot. "Let's go see the others. We still have to unpack."
Rainbow quietly scoffed behind them and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Relationships are so weird."
*******
Sunset bounced back enough to see Twilight and Moondancer's duet. Moondancer had managed to change before going on stage, switching to a sparkling white, ruffled dress with a long back hem. She took her seat at the keys of her grand piano while Twilight sat on top.
The judges sat at a table in front of the stage with security guards forming a perimeter around them. Even so, a few fans hovered dangerously close to the Dazzlings.
Moondancer opened, fingers daintily dancing across the keys. She hit every note with perfection, making her piano sing a sweet, melodious song. She smiled confidently, her eyes on Twilight the entire time. To Sunset's pleasure, Twilight kept her eyes closed in concentration.
Their instruments flowed together seamlessly. The song washed over the noisy crowd, drawing their attention and silencing them.
When the duo finished, Sunset was one of the few who clapped. The rest muttered to one another in angry or jealous whispers. Sunset saw Cadence restraining herself from leaping to her feet to give Twilight a standing ovation.
"Thank you, girls, that was excellent!" she said, giving them her biggest smile. She scribbled what looked like tens in every box on the scoresheet. The Sirens just smiled approvingly while they got up and moved to the next stage.
That's a tough act to follow, Sunset thought. I feel bad for the next band.
"We are Sex Bob-omb! One, two, three, four!" Sunset heard a clash of instruments and stuck her tongue out. There was one band not making it to the quarterfinals.
"Excuse me, miss!"
Sunset turned around, finding a woman with a mic and a man with with a camera standing only a foot away from her. Sunset leaned back from the mic in her face. "Umm, hi?"
"Inside Scoop from Channel 14 News," the woman said. "May we have a moment of your time for your thoughts on the Battle of the Bands?"
"Sure, I guess," Sunset said, still eyeing the mic hovering close to her cheek. She had never been interviewed before.
"Excellent!" Scoop brought the mic back to herself. "What do you think of the competition so far? Are you nervous? Worried? Intimidated by some of the other bands?" She pressed the mic back to Sunset.
Sunset took half a step back. Her ears filtered in the loud mess of noise from the current band and she scoffed. "Intimidated? No. I mean sure, a fair amount of them have some talent but it's nothing to get nervous about."
"So do you think you can win? What's the name of your band and what music do you play?"
"Oh, well, I'm not competing myself. I'm sort of a band manager/stage hand for my friends. They're the Rainbooms, and they're a pop band."
"And you think they have the best shot?"
Sunset shrugged. "With some practice, I think they have a good chance."
Scoop turned her back to Sunset and looked at the camera. "There you have it! The Battle of the Bands is heating up with talents like the Rainbooms expecting to sweep the competition."
Sunset leaned over Scoop's shoulder. "That's not what I said." Neither Scoop nor the cameraman paid her any mind. He pointed to another group of kids and they moved on. Sunset stood in the middle of the dry grass, face sour. "Why do I have the feeling this will somehow come back to bite me?"
"Sunset!"
Oh, what now? She turned around to find Pinkie running toward her, a corn dog in her hand.
"We have a teensy tiny problem!" She took a bite out of her corn dog and chewed for a second. "You have to come with me, quick!" She grabbed Sunset with her open hand and dragged her off.
Sunset learned not to resist whenever Pinkie led her somewhere, but it didn't stop her from glaring at the back of Pinkie's poofy hair. They went across the field to the third stage, where Flash and his band were trying to set up. Unfortunately, they seemed to be in a heated argument with the other Rainbooms and Sweetie, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo.
Rainbow and Flash were inches away from butting heads. "Fluttershy wrote the song," Rainbow said heatedly. "It belongs to her!"
"And Sunset practically begged us to play it!" Flash argued. "We have as much right to it as you do since we actually performed it!"
Apple Bloom jumped up between them. "We actually sang the lyrics though! So we have every right to perform it too!" The three of them stopped taking turns and tried to talk over each other, growing louder with each incoherent sentence.
Sunset pieced together which song they were arguing about and sighed. She walked over to Fluttershy, hovering on the edge of the group, away from the main confrontation. "Aren't you going to say something? 'Shine Like Rainbows' is your song."
Fluttershy played with her fingers. "Well, I mean, I would like it if we could sing it today. But, they do have a good point. I don't want anyone to be upset."
"Sweety, you're too nice for your own good," Sunset said, patting Fluttershy on the head. She rolled up her sleeves and marched toward the arguing trio. Time to make some enemies.
She wedged her way between Flash, Rainbow and Apple Bloom. "All of you shut up!" She glared at the opposing band members. "Fluttershy wrote the song. It's hers. She's in our band. Ergo, we have first dibs on 'Shine Like Rainbows.' Further, I helped finish the song, so I get some say in this too. We get the song, you two can beat it."
The members of Flash Drive and the Crusaders met her with heated and unforgiving glares. Flash looked ready to spit on her. He turned away, fists tightened, and helped his band finish their set up. The Crusaders turned their hateful glares on their sisters before walking away, noses in the air.
Sunset dropped her arms. "Just when I think I'm done, I get to be the villain again. It's not nearly as fun as I thought it would be."
"Yeah, but you helped us out," Rainbow said reassuringly. "And you sent them away without this turning into a fight. So, positives, right?"
"Sure." Sunset knew what a used battery felt like. Between the Sirens, Twilight and Moondancer, and making enemies out of her old friends, she was emotionally drained. She still had two hours before the Rainbooms went on; two hours filled with mediocre to average music, soggy popcorn, and numerous shouting matches between the other competitors.
The old me would be having a ball right now, Sunset thought, watching Bon Bon and Derpy get into it. She resumed helping Pinkie set up her drums. Over on the center stage, Trixie and her band finished their song to scattered applause. It didn't come as a surprise to Sunset, but most bands went completely ignored by the other competitors.
Trixie proved to be Cadence's opposite. Though she gave a theatrical bow, Sunset could see Trixie fighting not to jump down and tackle Adagio.
Sunset adjusted the hi-hat and stepped back. "All right, Pinks, you're good to go." She looked at the others, already set up and in position. She breathed out the butterflies in her stomach. "Well, break a leg, girls."
"Don't worry, Sunset," Rarity said, "I'm sure we're good enough to claim one of eighteen spots."
Sunset gave them a thumbs up and stepped into the backstage shadows as the judges came and took their seats. "Band number twenty-six," Cadence said, "The Rainbooms."
"And what will you be playing for us today?" Adagio asked.
"It's a song that's totally ours and no one else should be playing it!" Rainbow shouted. Leaning forward, Sunset saw why. Flash chose that moment to walk past the stage. He and Rainbow exchanged burning glowers, trying to incinerate each other.
"Dash, you're an idiot," Sunset said under her breath. She saw all three Sirens take a collective breath and grin at one another.
When Flash stalked off, Rainbow gave a nod to Pinkie, and she tapped her drumsticks together, counting off, "One, two, three, four!"
"Once... upon a time,
"You came into my world and made the stars align," Applejack sang while she softly strummed her bass. As Sunset had found out over the week, all her friends (save for Fluttershy who refused to open her mouth unless they sang together) had pretty good voices.
Rarity took the next verse. "Now, I can see the signs,
"You pick me up when I get down so I can shine."
As one they sang, "Shine like rainbows, ohohoh." Sunset saw Fluttershy's mouth move but couldn't hear her voice. She supposed it didn't matter in the end, but it would have been nice to hear Fluttershy. Sunset had a gut feeling she had a lovely voice.
Looking out to the crowd, Sunset found Twilight watching with a smile on her face. Even from the stage, Sunset could see the tiny dimples in Twilight's cheeks, and her perfectly aligned, sparkling teeth. It wasn't a complete recharge, but it sparked something warm in Sunset again.
She shifted her attention back to the girls. 'Shine Like Rainbows' proved to be a good, mellow song for an opening act. They had practiced it enough times, everyone managed to get through their parts without any noticeable mistakes.
As the song neared completion, Sunset swore she could see all of them beginning to sparkle. She gripped the side of the curtain as a soft light started to envelope each of them when they reached the final chorus. She wasn't hallucinating; they were about to pony up.
I specifically told you not to do that! Sunset looked around frantically for some way to stop them. A bucket rested a yard away, and thinking of nothing else, she ran and gave it a hard kick toward the stage. It bounced and clattered, startling Fluttershy enough to drop her tambourine and throw off the closing line. As the bass line faded, the Rainbooms turned back and gave Sunset mystified looks. Luckily, all of their glitter and glow had disappeared.
"Sorry," Sunset said with a sheepish wave of her hand. "Clumsy me. Tripped on the bucket."
Cadence wrote something down but gave them an encouraging smile. "Well, distraction aside, that was lovely, girls."
"I'll say," Adagio purred. "A little saccharine, but still enjoyable."
Sonata bobbed her head. "I thought it was super cute and catchy!" She looked over to Aria who gave an uninterested shrug.
Sunset wiped the sweat gathering at the top of her forehead. Three out of four judges was pretty good.
Rainbow unplugged her guitar from the amp. "What was with the bucket?" she whispered to Sunset as the judges walked away.
"You were all starting to glow. I had to do something."
Rarity looked at her keytar. "Really? I didn't feel like I was doing anything extravagant though."
"Me neither," Applejack said. "Ah was just tryin' to have a good time."
"I always have a good time!" Pinkie banged on her drums then tossed her sticks into the air. They came back down and disappeared in the labyrinth of her hair.
Sunset hoisted the amp up and walked it off stage. "The point is, you sounded good and you didn't give yourselves away. I think you managed to survive to next week."
Fluttershy followed her, arms full of cables. "So, what do we do now?"
Sunset set the amp down on the grass to catch her breath. "You keep practicing. I'll keep writing." She looked out into the moving crowd. Twilight had disappeared again. "And we hope for the best."
*******
Adagio opened the door to their hotel suite and graciously let her sisters in first. She found herself in a good mood again today. One that almost made up for the seething anger she had felt all week after her idiotic and incompetent sisters had come home without the Crystal Heart!
Thankfully, they hadn't had any public appearances, because Adagio was sure she had left bruises.
Sonata jumped onto the plush couch and curled against a pillow larger than her head. "That was so much fun! I'm like, so full right now!"
Aria sat next to her and put her boots up on the table. "Full, sure. But that was a total borefest. Almost all of those 'bands' sucked."
"You're just mad because none of them played your screamo death metal junk."
Aria grabbed another pillow and pushed it onto Sonata's face.
Adagio stomped her boot. "Enough!" Her good mood didn't extend to putting up with their shenanigans. Aria released the pillow, allowing Sonata to sit up with a gasp of air. Adagio messaged her temple. She could see a hot bath in the near future. "I think I already know the answer to this, but did either of you feel what I felt out there?"
"Nope!" Sonata said chipperly.
To Adagio's surprise, Aria nodded her head. "The Equestrian magic. Those Rainblossom girls were dripping with it."
"Oh, was that what that was? I thought something tasted like Fruity Pebbles."
Adagio ignored her. "The point is, despite your dismal failure last week--"
"We said we were sorry!" Aria shouted, throwing her hands up. "Forgive us for not anticipating another thief and her pet snake would be there! And I told you, I'll handle it!"
"You better," Adagio growled. "Everything else is going to plan. But if we want to be all-powerful, we still need the Heart." She crossed her arms and smiled. "But, hearts and Equestria aside, I noticed something else at the fair today."
Sonata cocked her head. "Was it the popcorn? I thought it was pretty soggy. The corn dogs were good though!"
Aria shifted her leg and kicked Sonata. "Continue."
"There was human magic there too," Adagio said without missing a beat.
Aria looked up at her. "What? You think Apalla was there spying on us?"
"No." Adagio's smile widened. "I think there's a new Lulamoon in play. One who will do anything to save her dear daddy."
*******
As far as hideouts went, Lamia had used worse. Much worse, in fact. Sure, the old factory she took refuge in now had a slight cockroach infestation and no central heating whatsoever, but it had a kitchen, working lights, and running water. It showed signs that someone had lived here once, but they had long since left. She found a few old clothes in a dresser in the foreman's office that were close to her size.
Lamia laid on the stale mattress tucked against the wall. Jormangandr curled himself around the Crystal Heart under the desk and snoozed. It was a pretty boring existence.
Still, Lamia made do. She had been fortunate enough to find an old t.v a few blocks from her new squaller. Tiny with a cracked screen, but it still worked fine. And since the factory still had working outlets, she could actually use it!
Soon she would have a plasma screen. How many inches? Maybe seventy. And surround sound! Set in the middle of her living room in her new villa waiting for her in Greece. All she had to do was bide her time until her trade went down. Then she could say goodbye to the Crystal Heart and hello to millions and millions of dollars!
She reached for her coffee cup, tasting her lukewarm cinnamon latte. The news came back on, the color a little faded on the tiny television screen.
"Today marked the beginning of Canterlot City's first Battle of the Bands, hosted by the newest pop sensation, the Dazzlings," the anchor said. "Here's Inside Scoop with a look at the competition."
Lamia rolled her eyes. She had given up pop music after Sapphire Shores sold out. Now she only heard the drivel when she went grocery shopping. She took another sip of her latte as Inside Scoop cut to some of her interviews.
"They're the Rainbooms, and they're a pop band," a familiar looking girl said.
Too familiar.
Lamia spat her coffee onto the floor and bolted off the mattress to get as close to the screen as she could. Even with the muted colors, she could see the familiar red and gold hair, even styled the same way it had been in high school. Her eyes, the same shade of teal, her mouth leaning toward a perpetual frown, arms crossed with indifference.
"With some practice, I think they have a good chance," the girl said.
Sunset Shimmer stared at her doppelganger, mouth agape. She kept staring even as the picture transitioned back to the news room.
"What. The. Fuck." |
Spectacular Seven | 14. The Factory | Eighteen bands moved on from the preliminaries, the Rainbooms being one of them. Moondancer and Twilight, known as Moonlight Requiem (Sunset had almost torn the paper in half) Flash Drive, Trixie and the Illusions, and the Crusaders all made it as well. Five bands from Canterlot High. Normally, this would be seen as a triumph, maybe even a lunchtime celebration. Instead, the bands ignored each other, while the rest of the jilted competitors ostracized them all.
Sunset had almost forgotten what the scornful stares and whispers from her peers felt like. It all came rushing back on Monday as she walked on campus. As hard as it was, she picked up her old mask of cruel superiority and petty anger, if only to keep everyone else's negativity away. It was worn and cracked, and no longer sat well on her face.
She took it off and smiled at Rarity upon entering first period. Rarity gave a lukewarm reception. Sunset dropped into the chair next to her. "Tough morning?"
Rarity nodded. "Sweetie Belle is no longer talking to me. Nor is half the fashion club."
"Aren't you the president?"
"Not if this keeps up." Rarity slouched in her chair. Sunset knew she had to be upset if she wasn't correcting her own posture.
Come lunch, Sunset would find Rarity was not the only one having trouble. Apple Bloom refused to talk to Applejack, and the soccer team ignored Rainbow during practice. Sitting at their table near the center of the cafeteria, a dark cloud hung over the Rainboom's heads. Any way they looked, someone gave them an unwanted glare.
"Geez," Rainbow said, resting her cheek in her hand. "Now I know how Sunset felt after the Fall Formal. Uh, no--"
Sunset raised a fist.
"Nevermind!"
Sunset lowered her fist. "Just ignore them. Once we beat the Sirens, everything will go back to normal."
"We grow ears and shoot magic when we play music," Applejack said. "Normal, we ain't."
Normal or not, Sunset couldn't wait for the students to snap back to their senses. Having divided the school, seen it come back together, seen it turn briefly against her, and now seen it divided again, she much preferred the touchy-feely school unity.
She also preferred when Moondancer didn't have an excuse to drag Twilight away from their table.
While it was a thin silver line, Sunset found solace in the fact that classes proceeded like normal. No one in her AP Physics class played the Dazzlings music while they worked, giving Sunset ample silence to concentrate on her assignments. Even without outward distractions, however, her mind tended to wander off. Artemis, Twilight, her friends, her possible doppelganger, the Crystal Heart, an unfinished spell, and the fate of the world. She tried not to think about it all at once lest her brain explode.
She carried the notebook containing the spell with her at all times in case she found a moment to work on it. While she wouldn't admit she was stuck, Sunset noted she still had some progress to make and was merely... stalled at the moment.
The bell dismissing school rang, and she packed up her stuff. She would have plenty of time to have a breakthrough while the girls practiced this afternoon.
The Rainbooms gathered in front of the marble horse statue at the front of the school, then piled into Applejack and Rainbow's cars. Being free of the school's negativity rejuvenated their spirits, and by the time they arrived at the farm, everyone had the strength to smile again.
"So, how's that magic spell thing coming?" Rainbow asked while she plugged in her guitar.
Sunset's smile folded. "It's coming. You know, just gotta make sure it's perfect."
"Would you like some help?" Fluttershy asked.
"No, I got this. Just keep practicing." Sunset got comfortable on a hay bale in the corner of the barn and took her notebook out. Help would be appreciated, but she couldn't distract her friends from doing their part of the job just because she couldn't do hers.
Fluttershy gave her tambourine a little shake. "Well, I mean, I don't think it's good enough to be a counterspell or anything, but I did write a new song for us to play."
"Hey, me too!" Rainbow said.
"Oh, well, you can go first, Rainbow," Fluttershy said with a polite smile and bow.
"Sweet!" Rainbow ran to her bag and rummaged through it. "Hey, if your song doesn't work, Sunset, mine's awesome enough to beat the Sirens."
"I'm sure it is, Dash," Sunset said, not looking up from her paper.
"This one ain't as conceited as your last one, is it?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow took the lyrics from her bag. "'Awesome As I Wanna Be' is not conceited. And to answer your question, no, it isn't."
Applejack snatched the lyrics from her. "Hmmm. Well, aside from the chorus, this ain't half bad."
"Well, let's give it a whirl!" Pinkie said, spinning her drumsticks on her fingers.
They spent the next hour and a half practicing their individual chords and learning the lyrics. Everyone except Fluttershy had one solo line, though she lent her voice to the chorus. At a quarter to six, they were ready for their first run through. Pinkie started with a steady beat on the kick before everyone sang the opening verses.
"We used to fight with each other.
"Oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh.
"That was before we discovered.
"Oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh.
"That when your friendship is real.
"Oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh.
"Yeah, you just say what you feel.
"And the music, yeah the music,
"Gets us to the top!
"As we learn how the rainbow...
"Rainbow rocks!"
Rainbow belted out a series of wild guitar riffs, her entire body beginning to glow in the process. The rest of the Rainbooms started to glow as well, sprouting pony ears and their respective wings and horn. By the time the song finished, all of them hovered just off the ground, and the barn walls reflected their shimmering aura.
Sunset applauded as they giggled and cheered at their performance. "For a first run through, that sounded really good."
"It felt really good too," Rarity gushed. She kicked her feet, pedaling herself higher into the air. The aura faded away and she fell back to the floor in a gentle descent. She took out her compact and examined herself. "I still say I could come up with some great accessories for my horn. They can match the ensemble I have planned out for the rest of the competition!"
"You have dresses planned for the entire battle?" Rainbow asked.
"Of course. I have outfits for all of you."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Rarity, we're not here to play dress-up. We go in, beat the Sirens, and go home."
"Well who says we can't look fabulous while doing it?"
Rainbow glided overhead. "I'm okay with a few outfits as long as they look cool. I don't want my band to look like one of those bubblegum pop bands."
"Your band?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Our band," she corrected herself. "Though I am the band leader."
"Keep tellin' yourself that."
The magic timed out, and Rainbow crashed to the floor, her wings evaporating into blue wisps. "Lame," she grumbled, massaging her tailbone.
"I think that's enough practice for today," Sunset said, snapping her notebook shut. She had made some progress too, successfully coming up with one new line!
Fluttershy stepped out of her back corner. "But we didn't get a chance to practice my song. I mean, it's okay, you all worked hard today, and Rainbow's song was great..."
"Ponyfeathers," Sunset said, slapping a hand against her forehead. "I'm so sorry, 'Shy, I totally forgot. We'll try your song tomorrow, I promise."
Fluttershy beamed.
The girls tore down and packed their gear away, but when Applejack pushed the barn door open, she found a note taped to the other side. "You gotta be kiddin' me."
"What is it?" Pinkie asked, trying to read over Applejack's shoulder.
"Apple Bloom's so mad, she won't even talk to me anymore. She just left this note." Applejack gave it a shake before reading it aloud. "'Dear 'sister', Ah must inform you that tomorrow, Mah band has claimed dibs on the barn to practice for our inevitable win in the Battle of the Bands. Both Big Mac and Granny Smith agree that you've been hoggin' the space. Failure to comply will result in a whuppin' from Granny. Signed, The Crusaders.'"
Rarity hung her head. "She probably got the idea from Sweetie Belle. She only communicates with me via sticky notes."
"At least they're leaving you messages," Rainbow said. "Scootaloo won't even look at me."
"So, umm, where do we practice now?" Fluttershy asked. "The band room is booked all week."
Sunset tapped her skull. "Give me a sec. I'm sure I can think of something." A secluded place with good acoustics and where they wouldn't be bothered anymore. Trixie had dibs on her home, and none of the other girls had enough space for all of them. Sunset almost wished she had a place of her own again. Like...
"The factory!" she shouted.
"You mean the old dump you used to live in?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah! You can practice in the main room! No one will bug us there! It's perfect!"
"Save for hygiene," Rarity muttered. "But, I suppose beggars can't be choosers. We'll convene after school and head to the factory for practice. Good thinking, Sunset."
"It's what I do." She picked up the drum case and helped heave it out of the barn. Yep. It's what I'm good for: coming up with ideas. Executing them... Her ratio of successful plans to failures was... disheartening to say the least.
She rode with Rainbow back home, arriving to the Lulamoon household to find Trixie blaring her guitar from her room again. Sunset made her way to the second floor, finding the study door open and Selena sitting at Artemis' table. She looked up and gestured for Sunset to come in.
"How was your day?" Selena asked, setting a book face up on the desk.
"All right. Yours?"
She gestured to the book. "I still can't find anything on musical counterspells, but I think I might have found how the Sirens got off that island." She tapped a finger on the top of the open page. "A leygate."
"What gate?"
"A leygate." As Selena began to explain, Sunset stepped closer and followed along in the book, looking at a picture of the world with many silver lines crisscrossing everywhere. "I remember Artemis talking about them a while ago. A long time ago, when magic was prevalent throughout the world, veins of magic would run through the planet. These were called leylines." She put a finger on a silver dot at a junction of several lines. "Leylines were connected by leygates: sort of spots where there was a large influx of magic."
"'Magic attracts more magic,'" Sunset whispered, remembering Artemis' words.
Selena nodded. "Leylines could be created if two places in the world were very magical. The magic would seek each other out and connect."
"Okay, so they were like magical vents," Sunset said. "But what does that have to do with the Sirens getting out?"
"It's just like you said: they're like vents--passages. Leylines were unique and powerful in that you could ride them to anywhere in the world."
Sunset's eyes widened. "Ride them?"
"Yes. If you found a leygate, you could step in and ride the magic current to the other end, almost instantaneously. It was like teleporting over long distances." Selena leaned back in her chair. "Technically speaking, leylines are underground, so the Sirens bypassed Artemis' barrier--"
"By tunneling under it," Sunset finished. "That's why Artemis didn't notice anything--the shield is still up, they just got around it!"
"The last question is how?" Selena drummed her fingers on the armrest. "You need two sources of magic to create a line. I guess being magical sirens stuck in one place would create some magical energy, but what would they connect to? Artemis' magic alone wouldn't be enough to create a gate."
Sunset went rigid, shoulders locking in place, heart freezing in her chest. Her mind moved a mile a minute, however. The crown, the blistering pain, the power, the rainbow.
"Sunset, what's wrong?"
Her knees buckled, and she lurched forward, using the sides of the desk to stop herself from hitting the floor. "The Fall Formal," she said breathlessly. "That stupid crown... and the Elements of Harmony... It was me. I created all that magic. It must have been enough for the leygate to form. I... I let the Sirens escape. This is all my fault." The revelation fell on her shoulders and she arched her spine to counter it. But the guilt crashed on top and proved too much for Sunset to carry. Her school, the city, Artemis, possibly the whole world was in danger because of her! Because she had to be a greedy, spoiled brat! Because she had demanded power and respect!
"One day..." she whispered, blinking and realizing she was kneeling on the floor. "I can't go one day without being reminded of how badly I screwed up."
"Sunset." Selena placed a hand on her back. "You made a mistake."
"I was fully aware of what I was doing," Sunset said bitterly. "And now, my actions are going to doom the world." She brushed Selena's hand away. The guilt and anxiety drained out of her, leaving her cold and empty. "I need to lay down for a bit."
Selena helped her up, looking like she wanted to say more but let Sunset be. Sunset dragged herself out of the study and into the hall, finding Trixie leaning against the wall, watching her with harsh eyes. Sunset couldn't bring herself to explain, or snap, or apologize, or even make eye contact. She just kept walking, closing her room door behind her.
Spot looked up from the bed and gave a sympathetic whine. He curled against Sunset as she laid down, numb to the world around her. Princess Twilight didn't make a sound.
*******
Unease and guilt followed Sunset into her dreams, if they could be called that. She tossed and turned most of the night, caught between brief moments of sleep where the Sirens would mock her with demonic laughter as the night of the Fall Formal played back in front of her, and lying awake, eyes toward the ceiling while she reflected on her past with a heated self-loathing she hadn't felt since her friends broke up right before the Winter Ball.
Her alarm finally went off, playing one of the rock and roll songs Flash had shown her. She let the whole song play out before turning over and switching it off.
The lead ball in her stomach told her today was a good day to stay in bed. Her heart, as strangled as it was, told her to get up and be with her friends. Her brain demanded to know how she was going to tell them she had unleashed ancient evils upon the world.
I could not. That's an idea. What they didn't know wouldn't bite her in the flank.
"Haven't you learned by now to tell your friends the truth?" Princess Twilight asked in a tired voice.
"I'm not lying to them," Sunset said, equally tired. "I'm just not telling them something."
"That's more or less the same thing."
Sunset groaned. She gently tucked Spot out of the way and rolled out of bed, feeling a large knot in her shoulder. "It's going to be one of those days." On the bright side, she had class with Twilight. The downside, Sunset knew she couldn't fake a cheery attitude all day, and Twilight would ask her what was wrong. If Sunset said 'nothing', then she'd be lying, and Twilight was the last person she wanted to lie to.
"Rocks and hard places," she murmured on her way to the bathroom, only to find it occupied by Trixie. Asking her to hurry was a futile act. The condemning glare she had given Sunset in the hall said that she had heard the vital parts of last night's conversation. Sunset would be lucky if Trixie ever talked to her again. Heck, if Artemis came back and learned Sunset had set the Sirens free, Sunset might have to make the factory cozy again.
After patiently waiting for Trixie to run down the clock before school started, Sunset cleaned and got dressed, foregoing her breakfast and avoiding eye contact with Selena, even when she wished Sunset a good day at school. Riding her motorcycle, Sunset barely made it before the first bell rang.
Twilight waited for her at the lab table in the back. "Shim, you look terrible."
Sunset readied a remark, but decided to discard it. She'd go with Shim for now. "I didn't sleep well last night." Still telling the truth.
Twilight scooted closer, allowing Sunset to pick up her subtle lavender perfume. "Is everything okay?"
"You mean besides literally everything not being okay?" If Sunset hadn't been so tired, she would have worried about sounding unnecessarily snarky.
Twilight didn't seem to mind. In fact, after making sure Mr. Doodle wasn't looking, she snuggled against Sunset, settling into the crook of her neck. "Does this help?"
"A little," Sunset admitted. She felt warm from Twilight's body heat but cold on the inside from the guilt.
"Moondancer has theater today, so we can't practice. Which means I get to see you girls instead."
Sunset brightened. While it didn't absolve her guilt, it at least gave her a reason to smile.
"Miss Sparkle, Miss Shimmer, no PDA in my class!" Mr. Doodle snapped.
Twilight bolted up and moved her chair back, her face bright red. "Sorry, sir."
Being with Twilight gave Sunset just enough energy to stop her guilt from eating her alive. To her friends, she still looked worn, but the simple explanation of a lack of sleep stopped them from prying any further. Her pestering conscience chastised her each time she said it, but it remained the truth, even if it was a half truth.
When the school day concluded, the Spectacular Seven gathered in the parking lot for the carpool to the factory. "Are you sure that's the only place you can practice in peace?" Twilight asked, helmet in hand as she prepared to join Sunset on her motorcycle.
"Is Shining going to let us practice in the garage?" Sunset asked.
"No."
"Then yes." Sunset's bike roared to life, making the other vacating students jump. With Twilight securely fastened around her waist, she pulled out of the parking lot and took to the streets, moving fast but not enough that her friends couldn't keep up.
They kept to the surface streets and made their way to the other side of the suburbs, where all the nice houses gave way to older and seedier locals before turning into warehouses and factories still waiting to be torn down. The roads hadn't been repaved in years, leaving them cracked and uneven. Trash clogged the gutters and gathered at the base of the chain link fences.
The old neighborhoods gave off a different atmosphere. While the newer ones created a serene quiet broken only by children playing, a dreary silence born of neglect and disuse coated these buildings. Only the roar of Sunset's bike was strong enough to break it, leaving it thicker after she left.
The girls arrived to the factory, looking exactly as Sunset left it two months ago: the garage door sealed shut and the windows brown from dirt and age. Sunset led them to the blue door in the alley while the others brought their instruments. She tried the knob. The door was unlocked but stuck like always. She shoved her shoulder into it and it burst open.
The checkered floor wasn't as dusty as she thought it would be. Sunset flipped the light switch, finding surprise in all of the hall lights turning on. Like the windows, the bulbs had a layer of grime on them, creating a dim light, but light nonetheless. Sunset followed the hall to the other end and pushed open the door to the factory floor. Dust motes danced in the open space. A draft blew over everyone as they stepped onto the concrete. As cold as the hallway had been, the room proved a few degrees cooler.
Sunset never liked coming in here when she had lived in this desolate factory. The room was too large and filled with too much nothing to be comfortable. The high windows and grey walls created the impression of a prison more than anything--a prison designed by giants. Even with all their equipment laid out, the Rainbooms barely took up the back wall.
Rainbow plugged her amp in and shot her hand back as a wild spark jumped from the outlet. "Are you sure this place is safe?"
"Depends on what you mean by 'safe'," Sunset said, pulling up a corner and taking her notebook out. She heard Fluttershy mewl and rolled her eyes. "It's fine. The worst you'll do is blow a fuse or something."
Twilight stood awkwardly, watching the girls finish with set up while stealing glances at Sunset. After a minute of deliberating, she walked over and asked, "Do you need any help?"
Sunset shook her head. "No thanks, I've got this." She kept her eyes down while she lambasted herself for her first outright lie. At the present moment, Sunset had nothing. A nothing greater than the room had held before they occupied it. But she had to have something. She set the Sirens free. The least she could do was give her friends the means to put them down.
"Right, of course. I'll just, umm..." Twilight's awkward stammering was cut off by a loud guitar riff courtesy of Rainbow.
"Waaaaah!" Thud!
Everyone froze at the second set of noises. They had come from none of the present party. Sunset bolted to her feet and looked up at the window to the manager's office hanging over them. It sat wide open, and the single bulb inside emitted its weak glow.
"Something tells me we're not alone." She stood up and crossed over to the door.
Twilight grabbed her by the wrist. "Wait, what if they're dangerous?"
Sunset wiggled her wrist loose. "I've handled dangerous things before. Besides, five of you have instruments."
Pinkie scratched her head with the drumstick. "You want us to hit them with a rainbow?"
"I want you to hit them with something," Sunset said with an irritated undertone. Before she could reach the door, it swung open with a violent crash.
"What the hell do you kids--" The speaker stopped, fist raised, mouth open as she stared at Sunset. "Holy shit..."
Sunset stared back, recoiling with her mouth hanging open as well. "Holy sun..."
An iron fisted silence choked the room as everyone stared between Sunset and the newcomer. She stood an inch, maybe two taller than Sunset, had deeper lines drawn into her face, and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. But those differences were negligible. To everyone in the room, the girl looked exactly like Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset took a step back, bumping into Twilight who looked torn between fascinated and terrified. Sunset only gave her a short glance to make sure she hadn't fainted. Her own attention remained locked on her mirror image. Noise slowly returned to the room. Sunset could hear her heart hammering, then the collective breathing of her friends, finally, the creaking and moaning of the factory. Sunset tried to say something, but all that came out was a distressed squeak.
Oh Celestia... it's her... I wasn't ready! Not with everything else happening! It hasn't even been a week and she managed to find me! Or did I find her? Dammit all! Okay, say something, anything! "Meeep..."
It was, at least, a great impression of Fluttershy.
The other Sunset recovered first, slowly lowering her fist and turning her back to the group. She took a deep breath, raising her hands to her chest, then slowly lowering them as she exhaled. "I'm going to turn around," she said. Her voice was just a little lower than Sunset's. "When I do, there won't be a second me there. Because that's just impossible." She turned around before Sunset had a chance to duck out of the way. "Holy shit," she said again.
Twilight intervened, putting a hand on Sunset's shoulder and taking a half step in front of her. "I know this looks a little strange, but--"
"I saw you on t.v," the other Sunset continued, ignoring Twilight. She paced back in forth in of the threshold. "First I thought I was just dreaming or had some bad Chinese food. But then I tried to look you up and found some records at one of the high schools, but I thought, maybe they were still mine, just with some mistakes. But here... ho-ly shit!" She made one more loop, then repeated her breathing exercise and gave Sunset a piercing glare. "Okay. I don't know what's going on here, but I'll give you ten seconds to explain why you look like me before I get violent. And I promise, there may be seven of you, but I can riverstomp each and every one of your asses."
Sunset heard Fluttershy mewl again, and snapped out of her shell-shocked state. She took a deep breath of her own and cleared her throat. "Um, hi." Great start. "Listen, uh, I know this looks weird, and the explanation is... well, weirder, but we mean you no harm."
"What, are you aliens?" Sunset could hear the sarcasm in the other Sunset's voice. It sounded both familiar and incredibly foreign coming from her.
Sunset flinched. How did she answer the question? She had never made a plan for this scenario; she had just hoped she would never run into the native Sunset, or knock her out if she did. What did she do now? Tell the truth? Even if she did, the other Sunset would think she was crazy and call the police. Sunset would be carted off to prison for supposed identity fraud. Or to a secret lab to discover how she looked exactly like this girl!
It's not too late to knock her out, a voice whispered in Sunset's head. She considered it, but she could see the tension in the other Sunset's muscles. She was ready to move at a moment's notice. Something told Sunset that earlier threat wasn't hollow.
With no lies at her disposal, Sunset resigned to the truth and hoped she could find a nice spot in the Everfree Forest to hide. "Look, they're all human." She gestured to the girls. "They're my friends. My name... well, my name's Sunset Shimmer. I'm like you... but from another dimension." She looked for disbelief or confusion or even anger in the other Sunset's face, but she hid behind a stoic mask.
"Uh-huh," she said with a simple nod of her head. "You're really gonna have to sell that if you don't want me to beat you into next Tuesday."
Sunset held her hands up. Even in monotone, she sounded threatening. Is this what everyone else has to deal with? I'll have to get better at that. "Okay, I'll explain everything; you deserve that much. On the stipulation that you don't hurt my friends, even if you don't believe me."
The other Sunset mulled it over for a moment then shrugged and leaned against the door. "Fine. Start talking."
"All right." Sunset inhaled. "My name is Sunset Shimmer, I was born in a world parallel to this one called Equestria where everyone here has a version of themselves over there and vice versa, only in Equestria, everyone is a pony, and I mean a magical pony--unicorn, pegasi, or earth ponies that are in tune with nature. I was a unicorn and the star student of the princess who rules over the land, only I was also a spoiled brat who thought she deserved more, so I ran away through a magic mirror that only opens once every thirty moons, or two and a half years on your calendar. That was three years ago. I've been living here ever since. Last fall, the portal opened again and I tried to steal a magic crown that would give me ultimate power, only it backfired and bad stuff happened, and instead, I had to force myself to become friends with them which turned out not to be so bad after all. Now we're here trying to practice for the Battle of the Bands which we have to win or else really bad things will happen to the entire world." Sunset inhaled all of the air she had lost during her rant and slowly released it along with the knot in her gut.
Human Sunset stared long and hard at her, occasionally glancing to everyone else like she was looking for some sort of confirmation. "I've told some stories in my day," she said slowly, "but that one takes the cake." Her stone face cracked and she smiled. "Another dimension? Full of ponies? Either you're insane or you're telling the truth, because there's no way in hell you could make all that up on the spot."
Sunset brightened. "So you believe me?"
"No, I'm leaning toward crazy." She cracked one of her knuckles.
Twilight tensed and ducked behind Sunset. She held an arm out to shield Twilight and shouted, "Wait! I can prove all of it! Sort of."
The other girl crossed her arms. "I'm waiting."
Sunset looked back at the Rainbooms, all of them wearing matching worrying frowns. "Girls, pony up. Please."
"And hit her with a rainbow?" Pinkie asked.
"Do what?"
"No!" Sunset shouted. "Just play!"
"'Shine Like Rainbows'," Pinkie said. "One, two, three, four!" The start was a shaky, but each Rainboom fell into their groove and delivered a powerful rendition of the song. Sunset kept her fingers crossed and legs slightly bent in case she had to jump out of the way, either from a rainbow beam or a swinging fist.
As the song progressed and nothing happened, the knot in Sunset's gut returned, and she felt ready to vomit. On the last chorus, her friends came through and ponied up in a brilliant flash of lights, their features bursting into existence. Sunset jumped and cheered, and turned around to see the other Sunset's jaw hanging down.
She snapped it shut as the song ended. "Okay... first, that song was fruity as hell. Second, I believe there is some freaky voodoo shit going on..." She hesitated and looked up in thought for a moment. "But why do they look like furries and you don't?"
"Furries?" Rainbow asked indignantly.
"When I came here, I brought magic with me that they harnessed due to reasons. Similar reasons are why I don't want to pony up. Bad things will happen if I do."
"Ominous," Human Sunset said. She straightened up and took a step closer to Sunset. "So let me get this straight. I have a twin from another world made up of freakin' ponies who came here and apparently brought magic that turns her friends into anthro furries. Am I with it so far?"
"You know, it's pretty simple when you say it like that," Pinkie said.
She pointed at Twilight still hiding behind Sunset. "So what's her deal?"
Sunset kept her protective stance. "She's just human. Super smart, but no magic. Long story about how she got wrapped up in all this."
Her twin rubbed her temples. "Okay, so it's down between a really bad mushroom trip or you're telling the truth. And I haven't touched the stuff since that time in Puerto Rico, so..." She looked at Sunset, pursed her lips, then gave a tired grin. "Sunset Shimmer, it's nice to meet... me." She extended her hand, and Sunset flinched back, almost knocking Twilight down. Human Sunset retracted her hand, eyes wide. "What, will the universe explode if we touch?"
"I don't know. That's one reason why I never looked for you."
Twilight stepped around Sunset to stand between the two. She straightened her glasses, a precursor to her 'lecture mode.' "That logic is purely science fictional even by--" She gave a limp wave of her hand "--all of this. You're still two fundamentally different people even if you look the same. Even if you are magic, Shim, unless you're made of dark matter, nothing should happen between the two of you."
Human Sunset shrugged. "Well, if the nerd said it, it must be true."
"Hey, only I get to call her a nerd."
"All right, don't get your panties in a knot, kiddo."
"And don't call me 'kiddo.'" Sunset felt heat rising to her cheeks.
Rainbow leaned over to Applejack. "If they start fighting, who do we root for?"
"Sunset of cour--oh. Err..."
Human Sunset stepped into the room but remained close to the door. "So, how about some names to your colorful faces?"
"We are the Spectacular Seven!" Pinkie gave a drum roll and ended with a crash on her symbols.
Sunset fought to keep her grin down. "That one is Pinkie. That's Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and this is Twilight Sparkle," she said pointing at each of them in turn.
"So, crazy, jock, hick, preppy, doormat, and nerd," Human Sunset said, mimicking Sunset's finger. "Wow, it's every high school cliche in one room. You're like the Breakfast Club part two."
Sunset didn't know if that was an insult but felt a rush of aggravation regardless. "Whether or not you can kick our butts, don't insult my friends."
"Yeesh, you're wound tight. I'm just trying to break the ice a little." She started circling around Twilight and Sunset. "So, how long have you two been dating?"
Sunset involuntarily flinched. She couldn't say why; she was perfectly comfortable with her relationship with Twilight. Perhaps she didn't expect the other her to pick up on it so quickly.
"About two months," Twilight said, blushing.
"Cute. I wouldn't have pegged myself to be a lesbian." Human Sunset shortened her circle to just around Sunset, pausing and humming every few seconds. Sunset felt like one of Rarity's dresses. Human Sunset stepped back and nodded her head. "Yeah, eight out of ten. I'd do me."
Heat rushed to Sunset's cheeks again, but she narrowed her eyes. "Wait, eight out of ten?"
"That's the part of the sentence that worries you?" Twilight said, her voice rising a pitch.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Rarity muttered, "but this Sunset is more crass than our Sunset."
"I heard that," Sunset said, still processing that her doppelganger rated her as only an eight. She waved her hand. "Anyway, I have questions for you."
She shook her head. "Listen, it's cute you're a lesbian and all, but I wouldn't actually do myself. I'm not into that." She put a hand on her chin. "Although, I don't think there's anyone else who can say they've slept with another version of themselves."
The heat in Sunset's cheeks rose to a burn. Sweet Celestia, Rarity is right! What is wrong with me? "That is not the question I was going to ask!"
"Oh. Then what's up?"
Sunset took a second to recompose herself, pinching the bridge of her nose and wishing she had never gotten out of bed this morning. "What are you doing here?"
Human Sunset pointed a lazy finger. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? If you're a unicorn from magical pony land, why'd you come here?"
"I..." Sunset rubbed and arm and looked at the ground. "Like I said, I was a spoiled brat who thought she deserved everything. When my teacher wouldn't give it to me, I tried to find power on my own." She lifted her hand to her forehead. "I didn't know this world wouldn't have any magic. What started as a rebellion turned into an exile. And even if I wanted to go back, I've got two more years until the portal opens again."
"Hardcore." Human Sunset turned her palms to the ceiling. "Well, kids run away from home all the time. Don't sweat it too much. Besides, two years? It'll fly by like that." She snapped her fingers.
Sunset made a noncommittal grunt. She felt Twilight place a hand on her back and found her reassuring smile. Sunset smiled in return, but frowned upon facing the other Sunset again. "You never answered my question."
"Hmm? Oh, right." She copied Sunset's familiar stance of crossing her arms over her chest. "If you must know, I'm squatting here for a bit. I like to roll from place to place. See the world, ya know? It's just not the most lucrative job, so I can't stay in fancy five star hotels." She kept eye contact with Sunset the whole time, but her head tilted from left to right as she spoke.
Either that's a verbal tic, or she's lying. Sunset looked up to the window of her old bedroom. Even if she was lying, what was she trying to hide? More importantly, did Sunset want to know? Today had already given its share of revelations, most of them told by her. But finding her doppelganger pushed the limits of Sunset's mental and emotional energy. Plus, the fact that she released the Sirens continuously slammed into the forefront of her mind. She could forget about making headway in the counterspell today.
On the other hand, her human counterpart stood right in front of her! Sunset wanted to know everything about her; see where the course of their lives overlapped and diverged. Curiosity, exhaustion, residual guilt, and the occasional prickle of tension all stirred together in Sunset creating a reaction that would have left her hysterical had she been gifted with any less composure. Instead, she sighed loudly and pictured herself strangling her plushie back home.
"You okay there, kiddo?"
Sunset opened her eyes. "I said don't call me that. And I'm fine, I'm just... processing." She rubbed the bridge of her nose again. "How are you staying so calm?"
Human Sunset shrugged. "I don't know. I've traveled the world; I've seen some weird shit, and this is by far the weirdest. But, talking this all out has made it a bearable weird." She leaned to one side. "Or, my mind is just dead set on thinking this is a dream and is just rolling with it."
"I wish this was a dream. This makes life a lot more complicated."
"Tell me about it."
Both of them shared a short laugh, born of awkward humor and tinged with a faint bitterness. The awkward laugh turned to silence until Human Sunset spoke again. "So, you kids need to practice for the band thing?"
Pinkie nodded. "We need to win so we can go beat up the Dazzlings before they hypnotize everyone!" She tapped her drumstick on her cheek. "Which, since the Crystal Heart got stolen should be a lot harder for them, right? But, we still gotta break the spell everyone else is under so the school will stop being all grumpy and everyone can go back to being themselves!"
The other Sunset raised an eyebrow. "I only followed about half of that. The Dazzlings hypnotize people with a crystal heart?"
Twilight spoke up. "It turns out, Sunset isn't the only magical person around. The Dazzlings are actually Sirens and use their voices to get what they want, in addition to feeding on negativity. The Crystal Heart is an artifact that doubles the output of emotions felt, so it would potentially make them stronger. We have to stop them so they don't do that."
Human Sunset's eyes widened. "Oh God, I just stepped into a freakin' anime! You got the power ups, the super villains and everything!" She shook her head. "Maybe that's why I'm not flipping out: I have something to relate this to."
Rainbow laughed. "Hey, if we were an anime, I'd totally watch us."
Sunset pressed the bridge of her nose harder. "Listen, we have nowhere else to practice. Is it cool we stay here for a bit? The world's kinda at stake."
"Hmmm." Human Sunset looked up at rafters. "Well, if I said no, I'd be stuck with a ratty t.v that only gets six channels. You'll serve as slightly more entertaining, so yeah, knock yourselves out." She looked back at them with expressionless eyes. "Just stay out of my room."
"I think we can manage that," Rarity said.
"Thanks... Sunset," Sunset said.
"You're welcome, kiddo," Human Sunset said, grinning at Sunset's grimace.
"One more thing," Sunset said as the other turned to leave. "I don't know who you talk to but, could you keep the whole magic and doppelganger thing a secret? We really don't need people knowing about that."
"Don't worry," she said, walking away with a swagger in her step, "my lips are sealed."
*******
Adagio took her time walking down the stone corridor, the heels of her platform boots throwing echoes in front of her. She held her arms behind her back and hummed merrily. Even with their setbacks, everything was unfolding quite well. She could feel herself getting stronger everyday! The tension all throughout the city stretched tighter and tighter. All she and her sisters had to do was keep pushing the right buttons, and the rest would take care of itself.
They would have magic! They would have an adoring legion! And then, they would take Equestria!
She reached an unassuming metal door, painted beige like the rest of the wall. It might have blended in if not for the handle and the 'Restricted Access' sign. She turned the handle and stepped inside, flicking on the light switch as she did. Really, the room was nothing more than a spacious storage unit, but it served the perfect size for what Adagio needed to store.
In a chair at the far end, wrists tied behind his back by chains bound to the floor, fingers bent at odd angles, was Artemis. He leaned back in his chair, bruised and cut face toward the ceiling. As Adagio stalked closer, he lifted his head and looked at her with his good eye. "Great, the noise is back," he said listlessly.
Adagio put on a sweet smile. "How are you today, Artemis?"
"Perfectly well, thanks for asking." He rested his head back. "Now, go away."
"Tsk tsk." Adagio closed the distance and cupped a hand around Artemis' cheeks, making sure to press her fingers into one of the purple spots. "It's proper etiquette to look at your host when speaking."
Artemis stared blankly at her, but Adagio could feel his cheeks expanding and... getting warmer? She ducked and twisted out of the way, throwing herself against the back wall as a jet of scarlet flames flew from Artemis' mouth. Adagio lifted her hand and chopped the back of his neck, putting an end to the fire. She spun to the front and delivered a fist to his gut. Artemis doubled over and coughed up puffs of smoke.
Adagio grabbed him by the hair and lifted his head up again. She took a calm breath and asked, "Did you really think that would work?"
He coughed a few more times and smiled weakly. "I'm an optimist."
"You're an idiot." She moved her hand back to his cheek, this time keeping her nails pressed against his skin. "But I have to give you some credit. This whole time, I've yet to make you angry. It's really hard to feed off your magic if keep so calm, Artemis."
He smiled at her, then winced as her nails dug in and started dragging down.
Adagio kept her own calm composure. She didn't have to get upset, not over a game she had already won. "Are all Lulamoons as stubborn as you?" She took her nails out, wiping the skin and blood off on Artemis' shirt.
"It's a good family trait."
"I'm sure." Adagio crossed an arm over her chest and rested her other arm on top of it. "I wonder if your daughter inherited it as well."
Artemis' eyes widened and the color drained from his face.
Got you. "Oh, was I not supposed to know that?" Adagio let her smile overtake her face. "You and Selena were certainly busy over the last two decades, weren't you?"
In a restrained voice, Artemis said, "Please, leave my Trixie out of this."
"You see, I'd love to, Artemis, I really would. But it seems your little Trixie has already signed up to be in our little contest. I wonder, how far is she willing to go to try and save you?"
"Adagio, I'm warning you..."
A hollow threat if she ever heard one. "What's the matter? You don't think your daughter can stand up to three big bad Sirens?" She reached down and pat him on the head. "I can promise you this, Artemis: we won't touch one hair on her pretty head. No, we have something much better in store for her. You may be resistant to our hypnotism, but there are more ways to skin a cat."
Artemis gnashed his teeth together, tears falling from his eyes. "When I get out of here--"
Adagio kicked his chair back. He landed on his fingers and let out a cry of agony. "Please, spare me the cliche." She turned for the door. "When it's all over, I'll let you have your reunion with Trixie. It'll be the last happy seconds of your lives."
Behind her came the sounds of struggle, then Artemis let out a scream of despair. Adagio paused in the threshold and took a deep breath, feeling a surge of energy. She switched the lights off and slammed the door, then carried on down the hallway, laughing softly to herself. |
Spectacular Seven | 15. Devils and Doppelgangers | After the other Sunset returned to her room, practice resumed, although everyone's minds were clearly elsewhere. As Sunset predicted, she failed to write anything for the counterspell, spending the next hour and a half staring at the paper and glancing up to the window for another glimpse at her parallel.
The other Sunset had it open a crack and would peek out from time to time, but didn't say anything. Sunset couldn't imagine what she thought about all of this. Perhaps she was freaking out as much as Sunset and just hid it better.
Twilight stayed at her side the entire time, asking if she was okay every time Sunset's frown became too deep. It snapped Sunset from her thoughts long enough to remember that she couldn't think of anything for the spell, then she would stray to the events spiraling out of control around her. She gave Twilight a flimsy placated smile she knew wasn't selling at all. Twilight was just waiting for them to be alone.
Their practice session wound down, and the girls packed up their instruments and headed out the door. Human Sunset came down to see them out, leaning on the doorway as they filed into the alley.
"So, should I expect to see you girls again?"
Rarity gave her a beseeching smile. "Well, it would be very convenient if we could practice here. That way we don't have to fight our sisters for Applejack's barn space. But, this is your... living space, so we'll respect your privacy if you say no."
Sunset crossed her arms. "Funny, I don't remember getting the same deal when I lived here."
"Don't act like you regret us bugging you," Rainbow said.
Human Sunset shrugged. "Sure, you can come practice here for a bit. I got nothing better to do. Just don't expect snacks or anything." She gave them a peace sign. "See ya, mini me." She stepped back and closed the door with her heel.
"Yeah, see ya," Sunset said. She walked out to the main street, briefly ignoring her friends.
"You okay, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, stepping behind her.
Sunset pressed a palm to her forehead. "Disoriented. But yeah, I'm fine, I think."
"Look on the bright said," Rarity said, "as crude as she is, she seems nice."
"Guess this means Sunset here was the evil twin all along," Rainbow said.
As strong as the urge was, Sunset didn't have enough energy to thump Rainbow. And she was technically correct. Unless her new twin had ever turned into a demon sometime in her past, Sunset was the worse of the two. It wasn't a surprising fact, but it still stung a little.
Twilight shot Rainbow a scolding look. "Sunset isn't the evil twin. Neither of them are evil now." She rubbed a hand on Sunset's back. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'll be fine. I just need to sleep. It's been a long day." She walked over to her motorcycle and pulled out hers and Twilight's helmets. "Come on, I'll take you home."
Everyone said goodnight and exchanged their farewell hugs before parting ways. Though they were all headed in the same direction, Sunset sped ahead of everyone else, feeling Twilight hold on with extra force. She slowed down some when they entered the newer neighborhoods.
She pulled in front of Twilight's house and walked her to the door. Spike could be heard pawing at the other side, whining for his master. Twilight gave the door a pained smile, but focused her attention on Sunset. She put her hands on Sunset's shoulders and leaned up to kiss her lips.
Sunset kept a hand on the small of Twilight's back, keeping them gently pressed together until Twilight slowly pulled away. "Hey, look what we did," Twilight said.
"What?" Sunset looked at where they stood then looked at Twilight. "Oh. Well, looks like something good came out of today."
Twilight moved a hand down to Sunset's. "How do you really feel about meeting her?"
"I don't know. I didn't know what to expect or what I would say if I ever did run into her. I'm glad she's not out to kill me or turn me into the FBI, but..." Her shoulders dropped, heavy from the gravity of the situation. "The fact that there's two of me occupying the same city is... weird. Sometimes I wish I could be normal like you."
Twilight shifted her eyes down to the porch. "Being normal isn't all it's cracked up to be. Honestly... I want to be like you, Sunset. You and the girls. I want to be special."
Sunset used her free hand to rub Twilight's cheek. She braced herself for the sincere but overly sentimental sweetness that was about to pass her lips. "Twilight, you are special. Maybe you don't sprout magic pony accessories when you play music, but you're the smartest girl I know, and the way you play violin is a magic of its own. You always see the best in people, even me. That's not an easy thing to do." She leaned in to Twilight's beet red face. "You're special to me, Sparky."
Before their lips could meet, the porch light flashed on, startling them apart. Twilight sighed. "Shining's home."
"Guess two kisses here would be pushing our luck." Sunset took a half step back. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sparky."
Twilight nodded, but darted forward, pecked Sunset's lips again, then retreated inside the house, smiling as she closed the door in front of her.
Sunset laughed as she stepped away. Night had fallen, and while she felt marginally better, Sunset wanted nothing more than a quick meal, and a long sleep.
Like Spike with Twilight, Spot eagerly greeted Sunset when she returned home. She picked him up and carried him as she walked through the house, finding the kitchen empty. A warm casserole dish sat on the counter, portions of it already missing, but the lack of human activity struck Sunset as odd.
She heard noises coming from the backyard and went to the screen door to investigate. Out back, under the light of the waxing moon, Selena danced with one of her swords through a complicated set of slashes and lunges. She moved with such agility and grace, it looked like its own magic.
Her furrowed brow and controlled shouts showed a level of concentration Sunset did not want to disturb. She moved upstairs, wanting to take a shower before eating and heading to bed. She paused at Trixie's closed door. The light shone from the crack, but Sunset couldn't hear anything on the other side. She thought of knocking, of trying to talk to Trixie to get her to not hate her again. Something in her heart told Sunset the effort was futile for the time being. Trixie saw her as an obstacle to clear in order to save Artemis and prove some sort of self worth. Until that happened, she and Trixie were at odds.
Sunset entered her room and set Spot on the bed. If the Rainbooms were the ones to beat the Sirens, would that deepen the anger Trixie felt? But as long as they saved Artemis, it would all be fine, right? As arrogant and obnoxious Trixie was, Sunset didn't want her as an enemy again. Though their one-on-one time was fleeting, they had been enjoyable to some degree.
Tumult emotions rolled inside her with no release other than sighing and screaming into her pillow.
Just deal with everything one day at a time. Focus on the spell, worry about Trixie and the other Sunset later.
"This would be so much easier if you hadn't given into all this friendship nonsense," someone hissed in her ear.
Sunset squeezed her eyes shut to block her out. "It's your fault all this happened. But I'll put it right. My friends will put it right."
"That's the spirit!" Princess Twilight cheered.
*******
Human Sunset greeted them at the factory the next day. She wore a poncho and shorts that showed off curves Sunset knew she didn't have.
"So, no girlfriend today?" she asked while the Rainbooms set up.
Sunset got comfy in the corner again. "No. She's in another band with her friend, and they have practice today."
She must have let some bitterness slip because her doppelganger sniffed the air. "Is that jealousy I smell?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm a little jealous." Sunset brought her notebook up to cover her face. "But I trust Twilight not to do anything."
Human Sunset, or as the others had taken to calling her, Shimmer, shook her head. "Oh, you sweet, summer child."
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing," Shimmer said, holding her hands up. "You're probably right. She seems way too innocent to do anything." She weighed her hands. "Then again, it's always the quiet ones..."
Sunset mustered up her best death glare. It rebounded harmlessly off Shimmer. She retreated on her own with a shrug and a faint smirk.
Is this what it's like to have an annoying big sister? Sunset didn't care what Shimmer said, Twilight wouldn't cheat on her.
Moondancer's actions were another story.
Focus. Sunset stared at her paper and tapped a pencil against her skull while the Rainbooms practiced their newest song. Why was she struggling so much with this? When it came down to it, all she had to do was write a song about friendship and let her friends do the rest of the work. She knew something about friendship now; this should have been easy.
She did know about friendship, didn't she?
Of course I do! Otherwise, the Elements would still be cursing me! All she had to do was apply what she knew to song lyrics.
Twenty minutes later, the page remained blank.
Sunset beat the notebook against her head. She had started out pretty well! Now, everything in her head sounded stupid! Maybe they could just sing 'Shine Like Rainbows' again. That's pretty friendshipy.
"You'll lose brain cells that way," Shimmer said, leaning over Sunset again.
"Well, maybe it'll unlodge a thought with it." Sunset put the notebook aside and pulled her knees up to her chin. "This needs to be perfect if we're going to beat the Sirens."
Shimmer took a seat next to her. "Gotta hand it to you, kiddo, the fact that you're trying to save the world from some evil voodoo is pretty ballsy."
Sunset turned her head toward Shimmer. "Would you do the same thing?" she asked, ignoring Shimmer's terrible word choice.
"Nah. I'm not exactly the hero type."
"Even for your friends?"
"Don't have too many of those." She stretched her arms behind her head and leaned back on the wall. "And don't try to tell me how great friendship is and all that rainbow garbage. I like being alone. Not cause I hate the world or I was abused as a child, I just like keeping to myself. Your life may play like an after school special, and hey, more power to you for wanting to save your friends. But I'd rather do things for myself."
Sunset sank her chin into the space between her knees. This Sunset was indeed her. How she acted before she found friendship. Minus the want of power and magic. Was this how Sunset would have ended up eventually? Moving from place to place with no purpose? Jaded and alone and not caring if the world burned?
She received an immediate 'yes' from her soul, and recounted her blessings, thanking her friends for being there when she needed them. The cynical part of her brain told her it was completely nonsensical, and that her human counterpart had a point, but Sunset knew friendship was magic.
Yep. Still sounds cheesy.
Shimmer tilted her head to the ceiling, looking at the pipes and ductwork running along the surface. "That wasn't the best pep talk, was it?"
"You were trying to give me a pep talk?"
They broke into soft snickers. "Listen, mini me," Shimmer said, "I don't really understand all this magic stuff you're trying to do. But I know that, if you think about it too hard, it'll blow up in your face." She got up and spread her arms wide. "Sometimes, you just gotta wing it." She strolled back into the hallway with a swagger.
Sunset spared a glance to her notebook. "'Wing it', huh?"
"Ugh! Come on, A.J. You're still coming in too flat!" Rainbow said, drawing Sunset's attention back to the band.
"Ah only sound flat next to your bombastic showin' off! Maybe you should tone it down a bit more!"
"I'm already playing at half-awesome, I can't go any lower!" She turned her shoulder to Applejack. "Maybe if the rest of you picked up the slack..." she muttered.
"Ah heard that!"
"Rainbow, let me remind you the rest of us are still on a learning curve," Rarity said, straining to keep the gentleness in her voice.
"All right, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just tired of being penalized for my awesome skills."
"You can show off every iota of skill once we're up against the Sirens, Dash," Sunset said. "In the meantime, suck it up."
Rainbow huffed, blowing a bang out of her face. "Fine. One more time, 'Shake Your Tail' from the top."
*******
Saturday meant the quarterfinals for the Battle of the Bands, and though there were only eighteen left, the crowd of spectators proved bigger than the one the previous week. The three stages had been set up again, and now makeshift stands for viewers had been constructed on the outskirts. A few parents of some of the participants waved banners of their child's band.
Sunset walked back to the parking lot, having checked the schedules for the day. "Okay, you're on at 3:30, so we've got a little over three hours to kill." She looked at her gathered friends. "Rainbow and Rarity still aren't here?"
The group had decided to meet up at the fairgrounds instead of joining beforehand. However, when Sunset arrived, she found their lead guitar and keytar missing.
Applejack gave a disgruntled sigh. "Rarity texted me sayin' she needed time to find the right outfit for today. I kept tellin' her this wasn't a fashion show, but she got all, you know, Rarity on me!"
Sunset leaned against Applejack's truck. "Well, it can't take her three hours to find a dress, even if she is in Rarity mode. The heck is Dash?"
"A soccer game!" Pinkie said, clicking her phone.
"What?"
"Yep! She just texted me! 'Totally scatterbrained and team didn't remind me! Soccer match! Will be there for song, swear it!'"
Fluttershy threw her hands over her mouth. "We're missing Rainbow's soccer match? But, but we're her cheering section!"
"'Shy, I think Rainbow can go one game without us boosting her ego," Sunset said. "She better be here on time though otherwise, we're going to have a problem."
"Well, in the meantime, there's a cotton candy vendor calling my name!" Pinkie skipped off toward the concessions.
"Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh,
"ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh.
"Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh,
"ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh."
Pinkie stopped as a mob of fans rushed past her, heading for the center stage. Sunset looked between the gap of stalls to see the Dazzlings on stage, moving with hypnotic grace while green mist floated around them. The fans congregated with frightening speed and cheered on the Dazzlings as they sang their battle anthem once more.
Sunset broke into a run, gnashing her teeth together. Are they going to sing this every time? She circled the outer edge of the crowd, eyes frantically scanning for a purple bun or thick framed glasses. "Twilight!" she yelled over the music. When she failed to get a response, she pushed her way into the crowd, unafraid to fight back against the unruly mob with her elbows and balled fists. Even as she fought her way to the front, she found no signs of Twilight.
The crowd spat her out at the foot of the stage where the music was loudest, hammering against her eardrums. Sunset found herself boxed in on all sides with everyone around her sporting misted green eyes and looks of adoration toward the trio on stage. Sunset raised her head the exact moment Adagio looked down, and their eyes met.
Lust, power, greed, vanity, and cold intelligence. Sunset saw so much of her former self not just in Adagio's eyes, but in the brief wicked smile she flashed. Sunset tried to smile back with the same dopey expression everyone else had. Adagio looked away to sing the next line, and Sunset took that moment to push her way back into the crowd.
Does she know? She can't know, that's impossible. But that smile... Sunset shivered. It was a smile of absolute certainty, like Adagio knew she had already won the game.
Sunset reemerged from the crowd again on the opposite side of the stage as the Dazzlings ended their song. "Welcome to the quarterfinals of the Battle of the Bands!" Adagio said. "Only nine teams get to move onto the semis. Who is it going to be?" Voices shouted over each other, clamoring to prove they were good enough to proceed. "Well then, let's find out!"
The band players quickly dispersed while the spectators continued to cheer. Sunset still couldn't see any signs of Twilight. A pit rose in her stomach that followed her back to the parking lot. It diminished slightly upon seeing Rarity had arrived, then turned in disbelief upon seeing what she wore.
Today's outfit consisted of a pink jacket with gold pleats and button straps, with a floral hem that covered a purple skirt. She had pink knee high boots with more button laces and thick heels. Over her eyes were blue goggles with pink lenses. Her hair was done in a ponytail with her bangs swept to the side.
"I know I'll regret asking," Sunset said as she approached, "but what are you wearing?"
"Do you like it?" Rarity turned to each side to show off. "I put the finishing touches on this morning. I really love the color scheme!"
"Rarity, you look like Sergeant Pepper," Applejack said with a fold of her arms.
"I will take that as a compliment. And there's no need to be jealous, Applejack." She gestured to her car. "I made outfits for each of you."
Applejack's eyes widened. "Oh no! Ah am not playin' dress up today! Rarity, we're here to win, not have a fashion show!"
"And part of winning is in the presentation, darling." She spun again. "There's no point in going up there and looking like ragamuffins. We'll stand out much better if we play with style."
"Isn't standing out for us bad?" Fluttershy asked.
"Only if we pony up," Pinkie said. "New outfits sound like they'll be fun!"
Rarity nodded in satisfaction. "See, Pinkie agrees with me."
Sunset massaged her temple. She had done that a lot recently. "Just... be careful, Rarity. When I was up there, me and Adagio locked eyes and... I don't know, I think she might know something."
Applejack shook her head. "C'mon, that's impossible. She doesn't even know who we are."
"Unless she's psychic," Pinkie mused, stroking her chin.
"Just be cautious, for me," Sunset urged.
Rarity patted her head. "I give you my word, Sunset, everything will be fine." She looked around. "Now, where is Rainbow?"
"Soccer match," Sunset said, her shoulders falling.
"Oh." Rarity put on a crooked smile. "I'm sure she'll make it here in time."
Sunset pulled out her phone. "She better. In the meantime, Twilight's supposed to play soon, and I need to make sure she's still okay."
"And I need more cotton candy!" Pinkie said. "So I'll come with you."
"Pinkie, this isn't..." Sunset sighed. "Fine, whatever." She turned back to the stages, Pinkie skipping by her side. She broke off to get her sweets while Sunset continued to the right hand stage. Moondancer's black piano gleamed in the sun. Its owner walked out, wearing a red dress with purple stars along the sleeves and collar. Twilight followed after her, violin in hand and wearing a ruffled purple skirt and lace blouse. It looked like it was meant to show cleavage, but Twilight had it buttoned up to her neck.
"Okay, Moonlight Requiem," Cadence said, "what will you be performing today?"
Moondancer took her seat and gestured for Twilight to take her position on top the piano. "We're going to play a rendition of 'Love Story' if it pleases the judges."
Cadence dipped her head. "By all means, please begin."
Moondancer started with a cluster of notes, and Twilight jumped in with a high string. She dropped to her lower chords while Moondancer played slow keys. It sounded rather somber for a love song, but both players delivered their very best. Twilight opened her eyes for a moment and gave Sunset a quick smile.
"She's pretty good," someone said next to her.
"Yeah, she's--eeepmmph!" Sunset covered her mouth, cutting off her shriek of surprise. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.
Wearing thick shades and a wide sun hat, Shimmer stood by her side, admiring Twilight and Moondancer. "Seeing if any of you kiddies have any musical talent. I'm surprisingly impressed so far."
Sunset flailed her arms. "You can't be here! If someone sees me and then sees you--"
"They'll be confused as hell and it'll be hilarious."
Sunset spun her around and pushed against her shirt, herding her behind the stands and back to the parking lot. "No, no, no, no! My life is already complicated enough. I do not need people asking why there are two of me walking around."
Shimmer stopped allowing Sunset to push her and became immovable, grounding her heels in the dirt. "Mini me, lighten up will you, no one is going to figure out who's beneath this hat." She put her hand out to ruffle Sunset's hair. "Seriously, you worry too--"
When she made contact, Sunset's world spun, then faded out and faded in to something completely new.
She was a child standing on a playground. A larger boy stood in front of her, holding his hand out.
"All right, Shimmer, fork it over."
"Come on, it's all I have for lunch!" Sunset heard herself say, tears in her eyes.
"Not my problem your parents are broke. Now, gimme!" He pushed her onto the black top and loomed over her. "Or do we have to pay a visit to Mr. Swirly?"
Sunset felt her fear spike. She reached into the pockets of her dirty jeans and handed over eight dollars. "There, just leave me alone."
The bully snatched the cash from her hand, counted it up, then held his hand out expectantly, making a fist with his other.
Sunset choked back a sob and dug into her back pocket, turning over the last two dollars.
"Hah, nice try, street brat," he said, snatching the money and walking off, leaving Sunset to openly cry.
Shimmer ripped her hand away and doubled over, breathing hard, with Sunset in a similar state. "The fuck was that?" Shimmer exclaimed, staring at Sunset like it was her fault.
Sunset rubbed her head. "I... don't know. Did you see something too?"
"Y-yeah. I saw... ponies. Super bright ponies. And they were reading a story to me... and I called them mom and dad." Her eyes doubled in size. "What did you see?"
"Well..." Sunset flinched. She felt like she had violated someone's privacy. "I saw--"
Shimmer roughly grabbed her and dragged her under the stands. She pressed Sunset up against one of the metal poles, holding her by her jacket collar. "What did you see?" she asked, her voice a low, lethal whisper.
"I saw you being bullied on the playground!" Sunset said, heart racing. Maybe it was because she couldn't see Shimmer's eyes that she found herself terrified.
Shimmer held her in place a moment longer, then set her on the ground and turned away. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I shouldn't be here."
Sunset wanted to agree with her, especially now that something weird occurred if they touched. But she found herself compelled by curiosity from what she had just witnessed. "Something tells me that bullying scene isn't what you were worried about me seeing."
Shimmer started walking away.
"I already told you my secrets," Sunset said, marching after her. "What are you trying to hide?"
"You told me all of that because you didn't have a choice." Shimmer looked over her shoulder, her face unreadable. "I still have my choice." She tapped a finger to her forehead. "What goes on up in here, stays here. So do me a favor and keep out." She picked up her pace, heading down the dirt road and back toward the city.
Sunset stood on her own, faintly hearing the next band start to play. She raised her hand to her hair, feeling where Shimmer had pressed her palm. They had looked into each other's memories. Why? Was it because they were parallels of each other? Would the same thing happen if Twilight were to ever meet the princess?
Guess my fears weren't entirely unfounded. But what was it that Shimmer didn't want her to see? And was it Sunset's place to pry, even if she had told Shimmer her secrets? Let it go for now. More important things to worry about.
She doubled back to the stages and found Twilight packing away her violin. Moondancer sat on the edge of the stage, gently kicking her legs. "Why, hello, Sunset. Did you enjoy our act?"
Sunset looked at Twilight as she spoke. "Yeah, the parts I heard. Sorry I missed the rest of it, I had stuff to deal with."
"That's all right." Twilight snapped her case shut and stood up. "I'm a little hungry. Wanna get something to eat?"
"Sure!" Sunset said with a brightened smile. "I'll treat!" She cast a quick, smug look to Moondancer, who only gave her a cat-like smile in return.
"You two go have fun." She turned her nose up. "I'd rather not sully my tongue with second-rate fair food anyway."
Sunset helped Twilight off the stage and led her to the snack vendors. "Are you okay?" she asked, checking Twilight's eyes for any green haze.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"The Dazzlings' singing earlier?"
Twilight looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, right. Well, I don't feel any different. I guess Artemis' spell is still working."
"Let's hope it stays that way." She dropped her voice lower. "Shimmer was here for a minute."
Twilight stopped walking. "Really? Why? What if someone sees both of you?"
"That's what I tried to tell her. But that's not the problem." Sunset looked over their shoulders then back to Twilight. "She touched me on the head, and for whatever reason, we both saw memories of each other. She saw my parents reading to me, and I saw her being bullied as a kid."
Excitement, then confusion and worry crossed Twilight's face. "That's... odd. Fascinating, but odd. What would the precedence be for that? Because you're the same person but from different worlds? Maybe it's some sort of spacial mechanism for understanding between parallel versions of people. But what triggers it and why? How does it exist in the first place? Maybe--"
"Sparky, focus!" Sunset said, snapping her fingers. "I haven't even gotten to the weirdest part." Though Twilight's geek out relieved Sunset of worry. "Before I could even tell her what I saw, she flipped out. She's hiding something."
Twilight shrugged. "I mean, naturally, right? Seeing someone else's memories... it's kinda like reading their diary."
"No, I mean, she's hiding something. Not an embarrassing moment or secret crush, she's got something big."
"What makes you say that?"
Sunset fiddled with her collar. "Because she looked like she was ready to beat my face in and ran off afterwards."
Twilight hummed. "That is rather suspicious. Do you think we should be concerned?"
"Hard to say. I could be wrong but... she was definitely freaked out by more than just the memory exchange." They stood in line and bought a hot dog and fries to share, then joined the others back in the parking lot. Rainbow still hadn't arrived.
Sunset checked her phone again. One hour until they performed. "I'm going to kill her."
"To be fair, she is the team captain," Twilight said.
"Nah, still gonna kill her."
"So, what do we do if she doesn't show up?" Pinkie asked. She had switched into one of Rarity's outfits: a purple tank top with a double skirt of blue and pink, and yellow leggings.
"Hope Trixie's magic is good enough to beat the Sirens," Sunset said. A brief silence fell over them while they each exchanged glances. "Rainbow better show up."
But as the minutes ticked by, Rainbow neither appeared nor texted. Fear and anger bubbling inside, Sunset helped the rest of the Rainbooms set up on the left stage.
Applejack plugged her bass in. "Ah swear, if she's hopin' to make some sort of dramatic entrance, Ah'm gonna put my boot up her--"
"I'm here!" Rainbow ran onto the stage, still in her soccer uniform, but guitar in hand. "I'm here, I made it!" She tried to give a confident grin, but faltered under everyone's withering glares. "I know, I know, I'm sorry! I spaced, my bad! But I'm here now!"
"And you look positively filthy," Rarity said, pinching her lips.
Rainbow looked down at the grass and dirt stains over her uniform and legs. "Well, I didn't have time to change if I wanted to make it on time."
"Did you win?" Fluttershy asked.
A full, genuine grin spread across Rainbow's face. "Of course we won! And I made the winning shot! You should have been there! It was totally... eh heh, um, nevermind," she said, seeing the glares return.
Sunset pointed to the curtain. "You can recount your amazing feats after you make it to the next round." She stepped away as the curtain parted and the Rainbooms took their places.
"Welcome back, Rainbooms," Adagio said with a soft smile. Sunset tried to read into it but found nothing. "Ready to wow us?" She frowned as her eyes settled on Rainbow. "I do hope your act is better than your appearance."
Rarity made an audible tut.
Rainbow's face turned scarlet. "You can count on that!" she said hotly. "'Rainbow Rocks' on three! One, two, three, hit it!"
Pinkie opened with the rhythmic thumping of her drums, setting the beat and tempo of the song. "We used to fight with each other." It was hard to tell with everyone singing in unison, but Sunset heard Rainbow's voice crack. If the judges heard it, they gave no tell.
Sunset didn't have to worry about making a racket this time. When the song ended, none of her friends looked remotely close to ponying up, though they did look a little less tense.
"Thank you, Rainbooms, that was well done," Cadence said cordially. Sunset bit her thumb knuckle. Would 'well done' be enough to survive? Would being Twilight's girlfriend help or hinder their chances? Cadence was pretty nice; maybe Sunset could work into her good graces.
She shook her head. "Fair and honest. No more cheating. Of course, the world is on the line."
Rainbow unplugged her guitar and set it in its case. "So, how did we sound?"
"Not bad," Sunset said, waving her hand back and forth. "You were a little pitchy at the start."
Rainbow huffed. "Excuse me, I just played two hours of soccer. What'd you expect?"
"So much for always being awesome," Applejack said, passing by.
"Why you..."
Sunset threw her hands out. "Girls! No fighting. You're going to give them more power." Cadence and the Dazzlings had moved on, but Sunset didn't want to take any chances.
Twilight climbed onto the stage. "That wasn't bad, girls. But Rainbow's voice cracked a little."
Rainbow grumbled, but continued wrapping up cords.
"Don't worry though, there's only three bands left, and the way everyone else has been playing, I think we both have a good chance at making it to the next round."
"Right," Rainbow said. "And with you throwing the competition next week, that's one less band to worry about."
Twilight frowned, her brow creasing. "What?"
Sunset put a hand on her shoulder. "It was part of our plan, remember?"
"Oh... right." Twilight's aura shifted and became cold to Sunset's touch.
"You okay?"
Twilight stepped out of Sunset's range but forced a smile. "Yeah. Sorry, guess I got a little caught up in everything for a moment. I've just been having a lot of fun performing with Moondancer is all. I know what you're all fighting for." Her smile tightened a little more. "I'll be sure to, you know, throw our performance off next week."
Sunset reached her hand out. "Twi..."
She took another step back. "I should go. Moondancer's my ride home. I'll call you later." She turned and hopped off the stage.
"Twilight!" Sunset ran to the edge, watching Twilight disappear into the crowd. Soul-crushing hollowness, like she had felt when she learned of the Sirens' reason for freedom enveloped her. Twilight couldn't have succumbed to the Sirens' magic. She had seemed fine a few hours ago. But if she had... what was Sunset to do?
She looked back to her friends. They all gave her worrying looks, but could offer her no explanation.
"I'm sure it's fine, Sunset," Rarity said with a slight shake in her voice. "Maybe she really did get a little swept up in the heat of the moment. It happens to the best of us."
"Yeah..." Sunset looked over the crowd again. "Maybe."
*******
Trixie and her band had been the last to perform today. As a result, much of the crowd had parted ways before they had even begun playing. Not that Trixie cared. Her mother also couldn't attend, out of fear of being seen by the Sirens. Not that Trixie cared about that either.
She didn't need anyone's support, and for once, she didn't want anyone's adoration. She just wanted her father back.
She sat down in her car, instrument packed away, and wiped a tear from her eye. She supposed it wouldn't have been bad to have the first two things.
"Get it together." She patted her cheeks. "You can do this. You have to do this. You're just as good as Sunset and her talentless friends. Magic is in your blood! Make your ancestors proud!" She made to start the engine when she realized her cape was missing. She looked at the back seats but couldn't spot it amongst her equipment.
Trixie got out and headed back to the stage, hoping she had left it hanging on one of the chairs. That was one of her father's capes; the last thing she wanted was to lose it.
Vendors closed and locked their stalls as she walked past. The stages and stands would be left erected for the duration of the tournament. The setting sun lengthened the shadows everything made, covering the fairgrounds in cold darkness.
Butterflies fluttered in Trixie's stomach. Had she played good enough to make it to the next round? She thought she had sounded good. She had been practicing all week. Stop doubting yourself! If Sunset's friends made it, then you definitely did. Was it wrong that some part of her wanted them to fail? She should have been happy they were trying to help, but all Trixie could draw upon was resentment. They were meddling in something that clearly wasn't their business!
And for her mother to ask them for help instead of her--Trixie! Her own daughter.
Trixie balled her fists. Now was her chance to show everyone who had ever doubted her! She would win! She would beat the Sirens! She would save her father! And she would do it on her own!
Trixie walked around to the back of the stage, behind the curtains, and started searching for her cape. Even in the dim lighting, it couldn't have been too hard to spot.
"Looking for this?"
Her blood froze in her veins. Reaching into her pocket, she spun around and pointed her wand at Adagio, standing ten paces away with Trixie's cape in hand, and a wry smile on her lips. Her sisters stood behind her, looking equally smug.
"Oh, someone's quick with the trigger," Adagio said. "We just wanted to give you your cape back. With a response like that, someone might think you didn't like us."
"Well, duh, she doesn't like us," Sonata said. "We kidnapped her dad, remember?"
The smiles fell from Aria and Adagio's faces, and Aria crossed her arms. "I should buy a muzzle for you."
"Enough of your asinine game!" Trixie tightened her grip on the wand. "Trixie wants her father back. Now!"
"Or what?" Aria asked, her smirk returning. "If Artemis couldn't beat us, what chance do you have?"
"Now, now," Adagio said with a gentle wave. "Let's give her a chance. I'm sure our fans and the police would love to know why we were 'helplessly assaulted by a jealous competitor since we decided she wasn't good enough to advance'," she said in her best distressed voice.
Trixie clenched her jaw, but slowly lowered her wand. "You won't get away with this. One way or another, I'll make sure you lose, and no one will remember you."
"Hey, that's what your dad said!" Sonata chirped. A dark shadow crossed her face as she smiled. "And look where he is."
Blood roaring in her ears, Trixie snapped her wrist up. "Lulamoon!" A bolt of magic fired from her wand for Sonata.
Adagio stepped in front and waved Trixie's cape. The magic bolt reflected off of it and headed back toward Trixie. She threw herself onto the ground, letting the magic hit the curtain where it left a deep burn.
"Wowee, Dagi! How'd you know it would do that?"
"Lucky guess actually."
"Should have let it hit her."
Trixie looked up to see the three Sirens walking toward her, spreading out to surround her on three sides. "Honestly, there's no need for hostilities, Trixie," Adagio said. "You said you wanted to see your dad again, right? Maybe we could work out some sort of... deal."
Dread sank its cold claws into Trixie's stomach. "Trixie... I won't make a deal with you!"
Aria shrugged. "All right then. So, what do you think your dad's preferred method of death is?"
"Okay, okay! Please!" Tears fell from Trixie's eyes. "What do you want?"
Adagio knelt in front of her. "Honestly? Nothing. It's what you want, Trixie." She put a finger under Trixie's chin. "You're here to prove something, aren't you? It isn't just about trying to beat us. I can see it right here in your eyes."
Trixie shut them, hoping it would also stop her tears.
"No, no. No need to hide it," Adagio said in a gentle, almost motherly voice. "It's okay. Let me guess... no one takes you seriously? You're overshadowed by your father's heroic exploits and talents? Are you afraid of losing to these clearly inferior bands? Or maybe something of all three?"
"Stop it," Trixie choked.
"Ding, ding, ding, it looks like we have a winner!" Adagio patted Trixie's cheek. "Then you're going to love this deal because it only benefits you."
Trixie opened her eyes again. "What is it?"
"Sabotage."
"What?"
"That's it. I don't care how you do it honestly, just make the other bands look bad. Give us a reason not to let them onto the next round. Find their dirty secrets, break their instruments, steal their songs, it doesn't matter." Adagio kept her gloved palm against Trixie's cheek, slowly digging her nails into skin. "If we see you do it, we'll just turn a blind eye. Then, all you have to do is play better than everyone else. Sounds easy, right? You'll win, prove you're the best, and we'll even let you have your father back."
Trixie winced. "Too easy. What's in it for you?"
Adagio just kept smiling. "Nothing of value. I told you, this deal is here only to benefit you. See? We're not complete monsters."
"I highly doubt that." Trixie bit her lip. She had nothing to bargain with. They held every card, including the most important of all. Sure, Trixie had sabotaged before, but this felt different. Last time it was out of petty spite, this time, she was furthering her mortal enemies' plans.
But her father...
"I'll do it," she said under her breath.
Adagio's smile widened, showing off her sharp teeth. "I was hoping that'd be your answer." She stood up and turned with her sisters to go. "Just make sure you don't tell anyone. Especially your mother. I'd hate for her to have to become a widow." All three of them broke into laughs, and as they stepped away from the stage, Adagio dropped the cape onto the grass.
Trixie got to her feet, legs trembling. She walked over and picked up her cape, looking at the stars and moon printed on the back. Her tears fell anew, and she clutched it against her chest.
"Daddy, please forgive me." |
Spectacular Seven | 16. Revelations | Twilight didn't call until late Sunday afternoon, giving Sunset nearly twenty-four hours of anxiety. She pounced on her phone the second she saw the call was from Twilight. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine." There was a slight edge to Twilight's voice. Sunset wanted to attribute that to her constant pestering of Twilight's well-being. But she knew it wasn't fine. Nothing was fine.
Sunset didn't know how to broach the topic. If Twilight was aware of the Sirens' powers, would she be able to put up a better resistance? And what would Sunset say anyway? 'Twilight, you're being manipulated by evil magic, stop it.'
"How are you?" Twilight asked, her voice soft again. Sunset realized she had been silent too long.
"I'm fine," she said, dragging the words from her mouth. "Uhhh..." She looked at the clock. 4:53. "I know it's late, but do you want to come over?"
"I can't. Moondancer is coming over to work on some music." She at least had the courtesy to sound guilty.
"Oh." Sunset tried not to, but couldn't help but feel molten fury course through her. She couldn't say anything else, lest it seep through.
"Sorry," Twilight said. "I'll see you tomorrow though."
"Yeah, see you." They both lingered on the line until Sunset could no longer handle the awkward silence and hung up.
The world slowly fell to pieces around her--because of her--and all Sunset could do was watch. She tried to hold it together, but the shards just slipped through her fingers, cutting them open.
The spell around Twilight was fading; Sunset knew it. It was a special kind of torture, knowing she couldn't do anything.
She sat up on her bed. Perhaps she couldn't, but maybe someone else could. It was a long shot, but Sunset had to try. She pat Spot on the head, her signal that she would be back soon, and walked down the hall.
"Trixie?" She knocked on the door.
"Go away," a subdued voice answered.
Sunset knocked again. "Please, Trixie, I need your help."
"Don't care."
Sunset tightened her fist. "It's not for me, it's for Twilight. Look, I know you're mad at me. I know you think I'm trying to upstage you or replace you, but I'm not! Trixie, I want to save Artemis and the rest of the world as much as you do! We're on the same side; we shouldn't be fighting! Whatever spell Artemis used to protect Twilight is fading and I need you to recast it." She rested a hand against the door. "Please?"
She thought she heard covers shift, but Trixie gave no response.
Sunset smacked her palm against the wood. "Fine!" She stomped back to her room and slammed the door shut, startling Spot. "Sorry, buddy." She sat down, and he cuddled up to her, stretching his neck up to lick her face. A sweet gesture, but not enough to make her feel better.
What if our plan doesn't work? What if everyone stays hypnotized even if we beat the Dazzlings? Sunset looked at her notebook sitting on her bedside table. All the faults in her plan burned through the cover and blinded her, all of the uncounted variables, like her inability to write a counterspell or if her friends could create a rainbow with only five members. Was all their practice in vain?
"Don't give up yet," Princess Twilight said, her own squeaky voice tired. "You can't let your friends down."
Spot barked and wagged his tail. Sunset scratched him behind the ear. "I'm not giving up. I'm just wondering if we can win."
To that, Princess Twilight said nothing.
*******
Sunset looked around, but the grassy field appeared empty. Yellow flowers grew in small patches here and there. She stooped down to pick one, rolling it between her fingers.
"Sunset!"
She turned around. On a hill stood Twilight, waving with a cheerful smile. But as Sunset ran toward her, a bouquet of roses in hand, a shadow rose up behind Twilight. It formed into Moondancer, wearing a calculating smile.
"Little star," she said sweetly, "look what I have for you." A floating palace materialized above her, purple waterfalls cascading off the sides. Flowers of every bloom coated the walls and ran up the towers.
"Bye, Sunset!" Twilight said, swooped up in Moondancer's arms. They jumped into the sky, vanishing into the castle with heartfelt laughs. Laughs that slowly became twisted as clouds stormed the clear skies. The grass around Sunset caught fire, burning away the flowers until ashes and skeletons remained. The ground broke apart, and the Human Sunset climbed up from the molten depths. She looked at Sunset with empty eyes.
"There can only be one!" She reached for Sunset with an enormous hand.
Sunset turned and ran, stumbling and jumping from rock to rock over pits of boiling magma. She didn't have the luxury or the courage to turn around. Over her, the black sky roared in tumultuous fury, dropping fists of lightning around her. She came to the edge of the world, darkness spiraling out beneath her. With nowhere left to go, she jumped.
The fall was much slower than she anticipated. In fact, she swore she was floating. She fanned her arms out, finding her movements slowed by gallons of water. She swum downwards until she broke the surface, gasping for breath. The night sky was calm and filled with stars that sparkled on the water. Sunset swam until she found a small island.
She washed up on it, thinking she had finally found shelter, but as she looked up to explore the island more, she found her scarlet colored demon smiling back at her.
Sunset jumped back, fists raised and teeth clenched. "What do you want?"
"Why, to help you of course," she said, spreading her arms wide. "You want to save your friends, right? You want to beat the Dazzlings, don't you?"
Sunset lowered her fists a fraction. "Yeah?"
Her demon drifted closer. "Well, you have the power." She pointed a claw at Sunset's heart. "Right here. All you have to do is let me back in."
"Not going to happen!"
"Would you rather have your friends brainwashed by rejects from the eighties?"
Sunset jabbed a finger. "No! But I'm not going to let you have your way with them either!"
The demon rolled her eyes. She leaned back and crossed her legs, floating in midair. "So reluctant to do anything. You have all the power to take what you want, but you don't use it. Friendship has made you soft. You used to be feared. You used to be respected."
"That wasn't respect; they hated me! I'm not going back to that!"
"But think about what you could accomplish." She drifted around Sunset whispering to her from every side. "With all your power, you could get rid of the Sirens and everyone would hail you as a hero. Then, things could go back to the way they were. You, the undisputed queen of Canterlot High, maybe even the entire city! Everyone will be eating out of your hands! And you'll have your precious Twilight back from Moondancer."
Sunset's jaw tightened. "I certainly don't need your help to win back Twilight."
"You're right. You don't. You have the ability all on your own." She stopped by Sunset's ear. "The one thing Moondancer can't have. All you have to do is seal the deal." She leaned in close. "Go ahead. Deflower her precious Twilight."
Sunset whirled around and slammed her fist into the demon's cheek. She spiraled back, shock and fear scrawled on her face. Sunset slammed a boot into the sand. "Torment me all you want! Mock me, insult me, drive me insane; I don't care! But you will not force me to take advantage of Twilight! Especially just to spite Moondancer!"
The demon rubbed her mouth. "You didn't seem to have a problem with it when you were kissing her."
"Rrrrgh!" Sunset ran at the demon, but she vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Fine. But when the world comes crashing down around you, don't say I didn't give you a way out." The island beneath Sunset faded to white. The buzzing of angry wasps filled the void until she realized it was her alarm clock.
*******
The Rainbooms had made it to the semi-finals. The Crusaders had not. Sunset found out online before heading to school Monday morning. Only nine bands remained, and four of them came from CHS. She could only imagine the tension waiting for her at school, not to mention what Rarity and the others were going through with their sisters.
Sunset closed her laptop and grabbed her bag. No sense in delaying the inevitable. She left the house on foot, paranoid someone would deface her bike again in lieu of her friends' victory. The walk gave her white clouds painted on the sky in thin brush strokes, and an abundance of early morning sunlight.
The fresh air helped ease Sunset's nerves. The Rainbooms had advanced to the next round. They still had a chance. She would prove that dark phantom of hers wrong: she didn't need its help to beat the Sirens! Sunset would finish the counterspell and her friends would make everything right again!
Her thoughts turned to Twilight. What could Sunset do in the meantime to help her? Did she need help? What if Sunset was over thinking things and Twilight was actually fine? The churning in her stomach quashed that idea immediately.
And what about the other Sunset? Would she still allow the Rainbooms to practice in the factory after what had happened on Saturday? Though she supposed the barn could be used again since the Crusaders were out. Sunset still felt obligated to check in on Shimmer just to see she was okay.
She walked onto campus, receiving dirty looks or being flat out ignored by other students. She continued onto her locker, remembering a time when she reveled in their disdain and misery.
"I have to admit, I'm surprised you made it this far," someone said behind her as she stowed her bag away. She looked over, finding Flash leaning on the other locker with a smug smile that he didn't wear well.
"My friends and I are full of a lot of surprises," Sunset said, keeping her face neutral.
"Well now, you're playing with the real bands... and Trixie. I hope your friends have a surprise good enough to make it to the finals. Even though you're still going to lose to me."
"Pre-mature gloating. Coming from you, it's not cute." Sunset pointed a thumb at herself. "We're going to win, and you'll thank us for it later."
Flash rolled his eyes, magnifying Sunset's urge to hit him. "What do you mean 'we'? You don't do anything, you just watch the others do all the hard work while you sit back and reap the benefits. Again."
Sunset recoiled at the jab. All of her old plots and schemes rushed to the forefront of her thoughts, times when she had forced Snips and Snails or other pawns to do her dirty deeds while she kept her hands cleaned. "That isn't true! This is a team effort! I'm trying my best to help them!"
"Right, you filled out the paperwork. Great job."
I wonder if blunt force trauma to the head is enough to break the spell. "How my band operates is none of your business!"
"'Your' band has nothing on mine. I bet you don't even know what you're doing." Flash turned to leave, but not before Sunset saw the hint of green in his eyes. "We'll knock you out in the next round, because there's no way you deserve a spot in the finals."
She watched him go, clenching her fists until her palms locked up in protest. She shook them out and grabbed her textbook, then slammed her locker as hard as she could. The force caused the locker next to hers to pop open, not that she cared.
Walking into first period, Sunset found Rarity with a surprising lack of make-up. Sunset realized she had never seen Rarity without it. She sat subdued, shoulders hunched and head down.
"Sweetie told me she hated me and never wanted to talk to me again," she said weakly as Sunset took her seat. "I know it's just the spell talking but..." She wiped her eyes. "I've never heard her so angry before."
Sunset reached over and gave Rarity the best one-armed hug she could. Rarity sniffled, tugging at Sunset's heartstrings. "Don't worry. In two weeks, everything will be back to normal."
Rarity pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes. "Right. Two weeks. We can do this. So the counterspell is coming along then?"
"Yep!" Sunset said with false cheer. "I think I'm almost done! Just gotta tweak it a bit!"
"That's wonderful news! I knew we could count on you, Sunset."
Sunset faced the board, holding onto her smile even as Mr. Noteworthy walked in. I'm a terrible friend.
The hostile atmosphere at lunch had shifted. Instead of each group of students harboring hate for one another, every band that had been knocked out so far pooled their hatred together to focus it at those remaining. The isolation aspect remained the same, however.
Sunset couldn't see Twilight amongst the throng of students. She could only imagine what her and Moondancer were doing. She forced her attention to her friends. Like Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow had been scorned by their sister and surrogate sister respectively. The Crusaders occupied a table on the other side of the room with a few more of their friends, stoutly refusing to look the Rainbooms' way.
Applejack slammed a fist onto the table, startling everyone out of their sullen moods. "Those stupid Sirens are tearin' mah family apart! If Ah ever get mah hands on any one of them..." Sunset had seen her tackle Bulk Biceps to the ground once. She had no doubt Applejack could follow through with her threat.
"Hi, girls." Twilight dropped into the seat next to Sunset. "Sorry I'm late." She gave up her faint smile upon seeing everyone's despondent dispositions. "What's wrong?"
"Everything," Rainbow said, dropping her head against the table.
"The Crusaders got knocked out of the competition and now, the girls won't talk to us," Sunset explained.
Twilight shrugged. "Yeah, I saw. Honestly, I'm surprised they made it to the quarterfinals. I mean, I couldn't count the number of times Sweetie's voice cracked. And Scootaloo kept playing C chords when she clearly should have been playing in A." She let out a very un-Twilight snort.
Rainbow raised her head to join Rarity in glaring at Twilight. Digging into her lunch bag, she didn't seem to notice. Sunset took a deep breath, deciding to tackle this problem head on. Maybe she could talk sense into Twilight. Before Sunset opened her mouth, three pairs of footsteps approached the table. The Crusaders stopped, arms crossed and eyes pointed past Sunset and at their older sisters. Sunset had to hand it to them, they actually looked a little intimidating.
"You lied to us," Apple Bloom said between her teeth.
Applejack sat up and looked back with affronted eyes. "Lied? About what?"
Scootaloo took over, her cheeks flushed with anger. "You said we couldn't go to the Dazzlings' concert because it was dangerous. You took our tickets. Then you went to the concert yourselves!"
Rainbow winced. "Scoots, you don't understand."
"No, we understand perfectly," Sweetie said. "You extorted tickets from us! That was all our allowances from two months!"
"How did you know we went to the concert anyway?" Rarity asked.
"Diamond Tiara saw all of you there."
"Almost all of us," Twilight grumbled under her breath. She actively avoided eye contact with anyone else.
"Admit it!" Apple Bloom said, slamming her palm on the table. "You've been out to sabotage us from the beginnin'! First you wouldn't let us go to the concert, then you hog our music space! Why are you tryin' to make our lives miserable?"
"Ah'm not tryin' to make your life miserable!" Applejack said, standing from her chair. "Y'all don't understand what we're tryin' to do, and are makin' up this story of us messin' you up."
"Though she is right about the extortion," Twilight said.
"Not helpin'!"
The Crusaders decided they had had enough and turned to leave one by one. Apple Bloom gave Applejack a holier-than-thou smile. "Wait 'till you get home. You're gonna be in so much trouble." She mimed a belt smacking into her palm and joined her two companions.
With them gone, Sunset turned back to Twilight, who decided to make eye contact again. Sunset wished she hadn't after seeing the anger and irritation in them. "So, am I the only one who didn't go to that concert?" Twilight asked bitterly.
Rarity leaned over. "Sunset, did you forget to tell Twilight we went with you that night?"
Sunset tapped her fingers together. "That may be something I neglected to mention, yeah." She tried to smile. "But hey, at least I didn't go alone, right?"
"No, you got to go play hero with all your other magically endowed friends while I sat on the sidelines because it's 'too dangerous' for nerdy me." She grabbed her lunch bag and stormed off.
"Sparky, wait!" Sunset got up from the table, but Twilight broke into a run, exiting the cafeteria in a storm. Sunset paused at the door, wondering what chasing after her would accomplish. How much of that was the Sirens' doing, and how much were Twilight's own feelings?
She's going straight to Moondancer though. Sunset pushed through the door and into the hall, but that moment of hesitation had given Twilight the time she needed to make herself scarce. "Twilight!" Sunset called. It went unanswered.
She returned to the cafeteria, head hung in defeat, and sat back at their table. The hollow feeling born from the revelation about the leygates returned to feast on Sunset's misery. She slumped in her chair, dreading what her next encounter with Twilight would be like.
Pinkie pushed her peas around her plate. "Even I'm having a hard time putting a positive spin on this."
Sunset looked at her own food, appetite completely gone. Pinkie without any positives was a bad omen to be sure.
*******
Twilight sat in the music room, angrier now than she had been at lunch. Third period had given her a whole two hours to think about what Sunset and her friends did behind her back--what they were doing right now! Apparently, in this circle of friends, magiclessness equaled uselessness.
She ran her bow across her violin strings and received a harsh screech. She took a deep breath and tried again, receiving a much softer sound. She had to remember she could never play stressed. Stupid girls stressing me out. Maybe this is how they intend to make me drop out this round. The violin made another screech, and she took another breath and slowed down.
I'm supposed to be helping them though. They have the magic to beat the Sirens. Her playing grew a little faster. But who's to say I can't find my own way to do it? She raced her bow across the strings. Just because I don't have magic doesn't mean I can't do something significant!
Scrreeeeeech!
Twilight winced at the worst dissonant sound yet. She set the instrument down and got up from her stool to stretch. She needed a short break before Moondancer arrived.
As if summoned by Twilight's thoughts, the door opened and Moondancer stepped in. "Little star, are you ready to begin?" She frowned. "Sweetness, you look upset."
Twilight looked away. "It's nothing. I'll feel better when we play."
"Naturally." Moondancer glided over and put an arm around Twilight's shoulder. "But I still want to hear what's troubling you. You know I always have an open ear."
"I know." Twilight nibbled her lip. What did she say without giving magic away? Then again, did she care who found out her friends had magic? They had all gone behind her back and were now working without her. She supposed she could be the better girl one more time. Still, how did she put her feelings into words? "It's... I think my other friends don't appreciate me. They think I can't handle myself."
"Utter nonsense!" Moondancer swooped around and cupped Twilight's cheeks. "You are the most brilliant star in the night sky--the first one anyone sees! They have no choice but to admire your radiance! And even if those so called friends of yours can't see it, I certainly can. You have all the qualities befitting a princess."
Twilight's eye made a subtle twitch.
"And if push came to shove, I'm certain you could find a way to handle yourself." Moondancer released Twilight's cheeks and took her hands instead. "You're just as good as they are! Nay, you go beyond them! And if they can't appreciate your talents, then I say fie on them! I'll shower you with all the praise you could ever want."
Twilight blushed. She gripped Moondancer's smooth and slender hands. "Thanks, Moony. I'm glad someone believes in me."
Moondancer smiled sweetly. "I'm always rooting for you, little star." She swept an arm out toward the piano. "And if these 'friends' of yours doubt your abilities, perhaps this is the perfect opportunity to prove their folly! Come with me, fair Twilight, for we are fated for victory! Our names will be written in the stars, and all will weep at our beauty!"
Excitement pumped through Twilight's veins. Winning sounded amazing! Having everyone recognize her musical genius! Making Rainbow eat her comments about the violin! Proving to Sunset she could handle herself! All she had to do was beat the last eight bands.
Wait, wasn't there something I was supposed to do? Twilight's heart hardened. Right, she was supposed to drop out next round to let her friends win. They were supposed to save the day and be heroes while Twilight sat and watched.
She furrowed her brow. Why did she have to roll over and give up? She was more musically inclined than all of them put together! If they wanted to win, they would have to do it fair and square! She gave Moondancer a fierce nod. "Let's do it, Moony!"
Moondancer's lips curled into a voracious smile. "As you wish, my cosmic flower."
*******
Sunset told the rest of the Rainbooms what had occurred between her and Shimmer on Saturday, leading them to practice at Sweet Apple Acres for the day. Their reception, however, was not the warmest. Applejack stepped out of her truck and was summoned immediately by her grandmother into the house. The others stood around for nearly an hour before Applejack returned, rubbing her bottom.
"So, uh..." She winced with every step taken. "Apple Bloom told Granny about the whole ticket thing so..."
Rainbow winced in time with her. "She beat you with the belt."
"Ah wish that's all she did." Applejack straightened her posture though her eyes still hung low. "Ah can't be in the band anymore."
"What?" everyone shouted.
"But Applejack, we need you," Sunset said. "The fact that Princess Twilight isn't here to round off the elements already makes me concerned that we can't throw a strong enough rainbow. But if you're not there, then I know we can't do this!"
Applejack lowered her stetson over her eyes. "Ah'm sorry. But Ah'm supposed to come straight home after school until the contest is over; Granny's orders. Mah hands are tied."
Sunset tugged on the sides of her hair. "This is bad. You girls need practice, and you need to play together."
Rainbow snapped her fingers. "Relax, Sunset. There's an easy fix to this." She gave a mischievous grin. "Just tell Granny you're with some other after school group, and we go back to the factory and practice."
"Ah'm not lyin' to mah granny!" Applejack said hotly. "Look what just happened the last time Ah did somethin' dishonest!"
"Yeah, but it's for a good cause," Rainbow argued. "Or do you want Apple Bloom to hate you forever?"
Applejack clenched her fists repeatedly, then dropped her shoulders and looked away. "It's a pointless excuse anyway. She said no matter what, Ah'm to come home the second the bell rings."
Sunset kicked a loose pebble. "Well, I hate to say it, A.J, but if you can't lie, that only leaves one option."
"And that is?"
"Open rebellion." A dark grin flickered across Sunset's face. "Don't lie. Just resist. You're already in trouble, what else can your granny do to you? Besides, the fate of the world is just a little more important than listening to your elders."
Rainbow pumped a fist. "I like this plan!"
Rarity tutted. "As much as I hate to admit it, they do have a point. This is for our sisters and everyone else under the Sirens' spell. If we have to break a few rules to save them, then so be it."
Applejack rubbed her butt again. "Ah'm achin' already. But you're right. Ah owe those hate spreadin' hogs, and Ah'm not quitten' until the debt's been paid."
Pinkie pointed a finger west. "Back to the factory! I hope Shimmer won't be too mad."
"You and me both," Sunset said. They all piled back into their cars, Applejack casting one more tentative glance at the house before switching the engine on and pulling out onto the road. "It'll be fine," Sunset said, putting a hand on Applejack's shoulder. "You're fighting for the right reasons."
"Ah know. That doesn't mean Ah feel good about it."
Sunset gave a solemn nod and looked out the window. She had been telling everyone things would be fine. But the way things had spiraled, perhaps she was only propelling a lie. No! We can do this! They can do this! Minor setbacks, but nothing can stop us!
They arrived in front of the old factory and piled out. Before they pulled their instruments from the trunks, Sunset said, "Let me go in and make sure we're still cool."
Rarity nodded. "Good idea. Would you like us to come along?"
"No. I think we need to talk alone for a sec." The girls wished her luck, and Sunset stepped up to the blue door. She knocked three times. "Hello? It's me!"
No one responded.
Sunset thought there was a low chance her voice would carry through the door and upstairs. Still, it didn't hurt to be polite. She knocked again, waited five seconds, then forced the door open. The hall light flickered, reminding Sunset of those cheesy horror films. She walked up the stairs, nostalgia washing over her as she neared her old bedroom. She had once coveted this place as her sanctuary, free from those crazy girls trying to be her friend. She had plotted and schemed here, creating lies and sowing mistrust between the students of Canterlot High just so she could stay in power.
Not too unlike the Sirens.
She pushed the thought away as she came to the top of the stairs. The door to the foreman's office had been left slightly ajar. She knocked and it widened, revealing a room devoid of Shimmer. "She must be out somewhere." Sunset gulped. "Hopefully with a disguise." The room hadn't changed much in Sunset's absence. A set of old sheets stretched over the mattress she had once called a bed, a duffle bag containing dirty clothes sat near the door next to a box of Chinese takeout, and an old t.v sat propped against the wall, a large crack running across the screen. What Sunset found odd was the large rubber snake curled under the desk. She took a step further into the room, seeing something glittering underneath it. "Wait..."
She took another step, the sparkling blue stone becoming more prominent the longer she stared at it. "The Crystal Heart," she said breathlessly. It was here! Under a fake snake!
The snake flicked its tongue and rose its head to Sunset. That's not fake... She stepped back. A live snake and the Crystal Heart... Sunset's heart constricted, her mind coming to one possible conclusion. The human me is Lamia. But... She bumped into something soft and solid behind her.
"I had one rule," Lamia said, low and threatening. "Don't go in my room. And you had to break it."
Sunset turned around and met with a solid jab to her shoulder. Her entire arm went numb, and she sagged to one side. She tried to curl her fingers, but they refused to respond. "What? How? You're..." She took a small step back, remembering the snake sitting under the desk. "You're Lamia."
Lamia narrowed her eyes. "I was really hoping to keep that quiet. I only needed another week, then I could have been gone and you wouldn't have known anything." She sighed and shrugged. "Guess I can't win them all."
Sunset's mind continued to reel. She couldn't decide which concerned her more presently, her dysfunctional arm, or her criminal doppleganger. "I don't understand. Why are you Lamia? What did you do to my arm?"
She held up a finger. "'Why?' Because it's fun and I'm good at it. Short and simple. 'What?' I hit one of your pressure points and paralyzed your arm for a bit. It'll wear off in about an hour."
"I... you..." Sunset took a deep breath, pushing down her urge to scream. "Why do you have the Crystal Heart?"
Lamia leaned on the door. "I stole it, clearly." She smirked. "But I'm guessing you want a more detailed answer than that?"
Sunset let her glare give a sufficient enough answer.
"All right. For the money, duh. Do you want to know how much this baby is worth on the black market? A. Lot. Like, I would never have to steal in this lifetime or the next one. You think they would have had more security around it. But, it was annoying enough to get with those Dazzling-Siren whatevers interfering."
"So that's it? You're just going to give the Crystal Heart to the highest bidder? Even after we told you what it does?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Then, me and Jormangandr here are moving far away to the biggest house we can buy."
The snake behind Sunset let out a happy hiss.
"Besides," Lamia said, "you should be happy I'm selling it away. That way, the Dazzlings can't have it either."
"Unless they steal it from the next person who has it! You need to give it to us so we can keep it safe!"
Lamia threw her head back and laughed. "Funny joke, kid. You'll keep it safe? Trust me, you and your friends can't stand up to me, and I almost lost to those other magical freaks. If they really wanted it, they'd take it from you like candy from a baby."
"Oh yeah, what's your excuse then?"
"I'm trying to get rid of it as fast as I can. I already have a few bidders. In a few days, the heart will be out of the city and away from the Dazzlings. I'll have my money, and they won't have the Heart, everyone wins." She patted Sunset's head, and the world melted away again.
Sunset stood inside a dojo, watching other kids spar against one another in their gis and head gear. Some of them were a lot bigger than her.
"Gymnastics and judo. Are you sure about this, Shimmy?" her father asked.
Sunset just gave a determined nod. She'd show those bullies one way or another.
Lamia ripped her hand away and clutched it close to herself. "Crap, I can't believe I forgot about that!"
Sunset pushed her good hand against her forehead. The experience left an odd tickling in her brain. "Listen," she said, fighting through it, "if you don't turn over the heart--"
"You'll what? Turn me over to the police? Newsflash, kiddo, we look almost alike. If I wanted to, I could sneak back into the museum without my mask on, steal something, and blame it on you. Then what would you do? Tell them your alternate twin did it? I can make myself disappear. Until you stuck your nose around, Sunset Shimmer had dropped off the face of the earth years ago." She crossed her arms, smirking. "You're my get out of jail free ticket. And if worst comes to worst, I still know your deep secret. So, thanks for handing me all the cards!"
A roar clawed at Sunset's throat, begging for release. She swung her fist at Lamia, who grabbed it with ease, then slammed her palm into Sunset's stomach, sending her to her knees. Sunset wrapped an arm around her middle as she tried to breathe, failing the first few times before air filled her center again. She sputtered then glared up at Lamia. "I hate you."
Lamia shrugged. "Hey, we can't all be heroes, kid. And I'm only presenting what will happen if you try to rat me out. We can keep this relationship perfectly civil as long as you keep your mouth shut. We've both got sweet gigs going on. Would be a shame if they got ruined, wouldn't it?"
Sunset bit back a slew of profanities her other seemed fond of. She spent that energy instead to get back to her feet. "Fine. We'll play it your way."
"Sweetie, we've always been playing it my way. It just took you this long to notice. Oh, don't give me that look, you know I'm right. Tell you what, you and your friends can keep practicing here if you want, I don't care. Go do your saving the world magical girl thing." She leaned in, a shadow crossing her face. "But if they blab, not only will I take you down, I'll take down each and every one of them. My computer can hack anything; shouldn't be too hard to find, or even make up something that could screw their futures."
"Bitch," Sunset hissed.
Lamia hovered a finger over Sunset's nose. "Only if you cross me." She squeezed past Sunset, being careful not to touch her, and fell back onto her bed. "Now get out of my room."
Sunset gladly obeyed, moving as fast as she could. A numbness different from the one in her arm spread to the rest of her body. Not only was her human counterpart a thief, she was also a near perfect imitation of Sunset less than a year ago. Manipulative, egocentric, cocky, vindictive. Sunset leaned on the stair railing. So this was her in a world without magic and friends?
"No matter how far I go, there's always something that reminds me of what I've done." Sunset supposed she deserved it; she had been awful. But she had been trying to get better--she was always trying! Apparently, the universe didn't see it as an excuse not to show her what she had once been.
She finished her climb down the stairs and walked out to her friends waiting in the alley. "So, how did your talk go?" Rarity asked.
Sunset rubbed her numb shoulder. "Um..." If she didn't tell her friends, they couldn't have a chance of accidentally telling someone else. Their futures could still be protected. "It went okay, we just talked, you know?" Sunset stared at a space in between Rarity and Fluttershy. "We can still practice here, just keep interactions with her short. She's, uhh... on edge."
"Roger dodger!" Pinkie said with a salute. "Maybe some music will cheer her up!"
Sunset watched the girls carry in their instruments, chills running down her spine. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she should have just kept them away from the factory entirely. She tried to move her arm again, but it hung limply in place.
Lamia. Sirens. Sunset was right. Nothing was fine. |
Spectacular Seven | 17. Boiling Point | The week leading into the semi-finals had not been kind to any of the Rainbooms. Applejack came to school everyday disgruntled and snappy, and found it hard to sit for long periods of time. Rarity had also been punished for using Sweetie Belle's ticket, forcing her to rebel against her parents, though her punishment seemed a bit graver.
"If I keep practicing with you girls, my parents said they'll stop paying the rent for my shop," Rarity told them Tuesday, her mascara running.
"Hey, with the prize money we'll win, you can just buy your own shop," Rainbow said, trying to alleviate the mood. No one cracked a smile.
Sunset faced her own trials as well. Though she shared classes with Twilight, she seemed aloof and distant, even when they worked together. Every time Sunset asked what was wrong, Twilight rebuffed with a simple, "Nothing. Everything's fine." But she no longer kissed Sunset on the lips, or gave Sunset her brilliant smile. She no longer tried to give endearing pet names or use terrible puns. Twilight gave a peck on the cheek as a greeting, and a simple hand wave as a farewell.
The hollow, sucking feeling manifested itself as a permanent fixture in Sunset's stomach. Twilight's cold demeanor only made up one part of her mounting anxiety. So far, interactions between Lamia and the girls had been minimal, with Lamia popping in to say hi, or making snarky comments from the window that their music belonged in an after school special. But the dread that Lamia could potentially ruin any of them, even Sunset herself if she wanted to...
Then, there was still the counterspell. After testing a few parts individually, Sunset finally had a draft of the composition, and on Thursday, they tested it out. Everyone had a copy of the score and lyrics. Rainbow stood in front of the microphone, trying to balance playing her new chords while reading the lyrics.
"Hey, hey, listen,
"We got a message for you!
"We're not all alike,
"But our friendship is true!"
Sunset winced at a spot of feedback and stepped away from the speaker.
"Yeah, we're really different.
"But we still get along!
"So hey, hey, listen to our song!
"You may think you're in control,
"But we're here to prove you wrong!"
"Okay, that's enough, stop, stop!" Sunset waved her arms. The instruments slowly fell silent, and Sunset secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, not gonna lie," Shimmer said from her window, "that was pretty bad."
"Yeah, thank you." Sunset hunched her shoulders.
"Like, really, really bad."
"Okay, thanks!"
"Like, that was one of the worst songs--"
"Thank you for the feedback, I get it! Go away now!"
Shimmer shrugged and shut her window again. Sunset pressed her copy of the song to her face and groaned.
"Ah hate to say it, Sunset. But she has a point," Applejack said, reading through it. "Ah mean, 'With the magic of friendship, gonna stop your evil plan.' Ah know they ain't bein' subtle, but this is just... obvious."
"It looked a lot better on paper," Sunset said, muffled by the page. She lowered it, eyes wide and a grin stretched ear-to-ear. "But it's fine! It's fine! It just needs some tweaking! Everything will be fine!" Her voice cracked.
Rarity took her keytar off from around her shoulders. "Darling, are you all right?"
"I told you, I'm fine!" Sunset waved the paper. "This is all that matters. I just need to fix it some more. It'll be ready by next week, Sunset guarantee!"
Rarity nodded, unconvinced. "You also seem to be snippy with Shimmer. Everything fine between you two?"
"You mean besides invading each other's minds whenever we touch? Yep, our friendship couldn't be better!"
Applejack followed Rarity's lead and took her bass off. "Okay, maybe that's enough practice for today. We'll play through 'Shake Your Tail' tomorrow to get ready for Saturday."
Everyone gave an exhausted sigh of relief and began taking down their equipment. Sunset's skin prickled at the release of pent up tension and disappointment. She looked at the song in her hand, realizing she had crumpled it on impulse, and shoved it into her pocket. As much as she wanted to burn it to ashes, she needed something to work off of.
Clean-up proved sluggish, and even with six pairs of hands, it took longer than normal to get everything squared away. Even Pinkie had less energy than usual. She gave a confident smile whenever anyone was looking, but Sunset caught contemplative frowns from the corner of her eye.
When Sunset thought on it, no one had ponied up since they had first performed in front of Lamia. Perhaps transformations also rely on morale? It was a hypothesis to explore at a later date. Sunset just hoped they had enough cheer or magic or whatever to pony up when they confronted the Sirens. If we confront the Sirens. She shook her head. They will confront the Sirens, you will watch from afar. You just need to write a freakin' song that will actually work!
Shimmer gave them a casual goodbye as the Rainbooms left. Sunset made it a point to ignore her completely: the walking, talking reminder of what she had once been, and what she could have potentially become. The girls split with half-hearted goodbyes of their own, Rarity and Applejack off to face another round of punishment from their families. The looks on their faces as they left turned Sunset's hollow nausea into a sickening vortex. She wished she had never told them to rebel. But she needed them to play.
Her conversation with Flash played in her ears as she mounted her bike. Was she just using them? Making them do all the work while she sat on the sidelines? I'm writing the song that will help them win! But truth be told, any of them could do that. Fluttershy's songs could have--
She kicked herself mentally and slapped a hand against her handlebars. Fluttershy had mentioned she had written songs over a week ago and they still hadn't gotten to them! Of course she's not going to say anything, she's Fluttershy! Sunset made it a point to remind them to try one of Fluttershy's songs after the semis.
The tangent had been enough to stop Sunset from spiraling into darker thoughts. At least until she tried to fall asleep later on. Sleep hadn't come easy to her the past week. She spent hours tossing and turning, sitting up and reaching for her notebook to try and piece together an idea. When sleep did come, demons and Sirens plagued her, with Twilight nowhere to be found.
Sunset rose Friday morning with bags under her eyes, complemented by her unruly bedhead. She groaned wearily at her reflection and stepped into the hall just as Trixie got out of the bathroom. She stopped and gave Sunset a castigating glance.
"Trixie thinks that's a good look for you." Her hair whipped back at Sunset as she turned down the hall.
First thing she's said to me in weeks. I'll take it. Sunset cleaned herself up and set out for school, exchanging a sober goodbye with Selena. You can do this, Sunset told herself. After today, just one more week of this hell, and everything will go back to normal. Celestia willing. In the meantime, she had a spiteful school and an emotionally manipulated girlfriend to deal with.
Sunset's heart sank into the tar pit that had become her stomach. Must be nice being Lamia. The only thing she has to worry about is getting caught by the police.
Twilight sat at a lab table up front, reading a book when Sunset walked into their chemistry class. She leaned over and gave Twilight a kiss on the cheek to stir her out of her word world. Sunset thought she saw a smile, but Twilight responded to her advance with, "You know there's no PDA in class."
Sunset took her seat, hunching her shoulders. "Right. Of course."
"It's nice to see you though."
"Right back at ya," Sunset said listlessly. She sat up and squared her shoulders, bracing herself for the upcoming conversation. Sunset wasn't stupid; Twilight's exposure to the Siren's music, her cool demeanor, her free time spent practicing with Moondancer. Dropping out of the competition was probably the absolute last thing Twilight wanted to do. Still, Sunset had to hope that enough of her Twilight was cognizant enough to remember what was at stake. "Twilight, listen--"
"I know what you're going to say." Twilight didn't bother looking up from her book. "I haven't forgotten our agreement."
Sunset pressed her fingers together. "Okay... but are you going to keep to it?"
Twilight flipped the page but didn't respond.
"Twilight..."
"Why do you have to be the ones to win the tournament and beat the Sirens?"
Sunset's brain momentarily paused on the 'win the tournament' part. "Because we need to play the counterspell in front of as many people as possible and hit the Sirens with the Elements of Harmony," she said slowly. "So, unless you plan to beat the Sirens over the head with your violin--which I would not be opposed to if you did--this is the only way."
"Right. Of course."
"Twilight."
She looked up from her book. "I will consider it come tomorrow."
"Consider it? Twilight, I just said--"
"I acknowledged your claim and will factor it into my performance tomorrow." She returned to her book as Mr. Doodle walked in, followed by the sound of the bell.
Sunset curled her fingers. When Twilight started talking technical, it meant the discussion was over. At least for the time being. She remained adamant in her refusal to discuss it further when she packed her bag at the end of class with lightning speed and disappeared for all of passing period. She reappeared in their AP Economics class just as the bell rang, and departed just as quickly when the bell for lunch sounded.
Sunset stomped her way to lunch, not having been this frustrated with Twilight since their very first interactions many months ago. She can't avoid me forever! She dropped into her seat and crossed her arms and legs.
"Hey to you, too," Rainbow said.
"Sorry," Sunset said, glaring at the tabletop. "Twilight's being... aggravating right now. I don't think she's going to throw the round tomorrow."
Applejack sighed. "Well, Ah can't say Ah'm surprised. Just remember, it's not her fault. It's the Sirens." She paused. "And whatever idiot thought it good to set them free."
Sunset did her best not to wince, biting her tongue instead. A karma six months in the making. Why give me happy things in the first place if they're just going to get ripped away? Oh right, because the universe hates me.
Rarity took a seat on Sunset's right, hair frazzled and eyes puffy, either from lack of sleep or crying. "It took me all night, but I put the finishing touches on everyone's outfits for tomorrow!"
"Rarity, for the last time, this ain't--"
"Applejack!" Flames danced in Rarity's eyes. She leaned across the table and whispered, "My parents have defunded my entire business. I need to promote my clothes at this competition in order to make enough money to keep my store open. Designing clothes is the only joy I have right now, and so help me, if you try to take that away, I will run needles through you until you're nothing but a pincushion!"
Everyone at the table looked at Rarity in horrified silence. Applejack pressed herself as far as she could into the back of her chair. "Right. Of course, sugarcube. You can do whatever you want." She brought her hat over her eyes.
Rarity straightened up and smiled like nothing had happened. "Good. So long as we understand each other."
"Wow, that's something I would have expected out of Sunset," Rainbow said. She caught Sunset's eye. "I'm not sayin' it this time."
"Good." No one spoke after that, not even when they parted ways for their last period. Sunset made it to AP Trigonometry before Twilight did and waited in the back. One way or another, they'd finish their conversation.
Twilight did not share Sunset's conviction. She walked in, rolled her eyes at Sunset's seat placement, and took her normal desk at the front of the class, where Ms. Vector could watch her like a hawk.
You're really trying to test my patience, aren't you, Sparky? When class ended two hours later, Sunset found the answer to that question was a resounding yes. Twilight packed her bags and made it through the door just as the bell finished ringing. Sunset bolted after her, shoving past students trying to reach the exit. She could just see the back of Twilight's head at the other end of the hall. "Twilight!" she yelled, but Twilight refused to look back.
"Trouble in Eden?"
Sunset broke from the main tide of students just to find Moondancer standing off to the side, holding herself with smug dignity and poise. Sunset stopped, her frustration with Twilight drowned out by a wave of agitation. However, looking Moondancer in the eye, it fermented into something Sunset couldn't quite explain. "Moondancer," she said evenly.
Moondancer smiled. "It seems--"
"There is a long list of people I do not want to see right now, and you are literally at the top of that list. In fact, you are so far ahead of the second person on that list that I might have to make a new one just for you. I have a list of the reasons why you are on the list of people I should not, would not, and could not like; a list so long, I could write both my undergrad and graduate thesis on 'the reasons why I do not like Moondancer' in single-space, eleven point font, and still go beyond the maximum page requirement for both papers. If I want to see how much I hate someone, I now have to grade them on a scale of one to you. It's like the universe compounded together everything I hate about the world into one walking, talking, Shakespeare drama piece so nauseating that Shakespeare himself is rolling in his grave. If we were somehow the last two people on earth and had a chance to procreate, I would rather jump off the nearest cliff. And the reason I'm telling you this, Moondancer, is because there's no way I can catch Twilight and make her listen to me right now. But here you are, about to spout more nonsense in an attempt to make my head spin more violently than that girl in The Exorcist, and with the month I've had, and the week to follow, this is probably my only chance to blow off some steam. In fact, the only reason I haven't gotten violent is because, for some unfathomable reason, Twilight considers you her best friend and would be upset if I put my boot up your ass but, oh boy, is that rope wearing real thin. So I'm going to say this once, you poetry-spitting, flower-dancing moonchild. If I hear one more purple-covered word spew from your mouth, I swear to the darkest force listening, I will snap. And I will not apologize for ensuing damage to your mental or physical well-being. Okay? Okay."
Moondancer's smile had dropped to a thin frown, then a puckered line throughout Sunset's tirade. They exchanged stares while a few lingering students hung around, expecting a punch to be thrown. Moondancer closed her eyes and turned down the hall to where Twilight had gone off. She stood in place a minute longer, then carried on, hands folded in front of her.
Sunset's lips quivered into a smile. "Anger management at work."
Rainbow ran up to her side, grinning ear-to-ear. "That was awesome!"
"Yeah." Sunset deflated, sagging her shoulders. "Let's hope she doesn't repeat that to Twilight." She let Rainbow lead her away. Though she now had anxiety over Twilight being even more mad with her, Sunset couldn't deny she felt better. She was at least glad Rainbow got a kick out of it, and when she recounted the event to the rest of the Rainbooms at practice, it got a laugh out of almost all of them.
"Wait, wait, hold on," Applejack said between chuckles. "Ah wanna hear it straight. What did you call her?"
Sunset thought back. "A poetry-spitting, flower-dancing moonchild."
Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow roared with laughter. Rarity had a hard time stifling her own giggles. Fluttershy, however, barely cracked a smile. "I know you don't like her, Sunset, but don't you think that was a bit mean?"
"Fluttershy, she hates me too. It's a mutual hatred. Besides, I really was not in the mood to hear whatever she was going to say. Maybe now, she'll keep her mouth shut."
"Doubt it," Rainbow said.
Fluttershy crossed her arms, making her tambourine rattle. "Two wrongs don't make a right and you know it. And besides, I'm sure she doesn't hate you. She's just... a little upset that you're dating her best friend... that she used to like."
"She had like, three years to make a move. Not my fault she didn't. I'd gladly tolerate her if she didn't want to hold a grudge."
"Maybe if you show her some kindness, she'll stop holding a grudge."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Fluttershy, like I told Moondancer, I'd rather jump off a cliff. I tried to play nice, and as long as Twilight's around, I'll continue to not contemplate ways to cause her mental, physical, or emotional trauma. But that's the furthest extent of my kindness." Sunset leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. "Now, if you want to go make friends with her, be my guest. Kindness is your element, not mine."
Fluttershy made a frustrated huff and rattled her tambourine again. The girls got into position to practice and started off their set with one of Fluttershy's songs to try and appease her. By the end, she looked calmer, but wouldn't make eye contact with Sunset or Rainbow. They moved on to a couple of run throughs for 'Shake Your Tale' before calling it a night. No one ponied up, but it looked like Rainbow had gotten close.
"Break a leg, heroes," Shimmer said from the stairs as they filed out. "I'm rooting for you, little sentai rangers."
Rarity froze, scrunching her face in revulsion. "That's disgusting! We're nothing of the sort!"
Rainbow doubled back. "No, sentai, groups of heroes, magical girl stuff. Not... the other thing."
"What other thing?" Sunset asked. Rainbow leaned over and whispered into her ear. Sunset made a face identical to Rarity's. "That's disgusting!"
*******
With only nine bands left, the crowd for the semi-finals proved smaller than last weeks. The losing bands had taken their family and friends with them, leaving behind those who just wanted to see bands go at it, not caring who won or lost. The first band didn't go on until three in the afternoon, giving the Rainbooms plenty of time to relax and calm their nerves, or in the case of Sunset, hunt for Twilight.
This fairground isn't that big, she has to be around here somewhere. Though it wasn't big, the grounds proved to have many holes to hide in. Sunset made two rounds around the fairground and still couldn't find any trace of Twilight or Moondancer for that matter. However, on her third round, while walking behind the leftmost stage, she found Trixie skulking about, wand in hand.
Sunset stepped up behind her. "What are you doing?"
"Eeeeeek!" Trixie whipped around, quickly stowing her wand away. "Nothing!" She cleared her throat and adjusted the clasp of her cape. "Trixie was just scoping out the competition."
"Uh-huh." Sunset saw the sweat gathered on Trixie's brow, and the way her pupils erratically moved. "Trixie, are you all right?"
"Trixie is just fine, thank you very much! She wish she could say the same thing about you! Today is the last day your band plays in this competition!"
"For the last time, we're on the same side, Trixie!"
Trixie paid her no heed and stomped on by. But as she pushed past, Sunset swore she saw something other than pride and vanity in her eyes. Fear? Sunset watched her go, making a mental note to keep an eye on her. She then resumed her search, circling around the stage before entering the heart of the grounds again. Even with the light breeze, the day proved to be a warm one. Wearing her leather jacket probably didn't help. Sunset wiped a little sweat from her brow and decided to take a break with her friends in the parking lot. Upon arriving, her eyes fell onto Rarity in her new outfit.
Sunset gave herself a second to choose her words carefully, looking for the least scathing comment. "Rarity, you look like a windchime."
Applejack let out a cough that sounded like, "Told ya."
Pinkie took a bite out of her cotton candy. "I still say she looks like a hippy."
Rarity wore a glittering beige jacket with metal chimes dangling from the arms. There were more around the hem and decorating the boots. The jacket covered a white shirt and purple skirt. Around her head was a band that matched the jacket. Rarity stuck her nose in the air. "I needed something that would stand out and get people to notice. 'That's so unique! Wherever did you get it?' Why, darling, it's a Rarity original."
Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. "As long as it doesn't impede your playing, I don't care what you wear."
"I'm glad you said that, because I have outfits for everyone!"
Applejack let out a long, agonized sigh but said nothing. Upon Rarity's reveal of everyone's outfits, Rainbow spoke up, holding her dress aloft.
"Rarity, I can't wear this. It's not nearly cool enough."
"But, Rainbow, it fits you to a T. Besides, it goes great with our Wondercolt accessories!" She pulled out a pair of Wondercolt ears and tails. "We're singing 'Shake Your Tail' after all."
"You still have those?" Sunset asked, remembering the flash mob led by Princess Twilight.
"Of course! Just in case the school needs a little bit of spirit!" She jumped and waved her hands.
"I get you're trying to promote your business," Rainbow said, "but don't you think you should have run this by the band leader first?"
"Sunset said it was okay."
Rainbow scrunched her nose. "I meant me!"
Pinkie took another bite of her candy. "I thought Sunset was the leader?"
"She doesn't even play an instrument!"
"No, but this whole thing was her idea," Applejack said.
Rainbow gestured to her guitar case. "Yeah, but I play lead guitar and I'm lead vocals. Plus, I wrote most our songs."
Fluttershy crossed her arms and turned away. "I wrote songs too. We just barely play them."
"Girls, we're off topic now," Sunset said, moving her hands in a placating manner. "It doesn't really matter who the leader is. And if it helps Rarity out, just wear her costumes for one song. Come on, it's for a friend."
Rainbow shoved her hands in her pockets and looked skyward. "Fine. For a friend."
"Besides, it'll be fun dressing up again!" Pinkie said. She put her mouth around the remaining cotton candy and swallowed it whole.
Sunset reeled back. "Right. You girls get dressed. I'm going to go look for Twilight again." She didn't get far in her search. Upon returning to the main event area, Sunset found the first band had begun playing, or at least, they were attempting to.
A boy playing a saxophone furrowed his brow each time he blew his instrument only for bubbles to float out instead of music. He gave it a vigorous shake and tried again, but to no avail. His bandmate on the keyboard didn't fare much better, hitting off keys every third note. By the confusion on her face, Sunset believed it was more than her just having a bad day.
Over on the middle stage, she could see the members of the next band frantically running back and forth searching for something. One of them looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Trixie, please tell me you haven't stooped this low.... Again.
A finger tapped her shoulder, and Sunset turned around, spirits further dampened on finding Flash with his hand held out. "All right, give them back," he said.
Sunset looked at his hand. "Give what back?"
"Stop playing dumb and just hand them over!"
She smacked his hand away. "The only thing I see you asking for is a knuckle sandwich!"
Flash balled his fist. "My guitar pick and the drum sticks. We had them fifteen minutes ago, and now they're gone."
Sunset crossed her arms. "And you think I took them?"
"Well gee, who else has a penchant for sabotaging others by any underhanded means she can think of?" Flash crossed his arms as well.
"Here's an idea: maybe you misplaced them."
"I know exactly where I left them, Sunset. Just give them back and maybe I won't tell the judges you tried to cheat."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "I don't need cheap tricks to beat you. Now, I suggest you keep moving before I lose my cool."
Flash stood firm. "You don't scare me, Shimmer." They stood their ground, neither flinching from the other's intense glare. The electricity between their eyes threatened to spark something much more explosive until Flash finally took a step back. "This isn't over."
She watched him go, easing up her scowl when he turned away. He's gonna move up to second on the list if this keeps up. She shoved her hands in her jacket pockets, and felt her fingers brush against something that shouldn't have been in there. She pulled out a blue guitar pick and resumed her scowl. Horse apples. Trixie, why?
After searching fruitlessly for Twilight for another twenty minutes, and seeing the second band have to forfeit because one member couldn't find her clarinet, Sunset returned to her friends once again, finding them all dressed up. She marched over to Fluttershy and put Flash's guitar pick in her hand.
"Find Flash and tell him you found it by the food court." She closed Fluttershy's palm around it and leaned forward. "Tell him you found it," she said carefully.
Fluttershy, now dressed in a green shirt and pink vest with a pink and blue double skirt, tilted her head. "Umm, sure. Why--"
"Just do it," Sunset said in a snippy tone she usually saved for Rainbow. Looking hurt, Fluttershy walked away, guitar pick in hand. Sunset made a mental note to apologize later.
Applejack stepped over. Rarity's outfit for her consisted of a simple orange dress with a wide skirt that ended above her knees, black pants, and brown boots with apple prints stitched into them. Her hair, was done up in two long pigtails.
Now that Sunset really looked at her, she didn't think Applejack had enough hair for pigtails of that length.
"Why did you have Flash's pick?" she asked, voice flat and eyes lidded.
"Trixie's making sabotage rounds." Sunset looked Applejack up and down, taking note of her hunched shoulders and bent knees. "You're having a great time, aren't you?"
"More fun than a hog in a mud bath," she said between her teeth.
Sunset jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Well, the second band had to quit early, so the middle stage is ready for set-up. Let's go." She looked over at Rainbow, trying to examine herself in the side-mirror of her car. "C'mon, Dash!"
Rainbow turned, showing off a blue and purple shirt with a large v-neck, purple plaid skirt, and fishnet leggings of all things. She tugged at the choker around her neck. "I can't tell if I love or hate this."
Rarity waved her arm, making her wind chimes jingle. "You look great, darling! It really puts together the 'rocker' look! Sunset, I made an outfit for you too!"
Sunset paused from picking up the amp. "Not that I don't appreciate it, Rarity, but I won't actually be on stage." She took one look at the puppy-dog eyes Rarity gave and yielded. "Sure, I'll--"
Rarity held the outfit out in front of Sunset before she could blink. "Here! I think it really brings out the yellow in your hair."
"Right." Sunset took the clothes, wary of the slightly manic look in Rarity's eye. She headed for the restrooms to change while her friends continued set-up. A few minutes later, Sunset joined them on the center stage wearing a sleeveless yellow blouse and a ruffled knee length skirt with wispy cloud patterns.
Oh, I get it. I'm the rising sun. Hah.
Rainbow tested her guitar chords, nodding as she made the correct adjustments. "All right, I know we haven't had the best week. But we're halfway to beating the Sirens and putting this all behind us. Another win today puts us in the finals, so let's just go out there, forget about our problems, and let the music do all the talking." She looked down at her outfit again. "Hopefully it'll say more than this," she muttered.
Pinkie bounced in her seat. "Go out there and have fun! I am totally down for this plan!"
"Good luck, girls," Sunset said, giving a thumbs up. "I'll be on the lookout for Trixie to make sure she doesn't try anything funny."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Come on, it's Trixie. She's a minor annoyance at best."
Not when there's more than her pride at stake. Sunset slipped onto the other side of the curtain and hopped off stage. The band from Crystal Prep was still playing, giving Sunset time to make a choice: hunt for Trixie, or hunt for Twilight. At this point, there was very little she could do to sway Twilight back to her side, so Sunset would have to leave it to fate. She could stop Trixie from interfering, however.
Like Twilight, Trixie proved hard to find. Sunset moved through the crowd, checked under the stands, and snuck around behind the stages, but couldn't find hat nor cape of Trixie. By the time Sunset returned to the main field, the Rainbooms had taken the stage and were ready to go.
"We've just got the day to get ready,
"And there's only so much time to lose.
"Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party,
"So let's think of something fun to do."
Sunset cupped her ears. It almost sounded like Rainbow's mike was going out. She disregarded the thought when Rarity's windchimes floated into the air, taking her arms along with them. Rarity's eyes filled with panic, and she struggled to bring her arms down to her keytar. Applejack furrowed her brow, glaring at Rarity like she was doing it on purpose.
For the love of the sun, Trixie! Sunset whipped around, trying to find the saboteur. Turning to her left, she finally saw Twilight and Moondancer make their way toward the other stage. Sunset flinched toward them on instinct, but turned the other way to keep searching for Trixie.
Whatever force was controlling Rarity began slowly dragging her away from her microphone. She stretched her neck forward to keep her voice heard as her part of the song came up. "Do your thing, erk, you know you're an original!" she grunted, sliding back.
"Your ideas are so funny that they're criminal." Applejack finally caught on that Rarity was not acting that way by choice, but could only watch confused as her friend flailed about.
Sunset spared a glance at the faces of the crowd goers. They certainly seemed interested, but not the least bit concerned over the happenings on stage. A single spotlight flashed upon Fluttershy, and she froze like a deer in headlights. She looked upon the crowd staring back at her, and for a moment, Sunset thought she might faint.
Fluttershy took a large step to the right, but the light followed her. She stepped again, then stepped to the other side while trying to find her rhythm again, but the light proved persistent. Finally, she dove for cover behind Pinkie, her tambourine barely audible over the drums.
As she weaved through the crowd, Sunset finally caught sight of Trixie hiding behind a crate of supplies in between two of the stages. Sunset balled her fists and ran around to the other side. Trixie's back was angled toward Sunset, her attention engrossed in the mayhem she was causing on stage. Her wand moved back and forth, dictating Rarity's actions and occasionally moving the light to try and shine on Fluttershy again.
"That's enough, Trixie!"
Trixie jumped, jerking her wand hand up. Rarity also leapt into the air before her arms were momentarily freed. "Go away, Sunset before Trixie jinxes you too!"
"Trixie, I know you want to win," Sunset said, trying her hardest to keep her voice calm, "but this isn't the way to do it. And you're sabotaging the one team trying to help you!"
"Not true. Trixie is sabotaging everyone." Trixie flicked her wand, and Rarity's arms flew into the air again. "This one just happens to be really easy. One magnet charm, and your friend is Trixie's marionette." She tried to give a haughty smirk, but the tips of her mouth came up forced.
"Trixie, I know you're scared--"
"Stop trying to empathize with Trixie! You don't know what I'm going through! Stop trying to be some stupid hero! This is my fight and I'll win it without your help!" Trixie flung her arms down, and a loud tearing sound could be heard from the stage. Sunset looked over to see Rarity's sleeves had been completely torn off, leaving her on the brink of tears. Trixie stowed her wand away and turned her nose up. "Good luck getting to the finals now." She shoved her way past Sunset and disappeared around the corner.
"Shake your tail, 'cause we're here to have a party tonight!" the girls finished, trying to sound as peppy as possible.
The curtains closed around the Rainbooms as their song ended, and Sunset hurried back on stage. "Are you girls okay?" Rarity ran past her, fully in tears.
"Define 'okay'," Rainbow said sullenly.
"Ah thought you said you would be keepin' an eye on Trixie?" Applejack said, pointing a finger at Sunset.
"Hey, I tried to stop her! I spent most of the song trying to find her!"
Pinkie stepped up to Sunset's side. "Besides, it's not Sunset's fault one of us spent most of the time running back and forth across the stage."
Fluttershy wilted. "I got scared."
"It was a light. A light!"
Rainbow slumped against one of the support beams. "Ugh, with a performance like that, it'll take a miracle for us to advance."
"We'll worry about that in a second," Sunset said. "I'm going to go check on Rarity."
"Ah'll go with you," Applejack said. They set out for the parking lot, finding Rarity curled inside her car with a blanket over her.
Sunset tapped on the window. "Rarity, it's us."
Rarity groped around until she hit the unlock button and allowed them to open up the door. "That was the most humiliating moment of my life," she said, keeping herself wrapped in the blanket. She briefly stuck her head out to give Applejack a sharp glare. "Thanks for the help by the way!"
Applejack huffed. "What'd you want me to do? Stop playing my part too? Two instruments missing and one off key, we'd never make it to the finals like that. We'll be lucky if we pull it off as is. Maybe next time, you'll wear something more practical."
Rarity fully emerged from her cocoon, eyes red and narrow. "My choice of clothing is not the problem here, Applejack! How was I supposed to know someone was going to bring a magnet to the fair?"
Sunset wedged herself between them and held a hand up before Applejack could respond. "She's right, Applejack. The only one to blame here..." Sunset sighed. "Is Trixie." And me, but I'll handle that later. She laid a hand on Rarity's shoulder. "I understand if you want to go home. I don't think there's much left here for any of us, really."
Rarity mulled it over before nodding. "I think a long bath would be nice after a day like today. I'll see you girls later."
They exited the car and allowed Rarity to finish composing herself before she drove off. Applejack turned her head back to the stages. "Today's been about as smooth as old bark on a tree."
"Where do you get these from?"
Applejack shrugged. "It's a gift."
"Return it." Sunset ignored Applejack's annoyed grunt and marched back to help the others finish take down. Flash Drive had taken the stage, with Flash having his guitar pick returned. His drummer had improvised by using two thin branches as drumsticks. Even so, as Sunset walked around the stage, she heard the unmistakable snap of a guitar string. Flash cursed but tried to continue playing like nothing happened.
Sunset admired his determination if nothing else. From the corner of her eye, she could see Rainbow wincing every time Flash missed or had to improvise a note.
The Rainbooms loaded their equipment up and gathered around Applejack's truck. "Ah say we get while the gettin's good," she said. "No sense stayin' around to see this trainwreck."
Sunset looked to the sun, steadily sinking to the horizon. "You're probably right. But I want to see if Twilight keeps her word or not."
"Ah hate to tell you this, sugarcube, but Ah'm pretty sure she's playin' for keeps, just like the rest of them."
Hearing it turned Sunset's stomach, but she knew Applejack was right. Still, even if Twilight was trying to distance herself from Sunset, Sunset still wanted to be there to watch Twilight play.
Applejack rolled her neck and sighed. "All right, Ah can already tell by that look in your eye you're gonna go anyway. Might as well tag along."
Rainbow groaned. "Yeah, fine. Guess I don't have anything better to do."
"Inspiring as always, Dash," Sunset deadpanned. Back at the stages, Twilight and Moondancer were prepping their act, while Flash was setting down. He locked eyes with Sunset, grabbed his guitar, and jumped off stage toward her.
As he approached, he held his guitar aloft. "Mind explaining this?"
"It's called a 'guitar'. I would think you knew all about them," Sunset said unable to help herself.
Flash's face began to turn red. "I meant the string!"
Sunset crossed her arms. "Boy, you're determined to blame me for your misfortunes, aren't you?"
"Because I know you caused them!"
"I'm not sabotaging you, Flash! In case you hadn't noticed, Rarity--the girl you've had puppy-dog eyes for recently--was just dangled around like a puppet! We're both being messed with!"
"Okay, by who then?"
Sunset bit her tongue. As much as she would have loved to get the heat off her, she couldn't sell Trixie down the river. "I don't know, but it's not me!" She found herself caught between Flash's skeptical lidded eyes and Applejack's questioning eyebrow.
Flash gripped the neck of his guitar. "You know what? It doesn't matter. We still put on a better performance than your band. Enjoy the view from the stands, 'cause that's where you'll be come next weekend." He stormed off, leaving a chill in his wake.
The tension broke upon a loud squeak that emanated from Moondancer's piano. Sunset turned, finding they had begun performing for the judges. Twilight kept her eyes closed and performed with every bit of grace and artistry Sunset had come to expect. Moondancer played equally as well, but every time she hit a certain key, a loud squeak sounded from within the piano. Her eyes flew open as it happened a third time, then a fourth. Upon the fifth, she slammed her hands against the keys, the squeak mixing in with the dissonant noise. She willed Twilight to slide off the top, then propped it open and reached inside.
From within, Moondancer pulled out a rubber duck. She stared at it, long and hard, her expression blank. "Hilarious."
Pinkie thought so. She laid on her back, holding her sides while she laughed up a storm. Sunset gave her a sharp kick when Moondancer and Twilight looked down at them.
Moondancer flung the duck into the crowd. "May we start again?" she asked in her sweetest voice.
"I think we can allow that," Cadence said.
Twilight took her place atop the piano again, and her and Moondancer began their duet anew. Twilight still refused to look at her friends, and played with no intention of losing. But as the song progressed, her notes slowly fell out of tune. Sunset focused on the violin pegs, and could see them slowly turning. Twilight played through, teeth clenched as she redoubled her efforts to keep her music sounding perfect.
Thankfully, the song ended before she could fall completely flat. Cadence cringed as she wrote something down. "That was... good, girls." She and the Dazzlings stood and moved onto the next band.
Twilight set her violin aside and made her way down to the grass. Mouth thin, eyes narrowed, she marched straight toward Sunset, stopping when there was only a foot between them. She crossed her arms and tapped her shoe against the ground.
"Oh no, I know what you're thinking," Sunset said. "We did not put that duck in Moondancer's piano."
"But it was pretty funny," Pinkie said.
"Not helping!"
Twilight kept her eyes locked with Sunset's. "I'm just finding it very convenient that after you told me to throw the match, Moondancer and I run into a set of complications."
Sunset shook her head. "You can't seriously think I'd stoop this low and sabotage you of all people?"
"Well, I know you've resorted to underhanded tricks in the past, so I wouldn't put it past you," Twilight said heatedly.
The barb struck Sunset through the heart, and she staggered back. "Of all the people I thought would have believed me," she whispered. "Twilight, you know me better than that."
"I also know how badly you want to win."
"Yeah, for all the right reasons," Sunset said, starting to raise her voice. "You know that. Why are you trying so hard to win?"
"To prove to you I can handle myself! You seem to trust everyone else but me!"
"Well, I trusted you to throw the match here, and look how that went!"
Twilight balled her fists. "See? That's all I am to you! A tool to help get what you want! Well not this time! Trust me when I say, Moondancer and I are going to win, even with your cheats!"
"We didn't cheat, but now I'm starting to wish I had!" Sunset yelled, her cheeks splotchy. "Go ahead and try to win!" She lowered her voice to a challenging whisper. "I'd love to see how you fight off the Sirens."
Twilight let out a scream of frustration and stormed off, but not before a hint of green flashed across her eyes. Sunset watched her go, a sickening cold quickly replacing the furious heat that had burned through her.
Moondancer stepped off the stage and stood by her ear. "Remember when I said you would screw things up on your own?" she asked, voice filled with smug satisfaction. "Well, this is that moment. And you performed wonderfully!"
The furious heat returned with a vengeance, and a sound came from Sunset's throat that she couldn't quite identify. It sounded like a fire-spitting cat, but she was too busy lunging at Moondancer, nails aimed for the girl's throat, to notice.
Applejack sprung forward and got Sunset into a full-nelson just as Moondancer jumped back. "No, Sunset, she's not worth it!" Applejack yelled in her ear.
Sunset heard, but it didn't register. "Let me go! Just give me ten seconds and I'll rearrange her pretty face!" If there was any consolation, it was that Moondancer had at least looked scared for a brief moment. Her victorious smirk returned until she hid it behind a hand and walked away, tittering softly, a green light in her eyes as well.
Applejack didn't let Sunset go until Moondancer was well out of sight. When she was finally released, Sunset fell to the ground, feeling numb and frozen from the inside out. The tears fell on their own, the only release she could give without screaming to the sky.
She wanted to slap sense into Twilight. She wanted to dropkick Moondancer into next week. She wanted to bury the Sirens ten feet underground.
But with her friends arms wrapped around her, Sunset knew all she needed right now was their support. It was all she had left. |
Spectacular Seven | 18. Winners and Losers | They weren't broken up; Sunset refused to believe that. She and Twilight were just taking a short break due to magical influences. Influences Sunset planned to beat into submission if she ever got the chance.
The rest of her weekend had been quiet thanks to Rarity and Applejack still being punished. Sunset's phone sat quiet on top of her notebook for the spell. She stared at them both, waiting for either one of her friends or Twilight to call, or for inspiration to strike.
Neither happened.
I suppose it won't matter if we don't make it to the finals. Monday couldn't come fast enough, and in that anticipation, the weekend dragged on as long as it could. Sunset's nights were filled with dreams absent of Twilight and filled with a trio of laughter and occasionally a scarlet inferno.
When she awoke at six o'clock on Monday, it was in a cold sweat. Realizing the day had changed, Sunset booted up her computer and navigated to the Battle of the Bands website. Heart pounding in fear and anticipation, she looked for the semi-final results.
Three names appeared in the final's brackets: Moonlight Requiem, Trixie and the Illusions, and The Rainbooms. Sunset clapped a hand over her mouth to stop from screaming. They still had a chance! Their fight wasn't over yet!
Her spirits plummeted when her eyes grazed across her notebook. She now only had a week to rewrite the song and finish the counterspell. All that time wasted. Every wrong note and stupid line.
It's okay! You work well under pressure! You can do this! She wouldn't fail, not after all the hard work her friends had done!
Her surge of confidence only lasted until she reached school. Before she walked through the front doors, she felt the eyes of suspicion and doubt lock onto her. It only intensified when she entered the rotunda. Everyone briefly paused to make scrupulous faces at her before walking away.
They already know who moved on. Sunset clenched her fist. And they think I cheated! Sunset stomped to her locker. "You know what, it doesn't matter," she said to herself. "They can think what they like. We got there on our own, even with Trixie's meddling." She traded her backpack for a textbook and continued her stomp to class, pausing when Flash came into view at an intersection. They locked eyes for a moment, and Sunset could almost taste the waves of hatred pouring off of him. Flash squared his shoulders and kept walking, keeping his head down.
Sunset sighed. "Sorry, Flash. Maybe you'll thank me someday." Class went by at a snail's pace, and Sunset could hear all the unsavory rumors about her and the Rainbooms while she and Rarity did their group work. Neither of them paid it too much heed. Rarity shared Sunset's mentality; they had made it to the finals, that's all that mattered.
In fact, despite having the cynicism of the entire school upon them, practice held a steady, upbeat tone. Smiles and compliments were passed around, and it almost felt like things were back to normal.
"One more match, girls!" Rainbow said, punching a fist into the air. "We can do this! Then we'll send those Sirens packing back to their island where they belong!"
A collective cheer rolled through the factory, and the girls broke into song. Sunset nodded along, a warm flicker stirring in her heart. She scribbled a line in the notebook. That's it. One line at a time.
"So, I guess our partnership is about to come to an end." Lamia slid up to Sunset and leaned against the wall.
"Looks like it," Sunset said, relishing the thought.
"Well there's no need to sound so excited about it. I might get the impression you don't like me."
Sunset lifted her eyes from the book. "You are fifth on the list of people I hate right now. Granted, that's only because I'm counting the Sirens as one person, but the point still stands."
"Harsh. Well, come this weekend, I'll be rich and out of your hair." She looked over Sunset's shoulder. "How's that deus ex machina coming along?"
Sunset snapped it shut. "Just fine, thanks for asking. While you're off making a profit from a stolen magical artifact, we'll be saving the world."
Lamia shrugged and pushed off the wall. "Like I said, we can't all be heroes. Have fun saving the people who hate you."
Sunset rapidly clicked the button on her pen. I hope that snake bites her someday. Huh, this is a new form of self-hate.
The Rainbooms finished their set, but still hadn't ponied up. There had been a few sparkles and light glows, but nothing more. Sunset still considered it a step in the right direction.
Rainbow took a seat on an empty crate. "So when we win, what are we going to spend the prize money on?"
"Whatever you guys want," Sunset said. The prize money had been the furthest thing from her mind. Thinking on it now, she supposed it would be a great financial boon. Then she remembered she had no bank account and would be forced to carry around hundreds of dollars in cash.
"We could have one heck of a party with that kind of moola," Pinkie said, spreading her fingers. "Think about it! Fancy location, full catering, super awesome decorations!" She gasped. "A bounce house! We could get a bounce house! With a slide!"
"Personally, I'd like a weekend spa trip with all the accommodations," Rarity said with a dreamy sigh. "Deep tissue massage, mud bath, facials, seaweed wraps."
"Or, we could be practical and put that money away for our futures," Applejack said.
Pinkie pretended to think it over. "Nah, party sounds better."
"I say we use the money to record an album, go platinum, and become superstars!" Rainbow said.
Applejack gave a definitive shake of her head. "You can go start your solo career if you want. After this, Ah'm done with pop bands. The only instrument Ah'll be playing is my banjo." She glared at Sunset as she said it.
Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "I'll be glad when we don't have to play anymore. I don't like being on stage."
"Gee, I wouldn't have guessed by the way you were playing hide-n-seek on Saturday," Pinkie said with a bite. "I was hoping being in a band would be fun, and so far, it's been kinda disappointing, so sorry, Dashie but you can count me out."
Rarity huffed. "So sorry this didn't live up to your expectations, Pinkie. We've been a little busy stopping everyone from turning into brainwashed zombies!"
Sunset stood and clapped her hands. "Okay, I think we're good for today! Let's pack it up and try some more tomorrow!" The looks of frustration in her friend's eyes gave her dangerous flashbacks to the week before the Winter Ball.
Indeed, clean up was tense and silent, the elation from before completely evaporated. Sunset bade the girls farewell and got half-hearted returns. As she rode home, her thoughts turned to Trixie. Sunset hadn't told Selena of Trixie's saboteuring and wondered which was worse: keeping it a secret or ratting her out? On one hand, there was a chance Selena could talk sense into her. On the other, it could sully Trixie's feelings for Sunset further.
If they wanted to win, Sunset couldn't afford any more underhanded tricks. And Trixie already didn't like her. But, Sunset remembered the fear in Trixie's eyes, a fear that hadn't been there before. Concern and anxiety maybe, but not terror. Would telling Selena just push her into a corner and force her to act out?
Sunset arrived home and walked through the front door, scooping up Spot as he ran toward her. She nuzzled him all the way up to Trixie's door, then set him down and knocked. "Trixie?"
A beat. Then, "What?"
"I just want to talk."
"Trixie doesn't want to talk to you."
Sunset leaned on the doorframe. "Trixie, tell me what's wrong. I know there's something else going on."
"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. It's none of your business."
"Trixie, I just want to help," Sunset said, too tired to be annoyed with Trixie's flippant attitude. "Is there anything me or your mom can do?"
"No, there isn't!" Sunset heard Trixie's voice crack. "Now go away!"
Sunset lingered for a moment. "Okay. But if you want to talk, you know where I am." She waited for any response. When none came, Sunset returned to her room. Before she closed the door, she was sure she heard a sniffle from down the hall.
*******
Come Tuesday, Sunset's brief sense of victory had been completely extinguished. Even within their shared classes, Twilight refused to speak or even look in Sunset's direction. She took a different lab partner during chemistry and sat on the opposite side of the room for economics and trigonometry.
Band practice ran more smoothly than school, but still had its speed bumps; side comments and small barbs made against one another. Lamia's usual snark didn't help either.
Sunset poured every second of her free time into making the counterspell perfect. With each passing day, her heart clenched tighter, and she found herself pulling harder and harder on her hair. Time loomed over her, it's indomitable shadow shaping itself to look like the Sirens.
She scribbled and scratched, sketched and erased, filled page after page of her notebook with half-finished ideas and sappy lyrics about friendship.
"See? In the end, you haven't learned anything," her reflection taunted her while she laid on her bed Wednesday evening.
Sunset kept the notebook clutched to her chest. "I can do this. I can do this."
"No you can't. You're powerless. You had one job and you couldn't even do that right."
"I can do this. I can do this."
"Look at everything you've already lost. Look at how far you've fallen. Artemis, Twilight, and soon, all your friends will be gone."
"I can do this. I can do this."
"If you gave in again... if you reclaimed the fire right here in your heart..."
Sunset forced her eyes closed. "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this," she repeated until sleep overtook her.
She stood in the center of a stadium, the crowd cheering wildly. In front of her were the Sirens, towering like colossi.
Adagio opened her mouth and let loose an ear-piercing caterwaul that knocked Sunset off her feet. She rolled across the stage, stopping at the back of Rainbow's legs.
Sunset got up to see all of her friends walking away, heads bowed in defeat, instruments destroyed. "Girls, wait!"
Applejack looked back at her with scornful eyes. "Thanks for nothing, Sunset."
Sunset yelped and dropped the notebook she had been holding, now smothered in flames. She spun around to see the Sirens stalking forward with sharp-toothed smiles.
"You can still win."
Sunset clutched at her heart, burning hotter and more wildly than the notebook at her side. The heat coursed through her veins until she thought it might incinerate her from the inside out.
"Just give in!"
She cried out in pain, and at her shout, the Sirens started to withdraw. Dragging her hand from her chest, Sunset saw it dyed bloody red and curled into claws instead of fingers. Her hand rose, palm toward the cowering Sirens. Sunset's pained yell became malicious laughter, and a scarlet inferno tore across the stadium, and drowned the Sirens in a hellish blaze.
"No!" Sunset started awake, sweat pouring down her face. Spot jumped off her stomach and pressed against her neck, whining softly. Sunset sat up and took in quivering breaths of air. "It's... it's okay, buddy." She set him in her lap and stroked his fur. "It's gonna be okay."
Princess Twilight sat on her nightstand, completely silent.
*******
Though the finals were on Friday, Sunset couldn't stand another day in Lamia's presence, so with only three bands left, she snagged the music room for Thursday's practice. The school day leading up to it dragged on slowly, time seeing fit to nearly come to a standstill while Sunset shared a room with Twilight.
Sunset would have gone through her entire penance again if it meant Twilight would talk to her, ask her about magic, scold her whenever Sunset became too abrasive.
Goosebumps ran across her body as she thought about their dividing argument on Saturday. Had she just been using Twilight to further her own goals? Had Flash been right all along?
But Twilight volunteered to drop out of the competition. That's on her, right? But then, what of trust? Did Sunset not trust Twilight with more dangerous roles? She strangled her pencil. I trust her! We're just dealing with magical forces she has no defense against! She's spinning this back on me like it's my fault! I've been trying to keep her safe! Sunset eased her grip and took a breath. She's not in her right mind. Don't blame her.
From her seat in the back of the class, Sunset had a perfect view of the back of Twilight's head. Sunset dropped her chin onto her desk and sighed again. Their picnic seemed so long ago, done by another version of themselves. Shifting a little, she felt something poke her just above her cleavage. She reached into her shirt and pulled out her cutie mark necklace given to her by Trixie at Christmas. Putting it on had become such a daily routine, sometimes Sunset forgot it was even there.
She held it in her palm, smiling at the perfect likeness, the red and gold chasing each other in an eternal dance of duality. It was funny. After all these years, she still wasn't quite sure what her cutie mark meant. But just looking at it gave her hope. It flickered and sputtered, but Sunset clung to it.
School let out, and the Rainboom's final jam session began back where it all started. The girls positioned themselves on the bandstand with Rainbow at the front, tuning her guitar.
"So, any particular reason we're here instead of the factory?"
Sunset made an innocent shrug. "I thought we could use a change of scenery."
Everyone raised an unconvinced eyebrow at her..
Either we've been friends way too long, or I've really lost my touch at lying. "Okay, I got sick of Shimmer and her smug attitude."
"You mean your smug attitude?" Rainbow said with a smirk.
"Dash, stop trying to make it onto the list of people I hate."
"All right, no more of that," Applejack said. "What are we gonna play tomorrow?"
"'Awesome as I Wanna Be'!" Rainbow said automatically. Everyone groaned. "Come on! We haven't played it at the fair yet, and it's the next song we've practiced the most."
Sunset opened her mouth to protest, but realized Rainbow had a point. Now would be a really good time to finish that counterspell. "Yeah, fine, indulge her ego one more time. We're never singing it again after this."
"Hey, you'll thank me when this song gets my band--"
"Our band!"
"--to win the finals."
Sunset made herself comfortable in the corner. "Just shut up and start playing."
*******
Moondancer exited the theater department and hurried down the hall, not wanting to keep Twilight or the limo waiting. Since the Rainbooms had managed to snake their way into the band room today, she and her precious flower had to go back to the manor to practice.
I suppose there are worse fates. She smiled, bemused by her own humors. Yes, this week had almost been perfect. She had Twilight all to herself, just like years past. They had joked and laughed and read and played, and it filled Moondancer's heart until she thought it fit to burst. The only thing that marred it was...
She curled her fingers at her side. Even with a chasm between them, Twilight still turned her eyes for Sunset. She would speak nothing of the fiery-haired harpy, but Moondancer could see the desire in Twilight's poise, and at the furthest point of her absent stares.
Moondancer stopped and breathed, keeping herself collected. Hers was a jealousy that Othello would find troubling. But she could not help it. Twilight: pure, gentle, with an intellect that put all others to shame. Sunset: wild, temperamental, with a dark aura that made Moondancer's skin crawl. Yet Twilight drew to her like a butterfly to sweet nectar.
I know not what foul spell you've cast that I cannot break, Sunset Shimmer, but I will have my due. One more victory should serve as a coup d'etat to your foul game, then I can move on to what really matters. Her mouth curled into a frown as she remembered Sunset's verbal flaying from last week. I'll consider your loss tomorrow recompense for your words. Though I will admit... it was a well-worth monologue. You have my reluctant applause.
Her walk took her past the music room, where she paused out of curiosity and peeked through the window. She thanked the moon the room was sound proof, as she could see Rainbow Dash wailing away on her guitar, no doubt making obstreperous noise that would wake Hades. Moondancer turned to go, sickened by the very thought of Rainbow Dash's 'contribution' to the musical arts, when the guitarist began to glow. Moondancer snapped her head back, seeing wings sprout from Rainbow's back and pony ears pop out from under her elongated hair. The rest of the girls glowed in a similar manner, but none of them underwent the same transformation. Sunset walked into view with a content smile. She spoke to Rainbow, who proceeded to make a loop in the air with her newfound wings.
Moondancer stepped away from the door. New scenarios and possibilities wrote themselves within her mind. She folded her hands in front of her and continued her walk.
"Interesting, and... quite curious."
*******
It was a very small crowd that greeted the last bands after school on Friday. With all three bands coming from Canterlot High, it left little room for diversity. Pinkie's sisters sat in the stands not too far away from Night Light and Shining. Anyone else's family either wouldn't or couldn't come.
Each band got a stage all to themselves. The Rainbooms had the center stage and would be the last to perform that night. Sunset paced behind the curtain, chewing the top of her pen. "This is it," she said between nibbles.
"Yeah, that's the eighth time you've reminded us," Rainbow said irritably. "Quit pacing and sit down somewhere; you're making me nervous."
Sunset found a chair to collapse in and bounced her leg up and down. "Sorry, I can't help it. We got this far, but what if it all goes wrong tonight?"
Applejack gave the best confident smile she could muster, though Sunset could see the strain in it. "It won't. We'll win the finals, beat the Sirens, and put this whole mess behind us."
"Right." Sunset clutched her necklace. "We can do this."
On the stage to their left, Sunset heard Trixie pouring her heart and soul into her last song. Sunset got up from her chair and stuck her head out from the curtain to watch. Trixie took center stage, wearing a purple dress with a yellow belt embedded with a blue jewel, and yellow boots Rarity had gagged at. Her hat and cape fluttered in the breeze, the stars glowing under the stage lights.
"Ya better believe,
"I got tricks up my sleeve.
"See me dominate,
"'Cause I'm powerful and grea-ea-eat."
She looked right at the Dazzlings, eyes inflamed with passion.
"I'm here to take you down a peg!
"Oh, whoa, oh-whoa-oh-whoa-oh-oh.
"By the time I'm done, you're gonna beg!
"Oh, whoa, oh-whoa-oh-whoa-oh-oh."
Trixie looked over to Sunset now, her smile haughty as she swayed back and forth.
"To be in my band, application rejected!"
"Rejected," her bandmates chorused.
"Don't look so sad and so dejected," Trixie sang in a babying voice.
Sunset pulled her head back. Well, she brought her A game today. Though she's not exactly being subtle. Sunset swallowed a lump in her throat. I hope the Sirens don't see the family resemblance. Someone grabbed her by the collar and dragged her back to the chair.
"Sit," Rainbow commanded.
Sunset squirmed but did as she was told, at least until she heard Twilight's violin from the other stage. She sprung up and ran back to the curtain, Rainbow facepalming in the meantime.
Moondancer and Twilight played flawlessly, uninterrupted by any of Trixie's tricks. Even with just the two of them, Twilight kept her eyes closed, lost in her own world of heavenly music.
Their last duet was a long one, soft and slow, packed with sorrowful emotion until the last minute when they sped up, almost racing each other to the end of the song. Twilight ended with a flourish, and despite everything that had happened between them, Sunset found herself clapping with the tiny crowd.
She retreated behind the curtain again as the judges drew near. "Okay. This is it. I have complete faith in you girls!"
Rainbow picked up her guitar. "Sunset calm down. We got this."
Sunset breathed. "Right. Yeah. I'll just be over here. Good luck." She carried herself over to the side as the curtains parted.
"And last but not least, the Rainbooms," Adagio said with a purr. "I hope you can give us a showstopping performance."
"Count on it," Rainbow said. She gave a nod to the others.
Pinkie gave a quick, unenthusiastic sigh, then perked up and counted them off.
"Hey! hey! hey! hey! hey! hey!
"Awesome as I wanna be!"
Sunset gripped one of the support rails. We should have picked a different song.
"First you see me riding on a sonic boom.
"Got my guitar shreddin' up my latest tune.
"There is nothin' you can do to beat me.
"I'm so good that you can't defeat me!"
Sunset looked out to the judges. Aria didn't look impressed, and Adagio was impossible to read. Sonata bobbed her head along in delight, but as Sunset had seen throughout the competition, she liked just about everything.
"I'm awesome! Take caution!
"Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be!"
Rainbow's wild playing aside, the rest of the girls struggled to look inspired. Pinkie forced a smile the entire time, and Fluttershy kept a thin mask of disappointment while she shook her tambourine. Sunset saw their moods dip further south when Rainbow entered her guitar solo.
What was I thinking when I said we could play this song for the finals? Sunset's eyes widened to saucers as she witnessed a blue glow surround Rainbow, and sparkles manifest themselves around her head and back. No, no, no, no! A slew of profanities flew through one half of Sunset's mind while the other searched for a solution to the looming tragedy. She looked behind her, and gave the chair she had been sitting in a hard kick.
The noise made Fluttershy jump, but Rainbow was still lost in her own world. The blue aura intensified, and any second now, Rainbow's pony features would burst forth and their entire plan would be ruined. Sunset pulled at her cheeks. There was no time to close the curtains, no time to find a big enough distraction, no time to do anything except...
Sunset broke into a sprint, preemptively regretting the next ten seconds of her life. She ran onto the stage, turned to her side, and shoulder tackled Rainbow to the floor. The song came to a crashing halt, Rainbow's guitar smacking against the stage and sliding from Rainbow's hand. The crowd gasped, and Sunset heard a few gales of laughter. She didn't look up, choosing to believe none of them came from Twilight.
"Sunset, what the actual hell?" Rainbow yelled in her ear.
"Uhh... there was a spider on your back?" Sunset tried to look guilty in front of the judges. It proved easy with all of her friends glaring at her. Rainbow threw Sunset off and stood up to grab her guitar and make sure it hadn't been damaged.
Cadence cleared her throat. "Well... nice job, girls. I think we've heard enough."
Sunset continued to lay where she had fallen. This was it. Their gambit was over. All she could do now was hope Trixie won and somehow pulled a miracle out of her pocket.
"Nice performance, Raingoons."
Speak of the devil. Sunset turned her head and saw Trixie leaning against the stage.
"I especially loved the part where you sabotaged your own friends, Sunset."
Sunset smashed her teeth together, then screamed to the sky, "I haven't sabotaged anyone!" It at least got Trixie to back up a foot. Sunset took that as her chance to get up and join the others backstage in a very cold reception.
"Mind explainin' what happened out there?" Applejack asked, crossing her arms.
"Rainbow was about to pony up! I panicked!" Sunset threw her arms in the air. "What did you want me to do?"
"Give us a signal?" Rarity offered. "Throw something at her? Unplug her microphone? Anything other than that?"
"I'm sorry, did you miss the word 'panic' in that last sentence?"
Rainbow snapped her guitar case shut. "Well thanks to your 'panic' we can kiss everything we know and love goodbye. Thanks a lot, Sunset."
Sunset curled her fists and hunched her shoulders. "Maybe this wouldn't have happened if you weren't such a narcissist!"
Rainbow stepped over and got in Sunset's face. "Hey, at least I have some self-confidence, unlike you! 'Oh boo-hoo, woah is me! I turned into a raging she-demon so I'm going to sit in the corner for the rest of my life!'"
Sunset drew her fist back, but Applejack grabbed her arm before it came forward. "Sunset, will ya quit tryin' to pick fights with everyone!"
"Everyone's trying to pick a fight with me!"
"Attention, everyone!" Adagio called over the mic. "We have the winners of the first Battle of the Bands!"
Applejack let go of Sunset's arm. As a group, they rushed to the edge of the stage, standing over the other bands and the judges. The air stilled as everyone waited on baited breath.
"This year's winner, the best band in Canterlot is..."
This is it. Sunset inhaled a nauseating breath. Do or die. And she was almost positive they were dead.
Adagio pointed a finger at the center stage. "The Rainbooms!"
"What?" Twilight yelled.
"Impossible!" Trixie said with equal volume, tears already in her eyes.
Moondancer stood with her mouth hanging open for a moment before remembering her dignity and turning away with a pout.
The Rainbooms looked to one another, stricken by confusion and disbelief. Sunset knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this defied all explanation. They had won? Even after her mid-song tackle of Rainbow? Their plan was still alive?
"Congratulations, Rainbooms," Adagio continued, either oblivious to their confusion or reveling in it. "You'll get to perform in front of Canterlot and the entire world live on Sunday as our opening act!" She swung a reaching arm out. "And all the bands that participated will get free tickets to the show!"
Said bands gave no response.
Adagio just continued to smile. "We can't wait to see you come Sunday! It'll be a show to remember!" She cackled as she walked away with her sisters in tow, leaving the crowd to turn to the Rainbooms. Sunset looked down on them and saw nothing but contempt for the Rainboom's ill-earned victory.
Twilight marched away, glasses fogged to the point where Moondancer had to guide her. Trixie had vanished completely, leaving her band mates to clean up the rest of their equipment. The crowd slowly dispersed into the settling evening, leaving the Rainbooms on stage to ponder their fortunes.
One by one, they walked back to finish putting their instruments away. Rainbow sat her guitar case upright and leaned on it. "We won," she said, dazed.
"Yeah," Applejack said with an absent nod.
Fluttershy sighed. "This doesn't feel like a victory."
"It isn't," Sunset said. She kept a distance from the others. "They saw an opportunity to create even more anger and resentment: give the victory to the one band who deserved it the least."
After a beat, Pinkie asked, "So, what do we do now?"
Sunset picked her notebook up. "They were dumb enough to let us win. So now, let's finish this once and for all." They weren't quite the harmonious smiles she had been looking for, but her friend's expressions told her they were ready for a showdown.
*******
Trixie had beat Sunset home, ran upstairs, and locked her door. Sunset found Selena in the kitchen, bags starting to appear under her eyes. She sipped her mug of tea, then said, "I can take a guess that Trixie didn't win, so please tell me it was you."
Sunset nodded. "It wasn't the most conventional win, but we did it."
Selena breathed a sigh of relief. "Then all we need is a plan for the big event. Even if the Sirens don't suspect anything, they'll still try whatever they can to get as much negative energy as possible." She gave Sunset a look of sympathy only a mother could know. "But first, you should get some sleep. You look exhausted."
Sunset shook her head. "I'll sleep better when this is all over. Besides, I'm not the only one who needs rest." For a moment, Sunset thought she might have crossed a line with the sharp look Selena gave her.
A second later, Selena cracked a tired smile. "You're right. This hasn't been easy for any of us." She looked over to her sword leaning against the wall. "But I intend to help put an end to this and bring my family back together." She focused her attention back to Sunset. "At least go wash up. Hot water is good for clearing the mind."
There was little point in arguing. Besides, Sunset never said no to a hot shower. She headed upstairs, Spot at her heels. As she sifted through her drawers to find pajamas to change into, she heard a soft knock at the door. She turned and stared at Trixie in the threshold, holding herself so tightly, Sunset was afraid any sudden movement might break her.
Trixie looked at Sunset, not with contempt or disdain. Her purple eyes held only heartbreak. "Trixie..." She cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "I... I just... You won, so..."
Sunset took a step forward, and as she suspected, Trixie slowly crumpled, sliding down to her knees, face wet with tears. Sunset joined her on the floor while Spot settled in her lap. Trixie pressed her face into Sunset's shoulder and let out a slow sob.
"Please... I just want him back."
Sunset wrapped her arms around Trixie. "Don't worry. I promise, we'll bring Artemis home." |
Spectacular Seven | Showdown in Canterlot I: All Heart of the Plan | Sunset, Selena, and Trixie sat at the dining room table, a map of Canterlot Coliseum laid out in front of them. After an hour of comforting Trixie, and a quick shower, everyone was ready for their war council. A small X was drawn on one of the corridors that ran under the stadium.
Selena tapped her finger on it. "We know Artemis was last here. Fingers crossed that he hasn't moved, but odds are, the Sirens will want every last drop of misery in one location."
Trixie tapped her fingers together, keeping herself tucked as tightly as she could. "A-actually, Mom... I have something I should tell you."
"What is it?"
"I..." The tears started falling again. "They... they made me sabotage the other bands," Trixie said, her voice cracking from the strain of holding her cries back. "They s-said if I did, they'd keep him alive and-and give me a chance to save him."
Selena moved over and wrapped Trixie in a tight hug. She ran a hand through her daughter's hair and gently shushed her. "It's okay, sweetheart. It's gonna be okay."
"I'm s-sorry. I couldn't tell you, or they'd... I'm sorry."
Sunset eased back in her chair. The look of fear that replaced the normal stubborn and haughty look in Trixie's eyes now made perfect sense. And as much turmoil Trixie had caused, Sunset couldn't fault her for it. The blame rested solely with the Sirens.
Sunset played with her fingers. Well, since we're being honest. "I have something to say as well."
Trixie and Selena looked over to her. "What's wrong, Sunset?" Selena asked.
"I..." Sunset bit her lip. Come on, we're already halfway there. Still, she was attempting a huge gamble, not just with her future, but with her friends' as well. But just talking about it won't hurt them, right? She stopped overthinking it; her mind was made up. "Remember how the Crystal Heart was stolen by a thief named Lamia?"
Selena gave a wary nod of her head. "Yes?"
"Well... I may kinda know who and where she is."
Trixie gaped at her. "What? You met Lamia?"
Sunset sank lower into her chair. "'Met' is an understatement. Lamia is... well, she's me. At least, the human version of me. You know, from this world."
Selena and Trixie stared blankly at her for several seconds. "Artemis would get a kick out of this," Selena said. She rubbed the bags under her eyes. "All right, perhaps you should start from the top."
So, Sunset recounted her encounter with Lamia, the odd phenomena that occurred with they touched, and how Sunset had stumbled on her secret and what would happen if she said anything. It felt like releasing air out of an overinflated balloon in her chest. While it was still pretty full, Sunset felt like she could breathe a little better.
A contemplative silence filled the room after she finished talking. She looked down at her feet, waiting for either Lulamoon to speak.
"Okay." Selena rubbed her eyes again. "Are there any other secrets either of you would like to reveal?"
Trixie and Sunset shared a look. "No."
"I think that's everything."
"Good." Moving back to her seat, Selena said, "So, we know who has the Heart. Getting it back would be tricky if we don't want this Lamia to retaliate. On one hand, the concert is the day after tomorrow, so it's a slim chance the Sirens will get their hands on it." Selena raised her other hand. "But, supposedly, she's getting rid of the heart sometime this weekend."
"Maybe even tonight," Sunset said.
"And I'd hate to lose the Heart to some random black market dealers. Who knows where it could end up."
Trixie held her hands up. "Where else could it go that would be worse than the Sirens?"
Selena stared at the map, unresponsive to Trixie's question. Before Sunset vocalized her building curiosity, Selena said, "Regardless of who could get it, I think it would be important to keep track of a powerful magical artifact like that."
"So what do we do?" Sunset asked.
"Let me worry about the Heart." Selena tapped the map. "I want you to focus on Sunday. Your job, Sunset, is fairly simple. You get your friends to go up there and play the counterspell to break the hold over everyone. Mine and Trixie's job is to find Artemis and release him. Then, between your performance and theirs, we have to sneak in and use the pocket dimension to seal them in Artemis' hat."
Sunset leaned to one side. "Won't everyone be a little suspicious if the Sirens don't show?"
"The spell should be broken, so they won't care much beyond general curiosity. And it's better we take care of them behind the scenes than on the stage."
At this point, Sunset couldn't bring herself to care too much about the details. They had a plan, and while Sunset could see various ways it could go wrong, it was better than nothing. They had been relying on luck and chance all month; it wouldn't hurt to rely on a little more. All Sunset needed to do was...
Selena stood from her chair. "That's the general gist of it anyways. We can iron out a few more of the details tomorrow with your friends. In the meantime, how about dinner?"
Sunset's stomach rumbled in agreement. Now that she wasn't filled up on tension and anxiety, she realized she hadn't eaten in almost eight hours. She happily devoured the pasta Selena made, sharing the dinner table with Trixie for the first time since the competition had begun. It was a quiet meal, still tense with anticipation for what was to come, but Trixie sat close to Sunset, and they traded encouraging smiles with pasta sauce over their mouths.
Food in their bellies and a long day of preparation in front of them, Sunset and Trixie bade Selena goodnight and headed upstairs. They paused in front of the bathroom, the split between their rooms. Trixie wrung her hands. "Listen, Sunset... I wanted to say I'm sorry. You were just trying to help and I got jealous, and somewhere along the way, I got up in the competition, and the Sirens, and--"
Sunset put a hand over Trixie's mouth. "I get it. And apology accepted." She lowered her hand. "Look, I know we're both still getting used to living with each other, but like I told you before: I'm not here to take anything away from you. Trixie, you're his daughter. No matter what I do, he's going to love you. I've seen it in his eyes; he's already proud of you."
"I... I know." She wiped a quick tear from her eye. "It's just--and don't tell anyone I said this, but..." Trixie dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Sometimes I doubt my magical abilities."
"Really? No way!" Sunset said, trying her hardest to keep a straight face and even voice.
"It's true!" Trixie pulled her wand from her pocket and twirled it between her fingers. "My father's done all these amazing things in his lifetime. He makes magic look so easy. And when I'm practicing with him, I think it's easy too. But when I'm by myself... everything suddenly seems so complicated." She held her wand up in front of her face. "The Lulamoons are part of an ancient lineage. We can trace our blood back to Merlin himself. We're some of the last natural magicians in the world. We were given a sacred duty." Her wand arm fell. "Sometimes I wonder if I can live up to it."
Sunset won the fight against the smirk trying to work its way onto her face and eased into a sympathetic frown. "I can see how that would put some pressure on you. But I know, and I know you know, Artemis would be happy with whatever you did with your life. Even if you aren't the best magician, you're still a Lulamoon." Sunset gave her a confident grin. "You're still the Great and Powerful Trixie."
Trixie giggled, then cleared her throat and straightened up. "Trixie thanks you for your kind and very true words." She gave Sunset a remorseful look. "And again, she's sorry she messed with your band."
Sunset shook her head. "You can apologize to them tomorrow, but I think they'll understand." She wrung her hands. "But, um, maybe you could do me a favor?"
"Trixie supposes she could lend her amazing talents to those in need."
"Glad you're feeling better," Sunset deadpanned. "Listen, can you snap Twilight out of the Sirens' trance? Please?" Sunset added, not afraid to show her desperation.
Some of Trixie's smugness disappeared. "Oh, well..." She rolled her wrist uncertainly. "Father's spell was designed to keep influences on the mind out. I guess the Sirens just wore away at it until it finally broke. I mean, I could put it up maybe, but they're kinda already in her head, so..."
"So it'd be pointless," Sunset said, her shoulders dropping with her heart.
"Sorry."
"No, it's fine." Sunset turned to her room, determined to finish the spell tonight. "Just means I have something to fight for."
*******
Tonight was finally the night!
Duffle bag packed, hood and mask on, Jormangandr around her neck, Crystal Heart tucked in the backpack, Lamia was all set for her rendezvous of fortune. By the time tonight was done, she would be a rich woman! Did she feel concern over selling a magical and potentially dangerous artifact on the black market?
Not in the least!
Whatever happens after this isn't any of my concern! She slung the duffel bag over her shoulder and bade her cramped living space goodbye. She walked across the hall to the rooftop exit ladder and clambered up, forcing the old hatch door open.
The flat rooftop of the factory greeted her, along with a brisk night wind. She had set the meeting time for here, just after midnight, and it was currently five 'til. Not being an amateur, she triple checked the surrounding area for any police or FBI, then plotted out several escape routes in case anything went wrong.
"Are you excited, Jorgey?" Lamia said with a coo, scratching him under the chin. "We'll never have to steal again. Except for fun of course." He hissed and pressed against her hand.
Their client was one Dr. Caballeron. Lamia had heard of him in a few circles; a wealthy entrepreneur who liked to own some of the finer arts. It took some haggling, but they had finally settled on the generous price of twenty million dollars.
Lamia shuddered in delight. She loved it when she won!
"Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh,
"Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh."
Shit! Lamia recognized that sound. It had nearly ruined her theft of the Crystal Heart in the first place. But what was it doing here? And where was it coming from?
"Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh,
"Ah, ah-ah, ah-ahh."
Three directions at once? She spun in place, trying to pinpoint the noise. Was this all a set up? Did I even talk to Caballeron? Her mind began to go hazy. What was she doing up here in the first? Did she need the Crystal Heart? She was sure someone could get a lot better use out of it than she could.
From either side and directly in front of her, three figures climbed onto the rooftop, their voices heavenly and sweet. They sauntered closer, their features still obscured by the dark. Jormangandr hissed wildly, but Lamia felt herself falling deeper and deeper into their music. She slid the backpack off her back and held it out to the approaching figure. It was so easy. Why even think when they could do it for her?
The singing stopped, and something silver flashed between Lamia and the girl with an outstretched hand. They both jumped back, Lamia's thieving instincts kicking in. The fog started to clear away, and she saw a fourth figure standing between her and a girl with an impressive mass of frizzy orange hair. Lamia had seen her on television once or twice and knew this was Adagio. Which meant the girls to her left and right were Sonata and Aria, though she wasn't sure which was which.
But then who was the figure standing between her and Adagio, katana drawn, blue ponytail waving in the wind?
"I came for a heart," she said. She raised her sword in a defensive stance. "But I'll take four if I can."
*******
"Well, well, well!" Adagio spread her arms. "I was afraid I wouldn't get to see you again, Selena! How's life without that oaf of a husband of yours?"
Selena tightened her grip on her sword. "Your show is over, Adagio. If I have to go to jail for slitting your throat, then so be it. At least your malice will be at an end."
"Bold words from someone without any magic." Adagio put her hands on her hips. "Artemis couldn't handle us at half strength. Do you really think--"
Selena stepped and swung horizontally, forcing Adagio to leap back, a look of surprise and brief panic flickering across her face. The second she landed, Selena followed up with a second attack, forcing Adagio to backflip to a safe distance.
Adagio glared over Selena's shoulder. "Don't just stand there, you idiots! Either grab her or the Heart!"
Sonata and Aria snapped to attention and picked a target, Aria engaged Lamia while Sonata came up behind Selena and let out an ear-piercing wail. Selena grit her teeth against the screech but stood firm and lunged for Sonata with her blade. Sonata leapt back out of its range, ending the scream. Selena then spun around and slashed at Adagio, keeping her back.
Adagio inhaled and released a soundwave strong enough to send Selena across the roof. Her back skidded across the rough surface, but she used the momentum to roll up onto her feet. A second scream from Sonata made her flinch back and weaken her guard, allowing Sonata to plant a boot into Selena's gut. Selena staggered but didn't fall, and swung her sword to graze Sonata across the stomach.
On the other side of the roof, Adagio sung, filling the air with her hypnotizing melody, and a foul green mist. The fight between Aria and Lamia slowed down, with Lamia fully removing her backpack and dropping it to the floor before reaching into her belt and throwing a small knife at Selena.
Selena danced to the side, letting the knife fly past her, then spun again to avoid Sonata's poor lunge. As she passed, Selena swung her combat boot into Sonata's back and sent her tumbling to the ground. Turning back, Selena found Lamia coming at her, brandishing a longer knife, and the snake around her neck bearing its fangs. Selena extended her arm as far as she could and met the knife with the strong side of her blade while staying just out of range of the snake. With a sharp twist of her wrist, the knife dropped from Lamia's hand.
As Lamia backed up, Selena jumped forward, scooped the knife up, and hurled it at Aria, retreating with the backpack. It cut across her shoulder, and Aria yelled in pain, but kept running toward Adagio who had stopped her song.
"Pleasure doing business with you!" Adagio took the backpack and jumped off the roof, Aria in tow, gripping her shoulder. Selena whipped around to Sonata, who blew a raspberry before jumping from the roof as well.
Selena heard a woosh of air, and spun her blade to knock the last throwing knife out of the air. The split second distraction gave Lamia a head start to grab her duffle bag and run, but Selena proved faster. She grabbed the knife she had just deflected and threw it low, stabbing Lamia in the calf. She collapsed to the ground with a loud curse.
As Selena marched toward her, the snake reared up to bite. Selena slapped it across the face with the flat of her blade, and it recoiled to its master's side.
Lamia turned over and glared at Selena through her mask. "Who the fu--whoa!"
Selena leveled her blade at the thief's throat. "No cursing in my presence." She raised the tip to touch Lamia's chin. "What were you doing up here, Snake Queen?"
"Why the hell should I tell you anything?"
"Because if you don't, I'll cut the head off your snake," Selena said calmly. "Now, talk."
Lamia grumbled something probably foul-mouthed, but said, "I was going to make a trade with someone. What's it to you?"
"The Crystal Heart for money?"
Lamia narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"
"A concerned mother." Selena reached down and grabbed Lamia by the front of her suit and hauled her up, kicking the snake away at the same time. With one hand, she held Lamia by the collar, and kept her sword against Lamia's throat with the other. "I came here tonight to take the Heart back and give you a warning. I can still do at least one of those things." She kept her face completely neutral, but looked Lamia dead in the eyes. "If you do anything to hurt Sunset Shimmer or her friends, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and cut you to ribbons."
"You don't scare me."
Selena spun Lamia forward and slashed with her sword. The back of her mask fell off, and with it, Lamia's red and gold ponytail. Her hands frantically scrabbled over the back of her head, running over where her hair now ended at the nape of her neck.
"You... You..."
Selena sheathed her sword. "I think the police should be able to tell Sunset and you apart now." She raised her hand to block Lamia's quick attack, then did it again with her other arm. Lamia struck a series of quick blows, each of them deflected by Selena. She dropped down and swept her leg out, knocking Lamai over.
Lamia laid on the ground, panting. "Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit!" She pounded her fist into the ground. "I hate you!"
With a small, "hmph," Selena turned for home. "Remember this defeat next time you threaten Sunset or her friends. I won't be so lenient in the future." She stalked off, having far more pressing matters to deal with now. Even as she exited the roof, she heard Lamia cursing at the night sky.
*******
Sunset had stayed up most of Friday night working on the spell, and woke early Saturday morning to continue. In fact, she only left her room when her friends arrived to discuss their plans for tomorrow and get a little practice in before the show.
Eight girls gathered around the living room table. Selena paced in front of them, hands held behind her back. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. The Sirens are in possession of the Crystal Heart."
Sunset almost choked on the apple she had been eating. "How?"
Selena spoke slow, carefully choosing her words. "I had a contact tell me the possible whereabouts of Lamia and I went to investigate last night. I happened to find her in the middle of her trade with the Sirens of all people. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop them," she said bitterly.
Trixie gaped at her. "Mom, you went and fought the Sirens on your own? After you told Trixie and Sunset we were reckless for going to the concert?"
"I wasn't expecting to find the Sirens." She put a hand on Trixie's shoulder. "But you're right. That was reckless of me. That's why you do as I say, not as I do."
"Okay, so they have the Heart," Rainbow said. "On a scale of one to ten, how bad is that?"
Selena looked at her with grave eyes.
"Okay. A ten. That's... really, really bad."
"Understatement of the century," Sunset said. "How does this change our plans though?"
"Not by too much," Selena said. She tapped the map on the table. "Your job stays the same. Trixie and I just have to find Artemis faster so we can go after the Crystal Heart and get it away from the Sirens. As long as it's in the area, it'll feed off the strongest emotion there. I have a feeling they'll keep it close to the stage though."
Sunset raised her hand. "Maybe I can do that. I'm not actually part of the band. Once the girls are squared away, maybe I can sneak around and get the Heart."
Applejack frowned. "Seems mighty dangerous. You sure you wanna do that on your own?"
"Everyone will be focused on you and the Sirens. It shouldn't be too hard."
Selena sighed. "I feel like telling you not to do it because it's too dangerous would be both pointless and hypocritical of me. So please, just be careful, Sunset."
Sunset gave her a thumbs up and a smile. She then pulled out her notebook. "It's not perfect yet, but I've got a new counterspell to try out."
Rainbow picked up her guitar and headed for the backyard. "Let's hope it's better than the last one. Ow!" She rubbed the back of her head where Applejack had thumped her.
It certainly wasn't as bad as their first attempt. Sunset made a few adjustments as they practiced to make the song sound as harmonious as possible, but something about it still didn't sit right with her. The lyrics? The melody? She flipped back through the dozens of pages she had gone through, looking over the scratched out lines and eraser marks. Was this really all she had to show for her month of labor? She closed the book as her friends played through the last lines.
The sun had just set, and as much as Sunset would have loved to play a few more times to find what was missing, she knew the neighbors would start to throw a fit hearing the same song a sixth time. "That's enough for today, girls. You should go home and get some rest."
"Yeah, we're gonna need it to kick the Sirens' butts!" Rainbow took her guitar off and rolled out her shoulder. "Not a bad song, Sunset."
"Do you really think it'll be enough to win tomorrow?" Fluttershy asked.
"It has to be," Sunset said, feeling her stomach dance. She yawned, her lack of sleep creeping up on her. "I'll make a few more adjustments before the show."
"Not too many," Applejack said. "We still need to be able to play it." She packed her bass and looked over to Pinkie. "Err, Pinkie, do you think it'd be all right if me and Rarity spent the night at your house?"
Pinkie's inflating smile gave her enough of an answer.
The girls departed into the cloudless night. In twenty-four hours, one way, this will all be over, Sunset thought, staring at the half moon. She closed the front door after Rainbow disappeared around the corner, and leaned against it. They'll win or lose because of you. If the spell doesn't work...
It has to work! Sunset pushed herself up and walked upstairs, meeting Trixie at the top.
"Do you need any help?"
"No, I..." Sunset yawned. "I got it. Just a few tweaks." She yawned again. "Thanks though."
Trixie allowed her to past, but looked dubious at Sunset's reassurances. Sunset shrugged it off upon entering her room. Writing the spell was her job--her responsibility. If she couldn't do that, then what good was she?
"Maybe Trixie can help you make it better," Princess Twilight said.
Sunset climbed onto her bed. "Not to doubt Trixie's skill, but... I doubt it. Besides, if this fails--and it won't--I want the blame to only fall on me."
"Ah yes, just like it always does whenever something goes wrong," her demon said from the mirror.
"You, I'm ignoring." Sunset looked down at the spell for anything she could possibly change, but after only a few minutes, everything just looked like nonsensical squiggles. She rubbed her eyes, but that only made the squiggles dance. When she blinked again, the squiggles surrounded her on all sides, jeering and throwing fruit at her.
She raised her arms to block the rain of tomatoes and oranges and squash. The food splattered against her, leaving her drenched in pulp and juice. The Sirens continued to sing on the other side of the stadium, growing larger with every verse. Sunset looked around for her friends, but they had all vanished.
Adagio took to the skies and flew at Sunset, claws raised and fangs bared. Sunset turned and ran, aiming for the wooden door at the end of the field. She would never make it in time; Adagio was too fast, too powerful!
The Siren closed in, hand outstretched. Sunset reached her own hand out for the doorknob. With her other hand, red and demonic, she unleashed a ball of fire against Adagio's face. She screamed and recoiled, clutching the side that had been burned while Sunset opened the door and ran inside.
She slammed it shut and gripped her demon hand, beholding it with horror. "No! I don't want this!"
"Whatever is the matter, Sunset? You sound terrified."
Sunset looked from the checkered floors at her feet, to the book cases lining the finely painted walls. A glass window hung open, letting a warm breeze tossle the silk curtains. She turned her eyes on the figure standing in a patch of sunlight on the other side of the room, her back to Sunset.
Her pastel mane and tail rippled out like flowing water, and her alabaster coat shone in the sun's light. Her ears stood at attention, waiting for Sunset's response.
Sunset ran her tongue through her dry mouth. She couldn't still her pounding heart upon seeing the pony in front of her. "Princess..."
"Tell me what's wrong, Sunset."
She looked down at her corrupted hand. "I... Everyone is counting on me to finish this spell and I don't know if I can do it. And... and I'm afraid that maybe there's another way to beat the Sirens and I have the means to do it. But I don't want to win at that cost."
"I see." The Princess chuckled. "Even as a filly, you had this silly notion that you had to do everything on your own. Sunset, you're strong and independent, but you're not alone. It's okay to ask your friends for help."
"But they already have enough to do! They already have to save the day; I can't ask them to do this too!"
"You're struggling and you're in pain, Sunset. Even with what they're going through, your friends would want to help you any way they could. As for your other problem... I think you just need to believe in yourself more."
Sunset's demon hand changed back to normal, and she flexed her fingers. "You always make everything sound so easy," she whispered.
"And you always make everything harder for yourself."
A blush crept across Sunset's face. "I kinda do, huh?" She took a step further into the room. "Princess--"
"Shhh. None of that. I already know." The room began to fade to white as Celestia turned her head to Sunset. Her purple eye smiled lovingly. "You can do it, Sunset."
Sunset snorted awake and immediately spotted the drops of spittle on the spell page. She quickly dabbed it off and wiped her mouth. Somehow, she had managed to fall asleep sitting cross-legged on her bed. Outside, the mid-morning sun shone through her window. It was almost time.
She showered and got dressed, joining the Lulamoons downstairs. Trixie wore her cape, clutching the clasp like a life preserver. Selena wore a long blue skirt and black combat boots. On her head was one of Artemis' hats.
Sunset sat down to the plate of eggs and toast Selena had laid out. The radio played from the kitchen counter, Cadence's chipper voice coming in loud and clear. "Make sure to tune in to the Dazzlings' encore Canterlot performance tonight, featuring the winners of the Battle of the Bands, the Rainbooms! Tickets are already sold out, but you can watch the whole concert live tonight at six!"
A question popped into Sunset's head, and she turned toward Selena. "You've been listening to the Sirens music this entire time, and you're not hypnotized. How?"
Selena smiled confidently. "I'm trained in seven styles of swordplay and three martial arts. Not only does that train you physically, but it tightens your mental focus as well. The only person on this planet who can tell me what to do is my mother."
"So with enough mental fortitude, you can stop magical influences?"
"It isn't easy. But yes, it can be done."
Sunset looked back at her eggs. She made a mental note to tell Twilight later. There will be a later. We'll break the spell, I know we will!
The rest of the Rainbooms arrived after breakfast for a few more hours of practice. Because of Sunset's impromptu nap, she had to make more changes on the fly. Her vivid dream made it hard to fully concentrate. Did she really talk to Celestia despite their dimensional distance?
It sounded just like her. It looked just like her. But, how could she have done that? And why didn't she talk to me before.
Stupid question. You know why she didn't want to talk to you.
Okay, then why is she talking to me now?
"Earth to Sunset!" Rainbow waved a hand in front of her face. "We finished the song a minute ago!"
Sunset snapped her head up. "Oh, right! Great job, girls!"
"Were you even listening that time?" Applejack asked.
"Yes... mostly. Just take it from the top one more time."
Everyone sighed but did as asked, playing through one last time before they packed everything up and piled it into their cars. Sunset rode with Selena and Trixie in a silent drive. Their collective fear created a chill that numbed Sunset's hands. There was no turning back now.
We made it this far. Just a little bit more. Sunset raised a trembling hand to her necklace. Just a little more.
They pulled into the parking lot of Canterlot Coliseum, already filling up with spectators. When everyone had their instruments out of the cars, Selena lined the girls up one last time.
"Whatever happens in there, be careful. The Crystal Heart is going to amplify any negative energy in the air, so it's vital that you all keep cool heads. Understand?" The girls nodded, and Selena relaxed her stern expression. "And thank you, girls, for everything that you've done." She nodded to Trixie, and together they walked to the main gate.
Sunset led her friends to the performer's entrance, keeping the notebook pressed against her chest. Here we go.
*******
Adagio set the Crystal Heart into the center of the altar at the back of the stage. She stepped back with a victorious smile. "Isn't it beautiful?" She looked back at her sisters. "I have to hand it to you, Aria, you really came through this time."
Aria shrugged nonchalantly, wincing at the cut on her shoulder. "It's easy to pretend you're someone else on the internet." She smirked. "Having knowledge on how the black market works also helps."
"And that explains the shrunken heads," Adagio said with a bemused sigh. "At any rate, we're finally here, girls. All the magic and power we could ever want is about to be delivered to us on a silver plate."
Sonata tapped her chin. "Why would the Rainbooms bring silver plates?"
Aria and Adagio ignored her. "So, what should we do about Selena and Trixie?" Aria asked.
Adagio smiled, showing off all her teeth. "We won't have to do anything. In one hour, we'll have a legion of adoring fans who'll do whatever we ask." She raised her arms toward the Crystal Heart. "After twenty years, our dreams are finally about to come true! The whole world will be eating out of our hands!"
"Eeeww, why would we want them to do that?" Sonata asked, dragging Adagio from her reverie. "Who knows where all their mouths have been."
Adagio facepalmed while Aria let out a tired sigh. "Go back to sleep, Sonata." |
Spectacular Seven | Showdown in Canterlot II: Welcome to the Show | Two stagehands led the Rainbooms down one of the corridors under the coliseum. Even down here, beneath a layer of concrete, Sunset could hear the first stirrings of the crowd above. Aside from the squeaking wheels of their music and wardrobe cart, it was the only noise the girls had in the dim hallways. The stagehands finally stopped at a large door with a star marked on it.
"Here's your stage," one of them said as they opened the door. "Show's in one hour, so make sure you're ready and on the platform by then."
Sunset quickly understood what he meant upon walking inside. A metal dais rose from the center of the room, red signal lights around its edges. She could see grooves in the ceiling where it would split open and bring them up onto the field. "That's pretty--" The door slammed shut behind her and her friends. "Cool."
"Is it just me, or did they already seem off?" Rarity asked.
Applejack climbed up onto the stage. "We're in the Sirens' territory now. Wouldn't surprise me if they have the entire staff under their thumb."
Sunset flipped her book open. "We knew what we were getting into when we came here. We have our instruments and we have the spell. As long as you girls get up there and pony up, it doesn't matter what the Sirens do at this point. We've got an hour. Let's set up, have a play through, then I'm going to see if I can find the Heart."
"Now, now, let's not do anything hasty," a voice said from the ceiling. The girls looked around until Pinkie pointed out a PA system in one of the corners. "Hello, Rainbooms," Adagio said with sadistic glee. "Enjoying your stage so far? Sorry it's a little under-decorated. We figured you wouldn't mind too much."
"Actually, I kinda do," Pinkie said. "You couldn't have given us a background or some color? Steel grey is so boring!"
Adagio was silent for a moment. "You know what, I'll have some set designers work on that right after the show."
"Well there's no point if they do it after the show, 'cause no one will--oooooooh!" Pinkie's face fell. "We're not gonna be in the show, are we?"
"Ding, ding, ding! That is the correct answer! ... No, Aria, we're not trading Sonata for her."
Sunset ran to the door and tried the knob, but it refused to turn. She kicked it with her boot, only to be rewarded with a sore toe. She spun around and leered at the PA. "What's the matter, scared we'll upstage you?"
"You? Upstage us? Ha! You really think you got this far on skill? Your band is terrible! Laughably bad! You have a tambourine player no one can see and can barely hear, a bass player trying to strum it like a banjo, a keytarist with terrible fashion sense, and a lead guitar who hogs the stage with her mediocre voice and flashy guitar. The only one who's half-decent is your drummer, and that's not saying much."
Sunset watched as one by one, her friends' faces fell into shock and hurt, save for Rainbow who grit her teeth while her cheeks turned bright red.
"No, Rainbooms, we picked you to win from the outset. We wanted to make sure you got to the cusp of victory, so it would taste all the more bitter when you lost."
"But why us?" Applejack shouted.
"You mean you haven't figured it out?" Adagio asked in a mocking sweet voice.
The dots connected in Sunset's mind, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she leaned against the door. "They knew. They knew the entire time."
"What?" Rainbow whipped her head between Sunset and the speaker. "How?"
"Because we could taste your magic from a mile away." Adagio laughed. "If you were trying to be subtle, you failed at that too."
Rainbow let out a feral growl, then yelled, "Why don't you come down here and face us in person?"
"Because, as tempting as that sounds, we have a show to get ready for. Soon, all of your friends and family, everyone you care about, the entire world will be under our spell! And with the power of the Crystal Heart and your Equestrian magic--"
Sunset's eyes flew open.
"--I think even you'll have a hard time resisting us. If not, then it'll be fun to watch you fight against your loved ones. Ta ta, Rainbooms. I hope you enjoy the show!" Her laugh carried over the sound system before it cut out, leaving the room silent.
"Ah can't believe it." Applejack fell back onto the stage and held her head. "This entire time, we've been playing their game. We never stood a chance from the start."
Pinkie knelt beside her. "Come on, we can still win somehow, right?"
"Win?" Rainbow let out a sarcastic bark of laughter. "We're screwed! We're locked under the stadium..." She pulled out her phone. "With no signal, while the Sirens have the Crystal Heart and are about to sing a song to brainwash everybody! If we don't starve to death down here, our friends are going to open that door and maul us because the Sirens told them to! And even if we did somehow get out, we'd have to go out there and play a song that probably wasn't going to work in the first place!"
Fluttershy burst into tears and threw herself into the nearest corner, burying her face into her knees.
Applejack threw a hand out. "Great, now look what you did."
Rainbow threw her hands up. "I'm just being honest! You know, the element you're supposed to represent!"
Applejack stood and rolled a sleeve up. "Oh, you want some honesty? I'll give it to ya. You're a loudmouth show-off with an ego a mile wide! This band is just an excuse for you to flaunt your guitar skills, and that's a word Ah use loosely! Maybe if you spent less time wailin' on that thing and more time helpin' us, we wouldn't sound so bad!"
Pinkie threw herself between the two of them. "Hey, remember how Selena told us to not fight with each other? Well, you're doing the opposite of that! We were supposed to be a band and play together! But you've all done more fighting than playing!"
"Fine then!" Applejack tore her glare away from Rainbow and stared at the wall. "Since Dash is committed to the idea that we lost, consider this mah resignation."
"Good, I didn't need you in my band anyway!"
"Our band!" Pinkie and Rarity screeched.
"Like it matters anymore!" Rainbow crossed her arms and faced the opposite wall.
Sunset slid down the door, barely cognisant of her friends' exploding tempers. "How did they know it was Equestrian magic?" she whispered. "Are they from Equestria too?" She wracked her brain, trying to remember any mention of singing monsters from her history classes. She ground her train of thought to a halt. "Focus. How are we going to get out of here?" She pulled her phone out of her pocket. Like Rainbow said, there were no bars down here.
Minutes went by without any noise. Everyone stood apart, stewing in their own anger and despair. Sunset had nothing left to say, nothing left to give. The Sirens had won before the game even started. Sunset ran her hands down her face. Everything she had done had been for nothing. All she could do now was wait for the end.
"No!" A lingering spark shot through Sunset, and she jumped up and backed away from the door. "We've gotten this far; it can't end here!"
"Sunset, we got here on a fluke," Rarity said lifelessly.
"I don't care! I'm not giving up without a fight!" She ran at the door and slammed into it with all her might. Her shoulder yelled in pain, but she backed up again and ran into the door with even more force. The door shuddered but refused to yield. "I'm not going to let some stupid Sirens--"
Bam!
"Take over the world!"
Bam!
"I started this!"
Bam!
"And I'll end it!" She ran into the door one more time. Like all the assaults before it, Sunset failed to make it do anything more than wobble. She gripped her aching shoulder, wincing at the touch, and sank to the ground again.
"What do you mean you started this?" Rarity asked.
Sunset tightened her grip, doubling the pain. She deserved it. She couldn't face her friends as she spoke. "It was me, okay? I set the Sirens free. The magic I unleashed the night of the Fall Formal created a leygate--a magical, underground tunnel the Sirens used to escape." She could feel the lump starting to swell in her throat. "So I'm the reason why." She let go of her shoulder and reached for the notebook. "And Rainbow's right. The counterspell wouldn't have worked. There is no counterspell--there never was a counterspell!" She threw the book across the room. "I just couldn't do it, okay? I couldn't do the one thing I said I would do! Go on! Go back to hating me! This is all my fault anyway." She wiped the hot tears on the sleeve of her jacket, but they kept falling.
Rarity approached from behind and gently put a hand on her good shoulder. "Sweetheart, why didn't you ask for help?"
"Because I should be able to do this on my own! Magic is the one thing I'm good at! You all had your own things to worry about; I couldn't bug you about something I should have been able to do!" Sunset took a shuddering breath and looked down at the floor. "I bet Princess Twilight could have handled this just fine."
"Maybe." Rarity sat down and pulled Sunset into a hug. "But maybe because she would have asked us to help. I admit, I don't know much about magic, but I would have been more than happy to help you write a song."
"I write songs all the time," Fluttershy said between hiccups. "We just never play them."
Sunset gave her a guilty frown. "I know, and I'm sorry. You girls made me leader, and I haven't been doing a good job at it."
Applejack sat down on Sunset's other side. "Don't blame yourself for that part. We've all done a good job at getting under each other's skin. Maybe we aren't under the Sirens' control, but they're still making us snippy." Applejack let out a deep sigh. "And yeah, maybe you did set them free. But it wasn't on purpose, even if it did happen when you were at your worst. You were tryin' to help us fix it. That's what counts."
The inflated balloon sitting in Sunset's chest deflated even more, until only fear over their impending doom kept it aloft. She leaned into Rarity's hug. "Thanks, girls. I'm just sorry it wasn't enough."
"Quit apologizing." Rainbow turned around and cracked her knuckles. "And start coming up with a way out of this mess."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you spouting doomsday ten minutes ago?"
"Yeah, and now, I'm over it. Sunset's right; we can't stop here, not without a fight! Let's get out there and hit those Sirens with a rainbow, because, screw what Adagio said, I know our band is awesome!" She cleared her throat. "At least, it would be if I learned to stop being a show-off." She walked over and helped Fluttershy to her feet. "And if I listened to other people's inputs."
"It's amazing how much you learn right before the end of the world," Pinkie said cheerfully.
Sunset stood up. "The world's not ending. Not without a fight first. We can still do something, we just have to get out of here." She paced in front of the door and tapped her skull. The control panel for the stage must have been on the other side of the door. "Come on, use your head." She paused and looked at Rarity with a knowing grin. Rarity's eyes brightened, and she shared the grin with Applejack, who passed it to Rainbow. Rainbow grinned at Pinkie who looked at Fluttershy and found the girl wearing a smug grin of her own.
Pinkie looked at all her friends grinning at her and her pupils shrank. "Oh no."
*******
Trixie followed her mother through the overcrowded stadium. Passing by a clock, she saw there were only five minutes until the show started. As the crowd began migrating to their seats, Trixie and Selena slowly pushed their way back against the tide. They were met with angry shouts and shoves, and Trixie was tempted to push and yell back, but her mother's calm but firm hand on her back kept Trixie from losing her cool.
With the entire stadium packed to the brim, sneaking into any unauthorized area would be even harder than the previous concert. Security marched everywhere, and maybe it was Trixie's imagination, but they seemed to linger around her and her mother more than anyone else.
They made their way to the northeast part of the coliseum, where Trixie had found the hallway her father's magic had emanated from. The lights were on this time, and screaming fans filled the seats. Trixie stuck her tongue out while she and her mother pretended to wait in line for the bathroom.
Six o'clock rolled around, and the coliseum lights dimmed in anticipation. The sun lingered on the horizon, giving an orange hue to the sky that faded with each passing minute. As the last of the crowd moved to their seats, Selena and Trixie moved behind a pillar to watch the two security guards in front of one of the restricted doors.
"How should we get through?" Trixie asked in a whisper.
"Normally, I'd say one of us provides a distraction while the other sneaks in." She flipped the hat off her head and reached inside, retrieving a black scabbard. "But, there's safety in numbers. And, if the two of us just happen to cause a big enough distraction to slow down the show, well, that'd be a shame, wouldn't it?" She winked at Trixie.
Trixie nodded eagerly. "Got it."
"Good. Stay close to me." Selena emerged from their hiding place with Trixie right behind her. But as they stepped up to the security guards, three more walked down the hall from either side with a clear purpose.
"We got a tip two people matching your descriptions might cause a problem here tonight," one of them said. "Ma'am, drop the sword and please come quietly."
Selena put a hand on the hilt and took a relaxed breath. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline." She widened her stance and gestured for them to approach her. One of them took the challenge and ran at her, at which, she nimbly spun to the side and swung her sheath out to smack the guard in the back of the head, knocking him to the floor.
Trixie cheered, then yelled as one lunged for her. She jumped back, staying a hair out of reach. As the man regained his footing, Trixie pulled her wand out and aimed it at him. You can do this. You're the Great and Powerful Trixie, capable of amazing feats of magic! The man reached for her again, and she ducked back, willing her wand to do something to defend her.
It let out a feeble spark.
Come on, do it for Dad! Trixie jumped back and shouted, "Lulamoon!" A bright bolt surged from the tip of her wand and connected with the guard, creating a column of smoke. When it cleared, a green toad sat croaking on the floor.
Selena pushed another guard back and looked over her shoulder. "That better be reversible."
"I'm sure it is," Trixie said, too enamored with her handiwork to worry about future consequences. She screamed as someone grabbed her from behind in a bear hug. She flailed her legs trying to kick him but to no avail.
"Trixie!" Selena ducked under a swinging fist and jabbed her hilt up into her assailant's chin. She kicked out with her boot, toppling him backwards, then ran toward Trixie, only to be cut off by two more guards.
Trixie turned her wand over in her hand and jabbed the side into her jailer. "Lulamoon!" She fell to the ground and rolled over to see her handler twitching uncontrollably as electricity coursed around him. "Strange, Trixie wanted another frog."
As more guards came into the hall, the hair on Trixie's neck started to rise. The cheers outside had turned to decries and impatient jeers. Trixie looked at the nearest clock and saw it was 6:15. Where are the Rainbooms? She swung her wand and shot another stunning spell at an approaching guard. "Mom!"
Selena grabbed the arm of a woman wielding a taser. "I know. Something's wrong." She twisted the woman's wrist and kicked her back. Swinging the sheath of her sword, she made her way closer to Trixie. "I'll create an opening. You go find your father, then find the girls."
Trixie gave a hesitant nod. "Okay."
Selena gave her a confident smile. "You can do it. I know you can." She ran and jumped forward, dodging two guards, and swung her sheath back to strike both of them.
Trixie ran forward, being careful not to step on the frog. She pulled a smoke bomb from her pocket and tossed it over her shoulder, right into someone's eye. The bomb still went off, and smoke clouded around his head and began to fill the hall. Trixie reached the door, unlocked it with a flick of her wand, and slipped inside.
She slammed it shut behind her, dimming the noise of the fight. The discontent of the crowd still made it through the walls, however. She allowed herself a moment of triumph and punched her fist into the air. She had just taken out three guards! Wait until she told her dad!
She pointed her wand down the hall and closed her eyes. Magic acted like smells in that everyone who could use it had a particular scent, or rather feel. Artemis' magic felt like joviality and laughter. It was faint, but Trixie still felt it down at the end of the hall. She broke into a run, wand out in front of her.
The hall curved, and another security guard came into view. "Hey, what are you--"
"Lulamoon!" Trixie's wand let out a green bolt that made contact, and the man's eyes crossed. At first, Trixie thought the spell hadn't done anything, but then the man sat down on his hands and feet with a blank look on his face.
"Ribbit! Ribbit! Croak!" He hopped past Trixie.
Trixie watched him for a moment then mentally shrugged. "Close enough." She made it to the door Artemis' magic came from, almost missing it for the way it blended into the wall. She unlocked it and threw it open, casting a beam of light into the dark room. She stepped forward, then immediately jumped back as a large ax flew past her head and clattered against the wall.
"What?" Artemis' weary voice came from the darkness. "Did you forget about your own trap?"
Trixie felt for the light switch and flipped it on. At the back of the room, her father sat strapped to an overturned chair, clothes dirty and tattered, and face bruised and untrimmed. She double check nothing else in the room would kill her, then ran to her father's side. "Daddy! Daddy, it's me!"
Artemis stretched his head up and looked at Trixie with tired eyes. "This dream again. Funny, I don't remember going to sleep."
"No, it's really me!" Trixie put a hand against his face. "See?"
His eyes unclouded, and he stared awestruck at Trixie. "My little moon... it's really you," he breathed. Trixie let out a relieved sob and threw her arms around him. "Shhh, it's okay, little moon. I'm okay."
"I-I m-missed you so m-much!" Trixie gasped and pulled herself away to sit him up. She pointed her wand at the chain around his wrist. "Lulamoon!" They unraveled, freeing Artemis' dislocated fingers. Trixie let out another sob and gently took his hand into hers. "Look what they did to you!"
Artemis winced. "It's not as bad as it looks. The pain went away around... how long have I been in here?"
Trixie wasn't sure why, but she laughed. It was weak and watery, but it released some of the tension stirring around in her stomach. She wrapped her arms around her father again and clung tight. "I love you."
"I love you too, buttercup." He nuzzled the top of her head. "But please tell me you didn't come here by yourself. Where's your mother?"
A guard flew past the door and skidded across the floor.
Artemis chuckled. "Nevermind, I found her."
Selena paused at the threshold to clip her sword to her belt. She looked at Artemis with a whirlwind of emotions spinning behind her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Come now, we both know I've been through worse," Artemis said with a smile.
"True." Selena stalked across the room, pushed Trixie out of the way, and lifted Artemis out of the chair by his collar. "You said you were just getting information," she said through clenched teeth. She gave her husband a vigorous shake. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Artemis laughed nervously. "I love you?"
Selena glared at him for a long minute. "Good enough." She pulled him forward and kissed him hard on the mouth.
Trixie looked away, her pretend gag turning into a content sigh.
"Attention, everyone!" Adagio's voice rang throughout the stadium. "It seems the Rainbooms have forsaken their victory and decided not to perform tonight." A tumultuous cry came from the crowd. When it started to die down, Adagio continued, "So, we're skipping straight to the main event! Here come your Dazzlings, everybody!" The cheers of the coliseum echoed down the hall and into the room. Trixie then heard a faint bass line.
"I'm just in time for the finale it seems," Artemis mused. "So, what's our plan, family?"
"We need to find Sunset and her friends," Selena said quickly. "They have the magic to cancel out the Sirens' spell. Barring that, we find the Crystal Heart to stop them from getting anymore power."
"Excellent!" Artemis stood, then immediately lurched forward, stopped only by Selena.
She put his arm around her shoulder. "You're in no condition to go wandering around on your own."
"But what about--"
"We'll go together!" Trixie said, raising her wand. "As a family! The Lulamoons!"
Artemis' smile stretched from ear-to-ear. "That's my girl!"
*******
Twilight sat in the VIP box with her arms crossed and lips pursed together. Several others shared her sentiment, including Moondancer.
"Winning the contest, then not showing up to the actual show? I'd call it rude, but that would pay them a compliment!" Moondancer huffed. "I would never speak ill of the Dazzlings, but I think they picked the wrong band to be the winner."
Twilight nodded, too angry to vocally agree. What was Sunset thinking? Hadn't she gone on and on about how badly she needed to win this? And now, none of them have the nerve to show up? Twilight felt like she had been slapped in the face.
"The only silver lining I see to this is that we don't have to endure their disharmonic cacophony." Moondancer straightened up in her seat and pointed to the field below. "Look, it's starting!"
A green fog spread out across the dark, empty field while a bass thrummed over the cheers of the crowd. Twilight's heart hammered in excitement. She'd been waiting all weekend for this! At the west endzone, part of the field opened up and a circular stage slowly rose, spotlights flashing into the sky. Three figures stood silhouetted by the blinding light of a heart shaped diamond set into a large alter.
"Canterlot! Are you ready?"
Twilight and Moondancer screamed the way only teenage girls could, mixing their voices with everyone else.
"Ahh, ah-ah, ahh..."
This was much better than having to sit through another of the Rainbooms' songs. She still couldn't believed they hadn't shown up. Was this a part of the plan Sunset hadn't trusted Twilight with? It didn't make much sense if it was.
Twilight furrowed her brow. Why was she so hung up on this? She should be enjoying the music. But something about her friends not being there set her on edge. What if something had happened to them? What if they were hurt?
And the music. She rubbed her ears. Why did it sound so... annoying? Corrupt? A second ago, it sounded like a heavenly choir, now Twilight wished the Dazzlings would shut up so she could think straight.
She blinked and shook her head, and it was as if a fog slowly lifted from in front of her eyes. What? Twilight looked around, seeing everything for the first time. What am I doing? Her eyes widened. What am I doing!? She cringed at the words she had spoken to Sunset. How could she have even thought that?
Heart racing, Twilight jumped from her seat. Something was wrong! Her friends were in trouble, she knew it! She had to do something before the Sirens finished their song. Twilight looked down at Moondancer, swaying back in forth to the music. "I'm, uuhhh, going to the bathroom!"
"That's nice," Moondancer said dreamily as Twilight sprinted up out of the box.
"Ah-ha, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah,
"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah."
Twilight ran down the hall as fast as she could, pulling out her cell phone in the process. She dialed Sunset's number, but it only went to voicemail. "I hope it's because she's mad at me and not because she's hurt." Twilight slid to a stop to gain her bearings and think. Her heated argument with Sunset and counterfeit feelings crept up on her until she forced them back down. "I can't believe I let those Sirens get to me. I know better than that. Sunset trusts me. She wouldn't undermine me, ever!"
The Sirens raised their voices, giving Twilight incentive to keep running. They came up from the stages beneath the field. If they're on the west end, then maybe my friends are on the east end. It was a good place to start. Twilight just hoped they were somewhere in the coliseum, otherwise...
Even as she ran through the halls, she couldn't help but wonder, why had the spell stopped working on her? Had Artemis' protection spell decide to kick back in on its own? Questions for later. She ducked behind a pillar as a group of angry looking guards ran by. She counted to five, then continued sprinting, ignoring the iron ball growing in her side.
She came up to one of the restricted doors with only one guard in front of it. All right, Twilight. How can you get around him? He was a little on the scrawny side. Maybe Twilight could take him in a fight. A cynical part of her brain laughed at her as she continued gasping to regain the air she had spent. Okay, any other ideas?
A commotion to her left grabbed her and the guards' attention. From around the corner hobbled Trixie with Artemis leaning on her shoulder. Selena appeared a moment later, knocking back a hounding officer. The guard at the door leapt to attention but was struck by a spell from Trixie, and when the smoke cleared, he was left with a frog's head. He raised his arms and ran in a circle, croaking.
"Stop doing that!" Selena yelled.
"But it's fun!" Trixie yelled back.
"I concur," Artemis said with a grin.
Twilight ran out from behind the pillar, and threw her hands up when Trixie pointed her wand at her. "It's me! Don't turn me into a frog!"
Trixie raised a suspicious eyebrow. "What do you think of the Sirens' music?"
"It's terrible and right now consists of them singing the same few notes over and over again." Trixie kept her wand level for a few more seconds, scrutinizing Twilight's face. She lowered it, and Twilight let out a breath of relief. "I don't know why the spell stopped working on me, but I can think clearly again, and I need to find my friends."
Footsteps came from behind Twilight, and she turned to find a host of bruised and furious guards running toward her and the Lulamoons.
Selena ran in front of her and held her sword sheath out. "You go find the Rainbooms. We'll hold them off. Just make sure they get up there and put an end to the Sirens' music."
Twilight ran for the door, forfeiting any argument. She just hoped the Lulamoons would be okay against what looked like the entire security force. The hall on the other side of the door was dim and cold, but Twilight's furious sprint quickly warmed her up.
The music above her picked up again, and Adagio began to sing in a smug tone.
"Welcome to the show,
"Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah,
"We're here to let you know,
"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah..."
Twilight skid to a stop ten feet away from another guard in front of a door with a star on it. Found them!
"Our time is now,
"Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah,
"Your time is running out."
A reminder Twilight didn't need. The guard turned his head and looked at Twilight with surprise. "Hey, how did you get down here?" He moved toward her.
"Um, well, see..." Twilight backed up. What do I do now? What would Sunset do?
He grabbed her wrist, and in an act of desperation, Twilight threw her knee forward into his groin. The man instantly released her and let out a squeal of pain as he fell to his knees.
Twilight punched a fist into the air. "Yes!" Sure, she had just assaulted a civilian, but it was for a good cause! She ran up to the door, hearing a loud thud as she approached.
"Okay, one more time," she heard Sunset command. "We still need Pinkie conscious for this."
"It's okay, my hair cushions the concussion!"
Twilight wrenched the door open just as Applejack and Rainbow had finished backing up, holding Pinkie like a battering ram. Twilight knew she shouldn't have been surprised after all the time she had spent with them so far, but she still couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Um..."
"Twilight?"
*******
Sunset stared into Twilight's eyes. The clouds of green anger were gone, restoring the starry universe of compassion and curiosity to normal. Sunset stepped around Rainbow and Applejack. "How..." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. You're okay."
Twilight played with her tresses. "Yeah. I don't know why really. It's like I just woke up from a really grumpy nap." She inched forward. "Sunset, I'm so sorry if I hurt you. I knew why you girls had to win, I volunteered to forfeit, but everything just got..." She made a wild gesture with her hands. "Knotted up in frustration, and I felt like I had to prove something."
Sunset took her by the arm. "Yeah, well, I shouldn't have yelled at you either."
"But you had every reason to yell at me."
"You weren't in the right mind and I knew that. I still shouldn't have--"
"Oi!" Rainbow yelled. "Will you two just kiss and make up already! We still have a world to save!"
Sunset realized how close she and Twilight were to each other and finished closing the distance. She moved her hands to cup Twilight's cheeks while she kissed her soft lips. Everything melted away; all of her fears and anxieties disappeared in the moment. She had Twilight back, she had her friends behind her. For a few glorious seconds, the world was realigned.
They broke away, panting. "I missed you," Twilight said.
"I missed you too."
"Yaaay, we're all friends again," Pinkie said with a hint of delirium. "We should sing a song."
A song... The wheels in Sunset's mind turned at rapid speed.
"Feel the wave of sound,
"As it crashes down!"
Sunset felt a pressure in the atmosphere. Dark magic was happening on stage, and a voice in the back of Sunset's mind told her she should be angry, furious that the Sirens had gotten this far, that her friends had been incompetent, and that she had failed in her own bid for world domination not too long ago.
Instead, she focused on the solace being with her friends brought. That focal point made the music seem quiet and distant.
Music is magic!
"'Music is magic,'" Sunset whispered, "and so is friendship." She lifted her head, eyes shining. "That's it! I can't believe it--the answer's been right in front of me the entire time!"
Rainbow finally set Pinkie back on the ground. "So what is it?"
"It's you girls! It's your friendship, duh!" Sunset paced in front of them, gesturing with her hands. "Artemis said music is one of the oldest magics in the world. So is friendship." She held her hands out to them. "Your magic comes from Equestria and mingles with this world, so it's activated by music, but it's fueled by friendship! That's why you get stronger when you play together! You do it as friends, as a team! And that's why you stopped ponying up at practice; you girls were fighting with each other and lost that spark of friendship." She glared at the ceiling. "And that's why the Sirens wanted us to win just to lock us down here, to leech off your Equestrian magic while we fought."
"So, what about the counterspell?" Applejack asked.
"You already have the counterspell," Sunset said, grinning from ear to ear. "You just have to go out there and play. It doesn't matter what, as long as you do it together." She looked over her shoulder, down the hallway. "The Dazzlings may have the Crystal Heart, but it reacts to the strongest emotion it feels. In the time I've spent with you girls, I've never seen this much love and affection from any group of friends. If your love can overpower their hate, you can win this."
Rainbow punched a fist into an open palm. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go show those Sirens they messed with the wrong town and the wrong friends!" She looked back at Fluttershy. "And I think I know the perfect song to play."
Fluttershy's eyes widened like a kid on Christmas Day.
Applejack put a hand on Rarity's shoulder. "And if we're about to save the world in front of an audience, it's only appropriate we look our best."
Rarity squeed like a foal on Hearth's Warming. "Time for the fastest wardrobe change ever!" She grabbed Applejack by the hand and pulled her toward the clothing rack.
Twilight slipped a hand into Sunset's. "Good job, Sunset."
"Couldn't have done it without you, Sparky."
Rarity returned and grabbed both of them by their free hands. "Don't think I forgot about you! I even have a dress for you, Twilight, just in case!" She pulled them forward, ignoring their cries of surprise. As she handed Twilight her outfit, she leaned over to Sunset. "And for the record, I think you make a great leader, Sunset."
Sunset blushed and looked away. "Come on, we've got a show to put on." |
Spectacular Seven | Showdown in Canterlot III: Curtain Call | Power!
It all coursed through Adagio's veins. Absolute power, infinite magic, all the animosity and bitterness of everyone in the stadium! The spotlights shone on her and her sisters while the Crystal Heart spun behind them with a dark red hue, amplifying their magic. Soon, everyone watching the broadcast would fall under their spell as well.
The power swelled as she continued to sing, lifting her up into the air.
"We will be adored!
"Tell us that you want us!
"We won't be ignored!
"It's time for our reward!"
She felt the magic reach a crescendo and manifest around her body. Her ears became equine, her hair lengthened down to her legs, and a pair of translucent wings sprouted from her back. Her sisters underwent similar transformations, and their jewels glowed with a sinister ruby light.
"Now you need us,
"Come and heed us,
"Nothing can stop us now!"
Adagio thrust her arm out, and a ring of light, the same bloody red as her pendant flew out over the crowd. She saw the free will leave their eyes, obedient, expressionless pupils replacing them. Her cackle echoed across the stadium. They had won! Equestrian magic, the Crystal Heart, it was all theirs!
"Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh!
"I've got the music in me!
"Oh-oh, oh-whoa-oh!"
From the other side of the field, a stage rose up, spotlights flashing, white smoke mixing in with the green fog. Adagio stared dumbfounded at the seven familiar faces across from her, dressed in sparkling, colorful outfits, tattoos of cutie marks over their eyes, playing their instruments and smiling like they were friends. Why weren't they at each other's throats?
Sunset Shimmer, wearing a ruffled red dress with orange and yellow folds, and black leggings, pointed a finger at Adagio. "Hey, Sirens! Listen to this!"
*******
"Don't need to hear a crowd,
"Cheering out my name!" Fluttershy sang, her voice clear as a crystal bell, with the happiest smile Sunset had ever seen on her.
"I didn't come here seeking
"Infamy or fame!"
Sunset and Twilight hummed and looked on as the rest of the Rainbooms joined in, a glow already starting to settle around them.
"The one and only thing,
"That I am here to bring,
"Is music, is the music,
"Is the music in my soul!"
One by one, they ponied up; quick, bright flashes that left them with their equine features. The stage reflected the rainbow of colors swirling around them. Silhouettes of butterflies, apples, and rainbows danced in the air. Sunset reached out to touch one, feeling it pass through her with a warm, comforting breeze.
"Gotta break out!
"Out!
"Set myself free, yeah!
"Let it all go!
"Go!
"Just let it be, yeah!"
All of their instruments played together in harmony, none of them trying to outdo the other. A white ring of light spread out from them, passing through Sunset before she had time to flinch. It continued over the crowd, erasing the blank looks on their faces, and turning their absent moans into cheers.
"Find the music in your heart!
"Let the music make you start,
"To set yourself apart!"
The Crystal Heart behind the Sirens began to slow, its red light fading. Sunset cheered, jumping up and down with Twilight in hand. They were doing it! Her friends were doing it!
"So you Rainbooms want to have a real battle of the bands?" Adagio yelled. "Fine!" A malicious grin spread across her face. "Let's battle!" She raised her arms, and the musical accompaniment to their song swelled, drowning out the Rainbooms. The Crystal Heart sped up again, and the audience fell back into its stupor.
"What we have in store,
"All we want and more!
"We will break on through,
"Now it's time to finish you!"
The soulless crimson light shining from the Sirens' pendants became blinding. Sunset shielded her eyes, squinting through her fingers to see what was happening. The pressure in the atmosphere increased again and pressed against her spine like the world was trying to get her to bow to her new overlords. The night sky now had a grim orange hue, and black clouds swirled over the coliseum.
As the light from the pendants began to dim, Sunset saw the crimson glow had moved to all three of the Sirens' eyes, drowning them in it. Sunset's gaze moved even higher, and she staggered back, mouth agape at the three creatures rising up behind the Sirens. "So they are from Equestria..."
The beasts appeared to be astral projections, as Sunset could just barely see through them. They had equine body shapes and front hooves, but that's where the similarities ended. Fins and webbing grew from their backs and behind their front legs. Long tails extended from where their rear legs should have been. They looked down at the Rainbooms with sharp teeth and narrowed eyes. In the middle of their chests were jewels that resembled their pendants.
Twilight pressed herself closer to Sunset. "What are those things?"
"They must be the Sirens' true forms, or at least some version of them," Sunset said. Staring up at the behemoths, she had an idea of how her friends felt looking up at her during her demonic rampage. The Sirens' human bodies just hovered in the air, while their projections roared and flew across the field.
Fluttershy backpedaled across the stage. "Sunset, what do we do?"
"Just play!" she yelled.
As the Sirens circled around them like hungry sharks, Rainbow jumped into the air and wailed on her guitar. The blue aura surrounding her body spread to her instrument, and to her surprise, a rainbow colored lightning bolt shot from the headstock. Sonata narrowly avoided it, and the Sirens broke formation.
Rarity followed Rainbow's lead and played her keytar with all the passion she could muster. A hailstorm of diamonds rained forth and peppered the Dazzlings, leaving numerous nicks against their astral forms. Adagio roared in response and unleashed a soundwave from her gaping maw.
Fluttershy's butterflies intercepted the attack, halting the wave in its tracks. She played again, unleashing another swarm that got a speed boost from a soundwave played by Rainbow. The butterflies arched through the air and crashed against Aria's face.
"I have so many questions!" Twilight yelled.
"Not now, Sparky!"
Sonata evaded a bombardment of glowing apples and came around for another attack. She opened her mouth, but instead of music, a ball of blue energy shot forth.
Pinkie rattled on her drums, and a large party balloon burst into life in front of the stage, absorbing the attack and ricocheting it out of the coliseum.
Rainbow stepped up to the mike and let out a long note that turned into a soundwave and hit the Sirens as they regrouped. Adagio snarled and let out a wail of her own, her red vocal rings crashing against Rainbow's white. The other Rainbooms joined in, adding their voice to the chorus, and the remaining Sirens fell behind Adagio and sang as well.
The two forces struggled against each other, the Rainbooms pure harmony against the Sirens eerie and haunting melody. The sound grew louder, and Sunset had to press her hands against her ears to stop her eardrums from throbbing.
Rainbow's cheeks turned a darker shade of blue as she sang her lungs out. Her foot slid back and her knees began to buckle. The Sirens pressed onward, the rings of their music smashing down over the Rainbooms. At the Sirens' crescendo, Rainbow fell back, the mike falling from her hand. The others fell to their knees, gasping for breath, and Pinkie threw her hands up to cover her ears.
"Girls!" Sunset and Twilight called.
The Sirens circled them again, laughing in dissonant tones. Adagio stopped in front of them and licked her jagged teeth. "Curtain call, Rainbooms!" She formed a ball of energy in her maw, an act copied by her sisters.
Sunset held Twilight close, tears falling from both their eyes. They had gotten this far. They had put up a good fight. At least Sunset could die knowing that. Though Twilight closed her eyes, Sunset couldn't look away from the oblivion about to befall her.
The Sirens unleashed their magical fireballs, only for each one to slam against a blue-tinted shield over the stage. Smoke poured all around them, but when it faded, Sunset could see Trixie and her parents at the top of the stands, Trixie looking like she had just run a mile.
"Lulamoons!" Adagio bellowed. She flew up toward them, another energy ball in her mouth. It hit a smaller shield, and forced Trixie to one knee. Artemis kept a hand on her shoulder, while Selena unsheathed her sword and pointed it at Adagio.
Adagio hissed, and her human body raised a hand, fingers curled. At her beckoning, members of the audience rose and turned toward the Lulamoons, hate filling their absent stares. The Lulamoons pressed together, but stood their ground against Adagio and her new army.
Sonata and Aria slammed against the barrier around the Rainbooms, forming larger and larger cracks with each blow. The Rainbooms looked on, still dazed from the Sirens' vocal assault. Twilight took Sunset by the hands. "They need you, Sunset!"
Sunset withdrew from Twilight's hold. "Me? Why?"
"Because you're the last person here with magic! You need to sing with them!"
"Twilight, my magic is dark!" Even as she said it, Sunset could hear her demon laughing somewhere deep inside her. "I can't let that out; it'll just make everything worse!"
Aria slammed the dome again, and magical shards fell and disintegrated in midair.
Rainbow struggled to her feet. "I don't know. At this point, it's really hard to say things could get worse."
Twilight grabbed Sunset's hands again and looked into her eyes. "Sunset, please, listen to me."
Sonata hit the barrier, creating a large fissure.
"I know you're scared. I know you had a dark past. But you're good. I've seen it, you've seen it, they've all seen it!" She pointed to their friends. "We've all watched you come a long way to where you are now. Yes, you can be temperamental, and maybe you still have things to learn, but your heart is good and so is your magic!"
Selena deflected Adagio's attack, but not without singeing the hem of her dress. She ducked out of the way of a feeble grab by one of the audience members, and retreated into the second shield held up by a increasingly haggard looking Trixie.
"Sunset, you're the last chance we have of saving everyone! So please, help us!"
Sunset's hands trembled in Twilight's hold. She looked out to the Lulamoons fighting, and to her friends getting back to their feet. "Twilight, I really want to," she said, voice trembling harder than her hands. "But, what if I lose control?"
"You won't."
"But--"
Twilight grabbed Sunset by the shoulders and pulled her forward into a powerful, loving kiss. She pulled away and looked at Sunset with a fierce resolve. "You won't. And if you still don't believe in yourself, then believe in me--in all of us. We know what you are deep inside. We believe in you!"
Sunset pulled away, giving one more glance to the scene around her. The audience, her friends, perhaps even the whole world was now depending on her.
Yes, tap into this power! Unleash it!
Dark magic. Sunset knew that was all that awaited her. But if she didn't do something, everyone she knew and loved would perish. I can still make a difference.
Yes you can!
I can beat the Sirens.
Destroy them!
I can save my friends! Sunset slipped out of her jacket and handed it to Twilight. "Hold this." She picked up the fallen microphone and stepped over to the center of the stage. "Pinkie, give me a beat!"
Pinkie grinned and saluted, then gave a steady tap of her drums just as the forcefield fell to pieces.
Sunset narrowed her eyes at the looming monsters. Something swelled within her heart. Dark or light, she couldn't say, but it rose through her and shined in the words of her song.
"You're never gonna bring me down!
"You're never break this part of me!"
Adagio stopped her onslaught of attacks and turned her attention back to Sunset.
"My friends are here to bring me 'round!
"Not singing just for popularity!"
Rainbow and Rarity stepped up on either side of her, glowing anew. "We're here to let you know,
"That we won't let it go!
"Our music is a bomb and it's about to blow!"
"And you can try to fight,
"But we have got the light,
"Of friendship on our side!"
A new rainbow wave burst across the field, pushing the Sirens back to their stage. Their human bodies cringed and desperately clutched their pendants, and the crimson glow faded from Adagio's eyes, replaced for the first time by uncertainty. Behind her, the Crystal Heart slowed once more, and its red light dimmed.
Now, it was Sunset's turn to press her attack, her friends right behind her. Their voices rang out in singular harmony. "Got the music in our hearts!
"We're here to blow this thing apart!
"And together, we will never be afraid of the dark!"
Shimmering dust swirled up around Sunset, lifting her off the ground. She hesitated in the song for a second when she felt the magic pulse through her. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she forced herself to think only about Twilight and her friends. The magic pulsed again, this time, coalescing in a golden aura around her body.
Magic.
It didn't shock and burn her like the crown had. It didn't drag all her worst features to the surface and drown her in the darkness of her own desire. No, it soothed her, filled her with light and resolve, and encouraged her to keep singing.
"Here to sing our song out loud!
"Get you dancing with the crowd!
"As the music of our friendship,
"Survives, survives!"
The magic took hold of Sunset, tickling her as her ears vanished and reformed on top of her head in their equine state. Her hair lengthened into a ponytail that dropped down to her ankles, and her golden aura expanded to envelope her friends and lift them back into the air. Sunset looked down at Twilight, who smiled with pride and fantastic awe. Sunset reached a hand down, and Twilight took it, the golden glow spreading across her too and lifting her up to Sunset.
Seven voices sang as one, "Got the music in our hearts!
"We're here to blow this thing apart!
"And together, we will never,
"Be afraid of the dark!"
The golden glow turned the purest white, and a rainbow shot into the air above them, rapidly gathering clouds against the grim sky.
Adagio screamed with fury, and her beast responded in turn, only to be cut off mid roar by a bright light emanating behind her. The Crystal Heart had stopped moving entirely, and instead of red, it now shone a beautiful blue. It began to spin in the opposite direction, faster and faster until it was only a blur. A wave of azure pulsed from the heart and swept over the crowd, banishing the hypnotic hold over them. The mob around the Lulamoons look confused for a moment before being swept up in the spectacle happening on the field. In an instance, the entire arena cheered and even sang along with the Rainbooms.
"Here to sing our song out loud!
"Get you dancing with the crowd!
"As the music of our friendship,
"Survives, survives, survives!"
Sunset looked above them and almost dropped her mike. She marveled at the most impossible sight she had ever seen; a magnificent white alicorn, sparkling like stardust, and with a mane comprised of all the colors of the rainbow emerged from the clouds. It spread its wings over the stadium and pointed its glowing horn down at the Sirens.
"Celestia?" Sunset said in whispered amazement.
The alicorn reared its front legs and let out an ethereal whinny before tossing its head forward and unleashing a beam of light upon the Sirens. They screamed in agony, their projections crumbling to pieces while their human forms raised their hands like they could block out the light. Above their wails, the sound of shattering jewels echoed through the stadium.
When all the lights faded away, the stadium was left in an eerie calm. The sky had returned to normal, the celestial alicorn fading into nothing. The Sirens laid on stage, wings and ears gone, and the shattered remains of their jewels in front of them.
Adagio pushed herself onto her hands and knees and looked at the shards like they were her deceased dog. She gathered some up in her hands and got to her feet. Sonata and Aria looked uncertain, but they did the same and cleared their throats.
"We WiLl Be AdOrEd!
"TeLl Us ThAt YoU wAnT uS!"
Boos and jeers from the crowd immediately drowned out their caterwauling. Popcorn and hot dogs were hurled onto the stage, splattering the Sirens with condiments. They backed up, tears in their eyes, then ran off the stage as fast as they could.
The crowd's attention turned back to the Rainbooms, and a roar of ovation rippled through the air. Standing on the ground again, their pony features still activated, the girls smiled and waved.
Sunset took a deep breath, broken by the giggle she couldn't suppress. "You know, it's nice to not be on the receiving end of that rainbow."
Twilight half-hugged, half-tackled her. "See? I told you you were good!"
Rainbow put an arm around Sunset's neck and pulled her into another hug. "Way to go, Shimmer! You really came through this time!"
"Your singing voice is fantastic, darling!" Rarity said.
Sunset laughed. "I don't know. It's not as good as Fluttershy's."
Fluttershy tried to hide her blush with her tambourine.
"We all did a great job," Applejack said. "Ah don't think we'll have to worry about those Sirens anytime soon."
Rainbow raised a fist. "And if they do show up again, they'll have to deal with the most awesome group of friends in existence!"
Pinkie stood from her seat and yelled into the mike, "We are the Spectacular Seven! Good night!"
*******
Artemis' boisterous laugh was the first thing Sunset heard upon exiting the underground hall. "That was, as you girls so aptly put, spectacular!" He limped over and pulled Sunset into a hug.
Sunset gently wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Thanks to all of you." He stepped back and leaned on Trixie again. "You all showed such bravery and magic! I'm proud of each and every one of you."
Cheers rang out through the hall, and mobs of fans ran from around the corner, heading straight for the Spectacular Seven. The security guards jumped in front of them, keeping the tide back.
"You girls rock!"
"You're amazing!"
"How'd you do all those cool effects!"
"Sunset, marry me!"
The guards held them at bay while the girls made their retreat out the back of the coliseum. Selena looked over her shoulder with an amused eyebrow raised. "Either they're really dedicated to their jobs, or they conveniently forgot I beat them to a pulp half an hour ago."
Once in the parking lot, they found there was nothing to protect them from the jubilant swarm anymore. Kids and teenagers ran up to ask for an autograph or a picture. Some asked if they were going on tour, and a few even asked what happened to the Sirens.
Sunset pondered it herself. The Lulamoons had been too tired to chase after them, but had recovered a few remains of their ruby necklaces when they took back the Crystal Heart. Without them, it looked like the Sirens had no power, but Sunset still found herself weary.
She couldn't focus on it too long though. Fan after fan ran up and asked her to sign something. She had never received attention like this before: honest admiration and adoration. It left butterflies in her stomach in the most pleasant of ways.
The night only got better as Flash and the Crusaders eventually pushed their way to the front of the crowd. The Crusaders ran to their respective sisters in tears, hugging them and apologizing profusely.
"Ah don't know what we were thinkin'!"
"I'm so sorry for saying I hated you!"
"We'll do anything to make up for it!"
Applejack just squeezed her little sister in the tightest hug she could muster. "Forget about it, A.B. It wasn't your fault. Ah'm just glad everythin's back to normal."
"Speak for yourself," Rainbow said. She looked Scootaloo dead in the eye. "You wanna make things up to me, squirt?"
Scootaloo bowed her head. "Yeah. I'm really sorry--"
"Upbupbup!" Rainbow held a hand out. "I don't wanna hear it. Here's what you gotta do to make things right." She lifted Scootaloo's head up and grinned. "You. Me. Soccer. Tomorrow. Bring as many water bottles as you can, 'cause I'm gonna put you through the work out of your life!"
Scootaloo broke into a grin of her own and hugged Rainbow around the middle. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"
Flash shuffled his way toward Rarity, engrossed in a tearful hug with Sweetie Belle. He patiently waited until they were done before trying to speak. "Rarity, I..." He rubbed the back of his head. "You know I didn't..." He tried to smile. "You sounded awesome."
Sunset facepalmed.
Rarity crossed her arms. "Is this your way of apologizing?"
"No! I mean, I am apologizing, but like, not just by saying I'm sorry. Which I totally am! But I wanted to do more than that because I kinda acted like a jerk and--"
Rarity put a finger on his lips. "It wasn't your fault. But, if you really want to make it up to me, you can start with dinner," she said, eyes lidded.
"Gag me," Sunset said.
Flash looked in her direction and held a hand to his face. "Man, Sunset. I don't even know where to begin to apologize to you."
Sunset walked over to him, raised a fist, and slugged his shoulder. "There. Call it even."
Flash tried to laugh as he rubbed his new bruise. "All right, that's fair."
Artemis gave a weak limp of his arm. "Well, this has been one extraordinary night! I say, we go out to eat as a celebration! You're all invited!"
Selena looked incredulously at him. "Artemis, your fingers are broken! You need to go to a hospital!"
"Hospital? Pffft, that's why we have magic at home. Besides, I haven't eaten a decent meal in Lord knows how long."
Trixie helped him to the car, Selena fussing the entire way. The others followed close behind, with Sunset and Twilight bringing up the rear. With everyone still trying to leave, walking through the crowd was slow going, and for a while, neither of them said anything.
Twilight kept her eyes forward, but leaned a little closer to Sunset. "You know... even when I was mad and spending all that time with Moondancer... I couldn't stop thinking about you."
Sunset looked over. "Really?"
"Mmhmm. Some part of me always knew what I was doing was wrong. I just couldn't focus on it. My mind just kept on coming up with reasons why you were wrong."
"Don't beat yourself up over it." Sunset squeezed her hand. "Magic is tough to overcome. And hey, you snapped out of it, right?"
Twilight adjusted her glasses. "Yeah. I just wish I knew why." She fell silent for a second, then cleared her throat. "But, um, where I was going with that was, well..." Twilight's cheeks turned red. "I think Moondancer likes me."
Sunset stopped and put on her best surprised face. "Noooooooo! Really?"
"Really! I'm just as shocked as you!"
"Are you sure?" Sunset asked, fighting not to smile.
"I think so! I mean, nothing happened between us, I promise, but just, the way she talks about me and looks at me sometimes..."
"Wow, this is so unexpected! I never would have been able to guess this!"
"Right? I can't believe she has a crush on me and you're being sarcastic, aren't you?"
"Me? Of course not!" Sunset finally broke and laughed at Twilight's trying-to-be-aggravated stare. "I'm sorry, it's just way too easy!"
Twilight sighed and shook her head. "How long have you known?"
"Since she first walked down the hall."
Twilight took Sunset's hand again and started after the others. "Well, I'm glad you're taking this all in stride. I was afraid you might be a little jealous."
"Nah," Sunset said, trying to convince herself of the lie. "You picked me. And if you still thought about me while being influenced by hypnotic creatures from another world, then I think we're in a good place."
They stopped again, and Twilight leaned up to kiss her. Sunset stroked Twilight's hair, while Twilight kept a hand on the small of Sunset's back. The taste of watermelon chapstick danced on Sunset's lips. For the moment, it was the best taste in the world.
"I missed you," Twilight said when they broke apart.
"I missed you too."
*******
Moondancer leaned against the front gate, nursing her headache as she watched the 'Spectacular Seven' bask in their victory, swarmed by adoring fans and showered with praise. At least Twilight was counted among them. Sure, this could have been a victory for herself, but no, not today. Moondancer's triumph would come another day.
She closed her eyes and sighed, continuing to massage her temples. Hot tea; that would be the first thing she asked for upon arriving back to the manor. She cracked an eye open and frowned at the sight of Twilight walking away with Sunset. Her head throbbed again at the same moment, but she bore it. A little mental agony was a small price to pay to see her sweet star unscathed, even if she was still in the clutches of another vile creature. For how long she had maintained that mental warding spell for Twilight, Moondancer was grateful a migraine was all she got.
She rested her head back and closed her eyes. Fortune proved bittersweet tonight. On one hand, the Sirens had been defeated without Moondancer having to play her cards too early. How fortunate was she to discover that within Canterlot there were six more magic wielders in addition to her family? Sure, they were mediocre at best, and nearly gave Moondancer a heart attack with how close they came to losing. But, they solved the problem for her, allowing her to return her attention back to the real goal.
And the Rainbooms, or rather, the Spectacular Seven, had put on an entertaining show... in a plebeian sort of way.
Moondancer sighed. On the other hand, she had pushed Twilight back to Sunset. The price paid to stop the Sirens from becoming even larger pains in Moondancer's side. It had agonized Moondancer to see Twilight hypnotized by dark magic, but at the same time, it had brought them closer together. Now, Twilight was free from their spell, but back under Sunset Shimmer's.
"Oh, how you vex me, Sunset." Moondancer lowered her head in time to see the demon's vivid hair vanish into the crowd. "What sort of sorcery is this that you wield?" She narrowed her eyes. "Hide behind all the light you wish; I see your darkness. And someday, I'll make Twilight see it too." She stood up, keeping two fingers against her temple.
Her own magic was not strong enough yet, but soon, it would be. She slowly stepped away from the stadium, pulling her cellphone from the folds of her dress. "Enjoy your victory now, Sunset. Because when everything is said and done, I will be the only one basking in the applause of the world."
Volume I: End |
Spectacular Seven | Volume II: Phantoms Past—1. Étoile en Avant | "We're all connected. Tied together by invisible threads that link our souls. The more we laugh and share and love, the stronger those threads become, until they're unbreakable.
"Likewise, souls themselves have the power to become stronger. Every experience, every triumph over adversity helps us grow a little more.
"Trust in your soul. That's where the magic is."
Volume II
Phantoms Past
Greens, browns, and glints of blue danced in a kaleidoscope above her head. The earthly colors dominated, making the flashes of blue a treat.
Her boots sunk into the grass as she weaved between the trees. They stood close together, their branches interlocked with their leaves fanning over one another.
In the brief flashes the trees allowed, Sunset saw a dazzling blue sky lit by the ever elusive sun. The breaks in the trees provided circles of sunlight that guided her along her way.
She was almost there. Just through the forest. Just up the slopes. She could almost see it.
Her heart raced faster as she neared the end of the forest. She could see light streaming out from in between the trees. From the corner of her eye, an elegant white figure caught up to her, nimbly maneuvering through the trees on angelic wings.
Celestia gazed lovingly at her. "Do you want to come home, Sunset?"
Sunset opened her mouth to speak as she ran, but she reached the end of the forest first. She burst through the trees, only to find herself falling through darkness. Celestia did not appear to catch her; Sunset fell alone, her hand outstretched.
Despite the thick veil of night that surrounded her, Sunset could see shadows moving about. They circled closer, trapping her in the center of a vortex. Distorted music began to play, screechy and haunting and full of misery. Try as she might, Sunset couldn't block out the noise.
"You think one song is going to absolve your guilt?" The shadows around Sunset thickened into three outlines, and far below her, she could see the light of a fire.
One of the shadows materialized to resemble Adagio. "You were the one who set us free in the first place."
Aria appeared on Sunset's right. "Look how close we got to winning. All thanks to your arrogance."
Sonata formed on Sunset's left. "Thanks for not finishing us off. Next time, we'll make sure to take you out first."
Sunset raised her arms to block them out as they lunged at her, but a pillar of fire engulfed all three of them, turning them to ash and leaving behind agonizing screams.
The blaze then swirled around Sunset, wrapping her in an inferno. "Look how much more magic you could have gotten! You could have taken control, right there and then!"
"I don't want control anymore!" Sunset yelled.
A face appeared in the fire. "We both know that's not true. You had your taste of power, and now, you'll just want more until you're satisfied. I'll be waiting, Sunset. Waiting for you to beg me to help you win!" The face roared and raced toward her, and the heat became blistering...
*******
Sunset sat up in a cold sweat, wrestling her arms free from her sleeping bag to wipe the perspiration from her brow. She steadied her breathing and urged her stomach to settle down. When it continued to churn, she quietly wiggled her way free from her bag and stood up. Her eyes made out the familiar outline of Twilight's bedroom, perfectly organized save for the overflow of books near the bookshelf. Twilight herself slept in her bed, her back currently toward Sunset.
Quietly, as not to wake her or Spike, Sunset shuffled out the room and down the hall to the bathroom, shutting the door before turning on the lights. The sharp transition blinded her momentarily. After she blinked the spots away, her reflection greeted her, hair messy, pupils dilated. Other than the beads of sweat, she looked as fine as she did any other school night.
Sunset turned the faucet on and cupped some water to her mouth, then splashed some on her face. She took a deep breath of air and slowly exhaled it. "You're fine. You're good, just like Twilight said. You don't want power." She looked down at her hands. Sure, now she had power. Through harmony, her equine magic had manifested earlier that very evening to help her friends defeat the Sirens. She didn't need anything more than that.
Still, even with the magic of friendship flowing through her, Sunset could hear the voice of her old self, still scheming, still wanting revenge. Maybe she would never truly be rid of it. She had been terrible for a very long time.
Sleep still pressed on the back of her eyes. The events of the day had left Sunset exhausted, and she had planned to sleep like a log. Her subconscious had other ideas it seemed. She was ready for another try though, and crept back to Twilight's room, leaving the door open a crack as per her parents' instructions. In celebration of their victory and getting back together, Twilight had insisted on a sleepover while the rest of their friends got to reconcile with their families. Sunset thought the Lulamoons could use a little alone time, and had happily agreed.
She shimmied her way back into her sleeping bag and was convinced she had run her errand without waking Twilight up.
"Sunset?" a groggy voice asked.
Ponyfeathers. Sunset looked over to Twilight's bed, its outline slowly coming into focus. She could almost see Twilight looking at her. "Go back to sleep, Sparky."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just wanted some water."
Twilight was silent, but even in the dark, Sunset knew it was the 'patiently waiting for an explanation' silence. Sunset sighed, exasperated and touched by Twilight's persistence. "It was just a bad dream, okay?"
She heard Twilight shuffle under her blankets. "I thought you didn't have those anymore?"
"I don't... for the most part. They just kinda come up now and again. Usually when I'm stressed out or something."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Sunset shook her head, then realized Twilight couldn't see her. "No, it's just leftovers from this week probably. Besides it's..." She looked at Twilight's alarm clock. "Almost one. We still have school in the morning."
"Okay, if you're sure." Twilight's blankets shifted again. As Sunset adjusted herself, Twilight spoke up again in a very meek voice. "Umm... if you wanted to... you know... share the bed... if it made you feel better..."
Sunset's face heated up. "You mean, sleep next to you? In your bed?"
"Y-yeah."
Her heart kicked into overdrive, and Sunset wished she had gotten more water for her parched throat. "O-only if you want me to."
"Only if you want to."
Sunset crawled out of her sleeping bag and eased her way onto the bed and under the covers, cuddling up to Twilight in her night shirt and pants. She could see Twilight clearly now, her hair bun undone, letting purple and pink strands fall over her shoulder. She tried to look shy, but by her eyes, Sunset could tell she was quite pleased to have company. "You know, if your brother finds us..." Sunset said, only half joking.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Even Shining knows to knock before coming into my room. And we're not doing anything." She pressed herself a little closer to Sunset.
They stared at each other for a long time, smiling and giggling and stroking each other's hair. A primal urging rose up from within Sunset, and she appeased it by kissing Twilight on the mouth, long and soft until they needed to breathe. Twilight giggled some more, then turned over and scooted her back into Sunset. Sunset wrapped an arm around her and closed her eyes. "Good night, Twilight."
"Good night, Sunset."
Sunset felt the sleep quickly take over. She thought she heard Twilight whisper something else, but she was too far gone to properly hear it.
*******
Moondancer leaned on her balcony, overlooking the front yard and the driveway. She could hear the last remnants of the party downstairs and see the cars driving away one by one. She let out a sigh of satisfaction. The last thing she had wanted to come home to was one of her father's business parties. Normally, she could tolerate smiling and waving and pretending to be interested in the lives of her father's business partners, but her headache from earlier still persisted. She had even less of a desire to stand at perfect attention tonight.
She looked up at the moon, and rested her head against the banister. A cold mountain breeze rippled across her light dress, making her shiver, but she paid it little mind. "I wonder, do actors ever forget who they are sometimes? Jump from one role to another and another, and forget where you started?"
She held a hand to the moon. "I haven't forgotten my purpose though. I know what I fight for. I will make this world beautiful." She stood up and reached into her shirt to pull out a silver, heart-shaped locket. She flipped it open and smiled at the two pictures inside. One was of Twilight, glasses falling down her nose and a shy smiling gracing her perfect face. The other was of a much younger Moondancer on the shoulders of a silver-haired woman, both of them laughing in the middle of the garden.
"For you, my shining star. And for you, Mother. Everything I do is for your sake." She snapped the locket shut. Below her, she could hear the last of the socialites move out into the driveway, talking and laughing, her father amongst them.
Moondancer turned back into her room, shutting the balcony doors behind her. With the noise dying down, perhaps now she could meditate in peace. She took a sip of the now cold tea left for her by the vanity, swallowing with a grimace. The price paid for ruminating in the moonlight for so long. Despite its low temperature, she finished her tea, allowing it to help clear her mind. Positioning herself in the center of the room, she sank down onto the purple satin carpet and sat cross-legged, hands on her knees. Eyes shut, she began to breathe slowly through her nose.
Let the magic flow. Warmth flowed from her heart and spread through the rest of her body. Let go of all other thoughts. Hard to do with the night's events still fresh in her mind. With as far as she had come in her training, her magic wouldn't have been enough to defeat the Sirens without backup. She had strained herself just trying to free Twilight.
Oh, Twilight. Moondancer had known from the first moment she had seen her that Twilight was to be the reward for her suffering. Moondancer had been patient. She had been nurturing. She had turned her back for two seconds and this Sunset Shimmer waltzes in and bewitches her sweet flower.
That's what it was: bewitchment. Sunset wasn't human, Moondancer was sure of it. She didn't know what game Sunset was playing, but she had Twilight in her thrall, and Moondancer would find a way to set her free. Twilight was hers--the only bright spot in this dreary drama of life.
Soon, you'll be safe and sound, my star. Moondancer let the thoughts fall away, freeing her mind and soul. I'll get stronger and do what I must for you.
"One would think you knew someone would step up to beat the Sirens," a cool, deep feminine voice said from Moondancer's doorway.
She didn't flinch at the intruder's sudden presence. Instead, she clenched her teeth and hands, and said, "I know you come from some backwater country, but I would have hoped that from my urgings alone you would have learned the basic courtesy of knocking."
"Moondancer, who were those girls at the concert?"
Moondancer eased her gritted teeth into a content smile. "What's this? I know something you don't? I should savor this feeling; who knows when it will come again."
"Moondancer." The woman's voice didn't change in tone, but Moondancer felt the pulse of irritation all the same. "I know one of them is your pretty little Twilight Sparkle. Who are the rest?"
"Concern yourself not with Twilight." Moondancer moved her hands to the center of her lap and crossed her fingers. "They call themselves the Spectacular Seven."
"And how long have you known they had magic?"
Bringing her fingers up to her mouth, Moondancer thought on the best response. "Long enough to know they had a chance to win."
"And if they failed?"
"Well, I'm sure you and your brilliant mind would have come up with something." She unlaced her fingers and waved a hand. "I assured you the Sirens would not pose a threat for very long, and was I wrong? They're gone, the board is clear again."
The woman drummed her fingers against the doorframe. "Save for seven new pieces."
"Six. Twilight has no magical powers. She does not need to be part of this."
A pause. "Perhaps not, but I'm beginning to think she's a hindrance to your focus. I gave you a decent leash, Moondancer, and I'm already starting to regret it."
Years of self-conditioning gave Moondancer the strength to not give any tells. She exhaled slowly through her nose and said in her pleasant voice, "Have you checked any of your magic monitors in the last few hours?"
"No, I haven't."
Moondancer smiled. "See that you do. I'd love to hear what they say. And when you're done marveling at the results, I'll be here."
The woman made a 'harrumph' but didn't leave. "In the meantime, I want to know about these magic wielding girls. Especially the red and yellow haired one. What is her name?"
A growl escaped as Moondancer spoke. "Sunset Shimmer."
Silence. Then a faint whisper of, "Impossible."
"Something troubling you?"
"Unimportant," she snapped. "The rest of them, who are they and where did they get these powers?"
With a slight raise of her shoulders, Moondancer said, "Astute questions of which, I'm afraid I do not have concrete answers to. Perhaps with time I could discern more about their origins but... oh yes, of course, I believe you claimed my 'leash' to be too long."
The room dropped a few degrees, leaving goosebumps to rise on Moondancer's skin. She heard the hiss of shadows behind her, flowing freely through the air. "You're pushing me, Moondancer," the woman said, still maintaining her calm veneer. "Don't forget your place."
Moondancer opened her eyes, a shadow crossing over them. "I've never forgotten my place."
An extra layer of darkness smothered the air, sucking away the light from the lamps and chandelier. Darkness crawled down the back of Moondancer's neck, cold, oily, unnatural. She pressed her teeth together to keep from gasping in disgust.
The shadows vanished in an instant, returning the natural light to the room. "You are to gather all the information you can about these girls and their magic by any means necessary and report it to me. Is that understood?"
Moondancer tilted her head to the side, just enough to see the woman's shadow on her wall. "Crystal."
"Good. And later, we're going to have a talk about your obsession with this Twilight Sparkle."
Moondancer turned her head back toward the balcony. A rush of cold wind and an absent feeling told her her unwelcome guest had departed. She placed her hands back on her knees and closed her eyes in meditation.
"It is not an obsession," she whispered. "I am merely protecting the last joy this life has given me."
*******
A curtain of purple greeted Sunset as she woke up to Twilight's alarm going off. Spike got up first, wedging his way between the two girls to lick Sunset's face until she sat up. "All right, I get it."
Twilight sat up next and took Spike into her lap. "Did you sleep better?"
Sunset stretched her arms over her head. "As a matter of fact, I did. Must be your soft bed." She bounced up and down a few times. "Seriously, this is nice."
Twilight rolled her finger around one of her messy locks. "Oh... well, I'm glad you liked it."
Sunset wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled Twilight close. "I'm joking. Sleeping next to you was what I needed."
There was a knock on the door, pushing it open a hair, and Sunset jumped back onto her sleeping bag just as Night Light said, "Twilight, I'm opening the door. Don't make me regret letting you and Sunset share a room." The door pushed open and Night stuck his head in, finding Sunset tucked into her sleeping bag, and Twilight on her bed, smiling innocently.
"Morning, Dad!"
"Uh-huh." He scrutinized each of them in turn, and Sunset learned where Shining had gotten his glare from. "You're off the hook for now. Hurry and get ready for school." He pointed from his eyes to Sunset's. "I'm still watching you, Miss Shimmer."
When he backed out of the room, Sunset and Twilight shared a muffled giggle. "Who would've guessed you of all girls would lie to her parents," Sunset said.
"It's not lying!" Twilight said defensively. "We didn't do anything."
Sunset couldn't help but put on her raunchiest grin. "Did you want to do something?"
Twilight's face immediately turned scarlet, and she threw a pillow at Sunset. "G-go get dressed!"
"I'm not hearing a no!"
"Sunset!"
"Okay, okay, I'll change." Sunset got up and started unbuttoning her pajama top.
Twilight jumped off her bed and shoved Sunset into the hallway, Sunset laughing the entire time. Even after Sunset had changed and brushed her teeth, she came back to find Twilight's cheeks were still a light shade of red. Sunset chose not to persist in her teasing, knowing she was probably toeing a line already. She didn't want to make Twilight, or herself for that matter, more uncomfortable on the subject than two teenagers needed to be.
Sunset helped Twilight tidy her room up, then joined her downstairs where breakfast was being prepared. The news was on in the living room, showing pictures of last night's concert while the news anchor narrated.
"Social media and the music industry are abuzz with questions about last night's performance featuring the Dazzlings, and the winners of Canterlot's Battle of the Bands, the Rainbooms, or as they announced themselves on stage, the Spectacular Seven. Before the concert started, it was reported the Spectacular Seven would no longer be playing. However, in the middle of the show, they appeared with an impressive display of special effects and empowering music. But what stunned the crowd the most was what came afterwards. After what appeared to be an actual battle of bands, the Dazzlings tried to sing again, only to deliver the worst singing anyone had ever heard. No one has seen them since they fled the stage, leaving behind many questions. Was this all a publicity stunt? Did the Dazzlings fake their talents? Where are they now? And will the Spectacular Seven play again?"
"Well, girls?" Twilight Velvet asked as she set a plate of eggs and toast in front of Sunset. "Will the Spectacular Seven play again?"
Sunset traded a look with her girlfriend and shook her head before digging into her eggs. "Having a band is more trouble than it's worth." She thought about the rush of magic, the feeling of light within her, and protecting her friends from peril. "But, if the world needs us to be a band again, we'll be there."
"Stirring words from the band leader," Night said, taking his bowl to the sink. "That reminds me, Twilight, how'd you end up on stage with them? I thought you and Moondancer had made a band?"
Twilight froze, her fork full of eggs halfway to her mouth. "Uhh, good question! You see... umm..."
Seeing Twilight had hit her limit of parental deception, Sunset tagged in. "We thought it'd be a cool twist to show that there were seven members of our band instead of just five! Besides, Twilight has a great singing voice!"
"I really don't," Twilight mumbled into her eggs. They finished up breakfast and hopped into the car. Night dropped them off in front of the school, giving Twilight a peck on the cheek, and Sunset another stern glare that she knew had no real weight behind it.
Students across the grounds and in the halls had only one topic on their minds. They repeated their own personal tales of what they did at the concert last night, and whispered their own theories as to what happened to the Sirens. They halted their conversations to wave and cheer at Sunset and Twilight as they passed by, some even handing out compliments, or asking where the Dazzlings were.
The duo stopped by Twilight's locker first. "I'm surprised we got out of that with relative ease. I thought they would have asked more questions," Twilight said while she dialed her combination.
Sunset leaned against the locker next to her. "It's just like the Fall Formal. Weird stuff happened, but no one wants to look too far into it. Yeah, they have questions, but they won't go looking too hard for answers because 'it can't be magic'. The human psyche is fascinating. It does help that almost everything that happened last night can be explained by pyrotechnics and special effects."
Twilight traded her backpack for a book and closed her locker. "That just makes me want to look into magic even more. Where did that giant pegacorn--"
"Alicorn."
"--right, alicorn come from? How did waves of light manifest into something... well, physical enough to look like it did physical harm to the Sirens and their amulets? Or for that matter, how did the girls playing their instruments create projectiles? And why were they shaped like butterflies and diamonds?"
Sunset led the way to her locker to get her history book. "Well, to take a shot at the last question, it probably has something to do with their pony counterparts' cutie marks."
Twilight gripped the sides of her head. "Uugh, there's so much I want to understand! None of this magic makes any sense!"
"Twilight, remember what I said. I'll teach you everything I can. But if something doesn't make sense even after you've thrown all the science you can at it, then maybe it isn't supposed to make sense."
Twilight lowered her hands and exhaled. "Right. You're right. Getting worked up over nothing." The bell rang, and she kissed Sunset on the lips before running off. "See you at lunch!"
Sunset watched her go until she disappeared into the crowd. Everything's back to normal, she thought contentedly. Yes, but for how long? She shut the cynical thought away as she slammed her locker and pushed on to her first period.
Rarity beamed as Sunset drew close. "Good morning, dear. How was yours and Twilight's evening?" She winked.
"Just fine, Rarity," Sunset said, easing into her chair. She could play Rarity's game, but there was a chance Rarity would take whatever Sunset said seriously. Sunset wasn't ready for the consequences of that.
"That's it? Just fine?" Rarity asked, a twinkle in her eye and a coy smile on her lips.
"Rarity, stop trying to live vicariously through me. You have Flash."
"Yes, but you two are just so cute! I'm happy you're back together where you belong."
Sunset closed her eyes, finding Twilight waiting for her with a smile. Together where we belong. With the Sirens gone, all Sunset had to worry about was Moondancer butting her pretty head in where it didn't belong. But if mind-controlling sea ponies from another world couldn't split them apart, maybe Sunset had nothing to worry about.
Except the future and Twilight eventually moving away to go make something of herself, leaving you alone again.
Thank you, brain, you're a ball of sunshine.
The bell rang again, and Luna came over the PA. "Good morning students. Glad to see so many of you up bright and early despite last night's excitement. And speaking of which, congratulations to the Rain--ahem, I mean the Spectacular Seven for winning the Battle of the Bands, and their amazing performance last night."
The room broke into applause, of which Sunset just leaned back in her chair and soaked it in. Luna continued with the general announcements, ending with a reminder that spring break began at the end of the week. With everything going on, Sunset had nearly lost track of their school schedule. A vacation sounded heavenly after everything she had been through so far.
Mr. Noteworthy started class the second Luna was finished, sparing no praise for Sunset or the Spectacular Seven. Geez, a few naps in his class, and he hates me forever.
*******
The start of Sunset's lunch was interrupted every few minutes by someone running up to the Spectacular Seven's table to tell them they were awesome. Sunset outgrew the praise after the third wave of freshmen. Rainbow, however, took it all in stride, taking pictures and signing autographs for any and all who asked.
"Figured I better get used to it," she said, putting her shoes up on the table and reclining in her chair. "I am going to be a soccer star someday. Or a track star. Or both."
"If she don't die from a swelled head first," Applejack said behind her hand to Sunset. They both shared a quiet snicker.
"This is quite the turnaround from a week ago," Rarity said. "I know they were all being influenced, but it's still a bit overwhelming."
Sunset took a sip of her soda. "Maybe some part of their brain is telling them to make up for everything they did and worship us like the saviors we are."
"Sunset." Twilight nudged her.
"What? I'm just putting out a hypothesis. Even if it should be true."
"I've got a 'hypothesis' for you girls," Rainbow said. "What are we gonna do with our prize money? Now that we've officially won, we can officially talk about how we're gonna spend it."
"Didn't we already talk about this?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah, but that was before when we were all mad at each other. New day, new answers."
Applejack shook her head. "Well mah answer hasn't changed. Ah'm puttin' my cut away for a rainy day."
Rarity nodded. "Agreed. Well, about the answer not changing part. I still say a weekend retreat is just what the doctor ordered. Maybe I won't spend all of it. Just as much as it costs to get a really good deep tissue massage. I have stress knots like you wouldn't believe."
"I still want a party!" Pinkie said, confetti popping out behind her.
Rainbow put her hands up. "You always want a party."
"Thank you, Captain Redundant," Sunset said, putting a hand on Twilight's shoulder to stop her from looking where Pinkie's confetti had come from.
Rainbow straightened up in her seat. "Well, I wanted to get a record label, but I decided to put my music career on hold for a second. Being an athlete is still priority number one."
Sunset made a loud slurp with her drink. "Get to the point, Dash."
"My point is that I decided I want to live in the now! We're about to get ten-thousand dollars and go on spring break! Do you know what that means?"
"We're about to end up on an episode of Girls Gone Wild?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow pointed and grinned. "Close! We won't get too crazy, but we should totally go on vacation together!"
"That's..." Sunset set her drink down. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."
Rarity clapped her hands together. "That's a marvelous idea actually! That fulfills most of our individual wishes! I'll get a spa date, Pinkie will get her party, and we'll all get to spend some relaxing time together!"
"The seven of us on vacation together sounds wonderful," Fluttershy said. "But would our parents even allow that?"
Rainbow stood up and raised a confident fist in the air. "Come on, we're all good students and have good grades!"
Twilight and Sunset shared a blank look with her.
"...Decent grades. But we're responsible. And we'll pick some place that's still in the state."
"Oh yeah, narrowing the possible places where we could cause or get into trouble down to one state will definitely get our folks to sign off on this," Applejack said.
"Why you gotta be like that, A.J?"
She shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, sugarcube, Ah'm just being realistic. Ah'm not sayin' spendin' quality time with you girls is bad, but we're all seventeen... 'cept for Pinkie technically."
"Still four!"
"And there's no way all our parents will let us go out without someone supervising us," Applejack finished.
Rainbow slouched back in her chair. "Killjoy."
"Would one or two adults really ruin our time together?" Twilight asked. "We weren't going to do anything illegal, right?" She looked at a quiet Rainbow. "Right?"
"Twilight," a voice sang.
Sunset and Rainbow managed a quick groan before Moondancer made her way to the table. She gave a deep bow, then took Twilight by the hands.
"I'm so glad you're unharmed! I was so worried when you never came back to the booth, but then I saw you down on stage facing those nasty Sirens and for a moment, I thought I was going to die!" She swooned, then looked over at six nervous faces. "But how surprised was I that you girls of all people carried a gift like my own family's! You saved the day and cast those monsters back into the abyss!"
Rarity let out a high-pitched laugh. "Darling, w-what are you talking about? Magic? Pffft, we don't know what you mean. We're just six regular girls who--"
"Drop it, Rarity," Sunset said, keeping her eyes locked on Moondancer. "She's a Lulamoon. She knows what the Dazzlings really are."
"Indeed." Moondancer released Twilight and put a hand to her forehead again. "And I curse my fate that I did not inherit any of my mother's magical gifts, leaving me vulnerable to their dastardly hypnosis." She clasped her hands together and made a deep bow. "You must forgive me for any transgressions I might have committed. I fear I was not myself." She rose her head. "Especially toward you, Sunset. May you find it in your heart to look beyond any of my past actions that may have hurt you."
Clever little... All eyes turned to Sunset as she struggled to curve her mouth up into a smile. "Of course, Moondancer," she said, fighting not to choke on her own words. "It's all water under the bridge."
Moondancer put a hand to her heart and sighed. "You don't how happy that makes me. By the way, you have a lovely singing voice."
"Thank you." Sunset dug her nails into her palm under the table.
Moondancer rested her chin in her hand and made a soft hum, looking at none of them in particular.
"What is it, Moony?" Twilight asked.
"It's nothing, really. Idle curiosity. And you know what they say about it and the cat." She shifted from one mid-heel sandal to the other, the sparkle of curiosity growing brighter in her eyes. "But I simply must ask, where did you acquire such abilities? Magic isn't common place in this world, as I'm sure you're aware."
"None of your business," Sunset said, her forced smile becoming a superior grin. "We keep that on a need to know basis."
"It's kinda a long story anyway," Pinkie said. "And I already ate my food, and I can't sit through a long story without at least three snacks."
Moondancer dipped her head. "Very well. I shall respect your privacy. Still quite fascinating. I hope you'll continue to use your powers for the greater good." She leaned over and gave Twilight a hug. "At the very least, keep my little star nice and safe." She bounced up and backed away. "I'll leave you to your friendship bonding for now. I'm sure you have some catching up to do. Au revoir!"
Sunset waited until she exited the cafeteria. "Okay, so she knows we have magic. How many ways can this go wrong?"
Rainbow began packing her lunch away. "As long as she doesn't blab to anybody else... oh man, we're gonna get probed, aren't we?"
"Relax, girls. Moony can keep a secret this important," Twilight said. "And who knows, maybe she has a good understanding of how magic works! I could ask her for her thoughts on my notes!"
"You can try, but somethin' tells me that girl ain't all that interested in the sciencey part of magic," Applejack said. The bell rang, dismissing them from lunch. They herded out of the cafeteria and into the halls, still getting the occasional note of praise. The girls broke off to their classrooms one by one, until only Sunset, Rainbow, and Rarity remained, waving goodbye to Pinkie.
"See you girls later!" she said, skipping down an adjacent hall.
Rarity smiled and waved after her, then whipped around and grabbed Sunset by the shoulders, eyes wide and maniac. "Do you know what we've done?" she hissed.
"Said goodbye to our friend Pinkie? You know, the happy one?" Sunset said blandly, masking her startlement.
"Thanks to all this mess with the Sirens, we forgot her birthday!"
Sunset paled. "Celestia's auxiliary feathers, you're right!"
Rainbow tugged at her collar, trying her hardest to put on a joking smile. "I mean, we didn't technically forget. It was on February 29th, which didn't exist this year, so we're in the clear."
"Rainbow!" Rarity yelled, letting go of Sunset.
"I know, okay? I already feel horrible! Why didn't she say anything though?"
Rarity looked down the hall Pinkie had traversed. "You know how she is. She'll find any reason to throw a party except her own birthday."
"Why not?" Sunset asked.
Rainbow scratched her head. "I asked her a long time ago. She said something about it being in her 'party code,' throwing a party for yourself, especially on your birthday, is just selfish."
"And with us dealing with the Sirens and starting to get on each other's nerves, she probably didn't feel like reminding us of the matter," Rarity said.
"With how boring her family is, she probably hasn't even had a party since before we fell apart the first time." Rainbow jumped at the loud clang of the locker next to her.
Sunset rubbed the back of her hand. "Spider," she said nonchalantly. "Look, clearly there's only one thing to do. We use our prize money to give Pinkie the best birthday she's ever had."
Rainbow punched a fist into the air. "Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"
"Genius, Sunset! We'll go all out!"
Sunset gave a thumbs up with her still throbbing hand. |
Spectacular Seven | 2. Prepping Party Plans for Pink Party Planners | "You want to throw my sister a party?"
Five uneasy smiles met the stone-faced girl in front of them. Maud Pie's unflinching and lifeless eyes managed to fix a gaze on all the girls at once, mesmerizing them. She blinked again, eyelids moving slower than her speech, giving the girls a short window to correct their civil smiles.
Like most afternoons after school, Tuesday proved busy for Sugarcube Corner. But, also like most afternoons, the Spectacular Seven, currently the Canterlot High Five with the absence of Pinkie and Twilight, found a booth large enough for all of them plus their guest.
"Yes, Maud," Rarity said, unanimously agreed by a silent vote to be the group's spokeswoman. "We really want to do something special for her this year, and since you're her older sister and she speaks so fondly of you, we were hoping you could tell us what she would like."
Maud nodded very slowly. If Sunset didn't know any better, she would have sworn Maud was actually made from stone. The gray skinned girl continued to keep all of them locked in her gaze, staring silently. Even with the chatter of the students around them, Maud's silence made each of them fidget in their seats. Sunset rubbed her hands together to stop goosebumps from popping up. Fluttershy hid inside her pink waterfall of hair. Even Applejack kept her hat tipped a little lower than usual.
"Pinkie likes everything," Maud said, each syllable clearly defined. "She'll be happy with anything you do."
Rarity's smile strained further, becoming lopsided. "That's all you can tell us? Nothing she's ever wanted to do, or something she likes a little more than everything?"
Maud's wide-ranged stare honed in on Rarity, forcing her to push back against the seat cushion. "She likes all of you a lot." She then reached into her pocket, pulled out a small rock, and set it on the table. "Boulder wanted to say hi."
Sunset stared at the pebble then back to Maud. Oh, now I see the family connection. They're both crazy.
Maud gave Boulder a gentle poke. "Boulder agrees that Pinkie will be happy with anything you do." She took another look at everyone's dejected faces. "Pinkie also loves to go to new places." She scooped Boulder up and tucked him into her pocket before scooting out of the booth. "And bounce houses." It took her over a minute to get from the table to the door.
"Well, that wasn't a complete waste of our time," Sunset said, crossing her arms.
"Pinkie did say she would spend her cut of the money on a party with bounce houses," Applejack said. She lifted her hat up. "Boy, that Maud is... a character."
"If by 'character' you mean an unfeeling, emotion draining zombie, then yes, she is."
Rarity snapped her fingers. "That's enough, Sunset. She's still Pinkie's sister."
"Yeah, I'm not sure who I feel more sorry for in that situation." Sunset cleared her throat. "Okay, I'm finished." She forgot how powerful Rarity's glare could be sometimes.
Rarity pulled out a notebook and pen. "So, 'exotic locations' and 'bounce houses'." She clicked the top of the pen. "It's a start. Where's somewhere Pinkie's always wanted to go?"
"Wherever she hasn't been," Rainbow answered. "Like Maud said, we could take Pinkie anywhere and she'd be happy."
"Well, it has to be in our budget--"
"Of ten thousand dollars," Sunset said.
"Plus, we still need a chaperone," Rarity finished, glaring at Sunset again.
"First things first," Applejack said, standing up. "Let's make sure we actually get our prize money. Then we can decide the who and where and how."
The way Applejack said it flipped a switch in Sunset's brain, making her wonder for the first time if the Sirens had meant to give out a grand prize at all. Their goal was world domination. They had set up the contest, but that didn't mean they had to follow through with anything promised.
Everyone seemed to catch onto the same wavelength and exchanged uncertain frowns, but Rainbow clicked her tongue and said, "Don't worry. The city helped put on the event, I'm sure they'll pay us." They left the pastry shop, a shadow cast over the bright idea of them being rewarded for their efforts.
"So," Sunset said, pushing the conversation out of the gloom. "How do you think Pinkie's tutoring session went?"
*******
"Okay, one more time," Twilight said, her bun coming undone, and several hairs out of place. She put the chalk against the board. "Factor 4x2 + 12x + 5 .(2x + 5)(2x + 1). And show your work this time!"
Pinkie stared at the problem unblinking for several seconds, then stooped over her paper and scribbled like mad. "Done!" She held it out to Twilight who snatched it away.
On it was a picture of a large duck with sharp teeth, a sun in an ice cream cone, and a baby alligator wearing a crown. And scribbled in the crown was the correct answer.
"Did I get it right?"
Twilight could only walk back to the board and smack her head against it.
*******
Seven teenagers at city hall was an odd sight on a Wednesday afternoon. Office aides gave them polite but scrutinizing smiles, and as they sat in the lobby waiting for their name to be called, Sunset couldn't help but feel there was an unseen camera watching them.
Six of the girls sat patiently on a bench, while Pinkie stood up, making faces at her reflection in the polished mirror-like granite floors. "Does anyone else feel like they're floating in space when they stare at these?" she asked after her giggling had subsided. "I mean look! The ceiling is down there, but it's also up there! Wooooo!" She waved her arms and glided around the floor. "I'm in space!"
"Hard to believe she's graduating, isn't it?" Rainbow asked.
Sunset snorted. It was harder to believe that at the beginning of the school year, Pinkie had tied with Rainbow for people she hated the most. With Rainbow, however, it had been a mutual hatred. Pinkie had been the only one out of the five to genuinely want to accept Sunset into the fold with no promise to a certain princess influencing her actions. Sunset had hated her for her boundless optimism, and hyperactive and childlike nature. Now, she found it endearing and sometimes relieving. The least she could do was give Pinkie a good party.
"Ahem, err... 'Spectacular Seven?'" One of the aides stopped before them, double checking her clipboard. "The Mayor has time to see you now. Right this way, please." She cast them a scrupulous glance, then turned to the doors in the back.
Pinkie led the march, grinning back at her friends. "I'm so happy when people call us that!"
Mayor Ivory Scroll's office had plush carpet instead of granite flooring. Two of the walls were made entirely out of fully stocked book shelves, while a large window was placed in the back, giving a great view to the park behind city hall. Ivory Scroll herself was a small, middle-aged woman with beige skin and fluffy gray hair. She straightened her green tie and adjusted her half-moon spectacles as the girls walked in. By the teetering smile on her face, Sunset already knew something was wrong.
"Hello, girls," Ivory Scroll said as her aide exited. "Congratulations on winning the Battle of the Bands"
"Thank you," they all said.
"Sorry to come in like this on such short notice," Rarity said.
"Yeah, we weren't really sure how this all worked since the Dazzlings bolted," Rainbow said. "We thought it'd be easiest to come talk with you."
Ivory Scroll adjusted her tie again. "Yes, you've all worked very hard and performed very well."
Sunset pursed her lips. "Miss Mayor, what's the matter."
She sighed and walked to the other side of her desk, taking a seat in her large chair. "Again, you all did very well, and you should be proud of yourselves for winning but..." She took her glasses off and sighed again. "Girls I hate to tell you this, but there is no prize money."
"What?"
Applejack muttered, "Ah figured," under her breath.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what to say." Ivory Scroll cleaned her glasses and set them back on her face. "The Dazzlings never put up the money. They never even filled out any official paperwork to host this event!" She slumped her head into one hand. "I don't know how this even happened. They came into my office one day and told me what they wanted to do. I thought it was a great idea, and... that's it. I'm so embarrassed."
Sunset stepped forward. "Don't be, Miss Mayor. The Dazzlings hoodwinked a lot of people. It's not your fault."
The mayor lifted her head and cracked a relieved smile. "Thank you for understanding. I wish I could give you girls something. But taking ten thousand dollars out of the city budget... the council would have a field day with me." She looked over her glasses, eyes shining with sincerity. "I'm sorry for all of this trouble. I can't make any promises but, if there's anything I can do for you girls, just let me know."
Rarity nodded on their behalf. "Thank you, Miss Mayor." They left her to her paperwork, and hid their disappointed faces until they were well outside the building.
"I shouldn't be surprised, but come on!" Rainbow threw her hands in the air. "I can't believe there was never any prize money! I mean, I can, but it still sucks! All that hard work was for nothing."
"Yep, saving all those people and stopping eldritch horrors. That was just a consolation prize," Sunset said dryly.
"You know what I mean! What are we supposed to do about our par--vacation plans?"
Sunset shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. She glanced at Pinkie, looking as bummed as the rest of them, but still maintaining her usual happy-go-lucky glow. Maybe they didn't have ten thousand dollars, but they could still give her a good party, right? And maybe they couldn't go anywhere extravagant, but they could still spend spring break together.
"We'll come up with something," Sunset said. "We'll have an awesome vacation, I promise." Seeing the hope on their faces just filled Sunset with guilt. Why lead them on? A simple week of hanging out would be just as awesome, right?
Because I owe them. I owe them for ruining their vacations in the past. I owe them for having to fight the Sirens. Another part of her said that she needed to let the past go. Sunset stoutly ignored it. She had debts that needed to be paid.
Downtown Canterlot was a hive of activity even this late in the day. Streets and sidewalks were crowded with people doing last minute errands or trying to get home from work. Being surrounded by the tall office buildings reminded Sunset of her version of Canterlot, only instead of marble, these buildings were constructed of steel and glass. They reflected the sun much better, sending an orange glow all throughout the city. The walk from city hall to the parking lot wasn't long, but proved a hassle thanks to all the foot traffic.
"See you girls tomorrow," Rarity said, getting into her car. "Let's all brainstorm some vacation ideas. Sunset's right, we can still make this work in our favor."
Sunset took Twilight home on her motorcycle, slipping through traffic with Twilight holding on for dear life. They returned to suburbia with plenty of light left in the sky. With spring only days away, the lawns had begun to turn green again, and flowers were starting to bud in the gardens.
"Would you like to come inside?" Twilight asked as they got to the porch. "I'm sure mom would love to have you over for dinner."
"Maybe tomorrow." Sunset gave a sheepish grin. "I should probably go and actually spend an evening with the Lulamoons."
Twilight smiled, but Sunset could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "That's fair."
Sunset bent her head and kissed Twilight on the nose. "Hey, tomorrow, I'm all yours. We'll do whatever you want."
The excitement on her face was enough to make anyone smile. "Can we talk more about magic?"
"Sure. You can ask all the questions you want."
Twilight squeed and kissed Sunset on the cheek. "I'm going to go recheck my notes! See you tomorrow!" She bolted inside, sparing Sunset one last smile before closing the door.
"Well, I've got twenty-four hours to brace myself," Sunset said, heading back to her bike.
*******
Sunset entered the kitchen, finding Artemis sitting at the table, trying to spin a fork between his fingers. As he tried to cross it between his ring and his middle, the fork slipped and clattered against the granite. "Rats," he said, flexing his hand. His frown flipped over at the sight of Sunset. "There you are! I was starting to worry you forgot where you lived."
Sunset playfully rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him. "How are your hands feeling?"
Artemis held them up. "Well, got all the bones knitted and everything. Just a little stiff. Should be back to normal just in time for vacation. Lord knows I could use one." He snapped his fingers, flinched, then shook his hand out. "That reminds me! We're taking our annual trip to Las Vegas next week! The lights, the activities, the fake magicians! We always have a good time! Would you like to accompany us?"
"Oh, wow, I'd love to, but..." Sunset took a page out of Twilight's book and started playing with a loose piece of hair. "The girls and I are already making plans. And we're trying to throw a birthday party for Pinkie."
"How unfortunate for us," Artemis said, snapping his fingers and wincing again. "But, she's lucky to have a friend like you. If we had the money, I'd offer to take all your little friends with us. You all could use a reward."
"Speaking of a reward," Trixie said, walking into the kitchen with Spot in her arms, "where's our cut of the prize money?"
Sunset skipped over the fact that it would only be her cut since Trixie wasn't part of the winning band. "There is none. The Sirens lied about it."
Trixie handed Spot off to Sunset and harrumphed. "Trixie shouldn't be surprised, but she's still furious."
"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around." Sunset pressed her nose against Spot's and rubbed them back and forth. "What'd you do with those pendant shards?" She asked Artemis.
"Selena put them in the 'trunk-of-things-we-found-but-will-never-sell-because-they're-too-dangerous.' Boy, that's always a mouthful."
"I'm less surprised that you have a trunk like that, and more surprised this is my first time hearing about it."
Artemis shrugged. "Haven't had to open it in almost ten years. Don't find too many dangerous objects these days. Hopefully because there aren't too many left to find."
Selena came in from the backyard, and set down her sword. "Okay, you three. Either help me with dinner or take your magic conversation to the next room."
********
Twilight flipped to an open page in one of her notebooks and scribbled 'birthday/vacation ideas' at the top, then slid it to the center of the table. "So, who would like to share first?"
Rarity held a hand up. "Well, the most practical thing would be to have a nice surprise party and rent out a bounce house. Maybe even a DJ."
"Hold on." Applejack leaned across the lunch table. "Between the six of us, how much money do we even have to spend?"
Sunset coughed. "Uhh, about... zero from me."
Rainbow laughed and tugged on her shirt. "Same."
Twilight tapped her fingers together. "I get a small weekly allowance... but I already spent it on books."
Rarity sighed and held a hand to her face. "Store sales have been good this week, but I can't pay for this on my own."
"Maybe we could try to raise the money first?" Rainbow said. "Like, a bake sale or something?"
"The best baker outta all of us is Pinkie, and we're not gonna have her raise money for her own party," Applejack said.
"Would it really be so bad just to have a simple party with cake and ice cream?" Fluttershy asked. "It's the thought that counts, right? As long as we're all together."
"What's this about a party?"
Sunset jumped at Moondancer's appearance behind her. "We need to put a bell on you."
Moondancer ignored her and looked at the notebook. "Planning ideas for a birthday and a vacation? Quite an endeavor. Have you come up with anything yet?"
"Does the blank paper tell you anything?" Rainbow said under her breath.
"Not yet," Twilight said, shooting Rainbow a warning look. "We're thinking of just keeping it simple."
"Simple is always nice." Moondancer smiled like a pampered cat. "Or, rather that, you could all accompany me on my spring ski trip!"
Applejack choked on her juice. "Say what now?"
"I had the intentions of renting a lodge up yonder mountains before spring makes its triumphant debut, banishing the last vestments of winter. A few days of picturesque views, folksy communities, and slopes dusted with icy powder." She twirled then gestured to all of them with a little bow. "Then, the thought occurred to me that it would be even better with friends!"
What friends? Sunset bit her tongue to keep from saying it outloud.
"Moondancer, that's very generous of you," Rarity said gently, "but I don't know if we can accept such a gift."
Moondancer made a flick of her wrist. "Pish posh. Consider it a thank you for saving the world. And it'll be a great way for all of us to bond!"
Sunset and Rainbow immediately locked eyes with one another. No, Rainbow, we can't push her down the mountain.
But it'll be so easy!
I know.
Twilight looked at their empty list. "Moony, are you sure about this? What did your dad say?"
Moondancer rolled her eyes, and Sunset could actually see scorn in them. "Please, my father won't care. He's not even going. It was just going to be my butler and I. So again, I insist you all join me."
The restraint on Rarity's modesty broke, and she burst into excited giggles. "Well, if you insist, we'd love to join you! I haven't been skiing since I was a little girl!"
Rainbow shrugged. "Sure. I've always wanted to try snowboarding. Seems pretty rad."
The cafeteria door burst open, and Pinkie shuffled in, panting and sweating. She collapsed into the chair next to Sunset and pressed her face into the cool surface of the table.
"I... ran all over... the school... looking for that leprechaun you saw. It must have gotten away." She took a deep breath and sprung up, smiling and full of her usual pep. "So, what'd I miss?"
"Apparently, we're goin' on a ski trip for spring break," Applejack said.
"Yippee! I've never been skiing before! Are we going to stay in a cabin?" She gasped. "What if it turns into one of those scary movies where there's a murderer out to get us and only two of us get to survive for the sequel? Oooh, oooh, maybe it's one of those survival movies where a blizzard gets us stuck, and we have to work together to stay alive, but one of us has to sacrifice herself to save the group! Or maybe..."
"Well, Maud did say Pinkie liked to travel," Twilight whispered into Sunset's ear.
"Yeah, I think she'll have a good time."
*******
"Come on, I want to show you this! It's finally ready!" Twilight took Sunset's hand the second her boots were off and led her through the house, Spike barking at their heels. She stopped at the door to the garage and hopped up and down.
"Someone didn't sneak you caffeine while I wasn't looking, did they?"
Twilight stopped bouncing and gave her a deathly serious look. "No. I'm never having caffeine ever again. At least, not in that large of a dose." She bounced on her toes again. "But that's not important!" She opened the door and flipped on the light switch. "Welcome, Sunset, to my laboratory!" She gestured dramatically.
A long workbench had been set up next to a desk with a dual screen computer and a seismograph against the right wall. Sea charts, star charts, world maps, the periodic table, and several other posters had been set up everywhere, taking up any blank wall space. A telescope sat in one corner with a tarp hanging loosely over it. On the opposite wall of the desk were shelves and filing cabinets already alphabetized and organized by subject. Next to them were other machines and wires currently unplugged. Close to the door were boxes of random machine parts and papers, and against the garage door was a movable blackboard and whiteboard.
Twilight ran to the center of her 'lab' and spun in a circle with her arms out. "Isn't it great? I have all the room to do all the research I want!"
Sunset came up behind her and gave her a few extra twirls before taking Twilight into her arms. "Does this mean I'm going to see less of you now? I know how much you love science."
"Not as much as I--" Twilight snapped her mouth shut and turned a deep crimson. "Love spending time with you!" she said loudly.
Sunset raised an eyebrow but smiled when she asked, "You okay?"
"Yep, I'm fine! I'm just so excited about this!" Twilight continued in her outdoor voice. She brought it back down and said, "Don't worry, you can still be my number one assistant."
Spike gave an indignant bark.
Twilight giggled. "Would you mind being moved down to my number two assistant? Spike does have seniority."
"Darn, beaten out by a dog." Sunset knelt down and scratched him behind the ear. "You're lucky you're cute."
They took turns scratching Spike on the belly and throwing his ball around before cracking down on their magic and science lesson. Twilight pulled out a binder from the shelf and set it on the workbench. "This is everything I know so far about Equestrian magic along with some notes about similarities and contrasts to conventional science." She pulled up a rolling chair and prepared her notebook, giving Sunset starry eyes when she was ready.
Sunset walked over to the whiteboard and took a deep breath. She had never thought herself much of a teacher. Relax, you're just telling Twilight what you know. It's just like any other night you've done this. Only in a lab. She made three circles and drew a horn, a set of wings, and a horseshoe in them. "So, there are three types of ponies in Equestria: unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Umm, did I tell you this already?"
Twilight nodded eagerly.
"Right, right." Sunset shifted her weight and looked back at the board. "Well, they each have their own type of magic. Earth ponies are tied to, well, you know, the earth. They're the best at growing crops, tending to animals and plants, and have superior strength and usually longer lives. Pegasi use their magic to fly, push clouds and manipulate the weather. Both their magics are internal, instinctual things they just do. Unicorns are different." She tapped the picture of the horn. "Our magic can be externalized and turned into an energy or aura that can manipulate the world around us. It's, ummm... kinda like how humans got opposable thumbs and big brains to help them survive."
Twilight's hand flew across her page as Sunset spoke, head bobbing up and down, a sign that Sunset could keep going.
Sunset erased the symbols of the three tribes and drew a fat pony with four stick legs and a triangle for a horn. She was many things. An artist was not one of them. "Let's focus on unicorn magic, since I'm a unicorn and that's what I know the most about." She drew squiggles around the horn. "Now, first thing you have to accept about this is, nopony is one-hundred percent sure where our magic comes from."
Twilight's pencil stopped for a second. She took a deep breath and said, "Okay."
"Now, there's a few theories. The most popular one is that all unicorns have a sort of 'mana pool' within them, but no scholar has actually been able to prove that one exists. We can measure it all we want, we just don't know where it's coming from." She heard Twilight huff over her scratching pencil. "It acts like another limb or muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. However, most unicorns are bound to a set number or type of spells, usually focused around their special talent. It's possible for them to learn other spells, it would just be a lot harder. For ponies like me and... the princess, our talent revolves closer to magic itself, making it easier for us to learn, well, everything.
"Magic also acts a lot like stamina. We only have so much magic we can do before we get tired. This is the only drawback, really. Pegasi could move clouds all day if they wanted to, and still be able to keep doing it. If we drain out all our magic, then that's it. No more until we take a nice, long rest."
Twilight took a pause. "From what it sounds like, your type of magic is the most diverse. Couldn't you use your magic to grow food or push clouds?"
Sunset couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, we could. Granted it wouldn't be as efficient as the other races, but there's nothing really stopping us. That's why unicorns are the best."
"I'm getting some unicorn supremacist vibes," Twilight said, leaning back in her seat.
"Not my fault we're awesome." Sunset turned back to the board and continued to explain everything she could about how unicorn magic worked, the focus it took to cast a spell, the different schools of magic one could learn, how magic could be channeled as pure energy. It was here that Twilight got hung up.
"You said it's like stamina," she said, looking back at her notes. "It fuels your spells like levitation or animation. How do you use it as raw power? What form does it take?"
"I guess you could say it's a plasma?" Sunset rubbed her chin. "Huh, never thought about that."
"But then what form does magic take originally? How does it get from that to a plasma? Is that what the rainbow was made out of?" Twilight got up and went to the blackboard next to Sunset. She picked up the piece of chalk, tapped it twice against the board, then began to scribble like mad. "You got hit by the rainbow. Describe to me what it felt like."
Sunset hunched her shoulders. "It burned," she said between her teeth. "And it was very bright. And you know I hate talking about this."
"Uh-huh." Twilight scribbled Sunset's response, then came to an abrupt stop. "Oh!" She dropped the chalk. "Sunset, I'm so sorry! I got caught up in thinking again!"
Sunset released the tension in her jaw. "It's fine."
Twilight wiped her chalky fingers on her pants. "No, it was insensitive." She took Sunset by the hand. "I should have known better. I'm sorry."
"Really, it's fine. I need to stop being so sensitive about it."
"I think you have every right to be sensitive about it. We can stop if you want."
Sunset looked at the boards, hers covered in eraser smudges and poor drawings, and Twilight's already decorated with tiny handwriting and a diagram. "No. I said I would give you a magic lesson, and that's what I'm going to do." She tapped Twilight's nose. "Just... think before you speak, okay?"
Twilight bobbed her head. "Deal!"
The lesson continued, moving away from rainbow friendship lasers and back to magic proper, Sunset trying her best to explain how magic became pure energy. Twilight with her furious notetaking wrote down every word Sunset said, even some of her 'umms' as Sunset found out later.
The night wore on until Shining came in to remind them they still had school in the morning. He stopped and stared at Twilight's blackboard drawings. "What are you two even doing in here?"
"Learning!" Twilight said chipperly.
"I'm teaching Twilight about magic."
Shining ran a hand down his face. "Right. The whole 'from another dimension' thing. Jury's still out on whether or not I believe you."
"She's telling the truth! I have proof, see?" Twilight pointed the board. "Well... kinda. I'll solve all of this eventually."
"In the meantime, you both need sleep." Shining gestured them out of the garage. "Always nice seeing you Sunset," he said as they walked to the front door.
"Likewise, Detective." She gave Twilight a short kiss and Shining a toothy grin. "See you tomorrow."
"Good night, Shim!"
Sunset flinched on her way down the porch steps. Yeah, we're gonna have to talk about that later. |
Spectacular Seven | 3. Cold Complications | "Spring break, spring break, spring break, spring break!" Pinkie chanted, banging her fists against the lunch table. "Oooooh, I'm so excited!"
Rarity lifted her tray up. "I'm glad, Pinkie, but could you please stop that? You're making the jello shake right out of the bowl."
Pinkie clapped her hands together and bounced in her seat instead.
"Good enough. Anyway, my parents said I can't go unless there's a responsible adult. And Moondancer's butler doesn't count."
"Same," Applejack said. "And there's no way Big Mac is going up the mountain again. Not after what happened last time." She got a faraway look in her eye, then shuddered.
"I could ask Shining," Twilight said. "He has some vacation time saved up. And he's a detective. That should be good enough for all our parents."
"Oh yeah, I should probably tell the Lulamoons I'm going to the mountains with their cousin," Sunset mused. Part of her begged to go along with them to Las Vegas instead, but that would mean leaving Twilight with Moondancer in the mountains. Potentially alone. I'd rather get mauled by a bear.
Just because it was the last day before break didn't mean any of the teachers let the students slack, especially the seniors.
"I expect you'll begin receiving your acceptance or rejection letters from your colleges of choice," Ms. Vector said in Sunset and Twilight's last period. She walked down the rows, handing them test packets. "Even if you do get accepted, they can still revoke it if your grades slip in the last few weeks."
Sunset looked down at the tiny equations crammed onto the first page. These definitely weren't in last night's homework.
"Consider this a taste of what you can expect next year at your prestigious universities. You have one hour. Begin!"
Sunset tapped her pencil in the blank space under the first answer. The closer time moved to their graduation, the more teachers talked about what they would face after school, usually college or universities. Sunset leaned on her arm. She didn't have that luxury; she didn't even have the option of joining the army like some other students planned. She couldn't go home, no matter how much she wanted to.
She was stuck.
In a few months, all of her friends, even Trixie, would move on to something bigger and better. What would Sunset do then? Keep living with the Lulamoons and work in the Emporium? Even if the Lulamoons did think of her as family, that felt awkward.
Stop thinking about it. That's still months away. You have time. You'll think of something. Maybe. But there were only so many moves she had left in this game. And even if she found an out, she was going to be separated from her friends and Twilight. Nothing could stop that. Could she let go when that time came? Say goodbye to the girls who had taught and given her so much?
Say goodbye to Twilight?
She snuck a glance to her left, watching Twilight as she pressed her face close to the paper, pencil racing to keep up with her mind. How could Sunset give up her favorite person in the world? The truth was, she couldn't. Sunset loved Twilight too much.
Her hand jerked, leaving a black line through question four. Whoa, hey, you can't use that word! You can be smitten, you can have a crush, you can be head-over-heels, and you can be in love. But you cannot, cannot love her! Especially now! You know what we do to people we love.
"Thirty minutes left!" Ms. Vector barked from her desk.
Sunset looked down at her paper. She had only solved two of the problems, and the packet was three pages, front and back. Daydream later, get to work!
Half an hour later, she turned in a nearly complete packet; only the last two questions went unanswered. Pretty good for a cram test. They spent the last forty-five minutes reviewing old material before Ms. Vector named the pages they had to complete over the break.
The bell sounded their freedom, and the students of CHS bolted for the front doors, cheering and raising their hands to the bright blue sky. Sunset stretched her arms up and let them rest behind her head. "So how should we spend our newfound freedom, Sparky? Join the girls at Sugarcube Corner? Another magic lesson?"
Twilight clasped her hands behind her back. "Actually, I was thinking we could just hang out. We haven't gone on a date in a while. Plus, I have more than enough magic notes to go through for the time being." She kept her head bent toward the ground.
Sunset thought to tell her she didn't need to feel guilty about what had happened last night, but pushed past it. "It hasn't been that long since we went on a date, has it?"
"Valentine's Day."
Sunset clapped a hand over her eyes. "Wow. Horsefeathers." She reached and took Twilight's hand, giving it a squeeze. "I'd love to go on a date with you. What did you have in mind?"
"You pick. You always come up with good ideas."
Her intentions were more than obvious now, but if it would make her feel better, Sunset would take the bait. "It's a nice day. How about some ice cream on the terrace?" You're really gonna have to try harder in the future.
Twilight squeezed Sunset's hand back and leaned into her shoulder. "That sounds great." They stayed like that, walking in sync all the way to the ice cream parlor four blocks down. Sunset got two scoops of strawberry, paid for by Twilight who got a bowl of mint chocolate chip. They ate on the terrace outside, watching other kids and couples mill about the plaza of the small shopping outlet.
Sunset bit into the top scoop, using her lips instead of her teeth. Cold and creamy silkiness slid down her tongue, leaving the strawberry flavor to dance on her taste buds and make her shudder in sweet delight.
"Is it berry good?" Twilight asked with goofy smile.
"It was until you said that, you dork." Sunset went for another bite and hummed in contentment. When she lifted her face, she saw Twilight giggling behind her hand. "What?"
She reached for a napkin and stretched her arm across the table, wiping Sunset's mouth. "You've got strawberry all over your mouth."
Sunset licked her lips and leaned closer. "The better to kiss you with, my dear." She wiggled her eyebrows.
Twilight snorted. "And you think I'm a dork."
"Yes, and a very cute one at that." Sunset began taking licks out of her ice cream instead of bites, savoring the flavor. "How's yours?"
"I'm enjoying it e-mint-sly." Twilight took another spoonful, trying to look as nonchalant as possible at Sunset's half-lidded stare.
"If this ice cream wasn't so good, I'd shove your face into it."
"Now that's just cold."
"Twilight!"
She broke into a fit of laughter, clutching her sides before her hands shot to her head. "Ahhh! Brain freeze!"
It was Sunset's turn to laugh as she watched Twilight curl in on herself and massage her temples. She scooted her chair over to provide assistance, rubbing the top of Twilight's head. "And that's a sign from the universe telling you to cool it with the puns."
Twilight raised her head, giving Sunset a pseudo-annoyed look. "Was that on purpose?"
"You'll never know."
Once Twilight's brain freeze subsided, they resumed enjoying their frozen treats, their silence broken by the occasional giggle or slurp, until Sunset started munching on the cone. She popped the last piece of it into her mouth when Twilight spoke again. "Sunset, when the portal opens again... are you going to go back to Equestria?"
Sunset slowed her crunching, enjoying the sweet flavor before facing the bitter question. "I... well... what brought this on?"
Twilight stirred around the last remains of green and brown. "I was just thinking. I know you didn't apply to any colleges... you couldn't really. I just wanted to know what your plans were for the future."
Sunset crossed her arms and legs. "I don't have a plan yet. But I'll think of something. I always do. I could go back to Equestria. I mean..." She loosed some of the tension in her shoulders. "It's home. I have an identity there. And I'd love to see my parents and Princess Celestia again."
"Would you stay there?"
Twilight had kept her voice even, but after their time together, Sunset could pick up on the smaller wavers in her tone. Sunset looked away from her, focusing on the plaza fountain. "I don't know. The time dilation between our worlds is weird. Time looks like it moves faster in Equestria. Sure, it'd be two years for you guys, but for me... it'd be a while. I'd be older when I came back. Unless the mirror decides to age me down again. It's... complicated right now, Twilight. I don't have an answer," she said, rubbing the space between her eyes.
"It's all right." Twilight played with her fingers over the table. "I kinda sprung it on you out of nowhere. I was just curious. I... I want to spend as much time with you as I can."
Sunset grinned. "It's a good thing we're going on vacation together, huh?"
"I can't wait! There's so many things we could do up in the mountains! I could get flora and fauna samples and..." She dropped her hands and stared intently at Sunset. "Wait, 'again'?"
"What?"
"You said the mirror could age you down again. What do you mean?"
Sunset reflected on her words, then smacked a palm to her head and shifted in her seat. "Oh... that. Heh... funny story. Ummm, out of curiosity, how old do you think I am?"
"Seventeen? Eighteen?" Twilight answered, her voice getting higher.
"And how old do you think Shimmer is?"
"I don't know, twenty-five maybe?" Twilight's mouth hung open. "Wait... What?"
Sunset let her arms drop as she sighed. "Yeah, I don't get it either. But when I came through, the mirror took a few years off my life. Maybe the default setting is 'teenager' so you can fit in to CHS. But, I should be whatever Shimmer is. So... yeah." She smiled in the face of Twilight's paralyzed shock.
"That means our age difference is... at least eight years," she said, dazed.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Twilight," Sunset said earnestly. "I was afraid you'd, well, react like this."
Twilight cracked a forced smile. "React like what? I'm fine! Totally fine! Why wouldn't I be fine? Age is but a number! So what if my girlfriend's a magical pony turned into a human and is actually eight years older than me? I'm not bothered, nope, not one bit!" Her eye twitched.
Sunset shook her head, feeling a headache come on that wasn't from the ice cream. "Twilight, please tell me this isn't going to affect us? I look like a teenager, hell, I act like one more often than not. But I know we're both mature enough to not let this be an issue."
Twilight took deep breaths, bringing her hand in and out from her chest. Her pupils returned to normal size and she exhaled one final time. "You're right. You're right, I'm sorry. I just got... a little overwhelmed. Every time I'm getting used to this 'dating a magical girl from another dimension' thing, there's another twist thrown in."
A heavy pall settled on them, weighing down their shoulders. Sunset looked down at the back of her hands and bit her lip. That's why I waited so long to tell you. I didn't want to unload so much at once. And I really hoped it wouldn't matter. Twilight's fingers drumming on the table made Sunset look up, but Twilight still had her head down.
So much for our nice date. Sunset lifted a hand, wanting to put it over Twilight's, but held back. "Sparky, you're right. I know it's overwhelming at times, and I'm sorry. I guess it's not just my personality you have to get used to, it's... everything about me." She dropped her hand.
Twilight snapped up. "No! That's not... Sunset that's not what I meant! You're not hard to get used to... I mean, you were, and the whole situation is weird..." Twilight cupped her face, pushing her glasses into her hair. "This is all coming out wrong. I should have never brought any of this up."
"No, you had a right to know, and it's okay to be frustrated."
"I don't want to be frustrated because now you're upset! And I know this age difference shouldn't matter, but I can't just ignore it! You're technically twenty-five! And I just turned seventeen! But you're in the body of a seventeen year-old! So it shouldn't matter, but it just keeps piling up and I keep thinking how different we are and--" Twilight snapped her mouth shut and slid her glasses back down. "I'm going to stop talking before I say anything else I regret."
Different. Sunset couldn't deny Twilight's point; they literally came from two different worlds. Still, it stung like a barb. Sunset rose slowly from her chair, deciding now would be a good time to cut her losses. "Look, it's been a long day. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, and I'm sorry I come with all of this... you know, weird stuff. I'll give you time to process all of this."
"Sunset wait!"
Sunset stopped and kissed Twilight on the forehead. "I have to go pack for our vacation. I'll see you later" She made a brisk walk for the exit, leaving Twilight halfway out of her seat. It wasn't the best way to leave her girlfriend, but Sunset knew it was the least painful or awkward.
I don't know who you're trying to fool. We both knew this was never going to work, her conscience whispered into her ear. Like Twilight said, you're too different from each other. She actually has a future, you don't. It'll all come crashing down sooner or later. Even now, the foundation is starting to crumble.
Sunset picked up her pace while clenching her fists so her nails dug into her palm. "Not even home and I'm already bugging me." But her voice had a point. She and Twilight were on two different paths. What happened when they diverged too far? Twilight had potential, she could make something of herself. And Sunset would be damned if she held Twilight back.
*******
A few short texts were the only communication Sunset had with Twilight leading up to the day of the trip. On Sunday morning, Sunset slipped in her portion of the supplies for Pinkie's surprise party into her suitcase, then lugged it downstairs, maneuvering her way past three other bags while Spot circled around her legs. She parked her bag by the front door, pausing to catch her breath and give her puppy a goodbye hug.
"A four day ski trip!" Artemis said, popping up behind her. "Not quite Las Vegas, but sure to be a good time!" He clapped Sunset on the back. "Go 'shred those slopes' as you kids say."
Trixie facepalmed for Sunset. "Dad, no one says that."
"Bah, I can't keep up with your lingo." He waved his hand, putting extra motion into his fingers. "Give Moondancer our love. When we all get back, I'm going to pay her a surprise visit. I'm ashamed to say I've been failing in my duties as an uncle."
Sunset made a tiny nod of her head. The only thing she would give Moondancer was a cold shoulder. And a shove down a hill if she got lucky. "Thanks for lending me some snow clothes, Selena."
Selena set down the duffle bag she was carrying. "You're welcome, sweetie. Have a fun time up there. And remember, you're getting back before us." She gave Sunset a sharp look. "So don't do anything irresponsible while we're gone."
"Yes, ma'am." After hearing what Selena had done the night of the concert, the last thing Sunset wanted to do was make her mad. She picked up her suitcase and headed out the front door, giving everyone one more wave goodbye and Spot a peck on the head. Rarity waited in the driveway, popping open the trunk of her car as Sunset walked up.
"Good morning, Sunset!" She already had a baby-blue scarf wrapped around her neck.
"Rarity, it's still, like, sixty degrees. Aren't you hot with that on?" Sunset asked, packing her suitcase away.
"Never too early to accessorize." Rarity closed the trunk and jumped into the driver's seat. "Oh, I'm so excited! It's no day spa, but a mountain resort with my favorite friends in the world? Heavenly!"
"And Moondancer."
"Don't sound so pessimistic, darling. I know you two don't see eye-to-eye, but we're on vacation. Enjoy yourself, have fun, go skiing with Twilight."
Sunset kept her head toward the window as they rode up to the Upper Villa to meet the others. She had to share a mountain with Moondancer while her and Twilight were... awkward. Is it too late to go to Vegas? Forty-five minutes later, they were driving past the expensive and gaudy houses to the manor sitting at the top of the Upper Villa. Everyone was already there, including Shining and Cadence.
Rarity and Sunset got their luggage out and joined the group by the fountain. "Cadence, I'm surprised to see you here, though it is a delight," Rarity said.
"I convinced my producers to give me a bit of a vacation. I told them it would be good practice for my intern." Cadence looked out to the city like she was trying to find her radio station. "Vinyl can handle a few days without me. I hope."
Sunset shuffled her way toward Twilight and Moondancer. Twilight waved. Sunset smiled and waved back. Twilight didn't make eye-contact but said, "I'm glad you're here."
"As am I!" Moondancer said, cutting off any response Sunset might have had. "Everyone's gathered! Now we're just awaiting the arrival of our mode of transport."
Something told Sunset to watch the skies. "Please tell me we're not taking a private jet there."
"Of course not," Moondancer said with a laugh that only fueled Sunset's desire to kick her. "Father's using it for business. We're taking the helicopter."
I hate you. Sunset heard the beating of propellers before she saw the copter itself. It rose up from behind them, making a full lap around the manor before touching down at the front of the large driveway, wind whipping everywhere. Sunset had to shield her eyes to prevent any debris from blinding her. The propellers of the white, executive helicopter slowed but didn't stop.
"Hop in, everyone," Moondancer said, leading the way. "Porter will take all your bags, don't worry. Find a seat; there's room for all of you!"
Sunset climbed in, finding two rows of reclining seats along an aisle of plush red carpet. With an exasperated huff, she sat down in the second row and kept her head resolutely toward the window. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Twilight take the seat on the opposite aisle of her.
"All right," Shining said, stepping onto the helicopter, "it should go without saying that I expect all of you to be on your best behavior. I get the pleasure of reporting back to all your parents. And the police station if necessary."
"Stop trying to intimidate then," Cadence said, coming up behind him. "I'm sure we'll all have a nice wholesome time." She looked over them with a mischievous glint in her eye. "But when you girls turn twenty-one, I'll show you how to really party."
Moondancer climbed in last, wearing a pilot's cap. "Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking."
Sunset slumped against her window. Can I go home yet?
"Thank you for accompanying me on this trip! I do hope you enjoy yourselves. Our helicopter ride should only be a little over an hour. Should you feel airsick... don't throw up on the upholstery. Enjoy the ride!" She took the seat in front of Twilight, twisting around to talk to her.
Sunset heard the propellers quicken their rotation, and the ground start to sink beneath her window. Canterlot spread out before her, from the sprawling downtown metropolis to the quiet suburbs rich with tall, budding trees. The helicopter turned northwest, heading beyond the Upper Villa and into the mountain range beyond Canterlot.
Pinkie played music from her phone, and her, Rarity, and Rainbow danced in their seats. Twilight pulled out a book, occasionally indulging Moondancer in conversation. Applejack tilted her hat over her eyes and took a nap, while Fluttershy knitted, her body turned as far from the window as possible.
Sunset craned her neck around. "You okay, 'Shy? You look a little pale."
"Mmmhmm." She kept her lips pressed together and stared intently at her project.
"It's okay, Fluttershy, we'll be there soon."
"Okay," she squeaked out between her lips.
Sunset looked back out the window, watching the mountainous landscape pass underneath her. In her three years in this world, not once had she been outside of Canterlot. Everything she knew about Earth had come from books and the internet. If anything, she'd get to see something new.
Clouds gathered and thickened, and white fluff started to swirl past the window. After several minutes of staring at swirling grey clouds, the copter started its descent onto the snowy mountain top. It was like Sunset had stepped two months back into winter.
They floated over a small town of brown buildings with rooftops covered in snow, giving them the appearance of gingerbread houses. Just a little further, they could see the ski lifts heading higher up the mountain. At its base, next to a small forest was the resort, a three story wooden lodge surrounded by large looking houses, even from the height they were at.
The helicopter landed outside the main lodge, and everyone made a mad dash to the door, the freezing temperatures leaving goosebumps on their exposed skin. Fluttershy made it in first, collapsing on the closest couch and taking a deep breath while Rainbow rubbed her back. Moondancer brushed the snowflakes out of her hair and strolled to the front desk. The young man working looked like he had spent too much time in the cold. His skin was a pale blue with his spiky, slicked back hair a much darker shade. He didn't appear to be too much older than the girls.
He looked past Moondancer to the helicopter parked outside the lobby. "I'm guessing you're Moondancer checking in?"
"Indeed I am." She flipped out a debit card and slid it across the counter. "Your ski resort looks very nice."
"Yeah, it's rad, right? It's actually been in my family for five generations," he said. Sunset thought he sounded more like a surfer than a skier. "So if you need to know anything, I got you covered." He flashed his teeth and winked.
Moondancer didn't bat an eye. She just smiled politely and opened her hand to take her card back. While she paid, Sunset wandered aimlessly around the lobby, looking at the fake plants in expensive looking vases and wooden carvings of bears, deers, and wolves. She stopped and looked at a carving of a white wolf near the window. It was on the prowl, body low to the ground, staring off to the left. Even as a carving, its deep blue eyes pierced into Sunset, like it was reading her soul. She shivered and rubbed her arms, despite feeling the full blast of the heater.
"Come along, everyone!" Moondancer called. "Soarin here will show us to our living quarters."
Everyone quickly grabbed a jacket from their luggage and followed Soarin out the back door. Sunset looked back at the wolf, but couldn't see its soul-reading eyes from her new angle. The houses were arranged in a semi-circle behind the lobby, and they were led to the one at the center.
"All the houses come with fully functional kitchens, and the store is only a twenty minute walk from here," Soarin said as they walked. "The main building has a sauna and a spa tub."
Rarity clapped her hands and giggled, her teeth chattering the entire time.
"Help desk closes at midnight, but we do have an emergency line you can call. Slopes close at nine. There are hiking trails through the forest and one that goes to the summit. Technically, they're open all day, but we strongly discourage you from walking them at night. That's when the animals come out."
Their lodge was made from dark wood and had large circular windows in the front. It stood two stories high, but looked wide enough to fits Sunset's house and Twilight's right next to each other. The group walked up the log steps onto the wrap around porch and through the double doors. A spacious living room greeted them, light pouring in from the windows. A sunken fire pit took up the center with a couch curling around it. The living room opened up to a large kitchen with a nook separating to two rooms. Two hallways split off leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms, while a staircase took up part of the back wall.
"Hope you all enjoy it," Soarin said. He winked again at the girls before leaving everyone to their house. "Let me know if you need anything."
"Ain't this the bees knees?" Applejack asked, crashing on the couch. "Won't lie, Ah could get used to a place like this."
"This place is awesome!" Rainbow ran upstairs and shouted from the balcony, "I'm mad we're only here for half a week!"
"Speaking of our stay here," Moondancer said, clapping her hands, "let us discuss room assignments. There are five rooms and ten of us. How fortunate! Naturally, the master bedroom will go to our esteemed chaperones who made this group trip possible." She beamed at Cadence and Shining.
Sunset rolled her eyes. Kiss up.
"After that, well, I would assume Sunset and Twilight would share a room--"
"Hold on," Shining said. "I trust you two, but not that much. You're not sharing a room together."
Sunset saw the advantageous gleam in Moondancer's eye. "Oh! Well in that case, I'll bunk with Twily!" She took Twilight by the arm. "Let's see the bedrooms upstairs! I want a room with a view!"
"Oh, okay!" Twilight said, caught off-guard.
Both Sunset and Cadence glared daggers at Shining. He held his hands up. "What?"
Rarity gently guided Sunset down one of the halls. "Don't worry, darling, you and I can share a room. I always appreciate your company." Their room sat at the end of the hallway, just past the bathroom. Sunset walked across the blue carpet and picked the bed further from the window. Rarity shut the door behind them and turned on the soft light. "Moondancer aside, is everything all right between you and Twilight?"
How does she always do that? Sunset climbed onto the bed and stared up at the wooden ceiling. "I don't know. We kinda got into a... well, it wasn't really an argument. Just a sort of... complication."
Rarity opened the curtains, giving them a wonderful view of a thick cluster of trees. It at least added more light to their dim room. "What sort of 'complication?'"
"Well... first we got onto the topic of whether or not I was going to go home and stay there or not, and that was left open-ended because even if I do, I still have to wait until the portal opens. Then I mentioned the time dilations between worlds and how I might get aged down again--"
"Again?"
Sunset grabbed her pillow and pressed it over her face. "When I first came through, the portal took a few years off my life I guess so I could fit into high school. I should be Shimmer's age. When I told Twilight, she sort of got overwhelmed by all of this magic stuff again."
Rarity sat on the side of Sunset's bed and pat her knee. "Well, she's been through a lot in the past few months. This is all still new to her."
"I know. But everything that pops up, she thinks that makes us more different from each other." Sunset sat up and threw her pillow to the side. "I mean, how much do we even have in common? We're both smart and we like chess... that's it! She's sweet and caring, comes from a nice family, and actually has a future to look forward to! I... have none of those things!"
Rarity's patting turned into a swat. "Sunset, you know I hate it when you degrade yourself like that."
Sunset crossed her arms. "I won't apologize for telling the truth."
"Well here's a truth for you: Twilight picked you for a reason."
"Yeah, still trying to wrap my head around that. Ow!" Sunset pulled her knee out of Rarity's smacking range.
"Twilight picked you in spite of your differences. And I would say both you having an incredible intellect is enough of a common ground. Furthermore, both of you are sweet and caring people, you just seem to want to think otherwise about yourself."
Sunset pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. "I just don't know what to do, Rarity. I wish I didn't have all this magic stuff affecting her and me, or any of you girls for that matter.
Rarity swished her hand. "So we've had two encounters with magical beings from another dimension and we pony up when we play music. It's not like it's interfered with our lives. Just made them more exciting." She swallowed. "And perhaps nerve-wracking and soul-crushingly dangerous for a few weeks. But look, we're stronger for it!"
Sunset groaned and pressed her face down.
"The point is, we can handle a little weirdness, Sunset. So you're a few years older than the rest of us; age is but a number! You still look like a teenager, and you technically have the body of one, so anything you and Twilight do is still legal."
"Rarity!" Sunset looked up, her face turning a bright shade of red.
"What? That's clearly what Twilight's worried about," she said casually.
"No it isn't! Twilight has more class than that!"
Rarity gave Sunset a patronizing smile. "Of course she has enough not to say anything right now. But she's clearly thinking about later on down the road."
"Can we please not talk about the future right now? I don't even know if we'll be together long enough for that to happen. She's going off to some fancy college and I'm going to be stuck here."
"Long distance relationships are a thing, dear." She looked Sunset in the eyes. "If you really love her, you'll find a way to make it work, differences aside. You do love her right?"
Sunset bit her lip and looked at the trees.
"Sunset?"
"I mean, love is thrown around so carelessly by teenagers. I definitely have strong feelings for Twilight that go past friendship, but do I call it love? I want it to mean something when and if I actually say it. I want her to know this isn't some passing phase."
Rarity stood and stretched, letting out her famous dreamy sigh. "Oh, Sunset. So mature... and so naive. It's that kind of response that tells me you do love her. But, I'll let you move at your own pace. For now, you should just go spend time with her. If you're worried about being too different from each other, there are plenty of activities around here you can bond over." She opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
"But if you do get around to using the 'L' word..." She narrowed her eyes. "You better tell me."
She shut the door, leaving Sunset alone in their room, clutching a pillow against her stomach. |
Spectacular Seven | 4. Fire and Ice | Sunset sat in her room, absently pondering and staring at the trees outside until Applejack knocked and poked her head in. "Hey, Sunset. Pinkie wanted to go check out the town. You wanna come with?"
She snapped out of her doldrums and nodded, tossing the pillow aside. "Yeah, sounds like fun." Rarity had a point, Sunset needed to spend as much time with Twilight as possible, and she couldn't do that moping in her room.
Bundled up in warm jackets and scarves, everyone filed out of the house and off the resort. The town of Hollow Shades reminded Sunset of old settler towns she had seen in pictures, rustic and modest. Cars were scarce among the streets, as were any children or teens judging by the abundance of elderly faces.
Snow covered the sidewalk in a fine layer while a light flurry fell on everyone's heads. They left behind two columns of footprints as they walked along to the town square. Standard tourist shops greeted them, ranging from jewelry, to cheap local trinkets and wood carvings, to an old fashioned post office.
"So, Pinks, where do you wanna go first?" Rainbow asked.
Pinkie's eyes honed in on the candy store, and she zipped toward it without a word.
Applejack sighed. "Let's go make sure she doesn't spend all her money on the first day."
A sugary display awaited them inside, candy in every shape and color stacked in jars on shelves. Sunset saw Pinkie salivating as she ran down an aisle of gummy worms and gumdrops. She's found the promised land. Sunset indulged herself and bought a small bag of sour balls and taffy. Rarity offered to buy candy for Pinkie as long as she promised to keep it under fifteen dollars.
It turned out, fifteen dollars could buy a lot of candy.
Pinkie walked out with two huge bags full, most of it being rock candy. "For Maud!" she said with a skip. "She loves rock candy!"
Rarity and Moondancer gravitated toward the jewelry shop next, bringing Twilight and Sunset with them. Sunset gagged at the collection of gaudy, overly-priced earrings and necklaces, and stood near the entrance while her friends shopped.
Twilight approached her wearing a sapphire pendant. "What do you think, Sunset?"
First response: it looks dumb. Second response? Sunset smiled. "I think anything looks good on you, babe." She saw Rarity give a small nod of approval.
"I agree absolutely," Moondancer said, coming up behind and unfastening Twilight's necklace. "But I think these suit you much better. They're more you." She handed Twilight a pair of amethyst earrings shaped like stars.
Sunset ground her teeth behind her thin smile. I'm not losing this game today. She followed Twilight to a mirror, watching her try on the earrings. "You know, I think I saw a museum on our way here. You wanna go check it out?"
Twilight vigorously nodded her head, frowning when one of the earrings came out. "Of course. I'd love to learn about the local history."
Taking her by the arm, Sunset led her out the shop, giving Moondancer a smug grin over her shoulder. Moondancer smiled back, but Sunset could see the muscles in her cheeks straining. She followed after anyway, keeping a fair distance back.
"Are we going to the slopes now?" Rainbow asked as they walked outside.
"Nope, we're going to the museum!" Twilight said chipperly.
Rainbow turned her head skyward and groaned, letting out a warm cloud of air. "Screw that, I'm going back to the house. Come get me when we're going to do something fun." She stomped off, making sure her boots left deeper imprints in the snow.
Twilight frowned. "People like her are the reason museums might go extinct someday."
"Don't worry. People like us can help them stay in business." Sunset winked.
Twilight lips twitched upwards for but a second. "Sunset, I'm sorry about the other day. I didn't mean to freak out or upset you. The age thing is..." She made a flailing motion with her hand. "Pretty weird. But, I'll get over it. You're right; we're both mature enough to handle this."
"It's fine. I know this magic stuff is... tough to handle sometimes."
"That's why I'm trying to understand it. I just... wasn't expecting another curveball." Twilight looked away, no longer meeting Sunset's eye.
Sunset ignored the deep fluttering in her core. "Well the good news is, I'm pretty sure that's the last of them. You know all of my dark secrets," she said jokingly before the revelation sank in. Twilight knew everything bad about her but was still here...
Twilight snuggled up closer to Sunset. "Yeah. I guess I do."
Sunset's playful smirk returned. "But I feel like I don't know all of yours."
She rolled her eyes, but a faint blush crept onto her cheeks. "That's because I don't have any dark secrets to tell."
"But you do have secrets."
"Hey look, we're here!" Twilight pointed to the museum entrance, flanked by two life-size bear statues. "I wonder what we'll learn inside! We won't know standing around out here in the cold!" She took the lead, practically dragging Sunset up the steps and into the warm building.
They walked across the dark wood floor to the reception counter, Sunset casually glancing at the tapestries and portraits on display in the front room. "Tickets for two--"
"Three!" Moondancer said, hurrying up from behind.
"Oh, Moony..." Twilight shuffled her feet. "I didn't know you were still behind us."
Moondancer pouted. "Oh no, am I interrupting some personal time?"
"Yes," Sunset said.
"No! I mean, not officially... I mean... well..." Twilight trailed off, looking between Sunset and Moondancer.
"Don't worry, I promise I'll give you two your needed space. I just want to learn about the culture as well." Moondancer stepped around them and paid for all three tickets before skipping along.
Sunset gently pulled her arm out of Twilight's hold and looked down at her, trying her hardest not to narrow her eyes. "Out of curiosity... have you had a talk with Moondancer yet?"
Twilight drummed her fingers together. "That may be something I've neglected to do."
"Twilight."
"I'm sorry! I just... don't know how to bring it up."
"It's easy." Sunset slapped on a fake smile. "'Hey, Moondancer, just in case you hadn't noticed, I'm dating Sunset Shimmer, who's totally smart and hot. Which means I'm no longer available for your totally obvious affections.' Then you do that cute thing where you push your glasses up."
Twilight pushed her glasses up. "I would never use 'totally' in a sentence like that."
Sunset steered her into the next room. "So I ad-libbed a bit. Point is, please talk to Moondancer before we go home."
"I will, I promise." She turned around and looked up at Sunset. "But are you sure you two are getting along?"
Sunset spun her around again and kept guiding her forward. "We're getting along just fine." Her stomach churned at the lie. "She's almost part of the group." She tightened her throat to keep the bile down.
The two of them took a self-guided tour through the museum, Moondancer popping in on them at random intervals. They read documents and saw paintings from the town's founding almost two-hundred years ago, looked at muskets and cannons used in wartime, and examined tapestries and other artifacts from the indigenous people who had lived on the mountain before Hollow Shades was built.
Being only the size of a large house, the museum only had a total of six rooms with things worth exploring. The last room Twilight and Sunset entered was filled with more statues and carvings, each with their own plaque. They browsed the collections of animals and artistic carvings before Sunset stopped before another model of the white wolf she had seen in the lobby of the resort. It's blue eyes were just like the other one, and stared into her soul.
She looked the plaque. "Harbinger. An omen that haunts the mountains. Appears before the strike of tragedy." Sunset frowned. "Boy, that's heartwarming."
"I find it quite interesting."
Sunset jumped and spun to glare at Moondancer. "We really need to put a bell on you."
Moondancer put on a thoughtful look. "Musical accompaniment could improve my entrances."
"Nevermind." Sunset turned for the exit. "Come on, I'm sure Rainbow is bored out of her skull by now."
The white silhouette of the sun could be seen through the clouds, and the snowfall had decreased to tiny flakes. The lights around town began to flicker on, guiding the girls back to the resort.
As they walked around the main lobby and into the circle of houses, a wad of fresh snow collided with Sunset's face, knocking her off balance and onto her bottom.
"Rainbow did it!"
"Shut up, Pinkie!"
Sunset scooped up a handful of snow as she bounced back to her feet and flung it at Rainbow, hitting her in the gut. Sunset ducked under another snowball, which carried on to hit Twilight. She corrected her askew glasses and grabbed a handful to fling at Applejack.
Moondancer took a step back out of the escalating snow war. "Well, I can see you girls are in the middle of something, so I'll just--" Six snowballs pelted her, with Sunset's scoring a direct hit to the face. "Very well then." She bent down to get some snow, getting struck again by Sunset when she came up.
It's just like they say, Sunset thought as she rolled another snowball, revenge is a dish best served cold. Boy, that sounded lame even up here. She attacked Moondancer again, but the performer had gotten her bearings and gracefully ducked out of the way. She returned fire, catching Sunset on the shoulder. Sunset made sure not every snowball ended up in Moondancer's direction, occasionally aiming for Rainbow or Twilight, but for the next twenty minutes, she and Moondancer waged a cold war.
There were few places to hide out in the icy circle, leaving the girls exposed to every attack that came their way. Sunset dodged and weaved as best as she could, being careful to keep her traction on the slippery ground. Her jacket acted as a good buffer against the cold slush pelting her.
Between the battle cries and shouts of surprise, Sunset thought she heard a wolf howl in the gathering shadows. She paid it little mind as she ran across the battlefield to get some distance from Rarity and Applejack's conjoined attacks. The heel of her boot jerked to the side, throwing her balance into disarray and leaving her at the mercy of gravity. She fell face forward into the gravel, her forehead taking most of the blow.
The laughter immediately deceased, and she felt someone quickly raise her into a sitting position. "Ouch, you okay, Sunset?" Rainbow asked.
Aside from the sudden dizziness, Sunset felt fine. "I think so?"
Before she could raise a hand to inspect the damage, Twilight ran over and pulled a tissue from her pocket, applying it to Sunset's forehead. "You're bleeding!" She pulled the tissue away to show a deep crimson stain.
It was only after Sunset saw the blood that she felt the sting of the cut. "Oh, wow." She let Twilight lead her inside while the tissue was reapplied.
Shining and Cadence were snuggling close together in front of the central fire pit when the eight girls tromped in. Shining bolted up and hurried to Sunset's side. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Sunset said with a wave of her hand. "I slipped on the ice. It's just a little cut."
"A little cut?" Twilight said, her voice rising. "You might need stitches! Look how much you're bleeding!"
"Here. let me see." Shining guided Sunset to the couch and peeled the stained rag off. He dabbed the cut every time it overflowed with blood. "It's deep, but not deep enough to need stitches. You will need some disinfectant and a good band aid though."
Moondancer drifted to the front door. "Allow me! I'll go see if the front desk has quality medical supplies."
Sunset raised an eyebrow, then winced, realizing she had injured the skeptical side of her face.
Twilight sat next to her. "You're okay? You're not light headed, are you?"
"Sparky, I'm fine. I told you, it was just a little cut."
Cadence came over with a fresh wad of tissues. "I think it's just a touch more than a 'little' cut. Are you sure she'll be okay?"
"Yeah, it's better than it looks. She might be lightheaded for a bit though," Shining said.
"Well then, now would be a perfect time to start dinner!" Cadence clapped her hands together and hurried off to the kitchen.
"Here, Miss Cadence, let me help with that!" Applejack followed after.
Twilight took the paper towels and dabbed at Sunset's cut, and when Moondancer returned after a lengthy ten minute trip, Twilight applied the disinfectant and put the band-aid on. Sunset relished the flash of contempt in Moondancer's eyes.
Dinner for ten took a while, but Applejack and Cadence made a wonderful meal of venison stew (and a lentil for Sunset and Fluttershy), salad, bread, and an apple pie for dessert. The dining table couldn't seat all of them, so they gathered around on the couch, turning on the central fire pit.
With warm food, warm fire, and warm Twilight pressed against her, Sunset forgot about her new injury. The girls and Shining talked about things they had seen so far in town. Fluttershy had been to a herbalist shop selling natural remedies to colds and pains. Shining and Cadence had explored the forest, seeing several deer, and if Cadence was to be believed, the shadow of a bear.
"It was just the shadow of a bush," Shining said, taking her empty plate away.
"I know what I saw!"
Moondancer dabbed her mouth with her napkin and set her plate aside. "Speaking of animals, I learned of an interesting folk legend about a wolf that haunts these mountains."
"Oooh, oooh, scary story!" Pinkie bounced in her seat, then settled down and got cozy between Applejack and Rainbow.
"You mean that Harbinger wolf?" Sunset asked, raising her other eyebrow.
"The very same." Moondancer stood up and moved in front of the fire, throwing a dramatic shadow over her. She lifted her hands and spread her fingers. "The white wolf, known only as Harbinger," she said in a mystifying voice.
"Said to be a manifestation of negative energy. It appears as a bad omen, bringing with it tragedy or ruin." She raised her arms up, then slowly lowered them, twiddling her fingers. "Last it appeared, a blizzard befell the town, blocking all roads coming in and out."
She hunched her shoulders and curled her fingers. "It feeds off the strife that comes with the tragedy it brings, and is drawn to the darkness within people's hearts." Her eyes fell on Sunset. "So beware. If you see it, you can only blame yourself for the tragedy that follows."
She made a small curtsy at the polite applause given and fell back into her seat on Twilight's other side. Sunset rolled her eyes at Moondancer's theatrics, but thought of the two wolf statues she had seen. Their eyes had seemed so alive. Odd that they'd keep a statue of the bringer of doom in a hotel though. Even if it is for tourists.
Slices of apple pie were passed around before Applejack gave Pinkie command of their night activities. With no board game big enough for all of them, Pinkie had them all play card games, ranging from Go Fish to Blackjack. Shining watched her with a raised eyebrow, but didn't say anything. It went a long way in helping his win streak.
Afterward, the girls broke up for individual night activities. Sunset helped Rarity braid Fluttershy's hair while the others engaged in small talk and board games.
"You don't think Moondancer's story was true, do you? Fluttershy asked softly, playing with the folds of her shirt.
"Please," Sunset scoffed, "she's just trying to be dramatic. The 'darkness within people's hearts'? Sounds like something out of Rainbow's cheesy video games."
Rarity picked up a pin and neatly pushed it through Fluttershy's pink mane. "I'm sorry, but don't you come from a land where friendship can be weaponized with magical necklaces?"
"I still stand by my point." Sunset didn't doubt the possibility of a magic wolf existing or having existed in the past, but she was positive Moondancer had embellished some part of her tale.
Pinkie made them all mugs of hot chocolate, then Shining ordered them to bed so they would have an early day at the slopes. Twilight gave Sunset a kiss goodnight, then gave an extra soft one on her band-aid. They went their separate ways, Sunset following Rarity and her self-satisfied smirk.
"Looks like you two are back to normal," Rarity said, digging out her pajamas. "I'm guessing you talked it out?"
Sunset pulled out her toothbrush and shrugged. "Sort of. She said she was sorry for freaking out, I told her it was okay and that I had no more dark secrets. So, you know..."
Rarity's jaw twitched. "Maybe it's because I wasn't there for the full context, but it sounds like you did less of smoothing things out and just sort of... rolled it up and pushed it to the side."
"Why talk about what we already know? This whole thing is weird, she acknowledged it, I acknowledged it. I think we're on the same page."
This time, the entire left side of Rarity's face twitched. She stood up, pajamas in hand. "Fine, have it your way. You make it quite easy to believe you're not really older than the rest of us." She turned her nose up and made for the bathroom.
Sunset looked after her, head tilted in confusion. Realizing it wasn't worth the effort this late at night, she changed into her pajamas and prepared for bed.
As she laid down, arms behind her head, thoughts of the day continued to move about. Here she was, miles away from the only city she had ever known in this world. There was certainly a thrill to it, but it wasn't as life-changing as Sunset thought it would be. Maybe it was because all her friends were with her.
Home is where the heart is and all that.
She thought of Twilight, and Rarity's disgruntled words creeped up on her. What more did she want out of Sunset? Twilight was trying to look past the magical weirdness... well, she was trying to study it for her understanding, but that was almost the same thing.
Is she trying to understand it so she doesn't feel... different from me? Sunset turned over and stared at the wall. She couldn't do anything to change who she was, as much as she wanted to. Despite what Rarity thought, talking it out wasn't going to do anything other than establish what Sunset and Twilight already knew.
Sunset's eyes slid shut, Rarity's light, rhythmic snoring putting her to sleep. Me and Twilight are talking again. That's good enough for me.
She opened her eyes, staring into a matching pair. Sunset slid her hand across a polished floor, watching her reflection mirror her actions. She stood up and looked around, finding herself on the walls and ceilings, dozens of her moving their heads left and right.
"You seem lost, little sun," a cold voice said.
A pair of hands grabbed Sunset's ankles, and she looked down to see a sharp toothed version of herself through the floor. Sunset kicked and struggled, but only managed to lose her balance and hit the ground.
"We've had this conversation before: you can't run from yourself!" The mirror Sunset's eyes turned black as she dragged the real one down. Sunset tried to pull herself up, but the grip was too powerful, and she fell, watching the other Sunset smirk and laugh.
The world turned dark around her, and while the other Sunset had stopped yanking on her legs, she felt crushed by the shadows surrounding her. "Twilight's right, you know." Two balls of fire exploded into life on either side of Sunset. They glided forward before moving in opposite directions, leaving trails behind them. "You're just too different from her--from all of them." The twin fires came back together at the tip of her wild hair, and Sunset beheld a fiery outline of her demon.
Sunset tried to argue, but when she opened her mouth, darkness poured in, coating her tongue in acrid bitterness.
"They're all still goody two-shoes. They haven't sinned the way you have! They haven't tampered with black magic and tried to take over the world!"
"My... magic's... good now!" Sunset sputtered out.
Her demon sneered at her, the fire burning a darker shade of red. "Ha! Cover it up with as much glitter and sparkles you want! You and I both know what we're really capable of! What I'm capable of! And since you won't go back to it on your own..." The face rushed forward, banishing the darkness but leaving Sunset smothered in the searing flames. "I'll have to make you use it by force!"
The inferno swirled around Sunset, slowly sucking away her oxygen. She grabbed her throat and fell to her knees, taking desperate, shallow breaths. The fire dissipated, allowing her to suck down a lungful of ash. She coughed and heaved, the foul air stinging her eyes. When the tears subsided and she could see, a fresh wave nearly overtook her.
Canterlot High and the surrounding neighborhood were nothing more than charred skeletons with some buildings still burning. Smoke rose into the blood red sky, blocking out the sun. The grass had all burned away, replaced with pools of magma.
"I can't wait to burn down everything you care about."
Sunset's trembling legs dragged her through the demolished courtyard of the school. Lying amongst the rubble were all of her friends, broken, bleeding, or staring absently into the sky. Her shaking grew worse with each one she passed. Applejack and Fluttershy. Rainbow and Pinkie. Rarity and Flash. All of the Lulamoons.
Twilight sat slumped against the broken entryway, her head bowed. Sunset ran up to her, breaking into hysterical sobs as she drew near. "Twilight! Twilight, please don't be gone too! Please!"
Twilight dragged her head up, her eyes robbed of all hope and joy. "Why, Sunset? Why did you do this?"
Sunset rocketed up from her bed, letting out a short yell before stuffing her fist into her mouth. She looked over at Rarity, still sleeping with her beauty mask on.
The vivid sights and smells of her dream rushed back, and Sunset kept her hand over her mouth as she jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. She managed to force everything back down, but her skin remained sweaty and clammy, and her hands shook violently. Her reflection in the mirror shared her wide, bloodshot eyes. Sunset remembered what her last reflection had done, and quickly backed out of the bathroom.
She retreated to the kitchen to get a glass of water for her barren throat. Her hands still shook, splashing the water in the cup, but she made sure not to drop it. Transitioning to the living room, she huddled on the couch, keeping her knees tucked against her chest.
I don't understand. I should be over it now. I screwed up, I know I did. But I served my punishment, right? I understand friendship. I understand harmony! My magic at the concert... Sunset pressed a hand to her face. Had she been right the entire time? Had she defeated the Sirens, only to leave the world vulnerable to something more dangerous?
Sunset could hear the laughter in the back of her head, feel the heat of the flames against her skin. "No, I'm good now. I have to be."
"Sunset?"
She jumped, splashing herself with what little water remained in her cup. "Twilight!" Sunset looked over the couch, finding her girlfriend standing at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a nightshirt and pants. "What are you doing up?"
Twilight shuffled over. "I'm not sure actually. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I just felt like I needed to get up and come downstairs." She sat down next to Sunset, but left a little space between them. "Why are you up?"
Sunset cracked an uneven smile and shook her empty glass. "Just needed some water."
Even in the dark, Sunset could see Twilight's skeptical look. She reached over and put a hand over Sunset's. "You're shaking. And you're burning up."
Sunset slid her hand out of Twilight's hold and curled in on herself again. "I feel cold," she said. She had no energy to play her usual game.
Twilight moved to the fireplace and turned it on, keeping the flames low. She returned to the couch, settling closer to Sunset. "What's wrong?"
A simple question with a simple answer. But Sunset's tongue stuck to her mouth like glue. Instead, she leaned onto Twilight's shoulders and closed her eyes, unable to look at the fire.
"It's funny how things repeat themselves," Sunset said carefully, her tongue allowing her to talk as long as she danced around the subject.
"What do you mean?"
"I remember at the sleepover... at Halloween. My first sleepover. You found me in the kitchen. You found me at probably my lowest point."
Twilight lovingly ran her fingers through Sunset's hair. "I didn't really know what to do. I just wanted you to feel better."
Sunset hummed at the touch of Twilight's fingers. "This reminds me of that night." Her voice grew softer. "That's the first time I revealed my secrets to you." It started to quiver. "Maybe it's the first time I realized I might have liked you. I just didn't want to admit it."
Then, she was crying into Twilight's shoulders while Twilight fully embraced her. "I thought it was over, Twilight! I thought I was done having nightmares! But they just keep coming--she keeps coming! Over and over again to haunt me! I see everything on fire! I lose all control of myself! I see all of you girls, gone, dead!"
"Sshhh." Twilight rocked her back and forth. "It's just a bad dream, Sunset. It can't hurt you."
"Yes it can! I know it can! It's too real! It's not just a dream, it's a prediction!" Sunset clawed at the front of Twilight's shirt. "I knew it--I knew using magic was a bad idea! It's like she's sitting right there! Right on the edge of my heart. One mistake... one mistake and I'll... I'm scared, okay? Scared of what'll happen next."
Twilight lifted Sunset's head up, tears filling her own eyes. "But, Sunset, your magic is good. You proved that."
Sunset shook her head. "It's still magic. It's still power. That's all she wants: power. And I gave her an opening."
"Sunset... you're talking like she's a separate person."
As far as Sunset was concerned, she was. Her demon represented everything she tried to push away. She was nothing but a shadow of a past life. A shadow that had her claws deep in Sunset's heart. "She's my darkness, Twilight. And no matter how hard I try, I can't get her to go away."
Twilight brought her in for another hug, and moved her mouth to Sunset's ear. "She might be darkness. But you, Sunset Shimmer, you're in control. And you're light. I know you are, and that will never change. You're the brightest light I know, and I... love the way you shine on all of us."
"Twilight..."
"And we're here to help you, too. We care about you too much to let anything bad happen to you." Twilight brought them face-to-face again. "We're here for you. We're your lights when you can't see your own. We won't let the darkness get you."
Sunset saw several things in Twilight's eyes. Her shocked and scared reflection, honesty, hope, compassion... and love. It was just like Halloween. Except for one difference.
Their own gravity brought them closer together, and they closed their eyes as their lips made contact. Sunset tasted the salt of both hers and Twilight's tears, as well as the sweet mint from her toothpaste. She started slow, kneading and caressing Twilight's lips before pressing on into her mouth. They fell over with Sunset on top, her legs straddling Twilight's waist.
Sunset ran her hands up and down Twilight's cheeks while Twilight played with Sunset's shirt, slowly moving up her stomach to her chest. Both of them made soft moans at the other's touch and the increasing intensity of their kisses. The hot, primal longing welled up in Sunset again, and here in front of the fireplace, with snow swirling outside, she thought both of them might be ready to give into it.
Go ahead. Deflower her precious Twilight.
The burning desire turned cold, and Sunset ripped herself off of Twilight, sitting up and panting while keeping a hand over her heart.
Twilight lifted her head up. "What's wrong?" Sunset heard the hint of disappointment in her voice.
As her heart rate fell back to normal, the mocking snickers of Sunset's demon grew fainter. Sunset slumped against the couch and closed her eyes. She couldn't do it. Sunset wanted to believe going all the way with Twilight would be on her own terms, but with her demon floating around, all it felt like was a victory for her dark lust, and a slight against Moondancer.
That's not fair. To either of us. She opened her eyes, Twilight still watching her with concern. "It's nothing," Sunset watched the flickering flames in the fireplace. "I just... don't want to get caught by your brother. I'd hate to ruin the trip for everyone else because we got in trouble."
"O-oh... yeah, I guess that would be bad."
Sunset placed a hand against Twilight's cheek again. "Thanks for being here though. I really appreciate it."
Twilight smiled, her face glowing in the fire light.
Go ahead, say it.
Sunset opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her conversation with Rarity returned to her. Saying those words were a giant step forward. Sunset wanted there to be weight behind them, not just a spur of the moment passion like she almost had just seconds before. Thinking on it, Sunset was glad nothing had happened between her and Twilight.
Yes, Sunset wanted weight to her words. At the same time, while she knew this wasn't some passing teenage romance, she couldn't anchor Twilight down with those three words. She had to be ready to let her go in a few months. She had to be ready to make the cut as clean as possible.
She still found herself lying down next to Twilight on the couch, settling into the crook of her neck. They wrapped their arms around each other and closed their eyes. Sunset was just happy to hold onto Twilight a little while longer. |
Spectacular Seven | 5. Harbinger | Sunset awoke the next morning to a blanket draped over her and Twilight. Twilight hogged most of it, but Sunset felt the warm wool over part of her arm and leg. She lifted her head, finding the living room still empty, and laid back down, snatching some of the blanket away from Twilight to properly cover herself up.
Twilight grunted but didn't put up too much of a fight. Instead, she rolled into Sunset, pressing her against the back of the couch.
You can't make anything easy, can you, Sparky? Sunset wiggled her arm free from underneath herself and wrapped it around Twilight. They stayed curled on the couch for another hour, Sunset not fully sleeping, just enjoying Twilight's presence.
A soft cough made Sunset turn over and look up to see Moondancer, her face puckered like she had eaten a particularly sour lemon. The creeping sense of superiority and dominance fueled Sunset's relief that she hadn't done anything last night. As priceless as Moondancer's face was, Sunset refused to use Twilight's virginity as a victory.
"Morning, Moondancer," Sunset said, barely able to keep the smugness out of her voice.
With obvious strain, Moondancer put on a courteous smile. "Good morning, Sunset. How's that cut on your head? It doesn't hurt, does it?"
Sunset felt the bandage under her bangs. "Nope, it's holding up just fine."
"So glad. I would hate to see something happen to you." Once she got her mask together, Sunset had to admit it was hard to find cracks in it. Only Moondancer's eyes showed her loathing.
Twilight yawned and sat up, leaning against Sunset. She squinted her eyes. "Oh, good morning, Moony."
Moondancer reached into her pocket and pulled out Twilight's glasses. "Here you are. I had a feeling you would be needing these."
Sliding her glasses on, Twilight looked about the room. "What time is it? Is everyone still asleep?"
"I should hope not. I made my rounds to knock on everyone's door in an attempt to get them up for breakfast. There's a cute little diner in town that I would love to sample. Local cuisine is always the best."
Twilight slid off the couch and onto her feet. "Who left us the blanket?"
Shining walked into the room, straightening his jacket collar. "You're welcome." Cadence, following close behind, winked at Twilight and Sunset.
Cheeks pink, Twilight headed upstairs to get dressed. Sunset returned to her own room, finding Rarity lacing up her pair of designer snow boots.
"Did you and Twilight have a good night together?" she asked, not bothering to look up.
"How did you--"
"Please, it doesn't take a genius to figure out where you went last night." She looked up with her coy smile. "So, did you have a good time?"
Sunset opened her suitcase and picked out her outfit for the slopes. "We had a nice, meaningful talk, then we cuddled and fell asleep."
Rarity nodded in approval. "All I could hope for." She stood up and looked herself over, twisting left and right. "Do you think this white jacket will blend in too well?"
They finished getting dressed and ready for the day. When they came back into the living room, most of the others had assembled, including a very eager Rainbow, goggles already down over her eyes.
"This is gonna be so awesome! I can't wait to get up there and show off my awesome shredding moves!" She jumped up and down, upsetting her goggles.
"You ain't never been snowboardin' before," Applejack said. "How do you know you'll be good at it?"
"Because I'm good at any cool sport!"
"Ha! Cool sport! I get it!"
"Shut up, Pinkie."
Before heading up the mountain, the group squeezed into the town diner, taking up two tables in the corner. The host looked intimidated by their mob, but the waitress acted like it was another typical day. Sunset guessed large tourist parties weren't too rare around here.
Still, with ten people, breakfast moved slow. Too slow if Rainbow's constant fidgeting was anything to go by. Sunset thought she and Pinkie might have switched bodies.
The waitress brought out a smorgasbord of food varying from crepes to french toast, pancakes to omelettes. The feasting went quick, and afterwards, snowboarding was the last thing Sunset felt up for.
But, once Moondancer paid the bill, the girls waddled their way to the base of the slopes, the ski lifts rising out of powder white hills that rolled up the mountainside.
The girls purchased their skis and snowboards, and were directed to the beginners hills not too far up. Outside, the sun had returned, reflecting off the white snow and making it gleam.
The lift came around, taking everyone up in pairs of two. Rainbow jumped on first, taking Pinkie with her and rocking the chair as they landed. "Last one to the top is a rotten egg!" Rainbow yelled.
Her competitive spirit burning through her lethargy, Sunset hooked an arm around Twilight and took the next lift. Their feet left the ground, and they were gently cradled up the mountain. Getting off on the first stop, it wasn't a long trip, and the scenery hadn't changed too much. Sunset could see more of the forest spread out to her right, climbing up the other side of the mountain.
She and Twilight hopped off, finding Rainbow already strapping her boots to her board. "Time to reach a whole new level of awesome!" She straightened up and hopped her way to the edge of the slope.
"We need to work on expanding your vocabulary," Sunset said, laying her own snowboard down.
Rainbow pulled her goggles down. "You need to work on keeping up with me." With one more hop, she pushed herself over the edge and down the slope, flailing her arms to keep her balance. Sunset had to give her some credit, Rainbow lasted longer than expected. She made it a fourth of the way down before a small bump threw her onto her face.
Sunset cupped her hands to her mouth. "So how's that new level of awesome?" She saw Rainbow raise a rude finger from her place in the snow.
While Rainbow picked herself up and kept boarding, the rest of the group arrived, Fluttershy and Moondancer bringing up the rear.
"Don't worry, dear," Moondancer said, "the worst that can happen is you get some snow in your hair. Skiing is perfectly safe."
Fluttershy looked down the hill with wide eyes. Seeing Rainbow twist and fall only made her waddle back.
Twilight made her way to the edge, Sunset scooting next to her. "I read a beginners book about skiing before we came up here."
"Of course." Sunset playfully rolled her eyes.
"And the basic stance is to have your feet shoulder width apart and position your toes inward so it makes a pizza shape." Twilight demonstrated, wobbling a little as she found her balance. "From here, I just have to shift my center of gravity. It's the default position for beginners. I also looked up snowboarding techniques."
"Why didn't you offer Rainbow any?"
"From the way she spoke, I thought she already knew what she was doing."
Sunset looked at the bottom of the slope, where Rainbow had fallen on her face again. "There are few times where Rainbow actually knows what she's doing. This ain't one of them."
Twilight gave Sunset a few pointers while she strapped on her snowboard. Goggles down and helmet secure, Sunset wriggled her way to the top of the hill. Adrenaline flowed through her, escaping from her mouth as puffs of hot air.
"See you at the bottom?" Twilight asked, leaning forward.
"How about I race you? Loser has to buy hot chocolate later. Ready, set, go!" Sunset hopped forward, letting gravity do the rest of the work. She heard Twilight yell in surprise, her voice lost over the wind rushing through Sunset's hair. She kept her back straight and knees bents, keeping her center of gravity at her core. For her first time on a snowboard, she thought she was doing pretty good. She made sure to keep a straight path for the bottom, doing minimal turning so as not to fall like Rainbow.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Twilight speeding after her, pushing her poles against the snow to keep up. Sunset knew not to lean forward lest she lose her balance, but couldn't think of a way to keep Twilight from catching her. Soon, they were neck and neck, speeding down the snowy hill, the end in sight. Sunset couldn't help it. She put a little lean into her front foot, and she nosed past Twilight. A small bump near the bottom threw off her balance and, like Rainbow, she flailed her arms to keep steady. The result was a face full of snow and a giggling Twilight skiing past her.
Sunset rejoined her by the ski lift, brushing the snow off her face. "One day, I'll actually beat you in something."
"If you challenge me to a foot race, I'll probably lose." They got back on the chairs and started their ascent again. Twilight ran a thumb across Sunset's bandage. "The fall didn't hurt, did it?"
"Nah, I'm fine." The cold actually soothed her cut some.
Below them, their friends skied and snowboarded down the hill, Rainbow showing some improvement after following Sunset's example. Pinkie being Pinkie looked like a natural skier, her giggles reaching Twilight and Sunset. Moondancer looked right at home as well, going so far as to jump off one of the small hills and catch some air. Despite her apprehensions, Fluttershy looked like she was having fun. Her descent was slow but well controlled, and Sunset thought she saw a smile under her bundled face. Shining and Cadence had borrowed a page from Twilight and Sunset, and were racing skis against snowboard, with Shining in the lead. Applejack and Rarity moved at a more leisurely pace, holding a conversation as they descended.
They all spent the first hour on the shorter hills, learning the ropes and falling into the snow. It didn't take long for Rainbow to grow ambitious again and take the lift to the intermediate hill. Sunset watched her go alone, though she intended to join Rainbow eventually. "So, place your bets. How many times will Dash eat the snow?"
"Ah got five bucks. One for each time."
"Oooh, oooh, ten dollars for two times!"
"Ten dollars on the idea that she'll fall one time, but it'll be quite the tumble," Moondancer said.
"Let's just hope she doesn't hurt herself," Shining said, following Rainbow with his eyes.
Fortunately for all involved, Rainbow appeared to have gotten a good grasp on her new sport and made it down the mountain without one fall.
"Well, that's disappointing," Sunset said, anticipating the gloating that would arrive with Rainbow's return. She decided to prolong it by taking another trip downhill before trying her hand at the bigger course.
Unfortunately, her trip hadn't been long enough. As she rode the lift back, she caught a good earful of Rainbow's bragging. Instead of hopping off, she took the lift to the next level. If Rainbow could do it, then so could she. Sunset rode down the hill, feeling a sharper pull of gravity with the steeper slope. She rushed by her friends, hearing their encouraging shouts. With her speed picking up, she got the kick of adrenaline she normally felt when riding her motorcycle. She hit the bottom and turned her snowboard to stop, kicking up a wave of powder.
Upon her return, most of her friends had moved onto the intermediate hill as well, save for Fluttershy and Cadence. They spent another hour riding the hills before many decided their cheeks were numb enough. Rainbow complained about only 'just getting started' but complied with returning to the cabin. They still had another day to try the top hill before throwing Pinkie her official birthday party.
Shining turned the fireplace on first thing when they got inside, while Cadence and Applejack took to making lunch. They prepared more soup, and after three hours in the snow and wind, Sunset couldn't have been more grateful.
It was only mid-afternoon, and Sunset still had some energy left. She looked at Twilight, resting with her head on Sunset's shoulder. "Hey, if you're not too sleepy, you want to go for a hike in the forest. I bet there's some great flora and fauna you could look at."
Twilight made a sleepy nod and rose to her feet. "Let me go get my notebook and pencil. And maybe a few sample bags." Her eyes grew more awake as thoughts of science danced through her brain. "Darn, I should have packed my microscope. Now I'll have to wait until we get home to look at them."
"Oh darn." Sunset snapped her fingers with a cheeky grin. She nudged Twilight with her foot. "Hurry up and get ready, nerd."
Fluttershy meekly rose her hand as Twilight left the room. "Um, Sunset, do you mind if I come along too? I've wanted to look at the forest since we got here, but it's okay if you say no."
"Err..." Sunset had intended it to be just her and Twilight, but Fluttershy curling in on herself in anticipation made Sunset want to reconsider. At the same time, she was sure Fluttershy could find someone to go with her in an hour.
Rarity looked prepared to come to Sunset's rescue, but Moondancer rose from her seat and said, "I think a hike through the woods is a marvelous idea. Let's seize the day! It would be a crime to waste our vacation cooped up in a cabin when there's a frosted forest to frolic in."
Applejack stood up too. "Ya know, that sounds like a good idea." She completely missed the frustrated glare Rarity gave her.
Rainbow put her hands behind her head and leaned back against the couch. "You go have fun. Imma stay here and nap."
"Big surprise," Rarity said, rolling her eyes. "Pinkie, would you like to do something?"
Pinkie, having finished her soup, had moved on to gnawing on her rock candy, bits and pieces sticking to her mouth. "Is buying more candy an option?"
Rarity tapped her fingers together. "How about we go to the spa instead? My treat."
"Okay!"
Twilight came back with her boots and research gear. "Ready to go?"
"Sure!" several voices answered her. She looked at Sunset with mild confusion and disappointment. They had been on the same wavelength about making this a private trip.
"Have fun and be safe," Shining said, though Sunset could see the small amount of satisfaction in his eyes. Sunset led the four other girls out into the forest, the aroma of damp bark and soil overpowering her nose.
Fluttershy inhaled deeply. "Don't you just love the smell of nature? It's so clean and fresh." She took out a camera and hopped excitedly. "I hope we see a snowy owl."
Aside from their time spent at the animal shelter, Sunset rarely saw Fluttershy this excited. She couldn't begrudge the girl for wanting to come along. Applejack and Moondancer on the other hand...
The path wound through the forest, naturally flowing between the trees, becoming more narrow or widening into small glades. Most of the snow had been pushed to the side, making it easier to see, but there were parts of the path that became indistinguishable from the rest of the forest floor.
Moondancer skipped and twirled whenever she had the room for it. "So, Applejack, tell me about yourself," she said, spinning around her. "What's it like growing up on a farm? It sounds so enchantingly rustic."
Applejack watched her with puzzled skepticism. "It's a lotta hard work," she said slowly. "You get a good ethic outta it though. A good sense of values." She began to ease up. "And it is pretty fun. Wide spaces, animals to play with and nurture. Crops to take care of. Then, come harvest time, you get to see the fruits of your labor. Literally!"
"Delightful! Growing your own fruits and vegetables sounds magical," she purred. "Is there a secret to your success?"
"Nah. Just good ol' blood, sweat, and tears."
"Wonderfully impressive," Moondancer said with a flourish of her hand. "And what of you, demure Fluttershy? Tell me of yourself. You hardly talk."
Fluttershy held her camera close to her chest. "Oh, um... I like animals. I volunteer at the local shelter every weekend."
"How humanitarian! Such a pure soul within those beautiful eyes."
Fluttershy turned pinker than her hair, and moved her camera to hide her face. "Th-thank you."
They paused to watch a deer graze at tufts of grass poking free of the snow. Fluttershy snapped several quiet pictures while Twilight wrote down observations. Sunset leaned over and saw she had also tried to sketch it, and had to bite down on her fist to stop her laughs from spooking the deer. Twilight's sketch looked like it had been composed by a fourth grader.
After it passed, Twilight smacked Sunset with her notepad.
"I'm sorry!" Sunset said, still snickering. "Hey, it's a lot better than what I could do." Sunset recalled the fat, stick-legged ponies she had drawn during their magic lesson. At least Twilight's deer had supportive stumps for legs.
The path started a gentle incline up the side of the mountain. If they were quiet enough, they could hear some of the shouts from the skiers on the far side. Fluttershy got her wish and spotted a snowy owl perched in a tree. They spent ten minutes watching her snap pictures and imitate owl calls to get its attention.
As the sun fell behind the mountain and turned the sky orange, the girls reached the end of the path, coming out to a railed off cliff that overlooked the mountain range.
"Whooowee, look at that view," Applejack said, tipping her hat up. "Sure glad Ah came out for this."
"That makes one of us," Sunset said under her breath.
Moondancer raised her arms like she was welcoming the oncoming night. "Moments like this are when you feel truly alive! You can see the whole world before you." She reached a hand out. "It's calling out, just asking you to take it!"
As Sunset's eyes completed their roll, she spotted something blooming on the edge of the cliff just outside the rail. Twilight spotted it too and ran for a closer look, crouching down and gasping loudly. Sunset crept closer and looked at the flower that had Twilight entranced. Its wide, curled petals sparkled red and gold, matching Sunset's hair, and it released a fragrant smell that reminded her of summertime.
"I don't believe it," Twilight whispered. "It's a Chinensis Solruptis, commonly called a Sunburst Rose. They grow in high elevations and only bloom at sunset but... I thought it would be too cold for any to grow up here."
"There's a flower that only grows at sunset?" Sunset asked, leaning in for a closer look. In the rays of the dying sun, it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen. A few drops of condensation from the rail fell onto it, giving it a breathtaking glittering effect.
Twilight took out her notepad and scribbled while Fluttershy snapped a picture with her camera. Sunset just stared and committed the scene to memory. She glanced over at Twilight and held back a sigh. Boy, this would have been romantic if it were just the two of us. Twilight looked up, and Sunset saw a similar thought pass through her eyes. She reached her hand over and took Sunset's, rubbing her thumb over the back. Sunset smiled. Close enough.
She looked past the flower and into the mountain range sprawled out beneath them, miles and miles of trees and large hills. Bringing her eyes closer to home, she saw the drop the cliff offered to the forest floor, and a sudden unease filled her gut.
"Okay, I'm getting a bad sense of deja vu. Can we go back now?"
"It is gettin' pretty late," Applejack said, moving out of the way so Sunset could scurry back a safe distance from the edge.
Even as they proceeded back, a chilly wind washed over them, prompting them to hustle. There were no lanterns to guide them back, leaving the girls to rely on their phones for illumination. "I hope this doesn't disturb any of the animals," Fluttershy said.
A low growl froze them in their tracks. Sunset slowly raised her phone up, revealing more of the path until it was obscured by something black and fuzzy. Its large body flinched back at the sudden light, and it let out another growl.
Twilight made a long and low, "Eeeeep," at the sight of the black bear. Its nose sniffed the air, and it slowly pawed its way closer to the group.
"Yeah, I think it's a little disturbed," Sunset said, heart pounding.
Moondancer eased a foot back. "Perhaps one of you could use your magic on it? Make sure it stays calm?"
"Doesn't work that way."
"Okay," Fluttershy said, her voice surprisingly calm. "Just slowly back up. Don't make any sudden movements or look aggressive."
They complied. Sunset could hear their collective hearts thumping in their chests. She couldn't believe Cadence had been right about the bear. She could believe only they had the bad enough luck to run into it. She kept her breath even and slow, as opposed to Twilight who made short hyperventilations. While it didn't seem angered, the bear continued to follow after them.
"Perhaps we should turn off the lights?" Moondancer asked, her high pitched voice cracking.
"What, and stumble around in the dark?" Sunset hissed.
Twilight squeaked out in a voice even higher than Moondancer's, "I read that a bear's short legs make it harder for it to move downhill. If we could find one..."
The bear let out a short roar and picked up it's pace toward them.
Sunset jerked her light toward the trees to her left. The gaps between them were fairly narrow, but also had copious amounts of underbrush. She took Twilight by the hand and yelled to everyone else, "This way!"
She ducked between the trees, hearing the bear roar again with earnest. They stumbled and crashed through the undergrowth, tree trunks knocking their shoulders and branches whipping their faces. The bear tried to catch up, creating an even louder disturbance then them, but after running single file through a narrow space, the animal's cries grew more and more distant.
Once Sunset thought they had put enough distance between them and the bear, she slowed to a stop, leaning against a tree to catch her breath. Twilight collapsed into the snow, gasping and coughing. Sunset knelt down and lifted Twilight to a sitting position. "Deep breaths. That's it, just take it easy."
Twilight regulated her breathing, interrupted by the occasional cough. She wiped the sweat and snow off her pink face before clearing her glasses. "Are we safe?"
Applejack cast her phone light around. "Depends on your definition of 'safe'." The sound of the bear was gone, replaced by an eerie and unsettling silence. The light didn't reveal much, only a thicket of trees in every direction.
Moondancer let out a short scream, making everyone jump. She held up the sleeve of her pink jacket. "I can't believe it! Designer made and it's been torn! Why is fortune so quick to turn against us?"
Sunset groaned. Would anyone really be mad if we lost her here?
Fluttershy huddled close to Applejack. "How are we supposed to get back now?"
Fully recovered, Twilight stood and held her phone flat in her hand. "Don't worry, I have a compass." She watched the digital compass' needle spin for moment before it settled in one direction. "That way's north, and we came from the west." She pointed. "So, if we keep walking that way, we should make it back eventually."
Moondancer clapped her hands. "That's my little star, brilliant as always!"
While Twilight had the compass, she wasn't eager to lead the way, allowing Sunset to take her place. Their footsteps filled the air with the soft crunch of snow, but the lack of any natural sound around them kept Sunset on edge. Fluttershy's teeth chattered somewhere behind her, only compounding the tension.
The narrow beams of light their phones provided intensified the darkness just beyond. While it wasn't cloudy, the tall pine trees and their copious branches blocked out much of the starlight above. They proceeded at a slow pace, navigating through the dense foliage with Fluttershy warning them not to step on anything that might look endangered.
Sunset held her tongue about them being the ones in danger, and instead wondered why they hadn't found the path yet. Their trek wasn't perfectly straight, but they kept moving in a westward direction. They hadn't run that far off the road, had they?
Something in the air changed. Sunset felt it when the wind blew over them. Before, the silence had come from the lack of any wildlife around them. Now, Sunset knew the silence came from them being watched. She didn't say anything to her friends, but slowed her footsteps and strained her eyes to see into the darkness.
To their left, a bush rustled, causing both Twilight and Fluttershy to jump a mile in the air. Sunset shushed them and slowly panned her light toward the bush, gaining no further reaction. She turned to the path again and jumped back at the pair of bright blue eyes reflecting her light.
The rest of its body came into view, and Sunset immediately recognized it from the carvings all around town. A brilliant white coat adorned it, brighter than the snow. It held its body proud, standing tall as it slowly crossed the girl's path. It's ears stood up, it's long tail waved behind it in a slow, hypnotic fashion. Sunset moved her phone so she wasn't shining the light in the wolf's eyes, and realized its coat glowed in the darkness.
Twilight sucked in her breath and made another, "Eeeeeep," at the sight of it.
"She's beautiful," Fluttershy said in whispered awe.
The wolf flicked her ears and looked at Fluttershy for a moment before her piercing blue eyes fell on Sunset. They were just like the statues', gazing directly into her soul. She could feel it shiver deep within her, not with fear but... anticipation. A warning. Sunset stared back, entranced by the wolf's presence. Something otherworldly radiated off it. Magic?
The wolf blinked, breaking her spell over Sunset and turning to stare down Moondancer. Her shoulders seized up and her pink cheeks paled again. The wolf's gaze didn't linger quite as long as it did with Sunset, but enough that it left an impression. She looked at the group as a whole before moving on, keeping a slow gait.
While Sunset still tried to process whether or not they had actually come across the mythical Harbinger, Fluttershy said, "Um, this is going to sound crazy but, well, I... I think she wants us to follow her."
The wolf looked over her shoulder, ears flicking again, then kept moving.
"You want us to follow a wild wolf?" Twilight asked in a panicked whisper.
"Normally, Ah'd agree with you, Twi," Applejack said. "But Ah don't know. Somethin' about that creature seems different. Like she was tryin' to talk to us."
Twilight opened her mouth, snapped it shut, and looked at Sunset with desperately curious eyes. Sunset just nodded her head. This was definitely a magic thing. Fluttershy took that as an end to the debate and gently pushed past Sunset to follow the wolf. She easily navigated the forest, occasionally pausing to let the girls catch up.
In a few short minutes, the trees opened up, and they found themselves on the main road with the lights of the cabins in the short distance. The wolf walked onto the other side of the trees, quickly vanishing into the darkness.
"Thank you!" Fluttershy called after her.
Applejack patted herself down, clearing off all the stray leaves and twigs. "That's enough adventure for one night. Let's get back before Shining sends out a search party."
Noise returned as they neared Hollow Shades, gentle hoots and children giggling as they stayed out late. Still, the girls returned to the circle of cabins with a subdued air around them. Anxiety and confusion knotted up inside Sunset. The Harbinger appeared to bring calamity, and showed up before people with dark hearts. At least, that's what Moondancer had said. The fact that it had appeared before Sunset and looked her in the eyes... and her dream from last night. Did it sense a darkness still within her? Were her fears justified?
But it had also led them back to civilization. And Sunset didn't feel any malevolence when their eyes met. The imprint those blue eyes left on her soul felt like the wolf just wanted to tell her something.
Sunset pushed the door to their luxury cabin open. The first thing she saw was Shining pacing in the living room with a phone to his ear.
"The first girl is about five-foot three with purple hair and--" He whipped his around and stared at the girls as they stepped in. "Nevermind, they're here." He closed the phone and scowled. "Where have you been?" The question was for all of them, but his eyes were on Sunset.
"We had the luxury of running into a bear and then got lost," Sunset said, tugging her boots off.
"And you didn't think to call or text one of us?"
Sunset hesitated. "Uh, well, no. I mean, we were never in any real danger, right?" She looked over to the others who remained silent. "The point is, we didn't get stranded or hurt."
Shining rubbed the sides of his head. "No, the point is, you scared me and Cadence half to death."
She held her arms up. "Sorry, all right? Not our fault stuff happened. We're back, and we're fine."
As she made her way to the couch, she heard Shining mutter, "Yeah, something always happens when you're around."
Sunset flinched. Perhaps her and the wolf had something in common.
*******
Sleep was restless, but Sunset managed to avoid having any nightmares. She woke up, got dressed, and quietly discussed the possibility of a magic wolf with Twilight while breakfast was being made.
"Magic did used to exist in this world. Maybe it's not as gone as Artemis thinks," Sunset said.
"Yes, but what if the legends around it are true, too? Does that mean something terrible is about to happen? What are we going to do?" Half of the couch shook with the vibration from Twilight's restless leg.
"Look, I still think Moondancer might have been exaggerating some of that story." Sunset held her palms up. "And even if it is true, maybe some of our own magic will counter it? If it happens, it happens. We can't wait around being paranoid forever."
Sunset said it, but ever since she had gone to sleep, the idea that disaster could befall them at any minute kept her from properly resting. The wolf had stared at her though. Did that mean she would face a coming tragedy? It had also locked eyes with Moondancer. At least karma has a balance.
After breakfast, the girls returned to the slopes for their second day of skiing and snowboarding. Unbeknownst to Pinkie, they had every intention to cut it short so they could set up her surprise party. In the meantime, the group started on the intermediate slopes, with even Fluttershy willing to try. It took some coaxing, but she finally pushed herself over the edge and down the hill, a muffled scream coming from her scarf.
As her screams pittered out, Sunset and Rainbow watched with mixture of amusement and concern. "Do you think she's having fun?" Sunset asked, seeing Fluttershy keep a rigid stance all the way down. She reached the bottom and fell over.
"I think she enjoyed it." Rainbow hurried down after her. Sunset had another brief experience of deja vu as a blur came down from the top hill and rushed past Rainbow, catching enough air off a jump to do a flip with his skis. He landed, sending a flume of snow up in Rainbow's face as he reached the bottom and knelt over Fluttershy before helping her up.
As they rode the lift back up, Sunset saw it was the young man from the reception desk, Soarin. He kept a smooth smile as he talked to Fluttershy, whose face was mostly unreadable with her scarf over her mouth. Her eyes only showed confusion.
They hopped off the ski lift, and Soarin greeted everyone with a wave and another smooth smile. "Nice to see you're all having fun. My parents gave me the day off, so I decided to spend it up here."
Rarity rolled her eyes. "How convenient, him getting the day off when there are pretty girls in his backyard," she whispered to Sunset.
"If any of you girls are beginners, I'd be happy to give you a few pointers," Soarin said. "I was just telling your friend Fluttershy here the best way to hold your body while going downhill."
Shining looked ready boot him off the mountain, but Rainbow came up on the next ski lift, face red, and Sunset doubted it was from the cold. "Thanks, but no thanks, Soarin kid. We're doing just fine on our own." She squeezed her way between him and Fluttershy. And glared.
Soarin took a step back, still trying to look cool. "Right on. So how long have you been skiing for?"
"Long enough."
Sunset held herself from making a sharp remark. She was supposed to be on Rainbow's side after all.
Seeing his chances of wooing dwindling by the second, Soarin gave them a friendly wink and went on his way, flipping off another jump on his way to the bottom.
Rainbow snorted. "He thinks he's so cool. I could do that with enough practice."
"He did seem kind of nice," Fluttershy said.
"Please, that's just an act. He only wants one thing from you, 'Shy."
"What's that?"
As a collective group, no one quite had the heart to answer her. One by one they slipped down the mountain, leaving Rainbow to awkwardly explain. Over the next hour, the group had to deal with Soarin occasionally passing them by on the hills, winking, waving, or performing any manner of trick. Sunset merely ignored him, but Rainbow's face tightened more and more as time went on.
"That's it!" she said as Soarin flew past, coming from the top slope. "I'm going to show this guy I can be just as cool as he can!"
"Why?" Applejack asked.
"So he'll stop showing off!"
"You mean showing you up?" Sunset said, smirking in satisfaction at Rainbow's scowl. Rainbow hopped back over to the lift zone and waited for it to take her to the top. Sunset shook her head and followed in her footsteps. "Someone should go to make sure she doesn't hurt herself."
Sunset waited for the next chair and followed her to the peak. From the top, Hollow Shades with its short gingerbread buildings with snow icing looked like a Christmas postcard. The freezing wind blew harder up here, making Las Vegas sound more like heaven. She hobbled up to Rainbow, wrapping her arms around herself.
"You didn't have to come with me," she said.
"And you don't have to be a showoff trying to rise to any challenge, even when they aren't challenges, but here we are." She looked down the powdery hill. "What do you plan on doing anyway?"
Rainbow pushed her snowboard to the edge of the hill and strapped her back boot in. "I'm gonna slide down this hill and pull off a flip. If he can do it, so can I."
Sunset brought her gloved hands to her lips, took in a deep breath, then pulled them away. "Dash, in the short time I've known you, you've had quite a few dumb ideas. This one might take the cake."
"Or, it's the best one yet."
"No, it's really not!"
But Rainbow dismissed her and pushed over the hump, sending herself down hill. Somewhere in the distance, Sunset heard a wolf howl.
"Oh, Celestia." She strapped her boot in and jumped down after Rainbow, unsure of what she could even do.
Wind and snow stung her face as she chased Rainbow down. With only a day of practice, Rainbow had clearly improved, but Sunset could see the occasional wobble. They passed under Soarin as he rode the lift back to the top just as Rainbow went off her first jump, touching the front of her board with her hand. She landed, wobbled again, but kept going.
"Rainbow!" Sunset shouted, but the rushing wind was too loud for her to take notice. She could still hear the wolf howl in her ears though, and a cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck. One of the larger jumps loomed close, and Rainbow made a beeline for it. Sunset could only cross her fingers and hope that the dread bubbling up in her was nothing more than superstitious paranoia.
Rainbow caught a large amount of air, and at the height of her jump, she thrusted her body forward in her attempt to flip. She rotated halfway through before gravity threw her back against the ground, her left shoulder taking the brunt of the impact. Sunset didn't hear the cracking of bone, but she heard Rainbow's anguished scream.
Sunset reached her and jerked her board to a stop. "Rainbow!" She unstrapped her boots and gently turned Rainbow onto her back. "How bad is it?"
With her teeth clenched so tightly, Rainbow could only make pained grunts. She gripped her shoulder, refusing to let Sunset examine it.
Soarin slid to a stop next to them, all traces of his smooth, cool attitude gone. "Here, let me take a look." He unzipped Rainbow's jacket and pushed the collar of her shirt down, revealing a rapidly swelling purple bruise. He gingerly ran a finger along her collarbone until she let out another shout of pain.
Soarin grimaced. "Yeah, it's broken. Hold on, we'll get you to the hospital."
He rushed down to the base of the mountain, leaving Sunset alone with her wounded friend, the rest of the group still on the hill yards below them, unaware of what had happened. The wolf howled from the forest, and Sunset thought of its piercing blue eyes foretelling trouble.
"Something always happens when you're around."
Sunset clenched her jaw and looked away from Rainbow's pain contorted face. "I'm sorry, Dash." |
Spectacular Seven | 6. Kindness and Laughter | A small two story building served as Hollow Shades' hospital. Sunset had never been to one in the human world, but she had a feeling they weren't usually this empty. Aside from her own large party, there were two parents sitting with their son who kept a hand over his eye.
Fluttershy rocked back and forth in her chair, alternating between biting her nails and tugging on her hair. She kept her eyes on the door, sometimes going minutes without blinking.
Sunset reached over and pulled her hand away from her bangs. "Stop that, you're going to pull your hair out. Rainbow's going to be okay." Sunset believed her own words but couldn't shake the guilt that had followed her down the mountain. If she hadn't been here, would things have turned out different? Would the Harbinger have stayed away without her darkness to attract it?
The doors opened, and Rainbow walked out beside Shining, her arm held up in a sling and her face dour. Fluttershy bolted from her seat and rushed over, being careful not to touch Rainbow's shoulder.
"Are you okay? How much does it hurt? What were you thinking? I know what you were thinking! That meany, Soarin got into your head! But you shouldn't have done something like that! Is there anything I can do for you?"
Rainbow held her good arm up. "'Shy, I'm fine, really," she said in a tired voice.
"The doctor said it was a pretty clean break," Shining said. "As long as she doesn't overexert herself, it should heal up in about two months."
Rainbow let out a bemoaned sigh. "There goes most of track season. I can't run like this! What if a talent scout was hoping to see me?" Her sigh became a frustrated shout, and she rested her head against Fluttershy's shoulder.
Fluttershy stroked her hair. "You still have those soccer scouts that were interested in you. You could still get scholarships for college." She led Rainbow to the front entrance, the others following close behind while Shining checked out.
Pinkie bounced up to Rainbow and Fluttershy. "Here, I got you a lollipop to make you feel better, Dashie!" She pulled out one of the comically large lollipops swirling with rainbows. "Can I sign your sling later?"
Rainbow tried to smile, but it was weighed down with guilt. "Thanks, Pinkie. And sure, you can sign it when we get home."
Sunset shared the guilt Rainbow held, as did everyone else but Pinkie. Thanks to the accident, Shining decided it would be best for them to leave now, meaning no surprise party. Sunset was sure the others weren't exactly in a party mood anyway. Still half the reason they had came up to Hollow Shades was to give Pinkie a good birthday.
Back at the cabin, everyone began packing their things while Moondancer called for the helicopter. Sunset hid her portion of the party supplies in the bottom of her suitcase, swearing they'd still give Pinkie a great party when they got back home.
There was a knock on her and Rarity's door, and she looked up to find Twilight. She waved and stepped across the threshold. "Just wanted to see if I could help with anything."
Rarity neatly folded her clothes and packed them away. "Thank you, darling, but we're just about finished. You're more than welcome to stay though."
Twilight sat on the edge of Sunset's bed. "I'm glad a broken clavicle is the only injury Rainbow got. She's pretty lucky all things considered."
"Yeah," Sunset said absently.
Twilight tapped her fingers together. "I mean, there was a statistically slim chance she could pull off that kind of acrobatic feat with only one day of practice."
Sunset appreciated Twilight's attempt, but the guilt remained. "Twilight..."
"Okay, magic or not, there's no way a ghost wolf caused Rainbow to hurt herself." She crossed her arms defiantly. "Nor was it drawn here by any of us being evil. There's no proof--even with the magic you've shown me--that suggests such a thing."
"True." Sunset closed her suitcase. "But this is also magic from this world, which I know a lot less about."
"Didn't you say a wolf helped you find the road last night?" Rarity asked.
"Yes! See, the ghost wolf helped us. Why would it turn around and curse us?" Twilight paused and slapped a hand to her forehead. "Another sentence to fall under the list of 'least scientific things I've ever said'."
Sunset picked up her suitcase and headed for the living room. "Look, it happened. We can't prove if it was magically influenced or not."
Following behind Sunset, Twilight gasped and grabbed her hand. "Maybe we can!" As soon as Sunset set her luggage down, Twilight yanked her to follow, leading them back to the main lobby. She swirled her head around until she locked onto Soarin, sweeping the front mat clear of snow and dirt. "Soarin!"
He looked up and smiled in a guilty fashion. "Hey, sorry about your friend. I kinda feel like it might be partially my fault."
"Eh, Rainbow's always hot-headed," Sunset said.
"That's not what we wanted to talk to you about," Twilight said. "Well, not exactly. You've lived here your whole life, right?"
He nodded. Yeah?"
Twilight pointed to the wolf statue. "What can you tell us about that wolf?"
Soarin raised his eyebrows. "Oh, Harbinger? Yeah, she gets kinda a bad rep. You see, she's been haunting my family for generations. They thought seeing her was a bad omen and something terrible was about to happen. When my great-great grandfather moved out here, she followed, and every time she howled, something bad happened not long after."
He swung his arms out. "Then one year, there was this really bad blizzard! Like, massive! Some of the villagers got lost in the forest trying to get home before it hit. My grandpa was one of them. With all the snow falling, they thought they were doomed. But then, even in all the white, they saw Harbinger's coat glowing just bright enough to stand out. With her bright fur and blue eyes, she led them to safety.
"After that, my family came to realize, she didn't bring bad luck, she came to warn people something bad was about to happen. So, she's less of a harbinger and more of a messenger and a guardian."
Sunset grit her teeth. "I knew Moondancer was playing up that story."
Soarin nodded with a dreamy light in his eyes. "Yeah, she was pretty interested in the legend too. Why, did you run into Harbinger?"
Twilight nodded. "Last night, we got lost in the forest and she led us back."
"Wicked!" He frowned. "I guess she was trying to warn you about your friend."
"Yeah..." Sunset remembered the way Harbinger had looked at her though. Had she been trying to tell Sunset about Rainbow, or was it a different message meant for her? Still, a weight lifted from her shoulders. The wolf wasn't attracted by darkness. It didn't come thanks to Sunset.
Don't get all cozy, a voice hissed. You still have a tendency to land your friends in some dangerously hot water.
"Thank you for all your help, Soarin," Twilight said. "We really appreciate it."
Soarin put on his cool smile again. "Anything for such a pretty face."
Sunset put her hands on Twilight's shoulders. "Hahahaha, don't even think about it, pretty boy." She turned Twilight toward the back door, glaring at a sheepish looking Soarin as they walked out.
"Well, I was half right," Twilight said. "I knew the wolf wasn't attracted to 'our dark hearts' or whatever. Moondancer was just trying to scare us." She rubbed her chin. "How does a wolf know when something bad is about to happen though? It's not like predicting the weather. I mean, if you know a person well enough, you could predict their future actions based off of habitual patterns and probability, but you'd still have to account for external forces and--"
"Remember when I said there are still some things you can't explain with magic?" Sunset asked.
"Yes," Twilight said, knitting her brow.
"This is one of them. Magic ghost wolf can predict bad luck." Sunset shrugged. "I've heard of stranger things."
Twilight huffed. "How infuriating."
*******
The flight home was quiet with Rainbow brooding in the back and Shining disgruntled upfront, Fluttershy and Cadence trying to cheer them up respectively. They landed in front of Moondancer's stately manor just as the sun touched the horizon.
"Sorry about your shoulder, Rainbow," Pinkie said sincerely. "But I hope you still had fun?"
Rainbow gave her a weak smile. "Did you have fun?"
Pinkie hopped into the air. "Are you kidding? I had a blast! And I brought back plenty of rock candy for my whole family!" She pulled out her bag of sweets.
Rainbow's smile grew. "Well, if you had fun, then I had fun."
Shining put a hand on her back. "Come on, Rainbow, we'll take you home." Shining sighed. "So I can explain to your dad what happened."
"Hey, don't worry too much. It was my fault; I'll take the heat off it. Besides, this isn't even the worst injury I've gotten. I broke my hand in fifth grade pretty bad."
Fluttershy shuddered. "I remember that."
Just as the last of their luggage had been taken out of the helicopter, the front doors to the manor opened up, and out stepped a tall, pale man with a blue suit and slick purple hair pulled into a ponytail. His purple eyes swept over the crowd, stopping on Moondancer, who Sunset noticed kept her expression exceptionally neutral.
"Moondancer," he said, stepping down the driveway, "I was under the impression you'd be returning tomorrow." His voice betrayed his rigid and straight posture, sounding bored and dismissive.
"Yes, well, we had a bit of an accident while snowboarding and thought it wise to come home early," Moondancer said, folding her fingers in front of her.
"Sorry, Mr. Night Shade," Shining said, taking a step forward. "We actually had a few incidents, and I thought it best if we just went home before anything else went wrong. I hope it's not an inconvenience."
Night Shade waved an equally dismissive hand. "No, it's fine. As long as you're all fine." He turned to Moondancer. "We have a guest. Unpack your things and join us in the parlor, please." He dipped his head to the rest of the group. "Good evening."
Moondancer cleared her throat as the doors closed behind her father. "I suppose I should hurry along then. Thank you all for coming with me on this little retreat. I had a wonderful time. Rainbow, I do hope you feel better soon."
Rainbow grumbled out a begrudging, "Thank you."
"Twilight, my sweet, I will correspond with you soon." She twiddled her fingers at Twilight and Sunset and hurried inside. Everyone else gathered their things and loaded their cars.
Sunset and Twilight kissed one another goodbye, promising to talk later that night. After a round of hugs, she and Rarity were on the road home.
"We didn't get around to the party, but at least Pinkie had a good time," Rarity said.
"Yeah." Sunset leaned against the window. "Still, I want to actually show her that we care. Give her something personal. I know Maud said she'd be happy with anything, but..."
Rarity hummed, tapping a finger against her lip. "I might have an idea. But I'll need to double check it first before I get any of our hopes up." They stopped by Rarity's home first. Trixie had left Spot in the care of Sweetie Belle while everyone was away.
Opening the front door, Sunset and Rarity found the two in the living room. Spot wore a tutu around his middle and looked rather miserable. Sweetie had a boom box playing and was apparently trying to teach him how to dance. She froze, cheeks scarlet when she saw her sister and Sunset in the doorway.
"R-Rarity! I thought you weren't coming home until tomorrow!" her high pitched voice cracked.
Rarity pressed a hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh. "There were a few complications. I'm glad you were having fun without me though."
Sunset picked Spot up and helped him out of the tutu, receiving a generous lick as a sign of gratitude. "Thanks for watching him, Sweetie."
"N-no problem!" She smiled sheepishly.
Rarity dropped Sunset off in front of the Lulamoon's house. "Are you sure you'll be all right by yourself, sweetheart?"
Sunset pulled her suitcase out of the back seat. "Don't worry; it's not like I'm not used to it. Besides, I have Spot."
"Well if you need anything, just give any of us a call."
She nodded and waved as Rarity drove away, heading inside once her car had disappeared around the corner. She led Spot inside, listening to the pitter-patter of his feet against the wood floor. Without any of the Lulamoons, the house was unusually quiet. The homey feeling that Sunset usually experienced had diminished. The numerous photos and tapestries kept it alive, but it wasn't the same without the living things. It reminded her a lot of her old factory hovel.
She knew going upstairs would only lead her to talk to Princess Twilight, pushing her further into a past she was trying to crawl out of. She carried Spot to the living room instead. "Come on, let's go watch a movie. Something with a lot of explosions."
*******
Fluttershy walked up the steps to Rainbow's front door, basket over her arm. She gave the doorbell a gentle push and waited patiently for a response. Rainbow's dad opened the door and smiled brightly at her, gesturing her inside.
"Hey, little Flutters. Here to see the patient?"
She nodded and held up her basket. "I thought I'd bring over a few things to make her feel better. How's she doing?"
Rainbow Blaze walked her through the den and to the stairs. "Moping more than usual. Last time she broke something, she just complained about how bored she was. This time..." He sighed. "She's really down about missing out on her last year of high school sports."
Fluttershy lowered her eyes. "I can't imagine how that feels."
He patted her on the shoulder. "But, if anyone can cheer her up, it's you, right?"
Trying to put on her most confident smile, Fluttershy nodded. "I'll do my best."
"Atta girl!" He directed her upstairs, and Fluttershy followed the familiar hallway to Rainbow's room. She gave a soft rapt on the open door.
Rainbow looked up from her messy bed and waved Fluttershy in. Fluttershy stepped over a discarded pair of running shorts and set her basket down on a clean part of the carpet. She looked over the extensive collection of medals and trophies against the sky blue walls.
"Hi, Rainbow." Fluttershy sat down on a corner of the bed, dusting away some chip crumbs.
"Hey, 'Shy," she said listlessly. She flipped a page of the comic book propped up on her leg. "What's up?"
"I came over to take care of you for a little bit," Fluttershy said, making sure not to make eye contact. She reached for her basket. "I brought you some cookies..." She pulled out a tin of homemade chocolate chip cookies. "Some medical herbs that my mom says will bring some of the swelling down..." She took out a small box of green, sweet smelling plants. "A couple of movies, and a bunny for you to snuggle with." Last out of the basket was a small brown rabbit with a twitching nose.
Rainbow leaned her head back and let out a sigh that to anyone else would have sounded ungrateful, but Fluttershy, having known her since first grade, heard the appreciation. Even when it was just the two of them, Rainbow had to keep up her 'cool' act.
"You know you didn't have to do that, 'Shy. Especially the rabbit."
The rabbit was the first thing she reached for.
As Rainbow brought the bunny to her chest, Fluttershy opened the tin of cookies and held one out for Rainbow to eat. Realizing her good arm was occupied, Rainbow leaned forward and ate from Fluttershy's hand. "Thanks," she said, her cheeks reddening a little. "Oh wow, these are your best yet!"
Fluttershy looked down again, playing with the folds of her skirt. "I'm glad you like them." She let Rainbow finish the cookie before looking up again. "So, how are you feeling?"
This time Rainbow's sigh was one of discontentment. "Sunset was right. Getting worked up over Soarin's stupid tricks was stupid. It didn't help that he was trying to act all cool in front of us, especially you."
Instead of looking down again, Fluttershy used her tried and true method of hiding behind her hair. At first, she thought he was just being nice. But his show-offy nature brought out Rainbow's competitive side, and lead to her injury. The thought sparked a rare jolt of anger.
"Look where trying to show him up got me." She weakly waved her arm, wincing at the slight movement. "Do you know how hard it is to take a shower with one hand and limited movement?"
"Umm, no?"
"Pretty hard." Rainbow scratched the bunny behind the ear, falling silent for a minute. "I'm competitive," she said softly, "that's who I am. I play to be number one. I should have been smart enough to know not to compete with someone who's been skiing for years. Now I can't compete in the stuff I'm actually good at." She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes closed.
Fluttershy scooted across the bed and pulled her into a hug. Rainbow let out a few choked sobs she tried to pass off as grunts. "I just..." She regained her composure, but stayed in Fluttershy's embrace. "I can't believe I'm going to end senior year like this. What if the soccer scouts say no? What if I don't even get into any colleges? What am I supposed to do then?"
"You pick yourself up and keep training," Fluttershy said firmly.
"But--"
Fluttershy lifted Rainbow up and looked her in the eye, feeling one of those fleeting moments of total confidence. "You want to go to the Olympics or the World Cup, and the road there is never easy. Maybe you won't get noticed the first time, or the second time. But you're a champion, Rainbow Dash. And champions never quit. I'm sorry you got injured, and I know how much it hurts, but I also know you'll overcome it and get stronger! Someone will see your talents and whisk you away to be a legend."
Rainbow stared in awe for a second before breaking out into a wide grin. She hugged Fluttershy again. "What'd I do to get an awesome friend like you?"
Fluttershy sighed contently, burying her face in Rainbow's hair. "Helped me out of a tree."
"Oh yeah. Heh, good times." She rested her head against Fluttershy's neck. "Thanks, Fluttershy. You're the best."
Her stomach fluttered with warm butterflies. "You're welcome, Rainbow. And I'll be here rooting for you, every step of the way." The warm butterflies left her stomach and spread through her body, leaving every inch over tingling, especially her ears and back. It actually felt very familiar...
Fluttershy gasped as her wings materialized behind her, and her pony ears popped up on the top of her head. She and Rainbow broke away, gaping at one another.
"Whoa! How did you--"
"I-I-I don't know! I was just hugging you--"
"I know! I thought we only did that with music--"
"But I have wings again--"
"I know! It's totally awesome!" Rainbow looked at the door. "Crap, we should close that before my dad comes up and sees."
Fluttershy crossed the room with a single, involuntary flap of her wings. She gently shut it and deliberately walked back. "Oh my gosh! What do we do?"
Rainbow reached for her phone. "Don't panic. Let's just call Sunset and see what she thinks." While Rainbow dialed, Fluttershy thought to Twilight and her previous experiments, and hoped they wouldn't have to go through another, possibly more extensive round. "Dammit, I got her voicemail. Hey, Shimmer, call me or Fluttershy back; we kinda have a bit of a magical situation here."
"What do we do in the meantime?"
"Well, it usually goes away after a little while. Just hang out here and hope my dad doesn't walk in."
Fluttershy wasn't sure why, but her cheeks heated up. "O-okay." She sat on the bed again. "I-if you want, we can watch a movie. Or you can try some of the medicine."
"Sure, why not?" Rainbow sat a little straighter and moved the rabbit onto her blanket. "I'll try your mom's hippie medicine. No offense."
Only because it was from Rainbow did Fluttershy not take offense. She pulled a small bowl from the basket and started to grind and mash the herbs up with her hands, getting it into as fine a paste as she could. She smeared her fingers with it and held it up to Rainbow's collarbone. "Please hold still. I'll be as gentle as possible."
Rainbow closed her eyes and snickered. "Two things. One: you're Fluttershy--I'd be scared if it wasn't gentle. And two: that's what she said."
Fluttershy was glad Rainbow had her eyes closed. This time, her blush rose from her cheeks all the way to her pony ears. "R-Rainbow!"
"Sorry, sorry! It was too easy!"
Hand now trembling, Fluttershy ran her fingers over the inflamed area, brushing it as lightly as possible. Rainbow cringed but said nothing. As her fluster died down, Fluttershy started to hum, massaging Rainbow's shoulder just a little harder.
A pink glow enveloped her hands and spread to Rainbow's injury. Fluttershy yelped and quickly pulled away, but the glow remained in both places.
"What? What happ--whoa!" Rainbow gaped at the phenomena. "What's going on now?"
"I don't know! I'm sorry!" Fluttershy wailed. The pink glow faded from her hands, taking with it both her wings and ears, leaving in its place a faint exhaustion that made her head light. The glow lingered on Rainbow's shoulder a second longer before vanishing as well, leaving Rainbow with wide eyes.
Very slowly, she wiggled her fingers, then carefully removed her arm from the sling. She and Fluttershy traded looks of pure astoundment as she rolled her shoulder and stretched her arm out.
"Awesome," Rainbow said breathlessly.
*******
Sunset's mouth hung open as she watched Rainbow wiggle and flex her arm. Her eyes turned to Fluttershy, trying to hide her blushing face.
"So you ponied up," Twilight said, pacing next to Sunset, "then rubbed Rainbow's shoulder and her clavicle just healed."
"Well, I was using medical herbs too," Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, I doubt it was the herbs," Sunset said.
Twilight raised a hand. "It could have been a catalyst," she said with a strain in her voice. After another minute of pacing, she collapsed onto the park bench next to Sunset. "Catalyst or not, Fluttershy has healing abilities now. How? Why?"
"I'm trying to figure out how she ponied up without music," Sunset said. "That's been the trigger so far. Why did it change now?"
Twilight jumped up. "Excellent question! Perhaps if we recreate the entire scene with the right stimuli, we can find out!"
Rainbow's hand jumped to her shoulder. "I'm not breaking anymore bones!"
"Girls!" Rarity rapped her knuckles on the picnic table. "Focus, please. Rainbow, I'm more than delighted to see you healed up, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious as to how it happened, but we're here to put together Pinkie's party."
Applejack walked over, carrying a box of sodas and cups. "Yeah, and Ah would appreciate a little help. You got two arms again, Dash, so Ah don't wanna hear any excuses."
Rainbow rolled her eyes but said nothing as she went to assist. Sunset got up and filled bowls with candy before working on the horse-shaped pinata. I feel like I should be offended by this. Once it was strung up, she helped a wheezing Twilight finish blowing up balloons. All the while, the loud hum of the bounce house's air tank provided them with background noise.
Sunset had to hand it to Rarity; using their favor with the mayor to rent the biggest jumper without having to pay for it was pretty ingenious. The house was large, pink (much to Sunset's chagrin), and even came with a slide. Other kids walking through Canterlot Park looked at it enviously, some of them loitering around, no doubt to try and spot the birthday kid and ask if they could join in.
As Sunset stepped back and looked at their colorful handiwork, she couldn't help but snort. "This looks like a party for a five year old."
"Well, Pinkie is technically four, so..." Applejack shrugged.
"And now we just need our guest of honor," Rarity said, setting the cake down on the table.
"Want me to go get her?" Rainbow asked.
Rarity shook her head. "No, she should be here any minute." While they waited, Twilight continued to press Rainbow and Fluttershy about their miracle yesterday. Sunset occupied her time by shooing kids away from the picnic area. Nice as she was now, little kids still bugged her.
They heard Pinkie's high-pitched giggles before they even saw her. "I'm so excited! You know how much I love surprises, Maud! Oooh, oooh, can I make more guesses? Is it a giant cake? Did you find the lost city of Atlantis? Did you find a leprechaun?"
Maud led Pinkie across the field, her expression as deadpan as ever. Pinkie had a blindfold over her, but that didn't stop her from bouncing and skipping. The girls gathered around as Maud brought her up to the table.
"Here you go." She took Pinkie's blindfold off.
"Surprise!" everyone shouted. "Happy birthday, Pinkie!"
Pinkie's eyes lingered on the large bounce house in the center before they darted to the table covered in snacks and a large cake, then to the pinata hanging from a tree, and the Twister mat being pinned to the grass by several rocks. Her mouth hung open just slightly, but she showed no reaction otherwise.
Rarity stepped forward. "We wanted to throw you a party while we were up in the mountains, but that didn't work out. So, we threw this together instead, with some help from the mayor."
Fluttershy put her hands together and bowed her head. "We're so sorry we didn't celebrate your birthday earlier, Pinkie. I hope you can forgive us."
Pinkie looked over the festivities again before her eyes stopped on her friends in front of her. Then, Sunset saw something she had never seen before. Pinkie bit down on her lip, her eyes filling to the brim with tears. She made several short hiccups, trying to keep her oncoming emotions down. Sunset had seen Pinkie blubber and wail with dramatic fashion at happy or sad moments in movies, but never this. This was honest vulnerability.
"Are you okay?" Sunset asked.
"I... I..." Pinkie furiously rubbed her eyes. "I thought... you had all forgotten. B-but, I couldn't be mad. W-we had to fight the Sirens, and we w-were all getting m-mad at each other, and m-my birthday isn't on a r-real day anyway. So I didn't say anything."
Applejack walked over to her and embraced her first. "Ah wish you had said something, sugarcube. Ah reckon a party might have helped keep our heads on straight."
Rainbow joined in on the other side. "You throw parties for us all the time! The least we could do is throw one for you, celebrating the most important day of your life!"
Pinkie's entire face trembled, and she broke into a sob and a laugh, burying her face in Rainbow's shoulder. "I can't believe you did this for me! You're all the best!" Everyone joined in on the hug, even Sunset, though she was last and stayed on the outside.
Once Pinkie got a few sobs out, she broke free from the circle and threw her arms up, her cheerful smile back and face glowing with pink mirth. "This is the best surprise ever!" She froze and looked again at Rainbow. "Dashie! Your arm's fixed!"
"Huh? Oh yeah." Rainbow waved. "Long story. We'll talk about it later. Today's about you!"
Pinkie pulled Rainbow into a bear hug, managing to take some of her air away. After a loud squee, she said, "Come on, besties! Let's party!" She dropped Rainbow and kicked off her shoes, then dove into the bounce house.
The others followed suit, Sunset ditching her jacket as well so her spike cuffs wouldn't poke a hole anywhere. She had never been in a bounce house before, believing it to be far too childish for the likes of her. And while she still found it childish, by no means did that make it unfun.
Outside, Maud sat by the cake, petting Boulder with her finger. She looked at her sister laughing with her friends, and smiled.
*******
Lamia thought her measly cat-burglary days were over. She had graduated onto bigger and better things: bank vaults for clients, high-clearance information labs... the museum for one lousy diamond!
She took a controlled breath, pressing a hand to her heart. "Easy, girl. Stay calm. You're on duty." But even with her measured breathing, her blood boiled at the thoughts of what could have been. She had been this close to selling the Crystal Heart and making out like a bandit, pun intended! She could have been rich! She could have been in Greece!
That damn sword woman! Those damn dazzle siren whatevers! And that tattle-telling bitch of a doppelganger! Lamia clenched her fists, her latex gloves making a light squelch. I don't know how, but I'll make them all pay. I'll ruin you, mini-me.
Jórmangandr hissed into her ear, reminding her that she had been sitting in the branch of the tree for too long. She had a job to do. It wouldn't make her as much money as selling the heart, but it was a start. Lamia raised her infrared binoculars and peered between the eaves of the trees. Thirty yards in front of her sat a tall marble wall with golden fence spikes running along the top. Beyond it was a three story manor complete with an extravagant garden. Yes, the people in the Upper Villa sure knew how to spend their money. A glass gazebo, a babbling stream, and the latest security monitors hanging above the back entrance.
Lamia knew robbing any house in Canterlot's richest neighborhood would be a challenge. So why not just go for the richest and the fanciest? Either go big or go home. The last light inside had flicked off almost an hour ago, leaving the mansion thinly illuminated by the garden lanterns.
Lamia had thrown this heist together in a little less than a week. She had learned the floor plans, caught glimpses inside to make sure they had valuables worth stealing, and had gotten a reasonable idea of their schedule. The house was always occupied by the staff, but everyone went to bed just after midnight.
Slipping her mask on, Lamia climbed down the tree, Jórmangandr wrapped around her neck like always. She crept up to the manor wall and reached into her near empty bag, producing a small black box with an antenna and a single switch: her short-ranged EMP for when she needed to disable lower-level security systems. Rich as these people were, they security they had was still second rate to what Lamia normally had to deal with. She flipped the switch, counted to ten, then tossed the box back into her satchel.
"Let's have some fun, Jorgey."
With the grace and agility of a cat, Lamia scaled the wall and grabbed hold of the fence posts at the top, using them to vault over and land on the other side in a crouch. The stream snaking through the garden helped mask her footsteps as she crossed over toward the house. She used the ivy growing along the back wall to help her ascent, keep her weight perfectly distributed so it wouldn't snap on her. When the ivy ran out she gave the marble a firm press with her hands until the sticky adhesive came to the surface. She reached the roof and walked over to the side of the house. None of the back windows were safe to use, so she opted for one that led to an office.
She crawled down the wall to the second floor and peered through the window first. Darkness stared back at her, shifting until she could start to make out shapes. Like the floor plans told her, a large office sat on the other side of the glass. Already, Lamia could see a glass case full of chalices made from precious metals.
Lamia pried a hand from the wall and reached into her utility belt. She pulled out a thin, sharp metal object and placed the tip against the window, slowly and carefully making a wide circle in the glass. Her tool made a quiet squealing noise as it went, sending a bead of sweat down Lamia's face. This was always the hardest part. Once she had made a full circle, she pulled up and waited to see if anyone had heard her commotion. When no one came to investigate, she placed a hand on the circle, pushing it inward, the glass sticking to her palm. She climbed into the room and set the glass down.
Now for my prizes. She approached the glass cabinet, smiling at her reflection, though she couldn't see it behind her cowl. It took only a bobby pin to pick the lock. She lifted the first chalice, silver with four rubies embedded into it. A thousand. Maybe two. She placed it in her satchel and reached for the next one, made of sapphire with moons carved into it. Oh, you'll fetch a pretty good price.
"You should either be commended for your bravery--"
Years of training and honed instincts taught Lamia not to scream in surprise. But her entire body locked up and her heart drilled into her chest.
"--or reprimanded for your foolishness," a light, refined voice said behind her.
Lamia didn't need to tell Jórmangandr to sic, he flew off her shoulder with a loud hiss, striking at whoever was unfortunate enough to catch her in the act. Only, the satisfying sound of fangs in skin never came. She turned around and went rigid a second time. Jòrmangandr floated in the air, covered in a purple glow, squirming but unable to break free. She looked beyond him to the girl holding her hand out, emitting a similar glow. Lamia recognized her from the Battle of the Bands, she had been the prissy princess playing piano with her doppleganger's girlfriend.
Small world. Lamia whipped out a throwing knife and hurled it at her. The girl flung her other hand out, and the knife stopped in mid air.
"Caught in a corner, the alley cat begins to bare its fangs and hiss," the girl said in a sing-song voice. She pushed her hands forward, and both Jórmangandr and the knife flew back toward Lamia. She ducked out of the way, her snake's tail still slapping her across the face, but she managed to avoid being stabbed by her own knife.
"Pray tell..." The girl stepped into the office, wearing only a silk nightgown that flowed down to her ankles. "What possessed you to think this was a good idea?"
Lamia had to admit, for a teenage girl being robbed, she was surprisingly calm. Of course, having glowing magical powers probably helped. Instead of answering, Lamia rushed up and struck out with her open palm. The girl spun to the side, ducking under Lamia's follow-up hit, then merely pushed her hands out again. Neither of them touched Lamia, but it felt as if a giant socked her in the stomach and threw her across the room. She hit the wall and slid to the floor.
The girl took a deep breath and brushed a lock of hair from in front of her eyes. "Hm? Oh, I know who you are." She drew closer to Lamia. "Yes, the Snake Queen. To what do I owe this unsavory pleasure?"
Holding her sore ribs, Lamia glared up at her, teeth bared. "Freaking magic! Have I actually stepped into some goddamn anime? Does every teenager have magic now?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You mean you've met others like me?"
Lamia clamped her mouth shut. She shouldn't be wasting her breath talking to this heiress, she should be looking for a way out of this mess. She had gotten out of tighter spots before; there was no way some teenager would get the better of her, freaky magic powers or not.
On cue, Jórmangandr sprung again, aiming for the girl's ankle. She jumped at the last possible second and hovered in the air, aiming her hand at the snake. A small bolt of light shot forth and hit Jórmangandr along the back. He flailed in pain and quickly recoiled to his master's side.
Lamia used that brief window to throw out her second knife. She didn't look to see if it impaled her target; she scooped up Jórmangandr and made a bid for the window. She collided with solid air and fell onto her back, her nose sore from the collision.
"So sorry, but you haven't been given permission to leave." The girl was on the ground again, examining Lamia's throwing knife. "Hmph, how mundane and tasteless. Though, I suppose I can't expect much from a common thief."
Lamia rolled up and backward, aiming a kick for the prissy girl's face. Instead of being shoved back by an invisible hand, Lamia froze, hanging upside down in midair.
"And so the thief stumbled into the castle, and found more than she bargained for. How could she have known the princess was also the dragon?"
The flowery sweetness in her voice made Lamia want to throw up.
Pressing her fingertips together, she made a slow circle around Lamia. "Now, shall I call the police? Or perhaps deliver you to a darker power?" A dark light sparkled in her eye. "No one would miss common filth like you."
"Are you threatening me?"
She held the back of her hand to her mouth and laughed. "Oh, I don't make threats. To borrow a cliche, I make promises." She lowered her hand and smiled the way a cat smiled at a mouse. "I promise to do neither if you cooperate with me."
Lamia made a growl that rose into a hiss. Hard as she tried, she couldn't get her body to move an inch. Why? Why when I'm at the cusp of having everything, it gets ripped away! First those divas, now this bitch! Was this karma; payback for all her previous crimes? But she knew people who had done far worse and were living the high life.
Two roads stretched before Lamia. The short one led to her imprisonment after the cops hauled her away. The second, she couldn't see. She'd be at the mercy of this magic empowered child. She'd either permanently lose her freedom, or play puppet until she found an opportunity to cut the strings.
She would have spat if she could. "Fine. I'll play your game. What do you want?"
With a flip of her red and purple hair, the girl said, "First, tell me, who else did you encounter that wielded magic?"
Lamia narrowed her eyes at the thought. "More teenage brats like you. They call themselves the Spectacular Seven or something like that. I think your friend Twilight is with them?"
"Of course," she said bitterly. "I assumed that's who you were referring to. A relief I suppose, though now I'm curious as how you came across them."
"Long story. Let's just say I owe their leader a debt."
"Oh?" An excited gleam overtook the girl's eyes. "A grudge against one Sunset Shimmer perhaps?" She made a small laugh. "Perhaps you and I will get along, Snake Queen. I do not hold Sunset in the highest regard either."
Lamia wondered what the girl would say if she took off her mask. The blood was beginning to go to her head, making it feel heavy. "All right miss..."
"Moondancer. Or My Lady."
"Yeah, not gonna happen. Moondancer, either tell me what you really want, or let me go. As much as I love hanging around like this... I don't!"
Moondancer rolled her eyes and her wrist, and Lamia flipped over but remained in the telekinetic field. "You see, Lamia, there is an item that I've long had my eye on, but have had no means to obtain it. Perhaps you could recover it for me?"
Lamia smirked. "You want me to steal something?"
"Recover. There's no need to be so crass about it. Besides, it's a family artifact, so by technicality, it already belongs to me."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
Moondancer dropped her hand, and the field around Lamia vanished, dropping her roughly onto the floor. "Do this for me, and I'll reward you quite handsomely."
Lamia got to her feet and dusted herself off. "It's not like I have much of a choice, do I?"
"Not really. But as I said, I do keep my promises." Moondancer made a dainty bow. "I promise, you will be rewarded, no strings attached."
Lamia never believed in 'no strings attached', but figured this was her only way out without getting magically mauled. With an irate sigh, she said, "Fine, kid, you've got a deal." |
Spectacular Seven | 7. Star-Crossed | Sunset could only stand to be inside the house for so long, even if she did have Spot for company. Lucky for her, Twilight was on another magic kick and demanded Sunset's presence. So, Sunset took Spot over to the Sparkle's house. While she and Twilight tried to science the heck out of magic, their dogs shared a puppy playdate.
Spike and Spot got along pretty well, spending the first two minutes of their introductions circling and sniffing every inch of each other. Spike then leapt at his favorite chew toy, and Spot grabbed the other end, initiating a friendly game of tug-o-war.
Twilight whipped out her phone and snapped a few pictures. "They're so cute together! Just like us!"
Sunset blushed and giggled. Twilight remained the only person who could get her to do that. "Come on, let's leave them to get acquainted." They ventured into Twilight's lab, Twilight immediately pulling out a new set of notes.
"Okay, first thing's first: how did Fluttershy pony up without music?" She tapped a pencil against her lip and paced the lab in a circle. "More importantly, how did she heal Rainbow's arm? Fluttershy gave me a sample of her mom's medicine and it's just a composition of natural herbs, so it can't have been that. No, it was definitely magic. But where did it come from? Last time she ponied up, all she could do was shoot butterflies, which I still have questions about as well!"
Sunset took to a rolling chair and spun herself around as she listened. She had given it a lot of thought after Pinkie's party. "I might have a theory as to why she ponied up."
Twilight rushed over with an eager smile, paper and pencil ready.
"Well, they were first exposed to magic with the Elements of Harmony and the giant rainbow and blah-blah-blah," Sunset said, rolling her hand.
"Don't just say 'blah-blah-blah', I need details!"
Sunset groaned. "You know that whole story though. The point is, they got their Equestrian magic at the Fall Formal. That magic has been interacting with what's left of the magic in this world, which up until now, the best way to do that was through music." Sunset tapped her chin. "But there's something else Artemis said. 'Magic attracts more magic.' Maybe, and this is a big maybe, the magic in this world is starting to come back?"
"How?"
"Well, we summoned a giant alicorn to shoot a rainbow at the Sirens," Sunset said casually. "Maybe that generated more Equestrian magic into the world for other magic to be attracted to."
Twilight pursed her lips as she scribbled. "I'm not quite sure I follow. How would this attraction even work?"
Sunset got up and walked to the whiteboard. "Well, magic's a little like radiation." She drew a unicorn horn and a squiggly blob around it. "Unicorns have to use external magic to interact with the world. It kinda leaves invisible residue behind. Normally, it doesn't do anything. But, I have read reports of highly concentrated areas of pure magic. Weird stuff starts happening there. Things levitate on their own, animals are more sentient, the weather can't be tamed. The most infamous area in Equestria like that is the Everfree Forest."
"That doesn't quite explain why magic is attracted to itself," Twilight said with a frown.
Sunset made a poor attempt to draw protons and electrons. "It's kinda like atoms. There's a certain bond in magic that causes it to seek more out. It's probably a lot more prominent in this world because there's so little of it."
"It's desperate to find more of its type of bonding. Fascinating! It almost sounds sentient!"
"Yeah, magic sometimes feels like it does what it wants instead of what you tell it," Sunset said with a hint of bitterness.
"Imagine if we could somehow track and contain that magical radiation!" An excited gleam filled Twilight's eyes. "Think of how far in my research it could take us."
Sunset couldn't help but snicker a little. "Good luck with that, Sparky. You're a genius, but I'm not sure even you could build something that could catch magic. I'm not even sure if magic could be used to catch magic."
Twilight just hummed in thought. "Maybe if we just got something saturated in magic. Perhaps I could design something that would allow me to study it like a type of wavelength. The monitors at school got close."
"Sounds a little more feasible."
Twilight shook her head, snapping out of her scientific reverie. "We're off topic though. How does more magic in the world correlate with Fluttershy ponying up without music?"
"Because..." Sunset drew a music note, an equal sign, and a six pointed star. "Music was our catalyst to interact with this world's magic. But, if there's more magic in the world now, maybe we don't need music anymore to cross that threshold." Sunset made a slash across the equal sign.
"But then, what triggered Fluttershy's transformation?"
Sunset returned to her seat. "That, I don't have an answer to yet. I also don't know where her healing powers came from. Pegasi in Equestria can't do that, I know for certain."
Twilight made an annoyed grumble. "I guess that's as far as we'll get with this mystery for now. One of you girls needs to pony up again before I can make a clear hypothesis." She sat down in the other rolling chair with a forlorn sigh.
"I can still give you your magic lesson. There's plenty of things left to discuss."
Twilight brightened and picked up her notebook again, listening intently as Sunset talked about the laws that governed magic.
"Sort of like the laws dictating the conservation of energy, Magus' First Law of Magic states that pure magic cannot be created or destroyed. It can be dispelled, disrupted, moved, changed, etc."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Twilight threw her hands up. "Two major questions! One: if it can't be destroyed, then what happened to the magic in this world originally? Where did it all go? And two: didn't you just say you generated more magic with that rainbow? Isn't that creating?"
"Yes, we generated Equestrian magic. I should have said we expelled a giant amount from our bodies. We got that magic from Equestria and released it into the world, we didn't create it." Sunset leaned to one side. "As to where this world's magic went... you got me beat. And keep in mind, this is how Equestria works. I could be completely wrong about how magic works in this world."
Twilight slapped her notebook against her head. "And this is why we have these sessions. One day, I'll make sense of this world's magic!"
She took less offense to the remaining laws, like the inability to conjure food from nothing, or create true life from something other than reproduction.
"I mean, necromancy is also a thing, but you can't bring anything truly back from the dead."
Twilight nodded and wrote. "Quite a common thing in most fantasy novels. Gives credence to the idea of the soul I suppose. Once the soul goes to... whatever happens next, it can't come back."
"Do you believe in souls, Twilight?"
She bit the top of her pin. "If you had asked me a year ago, I would have told you no. Now? I think... yes, souls exist. I don't know what they are... but we all have one."
Sunset wasn't sure why, but the answer made her smile.
After an hour of discussion, Twilight slumped back in her chair with a sigh. "I think that's enough for today." She looked over her notes. "This is all so fascinating, but it's just notes. I need testable data--something physical to analyze."
"Sorry, Sparky. I can't help you there."
"Not yet. But when we find out what's triggering these pony transformations, we might be able to turn them on and off at will. Imagine all of the scientific possibilities then!" She organized her notes, stood up, and stretched. "In the meantime, let's do something a little less mentally stimulating."
"Watch T.V?"
Twilight shook her head. "I was thinking more violin practice. You haven't done it in a while, and you just spent the last hour or so teaching me. I thought I could return the favor."
Sunset stood up and nodded as she stretched her arms over her head. "Yeah, that sounds good. I guess I could torment your ears for a while.... Though I see your eyes are having a good time."
Twilight shot her eyes up from Sunset's displayed chest. Her face turned scarlet. "I-I mean.... They were right there! You were probably doing it on purpose anyway!"
Truth was, Sunset might have been showing off just a little, but there was no way she'd admit it. She just laughed at Twilight's flustered face and followed her out of the garage. Spot and Spike were curled up together on the living room rug, a sight that made Sunset and Twilight d'aaww. They left the puppies in peace and moved to Twilight's room, shutting the door behind them.
"I'll try not to sound too terrible," Sunset said, getting comfy on Twilight's bed. "I'd hate to wake them up."
"I'm just happy they got along so well," Twilight said while she rummaged under her bed for her violin case. "Imagine if we lived together and our dogs didn't get along."
Sunset's ears stopped at 'lived together'. Her brain conjured up an image of her and Twilight living in a small two-story house on the edge of the city. Not in the suburbs because Sunset hated the cookie-cutter design. Theirs would be unique, maybe Mediterranean style. And she'd have a strawberry bush in the backyard. And of course, there'd be a room for all of Twilight's lab equipment. And a big kitchen! Sunset was learning to cook from Selena--she'd make home cooked meals for Twilight every day! Well, not every day, Sunset knew she'd be tired coming home from work and they'd just order a pizza and then curl up on the couch by the fireplace and--
"Sunset?"
She blinked, not realizing just how far into her fantasy she had gotten. Twilight held the violin and bow in front of her.
"Sorry. I, uh, dozed off there for a sec." Sunset took the instrument, keeping her eyes down. She didn't know why she bothered thinking that far ahead. Twilight's future laid somewhere else.
Twilight instructed Sunset through the basic strokes. It had been over a month since Sunset had last practiced, but she managed to not get a wailing sound out of the violin, producing a decent facsimile of music. She moved up and down the scales a few times, then moved on to playing easy songs like 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' and 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.'
"That was really good for a month without practice," Twilight said. "Hopefully we can be more consistent from here on out. I think you could become really good at this."
Sunset looked at her fingernails. "Yes, well, people have called me a prodigy. It's only natural I excel at everything I try."
Twilight playfully nudged her in the ribs. "Okay, miss prodigy. Let's see if you can play something like this." She took her violin back and settled into position. Two quick strokes, then a flurry of short notes. She repeated it four times then moved onto longer, deeper sounding chords. It actually sounded rather ominous to Sunset, like the march of some invading force, and a dark one at that. She liked it a lot but didn't expect Twilight to play anything like it. She reached a softer part of the song where her bow barely flitted over the strings, making it sound even more sinister. It returned and ended with grandiose flair, and Twilight looking quite proud of herself.
Sunset clapped. "I'll admit, that's a hard act to beat. Wouldn't expect something so dark out of you though."
"It's the Imperial March, of course I'd learn how to play that. And it's not that dark." Twilight paused. "Okay well, maybe."
"The Imperial March?" Sunset asked.
Twilight blinked. "You know, Darth Vader's theme?"
It was Sunset's turn to blink. "Who what now?"
"You've never seen Star Wars?" Twilight screeched.
Sunset rubbed her ears. "Heard of, yes. Seen, no."
Twilight gently set her violin down, then yanked Sunset by the arm and dragged her downstairs. "Shining! Shining!"
Shining was sprawled out on the couch, eyes drooping shut when Twilight hit the ground floor and screamed his name again. He sat up and stared in agitation. "Yes, Twily?"
"Sunset's never seen Star Wars!"
Some of the bleariness left Shining's eyes and he looked at Sunset with curiosity and amusement. "I'm starting to believe you are from another world. Well, get comfy you two. I guess we're having a marathon today."
Twilight sat Sunset down, bouncing in excitement. "I'll go make popcorn! You're going to love this!" She ran off into the kitchen while Shining set up the television.
My girlfriend's a nerd in reading, science, and movies. Well, at least she's well-rounded.
*******
Less than an hour later, Sunset was well hooked on this 'space opera' as Shining and Twilight called it. The effects were a little outdated, but the story and universe were quite interesting, even more so with Twilight whispering trivia into Sunset's ear. Sometimes, Sunset had to get her to stop so she could actually enjoy the film.
Them, when the giant space station showed its true power...
"Twilight, can we build a Death Star?"
"No!"
*******
"Okay, so, Darth Vader used to be the old dude's apprentice before he joined the dark side because, power?"
"It's a little more complicated than that, but, yes."
"And that didn't remind you of anyone else? Like, at all?"
"... Oh. Sunset, I'm so--"
"Don't say it. As long as you're aware of the parallels."
"And you're on the good side now!"
"Mmm."
*******
"Twilight, can we build a lightsaber?"
"... Maybe."
*******
"You know, I take back my previous complaints. If I'm compared to Darth Vader, I might take it as a compli--holy crap, he's Luke's father? How did I not see that coming?"
"Yeah, this kinda invented that cliche."
"This movie is awesome!"
*******
"Twilight, can we please build a Death Star?"
"No!"
*******
After three films and over seven hours, the credits of the last movie rolled. Twilight pushed herself off Sunset's shoulder and yawned. "Well, what's your final verdict?"
Sunset rubbed her weary eyes. "I've have been seduced by the powers of the dark side. Who would've thought being a nerd would be this exciting."
Twilight clapped her hands together. "Yes! I knew you'd like it. And see, Vader ended up being good in the end, too!"
"He also died."
"The point," Twilight said loudly, "is that he made the right choice in the end. And even with him being evil, Luke still cared about him." At Sunset's noncommittal grunt, Twilight rolled her eyes and continued. "And now that you've seen Star Wars, I can show you something even better! My personal favorite, Star Trek!"
"Didn't you say there were prequels to these?"
Shining blew a raspberry as he got up from the couch. "Don't even bother with those, they're all terrible."
Twilight whispered into Sunset's ear. "I'll show you when he isn't around. They're... not the best compared to the original trilogy, but they complete the story. And if you grew up with them, they're good enough."
Sunset wondered just how far into nerdom she was falling and if it was too late to climb out. But the giddy look in Twilight's eye, and the fact that they now had something else to bond over made it worth it.
The grandfather clock in the next room struck nine, and Sunset decided she had imposed on Twilight's hospitality long enough. She gathered Spot up and kissed Twilight good night, promising that, yes, they could watch Star Trek tomorrow.
"Are you sure you don't want to spend the night?" Twilight asked.
"She's sure!" Shining called from the kitchen.
Sunset gave her another kiss. "Maybe next time."
*******
Only twelve hours later, Sunset knocked on Twilight's door, holding Spot with her other hand. His tail was already wagging in preparation for his playmate. Spike barked on the other side of the door, and Spot responded.
The door flew open, unleashing Spike, followed by Twilight with a cocktail of emotions stirring in her eyes. They flickered between hope and despair, and her smiling lips quivered in nervous anticipation and hopeful anxiety. She waved a stack of letters in front of Sunset's face.
"You're just in time! You won't believe what came in the mail today! Come on! Mom's waiting in the kitchen! I'm glad you're here though! Shining and Dad left for work, but I wanted more than one person here when I open these! Or maybe it would be best if you left and came back later! I don't want to have a meltdown in front of you! Unless I get in, in which case, I want you here so we can celebrate! But not like a rubbing it in your face celebration, just a--"
Sunset clapped a hand over Twilight's mouth. "Hey, Sparky. I'm fine. Yes, it is a nice day. I had a dream about Star Wars last night. Now, when I move my hand, you're going to start from the top and calmly tell me what you're babbling about. You sound like Pinkie."
Twilight nodded and Sunset put her hand down. "I got my acceptance letters today! Or rejection letters! I haven't opened them yet!"
Today's butterflies were toxic, as Sunset felt both excited and nauseous. "That's... wow, yeah, that's nerve wracking." She put a hand on Twilight's shoulder and pushed her back inside so she could also step in and finally put Spot down. Spike had been doing a good job at clawing up Sunset's pants. "Don't worry, acceptance or not, I'm here for you. But come on, let's be honest, with grades like yours, I'm sure you got in."
"But they want more than grades! What if I didn't do enough extracurricular activities for them? Yes, I was in orchestra and I did the Summer Space Cadet Program five years in a row, and I'm sure the science fair helped too, but other students have been part of the student government or already studied abroad! Some of them have five-hundred hours of community service! Why didn't I go down to the soup kitchen once in awhile?"
"Twilight, sweetie--" Sunset was echoed by Mrs. Velvet, stepping into the front room. "I know you're nervous, but I think you're overthinking this now," Velvet finished.
"I'm not overthinking, I'm underprepared!" Twilight took several short breath before a crooked smile crossed over her. "I know, I'll just not open them! I can't be rejected if I can't read them!"
"You also can't be accepted," Sunset said pointedly.
"Yep! Schrodinger's letters! I'll just stay here, master the violin and join the symphony."
Mrs. Velvet plucked the letters out of Twilight's sweating palms. "How about we save that for a plan C? Twilight, you're smart, well-rounded--"
"Not in sports!"
"--And brave," Velvet finished. "You can open a few letters. And Sunset and I will be right here with you. We could even wait for your father and brother to get home if you want, but you're opening those letters today and meeting your future head on."
Twilight took several more gulps of air and made a loud swallow. Her face remained pale, but she nodded and took the letters back, taking a seat at the dining room table. "Okay, okay, I can do this. First... Oxford."
Hearing the envelope tear open, Sunset felt her own heart tearing in two. Having Twilight move away was one thing, but moving to another country? Another continent? It was insult to injury. Be supportive. This is about her, not you.
Twilight pulled the folded letter out and began to read, her mouth moving, but words remaining inaudible. She quickly slammed the letter against the table and pushed it away like it was contagious. "That's fine! I didn't want to go to Europe anyway!" she said in a high-pitched voice.
"Sweetheart..." Velvet hugged her from behind. "It's okay, it's okay. You've still got plenty of other choices."
Eyes wet, but tears refusing to fall, Twilight stared pensively at the first letter. "They said they wanted me to get some real college experience here first before considering taking me as a transfer student. It's fair I guess... I was just looking forward to seeing the world."
"Just because they said no doesn't mean you still can't," Sunset said, mentally kicking herself for the slight relief she had upon seeing the rejection. She wanted to feel more disgusted with herself, but too much of her was glad Twilight was staying on this half of the world.
"Okay." Twilight took a fresh breath. "Let's look a little closer to home. I probably would have gotten homesick anyway." She picked up the second envelope and tore it open, putting another tear in Sunset's heart in the process. "This one's from Yale."
"Fingers crossed!" Velvet said.
Twilight's eyes scanned over the letter. She bit her lips and tossed it aside to join Oxford, then buried her head in the crook of her arm.
"Sweetie, it's okay! It's gonna be okay!" Velvet cooed while Sunset moved in for a tighter hug.
"I was right! I should have done more outside of school!" Twilight sobbed into her arm. Sunset wasn't sure which killed her more: Twilight's pain, or her own selfish joy. "If Yale said no, then Harvard's going to say the same thing!"
"You don't know that," Sunset said. She kneeled by Twilight's chair and took her hand. "Hey, look at me. If they're dumb enough not to accept you, then that's their loss. They don't know what they're missing. Twilight, you're brilliant and compassionate and driven, and one of these schools knows that! Come on, don't give up yet."
Velvet rubbed Twilight's back. "Listen to her, Twily. Do you know I got rejected from five out of the seven schools I applied to? Yes, it stung, and yes, I didn't get my first choice. But all those rejections just made my acceptance letters all the sweeter. And I guarantee at least one school here said yes." She slid another envelope in front of Twilight.
She raised her head and wiped her eyes on her sleeve before taking and opening the manila slip. Sunset watched her face as she read, and there was not a look of devastation or pain, but disbelief that quickly rose to euphoria. "'D-dear Miss Sparkle, we hope this letter finds you well. After a long examination process from thousands of worthy candidates, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to consider enrollment at MIT this autumn!'" Twilight hugged the letter and screamed, causing both Spike and Spot to bark in alarm.
Velvet jumped up and threw her hands in the air. "There you go! I knew you got into at least one! Congratulations!"
"MIT is one of the best science schools in the country! It was one of my top choices! And I got in! I got in! Sunset, I got in!"
Sunset smiled wide, hugging and kissing her on the cheeks. "I'm so happy and proud of you, Sparky!" She meant it, too. Seeing tears of joy flowing behind Twilight's glasses, Sunset's heart soared. She wanted to be there for Twilight's victories and defeats and root for her every step of the way. It crashed back down when she remembered that it wouldn't be possible, the letter in Twilight's hand proved as much.
But Sunset kept smiling. She smiled when Twilight got into Harvard and Polytech and the Institute of Science. Every acceptance letters for Twilight was a defeat for Sunset, but she refused to dampen Twilight's moment. By the end, Twilight could barely get any words out, she was sobbing with joy.
"It's okay," Velvet said, kissing Twilight's wet face. "I'll call everyone and tell them the good news. You two enjoy the moment." Velvet hurried off to the kitchen, leaving Twilight to throw her arms around Sunset's neck.
Sunset closed her eyes and just held her. Remember this moment. Soon, that's all you'll have left. Memories. "I'm so happy for you," Sunset repeated for umpteenth time.
Twilight hiccuped and set her glasses down as she pulled herself off Sunset. "I-I don't e-even know wh-which one to ch-choose. I was t-too scared of getting rejected from everyone."
"Whichever you choose, they'll have gotten a great girl," Sunset said.
"Wait until the girls find out. Oh my gosh! They must have gotten their letters, too! I hope they all got into the schools they wanted! This is all so exciting! I can't believe this is happening! This is happening, right? I'm not dreaming, am I? Ow!" Twilight grabbed her arm.
Sunset rubbed her fingers together. "Does that answer your question?"
Velvet returned, phone in one hand and tissues in the other. "Here, your dad wants to say congratulations!" She handed Twilight the phone and quickly wiped up her face before she could speak.
"Hi, Dad! I know, I can't believe it either!" Twilight got up and went into the kitchen.
"You should be getting your letters any day, too," Velvet said.
"Huh? Oh, right! Yeah, can't wait!" Sunset said, smiling straining. She had almost forgotten about the string of lies she had told the Sparkles last year. Most of them still hadn't been resolved with anyone other than Shining. She couldn't wait to tell them she hadn't gotten into any schools.
"Imagine if you and Twilight went to the same college together. It's be so romantic. Plus, Twilight needs all the help she can get when it comes to making more friends."
"I'm sure she could manage on her own. She's really come out of her shell."
Velvet walked around and gave Sunset a hug. Sunset locked up for a second but forced herself to relax. "And we owe a lot of it to you, Sunset. You and the girls are a great influence on her."
Sunset could only laugh, trying her best not to make it sound nervous. "Well, you know... heh, heh."
Velvet let up and pat Sunset on the head before joining Twilight in the other room. Sunset watched Spike and Spot chase a ball around, barking when the other got a hold of it. It served as an amusing distraction for a minute, but Sunset couldn't hide from her sour thoughts. She looked at the pile of acceptance letters on the table: roads Twilight could take toward a promising future, options on how she wanted to shape her life. Sunset had no such luxuries.
Stop making this about you! But Sunset couldn't help it. Because whatever Twilight did would affect her, for better or worse. And Sunset knew if she said anything, there was a chance it would influence Twilight's decision, and Sunset couldn't allow that.
She wanted Twilight to be happy and successful. And for that to happen, Sunset knew she couldn't fit into the picture.
Twilight stepped back into the room, and Sunset put her smile back on. "I'm sorry. I wanted us to watch more movies, but Mom is going to be calling everyone nonstop and having me talk to them--"
Sunset held her hands up. "Hey, it's your big day. I'm not going to get mad because your family wants to congratulate you. A little jealous maybe..."
Twilight gave her a gentle nudge before throwing her arms around Sunset again. "I'm really happy you were here for all this too."
Sunset leaned into her and sighed. "Yeah. So am I." |
Spectacular Seven | 8. In the Shadows | "Nobody make any plans for tomorrow night!" Pinkie said as she ran up to the park table where the rest of the Spectacular Seven were already gathered. "Because you're all invited to my 'Congratulations on Getting into College' party at Sugarcube Corner!"
The girls cheered, and Sunset politely clapped in approval. That's all it had been the past twenty-four hours: texts and snapshots of acceptance letters and plans and hopes. Sunset played her part and cheered for all of her friends with sincerity, ignoring the tightening vice around her heart.
They're all going to leave. Even Trixie's going to move out eventually. She had run these thoughts in her head ever since the year began, but now that time drew horridly short, and her friends stood at the crossroads of their futures, the fact was an overbearing monster that wedged its way into Sunset's every thought. What was she going to do without the comfort of her friends? She had spent so long climbing out of that deep pit she had dug herself into, gotten so used to leaning on their shoulders.... Where did she go next?
All of the confusion and panic lay buried beneath her encouraging and optimistic smile. Her friends were happy. That was all that mattered. Pinkie was going to culinary school and even considering taking some business classes so she could start her own catering company. Fluttershy was off to become a veterinarian while Rainbow had gotten an offer from a few schools for her athletic abilities. Rarity had been accepted to a fashion institute in New York that Prim Hemline had graduated from, as Rarity would happily remind everyone. Applejack was the only one not leaving the city, as she was perfectly content to just take a few classes at the local university while she continued her work on the farm.
At least I'll have one friend still here.
"This is all so wonderful!" Rarity said. "It seems like just yesterday we were freshmen. Now here we are, about to take our first steps into the real world!"
"Just think of how much fun we're all going to have!" Pinkie said, bouncing on the bench seat. "College parties!"
"College football games!" Rainbow said, punching a fist in the air.
"Academic libraries," Twilight said dreamily.
"Ah reckon we'll all have a lot of stories to tell," Applejack said.
There was a slight lull in the conversation before Fluttershy quietly asked, "Do you think we'll... still keep in touch with everything going on?"
"Of course we will," Pinkie said automatically. "We're best friends! We'll text and voice chat and meet up every vacation." She narrowed her eyes. "Or else."
Applejack chuckled. "Can't argue against Pinkie's famous 'or else.' And she's right. Sure, it won't be the same, but we'll all keep in touch. It'd be a crime if we didn't after what we've been through together."
Sunset wanted to believe that. But she had seen close friendships end over dumber things than time and distance. They might keep up contact for the first few months, but after that...
But they are the Elements of Harmony. Maybe they can beat the odds. It was small, but it was hope enough for Sunset to cling to. The girls talked for an hour more with Rainbow finally asking the question Sunset knew would come.
"So, what are you gonna do next year?"
Sunset nonchalantly shrugged. "Oh, you know. I'll just be hanging out. Work with the Lulamoons. Maybe I'll ride around the country on my motorcycle."
Twilight tried to give her a look of confidence, but it came out closer to pity. "That could be fun. I know a lot of students like to backpack around Europe after they're done with school."
"See? I haven't seen that much of this world. Exploring could be good for me. You know, as long as I never have to show my I.D. to anyone." Sunset took her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. "I should go. The Lulamoons should be back soon and I want to be there when they come home."
The girls bade her farewell, and Sunset made her way home. She brought in the mail, finding two college letters for Trixie. What would she even study? She tidied up the house, not that there had been much of a mess to begin with, and watched T.V with Spot on the couch.
The front door opened and Sunset heard Artemis shout, "The Lulamoons have returned! Please, hold your applause."
And, I miss the quiet. Sunset got up and greeted them in the other room, all three of them wearing star-shaped sunglasses. "You look like you had a good time."
"Of course we did!" Artemis pulled Sunset into a one-armed hug while he gestured wildly with his other hand. "The lights! The food! The white tigers! It was all stupendous! We wish you had been there!"
"Trixie did get you a souvenir cup though." Trixie reached into her bag and pulled out a white novelty cup with palm trees that lit up.
"And I got a new wand!" Artemis pulled a wand from his sleeve and twirled it in his fingers. "I suppose I was due for a new one anyway. This one's a little more flexible too, so it should be a bit more durable." He stepped back with a flourish and tapped the top of Sunset's head. "Lulamoon!"
Sunset felt something wet trickle down her scalp, but when she reached up for a feel, her hair was dry. Pulling a handful around for a look, she saw it was blue and gold instead of red. "Change it back."
"Glad to see your sense of humor is as robust as ever! Lulamoon!"
Before her eyes, the blue slid out of her hair, replaced by its natural crimson. "Glad to see we still haven't established personal boundaries."
Like he hadn't heard a word she said, Artemis wrapped an arm around Sunset again. "So! Tell us all about your mountain adventure! I'm sure it must be quite the yarn spinner!"
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Well, Moondancer took us there in her stupid private helicopter--"
"A high-flying beginning!"
"--we stayed in a fancy cabin and went snowboarding--"
"A flurry of excitement!"
"--got chased by a bear--"
"Full of pulse-pounding thrills!"
"--and Rainbow broke her shoulder--"
"And tragic spills!"
"--then Fluttershy somehow magically healed it."
"But with a heartwarming ending!" Artemis frowned. "Wait, what now?"
Sunset ducked out from Artemis' hold. "Yeah, we don't know either. Fluttershy went to visit Rainbow when we got home, ponied up without music, and healed Rainbow's broken bone."
"Hmm..." Artemis tapped his wand against his chin, turning it various colors. "That's quite the phenomenon. Perhaps your grandstanding at your showdown with the Sirens triggered something? It's hard to say; yours is a different type of magic from what I'm familiar with." He mumble a few things under his breath, unaware his chin was currently green.
"We also ran into a wolf spirit on the mountain."
Artemis looked up and broke into a grin. "You're just a supernatural magnet, aren't you? And what did the spirit want?"
Sunset shrugged. "Not sure. The people living there said it comes to warn you when something bad is about to happen. It showed up, and then the next day, Rainbow broke her arm. But... it looked right at me though. Like it was trying to tell me something else."
He nodded sagely and walked into the kitchen. "If I've learned anything it's to never ignore advice from a spirit. But, don't let its warning consume you, otherwise you'll just end up paranoid. Whatever will happen will happen." He looked back at Sunset. "But I know you're tough enough to face anything life throws at you."
Sunset's cheeks burned, and she looked away as she smiled.
Trixie followed them and spotted the mail on the counter. "My letters are here!" She leapt across the kitchen and snatched the mail up. "And now, for the moment of Trixie's greatest triumph yet!"
"Fingers crossed," Sunset said. Hey, if she doesn't get in, that means we get to hang out together... I must be pretty desperate if I'm willing to spend the next two years with Trixie. Not that Sunset wanted Trixie to fail, but if anyone in her friend group had the least likely chance to get accepted--
"Eeeeeeeeeeee!" Trixie jumped up and down and waved her arms like a desperate bird. "I got into Everton! I got into Everton!" She stopped and cleared her throat, holding a hand to her chest. "I mean, they would be foolish not to recognize Trixie's natural intellectual gift. Good for them."
Selena wrapped Trixie into a powerful hug, raining kisses on her forehead. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Haha!" Artemis set off mini fireworks from his wand. "That's my girl! First stop, college, next stop, the world!"
Sunset smiled and gave Trixie a thumbs up. "Congrats, Trix. Pinkie's having a party tomorrow night for everyone."
"Trixie supposes she could make a guest appearance," she said in her boastful tone, a smile stretching from ear to ear.
With one last roll of her eyes, Sunset quietly slipped upstairs to her room. She left the door open. Closing it would make it seem like something was wrong, and give Princess Twilight an excuse to talk to her. She laid on her bed and looked at the decorative multicolored lights hanging from her wall.
Friendship isn't easy... but it's worth fighting for. Sunset recalled her own words from the Winter Ball. This wasn't a fight to be had though. Time would move forward and her friends would move on. She just had to accept that. Then what was the point of all this if it's just going to all go away?
Would you rather have been lonely the entire time? A squeaky voice in her head asked.
Get out of my thoughts!
I am your thoughts!
"Sunset?"
She startled and and jerked her head, finding Selena in her doorway. "Oh, hi. I guess I didn't hear you."
Selena stepped in and sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine." Sunset put her hands up. "Really, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Because we can talk if you need to."
"I appreciate it, but there's really not much to talk about." Sunset leaned against the headrest and stared at the window across from her. "So everyone's moving on with their lives; that's great! I'll find a way to move on, too."
Selena watched her for a time before standing up. "Well, either way, you'll always have a home here. Artemis and I have really enjoyed having you. And you saved our family. That's not a debt I'll forget anytime soon."
Sunset ignored the voice telling her she was the reason they had been in danger in the first place and just smiled. "Thanks."
*******
Sunset and the Lulamoons arrived at Sugarcube Corner on Saturday just as the sun went down. The first sight to greet them inside was a large rainbow banner with 'Congratulations!' written across it. Several tables hosted platters of cupcakes with different frostings and sprinkles, and a bowl of blue punch sat on the center table.
"Ha! My teeth are rotting just looking at all this," Artemis said jovially. "Moondancer!" he cried, making Sunset jump.
Moondancer looked away from Twilight and gasped, throwing her hands to her cheeks. "Uncle Arty!" She ran over and embraced him a warm hug. "It's been too long!"
"Yes it has, little Moonflower! You know you're welcome at our house at any time."
Preferably when I'm not there, Sunset thought, moving away while they caught up. Pinkie hadn't just invited their core group of friends, Sunset saw several other students and their parents. Unsurprising since Pinkie made friends with everyone, but Sunset hadn't been expecting an actual party.
She waved to Roseluck and Vinyl having a conversation at the punch bowl, and smiled at Sandalwood in the corner. Her friends were spread out across the shop, talking and congratulating their peers. Naturally, Sunset gravitated toward Twilight, but halfway there, Amethyst Star wandered onto her path.
"Hey, Sunset! How's your vacation going?"
"Not bad. Yours?"
Amethyst smiled. "It was pretty boring until a few days ago when all my letters came in at once. I still can't believe I got accepted into every school I applied for! Now I'm trying to decide where to go, and get scholarships to help my parents pay for it. So, where did you get accepted into? You've always had the highest GPA in school, I bet you got in somewhere nice."
Sunset felt her face twist into an awkward grimace. "Actually I, uh, well, didn't apply anywhere this year. I decided I wanted to... find myself. You know, go exploring and see the world."
"Hey, that sounds like fun! My parents would never let me do anything like that. I never would have expected that out of you though."
"Yep, I'm just full of surprises!" Sunset said with an overabundance of pep. She picked up a blue cupcake and smiled at Amethyst until she moved on. When she left, Sunset stared at the pastry morosely.
"You really going to explore the world?"
Sunset glanced over her shoulder and found Flash looking sympathetic. "I don't know. Maybe. Wandering aimlessly sounds a little better than sitting aimlessly."
"I guess so." Flash picked up a purple frosted cupcake and tapped it against Sunsets, mixing the frosting. "Well, maybe this'll give you another reason to go see the world. I'm going to Canterlot University."
"Really?" Sunset said with a snicker. She frowned. "But what about your music career?"
"Hey, it's still my number one priority, and one reason I'm not leaving town. But..." he sighed with his whole body. "I know not everyone makes it in that business. So, it'd be a good idea to have a back-up plan. Maybe I'll get a degree in electrical engineering."
Sunset nodded in understanding. "And... what about you and Rarity?"
Flash stared at the swirls of his cupcake. "Umm... we haven't had that conversation yet. I think I'm still climbing an uphill slope from the Battle of the Bands." He flinched at his own words. "What about you and Twilight?"
"We haven't had that conversation either." She took a small bite and chewed slowly. "I'm not even sure what I'd say to her."
"I know. Long distance relationships aren't easy, but I know they can work." Flash looked over at Rarity engrossed in a discussion with Rainbow and Amethyst. "Good luck to both of us."
Sunset gave him a gentle punch on the shoulder. "Yeah, good luck." She resumed her walk toward Twilight, only to see her talking to Micro Chip, a giant smile plastered on her face. Sunset's heart sank, and she found an empty table to sit down at while she finished her cupcake.
Applejack slid into the seat across from her. "You okay, Sugarcube?"
"Yeah." Sunset waved a hand. "I'm fine."
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Don't give me that look," Sunset grumbled. But Applejack persisted with her hard stare. "What do you want me to say?"
"Ah want you to tell me how you honestly feel about all this. Ah can see something is eatin' at ya, and Ah have a pretty good feeling Ah know what it is."
Sunset folded her arms on the table and rested her head against them. "So maybe I'm a little sad you're all moving away. It's not a big deal. I'll get over it. You all deserve to move on and have futures."
Applejack put a hand on Sunset's elbow. "Ain't no reason to be ashamed you feel sad, Sunset. Ah'm sad too. Ah'm gonna miss all you girls when we move on. It's natural. What's important is makin' the most of the time we have left. It's not as good as the real thing, but havin' good memories helps when the distance feels too great."
"I know. It's just..." Sunset let the words die and lifted her head. "You're right. I should stop moping and just enjoy the time we have left."
"That's the spirit." Applejack stood and pointed to Twilight. "Go on now, Ah've seen you lookin' at her like a lovesick puppy."
Sunset stuck her tongue out as Applejack laughed and walked away. She looked at Twilight and squared her shoulders. Just enjoy what time you have left.
*******
Lamia stared absently at the tower, still amazed and annoyed it even existed. Eccentric freaks. The lights in the house were all off, the Lulamoons having left ten minutes ago.
She had been watching the house for several days, when it had been empty half the time. But Lamia had waited on Moondancer's insistence that Artemis was a wild card. He could have showed up any second.
"It's better to know for certainty where everyone is, is it not?"
Though she hated conceding a point to the spoiled princess, Lamia knew Moondancer was right. As much as she wanted to go down there, rob the Lulamoons blind, and give the little Sunset a kick in the ass, she waited patiently.
Her watch blinked green and she rose from her rooftop perch. "Showtime, Jorgey." She jumped to the next roof, closing her distance to the target.
With her usual elegance, she landed in the backyard, avoiding the well kept flower bush. Ten bucks says the study is in that stupid tower. She looked up to the single window decorating it. "Let's hope there's not some magical disintegration spell on it," she whispered to Jormangandr coiled around her shoulders. He hissed and she nodded her head. "You're right, let's take the inside, just to be safe."
Lamia opened her satchel and pulled out her short-range EMP. She flipped the switch and waited a few seconds before putting the box away and walking up to the back door, taking out her lock pick from her utility belt. In a matter of seconds, she pulled the door open and stepped inside, glad to hear the sweet sound of silence.
It broke after a few steps into the kitchen. A small dog came running at her, barking and trying his best to be intimidating. Lamia swooped down and pinched the side of his neck. The dog instantly fell over, his eyes drooping shut.
"Good night, puppy."
"Hissss."
"No, you can't eat him."
She paused when she entered the living room, staring at the abhorrent amount of pictures and tapestries coating the walls, all of them depicting tender family moments or scenic gatherings. The warm feeling emitting from the show of familial love nauseated Lamia. She hurried up the stairs and located the door to the study.
"What do you think, Jorgey?" Lamia asked, examining the closed door. "Booby trapped?"
"Hissssss."
"I know. I hate magic too." Lamia took out a set of pliers and a nail file. She held the file with the pliers and scooted closer to the door, giving it a series of pokes. "Well, it's not bursting into flames." Sweat gathering on her brow, Lamia reached for the knob, giving it a slow turn. She jumped back as it creaked open, arms raised in self-defense. When nothing assaulted her, magical or otherwise, she pushed the door open with her foot and poked her head inside.
It looked like something a kooky old man would have. Shelves filled with books and odd looking baubles and doodads. A ship-in-a-bottle sat on the large desk, its main mast lying on its side. Lamia took her time slinking across the room, constantly surveying anything that looked like it might come to life or screech like an alarm.
Keeping her body low, Lamia snuck behind the desk and looked at the bottom of the back shelf. There sat the silver chest, shining even in the dark. She reached into the neck of her body suit and pulled out the key Moondancer had given her, silver with a handle shaped like a crescent moon.
"The chest is magically sealed. Even with your talents, you'd be hard pressed to break in. This is your golden ticket."
"And how did you come across this?"
"... My mother gave it to me."
Lamia inserted it into the lock and gave it a turn. With a click, the lid snapped open, and Lamia pulled it up, beholding the contents. It looked like an assortment of random junk. There was an old black notebook, a hand mirror, broken ruby shards...
She sifted through the box until she reached the bottom, her fingers brushing against something cold and metallic. She scooped it up and brought to eye level. It's dark coloring made it hard to define in the shadows, but the brilliant gem in its center and the feel of engraved wings on the side gave Lamia no room for doubt.
"Well, you fit the bill. Time to scoot." She pocketed her prize and closed the chest, taking the key with her. As she stood up, the sound of a sword being unsheathed came from the door. Lamia swore and bowed her head. "How the hell did you know?"
"You think we would leave this room without some security?" Selena said, stepping inside. "Artemis knows whenever someone enters."
"And he sent you to deal with me? That's cute." Lamia turned around, seeing Selena's sword pointed at her.
"My turn to ask a question. How did you open the chest and what did you take?"
Lamia tsked and wagged a finger. "That's two questions. I'm afraid that's grounds for disqualification." She rolled to the side, popping up and side-stepping Selena's first swing. Lamia struck out with her palm, and Selena braced it with her shoulder before swinging again. Lamia ducked in time, but felt the wind swish over her head.
I can't fight her like this. She has a long reach in a short space. Lamia kicked at Selena's shins, getting her to drop to one knee. Selena made a forward stab, but Lamia jumped to the side again, lining herself up with the window. She turned and threw herself through it, shattering the glass and ripping through the screening. She hit the grass with a roll, letting out a curse as the impact still sent a violent shock through her body.
Looking back at the window, she saw Selena glaring down at her. Lamia lifted her middle finger and broke into a run. She was almost glad Selena had caught her in the act. It made victory all the sweeter.
*******
Sunset held the pan while Trixie swept up the broken glass that had fallen inside the study. Sunset sucked on her teeth all the while, wondering where Lamia had gone and why she had wanted to break into the Lulamoon house anyway.
Artemis closed the chest and sighed. "Well, this is a fine pickle." He stored it away and sat down in his armchair, tapping a finger against the desk.
"What did they take?" Trixie asked.
"That's the pickle. I'm not sure. Everything I remember putting in there is still there. But we've used that chest for a number of things over the years. If this Lamia character did make off with something, I'm wondering how dangerous it actually was."
"It was in the off-limits trunk," Selena said testily. "Of course it's dangerous to some degree."
Artemis rested his cheek in his hand and let out a huff. "I still can't believe this Lamia is the human version of you, Sunset. You're bright, brave, and fun, and she's... a thief. I'd find it hysterical if we hadn't just been robbed."
Sunset said the pan down and made an uncomfortable laugh. "Yeah, funny how things work like that."
Trixie crossed her arms and made a huff similar to her father's. "Trixie wants to know how she even got inside. The chest is enchanted; only the right key can unlock it, and father only made two."
"I'm guessing you have one," Sunset said. "Who has the other?"
Artemis steepled his fingers together, a forlorn light in his eyes that aged him greatly. "Apalla had it. And it was buried with her."
"Oh." Sunset bit her tongue. She let the silence hold out a little longer before speaking again. "So, what do we now?"
"Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do right now," Artemis said with a sigh. "Unless we know what she actually took. And involving the police would become a messy business with doppelgangers and magical artifacts involved. For now, we keep an ear to the ground."
Sunset shoved her hands in her pockets. She had half a mind to go find Lamia and take back whatever had been stolen. And give her a good kick for stunning Spot. But odds were, she was no longer hiding out in the factory. And unless Sunset could get her good magic to flare up, Lamia would beat her in a fight.
Artemis motioned to the broken window. "Trixie, be a dear and fix that for me, please."
"Watch and be amazed!" Trixie cried, brandishing her wand. She pointed it at the collected glass shards. "Lulamoon!" They sprung out of the pan and fit together back inside the pane. However, while they stuck together, the cracks remained, giving it stained glass effect without the color.
"I-I can do it better!" Trixie said, preparing her wand again.
"Actually, I think I like it like that," Selena said.
"Really?"
"Agreed," Artemis said. He flicked his wand at it, turning it blue. "See? Perfect."
*******
"And that, class, sums up our review of the history of the now outdated String Theory." Twilight set the piece of chalk down and dusted her hands off. She turned to the rows of chairs rising up in front of her. Her audience of Smartypants dolls clapped in admiration with a few of them still writing down her detailed and well-organized lesson. She took a bow and adjusted her glasses. "Any questions?"
"Professor Sparkle!" One of her students thrust his hand in the air. "As the founder and leading mind of all things magi-tech, what are your opinions about the potential for perpetual energy?"
"An excellent question," Twilight said to the reporter. "Once we find the source of unicorn magic, I believe we can eliminate the need for any fossil fueled devices and create sustainable living for all!" She basked in the applause of the press and stepped away from the podium, ducking behind a curtain.
"That was brilliant, Sparky!"
A pair of strong, comforting arms wrapped around Twilight from behind, and soft lips kissed her cheek. Twilight melted into the embrace, resting her head beneath Sunset's chin. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Sunset playfully rolled her eyes. "Please. You would have done just fine. I'm glad I could share this with you though.
Twilight twirled around and faced Sunset, slipping a hand under her shirt. "I love you." She pushed herself up on her toes.
Sunset stooped down. "I love you, too."
Twilight bolted up from her desk with a loud snort. Half her vision had gone white with blue lines and black veins weaving throughout it. There was also something wet on the side of her mouth. She reached up and pulled off a piece of paper, taking a thin line of drool with it.
Checking her clock, she saw it was 9:32 P.M. Pinkie's party must have taken more out of me than I thought. She wiped the drool from her lips, remembering how close she had come to kissing dream Sunset. Her stomach fluttered. She had used those three legendary words again. Sunset had spent several nights running through Twilight's dreams. Logical, given their relationship. But lately, things were different in the sleeping world. Her dream self had more courage than her, daring to speak out about the innermost workings of her heart.
Twilight had tried in the waking world, but something always stopped her, usually herself. Three little words carried a lot of weight. What if Sunset didn't say it back? What if Twilight didn't actually mean it? 'Love' was thrown around so carelessly by teenagers. Twilight wanted it to mean something when she said it. Did she even... L word Sunset? She was in love with her, and Cadence said there was a difference. How did she know when the transition happened?
More than that, what did they do afterward? Twilight was moving on to college, Sunset was... not. What was the point in saying that word when they were just going to say goodbye later? Could they handle a long-distance relationship? Even if they could, what if Sunset went back to Equestria? Twilight's empty stomach roiled at the notion. Being a city or state away was one thing. Different worlds? And worlds where time didn't align with each other.
Like a quick cut, the idea that Sunset was at least half a decade older than she looked sliced through Twilight's thoughts. She pressed a hand to her head, trying to push it out. Age is just a number. And she looks eighteen. On top of everything else facing them, Sunset's age was the least of Twilight's concerns.
She reached for her phone. In situations like this, she knew there was only one person to turn to. Just as Twilight got to her contacts screen, a knock came from her door.
"Twilight," a melodic voice sang, "special dumpling delivery!"
Twilight stared at her phone, then looked to the door. There's no way this is a coincidence. She got up and pulled the door open, finding Cadence waving a bag of Chinese take-out.
"Are you secretly psychic? Or do you just know when I have a relationship problem?"
Cadence waltzed in and sat on Twilight's bed, taking time to scratch Spike on his stomach. "Nope! I guess I'm just in the right place at the right time." She set the food on the bedside table and gave Twilight a more serious look. "But, if you have a problem, you know I'm all ears."
Twilight closed the door and sat down next to her. "It's not a problem per se... or maybe it is?" She wrung her hands. "Sunset is... but I'm going to..." She pulled her hands apart and took a deep breath. Just start at the root of the problem. "Cadence... when did you know you loved Shining?"
Cadence's eyes widened and sparkled. "Ah, I see." She let out a dreamy giggle. "Well, Shiny and I had been going out for a few months. It was winter, and there was a flu bug going around. I got it and was home sick from school." She giggled again. "So after school, Shining trudged through the snow and brought me a container of soup he made himself. He even spoon fed it to me in bed."
"That sounds romantic."
"Not as romantic as you'd think. I was a sniffling, coughing, nauseated mess." She leaned in to Twilight. "And between us, your brother isn't the best cook. I played it off that I didn't have my appetite back, but the soup he made was terrible." They shared a short laugh, leaning on each other's shoulders.
"But, as I was lying there, listening to him talk and realizing what he had done for me, it just sort of clicked. I didn't know yet if he would be the one, but I knew I loved him, and wanted to make an effort to make him the one." She rested her chin in her palm and wiggled her eyebrows. "Now, tell me about you and Sunset. I saw you two cuddled on the couch during our vacation."
Twilight turned her face to hide her red cheeks. "I mean... we've only been together a few months. We haven't even know each other for a whole year. And there's so many things that make us different from each other. But every time I close my eyes, I see her. And I just feel so great every time we're together, even when she's being all Sunset. But I don't know if that's love or just teenage hormones!" Twilight grabbed her pillow and buried her face in it. "Cadence, tell me how to feel!"
Cadence rubbed a hand on her back. "Ladybug, I can't tell you how to feel or who to feel it toward. Maybe it's love, maybe it's just infatuation. You have to decide that. It's hard sometimes, but you just have to trust your heart. And if you make a mistake along the way, it's not the end of the world."
Twilight lifted her eyes but kept her mouth buried in the pillow. "Maybe I need to collect data."
"Twily, love isn't a science experiment. You can't measure it. Heck, we can barely define it." She ran a hand through Twilight's hair. "Maybe you'll have some eureka moment about your feelings for Sunset. Or maybe they'll just creep up on you when you least expect it. Or maybe, you already know the answer."
"Mmph." Maybe love couldn't be quantified or controlled, but she could at least match her feelings up to other people. She needed to be absolutely sure about this feeling before she went and told Sunset.
Cadence pecked her on the cheek. "Come on now, Ladybug, don't make me eat all these dumplings by myself. I can't afford to get fat before my wedding."
*******
"You're late."
Lamia hadn't even finished climbing onto the balcony before she heard Moondancer's overly sweet voice. She pulled herself over and glared at the richly dressed girl through the slits in her mask. "So sorry, your highness. The traffic here was just unbelievable."
Moondancer sat at a balcony table, a cup of tea in her hands. "Sarcasm. The uncultured and desperate response plebeians give when they don't have an intellectual answer."
"Do you want this thing or not?"
Moondancer held her hand out. "I expect to receive it regardless. I simply hope you'll hand it to me instead of me forcing it from you."
The urge to punt her off the balcony and into the garden burned strong, but Lamia knew better than to pick a direct fight. She reached into her satchel and tossed Moondancer her trinket and the key. "Now, my payment?"
"Yes, don't worry," Moondancer said with a lazy wave of her hand, using her other to put her key away in her blouse. "Your money will be transferred to whatever offshore account you have."
Lamia stroked a hissing Jormangandr. "It'd better. Or else."
"Please, don't waste your breath. You're hardly in a position to make threats." Moondancer looked up. "But, I'm a lady of my word. You will get your money."
"Hmph." In a position like hers, Lamia knew there wasn't much to do but hope Moondancer indeed kept her word. "So what now? Am I dismissed or--"
A chill crawled down her spine. In front of the balcony door, the shadows shifted and rose up, blacker than the night. It formed into an archway, inky darkness spilling out of it along with a cold wind. From the depths emerged a tall, lean woman wearing a black suit that hugged her body. A large coat, the color of a coming storm, sat draped over her shoulders, hiding her arms. A rose-colored mohawk complimented her dark purple skin. She carried herself out of the black gateway with calm superiority, keeping her chin up the entire time.
Lamia recognized her. And when the woman's blue eyes locked onto her, she knew the familiarity was reciprocated. She turned, ready to jump off the balcony, but a cold and oily hand, wrapped around her neck and slammed her against the hard tile before flipping her over to look at the evening sky. She lowered her eyes to find a pulsing black arm stretching away from her neck and into the coat of her captor.
"I don't believe in luck," the woman said cooly, closing the distance to Lamia, "but this is a serendipitous occasion."
"H-hey there, Tempest," Lamia smiled weakly, trying to get her hands around the shadowy arm strangling her. It was tangible oddly enough, but the sensation burned like battery acid. "Long time, no see. This arm thing is new."
Jormangandr lunged, fangs bared at Tempest. Just as when he had attacked Moondancer, a sinister glow enveloped his body, pausing him in midair.
Tempest looked down at her, her face impossible to read, though with the scar over her right eye, she always looked perturbed. "Taking help from a thief? I thought you were better than that, Moondancer."
Moondancer carefully and quietly slipped her prize down her large sleeve. "I'm doing what you asked. I'm gathering information on the Spectacular Seven 'by any means necessary.'" Her eyes flickered to Lamia, delivering a hard look that she quickly understood.
Tempest snorted, her grip around Lamia's throat tightening. "So you resorted to common filth. Then again, I suppose you're not so common anymore."
"One uses any and all resources available." Moondancer knit her brows. "But, pray tell, how do you know the Snake Queen?"
"She had the nerve to steal from me," Tempest said with a dangerous edge.
"It was nothing personal, I just saw a good--" The pressure tightened, cutting off the rest of Lamia's airflow.
Tempest looked up at Jormangandr. "I'm surprised you didn't sell him like you black market thieves commonly do." Her grip loosened just enough for Lamia to talk again.
"It crossed my mind. But he's so adorable. And a great partner. See? He found a loving home. Aren't you glad I helped you rescue him?"
"And then stole him from me."
"The details get murky at some point--ack!" Her air passage was forced closed again.
"Well, since you were kind enough to bring him back, I'll just keep him for now." Tempest snapped her fingers, and Jormangandr vanished in a wink. "Now, what am I going to do with you..." She leaned closer. "Sunset Shimmer?"
Moondancer spat out her tea and pounded a hand against her chest. "I beg your pardon?"
Tempest slid a normal hand from her other sleeve and pulled off Lamia's mask, revealing her pixie cut red and gold hair.
"I... but... that's... how?" Moondancer's head fell to one side. "I find myself lost beyond words."
"Perhaps if you had done what I asked, this wouldn't have caught you so off-guard," Tempest said coldly.
"Information gathering takes time," Moondancer said with equal chill.
Tempest turned her eyes back to Lamia, dismissing Moondancer. "You're helping Moondancer, hm?"
Lamia frantically nodded her head, her lungs begging for just a scrap of air.
"Hmph." Tempest reached into her collar and withdrew a golden medallion. It was triangular in shape, though it didn't have a top point. Odd runes were engraved in its center, seeming to move and undulate in the darkness.
Something deeper than fear burbled to life in the pit of Lamia's stomach. It quickly spread through the rest of her body, leaving her paralyzed. She didn't know what this medallion was, but she wanted it far away from her. But Tempest held it over her head, a satisfied smile crossing her lips.
"Let's see how long my 'information gathering' takes." She dropped the medallion a little lower and removed her shadow arm from around Lamia's throat.
Despite her new freedom, Lamia could still hardly breathe, let alone move. What is this? More magic? What is she doing to me? Her body trembled. She couldn't look away from the glowing artifact. Memories forced their way to the surface of her mind. Her parents screaming at each other. Being bullied on the playground. Shoplifting from the mall. Being brought home for the first time by the police.
"Stop it," she grunted.
Tempest's smile widened. "What? I thought you were tough, Sunset? All these experiences made you strong." Her voice never rose or changed pitch, but Lamia could hear the satisfaction.
Her fingers twitched under the strain of trying to move any part of her body. Lamia felt like an open book with Tempest reading every page. Cold tendrils creeped through her, down into her very soul, poking and prodding it, and making her tremble. She wanted to curl up into a ball far away from this place. She could see the looks of disappointment on her parents' faces. Feel the punches and kicks from the 'initiation' test her gang members had given her. Hear their struggling yells as the cops arrested them one-by-one.
I'm all alone. I don't have anyone left in this world. I'm going to die alone. I didn't want this. But what did I want? Vitriol and fury began to rise up from the sorrow. Magic! Fucking magic! Her soul quivered with rage. I don't know what she's doing, but she needs to stop! Her anger turned into energy, and she clenched a fist, forcing her arm to rise.
"Look at that. The thief has enough will left to fight."
Moondancer set her tea cup down with a loud enough clatter to get both Lamia and Tempest to notice. "That's enough. You've proven whatever point you're trying to make. Either take her or leave her, but stop making her writhe on my balcony. It's uncouth."
Tempest stared at Moondancer, long and hard. She slowly retracted the medallion and hid it within her shirt once more.
Lamia jumped to a sitting position, gasping for air. She pressed a hand onto her chest, making sure that her heart--that her soul was still there. Sweat trickled down her entire face, and her body still involuntarily shivered.
"Congratulations, Lamia," Tempest said, "you work for me now. Help Moondancer gather information on the Spectacular Seven, and I won't have to do that again."
As she walked away, Lamia climbed back to her feet, staggering back. "Y-you can't just--"
"I believe I can. Unless you want to leave your precious snake behind." Tempest looked over her shoulder, smirking. "I expect good results." In the same vein as her entrance, a void of darkness appeared from nothing, allowing her passage. She stepped in, and it closed around her, vanishing into the shadows of the night.
Lamia slumped back, resting against the balcony rails. "Fu--"
"Please don't curse in my presence," Moondancer said, pouring herself another cup of tea. "It's vulgar and unbecoming."
A string of foul words crossed Lamia's mind, but she didn't have the strength to relay them.
"So, other Sunset." Moondancer took a deep breath. "That's going to take some time getting used to. Since Miss Shadow galavanted off, care to share something? Because you're clearly not the Sunset Shimmer I'm familiar with."
Lamia turned her head, feeling her body begin to return to normal. "I'm from here. Mini me is from some other world," she said dismissively. "Sounded like a load of bull until her friends went anthro on me."
Moondancer slowly set her cup down, the gears visibly turning in her head. "Fascinating." She steepled her fingers together and leaned forward.
"Why don't you tell me more?" |
Spectacular Seven | 9. Uptown Blues | Sunset stood in the shower early Monday morning, turning thoughts over in her head as the hot water cascaded down her back. A night of dancing and laughing and cupcakes could only numb the pain for so long. She had spent most of Sunday thinking about the future whenever she wasn't wondering about Lamia. She still hadn't told her friends about the thief's real identity, or the most recent theft she had committed. She supposed there wasn't much of a point.
What's the point of doing anything now?
She raised her face to the hot water. No, don't think like that! She wanted to hold onto Applejack's words and think only of the good times they still had waiting for them. But thinking of the future just brought her mind to the inevitable conclusion.
Was this really to be her fate for the next two years? Sitting around aimlessly waiting for the portal to open while her friends got to go live their lives? It felt like the aftermath of the Fall Formal, when Sunset sat in her hovel and stewed over her justified defeat and reaped the consequences of her actions. Only this time, she wasn't mad, she was just...
Jealous? Slimy and malicious, the word slithered into her brain.
She turned her head to let the water fall into one ear, hoping to drown the disgusting thoughts out. "Why would I be jealous? They earned everything they're getting."
Yes. They fought for it, just like how you fought for your crown. You fought for everything in your life. Yet this is where you end up. Look at them, the girls who beat you. Why do they get to live happy lives and you return to squalor?
"Stop it," Sunset growled. "I cheated and hurt people on my way to the top. They fought fair and square. I am not going to stoop to being jealous of my friends for their successes."
As much as she loved the idea of hiding in the shower, she knew Trixie would pound on the door any second. Sunset turned the water off and stepped out, wrapping a towel around herself. She cleared a small space in the fogged mirror.
I see green envy in those eyes of yours.
"They're always that color!" Sunset said furiously.
"Stop talking to yourself and hurry up!" Trixie yelled, banging a fist on the door.
Sunset quickly brushed her teeth and ran a comb through her hair. She exited the bathroom, rubbing shoulders with Trixie on her way out. Sunset stomped into her room, being careful not to step on Spot, curled up on the carpet next to her bed.
"I'm not jealous of my friends and their accomplishments," Sunset reaffirmed as she slipped her clothes on. "I'm sad and miserable, sure, but what else is new?"
"That's right!" The voice always sounded like a rubber mouse being stepped on. The Princess Twilight plush doll gathered dust on top Sunset's wardrobe. "It's not fair to be mad at them for getting what they worked for."
"It's always a sad day when I'm agreeing with you," Sunset said. Yet, why did this gross pit in her stomach persist? She was genuinely excited for them all. Sad, yes, but proud. She wasn't that petty, vindictive child anymore. At least, she was trying not to be.
Deep down, you wanted Twilight to get rejected from every school so she could stay here with you.
"That's not true!" Twilight was the one she was happiest for. The look of pain on her face with every rejection broke Sunset's heart. She picked up her phone and scrolled through the group chat, looking at the collective excitement as the girls shared their acceptance announcements. Blocks and blocks of texts interspersed with pictures Sunset's old phone had a hard time loading. She smiled, feeling tears gather at the corners of her eyes. But amidst the warm tears, she still felt something slimy coil in her stomach.
She blocked it out. She could never be jealous of what they did. But... maybe she was a little jealous of what she didn't do?
"Uuugh! I'm done thinking about this!" She picked up her backpack and gave Spot a loving pat on the head. "I'm going to do what I do best: bury this problem and pretend it doesn't exist."
She grabbed the waffle Selena had toasted for her and rode her motorcycle to school, parking it the lot. This is it, Sunset thought, coming around to the front steps, eight weeks until graduation. And then... She shoved it down. She was going to enjoy her time with her friends, dammit! That enthusiasm dimmed when she remembered her first class was history. At least she had Rarity with her to suffer through it.
"From here on out, your noses will be against the grindstone," Mr. Noteworthy said, scratching his chalk against the blackboard. "I'm well aware many of you have gotten your letters back from colleges. While I am honestly thrilled for all of you, let me stress that nothing is permanent. You slip up enough, they're allowed to rescind their acceptances." He faced the class. "So, to make sure that doesn't happen, I'll be giving you plenty of work to keep you sharp and focused."
Since I'm not going anywhere, does that mean I can slack off now? Sunset wondered. She quickly scoffed at the idea. College or not, Sunset Shimmer was no slacker. She'd be damned if she let any of these underachievers surpass her superior grades.
Pretending she was better than everyone else still proved to be a great coping mechanism.
In addition to Moondancer, Flash joined the Spectacular Seven at lunch today, making the table rather crowded. Again, hard to be the Spectacular Seven if there's nine of us, Sunset thought sourly as she bit into her sandwich. She could get over Flash sitting with them, but Moondancer taking up the seat on Twilight's other side would never cease to irk Sunset.
With them returning to school, Sunset had hoped her friends would want to discuss something other than college. But, just like everywhere else, it dominated the conversation. She could only smile and eat her lunch in silence, speaking only when directly spoken to. Sunset wondered if her face could get stuck like this if she kept smiling long enough.
She didn't share her third period with anyone, allowing herself to frown despondently to her heart's content. Around her, she could hear the excited whispers of future's being planned and paths being forged. For anyone that wasn't in her friend circle, she couldn't care less.
But, putting her smile back on was harder than it should have been when she met Twilight after school. It became easier as their conversation progressed, never broaching the topics of graduation and colleges. They retreated to Twilight's house and did their routine of violin practice and homework.
Sunset kissed Twilight goodbye around six, the sun still setting over the suburbs. She tried not to impose on the Sparkle's dinner, even if Mrs. Velvet urged her to stay. Sunset still had flashbacks to Thanksgiving.
Spot greeted her upon her return, jumping into her arms as soon as she set her bag down. They had gotten their routine down so well, it perfectly matched Twilight and Spike's. Sunset brought Spot to her room and settled down to finish the last bit of homework for the night.
"Trixie has a question."
Sunset sighed and turned in her seat, watching as Trixie settled her back against the door frame.
"What do you plan to do after graduation?" The smaller amount of smugness in her voice told Sunset she hadn't meant it to be malicious.
"I don't know. Something?"
"You're not going back home?" Trixie asked, arching an eyebrow.
"The portal home doesn't open for another two years. I'm stuck here until then." Sunset tapped a pencil against her book. "And you know I can't apply for college or anything so... I dunno. Maybe I'll wander around the country for a bit."
Trixie closed her eyes and moved her lips up and down, like she was chewing on a thought. "Well... Trixie supposes she could allow you to stay in her parents home even as Trixie elevates herself to new heights. Having you around has been... amusing for Trixie." She opened an eye to Sunset.
Sunset couldn't fight the smile pulling across her face. She cleared her throat to try and drive it away. "Boy, Trix, where would I be without your hospitality?"
"On the street, begging for coins no doubt." Trixie proudly put a hand to her chest. "Yes, Trixie's kindness knows no bounds. Though, she's mostly doing it for Spot. He'd be sad if you left."
"Hey, if I go, I'm taking him with me."
Trixie picked him up and stuck her tongue out. "The second you leave, he is forfeit to Trixie. Be grateful I'm not kicking you out now." She rubbed noses with him, then sat him down on the bed and sauntered down the hall.
Sunset turned back to her book, a grin still on her face. "I'll miss you, too, Trixie."
*******
Sunset sat in the stands of a large amphitheater, packed to the brim with family and friends cheering and screaming in delight. Balloons floated into the open sky, becoming lost in the ocean of blue. On the stage below her, Sunset could see her friends waiting in line to step up to the podium. They were adorned in blue caps and gowns, and wore victorious smiles. Sunset cheered as each of their names were called. Once Celestia handed them their diplomas, they vanished into thin air.
Twilight was the last to receive hers. Upon grabbing it, instead of vanishing on the wind like everyone else, she appeared next to Sunset, their wrists cuffed together.
"Why didn't you go with the others?" Sunset asked.
"I can't," she said, a vacant smile on her face. "You're here. I can't leave you here alone."
Sunset looked about and found the amphitheater empty, leftover confetti and balloons strewn about the stands. A dark cloud moved over them and the wind picked up into a gale. Sunset led Twilight out of the stadium, still chained together, with Twilight giving her a dopey-eyed smile. They ran out to a wide grass field that stretched on for miles, hills rising and falling and trees scraping at the sky.
The gale turned into a squall, and a familiar dread crawled up Sunset's spine telling her what would come next. A malicious laugh filled the air, and a pillar of fire exploded in front of the girls. The surrounding field caught aflame, turning into an ashen landscape.
"Poor little Sunny," a raspy voice cooed. "Left all alone by her friends. Everywhere to go, but no destination." A figure stepped out of the fire, her skin glowing red hot. She showed off her sharp teeth in a wide smile. "Why not come home to me?" She spread her arms out. "I'll give you a purpose again!"
Sunset held an arm in front of her face to fend off the overbearing waves of heat. "I don't need you! I still have Twilight!"
Her demon crossed her arms in smug triumph. "Do you now?"
Sunset's other arm felt surprisingly light, and when she turned to look, she found Twilight had vanished. Twisting about, Sunset found her being carried off by a glowing Moondancer, flying away on ethereal wings.
Before Sunset could get a curse in, her demon pounced on her, pinning her to the ground while the flames encircled around them. "You have nothing left, little sun," she whispered. "No friends, no future, no power. Just submit! We can be something together! We can have our old glory back!"
"No!" Sunset struggled under her vice-like grip, watching the fire creep closer. "I refuse to go back! Maybe I don't have a future, but I'm never going back to the past!" Her skin took on a golden hue. "And I have enough power to defy you!"
With a force of will, Sunset snapped her eyes open, finding the ceiling of her room. She took a couple of short, deep breaths and turned on her side. Her clock told her it was only three in the morning. She tightened the cocoon of blankets around her and snuggled against her pillow, but couldn't find the courage to close her eyes.
It had been the first nightmare that hadn't ended in fire or death. In fact, it had been the first nightmare that ended in what Sunset could call a victory. But why was her demon haunting her so much?
Sunset rolled over. It all came back to magic. If she hadn't ponied up at the concert... if she hadn't put on that stupid crown... if she hadn't run away through the mirror. Was it guilt or homesickness she felt? Perhaps it was both.
"Maybe it's because you can't let go of the past," Princess Twilight said.
Sunset didn't respond. She couldn't just let go. Everything she had done up until the Fall Formal... years and years of a building ego and superiority.... She hated that part of herself. It was her defining reason to try and be better. Maybe it was the guilt that kept her demon coming back. But it was hard not to feel guilty over almost killing the people who would become her best friends.
She rolled over again, eyes falling on the clock. It was going to be another long night.
*******
Ding dong ding dong...
Moondancer made a small, "harrumph" as she stirred her tea. Days later, and Lamia's words still danced through her head. She felt vindicated. She had been right all along! Sunset wasn't human! She wasn't even from this world!
Ding dong ding dong...
Now, how did she proceed? Twilight was no doubt still under Sunset's influence to some degree. Then again... Moondancer had a few reservations. A magical pony didn't sound dangerous. And that night in the mountains... Moondancer had heard Sunset crying to Twilight. Sunset had been scared of her own magic. Something about it being separate from herself? Moondancer was still missing a piece of this story.
Maybe... it's unintentional? The dark premonition I feel whenever I'm near her? Maybe she doesn't mean to keep Twilight enthralled.
Ding dong ding dong...
Still, the fact remained that Sunset Shimmer was a parasite! Just like Tempest. Moondancer didn't care what she was, she was still an extra in a play full of characters Moondancer already couldn't stand. She didn't have time for extras, especially those that stole her spotlight, or her Twilight.
Ding dong ding dong...
"Would someone please get the door!" she yelled from the parlor. When she heard no evidence of anyone moving toward the front door, she rose from her comfy chair and stomped to the entrance hall. She had just settled in from school and now she was being forced from her leisure time to answer doors? Could she have no comforts today?
She paused in front of the large ornamented doors to fix her hair and her smile. Be at ease, Moondancer. Make it short, but keep a polite demeanor. Three, two, one, showtime! She pulled the door open. "Good day--ah! U-Uncle Artemis!"
Artemis swept his hat off his head and bowed. "Little Moonflower! How are you, my sweet niece?"
Moondancer recovered and cleared her throat. "I'm doing well, thank you for asking. I'm surprised to see you here though. You don't come around to visit the Upper Villa."
"Untrue," he said with a wag of his finger. "It just so happens I have terrible timing. In all my previous attempts to visit, you and your father were both away."
"Truly? That is indeed unfortunate," she said, feeling an itch on the back of her neck. "Well, you know how busy we are."
"Yes, it makes it rather hard to spoil you." Artemis laughed, then pulled her in for a warm hug. "It doesn't help that you're already fabulously wealthy. What to get for the girl who has everything?"
Not everything, Moondancer thought, savoring the hug.
Artemis released her, then frowned. "Are you sure you're okay? You look a little flushed."
Moondancer fanned her face and took a deep breath. "Oh... I suppose public school is just more stressful than I imagined it would be."
"Well, I'm glad I came when I did." Artemis gestured to the world behind him. "I thought you and I could spend a little time together. We could get ice cream, go for a little walk." He smile wavered and his voice became somber. "And then maybe... we could go see your mother."
Moondancer felt her heart stop for a moment. She kept her expression perfectly still while she tried to process what her uncle had meant. Her heart started again, and she composed herself a second time. "Oh, that sounds lovely." Her voice shook, and she cursed herself for breaking character.
"If you don't want to, I understand--"
"No, no! I haven't seen her in a while. It would be... nice. Let me just grab a jacket." She retreated inside, leaving the door open a crack. Keep calm, Moondancer. Play it safe, and we'll get through this. She furrowed her brow. And when Tempest yells at us, we can blame the servants.
She grabbed a jacket, slipped on the best pair of shoes that went with her dress, and returned to Artemis, snapping the door shut behind her. "Shall we be off?"
"Let's!" He offered his arm to her. Once she grabbed onto it, he shouted, "Lulamoon!" and the world twisted in on itself before Moondancer felt like she was shot out a cannon. When the rushing wind and pressure disappeared, she was left with a face full of blue smoke.
"I forgot how... unpleasant that was," she said, fanning it away. Looking up, she found they had teleported right in front of The Fifty Flavors Palace.
"Okay, girls, what do you want?"
"I want strawberry flavor!"
"Trixie wants peanut butter!"
Moondancer brought a hand to her mouth, covering her smile. A younger Moondancer had come here often. A Moondancer that had a mother that loved her, a father that paid attention, and a family she could talk to. She pushed the door open and stepped inside, inhaling the sweet scent of fifty ice cream flavors lined up in their tubs.
She glided up to the display counter and looked over her option, already knowing which flavor she'd pick. Rich, decadent, and a perfect shade of pink, she chose strawberry. Her uncle picked cotton candy, and they settled down at a small table near the back.
"How have things been, Moony?" Artemis asked before taking a large spoonful of blue and pink ice cream. "We hardly ever see each other now."
"Everything's fine," Moondancer said pleasantly. "Despite my earlier appearance, public school has proven to be quite interesting. Such a wide variety of characters from a wide variety of backgrounds. It's nice seeing how the common folk go about their daily business. Though I do believe the education overall was better at the academy. But I suppose there's no such thing as perfect."
Artemis made a throaty chuckle. "Same old Moondancer. Well, your primary education is almost at an end! Tell me, what are your plans next? There's many doors open for a girl like you."
Less than you would think. "I applied for several performing arts schools and got accepted into most of them. But they also loved me back in France, so I could go back and do some more modeling." She swirled her spoon in the air. "So many choices, so little time."
Artemis gave her a bemused smile. "Both exciting prospects. And there's no such thing as 'so little time.' You have your whole life ahead of you."
Moondancer allowed herself a small smile. "True enough." She savored a spoonful of strawberry before speaking again. "But enough of me, how have you been, Uncle?"
An unexpected shadow dulled his bright aura. "Things were fine until a few nights ago. Someone broke into our house and stole a forbidden artifact."
The spoon dropped from Moondancer's hand. "What? But, but how? Did they take your key? Did they use magic?"
Artemis tapped his star-studded hat. "My key never leaves my sight. And as far as I'm aware, this thief doesn't have any magic."
"But they can't have Mother's key," Moondancer whispered frantically. "It's... and how could they have known about it anyway? What did they even take?"
"That's the cherry on top of this bitter slice of cake." Artemis paused to take a bite of his ice cream. "I'm not sure. I never bothered to make a list of all the things we've dropped in there."
Moondancer tapped a manicured nail on the table. "Uncle..."
"I know, not my best showing. Right now, we can just hope she didn't take anything too dangerous. In the meantime, if you hear anything strange--"
"I shall consult you posthaste." Moondancer smiled at him. She loathed to lie to his face, but... it was for a greater cause. "Despicable thieves aside, how is everything else? As I understand it, you have a new houseguest."
Artemis beamed into his bowl. "Yes, Sunset Shimmer. She's a delight, just needs to laugh more. I know there's a sense of humor buried somewhere beneath all that surliness."
Moondancer saw an opening. Lamia had told her an ample amount, but she needed as much of the narrative as she could get. "Pray tell, how did she end up with you?"
"She had been working for me for a while and needed help. Of course I was going to say yes," he said simply.
"You do have a noble soul, Uncle." Moondancer took another spoonful of ice cream to help mask her frustration. "She's certainly an interesting character. I understand she played a part in defeating the Sirens."
"It was stupendous magic!" Artemis said, throwing his hands into the air. "She and her little friends are quite the colorful heroes."
"From the parts I remember, yes, they are. I must admit though, I'm so curious as to where or how they acquired such powers. I remember the stories you and Mother told. The Sirens were dangerous."
"It's a long story," Artemis said, stirring his ice cream.
Moondancer leaned forward just an inch.
"And not one for me to tell." He scooped out a spoonful of his cotton-candy treat and dropped it on his tongue. "That's a story she'll share with you when she's ready." He rose a hand to his mouth and giggled like a schoolboy. "Sorry, the beginning still tickles me. Her circumstances are no laughing matter, but her origins... you'll find out in due time."
Moondancer kept a tight lid on her bubbling emotions, channeling that energy into digging her nails into her leg. "That is fair. I am trying to get to know her better on behalf of Twilight."
Artemis smiled fondly. "I think she's a good soul."
I respectfully disagree. I vehemently disagree. She's the second coming of Tempest, taking everything that should be mine! She is like a plague! Moondancer quietly finished her ice cream, having mostly melted into strawberry soup.
With their dessert finished, she and Artemis took a short stroll down the street. He told her that teleporting on a full stomach was never a good idea.
Uptown Canterlot wasn't as extravagant as the Upper Villa, but Moondancer could concede that it had its charms. Decently sized houses with neatly trimmed lawns, and a town center with cute, family owned shops. She allowed her uncle to spoil her by taking her to a clothing store and buying a cute pink sundress. In return, she recounted a few of her escapades in France.
It was nice to be dotted on. She couldn't remember the last time she had been spoiled by someone other than herself. She knew she didn't need anymore gifts; both her closet and her jewelry box were filled to the brim. But when she peeked into the bag and saw the dress, she knew she would be keeping this one.
Another twist in the fabric of spacetime, and the world had gone from a warm murmur, to a solemn silence. Moondancer and Artemis stood at the start of stone black path that wound its way through a green field. The old trees overhead were beginning to grow buds after their long winter sleep, giving a little green to their ash colored branches. Artemis stepped first, crossing under the iron threshold of Canterlot Cemetery.
Headstones and plaques covered the fields. On the hills in the distance were the mausoleums and tombs, pale white, and ominous in the dying light of day. The Lulamoons didn't have to go to far in to find their destination. Apalla rested in the shade of one of the willow trees. Her headstone was sky blue, standing out from the pale colors around her.
In loving memory of Apalla Lulamoon
A wonderful witch, sister, and mother
Moondancer knelt and put a hand to the cold stone. "Hello, Mother," she said, her voice cracking. She took a breath and started again. "I know it's been a little while since I visited. I went to Paris last fall. I know how much you loved Paris. And I'm almost done with high school. Just a couple of months. I don't know what I'll do after, but..." She pressed her lips together. "I know I'll make the world a better place."
Artemis knelt beside her and placed a hand on her back. "Hey, sis. It's probably been even longer since I've been here. But, as you would tell me, 'life goes on.' But it's still a little duller without you. Trixie's about to go off on her own. Can you believe how fast these two have grown up?" He quickly wiped his sleeves across his eyes. "I'll need to find a few more hobbies after she's gone. Maybe Sunset will stick around for a little while. Oh, I haven't told you about her. She's a treat. You would've liked her. Sort of our foster daughter. I consider her family at least."
Moondancer's blood boiled, but she focused her stare on the tombstone.
"The Sirens managed to escape and come here, too! It was quite the harrowing story. I spent most of it as their prisoner. Not my finest hour. But lo and behold, the city has a few heroes of its own. Life is just full of surprises, isn't it?" He took out his wand and gave it a wave. A bouquet of flowers came together and rested itself at the foot of the grave.
Blue roses. Apalla's favorite.
Moondancer stood, softening her gaze. "I'll come back soon, Mother. We'll have to celebrate my graduation, right?" The wind whistled through the trees. If she didn't already know better, she might have thought that was her mother agreeing.
Artemis brought her back to the manor just as the sun hit the horizon. They admired it for a while before he turned and kissed her on the forehead. "I had a wonderful time today."
"As did I," Moondancer said. "It's not often I get to do something like this, so..." she swallowed a lump in her throat. "Thank you, Uncle."
"You're more than welcome, little moon." He cupped a hand to her cheek. "And I know Canterlot is a big city, but we're just on the other side. If you ever need anything, just give me a call."
Moondancer leaned into his hand. "I will. I promise, I'll try to make more time in the future."
"As will I. We're Lulamoons, are we not? We're family!"
Moondancer's mask almost fell. She didn't want to play this character anymore. She wanted to tell him everything. But she kept herself collected and gave Artemis a strong hug. "I should go. I still have homework to do."
Artemis patted her back. "Yes, yes, off with you then. You're almost finished; don't start shirking your work now." He stepped back and lifted his wand. "Love you! Lulamoon!" And with another puff of smoke, he was gone.
When the wind blew it all away, Moondancer stepped inside, finding her father waiting on the bottom step of the grand stairs. She saw his cross stare, and curtsied in return. "Hello, Father. Long day at work?"
"Moondancer..."
"I had a fine day at school, thank you for asking."
"You know the rules, Moondancer."
Moondancer walked up to him and put a hand on her hip. "Well, perhaps if someone had answered the door!" she yelled down one of the hallways. "Maybe this wouldn't have happened. Besides, wouldn't it be suspicious if we never spoke to them ever again?"
"I'm trying to keep us safe," Night Shade said with a hint of urgency. "You know what Tempest said."
She shot him a venomous glare. "I'm aware of her words. And her actions." And your lack of them. Every fiber of her being told her to say the last part aloud, but she held herself back and settled for stomping past him and up the stairs, keeping a tight grip on Artemis' gift.
She reached her room and slammed the door shut before gently sitting her bag next to the closet. Slipping out of her sandals, she carried herself across the plush purple carpet and sat on the edge of her four-poster bed. On her bedside vanity sat embroidered pictures of her when she was younger, together with Trixie's side of the family. Accompanying them were pictures of Twilight, bowed ever-so-slightly in each of them, trying to avoid making eye contact with the camera.
Moondancer reached for one. Twilight and her had taken a selfie in the garden, the flowers around them in full bloom. Such a short time ago. Yet so many things had changed. Moondancer exchanged the picture for her phone. No new messages. She let it drop against the satin sheets. That wasn't uncommon these days. Sure, Twilight could carry a conversation if Moondancer texted her. But starting one? No, Twilight had someone else occupying her time now.
A knife twisted in Moondancer's heart. She got to her feet, hands clenched. A thousand images flashed across Moondancer's eyes, all of them depicting Twilight and Sunset, laughing and smiling and kissing. And Moondancer was stuck here, her freedom shrinking again by the day.
Four years ago, she had finally been allowed true access to the outside world again. She got to attend private school and interact with other adolescents. And then Twilight had drifted by, nose in a book. Every answer she gave in class was poignant and well thought. She was delicate. She was humble.
She was Moondancer's reward for her long years of isolation. At least, that was what her heart said.
Instead, history rhymed with its earlier verse and introduced Sunset from nowhere. She swooped in, took Twilight, wiggled her way into her family...
Moondancer balled her hand into a fist. She would not let this cruel song reach its chorus again. She would defeat Sunset and reclaim her treasure. Then, she could focus on her true goal. |
Spectacular Seven | 10. Heart-to-Heart | "Look, look, look!"
"Twilight, unlike you, my eyes work perfectly fine. I actually can't read with something shoved against my face."
Twilight pulled the flyer away from Sunset's eyes, rolled it up, and smacked her on the head with it, eliciting a laugh from Sunset. "My eyes work well enough, thank you very much."
Sunset eased the flyer out of Twilight's hands. "I know. Those glasses make you look very cute, Sparky."
"Gag me," Rainbow said from across the table.
Ignoring Rainbow's usual comments, Sunset unrolled the flyer and read aloud, "'Canterlot High School's Music Program is proud to present the Canterlot Junior Symphony. Come see the full orchestral presentation this Saturday at Serenade Hall.'" She looked up to Twilight's glowing face. "And I'm guessing you're going to be in it?"
"I'm first chair for the string section!"
Rarity clapped her hands. "Oh, that's magnificent, darling! I can't wait to hear you perform!"
Twilight hopped from one foot to the other. "I'm super excited, but really nervous, but also really excited!"
Pinkie gasped. "That means you're--"
"Pinkie, what did I tell you?" Sunset warned.
"But, Suuuunseeeet!" She threw herself over the table as she whined. "It's the perfect word!"
"It's not even a word!"
"Then, let me make it a word!"
"The point," Applejack said over them, "is that we're happy for you, Twi. You'll do just fine, and we'll be right there to support you."
"Thanks, girls." Twilight took the flyer back from Sunset. "I still need to go show Moondancer. Also, we're going to hang out after school today. Would anyone like to come?" Her eyes were focused on Sunset.
Sunset broke out her faux friendly smile. "Of course."
"Nope," Rainbow said, leaning back in her chair. "And it's not just 'cause I don't want to. I've got track practice today. We're going up against Crystal Prep on Saturday, so we have to train harder than ever if we wanna win!"
Twilight gave an uncomfortable laugh. "Yeah. They take all their competitions seriously. Good luck, Rainbow."
Pinkie bounced up from her sprawled position on the table. "Ooooh! I have two friends to cheer on now! Time to break out my pom-poms!"
"Which begs the question, Pinkie, why aren't you part of the cheer-leading squad?" Rarity asked.
"Because I'm already the head of the Party Planning Committee and the Spirit Squad!" She pulled a planner out from her hair and opened up to a random page covered in both immaculate writing and random doodles. "Do you know how much work goes into those two alone? Plus all the unofficial parties I have to plan, plus working at Sugarcube Corner, plus hanging out with you girls?" She snapped the planner shut. "Besides, cheerleaders only perform at football games. I spread my cheer to all!" She pointed a finger to the sky.
"Can't argue with that," Applejack said. "And sorry, Twi. Ah'd love to go, but Ah'm having some quality time with mah family today. Ah think they're still trying to make up for the Battle of the Bands."
Rarity inspected her nails in a nonchalant fashion, but couldn't contain the giddy grin on her face. "I'm afraid Flash and I have made prior arrangements today." She looked over to his table and gave him a dainty wave which he returned.
"I'll go!" Pinkie said. She flipped her planner open again. "I've got just enough free time today for friendship hangouts!"
Fluttershy looked tentatively at Rainbow. "I could go I guess, that is, if Rainbow doesn't need my cheering skills today."
She waved a hand. "Nah, it's just practice. Save your voice for the track meet."
Sunset allowed herself a quiet sigh of relief. At least she didn't have to deal with Moondancer alone today. Twilight ran off to tell her the good news, meeting Sunset in their trigonometry class. The period progressed as normal, with Sunset and Twilight sneaking in a few kisses between problems.
They joined Pinkie and Fluttershy outside by the statue after school concluded. With Daylight Savings Time starting again, it was still very bright out. Moondancer skipped down the front steps and flowed past them, her long, open sleeves flapping in the wind.
"Ah, can you feel it? The change happening in the air? Tis the advent of spring, the season of rebirth!" She spun and raised her hands. "The flowers shall bloom once more! All the budding flora shall reveal their true selves for the world to gaze upon! The sights and aromas shall be most breathtaking!"
Fluttershy eagerly nodded in agreement. "I love going to the botanical garden in the springtime! If you're really lucky, you can see some of the flowers bloom right before your eyes! Oh, and all the animals that are getting ready to come out of hibernation!" She sighed dreamily. "Spring is my favorite time of year."
"A trip to the gardens sounds like a lovely future outing," Moondancer said. "In the meanwhile, we need to prepare our dazzling star for her performance this weekend!"
Sunset let out a disgruntled sigh. "Does this mean we're going--"
"To the mall!" Pinkie yelled, pointing a finger in its general direction.
"Of course we are. How very original."
Moondancer led them to the front curb. "There's nothing wrong with going to the central hub of cultural activities and exchanges. Besides..." A black limousine rolled up to them. "You'll be traveling there in style." She smiled like a cat.
Stars flooded Pinkie and Fluttershy's eyes, and while Sunset had never traveled by limo before, it being Moondancer's, her eyes were clouded with disappointment. She climbed in after Twilight, seating herself next to the mini-fridge, fully stocked as Pinkie soon discovered.
"To the mall please, Porter," Moondancer said to the small window at the front.
"Yes, My Lady."
Pinkie pulled a veggie plate from the fridge, trying not to look disappointed. "You're pretty responsible, Moony. If I had a limo with a fridge, I'd stuff it with cupcakes and ice cream."
"The thought has crossed my mind on many a stressful day." She took the plate from Pinkie and munched on a baby carrot. "But Twily here was always good at reminding me to stay healthy."
Twilight played with a lock of her hair. "Good nutrition is part of learning." She added in an under breath, "Unless you're Pinkie."
Sunset patted her on the hand.
Porter dropped them off at the mall, promising to only be around the corner if Moondancer needed him. The weekday crowd wasn't as bad as the weekend, but the mall still proved busy. Pinkie quickly excused herself to get a churro from the food court, no doubt to make up for the lack of desirable snacks in the limo.
"Now, what would be appropriate for your orchestra extravaganza?" Moondancer asked, circling Twilight in appraisal.
"Maybe something she has in her closet?" Sunset offered, leveling her hand.
"There's no fun in that. An event such as this calls for something new! Something exciting!" She took Twilight by the hand and led her toward the escalator. "Come, come! I think I have a few ideas!"
Sunset tilted her head back and groaned. The only silver lining to graduation is I'll never have to see her again. She and Fluttershy followed after, with Pinkie hurrying along, an extra long churro in hand. Just like their outing a few months ago, Moondancer led them into the more expensive stores where the clerks gave them dismissive eyerolls or annoyed greeting hidden behind wide smiles. They were particularly offended when Pinkie tried to walk in, still munching on her fried pastry, her mouth covered in cinnamon and sugar. Sunset volunteered to wait outside with her while the other three ventured forth.
"I don't get why you're being such a sourpuss," Pinkie said. She took a large bite of her snack. "Moondancer's just showing the depth of her affection for Twilight by buying expensive material gifts that ultimately fade with time. Probably because she has no idea how else to show it."
Sunset stared hard at her. "I can't tell if you're being hopelessly naive, or giving insightful advice in some vague way, and that worries me."
Pinkie smiled, her teeth stained with sweets. "I'm just saying you need to stop being such a grump to Moondancer. She's really nice and talks funny a lot. Plus, if Twilight was attracted to her at all, don't you think they would have hooked up a long time ago?"
"I know that, okay?" Sunset pinched her nose. "It's not just her touchy-feely and constant hovering and doting on Twilight. Pinkie, you might find this hard to understand, but some people don't mesh well with others. Me and Moondancer? We're just not compatible as friends."
Pinkie blew a raspberry. "Anyone can be friends with anyone if they try hard enough. You two just need to open up to each other."
"As I have told Moondancer, there is a long list of reasons why I don't like her and would rather jump off a cliff. Making friends is your shtick, Pinkie."
A surprisingly morose sigh came from Pinkie. "Fine. But you're just making this harder on yourself. When you and Twilight get married and have kids, guess who's probably gonna be the godmother."
Sunset sputtered. "M-married? Kids? P-Pinkie, what are... we haven't even... how do you..."
Pinkie made a snort and a laugh while Sunset tugged at her shirt, face red and warm. The other girls came out with Twilight carrying a bag over her shoulder.
"All done," Moondancer said. "Now, I shall relinquish my spotlight and implore someone else take the lead. I'm sure one of you has a destination in mind."
"Oooh, oooh!" Pinkie pointed up to the third floor. "Let's go to the arcade! I have a fever and the only prescription is the Dance Dance machine!" She didn't wait for anyone to agree or object and headed for the escalator.
The arcade sat in the back of the mall, a darker room lit by the flashing lights and screens of various games and machines. The collective colors against the ceiling made it look like a mini rave. Pinkie followed the obtuse patterns along the carpet to the dance machine. Two metal stages were hooked up in front of it and covered in arrows pointing in eight directions.
Twilight kept a fair distance back. "Oh no, I'm terrible at these kinds of games."
Moondancer pressed a finger to her cheek. "I do recall the time you stumbled over your own feet and fell off."
"Moony!"
"It's a fun memory, dear."
Pinkie jumped onto one of the platforms. "I bet you're really good at this game, Moondancer! Come on, play a round!" Her eyes narrowed into a competitive glare that would have made Rainbow proud. "I dare you."
Moondancer smiled coyly and stepped up. "Well, since the gauntlet has been thrown down, I suppose there is no other recourse but to show you the error of your ways in challenging me to a bout."
Pinkie tilted her head. "That was a yes, right?"
Sunset sighed. "Just put a quarter in and start."
Pinkie pulled a sweatband from her hair and pulled it over her forehead. "It's go time!" She inserted two coins for multiplayer, selected a song, and picked the highest difficulty.
Moondancer folded up her sleeves and made a quick stretch. "While I hardly classify this as dancing, expect nothing less than my very best!"
The song began and arrows flew up the screen, prompting Pinkie and Moondancer to move along with them, stepping with speed and conviction. 'Greats' and 'perfects' popped up in the corners in rapid succession, both girls never missing a beat.
"Whoo!" Fluttershy cheered in her modest voice. "Go Pinkie and Moondancer!"
Sunset saw the scores ticking up, the numbers tied. She wanted to scream at Pinkie to stomp Moondancer flat, but Twilight's jubilant bouncing helped keep her mouth shut.
Pinkie 'danced' with her usual abundance of energy, bouncing and stomping on the arrows. Her tongue poked out the corner of her mouth as she stared at the screen with a determined smile. Moondancer's movements were more graceful and refined, even for a video game simulator. Each step landed perfectly in the center of the tiles. Sunset had to give credit where credit was due: Moondancer knew what she was doing.
The song drew to an end with the scores still neck and neck. Both girls received a 'perfect' on their last arrow, and the numbers continued to rise even after the music faded. When they finally stopped Moondancer had Pinkie beat by only one-hundred points.
Moondancer took a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed her forehead. "And the star of victory shines brightly for me today! I must commend you, Pinkie. You put up an admirable challenge."
Pinkie had her hands on her knees. "Thanks... you were amazing, too," she said between pants. "I had a lot of fun."
"Would anyone else like to try?" Moondancer asked, gesturing to the machine.
"Pass," Sunset said. "If you need me, I'll be racing cars."
"That sounds like it could be fun. I'll join you."
Sunset didn't say anything. She turned for the racing machines and hoped the imaginary engines would be enough to drown Moondancer out. Twilight and the others branched out in the opposite direction, sealing Sunset's fate. She took a seat at one of the street racing games, Moondancer climbing into the one next to her.
"I've never driven a car before. Never had a need to learn." She inserted a token and examined the controls before her. "So the long pedal is the gas, correct?"
Nevermind, this should be good. Sunset gripped the steering wheel and smiled in superiority. Her red sports car rolled up to the starting line, Moondancer's purple car appearing next to her. Twelve engines revved as the starting lights changed from red to yellow to green. Sunset slammed her foot on the accelerator and took off, her speedometer jumping to eighty miles per hour.
Ramming a CPU out of her way, Sunset rose to fifth place. She spared a glance to Moondancer, who looked at the screen with a mixture of confusion and focus. She exaggerated every turn, yanking the wheel right or left to its full position.
"One of the competitors hit my car with theirs. Is that legal?"
"Anything goes in a street race."
"I'm not surprised you would know about that," Moondancer said under her breath, jerking the wheel again.
"For your information," Sunset said as she cut to second, "I've never been in any sort of race in my entire life. I just like to watch them."
"Hmph." Moondancer squinted her eyes. "Why are we driving through a park?"
Sunset almost laughed at how far back she was. "It's a video game. Calm down."
Nearing one-hundred and twenty miles per hour, Sunset caught up to the first place position as they came around the corner to the homestretch. She tapped their bumper hoping to get them to spin out. When that didn't work, she moved up to the side and grinded against them, slowly pulling ahead. The CPU fought back as the finish line neared, pushing against Sunset to try and regain some leeway, but Sunset wouldn't have it. She pinned them against the railing, making sparks fly. They fell back just as they both crossed the line, Sunset a whole nose ahead.
She rested her arms behind her head and sighed in contentment. "Still got it."
"You're finished already?" Moondancer asked. "No wonder I haven't seen anyone else." She took her hands off the wheel and shrugged. "This game amounts to unrealistic drivel anyway."
"You're just mad 'casue you're not good at it."
Moondancer stood and waved a hand. "There are no practical applications to this. I sincerely hope this isn't how you learned to drive."
Sunset opted not to answer that question. She moved onto the skeeball machines, Moondancer still accompanying her.
"Sunset, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for quite some time," she said, observing Sunset as she took the first ball.
"Of course there is." Sunset lined up the hole and rolled the ball up the slope. The machine made a happy buzz as she scored fifty points. "What is it?"
"How, and to a greater extent why, did you come to reside in the care of my aunt and uncle?"
Sunset froze, her arm drawn back in mid-swing.
Moondancer's smile grew ever so slightly wider. "Did I say something to offend?"
Sunset regained her composure and shook her head. "No. Just surprised you didn't know. I figured you would have asked Trixie or Artemis about that."
"I'd prefer to find out from the source."
Making sure to choose her words carefully, Sunset said, "I ran away from home. I worked for Artemis for a little bit, he found out what happened and offered to take me in."
"Ah." Moondancer folded her arms. "Suddenly your little bad girl motif makes sense. As a final act of rebellion against your parents, you ran from home. Sad if not typical."
Sunset gripped the wooden ball in her hands harder. Moondancer was unaware of how close to the truth she actually was. "You are aware I'm holding what could be considered a blunt weapon, right?"
"Oh, forgive me." Her lips curled into a smile and she lifted her chin. "Did I touch a nerve again?"
"You know, I'm starting to think there was no difference between you now and you being brainwashed by the Sirens."
Moondancer steepled her fingers. "I'm just trying to put the picture together. For the life of me, I can't fathom what Twilight sees in you."
"Right back at you." Sunset finally rolled the ball up the slope, grunting as it fell into the ten point hole. "The lonely rich girl who just wants someone to give her the love she doesn't get from Daddy. Too bad you're not gonna get it from Twilight, either. You don't have much room to talk about cliches."
Sunset looked at Moondancer, gaining immense satisfaction at her shock-filled eyes. "Two can play at this game, Moondancer."
"Girls, girls, look!" Pinkie bounded over, gesturing wildly to Twilight who stumbled behind her carrying an armful of tickets that extended to the ground and trailed behind her.
"Whoa," Sunset said, "how did you manage to get all those?"
Pinkie answered for her. "You know that machine that has all those little knobs in a circle and a light that spins around it over and over and over again, and you have to hit the button at the right time to win all the tickets? Twilight got it on her second try! It was super cool!"
Twilight blushed. "I just did some basic probability and analysis the speed of the signal. After one test run, it was just a matter of reflex. I'm actually surprised I got it so soon."
"So what are you gonna spend it on?" Pinkie asked, eyeing the tickets hungrily.
"There's nothing up there that interests me." She handed the tickets to an ecstatic Pinkie. "I just wanted to test a hypothesis."
"Yeee!" Pinkie skipped toward the counter. "Time for another bear!" They exited the arcade, Pinkie hauling a large blue bear on her back. Sunset had seen Pinkie's room, stuffed to the brim with stuffed animals, and wondered where she was going to squeeze this latest one.
Sunlight still poured through the multiple skylights. Checking her phone, Sunset was surprised to find it was barely five o'clock. "So, what now?"
Moondancer, having been quiet since Sunset's return fire, looked over to Fluttershy. "You've been fairly silent throughout most of our outing, dear Fluttershy. Is there anything you would like to do?"
"Oh, well, not particularly. I just wanted to spend some time with you all." Fluttershy played with the folds of her skirt. "I'm happy with anything you want to do."
Sunset put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, 'Shy, there must be something you want to do."
Fluttershy rolled a finger through her hair and looked over the glass railing. Sunset followed her eyes and chuckled to herself as Fluttershy faced them again. "Can we go to the pet store?"
With the stars in Fluttershy's eyes, Sunset couldn't have said no if she wanted to. They went down to the second floor and entered the small pet shop, their nostrils attacked by the intertwining smells of pet food and cage padding. Fluttershy ran to the puppy pen first, pressing her face against the screen and cooing while all the dogs scrambled over one another to get a better look.
The store manager allowed the girls to hold and pet some of them, of which Fluttershy took full advantage of, giving each puppy five minutes of her love. "Do you have any pets, Moondancer?" she asked while cuddling a Yorkshire Terrier to her face.
Moondancer sat with a Corgi on her lap. "Sadly, no. I was never allowed to own an animal companion for one reason or another. So I spent my time taking care of my garden and..." She cleared her throat. "Well, I've always wanted to have a cat."
After their puppy playtime was over, Fluttershy found the cat section and gladly gushed at Moondancer about all the different breeds and ways to take care of them.
"I'm glad we could spend a day like this," Twilight said to Sunset. "Moondancer looks like she's starting to get along with everyone."
"Yep," Sunset said through her painted smile. "Soon, we'll have to find a new name for our group. Hard to be the Spectacular Seven with eight of us."
"The great eight? The amazing eight?" Pinkie tapped her chin. "I'll have to give it some thought."
They left the pet store, Fluttershy in high spirits and still talking to an enraptured Moondancer about animals. The skylight in the mall's center told them they still had plenty of daylight to burn.
"So, who wants to choose next?" Pinkie asked. "I kinda wanna go to the party store to restock on supplies, but it's Sunset or Twilight's turn to pick!"
"To be fair," Moondancer said, "my pick was for Twilight. I haven't chosen anything that piques my interest yet. There's a cute little pottery store back on the third floor though."
"Tell you what," Sunset said, sliding a little closer to Twilight, "how about you girls continue to shop, while Twilight and I go grab a quick bite?"
Twilight looked at her with curiosity and eagerness. "Really?"
Pinkie made her eyebrows roll like a wave. "If you two wanted some alone time, you could have just asked."
Moondancer pinched her lips for a moment, then quickly brightened up with a light in her eye that made Sunset wary. "A fine idea! We three can do a little more bonding! And I enjoy hearing your deep reserves of knowledge on animal care, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy hid half her face behind her long bang. "Oh, it's not much," she said with a giggle.
"You're far too modest, sweetie."
"Then it's settled." Sunset took Twilight by the hand. "We'll meet up in an hour or so. Have fun!"
Twilight let out a giggle as Sunset led her away, but shifted nervously as they got to the ground floor. "I feel a little bad ditching them like that."
"We're not ditching them. We're just splitting up for a second." Sunset moved her hand to around Twilight's waist. "Is it a crime to want more dates with my girlfriend? And I mean ones where we aren't inside, studying."
"Study dates are fun!"
"And you wonder why I call you a nerd." Sunset planted a kiss on Twilight's forehead, then continued to steer her to the food court. She made a dramatic sweep with her arm. "Well, Your Nerdiness, take your pick."
Twilight nudged her in the ribs, then took stock of the open stalls. "I kinda want a milkshake."
"Seriously?" Sunset recalled their very first outing to the mall together, back when she could barely tolerate Twilight's presence.
Twilight appeared to be on the same wavelength as her. She shrugged guiltily. "I know. It's just... certain situations create stimuli in your brain that make you crave things to repeat the situation again if it was enjoyable."
Sunset pretended to think, tapping a finger against her chin. "So what I'm hearing is, you liked feeling my boobs up?"
Face redder than hot coals, Twilight flailed her hands. "N-no! I didn't! I mean, I did! I mean, not in that way at the time! I was just trying to help and they happened to be there!"
Sunset doubled over, her loud laughter catching the attention of several passerbyers.
Twilight slapped a hand back and forth against her shoulder. "You-are-the-worst!"
"Yes, but I'm the best at being the worst!" Sunset caught her breath and grinned cheekily at Twilight. "Look on the bright side, Sparky. If you want to feel me up now, all you have to do is ask."
Twilight huffed and turned her back to Sunset. "I was going to pay for you, but now, you can just watch me eat."
Sunset came up from behind and rested her head on Twilight's shoulder. "Awww. You're gonna let your girlfriend staaarve? I'll wither away to nothing without you!"
"Maybe I'll change my mind if you apologize."
Sunset kissed her on the cheek. "I'm sorry you're so adorkable and easily embarrassed. I just can't resist an opportunity to make you blush."
Twilight turned her head in a vain attempt that Sunset wouldn't catch the red returning to her cheeks. "That wasn't an apology."
"Well..." Sunset spun Twilight around and pressed their bodies close together. "We could have a sloppy makeout session right here, right now. Would that be enough of an apology?"
"Umm, umm..." Twilight shifted her eyes left and right. "Sunset, there are people watching."
Sunset inched closer, wiggling her eyebrows. She wasn't sure where this surge of playfulness was coming from. Perhaps it drew from her attempt to have as much fun with Twilight before they parted ways. "I'm willing to give them a show if you are," she purred. She could feel the heat radiating off Twilight's face.
"Okay, okay, apology accepted!" Twilight scrambled a step away from her giggling girlfriend. "I'll get you back sooner or later."
"I'll be waiting with bated breath." Sunset also considered this payback for everything Twilight had beaten her in. Maybe she couldn't win a chess game against the purple brainiac, but Sunset could embarrass her until she was pinker than Pinkie.
Their exchange had turned Twilight off of milkshakes, so instead, they got a large basket of fries to share. They picked a small booth and got cozy next to each other, occasionally feeding each other a french fry.
"I just remembered something," Sunset said, nibbling on a fry.
"What?"
"Most of the time we're like this, I end up spilling some sort of secret about my past, or some emotional trauma. Well, I'm fresh out today." She smirked. "But you never did tell me any of your secrets when we were on the mountain."
Twilight turned away. "I told you, I don't have any secrets to tell."
"Come on, Sparky, everyone has secrets. It doesn't have to be anything life changing. Come on, I want to get to know you."
In the intervening silence, Sunset dug deeper at the question of why she was doing this? Why try and deepen this bond? Twilight was leaving, and the closer they got now, the more it would hurt when they were torn apart. Yet, Sunset couldn't stop herself from asking--from wanting to know everything she could about the Twilight Sparkle curled against her shoulder.
Twilight played with a fry as she answered. "When I was four, Shining bought this stuffed horse for me. It wasn't even high quality or anything. It has buttons for eyes, and a pretty cheap mane. But I was just so happy to get a gift from my big brother, that I kept it and named him Smarty Pants."
Sunset shoved a few fries in her mouth to stop from laughing and interrupting Twilight.
"I can hear you snickering," Twilight said with a quick chuckle of her own. "It gets better. I used to have classroom sessions with Smarty Pants, trying to teach him whatever I learned in school."
Sunset allowed her mirth to escape, laughing softly as she cuddled against Twilight. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
Twilight's ears turned red. "When I get scared at night, I still pull him out and sleep with him."
A loud snort came from Sunset. She was glad she hadn't taken a sip from her soda. "So you sleep with a doll sometimes? Boy, you should be glad you didn't know me a year ago."
Don't you talk to a doll?
Nobody asked you!
Twilight faced her again, an embarrassed smile on her face. "That's the only secret you're getting out of me today."
"Which means you have more." Sunset twirled a finger around a lock of Twilight's hair. "That's fine. It gives me something to look forward to."
Twilight stuck her tongue out. "Okay, your turn."
"I told you, I really don't have anything left."
"Then... tell me three things you like. Things that aren't obvious."
Sunset tilted her head to the high ceiling. Three things she liked? What did she like that Twilight couldn't be able to guess? What were things she liked in general? She had a long list of things she hated or got on her nerves.
"I like... the smell of pancakes in the morning," she started softly. "Whenever my dad got weekends off, he would make pancakes for breakfast. Then, when I was Celestia's student, she would make these amazing decorated pancakes! Now, Selena makes them every once in a while. So... just smelling them cooking reminds me of... family."
Twilight pressed herself a little closer, and Sunset leaned into her.
"Let's see.... Despite thinking most music in this world sounds like garbled noise with some lyrics thrown in, I do have a soft spot for classic rock and roll. And of course, the music we made," she added, looking down at Twilight's raised eyebrow.
"And number three...." Sunset closed her eyes, feeling a somber nostalgia wash over her. "I... spent so many years making people miserable that... I forgot this one. I loved making Princess Celestia smile. The way she looked at me... I felt like I was the only pony that mattered. But, having friends, I realized... it isn't just her I like to make happy. I want to make sure all of you are happy. Not in the way Pinkie does it. Just that you're all okay and can go through life without having to worry. If I have the power to get to the heart of what's upsetting any of you, then I'll do it and make it go away."
Twilight placed a hand against Sunset as she leaned up to kiss her. "That was beautiful," she said as she pulled away.
As she settled back down and rested her head against Sunset's chest, Sunset laid her head atop Twilight's and asked, "So, what are three things you like?"
"Hmmm... I like... laying in the grass at night and looking at the stars. Not cataloging them or looking for anomalies, just watching them and imagining what it would be like to be in space. I like using the satellite maps online to look at places around the world." She giggled. "And, I like watching any anime or cartoon that takes place in space."
"You're quite the space girl, aren't you, Sparky?"
"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty 'out of this world,' huh?"
"You just had to go and ruin the moment, didn't you?"
"Payback for earlier."
Sunset let out a defeated sigh and nuzzled her cheek against the top of Twilight's head. Go on, say it! Sunset knew she was in the perfect position. A heart-to-heart with Twilight curled against her. A warm light rising from her core, flooding her entire body with positive vibes. She felt something. Was it love? Pure, honest, non-hormonal love? If she was being honest with herself, yes, it was.
The words stayed planted in her heart, never sprouting up to pass her lips. Her mind kept fast-forwarding to their farewell, whenever it would be. For it would come eventually; whether it be in a few months when Twilight left, or a few years when Sunset went home.
"Sunset?" Twilight said meekly.
"Yeah?"
She hesitated. Sunset could feel Twilight tensing up against her. She relaxed her shoulder again and said, "I... I'm glad we did this."
Sunset held her tighter. "Yeah. Me too."
*******
Moondancer folded her arms behind her back and dug her nails into her skin as she watched Sunset whisk Twilight away. Fury and longing stirred unpleasantly in her breast. But, she smiled like always, and tried to think of happy thoughts to help her stay in character.
"They're so cute together!" Pinkie said, putting her hands together against her cheek.
"Indeed they are," Moondancer said with a dreamy sigh. "I can only hope I find love like that someday." The best lies told had a grain of truth in them.
"They've both come so far," Fluttershy said. "Twilight was almost as quiet as I was, and Sunset... well..."
"She's a lot more fun now that she isn't a miss grumpy-pants anymore!"
Moondancer innocently cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
Pinkie raised her arms and place them behind her head. "Weellll, I dunno if Twilight told you or not, but Sunset wasn't always the nicest cupcake on the display table."
Is this where the last puzzle piece falls into place?. "Truly? I know she isn't the smoothest stone on the beach, but she seems well-mannered and well-meaning all the same."
"She had a really big change of heart after the Fall Formal," Fluttershy said quietly.
"Interesting. I simply can't imagine her acting malicious in anyway. It must have been quite the ordeal."
Pinkie led them toward the party store, walking backwards and gesturing wildly with her hands. "Oh it was! It was the craziest thing to ever happen to us! Until the Sirens came along later. But before that, it was the craziest! See, Sunset used to be really, really mean! Never understood why though. But she would do all kinds of terrible things to people! Then, she stole a magical crown from her world, but a princess came after her to get it, but Fluttershy found it and gave it to Principal Celestia thinking it was just the ordinary crown for the winner of the Fall Formal--"
"Pinkie!" Fluttershy clapped a hand over her mouth, her cheeks red. In a quieter voice she said, "I'm sorry, Moondancer. That isn't a story we should be telling."
Pinkie let out an uneasy chuckle, her cheeks darkening as well. "Yeah, sometimes I forget that's supposed to be a secret. Umm, please don't tell Sunset I almost blabbed." She gave Moondancer a puppy-dog pout.
"Fear not, dearest, Pinkie, my lips are sealed," Moondancer said, inwardly drowning in a sea of disappointment. Then again, not all had been wasted. She now had concrete proof that Lamia's vague fable had been correct all along. Sunset was indeed not from this earth.
A literal interloper seeking power from magical artifacts. Was her elimination of the Sirens just to remove any competition? But still, what was that entity she was so scared of?
Moondancer lingered silently behind Pinkie and Fluttershy as they did their shopping. She felt vindicated, yet confused. Sunset had wanted magical artifacts, wielded magic at the Battle of the Bands, but now, she seemed scared of it?
What was the missing piece no one wanted to talk about? |
Spectacular Seven | 11. Victory Run | As the last note of Twilight's solo faded out, Sunset's exuberant clapping held off the silence. Spike gave a few barks of approval as well, jumping onto Twilight's bed after she set her violin down.
"Thanks," she said, rubbing the palm of her bow hand. "I think that's enough practice for now."
"You've got every note down to a T," Sunset said, sitting next to her. "You'll sound great."
She scratched Spike under the chin while she cuddled closer against Sunset. "Thanks. I'm just a little nervous. I always worry that I'm going to be that one person who forgets their notes and then the whole piece is ruined, and maybe the audience doesn't notice but all of the other players do, and backstage they give you those looks of shame and--"
Sunset silenced Twilight's rambling with a kiss. "Sparky, relax. We'll all be there to cheer you on. If you get nervous, just look for us. But you'll be fine. I've never heard a bad performance from you."
Twilight's ears turned red. "Thanks, Shim."
Sunset cringed. "Okay, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. Not feeling the nickname anymore."
Twilight stuck her lip out. "But, I thought you liked it. It's cute."
"Eeehhh." Sunset moved her hand back and forth. "It's... not bad. I just think we can do better. Or we can default to 'Sunny.'"
"No, I want my own nickname for you. It's only fair." She knitted her brow, making the same determined face she wore whenever she solved a tough math problem. "Sunspot?"
"Nah."
"How about... Sun Sun?"
Sunset sighed. "You know, a nickname doesn't have to just be my name shortened."
"I suppose not. But your name's so pretty and versatile. It seemed easiest to make an abbreviation or alteration to it." Twilight pursed her lips. "Crimson Snark."
Sunset burst out laughing, falling back against Twilight's bed. "Let's save that as backup. I'm only saying that because I can't deny it."
Twilight made a short, disgruntled note in the back of her throat. "You're very picky, you know that?"
"I prefer to think of myself as refined, darling," Sunset said in her best Rarity imitation. She smiled when it got Twilight to laugh.
"Okay how about... umm.... Vesper Radiance?"
Sunset sat up and gave her a questioning smirk. "First, what? Second, that's longer than my actual name. Kinda kills the point of a nickname. Third, that's just a synonym of my name."
Twilight threw her hands up. "I was trying to think outside the box!" She crossed her arms and huffed. "It sounded cool in my head."
Sunset laid back down, placing her arms behind her head. "Vesper Radiance? I'll save that if I ever become a villain again."
Twilight fell into contemplation, leaving Spike's jingling collar as the only sound in the room. Then, Twilight shouted, "Sunnykins!"
"Yeah?" Sunset turned her head to Twilight, catching her excited eyes. "Oh! Yeah..." Sunset smiled. "That'll do." She jabbed at Twilight. "But only when it's just us."
With a new nickname decided, Twilight packed up her violin and the two girls started on their weekend homework. Their teachers were adamant on working them hard until the final day of school. At two o'clock, Sunset packed up her stuff and slung her backpack over her shoulder.
"The symphony starts at six," Twilight said she walked Sunset downstairs. "And they don't let people in late, so please get there on time."
"Don't worry," Sunset said with a wave of her hand. "Rainbow's track meet should end at about five. After that, we'll race over to the concert hall, piece of cake."
Twilight leaned up and gave her a long kiss. "Okay then. Tell Rainbow I said good luck."
"Will do." Sunset gave a two finger salute and ran out to her bike. She made the short ride over to Canterlot High, parking a block away. Cars were already lined up on the streets, and the parking lot was absolutely full. She walked toward the stadium, packed with students and spectators, their cheers filling the open air.
Sunset found her friends sitting in the front row on the home side of the bleachers. Pinkie had her hair tied into two puffy pigtails, and two large pink pom-poms covered her hands.
"Rock it to 'em, sock it to 'em!
"Bring up the score!
"Do it again, do it again!
"We want more! Whoooo, go Canterlot!" She waved her pom-poms around, jumped, and did the splits.
Sunset stepped around her and sat next to Rarity. "Have I missed anything?"
"A few races, but Rainbow wasn't in them. She's doing the one-hundred meter dash which I believe comes on in about twenty minutes."
Sunset looked out across the field. The athletes of CHS wore light blue sweats and jerseys, while their opponent were clad in a dark purple. "Who are we facing again?"
Fluttershy's face darkened. "Crystal Prep Academy."
"Isn't that where Twilight used to go?"
"Ah think so," Applejack said. She leaned back against the bleacher. "At any rate, they have a tendency to beat us in just about anythin'.
"And they're not even nice about it," Fluttershy said. "They all love to gloat anytime they beat... well, anyone."
"Just 'cause they go to some fancy school that can hire professional trainers and buy them state of the art equipment..." Applejack grumbled out a few more choice words under her breath.
Pinkie bounced up from the ground. "They usually win. But I've got a good feeling about today! Plus, have you seen Dashie? She looks totally focused and in the zone!"
Sunset looked onto the field again, quickly finding Rainbow's wild prismatic hair. She sat on the turf stretching out her calves. Indeed, even from her place on the sidelines, Sunset could see a fire in Rainbow's eyes.
"Yeah, but in a contest like this, it'll take more than one person having a good day to change the outcome, right?"
"You never know," Pinkie sang. "Either way, I think she's gonna have a good day. Go, Dashie, whooo!"
"Kick their butts, Rainbow!" Fluttershy bellowed.
They watched the men's one-hundred meter dash first, witnessing Thunderlane lose by a hair's breadth to Crystal Prep. The winner jogged over to the visitors side and made several dramatic bows. Back on the home side, Sunset felt the static charge of envy and frustration from the crowd behind her.
Rainbow stepped up to the line, jumping up and down to keep loose. She stood in lane three, between Flitter and a Crystal Prep girl with dark blue hair highlighted by a blue streak. The smug, pre-victory smile she wore made Sunset want to smack her.
Sunset and the girls pressed themselves against the rails of the bleachers to get the best view. As the starter walked up to the side of the track, Sunset could feel her own heart pounding in her chest.
The runners took their positions, squatting down and putting their back leg out, hands pressed into the track. The audience fell into a tense trance as everyone waited for the gun to go off. Even Pinkie and Fluttershy were silent in the calm.
Bang!
The calm shattered, and Sunset's ears were met with loud shrieks of, "Go, Rainbow!" She joined in the frantic cheering as well, adding her voice to the swelling mass of encouragement.
Rainbow and the Crystal Prep girl broke away from the others halfway down the track. They remained neck and neck, arms pumping as hard as they could. Rainbow leaned her body forward as the finish line neared, trying to inch ahead of her opponent. The other girl wouldn't be put back so easily, however. She drove her arms harder, pushing in front of Rainbow. Rainbow pushed back, creating a rapid back and forth all the way to the end. They both threw themselves across the finish line, running an extra twenty yards until they ground their heels to a halt.
"First, Crystal Prep!" the judge called.
"Augh!" Sunset threw her hands against her face and fell back into her chair, her crushing sentiment shared with the rest of the school. "She totally had that!" Down on the field, she saw Rainbow doubled-over, gasping for breath while the other girl stood over her, wearing her smug smile again. Rainbow flashed her a rude gesture and the girl laughed and walked away. "Man, I'm glad Twilight doesn't go there anymore. I can hate them indiscriminately now."
A few minutes later, Rainbow shuffled over, her forlorn frown dimming the fire in her eyes. "She beat me by a third of a second."
Fluttershy reached a hand down and put it on Rainbow's shoulder. "It's okay. We think you did great."
"Definitely one heck of a show to watch," Applejack said. "Ah'm sure you'll get her next time."
Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the track. "After the four-by-four at the end, there might not be a next time for me. This is the last time we face Crystal Prep." She punched her fist into her palm. "Just once I'd like to wipe that stupid grin off Indigo's face!"
"We know you can beat her next time, Rainbow!" Fluttershy said. "We'll be right here cheering you on!"
Pinkie rustled her pom-poms. "You've totally got it this time!"
Rainbow broke into a grateful smile. "Thanks, girls. In the meantime, I've got to rest up before the hurdles. See ya later!" She jogged back to the field.
"She does three events?" Sunset asked. "That's pretty impressive."
Applejack smirked. "Given her way, Rainbow would do all the events."
The hurdle events wouldn't start for another half hour. In the meanwhile, the girls got to watch more of the sprint races and some of the pole vaulting happening at the end of the field. Ditzy made an impressive vault over the previous Crystal Prep girl's marker. She was so pleased with herself, in a hurry to get off the mat, she stumbled and landed on her face. A moment later, she popped up again, still smiling like a champion.
The girl hurdlers lined up at the end of the straightaway. Ten hurdles stood between them and the finish line. Rainbow's rival didn't partake in the event, leaving her to glow with confidence. She took her starting position with the other competitors and stared down her lane. The tense quiet came again when the starter raised his gun.
"You think she's got this one?" Sunset whispered.
"I certainly hope so," Rarity said back. "As... well, Rainbow as she can be, I hate seeing her spirits crushed."
Bang!
Seven girls took off down the track, their steps precisely measured as they approached the first hurdle. Rainbow leaped into the air, clearing it with ease and taking a slight lead. She cleared another one, and another, making her way toward the finish line. Sunset saw a grin overcome her face, not just one of someone who knew they were winning--it was a smile of someone who loved what they did. Like Twilight playing her violin or Rarity sewing her dresses. Rainbow was in her element and enjoying every second of it.
Evidently, Fluttershy had landed on a similar train of thought for she was no longer yelling at the top of her lungs. She merely watched in awe as Rainbow took a clear lead and cleared the last hurdle and sprinted across the line.
"First, Canterlot High!"
A cheer rose up from the crowd, followed by an encore when Canterlot took second as well. Rainbow threw her hands behind her head and took a deep breath, but she couldn't hide her wide smile.
Leaning on the rail, Sunset turned her attention to Fluttershy, wiping a tear away. "You okay?"
"Mmhmm." She looked out at Rainbow. "I'm just really happy she gets to do this. She was so sad and scared when she broke her collarbone. I hate seeing her like that."
Sunset smiled. "Well, it's thanks to you she's out here."
Fluttershy looked down at her hands. "I know. I just wish I knew how I did it."
Rainbow stopped to talk to her dad at the other end of the home stands, then moved down to the girls. "First place and a new best time! Suck it, Indigo!"
"Congratulations, dear," Rarity said, keeping a fair distance from Rainbow's sweaty face.
"You were amazing, Rainbow! Those girls were trying so hard to catch up, but you were all like 'psshh, I'm Rainbow!' And you smoked 'em!" Pinkie said.
"You gonna have enough energy for the last race?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow took a deep breath and nodded. "I've got a little over an hour until then. Plenty of time to get my strength back."
Sunset checked her phone. It was a quarter till four. Almost on schedule. Rainbow went to go cool down before joining them in the stands to watch more of the events. Brawly Beats took first place in the mile for Canterlot High, with Curly Winds doing the same for the two mile.
While Fluttershy had fallen back to her usual demure quiet, Pinkie kept her cheers going with no signs of tiring out.
"Give it a throw!
"Give it a dash!
"Come on, Canterlot!
"Kick their--"
"Pinkie!" Rarity said with a gasp.
Pinkie turned around and blushed. "Sorry. Got a little too into it for a second."
As the girls started their two-mile race, Rainbow got up and stretched. "Better start getting ready. I'm up in two races."
"You can do it, Rainbow!" Fluttershy cheered as she walked away.
Watching the girls make their second lap around the track, a wistful sigh escaped Sunset. "You know... looking back... I really wish I had done things differently."
"What do you mean?" Rarity asked.
Sunset curled her fingers over one another. "I spent my entire school career driving people apart and manipulating everyone just so I could win a couple of school dances. All of that planning, and what have I got to show for it? Rainbow gets to look back and remember hard won games and a few trophies. When I look back..." She didn't even know how to finish the sentence. What would she see when she looked back?
"You'll see us!" Pinkie said shaking a pom-pom in Sunset's face. "Think of all the things you've done this year! You've made friends! You put together one of the best dances ever! You helped beat evil fish monsters! You had a late start, but you still did some super fun and super awesome things!"
"I know, but... three years of my life practically wasted over revenge..." A familiar hollow void pulled at her insides. She cupped a hand to the side of her face. She had wasted years on half-baked ideas and maybes while she played princess of a high school.
Another hand curled around hers and gently pulled it away. Applejack smiled at her with sisterly warmth. "You gotta take the good with the bad, sugarcube. No life is perfect, let me tell you that. And sure, you struggled a lot. But look where you are now. That's all that matters."
Applejack's warmth drove the void away. Sunset still had words to contest the point made, but found they died in her throat before she could voice them. She was among friends and she had to enjoy the time she had left. "Thanks, girls."
Rainbow ran back to them, an anxious grin wobbling on her face. "Bulk just blew away Crystal Prep with his last shot put throw! We're down by ten points!" She looked over at the race still in progress. "Even if Cloudchaser gets second, as long as we win the four-by-four relay, we can beat Crystal Prep!"
The girls all jumped up and cheered, Sunset especially, feeling her fire rekindled. "Go for it, Dash, you can do this!"
"Oh yeah!" She clenched her fists. "I'm the anchor for the team. And there's no way I'm going to let them and the rest of the school down now! I'm going to win this thing and show those prep school snobs not to mess with the Wondercolts!" She pumped her fist into the air, and a blue light burst from around her.
Sunset shielded her eyes from the brief flash. When she looked again, Rainbow had dawned her pony ears and wings. "Horsefeathers!" She and the girls quickly circled around Rainbow to keep her from view.
"What happened?" Rainbow asked, examining herself while she floated an inch off the ground.
"I don't know but turn it off," Sunset hissed.
"I don't know how! I don't even know how I turned it on!"
Sunset made an uneven smile as a group of onlookers glanced in their direction. "Try thinking about being normal or something," she said from the corner of her mouth.
Rainbow closed her eyes and scrunched her face up. She inhaled and held her breath, but only resulted in turning her cheeks purple. "It's not working!" she said with a dramatic exhale. "I can't go out there with these! People are gonna know something weird is going on!"
"Maybe it'll go away on its own," Rarity said with desperate optimism.
"We don't have time for that! I need to go warmup and practice the baton pass!"
Sunset opened her mouth to make another suggestion, but a second, smaller flash of light cut her off. When it faded, Rainbow was back to normal, running her hands across her head to make sure her ears were in the right spot.
"Or, that could happen." Rainbow stepped out from the protective circle. "Stupid freaky magic powers. Whatever, as long as it doesn't happen again." She gave the girls a quick wave and dashed off.
Applejack crossed her arms. "So, Sunset, got any ideas?"
"I'm just as clueless as you are. All I know is, Twilight is going to flip when she hears about this." They settled in and waited for the last races to begin. Sunset pondered to herself in the meanwhile, trying to think of possible answers to this new mystery of magic. First Fluttershy, now Rainbow. More proof that maybe their magic has grown so much, they don't need music. But there still has to be some sort of catalyst...
The runners for the four-by-four hundred meter race lined up on the side of the starting line. Flitter started for CHS, tossing the blue baton up and down a couple of times before gripping it tight. Sunset saw Indigo lined up with Rainbow, sparks flying each time they glanced at one another.
"One final race to determine which team is greater," Pinkie said dramatically. "Eight runners pitched in one-on-one sprints to the finish." She sprung into the air. "You can do it, Canterlot!"
The first two girls lined up at the starting line. With all of the other events complete, every eye rested on them. The starter raised the gun, and the crowd held its collective breath.
Bang!
Flitter and her opponent tore off the line, keeping shoulder to shoulder with each other around the first turn. Flitter kept a narrow lead coming down the first straightaway, but Crystal Prep wouldn't be so easily denied. The girl kept pace with Flitter, overtaking her as the came into the second turn.
The crowd cheered in full force. Screams and chants clogged the suburban air and rocked the stadium itself. Sunset joined them but held some of her enthusiasm back, waiting for Rainbow to take the stage. The two runners charged down the second straightaway to their seconds, hands extended to pass the baton. Both teams executed the hand-off flawlessly, with Lily taking Flitter's place. Though her movement was quick, Crystal Prep began to slowly open a gap. Canterlot responded with fervor, encouraging Lily to stay strong and run faster. She complied, and while she couldn't catch up, she stopped the gap from widening.
Lily handed the baton off to the freshman Vapor Trail who took out of the gate with shocking speed. Rainbow stepped up to the line, and watched her teammate edge closer to the front-runner. Indigo stood at Rainbow's side, twisting her torso back and forth, a victorious grin still on her face.
Sunset gripped the railing, holding her breath as Vapor Trail came down the stretch, holding the baton. Even from the stands, Sunset saw the beads of sweat gathering on Rainbow's brow, and the fidget in her eyes. The distance had closed, but Indigo still got her baton first, the Crystal Prep side of the stadium roaring with triumph. Rainbow took her baton, only for her fingers to bump against it, sending it spiraling into the air.
In that brief second, all of Canterlot High stopped breathing, their hearts frozen in their chests. Eyes wide with horror, Rainbow pivoted on her foot and reached her hand up, yanking the baton down and throwing herself forward at the same time. The students breathed again as Rainbow took off after Indigo, now twenty yards ahead of her.
"Come on, Rainbow!"
"You can do it!"
"Kick her butt, Dashie!"
"The only one yer allowed to lose to is me!"
Fluttershy just let out a loud scream of passion.
The volume of the stadium increased as, to Canterlot's delight, Rainbow closed in on Indigo. Halfway down the back straightaway they were neck and neck, bumping elbows against each other. A fire glowed in Rainbow's eyes, and as Sunset watched closer, that glow manifested around Rainbow's whole body. She pulled away from Indigo in the final turn, the crowd going insane. Looking between her friends, Sunset saw their cheers had faded as well, replaced by surprise and concern.
This can't be good.
It happened so fast, Sunset couldn't explain it beyond saying it was magic. Rainbow had come out of the turn, blue sparkles pouring off her, Indigo right on her heels. Then, for only two brief seconds, Sunset saw nothing but a multicolored blur. Indigo was suddenly alone. It wasn't until Sunset, along with everyone else in the crowd looked down past the finish line to see Rainbow doubled over but looking just as confused as everyone else.
"Uh... Canterlot first?" the announcer said as the stadium fell into a quiet murmur.
Indigo crossed the line at a much slower pace, eyes wide and mouth open in soundless astoundment. She pointed at Rainbow and said something, and Rainbow merely shrugged.
"Can someone explain what just happened?" Applejack asked.
"I think Rainbow just became the fastest girl alive," Pinkie said.
"And in front of hundreds of people," Sunset said, eyeing the baffled crowd.
Rarity made an uneven laugh and pulled on her twisted locks. "I'm sure we can explain away what the audience did or didn't see, right?"
"Just act casual," Sunset said, watching Rainbow talk to the official. "If anyone asks, we saw her cross the line, nothing out of the ordinary."
On the field, she saw the team beginning to come out of its shock to celebrate their come-from-behind victory. Indigo still looked more confused than angry, though there was a disgruntled flush to her cheeks. Eventually, another official ran over to the first and whispered into his ear. He shrugged and gave a thumbs up for the crowd to see. Rainbow jumped and punched the air before being swarmed by the rest of the track and field team.
"Canterlot High wins!"
The Spectacular Seven took a sigh of relief before joining in the jubilant celebration, ignoring the dissent cries of Crystal Prep. After the initial wave of team hugs and celebratory high fives, the girls made their way down to the field and pushed through the crowd. Rainbow stood in the nexus of admirers, looking surprisingly bashful instead of her usual post-victory pride.
"You moved so fast on that last push, I swear I didn't see you!"
"Yeah, me too! I must have zoned out or something!"
"You were like a blur! One second you were next to Indigo, then you just smoked her!"
Rainbow laughed and shuffled her feet. "Well, you know me. Just doing my best for the team." She looked at her approaching friends and gladly left her adoring entourage. "I swear, I didn't mean to do whatever just happened," she said in an urgent whisper.
"We figured as much." Sunset took her by the arm, recoiling at the warm sweat coating her. They moved over to the corner where the noise was a slight decibel lower. "So first, Fluttershy heals your shoulder, and now, you can run at the speed of sound."
Fluttershy threw her hands in front of her mouth. "I infected you! Oh no, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!"
"Fluttershy, calm down. I don't think it works like that." Although Sunset wasn't ready to rule it out altogether. She turned her attention back to Rainbow. "Before you went all superspeed, did you feel anything?"
Rainbow leaned her head back as she thought. "I guess I kinda felt a little tingly? I mean, I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary: heart pounding, lungs trying to burst, muscles telling me to stop."
"What about emotionally?"
"Well, I remember feeling I had to win otherwise I would let the whole team down. And the urge to beat Indigo just so I wouldn't have to hear her gloating."
Sunset cupped a hand against her mouth and hummed. "This is definitely something we need to look into later. I think we dodged a bullet this time, but between the Battle of the Bands and now, there's been too much magic popping up for my liking." She pulled out her phone. "Pegasus droppings! It's already 5:15! We have to go!"
"Aw man." Rainbow jerked a thumb back to the huddle of her teammates. "We still have to have our meeting, and I need to take a shower. You go on without me and tell Twilight I said to be awesome!"
"Got it! Come on, girls!" Sunset started a light jog toward the street.
"We'll meet you there, Sunset!" Rarity said. "Don't let us slow you down! You're the one she wants to see the most." She winked.
Sunset would have loved to retort but decided to let Rarity have her fun and moved onto her motorcycle. She pulled her helmet on, turned on the engine, and pulled out onto the street. With the meet over, traffic around the school piled up, forcing Sunset to go slow and wait in line for her turn at the intersections. With the clock ticking in her head, it was agonizingly slow. She finally escaped the crowded roads and zipped along to the freeway entrance. The setting sun glared at her from her side view mirrors as she headed east for the city.
She had no idea how much time she had wasted in the suburban streets, so she put the pedal to the metal and watched her speedometer tick up to 70 mph. She didn't maintain the speed for very long, remembering how the universe liked to mess with her at the most inconvenient times. It would be her luck to get pulled over today of all days.
The looming spires of the city drew ever nearer. Set against the orange sky, it was a picturesque look. She briefly admired it while she weaved between slower moving cars, shifting her focus entirely when she came up on a familiar looking black limousine. As she rode past it, she tried to look into its tinted windows, but only saw her reflection. Still, she had a very good idea about who was on the other side.
Suck it, Moondancer, she thought as she pushed ahead. Her exit was only one stop away now. As she pulled out to the exit lane, her bike made an unusual tremble, and a sputtering sound came from behind her.
"Baby, what's wrong?" Her motorcycle lurched again, and she could feel it slowing down despite giving it an extra throttle. She pulled off the road and slowed down, finding it near impossible to speed up again. The lights on her dashboard blinked, taking longer and longer to come back on each time. With a pitiful growl, her bike came to a complete stop.
Moondancer's black limo drove by. Sunset watched it turn onto the off-ramp and head deeper into the city. Coincidence? If it is, I'll eat my jacket. She turned off the dying engine and pulled off her helmet uttering a curse lost in the noise of traffic. She pulled out her phone, reading 5:34 on the screen. She still had time to make it. The question was, did she wait here and hope her friends drove past in time, or did she take her chances and try to get there on her own?
"I'd have to run the whole way there. And I'd have to leave my bike somewhere."
Yeah, but it's for Twilight. She'd do the same thing for you.
What does it matter? You're not going to stay with her for much longer. So you miss her symphony. Maybe that'll make saying goodbye easier.
She's still your friend. She still wants your support. You saw how nervous she was this morning. Plus, do you really want to miss her playing violin?
The decision had already been made with Sunset's legs carrying her and her bike down the exit ramp. It took her a second to come out of her thoughts and see herself moving on instinct. She wanted to say, 'take that!" but she wasn't sure to who.
Sunset got off the freeway and headed in the direction of Serenade Hall, walking her motorcycle in the bike lane and getting many odd looks from both pedestrians and other drivers. She finally found an open parking lot she could stash it in until she could get it towed back home. After she stuffed her helmet in the compartment under the seat, she broke into a brisk jog. "I can totally get there in twenty minutes! No problem!"
Having rarely visited downtown, Sunset had few landmarks to go on. She stopped at every street light to check the slow loading map on her old phone. Even so, she felt she was making good time, at least until she came up to a 'road closed' sign on her direct path. She turned back to the previous block to circle around it.
"The only reason I'm not mad," she said under her breath, "is because this still beats getting pulled over for speeding."
She increased the speed of her jog as her minutes ticked away. Thanks to the detour, she had to go two blocks north before she could get back to her path, and she was down to eleven minutes until the show started. Dropping any sense of courtesy she had, Sunset pushed her way past and around other pedestrians. She nearly knocked over an old woman, and while she shouted an apology over her shoulder, Sunset didn't bother to check if she was okay.
Karma can pay me back later.
Serenade Hall came into view, with only one busy intersection left for Sunset to cross. She jabbed the crossing button several times and pulled her phone out again. 5:59. Hopefully the attendants weren't as strict as Twilight said they were and would wait an extra minute or two before closing the doors. The concert hall was a modest sized domed building with a glass front. The front lights came on against the setting sun and showered the glass in a wave of changing colors.
The light changed and Sunset broke into a sprint, understanding how Rainbow felt during her races. She took the front steps three at a time and burst through the doors to the main lobby just as the attendant was closing the theater doors shut.
"Hold on!" Sunset said running up to them. "I'm not late!"
The man looked at her dully for a second, then rolled his eyes and opened the door for her.
She snapped her fingers and winked at him. "Thanks!" The lights of the theater hall dimmed as Sunset walked down the center aisle, purple velvet chairs fanning out on either side of her. Near the middle of the front three rows, she saw the backside of some familiar heads. She hurried down and took the only open seat left. To her dismay, it was next to Moondancer.
"What took you so long?" Rarity whispered from the row behind them. "You're almost late."
"The point is, I'm not." Sunset shifted her eyes to her left. "Moondancer," she said flatly.
Moondancer kept her eyes on the curtains. "So glad you could make it, Sunset. I was worried for a moment that you would miss out."
"I don't know what you did, but I know you did it."
"I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about," she said with a straight face.
"Ladies and gentleman," an announcer said through the PA system, "please welcome the Canterlot High Junior Orchestra."
The audience clapped politely as the curtain rose revealing three rows of well-dressed students and their instruments. Sunset's eyes locked onto Twilight, sitting in the front row, first chair from the center. She wore the outfit Moondancer had bought for her, a purple button-up blouse with a black jacket, and a long midnight blue skirt with glittering stars.
Twilight spared a glance from her score, smiled, and looked away.
Their conductor, Miss Harmony gave a brief bow, then turned to her students and lifted her baton. Off they went, violins, violas, cellos, flutes, drums, and horns all playing together in harmony and filling the room with sweet music. Sunset's ear picked out Twilight's part and followed along, getting lost in her artistry alone. Her sound wrapped around Sunset like silk ribbons--decorative and beautiful ornamentations that completed the present that was the orchestra.
During some of the slower pieces, Twilight would look up again. Every time, Sunset would see a hint of apprehension on her face, then her eyes would fall onto her friends and family, and she would smile.
When the first song finished and the audience broke into applause, Sunset forgot her place for a moment. She jumped and cheered, shouting, "Great job, Sparky!" She was promptly shushed by the surrounding crowd. "Right." Face red, she sunk back into her seat. If there was any consolation, it was that she had gotten Twilight to blush too.
An hour later, the students stood and took their final bow. It was only now that wild clapping was deemed appropriate. Parents and friends whistled and cheered, and some, including Moondancer, threw roses onto the stage. Twilight waved, grinning from ear to ear.
Families crowded the lobby as they greeted and mingled with the performers. "I'm so happy you call came to see Twilight," Velvet said. "It's so sweet of you."
"We were more than glad to do it," Rarity said. "Some of us don't get the pleasure of hearing wonderful performances anytime we'd like." She gave a sly grin to Sunset.
Once again, Sunset meant to supply a retort, but Twilight emerging from the back room cut her off. Velvet embraced her first, kissing her repeatedly on the forehead.
"Oh, baby, you were so wonderful up there!"
"Mom, stop. Please," Twilight said between her mother pinching her cheeks. "Dad."
Night Light eased Velvet off her. "You did a great job, sweetheart."
Twilight clutched her violin against her front. "I don't know. I think I fell flat in a few places. And I may have started a half second too soon in the second half of--"
"Nonsense, my little star!" Moondancer swooped over and hugged her tight. "Your performance was enough to please the gods themselves! Every stroke, every note, every action was pure poetry!"
"What she means is..." Sunset slipped in front of Moondancer when the hug ended. "You were great, Sparky and we loved every minute of it."
Twilight's cheeks turned red. "Thanks, Sunnykins."
Applejack snorted. "Sunnykins? Oh boy wait till Rainbow--."
Sunset wheeled around and pointed threateningly at her. "One word out of any of you, and I'm punching you in the teeth."
*******
Moondancer crossed the threshold into her home a little after nine, her soul uplifted by Twilight's performance. Of course, Sunset had managed to make it to the concert hall, but nothing was perfect.
"Ahem." It was said rather than made.
Hiding her displeasure behind a thin smile, Moondancer turned to Tempest, standing in front of the door to the parlor. "It's after eight. Don't you have your own hovel to sleep in?"
Tempest merely gestured with her hand to follow. Moondancer did as asked, finding an extra guest waiting for them. Lamia sat slumped in a chair, eyeing Tempest with open disdain. Moondancer took an armchair close to the unlit fireplace, placing herself between Tempest and Lamia. The hatred and loathing flowing through the room made Moondancer's skin crawl.
"All right, Moondancer," Tempest said in her infuriatingly neutral tone. "I've waited long enough. I want a report on what you've found. Or have you spent the entire time flirting with that Twilight Sparkle?"
"I have been giving my mission due diligence," Moondancer said, crossing her arms. "There's an art to espionage for those who lack brute force."
Tempest rolled her eyes. "Spare me your excuses and tell me what you know so far."
Moondancer made a mock courtesy in her seat. "I have confirmed what information our dear friend Lamia shared with us."
Lamia made a snort and slumped further in her seat.
"The other Sunset Shimmer is not of this world. She came here via some sort of gateway after stealing a relic from her own world. However, the relic is gone, and the gate is closed. In their place is a unique magic that seems to only manifest when they play music."
Tempest placed her hand her chin. "Hmm. It almost sounds like the Rainbow of Light."
"No," Moondancer said firmly, "a parallel, perhaps, but it is gone. They've never encountered the real thing. The source of the magic they've obtained appears to be inaccessible, but judging by the Battle of the Bands, they've absorbed some of it. That could continue to prove beneficial to us if we draw it out in the right way. Just look at the amount of magic we've gathered already."
"That's... true," Tempest said with an aggravated nod of acknowledgement to Moondancer. "Perhaps we could make use of them for a while. Is that everything?"
"Not quite," Moondancer said. She pursed her lips in thought. "While the majority of them are harmless enough, there remains the other Sunset. Her magic is... different. Stronger even. And tinged with darkness. She seems afraid of it."
Tempest looked over at Lamia.
"Don't look at me," she said with an annoyed shrug. "I don't remember her saying anything about that. Besides, she seems too touchy-feely to have 'dark powers.'"
Moondancer steepled her fingers together. "Dark powers or not, her magic comes directly from her homeworld. That could be dangerous to us."
"Anyone going to tell me what you guys are actually doing?"
Tempest ignored her. "If we could take her power and make it our own... this other Sunset could be useful to us. Besides, the soul of your doppelganger, Lamia..." Tempest fiddled with the amulet around her neck. "I'm interested to see it. You are to bring her to me."
Lamia sat up, eyebrows raised. "You want what? I'm sorry, did I forget to mention the part where she hates me? I doubt she'd be down for a field trip anywhere."
Tempest rose from her seat, black wisps snaking out of her left sleeve. "I'm sure you'll find a way. As long as it's discreet. Consider this your revenge if it helps motivate you."
"Well, when you put it like that..." Lamia stood and stretched. "But just so we're clear, this is the only order I'm doing willingly."
"Whatever puts you to sleep at night."
Moondancer stayed in her chair, watching the other two women depart. A slimy knot twisted in her stomach. She had just condemned Sunset to a grim fate. At the same time, she would finally see what Sunset was truly made of. And if there was a spell over Twilight, this would surely break it.
But if Sunset was innocent?
She brushed the thought away. Innocent or not, Sunset had crossed too many personal lines for Moondancer's liking. If this meant she wouldn't have to put up with Sunset any longer, she could handle a little more guilt on her soul.
Moondancer rose from her chair and swept out of the parlor. "Bishop takes knight. Have a good sleep, Sunset Shimmer." |
Spectacular Seven | 12. Sun Down | "I can't believe I missed you ponying up!"
Twilight sat Rainbow down in a chair and ran to her whiteboard. "This is our chance to find some sort of correlation between these phenomena!"
Sunset led Fluttershy to another chair and joined Twilight by the board. "Apologies in advance if she does anything, you know... Twilightish."
Twilight drew two large circles on the board, ignoring Sunset. "Okay, first, Fluttershy! Please, tell me everything about the day you ponied up and healed Rainbow."
Fluttershy tapped her fingers together. "There really isn't a lot to tell. I woke up, got dressed, and put together a little care package to help cheer Rainbow up."
"What did you have for breakfast?" Twilight asked, making tiny notes outside of the circles.
Rainbow rolled her eyes in scrutiny. "Is that really important?"
"I need to know all the possible variables! Magic is random enough; for all we know, you and Fluttershy had the same cereal and it gave you superpowers!"
Sunset leaned against one of Twilight's random lab machines. "With everything that's happened, sadly, she's not wrong."
"I had some yogurt with gram crackers, an apple, and a guava," Fluttershy said. "I don't think the guava was fully ripe, but it didn't taste unusual or anything. Then, I walked over to Rainbow's house. Nothing happened on the way there, in fact, I was kinda in a hurry, so I didn't even stop to say hi to the nest of bluejays on the corner of my street. I got to Rainbow's house, saw how sad she was and tried to cheer her up."
Twilight moved her marker into the circle. "What exactly did you say to cheer her up?"
Fluttershy looked at the ground and pulled on the end of her hair. "I told her she was a champion and that someday, everyone else would see it, and that she shouldn't let her injury get her down."
Rainbow's face turned red and she looked at the garage ceiling.
"Anything else?" Twilight asked.
"Just that I believed in her and would always be there to cheer her on."
Twilight wrote that in Fluttershy's circle. "Do you remember what you felt at the time?"
Fluttershy tried to hide her blushing face behind her hair. "W-well... I felt, um, empathy for Rainbow, and I just wanted her to feel better and know how much I cared about her."
"Hmmm." Twilight tapped the back end of the marker against her chin. "Okay, Rainbow, tell me about your day."
Rainbow cleared her throat, gathering herself after Fluttershy's remarks. "I woke up, had some eggs and toast and a protein bar, went to school, and gave the team a little pep talk. We're always a little on edge whenever we go up against Crystal Prep."
"Congratulations, by the way," Twilight said, looking over her shoulder. "I know CPA isn't the best when it comes to healthy school rivalries. Anyway, continue."
"Right. Well, it played out like any other track meet. Indigo beat me in the hundred meter dash, then I won the hundred meter hurdles. I was feeling pretty good about that. Then, I learned we had a chance to win if the relay team could beat CPA in the four-by-four. Since I was the anchor, a lot of the pressure was gonna fall on me to win. I told myself there was no way I was gonna let the team down! I guess that's what I was thinking when I ponied up and when I got that burst of super speed."
Twilight paraphrased Rainbow's words in the other circle. "A desire to win or make the school proud. And a desire to see your friend cheer up or let them know you care. They're both positive emotions, though I'm not seeing a direct link yet."
"I do," Sunset said, walking over. "It's their elements." She took the marker from Twilight and wrote the six elements at the bottom of the board. "Fluttershy was displaying her kindness by trying to make Rainbow feel better and being, well, Fluttershy, literally the nicest girl on the planet."
Fluttershy bowed her head again and muttered soft words of appreciation.
"Rainbow felt the urge to win not just for herself, but for her entire team," Sunset continued. "She couldn't bare to lose and let them all down. She showed deep devotion and loyalty."
Twilight's face lit up with understanding. "That makes sense. Maybe, magic has become strong enough in this world that instead of needing instruments, they just need to feel connected to the element the Equestrian magic gave them!"
"My thoughts exactly," Sunset said, crossing her arms in satisfaction.
"But that doesn't explain the healing or the super speed."
Sunset frowned. "Yeah, I still haven't gotten that far in the hypothesis."
Rainbow put a hand up. "So you're saying if I feel enough 'loyalty' I can pony up whenever I want to and possibly get my super powers back?"
"Well, there's no positive connection between ponying up and these new powers," Twilight said. "But that is what the current data suggests. I just wish we had more empirical data.... What are you doing?" She looked at Rainbow who had stood up and shut her eyes in tight concentration.
"I'm trying to feel loyalty." Rainbow clenched her teeth and fists.
Sunset scoffed. "You look constipated."
Rainbow exhaled and glared at her. "Thanks, you just ruined my concentration."
"Sunset, shush," Twilight said. "If Rainbow learns to pony up on demand, this could prove to be a great breakthrough with our research." She grabbed a pencil and notepad. "Go on, try again."
Rainbow moved to the center of the garage and began her concentration again. She kept had back straight and head bowed, standing for minutes on end, releasing an occasional grunt. Finally, she slumped her shoulders and sighed. "Can't do it. I could run and get my guitar instead."
"Uh, girls?" Sunset pointed to Fluttershy, her own eyes shut in focus. A pink glow hugged her body, and her pony features appeared in a flash of light.
"Not fair!" Rainbow cried. "How did you do that?"
"Oh, um, I just... well... I thought about how much I... care about all of you," Fluttershy said quietly, not meeting any of their eyes.
Twilight wrote with fervor. "This is amazing! This proves our hypothesis! Magic is getting stronger! Or, you're more sensitive to whatever magic is in this world. Either way, this is great! Now, how can we test if she has her healing powers?" She walked over to a cabinet, opened one of the drawers, and pulled out a dissection knife.
"Hold on there!" Sunset marched over and grabbed Twilight's wrist. "We're not cutting ourselves in the name of science!"
"It'll just be a little prick! Besides, I wasn't going to ask any of you to do it." She wriggled out of Sunset's lose grasp and put the knife against her thumb. Even as she pressed the sharp point down, Twilight couldn't bring herself to watch, turning her head away. Beads of blood bubbled up to the surface from the small incision. Twilight pulled the knife away and smiled uneasily. "See? Barely felt it." She walked over and held her thumb out to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy bit her own knuckle, but put her hand out and over Twilight's thumb. "I'm not really sure what to do. It sorta just happened last time."
"Just do what feels right," Sunset said.
"Um, all right." Fluttershy laid her hand on Twilight's and made a soft hum. The pink glow that usual manifested around her whole body concentrated around her hand only, and engulfed Twilight's as well. Twilight made a soft gasp, and when Fluttershy pulled her hand away, the cut was gone.
Twilight examined her thumb from every angle, mouth agape. "That's astonishing," she said in hushed awe.
"That still leaves the why," Sunset said.
"And the how!" Twilight exclaimed, coming out of her shock. "Does Fluttershy's magic accelerate the body's natural healing factor? Or is it something even more complex? We know she can mend bones but how far do her powers reach?"
"We are not testing that!" Sunset said loudly.
Twilight turned to her and laughed awkwardly. "Right, of course. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply." She cleared her throat. "Thank you both for coming over on such short notice and putting up with me. You've given me a lot to think about."
Rainbow waved a hand. "No problem, egghead. Today was gonna be a slow day anyway." She stretched her arms over her head. "So now what?"
"Well, I'd like to analyze all this data, but I don't have anything to code it against, so I'll have to keep making speculations based on our current--"
"I meant, what are we doing right now," Rainbow said impatiently.
"Oh, uh..." Twilight shrugged. "Did anyone have anything in mind?"
Once Fluttershy's pony features wore off, the girls moved to the living room to have a movie marathon. With the overcast weather outside, they had the perfect atmosphere for it. After their third movie they called it quits and headed home. Following the concert last night, Sunset had gotten a ride back to her motorcycle courtesy of Shining. She was scared she would have to get it towed, but when she tried to start it up again, it roared to life like nothing was ever wrong.
I will continue to blame Moondancer until proven otherwise, Sunset thought as she headed home.
Monday came too quickly for her liking. After another troubling dream, Sunset struggled to get out of bed, begging time to roll back a few more hours so she could get more sleep. Being the helpful dog he was, Spot aided by licking Sunset's face until she got out of bed.
She looked at her calendar, counting down the days until graduation. An unwelcome chill crept into the pit of her stomach. Just enjoy what time you have left. But how could she enjoy it when the end loomed so close over her head? The hollow void of regret returned, threatening to pull Sunset in. Why? Why had she wasted so much time trying to get revenge? Why hadn't she at least made a backup plan in case she failed?
Because you were so arrogant and egotistical, you were positive you were going to win. And she almost had won. She came within a hair's breadth of murder and attempting a coup of her homeland. The sting of that defeat used to nettle her heart fiercely. Now, she wasn't sure if she felt more joy from having been stopped, or regret from trying to do it in the first place.
And the question of 'what now?" wedged itself firmly in the back of her mind, making itself known every time her thoughts started to wander. Even her subconscious wouldn't let it alone. She couldn't answer. She hated her past and couldn't see a future. In that regard, she envied her friends. College letters and business deals and scholarships...
She felt her nails biting into her skin and unclenched her hand. Happy thought, happy thoughts. She would not let that disgusting feeling of envy overtake her. She had made her choices. These were her consequences to reap. But her friends' constant talk of their prospects were wearing on Sunset. She was happy for them, truly she was! But did they have to brag about it every chance they got?
No, they're not bragging! They're just talking! They're excited!
Really? Seems to me like they're rubbing it in your face.
Sunset smacked a palm against her mattress as she stood, startling Spot. She forgot to apologize as she got ready for the day.
Monday moved like molasses. Every time she looked at the clock, only a few minutes had gone by. She made absent minded doodles in her notebook to keep her thoughts occupied. After all this time, she could draw a pretty accurate depiction of Celestia's cutie mark.
Sunset managed to drag herself out of her funk by lunchtime, summoning the energy to smile and laugh with her friends. Yet, every time someone mentioned 'college,' Sunset's stomach made an uncomfortable twist.
"I got another scholarship offer in the mail today!" Rainbow said, setting her tray down. "It's not a full ride, but it pays a lot. Only downside is, the school's on the other side of the country."
"Yeah, that is a bummer," Applejack said. She then snickered. "But Ah'm surprised you're gettin' as many scholarships as you are. Ah've seen your report card."
"My grades are fine!"
Everyone made a snort of laughter.
"Screw you guys!"
Sunset left lunch with the slimy, twisting feeling in her gut, ebbed only slightly by the indignant pout Rainbow wore. Third period passed by at a crawl, making the last school bell a heavenly choir. She met Twilight by the front entrance and walked home to study together. Keeping her mask up proved difficult, but she pulled it off until they parted ways. Then, Sunset did it all again on Tuesday.
For the rest of the week, Sunset wore a mask of complacency, repeatedly telling herself she wasn't jealous of her friends, turning her frustrations at herself instead. It wasn't healthy, she knew. But she'd rather be angry at herself than them.
The mask could only hold so long though. And if any of her friends were to see through the cracks, it would be Twilight. She finally spoke up after school on Friday, while they studied in her room.
"Sunset, you seem a little... down recently?"
Sunset looked up from her history book. "I do?" Playing dumb was the only way she knew how to keep it together.
"Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, everything's fine," Sunset said, putting conviction in her voice without sounding too forceful. It took some work, but she could still lie when she wanted to. Her stomach roiled as a promise shot through her brain. She had told herself she wouldn't lie to Twilight. Not about anything important.
Well, my future really isn't important...
This involves her too! You're still lying!
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked, eyes soft with worry.
"Yeah," Sunset said, fighting to keep the irritation away. Maybe she still wasn't up to par with lying like she had in the past. "I promise, I'm fine."
Sitting in her rolling chair, Twilight wheeled her way to her desk. "Well, I'm all done with my homework. Do you need any help?"
"No, I think I got it."
"Okay. Then I'm going to look up a few scholarships. My parents made a college fund for me when I was a baby, and it can cover a generous amount, but I want to do everything I can to make sure they're not paying out of pocket." The light from her laptop brightened her face. "Besides, there's a couple I already saw that require creating new inventions! Doesn't that sound like fun?"
Sunset snapped her textbook shut and sat up from the bed. "Actually, I think I'm going to call it a night. It's been a long week, and I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow."
Twilight turned her chair and gave Sunset a concerned pout. "Oh, okay. Are you sure you're all right?"
"Yes, Twilight," Sunset said with a slight hiss. She took a breath. "Just a little stressed. I'll be fine."
Twilight stood and placed a hand on Sunset's arm, and for the first time in their relationship, Sunset wanted to jerk it away. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Sunset turned her head to hide her eye roll. "There really isn't anything to talk about."
"Sunset."
"Twilight."
There was a sharp pause before Twilight pulled her hand away and crossed her arms. "Fine. I can tell you're in one of your moods," she said with a harrumph.
Sunset looked back at her. "One of my 'moods'?"
"Yes. You get all crabby and start shutting everybody out," Twilight said pointedly.
"And then you try to wriggle your nose in anyway." Sunset's irritation bled through the cracks now. "Sometimes it's cute. Sometimes, it's really annoying."
Twilight puffed her cheeks out. "I'm just trying to help you."
Sunset breathed out some of the bite in her voice. "And I appreciate it; I really do. But sometimes, I need you to not do that."
"What, am I supposed to just let you be a grouch?"
"I'm only grouchy because you keep trying to pry."
Twilight turned away. "Sometimes, it's hard to believe you're older than the rest of us."
"Boy, why does that sound familiar? Glad to see you're taking the age gap between us well though." Sunset packed up her school supplies and threw her bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you later," she said stiffly.
Twilight at least looked Sunset in the eye as she left. Sunset still appreciated the concern.
Sunset cursed herself as she walked out onto the front porch and down the steps. She was going to have to apologize later. But she really didn't want Twilight to pry right now. What was the point anyway? Sunset was just being an over-emotional, bitter grump. And what was she supposed to say? She didn't want Twilight to leave because then she'd be lonely? That maybe, just maybe, she was a little jealous of her friends' lives? Twilight already knew how much Sunset loathed herself and her past actions, so that would just be a redundant conversation.
She walked through the quiet neighborhoods as dusk settled down, turning the street lamps on as the last natural light faded.
"Ugh." Sunset ran a hand through her hair. "This is the opposite of what Applejack said to do."
She didn't mean to push her friends away or shut them out. Some habits were just harder to break. Plus, who was she to rain on their parade with her woes?
Maybe pushing them away will make saying goodbye easier?
That's dumb and you know it's dumb. Just stop pouting! Stop overthinking and just go live! Race with Rainbow, throw a party with Pinkie, tell Twilight you love her!
Sunset stopped and blanched. Okay, maybe not that last one. Not yet.
Why not? her brain argued.
Because... because!
Oh yes, astounding rebuttal. You should join the debate team.
Sunset continued walking, scrunching her face. How am I this snarky even with myself?
Someone has to be with you. Seriously, what's stopping you from telling Twilight you love her?
Love is a complicated word--
It's not.
We're just teenagers; we don't know what love is--
Pretty sure you do.
She going away, so what's the point?
The point is that you love her. Who cares if she's going away, that doesn't change the way you feel about her.
Sunset really hated it when she had a good point. Lifting her head up, she found her legs had carried her to the park. She was halfway home. With a sigh, she dropped her head and buried her hands in her pockets.
"What about how she feels?" Sunset said softly to herself. "She gets to go off and meet new people and see new places. She has every opportunity to meet someone better than me. She chose me today. Maybe she'll choose me tomorrow. But when she doesn't have to see me anymore... when she forgets why she chose me..."
Don't say it'll all be pointless, because it won't.
Sunset supposed not. She would have the memories and feelings to hold onto. And like Applejack said, that was better than nothing.
The evening air proved cool, but Sunset still felt herself grow uncomfortable with her leather jacket draped over herself. Still, she kept it on, admiring the spikes along the cuff. She still couldn't believe Twilight had bought it for her as a Christmas present, and they had only been together for two weeks. Sure, they had been friends for a while before that, but it still remained a generous token of affection.
Do you really think she'll chase after someone else the second she leaves?
Sunset didn't know what to think. Maybe Twilight wouldn't do it on purpose, but someone more attractive was bound to show up eventually.
Like Moondancer?
I meant personality wise.
Sunset stopped, inhaled the pungent pollen coming from a nearby grove coming into bloom, and kept walking. Okay, let me entertain the notion that I tell Twilight I love her. What happens in two years when the portal opens up? That's a long distance relationship that can't survive.
That's if you go through.
What am I going to do here? Two years is already a long time to do a lot of nothing! Let's face it... I have to go back home. Which means I leave everyone behind.
Sunset paused again. Her slow gait had only carried her halfway through the park. Making friends back in Equestria wouldn't be so hard now that she was somewhat a better person. Not as hard as saying goodbye to these friends is going to be. The winding path between two of the wide fields offered a bench for her to sit at. A tree sprouting its new leaves stood guard over her.
Taking a seat, Sunset could see the spot she and Rainbow had come to blows before turning their aggression on Rainbow's old gang members. Sunset hadn't understood yet, but they had become friends that day. Turning her head, she could see the hill with a tree at the top, the spot she and the girls had their New Year's picnic. They had brought the year in by watching a spectacular meteor shower, curled next to one another under their mass of blankets.
Sunset looked up to the sky, watching the stars slowly fade into view. Maybe I am being too melodramatic about this. I've just... never had to say goodbye to anyone before. Usually I just... She cringed. Run away.
Yeah, we do have a fun habit of running out on those we love, the sinister side of her mind whispered.
Sunset shoved it away. The point is, it's gonna hurt. A lot. But being with them is better than sitting here alone. And even if me and Twilight don't go the distance... Her stomach fluttered. Maybe I should still tell her. If anything, for the people I never got to tell. Sunset rubbed the back of her head. Now, how do I do it? 'Twilight, I love you.' Yeah, that has all the emotional sentiment of brick.
Three of the nearby lamp posts sputtered then quickly went out, leaving Sunset under the cover of twilight.
"Finally! Do you know how hard it is to get you alone?"
Sunset jumped from the bench and swung around. Leaning against the tree was the older reflection of herself, only now, her hair was cut much shorter. It actually looked pretty good.
Lamia examined the back of her glove in an uninterested fashion. "You weren't joking about that whole friendship deal, were you? Every freaking second of the day, you're either in school or sucking face with your girlfriend. Makes me sick. And it's not 'cause I'm homophobic. It's just really annoying."
Sunset kept her hands curled into fists. "Have you been stalking me?" she asked indignantly.
"Yeah, for like a whole week. I've stalked bank owners who spend more time alone than you do." She looked up from her gloves. "Nevermind, that's a low bar to hurdle."
"Well, you got me alone now. What do you want?"
Lamia pushed herself off the tree. "See, I've got this... definitely not a friend... an acquaintance who wants to meet you. Now, I could sugarcoat it and lie to you up and down this park about how it's urgent or--" She clapped her hands together and fluttered her eyelashes. "--she needs your magic powers to help save her dying mother and blah, blah, blah." She folded her arms. "But we both know you wouldn't believe me, and I don't feel like putting in the work."
Sunset raised her fists a little higher. "You're right about me not believing you."
A wide smirk spread across Lamia's face. "At least the mirror me isn't stupid. So, no make-believe storytimes. My 'boss,' and I use that term loosely, wants to see you. Why? I don't know, but she's putting out some grim reaper vibes. Honestly, freaks me the fuck out. So, you can either pay me back for ratting me out by coming quietly, or you can pay me back by letting me kick your teeth in before I drag you away. Please let it be the second one."
Fists fully raised, Sunset took a fighting stance. "I'm not going to apologize for what happened. We needed the Crystal Heart to stop the Sirens."
"And look, they got it anyway and you still saved the world! Good for you, kiddo!" Lamia said in a mocking voice. "Everyone won except me!" She bared her teeth. "And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's losing."
Ultimate sense of deja vu. "Why don't you just go steal it again and get lost? Shouldn't be too hard for such a great thief like you."
"Flattery won't get you anywhere." Lamia slowly strolled around the bench, stepping onto the path. "Security around the heart has been tripled, and while not impossible, it's a lot more of a hassle with no guarantee of working out." She cracked her knuckles. "Now, back to the question at hand. Are you gonna come quietly, or am I going to have to force you?"
Sunset stood her ground. Sweat already coated her palms, and her heart pounded in her chest. She was sure Lamia had more combat experience than she did, but Sunset would make friends with Moondancer before she willingly surrendered.
Lamia took a stance as well. "Good to know that me in any world is a fighter. Bring it on, mini me."
Sunset took a running charge at her jabbing with her right fist. Lamia easily avoided it, shifting her weight to the left, then back to the right when Sunset followed up with a left hook. While her left arm was still extended, Lamia pushed it to the side and struck a quick blow to Sunset sternum, sending her sprawling on her back with a winded gasp.
"Oh, please tell me that's not all you got. That was pathetic."
With a labored wheeze, Sunset got back to her feet. She threw her arms up in time to block a roundhouse kick before throwing Lamia's own weight against her. Her fall turned into a backwards roll and Lamia popped up in an offensive stance, caught off-guard by Sunset's rushing assault. She managed to get one punch through Lamia's guard and strike her across the cheek.
Lamia reeled but didn't stumble back, grabbing Sunset's arm to both balance herself and toss Sunset to the side. Sunset hit the grass and sprung to her feet only to meet a knee to her gut. She fell back to the grass, propping herself up on one elbow while her other hand rested against her stomach.
"You know, part of me should feel bad about beating up a kid," Lamia said, lowering her arms, "but after fighting sword ninjas, mind controlling banshees, and a magic princess, I'm just happy to kick someone's ass again."
Magic princess? Sunset didn't have time to ponder the off-hand comment. A boot flew at her face, catching her ear as she rolled out of the way. She then swung her whole body around to kick her legs out to try and trip Lamia. Lamia fell back, hit the grass with her hands first, and pushed herself back up just as Sunset scrambled to her feet. Her ear stung, and any movement made her stomach clench in pain. I've felt worse.
She and Lamia moved at the same time, striking at each other with the opposite fist. Both of them connected against their jawline, and Sunset could hear a few pops as the pain spread through her mouth and up to her cheek.
The pain and every other sensation Sunset currently had flipped off like a light switch. The world went dark, and when it came back on, Sunset stood in the hall of an apartment complex. The walls were grimy, and the lamps gave off a sickly glow.
Sunset's hands were cuffed behind her back. The added weight of Officer Garrison holding her wrists kept her from fidgeting. She didn't lift her head until the apartment door swung open. Her mother, still dressed in her cleaning uniform, looked at Sunset with a mixture of heartbreak and frustration.
"No... Sunset, why?"
Sunset didn't answer. She blew a stray lock of hair from in front of her face, then gave her cuffs a rattle to tell Garrison he could let her go now.
"I hate to be the one to tell you this, Mrs. Gleam, but if we catch Sunset one more time, we have to take her in."
Sunset looked down and grinned. Guess I'll just have to make sure you don't catch me.
Both Sunsets snatched their fists back and stumbled away from one another. Sunset used one hand to massage her jaw while the other rubbed her temple. She had forgotten about the memory phenomena that occurred whenever she and Lamia touched.
Lamia cursed and popped her jaw. "Guess it doesn't matter what you see at this point." She rushed at Sunset, giving her no time to recover from the memory exchange. Sunset managed to raise an arm in defense, keeping Lamia from hitting her face again. Sunset then punched forward, but Lamia pivoted to the left and threw her fist against the side of Sunset's skull, sending her spiraling to the ground again.
A faint ringing bounced in Sunset's head, accompanying the throbbing pain, and within that ringing, she swore she could hear the howl of a wolf. Instinct told her to shut her eyes to dampen the pain, but pride and adrenaline told her to stand up and fight. She dug her nails into the grass, ripping out chunks as she got back to her feet.
Lamia clapped. "You're one persistent cookie, kiddo. And as much as I'd love to drag out the satisfaction of beating you senseless, boss lady is already testy with me for taking so long." She wiped a thin trail of blood off her mouth.
"So, time to end this."
"You can try," Sunset said, drawing up her infinite well of false bravado.
"Cute." Lamia flew at Sunset, faster than she had moved previously. She easily dodged Sunset first blow, ducked under the second, and side stepped her kick before jabbing out with two fingers and striking a spot between Sunset's left arm and collarbone. Her arm instantly went numb, leaving only the sharp sting of where she had been struck.
Crap! Sunset tried to retaliate with her good arm, but Lamia struck again, fast as a snake, and Sunset's other arm fell. With a single kick to her chest, Sunset fell back onto the grass, staring up at the stars until Lamia leaned over her.
"You're not bad at street fighting. But I know two martial arts plus that." She pressed her boot down on Sunset's arm. Sunset could feel some of the pressure but none of the pain. "You never stood a chance to begin with. Good effort though."
Sunset glared at her, cheeks burning from embarrassment. But, unlike her doppelganger, she had learned when to accept a loss. She had only one recourse left. She inhaled deeply through her nose.
Wham!
Sunset gagged violently and choked, flailing her head back and forth, unable to bring her hands to her throat.
"Oh, were you going to scream for help? Yeah, no. You're going to come quietly." Lamia moved her boot away from Sunset's throat. She pulled it back and kicked Sunset's rib next. "Hey, Sunset?"
Wham!
The force of her kick elicited another a choking gasp from Sunset.
"Stop hitting yourself!"
Wham!
"Stop hitting yourself!"
Wham!
"Stop hitting yourself!"
"St-stop it!" Sunset gagged out.
"Aw, is the wittle baby gonna cwy?" Lamia gave her one more kick then stepped away and pulled a phone from her pocket. "Fine, I'm done anyhow." She put the phone to her ear. "Come and get your laundry, Tempest. We're in Canterlot Park."
Sunset was grateful she could still turn her neck. A dark chill settled over her, making her hair stand on end. To her right, a dark void opened up from nothing. She gasped, wincing in pain when a woman stepped out of it.
Her violet hair stood tall and reminded Sunset of a mohawk. She wore a dark blue suit with a black jacket draped over it. She looked down at Sunset, her right eye scarred yet still functional and filled with an odd mix of apathy and intrigue. She turned her sharp gaze to Lamia.
"Did you have to do this in a public place?"
Lamia made an exaggerated shrug. "It was dark and fights happen here all the time. Plus this was the only time she wasn't surrounded by her entourage. Be grateful for once, why dontcha?"
The woman--Tempest, Sunset gathered--rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's just leave before someone walks through. Grab her and follow."
Sunset felt herself hoisted from under her arms and dragged toward the swirling darkness. "Help!" she tried to cry in her sore and feeble voice. Even she could barely hear it.
Tendrils of darkness creeped around her, obscuring her view of the park. She twisted the lower half of her body in a desperate attempt at freedom, but it did her no good. The darkness swallowed her, bathing her in its cold, unwelcoming embrace, both familiar and foreign to her. It didn't last long, thankfully.
The trio emerged from the darkness into a dimly lit room. The walls were steel and smooth, and the only furniture in the room was a wooden chair in the center surrounded by chains and manacles. Lamia forced Sunset into it and tied her already useless arms down along with her still kicking legs.
"What do you even want from me?" Sunset croaked, fighting against the painful lump in her throat.
Tempest stood before her. "That depends on what you have to offer." She looked up at the ceiling. "Good, she's already recording. Hopefully she'll get some good data out of this."
She reached into her shirt and pulled out a necklace with a golden triangle covered in odd carvings. It almost looked like the swirling lines were moving. Tempest held it up to Sunset's face, leaning in close. "Let's see just how deep your soul goes."
Something pulsed within Sunset. A warm sensation flooded every inch of Sunset's body, like someone had injected her with hot chocolate and pure love. Memories flooded her conscious, passing before her eyes like she was viewing them on a screen. She saw her parents celebrating her fifth birthday. She saw Princess Celestia welcoming her to their first private study session. She saw herself sitting with Fluttershy and Spot. Her and Rainbow having a friendly soccer match. Sitting with Applejack and her family around a freshly baked pie. Helping Pinkie bake cupcakes and ruining the kitchen in the process. Rarity presenting her Winter Ball gown with stars in her eyes. The Lulamoons gathered around a game board with Trixie boasting about her inevitable win.
Every memory of Twilight.
"How cute," a bored voice echoed from somewhere outside Sunset's peripheral. "But not what I'm looking for."
The pulse came again, only this time, it left Sunset frozen. Icicles filled her veins, and her happy memories faded into oblivion, replaced by everything she tried to push away. Sitting alone in the kitchen while she waited for her parents to come home. Celestia dismissing her after her tantrum and deceit. Cutting friendships up left and right and sabotaging anyone who got in her way. Putting on the Element of Magic.
No! Not that!
"Oh, I think we found a winner."
The icicles melted into burning acid. Anger, hatred, guilt, and regret rushed through Sunset. Her skin prickled then burned like she was being bitten by an army of fire ants. Her claws dwelled right beneath her fingernails, her wings waited to burst from her back. No! I won't!
"I can see it now. All that anger pushed deep down and locked away. Darkness and power leftover from before."
Sunset saw her friends looking up at her in horror. Her malevolent laugh echoed through the night. She put her hands out and generated a fireball, lifting it over her head before hurling it down.
"Wouldn't it be good to let that power out again?"
Sunset watched the five girls that had just ruined years worth of plans walk away, laughing and smiling with each other. They expect her to be friends with them? After what they had just done? Her blood boiled. Did they think she was stupid?
I am friends with them! I don't want that power back! Never again!
Yes you do. You crave it deep down. A chance to finish what you started!
No I don't!
"She has quite a resilience. Is that the source of your strength, Sunset Shimmer; these friends of yours?"
The Spectacular Seven, dressed in their ball gowns, gathered in front of the stage while Photo Finish set up her camera. Sunset found Twilight's hand and their fingers locked together.
"Ah, yes. But I see the fear that lingers beneath that. What happens when these friends are gone?"
"Girls, please... don't leave me alone." Sunset stood in the snow, watching all of her friends storm off in separate directions. It was all her fault. Even after she had tried to make up for her past actions, they came back to bite her and tear her friends apart.
Sunset slumped against the stage door, shoulder aching. Because of her, the world was going to be ruled by the Sirens. Her friends stood apart from each other, crying or fuming at their defeat.
Everyone she loved, she either hurt or abandoned.
"Please... just leave me alone, Sunset."
Look at all the pain you've caused, and the pain you've felt in turn. Wouldn't it be better to not have to worry about any of it. They're going to leave soon anyway.
Sunset looked up at her friends, walking away down the road to their futures.
"Sorry, sugarcube. We can't laze around forever; we've got more important things to do."
"Did you seriously expect this friendship to last forever?"
"I can't believe we made friends with such an underachiever."
"No, girls, come back! Please, I don't know what to do without you! Where am I supposed to go? What if I--"
A shadow appeared from behind and held her shoulders. "Relapse?" she whispered with insidious glee. "Yes, with no friends to support you, what's to stop you from going back to your old ways. Two years is a long time. Long enough to gain control of your powers and make a new plan to conquer Equestria. Look at them. They never cared about you anyway."
Warm tears snaked down Sunset's face as she watched them walk away. "No, we're still friends. And I won't give in."
Hot claws dug into her cheek and forced her to look into the eyes of her demon. "You have nothing left. Why resist now? This is your future! You have a chance to do something glorious! Let me take control, and I promise you a world of riches and wonders! We'll be queen of two worlds!"
Sunset stared into the black sclera, listening to the poisoned honeyed words. Her friends would leave, it was true. And somewhere inside, she was mad. Mad that they were going to abandon her. Mad that they got to move on and she didn't. Still mad that all her plans had been crushed in one, fleeting moment. But perhaps she could still salvage them. Have her old magic back and not be afraid.
"Yes, show me your true power!"
Power... magic... Sunset raised a hand to her demon. "You..."
Sunset's soul pulsed again, and light flooded through her, drowning out the darkness and making her demon cringe and hide its face. Six bright lights appeared in her mind's eye. Twilight, the brightest one, smiled at her.
"You really didn't think we'd just leave you, did you?"
"We're best friends, Sunset. Nothing like some silly distance is going to change that."
"Yeah, so stop pouting and give us a smile!"
The lights circled around her, and the burning prickle on her skin turned to soothing balm. She smiled and laughed, seeing her wonderful memories appear before her again. Their trips to the mall, the ball, the picnic, the sports games, her and Twilight curled together on the couch in the mountains. The light coalesced into a familiar sensation.
"What the...?"
Sunset's eyes snapped open and a wave of light exploded from her, sending Tempest flying across the room and onto the floor. Lamia, leaning against the wall, looked on in shock.
"You're never gonna bring me down..." Sunset felt her pony ears burst into life, and her hair flowed down into a ponytail. She grinned widely at her captors, savoring their surprised expressions. "You're never gonna break this part of me."
Tempest picked herself up and tried to regain her neutral expression. Her eyes narrowed in aggravation, however. "Your soul is indeed powerful. It's quite amazing actually. I don't think I've seen a force this high." She brushed herself off. "We're moving to plan B. Looks like the good doctor is going to get her experiment after all."
Sunset's confident smirk fell as Tempest looked down at her again and raised the necklace. Something in her eyes drove the warmth out of Sunset.
"If I can't break this part of you..." The amulet lit up, and despite its golden light, Sunset felt nothing put pure terror well up from within her. "I'll just have to rip it out instead."
The light intensified, paralyzing Sunset completely. Her soul, however, wildly flailed inside of her. Sunset couldn't comprehend what was transpiring. It was as if the tethers that kept her bound to this earth were violently being snapped and severed. Her chest ached, not from the beating she had received from Lamia, but a spiritual pain, greater than sadness or loss. Indescribable and mind-numbing, it rose, magnifying in intensity until Sunset screamed, the sound bouncing off the steel walls and slamming against her own ears. The snapping continued, and Sunset felt herself slipping out of her own body, falling into the amulet. It was all she could see: the bright light it emitted, the runes reaching out to ensnare her. It invited only pain.
Sunset couldn't fight it.
She didn't know how.
The world slipped away, dissolving behind her as she was sucked down, the last tether snapping free. She lost all sense of herself: her arms, her legs, her senses, even her memories seemed to fade away.
Twilight... I'm... sorry...
All of her, her very essence, was pulled into the abyss, her screams following close behind. |
Spectacular Seven | 13. Disappeared | Twilight's eyes opened, halting the dream. It hadn't been like most nights, where she would gently rouse from her slumber, fading in and out of neverland. No, the dream had simply cut off and she had been shoved back into the waking world. She raised herself into a sitting position, gently nudging a sleeping Spike to the side. Her eyes made out the familiar blurry blobs of her room. She groped for her glasses resting on her bedside desk and slipped them on, turning the blobs into vague outlines. Still, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She hadn't had a nightmare. There was no elevated heart rate, no irregular breathing. Only a pit gnawing within her. Not in her stomach, no. It ate at her on a deeper level. At her soul.
It was the foreboding sense that came when one knew something bad was about to happen. Something primal and instinctual, like gazelles knowing to run right before the lions came.
She checked her alarm clock. 12:37 A.M. She had been asleep for only two hours. As she looked about the room again, the outlines began to define themselves, and Twilight could make out the details in her bedroom. Her closet door was closed, as it always was when she went to bed. Her dresser was neatly organized, everything was in place on her desk. Twilight couldn't identify the reason she had been rudely aroused from her sleep, or why she felt so tense.
Sunset.
Twilight blinked. While she wouldn't outright dismiss the idea that her awakening had something to do with Sunset, it seemed redundant, since Sunset usually occupied a majority of Twilight's thoughts regardless. Especially now, after the way they had parted earlier.
Still, Twilight's brain honed in on Sunset, and her sense of foreboding rose, along with her pulse. Sunset was in trouble. But how could Twilight know that? More importantly, how could she prove it without looking paranoid? The last time she had called Sunset in the early morning was to make sure their dance and kiss at the Winter Ball hadn't been a dream. Twilight had bugged her four times before finally believing it enough to sleep. If she bugged Sunset in a similar fashion, she was sure it would only irritate her. And she was already on edge.
Still, her heart had not settled, and she had developed a tight knot in her stomach that made her queasy. Bad auguries to be sure. Maybe just one call to be safe? Sunset might even see it as a sweet gesture. Or she'd be more annoyed and snippy. Twilight was willing to risk that if it meant peace of mind.
She picked up her cell phone, which buzzed in her hand, startling her. She fumbled with it, having it bounce between her hands before she got a solid grip.
"Hello?" she whispered. Spike raised his head, now as awake as she was.
"Hello, Twilight Sparkle," Trixie said. Twilight already knew something was wrong. Her voice was missing its usual haughtiness, fake or otherwise. "Trixie apologizes if she's woken you up, but... is Sunset with you?"
Twilight's heart hammered faster. Stay calm, stay calm, this doesn't mean anything yet. "N-no, she isn't. She went home hours ago."
"O-oh." Silence. "W-well, she isn't here so I figured... but she's not answering her phone..."
"Okay. Umm..." Twilight bit hard against her lip, and her hands began to shake. "Don't panic. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this. Let me call the others and I'll get back to you."
"Okay, talk to you soon." The line clicked off, leaving Twilight's quick breathing to fill the silence.
Spike climbed into her lap and pawed at her, trying to get up and lick her face. Twilight absentmindedly petted him, still staring at her phone. There was a disconnect between her thoughts and actions. Her fingers searched through her contacts to find Sunset's number, while her mind played out hundreds of scenarios, positive and negative, in seconds.
Don't panic! The thought did nothing to calm her turbulent mind. She pressed her phone to her ear, listening to the dial tone once, twice, three times... four times... five times...
"Hello, this is Sunset--"
"Sunset!" Twilight cried, scaring Spike off her lap. "I--"
"--sorry I can't answer the phone right now. Leave a message, and if it's important, I'll get back to you. If you're Pinkie, please keep it under a minute."
The line beeped, prompting Twilight to say something, but she remained silent. She slowly lowered her arm and disconnected the call.
Don't panic... But the knot in Twilight's stomach had multiplied and grown needles. Even if she wanted to, she wasn't sure if she could throw up now. Okay, who else is up this late that she could be with? Her fingers dialed in Rainbow's number.
It rang twice before Rainbow picked up the line. "Hey, Twi. Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"Rainbow, is Sunset with you?"
The joviality in Rainbow's voice died. "No. But like, I was just thinking about her, and this is gonna sound weird, but I got... scared. Like... I dunno, like--"
"Something's wrong?" Twilight finished.
"Yeah. I'm guessing she's not at home, is she?"
"No," Twilight said, fighting to keep her voice level, "no, she isn't. We hung out today, but she left a long time ago. And Trixie called and said she hasn't come back home yet."
Rainbow swore. "Okay, let me call Applejack and Fluttershy, you call Rarity--"
A sharp ringing interrupted them. Twilight looked at her phone. "It's Pinkie. I think she's trying to make a group call."
"This can't be good," Rainbow said. Sure enough, as Twilight accepted the invitation, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy were added.
"Well," Rarity said, "judging by the conversation I had with Pinkie, am I correct in assuming you've all had a bad premonition about Sunset?"
There was a grim murmur of agreement before Pinkie spoke. "My Pinkie Sense has been going crazy, and not in the good way! My heart's been beating super hard, and my tummy's been upset!" she said with a distressed whine. "It's a really bad doozy, and I want it to stop!"
Fluttershy spoke next, sounding like she had just finished crying. "I h-had a terrible dream. Sunset was s-screaming in agony, asking us to help, b-but I couldn't reach her. Then... she disappeared."
Twilight's free hand gripped her blanket hard. "She left just before sundown, but Trixie says she hasn't come home." Her voice cracked and remained at a higher pitch. "She wouldn't just go off somewhere without telling one of us."
Without telling me...
Applejack spoke, "And with all of us feelin' the same thing? This can't be a coincidence. There must be some friendship magic at work. Sunset's in trouble!"
"So what do we do?" Fluttershy asked.
"We get out there and we look for her," Rainbow said firmly.
"Agreed," Twilight said, regaining a surprising amount of vigor in her voice. "Canterlot Park serves as a central location for most of us. Let's meet there."
There were no complaints about it being late, no suggestions to wait until morning, just determined agreements and promises to be there posthaste. Twilight hung up the phone and jumped out of bed, getting dressed in record time while Spike watched curiously from her pillow. Twilight paused in her haste and looked at him. Spike was no bloodhound but maybe he could help, at least emotionally. She patted her leg, giving him the sign to follow along.
Spike gave a happy yip as he hopped down, then rubbed himself against Twilight's leg while she tried to put his leash on. "You're going to have to be quiet, Spike. We can't wake anyone else up." She grabbed a flashlight from beneath her bed and scooped Spike up in her other arm.
Twilight gently pushed her door open, cringing as it creaked. She squeezed through and tiptoed downstairs, nearly tripping on the last step. The rest of the house was dark and quiet, punctuated by the absence of Shining's snoring.
Twilight slipped on her shoes and jacket and stepped outside, closing the door as softly as she could. She let Spike down, and started a brisk jog toward the park.
Numerous scenarios popped through Twilight's head again. Sunset had been in one of her moods. Did this have something to do with it? Or what if she had been kidnapped? Had the Sirens returned to extract some kind of revenge?
"Too many variables, not enough constants."
Her stomach squirmed. Frankly, she didn't care who did what, as long as Sunset was okay. Twilight had to hold onto the belief that everything would be fine. Anything else just made her heart ache.
*******
Twilight was second to arrive at the park. Pinkie was waiting at the top of the hill, under the tree they had gathered around to watch the stars on New Year's Eve. The leaves were returning, and small flower buds were starting to sprout. It might have lifted Twilight's spirits had she seen it in the daytime.
Instead, the colors were lost in the darkness, leaving just the outlines. The frown on Pinkie's face, however, was clear as day. As Twilight got closer, she could see Pinkie twitching and fidgeting. She didn't greet Twilight with her usual bubbly demeanor, just a pained smile. Twilight's own smile took a lot of effort to put on.
Rainbow arrived next, panting and resting her hands on her knees when she got to the top of the hill. "Sorry I'm late. It took me forever to find a flashlight."
Rarity came next, then Fluttershy, eyes red and puffy, followed by Applejack. Six flashlights lit up the dark, gathered at the base of the tree.
"Okay," Rainbow said, "where do we go from here?"
"I'm not sure," Twilight admitted. " In all likelihood, Sunset would have crossed through the park to get home. I thought here might be a good place to look for clues."
Pinkie nodded, still shaking. "My Pinkie Sense is still going off. I think something happened here."
"It's better than nothing," Applejack said, starting down the hill. "Fan out and search for anything suspicious."
The girls compiled without another word. Twilight stepped carefully, slowly drawing her flashlight back and forth across the grass while Spike sniffed around. She pulled her phone from her pocket every minute to see if Sunset had called her, spirits sinking every time.
Canterlot Park was large, consisting of three separate fields, a hill, a small garden, a gazebo, a playground, and a stream that led into a small pond. Twilight wandered down to the stream, crossing the bridge where she had encountered Sunset for the third time. It was at the meeting Sunset told her of the existence of another world where magic dictated the laws reason. Twilight hadn't wanted to believe her, but Sunset said it with so much conviction, Twilight had to wonder.
She looked over the bridge, shining her light into the water. It's not very deep. She couldn't have fallen in, could she? Twilight walked around to the banks, wanting to make sure no stone was left unturned. She followed the stream up and down, waving her light across the pond. She found a few annoyed ducks, but no Sunset.
Come on, Sunnykins, where are you? Twilight pulled her phone out once more. Still nothing. It was getting close to two in the morning. Twilight felt a tug of exhaustion, but her fear and adrenaline overrode it. She backtracked to the field in front of the hill, her friends slowly making their way as well.
"This is hopeless," Rainbow said, sounding more defeated than frustrated. "Even in the daytime, I doubt we'd find anything useful."
"She might have a point," Rarity said. "We need a different approach."
"Ruff!" Spike pressed his nose against the stone path, sniffing intently.
Twilight knelt beside him. "What is it, boy?"
Spike barked again and waddled toward a nearby bench, his tail wagging. He looked around intently, barked a third time, then looked back at Twilight.
"I think... he's trying to tell us Sunset was here."
"Ah know pets are smart, but he's not that smart, is he?" Applejack asked.
"You'd be surprised," Twilight said with a smile. "Spike, can you find Sunset?"
Spike pressed his nose to the ground again, tail wagging. He followed the path, zigzagging back and forth. Eventually, he came to a stop, sniffed the air, then let out a short whimper.
Applejack frowned. "What's that mean?"
"I don't know. Maybe he can't find her anymore." Twilight sighed. "It was worth a shot."
Rarity cast another look around. "I don't want to be a pessimist, but... this is becoming very serious. She's not at home, she hasn't talked to any of us since school ended."
Fluttershy wrung her hands. "She has seemed a little sadder than usual. You don't think she ran away, do you?"
"Out of all the possibilities, Ah hope that's the case." Applejack looked out to the distance. "Only questions is, why?"
Pinkie, who had been jittery and twitchy the entire time, finally fell still and collapsed onto her bottom. She let out a sigh of relief. "Bad feeling is finally gone. Maybe that means Sunset is okay!"
Twilight jumped to her phone and hit Sunset's number. Instead of ringing, it went straight to voicemail. Twilight's grip tightened into a vice and she had half a mind to throw the phone as hard as she could.
"Nothing," she said, tears stinging her eyes. "She's still not answering."
Fluttershy sat down next to Pinkie, and pulled her legs to her chest. "What do we do now?"
Applejack pointed her flashlight west. "We should probably go tell Trixie and her folks that we ain't found nothin'. They can call the police and get some official help."
Twilight smacked a palm against her head. "Of course! Artemis must have some sort of locator spell! He has magic! Let's go ask him for help!" She took off for the Lulamoon house, only slowing down when a cramp formed in her side.
"Slow down, Twi," Applejack said, easily keeping pace with her. "If he did, don't you think Trixie would have asked him about it first?"
"Maybe it didn't cross her mind," Twilight half-shouted, half-panted. The girls all followed her through the park and down the streets, coming to the light blue house with the tower sticking off the side. Twilight rang the doorbell and only had to wait three seconds before Trixie pulled it open.
"What are you all doing here?" she asked. Twilight saw she was still dressed in her day clothes.
"We went out to look for Sunset but couldn't anything," Twilight said. "Then we thought your dad might know a spell that could help find her."
Trixie rolled her eyes. "Yes, he knows a spell. It's called 'calling the police.'"
"What do you mean?"
Artemis appeared behind her, also dressed in his usual suit and cape. "She means magic isn't a cure-all for everything," he said, lacking his usual joviality and flair. He waved his hand. "Come on in, all of you. The police should be here any minute."
The girls filed in, moving through the living room toward the kitchen. Twilight's eyes glanced over the numerous pictures lining the walls, spotting a few with Moondancer in them. Twilight knew Moondancer's family was a touchy subject, but the fact that her relation to Trixie had never come up before still struck Twilight as a little odd. Why hadn't Moondancer recommended Twilight interact with Trixie when she moved to Canterlot High? In the four years Twilight had known Moondancer, why had it taken this long to meet family so close to her?
Twilight pushed the questions away as they entered the kitchen, finding Selena pacing back and forth. She tried to smile at them, but like everyone else, it came out pained.
"So if you called the police, I'm guessing that means there isn't some magic locator spell?" Rainbow asked.
Artemis leaned against the island table. "There are tracking spells, as in, had I placed one on her before she left, I could find her. And there are scrying spells which I could use to communicate with her, but they both require us to be next to pools of water. So, not very helpful. But no, there are no spells that just tell me where someone is at any given time. If she used magic, I could find her, but... there's been nothing."
"So the police really are our best bet," Applejack said.
"For now, yes." Artemis straightened up and smiled, putting some color back in his cheeks. "But, I'm confident Sunset is fine, wherever she is."
The remaining Spectacular Seven shared an uneasy gaze with one another. They appreciated Artemis' optimism, but Twilight had a feeling he didn't have the same foreboding knot in his stomach like she did.
The doorbell rang again and Selena rushed to answer it, followed close behind by everyone else. Twilight knew Shining was sleeping at Cadence apartment tonight, and wasn't surprised to see another officer instead of him. She recognized him as one of Shining's friends, Gaffer.
He looked at the present company packing the room. "All right, I can already tell this is serious." He gave a small wave to Twilight. "So, let's get straight to business." He pulled out a notepad and pencil.
Twilight spoke up before anyone else could. "Her name is Sunset Shimmer. She went home with me after school today, and left between 6:30 and 7:00. She... she said she'd see me later, but..."
Trixie picked up where Twilight faded out. "She never came home. She hasn't called or texted any of us. It's not like her."
"She always picks up when I call her," Twilight said, finding her voice again, albeit frail. "Now, it doesn't even ring, it just goes straight to voicemail."
Gaffer nodded solemnly. "Did she say she was going home? Maybe left any hints of going somewhere else?"
Twilight hesitated. "Well... I guess she never directly said... but it was strongly implied. She said she was looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow."
Gaffer nodded again. "And did she show any unusual behaviors recently?"
"She was a little distant this week," Fluttershy said. "She didn't speak a lot and she looked lost in thought."
The others turned their heads to Twilight. She bit her lip before speaking. "She was kind of... tense... and snippy before she left. We didn't... we didn't fight, but she was in one of her moods. I... I don't think she was annoyed enough to run away, but... something has been bothering her."
"We tried to search Canterlot Park for clues," Pinkie said, "and we think Spike might have picked up her scent, but... we couldn't find anything else."
"All right." Gaffer closed the notebook. "I'll need a recent photo of her and a list of places she frequently visits."
Artemis snapped his fingers and a photo appeared in between them. "Here, this should suffice."
Gaffer took it with a look of astonishment. "Uh, thanks." He pocketed the picture and the short list Selena wrote up. "We'll start a search at first light and put up flyers. Keep your phones charged and close by at all times. We'll keep you updated as well as we can. If you can think of any other information, give us a call." He tipped his hat and made his exit.
As soon as he left, Selena stomped her foot against the carpet. "Call it a gut feeling, but I know Lamia has something to do with this."
"The snake thief?" Twilight asked. "Why would she have anything to do with Sunset?"
Selena lifted her eyebrow like it was obvious. "Because she's Sunset's parallel in this world."
"What?" five voices shouted.
"You mean Shimmer was Lamia the entire time?" Rainbow asked, pressing her hands into her hair. "We made friends with an international thief?"
"And that thief is the human version of our best friend," Rarity said, dazed. "Oh dear."
"Why didn't Sunset tell us?" Twilight asked, bordering on enraged.
"I believe it was for your own safety," Selena said with a calming wave of her hands. "She took a risk telling me. Lamia threatened that if Sunset told anyone her identity, she'd retaliate by hurting all of you. It seems she's changed her mind."
"And we can't tell the police the person we're looking for is also the person who might have kidnapped her," Applejack said bitterly.
"She's also the one who stole an artifact from us," Trixie added bitterly.
"What? When did that happen?" Applejack asked.
Trixie looked at her with surprise. "A few weeks ago. She didn't tell you?"
"Seem like there's a lot of things she's not been telling us recently," Rainbow said bitterly.
"I'm sure she had her reasons," Artemis said. "We're not even sure what Lamia took. I think Sunset didn't want to bother you with such a murky topic."
Twilight kept her head down. Had all this secrecy really been for their own protection? Was that why Sunset was so on edge? Did she know a confrontation with her human counterpart was coming up?
"So where does that leave us?" Rarity asked after a brief pause.
"Up a creek without a paddle," Artemis said. "All we can do is look as hard as we can and hope to find something. That or wait until Lamia sends us a ransom."
"If she's willing to do that," Selena muttered.
"If she's the one who took Sunset," Rainbow said.
Selena sighed "It's late. You all should get back home and get some sleep. We'll pick up the search in the morning."
Twilight checked the clock, seeing time had marched onward to four in the morning. Her adrenaline had petered out, and the running had left her exhausted. Still, anxiety and uncertainty stirred in her stomach, making sure she would get no sleep tonight. She complied to go home though, departing with the rest of her friends. They walked back to the park and from there, Twilight got a short ride home thanks to Rarity.
"Are you going to be okay?" she asked before Twilight got out.
Huddling Spike close to her chest, Twilight shook her head. "No. What if she's hurt or worse? You heard what Fluttershy said--what we all felt." Her throat and chest tightened. "She's in trouble," Twilight said hoarsely. Tears finally found release and flowed down her cheeks.
Rarity pulled her into a hug, but Twilight could feel her body shaking, trying not to degrade into a sobbing mess. "We'll find her, Twilight. Everything will turn out fine, just you wait."
Twilight wondered if Rarity was speaking to reassure her or herself. Twilight thanked her and pulled away. Spike gave Rarity one last happy lick on the cheek, then Twilight got out and returned home. She made sure her entrance was quiet, and she snuck upstairs to her room like nothing had happened. She hoped to find Sunset in her room, milling about like nothing was wrong or hiding to deliver some cryptic message before vanishing into the night. But, her room was empty and exactly the same she had left it. She checked her phone one last time. Zero missed calls. No text messages.
She laid her head against her pillow, keeping her clothes and glasses on. As predicted, as tired as she was, sleep did not come for her. She watched the light of the new day rise through her window. She heard her mother get up and prepare for her shift at the hospital. Twilight continued to lay on her bed, eyes transfixed on her phone, mind still thinking of countless ways Sunset could be in trouble, ways they could save her, how things would go if they found her, how things would go if they didn't find her in time...
Bzzzt!
Twilight bolted upright and snatched her phone, a wave of euphoria and relief washing over her until she saw the name on the screen. Her heart leapt for multiple reasons now. If Shining was calling her then... She flipped the phone open. "Hello?"
"Hey, Twily," Shining said, voice apologetic. "I got to work and saw the news. You really haven't heard from Sunset?"
"No, I haven't," Twilight said, unable to hide the pain in her voice.
"It's going to be okay," he said softly. "I'm putting myself in charge of the search. We'll find her. And because I already know I can't stop you from looking, be careful and only go in a group, okay?"
Twilight broke into a watery smile. "I promise."
"You need anything?"
Assurance that Sunset is okay. "No. I think I'm fine."
"Okay. I'm a phone call away. So is Cadence. I'll keep in touch, okay?"
"Okay."
"Love you."
"Love you too, BBBFF." She clicked the phone off and laid it back on her bedside table.
Love. Why hadn't she said it before? She had so many opportunities, so many chances when it was just the two of them. This was love she was feeling, right? It had to be. It felt like how other characters in her books described it. And she was pretty much living in a fantasy novel now.
I'm only seventeen. Do I really know what love feels like? Love or not, she needed to find Sunset. A pang of longing shot through her heart. Even if this wasn't love, it was still friendship. Her alarm clock told her it was just after nine. She picked up her phone and dialed Rainbow's number first. It didn't take long for her to pick up.
"You ready to start searching?" Rainbow asked.
*******
The girls met in the back room of Rarity's boutique. Fabrics and papers with X'd out designs littered the floors. Twilight cleared a space on the modeling stage and laid out a map of the city and surrounding area. She circled Canterlot Park with a red marker.
"If we work under the assumption that Sunset did in fact walk to the park and disappear from there, that gives us a central point to work out from. The park is close to the middle of the new suburban area." Twilight drew red arrows moving out in all directions. "However, it still gives us an extremely wide range of ground to cover.
"If Sunset has been..." her throat caught again. "Kidnapped, then the perpetrator has had twelve hours to escape. Worst case scenario..." she took a shuddering breath.
"Sunset's in another state," Rainbow said hotly. "But that's the worst case scenario. As far as I'm concerned, she's still somewhere around Canterlot."
"R-right," Twilight said. "The police will be checking all the obvious areas, leaving us to check places they won't think of, starting with the factory."
Pinkie smacked her forehead. "Duh! If Sunset's feeling super down and wants to hide, she'd go there first."
"Or if Lamia wanted to stash her there, it wouldn't be a bad idea," Rainbow said.
"'Cept Lamia would expect us to look there eventually," Applejack said. "Either she's not dumb enough to hide there, or it's a trap."
"Do you really think she'd set a trap for six teenagers?" Rarity asked, using Applejack's skeptical look against her.
"Ah'm just pointin' out the possibilities. Selena said Lamia was sore that Sunset ratted her out. Maybe this is her way of gettin' back at us."
Rarity rolled her wrist. "While I doubt this is the way she'd go about it, it wouldn't hurt to err on the side of caution. We can see if Selena or Artemis is willing to accompany us."
On the other side of the suburbs, the girls found themselves at the Lulamoon household again, invited in by Selena.
"Sorry, girls, I already checked the factory earlier this morning. Empty."
Twilight knew it was a long shot, but disappointment bubbled within her regardless. She laid the map out on the table again and X'd out the factory. "Okay. There's still plenty of areas left to check."
Selena tapped an area to the north. "Artemis and Trixie went to look around the mountain base."
"Well, if they went north, how about we go south," Pinkie suggested. She pointed to the Everfree Forest.
"Best we do it now before the forest gets too dark," Applejack said.
The girls rode out again, Selena opting to stay behind on the off chance Sunset returned, or if the police or Lamia called. The girls pulled onto the dirt road leading to Sweet Apple Acres, only they continued south past the farm to the entrance of the forest. The road came to a dead end, the path blocked by a 'No entrance' sign on a wooden fence.
"We know this is a long shot, right?" Applejack asked as she got out of her truck. "The forest is huge and hard to navigate. Even if she is in there, it'd be like finding a needle in a haystack."
"Applejack, while I appreciate your realism, could you try to show just a little bit of optimism," Rarity asked with a testy edge to her voice. "Sunset is somewhere and we're going to find her."
Applejack brought her hat lower over her eyes. "Sorry, Ah just... Ah'm keepin' mah guard up just in case..."
"That's not gonna happen!" Rainbow shouted, tears in the corners of her eyes. "Sunset's alive! We'll find her, we'll hug, she'll pretend to complain about it, and if we have to fight somebody to save her, then I'm ready to throw down!" In a brilliant flash of blue light, her pony ears, wings, and hair extensions appeared. "Oh, now you wanna show up again!"
Normally, Twilight would have marveled at the magic phenomenon before her. Now, it only served as another reminder that Sunset wasn't with her to speculate or reel her in when she got carried away.
"Wait!" Twilight pointed up to the treetops. "Rainbow, you can use your wings to fly over the forest and give us an aerial view!"
Rainbow put on a determined grin. "On it!" With one flap of her wings, she zipped into the air and took off.
"Stay close!" Fluttershy yelled after her.
The girls climbed over the fence and landed on the forest floor. There was no official road to follow, so Applejack led them down paths she had traversed before. They stuck together in a single file line, as the dense foliage and tightly grouped trees wouldn't allow for anything else. Even for early spring, the forest was remarkably green and lush, like winter had never happened. Insects buzzed and chittered all around, reminding the girls whose territory they were in.
Their cries for Sunset almost drowned out the insect chatter, each of them taking a turn to make a continuous round. Still, no one ever answered their call.
A clearing came up, allowing them to take a short break from their hike. Rainbow descended and hovered just off the ground. "Man, the forest goes on forever."
"And we'll search the whole thing if we have to!" Twilight shouted.
Applejack laid a hand over her face. "Twilight, let's be reasonable here. You're a smart girl. You know that ain't possible to do in any sort of reasonable amount of time, even if we got more people with us."
Twilight rubbed her tired eyes, feeling a sharp pull behind them. "I... I just... we have to try."
"And we will," Applejack said gently. "We'll do what we can, as hard as we can do it. Just don't ask yourself to do something you know you can't follow through with."
Rainbow muttered something that sounded close to 'hypocrite' and flew back into the air. The rest of the girls followed Applejack back into the brush, Twilight taking up the rear.
Don't do something I can't follow through with? Twilight furrowed her brow but flinched at the pain between her eyes. If it meant finding Sunset, she'd turn the whole forest upside down.
Her steps slowed as she processed the thought. If she was willing to do that for one person... yes, maybe it was indeed love. Teenager or not, Twilight couldn't ignore that spark in her heart every time she thought about Sunset.
But we've only been dating five months. I haven't even known her for a year! But she was ready to scour an entire forest for her. Of course, she'd do the same for any of her friends. But still...
"Incoming!"
Every head turned skyward, though they couldn't see much of it through the trees. They heard calamitous crash though, as Rainbow fell to the earth, branches softening her fall until she landed atop Pinkie.
"Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy ran over to them and knelt at their side. "Are you okay?"
Rainbow sat up and groaned, rubbing her arm. "Yeah, I think so. Just bruised this time. Pinkie broke most of the fall."
"Glad I could help," Pinkie said woozily from underneath her.
Fluttershy helped both girls to their feet. Rainbow's pony accessories had vanished, leaving Twilight to wonder what dictated their duration, and if it could be manipulated. She shook her head, reprimanding herself for thinking of anything else at a time like this. With Rainbow grounded, the entire party hiked on foot, spending hours on end zigzagging up and down through the forest. Twilight could never tell if they were exploring new ground or constantly making circles, though she trusted Applejack had some inkling of where she was heading.
Around four o'clock, they stopped at another clearing to take a water break. "Okay, y'all," Applejack said after nearly emptying her bottle, "it's time to head back."
"What?" Twilight jumped up from her seat against a tree trunk. "But we still have plenty of daylight left!"
"Yeah, but it's almost a two hour hike back to the beginning, and you don't wanna be out here at night," she said firmly. "We searched the forest all day and she ain't here. Let's move on to somewhere else tomorrow."
"We've barely covered a fourth of the forest," Twilight said, a surge of frustration rising. "We can't just move on!"
"Twi, there's only so much ground we can get to on foot. We can try again early tomorrow if you really want to, but even then, we won't get to half of the whole forest. It's best if we search the city and let the police handle out here. They got the tools for it."
Twilight wanted to argue but knew Applejack's logic was sound. She just didn't want to stop searching an area. It felt like giving up. And if Sunset was here somewhere and they didn't find her...
"Besides, Twilight," Rarity said gingerly, "I think we could all do with a little rest. I know most of us didn't sleep well last night."
With a relenting sigh, Twilight nodded in agreement. The pain behind her eyes was too much to ignore. While she doubted she would get any sleep tonight, closing her eyes for a bit sounded like a good idea.
Like Applejack predicted, the sun was almost gone by the time they reached the edge of the forest. They said their goodbyes, and Rarity offered Twilight a ride home again. It was a somber drive, beset with continuous yawns from both girls.
Twilight stepped through her front door and immediately felt the arms of her mother wrap around her. She gave Twilight a loving kiss on her forehead, numbing some of the pain.
"Oh, baby, Shining told me what happened. Don't worry; I'm sure she's out there. We'll find her."
It took every drop of her remaining energy not to break down in her mother's arms, but Twilight managed it. She remained nestled in the embrace for several long minutes though. When she did break away, her father was there to kiss and hug her as well.
"Do you need anything, sweetie?"
"Sleep, probably," Twilight said, mustering a smile. She kissed them both goodnight and retreated upstairs, Spike on her heels. Instead of lying in bed, she dropped into her chair slumped against her desk.
Her mother and brother liked to watch crime shows and mysteries. Twilight found them entertaining on occasion. She hoped to never have to live through one. They hardly ever ended with the person being found alive.
Her chest tightened. "Don't think like that. Maybe the odds are stacked against us, but we can find her. Magic and rainbows and super powers... they've already done the impossible. They've already done miracles."
Twilight's eyes drooped shut, letting her fall into something akin to sleep. "Just one more miracle... please." |
Spectacular Seven | 14. Sparks | Twilight settled into her seat at the front of her AP English class. Sunday had gone the same way Saturday had: long hours of searching with no results. While she had managed to get a few hours of sleep thanks to her mind forcing itself to shut down after being up for so long, her rest had been fitful at best. Her subconscious played out some of the scenarios her waking mind had conjured. She had seen Sunset held prisoner and experimented on by government officials, lost somewhere deep within the forest, left for dead in a ravine or river, and worse.
Eyes bloodshot and stomach misbehaving at the thought of food--though she knew her body was short on nutrients--Twilight had dragged herself out of bed and asked her father to take her to school. Her parents offered her a chance to stay home, but Twilight had never missed a day of school before. And if there was a chance she could learn something from any of the students, she'd take it.
It was not Luna's voice but Celestia's that came over the PA just as the instruction bell rang. "Good morning, students," she said solemnly. "I'm afraid I have troubling news to bring you. Early Saturday morning, our very own Sunset Shimmer was reported missing."
Murmurs rippled through the classroom. Twilight strained her ears trying to pick out any of the conversations, but Celestia's echoing voice made it impossible.
"If you have seen her or have any knowledge about where she might be, please contact the police. There are many, myself and Luna included, who would love to see her safe and sound."
Celestia read through the rest of the general announcements, then left the school to continue with their day. The hushed whispers died away, and Twilight, who kept her gaze down on her desk, felt the weight of twenty pairs of eyes on her back. She looked to her left, catching one of the students jerk their head toward the board.
Right. Sunset and I dating wasn't exactly a secret. They're going to look at me as the epicenter of all this. The girls, too. Twilight clenched her fists under her desk wondering how many times she was going to hear 'I'm so sorry.' Or worse, how many people would secretly be happy Sunset was gone. Despite Sunset's turn around, Twilight still heard whispers and mutterings of resentment for her past actions.
Sure enough, as soon as the period ended and Twilight headed for her next class, several students stopped her to give their condolences and hopes that Sunset would turn up soon. A few had the gall to ask her what had happened, and if she and Sunset had had a fight. Twilight had to fight the impulse, no doubt obtained from Sunset, to stomp on their toes and instead just walk away.
Lunch brought her to the table with all of her friends and, surprisingly, Flash. He sat close to Rarity and kept a hand on her back. Twilight could see she wasn't the only one who still hadn't slept well. Everyone had bags or bloodshot eyes. While a subdued atmosphere clung to their table, the rest of the cafeteria went on as if nothing was wrong. Only occasional glances toward the Spectacular Seven gave a hint of abnormality.
"So, what's the--" Rainbow broke for a wide yawn. "--what's the plan after school? Back to the forest?"
Applejack pushed her mashed potatoes around her plate. "We could try, but we wouldn't be able to go out much further before we'd have to turn around and get back."
"One more day can't hurt though," Rarity said.
"I can get the band to go with us too," Flash offered. Twilight must have looked at him with surprise, for he added, "She's my friend too. And, I treated her pretty bad during the Battle of the Bands." He looked away, a sad shadow over his eyes. "I know she said everything was cool, but I still feel like I need to make it up to her."
Pinkie, despite her haggard appearance, gave him a generous smile. "We'll take all the help we can get."
Moondancer walked over to the table and sat down next to Twilight in what should have been Sunset's seat. She did it with none of her usual grace and elegance though.
"How are you doing, Twilight? Oh, that's a ridiculous question to ask. I know how bad your heart must ache." She laid a hand atop Twilight's. "If you want for anything, I'll be here," she said with soft sorrow. "But I'm sure Sunset will come about soon, hale and hearty."
"Thank you, Moony," Twilight said, moving to hug her. Moondancer's warm embrace and scented soap aroma proved therapeutic and raised Twilight's spirits a little. "You'll help us look for her, right?"
"I'll scour the entire Upper Villa myself if I have to."
After school, the seven girls and Flash Drive made for the forest. Twilight brought along a topographical map to mark where they had been so far. They spent the entire late afternoon calling for Sunset and searching small alcoves and narrow crannies.
Yet even after they yelled until their throats were raw, they came back to the edge of the forest with nothing, not even a clue.
Shining came home with nothing to report, good or bad. The police search was made especially tricky because Sunset had no official records for them to work with, only the forged documents she had given the school, and Shining couldn't tell anyone else of Sunset's true origins.
Twilight barely slept that night, dreaming of Sunset hurt and abused somewhere. Twilight knew Sunset was stronger than her dreams liked to show, but there were some situations even Sunset couldn't fight her way out of.
Tuesday proved worse than Monday, for every class was a stark reminder that Sunset was absent. The seat next to Twilight remained empty, leaving her partnerless for chemistry and trigonometry. For the first time, Twilight found she couldn't focus on a word Ms. Vector said. Before, whenever she had been mad at Sunset, she could throw herself into her work as a welcome distraction. Sunset had at least still been there, looking sad or contemplative, her eyebrows slightly pushed together and her lips pinched or pouting depending on how bad she was feeling.
A tear splashed onto an empty page. Twilight's eyes focused, seeing she had only written the date at the top of her work. Her pencil hand shook. She looked up at the clock, relieved to see there were only ten minutes of school left, and disappointed she had done zero work today.
The bell finally rang, and Twilight shoved her things into her bag. She briskly walked down the halls and to the rotunda. Okay, maybe it's time to look somewhere other than the forest. Shining's covered all of the suburbs, but downtown is a big place We could try there today, and then maybe--
"Personally, I hope she stays gone. I'm not gonna miss her one bit."
It hadn't been very loud, but Twilight had picked it out like a criminal from a line-up. The girl stood on the other side of the rotunda, chatting to her friend with a smirk on her face.
Twilight wasn't sure what happened next.
Her body grew unusually hot and her vision dimmed until everything was a reddish haze. She felt herself move, felt her fist fly forward. As her vision cleared up, her breaths came out in labored gasps and her knuckles felt warm, like they had just connected with something. Tears streamed down her face. She unclenched her hand and wiped them away, then looked around at the silent onlookers ogeling in shock and awe.
Twilight looked down at her feet and saw the girl from before clutching her cheek and groaning. The dots lined up, and Twilight stumbled back. "Oh... oh..."
"Miss Sparkle."
She whirled around, her stunned horror evolving into pure terror and impending doom as Principal Celestia gestured for her to follow with only a finger. Luna passed by Twilight to attend to the girl.
Twilight followed Celestia, trying to think of something to say But there was little justification for her action. It was pointless; it wasn't going to bring Sunset back. Who cared what some random girl said? Her feet carried her to Celestia's office. It was the second time her body seemed to operate without her command. She sat down in the chair opposite of Celestia's desk and kept her head bowed.
"Twilight, I sympathize with what you're going through."
Twilight looked up into her principal's patient and sincere face. Even after that display of violence, she was still calm and collected. "You do?"
Celestia nodded. "You're sad and scared and angry deep inside. Situations like this are never easy to handle. What did Miss Willow say that brought everything to the surface?"
Twilight's blood boiled again. "She said she hoped Sunset stayed missing."
Celestia nodded and sighed. "Harsh words to be sure. You have every right to be angry, Twilight, but you know I never condone any violent actions, regardless the reason."
"I know. I don't know what happened. I just saw red and the next thing I knew..." Twilight deflated in her seat. "I'll accept any punishment you give me."
"One day of detention. I won't put it on your spotless record though. I also recommend a talk with our counselor if you don't have anyone else to talk to."
"No, thank you. I have someone else I can talk with." Twilight wasn't sure how much there was to discuss though. Celestia had said enough: she was sad, scared, angry, and tired. She stood and grabbed her backpack. "Thank you for... not suspending or expelling me," she said lamely.
Celestia gave her an understanding smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Twilight. Go home and get some rest."
Twilight thanked her again and took her leave. The second she closed the office door, she was accosted by Rainbow and pulled down the hall to her waiting friends.
"You actually punched someone?" Rainbow asked with an impressed grin. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."
"Twily, tell me you didn't actually stoop to violence?" Moondancer asked.
"I don't know what happened!" Twilight cried, the daze finally wearing off. "I just... reacted." Twilight had only hit someone once before, when she had found out the school president had gone out of her way to make Sunset miserable. Twilight had just barely hung onto her composure, but gave Lyra an open hand slap to the face. It hadn't been hard, enough to leave a red mark but nothing more. She had never raised a fist to someone and sent them to the ground.
Rarity laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I know you want to keep looking today--I do as well. But perhaps it's for the best if we all took a day to actually recover. I know it won't be easy but let's be honest..." She looked up at all of them, showing off her smudged mascara and blush that barely hid the bags under her eyes. "We haven't gotten much sleep recently and certainly don't look our best right now."
"Rares is right," Applejack said. "Let's take a minute to actually sit down and catch our breath. I know we don't want to, but we have to at this point. We're already runnin' on fumes."
Twilight wanted to object, but the rational part of her brain took full control again. She knew she was exhausted physically, and her emotions ran in so many directions, she couldn't keep track of them. Maybe she couldn't get sleep, but sitting down and forcing herself to eat something sounded like a good idea.
"My shift at Sugarcube Corner starts soon," Pinkie said, still trying her hardest to keep her upbeat tone. "I could bake us all some cupcakes."
Nutrition wise, Twilight knew sugar-loaded pastries were the last thing she needed, but sweets were also considered a comfort food. And if Pinkie was making them, who was she to say no? They walked down to the sweet shop, remaining silent a majority of the time. Just because they weren't searching for Sunset didn't mean they could stop thinking about her. Her face appeared on every street corner though. Twilight stopped and examined the missing poster hanging outside Sugarcube Corner. It was a nice photo, Sunset looking at the camera with her 'are you serious' eyebrow raised, and her tiny 'I'm secretly enjoying this' smirk.
Six bodies squeezed into a booth while Pinkie went off to work. Conversation still crawled at a snail's pace. The simple act of enjoying sweets left a guilty taste in Twilight's mouth. How dare she relax and try to have fun while Sunset was out there somewhere alone or hurt! She fidgeted in her seat, the guilt growing stronger.
Pinkie arrived with a platter of cupcakes with blue frosting before Twilight could jump up and leave. She picked one up and turned it around in her hand. Her stomach clenched at the sight of solid food, but Twilight forced herself to take a bite anyway. It tasted... melancholic.
"So, Twilight," Moondancer said as she unwrapped her cupcake, "have you decided what college you're going to attend?"
Twilight kept her eyes on her sad cupcake. She had put a lot of thought into it, and ultimately had a good idea of where she wanted to go. Still, she had wanted to ask Sunset for her opinion.
"I'm narrowing it down," she said. "Doing a lot of research into all the schools. Don't want to have any regrets, right?"
That at least put them on the topic of colleges again. Rainbow gushed about the soccer scholarship she had been offered. They talked about their hopes and fears, and possible career paths once college was over. The conversation killed an hour, at which the cupcakes had been depleted, and the girls slipped back into a lull. Twilight knew that was her cue to leave. If she went to bed a few hours earlier, maybe it would make up for the hours spent tossing and turning.
"I would be more than happy to see you home," Moondancer said. She stood from the table and followed Twilight's lead. "With a possible predator around, I shan't take any chances with your safety."
While a bit smothering, Twilight appreciate the sentiment and the company as she journeyed home. Her eyes found every missing poster on the way.
"Am I correct in assuming you'll be back at the search tomorrow?" Moondancer asked.
Twilight gave a single, firm nod. "We'll keep searching until we find an answer."
They rounded the corner and approached Twilight's house. Moondancer wore a deep and thoughtful expression. Twilight knew she had hit a new level of exhaustion when she thought she saw Moondancer's eyes flash red.
"Sunset is indeed lucky to have a friend like you."
Twilight stopped in front of her yard. "I'd do the same thing for you, Moony."
Moondancer's eyes glistened and she quickly looked away, her pale cheeks pink. "And I would challenge the gods themselves if it meant keeping you safe." She reached for Twilight's hand and raised it to her lips, giving it a soft peck. "Keep the faith you will find Sunset. Until tomorrow, little star."
"Good night, Moony." Twilight's hand fell limp at her side as Moondancer pulled away and glided down the road. Twilight let out a berating sigh, remembering the promise she still hadn't kept. She rubbed the spot Moondancer's lips had met her skin. If Sunset found out, she'd have a few choice words no doubt.
*******
Trixie dropped her bag next to the front door and kicked off her shoes. She made her way upstairs and peeked into Sunset's room, finding Spot curled on her bed like he had been the past few days.
"You miss her a lot, don't you?" Trixie scratched him behind the ears, getting a weak tail wag out of him. She missed Sunset a lot more than she expected to. A few months ago, Trixie had abhorred her. Now, it was like her sister was missing.
"Stupid Sunset. Working your way into Trixie's heart." Trixie sighed. There was no point in keeping up her act, especially without Sunset to play off of. She gave Spot one last rub, then retreated back to the hall. Sounds coming from the study piqued her curiosity, and she found her father rummaging around in the cabinets.
"What are you doing?"
Artemis got off the step ladder he had been using to reach the higher shelves. "I'm looking for anything that might help us find Sunset. Or Lamia for that matter."
"Any luck?"
"No. I tried a very rudimentary location spell I found in an old book. It was supposed to lock onto someone based on their earthly signature, or in modern terms, DNA. I used one of Sunset's brushes, but I suppose it wasn't enough."
Trixie slumped against the door. "We've searched around the mountain. Her friends have searched the forest, and the police have looked in the city. What if... what if we can't find her?"
Artemis wrapped her up in a warm hug and stroked her hair. "A Lulamoon never gives up. Even when the odds are stacked against them. We'll find her somehow."
"I want you to be right, but..."
"Staying positive is hard, I know." He released Trixie but kept his hands on her shoulders. "But, if you let those dark thoughts take control, you give the universe an opportunity to make them a reality." He stepped away and stroked his goatee, returning to his thoughts.
The front door closed, and a moment later, Selena stepped into the room. "I went all the way out to the beach. Nothing."
Artemis made a disappointing grunt. "I know there's a way to find her. Maybe that spell would work if I put more magic in it." He snapped his fingers and made a hop. "Aha! The Archon Amulet!"
He made it halfway to his desk before stopping and throwing his hands up. "That's what she took!"
"What?" Selena yelled.
"Wait, which one is the Archon Amulet?" Trixie asked.
Artemis pulled the chest out and opened it. "The amulet is a very old relic. It's supposed to increase the user's magic to their maximum potential. Maybe even beyond that. However, it comes at a price. The amulet itself was crafted with dark magic, and it taints the user's mind."
Selena closed her eyes in thought. "But why would Lamia take that of all things? It can only increase your magic if you have magic to increase. What would she gain?"
"She is a thief," Trixie said. "Maybe she stole it for someone else."
"But that still doesn't explain how she got into the chest."
Artemis snapped the trunk shut. "Merlin's beard, this can't be good. Lamia taking the amulet and Sunset going missing. The two aren't mutually exclusive."
"And now, there might be a third party involved," Selena said grimly. "Someone who can actually use the amulet."
The family fell silent. Trixie lined all the pieces they had so far in her head. If Lamia was working for someone else, it would have to be someone with extensive knowledge of magic. And if Sunset's disappearance was linked to this, it would be someone with a vendetta against her.
Trixie didn't rule out the Sirens, but after what her mother had told her, she doubted Lamia would stoop to working for them, even if they did have a common enemy. It still didn't explain how they knew about the amulet and how to get inside the chest.
That left Moondancer. Trixie saw the way she occasionally looked at Sunset. It was with the same disdain she herself had carried not too long ago. But Moondancer wouldn't stoop to this, would she? Besides, it still left too many open questions. Like, how would Moondancer have the other key if it was buried with Apalla? And how would Moondancer have contacted Lamia anyway? Besides, Moondancer didn't have any magic either. What would she want the amulet for?
So then, who did that leave as a suspect? Sure, Sunset had made herself a lot of enemies at Canterlot High, but over the last year as she changed her image, most of them were gone. Trixie hated to admit it, but she was one of the few who held a grudge so strong. If she hadn't been put in constant contact with Sunset, she might have attempted something this drastic eventually.
Trixie was down to two possibilities. Either Sunset had another enemy from her own magical world...
Or there was a traitor in their midst.
*******
Shining sat at the coffee table in Cadence's living room. One hand stirred a fresh mug of java while the other held onto his phone, waiting for a report he knew wouldn't come. He lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip, gagging at the bitter taste. He set the phone down and reached for another packet of sugar.
"Honey, if you add any more, there'll be more sugar than coffee." Cadence stepped out of the kitchen with her own cup in hand and sat down next him, pushing the mountain of sugar packs out of the way.
"I just can't get the taste right tonight." He tasted it again, the bitter swill burning his throat. He finally gave up and set it aside.
Cadence laid a hand over his. "Maybe it's not the coffee that's wrong?"
Shining sighed. He avoided Cadence's eyes and looked at the ceiling fan lazily spinning and eclipsing the dim lights every half-second. "I'm worried about Twilight... and Sunset. If we don't find her... I don't know if Twilight will ever recover. And..." He ran a hand down his face. "Uugh, I've been a real jerk to Sunset lately."
"Yes, you have," Cadence said bluntly. He flinched, but knew it had been well earned. "Shining, I know you mean well, but I think Sunset has proven she only has good intentions."
"I know. I just--"
"You're her older brother, and she was in a real bad situation once. Of course you're protective of her." Cadence never once raised her voice, yet Shining felt like he was being scolded all the same. "But Twilight is a smart young woman now. And maybe Sunset dresses like a rebel and can be a little hot-headed. She's been nothing but cordial to the entire family."
It was times like this that made Shining eternally happy and terrified that he would be marrying this woman. Cadence could read him like an open book, rationalize his fears, and make him see sense. Her ability at people reading came at the cost of an increased difficulty at keeping secrets or hiding his emotions.
"Do I even have to say you're right?" he said with a joking smile.
"No, but I want to hear it anyway," Cadence said with a smirk.
He leaned over and kissed her on the nose. "You're right. I've been way too uptight."
"Thank you." She flicked him on the nose. "And if you keep expecting something bad to happen, then something will happen."
Shining rubbed his nose. "Which is why I'm trying so hard to find her. I know it's not my fault but..." He sighed again. "Maybe if I find her it'll make up for earlier."
"A noble sentiment." Cadence stood up and took Shining's cup to refill it. Her apartment smelled like a breakfast diner with the overpowering aroma of roasting coffee beans. When she returned, Shining added three packs of sugar and one creamer.
It no longer burned his throat.
"Anything else souring your thoughts?" she asked with a knowing smile.
Shining took a smaller sip. "Not really. Just Harshwhinny breathing down my neck because of Sunset's sketchy file."
Cadence sat down again. "Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. How is her file giving you so much trouble? I know she's a runaway, but still."
Shining raised the mug to his lips but didn't drink. He had said one word too many, and now stood at a fork in the path. He could either actively lie to his fiance, or try to trust her with an insane truth he himself was still coming to terms with.
Given Cadence's knack for discovering secrets, it was an easy choice.
He put his mug down and looked her in the eye. "Sweetheart, there's something you need to know about Sunset..."
*******
Tales of Twilight's sudden sucker-punch made its way around the school, and many students chose to keep their voices a little lower around her. Twilight didn't mind. If they didn't have anything nice to say, she didn't want to hear it.
She felt a little more rested than yesterday, having eaten an actual meal at dinner time. Deep sleep still eluded her, but it was starting to get better. School proceeded as normal, only Twilight thought more about places they hadn't looked yet rather than what was being discussed in class.
School came to an end, leaving Twilight to face her first ever detention. Walking to the detention classroom wasn't as scary or foreboding as Twilight thought it would be. She remembered when she was younger, the possibility of detention terrified her. Perhaps it was Celestia's reassurance that this wouldn't appear on her permanent record that calmed her, or that Sunset had served far more detentions than she ever would and still proved herself to be a smart and kind person. If she had heard Twilight had received detention, she would have laughed herself silly.
Detention lasted two hours, in which Twilight spent most of it watching the sun slowly go down and take away valuable time she could have spent looking for Sunset. She was finally released just after five, and ran out to the front lawn to find five of her friends waiting for her.
Rainbow grinned and crossed her arms. "So, how was the baby's first detention?"
"Pointless. We stared at a board. I appreciate you all waiting for me though."
"I wanted to sneak in and throw another detention party," Pinkie said. "But Applejack told me two times might be pushing it."
Twilight pulled her map of Canterlot from her bag and rolled it out on the cement in front of them. "I've been trying to think of new places to look. I know Selena said she checked the factory, but how well did she check the surrounding area? That part of Canterlot is old and there are a few more abandoned buildings than just the factory. And if we still work under the presumption that Shimmer had something to do with it, the factory might have a clue laying about."
"Makes sense to me," Rainbow said. "Let's get to it!"
Fifteen minutes of driving brought them to Canterlot's seedier neighborhoods. The arrival of spring brought new green weeds to the cracks in the sidewalks, but little else had changed since the last time the girls had been here. They parked a block from the factory, near a group of houses. Twilight had a hard time identifying if they were still being used.
"Let's be careful goin' in," Applejack said in a hushed voice as they neared the side door. "Ah know Selena said she didn't find anyone, but Ah don't want this Lamia chick gettin' the drop on us."
Rainbow shoved the door open. "Even if she did, there's one of her and six of us. I'm sure we can take her."
But the factory appeared to be all but deserted. Dust mites floated through the hallway, and the hall lights looked dimmer than Twilight remembered. They stuck together and moved from the kitchen, to the factory floor, to the second story office which, while some clothes were left lying around, proved empty.
Twilight swatted some dust away and coughed. "I don't think anyone's been here for a while."
"So much for clues," Rarity said, pinching an old shirt between her finger and holding it as far from herself as she could. "Let's try our luck at some of the other warehouses."
The factory was one in a small string of blocky buildings with plots of dirt behind them. The first warehouse shared the factory's beige coloring and grime colored windows. Unlike the the factory, the side door was locked and the windows barred.
"Allow me!" Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out a bobby pin. "I've seen cartoon characters do this all the time!" She straightened the pin out and placed one end into the keyhole.
Applejack pinched the bridge of her nose. "Pinkie, this ain't a cartoon. Plus, Ah tried that before and it don't actually--"
Click.
Pinkie jiggled the handle and pushed the door open, wiggling her eyebrows at Applejack.
"Huh. Slap mah hide and call me Suzy."
Rainbow gave her a flat look. "In place of Sunset, seriously?"
The door brought them into a small closed off space Twilight presumed was meant to be an office. An imposingly large and empty room took up the rest of the warehouse. The fading light from outside compounded with the filthy windows made the room incredibly dim. The girls scoured every corner and shadow to make sure they didn't miss anything but came up empty-handed all the same.
They made sure to cover their tracks upon exiting, with Pinkie even re-locking the door behind them. The second warehouse proved much of the same. In truth, Twilight hadn't hoped to find much, but it still stung.
Dusk settled upon them as they exited the third and final warehouse, moving to the dirt plots behind them. A few mounds of dirt had been moved and some stone cylinders left behind, but beyond that, whatever construction was supposed to take place had staggered quite some time ago.
"Let's face it, there's nothing back here," Rainbow said, kicking the dirt.
"Should we go back to looking in the forest again?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight stared at the brown field and hung her head. She was running out of ideas fast, and with every idea spent, her hopes of seeing Sunset again grew fainter. Perhaps she had to assume the worst. Her heart constricted, shortening her breath. No, Sunset couldn't just be gone like that! It only happened in murder dramas and detective shows! Not to her, not in real life!
"We should..." Her voice trembled as did her hands. She held her wrist to try and get a hold of herself. "M-maybe we should... I-I think that..." The tears were falling again. Had she actually cried in earnest at hearing Sunset had vanished? No, she had been too shocked, then too determined. She tilted her head back to watch the stars start to come out. "Sh-she has to be okay. She h-has to be."
"Aawww. You really do care."
A swarm of butterflies brought a blizzard into Twilight's stomach. That voice sounded familiar yet... there was something twisted about it. It didn't quite sound human. She and her friends turned around, looking about until Pinkie pointed up to the roof of the warehouse.
"No way..." Rainbow stumbled back, face pale like she had seen a ghost. "No freaking way..."
Applejack put her hands up in a defensive stance, a cold sweat against her brow. "That... that's not possible!"
Against the light of the setting sun, Twilight could still make out the details of the figure sitting on the roof. Her skin was an angry shade of red, complimented by her yellow and black frock that barely held her bust in. Her black boots kicked against the top of the wall, the back heels sharpened to deadly points. She sported crimson wings punctured with small holes and gave them soft flaps every few seconds. Twilight couldn't tell if her red and gold hair was being tousled by the wind, or if it was actually fire. Despite the distance, Twilight could see the black sclera of her eyes, contrasted by her piercing teal slits.
"What is that?" Twilight asked, breathless, though she had a sick feeling she knew the answer.
"Sunset," Rarity said, just loud enough for her voice to carry upwards. "That's not you, is it?"
The creature uncrossed its legs and stood up, spreading her arms out. "Here in the flesh!" A feral grin spread across her face, revealing her white fangs. "Hello... friends." |
Spectacular Seven | 15. Scarlet Inferno | Twilight's mind refused to make that connection. This creature, this demon standing above her with claws and wings and fangs. This was Sunset? No.
Twilight took a few steps back with everyone else as the demon jumped from the roof and slowly descended, kicking up dirt with every beat of her wings. Twilight couldn't tell which emotion had more control right now, fear or disbelief. The voracious smile on the monster's face told her it should be fear.
"I'm actually a little touched," the monster said. Its voice was dark and deep, partway between a growl and a snarl. It sounded like Sunset, if she had been born in the depths of hell. "You all came out to look for little me? Truly, friendship is magic."
Rarity raised her hands in a placating manner. "Yes, we were worried sick about you, Sunset. We're so glad to see you safe and... safe. Why don't you tell us a little about where you've been?"
'Sunset' raised her claws and examined them. "I went out and did a little soul searching. I've been struggling for a while with the idea of what I'm going to do with my life." She clenched her fist. "And I realized, I got pretty far with my first plan. Until six girls decided to hit me with a rainbow," she growled, her hair billowing wildly.
Rarity took another step back. "How about we take a deep breath, Sunset. Yes, we hit you with a rainbow, but look how much better your life became afterward. You have loving friends, you have Twilight here, you have a home with people who care about you."
"And that's real cute and stuff, but tell me, what's the point of it all? Where will you all be in a year? Where will I be?" She drifted closer, a wave of heat radiating off her. "Friendship is nice, but it doesn't last. Friends grow up, they grow apart, friends move on with their lives. This?"
She lifted her hand and a swath of fire engulfed it. "This power of mine? This can last. Fortunately, I have plenty."
"S-Sunset," Fluttershy whimpered, "what are you doing?"
"You ruined my plans! Years of hard work and patience in this disgusting world, wasted in a single moment!" She raised her hand over her head, the flames growing in intensity.
"I guess, deep down, I was still pretty sore about it. Have any of you ever been blasted by a rainbow? No? It burns." Her savage grin returned and she leaned her arm back. "Here, let me show you!"
Twilight's fear won out against her disbelief, and her survival instincts kicked in. She threw herself out of the way as the fireball screamed through the air, hitting the dirt and releasing a wave of heat that singed the hairs on her arms. She scrambled up from the ground and jumped out of the way as another fireball hit, leaving flickering embers in its wake.
"It's nothing personal!" the demon said with a cackle. "I just hate all of you!" She prepared another fireball, aiming it at Applejack and Rarity.
"Sunset, stop!" Pinkie cried, throwing herself in front of them. "You don't want this! Please, we're your friends!"
'Sunset' lowered her arm, contemplating Pinkie's words. "You're right. Sunset doesn't want this." Her lips turned upwards. "But Sunset was a delusional little girl trying to believe everything would be all right if she believed in friendship and rainbows and love." She raised her arm again, flames burning bright.
"I am not Sunset anymore! I'm all the things she tried to lock away! I am what she once was and the greatness she will be once again! I am Scarlet Inferno!"
Pinkie swung around and tackled Rarity and Applejack to the ground as the blaze streaked over their heads and crashed into one of the dirt hills. They rolled out of the way as Scarlet made a follow-up attack, coming within a hair's breadth of hitting them, the heat leaving pink marks against their cheeks.
Twilight backed up into another hill. This isn't happening. Nothing about this makes sense. A demonic looking creature that claimed to be her girlfriend throwing fire at them? Twilight thought nothing in her life would ever top what had happened at the concert. Her chest constricted, laboring her breath, and her world spun for a moment. That can't be Sunset. It can't be.
"Twilight, move!" Rainbow tackled her to the ground, helping her narrowly avoid an explosive blast. They tumbled against the dirt, getting it caught in their clothes and hair. Rainbow pulled Twilight to her feet and yanked her behind a set of stone cylinders. "Twilight, you have to say something to her!"
"What, why?"
"You're her girlfriend!" Rainbow said with a 'duh' expression. "Maybe you can talk her down."
"Rainbow," Twilight said, trying to get her thoughts together, "I don't think--"
"There's no use hiding!" Scarlet flew overhead, hovering just above them. "Too bad you don't have your magical girl powers! Bet they'd come in handy right about now!" She put her hands together, another orb of flames generating between her palms.
Twilight received one more pleading look from Rainbow. Against her personal belief and the voice in her head screaming to run the other direction, Twilight took a half-step forward.
"Sunset, please, it's me." Twilight's mouth went bone dry, both from the heat and her failing nerves. What did she say in a situation like this? "Please, this isn't you. I know you; you've changed. You're not a monster. And I... I..." Twilight placed her tongue against the back of her teeth, trying to draw the word up from her heart.
Scarlet lowered her hands just an inch, the fire between her palms never going out. She gave a sharp fanged smile that did nothing to reassure Twilight. "Oh, this is just cute. Are you going to say you love me, Sparky? Throw all of those friendship and romance cliches at me? Sorry to tell you, this isn't one of your fantasies. However, you were technically innocent in my downfall. Stand aside and I won't kill you today."
Twilight's fight-or-flight instinct told her to take the offer and move. But if there was the smallest chance that this was Sunset, Twilight had to reach out to her somehow. And she refused to just run while her friends were in danger.
"Sunset, I know you're scared of the future, but there's a better way than this! We're your friends! We can--"
"No seriously, stop talking, or I'll roast you alive." Scarlet raised her palms again, the miniature inferno glowing like the midday sun.
Heart threatening to burst from her chest, Twilight took a step backward. What did she do now? What could she do now? She looked into Scarlet's black eyes. They held none of Sunset's warmth. None of her compassion. None of her tempered fury. There was only hatred, and a hunger for power.
Twilight clenched a fist behind her back. You're not her.
"Going to stand there? No skin off my bones, then!" Scarlet let out an ecstatic cry as she released the ball of fire at Twilight.
Twilight turned to run, but knew it was in vain. The heat scorched her back, and she heard the roar of death in her ears. In the next moment, she was swept off her feet as the world rushed forward, then came to a sudden stop. When the rest of her senses caught up to her, she turned around and found Rainbow, ears and wings up. The tips of her feathers were on fire.
"You okay?" Rainbow asked, seemingly unphased by the flickering flames.
"Y-yeah. I think so."
"Good. Stay low." She zipped back toward the smoking battlefield, where Scarlet had taken to terrorizing a fleeing Rarity. A prismatic blur swept into the air and struck a blow against Scarlet's face.
Scarlet caught herself before she fell to the ground. With an errant yell she lifted both her hands to the sky, a ball of fire in each. They rocketed into the air, then denoted, sending dozens of smaller flares back toward the earth.
Twilight broke into a run again, praying she didn't get struck by a projectile. She dived into a stone culvert and frantically smacked a flame eating the hem of her skirt. It left a black smudge and the smell of ash on her hand.
Okay, Twilight, think! What can you do besides sit here and wait it out?
When fire stopped raining from the sky, she poked her head out from the culvert, making a quick scan for her friends or Scarlet. Dusk had settled, hiding most of the scenery behind a dim veil. She could smell the scorched earth just fine though.
Emerging from the culvert, Twilight turned around to find a fireball fly right at her. She lunged to the side, but the blaze grazed her shoulder, scorching her skin until it was a blistering red blob. She hit the dirt and let out a yell of pain, the burn on her shoulder so intense, it occasionally felt cold.
"Whoops. That one was an accident. Oh well, might as well finish the job. Consequences later!"
Twilight rolled over, Scarlet hovering above her. A mote of fire appeared on the tip of Scarlet's finger. Rainbow flew at her from behind, fist raised, but Scarlet swung around and kicked Rainbow in the stomach. As Rainbow gasped for air, Scarlet aimed a flaming finger at her chest and fired, sending Rainbow crashing to the ground in a shower of embers.
"Hahaha! I didn't think it would be this easy! You're all nothing without your precious princess!"
"Hey, Sunset!" a voice roared.
Both Scarlet and Twilight looked to the side. A steel girder flew through the air and smashed into Scarlet, sending her across the construction field. She landed with tumultuous crash, sending up a cloud of dirt. Twilight looked where the girder had come from, finding Applejack, hunched over, pony ears up.
She regained her breath, then sprinted to Twilight. "Twi, how bad is it?"
Twilight kept a hand over her burn, but made sure not to touch it. Even the slightest movement generated pain. "Bad," she said with a gasp. "But, how did you do that?"
Applejack shook her head. "Ah don't know. And it ain't important right now. We have to get out of here!"
"Oh no you don't!"
Scarlet shot into the air again, face contorted in rage. "I'm not done playing with you yet! You may have a few new powers, but you're all insects compared to me!" She lifted her hands, her furious scowl shifting into an insidious grin.
Only, nothing happened.
She lowered her hand and snapped her fingers, producing only sparks. "No!" she tried again, getting off a few small flames, but nothing more. "No, no! Dammit! I wasn't done!"
Applejack and Twilight shared a look of confusion, bordering on relief as Scarlet struggled to produce her fire. After several futile seconds, she gave up.
"Fine! You girls get to keep living for now. Enjoy it while it lasts, because next time, my powers will be even stronger! And I won't be so inclined to just play with you!" She raised her middle finger, then ascended higher into the night sky, vanishing among the stars.
Applejack gingerly helped Twilight to her feet. "Easy there, sugarcube. That's gonna need some medical attention."
"Twilight, Applejack!" Pinkie ran over, soot and dirt covering her shirt and face. She pulled both of them into a hug, minding Twilight's shoulder. "I'm so glad you're okay! ...Mostly. Come on, Fluttershy is healing Rainbow, then she can fix your shoulder!"
They followed Pinkie behind a large mound of moved dirt, where Rarity sat next to Fluttershy, who was hunched over Rainbow. Fluttershy moved her glowing hands away from Rainbow's chest, showing off a smoking hole in her shirt.
Rainbow sat up, then threw a hand over the hole, though there wasn't too much to see. "Uhh, thanks, 'Shy."
Face red, Fluttershy murmured, "You're welcome," then moved on to Twilight. Keeping her hands just above the burn, Fluttershy gave a light hum, and her pink aura flowed out and engulfed Twilight's shoulder.
The blistering pain subsided, dulling until it was just an irritating itch. Twilight's bubbled skin eased back into place, pink as a newborn baby.
She let out a grateful sigh. "Thanks, Fluttershy."
"Of course. Is everyone else all right?"
Applejack took a seat in the dirt. "Shocked and confused. But yeah, Ah think Ah'm fine."
"Seriously, what the heck just happened?" Rainbow yelled.
Rarity bit her thumb. "It would appear... Sunset has unfortunately had a major relapse."
That wasn't Sunset, Twilight thought.
"But how? Why?" Pinkie asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Rarity said. "For now, let's get somewhere far away from here. Someone was sure to have heard all that noise."
Keeping close to one another, the six girls hurried back to their cars and made for the quiet suburbs. Twilight sat in the back of Rarity's car, her eyebrows pressed together. What was that thing masquerading as Sunset? Where had it come from? Three of her friends had ponied up tonight, one of them for the first time. Why? And where on earth was the real Sunset?
Twilight didn't realize the car had stopped moving until Rarity had got out. Twilight followed suit, seeing they had rendezvoused at Canterlot Park.
Rainbow clapped her hands together. "Okay, we need a new plan! Our best friend is flying around, potentially throwing fireballs at people!"
Twilight opened her mouth to comment about Scarlet not being Sunset, but stopped when she noticed Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Applejack still had their pony features. She tucked that observation away, and was about to continue her original thought thread, when a plume of blue smoke burst from the ground next to them.
Rainbow and Applejack dropped into a fighting stance, but quickly eased up when Artemis stepped out of the smoke.
"There you girls are! What on earth in going on? I felt magic getting flung around, went to the factory, and only found scorch marks! Lucky for me, you girls left a trail to follow, otherwise, I would have assumed the worse!"
The girls looked at each other, mentally drawing straws for who would tell him. Rarity had apparently drawn the short one. "Well, Mr. Artemis, sir... we went looking for Sunset and we... sort of found her."
Twilight growled.
"Has she mentioned the night of the Fall Formal to you?" Rarity asked.
"Both she and Trixie have talked about it, yes. Sunset tapped into some dark magic and became a rather foreboding creature for a moment, correct?"
Rarity nodded. "That's a polite way to put it. Well, it would appear that Sunset has sort of... become that creature again."
Twilight clenched her teeth behind pressed lips.
Artemis' face darkened. He crossed his arms and bowed his head. "That... that is troubling indeed." He inhaled sharply. "Do you know if there's a reason for this?"
"Afraid not," Applejack said with a sigh. "There must be an explanation though. Sunset wouldn't just turn on us--not after all we've been through."
Rainbow crossed her arms. "Either way, we need to find and stop Sunset before--"
"That wasn't Sunset." Twilight said with so much steel, it sounded more like a threat.
Applejack blinked. "Say again, sugarcube?"
Twilight looked at them all, a hard light in her eyes. "That. Wasn't. Sunset."
One-by-one, her friends exchanged a pitying look. "Twilight," Rarity said gently, "I know this is hard to take in but, that, unfortunately, was Sunset. That's what she turned into the night of the Fall Formal."
"I know what she turned into," Twilight said, fists clenched by her sides. "She's told me plenty of times. How much that night still haunts her. How much she regrets that. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't her."
Rainbow shook her head. "Twilight, you don't understand--"
"No, you don't understand!" Twilight shouted. The cork had popped, and all the emotions she had suppressed all night exploded to the surface. "I know I wasn't there! I didn't see her turn into a monster! But I know whatever attacked us wasn't our Sunset--wasn't my Sunset! Why would she turn back now? Why would she attack us? She loves us!"
"That's what we're tryin' to find out," Applejack said gingerly. "Ah get it doesn't make sense, and it's not like Ah want to believe it. But it's the only thing that makes sense, right? You're all about logic, Twi."
"And you all shoot rainbows and summon giant ghost ponies when you feel enough friendship!" she yelled, throwing her hands into the air. "Yes, it makes sense logically, but you know what? I'm not going off logic right now; I'm going off what my heart says, and it's telling me that Sunset is still out there! She isn't that monster!" She pointed a finger at them. "And I'll prove it!"
She spun around and bolted out of the park for home, ignoring her friends cries to come back. How could they believe Sunset would turn back so easily? They knew her just as much as Twilight did. Maybe she was one step further than them, but they should still know.
Yes, Twilight ran off logic, yes she had a desire to make things make sense. She was a scientist. But she also believed in the magic of friendship. She knew the heart was more than just an organ. She knew something in her soul told her this wasn't right.
Her eyes stung, and the closer she got to home, the more her vision blurred. She managed to find her way up the steps of her porch, pushing the door open and slamming it behind her. Her parents' greetings and questions fell on deaf ears as she ran upstairs and locked herself in her bedroom.
Twilight threw herself onto her bed, half out of frustration, half out of exhaustion. She buried her face in her pillow, tears streaming from her eyes like a faucet. Her entire body wracked with the force of her sobs. She wasn't even sure why she was crying now of all times. She didn't feel sad per se. If anything, she kindled a renewed fire in her heart. She would find Sunset. The real Sunset.
*******
Another restless night and long day of sitting through classes without Sunset. Twilight decided to forego lunch and use her time to look over the map and think of new possibilities. She was halfway to the library when Moondancer ran up to her with a wide smile of relief.
"Twily, you're okay! Are you okay? Trixie told me what happened! I can't believe you were attacked like that! You must have been terrified!" She circled around Twilight and continued to fret like a mother hen.
"Moony, I'm fine," Twilight said in a tired voice. "Really. It was... an ordeal. But, we're all fine."
Moondancer took a small step back. "Are you sure? You don't look so good."
Twilight lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."
"Well, I can imagine why. Sweetheart, you need to go home right after school and sleep. You need your rest."
"I'll rest when I find something about Sunset."
Moondancer pressed a finger to her mouth and frowned. "But... wasn't that creature Sunset--"
"No, it wasn't!" Twilight said with a viscous shake of her head. Her heated gaze bore into Moondancer. "I don't care what anyone else says; that wasn't Sunset, and I'm going to prove it.
As she composed herself, Moondancer looked at her with searching eyes. "You're not going to stop searching until you find her."
Twilight thought for a moment. "I won't stop until I find the truth. I just hope that truth is she's out there and alive." She gave a curt wave to Moondancer, than moved around her to the library.
No one came to bother Twilight within her sanctuary of books. She poured over her map of the city, tapping a pencil against her head. Now, she had to find Sunset and avoid this flying monster posing as her. Twilight had no more leads or inklings left to follow, unless Scarlet knew where Sunset was. Twilight had a feeling even if she did, she wouldn't give up information like that.
Scarlet attacked us near the factory. But that was after we searched all of them. Still, maybe there's some clue still there, or at least nearby.
Her other hope was to find Shimmer and interrogate her. Between trying to find a wanted thief that had eluded the FBI for years, and her girlfriend, who had vanished without a trace, Twilight knew what the easier option would be. They had only found Shimmer before on a fluke.
Maybe I'll just have to do this the old fashioned way. The idea made her stomach flop, but she steeled herself. She already had a demon try to kill her, this would be nothing.
After school, she grabbed a picture of Sunset taped to one of the lamp posts near the bus stop and tucked it into her bag. The bus for uptown arrived and Twilight climbed aboard, finding a seat near the back. It had been a while since she had taken public transportation. She hadn't realized how used to riding Sunset's motorcycle she had gotten. The wind against her skin, the blur of scenery rushing past her, feeling Sunset's warm body pressed against hers, feeling like she could die at any moment. Twilight made a cross between a laugh and a choked sob.
She exited the bus when it reached the mall. She didn't walk through the sliding screen doors. Instead, she planted herself just off to the side, and pulled the flyer out from her bag. She took a deep breath. It was almost like public speaking, only it was with complete strangers and she'd be talking to them one at a time. She looked down at Sunset's faux annoyed smile. Sunset would do all this and more if she were in trouble.
Twilight held the flyer up to the first person who walked by her. "Excuse me, have you seen her? No? Thank you. Excuse me, ma'am, have you seen this girl?" She repeated the action and question for the next several people she saw. Twilight received looks of pity, looks of sincere apology, looks of annoyance.
Her fear of bothering people wore away with each person she asked. Soon, she stopped caring if she sounded like a broken record. One of these people had to have seen Sunset somewhere. She caught people entering and leaving the mall, recognizing a few faces from school. She interrogated them anyway. If there was even a slight chance one of them knew something, she had to take it.
She stood outside the mall for hours, watching the sun disappear and people and cars come and go. Her legs and voice grew tired, and her spirit dampened with every consecutive negative response. When there was only a thin sliver of pink in the sky, Twilight put the flyer away and awaited the next bus to take her home. Greatly discouraged but not broken, Twilight would try again tomorrow, and if she didn't get any answers then, she'd move on to another spot and try there.
*******
Friday came slow, with Twilight staring at her ceiling half the night. It had been a whole week since she had seen Sunset, the longest Twilight had ever gone without seeing or hearing her. It was surreal. Twilight hadn't known her for a whole year yet, but she was such a strong presence, her absence left an unfillable void.
Twilight arrived to school as a layer of clouds rolled over the sky. Her dad gave her an extra kiss on the cheek, reassuring it would be okay like everyone else. She had learned to nod and just say thank you.
When lunch came, she avoided going to the cafeteria again, choosing to eat her packed lunch outside on the bleachers. Shadows crossed over her every few minutes, a cool wind blew through the neighborhood.
"Hey, Twilight."
She looked down to the lower seats, finding Flash climbing toward her, the bleachers making a metal clank with every step he took. He sat next to her and took a moment to stare at the sky. "Dumb question, but, how are you doing?"
While Twilight believed there were no dumb questions, she appreciated he at least acknowledged his question was poor. "I'm okay," she said, giving the traditional poor answer.
"Yeah, I understand." Flash opened his backpack and pulled out a soda. "Want one?"
Twilight accepted it with silent gratitude. Strawberry, she thought, looking at the color of the can. Her next thought was of Sunset. She pulled the top open and took a sip. "How come you're not inside?"
"I could ask you the same thing," he said, then took a sip of his own.
"We're having a few... disagreements right now."
Flash nodded. "Rarity told me all about it." He looked over at her. "I think you're right."
Twilight almost spat out her soda, causing the fizz to rise to her nose. "You do?"
He looked down at the football field with a solemn expression. "I've known Sunset for a long time. And yeah, a lot of the time, she was faking with me. But you girls did something. You helped bring the real her to the surface. Sure, Sunset goes missing and then her demon form shows up a few days later. Yeah, you could put two and two together but, I saw how happy she was with you. She wouldn't throw all that away. Not willingly anyway."
He pressed a hand against his hair. "That all sounded less cheesy in my head."
"No, it was perfect," Twilight said, breaking into a smile. "Thanks, Flash."
Flash glowed from the simple praise. "No problem. That wasn't the only reason I came up here though. I wanted to ask if you needed any help. The other girls are trying to find a way to stop this Scarlet or change her back to Sunset. But, I want to believe you're right and that the real Sunset is somewhere else."
Twilight had an idea of what all the other girls saw in Flash. A genuine desire to help people combined with his handsome looks and guitar skills. In a different life, maybe Twilight would have fallen for him. "I really appreciate it, Flash, but..." She slumped her shoulders. "I'm not sure if there's much you can do. I've just been asking random people if they've seen her anywhere. I've run out of places to look."
"There might be a place you haven't looked yet," he said cautiously. "But I can't promise it'll be helpful at all."
"I'm willing to try anything at this point."
Flash pointed west. "Sunset and I used to go to the old junkyard a lot. You'd be amazed at some of the stuff people throw out that still work pretty well. That's where we found the motorcycle. Again, I can't promise you'll find anything but--"
Twilight shook her head. "No, it's brilliant. Like I said, any lead is good."
"Cool, we can go check it out after school."
*******
Twilight stared at Flash's sport car. "This is yours? I thought this was one of the faculty's!"
Flash rubbed the back of his head. "Dad owns one of the car dealerships. Got it as a sixteenth birthday present. It's whatever."
She chuckled at his modesty and climbed into the passenger's seat. Twilight had to admit, the thought of active searching filled her with more hope than the thought of standing on a street corner, shoving a flyer into people's faces. Flash assured her it would be a short trip, leaving them plenty of time to look. Sure, they'd be looking through garbage but maybe, just maybe today would be the day.
Flash put on some music while they drove, loud rock 'n roll Twilight knew Shining would appreciate. She tuned it out as she stared out the window, watching the houses disappear, replaced by vacant fields where more would soon be built.
"Not into rock?" Flash asked.
Twilight tore her eyes away. "Not particularly. It's not bad. Just not my thing."
Flash bobbed his head. "I feel that."
Twilight let the song finish before speaking again. "You and Sunset... dated for a while, right?"
"Yeah," he said slowly, his demeanor quickly becoming less assured. "I mean, for all intents and purposes, we were together."
"So, did you..." Twilight played with her fingers. There was no nice way to say it. "I mean, I know if she did, she didn't mean it--and I'm really sorry if this is uncomfortable in any way, but... did you ever tell her you loved her?"
Flash's expression shifted through different levels of sad. He finally settled between self-pity and regret. "Yeah, I did. And she said it back."
"When did you say it?"
"I dunno, maybe... five, six months into our relationship?" He took one hand off the wheel and ran it through his hair. "Love is always a complicated word."
Twilight looked at her lap. "Yeah. How do you know when it's the real thing and not just some passing phase or spur of the moment reaction?"
Flash laughed. "Sorry, Twilight. You're asking the wrong guy."
She gave a small chuckle, then fell silent until they arrived at the fenced gates of the junkyard. Stepping out of the car, Twilight unwillingly inhaled the stench of mildew and must. She fanned her nose and coughed before a few powerful sneezes escaped.
"You gonna be okay?" Flash asked.
"Yeah," Twilight said with a sniffle. "Just my allergies. They'll pass."
They walked up to the front gate, closed by a simple padlock with a sign beneath it that read, 'No loitering.' The gate itself was only eight feet high; some of the junk piles loomed higher than it.
"So, how good are you at climbing?" Flash asked.
Twilight tilted her head back to take in the gate, now towering over her. "Ummm..."
"Just kidding." Flash pulled a small, narrow screwdriver out of his pocket and went to work on the lock. He wasn't as fast as Pinkie with her bobby pin, but after a minute of fiddling, the lock popped off. He pulled the gate open, ignoring the loud creak it made. There were no other buildings for half a mile.
"Fair warning: the smell only gets worse from here." He waved a hand for Twilight to follow him in.
Old computer parts, pieces of cars, moldy furniture, worn out play sets, inflatable pools with holes in them. The junkyard was everything Twilight imagined it being, filled to the brim with the broken and unwanted. She stepped carefully, keeping an eye out for smaller parts that could trip her up. An old sprinkler had already succeeded.
Flash had been correct about the stench. Odors lingered on the leftover junk, ranging from cat pee to baby vomit to things Twilight didn't want to think about. The collective dust and mold tickled her nose so whenever she wasn't gagging, she would unleash a powerful sneeze.
"Sunset!" Flash called. He led Twilight down the dirty paths that wound around the junk piles. Many of the paths had grown narrow from the amount of scrap that had filled the area. He shoved a flat tire out of the way and walked into one of the wider clearings.
"Sunset!" he called again, cupping his hands against his mouth.
Twilight sneezed again and rubbed her nose. "You did say it was a long shot." She turned in place, hoping to catch a glimpse of red and gold hair or a black leather jacket.
Flash shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked a spring coil away. "I know. Still, I kinda got my hopes up a little."
"Yeah, I did too." Twilight squatted next to an old antenna t.v. and played with some of the knobs. She would have to remember to come back her if she ever needed spare parts for projects.
"Well, this was the only idea I had. Maybe... maybe someone really did take her away." Flash put his hands up. "But who would want to kidnap her?"
"You'd be surprised," a sultry voice hissed.
Twilight jumped and stumbled back from the television and the pile it sat next to. Standing on top was Scarlet, looking at them with an amused grin.
"When--how--I didn't even hear you!" Twilight yelled.
"It's not like you could have if you actually tried," Scarlet said. She rested an arm on her knee and chuckled. "Barely a week has passed and you've already moved on to Flashy boy here? Twilight, I'm hurt."
"How did you even find us?" Flash asked.
Scarlet outlined Twilight with a claw. "We're connected in more ways than one."
Twilight huffed, choosing to ignore the demon's cryptic nonsense. "Where's the real Sunset?"
"I am the real Sunset." Scarlet tapped a claw against her cheek. "Oh, you mean your little girlfriend. Deep down, she knows what she really is. Me."
"Liar!" Twilight yelled, her face growing hot.
Scarlet laughed, showing off her pointed teeth. "That's so cute how you think you know everything about her. You haven't even known her a year. Then again, she has told you all her secrets. Maybe you just can't come to grips that this is the monster that nearly conquered two worlds." She raised her hand, her palm burning bright.
"And soon, I'll finish what I started," she said darkly.
Flash grabbed Twilight by the hand and yanked her out of the inferno's path. They made a mad sprint down one of the narrow trails while Scarlet took to the air and laughed.
"Try and run, little mice! It makes the game all the more fun!"
A blast of fire struck a pile to Twilight's left. It lit like a pyre and spat embers onto her, miniature demons that jumped onto her skin and left small, angry burns. She and Flash made a sharp turn as another blast hit the corner. Burnt plastic and metal mixed with the already egregious smell, burning Twilight's nose as she tried to get air to her lungs.
They came to another clearing, the mountains of trash towering and leaning over them like curled fingers, their details lost in the sun's fading light. A fireball arched over their heads and smashed into one of the scrap towers, setting it alight and sending it toppling down. Flash and Twilight dove out of the way, losing themselves in the explosion of dust and debris that covered the sky.
Twilight could barely see where she was going, only the pull of Flash's hand guided her. He drew her into the bottom of an old playfort covered by a moldy curtain. Both of them collapsed against a support beam and refilled their lungs with tainted air.
"Maybe we can hide out here until she leaves," Twilight said, her voice so quiet, she might as well been mouthing the words.
"Unless she decides to just burn the entire place down," Flash said, trying to peek outside without moving the curtains.
Twilight paled. "I hadn't considered that."
Wing beats filled the air as something touched down nearby. Flash jerked back from the front of the playhouse, becoming perfectly still. Heavy footsteps crunched against the dirt and wood chips. Twilight and Flash held their breaths as Scarlet's shadow drifted across the curtain. She muttered something incoherent as she passed by. Twilight felt another itch rise to her nose, and she scrunched her face to make it stop. Flash shot a hand over her face and pressed down, making the itch subside. Twilight gave him a nod of appreciation.
"Did you honestly think that was a good hiding spot?" Scarlet asked, her shadow turning toward them.
Twilight sneezed.
Flash grabbed a pot lid lying on the ground and ran out first, holding in front of himself like a shield. Twilight grabbed a jagged piece of metal and followed him. Scarlet stood in the middle of the road forward. Behind them was a small hill of debris, some of it still on fire.
Flash held his hand in front of Twilight. "You go," he said, the small tremble in his voice betraying his defensive stance. "I'll hold her off."
"Oh that's adorable," Scarlet said with sadistic childish glee. "He's going to play the white knight. Let's see how long that act will last." She held her hand up, creating another ball of fire.
Twilight held onto his shoulder. "I'm not just going to leave you here!" she said, slowly drawing him back.
"Twilight--" He cut his own sentence off when Scarlet's fire went out, and she grabbed her own wrist, her face contorting in pain.
"This... wasn't... the deal..." she said under her breath.
"Quiet, girl!" she said back to herself. "Don't... interrupt me!"
"I'm not a murderer!"
"You're whatever I tell you to be! I'm... in control!"
Twilight pulled Flash by the arm and climbed over the hill, scratching her knees on the sharper corners jutting out. Flash helped her keep balance over the uneven surface, and they jumped down onto solid ground as a jet of fire flew over their heads. Scarlet's shadow flew over them, and Twilight looked up to fling her piece of metal. Her gasp of surprise was muted by Scarlet's shout of pain. Scarlet clutched her cheek with one hand while the other readied another attack before she doubled over in mid-air and grabbed her head.
They retraced their steps back to the entrance, putting in an extra burst of speed when Flash's car came into view. The gate separating them from safety shut and crumpled together in a cacophony of screeching steel. Twilight ground her heels to a stop before she crashed into the newly made barbs.
Scarlet landed behind them, her teal eyes flashing red. Drops of blood slid down her face from her fresh cut. "You know, I didn't really have anything personal against you, Twilight. I was just going to kill you and pretend you were the princess. But now..." She held her hand out, flames curling around it. "You get to die for your own nuisance."
A bolt of light hailed from the sky and struck Scarlet in the chest, throwing her backward. She released her fireball up into the air, where it vanished into the clouds.
An angel descended before Twilight and Flash, cloaked in a bright white aura. Wings with feathers made from moonlight sprouted from her back. A rapier sat in one hand, while a ball of light floated over the other. Her red and purple hair cascaded behind her, tossed to the side by an occasional breeze.
"Moondancer?" Twilight asked in a stunned whisper.
Moondancer looked back at her and offered a soft smile. "Don't worry, Twilight. I'll keep you safe from this monster."
Scarlet got back to her feet and narrowed her eyes. "Oh joy, you're here. I'm surprised it took you this long."
Moondancer turned back to Scarlet with a hateful glare. "I'm going to make you regret coming anywhere near Twilight."
Scarlet snorted. "Sure, I'll play along." She pressed her palms into her cheeks. "Oh no, the mighty heroic Moondancer has appeared. Whatever shall I do--agh!"
The ball of light flew from Moondancer's hand and crashed into Scarlet's chest, exploding in a cloud of white smoke and glitter. Scarlet flew into the air, incensed.
"Okay, bitch, you wanna go? Let's go!" Scarlet rushed down, and Moondancer flew up to meet her, light wings leaving behind a sparkling trail. Scarlet tried to keep her back with a barrage of small flares, but Moondancer raised her hand and created a glowing shield in front of her and pushed ahead.
When she got in close, she thrust her rapier at Scarlet, nicking her across the arm. It didn't draw blood, but Scarlet looked murderous. She raked her claws through the air, forcing Moondancer to dodge left, then slammed a boot into her side, dropping her several feet.
Twilight made a tiny shriek. Her mind still hadn't quite come to grips with what was transpiring in front of her, but she knew her friend was in danger.
But she has magic! My best friend is fighting a demon with magic! Why does she have magic? Why is magic suddenly everywhere?
Moondancer caught herself before she hit the ground. Another light orb appeared in her palm. She tossed it up, then smacked it with her rapier. Scarlet tried to smack it back with her hand, but it exploded on contact, releasing another thick cloud. Moondancer unleashed a beam from her hand into the cloud, and a shriek of pain came from within.
Scarlet burst free, face twisted into molten fury. She rushed forward, bringing her hand back to strike. Moondancer lifted her rapier to defend, but Scarlet grabbed the blade and yanked her forward and backhanded her. Moondancer fell to the earth, her sword clattering by her side.
"Moondancer!" Twilight yelled. She made to run to her side, but Flash grabbed her by the wrist.
"She has magic powers. We don't. I think we should sit this out."
Before Twilight could argue, Moondancer was back on her feet. She picked up her sword and rubbed the bruise on her cheek. "Hmph." She raised her sword at Scarlet, and a bolt of light shot from the tip.
Scarlet shielded herself with her wings, crying out when the magic tore a new hole in them. She unfurled them and hurled a fiery missile. Moondancer raised her palm, creating a glowing forcefield and deflecting the fire into a pile of trash.
Twilight gagged violently and threw her hands over her nose. Smoke climbed into the sky, turning the setting sun red. Behind her, Flash was trying his hardest to pry the gate open, to little success.
Moondancer had taken to the sky again, making a wide slash at Scarlet. Scarlet darted back and sucked in a deep breath. From her mouth, a torrent of fire spewed forth. It engulfed the bubble Moondancer had hastily conjured, its fiery tongues searching for a way in.
The bubble shot forward and rammed into Scarlet, sending her into a mountain of junk that toppled onto her with a crash loud enough to wake the dead. Dirt and smoke rose in a plume, further tainting the once blue sky.
Emerging from her bubble, Moondancer aimed an open palm at where Scarlet had fallen and unleashed a salvo of small light beams. They fell upon the earth like a downpour of gold, blinding Twilight until all she could hear were Scarlet's cries of pain.
Even when the light faded, Twilight had a hard time seeing beyond the dust. Moondancer looked down at the wreckage, a faint red glow in her eye. When Twilight blinked, it was gone.
Grinding metal and the shuffle of plastic and wood came from within the smoke. Scarlet haphazardly rose into the air, leaning to one side. Scratches and scuff marks covered her from head to boot.
"I'll... remember this," she panted. With a strong flap of her wings, she sailed off to the horizon.
Moondancer descended to the ground, her ethereal wings fading. Then, she swooned and fell to her hands and knees, her sword rolling away.
"Moondancer!" Twilight ran over and knelt beside her. "Are you okay? I thought you didn't have magic! I mean, I'm glad you do... I think. But... what's going on?"
Moondancer shifted and sat down, keeping a hand pressed against her head. She let out a soft chuckle. "Yes, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy. My body isn't used to using that much magic at once. It's still relatively new."
"'Relatively new'?" Twilight was caught between making sure Moondancer was all right, and interrogating her for details.
"I know you're confused, and I promise, I'll explain everything shortly. Just..." Moondancer yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Give me a moment, please."
Flash took a seat on Moondancer's other side, his fingers red from his futile attempts at opening the gate. "Man, hanging out with you girls is dangerous. Thanks for saving us, Moondancer."
"Think nothing of it."
Flash then leaned over and looked at Twilight. "But did you understand what happened back there?" He jerked a thumb at the alley they had escaped from.
Twilight shook her head. "Not really." A partial lie. Twilight had an idea, but she refused to give it focus, aloud or as a concentrated thought.
Moondancer looked curiously between them. "What happened?"
"Not important," Twilight said quickly. She looked at the crunched gate. "Let's focus on getting out of here."
*******
Moondancer found enough spare magic to pull a hole in the gate, and the trio left as fast as they could, columns of smoke rising behind them. Conversation was kept to a minimum until Flash pulled in front of Twilight's house just as the moon peeked out from behind a cluster of low hanging clouds.
"Thank you, Flash, for everything," Twilight said. "I'm sorry you... almost got killed." She tried to laugh only for it to come out forced and high-pitched.
Flash gave her a smile that matched her laugh. "Hey, it's not the first time some weird magical stuff has happened to me." He cleared his throat. "I'm glad I could help in some way. And if you need anything, just call."
"Thanks." Twilight and Moondancer got out the car and waved him off.
"He's quite the gentleman. I can see why so many girls are taken with him," Moondancer said.
Twilight kept her eyes squarely on Moondancer. If she hadn't intervened, Twilight could only assume the worst. But the fact that Moondancer had intervened with magic... Twilight had placed finding Sunset higher on her list of priorities, but after what she saw today...
She shook the thought away. "Full disclosure, Moony," she said firmly. "How long have you had magic? You..." Twilight felt a pang in her heart. "You haven't had them the whole time we've known each other, have you?"
Moondancer held a hand over her mouth, stifling a gasp. "Heavens no, I would never keep such a secret from you. Well... not for very long anyway." She folded her hands behind her back. "My powers are a relatively new development. New in that, they're only a year old. I just never knew how to tell you. You were always so grounded in science and logic and reason; I couldn't drop such a revelation on you. Then, the Battle of the Bands happened and I learned all your friends were already magical. I just didn't know when the best time to mention it was. It isn't something you just slip into casual conversation."
Twilight nodded along, finding it believable so far. "But if you had magic, why were you affected by the Siren's music?"
Moondancer sighed and bowed her head. "I wish I knew. Perhaps it's the way I acquired it."
"What do you mean?"
"It's... a little complicated." She held her arm out and rolled her sleeve up, tracing a finger along one of her veins. "You see, Trixie and my uncle have magic in their blood. Their powers are handed down through our family line. It is their birthright." Her arm fell along with her posture. "I was not granted that inheritance. Magic does not flow through my blood. However..."
She raised her arm again, spreading her fingers to the moon. "If one trains hard enough, one can open their soul to the magical world! They can become in tune with the natural magic that flows all around us! What's left of it at least."
Twilight compartmentalized her thoughts, saving her deeper questions and hypotheses for later. "So, you trained yourself to use magic?"
Moondancer smiled. "That's the simplified version, yes. Through sheer determination and rigorous training, I finally reached enlightenment a year ago, and have been honing my skills ever since."
"Fascinating." She couldn't wait to tell Sunset. "So, is that how you knew I was in trouble?"
"Of sorts." Moondancer took Twilight's hands into hers. "Our souls are interconnected, my little star. I swore that I would always be there to protect you, and I'm a lady of my word. I would rather die than allow some ill fate to befall you."
Twilight looked into Moondancer's violet eyes, finding nothing but love and sincerity. She slipped her hands out and took a step back, watching Moondancer's smile fade to a curious frown.
"Moondancer, that means so much to me," Twilight said softly. "You're my best friend, and you mean the world to me..." She steadied her pounding heart. "Listen, I know you like me."
"But of course. As you said we're--"
"No." Twilight blushed. "I know you like like me." She felt like a third grader.
Moondancer's cheeks turned pink and she made a rare stammer. "Y-yes, well... I..."
Twilight pressed a hand to her face. "I can't believe it took me so long to notice. I care about you a lot, Moony, and I'm so glad we're friends but... Sunset and I... even if she's gone..."
Moondancer made a shuddering sigh. "You love her."
Twilight couldn't answer. She just listened to the continuous crash of her heart against her chest.
Turning her face to the moon, Moondancer didn't say anything for a while. A knot twisted in Twilight's stomach to go along with her aching, pounding heart.
"I understand," Moondancer said at last. "I know what it's like to love... and lose someone." She made a short laugh. "I just don't understand why you picked her. Not even over me, just the fact that you picked her."
"Moondancer." Twilight almost smiled.
She looked back at Twilight, unfallen tears in her eyes. "There are only two things I care about in this world. And you are one of them. Sunset had best appreciate what she has."
This time, Twilight did smile. "Thank you, Moondancer." She jumped forward and wrapped her arms around her best friend.
Moondancer eagerly returned the hug. "You're welcome, Twilight," she said, a faint sadness in her voice. When Twilight broke away, Moondancer stood awkwardly fiddling with her thumbs.
"Twily," she said, her head down. "Could I ask one tiny favor?"
"Sure?"
"Could you..." Moondancer coughed. "Could you not mention my magic to anyone? I... I don't want it to get back to my family.
Twilight immediately thought of the Lulamoons, and the sheer delight Artemis would have finding out his niece could cast magic. "But, why?"
"Don't misunderstand--I love them dearly, but..." Moondancer sighed. "I've had to train so hard to get where I am, where they were born with it. I know my uncle would love to train me, but I already know how much I would struggle with him and Trixie. I don't want to disappoint their expectations."
"Moondancer..." Twilight put a hand on her shoulder. "I haven't known Artemis very long, but I know he would never be disappointed in you. But, I can see how it might be a little overwhelming." She offered Moondancer an encouraging smile. "I think you should trust them. They're you're family. But I promise, I won't tell. I'll let you do it when you're ready."
Moondancer smiled in return. "You really are the best, little star."
*******
She loves her.
It was a sobering thought. One that fed the guilt eating at her insides. Moondancer had known this was a possibility, narrow as might be. But here she was, possibility now reality. Twilight was under no spell or illusion.
She loved Sunset of her own volition.
Why?
Moondancer stepped through her front door with that thought in her head. Sunset had been a demon! A literal, fire-spewing demon! And Twilight knew that! But she still loved her?
It's... admirable.
Moondancer sighed as she walked upstairs. Sunset was dangerous. Moondancer still had no qualms about removing her from the play. But to see her little star in so much pain... that pricked at her heart like thorns.
She channeled that pain into anger as she stomped through the east wing. She could barely stand seeing Twilight in emotional pain. Finding her in mortal peril? Lines had been crossed.
Moondancer didn't bother to knock. She forced open the door to her father's study where, as she suspected, Tempest was seated behind the desk.
"Have you lost your barbaric mind?" Moondancer hissed between clenched teeth.
"Moondancer!" her father barked from a large armchair off to the side. "You know better than to come in unannounced!"
She ignored him entirely and kept her eyes on a smirking Tempest. "I told you Twilight has no magic! And yet, I find your new pet trying to kill her!"
Tempest scribbled something on the sheet in front of her. "You didn't seem to have a problem a few nights ago."
Believe me, I did. "That's because I knew Scarlet wasn't aiming to kill, and Twilight had friends to help her. This was a blatant attempt at murder!"
"Oh please, don't act like you stand on some moral high ground with everything you've done." Tempest stood up and stretched her arm. "I had a hypothesis, and I wanted to test it. Sadly, I'm not happy with the results."
"What are you--"
"I knew that girl was a hindrance to your focus, Moondancer," Tempest said coldly. She pulled her golden amulet out from her jacket. "You're forgetting the real goal here."
"I am not--"
"I sent Scarlet after Twilight to see if you would interfere. And of course, I was right."
"Twilight is innocent!" Moondancer felt her face beginning to splotch. "Leave her out of this!"
Tempest sat down, a cold smile on her face. "Moondancer, if you had to choose between saving your mother and saving Twilight, which would you pick?"
Moondancer's heart froze. It must have reflected on her face, because Tempest's smile grew wider. Her mother or her only friend? Only someone truly sadistic would make someone choose.
Shoulders falling, Moondancer let out a bitter sigh. "Mother," she whispered.
"I thought so. I'll leave Twilight out of this, on the condition that you stop trying to put her before our agenda. Otherwise, next time she's out alone, Scarlet's hand might slip."
Moondancer bowed her head. "Very well."
"Good. Now go check on Lamia."
With one final glare, Moondancer backed out of the room. She retreated down the hall, ideas spinning in her head. Twilight's happiness, or her own? Twilight's safety, or her own?
Moondancer sighed, a tear slipping down her face. What was one more regret on an ever-growing list?
********
The minuscule amounts of sleep Twilight had gotten throughout the week finally caught up to her, and she slept all through Saturday morning, missing two calls from Rainbow and Rarity. Clearing the fog from her head, Twilight stood up and stretched her arms. She still wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to them, especially after what had happened yesterday. The struggle in Scarlet's voice replayed in Twilight's ears. She could remember every word.
"I'm not a murderer!"
Scarlet had hesitated, argued with herself. Twilight gripped the edge of her bed and bit down on her lip. Why would a demon fight with itself unless it wasn't fully in control? Twilight remembered the cold night in the mountains. The conversation she and Sunset had shared on the couch by the fireplace.
"It's like she's sitting right there! Right on the edge of my heart. One mistake... one mistake and I'll..."
Her tears fell to the carpet. Maybe she had to face facts. Maybe Scarlet really was Sunset. It wasn't of her own volition, Twilight was at least sure of that. Still, facing the realization head on left a bad taste in her mouth. Part of her still refused to believe it. Something, something about the situation didn't sit with her.
"Vesper Radiance? I'll save that if I ever become a villain again."
Twilight lifted her eyes, the thinnest sliver of hope shining in them. If that had been the real Sunset, she would have called herself Vesper Radiance! It was an incredibly weak thread, but Twilight clung to it. She had a reason to keep searching!
She looked at her clock, amazed she had slept until two in the afternoon. Spike hadn't seemed to mind. In fact, he was still at the foot of her bed, sleeping on his side. He lifted his head when Twilight rose to take a quick shower and put some weekend clothes on. She pulled her shirt over her head and picked her phone up. She supposed she could at least call Rainbow and Rarity back to see what they wanted.
Her phone buzzed in her hand, alerting her that she had a new text message. Her heart froze solid, stopping all air flow, both in and out. Time crawled to a stop as she read who the sender was.
Sunset. |
Spectacular Seven | 16. Three Little Words | Shining parked his squad car a block from the old factory, his backup right behind him. He, Detective Harshwhinny, and Twilight got out of the car and crept closer to the building, four officers following in pursuit.
"I still disapprove of you bringing your sister, Mr. Armor," Harshwhinny said, flaring her nostrils.
They stopped at the corner as Shining took a cautionary glance around, spotting nothing out of the ordinary. "She's going to stay here and watch from afar."
"Please don't talk as if I'm not here," Twilight said, narrowing her eyes.
"Sorry," Shining said, not taking his gaze off the factory. "She's also here in case the messenger will only negotiate with her."
Twilight had rushed downstairs, waving her phone and crying as she showed Shining the simple text message supposedly sent from Sunset.
'Come to the factory.'
Shining was no stranger to text based traps. He knew how easy a setup like this would be, though he knew not for what purpose. Maybe the sender thought Twilight might be desperate enough to show up alone. Even in her most fragile state, Twilight thought things through.
Whatever the case, he and his superior, Harshwhinny, grabbed a few officers and made their way to the old part of town. Shining earnestly hoped Sunset was inside, both to see her safe and his sister happy, and so he would stop having to lie about Sunset's absent files. Harshwhinny had nearly pinned him in a corner several times already.
Harshwhinny turned to the officers with her eternally annoyed scowl. "Shining and I will scope the place out and radio for backup if we need any. You are to keep a lookout here and report anything unusual to Shining or I."
"Yes ma'am," Gaffer said with a salute.
Shining made to follow Harshwhinny's leave, but Twilight pulled on his jacket. He looked back and received a kiss on the cheek.
"Be careful."
He smiled and gave her bun a ruffle. "Always." He hurried after Harshwhinny, catching up before she had time to complain. Hands on their guns, they approached the side door. Shining remembered when he had been in this alley last winter, and had found Sunset trying to force her way inside.
Come on, Sunset. You better be in here.
Shining positioned himself on one side of the door while Harshwhinny jiggled the handle. She shoved the door open with her shoulder and quickly jumped back out of the way. When nothing came from the hall, Shining took point, pulling his gun out and keeping it skyward. They moved down the hall, stopping to scan the kitchen, then moved to the factory floor. The sun tried to shine through the grimy windows, but it only created a dim and depressing atmosphere.
"Canterlot P.D!" Harshwhinny shouted at the shadows. "This is your only chance to come out with your hands up!"
Shining squinted his eyes, forcing them to adjust to the dark. Something was sitting against the back wall. He took a step closer, and the figure became more recognizable. "Sunset?"
If they heard, they didn't stir. Shining kept his gun pointed up while Harshwhinny watched his back as he drew closer. His heart jumped into his throat, an action that surprised even him. The figure was indeed Sunset. She leaned against the back wall, seemingly unconscious, though her eyes were half-open.
"Sunset." Shining put his gun away and knelt beside her. She had a few old cuts and bruises, and her cheeks were gaunt and pale, no doubt from malnourishment. He lifted two fingers to her throat and found a slow but steady pulse.
"Don't worry, Sunset, we're gonna get you out of here." He pulled out his walkie-talkie. "We need an ambulance here, asap!"
Harshwhinny walked up behind him, double checking the corners and ceiling. "Positive that's her?"
"Yeah."
"Hmph." She holstered her gun. "We marked this place as searched a week ago. Then, someone sends your sister an anonymous tip that her... partner," she said with distaste, "is here."
Shining felt a vein twitch in his temple, but ignored it as he did a light sweep of Sunset's person. Her phone was still missing. "I've never heard of a kidnapper feeling guilty enough to return their hostage like this. Still, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth." He lifted Sunset up in his arms and brought her outside, squinting his eyes at the overcast light.
As he stepped out of the alley, he heard six voices shout, "Sunset!"
Harshwhinny snorted at the six girls rushing toward them. "Who authorized for these civilians to be here?"
None of them paid her any mind. Twilight led the charge, sobbing and hiccuping as she came to a stop in front of Shining and grabbed Sunset's hand. Her friends were in similar states, marveling at Sunset with a mix of relief and concern.
"You found her!" Twilight choked out. "You found her!" She squeezed Sunset's hand. "Sunset, it's me! It's Twilight! It's all your friends! She's going to be okay, right?"
"I'm sure she'll be fine. She just needs some rest," Shining said calmly. He looked down at the blank look in her lidded eyes. "She's probably been through a lot."
He heard the ambulance's sirens before they came into view. In a few short moments, Sunset was loaded onto a stretcher, an IV in her arm, and pulled into the back.
Twilight didn't ask, she climbed in and sat next to Sunset. "I'm going with her."
Shining just nodded. "Tell Mom I said hi."
She nodded back and gave a loving and grateful smile. "Thank you, Shiny."
He gave a wave and stepped back as the rest of his sister's friends ran up to the edge of the ambulance, promising to meet them at the hospital.
Shining let out a sigh. It wasn't quite one of relief though. Sunset had been found and reunited with her friends. But that empty look in her eyes.... Would she be okay? And who had taken her in the first place? Who had given her back?
He shelved the thoughts for now and watched the ambulance pull away. One victory at a time.
********
The Spectacular Seven and the Lulamoons waited in the lobby of Canterlot General Hospital. Twilight paced in front of the large couch they had all squeezed on, wringing her hands and pulling on her bangs every few minutes.
"Twilight, stop," Applejack said, fiddling with her hat. "You're worse than Fluttershy."
Fluttershy sat in a similar state from when they had waited for Rainbow at Hollow Shades. She rocked back and forth in her seat, though perhaps she blinked more this time.
"Applejack is right," Artemis said, not quite reaching his normal, jovial pitch. "I'm sure Sunset will be fine."
Even so, Twilight couldn't stop pacing the blue and white tiles, or stealing glances at the emergency doors. She had come to the conclusion that she hated hospitals. She had never been in one for a positive reason. Sure, she knew lives were being saved and miracles were being performed. But, imagine if accidents never happened in the first place. Then her brother or her girlfriend would never have to set foot in one, and neither would she.
Twilight shifted her thoughts back to the positive. They had found Sunset! She was alive! Twilight felt a lump rise to her throat again. She swallowed it down, saving her tears for when she saw Sunset's smiling face beam back at her.
Any minute now. She accidentally popped one of her knuckles and shook her hand out. Any minute.
She still had several unanswered questions. Sunset didn't have her phone when Shining found her. So who had sent the text? Who had taken Sunset in the first place? And what was that demon that had tried to kill Twilight twice now?
Twilight's heart soared again. She had been right! That demon wasn't Sunset! Sunset was safe and sound here in the hospital! Of course, there was still the possibility that the demon had been Sunset and she had just reverted back to normal on her own. Twilight would stick to her first hypothesis until proven otherwise.
The emergency doors opened, and Twilight Velvet stepped out. As Twilight ran up to her, she could see bad news written on her mother's face.
"Is Sunset all right?" Everyone had rose to their feet now, looking on with tense anticipation.
Velvet sighed. "Sunset is stable, but..." She put a hand on Twilight shoulder. It was meant to be warm, but all Twilight felt was a chilling emptiness. "She's unresponsive to any stimuli, but we haven't picked up any abnormal brain waves. There's no evidence of blunt force trauma or poison. It's like she's gone to sleep and won't wake up."
"It... it sounds like you're describing her as comatose." Twilight said in a breathy whisper.
"Yes," Velvet said with a deep sigh. "For all intents and purposes, that's how we're treating it. We're keeping a close watch on her in the ICU, but until we can learn more..."
Twilight stumbled on her back foot, sucker punched in the heart. She looked back at her friends, hoping they had heard something different and she had just gone temporarily crazy from stress. But the air slowly leaking out of Pinkie's wild hair, the water streaming from Fluttershy's eyes, and grief-stricken looks on everyone else confirmed they had all heard the same thing.
"I-I see." The world leaned to one side, and Twilight felt herself float for a second before Applejack's strong arms held her upright. "I'm okay," she said breathlessly, "I'm okay. I just... I..."
Twilight fought the flooding impulse to scream and kick something. She clenched and unclenched her hands, pulled down on her bangs, then became perfectly still.
"Can we still go see her?" she asked, devoid of all emotion.
Velvet gestured toward the hall. "Of course you can. Just not all at once. Her room isn't that big."
Applejack tipped her hat over her eyes. "You go first, Twi. It's only fair." She gave Twilight a gentle nudge forward.
Twilight didn't object but looked back at the Lulamoons. "You should come too. It seems fair."
Trixie gave a simple nod on their behalf and followed after Twilight and Velvet. They moved up to the third floor and down the end of the hall, where the smell of antiseptic was a little lighter. Sunset had a single room with a small window that looked out to the west horizon, where the sun fell.
Sunset leaned back in her bed, her half-closed eyes staring at the door. She had been changed into a hospital gown, and an IV had been inserted into her arm. A breathing apparatus hung off the side of her bed, just in case. Her heart monitor gave a beep every two seconds or so. Twilight moved to her side and took her hand. It felt cold.
A hiccup came first, then a whimper, then Twilight's tears fell onto Sunset's hand. A week of searching. A sudden miracle. Yet even with Sunset laying before her, she was still far away. Twilight gripped her hand tighter, trying to pass on some of her own warmth.
No one could draw up the strength to say anything. Twilight opened her mouth once or twice, but couldn't make anything louder than a pained whine. Selena bent down and kissed Sunset on the forehead before making a quiet exit.
"She'll wake up soon," Artemis said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. "She's too strong-willed to stay like this." He gave Sunset's hair a loving stroke and took his leave with Selena, leaving Trixie alone with Twilight.
They stood side-by-side, watching Sunset's slow, rhythmic breathing. Trixie looked toward the door, as if to make sure no one would walk in. "When father told us about Sunset's demon returning, I didn't know what to believe. If it was actually Sunset or some phantom or illusion." She wiped her eyes. "I held a grudge for so long, a few months ago, I would have gladly blamed her and used it as proof to my parents that she couldn't be trusted. Now..."
Trixie turned her head back to Sunset and drew herself up. "Wake up, Shimmer. Trixie still needs a sidekick for her amazing adventures." Her voice hitched, and she quickly deflated with a sigh.
Twilight never had very much interaction with Trixie, even in the few competitions they had participated in. But in that moment, Twilight felt a connection spark. She again wondered why Moondancer had never mentioned her before, then subsequently remembered their conversation last night. Twilight intended to keep her promise, but she couldn't deny her curiosity.
"Trixie, can someone without magic gain magic?"
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Actually, it was something my aunt was researching before she died. I don't know all the details to be honest. But, according to her, souls can grow, and they have a certain threshold. If they grow beyond that point, they become more sensitive to the natural magic around them. Something like that."
Her eyebrow arched higher. "What? You think if you get magic, you can wake her up?"
"Well... no... maybe?" Twilight looked at Trixie, silently asking if it was a possibility.
Trixie shook her head. "First of all, gaining magic is no easy feat if you don't already have it; it takes years of training. Your friends seem to be the weird exception. Second, even if you could..." Trixie sighed again. "Unless we know what's wrong, there's not much we can do."
It had been a fleeting idea, but Twilight couldn't deny the disappointment sitting in her. She had a gut feeling Sunset's state was magically induced. If she could just understand how magic worked, maybe she could help Sunset. Maybe she could stop this from happening to anyone else.
When nothing else was spoken, Trixie excused herself, and Velvet came to take her place. She wrapped her arms around Twilight. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. I know how much this must hurt."
Twilight wasn't sure if that was accurate, but she appreciated the empathy. She nestled into her mother's embrace, helplessness and frustration rising up and escaping as a few sobs. She held onto Sunset's hand the entire time.
A few minutes later, the remaining Spectacular Seven squeezed in. Fluttershy let out a short wail and threw herself into Rainbow's arms. Pinkie's hair sagged heavily, looking almost straight.
"Oh, Sunset," Rarity said, covering her mouth, "this is all our fault. If only we had found you sooner."
"No it isn't," Twilight said, her voice croaky. "No one here is at fault. Whoever took Sunset is the only one to blame."
"And when we find them..." Applejack raised her hat from in front of her face, revealing the dark shadow over her eyes. "They're gonna pay for what they did."
"What did they even do?" Rainbow asked. "How did she end up like this?"
"We'll find out when she wakes up," Pinkie said in a trembling voice. She sucked in a deep breath, returning a little bounce to her hair. "Because she's going to wake up. Then everything will be all right again."
Twilight looked at Sunset's vacant expression. "I hope you're right, Pinkie."
*******
On Sunday, Twilight arrived to Sunset's room with a vase full of flowers. They were warm colors of reds and oranges and a few yellows. Cadence had helped pick them out. Twilight set them on the bedside table and opened the blinds for the afternoon light to pour in, then pulled up a chair next to Sunset.
"H-hi, Sunset." Twilight paused, hoping she might get a response. "I, umm, read a few articles online that said talking to someone when they're... in this state helps them wake up. It's not one-hundred percent proven fact, but, it's worth a try, right? I hope you can hear me."
Twilight couldn't help but feel a little silly, talking to someone who couldn't respond and very well couldn't even hear. But as one-sided as it was, at least she was talking to her Sunset again.
"The girls are coming by a little later. I think they wanted to give us some alone time." She squeezed her fingers and laughed. "I guess I appreciate it. It's been an odd week without you. You won't believe some of the things that happened. I got detention! Me of all people! I, well, I punched a girl because she said some things about you. I wasn't even fully aware of what I did until it was over. You probably would have cheered me on. Though, I guess if you were here, I probably wouldn't have done it. A paradox. Miss Celestia said it wouldn't go on my record, so that's good. I think I'd be freaking out a lot more if it was.
"And, Applejack ponied up and got a power, too! She threw a girder at... well... your evil side. It was all pretty crazy. I know that wasn't really you though. I know it. I wish you were awake though. I want to look more into magic. Did Applejack pony up out of necessity? If so, why didn't Rarity and Pinkie get powers?" Twilight watched Sunset's face, hoping to see any sign that she was in there, listening.
A knock came at the door, and Pinkie bounced in, carrying balloons and streamers. Her hair was almost back to its normal volume. "Time to liven this place up! The first thing Sunset sees when she wakes up is a big ol' party waiting for her!"
The rest of their friends flowed in, carrying more balloons and colorful lights to be strung up. Rarity and Fluttershy had worked together to stitch a large blanket with Sunset's cutie mark. Rainbow brought in a small boombox and slid a cd in.
"We recorded some of our songs and put them on here. Once she hears this, she'll definitely wake up." She hit play and bounced her head along to 'Awesome as I Wanna Be.'
"Yep, she'll wake up just to tell you to shut up," Applejack said, smirking.
"Worth it."
Twilight helped Pinkie set the lights up, intertwining them with the red and gold streamers. With their glow and the light of the sun, the room exploded with warmth and color. Twilight constantly checked on Sunset for a ghost of a smile or an eye twitch, yet she remained completely still.
The girls all took turns talking to Sunset, recounting their versions of the past week. Pinkie even told a few jokes, some of the intentionally bad to see if Sunset would cringe. No such luck. They took their leave a few hours later, leaving Twilight to keep Sunset company a little longer.
Velvet's shift ended, and she came to collect Twilight. She looked around at the streamers and lights, smiling in amusement and shaking her head in disapproval. "I'm not sure if this is allowed in hospital regulations."
Twilight kissed Sunset on the cheek and followed her mom out, turning off the main light but leaving the smaller ones to illuminate Sunset's room in a rainbow colors.
Monday after school, Twilight returned to the hospital, happy to see all the decorations still up. "Hi, Sunnykins, how are you?"
Sunset didn't respond.
"School was okay. Miss Celestia mentioned you in the morning announcement. And I got more students saying they were sorry for what happened. I never know how to respond to that. I guess I should say thank you, but that doesn't feel quite right. Anyway, I brought a book to read this time. Outloud. To you." She rummaged into her backpack. "I think you'll like it. These two princesses command a fleet of airships and travel to other dimensions to stop an evil force from destroying theirs."
Twilight managed to get through the first chapter before Trixie knocked on the door.
"I just wanted to come and see how she was. I should have known you would be here." Trixie pulled up a chair and sat on Sunset's other side.
"I was just reading to her. I don't know if it helps, but it's kinda fun."
Trixie grunted in acknowledgement while she admired the rooms decorations. "Your friends are thoughtful. Tacky, but thoughtful."
"Thank you?" Twilight looked at her book. She hoped Trixie didn't plan on staying too long. Reading to Sunset was one thing, but reading to a certainly listening and responding audience... it was almost as bad as public speaking.
Another thought came to her as Trixie magically lifted a nail file from her purse and ran it against her nails. "Trixie, are you and Moondancer close?"
Trixie pouted. "Not as much as we used to be. When her mother died, she and her father became very distant. She used to tell Trixie everything. Now, she only says hi in passing."
Moondancer almost never mentioned her mother. Twilight knew it was a sensitive topic and never sought to pry. Asking Trixie felt like a betrayal in some way, so Twilight left it alone. "Can you tell me more about the difference between inheriting magic and obtaining it?"
"You're still on about that?" Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm doing research. I want to understand how magic works in this world."
Trixie eyed her, then turned her nose up. "Trixie supposes she can enlighten you a little." She lifted a dramatic hand into the air. "In the great age of magic, there were many witches and wizards! Wielders of the mystic arts who dedicated their life to the mysteries of the world! And in that age, magic flowed across the planet like the wind and sea! There were those born with the magical gift--who had magic flow through every fiber of their being! Families like mine--descendants of the great Merlin himself!"
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Then, there are those who simply believed in magic. They opened themselves to the possibilities and trained until they could tap into the magic themselves. But, as the years wore on, people slowly stopped believing in magic. More and more true blooded magicians married common magicless people, and the magic stopped being passed down in many families. It all eventually dried up. Now, the Lulamoons are some of the last magicians on the planet," Trixie said proudly.
"So... magic sounds like a gene that you're born with. For you, it was active, but for Moondancer, it was dormant?"
"Sure, why not," Trixie said simply, returning to her nail filing.
Twilight massaged her head. Once again, she had more questions than answers.
On Tuesday, Flash and Rarity visited, bringing more flowers. Sunset's room smelled like a botanical garden on top of being the brightest room in the hospital. Wednesday saw Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy visit together, and on Thursday, Trixie returned, followed by Applejack. Twilight had been there everyday, reading and talking to Sunset, keeping her room tidy and watering the flowers. She helped the nurses move Sunset around to keep her limber and somewhat active.
She eventually found a rhythm to it all. Read a chapter to Sunset, by which then, one of her other friends had arrived. Twilight would then do her homework, then help a nurse take care of Sunset, and clean the room. She'd squeeze in one more conversation, then go home with her mother.
Friday saw a slightly different change of pace. Twilight got through three chapter of her book before she realized no one else had showed up so far. She took a break to water the flowers and fluff Sunset's pillow. Her eyes remained vacant, like Sunset was merely a shell, and the host had up and left.
Were all the words and decorations meaningless? Had Sunset all but slipped out of this mortal coil? Twilight sat back in her chair, the thoughts heavy on her mind. She tried reading more of her story to put them away, but they continued to rise back to the surface. What if she never got to interact with Sunset again? Their last conversation had ended in a huff. Was that how Sunset would remember her passing on into whatever came next?
A soft knock at the door startled her out of her mind's gathering gloom. Instead of the usual crowd, Cadence poked her head in. "Hey, ladybug."
"Cadence? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked, watching Cadence pull up a chair beside her.
"Sunset and I may not be super close yet, but I still consider her a friend. And she's very special to you." She wrapped an arm around Twilight's shoulder. "Speaking of you, how are you holding up?"
Twilight looked down at her book, tracing the words as she sorted her feelings. She didn't feel lost and confused anymore. Her emotions weren't a tangled mess that she couldn't make sense of. She had found Sunset and could see her everyday, even if Sunset couldn't see her. It gave Twilight a sense of relief and hope amidst the sadness. All that was really left was a heavy sense of uselessness, sitting so close to Sunset but not being able to do anything.
"I'm okay, I guess," she said hesitantly. "It still hurts. But, Sunset's alive." Twilight reached out and grabbed her hand, still cold. "I want her to wake up. I want her to wake up so badly." Tears fell from her eyes. "But at least I know she's okay."
Cadence rubbed her shoulder. "I know she'll wake up soon. Somewhere in there, I think she knows you're taking good care of her." She smiled knowingly.
"You think so?" Twilight bit her lower lip. "I know I have to go to college... but what if she isn't awake by then?" Her tears fell faster. "I want to be here when she wakes up. No matter how long that takes."
"Is that so?" Cadence embraced her in a warm hug. She continued to smile, but her eyes held a sympathetic light.
"Y-yes." Twilight took her glasses off and furiously rubbed her eyes. "I... can't see a future without her in it. As friends or girlfriends or whatever, she's somewhere there. Because I..." Twilight looked into Sunset's teal eyes, remembering when they were filled with life.
"I love her."
Cadence had been right. Twilight's had not been a eureka moment. It had been a long time coming. She didn't know why she had to compare it to so many other people. No emotional process was the same. It didn't matter their supposed age difference or that Sunset wasn't originally human. Twilight wasn't in love with her.
"I love her," she repeated. "I still don't know if it's just some passing teenager thing or just my emotions going crazy because of everything that's happened, but I need her to wake up so I can tell her."
Cadence pulled a tissue from the bedside table and dabbed at Twilight's eyes and cheeks. "Some romances start young and last all the way to the end. I think yours and Sunset's might be one of them. Even if it starts from your emotions 'going crazy,' they're still real emotions. Take care of them. And when Sunset wakes up and the craziness is over, and you still feel the same way..." Cadence kissed her on the forehead. "Then you've got something that might make even Shiny and me jealous."
Twilight slid her glasses back on when Cadence finished. "Do you think Sunset feels the same way?"
"I have a strong feeling she does." Cadence leaned in toward Twilight, a cheshire grin on her face. "After all, unicorns are most attracted to virgins."
Twilight's cheeks exploded with heat. "Wh-wh-wh-what are you talking about?" Her voice came out five octaves too high.
Cadence leaned back in her chair, trying and failing to contain her smile. "Shining told me about Sunset."
"What about Sunset?" Twilight's voice went up another octave. "She's perfectly normal. Nothing weird at all about her. Nope!" She didn't know why she was trying; she had already lost. Cadence had played the game too well, rattling Twilight from the onset and leaving her with no chance to recover.
Cadence laid a hand on Twilight's shaking leg. "Sweetheart, as... strange as all of this is, I'm slowly coming to accept it."
Twilight brought her voice back to its its regular pitch. "You believe Sunset's a pony from another dimension?"
"Well, it might explain a few things. And you seem to believe it, so, I'm not ready to toss the idea out." Cadence chuckled softly. "I knew Sunset was different, but not this different. She's your knight in shining armor and your noble steed."
Twilight buried her face in her hands. "Cadence," she whined.
"Making jokes is how I cope with something this unbelievable." Her hand moved up to Twilight's shoulder. "But, magical unicorn or not, I believe Sunset really cares about you."
"Yeah," Twilight said, looking at Sunset between her fingers.
"And remember, you can talk to me about anything, no matter how ridiculous it might seem. I'll believe you enough to help however I can."
Twilight lowered her hands and allowed herself to look into Cadence's sincere eyes. She knew now. Twilight could tell Cadence everything. The realization that she had someone normal she could talk to and believe her sent a fresh wave of emotions through her. Twilight flung herself out of the chair and wrapped her arms around Cadence.
"Shh, easy now, ladybug. You don't have to say it all at once."
"I-I know!" Twilight sniffled. "But the fact that I can!"
"I know." Cadence got another tissue and cleaned up Twilight's face. "Deep breaths. Let's start with just one thing at a time."
One thing? Which could Twilight pick? The thieving doppelganger? The flying demon? Sunset going home and never coming back? The pull she and her friends felt the night Sunset disappeared?
Twilight took the offered tissue from Cadence and wiped her own eyes. Most of her fears and anxieties all had a common denominator.
"I just wish I had magic, too." |
Spectacular Seven | 17. Phantom Moon | Awaken, Sunset Shimmer...
That voice again. She had heard it a few days ago... hadn't she? It bounced around in her brain, until a mind-numbing fog ate it. But another voice, this one more familiar, told her she should probably get up.
Sunset cracked her eyes open, squinting at the fragments of sunlight falling onto her face from in between the green leaves above her. A weight shifted on Sunset's chest, and she lifted her head to see Twilight resting comfortably between her breasts. Sunset couldn't help but giggle. She rested her head back in the grass and admired the old tree standing guard over them.
Spring had brought them another beautiful day. A perfect sapphire sky rested beyond the emerald leaves. The weather was warm enough to be enjoyable, but cool enough that Sunset could still wear her jacket. She and Twilight had picnicked on the hill in Canterlot Park again, like they did almost every weekend. Twilight's violin case leaned against the tree trunk, and Sunset's crock-pot of homemade soup sat empty on the picnic blanket.
As much as Sunset would have loved to lay there forever with Twilight curled against her, she was starting to get sore and stiff. She gave Twilight's ponytail a jostle, and Twilight gave a sleepy murmur.
"Sweetheart, time to get up. My pillows hurt."
Twilight took her time but eventually rose off Sunset and rolled her neck. "Good afternoon, Sunnykins."
Sunset sat up and stretched her back. "Next time, you get to be the body pillow. I don't care if you are flat."
"I am not flat!"
Sunset struck her hand out and copped a feel. "Well, you've got more than Rainbow, but--"
Twilight batted her hand away and slapped Sunset's shoulder, then bapped her a second time when she started to laugh. "Big, stupid jerk," Twilight grumbled.
"Sparky, you're perfect, just the way you are." Sunset wrapped her arms around Twilight's waist and pulled her in for a deep kiss. Twilight melted into it, making a moan of satisfaction.
Sunset eased her way out when it became too hard to stop her face muscles from smiling. "I love you," she said, resting her hand atop Twilight's, feeling the small diamond dig into her palm.
"I love you, too."
"Ugh, are guys still being all coupley?" a scratchy voice shouted.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted," Sunset said, looking down the hill. Rainbow climbed toward them, trying to look offended by their display of affection.
She got to the top and rested her fists on her hips. "I hope you two are happy, leaving us with all the hard work. And putting Rarity in charge!" She threw her arms in the air. "You know how she's like with stuff like this!"
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Twilight said.
"I got yelled at because I didn't know the difference between egg-shell white and cream." Rainbow huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face. "But, I did get a consolation for it. I get to be the one to pull the happy couple apart." She gestured to Twilight. "Come on, egghead, I have to take you to Cadence."
Twilight looked at Sunset like a lost puppy. "Can't we stay out here a little while longer?"
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "You'll see each other tomorrow, geez."
Sunset stood up and pulled Twilight to her feet, giving her another kiss. "We've been apart longer than twenty-four hours before. We can do this."
"I know. I'm just getting nervous. Tomorrow's the day."
Rainbow grabbed Twilight by the arm before she and Sunset could kiss again. "Everything will be fine. Rarity may be a total diva, but she knows what she's doing. Now come on, I've been here ten seconds and I'm already tired of seeing you make out."
She led Twilight away, looking over her shoulder and saying, "Sunset, if I ever get all lovey-dovey with anyone, punch me in the face."
"Don't make me make promises you know I'll keep."
Rainbow made a short grunt and pulled Twilight down the hill as she gave Sunset one last wave.
"I'll see you soon, Sparky. Don't worry, we can do this!" she shouted as they got further away.
*******
"I changed my mind! I can't do this!" Sunset ran her hands down her clammy face, wiping away a layer of perspiration. "I'm going to buy a ticket to Paraguay and never come back!"
"And what exactly is in Paraguay?" Rarity asked, standing next to the door.
"Not this!" Sunset grabbed the bottle of water on the dresser and chugged it down in one swing. "Rarity, you know me, I don't freak out--"
"Well..."
"--but I'm totally freaking out now!" Sunset clawed at the low neckline of her dress. It crushed her chest, restricting any airflow. She couldn't breath! The room was too warm! She was going to die!
Rarity laid a hand on her shoulder. "Sunset, dear, take one, deep breath."
"I can't! I can't do it!"
Rarity turned Sunset away from the mirror to face her. "Look at my eyes." Rarity brought her hands up and cupped the sides of Sunset's chin. "Just breathe with me. In and out. Nice and easy."
Sunset watched Rarity's mouth, how she easily pulled in air and let it go. She started doing the same thing, shaky at first, but slowly found a matching rhythm to Rarity. They breathed together for several minutes, until Sunset's dress stopped trying to choke her, and her heart no longer threatened to jump out of her throat. She took a long breath and slowly exhaled, nodding to Rarity.
"There you go. It's just a little pre-wedding jitters. Everyone gets them." She lowered her hands to hold onto Sunset's. "But you have nothing to worry about. A romance like yours and Twilight's only comes once in a lifetime. You two are perfect together."
Emotion welled in Rarity's eyes and ran down her face, leaving black lines behind. "Look at how much you've helped one another by being together. And now you're going to share a life together. It's the closest thing to a fairytale I've seen in real life. Sunset, I'm so happy and proud of you!"
Sunset pulled her into a tight hug, makeup running down her face now as her tears fell onto Rarity's shoulders. "Thank you, Rarity. Thank you so much for everything. I don't know what I would have done without you."
"Oh, you would have muddled by. You wouldn't have looked as fabulous as you do now, but you would have been fine." They both laughed over each other's shoulders. Rarity pulled Sunset away and led her back to her chair. "Come on, no more crying so I can redo our makeup. You can cry all you want after you say 'I do.'"
Sunset took a napkin and dabbed at her eyes. She couldn't believe it. Today was the day. She had dreamed and fantasized about it, but never thought it would actually happen. In half an hour, she'd be saying her vows, staring her bride-to-be in the eyes, sealing the promise of a new life together. It was surreal and terrifying and wonderful all at the same time.
Awaken, Sunset...
She scratched the back of her head. There was that voice again. She had been hearing it on and off recently, faint, but urgent. It fell quiet against the roar of her mind reminding her what today was. Sunset looked at the massive doors in front of her, dark maple wood engraved with spiraling etches that opened up into flowering blossoms.
A single key of an organ on the other side signaled it was finally time. With one last deep breath to drown out the butterflies, Sunset nodded at her father to open the door.
His magic lit up the frame, and it slowly swung open, allowing the full force of the organ to hit Sunset's ears. The slow, sweet wedding march ordered her to keep moving down the white aisle dusted with red petals. Her father trotted by her side, coming up to her waist.
"I'm so proud of you, Sunny," he whispered, keeping his eyes forward. Sunset could still see the tears in them.
"Thanks, Dad."
Friends and family filled every row of the chapel, their heads following Sunset as she moved down the center. Her mother sat in the front left row next to the Sparkles and Cadence, an open seat waiting for her father. On the opposite side were the Lulamoons, Artemis looking ready to burst with joy.
White columns stood at intervals between the rows, ivy wrapping down them. A skylight over head let in a shower of soft light, and the colored windows at the front bathed the altar in a rainbow. Waiting up the steps were Sunset's friends, Rarity standing at the forefront, trying her hardest not to cry again. Fluttershy was already openly weeping, blowing her nose into a handkerchief.
Standing above all of them, wings spread wide, her pastel mane flowing in an unseen wind, a motherly smile on her regal face, was Princess Celestia. Her eyes followed Sunset all the way to her spot on the altar. Their gazes met as Sunset came to rest, long dialogues passing between them. Of heroic tales and confessions of love and funny moments and jaw-dropping events... and apologies and forgiveness.
"Welcome, Sunset Shimmer," Celestia said when the organ went quiet. "And now, for our other bride."
The organ started again, and every head turned back to the large doors as they opened. Sunset's heart threatened to leave again as her eyes caught sight of the most breathtaking creature in existence.
Escorted by her father, Twilight Sparkle glided down the aisle, her slippers lost beneath her long white gown accented by purple ribbons that trailed off the sides. Star patterns were stitched into her long sleeves dusted with glitter, making them sparkle in the sunlight. Like Sunset's dress, she had a low cut neckline, and while she didn't have much cleavage to show off, a radiant amethyst sat at the base of her neck.
With every closing inch, Sunset's heart beat faster, blood rushing in her ears, drowning out the music. I want to be with her until the end of time.
No, Sunset Shimmer! This is not real!
Sunset tore her eyes away from Twilight for just a moment, looking at the glass in the ceiling. The voice almost sounded louder than before. What did it mean this wasn't real? It felt real.
Question it, Sunset! Fight it!
The music stopped. Sunset looked down to find Twilight standing before her, a bouquet of flowers in hand. Her smile nearly blinded Sunset.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Celestia said, "we are gathered here today for a momentous occasion! The union of these two souls in holy matrimony!"
Sunset looked out at the crowd. Her mother and father leaned against one another, tearful smiles on their faces. They were the only ponies besides Celestia to attend the affair. How did they get here anyway?
A sharp pain shot through Sunset's head before a light fog filled her vision. Why does it matter? They're here on the happiest day of your life...
No, Sunset! Look beyond the lie! Find the truth!
The fog vanished, and Celestia's voice came back. "...it is a truly rare and celebratory occasion when two people love each other as true and pure as Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight beamed, and Sunset couldn't help but smile back. She wanted to throw out the ceremony and just tackle Twilight to the floor. Easy, girl. There'll be plenty of time for that later.
But how did I get here? When did I propose to Twilight?
Remember, you did it... by a lake? At dusk?
Sunset scrunched her face. Why couldn't she get a clear image of that moment? She knew it existed. Actually, what had she been doing up until this point? Had she graduated from high school? Yes, she had.... She thought she had. But what had she been doing after that? Traveling the world? No, working in the emporium.
"Are you okay?" Twilight whispered as Celestia continued to talk.
"Y-yeah," Sunset said, drawing herself out of her muddled thoughts. "Just... thinking too hard." Or not hard enough? But the harder she thought, the more fog filled her mind. Suddenly, she could see her proposal to Twilight. It had been by a lake at dusk. What she had been doing since graduation still eluded her. Was it just nerves blocking her memory?
A voice whispered something in the back of her head, but Sunset could barely hear it now.
"I believe both of you have written your own vows?" Celestia took a step back, letting Twilight and Sunset take center stage.
Twilight took a deep breath. "Sunset, you're sometimes the most frustrating person I've ever had to deal with."
Everyone couldn't help but laugh, including Sunset.
"But you're also the most driven and compassionate and fearless person I've met. You've taught me so much, not just about magic, but things about myself I never knew. You're always encouraging, even if you like to hide it behind sarcasm. You're empathetic and you always try to put my needs before yours." Twilight hiccuped and rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. "But from now on, we share needs, okay? I want to take care of you, too. I want to help you carry all the burdens you have and make your life easier. I love you. I love you so much, even when it doesn't make sense. It's the one thing I'm not afraid to not question. Because when I'm with you, everything feels right and makes perfect sense. I can't wait to be part of your world."
Sunset swallowed the lump of emotion in her throat, wishing she had gone first. How was she supposed to top that? Moreover, how was she supposed to get through her speech without bawling?
"Twilight, I..." She hesitated. She had a vow prepared, right? Yes, of course she did! "Twilight, you're perfect. You're the reason I try so hard to be a better person..."
Sunset, don't fall for the illusion! You must awaken!
"All of my friends have taught me something," Sunset said a little more slowly. The voice was back in full force. When did she write this speech? Were these the words she wanted to say to Twilight on their wedding day? Sunset couldn't remember planning the wedding.
"My friends... our friends... uhm, they all taught me to be better, but you..." Sunset's eyes looked about the room. "You taught me I can still fall... in love..."
Wake up, Sunset! Fight the illusion! Your soul has the strength!
My soul? Illusion? Sunset looked at the audience, who looked back at her in confusion. She knew she was hesitating, but something felt off. There were too many holes in her memory. And something about the word 'soul'...
"Your soul is indeed powerful."
Sunset's eyes widened. "Her! That woman!" Sunset remembered being held against her will, and pain, unbearable pain!
"Sunset?" She looked back at Twilight, tears of rejection and anguish in her eyes. "Are you all right?"
"I..." Sunset looked about. She could see the cracks and seams in this fantasy. She had been captured. How had she ended up here? "No... I'm not okay. This..." She felt a weightlessness overtake her body. "This isn't real. None of it's real."
The sound of shattered glass ripped through Sunset's eardrums. Twilight broke into a thousand pieces, and even though Sunset knew it wasn't real, watching her crumble into shards broke Sunset's heart. The chapel and all its inhabitants fell into nothingness, leaving Sunset standing in a swirling red void that quickly made her wish she had stayed in the dream. There was no ground, Sunset just stood amongst an angry sea of crimson. Black swirls and clouds danced about her in all directions.
Sunset shook like a leaf. Where was she? How had she ended up here? Was this still a dream? She took a step forward, still feeling an invisible floor beneath her boots. Her body still felt oddly light. No, not just her body... her soul felt light. It felt... fractured.
She took a breath to ease her nerves but to no avail. Her calming breath slowly became hyperventilation. She wanted to leave or wake up or whatever. She wanted to see her friends!
"Be at peace, Sunset Shimmer, you're not alone."
Sunset yelped and spun around, placing a hand over her heart. Sitting on an invisible ledge over Sunset was a familiar looking woman. She held her wide-brimmed hat down over her face, but Sunset recognized her silver hair reaching down to the small of her back. She wore heels and stockings with her blue skirt, and a blazer over her white shirt. A blue cape with stars and moons flapped in a wind Sunset couldn't feel.
"I know you," Sunset said, her voice having a hard time getting above a whisper. "You're Artemis' sister. You're Apalla Lulamoon."
Apalla lifted her hat and smiled in surprise. Indeed, she looked like a female version of Artemis with her childish smile. "You know my brother?"
Sunset nodded. "He... he took me in when I really needed it."
A kind and hearty laugh escaped Apalla's lips and filled the void with life. "That's my brother. Too nice for his own good sometimes. I remember this one time..." Her purple eyes found Sunset again. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Sunset Shimmer."
"How do you know who I am? Where are we?" Sunset looked around the swirling void, a cold sweat of dread forming on her forehead. "I thought you were... dead." She grabbed her heart. "Am I dead too?"
Apalla drifted down from her invisible perch and hovered beside Sunset. She was Artemis' height as well, standing a few inches taller than Sunset.
"All good questions, though I hesitate to say any of them have good answers." She tapped a finger against her chin. "Where to start? Well, first let me assure you that you're not dead. Actually, I can't say that for certain. I have no way of knowing what happened to your body. Your soul has not moved onto the next world though, so in some senses, you aren't actually dead, not in a spiritual sense at least."
She cupped a hand against her cheek. "What is death? Is it a sudden stop to what we consider to be life? But our bodies are merely vessels for our souls, and souls cannot die. At least, I hope they cannot. Hmm, that's actually a very deep question. If a soul could die, what would happen to it? Would you merely cease to exist entirely?"
"Miss Apalla," Sunset said meekly, "I think you might be rambling a little."
Apalla blinked. "Oh goodness, you're probably right. Sorry, I don't get to talk to many people these days. My communication skills are a little rusty." She let out a hearty laugh that had a slight crack in it. "I guess I can't answer your last question. To answer your first one, I learned your name when I was peering into your soul's dream."
"My soul's dream?"
"Your dream, your soul's dream. One in the same really. That fantasy trying to convince you you were still in reality. A dream where your deepest wishes are fulfilled, designed to keep you complacent and subdued. Breaking free from it is not an easy feat."
Sunset nodded absently. "That's good I guess. But I'm still really confused. Where are we? Why was I dreaming? And how did I get here?"
Apalla leaned back until she was reclining in midair. "Hmmm. I think it would be easiest to go in chronological order. Not that time has much meaning here. Or maybe it does and I just can't tell. But, before I start to ramble again, what's the last thing you remember?"
Sunset closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her head. "I remember... fighting Lamia... and then being paralyzed and dragged away..." She gasped. "And then that woman! I think her name was--"
"Tempest Shadow," Apalla said darkly.
"Do you know her?"
"Knowing is subjective." Apalla waved her hand. "I've had the displeasure of meeting her. But continue."
Her last memories before her dream replayed in Sunset's mind, grainy and shuttered, like she was seeing them on an old film reel. "I don't know where I was, but she had me tied to a chair. Then she lifted some amulet to me and started..." Sunset shuddered, feeling violated, like her very core had been exposed and torn. "She started reading me. All my memories and emotions. She tried to draw up all my anger and jealousy and hatred..."
Oddly enough, Sunset couldn't feel any of that now; not even anger toward her captors. Just a dull apathy in its place. "I think she wanted my magic."
Apalla zoomed up to Sunset's face, her eyes wide. "You have magic?" she asked excitedly. "Oh, I knew your soul was special! I just couldn't place it! I've never felt magic like yours before. Oh, I'm sorry, I interrupted again." She drifted away from Sunset and gestured for her to continue.
"Y-yeah, it's a long story. But she wanted the darker side of my magic. I refused to give into it, so she did something else. I remember agonizing pain and then... I guess I ended up here." She looked to Apalla for confirmation.
"I see." Apalla raised a hand to her cheek again. "Fascinating. So many questions I would love to ask, but yours take priority. I can see why Tempest would want your soul; you have a lot of magic, even if it's... foreign? Alien? Very unique," she decided.
Sunset nodded patiently letting Apalla move at her own pace.
"Well, Sunset, there is no easy way to tell you this, but your soul now lies within the confines of the Soul Lock." She made a sweeping gesture to the red and black swirling mass that engulfed them. It stretched on forever in every direction, and in the distance, Sunset could see a few tiny flecks of light.
An inhuman roar echoed through the void, one that made Sunset drop to her knees as her soul trembled. It faded away, but a feeling of despair and crushing hope lingered.
"Don't mind him," Apalla said with a dismissive wave. "That's just the warden."
"Uh, okay?" She looked up at Apalla. "But what is a Soul Lock? And what does Tempest want with my soul?"
Apalla helped Sunset back to her feet. "Come, walk with me while I give you a lesson in history." She glided a few feet, then paused and smiled dreamily. "Oh, that rhymed!"
They followed an unseen path into the darkness, passing a few of the light specks. Apalla hummed to herself as she floated along. Sunset wondered if she had already forgotten she was supposed to be explaining things.
"Long ago, in the first age of magic," Apalla began in a misty voice, "when humanity first stumbled upon the idea of civilization and paid homage to the gods for all they had, there was a young man named Tirek."
Sunset froze. "Tirek?"
"Oh, you've heard of him?"
The name brought old images from her history books in Equestria. A brief chapter on a would be conqueror. "Sort of. But I don't think it's the same person."
"Interesting. I wouldn't think Tirek to be a very common name. Hmm, but what is a name? Is it central to the establishment of our character? Or is it merely a label given to us at birth that we grow into? Do we make the name, or does the name make us?" Apalla blinked. "What was I talking about?"
Sunset softly cleared her throat. "Tirek, I believe."
"Yes, of course! Silly me! Well, the tapestries of history no longer record his origins, but we know Tirek began his life as just a normal man. But, he had a vendetta against the gods, and sought the power to challenge them. He trained his soul to become in tune with the magical world and learned all he could about magic."
Apalla paused, seeing the inquisitive look on Sunset's face. "Ah. You see, souls resonate with the magic that fills the world. At least they did until the magic went away. If one pushes their soul to a certain point, they can harness that magic."
"And how do you reach that point?" Sunset asked.
"Well, our souls are reflections of who we are. They are the growth that we go through in life. Seeing the world, meeting new people, learning new things. All those experiences help our soul to grow. Of course, it's not enough if you want to tap into magic. No, meditating, spiritual training... and trauma of any sort are ways to strengthen your soul as well."
"So that's how Tirek got stronger?"
Apalla nodded. "That's how he started. It is said he was quite determined to learn magic. Once his soul hit the threshold, he traveled the land, asking to be taught from witches and wizards from across the world." She shook her head. "If only they knew.
"Soon, Tirek would discover the ultimate truth about souls." Apalla stopped her glide and faced Sunset. "Souls are a kind of magic too. They are the very essence of creation and life. They are sacred magics. They are powerful magics. When Tirek learned that, he devised a way to harness that magic--magic equivalent to that of the divine."
She raised a hand to the murky sky above them. "This is the result of his research. The Soul Lock. It is a pocket dimension of his design, created to house souls so he can feed on their power and add to his own magic."
Sunset gazed around, horror grasping her in its tight claws. "So, he just... takes people's souls? What about their bodies?" Her face paled. "What about my body?"
Apalla let out a slow breath. "Without souls, bodies become lifeless shells. All they become capable of is breathing. Souls are the driving force behind our animation and actions. It's like a car without a driver."
"So..." Sunset sank to the ground. Her eyes stung as tears began to fall. "I probably am dead."
"Now, now, there's no guarantee of that," Apalla patted her on the shoulder. "I prefer to look on the brighter side of life. Your body could be alive and well kept."
Yep, she's really Artemis' sister. Sunset wiped her eyes. She wanted to believe that, but if she had been captured by Lamia, she had heavy doubts. Tempest didn't seem to be the friendliest person either.
"So Tirek made this Soul Lock to get more power. He's not in the history books, so I'm guessing it didn't work out?"
Apalla laughed. "You would be correct, though it isn't as simple as that. Tirek rose to power, taking the souls of mages and non-mages left and right. Soon, he would have enough power to rival the gods and start a new pantheon, consisting of just himself. But--and this is my favorite part of the tale--the greatest witch of the time and my family's first matriarch, the high witch Megan, stepped forth to defeat him!"
Blue sparkles danced on her fingers, and the faint image of a rainbow appeared. "Wielding the most legendary of artifacts: the Rainbow of Light, Megan put an end to Tirek's conquest! She reversed the flow of the Soul Lock, freeing all those who had been taken, and in turn, locked Tirek's soul within his own prison."
Sunset remembered the roar from earlier.
"Yes," Apalla said, reading her eyes. "That was him. Originally, Megan locked the amulet away and hid it where hopefully none would find it. But, Tirek had created a following in his path for power, a following that endured for centuries, until they found his amulet and revived his body. Furious at his previous defeat, Tirek changed his tactics a little. He focused on the souls of other wizards first, crushing their bodies after taking them instead of leaving them behind." Apalla's voice grew soft. "That's how the age of magic began its end.
"But, like Megan before him, our ancestor Merlin and five of his friends used the Rainbow of Light to free the souls and seal Tirek away. This time, they threw his accursed amulet into the deepest chasm in the ocean, where none could ever reach it. Yet, it seems not even that could stop the wheel of fate."
Apalla fell silent, allowing Sunset to speak. "So, someone found the amulet again and wants to revive Tirek for a third time? Why?"
"Why, I cannot say. But, yes. This Tempest Shadow, an explorer that had made friends with my husband, Night Shade, found the amulet. Night owns a large, wealthy company and has access to various resources. She wanted his help in Tirek's revival." Apalla pulled her cape tighter around her shoulders. "I walked in on her trying to convince him to help. I tried to warn him what Tirek really was... then everything went dark. The last thing I remember is hearing my daughter scream."
Moondancer. Sunset lowered her gaze. "I'm so sorry." Another roar jolted her back to her feet.
Apalla took her hand and guided her forward. "Keep moving, keep moving. This place is infinite, but it's still his world."
"So, if Tempest is trying to revive Tirek, Artemis or someone can just use the Rainbow of Light again to beat him, right?" Sunset said between breaths as she jogged to keep up with Apalla's glide.
They came to a stop, though it looked like they had barely moved. "And therein lies a slight problem." Apalla steepled her fingers together. "You see, the Rainbow has been... misplaced."
"What do you mean?"
"A few generations back, the Lulamoons fell on some hard times. Very hard times. The Seal of the Rainbow had been passed down for untold generations. It was our sacred duty to keep it safe and guarded until the world needed it again. But my great-great-great... a couple more greats, grandfather had to choose between having a meal for his family, or defending the world's greatest weapon against darkness."
Apalla weighed her hands. "I suppose I can't be too mad. It is a hard choice. And after not using it for so many centuries, you start to wonder if you'll ever actually needed it. I'm not saying it was the best decision, but it was an understandable one. Hard to say what I would have done if I were in his position..."
"Miss Apalla, you're rambling again."
"Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Thank you for being patient with me though. You're a very well-behaved child." As Sunset blushed, Apalla continued. "But yes, he sold the Rainbow. And it has been every Lulamoon's dream since to find it again and resume the mantle as the guardians of harmony. Still, years of searching has found us nothing."
"That's bad. So then, how do we stop him?"
Apalla gave her a familiar and encouraging smile. "That's why I'm still here. And why I woke you from your dream. You see, I believe escape from the Soul Lock is possible if one has a strong enough will." She pointed to one of the floating lights. "That is another person's soul, dreaming. I have spent my time imprisoned here trying to wake up as many people as I can and help their souls get to freedom."
She hunched her shoulders. "Sadly, I have had very little success. People are too comfortable in their perfect fantasy worlds, or once they realize where they really are, they force themselves back into it, unable to grip the reality." She smiled. "You though, Sunset Shimmer, have the potential to escape--to warn my brother of what is happening and find a way to stop it."
Sunset held her shoulders. "I mean, I'm flattered you think so highly of me but, I don't know if I can do it. Besides, what if I don't have a body to go back to?"
"Well, your soul will gravitate naturally toward your body, and if it's uninhabitable for any reason, then you'll just move on to the afterlife. Souls tend to go where they feel they are most needed... Or most wanted. Either way, Tirek has one less soul to feed off of. That's my plan, Sunset: to undermine him from within his own prison."
"It's brave of you. I don't know if I could handle being alone for so long."
For once, Apalla's smile came out strained. "It's... a challenge. And a sacrifice. Isolation of this magnitude... isn't healthy. I know my mind is slipping, piece by piece. Only my conviction of saving the world is keeping me going. Both times Tirek has risen to power, he's been nearly unstoppable. Until we can find a way to beat him completely and put an end to his soul stealing, I will remain here and do my duty as a Lulamoon."
Sunset looked on into the abyss. Being separated from the living world, from your friends and family.... Who knew how long Apalla had been here. Sunset couldn't have been here too long, and she was already dying to see her friends.
Still, the idea of leaving this kind woman behind sunk her already low spirits. "I wish there was something I could do for you."
Apalla's face brightened a little. "Actually, there is. I do want to help you leave as soon as possible, but I would love to hear about the outside world. How do you have magic, Sunset? How are my brother and Selena doing?"
She faltered, lowering her eyes to the nonexistent ground. "And... if you know anything about her... how is my baby girl Moondancer?" |
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