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Roses are Red | Chapter 12: Businessman | Roses are Red: Chapter 12
The streets fell silent and ponies stepped out of the way as Lilo, Carbon, and the guard made their way towards the poorer districts of Canterlot. All eyes were focused on Lilo, staring at her black chitin and large, pink eyes with curiosity, terror, and disgust. Some ponies gathered up their foals, friends, or significant others and led them down side streets and alleyways in an attempt to avoid the oncoming party, sometimes scoffing or mouthing a few words of dissent.
Lilo walked closer to Carbon, keeping their sides pressed up against each other while the guard walked behind them. Every time Lilo's eyes made contact with another pony in the street, the pony would immediately look or shuffle away, or sometimes even glare at her in return. She folded her ears back and felt content to look at the ground, counting the dirty cobblestones that passed under her hooves.
"Insect."
"Cretin."
Lilo flinched, but she kept her head down as more insults were flung her way. They were far from the market square by now, and the houses that passed by started to slowly degenerate into destitute dwellings and shanties. The apartment that Carbon lived at, however, was still several streets away from them, and the ponies that the trio passed by appeared to be getting more and more agitated by Lilo's presence.
"Why isn't it locked up in Canterlot Castle?"
"Perhaps it is being used to search for more of those foul beasts."
Lilo felt Carbon nudge the side of her head. She looked up, dodging the piercing eyes of the ponies around them.
"Don't worry about them, Lilo," Carbon said. "You did something today that they could never hope to do."
"It was quite impressive," the guard behind them added, nodding his head. "Probably wouldn't have done what you did up there."
"And you swooped out of nowhere and protected me against those guards, Carbon," Lilo said, nudging her flank against Carbon. "There was just something different having you there. I felt like I could help Chrysalis."
Carbon glanced around them, noticing that the ponies were starting to become more clustered as they neared the apartment. He leaned close to Lilo once again.
"I think we should pick up the pace," Carbon whispered, making his voice loud enough for the guard to hear behind them. "It would be best if we got off the streets as quickly as possible before these ponies feel the need to 'act.' "
"There is an alley approaching on the left," the guard said. "Your apartment building should be on the next street over; we could use it to avoid further contact with these crowds."
Carbon glanced back for a moment. He then nodded his head and said, "Yes, you are right. Follow me."
The alley the guard mentioned quickly came up on their left, and the party ducked into the alley away from the ponies in the street. A few more shouts and insults rose from behind them, but when Lilo looked back, she saw that none of the ponies from the street were following them. She sighed and turned back around, only for her breath to be caught in her throat. Standing at the end of the alley were two pegasi ponies, one of which Lilo instantly recognized.
"You been keepin' yurself pretty well hidden" the light grey pegasus said. He had a messy orange mane and tail, as well as a large scar that traced over his left eye. "We were sure that you had left the city by now, but it seems like luck would have it that we found you again at a prissy little restaurant with this here handsome pegasus."
Lilo and Carbon stopped walking, eyeing the two pegasi in front of them carefully. The other pegasus had a light orange coat with a white mane and tail.
"I'd suggest you move out of the way," Carbon threatened. "We have orders to report back to Princess Celestia, and we have an armed guard escort."
"Is that so?" the light grey pegasus sneered. "I just see Hot Rocket standin' behind ya. Royal Guards don't usually trek this far into the city."
Lilo and Carbon whirled around to face the guard behind them, but they were instantly slammed into the walls opposite of each other. Lilo slumped against the wall and rolled onto her stomach. Across from her, Carbon groaned as he struggled to get back to his hooves. Lilo made to do the same, but she was instantly shoved back onto the ground by the false pegasus guard. He looked down at her and grinned.
Growling, Lilo opened her mouth and sunk her teeth into Hot Rocket's leg, eliciting a yelp from the pegasus. He stepped back, releasing his leg from Lilo's fangs, but before she could get on her hooves he was back on her and shoving her face into the cobblestones using one of his enormous hooves.
"Hey Falchion," Hot Rocket said, glancing at the light grey pegasus, "looks like the bug grew somewhat of a spine since we last saw her."
"Is that so?" Falchion asked, looking back over at Lilo and Hot Rocket. "Well, looks like we'll need to fix that." He turned back to look down at Carbon, who was still reeling on the ground and struggling to get to his hooves. "I suggest that you don't get up," Falchion said as he swiped Carbon's hooves out from under him and then kicked him in the stomach. "That would be a very bad idea."
Carbon wheezed, glancing at Lilo for a moment before casting his gaze back up at Falchion.
"Why are you doing this?" Carbon asked.
Falchion rolled his eyes, then lowered himself so he was eye level with Carbon.
"This ain't some action adventure story where you can play the white knight," he said. "We're here representin' a business, reclaimin' some merchandise that mysteriously disappeared a few weeks ago. Simple as that. I suggest that you let this whole thing drop or you might be wishin' those guards hadn't hesitated up on that stage."
Carbon coughed. "Merchandise? How can you call a pony merchandise; somepony who has thoughts, opinions, and feelings?"
Falchion raised himself back to his hooves and stepped aside, allowing for Carbon to look at Lilo again.
"That ain't a pony," Falchion stated. "Besides, that thing signed a contract with Zumas. We're here to make sure it is going to fulfill that contract."
Falchion nodded, causing Hot Rocket to pull one of his hooves back and then slam it into Lilo's stomach. She gasped for air and doubled up, and Hot Rocket merely looked down at her and smirked.
"No, stop! Don't hit her," Carbon said, looking back at Falchion.
" 'Don't hit her'?" the grey pegasus inquired. "Oh, that's right. You love her, don't ya?" He signaled for Hot Rocket to kick Lilo in the stomach again, causing Carbon to look away. "It seems as if I'm not being clear here. Drop these stupid bug fancies of yours and we'll let you return to your normal, everyday life."
Carbon tried to lift himself up again, but Falchion quickly brought his hoof back down onto the back of Carbon's head. His eyes flashed.
"Ponies like you disgust me," he said, kicking Carbon's cheek to force him onto his back. "You fight against those that you can't hope to defeat; and for what? Some stupid goal? Some stupid emotion? Some stupid moral? You're not goin' to find any of that! Life is not like those precious stories you read or those heroic tales that you hear 'bout. No, life is tougher and less forgiving."
Falchion stood over Carbon now, looking down at him with a snarl.
"Hold out your foreleg." Falchion demanded.
Carbon looked at one of his forelegs, then back up at the pegasus.
"Do it!"
Slowly Carbon extended one of his forelegs to the side, and Falchion quickly pinned it against the ground. Carbon's eyes widened when he saw Falchion place his other hoof down in the middle of his foreleg.
"How about I show you a taste of how forgiving life is like."
"No! Please don-" Before Lilo could say anymore, Hot Rocket had slammed his hoof into her stomach once again.
A scream filled the alley as Falchion brought his hoof down upon Carbon's foreleg. The snap from his bones was heard clearly by the two other pegasi, and tears filled Lilo's eyes as she gazed at Carbon's misshapen limb.
After a moment of letting Carbon shriek in agony, Falchion lifted a hoof and smashed it down onto Carbon's face and said, "Now, if you don't mind, we'll be taking this thing back to Zumas where it belongs. Sayonara, and don't follow us."
Carbon's head was throbbing, and his vision began to blur as he saw the third pegasus step over to Lilo and kicked her in the head as well, causing her to immediately blackout. He then pulled a bag from off of his back and stuffed her limp body into it, swinging it over Hot Rocket's back once it was sealed. The last thing Carbon saw was Falchion smiling at him once again before unconsciousness swept over him. |
Roses are Red | Chapter 13: Knight-errant | Roses are Red: Chapter 13
A single water droplet fell from the sky. Its origins would remain unknown--as well its final destination--but as for the present, the droplet fell through the air towards the city of Canterlot below. Nothing hindered its path, nothing pushed the droplet along; only the freefall acceleration of the physical, earthly forces acted upon the droplet to push it towards the ground.
Sometimes it's surprising how such a small sample of water could potentially be home to an entire ecosystem of life. If a droplet were to be taken from the murky waters of Froggy Bottom Bog and placed under an electron microscope, anypony could see the individual bacteria swimming through the little droplet at amazing speeds. If a droplet were to be taken from fresh glass of sparkling water from one of the higher end restaurants of Canterlot, anypony would see that the water remained devoid of life.
But regardless of its origins, whether from Froggy Bottom Bog or a Canterlot restaurant, allowing for the droplet to fall from the clouds that hung over the city would yield the same results. The droplet would smash into the ground, extinguishing the ecosystem it may or may not be hosting.
However, instead of smashing into the ground of Canterlot itself, the droplet smashed into the nose of somepony who lay in a heap in the middle of an alleyway. The force of the droplet stirred the pony awake. Then another droplet smashed onto the pony's thigh, and another onto his left hoof.
Carbon's eyes flickered open, and he cringed as a rush of pain flooded his foreleg and his head. He groaned, rolling onto his side. The cobblestone ground beneath him felt sticky as his body rubbed slightly against it, and upon closer inspection, a small pool of partially dried blood lay beneath his foreleg and his head.
There was also another pool of blood on the other side of the alley where Lilo had been. Where Lilo had been pinned by the false castle guard who had kicked her multiple times, and where her head had been kicked by the other pegasus to knock her out. She had been placed in a bag and hauled off by those pegasi thugs, who intended to bring her back to the pony whom she had signed some sort of contract with.
Zumas.
Carbon rolled over onto his belly, carefully dragging his broken leg across the ground. The mere motion of the leg sent jolts of searing pain through Carbon's entire body, but ignored it as he used the alley wall to help raise himself back onto his hooves.
The rain had begun to fall in earnest now, and Carbon took a moment to allow himself to rest up against the alley wall. His head pounded and his stomach felt unsettled, but they were both quelled once Carbon remembered Lilo's screams echoing off of the alley walls. He clenched his teeth and took a step towards the exit of the alley.
The sky was dark as Carbon gingerly hobbled down the street. No clocks were nearby to allow him to know what time it was, but by the illumination of one of the street lamps ahead, it was clear that it was sometime during the night. The time of day didn't matter, however, only how many hours had passed, and so Carbon still looked around himself to locate a clock he could use.
Finally, after rounding the corner that led straight to the market, one of Canterlot's many clock towers came into view. The time read eleven o'clock, nearly seven hours since he and Lilo had been ambushed in the alley. Carbon cursed and trudged on towards the market.
After another agonizing ten minutes of stumbling and groaning, Carbon finally arrived in front of a stall that was decorated with a bunch of masks of foreign trinkets. He lifted his broken leg to knock on the board that had been slid over the front of the stall, then hesitated and used his head instead. There was a gasp and shuffling that came from inside before the the board had been slid away from the front to reveal Naroke.
"Carbon, what brings you to my stall at this time of night?" Naroke asked, raising an eyebrow. "Your knocks gave me quite the fright."
"Lilo is in trouble," Carbon said. His voice was hoarse. "I need your help, Naroke."
Naroke looked down and noticed the unnatural bend in Carbon's foreleg. She gasped again.
"Your leg is very battered. Come into my stall to make sure it is not shattered."
Naroke quickly opened the door on the side of her stall to allow Carbon to enter, who gingerly limped through the door and collapsed onto a pillow the zebra had laid on the ground. A series of clangs soon arose from around the stall as Naroke searched through her many bottles of various liquids that were stacked on a multitude of shelves. She flicked her tail and turned back around for a moment to look at Carbon.
"Lilo was the pony with you of similar age," Naroke said, "and was the changeling who defended her queen on stage?"
"Y-yes, that is her," Carbon said uneasily. "She's... been kidnapped by some ponies who said she has some sort of contract that she has to fulfill."
"Who are these ponies that you speak of?" Naroke asked, resuming her search through her rows of concoctions. "What could they possibly want with your love?"
"They said they worked for Zumas," Carbon stated, shaking his head. "I can only imagine that they took her back to the brothel that he owns over in the Red Light District."
Naroke trotted back to Carbon with a glass of a strange, yellow liquid. She sat down and twisted the lid off, then pulled a coconut cup from behind her and poured the liquid in.
"The pegasi took her to Zumas, you say?" Naroke asked. "If I know him, he's not keen to losing his prey. Have you not tried going to the castle guards? Only they would be able to execute a plan that is not a house of cards."
"No, I can't trust the castle guards," Carbon said bitterly. "When Lilo and I were heading back home, Prince Shining Armor instructed a guard to escort us back to the apartment. However, when we were almost home, the guard that was accompanying us was a member of the gang who cornered us in the alley. I don't want to risk using the guards if Zumas has placed more of his stallions in their ranks."
Naroke finished pouring the liquid and held the cup up to Carbon's mouth. He sniffed the liquid and immediately recoiled from the smell. It reminded him of rotten eggs and bananas.
"Open your mouth and drink," Naroke instructed. "It will clear the pain away in a blink."
Carbon opened his mouth, allowing for Naroke to tip the coconut cup forward and drain the liquid. In a few seconds the cup was completely empty, and Carbon gagged as he begrudgingly forced the liquid down his throat. The taste was worse than the smell. He coughed several times, but he began to feel a tingling sensation run through his entire body as the pain in his leg and his head subsided.
"I think I have an idea for how you could gain entry to Zumas's establishment," Naroke said, setting the cocnut down and grabbing a splint from under a table. "Hopefully it will be enough to help Lilo from her torment." ~~~
Sky Runner lay sprawled out on the large bed, staring up at the smooth, decorative ceiling above her. Pillows and blankets were laid out all around her with beautiful flowers placed on either nightstand that sat beside the bed. Scented candles had been lit around the room as well, allowing for light to reach the darkest corners of the room, as well as filling the room with the sweet and light scent of cinnamon.
Sky was a small pegasus mare with a white coat and red mane and tail. Her right wing rested against her side bandaged up in a splint, barely covering up the two horseshoes that represented her cutiemark.
She cast her blue eyes over the vines that had been etched in the ceiling. She knew their paths well as they snaked over and under each other, but her eyes still followed the vines regardless as a means of entertainment as she waited for her latest client. She flexed her left wing for a moment.
My third client of the day, Sky thought to herself. Apparently he is a handsome stallion at that. Young and dashing, and also witty, according to that moron of a butler. Perhaps he'll be a nice break from these old farts who visit me all the time. I've been looking for a stallion who can last more than just a couple of minutes.
Sky lifted herself up so she was lying on her side with her flank facing the door.
Perhaps I'm asking a bit much, Sky mused, touching a hoof to her chin, but then again, a mare does need to make a living. The type of skills I have are not cheap.
There was a knock on the door, and Sky's ears swiveled around towards the door as a smile crept onto her face. She lifted herself off of the bed, slowly making her way over towards the door and heavily stomping her hoofsteps on the wooden floor.
The young ones are usually pretty naive as well, Sky thought. This stallion doesn't stand a chance.
Sky cracked the door open, peeking through and coming face to face with a white stallion with a blue mane. He wore a large, water logged coat with the hood pulled over his head. He was handsome, after all. ~~~
Carbon stared back at the mare and licked his lips. The residue from the liquid that Naroke still coated the inside of his mouth, leaving a disgusting aftertaste in his mouth. He ignored it as he forced himself to smile.
"So you're the stallion that I was told about?" the mare asked. Her name was Sky if the stallion Carbon had spoken to downstairs was correct. "You're quite the cute one, aren't you? Come on in."
Sky opened the door more and turned to trot back towards the bed, flicking the tip of her tail up against Carbon's nose as she did so. Carbon felt a rush of blood flow into his wings, but he took a deep breath and followed after Sky slowly, shutting the door behind him. The room was warm, and the sweet scent of cinnamon wafted into Carbon's nostrils.
"Are you just going to stand in the door all day with that coat on?" Sky asked, cocking her head and biting her lower lip. "That doesn't sound like too much fun. Why don't you come over here, relax, and let me take care of you."
Carbon strode forward, dragging the end of his coat across the floor. Sky smiled and lowered her eyelids, and once Carbon was upon her, she fell back onto the bed with her legs in the air. Carbon pounced on top of her, and their lips locked together for a moment, until Carbon pulled away and looked down at Sky.
"How about I remove that silly coat of yours?" Sky asked, using her hooves to slide the coat off of Carbon's back.
With Carbon's hood removed from his face, his cold turquoise eyes were fully visible. He stared down at Sky without a hint of youthful lust twinkling around his pupils. The splint that Carbon wore on his broken leg was now fully visible, and with the coat fully shed, the dagger he had strapped around his waist was clearly visible.
Sky's eyes widened, and she pushed her hooves up against Carbon's chest to shove him off her and onto his back on the wood floor. Carbon groaned, and he tried to raise himself off of his back, only to be forced back down as Sky pushed her hoof onto his chest. She had a mini crossbow strapped to her hoof with a small, oddly colored bolt loaded. Her eyes narrowed.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sky asked. "You may have a pretty face, but I don't take kindly to ponies shoving their sharp pricks in places where they don't belong."
Carbon eyed the crossbow for a moment warily, then directed his gaze back onto Sky who continued to glare down at him. He sighed and lay his head back.
"I have no intention of harming you," Carbon said. "In fact, I'm actually hoping you can assist me."
"I was going to 'assist' you until I found out that you had that thing strapped to your side," Sky said, nodding at the dagger. "It might be a little late for that."
Carbon's gaze drifted back to the crossbow again. He raised his eyebrow.
"I'm guessing that is a tranquilizer dart," Carbon stated. "Probably benzodiazepine if you know what kind of sedatives can be acquired easily. Fast acting, relaxes the muscles, and hypnotic. You can practically get this at any hospital or clinic scattered across Equestria."
Sky loosened the pressured she was applying on Carbon's chest, but she remained on top of him with the crossbow trained on Carbon's neck.
"What do you want?" she asked.
Carbon's voice darkened as he said, "Somepony I love very dearly is trapped somewhere within this buiding. I would like your assistance locating her, as I assume you know your way around here."
Sky removed her hoof from Carbon's chest and took a few steps back, allowing for him to lift himself back onto his hooves. He grunted as he stepped on his broken leg, and immediately took his weight off of his leg when he had finished righting himself. A dull pain reverberated through his body as he kept his eyes trained on Sky.
"What's in it for me?" Sky asked. Her eyes traced over Carbon's body onto his flank. She grinned. "Please tell me you have a well rounded compromise."
Carbon's cheeks flushed. "I, uh, what? No!" His wings felt warm again. "Just... Just check my coat. You'll find your payment."
"You mean this payment?" Sky asked, pulling a bag of bits from underneath her left wing."I couldn't help but hear these things jingle when you walked in here. It was just a matter of pulling your coat off." She tossed the bits in the air. "You're going to have to think of something better than that."
Carbon stared at her dumbfounded. His hooves felt cold.
"What else do you want?" Carbon asked. "I need your help, Sky. Please."
Sky crossed one leg in front of the other and leaned forward slightly. "How pretty is this mare you are trying to rescue?"
"More beautiful than any mare I have seen before her," Carbon replied, looking away.
"Then it's settled!" Sky said with a smile. "You're going to promise me a kinky threesome with the mare of your dreams."
"I'm what now?" Carbon asked, eyes widening. "A-are you serious? You can't be serious."
Sky frowned. "Do I look like I'm joking?"
Carbon sat back on his haunches and brought his forehooves up to his temples. He could feel the blood seeping into his wings at the thought of Sky's offer, but he tried to push those thoughts away as he remembered that Lilo still remained somewhere in the building. He sighed and looked back up at Sky.
"Is there anyway I could negotiate my way out of this?" Carbon asked.
"No."
"Why do ponies like you exist? Fine, you have your threesome and your money. Now, can you help me look for Lilo?"
Sky rolled her eyes and walked towards the door, placing her ear up against the side of the knob with her cheek flat against the wood. No sound echoed from beyond the room, but before she made to push the door open, she looked back.
"Say, how did you know my name?" she asked.
"The pony down at the bar told me your name," Carbon said, limping up next to her. "Told me you were the best mare here at the brothel."
"I'm also the reason why this place hasn't been making much of a profit lately," Sky said.
She pushed the door open before Carbon had a chance to respond, and after looking up and down the hallway, she glanced back and waved a hoof to motion Carbon to follow her. Together, they slunk out of the room and made a beeline for a door that lay at the back of the hall. Once at the door, Sky pushed her hoof down on the door handle only to find that the door had been locked.
"Looks like they still lock the doors after we get up here to our rooms," Sky said. "Keep watch, I'll get this stupid thing open."
Carbon turned back around, gazing down the hallway while Sky reached back into the feathers of her wings and pulled out a bobbing pin and a bit from the bag of coins. Using the bobbing pin, Sky pushed the cylinder down so that she could use the bit to twist the lock. There was a click, and she placed the bit and bobbing pin back into her feathers before nudging Carbon with her hind leg.
"Okay, the door's open," she said.
Carbon looked at the lock. "You know how to do that with only your mouth?"
"That and more," Sky replied with a wink.
Carbon's cheeks flushed once again as he followed after Sky down a set of stairs. There was another door at the bottom of the stairs, but it was unlocked, allowing for them to pass into another hallway that looked less lavish than the previous. Sky trotted over to another door that was not far from the staircase.
"I've never been in here before," she said. "I've been meaning to check it out, but these guards have us on watch twenty-four-seven. Since I didn't see any new mares added to the dressing rooms that we lounge around in, the only other place she could be is in there."
Sky pushed the door open, and both she and Carbon made their descent on a small flight of stairs. The room was dark and felt damp, and there was the sharp smell of musk and mold hanging in the air. The drops from a leaky pipe echoed off of the walls of the room, methodically splashing onto the ground. Carbon shut the door behind him and followed after Sky as she had already reached the bottom of the stairs.
Along either side of them were rows of boxes stacked on top of each other towards the ceiling, and a network of pipes ran above them, branching out in several directions to travel to different areas of the brothel. The floor beneath them was wet, muffling Sky and Carbon's hoofsteps slightly as they made their way further into the room.
Eventually they came upon a large, metal cage. Carbon nearly collapsed when he peered inside.
Lilo lay in a heap in the corner of the cage. She had a collar fastened around her neck with a chain that connected to one of the metal bars, as well as a metal ball gag securely placed inside of her mouth. There were dried, dark green streaks covering her entire body.
Carbon ran up to the cage and began to pound on the metal lock, but Sky quickly ran up alongside him and pushed him away from the cage, holding a hoof up to his mouth.
"Stop that!" she whispered, dropping her hoof. "We're going to be lucky if one of Zumas's lackeys didn't hear that." She turned back around and studied Lilo. "The mare of your dreams is a... changeling?"
Carbon walked back up to the metal bars again. "Yes, but she is more than just that."
Sky eyed Lilo for a moment, then walked up to the cage next to Carbon and took out her bobbing pin and bit. She began to place the bobbing pin into the keyhole of the padlock that was fastened to the door of the cage, but an electrical shock sent a jolt of pain searing through her body, tearing her from the lock. Sky immediately recoiled and dropped the bobbing pin and bit.
"What the..." Sky rubbed one of her cheeks. "That damned unicorn must have enchanted the lock. We need to get the key."
"Mmf."
Sky and Carbon's heads snapped towards Lilo, who had begun to stir from inside the cage. The chain attached to her collar rattled when she attempted to lift her head, but it crashed against the floor when Lilo failed to lift her head up. She raised one of her hooves, pointing towards a corner of the dark room.
Carbon followed Lilo's hoof and stepped into a puddle that had formed from one of the leaky pipes above it. He looked down, spotting something shimmering in the water that looked unnatural to the cobblestone around it. He fished it out of the water and walked back over to Sky, who leaned in to get a closer look at what Carbon had in his mouth.
"It's a key," she said, looking back at Lilo. "What was a key doing over there?"
Carbon stepped past Sky and placed the key into the padlock. It fit perfectly, and after giving it a twist, the lock fell and the cage door swung open. Carbon rushed into the cage and fell to his knees next to Lilo. He reached around the back of her head and pulled the ball gag from her mouth.
"Lilo, we're going to get you out of here," Carbon said, holding Lilo's head up by her cheeks.
"C-Carbon, I..."
Lilo's head drooped, and she fell unconscious once again. Carbon turned back to Sky, who had already picked up the key in her mouth. She used the key to unlock the collar that was fastened around Lilo's neck and stepped back, allowing for Carbon to slide Lilo onto his back and lift her up.
"Do you know another way out of here that doesn't involve using the front door?" Carbon asked.
"There is a second exit door," Sky said, turning around to walk out of the cage, "but it is on the other side of the building. The only way to get to it is if we cross through the lobby or head on over the back of the stage through the meeting room and hope that nopony spots us."
"Lead the way," Carbon said, following after her.
Sky and Carbon made their way towards the door at the top of the stairs. Carbon felt Lilo's ragged breaths on the nape of his neck as he climb the stairs. He cursed under his breath, gritting his teeth and straining his back as sharp pains coursed through his entire body with every step he took on his broken leg.
Sky placed her hoof on the door, but before she could pull the door open it swung towards her, revealing the pegasus who had knocked Lilo unconscious back in the alley. They all stared at each other for a moment, and then the pegasus took off down the hall towards the door that led into the lobby.
"Oh no you don't," Sky muttered.
She took off after the pegasus, skidding to a stop in the middle of the hallway and lifting her miniature crossbow to take aim. The pegasus had to land to push open the door to the lobby, giving Sky enough time to fire her crossbow dart into the pegasus's neck. His whole body tensed before he could lay his hoof on the doorknob, and then he collapsed into a heap. Sky trotted over to the pegasus, giving him a solid kick in the ribs.
"He'll be out for a few hours," Sky stated. "Come on, follow me before more of these guys show up."
Sky trotted back to a door that was placed opposite of the stairs that led up to the second floor of the brothel. She pushed the door open slowly, and after peaking through the crack to see if there were any ponies beyond, she swung the door opened wide and waved her hoof at Carbon. He followed after her, letting the door shut behind him.
After allowing a moment for Carbon to recover from the pain throbbing in his leg, Sky led them through a narrow corridor that turned sharply into another door. She pushed the door open slowly, peeking into the room only to find that her vision was shrouded by darkness. She waved her hoof again, signalling for Carbon to follow her.
When they passed into the room, the door swung shut behind them and the candles around the room flickered to life. Desks lined the walls of the room, while intricate and beautiful tapestries adorned the walls all around them. A fireplace was built up against the wall to the right, and a large skylight hung above the room. However, Carbon's stared locked with the two ponies across the room. Zumas stood with Falchion at his side, a baseball bat gripped tightly between Falchion's teeth.
Sky jumped forward and readied her crossbow, but before she could get a shot off she was hoisted into the air by Zumas's magic and tossed out of the two doors behind her and Carbon. Zumas shut the doors behind her, locking the doors with a click. A few bangs on the doors soon followed, but they quickly fell silent when several shouts sounded from beyond.
"I thought I told ya not to come after that thing," Falchion said. "Perhaps I should remind ya, seems like ya did some forgettin' when ya were knocked out in that alley."
Zumas lay a hoof on Falchion's shoulder. "That will not be necessary. Please, calm yourself Falchion."
Falchion growled, but took a step back and rested the bat against his side. He glared at Carbon.
"He does bring up a valuable point, though," Zumas continued. "I specifically asked for him and his crew to explain to you not to come at get your precious Lilo. I had hoped you would hear his warning so that we could avoid such an awkward situation as this one."
Carbon glared at Zumas, flaring his wings out on either side of him. Zumas sighed and pulled out a scroll from underneath one of Falchion's wings.
"You know, Lilo was much like you when she first met me," Zumas said, unraveling the scroll. "She didn't like talking much and continued to give me that nasty glare like I was some monster. Well, it was a little hard to decipher what that stare was at first, but I think I discovered that rather quickly when she snapped at me."
Zumas levitated the scroll over to Carbon, letting him read over its contents. The scroll looked like a regular contract of some sorts that said somepony was to be put in the service of Zumas under the given conditions. However, Carbon's heart sank when he read the name at the bottom.
"She eventually saw reason, though," Zumas added, pulling the scroll away from Carbon's face a bit. "She signed this little contract here, coming to the realization that the options that I was giving her were far better than lying out somewhere near the Everfree Forest to die. She was given a place to work, sleep, eat; it was all she could have asked for when she was in her previous condition."
"From what I saw," Carbon said coldly, "and from what I can understand, these things 'she asked for' looked to be little more than the same conditions a slave would live under. Even that contract implies that she is a slave."
"A slave?" Zumas scoffed. "I was merely protecting her from the ponies that would like to harm her. Do you have any idea what could happen to her in an environment like this? She would be torn apart."
"You tormented her," Carbon growled. "You beat her, you starved her, and you nearly killed her. The amount of damage you have done to her still lingers within her mind. Why did you do it? What was it for? Just so you could turn a profit?"
Zumas sighed again and rolled up the scroll, tucking it back away in Falchion's wing. He strode over to Carbon, stopping once he stood a meter away from the pegasus.
"There are some things that you do not understand, Carbon," Zumas said. "You see, I run a business here that is meant to please the inhabitants of Canterlot when they are feeling tired or lonely. They come to my pleasure palace in hopes that they can escape from the unpleasantries that plague their lives, whether it be work, their bills, or perhaps even their own families.
"However, in order to give these ponies what it is that they want, I need to have ponies available who can live up to their expectations. I have ponies from far up north, ponies from down south, and some more exotic employees who stem from nations like Zebrica and Equidoe. You can imagine my delight when Falchion here discovered Lilo, a changeling who could be any pony she wanted."
Zumas started to circle Carbon, slowly dragging his hooves across the carpeted floor.
"I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this," Zumas continued, "to have a pony work for me who could change disguises on a whim. So, I did the only thing that is expected of a business pony such as myself: I employed her. I made sure she had all of the conditions she needed to work effectively under me, and for the week she stayed in my employment, profits at this establishment increased."
Zumas stopped in front of Carbon again, bringing a hoof up to his chin.
"If only she stayed a bit longer," Zumas mused, "perhaps she would have grown to enjoy life here."
"There is something that you forgot, Zumas," Carbon said. "Lilo is a changeling, not some random pony from some corner of Equestria. Her dietary habits are different, her mentality is different. You were slowly murdering her by keeping her in that disgusting pen you would call 'suitable accommodations.' " Carbon spat at Zumas's hooves. "You call yourself a business pony, yet I see nothing more than another pony who likes to play the divine moralist."
The hairs on the back of Zumas's neck bristled, and he quickly turned from Carbon and began to walk back towards Falchion. His horn lit up, levitating the baseball bat from Falchion's side up to his mouth. He turned.
"Perhaps I was wrong and Falchion was right," Zumas said. "Perhaps he should remind you that you should have just gone home instead of coming back for her." He paused, glancing at Falchion. "Would you do the honors?"
"Gladly," Falchion replied.
Carbon gently slid Lilo from his back, resting her on the floor before he turned to face Falchion. He bared his teeth and lowered his head as he pawed at the ground. Pain from his broken leg coursed through his body as Carbon continued to put more pressure on it, but he ignored it while he glared at the pegasus that crept closer.
"Oh, perhaps ya'll put up more of a fight this time," Falchion sneered. "I'd like that."
Carbon lunged at Falchion, but Falchion was quicker as he swung the bat and made contact with Carbon's shoulder, sending Carbon flying into a pair of chairs. Carbon groaned, straining himself to rise back onto his hooves as his opponent approached.
"Or perhaps not. Yur not really the fightin' type, are ya?"
Carbon flexed his wings and gave them a powerful flap, sending himself colliding with Falchion's legs and smashing them both into a desk on the other side of the room. The bat flew from Falchion's mouth and landed in the middle of the room. Falchion was quickly back on his hooves, galloping towards the bat, but before he could reach it, Carbon flew across the room and snatched it up in his hooves. He landed on top of another desk and turned to Zumas.
"Stop this, Zumas!" Carbon said. "We can come to a-"
Falchion slammed into Carbon hard enough to dent the wall. Carbon yelped as he felt another one of his bones crack. ~~~
Lilo's eyes flickered open as the sound of cracking bones and Carbon's yelp reverberated in her ears. She watched as Carbon slumped to the floor, dropping the bat and letting it roll across the floor, and then watched as Falchion began to make his way over to where the bat had come to rest. She grunted, sliding her hooves under her and flexing her thin wings. The crease along her wing sent small jolts of pain through her body, but they were practically drowned out by the other jolts of pain that coursed through her body from the various bruises and cracks along her chitin.
Falchion picked up the bat in his mouth and strode back over to Carbon. His eyes burned with fury as he stared down at the reeling pegasus. He held the bat high above his head.
Before Falchion could bring the bat down upon Carbon's head, however, Lilo sped across the room and sunk her teeth into his shoulder. He screamed, dropping the bat as he was pushed back into desks that Carbon had been standing on. The desks broke from the impact, sending splinters flying in every direction.
Falchion tried to swing one of his hooves into Lilo's face, but she tore into his throat with her fangs, puncturing his larynx and causing him to reach for his neck. Lilo was about to rip into his throat again when she was hit in the side by the bat, sending her crashing into a heap next to Carbon.
The bat dropped to the floor as it was released from Zumas's telekinetic grip. His mouth had contorted into a grim frown as he stared hard at both Lilo and Carbon.
"You two do not know when to give up, do you?" Zumas asked. His teeth were bared. The sound of Falchion's gurgling faded. "A miserable pony and a broken changeling fighting for their very lives just that they could... what exactly? Be together? Love each other forever like some poetic foal's book?"
Carbon slowly rose to his hooves and took one uneasy step forward, putting himself between Zumas and Lilo, who was clutching her side and whimpering quietly. Carbon felt dizzy, and his legs were shaking violently as he glared at Zumas.
"Oh, this is just precious," Zumas said, charging his horn. "Why don't you lay down so I only have to use a single beam of my magic to rip your two apart. It will make it easier on all of us, hm?"
Zumas charged his horn, but just as he was about to let off a single volley of his magic, the skylight above them crashed inwards and Sky dove into his side. Zumas's volley released upon Sky's impact, shooting towards one of the paintings on the far wall and blasting a hole clear through the other side. Sky took the tranquilizer dart that was still loaded in her crossbow and thrust it into Zumas's neck, instantly knocking him out. Sky looked down at the unicorn a few moments longer, watching as he failed to open his eyes again. She then lifted herself up and kicked him in the side.
"That's what you get for hurling me out the door," she said. She turned to Carbon and Lilo. "Come on, we still need to get out of here."
"How did..." Carbon started before he collapsed onto the floor.
"Lots of ponies, superior fighter, skylight," Sky said quickly, rushing over to Carbon. "Not everypony gets to play the hero, you know, although it looks like you put up quite a decent fight." She tried helping Carbon back to his hooves, but he slumped and collapsed to the floor again. "Come on, the royal guard are waiting outside for you and your waifu. Get up."
The world seemed to come to a crawl for Carbon. Sky's words were elongated, her movements were slow and blurry, and her touch felt as if it was distant and spectral. He rose to his hooves once again and helped load Lilo onto Sky's back, mechanically moving his legs as if the injuries he had taken earlier didn't exist. His peripheral vision grew darker and darker as Sky was soon leading him through the door on the other side of the room.
A blaring red sign hung over a door at the end of the hallway. Sky bolted in that direction, shouting incoherent encouragements back at Carbon as he struggled to keep up. His legs felt like jello, his head was swimming, his eyes were crossed.
Sky blasted through the doorway and skidded to a halt in front of two burly ponies. Carbon soon followed, and collapsed to the ground before blacking out. |
Roses are Red | Chapter 14: A Fresh Start | Roses are Red: Chapter 14
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Lilo's eyes slowly opened, revealing a glimmering white ceiling above her traced with intricate flowers and vines. The vines wrapped around each other in spiral patterns, weaving in and out of the variety of flowers that smiled down below them. Their smiles were met with a skylight that had been placed in the middle of the room, allowing for a healthy quantity of light to radiate into and illuminate the entire room. The sun was lowering itself in the sky, announcing that the night was fast approaching.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
She was alive. Lilo saw the light from the sun; heard the heart rate monitor; felt the sheets that had been laid over her. Her whole body ached, and she blinked as her thoughts raced through her mind. She had not woken up in that cage beneath Zumas's brothel. She had not woken up to find that she had a searing hole blasted through her limbs.
Lilo bolted upright in bed, nearly tearing several of the tubes that had been hooked up to her body. A unicorn nurse, who was holding a large clipboard in her magic, took notice of Lilo, and after her eyes widened for just a moment, she dropped the clipboard and bounded over to the changeling. She laid her hoof on Lilo's chest, gently pushing her back onto the bed.
"Y-you should lie back down, miss," the nurse said, her hoof shaking slightly when Lilo had been pushed back against the bed. "Your c-condition is still in bad shape."
"Where's Carbon?" Lilo asked frantically, looking at the nurse.
"Carbon?" The nurse levitated the clipboard back over to her and scanned over its contents. "Oh, um, he is j-just in the next room."
"Can I see him?" Lilo stared at the nurse with her large eyes.
"I-I'm sorry, miss, but you can't-"
Several knocks on the door echoed into the room and the nurse froze. Her head snapped back towards the door, then she looked back at Lilo and tried to give her a half smile. She set the clipboard on the desk that sat between Lilo's bed and the heart rate monitor.
"Please excuse me for a moment," she said.
The nurse trotted to the door and opened it, and after giving a sharp gasp, she stepped out of the room quickly. Lilo's ears perked towards the door as she heard several voices speaking to each other beyond. Her brow furrowed when the minutes dragged on, and she tried to lift herself up out of the bed again only to find that more pain was coursing through her body, forcing her to remain lying down. Her gaze shifted from the door to the window on the far side of the room, allowing for her to look out onto the entire city of Canterlot.
Lilo's eyes widened. She knew exactly where she was.
The door to the room pushed open, allowing for the nurse to enter again, shortly followed by Princess Luna and Queen Chrysalis. Lilo's breath caught in her throat, and against the rest of her body's wishes, she lifted herself up into a sitting position and lowered her head at Chrysalis.
Chrysalis interrupted Lilo by laying one of her hooves across the changeling's chest. She offered a hopeful smile, sending anxious flutters through Lilo's heart.
"There is no need to apologize," Chrysalis said, "not now. There is somepony that you need to see."
Lilo's eyes drifted to behind Chrysalis, regarding Princess Luna warily. The princess stared at the changeling back, but her face remained vacant of any expression aside from the dark bags underneath her eyes. Chrysalis moved her head enough so that she could obscure Lilo's view.
"No, somepony else," she said. She slowly rose to her hooves. "Do you think you can walk?"
The nurse lifted her hoof to protest, but she found it pushed back down by Princess Luna as she shook her head. Lilo moved her hooves, cringing as she felt sharp pangs from her cracked chitin pierce through her body. She slouched against the bed once again, looking sullenly at Chrysalis.
"I... I don't think I can," Lilo said quietly. "N-not without help, at least."
Chrysalis took the bed sheets and slowly slid them off of Lilo's body. Her eyes traced over her subject's wounds, and she paused. Lilo saw something flash through Chrysalis's eyes, and she saw the corners of her lips droops.
"This never gets any easier," Chrysalis muttered. She then sidled up to the side of the bed and began to gently pull the tubes hooked up to Lilo off of her body. "If you are able to lift yourself out of bed, I will help you walk to our destination. It is not far."
Lilo nodded, and she lifted herself from the bed once again, wincing as she heard her own chitin cracking in several places. She slid her body sideways once she was sitting upright, then pushed herself off of the bed onto all four of her hooves. She immediately slumped against Chrysalis while her legs shook violently to support her own weight. Chrysalis lowered her head and brushed her muzzle against Lilo's cheek.
"That's right," she said. "Now, can you take a few steps?"
With Chrysalis acting as her crutch, Lilo took a few unsteady steps forward to the door. Each step shot agonizing jolts through her legs and back, but she pressed on until Chrysalis had to open the door for them to continue. Outside the door, a group of nurses and doctor's passed by them, chatting amongst themselves while one held a clipboard in their magic. The white walls burned Lilo's eyes, the sunlight's reflection bouncing off of them as it passed through a few open windows. After a moment, they turned sharply right, then came to a stop at the door next to Lilo's room. Chrysalis's horn lit up, and she pushed the door open.
Carbon lay in the bed in the far side of the room, an oxygen mask covering his muzzle while tubes were connected to his unbroken foreleg. His other leg was wrapped up in a cast that spanned all the way up to his shoulder, which wore a flexible splint. Medical tape was wrapped around Carbon's head. His eyes were closed, resting peacefully to the rhythmic beats of the heart rate monitor next to him.
A sob caught in Lilo's throat, and she nearly stumbled onto her face when she tried to bound over to Carbon. Chrysalis righted Lilo, and after giving her subject a sharp glance, led her slowly over to the bed. The trip across the room was tormenting, almost as if each step was longer than the last. His bed could not approach fast enough for Lilo, and it took all of her might to not break into another gallop. Each step towards the bed burned her legs, but she didn't care as she was brought closer and closer to Carbon.
Once they were at the bed, Lilo collapsed next to Carbon with her forehooves sprawled across his chest. She buried her face into his side, muffling her sobs so that they were barely loud enough for anypony else to hear.
Princess Luna and the nurse shuffled in after Chrysalis and Lilo, taking their places next to the door. The nurse walked up behind Lilo, making sure that she had enough of a distance between herself and the changeling queen. She coughed, and scanned over the clipboard she once again held in her magic.
"He's... He's in stable condition," the nurse said, "but he is currently in an induced coma. During transport to Canterlot Castle, Carbon experienced a condition known as status epilepticus, having a seizure that was caused by a cerebral aneurysm." The nurse flipped one of the papers over on the clipboard. "His medical records state that he has a history of high blood pressure, and has been prescribed calcium channel blockers to help regulate blood pressure. We're thinking that combined with the adrenaline rush and neglecting to take his medications was what caused the aneurysm."
Lilo lifted her head slightly and asked, "H-he's healthy, though, right? He's going to be fine?"
The nurse flipped over another paper on the clipboard. "Because his broken foreleg was not treated immediately--and because it had suffered prolonged use after it was broken--he will permanently walk with a limp. Other than that, however, he will be just fine."
Lilo smiled even as tears continued to flow down her face. Carbon was going to be alright. She was going to see him again, with his eyes open and full of intelligence and happiness. They were going to go on more dates, visit more beautiful monuments, and dine on delicious food. She was going to have somepony sleep by her side, snuggling up next to her and protecting her from the dangerous memories that could slip into her dreams.
Carbon had risked his life in Equestria when he flew onto the stage after Lilo during Chrysalis's trial. What he had done was considered an act of treason according to Equestria's laws, but he ignored them regardless, instead throwing all of that away so that he could help her defend the mother she had looked up to her entire life.
In the alleyway Carbon had risked himself again, ignoring the malicious warnings from Zumas's thugs and rising up each time he was knocked down in an attempt to protect her. His foreleg was broken for his attempts, and Lilo thought that Carbon would accept defeat after that.
However, contrary to what she thought, Carbon had come back for her in force, infiltrating Zumas's brothel and attempting to escape with her upon his back. He defended her and himself against the nasty Falchion, and then again when Zumas was upon them, ready to blast his magic through their heads.
Carbon had done everything in his power to keep himself from losing her.
Princess Luna stepped forward, taking her place next to Chrysalis's side. She cleared her throat.
"If it is any consolation to you," she said, "the owner of the brothel, Zumas, has been taken into custody and is currently occupying one of the cells down in Canterlot Castle's dungeons."
Lilo didn't respond, instead keeping her head buried against Carbon's chest. Princess Luna sighed, and after procuring a letter from underneath her wing, placed the letter on the nightstand next to the bed and left the room. Chrysalis soon followed, rubbing a hoof upon Lilo's shoulder before departing. The nurse remained a bit longer, watching Lilo lie against Carbon, before she, too, left the room.
The sun began to set behind the treetops of the Everfree Forest, plunging the entire land of Equestria into an orange and yellow haze. Lakes and rivers shimmered and reflected the sunlight, while the many red rooftops of Canterlot darkened. Even the thin clouds that hung over the Everfree were touched by the sun's light, shifting and changing colors to all sorts of beautiful oranges and pinks. Lilo's sobbing had long since stopped as she stared beyond Carbon's bed and out the window.
"I love you, too, Carbon." |
Newsworthy | pre | "Then why does she treat me so oddly?"
Rose looked him up and down. "It's probably your clothes."
Ink Well glared at her. "What? Are you going to start talking about my hat too?"
"No. Don't get me wrong, it's very stylish in it's own way, but it's not exactly fashionable. I think she thought somepony from something as trendy as a magazine would be dressed in the latest fashions. And even you have to admit that that hat has seen better days."
"Hey now, I've had this for years! I love this hat. The only way I'm losing this is if it's the hat or my life!"
Rose laughed at his reaction. "Alright, alright. Nothing wrong with that." Rose smiled at him. "Do you have any time to hang around? I could show you around town, if you like."
Ink Well shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, but I've got to get going. A lot of interviews to do."
Rose looked slightly disheartened. "Of course. You've got your story to write. Good luck with it!"
Ink Well tipped his hat as he left. "Thank you. Have a great day, Ms. Rose." ---
Ink Well walked from Rosewater to the library, a very large tree growing at the edge of town with many windows and a door set into it. He knocked on the door, confused as to why the design on it was a candle and not, say, a book. "Hello? Twilight? Are you here?" After a brief wait the door swung open, revealing a small purple dragon with green spines.
The dragon looked at him inquisitively. "Twilight's inside. Who's asking?"
Ink Well stared at him in amazement. "A... are you a dragon?"
The dragon's eyes rolled. "Wow, good guess Sherlock. Yes, I'm a dragon. Now why are you asking for Twilight?"
Ink Well ducked down, bringing his face onto the same level as the dragon's. "That is so cool! Twilight has a baby dragon? How was this never mentioned before? And you talk! Can you breathe fire?"
The dragon pushed him away. "Hey! I'm Twilight's assistant, thank you. And you're going to find out the answer to the fire question really soon if you don't tell me why you're here."
From within the library a door swung open and Twilight's head peaked out. "Spike! Who's at the door?"
"Some weird pegasus in a hat!" Spike yelled to her. "Should I send him away?"
"Oh! That's Ink Well. Bring him down to the basement, I'm just finishing up preparations, the timing couldn't be better." Twilight's head disappeared back into the door, which closed behind her.
Spike turned back to Ink Well, who was still staring at him excitedly. "Alright, you heard Twilight. Come on in." Spike led Ink Well to the door, swinging it back open.
Ink Well talked as he walked through the doors and into the basement. "Oh wow, a dragon! I've always wanted to see one, but there's only ever the old stories and the museum pieces, and those look so fake compared to the real thing. I mean, look at you! You're adorable! And you look like you could get hit by a train and walk out fine! Those scales look tough. How fantastic, dragons. Such majestic and powerful creatures." He was led down the stairs and over to a small table in the center of the basement.
Twilight called down from a balcony running around the room. "Please place your front legs on the table."
Ink Well did so, jumping slightly as metal rings snapped around his legs. For the first time he looked around the basement, the small hearts painted on the stairs very out of place with the hanging roots above. All around the room ran roots and wires and strange machines blinking and spilling paper into awaiting bins. A tape reel spun on one side of the room, a large microphone hanging over the room the only thing wired into it. Against another wall bubbled beakers and test tubes filled with various liquids running from container to container. Electricity crackled around a Tesla coil and up a Jacob's ladder placed near the beakers. Ink Well gulped anxiously as Twilight Sparkle walked towards him dressed in a white lab coat and floating a large helmet covered in lights, switches and antennae with her magic. She placed it over his hat, clicking a chin strap into place. "Uh... Twilight? You seem to be hooking me up to a... rather ominous looking machine, if I may say so. Um... Any reason for it?" A spark flew from the helmet as she plugged a curled green wire into it.
"Oh yes. This is a lie detector. I just want to know what you know and what you don't before I go giving away compromising information." She held up a red wire and a blue one, looking at a book floating next to her. "Now was it red on the right or the left that caused the short? Don't want another charred pony on my conscious." She looked at the pure fear that was plastered onto Ink Well's face. "Don't worry, she's just fine! It was years ago when that happened, I was so much less experienced than I am now. No major damage apart from her eyes going a little silly and a slight IQ decrease. But that's why we record our mistakes." She closed the book and plugged the blue wire into the right side of the helmet, where it clicked into place, then moved the red wire to the left side. Ink Well shut his eyes tight, preparing himself for the worst.
*Click* "There! Good! All set!" Ink Well sighed, glad to still have his mental faculties. Twilight trotted to a giant knife switch set into a wall of machines. "Now then, time for answers!" She threw the switch, causing electricity to crackle and surge through the room. Ink Well trembled in his bonds as lights blinked and dials rose. Then, slowly, everything quieted down, culminating in a hum that filled the room. Twilight walked over to the machine that was spewing paper from it, a jagged ink line running along the middle of it. "Mr. Ink Well, tell me, do you know who keeps writing the stories on Princess Celestia?"
Ink Well started to shake, suddenly feeling far, far out of his element with these ponies. "I... um..." He took in a deep breath. 'Easy there. Just cooperate, it'll get you out of here faster.' "The stories are each written by different writers."
Twilight watched the lines carefully, not taking her eyes far off of the readings. "And who decides what each one is written about? Where do they get their 'information?'"
"The stories are written based on whatever rumors are floating around, though if I had to guess I'd say that many of them originate from the magazine and are just invented for sales. What little information is 'factual' comes from anonymous sources."
Twilight nodded as she observed her subject. "Indeed. Well, do you know who wrote the lies about her stealing from the treasury, dating a hydra, and torturing innocent ponies in her dungeons?"
"They wrote all of that? Wow... Um, no. No, I have no idea who wrote the articles. I actually don't really know any of the other writers at the Equirer. I only know that it wasn't me."
Twilight's eyes narrowed as she scrutinized Ink Well. He began to sweat under her cold gaze, praying internally for it all to end. She then returned to the paper readouts, carefully following the line with her hoof. After what seemed like an eternity, she put the paper down. "Alright. One more question. What are you going to do with the information you get from us? Will you actually print the corrections, or are you going to just turn us into another spectacle piece?"
Ink Well could feel the sweat dripping down his face from under the helmet. He locked eyes with Twilight, who had no emotion in her gaze, only keenest observation. "I will write the correction piece, though I will need to use some other information to hide it. I will not write anything more than what is needed for the story, and whether or not anything goes to print is truly out of my hooves." Twilight held his gaze forever, watching for any hint of deception. Ink Well felt another drop of sweat slowly roll down his forehead and into his eye. He jumped in his restraints, trying to rub his eye futilely. "Ah! Ow, that stings..." Ink Well held that eye closed and looked back to Twilight, who was looking at the readings on the paper.
After a few seconds, Twilight turned back around. "Thank you! You've been very helpful. Sorry to scare you with the lie detector, but you can't be too careful." She swung the knife switch back up and pulled the wires from Ink Well's helmet. The machinery around the room all slowed to a stop with an audible whir. The helmet floated off of Ink Well's head, his hat springing back a bit worse for wear. She then tapped a button on the wall, releasing Ink Well's legs.
He quickly pulled his hooves away, flying himself to the wall behind him and far away from where he'd been held. "I am going to need some sort of therapy once this story is done. Between this whole set up and being mobbed by fans, I'm going to have nightmares... The ponies in this town are crazy."
Twilight tilted her head when he said this. "That's odd. That's the first thing I said when I got here. I think it's something in the water, but all my readings are negative. Anyway, what do you need for your story? Just the corrections, right?"
Ink Well slowly got into writer mode, pulling out his notebook and pen automatically. "Right. Just the truth on the stories you want corrected, as well as your take on events at the Gala. Now the only rumor on you at the Gala was that you were harboring the other ponies and helped them get in and escape, but I'd still like your take on it, if you could." He could feel himself returning to normal, the fright of the experience leaving him.
Twilight smiled, an alarmingly cute smile considering what she had just been doing. "Of course. That's easy. I just want it printed that Princess Celestia isn't stealing from the treasury, isn't torturing anypony, doesn't even have dungeons, and is not dating a hydra! She isn't dating anything. She is just being a kind and caring ruler, and all of these rumors are pure nonsense! There are hundreds of those stories, and they are doing nothing but making her tired of ruling. Even she can get overwhelmed when all she hears are degrading rumors." She sighed, looking pensive as she removed her lab coat. "She only invited all of us to the Gala in the first place to liven it up and brighten her day. And she spent the whole evening welcoming guests for hours on end, keeping herself formal and smiling despite her want to be elsewhere. And when she finally got to enjoy her own party, all she could do was help us leave before things turned more sour." She turned to Ink Well, motioning to him that they should go upstairs. "It was her that brought all of us together, her that even let us attend the Gala, her that keeps the sun rising each day and the seasons going in their turn, and her that helped us escape even after ruining her palace instead of punishing us. Don't you think she should be given some more recognition and love than she gets?"
Ink Well wrote down his notes, but even within his writing the sad tone was bleeding through. "She deserves the unending love of a nation, not just her student." He put away his pen and notebook, walking with Twilight up the stairs. At the top he looked around the library, a well kept place with shelves upon shelves of book, and stairs and doors leading to many balconies and an upper level. He could feel the knowledge of centuries lining the walls around him. "Twilight... I was just wondering, do you read for fun, or just to study?"
"Mostly to study, I don't have time to read made up stories when the world is such a complex place. Though I do find studying very fun. Why?"
Ink Well lowered his hat over his eyes. "Oh, nothing. Doesn't matter now..." He walked to the door. "Thank you very much for your insight, Ms. Sparkle. Hopefully things will only get better from here." He walked outside, stopping as he went to close the door. "Oh, and apologize to Spike for me. I think I freaked him out, and I didn't mean to." He left, making his way out into the early afternoon air. ---
As he walked through the center of town Ink Well could feel the stares of the townsponies following him. The hype around him seemed to have fallen considerably, since they weren't mobbing him like the day before, but there was still interest. "Well, at least I got some peace. Now if only they'd stop staring..." He sighed. "Oh well, I can survive a few days of fame." He looked up into the skies, trying to catch sight of Rainbow Dash as he made his way to Sweet Apple Acres, and almost walked into the grey pegasus that had landed in front of him. "Oh! Sorry. Almost ran into you there." The pony looked at him with slightly skewed golden eyes. "Um, are you alright?"
The blonde maned pegasus nodded. "Yes Mister Ink Well, I'm alright. I was just wondering if you would like your story back. You dropped it last night at the spa, and I thought you might miss it." She pulled a bundle of papers from the carrier's bag she had on and dropped it at his feet. "I didn't read it. I didn't think you'd want me to before it was printed."
"That's very kind of you. I'd forgotten I'd thrown that. It would have been inconvenient to find it gone." As he moved to pick it up, he looked up to find the pegasus staring at him expectantly. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"
The pony smiled. "My name's Ditzy Doo, but all my friends call me Derpy."
Ink Well looked at her watching him with her big crossed eyes. "Is it because of your eyes? Because, honestly, I see nothing wrong with them. They're sweet." He thought about it for a second, then laughed as an idea struck him. "Ditzy, tell me, do you know a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle?"
"Twilight? Yeah, she lives near here! She has a lot of friends! Though I knew her in Canterlot before. She was nice there too." Ink Well's smile faded, slightly shocked as his personal joke proved itself true. Ditzy kept talking, oblivious. "She didn't have a lot of friends there though... Kept all of her time on her studies." She looked down at the papers still at her feet. "Don't you want your story Mister Ink Well?"
He looked down at the bundle at his feet, feeling bad for laughing. "You know what, you keep it Ditzy. One day I'm going to be a famous writer, and then you'll be the only one with a memento. The Equirer never wanted to print it anyway..." He looked up at the sky, watching the sun slowly sink towards the horizon. "I'm sorry, but I need to cut this conversation a bit short. I still have a few interviews I have to do today. But I'll say 'Hi' if I see you around, okay?"
Derpy happily grabbed up the story and put it back in her bag. "Thank you mister Ink Well! Thank you so much! Dinky will love this! She likes the Equirer's stories a lot."
He tipped his hat to her as he flew away. "My pleasure. Enjoy it, and have a pleasant evening, Ms. Doo." ---
Ink Well flew to Sweet Apple Acres, landing just outside of the barn. Applejack exited it with two empty buckets on her back and waved at him as he landed. "Howdy there Ink Well. You're only now turnin' up? I thought you'd be by a might sooner."
"I'm sorry. It's a longer flight than I remembered to get here, and I got a late start on the day." He pulled out his notebook. "So, are you ready to work on the corrections?"
Applejack shook her head. "I've got a bit more work to do. Just a few dozen more trees to buck today, then I'll be done. Can you wait 'till after that?"
"I can, but I really would like to be home in time to actually write this thing. I'll just go interview the others while you do your work." He closed his notebook. "Do you know where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are?"
"Sorry hun. Ain't seen 'em all day. Twi said Fluttershy ain't even at her cottage, left a note sayin' she was goin' somewhere, won't be back 'til late."
Ink Well kicked a rock across the ground. "Drat. I'm gonna have to come back. That's gonna be a pain..." He looked at Applejack preparing to go back into the fields and sighed. He walked over to her. "I know I'm going to regret this, but would you like help?"
"Well sure! If you help me, I'll be done a lot faster. And I'll be able to yammer my story out at you, if'n you think you can take notes while working." She hurried into the barn, an empty harness with two buckets flying out at him soon after.
He looked at it, smiling uneasily. "Sure. I can multitask. Been known to do it before."
Applejack walked back out of the barn, huge grin on her face. "Then let's get goin'!" ---
Ink Well dragged the full bushels of apples behind him, the harness having slipped down his back when he couldn't keep it off the ground. "How is this thing so heavy? They're just apples!"
"Apple buckin' ain't easy. Nopony would say it is. But I ain't ever seen anypony struggle as much as you with these! All my friends could carry two easy. Heck, even Applebloom can pull the empty cart without as much trouble as you go through!"
"Hey! I'm no work pony. I'm a writer. I don't carry around anything heavier than my bag if I can avoid it. All I've got going for me is endurance, and that's only 'cus I've spent a lot of time running from crazy readers." He fixed his hat, then tugged on the harness, dragging it another few feet. "No offense."
Applejack looked down on him, carrying her harness without any sign of strain. "Ain't my fault your magazine makes us crazy. You're the one writin' for it. But you'd better build up some muscles, scrawny, if you wanna keep helpin' me out. They way you kicked that tree, it looked like it was winnin' the fight."
"I'm not going to make a habit out of working for you, so that won't be an issue." He pulled the harness again, getting just enough momentum to keep the bushels moving. "Alright, we need to talk about something else, keep my mind off of the work. Yell at me about, who was it, Braeburn? I'll take mental notes."
"Right. I'd plum forgot why you were around." Applejack looked back at him as she walked. "The Equirer said that Braeburn went an' planted his apple orchard on a buffalo burial ground. It also said that doin' this caused the spirits of the buffalo to rise outta the ground an' attack Appaloosa. But you know that, you wrote it."
Ink Well strained against the harness. "I remember that. All I was given was that the buffalo had attacked Appaloosa because of a land dispute over an apple orchard, and I was told to make this into an interesting story. What was it actually about?"
"There was a land dispute, but it was over the buffalo's stampeding grounds. And there was a fight, but it was resolved with sharing, not an exorcist."
"Sharing?"
"The buffalo let Braeburn keep his orchard, and he cut down a path for them to stampede through and gave 'em apple pies when they wanted 'em." Applejack smiled back at him. "Amazin' what a good pie can do."
"Yeah... Speaking of which, there was a rumor that you were selling tainted food at the Gala. Now I've tasted your apples, and they're fresh as can be, so I'm guessing it's a lie, right?"
"You're darn sure it's a lie! Everythin' I had there was the finest food the Apple family can cook! I even went and made a cake when them ponies were all high an' mighty about my 'carnival fare.' Woulda blown their socks off if they'd tasted it. But it got flung across the room 'fore anyone could even get a bite. A real shame there." Applejack swung open the barn door, a frown on her face. "Now how'd you go an' get me to talk about that. You better not do anythin' I wouldn't like with what I just said."
Ink Well pulled the bushels into the barn and walked out, legs aching from the work he just did. "Don't worry. Ponies just talk to me. I've got a trust-able face. And what you said isn't going very far. I don't even have it written down." He tipped his hat to her. "Thank you for the information, and please don't take it personally when I say I hope I never have to work on your farm again."
"Oh, quit your complainin' scrawny. You'll be fine. Now get outta here." She tipped her hat in return as Ink Well flew away. ---
Ink well landed at Fluttershy's cottage to the frightened fluttering of many animals. Birds flew, rabbits ran, and squirrels squirreled in every direction from his landing. He watched in dismay as the critters scattered from him. "Oh no! I'm sorry! No, don't run. I don't want to hurt you." He followed one of the bunnies towards the cottage. "Please don't run. I'm really very kind to animals. I just want to know if Fluttershy is here. Do you know?" He skid to a halt as the rabbit bolted through a hole in the door. "All I wanted was..." He sighed. "I'm talking to a bunny... I've gone crazy." The rabbit appeared within the leaves above the door, throwing the end of a carrot at Ink Well. He glared up at it, only then noticing the note pinned to the door.
'Gone to Manehattan to help relocate mice after flood. Won't be back until late. Please don't touch anything, and don't scare the animals.
-Fluttershy'
Ink Well looked at the many hiding animals around him. "Well... Looks like I didn't manage that one. I didn't mean to break the rules..." Hanging his head, he took to the sky. ---
Ink Well landed in front of the Library as the sun was setting and knocked on the door. Spike opened it and rolled his eyes. "Twilight! It's Ink Well again!"
Twilight walked up to the door. "Hello. Back again? Did you forget anything?"
"No, I was just wondering if you knew where Rainbow Dash was?"
"Oh, no. I think she left. Some sort of emergency in Cloudsdale. They called in all the weather ponies to stop a large storm that was coming in. It was big enough to send Cloudsdale from the sky, and they're being kept through for most of the night. Why?"
"I never got her story. Fluttershy's either. And I can't stick around until all hours of the night to wait for them, and I really can't fly back here tomorrow. I'll never get the story written in time if I do that." He leaned against the door frame. "I guess... can you give them a message when they get back?"
"Sure! What's the message?"
Ink Well took out his notebook and quickly jotted something down. He then tore out the paper and gave it to her. "Here, I'm giving you a set of directions. It's to my house. Tell them that if they want their corrections written, they're going to have to come to me. Just tell them any time tomorrow and I'll be ready." He held it out to her.
She looked at him suspiciously. "You're not going to try anything, are you?"
Ink Well looked like he'd just been stung. "Ouch. Your accusations pain me, Ms. Sparkle." He placed a hoof over his heart. "I promise that nothing bad will happen to either of them. You have, for what it's worth, my word as a writer." He noticed the disbelieving look on Twilight's face. "Look, I just gave you my address. If I'm lying, my house is on the ground. You and whoever you want to bring with you can personally come and kick my flank."
Twilight still looked at him strangely, but took the note. "Okay. I'll give them the message tomorrow."
"Thank you so much." He hopped into the air, then turned back to Twilight. "Oh, and please tell them that I'm sorry to make them fly all the way out there. I wouldn't if I could avoid it."
"I'm sure they'll understand." Ink Well nodded to her, then began his long flight home. ---
The next day Ink Well spent the entire morning at his small cottage beneath Cloudsdale, examining his notes, planning out how the story would go. He arranged them, rearranged them, and wrote down what he thought the best possible story would be, but there were two glaring holes he needed filled. As noon passed he ate the last of Applejack's apples, still marveling at just how wonderful they were. "That girl sure can grow 'em."
His lunch over, Ink Well looked at the many paper piles and bundles scattered around his house and covering every seat and surface. "This is no state for the house to be with visitors approaching. I should probably-" A knock came at the door. Ink Well put on his hat and flew over to it, pushing aside papers along his path. "Oh shoot. Maybe I can just hurry up and clear off a few seats before-"
The knock came again, more agitated this time. Ink Well moved a few more papers, hearing talking outside. "Maybe he's not home..."
"Don't be stupid! Of course he's home! Come on Ink Well!"
"We should go... We probably have the wrong house. We don't want to disturb them..."
Ink Well flew over to the door and pulled it open. "Hello! Sorry, didn't me-"
"Yeah, yeah, don't you go apologizing, just hurry up and get to the writing." Rainbow Dash flew past him, knocking him into a pile of papers as she knocked another off of a chair and sat down. As Ink Well pushed the papers off himself, Fluttershy walked into the house.
"Um. Hello Ink Well."
"Hi Fluttershy. Just... uh, sit anywhere." He brushed himself off and moved over to his writing table on the far side of the room. "So then, about your-"
Rainbow flew right up to his face. "Now you sit there and write why that Rainboom was real, because it was! I trained so hard, and I'm the only pegasus ever to do it! Anypony at the competition could tell you it was real!"
"Ms. Dash, please, calm down." Ink Well pushed her back from his seat. "I believe you. I never doubted for a minute that it wasn't clouds and fireworks and mirrors, because I'd felt it. I was here, and that Rainboom went off just over the next hill. Almost broke my windows, and the light... every color streaming solid through my house." He shook his head, clearing away the memory. "But I would like to know what made you do it, what it took for you to actually make it happen. What was going through your head?"
"What? My feelings?" Rainbow Dash rubbed her mane. "I don't know. I just HAD to do it. Rarity was falling and the Wonderbolts were in danger and there was the whole Cloudisseum with all my friends watching and... I just focused on moving fast enough to catch Rarity and it happened!"
"Wait. Rarity was in Cloudsdale? How did a unicorn get up there?"
Fluttershy spoke from her seat, carefully perched between three stacks of papers. "Twilight cast a magic spell that gave Rarity wings. She also found one to let earth ponies stand on clouds. All of our friends were there."
"Wow. Way to go Twilight." Ink Well noted down what she said. "Now then, I do actually have one more question, and it's about what happened at the Gala." He held up a hoof, stopping Dash's rush towards him. "Before you ask, I'm doing it to hide the correction story in, because otherwise it'll get just flat rejected, and I can get corrections on what happened there too. Now, the rumor is that you destroyed the dance hall. What actually happened?"
"I didn't destroy anything! I caught that statue when it fell! I would've had it too, if it hadn't moved. I lost my balance and it crashed into the pillars. That's what destroyed the hall!" Rainbow flew around the room, circling in the air and kicking papers everywhere. "I caught it! It was my one chance! The Wonderbolts said we were going to hang! I'd saved Soarin's pie and Spitfire's life, and we were SO going to hang at the Gala! But no, everypony else was hogging them. I just wanted to hang! So I went and caught the statue as it fell, and that just ruined everything!" She flew to the door. "I need to fly. Fluttershy, are you coming?"
Fluttershy shifted, tipping over one of the stacks. She quickly grabbed it and stabilized it again. "I still have to do my story."
Rainbow circled by the door, causing a small flurry of papers to flit outside. "Can't you just hurry that up? I need to fly! I just can't stand staying still anymore!"
Ink Well stood, trying to calm the paper storm in his house. "Why don't you go and fly around for a bit, and I'll get Fluttershy's story. We'll be done by the time you get back." Fluttershy shook her head. "Don't worry. I just want the interview, and she'll only be gone for a few minutes. Nothing will happen, I swear."
"Cool! Awesome. Back in a flash!" Rainbow Dash shot from the room, soaring up and quickly disappearing into the sky, leaving behind a rainbow trail and papers slowly drifting to the ground.
Ink Well turned to Fluttershy, who sat quietly in the same place. "Now that we don't have a tornado in here, what corrections do you need, Ms. Fluttershy?" Again she didn't talk, merely sitting quietly. Ink Well frowned. "Now now, none of this. If you just sit there then this whole flight out was for nothing." She looked at him, still carefully keeping herself from knocking the papers around her over. "Just pretend like I'm one of your friends. Just talk to me like you're talking to Twilight or Rarity. I won't bite. That wouldn't be fun for anypony."
Fluttershy shifted uneasily. "Okay... I'll try."
Ink Well smiled. "There we are! Good going! Nice to hear you talking to me, not just near me. Now then, tell me about the story. What did the Equirer print about you?"
She started slowly, but picked up speed as she eased into talking with her airy, angelic voice. "Well, they said that the only reason that I was liked so much as a model was because I was a creation of magic, and that I had magical enhancements to both my beauty and my grace, and that my disappearance was because Photo Finish had angered the unicorn that made the illusion." She stood up. "But I wasn't magic. There was never any magic involved except for Twilight's intervention, and even that didn't do what we wanted..." She stomped down a hoof in anger, which barely caused a ripple in the papers around it. "I'm not just an invention of magic! I am a real pony!" She looked up and into Ink Well's face, a determined expression on hers. She then hopped back, ears folding against her head. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so angry..."
"No! No, it's fine. Really. And I can attest to your existence. Your grace has shown in everything I've seen you do, so that story is not true, and I'll get right on correcting it."
Fluttershy sat down, blushing. "Thank you."
Ink Well nodded. "Don't mention it. Now then, last bit of business. The rumor at the Gala was that you started a stampede, but after meeting you and seeing you with the animals at your cottage I find that incredibly hard to believe. So what really happened there?"
"Actually... um..." Fluttershy drew little circles on the floor with her hoof. "That IS what happened."
Ink Well laughed. "No, you're pulling my wing." He looked at Fluttershy, who stared at the floor. Her expression didn't change. "You're serious?" She nodded. "But, how? The animals in Ponyville love you! I went to your house yesterday and they all fled without you there."
"I know. It's my special talent. That's what confused me at the Gala. The animals in the garden all just ran away when I got near, no matter what I tried. I tried begging, and pleading, and beseeching, and being kind and nothing was working! It was infuriating, so I tried giving gifts, and setting traps, and chasing them, and... I don't know what came over me... I was just so angry that the animals wouldn't love me that I just... I'm just so embarrassed that I lost control like that, and they just sort of... ended up in the dance hall..."
Ink Well sat at his desk, a huge grin refusing to leave his face. "Wow... just wow. There's more to you than looks would tell."
Fluttershy flew over to him. "Oh, please don't print the story on that. Just write that I'm really sorry for ruining their party... I didn't mean to."
Ink Well put down his pen. "Fine. I won't write any of it."
"You have to promise me. You have to Pinkie Pie swear." She backed up, landing and leaning into the floor. "Um... if you could."
Ink Well shrugged. "Uh, I don't know the Pinkie Pie swear."
Fluttershy acted out the motions. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She looked at Ink Well's confused expression. "Please say it..."
Ink Well repeated the motions and the swear exactly as Fluttershy did it. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
Fluttershy sighed in relief. "Thank you." She went over to the door and looked up into the sky. "I wonder what's taking Rainbow so long..."
"I'm sure she's around somewhere." He walked back to his desk. "If you want to leave, don't let me keep you."
"Oh, I couldn't do that. I need to wait until she comes back." She looked around his house, a rather small room cluttered with paper. She didn't see any other doors. "Is this your whole house?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Sorry. How rude. Would you like a quick tour of the house?" Fluttershy nodded. He gestured to the room. "This is the foyer, study, kitchen, writing room, guest bedroom, dining room, and living room." He gestured to the piles of papers along the left wall. "Over there are old stories and articles. Over on the right are the abandoned and half-planned stories. On the table are current projects, and by the door is the pile of rejection letters."
"Oh... my. Why do you keep all of those letters around?"
"They keep me from getting a swelled head. Remind me I'm not some big fancy writer, no matter how much luck I had at the beginning... Which actually brings me to the last part of the tour. Upstairs, if I'd been able to afford stairs, is my bedroom. Boring place really. Just a bed and my unused paper."
Fluttershy flew over to his writing table, looking at the golden ink pot and the fountain pen sitting on the desk. "Well these are very nice, and they match your cutie mark. Where did you get them from?"
Ink Well flew over as well, looking fondly on the ink pot. "I won them in a competition back when I was just a little colt. I entered the New Equestrian Writer's Competition with a short story, just trying to see if anypony would like my work. I won the junior division, which got me the pen, and then I managed to take the whole competition, which won me the ink pot. Only nice thing I have in this house..." His fond look turned wistful. "'One source, endless possibilities.' I believed that... Took it to heart. I got my cutie mark when I got those. After I won the competition, I went and wrote a book, trying to use my special talent, you know? The publisher took it on because I'd won, a fiction book, just a story to entertain. 'Of Wings and Horn,' a story of two friends." He sighed. "Nopony bought it. Who wants to read a work of fiction when the world's such a complex place? Shot down my writing career, leaving me with just the pen and the well. All I could do with that was journalism, and the only place that'd hire me was the Equirer. They always need bad fiction writers. It was a perfect fit..."
He turned to Fluttershy, who was looking at him sadly. "Now Fluttershy, please don't go telling everyone that. I won't make you promise, 'cus I've no reason not to trust you, but I don't want everypony knowing about my failure."
"No. You're no failure. I-"
Rainbow burst in the door, causing a small whirlwind of paper around her. "Hey there Fluttershy. Ready to head out?"
Fluttershy looked at her, then back at Ink Well. He nodded. "You go on back home then. It's a long flight." He tipped his hat to both pegasi. "Thank you fillies for your time. The story should be printed in the next edition of the Equirer." Rainbow Dash went back outside and took off. Fluttershy followed, but stopped in the doorway.
"Thank you for doing this for us Ink Well. It means a lot."
He smiled at her. "Of course. Thank you for talking to me Miss Fluttershy. Have a good day." Fluttershy smiled back before leaving. Ink Well turned back to his notes, penning in the missing information. He looked to the side, seeing the warning on the Equirer's letter. "Severe consequences... Well, the Equirer wanted a story. Time I gave 'em one." |
Newsworthy | Corrections | The next day, as early morning passed and mid morning began, Fluttershy landed gently outside of Ink Well's shack, a small basket full of vegetables in her mouth. She placed the basket on the ground and walked to the door, carefully reaching out a hoof to knock. "Hello. Ink Well? Are you there?" She listened against the door, hearing nothing, as a white rabbit pulled itself out of her basket and hopped next to her. She knocked softly on the door again. "Are you home? Anypony there?" She stayed by the door, waiting patiently for a response. While she did, the bunny paced near the door. After Fluttershy stood unmoving for almost a minute waiting for the door, the bunny shook his head and hopped up to a window, looking inside. Seeing only papers, he pushed himself up on his back feet and tiptoed as best he could. Doing so he was able to see inside, though all he saw were more piles of papers and the writing desk, the ink pot there but the pen missing.
The bunny hopped down from the window, ran over to Fluttershy and tapped her leg. She looked down. "Oh, Angel, what is it?" He pointed inside, shaking his head. "He isn't home? Oh... Maybe it's for the best really. I'll just drop off the gift and be on my way." She moved to put down the basket as Angel jumped on the door, swinging it open. Fluttershy hurried inside to swing the door back closed. "Oh no Angel, you can't just go in his house." As she closed the door, she saw that inside was just as messy as the day before. She frowned at the state of the house. "This is no way for a pony to live..." She perked up, smiling. "I know! I can give him two gifts." She whistled a few lilting notes. From nearby bushes and trees flew a small band of birds, fluttering and chirping gaily around her. "Hello, animal friends! How are you today?" The birds twittered merrily and landed on her, showing her how they felt. "That's good to hear. Could I ask your help with something? The pony here doesn't keep his house very tidy, and I would like to surprise him. Could you help me?" The birds nodded at her, and she smiled in return. "Oh, thank you so much!" She nuzzled the nearest bird, a bluejay, which chirped joyfully and flew inside to join the others.
Fluttershy walked inside, watching the birds tidy papers, move bundles, and straighten scrolls. Unfortunately there wasn't much room in the tiny house to move things to, so the various stories and papers just ended up in neater piles. Fluttershy opened a cupboard, only to squeak in surprise as more papers fell out at her. All of it was covered in writing from top to bottom, sometimes with many different lines written over and between each other. She opened another to find more paper crumpled and tossed in haphazardly. She smoothed one out and found the beginnings of a story about a dragon threatening a small town and the brave unicorn preparing to fight it, but most of it was scribbled out and blotted with ink. She actually felt sad about it, since the story had been looking good so far. She put the paper back, sighing. "I guess I can at least make the house nicer..."
Fluttershy turned to see the birds clearing the surfaces around the house. It was surprising how few there were, not even a counter or any appliances that would suggest a kitchen. All that managed to unearth itself from the papers were a poorly padded couch, a well worn chair, a dinged and stained coffee table, and a dusty wall clock, solemnly ticking away the time. Disheartened by the lack of... anything suggesting a home, Fluttershy flew upstairs. The room was as Ink Well had described it, a tiny, tidy room with only a bed and a few pieces of paper hanging from the walls. The bed was small, barely large enough for one pony, but made of the softest clouds forced to the ground. Around his bed were five pieces of paper, two framed in wood and one in a gilt frame. Fluttershy looked at the papers, wondering what he'd keep so near to him as he slept.
Those that hung framed were reward certificates, both for the New Equestrian Writer's competition, one for the foal division, and the other for the entire competition, both given to Ink Well for his story 'A Rainbow Rounds the Sun.' The bare papers pinned to the wall were two letters, one from a printing company announcing the printing of 'Of Wings and Horn,' and the other proudly announcing his acceptance into the National Equirer. In the center, prominent in the room and sitting within a gold lined frame, was a short story. It was written on many sheets of paper, each placed in numerical order, spanning from the low ceiling to the floor; the title: 'A Rainbow Rounds the Sun.' Fluttershy started reading, instantly gripped by.. something. She wasn't sure if it was the beautiful imagery or the feeling of the artist behind the words or the story itself, but Fluttershy found herself mesmerized by the tale unfolding before her.
A few pages into the story a crumpled paper bounced off of her head. She turned around, looking for the source. Below, Angel stood on the desk, waving for her attention. Around him were the birds, all looking worriedly at something. Fluttershy glided down to the floor below, landing next to the writing table. "Yes? What is it?" Angel pointed to an article sitting on the desk. The title said it all: 'Gala Ruined! A Ponyville Fiasco.' Fluttershy quickly scanned the article, shocked at it's contents. Every detail of what her and her friends had done at the Grand Galloping Gala was inked in full, embarrassing detail. Not a line had been cut, no corrections were hidden amongst them, just the scandalous stories in detail more grandiose and vivid than they had been told in. "No..." She reread the piece, tears blurring her vision as they welled in her eyes, but despite her best efforts to will the story away, it remained a fact. The most damning detail, the one that hurt the most, was what was written just below the title, seemingly penned with no hesitation: 'Lead Reporter: Ink Well.'
Fluttershy backed away from the table, shaking her head. "No... How could he? He Pinkie swore!" The birds flew around her, trying their best to console her with their saddened twittering. Angel stomped, grabbing the article and running over to Fluttershy. "Oh, put it away Angel. I don't want to see it." Tears dropped from her eyes and onto Angel's head as he kicked her hoof. She looked down at him, confused. He held up the story, then six fingers, then mimed reading it. It took a beat, but understanding dawned on Fluttershy. "Oh, you're right Angel, the others should know. But... they won't like it." She picked Angel up and placed him on her back. Then, with a sad look at the half-cleaned room around her, flew from the house, fighting away the hurt tears that threatened to fall. ---
As the afternoon took a strong hold on the day, Ink Well landed outside Fluttershy's cottage in his usual garb, minus his journalist's lanyard. He held her basket in his mouth. He walked up to the door, knocking gently on it and putting down the basket. "Fluttershy, are you here?" He waited, hearing nothing. Again he knocked on the door. "Fluttershy? You left your basket. At least, I'm pretty sure it's yours. It's the same yellow and pink that you are, and the butterflies on the side are a dead giveaway. Do you want it back?" Again hearing no response, he looked in a window, seeing no movement inside. In fact... Ink Well turned around, looking over the area. There wasn't any movement, not a single animal anywhere near her house.
"That's odd. Something should have been thrown at me by now. Even when she was gone the animals were here." He pushed the basket closer to the door, troubled by the quiet around him. He called into the house. "I'm leaving it by the door! Thank you for the veggies, and I'm guessing the house cleaning was you, so thank you for that too!" He backed away, waiting for some sort of reaction from the cottage, but it sat resolute and silent. With one final look back, he flew from the cottage, curious as to where Fluttershy had gone. ---
Ink Well made his way into town. He had gone by Sweet Apple Acres to ask Applejack and heard that she'd been called to the library, so he decided to look there for Fluttershy. The library seemed to have an inordinate amount of animals hanging around it, looking inside intently but worriedly, as though trying to help something within the building. As he neared the door, he could hear a muffled conversation from inside. It seemed to be rather heated over something. Without hoping to disturb, he knocked on the door. The voices inside remained spirited, appearing not to have heard the knocking. As he moved to knock again, the door opened, revealing Fluttershy behind the door and the rest talking further within. Ink Well smiled at her. "Hey, I was lo-"
"Eep!" The door swung shut, slamming in front of his nose. He tilted his head, puzzled by what had just happened.
"I'm sorry, did I surprise you?" The door remained shut, the voices continuing inside. "Was it something I said? Did I offend yesterday?" He could hear a pause in the conversation and he knocked again. "Hello? I've got some news for everypony, if-"
The door flew open, smacking him backwards. Immediately after he was barreled into by a rainbow blur, causing him to tumble end over end, landing pinned to the ground under Rainbow Dash outside. Head spinning, he was picked up and slammed against the ground. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face here again!"
Ink Well looked up into Rainbow's glaring face. "What did I-?"
"No more talking! You lied to us at least twice already! I'm not letting you lie again!" Rainbow picked him up and dragged him into the library, where Rarity closed the door behind them. Ink Well found himself in the middle of a circle of ponies, each one with a look of hurt rage on their face.
He turned to Twilight, taking a step forward. "What's going on he-?"
She stepped accusingly towards him. "How could you write those things about us? You promised you wouldn't! And how did you fool the lie detector?"
Ink Well backed away from her gaze. "What did I write? The story hasn't even-" He bumped into Rarity.
She pushed him into the center, anger marring her features. "All of those embarrassing things! All of those scandalous details! How could you deceive us with that silver tongue of yours?"
"I didn't deceive anyone! If you'd just tell me what-" Pinkie appeared behind him, throwing a hoof over his shoulder and pulling him close.
"Ink Well, I'm disappointed in you. I can take a bad story, but how could you write such mean things about my friends? And we were getting along so well. I'm sorry, but I just can't be friends with a meany two-wings like you."
Ink Well pulled back from her. "I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't write anything bad!" He turned to Applejack, who had the least angry expression on. "You look like you're still sane. Why are you all so-" His question was cut off as he dodged, barely managing to turn the kick aimed at his face into a grazing blow. He stumbled back, holding his cheek. "What was that for?!"
Applejack stepped forward, turning to get a strong kick in. "I poisoned nothin', you snake in the grass! I knew I shoulda kicked your scrawny flank when I had the chance! Braeburn'll be happy to know I gave you a good whuppin'!"
Ink Well ducked and weaved, barely dodging the kicks aimed at him. "Please! Just tell me what happened! I don't know what you're talking about, but if you'll let me-" A blow connected, knocking him on his back and causing blood to stream from his nose. His hat flew off, rolling into the ring of angry pony around him. Ink Well groggily pushed himself up, reaching for his hat. Just as his was about to grab it, Rarity's hoof came down, smashing it before him. He looked up into the circle of angry faces, nose bleeding and trying to look as pathetic as possible. He looked into Fluttershy's eyes, which looked like they contained the most worry in their cyan depths. "Please... I'm sorry... just tell me what I did."
Fluttershy backed up, unable to keep looking at the emerald eyes beneath her. A paper bundle landed next to his head, dropped by Twilight. "You know what you did! You submitted this article on us ruining the Gala, no corrections at all! In fact, you came up with even more lies! With all you promised, how could you do this?"
Ink Well pulled the paper over, trying not to drip blood onto it. After reading the title, his ears flattened against his head. "Oh... you found this..."
Fluttershy stood over him, looking truly hurt. "How could you? How could you send this to print?"
"I didn't. This story will never print." He sighed. "You were never supposed to find this. It was never supposed to leave my house. It was a moment of weakness."
Twilight stomped next to his head. "This? Three pages of story a 'moment' of weakness?"
Ink Well sorely pulled himself up to his feet. "Okay, a few hours of weakness. Whatever. The Equirer wanted their story, and thinking about the consequences, I just couldn't bring myself not to write it." He ripped off a strip of paper from the bottom of the article, rolling it up and jamming it in his nose to stem the bleeding. "But this is wrong, it's trash. If this was the one I submitted, why was it sitting at my house? No, I wrote another one, and that's the one I took to the Equirer." He reached into his bag and pulled out a bundle of papers with red ink slathered all over it. He placed it down before Twilight. "You can read it if you want. I tried to get your corrections in, I tried to call them out on it all, but, well... editing."
Twilight magicked up the papers, reading through the red ink. "The Gala, a True Story..."
"Yeah. Read to your heart's content." He walked over to Rarity, grabbing his crushed hat from beneath her hoof and placing it on his head. "I'm going to be around town for a while. I've got nothing better to do now." He put a hoof to his cheek, wincing from the pain, then pushed past the ponies and walked to the door. They all just watched him move across the room, looks varying between curiosity, anger, and sadness. He turned back to them, tipping his crushed hat to the room. "Have a nice read, ladies." He then pushed open the door and walked out into the afternoon light. ---
Ink Well slowly meandered around town, not entirely sure what to do. After quite a while of wandering he found himself in Rosewater, standing before the empty counter and just enjoying the smells around him. He looked around the store, noting the glass displays around the shop filled with liquids of varying colors for the first time. The whole building was painted in a soft pink with a dark wood trim around the edges. It wasn't exactly high scale, but it was a very nice building.
After wandering around the shop for a few minutes he turned to leave. "Ink Well, when did you get here?" Rose came through a door in the rear of the shop carrying a box on her back, which she placed behind the counter. Ink Well turned back when she called, revealing his bloodied nose and bruised cheek. Rose gasped at the sight. "My gosh! Are you okay?"
Ink Well jumped back when she gasped. "Huh? Oh, yeah, the face. I'm fine. Just a misunderstanding, that's all." He took off his hat, pushing it roughly back into shape with his hoof. As he did so, he spotted his reflection in a display near the counter. "Didn't realize just how bad I look... I must have been scaring ponies all around town."
Rose looked worried. "A misunderstanding? Were you in a fight? What was it over?"
Ink Well shrugged. "The article. Just... huge misunderstanding. Doesn't even matter anymore." He looked at Rose, who was looking extremely worried for him. "Hey now. Don't look so down. It's alright. I've been around long enough I know how to take a kick." He walked over to her, smiling. "We just need to get off of this unhappy subject. What have you been up to? Anything fun happen today?"
Rose gave a hesitant smile, looking at his beat up face. "No, not really. I had a couple of sales, but that was it. Spent the rest of the day rearranging the back of the shop. I really need to change the hours of the store, I'm just wasting time in here." She opened the door to the back room. "Um, would you like to clean up your face or anything?"
"Yeah... That's probably not a bad idea." He walked around the counter and into the back room. There was a distillery in the back, with a large variety of scents, primarily floral, bubbling and steaming within it. Across a table were arranged woods and flowers and fruits, each throwing it's own scent into the air. Next to them was a bucket of water and a rag, presumably for cleaning up after dealing with sticky saps. Tossing away the paper strips from his nose, he cleaned the blood off of his face with the rag, then pressed it against his cheek in a poor attempt to stop it from aching. After he did that, he looked at the brass stills and extractors that made the distillery, appreciating the great detail that went into each.
Rose walked up behind him. "Do you like them? I made them myself."
Ink Well turned back to her, impressed. "Really? They are very nice. I don't really know much about them, to be honest, but they look well made."
"Oh, stop. The ones I based them on in Canterlot are a lot nicer, and more efficient. They actually made the entire thing out of silver, so that it wouldn't react with anything at all in the process." She turned off the burner on one of the stills, stopping the bubbling within. "It's not needed, silver doesn't help the process at all, but it does make the entire distillery so beautiful to look at."
"I'll bet it does." Ink Well looked at Rose, standing there with her ivy green eyes reflecting the brass light off of the still, and smiled. "Hey... I know it's a few days late, and I'm sure you've got a lot of work to do, but if you'd like, I'd love to be shown around the town."
Rose looked at him slyly. "What, your third time in town and you still don't know your way around?"
Ink Well nervously rubbed his mane. "Well, I figured out my way around. But I would like to be shown around by a local, if you have the time."
Rose looked at the battered pegasus looking so sheepishly hopeful and laughed. "Yeah. Why not? Nopony will notice if the shop closes a little early today."
Ink Well perked up. "Really?"
"Sure. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't show you around town? Just give me a few minutes to close up and I'll meet you out front." ---
Ink Well and Rose spent the next hour walking around town talking. They visited the parks, window shopped throughout the town, visited the farms around town and generally enjoyed Ponyville. They also chatted, light talk about ponies around town, about writing and perfumery, upcoming events and the differences between them here and in Cloudsdale... Whatever came to mind. Ink Well started feeling better, even putting to the back of his mind the misfortunes of the day. They were there, sure, but it was more important to enjoy this moment then go on worrying about them.
At the end of the hour amidst the setting sun they found themselves enjoying a pleasant walk along the edge of Whitetail Wood, the light filtering through the trees and giving everything an amber glow. Ink Well stopped, looking at the foliage around him, and smiled. Rose stopped next to him. "Something wrong?"
He looked at her, then back to the wood. "No. Just... this town is beautiful. Never really had time to notice before."
Rose smirked at him, walking over and nudging him. "That's such a sappy line."
"Hey now, I'm a writer, a romantic who believes in happy endings, things turning out well, and the strength of words." As he said this he held himself like an actor on the stage, pontificating for an endearing crowd, and raised a hoof to punctuate the point. He held that pose for a second, then dropped his hoof and smiled playfully. "What did you expect of me?"
"True. Shouldn't expect much from a writer, especially not one that deals in fiction." She looked out into the wood as well, her face softening. "It is nice though, isn't it? You get used to it living here..." They stood gazing into the trees for a few minutes in silence, the wind the only sound as it rustled the leaves above. At the end of the time, Rose turned to Ink Well. "So, did you ever write anything not for a magazine? I mean, you call yourself a writer, but most would call you a journalist."
"Well, I did write a book a few years back. It was a flop, but I was proud of it. And I still write short stories and the occasional poem, but nopony's ever interested in them."
"A book, huh? What was it called? I might have read it."
"Doubtful. It was called 'Of Wing and Horn,' but I think when I last checked only twenty copies had actually sold, and ten of them were for libraries around Equestria." He sighed. "Nopony was interested in fiction. Why search for fantasy in a book when there's so much in real life?"
Rose frowned as he said this. "That doesn't sound right at all. The magic of a good book is in containing a world so fantastic that it draws the reader in and makes them feel like it could happen. It's to let us experience things we wouldn't get to otherwise, and tell a tale that inspires us to keep going."
Ink Well smirked at her. "Now who's the one talking in sappy lines?"
"Oh shut up." Rose and Ink Well laughed at each other as they made their way out of the forest and back towards town. Soon after they left the woods, a call came from the sky above.
"Hey! Ink Well! There you are!" Rainbow Dash bolted from the sky, landing swiftly next to them. "I've been looking everywhere for you! The others have something they wanted to say to you, and they want to talk with you about your story."
Ink Well raised his eyebrow. "Just the others? You don't have anything you want to say?"
"Yes. No! I mean... not in front of Rose, okay? I'll tell you back at the library." Rose giggled at Rainbow's reaction, causing her to pout. "Look, we're waiting for you back there. Just hurry over." Rainbow leaped into the air and took off like a shot, leaving a prismatic trail behind her.
Ink Well turned to Rose, still smiling after getting Dash all flustered. "I guess I shouldn't keep them waiting."
Rose smiled back. "It's okay, you go on. Might be able to get the whole misunderstanding behind you."
"Hopefully." He tipped his beaten hat to Rose as he started to walk away. "It's been a pleasure, Rose. I'll be sure to visit the next time I'm in town."
Rose waved him on his way. "Of course! Glad to show you around. Take care of yourself, alright?"
"I will, thanks." Ink Well hopped into the air and headed towards the library. ---
Ink Well pushed open the library door to reveal six very sorry faces. Twilight walked over to him, looking ashamed. "I'm so sorry we jumped to conclusions like that. This piece had everything we had asked for, and even some things we'd only hinted at. We shouldn't have gotten so mad without talking to you." Various iterations of "we're sorry" came from the array of ponies behind her. She used her magic to float his story to him, putting it back in his bag. "Can you ever forgive us?"
Ink Well looked seriously at the group. Every one of them, even Rainbow Dash, was looking truly remorseful for their actions earlier. He smiled at them. "Don't worry. I have no hard feelings. I would've probably reacted the same way if it happened to me. Granted, I wouldn't have hit as hard." He rubbed his cheek, visibly swollen and bruised from earlier.
Applejack laughed nervously. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I reckon my temper mighta gone and got the better of me. But I'm real sorry about it! Really I am!"
Ink Well waved away her apologizing. "It's fine, really. If I'd really held a grudge I would've gone back and turned in the other story, seen if they'd have given me back my job. But I knew you were all acting without thinking. I did some things I'm not too proud of either."
Rarity looked at him, shocked. "You lost your job? They fired you over the story? But it was just corrections!"
Ink Well shrugged. "It wasn't what they wanted, so I'm off of their payroll as of noon. They even took away my lanyard. But... it's not like I'm the only pony to ever lose a job before. Besides, who wants to work for a magazine that can't admit it made a mistake?"
Fluttershy spoke up from the back, images of his house in her head. "But you can't just go on without any money! And after we treated you so badly... What will you do?"
"Oh, I'll be fine. I've got a bit saved up, and I'm sure there are other magazines who'd be willing to hire me. There are so many out there, and so many are the same. I'm just sorry your corrections aren't going to get printed."
Rainbow floated above the rest, laying back as she flew. "Eh, who needs 'em? At least they won't have anything else to say about us."
Pinkie Pie stood to the side, frowning. "Awww, we aren't going to be in the magazine? But how will they know about my awesome parties?"
Twilight looked at her, dead pan. "Pinkie, don't you think there are more important matters here?"
Pinkie shot back a serious look. "Twilight, there is nothing more important than a good party when you are down. You should know that by now." She shrugged. "Oh well, guess they'll just have to come and find out for themselves!"
Twilight shook her head, turning back to Ink Well. "Anyway, we're very sorry about the misunderstanding. If you ever need anything from us, I'm sure we'd be willing to thank you for the work you've done."
Ink Well nodded to her. "Don't mention it, I was glad to help." He looked out of the window, noticing the sky darkening outside. "Now if you will excuse me, I should probably start heading back home."
Rarity stepped forwards. "Wouldn't you like to stay for a little while? I'm sure one of us would be more than willing to let you spend the night and save you from that long flight home. It's the least we could do."
Ink Well shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, but no. I've been in your manes for long enough. Thank you all for tolerating me, and I hope to see you under much happier circumstances in the future." To a chorus of goodbyes Ink Well tipped his hat and departed, flying off into the early night sky. ---
The next day Ink Well awoke early, not particularly sure of what to do with himself. He ate breakfast out of the gift Fluttershy had left him the day before, then sat at his writing table, pen in mouth and no inspiration coming. After about an hour of staring at an empty page he put the pen away in its holster on his bag. He then looked at his bag, shook his head, and moved the pen into its home on his writing desk within the golden ink well. He looked at the clock hanging from his wall, surprised to find it still there, let alone ticking after he had last seen it buried in paper. It was only nine in the morning.
Sighing and walking away from his desk, his mind wandered to Fluttershy and the gang and what they were up to. He considered flying to Ponyville, but felt like he'd just seem like some weird clingy pony to fly back there on his first day free from the shackles of work. Instead he turned to the piles of unfinished stories, seeing if perhaps he could lessen their massive volume.
He read through his stories, slowly becoming more dissatisfied with his own writing the deeper into the pile he went. None of these were any good, and the few that had some potential just lacked the spark of a truly great story, though it probably didn't help that he found himself in no mood to write. Even so, his mind did find a train of thought to jump on. 'Ditzy would probably love these though. I mean, she was ecstatic over the story I gave her, and that was turned down four separate times. What was that other name she said? Dinky? Was that a friend or a sister or what?' Ink Well analyzed what he was thinking about, face completely dead pan. 'I'm inner monologuing about a pony I met once. What is wrong with me?'
He pushed aside the unfinished stories, deciding instead to finally get to work on that second book he'd always been dreaming about writing. He started trying to think about the plot and what the major points would be. Characters, setting, tone, anything at all that might help him create his next book. Instead he found his mind wandering over his tour with Rose and the sights of Ponyville. He had been so happy during that, just letting his mind go. He'd had four story ideas pop into his head in just the last ten minutes of that walk, and now he couldn't think of one.
He stared at the ink pot on his desk, gleaming brightly at him despite how annoyed he was feeling. "'One source, endless possibilities.' And I can't even think of one..." He smacked his hooves against his head, trying to jump start his brain. "No! C'mon Ink Well! You can do this! Just get your mind off of Ponyville and back on the matter at hoof." He picked up his pen, excited and peppy and ready to write!
Five minutes later, all he had managed to do was doodle a poorly drawn pegasus in the corner of the paper. He snorted, smacking his hoof on the desk and angrily putting away his pen. He paced around the house, rage quickly boiling up inside him at how little he was accomplishing. He looked up at the wall clock again.
Nine-thirty. Sighing, he flew up to his room, getting into his cloud bed. It had been the one luxury he had allowed himself on his meager salary, a bed that would quickly carry him off to dreamland, where inspiration flowed like water and the greatest of things was just a thought away. It cost a fortune to get clouds to maintain this close to the ground, but it was so worth it. He snuggled into the cloud, trying to calm himself and drift away into a nice nap. Maybe he'd just gotten up too early. A few more minutes of sleep would definitely help.
He sat awake in bed for twenty minutes, slowly getting more and more frustrated as each new comfortable position failed to stop his mind from running wild. He couldn't stop thinking, not on anything in particular, just a constant stream of useless thoughts that wouldn't go away. He sat up, smacking his face with a hoof and yelping in pain as he hit his still-bruised cheek. "Smooth one, Inky." He rubbed his face as he got out of bed. Maybe a quick flight would clear his head.
He flew quickly down from his bedroom and to the door, wrenching it open and ready to fly. As he was about to take off, he spotted that the little flag on his mailbox was up. He walked over to it, ready for just about anything to take his mind from the spirals it was making on its own. Inside the mailbox was just one thing, a magazine folded up so that it would fit. Ink Well gave an angered snort at it. "Must've forgotten I didn't actually write anything for this one, sent me my complementary copy anyway." He unfolded the magazine, revealing the National Equirer logo emblazoned on the front just above their main story's headline.
He glanced at it once as he walked to the trashcan, then froze mid-step as what he saw registered. "No..." He looked at the cover, jaw dropping as he read the title of the story. "Oh they are not going to like this." He tossed aside the magazine, dashing inside to grab his hat and his bag. He re-holstered his pen, and his hoof swiped past where his journalist's lanyard had been hung, habit making the motion for him. Once he had his things, he galloped out of the door, mind deadly focused for the first time that day, and took off at full speed to Ponyville.
Back at his house, the magazine fluttered in the breeze, the front page proudly displaying the title: 'Ponyville 6 Attack GGG!' |
Newsworthy | Rejection | Ink Well flew over Ponyville at high noon, having made much better time than previous flights due to his distress. He scanned the town, heart drooping at what he saw. There were three very large crowds, one around Sugarcube Corner, another around Carousel Boutique, and a third larger one around the Library. Ink Well banked, spiraling down towards the Library and landing on the edge of the crowd swarming the door.
National Equirers were being waved left and right accompanied by what must have been a hundred voices calling inside for attention. Ink Well tried to muscle his way to the door, but found himself pushed to the outside edge no matter what he did. He tried asking the ponies on the edge to let him in, but either they couldn't hear him over the yelling or they just ignored him. Finally, fed up, he backed up, pulling a random scroll from his bag. He cleared his throat, then yelled in the loudest voice he had. "EVERYPONY MOVE!"
The cry rang around the building, causing the crowd's heads all to turn as one and look at him. He waved the parchment in the air, keeping his voice authoritative and making sure nopony got a good look at the scroll in his hoof. "Everypony, out of the way." He flashed the scroll at those around him. "Ink Well, Fire Inspector. This is far too many ponies for this building, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He tried to wave the crowd away, but they mostly just looked at him, confused. He kept his voice confident. "Come on! Move it! Am I going to have to start fining ponies? I said move!" The crowd reluctantly dispersed, clearing a path to the door. They didn't go far though, generally milling about along the street outside.
He walked up to the door, knocking on it and giving stern looks to anypony who got too close. After a few minutes of silence he knocked again, harder this time, and called inside. "Hello? This is Ink Well, open up!" The top of the door squeaked open, just the slightest of cracks, and from behind it peeked the fearful violet eye of Twilight Sparkle. He tipped his hat to the crack, maintaining the voice and air of authority as he stole quick glances around him. "Ms. Sparkle, this is the Fire Inspector. Please open the door." He held up the scroll, letting her read the contents, a story blotted out and scribbled over with a shopping list. She looked up at him, noticing the urging behind his eyes.
The door to the library swung open quickly, letting Ink Well inside before shutting immediately behind him. Twilight pulled him over to the side. "How did you do that?"
His eyebrow raised. "Do what?"
Twilight gestured outside. "How did you get past all of those ponies and get them to back off from the library? I've been trying to get them to leave for hours!"
"Oh, old trick I picked up from my dad." He could tell that Twilight was going to inquire deeper and held up a hoof. "It's not important. Where are the others?"
"I saw Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy running towards Rarity's, a crowd at their tails. Pinkie is probably in Sugarcube Corner. Why?"
Ink Well looked at her, remorse on his face. "I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't think any of this would happen. I want to help. I'm going to go get Pinkie and then meet up with the rest of you. Can you make it to the boutique?"
Twilight nodded. "I can try. I'm sure I can find a spell."
"Good. Thank you. I'll be there in a few minutes." He walked over to the door. "Wish me luck." He pulled it open, delving into the crowd of ponies outside once more and snapping it shut behind him.
Twilight stared at the door as the noise from before slowly resumed, the lack of an 'inspector' causing the ponies to immediately resume mobbing the library. She turned and called into the main part of the library. "Spike! I need my notes on the teleport spell! Quickly!" ---
Ink Well walked calmly from the library to Sugarcube Corner, again pulling out the scroll. "Fire Inspector! Yes, the one from the Library. I am here too. How many times must I tell you that this many ponies in one place is a fire hazard? Now move it!" The ponies again moved aside with a lot of grumbling and complaining. A few demanded to see the scroll, causing him to have to do some quick flourishes to keep them from reading it. Eventually he made his way inside, pushing out the ponies jammed in there. After the last pony had exited the building, he closed the door, tossing aside the old shopping list and muttering to himself. "That isn't going to work again. Twice was already pushing it."
He turned around to find Pinkie Pie bouncing into the store from the kitchen with a pile of trays balanced carefully on her back. Muffins, cakes, cupcakes, cookies and pies teetered on her as she made her way across the store. "I'm sorry everypony, I wasn't expecting a party! Such a good surprise you even got the host! But the snacks are ready!" She placed down the snacks on a table and turned to the store, seeing only Ink Well looking at her very strangely. She tilted her head. "Where did everypony go? Did something happen?"
Ink Well shrugged. "Nothing big. The ponies had to leave, something about a fire hazard." He looked into her innocent, smiling face and raised an eyebrow. "You seem awfully cheerful. Have you read the Equirer article?"
Pinkie nodded. "Yeah! Why?"
"Why are you so happy about it?"
Pinkie bounced around him. "It was an Equirer article! And I was in it! And now that everypony knows about my parties, imagine the bashes I'll be able to throw! It'll be amazing! Would you like to come? One's happening now!" She moved over to the door, looking outside. "Doesn't seem like much of a party, but I'm sure it'll be great once the guests come inside! Why? Did you read the story?"
Ink Well's head reeled from the whiplash topic transition and her 'logic.' "Um... no. I didn't..." He coughed nervously. "Can I borrow your copy?"
"Sure!" She tossed him the magazine. He looked at her, confused as to where she had been hiding it. She just smiled at him. "I've got to go greet the guests! I'll see you later!" She bounced from the room as Ink Well moved to the kitchen to find a quiet place to read. ---
Ink Well walked from the kitchen, enraged by what he had read. Inside the store front all the ponies from outside crowded among the streamers and balloons that had sprung up. The music was blaring, signaling loud and clear a Pinkie Pie party. He pushed his way through the party, eventually finding her near a punch bowl, a cup in her hoof and surrounded by ponies asking about the article. With some effort he sidled up to her, being pushed in by all sides. "Pinkie, can I talk to you?"
She smiled at him. "Sure, silly! It's a party! You can talk to anypony!"
He shook his head angrily. "How can you be throwing a party? You were angry at me yesterday for much less than this... slander! How are you not mad?"
She giggled at him. "Oh, they didn't write anything too bad..."
"They said you assaulted half of the attendees and burned down the castle with your wild partying! Those are blatant lies! And your story was the mildest. They accused half of you for trying to assassinate the royals and the other half for trying to destroy the castle like some crazed revolutionaries! Even if you aren't mad, how can you not feel bad for your friends?"
She shrugged. "I do, but I invited them to the party to make it up to them! Once they have fun they'll brighten up. It'll be okay."
"No! It's not okay! I..." Ink Well shook his head at her. "I don't get you Pinkie Pie. You just have your party. I'll be with the others at the boutique." He huffed as he shoved his way out of the party, jostled by the ponies trying to get to Pinkie Pie. As he reached the door, he looked back at her smiling and chatting it up, shook his head, and left. ---
Ink Well walked out of Sugarcube Corner fuming and headed to the Carousel Boutique. The crowd was huge, pushing and jamming against the doors. Among the ponies with the magazine were a few with cameras, flashing pictures frantically of windows with drawn curtains and doors hung with a 'Closed' sign. Ink Well scanned the crowd, frowning as he recognized ponies from the Library. He talked to himself under his breath. "I'm going to have to sneak in here. Too many of these are from the other crowds, they'll get suspicious." As he turned to leave, Ink Well recognized a rosy mane near the back of the crowd. He walked over, hesitantly tapping the pony on the shoulder. She turned, her ivy green eyes and rose cutie mark confirming what he'd feared. "Rose! What are you doing here?"
"Ink Well! Did you hear what they did at the Gala? Oh, the scandal! It's so juicy, isn't it? I never knew you could write like that!"
Ink Well's face hardened. "You think I wrote that..? You think that I wrote such blatant lies about these ponies?" He glared at her. "Do you even realize what you're saying? They're your friends! Your fellow townsponies! Not three days ago you were praising Rarity, and today you stand before her door looking for dirt."
Rose looked at him, confused. "But isn't that what you do? Didn't you fake most of those stories?"
Ink Well's look could shoot daggers. "I always talked to them. I got the facts. I bent the truth, maybe full circle, but the truth was there. When I wrote a story on somepony, it was to entertain, not to declare war!"
Rose backed away from him, scared by the frightful look on his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
He advanced on her, attracting the attention of the ponies around them "To what? To enjoy the shame of others? To accuse me of writing it? To not even read the name of the reporter on the article? To believe in a story over what you know of your own neighbors?" He looked around at the ponies staring at him, realizing that he had been shouting, then he looked into the trembling eyes of Rose. He backed up, doubt tracing over his features. He sighed, looking at Rose sadly. "I'm sorry... I guess I just thought higher of you." He trotted away to the side of the building. Rose looked at him, then down at the magazine in her hoof. After a brief time of contemplation she dropped it and walked away, the only one to leave the crowd. ---
Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight all sat huddled in the back room of the boutique, windows drawn and ponies in various states of unease. Dash and Applejack were pacing angrily by the door, while Twilight was trying to comfort Fluttershy, who was weeping gently in the corner. Rarity was laying on her bed, ranting. "Oh the scandal! The humiliation! How can I go on like this? I shall die of shame if I walk out of here again! Oh what is a pony to do?"
Applejack stomped her hoof. "I can't believe that darn magazine! They print lies about us, and then when somepony finally does sumthin', they fire him and print the lies anyway! If I could just get my hooves on 'em!"
Rainbow reared up, smacking her hooves down. "We should fly out to the Equirer and burst into their offices hit 'em all if they don't take it back!"
Twilight frowned at her. "Rainbow, just calm down. Attacking them will do nothing. We just need to wait, it'll all blow over. It did last time... Besides, Ink Well is coming, and he's going to try to help us."
Rainbow crossed her front hooves, pouting. "Yeah, that's helped so much so far..."
Fluttershy curled into a ball. "I just wanted to be their friends... I didn't mean to do anything at the Gala... Everypony thinks I'm just awful..."
Twilight hugged her. "There, there. It's alright. Nopony thinks you're awful."
Rarity threw herself back on her bed. "Oh, woe is me! We will have to go into exile! Luckily, I packed the last time, just in case of an emergency. We will all live marvelously, even in a foreign land!"
Fluttershy wiped away the tears, looking at Twilight. "I don't want to leave all my friends. What will the animals do when I'm gone?"
Applejack came over, calming down from her own anger. "It's okay sugar cube. It'll all be alright. We'll make it through this, somehow. And none of us will have to go away or nuthin'."
A tap came at the window, drawing the fearful attention of all the ponies. It tapped again, slightly quicker this time. Everypony within the room looked at each other, trying to figure out who should go check it or if they should at all. A third tap came, rattling the windows behind the curtain. Fluttershy turned her head away, curling into a tighter ball and drawing back the attention of Applejack and Twilight. Rarity nodded towards Rainbow Dash, then tilted her head at the window.
Rainbow crept over, working very hard to move silently. She crawled beneath the curtain, looking up at it worriedly. The tapping came again, slightly more frantic. From outside Dash could hear a voice whispering, but couldn't make out the words. She slowly lifted herself up, sticking her head under the curtain so that she could see outside.
Peeking in from the side of the window was Ink Well, his back pressed against the wall to minimize his profile. He looked at Rainbow, who herself was peeking from the bottom of the window, and smiled. Rainbow popped up, pushing the window open, letting Ink Well shoot inside, closing the window behind him and swirling around the curtain, holding it with a hoof to stop it's movement. When he turned around, Rarity jumped up, pulling her covers over herself. "My! A colt in my bedroom, uninvited! How improper!"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Not now Rarity!" Rarity pouted at her, but Applejack ignored her, walking over to Ink Well. "Twi said you wanna help us. Now, I'm all for that, but the first thing I wanna know is why the story ran. I thought you got kicked for it."
Ink Well took out the magazine, flipping to the article. "I think the whole thing was written blind. I think..." He checked the magazine for the author, "this 'Checkers' was just given the rumors and the information known and told to write a story. They didn't get you or Pinkie by name, so they can't have actually gathered any information." He shrugged. "They did the same thing when I wrote the Appaloosa story. But this guy was just... crazy. This is the kind of story from an international intrigue novel, not a Gala gossip piece."
Fluttershy sniffled in the corner. "How could they write all of those horrible things?"
Ink Well sighed. "I don't know." He walked over to her and knelt down next to her, placing his hoof on her shoulder. "But I vow that I will do everything in my power to clear your name. All of you. You have my word that your corrections will be printed and this slander will be set right."
She looked up at him, tears at the edges on her eyes. "Really? You mean it?"
He nodded. "Yup. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." A gasp came from the rest of the room, but Fluttershy's face broke into a smile. Ink Well smiled back, then stood up and turned back to the other ponies, who looked at him with shocked expressions. Ink Well coughed nervously. "Was it something I said?"
Rainbow Dash shot over to him, smacking him on the back. "No way! How do you know the Pinkie Swear? You know it's unbreakable, right?"
Ink Well looked offended. "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."
Twilight looked around, finally noticing something. "Hey! Where is Pinkie? Weren't you going to bring her with you?"
"She's at Sugarcube Corner, throwing a party. I think we're all invited, but there's quite a lot of Equirer fans there. I have no clue what she's thinking... seems insensitive."
Applejack shook her head at him. "It's not as bad as all that. It's just how she is. She just always wants to see us happy, and how she does is with parties. She really means well."
Ink Well shrugged. "Whatever you say. I still don't get it, but then I guess I don't have to." He walked towards the window, pushing it open. "I'm going to get out of here, get to reworking the correction piece. I'll check in with you after I send something, alright?"
Twilight nodded to him. "Alright Ink Well. And thank you."
He tipped his hat to them. "Of course. It's the least I can do." He looked around outside, seeing the path clear of ponies. "I think if you hurry you might be able to slip away. Good luck out there." Ink Well took off out of the window, flying into the sky and back to his house. ---
Ink Well spent the afternoon analyzing the story, trying to determine the best angle to use to incorporate this article into the rest of his corrections. He looked over his notes and his edit-ridden story, and with a little work determined the best way to denounce the 'revolutionary activities' of the 'Ponyville 6'. As night fell, he lit a candle on his desk before continuing his work. Around him danced the shadows of stories long written and tales long forgotten, edging their way into the writer's mind and trying to sap his focus. But he remained resolute, concentrating solely on the task at hoof, preparing a story that anypony would read, and more importantly, one that contained only the truth. He heard the clock chime the hours, ticking away the night until all that remained was that silent stillness before dawn.
He yawned, the fountain pen falling from his mouth as he raised his hooves and stretched. He looked down at the discarded pen, then up to the clock, then to his paper. The words stared at him, urging him onwards towards completion. He blinked the sleep from his eyes, then picked up the pen once more. "No time to rest yet," he said around the pen. "They'll be plenty of time to sleep when it's done." He returned to writing, the clock forlornly marking the time behind him. ---
A gentle knock on the door roused him from his sleep. The sun gleamed in the windows from a high angle. He looked at the puddle of candle wax staining the corner of the desk, it having burned out long ago. His pen sat at the bottom lip of the desk where it had rolled as he slept. He picked his head up, dry ink sticking the paper to his fur for just a moment before it drifted back to the desk. He looked down at the paper, frowning at the sentence stalled mid-stroke. "Shoot, how long was I out?"
The knock happened again, so soft as to be barely heard. Ink Well's attention turned to the door, thoughts on his story now behind him. He walked over slowly, moving carefully to unknot his muscles before reaching the door. He swung it open, shielding his eyes with a hoof as the midday sun tried to blind him. Standing outside was a figure, though Ink Well couldn't make out detail while he squinted in the light. "Hello? Can I help you?"
The figure took a step back. "Oh, I'm sorry. Is this a bad time?" Ink Well blinked to aid his eye's adjustment to the light. The figure before him quickly resolved into the form of Fluttershy.
Ink Well perked up immediately, rubbing a hoof through his mane in a failed attempt to straighten the tangle atop his head. "Fluttershy! No, it's not a bad time. I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting a visit."
Sheepishly she kicked at the ground. "Should I come back later? I don't want to bother you."
Ink Well stepped aside, smiling awkwardly. "No! No, it's fine. Come in, take a seat." She walked into the house, which hadn't changed at all since she'd last seen it. "Sorry I didn't clean up or anything, though I suppose you've seen it in worse shape."
"Oh, no. It's fine. Really." Fluttershy walked to the sofa, moving a pile of papers from one side and trying to get comfortable on the wafer thin padding.
Ink Well walked over to the writing table, the only seat in his house that he ever took. He smiled at her. "So, what brings you all the way out here?"
"I had to get away. There were just so many ponies visiting my house to ask me questions." She shuddered in place on the couch. "It was scaring the animals. They'd be better off if I weren't there right now."
Ink Well shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder about those reader ponies, scaring innocent creatures. It's not right."
Fluttershy stared into the paper veneer on the floor. "I couldn't handle it anymore. All around town ponies just keep hounding me, so I flew out here. At least the only pony here knows the truth."
Ink Well smiled at her. "Well you're welcome any time, but I can't promise much in the way of hospitality. I don't have a lot in the way of food or drink and I'm kind of focused on fixing that story right now."
Fluttershy giggled. "I can see that." Ink Well looked at her, confused. She pointed at his cheek, where words had clearly dried on his fur. He looked around until he spotted his reflection in the metal of the sink. Frowning, he began to wash the words from his face. "Did you fall asleep while writing?"
Ink Well smiled nervously at her. "Yeah... I guess I just wasn't paying attention to the time, woke up just before you got here." He pointed to the paper sitting on his desk. "But at least I have the layout all finished. I just have to dress it up for the magazines I'm going to submit it to and all will be well. Getting that first layout was really the hardest part." He turned off the sink. "Well, that and getting it published, but that part's always difficult." He turned around, finding Fluttershy reading over one of the papers on the stack next to her. "Enjoying your read?"
Fluttershy jumped, trying for a second to look as nonchalant as possible. She looked at his face, then sighed, resigning. "Oh, I'm sorry... I was just curious. What little I read while cleaning was great! Even better than everything you did for the Equirer."
Ink Well tilted his head at her. "Really? You read the Equirer? I thought you just got humiliated by it."
She looked down while she was talking. "Um... well, I always liked the stories. They were written so well, even though they were fake. I didn't take it seriously, but it was fun to read! It's only the few rare times that it was hurtful..."
"Yeah... well..." Ink Well smiled at her. "At least you enjoyed the story. That's the attitude I wish more ponies took with it. But instead, well... you know how they react." He walked back to his writing desk and sat getting ready to write. As he did, he looked back at Fluttershy, who was reading the story next to her again. He smiled. "Hey, I'm going to be working on the article for 'Ponies Magazine,' but if you like my writing so much, feel free to read whatever you want."
Fluttershy smiled, taking the first story off of the stack and placing it in an easier place to read, diving right into it. Ink Well pulled out a fresh piece of paper, picking up his pen and starting to write. Behind him he heard Fluttershy humming quietly to herself. He smiled as he wrote, glad to have the company. ---
Fluttershy stayed until sunset, reading all of the stories in the pile next to her, as well as a few around the room. She looked outside, seeing the reddening sky. "Oh no! It's so late! I need to go."
"Wait!" Ink Well wrote quickly, the pen dancing across the paper beneath him. "Hold on... hold on... Finished!" He plunked the pen into the ink pot on his desk, then grabbed the story and held it to Fluttershy. "Before you go, could you read over this? I just want to make sure it's up to your standard before I send it off."
"Oh... alright." Fluttershy took the story, setting it down on the couch and settling down to read it. While she read the story, Ink Well cleaned up the melted wax on his desk, tossing its remains in the trash outside before placing a new one on his desk. He set up a few pieces of paper on the desk, sitting and readying himself to write when Fluttershy finished the story.
"This is perfect. Exactly what we were all asking for." She gave him back the story. "Thank you."
Ink Well smiled. "No problem. I'm glad I got it right."
"No, I mean... thank you for doing all of this. Writing our corrections, trying so hard to get them all printed, even after losing your job... It means a lot." She smiled at him, a very warm smile.
Ink Well looked at her, surprised by the compliment. "Oh. Well... It wasn't right what they were doing, you know? Somepony had to do something."
Fluttershy smiled at him. "Well then thank you for being the pony to do it." She walked to the door, looking at her flight path. She looked back, seeing Ink Well sitting at his writing desk once more. "Um... would it be alright if I visited again? I don't want to impose."
Ink Well looked at her. "Of course! It's no imposition. To be honest, I like the company. Especially when they like my stories. Feel free to come by any time you want."
She looked very happy to hear him say that. "Okay. Thank you again. Have a nice evening!"
Ink Well smiled. "You too! Fly safely!" Fluttershy took off, flapping her wings and jumping into the air without hardly disturbing anything around her. After she had gone, Ink Well turned to the story and readied his pen. "That's one down. Just a half dozen to go!" He placed pen to paper, setting about another night of work. ---
Ink Well spent the next few nights writing, starting at dusk and working into the wee hours of the morning. He worked diligently, readying the spin for whichever magazine he was writing, and waking at his desk the next day, work nearly finished before him. He would spend the day writing the cover letter for it, as well as preparing the envelope for mailing. In the afternoon he's place the letter in the mailbox, flipping up the little flag so it would be picked up the next day. Then the cycle was repeated.
Fluttershy visited again three days after her initial visit, bringing along her bunny, Angel. She again woke Ink Well with her knocking, who gave her the story he'd written the night before to begin with. "This one is going to 'The New Republic.' It's another gossip magazine, most of the ones on the list are, but since you're here, I'd like you to make sure I'm still writing to your standards." Fluttershy agreed, reading the story as Ink Well wrote the cover letter.
As he finished it, Fluttershy placed the story on his desk. "Just as good as last time, Ink Well. It's good to print."
Ink Well spent the day writing again, this time with Angel sitting on his desk, watching him work. After a few hours of writing, Ink Well looked at Angel, then reached out a hoof hesitantly. The rabbit looked at him dourly. After a moment more of hesitation, Ink Well put his hoof down. "Alright Angel. You don't have to like me yet. I won't force the issue." He turned back to his work, and Angel bounced over to Fluttershy.
She looked at the distasteful look on the bunny's face and frowned. "Oh Angel, he just wants to be friends! You don't have to be so mean about it." Angel stuck his tongue out at her. "Well fine. You go play outside then. I'm going to stay in here."
Fluttershy finished his completed stories over the course of that day, placing the last one in the finished group just before sunset. She looked sad as she did, sitting quietly for a few minutes. As Ink Well noticed the quiet, he turned to her, noticing her expression. "Are you alright?" She nodded, still looking down. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, well, that was the last of your stories. I was really enjoying these visits." She sighed, heading to the door. "I guess I'll see you later."
"Yeah. I guess." As Fluttershy was about to fly off, Ink Well walked over. "Well, if you like my writing so much, you could read my book. I don't think anypony else has, you could be the first!"
Fluttershy turned to him, a sad look in her eye as she heard him talk like that. "Don't say that. I'm sure lots of ponies read your book. It was great."
"Oh, yeah, well I didn't think you'd-" Ink Well's jaw dropped, registering what had been said. "What?"
She smiled at him. "I said your book was great."
Ink Well looked at her as though she had suddenly sprouted another head. "You've read my book?"
"Yes. I got it a few days after it came out." Ink Well placed a hoof on her shoulder, which was quickly smacked by Angel. He then stared at her, examining what he must have thought of as an impossibility. She backed away from his gaze, starting to feel uneasy. "Is something wrong?"
"No... Nothing is wrong." His face changed from an analytical look to one of sheer joy. He hugged her, catching her off guard and unsteady. "I had to make sure you were real, and you are! You really are!" He released his hug, flying joyfully around his house. "Somepony who read my book! I never thought this day would come!"
She looked at him, disbelieving. "You mean nopony had complimented your book before?"
The grin slowly faded from his face. "No. Not a one. I told you, it didn't sell. I made no money from commissions on the book. So far as I know the only ones that went into circulation went to the libraries, lost among the ages of reality written down within... I'd thought it was trash, a complete waste of time..." He looked back at her, the grin plastering itself on his face once more. "Oh, thank you Fluttershy."
She looked confused. "What did I do?"
"You liked my book. That's more than anypony's ever done before." He looked outside at the ever darkening sky. "Oh, geez, look at the time. You should probably be heading home. I've held you up too long."
Fluttershy smiled. "It's alright. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yeah. Of course. Have a nice flight." Ink Well paced around the room, beaming at everything around him as Fluttershy quietly took off, gliding into the dark. After a few moments, Ink Well realized that Fluttershy had gone and dashed out the door. He caught up to her a few dozen yards outside. "Wait. Um, well... If you want to come visit again, I don't have much in the way of food or anything, but if you'd like you could read my incomplete stories. I could use some input on them..." He rubbed his mane sheepishly, "if you want."
Fluttershy smiled at him, marveling at how he was so far from his house without his usual accessories. "Sure, I'd like that. I'll see you soon Ink Well."
Ink Well's grin grew even wider. "Yeah. Fly safely!" He flew back to his door, dancing on air all the way back. ---
Ink Well sent off the last of the correction stories the next day, having written three over the course of the night. He hadn't fallen asleep at his desk, being much too excited while writing, only waiting until after he sent the letters to go to bed. With a content smile, he lay his head wearily on his cloud pillow. Dreams came unbidden, a vivid wonderland that no words could describe, though he would definitely attempt when he next wrote.
Ink Well's eyelids rose cheerfully with the morning sun. He smiled, having for once actually slept through the night, a relatively unknown experience to him. He got up from his bed and stretched before looking around the room. It may have been just a bed, a few hanging papers and a low roof, but it was the best looking place in the world this morning. He fluttered happily into the bulk of his house, the writing desk clean and tidy, the stack of read stories still sitting neatly on the couch. He moved them aside, clearing the couch. He stood back, taking in the sagging green couch cushions that he hadn't seen in... "Huh, when did I last see that thing clear?" He looked around the house, seeing pile after pile of papers and scrolls, bundles and sheaves, and frowned. "This place is a mess!"
Ink Well started to straighten piles into stacks, consolidating the mess into a reasonable area. From there, he organized the stacks, moving them into the corners and out of the way places around the house. He even tidied up the pile of rejection letters, collecting the crumpled balls of paper into a bin until a mountain was sticking out of it. It was amazing how much of the scuffed wood floor was revealed when the papers were organized, and it was suffocating how much dust flew into the air. After an hour of rearranging his house, Ink Well threw the front door open, coughing and sputtering for breath. "I really need to clean this place more often." He walked from the door, letting the dust settle, and found the flag on his mailbox to be raised. Pulling open the cover, he found two letters within, both with the magazine's logos on the front.
Excited, he ripped open the envelope from 'Ponies' magazine, dumping the letter onto the grass. He ducked down, reading it where it had landed. "Ink Well, we are happy for your submission... yada yada yada... your story was very well written, but..." He slowed down, scanning the rest of the letter slowly, wings drooping. "Rejected." He picked up the paper, crumpling it with his hooves. "Welp, that's why you sent it to more than one magazine!" He was more careful with the envelope from 'Solar,' keeping his pace slow and his emotions calm. No need to work himself up about the contents, it certainly wouldn't change them. He pulled out that letter, reading it expectantly despite himself. "Ink Well, we thank you for your... get to the good bit... but..." He sighed, crumpling up the other letter. "Figures."
He picked up the compacted letters, taking them within the house and tossing them towards the bin of rejection. They bounced off of the mountain, causing a small avalanche which scattered paper balls around the room. Ink Well sighed, blowing away a swirl of dust before him. After a few seconds, he frowned. "C'mon Ink Well! Just one bad day, nothing to get so down about!" He walked to the door, smiling as the wind blew through his mane. "Today shouldn't be spent in the house. It's a day for flight!" He walked inside, grabbing his hat and putting on his bag, placing his pen from the ink pot into its holster. He then trotted outside, closing the door behind him, and took off.
Ink Well glided around the valley, enjoying the wind under his wings and the sun on his back. He flew up to Cloudsdale, walking among the clouds and taking in the beautiful architecture. He'd always liked the design of this city, the columns and statues made of solidified cloud having an aesthetic impossible to replicate on the ground. He still marveled at the Cloudiseum every time he saw it, and the weather factory on the edge of town made such a striking silhouette against the sky. He spent the entire day enjoying the sights and sounds of the glorious city in the sky. Window shopping, the floating park, touring the weather factory, just experiencing the town for all it had to offer.
The final part of his day in Cloudsdale brought him to the National Equirer's office at sunset. He glared at the building, hating how it's boxy design contrasted with the ornate pillars and decorative nature of the buildings around it. It was so out of place, sitting on it's own cloud, refusing to share either space or design with its neighbors. It was like some cheap Manehattan building flung into the wonder of the clouds. It just... didn't fit.
Ink Well watched the building for a few minutes, not really sure what to make of himself. Eventually he turned away and took off, spiraling from Cloudsdale back to his home in the valley below. As he walked in the door, wings weary and mind full, he decided to go to bed early, welcoming the change of pace his waiting life had.
That night, his sleep was uneasy, tossing and turning through the night, dreams dark and foreboding, centering around accusations of him and the Equirer. He awoke mid morning when he tumbled out of bed, his hair an absolute mess. He gingerly made his way outside, seeing the small mailbox flag up again. He walked over, opening it to find two letters, each emblazoned with their own logo. He flipped open the first, from 'Night,' hoping for good news. "Ink Well... blah blah blah... Ah, there it is, but..." He dropped the spent envelope, turning his attention to the other. "Ah, 'Canterlot Weekly.'" He flipped it open, jumping half way down the page.
There it was, that tiny three letter word that marked its fate. He dropped the letter to the ground, walking forlornly back inside. "What did you expect? Everything would suddenly change? Just getting your hopes up Ink Well." He closed the door with a soft 'thunk' that knocked over the rejection bin, scattering papers across the floor. He then trudged over to the writing desk, kicking away papers as the energy drained from him, the bad news taking a toll. He picked up his pen, pulled out a sheet of paper, and just started writing. He filled the page with ramblings and notes, scribbles and doodles, nothing of real substance, just sitting and writing to clear his head.
Without him realizing the passage of time, shadows fell on the room. He shook his head, noticing the darkness around him. He looked down at the papers spread around his desk, half a dozen sheets covered in rambling. He sighed. "What a waste of a day." He lit the candle sitting on the edge of his desk and pulled out a new sheet of paper, pen moving slowly back to writing position. He sat in the lone candle's light, the darkness slowly swallowing the room. ---
A gentle knock came at the door, rousing Ink Well from his slumber. He got up, bleary eyed, from his desk, and looked down at the paper. Doodles of ponies, mostly a familiar pegasus and earth pony, covered the sheet. He pushed it from the desk, groggily heaving himself away from the desk and dragging his weary wings to the door. He pulled it open slowly. "Hello?"
"Hello. I- Eep!" Outside the door Fluttershy jumped back, surprised by the vision before her. "Ink Well! Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh! Fluttershy!" He straightened up trying to look cheerful despite the bags under his eyes. "How are you? Long time no see. What time is it, by the way?"
"It's almost noon. Did you stay up all night writing again?"
Ink Well looked back at the papers thrown haphazardly to the floor. "Something like that..."
Fluttershy sighed, shaking her head. "Oh Ink Well, you need to treat yourself better..." She walked inside, noticing the crumpled papers scattered throughout the room and the wax sculpture dripping from the desk. Ink Well watched her examining his room and tried with little success to straighten his mussy mane. After a few seconds he noticed Fluttershy looking at him, smiling. Ink Well quickly brought down his hoof and smiled nervously back. "Oh!" Fluttershy reached into the small bag she had with her and pulled out an envelope. "I almost forgot why I was here! Rose asked me to deliver a letter to you."
Ink Well tilted his head head in confusion. "From Rose? Did she say what she wanted?"
"No. She just walked up to my door yesterday and said that she was sorry for how she'd acted when the article came out. I thanked her, and as she was walking off she said something about mailing a letter to you." She kicked one of the paper balls at her feet. "I'd kind of been wanting to visit anyway, so I offered to deliver it."
Ink Well smiled, accepting the letter. "Thank you. That was very kind."
Fluttershy smiled. "It was really no problem." She looked around the room, pointing to a stack of papers. "Are these your unfinished ones?"
Ink Well paused mid envelope rip to look. "Yeah, those ones. Help yourself." He opened the letter, leaning against a wall as he read it:
'Dear Ink Well,
I'm sorry for what I said the other day. After seeing you outside of Carousel Boutique, I went home and read your old articles in the Equirer, and you're right. You have an element of truth in them that this writer just didn't have. In fact, your words were more believable because they were true, something that it seems none of the other writers at the Equirer understand. It made me realize how foolish I was for being taken in by such obvious lies, and I could tell I lost your trust with my actions. I just...
I'm sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I wish that I had realized my folly before you had to yell it at me, and I wish that the others in town could see theirs. It was silly and stupid and it was hurtful for those on the receiving end. But I guess that isn't the main point of this letter. I want to invite you to my shop the next time you're in town, just to talk. I feel that I said and did some things that could really stifle our friendship, and I don't want it thrown away over something as silly as an article.
Hope to see you soon!
Roseluck'
Ink Well put down the letter on his desk, looking at it sadly. "Yeah... I said some things I shouldn't have either." He folded it away carefully, placing it on the edge of his writing desk. He turned around to find Fluttershy looking at him as though she wanted to ask him something. "Yes Fluttershy?"
"Oh, um, well... When I was cleaning your house all those days ago, I went into your room and I saw your story on the wall. I was wondering, if it's okay with you, if it would be alright for me to read it."
Ink Well looked surprised that she even had to ask. "Go ahead! You've earned it, my only reader! Enjoy."
"Oh! Thank you." Fluttershy hovered up to the room above, leaving Ink Well alone with his stories. He walked to the door, letting a slight breeze into his stuffy house. Outside he could see the mailbox, flag raised and announcing mail.
Ink Well thought about just closing the door, but shook his head. "Not reading it isn't going to change the result." He walked slowly outside, pulled open the mailbox, and took out the three letters sitting within. He then walked calmly back into the house, sitting down at his writing desk before even thinking about opening them. He held them up, the responses from 'The New Republic', 'The Inquisitor', and 'The Times' all looking at him. "Maybe if I just open all three at once, it won't sting as badly." He opened each envelope, careful not to catch a glimpse of the letters before he laid them out side by side. Then in one motion he flipped them all open, scanning down into them to see what they held.
His wings dropped, his ears flattening against his head. "Rejected. All of them." With a defeated sigh his head dropped, forehead colliding loudly, though not painfully, with the desk. He pushed his chair back so that his body was slumped over the divide, hooves splayed across the rejections before him. "Congratulations, Ink Well! You just failed a week of work AND your new friends! Tell us how you feel." He brought up his head a few inches, just to let it drop once more painfully into the desk. "You really thought you could help them, didn't you? You thought you could fix everything with a pen and ink and a dream." He banged his head against the table again, this time causing his forehead to throb with the impact. "You really got yourself worked up, didn't you? Just a stupid writer whose only good piece of work was years ago. You're a hack Ink Well!"
He raised up his head again, winding up to bring it down hard, when a hoof was placed gently on his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Fluttershy hovering above him, sadness filling her eyes. "Don't. Please. You don't deserve it. You have been doing a wonderful job, and you write so well. These magazines don't know what they're talking about." Fluttershy removed her hoof from his head, letting him straighten his neck. She then landed softly next to him. "I finished the story."
"Yeah? And how was my crowning achievement?" Ink Well didn't mean to, but disdain dripped into his voice. "Spectacular right? Best thing I've ever written? Yeah, I know. It was all down hill from there." His head hung low, no emotion bothering to come to his face.
Fluttershy frowned at him. "It was a wonderful story, but it's not better than your current work."
He slumped forward onto his writing desk. "Then how come everything I write gets rejected? It can't be because its good."
Fluttershy shook her head, rubbing his back with her hoof. "There there. I know you're upset right now, but its alright. I don't know why other ponies don't like your work. I think its wonderful. All of it. You've only been improving as a writer, Ink Well, it's just your attitude that's deteriorated so."
Ink Well gestured to the pile of stories Fluttershy had read. "But none of those had the spark!" His hoof rounded the room, pointing out the unfinished works and the articles. "Not one of them was inspired like that first one! They were just come across as my mind rambled. Nothing special, just words on a paper."
"Ink Well, that's all any writing is. Letters, books, magazines, stories, they are all just words on paper. It is up to the author and the reader to make them more." She walked around him, picking up the letters on the desk. "These rejections are from ponies who don't get it. They don't want a story with feeling poured into each word. They don't want a world to come alive in front of them. They want words so simple anypony will read them and want to know more, and they do that by taking horrible private things and making them news." She placed the letters face down in a stack in the corner. "You have a great gift Ink Well. You need to realize that. Don't let rejection stop it from coming out."
Ink Well sulked at his desk, looking at the rejections sitting face down next to him. He sat up, looking past Fluttershy to the pile of rejections by the door. His eyes drifted down to the rejections carpeting the floor. How could he go on against odds like that?
Then he looked at Fluttershy. She looked at him compassionately, trying her best to make him feel better, but he could tell she meant every word she said. She believed in him, even though he didn't believe in himself. He smiled. "Well. If you insist, I'll give it another shot." He spun around in his chair, facing himself back to his writing desk. Behind him, Fluttershy smiled, glad to see him active again. He flipped over the rejections, reading over them individually. "Let's see what they actually have against the article."
After he looked them all over, his brain registered something. A thought, fleeting, but... He held up two of the letters, examining them closely side by side, then slowly running one behind the other. "Interesting." He did this with the other letter, then tossed it to the side. "Hmm..." Fluttershy watched him, confused.
"What?"
Ink Well quickly put down the letters, turning to her. "Fluttershy, on the floor around here are two recent letters from 'Ponies' and 'Solar'. See if you can find them, and if you can, smooth them out on the desk." Ink Well hopped from his chair and trotted outside, looking around for any sign of the two letters he'd dropped out here the day before. After a minute of searching, he found them snagged under a nearby bush. He untangled them, trying not to rip them too badly, and ran back inside. As he reentered Fluttershy was smoothing out the letters on his desk.
Ink Well placed his two torn letters next to the creased ones and the ones from today, looking between them all carefully. He then rearranged them, mixing up their order. "Huh... Very interesting." He held up one letter from each category, trying to back light them from a nearby window. "Would you look at that..."
Fluttershy watched him doing all of this from a few steps away, questions about his sanity popping into her head. "Ink Well? What are you doing?"
Ink Well placed down the papers and motioned her over. "You have to see this. Come here, look at these all carefully. I can't believe I didn't notice it before." Fluttershy walked over, looking at the six form letters in various states of distress. After a few seconds of analysis, she looked over to Ink Well, confused.
"What is it? What am I looking for?"
"Look at the writing, both how they're written and the wording used." Fluttershy turned her attention back to the papers, not sure what she was looking for. She sat reading them for almost a minute in silence, about to give up, when she noticed it.
"Wait." She read over the letters again, shock slowly creeping over her face. "No. That's so odd."
"Ah! You saw it!" Ink Well held up the letters to the window again, letting Fluttershy look over his shoulder. "There, in the corner, do you see that too?"
Fluttershy stepped back, covering her mouth with her hooves. "No!"
Ink Well smiled at her, a suspicious, playful smile. "Oh yes! This is the kind of thing that really sparks a mystery!" He held up all of the letters. "What do you think? Think the others will want to know?"
Fluttershy nodded. "That's just so strange. We have to show them."
Ink Well picked up the letter he'd tossed aside, as well as the other six, and placed them in his bag. He swung his bag over his shoulder, placed his hat on his head and grabbed his pen from its ink pot and placed it in its holster. "This just got a whole lot more interesting." |
Newsworthy | Digging Deeper | "Ink Well, what are we looking at?" Twilight magicked two of the rejection letters in front of her, looking at each closely. Around the library the other ponies from the original story were each looking at other rejection letters, all in varying states of confusion. She put them down, frowning. "I don't know what you expect us to see."
Ink Well walked over, pushing the papers towards her again. "Don't give up. It's important." Fluttershy walked over, bursting to tell her friend where to look, but Ink Well held up a hoof, silencing her. "No, they have to see it for themselves."
Rainbow Dash flew upside down, staring at the letter on the floor above her for a new angle on it. "There's nothing to see! It's just a letter."
Ink Well pulled her down, gently nudging her towards Applejack. "You two look at them together. Maybe seeing more than one will help."
Rainbow pushed back against his nudging. "I don't see why you're playing games with us!"
Ink Well smiled slyly at her. "Just trust me. You will be amazed."
Applejack looked at her letter next to Rainbow's. "I reckon he's trying to mess with us. Show us how hard he's worked for us." She looked up. "Look, I'm mighty appreciative, but you don't need to shove 'em in our faces."
Rarity had long abandoned reading the letter, simply staring confused at Ink Well. "I don't see why you have to be so coy about it. Just tell us what's going on."
Pinkie bounced over, keeping her letter afloat before her by blowing on it as it fluttered down. "Oh, silly, he's not being koi! He's not a fish." She landed beside Ink Well, the paper floating down to cover her face. "So why did you give us six of the same letter?"
Ink Well looked surprised for just a moment, staring at the pink pony, then smiling. "Good job Pinkie, somehow I thought it might be you."
Twilight looked at the two letters carefully, reading each line for line. "Hey, she's right! They say exactly the same thing!" She squinted at them, inspecting them carefully. "They even look like they were written by the same pony."
Ink Well jumped up happily, pointing at her. "Exactly! They're the same letter, written six times. Fluttershy, when did you see it?"
Fluttershy looked at him, surprised to be called on like that. "Um, I was reading one, and I transferred to the one next to it by accident and the letter made sense, like not a word had been missed."
Ink Well pulled out another letter from his bag, tossing it in the middle of the other ponies. "This one is from 'The Times,' the only magazine I tossed an article to that wasn't a gossip rag. They of course rejected it, not their kind of story, but look at it." He held it up for all to see. "The ink color's changed, the pen work is different, it has a different tone and different words. About the only thing they kept the same was the 'but' that signals the fate of all articles." He held it up to a window, examining the paper in the late evening light. The paper turned a light peach color, stained by the sun's last light. "It also has no watermark."
The other ponies almost simultaneously held up their own papers to the windows, letting the light shine through them. In the bottom right corner of each, a deep orange in the light, appeared a small symbol, the letters 'NE' superimposed on a rectangular cloud. It perfectly matched the Equirer's logo. Ink Well smirked as a collective gasp came from the room. "Yeah, that's about my reaction too. Almost seems too easy to spot, doesn't it?"
Applejack threw the letter to the ground. "Why those no good snakes in the grass! How'd they pull that one off? Goin' through the mail and rippin' out stories against 'em?"
"I think they're all just the same company under different names!" Said Rarity. "Think of the money they could rake in with a set up like that!"
Pinkie popped up in the middle of the group. "I think somepony stole all the articles up, making a big shrine collection! And they're the ones that sent these fake letters back to keep us off of their trail!"
Rainbow reared up, blowing the letters away from the ponies with her wings and swirling them across the ground in a mini tornado. "I think we should break into the Equirer's office and make them tell us what's going on!"
Ink Well put his hoof on her shoulder, calming her down. "Close Rainbow. Going in hooves kicking will just be asking for trouble. I was thinking something a bit more... subtle."
Twilight looked at him seriously. "Ink Well. What are you planning?"
He shrugged at her. "Well writing didn't work, and you've tried being straight forward before." He walked over to the door, looking into the early night sky. "I think we should take a more direct approach. Rainbow, how good are you at stealth?" ---
Rainbow Dash and Ink Well glided quietly into Cloudsdale, the buildings shining coldly in the dim moonlight. They flew through the city, sole sources of motion in the chilly night air. The entire city was sleeping, perfect for what was being planned.
The pegasi made their way through the floating metropolis until they found the Equirer's headquarters. Rainbow and Ink Well landed on a small cloud floating nearby, scouting the place. The building was dark, lifeless, and foreboding. Outside the front door stood two guard pegasi, looking grim in their dark grey uniforms. Rainbow stood up, getting ready to charge them when Ink Well grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back onto the cloud. "No. We're not rushing the front. We aren't here to draw attention to ourselves." He looked over at the rainbow mane of the pegasus beside him and shook his head. "No matter our color scheme. Follow me."
He took off from the cloud and circled the building high and wide. As he did, he spotted three more pegasi on the roof and lights moving within. Satisfied, Ink Well dove beneath the cloud holding the office, Rainbow Dash quickly joining him in the shadow of the building. She hovered next to him, crossing her front hooves before her chest. "Why are we just flying around? How are we going to get in from down here?"
Ink Well gestured to the white fluffiness above them. "It's a cloud." He moved grabbed a small bit of it, pulling it away and creating a small hole above him before waving the chunk away into wisps that dissipated around him. He then dug into the cloud, tunneling through the softness with Rainbow following close behind. After a few seconds, he ran into something he couldn't move.
Rainbow bumped into him when he stopped, pushing him against the blockage. "What's the hold up?"
He tapped his hoof against the solidified cloud above him. "I hit the floor. I can't get through."
Rainbow squeezed past him, pushing him into the cloud surrounding them. "Move aside scrawny! I got this." She braced herself against the wall of the tunnel, winding up a kick.
In one lightning-fast motion her hoof shot forward. The cloud dissipated, her hoof continuing through into wood, which split and showered splinters into the building above. She jumped back, surprised by the loud crack. "Geez, I thought it was just cloudstruction!"
Ink Well shushed her, looking fearfully through the hole above him. Steps could be heard resounding off of the wood above, growing closer, then stopping. A light played over the wall above scanning from left to right just above floor level. A gruff voice filtered down. "Huh... must be hearing things." After a few moments of breathless silence, the steps backed away, quieting until they could no longer be heard.
Ink Well let out his held breath in a relieved sigh. He then tuned to Rainbow Dash, talking in a quiet whisper. "Looks like they don't know we're here yet. Lucky us." He climbed up into the building, pushing aside debris and weakened paneling before holding down a hoof to help up Rainbow. "Come on up!"
She grabbed his hoof, pulling herself up into a dark wood floored hallway. Ink Well held a hoof in front of his mouth, flapping his wings to hover just above the floor. Rainbow did the same, fluttering behind him and talking in a hoarse whisper. "What's with all the wood? Are they just trying to be fancy?"
"No, they don't just have pegasi up here. I know they've got at least three unicorns and a couple earth ponies working here, and the wood lets them do so safely." Ink Well took out a small candle from his bag, lighting it and listening carefully for hoof beats. Rainbow Dash stayed close to the tiny light balanced in Ink Well's hooves.
"How do they even get the earth ponies up here? Seems like a lot of work for a magazine."
"Hey, gossip is a big business these days, it takes all that your can get. They've probably got a shuttle they keep up or something." He moved the light from door to door along the green walls, holding up the light to see the signs next to them. "Printing... Reception... Offices... Stairs... Records!" He tried the door, the handle turning under hoof. He smiled and pushed the door open on well oiled hinges. He gestured to Rainbow, signaling her into the records room. Inside were rows upon rows of filing cabinets, no markings of any kind on them.
Rainbow looked angrily at the room. "Oh great! This is going to take forever to search!" She glided across the room, landing gently next to a row of cabinets on the far wall, faint moon light filtering in from the windows. After a few moments her hushed voice floated from the pale light. "What are we even looking for?"
"Anything suspicious, anything that connects them to the other magazines, anything they obviously don't want us to see." He looked at the cabinets, pulling the top drawer of the nearest one open. "Just look around, call me over if you find anything." He put down the candle, pulling papers out and looking at them. It was a list of facts and figures on stories and authors writing for the Equirer. Near the bottom he saw a line with 'Gala story' written on it. Next to it, his name was crossed off and replaced with 'Checkers'. He put the paper down, moving over to another set of cabinets and pulling open a drawer. This one contained payrolls for the last few months.
He examined the paperwork, looking for anything odd. As he kept going, there was one section that caught his eye with its rapid increases. The guard payroll for the latest month had almost a hundred names on it, while the next largest section was distribution at fourteen. Ink Well looked it over, frowning. "Why isn't distribution larger? This big a magazine, it should be by far the largest section, but it's tiny. And why are there so many guards? There's not even ten around tonight."
Rainbow's voice drifted to his ears through the darkness. "Ink Well! There's a locked drawer over here! Only one on this side of the room." Ink Well put the latest payroll page in his bag, then moved hurriedly to the other side of the room. Every single filing cabinet was wide open, papers flung around the area.
Ink Well looked at the scene, despairing slightly. "No way they aren't going to know somepony's been here... So much for stealth." In the far corner stood Rainbow Dash wrestling with the top drawer of the last filing cabinet, which remained firmly shut despite her efforts. Ink Well examined it, a key hole in the front. "Interesting..." He looked around, seeing every other cabinet drawer with no lock even built in to them. "Huh. Let me help."
Rainbow looked at him, impressed. "What? You gonna pick the lock?"
"Me? No. No good at that sort of thing. Grab it, I'll pull too." Rainbow bit hard on the handle of the cabinet, then Ink Well bit down onto Rainbow's tail. "Awigh'. On the 'oun of 'ee'. Un. Foo. Ee!" Ink Well and Rainbow Dash both pulled with all their strength, the drawer refusing to budge. They jerked and yanked, causing the cabinet to slowly rock back and forth. Ink Well let go, looking worriedly at the wavering cabinet. "Rainbow, careful!" Rainbow gave a final tug, causing the handle to fly off in her mouth and the cabinet to tip forward with an ominous creak. Rainbow skidded backwards into the cabinets behind her. The rocking one continued forward under its own weight creating a horrid noise. With a hideous tearing crunch that echoed around the room, it smashed into the ground, splitting the wood beneath it. The top drawer popped open, flying out of the cabinet and rending out of shape. A single folder flew out, spilling papers that spread across the floor.
From the floor above came the sound of angered voices and running hooves. Rainbow hopped up, racing out the door. "Hurry up! We have to get out of here!" Ink Well scrambled after the papers on the floor, hurriedly pulling them back together in the folder and placing it in his bag. He then sprinted from the room and into the hallway. Rainbow Dash was already in the entrance tunnel, her head popping out and her hoof urging him over. "Come on!" He ran down the hall, home free.
A door was flung open in front of him, a burly guard in uniform stepping into the hallway. The guard stood between Ink Well and his exit raising a hoof in alarm. "Hey! You! Stop!"
Ink Well vaulted the guard, kicking the colt to force him back down the hall as he did. "Like that ever works!" He flapped his wings once, giving him just enough of a boost to land in the hole. He popped his head out and turned back around, tipping his hat to the guard. The guard glared at him furiously, recovering his balance. Ink Well shot down the hole, running into Rainbow Dash at the bottom.
"Did you get what you need?"
"No clue, but I was definitely a little too cocky there." He looked back to see the guard looking down the hole at them. His ears flattened against his head, worry hitting his face like a bag of bricks. "We should fly." He and Dash flew off, moving as fast as they could away from the building and into the bulk of Cloudsdale. As they exited from under the building, two guards jumped from the roof to join the initial guard in pursuit. Ink Well looked back at the trio chasing them, then to Rainbow Dash. He flashed a nervous smile at her. "A chase! Hope you like to fly fast!"
Rainbow smiled back, not worried at all. "They don't call me Dash for nothing! Try to keep up!" Ink Well nodded, almost missing Rainbow bank, cutting around a cloud and over a shop. Ink Well followed, pounding his wings to keep up but slowly falling behind. Behind him the three guards gave chase; strong, fast fliers that were quickly picking up ground. The five figures twirled through the Cloudsdale night, avoiding buildings, weaving and spiraling in what would have been a spectacular air show were the lighting better. Eventually, Rainbow slowed her pace to match Ink Well. "They're right on us! You've got to speed up!"
He shook his head, sweat flying into the breeze as he kept up the pace. "I'm not that fast! I can't outrun them, I can't even hold this up much longer..." He sighed, his wings burning from the effort. "Split up! I'll try to outmaneuver them and meet you in Ponyville!"
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" Ink Well just glanced worriedly at her, his look radiating 'No, but do it anyway.' She read his eyes and nodded. "Whatever you say. See you there! And you better not keep me waiting!" The pair rounded a corner, Ink Well sharply gaining altitude while Rainbow sped off in a straight line, accelerating much faster than they'd been going. Two guards chased the rainbow trail while the third banked up, following Ink Well.
Ink Well slowed his pace to something he could keep up, trying instead to weave through narrow alleys and tricky dives to lose his tail. The guard followed relentlessly, muscling his way through buildings and clouds alike to match Ink Well's every bank and roll. Ink Well quickly grew desperate, ducking under buildings and around statues, weaving between columns of the fancier structures, and pulling out every turn and trick he knew to stay ahead of the guard. "I should have stuck with flight camp!" he said, looking back at the pursuit now almost within reach. He kicked his wings into overdrive, managing just to inch his tail away from the grasping teeth behind him.
In a final desperation measure he closed his wings, tumbling suddenly from the sky and into a building-less cloud, leaving a pony shaped hole. The guard swerved, diving to follow, and spotted Ink Well's hat pop up on the far side of the cloud, sitting near the edge. Just before the colt entered the mist, he pulled up, diving through the fluff longways as he thought Ink Well must have done. He burst out of the cloud under Ink Well's hat, looking around frantically for his chase.
Ink Well was nowhere to be seen. The guard flew above the cloud, circling it and searching the night sky both above and below for his prey. When he saw nothing, he flew to where the hat sat, kicking the cloud into small pieces to make sure Ink Well wasn't there. The cloud was empty, floating apart in many tiny wisps and a few small chunks. The guard followed the piece with the hat, landing on it and scanning the skies for any sign of movement. He picked up the tattered brown fedora from his perch, spinning it around and examining it carefully. After a few minutes he tossed it aside and took off, flying back to report to the Equirer.
The fedora fluttered and spun in the night air, tumbling with the breeze. It danced, swirling through the sky until an updraft brought it next to the bit of cloud it had originated from. Ink Well rapidly unfurled, dissipating the thin cocoon of mist he had wrapped around himself to snatch the hat's brim in his teeth. He flapped his wings, stopping his free fall before it could start, and looked around for his pursuer. Relieved to see no movement, he smirked, standing on a tiny bit of fluff hanging around and placing his hat back on his head. He then hopped from the cloud, disappearing into the shadow of Cloudsdale. ---
Ink Well flew with the sinking moon, landing at the library in the early morning light. He walked quietly to the door, smiling. "My, won't they be happy to see their returning hero." He pulled it open, slipping inside with hardly a noise. He turned to the bulk of the library, smiling widely.
Nopony was there. His smile wavered. "Huh, not the welcome I expected..." He padded softly around the building, listening for some sort of noise. A loud snoring came from a back part of the library, assaulting his ears. Following the noise, he came upon the prone figure of Rainbow Dash, snoring with a smile on her face. He snorted, kicking the pillow she was laying on. She started, rolling over and onto her hooves defensively.
When she saw it was Ink Well, she frowned at him. "What was that for?"
Ink Well looked indignant. "What, couldn't even wait for me to get back? Where is everypony?"
She waved a hoof dismissively. "They left hours ago. We told them not to wait up or anything. Owlowiscious was the only one up when I got back, but I figured I'd wait for your slow flank to get here. And it's about time!"
"Well I'm sorry I'm not as fast as you Miss Dash, but I'm not a racer." His face screwed up as he went over what she said in his head. "Who's Owlowiscious?"
"You don't know him? He's Twilight's night assistant." She pointed to the side of the room, where a perch held a sleeping horned owl, his light grey feathered chest gently rising and falling with his breathing. "He's a cool guy. Not much for conversation though."
Ink Well looked envious. "She has a dragon AND an owl assistant? That's just too cool."
It was at this time that a bleary eyes Twilight walked down the stairs from her room. "Ugh, what's going on down here?" She saw Rainbow and Ink Well looking at her and frowned. "Do you have to be so noisy? My door is wide open."
Rainbow rubbed her mane. "Sorry Twi, didn't think you could hear us. Ink Well's back and he brought the info." She looked at him. "You did bring it, right?"
Ink Well pulled out the folder and the payroll sheet, throwing them onto a nearby table. "Of course! Got it right here. I wouldn't go through all that flying for nothing." He watched Twilight walk down the stairs slowly, giving her a large smile when she looked at him. "Late night studying?"
Twilight nodded. "I got engrossed in a text about the ancient gryphon civilizations, it wasn't the best thing to read before going to bed. Much too exciting." She yawned, shaking the sleep from her head before perking up a bit. As she walked to the folder, flipping it open and inspecting its contents, the yawn spread across the room, infecting Ink Well and causing him to yawn in return, his wings drooping at his sides. She ignored him, reading through the papers quickly, amazed by the words before her. "Ink Well, did you read any of this?"
"No, didn't really have a time to what with the chase and all."
Twilight shot him a serious look. "You got chased?"
Rainbow tapped her on the back. "Yeah, just a couple guards, nothing huge."
Twilight shook her head. "Wait, wait. You got chased by guards? What did you two do?"
"Nothing! We didn't do anything." Twilight glared at her, staring her down. In the face of that, Rainbow backed down, ears folding against her head. "Okay, we might've broken in."
"What?!" Twilight dropped the folder, backing away from it. "I can't read this! It was gotten illegally! We need to give this back! Oh no, no, no, no, NO! I read it already. I need to forget it."
Twilight ran over to the shelves, pulling out books with her magic and tossing them aside after a quick glance at the cover. Ink Well followed her, shocked at her reaction. "I asked Rainbow if she was good at stealth! What did you think we were going to do?"
"I thought you were going to find ponies to listen to or something. I didn't think you'd break the law!" She pulled out a dusty tome, blowing off its veneer and reading the title. "Ah, memory erasure spells! Perfect!" She flipped it open, hurriedly scanning the pages within.
Ink Well stopped her, pushing the book away from her eyes to attempt to reason with her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Look, the Equirer did horrible things to pry into the lives of you, your friends, and your Princess. They have been spreading lies and slander, and nopony has been calling them out on it. The most that they could do was open the front door and complain, which did nothing. Yes, this folder was taken under illegal means, but far less than anything they have done to others."
Twilight looked at him, worried. "That is not an excuse to break the law! That just means that we're stooping to their level. That's even worse!"
"No, WE aren't. I am stooping to their level, and I was one of their own people. They're the one to teach me to do stuff like this, so..." Twilight lifted up the book again, scanning through the pages. Ink Well stood next to it at the edge of her vision. "Twilight, this is our one chance to stop them from hurting anypony else. If you could do one bad thing to stop a hundred more from happening, wouldn't you do it?" Twilight looked doubtful. "If it worries you that much, we'll just find out what it says, and then we'll decide whether to give them back the folder. Your spell will work just as well before the reading as after. Is that acceptable?"
After a few moments of hesitation, Twilight nodded. "Alright. But we're going to give it right back after. We read it, then zap, no more memory, got it?"
"We'll see." Ink Well walked over to the folder, scanning the papers it contained. "What did you read?"
Twilight put down the book, daring to show interest once again in the folder's contents. "It looked like the Equirer was in charge of the other magazines. The first page is the minutes of a meeting between the heads of them, and the Equirer spokespony was definitely taking the lead."
Ink Well looked at the first page suspiciously. "Well, isn't that convenient? It's even got the names of the ponies there noted at the top. We've got the executives of Ponies, Solar, The Inquisitor... and about a half dozen more gossip magazines all fully represented, indeed with the Equirer at the head." Ink Well put down the paper slowly, mulling it over.
Twilight had floating in front of her multiple papers from the file, switching between them excitedly, her doubt having disappeared. "Look at all of this! Records on which stories to run and silence, staging of inter-magazine fighting, detailed records of money transfers for the past ten years." She put the papers down, turning bright eyes to Ink Well. "This is everything we could ever hope for to take them down, in story or in court!"
Ink Well frowned at all of this. "And it was all in the only folder in the only locked filing cabinet of the records room, sitting far in the back in a failed attempt to be innocuous." He held up his hooves, shrugging. "This is either the work of an idiot, an obvious trap, or somepony who followed all of the rules in the Super Villain How-to Guide. Either way, I don't like it."
Rainbow pushed him on the shoulder. "Lighten up, slow poke! Even if it's all lies, you'll totally be able to ruin all of these magazines! You've seen how their readers react to lies, it'll be fine!"
Ink Well wasn't satisfied. "I dunno... let me look it over for a bit. I might be more excited when I've gone over it all." He grabbed the papers from Twilight, taking the folder into a quiet corner of the library to look through its contents. He went over each page with a fine tooth comb, his writer's mind thinking about the best way to present them in a story, but... It just didn't make sense. This was all too... easy. It was like it was being given to them on a silver platter. Heck, every single paper was typed on Equirer letterhead, watermark included. All it was missing was a notarized statement from the pony in charge and a pre-addressed envelope to send it to the Royal Guard.
Ink Well kept focused on the facts, taking in as much as he cared to before throwing down the folder and rubbing his tired eyes. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and walked into the main part of the library. "Alright, I need to take a break. Too much time spent up in a row's gotten me paranoid. I'm gonna... I dunno, clear my head outside." He looked around, noticing a change in the lighting and a lack of cyan ponies. "Where'd Rainbow go?"
Twilight looked up from the book on psychology in front of her and shrugged. "She went out about an hour ago. Said she was getting bored waiting for you." She flipped over the page, continuing her reading. "Probably for the best. She was getting late for her patrol."
"An hour?" Ink Well looked outside, seeing the morning sun bright and strong. "Huh... Losing track of time. I didn't think I'd taken that long." He walked to the door, opening it and blinking back the bright light. "Feel free to go over the folder on your own. I'm just gonna go out. I might be back later... I dunno." He yawned as he left, heading towards the center of town. ---
Ink Well walked contemplatively through the marketplace, wings dragging on the ground as he tried to let the sun's energy reinvigorate him to little effect. He moved deep in thought past the flower shop, waving absentmindedly at Lily when she called out a 'Hello' to him. After taking a few more distracted steps, he stomped down a hoof. "Oh! Shoot, Rose wanted to talk to me, didn't she?" He walked over to the perfume shop, pushing the door open and entering the almost physical wall of scent that hung within.
Among the flower and citrus smells sitting in the air a couple of ponies were perusing the store. There was a small queue in front of the counter, with Rose smiling and talking business with the pink furred pony at the front. As she rang up her customer, she looked over and noticed Ink Well standing at the door. She waved him over as the customer walked off, holding up the line for a moment. "Hey there! Did you get my letter?"
"Yeah." Ink Well looked at the queue of impatient ponies angrily eying him and hung a few feet back from the counter. "Are you busy? Because I can come back later."
Rose shook her head. "No need to leave. Once I clear out the shop I'm going on my lunch break. We can talk then." She saw him nervously look around the shop and smiled at him. "You can wait in the back if you want. It'll only be a few minutes."
Ink Well nodded, relieved. "Thank you." He moved quickly behind the counter and into the back room, trying to deflect the attention of the shopping ponies as Rose greeted her next customer.
In the back room the scents were much more potent, mixing with the various woods and herbs awaiting extraction to create a strong but soothing aroma. Ink Well walked next to one of the bubbling distilleries, taking a seat at the work table set up there. His eyes meandered over the meticulously detailed brass stills, while his mind fell back into the file at the Library and the work that went into obtaining it. Apart from the chase, even the break in had been so simple. It was a plan any moron should have guarded for, so why would they just leave all that laying out practically begging to be taken? Put it in the one locked cabinet in the entire place? It almost had the air of a challenge, a dare to anypony brave enough to just try to take the information.
His eyelids drew together as he thought, the light from the fires beneath the still creating shadows on his closed eyes. He tried to picture the papers in the folder, going over every detail to see if something didn't fit. Yet despite the obvious collection of damning evidence, nothing seemed out of place.
Maybe it was planted. Somepony was trying to frame the Equirer, and they'd planted the folder there. And intercepted all of his letters... and wrote back with the letterhead... Or maybe the Equirer just has a fastidious secretary that just noted everything down. But you don't let a secretary in on a master plan... maybe it was... ---
Ink Well awoke with a start as the extractor next to him buzzed loudly, signaling the completion of its run. He got up from the work table, looking around to try to find out what time it was in the windowless distillery. As he moved, a soft burgundy blanket slid from his shoulders, landing with a gentle noise on the ground. He looked at it, then at an apple that was sitting unobtrusively next to where his head had been. He picked it up, turning it over and around in his hoof. As he did so, Rose walked in from the shop to check on the still.
"Oh! Ink Well, you're up. And I see you found the apple."
Ink Well looked at her sidelong. "Yeah... is it for me?"
Rose threw him a playful look. "No, it's for the still. The brass looked hungry. Yes it's for you, you slept right through lunch time, so I thought I'd leave you something for when you got up."
Ink Well turned on her, disgruntled. "You just let me sleep? Why would you do that?"
She stepped away, taken aback by his reaction. "You'd looked tired when you walked in. And seeing you sitting there, I just couldn't bring myself to waking you up." She walked over to the still, turning a valve to stop the bubbling inside before she moved to a tap on the side. She placed a container beneath the tap, then ran the contents of the still into it. The room exploded with the scent of roses. "I guess the still did, though..."
Ink Well shook his head to clear away the fog that entered with the rose smell. "No. Well, yeah, but..." He placed down the apple, angered. "I shouldn't have snapped, but I really shouldn't have fallen asleep like that. I have too much work to do... Darn all night flight."
Rose looked at him, worry touching the edges of her face. "All night flight? No wonder you were tired. What were you doing?"
Ink Well sat at the table. "Just getting a little information. I was trying to send corrections, but none of the magazines were accepting. I went out to Cloudsdale to find out why, and things got a little... interesting."
Rose tilted her head. "Corrections? But I thought you'd gotten fired."
Ink Well looked surprised. "Really? How'd you hear about that?"
Rose smiled slyly. "I guessed. Doesn't take a lot to realize something was up with you. And after that reaction with the last article, I kind of connected the dots."
Ink Well frowned, annoyed at having been played so easily. "Huh, good deduction then." He shrugged. "Yeah, I got fired after I didn't come through on the Gala article. I was trying to correct their previous stuff and stop that mess they printed from happening, they didn't like that, I got canned..." He sighed a tired sigh. "Spent the last week trying to send corrections to the other mags to lower the interest on Fluttershy's friends, but that fell through."
Rose looked disheartened. "Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. I've been trying to shoo off interest in them myself, but the draw to see the 'Ponyville Six' really has been amazingly good for business." She backed down slightly, trying to duck away from Ink Well's possible anger.
He just gave her a tired smile. "Hey, you've got to work with what you've got." The smile dropped from his face as he leaned back on the table, staring at the ceiling. "Things have just been so complicated since I started writing journalistically... I miss the good old days of fiction, back when all the great plots and hurt ponies were simply words on a page."
Rose perked up when he said this. "Yeah, well you'd know a thing or two about that, wouldn't you?" Ink Well's head bobbed back up, confusion on his face. She just smiled at him. "Don't give me that look, I borrowed your book from the Library."
Ink Well raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah. It's very well written. Beautiful compared to your Equirer stuff. I don't understand how it didn't sell." She looked him in the eyes, excitement sparking in hers. "Something in the way you write made me wish I could experience it. The way you described North Wind's first flight, that exhilarating joy, I could feel it radiating off of the page. And the way that Southern Storm's tower rose from the ground, rending it apart and into the air with its magic, I could see it all in vivid detail! And I haven't actually gotten very far in the book, but what I read was so fantastic!" She took a step back, blushing softly. "But you probably hear that kind of thing all the time."
Ink Well smiled kindly at her. "Oddly enough it has been coming up a lot more recently. Then again, anything looks like a huge increase when previously there was nothing."
"See, that's the thing. You said something similar when you first mentioned the book, and while I was reading, all I could think of was that I knew the pony that wrote this. I had met and talked to a creator of such wonder and he was, well..." She looked at him sadly.
Ink Well looked at her, confused. "Well... what?"
"Never mind. It's not important." She looked away from him and through the door into the main shop. Seeing nopony within, she closed the door. "What I'd really wanted to talk about was the whole magazine thing. I didn't realize how stressing we must have been on the others, hounding them like that, and ever since I've been trying to keep others from following them too much. And I'm sorry that I said you wrote that piece. You're not like that and even implying you were was an insult."
Ink Well shrugged. "Eh, I've been accused of worse. Honestly, once you get past the ridiculousness of the argument, it was an interesting angle to attack a story from. If it wasn't aimed at real ponies it would have made a good book. And you not realizing the effect you had on the ponies when following them, well, I didn't know the effect writing the stories was having. I was probably more guilty than you, so holding a grudge about that wouldn't be fair at all." He smiled at her. "Besides, at least you're trying to do something to fix it. That seems to be all I've been doing lately."
Rose smiled back at him. "I'm sure you're doing your best."
He stared at the apple sitting on the table next to him and frowned. "I dunno. There's one last lead to look into, and it's very interesting, but I don't fully trust it. It's all come so easily and so conveniently that it almost feels like a trap."
Rose shrugged. "So it's a trap. What's the worst the can happen? If it were up to me, I'd go for it."
Ink Well nodded. "You know? You're right. I'm just being paranoid. I mean, worst case scenario, what am I going to do? Lose my job? Already gone. Lose credibility? Went out the window when I started writing for the Equirer. Heck, writing the story will only cost me ink and paper. Might as well go for it."
Rose nodded. "Might as well, right? So, um, what exactly are you going for?"
Ink Well shook his head. "Oh no, I'm not dragging any more ponies into this mess just in case it blows up in my face. It involves why my corrections didn't print, and that's all I'm going to say for now apart from thank you for your time and your workroom. It's been very nice talking to you."
"Yeah. You too." Ink Well moved into the main part of the shop, getting ready to leave when Rose noticed the apple sitting on the desk. "Hold on! Don't forget your lunch!" She tossed it to him, landing it right in his bag.
He tipped his hat to her. "Thank you Miss Roseluck. Have a wonderful day, and I hope to see you again soon." He walked to the shop entrance, flying through the market and trailing the scents of the shop behind him on his way back to the library. ---
Ink Well landed at the library, pushing open the door to find Fluttershy and Twilight going over the folder. Twilight looked up at him as he entered, a frown on her face. "Where have you been? It's been hours. I'd thought you'd gone home or something."
Ink Well shook his head. "No, I was about to though. Just thought I'd give the folder a once over to see if I'd missed anything." He walked next to Fluttershy, who was engrossed in the papers before her. "Interesting read, isn't it?"
Fluttershy looked up, a fearful look in her eyes. "I had no idea the Equirer was this... big. It makes you wonder why anypony would go up against it."
"It makes me wonder why nopony has tried before, especially if I could get my hooves on this so easily. But I won't be letting their size get to me. Equestria has to know about this one." He looked over to Twilight, who was examining the payroll paper. "Speaking of their size, what do you make of that many guards on the pay? I only counted maybe ten when I was there last night."
Twilight shrugged. "I don't know what to make of it. Could just be they want to be really secure, or it could be an oversight. I really can't say with what I've read."
Ink Well shrugged. "I guess we won't find out by talking. I'm heading home, I've got some writing to do."
"Oh, then you'll need this. Here, I'll just..." Fluttershy hurriedly closed the folder, prepping it for him. He placed a hoof on it as she worked.
"No need. I've got everything I need to know memorized. I'm just going to go straight home and write it anyway."
Twilight looked unconvinced. "Are you sure? Because it's not like we need to have this floating around here, and flying all the way back because you forgot it would just waste your time."
Ink Well shook his head. "It's fine. I know what I'm going to write, and I was going to come back here to confirm it before I sent it off anyhow. You just keep those folders safe, and I'll be back in a few days."
Twilight shrugged. "Alright. Whatever you say Ink Well."
Ink Well walked to the exit, tipping his hat back at the room. "Have a good read you two."
"Fly safely, and good luck with your story." said Fluttershy.
Ink Well nodded to her. "I will. I'll see you both soon." Then he opened his wings, taking off into the mid afternoon sky. ---
Ink Well flew from the Library to his house, eating the apple early in his flight and mentally thanking Rose for the first food he'd had in two days. Happier than when he left, he landed gently by his mailbox just as the sun was sinking into the horizon. He walked inside his house, taking off his bag and hanging it up on its stand near the writing desk. As he turned towards the desk, he felt a shift in the air behind him.
A sharp pain exploded across the back of his head, stars and darkness filling his vision. He landed roughly on the ground, his hat rolling off under his desk. From the shadows of a stack of papers stepped a well kept unicorn pony with dark green fur, an emerald mane with a golden streak along the bottom, and bright red eyes. She stood poised over the prone figure of Ink Well, blackjack floating near her head with a faint red aura around it. "My, my, Ink Well, it seems you've fallen into something that somepony doesn't want you having your hooves on." She moved over to his bag, carefully rummaging through its contents.
As she dug through his bag, slowly a frown appeared on her face. After a few moments, she flipped the bag over with her magic, dumping its across the floor. Papers mixed into the thin layer already there, his pen clattered from its holster and rolling to the side, the ink reservoir it sat in splattering across the floor. The unicorn looked at everything falling out displeased, her eyes narrowing into a glare that she directed at Ink Well's body, which was slowly struggling towards his hat. "You already got rid of it, didn't you? Why must you make it so difficult for us?" She watched him crawl across the floor, a cruel smile slowly forming on her face. "Shame. Looks like I'll just have more work to do. But first, I think it would be only fair to let you know that evidence disposal is my favorite part of the job." She brought down the blackjack again, ceasing the movements of the form beneath her. Her smile grew slightly manic as she looked at him. "Now then, what shall we do with you?" |
Newsworthy | Consequences | A smack across the face brought Ink Well from his darkened stupor. He immediately tried to move his hoof to hit back, but found it bound in place. He looked back at his bonds, discovering himself in his writing chair, but in the upper part of his house. On the floor near the hole to the rest of the house a candle burned, dimly illuminating the room, and primarily illuminating his unicorn assailant. She smiled warmly at him. "Ah! Now that I have your attention, where did you take the file?"
Ink Well glared coldly at her, noting the bright red scarf she had on and the businesslike way she held herself. She just frowned at him. "Come now, don't be that way. I've been sent to retrieve the information and I tried searching your house despite the mess the whole place is in, but it just isn't here. Now tell me where it is and we can both be on our way." He held his glare at her. In response she stomped, glaring back at him. "And why do you have no stairs? It's very inconvenient to get up here without wings." Ink Well was taken aback, but held his level gaze. He wasn't going to let her get to him. When he didn't talk, she walked around the room, examining the papers on his wall. "You know, you caught the attention of a very powerful pony when you took that folder. One little pony asking you questions is really the least of your worries." After another brief silence she sighed, looking calmly into his eyes. "It will just make everything easier if you cooperate. I won't have to work nearly as hard, and tell you what, I'll even let you go!" She smiled sickeningly sweetly at him. "Isn't that nice? It's a win-win for both of us!"
Ink Well snorted at her, disbelieving. "Yeah, like I'd really tell you. We both know you're just going to get rid of me once you get it. What makes you think I'd talk?"
The unicorn frowned. "Oh, you are a clever one, aren't you?" Her horn began to glow, floating a dark green belt from a hidden corner of the room and attaching it around her waist. From this belt two vicious looking daggers slid from their sheathes, surrounded by the red aura of her magic, and floated towards him in a vaguely threatening manner. "Well if you don't want to cooperate I could just torture you slowly." She saw fear enter his eyes and smiled cruelly. "Yeah, now you have a reason to talk, don't you?" She brought one of the knives closer, hovering it right between his eyes. "Now you're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'll make you wish you'd never been born."
Ink Well leaned his head away from the point floating in front of him, talking quickly. "Well, see, torture, yeah, that's a very" he swallowed, trying to fix his suddenly dry throat, "very bad idea you have there. Sounds messy, really painful, waste of everypony's time."
Her smile deepened, becoming truly sinister. "Only if they don't enjoy it. For you it will be a waste of time and blood. For me, it will be a relaxing evening." The dagger floated slowly lower on Ink Well, focusing its point on a much more tender area.
Ink Well's heart leaped to his throat as he tried to wiggle the chair as far from the knife as possible. "Yeah, well, instead of that unseemly mess, you could let me go!" He saw her eyes narrow, feeling the point come sharply into focus upon his body. He started to sweat nervously, forcing a smile and talking even faster. "Hear me out! I could lead you to the folder. Then you wouldn't have to do anything here, you could just get me and anypony who may or may not know about it there in one go. Less work for you, less pain for me, it's a win-win!"
The blade still hovering around his head sliced finely through the air, drawing a thin line down Ink Well's cheek. He winced, feeling blood slowly bead on his face and stain his fur. "Don't think me a fool, Ink Well, you aren't as sly as you think. However, if I may say so, you should be applauded. After ten years, only three attempts have been made to break into the Equirer offices, and only one succeeded at getting out. They have very good guards. The ponies in charge had been starting to wonder if the Enforcers were even worth maintaining anymore." She idly brought the other dagger up from its tenuous position, pulling it up to his face and drawing a slow, painful curve on his other cheek. "The budget was about to be cut, but you kept them necessary. Thank you. I do love this job so much."
Ink Well could feel the warm blood moving down his face, mind racing on how to get out. He could think of only one, and for that he had to keep the unicorn talking. "Who doesn't love their job? But, the Enforcers, huh? Never heard of them. Who are they? And who are you? You're in my house and I don't even know your name."
The unicorn smiled. "The Enforcers are a force to be reckoned with. That's all you need to know. And since it is your final request, I will tell you my name." She bowed low, turning slightly to show off her cutie mark: a snake coiled around a red apple. "I am Viper, and I shall be your dispatcher from this world." The daggers hung nonchalantly over his head, slowly edging in.
He ducked as best he could in his bindings, lowering away from the blades. "Well, dispatcher, huh? That's nice, very kind of you. But daggers? Really? Won't it be a little too obvious if I'm found lying in a pool of my blood in my house? Or even worse, tied in a chair? Somepony would think that suspicious."
Viper shrugged. "True, but I already thought of that. There are plenty of ways to dispose of a body. It's almost easier than information. Although..." The daggers floated away, one of them slotting itself back into its sheath. "You didn't help me, did you? Why should I let you die so quickly as by knife? No... you need something more punishing." The second dagger twirled itself in the air as Viper made her way near the hole to the lower floor. "I've heard that fire is an excruciating way to die, and it would remove all the evidence so well. And look at all this fuel..." She tipped the candle over, watching it tumble to the floor below. The paper veneer quickly went alight, smoke trailing up almost instantly. "Oops. Another house fire caused by an inattentive pony."
Viper smiled as the fire spread. "Ooh, yes, this will be perfect. Slow, painful, quite deadly...Yet, I'm afraid this means I can't stay around to make sure the deed's done right." The second dagger ceased its swirling, plunging itself into Ink Well's left side. He cried out as it sank in, twisting and pulling at his flesh. Viper's smile widened, taking on a wicked, manic overtone in the dim red light. "Much better. Now even if you're freed, how far could you possibly go?" The dagger pulled out along his side, creating a gash from which blood flowed. As a final insult, the blade wiped itself off on his fur before sliding back in Viper's belt. "Keep your cool, Ink Well. It will all be over soon." With an almost stereotypically evil laugh she hopped down the hole, leaving Ink Well to his fate.
As soon as she was gone Ink Well looked around the room for a way out of the ropes. Smoke was already starting to amass in the low ceiling, stinging his eyes. Across the room, reflected off of the glass containing his short story, was the fire, rapidly spreading throughout his house. Ink Well struggled in his bonds, feeling blood trickle from his side into the ropes, making them sticky and damp. The smoke level lowered, further filling the room and causing him to wincing in pain with each cough forced from his lungs.
"If I only could get through these ropes..." He looked up again, seeing the reflection of the fire as it spread to his worn bag. He watched it, despairing silently as the flames engulfed his work. After a few moments of staring at the reflection, despair gave way to a smile which slowly spread across his face. "The glass." He rocked back and forth, managing to tip the chair enough to place his rear hooves on the floor. Then, carrying the chair like a turtle shell on his back, he teetered forward. He waddled laboriously, blood dripping behind him as he edged around the hole in the floor. He pushed through his cloud bed, which was bubbling and dissipating in the heat rising from below, and placed down the chair before his story's golden frame. He pulled his head back, then brought it forward hard into the glass. All he managed to do was hurt his forehead, causing him to instinctively jerk back, tipping the chair backwards over the pit. The chair hovered right at its center of gravity, hanging in midair while Ink Well looked at the inferno crackling beneath him. His ears jammed against his head as he felt the chair slowly move past its balance point. "No. No, no, no, no!" Despite his protests he tumbled back, falling into the flames.
The chair crashed into the burning floor beneath him, shattering on impact. Ink Well landed hard on his side, the stab wound throbbing in the air and his right wing tweaking beneath him. He rolled off of his side, shaking away the ropes and painfully pushing himself up amidst the blazing floorboards. Fire briefly caught on the edges of his wings and mane, but he kept moving to put them out. He stumbled coughing through the thick smoke and ash to the door. Just as he was about to force it open he noticed a figure outside, barely visible in the firelight. Watching the flames with rapt attention was Viper, keeping an eye open for an escape attempt. Ink Well backed up, not wanting to burst free just to land back in captivity, and looked for another exit. Hit eyes ran over his hat burning furiously beneath his writing desk. "Aw... I loved that hat..." He jumped up, hooves stinging in the intense heat of the flames, and took to hovering on injured wings, fanning the fire beneath him as he maneuvered to the upper level. Just as he was about to pass through the hole a golden glint caught his eye. Upon his burning desk sat the golden ink pot stained red in the firelight, a beacon in the smokey blaze around him. Next to the desk was another glint of metal, his pen sitting pleadingly in the ash. Without thinking, he landed, reaching into the flames to grab the pen and ink pot in his teeth. There was a slight sizzle as the heated metal scorched his mouth and fire burned the fur from his chin, but Ink Well didn't seem to notice.
He jumped back into the air, flapping his protesting wings hard and scrabbling his hooves on the floor to pull himself into the upper room. The fire had spread here, though it was hard to tell through the thick smoke. He coughed and sputtered from the air burning his straining lungs, cursing himself for not having a window in the upper part of his house. His head turned foggy as the air thinned, his vision slowly fading. He lowered himself to the floor of the upper story, holding his hooves before his mouth as a makeshift filter, when a horrible creak came from above him. He had just enough time to look up before the beam split, the roof rushing to meet him.
Outside Viper admired her work, the flames quickly rushing through the house. She smiled grimly as the roof collapsed, smoke pouring out of it in a large cloud that slowly dispersed on the night winds. Fire billowed from the new hole in the roof, signaling a complete conflagration within. She saluted the collapsing building solemnly. "Goodbye, Ink Well. It was certainly heartwarming to have met you." She smiled smugly after the remark, walking through the ash and smoke and disappearing among the shadows of the surrounding hills. ---
The smoke drifted with the breeze in the general direction of Ponyville, though it was still far from that destination. It floated gently, its calm nature not suggesting anything sinister. A few hills from the fire that was its source, as the smoke spread thin enough to see the early night moon shining through it, a figure plummeted from the cloud, sputtering and coughing and trailing licks of flame behind it. It half flapped its wings, trying to stop its free fall but only managing to bob and jerk up a few times pitifully before ultimately crashing hard into a bush, a golden ink pot and a blue fountain pen bouncing out onto the surrounding grass.
A singed and bloodied Ink Well pulled himself free of the snags and snarls, coughing and wheezing in the cool night air. He smiled maniacally, chuckling to himself between coughs. "I made it out. No more fire for-" He collapsed on the ground, his fitful laughter pausing as he hacked up a wet black and red lump. Trying to focus on it with blurry eyes, he shook his head, his smile turning unsteady. "That's bad... that's definitely not good..." He moved a hoof down to his side, pressing gently against it. He winced, smile dropping completely as he pulled back his hoof to examine it. What fur remained on the end of his leg was painted crimson, the rest charred short or missing entirely, the skin beneath bright red even in the steely moonlight. He put his hoof down, looking to his side. Blood was smeared across his whole side and dripping to the ground, the area around the gash stained black with ash and smoke. Ink Well quickly looked away, instead pushing himself up shakily. "That's a lot... of my blood." He took a step forward and fell as his left front hoof collapsed beneath him, pain shooting all the way through his leg and side.
He rolled over, staring up at the star filled sky. The moon shone coldly down on him, the smoke from his cottage drifting lonesomely in front of it. His eyes slowly closed, head flopping against the cool grass as he felt a stiffness steadily replacing the soreness within him. He felt chilled, as though cool water were running through his veins, and an accompanying tiredness that refused to yield. Maybe he could just sleep for a little while... a quick nap to take the pain away...
His eyes shot open and he pushed himself up unsteadily. "No. It's not gonna stop here..." He stood on very shaky legs, hobbling over to collect his pen and ink pot, then stretched out his wings. He flapped once, yelling out at the pain as his right wing fell uselessly at his side. He looked at it, disbelieving, then looked at the moon, pleading silently. When his wing remained lame, his look fell from the moon, focusing instead on the ground in front of him. He began to walk determinedly, following the moon in its path through the skies. ---
As the moon sank low in the sky and the first pink hints of morning light edged the horizon, Ponyville slept soundly. All the shops were closed, the windows dark and streets silent. The only motion came from a single figure as it pulled itself through the town, stumbling down the streets with a glint of gold between its teeth. It made its way to the marketplace, stopping once it arrived to lean against a building. Wiping the sweat from its eyes, the figure smiled as it saw the simple sign near the door reading 'Rosewater.' It stumbled up to the door, sliding along the wall and leaving a streak of dark blood across the white paint. Standing on shaky legs, it knocked on the door three times before falling heavily against it, continuing to knock an unsteady rhythm as it trailed blood down the door. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened. The figure slumped with the motion, falling inside and landing unmoving on the floor.
Rose gasped at the prone body on her floor, immediately awakened by the surprise of the sight. She stared in silent horror at the figure, finding her voice only when she realized she recognized it. "Ink Well?! What happened to you?"
Ink Well's eye forced itself half open, his head barely turning to face her as he talked around the ink pot in his teeth. "Rose... Fire ...forcers... Rainbow..." He went limp, the dented ink pot and pen rolling out onto the floor.
Rose leaned down, shaking his shoulder. "Ink Well? Ink Well! Stay with me! Just hold on, I'll get the nurse!" She jumped over his body, galloping down the street to the nurse's medical tent. Ink Well lay on her cold floor, unmoving, his ragged breathing slowing with time. ---
Soft evening light filtered into the room, the dusty rose walls and light wood flooring glowing gently in the light. The scents of flowers and citrus rose from the floor, conflicting harshly with the smells of medicine and sterilizers within. Overhanging everything was the strong smell of smoke and ash, it's source easily traceable to the form laying in a downy bed in the corner.
Ink Well lay in the center of the single-pony bed, bandages adorning much of his body. He had two across his cheeks, one wrapped around his head, another wrapped around his midsection and blotched with a deep red. One of his wings was braced tightly to his side, the bulk of it wrapped in gauze. The edge of both of his wings were singed black, his mane and tail mostly patchy and burned short where it remained. Near his hooves on all legs were bandages stained a sickly orange from the results of the burns. His left front leg was supported with a frame, a metal brace holding a cast on the bottom and top halves. The rest of his body was its normal off-white color, the same as a scroll of parchment, though spots were raw and red where his fur was missing. His chest rose and fell shallowly, his breathing still ragged and strained as he shook his head and mumbled quietly.
Within the room an earth pony roamed, taking careful care of the pegasus on the bed. She walked over to it, pulling up the burgundy blanket that had fallen down his body. Her snow white hooves ran up to his head, her brow furrowing at the fever he ran before she stood up, moving to her bag sitting in a different part of the room. The bag was decorated with the same red cross that was on her flank, though it was missing the four hearts in the angles. From her bag she pulled out a needle, tapping it gently to remove air before walking back to the prone figure. Ink Well groaned quietly as the needle entered, but was otherwise unresponsive to the nurse above him.
The medical scene felt out of place in the studio room as the rest of it contained many simple flower vases upon various surfaces and a few homely pictures hanging on the walls. There was a kitchen in one of the corners of the room with cactus green counter tops running around it. In the center of the room was a simple green table, one matching chair sitting next to it. Between the windows along one wall was a small bookshelf, a single reading chair next to that. The room was well decorated, though not lavish, and well lived in, neither being hallmarks of a hospital or medical tent.
The nurse packed up her needle and a few other supplies and headed towards some stairs to a lower level that ran along the far wall. The room sat still for a long while, the only noise the shallow breathing and mumblings of the unconscious writer. The light in the room slowly faded, taking on a peach and eventually rusty hue as evening turned into night. Rose walked up from her shop and into her house, turning on the electric lights above. An incandescent glow washed over the room, wiping away the shading from the windows. As soon as the lights came on her eyes fell on Ink Well, breathing uneasily on her bed. A pain shot through her to see him like that, tears edging her worried eyes as she walked over. "Oh Ink Well, what happened to you?" His only response was his quiet mumbling and the movement of his chest, which did little to comfort her.
After watching him for a while she walked into the kitchen, preparing herself a simple dinner. She ate it quietly at her table, moving her chair over so that she could see Ink Well where he lay. When she finished, she washed the plate and put it away. She then walked over to Ink Well solemnly, checking that his bandages were secure and clean. None of them were particularly saturated, so she walked to her bookcase, picking up her borrowed copy of Of Wing and Horn and sitting in the comfortable reading chair beside it. The sky outside darkened as Rose read, the only sounds in the room the slow breathing of the injured writer and the occasional rustle of the pages of his book.
This continued as the lights of town one by one darkened, leaving only the top of the perfume shop shining in the night. Rose kept vigil, one eye on the pages and the other on her ward. The moon had passed its zenith and was mid way to the horizon before Rose stopped, yawning deeply as she marked her page and put down her book. She moved over to the bed, checking that the still and silent Ink Well was alright before walking to a small closet in the corner. From it she pulled a few cream colored sheets which she piled a few feet from the bed. She pulled off the cushion from her reading chair, setting up a second makeshift bed on the wood floor. She then flicked off the lights, finding her way back with the help of the cool moonlight and Ink Well's breathing. With one more glance towards the bed, she lay her head to rest, pulling a blanket over her. "Goodnight Ink Well." ---
Rose was awakened in the early morning by the pained sounds coming from Ink Well. He was rolling and shaking his head violently, as though in the throws of a nightmare. He called out, quietly and raggedly but with understandable words. "Fire... Rainbow... Enforcers..." With every motion he made, a little more blood seeped from his side into his bandages and limbs held in place with braces were tweaked out of position.
Rose stiffly leaped up from her hard bed and ran over to him, stroking his mane and trying to calm him. "Shh! It's alright Ink Well." Despite her soft words, Ink Well continued to call out and thrash, eyes shut tight and hooves and wings flailing dangerously. Rose tried keeping him from hurting himself by pinning his front hooves to the bed. Ink Well yelled out as the pressure on his hooves caused pus to ooze through his bandages. He shot up in the bed with eyes wide open. He looked around, eyes slightly glazed over and highly confused, but infinitely calmer than he had been despite the heaving of his chest saying otherwise. Eventually his eyes drifted to Rose's face, trying to focus but still not quite there. She looked into his eyes, wondering how well he was. "Ink Well?"
With a scratchy shade of his original voice he responded. "Rose?"
Rose nodded at him, smiling. "Yeah Ink Well, it's me."
"Did you warn Rainbow?"
It was Rose's turn to look confused. "What?"
Ink Well's look became determined and worried behind the bandages. "Rainbow Dash... she isn't safe. I need to wa- Ah!" Ink Well moved to get up, pushing off with his left front hoof, which quickly collapsed under him. He fell back onto the bed, wincing as his burned back collided with the downy covering.
Rose tried to ease him off of his injuries, shifting him to a more comfortable position on the bed. "No you don't, mister. Nurse Redheart said you weren't even going to wake up for a few days, so you aren't going anywhere."
Ink Well shook his head feebly on the bed, pushing weakly against Rose's hooves. "I can't stay here. They knew about me, they'll know about her. I have to warn her about the Enforcers..."
Rose patted him on the shoulder, pulling the blanket back up from where it had been moved. "Don't worry. I'll warn her for you, you just keep resting." She frowned at his hooves as they continued to leak pus. "I should really fix those bandages..."
"No... don't waste the time. I'll be fine... Just hurry. Warn her." Ink Well was fighting to keep himself awake on the bed, his outburst sapping what little energy he'd had. "Tell her... to be careful when she goes home... Whatever she does... be safe..." His head flopped back into the pillow as he passed out, worry knitting his brow.
Rose looked worriedly at him. "Ink Well?" He started to breathe calmly, murmuring under his breath. She considered changing his bandages, but left to fulfill his wishes despite her reservations about leaving him. Quickly she went down the stairs and into the awakening town, hoping to finish her task as quickly as possible.
From her shop she went straight to Nurse Redheart's medical tent, keeping one eye on the sky for the blue pegasus she was supposed to find. She walked inside, walking in on the white pony preparing for the day. The nurse looked up at her. "Ah, Roseluck, do you need anything?"
Rose shook her head. "No, I'm fine. But I came over because Ink Well woke up. Just for a little bit, he was sleeping when I left. I was wondering if you'd like to check on him."
Nurse Redheart looked surprised. "He woke up?! Wow. I didn't expect him to do anything but sleep for days with those injuries." She packed up a few supplies into a house call bag. "I'll visit him once Tenderheart comes in for the day."
Rose smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I'll see you later then." She left the tent, leaving Nurse Redheart to get back to work. She walked from the tent, walking out to the park to see if she could spot Rainbow Dash flying.
After an hour of searching futilely she found herself unsure what to do. Rainbow Dash was a celebrity around town, heck, around Equestria, and everypony knew her, but her and Rose weren't exactly friends. She didn't even know where to start looking apart from the sky... She decided to get help, starting off at Lily and Daisy's shop. She hurried there, and as she went to push the door open, Lily backed out with a basket full of flowers for the front display, bumping into Rose's outstretched hoof. She jumped, spilling a few petunias from the basket to the ground. "Oh! Rose, what brings you by?"
Rose collected the flowers on the ground, cleaning up the mess she made. "Hey Lily, do you know how to get in touch with Rainbow Dash? I need to tell her something."
Lily placed down the basket, getting ready to arrange the flowers. "No, I don't, sorry. She was always lazing around town before, but she's been a lot more secretive ever since that article warned us about her revolutionary activities."
Rose shook her head. "I can't believe you still think she did that. Has she ever seemed like a revolutionary to you? Her best friend is the student of the Princess!"
Lily stopped her arranging, talking proudly to Rose. "Exactly! Nopony would expect it from her! Never seemed one, fronting trying to get into the Wonderbolts, but she was secretly plotting their downfall. It's always the ones you don't expect." She went back to rearranging, smiling to herself. "Besides, why would the Equirer lie to us? They never have before."
Rose sighed. "Oh, never mind. I'm not going to change your mind." She walked inside, the bell signaling her arrival and stopping Daisy's flower watering. "Hey there Daisy."
Daisy smiled at her. "Hello Rose! Do you need something? You can't be needing a new order already."
Rose shook her head. "No, I'm good on flowers. Though... I could use some lavender, if you have any extra. Got a special need I wasn't foreseeing... But that's not why I'm here. Do you know how to get in contact with Rainbow Dash?"
Daisy shook her head. "No, sorry. Normally I'd say scan the skies, but she's been really slacking on her weather patrol lately. The clouds have been slowing down my sunflower production, and right before the rush too..."
Rose frowned. "Huh. That makes things tricky."
Daisy shrugged, returning to watering her flowers. "Well, you could always try talking to Rainbow Dash's friends. There's Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner, though there's something off about that filly... Or there's Twilight Sparkle. She never comes out of her Library unless it's important, so you could probably find her there."
"Oh, duh, Why didn't I think of that?" Rose started out, but paused by the door. "You don't still believe that Equirer article on them, do you?"
Daisy smiled as she watered. "No, not at all. Nopony would attack the Gala. They were probably just scouting." She put down her watering pail, frowning. "Has Lily been talking about it again?"
Rose looked slightly disappointed at her friend. "Yeah... She's a bit enthusiastic about the whole thing."
"Oh, she's just being silly. I'll talk to her later, don't worry about it. See you later Rose."
"Bye Daisy." Rose left the shop, walking towards the edge of town and the Library. Even over a week after the story printed, and even though it was still early, there were still a few miscellaneous ponies hanging around hoping for something interesting to happen. Rose went inside, waiting near the door for somepony to greet her.
Eventually Spike walked in from a back section of the building, feather duster in hand. "Hello?"
Rose tried not to laugh at the sight of the purple dragon with a duster as large as himself. "Uh, hi. Is Twilight Sparkle around? I need to ask her a question."
Spike frowned, looking at her suspiciously. "Yeah, well I think Twilight's a little busy. Maybe if you came back later she'll be available."
"Busy, but..." Rose held up a hoof trying to shake away suspicion. "Oh, no, it's not about that. Ink Well asked me to warn Rainbow Dash about something, but I don't know how to contact her, so I was going to ask Twilight for help."
Spike raised an eyebrow, questioning the story, but turned to the section he'd just come from. "Twilight! Somepony here about something important!" He walked back into the back of the library, leaving Rose feeling awkward by the door. After a few moments, Twilight Sparkle came out from the back area looking slightly perturbed.
"Yes, err... Rose, right? What do you want?"
Rose was taken aback. "Um, I was wondering if you could get a message to Rainbow Dash."
Twilight's eyebrow raised. "Oh? What is it?"
"It was... oh what was the direct quote... 'Be careful when you go home, and whatever you do, be safe.'" Rose looked slightly embarrassed as she said it. "That sounds a bit weird, doesn't it?"
Twilight nodded, looking confused. "Yes. Yes it does. Who asked you to send this?"
"It was Ink Well. He said he wanted to warn her."
"Really? Why didn't he deliver the message himself?"
Rose hesitated, not sure how much should be said. Too much attention probably wouldn't help his health at all right now. "He wanted to, but he's a little... busy right now."
Twilight raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Right... Well, thank you, your message has been delivered, I'll get it to Rainbow Dash as fast as I can. Now if that was it, I've still got a little bit of work to do. Thank you for coming by, have a nice day." As she talked, a pile of books was magicked in front of Rose, herding her out the door, which then slammed itself in her face.
Rose stood outside, staring incredulously at the door. "Well. This is why I don't hang out with them." She turned, walking back to her shop to check on Ink Well, confident her mission was complete. ---
Twilight stayed in the back of her library reading up on law books. She'd spent the day before working on a strong legal case against the Equirer and was continuing her work today while Spike took care of the library. Unfortunately there wasn't much precedent against them, and while what was going on was shady, it wasn't actually illegal apart from slander. While she was working she remembered the visit from Rose and what she said. Not particularly worried, she put it to the back of her mind, deciding to send Owlowiscious out with a written message for Rainbow Dash.
Almost an hour after Owlowiscious took flight, he returned playing vanguard to a slightly battered Rainbow Dash, a large bruise on her cheek. Upon seeing the state of her friend, Twilight jumped up. "Rainbow! What happened to you?"
Rainbow Dash threw up her hooves in anger. "I was jumped! I went out for a morning flight and when I got back home there were two big colts waiting for me." She kicked out angrily at a small statue in the library, which only survived because of Twilight's quick reaction time with her magic. "They freaking knocked me out! They were starting to ask me all sorts of weird questions when Owlowiscious showed up. Only thanks to him that I got out. He distracted them while I kicked 'em out on their flank."
Twilight heard her friend's account of what happened, feeling slightly ashamed that she'd taken as long as she did to get the message out. "Wow, maybe I should have taken Rose more seriously. I only sent Owlowiscious because she came by with a warning from Ink Well. Though I guess it already came late."
"Where is Ink Well? It's his fault those guys jumped me! They said they were after the Equirer information."
Twilight looked concerned. "Well, he'd gone back to write a story, but then that message came from Rose... Fluttershy went out to visit him this morning, so we'll probably hear something when she gets back."
Almost on cue Fluttershy ran through the front door, looking extremely worried with ash in her mane and staining her face and hooves. "Twilight! Ink Well is..." She saw Twilight and Dash talking and skidded to a halt, looking at them anxiously. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- Rainbow? Are you okay? What happened?"
Rainbow nodded. "I'm fine Fluttershy, just a little roughed up. What's this about Ink Well?"
Fluttershy looked between them, looking on the verge of panic. "I flew out to Ink Well's house and it was all burned down! There was just ash and scorched wood... Do you think he's...?"
Twilight shook her head. "No, he's alright. He has to be. Rose came by earlier today with a message from him. I'm sure he made it out just fine."
Fluttershy looked a little happier as she heard this, but still worried. "Rose? The perfumer? So then, where's Ink Well?"
Twilight shrugged. "I don't know. She said he was busy right now."
Fluttershy looked at the ground. "That doesn't sound right..."
Rainbow frowned. "Sounds like she's hiding something to me. We should go get Rose to tell us what's going on!"
Twilight held out a hoof. "Cool your jets Rainbow. Let's just get the others and go ask her. I'm sure he's fine." ---
Rose was sitting in her chair reading when she heard the knock at the door. When she had returned, Nurse Redheart had already swapped Ink Well's bandages. He was laying completely still as she worked, breathing raggedly and with a furrowed brow. Rose had walked next to him and told him calmly that Rainbow had gotten her message, and almost immediately his face softened and his breathing calmed. Now he was still sleeping deeply, the nurse having long departed. Rose replaced her bookmark, a thin strip of fragrant rosewood, and walked through her quiet distillery and darkened shop. She opened the door, smiling brightly to the pony outside. "I'm sorry, we're closed today." She opened her eyes, her face faltering for a moment as she saw who was there.
Twilight stood outside with her five friends, all of them looking expectantly at the cream pony in the doorway. She wasn't smiling. "Hello Rose, we were wondering if you knew what happened to Ink Well. We can't seem to find him anywhere."
Rose took a step back, trying to close the door slightly. "Well, see, he's not available right now. He's a little under the weather."
Pinkie smiled brightly. "We're all under the weather! But it's a bright and sunny day, what's he doing inside?"
"He's not feeling well, and I don't think visitors are going to help him feel any better."
Rainbow moved forward, staring down Rose in the doorway. "What are you hiding? Why won't you let us see him? Why didn't he come to warn me? What are you doing to him?"
Applejack pulled on Rainbow's tail, landing her forcefully. "Easy there. Don't badger the poor girl."
Rose noticed Rainbow's bruise, shock touching the edges of her features. "I'm not doing anything. He really wanted to warn you, but he just... couldn't. You need to come back later. I'll tell you as soon as he's awake."
Twilight took a step forward. "Awake? What does that mean?" Rose looked back into her shop, worry obvious on her face. As she turned back, Applejack had a hoof on the door.
"Looky here sugar, I know you're trying to keep 'im safe, but we're his friends! You worryin' about him ain't easin' our minds one bit. Now I know we're not exactly friends, but we'd be mighty grateful if you let us in."
Rose looked down at the floor. "I dunno..."
Fluttershy's face appeared beside Applejack's, ash still in her hair and looking worried. "Please Rose..."
Rose looked up to six worried faces asking her for entrance. After a few seconds, she nodded. "Alright, you can come in. But you have to be quiet, Nurse Redheart says he needs his rest." She opened the door and led the other ponies up to the second floor of her shop. A collective gasp came from the group as they saw him.
Fluttershy took a few steps closer, looking over the unconscious Pony with nothing but worry. "Ink Well..." She ended up right next to the bed, reaching out a trembling hoof to touch him. At the last moment she pulled it away, tears spilling from her eyes, and ran back to the others. Applejack and Rarity immediately started trying to comfort her.
Rainbow Dash stared at him, shocked at the state he was in. "What happened to him?!" Rose and Fluttershy shushed her, causing her to look slightly embarrassed. "I mean, how'd he end up like this?"
Rose shrugged. "I don't know. He just turned up yesterday morning like this. Nurse Redheart said that apart from the burns he suffered from smoke inhalation and exhaustion, which was probably from the trek. But what I'm most worried about are the broken limbs and the stab wound..."
All eyes were on her. "Stab wound?"
"The big bandage around his middle is covering the stitches." She walked over next to him, watching him sleep calmly. "He hasn't woken up except the one time, and all he did was ask me to warn Rainbow about going home." She smiled weakly at Rainbow. "I guess I came too late, didn't I?"
Fluttershy let out a quiet sob as she continued to cry on her friend's shoulder. Rainbow looked over at her, then to Rose and Ink Well. "No, it's fine. Nothing big..." She looked at the floor, shaking slightly.
The room sat in silence for a few minutes, the only noises the shallow breathing of Ink Well and the occasional sob from Fluttershy. As the silence became deafening, Rainbow stomped down a hoof, shaking her head. "I can't stand looking at him! How could anypony do this? I won't stand for this!" She reared in the air, kicking her front hooves forward. "Who did it? Where are they? Let me at 'em!"
Applejack held out a hoof, poking Rainbow's bruised cheek. Rainbow winced and pulled away, falling over sideways, and Applejack leaned over her, crossing her hooves beneath her. "Now you know who did it, and you know what they're gonna do to ya if'n you go chargin' in there! I feel for the colt too, but you gotta think this through."
Rainbow frowned at her. "But we've got to do something! Look at him..."
Pinkie Pie jumped between them. "He looks like a mummy! With a robot hoof! Do you think it shoots lasers? Like that one story? Remember? With the aliens?" She held up her own hoof, pointing it at the other ponies. "Pew! Pew! Pew!"
Rose looked slightly offended, while the others started giggling warmly at their friend. In a cool voice she said "I think you should leave. All of this attention can't be good for his health."
Twilight looked over, and seeing the look on Rose's face, stopped her friend's laughing. "Sorry Rose. This isn't the place... Come on girls." She led the precession down the stairs, the other ponies each looking sorry as they left.
The last pony lingering in the room was Fluttershy, her eyes still red from her crying. She walked over to Rose, who was looking down at Ink Well sadly. "Um... Rose?"
Rose jumped, surprised to hear the soft voice behind her. "Yes Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy smiled at her. "Don't be too worried, I'm sure he'll pull through..."
Rose smiled back, playfully. "Hey, I wasn't the one crying." She looked back to the sleeping writer. "It's just..."
"I know... But he got all the way here looking worse than he does now. He's not going to let this stop him..."
Rose nodded. "Yeah... He's stronger than he looks." She looked over to Fluttershy, who was walking away. She noticed the traces of ash in her mane and tail. "Hey, Fluttershy?"
The yellow pegasus turned back. "Hmm?"
"Thank you." Fluttershy looked confused. "I mean, for delivering the letter, and for visiting Ink Well after the article. I don't know what you did, but even though he was tired, when he came back to visit he moved so much more... assuredly. "
Fluttershy smiled. "He just needed a friend, and I happened to be the pony there."
"Yeah, well..." Rose smiled at Fluttershy. "You can visit him any time you like. I think if there's anypony he'd like to see when he wakes up, it's you."
"If that's the case, then why did he come here?" Rose looked down to the writer, considering the thought, as Fluttershy walked to the door, smiling knowingly. "Thank you Rose. Have a nice day."
"You too. I'll let you know when he wakes up." Fluttershy left, hurrying to catch up with her friends. Rose remained behind, looking quite confused at Ink Well. After a few moments, she smiled, walking to her reading chair and resuming the book, one eye kept on the writer sleeping soundly on her bed. |
Newsworthy | Revisions | Ink Well's eyes slowly crept open in the mid-afternoon light. He tried to sit up, groaning from the effort of it and the stiffness in his body. On his second try, he managed to prop himself up in the bed, taking in the unfamiliar room around him with a confused air; the dusty-rose walls, the vases of flowers, the scents that swirled through the air, the simple paintings, the pile of sheets in the corner, and finally the end table next to his bed. Sitting on the table was his golden ink pot, dented far from its original round shape, and his blue pen, scratches all along its surface and nib bent and broken. He picked up the ink pot, examining it with a weak smile on his face.
It was then that he noticed the state of his hoof. He put the ink pot back down, careful not to knock over a stick of incense that was burning with the pleasant scent of an ocean breeze, and looked over the bandages on his hoof. He brought it close, a faint, soothing lavender smell wafting off of them, hiding the ashen smell beneath. He looked at his other front hoof, finding it bound in a cast and supported by a metal brace. He tried to flex both legs, surprised as no more than a dull throb came from the one in the cast as the brace caught before it bent too far. He then tried to flap his wings, the left spreading out with some stiffness, but the right singing out in pain as it strained against the bandages holding it down. He stopped working against them, shrugging. "Guess I'm grounded for a while."
Just as he was working up the courage to get out of bed, a yellow and pink head crested the stairs against the wall. Fluttershy turned, walking a few steps into the room before she noticed Ink Well's movements. Her face lit up as she ran over to him, embracing him in a tight hug. "Ink Well! You're awake! I was so worried when I found your house burned down, and then I when I saw how hurt you were, I just didn't know what to do! Oh, I'm so glad you're alright."
Ink Well grimaced in her hooves. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Though if you could loosen your grip..."
"Oh, sorry..." Fluttershy took a step back, letting Ink Well go to a sigh of relief. There was a muted joy in her eyes. "I guess I was a little too excited..."
"No, it's fine. I'm glad to... see you... too..." Ink Well's train of thought derailed as he coughed, frowning at the wraith like sound of his voice. "Is that me? That horrible scratchy thing is my voice?"
Fluttershy placed a hoof on his bed. "That doesn't matter. The important thing is that you're okay."
Concern flashed onto Ink Well's features. "Rainbow Dash is okay, right? Nothing happened to her?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, she's fine. There was a minor problem, but your warning came just in time, and nothing has been tried since."
Ink Well leaned back in the bed, relieved. "Oh good. I couldn't have lived with myself if she'd been hurt..." He looked around the room again. "Is this your house?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, no. This is Rose's home, above her shop. She said you turned up here four days ago. Don't you remember?"
Ink Well's brow furrowed as he tried to recall. "Not... really... After I crashed from the smokescreen I only remember that I needed to get to Ponyville. The rest is a blur..." He shook his head, trying to jog his memory.
Fluttershy waved her question away. "It's alright. You don't need to worry about that. You just need to take care of yourself."
Ink Well nodded. "Yeah... Where's Rose?"
"She's downstairs. She had to open up her shop again. I'll go tell her you're up."
Ink Well held up a hoof. "You don't have to. I don't want to bother her if she's busy working."
Fluttershy shook her head, smiling. "Nonsense. She'll be happy to see you. I'll be right back." The yellow pegasus trotted from the room, leaving Ink Well alone in the burgundy bed. He sat alone for a few minutes, tapping his hooves on the bed and taking in the many varied scents around him. Just as he was getting bored and was thinking of trying to get out of bed again, Rose's mane appeared at the top of the stairs, followed soon by the pony herself.
"Ink Well? Are you really awake?" He waved at her, habitually trying first with his left hoof before the cast proved too cumbersome and he swapped to his right. She walked over, standing next to his bed. "Oh, I'm glad to see you up again. Do you need anything? Are you comfortable?"
Ink Well shook his head, smiling. "No, I'm fine. I'm wonderful."
She still looked worried. "Are you sure? Because if you're in pain I could go get Nurse Redheart. Or if you don't like the scents in the room I could switch out the flowers. I was going for calming, but I'm sure I've enough to pull up an energetic mix. Or if you need a drink-"
"No, no, really, I'm fine." Ink Well raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you alright? You're getting worked up into quite the tizzy."
She took a step back. "Well sorry for being worried. A friend collapses in your doorway and you try to help and he just gives you lip." She sat down next to the bed, looking out the window. "Everypony was so worried about you. Nurse Redheart wasn't even sure you would pull through."
Ink Well shook his head. "Wow... You were that worried about little ol' me? I'm nothing special..."
"Don't say that. You're an amazing writer..." She tilted her head to a book sitting on a small bookshelf near the window. "I finished your book last night. I didn't want it to end, I felt so much like I was in it... But I'd decided I was going to reopen the shop when either you woke up or the book ended... Sorry I wasn't here sooner."
Ink Well smiled. "It's no biggie. I've been in worse..." He stopped, looking at himself. "That's a lie. I've never been in worse shape. But you've already done a lot, four days and all... I can't be monopolizing your attention. I'll be fine, if you need to get back to your shop."
"Fluttershy agreed to watch the shop for a while, so I'm here for you if you need anything."
"No, I don't need-" His stomach rumbled. Rose smiled smugly as Ink Well looked down, blushing as it contradicted what he was going to say. "Well, I guess I'm a little hungry..."
"No problem." She walked over to the kitchen, preparing a quick salad. "So, what happened to you? When you came in you were in horrible shape..."
Ink Well stared at the bed. "I don't want to talk about it... I think it was the National Equirer getting back at me. Didn't think it would go that far..."
"The Equirer did this to you?" She brought over the salad, placing it on the bed in front of him. "Are you sure?"
Ink Well shrugged. "I'd guess so. The Enforcer was looking for the file I'd stolen from the Equirer, so I'd assume so, but I can't prove it..."
Rose looked shocked. "You stole from the Equirer?"
"Eh, not the first time I'd snuck into a place. Didn't think they'd react so harshly about it..." He leaned forward nibbling slightly on the leaves.
Rose looked at him strangely. "I can't believe you'd do that. You don't seem the type." Ink Well was eating ravenously, stopping when she looked at him and gulping down what was in his mouth. He smiled nervously. "Enjoying that?"
"Yeah..." He put down the empty bowl, placing it over to the side of the bed. As he did, a thought occurred. "Oh geez, I'm in your bed aren't I?" He made a move to get up.
"No you don't." Rose held him back with one hoof. "You're staying right there. Nurse Redheart doesn't even want you moving until the end of the week. Though she said your wing should be working again by then if you don't hurt it anymore."
Ink Well looked relieved. "Oh good. Not sure how long I could take being land locked."
Rose looked interested, though she seemed to be trying not to. "Oh what's so special about flying? Many of us get along just fine without it."
Ink Well looked appalled at the idea. "I don't know how you do. Flying is just... amazing. It's impossible to describe the exhilaration as the wind catches your wings and the cool air flows through your mane, the shine of the moon on the ground below..." He looked over at her, rubbing his bandaged head with his hoof. "You read the book, I tried to capture it there... That's about as much justice as I can do it, and it's so weak when compared to the real thing. I wish you could experience it, then maybe it'd make more sense."
Rose sighed. "No use dreaming. The description in the book was such an image..." She stood up, heading towards the stairs. "I'll just have to be content with that."
Ink Well looked at her, confused. "Where you going?"
"I need to let Fluttershy go. We've been talking for a while. When the day finishes I'll be back, alright?"
Ink Well nodded, smiling. "Sure. See you then."
Rose walked downstairs and into the main shop to find Fluttershy just finishing up with a customer. "Thank you for shopping at Rosewater. Have a good day." Fluttershy turned around, smiling at Rose. "Hello. How is he?"
Rose frowned. "He's fine. Actively refusing help, but fine. Why do you think he's being so difficult?"
Fluttershy shrugged. "He probably wants to look strong. The animals try it all the time when they're sick. If I were you, I'd make sure he knows that you're doing it to help him. That always makes the bunnies calm down."
Rose shook her head. "He's not a bunny, Fluttershy. You can't treat him like some animal. He's a pony!" She walked around the counter, looking at the displays around the shop. Many little bottles were missing. "Wow. You sold a lot while I was gone. How'd you manage that?"
"Just a little bit of kindness, pointing them towards scents they might like." She walked over to a small, empty display. "You need more wood based options, by the way. I had difficulty once those sold out."
"Wow? The woods sold out? There were only two customers when I left."
"They had big orders."
Rose looked at her suspiciously, nodding slowly. "Okay then. Well, I've got a grip on things here if you want to leave or go upstairs or anything."
Fluttershy shook her head. "No, I'll stay around. When do you close?"
Rose looked out towards the clock tower just as it started to toll. "Oh, only an hour... You want to keep running the shop? I'll start work on restocking the wood bases." Fluttershy nodded, and Rose walked into her distillery, setting rosewood in the vat to begin the maceration process.
As that soaked, she moved over to a separate distillery, pulling a flask from the steamer. During the brief period the flask was opened, the room flooded with the scent of lilacs. Somewhere she'd read that something distilled from lilacs was useful on burns. Now she wasn't a medical pony, so she did her best with what she had at hoof. She took the full flask to some clean bandages, dripping the liquid inside across them until it soaked through. As they dried, she reset the steamer with some fresh flowers and an empty flask.
Soon after the clock in the room alarmed, signaling the end of the work day. Rose walked back to the main shop just as Fluttershy was closing the door behind the last customer. Rose took inventory while Fluttershy went to check on Ink Well. A few minutes later, Fluttershy came back smiling. "He's asleep again. I was going to ask about bringing the others by, but..."
Rose led her to the door opening it and letting her out. "You just bring them by tomorrow, I'll make sure everything's ready. Thank you for watching him and the shop today."
Fluttershy nodded. "Of course. It was fun. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yup. Have a safe flight home." She watched Fluttershy fly away, then finished inventory and cleaned up the shop. She checked on the wood scent, leaving it overnight before heading upstairs. Ink Well was indeed asleep, so Rose quietly checked that his bandages were good for the day, took a book from her bookshelf. She read for a few hours, keeping an eye on Ink Well's sound sleeping before laying herself down for bed.
The last thing she did was look up at him, sleeping comfortably and animated, not like his previous unconscious motionlessness. She smiled from her vantage point at the floor. "Goodnight Ink Well."
"Goodnight Rose." It had come as barely a murmur, and Rose had to shake her head to be sure she'd heard it, but it was clear. Her smile grew as she nuzzled into her makeshift bed, drifting off to sleep. ---
The next morning Rose awoke with the early morning sun falling on her face. She got up, stretching to remove the stiffness from laying on those the blankets, and looked over at Ink Well, glad to see him still sleeping peacefully. After she walked downstairs, going into her shop to get ready for the work day. She made sure everything was clean, then turned on the distilleries to prepare to create her aromatic concoctions.
As she finished up she went to the front door, opening the shop for the day. As she did, she noticed the pile of mail on the floor, the top of which was covered with what was labeled as a 'Special Edition' copy of the National Equirer, touting news 'Too important to wait for the end of the month!' She brought it inside, flipping open to the table of contents while she waited for customers. The list of stories contained the usual subjects, with titles like 'Hoity Toity, Fraud?' and 'The Great and Powerful Trixie's Battle with Horn Rot' and 'Conspiracies in Canterlot', but at the bottom, almost insignificant and hidden away with smaller type, 'We Remember a Writer: Ink Well'.
She flipped to it, the last story in the magazine and just one page long, half of which was dominated by Ink Well's head, with his confidant smile and his old beat up hat. Next to it was a picture of his burned down house, merely the skeleton of a house and a scorched spot, and a list of stories he'd written. Rose began to read. "Earlier this week Ink Well, a prolific writer for the Equirer, was tragically killed in a devastating house fire. It is assumed that a candle ignited the blaze as he fell asleep at his work desk..." The story went on to talk about how he was always such a diligent writer and that he would be missed. It almost seemed mellow the story, none of the grandiose rumors or conspiracy theories, just simple, if wrong, facts spiced up with flowery descriptions. And, of course, they didn't bother to mention anything he did outside of the Equirer or did for fun or his book or anything about him other than 'a writer.' She reached the end of the piece, frowning and tossing the magazine aside. "It's like they didn't even know him."
As she steamed over the article, Lily burst into the shop. "Rose! Rose! What are you doing still sitting around here?"
Rose rounded the counter, confusion on her face from the sudden appearance. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't you get the new Equirer?" Rose nodded. "Read the 'Conspiracies in Canterlot' article, you'll see what I mean. Daisy and I'll try to save you a spot!" Lily bounded from the room, running over to Daisy before they both galloped down the street. Rose looked puzzled, running over to the discarded magazine and flipping to the story.
Her heart dropped as she saw the image on the first page. "Oh no..." Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity stood on the front page, each looking very mean in the heavily altered pictures, the red under-lighting and the fiery background not lending itself to positive interpretation. Below them ran the title 'Conspiracies in Canterlot: Ponyville Six Plots Revealed!' Rose's ears drooped sadly as she scanned through the article. "Ink Well isn't going to like this." She grabbed the magazine, running upstairs to where Ink Well was still sleeping soundly, unaware that anything was wrong. She pushed against him, shaking him awake.
He started in the bed, scrambling back against the wall before looking at Rose with sleepy eyes. "What?! Who? I... Rose? What's going-?" She tossed the magazine down on the bed, flipping it open to the article. Just one look at it and his eyes narrowed. "They didn't..." He skimmed through the article, his look turning to shock and anger as he read through the four pages of slander, rumor and lies. Everything from poisoning to assassination attempts, not just hinted at or said, but laid out blatantly before him. As he neared the end of the article, he flipped the magazine to the front page. "'Special edition?' What the hay is this? Why won't they just let it die?" He put it down on the bed. "Nopony can possibly believe this stuff, right?" Rose looked down, kicking the floorboards and avoiding the question. Ink Well looked absolutely disappointed. "Don't tell me. There are already crowds."
Rose looked out the window, seeing a rush of ponies past her shop. "I learned about it when Lily burst in. She was rushing out already."
Ink Well was furious. "Help me up. I need to get to the others."
Rose held up a hoof. "Hold on Ink Well, Nurse Redheart said you shouldn't move for at least a week."
He shook his head, pushing himself past her hoof and up and out of the bed to stand unsteadily on the floor. "I can't stay here. I can't let this rest. I need to get to them."
Rose took a step back, ready in case something happened. "Why? What'll you do out there? What'll you accomplish?"
Ink Well started limping towards the stairs, Rose shadowing him to make sure he was safe. "I don't know. More than I can in here. Maybe I can get the crowds to leave. Maybe I can convince them these are all lies. Maybe I can at least comfort them in a moment of need." He stopped, turning back to her and looking at her with saddened eyes. "I have to do something." He stepped down onto the first step, wincing as his oozing hoof took the brunt of the weight. As he took his next step, his leg brace caught on the floor, causing him yell as he tipped forward and tumbled down the rest of the stairway. He tried to flap his wings futilely to keep balance, tweaking them further as he landed at the bottom with a loud crash, groaning in pain as every part of his body protested.
"Ink Well!" Rose hurried down after him, pulling him from the mass of lavender flowers he'd landed in and supporting him as he stood. "Are you alright?" He nodded weakly, taking a step forward before his leg gave out beneath him. Rose caught him, helping him over to the work table and sitting him down. "You don't need to do this. You're not proving anything! You need to rest." He started to shake his head, and Rose glared him down, not anger but worry in her eyes.
He sighed. "Alright... I'll stay here." Rose smiled, relieved that she had won. "But I still need to know what's happening out there. I'll go crazy if I just sit here."
"I'll go out and see what I can do. Just tell me what you want."
He turned to the desk, scanning over it with blank eyes as his mind ran. "I'd like to talk to them, if I can, ask them what they want me to do. But I can't talk if the place is swarming, so I hate to ask it, but, can you sneak them here? Or at least ask them to make their own way here? I know it's a lot to ask..."
Rose nodded. "I'm on it. I'll do my best." She started to walk from the room when Ink Well called her.
"Wait, do you have a pen or a quill and some paper? I'd feel better if I could start writing."
Rose thought about it for a moment. "I have a pencil in the drawer on the work table, and... ah!" She walked into the store, coming back with a notepad. "Here you go, spare receipt pad." She placed it down on the desk next to him as he found the pencil.
Ink Well smiled at her, pencil already in mouth and poised to write. "Thank you. Be careful out there."
Rose nodded, returning his smile. "I will. I'll be back as fast as I can." ---
Not five steps from her shop Rose found herself on the edge of a large crowd of ponies. She circled the crowd, squeezing through alleyways and around buildings just to see where it was focused, as the wall of bodies was much too thick to try to push into. After three different streets were packed with ponies, it seemed to her to be centered around Sugarcube Corner. On the fourth street she tried, there seemed to be a weakness in the barricade of flanks, so she tried to edge her way in, sliding between ponies and doing her best to avoid bumping or shoving. After just a few feet, however, she was bumped into by a shifting pony and accidentally bumped against a blue colt, who swung around and glared at her. "Hey! Quit your shoving! You aren't getting to Pinkie's Party before I am!"
The crowd surrounding her started to focus on her, murmurs and talking springing up around. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Have you been cutting your way in line?" A chorus of disgruntled voices rose around her, the attention turning angry.
"Cutting?"
"Who's cutting?"
"Can I just get to my house? My groceries will go bad."
"They need to wait like the rest of us!"
"Pinkie's Party isn't going anywhere, relax everypony!"
"Wait? This is around Pinkie's house? Which crowd for Fluttershy?"
"Cutters can't get in faster!"
"Back of the line with her!"
Rose found herself in a mass of bodies and hooves, shoving her back to the edge before the ponies turned their attention back towards the middle, completely ignoring her to listen to the music now pounding from the house.
Rose walked away, brushing herself off with her tail and frowning. "Looks like I'm not getting in there. But it sounds like a party, so she can't be too worried." She left to check the homes of the other ponies, since that seemed the most likely place to find the rest of them.
First was the library, it's normal dark but friendly exterior hurt by all of the windows being dark. There was a crowd surrounding it, but it was not a solid ball, but rather a few hunting parties spreading from the source. Following their lead, she left to check somewhere else, stopping in on Rarity's boutique to find a similar even occurring there, the carousel apparently being closed for business. After that, she gave up on the Ponyville houses, searching instead for crowds, as a wall of ponies like that near Pinkie would be where the rumored ponies would be found. She started down the road to the Everfree Forest, hesitant to go farther than she had to towards that dark place, but it was soon apparent that there weren't many admirers at all along the road, and the few that were were searching as intently as those back in town. Stopping herself from going much further, she cut across the fields, making a bee line towards Sweet Apple Acres.
From her position in the fields the rainbow river of ponies was prevalent on the path; all of the earthbound ponies formed a solid line right to the gate while the pegasi flew excitedly, criss-crossing the skies and crowding the airspace above the entrance to the farm. Where Rose was she could hardly tell what was going on, but the size of the crowd could only mean that Twilight and her friends would be found there. But how to get in? She paced back and forth, the living obstruction in front of the gate not going anywhere. She glanced up at the pegasi flying freely above. How much easier this would be with wings...
After a while, Rose let the simple thought become the dominant one. Why just sneak out? Rose looked at the commotion by the gate. Everypony was there, and apart from the circling pegasi, who themselves didn't seem to wander too far from the gate, nopony at all could be seen inside. From her place in the fields she circles the farm, trying to keep attention from herself. Not that difficult considering how nopony wanted to take their eyes from the possible show.
Once she was out of sight of the crowd and far from the patrolling pegasi above, she found a promising section of fence. Moving up to it and seeing the gaps too small to squeeze through, she tried to climb the fence, hooves faltering for a grip on the rounded wood. They slipped, landing her hard on her rump. Sore from the landing, she tried again, leaping up to grab onto the top beam of the fence. She managed to hook her legs over it, but slowly slid down the side again, hooves scrabbling for grip on the wood. Despite her best efforts, she eventually did slide off, falling onto her back and knocking the wind out of her. From the ground she glared up at the fencing. "Why did they make this thing so high? Do apples try to escape or something?"
Ready for one more try, she picked herself up, taking a few steps back for a running start. She counted down in her head, then sprinted towards the barrier before launching herself into the air. Her front hooves easily cleared it, but her back legs nicked the top, causing her to tumble head over hooves into the apple orchard. Dizzy and dirty, she pushed herself up, smiling. "I'm in!" She placed a hoof over her own mouth, running up to the nearest tree, a skinny sapling that offered little cover, and placed her back against it. After a moment of tension, she peeked around. There was nopony in the orchard and nothing to suggest that anypony was alerted to her presence. Still, she walked cautiously towards the house, initially hiding under each tree, but gradually just trotting as it was obvious nopony was looking her way.
As she neared the edge of the grove she slowed her pace again, hiding behind the last tree before the house. From this vantage point she could clearly see the crowd looming at the gate, held up by a couple of overturned wagons guarded by the old green-furred Granny Smith and her grandson Big Mac. Granny had a pitchfork in her mouth and was stabbing it at ponies as they got too close, while Big Mac's size alone created a buffer away from the barricade. Granny Smith jabbed the pitchfork up, barely missing a yellow pegasus that flew right above her. "Get away from here you varmint! You ain't gettin' Applejack 'n her friends! She didn't do none of those things, and you ain't bothering her with your lies! Now git!"
Being careful to be as silent as possible, Rose ducked around behind the barn, creeping low along the ground on her way to the house. On her way there, she heard a noise come from within the big red building. It was quiet, like the coo of a dove, almost impossible to hear behind the roar of the crowd. She crawled over to one of the shuttered windows, pulling it ever so slightly open.
Inside were the five ponies, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Rainbow Dash was pacing the edge of the barn, wings extended and hooves stomping the ground with every step. Twilight was reading over the magazine with Rarity, while Applejack sat with Fluttershy, a hoof around her shoulder. Fluttershy herself was sitting, shaking and trying not to cry, to little effect. Every so often a small hic would escape from her, a heart melting sound. Applejack tapped her back again. "It's okay sugar. They're just bein' mean. They don't know what they're doin'. We'll be free and clear in no time. I'm sure Ink Well's already working on sumthin'."
Rainbow stomped the ground again. "It's no time for writing! It's time for action! We need to get up there and kick their flank!"
Rarity yawned from the barrel she sat on, kicking a small pile of hay. "You'd think that they'd be bored of this sort of thing by now. Scandal around us is becoming almost common with this magazine's help."
Twilight closed the magazine angrily. "That settles it. I've finished the preparations for the trial, I'm sending the letter to the Princess as soon as I can get back to the library."
A gust of wind pushed against the shutter, causing it to creak and drawing everypony's attention. Rose tried to duck away, but the flash of red hair caused Rainbow to shoot over, grabbing Rose and yanking her in the window. She raised a hoof to strike the intruder, but dropped it when she saw who it was. "Rose?"
Fluttershy looked up at the mention of the name. "W-What are you doing here?"
Rose pushed herself up from where she'd fallen gracelessly. "Ink Well sent me. He wants to talk to you, get your opinion on what to do. I'm supposed to get you back to my shop without anypony seeing you, if you can believe that." She shook her head. "But there's a huge crowd out there. You can hear it from here. The only way I got through was because they aren't looking for me. Between the scanning pegasi and the bevy of rumor lovers I doubt we'd even make it out of the barn."
Twilight smiled. "Luckily, I have a spell for just such an occasion. Mass teleport, it'll get us there in a flash. It's going to take me some time to prepare, though."
Rarity looked over at her, annoyed. "And when were you going to mention you could do that? We've been in this dusty old barn for hours!"
"I had to make sure I remembered everything, and ideally have everything ready. I didn't want everypony getting excited and then letting you down." She got up, walking to the side and thinking it over. "It's going to take me a little while to get the energy needed, but I'm sure I could get us to your shop. Are you coming along Rose, or can you make it back on your own?"
Rose shook her head. "I'll walk. They don't seem to much care about me. I'm sure Ink Well will be glad to see you when you get there. Travel safely!"
"You too. I'll see you back at the shop." Rose hopped back out of the window, hurrying back to the cover of the apple trees and quickly making her way back to the shop. ---
Rose trotted back into her shop and right into the back room, proud of a job completed. "Hey Ink Well, I got to the others. They're going to try to teleport in." Ink Well didn't respond, the sound of the pencil scraping across the paper the only noise, interrupted by the sound of wood hitting wood as it dropped to the table. Rose walked up behind him, looking over his shoulder. "Everything alright?" Ink Well leaned down, grabbing the pencil in his mouth again and continuing his writing. Rose glanced down at the paper, eyes widening as she looked upon his work.
The notepad itself was much thinner, the workspace littered with papers, balled up and torn and thrown aside, each with wet, dark red stains on them. The page Ink Well had beneath him was covered with wavy scribbles going every which way, small red drips and wet spots punctuating them and soaking the paper through. As she watched, the pencil in his mouth slipped once more, slapping into the paper and leaving a red line across it that spread into the fibers. He leaned forward slowly, moving shakily as he gripped the pencil in red stained teeth. Halfway from the page, the pencil slipped, landing once more with a wet slap as a few thick red drips chased it.
Ink Well's head drooped forward, shoulders shaking as he gazed upon the paper. Rose reached out a hoof carefully, placing it gently on his shoulder. "Ink Well? Are you okay?"
His shoulders stilled, the shaking transferring to his head. "No..." A grim smile spread across his face, revealing his stained teeth once more."I'm not okay." He laughed mirthlessly, head popping up to look at her with red rimmed eyes and bloodstained lips. "Do you know what's going on?" Rose shook her head, scared of the manic smile in front of her. "It's the smallest thing, the silliest thing, really..."
He coughed, drops of blood splattering out on the table before him. He stared at it, eyes hardening at the sight and tears welling beneath them. "What are you talking about?" Rose took a step back, looking towards the door. Would Redheart be available?
He smiled, tears now dropping freely from his eyes. "I can't write." He grabbed the paper on the pad, ripping it up and tossing it aside. It landed on the floor with a wet splat, stained dark where he'd bitten it. "My mouth... I burned my freaking mouth!" He started laughing again, tipping backwards in his chair so far that Rose feared he'd tip. Then, suddenly, he shot forward, smacking his forehead against the table. Rose jumped after him, trying to catch him. "Stupid!" He dodged her try, bringing his head into the table once more. "Idiot!" He sat up again, threatening to attack the desk once more, blood trickling down his forehead. Instead he started giggling, slumping forward onto the table, tears falling as he muttered to himself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..."
A flash of light streamed from the stairs, shining into the darkened workroom before slowly fading. Hoof steps were heard, accompanied by the voices of Twilight and most of her friends. Rose look to the stairs, then back to Ink Well. "Should I send them away?"
Ink Well shook his head, not rising from the table. "No, no... Bring them down. I'm ready for them."
Rose gave him one final worried look as she ascended the stairs into the room above. The five ponies from the barn were assembled around the room, looking disoriented and confused. Fluttershy was the first to notice her. "Rose, where's Ink Well?"
Rose's eyes betrayed her worry as she talked. "He's below, but he's not really... himself. It might be better if you waited a little before talking to him."
Rainbow Dash pushed past her, flying down the stairs. "No way. He's going to answer for this one now."
Fluttershy reached futilely after her. "Rainbow, don't be too harsh. He only woke up yesterday." The others followed Rainbow down the stairs, running into her at the bottom. She was staring at Ink Well, slightly shocked to see him smiling so calmly, blood trickling seemingly unnoticed down his face and staining his lips and teeth.
"Hello everypony." He said, his smile not wavering, unnerving in its steadiness. "Are you alright? I trust you read the article."
Rainbow shook away her shock, taking a step forward. "Yeah! I thought you were going to stop that from happening! What the hay?"
Ink Well nodded. "Yes, I was going to stop that. In fact, I started writing something to send to them..." His eyes drifted to the many papers laying around the work area, the other ponies unable to help following his gaze over them.
Twilight cleared her throat, pulling Rainbow back and taking her place at the front of the group. "I started a legal case against them. All I need to do is send it to the Princess and she'll investigate and call them in. If you were to testify about what they did to you and what you found, we could shut them down completely."
Ink Well stood up and paced, wincing every time his brace collided with the ground. "Yeah, we could... but don't you think they might get past that? They are a giant, powerful organization with millions of bits to throw around on lawyers, while we are seven meaningless little ponies."
The group looked confused, Twilight voicing their thought. "What are you-?"
Ink Well held up a hoof, wincing again as more pressure fell on his broken leg. "Let me finish. When this all started, I was on the magazine, and you all were suffering from one story. Since I got involved, since I started trying to fight them, I lost my job, you all have been the target of a second article, Rainbow was attacked in her own home, and all we have to show for it is a file that, while damning, isn't even entirely illegal." He stopped pacing, looking each of them individually with tired eyes. "I don't know about you, but I think we might as well quit before we fall any further behind. We haven't helped anything. We've only accomplished the opposite of our goals and..." He sat down on the spot, back to the others. "... I'm done."
Rainbow looked furious. "So after everything you did, after everything they did to you, you want to turn tail and run? They attacked us! Doesn't that mean anything?"
Ink Well waved it away, refusing to turn back around. "A secret organization attacked us, and while the connection is obvious, we can't prove anything."
Rainbow took another angry step forward. "A pony working for them attacked you! Attacked me!"
Ink Well turned, tear-rimmed eyes furious. "Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I'm acutely aware of what happened? Do you think that makes it any easier?" He took a step for them, pain flashing on his face as he put weight on the cast. "I've done everything I could! I put everything on the line to help six ponies I didn't even KNOW until I started what was supposed to be a simple article, and I lost it. I lost more than that... Everything my pen graces is destroyed, everything I work on abandoned or torn to shreds... Even the pinnacle of my work is an abject failure... Perhaps it was for the best that I lost my ability to write, now nopony else can get hurt for my dumb mistakes..." He sat again, head hanging as tears splashed on the floor. "I have nopony to blame but myself, and nopony but myself should suffer for it. It was more than I could possibly hope to accomplish, taking them on, and I'm tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of writing. Tired of failing... I've already failed you all, let me just take that and hide in shame."
Fluttershy sat in the back, sadness over all her features. "But... you Pinkie swore..."
Ink Well hung his head lower. "I did. An unbreakable oath from an unreliable pony... Bring me the cupcake if you want, my eye is ready. Otherwise, leave me be..." He started to limp slowly to the stairs, walking between the other ponies, who stared at him as he walked with emotions ranging from barely contained anger to barely contained tears. As he struggled up the stairs, he stopped a few steps up, looking over the group. "I have no place to ask this of her, but Rose, would it be alright if they hid out here for a while? At least until it's safe for them to head home?"
The eyes in the room swiveled onto her. Surprised, she nodded. "O-of course. It's no problem."
Ink Well nodded solemnly. "Thank you." He took the rest of the stairs slowly, each step a struggle, with the rest of the room still staring after him, not quite sure how to react. Eventually he disappeared from the steps, the sound of his brace slowly dampening as it clinked across the floor above.
As the sound of the brace faded, the faces in the room turned to each other. Rose took a nervous step forward. "Uh, well, make yourselves comfortable. You can stay here as long as you-"
"He chickened out!" Rainbow paced angrily, stopping Rose's sentence in its tracks. "He's running away! How can he let us down like that?" She looked over the rest, each of them avoiding her eyes. She snorted, stomping a hoof on the ground. "I'm not giving this up! I'm going to fly out to Cloudsdale and take this into my own hooves!"
Twilight shook her head. "No Rainbow. Don't do that, you already know what's going to happen. I'm working on the legal case, and I'm not letting this end here. He's already done enough for us. We can take it from here."
"Well this trip was a waste of time." Said Rarity, walking towards the door to the shop. "Can I leave? The combination of smells is giving me a headache."
Rose piped up from behind her machines. "I could turn on the fans if you-"
Applejack ran past Rarity, pushing her from the door and closing it. "No way sugar. There are way too many crazy ponies out there. Besides, how can you even think about leavin' when Ink Well's so down? We've got to do somethin' to help!"
Rarity frowned at her. "What do you want me to do? I'm not Pinkie Pie. Unless a suit is going to cheer him up I'm afraid I don't know what to do."
Applejack nudged her. "Nuts Rarity. How can you be so mean?"
Rarity took a step back, offended. "Mean?! Look here you! I care about quite a lot! But we have bigger problems right now than a depressed writer. I have orders to finish at my shop, and I simply can't keep them waiting." She walked past the earth pony and over to her unicorn friend. "Twilight? Can you do one of those teleports on another pony? I would be so appreciative if you could get me to my boutique."
Twilight looked up from where she was staring hard at the floor. "Huh? Oh. Yes, just give me a few minutes to concentrate and I can get us all home."
Applejack looked disappointed at her. "Not you too, Twi! We can't just leave him here. He's a friend."
Twilight shrugged. "He doesn't want us here. He'll be fine. We should focus on our own problems."
Applejack stomped a hoof in disgust. "I can't believe you two bein' so pig headed about this! Sure, this attention ain't no walk in the park, but we can spend some of our time helpin' a friend who ain't us, right?" The unicorns looked unimpressed, Fluttershy just watching the scene from the side, looking depressed. Applejack shook her head. "Oh, come on. You're with me, aren't ya Rainbow?" There was a silence that hung in the room. "Rainbow?"
The ponies in the room looked around for the missing pegasus, nowhere to be found. The door to the shop hung slightly open. Applejack ran over, peeking her head out to see the main shop door swinging open as well. "Consarn it, Rainbow! Why'd she go an' do a thing like that?" She was about to go out the door when she stopped, closing it in front of her. "Ah, she'll be fine. She can outrun 'em, and she knows better to go after the Equirer again."
Rarity fixed her hair with a shake of her head. "So, what, you have time to worry about Ink Well but not your friends?"
Applejack's eyes narrowed as she looked back at the white unicorn. "What're you trying to say?"
Rarity blinked, looking surprised. "Me? I'm not saying anything. I was just noticing how Ink Well's state seems to worry you but Rainbow's doesn't."
Applejack walked over to her, staring her down. "No, yer sayin' somethin' Rarity. Do you think I don't care about Rainbow?"
Rarity just looked at her, smiling radiantly. "Not at all. I think your obsession on your colt friend is rather amusing."
Applejack scowled at her. "Colt friend? You best not be starting rumors about me too."
Rarity's smile turned smug. "Rumors? With all the time he spent at your farm before, helping you out, pulling your cart, I thought it was common knowledge."
"Why you-!" Applejack reared up, ready to kick her.
Rose stepped between the two, pushing them apart. "Now, I'm sorry, I may not be in the right to say this, but you shouldn't be fighting amongst yourselves, don't you think?" The two ponies still looked angry, but backed down from each other. With that defused, Rose smiled at the group. "Feel free to make yourselves at home. I'll be upstairs if you need me." ---
Rose walked up into the house portion of her shop, leaving the others below to their own devices. Upstairs she found Ink Well laying in the bed, back to the world and shoulders shaking. Rose took a few tentative steps forward.
"Go away." A hoof raised from the bed, waiving her off. "I've put in my two bits. I'm done."
Rose tapped a hoof on the floor. "You can't shoo me from my own house, Ink Well."
He turned over, revealing his red eyes and tear stained face. "Oh. Rose. It's you..." He flipped back over, facing the wall again. "Leave me alone. I'm not worth talking to right now."
Rose walked over, sitting on the bed. "Ink Well, I want to help, just talk to me." The two sat in silence. After a brief pause, Rose spoke. "Well?"
Ink Well rose a hoof, quieting her and pointing to the floor. Heated voices called out at each other, raising to a din before the dimming once more. Ink Well let out a long held sigh. "It's all my fault."
Rose looked confused at him. "How is this your fault?"
He sat up on the bed, staring on the bed sheet. "I let them down. I wasn't good enough... I couldn't write their corrections, couldn't stop that darn magazine from targeting them..."
"You can't control the magazines! How could you have stopped them?"
"It doesn't matter how, I promised I would. I Pinkie swore! I gave them my word, an oath, hope... I might as well have kicked them in the teeth for all the good I did. All I ended up was a burden on you and a tumor on their happiness." He paused for a moment as another yell came from below, accompanied by a sad, high pitched coo that tugged at the heart strings. He shook his head, staring at the floorboards. "I even got them fighting among themselves... I'm the worst..."
"Ink Well, you did everything you could. You gave everything for them. Your job, your house, and you kept fighting. What more could you do?" She saw him still staring at the floor, sadness permeable around him. Rose frowned at it. "Ink Well, when you got here you had a broken leg, two bruised ribs, a badly sprained wing, burns all over your body AND a stab wound, and the first thing you did was ask if Rainbow was alright. Today, you read that they were targeted again and you jumped out of bed despite the nurse's and my own wishes, fell down the stairs refusing help and wrote until your mouth was bleeding in an attempt to help them!" She lifted his face to look into his desperate eyes. "You've done enough. It's okay that you think about yourself for once. They have no right to ask you for more." As she spoke, a cacophony slowly rose below, growing almost understandable before being abruptly cut off with a loud 'Enough!' and a splash of blinding light spilling up the stairs.
Silence rang throughout the building for a few moments, the two ponies just sitting there and listening. Eventually Rose smiled at him, wiping the blood from his forehead. "There, you see? They're gone. Everything will be alright, even if you take a break." Ink Well looked at her for a moment, the desperation in his eyes gone and a smile edging his face before he broke out into a deep yawn. Rose smiled once more. "You must be beat. Get some rest. It'll all be better in the morning." ---
Clink. Rose heard the noise, out of place as she soared over the open valleys. She moved it to the back of her head. Clink, tap, clink, tap, clink, tap, clink, tap... She alighted on a cloud, looking around for the sound. At least it had stopped... Thunk! Tap, Thunk! Tap, Thunk! Ugh! That racket! The cloud beneath her shook, the world fading and tearing. Eventually the noise stopped, but the damage was done. The world around her faded to black to the faint sound of a bell.
Rose's eyes slowly dragged open, blinking blearily in the dark room. Moonlight came into the room from a low angle, the sky outside the window deep blue tinted pink. She looked around, wondering where the noise had come from until her eyes fell on the bed. There was a form in the bed, but it wasn't moving, wasn't breathing. This was a solid, lifeless lump. She got up, walking over to the blanket covered body and pulled it back. The pillows of her bed were arranged in pony shape, Ink Well nowhere to be seen.
Now wide awake, she ran to the stairs, hurrying into the dark room below. She flicked on the light, the pipes and machines gleaming in the clean electric light and casting strange shadows where the bulb's glow didn't fall. Amid the shapes and shadows nopony moved. She weaved between the distillers, pushing open the shop door and seeing her front door hanging slightly ajar, the bell tinkling lightly in the cool breeze flowing into the room. She ran from her shop, closing the door behind her as she went into the early morning air of Ponyville.
She started by scanning the sleeping streets around the area. Unfortunately, due to the hubbub surrounding the 'Ponyville 6,' there were multiple ponies already moving around the streets, with dozens more laying in doorways or on the ground. Rose stood stock still as she scanned the streets, still amazed at the amount of sway one article had.
When none of the ponies in the dim moonlight appeared to be the proper injured one, she took off, picking a road at random to begin her search. She moved methodically, street by street looking down all of the little alleyways and into hiding spaces for Ink Well's bandaged flank. As the moon sank and the sun slowly rose on the day, Rose's searching area widened, including the entire market and residential areas. Even after searching those, he was nowhere to be found.
"How can one injured pony move so fast?" She said as her search further expanded to the park. The morning was now in full swing, and there were townsponies and visitors alike wandering the pathways. She moved between them, asking around for the parchment furred pegasus that had wandered off, but nopony seemed to have seen him. She sat down on one of the benches, serious worry threatening to overtake her. To calm herself she breathed deeply, taking in the smell of grass and wild flowers. "Easy girl. He's a strong pony. He'll be fine. Sure he's not in the best shape, but he got all the way to your house in worse shape than this." She took another breath, running over who she could ask for help searching in her head. "He can't have gone too far down a leg and a wing. If you just organize a search party, you can probably..."
Her thoughts trailed off as the faint scent of lilacs floated past her. She sniffed the air, looking around to see the source of the familiar smell. The flowers in the park were daisies, dandelions and tulips, so it wasn't coming from them, and nopony had walked by recently, so it wasn't a perfume or cologne. Yet the smell still hung in the air. She got up, following it off the path and through the trees, eventually coming to a bush which reeked of the flower, with just the subtlest hint of ash beneath.
Excited, she pushed a clump of leaves aside, revealing Ink Well curled up around the trunk, his bandages all askew and a pained expression on his sleeping face. Letting out a sigh of relief, she shook his shoulder. He started, his wing straining under the bandage and his brace bouncing against the ground as he tried to push himself up. Rose shook her head, trying to stop him with a hoof. "What's with you and hiding in bushes?"
After a few moments of confusion, he looked up at Rose, recognition dawning as his gaze dropped to the ground. "Oh... Hello Rose."
Rose looked at him sternly. "What the hay were you thinking, sneaking off like that?"
Ink Well looked away from her, purposefully avoiding her gaze. "Oh geez, I worried you didn't I? I was hoping I could just disappear and stop burdening you..."
Rose's look softened. "Ink Well, you're no burden, and I don't know where that talk if coming from! Sure, maybe it wasn't fun cleaning up your bandages and keeping an eye on you, but that's because you're hurt, and that's the part I don't want to see. And why wouldn't I be worried about you? Plenty of ponies are!"
Ink Well shook his head. "Were. The others don't need me anymore now that I'm not helping them."
"Are. They may be a bit distracted now with their own problems, but that doesn't mean they like seeing you all injured and beating yourself up. Come on! You're better than this." She took a step back, offering a hoof. "Now get up. A bush in the park is no place for a conversation." After a few moments, Ink Well took her hoof, and with her help got up to standing and eventually out of the bush, though not without a few snags and scrapes. Once he was out he let go of Rose's hoof, taking a few steps away and still looking ashamed. Rose just smiled at him. "There. Much better. Now let's get back home and fix you up." She looked him up and down, frowning. "You really look a mess."
Ink Well limped ahead. "Yeah, thanks. You really know how to make a guy feel better."
Rose gave an exasperated sigh, nudging him on his way as they headed from the park. "You really need to snap out of this funk you're in Ink Well. So you can't write. There's more to life than one thing! Even if it is your special talent, a few days off of it won't hurt anything, will it?"
Ink Well shook his head. "It's not just that, it's everything. I mean, I'm just useless now, I lost so much, I can't even help the other ponies out after I swore I would, and even once I'm fully healed I've got nothing to return to... And all this focus on me. You, the others, the article... I'm just some little pony, I'm not important. Why all the attention?"
Rose shook her head. "Oh, you saw the one for you? And I thought it would cheer you up. You, sir, suffer from a poor self image. It wasn't just drawing attention to you or anything, it was a memorial from the ponies that remembered you and were sad you were gone. Granted, I'm pretty sure nopony bothered to actually talk to any of them when writing the piece, but it wasn't meant at all in hatred or in spite. And yes, you lost a lot, but there's nothing to be done about that. At least you have your life! You can't return to anything, but you can start over, a fresh start without all the issues you used to have."
He nodded slowly. "Sure, sure, but that still doesn't explain you or the others."
Rose stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "Darn it Ink Well, we care about you, isn't that enough?" She turned around, stomping off with a huff.
Ink Well was shocked, standing stock still for a few moments before he remembered that they were walking somewhere. As he started walking again, he shook his head. "Good going Ink Well. Said the wrong thing there." He followed Rose, lagging a fair bit behind. When he rounded the next street corner he saw Rose talking with Daisy and Lily, and he hung back behind the wall, listening in to their conversation despite himself.
"... yesterday? We thought you'd have been around the Library or something. Didn't you read the article?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Yes Lily, I read the article. I just don't think that gossip is that big a thing. Besides, I was a bit busy with my own problems while that was going on."
Daisy gave an exaggerated gasp. "You not caring about gossip? Something must be wrong with you girl! Weren't you the one dragging us around those few weeks ago?"
"No Daisy, that was Lily. I was just the one that introduced you to the writer. You remember Ink Well, don't you?" She gestured behind her, only then realizing that Ink Well wasn't right behind her.
Lily tapped a hoof against her head as she thought, not noticing Rose's confusion. "Ink Well... Ink Well... Oh!" Her face saddened a bit. "He was the one they wrote about, wasn't he? I'm sorry. He was your friend, wasn't he?"
"Is. He's fine, they were wrong about him dieing. I already told you not to trust them." She looked around again, still not seeing the bandaged pony. "If he'd stop hiding, I'd prove it to you." She wandered away, trying to look down the street ahead of her. As she did so, the other ponies gave each other a look.
Lily walked up to her, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "Sure Rose, sure. We believe you."
Rose looked at her, completely confused. "Huh?"
Daisy walked up too, smiling. "Yeah. When I lost Granny Dandelion, I used to see her all the time as well. You remember that, don't you Lily?" Lily nodded, and realization began to dawn on Rose. "If you want, we were just going to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie is throwing a party and answering questions and I'm sure that would really cheer you up."
Rose pulled away, scowling at them. "No! I'm not imagining this! I'm not grieving! He's just a little slow on his feet since the fire. Here, follow me." She walked back down the street, rounding the corner to find Ink Well leaning against the wall nonchalantly. "There, see?" As the other two rounded the corner, he waved at them.
They took one look at his ripped and pus stained bandages, the burned skin and charred fur beneath, the blood stains on his head, around his mouth and in his smile, and ran, screaming. "Ghost! Undead writer pony! Everypony run for the hills!" They galloped off, a few ponies nearby panicking as well and running in terror.
Ink Well raised a hoof, trying to call them back. "Wait! I'm not..." The street around them was cleared. Ink Well dropped his hoof. "Dead..." He looked back at himself, the burned flesh and bandages, and sighed. "Though I sure do look it... No wonder your friends ran."
Rose shrugged. "Between you and me, they've always been excitable." She looked at him, still frowning from her conversation earlier. "We heading back to the shop or what? It's already way past opening..."
Ink Well nodded. "Yeah. Let's get going." They slowly made their way back to the shop, both of them quiet the entire walk. As he walked up to the door, he looked over at Rose, who'd checked her pace to match his but was otherwise lost in thought. She seemed... troubled. "Roseluck? Something on your mind?"
She looked over at him, slightly miffed. "Please, Rose. Roseluck's the name on my bills." She walked past him, opening the door.
He ducked through it. "Sorry... didn't mean to bring something up..."
Rose shook her head as she went past him, opening the door to the workroom. "No. Sorry. I don't mean to snap. I just... I used to be so close to Lily and Daisy, but," she sighed, "I guess I changed or something... We're just not so friendly."
Ink Well shrugged, slowly making his way to the work table. "Everypony changes. Sometimes it's a way of thinking, sometimes it's just circumstance, but nothing stays the same." Bloodstained papers were still scattered around the area. As he got himself seated, Rose walked up, placing down a bowl of water and bringing over the clean bandages.
"Maybe you should take your own advice, Inky." She smiled at him, then moved behind him, removing the old pus and bloodstained bandages from his side, head and hooves. As she did, Ink Well washed himself off, feeling uncomfortable for the attention being given him. As she removed the last bandage from around his wing, revealing the straps holding it steady and the stitches along his side, her thoughts took over again. "It hasn't just been happening lately, though the Equirer issue was the final straw. It started a while ago. Ever since they became all... intimate a few months back. I've just become a third wheel."
Ink Well frowned, examining his burned flesh worriedly. "You seemed friendly enough when I met you three." He moved to stand and Rose kept him sitting, beginning to bandage his hooves.
Rose shrugged, continuing her task. "It's not like we're not still friends. I've known them forever. It's other stuff getting in the way..."
Ink Well's hung dropped. "It's me isn't it. I'm taking up all your time and keeping you from your friends..." He winced as the bandage tightened, then relaxed as the lilac smell hit him.
Rose moved to the next hoof, continuing her work. "No, no, not at all. This has been going on for years, ever since they started getting all lovey-dovey. I was jealous and felt left out, and they tried to solve it by asking me to get in on it and, well, I just don't swing that way, so I had to decline, but that caused some uncomfortable times..." She tightened the bandage, moving to the last one. "And it's hard being a single filly in this town. There's, like, six colts, four of which are taken, one who just isn't interested, and one who'd be more interested in you than me. There just isn't a date to be found." She tightened the bandage to a slight yelp, blushing slightly as she loosened her grip. "I'm sorry, I went way too far there, didn't I?"
Ink Well shook his head as he waved the pain out of his hoof. "No. It actually answered a question or two I had." He stood up, letting Rose get to work on fixing the bandages around his midsection and wing. As she did, Ink Well kept talking. "And I get where you're coming from, though not for the same reason. Relationships just never work out for me. Not that I went searching, but I always got distracted with a story or a deadline or some manuscript I was working on... Not conducive to filly friends." Rose tightened the bandage, setting it into place, tapping him on the back and smiling at him. Ink Well smiled back. "Thank you. And there, now we're even in embarrassing revealed facts."
Rose motioned him to lower his head. "Sure." She fixed the bandage, glad to see his mane trying to grow back in already. As she finished it, she looked up to the clock in the room. It was well past noon. "Oh well, much too late to open the shop..." She looked at him, all spiffy in his new bandages, and smiled. "Looks like it's going to be a slow day today. You cause me a lot of trouble, you know."
Ink Well rubbed the new bandages on his head with his good hoof. "I know. I'll make it up to you." He put his hoof down, walking to the stairs, and turned back as he reached the bottom of them. "I promise." ---
The next morning Rose woke up to see Ink Well sitting on the side of the room, touching his front hooves to his lower hooves and stretching side to side. Unfortunately, every time he moved the hoof in a cast it fell lower than the other one, the brace clinking against the wood floor. Despite this, Ink Well was smiling. Rose got up, stretching herself to remove the kinks before walking over to him. "Well somepony's happy. Why are you up so early, and what are you doing?"
Ink Well looked at her, smiling. "Oh, just limbering up. Today's flight day, isn't it? Got to make sure I don't pull anything and get grounded again."
Rose tapped a hoof against her forehead. "Right! Your wings are free today aren't they? You sure you're ready for this, because the nurse said that waiting before flying wouldn't be a bad thing."
Ink Well shook his head. "No way. I am so tired of being grounded. I haven't been on the ground this long since I pulled a wing in mom's dance class, and that was because I didn't stretch beforehoof. But this time I'm ready." He stopped stretching, placing down his braced leg and pushing himself to standing. "Let's do this."
"Alright." Rose walked over, untying the bandages around his right wing and removing what held it down. As soon as she stepped back, Ink Well tested the wing, moving it up and down and wiggling the singed feathers. "Anything wrong?"
Ink Well tried it once, smiled, and then pushed himself into the air with his good legs and flapped hard. He sprung into the air, making a quick lap around the room before hovering before Rose, a giant grin on his face. "Nope, everything's fine! My, I'd missed this..." He flew out the window, carefully the first few feet into the open air, but soon zipping out into the sky and circling the building, laughing the whole time.
Rose watched him spiral through the sky and couldn't help but smile herself, but something about watching him zip and turn around her building caused her heart to sting. Oh what she would give to be up there with him... "Be realistic girl. It just isn't going to happen." Ink Well flew back through the window, fluttering to a soft landing in the middle of the room. He turned, smiling a smile that seemed to proclaim to the world that nothing could go wrong. Rose smiled back, unable to fight the joy radiating from him. It was the happiest she'd ever seen him since his second visit, and yet her heart twinged again...
She ignored it, walking over and bumping against him playfully. "Now that you've had your fun, it's time for you to make it up to me."
Ink Well looked at her, smile not fading at all. "Oh? And what do you wish of me, Miss Rose?"
Rose shrugged. "Nothing big. Just helping me restock the shop. Yesterday I lost a lot of time looking for you when you ran off, I wasn't even able to open. I'm running behind on my perfume making, so I need you out front running the store."
Ink Well's smile faltered. "You sure about that? You saw what happened when your friends saw me. How do you know I won't go scaring them off with my looks?"
Rose looked him up and down. "True, you look a mess, but at least today it's a clean, newly bandaged mess. You'll be behind the counter most of the time anyway, ideally they'll only see the one on your head."
Ink Well raised an eyebrow. "Well what if somepony needs help or something? I don't know anything about perfumes."
Rose smiled smugly. "You aren't getting out of it for that. You honestly don't need to know much. It's all their preference, you just facilitate." Ink Well looked unimpressed with her response. "Look, don't worry about it. If you really need help, I'll be in the back and you can come get me, alright? Please?" He still wasn't convinced. "You promised."
Ink Well looked at her asking him and, after a moment, smiled. "Okay, I'll do it. I did promise, and I do kind of owe you a lot."
Rose nodded. "Thank you. I'll open up and everything, you just get set up behind the counter, alright? It's not like I'm expecting any big rush. It'll probably be a quiet, boring day." ---
It most certainly was not a quiet, boring day. Within minutes of the shop opening Ink Well had his first customer, and while the customer did not run screaming, she was put off by Ink Well's injured look. But, in spite of this, she made a purchase and was on her way with no trouble at all. However, how he looked didn't seem to be a problem at all, as within an hour there was a small crowd within the shop, and by midday Ink Well was well overrun. Customers were flocking in with requests and purchases and questions to the point that Ink Well just couldn't take it, so he ducked into the back room. There Rose was working overtime to keep the front stocked.
He closed the door quickly against the sound of dozens of customers asking questions, putting his back against it to keep the noise out. "What the hay Rose, I thought there wouldn't be a rush!"
Rose ran between two machines, adjusting one with a back hoof as she read the dials on another. "Look, I have no clue what happened, is there some big day I don't know about?"
Ink Well backed slowly away from the door, watching it for any sudden moves. "I don't know, but I think it's about now I should tell you I don't really do well in crowds."
"Tough hoof beats, that's how it is today. Geez, even the Gala rush wasn't this bad!" She finished capping a row of glass bottles, arranging them carefully in the box before jamming it and the half-dozen under it into Ink Well's hooves. "Here, these are the florals, back row, go get 'em."
Ink Well hovered back towards the door, braced hoof making carrying the tower of boxes difficult. "Are you sure you don't want to help me out there? I could really use it."
"Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I've got two more batches coming out for most of the scent bases. If we sell out of those, we're done for the day, alright? Now go!" Before Ink Well could answer, Rose pushed him through the door, shutting it on the sound that flooded in. She cringed slightly at the loud clinks of glass that came after her action, but was relieved to hear no breaking.
Ink Well was just happy he didn't have to balance the boxes long, as before he'd hardly flown over the counter the bottles began to empty from the boxes, quite the queue forming before the register. By the time he got to where the perfume belonged, there were only two containers left, both snatched away right under his nose. With a huff, he flew through the nearly barren aisle ways, attending to the mob before the register as fast as he could.
Another few frantic hours passed before the crowd thinned, not due to a lack of demand but due to lack of supply. Rose brought out her newest batches, not fully confident in their quality due to their rushed nature, but the ponies ate them up and they disappeared as quickly as anything. It took both Rose and Ink Well behind the counter to take care of everypony there, and even then it took another fifteen minutes after closing time before the last satisfied pony left, flying into deepening afternoon light, 'Rosewater' bag held gladly in her teeth. "Thank you! Come again!" Rose called after the pegasus before closing the door and flipping the sign to 'Closed.' She sighed, leaning against the wall. "Wow, who would have thought that was going to happen? I normally have enough stock for everyone in Ponyville four times over, and I ran out!" She laughed. "Did you catch why they were buying so rabidly?"
Ink Well flew from aisle to aisle with broom and dust pan in hoof cleaning broken glass. A million mixed scents clogged the air from the test sprays and spills of all the ponies. Between two aisles he paused, answering her. "I think one of them mentioned something about getting close to Rarity, but that was hours ago." He dumped the glass shards from the pan into a trash bin with a horrible crash, then landed next to it, visibly tired. He looked over at Rose, the bandage on his head soaked with sweat and the others on him disheveled, and smiled. "Slow day, huh?"
Rose smiled back. "So I was wrong. At least it's not all bad. With the haul that came in I think I can finally afford that compressor I wanted." She pulled herself off of the wall, stretching out before gesturing to the door. "Would you like to go get something to eat? I'm buying."
Ink Well shook his head. "It's wonderful offer, but right now I sort of want to spread my wings. Being locked in here all day really was kind of anticlimactic after they were freed, you know?" He looked at the injured look on her face and frowned. "Sorry, is that alright?"
Rose's expression softened, but the previous look burned itself on Ink Well's mind. "Yeah, of course it is. Who am I to stop you? You get out there and fly."
Ink Well took a hesitant step forward. "Are you sure? It's not like it's-"
Rose cut him off. "No, no, it's fine. You go have fun soaring. I'll just... go start on restocking or something." She walked from the front door to the back one, opening it. "I really shouldn't stop working just because I had a good day."
Ink Well walked after her, frowning. "I didn't mean it like-"
"I know you didn't. Now you go out and fly. Have a good time." The door slammed shut, leaving him alone in the shop.
Ink Well looked at the door, a puzzled and sad look on his face. "Good job Ink Well, wrong words again..." He walked out of the front door, closing it behind him to the slight tinkle of the shop bell. After a few steps, his face lit up and he stomped down a hoof. "I know! That's it! That'll be perfect!" He lifted off, flying quickly into the rapidly dimming light. ---
As evening turned to night Ink Well hobbled upstairs, smiling playfully. Rose looked at him suspiciously. "Ink Well, what did you do?"
Ink Well looked hurt. "Now why would I do anything? I know I touched a sore nerve earlier, and I just thought of a wonderful gift to make it up to you. But if you don't want it..."
Rose raised an eyebrow. "Gift? I don't see a gift."
Ink Well smiled. "Of course not. It's too special to have me fumble it up the stairs. Come on down, it's waiting in the shop." He hovered in the air for a moment, grin only spreading before disappearing into the workroom. Rose followed, curiosity getting the better of her. She walked downstairs through the long quiet distillery, opening the door to her shop.
Behind the door stood Ink Well and a slightly annoyed Twilight Sparkle. As Rose entered the room, Twilight circled her, seeming to size her up. After a few moments of silent scrutiny, Twilight nodded. "Yes, I think I can do it. But I'm only doing this once."
Ink Well landed next to her, shaking her hoof. "Thank you so much. It means a lot."
Twilight let go of his hoof. "Just stick to your end of the bargain and everything will be fine."
Ink Well nodded. "Of course, of course. I'll be a witness against them in your trial."
"Good. Glad we're all clear." She looked at Rose. "You ready?"
Rose looked confusedly between the two ponies. "Um, ready for what? What are you two planning?"
Twilight braced herself on the floor. "Alright. This is going to feel a little weird, but you need to stay relaxed, okay? This takes a lot of energy and we only get one shot."
Confusion turned to worry on Rose's face. "One shot at what? What are you planning?"
Ink Well moved next to her, still smiling. "Don't worry. It's a surprise, and you're going to love it. Just close your eyes, everything will be alright."
"But-"
He placed hoof on her shoulder. "Trust me."
Rose looked into his eyes, drawing strength from his assurance. She nodded. "Alright go for it."
Ink Well smiled. "You won't regret it." He took a few steps away as Twilight's horn began to glow. Rose closed her eyes, trying to breathe deeply and keep calm as a tickle ran through her body, a bright light bleeding through her eyelids.
Ink Well's smile faded to awe as he watched the power emanating from Twilight's horn. Bright blue tendrils surrounded Rose, radiating light as they slowly enveloped her in a cocoon. The tendrils lifted her in the air, brightening as Twilight redoubled her efforts to maintain the spell. As he watched, the light brightened further, blinding him as he tried to look upon it, then to a point where it burned through his eye lids.
A flash, shooting almost solid beams of light from the windows and far into the Ponyville night. Ink Well opened his eyes, blinking as they slowly adjusted back to the normal lighting of the room. Twilight stood in the same place looking shaky and tired. Across from her, standing and blinking as her own eyes adjusted, was Rose, two magnificent butterfly wings adorning her back. They glittered spectacularly in the dim light, cream bodied with rose colored patches within and ivy green trim along the edges.
Everypony in the room was stunned with the beauty of the wings, including Rose herself. She tested them out carefully and giggling with glee as she rose in the air. "Oh, wow! This... this is amazing!" She fluttered over to Twilight. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Twilight shook her head, woozy. "Don't worry about it. But be careful, those are made of gossamer and morning dew, so they aren't very durable. But the spell lasts for three days, so enjoy them while you have them."
"I will!" As Twilight left, Rose flew around the room, glee on her face as she spun and danced in the air.
Ink Well stood at the door, watching her joyful flight. "Hey, I know you're having fun in this shop, but wouldn't you rather feel the wind in your mane?"
Rose came to a stop, hovering just before Ink Well. "What? Now? But it's dark out."
"That's the best time to fly. Nopony else in the skies, cool air rushing past, stars above and clouds below..." He held out his hoof, smiling. "There's a storm over the Everfree Forest, and I was wondering if you'd give me the honor of your first flight."
Rose hesitated. The wings were one thing, but flying at night, especially over a storm, having never flown before... And over the Everfree Forrest no less... But there was that smile Ink Well had on. It said that everything would be okay, if you just gave him a chance to make it so. Against that... what could a pony do?
She put her hoof in his, letting him lead her out of the door and into the street. The streets themselves were beautiful, bathed in the cool light of the moon and sparkling as the last of the magic seeped from the air. The lights of the houses in town painted warm mosaics on the land, turning even the most mundane aspect of the sight into a work of art. In this dark wonderland, Ink Well's wings slowly flapped, lifting him into the air for Rose to follow. A gentle breeze blew from the Everfree, rustling against her wings as she flapped them tentatively, slowly hovering from the ground. Slowly, gently, the two light ponies took to the skies, drifting against the currents of the air.
The wind carried the sound of thunder to the two ponies, causing Rose to grab Ink Well's hoof more tightly. Ink Well pulled his hoof away, flying slightly ahead and urging her onward. "Don't be scared, it's just a signal of rainfall to come. We have much bigger plans, a little thunder can't stall us now." He spun away before her, laughing and prompting her to join. She soon followed, the duo spinning and twirling through the skies of the outskirts of town.
Ink Well had been right, and Rose had no real words to describe what she was feeling now. Exhilarating was really the best word for it, just an unbridled joy that extended all around as the world opened up above and below, curving away to lands far beyond. Even though she wasn't moving fast, she felt like she could reach the stars from here, or just keep going forever, seeing everything the planet had to offer... It was wonderful, the urge to just go, the freedom given to her as the wind picked her up... Breathtaking...
The pair danced over treetops, pulling higher as the rains began to fall to weave and hop between the clouds. The moon moved slowly above them, a multitude of stars guiding its path. Amid it's light they came upon the roiling sea of fluff that made up the storm, lightning jumping between the clouds. Without a hint of reservation Ink Well came in close, landing on the moving wisps. Rose landed beside, careful as her hooves slowly sunk into the plush vapor beneath her, relieved to feel the odd sensation of the cloud holding her weight.
She marveled at the crispness of the stars twinkling above her, her breath glistening as it crystallized in the high altitude air. She turned to find Ink Well limping along the cloud ocean as though he were looking for something. She followed curiously as he disappeared down a slope, part of a basin in the clouds. A hole was formed beneath, giving a clear view of the untamed wilds of the Everfree forest as lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the treetops below.
Ink Well flew to a small cloud in the center of the basin, motioning for Rose to join him. As they stood, there, the storm winds increased, whipping about them in every way. Rose was worried, the rain whipping against her and stinging. But Ink Well held her steady with a wing, shielding the rain until the wind changed once more. Rain drops were pushed upwards, swirling just above them before freezing and drifting around them in perfect snowflakes. The water splashed at their hooves and fur, quickly covering them with a thin layer of ice as the frost around them swirled with the air. At the center of the flurry of activity, the moonlight shone down through the ice crystals, breaking into a rainbow that surrounded them on all sides.
The earth pony stood enraptured, not willing to move lest the spell be broken. "This is beautiful... Far more so than I ever could have imagined..."
The pegasus beside her just nodded slightly, watching the clouds shift and the snow cease its movement, falling below the cloud layer once more. "This is what I'm challenged with getting across in ink. One moment that only a third of the ponies who ever live will be able to see, if they are lucky, and in the right place, and even then only if they really look..." He stood, the moon glistening off the frost what little there was of his mane. "I try to build in words a memory so strong that ponies across time will be able to experience it... And I don't think I'll ever truly succeed."
Rose turned to him, finding him looking down at her, a sadness in his eyes. As they stood in that moment, piercing winds blew from the clouds around them, chilling her to the bone. She took a step closer, moving against him as she shivered in the cold. "Thank you for giving me the chance to experience it."
His right wing folded around her, shielding her from the wind and knocking off part of the sheen of ice that had formed on her mane. "I couldn't let you not." He gave her a smile, the sadness in his eyes edged with a hope that hadn't been there before. "Everypony deserves a chance to fly." Their eyes locked, a common thought passing between them for just a moment. Ink Well leaned in...
And was caught off balance as the cloud dissipated beneath his cast. He slipped, tumbling into a shower of ice rain falling beneath. He pulled himself up from his dive, getting soaked as he made his way back up through the hole in the clouds and onto the moonlit mass above. Rose flew over to him, worry first on her face for the fall, but leaving quickly as she stifled a laugh. Ink Well stood shivering, soaked to the skin with all of his fur and what had grown back of his mane and tail pulled by the flight and frozen out behind him. As she laughed, he flew over, bumping her playfully with his side and crackling some of the ice from himself. "Yeah, yeah. Very funny. Now let's get back to the house before I shiver apart the storm."
She nudged him back, a warmth seeming to emanate from within as she looked upon his frosted face. "Whatever you say, Ink Fell." Ink Well started laughing at himself before he'd even taken off, and the two ponies sailed back to Ponyville that night amidst the constant reverberations of mirth. ---
Twilight awoke the next day to the sound of things being moved downstairs. "Spike sure is being loud this morning." She grumbled as she got up in the early morning light, brushing her hair and getting ready for the day.
A loud crash from below pulled her from her preparations. "What is he doing down there?" She went out the door to her room and down to the main area of the library, annoyed at her assistant. She turned into the room and said, "Spike, what's going on?"
As her eyes fell over the room and her jaw dropped. It was a mess, the books and decorations flung every which way, with the door to the basement ajar and papers trailing across the ground. The drawer on her desk was sitting upside-down in the center of the room, even the ink pot and quill thrown aside and spilled. She ran to the back room, seeing it in a similar state, the wood horse statue overturned and thrown next to two bundles of rope that sat in the corner.
At the very back of the room tossing books left and right were two strongly-built earth ponies with red masks over their mouths. As Twilight entered, they looked at her, startled by her presence. One of them made a move at her with a length of rope. While caught off guard by the aggressiveness, she reacted quickly, magicking the rope back around on him. As she did so, the partner tossed the book he was holding, hitting her on the head. As she was stunned, the two ponies bolted, shattering a window as they made their escape to the streets below. Twilight ran after them, looking out of the shattered window with a mixture of anger and confusion. "What was that all about?"
A muffled noise came from the two rope bundles in the corner. Twilight walked over, seeing green spines poking out of one. Worried, she untied the bundles, releasing Spike and Owlowiscious from their bonds Spike jumped up, hugging her tightly as Owlowiscious returned to his perch. "Oh Twilight! It was terrible! They came in while I was trying to make your breakfast and they just started ransacking the place! There wasn't anything I could do!"
Twilight hugged him back, shushing him. "There there, Spike, everything's okay now. Did you get any information from them? Who they are? Where they're from?"
Spike shook his head. "Nothing. I heard one of them say something about a file, but that's it."
Twilight stiffened where she stood. "A file?" Spike nodded. Twilight trembled with anger. "That is it! I'm not waiting any longer. Those ponies are getting what's coming to them!" She ran over to the writing desk, levitating a piece of parchment, a quill, and a new bottle of ink from where they were strewn around the room.
She put quill to parchment, preparing to write when the door opened, Rainbow Dash flying in. "They came back! Those ponies tried to attack me again!" Behind Rainbow walked in all of Twilight's friends, each looking equally angry.
"I found those meanies in the bakery! There was frosting everywhere! It was a waste of good sugar!"
"All of the animals warned me about them. I asked one of the bears to lead them away."
"My Boutique was in shambles! All of those dresses, torn and strewn about. It was the worst possible thing to ever happen!"
"They almost pinned us down at the Acres! Big Mac had to come in and show 'em what for! I tied 'em up, but they got out somehow."
Twilight frowned at her friends. "Yeah, they were rummaging through my house too. This is the last straw. I'm sending my letter to Princess Celestia. The Equirer is going to have the royal guard to deal with." The quill whipped across the paper, the letter forming rapidly beneath it. "With all of us testifying they're going to be shut down immediately. The Princess won't possibly let them continue even for a day after attacking her student!" The quill tapped the final punctuation in place, then the parchment folded itself up and sealed itself. "Spike! Send it!"
Spike grabbed the paper, torching it with his fire breath and sending it out in a flurry of green fire and ash. "It's on its way!"
Twilight smiled to the rest of the ponies. "There we go! It looks like this is all finally over."
Pinkie bounced next to her. "I hope so! It's getting hard to stock all of these parties! So many ponies to feed!"
Rarity looked at her funnily. "Really? That's where you complaint came from? Not the mobs or the rumors, but the food?"
Pinkie looked at her like she was crazy. "The Equirer is a good magazine! Why would I be angry with its fans?"
Rarity looked about to let loose a storm when Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don' bother Rare. You know she's a few apples short of a bushel."
"Ow!" Pinkie jumped up, looking at her left front hoof. "Ow ow ow ow stop stop stop stop owwwwwwwwwww!" She hopped around the room holding up the hoof.
Fluttershy hovered behind her, worried. "Pinkie? What's wrong?"
She hopped in place, spinning round and round. "My knee is pinchy! My knee is really really pinchy! Owwww!"
Applejack's ears dropped. "Pinchy knee? Now? Here? Where's it at? When?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Applejack, why are you so worried?"
Applejack grabbed a book and dropped down to the ground, holding it over her head. "A pinchy knee means there's a fright comin'! Don' you remember yer Pinkie senses?" The other ponies all looked worried as they recalled.
Twilight walked over to Pinkie, stopping her hopping with a hoof. "Pinkie, when is this scary thing going to happen?"
Pinkie concentrated for a moment, slowly moving her leg up and down and testing her knee. "Tonight, right near nightfall." She pulled her knee up again, keeping weight off of it. "And it's a big one!"
Twilight pushed the issue. "Who's it happening to? Where will it be?"
Pinkie shook her head. "I don't know! I can't figure out the center of it!"
Spike belched to the side of the room, a scroll forming from the spout of green fire that came out. Twilight floated it over, opening it. "It's from the Princess! 'Twilight, I have read your letter, and these are very serious accusations. We can not close them down just on your rumors unsubstantiated, so I sent the head of the Equirer a letter detailing yours and your six friend's complaints and letting them know that they will be under guard investigation until proven innocent or guilty. They sent back a letter saying they would try to settle your grievances with them on their own. I will contact you again when a decision has been made.'" She dropped the letter, looking worriedly at it. "That was not what I expected."
Applejack looked puzzled. "Wait, your six friends? Who's the sixth?"
"Ink Well." Said Twilight and Pinkie in unison. Twilight looked at her, confused. "How did you know it was him?"
Pinkie shook her head. "No! That's where the feeling is centered from! Something scary is going to happen to Ink Well!"
Twilight looked at Pinkie, then at the letter. After a few moments, she folded it up. "Looks like it's time for us to help him." |
Newsworthy | Final Print | The sudden explosion of noise woke Rose and Ink Well from their slumber, causing each to fall from, and in Rose's case through, their bed. One moment the only noise was the breathing of the two ponies on their separate beds, Ink Well on the burgundy sheets and Rose on a brand new bed formed of the softest cloud, and the next moment held the flash and bang of magic and the chattering of seven voices all talking at once. Rose pulled herself up, her wings unfolding from where they'd crumpled beneath her and silencing the room with their beauty. As the other five ponies and the dragon in the room stared at Rose's wings, Ink Well turned to Twilight, yawning widely. "Good morning Ms. Sparkle. What brings you by so early?"
Twilight looked flustered from her effort. "Early? We've been trying to get here for hours, but the fanponies swarmed us when we tried to walk here, and losing them was difficult."
Ink Well examined her and the others, all of them a little worse for wear apart from Rarity, who managed to look pristine, and Fluttershy, who managed to somehow pull off the 'chased by fans' look. "Well you don't look too bad. But that doesn't answer my question."
Pinkie Pie was the first to snap out of the charm of the magic wings, appearing at Ink Well's side . "You need to watch out! My knee is pinchy!" She picked it up and showed it to him, waving her knee before his eyes.
Ink Well watched the leg move, no clue as to what was going on. "Um... I'm sorry?"
Pinkie put down her leg, jamming her face into his. "No! But you will be! Tonight, here!"
He backed up, removing himself from the cotton candy pink pony and nodding. "Uh-huh..." He looked towards the other ponies in the room, reaching for a lifeline. "Can somepony translate? I seem to be missing the important bit."
Pinkie jumped to his side, grabbing him and pulling him close. "You are! You need to get out of here now, before the knee strikes!" Ink Well strained under the vice like grip of Pinkie's hoof, his ribs aching from the pressure.
Applejack was his savior, pulling Pinkie off of him. "What she's tryin' to say is her Pinkie sense is goin' off, and it's goin' wild around you."
Ink Well rubbed his side. "Pinkie sense? What's a Pinkie sense?"
Twilight stepped next to him. "It's a supernatural reaction unique to Pinkie that can foresee the future. The pinchy knee variant indicated that something 'scary' is going to happen." He gave her a puzzled look, and she just shook her head. "Don't question it, it works too often to be coincidence."
Ink Well looked skeptical. "I see.. so why's it going off around me?"
Twilight took a step away, nervously kicking at the floor. "I may have caused it... Ponies broke into our home this morning, and since I finished my preparations I sent the Princess my list of complaints and my formal request for a trial and the closure of the Equirer. Here's the response." She magicked a scroll with the royal seal before him.
Carefully he unfurled it, curious eyes running over the Princess's writing. Halfway through he groaned, speaking to the paper. "Oh, don't send them a letter..." He looked up at Twilight. "Great, they know I'm here now, don't they?" Twilight nodded. "Didn't you send her your files? Some sort of proof?"
Twilight shook her head. "It's customary to send the information after the guards complete their investigation, so as not to bias them. It is important that the suspect is thought innocent until proven guilty."
Ink Well's brow furrowed. "What idiot came up with that rule? We have the proof! They ARE guilty!" He sighed. "Okay, some of the damage is done, but maybe we can close them down before whatever it is happens. Can you send them the proof from here?"
Twilight nodded. "I suppose I could... Spike, did you bring the file?"
Spike ran up behind her, holding the file in one hand and saluting with the other. "Yes ma'am! I kept it in my possession at all times, just as you asked!"
"Good, take a letter." Spike pulled out a quill and piece of parchment, preparing to write as Twilight dictated. "'Dear Princess Celestia, though it goes against the customs of investigation, I am afraid that I must send you the information for the case now and ask that you take it into consideration that you close down the National Equirer's offices. If what I have found is true, then it is dangerous to allow them to continue to operate, even under Royal Guard watch. I eagerly await your response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.'" She watched Spike write down the last few words, looking to her for further instruction. She in turn turned to Ink Well. "Was that acceptable?"
Ink Well nodded. "Sounded good enough to me."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. "And are you sure about this? It's fairly severe to go against the customs of the court."
Ink Well shrugged. "It'd be more severe were something to happen. Send the file and let's get it over with."
Applejack looked at him worriedly. "That's all yer gonna do about this? A letter? You ain't preparing of freakin' out or nuthin'?"
Ink Well turned to her, a smirk on his face. "What am I going to prepare for? I have no clue what they'd try, if they were to try anything. And the last thing you want to do is panic. That never solves anything. Twilight, send that letter."
"You heard the colt, Spike." Twilight nodded to her assistant, who took the letter and the file and vaporized them with his dragon flame. The smoke remaining swirled from the room through a window, flying quickly towards Canterlot. "There we go. Message sent. If I weren't her student I don't think I'd be able to get away with this, I'll have you know."
Ink Well smiled. "I'm willing to take that risk. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go downstairs and work on some things. I'll be there if you need me." He limped over to the stairs, taking them carefully down and out of the sight of the other ponies, most of whom stared at him in disbelief.
Rarity was the first to say something. "Is he crazy? We come here with a warning and he just brushes it off like it's nothing. He doesn't even have the decency to be scared at the right time."
Rainbow hovered above her, looking a bit happier with the turn of events. "Hey, at least he has the right idea. Instead of waiting around for the guards, we push a little and get results! That's more like it!"
Applejack pushed up her hat, looking up at Rainbow, then eyeing the stairwell. "Yeah, well, you weren't one to go against bending the rules. I think he's pushin' things."
Pinkie sat on the floor, thinking. "He didn't listen to my warning..." She popped into the air. "Oh! Maybe I should have come of with a song! That always gets everypony's attention!" She then spent the next few minutes hopping around and trying out lyrics. "They're coming to get you! It's gonna be a zoo! And if I were you, running is what I'd do! No, too many Oo's, needs more Ee's..."
Twilight and Fluttershy both looked at the stairs, Twilight in continued disbelief and Fluttershy in concern. "Oh, he really should take this more seriously..."
Twilight huffed. "After all the trouble to get here, he goes and asks me to blow off Canterlot Court tradition. Oh, the Princess is going to kill me..."
Rose watched the assembled ponies for a little while, apparently forgotten in the room once again, before clearing her throat, drawing their attention. "Since you are all here, feel free to make yourselves at home. Again. I've got to get to work restocking from the big rush yesterday, but I don't think you need me up here, do you?" The girls each shook their heads, apart from Pinkie who was far too distracted with her lyrics to notice Rose had asked a question. "Alright. Have a good time. If you need anything, you know where I'll be." With considerably less attitude than Ink Well had managed to put into his limping, Rose made her own way down the stairs, leaving the six ponies and dragon to their own devices. ---
Ink Well sat at the work desk, pencil in mouth and an unsure look on his face. Beneath him was a piece of paper, the pencil wavering slowly above it. Rose walked in, seeing him concentrating, and was about to ask about it before stopping herself. With the concentration going into this, it had to be important. Carefully the pencil hit the paper, pressing in and dragging over it. Ink Well looked down at the page, a smile edging his mouth as he repeated the process, faster this time. When that was successful, he continued, writing across the page at an ever increasing pace until he flew down the page, filling it in mere moments.
When he hit the bottom, he looked up to see Rose watching him, a smile on her face. He put down the pencil and held up the paper, grinning widely. "Would you look at that? I'm back! Just needed a few days to toughen up, I guess."
Rose read down the paper. The writing was messy and shaky, but it was definitely there. "You just push yourself too hard." She walked into the room, starting up the machines halfheartedly. "Ugh, there always seems to be a problem, doesn't there? And when the bed was so comfy too..."
Ink Well nodded, leaning back in the chair. "Ah, cloud beds... they've got me through many a bad time, and inspired me to quite a few stories. It really is a shame you only have three days with those beauties on your back, there's so much more to wings than flight, it's going to be hard cramming that in."
Rose sighed. "Especially if today is going to be taken up by something scary. Though I've already experienced so much more than I ever thought I would..." She looked over at Ink Well, whose smile had faded. "You're not worried about the knee, are you?"
Ink Well's head jerked towards her, like he'd forgotten she was there. "What? Oh! Nah, not in the least. We're taking care of it, no problems here, no way. I mean, it's just Pinkie Pie. She's just being weird, she does that. I haven't known her for long and I already know that."
Rose shrugged as she prepped a machine. "I don't know. Her Pinkie Sense seems to be fairly accurate from what I can tell. It's one of those things that you learn to follow when you live out here."
Ink Well laughed, brushing it off. "Well, yeah, but it's a superstition thing. It's not real, right?" His smile started to look forced, a little uncertainty in his eyes. "...right?"
As they flew last night, Rose felt a confidence returning to Ink Well that had been missing since the accident, but now it was waning. He was trying to put up a strong front, but he needed support or it was going to crumble again. She nodded. "Right. Not real at all. Nothing to worry about. You've already got this taken care of with your challenging the system." She smiled playfully as she said this, waving her hooves around like she was telling a ghost story. "You're shaking the very foundations of society! It's the end of an era! Run, you weak-willed ponyfolk, from the change caused by the mighty Ink Well! It will be anarchy under his pen!"
Ink Well walked over to her, bumping her with a hoof. "Knock it off. I'm no world shaker, just a pony with a bit of common sense. You'd be amazed how rare that is."
Rose nodded, going over in her head the moment when she'd first acquired it in front of Rarity's Boutique. "It's a gift, given out by those who have it and only then to those who listen." She looked over at Ink Well, seeing him thinking deeply about something, a worried expression on his face. She decided to change the subject. "Hey, how about instead of moping over there you do something useful? I could use a hoof setting up the stills."
Ink Well looked puzzled. "Isn't restocking the store what you were doing when I left yesterday?"
Rose shook her head. "Nah, I wasn't in the right mood. Any scent I made would have come out a little sour. I was reading just before you came in."
"Ah." Ink Well's eyes glanced at the paper on his desk, then the stairs of the room before returning to her standing by the big ornate brass machine, his emerald eyes taking in the options. He shrugged. "Sure, why not? Never hurts to learn something new."
Rose's smile brightened. "Excellent. Let's get started." ---
The two of them worked downstairs, Rose putting Ink Well through the ropes of how the machines worked and how perfumes were made, and for his part Ink Well was very interested, taking in what she said and trying his best to operate them when prompted. After her perfume finished, Rose offered to let Ink Well try a hoof at making his own, letting him put it together while she finished the final touches on what she'd created.
Upstairs the other ponies entertained themselves, Rarity and Pinkie finding a few board games in a cupboard and playing those while Applejack kept the antsy Rainbow busy with small physical challenges. Twilight went over Rose's bookcase, not finding anything she hadn't read but still finding something to take her mind off the rest of the world. Fluttershy came downstairs for a little while, but seeing Ink Well and Rose busy, went back up, instead spending her time talking with Spike, who seemed rather bored.
As the afternoon began to deepen, Ink Well stood next to the mixer, waiting for the machine to finish. He watched the timer ticking away, unable to help but tap a hoof excitedly on the ground. "Huh, I never knew waiting for a machine could be so agonizing! How do you do it?"
Rose smiled. "You just have to be patient. You can't rush the machine, especially at this stage.
Combine them to fast and the scent will dissipate, too slowly and the notes will be all wrong. Just let it do it's work. It's only a few minutes from completion."
"A few minutes? It feels like I've been by this brass beast for hours." He looked at the still, a random thought sparking in his head. "Did you know that brass is a special metal when it comes to magic?"
Rose raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"
"It acts like a mirror, rebounding magical energies off of it. I learned about it when I did a story about UFOs far in the north. I went out to this monastery where unicorn monks sat inside a giant cone of brass pointed to the sky, searching for thaumatergical readings on other planets." He tapped the machine, smiling at his golden reflection. "It's not something most ponies think about, but unicorns actually have a lot of trouble with trinkets or instruments with too much of the metal in them, often needing a different focal point all together if they want to use magic."
Rose tilted her head, thinking about it. "Huh. You know, that probably explains why the Canterlot stills are all silver. I think the entire place was run by unicorns."
"Makes sense to me." Ink Well turned around, seeing her fit perfectly in her surroundings of pipes and brass fixtures between these machines, lights reflecting and playing strangely off of them and giving everything a warm glow despite their harsh nature. As he waited, a question came to mind. "So how did you end up a perfumer? Why do you do it?"
Rose looked stumped when the question hit her, like it was something she hadn't considered before. "How did I end up...? Well... I always liked flowers and stuff, but it didn't really hit me until the class trip to Canterlot. While the others all went off to play in the flower garden, I found myself drawn from the smells emanating from the Royal Perfumery. As I wandered between the giant silver distilleries with their intricate, beautiful designs, one particular scent swirled around me... To this day, I remember it, so beautiful, but with such subtleties and hidden notes that its complexity still astounds me." She stared at her distillery, smiling as she was enraptured by the memory. "I was entranced, just stuck sniffing the air like a dog... Next thing I knew a Royal Guard was escorting me outside, still lost in my own world. I was led to everypony else in the garden, the whole class laughing at me when I showed up under watch, and I was told not to wander off again. I tried to enjoy the flowers myself, but... I couldn't anymore. Their scent was nothing compared to what I'd just experienced. And it was then that it hit me. Flowers are beautiful, but they are temporary. Two days, a week tops, then the flowers wilt and the smell is gone. But smell is such a strong sense! That scent from the perfumery will be with me forever. Every truly powerful memory a pony has is linked to every sense, smell included, so I'm trying to give ponies a memory they'll have forever." She finished her story, returning to the real world slowly a smile on her face. She looked over at Ink Well, blushing when she saw him smirking at her. "What?"
"And you said I was the corny one." A buzzer on the machine went off, the blending of the scents complete. Excited, Ink Well slipped over to the hatch, flipping it open and hurriedly removing the beaker full of his concoction. As it was moved from the collector and into the open air, a stench resembling rusty oranges seeped in moss exploded forth, stunning the two occupants of the room. Ink Well found himself trying to run, throwing the container into the air where it tumbled in slow motion. Thinking quickly, Rose leaped forward, barely managing to stop it from shattering on the stone floor. She flew over to the stoppers, corking the vial and freeing the room from extended exposure to the stench.
Her eyes watering she ran over to the ventilation fans, tuning them on and opening the vents as wide as possible. Slowly the room cleared while she walked over to the stairs, coughing away the smell that still burned her nose. "Geez! What did you put in there?"
Ink Well extricated himself from the tangle of pipes he'd hid behind to avoid the smell, his own eyes watering. When he was finally free he turned to Rose looking embarrassed. "Well... I was trying to make it smell like the storm over the Everfree, so there was a rusty nail for that metallic smell from the lightning strike, citrus for the energy from it, and the mustiest chunk of wood I could find for the forest. I thought it was just as easy as putting them all together..."
Rose looked worriedly from the murky bottle to her machines, starting to realize the work that would have to go into cleaning them. With that description she was surprised he she hadn't heard more banging from them. She sighed. "That's an... interesting way of thinking about it, but it's not quite that simple. The subtleties of smell are powerful, and getting all the notes correct would be... Well, I'm not even sure I could do that!" She looked at him looking down at the floor like a wounded puppy and stopped. "But that was a valiant first try! If I went for that on my first go, I wouldn't have done any better. I had to start a lot easier: just a simple floral base. I'll let you take a wild stab at the flower." Ink Well still didn't look too happy, so she decided to change the subject, putting down the offending beaker. "Hey, we'll try again, and I'll help you out this time. It'll turn out great!"
Ink Well shook his head, distracted. "No, I'd just mess it up again. Thanks for the offer. I'm not thinking straight anyway... Maybe I should..." He limped quickly to the stairs, looking sadly up them, then back at her.
Rose shooed him off with a hoof, turning back to the machines. "Go on. You've every right to be worried."
Ink Well nodded thankfully before hobbling up the stairs, finding the six ponies above huddled around a scroll Twilight was floating between them. She glanced at him, smiling and motioning him over. "Ink Well, I think your plan worked." She floated the letter over to him, letting him read it himself.
"'My Dearest Twilight,
Though what I read troubles me, you were right in going against tradition to send this. My only question is why did you not send it sooner?'" He smiled. "What'd I tell ya? 'At your suggestion we shall indeed be shutting down the National Equirer's offices. By the time you get this, they are to cease operating pending further investigation. Hopefully this will put your mind at ease.'" He moved from the letter, sidling next to Pinkie. "Hey, is your knee still pinching?"
Pinkie lifted up her left leg, moving it around and testing it, then jumped up, placing every hoof bur the front left in the air and balancing carefully. From here, she shook her head, limbs still sticking in all directions. "Nope. Not a bit!"
All the ponies looked relieved, none more than Ink Well. He grinned happily. "There, everything will turn out all right. Just a touch of damage mitigation and all is well."
Pinkie hopped up from where she was balancing, landing in a cartwheel that traveled across the floor. "Whee! You know what this calls for? A PARTY! Meet me at Sugarcube Corner in five minutes!"
Ink Well looked at her, confused. "Five minutes? Like from right now?"
"Yup! Had to give myself some set up time!" She rolled down the stairs, disappearing below.
Rainbow Dash shrugged as Pinkie left. "Yeah, I could go for a party."
Twilight stopped her. "Hold on, we're going to teleport. We don't want the town down on us, right?"
Rainbow looked annoyed. "Come on! Pinkie just strolled out of here! Why can't we? They'll all be at the party anyway!"
Fluttershy looked nervous at the thought. "She wouldn't do that, would she?" She looked at her friend's faces and saw their blank looks. "She would..."
Twilight sighed, exasperated. "Fine. We'll walk. I didn't have any plans today anyway. Spike, go help Owlowiscious clean up, then both of you come over, okay?"
Spike looked disappointed, but gave a half-hearted salute anyway. "You got it." With that, he too exited down the stairs.
Rarity watched him go, frowning. "Twilight, darling, you treat him too hard. Let him come to the party. He shouldn't be left out."
Twilight waved it off. "He's not being left out, he's letting Owlowiscious join in. The clean up should be done by now anyway." She walked over to the stairs, the others following her, leaving Ink Well grinning stupidly by himself in the center of the room.
Fluttershy, the tail of the group, stopped at the top of the stairs. "Are you coming Ink Well?"
He nodded. "Sure thing, I'll swing by soon. Start it without me." She smiled, then went down, passing Rose as she walked up.
Rose watched Fluttershy walk past. "Where is everypony off to?"
"Pinkie is throwing a party. You're welcome to come by." Fluttershy continued out of the shop, leaving Rose and Ink Well together.
Rose walked up next to him, crossing her hooves and leaning against the table, her wings spreading effortlessly behind her. "So, I take it the news went well if they're throwing a party for it."
Ink Well nodded, still grinning. "Yep. The Equirer's officially shut down. Nothing bad is going to happen today."
Rose smiled herself at the news. "That's great! You gonna join the party?"
"Yeah, in a moment. I'm just... I'm going to enjoy the moment. I was a little worried."
Rose raised an eyebrow, smiling playfully. "Oh? I couldn't tell."
He hopped onto the cloud bed, breathing in deeply the light floral scent hiding in the room. "But now I'm walking on air! Life is good."
He turned around to see Rose smiling too, relief on her own face. Unfortunately, his eye was drawn rather quickly from this by the red smoke appearing in the air, a piece of paper fluttering to the ground. Puzzled, he flew over to it, picking it up. It was clean and businesslike, a note with writing not fancy, not flourishing, merely crisp and clear.
As he read it, Ink Well's face went from soft and relieved to cold and hard, the paper slipping back to the floor where he stood. Rose walked up, reading the note where it sat on the floor. 'You've disturbed the serpent's nest, and she is angry.' Rose looked over at Ink Well, whose face was locked in fear. "Ink Well? You okay?"
He shook his head slowly, not looking at her. "No, no I'm not. I'm not sure whether to run or throw up..." His visibly shook where he stood, causing Rose to slowly raise a hoof to calm him down. As it connected with his shoulder, Ink Well's gaze shot to the stairs. "We have to warn the others. I've made a terrible mistake."
"What? What do you mean? You stopped the Equirer, didn't you?"
"Well yeah, but so what if I stopped the face? The shadow moves freely either way, and that shadow is going to strike here! I'm the reason the knee was pinchy, not Twilight! I made it worse."
Rose put herself in front of his face, trying to calm him down. "What are you talking about? What shadow? Why are you so freaked?"
"The Enforcers! Viper is leading a back here. 'The serpent's nest'?" He pointed to his stitches, then to the bandages and burns on him. "They did this to me, I don't want her anywhere near Ponyville. We have to warn the others. We have to warn everypony..."
Rose saw both the fear in his eyes and how serious he was, and nodded. "Okay. Let's go." ---
As soon as they exited the shop they found the town in chaos. Panicked ponies ran in every direction, screaming in fright. Ink Well and Rose were buffeted by the crowd as they made their way against the flow to Sugarcube Corner, meeting the others out front. Rose walked up to Twilight, yelling to be heard over the screams around them. "What's going on?"
Twilight shook her head. "I don't know! We just heard the screaming and came out!"
Fluttershy pointed to the center of town. "That might be why." Spiraling slowly towards the sky was thick black smoke, completely out of place in the beautiful blue sky. Everypony hurried off towards it, those that could fly by wing and the rest by hoof. Rainbow was the first to find the source, pointing the others to it: the Town Hall. The entire building was an inferno, smoke and flames billowing from all the windows.
As it came into sight for Ink Well, memories flooded unbidden to his head of his own home collapsing around him, the heat and the ash burning his lungs once more. He froze in mid air, falling from the sky. Air rushed past him and he urged his wings to flap, but nothing would move, muscles locked despite the rapidly approaching ground and mind miles from the scene.
His fall suddenly stopped, Rose catching him mere feet from the hard ground. "Ink Well, are you okay? Snap out of it!" He couldn't respond, still staring at the building, the fear on his face impossible to miss. She landed him nearby, trying to shake him out of it.
In front of the Hall, a tan earth pony with a grey mane and yellow glasses ran back and forth, calling to the ponies running away. "Please! Don't panic everypony! We need to stop the fire before it spreads!"
As she called out, Twilight and the others ran up, watching the inferno above. "Mayor! We're here! How can we help?"
The Mayor looked at her, relief on her panic stricken face. "Oh thank goodness Twilight. We need all the water we can get and nopony has been listening, they're all too scared."
Twilight nodded, looking determined. "Don't worry Mayor, I'm on it." She turned around, horn glowing and causing a similar glow to appear around her throat. When she spoke, her voice was amplified, bouncing from building to building and throughout town. "Everypony listen up! It's not going to do you any good to run! We need to get organized! Weather ponies! You go with Rainbow and get as much rain as you can, douse the fire from above. Everypony else follow Applejack and Pinkie Pie, create a bucket chain from the river and the lake." Ponies stopped in the street, their fear momentarily overtaken by their confusion. Twilight let out an exasperated sigh. "Let's move it ponies, time is of the essence!"
Slowly the ponies mobilized, a leader and a task pushing them from panic into action. As the others went off to douse the fire, Twilight ran over to Rose and Ink Well, taking the break to talk to them. "Come on, we need your help too. We need everypony's help at this."
Ink Well remained locked in place, just slowly shaking his head as the rest of his body trembled in terror. Rose looked at her, shrugging. "I don't know what happened. He just froze up. I think the fire's getting to him." She tapped him on the shoulder again, seeming to get no response.
Twilight watched him for a little while, worry showing on her face as she weighed the effort and the pony before her. She sighed. "Okay, take him somewhere else, there's not a lot I can do for him right now. When I see Nurse Redheart I'll send her your way." A loud crack came from within the building, fire pouring from a hole that appeared in the roof. Twilight spun back around, seeing the water buckets already arriving and a few small clouds forming. She ran back over, directing the flow of water and leaving Rose and Ink Well alone again.
Slowly Rose stood Ink Well up, pushing him and guiding him through the rushing ponies with buckets and watering cans and away from the noise of the fire and the brigade springing up to stop it. As they turned the corner and headed into a guarded alleyway, a group of unicorns ran up the street past them, each levitating a garden hose that trailed and snaked behind them. Mid way through the alley Ink Well locked up, refusing to move any further despite Rose's urging and nudging. Unable to get him to go, she sat him down, brow furrowed as she thought of ways to wake him up. "Come on Ink Well, come back to me. I don't know what unhappy place you've gone to in your head, but you need to walk out of it."
Ink Well still remained in his stupor, worrying Rose beyond belief as she heard yells coming from the Town Hall. "Umm... Um... Hey, once this is all over, we're going to go for a nice flight, alright? That storm is still swirling over the Everfree and last night was just so magical, I would love to see if we could top it tonight. But you have to snap out of it, okay?" She grabbed Ink Well's face, forcing him to look her in the eyes. Still the look was glazed, his mind not at all with the rest of him. Angrily, Rose let go, stomping down the alley. "I don't know if you think that this is your fault or you're in the building or what, but you have to snap out of it! Our fellow ponies are out their risking their flanks to keep that building standing, and you're just sitting here out of it. Come to your senses!" Even this did not work, Ink Well still trembling in whatever world he was in.
Disheartened, Rose drooped to the ground, sitting dejectedly before him. "Come on Ink Well... It isn't real. This isn't like you... It's very selfish what you're doing here, and I know you don't intend to, but we need you... I need you..." She sat there looking at him, pained that nothing she did was working, and ran over what to do next. The nurse was nowhere to be seen, and Ink Well obviously needed some sort of help, but it seemed to be out of her reach, and in the distance she could hear more voices calling out, more pegasi rushing overhead with each passing minute. Right here was safe, the alley at least still and shielded. But she couldn't just leave him here in this state... Something had to be done. She had to help out.
She made up her mind. With a sigh of resignation, Rose stood up. "I'm sorry, but the other ponies need me." She looked at where he was, trembling and frightened and lost of his senses in an alleyway, and couldn't keep the tears from her eyes. "I know you'll be alright, I'll tell the nurse where you are, and I'll come back as soon as everything is done. Please be safe. Please come back... You can fight this. I'm waiting for you." Before she left, she tried to set him up to be as comfortable as possible, the few things in the alley further keeping him safe from any possible intrusion or falling ash. She then stood up, flying out to join the others in stopping the flames. ---
Fire billowed around him, smoke clouding his vision, its dark thickness and heat burning his lungs on every inhale. He tried to move, struggling as he found his hooves bound behind him, each tug against the bonds sending pain shooting through a fresh wound in his side. Slowly the swirls in the smoke caused it to thin, allowing him to recognize his own bedroom as the conflagration spread. His mind raced, one thing on it. 'Escape.'
Slowly he repeated the process from before, rocking the chair back and forth until he could stand on his own two hooves. But the chair seemed made of lead, the rocking doing little but straining his muscles. Part of him demanded he give up, but a small voice, barely a smoky whisper in his head kept urging him on. 'Come on you coward, run. Move.' With a herculean effort, Ink Well managed to tip the chair forward, balancing on his lower hooves as the first obstacle was passed.
'Go! You must be free!' Urged the voice, Ink Well carrying the weight behind him as he trudged forward, legs buckling from the pressure. The flames slowly rose, licking at his hooves. ---
Rose landed at the Town Hall to find the chains working surprisingly well. Despite all the different ponies working, almost half of them not actual members of Ponyville, Twilight managed to whip them into a cohesive team. Still, she seemed to be highly stressed as she ran between groups, talking to whoever the spokespony was at the time. Rose landed behind her, the heat and the breeze from the fire drying out her magical wings. "Twilight! How can I help?"
Twilight turned around, hair a mess as she looked over a clipboard that floated in front of her. She sat down in the middle of the street, smacking her forehead with a hoof. "No! No! NO! The numbers aren't adding up! We should have almost a third more ponies here if the whole town and all the visitors helped! Where are the others?" She looked up to see Rose landing and smiled. "Oh good! One more off the list. Did Redheart ever meet you? Or Tenderheart?"
Rose shook her head. "No, nopony came, but I had to help out. What can I do?"
Twilight looked at her, assessing her in an instant before making her decision. "You need to join in with the lake chain. There's a fair bit of difficult terrain that we really need fliers to speed up."
Rose nodded, taking to the skies and following the trail of ponies toward the lake.
Twilight looked at her clipboard, flipping over the pages and getting increasingly agitated. "That's another two ponies missing from the chain that's unaccounted for! Where are they all going? Spike! Can you and Owlow..." She looked around, only noticing that her assistant was still missing in all of the commotion. "Darn it Spike, not you too! Where are you?" ---
The walk from one end of the low-ceilinged room to the other had never felt this long before. Perhaps it was the weight, or the smoke, or the blood slipping from his side and splattering the chains around his waist, but Ink Well was ready to collapse, and the frame on the wall seemed no closer than it had been a hundred steps ago. Flames licked at his hooves and fur, burning deeply every time they did and slowly creeping up his legs. Despite the tears in his eyes from the smoke, he could see his off-white fur being rapidly replaced by the crimson red of burned flesh. His body quaked with wooziness and fatigue, wanting above all else to collapse and end it all.
And still inside came the little voice, a wraith-like growl now stronger than before. 'Fly! Escape! The flames are nothing for the darkness that follows them! You are a coward! Flee! Never stop!' With each yell of a whisper the voice gave him power, driving him to continue though his body wanted to give way. Under its suggestion he made it to the hole in the floor, teetering as he looked into the roiling inferno below. 'Go! Fly free!' Urged the voice.
*It isn't real.* came another, much softer voice, the sweet tones inaudible over the roar of the fire and the words of the other. Ink Well's ear flicked just for a moment, confusion touching his brow for just a second.
'Jump!' The command was yelled through his head, his hoof acting of its own accord and stepping into the pit, sending him tumbling into the fires below. ---
Twilight ran between the pegasi, calling up to the skies. "Can you move the water any faster? Just a little more and we could keep the roof from reigniting! Get that done and the rest will be a snap!"
Rainbow zoomed down, hovering before her. "We're going as fast as we can, but ponies keep turning up missing. I'm already running triple time trying to cover the others!"
Twilight frowned, quill ready to mark down the change on her clipboard. "Missing? Who is? Where are they going?"
Rainbow shook her head, visibly angry. "I don't know, but I'm going to kick their flank when I find out! We're only at a third our normal numbers and dropping fast. Wherever those chickens are going, they better hope I don't find them." With that she shot back into the sky, rainbow trail evaporating behind her in the heat.
Twilight looked down at her clipboard, noting the ever increasing amount of missing ponies, now almost half the town. "This isn't good. Whatever is going on, it needs to stop and fast." ---
Ink Well landed hard on the floor below, the crushing weight of the chair and chains pinning him to the ground. Through the ring of fire slowly encroaching on him he could see the front door. He feebly tried to reach out a hoof, but all was still chained, the chair intact despite the fall. His vision weakened as he sat there, smoke and heat and weight finally getting to him.
Now a roar, the burnt voice in his head urged on. 'Move! Up! Go! Escape!' it chanted, and with each word a little more energy flowed into him. Unknown sources of power unlocked within his muscles, causing him to slowly crawl himself from the pile of weight and chains. He wrenched himself free, chains slipping off and chafing, pulling at his burned body before simply falling away. As the chant reached a fever pitch he was freed, landing in a heap among the burned floorboards of his house.
*We need you.* The other voice came again, speaking steadily and ringing around him with its tone. As he heard it, Ink Well pushed himself from the floor, a soothing calm seeming to wash over him amidst the fire and fear within. He stood up, the fires seeming not to touch him as he stood within his collapsing house. *I need you.* The fatigue seemed to leave his body as he walked towards the door, the fire's roar barely a murmur in his ears. As he reached the door, he looked outside. *Just walk out of there.* A pony stood, waiting, inviting, offering him a hoof in support.
A strong updraft brightened the flames, illuminating Viper before the house, a twisted, wicked grin on her face. All at once the fire returned, burning him once more to his waist and still spreading. With it returned the dark voice, a scream in his head. 'Run! She is too strong!' Ink Well placed his hooves to his ears, trying to dampen the noise engulfing him, his head throbbing from the screams. 'Move! Escape! Run! Death!' One hoof to his head and fire catching on every hair on his body, he tried to turn back into the house.
A horrible crash, falling debris, and the house was gone. ---
Part of the roof collapsed on the Town Hall, causing a couple ponies to scatter from within the building. Most of the fire was gone from outside, but within there were still large problem pockets that had to be solved by the bucket chains working at double speed. "Is everypony alright? Did we all get out?" A quick head count confirmed that nopony had been trapped inside and the buckets resumed their motions. Twilight looked haggard, but was glad that it was almost over.
As she moved to check on the other side of the building, Pinkie galloped up to her. "Twilight! We've got a problem!" Seeing that Pinkie wasn't bouncing, Twilight knew it had to be important. "What? What is it?"
"We've got four ponies missing from the chain! They were here all the way through and now they're just gone! All at the same time!"
"What? Four? Were they all together?"
"No, they were all in different areas. Do you think something got them?"
"I'm starting to think so... Just try to fill in the holes as best as you can. We're almost done." Pinkie ran back off to her group, leaving Twilight to look at her list. The numbers were starting to look dismal. She turned back to the burning building, the smoke much thinner than it had been to start, and frowned. "I've got a very bad feeling about this." ---
All was fire. Everything around and including Ink Well was completely engulfed in flames. With every breath, his throat burned a little more, shortly making it impossible to even breathe. He knelt before the door, the only recognizable thing, wings outspread, seemingly unburnt by sheer force of will. Screaming in his head came the dark voice, so loud it seemed it would burst from its confines. 'DEATH! RUN YOU IDIOT! ESCAPE!' He tried to remove a hoof, reaching for the door to open it. As he did, the voice's strength redoubled, sending him back to the floor with its cries. 'DANGER! TOO WEAK! RUN!'
Ink Well's hooves squeezed his head tightly, trying to keep the voice out. As the agony built up until all he could do was scream himself.
*You can fight this* Came the other voice, resonating throughout him. As it did, the pain dulled once more, everything but him and the door disappearing. His resolve strengthened, allowing him to stand. When he did, he looked out the window to see Viper waiting once more.
His resolve failed. "I can't. She's too strong." Everything came back, the noise deafening and the fire engulfing him completely, only the tips of his wings remaining somehow untouched. Still the fire pushed on him further, sucking the very air from him with its heat.
*Come to your senses. This is not real.* Ink Well felt the fires, felt the burning, the cut in his side, the fatigue from the chains... they all weighed on him, every sensation purely real. He shook his head, trying to focus on the soothing voice even as everything screamed at him. Just a hint, just a hope that this was fake! He collapsed to the floor, unable to take it any longer.
Lilacs. As he curled up on the ground, the soothing smell of lilacs touched his nose, completely foreign in the swirling fires. Slowly the pain dissipated, the noises fading to nothing. The fire receded, first his wings, then his body, and finally his surroundings slowly became hospitable, the charred rubble cool and dead. As the fire left, he stood, his injuries changing from the burns of his mind to the bandages of reality, and he found himself staring through a doorway once more. No longer did it lead to his old lawn, but instead it was Ponyville, with Rose outside offering a hoof, a smile on her face.
Smiling back, Ink Well accepted, walking with her into the Ponyville air. As he did, the land faded, leaving only Ink Well and Rose floating in a sea of clouds. The soothing voice returned, coming from the pony before him, its original source. "Now snap out of it. I'm waiting for you."
Ink Well found himself laying in the alleyway, nose pressed to his hoof where the strong smell of lilacs still imbued the bandages. He pushed himself up, finding it surprisingly easy after the ordeal he'd just experienced, his body full of energy and his mind sharp. He could see the last vestiges of smoke coming from the Town Hall, so he took to the air, finally ready to do his part. ---
When Ink Well landed, the fire was put out, the few smoldering embers that remained being kicked aside and carefully doused. The Town Hall was scorched and charred, but most of it stood, just two large chunks missing from the ceiling. In front of the building the Mayor was avidly shaking Twilight's hoof, thanking her for her skills in getting the fire taken care of. Twilight herself looked a bit frazzled, but was otherwise happily accepting her thanks. Around them was a ring of ponies, each with small bits of ash in their fur and each glad at mostly preserving the building. Ink Well landed to the edge of the crowd next to a beautiful pair of butterfly wings. He tapped the owner on the shoulder, causing the tired Rose to turn. He smiled at her. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."
Rose smiled back, joy radiating from her eyes. "Not at all. You're right on time."
They both turned to the front as the last ember was put out, Rainbow Dash waving down to Twilight, who pulled her hoof from the Mayor's and turned to the crowd. "Well done everypony! The town is saved! Now if you could, in an orderly fashion kindly-"
"Twi! Twi! Where's Redheart, we got an emergency!" Applejack galloped through the crowd, making her way to her friend. "Big Mac's hurt!"
Twilight's head snapped to Applejack, disbelief on her features. "What?!"
"Me 'n Big Mac were pullin' together a few more buckets a water for safety when we got jumped by some ponies with red scarves! We managed to fight 'em off, but Big Mac was hit bad. You seen Redheart?"
"No, I haven't. I haven't seen her since-"
"Is there a doctor in town?!" A silver furred unicorn ran into the crowd, panic and worry wreathing his features. A murmur ran through the crowd, with him at the center. "There are four ponies that look like they got beat up real bad in a house back there! Does anypony know where the doctor is?"
Twilight turned to face the stallion, trying to keep him calm. "She appears to be missing right now, but as soon as we find her we'll be sure to-"
"Eek!" Yelped Fluttershy as she backpedaled from the door of a nearby building. She bolted behind Twilight, putting her friend between her and the offending opening.
Twilight looked down at her hiding friend. "What happened?"
"I heard some groaning, so I looked inside the house and I... I... I think I found the nurses." Twilight ran through the crowd, a path opening up so that she could look inside the building. A pile of ponies lay within, most of the quiet or moaning slightly, all of them showing bruises and wounds as though their heads had been struck. Laying in the center of them were the nurses Redheart and Tenderheart, completely still apart from their breathing.
Twilight turned back to see the crowd of ponies trying to peer into the house, seeing curiosity turning to fear on the more forward faces. "Uh... Applejack, why don't you-?"
"FIRE!" From the other side of the Town Hall came the cry, Lily and Daisy running away, pointing behind them. "The residential section is on fire! Help! It's going to spread!"
The crowd began to panic, a chaotic tangle of bodies as they tried to stampede in every direction at once. Twilight and her friends stood in the center, trying to calm everypony down to little effect. Fear was setting back in, and with the fatigue from their previous efforts, nopony was willing to stop or listen.
Amid the cacophony of screams and running hooves, a metallic banging went up, loud and steady and piercing over the entire crowd. Slowly it drew their attention, all eyes turning to the source of the sound. Standing at the front doors to the town hall, braced hoof banging against a metal fastener, was Ink Well. He had on a serious look, causing those who looked at him to quiet down. When the noise was low enough, he began to speak, voice projecting clearly over the amassed crowd.
"Calm down everypony and think clearly! Panicking will not solve anything, it's exactly what they want us to do. Ponyville is under attack." He could feel the crowd getting restless, mouths opening to ask for answers, and he cut them off. "They are called the Enforcers, and all I can say for sure is they mark themselves with red kerchiefs to mask their faces. They are a highly trained force, and I know that I am the reason they are attacking." He could feel the anger surging through the crowd and again cut them off before they could go too far. "You may do whatever you want to me after tonight. Run me out on a rail, banish me, beat me, I don't care, but right now, we need to work together or the whole town is going to be destroyed."
"But we're not from this town!" Came an enraged call from the mob. "Why would they attack us?"
"Because you're here. They don't care who gets hurt at this point. They made that abundantly clear when they burned the Town Hall and knocked out the ponies as they worked. And I'm sure they have plans to do much worse, which is why we have to work together! Just band with me until the fighting is over, then you may all go your separate ways. Now the rules are easy. One: nopony is ever alone. A solitary pony is a target. Two: nopony panics. Panic is the enemy, it makes us not think straight and plays into their hooves. Three: nopony dies. You are to survive at all costs, you hear me, and you aren't to kill them unless you have no other option. So far they have done us the same courtesy. Everypony got that?" A grudging acceptance came from the crowd, laced with fear and a disdain targeted towards Ink Well.
He felt it wash over him, accepting the blame as well as the leadership role. He sighed. "Good. We ARE going to get through this, I swear it. Now anypony who still has water in their bucket get on that new fire. Groups of no less than three, got that? Applejack will make sure you're all safe. Anypony with medical experience, go with Fluttershy and care for the wounded. The medical tent should still be up and empty right now. All you weather ponies and any other pegasi who can help, there's a storm over the Everfree, if we move it over town then the fire is guaranteed not to spread and attacks are less likely. Nopony wants to be out in the rain. When all of this is down, get yourself to defendable houses and keep yourselves safe. Now let's go, ponies! The fire isn't going to stop itself!" The crowds began to split, ponies heading to their tasks in fearful clumps.
Before they could get too far, Ink Well called over Twilight and Rainbow Dash. "Twilight, we're going to need the Royal Guards in here. I need you to write a letter to the Princess requesting their help. It's urgent."
Twilight shook her head. "I can't send the message. Spike's been missing since I sent him off. Oh, I never should have..."
"Twilight, no time for that. I'm sure he'll be fine. Just write the letter, we've got the fastest pony in Equestria to deliver it." Twilight still looked worried, but got to work writing on her clipboard anyway. As she did, Ink Well turned to Rainbow. "How fast can you get to Canterlot?"
Rainbow looked over at the mountain where Canterlot stood silhouetted against the sky, far in the distance. "Ten minutes going my fastest."
Ink Well nodded. "Okay, then we only have to hold up for about an hour before the guards get here, if everything goes well. I need you to fly there, deliver the letter, and get back as fast as you can. You'll be needed here."
As Twilight wrote, Rose came up the steps. "Ink Well, where should I go? Who should I help?"
Ink Well pointed her towards the stormy clouds, thunder rumbling low at this distance. "Go help the weather ponies with the Everfree. You're probably the only one that will be willing to fly over it with Rainbow gone, and they're going to need a brave face." Rose nodded, flapping her wings and taking off. As she turned to leave, Ink Well tapped her hoof. "Be safe out there. Whatever you do, don't get hurt."
Rose smiled at him. "I won't. But don't you go ignoring your own advice." She hurried off,, well on her way as Twilight finished the letter, rolling it up with her magic and flying it to Rainbow. She grabbed it in her mouth, saluted, and took off, a rainbow streak across the sky.
As soon as she was gone, Ink Well turned to Twilight. "You keep in charge of the others. You did a wonderful job of that before, and I don't think I can do any better than you."
"What are you talking about? You played that crowd like a violin! How'd you do it?"
Ink Well sighed. "I just told them the truth. They hate me. They'll need a leader they can like. That will be your job."
Twilight looked confused. "What about you? What will you be doing?"
Ink Well shook his head. "I've got a bad feeling about Rosewater right now. They knew I was there, I need to make sure it's still standing."
Twilight stomped a hoof in front of him. "By yourself? No way. I'm coming with you. Applejack can keep in charge until I get back."
"But-"
"You said it yourself. No going off alone. Now lead the way." Reluctantly Ink Well and Twilight moved from the Town Hall, keeping a keen eye out for movement and possible attack positions, yet nothing came during the short walk, not a hint of strife or a single sight from the corner of the eye. Ink Well spent the entire time looking around, a feeling in the back of his mind like he was being watched, but in the end the pair arrived safely at the shop door. Behind them, storm clouds rolled in, shepherded by the weather ponies into position over the town.
As Ink Well opened the door amidst a light drizzle, two pegasi descended rapidly towards them, a red gleam shining on their chests. Ink Well ducked quickly through the door, peeking out and signaling Twilight to follow. She just shook her head, laughing at him. "Don't worry, it's the Royal Guard!" As the pair of pegasi landed, pristine white coats, their gleaming gold armor with the red crystal armor latches catching the remaining sunlight, Ink Well stepped back outside, his fear dampened.
They both landed strongly, the blue tails and plumes on their helmets waving in the breeze, a stark contrast to the grim looks on their faces. They both stepped forward in unison, walking towards the two on the stairs, and the one on the right spoke. "Miss Sparkle, come with us. We need to know what you want us to do."
Twilight quickly stepped towards them, Ink Well stopping her at the top of the steps. "Hold on, what are you two doing here? We didn't call for anypony."
Twilight turned on him, surprised. "What are you-?" Ink Well placed a hoof on her mouth, silencing her and giving her a serious look.
The guard's face didn't move. "We were in the area and ran into Rainbow Dash as she went to Canterlot. She said that our help was needed in Ponyville. Is that not the case?"
Twilight removed Ink Well's hoof from her mouth, glaring at him before walking over the the guards. "No sirs, we do need you, Ink Well is just being paranoid. Most of the town is attending to a burning buildings right now, and if you could make sure they were safe that would be most appreciated."
The guard nodded. "Of course madam. Could you show us the way? With the coming storm and not knowing the town we don't want to get lost."
Twilight looked at them, then back at Ink Well. "Can you not follow the smoke?" She looked back at the town, the cloud cover and light rain cutting vision too far away. She looked nervously from Ink Well to the guards. "I could point you out the way, but I don't want to leave Ink Well alone. A lone pony is in danger right now."
The other guard stepped forward, saluting. "I will stand guard with him, if you would like. He can then lead me in the correct direction when he is done with what he is doing."
Twilight looked up at Ink Well, herself not seeming fully convinced with the situation. "Is this alright, Ink Well?"
Ink Well looked at the two guards, attributing his uneasy feeling to paranoia like Twilight said. "I suppose. I really don't need a guard, I'm just taking a look around. If anything happens, you'll know. I'm not sticking around for it."
Twilight nodded. "Alright, you and he will stay here while I show the other the way." She walked off with the guard, heading in the direction of the residential sector. As she went to turn a corner, she called back. "Be careful Ink Well! Don't go off alone!"
"I won't!" Called back Ink Well, watching her disappear as the storm kicked in, rain pouring from the sky and soaking him where he stood. He turned to the guard left with him, who remained saluting in the middle of the street and the rain, and shouted over it. "What's your name?"
The guard remained motionless under the rain as it splashed from his helmet. "Aqueous, sir."
Ink Well nodded. "Aqueous, you're going to stand guard while I make sure everything is locked down, right?"
The pegasus saluted again. "Yes, sir." Ink Well turned back to the door, heading inside. Aqueous stood at attention before the door, rain splashing off of him in torrents. Ink Well was about to offer that the guard come inside, but stopped. Aqueous looked like a clever pony, he didn't need to be told his job.
Ink Well shut the door behind him, the solid walls muting the sound outside to a low background rumble. He quickly scanned over the shop, glad to see it unscathed, before walking through the dim shop to the workroom door, a trail of water forming behind him.
He raised his hoof to open the door and stopped, feeling a sudden, menacing change in the air behind him. He ducked, spinning to the side as a dagger implanted itself in the door where his head had been moments before. A red aura formed around the grip, wrenching it from the door and floating it back to the figure that stood calmly before the counter.
Fear shot through his heart as he saw her, the pony that had haunted his dreams. Her dark green fur and her red eyes had not changed in the time, and neither had her perfectly coiffed mane and sharply tied scarf that accentuated everything. She had a cruel, businesslike air about her body and a sadistic look in her eyes. She smiled at him as he glared at her. "Very good Ink Well! You've learned since the last time we met." Her smug smiled slowly turned into a sneer. "You know you've really become a thorn in my side."
Ink Well forced a smirk of his own despite his heart jumping in his chest from the initial surprise. "I'm so sorry Viper, but the Equirer turned me into a journalist, and one thing they have to do is ensure the story gets out."
Viper slowly turned the blade before her, examining it in the glow of her horn. "It is true that you were supposed to investigate, Ink Well, but you were supposed to have the common sense to die. Imagine my shock when I sat in my office and got a letter from the Princess herself saying you were not only alive but that you were filing a complaint! Now that was no big problem, I mobilized my team and here I am, but then to go and get her to shut down my empire using evidence that was supposed to burn in your house... now that's just low. Imagine the lengths I'd go to to get revenge on the pony responsible. Think what horrors I would be willing to commit to his friends. Just think of what I'd do once I had that pony in my clutches... Come on. You're a creative one. It shouldn't be too hard." With a flick of her eyes, the dagger shot towards Ink Well, forcing him to roll to the side to dodge. As he moved, a glimmer at the corner of his sight caught his attention, making him jump over the counter as another knife impacted, quivering in it. Viper frowned, her horn glowing more brightly as the daggers returned to an orbit around her head. "My, you are a sharp one."
Ink Well forced his smile to maintain despite his aching leg and the adrenaline running through his veins. He crept slowly towards the door, ready to move with all the extra space around him. "Not as sharp as those, I'm afraid. But if I were to imagine what you said, just for an instant, that would place you as far more important than just the head of the Enforcers, wouldn't it?"
Viper smiled cruelly. "Very good! Yes, that would make me the Equirer's head, the power behind the throne, as it were." The daggers reoriented themselves, pointing towards him as they floated.
Ink Well crept closer to the door, feeling it almost in range. "I'm honored, such a powerful pony taking the time to come kill me. Shouldn't you have underlings for that?"
"Oh, I do, but if you want to be big in business you must be willing to get your hooves dirty. Besides, I find that ponies much prefer the personal touch." The daggers sailed towards him, imbedding in the wall as he jumped for the door. He turned the knob, pulling on the door to find it unmoving.
He pulled again, confirming the door's refusal to open despite the lock being visually undone. He yelled at the door as the daggers freed themselves, floating in the air once more. "Aqueous! Open this door and get in here!" The knives flew, whirling at two heights towards him. He flapped hard with his wings, pushing off the door and flying over an aisle divider. He landed hard behind it, scrambling to his hooves but keeping low as his ribs screamed at him.
Through the air of the shop rang a maniacal laugh. "Water forms to the container, Ink Well, not the other way around. I needed you all alone to truly enjoy this." Ink Well crept between the aisles, wincing every time his brace 'tinked' lightly on the ground. He moved a few bottles from the shelving, trying to get an eye on his attacker. She was still by the counter, eyes closed and horn glowing brightly, devilish smile on her face. A bottle next to him reflected a dim red glow just briefly. Ink Well dove to the side as on dagger plunged into the shelf, smashing the glass bottles as the other knife whizzed above Ink Well's head, cutting a few hairs from his regrowing mane. He scrambled around the shelf, ducking into another aisle and slightly closer to the unicorn. "You can't hide from me Ink Well, despite how you keep trying. I have the edge." Her words cut the air around him, followed by a knife descending on either side. He leaped into the air, vaulting over the shelving, his leg complaining strongly as he did.
His mind ran as he darted through the air, the blades quickly closing in. He circled the room, watching as Viper followed him precisely with her head, her eyes never opening and her horn glowing brightly. As he ducked a tossed knife, realization dawned. He had to level the playing field. He pulled up his legs, back flipping as the knives shot under him and into the wall. Kicking off the wall, he shot directly at Viper as the daggers freed themselves, following him. He swerved around her, skidding over the counter and through the workroom door in one fluid swoop, slamming it behind him. The blades swirled around her, placing themselves in the sheathes at Viper's side. Slowly she turned around, opening her eyes and growling at the door. "Running again Ink Well? Your tenacity is really starting to get on my nerves..."
She moved through the door, opening it slowly to the distillery. Within the room was bright, the light on and causing shadows to slice across every surface and cluster in the corners. Viper looked over the room, the mass and tangle of piping, machines, and boilers masking view of far too much of it. She listened carefully, nothing but the faintest thrumming of rain outside to be heard. Walking slowly into the center of the room, she smiled grimly. "Another game of hide and seek? I thought you were better than this. I had such high hopes for you..." She closed her eyes, horn glowing as magic spread over the room... and gleamed back at her twice as bright. The whole room lit up, readings scattered and confused. Viper's face contorted with rage. "What? What is this?"
Reverberating from every side of the room, a metallic tone to each word, came the scratchy voice of Ink Well. "Brass fixtures, a devil for magic users, but I hope it doesn't cause you too much trouble. It wouldn't be interesting then, would it?" The knives swirled around Viper angrily, futilely trying to pinpoint the speaker. Meanwhile the unicorn herself gritted her teeth, eyes afire as she peered into the many shadows. There was a dart of movement behind her, one dagger flinging that way to bounce harmlessly on some piping. Another flicker before her, a blur changing the air for a mere moment, only to be stirred again by the glowing dagger passing through it and sticking into the wood wall.
Viper's eyes glowed red, her magic loosed by her anger. "This is no time for games Ink Well! It is time for action! Come out and face me like a stallion!" She called to the room, her voice echoing off the pipes, dissipating in the dry air. She grimaced as her eyes darted around, daggers swarming above her and ready to strike. Then, suddenly, they stopped, her face breaking into a sadistic grin. "Fine. If you refuse to face me, maybe this will get a rise out of you."
Slowly a match rose into the air, striking itself so that the flame flared. Viper's spoke again, her voice far sweeter than her smile, but the sinister tone unmistakable. "Are you aware just how flammable a distillery is, Ink Well? They are notorious for unfortunate explosions. Now, while perfume stills aren't known to be quite as volatile, I'm still sure the reaction would be quite impressive." The door to the maceration vat opened slowly, an unmistakably alcoholic smell filling the room instantly. Then the match floated lazily towards it, bobbing nonchalantly as it slowly reached the source of the smell.
The crack of glass was matched by the 'fwip!' of dagger cutting through air, a yelp coming from where it landed. The match winked out as it was hit out of the air, tumbling towards Viper along with its assaulter, a clear beaker filled with a murky liquid, cracks running along its side. The other dagger came up to defend, shattering the glass on impact and releasing its contents, which splashed over Viper, covering her with an odor like moldy, rusted oranges. Her eyes watered immediately, irritated from the liquid that touched her fur and further from the intense scent. She covered her nose with a hoof, coughing as she tried to remove the smell covering her.
The knife was tossed back into the center of the room, dripping crimson from its tip that gleamed darkly in the the light. Then the lights shut off, the room plunging into darkness. The enraged glow from Viper's eyes and horn bathed the area around her in a dim red, while the rest of the room was completely encased in shadow, textured slightly by the dim light seeping from under the door and up the stairs. Viper blinked tears from her eyes as she scanned the room once more magically, the results equally as scattered and distorted. As her vision and coughing cleared, the scent still stuck strongly to her, but no longer blinding in its intensity, she gazed into the darkness around her. "Ink Well! That's quite the dirty trick!"
The voice floated from the darkness, seeming closer and yet still emanating from all sides. "Just being an opportunist. I thought you knew that about me. I did a lot with what your company gave me."
Viper twirled where she stood, daggers making slow forays into the darkness, acting like makeshift torches in the lack of light. "What my empire gave you, Ink Well. Please use the proper term. Though really, that was all my doing." One dagger sliced at a retreating shadow, connecting only with the air.
"You? You seem smarter than to leave something so damning laying about. How'd you leave such prime evidence so easily taken?" The voice seemed to come from behind her, but when the dagger flew, there was nothing but shadow.
"Hah! You say it as though it were an accident. No, that file was there on purpose for anypony brave enough to face me, meticulously updated with tender love and care."
"But why? You seem to have some grand master plan and a belief that your company cannot be defeated. Why leave a paper trail?"
Viper smiled cruelly, the red lighting making it seem all the more sinister. "So somepony knows my genius. That file has been gone for on three separate occasions, and two of them were silenced. The first was an employee I had thoughtfully given the key, as she was in charge of the room. Of course, the curiosity was far too much for her, the forbidden filing cabinet being too tempting, and once she read it, she was so kind as to bring the discrepancy to my attention." Her smile deepened. "I had to get a new rug after that one. A pity, the poor filly had such a lovely blue coat." She whirled around, looking at the room from a new angle and probing the darkness once more with her daggers.
"The second was an activist, a foolish old pegasus with delusions that he could stop 'the corporate machine.' He barged in all on his lonesome, grabbed it, and hightailed it from the guards and immediately to his home, a squalid affair with revolutionary posters and peaceful slogans galore." One of the daggers jabbed forward, twisting slowly in air once the motion was complete. "I thought it very ironic when he was found mysteriously impaled upon the trees below, apparently having fallen from his home, the old treehugger. And after that fall, well, one laceration looked as natural as the next, even the one cleanly through his neck."
She turned once more, gazing into a particularly thick shadow behind a mass of pipes. "And then there's you. You planned ahead, came in with backup, went where nopony expected you to, and most importantly, left the file elsewhere." Her tone became laced in sarcasm. "Whatever shall I do? How can my empire survive with the information out? How will I deal with this interloper?" She smiled, staring at the shadow that seemed to stare back, unmoving. "You know, it's almost like I'd planned ahead. Let Celestia investigate, she will find nothing to corroborate, nopony willing to back the story up, and her only witnesses mysteriously killed in a fire that swept through their town. It's too bad I'll have to decimate her guards to do so, some of them are really good spies, but you just had to keep dragging ponies in."
A drop of blood splashed on the floor behind, causing her to slowly turn. The hoof flew out of the darkness, catching her on the cheek and, despite it's low impact, staggered her. Ink Well landed before her, kicking again with his newly injured right front hoof. "You leave them out of this you monster." A knife whizzed from where it hovered, flying between the two ponies before Ink Well leaped back, disappearing into the shadows. The knife chased, nothing but blackness to pursue.
Viper straightened back up, her sadistic smile plastered to her face. "It won't end here, Ink Well. This is merely the beginning, a launching point for my empire to take the next logical step. From a company to a nation in one long motion, all sparked because of you." The darkness clanged, metal banging metal, followed immediately by the dim glow as a knife flew, nicking the retreating form. "Don't lose your head now! I was just starting to have fun!"
Thunder rolled through the building as the storm outside picked up strength once more, the dull drilling of the water on the distant roof the only sound in the dim room. Viper's smile remained solid as she turned slowly in place, her daggers keeping their own dim watch as they circled on their own paths. Yet the pegasus did not slip up again, and so they waited, neither wanting to make the first move. ---
Rose landed on her empty doorstep, confused to see the door tied in place with some sort of rope. She looked back at the storming city, flinching as lighting speared down to the ground, crashing within the city and shaking the windows. She looked back at the rope, wondering why anypony would put it there. That wasn't security, it wasn't smart, it would keep nopony out, just slow them down. Whoever was using her shop as a safe base obviously wasn't thinking clearly. Though how would they have gotten in afterward?
Something wasn't right here. She quickly untied it, fluttering her gossamer wings as they drooped to the ground, waterlogged from the flight. She hurriedly pulled the door open, entering the room to find it silent and empty.
She tilted her head, listening to the air. The silence was unnatural, a weighty, expectant silence, not the quiet of an empty building. She looked down, seeing the small trail of drips leading away from the front door. Curious, she followed, adding to the water on the floor as she dripped dry. She reached the counter, seeing the front display askew, and walked around, shaking her wings one more time to remove the excess water weight. Reaching for the handle a faint whiff came from the room, the strong scent of the molding oranges seeping under the door. That was the final straw. She pulled open the door and flicked on the lights inside.
The glimmer of cold steel flying towards her greeted her entrance. ---
Ink Well watched in blinded horror as the knives flew, Rose flinching back and shielding herself with hoof and wing. The blades pierced the wings, pinning them to either side of the entrance and leaving Rose trembling in surprise. Viper looked around the room once for a possible assault, but Ink Well remained where he was hidden amongst the piping, trying to clear his eyes and rethink his strategy. Seeing no danger, Viper slowly walked towards the pinned butterfly wings, watching with interest as a glowing blue powder seeped from the wounds and dissipated in the air. "Hmm. Magical wings. Very beautiful. It almost pains me to damage them." She smiled cruelly. "Almost."
Her horn glowed, the daggers sliding down from where they'd inserted and slowly closing in on Rose's body. She kept close attention to Rose's face as they moved, seeming to become disappointed as Rose stared at her, shock keeping her from reacting. Viper frowned and stepped back. "It doesn't hurt? At all? Aww... it's no fun when the victim doesn't respond." Her horn's glow changed shades, the daggers stopping as something made its way into the room. From the shop floated a long sheathe which traveled over Rose's head, a green and red grip sticking out and a gold snake theme running down it. It hovered slowly in front of Rose, who had regained her composure and was now watching the moving object with interest.
Seeing this, Viper lowered it before her face, causing Rose's ivy eyes to meet Viper's crimson ones. "Oh, you like this? It's a very special blade. You see, I've never used it before, and I thought that this would be the perfect time to oil it properly." She slowly unsheathed it, the slight curve of the blade causing the light in the room to shine on it perfectly. Inch by cold inch the sword slid out, slicing the air once before settling next to Viper, the sheathe placed lightly against the wall. The sword floated just an inch off of the ground, standing up Viper's nose where it was. "This blade, you see, comes custom ordered from the greatest sword maker in Equestria. Perfectly balanced and of the strongest steel, able to cut through just about anything. And the best thing to oil a new sword, truth be told, is blood." Rose's face dropped, curiosity turning to fear as she pulled away from the unicorn before her only to be held back by the knives. Viper smiled. "Ah, I see that got a reaction out of you." She turned the sword with her magic, placing the grip before her mouth. "I had meant to use this for the final blow against Ink Well to really settle the deal, but since he insists on being a coward, I'll just have to kill you with it. Nothing personal, you were going to die today anyway, but you weren't on my personal list. Now just stand there and keep struggling. I want this to hurt."
Viper grabbed the sword in mouth, glow fading completely from her horn as she analyzed Rose's form for the best point of attack. She then turned her head, preparing the strike.
She spun around, blocking Ink Well's braced hoof as it smashed down from above. She then pushed him off, slashing back at him and cutting along his cast, breaking one of its connections with the brace. "Ink Well!" Rose pulled against the doorway, kicking uselessly at Viper. "Get me out of here! I can help!" She pulled again, the knives slipping further along the wing and more of the dust floating into the air.
Ink Well moved to signal her to stop, but had to pull back his bleeding hoof as the sword swung at him once again. "I'm coming! Stay there!" He ducked back, the sword slashing over his head and pushing him into the work table. Viper's eyes stayed on him the entire time, rage, focus and enjoyment all swirling within them. She swung again, going low and making him hop over the table. As he moved, his brace shifted at the knee, abandoning some much needed support on his leg and making it cry in pain. He ignored it, ducking under a slash over the table
Viper jumped over the table, eyes streaming rage as she brought down the sword in a powerful chop. Ink Well stumbled, forced to block with his brace. The metal held, but the angle of the sword caused the tip to slide past, slicing cleanly through the cast and into his leg. He whimpered, pulling away as Viper swung again, cruel smile appearing around the grip as he scrambled away from her.
Rose saw this and took action, hooves falling on the knives pinning her wings to the walls and yanking them free. Holding them she pushed herself forward on rear legs and wings, the glowing blue dust flowed behind her, slowly draining from the wings as the edges became less substantial. She ran around the table, bringing the blades down on the distracted unicorn. Just before they connected, the red glow reappeared around them, yanking the metal from Rose's hooves and throwing her off balance. The knives then twitched, swirling around Viper as she struck at Ink Well.
He did his best to duck and dive as the trio of blades danced around him, trying to get his own hit in where he could, only to be deflected by the blades. The daggers struck forward rapidly before returning to the cyclone around the unicorn, forcing him to squeeze between blades as the sword swung wildly. A blade shot at his side and he twisted away before yelping in pain, blood suddenly rushing from his other side as the stitches tore. It flowed freely, running down his legs to join the trickles from the myriad of small nicks and long gashes along them.
Rose stood behind Viper, her own strikes riposted by the whirlwind of metal before her. Every kick of her hoof was met by a blade holding it back and another slashing towards her. These she blocked with her wings as best as she could, but even then her legs were starting to flush red, drips flying off with each motion to join the incandescent dust that seeped from her wings.
As the blade swung Ink Well pushed off of his braced leg once more, feeling it sing with pain as jagged metal from his brace not only failed to support the bones within, but jabbed into the wrecked cast. He jumped forward, wings propelling him as he tried to hit the assailant once more only to be scared off by the whirling daggers flying by. They had to be gotten rid of. Looking past the unicorn he saw Rose recoiling from her own attack. She was having the same thought, wondering how to stop the onslaught. She too looked past the unicorn, eyes locking onto Ink Well's own. For a moment they thought as one, a plan silently forming in the midst of battle. All the while both dodged and weaved from the attacks of Viper, who was unaware of the transmission of information past her. She brought down her sword, magical glow streaming from her eyes and horn as it stuck into the floor.
In unison the duo nodded, Ink Well stomping on the blade and swinging forward with a hoof. Viper didn't dodge, the daggers instead swirling from where they'd been stationed, above her head to block. During the split second when both were still, Rose jumped forward, flapping her wings once for the slight boost in height as they failed, the magic that made them swirling around her. She soared like a comet through the air, tumbling over the glowing horn. She was able to grab the red bathed knives, rolling across the floor with the flats of their blades hugged tightly to her chest.
Ink Well's punch connected, sending Viper recoiling back, her grip still solid on her sword. Ink Well pressured forward again while Viper was disoriented, hoof colliding with her cheek and making her stagger further. Viper's magic flared, coating the room in a bright red, the dagger against Rose's chest suddenly thrashing against their restraint. Rose turned over, smashing the tips of the knives in the floor and kicking them further with her hoof. Meanwhile the sword swung for Ink Well once more, forcing him to the center of the room. Viper's eyes narrowed, glaring at the pair facing her, before turning around and running up the back stairs.
Both ponies moved to follow, Rose only managing a few steps before collapsing to the ground. Ink Well heard this, hobbling next to her immediately when she fell. "Rose! Are you alright?"
Rose nodded, feebly pushing up against the floor. "I'm fine. Just... drained. I think it had to do with the spell failing." Her hoof slipped, Ink Well catching her before she hit the floor again.
He let her down carefully, trying his best not to get blood or broken metal in her mane. "You stay here, I'm going to go take care of Viper."
Rose struggled against him, pushing to stand once more. "No! Don't go in there alone. You won't make it."
Ink Well looked at his hooves, smiling slightly as he could feel the blood leaving him. "Yep, I look and feel a mess, but it's time I stop running and end this." He stood up, walking away from the pony stuck on the floor.
Rose reached out to him, fighting the fatigue in her muscles. "What if something happens to you? I don't think I could live with that... You have to let me help."
Ink Well smiled at her. "You are helping. Keep those knives down here. I'm coming back, I can't leave you like this."
Rose looked into his eyes, seeing both determination and confidence, though unable to share the same feeling. "You promise?"
Ink Well nodded. "I promise. Cross my heart and hope to fly." He crossed his heart with his hoof, then turned, limping up the stairs to the final battle. ---
Ink Well slowly hobbled up the stairs, a thin trail of blood following him as he turned to face his assailant. Viper stood waiting, sword hovering before her and bruises forming on her cheek and side. Viper smiled, her eyes still glowing from the magic within. She looked completely out of place amidst the green and sandy interior of Rose's home, the homely paintings and the neat dining table not exactly screaming 'battle.' Still Viper managed to look menacing, sadistic smile gleaming as Ink Well made his way in. "Ink Well! You followed. Oh good. I hoped you'd realize the importance of this fight."
Ink Well braced himself on the ground, the cold wind flying in the window from the storm cooling the blood to his fur. He nodded. "It is. I may not fully know your plan, but I know it has to be stopped."
Viper looked disappointed. "You haven't figured it out yet? And I thought you were clever." She smiled maniacally. "It's the end of an era, Ink Well. Equestria as we know it is at an end."
"What are you talking about? Your magazine is shut down! Your company has fallen! It's finished."
"No! One magazine is stopped. But I don't own one magazine, I own them all. And their readers. When the news gets out that our beloved Queen unfairly shut down their favorite magazine, when she was unable to save Ponyville, when the scandal that her student and her friends were killed by the guards to stop their insurrection, even when there was no proof, is read, what do you think the ponies will do? They will react! They will get angry! They will revolt, and I will be at the head."
Ink Well smirked, laughing to himself. "You're mad. You're absolutely insane! Nopony's going to follow you to war! Nopony would believe you!"
"They already have, and they already do. Nothing in the these rags is truth, yet think about it." Viper pointed a hoof to the window. "All of those ponies out there were the start, mobs flocking here just on a rumor. You've seen it first hoof, you know it's true. They'll believe everything I feed them. When Enforcers dressed as guards start attacking them, what will they report? When all they read is propaganda what will they believe?" She laughed, staring out into the rain as lightning crashed nearby, thunder rolling through the building. "I'm playing Overthrow the God Queen, Ink Well, and I have all the pieces! Who's going to stop me?"
Ink Well stared at her, slowly shaking his head. "You actually think you can do it. Build an empire on lies and get the world to follow you. You'll get us all killed!" He stared at the psychotic smile she gave him, disbelieving. "And I'm the only one that knows. You wanted to make sure I knew before we fought... You're sick." She stood firm, staring his opponent down. "I'm going to stop you. You know that, right?"
The sword turned where it floated, sitting in the air before Viper's mouth. "Let's see you try." She bit down on it, manic smile and crazy eyes searing into Ink Well. He held up his hooves, preparing a defensive pose. The two stood facing each other for a moment, no sound to be heard but the storm outside.
A flash of light, the crash of thunder, the two ponies surged towards each other. Ink Well vaulted the low sweeping blade, bringing down a hoof that was sidestepped with ease by Viper. She spun back around, sword pulling upwards and catching the tip of one of his wings, shortening a feather. Ink Well solidly placed his front hooves, throwing a kick that went wide as his braced leg gave out beneath him. The returning slash missed by a hair's breadth.
Ink Well hobbled away, rolling under the table as Viper's sword flew down once more. He crouched low, a red glow causing him to scramble away. The sword shot under the table, catching the back of Ink Well's back left leg before boomeranging around and replacing itself in Viper's mouth. Ink Well flapped his wings, taking to hovering as one good leg couldn't possibly give enough maneuverability if he stayed on the floor. Viper slashed up at him as he dived and rolled above her, kicking down at her and succeeding in a blow or two against her back. He skirted over one more swing, managing a kick against Viper's horn that left her disoriented, shaking her head.
As she did the fire in her eyes doubled before dieing down, forming around her horn instead. The sword flew off, piercing the air and forcing Ink Well to dodge lower to the ground. As he got lower he felt a weight clamp onto his leg, Viper pulling him down. Not expecting the weight his wings did not react in time, letting Viper toss him to the ground with ease. The air rushed from his lungs at impact, more blood oozing from his wounds. He could see his vision getting fuzzy, blood loss starting to take a toll. As he moved to get off of his back, Viper landed on his stomach, pinning him down as the sword flew itself to her outstretched hoof. She brought the sword up, her terrible eyes shining with glee as she then swung it down.
Ink Well brought up his cast at the last moment, catching the blade on the thickest part of the brace around it. Viper's joy turned immediately to anger, eyes flaring up once more as she rained blows against Ink Well's brace. He could feel it rattling and breaking up, each shock of pain going down his leg reminding him that it was only a matter of time before both shattered under the pressure. He kicked up with his rear leg, knocking Viper forward and giving him just enough time to get to his feet again. He spun around, rushing towards the dark unicorn.
Blood flew from the tip of the sword, the light furred pegasus spinning with the blade and falling to the floor, hooves splayed apart from the one that landed beneath him. From his neck a small puddle of blood formed, spreading out across the wood planks beneath him. Viper's eyes calmed down, the magic disappearing as she looked at the motionless form beneath her. She stuck her sword in the floor near his head and walked around him once, taking in her work. "Oh. It's over... Pity, it was almost getting exciting there. A real battle, for once." When she reached his head once more she picked up the sword, tilting her own head and preparing the coup de grace to ensure her victory. The sword raised high, a flash of lightning being caught reflected in the surface of the tower of metal. Viper closed her eyes during the final moment of preparation, the sword dropping swiftly and surely, imbedding in floor. Blood splashed as it landed, staining the blade.
None of it new. Realizing the lack of resistance, Viper's eyes shot open, her head turning slowly up to the room. Thunder boomed as Ink Well's brace connected full force, a sucker punch meeting her cheek mid turn. Viper's head spun the other way, lights fading in her eyes as she dropped to the floor like a brick, sword falling useless beside her.
Heavily sucking in breath, Ink Well took a step closer, poking her with his hoof. The form didn't respond. Poking her once more, he watched her carefully for any reaction. Viper did not move, only the slow rise and fall of her chest continuing as she breathed. With a heavy sigh Ink Well walked to the stairs, looking back at the unconscious figure as he reached them. Despite his worries, motionless she remained.
Gingerly he limped down the stairs, taking as much weight from his broken leg as possible while he limped on two of his other three. Eventually though he did make it down, turning at the landing to find Rose standing shakily before him, tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. At least, he thought it was a smile. His vision wasn't cooperating too well, but he could probably pick out that pony anywhere by now. She walked forward, hugging his injured form with her own cut legs, and he just smiled. "I promised I'd come back."
Rose nodded, hugging him tighter, tears dripping into his coat. "And you never really break your promises."
After a moment more he pulled away, staggering through the work shop towards the shop door. Rose followed, unsteady steps of her own still keeping pace with Ink Well. "Where are you going now?"
Ink Well kept his eyes forward, all his energy going into moving. "Viper is knocked out upstairs, but there's still a battle raging on outside, if her words are anything to go by. I need to try to stop them. You make sure she doesn't get away, alright? I've got just one more job to do."
Rose stopped where she was, the words she heard making her legs wobbly. "You're going out there? You'll-"
Ink Well shook his head, continuing on his path. "Don't. You can't stop me. Go upstairs, I'll see you soon."
"But-"
Ink Well turned at the door, looking back at her with fuzzy eyes. "I've come this far, done this much... I'm not falling here." With that he turned back around, heading into the main shop. The door closed behind him with a solid thump, leaving Rose alone in the work room once more. ---
Ink Well staggered from Rosewater, the pouring rain immediately drenching him and washing the red from his fur. Through the curtain of rain he beheld a war zone, smoke rising from many buildings as ponies scattered left and right, small groups clashing in the streets as the relentless ran turned everything from the streets to the battles to a brown mush. Lightning flashed at various points around the town, pegasi rushing back and forth with clouds to bombard the forces below. He looked over the mess with determined eyes, one pony in particular his target right now.
From down the street came what he was searching for, a bright purple glow. He moved as quickly as he could, what held together of the brace sticking and sucking in the mud, more pieces falling off every time it was freed. Ponies ran every which way, one frightened chase bowling him over and sending mud and blood flying into the air. The remains of the bandages fell away, releasing a great waterlogged weight as they trailed behind him in a pink, soggy line. He pushed himself up, the last vestiges of metal around his front hoof falling away, leaving the cut and cracked cast to slip and move with each step. Still he soldiered on, the fighting purple unicorn his last destination tonight.
A small crate raised up, surrounded by a purple glow, shooting from an alley and flying towards the broken and muddied pegasus. He clenched his eyes, turning his shoulder to it as he braced for an impact that never came. "Ink Well?!" The box splashed to the ground, water hitting him in the face as the source of the magic ran over. "In Celestia's name what happened to you? Are you going to make it?"
He lifted his eyes to the unicorn, her mane glued to her head and her uninjured face radiating worry for him. He shook his head, as much to dismiss the question as to clear his rapidly dimming vision. "Not important. I need to your magic. Everypony must hear what I have to say." Twilight started to look puzzled and Ink Well cut her off. "Now, it's urgent."
Surprised by his tone, Twilight nodded. "Okay, hold on." She closed her eyes, her magic focusing on the tip of her horn in a bright orb.
Behind her a yellow pegasus descended from the sky, charging straight towards them, his red bandana attached to his face from the damp. As the distance between them closed, Ink Well stepped around Twilight, putting himself between her and the attacker. At the last possible second, Ink Well sidestepped, raising his cast encased hoof to clothesline the attacker, whose legs slid past in the mud, placing him unconsciously staring up at the sky. Accompanying the attacker's fall was a horrible snap, Ink Well feeling immediately sick as his cast shattered away and his leg fell limp at a position it never should. All he could feel was pain, his vision going full black as he teetered on the edge of shock.
He was about to tip over when he felt a faint tickle focus on his throat, followed by Twilight Sparkle's voice sounding as though it were a million miles away. Using the energy now flowing through his throat he planted all four hooves solidly, the pain rocketing up and down his left front hoof just driving him to stand firm. He spoke, his voice crystal clear in his head and booming over the town. "Ponies of the Enforcers! We have your leader." He forced his voice to be firm and direct, with no possibility that it could be wrong or disobeyed. There was a purpose behind each word, which was far more than he was feeling during the pause. Within his foggy head the sound resonated strangely, coming from all sides as well as inside and like a muffled yell from forever away, and among that clutter he was trying to find the right words.
After a moment or two of thought he continued, formulations abandoned. "The Royal Canterlot Guard will be here in less than five minutes. There is no point to continuing your attack. Instead I give you two choices: Stop now and give yourselves up peacefully. We will not hurt you and we will be lenient in your sentencing.
If that doesn't suit you, you can Leave. Run, move as fast as you can! We know who you are, you will be found, but who knows? You might get lucky and escape. The clock is ticking." He nodded to the direction he thought Twilight was, feeling the magic leave him, its extra energy draining with every raindrop that hit him. He smirked, legs staying beneath him like lead weights. "Hopefully that'll scare them off."
With one final touch from the breeze Ink Well collapsed to the ground, mud splashing around him when he landed. Twilight stood over him, trying to block the rain as best as she could and visibly shaken, calling to him with a voice he couldn't here. Ink Well's eye cracked open, the last of his will going into one word. "Rose..." His head dropped, unconscious even before it splashed into the mud. ---
Ink Well shot up in bed, immediately regretting the decision as pain lanced through his side and firmly braced leg. The soft morning light shone brightly in the familiar room, the nicks and stains from last evening's fight removed. Despite his better judgment he moved to get up, swinging his hooves from the burgundy bed to land on the floor with a soft 'clink'. His brace had been repaired, but gone was the light maneuverable frame of before. This new one was one solid cage of metal, probably for the best considering the shape it had ended up in. Carefully he pulled himself off of the bed, noting the tightness where new bandages had been administered to his side and legs. He stretched out his wings, relieved to feel them both moving and only superfluously injured.
His shoulder ached as he walked across the room, not used to taking the full brunt of the weight for his leg, and he made his way to the spot where Viper had fallen. There was a divot in the floor from her sword, but otherwise the room was unchanged, the battle a thing of the past. As he stood examining the floor, Rose walked up the stairs, stopping suddenly when she noticed he was there. "Ink Well! You're up!"
He smiled, nodding to the floor. "Yeah, only just though. I was looking at the fight scene. For some reason I thought it would be... messier." He looked at her, noting the smile on her face despite the bandages covering her legs and shoulders.
She shrugged, taking a few steps closer. "Yeah. Downstairs was a little worse. Some collateral damage, lots of small stains here and there... and yet nothing hugely telling. It's weird, isn't it? It's like it never happened."
"Oh, no... it happened." He turned away, wings drooping and heart sinking to see her injured. "I'm sorry about, well, everything. I'm sure you're going to get a lot of flack for keeping me around after yesterday."
Rose gasped, looking surprised. "Oh! That's right, I was coming to get you!" Ink Well looked confused, fear grasping at him as he worried about being kicked out or banished for the mess he caused. Rose just smiled at him, pushing him towards the stairs. "Go downstairs! There's a surprise waiting for you in the main shop." Her smile widened as she zipped down before him, disappearing into the workshop below.
Ink Well followed, and despite his curiosity, took the stairs slowly, one leg at a time until he got used to his motions. By then he was at the bottom, walking through the silent distillery. The brass machines stood quiet, glimmering in the light. Here and there dings and scratches were apparent where blows had missed. In the corner a pipe was misaligned, one that he had perched on when Viper first entered the room. And yet, these were the only signs of any conflict. Life just kept going on.
He made his way slowly to the door, pausing a moment before swinging it open.
Within the small shop stood Princess Celestia herself, the graceful alicorn regally towering over the room and seeming to radiate light. Her pink blue and green mane flowed in an unseen wind, her gold crown and necklace with the gleaming purple gems completing the rest of the alabaster picture stunningly. Around her stood the six friends, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, all looking excited and joyful. To the side of the room stood Rose, smiling hugely at the shock on Ink Well's face. Crowded into the rest of the shop behind a line of guards, their blue armor clasps apparent, were dozens of ponies of every color and variety, a rainbow clustered into one room and spilling out the door and into the streets outside where even more peered in the small windows.
Stunned momentarily by the sight, as soon as he recovered her knelt before the Princess, his front leg's stiffness making the motion awkward and the final position sub par. He heard a chuckle come in a velvety voice. "Stand, my little pony, we have a lot to discuss."
With as much trouble as he had getting down Ink Well pulled himself up, shifting uneasily in the gaze of the Princess. "Princess Celestia, I am so sorry for everything I did. I had no clue that things were going to escalate that far or that all those ponies would get hurt or the town would be attacked. It's all my fault and I know I deserve the worst, I just-" He was stopped by a quick nudge from Applejack.
"Woah there scrawny, yer gettin' ahead of her now. Hear the Princess out." Behind her Fluttershy giggled as Ink Well blushed, still avoiding the Princess's eyes.
Celestia spoke again, smiling gently at him. "Ink Well, you need not to blame yourself for everything. Yes, what happened was unfortunate, but you are to be commended for what you did. You resolved a potentially horrific conflict peacefully, stopped a corrupt and powerful monopoly, ended an attempt to overthrow myself before it even began, and did it all without a single pony getting seriously hurt. Even now there are guards heading to each of the monopolized magazines, getting ready to shut them down for good, and there are ponies standing in this room that, without you, could have perished last night."
Ink Well looked up at her, brow furrowed and head slightly tilted. "I did all of that?"
Twilight stepped forward, standing next to him as she explained. "After you announcement, most of the Enforcers either fled or gave up, allowing themselves to be captured. When the guards actually showed up twenty minutes later with Rainbow at the head, it was just a matter of rounding up who remained and turning them over. Some of them even started incriminating other ponies that had fled and jobs the Enforcers had done before. The loudest of them all was Viper as she screamed and hollered about how Equestria would be hers and her empire could not fall." She hovered over a scroll, unfurling it before him. "Here is a list of all of the ponies captured, what they are charged with, and the likely punishment."
As Ink Well went over the list, Fluttershy piped up from where she stood, her soft voice happy as she talked. "Once the Enforcers gave up, the ponies who helped me on the medical team searched all of Ponyville for injured ponies. Once everypony followed your plan and found a fortified position, only a few of them got injured, most of them able to hold off attack until help arrived. A few are still in treatment at the medical tent, but everypony should make a full recovery."
Ink Well looked from the list to the ponies around him, words not coming to his mouth as thoughts struggled in his head. Eventually he looked to the Princess, whose warm smile still fell upon him. "That was all me? It can't be."
The Princess nodded. "Indeed it was Ink Well. And as lead investigator for this case and the savior of this town, I have a question for you. Is there a punishment you wish to see set upon the attackers or their companies? I could take it into consideration, if you so choose."
Ink Well stared at the serious face of the Princess, mind reeling from the implications. He could get back at all of those Equirer ponies, banish every one of the minions who dared attack his friends. He could get his own company, or demand payment, or request that the head of it all was sent to the moon for her crimes... A dark smile spread across his face. Oh if he were an evil pony, just think of what he could do...
He shook his head, smile waning to a smirk. "Just go easy on them. To most of them it was just a job, they just got into the wrong line of work. And I'm pretty sure most of the ponies in the companies were in the dark about the whole monopoly thing. Anypony in that first file and anypony who might know should be taken in, but the companies shouldn't be closed down, not even the Equirer. Let the magazines run, each under a new leader."
Celestia's face didn't change. "Are you sure that is all you want?"
Ink Well nodded. "Of course. I can't take away all those ponies' jobs, they were just writing for a magazine. And I can't take away what all these ponies outside read every month. That would just be cruel. I just want the magazines to run clean and honest, making sure to get the facts first even if they still want to just print gossip. However, I do have one request."
"And that is?"
"I would like the magazines, all of the ones under Viper's hold, to print a story that I write for them in two weeks on their next printing. It will contain the details of last night, the nature of what they were before the switch, and corrections on a few lies printed beforehoof. I also want them each to print an apology to their readers and a vow not to return to the slanderous mudslinging of old." He looked around the semicircle of friends, each of them beaming as he detailed it. As his gaze returned to the Princess, he spotted Rose out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, and I want them to pay me like they would a writer on their team for the story. I have a few favors I need to pay back."
Princess Celestia smiled at Ink Well, nodding to him. "Very well, I'm sure they would be willing to agree to that." She took a step forward, leaning in close to whisper in his ear. "From how you wrote your book, I expected nothing less from you. Though I would like to see another from you, with all this experience, your style can only have been improved since then." She stepped back, leaving Ink Well's mouth agape as his mind registered what she said. She smiled at him, closing his jaw gently with her hoof. "Now that I have your input on the matter, I am afraid there is much that awaits me in Canterlot. But before I go, I wish to remind you that we are all grateful for your efforts Ink Well."
Ink Well rubbed his mane with his hoof, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "I couldn't have done it without everypony else. I'm just one pony."
Princess Celestia turned away, facing her guards. "All it takes is one pony in the right place at the right time to change the world." She looked back, smiling warmly again. "Farewell everypony." With that she left, her retinue on either side leading her to the carriage before hooking themselves up to it, pulling it into the air, their destination gleaming far in the distance.
Back in the shop Ink Well was beset upon by the crowds, thanks and questions and congratulations coming from all sides. Despite feeling the affections of the crowd, Ink Well slowly backed away, slipping into the work room when the first possibility presented himself. Already in the room was Fluttershy, having hidden as soon as the crowd had gotten too rowdy again. When she saw him, her face perked up. "Ink Well, is what you said true? Are you really going to write the corrections?"
Ink Well nodded. "That I am."
Fluttershy ran up to him, hugging him. "Oh thank you! But why the change of heart?"
Ink Well hugged her back. "I promised. I can't give up on a Pinkie Pie Swear, it's unbreakable, and deep down I am a colt of my word." He pulled away from her, looking into her shining eyes and smiling sincerely. "Think of everything I said a few days ago as just a dip in the road. My pen might destroy, but it can create too, works that even royalty enjoys. If it's able to do that... well, why should I keep it locked away?"
He walked to the work table, pulling out a pencil and a sheet of paper. As he did, Fluttershy looked over his shoulder. "Getting started already? This early in the morning?"
Ink Well shrugged. "Uh huh. I've got an article to write, and this time it is going to be perfect. Just you wait." ---
Two weeks later there was a party held at Sugar Cube Corner celebrating the printing of the under-new-management magazines. The celebrations started in the evening and continued late into the night. Every single magazine had agreed to the terms set forth by Ink Well, ten identical copies of his article sat in ten different magazines on the table. It was a twelve page story, almost half the magazine in these rags, complete with corrections on old stories, the details of the Equirer's empire, an account of what was being called the 'Battle of Ponyville,' and, most notably, almost no mention of the author's involvement in any of it.
When Twilight finished reading aloud the article to the partygoers, consisting of her friends, Ink Well, and Rose, Applejack walked over to Ink Well, pushing his shoulder playfully. "Why'd you write yer piece like that, scrawny? It's almost like you didn't do anything!"
Ink Well was knocked off balance, the strong metal brace still locked on his leg, though the other bandages had disappeared. Around the base of his hooves the fur was slightly darker than the rest, the only remaining tell of the terrible fire a month ago and the trials he'd gone though since. It gave his parchment colored fur the look of an old map, time wearing the edges but the center unchanged. Catching his balance again he shook his head. "I didn't. Most of it was you. I took down one pony and gave a speech, both of which with the help of somepony else. Why should I take credit for it?"
Pinkie popped up in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Because you're a hero! And you could have been a super hero!" She moved around, posing and running in time with what she said. "Fighting crimes and zipping off to other places like whooooosh! Zoom! And everypony would recognize the Inky Avenger as the colt that won the Battle of Ponyville!" She struck a heroic pose, tail waving in the air behind her like a cape catching a breeze.
Ink Well just laughed. "No way. Not a hero, I'm not doing the fame thing. I just want to tell a good story."
Rarity laughed at him, pulling a large beautifully wrapped gift from somewhere. "Oh are you sure you don't want to be a hero? It will make this present mean so much less."
"A present? For me? You shouldn't have!"
Rarity waved away the comment. "Nonsense! You have done so much for us, especially with this article, so we decided to show our appreciation. It's from all of us." The pristine rainbow-wrapped package did indeed have a small tag proclaiming it from the group, and after some encouragement Ink Well was made to open it. Within was a brown fedora and messenger bag like the ones he'd had when he first came to town, though upgraded with cutie mark latches and an overall more stylish design. Rarity saw the look on his face and smiled at him. "Oh I just knew you'd love it! A proper hero's costume. I made them myself in the boutique, though Fluttershy insisted I didn't decorate them too heavily. But your look needed an upgrade, don't you think? And Twilight even suggested just the most darling addition to the side!" She magicked open a small pouch on the side of the bag. "It's a holster for your pen and ink, and it can be closed or capped or open as the need arises!"
Ink Well put on the gifts, the bag fitting superbly and the hat perfectly tailored. Standing again in his outfit his old habits came back instantly, tipping his hat with his hoof to the girls with a smirk on his face. "Oh this is fantastic! I had missed these so much after the fire... I just didn't feel right without them. Although... there is one thing missing."
"I think I might have that covered." Rose produced a much smaller box of her own, wrapped plainly in some clear cellophane. "I'm not nearly as good at the presentation as Rarity, but I tried my best with what Daisy and Lily had at hoof."
Ink Well slowly opened the plastic wrapping, opening the box with curiosity as to what could be inside. As soon as caught a glimpse, his jaw dropped. "No way..." From within the small box he pulled out a small writing set, a wooden piece carved with an indent for an ink pot and a small golden holster for a pen. Within both of these receptacles sat what caught Ink Well's eyes. His blue metallic fountain pen shined in the light of the shop, revealing once unsheathed a golden nib free of dents or flaws. The body of the pen had no ash, no scratches, not a hint of the turmoil it went through. Sitting next to it was his golden ink pot, returned to its perfectly round shape and gleaming brighter than it ever had before. This he turned over and over in his hooves, examining every inch from the stopper in the top to the tiniest curve at the bottom. The engraving even survived on the bottom, not changing in script or content: 'One source, endless possibilities.' Ink Well looked from the pot to Rose, stunned by the wonderful gift. "How did you...? When did you...?"
"I thought about it when I saw you having so much trouble writing, but with everything going on I was only able to get them repaired over the last two weeks. Sorry it took so long to get to you." Ink Well looked up at Rose, whose head was actually lowered with remorse from her gift.
He shook his head. "No... These are perfect. I just..." He stopped, shaking the ink pot slightly where he held it. "Is there something in it?"
Rose perked up. "Yep! While you were working on the article I tried a little experiment with scented inks, thinking I could capture the memory from a page with the memory of a smell. Unfortunately the scents don't last very long, but I figured I'd try something new anyway. I call it Rose Ink. You'll never guess what scent the first batch is in..." Ink Well unstoppered the ink pot, the gentle scent of lilacs rising in the air, completely masking the smell of the ink underneath. Everypony smiled as the scent reached them, the entire room enjoying the smell of fresh flowers.
He returned the stopper, placing both the ink pot and the pen in the holster on his bag. "You ponies are so amazing. All of you. You deserve so much more than my thanks and a dinky little story in a magazine." Everypony in the room politely declined the compliment in their own way, apart from Rainbow Dash who reveled in it. As their reactions ended, Ink Well spoke again. "So, I have a question. During my time in Ponyville I heard an amazing story about you six and Nightmare Moon... Would it be alright if I wrote something about it? I think it has the makings of a play."
Twilight's eyebrow raised. "Nightmare Moon? Isn't that story already a legend even though it was less than a year ago?"
Ink Well nodded. "Exactly. It's a legend. It already has the status of an old mare's tale. I want ponies to know what happened, who did it, to maybe learn something from all of it. To me that just screams a play."
Rainbow looked unconvinced. "You mean like on a stage? Are you crazy? Who'd want to watch that?"
"I don't know, making ponies want to watch it would be my job. But the material is there, if you just want to..." He could tell that none of the six were particularly enthused with the idea of a story of them getting out, and so he backed off. "Never mind. It's not important. Just give it a good think over and a yes or no. It was just a silly idea."
An awkward silence filled the room for a few seconds before Pinkie piped up. "Why are we all sitting here quiet? Silly ideas deserve laughter, and if they won't get them, I know what will! It's time to paaaartay!" She bumped the needle on the record player, music instantly filling the void. Everypony loosened up, slowly starting to dance and talk amongst each other. Eventually even Ink Well got into it, finding himself in another game of Twister with Rainbow Dash. He lost hooves down, but with that the party officially kicked into high gear. ---
As the party continued late into the night Ink Well gravitated towards the edge, watching the others having fun dancing and talking and playing games, all of them looking so happy. Scanning the scene he happened to catch a glimpse of red going out the door, the bell ringing quietly and unheard over the music and the laughter. Concerned, Ink Well followed, walking around the room so as not to make a scene before exiting.
Outside Rose stood alone, staring up at the night sky. The moon was big and bright with few clouds blocking it, allowing it to cast a steely glow over the dark landscape. An out-of-place mist hung near the ground, little swirls and eddies in its flow making it seem like she was standing on a cloud. Ink Well's heart dropped when he looked at her, remembering the night he shared with her soaring over the stormy skies. Slowly he walked up next to her, his brace clinking with the final step as he joined her in looking at the heavens.
After a few moments in silence, Rose spoke. "I always find the night sky so calming. Just the thought of the world sleeping soundly putting my mind at ease."
Ink Well smiled to himself, nodding. "Yeah... Sometimes I wonder when I write if I'm somehow tapping into the dreams of a thousand sleeping ponies or if all the words on the paper are truly my own..."
Rose smirked at him sidelong. "Are you kidding? Stealing their dreams? Oh no, those words are you. Only you can be that sappy and sincere."
"Well, guess that solves that conundrum, doesn't it?" The two ponies looked at each other, breaking into laughter as theirs eyes caught the others. When the moment had passed, Ink Well took a step closer. "So why'd you leave the party?"
Rose sighed, shrugging. "I don't know. Despite how friendly they all are, I just don't think I fit in with their group, you know? Like I'm an outsider barging into their space. I was never exactly a huge fan of parties anyway..." She took a step towards him, eyebrow raised. "So why did you follow me? Isn't this party for you?"
Ink Well tipped his hat down, looking into the mist around his hooves. "I don't exactly like parties either. I'm sure you've realized, but I don't like to be the center of attention." He looked back into the gingerbread house holding the party, the six within oblivious to the talk outside. "I know what you mean though. They just work so well together, that group. It'd be a crime to split them up or muscle in on it. It'd probably be best if I left quietly." He looked at Rose, sadness on his face. "And not just the party. I really should be moving on..."
Rose looked concerned, but there was a playful edge to her face. "And where will you go Mr. Famous Journalist? Do you have a plan?"
Ink Well kicked a hoof against the dirt, the mist swirling around to conceal it once more. "Well there's that play idea I pitched inside that I still think could be interesting, but with no house, no back up, and currently no income I'm going to have to get a job again. Find an apartment with the money I have, hope that some sort of offer comes in after all of this. If I ever write that second novel I promised myself I might be able to afford another house one day." Despite what he said, he smiled at her. "Eh, I'm not to worried. Everything will be fine, whatever happens."
Rose nodded, turning to look back to the sky. "Oh, I believe you. But that doesn't sound like a very solid plan..." She looked at him as if in passing. "If you would like, I'm sure I could let you stay at my house a few nights more, until your hooves are on the ground."
Ink Well shook his head, waving his unbraced hoof before him. "Oh no. You've already done too much for me. Taking care of me when I was injured, reminding me to eat the entire time I was writing, multiple instances of waking up at the work table with the blanket around my shoulders, all the pain I caused you, the running around town, the injuries..."
Rose picked up the list as he petered out. "... the joys, the sky, a new way of thinking, a new me, that reassuring smile, the great conversations, the moments of laughter..."
Ink Well kept going, less sure in his argument than he was before. "I've far outstayed my welcome, no matter how much I wish I hadn't." His hoof shot to his mouth, the words slipping out before he could stop himself.
Rose didn't even respond, still looking up at the sky. "You keep talking about it like it's a burden. Even after your victories against the Equirer and the end of the slump in your career, you still talk as though you're just this huge weight everypony has to carry around. You have GOT to work on that self esteem problem." She turned around, ivy eyes shining in the moonlight. "It would be a pleasure, Ink Well, if you were to stay here with me."
Ink Well looked excited, eager for this to be true but apprehensive that he might jinx it. "Are you sure? Because I really don't want you to dislike me for staying too-" His stammering was broken off by Rose's kiss, his wings extending in shock before he slowly melted into it, eyes closing and savoring the moment. He even leaned forward after her as she pulled back, both of them blushing as they looked at each other.
"I'm sure. Let's head home." Inside the party continued, ponies laughing and playing in the warm electric lights. But out in the cool night air the couple moved, skipping across the cloud tops and soaring of their own accord, all the joy they needed in each other's company. |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | pre | Rosa nodded, before gesturing for them to leave. They were escorted out by the guards again.
''My lady, where should we send them?" the leader of the guards asked.
''To the visitor rooms,'' Rosa replied. ''But make sure there is nothing in there that will kill them. I'd hate to have to resurrect them.''
The vampony bowed. ''As you command.'' He turned around and left.
-x-X-x-
Twilight and her friends were led through the hallways of Magehold by the guards. While no one was fool enough to stand in their way, more than a few eyes watched from the shadows.
''Where are we going?" Twilight asked no-one in particular.
Without turning around, the lead vampony replied, ''We are headed to the visitor's quarters, where you will stay.''
-x-X-x-
''Have a seat, please,'' Rosa said, gesturing towards one of the chairs. She sat down in another, and Twilight sat down opposite her.
''So,'' Rosa began, ''have you found the 'Friendship Problem'?''
Twilight nodded. ''We have.'' She shifted nervously.
''Oh?" Rosa leaned forward. ''Do tell.''
Twilight gulped. ''You.''
Rosa raised her eyebrow ever so slightly as silence filled the room. ''I'm afraid I don't follow.''
Twilight smiled. ''Well, it's very simple...'' |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | MLP Depressing Story | Order and Chaos.
Those two things are what all of the multiverse is built on. They are the foundation for everything.
But there is a third force, more powerful than both of them.
Harmony. Perfect balance between all things.
And right now, there were a lot of places out of balance.
Every world, somewhere, had a portal that any of the three forces could exploit for their own use. Harmony was going to do just that, with the two magical powerhouses now at its disposal.
Twilight Sparkle and Flurry Heart, if properly trained and without restrictions, could be two of the most powerful beings in any Equestria, easily capable of challenging Discord on their own. And these in specific were extremely powerful and skilled.
But they were still just two mares.
Against an entire world, that should be enough.
Right?
-x-X-x-
Unlike the previous times she had used the mirror, all that Twilight saw was a blinding white flash, and then she lay sprawled on the ground.
Next to her, Flurry groaned. Twilight silently thanked fate for that. She wasn't sure either of them would have survived being apart for long.
''Oh... was it always that bad?" Flurry japed weakly as she got up to her hooves.
''No,'' Twilight replied, before looking around. This was not CHS, unless it had really changed. They were in some sort of cave. Looking behind her, Twilight saw the portal was a glowing door, nestled in a rocky archway. However, it disappeared a second later.
''Well, so much for going back,'' Flurry quipped as she brandished her spear. ''Let's shed some light on where we are.''
Both mares blinked once, and when they opened their eyes again their pupils had turned slitted. Alicorns, as a godly race that had the qualities of every pony tribe, also had the perfect night vision of thestrals. Something that both alicorns had used to their advantage many times before, and it served them just as well now.
''Right, wind's blowing that way, so it'll probably lead to the exit,'' Flurry reasoned aloud.
Twilight nodded. ''Let's go. I'm eager to see where we've ended up.''
''So am I,'' Flurry replied.
They walked together through the cave, following the path that steadily led upwards. A few turns later, they stood at the exit. Bright sunlight shone outside.
''After you,'' Flurry said.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, before walking out of the cave and looking out over the land.
And groaning.
Desert, as far as the eye could see, with a massive mountain range that they had just emerged from being the only thing apart from sand.
Flurry stepped outside as well and let out a similar groan. ''I swear, if this entire planet is desert...'' she growled.
It wasn't the heat that bothered them; they had gone diving in white stars. Nor would it be the lack of food or water; while unpleasant, alicorns could survive indefinitely without food, water or even oxygen.
Mostly, it was just the bother of having to cross a large desert or a high mountain range. More specifically, how boring flying over such a landscape was.
''Let's hope it's not,'' Twilight said. ''Shall we check what's on the other side of these mountains first?''
Flurry nodded, already spreading her wings. Together, they took off into the dry, hot sky. The mountains rose high into the sky, almost touching the clouds. Not that it mattered; Twilight and Flurry flew between the peaks.
After half an hour with no end to the mountains in sight, Flurry called out to Twilight, ''We should go higher!''
Twilight shouted back, ''Good plan!''
They climbed up, beyond the clouds and into the upper atmosphere. From up there, the mountain range seemed so very small.
''Is it me, or are those continents weirdly rectangular?'' Flurry asked Twilight.
''That has to be magic,'' Twilight said. ''The chance of the continental plates naturally forming together like that is nigh-zero. Something formed them like that. See those isles there?'' She pointed her hoof at a collection of brown specks between the two largest landmasses. ''I can feel the residual magic from here. In fact, the entire world is coated in all sorts of various magics.''
Flurry nodded. She might have more power, but Twilight was still the foremost expert on magic, and Flurry had never been very good at separating different types of ambient magic from another. But even she could feel the difference between the various places.
''What are we studying first?'' she asked.
Without looking away from it, Twilight pointed her hoof at a peninsula that looked like it had been shattered by some cataclysmic event. ''There. It's saturated with blood magic.'' She involuntarily shuddered. ''I want to find out what caused it.''
''Then let's go,'' Flurry said, before diving forward in a burst of speed, leaving a pink-purple and turquoise trail behind. A few moments later, Twilight followed behind her, chuckling.
Within ten minutes, they were roughly above the peninsula. They fluidly dove down, going even faster.
Now, alicorns could travel well beyond the speed of light if they wanted to, so the speed they had as they dove to the ground was nothing impressive to the two ancient mares.
But to the inhabitants of this world, more specifically two people in a rowboat, the speed was unbelievable.
Jorah Mormont and Tyrion Lannister both stared in astonishment at the twin streaks of light that were falling from the sky at a speed they had never seen anything move before. ''What in the Seven Hells is that?" Tyrion asked.
The streaks of light disappeared into the mist. After a few seconds, Jorah slowly began to paddle again, though Tyrion kept on staring at the air the lights had passed through. Then he turned to Jorah. ''Do you know what that was?''
''No idea,'' Jorah replied, ''and given where we are, I don't want to know.''
''I do,'' Tyrion said brightly. ''Just imagine what it could be? A falling star? A dragonling?''
''Dragons can't move that fast,'' Jorah stated softly.
Tyrion opened his mouth for a witty retort, only to squeak in fright at the twin flashes of light above the boat.
There, floating in the air by way of flapping wings, were two tall, colourful horses, wearing armour and with what appeared to be weapons on their sides, but no saddle or rider.
Flurry and Twilight looked at the two humans with equal parts curiosity and excitement. ''Greetings,'' Twilight greeted them, ''we come in peace.''
''You can talk?" the taller of the two humans exclaimed, almost dropping his paddle before remembering it was the only weapon he had.
''Obviously,'' Flurry replied with a roll of her eyes. ''What are you two doing here? This place is positively crawling with monsters.''
The smaller man seemed to have recovered himself, as he answered, ''We are but simple travelers, making our way through Valyria so we can visit family in Elyria.''
''You're a good liar,'' Twilight complimented absently, mentally reviewing the information she'd glanced from their unprotected minds. She hadn't actively gone rooting around in their heads, but she'd picked up their surface thoughts and picked extra information from their minds to help complete the picture.
The small man - a dwarf - was Tyrion Lannister, a scion of a great house in Westeros, the vertical continent. He'd been exiled after a show trial for murdering his cousin, which he hadn't done.
The other man was Jorah Mormont, an exile multiple times over. He was trying to get back to the woman that had exiled him, hoping that bringing Tyrion to her would bring him back in her good graces.
''But not good enough,'' Twilight finished her own sentence, ignoring Flurry's small smirk or the two men's incredulous looks. ''Flurry,'' she addressed the mare, ''this world is more interesting than we thought.''
''I know,'' Flurry said, having done some mental sight-seeing of her own. ''So, what's the game plan?''
''Get these two to Meereen, study the dragons, fly to the Wall and see what's happening there, clean up Westeros and Essos in the process,'' Twilight listed off.
''I beg your pardon?'' Tyrion guffawed.
''Granted,'' Flurry quipped. ''And that lines up with my ideas,'' she said to Twilight.
''Good,'' Twilight said. She turned to address the two lost-looking men. ''I suggest you hold on tight.''
''What do you-'' Jorah began, but it was already too late.
A wind that would have otherwise blown the boat and both men in it to shreds kicked up around then, and instead of instantaneous destruction the boat began to move forward at an incredible pace, pushed by Twilight's magic. The two alicorns lazily floated after them, not visibly doing anything to move the boat, yet moved it was.
Fifteen minutes later, and the boat stopped inside of Meereen's port. Jorah and Tyrion managed to climb out of it onto the docks and promptly started throwing up onto the ground as the two alicorns serenely landed.
''Pardon me, sir,'' Twilight addressed the nearest man in fluid Low Valyrian, ''can you tell me where I might find Queen Daenerys?''
The man stared at her for a few seconds, before hesitantly raising his arm and pointing at the Great Pyramid.
Twilight smiled and inclined her head. ''Thank you.''
She picked up the still-retching humans in her magenta aura, levitating them behind her as she and Flurry walked through the docks.
Two armoured guards stood at the gate into the city proper, but before they could stop Twilight and her hang-ons, Flurry spoke up, just like Twilight, in perfect Low Valyrian. ''Gentlemen, be a couple of dears and let us through, please?''
One of the Unsullied replied by pointing the tip of his spear at Jorah and saying, ''He is banished on pain of death.''
''We know that,'' Flurry replied without missing a beat. ''But this is Tyrion Lannister, the son of one of the families that played a major role in throwing the Targaryens out of Westeros. I bet the Queen will be very interested in that, if nothing else.''
Tyrion, who had finally stopped throwing up, was now staring at Flurry with wide eyes.
The Unsullied stared at her for a few more seconds, before one of the two turned around and began to march away towards the Great Pyramid. The other remained behind, watching the alicorns and their baggage like a hawk.
Eventually, a group of Unsullied appeared, marching towards them. The man at the head of the column came to a halt a few steps away from Twilight. He reached up with his hands and removed his helmet.
''What is your business here?'' he asked.
''Good afternoon, Commander Grey Worm,'' Twilight replied diplomatically, shooting her brightest smile at him. ''I'm here to talk to you about the magic of friendship.''
Flurry smirked. This was going to be fun.
-x-X-x-
Tommen and Margaery sat together in the gardens of the Red Keep. One of the keep's many cats was playing with a flower in front of the two.
-x-X-x-
''Are you sure this will work?'' Jon Snow asked the little horse doubtfully.
''Of course,'' the purple creature replied. ''I triple-checked the calculations!''
This was proven moments later when, as the horde of undead surged forward, the clouds suddenly broke apart and allowed the sun through.
The horse disappeared in a purple flash, and Jon looked up to see it appear next to the white horse. They had spread their wings, with their backs towards the sun.
Then Jon had to look away as a blinding beam of light shot down. When he could look again, the army of the dead was gone.
He blinked, and it was still gone. Just... gone. Turned to dust. |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | The Alicorn of War | At first, rumours were all that came to Celestia from Zebrica. Fantastic tales of a tall stallion, dressed in dark golden armour with his face masked, his mane and tail the only unarmoured parts of his body. A stallion that did all manner of impossible things.
A warrior so mighty, he took on the Storm King's elite, warriors feared across the world even more than any other yeti warrior, in a fight to the death and came out with nary a scratch on his armour, and then killed the Storm King, breaking his army and shattering his empire in a single day.
That was a feat worthy of note, if it hadn't been shrouded in mystery. Exactly what weapons had been used in the fight was unknown, and the Storm King's exact fate was just as uncertain. Celestia only knew that he was dead.
More exploits of his made their way to Equestria. How this stallion had entered Chiropterra, a stain on Equestria's history, and slain it's commanders and leaders, paving the way for an invasion by Hippogriffia. At that point, Celestia had begun to use her few informants in Zebrica to try and find out anything they could about this stallion. The only thing they could reliably do was track his movements.
After Chiropterra, he headed east for a time, vanishing in Zaranthia's deserts. Then he reappeared on the other side of the continent, in Roam, where he broke the back of the despots that ruled that backwards 'Imperium'.
After that, he disappeared for three years, not a single word of knowledge to be found on him. Celestia almost forgot he existed.
Until she picked up the morning paper.
''Coup in Griffonian Empire prevented by mysterious stallion; life of the Emperor saved!''
With growing incredulity she read about how one General Ferdinand Dawnclaw, as a result of discreet purges in the Empire's military, gathered men loyal to him and stormed the Imperial Palace. They managed to get all the way into the Emperor's chambers, but then 'a mysterious stallion' intervened, and saved the child's life.
By blowing up the hallway.
But that was all well and good. Celestia could accept that the mysterious warrior that had destroyed several governments had saved the life of the Emperor of Griffonia, though it was more Herzland now.
What she couldn't accept was the picture that dominated the front page: the young emperor standing under the wing of a stallion who looked to be even taller than herself, clad in armour that hid his entire body. A spear hung in the stallion's magic.
The mysterious warrior was an alicorn.
In hindsight, that explained a lot, she reflected. How he had survived all those battles, where he got his power from. What she couldn't understand was how no one had ever mentioned this before.
There were only four alicorns in the world, for crying out loud! How could no one have told anyone else of this? It wasn't like there weren't any witnesses.
She glanced back at the article, quickly dismissing it. She didn't need to know the details; at least, not now. And the speculation the paper went into, wondering if this was the same stallion that had wandered around Zebrica a few years; well, she already knew the answer to that question.
There would be panic by Twilight and her advisors both soon enough, Celestia noted. They would demand her time to discuss this development and what she knew of it.
But for now, there was no such demand, only a very nice breakfast in front of her.
-x-X-x-
Twilight's mane was frazzling as she put the paper down. ''Spike!'' she shouted. ''Take a letter to the Princess, please! And get my friends here!''
The dragon grumbled, ''Twilight, what's the issue?''
Twilight thrust the paper under his nose. Spike quickly glanced through it, eyebrows raised. Then he clawed it back to her. ''I'll get that letter and the girls,'' he said, before standing up from the table, taking his breakfast with him as he went.
Twilight barely acknowledged him, mind alight with possibilities. Who was this alicorn? Why hadn't the Princess ever mentioned him? Did she not know of him? How did they know it was even a he?
-x-X-x-
''Bitte, erbarme dich- Uf.''
The griffon collapsed to the ground as the curved tip of the spear pulled out of his chest. The stallion looked at the body for a moment to make sure it was dead, then looked around him.
Twelve Black-Cloaks lay dead on the ground, felled by his spear in less than a minute. Their weapons might have given them the illusion of advantage at a longer distance, but said distance wasn't there, as the stallion could bridge any gap between him and his opponents in seconds.
And the Black-Cloaks deserved it, no doubt. These in particular had been heading for a pony village, planning to burn and pillage it. Well, they wouldn't anymore.
And the stallion had his next target.
Saving the young Grover had been a spur-of-the-moment, lucky happening. It was chance that had made the stallion be in Griffinheim on the same day that Dawnclaw attempted his coup, and his sense of morality that had steered him to protect the child from the traitor and his ilk.
The stallion might be a creature to not flinch at the sight of torture and death, but he held a soft spot for children in his heart. They were the future, and it would not do to stop that future from potentially achieving greatness.
But enough musing. He had a destination, and another one after that, a date with a mare on the other side of the world.
But first, purging some racist griffons.
A smirk crept onto the stallion's masked face.
What fun.
-x-X-x-
The stallion vanished again after overthrowing the Reformisten governments of Hellquil and Longsword, and exposing their crimes for all the world to see.
The next time he turned up, it was in front of Canterlot Palace.
Celestia was having afternoon tea with Raven when a scared-out-of-his-mind guard entered the pavilion they were using.
''Your pardon, Princess, but there is a visitor demanding to see you,'' he said.
Celestia put her cup down. ''And who might that be?''
The guard gulped. ''It's the stallion, Princess.''
Celestia nodded. ''I see. Send him to me, please.''
A few minutes later, the stallion entered the pavilion, following behind the guard. ''Princess,'' he greeted, not bowing his head or otherwise showing respect. His black wings and horn and his dark green mane and tail were the only un-armoured body parts. His spear hung on his side.
''I don't know what to call you,'' Celestia admitted after a moment.
''Glaive will suffice,'' the stallion said succinctly.
''Very well, Glaive. Please, have a seat. Tea?''
''No, thank you.'' The stallion sat down in the empty chair.
A moment of silence ensued. Then Celestia cleared her throat. ''What brings you here?''
The stallion didn't reply at first. He shifted slightly, adjusting his wings. Then he answered, ''Information.''
''Information?'' Celestia repeated, raising her eyebrow ever so slightly.
''I know you've been following me,'' the stallion said bluntly. ''You want to know who I am, where I come from, and why I do what I do.''
A little startled, Celestia nonetheless said, ''Yes.''
The stallion inclined his head, then lifted a teacup in yellow magic - without his horn lighting up - and put it to his masked lips, sipping from it.
When he was finished, he put the cup down. ''Well, I'm afraid you will have to wait a while longer. I've got a couple of things to do before we finish this conversation.''
''What do you-'' Celestia was cut off as the stallion vanished in the flash.
She stared at the empty air he had just been. And then started to swear.
-x-X-x-
The stallion returned to Canterlot a month later, once again meeting with Celestia in the garden pavilion.
''A couple of things?'' Celestia asked as soon as they sat down.
The stallion shrugged as he picked up his cup of tea. ''Perhaps.''
''You killed Chrysalis,'' Celestia continued.
''Perhaps,'' the stallion repeated. The mask and voice gave away no emotion.
''Why?''
''Now that is a long story,'' the stallion said. |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | MLP CMC idea | The chariot of the two sisters landed on the edge of Ponyville, where Twilight Sparkle and Spike, having been forewarned by a letter from Celestia, waited on them.
''Princess Celestia!'' Twilight greeted the alicorn. ''Princess Luna! It's so good to see you again!''
''The feeling is mutual, Twilight,'' Luna replied. ''How are you and your friends recovering from Discord?''
''Oh...'' Twilight's ears drooped. ''We're doing fine.''
Luna nodded. ''Very well. We have firsthoof experience with how damaging Discord can be.''
''Not helping, Luna,'' Celestia spoke up, before offering Twilight a smile. ''It's good to see you again too, Twilight, Spike.''
The dragon waved. '''Lo, Princesses.''
''Spike!'' Twilight guffawed. ''Show some respect!''
Luna waved her hoof dismissively. ''Nay, 'tis fine, Twilight. We know young Spike thinks highly of us both.''
''If I speak out against that,'' Spike asked with a grin, ''do I get nightmares?''
Luna adopted a look of faux-hurt. ''How dare you insinuate such a thing!" she said over-dramatically.
Twilight giggled and Celestia couldn't quite contain a snort of amusement. Then she composed herself again. ''Twilight, this is not a pleasure visit.''
Twilight turned serious as well. ''Why are you here then? I can't think of anything.''
''Before you say it,'' Luna cut in, ''no, the Elements will not be required at this time.''
Twilight sighed. ''That's a relief.''
''We are here because we wish to speak with the three fillies that enabled Discord's escape,'' Celestia continued her sister's explanation. ''Do you know where they are?''
''If they're not in school, they're probably at their clubhouse,'' Spike reasoned aloud.
''Please lead us to this clubhouse,'' Luna requested.
''Princess, you're not going to do anything to them, are you?'' Twilight asked.
''Of course not, Twilight,'' Celestia assured her. ''Leaving aside the fact that they are foals, there was no way they could have known the consequences of their actions, and there is no law against releasing Discord anyway.''
''What about the laws against prison break?'' Twilight pressed.
''Discord was never convicted of any crime,'' Celestia informed the two of them. ''His imprisonment was before the institution of Equestria, if you remember.''
Twilight nodded understandingly. ''Yes, of course. Spike, do you know the way to the clubhouse?''
Rolling his eyes, Spike replied, ''Follow me.''
The two princesses drew some stares from the other ponies as they walked through Ponyville, but by now the inhabitants of the town were so used to strangeness that they went back to their business after a few seconds. For the alicorns, it was a remarkably novel experience, to be able to walk freely without being surrounded by guards and crowds.
After a few minutes, they arrived at the clubhouse. ''I'll go tell them you're here,'' Spike said, before walking up to the door and knocking on it.
''Guys!'' he called. ''You've got visitors!''
A rumble came from inside, and then the door was opened by Applebloom. ''Howdy, Spike,'' she greeted him. ''How are ya?''
''Pretty fine, Applebloom,'' Spike replied with a smile. ''But I'm not the one that's here for you.'' And he stepped aside.
''Good afternoon, Applebloom,'' Celestia said as she stepped forward and offered the filly a smile.
''Uh- good afternoon, Princess,'' Applebloom said, obviously shocked. ''Err-'' her eyes widened even further as she saw Luna standing next to Twilight.
''May my sister and I come in?'' Celestia asked kindly.
''O-of course, yer highness!'' Applebloom said, before stepping aside to allow the two alicorns in.
''We'll wait outside,'' Twilight said to Luna, who nodded, before entering the clubhouse.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both stared at the alicorns as they seated themselves on the floor. ''Err, it's an honour to meet you, your highnesses,'' Sweetie Belle said, ''but why are you here?''
''Been wonderin' that mahself,'' Applebloom admitted as she sat down on the floor next to her friends.
''We wish to talk about your part in Discord's escape,'' Celestia informed them.
''We didn't know!'' Sweetie Belle immediately defended herself and the others, jumping up from the floor. ''Please don't send us to jail!''
''Calm down; you will not be punished,'' Celestia assured the three fillies. ''We simply wish to ask you three some questions.''
''Oh...'' Sweetie Belle's cheeks flared red. ''Okay.'' She sat down again.
''What do you want to know?'' Scootaloo asked the alicorns.
''Before we start,'' Luna said, ''you should know that we want honest answers. No lies.'' Her dark blue eyes swept over the three fillies, and they all nodded timidly.
''First question,'' Celestia took over, ''do you prefer the day or the night?''
The three fillies' faces all scrunched up as they thought about this. Sweetie Belle was the first to answer, ''I prefer the day.''
''Why?'' Celestia inquired.
''I don't know...'' Sweetie admitted. ''It's just a feeling of niceness, y'know?''
''Strange,'' Applebloom spoke up, ''Ah was about ta say the same thing 'bout the night.''
''Really?'' Sweetie asked Applebloom.
''Really,'' Applebloom affirmed.
Luna and Celestia shot each other a look.
''Well, I don't care,'' Scootaloo said, ''I like 'em both equally.''
''Thank you for your honest answers,'' Celestia said. ''Next question: what do you want your cutie mark to be?''
This time, the silence lasted much longer, stretching across several minutes. But again, it was Sweetie Belle who had her answer first. ''I want it to be something with singing.''
''I want something cool, just like Rainbow Dash!'' was Scootaloo's answer.
''Ah'm thinkin' of somethin' with potions, like Zecora,'' Applebloom answered.
''Zecora?'' Luna questioned.
''She's a zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest,'' Sweetie explained. ''We all used to think she was a evil witch, but then Twilight went and proved that she was just a nice lady.''
Mentally, Celestia made a note to congratulate her student on this, even as she nodded. ''I see. Those are all very good talents to aspire for.''
''Our third and final question,'' Luna continued, ''is not a question at all, but rather a request. There is a spell we would like to cast on you, that might help explain how the three of you affected Discord's escape. May we?''
The fillies' shared looks with each other, before nodding their assent.
''Thank you.'' Luna smiled even as her horn began to glow, just like her sister's. ''This'll be just a moment.''
The two alicorns released their spell, and the world turned white.
-x-X-x-
''What do you think?'' Luna asked Celestia.
''I think that they might be it,'' Celestia replied. ''Just like us three back in the old days, the three of them share a connection that goes deeper than any of them realise.''
''That might be so,'' Luna agreed, ''but can we really force others to take our burden?''
Celestia frowned. ''Luna, we are not forcing them to do anything. We'll give them the offer, and if they refuse, so be it.''
''Do you really think they'll refuse?'' Luna asked sarcastically.
''They just might,'' Celestia retorted. ''They're smart for their age. They might not understand the full consequences, but if we explain it to them, they'll understand enough to make an informed decision.''
''And then what?'' Luna asked.
''We'll both take one of them,'' Celestia said. ''As for the third...''
''Do you think he would behave?'' Luna wondered aloud.
''He might, if we play it right,'' Celestia mused, before shaking herself. ''But first, we need to talk to these three.''
-x-X-x-
''Wow!'' Applebloom said.
''What happened?'' Scootaloo asked, tilting her head.
The two alicorns opened their eyes and smiled at the fillies. ''It seems we were right,'' Luna said.
''Right about what?'' Applebloom asked.
''Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo,'' Celestia began, ''the three of you share a bond. A very unique bond: there has only been one before in all of history.''
''The bond my sister means existed between Celestia, Discord, and myself,'' Luna continued. ''You see, Celestia is not my sibling by birth. But we knew each other from a young age, and over time we grew as close as sisters. The same goes for Discord, before he turned evil.''
''Even now, we still don't know very much about the bond,'' Celestia admitted, ''but we do know this. The reason Discord was able to break free of his prison is related to Scootaloo. More specifically, her magic.''
''What?'' Scootaloo squeaked.
''You have inside the same magic as Discord: Chaos magic,'' Luna explained. ''Sweetie Belle, you have the same magic as Celestia, that of the Sun. And Applebloom, you have the same magic as me, the Moon and Stars.''
''This is a powerful gift,'' Celestia went on, ''one that needs to be taught control of, lest you risk harm to those around you. Therefore, we offer for you three to come to Canterlot, and study under the three of us.''
All three fillies stared at the princesses. Finally, Sweetie raised her hoof.
''Ask,'' Luna commanded with a smile.
''What do you mean, three?''
Celestia coughed. ''Neither Luna nor myself can teach Scootaloo to wield her Chaos magic. Only Discord can.''
''You're gonna release him again!?'' Applebloom cried.
''He will behave himself,'' Luna promised. ''For Scootaloo and for our bond, if nothing else.''
Speaking of, Scootaloo hadn't spoken at all, merely staring at the alicorns.
Sweetie kicked her side softly. ''Scoots?''
''So that's why I can't fly,'' Scootaloo muttered.
Luna's ears caught Scootaloo's words, and she nodded regally. ''We believe so, yes. Chaos magic rejects the nature of things: like pegasi using their wings to fly.''
''We can't solve it,'' Celestia added. ''Not even the Elements of Harmony can. Only control of your Chaos magic will be able to.''
Scootaloo nodded once, and took a deep breath. ''Okay,'' she said, ''when are we leaving?''
Celestia blinked. ''You should talk with your parents about this.''
All three fillies looked at her. ''We're all orphans,'' Applebloom said after half a minute of uncomfortable silence.
Celestia wilted back, as if struck. ''My sincerest apologies, I didn't know.''
Scootaloo waved her hoof dismissively. ''No problem, your highness.'' A moment later, she added in a softer voice, ''Will we be living in Canterlot?''
''In the castle, yes,'' Luna said. ''It would require you to move away from your caretakers though.''
''You can still visit them, of course,'' Celestia clarified, ''but you would be spending the majority of your time in Canterlot Castle.''
''Awesome!'' Scootaloo exclaimed.
-x-X-x- |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | Twily is hilariously overpowered | Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes.
The last thing she remembered was a bright flash, and then a fleeting sensation of floating in nothingness. Anything before that was blank, gone.
How had she gotten here? She tried to remember what she'd been doing, but came up blank. Then she tried to remember her parents, and also came up blank. Why couldn't she remember her parents?! She scrunched her face up as she thought as hard as she could, but nothing came to mind, not even the slightest inkling. Only her name, Twilight Sparkle.
She groaned at her headache, and stood up, legs shaking slightly as she looked around. She was in a cave of some sort, judging by the look of the rocky walls that surrounded her. Behind her was a path that disappeared into darkness, but in front of her shone a bright light, though she couldn't see the source.
Curious, and with no better plan, Twilight began to walk towards the light, careful to not step on any pointy stones that might hurt her. As she came closer to the light, it naturally became brighter, and when Twilight walked past a large stone, the source came into view.
Twilight gasped softly at the sight of the crystal tree, glowing brightly. On its bark were a sun and a moon, and on it's five branches hung symbols as well, a pink butterfly, blue balloon, red lightning bolt, purple diamond and orange apple. Finally, a magenta star hung in the centre.
Suddenly, a melodious voice, neither male nor female, spoke. ''Greetings, Twilight Sparkle.''
Twilight yelped. ''Who's there!?'' she asked as she looked around.
''Do not be afraid. I am the Tree you stand in front of,'' the voice said. Twilight stared at the tree, and noticing it was pulsing with light as it continued, ''I am sorry this happened to you, Twilight Sparkle.''
''Who are you? How do you know my name?'' Twilight asked. ''And why can't I remember anything?''
''Your memories were wiped by Princess Celestia after you had a massive surge of magical power,'' the tree explained, sounding sorrowful. ''I managed to teleport you here, but I cannot restore your memories.''
Twilight's face flickered through a variety of emotions as she thought about this. How dare this Princess wipe her memories! No matter the reason, Twilight knew memories should not be tampered with. She didn't know how she knew this, she just did.
Twilight looked at the tree. ''Can you tell me about what I did that made this Princess wipe my mind?''
''I can answer that,'' a voice that was definitely female said. Twilight turned around to see a silver-grey unicorn enter. Her diamond-blue and golden mane was tied back in a ponytail that swayed slightly with every step she took, and her horn was curved backwards slightly. She wore a fine white cloak, with the hood drawn back.
Twilight instinctively took a step back as the mare's emerald eyes bored into Twilight. ''Who are you?''
''My name is Moonflower,'' the mare said as she approached Twilight. ''I have tended to the Tree for a long time now. It sent me to your home after it rescued you from Celestia.''
Moonflower reached into her cloak, and pulled out a small basket. In it lay a small, purple-green creature, sleeping softly.
''This is the dragonling you hatched that caused your magic to spike,'' Moonflower explained as she put the basket down. ''I rescued it from Celestia. She was planning to kill it off.''
Twilight gasped. "Why?" The idea of killing an innocent baby...
Moonflower sighed. "Celestia's insane."
-x-X-x-
Star Tower's life was both easy and hard at the same time.
On one hoof, he had more money than he could spend in a lifetime. Not really, but it was close. He had a mansion - several, actually - and even servants to keep them clean. The businesses his family was shareholder in ensured he would never have to work in his life.
On the other hoof, he was a twenty-year old tasked with raising his foal sister, Crystal Star, alone, following their parents' death on the same day that Crystal was born. He also had an extremely tasking study in magical frequencies to work on.
Fortunately, there was one source of stress relief in his life: the mare currently snuggled against him in bed, sleeping with a content smile on her face.
Star glanced at the clock. 03:59, it read. Luckily it was a Sunday, and he could stay asleep again, together with his marefriend.
A very, very soft knock on the door reached Star's ears. That could only be one pony.
"Come in, Crystal," Star said softly.
The door opened, and the four-year old unicorn trotted in her. The only thing Crystal and Star shared in appearance were their emerald-green eyes; Star had a deep blue coat and a darker blue mane with golden streaks, while Crystal's coat was light blue and her mane was white.
Crystal held a stuffed toy close to her chest. The adorable white dove was aptly named Whitey.
"Brother," Crystal whispered as she approached the bed, "I had a nightmare."
Star nodded, then turned his head around to his marefriend. "Sunset," he whispered into her ear.
Sunset stirred. "Five more minutes," she mumbled.
"Crystal had a nightmare," Star informed the mare. "Can you make some room?"
Sunset hmm-ed, and slid away from Star, who silently mourned this fact even as he turned back to Crystal and said, "You can lie between us."
Crystal nodded, and crawled into the bed. Star moved his pillow so she could rest her head as well. Crystal laid her head in the pillow and clutched Whitey as Star pulled the covers over them both again.
"Sleep well, brother," Crystal whispered, before snuggling up against him.
Star smiled, and kissed her on the forehead. "Night, Crystal."
He laid back down and closed his eyes.
-x-X-x-
Several months after Twilight had first arrived in the Cave, three more ponies appeared. Moonflower accompanied them. There was a dark blue unicorn stallion with a darker blue mane with golden streaks and an ancient rune as a cutie mark; a orange unicorn mare with a red mane with yellow streaks and a red and yellow sun as a cutie mark; and a filly even younger than Twilight was, with a light blue coat and a white mane.
"The Tree of Harmony..." the stallion whispered as he and the mare stared in awe at the Tree.
''Who are you?'' Twilight was getting tired of asking this question to every new person she met, and it might have shown in her tone of voice.
The mare answered, as the stallion was still staring transfixed at the Tree, ''I'm Sunset Shimmer. This is Star Tower, and this is Crystal Star,'' she gestured at the filly, who remained huddled to Sunset's side. Then Sunset tilted her head at Twilight. ''I recognize you. Aren't you supposed to be dead?''
Twilight resolutely looked back into Sunset's teal eyes. ''And?''
''And nothing,'' Sunset said simply. ''I'm just surprised, is all.''
Star Tower finally tore his eyes away from the Tree to look at Moonflower. ''I am in your debt,'' he said as he bowed his head. ''What can I do to repay it?''
Sunset turned around to goggle at Star, while Moonflower smiled. ''You can help Twilight with her magic. I'm afraid I'm not skilled enough for that.''
Star Tower raised an eyebrow at Moonflower. ''You're powerful enough to get us out of Canterlot,'' he argued.
''That was simple,'' Moonflower replied. ''But Twilight needs to learn about the more arcane areas of magic, and I don't have the knowledge or skill for that.''
''Very well,'' Star Tower acquiesced, before looking at Twilight. ''I can see that you're one powerful filly. Of course, to survive that surge of magic, you'd have to be...'' he mused.
-x-X-x-
Star looked around the room the Tree had created for him. Crystal-like branches seeped through the stone walls, giving off a soft light. A comfortable bed stood in the corner, next to a desk with a chair, and a chest stood under the desk, but the room was otherwise bare.
Star was just about to test out the bed when he felt a mare's body press against him. ''Good evening,'' Sunset breathed into his ear.
Star shivered. ''Evening,'' he replied.
Sunset kissed him and he kissed her back, tongues twisting together as she dragged him to the bed. They fell back onto it, Sunset pinned down under Star.
''Hmm,'' Sunset purred as she broke her lips away from Star's. ''Have I told you that you taste good?''
''Every day, love,'' Star replied, before beginning to cover her face and neck in kisses. Not to be outdone, Sunset's horn lit up as she wrapped a corona of magic around Star's cock -which was already out of it's shaft - and created a magical fleshlight.
''Fuckk...'' Sunset moaned as Star continued his relentless kissing assault.
-x-X-x-
Celestia couldn't resist smiling as she looked out over her nation. Her ponies were safe and protected from all the horrors that feared the Sun's righteous touch. Equestria, the land where winter meant a cool breeze and some clouds. Equestria, where ponies from all walks of life lived in perfect order. Equestria, where Celestia had ultimate power.
KA-BOOM!
Celestia recoiled back, then stared in shock. The Everfree Forest, the one place inside of Equestria's borders that wasn't under her control, was rapidly expanding.
In a flash, she appeared above it, high in the air. Her armour gleamed in the light of her Sun. Celestia gathered her power, then sent a massive ball of flame down at the forest.
Only for it to splash harmlessly against a purple shield. |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | Clink-Clank | Clink-clank.
The sound of metal horseshoes walking on the stone floor echoed through the hallway. These were the rarely-used dungeons of Canterlot Palace, and as far as the public knew, they were empty.
Then again, as far as the public knew this hallway didn't exist.
Empress Daybreaker, formerly the Princess Celestia, walked down the hallway. Each step was perfectly measured, perfectly controlled by the centuries-old alicorn, even when there was no one else to witness it.
Well, there was someone else. Walking behind Daybreaker was Star Tower, dressed in a fine robe of fire-red that contrasted with his deep blue coat and even deeper blue and golden mane.
The two arrived at a simple metal door. The only thing that stuck out from it's smooth surface was the symbol of the sun branded onto the centre, glowing with magic.
Daybreaker placed her hoof against the sun sigil, and a moment later the door opened of its own accord, allowing the two ponies in.
The door led to a large circular room, with glowing runes etched into its walls. In the centre, above a well of solar fire, hung a metal cage, kept suspended by a single chain.
''You,'' a female voice sneered from inside the cage. ''Finally here to finish the job?''
Daybreaker sighed. Whether she was truly irritated or just faking it, neither of the other two persons in the room could tell.
''Say your piece and begone,'' the caged mare spat at the alicorn.
''This will be the last time I visit you,'' Daybreaker said, any emotion she felt carefully repressed in favour of a neutral tone.
''Good,'' the mare said. ''At least I can die in peace.''
Daybreaker said nothing, but merely turned around and, with a single nod to Star, walked to the door. There she turned back to face the cage and watched in silence.
Star stepped forward. ''Twilight Sparkle, do you continue to resist Her Imperial Majesty' rightful reign?''
Twilight glared hatefully at him and Daybreaker. ''Always.''
Star sighed, then his horn lit up golden.
Twilight shifted slightly as magic began to surround her. ''What are you doing?'' she asked.
Star gave no answer, merely closing his eyes in concentration.
Twilight gave a squeak as she began to shrink. ''What are you doing!?'' she asked again, now with more urgency.
Still no answer from Star.
Twilight's carefully-maintained mane, kept so by the enchantments on her cage, began to change. The purple-red streak began to grow and turned more fiery red as the blue-purple hair around it turned bright yellow. Her mane then tied itself into a short bun at the back of her head.
''Ah!'' Twilight cried as her eyes stung. She blinked rapidly, and when she finally opened her eyes fully again, they had turned the same colour as Daybreaker's, without the slitted pupil or red iris.
All the while, she continued to shrink until she was the size of a filly. She felt a tingling run through her, and raised her hoof to see the hoof was turning from purple to yellow, while her coat turned lavender to yellow-white.
Another tingling, this time focused on her flank, and she stared in horror as her cutie mark vanished and was replaced by a rising sun. ''You...'' she stopped as a sudden headache came on.
''NO!" she shouted, raising her hooves to her head and trying in vain to use her magic as her memories were replaced. She began to repeat her name to herself.
''Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle,'' she chanted. ''Twilight Sunrise? T-twilight Sparkle,'' she quickly corrected the slip up. ''Twilight Sparkshine, NO! Twilight Dayshine! Twilight Sparkle, my name is...''
She trailed off as her memories vanished completely, and stared in front of her with a blank expression on her face.
With a click, Daybreaker's magic unlocked the cage and floated the filly over to her. ''You are Sunrise Dayshine, my little adopted daughter.''
Twilight blinked once, and then Sunrise smiled happily. ''Of course, momma!'' the nine-year old alicorn said. Then her face scrunched up in confusion. ''Where are we?''
''Never you mind,'' Daybreaker said as she placed the filly on her back. ''Come, Star,'' she said to the unicorn, who was looking at the two of them.
''Yes, Empress.'' He bowed his head at her, and then followed her out of the dungeons.
|-x-X-x-|
''Hmm...'' Rarity contently purred as she snuggled into Star's chest. ''That was delightful.''
Star didn't answer her, instead looking up at the enchanted ceiling of their room, which showed the night sky. Rarity frowned at her husband's unresponsiveness. ''What's wrong, darling?'' she asked him.
Star let out a sigh. ''Nothing,'' he answered.
''Don't 'nothing' me, Mr,'' Rarity said accusingly. ''Something happened, and you're wrung up about it. Spill.''
Star sighed again. ''You know that alicorn filly the Empress found in the Canterlot Caverns a few weeks back?''
''Yes?'' Rarity hesitantly answered.
''That was Twilight,'' Star said flatly.
Rarity sat up in bed and stared at her husband. ''Oh,'' she softly said.
''Yeah.'' Star uncomfortably rubbed his hooves together. ''I helped with the spells for that.''
Rarity reflected on this. Twilight had been one of her best friends, of course, but she and Rarity had grown distant ever since Rarity moved to Canterlot and started dating Star. And then Twilight had begun leading a resistance against the newly-ascended Empress.
Rarity could understand that Twilight was uncomfortable with the new government. She was too, to an extent. But she would never dream of trying to rebel against the Empress!
''I see,'' she said finally. ''I don't need to know anymore.''
''Okay,'' Star gratefully agreed. After a short silence, he asked, ''Shall we go again?''
Rarity shook her head. ''I'm... just hold me, alright?''
''Of course, love.'' Star gave her a quick kiss, then she sat down and snuggled against him again. Together, they drifted off to sleep.
|-x-X-x-|
''Mommy! Daddy!''
''Urgh...'' Star groaned. Why did he want children again?
Still, he couldn't deny them anything. So he opened his eyes to see Diamond Tower standing next to the bed.
''What's the time?'' Star asked no-one in particular as he glanced at the clock. 07:55, it read. On a Saturday, that was far too early for his tastes.
''Daddy,'' Diamond said, ''Fali, Amy and Pert are awake already! And Auntie Crystal made pancakes!''
''Really now?'' Star asked with a raised eyebrow. ''Well, I can't miss those.'' He turned around to see Rarity was stirring as well.
''Love,'' he whispered into her ear, ''pancakes.''
''Five more minutes,'' Rarity whined.
''Pancakes or tickles,'' Star declared.
''Tickles!'' Diamond added excitedly.
''Alright,'' Rarity good-naturedly grumbled as she threw the covers away. ''Pancakes it is.''
Once they were in the dining room, they saw Crystal sitting together with their triplets, Falisiousa, Amethyst and Pertorica. Neither Rarity nor Star had counted having triplets the second time, but neither of them minded in the slightest.
''Morning, big bro, Rares,'' Crystal greeted them both with a grin. ''I woke your kids up for ya.''
''You needn't have, darling,'' Rarity said, ''but thank you.''
''No problem.'' Crystal dumped another pancake onto her plate.
''You always make the better pancakes of us two,'' Star remarked as he placed one on his plate.
''Someone had to feed you,'' Crystal quipped playfully.
The playground quieted for a moment as Star teleported in with his wife and son.
''Have a good day, Diamond,'' he said cordially. Rarity bent down and gave him a peck on his forehead.
''Bye, Mom and Dad!'' Diamond gave them both a quick hug, then joined his friends. Star and Rarity watched until the bell rang and they filed inside. Then Star teleported them back home again.
''They grow up so fast,'' Rarity whispered.
''He's six,'' Star couldn't help but point out. ''We have twelve more years with him.''
''That's only twice the time we've had so far,'' Rarity retorted, ''and it feels like yesterday that I was feeding him from my teats!''
Star silenced her further dramatics with a dazzling kiss. ''You need some stress relief, Mrs Spellweaver,'' he declared once they broke.
Rarity smirked. ''I think I do.'' And she all but dragged him to the bedroom.
|-x-X-x-|
Afterwards, Rarity and Star snuggled with each other. ''You really know how to make me unwind, Mr Spellweaver,'' Rarity remarked.
''That I do,'' Star agreed with a chuckle.
|-x-X-x-|
Star stared at the announcement in the paper.
HERZLAND, AQUILEIA, CLOUDBURY, WINGBARDY SIGN HISTORIC ALLIANCE PACT
The four major powers of the griffon nations promised to combine their alliances into one, effectively bringing all of western Griffonian under their banner, as well as the vast majority of the griffon population. Only the Evi Valley didn't participate, as well as Skyfall and Rumare.
''They're afraid,'' Star realized aloud. ''Afraid of Daybreaker.''
''Why are they afraid of the Empress, Dad?'' Amy asked him.
''They're scared the Empress will invade them,'' he answered after a moment, ''even though there's no reason she would.''
|-x-X-x-|
''We don't want more children, no,'' Star said to the Empress with a shake of his head.
''I see.'' The Empress inclined her head at him. ''That is not the reason I called you here, of course.''
Star nodded, waiting patiently for Daybreaker to get to her point. Instead of speaking, she slid over a file to him.
He opened it, and his eyes widened. ''Uh...''
''I assure you, it is genuine,'' the Empress said amicably.
Star looked up at her. ''Why me?'' he asked.
''You've got more experience than anyone else in my court with the land and it's ponies,'' Daybreaker said bluntly. ''More importantly, I know you won't fuck it up.''
Star looked back at the file.
By order of Her Solar Majesty Empress Daybreaker,
Star Tower of House Spellweaver, Royal Magician of Canterlot, is hereby appointed as Lord-Protector of the Austral Territories, defined as the provinces of Coltjun, Baltimare, the kingdom of Aztlan, the colony of the Spa Islands and the Badlands Territory, answerable directly to Her Solar Majesty the Empress.
His duties shall be to ensure peace, justice and stability are brought to these territories, and for this he shall be granted the power and authority to exercise his mission in whatever ways he perceives necessary.
|-x-X-x-|
''So. That,'' Star finished his recounting of his meeting with Daybreaker.
Rarity remained frozen for a moment, before bursting forward and wrapping her husband in a powerful hug.
''... wow,'' Crystal said.
Rarity broke her hug, and pulled out a pen and paper. ''I have to pack!'' she exclaimed. ''Clothes, materials- the children! I need-''
Star cut off her incoming panic attack with a long kiss. Rarity's eyes widened in surprise, then they fluttered as she leaned into the kiss.
Crystal politely looked away. After a minute, she looked back and coughed pointedly.
''Hmm...'' Rarity purred as the pair finally broke their kiss. ''Thank you, love.''
''No problem, love,'' Star replied.
Crystal made a faux-retching noise. ''If you're quite done?''
Star rolled his eyes at Crystal.
|-x-X-x-|
Star Tower stepped out of the train and breathed in the air. The fumes of the trains in the station mixed with salt from the sea created an aroma.
He turned around and offered his hoof to Rarity, who took it as she stepped out of the train as well, followed by their four bleary-eyed but excited children.
''My Lord-Protector!'' Baltimare's mayor - a short earth pony in a business suit - beamed at them. ''It is an honour and a privilege to meet you. Welcome to Baltimare!''
''Thank you, Mayor Salt,'' Star said kindly. ''It is my pleasure to be here.''
''The pleasure is ours, my lord,'' Mayor Salt replied. ''I have taken the liberty of having a car prepared for you and your family. It will take you to the Horseshoe Tower, the city's tallest skyscraper.''
''Thank you,'' Star said again, inclining his head in acknowledgement.
The Horseshoe Building was a tall, forty-five story building, more than twice as tall as the second tallest building in the city. It was built in the typical art deco style of Manehattanite skyscrapers, contrasting sharply with the more industrial and rough architecture of the surrounding city and standing out a shining light above it.
''Our apartment is on the fortieth floor,'' Star explained to Rarity and the children as he pressed the appropriate number in the elevator. ''The entire floor is ours. Just like in the manor, you will all have separate rooms.''
With a ding, the elevator announced that it had arrived, and the doors slid apart to reveal a long hallway. Immediately the children rushed out past their parents and guards.
"This is magnificent!" Rarity gushed as she stepped out of the lift.
Star smiled at his wife's enthusiasm. "I'd hoped you would like it."
|-x-X-x-|
''Greetings, citizens of the Austral Territories and beyond. My name is Star Tower of House Spellweaver, Lord-Protector of the Austral Territories per command of Her Solar Majesty Empress Daybreaker.
Already before I arrived in Baltimare, from where I am speaking to you now, rumours and tall tales have been spread about me. I will not waste time by individually addressing these rumours, but I will say this: rumours are just rumours, and I would ask all of you to judge a person not on their words but on their actions.
My duties are these: restore harmony and peace to the Austral Territories, using whatever means necessary. I am willing to be civilized about this all. I understand the past years have been a hard and trying time for everyone, but only by working together can we achieve harmony.
As I said, I will spend the foreseeable time in Baltimare, however I plan to visit the major cities and towns of the Territories in the coming months to see for myself the situation in these places and determine what might be done to aid in them.
I am not your enemy. The Solar Empire is not your enemy. I am willing to offer anyone who wants it a chance to start anew for themselves. But make no mistake: there will be no third chances.
Thank you for listening.''
The microphone turned off.
Star let out a sigh as he stepped away from it. ''That's that,'' he muttered under his breath.
He walked out of the recording booth and into the studio, where Golden Note and Summer Sky waited on him.
''That was an impressive speech, sir,'' Summer Sky said respectfully. ''My compliments.''
''Impressive?'' Golden Note guffawed at the mare. ''My lady, it was magnifique! I myself felt compelled to... to start anew! Just like you said, my Lord.''
''Thank you, both of you.'' Star inclined his head at them. ''I'm glad to hear it.''
Summer Sky nodded, before clearing her throat. ''Sir, you're free for the day. Shall we?''
''Let's.'' Star turned to Golden Note and shook hoofs with the stallion. ''It's been a pleasure.''
''The pleasure was mine, my Lord,'' Golden Note shot back as he bowed his head.
Star nodded, before leaving together with Summer Sky. They got into the car, and Star's mind wandered to his family as he looked out the window. Diamond Tower seemed to be integrating well with the other foals at the school he went to, and the girls had had a blast ever since Star had permitted the staff to bring their children with them to work. As long as an adult watched over them, the children were free to play amongst themselves.
|-x-X-x-|
Baltimare was no Manehattan or Canterlot, but it had its charms. Or it had had them, until the violent anarchist uprising and the following military intervention into the region two years later. The city had been rebuilding ever since, a gradual process that consumed a lot of effort, time and money.
Rarity stepped out of the car and looked around. The entrance to Baltimare's largest shopping centre was obviously still under construction, but the centre itself was mostly working again, with most shops having opened their doors again.
Rarity suppressed a sigh as the dozen Solar Guard closed ranks around her, glaring at anyone that looked funny. Most of the guards were mares; two were stallions.
The crowd split apart for them, obviously afraid of the imposing golden-armoured soldiers and their magi-tek rifles.
''Where do you wish to go, ma'am?'' one of the guards asked.
''The nearest clothing store, if you please,'' Rarity replied. The guard nodded, and with the flick of a hoof she sent another guard forward through the crowd.
Two minutes later, the guard arrived back. '''Third shop on the right.''
''Then let us go!'' Rarity declared.
The guards moved forward with her, not breaking their protective cordon as they entered the mall. The shop the guard had mentioned was already empty of customers.
''Two may follow me inside,'' Rarity said to her guards. ''The rest, stand outside and make sure no one else enters.''
The commander of her guards didn't appear to like that idea, but she nodded anyway. ''Yes, ma'am.'' She and nine others spread out in front of the doorway, facing the crowd. One of the two stallions and a mare were all that followed Rarity inside.
The shop's owner stood in the centre of the shop, her two assistants behind her. All three ponies had anxious looks on their faces, and all three bowed to Rarity.
''My Lady,'' the owner greeted reverently. ''What can we do for you?''
Rarity took a look around the room. The clothes were less high-quality than she was accustomed to, but practical and with a certain rustic style to them. A sudden bout of inspiration struck her, and a smile crept onto her face as she reviewed the idea.
''How much does this all,'' she waved her hoof around, ''cost?''
The shopowner's eyes widened, but he answered, ''It is free for you, my Lady.''
''I was not asking for the price, but for how much they cost to make, miss,'' Rarity said gently.
''O-of course, let me see...'' the shopowner looked around as well, and made some quick calculations in her head. ''Some twenty-three thousand bits.''
Rarity nodded, having reached more or less the same number. ''Very well. I have an offer for you: you might have noticed that there are many refugees living on the outskirts of the city. I am offering to buy your entire supply of clothes, at the price of their fabric, and supply you with a contract to make more clothes to be sent to the refugees and other people in need. All costs will be met, of course.''
The other five ponies in the room all stared at her. Finally, the shopowner managed to get out, ''I-I'd be honoured, my Lady!''
''Good.'' Rarity smiled kindly at the other mare. ''I will have ponies come by and collect the clothes from you, in exchange for those twenty-three thousand bits. And I will send other ponies to help you with making new clothes.''
''That is most generous of you, my Lady,'' the shopowner complimented. ''I will be sure to put the money and the workers to good use. Thank you.''
''It was no problem, my good mare,'' Rarity dismissed. ''I am merely doing my job.'' |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | Name | There was someone in his spot.
Technically, it wasn't Flash's property. But ever since he'd found two years ago, he'd never seen anyone else there. Sure, some people probably used the spot when he wasn't there; it was, after all, a very nice place to view Canterlot City, especially at dawn or dusk, like it was now.
Slowly, as soundlessly as possible, Flash approached the bench.
A branch cracked under his shoes. Fuck.
The head of the girl sitting on the bench spun around so fast that it couldn't be healthy. ''Who's- Flash!''
He smiled a little. ''Good evening, Rarity.''
It took her a moment, but she smiled back at him. ''Good evening to you too, darling. And sorry for my reaction earlier, you just startled me.''
''No problem,'' Flash assured. ''Mind if I sit?''
''Of course not.''
Flash sat down on the edge of the bench, about as far away from Rarity as he could manage. The sunset was painting the sky violet and orange, the last rays of sunlight dying as their source vanished behind the horizon. It did some very flattering things to Rarity's face.
It also reminded Flash of the past weeks.
''Flash?''
''Hmm?''
Rarity shifted, sitting slightly closer to him. ''Are you alright, darling? I've never known you to be so... silent.''
Should he tell her?
Might as well, Flash reasoned. By the end of tomorrow, the news would be all over the school anyway.
''I broke up with Sunset,'' he confessed.
Rarity gasped. ''Oh my!''
''Yeah.'' Flash kept his look anywhere but on Rarity. ''It was just... she was too much.''
''I'm sorry,'' Rarity said softly. ''I knew you liked her.''
Had he? Maybe once, Flash had liked her. Sunset was certainly attractive. But she was also a bully, a sadist. Flash had liked her, but he had never loved her.
''She was- is a bitch.'' The words were out of his mouth before he knew it. ''I don't know how I ever convinced myself she was worth it.'' He balled his fist.
Rarity slid closer to him again. Now they were almost touching. ''What happened?''
''Nothing,'' he lied. ''I just... said no.'' Technically true, and Flash wasn't in the mood for explaining more.
''I see.'' Rarity's lips pursed, and she sighed.
''So why are you here?'' Flash after a minute of uncomfortable silence.
''Oh,'' Rarity sighed, ''I just like it here.'' She looked at the green hills. ''It keeps from thinking about him.''
''Him?''
''My crush,'' Rarity supplied, before blinking. ''I don't know why I'm telling you this.''
Flash didn't either, but he didn't mind it. ''Go on, if you want to.''
Rarity leaned back against the bench. ''He's the nicest guy I know. He's handsome, gentle and kind. Everything a girl could want.''
''He sounds like a good guy,'' Flash offered after a moment.
''Oh, he is,'' Rarity agreed. ''I'd even say he's perfect.''
''Who is he?'' Flash asked.
Rarity's eyes met his. ''He's you.''
What.
Flash's mouth was suddenly very dry. ''Uhh...''
''I don't know why I said that,'' Rarity said, suddenly sounding like she was panicking.
''It's okay,'' Flash rushed to say. ''I just...''
And he kissed her.
Hmm... Rarity's lips were so much softer than Sunset's. Her entire being was softer than Sunset. So fragile.
''Wow...'' Rarity breathed when their lips parted. ''Extraordinary, darling.''
''Thanks.'' He hesitated for a moment, then slipped his arm around her waist. So frail.
Rarity leaned into his shoulder. She was cold.
''You're cold,'' he stated. ''Want my jacket?''
''Darling, I'm fine-'' but Flash had already taken off his jacket. He placed it over her shoulders.
''Thank you,'' Rarity said after a moment. |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | Silver Spoon | ''Miss Spoon, this is your new foster parent, Mr Star Tower,'' the woman said.
Silver looked up at the man. He was tall, with blue skin and dark blue hair that had golden streaks in it. He looked somewhere in his thirties, and he was wearing a light blue t-shirt with a golden rim around the neckline, black jeans and blue and white sneakers.
''Good morning Miss Spoon, Mrs Jewel,'' he said, offering his hand to Silver, who shyly shook it.
''It's a pleasure to meet you, sir,'' Silver softly said.
He smiled at her. ''Call me Star, please.'' Then he looked to Mrs Jewel. ''Is there anything else that needs to be done?''
The woman shook her head. ''You're free to go, sir. Have a nice day.''
''And you as well, madam,'' Star replied with a slight nod, then looked back at Silver. ''Do you have everything?'' Silver nodded. ''Good. Come on, let's go.''
Together, they walked out of the office. Diamond and her father were waiting in the reception area.
''Filthy! Good to see you again,'' Star greeted them.
Filthy stood up and the two men shook hands. ''It's good to see you as well, Star. And good on you for taking care of Silver. We would have it done ourselves, but we just don't have the time, sadly.''
Star nodded. ''Understandable. I've got to go; Crystal's waiting.''
Filthy chuckled. ''I know what you mean.''
Meanwhile, Silver and Diamond were talking. ''Your father knows him?'' Silver asked.
Diamond nodded. ''They went to Crystal Prep together, and stayed in contact ever since.''
''I didn't know your dad went to Crystal Prep,'' Silver said. ''How come you're going to CHS then?''
Diamond shrugged. ''Mother wanted me to go to Crystal, but dad refused. I don't know why, but here I am.''
Silver nodded. ''Do you know what he does for work?''
''He's the Prep's History Teacher,'' Diamond replied. ''and also a tutor. He gave me a few tips and pointers for that test we had after my birthday.''
Silver frowned. She couldn't remember seeing him at the party, but she hadn't really been looking around, so she could have missed him.
''Silver? I'm sorry to interrupt, but we've got to go. My sister's waiting on us at home,'' Star said as he walked over to them.
''Give me a call after dinner, okay?'' Diamond asked. Silver nodded, and the two girls shared a quick hug, before separating.
''Until next time, Filthy! Say hi to Spoiled for me!'' Star said to the man.
Filthy nodded. ''And tell Crystal the same as well.''
''Will do!'' Star replied, before turning around. Silver followed behind him. They strolled across the parking lot, before stopping in front of a dark blue sports car. Star fished a set of keys out of his pocket, and with a click he unlocked the car. ''Make yourself comfortable. You can sit in front, if you want to,'' he said as he opened the door.
Silver gently put her coffer in the back seat, then sat down in the shotgun seat, storing her backpack on the floor in front of her legs. She clicked on the seatbelt and sat back.
With a vroom, the engine started, and Star pulled out of the parking spot. ''So, Silver. Do you want to tell me about yourself, or do you want to wait until we've arrived?'' Star asked.
Silver shook her head. ''I'll wait. I wouldn't want to distract you from driving, sir.''
''As you wish,'' Star said. ''Do you want to listen to the radio? If not, I have a collection of CD's in the storage there, or we can just enjoy the silence.''
''Silence is alright,'' Silver softly replied, almost whispering.
Star nodded. ''As you wish,'' he said again.
The rest of the trip continued in silence. With nothing better to do, Silver began to look outside. She saw they were moving away from the city centre, where the foster office had been, to one of the suburbs. Indeed, slowly the concrete and steel skyscrapers were replaced by long lawns and large, stately homes. These could easily be called small mansions, and they had all been built around the same time in the late 1800's, though every building was distinct, to set it apart from the rest.
Eventually, Star slowed down, and pulled up to a drive-way. He pulled another key out of his pocket and pressed a button, which opened the garage door. Once inside, he closed the door again, before shutting down the car.
''Welcome to my home,'' he said as he stepped out.
There was the sound of a door opening, and then a white-blue blur tackling Star. ''Brother, you're back!''
Star chuckled. ''That I am, Crystal,'' he said. ''I wasn't gone that long, was I?"
The girl - for it was a girl, about twelve years old - looked at him with a raised eyebrow. ''You went straight to the foster office after getting out of school. I haven't seen you since third period in the morning.''
Star chuckled again. ''Fine, fine.''
He turned to Silver, who was staring at them. ''Silver, meet Crystal Star, my sister. Crystal, this is Silver Spoon.''
''Hi! Call me Crystal!'' the girl said with a bright smile. ''It's nice to meet you!''
Silver was a bit taken aback, both by the large age difference between the two and Crystal's excitedness. ''Pleasure,'' she replied.
''Crystal, could you please show Silver the house? I have to call the company responsible for moving Silver's items here,'' Star said.
''No problem, big bro!'' Crystal said with a mock-salute and a wink. Silver smiled slightly at the display, while Star's smile was wider.
''Great!'' he said. ''Oh, and dinner's at seven-thirty. Pasta with sauce.'' He looked at Silver. ''Do you have any allergies or dislikes I should know about?"
Silver shook her head. Star gave a nod, then left the room, dialling up a number on his phone.
Crystal turned to Silver and offered her hand. ''Come on!''
Silver took it, then was almost dragged away. One tour of the mansion later, they were sitting in the dining room.
''So, any questions?'' Crystal asked, before taking a sip of her drink.
''Just one,'' Silver replied. ''How are you and Star related?''
Crystal sighed. ''It's a bit of a long story, but I'll try to keep it short. After Star graduated, he left to travel the world for a bit. He went to all sorts of places: Mexicolt, Scandineighvia, Saddle Arabia, et cetera. He was nineteen when he left, and thirty-six now. Then, five years after he left, my mother unexpectedly became pregnant.''
''With you,'' Silver guessed.
Crystal nodded. ''They were overjoyed, of course, and Star promised to come back a few weeks before I was scheduled to appear. But... an accident happened. I came a week early. My dad wasn't prepared, and he wasn't focussing when he was driving from work to the hospital. He missed a sign, and was hit by another car. He didn't make it. Meanwhile, my mom was giving birth to me, but something went wrong, and she died only a few minutes after I'd been delivered.''
Silver stared in shock. ''I'm sorry,'' was all she could say.
Crystal waved her hand dismissively. ''When my brother heard the news, he moved heaven and earth to get to me. In 24 hours, he got from Shanghay back here to pick me up. With no other family members alive, he took it upon himself to raise me, and here I am.''
''Does it bother you?'' Silver asked after a short silence. ''Never knowing your parents?''
''Eh.'' Crystal shrugged. ''I guess? I mean, I would have liked to know them, but I really can't complain about my childhood. If anything I had it even better because Star had more money to spend on me, and spend it he did, believe me. But I don't really miss them, not in the way I imagine you do.''
Silver sighed. ''I do miss them, terribly.'' she paused. ''But what happened to you is more terrible.''
''What? No it's not!'' Crystal replied.
''At least I got to grow up with my parents,'' Silver pointed out.
''And now you must miss them for the rest of your life,'' Crystal retorted. ''I'd say that's the more cruel thing to happen.''
''Both are equally cruel, in different ways.''
Both girls jumped at the sound of Star's voice as he walked into the room and pulled out a chair for himself. ''On one hand, not knowing means you'll never be able to know what they thought of you, but you also won't miss them, since there's nothing to miss. On the other hand, at least you have memories of them after their death, but if you hadn't met them you wouldn't miss them in the first place.''
Crystal blinked. ''How long were you listening?''
''Long enough,'' Star replied.
''How did we not notice you?'' Silver wondered.
''I'm a teacher,'' Star answered. ''I've perfected the art of listening in on youngsters like yourselves. Comes with the territory.''
-x-X-x-
Twelve years ago
Star's phone rang. ''This is Star Tower, who am I speaking to?''
''Mr Tower, I am Doctor Heart, from the Canterlot General Hospital.''
''Doctor, why are you calling me?''
''Your mother has just given birth, sir, to a beautiful baby girl. Her name is Crystal Star.''
''WHAT! That's wonderful! Can you give me my mom?''
''I'm sorry sir... your mother died a few minutes after giving birth.''
''What? No... how is my father?''
''I don't know how to say this... he died in a car crash on his way to the hospital.''
''... Doctor. Who's caring for my sister now?''
''One of the nurses, sir.''
''Right. Who's her guardian at the moment?''
''You are, sir.''
''For fuck's sakes... listen, doctor, I'm currently in Shanghay. My flight is scheduled for next week. I'll do my best to get back to Canterlot as quickly as I can, but until then, I need the hospital to take care of Crystal.''
''Of course, sir. We shall do whatever is necessary.''
''Good. Can I use this number to contact you again?''
''You can, sir. I'll have it reserved for you.''
''Thank you, doctor. I'll pass you the contact information of my lawyer, and those of my parents as well.''
''Actually sir, they've already been here. They're the reason you're already her legal guardian.''
''I'll have to give them a raise then. Was there anything else, doctor?''
''Not the moment, sir.''
''Then I wish you a pleasant... it's afternoon, right?"
''Almost dusk, sir.''
''Yes, well it's night-time here.''
''In that case, have a good night sir, and my condolences on your loss.''
''Thank you, and good afternoon.''
Fuck.
-x-X-x-
''What is this about, Abacus?''
''You know that very well, Star.''
''Look, Abacus. I'm not going to force her to move schools. Silver still hasn't fully come to terms with her parents' death, and she is just starting to warm up to Crystal and me. To take her away from her friends now would destroy what little trust exists between us, and it would be detrimental for her mental health as well. Unless she asks for the transfer herself, she won't be going there.''
''And there is nothing I can do to change your mind?"
''No.''
''Fine. Then I expect your resignation in seven days.''
''Really? And for what reason?''
''It is in the charter. Article 23: 'All staff members that have children eligible shall send their children to Crystal Prep.' Didn't you know this?''
''As a matter of fact, I did not. But if that is the rule, then I shall follow it. I'll empty my office tomorrow.''
''Good.''
-x-X-x-
''I got fired,'' Star announced as he sat down at the table. Crystal almost choked on her food.
''What?!'' she shouted.
Star gave her a warning glance. ''I'll explain in a minute. But first, how was your day, both of you?''
''Oh, it was perfectly alright,'' Crystal snarked, ''until you just told me you don't have a job anymore.''
Star's face flickered into anger for a moment, then it settled in a serene expression. ''Crystal, please calm down, and I'll tell you what happened.''
After a few seconds of silent glaring, Crystal huffed. ''Fine, but you better have a very good explanation, or I'm going to be very cross with you.''
Star nodded. ''Abacus called me and told me I had two choices: Either Silver Spoon goes to Crystal Prep, or I will be fired.'' His tone was cold. ''I chose the latter.''
Silver gasped. ''You did that for me?''
''Yes. Unless I'm very mistaken, you don't want to go to Crystal Prep?" Star asked. Silver shook her head. ''So I thought, and I told Abacus as much. Then she informed me there was apparently a rule against children of staff members going to other schools besides Crystal Prep.''
''Why would they do that?'' Crystal inquired.
Star shrugged. ''Probably to keep the reputation up. Anyway, that'll be the official reason I'm fired.''
''And the unofficial, actual reason?" Silver asked.
''Reputation,'' Star replied. ''It doesn't look good when the ward of a teacher goes to another school. Makes parents wonder if they made the right decision, enlisting their child at Crystal Prep.''
''That fits Cinch perfectly,'' Crystal said with a snarl.
''Also, Abacus has been looking to get rid of me for some time,'' Star continued. ''Never mind that I'm one of the best history teachers in the county, if not the state. To her, I represent an obstacle to total control over the school, and as such I must be removed. Until now, she never had a legitimate reason.''
There was a short silence, during which Star began to eat.
''I'm sorry you lost your job because of me,'' Silver said, eyes downcast.
Star looked up at her. ''Don't apologize, it's not your fault. Cinch brought up the rule first. If she hadn't, there wouldn't have been any problems.''
''Still,'' Silver pressed, ''because of me she could fire you. If I-''
''If you what? Hadn't been taken in by me? I did that myself,'' Star cut her off. ''Silver, don't beat yourself up over this. I don't even really need a job to sustain us. My family has always been rich.''
''If you didn't need the money, why did you work?'' Silver asked with a frown.
Star shrugged. ''I like history, and teaching. And I might not need the money, but it's always nice to have a reliable source of income that's not dependent on investments. Plus, I get to keep an eye on Crystal, and I don't have to sit around on my ass all day.''
''I can take care of myself, y'know,'' Crystal said.
''True,'' Star agreed, ''but not when you were eight.''
Crystal thought about that for a moment, then shrugged. ''Eh, fair enough.''
The rest of the dinner continued like this, with the three of them talking and joking. Then, at the end, Crystal turned to her brother.
''So... are you going to look for a new job?'' she asked.
Star shrugged. ''Don't know yet. I'll have to see what there's available.''
-x-X-x-
''Hi mom and dad,'' Silver softly whispered. A few meters away stood Star and Crystal, silently watching.
Silver knelt next to the two gravestones. ''Been a while.''
She sighed. ''Sorry I couldn't visit before. I had tests to catch up on.''
Another sigh. ''Things have been... nice. Star and Crystal treat me as if I'm family. I guess I am now.''
''I miss you, every day. And I wish things could have been different. I wish that, when I graduate, I would see your faces, hopefully smiling proudly at me. And knowing that won't happen... *sniff* it hurts.''
''It *sniff* hurts so *sniff* much.''
Silver felt a strong grip on her shoulder. She turned to see Star and Crystal were sitting down on the ground with her. There was a look of pity and understanding in their eyes.
After a few seconds, the dam broke. Tears began to trail down Silver's face. She buried her face in her hands, and after a few seconds two pairs of arms wrapped around her. Sobs racked her body as she crawled up against Star.
He and Crystal didn't say anything, they just held her as she let out her grief.
''Silver...'' Star said eventually. ''I know what it is like to lose your parents. And we will never try to replace them. But we will treat as one of our own, if you'll have us.'' |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | Second time's the charm 1 | It was a stormy evening in Canterlot. Ponies were sitting in their homes, huddling close to the fireplace or the heating. Thick raindrops fell from the sky, tracing over the windows in a way that some loved and some found utterly boring.
In the city's upper-class district, as close to the castle as possible, one house stuck out for a couple of reasons.
One: there was not a single light to be seen, and the curtains were all closed. Unusual, but a casual observer would say that the owner(s) had simply turned in early for the night because of the storm.
Those who knew the sole inhabitant better would disagree, of course.
And the second reason, and likely the first thing anypony would notice, was the large group of Royal Guards that had surrounded the house.
Because of the weather, nopony dared to go outside, but many were watching through the windows.
With a purple flash of light, six mares and one dragon appeared next to the Captain. The Captain saluted at the sight of them. "Your Majesty, My lord, My ladies," he greeted them, "we have surrounded the house and sealed off all avenues of escape."
With a sigh, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and sole Monarch of Equestria, nodded to the Captain. "Thank you, Gallus."
The griffon saluted again, before turning back to the soldiers.
"Are ya sure all of this is necessary, Twi?" Applejack asked, gesturing at the Guards.
Again, Twilight sighed. "I am afraid so, AJ. I do not want to risk anyp- anycreature's lives," she replied.
Rainbow Dash glared at the house. "And you're certain Rarity hasn't been possessed or something?" she asked.
Twilight shook her head, causing her mane to wave and sparkle even more than usual. "Truth be told Rainbow, I have no idea what exactly is going on inside that house. I only know that it's magical in nature, and extremely dangerous."
Rainbow frowned. "How dangerous are we talking?"
"If it... whatever it is, goes wrong, it could blow up the whole mountain, including the city," Twilight replied.
Any further conversation was cut off as Gallus approached them again. "We are ready to commence assault at your command, Princess."
Twilight slowly nodded. "Do it."
Gallus saluted, before barking a set of orders at the Guards. They stacked up in rows of three, unicorns at the front, earth ponies behind them and pegasi and griffons above them.
Together, the three unicorns cast a shield spell, before walking towards the door. They stopped exactly three meters away from it. Two pegasi flanked a griffon as they flew towards the door. The griffon stopped in front of it, readied himself, and then gave an almighty kick.
The door shattered into a dozen pieces, and the three fliers immediately cleared the space for the unicorns and earth ponies, who followed through.
"Royal Guards! By command of the Princess, show yourselves!" the unicorn in the middle said loudly as the group entered the hallway.
When no reply came, the group marched forward. At the feet of the stairs, the unicorn repeated his proclamation.
Twilight and her friends were still waiting outside with Gallus when a pegasus flew over. "Captain, Princess, we've swept the upper floors and found no one. The rest of the team is collecting items of interest."
Gallus nodded. "And the ground floor and the basement?"
Just then, an earth pony mare trotted up. "Ground floor is clear, but the door to the basement is locked by several locks and spells, sir," she reported.
"Well done. Prepare to breach the basement," Gallus said, before dismissing them and turning to his superiors.
"Come on..." one of the unicorns muttered as he tried to dismantle the spells.
"Can't we just buck it open?" an earth pony asked.
Another unicorn shook his head. "The door's magically reinforced, and there's a spell on it that sends physical force back to its owner. In other words, you'd only hurt yourself."
"Damnit, I can't get it!" the unicorn shouted.
Twilight and her friends walked in on the scene.
"Allow me," Twilight said, her horn glowing purple. With a click, the door opened.
The unicorn bowed to Twilight. "My thanks, Princess."
"Don't mention it," said princess replied, before walking into the basement.
A long narrow staircase led to another door. This one had a sign on it: "Keep out!"
Twilight gently pushed it open with her magic, then gasped as she saw the basement.
The basement was completely empty. Deep purple runes were carved in a circle on the floor, illuminating the room in an eerie glow. Inside the circle was a second circle, and this one was coloured diamond-blue. Inside this circle stood a mare.
The mare was slightly taller than normal, with a purple mane that was perfectly styled and a white coat that contained no imperfection. A cutie mark of three diamonds adorned her flanks, and a golden necklace with a blue diamond at the centre hung from her neck. Her eyes were closed and her brow was furrowed in concentration as grey light illuminated her horn.
Twilight slowly stepped into the room, taking care to not come too close to the runic circle. Behind her, her friends and the Guards slowly entered as well, all staring at the sight before them.
"Rarity!" Twilight called out. After a few long seconds, the mare's eyes opened, and her head turned towards the Princess.
"Twilight! Can't you seem I'm a little busy, darling?" Rarity replied, as if discussing the weather.
Twilight cringed. Understatement of the century. "What are you doing?" she asked, her horn lighting up with diagnostic spells as she looked over the runes and compared them to her knowledge.
Rarity blinked, as if surprised. "Why, darling," she said, "surely such a mind as knowledgeable and wise as yourself can figure this out?"
After a few seconds of intense thinking and cross-referencing, Twilight reached her conclusion. "Are you insane?!" she asked with wide eyes.
Rarity lifted a hoof to her chin and rubbed it. "At the moment?" She looked around the room, then shrugged. "I'm feeling mildly tired, but that's likely because of the ritual I'm doing that you so rudely interrupted. But no, I don't think I'm insane."
"Rarity! Don't do this!" Starlight called. A glance at her showed she had reached the same conclusion as Twilight.
"Darling, even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop this anymore," Rarity said, pulling her hoof from her chin to gesture at the room.
The mare looked at them all with a pitying smile. "I must do this. The ritual is nearing its completion."
"Twi, what is she doing?" Rainbow asked.
"Rarity!" Spike lunged forward, only to bounce off a deep purple shield that sprung up from the runes.
"Goodbye, friends. It was my pleasure to have known you," Rarity said softly, before closing her eyes.
Rainbow and Applejack both jumped at the shield, trying to break it to no avail.
The grey light around Rarity's horn turned brighter, and the runes lit up even more.
"Farewell, darlings." It was barely a whisper, yet Twilight could hear it clear as day.
"RARITY!" she cried.
Then the world turned grey.
When the world returned to normal, Twilight saw only thin air where her friend had been, and the runes on the floor had been blown away like ash on the wind.
"She's gone," Twilight whispered, before sinking onto the floor and beginning to cry. |
Eltirion's Chaotic Collection | Second time's the charm 2 | The world turned grey, then exploded into a rainbow of colours. Rarity felt like she was falling, and suddenly the colours turned into visions. Scenes from the past, and the future. She saw herself at Twilight's coronation, in the Everfree Forest on the way to stop Nightmare Moon, and as a young filly in school.
The visions changed, now showing things that she was certain hadn't happened. Canterlot in ruins, a black swarm of Changelings above it. A grinning Sombra as Celestia and Luna were executed in front of him. Discord, smirking evilly, a Equestria marred by chaos behind him. Nightmare Moon standing over the broken corpse of her sister. Flurry Heart crying as she hugged Twilight's dead body.
Then, all the visions vanished, and the Tree of Harmony appeared. The Element of Generosity in it was pulsing brightly, and Rarity felt as if she was being watched and judged for her actions.
A sense of silent approval came from the Tree, along with humour?
Before Rarity could think on that, the Tree disappeared and darkness took its place.
Suddenly, her hooves touched solid ground. She let out a yelp in surprise, which echoed around her. That, combined with the darkness, made her conclude that she was in a cave.
She tried to use her horn, and let out a sigh of relief when diamond-blue light spilled from the top.
''You could have just asked me,'' a voice said.
Rarity whipped her head around, trying to see if anyone else was there.
''Down here,'' the voice said, amusement clear.
Rarity looked down to see her Element gleaming brightly, emitting a faint light. ''You're my Element?''
''Right in one,'' the voice, now identified as her Element, replied. ''That little stunt of yours gave me the ability to speak, as well as be more than something you have to use in tandem with your friends.''
''How?'' Rarity asked.
''No idea, but it works.'' Her Element gave her the distinct feeling of shrugging.
''Right,'' Rarity muttered. ''Let's see what else there is.''
A quick glance over her back showed her two saddlebags were still there, which made her sigh in relief again. At least she wasn't completely out of resources.
''You might want to check your appearance,'' her Element suggested. ''Just a hunch.''
Rarity frowned, before increasing the brightness of her horn's light. The rough walls of the cave appeared around her. Rarity rummaged in her saddlebags with her telekinesis, before a small mirror floated out. She held it in front of herself and gasped.
Her mane looked like it had when her friends and her had unlocked the Rainbow Power to defeat Tirek. Her face was smoother, her horn had grown longer and curved backwards and her ears had lengthened as well, making her look like a young Mistmane. Looking down, she saw that she was taller as well, and looking at her back, she saw a pair of wings nestled against their signs, while her tail had grown longer and was flowing behind her, same as her mane.
''Told you,'' her Element joked.
''Did you have anything to do with this?'' Rarity asked after a few seconds.
''No, I did not,'' her Element replied. ''But if I had to guess, I'd say the Tree was responsible.''
''Why would she do this?'' Rarity looked down at her Element.
''Because she thought it was necessary?'' her Element suggested. ''At least you won't be mistaken for yourself now.''
Rarity had to admit that was true. She still had the same eye colour and cutie mark, but if she hid her mark, no one in their right minds would think she was the Rarity of this world. If she even existed.
''Alright,'' she mused aloud, ''I need to get out of this cave.''
''That you do.''
Rarity ignored her Element's comments. She looked around, searching for any way to determine where an exit could be found.
''You could always blast your way out.''
''I'm not-'' Rarity cut herself off. She was more than powerful enough to blow her way through the rocks up to the surface. Possibly. It depended on how far underground she was. |
MareDoWell | pre | I was in the shower now, washing up so I could get ready and go to where I needed to go, and trying to figure out what the HAY that message in the dream meant. 'Make them believe'? Believe what!? That I'm a demented psycho vigilante? That I'm going to kill the first criminal I see? That I'm always stalking somepony? Damn it!
I decided it would be best to just forget the dream and move on. I gathered my things and headed out.
When I left, the first thought that went through my mind was; what should I say? Should I be polite and kind, or should I be rude back to her? It was indeed a dilemma, but I needed these materials to make a costume, and if I had to risk a confrontation to do so, then I would.
I arrived at my destination, trembling as I walked to the door. I brought a hoof to the wood and knocked 3 times, secretly hoping no one would answer; but alas, they, or rather she, did.
The door opened, revealing a white unicorn in a black, form fitting dress, with a royal purple mane, curled at the ends.
"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! Where everything is sheik, unique, and ma-" she stopped once she saw it was me.
We stared at each other for a moment before greeting one another, equal amounts of awkward tension showing in our voices.
"... Rarity... "
"... Trixie... "
I was allowed entrance to the shop, which was already more than I expected to be given. The shops interior was quite beautiful.
The smell of certain fabrics being freshly made.
The burning of incense making the room smell of flowers and exotic berries.
Rows of mannequins all dressed in absolutely marvelous outfits with wonderful designs.
It was absolutely breathtaking.
We walked over to a set of chairs, where she gestured me to take a seat. We sat facing each other, awkward silence filling the room. Rarity was the first to speak.
"So... um... what brings you to my shop?" She asks.
"Um... I need supplies for an outfit... preferably in bulk if you can."
She looks over at me with a puzzled expression.
"Um... why do you need it in bulk?" she asks. I knew she would ask, I already had an answer prepared.
"I'm going to make a few new costumes for my performances, but I also wanted to do a few side projects, so I need them in bulk."
She then looked over at me with a suspicious glare.
"Why would you come here instead of some of the places in Canterlot?" she asks. It almost felt like I was being interrogated now.
I look up at her with a soft smile.
"Because in Canterlot I'd end up spending over three-thousand bits or more, but here I'd end up probably spending around five-hundred to one-thousand."
"Are you implying that my shop is cheap?" she asks.
I simply smile, giving a calm reply. "Not the shop, the prices."
She turns her head away from me to mumble. "There are plenty of other clothing and fabric places in Ponyville."
I caught what she said and gave my response.
"Yeah, but none of them are as good as this place." I said very matter-of-factly.
She pointed her nose in the air and 'hmphed' at me.
"Flattery won't change things." She said rather harshly. After this little comment, I decided it was time to stop being nice, and start being direct.
"Look, I didn't come here to cause trouble, I just want the supplies. Besides, you really do have the best products in Ponyville for the lowest prices, I wasn't trying to flatter you." I say in a more 'to-the-point' manner.
After this, she finally gave in and sighed.
"Fine, what do you need?" she asked, and with new found confidence, I started to list off the things I needed.
First, I need fabric of course.
What kind; silk, cotton, cloth...?
Silk and wool cloth yes, but I'd also like strengthened nylon, linen, velvet, plus carbon fiber and microfiber materials modified for durability and water resistance. Also some Teflon if you have any.
Oh... um... wow. That seems like a bit much don't you think?
For everyday projects, yes. For what I have planned, no.
Okay then... what else do you need?
Um... graphite, carbon... and a medium amount of steal, plus molding equipment,
Okay... why carbon and steel?
I was thinking that maybe I could include some metallic pieces to the overall design.
Alright... anything else?
Um... a kit for magic-based reproduction would be nice; so that if I'm running low I can just take a bit of the materials and use magic to reproduce what I need. Oh and some Kevlar... just in case something goes wrong.
Alright then, anything else?
Actually that should be it.
And you want all this in bulk?
Yes mam.
Alright then... just let me tally up the price; it goes up to about... one-thousand eight-hundred bits.
One-thousand eight-hundred?
Well you did say you wanted them in bulk didn't you?
Actually I asked because getting that many things in bulk usually cost way more than that.
Well you said you came here for the low prices.
Yeah... I did. So, how long is the wait going to be?
Not long, it's all just raw materials anyway. Just wait here for about a half an hour and I should have it all packaged up for you.
Okay. And Rarity...
Yes?
Thanks.
You're... you're welcome Trixie.
I sat there while she went to get my supplies, a question silently spinning in my head as I waited. I couldn't help but enjoy the lovely designs she had displayed on a group of mannequins.
The dresses just seemed to flow, each telling its own story. One told of the night sky and all of its stars, the other told a story of the plant life and wilderness of the world, and another told a story of elegance and beauty; all of them becoming equally beautiful in their own way.
"They're our gala dresses." My head snapped around to see Rarity levitating a large box.
"Oh, I'm sorry.... I was just admiring the good craftsmanship. They are quite beautiful." I respond with a warm smile.
Rarity seemed to doubt my praise, but only a little.
"Um... thank you." She says, obviously feeling very awkward right now. To ease the tension, I decided it was time to take my leave.
"Thank you for the supplies Rarity, it was really nice of you to let me in. Why did you let me in anyways?" I ask, curious as to why she wouldn't just kick me off of her porch and slam her door.
She let out a small giggle and looked over at me.
"Because Trixie, any business is good business... even yours." I notice the emphasis on the last part and chuckle to myself, and then another question comes to mind.
"Why were you so polite to me? With what you five think of me, I expected a least a little bit of attitude from you." I ask.
She held her head high and put a hoof to her chest.
"It is in my personal code of conduct to show the upmost respect to all my costumers." Her hoof went to her face to hide her embarrassment.
"That, and... um... Fluttershy confronted us about the way we treated you at the party. She was quite... assertive... when she did." She said looking away.
"I remember when angle wouldn't stop throwing things at me because he thought I was still the old Trixie." i shuddered.
"Fluttershy had to be a little... assertive... to him as well... and that's how I learned to never make Fluttershy angry... ever." I laughed.
We each giggled for a moment at the funny memory. I then took my things and left, saying my goodbyes. As I walked home though, a single thought ran through my head.
Hmm, if my plan works, I'd like to hang out with her more.
I arrived at my house and checked the supplies;
Reinforced nylon; check!
Microfibers for durability and water resistance; check!
Teflon; check!
Wool cloth; check!
Linen; check!
Carbon; check!
Kevlar, steal, carbon, graphite, and a magic assisted reproduction kit; check! Check! And...CHECK!
I had everything I needed, but this wasn't going to happen right now, this was going to take at least a single day to do, and I had been out buying the supplies for most of today. I decided to retire to my bedroom to receive some well deserved shuteye. Besides, I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow.
This time when I slept, I was given a reprieve from the nightmares. In this dream, I found myself standing atop a roof, looking down onto Ponyville. When I looked down at my hooves, something became frighteningly clear; I was in the MareDoWell costume.
I was about to take it off, but the dream took control. I immediately took flight; looming over the city as I did. before swooping down, and landing on the roof of what looked to be a three story building.
I looked around until my eyes fell upon somepony standing over the edge of the rooftop, leaning on a banister, looking over the city themselves. As I moved closer to them, I soon recognized the clothing, figure and hairstyle; they belonged to Twilight Sparkle. She seemed to be on the roof of some building enjoying a cup of tea, wearing a dark leather jacket and shirt of the same color, with skin tight blue jeans and ankle high boots.
'No... NO... you can't hurt her! She hasn't done anything wrong! LEAVE HER ALONE!' I scream out in my mind, but to no avail. I was right behind Twilight now, inching ever closer, until I was right on top of her. Obviously getting the strange feeling of somepony behind her, she turned around, letting out a startled gasp at the sight of me.
I prepared for the worst, to see the mare of my dreams get beaten, battered, and inevitably killed. But then, something...unexpected occurred. Her startled expression gave way to a heartwarming smile, and she spoke to me; "Trixie... you know I hate it when you do that."
There were now several questions buzzing around in my head 'How does she know my name? Why isn't she scared of me in this costume? Why is she looking at me like that? Why-?' All my thoughts came to a screeching halt as I noticed twilight had walked over to me and now had her snout next to my ear.
"Unless... you like to be called MareDoWell. If so; then I hate it when you do that... MareDoWell." She says, finishing with a soft yet seductive smile.
"Trixie is fine." I say, another reminder that I wasn't in control here. However, that wouldn't be the case for long. When Twilight approached me, swaying her hips and tail, I was immediately thrust back into control of my body, jolting me forward to grab hold of her.
Before I could do or say anything I heard a voice in my head say 'Hold her, say what you feel'. She was suprised at first, but looked up at me with a warm smile after a few moments in my embrace. Then, it happened. She brought her left hand to my mask, lifted the bottom... and brought her lips against mine.
The world stopped for what seemed like hours as I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment, just as she did. I wanted to question what was going on, but the situation itself was too heavenly for me to create a single thought. When she pulled away from me, she was panting, a deep flush enveloping her cheeks, a dreamy, lustful expression covering her face.
"Trixie... I've waited all day for this, don't make me wait any longer."
My eyes widened at her words, and I found myself unconsciously saying "Me too, my love."
Before I could think my hand slipped to her rump, grasping it lovingly, making her gasp and whimper with excitement. We dove into another kiss, letting our mouths open as we released ragged breaths and pleasured moans, our tongues dancing around and over each other.
When we separated; she looked into my eyes and started to speak. "Trixie, I . . . I l-lo . . ."
I no longer cared if this was a dream; I just wanted her to say the words I knew she was trying to say. "Trixie, I BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!"
Awakening with a jump, nearly falling out of my bed; I looked around for what could have woken me from such a heavenly dream. I looked around the room, and soon found the culprit. My alarm clock had gone off, letting out an obnoxiously loud beep. 'Well . . . at least I know why Twilight started beeping.' I thought.
As I look at the clock, I utter only two words; "fuck... you... "
I washed up and prepared for the day, knowing that I would need to start making the costume today. I made a healthy breakfast of haycon and eggs and sat down, thinking about how I would make the costume, and what the order of the fabrics would be. I kept thinking of the structure, placements of fabrics, and any possible charms/spells I could use to make the costume the best it could be.
I finished eating breakfast and quickly made my way to the workroom. Gathering all the necessary materials, I began to make the suit.
I pulled out a mannequin I had molded to match my figure; I wrapped the silk around it and began to cut and stitch. When I was finished, I had created a full-body silk wet suit, only missing a mask. Now that the base for the costume had been made, it was time to add the layers.
First was the linen; nothing special, just sewing a layer medium-thin layer onto the silk, and mixing it with some velvet. This way when I moved in the costume, not only would I feel more limber, but it would be more comfortable. I also added some linen and velvet pads here and there for added comfort.
Now that the soft inner layer was out of the way; I could start on the rough protective outer layer. But before I made anything, I used a fusion spell to combine each fabric I was going to use with the durability and water resistant micro fibers. This way each layer would be stronger and harder to get through.
The next fiber that was going to be put on was nylon. Nylon is a fabric known for its strength and durability, so it would make sense to have it make the first layer. After the nylon layer had been crafted onto the suit, it was time to add the Kevlar layer, for obvious reasons. I added two medium thin layers of Kevlar and then stitched them to the suit.
Now the last layer could be added; the Teflon. Heavily combing it with durability micro fibers, I added a very thin layer of Teflon. The slippery plastic consistency of the material would make me harder to grab in possible combat situations and allow me to slip through tight spaces easier. Then, for good measure, i added carbon fiber reinforcement, to make me that much harder to damage.
And for theatricality, I used a nylon and Teflon mixture to create an M on my chest. The middle of the M went down my chest and stopped over my heart, while its two sides went down my forelegs and stopped where the upper foreleg meets the lower. I then made near microscopic holes all over the suit so that as I moved, air could circulated through the suit.
It was done; after ten hours, It was finally done. It was a standard wet suit, save for the M. the lines of the wet suit going down the sides, the flanks and legs, and the arms, showing where I had sewn the costume together. But I wasn't done yet.
The mask and hat were to come next, and both would prove to be fairly easy. All I did was take 1 layer of silk and 2 layers of nylon, and molded them around the mannequins head. I then decided to make a hat very similar to the design of a Stetson hat. I took woolen fibers and matted them, condensed them, and pressed them; it took a while but I eventually made a felt.
I sewed and stitched the felt for hours until it formed into the shape of a hat. I put a single layer of nylon on the hat to give it a soft texture and feel to it. After I had made the hat, I took the mask and placed it on the mannequins head, and then took the hat and placed it on top of the mask, looking at where the ears would be if the hat weren't covering them.
I began to cut holes in the hat, being careful as to not accidentally nick the ear itself, so that I could pull the ears through these holes. After pulling the ears through, I sewed the hat and the mask together, stitching it so that the holes were attached to the base of the ear. Finally, I cut two holes in the masks' face, for when it would be time to make the eyes.
The next part would take much more time, so I decided to take a 6 hour nap so that I could be more focused while making the more complicated parts of the costume.
When I awoke, I immediately got to work on the metallic, graphite, and glass based pieces. First, I wanted to get the only glass based pieces out of the way; the eyes. I took a sheet of one inch thick plexiglass and used a color spectrum manipulation spell on it. This spell would make in so that to me, the glass would appear clear and see-through; but to everyone else it would be a slightly darker sky-blue.
The next step would have to be done carefully, as to not damage myself. I looked into a mirror and, putting the plexiglass up to my face, began to magically cut the glass to outline my eye. Once this was done, I took a blow torch to each eye piece until they became curved at the ends.
I turned to the mask, and using magic, quickly attached the eye pieces to the holes in the mask. I then took some time to make thin, polished graphite rings to go around the eyes, so they could conceal where the fabric and the glass met.
I knew then that it was time for the armored pieces of the costume to come into play, but I will spare you the details. Needless to say though, that I knew as soon as I started welding, molding and crafting; that I was going to be doing this for a while.
Done... they were all finally done. After hours of grueling, sweaty blacksmithing, I had finally made all of the armor for the costume.
First I made the hoof guards. I created a padded hoof guard base, so it would be comfortable when I walk, run, or gallop. I covered the padding with graphite, and then made the rest of the hoof guard with reinforced carbon, the design coming out similar to that of the royal hoof guards the princesses wear.
The second part was the gauntlets. I decided to make them out of reinforced graphite, a light weight material that can defend against most standard offenses, with a thin layer of carbon underneath. I thought about something I would need as an offense, and came up with the grandest idea; in each arm gauntlet, there were three sets of three steel blades that would come out of the sides of the gauntlets.
All these blades were housed in mechanisms that responded to my magic; a push would extend them, a pull would retract, and a pulse would launch them from the gauntlet a high speeds. The back leg gauntlets would have blades as well that stick out of the back.
Last but not least were the ears and cape. For the ears, I simply put graphite on the inner ear part, attaching it to the hat as well as the ear piece. The cape however, was a different story entirely.
The cape was made of silk, nylon and Teflon, but that wasn't all. I needed this cape to be perfect, and if I wanted it to be just that, I needed a certain... spell.
I dragged the cape into a dark room with some chalk, setting it down on the ground. I grabbed my chalk and drew the incantation circle I needed. Once the circle was done around the cape, I drew three symbols in the walls of the circle and around the cape; the sun, the moon and Equestria.
Stepping back from the circle, I began to chant a spell that I learned long ago, but never thought I would use;
I bless this cloth in the name of the three.
The circle illuminated, giving off a bright glow. I continued the spell.
I call upon the princess of the light,
so with this I can go forth into the sky and take flight!
The sun illuminated, spitting fourth white flames. I could feel the power growing.
I call upon the princess of the night,
so that this will hide me from my enemies,
and show them my might!
The moon lit up, spitting fourth its own blue-ish black flames. I saw that both the sun and moons flames had increased in size and the power in the room had grown again.
And I call upon the gods in the Eternal Lands,
so that this may bend, shape and harden... at my COMMAND!
With the final words spoken, the picture of Equestria shot forth rainbow flames. The magic in the room had become so intense, it pushed me into a wall and held me there.
The flames of each circle had joined above the cape, forming a giant orb of pure magic. Finally, the orb of magic broke, pouring its contents onto the cape below it and causing a bright flash of light, temporarily blinding me.
When my vision returned, the circle was gone, and the cape lie there; smoking. I walked over to the cape, levitating it with me back to the costume.
When I attached the cape to the costume, I knew that finishing touches were in order. I gave the suit itself kinetic barriers for defense. I strengthened the overall suit with a durability charm. I enchanted the glass that would cover my eyes so that I could enable things like night vision, X-ray, etc. the graphite eardrums received a resonator spell, so that I could manipulate my hearing efficiency. And last but not least, the suit received a cloud hex, for walking on clouds of course.
Now that the whole costume was done, I had one more thing to do; pocket storage. Focusing my magic, I created a small pocket universe in my mind; then focusing on the costume, I slowly but surely transferred the costume into the universe. I watched as the suit slowly disintegrated, forming deep within my mind, until every bit of it had disappeared into storage.
Now that the suit was in storage, I wanted to test out the summon capability. I focused on the suit in my mind and visualized it forming on me; forming a mirror in front of me; fixing whatever problems there were as I went. Until finally as I opened my eyes; I was graced with the image of me in costume reflecting in the mirror.
It was marvelous, absolutely amazing, the only problem was color. I decided that the lower part of the back-legs and forelegs should be a near-black shade of blue-ish purple, this color scheme would go up the inner side of the foreleg in a line and fuse with the middle of the chest.
The chest would carry an upside-down triangle shape with this color; going from shoulder to shoulder, descending down, having the pointed end of the triangle stop at the midsection.
The color would also extend up the outer back legs, going along the flanks and sides in a line and meeting the triangle at the exact place the forelegs do. The eyes would be a faded sky-blue, the cape would be the same color as the lower back-legs and forelegs, but slightly darker. So would the mask, hat and the M on the chest. Everything else would be a very dark purple, including the stripe on the base of the hat.
Before I put the costume away, I did 2 things. One, I noticed that every time I look in a reflection, I can see my eyes through the glass, so I modified the spectrum spell so that if it's just a reflection, the eyes will show up blue. Two, I tested out the cape.
The first test was flight. I centered my magic on the concept of flight, as well as my thoughts, and before I knew it; air had flooded the underside of my cape, making me hit my head on the ceiling.
The second test was strength and stealth. For strength, I merely whipped my cape at a nearby mannequin... slicing its head off. For stealth, I looked in the mirror and covered myself in the cape. Through the cape I could see the mirror, and in the mirror... was nothing.
I grinned with delight at my success, but I wasn't done yet. The third test, shape shifting basically, was the last one. I used my cape to form a few objects in rapid succession; a shield, a pair of wings, a... blade.
I found myself looking at two gigantic blades, near identical to the one from the first nightmare I had. I began swinging them in the air, practicing combat strikes and blocks. I did this for a good few minutes until I heard a slicing noise next to me and felt added weight to my left blade. I looked to my left and saw what the added weight was; and immediately became dead silent.
There, impaled on my left blade, was Joey, from my dream. His eyes were white; his skin was pale; and there was blood leaking from his big, toothy grin. Before I could even question what was going on, he spoke, and his words were so frightening; I still remember them to this day.
I BELIEVE!
I woke up on the floor with a jolt, chilled to the bone. As I looked around the room, I was able to piece together the events leading up to my unconscious state. There was a piece of welding equipment swinging back and forth, as if something hit it. I figure that while fooling around, I must have hit the tool and dozed off, which led me to decide that I was too exhausted to do anymore, and the testing would have to come tomorrow.
That night, when I went to sleep, I did not dream, but instead just saw a black abyss, punctuated by whispers.
Why do you run?
Embrace me, embrace yourself.
Make them believe in us.
You shall become their reckoning.
It just kept going on and on, but I didn't let it wake me; for I had plans tomorrow that required rest.
Yes . . . BIG plans. |
MareDoWell | MareDoWell chp 6: Flow | I stared down the barrel, sweating as I anticipated the inevitable impact; the steal of the shotgun gleaming in the sunlight. I breathed heavily, not knowing what the outcome of this situation would be.
I counted the seconds that ticked by, the sweat beginning to pour down my face and fill my mask with its scent. I could hear the trigger being squeezed, slowly inching its way down. As the trigger moved those last few inches, I heard a thunderous bang, and felt a sudden release of air from my lungs.
I felt my hooves fly out from under me as I was propelled into the air. The pain coursing through my chest was unlike anything I'd ever felt before, causing my whole body to spasm and twitch. When I finally hit the ground, the world came to a stop, my vision began to fade... and darkness took me.
"Bucking Celestia... that hurts so much!" I yell, slowly opening my eyes after a minute of unconsciousness. I used magic to remove the adaptation shells from my chest area, the layers of reinforced fabric successfully stopping them from... well... killing me.
The shells had been made to give what is called a "base impact", which would apply the combined pressure and force of most standard ammunition's. Enchanted armor (like my own) could take this pressure and adapt to it, meaning that most rounds would be blocked without pain as long as the armor was kept in good condition.
I used an enchantment to enhance the pressure and force (P/F) readings from the shells so that the suit could take nearly every type of round from long, medium, and even close range. I put a hoof to my chest and cast a repair spell to fix the damage done by the shells.
When I was done I released the double barrel from my magical grasp, and walked over to a nearby stump; on top of it lay a clipboard with a check list on it. Picking up the list, I crossed out armor preparation, and looked over the list in its entirety. I eventually picked flexibility and aerodynamics next.
After teleporting to the edge of the Everfree forest, I looked around for any groups of trees that might make a good make-shift obstacle course.
After five minutes of searching, I happened upon a zig-zag of trees. They were tall enough to be used as training ground, but not tall enough to kill me if I fall. They were also close enough together so that I could jump from tree to tree.
I teleported to the lowest branch, balancing myself so I wouldn't fall, looking up into the branches hanging over me in tangled sections of wood and leaves. I crouched, preparing to jump, judging the distance in my head. The next thing I knew, I had propelled myself from the branch, and was headed towards the next at high speed.
I dug my armored hands into the next branch, causing me to spin around and land on the top of it. Taking only a second to rest, I looked to the next few branches and jumped, galloping across them with rapid succession, the silk and linen brushing against my fur every so softly as I did. As I continued to jump and run, I noticed that my breathing was becoming labored, and my reaction time began to slow.
I jumped over to the next tree, leaping across its branches . . . or, trying, to leap across its branches. When I jumped to the next branch, I quickly lost my footing and began to fall.
Thinking quick, I teleported to the soft forest floor and started over; I got a little bit further, but ultimately failed again, this time hitting a branch on the way down, making me unable to focus; so the only thing I could do was instinctively twist and turn to avoid the bigger branches.
After I hit the ground, I check my body to make sure nothing was broken or sprained. Everything seemed fine, until I prodded my left side, revealing what felt like a giant bruise that started at my shoulder and ended at my flank. I cast a healing spell on myself and decided to take a break.
"What am I doing wrong?" I thought out loud.
"No matter how hard I focus, I can't stop myself from falling. What am I missing?" I said aloud again, frustration showing in my voice. I decided to meditate while I was healing in an attempt to relax my body, so the process would quicken.
As I sat there and meditated, something happened, something... extraordinary. I found myself in a world shrouded in darkness; no lights, no sounds, not even any buildings or landmarks . . . just pitch blackness. I looked around in the darkness, trying to establish where I was when a sudden thought rocketed through my mind.
"Oh god . . . if I fell asleep while meditating and I'm having another freaking dream, I'm going to kill a bi-." I froze, not knowing if what just happened ACTUALLY happened.
That thought was internal; I did not vocalize it in any way. But if that was the case, why had I heard it as if it had been spoken.
'What the buck!' I said, or, tried to say; when my lips moved, no sound came out . . . I was mute.
I tried saying something else, 'Luna! Celestia! TWILIGHT!' I screamed! But no sound came out. But, when I thought about them, each name came out clear as day, as if I was ACTUALLY saying them.
I was baffled, my mouth hanging agape. As I tried to figure out exactly what the hay was going on, I began to hear a strange noise, almost like the sound of chanting. I walked in the direction that I believed the sound to be coming from, and began to hear what was being chanted; my name.
Trixie! Trixie! Trixie! I heard over and over again, making me walk faster, revealing a small light growing bigger in the distance. I thought about teleporting to it, but, what if it was just another nightmare luring me to it, using the element of curiosity?
But then, I heard something different, something that made my eyes go wide and my jaw drop, something . . . old.
'BEHOLD! IT IS I! THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!'
At the mention of my old catchphrase, I didn't run, nor even gallop; I full on teleported to the source, shocked at what I found. It... was the last time I came to Ponyville, two years ago, specifically the show where I did... that... to three of the elements. It was actually something I wanted vehemently to forget.
As I approached the memory, I reached a hoof out to touch it, gently brushing my hoof against the screen. I immediately recoiled, startled by multiple other memories exploding from it, reacting to my touch like roaches to a flashlight.
I looked over each memory, surveying them. To my right was my return to Ponyville, leading to my eventual friendship with Fluttershy. Next to it was an argument between Fluttershy and Twilight focused on me being back.
"She hasn't changed Shy, she never will. Can't you see she's playing you!?" Twilight yelled, not caring that I was watching the event silently and could hear everything she said.
"Can't you see that you all are being a bunch of judgmental jerks!? I swear, you all are acting worse than me after the whole 'Iron Will' incident!" Fluttershy stated, not yelling or shouting, but talking sternly non-the-less.
I remember how it took about a week before Fluttershy talked to them again . . . and it was my fault. I looked away, not wanting to relive this horrid memory.
I felt myself begin to cry, but was brought out of my sniffling by a sound, almost familiar sound; a sound of... singing?
I looked over to my right to see a memory hovering towards me at a moderate speed.
"Happy birthday to you!" I heard. "It... it can't be!" I thought as the memory drew closer.
"Happy birthday to you!" I heard again, my eyes widening as I realized that I recognized all the voices singing.
"Happy birthday dear Trixie!" I heard them all sing again, the memory closing the remaining distance between us.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!" I heard as the dream flashed bright white blinding me.
When my vision refocused, what I saw not only shocked me... but brought me no end of pure joy.
It was me... as a 12-year-old filly, wearing a party hat. To my sides were my parents, Dazzle and Heavy-Hitter Lunamoon. Around me were some of my childhood friends like Geo Metric, Big Win, Eye Liner, and so-on. I saw myself blow out the candles on the cake. I tried to use my magic to blow out the candles, but I gave it a little too much power. The wind I used passed over the cake and blew out the candles perfectly, but then it shifted to the side and hit my father in the chest, knocking him down. He was a boxer of course, so he brushed it off like it was nothing; but I was still on the verge of crying for about three minutes, thinking I had hurt him.
I thought this memory had been lost to me, overshadowed by bigger events in my life... but to see it again... was remarkable. I was reveling in the pure joy I received from seeing this beautiful memory, when I heard a voice coming from behind me.
"Amazing... isn't it?" I turned around expecting to see MareDoWell again... but I didn't. instead, when I turned around this time, I saw a midnight blue pony, with a jet black mane and tail with crimson stripes in them, red eyes, and a build like Big Macintosh. I saw... Reave.
'REAVE!?' I mouthed, quite surprised mind you. 'What are you doing here? What is this place? How did I get here? , I yet again attempted to say.
Reave just shook his head.
"You are so lucky I can read lips." He said with his usual sense of narcissism.
"If you must know, this is something I taught you when you were under my tutelage."
"When did you teach me this?" I asked, using thought to speak.
"Really, you don't remember?" he asked, and from his facial expression, I could tell he was actually a little surprised.
"No, I don't remember. If I did I would get out of here and get back to training." I replied.
"And furthermore, if you know what this place is, can't you help me get out?" I replied, obviously annoyed.
Reave just shook his head, and tsked.
"It has been a long time I suppose. Here, let me show you." he replied, waving something to my left over with a hoof, I looked to see another memory had damn near dashed to me. Before I could gasp, the memory flashed white, and began to play. hr
The white faded away to reveal slightly younger versions of Reave and I, smiling at each other and laughing. We seemed to be in the same place I was in currently.
"So, I just think about something I need that might be in my memories, focus my magic on the thought, and I'll end up here?" I ask, literally THINKING out loud.
"Yes. And remember; if you search hard enough, you're guaranteed to find what you're looking for." He says, another one of his soft, knowing smiles gracing his face.
"Wow, it's so amazing in here; it's like a giant stadium!" I shout.
"Indeed. Oh and don't forget, this is the realm of thought. Trying to speak with your mouth will prove futile. If you want to say something, just think it." He says, a sly grin beginning to spread across his lips.
"Besides, we wouldn't want a repeat of when we first got here, now would we?" he says, his grin growing wider with every word.
I looked away and blushed.
"I thought we weren't going to talk about that again!" I say threw grit teeth, annoyed.
He lightly chuckled, trying not to go into a fit of laughter.
"I'm sorry Trixie, but the look on your face when you thought this place stole your voice was priceless," he said "and if my lip reading skills are anything to go by, I believe your exact first words were 'Holy Celestia what the fuck happened to my voice!' HA!" he continues, his chuckle turning into a full on laugh.
I roll my eyes and face-hoof, looking away from him and shaking my head.
"Let's just get out of here." I say, not wanting to sit there and listen to him laugh at my foalishness.
He looked over at me, his laughter subsiding.
"As you wish my pupil, as you wish." he says, still slightly chuckling.
As we went back to reality, the memory ended, and I was brought back to the present memory realm.
I left the memory with a jolt, stammering back into the present. I looked over to Reave, his smile obviously saying 'I told you so'. I looked back into the black void to see that it had been filled with multiple memories, some of which were very old, and others very recent.
"But... I don't understand. I didn't cast this spell." I said.
"Well actually, when you got injured, you cast a healing spell right?" I nodded
"Well, you were using an average amount of magic to cast it, and while doing so you were trying to remember something that could help you with your . . . training, right?" I nodded again, now curious as to what he was getting at.
"Well that's it! While you were using the healing spell, you must've unknowingly transferred some of your magic to the thought, thus activating this spell." he said, obviously amused that he discovered the cause of all this confusion.
I looked around, baffled that I could forget such a spell, and to my knowledge this was the only spell he had taught me that I had forgotten. There were a few questions still floating around in my head so I started with what I thought was the most obvious one.
"If I forgot that spell, then how did I just see the memory of me learning it just now." I asked.
"Because nothing is ever truly forgotten, Trixie." Reave told me.
"Even if we believe it is, our mind subconsciously records and stores everything we do. In fact, if you looked deep enough in here, and I mean realy deep, you could probably find your first moments of being alive after birth." He said.
I was taken aback. Could our mind really record such things? Let alone store them forever? I would have to investigate this later, but for now, I would move on to the next question.
"How are you here right now?" I asked. If this was MY mind, then how was he standing here with me?
"I am not Reave, at least, not entirely." I gave him a puzzled look before he began to explain.
"You see, when you enter the memory realm, you meet the embodiment of your subconscious. When you meet it, it will craft its appearance from that of the seeker's memories and experiences."
"Seeker?" I asked.
"It's the name given to those who cast the spell to seek the memories that have been buried by life and time." He quickly replied, as if having the answer pre-prepared.
I nodded. "How come you don't just represent yourself as a reflection of me?" I asked.
He sighs. "When the real me entered this realm with you, he left a gift. He knew that a clone of yourself would suffice, but if you were to have a guide, you would need someone who you feel could actually lead you, and who better to do it than your old mentor, after all." He answered, finishing with a smile.
"That's why you're so lifelike!" I shouted, coming to a realization.
"You're not just some average replica... Reave implanted you himself." He nodded, confirming my suspicions.
Another question popped into my head and a very important one as well. "Why can't we speak without using our thoughts?" I asked, wondering why the entire time we've been talking, neither of our mouths had moved except to express emotion.
"Because we are in a place that exists with the mind, Trixie." he stated
"Here, thoughts speak louder than words."
I had other questions, but they all seemed unimportant at the time. I looked out into the void, only turning my head slightly to ask one more question.
"I just focus on what I need, right?" He nodded. I looked back to the abyss, closed my eyes, and focused.
I could feel something being brought towards me, as if it was being pulled to me. As the distance closed, I could feel the energy drawing nearer, and the power growing. Even though my eyes were closed, it felt as if a blinding light was approaching me, getting faster as it came. As it closed the last few feet between us, my eyes flew open, and the very world became a plain of pure neon white, as I drifted into another memory.
As the white began to fade away, I was greeted with the image of me falling. As the remaining white faded away, I noticed that it took place in a sort of city area, like an alley. After noticing this, it immediately became clear to me what I was watching: this was when Reave took me to a row of abandoned warehouses after I asked about parkour. This was my fifth failure at attempting to jump from one building to another.
I hit the ground with a hard thud, bouncing slightly off the pavement. I winced slightly seeing myself hit the ground. I could almost feel the pain my past self was going through from where I was standing. i got up and immediately cast a healing spell, healing the obviously large bruises that were under my protective gear. I hear the clip-clop of hooves and turn my head to see Reave walking over, an annoyed scowl on his face.
"I told you; don't force it, and focus." he says in a stern yet caring voice.
"I am focusing, and it's not working!" I yell, obviously annoyed.
"I focus on every move I make, I detail every step, and yet it's still not enough!"
"Trixie please . . ." Reave says as he tries to calm me down, but to no avail.
"NO! This was obviously a bad idea!" I state as I began to walk away, signifying that I was quitting.
I'm about halfway down the alley when Reave runs in front of me, stopping me from leaving. What occurred after this was a very unpleasant back and forth between us both.
"As your teacher I will not allow you to quit!" he shouted.
"Oh really?" I countered
"REALLY!" he shouted again
"Well maybe I don't want to obey you in this instance. Maybe I want to go home and calm my nerves. Did you ever think that maybe I'M right for once?"
"You will not just give up! I know you can do this!" he instructed.
"Well my five past failures say otherwise."
I begin to walk past him, but he stuck out his arm to grab me and damned near threw me back in front of him. Before I could ask what he thought he was doing, he spoke.
"Do you remember what I told you the penalty would be for not only disobeying your teacher, but abandoning them as well?" He said.
"Yes, actually, I do. I believe that it was you would have to have a one on one sparing match with your teacher, the loser being the one who yields first." I answered casually.
"And the loser having to give in to the others request." He finished.
"Well maybe this time I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get out of this!"
"Are you saying that you would be willing to fight me just so you can give up!?"
"I'm saying I will fight you just to give up!"
"Try it!"
At this point we are nose to nose, staring directly into each other's eyes. If we were dragons, steam would be billowing from our nostrils.
After glaring at each other for a few more minutes, we each let out a sigh and sit down, a few minutes of silence following after. I broke the silence first .
"Look... I know you think I can do this, but no matter how hard I focus on it, I just keep fa-" I try to say before he interrupted me.
"Wait, wait! What exactly are you focusing on when you move?" he asks in haste, as if he had just found the solution to our problem... which he did.
"I focus on the next movement of course! I try to plan every movement ahead of time, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't execute anything I plan properly."
"No wonder you keep falling!" he states, putting hoof to his forehead in frustration. "Trixie, I told you to focus, I never told you what to focus on."
"I don't understand." I say, tilting my head with a puzzled expression on my face.
"With a task like this, focusing on it will only cause you to fumble and fail because you'll over think every step. Now, while some do prefer the focusing method, it's obviously not working for you, so let's try something different, shall we?" he says, cocking his eyebrow and offering his hoof.
I pout, but follow him back to the starting point, yet again eying the obstacles setup within the building, and the gap between the buildings at the end of them.
"Daunting isn't it?"
"incredibly." I reply.
"Now, when you run through the obstacles this time, just let it flow. Don't force you movements, just let everything come naturally." He instructs.
"Okay... okay." I say, breathing deeply.
I crouch down, preparing to jump, pacing myself. I breath slowly, trying to let go of my stress, my frustration. I start to enter a Zen-like state, focusing very little on the course itself, and more on my own inner thoughts. But, right before I jump, Reave slips in one last piece of advice.
"Oh and when you run through, focus on something other than the obstacle course... something happy." He says, as if telling me to perform a basic magic trick.
If my eyes opened any faster they would have flown out of my head. I nearly stumbled over and fell into an obstacle face first.
After I nearly escape breaking my own face, I turn to Reave, and lose it.
"What!" I yell "How the hay am I supposed to do... this, while thinking of something else!"
"Buy listening to the rhythm of the memory, and allowing your body to flow naturally with that rhythm." He replies.
I look at him as if he said he believes the 'Celestia created Nightmare Moon' conspiracy. He simply shakes his head and smiles at me.
"Trixie," he says, his voice calm and caring "if you try to force yourself through this course, you will become hardened, like a stone." He says, levitating stone and large planks of wood
"Now as a stone," he continues, levitating a stone and lining up the planks of wood "you can crash through an opposing object if you have enough momentum and force."
He hurls the stone at the first wooden plank, breaking through it with ease. He uses a time dilation spell to slow down the event so that I may see the process.
"But," he continues further as the stone hurls towards the next plank in line "if you are a stone, then as you break through things, you will lose your momentum and force."
As the stone goes through the next two planks, it visibly begins to wobble.
"Until finally," he begins to finish as the stone approaches the next plank "all your energy is gone."
He says with a smile as the stone bounces off of the plank, unable to penetrate to the next.
I am not puzzled at this point, but curious. He then cast a spell to repair the planks and resets them in a different position. They started off strait, but curved down the cliff next to us. He then summoned a pot made of stone, and took half a buckets' worth of water from the air. He set the bucket underneath the last wooden plank at the bottom of the small cliff.
"But, if you calm yourself, using a memory and syncing up with its rhythm, allowing your body to flow, like water." He says, levitating the water and freezing it into a moderately big spike.
"Then you can become harder than rock, and sharper too." He says, hurling the icicle at the planks point first, turning on the time dilation spell for this process as well.
The icicle cleaves through the first row of planks with ease, making the stone from earlier look like a dogs chew toy. But, even the ice begins to lose its energy after a while. Reave uses a portal spell to redirect the icicle to hit the planks going down the side of the cliff. It actually reminded me of a game that came out recently, but its name escapes me.
After the icicle is redirected, it goes through the first two cliff-side planks easily. But, as it begins to wobble, I realize the next plank shall be its downfall.
"And if you lose your energy and soften," he says, tapping his hooves together "you can flow around your obstacles." He finishes with a grin. Suddenly, the ice melts back into its liquid state, pouring onto the plank beneath it. The water pours down the sides of the plank bypassing the others and heading strait into the stone bucket. The water that didn't head down the sides of the plank and onto the next one below it, repeating the process with each plank.
"Then finally." he says, giving one last wave of his hoof "if you must, you can become lighter than air itself."
The water that didn't make it into the bowl evaporates instantly, steam replacing it. The steam rises around the planks, gathering in the air and becoming heavier, until finally, small water droplets form and fall into the bowl until the steam disappeared.
I look over to him, now understanding what his point is.
"Be like water, Trixie." He says. "Be like water."
As he finishes, the last words echo and the memory begins to fade as I return to not the present memory realm, but to reality.
As I open my eyes, I find myself back in the forest, sitting in my meditation position. I look around and realize that the sun is beginning to set, telling me that if I wanted to do this, I needed to do it now.
'Be like water.' The memory echoed in my head. I sat for a minute and thought about what memory to use until something hit me; what if instead of using a memory, I simply used something that made me happy, something with... rhythm.
"I got it!" I said aloud. I teleported back to my house for just five minutes, preparing everything I needed for my plan to work. When I returned, I had modified the suit to carry a small mp3 device in the chest area. With the head phones in and music set to a timer, I teleported back to the starting branch.
When the music started playing I let the first few wordless notes pass taking time to breath and preparing myself for what was to come. But when the words started, so did I.
I leaped from branch to branch effortlessly, timing my movements with the rhythm and pace of the song, letting them flow naturally and softly. Each note seemed to make my body move, as if the song was in control, and it felt so... good.
I dug my hooves into each branch and slid my way around others, become more like water as I slipped deeper into the music's trance. I kept climbing until I saw the spot where I had failed last, increasing my pace when I did. And when I reached it, I passed it effortlessly. The beautiful noise seemed to be all that was in my mind know, capitalizing on every other thought. I remember that as I reached the top of one tree, I spread my cape like a pair of wings, and flew into the air. I did three loop-ta-loops before landing in the next tree, easily melting back into my rhythmic Parkour.
I listened to this heavenly noise for the rest of my training, replaying it over and over, and all throughout that day as I listened to the music, one thought kept replaying in my mind.
Be like water, Trixie.
That night when I returned home I repaired any damages the costume might have endured during training, I was going to need it intact tonight. For tonight would be my first patrol... as MareDoWell. |
MareDoWell | MareDoWell chp 7: Beginning | It was time, finally time for my debut performance. I was so excited that I almost forgot half of my weapons and appliances as I was leaving. I decided I should just take two dual glock-17s' for my firearms of choice, knowing that I probably wouldn't need much more fire power than that. I chose to teleport to a random edge of the Everfree forest, preferably near downtown Ponyville, to begin my patrol.
When I got there, I cast a fog spell over the general area. The weather team would probably hate me, but it was just a minor spell. I stuck to the shadows and used what I had learned from my multiple disappearing acts to blend in with my environment and virtually disappear.
It was actually quite fun to sneak up behind ponies walking the streets at night and whisper something, only for them to turn around and see nothing, absolutely priceless.
I thought that maybe tonight was going to be a dud at first, with nothing happening for hours on end, until I came across an unusual sight; four grown stallions following three young fillies down a vacant street. One filly was dressed in overalls while another was wearing a standard t-shirt and blue jean shorts, the last wearing an obviously hand crafted dress.
Curious as to what was going on and why, I followed close and listened.
"Belle, are you sure these guys know a shortcut back to our area?" says one of the fillies. I recognized her voice instantly as Applebloom, Applejack's younger sister. With her must've been her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
"Well they seemed nice enough when they offered to get us home, and our sisters are probably super mad at us for being out so late! So these guys are kind of our only option." Sweetie Belle says, looking anxious, obviously just wanting to get home.
"Well I think you all are worrying too much, I mean, just look at this place! I had no idea It was so cool looking at night!" Scootaloo exclaims.
"And plus, these guys even said they'd walk behind us to make sure nothing bad happens! So they seem nice enough."
"Hmm, seems legit." Sweetie says, half joking half serious.
"I guess ya'll have a point there scoots, ah jus-" Applebloom tried to say before getting interrupted by one of the stallions behind them.
"Hey girls! Could you come here for a minute." He asks. The girls complied and walked over to him and his friends.
"Yeah Danny, what is it?"
The stallion had one of the more traditional names that were coming into style nowadays. Him and his friends glanced over to each other in a... suspicious manner, as if telling each other 'get ready' with their eyes. It was unsettling enough for me to prepare to intervene, switching on my voice modification spell in order to hide my identity.
"Me and my friends don't actually know a way to your area." He says, a sly smile crossing his face.
"What!" Sweetie yells. "So you've just been lying this entire time!"
"Yup!" Danny says, his face still covered in a huge smile.
"But we did bring you here for a reason, a very... special reason."
"What reason!" Applebloom screams. "What other reason could y'all possibly have ta-!"
"What would the Elements of Harmony do if anything happened to you three?" Danny asks. The fillies froze, as did I. I knew this was going someplace bad.
There was silence for three minutes, no one moving, speaking, or perhaps even breathing.
"...What?" Sweetie whimpers. I had seen the look on all their faces on other fillies before when I did my Halloween shows... they were frightened.
"I mean, Rainbow Dash is pretty close with Scootaloo isn't she, and you two are the sisters of two Elements!" he states in a disturbingly casual manner.
"So we were thinking the Elements would pay what, two, three million bits to see you safe again?" Danny says.
"I'd push fer 4 mil!" one of the nameless stallions blurts out.
"Whoa Bruiser!" another one shouts. "That may be a little much for these three trouble makers!"
"What!?" Scootaloo shouts, unsure of what to make of the situation.
"Here's our proposition; you come with us and we hold you for ransom. Now if the Elements pay us, you go free, we get paid, everybody wins. But if they don't pay..." Him and the other stallions exchange awkward glances between each other.
"Well... lets not think about that right know." Danny finishes. I'd heard enough and was moving into position, waiting for a chance to strike.
"And what makes you think we'll go with you, huh?" Scootaloo yells.
"What do you have that could possibly make us go with you?"
Danny looked at his friends with a big smile, which they returned. Standing upright, they all pulled silenced .22s' out of there coats.
"Oh, these can be very persuasive!" Danny said, smiling so wide that he would make pinkie blush.
The three fillies feeze again for another minute until Sweetie tries to blind them with a magic flash, but it's too dim. The stallions come up behind them and within seconds, have their hands on the fillies mouths, and their guns to their temples.
The fillies cries for help are muffled by the strong grips of the stallions, and they froze at the feeling of a gun held to their heads. All of a sudden, one of the stallions screams. As I look toward him, my plan already in motion, I see Applebloom running from her captor, only to be caught again by him seconds later.
"She bit me! Little cunt bit me!" the stallion yells
"Well quit complaining and punish her!" Danny yells back.
"Damn right I'll punish her!" the colt takes his pistol and points it at Applebloom's right ear. "Lets see how you like being deaf on one side, bitch!"
Applebloom closes her eyes as the stallion squeezes the trigger, and then...
*click*
Bloom's eyes open fast, trying to figure out what happened and what they had done, but when she surveys her body, nothing is wrong. Her ear was still there, they hadn't shot her anywhere else... she was fine.
"What the fuck?" Blooms' captor says, shocked. He attempts to fire five more times at Bloom's ear, only to get five more clicks.
"Oh for the love of... you're jammed! I'll do it!" Danny yells, taking Bloom, aiming at her ear, and pulling the trigger.
*click*
*click*
*click*
Danny looks to his gun in disbelief, wondering what's happening.
"Okay, what the fuck!" Danny swore. He then turned to face his fellow fillynappers.
"Unload you clips, NOW!" He yells. The stallions follow their orders and fire into the air.
*click*
*click*
*click*
*click*
*click*
*click*
*click*
"What in the bloody TARTARUS is going on!?" That was my signal.
"Now, now... that's no way to treat a filly, is it?" I say. My voice comes from seemingly everywhere as I make the fog thicken around them.
"Who is that? Who's out there!?"
"I'll be taking them from you now." I rose the fog to the point where nothing was visible, and when the fog cleared, the fillies were no longer with them, but behind me.
All three stare up at me, gazing in awe. I even earn a long, drawn out 'whoa' from Scootaloo. I look down at them with a soft smile, invisible to them due to the mask..
"Stay behind me." I whisper.
I turn my attention to the foalnappers, and speak.
"If you surrender peacefully, I promise not to hurt you."
Then they laughed at me.
Yes, they laughed, and for a good two minutes, too. When their laughter dies down, Danny gives them one simple order.
"...Ah ha ha kill her."
They aim at me, trying to fire, but all they got was... well... you know.
"Do you like it? It's a weapon disabling spell created by the royal military." I say, an obvious smile in my voice.
"It takes just enough water from the air, and teleports it into the gun. Now there are ways to defend against it, but, I doubt you know any of those." I finish.
It was at this moment that who looked to be the weakest of them rushes me, attempting to use his pistol as a club. It took one quick punch to knock him out.
As he lay on the floor unconscious, the other three reach into their coats and take out pocketknives of different shapes and sizes.
I gasp dramatically, as if imitating Rarity. "Oh my Celestia! Four stallions with mediocre fighting capability and pocketknives! My only weakness! How did you know!"
Another stallion charges me, his blade raised.
"Oh yeah, well lets see how you like this, whore!" He plunges the knife into my shoulder, causing me to fake scream for a few seconds until shifting to a joyous laugh. I took the knife out of my shoulder and looked at it, twirling it in my hands.
"This is reinforced nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, carbon fibers and microfibers you just stabbed. Please," I said as I plunge the knife into his shoulder "try again."
He screamed for a moment before I chopped him in the neck, knocking him unconscious. I gave a few more amused giggles before turning my attention to Danny and Bruiser. They looked absolutely terrified, having dropped their knives while starring at me.
"So what will it be boys?" I asked, spreading my cape and preparing to charge.
"Fight or flight?"
They looked at each other, shaking with fear, and promptly... ran away. I expected as much actually, I mean it's not like they could've actually beat me at that point anyway.
I decided it was time to finish this, and gave chase. I hit Bruiser with a tranquilizer, deciding he probably wasn't worth the energy it would take to fight him. But Danny, he was a different story.
"Where do you think you're going!" I say, teleporting in front of him, standing bipedal. I used the fog to cover up the fact I could teleport, though. Didn't want people thinking I was Twilight after all.
"But... you said fight or flight. I chose flight!" he screams, his voice breaking. I laughed heartily at this for a few seconds then shook my head and 'tsked'.
"I did give you the option to run... but I never said I would let you go." I responded, a sly smile under my mask.
His expression turned from one of fear to one of anger, and the he charged me.
"Fine, have it your way, bitch!" He began to through punches, even landing a few on me. My armor was so thick though; I didn't even feel it when he made contact with me.
After a few minutes into are physical exchange, I grew bored, so I decided to put an end to this charade... quickly.
When he tried to throw his next punch, I took the opportunity to punch him three times in the ribs, breaking five of them. He fell onto his knees, clutching his chest in pain. When he looked up, I jabbed him in the throat; not hard enough to break his windpipe, but hard enough to make it a chore to breath. He grabbed his throat and immediately started to gasp for air. Finally, when his breathing started to come back, I delivered a roundhouse buck to his face, causing blood to fly from his mouth, and he, like the rest of his friends, to fall unconscious
I called the police and told them were to find these filthy animals, as well as chaining them up and leaving them there. I also retrieved the video camera I had set up on a nearby lamppost, taking out the tape and leaving it with them.
After I was done, I stood triumphantly over the scene before me, smiling with glee. I went over every thing in my head.'Ahhh, this is great. I came in, kicked bad guy flank, and saved the fo-.'
"The foals!" I screamed, realizing that I'd completely forgotten about them during the fight! I turned around in panic, hoping to find them soon before they got lost. Of course, when I turned around, they tackled me.
"That... was... AWSOME!" Scootaloo shouts.
"I mean, they were like 'We're gonna take you hostage.' and you were all like 'No you're not.' and they were all like 'DIIIIEEE!' and then you were all like 'NNNNNOOPE' and then they were like 'what the hay?' and then you were like 'YEAH, GET PWNED!'. That was so freakin' AW-" Scootaloo was cut off by Applebloom's hand being shoved in her mouth.
"What Scoots is tryin' ta say," Bloom says, glaring at Scoots, making her blush "is thank you miss... um... uh."
"Who are you anyway?" Sweetie asks, tilting her head in curiosity. I got up and giggled, ruffling the fillies manes, and shook myself off.
"Sorry, but I can't tell you." I told them, earning a collective 'awww' from all three of them.
"However," I continued "I'm pretty sure you could ask some of the Elements about me and get your answer from them."
"What! Our sisters and the rest of the girls know you!" Sweetie asks, smiling with glee, her eyes growing wide.
"Even Rainbow Dash!" Scoots added.
I scratched the back of my head and reply.
"Well... they don't know me personally... but they know of me." I tried to explain.
All this did unfortunately was get me confused looks from all three of them, and i face-palmed.
"Look, just ask them about me when I get you home, and I'll make sure you get you're answer, okay?" They shook their heads so fast you'd think they were bobble-head replicas of themselves.
I smiled at their overwhelmingly adorable nature, and then placed my hoof upon Applebloom's forehead.
"Join hooves with Bloom and close your eyes, please." I said. "I'm going to use a bloodline tracking spell."
"A bloodline what?" Sweetie asked.
"It's a spell that will send a magic pulse through you that will go across Ponyville and inform me if it scans across anything that shares your lineage." I explained.
"Cool... " Scoots said, her eyes wide with interest.
After they joined hooves with Bloom, and closed their eyes, I fired the spell. A surge of magical energy washed over the multiple areas of Ponyville, revealing, at first, nothing but small whispers from the minds of ponies.
But, after a lot of searching, the Carousel Boutique lit up bright red, signifying the location of one or more blood relatives. As I focused all of the resonating magic on the boutique, I discovered who the relatives are; Rarity and Applejack.
Searching further, it is revealed that there is a third pony with them with no blood relation to any of the fillies. Curious as to who it was I summoned a room sized eavesdrop spell, so that I may listen to their conversation.
"Fur the love of all that's good and decent, Rarity! Why in Celestia's name would ya let'em go out to there tree house ALONE!" Applejack screams through tears.
"B-but AJ, you don't understand. Two weeks ago, when that baby manticore attacked them, Sweetie Belle used all the magic training I've been giving her to summon plasma bolts to fight it off! I thought they would be alright!" Rarity sobs.
The third pony slammed their hoof on a nearby table, obviously angrier then sad.
"Yelling at each other isn't going to help!" a frustrated Rainbow Dash yells.
"We need to go into the Everfree forest and look until we find them! Cause if we don't soon then they might..." Rainbow pauses.
"L-let's just find them, alright!" Dash finishes, a single tear escaping her eye. I figured she was there because of Scootaloo, basically being her surrogate sister after all.
I almost started to weep with them, but I snapped myself out of it, in order to focus on the task at hand. I concentrate all of the magic I need on their location and, with the fillies, teleport to the location of the three mares.
As we appeared outside of the boutique, the fillies' eyes flew open, obviously weary from their first teleport ever.
"We feel... kinda... dizzy." Applebloom points out. I shook my head and laughed a little, succumbing to the rambunctious charm these fillies are said to have. I led them up to the door as their dizziness fades. When they realize where we are, tears start to form in their eyes.
"There are three mares in their that are really worried about you, why don't you go cheer them up, hmm?" I whispered to them in a caring manner. I didn't have to ask it twice; they sped to the door so fast, that it would've made Dash blush.
Sweetie Belle knocks first, it being her home after all. She knocks rapidly and frantically, and eventually gets a response.
"We're closed... " said a cold yet elegant voice from inside the building. Sweetie, to distraught to speak, merely knocks faster.
After three minutes of knocking, the door finally opens, revealing three teary eyed mares.
"I said we're-!" Rarity tried to say before realizing who was at the door.
Nothing happened for a good five minutes, the mares and fillies just starred at each other quietly. At the end of the silent five minutes, the mares took the fillies in an extra tight hug, as if never wanting to let go. The fillies returned the hug and cried over the mares' shoulders, the mares doing the same.
"Where in tartarus have ya'll been!" Applejack yelled, letting go of Applebloom and facing her.
"I concur! We demand to know what happened and... why are you all crying?" Rarity asks.
"We tried to take a shortcut, but we got lost." Applebloom said.
"Yeah! Sweetie and I started to fight about which direction to go, and then these five stallions walked up and offered to show us a shortcut. We were really lost, so we accepted the offer." Scootaloo continued.
"Uh-hu, but when we got to this weird, empty place, they said that they didn't know a shortcut after all and that they wanted to... wanted to... " Sweetie Belle tried to finish.
Rarity and Applejack were completely silent, unable to comprehend what they just heard. Dash however, had taken Scootaloo by her shoulders and was looking directly into her eyes.
"Did they touch you!?" Dash demanded. Scootaloo tries to say 'what?' but her face says it for her.
"Did they do things to you that you didn't like? Touch you in a bad place!?" She shouts frantically. The other mares were now sobbing, and Scootaloo still seemed confused.
"Oh my... did they molest any of you Scootaloo!" Dash yells, frustrated. Scootaloo's eyes widened in realization, finally figuring out what Dash meant.
"No, they didn't!" Scootaloo responded, calming all three mares, and earning herself a nice, long hug from Dash.
"They did say they were gunna foalnap us and use us to get ransom from you guys though... and they threatened us with guns." Bloom added, sniffling.
All the mares' eyes shot open, no longer sad... but angry.
"They did WHAT!" Applejack nearly screamed.
"Jack, Rares, you stay here. I'll head to Sweet Apple Acres and get AJs' sawed-off!" Dash said, filled with rage. If Scootaloo hadn't stopped them with her next words, they probably would've have found those guys chained up and... done something brash.
"No, it's alright!" Scootaloo screamed, causing everypony to look over at her.
"We're here now, she saved us!" Scootaloo screamed again, not wanting her idol to leave her side. The mares were calmer now, but confused.
"Who is 'she' darling?" Rarity asked. The fillies looked at each other with confused faces.
"She told us ya'll 'knew ah her' or sumthin'." Applebloom stated, sending the mares into an even more confused state.
"Well... what did she look like?" Rarity asked.
"Well actually she wore this really cool suit, so we didn't get to see her face, but she was really cool! I mean she just came in and wreaked all five of those creeps like it was nothing, I mean, she was just so... freaking... AWESOME!!" Scootaloo said with a smile, the very memory of what I did cheering her up instantly.
"Well, I can't say I know'er, but if she saved ya'll then she's okay n' mah book!" Applejack said, her voice cheerful and joyous.
"Yeah! Where is she, anyway?" Dash chimed in. "I want to meet the mare that saved my number one fan!"
I decided It was time to make my appearance, so I stepped into a streetlight and called out to them.
"You really haven't noticed me yet?" I said, saying something theatrical to get their attention. They looked over to me, as if to thank me, but before they could... they realized what I was wearing.
"What's wrong, sis?" Bloom asked.
"Ah thought ya'll wanted to meet'er?"
There was silence for a good few minutes, the looks on the faces of the three Elements never changing from one of surprise and disbelief.
"T-that's impossible!" Applejack blurts out, finally breaking the silence. I grin with delight at her outburst, having a reply already prepared.
"Oh Applejack, it's the first time we've met, and you decide to tell a lie." I joked.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... that's not a very good first impression, now is it?" I said, smiling at my own cleverness.
It's at this moment that AJ decides to faint, which even I know she doesn't do lightly. Seeing this, I decide to make my exit.
"Well I've got to go. You know; bad guys to punish, people to save." I said, turning around and taking off, my cape becoming a makeshift pair of wings.
As I flew off though, I heard one more vocal exchange that made me grin.
"Rarity... wasn't that just... I mean... wasn't that... "
"Yes... yes Dash, I... I think it was." |
MareDoWell | MareDoWell chp 8: Stories | Enter Twilight Sparkle.
It was a normal day, just like any other. I was tending to the library; organizing the books, cleaning the shelves, making sure all my notes and letters were in the right order. How could I have known that it would be the start of a series of life changing events? How could I have foreseen what was to come?
Allow me to introduce myself. I am Twilight Sparkle; personal protege of Princess Celestia, sister of Prince Shining Armor, Ponyville's local librarian, and... well... you'll find out the rest later.
The story you are reading right now is not just Trixie's, but all of ours, including my brother, my friends, the Princess', and many others. Because as the great Starswirl the bearded once said, 'One story can have many tellers.'
What's my side of the story about? Well, let me put it this way; in the time you read my story, you'll learn about true friendship, the ability to forgive, resolve and willpower, and a plethora of other things. But what you'll learn most of all, is what happens when you fall in love... with a superhero.
I was cleaning a bookshelf when my friends barge through the door at record speeds, fumbling over each other as if they were running from a hydra. They all immediately start trying to tell me something all at once; I can only make out a few words from each of them. I use magic to clamp their mouths shut so that I can actually get a word in.
"Now, when I let go, you're all going to tell me what's wrong in an orderly fashion. Okay?"
They nod their heads in response and I release their snouts.
"MareDoWell's back!" they all shout. It took a moment for what they're saying to sink in, but when it finally does, I immediately... start laughing. I laughed so hard I thought I would break a rib if I laughed any harder. When my cackling finally subsides, I look up at them, wiping tears from my eyes.
"Oh Celestia, that was a good one guys. Got any more good jokes? I could use another good laugh." No reply. I look up, and then scan over each of their faces; no one's laughing.
"What?" I ask. "That was a joke right."
Rarity takes a rolled up newspaper out of her saddlebag, opens it, and throws it down in front of me. When I read the head line, my jaw drops as I tried and fail to find words to say.
who is the NEW 'Mysterious MareDoWell'?
"I don't understand..." I whimper. It was all I could say for the past few hours. I couldn't believe that after a whole year, this memory still caught up with us.
"Oh, you don't understand? Well then let me break it down for you." Dash says, coming closer to me then what I felt was comfortable.
"Somepony made another MareDoWell costume, put a bunch of military stuff on it, and is now parading around like a Celestia damn superhero!"
"Calm down Rainbow." AJ huffs. "There aint no need for that type a' talk."
"Well then maybe you should just stop wasting time and ask her then!"
"Ask me what?" I cut in.
There is silence for a moment, eventually broken by Applejack.
"Uh... well, ya see?" AJ begins to say..
"Me, Dash and Rarity 've already been to Fluttershy's and Pinkie's and... they were honest 'bout where they were last night." AJ finished. With her last sentence, I figure out what she was trying to get across.
"Are you ACCUSING ME!" I scream.
"Now sugar-cube, there aint no need to be mad." AJ says, trying to calm me down. "Yer jus the only one who ain't been accouned' for."
"There's every reason to be mad!" I snap back.
"We've all been friends for years! But as soon as someone appears in a MareDoWell costume, you go off and accuse you're three best friends of doing it!?" Applejack and Rarity look down to the floor, ashamed of their own foalishness. But Dash just gets angrier.
"Well instead of guilt tripping us for asking a question, how 'bout you, I don't know, ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION!" Dash yells, bringing herself snout-to-snout with me. Flames of pure anger lighting up her eyes.
"Okay! You want an answer!? Here's your answer!" I said, trying not to yell. I clap my hands and focus my magic, teleporting us to the display area downstairs.
"SEE!" I yell. I point to the costume at the end of the room, sitting in glass display case.
"That costume hasn't exited that case for a whole year! Except for cleaning and other maintenance!" My friend's ears fold down and a dejected look upon their faces. As I look at them, I begin to feel bad myself, realizing just how badly I've overreacted.
"I'm sorry guys." I say, hanging my own head out of shame.
"I guess I kind of... overreacted a little." I let out a little laugh, sheepish and apologetic
"A little?" Rarity responds. We all laugh together for a moment, the tension winding down
"But in all seriousness darling." she continues. "We are the ones who should be sorry. We had no right to go off and accuse you like that, we apologize." She bows her head, taking a front knee.
"Us too!" Pinkie shouts, hugging Applejack and Fluttershy close.
"OOH! OOH! You know what this calls for? A 'We're sorry super sorry for accusing you.' PARTY!" she shouts again, somehow making confetti explode out from behind her.
"We can have cake, ice-cream, party hats, gifts, OOH and streamers, we can't forget the streamers! And we can-!" I shove my hoof in Pinkies mouth, not wanting to hear an entire list of party essentials.
"That sounds nice pinkie, but I believe there's still one pony who needs to apologize. Isn't that right, Rainbow... Dash!?" Everyone looks over to where my gaze has landed, only to see Dash softly crying while shaking her head back and forth, silently mouthing 'That doesn't make any sense...' over and over again.
"Dash... what...?"
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE!" Dash screams. She bolts out of my basement, flying up the stairs and out of my house, leaving us all to stand there for a moment, completely baffled by Dash's reaction, Pinkie eventually gasping "What in the hay is her problem!"
"I think I know." I say with a huff, teleporting to the one of the two places I knew I would always find Rainbow.
Enter Rainbow Dash.
Can I ask you a question? It's not a very complex one like 'why are we here' or 'are we alone', so it won't take up too much of your time, i assure you. Have you ever hated somepony? I don't mean 'guy who cuts you off in traffic' or 'that one mare at work' hatred; I mean the type of hatred you feel when you look at a dictator, or a murderer. Like the world would be a better place if they were just dead. If you have then I'm glad you understand, if you haven't, then use your imagination. That's what it's there for.
Now here's another question. Don't worry, still not too complex. What if that pony wasn't a pony, but a symbol? What would be the difference?
Simple; ponies can die. Symbols can't.
You kill a pony, a griffin, or a dragon you hate, they stay dead, never to been seen again. But a symbol, you can't just kill a symbol, and for another simple reason too; memory!
I mean sure, you can kill the pony who possesses that symbol. I mean just because you bear a symbol doesn't mean you're immune to a twelve gauge to the face.. But still, that symbol will live on in the memory of the ponies that know of it. A symbol can be passed on to the next pony and the next pony, over and over again. The friggin' thing's unstoppable!
My name is Rainbow Dash, and my first story is about that exact type of hatred, my hatred for a symbol that goes by one name, and one name alone; MareDoWell.
I sat atop my favorite tree at Sweet Apple Acres, letting tears silently escape my eyes. Yeah I know, that's not the coolest thing to do, but given the circumstances, I'd say it was acceptable.
'Why is she back...? How is she back? ' I think to myself, over and over again.
'Did I do something wrong? Are my friends mad at me?' I continued to think.
You know I couldn't believe it at first, when I took off that mask and saw pinkie staring back, and then my three other best friends just coming out and saying they were MareDoWell all along. I acted happy in that alleyway, putting on a fake smile to appease my friends. But when I got home... I cried; I actually fell out on my couch, and cried for two whole hours. I felt so hurt, so betrayed... but I didn't have the heart to tell any of my friends.
I didn't talk to them for weeks, only having small verbal exchanges or the occasional 'hello'; but ,eventually, they found out what was wrong with me. But the best part is; after figuring out what was wrong, they were mad at me!
I was absolutely astounded; you dress up as a superhero, publicly embarrass me, then tell me it was all to teach me a lesson, and you're mad at me! It all came to a head when we fought. I can still remember it so clearly.
"Damn it, RD! that wus fer yer own good, and you KNOW IT!" AJ screams, stomping a hoof and flaring her nostrils. Our verbal exchange had been going on since Twilight brought them up to my house to confront me about how I'd been acting, using a cloud walking spell and teleportation.
"Do you know how many times I've been insulted, berated, and made fun of in the past few weeks because of your little stunt!" I yell back.
"Well maybe now ya'll l' think twice before ya go off n' act all big n' the head."
"THAT'S HOW YOU JUSTIFY WHAT YOU ALL DID TO ME!" I scream. The fur of my coat was visibly raising at this point as my anger continued to spike.
Applejack just sticks her nose into the air and shuts her eyes, as if refusing to give me an answer. I knew AJ was stubborn, but not wanting to apologize? That was a dick move on her part.
"You know what AJ?" I say, laughing a little. "It's the fact that you were to much of a bucking coward to take off that mask and confront me yourself that really pisses me off!"
That was a lie, but I think Applejack was too angry to notice. It wasn't her supposed cowardice that enraged me, but the constant teasing and insults from random ponies.
For the weeks I wouldn't talk to them, I couldn't walk ten feet without a 'Hey Dash! I'm going as MareDoWell for Nightmare Night! Hope you don't mind!' or a 'Watch out Dash! I heard somepony bought another MareDoWell costume!' or a slew of other insults like those. It had gotten to the point where I wanted to straight up kill whoever mentioned MareDoWell.
"What did you jus say!" AJ says, shooting me a death glare in return. I have never flipped anyone the bird that fast, before or since.
"Now darlings, there's no need for... " Rarity tries to speak, One glare from us and she stops talking.
"You heard me!" I yell. "I called you a yellow bellied COWARD!"
Applejack's eye twitches before she charges me, letting out a throaty growl of rage. Twi and the others try to stop her, but she's too strong for them to hold back. She breaks through and, before I can block, buck me right in the side of my head. I slam against a nearby wall, propelled by the force of her buck. After getting to my hooves I feel the back of my head, trying to see if I'm injured... only to come away with a blood covered hoof. My body freezes, and my teeth grit..
There is dead silence for four minutes, only broken when I look up at my five friends and whisper "You... bucked me bloody."
"Oh gosh Rainbow... ahm mighty sorry. It was jus... I was so mad n'..." AJ tries to apologize.
"You... you made me bleed in my own house!" If you couldn't tell already, i was a little pissed.
"L-look, I'll go down ta the farm and getn' ice-!" She tries to say again, interrupted by a blue fist.
"GET OUT!" I scream, punching her across the room and into a nearby wall. She smacked into the wall so hard i think she flattened a bit.
AJ hits the wall with tremendous force and a sickening crack, her unconscious body falling limply to the floor. My friends rush over to her side, trying to see if anything's broken.
"RAINBOW!" Fluttershy yells, a furious glare in her eyes.
"What the hay is wrong with-" Fluttershy stops when she sees my face. My eyes were bloodshot, my maw dripping with saliva, and my mane had become unruly.
Fluttershy knew exactly what this was; it was one of the things we learned about in flight school after all. It only happened when we Pegasus were injured, cornered, and furious. Our flight instructors told it was called 'Rabid Desperation'.
"Guys!" Fluttershy yelps. "We need to get out of he-"
I jump her, flailing my fists at her face as she blocks with her forelegs. Twilight yanks me off of her using telekinesis, and my head snaps to her like a raptor.
She tries to block me with a shield, but it only lessened the force of the impact as it sends Twi skidding across the floor.
Rarity tries to knock me out with a magic bolt from behind, but she's to slow. I dodge and fling myself around, a fistful of her mane as she lets out a symphony of pained and terrified screams.
And finally, there was Pinkie. She tries to get me off of Rarity before I can start bashing in the source of the annoying screams with my free hand, and succeeds, but unfortunately isn't fast enough to dodge my right hook.
I began viciously screaming into the air, my friends splayed out on the ground before me. Unbeknownst to me, Twilight had already joined hands with everyone and teleported to the ground floor, now running from my house with them. I notice the flash in my rage-induced state, and look around my house for where they could have hidden. When I catch the sound of hooves coming from outside, I fly to my balcony to see my friends running from my house at unbelievable speeds, running faster when they looked back to see me.
"I HATE YOU! ALL OF YOU!" I scream, tears of anger and pain rolling down my cheeks. I rushed to my training room, grabbing multiple punching bags to expend the rage that was still built up inside me.
By the time I was done, several punching bags lie on the ground destroyed, with me lying next to them exhausted. When I finally got up I noticed a note on the ground next to me that wasn't there before. It was signed by Twilight, so I figured she must've used a teleportation spell to send it to my current location. The note read as follows.
We will come back to your house to talk about this, but for now; stay away from our homes and relatives. You've been warned.
My heart sank, and my eyes stung with tears. When the words of the letter finally sunk into my mind, I knew our friendship was over.
One week later, I came to my home after some intense training. I hadn't talked to my friends at all since the fight, and for good reason. So when I came home to see all my friends standing in the lobby of my house, I froze.
There is silence for one minute, and then they rushed me, running at top speed straight for me. I didn't know what they had planned, nor did I care, I just wanted them to get it over with. But when they made contact with me, they didn't buck me, bite me, or butt me. They... hugged me!?
They told me they were sorry they made me feel that angry, sorry that they ever made MareDoWell, and that they would never do anything like that again.
After my disbelief fades, I hug back, apologizing over and over again for my violent outburst. I promised them what they had promised me, and we soon began crying and laughing together; and that day, I knew that there was nothing that could stop us all from loving each other.
"OOH, you know what this calls for?" Pinkie says.
"A PARTY!"
That memory... it usually cheers me up. But not that day, not right then.
"Not again... please not again... " I say, my face held in my palms. I could still remember ponies laughing at me as I walk by on the street. Hay, I even bought a damn hood just to hide my face.
"I thought I'd find you here." Says a voice from seemingly nowhere. I look to the ground to find Twi looking up at me with sympathy in her eyes.
"Can I come up?"
"I don't care..." I respond coldly.
I see the flash next to me in my peripheral, followed by two hooves wrapping around me, and a head coming to rest against my shoulder.
We sit in silence for a few minutes, finding comfort in each others embrace.
"Do you usually come out here when you have a problem?"
"Yeah..." I respond again, refusing to look over to her.
Another few minutes of silence came and went until I gained the strength to ask what needed to be asked.
"Twilight, I need you to be honest. Did you or any of the others-?"
"No!" Twilight blurts out. "We promised you that we would never do it again, and we meant it!"
I look over to her, seeing that her expression was stern, honest. I fall into Twilight's hug and begin sobbing into her shoulder like a new born filly.
"It's not fair! IT'S NOT FAIR!" I cried into Twilight's shoulder over and over again.
"I know Rainbow, I know."
I wasn't crying because of all the memories of teasing that had come back, I had gotten over those a long time ago.
I wasn't crying because I was frightened by the fact that one of my friends might've been behind the mask, although that did bother me.
No, I was crying because of the reality that I had to accept.
That I was forced to accept.
MareDoWell was back... and she wasn't going anywhere.
Enter Nightstick
I remember how this all started. How I just had to be in the right place at the wrong time.
I was just getting some coffee from a nearby shop when I got the call. A group of thugs tried to foalnap some fillies and got taken down by... yeah.
I thought there were joking at first when the call had come through that MareDoWell, the fake superhero from about a year ago, had taken out a group of foalnappers. But then they showed me the tape; the one left with the chained up crooks, and my jaw hit the floor.
My mind filled with so many possibilities. Had the elements dusted off the old costumes? Was this all some elaborate hoax? There were so many theories floating around in my head I thought I was gonna give myself a migraine.
Of course, as I would later discover, all those theories were one hundred percent wrong!
Where are my manners? The name's Nightstick, I'm the commissioner of the EPD (Equestrian Police Department) from Ponyville to Canterlot. I'm a well-built, average sized earth pony mare who grew up in downtown Trottingham.
My story is one of trust, friendship, and the benefits of having both. But more specifically, it's about my friendship with MareDoWell...
And the consequences that came with it.
It was the day after what was now being called the 'comeback' incident. I walked down the halls of Ponyville's police station, casually sipping my coffee as I approached the holding area where my interrogation would take place.
I stop in front of the room to look inside for an early preview of whom I'd be dealing with for the evening. Inside the room are two stallions; one of witch had a bandaged shoulder. Both stallions wore faces of disgust and annoyance, obviously familiar with this type of situation.
"Sad n'it?" I hear a heavy Gaelic accent call to me.
I look over to see an aged Pegasus stallion walking towards me. His coat is a grayish light green, his mane and tail, a dark crimson with a beard to match. His eyes are an early morning sky blue, and his cutie mark that of a magnifying glass over a speck of blood. I instantly recognized him as my long time friend, and head of CSI, Mackey McBrawler.
"And to think, if only their mothers 'd smacked'em on their arse's a weeee bit more."
"I know, right?" I reply, laughing a little.
Once our giggling subsides, we look into the room together, eyeballing the two inside.
"So, what'd we got?"
"Well, these jackarses tried t' foalnap three fille's in the dead o' night with some friends, then our costumed hero decided that they needed t'be taught a less'n. Short n' sweet." He said.
"Do you know who either of them are?" I asked, looking over to him.
"Aye." He responded. "The one with the broken ribs is Danny Saltine. Lad used ta work for 'is father at a pretzel shop before he star'ed runnin with the wrong crowd." He says, examining Danny closely.
"Have you two met before?" I ask, curious as to why he was glaring at him with such intensity.
"Yeh. Sick bastard tried ta pull the same stunt a few years back 'nd actually captured five foals. I volunteered ta be part a' da team that was sen' in ta negotiate."
"And how did that work out?"
"Aye broke both of 'is legs." He says with a cheerful smile.
I shook my head and smiled, looking back into the room. The two stallions at the table were now eyeing us furiously, Danny locking eyes with Mack.
"Well, here I go." I said. Before I could enter the interrogation room, Mack's arm stopped me.
"Ya mind if I join ye fer this one. I aint got nuttin' better ta do."
"Sure. Just don't overdo it like last time." I say
"I still say that colt deserved the bloody nose I gave'em." I rolled my eyes and opened the door.
As we enter, the two stallions lock eyes with us, as if attempting to be threatening. We sat down unfazed, looking directly into their eyes, a sign that we wouldn't be intimidated.
"Oh great, she brought the Galician with her." Danny chides.
"What're you gonna do? Get wasted and throw up on us!" The other stallion joins in. The duo laughed hardily, fist bumping as they did. Mack maintained his cold glare, causing their laughter to die down to an awkward cough.
"Oh I'll do more than that ya little git." He responded, gaining a look of distain from Danny, and a submissive whimper from the currently nameless one.
"Okay, look. If you're here for an interrogation, we'll tell you exactly what we told all the other pigs; we were taking a midnight stroll, talking amongst ourselves, and she jumped us. That's it!." He said, putting emphasis on the last part to make his point.
"Yeah!" Shouted the other stallion. "And further more, we'd like to speak with our lawyers! I think assault charges are in Order!" He said, his snout in the air, his arms crossed.
Mack and me looked over at each other confused. Did these two idiots really think we were going to help them after what they'd done?
"What're you talking about?" I asked.
"What're you, def? I said we want a LAWYER!" He screamed. "You know, the ponies you can hire to help you throw a pony flank first in prison? Ringin' any bells?"
Mack and I just looked at each other again, still oblivious as to the cause of their... obliviousness. I tried to wrap my head around all this for several minutes until an idea came to mind. I left only momentarily, coming back into the room with the 'MareDoWell' tape in my hoof.
"Has anypony shown either of you this tape yet?" I asked.
"No! They came in and started askin' 'bout the costumed bitch." He said, looking at the tape sideways. I sighed, annoyed beyond belief.
I walked over to a nearby monitor, slipping the tape inside the VHS player below it. The tape we had found on them last night had begun to play; starting with the disgusting abuse of the three fillies, and ending with them and their friends tied up.
When the tape ended, the stallions' faces had gone from looks of confidence and pride to those of surprise, fear, and anger. Danny slammed his fist against the table, obviously enraged to see that there little stunt had been caught on film.
"That bitch taped us!?" Danny said, sounding more than a little ticked, mind you. The other stallion, however, merely hung his head in shame, knowing full well the consequences for his crimes.
I walk over to him and put my hoof on his shoulder. I knew that he was vulnerable, which made it the perfect moment to get some answers.
"I want you to tell me exactly what happened. Okay Mr...?"
"Saltine... Raphael Saltine." He responded, seeming to have an odd amount of confidence in his voice.
"Ah, so you're brothers then?" I asked. He nodded lightly before looking up to meet my eyes. I was about to start with the questions, but he was already way ahead of me.
"We don't know anything about her and we didn't recognize her voice. However, I came to a little bit later and heard her say something about the Elements of Harmony, but that's all we know, I swear." He said.
I looked into his eyes, trying to spot any of the tell tale signs of a lie, but I could find none. I looked over to Mackey and nodded, as did he.
"But that's not all..." Raphael said his voice barely above a whisper.
Suddenly! Danny's head snapped over to his brother, his face now an expression of pure anger.
"Raph! Don't you say another wo-"
"He cun say whatever he needs ta say ya lil bastard!" Mackey yelled.
"Thank you..." Raphael said. "As I was saying, there's more to the story than the foalnapping."
"Elaborate please." I said, taking out a tape recorder and setting it down in front of him. He took a deep breath, looking over at his brother with hate filled eyes, and began to talk.
"This morning seemed normal enough. I was just eating my breakfast and getting all of my morning chores done. After a few minutes though, my brother and his 'friends' came barging through my front door." He explained, shooting another angry glare at his brother.
"Please continue." I said.
"Yeah, sorry." He said. "I asked them what they wanted and Danny said that he got another 'job'. I told him I wasn't into that life anymore, but he said if I didn't help him he would... he would hurt my family." He continued, tears forming in his eyes.
"You have a family?" I asked.
"Yes, a wife and two kids."
"I see. If all this is true, why did you attack MareDoWell?" I asked.
"I-I was afraid. I thought that if I just stood there and did nothing than Danny would notice and send someone after my family. I did it to protect them!"
"Calm down boy-o, wer' not accusin' ya of anythin', we just wanted some answers." Mack said.
"I understand." Raphael said. "But... there's something else."
Danny's face lit up, not with anger... but with fear.
"Raph, don't!" He begged.
"Don't what, Danny? Is there something you're not telling us?" I asked, my voice rising in tone. Sweat began to show through Danny's coat and he started to twiddle with hoof tips of his thumbs. He was panicking.
"You don't understand!" he said frantically. "The organization that hired me... they don't fuck around! If they knew I told their plans..." He trailed off, now looking extremely terrified.
"We have an expert witness protection service. If you talk, we will make sure nothing-."
"YOU DON'T GET IT!" He screamed.
"If I tell what they're doing, they might-!"
That was all he was able to say before... it happened. The wall behind Danny nearly exploded, and within seconds, my face was spattered in blood. I reared back violently, neighing loudly, and hit my head against the wall, causing the entire world to ring for a moment. When the ringing stopped, the first thing I heard was Raphael screaming.
"BY THA EQUESTRIAN SAINTS!" I heard Mack scream. When I looked over to him, I saw that the expression he wore was one of shock and terror, and I looked to see what he was staring at, my face soon wore the same expression.
In the hole in the wall stood an armor clad stallion In one of his hooves was a sword with a design similar to a katana, but with serrated teeth on the blade. He wore a long, thick black jacket with a artificial fur trimmed hood and black pants to match, and the mask he wore was made of black steel. Etched into his mask was a sinister smile filled with sharp teeth, and through the holes, you could see bright red glowing eyes with pure black pinprick pupils. As I looked down to the hand carrying the sword, I noticed something even more terrifying than his outfit; the upper half of his sword was now sticking out of Danny's chest.
Danny had been silent the entire time, the shock of the killing blow obviously taking awhile to wear off. In his last moments of life, he found the strength to look to me, blood dripping from his mouth, and finish what he'd tried to say before his... impalement.
"...kill me."
His head fell, and eyes rolled back. His body went visibly limp as the last bit of life left him. I felt a tear slip down my cheek, actually feeling a little sorry for the wanker.
I looked back up to the assassin and saw that he had brought his wrist to his snout.
"This is Razors Edge speaking." He said, speaking into a wrist mounted device.
"The target, Danny Saltine, has been eliminated. This shall prove as motivation for his currently present brother to keep quiet." He spoke again, his head turning slightly towards Raph, his eyes focusing onto him menacingly.
His voice was absolutely malicious, an unseen device or spells making him sound almost demonic. He spoke slowly, as if to make sure we listened to every word in detail.
"I also have two EPD members here... but I wouldn't worry about these incompetent foals, hehehahahaha!" He said, laughing at our supposed inferiority.
Mack had had enough of this, and was now standing up, a pistol in his hands.
"Drop tha weapon and put yer fore legs behind yer back!" he said.
Razor only stared at him for a few seconds and laughed, walking towards him as he did. Mack discharged his weapon directly at him, unloading what seemed like his entire clip, but to our amazement, Razor blocked every bullet with his blade, moving faster than the blink of an eye. Once he was directly in front of Mack, Razor's laughter ended, and he glared at Mack with a look of pure hatred and malcontent.
"Trivial!" he grunted, spinning around and planting his back hoof into Mack's chest. This sent Mack flying into the wall behind him. I tried to take out my own firearm, but Razor caught wind of what I was trying to do. He took a knife out from his pocket and flung it into my shoulder, preventing me from brandishing my firearm. I screamed as the pain rocketed through me.
"Tell your masked friend not to interfere with us again, insect!" He instructed. He then turned away from me and took a ball of light out of his coat and threw it to the ground. When it broke, pure light poured from it, enveloping him, and in a flash, he was gone.
A deputy busted through the door to our interrogation and gasped at what he saw.
"What the HAY happened in here! Nightstick! Talk to me! TALK TO-!"
He stopped when he saw the knife. I had been staring at it to, and for one reason in particular. The design on the knife was similar to any other combat knife, but in the middle of the hilt, was a symbol of a black circle with two red eyes in the middle, a white flame in between them. I recognized the symbol instantly.
The knife didn't just belong to some gang; it belonged to what used to be a gang, but turned into an insurrectionist group.
It acted as a message from the biggest and deadliest criminal organization in Equestria.
It belonged to... the Black Dynasty.
Trixie
I returned home from my night of crime fighting, putting my costume in its hidden area. I went to the kitchen to prepare a sunflower sandwich and some dandelion wine before retiring to my living room.
I rested my head upon the love seat taking in a deep breath and relaxing my muscles, finally resting myself from the strenuous activity of last night. Everything seemed fine... until the lights across the room from me flicked on.
I shot up and assumed a combat stance, getting ready to confront the intruder. But when I looked over towards the light I saw... the grey Pegasus and Spike!?
"What're you two doing in my house!?" I asked frantically, demanding to know why they both wanted to pay me this surprise visit.
"You know DAMN WELL why we're here, Trixie!" The grey Pegasus shouted, causing me to real back from how aggressive she came off. I was even more curious after the sudden outburst from her as to why they were here.
Then Spike asked me something that both answered my questions, and made my heart drop.
"Or would like us to call you... MareDoWell." |
MareDoWell | MareDoWell chp 9: Discovery | Trixie...
We just stood there staring at each other for the longest time, silence filling the air. Millions of questions speed through my mind; 'How did they know?' 'What do they want?' and 'How do I fix this?' were the most prevalent among them. I tear through my own mind, searching frantically for a solution to all this... until one idea in particular made itself all too clear.
I mentally gawk at myself, the boldness and risk of such an idea astounding me, but when I search for alternatives... I can find none. So, with new found confidence, I face Spike, beginning to charge my horn in preparation for the spell, focusing my magic.
"What are you doing?" Spike asks, a venomous glare in his eyes. Ignoring him, I put my full attention into my magic, gathering the last bit of it I need to power the spell, and hurl it at them at full speed.
They try to dodge me, scrambling out of their seats, fumbling over each other... but they're to slow. The spell engulfs them in an orb of light levitating them off the ground. When I know they're in position, I begin to recite the spell, no, the hex I have in mind.
"I call forth my magic, upon which I am reliant."
I look up, seeing that their faces carry expressions of fear and surprise. I want so much to tell them that it will be alright, that it would all be okay soon... but saying anything other than the second verse would disable the hex. So I close my eyes, and recite that last verse of the spell.
"Keep my secret, and make them SILENT! "
The orb of light containing both of them turns pure white and flashes in a neon blaze, causing my whole world to stop... and everything to go quiet.
Nightstick...
I wasn't agitated.
I wasn't angry.
I wasn't sad.
No... I was pissed!
I had the deputy that had busted down the door up against a wall, my nostrils flaring violently. Mack and I still had our injuries, but I was far too enraged to acknowledge my wounded shoulder.
"WHERE WERE YOU!?" I scream. "WHERE, IN THE BLOODIEST OF ALL HAYS, WERE YOU!?"
"I-I'm sorry!" he says. "We tried to get the door down but that... thing had some sort of field around it! It was like every entrance into the room had been turned into reinforced titanium!"
I release him from my grasp, my anger now directed solely at the masked stallion, Razors Edge. i was practically swimming in my own seething rage when a sudden thought comes to mind; where's Raphael? He was with us when everything went down, and now all of a sudden he was just... gone! I got up and began to search for him, asking around to see if anybody had seen him, but only to learn no one had. I had almost given up, thinking he had left home to be with his family at the time, but then I found him. He sat in front of a window, completely silent, staring out onto the horizon as if in deep thought. I walk over and put my hoof on his shoulder, trying to get a response from him.
"He was my brother..."he whispers. It was at that moment that I fully realized the full scope of this situation; this stallion, mere minutes ago, watched his own brother die.
"Raph, he was a homicidal scumbag who-."
"HE WAS STILL MY BROTHER!" he yells, tears beginning their descent down his face. I hung my head, ashamed for assuming that, even through all the bullshit, he wouldn't care about his own brother. I walk over and put my hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him as best I could. He puts his face into my shoulder as I embrace him in a hug. hearing his gentle crying forming into heavy sobs.
"H-he was my b-b-brother, and I just sat there and watched him DIE-E-E!" he sobbs, his tears beginning to stain my coat. I hold him close as he cries, letting a few tears of my own fall down my cheeks.
"Promise me..." I hear Raphael whisper. I looked down at him, my eyebrow raised, before he took me by my coat and brought my face mere inches away from his, shaking me violently.
"Promise me that you'll find him! Promise me that you'll stop him from doing this again!" he sobbed.
"PROMISE ME THAT YOU'LL TAKE DOWN THAT SON OF A BITCH DOWN!"
I stared at him, the look on his face burning itself into my mind. I took his hands in mine, and stared straight into his eyes.
"Mister Saltine," I began "I solemnly swear that, whatever it takes, however many ponies I need, and how ever many resources I expend. I will find him, and I will bring him bring to justice!"
With the end of the oath, I held a fist to my chest and raised the other hand in salute, signifying my undying loyalty to the promise I had made. He hugged me, his sobbing fading into sniffles.
"Thank you." I heard him whimper. I held him closer to me, allowing him to let out his last few sniffles, before pushing him back so that we stood in front of each other.
"Now go." I told him. "Be with your family, make sure they're safe."
He nodded to me and ran out of the front door.
As I walk back to the interrogation room, I realize just how hard a promise that would be to keep. But what I never realized... was just how much pain that promise would bring upon me.
"Oi, Watch the shoulder!" I hear Mackie yell. As I walk through the door, I spot a now apologetic looking medic mare patching up a nasty scrape on Mack's shoulder. I chuckle a bit at the scene before me, always finding Mack's aggressive attitude quite entertaining.
"How are you?" I ask.
"Well let's see; I got kicked in me stomach, thrown into a wall, and I saw one of our suspects get executed 'n front of me. How tha HAY do ya THINK a'm doin'!"
I shook my head and chuckled some more, looking over to the female officer and signaling her to leave the room. I walked over and sat beside him with a heavy thud.
"They showed you the knife?" I ask.
"Aye."
"You know who it's from?"
"Aye."
"Good... cause I just gave Raphael the Officers Pledge."
"Ay... YOU DID WHAT!" he screamed.
"What? The guy had to watch his brother die. So why not?"
"Because it's tha Black Dynasty ya daft mare! Not just some random street gang!" he yells. I could see where he was coming from, knowing what the Black Dynasty was. But at the same time, I knew I made a promise to Raphael, and I intended to keep that promise.
"Black Dynasty or not, that stallion not only murdered somepony, but he did so in front of two EPD officers, and then proceeded to insult the EPD directly in front of those officers." I state, making my way towards the door.
"So frankly, I don't give a good Celestia damn if he's with the bloody Dynasty, he's going down!"
Just as I was about to walk out, I felt Mack's hooftips grip my shoulder. I turned to see him staring at me with large eyes and low-hung ears, his look just begging me to listen. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the door frame, waiting for his opinion.
"Look, I know ya think this's like other cases, but this is the DYNASTY were talkin' about. And furthermore, this aint no regular agent o' theirs either!" he says, pleading with me to see things his way.
"How do you know that?" I ask. He looked down at the floor as if troubled, obviously holding something back.
"I... I've her'da Razors Edge before." He mutters.
"How so?" I ask. I was taken aback a bit, honestly. I mean, ever since the BD graduated to insurrectionist class they've been specifically the Royal Guards problem, and rarely ever tangled with the EPD. So we rarely ever got any relevant up to date info unless the royals needed a helping hoof.
"Tha royal's nee'ed some help with a case involving the Dynasty, so they invited any EPD CSI officials to volunteer. When we received the initial reports, I thought it'was just anotha case... but when we got the files on the agent they'er after."
He looked away from me, as if reluctant to discuss the ordeal entirely. I took him by the shoulder, coaxing him to finish.
"His... every one of 'is cases involved murder." he said.
"What do you mean 'every one'?"
"I mean there wasn't a single case that didn't involve him killing somepony!" he said, locking eyes with me. I didn't want to believe him, but his expression told me that he was telling the truth.
"And the worst part, they didn't send'em to kill these ponies just because he was good at it, but because the bastard enjoyed it! Don't you understand! That stallion's out of 'is bloody-."
"It doesn't MATTER!" I yell, cutting him off.
What matters is that I made a promise, and you know... I don't go back on my promises."
"I know that! But this guy is more than we've been trained to handle!"
"Then we'll adapt!" I say, storming out of the door. Mack was about to protest, but simply huffed and followed me out.
We drove in the cart in silence, only glancing over at each other every now and then. I knew his concerns and understood them, but a promise had been made, and a promise had to be kept. The tension in the car was growing out of control anyway, so one of us had to speak eventually.
"You know... ya didn't even know that stallion until this mornin'." he says.
"Your point?" I shot back, a little venom in my words.
"Look, I'm not sayin' that what ya did was wrong, but this guy is a stranger ta you! And a felon!" he says. "Furthermore, why the hay did you just let him go when he was involved in a foalnapping attempt!?"
"Because he was a victim of circumstance." I reply. "You know how the Equestrian DA works; once they heard his case, saw the evidence, and got an official statement from me, they would have let him go with some minor community service. In fact, they're probably going to send him a note saying just that."
"Aye..." Mack says, admitting defeat. As we drove on, we decided that we would get the easiest thing out of the way first; trying to find out exactly who MDW was, and I knew six prime suspects that could help out with just that.
Trixie...
I looked over what I had done, wondering if all the possible consequences would truly be just that worth it. I hoped and prayed this would work, trying to find the right words to say.
"WHAT IN THE HAY WAS THAT!" Spike screams, his voice cracking slightly. He rapidly checked over his entire body making sure everything was still there. Once he had checked all of his claws, he let out a long sigh of relief, and continued to stare at me angrily, while his gray friend simply shook her head and smiled.
"Do it again!" she says gleefully. Both I and Spike looked over to her for a moment, confused and bewildered, before turning our attention back to each other.
"What did you do to me and Derpy!?" Spike demands.
"Now calm down spike it was only a minor hex..."
"A HEX!" he screams.
"Am I gonna grow another limb! Are my scales gonna fall off! Am I gonna-"
"Try saying who MareDoWell is." I interrupted with a sly grin.
"What?"
"Just tell me who MareDoWell is."
"Um... okay... you're MareDoWell."
"Mention her by name." I instructed.
"████ is MareDoWell." Spike says, his hands flying to his mouth and my face contorting into a mischievous grin.
"Trixie." he said cautiously.
"MareDoWell." he said again.
"Trixie, MareDoWell." he said together.
"████ is MareDoWe-WHAT THE FUCK!"
"Spike, Watch your language!" Derpy scolded. Spike ignored her, continuing to try and state MareDoWell's name (my name) until falling out on the chair from exhaustion.
"It's a redactor." I explained. "A spell that is used to stop ponies from divulging... sensitive... information."
"So we can't say that you're MareDoWell anymore?"
"I was going to do you both actually, but the I decided to just do you instead."
"WHY!?" Spike shouts, a little more than angry.
"Because Derpy owes me, you don't." I reply. I look over at Derpy, who smiles and nods, while Spike face-palms. I walk past him and sit down, relaxing myself before I begin questioning..
"How do you know?" I ask.
"You go down to a basement during a house party and stare at that costume like its Faust incarnate and you suspect me not to get suspicious?"
Spike had a valid point. After all, I had stood there... admiring the costume for at least 15 minutes before leaving that night. I turned to ask Derpy, but she was already prepared.
"When I first heard about MareDoWell, I thought back to that night you saved me. Then I just put two and two together and here I am!"
I face-palmed, not believing I could be so naive as to think that Derpy wouldn't be able to figure out the obvious. I was actually ashamed of myself for a moment, scolding my own mind for assuming a mare would be stupid because of an eye condition. I wanted to apologize for my gross assumption, but there would be a time and a place. For now though, I needed to make sure this wouldn't get out.
"Derpy is there a reason you were so angry at me earlier?" I ask. She looks down to the floor, ashamed.
"Spike... um... had a few theories about why you had taken up the whole MareDoWell thing and, well, I may have believed them; just a little bit."
"And what theories are those?" I asks, turning my attentions towards Spike.
"Look!" he responds. "All I'm saying is that, in the past, you haven't been the most trustworthy of ponies. I just think that maybe there could be some ulterior motives here."
I look down to the floor and began to think. I knew why Spike would think that, he did live with Twilight after all. There had to be a way to convince him!
After I rack my brain for a full minute for a solution, I can come up with only one; tell the truth.
"If I make us all some tea, would you trust me a little bit more then?" I ask.
They looked at each other for a few moments, exchanging several facial expressions before nodding in agreement. Spike looked over to me and huffed "Start the kettle."
We sat, sipping our tea, talking about nothing in particular for fifteen minutes straight. When we reached a moment of silence, I decided it was time to talk.
"I'm doing this for their friendship." I said.
"What?" Spike asks.
I let out a sigh and began to explain. "I hadn't seen any other ways of changing their minds about me for awhile, but when I saw the costume...." I trail off.
"The basic idea was that I would become MareDoWell for a while, fight some crime, save some innocents, and then finally help each of the five individually. At the end of this, I intend to reveal my identity to them, and if all goes as planned they will see that my heroism and generosity as a surefire sign that I've changed, thus gaining me there affection."
There is a moment of silence, along with Spike giving me an awkward look before breaking said silence.
"Are you kidding me?" he asks.
"What?"
"So let me get this straight; you're going to save lives, stop evil, and become a super hero, all so you can gain friendship! Doesn't that seem a bit selfish to you?"
"Spike...." I try to reply.
"What if this whole plan of yours doesn't work? I'm pretty sure that Twilight and the others wouldn't just go 'We like you now' because you decided to become Daring Do in a cool outfit."
"Spike...!" I call again, agitated.
"I'm sorry but this sounds like complete bullshit to me!"
"I KNOW, ALRIGHT!" I scream. "I've tried everything, literally everything to try and win them over."
Spike and Derpy back away, their heads hanging slightly.
"Besides, who are you to judge me!? You've always been their friend! You've never had to work for it!"
"Trixie...." Derpy tries to say.
"You get to spend every day with Twilight; helping her, talking to her!"
"Um... Twilight?" Spike asks.
"I would give everything just to be with her, even if only once! To hold her, caress her... love her." Tears were freely flowing from my eyes, slowed only by the look of anger they adorned.
"You will NEVER know what it feels like to love somepony that hates you!"
My breathing was heavy and my eyes stung, gaze stuck to the two in front of me. They looked at me like I was an alien, their expressions those of shock, awe, and surprise. It wasn't long until I realized what I had said, covering my mouth with a hoof in embarrassment.
"Y-You love Twilight?" Spike asks.
I couldn't respond, I didn't know how, and like a scared filly I ran upstairs. I cried for fifteen minutes, ashamed I had exposed my innermost feelings to two outsiders. I paused in the middle of my sobbing at the sound of a knock at the door.
"Trixie?" she calls. "It's Derpy. Can I come in?"
"J-Just go away! You two have done enough!"
"I could always have Spike burn the door down."
Yet again, I had no response. The only thing I could do was get up, and open the door.
She walks inside too quickly and we gently butt heads, reeling back from each other with matching gasps.
She rubs her head and looks up at me. "Sorry...." she says with a half smile.
"It's okay, come on in." I reply.
She walks in, carrying some tea with her, and plops down on a beanbag, with me sitting next to her on another. I try to speak, but she interrupts me.
"Please forgive Spike." she asks. "He doesn't really understand. Not to mention Twilight's been pumping all that bullshit about you into his head."
"It's odd to hear you curse." I reply.
"Why, because I look to nice and special?"
"I wasn't insinuating-."
"No, forget it. It's the eyes, I know." she says, waving her hoof.
We have a small moment of silence while she takes a sip from her cup. But as she does, a question comes to mind.
"Why do you act the way you do?"
"What?" she asks.
"Ever since that alleyway incident, I've noticed you around town. You're very bubbly, almost a blonde personality, not to mention a klutz. But here you're well spoken, mature and you think things out. Why so different in public?"
She sighs, and then reluctantly gives her answer. "Because if I acted like this around others they'd get pissed that the special Pegasus is actually competent."
I was confused, but before I could ask, she was already explaining.
"I don't like to cause trouble, alright? I mean, Luna knows how many ignorant bastards would hate to see a 'special needs mare' do anything better than them." she says, taking a sip from her cup. "So, unless I absolutely have to, I stow away this mare you see know and replace her with a hard working and capable, yet handicapped klutz of a mare."
"Why?" I question.
"Because I don't want any trouble, Trixie." she looks directly into my eyes. "Just like how you want their friendship."
I said nothing, allowing the silence to permeate the air. Then she speaks once more.
"That's why I came up here, because I think, in that way, that we're the same."
She takes another sip from her cup, still keeping her eyes on me.
"And that's why I want in." she finishes. Doing so in a disturbingly happy manner I might add.
I look up with a start, gazing at the absently smiling mare in front of me. For a second, I had thought I misheard her.
"What do you mean 'you want in'?"
"Well think about it; Batmare has a sidekick right? So it would only be fitting if-."
"No." I cut her off.
"Why not!?"
I look to her, seeing her gaze at me with puppy dog eyes. "Because if I get in trouble then you're going to try and save me and then you'll be in trouble, and then we're fucked."
"We could call Spike!"
I raise an eyebrow. "Really? A small baby dragon that doesn't even have his wings yet?"
"For your information," I hear downstairs "I may be a juvenile in my species, but in yours, I'm twenty! Also, we still have near perfect hearing at this age you bitch!"
My face goes flush with embarrassment and Derpy fails to suppress a giggle.
"Look, the fact of the matter is it's just too dangerous! I mean, what if you died or got seriously injured? Why would I want that on my conscience?"
Derpy considers this, bringing a hoof to her chin, searching for a solution.
"I got it!" she proclaims. "What if I wasn't a 'sidekick', but an informant!"
"Informant?" I ask.
"For instance; let's say I notice some strange behavior on my paper route, maybe a few shady characters constantly going in and out of one place constantly. I can call you up, let you know what's going down, and have you come over and take a look."
I was about to object, but then I began to think of all the applications that might have. I wouldn't need to wait for something to happen anymore, I would only have to call Derpy and ask her, or check my messages to see if she left me one. The other practical use would be private medical transportation. If I'm hurt bad, I can call her with my location and be taken back to my house to get the medical supplies from my basement.
While I wouldn't want her to get hurt, somepony offering such a position wouldn't just fall out of the sky. So the choice was obvious.
"Alright." I huff. "We'll try this later on today. But at the first sign of trouble on your end, we're done. Got it?"
"Deal!" she happily squeaks. We shake on it and finish our tea, telling stories about our lives and sharing a few laughs. When we head back downstairs, Spike is sitting in the easy chair, sipping his own tea. Before I could even speak, he began to talk.
"Look." he says. "I still don't know if I can fully trust you, but if Derpy thinks you're okay... than I'll give you a chance."
"Really!" i gasp.
"One chance!" he scowls.
He gets up and waves Derpy over with a claw, the blonde Pegasus waving to me as she goes. But as they leave, I get an idea.
"Wait!" I yell after them. They turn to me, eyebrows cocked.
"Follow me; I have an idea!"
They follow me to the room where I had made my cape, and while I would not need a full circle, the enchantment table at the back of the room would suffice. I grabbed the supplies I would need, sped into the room, and closed the door behind me.
"No peeking!" I shout. After casting a few spells, and binding the material, I come out of the room with what appear to be one bracelet and two hoof bands, each with a large crystal.
"These are contact bands." I explain. "If you need to contact me or each other, just think of that pony, or dragon, and think of what you need to say. It should send the message telepathically."
"Can't we just use our spellphones?" Derpy asks.
"No. Spellphones can be tracked too easily."
"Why do I get one?" Spike asks.
"Well you live with the mare I love, so that's one reason, the other being that she sends you out for errands all the time, so you should see if anything goes down if you look close enough."
"Wait, why would I help you?"
"Because if you don't, I'll have Derpy tell Twilight you swear when she's not around." I reply, smiling.
He look's over at Derpy, only to see her smile and wink. He turns back to me with a huff, arms folded as he nods his head.
"Alright, then it's settled! You are all now officially MareDoWell informants!" I shout, waving my hooves in the air. Derpy claps with delight and squees, while Spike merely rolls his eyes.
I bid them farewell as they leave, and go back to finish the tea Derpy graciously left behind. But before I could even begin to sip, my band vibrates, and I hear a thought ring loud in my mind. 'Trixie, it's Derpy! There are some ponies out here and... they're asking about you.'
I respond, my thought a booming holler. 'Look directly at them and focus Derpy! I'm going to try something!'
She does so, sending a visual to me. I close my eyes, letting out a surprised, startled gasp as one of them screams "I'll ask you and you're pet dragon one more time. Is that blue whore in there!?"
My surprised expression gives way to a grin as I get up to get my costume. They're we're a few new faces, but I recognized the few stallions in the middle well, and I didn't want to keep old friends waiting.
Besides, who would I be not to repay the ponies that gave me a reason to train under Reave.
Twilight...
Dead ends.
Dead ends all day, that's all we got. Rainbow grilled some of her friends in Cloudsdale, Applejack interrogated her entire family, and even Rarity tried to ask her customers 'key questions'. We were sitting in the main room of my library, discussing who it could be, if the magic used by 'her' was unicorn or potion caused. But just as we thought it couldn't get any worse, there was a knock at the door. I get up first, thinking that Spike has finished his errands, but when I open the door, it's not the little dragon I expected. Instead there is a large earth pony mare with a neon white coat and a black mane with silver stripes going throughout it. Her eyes are a light purple, and on her flank is what appears to be a sheriff's badge. I recognize her easily as commissioner Nightstick, and the green Pegasus stallion behind her as Mackey McBrawler.
"Commissioner Nightstick! What are you-?" I tried to say.
"We're here about MareDoWell, Miss Sparkle." |
Pro at Cons: Schoolfed | pre | "Yes, we've gotten through a lot together..." - shrugged the man, grinning sheepishly. - "I guess, he's kind of a talisman of sorts. But one thing I can tell for sure - His Excellence is a great listener. Always keeps a secret. Always."
"I can tell..." - smiled the teacher lady, hugging the owl close to her. - "Thank you, Moon. For everything. And..." - she sighed, tears welling up in her eyes again. - "... I apologize for my preposterous attitude towards you. I got a little carried away..."
"Don't mind it." - taking a seat on the bed, Moon smiled, caressing Cheerilee's cheek, basking in the glow of her magnificent eyes. - "Just rest. The day was long and taxing, and the day tomorrow would be better. You'll see."
"Thank you." - she sobbed quietly, smiling like there was no tomorrow.
"G'night. I'll be in the living room, on the couch." - Moon winked at the lady, flicking the light off and closing the door to allow some privacy.
"Moon?.." - the man poked his head back into the room. - "Don't... well, don't leave me alone. Please."
"Whatever you wish, ma'am." |
Pro at Cons: Schoolfed | Chapter 5: High Society Ain't Just My Thing | "Alright, class - everyone's got their scores, I believe?" - Moon Shine put his hands into his jeans' pockets, as the class murmured acknowledgingly. - "Good. Now, I want everyone of you to spend the rest of the day studying it and practicing it at home. As for now, I dismiss the class for individual rehearsals. I'll see you again tomorrow, after hours in the gym. We'll try the dry run first - see how you're working together. 'kay?"
"Mister Moon, sir - I can't quite understand..." - piped up Pinkie, quizzically observing her scores. - "I see different scores for me?"
"Yes, Pinkie; I've taken the liberty to make it different: one is for tube, one - for theremin and one is for the drums." - replied Moon Shine. - "Each different melody the orchestra will conduct will require another instrument of you to handle. Think you can do that?"
"Sure as sugar, mister Moon, sir! I'm completely okie-dokie-lokie with that! I ain't failing you!" - the pink-haired girl bubbled, mocking a salute.
"Aight, now, if no questions left - feel free to be dismissed to rehearse. I'll be strolling around and peek occasionally at your rehearsals - of each participant, mind that - so don't be startled and don't mind me, just keep playing. Class, dismissed!" - as the crowd dissipated into the corridor, Moon checked his wristwatch; he had thirty more minutes to go before the recess, so he locked up the study and went for the teachers' lounge to check the curriculum.
"Uh-huh, Social Studies, ground floor, study 1201..." - he muttered to himself, nodding his greeting to the Physics teacher coming by. - "Aight."
Study 1201 was easy to find - just take to the left, facing the main entrance, and there it was, tucked neatly in the corner of building; he knocked gently, poking his head inside:
"Good day, class. Good day, miss Cheerilee." - he greeted politely.
"Greetings, mister Moon!" - the chorus of voices droned, and the Cheerilee rewarded him with a slight soft smile.
"Miss Cheerilee, can I have you for a minute? Class, do you mind if I'll steal Miss Cheerilee from you for a moment?" - Moon winked at the students, making them giggle and shake their heads, indicating they didn't mind in the slightest and eliciting a blush on Cheerilee's face; she left the classroom, assigning the students some reading to be done while she's gone, and, darting a glance around, pulled Moon aside, to the darker corner:
"What's gotten into you?!"
"I've dismissed my class for rehearsals and came here to check you out." - he creased an eyebrow. - "Just checking if you're good."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I got my pills, so for the rest of the day no more hysterics... At least, until the medicine wears out..." - shrugged Cheerilee. - "So, you good?"
"Just dandy."
"Good to hear; well, I'd better go. They're about to have a test, and I'd better get them ready."
"Oh, a test. Got that, ma'am. No more meddling!" - Moon raised his hands submissively, earning a beaming smile from the lady and a peck on the cheek. - "Cya."
"Sure. Take care!"
"Aye." - Moon's eyes crawled all across the lady's silhouette, lingering a bit on the waist and below-the-waist area. He tisked at himself and picked up the pace, recalling one more thing needed done.
Vinyl Scratch was found at the library, never parting with her headphones; she was browsing the internet, taking notes for her Biology classes; Moon pondered for a second how could she make heads or tails of what others tried to tell her and if she heard anything at all behind all that around-the-clock booming musical blockade; toying with the thought for a second, he approached the girl, patting her shoulder slightly to achieve her attention: he succeeded, the purple shades turned to him, scanning him head to toes, and, finally, identifying his personality, the next phase of the programm kicked in: he was rewarded with a wave of a hand.
"Vinyl... Vinyl!" - he was articulating every sound very clearly. - "I need you to..." - he was stopped short as Vinyl scribbled something on the scrap of paper with her angular handwriting and presented to him:
"Don't sweat it, Mister Moon - I can read lips fluently. And, as much fun as it is to see, just talk. I'll understand."
"Nice." - he remarked, earning a shrug from Vinyl. Wasting no time further, he quickly debriefed her on the situation with the concert and Octavia. Vinyl listened? looked? read? Closely, giving Moon a reassuring nod and a thumbs up once he was done speaking, scribbling something with her left hand:
"I got it, mister; Tavi'll come to your gig tomorrow for rehearsals, and you have yourself a sound engineer. This is gonna rock so hard." - Noticing the amused gaze of Moon, she smirked and written some more: "P.S. And yes, I am ambidexterous."
"Alright then. Thank you, Vinyl." - flashing the DJ a thumbs up, Moon retreated from the library, leaving Vinyl to her business.
Strolling down the hall, he stole a glance at his wristwatch - and that spare second was enough so that his quick gait almost sent im crushing into Principle Celestia.
"Whoa!" - she exclaimed, narrowly escaping the collision, as Moon drifted sidewards, slipping on the polished tiles of the floor:
"Excuse me, ma'am! I didn't see you there..." - he apologized sincerely, picking up a couple of papers that slipped away from the folder Celestia was holding.
"No harm done, Moon Shine, don't worry. I just have to be more careful..." - smiled the lady, her sun-shaped brooch catching a ray of light and bursting into sparkles. - "How're the concert preparations going?"
"Going well, ma'am!" - reported Moon, automatically standing at attention. - "Students are rehearsing their personal performances as of right now, and tomorrow, when the place is set, we will begin rehearsals on the orchestral part, ma'am!"
"At ease, Moon Shine..." - Celestia laughed softly, waving a strand of her nebulous hair away from her eyes. - "No need to be so... disciplined. Have you been in military?.." - Moon could've sworn she gave him a half-lidded look, as if they were sharing a particularly piquant secret.
"No, ma'am. Just a good nurture, I guess." - shrugged the man. - "I trust that Vice Principle Luna provided you with a copy of a plan I've got her?"
"None that I know of. I'll see to it. So, I won't hold you any further, mister Shine. You may go now." - Celestia nodded gracefully, accepting the papers. Moon nodded curtly, and took off already, when Celestia called at him:
"Moon Shine! Per chance, have you thought of any name for your orchestral project?"
"As in a band name?" - specified the man. - "No, I didn't."
"Maybe you'd like to call your orchestra 'Aurora Borealis'? It just came to me. Since it unites all kinds of talents, that contribute each to the whole picture - just like the colors in that magnificent celestial event, they mingle, diffuse and create something... breathtaking." - Celestia winked at the man, obviusly providing some ever-so-slight hint. - "So, see you around! Ta-ta~!" - leaving Moon dumbfounded, she graciously continued her way down the corridor.
"Aurora Borealis... Hmmm..." - hummed Moon, feeling some double bottom about the thing - but he just couldn't wrap his mind around it. Just as of yet.
Once he got home, a bag of groceries in tow, he was met by Cheerilee, clad in bathrobe; she seemed to just have a shower, emanating the scents of shampoo and shower gel.
"Hello!" - Moon chimed from the door, putting the bag on the floor and dragging the boots off. - "Shower, eh?".
"Yes, I got here merely half an hour ago," - replied the schoolmarm, coming closer and hugging the man lovingly. - "Hey, Moon... I was thinking, and... of what happened. Yesterday evening..."
"Now, Cheerilee, don't start that on me." - Moon Shine gave the lady a stern look. - "What was yesterday remained yesterday. It's water under the bridge - primo, and secundo - such is your nature, and Mother Nature knows best, so one'd better not fook with it if he knows the best for him. Bottom line, stop bitching at yourself about it and just enjoy the evening." - he exhaled, adding sheepishly. - "Pardon my French."
"Normally I'd reprimand the language..." - giggled the lady, promptly drying her hair with the towel. - "But this seems legit and justified, so I'll let that slide."
"That's generous of you..." - however, the buzz of the pager stopped the man short; he cursed, made an excuse and stumbled outside, reading the tiny text on the microscopic screen.
"Fook u. Just fook u..." - he mumbled, spitting into the flower bed with irritation; this truly was unnerving.
He reached for the cellphone and called Rungo, quickly debriefing him on what he was about to do.
Looked like the Annual Canterlot Gala was being transmitted for today's evening. Hence, he had to dispatch Cheerilee somehow - and apply his disguise and muster some efficient diversion, ohmai... Well, for the latter an improvisation could go nice, but the disguise and the dress code... It was downright vexing.
Slithering inside the apartment, Moon started a mundane small talk to Cheerilee, who was changing in the bedroom; he used the opportunity to open the secret compartment and hastily drop whatever supplies he needed for disguising into the briefcase, dumping the contains onto the floor of the compartment haphazardously beforehand; luckily for him, the sound of hair fan muffled all other rattling and churning his actions produced, so he was considered even stealthy; grabbing a suit and packing it up as well was a matter of mere seconds - but he managed to stash the supplies and the suit in the hall wardrobe and close his vault a mere second before Cheerilee left the bedroom, narrowly escaping the magnificent cover blowing.
"Er - Cheerilee, I'll have to leave you for the evening..." - he mumbled, fiddling with his jacket's flaps. - "An emergency appeared, due to the concert Principle Celestia's brewing... Being in charge of this stuff, you know... So I have to hightail there and, well, sort things out... Yeah..."
The lady scanned Moon head to toes, squinting suspiciously; he did his best to retain a poker face, even though he was sweating bullets ("why?!", the 'conscience' shrieked out, "why are you sweating like a frikkin' freshman in front of the prom queen?! She's what, your momma? Your wife?! You ain't explaining shit! Don't make it worse, mate!!") like crazy, a chill stream running down his spine. However, after a few torturous moments, Cheerilee smiled softly, nuzzled the man affectionately and replied:
"Alright then, Godspeed; and please, take care."
"Aye, aye, ma'am..." - standing at attention, Moon saluted his... what was she? A girlfriend? A tenant? A colleague? Romantic interest? - anyway, Moon Shine gave her a salute and kissed her hand in a gentlemanly fashion:
"I'll be back as soon as possible. His Excellence would keep you company, and - well, mi casa..."
"I know: es sui casa." - replied Cheerilee with a giggle, giving Moon's rear a slight slap. - "Go on ahead already; I'm a big girl. I'll manage."
"Aight then. Cya." - stealing one last gaze at the lady that lived in his place, the man strolled out of his house, stealthily grabbing his supplies.
"Aight, sarge - you know the drill..." - mumbled Moon, applying the last touches of the disguise - he looked pretty much the same as he was the Tide Wave, except that he opted for more aquiline profile than just ominously hunch-nosed one and the wig was not black, but noble silver and the contacts were light green; he fiddled with the plastic extenders behind his cheeks, altering them slightly to make the 'cheekbones' less prominent, and, as a final touch, slapped on some sideburns, matching hair in color. - "How do I look?"
"Awful, as usual." - droned Rungo, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. - "I still don't really get it, cap - what in the heck's name are you doing? What have you gotten yourself into this time?"
"Don't sweat it much, solid mate - or your pretty bald skull will heat like a frying pan, and I'll fry you some bacon-and-eggs." - recommended Moon Shine - now disguised as Mist Veil, philantrope hotshot. - "The days of our glory are gone, my friend; back then, we were the heroes. Now we're either zeroes, either heroes - but the other way around." - he produced a tiny flask of cologne, spraying some to his neck. - "And it's your choice - to get tossed overboard or to move all the way across. I chose the latter. And I'm content for now".
Rungo sighed heavily:
"You know, cap'n - back then, we were the honest ones at least. And now?"
"Look at the pros and cons. I mean, pros at cons. Is it that bad to be one?"
"You make it sound legit, even... justified?.."
"There ain't such thing as justice, mate. By now you shoould've known better." - Moon took a pair of small tweezers and carefully placed something tiny inside his ear, grimacing as the contraption slid all the way down to the middle ear membrane. - "So, back to business. You stay put ; things go hairy, I give the signal. Keep your ears peeled; if I fail to create a sufficient distraction, you kick in. Copy?"
"Copy."
"Aight then, wish me luck?"
"Go there and break a leg."
"U'r a bloody charmer, mate..." - Mist Veil shook his head in mock disappointment, making his way to the entrance, desperately trying to mingle with the crowd of the high-class visitors; he straightened his posture, plastered an amicable expression to his face - but then recalled something important he hadn't done: turning around the corner and fading into shadows, he produced a tiny bottle of Apple's finest applejack - it was barely big enough to hold a single drink, but he needed no more: taking a bit into his mouth, he rolled the precious drink inside as if it was a mouthwash, assuring it washed over every nook and cranny; finally, the burning liquid rushed down the man's gullet, warmth spreading on the way - and the reek of alcohol taken was just striking from his mouth; then Moon Veil/Mist Shine/Whatevs dabbed a bit of the strong smelling beverage on his fingertip, promptly rubbing it into his neck, right below the jaw - to add to the already presenting scent of ethylene in his exhale; catching a whiff of himself, the man nodded contently; he already seemed like a tipsy one, so, adding a little slur to his speech and a slight rocking to his gait was an easy part. However, the rest of the drink never went to waste - he downed it in one swing, shuddering at the sheer potency of the brew.
Stumbling into the crowd of snub-nosed ladies and gentlemen, he mingled into the crowd, exchanging greetings nonchalantly, making his way slowly closer to the entrance; the security guards stood there stock still, with stony faces, observing the crowd with well-concealed despise. Moon decided it best not to jump the gun, so he kept at bay, chatting easily with some lady, who addressed him, waiting for the organization crew to announce the beginning of the Gala.
It went really soon, really - a tall, slim lady with long, flowing greenish-blue hair and impossibly green eyes, clad in black formal suit with somewhat tacky plastic flower in the buttonhole stepped out of the building, inviting the crowd inside. The bouncers lifted the silk rope from the stand, stepping away, as the second produced a clipboard with a list of guests, checking in.
"Name, sir?" - he grunted, not even honoring Moon with a glance.
"Mist Veil, fella - I am supposed to be in the VIP list, souno..." - slurred Moon, plastering a smug grin on his face. - "And hurry up, please, I've got no intention to stand here for long."
"You are on the list, sir. May I see your invitation?" - growled the bouncer, a vein starting to pulse on his temple.
"Mate, I need no invitation. I believe you said I was on the list, so what's ya problem, chum?" - leaning closer to the bouncer and washing him in his alcohol fumes, the man poked his finger into the list repeatedly, applying some force. - "So, you wanna make it ugly, big oaf? Cuz if you wish, I just need one phone call, and your ass is going to be hauled all the way to Syberia, usee? A cruise is on the house, chum - and you can enjoy yourself in the heinos sweatshops, bear wrestlings and whatever else amusings they've got. Interested?"
"Sir, please, proceed." - obviously striving to remain a facade, growled the security, moving aside.
"Thank you kindly, solid mate..." - Moon grinned smugly, patronizingly patting the guard on the shoulder. - "Here's for your trouble. Get yourself some ice cream..." - dropping a couple of bits on the counter in a negligent way, he strode inside, leaving the boiling bouncer behind.
"Think you're taking your legend... a bit too frivolous?" - chuckled Rungo in his ear as Moon was making his way to the snacks table, pretending he was interested in the spreads.
"Shut it." - hissed the man, taking a bite of a meats plate; it was good, and the garcon, spotting him, appeared nearby, offering champagne; he took a glass, flicking a bit on the tray, eliciting a whole barrage of gratitude from the waiter, which he waved off nonchalantly; however, as soon as the boy left, Moon grinned at the 'jerk' he heard.
Good. Looks like it's working.
"Ladies and gentlemen, can I have a minute of your attention, please?.." - the mayor clambered up to the stage, grabbing hold of the mic. - "I wish to welcome you all at the Annual Canterlot Gala and wish you all a good time; but, before we start the entertainment, I'd like to review the most spectacular events and personalities of the year; so, allow me to introduce you to..." - Moon lost interest in the ramblings of the authority, observing the crowd; groups were building and colliding into nothingness, business was discussed, attires shown off - much as usual. He felt the small plastic box in his pocket, recalling Rungo's debriefing:
"This is pretty potent shit, so it's better not to be ingested with alcohol, as it's going to multiply the effect threefold; though, just pop it into liquid, drink - and in five minutes you're having a trip down the Wonderland for next five hours."
As much as he despised the idea of using drugs as a diversion, he had no other choice.
Fire alarm? Nah, the security will probably scatter around the facility, evacuating the guests and localizing the fire source.
Start a commotion? Nuh-uh, he'd be just escorted away.
So, the best alternative was still the magic pill in his pocket. What to spike with it, he pondered idly, observing the room; the garcons were scurrying around with drinks, the crowd minding its own business, irons being in fire...
Wait a sec, flashed in his mind, garcons! He gestured to call one to himself:
"Hey - hey! Son! Come over here, m'boy." - The waiter obliged instantly:
"Yes, sir - what can I get for you?"
"See that gentleman, over there, boy?" - Moon pointed at a random man, clad in expensive-looking silver-gray suit. - "He's me ol' buddy. Say, you have some of the LaFinesse cognac here or what?"
"I suppose we do, sir..." - the boy mumbled hesitantly, not sure how to be.
"So, we'll make it like this..." - Moon lowered his voice, as if offering the boy a conspiracy to stuff his pockets. - "You go to the bar, get a glass of LaFinesse, bring it to me so I could've checked that it's perfect - cuz me mate deserves only perfection - and you bring it over to him, as a courtesy from an old friend, right?.." - saying so, the man grasped the waiter's hand and put a nice little pouch of bits into his hand. - "We have a deal?"
"Whatever you say, sir! I'll be right back!" - the waiter sprung up, a coin pouch disappearing in his pocket faster than the flower in the hands of an illusionist. - "One LaFinesse cognac, coming right up!"
Moon nodded at him patronizingly, chuckling as the garcon rocketed away, reaching for his pocket and popping the pill inbetween his index and middle fingers; the transparent capsule held transparent spheres of a potent drug, just waiting to wreak chaos at the high-society soiree.
"I can smell the rumor mill firing up..." - chuckled Moon Shine, taking a sip of his champagne. The garcon reappeared near him with a snifter of a brown-golden liquid on his tray:
"As you ordered, sir - one portion of LaFinesse cognac!"
"Lemme see, boi..." - Moon chuckled slightly, well aware, of course, that the LaFinesse was a purely made-up brand, and reached for a glass, cupping his left palm around in, swirling the liquid. "Okay, here goes the hardest part..." - he mused, fanning his right hand above the brim of the glass, dropping the capsule with the first motion, as if checking the smell of the noble drink.
Exhaling internally, he swirled the liquid inside the glass some more, making the capsule dissolve faster, and raised the glass to the ceiling, looking through it; the pill dissolved completely, and he mentally praised himself for a job well done.
"I say, it's perfect!" - praised Moon, putting the glass back to the tray. - "Now off you go, solid mate, and cheer my friend up."
"Yes sir, thank you, sir..." - the waiter nodded eagerly, taking off to the destination defined. Moon rubbed his jaw, frowning at the look at champagne glass in his hand.
"I did it." - he said into the tiny mic, done as the tie pin. - "Magics inbound."
"I hope you didn't spike nothing alcoholic?" - inquired Rungo. - "Cuz it's about to get messy."
"Darest thou defy your superior of his wits?" - scolded Moon Shine, grinning ear to ear. - "Of course I did. And well, the messier the better. I need some good spectacle, a true eye-candy."
"Okay then, enjoy the show in somewhat... three minutes." - replied his accomplice with a sigh. - "And you'd wanna stay back."
"Oh, I will..." - looking intently at his random victim, Moon pinched one berry from a grape vine, leaning against the marble statue of a nymph, modestly covering her privates with a long, flowing cloth. The marble almost felt warm to the touch, but right now the man was far from enjoying the fine arts - he witnessed as the man in gray suit ingested more and more of his wicked brew, obviously enjoying the fine taste of the noble drink, heedless of what surprise it held.
Rungo was right - exactly as the arrows in his wristwatch ticked past the three-minute mark, the poisoned gentleman bulged his eyes out, shrieked violently, and torn his shirt on his chest. The lady he was talking to backstepped, startled with the sudden outbreak, and the high gentleman yelled on top of his lungs: "I CAN SEE WHAT YOU'RE UP TO, YOU WRETCHED PUPPET OF A GOAT-FEELER!! YOU WON'T HAVE MY POT OF URANIUM NUGGETS!! NO, IT IS MINE!!" - and dashed away, growling, spitting, shrieking and even headbutting a waiter, that wasn't quick enough to retreat in his path. - "I CAN HEAR WITH MY TOES!! I CAN SEE WITH MY TEETH!! YOU ARE A PRICK, BRED FROM THE HERETICAL BOND OF CACTUS AND A NOOSE!!" - he yelled, pointing at the musicians at the stage; they ignored the outrage, however, and kept playing, and Moon praised them internally for their professional attitude; the crazed gentleman, however, kept running in random zigzags across the room, until he dropped to all fours, his eyes bloodshot and mad, baring his teeth, barking and howling, drooling all over the floor; surprisingly fast he scurried forward, startling the chubby lady in a gorgeous green dress, sniffing at her leg; once he made it to the snacks table, he howled out, flipping the table over, jumping on top of it, stomping it down mercilessly; once finished, his attention got caught in the statue that Moon was once leaning against; the drug-poisoned gentleman dashed away to it, clambering onto the pedestal, hugging the marble nymph like his own child, until he threw up with a gusto, covering the bouncer head to toes in a alcohol-reeking muck.
All this carnival took merely twenty seconds, as the poor innocent victim got grasped and escorted away; Moon, however, never wasted a second in creeping backstage and deeper into the building; he could hear the mayor's voice, coaxing the audience, insisting on keep enjoying the evening.
"You missed quite a spectacle." - chuckled Rungo in his ear. - "It was something."
"I hope you've got me a footage."
"Well, yes?.." - intriguingly drawled his accomplice and old friend. - "Okay, you in?"
"Yup, almost there." - glancing to and fro, acknowledged Moon. - "I can see Mayor's office. Stay frosty."
"Copy that." - with that done, Moon leisurely strode down the hall to his destination, inspecting the door; solid wood, good locks... Looks pretty tough to crack.
He pulled the handle: of course, it was locked tight.
"Well, time for some fun..." - he sighed, producing a small - slightly bigger than his middle finger - flashlight, Moon turned it on and grabbed with his teeth, pointing the narrow ray of white light into the lock; next he fiddled with the sleeve, producing two long thin metal objects, pushing both into the keyhole; a limmy and a lever.
Breathing in deep, he closed his eyes and concentrated all his attention in his fingertips, feeling the familiar prickling under the nails.
The limmy stirred inside the lock, as the invisible tip probed at the shafts, pushing it down in time with the slight turns by the lever; the lock was really tough, and it could take quite a time to open it, so Moon had no right to mistake.
Sweat trickled down his temples, as his strife with the lock intensified; he was so caught up in his business, that the sound of footsteps behind never triggered anything in him.
"Pack him, boys." - the feminine voice ordered softly, starting Moon up with utter shock - and everything went dark and smelling of dust. "I got bagged." - the last thought flashed through his mind, as something swished through the air and true darkness got over the world.
For how long was he blacked out - he couldn't say. But an ice-cold, taut jet of water quickly brought him back, hogtied, coughing and hacking.
The bag was taken away, and he felt uncomfortable chill in his soaked system; he was stripped down to the waist, hands tied behind his back, him kneeled in some concrete box room. As he managed to blink away the water from his eyes and looked up, a stinging swish of a riding crop landed across his face, making him grit his teeth hard.
"Alright, big guy, now, that you're awake, shall we introduce one another?" - inquired the woman that seemed to be in charge here; blinking away the shooting stars of pain, Moon squinted to see her face in the bright lights of a powerful lamps, facing him intently; he never managed to make out what her face was, but the unmistakable hue of her hair proved, that it was the same woman who invited the guests in in the first place.
"My name is Chryss, and I am in charge of security in this place; but little Peeping Toms like you - and the other naughty boys and girls, as well - soon learn that calling me Queen is the best for them. Queen Chrysalis, mind you." - the riding crop touched his bare shoulder almost softly. - "And who're you supposed to be, big man?"
"Call me Duke Upyerarse, lady." - snided Moon, earning another painful lash.
"Feisty. Is good. More fun for me..." - chuckled Chrysalis, licking her lips. She kicked the man up his ribs with her shiny black shoe. Ow.
"So, what was the big idea of snooping? And attempted break and entering... Not good, my little puppet..." - she scolded, lifting Moon's head with her crop. - "What're you up to? We've found a very interesting stuff in your pockets: a micro mic in the tie pin... I guess, there's also a micro speaker in your ear, that right?" - the man never honored the lady with an answer. - "Which makes it two. But that aside, what were you hoping to find in the boss's office?"
"Washroom." - he grinned, thus getting another lashing barrage. The riding crop went all over his torso, leaving red marks, even drawing blood. Moon groaned loudly, trying to shudder off the stinging pain. - "Whoa, whoa, lady - no need to go so harsh about me, eh. If you like it hard, just call me, I'll give you the number, and we can work it out, if you'll ask nice enough... OOF!" - the sharp heel of her shoe hit him in a very sensitive male anatomy part, making Moon double over in pain and hyperventilate, bulging his eyes out:
"I do like it hard, as you put it... But I despise even the slightest possibility of getting to it with a filthy criminal like you." - deadpanned Chrysalis. - "So, I want an answer."
"Uuuh... honey, ur so hot when ur angry... I bet we can have a bloody fantastic time together..." - snided Moon, straightening his posture, grinning smugly at the enraged woman. - "This suit looks great on you, sugarplum, but it just doesn't get that hawt rump right, I say. I bet you'd be so much better without it..." - his further jeering was cut short with fierce barrage of lashing - double against all he was facing beforehand put together; Chrysalis was just seething with rage, the crop whistling again and again, until Moon craned his neck and bit down on the flat ending of the crop, tugging it forwards, almost making the woman trip over her own feet, crop flying away from her hands; spitting out the leather flap, Moon Shine grinned nastily:
"See, hun - I bite. Bet ya'll like it when I'll get to you..."
With fire in her eyes, the lady roared and kicked Moon in the chin with bone-shattering force, throwing him onto his back, leaving him rolling on the floor; she spun on her heels sharply, leaving the room, as the door boomed closed behind her.
Moon waited patiently as the pain in his jaw subsided enough to let him think again and clambered back to his knees, spitting out some blood and feeling his teeth; looks like all were intact. His taunting earned him some time to think of the getaway plan, even though the lashes hurt like seven Hells. He quickly assessed his current position: it looked shitty. Locked out in some strange room, soaked in ice-cold water, standing in the puddle of his own blood, slowly mixing with water, bleeding, whipped like a cream and hogtied.
"Meh, I've had better days..." - he grunted, bending backwards to try and undo the knot on his legs; the first thing his numbing fingers met was a string, that connected the ties of his legs to those on his arms, preventing him from standing up, forcing to remain kneeled; it was damn smart.
However, he managed to find out that he still had a way to get out. A brightly lit highway, really: he was tied with a paper twine.
"Real smooth, guys, thank you..." - he chuckled, overcoming the excruciating pain, pulsing from the bruised groin and overcoming the whole body - partially from the super-inconvenient pose and restricted blood circulation. Bending backwards even more, grunting with pain, Moon managed to fall on the floor and squirmed, putting all he had into straightening his legs, trying to pop the connecting string off; wasn't it for the water, absorbed with the paper twine, he'd have never made it. Grunting with the pain, caused by the ties cutting into his ankles and wrists, he pushed harder, feeling a tear of exertion slide down his bruised face, he pushed and pushed, until the sparks flew under the shut eyelids - and he heard a pop, feeling free to bend again. Huffing and sweating, grunting with the pricking sensation of salt in the wounds, he allowed himself a short breather before trying to commence part two. The hard part.
Since the arms of an average human cannot roll all the way around in their joints, he couldn't just roll his hands around back and undo the knots; so, it was about dragging them all the way down his back and legs to break free. Much like yoga, but way more pressing.
"Oh, I sure wish I would've done yoga before..." - he sighed, positioning himself on his back, legs propped towards the ceiling. Splaying his elbows as much as he could, he tried fitting his bottom through the ring his arms presented; it was exruciating - the bruised body protested, bursting with white-hot pokers of pain. And, to add up, the arse didn't even seemed to budge. He was stuck like that - sweating bullets, with a propped upwards rear and feet dangling in mid-air helplessly.
"Ohshit... Comeoncomeoncomeooon!!!" - Moon hissed, trying to pull down with all he could, gritting his teeth, grinding them, even, desperately striving with his own body against all laws of nature.
After seconds of torture, his bottom slipped through. He exhaled, elated with his small victory, breathing heavily; still, he was stuck in a very, very uncomfortable and awkward pose - tied hands at the knee level, doubled over, butt almost parallell to the ceiling.
"Huff... cmncmoncmooon, bitch..." - swearing got him howhere, and Moon Shine felt a wave of panic wash over him. He was an easy target as of now, heart racing, blood drumming in his ears like crazy war drums, every muscle in his body spasming with pain, every sinew stretched to the limit, and his shoulder joints burnt mad; if he'd have both arms displaced, it'd be no wonder to him, but as of now, he had to break free. Another run with the crazy whip-toting lady was nowhere near his comfort zone, especially being hogtied and beaten mercilessly.
"Guess I'm not asking no lady not to play nice at me in bed ever again..." - he muttered, mustering up all he could for another try. The cold wave of panic subsided, leaving a lingering feeling - and he tried again, tears of pain and exertion flowing from his eyes, as he thrusted maniacally, trying to pull the rest of his legs through the ring of his tied arms.
"Stuck." - he grimly announced into his crotch, his spine practically roaring out in anger, stretched to the limit, as his hands were stuck at the point of his heels. No matter how hard he pulled, he was just stuck.
"Well, I guess, that's it..." - he muttered, struggling for breath. - "Sorry, Cheers." - it was almost impossible to breathe in, his chest compressed, and he felt the asphyxia getting to him hard; the flies dashed in his eyes, as Moon tugged again, desperately, trying to get even a shallow inhale, when an idea struck his oxygen-deprived brain: exhale!! Exhale, so that the volume of chest cavity would shrink, allowing to pull legs closer, and thus... probably - break free.
Can't hurt to try, though - and so he did, squeezing the last molecules of air out of his lungs, making a last desperate effort to pull closer...
...and suddenly his legs hit the floor hard, air pouring into his lungs in generous streams with each greedy inhale.
He did it.
He fucking did it.
But there was no time for triumph: he still had to undo the knots.
Raising his numb hands to his face, Moon bit down hard on the string, growled, like a dog, swaying his head sideways, tugging and biting until the string popped loose. He threw it off, rubbing life and blood back into his hands, hissing with sharp pain and flexing his fingers thoroughly; this kept on for quite a decent time until he went down to the legs, undoing the knots and stretching wide and long; massage - and he's good to go, musing on how to escape the place.
Solid concrete walls, two lamp posts in the corners, burning at his cornea with intense white light, a metal door... looks like no weak spots. A riding crop on the floor, abandoned by Chrysalis.
An idea struck Moon, and he rubbed his hands, chuckling ominously.
"Hey! Hey!! Hey!!!" - he yelled, sitting on the floor as if he was still tied up, wires hidden under his butt. - "HEEY!! PEOPLE!! I WANNA MAKE A DUMP!!"
A guard poked his head into the room, cringing: "Do it in ya pants, sucka."
"Hey! Hey! Yes you - you there! With a face! U no who u messing with, boi?! This suit costs more than your sorry ass can earn in a third-world sweatshop in your life, including both your kidneys sold at the blackmarket, bitch!" - he yelled, hoping that the guard would have the balls to come in. - "And what do I see, you halfwit? I see a momma's boy, living in the basement, crying his ass out on how he never gets laid, wanking at the loli porn I see! Yo momma dresses you, you fancy fanny? That's what I see, cuz no proper man would have a face like that - boi, you headbutted a belt sander or what?" - Moon Shine grinned nastily, spewing profanities at the guard, whose face reddened with anger till it matched ripe beetroot in color; he had seen his words get to him. - "Come on, sissy - I can get you even tied like that! I spit on you, you fartbrain!!" - he hacked and spat, hitting the guard right in the face.
That sent him over the edge. Snoring like a bull, he dashed inside, taking a nightstick out of its sheath - and already swung it over to pummel the man, when Moon grinned:
"Think fast, chucklenuts!" - his hand bolted forward, squeezing guard's testicles hard and tugging downward with substantial power; the bouncer bulged his eyes out, mouth agape in a silent cry of agony, falling to his knees - only to be dropped to the floor with Moon's knee meeting his chin with a power of a coal train. Picking up a nightstick, Moon gave it a couple of test swings, cracking his neck; the guard seemed to squirm on all fours, trying to stand up, when the thick rubber club landed on the back of his head, knocking him out cold.
"Hey, bruh, u need help with that?" - came the voice from outside the cell, and Moon grinned, mocking the voice of the first best he could:
"Yah! C'mere, let's have some!" - and dashed behind the door, watching it open slightly, as the second guard stepped in with a nasty grin on his face. The grin faded, however, as soon as he had seen his 'bruh' laying face-first on the floor, in the puddle of water, mixed with blood - and no Moon.
He hadn't had the chance to ponder at it, however, as the nightstick flew across his face like a baseball bat, knocking the lights of day away from him.
"Score..." - panted Moon, dragging the second unconscious body inside and quickly searching their pockets: he found his cellphone, limmies and wristwatch, and tisked:
"Had yo momma ever told you, that stealing ain't good, boys? That's for my suit, by the way..." - he kicked the unconscious guards in the ribs, hard. - "It really cost me a fortune. Okay, cya, boys... I'm on a date with a certain kinky chick..." - Moon threw the nightstick aside, stripping one of the bouncers from shirt and jacket; he might have his face bruised bad, but he wasn't about to stroll around half-naked. It's unbefitting of a gentleman, and Moon Shine - through and through - was a gentleman. Somewhere deep. Really deep.
Security chief Chryss entered the shadowed lounge, grunting with irritation; the accident with Fancy Pants' sudden amok, the sassy lockpick guy and the whole stuff about the Gala worn her out; she lit a cigarette and headed to a cooler to make herself some coffee, when a familiar voice whispered in her ear:
"Sorry if I'm not bowing, my Queen..."
She reacted instinctively, the way she'd been taught on those self-defence courses she'd aced: a sharp elbow blow to the solar plexus, the shoe hill to the foot and a right hook in the chin - but was startled to feel a hard palm stopping her elbow dead and an arm grabbing her neck in a tight lock; she squirmed to break free, but to no avail: the assailant held her firm.
"Let go... of me... you creep..." - she panted out, feeling helpless - and deprived of oxygen slightly; her attacker emitted an irony smell of blood and sweat, and she felt her stomach sink.
"No. Sorry, but I don't like being hogtied and whipped, sweetie - unless it's consensual." - chuckled the voice of the sassy lockpick guy, that made Chrysalis freeze. - "So..."
"How did you?.." - she stuttered, terrified, adrenaline rushing in her, heart racing madly. - "It can't be..."
"I can be really persistent, sweetheart..." - taunted her ex-victim; looks like they've traded roles - he was now the hunter, and she was the prey.
"Watchu want?!" - she whined, trying to squirm her elbow free from the expert lock she was in; it didn't even budge. - "You want me?"
"No. I want something else. But if you'd like, call me later, sugarcube..." - a callous, hard palm gripped her cheeks, turning her head to the side, and she faced the bruised, lashed man she left locked up until further interrogation just half an hour ago. - "But yeah, there's something I have in mind..."
"Let's just talk about it... Just - unhand me..." - she begged.
"Listen here, sweet lass - I'll let you go if you promise to behave. And now..." - he weakened the grasp just a bit. - "...you will turn back..." - a little more pressure was taken away, letting Chrysalis move. - "...sit on that there couch and close your eyes. And don't even trouble - the door is locked, and I have the keys. Hand over yours, by the way..." - Chrysalis obeyed, hypnotized with that strong scent of blood and sweat, lingering in the air. - "Good girl. Now, on the couch." - She did so, sitting down gingerly, gazing awestruck at the rumbling hulk of a man - vengeance incorporated - standing in front of her, dripping blood on the carpet... was he really that big or was it just a play of light and shadow?..
"Good girl..." - he purred dangerously, sitting down near her and gently caressing her hair; his palm caressed her face, eliciting a prickling sensation south of her navel, making her gasp at surprise and blush vividly:
"Now, relax... I'll be gentle..." - with a grin, he inched closer to the fluttering girl, observing her closed eyes, startled face and half-parted lips; putting his fingers around her neck, Moon moved closer, until their lips met; a furious, anger-fueled kiss, that even evolved into a full-fledged bite from him, drawing blood from her delicate lip, while his fingers squeezed her neck gently in just the right spots; Chrysalis panted into the man's mouth, shuddering, her eyelids flattering, as the blood flow into her brain was being restricted, gently sliding her into unconsciousness.
With the last crumbles of strength she could muster, she whispered: "you do bite..." - and blacked out.
"Dog nap. Never gets old..." - chuckled Moon Shine, wiping the lady's blood from his lips and putting her down on the couch, as if she just dozed off; weighing the ring of keys on his hand, he left the lounge, grabbing his belongings and locking it from outside.
Provided with the keychain of security chief, he easily entered the Mayor's office, searching for his ultimate prize - a well-earned one, if burning pain in the whole body meant something; it was soon found, gladly - and he quickly found out why his employer was specific of the fact that he wouldn't peek into the folder: it sported a wax seal on it, that would reveal the fact of opening.
He tugged his tie higher, straightening the pin mic:
"Rungo? You there, mate?"
"Captain! Gog, I've been beside myself. What's up?"
"I got the package; get to the staff exit, pick me up. And get me somewhere where they can patch me up."
"Copy." - Rungo hung up, and Moon, leaving the mayor's office, locked it up - and hung the keychain on the handle. Moving to the exit, he felt a smudge of something on his cheek; wiping it with a finger, he figured it was that kinky chick's lip blossom. It smelled - and tasted - of cherry.
"Cherry lip blossom. That's immature... Hot, but immature." - he chuckled to himself, finally leaving the building and lighting a cigarette. Job was done, and that was all that mattered - and even ovedone, which meant extra pay.
"Man, u look bad..." - Rungo made wide eyes at his friend, as he got in the car. - "What's up? Fought cats?"
"Well, exactly one cat, pretty big one - call it tigress, even - that toted a riding crop." - he replied, dragging deep. - "Got some booze?"
"I gave up on that stuff long ago." - replied ex-sergeant. - "I never thought you were into all that sado-mazochistic stuff anyway. Well, new day - new kinks..."
"Shut the fuck up, mate..." - laughed Moon, throwing the butt away. - "And let's go already. I'm sick and tired with this place". |
Pro at Cons: Schoolfed | Chapter 6: Of Vixens And Other Fauna | "Good! That's good! Snowflake, keep up the pace - faster and shorter strokes! Miss Octavia, you're great. Pinkie, the crescendo is a bit faster; it's more of a blastbeat part. Rainbow and Sunset - great, but Sunset needs a little more work on her vibrato. Rarity - don't rush it. Flash Sentry - you're jumping in one tact early, don't rush. Vinyl, more treble. Aside from that - you made me proud, people! That's what I want to see." - Moon Shine applauded his orchestra, jumping off the railing. - "So, see you all tomorrow. Practice, people - practice makes perfect. Really. We still have a load of time, so don't worry. As of now - dismissed!" - waving goodbye to his students, he ascended to the radio booth, helping Vinyl gather all the wires. That done, Moon descended the stairs to grab his bag and spotted Rarity, modestly leaning against the railing, obviously waiting for something.
"Yes, miss Belle - can I help you?" - cocking his head to the side, Moon flashed the girl a smile."
"Why, yes, sir, I was wondering..." - she bit her bottom lip, curling a lock of hair around her index finger shyly. - "...I was wondering if I may ask you a... well, a personal question?.."
"Well, okay." - nodded the man, throwing his bag belt over his shoulder. - "Ask away."
"Is that a whiplash on your face?" - Rarity deadpanned point-blank.
"Yes. Why?" - chuckled Moon. - "And how do you know?"
Now it was Rarity's turn to blush.
"Why, I was doing jousting for as long as I remember myself, darling! Unless you, sir, imply something a proper gentleman is not even supposed to know about!! Oh, I am shocked, sir - simply shocked!!" - the amount of drama quickly surpassed the red field of the dial, and Moon raised a hand submissively:
"Whoa-ho-hoah, hold it, miss! I wasn't implying nothing - actually, you were the first to ask of me. So..."
"Why, this whole situation is pretty awkward indeed..." - mused the fashionable girl out loud. - "Nevertheless, pray tell - is Miss Cheerilee the cause of this?" - a dangerous spark flicked in her sapphire-blue eyes, and Moon creased a brow at her:
"It's pretty funny you're asking... Why?"
"My dear, sir - every last student in our school knows that Miss Cheerilee lives with you!" - she giggled. - "So, I was thinking if she, well... might've had some funny tastes?.."
"Now, miss Belle - first off, Miss Cheerilee lives at my place because she had suffered a fire." - sternly retorts Moon Shine. - "And she is treated as a guest and a friend she is. Hence I'd ask of you to stop feeding the rumor mill and concentrate on your work for the coming concert. I believe we have an agreement, miss Belle?.."
"Yes, sir..." - she replied, crestfallen. - "I am sorry to ask that of you."
"No biggie, Rarity." - he smiled reassuringly at the girl, giving her a slight pat on the shoulder. - "It's just not something you want to know of me. Just a little accident, is all."
"I hope you get well soon, sir." - she beamed a smile at him, hoisting her own bag onto her shoulder. - "Thank you for your honesty, sir - thank you and goodbye." - waving a hand at Moon, she took off, swaying her hips slightly; shouldn't have Moon known better, he'd say someone had a schoolgirl crush.
But he did knew better.
"Mister Moon..." - Sunset's fiery head poked into the teachers' lounge. - "Principle Celestia wants to see you."
"Thank you, Sunset; I'm coming." - nodding goodbye to the phys-ed teacher he was chatting with, Moon Shine headed straight to the principle's office.
"You summoned me, Principle, ma'am?" - he inquired, standing at attention in the middle of the office; besides him and the hostess of the office, there were also Dean Cadence (who obviously didn't recognize Moon au naturel) and some lady, clad in a fancy jacket with a flower in the buttonhole. He pondered for a second, why the Crystal Preps were here - and what was it for.
"Yes, mister Moon, I did." - replied Celestia with a soft smile. - "Please, meet miss Cadence - she's the Dean of Crystal Prep Academy..." - Moon kissed a hand of blushing Cadence. - "...and miss Flitter, the teacher in vocals from CPA..." - the second lady smiled with dignity, accepting the kiss on the hand. - "Ladies, meet our Music teacher and the director of the charity fundraising concert, mister Moon Shine."
"A pleasure to meet you, sir." - smiled dean Cadence, while Flitter just nodded with a smile.
"The pleasure is all mine, ladies." - Moon nodded curtly.
"Miss Cadence and miss Flitter came all the way here with a group of volunteer students to help us arrange the concert upon our request." - explained Celestia. - "The students of Crystal Prep Academy also wished to participate in a concert; their group would be conducted by miss Flitter; she was also kind enough as to offer her services in directing our groups in terms of vocals."
"That's very generous of you, ma'am." - Moon allowed himself to smile, ignoring the nagging feeling of 'something's-just-not-right'. - "I appreciate it and gladly accept your offer."
"Marvelous..." - smiled Flitter, replying in a deep, sensual voice that immediately made Moon's every hair stand on its end. - "I'll be glad to help."
"Well then, I will leave you to mister Moon's attention, miss Flitter..." - smiled Celestia. - "...as me and Dean Cadence have something to discuss. Nice having you here, mister Moon."
"My pleasure, ma'am." - nodded Moon Shine, turning to leave the office, accompanied with Flitter. They were strolling down the hall, heading for the teachers' lounge, silent - and Flitter kept stealing glances of Moon Shine; he, however, was neck-deep in his own thoughts.
"This way, please..." - he invited, opening the door to the teachers' lounge for the lady; she came in, sneaking a half-lidded gaze at Moon.
"So... You're a Vocals teacher, aren't you, ma'am?.." - he inquired, finding no better theme for a small icebreaker talk, to which she just nodded, still sporting her vague, mysterious smile. - "Must say, you've simply an enchanting voice. Have you sang at the opera?" - Flitter shook her head, throwing one leg over another. - "It's a shame you haven't. The opera's missing out on such a treasure like you, ma'am..." - he stuttered abruptly, befuddled with Flitter's strange demeanor.
"I guess I've just never felt enough courage to sing for the audience..." - smiled Flitter, shifting her legs again. - "That's why I teach how to sing, and don't do it myself..."
"Uh-huh, understood..." - nodded Moon, scratching the lash bruise; it itched mercilessly, as if ants were crawling all over it.
"And you? You're a musician, right?" - Flitter leaned back on the couch.
"Uh, yeah, used to be, at least, I think..." - replied Moon absentmindedly, catching himself staring at the lady's legs. Dayum they be nice. - "I do bagpipes, tambourine, harmonica, tumtum... some guitar, when I feel like it."
"That sounds wonderful, mister Shine..." - purred Flitter, spreading her legs slightly; if one'd glance up her skirt, one'd manage to find out the keenest details of her underwear design; and, in spite of having a perfect vantage point, Moon opted not to break eye contact - "I even feel... singlehanded presented to such diversity."
"Eh, having a past of a garage band percussionist..." - shrugged the man, involuntarily tugging down the left sleeve of his shirt - the one covering the tattoo. - "Guess old skills just don't rust."
"Hmm... Mister Moon, could you please get me a glass of water? This place is pretty toasty..." - Flitter almost moaned, reaching for the collar of her blouse, starting to undo the buttons; Shine quickly stood up and intentionally slow walked over to the water cooler, pouring a full cup; the room actually felt hotter, heat rising along with his thermometer, but the swarm of thoughts kept buzzing: what's her deal? Is she hitting on me or what? Dayum dat one is hawt... But dayum I don't need trouble as of now...
"Thank you, darling..." - batting an eyelashes at him, Flitter reached for the cup, leaning forward and lingering for a brief second: her blouse buttons were undone merely the halfway down, revealing pretty much everything - and most boldly stating the fact that this suave-voiced lynx sported no bra.
Oh heck, jeered the 'conscience', admit it, mate: ur huge sucka for this kind of girls! Moon sat stock still, gathering every last drop of his willpower not to gawk and to maintain the easy chat:
"So, Crystap Prel? I mean, Crystal Prep? And how's the place?"
"Oh, it's marvelous, if you're into the snobby pricks for students..." - huffed Flitter. - "This pays my bills, however, and the prefect is quite handsome... too bad he's engaged already..." - she sighed, running a finger down her neck just-as-if-unintentionally; Moon gulped down the lump in his throat, covering himself by putting a leg onto a leg. - "And too bad I'm just so weak for strong, handsome men."
"Well, Nature knows best, I'm sure." - Moon grinned dumbly, trying not to fall spellbound to the charms of that bodacious lynx with doe eyes and a voice of a siren; it wasn't that he felt himself too engaged in whatever he had with Cheerilee not to have some quality time with a lady eager and consenting, something just felt... wrong. As if he was a mouse, presented to some free cheese. And a clever mouse knows where the free cheese is provided.
In the mousetrap.
"Say, mister Moon..."
"Oh, drop the formalities, ma'am; call me just Moon or Shine, whatever strikes you fancy."
"Oh... yes, Shiny..." - Moon's ear twitched involuntarily at the fresh nickname. - "Say, may I ask you a... personal question?.." - Flitter changed her seat, now lounging on a couch mere foot away from Moon.
"I guess, you can..."
"I couldn't help but notice that your face is... damaged. As for me, I find it very... attractive..." - breathing out the last word, Flitter inched closer. - "But - what was the cause of this unfortunate turn of events?.."
"Polo game." - Moon shot out, the Lies Machine coughing and screeching, overcome by testosterone rushing in his blood. - "I was playing polo with my old college friend, and, well... things turned out the wrong way."
"Ohh, poor dear..." - Flitter frowned slightly, inching ever closer, her hips now brushing against Moon's. - "A polo game... such a fluttering experience... strong, agile men, mounting the magnificent beasts, strife for dominance... it's almost a knight's tournament clash, is it not? I myself find it very... arousing..." - licking her lips, Flitter laid a hand onto Shine's knee, making him tense up for a second. - "And you?"
"It's a good fun, when you don't get a whiplash in your face." - he replied, suppressing a stutter. - "And yes, it is quite... amusing."
"Mmm... and that scar? It makes you look... carnivorous, like a tiger, eyeing down his prey before pouncing..." - inching ever so close, Flitter purred into the man's ear, softly ruffling the hair in the back of his head before retracting her sharp nail down his neck, enunciating the last word; this little demarche earned her a massive shiver of delight from Shine, who shook away the overcoming feeling (taking his time to relish on it, though) and stared back at the seducing lady:
"Um... Flitter..."
"I like it when you drop the attitude." - she teased. - "So, how about we go somewhere... private? Say, my place?.."
"I, er... I'm kinda not that okay with that..."
"Your place?.." - she creased an eyebrow, sly grin slowly creeping across her face. - "That's naughty..."
"I mean..." - Moon cleared his throat. - "I mean, we've met ten minutes ago."
"So what?.."
"Eh, I don't feel like jumping the gun this soon... 'sides, I... I need to go check on my students! Yeah, students! Prepairing for the concert and stuff. Yeah. Like that." - real smooth, halfwit, sneered the 'conscience'.
Flitter scratched him behind the ear teasingly:
"Shame... Well, when you're done with the attitude of a skittish schoolgirl, come see me." - she grabbed a pen and quickly jotted down the address. - "I'll be waiting..." - she blew a kiss at Moon, swaying her hips just so naturally on her way out and darted him a bedroom glance, holding so much promises...
So, here's your alternatives, mate: get laid with this sizzling hot succubus and have the time of your life - or head home and explain yourself to Cheerilee - inclining she didn't see the bruises as of yet, concluded the nasty voice of conscience in his head. Moon, however, was thinking in four dimensions: he beeped the A.B.:
"Got the folder; seal intact. Things got hairy; this'll cost more. Dead drop location?" - and sent it away, sighing reluctantly; his arousal faded gradually, echoing in the bruised back with a small nasty pricks of frustration, so he had to move the scapulas close to get rid of the nasty feeling. The answer came shortly after: "Mail me with full report. Leave the documents in the locker. State your charge. A.B.".
At least that was the easy part.
The clerk in the storage recognised him immediately, handing over the key without even saying the word; Intimidation 101, for Dummies, giggled the 'conscience'. The locker was empty, so he just put the package in, turning in the key, and left home.
Cheerilee wasn't there, of course; she still had the classes, and Moon silently pondered what was that strange glee he felt upon realizing this. In the living room, however, he had found a note that read:
"Shine,
I'll be back late today; got extracurriculum at school and then have to go check on my house; the insurances finally found their reason and quit bitching, so I can start the repairs.
Come see me if you're okay with that, or just wait for me.
Cheerilee <3".
"I'm so having a crush..." - never yet was the obvious so relaxing for Moon Shine, the man with made-up past, vague present and foggy future.
Being done with the report for an employer, he glanced at his wristwatch: half-past twelve. Ohmai, tis noon yet? Weighing down all of his alternatives, the man stretched nicely, feeling the shoulders pop delightfully, the dull pain from yesterday's stunts seeping away, and came to a conclusion that he definitely could've used a long, hot shower and a tall drink of something that kicks harder than a pissed mule; so, discarding all the clothes, he jumped right to the first part of the agenda: shower.
At least half an hour later, when he stumbled away, not even bothering to wrap a towel around his waist, red and fuzzy with the overcoming feeling of pleasure, he wiped the vapors off the mirror, observing his bruised frame; red lines came together into an intricate pattern, as is someone was meant to play sudoku on his torso, drawing the grid; back suffered less, as the front side of his took all the whipping; some wounds were covered with bloodcrust, and all of them ached dully. He looked away from the bruises, grinning into the mirror and thrusting his pelvis sideways a couple of times, pretending to do an awfully obscene interpretive dance:
"Tis ma house, beech - mahouse..." - he grumbled in the idiotic tone, grinning nastily to the mirror; however, this sort of antics grow old as soon as they're pulled, and Moon, drying his head off with a towel, made his way out of the bathroom to get some drinks.
With a whiskey glass full of his trademark cocktail "Modesty" (two parts vodka, two parts brandy, shot of tequila and a slice of lemon) in hand, sipping at it, he strode around the apartment, naked, and pondered about his past - his real past, not the one flash-cooked by the Lies Machine.
Nostalgy washed over him, as he wrapped himself in the bathrobe and plopped on the couch, taking a swig of 'Modesty': college years, little garage band that collided into nothingness after a year, first small cons, involving rigging the game of Baccara to his favor... And then - his Big Failure, messing with the wrong guys in a game, and the cliffhanger situation between being shot like a dog for robbing them blind over a game of cards and working for them... then - boot camp, years and years of shady service, official retirement from the ranks - an honorary one, for all them Iron Owls - Moon smirked bitterly, observing the keepsake from the time - a tattoo on his forearm, the silent witness of the most wretched injustice and depravity one can even not fathom to witness. Then - stalking around, changing names, professions, making up fresh life stories every time...
"To fook with that..." - he chanted, taking another tall drink of 'Modesty'; the vicious mix already started to kick in, hard, stirring awake some deep, dark, primal instincts.
Clock chimed quarter to two in the afternoon, and Moon Shine, downing the rest of his drink, raised from the couch, dropping the bathrobe to the floor; alcohol splashed right behind his eyes, whispering to him, encouraging and pushing.
"Ready or not, here I come..." - he chuckled darkly, buckling his belt and reaching for his shirt pocket...
...in a matter of minutes, he was standing in front of the door with the plate, reading '28'; Moon smirked, passing the match he was chewing on across his mouth and knocked hard, three times.
The door opened, and he was about to drop the killer line...
...but instead he just breathed out pathetically: "Oh fook me..."
"Your wish is my command..." - grinned Flitter, grabbing the man at his collar and pulling him inside.
Awestruck, Shine didn't even resisted being dragged all the way down the small highway and tossed onto the queen-sized bed, as the sly grinning woman, donning nothing but a set of black lace lingerie, approached him, letting her light-blue hair fall loose, cascading down below the breasts; he was really thunderstruck, not even able to mutter out a word.
"Glad you decided quickly..." - cooed Flitter, approaching her paralyzed prey. - "I even feared for a second that I was too... assertive on you..." - she inched closer and closer, as Moon strifed himself for even the slightest chance to reply - with anything - rather than just drop his jaw and gawk at the perfectly seductive succubus he was presented to. - "But I see now that I was wrong..." - crawling onto the bed, she quickly straddled the man, grinding herself slightly against him. - "So, now you're not going anywhere... until I have what I need."
"And?..." - croaked Moon, finally triumphant in the battle over his vocal chords.
"And..." - Flitter smiled vaguely, undoing the buttons on his shirt - one by one, agonizingly slowly. - "And I assure you, you'll remember this..." - splaying the shirt flaps wide, she ran her fingers all across the bruised torso, tracing every red line with her delicate fingertips. - "Are those the remnants of a polo game?.." - he winked, brushing her hair over the man's face, washing him in the delicate blend of scents of her perfume and her skin.
"You could say so..." - groaned Moon, clambering away from his shirt and kicking the boots off; all effects of 'Modesty' seemed to dissipate into nothingness with the growing pressure somewhere under the crown of his head.
"Hmm... such strong, enduring man... battle-scarred... all for me." - purred Flitter, pressing herself against Shine; her small delicate hands caressed his neck, eliciting the palpable shivers of pleasure, making Moon melt like butter in her hands; it was a pure reverie for him.
When he, in turn, made a move to her, raising his hand to put it to her, Flitter buried her nails sligtly into his neck - sufficient to make it sensible, on the verge of painful:
"Nuh-uh, Shiny - no touching just yet..." - she planted a small kiss on the man's lips, grinning slyly as he put his hands to the sides, as if submitting; all the world was gone for good for him - everything just centered on Flitter's scent, her soft moans, her ever-so-delicate hands... She was hell of a tease, and she was good at it, which made the incoming experience worth the wait.
As she was exploring Moon's battle bruises, Flitter seemed to turn on more and more, grinding herself excitedly against the man, biting her bottom lip; she went on from just caressing to small kisses and scratches, nibbling and licking; Moon was just over his head, his hands itching with the need to cope a feel of that atlas-smooth skin, of those perfect curves, of Flitter.
It was some obsession, and Moon Shine, the con artist with a bad records, happily obliged to it.
In the meantime Flitter's hands had found the buckle of the belt; without hesitation, they've unclasped it, undoing the buttons of Moon's jeans; he quickly got the hint, restoring the status quo: now they both were equally dressed. Well, undressed in the equal measure.
"Flitter..." - growled Moon. - "Flitter?"
"Yes?.." - asked the temptress, grinning victoriously, grinding herself excitedly against Moon. - "What is it, Shiny?.."
"No hands, you say..." - he smirked, opening one eye, his voice shaky with intense jolts of pleasure, torrenting through every neuron in his system.
"Yes, I do..."
"Well, think again." - with a triumphant smirk, Moon quickly turned the tables, flicking Flitter onto her back so that he was now in charge; she was startled with the abrupt seize of initiative, but submitted willingly, as Shine's coarse palms travelled along her body, feeling every small shiver her delicate body gave out in reaction to the caressing; one hand reached deep under her back, unclasping a lock in a single motion, earning a surprised 'Ah!' from Flitter; then, with a throaty growl, Moon grabbed her bra with his teeth and dragged it away, rewarded with a shudder of pleasure from Flitter; now his hands had more to deal with - and he was only happy to take extra duties.
Now it was Flitter's time to melt and shiver to the tease; she moaned softly, relishing in the feeling, until reaching out and engaging Moon in a feverous, lust-crazed kiss; the tables were turned again, Flitter straddling Shine, grinding herself feverously against a well-defined amusement of a man; her whole body trembled, and each tiny touch elicited a lusty moan from her; again, a crazy-yet-so-good-idea crept into Moon's mind; carefully picking his time, he broke the kiss abruptly, catching Flitter's delicate neck with his teeth and squeezing slightly; the reaction was immediate and powerful. Flitter's eyes flew open, and she let out a throaty growl, rustling Moon's jimmies completely, as her whole body spasmed and twitched with intense pleasure; and he wasn't even getting started yet...
...hours past, covered in sweat and blood from the reopened wounds and Flitter's scratches, disheveled and exhausted completely, yet perfectly content, Moon pressed the cigarette butt in the hotel's ashtray, gently caressing Flitter's cheek; the girl was a mess - her silky hair now resembled a damp mop, she sported bite marks all over - but her eyes glowed with joy and satisfaction, as she cuddled closer to the man:
"I needed this, Shiny. I really did."
"I can tell..." - he smirked, basking in the glow of her eyes and a happy smile. - "You've expressed it quite... vividly."
"Well, the problem is... deeper." - Flitter planted a small kiss on Moon's chest and sighed. - "It's not just that I'm some sex-crazed vixen..."
"But you are."
"...well, yes, it's a blessing - and a curse, but it's not about just that..." - Flitter looked Moon in the eye. - "You see, I can have any man I want - it's out of question. It's just that I've never had no one who just, well... caught my drift. My tastes might seem... odd. I might've been considered... kinky. Not that it gets to me, but... But..."
"But it does." - deadpanned Moon, hugging the lady closer. - "See, I understand what you're about to say. But I say, fook the plain. Go fresh."
"And I've never had the man who could've make me really sore. Ow..." - Flitter giggled, shifting under the blanket. - "I'm worn out. Thank you, Shiny..."
"No biggie... I guess..." - he trailed off abruptly, observing in shock as the blanket was raising in a very telltale manner.
"Well, I think there's something more to discuss..." - Flitter winked coyly. - "What was the last score? 6-2?.."
"I don't think I can get it like 7-3 or 8-4..." - groaned Moon, but Flitter ignored his ramblings, diving under the blanket with obvious intentions... |
Pro at Cons: Schoolfed | Chapter 7: Patience Is Gold | "Mister Moon Shine!" - Moon spun on his heels as he heard the voice calling out for him; it was Dean Cadance, and she was pretty desperate about something.
"Yes, ma'am - can I help you?" - he inquired curtly upon coming up to the lady.
"I hope so." - she panted, trying to catch her breath. - "I was dragging this from the basement, and it appears to be stuck. Looks like I need some manpower..." - she halfheartedly kicked the wooden box, that sat in the door case, flicking the stray lock of her colourful hair away.
"Ma'am, you should've asked someone for help; fine ladies like you shan't exert themselves over weight lifting and hauling boxes..." - scolded Moon softly, grabbing at the handle and pulling the box easily away. - "Where do you want it to go?"
"Oh - thank you kindly..." - Cadance blinked, surprised. - "Uh - could you please get it to the main stage? I believe it's out in the school grounds."
"Main stage... Got it." - nodded Shine, hauling the crate onto his shoulder, grunting with surprise of how heavy that appeared to be. - "Please, ma'am - proceed, I'll follow you." - Catching another amused stare from the dean, he explained himself:
"If things go awry, you'd have a room to evade the avalanche".
"Oh! Sure. Thank you, mister Moon."
"Please, ma'am. Call me 'Moon' or 'Shine'." - smirked the man, enjoying the perfect sight of Cadance's swaying hips and slightly bouncing bottom.
Dayum boi, u sure hit the motherlode of them fine ladies here, whistled 'conscience' and Moon couldn't help but agree.
Following the lead of a magnificent derrier in front of his eyes, Moon Shine grinned his way all through the campus and to the main stage, setting the crate down in front of the railing:
"There you go, ma'am; need any help?"
"No, I'll take it from here..." - she gestured to a group of Crystal Prep students, who darted to the crate and pried it open, producing mics and a whole flurry of wires, jacks and connectors. - "Thank you, mis... Moon." - she nodded gracefully. - "Your help was truly priceless."
"My pleasure, ma'am." - he replied with a curt bow, hiding a coy grin. - "You are a true pleasure to be around." - and that wasn't even a bit of a lie in the statement.
"Okay people, concert is due in two weeks; I trust everyone's got their individual performances straight up and ready?" - blowing through the chanter of a bagpipe in his hands, Moon addressed members of Aurora Borealis, all gathered under a great banner, provided by conjoined effort of Pinkie Pie and Rarity. - "Let's run it again. From the beginning. One, two, three, go, Pinkie!" - the party girl clicked the rhytm with her drumsticks and began drumming. - "Snowflake!" - the hulking albino guy gingerly lifted the bow, looking obscenely small across his large frame, and began playing in short, stabbing motions, eliciting ragged, moaning sounds from his violin. - "Good! Octavia?" - the cellist girl joined flawlessly, adding long, tender tunes to the weaving melody. - "Awesome! Rainbow, Flash - now!" - the guitarists revved up in unison, fingers dancing across the fingerboards, mediators trembling with energy in their fingertips. - "Rarity?" - the keytar chimed in, adding spice to the melody, and Moon braced for his entry. - "Aaand here I come." - fingers went flying over the holes of the chanter pipe, and a gentle squeeze to the bagpipe completed the melody twining; it was classical Danse Macabre, rearranged perfectly to such diverse orchestra.
Once the first melody was finished and Moon caught his breath, he became painfully aware of the fact that they all were being rewarded with an applauses and cheers; bolting backwards, bagpipe still slung across his frame, he quickly noticed both Celestia and Luna on the spectators' seats, cheering, applauding and whistling joyously at them; he also caught a glimpse of maroon upwards from their position. Cheerilee.
Bowing to the audience, Aurora Borealis proceeded with their next part: a Swan Pond.
"Okay, people. Snowflake, you kick in first. Then, Bon-Bon - you're on a flute. Octavia, Pinkie, Dash, Sentry - brace for entry. Sunset, you're on the rhytm. Applejack, I want some bass backup on that. And one, and two, and three!.." - and the eruption of sound flooded the gym, washing over everything like a thunderous tidewave...
..."And I thought classics were overrated and boring..." - Luna chuckled to her sister, once the rehearsal was over, leaving the gym. - "Now I'm convinced it is not."
"It's all about the arrangement..." - Celestia smiled knowingly, as Moon dismissed the students.
"Bravo, maestro - bravo!" - smiled Cheerilee, embracing the man softly. - "That was... something..."
"I'm glad you liked it." - smiled Moon cheerfully. - "We were doing our best. Guys are really putting all they've got in it. Just wait till you see us rocking the audience."
"I can't wait." - Moon basked in the glow of her gorgeous green eyes. - "You're done for the day?"
"Yup, I guess. You have something in mind?" - creasing a brow at the strange inquire, Moon speculated.
Cheerilee smiled sheepishly, reaching for Moon's hand and placing it gingerly south of her waist:
"I might have something..."
Boi, u better brace for it, 'conscience' smirked, cuz tis not gunna be pretty.
And boy was it right...
Three days past, Moon suddenly pondered during lunch, sitting in the cafeteria, that he hadn't received any beeps from his mysterious employer, the A.B.; taking another bite of an apple, he reached for the pager, checking the received messages, restarting the device. It seemed to be in perfect working order, and he chuckled silently, toying with the idea that everything might just turn out well; his 'issues' with Cheerilee were straightening themselves, repairs in her burnt house going full-throttle (he even paid the workers a visit), Aurora Borealis running smoothly like a well-oiled mechanism, the Crystal Prep students rehearsing with their choir repertoire, Flitter kept shooting a loving gazes at him, and all the bruises and scratches and bites healing well; it looked like as if his life was finally taking a steady grounds, without swaying back and forth in a random fashion, like a pendulum gone mad.
"I could actually grow to like it." - he concluded, chewing on the apple core and spitting away the seeds.
"Oh my, someone sure seems hungry..." - a soft voice rang out by his ear, and Moon darted his head towards the source, still chewing thoroughly; Fluttershy blushed hard, her eyes wide with shock:
"I'm - I'm so sorry, mister Moon, sir... I... I just..." - with a startled eep, she obviously made an attempt to flee, if Shine wouldn't have stopped her:
"Fluttershy, wait. Why don't you seat at my table? The place looks pretty crammed, and I doubt you'd find any room for yourself fast enough as to finish the lunch without rushing it. And I can tell that rushing in terms of food ends up in indigestion." - he smiled encouragingly, inviting the pink-haired scaredy cat to join him.
After some hesitation, the girl accepted his offer, still blushing furiously; she placed her tray on the table and sat stock still, hunching her back and shoulders and cloaking herself in her long hair curtain.
"Hey, don't be like that. I don't bite - I'm full for now..." - chuckled Moon. - "And don't worry about that little comment of yours; I think, in fact, it's pretty sweet - the way you did it. It colors you as a caring and a gentle person. Tis a rare trait."
"You really think so, sir?.." - whispered the girl, peeking from behind her makeshift cover. - "Umm... thank you... You appear to be a good person, too..."
"Why thank you." - smiled Shine, picking up his tray. - "Now, I gotta go, sorry. And you better eat, if you don't want to be late for your next class. Buon appetite~".
"Thank you." - Fluttershy smiled openly, proceeding to eating and sneaking pieces of vegetables down her backpack every now and then; Moon presumed there was another pet - probably a bunny, and chuckled at the memory of one of rehearsals, when snow-white rodent escaped Fluttershy's backpack and skipped all the way to Pinkie's drum machine, jumping onto the main drum and drumming his foot against the barrel, obviously enjoying himself.
Of course, the rehearsal wasn't stopped and it kept going with an extra drummer. After the rehearsal was done with and Moon dismissed the class, he asked Fluttershy to stay for a second; she obliged, wincing as if he was about to pounce at her madly, hugging the bunny close to her.
"What's your name, little fellow?" - Moon asked, stroking the bunny behind the ears; he was cautious at first, but then relaxed, twitching his long protruding ear slightly.
"The name's Angel, sir... Angel Bunny..." - replied Fluttershy, sporting an uneasy look on her face: she wasn't sure if the Moon was about to penalty her for bringing a pet into a class, or...
"That's a great drummer you are, mister Angel; aye, I say, a natural one!" - praised the man, scratching the furball behind the ears. - "Great job you did here; mayhap, I should offer you to join our little project? I could get you a tumtum..." - of course, the little rodent never responded, and Moon looked at Fluttershy, chuckling. - "That's a nice little one you have here, miss Fluttershy. However, I fear that the school doesn't have a pet friendly policy, so I suggest you to keep a good eye on the little guy; if he gets away again, you might get in trouble, and this would not be nice, would it?"
"You're... not going to punish me for doing so?.." - Fluttershy was dumbstruck, hugging Angel close, as if the Moon was about to rip the bunny of her hands and devour it raw before her very eyes. - "Really?.."
"Of course not. I absolutely love the little fellow, and I just don't want you to get in trouble over such adorable creature."
"Um..."
"You're free to go, miss Fluttershy - wish you best of luck. And take care there." - Moon stepped aside, smiling encouragingly. - "And good luck to you, Angel, sir. Hope to see more of you."
Fluttershy beamed him a smile, quickly grabbed her backpack, putting Angel inside, and rocketed away from the gym.
Chuckling as the memory floated by, Moon dumped the rubbish from his tray into the can, putting the tray to the stand and checked the time: he still had a small breather before the next class, and he intended to use it for a quick smoke.
Said meant done, usually, and so, sneaking around the corners, Moon poked his head from behind the corner to check on the presence of see-all hall monitors or, Gog forbid, Vice Principle Luna. He recalled their first meeting and shuddered at the thought that, even in spite of her amicable attitude, Luna clearly gave out the idea that she's not the type one would like to mess with. Feeling like a junior high student sneaking in the school grounds, hustling behind the bushes for a smoke, he lit the cigarette, pulling in quick and deep, feeling the nicotine seep in treacherously.
As if recalling something, he reached for his pocket, checking the beeper; it was perfectly silent.
"Might be it that the stuff ran out of memory?.." - he murmured, fiddling with the buttons; finally, he managed to display a menu and scrolled through it, locating the entry he needed:
"Memory: 12 slots occupied; 188 slots available" - read the notification. Moon furrowed the brow, pulling another deep drag. Could it be connection failure? No, it seemed perfectly fine - he texted himself, and the message popped up immediately; sighing, he texted once more, relaying his message through the beeper:
"Sent anything? Received none; concerned." - and hit the 'Send' tile; tisking at the sight, Shine smoked down, stomping the butt down and turning to head away, when the beeper came to life:
"Sent none. The seed is planted, await blossom. Good job. A. Borealis" - the hint on deciphering the riddle of his employer's initials made Shine's jaw drop, pieces of puzzle all putting together:
"F-f-f-fook me..." - he whistled, leaning against the wall.
"Is that an invitation?.." - asked Flitter out of the blue, winking playfully at him, making him start with shock. - "Hey handsome. Sneaking out for a smoke?"
"Y-yeah, kind of... Hello, by the way..." - regaining a slight semblance of self-control, stuttered Moon. - "And you're here for?.."
"Well, I was checking on my students. They look perfectly fine, and then I just ran a couple of exercises for your students." - fluttering her eyelashes, Flitter put her hands on her hips, enunciating the curves. - "And I might as well be looking for you, naughty boy."
"Well, good - eh, look at the time, I'd better be going now. Can't miss the class, you know..." - trying to keep the facade, Moon flashed a wide smile at the lady and retreated as fast as etiquette could allow; he certainly felt where the wind was blowing, and, honestly, he also felt he wouldn't make it for round two with this lynx.
Not now, anyway.
The bell rang, indicating the end of the lesson - and the end of the day for Moon Shine; dismissing his students for the umpteenth time this day around, he glanced at the clock, hanging right above the door: four o'clock.
"Almost tea time..." - he chuckled, locking the classroom door and handing the key over to the janitor - junky-looking tall, lanky fellow with an unkempt goatee and mismatching eyes: one was light-blue, like a shard of ice, and the other was of that queer, spooky shade of yellowish-green; Moon recalled knowing a guy with eyes like that, calling it 'feline eyes'; however, he was farsighted, poor fellow, and kept stumbling over various small things like doors, buckets and benches; the alternative of wearing contacts or glasses he despised utterly, not even honoring it with a comment.
"Leavin' already, sir? Care for a cup of tea, maybe?.." - purred the janitor guy - 'Discord' was his nickname, for all Moon'd known; no one actually knew his real name or cared for it; Moon wondered silently if the "Discord" was put in the paychecks he was being given. Or was he being paid in cold cash?..
"No, thanks, mate - I gotta go. I have a meeting to attend to." - Moon refused politely.
"Ooh, a meeting, you say... One with a lovely lady, if I might say that?.." - the janitor chuckled darkly. - "The very certain green-eyed maroon-haired lady?.."
"Whatever your implications are, my good man, they are wrong, fortunately." - Moon replied, adding a measured dose of stern in his voice. - "Alas, I should bid you farewell. Best of luck!" - his retreat path, however, was pretty abruptly blocked with an opened door of an appliances room. How it the hell did he moved that fast with that trolley of his?, pondered Moon, recalling only the certain poofy-haired hyperactive girl to be so negligently defying the laws of physics before.
"Oh, I am so, so sorry for my rudeness..." - clucked the janitor, tossing his mops and buckets negligently into the locker. - "How indignyfying of me, to snoop around like a creep..." - he was obviously enjoying himself jeering.
"Uh, my good man - I can't help but notice the... well, a certain disorder in your appliances..." - noted Moon, sneaking a peek into the locker. - "How is it possible to find anything in that mess?"
"Oh, sir, you know - there's a wise saying: 'Only the fool needs an order - genius governs over the chaos'," - chuckled Discord. - "and it kind of tickles my pride to be considered a genius I am!"
"I never even doubted that." - politely smiled Moon Shine, feeling pretty amused with this harmless guy with a couple of loose screws. - "So, till later, then!"
"Remember me to Miss Cheerilee!" - the janitor shouted out, letting out a cackle; Moon shook off the remark, dialing a number, as he was stepping away from the school's entrance:
"Hey, Rungo, me man! Can you talk?"
"What's it now, cap'n? Break and entering? Kidnapping? Espionage? What do you need me for now?" - his friend sighed.
"Eh, chill, mate - remember the beer I've promised?" - Moon smiled, producing a cigarette. - "So, meet me in thirty at the Berry Punch's pub. And if you're late, first drink's on you."
"Deal." - Rungo hung up, and Moon, whistling a cheerful tune, rushed to the bus stop to catch a ride...
..."Naw, maet - here meh out..." - Moon slurred, moving the empty beer mug aside; both men were already pretty tipsy, to be charitable - judging by the amount of empty mugs in front of them - it was easily a dozen. - "Ah maen... mean... duh, see, ah gut dat one from the lady!! U no, the one sizzling hot chick there, eh!"
"Kant see tha problem ere, cap'n..." - hiccuped Rungo, wiping his bald head with his palm. - "Tis might be liek she gut one of them lass' tantrums, like, ahdunno, she mighta saw some other gurl goin out with er man or anyfin..."
"Nay, mate - ahm telling ya, this one is serious! Kinda big, mesay..." - Moon whispered cryptically, trying to chug from an empty mug. - "fook... oi, sweetheart! Repeat for us! Two more!" - he shook the empty mug as is it was a battle banner.
"There, sir..." - the waiter beamed them a smile. - "Can I get you anything else with that?"
"U wunna sumfin, maet? On me." - Shine turned to Rungo, and the bald man slid his jaw forward quizzically:
"Eh, ahguess... how 'bout smoked kipper, er?"
"Copy! Make it a smokin' kipper, honey - and be a dear to do it fast. Beer's gutta be cold, and chow's gutta be hot..." - Moon winked at the waitress, slapping a handful of bits on the table. - "And this 'ere's a lil' sumfin t' get dat cute booty o'yers move faster, eh?"
"One smoked kipper, coming right up!" - bubbled the waitress, scooping the coins in one fluid motion. - "Be right back, gentlemen!"
"An' make it a bill too, sweetheart!" - roared Rungo, hiccuping.
"So, where wuz ah? Aw, yeah... Kinda big it is, u follow?"
"'f twasn't big, she woulda just toss some toilet paper o'er them houses hersself..." - Rungo muttered wistfully. - "...or just hired some college students ta do so... Cuz we're ain't haul'n th' gogdamn pipifax..." - the plate of smoked kipper landed in the centre of the table, and the small leatherbound folder was placed near Moon:
"There you go, gentlemen..." - chirped the waitress, batting her lashes at the two men; Moon stole a quick glance at the sum in the bill and plopped a generous pouch atop the folder:
"Keep the change, beaut - tis are the tips. Go get yurself an ice cream and whatnot..." - he waved a hand at her generously, but such complicated motion almost knocked him off the balance, to the verge of flying off the tall bar stool; however, Rungo managed to catch the flailing extremity of his former superior and pull him back to the stable stance:
"U saved me lief, mate!!" - exclaimed Moon, eyes wide. - "C'mere, you old fool - I'll fookin kiss ya in yer baldy noggin!"
"Eh, I think ah'll pass on that, cap..." - Rungo waved off, taking a tall drink of beer. - "Beer's getting warm; mesay, u better get to it."...
> Chapter 8: Endure And Prevail!
...Moon Shine woke up for the sharp, burning rays of sun, filtering in through the blinds; it caressed the shoulder of sleeping Cheerilee with its gentle, warm fingers, danced around in the locks of her hair - and he felt terrible hangover; dizziness overcoming all other senses, and the floor seemed to rock as the ship deck during storm, so he had to catch for the wardrobe to maintain his balance.
"Never ever again am I drinking beer with Rungo..." - he muttered, stumbling towards the kitchen and gazing wearily towards the kitchen clock: eight in the morning.
"Oh wow, I'm early, you Excellence; guess that makes me an early bird..." - Moon declared, addressing the Grey Cardinal and reaching into the fridge for some mineral water; his throat felt like a desert, swiped with the hot winds of alcohol exhausts, and the tongue felt much like woolen mitten; decapitating the bottle with one spin, the man gulped down greedily, relishing in the blissful chill of the fizzy torrent, washing all over his dry larynx and streaming down, filling the chest with satisfying coolness; ending the whole bottle in one desperate bottoms-up, he exhaled loudly, smacking his lips a couple of times, smiling blissfully at the feeling of dissipating vertigo; weighing all his options, he concluded his best to get the day started, rather then clamber back in bed and cuddle with Cheerilee; however, the temptation was strong... Warm, soft, tender Cheerilee, she would stir in her sleep and cuddle closer to him, gently snoring, she'd tuck her head into his chest, embraced tightly by her dreams... Ummm, what a treat for a long-lonely gentleman...
However, Moon shook off the tempting pictures in his mind and reached for his pants, just in case; if there was any emergency, he'd not be caught with his pants off, that's for sure. Consider making it your motto, sneered 'conscience', 'Thou willst not catch me with me britches down!'.
Meh, he mused, too tacky. He was rummaging through the small stacks of clothes in the shelves of his wardrobe, until he found his very favourite piece: a rather baggy ochre-yellow T-shirt with a peculiar print: it depicted a big jackdaw, sporting a stunt helmet, aviator's can goggles and a parachute pack, and the caption below read 'Safety First'.
"Now this is more fitting..." - declared Moon, referencing both the garment and the words on it as regarded to his hypothetical motto; as he was about to head towards bathroom for a morning hygienic routine, a gentle knock on the door stopped him dead; cautiously approaching the door, he inquired who was there, blaming himself for the slacking in terms of installing at least a spy hole.
"Is mister Moon Shine here?" - a familiar voice with a slight accent rang from behind. A feminine one. - "It's Rarity Belle, his student!"
Ohmai, boi - ur gunna do Raritee?, jeered the 'conscience'. Cuz what's the other reason she'd run by your door - 'seeking for a washroom'?
Moon opened the door, praising himself for his wisdom as to put on at least a decent set of home wear garments, rather than rushing around the place now in a desperate search of at least a bathrobe not to disgrace himself as presenting au naturel:
"Morning, miss Belle - you sure are an early bird. How can I help you?"
"Why, mister Moon - I brought you the ensemble I've tailored especially for you for the case of our big day!" - chirped the faschionista, a coat case dangling on its hook from her palm. - "Dare I say that it'll be marvelous on you..." - she stopped short, finally noticing the Moon's rather disheveled exterior: bloodshot eyes, faint-but-still-noticeable alcohol exhaust in his breath, stubble - and a fancy T-shirt with a safety-conscious jackdaw. Smooth, grinned the 'conscience'.
"Eh... Am I interrupting something, sir?.." - she poked carefully. - "I may come by later, shall you please, or you might just visit my boutique..."
"Oh, it's totally fine, miss Belle!" - Moon quickly assured, desperately trying to straighten at least his hair. - "I just had a... good party last night. It's so sweet of you to come to me in person as to hand over that wonderful creation of yours, I am much obliged... By the way, what do I owe you?.."
"Oh, darling!' - Rarity threw herself back in astonishment. - "Of course it's no charge! How could you possibly think of such... mauvais tone?!" - she scoffed, obviously struck at the soft spot.
"Oh... I apologize, miss Belle; I didn't quite thought it over. No offence meant, really... I so beg your pardon..." - Moon's almost-earnest crestfallen face seemingly soothed Rarity's outburst, and she nodded graciously:
"Your apologies are accepted, fine sir; granted that you're new to our school, I suppose you haven't quite came to know any of us enough... I, in turn, also apologize for such... harsh reaction. No offence." - she batted her long eyelashes at Moon, making puppy eyes.
"None taken, of course. Please, miss Rarity - come in! Tea, coffee, maybe?.." - the man invited, mentally scolding himself for clumsiness.
"Oh, many thanks, darling, but I fear I shall reject your generous offer." - Rarity replied, stepping inside. - "Say, I humbly suppose that you should try your garment on - no, I positively insist on you doing so! This way I could see if there was anything in need of refinement!" - she handed Moon the envelope, and practically pushed him away.
Obediently, he retreated to the bedroom, unwrapping the unexpected present: it was a classical, brand-new tuxedo, tailored with precision and attention to the details; he quickly threw it on, clasping the enclosed belt tight and tying the bowtie; this done, Moon stepped to the mirror and spun around, looking at himself from every angle.
The attire was perfect; it fit him like a glove, making Moon Shine, the ex-mercenary and a present con artist with some sick luck with ladies, look like a refined gentleman of a noble lineage.
"Miss Belle, you're a magician, I say..." - he shook his head in amazement, presenting his tuxedo-packed self to Rarity, who gasped at sight:
"Why, sir - you look fabulous! I could not even fathom such a favorable outcome!"
"The praise is all yours, milady - I bow to your craft." - replied Moon wholeheartedly, giving the faschionista a curt bow, making her squeal and applaud shortly with excitement:
"Now, sir, may I ask you to stand still and raise your hands sideways? I must see how it is fitting!" - commanded Rarity, producing a fancy red glasses and putting them on her nose. Moon obeyed the order, standing stock still as the young lady circled around him, straightening the wrinkles she only could've see and wiping away the specks of dust only she could feel.
"It's perfect!" - she announced, bubbling with excitement. - "Oh, what a relief! I feared this ensemble would never come out as it should since I never got to measure you properly!"
"eh..." - Moon Shine bleated miserably, fearing even to fathom how did Rarity managed to whip up a perfectly fitting suit without measuring him, as the girl kept on rambling, the volume of drama increasing:
"...and since I could always trust my eyes, I've concluded the measurements roughly, risking my reputation!! Oh, what a joy it is - to see the gratitude for the fruits of one's toil!.." - she darted a stare at Moon, pause growing awkward.
"Miss Belle, I'm astonished with the amount of skill and generosity you're presenting as of now... I am speechless, truly am!" - muttered Shine. - "It is truly a feat of you - running such lenghts as to make sure I will look properly at the concert. I've never seen such devotion before, Miss Belle..."
"Oh, it's nothing, darling..." - she retorted with a generous wave of hand, slightly blushing with praise. - "I still have to have all members of Aurora Borealis in my boutique so that I could see if their ensembles fit them as well as your does!"
"All... members?.." - Shine stuttered, feeling his knees grow weak.
"Why of course! I cannot allow my friends - my peers - to disgrace themselves, committing a crime of fashion as severe as being underdressed for such grand occasion! However, with them it was much easier, as they were kind enough to let me have their measures..." - Rarity let out a small giggle. - "Oh! And that reminds me!" - she dives into her bag, rustles around for a moment and produces another envelope:
"Please, mister Moon, be a dear and pass over to Miss Cheerilee this little souvenir from me; I humbly supposed she'd like to attend the concert as well, and I surely cannot allow such a lovely lady to appear not as stunning as she is!" - the tailor girl rolled her eyes. - "Do me a favor, please - and let Miss Cheerilee know that she should positively not put that on until the day of the concert! It'll be a surprise for you, mister Moon..." - she lilted, giving out a sly wink.
"Duly noted..." - stuttered the man, holding the brown paper envelope as gingerly as if it was full of delicate chinaware. - "I'll see to it fir sure, miss Belle. I just cannot thank you enough, I fear..."
"Oh my goodness gracious, look at the time!!" - gasped Rarity, grabbing her bag. - "I must've been at the boutique five minutes ago!! Oh my!!"
"Should I..." - started Moon, as Rarity dashed away, crying out: "Taxi!!"; the cab pulled over immediately, and, boarding the yellow vehicle, Rarity lingered for a second, shouting: "Have a marvelous day, mister Moon!" - and blowing him a kiss; the door closed, engine roared, and Rarity was gone for good, leaving the befuddled gentleman on the threshold of his house, holding an envelope.
Half an hour later, when Moon hung his concert attire in the wardrobe and finally proceeded with the morning routine - shaving, washing and whatnot - he was brewing coffee and patching up some light breakfast for two; Cheerilee still seemed to be asleep.
"Pretty much tucked out, poor thing..." - he sighed to himself, humming a cheerful, though sticky tune he had heard once.
"Morning..." - came a sleepy voice from the bedroom, and Moon grinned, filtering the freshly brewed coffee through the sieve into the two cups:
"Breakfast incoming in sixty! Hold your ground!" - putting the spread on the tray, he headed for bedroom, grinning widely as Cheerilee sat up in bed, smiling sleepily, letting out a small yawn:
"Morning, Shiny... Wow, that's a spread."
"Yep. One breakfast in bed for a lovely lady of beauty and smarts..." - reported Moon, setting the tray onto the bed. - "How's the land of Morpheus?"
"As usual - weird and vivid..." - she laughed. - "You're early; I thought you'd sleep till noon - judging by how wasted you were yesterday..."
"Guilty as charged," - sighed Moon. - "ran into an old friend of mine; hoped to get away easily, but no, of course not - and the innocent 'two beer, please' transformed into 'oi, mate - let's paint the town red!!', hence the wasted-ness...".
"Yeah, old friends..." - Cheerilee sighed, putting the tray aside. - "So, how's the morning? I can definitely smell the good aftershave and some tomato juice. That hallmark pick-me-up of yours?"
"Oh, I'm glad you've asked..." - Moon grinned coyly, presenting Cheerilee the envelope. - "Hut! Don't open it just yet, or Rarity will have my head on a stake."
"Rarity?"
"Yup. That's the fun part, really - once I was up and heading to hit the showers, Rarity showed up and presented me with a freakin' badass tuxedo, motivating that I had to look properly for the concert... But the best here is she had made it by the rule of thumb, from scratch! I mean, she caught all the measurements right by the rule of thumb..." - recalling that weird part, Moon scratched the back of his head in befuddlement. - "I can't believe it."
"Well, if you've known Rarity as long as I do..." - chuckled Cheerilee. - "She might be a drama queen and sometimes a real pain in the neck, but she's a wonderful person, heart of gold, and genuinely generous."
"I can say! Any tailor would've charged me a fortune for a tuxedo like this, and she just kinda... shrugged it off, like it was nothing..."
"Yup, that's Rarity for you..." - sighed Cheerilee. - "And what's with this?"
"She left a very specific instructions on that part: she said to give it to you and avoid seeing you wearing this at all costs until the day of concert; guess she's up to something..."
"Well, yes, one of Rarity's most notable features is her talent for seeking gossip..." - shrugged Cheerilee. - "But she's a proper lady, so she's not the one to kiss and tell. If she knows something - and I bet she does - she'll keep it to herself. Or spread to Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer tops. And neither of them are the mad gossip ships, so..." - the teacher lady ran her fingers over the twine knot, holding the envelope together, and a coy smile crept up her face:
"Say, Shine - did you notice something... different about me?.." - pulling the blanket down, she leaned in a tempting pose.
"Er..." - gulped the man, darting his eyes all over the sight presented; something was off, obviously - but, as it usual is, the difference was so obvious and subtle he couldn't just put a finger on it.
"Okay, here's the hint..." - cooed Cheerilee, letting one strap of her night gown slide down delicately.
Night gown!!, flashed in Moon's mind, as he was observing, awestruck, the way that fine cloth cascaded down the lady's frame, outlining every curve of her delicate body in a way that gave him the shivers, rocketing from the top of his neck down the spine.
"You like?.." - the schoolmarm purred seductively. Moon was so dumbstruck he could just nod; the not-just-transparent weave was just running him crazy.
"Good..." - the lady licked her lips, giving the awestruck man a lidded look. - "Come here. I kind of missed you..." - throwing her arms over his neck and pulling him down, Cheerilee smirked triumphantly as Moon's lips found the tender skin of her neck, giving it light kisses and nibbles, rewarded with a soft moans of pleasure.
"Cheerilee, the coffee'll grow cold."
"Do I look like I mind?.."...
As the D-Day was approaching, the subtle tension, lingering in the atmosphere of Canterlot High only got more dense by the day; Aurora Borealis, the home-grown conceptual orchestra, were doing their best in rehearsals, Rainbooms were tearing the strings and fingers apart practicing, and even Snowflake was unusually quiet, resorting to the normal humane volume of voice rather than the exaspirated bellow he usually executed. The concert itself was due tomorrow.
Moon Shine, however, was perfectly content, reviewing the events of the past week: two wonderful days after Rarity's visit, he took Cheerilee out for a date, brewing a sly plan of his; the lady enjoyed herself, while Shine was striving to muster enough courage to utter what he had in mind.
Eventually, he succeeded, and harrumphed quietly, laying his hand over Cheerilee's:
"Er - Cheers... I've got something I need to talk to you about..."
"Of course." - the lady beamed at him. - "What's it, Shiny?"
"I was thinking... You know..." - he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, presented to the thrilled and excited Cheerilee in front of him; she was obviously expecting something... - "Well, you see - we're together for, well, not-so-long, but I think I might have a... dayum. I think I want to ask of you to move to my place, Cheerilee. Permanently." - he finally declared, looking the lady square in the eyes. - "Yes. And I might also have another idea, but that's not the subject matter as of now."
"Of course I accept your offer... and the other one..." - Cheerilee smiled softly at him, caressing his trembling palm tenderly. - "And guess what - I was going to ask the same of you, but... I kind of just chickened out."
"Well, good thing I didn't..." - chuckled Moon, feeling elated at the sense of knot undone in his chest. - "Cause I believe this might've linger."
Cheerilee playfully poked him under the table:
"Don't get too cheeky!"
"My bad, ma'am; I deserve a detention..." - he grimaced, pouting and making puppy eyes. - "Would you make me write lines?.."
"I have something more... educating in mind." - Cheerilee chuckled, a dangerous fire blinking in her eyes. - "You'll see."
Shiver in anticipation, boi.
Smiling at the memory of that evening - and what followed - Shine made his way through the halls, heading for the Principle's office; he had no formal assignment there, but ten minutes prior his beeper buzzed, receiving a message:
"The sown seed bore blossom; come see me. Aurora Borealis".
All the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle clicked into place, and Moon boomed with laughter, earning a startled gazes from the involuntarily audience; he straightened up, wiped a tear and mustered an excuse, sneaking away for a quick smoke to pacify his wrecked nerve.
Now, he knocked on the door to the Principle's office, straightening his posture as not to give out any hints of what he had learnt about the not-so-little and not-so-harmless mischief of the dignified lady.
"Come in." - came from inside, and Moon practically marched inside.
"Moon Shine, am I glad to see you..." - Celestia grinned, pulling down the blinds. - "Or should I call you 'Gaius Tiberius'?" - Moon didn't even twitched a brow at the sly comment. - "Lock the door and come take a seat. I have something you'd like to see."
The man obliged, taking a seat in front of the desk and making himself comfortable. He chuckled:
"Aurora Borealis, huh? Smart move, ma'am..."
"Drop the formalities, Tiberius, call me 'Tia'." - giggled the lady, throwing her long, flowing, northern-lights hair back. - "Let's not linger on the small facts; look here. I think you'll find it... amusing." - she promised, tossing him a newspaper across the desk; Moon - Gaius Tiberius - caught it, unfolding; it was a fresh issue of 'The Herald', and the headlines read:
'Principle of Crystal Prep School: a dignified woman or an extorting boozehead?".
"So?.." - he furrowed a brow, giving the grinning Celestia a bemused look.
"That's not just it. Turn to the page three..." - she winked, a nasty grin never escaping her fine features.
Tiberius did as he was told to, reading: 'Accident at the Annual Canterlot Gala: Fancy Pants going amok! Mayor drugging guests and striving for extra privileges?"
"Well, that's... mildly amusing." - he admitted, scanning through the articles before handing the paper back to Celestia. - "But I can't see any direct reason behind this whole setup."
"Meh, let's say I just had to get back on some people..." - the principle waved the question off nonchalantly. - "And you did it just wonderful. Now that this hag Cinche would have to explain herself to the Educational Commitee, Mayor will have to jump over her butt to maintain the office and Fancy Pants... Well, I don't know, might it be that you're a clairvoyant or was it just a gut guess, but this prick also deserved a nice slice of a humble pie." - chuckling, Celestia popped a thumbs up at Tiberius. - "That was some great work."
"It's just being professional." - nodded Gaius. - "So, we're through as of now, I guess?"
"Almost." - Celestia produced two folded notes. - "I need you to take this."
"What's that?"
"Well, this one is from miss Flitter..." - Tia flashed a toothy grin at the slight shudder she had seen in Tiberius. - "And this one... well, I need you to do what is mentioned here and then report me on the details. For extra charge, of course - you're working extra."
"Noted." - Moon nodded, hiding the notes in his chest pocket. - "So, am I dismissed?"
"I won't hold you..." - purred the principle, positively basking in the sense of accomplishment. - "But wait, Tiberius - there's one more thing..."
"No spilling beans. Ma'am, I'm a pro at cons."
"No, I never doubted your loyalty. Will you resume your position as the teacher? I might need your services in the future, and, well... you've been doing good for a lowlife criminal..." - she teased.
Tiberius stood still, quickly running the numbers. In four inhales, he had an answer:
"Yes, I will."
"Marvelous..." - purred Celestia, leaning back in her armchair. - "So, dismissed, mister Moon Shine, and give my best to Miss Cheerilee."
Gaius Tiberius/Moon Shine left the office, not even honouring Celestia with a comment.
"Thanks for the ride, my good man!" - he nodded to some strange gentleman who gave him a lift. Checking with the note he was given, Moon went up the stairs to the sturdy blackwood door, ringing a doorbell.
"Coming!" - came the muffled voice from inside the house, somehow making Moon's hair stand ot its ends. Something was oddly familiar about that there voice...
The door opened, revealing a long flowing mane of greenish-blue hair, huge green eyes...
Momma...
"Oh, isn't it the bite lover..." - chuckled Chrysalis, biting her lower lip and running a finger down dumbstruck Moon's chest. - "I was wondering if you'd come..."
"Beg pardon, there must've been a mistake..." - uttered Moon, grasping the only straw he had. - "I must've had the wrong address..."
"Oh no, big man - you've come just right..." - the lady promised ominously, grabbing hold at the Moon's shirt and yanking him inside with one fluid motion.
The door closed shut, and the silky voice of Chrysalis chimed in:
"And now for round two..."
FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU...
Stumbling back home, finding Cheerilee sound asleep, Gaius Tiberius Lucian - the true name for "Moon Shine" - kicked off his boots and cringed at the feeling of soreness, overcoming his whole body; 'round two' was pretty intense - granted, thankfully, that no whips were included.
"She's not Celestia, Gogdamn it, she's some Trollestia..." - he grumbled, kicking the laptop alive and texting Celestia:
"Job's done. Never expected her to be there. Explain yourself."
The beep chimed snidingly - or at least it appeared so to the Moon, who was fuming with anger:
"I couldn't help but notice from your previous reports that Chryssie had a special knack for you; and it's not good to leave the lady hanging. Besides, she's a good friend of mine."
Tiberius' hands trembled hard: he felt waves of wrath washing over him, almost ready to flip his shit all over the place: that... that!.. fook.
He exhaled long and hard, scratching an itch; pouring himself a drink, he created a new e-mail blank and jotted down the extensive report to Trollestia, paying attention to small details so that the report resembled a pulp fiction romance novel; the feeling, hovewer, was cut short with a postscriptum that Moon put in, cackling ominously:
"P.S. Extra charge you've mentioned, make it double. For the trouble."
Clicking the 'Send' icon, he downed the drink and hiccuped; it was already late at night, and he had a big - no, a HUGE day ahead of him. So, it was best to hit the shower and go asleep.
If only it was that easy - a clumsy stumble over the nightstand made Cheerilee open her eyes, bringing a carnivorous grin to her face...
Well, you've got into it yourself, boi, the 'conscience' sighed, endure! Prevail!!
And Moon did endured and prevailed. |
Pro at Cons: Schoolfed | Chapter 9: Show Stoppers | ...The concert was rolling full-throttle as of now; the Rainbooms positively rocked the audience, elicitng a thunderous barrage of cheers and applause; Snowflake's performance was also flawless, making Moon feel proud for the huge guy; Trixie and her band was also well-rewarded - 'Was there EVER any doubt?', huffed the girl - for all the stunts and effects, and then Sunset Shimmer, the announcer, stepped to the mic:
"Ladies and gentlemen, and now the Canterlot High School is proud to present you our very special guests - the Crystal Prep Academy choir and their conductor and mentor - Miss Flitter!" - earning a thunderous applause and cheers, that soon grew into whistles from the male part of audience, as Flitter glided on the scene.
Moon felt his heart sink and jaw drop, as he finally put the two and two together: Flitter was clad in a long flowing wine-red dress with a risky cut as high as the thigh runs, flashing her magnificent legs with each step, her hair done in intricate coiffure, neckline cut dangerously low, decorated with a topaz necklace, complimenting her amber eyes; the choir assembled on stage, all dressed in stunningly cool uniforms, bearing the school insignia; they performed the Gaudeamus Igitur flawlessly, then proceeding to something way more energetic and driving; Moon strived to gather his wits and pry his eyes away from the gorgeous lady conducting the choir, pondering if what he heard was In Taberna.
Once the choir was done and the participants all bowed to the well-earned praise and flying flowers, Sunset stepped up again:
"And now, ladies and gentlemen - to conclude our evening and for your joy and amazement, we give you Aurora Borealis, the experiment orchestra of Canterlot High, assembled, directed and inspired by mister Moon Shine! Greet them nicely!" - abandoning the mic, the girl scurried backstage, slinging the guitar over her shoulder.
Moon, in turn, straightened the bowtie on his neck and slung on his bagpipe, checking the drones and mouthpiece; he scanned his band - everyone was looking stunning. Rarity did an outstanding job prepairing the costumes: ladies were donning a wonderful formal dresses and gentlemen were all clad in tuxedos, and the design of every single ensemble was unique.
He drew a deep breath, smiled encouragingly to his gang and waved forwards, leading the way; the stage welcomed them with a tidewave of whistles, thunderous applauses and cheers, as Moon bowed to audience and grabbed hold of the mic:
"This thing on?.. Well, good evening, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Moon Shine and I am most pleased to see all of you attend to this our little gig of ours. I hope you..." - he trailed off abruptly, as his wandering gaze caught a thing of pure beauty in the front row.
Who was this stunning lady, clad in wonderfully crafted gown? The flowing green cloth complimented her eyes, sparkling like diamonds in the stage lights, her curly hair styled in simple, yet perfectly suiting coiffure... Wait... Cheerilee?!
Oh my.., stuttered the 'conscience', that sure is a surprise.
"Ahem..." - he finally overcame the awe he was struck with. - "I hope you're enjoying yourselves, anyway. Let us begin!" - he abandoned the microphone, washed over in another wave of applause and nodded his band to begin.
Snowflake cut the lingering silence with bold, stabbing thrusts of bow against the strings, providing the steady rhythm to begin with; Octavia cut in perfectly, adding the tenderly moaning long tune to the weaving melody; Pinkie's timing was also perfect to cut in with a drum rhythms, and then the guitars came in, weaving an intricate, but perfectly recognizable melody; it flowed above the hypnotized audience, washing over the condensing twilight.
First piece was done immaculately, and Moon inhaled deeply, preparing for the next one; he grabbed the chanter of the bagpipe, starting with a subtle tone, to which then the flute kicked in, accompanied with bass line, the cello and the violin; the melody, ever so subtle at first, soon reached its guitar-revving crescendo, dropping like a tsunami tidewave at the awestruck audience, eliciting a booming cheer; the tambourine chimed neatly, allowing the keytar to step in with a perfect completion for the building flow. Swan Pond, arranged well, was now being rewarded.
Once the melody came to its end, Moon stepped up to the microphone and waited for the cheering and applauding to subside, grinning widely:
"And now, ladies and gentlemen - I suppose you better brace for it, 'cause my friends and I are gonna rock you hard. I give you..." - he intentionally let out an intriguing pause. - "A Morbid Tango! Please, show some love for my friends here on stage! They're the best!" - raising both his hands into the air, he felt overjoyed, riding the wave of triumph for a brief moment, as the audience was going over their heads.
"And now - let the rocking commence!!" - he bellowed, giving Octavia the sign to begin; the audience sat stock still, all eyes and ears.
The bold, powerful melody flew around, growing louder and louder, until reaching its booming crescendo, with guitars moaning, drums going mad and squealing flute; the bagpipe was singing in perfect harmony with the flow, providing a strong backbone for the melody.
Once the gentle rattle of the tambourine concluding the melody subsided, the audience just blew up: they were applauding standing, chanting the name of the orchestra, flowers were flying all over the place, piling up at the stage, as blushing participants kept bowing and curtsying to the audience; the madness kept on and on, as the night sky above the stage was being rocked with the repeating chants: "Au-ro-ra! Au-ro-ra! Au-ro-ra!.."...
"Oh gog... I love you guys..." - breathed Moon, sliding exhaustedly down the wall and lighting a cigarette, as the giddy orchestrants was just radiating triumph and joy around him. - "You really blew it up there. It was something nuclear, I'm telling you!"
"It was so AWESOME!!" - squealed Rainbow Dash, hopping in place. - "It's - like - surpassing every record of AWESOMENESS!!"
"We did it! We DID IT!!!" - skipped Sunset Shimmer, dragging Fluttershy into a tight hug. - "I love you, Fluttershy!"
"I love you too, Sunset." - the pink-haired girl replied softly, returning a hug.
"YEAH!!! WE ROCK!!" - bellowed Snoflake, almost ripping his tuxedo to shreds by flexing his impressive musculature.
"Ah say, it wouldn't have ahappen if nawt fer mist'r Moon there..." - smiled Applejack, taking off her stetson. - "Ah guess we owe ya one, sir..."
"Oh, people, relax..." - he exhaled a puff of smoke. - "All of you contributed in this triumph - and I mean everyone. It was a real feat of everyone: Rarity and all this magnificent attires, Fluttershy overcame her stagefright, Octavia generously provided us with her time, taking it off her busy schedule... Heck, people - I love you. C'mere, bandits..." - he pulled all his students and friends into a massive group hug, cheering and hollering their joy.
"Congratulations, Aurora Borealis - you've really did an immaculate job..." - chuckled Principle Celestia, and Vice Principle Luna stepped forward with a bright smile:
"You really rocked our socks, if I may say that. It was... it was... fabulous. Congratulations! Celebrate your triumph. You've earned it."
"Thank you, Principle! Thank you, Vice Principle, ma'am!" - all replied in unison, bursting into laughter as they did so. The sisters waited with a smile until the cheers subsided and Luna spoke up:
"I fear that we shall take mister Moon from you; he is being expected."
"Expected? Who is expecting me?"
"Ladies," - smirked Celestia. - "And it's unbefitting of a fine gentleman to keep a lady waiting."
"Oh..." - Moon quickly raised to his feet, dusting off the tuxedo. - "Then I guess I'd better get going. You people are awesome. More than that. Have fun!"
As he was walking away, escorted by two gorgeous mademoiselles, he heard the boom of Pinkie:
"THIS CALLS FOR A HUGE PARTY!!!!!!".
"How did she managed to bottle it for so long - what, five, six minutes?.." - he pondered out loud, earning a smirk from Celestia:
"That's just Pinkie Pie for you. Don't sweat it."
"Oh, okay."...
The ladies in question were the two most freaking heartstopping beaus he had ever laid eyes on: Cheerilee and Flitter.
Moon gulped down the lump in his throat, approaching the ladies:
"Buon soiree, mademoiselles. I trust you've had a good time?.." - plastering on a proper smile, he inquired, being enveloped in a joyful hug from Flitter; he froze at the feeling of her ample breasts squeezing against his chest:
"Good time?! You must be kidding! It was absolutely breathtaking!.." - she moaned into his ear, eliciting an uncomfortable twitch somewhere south of the solar plexus. - "It was simply... I can't even find the words!!"
"Well, I shall mention that the choir was simply divine..." - he managed to utter, trying to pry free from the grasp. - "I haven't heard anything so wonderful in ages! And it was a capella!"
"Yes..." - Flitter licked her lips, giving the man a bedroom look, making him panick and steal pleading glances at the Cheerilee: help!!
The schoolmarm, however, looked perfectly content with the fact that Moon was being harassed in the plain sight; instead of helping him off, she grinned smugly and approached him from the behind, swaying her hips seductively, embracing both from behind the Moon's back:
"Praise the hero of the day..." - she whispered into his ear, giving it a small nibble. - "That was outstanding..."
"Say, Cheerilee, if we must?.." - winked Flitter, slightly rubbing herself at Moon.
"I think so..." - Cheerilee grinned coyly, pressing her perky bosom into Moon's back; the man shivered in tension. You're sandwiched in between two breathtakingly beautiful damsels and you're still flipping yer dung about it?!, roared the 'conscience', be a MAN already!!
"Cheerilee?!" - he gazed back as much as he could, dumbstruck, earning a giggle:
"Why, silly, Flitter's my sister!"
"I got the looks, and Cheers got the wits..." - purred Flitter, planting a small kiss to the Moon's jaw. - "So, where was I?.."
"Our place or yours?" - smirked Cheerilee, coping a firm feel of Moon's rear; he winced at the surprise attack.
"You've always been such a naught, sister..."
"Everything for a family..." - grinned the schoolmarm, and the two hotties dragged the dumbstruck Gaius Tiberius Lucian, also known as Moon Shine, away from the scene... |
Pro at Cons: Schoolfed | Epilogue, or That's Why She's Called Trollestia | "Guh, I simply cannot believe it..." - grunted Luna, closing the door and kicking her boots off in irritation. - "Tia! I'm home!"
"I'm in my study, sis! C'mere..." - came the reply from the depths of the house, and Luna grudgingly made her way to the defined destination.
What hit her as odd was that her the blinds were closed shut; Celestia always preferred her quarters to be flooded in bright light. Now it was dim and dusky.
"Oh, sis, good to have you here..." - cooed Celestia. - "Pass me an ashtray, be a dear?" - Luna was dumbstruck at the sight of her sister: her usually pristine, flowing hair were now unkempt, as if she just negligently sprung it up with both hands, and the fact that she was laying lazily in her armchair... with a glass of whiskey? Biting off the tip of a large Havana?!
"Tia?.." - Luna cautiosly inquired, passing a bronze-cast ashtray to her sister. - "You feeling alright, sister?"
"Why, I feel awesome..." - she giggled, lighting a cigar with a match and dragging deep. - "Can't a girl indulge to her small guilty pleasures?.."
"Why yes, but..." - Luna stopped abruptly, noticing that Celestia crossed her legs over one another at the armchair's arm post, feeling a familiar envious tingle at the sight of her sister's long, slim, alabaster-white legs; she had always envied how long and slender her sister's legs were, and the short silk bathrobe gave her quite a look.
Well, she herself wasn't much different in terms of physical fitness, but she was shorter than Celestia...
"Nevermind..." - Luna shook off the shock, returning to the more pressing matter. - "Tia! We need to talk!"
"Go ahead, little sis..." - purred the lady, taking a sip. - "What's on your mind?.."
"I just heard it from a grape vine that you've pulled an intricate scheme... All that concert, fundraising and stuff..." - Luna just choked at her righteous fury, as she had seen Celestia's smug grin. - "What for, sis?! What for?!"
"That was smart, wasn't it?" - the principle of CHS giggled, pulling deep on a cigar. - "Come on, sis, admit it!"
"Well, yes, but... wait." - Luna raised a hand, milling what she had to say in her mind. - "Let's not ramble and get this straight: you pulled money from the school budget..."
"Exactly..."
"...to pay some fraud..."
"Technically, he's a veteran mercenary and a professional con artist..." - nodded Celestia, swirling the drink in her glass. - "But yeah, you caught the drift!"
"...so that he'd run some devious revenge plans of yours?!" - Luna fumed with anger and surprise.
"Guilty as charged." - laughed Celestia. - "What? The fundraising went smooth!"
"Yes, I can't deny that - and I won't, but - Tia, isn't that a bit extreme?! I mean, getting back on Cinche is one think - I can't stand that hag, too, but Mayor? What has she ever done to you?!"
"There are some things I'd rather not speak about, Lulu..." - cooed Celestia. - "Let's say I've let sweet Cadence to try and stand in charge of the Crystal Preps; I'm sure she'd do nice, and also I've made Cinche eat a nice hot serving of a humble pie, so it's a win-win... And also I've had tons of fun, so make it triple win!"
"I... I just..." - stuttered Luna, dumbstruck at the scale of her sister's deviousness. - "I... I guess that explains why people sometimes dub you 'Trollestia'..." - she exhaled, drooping her head in defeat.
"That's exactly why I call the shots, dear sister..." - smirked Celestia, downing her drink in one swig.
Le fin. |
The Blue-Blood of the Bon-Bon | pre | "Thank you, Ms. Bon-Bon." Blueblood held his front hoof into Bon-Bon's front hoof and said, "I hope to make you proud.'
"I would love to see you try."
"You can count on me, my lady." Blueblood kissed Bon-Bon on the cheek.
"So, what does my knight in shining armor have planned for our date?"
"Oh, so many wonderful things. Does tomorrow night work for you? Even though you look absolutely gorgeous right now, I think you should look your fanciest tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night is fine with me."
"Thank you, Ms. Bon-Bon."
"No need to call me Ms. Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon is fine enough."
"Certainly. I suppose we are heading to the point where formalities can be relinquished."
"As long as the relinquishment of formalities doesn't mean I have to sleep with you right now, I think it's okay."
Blueblood laughed and commented, "Turquoise told me that you are the Queen of Cynics."
"No one needed to tell me that you are the King of Assholes."
"King? But my dear", said Blueblood putting his forehoof on Bon-Bon's back, "I am the Prince of Assholes."
Bon-Bon smiled, at least Blueblood was self-aware of his personality flaws, that counted for something, right?
"I suppose I should get going. I need to plan this date and make it perfect."
"Are you going to ask your mommy?"
"Mother might offer some good advice."
"Remember though. Your mother is some high-class unicorn from Canterlot. I'm a middle-class earth pony from Ponyville, keep that in mind."
"But you are both mares, that should mean something."
"I suppose. Where should I meet you?"
"How about I pick you up at your apartment at 6 PM tomorrow?"
"Perfect. I will see you then."
"Farewell, my lady."
Bon-Bon watched as Blueblood got into his carriage. The 'engine' started to run on the carriage and it drove away.
Bon-Bon thought to herself, "Am I in over my head here? I could probably turn down Blueblood whenever I felt like it, but what if I can't?"
Probably the strongest motivation for Bon-Bon at this point was curiosity, could Prince Blueblood sweep her off her hooves?
Tomorrow would be the time to find out. She just had to make sure she was fully ready for the date. She would go to the spa tomorrow and possibly to some dress shop in town to buy a brand new dress. Bon-Bon need to ensure that any potential screw-ups were his and not hers, that would allow Bon-Bon to make her final decision confidently.
> The Spa
Bon-Bon entered the Ponyville Spa with Lyra. She wanted to look her best for herself. It certainly wasn't for that Blueblood fellow.
The trip to the spa was awkward at best and intrusive at worst. Every pony wanted to know about Bon-Bon and Blueblood in front of Lyra. Bon-Bon would always respond, "Read the paper."
But there was Pinkie Pie. She wouldn't take that as an answer. The pink pony seemed terrified that this would mean Bon-Bon was going to abandon Lyra for Blueblood. Pinkie's tail suddenly twitched and she told Bon-Bon that there was going to be a real doozy. Pinkie sense. Can't explain it but Bon-Bon had lived in Ponyville long enough to know not to take it lightly. Hopefully, the only doozy was going to be Blueblood's tears when Bon-Bon turned him down. Bon-Bon would never leave Lyra behind for him. Even if she decided she was madly in love with the prince, keeping Lyra around would be mandatory. Fuck him if he gets jealous.
"Bonnie, is what Pinkie feared anything I should worry about?", asked Lyra.
"Of course not, you are best pony. No cocky prince is going to get in the way of our friendship."
"You're right. Hell, you don't even really like the guy."
"Yup."
But inside, Bon-Bon wasn't so sure anymore about that. She didn't want to admit it but Blueblood had impressed her already.
Bon-Bon saw that Fluttershy and Rarity were relaxing in the hot tub.
"Hi Fluttershy", called out Bon-Bon.
"Hi Bon-Bon and Lyra", said the yellow pegasus softly.
Rarity said, "Hello Bon-Bon. Hello Lyra. As for Bon-Bon, I suppose I should be referring to you as Mrs. Blueblood now."
Bon-Bon couldn't help herself. She had to mess around with Rarity.
"Umm, pardon me, but who are you?"
The unicorn said, "How could you forget who I am after all of these years?"
Bon-Bon shrugged.
The unicorn continued, "Unbelievable. You were the valedictorian of our class at Ponyville High and you can't remember something as simple as who I am."
Bon-Bon shrugged again and commented, "I don't think I ever had to learn that in school."
"You remembered Fluttershy's name just fine!"
"I guess Fluttershy just sticks out more to me."
"It's okay", said the unicorn with a sly smile. She knew what Bon-Bon was up to.
"It's good to see you again, Rarity", said Bon-Bon.
"So, I want all the scoop. How does it feel that you are now Blueblood's wife?"
"Well, I haven't said yes to him yet."
"You haven't? Between you and me, I can understand why."
"Please enlighten me."
"I don't think I have ever told you this, but I was bestowed with the honor to date Prince Blueblood myself. We were at the Grand Galloping Gala together. He was not a gentlecolt at all. He was rude, arrogant, and self-absorbed. It was the worst night ever. I didn't want to have anything to do with him after that fiasco at the Gala. I am perhaps the only other unmarried mare besides you in Ponyville who didn't enter her name into the competition."
"What about your five friends?"
"Oh", said Fluttershy meekly, "I decided to enter."
"Fluttershy didn't pay attention to me when I was telling her how awful he was."
"Oh, sorry."
"It's okay, Fluttershy."
"I'm sorry I made you mad."
"No, no.. no worries. Blueblood is handsome."
"He sure is. Congratulations, Bon-Bon."
"Thank you, Fluttershy", Bon-Bon said.
"I wonder why Blueblood picked you", said Rarity with a cool air, "you clearly had no interest in him."
"Maybe that was why he picked me. I might have seemed 'hard-to-get' for Blueblood."
"Ah, so you are here to look your prettiest, huh?"
"I am always my prettiest, Rarity."
"Of course, I should have known that. So, do tell me about what the prince was like to you."
"He was actually quite gracious and kind to me."
"Yes", Fluttershy piped in, "I saw it on TV."
"You watched that dreadful reality dating show", asked Rarity.
"Sorry, I just found the show to be real interesting to watch. He had three contenders left and there was Bon-Bon."
"Blueblood thinks Lyra's name is Turquoise", commented Bon-Bon.
"Heavens! I wonder what he thinks my name is."
"Probably Stuck-up Bitch."
"Oh, Bon-Bon", said Rarity while rolling her eyes, "you always know how to crack my funny bone. Perhaps, you two are meant for each other."
"Perhaps." Bon-Bon admittedly was glad to know that Blueblood's treatment of her was unique. It seemed he treated Rarity even worse than he treated Lyra.
On the other hoof, why should she care one bit about what Blueblood thought off her or any other pony?
She was going to turn down Blueblood and let him find somepony else, right?
Rarity sighed, "Come on, Bon-Bon and Lyra. Join me and Fluttershy in this hot tub."
Bon-Bon and Lyra got in the tub. The water was relaxing and soothing. Perhaps, it would allow her to think about whether Blueblood is the one for her or not.
Bon-Bon closed her eyes. In her mind, she could see Prince Blueblood and Lyra Heartstrings.
Both of them were telling Bon-Bon, "You can only love me and not the other!"
The two unicorns were quarrelling with one another. Suddenly, Lyra shot a beam of magic at Blueblood and made him disappear.
"Aren't you happy, Bon-Bon? I made Blueblood disappear!"
"Where did he go?"
"I dunno. Magic is magic."
Bon-Bon should have been relieved, but she felt angry instead.
"Bonbonbonbonbonbonbonbonbonbonbon, wake up!!"
Huh?
There was Lyra sitting next to her. They were still in the hot tub. Rarity and Fluttershy were gone.
"Silly Bon-Bon", said Lyra, "you fell asleep in the hot tub."
"Where did Rarity and Fluttershy go?"
"They had to leave to do whatever it is they normally do."
"Fluttershy is a model and Rarity is a nobody."
"Yup. What are you supposed to be doing now? I mean, it's only an hour till your date with Prince Blueblood."
An hour?
"Lyra, why the hell did you not wake me up before?"
"You looked so cute and relaxed sleeping like that. I couldn't."
"I still look like crap. I was supposed to get a facial and a hooficure and..."
"Didn't you do your own hooficure three days ago?"
"Yea, but still, the spa apparently makes everything better. Blueblood is going to think I'm some low-class pony who doesn't know the finer things in life and..."
"Oh, so you do care."
"Umm.. of course not. I just don't want to give Blueblood any reason to reject me when I um... turn him down."
"Come on, Bonnie! I know you too well. You have a.. well.. it's not a crush since he obviously likes you back.. but you feel something for Prince Blueblood. See, I told you that I wasn't just being shallow when I liked him."
Yea, she was..Lyra fell in love with Blueblood without having a single conversation with him. Bon-Bon wasn't even in love with him, but she did converse with him and get some idea of what his character was supposed to be like. However, Bon-Bon promised herself to not go there with Lyra.
"Don't worry, Lyra. You're my true love."
"Tee hee, you're funny, Bon-Bon."
"Pinkie Pie told us a week ago that we look like such a great couple."
"She's Pinkie Pie, why does she do anything?"
"I suppose."
"I know you love me and I love you too. But, I know that you are also thinking about Blueblood."
"Why has he been treating me so differently than he treats other ponies?"
"I don't know, maybe he wants to mess with your head or something crazy like sleep with you."
"Every pony wants to sleep with me, Lyra. What makes Blueblood so different?"
"To start, he's a prince and he has an abundant amount of wealth. Blueblood will set you for life and you can leave that shitty corporate ladder climbing job."
"Wouldn't it be much more worthwhile to become wealthy by climbing to the top of that corporate ladder than marry some wealthy prick", asked Bon-Bon, "my parents always said that hard work is the best path to success."
"Nah, screw that. While we're talking though, shouldn't you be going to Canterlot?"
"Yikes!! I gotta go, you're right!"
Bon-Bon rushed out of the spa. Her confidence had dropped tremendously. She left not looking like a goddess but typical Bon-Bon. Blueblood was going to hate her for being so ugly. Bon-Bon stopped at her apartment, took a quick shower, put on one of her dresses and rushed to the next train to Canterlot. How could she get Blueblood to love her tonight. No wait, that's not what she should be thinking, rather it was being warranted to turn down Blueblood tonight. |
The Blue-Blood of the Bon-Bon | The Knight | Bon-Bon couldn't be late. She needed to be perfect for this date.
Absolutely perfect! The train to Canterlot needed to go faster.
The earth pony looked outside the window with the hopes that the train would arrive at exactly 5:58 PM.
No, scratch that. Earlier would be better.
Suddenly, Bon-Bon heard a familiar voice.
"Hi Bon-Bon, funny running into you on this train!"
The voice was loud and high-pitched. Pinkie Pie.
What was Pinkie doing? Would she embarrass Bon-Bon in front of Blueblood?
"Bon-Bon, you're famous now!"
"Yea, I guess."
"Everypony is calling you Blueblood's unexpected lover! Isn't that cute?"
"That doesn't sound cute at all, Pinkie Pie."
"Oh, I see somepony is a Ms. Grumpy McMeany Pants today."
"I'm sorry, Pinkie. I am not really that comfortable with being in the spotlight."
"Oh, of course! Not every pony is like me."
Bon-Bon thought to herself, she and Pinkie couldn't be more different.
"So, what brings you to Canterlot?"
"A cupcake convention!"
"Sounds yummy."
"So, what about you? Did you break up with Lyra to date Blueblood?"
"No.. um...."
"Rarity told me all about Blueblood and the interesting characteristics of his personality."
Rarity... for all they knew, Blueblood treated her so poorly because Rarity acted like a greedy golddigger. Jeez.. why was Bon-Bon defending Blueblood in her mind? This has to stop!
"I know all about that stuff. I just figured that well.. Blueblood hasn't been mean to me yet."
"Yet!! I know of a sexy unicorn mare back home who will never be mean to you.."
"Wow, you should win the Queen of Fucking Subtlety. Perhaps, Princess Celestia will give you a crown."
"Oh, I know. They should call me Pinkie Subtlety Pie! I think Celestia will crown you as Princess Potty Mouth of Ponyville."
"Princess Celestia will change my cutie mark into a toilet just to emphasize that for me."
"She can change cutie marks?"
"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?"
"I want my cutie mark to be um..... to think about it... nothing is better than balloons."
The train finally arrived at Canterlot.
It was 5:58. Thank Celestia!
"You could stay with me a little longer", said Pinkie Pie, "the convention doesn't start till 7."
"I am meeting some pony in two minutes."
"Ah, I guess it's a 'secret'."
"Last thing I need is the fucking media on my case."
"Don't worry", said Pinkie with a smile, "I'll make sure the media stays far away from you tonight. Have some fun! I just hope that Blueblood character doesn't do anything to destroy you."
"I'm a strong mare", replied Bon-Bon, "don't worry about me."
"Ooh, I will be at the cupcake convention early! La la la la la la!!" Pinkie bounced off.
It was 6:15.
Where was Blueblood? He said that he would meet her at the train station.
Bon-Bon grew nervous. What if he decided to bail on her?
Why should that matter? Oh fuck it! Yes, all of this did matter to her. She didn't know why, but perhaps reason was not meant to play a role in these matters.
"Good evening, Ms. Bon-Bon. I hope you are doing well tonight."
It was indeed Prince Blueblood. He was dressed up in a suit and carried a sword.. wait what?
"Good evening, Sir Blueblood. I am doing quite well. Might I ask what a handsome prince such as yourself is doing with a sword?"
"I figured you would ask that. I have something most exquisite planned for our date. It is only the appetizer, but it will be a most exciting one."
"With a sword?" Bon-Bon knew that Blueblood was going to try to impress her with something. She decided it would be a little fun to mock his sense of pride.
"Yes, my dear. Are you familiar with the Horse Knights?"
"I am somewhat. My friend, Lyra, actually really loves that stuff though. I've never really been into fantasy."
"Fantasy? Ho ho ho! This is very much reality, Bon-Bon."
"Perhaps. I think the real fantasy is you doing anything spectacular with that sword."
"And the sassy maiden speaks!"
"The sassy maiden speaks the truth about what is weak and what is strong."
"This sounds like a challenge", responded Blueblood, "I shall slay a dragon for you!"
"Ummm, Blueblood. I don't think Twilight Sparkle would like it much when she sees Spike got killed by your sword."
"What? No no no. I do not wish to fight a baby dragon. This would be considered unacceptable and unimpressive to the sassy maiden which I, the Horse Knight, wish to impress. No, my dear lady. I will use this sword to slay a real dragon."
"Spike's a real dragon."
"You know what I mean."
"No, I don't."
"Does Ms. Sassy wish to watch me fight a dragon?"
"Ms. Sassy will watch since she believes this will be amusing. She just hopes her sweet prince will not be injured."
"It is risky. However, I know that Ms. Sassy will be most happy to see how strong I really am."
"Ms. Sassy knows that her prince is humble since he does not speak in the third person."
"My next task will be to teach Ms. Sassy how to be humble."
It was refreshing to Bon-Bon to see that Blueblood not only had a good sense of humor but also did a decent job of keeping up with her in the snarky department. Kind of like Lyra. Celestia, no! This arrogant and proud prince was nothing like Lyra except that they both were unicorns!
"Come on, Bon-Bon. It is time to fight dragons."
"Okay, big shot."
Blueblood whistled and a limo appeared.
"The dragons don't live particularly close", said Blueblood with a whisper.
"Don't worry, Blueblood. I will protect you."
Of course, Blueblood would use a limo to get to wherever they needed to go, thought Bon-Bon. Princes weren't expected to rely on lowly public transportation.
Blueblood was looking at his sword, making sure it was sharp enough.
What was going to happen? Was Blueblood going to slay a poor, helpless baby dragon like Spike? That wouldn't impress Bon-Bon. It would horrify her. She was hoping Blueblood would fight something larger, but would he be able to fight a larger dragon? What if Blueblood got hurt... whatever, this was all his damn fault.
The limo arrived at a volcanic area.
"Thank you, Sotheby", said Blueblood.
"You're welcome, Prince Blueblood and Lady Bon-Bon", said Sotheby with a Canterlot accent, "when do you expect to return?"
"Ho ho! Lady Bon-Bon will definitely be back within two hours. However, we will see if I survive my fight with a dragon."
"Heh heh. If you're gone, your mother is going to kill me."
"Can't you use your magic to protect yourself from my mother's wrath?"
"Her magic is stronger than mine, but even if I survive, to earn your mother's scorn would be a horror. Bon-Bon, if Blueblood gets killed by a dragon, my advice would be to go back to Ponyville as soon as possible."
"Aw", said Bon-Bon, "you mean, I won't have time to celebrate the prince's death here."
"My dear Ms. Sassy", commented Blueblood lightly, "you can throw a big party back at Ponyville. I heard one of your friends, Cheese Pie, is quite the party preparer."
Cheese Pie? Oh, Blueblood.
"I don't know a Cheese Pie. I do know a Pinkie Pie though. Perhaps, that is the one you are talking about."
"She certainly is very pink, so perhaps. She is a clever one. She told me that she organized an impromptu cupcake convention in Canterlot so the media would ignore us on our date. How she knew? I don't know."
"She's Pinkie Pie, that's all you need to know."
"Enough chit chat! I want to fight a dragon."
"What if the dragon tries to kill me instead?"
"I shall not let that happen, my lady." Blueblood held Bon-Bon's front hoof and kissed it.
Bon-Bon followed Prince Blueblood into a pit where they saw four dragons hanging out. They weren't particularly large, but somewhere in between a baby dragon and a full-grown dragon.
"Dragons are known for their arrogant and brute nature", whispered Blueblood to Bon-Bon, "especially one that is a teenager. I bet I could provoke one of these dragons to fight me."
"Are you sure you can do this", whispered Bon-Bon back, "it's sweet that you're trying to impress me in such a spectacular way, but this looks dangerous."
"I have a sword", commented Blueblood, "perhaps, Ms. Sassy would have trouble wielding the sword against a dragon but I do not."
"Perhaps, Ms. Sassy simply has had too much sense to try."
"Let's begin." Blueblood called his throat and called out, "Hey, idiots!"
The dragons all turned their heads.
"I am Prince Blueblood and I have been decreed to sentence one of you to execution."
The lean red dragon laughed loudly. His friends joined him in laughter.
"A namby-pamby pony and his little girlfriend are here to fight one of us", said the red dragon, "perhaps you're the idiot."
The dragons shared a hearty laugh.
"This namby pamby pony has a sword", said Blueblood, "also lay one claw on my girlfriend and Equestria will annihilate all the dragons with a toxic poison gas."
"What if we lay a claw on you, pony prince", asked the dragon.
"It's okay", said Bon-Bon, "nopony is going to care."
"That is correct, added Blueblood.
"Very well", said the dragon with confidence, "I shall fight you, princy-poo." His friends laughed with him.
Blueblood charged his sword at the red dragon saying, "I, Prince Blueblood, will fight for my lady's honor."
"I, Garble, will fight since ponies suck", said the dragon.
Blueblood's sword missed Garble. Garble took a swipe at Blueblood, chopping off a small part of his mane. Uh oh, Blueblood must not be happy about that.
Blueblood didn't drop the sword though and took another stab getting Garble in the chest and pushed the sword deeper and pulled it out. Just a little scratch? Underwhelming.
Suddenly, Garble began to cry. "Owwwwwww, you hurt me. Guys, did you see that? The pony gave me a little boo-boo." Tears went down Garble's eyes. Garble's friends seemed confused.
"I mean", said Garble, " come on guys. Fighting this pony is a waste of time. Let's get out of here."
The dragons flew away.
"I didn't realize dragons were such wimps", said Bon-Bon while smiling, "but, I'm proud of you, my knight."
Blueblood and Bon-Bon kissed. |
The Blue-Blood of the Bon-Bon | The Mother | Prince Blueblood was a good kisser, thought Bon-Bon.
The two ponies engaged in a long and passionate kiss.
Bon-Bon could tell that Blueblood was really into her.
"Prince Blueblood and Lady Bon-Bon, we should get going now. Blueblood's mother might grow worried."
It was Sotheby.
The two finished their kiss.
Blueblood whispered in Bon-Bon's ear, "You must meet my mother. She has been wanting to meet you so badly."
"I think I'll have time for that, my mother isn't worried about me.
'That is awful. I suppose it is because you're a daughter and not a son. I have heard that mothers favor their sons."
So delightfully naïve, thought Bon-Bon. Blueblood was just a momma's boy.
The two of them got into the limo.
"Who told you that, Blueblood?"
"My mother."
"L O L, you crack me up, you know that, right?"
"I suppose things are different in Ponyville then."
"Yes, they are. Mothers abandon their children upon birth at Ponyville. We all live in a cramped orphanage together and have to fend for ourselves. No mommies where we are."
"Oh my", said Blueblood with a hint of sarcasm, "I suppose I should worry about having a child with you. It shall be most sad if you treat our child like a Ponyville mother."
"Depends on how well you treat me", said Bon-Bon with a subtle wink.
"As long as you don't become like one of those dreadful 'Ponyville moms', I will treat you like a queen."
A queen? Please tell me. Of what are you a king?"
"I, Blueblood, am the King of Sexiness. I am the epitome of what is sexy and what is not."
"So, it's sexy to be a little momma's boy."
"Yes. A man should always have good relations with his mother."
Good answer, thought Bon-Bon, he was probably better at comebacks than she was.
Bon-Bon smiled and kissed Blueblood on the cheek.
"I have made you proud?"
"Nope. I am just a little slut that kisses everything in sight."
"Well well, Ms. Sassy. I will need to keep an eye out on that."
Bon-Bon wanted to make a joke about kissing Blueblood's mother, but she had a feeling that wouldn't go over too well even if Blueblood pretend to find it amusing.
The two ponies arrived at Blueblood's castle.
"Thank you, Sotheby, for driving us back", said Bon-Bon.
"My pleasure, Lady Bon-Bon. Lady Opulence is looking forward to meeting you."
"Likewise."
The castle was incredible. Bon-Bon couldn't believe that Blueblood actually lived in this place. It wasn't as large as the Heartstrings mansion but the interior was much more elegant and well-polished.
"Wow, this castle looks like it is fit for a prince", commented Bon-Bon, "who lives here?"
"This will soon be your castle, my lady."
"But who owns the castle now? You don't look like you would belong in here."
"If that is the case, I must not be a resident of this castle. I will research the matter and get back to you whenever I get an answer."
"My shining knight, always thinking of what is best for me."
"That is the truth, Ms. Sweetie Drops", Blueblood kissed Bon-Bon on the forehead.
"I see that you're a little slut that kisses everything on sight too, perhaps we are made for each other."
"Perhaps."
"A little slut that kisses everything on sight, huh", asked a sharp and feminine voice.
Oops, did Blueblood's mother just hear that?
"Ho ho, mother", said Blueblood, "I would like you to meet Lady Bon-Bon."
"Lady Bon-Bon? Hmmmm", said Lady Opulence while looking up and down to examine Bon-Bon, "you look like a lady, but I just heard you not sound like one."
Bon-Bon was scared, just when she was beginning to like the prince, was his mother going to axe it?
She felt herself tremble. Despite what she had just said, Bon-Bon was normally soft-spoken and polite.
"I'm sorry, it was an...", began Bon-Bon.
"My fault", interrupted Blueblood, "I shared some inappropriate jokes with the lady and she was simply repeating what I had said."
"Oh, so that is what happened", said Lady Opulence, "all is forgiven! My little boy can make all the jokes he wants, isn't that right?"
"Yes, it is, mother."
"But", said Lady Opulence sternly, "does this mean my son has fallen in love with a parrot?"
Blueblood laughed loudly. He knew quite well that Bon-Bon was no parrot.
"No, my lady", said Bon-Bon, "I know the difference between what is offensive and what is not offensive. I should have known better to not say such things in the castle. I apologize, my lady, and I hope that you can forgive me."
"We shall see", said Lady Opulence, "I warned my son that Ponyville-raised ponies aren't the most civilized."
"It is okay", said Bon-Bon, "my mother has warned me that Canterlot-raised ponies can be quite stuck-up."
"Your mother was wrong."
"As are you."
"Her eating habits are better than mine", said Blueblood.
"Ladies are held to much stricter standards, my son", responded Lady Opulence, "where in heaven's name did you get that dress?"
"Oh, this thing", said Bon-Bon, "I actually got this from my friend's mother."
"Hmmmm, I noticed it looked distinctly Ponyville."
"Funny, you say that", responded Bon-Bon, "I actually obtained this dress from Canterlot. My friend's mother is Ruby Heartstrings. It was a dress she handed down to me while I was at Canterlot University."
"You know Ruby Heartstrings?"
"Mother", said Blueblood, "I told you that I met Bon-Bon through Lyra."
"Hmmm", said Lady Opulence, "so you know the Heartstrings quite well?
"Yes, I do", responded Bon-Bon, "particularly, Lyra Heartstrings of course."
"Friend of the Heartstrings", said Lady Opulence slowly.
"Oh my gosh", said Lady Opulence much quicker, "please do not Ruby and Emerald Heartstrings if I offended you in any way. They are high society to the extreme."
"It's okay, mother", said Blueblood, "so, do you approve of Lady Bon-Bon?"
"What would Emerald and Ruby think about you two marrying?"
"Lyra is okay with it", said Bon-Bon, "she took the loss most gracefully."
"Good thing too", said Blueblood, "last thing I need is to be forced to marry some in-bred high-society mare."
Eh, Bon-Bon would let that pass this one time. She did know that Emerald and Ruby were cousins, so the statement was truthful and Blueblood knew it was true.
"In-breeding isn't that common of course", said Lady Opulence, "but it would explain Lyra and her obsession with humans."
The two of them laughed. Bon-Bon wanted to slap them both right there, even if they were right.
Bon-Bon needed to tell them that she disapproved, screw the consequences. This was Lyra they were insulting.
"Umm, excuse me", said Bon-Bon, "Lyra is a very good friend of mine and it upsets me to hear you two talk about her like that. I might even have to tell Mr. and Mrs. Heartstrings what I heard."
"Oh no no", said Lady Opulence shaking her head quickly, "I am dreadfully sorry. I sometimes forget to think before I speak."
"It is alright, mother", said Blueblood, "I should take the blame on this one. The only point I was trying to make is that proper breeding is more than where you have come from, but Turquoise is a sweet mare. I just didn't think she was right for me. Ms. Bon-Bon, you said she agrees, correct?"
"Yes, she does", said Bon-Bon.
Bon-Bon decided to leave out the part that Lyra found the whole thing hilarious.
"I won't tell Mr. and Mrs. Heartstrings what I had heard from either of you", said Bon-Bon, "it is okay. You both were being honest and that is something of importance and a trait I never expected Blueblood to possess."
"I have never met a lady like you before", said Blueblood.
"Oh yes", said Lady Opulence, "I asked him how the other three ladies were and he could only talk about you."
"Wow", said Bon-Bon, "I always kind of saw myself as a simple pony from Ponyville. There's nothing special about me. The other three mares who were there had much more to their name."
"Nothing special about you", asked Blueblood with a laugh, "that is nonsense! I can barely stand most mares and I tolerate your presence fully and willingly."
"Is that why you ignored those three ladies completely on your dates", asked Lady Opulence, "are they mares you cannot tolerate? I hoof-picked the most high class mares just for you and you turn them down for the self-proclaimed simple pony from Ponyville."
"Self-proclaimed is the key word", said Blueblood, "and you know what, mother. I know exactly what the problem was. You picked all my dates for me. All you did was pick the daughters of your friends and that disappointed me. You never thought about what I wanted. I hated that so much. They all looked at me like I was going to crown them princesses. There was only one pony in the room who seemed to not treat me so superficially and that was Bon-Bon."
"If that is what you want", said Lady Opulence, "go ahead and marry Bon-Bon. She is.. um... well, please don't tell the Heartstrings what I am about to say."
"Fine, I promise", said Bon-Bon.
"Class is more than your upbringing. My dear Blueblood, what I am about to tell you will shock you."
"It is okay, mother."
"I was born and raised in Ponyville myself", said Lady Opulence, "I even was friends with a mare that looks an awful lot like you. Her name is Candy Crush."
"Candy Crush? That's my mother!"
"She's a lot like you. Well-mannered, but an insufferable smartass."
"It's okay, mother", said Blueblood, "I knew about that years ago! Father told me."
Lady Opulence groaned, "Of course, he would."
Blueblood whispered in Bon-Bon's ear, "I told you that you would like my mother."
"Awww, she's like me", whispered Bon-Bon back, "I guess you want to be a momma's boy to me too."
"Nonsense, you twit."
"So, mother", said Blueblood, "do you approve of the wedding?"
"I do", said Lady Opulence, "I think Bon-Bon has the potential to be a high society lady."
"Thank you, mother", said Blueblood, "the final question is..."
Blueblood bent down and pulled out a small gold box, "Ms. Sweetie Bon-Bon Drops, will you marry me?" |
The Blue-Blood of the Bon-Bon | The Decision | Bon-Bon couldn't believe the ring which Blueblood had picked out for her.
It was a ten-carat diamond ring with 28 miniature shimmers circling a giant one at the center. It was absolutely gorgeous.
Bon-Bon began to tear up at its beauty.
"W-w-w-wow.. Blueblood.. are you sure you want me to have something so beautiful?"
"Your beauty fits so well with this ring."
"I... don't know what to say."
"You know the answer I wish to hear."
"Yes, it is the answer you wish for me to say... but.. it's just all so sudden."
"You're not going to say no to my little boy, are you", asked Lady Opulence with a tone of sarcastic innocence.
"It is just... I must know, Blueblood. Why do you love me? There are so many other mares out there who are way prettier than me who were willing to throw themselves at you. What was it about me?"
"I thought I explained it quite well to my dear mother before", said Blueblood, "you are the only mares who have ever not judged me based on my social status. You did not assume that I was a great and infallible prince. I am only pony, like you. You are also quite beautiful. Turquoise thinks you are smoking hot, her words."
"That's the other thing, Blueblood. I cannot decide who I love more now: you or Lyra Heartstrings. Feel honored though that you have made it so far."
"Oh, I see. It is okay, Bon-Bon. I think I understand."
"I haven't said no. I just need some time to think about it. I promise I won't be a bitch about it, but I need a day or two to really think about what is right."
"Take your time, my lady. I don't want to force you into making a decision."
Blueblood seemed a tad nonchalant, but in the "Bon-Bon will pick me" sort of way rather than the "I don't care what Bon-Bon does" sort of way.
But damn it, this guy was supposed to be the arrogant, haughty asshole who made that white unicorn who runs the fashion shop all pissy, whatever her name was. This was the guy who didn't give a damn about Lyra on their date. This was the guy who knew that he was hot shit and had most of the world doing exactly what he wanted. Should Bon-Bon really follow through on the whim of a spoiled, young stallion? What if Bon-Bon says yes and Blueblood becomes a prick to her like he is with everypony else? For now, he seemed so damn perfect. Blueblood was the epitome of a gentlecolt.
"Thank you for thinking so much of me", said Bon-Bon, "I never had a stallion be so thoughtful towards me."
"But I suppose this Lyra mare is the most thoughtful of the thoughtful."
Now, he got her name correct too! There was nothing wrong with Blueblood at all.
"She certainly beats me in that regard."
"Well, you are Ms. Sassy. I cannot expect the Queen of Sass to be particularly thoughtful."
"I will certainly put a lot of thought into my decision. Right now, I need to consult with Lyra."
"Makes sense. The same way I consult with Mother."
"Yes. I should get going, but I promise that we will speak again tomorrow."
"Thank you, Bon-Bon."
Bon-Bon took the train back to Canterlot. Pinkie Pie took the seat next to Bon-Bon.
"Hiya Bon-Bon", said Pinkie, "how did your date go?"
"It was good."
"Good? That isn't enough details."
That's the point.
"So Pinkie, how was the cupcake convention?"
"It was super duper awesome! All of Equestria is talking about the cupcakes. For some reason, all the paparazzi found its way there."
"I wonder how that was. No pony was following me and Blueblood."
"I look out for you, Bonnie. You remember that now!"
Bon-Bon smiled at Pinkie. She supposed that was true in some respects.
"Ooh ooh. Let me guess what happened", said Pinkie.
Oh hell no, Pinkie had pony-reading skills like no other pony.
"Let's not."
"Come on! It will be super fun. Prince Blueblood was unexpectedly charming. He took you out on a date where he did something incredibly noble. You two kissed. Blueblood introduced you to mommy. Blueblood proposed to you again and you said you needed time to think about it."
"Let me guess, that was just a hunch."
"Yep."
"You're lucky I tolerate your pink perky ass."
"Okie dokie lokie! So, what are you going to do? How do you think Lyra is going to react if you say yes?"
"Alright Ms. Just a Hunch, you tell me how you think Lyra is going to react."
"Why would you think I know?"
"I don't know if it is going to be good, but I will have to tell her at some point."
"Does that mean you're saying yes to Blueblood?"
"No, it doesn't mean I am saying yes to him, Pinkie Pie. All that means is that I have to prepare for whatever happens."
"Okie dokie lokie! It makes me so sad though that this train ride is almost over. You're one of my favorite ponies to talk to."
"What pony have you not said that to?"
"Oh, I dunno. I can think of... well there's Gilda, but she's a griffon and not a pony. I guess Trixie is kinda stuck-up and I don't care for the fact that she took away my ability to speak that one time and... well, I can't think of anypony else."
"Gee, thanks."
"Whatever you decide, good luck. I just hope you're happy with whatever you do."
"I'm a big filly. I can handle whatever I do."
Bon-Bon arrived at her apartment. She had no idea what she was going to do. Prince Blueblood was incredibly charming and would offer Bon-Bon a wealthy and royal lifestyle. He seemed to love her. However, would he turn into an ass once he got Bon-Bon to marry him? This was something uncertain. Bon-Bon didn't know Blueblood well enough to know whether he was just playing her or if he really loved her. He really did go through a lot to impress her. Hell, Blueblood could even hold his own when Bon-Bon shot him down with her little remarks. Not many stallions or mares could do that.
Bon-Bon opened the door. She saw two dirty plates on the kitchen table. Two? First of all, Bon-Bon wished that Lyra had put the plates in the dishwasher like a responsible mare. It is what Bon-Bon would have done. She couldn't look at such filth anymore. She immediately put them in the sink, scrubbed them up, and put them in the dishwasher. Bon-Bon hated mess of any kind. At least, Prince Blueblood didn't seem to be fond of filth himself.
Secondly, there were two. Did Lyra have somepony over while Bon-Bon was gone?
All of a sudden, Bon-Bon could hear loud moans coming from Lyra's bedroom. Moans of pleasure. Wait, what?
Bon-Bon stood still just to listen to whatever sounds were from the room. She wasn't going to go in of course, but she wanted to hear.
Bon-Bon could hear, "Oh, Noteworthy! Pump harder.. harder... harder... hard OHHHHHH OHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Don't.. *pant pant* stop..."
Ugh, Noteworthy. He was some music geek which Lyra hung out with a lot. They were fucking each other? Bon-Bon should have known that they were getting awfully close at the Ponyville Pet Fundraiser. Something felt wrong to Bon-Bon.
Bon-Bon didn't feel sad. She didn't feel disappointed. She wasn't jealous. It wasn't just because Noteworthy was a dweeb. Bon-Bon no longer desired Lyra Heartstrings herself. Why was that? Let's think logically, thought Bon-Bon to herself. Some new pony had entered her life.. one that was... oh no, her heart wanted Blueblood and only Blueblood. Perhaps, Bon-Bon should say yes. She felt like she was falling into a trap. What if Blueblood turned out to be an uncaring and unfaithful husband? What if he simply saw her a prize and nothing more? If it wasn't for Blueblood though, Bon-Bon would have been crying over Noteworthy and Lyra fucking each other.
"I must say yes to Blueblood", said Bon-Bon aloud.
"Bon-Bon, is that you?", said Lyra from inside the room.
"Oh shit, I'm screwed, aren't I?", said Noteworthy.
"No, you are not, the well-endowed Noteworthy", responded Bon-Bon, "I have met my true love a couple days ago and I will tell him that I shall be his wife! I see that Lyra has found her true love as well."
"Wait, I don't love Noteworthy", said Lyra.
"What!?!?!?", whined Noteworthy, "don't say that. Of course, you love me!"
"Yea, you two got together and danced to some a capella music like chumps", said Bon-Bon.
"Who told you that", asked Lyra, "Pinkie Pie?"
"Yes, I believe it was her. She mentioned it to me at the pet fundraiser."
"Wasn't that the changeling who was pretending to be Pinkie Pie?" *
"The timing seems right admittedly, but Plot Convenience or Pinkie Pie, that pony was clearly right about you two." *
"No, she wasn't", argued Lyra, "I've been.. oh.... Bon-Bon, I... uh.... well, I'm sorry. I wanted to love you, Bon-Bon, but my true love is.."
"It's me, right", asked Noteworthy.
"No, my true love is the human", responded Lyra.
"You're so cute, Lyra. Who's higher on your list", asked Noteworthy, "me or Bon-Bon? Remember, you had sex with me just now."
"You think Bon-Bon and I haven't fooled around before", asked Lyra, "I guess I love you two the same."
This admittedly stung Bon-Bon a little bit. How could this whiny prick get as much love from Lyra as Bon-Bon? Did Lyra even know what she wanted out of life? She spent months obsessing over Blueblood. At least, Blueblood gave the impression that he knew exactly what he wanted out of life.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes!!!!! Bon-Bon was going to say yes to Blueblood.
"I have made my decision", said Bon-Bon, "if Prince Blueblood chooses to accept, I shall become Lady Bon-Bon."
"Not a Princess", asked Noteworthy, "you wouldn't make a good princess anyway."
"You would make a fantastic princess, Noteworthy. I guess ponies are meant for different things."
Noteworthy grumbled to himself. Bon-Bon kind of wished she wasn't talking to them through a closed door.
She wanted to see the looks on their faces.
"Very well", said Bon-Bon, "it is time for me to go back to Canterlot and meet up with Prince Blueblood."
"I can say that I am happy for you, Bonnie", said Lyra while crying, "I hope Blueblood is still a gentlecolt once you two are married."
"That is a risk I am willing to take. You two keep on having fun now."
Bon-Bon rushed back to Canterlot. Prince Blueblood was going to be surprised. She got on the train and saw the fashionista unicorn.
"Hello, Bon-Bon", said the fashionista, "I think I can guess what brings you to Canterlot?"
"You probably can."
"I must admit that I am a little jealous."
"Jealous, why?"
"I briefly told you about my encounter with the prince at the Gala, but I was in love with him. I even inadvertently made poor Twilight Sparkle go through the trouble of getting an extra ticket to the Gala so I could go and find my prince. I met Blueblood. I tried to be as charming as I could be. I wanted him to treat me like a lady. However, all he cared about was himself. The Gala was a real mess that year and there was a cake which toppled over. Blueblood hid behind me so I would get hit by the cake."
Heh heh, Blueblood was a neat freak like Bon-Bon.
"The difference between you and me is that you idealized Bluebood from afar. I got to know the real Blueblood, treated him with no expectations of being 'godlike', and that is how we got along."
"I suppose you are a better match for him than me then. If you're still anything like the pony I remember from high school, I can't say I am surprised that you didn't treat him like he was anything special."
Ugh, did she make that comment simply because Bon-Bon didn't spend every waking moment gushing about how beautiful the fashionista was? Whatever.. Bon-Bon decided that she would boost Rarity's ego a little bit, Bon-Bon was in a good mood.
"I disagree. I think that Blueblood has a lot of class like you. I don't think I can make it in his high society world."
"In all seriousness", said Rarity, "I think you have a mighty good shot, best of luck!"
"Thanks Rarity", said Bon-Bon with a smile.
"So, you do know my name?"
"Sometimes I do."
There was Blueblood, waiting patiently at the front of his castle.
"Ho, Lady Bon-Bon", said Blueblood, "this is a surprise."
"I have thought long and hard about it and my answer to your proposal is yes!"
"Thank you Bon-Bon", said Blueblood, "you probably couldn't understand how happy I am right now."
"The same with me."
The two entered into a long and passionate kiss.
Epilogue
Prince Blueblood and Bon-Bon had an extravagant wedding at Princess Celestia's castle. Lyra, Pinkie Pie, and Flitter were Bon-Bon's bridesmaids.
They lived in Blueblood's castle and had two children together: a unicorn filly named Bluebon and an earth pony colt named Bonblood. Blueblood was right, they were destined to have beautiful children together. Much to Bon-Bon's delight, they also inherited sharp minds and a strong work ethic.
Prince Blueblood turned out to be a devoted father and husband. He wasn't particularly kind to other ponies including Lyra, but that didn't matter to Bon-Bon. Blueblood was loyal to their family and that was all Bon-Bon could ask for.
Much to the delight of Lyra, she was welcome as a regular guest to the castle despite some reluctance on Blueblood's part. Lyra and Bon-Bon remained the best of friends. Lyra eventually married some pony who wasn't Noteworthy.
Bon-Bon would never regret giving Prince Blueblood a chance. |
An Alicorn's Harem | pre | "Well that would explains why you're in a robe," Dusk said. "But that still don't explain why you're here in the dining hall?"
Celestia giggled before replying. "What, a princess can't eat a little snack when she gets hungry?" She gave a mischievous smirk after her snarky response.
"Uh ... this is little snack!?" Dusk responded in utter shock.
"Well, it was suppose to be a little snack, but like always whenever I'm not specific about what I want to eat. I guess the cooks keep assuming that I want a feast when I say that," she sighs. "I really hate it when they over do it like this, it's such a waste of perfectly good food."
"Yeah ... a ... waste," Dusk said dreamily, eyeing the freshly made hayburgers that looked cooked to perfection. Realizing he was forgetting that Celestia was right int front of him, he quickly snaps himself back to his senses. "Hey, uh... Celestia you wouldn't mind if had a bite to eat, do you?"
"Hm? Oh of course you may Dusk. It a bit too much food, even for me. But before you come any closer, I'll need to get rid of your musk," She said as she casted a scent blocking spell.
When she was done Dusk appeared in the chair next to her, as if like (no pun intended) magic, and began to dig into the buffet as if he was like a purple coated Pinkie Pie.
Celestia was giggling at the purple alicorn's rather uncouth table manners.
"My my Dusk, even when you're a prince, you still eat like pig," she said, smiling at him.
"Hmm?" he looked up at the princess, his muzzle stuffed full with food.
"Oh don't pay me any mind just save me a slice of cake, at least;" she said before she drank some of her tea.
Dusk simply nodded his head and went right back to stuffing his face. For the first five minutes, the hungry stallion had already devoured more than a quarter of the buffet. He kept eating dish after dish without any sign of stopping. Though seeing such an uncouth table manners, Celestia was unfazed by her former student's behavior and simply drank her tea, while having a bite from her slice of chocolate cake like a proper lady.
After about fifteen minutes of nonstop eating, Dusk had finally finished off the entire spread, which had previously graced the table before him. The only remnants of food that remained was on his muzzle. He laid backed in his seat and he patted his stomach, completely contented that he actually felt full for once.
" I don't think I can eat another bite," he said as cleans his mouth with a napkin, before letting out a huge belch. "Heh, heh excuse me."
As soon as he was done wiping off food off his face, he heard the sound of a cup being placed in front of him, followed by the sound of liquid being poured into it. He looked to see that Celestia was using her magic to make him a cup of tea while she was still drinking her own.
"Think you have room for tea?" she asked.
"..Now that you mention it all that eating did make me parched," he said as lift up his cup for a sip. "Thank you,"
"Not at all Dusk," she before giving the stallion a serious look. "Now that you're done eating, I was hoping that we could discuss some important matters."
"Important matters?" he looked at Celestia with confusion.
Because he was so focus on the food, Dusk had nearly forgotten about why he had to meet up with Celestia.
"You mean about forming my herd?" he asked.
Celestia shook her head. "No, I already know that you're willing to start a herd. I just wanted to talk to you about few things you need to know. If you haven't figured it out already, your appetite has also gain a tremendous increase, hence why you were able to eat enough food for about ten starving ponies."
"Well seeing how it would take a lot of energy to please multiple partners, that does make a lot of sense."
"Another thing that I need to bring up is that you might have certain ... urges to be dominant in bed."
"You don't say," he said nervously, already knowing first hand about that fact.
"Don't worry Dusk, you're not going to hurt anypony by being a little dominant. It's a natural instinct for even normal stallions," she said.
'Oh trust me if I learned anything from my time with Luna, it that some mares really love being dominated,' he thought.
"But now that I think about it, I guess telling you that would be a bit redundant."
"What make you say that?" he asked.
"Well ..." she said with a mischievous smile. "The way that Luna was screaming so loud that all of Canterlot would have heart it, sure showed me who was dominating who in bed."
Dusk face turned completely red, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and his mouth was just hang opened.
'Well, on a brighter side at least I have don't tell her.' He thought.
Celestia giggled at the sight of the stallion's shocked expression. She placed one of her finger on his chin, and slowly closed his gaping mouth for him.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you, that's how you attract flies," she said, her finger still on his chin. Dusk didn't reply, still shocked at how Celestia knew about him sleeping with Luna.
"Judging by the look on your face, you're still probably wondering how I know about your little 'sexcapade'," she said pulling her hand away.
He was still silent, only nodding his head in response.
"To make a long story short, I knew before hand that you would mate with my sister."
"Y-you did?" he said, finally breaking his silence.
"Yes, I came up with a little plan for you and Luna to hook up."
"Wait," he said, his astonishment slowly turning into rage. "You planned for me to have sex with her?" he asked, growing angrily.
"I did indeed," she said rubbing the back of her head. "And I do apologize for keeping you in the dark Dusk, but I had good reason for doing it. I hope you won't get too mad with me."
Dusk was staring daggers at the white alicorn. If there one thing he didn't like about Celestia, it was the fact that she always involved him in her plans without his knowledge. He hated it because she often does it when she wants him to do something he would normally never do, but what got to him the most was the lack in trust. On the other hand, he knew deep down that she had good intentions in doing so, and also he could recall that this was the same tactic she used to help him acquire friends.
After pondering for a minute, the male alicorn let out a sigh, and lost his nasty glare. "No I'm not mad," he said in a dull tone. "But could you at least give me the decency of explaining why you did it."
"Of course. I knew you would still have some doubts about your ability to properly mate with a mare, so I decided to use Luna as a confidence booster, and also because she my prime candidate for your herd."
"Uh Celestia not that I don't mind you helping me with my harem, but don't you think Luna would be a tad upset with you playing matchmaker with her?"
"Actually, Luna was well aware of your need for a harem."
"She knows?" he said, surprised at this new information.
"Yes, but when I approached her about joining your harem; she told me that unless you made a move on her, she didn't want to be involved in the matter."
"I guess that explains why she was looking for a potion book," he said placing hand on his chin. "Speaking of books, you wouldn't by chance have anything to do with Luna's missing book would you," he asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Dusk Shine!" Celestia said looking appalled, taking great offense to his words. "Are you assuming that I took my sister book just so she come looking for you? What makes you think I would take her book, and ..." she stopped mid sentence, to see that her former student wasn't fazed by her obvious lie.
She giggled before answering, "Ok, I admit it; I took her book. But to perfectly honest, it was the only way to get her in bed with you. Because lets face it Dusk, you and I both know that she can be rather shy when she around a stallions she has a crush on."
"I guess you have a point there. I have seen her blushing every time I bring up the names of stallions, and ..." he stopped as he realized what had said. "Wait. Are you implying that Luna has crush on me," he asked, blushing heavily.
"Technically, I only said 'she can be rather shy around stallions she has a crush on'", she said smiling at him. "but yes she does indeed harbor a deep feelings for you personally. And honestly, I can't really blame her. You are quite the catch," she said as one of her delicately fingers finds it way on his upper chest.
"After all, not only are you a handsome stud, but you're also; highly intelligent, a great listener, you put other's needs before your own, and you are strong enough to have defeated foes that were equally as powerful as Luna and I ," she said seductively, her finger slowly rubbing against his chest, getting a good feel of his tone body.
The feeling of the mare's gentle touch made Dusk's face turn into a new shade of red, and his massive member was starting to harden.
"Uh Celestia? I think your spell is wearing off," he said nervously.
"Oh no Dusk, the spell is working just fine," she seductively said. "I'm just simply listing the reasons why mares would have a crush on you. That's all."
"Then, why exactly are you sliding your finger down my chest?"
"Because unlike my sister, I'm not afraid to show any affection toward a stallion I like," she said.
In actuality Celestia's spell was still in effect, it was just that ... it been quite awhile since she last slept with a good stallion, and just being a near one was already making her wet with excitement. And the fact that Dusk was her long time crush, it made things much easier for her to get into the mood.
Dusk's eyes widened as he saw that the princess' already flushed face turned into a deeper shade of red, and her eyes undressing him. Being the clever pony that he is, he figured that Celestia's estrus was doing most of the talking.
"Uh Celestia ... I think you might need to take another cold shower." he said hesitantly, slowly backing away.
Now Dusk wasn't exactly gung-ho about mating with his mentor. Sure Luna was one thing, but Celestia was another subject. This was the same mare who taught him everything he knew, and was one of his longest friend he ever had. He admits, he had some steamy fantasies about her, but that mostly had to do with his preteen hormones more than anything else. Besides, he could never satisfy her needs.
"Now why would I do that when I have a much more effective, and--" she licked her lips." fun cure right here," she said examining the stallion's body with her lust filled eyes.
"Well, I don't really feel comfortable taking advantage of you in your... current state," he hesitantly said. He began to feel really uncomfortable with Celestia looking at him like he was piece of meat.
"Taking advantage of me?" she said with a seductive smile, raising an eyebrow. "Dusk, I think we both know why your bit hesitant. And just because I was once your teacher, does that mean I can't be one of your lovers?"
"I know, but it still feels very awkward."
"I see ..." Celestia got up from her seat, and looked at the purple alicorn. "Then allow me remedy that."
Dusk raised an eyebrow as he because a little curious about this apparent remedy, and against his better judgment stayed put.
Celestia went to the knot on the robe, and began to pull it. As if it was rigged, she lets her robe slide off her body, and pooled around her hooves, revealing her bare body before him.
"Is that better?" she asked, giving the stallion a sultry smile.
The alicorn prince's pupils shrunk to the size coins as he hungrily stared at the solar princess; curvaceous ivory white body, her massive, round mammaries, and her large eggshell white areola with erect nipples that were so puffy that they were just begging to be played with. He licked his lips as his eyes lowered to see her flawless hips, and her feminine juice from her swollen labia slid down her long slender legs. Despite the lack of musk in the air, Dusk felt himself heating up, and his not so little friend was already hard as a rock.
The horny prince was really getting excited. His primal urges was telling him to just grab the voluptuous princess and ...'What am thinking,' he mentally berated himself. 'You can't sleep with her. You can't sleep with her...' He rapidly told himself, looking away from the source of his sexually temptation.
As he kept his sense of sanity into not banging his teacher, his train of thought was interrupted as Celestia decided to sit on his lap. Before he could even react, the heated princess already had both arms wrapped around his neck to hold him in place, making sure he stared into her lust-filled eyes. Celestia was quite awe struck at how much the stallion had grown over the years. No longer was Dusk a weakly colt anymore, now he was a muscular stallion that could satisfy the needs of over fifty mares, including her own.
Dusk was slowly losing control over himself. Along with the weight of her titanic tits pressing against his chest, Celestia was also viciously rubbing her moist cunt up against his raging boner, making sure her nectar seeped through his pants. It felt so good to him that his hips were involuntarily bucking.However, despite her teasing, there were still parts of Dusk that was telling him to resist it. "Celestia!" he said trying his best not to moan from the pleasure. "you need to... ."
The Solar princess cut him off by planting her lips against his. She tightens her grip around his neck as she slips in her tongue to make her kiss more passionate.
And that was the last straw. Feeling the softness of her warm, luxury lips and her invading tongue swirling around in his mouth, had reawakened the beast that was within him. Any thought of resisting had left his mind. The only thing he was thinking about now was plowing this mare until she could neither walk, or fly straight for a week.
The two alicorns kept up their passionate kissing, neither side showing any sign letting of up until Dusk come up with a idea. He encircles his arms around the mare's waist, refraining her from moving. His hands rubbed around her back until they found their way to Celestia's wings and wasted no time in rubbing the bases. Celestia took notice of this and pulled away, both of them looking deeply into each other eyes, and panting rather heavily. "I guess it's safe to say that you don't find this awkward anymore," she moaned, getting more aroused by the stallion's thorough massaging.
Dusk simply let out a small chuckle. "Well, let me put it to you this way," he said as his horn was covered in his magic aura. Recalling a spell out of Luna's book, he quickly teleported his clothes away. And oh sweet Luna, did Celestia's body feel good against his bare flesh. Her warm body was a lot more softer than he could possibly ever imagine and her diamond hard nipples were digging into him. But what caught his attention the most was the burning sensation of her dripping wet marehood. It literally felt like there was a heat wave radiating over his cock. He didn't know whether it was because of her ties to the sun, or if she was just in dire need of cock. Either way, he just couldn't wait to buck this mare senseless.
Celestia quickly withdrew from the stallion to examine him. And she was rather impressed at his well-toned body but what truly caught her attention was the hot, thick, twitching cock underneath her. Even though she sat on top of it, she still could see two-thirds of his third arm, already leaking with pre-cum. While the mare was getting antsy, she just couldn't ride him. She wanted to enjoy every bit of the delicious stallion meat in front of her as much as she could. In her train of thought, she was caught off guard as she felt her plump rump being squeezed by strong hands.
"Are you ready to became my mare," he purred, giving her a cocky grin.
"Oh, I'm more than ready Dusk. But I must warn you though, I won't be as easy as my sister," she said as she lifted herself off his lap, rubbing her wet slit over his fat tip.
"Well you do know I love a challenge,"
Celestia smiled "Good. Then shall we get started," she asked as she slowly lowered herself over his massive member.
Celestia tightens her grip around his neck as she shoved his stallionhood into her. Of all the cocks she ever had, Dusk's wasn't the biggest, but he sure came pretty close! Moaning in delight she felt her womb's entrance being penetrated as she took all of him inside of her.
"Mmm, It been way too long," she moaned excitedly. "Oh, I so missed this feeling."
"I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself," Dusk grunted.
"Oh, I haven't even started having fun yet," she grinned, as she began riding him.
Dusk groaned as he felt the hotness slide over his hard cock. Up and down, up and down. Celestia leaned back, getting the male alicorn a good view of her gigantic tits bouncing. He stared at them as if they had hypnotic prowess.
"Dusk," she panted, getting his attention. "You can play with them if want to."
Hearing her give him permission, Dusk eagerly grabbed her titanic tits with both hands. As his fingers sunk into her soft heavy flesh, he noticed something was leaking from her puffy nipples and dripping on him. He instantly noticed that it was milk, but he couldn't make any sense of them.
"Hmmm, how do you like my little surprise Dusk?" Celestia teased as she was thrusting her pelvis. "I used a lactation spell on myself so you can even more fun with them. I know how you like taking milk 'straight from the source'"
Upon hearing this, Dusk didn't waste a second, anxiously latching his mouth onto her left nipple. As he sucked, it sent a steady flow of warm creamy milk in his mouth until his cheeks bulged.
"Ooh! yes! Dusk keep going! It feels so good," Celestia moaned as she felt his tongue slide and tease over her nipple. "Harder! Do it harder!"
Dusk pulled away, quickly swallowing his mouth full of milk, and moved straight for her right nipple. He sucked on her teat even harder than he did the first time, making the mare moan to the point of screaming. Celestia hips began thrusting faster, eager to get a filled with her lover's hot, gooey seed! Not wanting to be outdone, Dusk thrusted his cock up hard every time she plunged down over him, trying his best hold back his own climax.
After minutes of thrusting, Celestia finally couldn't take it anymore. Her body tensing up, her arms wrapping around Dusk, and she let out a loud cry of bliss as a burst of ecstasy rushes through her. As Dusk felt her vagina clenching tightly around his cock, he too was at his limit. He thrusted his cock deep inside her as his balls finally released their massive load! It felt amazing, burst after burst of white hot cum gushing out of him. He filled her up to the point that some of his cum began leaking out from her filled cunt, and on to the chair and floor.
After what seem like a minute, both of their orgasms had finally subsided. Dusk leaned back in his chair, with Celestia still hugging him as tightly as she possibly could. The two alicorn were exhausted and covered in sweat.
"My word Dusk, you have no idea how great that felt," she panted, as she rest her head on his shoulder.
"Oh, I think have a fair idea," Dusk said, wrapping his arms around his lover. "Though I think we made a real big mess here."
"Well that not surprising, seeing how much you came," she said as she lifted her head off of Dusk's shoulder, looking directly into his flushed face. "Which, by the way I hope you're not tried after that."
A small smirk grew on Dusk's face. "You and I both know the answer to that question," he replied as he began kissing her passionately. Celestia instantly returned the kiss as they soon locked lips with each other.
She quickly withdrew and looked at her lover "Dusk, I suggest we should continue this... discussion in my room. Don't you think?" she panted, horn lit up for a teleportation spell.
"Sure, but I have question before we go."
"And what's that?"
"Would you mind lowering the sun earlier today? Because I don't think I have enough energy to set two suns in one day." |
An Alicorn's Harem | A Solar and Lunar Eclipse | -Chapter 3 A Solar and Lunar Eclipse-
-Day 2-
As the morning sun rises in the sky, several rays of sunlight make their way through the curtain of Celestia's personal chamber. One of the beams found it way to the bed, settling on the purple alicorn's face. Dusk stirred for a moment as he felt the warming rays on his face, he slowly sat up in the bed, rubbing the sleep out off his eyes and letting out a huge yawn.
As the male alicorn reached full consciousness he couldn't stop thinking about what had transpired last night. He still couldn't believe that he not only had he slept with Celestia, but he claimed her as one his mares for his harem. The strangest thing about it all was that he wasn't even ashamed or sickened that he mated with Celestia, in fact one could say he rather loved it.
Dusk couldn't exactly explain why he liked the idea of having his former mentor as a lover, he just knew that he did, and that it felt right in a way. He wanted to talk about these feelings more to the mare in question, yet she was no where to be found.
Dusk wasn't at all surprised to see Celestia's gorgeous form was missing, having most certainly left early to fulfill her morning duties as the princess of the sun. And while he'll freely admit that he kinda missed the feeling his lover's warm soft body wrapped around his, he'd also admit that it was nice to not have awoken with his rib cage crushed by a cuddling alicorn.
Dusk's thoughts were soon disrupted by his belly suddenly emitting a loud roar. It came as no surprise for him to be hungry, after all dealing with Celestia's rather insatiable sexual appetite would wear out nearly anypony. He then decided to get out of bed and begin his search for both clothes and nourishment. Thankfully, he had enough common sense yesterday to teleport his clothes here. He quickly gathered up his clothes laying on the floor and began getting dressed. Once the young alicorn was fully clothed, he headed straight to the dining hall.
After minutes passed, he walked up to the dining hall doors to be greeted with the wonderful smell of a freshly prepared breakfast. He was certain that Celestia was inside waiting for him, most likely wanting to discuss who should be in his harem, though honestly he already knew who he wanted. Dusk opens the doors and saw the solar princess in her robe sitting at the table, packed-full with food of various breakfast meals, having a spot of tea. Celestia took notice of his arrival and instantly gave him a warm smile.
"Good morning Dusk," Celestia said in a cheerful tone. "I trust you had a good night's sleep?"
However Dusk didn't reply as he was too busy gawking at the delicious delicacies that was laid out before them. Celestia giggled at the lack of response from the male alicorn and said, "Hurry up eat Dusk; we have much to discuss afterward."
Dusk didn't even need permission as he immediately rushed for a seat next to her and began chowing down on the bountiful breakfast in an non-regal manner. In less than fifteen minutes he was already done and was wiping his face clean. As he was about done he suddenly let's out prodigious belch. Feeling a bit embarrassed he awkwardly turn toward the female alicorn, however he paused as he noticed that Celestia was looking down at tea cup with a saddened and deep in thought.
"Uh Celestia?" Dusk asked, worried about the solar princess. "Is everything alright? You seem somewhat depressed."
"Hm?" Celestia said. "Oh sorry Dusk, I deeply apologize for spacing out like that." she slightly blushed. "What were you saying?"
"Well, I was just wondering if there was something upsetting you, that's all."
"Oh it's nothing Dusk,"she replied, though the small frown she showed betrayed her. "I was just thinking about something that all..."
The prince looked at his mentor with great concern. Even though Celestia had told him that nothing was wrong, deep down he knew that something was troubling her greatly. He hadn't seen her like this since the two of them went stargazing, back when Dusk was still her student and Luna while still banished on the moon. "Celestia, I can tell that something really bothering you, and I am more than willing to listen if you let me."
After a minute or two of silence, solar princess let out a sigh. "Okay Dusk if you insist. Ever since awoke from bed I just couldn't stop thinking about what had happened yesterday."
"Oh you mean when we..." his cheeks lightly blush "slept together?"
"You could say that..." she said in a sombra tone. "I was, just very disappointed..."
"Y-you were disappointed?" he asked dishearteningly, hoping that he had heard wrong.
"Yes, I really expected better from myself. There really was no excuse for my action and..." the princess voice trailed off as she hears a loud thud on the table and felt an extreme aura of depression. She turns her direction back to Dusk and was shocked to what she saw.
The alicorn stallion was laying the table on the side of his head, completely devoid of any and all emotion. Because of his wild imagination, when he heard her said the words 'disappointed' and 'yesterday' he quickly assume that she was referring to his performance in bed.
Criticizing a male on their skills in bed is a sure fire way to put a dent in his confidence, but for Dusk it might as well had been destroyed completely as he simply sat there, quietly muttering to himself about how he wasn't worthy to call himself a stallion.
"Oh dear," Celestia calmly said as she watch her lover was sulking in his own sadness, quickly realizing what she had unintentionally caused. "Dusk, I wasn't referring to your lovemaking skills. I was talking about myself."
However Celestia words had failed to reach the stallion's ears as he continues to berate himself. She kept trying to get him back to his sense by repeatedly calling his name while shaking him back and forth. But it still proved unless however as he still wasn't responding to anything she did. After awhile it had even gotten to a point to where even she was beginning to lost her patients.
"Dusk Shine!" she yelled in the royal Canterlot voice.
"Agh!" he yelped as he quickly covers his ears for the ear shattering roar." I think I may have just lost my hearing," he groaned while getting the ringing out of his ears.
"I'm very sorry for using my royal Canterlot voice like that Dusk, but you left me with no choice. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, apart from the ringing in my ears and my confidence being completely obliterated, I'm doing just fine..." he said, beginning to sound depressed again.
"Oh, no no no you misunderstood me Dusk," she said desperately trying not to get him all depressed again. "I wasn't talking about your mating skills in the slightest."
"Wait...you weren't?"
She shook her head. "No. I was mainly referring to myself."
"O-oh..." he chuckles nervously as he begins to blush with embarrassment. "But Celestia, why exactly are you so disappointed with yourself?"
"I guess you could say it was because I lost control of my heat, and took advantage of you in your present state."
"Well I can't blame you for feeling guilty about the whole thing; though I don't really understand you seem so distraught over it."
Celestia let out a big sigh right before saying. "I love you Dusk," she simply said. "I always loved you more than a student or a friend for a long time. The thing is, I also had my doubts that you may not feel the same for me. So when your need for a harem arrived, I had planned to finally tell you how I truly felt about you, and let you decide whether or not you wanted me as one of your lovers. Unfortunately, because of lack my control I forced you into claiming me."
"I know you probably think that it not that big of a deal, and you're most likely right; but... I just feel as though I greatly wronged you," she looks at her tea cup. "I don't deserve you. If I could so selfishly use you for my own needs then..." Celestia stops brooding as she feels something wrapping around her. She looks up to see that Dusk was using one of his wings to give her a hug. She then turn toward his face to see that he was showing great concern for her.
"Celestia," he said in a honest tone. "You shouldn't let that get to you. You just wanted to find some relief that all. I mean you rise and lower the sun for crying out loud, I'm more surprised that you didn't take me back when we were in the tea room. In my honest opinion, you didn't do anything wrong to me."
"I'm glad that you feel that way," she said with a small smile, but she quickly went back to frowning. "but I still abused your trust. Not to mention I still should've had more control over myself."
"Celestia, I'm going to be honest with you I'm kinda glad that you did. If you didn't came on strong like you did then I still would have seen you as nothing more than my mentor; instead of a smart, caring, and most amazing mare that you are."
Celestia, touched by his compliments, sheepishly tries to hide her face with the stallion wing, her white cheeks quickly becoming red. "That very nice of you to say Dusk but I..."
"But nothing," he interrupts. "Celestia I know you feel bad for what you did, but If I can forgive you for what happened then you're then able to forgive yourself." he placed a hand on one of princess. "Please Celestia I hate seeing you upset over this and..."
Dusk stopped talking as he felt Celestia affectionately nuzzling him. "Okay Dusk," she said in a warm tone. "You made your point. If you don't have a problem with my actions then I'll stop worrying about it. Thank you."
"There no need to thank me. You know I would always help you and given how you're apart of harem. Seeing you happy is one of my new responsibilities." he said as he blushes, beginning to feel a little hot under the collar.
"Quite true but I still appreciate it," she stop nuzzling to look at him. "Dusk, we need to discuss about your harem. It vital that we figure out who should be in your harem."
"Actually Celestia I wanted to talk to you about that. I kinda already decided who I want for my harem."
"I see..." she with a smirk. "Tell me, would those candidates just so happen to be your friends as well?"
The alicorn stallion lightly blushes as he shied away from her. "Was I that obvious?"
Celestia giggled a bit before replying,"There no need to feel embarrassed Dusk. I already expected you choose them, and I understand completely why you would choose them for your harem. You have been through so much with them after all so I can see why you would start feeling a special connection with them." A sinister smirk suddenly forms on her face. "Though to be honest, if I don't know any better I say you mainly chose them solely for their bust size."
Dusk's light blush turned into a blazing inferno. "What!? No, it's nothing like that at all!" he quickly defended. "I mean sure their very attractive and well um... perky, but that just a coincidence. And besides Rainbow Dash has a flat chest, not... that there anything wrong with a flat chest."
"True, but that cute butt of her certainly makes up for it," Celestia giggles.
"Can we please stop talking about my friend's assets and go back to the topic at hand!?"
"Okay I'll stop," she said, nuzzling the now red alicorn. "In all seriousness Dusk they'll make a fine addition to your harem."
"Well it great that you see it like that Celestia. But I honestly don't see all of them joining."
"And what make you say that?"
"Well it just that... aside from Pinkie Pie they don't really show any kind of interest in wanting to be anything more than just friends"
"Oh Dusk," she giggles while lightly shaking her head, muttering. "You still have much to learn."
"Dusk, just because they don't show it doesn't automatically mean they don't want to form a deeper bond. I can promise you that they'll join your harem."
"And what exactly makes you sure that they will?" he raised a brow. "You wouldn't by chance made a promise with them to not go out with me, or planned this whole harem idea before hand did you?"
"Dusk you sorely need to quit over thinking things sometimes. You know full well I would never do either of those things."
"...I guess you're right. I'm just really paranoid about what my friends will think about all this. I mean what I'm asking them to do is very serious, but if you say they'll join then I guess I'll just have to take your word for it then."
"You can rest assured that they will join Dusk," she reassure him right before giggling again. "We when lived for over thousands of years you can tell when ponies are bitten by the love bug," she then stop laughing to say. "Unfortunately, I have some bad news to tell you. After experiencing your... abilities at first hand, I can safely say your friends won't be enough to satisfy that lust of yours."
"They're, not enough?" he shuttered, looking at her with disbelief. "Are you serious!? Even with you, and Luna included, the harem still isn't enough?"
"Sadly yes," she said with a sigh. "But thankfully you'll only need to add at least one or two more mates into your harem."
Dusk then gave a sigh of relief. "Well that good to hear for second there I thought you we're going to tell me I had to acquire at least twenty mares."
"Don't be silly Dusk. You have to be at least around half my age before that would ever happen, thankfully you'll never get that old," she started giggling.
"Yeah but still, I have to figure out who I want for my harem though, and even if it is only one or two it still won't be easy to do that and..."
"I'm well aware of that," she interrupts. "And I have faith that you'll find the mare who right for you. But I will agree with you that the task will no doubt be difficult given the female to male ratio of Ponyville, but then again you have been through alike more tougher trials."
"Yeah, but the only difference is that if I fail it won't result in Equestria's downfall."
"That maybe so, but I can honestly say that me and Luna certainly wouldn't mind putting a stop to a male alicorn's sexual rampage," she said in seductive tone.
Hearing the princess' breathless voice again causes Dusk to blush in arouse, his member immediately hardens. "Well that's good to know..." Dusk said, trying his best to not let his libido get the better of him. "Anyway is there anything else important I should know about?"
"No, I told you everything you needed to know."
"Good, cause there something really important we need to talk about."
The princess gave him a confused expression. "Hmm... Dusk what exactly do you wish to talk about?"
"Well..." he said as a mischievous grin grew on his face.
Without so much as a warning an arm shifts tightly around the princess' lower waist, easily startling her. With the help of both his wings and earth pony strength he easily lifts the voluptuous alicorn off her seat and onto his lap, pressing her gigantic suns against his chest.
Celestia was very much impressed at how much the young the alicorn was so used to using his newfound strength. He practically lifted her as if she was nothing more than a soft cloud. But her main attention was quickly drawn towards the stallion's hardened member, and the determination in his lustful eyes, telling her that he was in the mood to sate his mares needs.
"I think figuring out a suitable punishment for you is a very pressing matter. Don't you think?" Dusk said in playful tone, still retaining his mischievous grin.
"My... punishment?"
"Why of course my naughty little mare. Just because I forgave you doesn't mean you're getting off scot free. You still have to answer for not only taking advantage of me, but for also nearly shattering my eardrum."
Celestia starts giggling. She knew full well that there was no possible way in snapping her lover out of it when he's all roused up so she might as well just play along.
"Your right Dusk," she wraps her arms his neck as she leans her head forward in kissing distance. "I should have known better, and I most certainly deserve whatever punishment you find fitting for me."
"Hmm... and what do you think is a suitable punishment for a bad mare such as yourself?"
"Well you could bend me over your lap as if I was filly and spank my flank until my cheeks turns red," she said breathlessly. "Or, you could shove your massive cock all the way down my throat, or maybe..."
"Or maybe you could go into your room, and not mess up the dining hall again," said a new voice, destroying the steamy atmosphere.
Both alicorns turn their attention toward the voice to see a gray unicorn maid with a scarlet red mane and tail who appeared at of nowhere, giving them a stern look.
Naturally Dusk's entire face turned as red as the maid's hair as he felt embarrassed knowing that somepony had probably heard what the princess was planning to let him do her. He also felt somewhat afraid.
Now that wasn't saying the maid had a scary appearance or looked ugly. On the contrary, she was rather appealing, with the outfit itself nicely complementing her ample bust and generous wide hips, to where the hot-blooded prince could honestly see himself being held back to prevent him from rutting the tartarus off of her.
It was just that the mare gave off some serious threatening vibes, surpassing any foe he and his friends had ever faced. At first he thought the idea of a lonely maid being more threatening than his enemies was just plain outlandish. But, just looking at her eyes alone he could tell that she was not one to be trifled with.
"Scarlet?" Celestia calmly asked. "What are you doing here? I thought you left with all the other maids when you were done with your final assignment for the week."
"While a week off duty is much appreciated your highness," she said, her voice sounding very official. "I refuse to abandon my post just because my desire for a stallion has risen. As a maid, I must complete all of my duties of keeping the castle in proper order without any complaint. Even when the mess is left carelessly by you, your highness." she narrow her eyes.
"Oh..." Celestia laughs nervously. "We're very sorry for that Scarlet. I can imagine it wasn't easy for you to clean alone, especially with your estrus."
"Actually your highness, I completed the task as efficiently as always. Though, you can say I was left frustrated by the end of it."
"Really you don't look that frustrated to me"
A small smile somehow managed to appear on the serious maid's face. "Thankfully for me, as soon as my task was done I found two royal guards who were kind enough to help me with 'relaxing'."
"Oh, well that's good to hear."
'Why do I get the feeling those guards are going to be out of commission for the rest of the week?' Dusk thought.
"That's besides the point," she said, going back to her dour look. "I came here to tell you that while I fully understand the feeling of finally finding a stallion to calm your estrus, I must remind you that not every mare are fortunate enough to find a..." she diverts all attention to Dusk. "fascinating specimen." she said while giving him a small smirk as her eyes were half lidded.
Dusk instantly felt a cold chill running up his spine and began to tremble with fear from Scarlet. Celestia quickly took notice this and got off of his lap.
"Don't worry Scarlet. I fully understand what you mean," she said as she was heading toward the exit. "Come along Dusk."
"R-right," he nervously said, quickly following the princess so not to be left alone with the red headed maid.
As the two alicorns made there way out of the dining hall. Dusk was completely unaware that the maid was staring at his back side as he left. Scarlet started licking her lips as a light blush appeared on her face.
"Hmm... If he weren't so fragile I might have had some fun with the new prince. All well, I'll just have to rely on those two guards again. I do hope they're not too tired from last night; cause looking at the prince's hot ass got me in the mood."
Dusk and Celestia were walking down the hallway. They weren't really going in any particular direction, in actuality Dusk was merely following the princess. Ever since their encounter with the... maid there was a pregnant pause between the two until one of them finally speak.
"Okay... uh Celestia, do you mind enlightening me on who exactly she was? Cause I highly doubt that someone that intimidating is a maid."
"Oh that was just Scarlet Tail, my sister and I recently hired her just a few weeks ago."
"Judging by her... serious nature, something tells me that she use to be a member of the royal guards."
"Actually..." she said as if she was guilty. "she an ex-mercenary..."
The young prince simply stared at the white alicorn. While he could somewhat understand the reasons why the princesses would hired somepony like Scarlet, most likely something to do with redemption, or old friends with her family. It still boggled his mind that they would hire someone who previous job was basically being hired killer for hire.
"Yes I know she don't exactly come out as the most friendliest of ponies, but she does have a good heart, and the best intentions in mind," she said giving him a warm smile. "She is also single, so if you want I could have things arranged so you two could..."
"No no no!" Dusk frantically interrupts, "There no need for you to do that."
"Oh come now Dusk," she grew an impish smirk. "You were able to claim both me and Luna with ease." she continued in a playful tone. "So a vixen like Scarlet should be child plays for you."
"Well, I get the feeling that vixen like her would physically change me back to a unicorn if I got on her bad side."
"Oh don't be silly Dusk she would never do that," she giggles. "She'll merely break you in half."
Dusk's face quickly turned grimace. "How exactly is that any better!?"
"It's not I just like seeing you freak out, you're very cute when you do that,"she said still keeping her mischievous grin.
Dusk instantly shots her a mean glare. "I swear sometimes you're almost as bad as a certain draconequus."
Celestia starts to giggling. "True, but let's be honest Dusk. You know full well you like me best when I act a little naughty."
"At least now I can rightfully punish you any time you do act up," he said with a predatory grin. "And speaking of which, I still have to punish you from before."
"Oh my," she giggles as she place her hand over her muzzle. "It would seem like you'll be doing that on daily basis then."
"And I guarantee you I'll make sure you learn your..."
Dusk stops dead in his tracks and starts looking around himself, sensing an unknown presence watching him. It felt as though he was being stalked by a hungry predator ready to pounce, but strangely enough it also felt familiar as well. He looked all around himself for the source of the mystic force, but ended up finding nothing; leaving only a concerned look on Celestia's face.
"Dusk what are you looking for? Is everything alright?"
"Hmm, Oh sorry Celestia. I just got this weird feeling that somepony was watching me."
"Well, that is to be expected given how most mares usually gets a bit more excited after the first day of the estrus cycle."
"I know, but something telling me that this is different. It's almost feel as though they're nearby, ready to pounce on me when I least expect it."
"Well different or not, I promise you Dusk that no matter who it is there only one mare crazy enough to attack you while I'm here."
"And who may I ask is..."
The prince's question was soon answered as at that very moment a dark blue blur bursted completely out of no where, going right past Celestia and straight for the male alicorn. The said blue blur slammed right into Dusk, easily sending both of them crashing to the ground.
Dusk soon found himself pinned down under the tremendous weight of the assailant's hefty breasts, who gave him a lustful smile while staring him down with her sex hungry eyes.
"Morning stud," Luna said in an alluring tone, immediately locking lips with the hunk of a stallion.
While completely caught off guard by the Luna's very sudden arrive, Dusk didn't even hesitate in returning the kiss back to his mare; his arms instinctively wraps themselves tightly around her.
Despite wearing her night themed robe, Dusk could still easily feel Luna's harden nipples poking his chest. And with the way her lively tongue moved and the heavy blush on her face; it was quite obvious that Luna was craving no... yearning for her stallion to once again take care of her heat, and honestly who was he denied her that.
After minutes of heavy kissing, Luna tore away from the stallion, giving him a seductive glare. "Dusk..." she continued in her sultry tone. "I know you went and claimed my sister as one of your mate."
Dusk nervously chuckled while giving her a light smile. "You know about that..."
"Well you two certainly weren't trying to make it a secret late night," Luna giggles. "Oh but don't worry, I'm not jealous or angry with you. I am however a bit upset that you didn't even attempt to greet me this morning." she said pouting, pretending to be disappointed. "Especially after making me listen to my sister scream in pleasure all night long."
"You're right Luna," Dusk said with a cocky grin, one hand slowly reaching her supple butt. "I'm very sorry for being so thoughtless to you. Is there anything I can do to..." he gives her ass a firm squeeze. "make up for it?"
"Hmm...oh, I'm sure a clever stud like yourself figure that out on his own. I've also got a good... feeling that you already know what that is."
"It's nice to know that you're up and about," Celestia calmly said. Her red cheeks and her thighs pressed together made it clear that Luna's show of affection had an impact on her.
Dusk smiled weakly at her, feeling completely guilty for quickly forgetting Celestia, and making her quite horny. Luna however simply smiles at her, and says,"Oh hello dear sister. I am very much sorry for taking all of Dusk's attention from you." She turns back toward Dusk before continuing,"But nothing else mattered as soon as I saw this handsome, and..." she giggles. " healthy stud."
"That's quite alright Luna I understand completely..." Celestia seductively said as she too turns toward Dusk. "But as much as I would hate to ruin your fun dear sister. Don't you think it's about time you should let Dusk off the floor."
"Aw, but Tia," Luna whined as she hugs her stallion tighter, burying her face in his neck. "I haven't been with him all night. Can't I just cuddle with him for a few more minutes?"
"Luna...", Celestia said sternly.
"It's okay Celestia," Dusk said. "I don't mind letting Luna cuddle with me. I did leave her by herself without so much as a word yesterday. So can I at least give her this much?"
"While that very noble of you Dusk, might I remind you that since you're our stallion now; you have certain responsibilities that must be fulfilled." she said in an alluring tone. "And I think it's about time that you took care of both of your..." a sultry smile appears on her face. "responsibilities. Wouldn't you agree Luna."
Luna looks up at her sister, and saw the sultry expression on her face. The Lunar princess soon start giggling, her grip around the stallion loosen. "Why of course Tia," she gets up from the prince, revealing that the young male's massive bulge that was more than ready to burst out of his pants. "I shouldn't get in his way when he has an important task to fulfill," a lustful grin similar to Celestia's soon appeared on her face.
Seeing the two sisters smiling while they loomed over him made Dusk feel a little nervous, granted it also made him even more aroused than he already was. While he had already proven yesterday that he could easily sate both of the mares' insatiable appetites, but with the way that they were smiling at him just told him that needed to be a bit caution.
"Now let's get going Luna," Celestia said as she starts walking down the hallway. "I think it about time for all of us to take a much deserve bath."
Luna giggles "Yes it has been quite a while since any of us last taken one," she then turn to Dusk and lights up her horn. "Well don't just sit there stud you need to wash up."
A blue magic aura soon enveloped around part of his shirt collar and picks up off the floor. Once on his hooves Luna quickly took his hand, and pulls him along.
As Dusk followed Celestia and Luna to the royal bath chamber to 'wash up', he could hardly control himself as both of the princesses were unintentionally teasing him by swaying their glorious hips right in front of him. The hot-blooded male alicorn could already his feel sexual impulses slowly taking on more and more of his mind as he kept staring at their royal asses in their skin tight robes, enticingly jiggling with each step they took.
Luna noticed his watchful glare, and turns toward her sister. "My my Tia. The way Dusk is looking at us you could swear that he hadn't been with a mare for several years," she whispers.
"Well, that is to be expected given how he still at the phase where he would still get sexual aroused if he around a mare long enough. Especially if he had already claimed said mare as his own," Celestia softly giggles.
"Still, wouldn't you agree that we should at least give him a sample of what he's going to get soon?" Luna asked mischievously.
"Now now Lulu. I want to tease him, not torture him," Celestia playfully scolded.
After a few minutes of walking, which felt like hours to Dusk, the trio reached a door with a sign depicting the royal hot spring. The door led to a small room where at the end of it was another door and next to it was closet filled with soap, shampoo, towels, a number of bathing utensils, and an empty shelves for holding clothing.
When the three entered the room, Celestia quickly shuts the door with magic. "Luna, would you be so kind as to help Dusk out of his clothes while I get something from the closet? He won't be needing them after all."
"With pleasure," Luna said in low growl as she slowly makes her way to the stallion with a predatory gleam in her eyes.
Dusk however stops her by waving his finger at her. Luna froze in her track at the gesture, but that didn't stop her lustful gaze. "That won't necessary," he seductively said. Not wanting his clothes to be teleported to Celestia knows where, Dusk decided to take off his clothes himself. He knew couldn't just remove them casually, as Luna was watching and she most certainly deserved a little show.
Dusk began to slowly unbutton his shirt, revealing his well-toned body with each button undone. With his upper torso now bare, Luna found herself biting her lip as she could hardly contain herself from the entertainment, as he reached down his belt buckle. After effortlessly unbuckling his belt he pulls down his pants, unleashing his massive monster that he called his stallionhood.
His smile grew as he saw the lunar princess' thighs pressed together, making a loud squelch as she hungrily gawks at his huge throbbing meat. Luna was so enthralled with his raging cock that she didn't notice that the smirking stallion's horn was illuminating with his magic aura.
Dusk wrapped his arms around Luna's waist, rubbing his stallionhood against her abdomen. "You know you don't have to stare at it," Dusk purred in her ear. "Since you're my mate, if you want it then you can have it."
"Hmm... I'm fully aware of that Dusk, it just that you're by far the biggest thing I ever seen. Also..." she giggles. "experienced. My apologies for staring."
"Oh I don't mind, in fact I encourage it. Just so long as you don't mind me returning the favor and rutting the living tartarus out of you," he wickedly grinned.
Luna grabs the back of her lover head. "You can do whatever you please stud, I am your mate after all," she pulls him toward her plump lips.
As Luna began smooching and feeling up on her stud, Celestia returned, carrying a large cylindrical bottle with a screw on lid on top, and watched the two getting along with great delight. "I can't leave for five seconds without you two cuddling each other." she snickered.
She gently shook Luna's shoulder.
The lunar princess broke her kiss and looked her. "Sister can't you see that I'm busy," she said sounding quite irritated by the interruption.
"Oh I can see that ," she said smiling. "Though, don't you find it a bit unfair that Dusk's the only one clothless," she tugs on the top part her own robe to show off a large portion of her cleavage.
Luna understood and pry herself from her lover's grasp. "Your right as always sis."
Before he knew it, Dusk watched as both of the princess' robes easily fell down to their hooves, revealing their majestic nude bodies. Their large puffy, erect nipples stared right at the him, tempting him to start toying with them.
Dusk licked his lips hungrily as his view lowered and saw the princesses plump pussies were really soaked with their juices. He stood there in awe, wondering which princess he should grab first, yet Celestia and Luna took the initiative and each grabbed one of his arms, entrapping them with their titanic tits. "Now then Dusk, shall we got started on your bath?" Luna cooed as her hand was slowly stroking parts of his impressive cock.
Celestia in turn deeply inhaled his intoxicating male hormones. "I agree with Lulu. Our combined musk is becoming much more powerful than it's own good," her hand also start to strokes his monster length.
Dusk moans as he felt their soft and gently hands pick up in their pace "Hmm...Sure I'm ready... whenever you two are..."
After opening the door the three found themselves in a wide indoor hot spring that was about twenty feet wide all around. The white tiled floor was almost as reflective as the steaming water itself.
Unbeknownst to Dusk, the royal sisters turned towards each other. Luna tilted her head at the edge of the hot spring, and Celestia replied by nodding her head in approval.
With her sister's permission, Luna's horn lit up as the two released the stallion from their grip. Before Dusk could even react, Luna's telekinesis sent him to the ground where he laid flat on his back. As he tried to pick himself up, he was stopped by the two princesses' hands. He saw that they were both on their knees, smiling at him.
"Aw aw aw Dusk," Celestia warned him as if he was a colt. "We have something very special planned for you before your bath. But first, we need you to lie on your back."
"Yeah stud," Luna giggles. "You really don't want to miss out on this."
Before he could get a word, Dusk found his colossal cock squeezed in between the titanic tits of both his lovers.
Countless upon countless of stallions had always dreamed of getting a titty-fuck from princesses, and by all things that was good in the world he could understand why. He felt the warm softness of the two biggest pairs of boobs in all of Equestria enveloped his swollen meat.
Nearly every inch of his large dick except the very tip was engulfed in soft warm flesh as both sisters slid their breasts up and down in total sync.
Saying that the feeling was good was a huge understatement as it felt amazing, heavenly even. Streams of pre-cum was already forming from the tip after just a few minutes in tit heaven. As Dusk laid helpless, completely enraptured in the pleasure, Celestia and Luna continued to rub his cock earnestly.
"So Dusk, given the look on your face I take it you like our 'little' surprise?" Luna teased.
"Like?... No... I love it... It's incredible.. It feels incredible!" He gasped his heart rapidly beating.
"Well I'm glad you feel that way Dusk, but we haven't even gotten started yet," Celestia giggled as her horn lights up.
She levitated the bottle she bought earlier over their moving mounds, and as soon as she unscrewed the lid she poured a clear oily substance all over them. Within seconds, both Dusk's cock and the princess' breasts became lathered in the slippery fluid, greatly increasing the speed and pleasure of the titjob.
Dusk clenched his teeth as his arousal sky rockets to heights he hadn't never thought were possible, their breasts naturally felt amazing on there own, but with the combination of the slippery material they made his entire body tremble with excitement.
Sadly, as much as he loved feeling of their oily coated tits; Dusk just couldn't take it anymore. He felt as if his entire cock was about to explode, and the aftermath was going to be massive!
Celestia also noticed the stallion's imminent orgasm, and gave her sister a wink. Both her and Luna lied down on each side of him, still continuing their double paizuri. At first Dusk loved feeling their amazing breast on his crotch and stomach, but the small rational part of his mind that was still there quickly reminded him that his tip was pointing directly at him.
Unfortunately for him he was far too late as his cock flared and blew his massive load, splattering all over his face, chest, and the tiled floor. By the time Dusk was done ejaculating he looked as though he fell head first into a pool of mayo.
The two princesses sat up and looked at the male alicorn coated in his own semen. For a moment the two tried their hardest not laugh, but utterly failed as they burst out laughing.
As the laughter slowly died down, Celestia taunted,"My my Dusk, that's quite a look you got there. Though I have to admit, white isn't really your color."
Dusk simply replied with a growl, nearly glaring daggers at her.
"I don't know about that Tia. I think his new look makes him absolutely scrumptious," Luna said as she wipes off some of the still warm splooge off of him with her finger. She then places said finger in her mouth. "Hmmm... He most certainly does taste delectable."
Dusk stared at the lunar princess. "Luna? Did you really just eat some of my semen?" he asked as he felt a bit nervous, but in a way he couldn't explain it strangely turned on.
"Why of course," Luna said as she made her way to his chest and face, sliding on top of him. "And I have to say, it truly tastes divine," she cooed as she laps up more of his warm spunk. "It makes envious that I wasn't covered in it."
As she continued licking him clean he sighs as he felt her hot tongue gliding all over his body, determined to get every last bit of cum.
Celestia smiles as she looks at her sister cleaning their lover with joy like she was a dog enjoying a bone. "Luna, you do know there are far better ways of cleaning him than just your tongue?"
As Luna finished swallowing some of the cum she had in her mouth, she turned to Celestia and said, "Oh I know there are. But this is a far more... delicious way of getting the job done. Plus, unlike you two I missed out on breakfast; and there's nothing better than warm, thick, delicious cum in the morning."
"Can't say I disagree with you on that one Lulu," Celestia giggles as she runs her fingers over Dusk's semi-hard massive twitching meat. "But if you ask me, I much prefer to get it directly from the source..." She continues to tease him by mercilessly stroking his cock, causing Dusk to start moaning. "If that's okay with you?"
Luna smiles. "Go ahead dear sister, he is as much my stud as he is your, though I still call 'the dibs' on him, as I get to play with him first."
"Don't worry Lulu, I just want to have something warm in my belly besides tea," she replied as she stopped stroking Dusk's meat pole.
Celestia places his flared head in her mouth and she slowly slid down to the hilt, flawlessly taking every last inch of his colossal length down her throat.
Dusk was both shocked and amazed as he felt the warmness of her tight throat around him, her tongue swirling all over his stallionhood as it rested in her mouth. She soon began bobbing her head up and down gracefully, not gagging in the slightest.
Luna, now done licking Dusk clean, enjoyed hearing her lover moan and groan from her sister's skillful deepthroating. "So Stud, what do you think of my sister throat?" she asked seductively. "She has, as you would say, 'years of practice'."
"It feels wonderful..." he managed to moan. "But there's something missing..."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm... and what would tha-ahh!" she gasped as she felt her marehood being massaged.
"Oh, like leaving you alone from all the fun for one," he smiles as two of his fingers plunged into her moist cunt repeatedly.
Luna wailed in bliss as she felt his long middle and index fingers moving in and out of her hot pussy while his thumb gently massaged her throbbing clit. She wraps her arms around his torso as she could already feel her estrus becoming unbearable by the second, and she had a feeling that he knew it too. "Hmm... You're quite good with hands Stud, but you do realize you're only making my heat worse," she gasped.
Dusk grins at the perpetually moaning princess, and grab the back of her head with his free hand. "I know, I just want to get you all roused up," he said as he bring her in for a kiss, tasting remnants of his cum in her mouth. Luna of course fully accepted his kiss, though she couldn't keep herself from moaning from his two fingers still thrusting into her.
Celestia, who was still had his cock in her mouth, started bobbing her head faster, eager to make her lover unload all of his cum. This in turn made Dusk thrust his hip in tune with her mouth, and increase the speed of his fingers. He felt Luna's inner walls squeezing his fingers as he moved them, her wet and sticky mare-cum spilling all over them.
Luna moaned louder and tightens her grip around his body, pressing her hardened nipples against his chest. She felt herself reaching her limit as her pussy was quivering uncontrollably. Dusk too felt his climax approaching as well, his cock once again flaring, ready to blow his load.
When Celestia hilted his cock one last time, he loudly grunted as he unleashed a torrent of semen in one shot only, directly filling the solar alicorn's stomach full of his gooey seed. At the same time Luna screamed in rapture as her cunt clenched her lover fingers, her warm sticky nectar gushed out like a broken dam.
After both Dusk and Luna's orgasm had subsided, Luna rolled off of the stallion, lying on her back as her chest rose up and down from her heavy panting, her massive tits jiggling. In turn, with her stomach now full with his sticky jizz, Celestia pulled back, releasing Dusk's massive rock hard cock from her mouth, swallowing any remaining cum with ease.
"Hmm... Oh my Lulu, you weren't kidding," she said as she licked her lips clean of any sperm. "his cum certainly is delicious."
However, Luna only replied with a erotic moan. Celestia saw that her sister was beginning to squirm all over, her heat coming into full-blooms, her body craving more, craving her stallion to come and buck her into next year, right now.
Celestia smiles at her then turns to Dusk, who was staring at Luna like a starving wolf to a helpless sleep. "Dusk," she said, getting his attention. "Was it really necessary to tease her like that? You know how badly her estrus is."
"Meh, probably not. But there is something arousing in seeing her like this," he grins as he makes his way toward the wriggling alicorn. As he loomed over her, Dusk spreads Luna's legs wide open, licking his lips as he saw her dripping pussy. He then grabs on to her curves, and gets on top of her, her legs soon found their way around him.
"So Luna, do you want your stallion to buck you senseless?" he seductively asked, obviously knowing the answer, while mercilessly grinding his impressive meat against her trembling body.
Luna shuddered, and moaned at the sensation of his hot rod teasing her special moon flower. "Yes Dusk, buck me!" she begged. "I beg you, stop teasing me with that gloriously fat cock and just buck me!"
"As you wish," Dusk chuckles as he stops grinding. He grabbed his cock by the shaft, and quickly aimed his large tip at her entrance. Despite some resistance, with one thrust he managed to ram his entire cock all the way in, causing Luna to shriek in ecstasy as Dusk's massive member nearly caused her to have a mindblowing orgasm.
Greatly missing the feeling of a hot pussy around his dick, Dusk soon started pumping her in a fierce, but firm motion. Luna moaned even louder than before as the inner walls of her pussy squeezed around his colossal cock tighter, causing him to pump harder and faster.
Even as he continued plowing her, Dusk just couldn't keep his eyes away from Luna's large glossy breasts, as they wildly bouncing back and forth with each of his impacts. Deep down Dusk knew he couldn't deny it. He loved big breasts, and he had no shame in it, but he could feel his primal instincts telling him that just simply staring at them would be a crime within itself. Dusk let's go of Luna's wrist, and placed his hands on her plump tits, not wasting a second in kneading the supple mounds.
'It's certainly didn't take him long to start playing with her chest though then again he always been crazy for breast even before his ascension,' Celestia thought to herself as she masturbated, watching in delight as her former student ruthlessly fucked the life out of her sister, knowing full well what would happen when Lulu reached her orgasm. 'But I think it's about time I spice things up a bit,' she thought as her horn flared with her magic aura.
As Dusk's hands were groping her breasts, his fingers digging ever so slightly in her, he quickly noticed Celestia's aura surrounding Luna's chest. He of course wondered what the sunny alicorn was up to, but he soon found that out real quickly as Luna's chest slowly swelled within seconds before his very eyes.
Luna could feel a tingling sensation in her breast, almost as though they were being filled to their capacity. Much to her shock she saw that her breast, still covered in her sister's magic, had grown at least two cup sizes, but what got her attention the most was that her nipples were leaking milk.
"Sister," she moaned, failing at giving her a glare. "What did you..."
"Don't worry Lulu you'll understand in about... two seconds," Celestia smiles.
Luna was about to ask what she meant by that, but she loudly moaned as Dusk's lips gently latched on to her left teat, eagerly sucking for her warm, delicious milk as she wraps her arms around his head. Luna couldn't keep herself from getting any louder as Dusk sucked and licked her nipple harder.
She was in complete bliss as she began understood why her sister loved breast feeding; the erotic feeling of an eager mouth suckling on her erect nipple, greedily drinking every last ounce of milk out of her massive mounds. It was simply divine as she felt shivers down her spines, slowly making her body go limp.
Not wanting to leave either breast unattended, Dusk uses his free hand to grope her right breast, milk already leaking into the palm of his hand. Dusk just couldn't get enough of Luna's delicious warm milk. It certainly didn't have the same sweetness as her sister, but it definitely made up for it in terms of texture and creaminess.
As Dusk consumed more and more of Luna milk his hips started bucking even harder, making loud lewd noises each time their hips smacked together.
Luna tried her best hold back her orgasm, but with Dusk's relentless and powerful thrusts increasing, along with his ever eager mouth and hand pleasuring her breasts; she was delaying the inevitable as she felt her entire body was shuddering out of control, her pussy tightening to the point of breaking Dusk's dick off. Dusk's balls boiled and churned with a dire need to fill his Lunar lover with cum.
"Aah Dusk... cum inside me! Fill me with your hot cum," Luna moaned in rapture as Dusk's thrusting became erratic.
"With pleasure."
Dusk gave one last powerful thrust, forcing himself as far in as he could, and exploded. Luna's eyes drifted to the back of her head as she climaxed and screamed in rapture. Luna felt Dusk's cum flooding into her pussy and womb, filling to the point of over flooding. Her pussy gripped Dusk's cock in an all powerful vice grip, preventing any cum to escape.
Minutes passed, and as the last drop of cum was shot, both Luna's arms and legs gave out, her entire self simply lying on the floor. "Amazing as always Stud..." Luna said breathlessly, right before her eyelids softly shut. Dusk could still feel Luna twitching as he pulled out, his impressive meat still as stiff as ever. "Wow, I think I might have actually just broke her," he panted as he watches over an unconscious Luna, cum pouring out of her stretched cunt.
"Oh you most certainly did," Celestia said.
Dusk looked and saw Celestia looking at him like a starving animal. "You certainly did a number on her."
"Yeah, but I think might have went a little overboard by infuriating her heat earlier."
"Oh you can worry about her about later. Right now, you still have to fulfill your rightful duty as a male," Celestia said as she faced away from him.
She got down on her hands and knees, with her big plump rear high up in the air. Her majestic tail moved out the way to showcase her swollen labia completely soaked in her juices. "Now then Dusk, my most faithful student," Celestia said seductively as she wiggled her ass right in front of him. "Come and show this mare once more why she belongs to you, and you alone."
"Oh, I'll definitely show you," Dusk said, making his way toward the side of the horny mare. "But first, there's something I need to settle." Celestia's eyes widen in shock, squealing as she feel Dusk's hand harshly striking her fat rump with a loud smack
"I take it this is my 'punishment' for my earlier mischief," Celestia exotically moaned, the string from Dusk's slap remained fresh.
"That, and your little stunt you pulled on Luna."
"Oh come now Dusk, surely you can't deny that you loved milking Luna-aah!" Celestia once again squealed as Dusk's hand once again came across her rear-end.
"True, but last I checked I don't remember neither me nor Luna asking you to intervene. So until I think you learned your lesson, or until I got bored, and let's face it we both know that will never happen, I'll just keep spanking that juicy ass of yours." Dusk seductively said as he kneads her stinging buttocks.
Celestia groans as Dusk immediately go back to slapping her backside, each powerful smack making her bountiful ass shake all over the place. Her tongue limped out of her mouth as she felt Dusk putting in all his earth-pony strength in his hand towards slapping her ass.
Each slap became harder and harder most to her delight. Celestia absolutely loved this abrasive and dominating side of Dusk. Being a princess and having the ability to move the sun often made plenty of stallion suitors treat her like delicate flower, never being dominant. She of course didn't mind that all. Her problem was that she greatly preferred a male who wanted to completely overpower her and treat her as they see fit.
With her once white hindquarters now bright red Dusk finally stopped slapping her ass. "I think that should be enough," he chuckled. "..For now at least..." Dusk grinned mischievously.
"Aw, but I clearly haven't been punished nearly enough," Celestia whined, sounding quite disappointed.
"Oh no you misunderstand," Dusk said right before he gave her another powerful smack! "Your punishment is far from over. I'm just done slapping you that all," Dusk said.
In an instance, Dusk got behind her, and grabs both of her redden cheeks. He spread them apart then place his stallionhood in between them. Dusk could feel how wet she had gotten as a steady flow of mare-cum leaked out her hungry cunt. Celestia gave a wanton moan as she felt Dusk's hot massive stallionhood rubbing against her damp slit, actively taunting her with the promise of sex.
Dusk leans over her, inches away from her ear. "I sure hope you're ready, my naughty little mare," Dusk purred in her ear. "Because I'm not going to be holding back this time."
"Oh please do go all out Dusk," Celestia teasingly begged.
Dusk leans back up, taking his cock out from between Celestia's cushiony buns, and rubbed her moist wanting entrance with his flared head. Within seconds Dusk's entire dick entered with little to no resistance as her cunt was completely drenched. Celestia shuttered as she felt how easily Dusk hilted her. "You know, I knew it would be easy getting it all in, but i didn't expect it to be this easy," Dusk chuckled.
"Hmm... What can I say," Celestia giggled. "You really know how to make a mare wet."
"I also know how to make one sing as well," Dusk said as he started moving.
Celestia moaned in bliss as Dusk began thrusting, going deep inside her. When Dusk said he wasn't holding back he really wasn't kidding as he'd started off bucking her hard. With each thrust, Celestia's breasts swayed back and forth which obviously got his attention.
Dusk leaned forward and grabs her pillowy mounds from behind, fondling and kneading them to his heart's content. For the first time in centuries Celestia felt so weak & vulnerable, and she loved every second of it. "Oh harder Dusk... fuck me harder!"
"You're not exactly in position to make demands. But seeing how you're begging for it I'll oblige," Dusk said as he started bucking even harder.
Celestia nearly used her royal Canterlot voice with Dusk's more violent thrusts. The sheer pleasure was dulling her mind, her inner walls clinging on to his cock as though it couldn't live without it. Dusk clenched his teeth at the tightening of her pussy, slowing down his movement a bit, yet he refused to let that deter him as he still kept the rhythm going.
He felt his cock twitching again, a tingling sensation reaching lower and closer to the base, but he refused to let himself lose control and continue to hold back his climax. As Dusk wanted to enjoy this as long as he could, long enough to make his former mentor-now lover beg for him to cum inside, long enough...
"Oh my Dusk, I never knew you could get so aggressive," Luna said looking at Dusk with half-lidded eyes.
Dusk eyes shot open at the sight of the once thought to be knocked out Luna sitting right in front of him, smiling with glee. "L-Luna!?" Dusk said in surprise as he lost all control he had, inadvertently cumming wad after wad of his steamy hot cum inside Celestia. Feeling the sudden onslaught of his gooey semen coating her inner walls and womb sent Celestia over the edge. A burst of pure and undeniable ecstasy went throughout her body.
When Dusk's stallionhood eventually stopped twitching, Celestia was heavily panting as she entered into the afterglow of her orgasm. As soon as she caught her breath, she finally took notice of her sister.
"Luna," Celestia growled, irritated by her sister inconvenience. "Why did you have make Dusk cum prematurely? He seemed like he would have gone on for a few more minutes."
"Well, consider that payback for using that lactation spell on me earlier, even though I'll freely admit that it was quite invigorating."
"I hate to ask you this Luna, but weren't you unconscious earlier?" Dusk asked as he pulled himself out of Celestia.
"Yes while you did indeed make me pass out, I'm now the sort who stay down for long, and also don't want Tia to catch up with me."
"Wait-catch up?" Dusk then sighed, "Do you two always compete with each other when you have sex with the same guy?" Dusk asked.
"Yes, admittedly we do like to see which of us can make a stallion cum more," Celestia grinned. "It's childish I know, but it all in good fun. Also, most of the stallions we choose to be our judge don't mind."
"I imagine they wouldn't," Dusk chuckled
"Speaking of our 'little game', sister I'm still in the lead," Luna said in triumph.
Celestia's narrows her eyes at sister. "I hate to rain on your parade Lulu, but I seem to recall you only making him cum twice while this is the third time I got him to blow his load even if wasn't intended."
"Ah but you forget Tia since it's heat week, we need to account every orgasm for the entire week."
'Damn it she right,' Celestia muttered under her breath. "But how could you possibly still be in the lead when I had Dusk all night."
Luna responded with a chuckle. "What can I say sister, a mare can be very productive when she hadn't tasted a stallion in over a thousand years, and Dusk can easily vouch for me on that. Right Dusk?"
"R-right," Dusk nervously chuckled as he blushed profusely, just now finding out that he was Luna's first since her return.
"Even if Dusk was your first stallion since you come back I highly doubt you managed to get ahead me when you only had him for a few hours."
"Believe what you will sister, you're just saying that because you're just a sore loser."
Celestia was about to tell her sister what for, but Dusk chimed in.
"If I may intervene, given how I was the one who slept with both of you, you're both actually tied if we're counting yesterday."
Both princesses stared at the stallion in surprise at how he was able to keeping track of his ejaculations while he was in full rut mode, but then Celestia suddenly smiled. "Hmm... so it's a tie you say? Well, we certainly can't have that now can we Lulu?"
"We most certainly can not," Luna agreed as she too grew a smile. "But tell me Tia, how do propose we break this tie of ours?"
"Oh we won't be doing anything," she said as she got up, and made her way to the bath.
When she got in, all the cum that was still clinging on to her started melting away. Celestia reached the far end of the bath and bent over the edge, showing off both her puffy pussy and plump rump. "We're going to let Dusk be our tiebreaker," Celestia said as she looked back at Dusk.
Luna looked at Dusk as well to see that he was staring at her ass with a predatory gleam in his eyes. Not wanting to let her sister get all the attention Luna soon got beside Celestia and bent over as well, adding more to the view.
"Oh Dusk," Celestia cooed, getting his attention. "I know the view is breathtaking, but could you please come over here, and choose which one of us gets to play with that wonderful throbbing meat of yours."
Dusk stood still in amazement. The way the water gave Celestia and Luna's fine asses a nice glossy shine made both of them all the more tempting. To simply choose one over the other would just be wrong. Thankfully he had thought of something that would work for everyone. "Okay I think I made up my mind," Dusk said with a wicked grin as he quickly got into the hot water.
"I hope you chose wisely," Celestia told him, trying to tempt him by shaking her ass.
"Quit cheating sister, and let him choose on his own," Luna scowled her.
Dusk stopped and stood in front of their asses, his pulsating member at the same level as their slits. "Alright, I think I'll choose..." Dusk said as his hand reached for their target. "both of you."
Dusk inserted his finger in both pussies and started trusting them. Celestia and Luna gasped in surprise and pleasure as Dusk continued to trust his fingers. "Dusk you were suppose to break our tie." Luna moaned as she felt his fingers sliding deep inside her.
"Sorry," he told her. "But choosing between you two is impossible for me. So I decided to play little game of my own. Whoever cums last is the one who gets to play with me, okay?"
"Hmm... I guess there's nothing wrong with seeing which of us could last longer," Celestia grinned.
Luna nodded and replied,"Indeed. Let us see who has the better endurance Tia."
With both sister in complete agreement, Dusk continued moving his fingers in both cunts as Celestia and Luna's juices contently flowed out causing him to thrust even faster and deeper; changing his patterns in each of them. Celestia and Luna shrieked in sync with one another as their heads thrown back and their eyes tightly shut.
The hot water starts to make Dusk growl as the boiling heat was irritating his member to no end. 'Man I really need to buck one of them soon. I have to end this quickly,' he thought he sticks in another finger while his thumbs did a fine job at rubbing their clits.
This causes the two to shriek louder in ecstasy as their bodies slowly turned to jelly. Celestia and Luna were determined to beat the other by holding back, but Dusk had been proven himself to be merciless with his fingers and assaulted multiple weak spots constantly.
Eventually, much to her dismay Celestia was the first to crack down from the intense pleasure as she let out a wail of pure bliss. With her sister slumped up against the edge and her the victor, Luna finally let go as she lost herself in the please and finally had her orgasm.
"It... seem as though... I am the victor," Luna panted, smiling that she beat her sister.
"It would appear so," he chuckled as he grabbed her by the waist and leaned back. Luna yelped in surprise as Dusk turned her around, sitting her down on his lap where his member rubbed up against her cunt. "Dusk, what are you doing," she asked.
"Oh I'm just changing positions so you can get started."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "You want me to move by myself?"
"Well, I have been doing all the work as of late so I think it's about time that..." Dusk stop mid-sentence as he felt Luna's neither lips spreading around his member and quickly hilting it. "Just making sure," Luna moaned as she began bouncing on his cock.
As Luna was moving herself up and down along Dusk's shaft, Dusk noticed that Celestia was sitting down with her arms crossed, pouting as she looked away from the two. 'You won only by sheer luck,' she thought.
Celestia didn't like to admit it, but when it came to competing with her sister Celestia had always been a bit of a sore loser even when they were little fillies. As she contemplated on her lost, a purple magic aura slowly engulfed her.
Said aura pulled her along towards Dusk who quickly wrapped his arm around her waist. "Celestia, are you mad that you lost to your sister?" Dusk asked as he smiled at her.
Celestia felt too embarrassed to respond and turned away from him. "Come on Celestia. You shouldn't get mad just because lost, especially seeing I have yet to give you your consolation prize."
Celestia looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. Before she could even ask Dusk, the stallion planted his lips on her and easily slipped his tongue in her mouth. Celestia could feel all her anger and thoughts toward her lost slowly washed away as Dusk's tongue twirled wildly in her mouth.
Dusk could tell that Celestia was enjoying her prize as she was already wrapping her arm around his neck, passionately returning his kiss and in a way he felt contented knowing that Celestia wasn't upset anymore, even if it was small and petite. But then again he supposed that along with protecting them and sexually satisfying them, making them happy was one of his new responsibilities, and he definitely had a feeling he wouldn't mind dealing with them. |
An Alicorn's Harem | Wake Up Call (Warning Dark Content) | -Chapter 4 Wake Up Call-
-2 weeks before Heat Week-
At the Golden Oak Library, Dusk Shine and his friends were having one of their weekly get togethers today. Like always, everyone was enjoying themselves; Rainbow Dash and Applejack were having a friendly competition with each other, Fluttershy and Rarity were giggling while drinking tea, Dusk was peacefully reading a book, and Pinkie Pie was scarfing down pastry after pastry. Everything was mostly quiet until Rarity ate one of Pinkie's homemade cupcakes. "Good Heavens Pinkie!" Rarity said in astonishment. "These cupcakes are absolutely divine."
"Yeah Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said with her mouth full. "These are by far the best cupcakes you have ever made."
"I have to agree Pinkie you really outdone yourself this time," Dusk commented. Claim Them... whispered a strange voice. "Huh?"
"Aw thanks guys. I'm really glad you like them," Pinkie said, feeling quite touched by their kind words. "But you really should be thanking Applejack for giving me all those farm fresh eggs. They really make them taste ~a-maz-ing.~" she sang.
"Shucks sugarcube," Applejack said as she lowered her hat over her face to cover her mild blush. "Ah can't take all the credit for the eggs if it weren't for Fluttershy's help, Ah wouldn't have had any to begin with, let alone have enough to give you any."
"Oh well it really was nothing, really," Fluttershy said as she too blushed. "All I did was just talk to the chickens, that's all."
"Well, whoever deserves the credit, it's undeniable that these cupcakes are simply to die for," Rarity said as she began eating another cupcake.
"Then you'll be happy to know that I made more than enough for everyone," Pinkie randomly pulls out a large tray full of cupcakes and placed them on the table. "So if you want more, you can take us as you please~."
Dusk's eyes widened. "Wait what did you say?"
"I said you can take as many as you want silly."
"Oh sorry. I thought you said something else," Dusk chuckled nervously.
"Well as much as I would love to talk more about these cupcakes I have a very important matter to announce," Rarity said as all eyes turned toward her. "What could possibly be more important than cupcakes!?" Pinkie asked, but Rarity ignored her outburst, and continued. "As I was saying, I just received a very special letter today."
"Ooo! Ooo! what does the letter say, what does the letter say!?" Pinkie asked as she started jumping excitedly.
As Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down Dusk's eyes widen as he watches her hefty breasts bouncing all over the place in her shirt, revealing that she wasn't wearing a bra. A light blush creeped up on his cheeks as he felt a sudden hot flash throughout his entire body, and a little twitch from his member. Take Them... the strange voice whispered a little louder.
Dusk snaps himself back to his senses, and uses his magic to keep Pinkie from moving. "Calm down Pinkie, there's no need to get too um... excited."
"On the contrary Dusk her excitement is much warranted as I just won a one week, all expenses paid trip to Haywaii!" Rarity said with glee, to the point of squealing.
"Oh my, that's great Rarity," Fluttershy said.
"Great?" Pinkie said while raising a brow at Fluttershy. "This isn't great, this is super-ultra-mega-hyper-turbo-monster-champion! Awesome!"
"Not the exact words Ah'd use, but y'all right Pinkie," Applejack said as she turned toward Rarity. "So any idea when y'all be leaving?"
"Oh and can you get me a souvenir while you're there?" Pinkie said with complete enthusiasm, grinning ear to ear.
"I leave next week, and I shall do no such thing."
The big grin on Pinkie Pie's face disappeared as a bit of her puffy mane could be heard deflating. "But... why!" she whined. "If this is about that prank me and Rainbow pulled on you last week, we said we're sorry."
"I'm sorry Pinkie, my mind is made up. And besides darling, why should I buy you a souvenir when you can very well do that on your own," Rarity said with a smile.
Everyone looked at the fashionate with widen eyes. "Hold on Rarity. Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Rainbow Dash asked, barely holding back her excitement.
"Oh I am indeed my athletic friend. I'm allowed to bring five friends along with me and I don't think I need to elaborate on who those five friends are."
"Wow Rarity, I think I speak for everyone when I say we're speechless," Dusk said.
"Speak for yourself egghead," Rainbow said. "I have three words for ya, Best. Vacation. Ever!"
"And I have two words, Pre-vacation Party!"
"Well, Granny and Big Mac have always been telling me Ah need a vacation," Applejack said while imagining what Haywaii would be like.
"As nice as that sound nice I don't have any swimsuit to wear for the trip..." Fluttershy said as she looked disappointed.
"Oh is that all darling? Well then, you'll be happy to hear that I already made us all new swimsuits."
"That's very nice of you Rarity, but you really didn't have to do that for us," Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, there weren't no need to make us all swimsuits," Applejack replied.
"I know I know, but as soon as I found out I could bring my best friends along with me; well I just couldn't help myself."
"Ooo ooo, can we see them? Can we see them?" Pinkie asked, a glint of excitement in her eye. "I want to see how good I look in mine," she said as she stuck a sexy pose.
Dusk groaned as he placed a hand on his forehead, the voice becoming more louder. Make Them Yours... "Pinkie, I know Rarity said she already made them, but you honestly don't think she actually bought them here do you?" he said.
"Actually, I did in fact bring them," Rarity said, levitating a large suitcase to her lap. "But I only wanted you to merely give your opinion on them, not wear them though."
"Come on Rarity how can we really give our opinion on them if we haven't even worn them?" Pinkie whined.
"Well I suppose you have a point there Pinkie," Rarity said as she placed her hand on her chin. "But they're still just prototypes, and I haven't even taken in all-"
"Pretty please!" Pinkie interrupted.
"Y'all might as well just give it up Rarity, y'all know how she ain't gonna stop begging til y'all let her try it on," Applejack said.
Rarity sighed. "Alright Pinkie, you can try it on," she said as she opens her suitcase. "but don't start complaining when it doesn't fit, or when Dusk decides to rip it right off."
Dusk looked at Rarity with shock. "Wait what!?"
"What? I'm telling the truth Dusk, without proper measurements it'll be a miracle if they don't fall right off her," she said, looking through her suitcase.
"R-right we definitely don't want that..."
"Yeah sure you don't," Rainbow said sarcastically as she raised an eyebrow.
The alicorn blushes in embarrassment. "W-what are you talking about Rainbow?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about perv, you totally want to see Pinkie's bikini fall off her."
Dusk entire face quickly became redder than freshly plucked apple. "What! No I don't! Why would you even think that I would?"
"Well for one, you're face is the same color as AJ's brother right now."
"Ah don't know about that Rainbow, Ah never seen Big Mac that red before." Applejack said as she tried her best to suppress her laughter.
"And two & three are standing right behind you," Rainbow said as she pointed her finger at him. Dusk looked behind him to see that his newly acquired wings were fully extended and were stiff as a board. "T-that doesn't mean anything!" he said frantically, his blush turning into an all new shade of red. "I still don't have full control over my wings."
"Oh, we can clearly see that," Rainbow joked as she fell on the floor laughing.
She was soon joined by the rest of the girls, excluding Rarity, causing Dusk to lower his head in shame. "Chill out Dusk, we're only playing around," Rainbow said as she picked herself.
"Yeah and besides, if you really wanted to see me naked all you had to do is ask," Pinkie playfully giggled.
Dusk raised his head as he looked directly at the pink party planner with widened eyes, his heart beating like crazy. Claim Them...
"Now now girls, I think that's enough teasing for one day," Fluttershy said.
"Thank you, Fluttershy I'm glad that not everypony here isn't as immature as a bunch school-"
"Aw here they are," Rarity interrupted, gaining everypony's attention. Dusk's heart skipped a beat as he saw Rarity holding up Pinkie's new bathing suit. In the fashionista's hands was a light blue two piece that had a short skirt with a small yellow bow attached to the side, and another set in the center of the top half. However Dusk didn't see a well designed swimsuit, No, what Dusk saw was a piece of fabric that was way too small for the likes of somepony like Pinkie Pie. Forget falling off, even if the thing were double-strapped it would be a miracle if those thin excuses for straps didn't snap under the tremendous weight of her heaving party balloons.
The sheer thought of seeing her chest held together by the small piece of fabric turned Dusk's mild heat into a burning inferno that felt as though he could melt at any second. His breathing became fast and shallow, his nostril quickly flaring as he could feel his heart beating at break neck speed. The voices he heard were shouting in a clear and demanding tone.
Claim Them... Take Them...Make Them Yours...NOW!!!
"Are you alright Dusk?" Fluttershy asked, her voice filled with concern.
Dusk looked at his friends to see that they all had either a worried or uneasy look to them. "Yeah Dusk, you just went up and just froze up on us," Rainbow added.
"It's... nothing, I just have a migraine, that's all..."
"Are ya sure sugarcube? Y'all look a bit hot under the collar," Applejack retouted.
"I assure you Applejack I'm fine, all I need to do is take some medicines and I'll be good as new," Dusk said as he got up.
"I don't know Dusk, you look more like you're running a fever than a headache," Pinkie said.
"Yes I have to agree, maybe it would be best if you went to bed, and get some-"
"I'm fine Rarity!" Dusk shouted as he went up stairs.
"Well I never!" Rarity said as she felt quite offended, her horn glowed with angry.
"Calm down Rarity, I'm sure Dusk didn't mean to yell at you," Fluttershy said as she tries her best to convince the fashionista not to harm the new ascended alicorn.
"I know, but that still doesn't mean he should yell at a lady," Rarity huffed as she pointed her muzzle in the air.
"Now-now Rarity. Ah understand y'all being a bit upset, but ya have to realize that Dusk is under a lot more stress than he usually is."
"Yeah like, wasn't his coronation like just three weeks ago?" Rainbow added.
"Exactly my point, and let me also remind ya Rarity, that you and Ah ain't the nicest ponies around when we're all stressed out."
"I suppose..." Rarity said, a light blush crept up on her white cheeks.
"I don't know Applejack," Fluttershy said, looking very worried. "I think there might be something actually wrong with him."
"Yeah, we always been teasing Dusk plenty of times before and he'd never acted like that before," Pinkie said.
"Don't worry you two, Ah'm sure all that boy needs is a little time to himself. Take it from somepony with experience." Applejack said with total confidence.
However, Pinkie and Fluttershy still weren't all too convinced.
"Cheer up you two, this is Dusk we're talking about. The same Dusk that I must remind you not only saved Equestria countless times, but mastered spells that were never thought possible, fought monsters like they were nothing, and let's not forget that he recently went to another world," Rainbow said as though she was praising one of her idols.
"On second thought, you two might be onto something," Applejack said as she turned toward Pinkie and Fluttershy. "Because Ah highly doubt that Dusk would be stressful with how well Rainbow's using that big mouth hers," she said with widened grin on her face.
"Hey!" shouted a heavily blushed Rainbow who narrowed her eyes at the cowgirl while everyone else started laughing.
"But in all seriousness, Ah'm sure that Dusk will be as right as rain in no time."
As water ran down from the faucet, Dusk cupped his hands to a grab some water, then immediately started splashing the ice cold water in his face. Once Dusk finally cools down and could think clearly again, one question instantly comes to mind. Why? Why was he thinking such lewd thoughts about his friends? Why does he feel like he's going through puberty again? And why was he hearing a strange voice all of sudden? He had so many questions, and yet he had so few answers.
"Maybe Rarity has a point, maybe getting some sleep would do me some good," Dusk said as he walks out of the bathroom.
"Well, that would be one way of going at it, but I have a far better solution to feeling better, and it'll certainly be a lot of fun" said a voice that sounded all too familiar.
"W-who said that!? And what are you talking about?" Dusk asked as he looked frantically for the voice.
"I'm talking about your problem of course," the voice replied, sounding a bit sinister in nature. "As for who I am, well... how about you take a good hard look in the mirror to find out."
Dusk did as the voice told and looked at the mirror above the sink, but the only thing he saw was his own reflection. "Okay... what am I supposed to be looking at?"
"Well, yourself of course," replied his reflection, giving a smug look.
Dusk gasped as he jumped back in realization. Had his own reflection really just spoken to him, or was he just going insane? "Who the tartarus are you!?"
"Wow, for someone who was mentored by Celestia herself, you can be really dense you know that," retouted his reflection as he placed his hand over his forehead. "I just told you genius."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Dusk growled, staring daggers at his doppelganger. "What are you really!? A changeling, one of Discord's elaborate pranks?"
His reflection began laughing uncontrollably, angering Dusk even further. "Oh come now me, you're supposed to be the smart one here. Do you really think Chrysalis, much less one of her changeling grunts, are capable of getting inside of a mirror, and still be able to change their appearance just to mess with you? You also know full well that Discord would have already revealed himself by now if it was him."
Dusk became a little less angry at his reflection as its theory was coherently sound, but his glare still remained on his face. "Okay, you make some... good points, but that still doesn't answer my question. Who are you?" his horn started to glow, sparks literally started flying.
"Lighten up, I know that we dealt with deception plenty of times before in the past, but just because somepony shares a similar appearance to us doesn't mean they're evil."
"Yes, but last I checked when said pony claims to be you and is inside of a mirror, that usually means either two things. One, I've either gone completely insane, or two, this is the work of an evil mastermind. Now I'm going to ask you one last time. Who..." Dusk stopped talking as his horn went dim, starting to realize a few things. "are you?"
Why didn't he see it sooner; the way that he was mishearing words, his reaction to seeing Pinkie's new bikini, and the content voices in his head which all ended with his reflection talking and claiming to be him. The more Dusk fit in the pieces together, the more he really don't like the answer.
"Ah, I see you're starting to figure it out," the reflection said in smug tone while raising a brow.
Dusk looked back at his reflection, his glare still going strong. "Okay 'me', if you are who you say you are. Then tell me one thing, one thing! Something that only we and we alone would know about."
The reflection sighed. "You know you and I need to have a serious heart to heart discussion about this lack of trust of yours."
"Just answer the question!" Dusk growled.
"Alright alright, no need to blow a gasket; sheesh. Anyways, if you must know, for the longest time you thought that Luna looked really sexy when she was Nightmare Moon." Dusk eyes widens in shock as a little blush crept on his cheeks. "Tartarus, why the hay am I using past tense for? You still think that's she a bombshell when she's all evil," he chuckled. "And I don't blame you for it either, because if it was me and the element of magic had transformed into something more useful than a crown I wouldn't mind..."
"Given your um," Dusk cleared his throat. "tasteful answer, I can assume that you're a personification of all my lusts and desires?"
"You could say something like that. But for now you can call me Lust, for confusion's sake.
"Well then Lust, would you be so kind as to tell me why you're here to begin with?
"I've already told you, I'm just here to help you in your time of need."
"Okay," Dusk raised an eyebrow. "Then would you mind elaborating on how somepony like you can help me in my current situation?"
Lust smiled. "Oh, I'm glad you asked, my eggheaded friend. It's simple really, all you need to do is just..." his smile turned more wicked. "go to your friends, rip off their clothes, and rut every last one of them until all their holes are raw."
Dusk's eyes bugged out while his mouth was left hanging open as he heard his lust's answer. It wasn't the answer that shocked him, but rather how blunt he was about it.
"What!?" Dusk simply said. "Don't tell me you're going deaf on me?" Lust chuckled "I said-"
"I know what you said!" Dusk shouted with a furious look on his face, his voice sounding very stern in tone. "I'm just dumbfounded that you would actually think that I would honestly go along with this so called 'solution' of yours."
"Come on, don't be like that, think about it for second. Image feeling all your friends' bodies writhing and squirming all over you, fighting and bickering over who gets to have your cock next. Hearing the lucky mare crying and moaning as she begs for you to fill her up with your seed while the other watches with envy." As Lust went on his voice became less calm & collective and more savage. "And then when you're done with her you toss her aside, and repeat the process all over again." Lust licked lips. "Hmmm... just thinking about it is giving me one tartarus of a boner."
"Sorry about that, I got a little..." Lust stopped to notice that he wasn't the only liking that idea, as a slightly blushing Dusk was staring at him with widened eyes, while licking his lips. "Well I'm glad to see that you agree with me." he smiled.
"W-what?" Dusk broke out of his trance. "No! I would never do anything like that! Why in Celestia's shining sun would you think I would ever agree to do something like that to anypony, let alone my friends!?"
"Hmm... well, if I had to be honest, it was mainly the predatory glare in your eyes."
"That didn't mean anything." he quickly denied. "I'm not some sort of sexually crazed animal who sees mares as nothing more than his personal fuck toys."
Lust simply chuckled. "You can say that till you're as blue as Dash, but you're only fooling yourself. Not to mention you're only delaying the inevitable."
"Oh really? And what makes you say that?"
"Because you're just a ticking bomb that's just ready to explode. You've always been lusting for them since the day you met. Always been dreaming what it would be like to have them around your cock. To have them screaming out your name, while begging for your cum."
"Y-you're wrong!" Dusk stuttered, sweating profusely. "I don't know what you're talk-"
"You do realize I'm you, right?" Lust interrupted. "I know when you're telling me a terrible lie. So quit embarrassing yourself, and just bang our friends already."
"I'm not going to rape my friends!" he snapped.
"Rape is such a strong word. I prefer seducing them before making them your sex slaves." Lust commented.
"I don't care how you phase it, I'm still not going through with it! I'm not a perverted monster like you."
Lust started laughing. "Well that's the first thing you got right all day." Dusk raised a brow. "What? You thought I was here to corrupt you? Please, you're already a horny animal, I'm just here to point you in the right direction."
"You-you're lying! You're just some-"
"Dark entity that was sent here by some over the top villain to warp your mind that you'll later overcome and use the Elements to set everything back to normal, am I right?" he said in a mocking tone, making Dusk go silent.
"Listen pal, quit trying to deny your destiny, and just accept it already. The sooner you do the happier everyone will be."
Dusk narrowed his eyes at his reflection. "I fail to see how any of my friends will be happy being used as nothing more than my play thing. Forget it, I won't put them through something like that."
"Alright, you win," Lust threw up his hands. "I can see that there's no point in convincing you." Even when submitting defeat, Dusk just felt a wave of unsurety with the doppelganger. "I mean, after all, our friends aren't the only mares we know that can perfectly fill the role."
Dusk eyes widen with horror.
"Personally, I for one want to see if the Great and Powerful Trixie is also flexibly. Or maybe I could go pay Zecora a visit. I've always been curious about how wild a zebra mare could get in the bed. But then again, seeing how we're now royalty I think it's about time that we had a little... negotiation with Celestia and Luna.
"No..." Dusk simply replied. "I don't care if they're my best friends or I only just met them, I won't treat them like they're my slaves!" he said coldly. "I'm not about to make other ponies suffer just so I can satisfy my own needs."
"Aw that's very noble of you," Lust cooed. "But, what if I say you would be doing more harm than good if you didn't claim your friends."
"And why is that?"
"Well, when I said you were a ticking bomb ready to blow, I wasn't using that as some form of metaphor. In a way, you really are a bomb that's ready to go off at any minute. And when you do... well, let me put it to you like this, turning your friends into cumdumps is a far better fate than what would happen to any mare if they were to come across a real mindless beast."
Dusk lowered his head in defeat. "So what you're basically getting at is that no matter what I chose, my friends..."
"Will become your personal horny sluts," he said with a shit-eating grin.
"No! I can't accept that, I won't accept that. There has to be something I can do to stop this,"
"Yeah, there is, and I've been telling you the answer this entire time."
"I told you I'm not doing that!"
"Then tell me, wise guy, how else do you plan on ridding your lust?" Lust cracked a smile. "Cause I can already tell you that the Elements will only be a temporary solution, seeing how I'm not exactly evil, and you've already seen how well imprisonment has worked out for Luna and Discord."
"I'll find a way to beat this, I always have, and I don't see why I won't now."
Lust went silent. He didn't insulted Dusk, he didn't make some witty comeback, he didn't even criticize him on his decision. All he did was curl lips and stare at Dusk. Until he suddenly burst out laughing. "Alright, go on then," he said, shooing Dusk away. "Go ahead and try to 'fix' this so called problem in your own special way, and once again save the day with your friends," he taunted. "But after everything crashes and burns in your face, just remember one thing." he raised a hand. "You can either claim your friends, or claim all of Equestria."
And with that said Lust snapped his fingers, leaving the same way he came in. Unsure of his departure, Dusk quickly held up his hand to see if Lust was still present. He'd sighed in relief as his reflection was merely just that, but he knew he couldn't relax yet. Whether or not his crazy reflection was created by a new threat or by his own dilation, something was happening to him, and he had to warn his friends.
Dusk ran as fast as he could to the living room. "Guys, there's something I need to..." he stopped as he saw that Fluttershy and Pinkie were the only ones there.
He immediately found something very wrong with this picture. Where has everyone gone to? He'll admit he was in the bathroom for a good while now, but it was nowhere near the time that they normally would leave, and he didn't remember any one of them saying that they had something important to do. Why were Fluttershy and Pinkie the only ones here? Granted, it was nice to see that not all of his friends were missing, but why were these two in particular the only ones here?
As Dusk was deep in his thoughts Fluttershy soon spots him. "Oh Dusk you're back," she said, sounding very happy for his return. "Are you feeling any better?"
"I've felt better... Listen girls, where did everypony run off to? It's imperative that everypony is here," Dusk told then in a stern tone.
"Well, after your little outburst from earlier, we know that all this alicorn and royalty business was stressing you off a lot. So we came up with a plan to help cheer you up."
"That's very kind of you girls, but... where are they exactly Pinkie?"
"Don't worry, they're in town getting the stuff I asked for. Me and Fluttershy stayed behind to keep an eye on you."
Dusk let out a sigh of frustration. "Okay, do you have any idea when they'll be back?
"Well, Pinkie did ask for a lot of specifics, so they'll be gone for a while," Fluttershy replied.
"Great!" he growled in annoyance. "That's just great."
Pinkie and Fluttershy quickly picked up on his angry tone, and went to calm his angriness."C-calm down Dusk, I'm sure our friends will be here very soon." Fluttershy reassured him.
"Yeah it's not like they just left. They should be here any minute now," Pinkie added.
"That's not the point girls," Dusk explained. "Listen, I know you guys mean well, but right now it is important that everypony is here right now."
"And they will," Pinkie commented. "So just keep calm, and sip some tea," she held up a tea cup.
Dusk rolled eyes. Leave it to Pinkie to make jokes in a serious situation, though then again I haven't really told them yet, but still.
"Pinkie's right Dusk," Fluttershy said, pouring a cup of tea. "I'm sure whatever you have to tell us can wait until everyone gets here."
"Look girls, you don't get it. This is an extremely important matter that involves all of us."
"No offense Dusk," Fluttershy spoke up. "But when doesn't anything important and/or life threatening revolve around us?"
Dusk tried to reply, but he quickly found himself speechless as the bashful pegasi made an incredibly valid point.
"Yeah," Pinkie agreed. "And how did we handle all those situations? Worrying over the tiniest detail, or calmingly thinking with cool heads?"
"Cool heads..."
"Exactly! So quit overthinking, and have some tea already."
Dusk sighed, Pinkie and Fluttershy were right. Once again he was making a mountain out of a molehill. Sure, turning his friend into cocksleeves was nowhere near a minor thing, but compared to what they faced in the past it might as well have been small potatoes. "Alright, I guess I could have a cup or two."
"That's the spirit! We already made a cup of your favorite blend for you."
Dusk smiled as starts to walk toward the two. "That's sounds very-AAAAHHHH!!"
Because Dusk had completely let down his guard, he wasn't fully paying attention to his surrounding, which led him to come into contact with a snag in the living room rug. He slipped and nearly fell face first to the ground, had it not been for Fluttershy acting quickly as she did. She set him back on his feet, where he regained his balance. Dusk was very grateful for Fluttershy's help, but her helping him get his footing naturally 'placed' him in front of her. Now that wouldn't be too bad, but since Fluttershy had large breasts, she was actually pressing up against Dusk's chest
"Are you okay Dusk?" Fluttershy asked, sounding very concerned. "That really would have been a nasty fall."
"I-I'm okay Fluttershy," Dusk blushed profusely as he quickly took his seat. "T-thank you..."
"Um... don't mention it," she said, somewhat confused by Dusk reaction.
After that awkward moment, the three of them waited for their friends to come back, passing the time by drinking tea and hearing Pinkie's hilarious story.
"And then I ate the entire tub of ice cream in front of his face," Pinkie said as she began laughing at her own joke, but she soon stops as she noticed that neither of her friends were laughing. "Hey, what's the matter? Didn't you find my joke funny?"
"Oh no, Pinkie it was funny like always, but don't you think it's a bit unhealthy to eat that much ice cream in one sitting?"
"Pfft! Please that's nothing, now three tubs of ice cream..."
As Pinkie and Fluttershy were busy talking about the correct amount of ice cream consumption. Dusk wasn't at all paying attention to the conversation as he was far too focused on something else to listen. It wasn't about warning his friends, or wondering when the rest of his friends would arrive. No, all he could think of were Fluttershy's lovely melons. Although he only felt them for a few seconds, he couldn't get over how warm and squishy they were, how easily they molded to his chest, how despite wearing a sweater he could still feel her nipples rubbing up against him, or how-
"Earth to Dusk," Pinkie called out to him. "Are you there?"
"Hmm...? Oh sorry Pinkie, I wasn't paying attention. You were saying?"
"Dusk?" Fluttershy asked. "You're still thinking about that thing you wanted to tell us, aren't you?"
"No, no, I wasn't, I was just thinking of something else...."
"Oh then what are you thinking about?" asked Pinkie.
"W-what?" Dusk said as a blush started to form.
"What were you thinking about?" she asked again. "You usually don't zone out like that unless you're thinking about something very interesting. So what are you thinking about?"
"W-well I was uh... thinking about..." Dusk stammered as he started pulling on his collar.
"Um... Pinkie Pie, don't you think it's a bit rude to ask something personal like that?"
"Oh come Fluttershy, I'm not asking him to go into details, I simply just want to know what's on his mind." she defended herself. "And besides, it's not like he's thinking about something naughty, like say fondling those-"
"Ice Cream!" Dusk quickly interrupted the party mare. "I was thinking about how I could really go for some ice cream right now," he said with a forced widened grin.
"Hey, you were listening," Pinkie gave a widened grin.
"Yep, the moment you said ice cream I couldn't stop thinking about how I got this sudden craving for ice cream," he said, rubbing his stomach. "And I just remember that Spike had recently just bought an entire tub of chocolate bubblegum."
"What!? You're just now telling me this?" Pinkie said in utter surprise.
"Now that you mention it, all this talk about ice cream has got me wanting some as well. Though, Pinkie, could you not eat the whole thing in one sitting before we get some."
"Don't worry Fluttershy, I may be pink, but that doesn't mean I'm a pig."
"Great! Since we're all in agreement I'll just go and grab what we-
"Hey!"
Since Dusk was in such a rush to leave he accidentally bumped the table, making the whole thing violently shake, which caused one of cups on said table to spill all over Pinkie. "Pinkie! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen. Are you... okay..."
Dusk trailed off as he saw the mess he'd made. Pinkie was completely drenched with ice tea, but that's not what he got from the whole thing. The only thing Dusk saw was that Pinkie's entire blouse was soaked, and clinging on to her body. Making the whole thing see through, giving a clear view of her ample chest, nipple and all.
His eyes became the size of plates as a sudden burst of heat moved through his body, making his clothes unbearable. His breathing becomes heavy as the world around him slows down. The voices he had heard before come back. Once again demanding him to claim, and dominate his friends.
He tried his best to ignore the voices, tried his best to not give in to his lust. But sadly it was simply only a pipe dream, as even his whole body felt like it wanted to rebel against him. Dusk tried to think up things that would kill his arousal, but his mind always went back to thinking about something perverted.
As Dusk was being tormented by both the voices and his ever growing urges, something that Lust told him began playing back in his head repeatedly. "You can either claim your friends, or claim all of Equestria. It's all up to you."
He hated to accept either one of those choices. He wanted to find a third option, but his body was just so filled with hormones and testosterone that it was becoming completely unbearable the longer he held it. And it was starting to cloud his mind. To his dismay, he knew he couldn't suppress his primal urge any longer. He had to come to a decision and he had to do it now.
"Are you sure you're alright Pinkie?" Fluttershy said as she tended to her friend.
"I'm alright Fluttershy. A bit drenched, but alright."
"Nevertheless, we can't just let you walk around with those wet clothes..." Dusk said, quietly gulping. "So why don't you head over to my room, and borrow some of my clothes. While I go get you a towel..."
"Okie Dokie Lokie," Pinkie bounced up, her perky bust jiggly with her movement, making Dusk's member twitch a bit.
Dusk knocked on his door to let Pinkie know he was here. "Pinkie I got your towels. Are you decent?..."
"Yay. It's okay to come in."
When Dusk opened the door. His eyes instantly widened the moment he laid eyes on his friend. He knew from the get go that Pinkie wouldn't exactly be able to fit into any of his cloths, but what he saw went beyond one size too small. While Pinkie was by no means a skinny mare her pudgy figure barely fit in Dusk's shirt, outright stained to its limits. To the point where the buttons on the shirt could be considered a potential weapon if she made any sudden movement.
"Thanks again for lending me your clothing Dusk," Pinkie said. "But I think they might be a bit too tight for me."
Dusk fell quiet as stared at Pinkie. He then let out a sigh. "Sorry..."
"Oh you don't have to apologize for that silly. Your clothes just weren't made for me."
"That's not what I meant..." Dusk said as he closed the door behind him.
"Oh, you're talking about the tea thing," Pinkie assumed. "Don't worry about Duskie it's not like you meant to spill it me."
Dusk turned his head. "That's... not what I meant either..."
Pinkie then tilted her head as she raised an eyebrow. "Okay... if you're not apologizing for that? Then what exactly are you-"
She was cut off by Dusk as he grabs her by the waist in a blink of an eye, closing in the gap between the two. "Dusk?" Pinkie said while looking at him with confusion. "What are you..." Before another word could be said. Dusk planted his lips on hers, and proceeded to violate her mouth with his tongue.
Dusk was completely enthralled by the kiss. The feeling of her soft, tender lips made him all the more friskier, pushing his tongue even further in her mouth. The way that her perky party favors molded against his broad chest, her nipples growing harder with each passing second. But just as he was really going into the kiss Pinkie escapes his grasp, abruptly ending their buss.
"D-Dusk!?" she said as she was slowly backing away, her cheeks burning the color red. "W-why did you do that for?"
The purple alicorn didn't say anything. He just looked at her as though she was his helpless prey.
"I mean, don't get me wrong, that was a really nice kiss, and you're very cute and all but..." Without question Dusk once again makes a grab for her, but this time Pinkie shoves him off of her.
"Knock it off Dusk," she scorned, though her whimpering voice easily betrayed her . "This isn't funny any aaahhhh!"
When she was backing away from the hot-blooded stallion, she unknowingly walks up to his bed, slipping and falling on top of the bed back first. As she laid helplessly before him, Dusk got on top of her, looming over her while baring his teeth to form a wicked grin.
"Please Dusk," she said looking at him with despair, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Don't do this. This isn't anything like..."
Pinkie couldn't get in another word as Dusk went straight for her fleshy party balloons, loudly moaning as he was mercilessly groping and kneading them as he saw fit.
As Dusk was ruthlessly toying with her chest, he forcibly unbuttons the shirt she had on, releasing the bountiful mounds of flesh so he could have the pleasure of seeing her hardened nipples. Liking her pink juicy, teats Dusk waste no time latching on one of them, sucking and licking it as thought it was full of milk while squeezing and milking the other.
While Dusk continued to molest his friend. Pinkie was squishing, contently protesting within each moan. But her cries for mercy went on deaf ears as the alicorn didn't seem listen, tightening his grip even further.
But while he could play with her fat chest all day he knew that breast could only satisfy his lust for so long. So he relinquished his grip and got off of her, leaving the party mare grunting as her breasts were sore from the brutal groping. As he stood before her, he grabs the rest of her clothing with his magic, and effortlessly tears them to shreds, leaving her completely in the nude.
As she tries to cover herself from the horny alicorn. Dusk's horn lights up as his hands began undoing his pants.
Wondering what was taking her friends so long. Fluttershy walks up to Dusk's room to investigate what was going on. "Uh Dusk, Pinkie? Is everything alright?" she asked as she knocked on the door. "You two have been in there for an awfully long time, and I was starting to get worry."
No one answered, so she knocked again. When she once again didn't get a response butterflies quickly began forming in her stomach. Being the worrisome pony that she was, she grabs the doorknob and opens the doors without thinking. And the moment she did her eyes widen with shock as her mouth dropped.
The entirety of her face became red as she saw Pinkie splayed on her back over Dusk's bed as the stallion in question was on top of her, violently thrusting his hips. An arrogant grin planted on his face as he was caressing tits to the point of tearing them off.
At first she was understandably mortified by walking in on the two, but her embarrassment soon turned into horror as she noticed that Pinkie's mane was completely flat and was bawling her eyes out.
She tried to delude herself, she didn't want to believe that Dusk was even capable of thinking, let alone committing, such a terrible act. But there he was having his way with a pony he'd called a friend. But maybe she was wrong about the whole thing. For all she knew Dusk was just trying to cheer Pinkie-
"Dusk, please stop it," Pinkie cried in between moans. "I can't take anymore of this..."
"Oh come now Pinkie I'm sure someone with your boundless energy could last for another three or four rounds," he said as he used one of his hands to run his fingers through her mane. "And if not..." he then gave a low growl as he just reached an orgasm. "Well, I know five more mares who can more than enough to fill in for you."
Fluttershy slowly backed away from the door as she placed a hand over her mouth, a feeling of emptiness quickly spreading throughout her stomach as she couldn't believe the words that had just come out of his mouth.
She knew then and there that she had to put a stop to this, she knew she had to get help. As much as it pains her to leave Pinkie like this, she knew that it would be foolish to take on the stallion by herself. Ever with the element of surprise on her side the stallion had a vast amount of spells at his disposal.
But just as she was about to take off. "You know Fluttershy, I never expected you of all ponies to be an eavesdropper..."
Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat as she turned to see the sinister stallion grinning at her with an immortal smile. Her first instinct was to get out of there like a bat out of tartarus, but it proved useless as he already got a hold of her, with one arm tightly around her neck, while he mercilessly groped her chest with his free hand.
"Hey now no need to run, I don't mind if you were listening in," he said as he squeezes down her breast. Flutterfly moaned as she continued to struggled within his grasp, making the stallion grin as he leans down to her ear. "Just so long as you plan on joining in..."
But just as he said that Fluttershy then looks at him, giving him an in-depth look into her Stare. The chances of this working were very slim, but she knew she had to take the risk. Thankfully for her The Stare was just the trick she needed as it left the stallion paralyzed enough for her to break free from his grasp.
Now free from the stallion, she uses her wings to quickly descend the stairs and make a mad flight to the door. But just as she was inches away from the doorknob a magic aura stops her completely in her trail. No...
"Aw, leaving so soon? But we haven't even got to play yet."
The aura then brought her over to the awaiting stallion. But the moment when he turned her around to see her face, she once again uses The Stare on him again. Unfortunately however, unlike last time she only made him laugh.
"Sorry Fluttershy," RRRIIIPPP!!! "But that trick isn't going to work on me twice," he said as he threw away the tattered remains of her sweater and skirt, "Especially when I already saw it a few seconds ago."
Even though Fluttershy was trapped within his magic she still tried to break free as he moved her to the table they were all eating at earlier. "Settle down Fluttershy, I know this is your first time and all, but don't worry, you can trust your good ol' friend Dusk to be gentle with you."
The Pegasus then stopped struggling to give the stallion a mean look. "Don't you dare use that name."
"Oh, and why shouldn't I? That is the name I was given when I was born."
"You're not my Dusk. He would never do anything like this to his friends, you're just some stallion that just happens to look like him. "
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way," he said as he started to clear table while he holds her above the table "But I can assure you that I'm the same stallion you known since the first day we met."
"No, Dusk is twice the stallion you'll ever be."
"Now that's where you're wrong my dear friend." The aura that surrounded her began shining brighter than it normally did. "I'm ten times the stallion."
She began to prepare for the worst that the stallion had to offer, but just as something was about to happen, his magic vanished and she fell on the table. After picking herself to see the imposter smiling smugly at her. Fluttershy attempt to make another break for it, but before she could even flex her wings, an intense flash of heat came out of nowhere.
It quickly moved throughout her body as she began panting from the heat. It was as though he just turned on her estrus cycle and set it past its maximum setting. She could barely think to herself, let alone move.
"So, what do you think of my rutting spell?" he asked as he closed in on his prey. "Pretty effect eh? It took a little longer with Pinkie, but you already know how she turned out."
"No... Please don't..." she protested as she tried to get away from him.
"Ah, but I'm afraid I can't do that Fluttershy," he said as he effortly gets on top of her, looking straight into her eyes. "Especially when you're suffering like this," he said as he penetrated her.
Dusk woke up with a scream, his eyes wide with fear as cold sweat was draping over his face. He panted heavily as he steadied himself, frantically scanning his eyes around to confirm to himself he was still in Luna's chamber.
"Dusk..." Luna placed a hand on his chest, speaking softly to try and calm him. From looking at her, it was clear to Dusk that Luna was frightened by his behaviour. "Oh hey Luna... I'm really sorry for waking you. I just had..." He struggled to find the words.
"A nightmare?" Luna finished, her voice in a comforting tone. "Yes I'm well aware, I could see that when I was looking in your dream. I was about to come and put a stop to your rampage myself, but thankfully hurting Fluttershy pulled you out of it."
"Oh..." Dusk reminded himself of Luna's responsibilities. After all, this wasn't the first time the lunar princess visited his dreams. "So... how much did you see?"
"Enough to know that you're in dire need of my help, Dusk." Luna said as she wrapped her arms around her lover to calm him down. But despite her best efforts, Dusk still didn't show any sign of cheering up.
"I already know what you're going ask, and you know full well that you'll never become anything like that, seeing how you already claimed me and my sister."
"Yeah I know that, but it's just that I can't stop thinking about what Celestia told me the other day, and the way that I acted toward you two yesterday..." he turned away from Luna with shame. "I feel as though I'm losing a part of myself every time I have sex. Slowly turning into..."
"You shouldn't let your fear get the best of you," Luna interrupted. "Listen Dusk, I know you're not too keen on the idea of harming your friends in any way, but that doesn't mean you should underestimate them. After all, they're not as helpless as you may think they are."
"But that's the thing Luna. I know my friends are more than capable of handling themselves. It's me I'm not so sure about..." Dusk sighed. "I just don't know if I can trust myself around them. I mean, what if I lose control over myself while sleeping with them, or I end up doing something even worse..."
Luna fell silent. After a brief pause, she spoke."Can I ask you something Dusk?"
Dusk turned to his mate. "Sure, what is it?"
"Do you really care about your friends?"
Dusk's eyes widened in outrage at the question. "Why would you even ask that? Of course I care about them! They mean everything in the world to me, I chose them just for that very reason. They're like a second family to me and I just don't know what I would do if anything were to happen to them."
"The only reason why I ask this is because I know you deeply care for them. Tell me, do you really think somepony who just greatly described how much he cares for his friends could purposely harm them of their own free will?"
"No... I guess not..." Dusk said as he started to take Luna's words into consideration. "But what if I get too rough with them? I mean, I know that it's only a natural instinct for me to act like that, but I was really aggressive with you two the last two days... especially towards you," he admitted while his face reddened.
"Oh Dusk," Luna smiled as she brought him in for a small kiss on the lips. "You have far more control over yourself than you think and the sooner you realize this the better. For all of us."
"I don't know Luna," Dusk said as he shied away from her. "I'm not really sure I can do it..."
"Don't worry Dusk, you'll understand it eventually. With a mind like yours it should be easy," Luna said to sooth Dusk's anxiety. "And besides, it's not like you have to go out and recruit your harem at this very instant."
"Well... I suppose you're right... I have been letting all this go to my head," Dusk said, sounding a bit more optimistic.
"Suppose?" Luna smiled while raising an eyebrow. Before he knew what was happening Dusk found himself underneath the voluptuous Lunar princes, staring deeply into her cyan eyes. "I think the words you're looking for are "You're right, Luna"," she gave a sultry giggle right before kissing him on the lips.
Feeling the warmness of his lover's tender kiss certainly did help him feel better, but a small feeling inside kept tearing at him, like a timber wolf through underbrush. But he decided that it would be best to ignore it for now. After all, Luna was right, there really wasn't any reason for him go round up his harem right now, and he had plenty of time to hone his ferocity.
"Alright alright, you were right, and I'm just a nervous wreck," Dusk chuckled as he wrapped his arms around the lunar princess. "Are you happy now?"
"Hmm... Oh I don't know. Maybe if a certain stallion were to 'reward' his mare for calming him from his nervousness," Luna cooed as she idly walked two fingers up his chest. "I... just might consider it."
Dusk simply chuckles, right before he flips her onto her back, and gets on top of her. "Oh don't worry you'll get your reward," he whispered directly in her ear. "A big... long... thick... throbbing... reward," he said as he was inches away from her lips.
With the combination of his vivid description and breathless voice, Luna couldn't help but to kiss her eager stallion, melting into his embrace, already sticking her tongue in his mouth.
As the two proceeded with their 'duel' they started writhing and squirming all over the bed, their kiss becoming just as wild as their bodies. Within seconds Dusk was already at full erection, and broke their kiss as he was more than ready to reward his mate.
But just as he was about to mount her, a voice came from beside them. "I hope I'm not disrupting anything,"
The two alicorns turn to see the always dour looking Scarlet Tail, who was still in her maid outfit, standing right at the bedside.
Dusk understandably jumped back from seeing the maid's sudden appearance. To say that he was completely embarrassed was a major understatement, as he was petrified stiff as a red statue. While Scarlet may not have been a friend or family, it still was humiliating to be caught in the middle of mating.
However, much like her sister, Luna wasn't really fazed by the maid's intrusion, though from the look of things she understandably wasn't too pleased about inconvenience.
"Miss Tail, could you be so kind as to tell me why you thought it was necessary to randomly barge in my room?" Luna asked, doing little to hide her frustration.
"My apologies, your highness, but your sister sent me to get you and Prince Dusk Shine for breakfast," Scarlet answered in her always stern voice. "And she wishes to see you immediately. Also, she wanted me to give you this." she levitates Dusk's clothes from yesterday, now clean and folded up, on top of Luna's dresser.
"Oh um... thanks..." Dusk said in a bashful manner.
"There's no need to thank me, your highness, I'm only following orders."
"Yeah, maybe a bit too well," Luna muttered under her breath.
"Now, I must be on my way, I have to report back to Celestia," she said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Well that was uh... something..." Dusk said.
"Indeed it was," Luna said in a deadpan tone. "But enough about her, let's get back to where we left out," she seductively purred.
"As nice as that sounds Luna," he said apologetically. "I really think we should go see what Celestia wants," he said, getting off of Luna, much to her disappointment.
"Come now Dusk, I'm sure whatever my sister wants isn't that important. So come back to bed and claims what's rightfully yours," she said, giving her flank an enticing smack.
"Tempting," Dusk said, considering walking back to the bed. "But Celestia wouldn't have send little miss ray of sunshine if it wasn't important," he stated as he continued to the dresser.
As Dusk reached for his clothes he was soon grabbed from behind by Luna, who quickly went straight for his semi-hard cock. "Aw, forget about my sister Dusk. I'm sure she'll understand if we
run a little late..." she whispered, playfully gnawing on his ear.
If Luna had done this before this week Dusk would have easily have been putty in her hands. But due to him having sex for the past two days he simply shrugged off Luna's tactics and cast a teleportation spell to escape her grasp.
"I know you're horny as tartarus Luna," he said as he reappears a few feet away from her. "But now is not the time. I promise you I'll take care of it after breakfast, Okay?"
"But I want you to take care of it now!" she whinnied as her ears flattened. "Pwetty pwease?..." she said in baby talk while pouting out her bottom lip.
Dusk flinched as he saw the pure adorableness of Luna's sad face, but he quickly gives her a small grin "Nice try Luna, but you're not the first mare to use cuteness on me," he said as the princess dropped the cute act. "But I won't lie, yours is by far one of the cutest I've seen."
"Fine!" Luna huffed. "If teasing or cuteness won't work than you force me to use my secret weapon."
"Secret weapon?" Dusk said bemused, raising an eyebrow. "Alright, I'll bite, what's your 'secret weapon'?"
"Now, it wouldn't be a secret if I told you, now would it?" Luna replied with a smug grin.
"Eh fair enough, but I still highly doubt it'll work."
"Well if you're so sure, then how's about a little bet? If I can get that third leg of yours in the air then you have to mate with me as long as I want, Deal?"
"Alright, I accept, but if you can't do it then you'll stop any and all attempts on seducing me till after breakfast, okay?"
"I accept your terms, but I'm pretty confident that you'll be joining me back in bed," she smiled as her horn lit up.
"Oh I know you are, but I honestly think you're just wasting your..." Dusk quickly went quiet as his mouth was left gaping open.
As Luna's eyes started glowing white, a dark blue mist came from her horn, and soon envelops itself all over her body. In a matter of seconds the mist soon deteriorates to reveal an all too familiar face.
Standing right before the purple alicorn was Luna's alternate persona, the infamous Nightmare Moon. Dusk's bottom jaw went straight to the ground, his wings spreading at full wingspan. He stood there staring intently at the mare's glorious black coat, her proud Amazonian stature, and her dangerous, yet alluring teal, slitted eyes.
The only thing that was missing was her armor, but he could easily forgive that detail as he got the chance to see a nude Nightmare, especially her stiff purple nipples, her huge breasts, far bigger than Lunas normal size, and her supple thighs, with her dark wetness dripping between them.
Luna smiled, baring her fangs to form a grin as she saw Dusk's cock snap to full attention. "Well well well... It would seem I win," Luna seductively said as she walked, continually swaying her hips with each step she took. "Or should I say 'We are the victor of this wager.' I can never remember which speaking pattern you preferred, but I suppose it doesn't really matter."
Dusk could only whimper as he watched the curvaceous Nightmare walk toward him.
"Surprised Dusk?" she purred as she wraps her arms around Dusk, pressing her body up against his. "Well don't be. I was well aware about how you lust for this form for a while now, but your recent dream confirmed it to me."
After getting over the internal shock Dusk started to grin as he grabbed onto her plump ass. "Alright. A deal's a deal, and I'm a stallion of my word."
"Oh, I'm glad to hear you say that Dusk," she said, getting up close and personal. "But that won't be necessary," she said escaping Dusk's grasp.
"Huh?" Dusk simply said as he watched Luna walking away dumbfounded, seeing her roll her hips enticingly with every step.
"After all, we shouldn't keep my sister waiting," she looked back to him, giving him a taunting grin. "Who knows how important it is."
Seeing the cockiness in her expression, Dusk quickly realized that Luna was toying with him, and wasted no time to intercept her by grabbing her from behind. "On second thought I guess Celestia won't mind if we ran a little late," he said, his hand groping one of her abundant breasts, while the other was rubbing her moist snatch. "After all, I'm sure she'll understand that I had to deal with an old foe."
"Hmm... and how do you plan on doing that? Last time, you needed the elements and your friends to 'deal with me.'"
"Oh, you know how the old saying goes," Dusk said as his horn glowed bright. While his transformation wasn't as flashy as the princess', Luna's eyes still widen with amazement as the once noble and pure hearted alicorn she once knew grew up and out, becoming buffer, darker, more impossibly handsome and even better hung. "Fight fire with fi-" Luna didn't even wait for him to finish, tackling him to the bed, pulling him in for a long, passionate kiss as she tried to straddle his grand frame. |
Reflection | pre | "Well he doesn't look any different," AR said, pointing at Blueblood's corpse. "Sprawled out on his stomach with a few broken bones. Dead as usual."
"Right," Delta replied. "But because he was pushed? I don't know. What's this powder around him?"
"Rosin," an analylist replied. "From a bow."
"The prince never played though."
"Yes, but as you know, the murderer was a violinist. After a long night of playing, he was bound to be covered in the rosin and by the looks of things, rubbed some off when he pushed the prince."
"Actually," AR said. "I don't think he was pushed." The stallion rolled the corpse over, a viollin bow sticking out of its chest. "Rather, he was stabbed with the killer's own bow."
"You didn't see this before?" Delta asked.
"N-no," the analylist replied. "His suit was covering it up."
"And yet you did not notice the blood on said suit?"
"I-I thought his bones had torn through his skin!"
"You're doing alot of thinking and not enough observing, aren't you? Take the bow back to your lab and get a DNA match on the hairs. If I'm right, this will be the key to our client's fate."
The analyist carefully took the bow out of the body and walked out in shame. "Step two," AR said. "Find his papers."
"That's where the hard part is," Delta replied. "Miss Sparkle claimed that Blackjack had papers. But we looked through our own database and there's nothing about him, not even a name. Let's head back to Ponyville and check town hall for anything." '-'
"Certainly," Mayor Mare said. "I have the documents you're looking for." The three sat in the mayor's office, the mare going through various file cabinets. "Now let's see...Berry Punch...Blackberry Tart...Black Ice...aha! Here we are, Blackjack." She passed the file to the investigators, opening the folder.
"Blackjack the fiddler?" Delta asked. "What's his last name?"
"He doesn't have one," the mayor replied. "I thought you would know that sir."
"We're pretty much in the dark about this guy," AR said. "All we know is that he's been accused of the murder of Prince Blueblood."
"Everyone in Ponyville knows that. We're not too happy about it either. Heaven above! I honestly can't believe that Blackjack murdered! He's not a violent pony."
"That's why Delta and I are here. This file may be the only way we can prove Blackjack innocent. Provided it contains what we need, of course."
"I believe it does. Here's his birth certificate, document of citizenship, and a wedding license he had me keep until the lucky mare said yes."
"Wedding license?" Delta asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. I think he said he was going to propose at the gala..."
Delta took a note and examined each document closely with AR. The birth certificate stated that he was twenty-five and was born in Appleoosa hospital, but the text was faded at some points and they could not read who his parents were.
The document of citizenship was dated correctly. The document was signed four years ago. The wedding license was recent and only needed one more signature to be complete.
"Is there anything else?" AR asked.
"No," the mayor replied. "Unfortunatly, this is all I have. You may have to check with your superiors-"
"They don't have anything," Delta said. "This is all new for us, besides his name being on the most wanted list."
"That's why he was arrested?"
"Along with being accused of murder."
"Hmm...well gentlecolts, I can assure you one thing."
"What would that be?"
"Even if you cannot find any solid evidence, know this: almost everyone in Ponyville either knows Blackjack or knows somepony who does. I assure you, if you ever need more than his friend's testimonies, the entire town will be willing to speak up."
"That's very kind of you, but I doubt a jury from Canterlot would be willing to bend to all those claims, even if they're true."
"There needs to be documented proof of his background," AR added. "Even if we find it...Celestia makes the final judgement. I don't think she'll condemn him, but if after seeing her face at the gala..."
"Well it wouldn't hurt to try," the mayor said. "Please, ask around town. You'll see what I'm talking about. You might want to stop by Sweet Apple Acres first."
"The place where that wonderful cider comes from?!?" AR asked excitedly.
"Yes. It's just outside of Ponyville. The Apple family lives there and they know Blackjack very well, especially Big Macintosh. He's the stallion's best friend."
"To Big Macintosh it is then," Delta said. "Thank you Mayor Mare."
"Of course! If you need anything else, please let me know!" '-'
"So," AR said, plucking an apple from a tree. "Why do you think they call him Big Macintosh?"
"We'll find out soon enough," Delta replied. "Here comes somepony."
A teenage filly with a pink bow in her mane walked down the dirt path towards them. "Y'all lost?" She asked. "'Cause this here's private property."
"Our appologies," Delta said, showing his badge. "My name's Delta and he's my partner AR. We're private investigators. We need to ask the Apples a few questions."
"Why? We've never done anything 'gainst the law."
"You're an Apple?"
"'Course I am! Can't ya see the appleblossom on my flank?"
"Look kid-"
"The name's Applebloom."
"You get that additude from a local teenage dragon?!?"
"So what if I do?"
"Delta!" AR shouted, shoving his apple into the stallion's mouth. "Let me handle this okay?" Delta looked at him with steely eyes. AR bent over to become eye level with Applebloom.
"Look," he said. "I think you know why we're here. Now, don't say Blackjack's innocent-"
"But he is!"
"Shh...I know. We think he is too, but we need evidece. That's why we're here, because your family knows him so well, you can tell us about him and testify at the trial if needed. Now, may we come inside?"
She nodded her head, wiping away a tear. A bell rang and Applebloom smiled. "Y'all came just in time for lunch too. C'mon!"
The filly led them along the path, Delta eating the apple. "Well you're good with kids," he said. "Lucky you.
"That's because I'm sensitve," AR replied. "I also know when to quit."
Delta rolled his eyes. "Look who's talking."
They arrived at the house's front porch, Applebloom looking the Pegasi over. "Y'all don't have guns on you right?"
"Not presently," Delta replied. "Why?"
"No guns at the table, Grannie Smith's rule." She opened the door and shouted, "Hey y'all, can you get two more plates? We've got company!"
"I told you that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo can't come over AB," a voice shouted back. "Tell 'em to go home!"
"This 'aint Sweetie and Scoot sis! I don't even know where they live!"
"Then why in tarnation did you bring strangers to the farm?!?"
"I didn't! The coppers just walked in!"
"Even more reason not to let them in! Listen here officers, we 'aint done nothing 'gainst the law, so scram!"
"Then I guess your friend will have you to thank for whatever happens," Delta calmly replied. "Not something pleasant, I imagine."
The shutters next to the door opened and three Earth Ponies stood with guns pointed at the stallions. "No guns at the table huh?" Delta asked. Applebloom giggled nervously.
"Now listen here," an orange mare said coldly. "You've got five seconds to give us a good reason why you're here or we'll shoot."
"Eeyup!" A red stallion exclaimed.
"Your time starts now," an elderly mare said as she cocked her pistol.
"Tell them AR," Delta said.
"We're here on behalf of Blackjack the Fiddler," the off-white stallion quickly said, showing his badge.
The three ponies stared slack-jawed. "Soup's on!" The green mare shouted, closing the shutters.
"They seem nice," AR half-joked. "Is your family always this hospitible?"
"I'm sorry," Applebloom replied. "Everypony in town's a bit wound tight since Blackjack got arrested."
"It's alright kid," Delta said. "We're used to this kind of treatment."
"C'mon in y'all," the orange mare said, standing in the doorway. "There's a meal waiting for you."
"Thank you!" AR replied, dashing inside.
Delta and Applebloom followed him in, the mare leading them to the table. "Sorry about that," the orange mare appoligized, setting two extra spots at the table. "The entire town's gone a bit crazy since, well, you know why."
"We understand," AR said. "We're starting to get a little crazy because of what happened too."
"Whatcha mean?"
"It's hard to make sense of what we have," Delta replied, he and AR sitting. "We were told that you are friends with our client. Is that true?"
"Eeyup," the red stallion said as he dished up plates. "'Specially me 'an BJ. We're closer than two seeds in an apple."
"You must be Big Macintosh."
"Eeyup. Y'all met Applebloom already. That's my sister Applejack and this is Grannie Smith."
"I'm Delta and this is my partner AR. Would you mind answering a few questions for us concerning Blackjack?"
Big Macintosh nodded, setting the table. He sat down along with his family and asked, "What'd y'all like to know?"
"How long have you known Blackjack?"
"Oh...'bout two 'an a half years now. I met 'im here at 'th farm when he was helping AJ buck apples."
"Could you both tell us about it?"
"Sure," Applejack said. "BJ and I were just finishing up..." '-'
Two and a half years ago
Blackjack bucked once more, the apples all falling into a basket. "You know what AJ?" He asked, wiping his brow. "Sometimes I wish I didn't have black fur."
"And here I thought you were used to the sun," the mare giggled. "With living outside all your life, you ought to enjoy this kind of thing! Heck, yer just as country as me!"
"It doesn't make me any cooler in the sun though!" Blackjack chuckled, changing into his bipedal form and putting the heavy basket in one of the carts. "Now I might be country, but that doesn't mean I always use the grammar or stop complaining. Be glad your fur isn't as dark Applejack. You won't die of heatstroke."
"Be glad you have black fur BJ, 'cause y'all won't die of frostbite."
The two hitched themselves to their wagons and walked up the path to the barn. They grabbed a bottle of water out of an ice chest and drank their fill, Blackjack pouring the rest on his neck and torso after unhitching himself.
"Save some for later," Applejack laughed. "Or you'll die of thirst."
"I'd rather die thirsty than cool," he replied, helping her unhitch. "Besides, I told y'all 'bout my fur situation didn't I?"
"You also said you don't talk country."
"Hey, I don't see Twilight or Rarity around trying to make me speak grammaticly correct. I like loosen my tounge 'round here."
"Speaking of loosening," a voice shouted. The two looked up to see a red stallion hanging upside down by a rope caught on his hoof in the hay loft. "Y'all think you can get me down b'fore the blood in my leg is cut off?"
"Hang on big brother," Applejack shouted. "We're coming!" The two ran inside the barn and climbed the ladder to the hay loft. Together, they heaved the large stallion up and untied the rope.
"Thanks," he said. "I was starting to get dizzy."
"How'd you fall out anyway?" Applejack asked. "You're alot carefuller than that."
"I was cleaning up 'th hay when I stepped on a nail. I hopped backward a bit too far and fell out. Good thing one of the pullies had a rope on 'th ground and caught my leg huh?"
"Yep, sure is. Good thing we were close too."
"Is the nail stuck in your hoof?" Blackjack asked.
"Nope," the stallion replied. "You one 'o 'th farm-hooves? Never seen y'all before."
"Oh that's right," Applejack said. "Y'all havn't met b'fore have ya? Blackjack, this is my older brother Big Macintosh. 'Course we just call him Big Mac or Mac. This is Blackjack, a friend 'o mine. He offered to help out since one of the worker's out sick."
"Howdy," Blackjack grinned, shaking Big Mac's hand. "I can see why you're called big. How much do you lift on a daily basis?"
"Oh, 'bout two-hundred pounds. Yer not too little either are ya? Almost as big as me."
"Well, when you're lifting up boxes full of books and playing violin, it tends to add up."
"A fiddler huh? Oh yeah! I saw you and AJ at the Music Festival together. Pretty impressive, 'specialy since you beat my sis. I'm not too shabby at guitar m'self."
"Really? We'll have to do a jam session some time."
"Alright boys," Applejack said. "Three things. One: Blackjack won by just a little bit. Two: we need to get back to work and three: y'all are still shaking hands."
The stallions looked at their hands and quickly released each other's grasp. "Well this is awkward," Blackjack said.
"Eeyup," Big Mac replied. "I think all that needs to be done is painting 'th fence and plowing the Northern field. You can help me plow, Blackjack, 'an AJ-"
"Yeah yeah," the mare interrupted. "I'll be painting as usual. Try not to have too much fun without me boys." '-'
"Y'all doing alright?" Big Mac asked.
"This is harder than it looks," Blackjack grunted, trying to plow at the other stallion's pace. "You've been doing this since you were a colt? You've got a strong will, I'll give you that."
"It's hard work, sure enough. But yer doing pretty good for a rookie."
"Thanks Mac. Is it alright if I call you that?"
The large stallion grinned. "Eeyup! All of my friends call me that. 'Course I like to call them a few nicknames m'self. That alright BJ?"
"We must be friends then, because we're saying each other's nicknames. That was almost as fast as when I became friends with Twilight."
"How is she anyway? It's been a long time since I've seen her. Don't get a chance to go out and enjoy m'self that often, with all this work."
"We should go to a bar sometime, whenever you're free. But yeah, she's doing good. She's busy as ever, I'll tell you that. That mare just loves taking advantage of having a stallion to lift all the heavy things."
"That's right. Y'all said you worked at the library."
"I live there too. She was kind enough to let me in when I was out on the streets."
Big Mac stopped plowing and looked at Blackjack curiously. "Ya live with her?"
"Yeah," Blackjack stopped, wondering about his friend's tone. "I havn't stolen from her if that's what you're saying."
"No, that 'aint it. Y'all aren't sharing a bed are ya?"
"No! I sleep in the basement Mac, gosh! Why'd you ask?"
"Just wondering. Wanted to know if y'all are taking advantage of living with a mare. Otherwise I'd have to tan yer hide."
"Now listen, I'd never do that to her, or any mare. I don't think she likes me like that anyway."
"I didn't mean to insult you, just trying to keep my friends safe."
"Aren't we all? No it's alright Mac, I understand."
The two continued plowing in silence for a while and were on their way back when the farm-stallion asked, "But you'd like to have her as a filly-friend?"
"Well, yeah," Blackjack replied. "But like I said, I don't think she likes me the way I like her."
"Ask her out then. It 'aint that hard."
"W-what?" Blackjack stuttered.
"Yeah, ask the filly on a date. You said you'd like to."
"W-well let me t-tell you something Mac! It might be surprising, but I'm shy!"
"Same here, I don't say much in public. But that don't stop me from talking to ponies."
"Really? Have you ever asked a mare on a date before?"
Big Mac smiled sheepishly. "Nope. Tell you 'th truth, I'm at the same predicament with a mare I like."
"Exactly. We're both hopeless. Now come on and help me plow this field!" '-'
"Interesting," Delta said, taking a note. "So that's how you two became friends?"
"Eeyup," Big Mac replied. "Got closer ever since. We've proved it several times over too."
"Did you ever see Blackjack physically harm someone?"
"Just once, but that was in defence of me 'an Fluttershy, my filly-friend. He didn't do anything permanent and he tried to reason with them. They threw the first punch."
"Tell us about it if you would." '-'
One year ago
"Well look who got some free time!" Blackjack laughed, hugging Big Mac. "Fancy meeting you here! What did you do, have Applebloom do everything that was left?"
"Eeyup," the stallion replied, taking a swig of cider. "Tricked a few of the workers into doing my chores too."
The two were in a local club enjoying themselves. Music was playing loudly and several ponies were dancing along to it. "Well look who it is," Blackjack said, pointing at a trio of mares that had just walked in. "Hey AJ!" Blackjack said. "Fluttershy, Dash. What're y'all doing out?"
"Well I for one am here to say Mac's in trouble," Applejack said. "Rainbow Dash wants to have a good time, as usual, and we convinced Fluttershy to come because she's never been here before."
"Who's taking care of the animals then?"
"Spike is," Fluttershy replied. "He's getting good at it too."
"Well it's nice to see you guys," Rainbow Dash yawned. "If you need me, I'll be partying."
The Pegasus flew off, the other mares following her. Blackjack snapped his fingers, bringing Big Mac back to reality. "What?" Mac asked.
"Don't pretend you don't know," Blackjack replied. "I saw the way you looked at Fluttershy. She'd a good love interest for you buddy."
"Cut it out BJ," the farm-stallion blushed, pushing his friend slightly. "Or we'll start talking about your love interest."
"C'mon Mac, I'm teasing you. Besides, I'm serious. Ask her to dance with you."
"Nope."
"Mac, she's sitting all alone. I think a few stallions are noticing too."
"Alright fine! But I'm blaming you if she says no."
"Get going!" Blackjack took his friend's drink and pushed him forward. Big Macintosh nervously walked towards the table Fluttershy was sitting at, trying to act casual. "C'mon Mac," Blackjack whispered. "Ask her to dance."
Blackjack noticed the mare's head nod and he jumped excitedly as the two danced. "Ada boy Mac!" He took a swig of cider, chuckling at the rediculously sized stallion trying to keep up with the much smaller mare.
"Well lookie there," Applejack laughed, joining Blackjack and clapping him on the shoulder. "I suppose you convinced him to be the stallion he is?"
"Mule's more like it, AJ. But with enough of a push, you can see the results. Woah! Okay then!"
"What?"
"I'm pretty sure Fluttershy just goosed Mac."
"Excuse me," the orange mare took a swig of cider. "Say that again." She began chugging her glass.
"I'm pretty sure Fluttershy just goosed Mac."
Applejack spewed her drink out. "That's what I thought you said. Well, seems like she wanted my brother even more than I thought."
"She wanted him? Looks like they'll both be happy in that case."
The red stallion and yellow mare stopped dancing and headed over to their friends, hand in hand. "Well BJ," Mac said. "I guess I've got you to thank for this."
"Yep," the stallion replied, smiling. "Are you guys done dancing?"
"Eeyup. I'm 'gon take Fluttershy home."
"Oh c'mon guys, have a drink, stay a while. The night's still young."
"I really need to go. Spike needs to go home," Fluttershy said. "Um, where's Rainbow Dash?"
A stallion flew over their heads, crashing into a table. They looked the way he had come from, seeing Rainbow Dash hovering clumsilly in the air.
"I warned you," she slurred. "Don't mess with me!" She took a long drink and crashed on to a table.
"You guys go ahead," Blackjack grinned. "AJ and I'll see if we can't get Dash sober enough to go home."
Big Macintosh nodded, taking the mare out of the club. Blackjack and his cow-pony friend attempted to get Rainbow Dash on her hooves, but to no avail. "Looks like we'll be carrying her," Applejack said. "C'mon BJ, let's take her home." Together, they picked the mumbling mare up and dragged her out. '-'
Big Macintosh and Fluttershy walked hand in hand through Ponyville's lamp-lit streets. "So you've been taking care of animals for how long now?" Big Mac asked.
"Eight years," Fluttershy replied. "At least here, in Ponyville. I've been caring for animals ever since I got my cutie mark."
"How 'bout that...if it's not too personal, how did you get yer mark?"
"Well, Rainbow Dash was about to race these colts who were being mean to me. When I waved the flag, the wind pushed me off the clouds and I was saved by butterflys. They set me down on the ground and I was able to convince the animals that I wasn't scary. That's how I got my cutie mark."
"Huh. That's not what I figured."
"What do you mean?"
The red stallion chuckled. "I knew you were great at talking to animals, but those butterflys on yer flank made me think. My pa once told me butterflys were always out looking for flowers prettier than they had just landed on. That's how I thought you got yer mark...because animals, especially butterflys...think you're-"
"Well isn't that cute," a voice slurred voice said. "Big Red's got a filly-friend." A black stallion emerged from the shadows along with a blue Earth Pony and a brown Unicorn.
"Blackjack?" Big Mac asked.
"The librarian?" The stallion laughed, punching Mac in the gut. The farm-pony collapsed, the wind being knocked out of him. "The fiddler? Sorry big guy, he's not around." The stallion snapped his fingers and his two goons picked Big Mac up and held him in place.
"The name's Black Ice numbskull! Heard of me?" He lit a cigarette, blowing the thick smoke in Big Mac's face.
"Can't...say...I have," the stallion coughed. "You look like a Smokey."
"Ohhh!" The black stallion laughed, his goons joining in. "Red's got jokes! I've got a joke for you, big guy...what's black, blue, and red all over? Well, here's the punch line!" He punched Big Mac in the jaw and twice in the gut again. The stallions holding him let go and the black one kicked him in the stomach.
"Stop it!" Fluttershy yelled. "Please stop!"
Black Ice snapped his fingers and the other two picked Mac up again. He turned around, smiling. "Well hello there babe," he said, fixing his jacket. "What's a filly like you doing with a chump like him?"
"I-I-I...He was taking me home."
"Really? Well, how 'bout you forget the big guy and we'll go back to my place," he leaned in close to the mare, putting his arm on the wall. "How's that sound?"
All Fluttershy could do was wimper. "Or we could do this here and now," the stallion continued. "What do you think boys?" His goons laughed.
"No! You leave us alone and go back to the bar you came out of," Fluttershy was using The Stare now, glaring at the stallions. "It's stallions like you that cause so much pain to others!"
"Ooh feisty," Black Ice said. "Tell you what, we'll let Red go if you and I have a bit of time together. Deal?"
"No deal!"
"Babe," the stallion whispered, putting the flat of a switch blade on her cheek. "I don't think you've got much of a choice." He grabbed her, laying his lips on her throat.
"Black...jack," Big Mac wheezed.
"I told you I'm not that pushover, you numbskull!"
"But I am," Blackjack said, coming into the light. "There's streangth in being a pacifist pal. Would you mind explaining why you're beating my best friend and assaulting a former General of Equestria?"
The other black stallion put his knife to Fluttershy's throat. "I don't see any medals on her," he said. "Besides, what're you 'gonna do, call the police?"
"Not yet," Applejack said, joining Blackjack. "I'm going to make this a family matter." Her eyes were feiry and her body was tense, ready for a fight. "You picked on the wrong family, you drunk colt!"
"Red here isn't in any position to help and I doubt our 'General' here can. Besides, there's three of us and only two of you."
"Guess again," Rainbow Dash said, hovering in the air. "The orange mare and I also happen to be former Generals ourselves."
"Ice," the brown stallion said. "That's the mare that hit Dusty!"
"So she is," the stallion replied. "Alright boys and girls, if you take one more step, I might get nervous." He brought his knife closer to Fluttershy. "Get the picture?"
Blackjack raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure hurting her is a good choice?"
"You trying to mess with my head fiddler?"
"No, I just want you to consider the consequences. First, you're already going to be charged with assault, so that's at least a year in prison. Secondly, you're going to be charged with murder or attempted murder if that knife cuts my friend's jugular. That can be life sentence or execution."
"And your point is?"
"You can only be charged if we tell the police."
"You're right..."
"Yo Ice," a stallion said. "These ponies giving you trouble?"
"Dusty! Took you long enough."
"I got knocked out by the babe with the rainbow-colored mane. I was also telling the rest of the boys about it." Two Diamond Dogs grabbed Applejack from behind and two Griffons did the same to Rainbow Dash.
Black Ice began to laugh. "That's my boy! So fiddler, looks like you're all alone. That's too bad. Dusty! Take care of him for me."
"You got it Ice," the grey Pegasus replied, cracking his knuckles. He got into a fighting stance, advancing towards Blackjack. "Let's see what you got book worm."
"Can't we talk about this?" Blackjack asked, ducking under a right hook. "I'm not going to fight you."
"Then that means more fun for me!" Dusty's fist landed on Blackjack's left eye and he punched left and right, on his face and body. The stallion drove Blackjack to the wall, beating him senseless. He drove his fist into Blackjack's gut repeatedly and the black stallion fell to the ground. He turned around, smiling.
Blackjack spit on him. Dusty whirled around, touching his neck and examining the bloodied spit. "That's a death sentence pal," he snarled. "You're going down!" One of the Griffons yelled in pain as Rainbow Dash bit him. She freed herself from the other one and swooped down at the Pegasus, tackling him.
Applejack stomped her hooves down on her captor's paws and helped Blackjack sit up. "Thanks," he said, trying to stand. "I'm alright...I think."
"Stay down BJ," she replied. "You need to rest. We'll take care of these thugs."
"Get them!" Black Ice yelled. His goons begain to fight; the ones holding Big Mac were knocked out however, because he had slipped out of their grip and knocked their heads together. He helped Applejack with the two Diamond Dogs, the mare jumping up and kicking one of the mutts' snout with a sickening crack.
"A little help here," Rainbow Dash yelled. Dusty and the two Griffons were chasing her through the air and she was doing her best to keep them away from the wounded Blackjack and Big Mac. "Get your rope AJ!"
"You got it RD!" Applejack shouted. She untied the rope from her belt loop and knotted it, forming a lasso. "Two hog-tied Griffons coming up," she continued, twirling her lasso. "Just keep 'em still for me!"
"I'm trying!" She hovered in the air, the two Griffons darting towards her. "Now Applejack!" She dropped down and the orange mare's lasso roped around the goons, smacking them into each other. They fell like dead weight and Applejack tied them together.
Big Mac kept the Diamond dogs away from Blackjack, changing to his pony form and bucking a dog in the chest. He flew backwards onto the Griffons, the three knocked out cold. The other dog dug his fangs into the stallion's forleg and shook him like a rag doll. Mac cried in pain, kicking the mutt repeatedly.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack jumped onto the dog's back, forcing his mouth open. He turned around, finding the two mares frowning at him. He smiled sheepishly and together, the ponies kncoked him out.
"Just like old times," Rainbow said, clapping her friend on the shoulder. "Don't you think?"
"Yep," Applejack replied. "Except we were armed then."
"Girls," Big Mac interrupted. "I'm bleeding over here."
Applejack pulled a bandana out of her pocket and tied it around her brother's leg. "Alright you good for nothing stallion," she said, turning to face Black Ice. "Let Fluttershy go right now!"
"Hmm," he replied. "Let me think...no! Dusty!"
The stallion landed next to him. "Yeah?" Dusty asked.
"Take my knife and run Red through would ya?" He gave his goon the blade and the Pegasus smiled.
"You'll have to get through us first!" Rainbow yelled, getting in a fighting stance. Applejack did the same.
"No," Blackjack said. He shakilly got to his hooves and stood protectively inbetween Dusty and the mares. "This is my fight."
"So the fiddler decides to fight," Dusty laughed. "I giving up your pacifism so early?"
"No. I am a pacifist because I have seen what fighting can do to ponies. I do not wish to fight you, but I will defend myself and my friends from harm." He got into a fighting stance and he narrowed his eyes, focusing.
Dusty frowned and the two began to circle. Dusty thrust the knife at Blackjack, who moved out of the way. While the Pegasus was vulnerable, Blackjack grabbed his arm and punched his wrist, making Dusty drop the knife. Blackjack kicked it out of the way and ducked under a right hook.
As he came back up, Blackjack delivered an uppercut to the stallion's jaw. Dusty backed up and massaged his jaw, looking at the black stallion with hate. He charged, throwing punches at Blackjack. He took a few, then countered with a body shot. Blackjack drove Dusty back, breaking hia nose with a quick jab.
The black stallion punched left, right, and ducked under another punch. He rose up, jabbed twice and delivered another uppercut. Dusty fell back, knocked out. Blackjack turned around and gasped. Black Ice cocked his pistol, pointing it at Big Mac.
"Nice knowing you Red," he grinned. "Rest in peace!"
He fired. Blackjack fell in front of his friend. "Blackjack!" Big Mac yelled, checking on the stallion. He looked at Black Ice in hate, trembeling in anger. "Why you son of a mule!" He rose and advanced towards the stallion, changing into his bipedal form.
Fluttershy bit her captor and flipped him over. He landed hard on his back and the mare punched him, knocking him out. "That's why I'm a General," she said. "Sorry about that." She ran to Big Macintosh and hugged him. "Are you okay?"
"We're fine," the stallion replied. "But we need to take Blackjack to the hospital." |
Reflection | Chapter 5 | Reflection
Chapter Five
"Best friends huh?" Delta asked as he wrote a few notes down. "That seems like an understatement."
"Well after he took that bullet for me, I couldn't quite place where that stallion stood in my life," Big Macintosh replied. He took a swig of cider, thinking. "I guess you could say he's a brother now," he continued. "That's how close we are."
"That sounds about right," Applejack said. "Blackjack's been a good friend to us over the years."
"That stallion sure knows his way with a fiddle," Grannie Smith added. "He and my oldest grandchildren always went to the town center to play a song every Saturday afternoon."
"I don't care why BJ's in jail," Applebloom said. "He's a good pony and y'all need to get him out. He helped me and my friends get our cutie marks!"
"Did he now?" AR asked. "Well, call your friends and get them over here!"
"You rang?" A voice asked. The group turned around, seeing two fillies and a colt standing outside the window. "We'd be willing to tell you about Blackjack," the orange filly continued.
"Then by all means, come in," Delta said. "The more we know about him, the better."
"Applebloom," Applejack chided. "I told you they can't come over."
"I didn't invite them," the filly replied. "Besides, if it gets BJ out faster, I say let them in!" She helped the trio into the house, hugging each of them.
"Y'all hungry?" Big Macintosh asked, rising to turn on the stove. "I can make a few more meals if you'd like."
"No thank you," the painted colt replied. "We've already eaten."
The red stallion nodded, sitting back down. "So Applebloom, are you 'gon introduce your friends?"
"Oh right," she replied. "AR, Delta, these are my friends, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Pipsqueak. I've known these three since we were foals and they're the best friends I could ask for. Except for Pipsqueak, he's more of a...uh..."
"Colt-friend," Pipsqueak said, helping her out. "With a little thanks to Blackjack, I might add."
"So you two are with the police?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Or are you with the government?"
"Yes and no," Delta replied. "We're working with the police to investigate Blackjack and we are also working with the government to provide information on who he is and what he's been doing."
"We're private investigators," AR added. "So we were hired for this case."
"Really?" Scootaloo asked. "Who's your client?"
"Our client prefers to remain anonymous. But they apparently have some sort of tie to Blackjack."
"Back to business," Delta said. "Would you children tell us how Blackjack helped you earn your cutie marks?"
"Sure thing Delta," Applebloom replied. "Who'd you like hear from first?"
"Whoever thinks their story will help."
All four of the foals raised their hands. "Fine," Delta groaned. "Scootaloo, why not?"
"Yeah!" Scootaloo shouted in excitement. "Alright, so, Blackjack had basically just got his job with Twilight..." '-'
Four years ago
"Let's review," Twilight said, showing Blackjack around the Golden Oaks Library once more. "What are the rules for book check-outs and returns?"
"No more than three books may be checked-out per pony," the black stallion replied. "Each book checked-out can be loaned for two weeks and after that, they will be fined thirty-five pieces for every day it is late."
"Good! Our policy for damaged books is what?"
"You break it, you buy it. Can't get much clearer than that can you?"
"No," Twilight giggled. "Not really! Very good, you're a fast learner!"
"Well, this is my first job. I don't want to make any mistakes."
Blackjack had been working for Twilight for about three hours now, except he hadn't actually sat down and done his job quite yet, but he was grateful that the mare was kind enough and patient enough to teach him what his job required.
The clock struck twelve, ringing its bell cheerfully. "Time for a lunch break," Twilight said. "Come on, Spike should have our food ready by now."
"Wait a minute," Blackjack replied. "I just started working for you and haven't even started doing my job, now I hear it's time for my lunch break?"
"Well, you had to go through my constant talking, so I bet you worked up an appetite."
"Yeah, you're right. Listening to you for three hours is exhausting." He laughed as Twilight hit him playfully. They made their way to the dining room, the smell of food cooking making Blackjack's stomach growl uncontrollably.
"How's it coming Spike?" Twilight asked as she and Blackjack sat down.
"Great," the dragon replied from inside the kitchen. "The food will be right out Twilight!"
"Thanks Spike!"
"So Twilight," Blackjack said. "Of all places to live, why here?"
"Well," she replied. "It's a long story."
"Great! The longer, the better."
Twilight smiled. "Princess Celestia arranged for me to stay here to make preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration two years ago."
"I get the feeling that she didn't assign you for just that."
"You are very observant, Blackjack. You're right though, the princess had also sent me here to make some friends."
"You needed friends?"
"Yes. Back in Canterlot, I was always so busy with my studies and thought having friends was a waste of time."
"Well, isn't Spike your friend?"
Twilight nodded. "Of course he is! It's just, I've always considered him like he was my little brother, that's all. What about you? Am I really the first friend you've ever had?"
"Hopefully not the last either," Blackjack replied, grinning slightly. "Like I told you, I've lived on the streets my whole life. Ponies don't usually smile and wave at me when I'm camped out in front of a trash can. Unless someone found the goodness in their heart, I would sometimes go without a meal for several days."
"Today's different though obviously," he continued. "Especially this morning. A mare selling apples let me have one, even though I couldn't pay her back."
"Orange fur?" Twilight asked. Yellow mane, hat?"
"That's her. You sound like you know her."
"I do actually. Applejack's one of my closest friends. I'll introduce you to her later."
Spike walked out of the kitchen, food in hand. "Here you go Twi," he said as he set the food down on the table. "I made you some spaghetti, nothing special."
"I never had that before," Blackjack said. "Is it good?"
"I dunno, try it."
"Spike!" Twilight scolded. "Whether you like it or not, Blackjack is my friend and employee. Tolerate him at the very least!"
"Yeah yeah." He went back into the kitchen to sulk.
"What's his problem?" Blackjack asked.
"I really don't know," the unicorn replied. "I'm sorry. Spike's usually very friendly and trusting of ponies. The fact that he's not like that now-"
"-Is because I snuck up on you and admitted to be homeless."
"What? No, no, no. I'm sure that isn't it."
"Alright, we'll figure out how our scaly friend ticks later. Let's eat!"
The two began to eat their meal, Twilight suddenly screaming and chugging down a glass of water."Spike!"she yelled.
"What is it?" Spike asked, coming out of the kitchen.
"Did you mix up the tomato sauce with the hot sauce again?!?"
"Apparently."
"Did you do that to make Blackjack look bad? Because if you did, you're-"
"-Hang on Twilight," Blackjack interrupted. "It was just a prank that went wrong. I probably would've responded the same way."
"That's what's weird, Spike replied. "I put hot sauce on your spaghetti too..."
Blackjack raised an eyebrow and took another bite of spaghetti. "Huh. I thought I tasted a little kick in it. You used a pretty weak sauce then."
"Really? I put in a sauce I got from the Crystal Empire. From what the stallion told me, it's one of the hottest sauces in the Empire."
"If this is the best they have to offer, you won't find me in that country." The stallion finished eating and patted the baby dragon on his head. "Thanks for the food Spike, you're a great cook."
Blackjack went to the front desk and started to work. The bell rang as a magenta mare entered the library. "Oh," she said, surprised to see the stallion behind the desk. "I was expecting to see Twilight."
"She's eating lunch," Blackjack replied shyly. "I can get her if you want."
"Oh no, that's alright! I can wait."
Blackjack nodded and returned to his work, sorting through various checklists. "Out of curiosity," the magenta mare said. "What are you doing behind that desk?"
"Working."
"You work here?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I'm sorry! I thought you were doing something you shouldn't. I'm Cheerilee."
"Nice to meet you Ms. Cheerilee. I'm Blackjack."
"How long have you been working here?"
"Well, I was hired almost four hours ago. I've only been working for five minutes."
"Oh dear! I suppose you wouldn't know about the field-trip then?"
"Field-trip?"
The library door opened again, several foals trotting inside. "Is that still happening?" Cheerilee asked.
"Uh," Blackjack said, slack-jawed. "Sure! So, what do you want to do? I could give a tour, tell a story, er..."
"I think a story would be nice."
"Alright...wait here."
The stallion began looking for a book that school-foals would enjoy. He pushed a few books away from their shelf, pausing to see a horse-shoe attached to the wall. Curious, Blackjack pressed it, a secret compartment opening. He pulled out the book inside.
"I think I found one we'll enjoy," he said as he returned to the foals. "If you guys would follow me, I'll start reading." Blackjack led Cheerilee and her students to the children's section, sitting down in a large chair.
"Alright kids," Cheerilee said. "Quiet down. Mr. Blackjack looks ready to read to us."
The black stallion smiled as they settled down. "Let's see what I have for you today...Oh! Legends of Equestria..." '-'
"-That is why volcanoes are so blistering hot," Blackjack finished. "The magma fueled by his rage." He closed the book to see the foals looking at him in shock. "Now can anypony guess who this legend was about?"
Several foals raised their hooves and Blackjack called on an orange filly. "Discord," she said.
"Discord was imprisoned in stone remember," a white filly said. "It was about Nightmare Moon!"
"Nightmare Moon is a mare dummy," a filly with a pink bow said. The three began to argue among themselves, Cheerilee breaking them apart.
"I would know better than anypony who the legend's about," a painted colt said to Blackjack. "His mind-controlled mutts gave me the scars to prove it."
"Alright," Blackjack replied. "Who was it?"
"Shadowblaze."
"You're right. I'm sorry for reading this to you."
"Eh, it's no big deal. He's dead now."
"Well, I think that's all the time we have," Cheerilee said. "Everypony thank Mr. Blackjack for reading those legends to us."
The school-foals left with the mare, excluding the three fillies and the colt. "Hey mister," the orange one said. "We couldn't help but notice your flank."
"Why?" Blackjack asked. "Is it dirty?"
"No, but it is blank."
"Ours are too," the colt added. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders and we think you could help us get our marks and we could help you get yours."
"Well that's sweet kids," Blackjack replied, heading for the front desk. "But I've tried just about everything to get my mark, but as you can see, I haven't been very successful."
"That's why we want to help," the Unicorn said. "I get the feeling that you've never let somepony help you discover your special talent. Am I right?"
"Yeah. Okay, I'll help you kids, it's the least I can do. Besides, I think you four have a lot of ideas about where to start." '-'
Present day
"I honestly don't see what this has to do with your cutie mark kid," Delta said. "Get to the point already."
"I'm getting there," Scootaloo replied. "Look, I thought it would help knowing when and where we met the guy. Anyway, the cool thing is, Blackjack helped us get our marks the same year! So really, you got to take the time to hear this..." '-'
One year ago
"You alright up there?" Blackjack asked, calling up to Scootaloo.
"Yep," the filly replied. "How's your chest doing?"
"It'll be sore in the morning, but I'm used to it. I need to stretch it out anyway."
The two were rockclimbing in the mountain near Ponyville, trying to see if this would earn the filly her mark. They reached a ledge big enough to rest on and sat down. Blackjack massaged the right side of his chest, Scootaloo looking at him with concern.
"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked. "We can go back down if you want."
"I'm fine Scoot," the black stallion replied. "I can go for a little longer. Besides, I don't think either of us are ready to go back down just yet. I mean, look at that view!"
Blackjack stood and walked to the edge of the ledge, the wind blowing through his mane. "It must be something, flying through the air with your own wings."
"Yeah," Scootaloo said sadly. "Something."
"Oh, don't be like that. You're just one step away from taking off."
"All I can do is hover, Blackjack. That's all I've been able to do for four years. I'll never fly."
"Not with that attitude you won't. C'mon, I'll teach you."
Scootaloo burst out laughing. "You! Teach me how to fly? Yeah right! What would you know about flying?"
"Quite a bit, actually. The library has an entire section dedicated to the principles of flight. Besides, I'm willing to help you learn, even if I won't be doing any flying."
"Well...okay. I guess it's worth a try."
"That's the spirit!" '-'
"The wind's coming at you from the port side!" Blackjack shouted. "Keep straight!"
Blackjack had spent three hours teaching Scootaloo how to fly so far, her body anchored by a rope secured on the mountain. The filly turned hard against the gale, the feathers on her wings making all the difference.
"Good," Blackjack continued. "Alright, time to land. Take it nice and easy."
Scootaloo landed, her hooves clacking against the rocky ground. "Well," she said. "I've got gliding down. But I'm not sure if I can start flying today."
"Nonsense! You've gotten this far, why stop now?"
"I..."
Scootaloo?"
The filly looked down in embarrassment. "I...I can't."
"What's wrong Scoot?"
"There's...there's several reasons why I can't fly and I...well..."
Blackjack walked up to nuzzle her gently. She nuzzled back, trying to keep herself from crying. "It's alright Scoot," the black stallion whispered. "I'm here. You can trust me."
"I know...BJ...I was born with a disability in my wings. They're too small to get me airborn...that's why I've only been able to hover in short bursts for all these years..."
Blackjack closed his eyes, his head lowered as he thought. With a sigh, he said, "Scootaloo, I need you to look me in the eye." The filly broke out of their embrace and began to walk away.
"Scootaloo," Blackjack said. "Please."
The Pegasus reluctantly turned to face him. "There's nothing you can say," she sobbed. "There's nothing you can do to get my wings working. I'm going to be flightless and a blank flank for the rest of my life! I've tried just about everything to fly and get my mark, but as you can see, I haven't been very successful."
"That's why we want to help,"Blackjack replied. "As Sweetie Belle said. That's why I want to help. I want to help, because you and your friends kept me going. To not give up. To wait for the right moment. For my destiny to be made clear."
"You may have given up on yourself, but I haven't given up on you one bit. Those doctors said you'll never get off the ground and look at what you're doing! You can hover and glide, even if your wings are 'too small.' The only pony keeping you from taking off and finding your destiny, is you."
"So don't say you'll never fly," he continued. "Because if you do, you never will and you will regret that decision for the rest of your life. I believe in you, Scootaloo. You can fly. I know you can."
Scootaloo dried her tears and looked out on the horizon. She let the cool mountain air pass through her mane; it reassured her, comforted her. The filly looked at the black stallion one more time. He nodded at her and smiled warmly.
She took a deep breath and sighed as she spread her wings. Scootaloo flapped once, twice, three times. She flew. Higher, higher she went, until Blackjack lost sight of her in the clouds. Then, with her wings roaring like an airship engine, Scootaloo dived down.
"Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhooooooo!!!"
Blackjack gave a thankful prayer as the filly streaked across the sky, doing corkscrews, loopdy-loops, and other tricks that would make Rainbow Dash proud. Scootaloo slowed down and landed next to her friend, jumping into his warm embrace.
"You did it!" Blackjack exclaimed. "You did it! I knew you could, Scoot!"
"Thanks for proving me wrong," Scootaloo laughed. "Thank you, Blackjack..."
Blackjack smiled and then pointed at the filly's flank. She broke out of the hug and looked at her newly marked side. Purple and pink lightning bolt streaked diagonally across her flank, a white wing at its starting point.
"My talent," she said. "Is flying..." Scootaloo smiled and began to cry joyfully. Blackjack hugged her again.
"Thanks BJ," Scootaloo said. "Thank you..."
"No problem Scoot," he replied. "I'll always try to help." |
Reflection | Chapter 6 | Reflection
Chapter Six
"That was so beautiful," AR blubbered, tears streaming down his face. "She...she...she can fly!" The Pegasus grabbed another wad of tissues from Applejack, who was doing her best to keep dry under his torrential tears.
"Calm down AR," Delta said as he wrote. "You'll get my pages wet. Now, I'm afraid we don't have much more time, so you kids are going to give us the short version."
They did. Applebloom got her mark from bucking the orchard with Blackjack. Big Mac was injured and Applejack was out sick. The two worked all through the night, Applebloom getting her mark when she planted a new sapling.
Sweetie Belle got hers when Blackjack needed help writing a song to perform at a Hearth's Warming concert. Thankful, the stallion gave her the opportunity to sing in his place, earning her mark.
Pipsqueak got his by sailing in a small boat with Blackjack. A fierce storm hit and the stallion gave the colt the courage he needed to sail them to safely, receiving his mark.
Delta wrote furiously, keeping pace with their stories. When they were done, the two stallions rose, thanked them for sharing their stories and food, and exited the house. '-'
The crowd of ponies looked on in shocked silence. Several of the stallion's friends looked at him apologetically. Others could not bear to look at him. All were crying.
"Do you have any last words?" Princess Celestia asked.
Blackjack looked at the sea of ponies as a tear slid down his face. He smiled slightly and said, "Thank you...for everything." He closed his eyes, ready for the end. The noose was tied around his neck and he fell through the trapdoor.
His hooves touched solid ground. "What?" He asked himself. "How am I not dead?"
"Because this is a dream," a voice replied.
Blackjack looked around for its source, but to no avail. Curious, he reached out, and the air rippled at his touch. "A dream?"
"A nightmare, actually. I have taken notice of them. You have a powerful fear indeed."
"What do you know about my fear?"
"I will answer that when the time is right." '-'
Blackjack woke to the sound of his food sliding under the door. He approached the door sleepily, stumbling as he knocked on the door. "Guard," he mumbled. "Guard?"
No answer, of course. He went about calling for a guard for a while, about to give up, when a stern voice replied, "What do you want prisoner?"
"Somepony to talk to. Please, if you can find any goodness in your heart, talk to me. You're the only hope I have of not going crazy in here. Please?"
The guard was silent for an agonizing moment. Then, the bolt on the door unlatched and an orange Pegasus walked inside. "I think I can spare a few minutes," he said with a softer tone as he closed the door. "You just want to talk huh? I'm guessing you don't want to discuss your situation right now, right?"
"Yeah, that would be nice. What's your name?"
"Private Flash Sentry. I'd shake your hoof, but I'm breaking conduct already.
"I understand. How long have you been in the Royal Guard?"
"About a week actually. You're my first assignment."
"Well," Blackjack said, smiling sincerely. "I hope I'm not the last."
"Private!" Another guard yelled. "Private, come help me with this prisoner!"
"Yes sir!" Flash replied, running out the door and locking it. He paused for a second and said to Blackjack, "If it's any consolation...I think you're innocent."
"Take care of yourself," Blackjack replied. "I hope I'll talk to you again someday." '-'
"This just doesn't add up," Delta said as he looked out the office window. "How in the hay can this stallion be guilty?"
The duo were back in their office in Manehatten, going over their notes and recordings again and again."There isn't a single testimony we have that even considers him guilty."
"Then he's not," AR replied. "We've interviewed everypony in Ponyville and they all say he's innocent."
"This case can't be dictated by testimonies alone, AR. Unless we find some hard evidence, his life is over."
AR nodded and played a tape again. He paused it, cocking his head to the side. He rewound it and played it again. "Hm."
"What?"
"You remember how Rainbow Dash claimed that Blackjack didn't have any enemies?"
"Yes, why?"
"Well, I think I just found one."
He played the tape again and paused it after a name was mentioned. Black Ice. Delta flipped through his notes, looking for the name. It appeared fairly often.
"Wait a minute," Delta said. "Didn't Ponyville's Mayor say something about Black Ice?"
"Yeah! She said his name just before finding Blackjack's file!"
Delta dialed the Ponyville Police Department. "Hello? This is Delta. I need to know if Black Ice is still in custody. When did he get out? Alright...what about his pal, uh...Dusty? What about Dusty? Well, where can we find him? Alright, thank you. Goodbye."
Delta hung up, rubbing his eyes. "Black Ice was taken off parole about a month ago. Nopony's heard or seen him since."
"Ponyfeathers," AR replied. "How about Dusty?"
"Same story, but he's in Cloudsdale. The police say he's working in a weather factory."
"Who in their right mind would hire an ex-convict?"
"You know Cloudsdale, always wanting more workers." '-'
"I'm not going to lie," AR said as the duo entered Cloudsdale. "I've missed the fluffy white streets."
"You can frolic after the trial," Delta replied. "Let's focus on the job."
The two stallions walked through the city, knowing exactly where they needed to go. After a few minutes, they arrived at the factory. "Identification please," a security guard said just outside the entrance.
The duo showed him their badges and he raised the gate, waving them through. They entered through the factory's front doors, a receptionist grinning at them.
"Welcome to Cloudsdale International Weather," she said cheerfully. "How may I help you today?"
"We need to speak to your C.E.O." Delta replied.
"I'm sorry, but that's not possible. Mr. Storm is not accepting any meetings at the moment."
"Tell him he has to." Delta flashed his badge at the mare.
Her eyes widened and she pressed a button on her headset. "Excuse me, Mr. Storm? There are two gentlecolts here to see you...yes, I told them, but they're authorities. Yes sir. Right away."
"Mr. Storm will see you now," she said to the stallions. "Take these visitor passes please. His office is on the thirtieth floor."
AR and Delta took the passes and clipped them to their jackets. "Thank you, miss?" AR asked.
"Wind. Abigail Wind."
The duo nodded, then stepped inside the elevator. "I have a bad feeling," Delta said, pressing the button. "As soon as we finish, we need to speak with Blackjack."
"You're right," AR replied. "We need to hear his side of the story."
They arrived at the thirtieth floor. The duo walked down the hall, knocking on a door with a plaque in bold letters that read:
T. STORM
C.E.O
"Come in," a stallion said inside. AR and Delta stepped in, the sour smell of the white stallion's cigar welcoming them. "Good afternoon-" AR said.
"Is it?" The stallion asked. "Company's thousands of bits in debt, workers are complaining about the grade of toilet paper, a stallion fell into the rainbow vats, two doughnut-eating haystacks are here to speak with me, and now I'm down to my last cigar."
"Mr. Storm," Delta said. "We happen to be those 'two doughnut-eating haystacks.'" He flashed his badge, Mr. Storm taking a quick glance and taking his cigar out of his mouth.
"Well make it quick," he replied. "I'm a busy stallion."
"We need to talk to you about one of your employees: Dusty Wind."
"Wind? Oh, yes, Dusty! Hard worker, that stallion. Remindes me of when I was working the machines. What do you want with him?"
"Are you aware that Dusty has a criminal record?" AR asked.
Mr. Storm put his cigar back in his mouth and shrugged. "So the colt's got a few bad marks; what do I care? C.I.W. needs all the workers it can get for the weather demands, and Dusty's one of the best."
"Even if that worker was arrested for attempted murder?" Delta asked, taking Dusty's file out of his coat and tossing it at the stallion.
Mr. Storm's mouth hung open, the cigar falling out. "Wha-where did you find this?!?"
"We have connections. This file will give a bad name to your company if word comes out."
"You can't prove anything! I'll call my lawyer!"
"Oh? What do you think about this then?" Delta took out another file and continued, "Mr. Thunder Storm, fined for forgery, tax evasion, and fraud. Not very reflective of an 'honest' business stallion, I would think."
"Just who do you think you are?!?"
"A private investigator. We will talk to Dusty, understand?"
Thunder Storm sat speechless for a moment, then picked up his phone. "Dusty? Get in here, I want to talk to you!"
Five minutes passed and Dusty Wind burst through the door. "Came here as fast as I-"
"Dusty, you're fired!"
"I-what?!?"
"You heard me! Don't bother cleaning out your workspace, we'll have somepony else do that."
"But, Mr. Storm, I'm a good worker, you know that!"
"Good worker? No worker of mine is going to clock in after spending time in the slammer for attempted murder!"
"What?!? How did you-"
"Calm down son," Delta said, flashing his badge. "Private investigators, you're coming with us."
"Private investigators? What in Tartarus is going on here?!?"
"AR, cuff him."
He did so, Dusty cursing up a storm at the three of them. "You won't get away with this! Do you hear me, Thunder?"
"Sir," AR said as he and Delta took him out of the office. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court."
They went into the elevator, riding it down to the lobby. The receptionist spewed her coffee out of her mouth upon the sight of the three. "Dusty! What on earth is going on?!?"
"Mr. Wind is coming to answer a few questions," Delta replied. "Carry on."
"Abigale!" Thunder Storm shouted on his intercom. "You're fired! Pack your things!"
"I'm what?!?" '-'
"What in Tartarus do you want?" Dusty asked, his chains rattling as he pointed at the duo.
"Answers," Delta replied. "That is, if you have any."
"Answers? To what?"
Delta stood and paced the small interrogation room they were in. "First item: where's your boss, Black Ice?"
"Don't know."
Delta slammed his forehoof on the table. "Where is he?!?"
"Like I said, I don't know. Even if I did, why would I tell you?"
"Because if you don't, I can fully authorize the termination of your parental rights. Your daughter will forget about you."
"You wouldn't dare!"
Delta smiled. "Try me. Where is Black Ice?"
"I really wish I knew."
"Let me tell you something, Mr. Wind: my employer is paying very good money to find evidence of a stallion's innocence. If you help me, you can go home with your wife and kid. If not, you will spend the next twenty years in prison. Now, where is Black Ice?"
"I don't know. But, I do know where he was."
"And where, was that?"
"The Grand Galloping Gala." |
Reflection | Chapter 7 | Reflection
Chapter Seven
Blackjack paced his cell, trying to find something to entertain himself with. It had been a week since his interrogation with AR and Delta, and he hadn't been out of his cell since. His fur was matted and putrid from a lack of bathing, and he was miserable.
"Solitary confinement," he said to himself with a chuckle. "If I had a bit for every time I walked around this cage, I'd be rich!"
He paused as his lunch was slid underneath the hatch to the cell. Blackjack walked over to it and began to eat. He stopped, realizing that his lunch was a plate of spaghetti. He shook his head.
It's just a coincidence, the stallion told himself. Nothing more.
Blackjack took another bite and savored the taste. He tasted a slight kick and he looked at the pasta in fear. Great! Now my mind's playing tricks on me!
He pushed the plate aside, his eyes falling on a rolled piece of paper hidden beneath it. Curious, he picked it up, black chalk falling out of its side. Blackjack picked the chalk up and read the paper.
Had a small bottle of the Crystal Empire's hottest sauce in my bags; thought you'd like something to change the flavor of the spaghetti. That chalk should work on the walls of your cell, so feel free to do what you want with it. I'm getting transfered to the Crystal Empire tomorrow, so I guess this is goodbye. I wish you all the luck in the world, and I'll keep you in my prayers.
With all due respect,
Private Flash Sentry, Equestrian Royal Guard.
P.S. found out that your trial's in three days.
Blackjack smiled, feeling his eyes water. He had made a friend in the most unlikely way. He put the chalk and Flash's letter in the pockets of his orange jumpsuit, then began to eat his meal happily. Coincidence or not, this really lightens my spirit.
After he finished the meal, he stood and took out the chalk. He looked at the blank white walls of his cell, inspiration taking hold. He started by drawing a treble clef, adding five lines next to it. Then, he began to write. A song began to take shape; the chalk a blur in his quick hands.
He paused, admiring his latest composition. He felt that it was missing something, then, he had it! Lyrics! The stallion thought. Blackjack continued to work, the words of the song appearing like magic on the wall. When he had finished, he smiled proudly. Then, dropping the chalk, Blackjack began to sing the new song.
"There once was a colt nopony knew; he slept in trees and was homeless too. But that all changed one bright sunny day, for the apple was given and he didn't have to pay. A Golden Oak, a golden heart; the Magic didn't let him fall apart.
"Don't look back, don't be afraid! Cause if you do, you'll find only pain! Keep your eyes focused on tomorrow; cause when you do, you'll depart this land of sorrow. The road is long, I know; just promise me you'll never let me go. Thank you for this wonderful time; I'll keep this promise locked inside.
"With four golden years were memories made; many friends who stuck with him through blood, sweat, and pain. But all things good shall come to an end; at the Gala the Prince's blood is shed.
"Don't look back, don't be afraid! Cause if you do, you'll only find pain! Keep your eyes focused on tomorrow; cause when you do, you'll depart from this land of sorrow. The road is long, I know; just promise me you'll never let me go. Thank you for this wonderful time; I'll keep this promise locked inside.
"Two Pegasi and a guard for a friend; they help him mend. But will they find the reason this all began? Time is running out with its cruel, unyielding hands.
"Don't look back, don't be afraid! Cause if you do, you'll only find pain! Keep your eyes focused on tomorrow; cause when you do, you'll depart from this land of sorrow. The road is long, I know; just promise me you'll never let me go. Thank you for this wonderful time; I'll keep this promise locked inside."
There was a knock on his door, and it opened. A Royal Guard entered the cell, cuffs in hand. "You're coming with me," he said. "AR and Delta have a few more questions for you."
Blackjack let the guard cuff him and take him down to an interrogation room. He sat down in a chair, the guard leaving. "Hello Blackjack," Delta said. "Good to see you again."
"Same here," Blackjack replied. "So, what else do you need to know?"
"That can wait. For now, we have something important to tell you."
"We found Dusty," AR said. "He's given us information that could get you out by the time the trial's over."
"Wait, Dusty?" Blackjack asked. "As in, the Dusty that tried to kill Mac and I?"
"Yes. You're not going to believe this, but after he was arrested that night you were shot, he's changed. We brought him in from a weather factory in Cloudsdale."
"Unfortunately," Delta said with a sigh. "We went there under the assumption that he was still working for Black Ice. That assumption cost both Dusty and his wife their jobs."
"He has a wife?" Blackjack asked. "You're right, I don't believe it."
"Hear us out, Blackjack. Dusty told us that Black Ice was at the Gala."
"What?!?"
"Blackjack, if what Dusty said is true, then it will be instrumental in your release. That is, if you can prove it."
"What do you mean?"
"Blackjack, it's time for you to tell us what happened at the Gala."
Blackjack was silent for a moment. "Alright," he said, shaking his head. "Where do you want me to begin?"
"The day you were making preparations." '-'
One week, one day ago...
"C'mon Spike!" Blackjack exclaimed. "We need to get the library spotless before Twilight gets back from Rarity's!"
"I'm cleaning as fast as I can BJ," Spike replied as he mopped the floor. "Take it easy, will ya?"
"Sorry Spike. I just can't believe I got invited to the Grand Galloping Gala!"
It had been a week since he and his friends had recieved their invitations in the mail. Blackjack had read and re-read the letter so many times that he knew it by heart. Even now it was going through his head.
Blackjack the Fiddler,
You are cordially invited to this year's Grand Galloping Gala. I have heard great things about you and your skill as a musician, so I request that you would play with the band that will be at the Gala for a song or two. I cannot express how eager I am to hear you play.
Sincerely, Princess Celestia
Blackjack put another book away just as Twilight walked through the Golden Oak's front door. "Blackjack, Spike," she said. "I'm back."
"Welcome home Twilight," Blackjack replied, climbing down from the ladder. "Did you get your dress from Rarity?"
"Right here!" Twilight levitated the dress next to her, which was sealed inside a cover. "Wow! Did you two clean up?"
"Yes ma'am! We figured that you might have a lot of preparations to make for tomorrow, so we cleaned up for you."
"Aw, thank you, BJ." She hugged him, Spike chuckling at Blackjack.
The phone rang, Spike answering it. "Hello? Oh, hi Rarity. No, Blackjack's a little busy right now. Alright, I'll tell him. Bye. Rarity wants you over at her place, BJ."
"Alright," Blackjack replied. "Spike, help out Twilight with anything else she needs." The stallion began to walk out the door, then turned to the dragon. "And Spike, not a word."
"My lips are sealed, Pinkie Pie promise." Spike did the motions and Blackjack nodded, leaving the library.
Blackjack strolled down the streets of Ponyville, waving at several ponies with his forehoof as he passed by and wishing them a good afternoon. The black stallion smiled as he heard his fellow citizens quietly discussing the plans he had for the Gala.
"Hey Blackjack," Roseluck said with a smile. "Would you like a daisy?"
"Sure!" Blackjack replied. "Thanks, Roseluck!"
"Oh, it's the least I could do after you helped me pick out an entire supply of flowers. Here you go!" The mare tossed the flower at him, and Blackjack caught it in his teeth and ate it.
"Good luck tomorrow night, BJ!" Roseluck exclaimed as he walked away.
Blackjack arrived at Rarity's boutique, the door chiming as he walked in. "Oh Blackjack, darling!" Rarity exclaimed, walking up to him. She was wearing her glasses, her tape measurer hanging loosely on her neck. "I was wondering when you would arrive!"
"Good to see you too," Blackjack replied, hugging her with his forehooves. "How are you, Rarity?"
"Absolutely ecstatic! I mean, we are guests at the Grand Galloping Gala! Speaking of which, what in Equestria are you wearing?"
"Casual clothes, why?"
"No no no! This simply will not do! Come along dear, I'll put you in something a little more proper."
Before he knew it, Blackjack was behind a vanity screen, a tuxedo hanging next to him. He undressed then put the suit on; he walked out from behind the screen when he was dressed.
"Oh marvelous!" Rarity exclaimed, clapping her hooves. "That red vest really brings out your eyes, Blackjack!"
"Wow," the stallion replied, looking at himself through a mirror. "This looks amazing! Thank you, Rarity!" Blackjack hugged her, and she laughed.
"Oh my! No no, thank you! Your white suit wouldn't be this way without your big plan! Now run along, you have more preparations to do."
"Alright. See you tomorrow, Rarity!"
Blackjack walked out of her boutique, beginning to whistle merrily. He felt the urge to sing from happiness, and he did so, walking down Ponyville's streets.
"Hello everypony! I just wanted to say: I'm happy that I could help you all with anything each day-a-ay! It didn't matter how, I'm telling you, that's true. Cause helping out my friends is just a pleasure to do!
"But now I need your help this very day. I've got a plan to propose tomorrow, and all I really need is your help for a while, so I can propose tomorrow night!"
Blackjack now had a crowd following him through town, interested in his song. Blackjack found himself in the marketplace, Gold Karat waving him over. "Thanks for all the help," he sang. "Please, Blackjack, take this ring. Don't think about paying up, it's a gift to you from me!"
Blackjack smiled and put the ring in the locket that hung around his neck. He suddenly found himself being dragged to the Apple family's stand. "Now if you're kind of worried," Big Mac sang, his hoof around his friend. "An' that she might say no-"
"We'll work real hard and do our best," Applejack cut in. "To help you both to come around!"
"Cause you've been a great friend Blackjack," Applebloom added. "Help'n me to get my Cutie Mark, that's what you did!"
Rainbow Dash flew down and gave Blackjack a noogie. "We'll be with you until the bitter end-"
"But that day isn't near!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, throwing confetti.
Fluttershy then took the stallion aside, looking at him sincerely. "It's true, you came here scared and lonely. But that's now in the past, and your friends will be there to help you win that lucky mare's hoof!"
"You have made us all very happy," Rarity said, pinning a rose to Blackjack's suit coat. "For that were oh so thankful! You've helped us out, now it's our turn to help you out!"
"I really am so happy," Blackjack replied, turning to the crowd. "Thank you all for helping me! I gave some help, I get your help, that's just amazing to me! Thank you all for helping me, me, me! Tell me what I did to be deserving; I'm at a loss of words from all you're doing for me! You all just made my day-ay!"
"Come on everypony," the residents of Ponyville began to sing. "Help out BJ! Let's all help him out like he had helped us! Go see if we can help him out, so he can propose tomorrow!"
They began to continue this for a while, Ivory Scroll, the Mayor of Ponyville walking up to Blackjack with a paper and pen. Blackjack beamed, seeing that it was a wedding license. He signed his name and asked, "Can you keep this until she says yes?"
The Mayor nodded, taking the license away. The town cheered, Pinkie Pie firing her Party Cannon. The town disbanded, many ponies pausing to wish Blackjack luck. He bade them farewell and went back to the library. '-'
The Next Day...
Blackjack tied the final knot on his bowtie, and straightened it until it was level. He then put on his locket and triple-checked that the ring was inside of it. Satisfied, Blackjack put Hearth Fire in its case and left his room. The stallion left the library, and put his violin on the top of a carriage that Twilight had made from an apple a few minutes ago.
"Howdy BJ," Big Mac said, joining his friend. "Nice suit, little buddy!"
"Hey Mac," Blackjack replied. "You look pretty fancy there yourself. Never would've imagined a farm-colt like you wearing a tuxedo."
"Well, I am going to the Gala with Fluttershy. Besides, I'm tagging along to make sure you don't screw up on your proposal."
Blackjack crossed his arms. "Since when did you know anything about proposing?"
The stallion's cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red as he rubbed his neck. "Fluttershy made me watch an episode of Needle In A Haystack once."
Blackjack laughed, turning to see Spike exit the library, followed by the six mares. Blackjack blinked, admiring the way that the setting sun reflected off of Twilight's light blue dress. "Hi guys," she said. "Are you two ready to go?"
"Yes ma'am," Big Mac replied, elbowing Blackjack out of his daze. "Spike, do you mind helping the fillies in while we hitch ourselves to the carriage?"
"Not at all," Spike replied. He opened the door, and the mares took their seats inside the carriage.
"You got the ring?" Big Mac asked Blackjack in a whisper.
"Right here," the black stallion replied, tapping his locket. "Unconventional, I know, but that's the plan. Mac...do you think that she'll say yes?"
"Eeyup. In fact, I don't see why she wouldn't accept your hoof in marriage."
Blackjack smiled. "Thanks bud."
"Hey," the stallion replied as he tousled Blackjack's mane. "What're friends for?"
The two hitched themselves to the carriage after becoming quadruple, Spike climbing up to the driver's seat. "Alright everypony! Next stop: The Grand Galloping Gala!" The teenage dragon flicked the reins, and the two stallions trotted off, pulling the carriage behind them. '-'
"Big Mac," Spike said. "Blackjack, may I be the first to say: welcome to Canterlot!"
Blackjack smiled at the sight of Equestria's capital city, the castle standing proudly above all the other buildings. The two stallions brought the carriage into the castle courtyard, and Blackjack unhitched to help the six mares out when they were stopped at the front of the castle entrance.
"Thank you dear," Rarity said, grabbing the black stallion's hand on her way out. "Well girls, it seems that we are here once again."
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash replied. "Hopefully tonight won't be like last time."
"Why would it be?" Pinkie Pie asked. "After all, Blackjack's going to-" she stopped herself, clamping her hands over her mouth.
"Perform for the Princesses," Blackjack finished for her, grinning his half grin. "Hey Mac, do you need any help parking the carriage?"
"Nope," he replied. "I've got it. You just enjoy yourself, I'll catch up."
Blackjack nodded, retrieving his violin from the luggage rack. "Alright bud." Blackjack, Spike, and the six mares then walked together into the castle. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia stood at the top of a grand staircase, and the group of friends waited in line to greet them.
"Twilight," Princess Celestia said with a smile. "Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike; it is so good to see you all!"
"Indeed," Princess Luna said in agreement. "We hope you enjoy the festivities."
"Now where is your friend, Twilight?" Celestia asked. "Was he unable to come?"
"I'm here m'lady," Blackjack said. He stepped out from behind the six mares and bowed nervously. "It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesties."
"The honor is mine. I eagerly await your performance."
"Thank you, Princess!"
Celestia nodded, and the group of friends went into the party. "So this is the Grand Galloping Gala," Blackjack remarked. "It's everything I've imagined."
"That's great," Twilight replied. "Where would you like to start?"
"Pictures!" Rarity exclaimed, a photographer raising their camera. "Come, come everyone, let's do a group photo and then some headshots!"
The pictures were taken, and Blackjack put a copy of each in his locket.
"Well, I think I should get acquainted with the orchestra," he said. "I'll catch up with you guys later."
Blackjack left his friends and headed towards the stage, a mare approaching him when he had arrived. "Good evening," she said in a thick Canterlot accent. "Are you Blackjack The Fiddler?"
"Yes ma'am," Blackjack replied, shaking her hand. "Who are you?"
"You can call me Octavia, Mister Blackjack."
"Octavia? As in: the cellist?"
"Quite right."
"I absolutely love your symphonies! It's a pleasure meeting you!"
The mare smiled. "No no, it is a pleasure to meet you. The Fiddler! You are performing tonight, correct?"
"Yes ma'am! I have to admit, I'm really nervous about tonight."
"Oh I get it, you've got the jitters because you're performing for the Princesses. A little tip: just pretend that you're playing for somepony you care about."
"I'll keep that in mind. It was nice meeting you, Octavia, and thank you."
"Of course! Good luck, Fiddler."
The mare left, and Blackjack began to set up. He opened Hearth Fire's case, and began to tune the instrument. Satisfied, Blackjack rosined his bow and made a few quick strokes across the strings.
"Fillies and gentlecolts," a stallion said onstage. "May I have your attention, please?"
The guests of the gala paused to listen to the stallion. "We shall continue the music momentarily. For now, on behalf of the Royal Family, I welcome you to the Grand Galloping Gala."
The ponies applauded, and the stallion continued. "We have a very special guest among us tonight. Many of you may have heard of this gentlecolt, and many of you have not. It is with great pleasure that I introduce Ponyville's own: Blackjack the Fiddler."
The ponies applauded again, and Blackjack entered to center stage, violin in hand. "Thank you," he said. "Now, before I begin, I need to extend my gratitude to Princess Celestia. It is by her invitation that I am able to be here tonight. So, My Lady, I thank you." Blackjack bowed to her, and she smiled happily from her seat near the stage.
"Now," Blackjack continued. "I dedicate this song to my friends, who have become my family in the most unlikely way, and to everyone who died or lost a loved one during the war four years ago. I call this song: Hope."
Blackjack put Hearth Fire to his chin, and raised the bow to its strings. He began to play, and a quiet, mournful song took its place. When the stallion finished, tears were in nearly everypony's eyes, including Princess Celestia's. Blackjack then exited the stage and packed up his violin, leaving the ponies to reflect.
"Fiddler," a pony said once he reached a balcony outside.
Blackjack turned to see Princess Luna standing before him. "Princess," he replied with a bow. "I am honored."
"Please, there is no need for formalities. We are out of sight from other ponies. Your friends have told me of your plans tonight; I wish to give you my blessing."
"Y-your blessing?" Blackjack asked. "I-I...thank you, Princess Luna!"
The princess smiled. "Twilight Sparkle is a good mare, and I believe you are a fit choice for her. Be warned: if you are to ever mistreat her, I will personally file for your arrest. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Your Highness. I promise you that I will never bring any harm to her."
"Good. Now, I believe the festivities have resumed. Go, I believe you have a dance waiting for you."
Blackjack bowed, then re-entered the palace. He found his friends inside the ballroom, and stood by Big Macintosh. "Hey Mac," he said. "Did you dance with Fluttershy yet?"
"Eeyup," the red stallion replied. "Now it's your turn, BJ."
"What do you mean?"
"Twilight's sitting alone off to the side. You'd better hurry, 'an ask her to dance; some other stallions are starting to take notice that she doesn't have a partner."
"Thanks Mac." Blackjack clapped his friend's shoulder, and made his way towards Twilight. "Hey," he said as he came close to her.
"Hey," Twilight replied. "Great job on that song! You moved us all close to tears!"
"Well, I try to express myself in my music. Shadowblaze's war left a lasting effect on everypony. So, uh, Twilight...may I have this dance?"
He offered his hand, and the mare cautiously took it. "I don't know how."
Blackjack grinned. "I'll teach you."
The two then walked hand in hand to the dance floor. "Now," Blackjack said, gently putting his hand on her back. "Just follow my lead, okay?"
Twilight blushed slightly. "Okay."
The two ponies began to dance, Blackjack finding himself staring into Twilight's eyes. One...two...and three...four. One...two...and three...four. Blackjack no longer noticed the crowd of ponies dancing along side them. The music had softened to the song of his own heart.
One...two...three...and twirl...and one...
Blackjack began to recall his fond memories of the mare. The time when they exchanged presents during Hearth's Warming. The dark time when she stood over his wounded body at Fluttershy's cottage. The night when she fell asleep at her desk once more, Blackjack carrying her off to bed. But most of all, Blackjack remembered how Twilight became his very first friend.
One...two...three...and dip...
Blackjack suddenly found himself standing over Twilight, their eyes locked on to each other. He pulled her up and ignored the crowd of ponies that watched them. "Come with me," Blackjack whispered."
He led her upstairs as the music resumed, and out on to a balcony. The two ponies leaned against the railing hand in hand, watching the stars twinkle in the night.
"Is something on your mind, BJ?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "I wanted to show you something."
The black stallion unclipped his locket from his neck, and gave it to her. Twilight opened it, and stared curiously at the pictures inside. "Blackjack, are these all of your favorite memories?"
He nodded, then blushed slightly as she turned to the picture of her. "Twilight," he said. "You are my favorite memory, and I never want to forget you."
The mare smiled. "We've had some pretty memorable memories, haven't we?" Blackjack took his locket back.
"I want to make more."
"What do you mean?"
"Twilight, I want to make a new memory with you for the rest of my life. So...what I'm trying to say is...Twilight Sparkle, will you-?"
That was when he heard the scream. Blackjack ran off to investigate, dropping his locket in his haste. He leaned over the railing, and looked down to see a stallion's body sprawled out on the floor below. Princess Celestia stood over it in shock, then looked to see Blackjack.
She yelled in a fury, "Arrest him!" |
Reflection | Chapter 8 | Reflection
Chapter Eight
"I see," Delta said. "Is there anything else?"
"No," Blackjack replied. "That's everything."
"You never even saw anypony suspicious?" AR asked.
"Did you?"
The Pegasus shook his head. "Thank you for your time, Blackjack. We have a bit of work to do." '-'
Three days later...
"All rise," the Captain said. "Presenting their Royal Highnesses, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia."
The audience of ponies all stood as the Alicorn Sisters entered the court. Blackjack looked away as Celestia's eyes shot daggers at him. The princesses took their seats, and the gathered ponies followed suit.
"This court is now in session," Celestia said. "Blackjack the Fiddler, you are charged with the murder of Prince Blueblood. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty," Blackjack replied. "Your Majesty."
"Very well. AR and Delta, you may proceed."
"Thank you m'lady," Delta replied with a bow. He and AR went to stand in the witness stand. "Your Majesties, fillies and gentlecolts of the jury, as many of you know, AR and I were tasked with both discovering this stallion's past, and proving him innocent in court.
"Because this is not the standard Equestrian trial, Princess Celestia is serving as the proscecutor, as well as the judge. Also, as AR and I were hired to prove Blackjack innocent, I shall serve as his lawyer. AR will only be allowed to speak when called to the stand. However, as we do not want biased viewpoints on the facts, a jury has been put in place."
The audience nodded in understanding, AR going to sit beside Blackjack. Delta stepped down from the stand, and said, "I call my first witness to the stand. Spike the Dragon."
Spike stood from his seat, then sat in the witness stand. "Mister Dragon," Delta continued. "Would you tell us what you saw on the night of the murder?"
"Uh, yeah," Spike replied. "Let's see...Blackjack was upstairs with Twilight at the time. I was giving a few Crystal Ponies my autograph, when I looked to see Prince Blueblood fall over the railing."
"Did you see how the prince fell?"
"No...just blood everywhere."
"I see. Would you describe Blackjack as a dangerous pony?"
"No. Blackjack would rather negotiate than fight."
"Mr. Dragon," Delta said as he retrieved Blackjack's violin. "Because you were present during the purchase, can you clarify that this is indeed the violin belonging to The Fiddler?"
"I can, and I do."
"Your Majesty, I have no further questions for this witness."
Celestia nodded. "You may present your next witness."
Delta called AR to the stand. "AR, would you please describe the scene of the crime to the jury?"
"From what the Canterlot Police Department has gathered," he replied. "It is currently believed that Prince Blueblood was pushed over the railing. However, due to an incompetent analyst's lack of observation, I found the bow of a violin lodged inside of the Prince's chest."
There was a murmur stirring in the audience from this news. "Mr. AR," Celestia said. "Are you certain that it was indeed a bow you found?"
"Yes, Princess Celestia. I remember its hairs being covered in rosin."
"I see. Thank you, AR. You may call your next witness to the stand, Delta."
Many more witnesses were called, each one telling the same story: Blackjack was innocent. That is, until Dusty was called. "Please state your name and occupation for the court," Delta said.
"Dusty Wind," Dusty replied. "Formerly an engineer for Cloudsdale International Weather, no thanks to you and your partner."
"That is irrelevant. You were a former member of the Black Death gang, correct?"
"Correct."
"So, Mister Wind, can you provide an input to your former partner in crime's recent activity?" '-'
Black Ice knew he had this in the bag. The idiot, Blackjack, was upstairs talking sweet nothings to that geek. He could see his target just above him. The mule was all by himself. Perfect. He climbed the stairs, and grabbed the stallion by his coat.
"Hello friend," Black Ice said. "Time to die!"
He stabbed the stallion with a bow he found, and pushed him over the railing. '-'
"So," Celestia said. "You mean to tell me that you knew Blueblood was going to be murdered? And yet, you do nothing about it?"
"Listen Princess," Dusty replied. "I didn't know where that sick mule was until after he killed Blueblood! All I know is that The Fiddler was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Guards, get this stallion out of my sight!"
Two Royal Guards took him away, Dusty screaming bloody murder the whole way. "Delta," Celestia continued after a short pause. "Do you have any further witnesses?"
"No, Princess," Delta replied. "Would you like the defendant called to the stand?"
"Yes. I want to hear his testimony."
Blackjack obliged, and told the court everything he had told AR and Delta. Celestia looked thoughtful for a moment.
"So...the violin in your possession once belonged to my brother?"
"Yes Princess," Blackjack replied.
"I see...Delta, do you have the murder weapon with you?"
"Yes Your Highness," Delta replied, presenting the bow. "As you can see, it is broken from the impact as the victim fell. The hairs are heavily coated with rosin, and the wood is mahogany."
"Do you have any results to a DNA scan of the hairs?"
"Yes, m'lady." He gave her the results, and she nodded.
"I see...Court will take a five minute recess as the jury decides their verdict." '-'
"Don't worry Blackjack," AR said. "We're winning Celestia over, I can tell!"
"I'm not so sure," Blackjack replied. "Did you notice how she didn't announce what the DNA results were?"
"I did," Delta said, rubbing his chin. "It's troublesome, but the results are clear. The bow does not belong to you." '-'
"Fillies and gentlecolts of the jury," Celestia said. "Have you made your verdict?"
A stallion from the jury stood. "Yes Princess," he replied. "Due to the testimonies we have heard from the defendant's friends, as well as the testimony from Dusty Wind, we have decided that Blackjack the Fiddler was the framed scapegoat of an act of revenge by one Black Ice. Therefore, the jury's verdict is: not guilty!"
The audience of ponies, mostly consisting of Ponyville residents, cheered uproariously. Blackjack's friends came down and embraced him, AR and Delta joining in and shaking hands for a job well done.
"Excuse me." The celebration was cut short by Celestia, who wore a solemn frown. "I'm sorry, truely I am, but during the recess...I have read and reread the results many times over, but they are what they are. The bowstrings match with the hairs of my brother."
There was an uproar among the court. "I object!" Delta shouted. "Princess, I've seen the results with my own eyes! The hairs do not belong to Shadowblaze!"
"Are you calling me a liar? Fine. Here, read it yourself!"
She levitated the results to him, and Delta read it. His heart stopped. "It...it's true."
"Sister!" Luna shouted, grabbing Celestia. "Please! You know that this stallion is innocent! He was framed by another!"
"I'm sorry," she replied. "But my judgement stands. Blackjack the Fiddler, I have found you guilty for crimes against Equestria and the Crown. I hereby exile you from this nation."
The entire court was in a frenzy, several Royal Guards pushing the ponies away from Blackjack, and keeping the audience from swarming. '-'
"So this is it then?" Delta asked. "After all we've been through, we failed to prove you innocent?"
"No," Blackjack replied, putting his locket on. "You proved I was innocent, and you trusted me to the end. For that, I thank you."
Blackjack shook their hooves, and the two Pegasi left without another word. Two Royal Guards escorted him out of his room in the Golden Oak Library, and led him to a carriage in the outskirts of Ponyville. Several citizens said their goodbyes as he passed, while others were too sad to say a word.
When Blackjack arrived at the carriage, his friends were there to meet him. "Howdy BJ," Big Mac said sadly. "You take care, little buddy."
There once was a colt nopony knew...
"You're an honest stallion," Applejack added, her hat low over her eyes. "I hope you know that."
He slept in trees and was homeless too...
"You were always so selfless," Rarity said through bitter tears. "I hope that never changes."
But that all changed one bright sunny day...
"You always stood by your friend's sides," Rainbow Dash said, her voice cracking. "You're loyal."
For the apple was given and he didn't have to pay...
"You always knew how to cheer ponies up," Pinkie Pie said with a sad chuckle. "And you always made me laugh."
A Golden Oak, a golden heart...
"You were so gentle and kind," Fluttershy said, sobbing. "Don't you ever stop that."
The Magic never let him fall apart...
The Cutie Mark Crusaders each gave him a hug.
Spike embraced him.
Zecora gave him a white cloak.
Blackjack hugged and thanked them all for being his friends.
With four golden years were memories made; many friends who stuck with him through blood, sweat, and pain. But all things good shall come to an end; at the Gala the Prince's blood is shed...
Then, they all left. Except Twilight. She stood silent, tears slowly leaving wet streaks across her face. Blackjack felt his own tears begin to fall as he gently embraced her.
"Here," he said, taking off his locket. "I want you to have it."
"I can't," she replied, gently putting it back on him. "You need to remember all the good memories. Can you promise me that?"
"I...I promise."
The two friends broke from their embrace, and Blackjack boarded the carriage.
Don't look back, don't be afraid! Cause if you do, you'll find only pain! Keep your eyes focused on tomorrow; cause when you do, you'll depart this land of sorrow. The road is long, I know; just promise me you'll never let me go. Thank you for this wonderful time; I'll keep this promise locked inside...
"Goodbye Twilight..."
Blackjack's guards began to move the carriage away, and the stallion began to become further and further away.
"Goodbye Blackjack," Twilight said, tears streaming down her face. "I...I love you too." |
Reflection | Epilogue | Reflection
Epilogue
"You've done well," she said. "You switched the results just as I told you."
"No problem," Black Ice replied. "It was the least I could do after that son of a mule locked me in the slammer!"
"Quite. And what of Blueblood?"
"I'm here," the analyst replied, entering the room. He ended his spell, and Prince Blueblood smiled at her. "Quite the performance if I do say so myself!"
"Yes. Black Ice, your payment shall be delivered shortly. Blueblood, I am sending you to a private estate; nopony must know of this conspiracy."
"Of course, Mistress. I am here to serve."
Black Ice and Blueblood left, and she smiled. "You put up quite the struggle, Highness. But do not worry, I shall not harm anypony...yet! Come, we have work to do." |
Caught You Because I Could | pre | "One of the books that Thorax got," Calor said, nodding to the storytime chamber. "It had these stories about vampire ponies, vampire bat ponies and all sorts of stuff. The nymphs ate it up."
"How long do you think it'll take them to realize you've left them to entertain themselves?"
"Two or three minutes, maybe. I try not to use tummpire too often, or else they'll catch on to me."
Celestia gave him a prompting smile. He chuckled weakly. He looked at Apex again. The nymph was rallying the uninfected forces with a determined speech, preparing them for a counterattack.
"...Thorax said that all the princesses were great with advice, and I remember how you helped him when we were in Canterlot...do you know anything about little ponies? Are they similar to nymphs? I guess I should lead with that question, actually."
Celestia nodded to the floor, and Calor followed her as she descended. They landed in a quiet corner, sitting back and watching the spectacle play out.
"I do not have foals of my own, but I was a teacher for quite some time, so I have picked up a few things over the years." She sought his eye. "And from what I've seen so far, there's some overlap. I take it this is about Apex?"
"Yeah," Calor admitted. "...Is it hard to grow close with little ponies that aren't yours?"
"What a strange question," Celestia murmured. She looked back at the horde of tummpires chasing down their former friends. "Coming from you, that is. I've only met you twice, Calor, but even still, I can scarcely think of another changeling that attracts such love from those around him, save one. I believe you two are quite familiar."
Calor's cheeks reddened.
"Sometimes I just don't know how to spend time with Apex," he said. "I'm not patient or introspective like Thorax is, but I do have more energy, so I've been trying to be the playmate Thorax can't always be. But it seems like I can't even do that much right. When Thorax plays with Apex, he's always so happy. His aura is sweet and bright and full. It's just...it's not the same when we play. I feel like I'm doing something wrong."
"Hmm...I wonder if taking a step back and letting your expectations go might help. Oftentimes, I find that the harder I look for something, the harder it is to see it."
Calor's head pivoted. Celestia winked.
"Let me tell you a story. Princess Twilight was once my student, in both magic and friendship. I tutored her for years, and eventually sent her to Ponyville to make friends, but the truth is she'd long since made one already in me. Teachers shouldn't have favorites, but in all my centuries of teaching I have never had a student I connected more with, or who connected so much with me."
Celestia laid down and curled her hooves beneath her. She closed her eyes for a time, merely listening to the sounds of nymphs happily shouting and playing.
"Weeks into Twilight's tutoring, her mother visited me in my office. She had tears in her eyes because she was both overjoyed that Twilight had forged such a powerful connection with me, and heartbroken that she did not share something with Twilight that strong, herself. She, Twilight's own mother, felt unsure of how to better bond with her, and I found myself in the difficult position of attempting to advise her."
Calor stared at her, attentive and respectful. When Celestia looked at him again, his face had sullen.
"The situations are not the same, but I think I understand your concerns. You're afraid you won't be able to live up to or replicate the relationship Apex has with Thorax."
Calor let his hooves drift apart until he slumped to the ground. He pressed his cheek against the cold stone. "...Yeah, I guess that is what I'm thinking. Apex only ever wants to interact with me when we're playing or pranking. That's the other reason I started focusing on being a playmate so much--that seemed to be what he wanted. For all other things, he wants Thorax. I knew it would take a while for us to get used to each other, but it feels like things have stayed the same for months."
"And what does Thorax have to say about all of this?"
"'He'll get used to you, Calor. He loves you like I love you,'" Calor imitated softly. He couldn't help but smile a little while doing so. "I want to believe him but I can't just sit here, waiting and hoping. I'm the adult. I'm supposed to help make things happen, right?"
Celestia hummed. "Would you like to know what I told Twilight's mother that day?"
"What?"
"'Mrs. Sparkle, I cannot advise you as a parent, but as a teacher, I know that the very best thing we can do for our children is to simply be there for them when they need us. Just as your daughter relies on me to guide her through her discovery of magic, she will always rely on her mother for love and support. I may be the pony Twilight needs to grow as a unicorn, but you are the pony she will look to, to grow as a pony."
"...Wow, that's really good advice. A little vague, but really good."
Celestia laughed. "I tried my best. Do you see the correlation to your situation?"
Calor raised his head and nodded. He found Apex in the back of the room, kicking with apparent exhaustion at a purple nymph coming for his undershell. He grinned brightly.
"Yeah, I think so. Don't try and force things, because it probably won't help. I love Apex, and as long as I show that, that's enough. Thanks, princess. Er, former princess."
Celestia nodded, and together, they rose from their spot. As they did, Calor's ears perked. A small voice pinged his name, and he looked up to find a few tiny ambassadors, fluttering quietly.
"What's up, Marbella?"
"Are you and the all-corn pony almost done talking?"
"I think so. I'm sorry, I thought I'd be back by now. We'll be done in another minute or so and then we can get back to--"
"Can we go see Papa Thorax, now?"
Calor paused. "Now?"
The nymphs nodded. Calor beamed. Only then did he see their sluggish wingbeats, and the contagious yawn making its way through the crowd.
"Yeah, sure, we can do that."
"Well now, what's this? The loud and proud champion of games and frivolity, stepping into my chamber of relaxation? This ought to be good."
Celestia rolled her eyes. Her sister's snark was bait, but surrounded by snoozing changelings as she was, Celestia found her will to engage draining away at an alarming rate.
"I have a delivery for her lazy highness," she replied cheekily, eyeing the two dozen nymphs from outside converging on Thorax, Luna, and their modest group. Like moths to a lantern, they were drawn in by Thorax's grin.
"Hey guys," Thorax cooed, helping a few of them find spots by his side, then directing the others to spots by Luna. "You're early. You guys usually play for another hour or two, this time of day."
"Tummpire happened," said Calor, yawning. Entirely cut off from Thorax, he found a spot nearby to lay down and curl up. Thorax laughed.
"Well that explains it." He turned and offered Celestia that same inviting look. "You can join us, too, if you like. Even on a quiet day, we usually need six adults for nursery clustering to work."
"I'd be honored." Fluffing her wings, Celestia staked out a spot adjacent to her sister. "That is, if the Nap Queen will allow it."
"She does," Luna said, smiling smugly. She levitated a giggling nymph up to her head and crowned herself. "All are welcome in the Nap Queen's domain. Hers is a kind, gentle rule."
A short ways away, Calor watched familiar cherry eyes shoot Thorax an irritated look. Every suitable spot for napping on or by him had been claimed, and as always, the nymph wore his thoughts on his carapace.
"Looks like Thorax forgot about both of us, huh?"
Apex looked at him, and so did Thorax. Calor grinned cheekily.
"And after he promised one-on-one cuddle time with me, too. He's just full of lies today, isn't he?"
Apex perked up. Thorax cocked a skeptical, albeit knowing brow.
"C'mere, 'Pexy. We can start a 'Papa Thorax is a Liar, Liar, Salamanders on Fire' club."
Little more than a giddy, pastel goblin, Apex snickered and joined him at once.
From his throne of napping changelings, Thorax smiled.
"I seem to recall saying that I would come after our guests had left," he said. He only got a pair of tongues in reply.
"Tisk tisk, adult changelings shouldn't make excuses," Apex countered confidently, letting himself be pulled into a hug from behind. "Papa Calor and I want to spend time with you right now, but you're too busy, Papa Thorax. That's your fault."
Thorax shook his head, sighing through his smile. "Where's Pharynx when I need him? It's not fair when you guys gang up on me."
"Don't worry, he probably wouldn't help you anyway," Calor sang, squeezing his bug. "'Fight your own battles, Thorax. They're your mate and nymph.'"
For a time, Thorax merely watched them as they played. It was soft and light, full of subtle hoof pokes from out of Apex's view, and squeezing that only came whenever they made eye contact. Eventually, though, Apex's reflexes dulled, and like the rest of the nymphs, he slumped against cool chitin and let it cradle him further towards sleep.
Calor's smile was something to behold.
"Thanks again for offering to help today, by the way," Thorax said quietly, looking at his guests. "I know this was something you two wanted to do, but at this rate, I'm not sure we'll even have time for a tour with so few staff. So, thank you, really."
"As if a tour is more important than something like this," Luna whispered. She skillfully unearthed her wings from sleeping changelings and spread them out like magnificent, flexed blankets. "I'm sure your hive is lovely, Thorax, but we are no longer duty-bound to formal gatherings. I, at least, would always prefer something like this to tours and the like."
"I must agree," Celestia added. A nymph by her hoof yawned, and so she lowered her head to do the same. He laughed at the ridiculous face she made while doing it. "Architecture is lovely, but not as much as seeing young minds play and grow together. I haven't been a teacher for quite some time, but today has reminded me of why I became one in the first place."
"Well, I guess it's no wonder how Equestria has thrived for so long," Thorax said. Glee filled his face as he watched the alicorns dote on the nymphs with patience and care to match himself. "You both are so maternal."
"They're not the only ones, Thorax. There's an entire hive of changelings happy to help you look after our young ones, whenever you may need assistance. All you ever need to do is ask."
Stepping into the room and drawing all eyes was a lime changeling wearing a deep purple shawl. A single daisy sat behind her ear, held in place by a decorative red headband. A small pair of eyeglasses sat on the bridge of her nose.
When Thorax saw her, he grinned.
"Oh, Tymbal, you're here! Did Tergum talk to you?"
"He did," she replied sweetly. "Rest assured, the nursery hive will have plenty of caretakers for the remainder of the week."
"That's great news! Thank you so much for your help. We've had our hooves full, here."
"I can see that." Tymbal slowly strolled towards Thorax, holding the proudest little smile. "I've also organized a few days off for you from nursery duties, seeing as we'll have plenty of volunteers."
Thorax's jaw went slack.
"W-what? No, I don't need entire days off, Tymbal, I love to do this. It's my job to help look after everyling. I'm the--"
Tymbal's hoof found his mouth. Those nymphs still awake, along with Luna, chortled quietly.
"I'll hear no such thing." The old changeling's hoof moved to his chin, and she captured him in her eyes. "Even our doting patriarch needs a break from looking after excitable young changelings now and again. Use it as an opportunity to go see your dragon friend in Ponyville, perhaps."
"But I--"
"I also talked to Pharynx about this. He said that if he sees you anywhere near the nursery hive on those days, he'll happily give you a firm reminder that you need to look after yourself, too. Love magic has had such a wonderful impact on him. He seemed so excited to help."
Thorax's jaw shut. Luna and her battalion of nymphs fell ever further into subdued hysterics.
"Ooh, Thorax got banned!" Calor jeered from the sidelines. He and Apex shared a devious look. "More Thorax for us, 'Pexy! He can't get away, now!"
Apex excitedly leapt upon Calor's head. Holding onto his horn for support, he stood up on his hind legs to better see Thorax.
"Yeah, no escaping now, Papa Thorax! And take us to see the ponies and dragons with you! I've never been to the pony town before! I wanna go!"
Slumping over in exhaustion, Thorax hid his face in the collection of nymphs at his hooves. They stirred at once and shoved his snout away, which made him snort in surprise. This drew further laughs from the entire room, himself included.
Amidst the frivolity, the alicorn sisters made eye contact.
"Come to think of it, Sister, there are no more exhaustive to-do lists waiting for us back home anymore. I do believe this vacation can last as long as we want it to."
"A splendid insight," Celestia praised, scooping up nymphs and squeezing them tight. "Furthermore, as retired old mares, I believe adopting a new form of stress therapy would do wonders for us. I think I've found the perfect one."
"Ah yes, the years of stress must be worked away posthaste!" Luna declared. She bestowed herself a second giggling nymph hat. "Someling would do well to fetch me my fuzzy slippers." |
The Love of an Apple | pre | I growled "It doesn't matter, it wouldn't be safe for me anyway."
He asked confused "What do ya mean?"
I said "She told my about her parents, the last pony she had a crush was killed by her parents. They tore her heart out and forced it down her throat." I growled near the end. I turned around to see Big Mac's face turn white.
I watched as he trotted away silently. I shouted "Horseappleeeeeesssssss, why is my life so complicated!?"
I sat at the table and slowly ate my food. Big Mac stared at me as I ate. Applebloom stared at the 2 of us in confusion. I quickly finished up my meal and went to bed. I laid there and looked at the bed beside me. I slept in the barn with Cara twice, once to comfort her and the second because I was exhausted, yet I miss her presence. I sighed for the final time that day as sleep took me.
I woke in a strange realm I sat there and smiled. I saw Cara sitting in front of me. I felt her hooves start to rub my back. She smiled as she said "Enjoying that are you my love?" I smiled as I felt her hooves rub across my back. Then I heard Cara scream as shadow creatures emerged with bright red eyes. I galloped away as I heard Cara scream "Run, Applejack." I kept running only to find myself in a corner. I felt as one reached for me.
A loud shout echoed through the room "Be gone, foul nightmares!!!"
I looked up and saw Luna standing above me. I asked "Luna, why are you here?"
Luna replied "I noticed your dream was troubled, who is this Cara?"
I smiled at her use of normal speech. I said "I allowed Cara to move into the barn because she had nowhere to stay. She is a good friend. She is in Appaloosa right now, helping my cousin Braeburn."
Luna smirked "From this dream I think friend is an understatement." My face turned so red that it resembled Big Mac. Luna laughed for a few moment before getting serious, she asked "What is troubling you, those shadows were not normal."
I sighed "She told me that her family murdered her last cruse and shoved her heart down her throat."
Luna roared in Royal Canterlot Voice as her old dialect shone through "Thou shall never suffer such harm, we forbid it!" I shook my head to get the ringing out, I am glad this was a dream or I may have suffered permanent hearing damage like tinnitus.
I said "Luna, that was a bit loud."
Luna said "I'm sorry Applejack, anyway, it's starting to get bright, I will leave you and tomorrow night I will visit Cara's dream, she may provide me some insight into the problem."
I smiled "Thank you Luna." I smiled as she left and then I fell into a dreamless sleep. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 6: Final Days in Appleloosa and The Minotaur Raid | I wake in my bed and I look to my side and sighed. Applejack had been my only friend when I arrived. Thanks to her I have more friends than ever such as Braeburn, I also have the crusaders who are aware of who I am. She has given me a new life. I jump out of my bed and smile to see Braeburn eating his morning meal. I asked "How ya doing, Braeburn?"
Braeburn smiled as he said "Good. It seems ya picking up a bit of the accent."
I replied "It seems that way, doesn't it." Braeburn stuffed the remaining food in his mouth. We galloped out to begin feeding the animals and then start applebucking.
Braeburn asked "What do ya think of Applejack?"
I frowned as I asked "What do ya mean by that?"
Braeburn smiled "Ya murmur her name in your sleep ya know."
I sighed "Yes I know, I just wished ya didn't find out. I have had a bad past with family and crushes. My family tore my last crush's heart out and forced me to eat it."
He roared "What kinda family does that!"
I replied "The monstrous kind, trust me when ya have thousands of siblings it doesn't make it easy to go against the grain."
Braeburn blinked as he said "Thousands? we Apples are a large family but that many siblings alone, wow."
I sensed the confusion in his voice. I said "They abandoned me, I have been alone for 5 years."
Braeburn said "Sorry about bringing up bad memories."
I replied "Relax, Braeburn I have been through a lot but I'm happier now. Let's get Applebucking, what do ya say?" He nodded and we pushed ourselves throughout the day.
As we headed back Braeburn "Applejack when we were little, she and Ah played timberwolf and the pony. It was a game where one is the timberwolf and has to chase the other. Ah won every time and she was very upset. Of course she always got me back for every joke Ah made about being slow with a prank, one day she turned my mane and coat pink using dye."
I laughed as I responded "She really did that?" He laughed with me as he nodded. We were smiling until we saw several stallions glaring at us.
The one at the front said "You are making us look bad, we are going to make you regret that." They approached us trying to look large and imposing. I laughed at these stallions, they had no idea what they were in for. I delivered several blows to their vitals causing them to stagger.
I roared "Ya should get out of here before I am forced to hurt ya'll more!" I watched as they galloped away. I said "I didn't think this happened in Equestria, I thought the nation was at peace."
Braeburn sighed "Look, we have our own problems, that Friendship is magic ideal may work for the Elements of Harmony but many ponies aren't like that. Anyway I think we have done all the work we need to do for this year's harvest, tomorrow you can go see your crush."
I blushed and then sighed as I realised why I could never act on it. We ate dinner quietly and then I got into my bed and quickly fell into my slumber.
I woke to see myself standing there in my changeling form. I heard a scream it was Applejack who was staring at me, she shouted "Get away from me monster!"
Then I heard her scream "Help!" I galloped over to find her lying there with a bloody hole in her chest.
I looked up to see my mother standing there. She laughed "It's time to eat."She approached me with Applejack's heart. I galloped as fast as I could with her right behind me. I saw my brothers and sisters in front of me. Chrysalis said "Nowhere to run."
She stepped towards me only for a loud roar to fill the room "Be gone Nightmare." I saw my Nightmare fade away. I stared at the princess who looked at my undisguised form with distaste. She spat "So Changeling what do you want with the Element of Honesty?"
I cried "I don't want anything other than a place to stay, honest."
Luna stared "I will be the judge of that, I will visit you tomorrow in Appleloosa. I know where you are from Applejack's dream." I fell into a dreamless sleep.
I woke up to the sound of screaming, I saw Minotaurs running outside. I galloped out as the Minotaurs had half the town captured and Braeburn and a few other ponies were cornered. I asked angrily "Why are you here?"
The Head Minotaur said "We need supplies in order to get home, therefore we are going to take this town."
I roared "Alright if ya want this town, then you are going to have to fight me for it."
The minotaurs laughed at me "You are joking right pathetic unicorn?" I frowned as I released my unicorn form was quite frail looking.
I said "Sorry Braeburn but I hope ya'll understand." Braeburn looked confused at the statement. I burst into flames revealing my true form.
The Minotaur's leader said "So the Changelings want to finish what they started. Well I'm going have pleasure of ripping the wings off you bug brain."
I said "I'm guessing ya have dealt with my mother's changelings." I frowned at the trouble my family was causing me. I continued "I will take a form which will make this fight fair for both sides."
I burst into flames again. My opponent said "An Earth pony, of course no magic or flight. You have a concept of honour it seems, well then as honour dictates my name is Fiery Brass of the Bloodred tribe." He bowed to me
I replied returned the bow "I'm Cara Pace, Changeling Queen and a proud Equestrian, I will protect my friends."
Brass swung his heavy fist at me, I dodged and gave 3 swift blows. He collapsed to the ground. I said "Well that was anti climatic."
I heard a familiar cheery voice "Yeah it was. " I shook my head, I thought I heard Pinkie Pie.
Brass stared at me as he asked "How does a changeling fight like that?"
I replied "Changeling Queens in addition to the basics, get to pick the fields to specialise in. I picked medicine and martial arts, this makes me very dangerous in a hand to hand fight. I know exactly where every weak point is on every species in the world and my martial arts skills allow me to exploit that in a fight, after all for every one way you can heal a wound there is 1000 different ways to cause a wound."
I asked "So why did ya invade other than supplies." He pointed back to his group who were carrying a Minotaur with a huge broken blade stuck in his gut. I shouted "Somepony get me a butter knife and some paper towels."
I made a small incision to the side of the huge blade, it had embedded his stomach and intestines. I had to carefully remove the blade, I increased the size of the incision. I put my hoof inside and felt the blades edge, it was in quite deep. I allowed magic to course into my hoof as I slowly removed the blade. I finally got the huge blade out after 30 minutes. I wiped my clean hoof over my forehead, I said "That was the hard part." I cast a few advanced healing spells that put his organs back together and then closed the wound. The Minotaur was up and running within minutes.
I heard a voice land "It seems I misjudged you, Changeling." I bowed as Princess Luna landed. Princess Luna chuckled "You can rise, I am not such a stiff despite my time in exile. You have impressed me."
I smiled at her, then asked nervously "Um could please not refer to me as changeling, It makes me feel uncomfortable, I would prefer if you called me Cara."
Luna replied "Forgive me Cara, I still have some old habits. I used to call ponies, pony instead of their name even with nobles."
I smiled as she left. Braeburn put a hoof on my wither, he smiled "Thank ya Cara, Ah'm surprised to know you're a changeling but you protected our town and we are all mighty grateful."
The others members of the town shouted "Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, Go Cara!"
Braeburn said "Go back and tell Applejack how ya feel."
I panicked as I said "But what if she gets hurt because of me, I can't bare that."
Braeburn said seriously "Our ancestors who formed this town knew how hard it would be, isolated from everywhere, there was no train here back then. Yet we stand strong, this is what it means to be an apple, we go for what we want not because it's easy but because it's worth it."
I asked "Do you really think I can?"
The town roared "Go for it, you have our support!" I smiled knowing that I had been accepted by Applejack's cousins raisedmy spirits. I reassumed my disguise as I boarded the train and headed back to Ponyville. I watched as Braeburn's green eyes glowed for a small moment. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 7: First Date | I woke in the morning to Derpy crashing into my window. I asked "Derpy why are you here?"
Derpy replied breathing heavily "Express mail .. from Braeburn."
I replied "Thank you Derpy, I appreciate it. " I opened the envelope and begun reading the letter.
To Cousin Applejack
Ah'm glad you sent Cara, she is a wonderful mare. She has helped us with the harvest and even repelled a minotaur attack. She will be returning to Ponyville later today. She would make a beautiful wife for any stallion or "mare".
From Braeburn
I blinked, is he seriously trying to get us together? What did Cara tell Braeburn?, yet again maybe he did figure it out, if she was being as obvious as I was then Braeburn definitely would've noticed. I sighed as I walked out to the farm. I felt the hours drag on. I can't get my mind off Cara, I mean the two of us have only been together for 2 days.
I galloped out to start working. Why did I say together, am I really falling for a mare that I've only known for 2 days. I bucked the next tree causing apples to fall into the basket. I felt a hoof on my leg. Applebloom stared at me. She asked "Applejack, is something wrong?"
I realised I was frowning, I said "Ah don't want to speak about it, it's private." Applebloom stared at me with puppy dog eyes. I sighed "Fine, Ah'll tell you but you gotta Pinkie Promise me not to tell anypony."
Applebloom said with a smile as she did the motions "Cross my heart, hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye."
I said pawing the ground "Ah may have a crush on Cara." Applebloom looked worried for several moments. I asked "Are you okay, Applebloom?"
Applebloom said "Ah just need to think about some things." She trotted towards the clubhouse. I would've followed but I have work to do. By the time I finished it was in the mid afternoon. I started pulling the cart when I felt a hoof on my wither.
I turned around to see Cara standing there. She smiled "Ah'm glad to see ya Applejack."
I blinked as she had a similar accent to me. I smiled as I said "It's good to see you, Sugarcube."
Cara asked "Ah want to talk to ya about something?" I was about to reply when I saw Applebloom walk up to her.
Applebloom asked "We Crusaders have something important to discuss with you." I watched as Cara followed as she winked at me. Applebloom scowled slightly at me, I was confused at her behaviour.
I decided to follow them, I got as close as I dared, I heard Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo talking. I could make out some of their words.
Applebloom asked "Are ya ________ is a good idea?"
Cara replied "It will ____ fine, don't _____"
Scootaloo asked "But what if __________ and something goes wrong?"
Cara replied "It will be fine, _____________ trust me."
Sweetie Belle said "If you're sure, ______ support you."
Cara replied "Thank you for _______, Ah'm ____________." I heard the door open and galloped back to the house.
I starting preparing dinner, I watched as Cara trotted in, she was smiling as she sat down at the table. I wondered why, It must have had something to do with the talk with the crusaders.
I sat down and smiled as I asked "Sugarcube, what has made you so happy?"
She asked "Do ya want to have dinner somewhere tomorrow night? Ah promise it won't be too fancy, just a simple cafe or diner."
I blushed realising what she was asking, I replied nervously "Um, sure that sounds great, Sugarcube."
Cara shouted "Great, see you there." I watched as she finished her plate quickly and dashed off for a shower. I sighed before continuing my meal in silence, to think she would ask me out on a date. I bet Applebloom put her up to it or at least convinced her to take action.
I finished my meal and watched as Cara bounced down the stairs like Pinkie usually would. She must be really happy about our date tomorrow. I'm a little unsure, what she said about her family unnerved me. I got in the shower and started to wash off the stresses of the day. I looked at myself, you are going on a date with a mare who has had bad experiences with love, I just hope I ain't using her.
I got into my bed and fell into a deep sleep. I woke to see Luna standing before me. I asked "Why are you here?"
Luna replied "I just wanted to see you, Cara is doing well I presume?"
I nodded as I asked "Do you know she repelled a minotaur attack?"
Luna replied "Yes, I did, I had a bad opinion of her at first but that changed when she protected my little ponies from minotaurs."
I asked "Why did you have a bad opinion of her?"
Luna sighed "That is something she will tell you sooner or later. She cares for you a lot, I'm surprised she hasn't asked you out yet."
I said "Umm, she has and I'm uncertain. What if her family comes for me."
Luna said "Your safe in Equestria, don't forget that. Enjoy your sleep." Before I could reply I fell into a dream about Cara. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 8: Revelations | I woke up and gallop out of the barn. I don't actually know much about Ponyville I spent most of my time on the farm. I know, maybe the Crusaders know something. I went to their clubhouse and knocked on the door. Applebloom asked "Who is it?"
I replied "It's me, Cara." Applebloom opened the door and let me inside.
Scootaloo asked "Why are you here? We were in the middle of a crusader meeting."
I watched as Applebloom glared at Scootaloo before she asked "Can we do anything to help ya?"
I replied "Um, Ah am taking Applejack out for dinner and Ah don't know where to go. Ah want it to be somewhere plain but comfortable. "
Applebloom said "Well there is the Cafe Hay and the Hay Burger. I can't think of else anything towards the less fancy end Ponyville has quite a few fancier places."
Scootaloo said "Well there is the Steel Arm's omnivorous diner."
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle gasped "There are carnivores there, they won't appreciate a pair of herbivores there."
I laughed "Relax, you girls Ah am an omnivore, Changeling remember. I have been aching for some bacon now that you mention it."
I then asked "Actually do you find it weird Ah'm dating Applebloom's sister after only knowing her for a few days ?"
Applebloom and the Crusaders burst out laughing. I blinked before Applebloom said "Ah'm sorry but things move fast around here. Applejack became good friends with 5 other ponies in less than a day, most of them being very different from her. Besides this is just a simple first date."
Sweetie Belle said "Yeah, we support you no matter what."
Scootaloo said "You have even helped Braeburn and beat a minotaur in a duel. You're the coolest changeling I've ever met !"
Applebloom replied "She is the only changeling you ever met, that wasn't trying to put you in a cocoon."
Sweetie Belle said "The reason we're doing this Scootaloo, is because she's our good friend. We would all be at the bottom of that ditch with our cart."
I smiled as I said "Thank ya all for ya support, Ah am going to help Applejack with her chores." I galloped over to Applejack who was busy feeding some of the animals.
Applejack smiled "You gonna help me, Sugarcube?" I nodded and helped to feed the animals. Applejack looks to the Orchard and asked "You gonna help me with that?" I saw so many trees that needed bucking.
I asked "Ah thought we would have been done with the harvest, why are there so many trees with apples on them?"
Applejack replied "Our farm is much larger than Braeburn's due to the location."
I replied "Well we better get going, we have a lot of apples to collect." Applejack nodded and we bucked trees for hours. I smiled when we were finally done. I asked "Can we have a shower before we go ?"
Applejack said "Sure, I need one." I watched as she got herself ready. I however. had my own plan.
I waited for her to go into the shower, then I stepped into the shower and put my hooves on her withers and started to give her a massage. I said as she moaned "You have a lot of tension in your withers." I keep massaging until the last of her muscles were loose.
Applejack asked after she recovered "How did you do that?"
I said "I had some practice several years back." I realised just how toned she was the water trickled down her back. We cleaned ourselves up and got ready to go.
3 young fillies ran up to Applejack and said to her in a quiet voice I could barely make out "You hurt her and we will be quite angry." I was confused, I was the one that should been on the receiving end of that.
Applejack asked nervously "Where are we going?"
I was worried but I knew how to get her mind of it. I responded as turned around and let my hips sway slightly "It's a surprise." I could feel her embarrassment at the scenario as well as the love she was emanating or maybe it was lust.
We arrived in front of the restaurant when she realised where we were. She asked "Why are we here, this is an omnivorous restaurant?"
I smirked "Ponies can eat meat too and Ah'm craving some bacon."Applejack looked confused at my statement. We entered to several strange looks from Diamond Dogs, Griffons and Minotaurs. Me and Applejack took a seat.
Applejack looked at the menu while already I had my meal idea in my head. I smiled as the Griffon waitress walked over. Applejack asked "Ah'll have a cucumber and tomato salad."
Many of the carnivores smiled as they murmured something, I could feel it. I would give them something to think about. I said "I would like to have a large plate of bacon and eggs." The waitress gasped and several of the carnivores stared at me for a whole minute.
Applejack asked "Why did you order bacon?"
I replied "Ah lived on a largely meat diet when Ah was little, Ah have a taste for it." Applejack smiled at my answer, she said "Ah'm glad you honest with me, Ah have something to tell ya." I could feel the love emanating off her.
I said "Please tell me."
Applejack blushed "Ah have a crush on you Sugarcube." I blushed despite already knowing.
I replied "So do Ah, this has been great." Our food has been placed on the table and I shove my face into the plate while Applejack eats with a little more tact.
A Diamond Dog shouted "That's how a true carnivore eats, you're an impressive pony." Applejack finished off her meal quickly as I glared at the Diamond Dog. I never liked Diamond Dogs, always trying to steal nymphs.
Me and Applejack walked up and paid Steel Arms, he said before we left "You put on quite a show, come back again."
Applejack asked "You have been acting strange, if we're going to make this work we can't keep secrets."
I replied "Ah was planning on telling ya but can we do it back at Sweet Apple Acres?" When we arrived back at Sweet Apple Acres we heard the sound of screams. The Crusaders were surrounded by several Timberwolves. Applejack charged at them and bucked 1 in the head, I fired 2 small fire spells at them and they backed away from the Crusaders.
Applejack stared at me as more turned up from out of the forest. I said "Applejack time for ya to know the truth about me." I burst into flames revealing my true changeling form. Applejack stared at me shocked and horrorified. I cast a huge fire spell incinerating all the Timberwolves.I asked "Applejack, are ya okay?"
Applejack cried as she stared at my large jagged horn "You're a Changeling Queen." I watched as she galloped away from me. The hate and betrayal I felt from her, brought me to tears. I reassumed my disguise and cried as I galloped to the train station.
I said crying "Ticket to Appleloosa please."
The stallion said "You broke up with somepony, take the ticket, I have rarely seen a pony that upset unless it's that." I cried myself to sleep in the train as it left Ponyville. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 9: Family's Anger | I sat there I can't believe I was that stupid, a changeling under my muzzle and I didn't know it. I heard a small but loud knock on the door. I watched as 3 fillies trotted in with a dark look on their faces. Applebloom shouted "What in Discord's name was that Applejack?!"
I asked nervously "What do you mean?"
They asked with a hint of malice in their voice "Cara ran off crying and likely will never come back, may we inquire as to why?"
I replied "She was a changeling, what was Ah supposed to do?"
The 3 of them shouted "We knew she was a changeling, we knew not long after we first met but she saved our lives. We are not happy."
I blinked they knew and were still giving her advice. I felt a fire in my belly, I was about to shout when I saw Applebloom give me a cold glare. The look screamed 'don't you dare blame this on us.' Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle left without looking back. Applebloom said "Ah'm really disappointed in you, Applejack, she has done nothing but shown you kindness." Applebloom trotted away.
Something Cara said echoed back to me. (Please don't force me to tell you, it is very personal. My past is dark and cruel in spite of my attempts to be kind to others. I was always given hate and malice in return for kindness no matter how much I kindness I had given to them).
I realised what I had done. I sat there, I can't believe what I had done I rejected a mare who cared for me, just simply because she was different. I mean she did hide it from me but considering how I acted I understand why she did. I got into my bed and fell into a restless sleep.
The next morning I pulled myself out of bed and went down to have breakfast. I saw Applebloom eating with Big Mac. Applebloom said after eating her fifth pancake "Ah have had enough food, Ah'm going to hang out with my friends before school." She stared at me coldly before leaving.
Big Mac asked "Did something happen between you two?"
I said "Cara is a changeling." Big Mac's eyes widened at what I said, I continued "I reacted particularly badly and Applebloom wasn't happy. It turns out she knew she was a changeling for a while."
Big Mac said "Ah understand why ya did what ya did. The changelings hurt ya badly at the wedding."
I replied "Ah can't say that, Ah forgave Thorax ,why not her? She did so much for me and Ah repaid that kindness with hate. It doesn't matter whether she is a queen or not Ah shouldn't have acted that way." I went to work for the rest of the day desperately trying to get my work done. I just keeping getting thoughts of what I had done. I quickly ate my meal and went to bed, I couldn't face Applebloom like this.
I woke up to a loud knocking. I got up slowly, wondering who it could be. I opened the door and saw a very angry Braeburn staring at me. He snarled "Ah was expecting ya would be okay with Cara, you told me about Thorax in one of ya letters. Ah am surprised that you would behave this way."
I backed away from my cousin as he stomped into the room. I was backed into the corner when I heard a voice asked "What are ya doing, Braeburn?
Braeburn said coldly "Ah wasn't expecting find Cara crying at my doorstep. Is that what ya think of her, what would ya think about me then.
He stared at me before bursting into green flame. I watched in horror as a my cousin was replaced by a changeling. He said "Well, cous, is this what ya expected. I have been a changeling all mah life, I have been so well disguised no queen knows of mah existence, will ya reject me too ?"
I sat there, shocked for several minutes before I heard a voice "Braeburn, you're a changeling. I bet we could have some fun." Applebloom glared at me and then Braeburn followed suit.
Braeburn said calmly as he reassumed his pony form. He said "Ya have an apology to prepare for Cara when she returns, Ah have to head back to Appleloosa, Ah can't leave Cara to do all the farmwork."
I saw him off at the station. I arrived back at the farm and sat under my favourite apple tree. I started thinking about what I should say when I felt a hard blow to the back of my head and all went black. I opened my eyes and saw a green cocoon around me, I tried to move but I couldn't I saw a changeling walk up to me and inject some liquid into my cocoon, I felt tired and fell into a deep sleep. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 10 : Changeling's Second Invasion | I was watching the sunrise as I took a small break, I knew Braeburn would be back soon. I was truly surprised to find out he was one of us, maybe there was room to make this work. I sighed as I started preparing the next field, Braeburn has been wanting to expand the farming area, maybe one day it will be as big as Sweet Apple Acres.
Somepony shouted at me "CARA, WE HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM." I turned around to see Braeburn barrel into me.
I asked "What's wrong?"
Braeburn shouted "CHANGELINGS HAVE INVADED EQUESTRIA AND HAVE CAPTURED EVERYPONY, AH SAW CHANGELINGS FLYING INTO TOWN, THOUASANDS OF THEM."
I roared "Ah'm going back to Ponyville." I got on the next train, I noticed the conductor was behaving strangely. I decided to say nothing, I needed to discover what was going on. When the train arrived in Ponyville I noticed how dark it was.
I arrived in the town to see everypony walking around doing what seemed to be normal but then I noticed a flicker of green every now and then. I frowned, there was no doubt in my mind changelings had taken Ponyville, I saw "Applejack" and "Rarity" talking to 2 ponies I eavesdropped on the conversation.
Applejack and Rarity laughed at the mare. Applejack said in an unusually jolly town "You freaked out and ran away from a festival, ha that's the funniest dang thing Ah've heard all day."
I muttered "Mother is going to pay dearly for this." I hid in a bush and continued to watch, I didn't make out the rest of the conversation but I stared at the 2 mares who I didn't know, I realised they weren't changelings and were behaving normally.
I followed one of them who had galloped to Twilight's castle. I sat outside and listened carefully. I fell asleep outside the castle. The sound of galloping woke me up, I followed the sound. I saw the mare knocking on a caravan she asked "Trixie are you awake?" Some incoherent mumbling came out of the caravan.
I watched as she banged on the door and much to my shock several fireworks went off in the caravan causing it bounce off the ground. I watched as the mare I assumed was Trixie opened the window. Trixie then after saying a few words went back into her caravan. I watched as Trixie was pulled out by her friend's magic. I stepped into the clearing and said "Good to know there are 2 non-changelings in Ponyville."
Trixie asked confused "Changelings, Starlight what is she talking about?"
Starlight said "The changelings that have captured Princess Luna and Celestia."
Trixie shouted "What, we have to inform Twilight!"
I facehooved as I told her "Ah just said that ya are the only non-changelings in Ponyville, the Element bearers have been captured as well."
Starlight asked "What about the crystal empire, can't they help?"
A voice called out "I'm afraid that is impossible, the changelings have taken the Crystal Empire and everypony in it."
I frowned as that limited our option, I hate to have to rely on him, he scares me. My thought were broken Trixie's shriek "Ch-ch-changeling."
Starlight said "Thorax, we are in..." I jumped at him, discarding my disguise, I gave him a big hug. Starlight shouted her horn glowing "You're a Changeling Queen, why should we trust you?"
Thorax said as I let him go "Cara Pace is my big sister, she was the only changeling in the whole hive who liked me."
Trixie in a full blown panic shouted "We are in so much trouble all the strongest ponies are gone, what can we do?!"
I said "We can call on certain Draconequus, Ah'm certain the Lord of Chaos has plenty of power."
A voice said "My, my finally somepony or in this case someling recognises my talent for magic." I shuddered as Discord approached me.
Discord asked "Well, what's the drama?"
Trixie asks "How do we know he is not a changeling in disguise?"
I said "No changeling could take him, imagine if ya took Celestia's level of power combine them and then multiply it by 100 then ya have Discord's level of power."
Discord puffed up his chest as he said "You flatter me."
I said "The princesses plus Twilight and her friends have been kidnapped by Chrysalis."
Discord roared "They took Fluttershy, tell me where!!!."
I replied "The Changeling Kingdom." Discord telported us to a random field. I said "Oh, Ah totally forgot the magic negation field, no non-changeling magic can be used within even yours, Discord." Discord cast his magic and it failed as I said it would.
Starlight asked "What's the plan?"
I replied "Ah'll leave that up to you, although Canterlot I think it's time for Regent King Discord to take over in the Princess's stead."
Discord smiled darkly as he said "Well then, I'll making those changelings regret hurting my friends." His fur turned a darker black and his small goatee was replaced with a large black beard.
Starlight asked angrily as he disappeared "Why did you send him away?!"
I said "He couldn't help us much, his main trait is magic without it, he is just a goofball who will draw attention." Starlight nodded and lead us towards the hive. I followed her until we reached the hive, I knocked the wall and we all entered.
Thorax asked "How did you do that?"
I replied "Changeling Queens can open the walls whenever they want, how do ya think we escape our hives in the event of an invasion?" Thorax looked down, I said "Ah understand Thorax, Changeling drones really should be better informed, we are a swarm but we're family and family cares for one another, or at least they should."
Trixie asked "Where do we go now?"
I said "The throne room, that's were Ah will stop my mother and free our friends."
Starlight said "Right, we go this way." We continue into a secluded corridor, we heard several changelings approaching. Starlight nodded to me and Thorax. I transformed into a changeling Captain.
3 changelings asked "Why do you have these ponies with you?'
I barked in a guard's voice "I found them snooping around, we are going to take them before the Queen, now get back to patrolling before I kick your flanks." The 2 changelings scurried down the corridor. We entered another room.
Starlight asked "Why are we travelling through the walls?"
I replied "Getting in the front was impossible it's always heavily guarded, Chrysalis will know we're here as she feels a forced wall opening, she may have excused one as an accident but any more and she will get suspicious." Starlight nodded at me as I discarded my changeling captain disguise.
Trixie said with smirk "You're pretty cool for a changeling."
I replied with a smirk "Ah'll have ya know that I already have mare I love, flirting won't work on me." Trixie blinked confused as Starlight stared at her.
Trixie asked "How did you know?"
I replied "Don't ya remember, Ah'm a changeling I can feel your emotions. Ya can't hide that from me." We all let a small chuckle before we heard a patrol race past. I said "We need a distraction."
Trixie said "I have plenty of smoke bombs."
Starlight and I looked at each other, we said "Trixie and Thorax take half of these smoke bombs each, and use them to distract the changelings."
Trixie turned to look at Thorax to see a spitting image of herself, her eyes open with realisation and she smiled. The 2 of them ran off to distract the changelings.
10 minutes past and both of them returned. Starlight asked "Did it work?
The pair said "Yes, they are in total disarray.
I said "We should head towards the throne room, it's this way." We galloped quickly towards the throne room. I heard a loud rush from behind us. I asked "That didn't last long did it?."
Trixie said "You 3 go, I'll distract them."
I said "Be careful, we don't want to lose ya."
Trixie smirked "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, I won't lose." I smiled at her cocky attitude. We continued on until we found ourselves in the throne room.
I said "We need to take out mother's throne."
A voice asked snidely "What makes you think you can?" I watched as Chrysalis stepped out.
I roared "Mother don't ya get in mah way or else Ah'll buck ya to Tartarus."
Chrysalis asked "Why are you so angry, what could I have possibly done to you?"
I snarled "It's not about what ya have done, it's about what ya haven't done. I was alone out there I couldn't rely on anypony but mahself for so long."
Chrysalis replied "I didn't know where you were and... What's with the accent?" She turned around to see one of the pods.
I snarled "Hurt her and Ah will tear ya heart out, I am no longer the young ling Ah was."
Chrysalis smirked "I won't she is an asset, still I have to dispose of you 2 traitors and put that one in a pod." I watched as thousands of changelings swarmed the room. I felt 20 changelings grab me, I tried to escape but against this many, it was just too much. Chrysalis said "Traitor, I will drain you dry. You are not a queen therefore you are useless to me." I watched in horror as she started draining the love out of him.
Thorax cried "I feel the love in me slipping away, I can't hold onto it much longer."
Starlight shouted "Then don't! Sharing love is what made you different, you should share your love with Chrysalis, give her all of it!
I watched as a tremendous amount of energy surge out of Thorax which pushed Chrysalis away. I stared at Thorax, he was as tall as me, he had a green coat ,orange pincers, his hooves were now solid, his wings were glowed with luminescent light."
Starlight shouted "This is what happens when Changelings share their love instead of stealing it."
The changelings asked "Why should we turn our back on our Queen?"
I shouted "Because she is an egomaniacal bitch who doesn't give too damns about what happens to you."
The changelings stared at their Queen and seemed to be deep in thought. Then they all copied Thorax and transformed into new forms, the energy output overloaded Chrysalis's throne causing it to explode. I smiled as all the ponies were released. Cadence and Shining Armour teleported away, not that I could blame them. They have had bad experiences with Changelings.
Thorax asked "Why haven't you transformed yet."
I replied "Ah'm waiting for somepony." I smiled as I saw Applejack slowly walking towards me, she was about open her mouth when I kissed her. I felt my form shift. I got a gasp from many of the changelings around me. Rarity produced a mirror form somewhere I was shocked to see that I had a coat of white fur and a green mane. My horn was straight, my wings were a luminescent blue.
I felt better than I ever did, I was pushed aside. I turned round to see Applejack pushing me. I watched as a green spell slammed into her neck. I turned to see my mother flying away, I looked at Applejack, she was bleeding heavily. I felt the tears welling in my eyes. I knew I could save her but does she want to be saved. A young filly shouted from behind "Applejack!"
I saw Applebloom staring at her sister, she was crying. In that moment I shouted as I pointed at 2 changelings "Get me a pod ready now." I started to secrete royal jelly, I knew she wouldn't be happy with me for doing this but Applebloom needs her big sister, she is not ready to understand the pain to lose a loved one.
Celestia and all of Applejack's friends asked "What are you doing?"
I replied "There is only one way to save Applejack, she has to be converted into a Changeling." They all stared at me in shock. I said "Ah'm not doing this for me, Applebloom needs her big sister and Ah'm not going to let her down." I watched as the 2 drones brought in a ready made pod. I put Applejack inside the pod put my Royal Jelly inside the pod.
Twilight asked "How long is it going to take?'
I replied "Six months, at the latest, usually it's done with a young nymph which takes about 3 days."
Rainbow said with a cocky grin "I'll be happy to teach her how to fly when she gets out."
Pinkie said exictedly "This will give me time to plan a happy you're a Changeling Queen party."
I said "Pinkie, please don't throw it immediately it will take her a little while to adjust to the changes."
Pinkie replied in her cheery voice "Okey Dokie Lokie."
I need to head back to Ponyville for a little bit to explain Applejack's condition." |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 11:Equestria's First Hive | We had arrived in Ponyville at last, with all of Ponyville returned, the changelings quickly dispersed. I said "Well Ah will have to send a letter to Thorax later about all of them."
A few days past and things finally settled down after the incident, I realised just how resilient Ponyville's residents were. I was holding a letter Twilight gave me it told me I was to meet with Celestia and Luna in Canterlot. I looked at Applejack recovering in the pod, I sighed. Applebloom ran up to me, she asked "Um, since my sister is becoming one of you, um could Ah become one too?"
I said "Ah can't make that decision alone, Ah will need to tell Applejack before Ah tell ya." Applebloom sighed and trotted away. I galloped over to the train station, I must admit it feels good no longer having to hide myself from ponies. I bought a ticket and boarded a train to Canterlot. I got a few strange looks but most ponies ignored me.
When I got off in Canterlot though I got many stares and received a few sneers. I sighed I guess this is because of mother's invasion. I arrived at Canterlot Castle, this is the first time I've actually seen the castle up close. It's grandness still astounds me as much it did the first time I saw it. The new captain of the guard, Silent Sentinel said "The princesses and several Nobleponies are awaiting you."
Silent Sentinel lead me to the meeting his red coat and black mane stood out amongst the guard, his cutie mark was a statue guarding a doorway. I entered the room. Celestia motioned for me to take a seat opposite herself and Luna. She asked "You wish to start a hive in Ponyville I assume, may I inquire as to why?"
I replied "Firstly Equestria has no defence forces excluding the royal guard which haven't performed any near well enough, mah Hive could provide a secondary defence force. Secondly, changelings are much less likely to attack a land that has its own hive."
One of the stallions shouted "You changelings have invaded us twice ,why should we trust you?"
Another stallion said "We are here for a diplomatic meeting Fiery Shimmer, let her explain, we don't want a repeat of our meeting with the Zebras."
Fiery shouted "Back off, Sir Lulamoon I am in control."
Sir Lulamoon retorted "You haven't been in control since your daughter ran away."
Fiery roared "Well at least my daughter isn't some 2-bit illusionist." I frowned at Fiery, he was clearly a hot head I couldn't tell what made that more obvious his fiery cutie mark or his blazing red coat and mane.
Sir Lulamoon flicked his light blue mane as he said "Trixie helped rescue the princesses." I was slightly shocked, that Trixie was related to him, still it helped me understand where Trixie got some of her colours from, he shared her coat colours but with a darker mane, furthermore his flank had a suit of armour on it.
Luna and Celestia looked they were about to use their Royal Canterlot Voices when a mare said "Stop arguing, all of us have had bad eggs in our families at some point, we should be glad our daughters have found happiness."
Fiery roared "My daughter is trapped in a world that doesn't have magic, Herald Glimmer? How can she be happy?" Herald was nothing like her daughter had a green coat with a pale white mane, she had a mark of a banner of the sun on her flank.
I shook my head as the arguing was ridiculous, a voice shouted "Enough, I may have been late to this meeting but Griffin diplomats are quite stubborn. Let the Changeling Queen speak."
I said "Thank you Prince Blueblood, now let's get down to business. Ah am planning to build a hive under Ponyville that will stretch into the Everfree Forest. Ah however have no drones to help me in my hive, Ah was planning to give a voluntary choice if a pony wants to become a Changeling, the only conversion being undertaken is one for a medical procedure, she will die if the conversion doesn't happen."
Fiery scoffed "You can't tell me anypony would wish to become a changeling drone, you are crazy."
Blueblood said with conviction in his voice "Well then call me crazy, I'll gladly volunteer for the program."
Fiery Shimmer, Sir Lulamoon and Herald Glimmer shouted "Are you serious Blueblood?" Celestia and Luna frowned at that. They have been trying to remain silent during all of this, they must have wanted the nobleponies input.
Blueblood replied "I'm no prince, at the Gala I acted horribly and that has gotten worse since then, I'm a terrible pony. This is a second chance for me, a chance to right the wrongs of my past and become something more. Maybe I can be a better changeling than I am a pony."
I said "Well, that's a start. Blueblood, welcome to the family."
Celestia and Luna smiled. Celestia said "I'm proud of you my nephew." I could feel the love given off her for her nephew.
Blueblood smiled as he said "You don't know how much that means to me."
I asked "So is this proposition acceptable?" I watched Celestia, Luna and Blueblood put forth their support.
Celestia asked "So those against?" Fiery Shimmer and Sir Lulamoon put their hooves up. Herald was thinking carefully.
Herald said "I'm for it, my daughter put her life on the line for this peace." I smiled as an enchanted book was placed in front of me. Celestia summoned three other books, she cast a simple spell on all four books. I watched as a changeling mark appeared on mine, I looked up to see the three other books, two of them had the symbols of the sun and moon. The third however had a symbol of Twilight's cutie mark.
I asked "What are these for?"
Celestia replied "These will allow you to keep contact over vast distances even across worlds." I blinked at that statement across worlds. Celestia said "I created a version for me and my former student, she still has her copy while Twilight has it's counterpart ." I felt her sadness, this was clearly a tough topic for her.
I said "I'll make sure this gets to Twilight and also make sure Blueblood's conversion starts as soon as possible." Celestia nodded to me as Blueblood and I left for Ponyville. |
The Love of an Apple | Interlude 1 | I said "Cara, I'm glad for the chance to reinvent myself."
Cara replied "Blueblood, why did ya want this, ya a powerful noble. Ah mean Ah knew ya said that ya wanted to be useful but where did this come from?"
I sighed "My father, he always told me our responsibility was to serve the crown and defend with our lives I learned how to fight with a sword using my hooves rather than magic. Even after all these years of being a prince I thought despite being rusty I thought I could still defend myself but when the changelings attacked I ran like a coward, if my father saw me today he would climb out of his grave and kick me out of the family!"
Cara responded "Ah see, ya respected ya father a lot."
I told her "I did when a small group of Griffins raided Canterlot he gave his life fighting to defend the foals in the school. By the time the guard arrived he had already drawn his last breath."
Cara said morosely "Ah'm so sorry for bringing up bad memories."
I smiled slightly as I said "It's not your fault, I am the one who has damaged our family's reputation and now it's time I take responsibility."
Cara smiled "Ah'm glad to see ya conviction, ya will make a fine member of the hive."
I replied "Thank you Cara, I'm eternally grateful for the opportunity." Cara smiled as the train stopped. I nodded as we both walked through Ponyville. We walked up to a huge crystal castle. I asked "Why are we here?"
Cara replied "Ah'm heading in to give Twilight the book, we need to keep in contact remember."
I said embarrassed "Oh I forgot, sorry about that."
Cara smiled as she said "It's fine Blueblood."
I sat there for hours thinking (Father I'm sorry, I've failed you and everypony else.) I closed my eyes for a few moments
A familiar voice said "Don't worry, you'll do fine I'm glad you're making a change." I woke and I saw the moon in the sky.
Cara said "Come on sleepy head, we got to set up the conversion."
I asked "Why didn't you wake me up?"
Cara told me "The conversion is easier if ya are not tired and ya it seems like ya were exhausted. Are ya well rested now?"
I said "I am let's get this done." We arrived in Sweet Apple acres and I saw a small staircase made out of a strange material in the ground. When we entered through it was quite large. I asked "How did you get this done so quickly?"
Cara replied "Ah asked Thorax for help, his hive helped set this up for us." I nodded as I looked around only to see Applejack floating in a pod. I saw a different one in front of me.
Cara asked "Are you ready?" I nodded as I jumped in and felt the warm liquid matte my coat. Then all went dark .
I woke in a strange looking arena. A voice said "Hello son."
I gasped "Father, how are you here?"
My father said calmly "I have unfinished business here my son and since when did you forget to call me by my title, you need to prove yourself to me again, you have 2 weeks before this pod opens."
I said "Head Captain Blueblood, sir does this mean you're a ghost ?"
He said with a smirk "Yes I suppose it does" then his smirk vanished "I have 2 weeks to kick you into shape." I nodded and he tossed me a sword I caught it with my hoof and got into the stance my father taught me.
He said "I'm glad you haven't forgotten everything, maybe there is hope for you yet." I watched as he beckoned for me to start. I charged at him only to be kicked backwards.
He said "Sloppy, I trained you better than that just because I'm old and my speed is hampered even further by my armour is not an excuse to be complacent and charging is foolish if you are not capable of landing the first strike." I watched as he gripped his sword and rushed me, I couldn't even blink before I felt a blade in my gut. I blinked for a few seconds before blacking out.
I woke to see my father standing over me, he said "Well that's one day down. I will teach as much as I can in the day, on the last day you will face me."
I asked "Sir, how am I alive?"
My father replied "This is not real, your body is a construct of your mind which is rebuilt every day."
He said "I'm going show you how to parry and counter." He held his sword out, I swung only for his blade to block mine. He said "Parrying is all about speed and attentiveness, you are distracted, focus completely. You will try now." I watched as he swung and I was drew my blade only for his sword to stop in front of my face. He shouted "Try again."
After 10 tries I blocked his first strike. I said "Thank you sir, I think I'm getting it."
He said "You have a long way to go, let's see if you can parry a barrage of my swings." I nodded and after the best part of 3 hours I finally managed to succeed. He said "Good that is the first stage, tomorrow dodging."
The next day went horribly even as he showed the techniques from jumping and rolling to complex techniques such as moving slices, I had failed each one. I snarled "Why am I failing?"
My father smiled "I know you can do this or else I wouldn't be here. Your mind is clouded by doubt and fear." I nodded as I prepared for the next day. 1 week passed and I was still stuck. I snarled "This is ridiculous, I am trying as hard as I can."
My father asked "Remember what was said in that movie we watched, Lights of the Stars Episode 5."
I said "Yeah, Lightning Startrotter was mentored by Master Stormeye."
My father said "I think you need to take the guiding words he said 'Do or do not, there is no try.'"
I asked "What do you mean?"
My father replied "You are trying but you are not believing in yourself, don't tell yourself to try, tell yourself to do."
I nodded and over the next few days it finally clicked I said "You were right sir, I shouldn't have doubted myself."
My father nodded and said "The final lesson is hoofwork, where to stand and how to move."
I nodded as I watched his movements and copied his movements to the best of my ability but I stumbled often. He said afterwords "You have stumbled a lot today but keep pushing never give up and never surrender, that is the way of a fighter, soldier and a leader."
I nodded and after 3 days of practising the time had come, a duel between me and my father. I swung several quick blows to test his guard before slamming it with a large swing only to be pushed back. He said "That was impressive you tested my guard and then struck at a weak point, you made it too obvious and I played along."
I realised I was off balance as his sword swung against my guard with impunity. I delivered a sharp blow to his chin before slamming him back. I realised there was no way to meet him from the front, his defences were good and his armour was formidable.
An idea formed in my mind and darted sideways before launching a strike at his side knocking him down and swinging my blade at him only for him to parry at the last second. I took jumped backwards the charged forwards. I smiled as he tried to pulled the same manoeuvre he did in our first fight and I ducked under to swing my sword at his from behind knocking it out of his hand.
I put my sword to his neck and said firmly "Yield."
He nodded and said "Very well, I yield you proved the point, you are ready. Here is one last gift a heirloom of our family." I watched as a sword materialised in my hoof it read "The Soulblade of the Blueblood family," It was engraved underneath "Made by Blueblood the 1st."
I cried "I don't deserve this."
My father smiled as he faded away "The fact you said that is exactly why you are worthy of it." I woke in a room and looked at my hooves to see white fur but underneath I could see blue chitin.
Cara said "Prince Blueblood, come with me." I followed her into a large cave building covered in maps and weapons.
She pointed to the end of the line and I stood besides several other changelings. She said in what appeared to be in my head "(You are the ones who wished to join the hive's military and for those who perform well will get promoted.)" I heard the lings next to me cheering eagerly.
Cara trotted over to me and said "Prince Blueblood you are looking good, those white wings suit you."
I said "Blueblood is the family name," I paused for second to look at my flank, my Cutie Mark had changed "My name is Iron Compass and I will protect this hive with my life."
Cara smiled as she said "Well Prince Iron Compass, it's time to put your words to action." I nodded as I ran into the training room summoning my family's sword. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 12: Adaption | I frowned as I hit the ground, I moaned "Urghh, what happened?" I remember I threw myself in front of Cara and then all went blank. I noticed my hooves were larger and covered in goop. I realised I was in my bathroom, I got into a shower and quickly turned the water on. I rubbed soap over my body and I touched my forehead and realised I had a horn. I screamed as I was unsure of what had happened to me.
Cara galloped in and asked "Are ya okay Applejack?"
I asked trembling "What happened to me?"
Cara replied "Ah had to convert ya or else ya would've died."
I opened my mouth to shout when Applebloom galloped in. She gave me a big hug as she said "Applejack, Ah'm so glad your back."
I stared at Cara and asked trembling "Why?"
Cara replied "Ya were dying and Ah wasn't about to leave Applebloom without her big sis." Cara then said "Applebloom you can ask her later, we have many important things to discuss." Applebloom left the room silently as Cara sighed.
I wondered what that was about but I knew I had to say something about what happened. I said looking at my hooves "Ah'm sorry sugarcube, not just about this misunderstanding but Ah also reacted poorly to your true self Ah'm sorry."
Cara said "That's alright, mah Sweet Apple. Ah won't let ya go again." I blushed at her pet name for me. She then said "Since ya a Queen Ah'll have to show ya around plus ya have a lot to learn about leadership." I frowned being a changeling was one thing but a Queen.
I asked "Why a Queen?'
Cara replied "Ah hoped for ya to rule beside me, also Ah didn't want to have any advantage over ya in our relationship. A drone has to obey the Queen, Ah hate it but it's a part of our biology."
I felt a voice in my head "(Applejack it's Cara, this is our hive mind, it allows the hive to communicate across great distances. Ah have much to show ya.)"
I blinked as we arrived at a hole in an empty orchard. I said "This is a lot for me to take in."
Cara said "(Please try to use the hive mind, it will be important as my Co-Queen).
I focused and started exploring the hive mind. I found Cara's mind and asked "(Did that work?)"
Cara said "(Yes but it should happen much faster, Ah do it instantaneously. Practise with me as we continue on.)" We arrived in a place in the middle of the hive, it was amazingly well lit.
I asked "(How long have Ah been in that pod?)
Cara replied "(Six months.)
I shouted (Six months, how is that possible?!)"
I then got a huge roar back "(BE QUIET!)"
Cara stared at me before she said "(Ya shouldn't shout every changeling will hear ya. If ya shouting ya must do it for a good reason, at the same time, EVERYLING, APPLEJACK IS MY CO-QUEEN THEREFORE AH EXPECT YA NOT TO SHOUT AT HER!)" I felt the hive mind go quiet.
We entered what appeared to be a military room. I looked down to see a large changeling training with several drones. I watched as the training stopped. Cara said "This is Prince Iron Compass, he is the general of the hive, in the past six months after his conversion he has become a formidable warrior, he has even taught me swordsmareship."
Applejack knew this changeling, she stared at his cutie mark. It was a shield shaped compass with a sword instead of a needle. I was about to ask when Applebloom ran up to me, she begged "Ah want to become a changeling like you, can Ah? Can Ah?"
Cara said frowning at Applebloom "Ah'm sorry she has been bugging the hive ever since ya went into ya pod, Ah had make it clear she was not to be converted until Ah got permission from ya."
I asked "But 6 months in a pod, that is such a long time for a filly, won't that be bad for her education?"
Cara said "It won't take that long, even for a Queen a filly will take 3 days to become one, adults have a lot more permanent developments that need to happen in order to be fully developed the most complicated being the egg laying organs."
I turned to Applebloom and asked "Are you 100% sure you want this, Ah need to know?"
Applebloom responded with a serious look on her face "Ah am, Ah'll be happy to be a changeling, are you worried?"
I sighed "Ah just wanted to make you were 100% sure of your decision and all it will entail, you won't be a pony anymore. You may be bullied, your friends may turn on you."
Applebloom didn't even flinch at my words, she said "If their truly my friends they won't care what Ah am, they will like me for me."
I said sadly "Fine Cara, Ah give permission. It's better than the alternative tried to do it herself." Cara nodded and set up a pod in front of me. I watched as she put some strange substance around the sides. I asked "What is that substance?"
Cara replied "Royal Jelly, the same stuff Ah used to make ya a Queen and not just some drone." Applebloom jumped in without the slightest bit of hesitation, I stared at the pod as it closed.
I asked "(What are we doing now?)" She was about to speak when I screamed as I felt a huge burst of pain coming from inside.
I heard a Cara shout across the hive mind "(WE NEED TO GET APPLEJACK TO THE NURSERY, SHE IS LAYING FOR THE FIRST TIME.)" I was lifted up, by the time we were at the Nursery I couldn't open my eyes.
I was placed down on the ground and was told "(Push hard, this will hurt.)" I pushed and felt my body scream at me as pain tore through my body. I kept pushing even as the pain, grew and grew. I felt several things come out of me. I turned around to see several eggs covered in blood.
I watched as what seemed to be several hundred nurse drones cleaning the eggs. I asked "Is it suppose to hurt that much?"
Cara said "Trust me the first time is always like that, it is the breaking of your fluid membrane from when queens are young lings, it forms on every queen even those who are converted. It is the equivalent of an umbilical cord for ponies, trust meit needs to break."
I asked "Will it hurt that much next time?"
Cara said "No, It won't. Ah suggest ya get some rest, ya, me and Prince Iron Compass are going to be attending a meeting with the Princesses in 2 weeks." I sighed as I went to have a shower, then I jumped into my big bright green bed and fell into a deep sleep, today had been a long day. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 13: Hive's Inner Workings | I asked Cara "What are we doing today?"
Cara replied "Ah am going to show ya the hive and explain to ya how things work in the hive."
I asked nervously "Sooo, how many eggs did Ah lay?"
Cara said "Ya laid twenty and ya will lay twenty every week for the next 6 months. These are ya starter clutches, they mature faster than ya later clutches. They are there to help the hive start up, they mature fully within 2 weeks and help ya take care of later clutches."
I said trying to hid the panic in my voice "Thanks for telling me, Ah don't think Ah'll ever get used to laying."
Cara said "You will, it will come as easily as breathing in time." I felt conflicted part of me hoped she was wrong and another part of me hoped she was right
We trotted past several changelings discussing duties and a few cracking jokes. I blinked at that, all Chrysalis's drones did was snarl.
I asked "Our drones seem a lot more friendly than your mother's, why is that?"
Cara chuckled "Do ya really think Ah am as boring as mah mother?" she then got serious "Ah'm trying to promote peace between ponies and changeling races that mean teaching tolerance and respect for pony culture as well as respecting ponies themselves." I smiled as I nodded at her statement, it was good to know that progress is being made towards peace. Cara said "Ah have something to show ya." I nodded and followed her into a large cavern. Changelings were watering all different kinds of plants.
I gasped in shock "This is a farm! HOW?"
Cara said "Because we farm produce that doesn't need light, we farm Night Pumpkins, Shadow Plums, Shade Berries and Nevershine Apples, we couldn't grow them in the Badlands and had to forage for them but Equestria provides us with all we need to grow them, good soil, plenty of water."
I smiled as I said "It's beautiful, I love it."
Cara said "Ah knew ya would , part of the reason Ah set it up actually." I blushed as I felt her lips on my cheek, I followed as she shook her hips seductively in front of me. By the time we got to the sleeping quarters, my face felt a hot as the sun.
Cara said "These are the sleeping quarters." I stared at the sleek domes carved into the rock, they were all well furbished and had large structures made of our goo and what looked like chitin.
I asked "What are those beds made out of ?"
Cara said "They are made of chitin and changeling goo, we make them out of our recycled carapaces once we shed. Our first shedding happens 3 weeks after we hatch with exception of the starter clutches, they have it on the first day."
I said "That's weird, you use your own shedded chitin to make furniture !?"
Cara replied "We couldn't afford to waste anything back in our old home, wood was scarce and brittle and rock was too steadfast, we wanted our bed frames to be able to bend under a bit of weight rather than snap in two." I nodded, that made a lot of sense.
Cara said "Ah hope that we can get some nymphs into the local schools, it may help increase our acceptance in the neighbourhood."
I said "That isn't a bad idea actually, Ah think that should be our next call. We should bring that up with the princesses to see if we can get that arranged." Cara smiled and she beckoned me to follow her again.
We arrived at a huge complex full of books. I said "Twilight would love this place."
Cara chuckled "She's actually in there right now, last time I checked on her she had 50 books levitating around her as she scribbled notes."
I laughed heartily "Good old Twilight, always reading, always studying. Anyway I would like to speak with her."
Cara nodded as she said "Of course, come see me later. I have a lot of work to do particularly with Iron Compass, he wants input on who he should give promotions to."
I entered the library and looked at my purple Alicorn friend sitting at a table with very tired eyes and twenty pages of notes. I asked "Are you okay, Twilight?"
Twilight shouted "Applejack!" and gave me a big hug. I realised I now stood a head or 2 above her.
I returned the hug and said mockingly "Come on Twilight, you know you're not supposed to shout in a library."
I watched as she started to panic "Oh no, I shouted in a library."
I nudged her "Relax noling or pony is in here, you can calm down. I was only joking."
Twilight said as she calmed down "Thanks, it's good to see you. We were all so worried about you and..."
We both were suddenly in a mess hall and a pony shouted in a super excited voice "Surprise, I hope you enjoy your APPLEJACKISSAFENOW and APPLEJACKISACHANGELINGQUEEN party !!!"
I sighed "Pinkie, Ah'm really grateful but..."
A tomcoltish voice shouted "Come, on Applejack, it's all just a little fun."
I spotted Rarity who said "Of course, Rainbow Dash is right and we were all so worried about you, we're all glad you're safe, right Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy said quietly "Yay."
I smiled come here girls "Ah'm big enough to give ya all a hug."
Five of us were about to hug when Rarity said "Come on Rainbow Dash, you were asked."
Rainbow Dash said "But it's too mushy for me to do that." I watched as a purple aura pulled Rainbow Dash closer and I wrapped all my friends in a big hug.
Twilight said "Umm Applejack, it's a little tight."
I replied as I let them go "Ah'm sorry, all will be fine."
***************************************
Meanwhile
A bug on the wall said across the hivemind ("My queen we need to do something about this.")
The Queen replied ("We will, I already have a great plan. I bet she will be enthusiastic to see her famous singing friend.") She transformed into Rara and smiled. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 14: Meeting with the Princesses | I sighed, 2 weeks had passed since Applejack woke. She has been struggling to the adaption, she is still scared of laying eggs. Our dinner dates have been going well despite that, our relationship is stronger than ever and our hive is starting to take shape. Braeburn has been sending me regular letters on how his farm has been improved thanks to my hive's assistance. Applebloom woke up 11 days ago, she still has good relations with her friends, which has helped put my mind slightly more at ease. She hasn't gone back to school yet due to a few reforms I need to discuss with the princesses.
I was already on the way to Canterlot with Iron Compass, Applejack was a little busy with the farmwork. I frowned, I swear sometimes she forgets that she is a queen of a hive. We arrived at Canterlot, I still get odd looks from time to time but with the help of Twilight things have settled down. The last 6 months have been huge, I went from being abandoned to running my own hive of very pony-like changelings. In fact some ponies don't even distinguish the difference between us, I am proud of that, we fit in really well.
Prince Compass asked "Do you have an idea of the what we were called here for?"
I replied "No brother, Ah don't." I didn't feel like he was one of my children but like a brother, he has helped clear many doubters of our hive. I wonder how Applejack will react when she finds out who he used to be.
Silent Sentinel awaited us, he said "The princesses are awaiting you." We followed him into the throne room. I felt a flare of hate emanating from one of the princesses. I stared to see Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armour in front of me. I sighed, they had a problem with my mother and outside of Thorax they had no experience with good changelings. I guess because I'm a queen they worry I will conquer Equestria.
I was quickly proven right. Shining asked angrily "Are we really letting a hive in Equestria, they almost conquered us, twice?!"
I thought (I should have known this would pose a problem.)
Prince Compass said "I would say this changeling endeavour has given many ponies a new lease on life."
Shining snapped back at him "Converting ponies into changelings, that should be outlawed!"
A voice came from outside the door "Sorry, Ah'm late." I smiled as Applejack trotted in. She nuzzled me as she asked "How's my favourite Love Bug?" Prince Iron Compass smiled slightly.
I replied "Ah could be doing better, mah Sweet Apple, all this running of a Hive has hit me hard, Ah have no idea what Ah'm doing half the time." Applejack stared at Cadence as their glare intensified.
Cadence snarled "More of them, Changeling Queens can't be trusted."
Celestia frowned as she asked "If Queen Applejack can't be trusted who can?" Shining Armour and Cadence gasped at Applejack as they noticed her Cutie Mark.
Applejack asked "What have Ah missed?"
Luna said "We were discussing the voluntary changeling conversion program, it has been going quite smoothly I hear."
That snapped Shining Armour out of his stupor. He shouted "Nopony would want to become a changeling willingly."
Prince Compass roared breaking his usually calm demeanour "BEFORE MY CONVERSION I WAS A UTTERLY USELESS STALLION! THIS CONVERSION HAS GIVEN ME A NEW LIFE!" He then turned to Celestia and bowed "My apologies, Aunty."
Cadence asked confused "He is your nephew?"
Celestia said calmly "Prince Iron Compass is Prince Blueblood." I watched as Applejack, Shining Armour and Cadence's jaws dropped.
Applejack stared at me for several minutes. Shining Armour asked in complete shock "When, how, why?"
Prince Compass said "I told you this has given me a new life, the arrogant prince is gone, I am the General of the Changeling hive's military force."
Applejack said "No offence but Ah'm surprised you of all ponies decided to do this."
Prince Compass said "None taken. I wouldn't have done this except for the fact I was achieving even less than I usually did, my life was falling apart. I had lost all purpose, I had realised after the Changelings captured me I learned the truth I was an arrogant spoiled brat. I couldn't even cast a single spell that took out even one Changeling. I only hindered the effort, several guards were caught trying to protect my sorry flank."
Cadence said "I still don't like Changelings, they caused us great harm. Thorax had our influence in order to change his perception."
I snarled "Are ya saying Ah didn't. Ah'm sick of this toxicity between us, ya emotions are literally poisonous. Ah have been doing good work here for the past six months. Canterlot still hates us because of both invasions. Ponyville and Appleloosa are the places where we are the most accepted, Ah was hoping Ah could add the Crystal Empire to that list but Ah guess not."
I asked Celestia "Ah was hoping to bring up another matter actually, Ah would like some of our hatchlings to go to Equestrian schools in order to improve relations between our races.
Cadence snarled "No way, I won't allow it."
Celestia and Luna said "That is a great idea, I give you permission to start in Ponyville, in the meantime we'll discuss it with the nobles of Canterlot, hopefully we can get them to agree on this."
Cadence said "You can't, they are not..."
I decided to end this meeting before it got too nasty in here. I asked "Well, Ah think we know Cadence's stance on this matter. Do we have anything left to discuss?"
Celestia said "No, we don't. I will adjourn this meeting."
Cadence shouted "We aren't finished, you can't...!"
Applejack interrupted Cadence with a snarl "Well, Ah don't really need to hear this and neither does Cara. Prince Iron Compass will inform us of what you have to say." Prince Iron Compass nodded to us, then we stormed out of the room slamming the door on the way out.
I sighed "Damn it, this was supposed to go well."
Applejack said "Ah know this is hard but we'll get through this. You know, on my way here Ah saw a restaurant for Griffin's selling a lot of meat dishes. Ah say we go there and have a nice meal."
I smiled "Ah hear ya, let's go. Ah need to get mah mind off that meeting." Applejack then groaned realising what kinda restaurant she had suggested. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 15: Dinner | Me and Cara walk to the Canterlot Griffin restaurant. It has been quite difficult for me the last couple of weeks. Eating meat and the prospect of laying eggs scared me, on top of that I have the position of royalty, I'm just a simple farmpony, I can't do this. I am only trying for Cara's sake. I was so cruel to her, I dismissed for what she was rather than who she was. Cara said "Mah Sweet Apple, are ya okay? Ah'm here for ya no matter what."
I replied "Ah'm sorry, it's just this whole Queen thing is over mah head. Ah'm just a simple farmpony, Ah can't keep this up."
Cara smiled as she spoke "Ah know it's hard, mah Sweet Apple but we will work thought this but for now let's get something to eat." I sighed as we approached the restaurant. I looked up to see the name of the restaurant, the Golden Wing. I sighed as this meant there was Griffin running the place, Gilda is the only griffin I have really spent any time with and the experience wasn't great, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie insist she's changed but still.
We entered and Cara asked "May we have a seat for 2 please?"
A female covered in silver feathers Griffin stepped up and said exictedly "I'm Silver Wing, my father was Golden Wing and he opened this restaurant years back, he passed away a year ago. I know he would be ecstatic to know royalty would be eating here."
Cara said "There are very few places that serve meat in Canterlot, thank ya Silver Wing." We proceeded to sit down and look over the menu.
I asked "What am Ah supposed to do, what if Twilight hates me for what Ah said to Cadence?"
Cara said "Ah'm sure she won't she is ya friend, I'm pretty she she would shout at Cadence for this and give her a piece of her mind."
I said "Ah hope your right."
Just as Cara was about to reply a waitress came by, she asked "I'm Bronze Flight, what would you like to eat?"
Cara said "Ah'd like some bacon and eggs."
I quickly added "Ah'll have the same."
Bronze Flight said "Of course, your royal highnesses." I fidgeted slightly at the use of my new title.
Cara said "Ah know ya new title is hard to adjust to but stop worrying about it, we will keep everything fine and dandy."
I replied "Your right, it's just Ah don't want to let anypony down."
Cara said "Of course ya won't, Ah'll be by you side." I smiled slightly as we sat there. Cara asked "Are ya looking forwards to seeing ya first eggs hatch?"
I said "No, I'm nervous, Ah have never raised children before."
Cara replied "Ya do care for Applebloom and spent a good amount of time helping her."
I replied "It's not the same, she's my sister, raising a foal is a lot harder, Ah have no idea what Ah'm going to do."
Cara smiled as she said "Ah will help ya, don't worry about it. Also the proper term is hatchling, please try to use proper changeling terminology for changelings." I rubbed my head at that with a slight smile, I never was very good with words.
A voice said "Here's your meal I hope you enjoy." I watched as Bronze Flight walked away. I stared at my food as Cara heartily devoured her meal.
Cara asked "What's wrong?"
I replied "Ah'm sorry, Ah'm not used to eating meat, Ah was herbivore before and despite my now omnivorous nature Ah have been to scared to eat meat." Cara smiled as she grabbed my fork and shoved some of my food into my mouth. At first I felt sick from the food but then as the flavour rolled over my tongue I realised how good the meat tasted.
I smiled after swallowing and said "Well, that was really good, Ah had known how good meat had tasted Ah would have tried it before."
Cara said "Ya wouldn't have liked it, as a herbivore it would have tasted like dirt but now as an omnivorous changeling ya can enjoy meat."
I said "Ah'm glad something Ah've been worrying about to be so foolhardy, oh boy Dash will be so jealous that she can't taste this."
Cara smiled "Ah have a feeling, speaking of which Ah haven't spent a lot of time with ya friends, Ah need to get to know them better." I nodded and we demolished our meals and paid the restaurant before leaving despite Silver Wing's insistence on us not paying.
We arrived back at the farm late at night just as we were about to go toe go to the bedroom, I saw a letter at my doorstop my eyes widened as it read "It's your childhood friend Rara, I have a concert coming up tomorrow in Ponyville, I hope you'll be there."
I sighed as I said "Ah wonder how she is going to react to the new me."
Cara asked "What could possibly go wrong?"
Meanwhile
Several different Pinkie Pie's, facehooved/palmed, one the personal student of princess Celestia hiding in her library after all of Ponyville want one of the Galloping Gala tickets from her, another an Alicorn flying alongside her romantic partner Discord while another a Changeling Queen escorting her friends through her hive and the last one in spar with Sunset Shimmer, they all said in unison "Oh come, you shouldn't tempt fate like that."
The Pinkie Pie that Cara knew said "I believe somepony I know did something stupid that caused some alternate versions of me to facehoof and/or facepalm." |
The Love of an Apple | Interlude 2 | I said "Spike, can you go to get me some more quills from, Quills and Sofas. I have so much zoning paperwork to do involving Cara and Applejack's hive."
Spike said "I will, I also got to deliver this ruby to Rarity. I have been careful purifying over the past month."
I smiled "Wish you luck Spike."
He smiled back "Thanks Twilight." I decided to head to the library, a good book to help me relax. I trotted down the corridors to the library, I thought (Hmm, what to read?) I looked over the massive shelf I smiled (Starswirl's Book on transmutation perfect.) I began reading.
Starswirl the Bearded
The basics of Transmutation is fairly simple, the first step is too make sure you have the resources to transmute. You can't make something without the required ingredients for example if you have a broken clock, you can't make a larger clock using that broken clock, you can only make the same one you had. The final warning is trying to create a living thing is highly dangerous. You can try but it may kill you or turn you not a monster.Others...
I heard a familiar voice shout "Twilight!" I put the book back and galloped out of the Library.
Twilight saw Cadence standing there. Twilight asked "Cadence, what is the matter?"
Cadence shouted "Changelings are in Equestria, we need to do something."
Twilight frowned "Why?"
Cadence shouted "Because they are going to take over Equestria, they already got Celestia and Luna."
Twilight sighed "There is nothing wrong, they are not causing any harm."
Cadence eyes widened "They already got you, I need to get to the Empire and warn them."
Twilight slapped her "Get a hold of yourself, the Changelings are no threat. Now calm down will you."
Cadence said "But they have caused us so much harm."
Twilight told her firmly "Applejack is one of the Queens, she is the bearer of Honesty and my good friend, I have faith in her, you should too."
Cadence stammered "B-but..."
Twilight snarled "Where is the Cadence, the kind loving mare I knew? When did she get replaced by a mare whose so prejudice against another because of who they are?"
Cadence eyes widened at the statement. She sighed "Twilight, I'm sorry. I'll leave now."
Twilight frowned "No I will show you the glory of their hive and what they have produced."
Twilight teleported the pair to the entrance of the Hive. Twilight smiled as she entered the hive. Cadence shuddered as she entered a place she always feared. She was shocked came by what she saw, changelings and even a few ponies were running shops. Several ponies were chatting to changelings, a changeling smiled at Twilight.
Twilight said to the changeling "Good morning Filthy Rich."
Filthy Rich smiled "Good Morning Twilight."
Twilight asked "How's your daughter going?"
Filthy Rich smiled "Good now that she's amongst her own kind."
Twilight said "Well I wish you a good day, I am just showing my sister in law around."
Cadence asked as they trotted further into the hive. "Filthy Rich one of the mots successful Earth Pony business ponies is actually a changeling."
Twilight said "Not originally, Diamond Tiara was always a changeling, she was left on their doorstep as a filly."
Cadence asked "How did they not notice?"
Twilight replied "Filthy Rich did, why do you think she always wore that tiara?"
Cadence said "It was enchanted." Twilight nodded as they arrived at the hatchery.
Several hatchlings smiled as they ran up to Twilight. They said "Twilit please tell us a stowy."
Twilight smiled "Well let's start, long ago there was two sisters, one who raised the sun and the other who raised the moon...."
Cadence watched as the young hatchlings soaked up Twilight's story with the same energy Twilight had when she told her stories. Cadence thought (This is nice, I have to inform Shining. I think we have made a mistake.)
Cadence said "Twilight I need to inform Shining, this place is beautiful and I was wrong. These young hatchlings remind of you when you were younger."
*****Later that Afternoon in the Crystal Empire****
Shining Armour was sitting there listening to another Crystal Ponies' petition when a messenger arrived. The messenger said "A message from you wife sir."
Shining Armour said "Very well, I need to read this in private it may be important." He returned to his room, Shining opened the letter.
Dear Shining, the love of my life
We were wrong, Twilight took me to Applejack's and Cara's Hive and they were so similar to us, they had a fully functioning town square with ponies and changelings living in harmony. I even got to see the Hatchery, they reminded me so much of young Twilight. We have let the past blind us.
From your loving wife, Cadence
Shining Armour scowled at the mirror "So they got you too have they, I will make them all pay!" He smashed the mirror, he however didn't notice the faint purple trails coming out of his eyes. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 16: Rara | Me and Applejack had gotten ready, her childhood friend Rara was due to perform in a hour and we were going to watch. Applejack asked "Are you sure this a good idea?"
I said "Like Ah said, what could possibly go wrong?" I blinked for a few seconds as I heard a loud groan.
Applejack asked in confusion "Did you make that noise?"
I said "No, Ah didn't."
Me and Applejack jumped as Pinkie Pie jumped out of the sink, she said in a serious and dark tone "Stop tempting fate, I just yelled at by four other mes to tell you to quit tempting fate. In fact one of them threatened to kill me, so unless you want me dead you better stop." Pinkie then dissapeared back through the sink.
I blinked for a few seconds, confused. Applejack stared at me darkly "You better stop saying what could possibly go wrong, Ah don't think Ah've ever seen Pinkie that serious. When she is this serious you better not mess with things."
I gulped "Ah promise, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in mah eye."
Applejack said "Good, as for what Ah'm worried about, well it's not the right time. Rara told me her schedule for the next year not long before we met and she is not due to visit here for another 5 months."
I asked "Do ya think something's wrong?"
She replied "Ah'm not sure but we should keep our guard up." I nodded as we headed to the open air concert hall.
I asked as I caressed her transparent yellow wings "Why don't you use your wings, Ah've never seen ya use them?"
She replied "Ah don't know how, Ah have tried to do what the other lings do but it doesn't work."
I said "Ah will have to teach ya then, Queen's wings work differently than normal changeling wings."
She said "Thanks, it would help" She then asked "Could you also help me with magic, Ah'm still not getting it, Ah can lift a basket and nothing more."
I said "Of course mah Sweet Apple, now let's take our seats."
We watched as Rara has started singing, I smiled her voice was incredible. I kissed Applejack half-way through which caused her to blush slightly, I was amazed at how little the ponies reacted to us during this event. We even started to cheer as the concert went on, hours past quickly and the music died down.
Just as we moved towards Rara she said "It's good to see you two."
I asked confused "How do you know me?"
"Rara" laughed as she said "Forgive me, it seems I given up something a little to easily." I watched "Rara" transformed into a changeling queen with red eyes and chitin.
Applejack roared "How dare you capture my friend?'
The Changeling Queen said "It wasn't easy, she took knocked most of my drones multiple times but it was well worth it to lure you two into a trap, she escaped unfortunately but no matter I got you two." We watched in horror as the crowd turned into changelings. She said "It was very easy to capture the crowd," she then shouted "Kill th!..."
We watched as a hooded earth pony cut her head off with a sharp blade. She said "Unlike Chryssi, you are not smart enough to knock your opponents out with gas."
I asked "Who are you?"
She removed her hood and Applejack shouted "Rara what happened?" I stared at the mare, her left eye had a large scar over it and she was holding in her hoof a longsword, her muscles were similar in size to Applejack's. I was most surprised by her armour, it was made of hemp and looked very durable.
The Changelings shouted "You killed our Queen!" They were all about to charge when a much larger cloaked pony cut through thirty changelings with a single well timed swing of her scythe. The changelings gasped and flew out of there scared of the new threat.
Applejack frowned as she asked "Who are you?"
She said in a mocking tone "I would have to be a real monster to let my daughter and my soon to be daughter in law get hurt."
I gasped instantly while Applejack was still trying to figure it out, I whimpered sadly "Mother." Applejack looked at me and my mother removed her hood as she smiled at me with her toothy grin.
Applejack turned around and I felt the anger coming of her as she shouted "CHRYSALIS, HOW DARE YOU RETURN!"
Rara said as she kicked the Dead Queen's head with her boots "Relax Applejack, she saved me and we have been freeing ponies from these Changelings."
Chrysalis said grinning "Yeah and we're getting along well, real well." Our jaws dropped as Rara kissed her on the cheek.
Rara said "I think we broke them."
Chrysalis replied "Oh we definitely broke them, once they snap out of it we will go and have a double date, it will be fun."
Rara asked "But she's your daughter isn't that going to be embarrassing?'
Chrysalis said "Not really my mother did it with me."
Rara replied "Oh okay, we'll do it."
I blinked as my mind had just returned to the conversation and turned what I heard into actual information. I said "Well Ah do know a decent place around here, it's where Ah took Applejack on our first date."
Chrysalis said "Well let's go." I nodded as I shook Applejack and informed her of the situation.
She said trying to keep calm"Ah'm not sure about this but for Rara's sake."
I then asked "Actually before you go, how about you tell of how you two met?"
Chrysalis smiled "Very well, we'll tell you." We struggled to maintain our composure as Rara and my mother kissed again. |
The Love of an Apple | Interlude 3 Chapter 1 | I snarled for the thousandth time this month "Where are you taking me?"
The Changelings said "Shut up, you stupid pony."
I said "That's uncalled for, I didn't kill any of you, I just knocked out fifty of you, you lucky bastards captured me."
They shouted "Shut up" then suddenly they shouted "to ..."
I watched as a scythe tore through the door, the voice had an buzz to it as if it was a bug. I watched as a Changeling Queen putting her scythe on her back as she entered the cart and asked "Are you okay?"
I responded "I'm fine, you are a different changeling from those, right?" She nodded at me. I said "Well then I will trust you" I stepped out and grabbed my blade which was covered in jewels around the hilt then I said harshly "If you try anything I will kill you."
The Changeling Queen said calmly "I promise not hurt you in any way."
I replied "Good,with that out of the way I guess introductions are in order, I'm Rara."
The Queen replied "Well I'm Chrysalis Ex-Queen of the Badlands Changeling Hive."
I frowned as I asked "Why should I trust you?"
Chrysalis replied "Because I have so little power left, I am no threat to you." I stared at her for several minutes and realised she was right, she was sick and frail, her chitin was covered in cracks and her holes were almost the width of her hooves.
I asked "Um where do you live" and the I saw the unfamiliar stalls and inhabitants, some where like sharks, lizards and fish creatures as well a cat having some troubles with a mole rat "where are we?"
Chrysalis said "Klugetown, in the Storm King's realm, it's fairly safe for me as the Storm King will only allow each hive to have 5 changelings in the premises or else there would be an issue. I will take you to my place."
When we entered it was a modest place, she had a small fridge. I asked "Can I make myself something to eat?"
Chrysalis said "Sure, go on." I grabbed several vegetables and and ate them within a minute. Chrysalis said "You must be really hungry."
I said "Those changelings had no idea what to feed a pony, we are not carnivores. Still it's better than what I used to do during my old bard days, eating dung isn't pleasant trust me."
Chrysalis gasped "Dung, even changelings wouldn't dare."
I said smiling "When your hunting dragons, bandits, timberwolves, changelings or even the odd pony and have no time for finding food things can get desperate."
Chrysalis asked confused "Why would a bard do any of that?'
I asked "Have you ever impersonated a bard?" Chrysalis hook her head. I then said "Bards learn how to fight because often we get attacked by bandits, kidnappers and the odd changeling. As years past we became renowned for our combat skills we started taking requests for hunting monsters or bandits, thus bard guilds also have a board full of marks."
Chrysalis shouted in amazement "Wow, I'm glad I didn't face any bards during my second invasion of Equestria which failed or else it would have been over."
I asked coldly "Tell me everything?" Chrysalis shivered at the cold gaze in my eyes as she told her story.
I said "I guess you saved me to get in your daughter's good graces." She nodded at me. I said calmly "I am not happy about what you did but you saved me and I owe you for that."
I gave her a light hug which caused her to ask blushing "Why did you do that?"
I smiled "You're a changeling aren't you and you feed off emotions, I gave you some of mine, I thought some of my gratitude may help you." Chrysalis noticed her holes shrunk slightly and some of the cracks in her chitin disappeared.
Chrysalis showered her with praise "Thank you so much, I haven't never been shown such kindness."
I said "I'm not that kind."
Chrysalis scoffed "You said 'you only knocked out fifty changelings of those changelings that were trying to capture you, you are a good pony.'"
I blushed at the praise "I just did what anypony would do?"
Chrysalis laughed "I wish, most ponies I know will strangle them."
I asked "How do you know?"
Chrysalis said "Have you been to Canterlot or Manehatten or Fillydelphia, the rich lord over everypony and those who have little are starving in the streets, do you know how many converts came off the streets of the big cities, thousands of them."
I gasped "Thousands of them." Chrysalis nodded, I made a mental note to bring this up when I returned.
I said "Chrysalis how about this, on behalf of Equestria and all it's ponies I will be you friend."
I saw the tears cross her face as she asked "Really?"
I gave her another hug "Really, you need to learn how to be loved by others and the start is friendship." I asked "Do you have a bed for me to sleep on."
Chrysalis blushed "I only have one bed."
I smiled "Well you need to eat don't you, I could make sure you are nice and well fed by morning if we just cuddle in the same bed." Chrysalis turned her head away, trying to hide her blush. |
The Love of an Apple | Interlude 3 Chapter 2 | I woke to see Chrysalis's hooves around me. I smiled at the changeling mare beside me, I carefully extracted myself from her hooves, she looked much better than she did last night, the holes in her hooves and mane had shrunk considerably. Her body was no longer cracked but smooth like polished obsidian.
I quickly trotted out and opened her fridge I noticed a few eggs, some flour and butter, I entered the modest kitchen, I grabbed a worn apron. I decided to make pancakes for the two of us, after 1 hour in the kitchen I heard a groggy voice "That smells good."
I said "I thought I'd make something for us to eat."
Chrysalis said "You know I don't need to eat food, right."
I smiled "Trust me you'll enjoy this." I finished up the pancakes and put them on the table. I grabbed a fork in my hoof and began cutting as I watched her levitate her knife as she cut the pancakes. I stared intently as she put the first piece in her mouth.
She gasped "Wow, how did you do that, I could taste the love in the pancakes."
I smiled "It's an old family recipe, from centuries ago and the main ingredient was to cook with love in your heart."
Chrysalis said "Well, thanks I feel like a queen in a palace with how well you've been treating me."
I said "You saved my life, changeling or no you have my thanks." Chrysalis was about to say something when a cat barged through the door.
I grabbed my sword and asked "Who are you?"
Chrysalis asked "Capper, why are you here?"
I asked "You know this rude cat."
Capper said "Hey."
I ignored his complaints as Chrysalis sighed "In exchange for keeping his debtors off him until he can pay them back he makes sure I have enough funds to keep myself well cared for."
I watched as a Mole Rat with 2 large sharks behind him. Capper hiding behind us said "Verko, we can work this out."
He said "No, we can't Capper you owe me money and I demand you to pay up."
I snarled "You three leave before things get nasty."
Verko looked at me and Chrysalis who I noticed had grabbed her scythe while the exchange went on, he said "You get out of my way and there will be no trouble."
I shouted "No, you will leave before I make you."
Verko said "Get them." I slammed one bodyguard with my left hoof before cutting the other's hand off with my sword."
I said "Get out of here, and take you friends with you." They scrambled out of the building as fast as they could.
Chrysalis shouted angrily "Capper, why did you run in here?"
Capper said meekly "Because I, uh needed help."
I said calmly "Look, you need to get that debt of yours under control."
Chrysalis said "He never will, he's a chronic gambler."
I told him "Capper you better leave before they come back." He nodded as he left in a semi-dignifed manner.
Chrysalis asked me after our uninvited house guest left "What would you like to do today?"
I said "Well, I would like to scout some of the changelings who kidnapped me and discover what they are up too."
Chrysalis winced as she spoke "I'm not keen, they want me dead."
I said sternly "Well, I gotta do this."
Chrysalis sighed "I'll come, I haven't a friend before and I'm not going let my first friend wander into danger." I gave her a big hug, I noticed the blush on her cheeks.
I asked "Is there anywhere secret in this place?"
She replied "We have a basement."
I said "Good, we need to get some maps of Equestria and use them to chart Changeling movements as we investigate."
Chrysalis said "I brought a few maps from my hive in case I needed to find a place to mooch some love from other couples, it is hard to get love around here, before you got here I barely survived on the sorrow and misery but it made me really sick."
I said "I'm sorry about that."
Chrysalis smiled "It's not your fault, anyway we should get started. Where do you think we should look."
I said "Manehatten, it was where I was captured."
Chrysalis replied "That's a 3 month journey by hoof, I will need to make preparations for this trip, we will need a good deal of food, water and drinking supplies."
I said "That's good, we will at the first light of Celestia's sun." Chrysalis shivered at my statement. I asked "Are you okay?"
Chrysalis sighed "I'm sorry, just after all I've done, I am worried at the mention of her name she will turn up and turn me to ash."
I said "She will have to get through me first, I have fought things worse than her."
Chrysalis asked intrigued "What creatures/"
I replied "Tatzlwurms, Ancient dragons, Dragon zombies, a Festering Fowl."
Chrysalis gasped "A Festering Fowl, when how? Those creatures are older than Discord and at ten times as powerful, my mother told me those tale when I was a mere nymph. I thought Celestia wiped them out."
I said "Not all of them, they still exist just they rarely get close to civilisation. Horrid things they are, a chicken's head, the body of a Wendigo, the claws of a Dragon, the tentacles of a giant squid and they smell like rotting flesh, they bring famine and death wherever they go."
Chrysalis asked "How do you know so much?"
I smiled "Bard's Guilds have access to information that even Celestia and Luna don't. It is very top secret and only revealed to those on a mission to destroy such things, you however already know so I can speak to you about it."
Chrysalis said "Well, that's interesting. I really need to to prepare for the trip, you should rest. We have got a long day tomorrow, you better sleep."
I asked "Are you sure you want to do all the preparations?"
Chrysalis said "I can go for day with out sleep, I'll be fine." I was still concerned the lack of sleep is the least of our worries. How long could she go without the lack of clean water. |
The Love of an Apple | Interlude 3 Chapter 3 | I stared at Chrysalis who was carrying two saddlebags filled with food. I was carrying all the water in my 2 saddlebags. Chrysalis whined "Come on, just a sip of water please?"
I said firmly "Chrysalis, we have only been travelling for 2 hours and you finished an entire bottle of water, we only have 10 left excluding the one I'm using now."
Chrysalis whimpered "But I'm thirsty."
I snarled "Do you want to drink urine? I have had months of drinking urine during my bard days. Do you know that I could make a a 250 ml bottle last for a week, you used an entire litre in a day, we only have 6 left excluding the one I'm currently using and I haven't even taken a sip of it yet."
Chrysalis looked down at her hooves and said "I'm sorry, it's just I'm not used to this climate" she then asked "Why are we travelling in the sun?"
I said "Because I can't see in the dark, the moon and the star's can't reach the Storm King's domain."
Chrysalis asked "I could use my magic...?"
I interrupted "No, light spells require too much magic in the dark night. When did you travel here, because light magic take a lot more power if there is no light at all? You should have experienced it?"
Chrysalis said "2 months ago, I arrived in a cart disguised as a cockroach, the most embarrassing thing I know."
I said "Well then know this, your magic won't last an hour in the dark. You have enough light in your caverns that you can see in the 'dark' but there is no light at night, it is dark and cold in this desert at night."
Chrysalis said "Oh, I didn't know. Klugetown is always filled with lamps and other light sources even at night."
I said "Well I'm glad I taught you something, we have a long trek ahead of us and I would like you to please stop complaining about the water." Chrysalis nodded quietly and we continued our trek through the desert.
Hours later night fell and I blushed slightly as she used her light spell to prepare our bedding. I heard many ponies call changelings ugly but I didn't see it, her horn even though it was crooked was polished to perfection, her chitin reminded me of polished obsidian, I turned away as she looked at me. I tried to hide my blush, she didn't say anything so I assumed she hadn't noticed. I quickly snuggled with her under the blanket, we shared our body heat in the cold dark night and as her horn light faded, we quickly fell into a deep sleep.
1 week had passed since then, Chrysalis only consumes a bottle of water every 3 days, thank Celestia, still I have been filling up the spares with my urine in case we run out. I looked at Chrysalis who was trotting in front of me, I knew I was blushing as her flanks swayed side to side, the light of the sun causing her well polished flanks to shine. Chrysalis turned around and sighed "Stupid flank, stop trying to seduce ponies urghh."
She then looked up at me and saw me blushing. I saw her grin wickedly at me, we trotted for several hours as her flank continued to sway as she smiled at me, I was sure my face was as red as a tomato. I finally blurted out "Yes, I'm attracted to you alright", she then smiled at me as I calmed down, I said to her "You are a beautiful mare, you are tall, slim and your eyes glow like emeralds, you chitin shines like polished obsidian." I smiled as she blushed back at me.
She said sadly "Thanks Rara, you are too kind, but I'm just an ugly changeling queen with no hive to call her own."
I wrapped a foreleg round her, giving her and told her "Listen to me, you are beautiful and an attractive mare, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise."
Chrysalis smiled as she said "Thanks, no-one has ever called me beautiful."
I smiled as I said "Well, I'm the first to say it and I'll keep saying until you believe it." We sat there smiling as we watched the sun set.
******Present Day*******
Applejack asked "So that's the story, huh?"
I said "Yes, that's how me and Chrysalis met as well as how we headed on the path to love we now share."
Cara then said "That seems too convenient and you only knew each other for a week."
I pointed out "Sometimes life doesn't always make the most sense, beside from what I've heard from Chrysalis you two fell in love after 2 days and I didn't fall in love until a month later and didn't tell her until we arrived in Manehatten."
Just as Cara was about to reply a bunch of royal guards and Twilight barged into the abandoned concert hall looking for a fight. I reached for my sword as they approached. I glared at Twilight who was glaring at Chrysalis, the mare who I loved. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 17: Mastery | I said seething with rage "Twilight, don't make me do this."
Twilight snarled "Put down your weapon, Chrysalis is an enemy of Equestria."
I snapped "I love her and if you want to hurt her you will have to get through me." Twilight continued to glare at me until I heard hooves crashing outside, I snarled as several hundred Royal guards charged in as well as the Princesses of the Sun and Moon.
Twilight smirked "Looks like I won't have to do anything."
I snarled "Fine, I could beat all of you before breakfast." I thought to myself (Don't hesitate act, it's all or nothing.) I let flames cover my body as my sword crackled with lightning. The first rank of guards charged only to be knocked with a few decisive strikes. I watched as Princess Luna smiled at me, I shifted to a flame sword and had my body coated in rock, as the next wave charged, I darted through burning them with a single slice knocking out the whole rank.
Luna boomed "Enough, I have a test for you and if you pass, Chrysalis won't be harmed."
Celestia shouted "Sister, what is the meaning of this?" Luna smiled knowingly as she stomped a hoof on the floor, causing a field to appear. Twilight, Cara Applejack and Chrysalis blinked in confusion at the events unfolding.
I gasped as I bowed and said "Grandmaster, I have long awaited this moment."
Luna said "As have I, many failed to master this art because of my actions, it's time for me to make this right, prove your worth and you will to earn the Grandmaster's title." I channelled my magic into my body, I felt the earth around me, the fire burning within and the lightning surging over me. I gritted my teeth as pain shot through me, I felt my bones cracking but I pushed through the pain.
Luna said encouragingly "Good, the first part is done now flow that magic into your blade, let it fill you with power." I growled as the pain increased the magic holding my body together leaving into my blade. Luna said "Now slam it into the field and achieve true strength." I slammed my sword into the ground and as I did I felt a huge surge of magic rush through me before all went black.
******
I blinked as I woke, I remembered completing the trial and falling unconscious. I was pleasantly surprised to be feeling no pain, in fact I felt better than I had in years. I pushed my self to my hooves and notice just how much smaller the room seemed. I watched as Princess Luna entered the room with a smile, I noticed she had to look up at me to see my head. I asked "Um Princess Luna, why are so small?"
Luna chuckled "Please call me Luna, we are equals after all, as for size you are about the same height as my sister, I'm kinda jealous actually. You need to see yourself."
I followed Luna into a room full of mirrors. I looked in one and in my shock I was really tall, I also and a long white horn sticking out of my forehead as well as pair of wing sticking out of my back, furthermore my mane and coat where flowing as if they were in the wind.
Luna said "Well, how are you liking being an Alicorn?" My mind froze, Alicorn, how, it didn't make sense. Luna said "It's the reward for becoming a Grandmaster of the Mighty Mystical Blade style."
I then felt terrible, I asked "Is Chrysalis alright?"
Luna said with a wicked smile "Well, she has committed many crimes I could protect her but that could cause a lot of trouble for Equestria and you have to consider the consequences of angering the hives."
I asked "Is there another way?"
Luna said her smile growing more wicked "There is one way, you had these in your saddlebags." I looked down to see a pair of boxes, both containing rings, one on a necklace. I knew what to do, I just hoped she would accept.
Chrysalis was being stared at by 7 mares, 5 ponies and 2 changelings. I knew them, the Elements of Harmony plus Chrysalis's daughter.
Twilight frowned as she said "You should leave there will be serious repercussions for Equestria if you stay, Equestria can't protect you without declaring war with the Changelings."
I said "There is one way, Twilight. I didn't want to do this so soon but I have no choice." I got onto one knee pulling out the box and said "Chrysalis, will you marry me?"
I noticed the stares of the others but Chrysalis gave me a hug as she shouted "Yes, of course, I will."
I put a ring, white and indigo ring on her horn as she removed the other ring, which was a shade dark cerulean mixed with black, she placed it on my horn. We kissed passionately for several minutes.
We stopped and looked at all of the mares around us, they were staring with their mouths gaping open. I asked "My precious gem, are we always going to break ponies every time we kiss."
My fiance replied "My special star, we will turn quite a few head but this won't be common I'm sure."
I said "Good, but we better find ourselves a place to stay." Chrysalis nodded at me as we desperately tried to rouse our stunned audience.
Luna said "I will organise you a place to stay in the castle." |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 18: Coronation | Me, Chrysalis and Luna entered a large bedroom, Luna said "Rara, I will be working all night to make sure you coronation happens tomorrow."
I said "Yes, we better get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day."
Luna said "I agree see you tomorrow." Luna left the room leaving me and my fiance alone.
Chrysalis asked "So what are we going to do, we are going to be at the centre of conflict?"
I panicked "I don't know, I'm singer and a fighter but I'm no politician."
Chrysalis hugged me wrapping her forelegs around me, she said "It'll be fine, all you need to do is give some big inspiring speech."
I replied "I don't know, what if I screw up I can cause a war."
She gripped me firmly "You'll be fine, we have fought through hoards of changelings trying to kill us and freeing thousands of ponies. This is nothing."
I sighed "Maybe your right, but let's get some sleep."
Chrysalis nodded in agreement "Goodnight my precious star."
I smiled "Goodnight my precious gem." I woke up with my fiance wrapped around me, I knew I couldn't escape. Wait hmm, maybe I can, my glowed and with a pop I was in the kitchen.
Celestia asked as she wolfed down a piece of cake "Rara, why are you here?"
I said "Um, teleportation accident."
Celestia giggled "Oh, I remember my first time, I bumped into my parents making Luna."
I blushed "Oh."
Celestia sighed "Those were the days, I could just be a normal pony."
I asked "Am I going to be treated the same way?"
Celestia said "No, it takes time to earn a reputation like mine or Luna's. You will probably be met with ponies tyring to get on your good side or those who will boycott you for your romantic partner."
I said "Well they can go and get bucked for all I care."
Celestia laughed "I like your attitude, I was worried you would pander to them but I'm glad I was wrong."
I said "Urghh great, now I'm going to surrounded by thousand of ponies like Svengallop."
Celestia asked "Who?"
I sighed "He managed my singing career before I realised he was using me for his own ends."
Celestia nodded "The Nobles are very similar, I'm glad you will not fall their hollow word sand false promises, speaking of which we need to get you dressed."
I asked "Who could make me a dress in such a a short time, we have 6 hours."
Celestia smiled "I'm sure you know her, your friends with Queen Applejack after all."
I blinked Queen Applejack, she never gets called that but I suppose running a hive, oh I've been terribly rude haven't I. Celestia guided me to a spare room in the castle, I opened the door to see Rarity writing up din a notepad.
I asked "Um Miss Rarity?"
Rarity said "Forgive me darling, just coming up with some design ideas."
I said "It's alright Miss Rarity."
Rarity smiled "Just Rarity please, your going to be Princess now there's no need for such formality."
I said nervously "I just hope I don't screw this up, I can understand how AJ feels , we're both two former Earth Ponies in way over our heads."
Rarity gasped "Don't say that, you are quite capable, you wowed entire crowds with you music, your a celebrity."
I said "Not anymore, after meeting Chrysalis I actually panned on a more combat focused career, I wanted to help others from the creatures that went bump in the night" then it hit me I said "I'm going to form a special ops force to fight what goes bump in the night, that is my first objective after my coronation."
I left the room after Rarity finished the measurements. Applejack bumped into me, I asked "How are you handling all this?"
Applejack sighed "Well, Ah had a fight with Cadence, she spoke to Twilight the day after that and well it ended badly."
I said "Oh, that isn't good."
Applejack said "No it isn't and things are only going to get worse now that Chrysalis is here."
Rarity galloped out "I need you to try on the dress."
I said "Well, looks like duty calls."
Applejack sighed "Ah know that feeling, Cara wants me to draft up some new rules for the hive, Sweet Celestia Ah have no clue about any of this political business." Just I was about to reply Rarity dragged me away to the fitting room.
Rarity said "I'm sorry dear but we need to get this done, you have a coronation in an hour."
I sighed "I know I know, how's Chrysalis doing anyway?"
Rarity said "I had made her one as well, it is not as fancy as your though." Th dress was long and covered my flank thank goodness, still it was beautiful the colours remind me of Chrysalis. I gasped (This is a couple's piece.)
I asked confused "Why?"
Rarity said "Darling, it will help a sign of your bond. It will show a sign of solidarity, a commitment a married couple will share."
I snarled "Fine but I want to see her in hers."
Rarity backed away slightly "Okay, I'll go get her." I sighed as she I shouldn't have snapped, urghh I hate today.
Chrysalis came in wearing a much simpler dress than mine, it was mainly a light ray with several shades of purple, hinted with a moderate opal colour spread throughout. Chrysalis said "You look beautiful, it fits your fame perfectly."
I blushed "As does yours."
Rarity said "I'm glad you like it."
I sighed "I'm sorry about earlier, I should have kept my cool."
Rarity smiled "It's okay, you have a lot on your plate, I understand."
Celestia barged in "We've got to go, we have 10 minutes."
I said as I nuzzled my fiance "Let's go." She smiled and we walked out to face the public.
I looked over the crowd. Celestia said "I'm sure you've heard the rumours about a new Princess, I hear to confirm those rumours. I present Princess Starsong, first of her blood line and her Fiance Chrysalis." She placed a black and purple crown on my head as I stepped forward.
The crowd gasped one shouted pointing at my fiance "She's a monster."
Another roared "She's brainwashed her."
A voice all too familiar me shouted "She thinks she's better than us."
I roared my voice booming across the landscape "Enough."
Celestia gasped "Wow, I thought our Royal Canterlot Voices were loud."
I ordered "First, guards take Svengallop to my quarters , that's a personal problem for me to deal with." After several guards dragging him kicking and screaming away. I continued "I understand you concerns, I don't expect to be accepted for my choices but no mater what happens I will give my blade to the Equestrian cause, I am not Celestia or Luna, I am not a politician I am a fighter and I will protect Equestria with my life."
The crowd asked "How do we know you not brainwashed?"
I glided down to the crowd with my Fiance, I said "Look into my eyes, do I look like a I'm mind controlled. During Shining's Mind Control he experienced headaches, besides would Chrysalis really use her true self in public if she was mind controlling me." The crowd murmured. I looked at Chrysalis and she nodded teleporting the pair of us back up to the balcony. We walked inside leaving the crowd with those final words.
Celestia said "That was well played, direct but effective."
Luna smiled "I liked that, I wish I could have done that in my coronation."
Chrysalis said "I agree that was a great way to get the nobles on side, still I would have murdered them but that is Changeling rules are quite hostile."
I said "Yeah, I'm not doing that."
Chrysalis smiled sadly "I know, your better than me."
I said "Don't worry that will change with time but for now we need to organise that double date."
Chrysalis said smiling "Of course, Applejack and my daughter will love it." |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 19: Double Date | I wake up to the sound of buzzing. A voice called (Queen Applejack, if it is not too much trouble could you join me in the barracks.)
I said (I'll be right there.) I arrived in the barrack, I asked "Prince Compass, what was Ah called for?"
He snarled "We have an enemy in custody, Chrysalis."
I frowned "How much do you keep with news outside the hive?"
He said "Not much."
I sighed "She is the fiance of Princess Starsong and Ah don't ..."
A loud explosion was heard from above. A voice boomed "Where is my Fiance!!!"
I snarled "Prince Compass release Chrysalis before her angry fiance decides to drop the sun on our hive and my family's farm." He nodded shaking, after we let Chrysalis, me and Chrysalis galloped up the stairs to find a 100 Changelings lying unconscious on the ground.
Starsong slammed a Changeling into the wall she boomed "Where is my Fiance?! TELL ME! NOW!"
Chrysalis said "I'm right here."
Starsong grabbed her "Oh sweet Celestia your safe."
Chrysalis replied "It was a misunderstanding, they still thought I was evil."
I said "Yeah, it was a long day. Ah had planned on telling the hive today but Ah overslept."
Chrysalis smirked "Well then to pay us back we definitely have to go on that double date today."
I sighed "Fine, but Ah need to see Cara first, she might be really busy." I galloped through the hive.
Cara asked "Do you want to start flight or magic training, so much has happened we haven't had time?"
I sighed "No, we have to go on the double date."
She asked "Why?"
I said "It's to compensate for the accidental locking up of your mum by Prince Compass."
Cara grumbled "Let's go, in the name of the Sky Mother this is going to be embarrassing."
I asked confused "Sky Mother?"
Cara said "She commanded the very skies, able to increase and decrease how much air was available to breath."
I said filing that away foe later discussion "Well anyway we've got a date to attend."
Cara sighed "Right, lead the way." We galloped up to the top level of the hive.
Starsong asked "Are you ready?" We nodded and we left the hive heading into Ponyville proper. We arrived at a fine restaurant, The Lightning Skies.
I asked "What is this place?"
Cara sighed "This is the top restaurant in Ponyville, never went here because of all the snotty noble ponies that come here." I looked around to see the sneers of several unicorns. I felt the ground shake and they all turned away, I saw the crack in the flooring beneath Starsong's hooves.
A green pegasi mare with a gold and amber mane said "I will take you to your table."
I growled internally (Lightning Dust.) We arrived at our table it was large and covered with a bright white tablecloth.
A blue stallion with a gold mane trotted to our table, he said "Thank you for visiting our proud establishment Princess Starsong, it is a great honour."
Starsong said "Please call me Starsong, I am not one for formality."
He stammered "Bbb-ut that would be innnaa-appropriate."
Starsong said in a cold tone "I was an Earth Pony as was before I ascended as was AJ before her change, the both of us prefer being treated as another member of the public. Even during my singing days I didn't like the attention, the only thing I valued was smiling face of children during my career."
I scowled "Ah agree Mr Dust, Ah want to be treated as an equal, especially after my encounter with your daughter at the Wonderbolts Academy you owe me that much." He blinked confused, I snarled "Remember the balloon that got caught in in that makeshift hurricane."
He gasped "You were on that...." He then said grimly "Very well, may inquire about your order." We made our orders, I ordered a Manehatten Style Salad while Cara ordered a Fruit Bat Burger. Chrysalis and Starsong ordered a Storm Salad with Fruit Bat Wings.
I asked "Why are you comfortable eating meat?'
She laughed "It's better than what I have had to eat, besides I might take a liking to it." She pecked Chrysalis on the cheek causing her to blush. She asked "I notice you don't kiss often."
I said "Well we don't often because we are too busy with our own things as well as running a hive is a lot of work, this is our first time out since Ah woke."
Chrysalis sighed "I'm sorry about that."
I said "It's in the past."
Chrysalis smiled "Thank you for being forgiving." Cara sighed. I frowned noticing how out of it she is.
I asked "Chrysalis, Starsong, give me a moment with my marefriend?" The nodded and I dragged her into the restaurant bathroom. I asked "What's wrong, you've been dead silent since we got here."
She sighed "Ah just don't feel comfortable around mother after the incident."
I said firmly "Well then you two need talk this out as adults, I have forgiven her for it, it's your decision whether to forgive or not."
She said "Ya right Applejack, it's just all this is getting to me, the running of the hive and on top of that Cadence doesn't like us and now mother is here doesn't help our cause."
I said "Let's go out there and make this dinner enjoyable." We returned to the table to see our food in front of us. I smiled as Cara ravenously devoured her burger. I then asked "Starsong, where did you get that scar?"
She said "I had a fight with a unicorn missing a horn, she was very strong. I broke several of her ribs and all 4 of legs and she still didn't stop. She called herself Tempest Shadow."
I asked "Where did she get that kind of training?"
Starsong said "The Storm King, a Tyrant who controls a large amount of Kingdoms. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to take Equestria by force."
Cara gasped "No way, no-one would dare."
Starsong then whispered "Oh he would, his armies consist of thousands of loyal soldiers who have trained their entire lives. I would expect him to attack within the next year, I just hope he doesn't crash our wedding."
I said "We need to tell the Princesses, we need backup."
Chrysalis said "Me and Starsong will handle that, you two should make sure you hive is ready, the last thing we want is a panic."
I laughed "Since when did this become a business meeting?"
Cara said with a smile "I don't know wasn't this supposed to be a double date."
Starsong laughed "Well as the saying goes business before pleasure." I watched as Chrysalis whispered something in her ear. Starsong smiled seductively "Of course milady."
I asked confused "What?"
Cara smirked at Starsong "You two better get going, this is not the place for that kind of activity." They both smiled as they left.
I asked "What was that?"
Cara asked as she smiled wickedly "Did you ever get the talk?"
I blinked for a few moments before my eyes widened. I snarled "That's not proper public conversation."
Cara laughed "Changelings talk about it all the time, you really need to get used to our culture, Starsong has and she isn't even one of us."
I sighed "Fine, fine anyway we better get the lessons underway."
Cara said "Of course, you I am not letting my Co-Queen flounder through the air or fail at magic 101." The pair of us returned to the hive. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 20: Practice | I said "Applejack, watch and learn." I flapped my large wings and soared through the sky, I must admit I missed doing this. I haven't really done a lot of flying since leaving mum's hive. I then landed next to Applejack who looked nervously at her wings. I smiled knowing what will give her a push "Come on, Twilight figured out how to fly and she was a librarian, don't tell me that you can't."
I smiled as she darted into the air in anger her wings flapping perfectly. She scowled "That hurt you know."
I smirked "Look at you, ya flying."
Applejack looked around and gasped as she saw she was in the air. She screamed "How do Ah get down?!"
I said "Um, look uh...." I flew up net to her said "Just follow my lead." I flew down adjusting the angle of my wings landing on the ground. She tried to match my technique but ended up crashing into the ground, I gasped "Are ya alright?"
Applejack replied "Ah'm fine, just a little sore."
I said "Hmm, maybe we should do some magic. Ah don't want ya to hurt yaself."
Applejack shouted "No, Ah'll get this!"
I said firmly "No, your not, it take time, ya not going to immediately learn everything in one day. Ya did well but only because Ah made you angry, if ya really want to do well ya need to do it consciously to the point it becomes like breathing that takes time, now we're going to continue onto magic."
Applejack scowled as we trotted over to the target range. I said "Now, ya will try to hit a target."
Applejack said "That can't be that hard."
I said "Focus the magic in ya horn and line it up with your target." She quickly picked up on it hitting the target with ease. I smiled "Ya aim is pretty good but let's teach some control."
I levitated a few hay bails over I said "Now you are to try to levitate one."
Applejack said "Ah could levitate 12 easily, Ah have the power."
I snarled "Applejack this a control exercise, just levitate one."
Applejack snarled back "Fine, Ah will." She attached her magic on one only for it to burst into flames. Applejack shouted "How, Ah have the power?"
I asked "That's the problem, imagine if Celestia and Luna used the same amount of they used to raise the celestial bodies to levitate a teacup, then what would happen to the teacup?"
Applicant said "It would explode..." she took a few seconds to realise "oh."
I said in a deadpan tone "Yes oh, now let's get ya levitating some hay." I watched carefully trying to correct Applejack the mistakes she made but after an hour she was still setting hay on fire.
She snarled "How am Ah supposed to do this?!"
I said "Ya anger is not helping, ya need a clear head."
Applejack snarled "Ah'm perfectly fine, Ah can do this."
I shouted "No, ya aren't doing it right!"
Applejack shouted back "Ah'm wrong am Ah, Ah'll show you wrong!"
I felt her sock me in the jaw. I slammed my hoof into her jaw. I gasped as her horn glowed, the next minute I was lying in the dirt in Central Ponyville, I looked up to see a purple shape, I smiled "Hiya purple glob, how's you day been? Mines' pretty bad, Applejack blasted me here."
I then felt a hoof slam into my jaw, I think my jaw was broken by that. I opened my eyes to see Applejack's outline, I levitated her and threw her into a building. I coughed up some blood I guess that landing hurt more than I thought, I then screamed as the pain finally hit me. I sighed thinking about the pain made me feel the pain.
I saw the orange blur run towards me only to be levitated in a light blue aura. I then screamed as I felt my wound closing, I swear they hurt more healing than they did hurting. I looked up to see my mother smiling at me, she asked "Are you okay my precious daughter?"
I said "Yeah, me and my partner got into a fight, it's our first one."
I heard Starsong's voice shout "Applejack, this is not the proper way to behave. You're a Queen, you have to set an example, rein in your temper."
Applejack snarled "Well pardon me but Ah was born a simple Apple Farmer, Starsong you know this."
Starsong sighed "I was not that different from you, an Earth Pony doing what many Earth Ponies do. My father was a labourer nothing more, he dug holes for Ponyville's construction industry, I became a bard to pay for his medical bills after her was injured during a Timberwolf attack. I was 16 then, I had a talent for singing and put it to use."
I said "It must have been hard."
Starsong said "Yes, and it was rough. It was worse that my father died a day after my first concert and I didn't even get to go to the funeral. My older sister told me not to come, I was not wanted." It tore my heart out, I was 22 and my sister was 18 then." I watched as a tear dropped from her eyes.
Chrysalis trotted over and hugged her "Don't be afraid to cry, let it out, trust me holding in pain only makes it worse." I watched as Starsong burst into tears as my mother simply held her. I smiled the love they had was true and strong. I stared at Applejack who was still held in Starsong's magic, she was upset.
After Starsong stopped crying, Applejack said "Ah'm sorry Starsong it's mah fault for saying that."
Starsong said firmly "Don't worry about it, I'm not the one who deserves an apology." I blinked as Starsong turned to look at me.
She lowered Applejack down said as she rubbed the back of her head "Ah'm sorry Ah lost my temper, Ah hope my precious Love Bug will forgive me."
I smiled "Of course Ah will, Ah'm sorry too. Ah understand ya wanted to keep practising but Ah was worried."
Applejack said "It's not your fault, Ah push mahself too hard."
Starsong said "I think Applejack should come with us to Canterlot where we can teach these things in a more stable environment."
Applejack shook her head "But Ah have work to do on the farm and Ah have to help the hive."
I said "Ah'll be fine, Blueblood can cover for ya and Ah can have someling to fill in for ya."
Starsong said "Great, come on Applejack you got to grab your stuff and then we go."
Applejack gasped "Right now."
Chrysalis said "Yes, now get going."
Applejack looked at me sadly. As we walked to her room I gave her a simple green necklace. I said "This will connect ya to the hive mind even from Canterlot." I blushed as we shared a long kiss. After that she left to get ready, I sighed "Ah'm going to miss her." |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 21: Canterlot | I stared at Applejack, she was nervously rubbing her hooves together. I asked "Applejack, you seem nervous, can you tell me why?"
She replied "Ah don't want to talk about it."
I asked "Is it because you are afraid of the responsibility."
Applejack asked "How do you handle all this, Ah mean you're a princess?"
I looked at one of my saddlebags "I have learned to be adaptable, part of my training as a bard." I pulled out a long sharp stick , a bottlecap and a toothpick.
Applejack asked "Why do you have those?"
I smiled "They are mementos, they are replicas of items I used to slay a dragon."
Applejack gasped "You killed a dragon with those 3 tools but that's insane."
I said "It was a job where a griffon lord had a mission for his 3 sons, they they or a champion of their choosing had to slay a dragon. They had to use a set list of items, the eldest had a greatsword and armour forged by the swordsmith in the empire enchanted with the finest enchantments. The middle brother had been gifted a enchanted longbow and a lightning spear. The youngest however wasn't given any thing besides what I have in front of me."
Applejack asked "So he contacted you guild and you were sent there, is that what happened?"
I smiled "Yes and I was the only who would go, my guild mates said to me 'Your crazy, a toothpick, a bottlecap and a sharp stick it is impossible'. I simply told them 'Well then I'll just have to improvise."
Applejack blinked "You really did this?"
I smiled "Yeah I was hanging off the stick and I threw the bottlecap to get it's attention while it was fighting the other 2 champions, I then used the toothpick to damage on of it's eyes for long enough for it to slam into a pillar made of solid diamonds, it's skull cracked on impact."
Applejack said "That was creative."
I smiled "No, it just required me to think quickly and concisely in a tough scenario. Every one was shocked at my success even my boss, I scared him out of his chitin."
Applejack asked "Wait your boss was a changeling?'
I said "Yep, the Bard's Guilds are equal opportunity, we have griffins, dragons, zebra changelings, vamponies, wereponies, and even a wendigo working in the guild. I even have my old communicator." I pulled out a blue round orb to show her.
Then a voice said "We have arrived at Canterlot, wish you all a good day." Applejack and I trotted out of the train. I heard ponies whispering about us.
Applejack asked "Really a Wendigo, Ah find that hard to believe."
Chrysalis said "I believe it."
Applejack jumped, then said as she tried to regain her breath "I forgot you were even there."
Chrysalis smiled "Good, I'm glad I didn't disturb your conversation."
I smiled "I knew you were there and I'm grateful you didn't butt in, I think that deserves a present." I gave a kiss, not a peck but a real kiss. Our tongues met and it was another minute before I finally pulled away.
Chrysalis smiled "We are so going to do it tonight. It's too bad we couldn't do it here."
Applejack gasped "Are you crazy, you in public?"
I smiled "I'd show you crazy." Let's just say we had intimate moment on that road, when we stood up I saw the look of shocked nobleponies. Applejack was trying to hide under her hat. I said "Chrysalis we should shower at the castle."
She replied "I agree."
Applejack asked "Did you two really think that was a good idea?"
I smirked "Yes, it's changeling tradition to have sex in front of your subjects and I like the idea. I think I'm going to turn into law." Applejack's eyes widened to the size of basketballs. We arrived at the gates to see the guards, they stared at me and Chrysalis.
I laughed "You better get used to seeing us like this. Beside I hear rumours of what goes on in the guard barracks." The guards blushed as we trotted into the castle, there were ponies running around everywhere.
Applejack asked "What's all the commotion?"
I said "Wedding preparations, Chrysalis and I are getting married."
Applejack asked "Isn't it a bit soon."
I said "We have known each other for 6 months, we fought through changeling hives, had arguments and made up a whole lot. We are more than ready. Anyway we better get cleaned up, see ya Applejack."
After cleaning ourselves up a maid trotted into the room, she said "Princess Celestia requests the pair of you in the meeting room." When we arrived, we saw several angry nobles sitting at the table along with two amused Princesses.
Celestia smiled "Please take a seat, we have a lot to discuss."
One of the nobles snarled "They had sex in the street, that is against everything we stand for."
Chrysalis laughed "Considering how you ponies don't need to wear clothes, I'm always surprised by how prudish you can be."
Another one snarled "You shut up, you invaded us twice, you should be rotting in a jail cell." I was about to deck him when Chrysalis per her hoof on my wither. I sighed.
Celestia boomed "Enough, we are getting off topic." She then asked "What is they complaint?"
A Stallion answered calmly "They had sex in the street, it goes against all decency to do that."
Chrysalis said "It's a changeling thing we indulge in, It's a custom that our changelings watch us in bed during sex."
The first noble snarled "We are not changelings, we don't do that."
I smiled "Well actually I'm going to make into a law allowing royalty to have sex in public and if the populace agrees enough then I will allow it to include all ponies."
The Nobleponies shouted "Princesses she can't do this, it is wrong."
Celestia and Luna smiled "We don't have a problem with it, it has certainly made things more exciting around here."
A voice said "I agree, it has caused quite a bit of chaos."
Luna rolled their eyes, Discord come out here."
Chrysalis gasped "Discord, what's he doing here."
Discord said as he slithered behind her "I've been reformed just as you have, don't be afraid." Chrysalis shuddered.
I frowned "Discord, do you want me to beat you up again." He shook his head fearfully. I said "Then leave my fiance alone." He nodded as he took a seat on the roof.
The nobles looked at me fearfully. Celestia said "Well I'd say all is in order, let's call it a day."
We exited the room only to see Cadence walking by. Cadence asked "Do you mind if I spend so me girl time with you fiance, I felt it would help me if I could spend some time with her."
Chrysalis trembled, I gave her a peck on the cheek "You'll be fine, she won't hurt you or else she'll hear from me." I trotted away to find Applejack.
****Meanwhile in the Crystal Empire****
A pony galloped into the throne room. He said "Report for Prince Armour of the Crystal Empire."
Shining Armour said "Tell me, my good sir."
The messenger said "We have seen a small airship with a Lightning Bolt on it
He said "Hail them down, I would like to speak with them." He thought (Maybe they can help me with the Changelings.) He smiled not noticing his eyes had turned green. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 22: Chyrsalis and Cadence | I asked nervously "Um Cadence, why do you wish to speak with me? No offence but this is coming a little out of the blue."
Cadence blinked "What's wrong with wanted to get to know you?"
I frowned "I have done horrible things to you and we haven't even spoke about the wedding yet alone the latest incident."
Cadence sighed "You're not wrong, I do want to get to know you but also I have a few misgivings about all this and I need an outside opinion."
I frowned "On what?"
Cadence replied "There are too many of us, damn Alicorns must be Princesses is becoming a problem, think about it when it was me and Celestia things were simple, Luna came back and then there were 3 fine, Luna protected ponies dreams and raised the moon. Of course I ended ruling the Crystal Empire, of course then Twilight ascended, she didn't even have a castle until after Tirek, now there's Starsong and of course there's my daughter Flurry. The question is what are we supposed to do with new Alicorns, your Fiance doesn't have a fancy title, she's just Princess."
I frowned "Yes, I do realise having so many ponies in charge could become a problem but at the same time Starsong would appreciate being in the background, lacking a title or a castle would draw less attention, as for your daughter, well she is your heir should something go wrong."
Cadence sighed "I'm glad you listened."
I smiled "The Alicorn situation will be fine as long as we don't have any more ascensions."
Cadence asked "Why does Starsong want to say out of the limelight?"
I sighed "Her reason is that she is an Earth pony at heart and all this attention is aggravating for her, even is she does her best to hide it. My reasoning is that her magic and flight lessons have been scrapped."
Cadence gasped "Why?!"
I whispered "Cadence, you know how Alicorns specialise in one type of magic or another."
Cadence whispered back understanding the need for secrecy "Yes, I do."
I whispered back "Well then as you know you are more like a pegasi, having stronger pegasi magic and the other two aren't as strong as you were a pegasi, well it's the same for all Alicorns, Twilight is more like a Unicorn as is Celestia."
Cadence frowned "Isn't Celestia a natural born Alicorn."
I nodded "Yes but even then they do still specialise in one race's magic or another because it is impossible to achieve a completer balance between all three, Luna is more like you while Celestia is more like Twilight. Still Starsong's problem is that hers is very different. Most Alicorns are weaker they are still far stronger than the strongest ponies of each race in their weaker traits."
Cadence nodded "Does that mean Starsong has weaker Pegasi and Unicorn magic?"
I frowned "It means Starsong probably is barely above the middle ground for unicorns and pegasi, she can teleport and levitate objects, as for her pegasi side, she barely hover. Her Earth Pony strength is insane to compensate, we're still unsure of her limits, she could lift a mountain with her hooves without even flinching."
Cadence gasped "That's quite strong."
I frowned "We'll discuss this back at the castle, let's go and have lunch." Cadence nodded, we arrived at the local donut shop. I asked "What is this place?"
Cadence smiled "This is Donut Joe's he sells the best donuts in Equestria."
I smiled "Well lead on."
A stallion trotted out in front of us, he asked "What would you like?"
Cadence smiled "I'd like a regular platter Donut Joes, I brought somepony who hasn't been here before."
I watched as Donut Joe trotted back into the back. I asked nervously "So, um how has life been?"
Cadence smiled "Um life has been good, Flurry has been doing well. Urghh this is tough."
I sighed "Yeah, urghh this whole trying to get along stuff, doesn't work." Then something clicked "I think I should start teaching you combat, you have very little skill in combat and let's be honest you put no resistance to me or my changelings during both invasions, I think it's time to change that."
Cadence asked "Are you sure this would be wise?"
I said "Well I suspect the Storm King is going to invade soon and Celestia has been planning for their invasion for 6 months with Twilight."
Cadence blinked in confusion "What do you mean?"
I smiled "I'll show you after we eat come on." Donut Joe trotted out with a huge platter. I grabbed a plain donut, it tasted heavenly. I smiled "You certainly are amazing at this."
He grinned as he went into the back. After we ate I was stuffed "Cadence, it's time to show you. Follow me."
I staggered to my hooves Cadence sighed "You ate too much."
I whined "But it was so good."
Cadence frowned "You were going to show me something right."
I nodded and I guided her to the training grounds, we were both shocked as to what we saw, my fiance was shouting at Twilight whose coat was mated in sweat as she had a huge heavy box on her back. Starsong roared "Get up bookworm, you have been neglecting you Earth pony side for too long now back to the start, you will not stop until you reach end of this field am I clear."
Twilight nodded and slowly trotted back to the start. I frowned this wasn't right "Starsong!"
She frowned "Why are you shouting at me?"
Cadence had trotted over beside me, I shouted "You are pushing Twilight too hard!"
Starsong frowned "But she needs to be ready, the Storm King is coming."
I snarled "Proper training is about knowing the limitations of the trainee, anymore and she is going have some serious injuries, she is was dangerously close to her limit."
Starsong sighed in resignation"Twilight stop, we'll take a break for the day."
I heard a shout "Come on Applejack, focus you are barely concentrating."
I sighed "Well anyway, me and Cadence are going to do some standard drills since she needs practice for oncoming threats." Twilight mouthed thank you as she followed my fiance out of the training grounds..
Cadence smiled "I'm surprised."
I rolled my eyes "Did you really think I could get Starsong's attention by being the old me? Let's just say starvation does a lot of things to anyone regardless of species."
Cadence nodded "Fair enough, anyway what are we doing?"
I lifted a sword in my hoof and tossed her another one which she caught in her magic.
Cadence asked "So do I just swing in it."
I shook my head "There is a reason why sword fighting is a Earth Pony thing when it comes to actual combat, Unicorns use magic and Pegasi use spears."
Cadence frowned "You mean I need to use my hooves."
I nodded "Yes Cadence, I've seen unicorns try to use swords with their magic and fail epically, weapons require stances, magic fails to compensates for that and often leave the fighter overexposed."
Cadence sighed as she fumbled with blade in her hooves. I shouted "Cadence, stop trying to force it, swords fight for you because they are an extension of your will, never forget that. Let your will flow into your blade."
Cadence began to concentrate but even as she poured her magic into it, nothing happened. I sighed "Cadence stop thinking of the sword as a tool to be used, watch." I trotted over to a dummy and I lifted my practise sword into the air, I swung clipping the top of the dummies scalp off. I said "You can perform godly feats simply be respecting the blade, how do you think Starsong could use Unicorn and Pegasi elements without being one, her sword converted the magic for her, because she showed it respect."
Cadence said "I see, well then let's keep going." I nodded and we trained all day straight. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 23: Shining Armour and Tempest | I smiled as a black and purple ship with a blue glowing lighting bolt landed at the palace. A a tall unicorn with a broken horn stepped out, she had a look of indifference on her face "Why did you hail us down? We have an invasion to plan."
I smirked "Does this invasion per chance involve Canterlot?"
The unicorn frowned "Yes it does."
I said "Then I believe I can offer you assistance as I was the captain of the guard there before I became prince of the Crystal Empire."
She smirked evily "Well I am interested but what is it you want in return for the information."
I smiled as we sat at the diplomacy table, there several of her guards and as well as several of mine standing around the table "Well first I want the changelings in Equestria to be wiped out completely and I want my wife and sister, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadence in my care."
Tempest frowned "That's a high price but you will give us aid in the attack as well I assume?"
I smiled "Of course, no pony, changeling or any other creature will stop me. You also will have full access to our armoury and supplies in the Crystal Empire."
Tempest nodded "I will have to talk to the Storm King but I will advocate for you, having a forward operating base would be very useful."
I grinned "It's settled then, give the Storm King my thanks."
Tempest said "I will." She then shouted to her guards "We are leaving!" They followed onto her ship.
I trotted out of the castle, I headed to the barracks. I stood there before them "As you know the Changelings have infiltrated Equestria, we are going to wipe them out. I have recruited allies to save Equestria from the monsters who hide amongst them. It's bad enough they allow those weird ones in but know they have one of our worst enemies marrying a Equestrian Princess. As allies Equestria we can't let this stand any longer. I have gained some allies who will help us take over Equestria and restore it to it's glory."
A guard shouted "What about Princess Cadence?"
I scowled "They got to her but they will not get to me, now get yourselves ready for our guest to arrive, I want this barracks in tip top shape."
Meanwhile
Flash Sentry was heading towards Canterlot Castle, his squad pulling the Crystal Cannon, a weapon designed by King Sombra to utilise the power of the Crystal Heart. Flash Sentry knew Shining Armour had turned to the darkness of the King of Shadows himself and was planning something nasty for a long time and has been pushing his men through exhaustion.
When they arrived, the guards growled "Flash Sentry what are you here for and what is that?"
Flash scowled "My squad have been travelling for days and this is a weapon designed to be powered by the Crystal Heart. Shining Armour's strange behaviour had me concerned enough to bring this here."
Cadence burst out with Chrysalis by her side, she shouted "What happened to my husband."
Flash bowed "Princess I'm afraid he has succumb to the same hateful magic that once gave Sombra his power."
Cadence cried "No your lying!"
Chrysalis frowned "He's not, I can feel the conviction coming off him."
Cadence ran off crying into the castle, Celestia and Luna landed with several members of the guards, Luna commanded them "Take that weapon into the Royal Vault!" She then turned to Flash "Tell me everything."
Starsong, Cadence, Chrysalis, Applejack,Cara, Twilight, Luna and Celestia are sitting in the throne room. Cadence was being hugged by Chrysalis as she cried, Twilight frowned "What should we do?"
Starsong said "We wait."
Twilight snarled "What, this is my brother we're talking about."
Celestia frowned "She's right, we need wait until they move."
Applejack frowned "How are we going to make them move."
Chrysalis said "I've got an idea, they're coming after me and Starsong..."
Starsong nodded "We hold our wedding and bait them out, also Flash deserves a promotion for his actions, he made a good call."
Chrysalis nodded "We will need 6 months of preparations so they don't catch on."
Cara said "Mah wife and Ah will prepare our forces being disguised as guests. That way we will be ready to strike at a moments notice."
Celestia said "Very well we better get our plans underway."
Twilight nodded "For my brother." Twilight headed for Ponyville to make sure her friends were ready to plan a wedding. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 24: Horn Work | I was glaring at one of my blueprints I made during my mercenary days, an artificial horn stupid idea. They would all just end up like me, a horn but without no real magic to funnel through it. I smashed the prototype I had built in half, I blinked as I looked at the cracks, of course Tempest, she can't be the only unicorn to suffer from this.
I smiled as I began modifying the blueprint, I blinked as I realised I needed a book on unicorn anatomy to complete the blueprints. I trotted out of my room, I frowned as I trotted through the hallways. I looked around as I saw ponies running around trying to figure out where to put things for me and Chrysalis's wedding. I blinked as I felt a kiss on my cheek, I turned to see Chrysalis smiling at me "What are you doing my love?"
I smiled back "I am doing some research for a modification of an old project of mine and I need a book on unicorn anatomy."
Chrysalis smirked "I'm curious now and all this wedding prep is quite tiring, a break would be fitting." I rolled my eyes as we trotted through the hallways of the castle, Chrysalis smiled "I can't believe this I never thought I'd get a wedding in a grand castle like this, I always thought it would be in a dirty outhouse before running as the guards stormed in."
I giggled "It would have been more a bloody battle through the guards to escape together and then create our own hive to take over Equestria."
Chrysalis blinked "You would have joined me in that endeavour?"
I grinned "Of course I love you, I had already written up the plans with us taking over and creating an empire for both ponies and changelings that would strike fear even in the demons of Tartarus itself. We can read them later if you like."
Chrysalis smiled "You're going to make me a very happy changeling."
I smiled back "I'm glad to hear that my dear." I entered the library, I saw the Librarian who was a pale blue stallion with a spell blook on his flank surrounded in a magic circle.
I asked "Which way is the anatomy section?" The stallion was to busy reading and pointed in a direction, I smiled as I thought about his reaction when he realised he snubbed a Princess. Me and Chrysalis trotted down to the anatomy section we found a book on pony anatomy, I skimmed through it confirming it had what I needed. We walked back up to the desk, "Excuse me sir but we would like to borrow this book on pony anatomy."
He looked up and gasped "Princess Starsong when did you arrive."
Chrysalis grinned "About two minutes ago asking for the anatomy section."
His eyes bulged out of his skull "I'm so so so sorry Princess, I shouldn't have..."
We burst out into raucous laughter as we fell to the floor. We were like that for about 10 minutes before recovering. I smiled "We just need to borrow this book."
He smiled "Take it, the Princesses have free reign over the Libraries." I nodded and we left.
I blinked as Rarity ran up and grabbed Chrysalis "I need to fit you for your dress, we have to go now!" Chrysalis mouthed help me as she was dragged off by Rarity I chuckled as I headed back to my room. I began reading over the book picking up details and modifying the blueprint.
Days past and through all this between Rarity's dress fitting and my work I had little spare time. Finally the blueprint was completed only a month before the wedding, I trotted down to the head manufacturer in the castle named Iron Hammer what I knew as he a gritty old stallion with a rusty hammer for a Cutie Mark.
I frowned as entered his office "I have something I want done before my wedding."
Iron Hammer asked "Wut iz it mildy."
I frowned at his accent "I want your crew to create me prototype of this blueprint."
He blinked "Blimey, dis iz some fancy handiwork if I do say so mself, I'll happily have a few prototypes designed for ya."
I smiled knowing that everything was coming together. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 25: Invasion | The day had finally come the wedding and the trap, I groaned as Rarity fidgeted with hems on my dress. She picked out green and blue hoping to creat a stunning appeal while using one of my wife to be's colours. I frowned "Rarity you have been modifying this dress all day."
Rarity said exasperated "This is you wedding, the most important part of a pony's life."
I chuckled "This is much better than I expected for my wedding with Chrysalis. I expected a dirty outhouse where we threatening an officiant to marry us before the guards arrived to take out head as I was aiding a known criminal."
Rarity's jaw dropped as she just finished her seam. She fainted on the spot, I shouted "Twilight we have a problem!"
Twilight barged in "What's wrong!" I pointed a hoof at Rarity who was unconscious on the floor.
Twilight groaned as she levitated her friend "Don't worry, I'll fix her up. Your dress looks amazing by the way, still you have 5 minutes to get into position." Twilight frowned "Who is giving you away at the altar."
I smiled nervously "Um Applejack is."
Twilight's eyes narrowed "Why?!"
I frowned "I don't want to talk about it."
Twilight frowned "It should be your father that gives you away at the altar."
I took a deep breath "I will tell you what happened to both my parents providing you don't tell anypony, especially Chrysalis about it, it will break her heart." I glared at her "If you do tell her not even Celestia, Luna or even Discord will be able to protect you from me, am I clear!"
Twilight gulped "Yes Starsong."
I told her the story "During the invasion of Canterlot my father was at a business meeting in Canterlot when the first invasion happened and well he was killed during an altercation with the changelings."
Twilight asked "And your mother?"
I frowned "She was killed during the second invasion of the changelings where she was in Manehatten. I found out after I returned to find her."
Twilight asked "Why would that bother Chrysalis?"
I deadpanned "Miss Scholar, figure it out."
Twilight thought for a few minutes before her eyes widened "Your parents died in Chrysalis' changeling invasions! Wait why aren't you mad at her?"
I scowled "It wasn't her fault, it was just an accident. I moved on as I always have."
Twilight sighed "Fine."
Twilight passed me over to Applejack, I smiled "Thanks for doing this for me."
Applejack's wings buzzed slightly as she smiled "Don't worry, Ah'm happy for you, after all what are friends for?"
I smiled "Thanks Applejack." Applejack simply nodded, I heard the sound of music start and I slowly trotted forward, I saw the room was decorated in green and white, I saw Luna standing there in a pretty blue dress. My heart almost stopped when I saw Chrysalis, her mane was done up in a nice bun unlike mine which was loose, she wore a beautiful green and blue dress that showed just enough her flank to be risky, her green slitted eyes gazed upon me . She was beautiful in all measure of the word, I smiled blissfully "Wow."
I barely heard Luna speak as she gave the usual wedding speech. Chrysalis began reading out her vows "You are the most precious possession to me, when I was at my lowest you showed me kindness and love when no-one else would. You pulled me from the depths of despair and gave me true happiness of the first time in my life."
Luna turned to me "Your vows please?"
I smiled "You understood me as none else truly has, you stayed with me when you didn't have to. You supported me even when times where tough, you helped through the loss of my mother, you are the love of my life and I don't know what I would do without you."
Luna's voice boomed "If there are any who object to these being wed speak now." A silence fell over the building. Luna smiled "I now declare you married, you may kiss the bride."
I grinned as I pushed my tongue down her throat. I pulled out with a smile to hear the cheers of the crowd. Chrysalis smiled "Wow." We trotted out of the castle to what was a huge after party.
I sighed as I knew it was going to be interrupted. I grabbed two pieces of cake one for me and the other for Chrysalis, my wife. I watched as a huge fleet of airships approached, I scowled as a tall unicorn without a horn stepped off the airship. I growled as I saw a white coat with a shield, his eyes filled with green light.
I trotted over to them, I watched as Celestia, Luna and Twilight began to trot forward, I frowned "Stay back I will handle this." Chrysalis was watching cautiously from a distance. I trotted forward "Commander Tempest it's pleasure, Prince Armour I see you've been acquainted with our uninvited guest."
Shining Armour growled "You filthy changeling lover, I should rip you horn off and shove up your..."
Tempest smashed him in the stomach with her hoof "How do you know who I am?"
I grinned "You remember that Earth Pony who beat your flank."
Tempest said "So you've ascended, well I guess you know why we're here so let's cut to the chase shall we." She shouted "Troops to arms!" I growled as her troops bolted out of the airship, I blinked as she through a weird orb which began to glow before erupting covering me with magical crystals. I grinned, those fools really think they could trap me with this, I moved my legs and the entire crystal construct shattered.
I shouted as I took my dress off "Rarity, catch I would hate for my wedding dress to get damaged!" I turned to see her catch mine before catching another.
Tempest growled "How did you break through."
I laughed "Those crystal bombs were an invention of mine, they made so earth ponies can fight powerful unicorns and powerful pegasi, they absorb the active magic of the pony and fuel the crystal, it has no effect on the completely passive magic of an Earth Pony."
Tempest growled "So, you're an Alicorn that makes no difference."
I rolled my eyes "I'm more just a glorified earth pony with a horn and wings, I can't fly and can barely teleport but my earth pony magic is really strong to compensate. Now I will bring you two down, changelings charge."
I smiled as changelings poured out of every building striking at the invaders. Tempest growled "Armour, shield now!"
I blinked as pitch black shield covered the two of them, I roared "Do you think that will stop me?!" I galloped up and smashed my hooves breaking the shield completely.
Tempest growled at the writhing Shining Armour "Get up!"
I picked her up with one hoof and smashed her with the other knocking her unconscious. I groaned I just hope I can get some answers for our retaliatory attack on the Storm King. I nodded to the changelings who put high level magic inhibitors on their horns and took them to the prison along with their guards.
I blinked as Chrysalis pushed me over, she pecked me on the cheek with a smile "That was amazing!" She then frowned "I'm still angry you put yourself at risk on our wedding day."
I rubbed my had "I'm sorry. I didn;'t really think too much I just did what I thought I should in the moment." I frowned "I think I'll need to interrogate them after this incident."
Chrysalis nodded "I'll come with, I'm not leaving you with a hostile prisoner."
I said "Alright just be careful."
It was 2 more hours before the prisoner awoke. I watched as I heard Tempest groan, I said "Since you're awake I hope to ask a few questions."
Tempest spat "I'll tell you nothing."
I scowled "Do you want me to hurt you."
Tempest shouted "I won't bow, do you're worst!"
I was just about to attack when Chrysalis intervened "I'll get the information from her don't you worry."
I sighed "Fine." I trotted out of the room hoping she could get me some answers. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 26: Planning | I watched as Tempest glared at me "Changeling why did you stop her from interrogating me?!"
I sighed as I cast a simple soundproofing spell "Because I am about to do something much worse than she ever could." I slammed my crooked horn into the broken horn of Tempest. The unicorn screamed as I let my spell do it's work, she screamed "Mum, Dad don't..."
After about an hour I removed the spell. I frowned "Are you going tell me where the Storm King's Castle is?"
Tempest growled "Never."
I shouted "Let's see how you go after three hours of the spell!"
I watched she writhed on the floor, yet despite her screams of pain after 3 hours "I will never give in, I will outlast you."
I sighed "I know which means I will do it the hard way!" I slammed my horn into hers. I could see her memories, I found the information on the Storm King's Castle and then left her mind I frowned as I saw the unconscious unicorn lying on the floor. I turned around and left the cell, I locked the cell behind me as I trotted out of the prison.
A arrived in the throne room which had a large table with several maps as well as miniatures of ponies. Celestia, Luna, Starsong and Twilight who was fidgeting. A large stallion with a fiery mane and red coat was also present, I noticed his cutie mark was two swords, one crossed over the other. I approached "I found out the location of the enemy."
Starsong frowned "How, you prevented my brutal method of interrogation."
I frowned "I got it from her mind."
Starsong grimaces, Celestia frowned , Luna sighed. Twilight however was not content to remain silent to the implications of that, she shouted "You used mind magic on her, how could you?!"
Starsong growled "Yes Twilight we get it it is a major breach of a pony's privacy! I'm not sure how to punish her but I'll find a way later! For now though we are going to make use of this and defeat the Storm King!"
Twilight was about to interrupt when Celestia spoke "Starsong is right, this is a war Twilight. We haven't one in over one thousand years and I am eager to see it ended quickly and decisively." She then turned to me "What do you know?!"
I said "Well the Storm King's Castle is far beyond the Bone Dry Desert and all areas around the location are under his control."
Celestia scowled "I will have the airships prepared" she then turned to me, my wife and Twilight "You three will report to the armourer and you'll get you fitted for some proper armour." I watched as Celestia and Luna left the room before Twilight could respond.
We trotted silently to the armoury, Twilight glared at me the whole way. We arrived to see several ponies. They ran up to us "We'll take you measurements come with us." They dragged us into separate rooms, I blinked as several stallions and mares began measuring every part of my body including the holes in my legs. I shook my head as I tried to maintain my balance but after they left I collapsed to the floor.
I woke to a hoof poking me, I looked up to see one of the mares holding a suit of armour, I stood up and asked "How long was I out?"
The mare said "One Hour."
I shouted "How did you make a personal suit of armour in one hour!"
The mare smiled "Well there was one hundred of us workmen on it. Now please try it on princess."
My eyes widened, (Princess! What oh I married a Princess that makes me one too, I didn't even think about that.) I turned to the mare and levitated the armour onto my body. I smiled as the pitch black obsidian matched my chitin and covered me head to hoof save my wings, not to mention the bright green emerald on the chestplate. I took off the helmet "This armour is fantastic!"
The mare smiled "I'm glad you liked it, I just hope you enjoy what we did with the other two." I stepped out to see Twilight wearing a purple suit of armour with a gem similar to her cutie mark on it, she was glaring at me.
I looked around confused, there was a pitch black suit of armour but no other ponies in sight. I frowned "Where is Starsong?"
Twilight snapped "I don't know, there is the creepy armour here!"
We both spontaneously gasped as the suit of armour began to move, it's eyes glowing red as it stood up on it's hind legs. A deep voice spoke "Twilight, Chrysalis like my new armour."
I shouted "Who are you?!"
I blinked as a hoof pressed the back the helmet, I gasped "Starswirl's beard!"
Starsong smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head, I frowned "What the buck Starsong?"
Starsong smiled "It was just a joke" She then scowled "Besides you need a punishment for what you did and I can't put you on the couch because you live off love."
I sighed "Your right but that was really scary."
Starsong said "Anyway we need to head out to meet Princess Celestia." We trotted out to see several massive airships full of guards, Luna and Celestia were wearing full armour which matched their coats have their Cutie Marks on the chestplate.
Celestia shouted "Come on! We are going to end this." I noticed Luna looked at her sister with concern. Twilight reluctantly trotted onto the ship with the me and Starsong behind her. I blinked as I saw Applejack shouting out orders to changelings, I blinked as I saw her wearing a suit of orange armour, I frowned wondering were my daughter went as the ship took off. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter 27: Travel | I was standing there with Cara. I frowned "We are going to war, Ah never thought Ah'd see the day, Ah only heard the stories from Granny Smith."
Cara smiled "Ah know mah Sweet Apple but we will get through this as we always have together."
I heard a knock on the door, I opened the door with my magic. Iron Compass trotted in he asked "Are you two okay?"
I sighed "We have never fought a war before. Ah've heard the horrid stories about them though."
Cara scowled "Damn this Storm King for dragging us into war!"
Iron Compass sighed "Yes but he must be stopped, redemption may not be an option here."
Cara growled "It's not fair!"
I frowned "Ah think Ah better go and see Twilight she probably ain't handling this very well." I trotted out of the room and headed down the corridor, I asked one of the guards "Where is Twilight?"
The guard replied "Top floor next to Celestia and Luna's rooms."
I trotted up to the top floor and found a room with Twilight's Cutie Mark on it. Applejack opened the door only to see Chrysler talking to Twilight, Chrysalis said "Twilight, don't worry you shouldn't do any fighting today."
I stepped in "Ah'm surprised you're here, you two aren't exactly friends."
Chrysalis frowned "I am trying to put my best hoof forward, me and Twilight aren't going to see eyes with one another for a long time if ever but I will do my best to not make it a burden on others and the start of that is trying to be nice." She pushed past me leaving Twilight and I in the room.
Twilight frowned "She was only trying to help."
I sighed "Sorry."
Twilight shook her head "No it's okay I still feel uncomfortable around her but still she was a big help. I may have paced through the floor into the cabin below if she didn't come to help me." I turned and gasped as I saw the heavy grooves in the floor easily a pony deep.
Twilight blushed her face turning a bright shade of pink, I asked "Are you okay?"
Twilight nodded "I'm still nervous, I mean I'm gong to see killing."
I grimaced "Lucky, Ah'm going to have do some of the killing." Twilight's eyes widened. I slumped "Ah'm a Changeling Queen and that means as a leader of the hive Ah must see combat or be cast out by the hive."
Twilight gasped "That's horrible."
I shook my head "No it's not they are mah family, some of them are mine after all." I felt my insides began to move "Ah'll be right back."
I galloped back to Cara and I's room. Cara gasped "Are ya okay?"
I grimaced "Just laying, don't worry." She wrapped her hooves around me as I slowly pushed out two large eggs.
Cara frowned "Ah'm going to speak to the Princesses." Before I could say anything Cara teleported out of the room. I took a quick shower in the bathroom before coming out. I levitated the two eggs into the bathroom and gave them a light clean before setting them on a towel.
Cara, Chrysalis, Twilight,Starsong, Celestia and Luna all arrived in the room. Applejack smiled sheepishly "Ah'm sorry Ah made a mess."
Chrysalis smiled "Don't worry about it, I understand the struggle." she then sighed "I only wish I was a better mum."
Starsong gave her a hug "It's alright, what happened happened and now is time to move on. We have a new bad guy to beat down after all."
Celestia and Luna chuckled "Relax, don't worry we can always clean the floor."
A guard rushed into the room "We are currently over Klugetown, we should prepare for an assault."
Celestia nodded "Very well" she then shouted "Everypony and ling prepare for battle!" I nodded to Cara and we flew to the top deck to be ready for battle. |
The Love of an Apple | Chapter: 28 Retaliton | I frowned as we approached as massive castle surrounded by storms.I turned to my partner "Are ya okay Applejack?"
Applejack frowned "I'm as okay I will ever be about this."
Starsong's voice boomed "Today is the day you remember that we are not weak, we are not prey! Today we are the Hunters, today we are the survivors! So who's with me!"
Me and Cara smiled as the loud crowd roared "For Equestria!" We smashed hoof first into a pair of guards , I shoved one of the Storm King's troop into a wall before striking my sword through his skull. I tripped as I felt a huge shockwave shatter the ground, I turned to see several of our enemy flung into the air as Starsong grinned at me, I chuckled "Show off."
Celestia and Luna in full armour landed beside me, Celestia asked with a grin "Sister are you ready to cut loose?"
Luna grumbled "I'm not using that again, I will not be the monster anymore!"
Celestia shrugged "I'm not holding back for you" she then echoed a chant as she raised her glowing golden sword above her head "by the light of the sun and the power of it's flames I will shine brighter behold my might Daybreak." Her eyes slitted her mane and tail burst into flames. She grinned as she rushed in to the battlefield, I blinked as she tore several hostile troops head off before incinerating another group with a huge flame spell.
Luna grimaced "I hope she can maintain control, she hasn't used her full might as much as I have."
I frowned in confusion, Applejack frowned "Come on, we need to keep fighting."
I nodded "Right." I flew into a massive building and with a single strike cut down several opponents. I gasped as I heard a scream in the hive mind and I felt the hive mind dim, one of my children just died. I screamed in anger and pain, I burst forth, all I could see tall bipeds fighting equines. I swung my sword left and right tearing every biped to shreds.
I grinned as the smell of blood filled my muzzle, I roared "Come at me all of you!" I watched as the figures stared stunned at me. My horn glowed as I let rain a hail of magic slamming around at all of them, I screamed louder and louder I could no longer distinguish the shapes. I felt a hoof smash into my face, I shook my head and my vision cleared.
Applejack scowled "What was that?! Who were you even aiming at!"
I whimpered "I'm sorry."
Applejack frowned "You almost killed everyone, we managed to disarm all of those Storm Beasts as they call themselves and put them in brig tired up."
Starsong galloped up to us "Come with me now!"
I asked as she dragged me after her "Why?"
Starsong scowled "I saw Twilight following Celestia into the throne room, what Luna said is bothering me."
Applejack frowned "Well then let's go." The three of us galloped towards the pitch black castle, I frowned as I saw a few skulls on the pillars. I frowned as we entered the dark castle. I heard shouting from the top floor, we galloped up a set of ornate stairs we then looked to see several rooms. I charged up my horn and busted through several floors, I looked down to see Applejack struggling to lift Starsong, I flew back down to assist her in flight.
Starsong sighed "I'm sorry I can't use these useless wings. "
I shook my head "Don't worry about it." We landed in what appeared to be a throne room four floors up. We landed on the other side of the whole, I gasped as I saw Celestia frowning as Twilight shook violently. I realised she was holding a bloody blade.
Starsong and I galloped over, I shuddered as I saw the corpse. Celestia smiled "Twilight you have done well." Twilight burst into tears as she dropped the bloody blade.
Applejack and I galloped over and gave the crying purple Alicorn a hug, I grimaced as I frowned at the Storm King's corpse. I gasped as I heard a pony shout "You piece of..." We turned around as they heard a crash, our eyes widened in horror as we saw Celestia pinned to the wall by Starsong.
Celestia's horn glowed as she roared "How dare you touch me, you fake Alicorn!"
Starsong screamed "You made your precious student cry and for that I'll buck you to pieces!" We grabbed the crying Twilight as the building shook from the clash of the Alicorns, we flew out of whole in the building just as a blast of flame filled the room.
We watched in awe as Celestia flew back out of the flames holding her sword as Starsong galloped out of the rubble with a scratch. I felt the panic through the hive mind and sent calming thought through it. I smiled as I saw my calmed children helping to clam the panicking ponies. Luna grimaced as she flew up "I want you two to get all ponies and changelings to a safe distance and then I'm going to stop my sister."
We nodded as we sent a message through the hive telling the changelings to get onto the ship, we then shouted "Luna's got this just get on the ship!" We watched as the royal guard followed suit boarding the ship.
We watched as Luna flew there, Luna grimaced "I guess I have no choice now, thanks sis" she then rose her sword into the sky "by the will of the night and the power of dream fear my might, Nightmare." I blinked as I watched her transform, her coat turned pitch black, her eyes slitted and her body grew in size.
I felt Applejack's fear as she spoke "Nightmare Moon..."
Luna shouted "Sister, enough of this."
Celestia who was flying above Starsong "What?!" Luna teleported in front of her sister with her sword drawn Celestia scowled "So that's how it's going to be."
Luna frowned "Only if you don't stop."
Celestia growled "She attacked me first."
Luna sighed "Well you should know better than to rise to the bait."
Celestia's eyes narrowed as she got her sword ready and swung it at her sister. Luna shook her head and knocked Celestia away with a wave of dark energy as pitch black orb of energy surrounded her, Luna sighed as she cast a spell "Dark Star." The dark orb engulfed Celestia and we watched as the Alicorn of the Sun writhed in pain as she tired to escape the dark prison. The spell dissipated as Celestia's flaming mane vanished and she collapsed to the ground. |
The Love of an Apple | Finale Part 1 | I jumped onto the airship, Chrysalis frowned "Why couldn't I go down there?"
I scowled "Consider it partial punishment for using mind magic!" She lowered her head and trotted backwards, I nodded to Applejack and Cara as they took the sleeping Twilight into her room
I heard ponies scream "Nightmare Moon!" The changelings looked at me, I nodded and the changelings slapped them. Luna landed holding her unconscious sister.
I frowned "We'll discuss this with her once she wakes up, in the meantime I have to check on Twilight."
Luna nodded "I agree, I will join you once I make sure my sister stays put." I trotted out of the room, I felt the ship lurch. I looked outside to see the Storm King's ruined Castle growing smaller in the distance.
I turned around and trotted to Twilight's room, Twilight was crying in centre of the room. Chrysalis was wrapped around her in a hug "It's not your fault."
Twilight wailed "I killed him!"
Chrysalis shook her head "You made a mistake under extreme pressure, many have done much worse, I tried to take over Equestria and enslave all ponies twice, Discord tried to turn Equestria into the chaos capital of the world and sided with Tirek to take over Equestria, Luna tried to cause eternal night. What you did was not your fault, you didn't want to do it and your hoof was forced by another who has groomed you into the perfect weapon, one who who will never oppose her or question her."
Twilight shouted "How could you know that?!"
Chrysalis frowned "I was watching you closely all the time you were in Canterlot but I forgot about you after you were sent to Ponyville, I thought you were kicked out of her life, also after Discord I called my spies back to my hive and then turned my attention to Cadence. I saw you feed off her every word, you adored her like she was the goddess of all creation."
Twilight turned to us quietly "That's not true is it?"
Applejack frowned "Ah'm not sure about adoring her but you cared about so much that she was almost like a second mother to you."
Luna frowned as she trotted in "Celestia told me several times you adored her too and she was trying to get you to break off from her." Twilight shuddered at Luna's words.
Chrysalis frowned at the Moon Princess "Then why did she make us of her here?"
Luna sighed "She has never been in very good control of Daybreak, it's why I could face Sombra while she could not, she lost control of herself due to the overwhelming might of the sun."
Chrysalis frowned "Well we must have words with her."
Luna frowned "Only you, Starsong and I will be in in there, Cara and Applejack are not quite in the position to handle what needs to be handle by us princesses and Twilight is emotionally compromised."
Applejack scowled but Cara frowned "She's right this is Princess business and no just because Chrysalis married Starsong it would make me a princess it would be really bad if that were the case because then Equestria would have another one thousand princesses and princesses." Applejack sighed as she realised the implications.
Luna's horn glowed, I blinked as Chrysalis, Luna and I appeared in the room. I growled "You give us some warning first next time you decide to teleport us, I still get dizzy when I do my singular daily teleport!"
Luna frowned "Right now how are we going to wake my sister."
I turned around and blinked as I saw a massive gong sitting next to me where Chrysalis was. I slammed my hoof into it, Celestia jumped her horn glowing "Are we under attack?!"
I helped my wife who was still dizzy from me banging her so hard. Luna frowned "We need to discuss some thing with you."
Celestia blinked "What?"
Luna sighed "There was a reason you shouldn't use Daybreak."
Celestia cried out "I just wanted to support you!"
Chrysalis frowned "Well trying to kill my wife and traumatising Twilight is not a good way to do that."
Celestia's eyes widened in shock, Luna nodded "You made Twilight kill the Storm King and after Starsong got on your case about it you resorted to violence."
Celestia tried to leave "I need to apologise."
I held her back with a hoof "No, she will accept your apology and say no harm done. She needs some time to let our words sink in before your reconciliation, in the meantime I need to discuss with you something other than your misconduct today."
Luna scowled "She needs to face punishment."
I told Luna "She will keep away from Twilight from now on, that is punishment enough, you two will be separated until Twilight can function without you, you are only allowed in each other's presence during meetings and other important functions."
Chrysalis nodded "That is a fitting punishment." She smiled "I'll go check on Twilight, she needs my support." I nodded.
Celestia cried "Anything but that."
Luna nodded "We are in agreement sister, it must be done. She is suffocating under your wings."
I frowned "Anyway I wish to implement a guard as you and Luna have."
Luna asked "Who do you wish to be captain of your guard ?"
I smiled "Tempest."
Luna shouted "Why her, she is our enemy?!"
Celestia who said her near-perfect mask on again asked "Agreed sister, it is an odd choice, I would like an explanation."
I said "Simple, she is loyal to her leader and a powerful unicorn, I wish to have her join us as she is a powerful asset to have on side and I know just how to convince her."
Luna frowned "Fine, but if she messes up it is on your head!" I nodded to the Moon Princess and smiled all was going well for once. |
The Love of an Apple | Finale Part 2 | I was sitting at the table, I frowned as Luna was busy tapping the table. I growled "Can you stop that?!"
Luna sighed "I'm sorry I'm waiting for your wife to arrive, she has yet to inform me of what her plan is just that she has one for the unicorn in the dungeons."
I frowned "You mean Tempest, right?" Luna nodded, I sighed, I knew I had to apologise to her after all this was over. I heard the sound of heavy hoofsteps I turned around to see Starsong carrying a small box on her back.
I frowned "What is that your carrying?"
She smiled as she nuzzled me "I'll tell you later my love." I welcomed her embrace, she then said "We are going to event hall."
I raised an eyebrow "Why?"
She smiled "To appoint my captain of the guard, she has proven herself very capable."
She stood up and exited the room with me and Luna behind her, Luna scowled 'You know there are going to be repercussions."
Starsong frowned "We are Princesses, we don't things because their easy but because it's what must be done."
Luna's scowl turned to a smile "Wise words, I'm glad I might the right decision when giving you the grandmaster's test."
Starsong smiled "I'm glad to hear that." Luna and I followed my wife into the throne room. I blinked as I saw Pink Earth Pony floating in the air unassisted putting up some decorations.
I heard groaned as I heard familiar voice "Hello everypony, are you ready for chaos?!"
I blinked as the floating Pink Pony grabbed him "Where in Equestria have you been it's been over 6 months!"
Discord rubbed the back of his head with a claw "Pinkie, I was trying to figure out away to prevent my powers from being sealed by powerful artefacts like her throne." I scowled as he pointed at me.
Pinkie smiled "Okie Dokie, come on help me with the decorations."
He blinked in confusion as she floated over to the wall "How are you flying." I burst into laughter at his confused expression. He teleported down, he growled "What's so funny?"
I stopped laughing and grinned "Discord, what did you say about there is no fun in making sense, if there was a chaos pony it would be her, even little Miss Bookhorse gave up on understanding her so how do you think you can."
Discord's jaw dropped to the floor, he turned to the pink mare who was busy looking through a reality hole as she shouted "I found the cake dimension!"
I frowned "That is actually a little concerning, I didn't know she could do that."
Rarity trotted over "She figured out to do that a few days ago when we found her talking to Sunset Shimmer."
Starsong stomped "What about the floating thing?"
Rarity blinked "She always could do that, she just doesn't do often, she said 'it ruins the surprise when she does it to often so she only does it rarely for shocking ponies or for planning out a really massive party which she often does in secret."
Luna frowned "Is she going to be a threat."
Rarity scowled darkly at the Luna Princess "Not unless you maker her, trust me she showed me more than a few worlds where her counterpart caused complete genocide of Equestria because she was mistreated, so let's keep on her good side shall we."
Rarity frowned as the rest of us including Discord gulped as we stared at the cheery party pony who was busy putting up decorations. Celestia entered and frowned " Is everything ready."
Twilight flew in "Yes, we just need to make the cerebration of the Storm King's defeat start."
Luna smiled "Well let's get started." We all got into our positions, I watched as Nobleponies entered the room, I frowned as some gave me slight glares. I knew there were some who hadn't forgiven me. I watched as guards entered the room escorting Tempest Shadow. I was not sure why my wife was planning but it better be good.
I watched as the guards brought her before Starsong. Tempest frowned "What did you want with me, why am I here?!"
Starsong smiled "You are a capable unicorn and the Storm King is gone along with his castle, so I was hoping you would serve me."
Tempest growled "Why would I trust you?"
Starsong continued to smile "Close your eyes and all will be revealed."
I heard her grumble "It's not like I have much choice anyway." I watched as she stood there, I watched as I saw the box open and some strange looking pointy thing was brought out. I blinked in confusion she lined up with the unicorn's broken horn. My eyes widened as it fit perfectly.
Starsong smiled "It's done."
I frowned as Tempest grimaced "Why does my held feel heavy?"
I gasped as I heard Starsong's request "I want you to be captain of my guard?"
Tempest growled "Why."
Starsong said "You are an asset and I will not waste a mare of your talents."
Tempest nodded "Very well, I'll take the offer."
Starsong held out a scabbard, as Tempest reached out with hoof, Starsong shook her head "Use your horn, I believe you can do this." I watched as Tempest scowled and tried to focus, I watched as the artificial horn point glowed and the sword was surrounded in the same glow.
Tempest's eyes widened as the sword glowed "My horn, it works." I smiled as the mare started to cry tears of joy "My magic, you gave back to me."
Starsong smiled "I don't want you to just work for me but I want you to join me friendship." I looked around the room, I saw ponies jumping up and down, I even saw a Changeling and Pony kissing in the background. I then turned to see my daughter and her partner huddled together and to think this all started with those two. I joined my wife as we went off to enjoy the night long festivities. |
The Switcharoo | pre | "Oh darling, you're too kind, but I must decline."
"It wasn't an offer." Starlight checked the time. "Hm, four hours until Discord's due to switch us back, I should start figuring out exactly how I'm going to stop him. And I know just the magical expert who can help me find the perfect spell." She smiled deviously at Twilight, whose ears laid back.
"Wait, wait, wait, what was that?" a familiar voice said, and with a flash of light, Discord materialized next to the bubble. He crossed his arms and gave Starlight a very unimpressed look. "You're going to stop me, you say?"
"Uh..." She stammered for a moment, before regaining her composure, the glow around her horn becoming more intense. "That's right! Celestia and Luna have reigned for far too long! It's time for a new ruler to take their place! And I won't let you stop me from fulfilling my destiny!" She blasted him with magic that seemed to completely consume his body, and the others gasped and screamed. Fluttershy even cried as she scraped her hooves against the bubble.
Then they saw Discord's arm reach out of the magic and take hold of it, then peeled it off as effortlessly as removing a coat.
"Honestly, Starlight, you have to try harder than that," he said, crushing the magic into a tiny ball and eating it. Fluttershy abruptly stopped crying, hastily wiping her cheeks off and giving a weak smile when Discord gave her a thumbs up.
Starlight snarled and shot him with a different sort of magic, this taking the form of thick chains that surrounded him and bound his limbs together. He seemed mildly concerned about this, and she gave a savage grin. "Now I've got you. These chains completely lock down all-"
He flexed his arms and broke them, not even looking at them as they clanked heavily to the floor. "That all you got?"
"Ugh, everyone has a weakness!" Starlight yelled, planting the bubble into the floor and taking a firm stance on her hooves as she charged another spell. Discord waited patiently, smiling at her. His calm expression pissed her off, and her anger ended up flowing into the spell she hit him with, causing it to actually cause pain.
Discord jerked back, surprised that it actually managed to hurt him. His smile was gone in an instant, and while he was able to shrug off the energy, he was no longer amused. "That's it." He advanced toward her, throwing aside every spell she launched at him, and seized her with his own magic, slamming her to the floor. He stepped on her with his deer hoof, knocking the breath out of her as he leaned down and grabbed her horn. "No more."
"You can't change me back yet," Starlight said. "You promised Pinkie. Twenty-four hours."
Discord looked at Pinkie. "Are you holding me to that?"
"Well... it was a dare, and you agreed," she said regretfully.
"Seriously?" Rainbow demanded. "Pinkie, Starlight's a menace, let Discord switch us back!"
"No can do! He Pinkie promised!"
Discord sighed. "Alright, then plan B." He let go of Starlight. "Girls, Elements of Harmony time." He used his tail to pop the bubble they were trapped in.
"Don't you dare," Starlight threatened, backing away and surrounding herself with a shield.
Twilight walked toward her. "We don't want to use them on you. Just give Equestria back to Celestia and Luna, and return their cutie marks to them. I know the power is intoxicating, how do you think I felt when I became an alicorn? I didn't let anypony know, but I wanted to take control. I felt like I could do anything, that with my new magic I was unstoppable. But I didn't let those thoughts control me. I remained humble, and explored my new power carefully. I took on only those responsibilities that the princesses entrusted me with. Seizing control like you did isn't the way. Please, Starlight, I know you're a good pony. You don't want to do this."
"Spare me the speeches," Starlight said, expanding her shield just enough to knock Twilight back. "This is what I was meant to do! Your magic has shown me the truth! I will be the greatest leader Equestria has ever known!"
Twilight set her hoof on the shield, gazing through it at the other. "I believe you can be the greatest leader Equestria has ever known. But it has to be done your way, with your own natural talents. Not with magic stolen from me, magic that your mind simply was not prepared to handle. Come on, Starlight. Remember when you became our friend. Remember the regret you felt at everything you did to the citizens of your old town. Do you really want to do all that again?"
"This is different, I'm not stealing cutie marks and forcing conformity, I'm-"
Twilight pointed to Celestia and Luna, who showed their bare flanks. And Rarity bluntly said, "You are forcing everypony to refer to you the exact same way, dear, and not allowing any dissent, even in the form of jokes..."
"That's just-"
"Not to mention, rose gold uniforms for the royal guards?" Applejack pointed out. "What in the hay is wrong with you?"
"Wait, did you say rose gold?" Discord asked gleefully.
"I can make Equestria better!" Starlight shouted.
"Then make it better! Your way!" Twilight pressed closer to the shield, begging with her eyes for Starlight to give up.
Starlight frowned for a brief moment, then glared, showing her teeth. "I'd rather do it this way!"
"Okay, I'm bored, Elements of Harmony time," Rainbow said. She and the others joined hooves while Celestia, Luna, and Spike stepped back, and Twilight quickly looked behind her.
"Wait, we can still get through to her," Twilight protested, only for her hoof to be grabbed.
"Then let's give her some encouragement!" Rainbow tapped into the magic that was still bound to them despite the physical elements being miles away, and a red aura surrounded her, lifting her into the air. Magic flowed through the six, each of them lighting up, and Twilight sighed and joined in, letting herself be lifted as well. The energy was like a wind blowing around them, and their manes and tails flowed as they focused.
"So dramatic," Discord said, sitting on the table and helping himself to the nearest bowl of fruit.
Starlight braced herself, her shield glowing brighter as she poured all her magic into it, eyes wide.
Twilight's voice echoed as she said, "Last chance, Starlight. Surrender."
"I..." Starlight gripped one of her wings between her hooves, nervously stroking it. "Well, maybe we can come to an agreement-"
"Too late!" Rainbow took the lead, and magic exploded from their bodies.
"Well, shit," Starlight said, just before the rainbow of magic struck her and blew the shield away in seconds, and heat seared across her fur, lifting her into the air.
The six focused everything they had into the attack, hardly noticing as their bodies tingled, a strange energy sweeping through them as well. They just chalked it up to being the effects of the powerful magic they were wielding. The rainbow swirled around Starlight and then brightened, before becoming a blinding white they all had to close their eyes against. The power of the Elements abruptly left them, just as it did every time its job was done, and they all landed gently on the floor.
Starlight was shaking as she lifted her head, but besides the singes on her fur, she seemed unhurt. "I'm... sorry," she said softly, looking away.
Twilight could see now that she no longer had wings. She was back to being a unicorn. Twilight looked herself over, and realized she had her horn and wings back. "Hey, I'm an alicorn again," she said.
The others all looked at each other and gasped, realizing they were back to normal too. Even Spike had been changed back.
"Alright!" Rainbow pulled each of her wings in front of her face to kiss them, and then took to the air, doing a flip. "I'm a pegasus again!"
"Which means I got my apple buckin' skills back!" Applejack cheered, giving a few excited kicks of the back legs. "Aw yeah!"
"But the switcharoo was supposed to last twenty-four hours!" Pinkie protested, looking at Discord.
He held his hands up innocently. "Hey, obviously the Elements decided you should all go back to normal! And the deal was just that I change you back after a full day, nothing was said about outside forces doing it."
She lifted her hoof, opened her mouth, and froze. Then she said, "Can't argue that I guess."
"Our magic has been returned to us as well," Celestia said, and sure enough, she and Luna had their cutie marks back. They approached Starlight with their wings spread and expressions firm.
Twilight quickly got between them and Starlight. "Please, she's my student. Let me deal with her."
"Twilight, please step aside," Luna said coolly.
Twilight swallowed, but did so. Starlight pushed herself up. "Please," she said. "I'm so, so sorry, the power overwhelmed me and it really did feel like everything I was doing was right. Please forgive me."
"You think after everything you did, you can get off that easily?" Celestia asked.
"Well... most bad guys do," Starlight pointed out.
"Most," Luna conceded. "Others get vaporized. Remember Sombra?"
"Oh, uh..."
"Or locked in Tartarus, like Tirek," Celestia added.
"That's-"
"You didn't cause any permanent damage during your short rule, so if not for one little detail, we would just let you go. But you know what?" Luna grabbed Starlight's neck and yanked her close. "I simply will not let you get away with calling us bitches without punishment."
"You did what?" Twilight shouted, outraged.
Starlight groaned. "Okay, I'll admit to being completely aware of what I was saying when I called you that, but-"
"But nothing!" Luna shook her roughly. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'm... sorry?"
Luna stared at her. Then she promptly picked her up. "Sister, what do you think of about sixteen hours in the dungeon to make up for her transgressions?"
"I think that's perfect," Celestia replied. She looked at Twilight and her friends. "Do any of you have any objections or suggestions?"
"We really shouldn't resort to corporal punishment," Twilight said meekly.
"Screw that, she needs to learn her lesson," Rainbow said harshly. "To the dungeons with her!"
"Hang her from her fetlocks!" Applejack suggested.
"Make her listen to Pinkie's yovidaphone practice!" Rarity said.
"I believe that would fall under cruel and unusual," Fluttershy mused.
"Haha, you guys are hilarious," Pinkie said good-naturedly.
"Find out what her favorite food is and then just sit in front of her and eat it without letting her have any," Discord said.
"Hey, you're the one that decided to make me an alicorn!" Starlight shouted at him as she was dragged away. "This is your fault! You knew this would happen and you did it anyway, what's wrong with you?!"
He just smiled and waved.
"Well girls, thank you so much for your help," Celestia said.
"Yes, if you need anything, don't hesitate to let us know," Luna said. Then they were pulling Starlight out of the room and closing the door behind them.
Twilight sighed and sat down, rubbing her temples. "Wow. I don't even know what to say. I really thought I got Starlight past this kind of thing."
"Well hey, you can lead a cow to water but ya can't make her drink," Applejack said, patting her back. "At least things are back to normal, and Starlight should hopefully learn her lesson from a few hours in the dungeon."
"I guess so." Twilight looked at Discord. "Were you planning on her getting sent to the dungeon?"
"No, of course not," he said. "I was planning on her getting beat up."
"What's your problem?" Spike asked. "Why are you so against her?"
"I'm not against her, I very much hope that she continues her character development, but I wanted to give her a little test and she failed. She still can't handle any sort of huge responsibility and she went power hungry just like she did when Twilight let her be head mare of the school for a few days. Only she had alicorn magic to back her up. It's quite sad really." Discord pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. The others just looked at him, and he admitted, "Okay, one day I walked in on her picking her nose and then she wiped it off on the bottom of a table and walked away and I was just disgusted and have been planning my vengeance ever since."
There was a general consensus from everyone that that was a fair response.
"Well, this was all very exciting, but maybe ask before you do it again?" Fluttershy said.
"Of course. I've had my fun. So, did any of you learn anything besides Starlight can't be trusted?" Discord asked as they began walking out.
They discussed everything they had learned about life as a different race as they walked out, and in no time were joking and laughing about the whole experience, while also showing appreciation for each other's natural talents. A few of them had even discovered some new hobbies, such as Spike professing an interest in continuing to run and Rainbow wanting to go hang gliding again even though she could fly.
Discord was definitely going to have to do this again. |
Guided Rhythm | pre | Merille looked at me as well and said, "Apparently, they're like the KKK, just against ponies."
I began to think for a bit before speaking, "So, it's a giant group of people nationwide? So, we'll have to be a lot more careful on where we tread now, right?"
Tom had stared off into space before saying, "Yeah. They're haters who took the hate too far. They'll attack anyone even remotely involved in the pony fiasco. A group even recently tried to murder one, luckily she made a full recovery."
That shocked me, for some of them were even willing to stoop so low as to commit attempted murder. I gave the two a silent nod thanking them for the information before walking off. Though, while I started to walk off, I heard a yell before a sharp pain coursed through my head. All I remember was feeling something heavy land on me before blacking out.
I found myself waking inside of a dark room that was completely silent. The only light came from above and shone down on a small pond. I crawled over to the pond and took a look at the reflection. What stared back at me was shocking. I saw my human form. The way the hair was styled, the brown eyes, glasses, and skin complexion were unmistakable. The most shocking thing however, was the color of my hair was now neon blue and the new white pony-like ears that perked up. I stood up and found a matching neon blue tail protruding from my lower body. I had become a pony-neko.
I heard a small giggle which caused me to take a look around. There wasn't a person or thing in sight. I soon took a step forward as I heard music begin to play. I immediately recognized it as my favorite song from Kingdom Hearts II. I followed the sound of the music until I came across a stairway leading down. Cautiously, I began to walk down the stairs. Eventually I came across a small platform with a single light shining down in the middle. Underneath that light was Vinyl Scratch, set on her turntables and looking quite happy. It turns out that she wasn't even playing the music. It seemed to be coming from nowhere.
Vinyl wasn't wearing her glasses when she looked up at me and said, "Well, it seems you went and knocked yourself out."
"I knocked myself out?" I asked with confusion.
She giggled a bit and said, "Yeah. Something fell on your head the second you started walking away from your friends," Her tone became more serious as she continued, "But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to show you something really weird."
She turned on her turntables and the platform began to form a mural. I watched as the platform began to change shape and begin to form pictures. I gasped in awe as I saw the finished product. Circling the bottom was jack-o-lanterns, each with a different face. Circling the top were small portraits of Vinyl, Luis, Redheart, Trixie, Snips, and Snails. Strangely, Merille was missing from the ones circling the top. Instead of Merille, it was Soarin. In the center of the mural was Zecora, though she was looking up at the smaller portraits with an uneasy expression.
It felt ominous just being on the station, but there was nowhere else to go. I looked back at Vinyl, who seemed to be focused on the mural.
Without even looking back at me, she said, "I don't know what these things are for, though it changed from that other picture right before you got knocked out."
After staring at it for a few more seconds, we both shrugged said at the same time, "Oh well. We'll find out what it all means later."
Vinyl laughed a bit before saying, "Jinx!" Though she suddenly became more surprised as she finally got a good look at me, "Woah! Since when did ya' get that bitchin' hair color?"
I brushed a hand through my hair and said, "No idea. When I woke up here, it was like that."
She began to think for a moment before saying, "I think I know why!"
She had begun to explain to me her idea as to why I looked like that, but I couldn't hear her as my vision began to fade. Soon, I went basically deaf before feeling weak and crashing on the floor.
Next thing I knew, I suddenly felt a stinging sensation across my face as I shot awake.
I looked and saw Merille looking at the others who were on my laser tag team. They were all looking at me with worry, even Johnathan, which surprised me.
"See, I told you all slapping her would work!" said Merille as he laughed it off.
Oliver had walked over to me and asked, "Hey. Are you feeling alright? That bloke insisted slappin' you would wake you up."
I soon realized I was laying on a table in the upstairs room. I carefully climbed off of the table and said, "Yeah. I feel great, actually. Not counting what just happened to my face. Now, how much longer 'till the second round starts?"
Miguel raised an eyebrow at me and said, "Second round? You completely missed it. You were out for about fifteen minutes."
Needless to say, I was shocked. It had felt like only a couple of minutes had passed inside that dream-world-thing. Could it be that time passes by faster when talking to Vinyl?
After seeing my shocked face, Oliver piped in with, "Yeah, so we went ahead and did the match without ya. They didn't stand a chance!"
I brought a hoof and rubbed my head a bit, "So, you won the match, but what was it exactly that knocked me out?"
Merille was the one to answer the question for me, "Well, apparently one of the members of the Red Team from the first round had her purse upstairs and while she was walking down the stairs, she tripped and her purse slipped from her grasp. The thing was surprisingly heavy! Luckily, you both were alright. Though she immediately left after she got up."
I decided to just leave it at that before going to my next question, "So, when does the final match start?"
It was Aaron that spoke up, "Well, the next match starts in about a minute. So, let's hurry down... And let the best man, or pony, win."
Soon, everyone headed down to the downstairs area... Well, everyone except for me and Johnathan. Instead, he stared at me with the most serious glare ever.
It was about five seconds before he said, "Listen... I'm sorry for the way I treated you earlier. It was wrong of me to be rude towards you."
I raised an eyebrow at him, "What made you have a sudden change of heart?"
He chuckled a little bit before saying, "Believe it or not, it was something that little girl... bug... thing said. I'm not even sure if she realizes how much of an impact it was. Now hurry up Vinyl, we have a match to participate in."
We hurried down the stairs and once more into the briefing room. There, of course, was the official to gives us the rules for the final match.
He took a deep breath before stating, "Alright. This is the final match, and the rules are different now. You will all be playing by elimination, not by score. Each person is on their own as they will traverse the arena to find and eliminate others from the competition. Each person will have two chances. So, you can be tagged once, and still be in the match. Get tagged twice, and you will be eliminated from the competition. Your gear will shut down and you will no longer be able to play. You all know what the grand prize is, so get out there and show them who's number one. Once we let you in the arena, find what you think will be the best spot and give 'em all hell when we signal for the match to begin."
The official opened the doors and we all rushed in. I quickly headed for the other side of the arena as I waited for the signal to start. Soon, I heard the sounds of the fog machines activating and then the neon lights had turned on. Soon, I heard my gear start up and then the music began to blare.
Then, I heard the announcer say, "The final decisive battle is now upon us! Now is the time! MAKE IT OR BREAK IT! ONE THOUSAND IS ON THE LINE!"
I rushed forward, turning every corner as fast as I can. My laser gun was at the ready should anyone come in my way. Sure enough, the first person I ran into was Miguel. The second he saw me, we immediately started firing at each other. We fired blindly until we each took cover. Surprisingly, both of us missed every shot. I hurried up and began to gallop away from Miguel only to run into Luis. As a reflex, I accidentally pulled the trigger and tagged him.
Luis had gave me a quick glared before laughing it off, "It's alright dude. Mistakes happen."
I gave him a quick brohoof before we parted ways. I turned a corner and saw Alyssia looking for any targets. She hadn't seen me yet so I snuck up behind her and tagged her at point blank range. She was startled a bit by the sudden tag, but as she turned around to see who it was, I was already making a run for it. Though, as I turned a corner, I came face to face with Oliver, who took no hesitation in tagging me.
"Sorry 'bout that Vinyl, but this is a competition," said Oliver as he laughed.
I quickly took cover as my gear started back up. I had to be sure to be a lot more careful as one more tag would mean my elimination from the tournament. I took a look around to make sure no one was around me before I jumped out of cover. I ran to one of the towers where I came across Marston. I took aim and fired right at him, tagging him instantly. I took notice as he put the laser gun in its holster.
He looked at me with a small frown and said, "That's it. I'm out. Aaron tagged me once earlier, so you know what that means."
He began to walk off as he gave me a quick wave to me, saying goodbye. I set up at one of the windows of the towers. Looking through the scope of the gun, I noticed Miguel meet up with Marston and Alyssia as they began to walk of the arena, for they must have gotten out as well. Through my scope, I noticed Serah actually figure out a way to hold the laser gun and I watched her tag Aaron. Though, what seemed to be an immediate chain reaction, I saw Johnathan tag her. I took aim and fired right at Johnathan, tagging him.
I continued to look through my scope, trying to find anyone that wasn't Merille, Serah, or Luis. After that fiasco, they all scattered so It was difficult to see anyone. After seeing no one, I trotted down the tower and back into the arena. I bobbed and weaved through corners and eventually made my way to the other side of the arena. I found myself standing in the middle of the prop spaceship, only to quickly turn as I saw Johnathan approaching me.
"Well, talk about cliche. The pony and the hater meet face to face. Well, we each got one tag on us. Oliver told me before I tagged him out," said Johnathan as he readied his laser gun.
"Well, I need that money to get to New York, so I can't lose now," I said, readying my laser gun.
We both had our aim steady, eyeing each other like it was a western standoff. The tension in the air was so tense that you could cut it with a knife. The standoff lasted what seemed like forever, yet in reality was probably only a couple of seconds. We each focused on each other as we finally fired the laser guns.
"Well, it looks like I win..." said Johnathan.
It took a few seconds to realize that his gear was still on and mine wasn't. I was out of the tournament. I silently holstered my laser gun and proceeded to walk out of the arena, the feeling of defeat hanging over my head. When I walked out of the arena, I saw Luis, Merille, and Serah all standing there.
Luis was the first to speak, "We all lost as well."
Merille was next to speak up, "It sucks, but we should just head home now. We lost all of our money."
Serah was the last to speak, though she was vocally disagreeing with Merille, "We can't just give up now! We came so far."
I can tell there was an argument about to brew, so I said, "Well, what are we to do then Luis? It is your car after all."
Luis didn't answer, he was too lost in thought, trying to figure out what to do. We were broke, we couldn't finish the trip unless we became no better than beggars. Merille and Serah's argument began to escalate as they continued to debate on what to do now. We were so lost in our individual thoughts that we didn't notice someone behind us until that person tapped me on the head. I quickly turned to see Johnathan and Oliver.
Oliver had been the one to tap me on the head when he said, "Hey, the match is over. After you got out, Johnathan finished up the match in record time by getting Aaron and myself out in less than a minute!"
Johnathan had gave me a small smile before saying, "I know how to solve your dilemma."
What happened next surprised me. He walked over to the official and whispered something in his ear. Johnathan looked back to all of us and gave us a big grin.
The official looked over to me and said, "Well, it looks like our winner has decided to give half of the prize money to you."
I was in awe. He selflessly gave away half of the money just so that we could finish our trip to New York.
I looked at him with a big look of confusion on my face before asking, "Why?"
He gave me a stern look before saying, "Look, I was wrong to hate you for no good reason. So, after talking with Tom and his sister, they convinced me to do the right thing. Though promise me one thing..."
I looked up at him and asked, "What is it that you want then?"
He patted me on the head and said before handing me a piece of paper with a phone number on it, "When you get to New York City, and by some weird chance you come across a guy named Brennan Wallace, tell him that an old friend wants to apologize for being a huge jackass."
After chatting with everyone for the last time and getting Tom Baker's Skype contact, we had the money in my wallet and were ready to set off. While we were in the parking lot, we were confronted by Tom.
He gave me a hoof bump to me and Redheart and he high-fived Merille and Luis before saying, "Well, my family is heading back to New York tomorrow, so whenever you get to the area, look me up. We'll let you have a place to stay. And with that, I gotta run. See you later."
Luis had started up the Prius and hooked up my MP3 player to the stereo system. The song that came up was unintentionally fitting, as we were back on the road, and nothing would stop us now, no matter what! |
Guided Rhythm | Nerve-wracking-vana | Chapter 7: Nerve-wracking-vana
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Remember how I said nothing would stop us? Yeah, we might have been stuck again because I was about to smack Luis so hard, Helen Keller would have cringed at the sight. In case of you're wondering on why I was so pissed off at him, not long after leaving Mississippi, we had stopped at another convenience store for a quick bathroom break, but after that, we somehow got lost on the road.
"Okay, seriously... Where the fuck are we even at!?" I yelled at Luis, "We've been on these back roads for a while."
I took a look at the clock, it read 4:30 P.M. We were going in circles for the past four hours. God damn, we had a hopeless sense of direction. Had our GPS not have decided to break on us, we'd be halfway through Tennessee by now, but instead we're stuck in the middle of nowhere, Alabama.
Luis glared at me, "That's the fourth time you asked me! Again, I have no clue. I'm just trying to find my way to the highway, or at least someone who isn't too drunk or stupid to give directions."
Merille amped up the volume on my MP3 player, "Well, that's Alabama for you. They seem to be almost enforcing their stereotypes."
Well, it was true. The people we came across were either alcoholics, or people so stupid you'd wonder how they even graduated from school.
After more bickering among us, we eventually came across a rest stop. There was small building that had restrooms along with a lobby area that housed maps of the area and countless brochures. The area outside comprised of a few benches and a grassy hill in the field next to it. We decided to stop here to stretch our legs for a bit while Luis went to get us a map. I stepped out of the car and stretched my limbs a bit before heading up the hill. I laid down on my back in the grass and began to stare at the clouds. It was something that always helped me relax and get my mind off of things. I took the time to reminisce on all of things I had left behind when we decided to go on this journey. I thought back to the day immediately before my transformation.
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"Hey man, you've been keeping up with the news lately?" asked the older man with the goatee who stood in front of my register.
Since it was a slow day at Wal-Mart, and there was no one behind him, I had time to chat for a little bit. "A little bit, though sadly I haven't been watching any news stations."
He looked at me dead in the eyes and said, "Well, across the country, there've been people who are turnin' into them colored horses from some girl's show."
Of course, I knew about that, but I pretended not to just to keep the guy's attention. "Really now?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah. All over the nation. I believe they might one day take over the world and bring us humans to extinction!" he exclaimed while making weird arm gestures.
"Great. Another conspiracy theorist." I said to myself as he continued his bullshit prediction about how ponies will one day have world domination if they aren't stopped. Eventually, he stopped and handed me what looked like a business card.
"You seem like a decent enough feller, take this card here. You should give these people a call. They're a group against these ponies."
When he walked off, I didn't even bother to look at the card before I threw it away. When I looked back up, someone had placed some groceries on the conveyor belt. I looked down the lane and there was woman and something else placing groceries on the register's belt. The woman wore an evening dress that had a floral pattern. The other thing was not a person, but in fact, a griffon. He had white head feathers with yellow highlights and a grey fur color and grey wings on his body. The jacket he was wearing had holes placed for the wings to fit through. If I had to guess, he was his own fan made character.
They both approached my register, and both seemed perfectly content. So, out of curiosity, I spoke up first, "Sorry to ask, but I'm guessing that's an OC you made and somehow became it?"
The griffon kid, who I guessed was no older than eleven, said, "Yeah, but I'm perfectly happy like this. As long as I have fingers, well, claws now, and can grab things with no problem, I'm good."
Talk about having a positive outlook on things. While scanning their things, I asked the kid's mother, "He's quite the optimist. Though, I'm curious as to what your original reaction was upon seeing him like that."
She looked down at her son and said, "Well, it was quite the shock at first. While we were shopping for clothes about a week ago, Jimmy went in the fitting room as a human, but then came out the way he is now. It took some time getting used to, but as long as he's happy, then I don't mind."
I finished scanning their items and soon received their payment. Though before they left, I took a picture with Jimmy and saved it to my phone. As they walked off, I thought to myself, "That's one hell of a tolerant mom, though I'm quite curious as to what causes people to transform into these characters."
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Thinking back, I noticed that the guy who tried to get me to join the People Against Ponies Association was also one of the attackers at Walmart this morning. Then there was that kid. Before him, I never came into contact with a single pony, and then the very next day was when I transform into Vinyl Scratch. While I was laying there, I heard Luis shout my name. I stood back up on my hooves when I noticed Luis leaving the rest stop with the map we needed. I walked down the hill and past the benches as I approached my friends.
Luis waved the map in front of us and said, "Well, we got a map. Turns out, we were way off course. The closest place now is a town called Albertville."
We soon piled back into the car and began to take off once more. We fired up my MP3 and browsed through the many tracks until we settled on a classic. With Merille reading from the map and giving Luis directions, we eventually found our way back to the highway. As we were jamming out to Ratt, a sudden urge came to me...
I realized that I really needed to go to the bathroom really bad. "Luis. Stop the car at whatever the next building is! I need to piss really bad!"
After getting Luis to stop at some random bus station, I hurried up out of the car and ran for the bathroom. Finally, I got me the bathroom break I needed. Though, as I was walking out of the bathroom, I began to hear yelling from a voice that sounded insanely familiar to me.
"... And every time we've tried to purchase something, or even just stand in one spot, we've been discriminated against. We might walk on four legs, be half your height, and have a horn sticking out of our head, but that does not excuse you to suddenly drop the constitution because it doesn't suit you!"
Four legs? Half height? Horn sticking out of head? I was seriously intrigued about who was causing a commotion here. I galloped to the source of the scene. It was easy to find as I saw a crowd begin to form around one of the ticket booths. After making my way through the crowd, I finally took note of who was raising their voice.
She was a blue unicorn with a silver mane. A wizard's hat and cape adorned her body, both pieces of clothing bearing a star pattern. Her cutie mark was unmistakable, as it was a wand with a magic trail. I had come across The Great and Powerful Trixie. Though, by the way she looked, I guess you could call her "The Dirty and Disheveled Trixie."
Obviously, she looked like she was just moments away from snapping at someone, so I decided to at least attempt to calm her down. "Hey, hey, hey! Let's all take a chill pill and calm down!"
She looked around and after some searching, immediately set her sights on me, glaring daggers. By looking at her, you could tell she was in no mood to just sit down and talk things out rationally. She looked like she was prepared to fight anyone who she could get her hooves on.
"Don't tell us to calm down!" she shouted. Her knees bent so she lowered to the ground, as though to charge, and pointed her horn at the me.
Now, I was never one to start a fight, and I didn't want to fight her. Though if someone does fight me, I sure as hell would finish it. If she did charge at me, it would've been a bad idea. Even though I'm now a pony, it wouldn't be too hard to adapt my old Tae Kwon Do moves back from when I took classes as a kid to my new pony body. I decided to give her a simple warning, "Really now? I was hoping to be the voice of reason, but if you start charging at me, I'll fight back!"
Well that didn't work, as she immediately retorted with, "Reason? Funny, because every time we've tried to use it, we've been denied services. We were even chased out of a travel agency by some crazy guy with a bat!" she shook her head before indicating my two friends behind me. "At least you've got people that others are willing to talk to without automatically wanting to spit in their face."
After what she said, making herself sound like she had it so horrible really made me mad. I had family members who were like that, always making their problems sound like it's worse than everyone else's. Then they shoot down everyone else's problems like they were nothing important. People like that always grinded my gears to no end.
I could feel the anger rising as I recanted what happened to me earlier today, "You think you have it bad!? Just earlier today, I was almost killed! Even with my friends there! Instead of one guy with a bat, how about having to deal with four mental people who chase you through a superstore! Each armed with something very deadly! And not much longer after that, I was almost shot at by an armed gunman!"
I can tell she didn't believe me, as she pressed a hoof to her chest. "We sincerely doubt that any of that actually happened, we may have been dealt a bad hoof of cards, but we know that you just made that up to pump up your own grandeur to make yourself feel better when compared to us."
That's it, I knew she was just brushing off my problems as unimportant. This got me even angrier, especially coming from Trixie, who was shown in the show to be arrogant and full of herself. That's when the hypothetical devil horns came out as I said, "Make myself feel better than you!? Bitch, please. Almost everyone in this room is better than you! At least I can back up my boasts with actual talent!"
This pissed her off even more, as I saw her get ready for what looked like charging up a spell. I was about ready to sling her across the room so fast--
"The both of you, enough of these threats, before you do something you regret," a voice called out suddenly.
My head turned in the direction of the rhyming voice. Through my glasses, I could make out a black-and-white striped figure in a black hoodie trotting towards us. There was no mistaking it. It was Zecora. The very same Zecora who I talked to on Facebook this morning. It was then that a realization struck me. Trixie and Zecora... These were the same two shown in those weird dreams that I had.
Everything had been tuned out as I realized how strange this was. Out of all of the possible outcomes that could have happened, I wound up meeting the two ponies who appeared nonstop in my chats with Vinyl. The only word that I could think of saying was, "...Zeccy!" as I galloped up to her and hugged her.
"Oh, my, God!"
I was quickly brought out of my trance when I heard someone yell at the top of their lungs. I quickly released Zecora and looked back at the crowd. Rushing between the many people were none other than Snips and Snails.
"It's, it's, it's!" Pablo stuttered, his lanky legs carrying him towards us. "Redheart!" His legs carried him towards Serah so quickly, I could have almost sworn he teleported. "Me encanta!" Bowing his head to her hooves, he puckered his lips.
"A Mexican Snails?" I thought to myself as he kissed her hoof, trying to act like a gentleman. I saw the look on Serah's face. She gave a nervous chuckle and mouthed the words "Please help." I honestly couldn't blame her, since that was a really awkward moment.
I turned and I saw Snips next to Zecora, the former trying to flirt with her and utterly failing. I noticed the very nervous look on Zecora's face, as her cheeks turned red. "Look! Zecora's black, white, and red all over!"
Snips was rolling on his hooves, a silly smile on his face as he looked up at Zecora, his pudgy body shaking as he did so. "Hey there, pretty lady, I'm Enrique! But you can call me Rick if you want to..."
Zecora merely grinned sheepishly as she backed up, "Umm, why hello, little fellow?" she stopped when she backed into me, "I am not sure I see, if there is something you need from me?"
I kept on looking back and forth between Snips and Snails, watching as they kept on trying to score brownie points with Serah and Zecora.
"So what's it like?" Pablo asked. "Taking care of the patients I mean. It must get lonely, being there in the hospital with nobody but the sick?"
"Zecora, care to tell me about some of the things you see in the Everfree Forest? I'm sure you see all sorts of exciting things," Enrique said.
While watching the two lovestruck idiots keep on hitting on the nurse and herbalist, Merille and Luis finally approached Snips and Snails and picked them up so they couldn't get close to Serah and Zecora.
Luis, who was now carrying Snips, said, "Someone, somewhere wants what you two have to offer, but it isn't these two Romeo."
He then was approached by Trixie who said, "You have no idea how much we wish to have thought of saying that a day earlier, Mr..." She trailed off.
"Luis Bonilla, but just Luis will do." He extended a fist for Trixie to bump after tucking Snips under one arm.
"Trixie Lulamoon," she replied, obliging the gesture by raising her hoof up and allowing him to bump his fist into it as he smirked. "Though of course you'd already know that."
"There they are!"
We all looked over to see the woman who Trixie was yelling at earlier. Accompanying her was the security guard for the bus station. He was a big dude with tanned skin and a balding head, but he had a handgun holstered to his hip that he had a hand over.
"Gentlemen..." He suddenly paused, as if he was trying to figure out the best word choice for the situation. "Ponies?" Eh, whatever floats his boat. "I'm'a gonna have to ask you to leave the bus station, right now."
Merille, who was still holding Snails, stepped in front of the guard. "Sorry about that sir," he said. "We were just leaving anyways."
As he said that, everyone who participated in the fiasco had begun to walk out of the building. I turned back one last time to see Zecora just standing there, wide-eyed at the people staring at her.
I waved to Zecora and yelled, "Hey, Zeccy! You coming or not!?"
She got the message and followed the rest of us out of the station. We all walked towards Luis's silver Prius. I stopped next to Merille with Zecora being the last to stop altogether. I guess she felt nervous being around a strange group of ponies, because it looked like anxiety was taking its toll on her.
When Luis was about to put his hand on the car door, he said, "Oh! Before we depart, how about we get the formal introductions out of the way?" He then looked towards Zecora and Trixie's group, "Well, that is, if you want to travel with us, since I'm pretty sure we're all going to the same place."
"Vaudeville and Broadway," Trixie answered, before continuing. "We're okay with all of you just calling us Trixie." Pointing to Snails and Snips respectively, she continued. "The orange one is Snails, or Pablo as he prefers, and with him is his brother, Enrique, or Snips."
Luis pointed to himself, me, Serah, and Merille while saying, "Well, my name is Luis Bonilla, but you can just call me Luis. Over here is Vinyl Scratch, or Gage. It doesn't really matter to him what you decide to call her." He continued, "Right here is Redheart, or Serah as she prefers. Finally, this here is Merille Robichaux, or just Merille."
There was a pause for a moment as we looked at Zecora, "Oh! Right sorry, of course you mean me. My name with grace, is quite simply J..." She paused awkwardly for a moment as her face contorted "It's Zecora," she spoke very un-whimsically.
Taking note of the sudden break from rhyming, we took care of introductions. I began to walk towards a car door to hop in when Trixie offered, "So, you've got transportation? We have gas money if you need it."
Remembering the lazer tag tournament, I replied with, "Actually, we have that covered. We recently got around five-hundred bucks before we left Mississippi. Though, if you still want to chip in, that'd be great."
As Luis and Merille began to adjust the back seats of the Prius to accommodate all of us, Serah had taken notice of the sky and said, "Hey, you all realize it's getting late. I saw a Holiday Inn while we were coming here, how about we get a room there for the night?"
Zecora quickly nodded in agreement as she readjusted her pack. "Having rushed on hoof from town to town, I could certainly use a sit down."
Trixie gave an unrepentant yawn. "Ah, yes, we have wearied from travelling so much over the day."
Noticing how Trixie kept saying "we", I wondered, "Hey, when you say 'we', you mean you and the two dolts over there with the orange one close to Serah...again. Or is it like that outdated royal 'we' that I've seen this one guy use back at the Ren Fair?"
Her eyes practically popped out of her head. I guess she was shocked that I caught it so fast. She gave off an audible gulp before saying, "Yes."
I had opened my mouth to reply to her, but Luis cut me off, "Well, we have it set to fit everyone. Since I'm driving and Merille will be in the passenger seat, who's sitting where?"
Serah was the first to speak up, "As far away from Snips and Snails as possible. I'm sure Zecora would agree with me."
"I guess... that would be best." Zecora nodded as she glanced back to the duo. "I'd rather not have another exchange. That last one was certainly strange."
Trixie clopped her front hooves together as she excitedly said, "Excellent! They can stay in the trunk, we can take the folded seat, and you two can take the rest of the back seat!"
"So that means we're set!" I said while adjusting my glasses, "Alright then, Dumb and Dumber, in the trunk you go! Oh, Trixie and Zeccy, I hope you don't mind some J-Rock and Vocaloid tracks, as my MP3 player is hooked up to the car's speakers."
"I've never even heard of those genres," she answered while getting in the Prius, "Is it like country?"
Laughing a bit, I hopped into the car and said, "Well Trix, J-Rock and Vocaloid will just have to be something I need to show you then."
As I signaled Merille to play one of my favorite Vocaloid tracks, the car soon filled with music blasting at a decent volume. I took a quick look and saw Zecora humming to the beat. "Hey Zeccy. I see you like the song. Pretty upbeat, right?"
"Hmm?" she hummed, "Oh yes this music I absolutely adore, but I don't think I've heard of this artist before."
"Well, that's because Hatsune Miku is first of all, really popular in Japan. Second of all, Miku isn't even real."
"I'm not quite sure I understand," she questioned "is it some sort of made-up band?"
"Actually, it's a synthesized voice. Using a real life voice as a base, and then synthesizing it to make a whole new sound!" I explained to her with glee. "Most of the time, they use a character to represent the voice. In this case, an anime character."
"I didn't think that a voice could be made that way, into such a sort of musical array," pondered Zecora.
"Speaking of anime..." I had paused for a bit before continuing, "I'm assuming you're a Naruto fan? Or at least a fan of Gaara?"
There was a pause before Zecora finally spoke up again "Oh, yes Gaara is one of my favorites of the show. I've only enjoyed certain anime's although..." She paused for a moment, "But enough of me, what of you? What sort of things do you like to do?"
"Well, before becoming Vinyl, my life was kind of boring. I was a hardcore role-playing gamer. When I wasn't working a dead-end job, I mainly played stuff like Skyrim or listened to music. If I wasn't doing that, I usually was at a friend's house."
We continued to chat with each other until I heard Pablo and Enrique chatting amongst each other.
"I can't believe I am in the same vehicle as Redheart! I am so excited!" said Pablo, sound absolutely giddy with excitement.
"Forget that!" hissed Enrique. "We're with Zecora, honestly, how cool is that."
"So..." Enrique started, "do you think Nurse Redheart was a nurse before all this?"
Pablo responded, "All I know is that she has my heart!"
I decided to at least tell them a little something, since they probably wouldn't shut up about them for the rest of the ride even if we told them to. "Actually, she was a nurse before becoming Redheart. Quite the coincidence, isn't it?"
"Doy gracias a dios!" Pablo yelled.
Knowing little to no Spanish, I turned to Trixie, "Hey, Trixie, do you have any idea what Snails just said?" questioned Vinyl.
"Nothing overly important, I'm sure." She lifted her head to look out of the window before facing us again. "So I suppose you want to know who I was before all this?"
Well, I was curious, so I told her, "Well it would be interesting to find out, but if you don't want to share it with us, I won't press the issue."
Zecora's ears perked up when she looked at Trixie. "It would be interesting to share, if you wouldn't mind much or care."
"Alright," she explained, "University student, I was taking this fall off in order to get familiar with a few things I should have looked up when I was younger." She paused for a bit before turning to the two in the trunk. "Pablo, Enrique, you interested in telling us what you did before we met?"
"I worked at a power sub-station," Enrique answered, "patrolled it at night to make sure nothing went wrong. As for my brother, he was in Junior High."
"That... explains quite a bit actually." Trixie said as she turned my head back to the others.
While we were all conversing amongst each other, Luis had turned towards us and said, "Hey, I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm really hungry. How about we stop at a diner and get us a quick bite to eat?"
There was a quick squeak from Zecora, "Oh uh, well if thats best I'm unsure, my funds are somewhat insecure..."
"No problem," responded Trixie. "We can cover the meal for tonight. What do you see, Luis?"
Luis looked to his right and said, "Well, there's a little place called Rosie's Diner. How about there?"
"If there is no disagreement." Trixie looked to all of us, her head poking into the trunk briefly. She then looked over to everyone else. I nodded and she said, "Alright Luis, Rosie's it is."
Luis pulled into the parking lot and soon we all climbed out. We entered the diner. This place screamed fifties diner. There was a steel counter along the length of it with red-upholstered stools in front of it, and plenty of booths with the same upholstery. I always loved these local places. They always took more care in preparing their food compared to popular franchises like Burger King or McDonalds, who really didn't give a damn how your food turned out.
One of the waitresses walked towards us, asking how many people were in our group. Luis told the woman that there was a total of eight people and that we would like to be seated in adjacent tables. We were soon set at the window seats in the middle of the diner.
Zecora and Redheart sat at one booth, and were soon joined by Pablo and Enrique, who sat across from them. Zecora and Redheart looked at each other and smiled before hopping out of their seats and coming to join Trixie and myself. If they didn't get that hint, then they really are lost causes.
Pablo stood up to jump out of the booth, but was stopped when Merille stood in front of him. "Hey, let's talk, us four, 'kay?"
The waitress handed each of us a menu, and I used my magic to open it up to check out what they had to offer. I saw the specials... All of them were meat-based products. I cried on the inside on how I wouldn't be able to eat bacon. Soon, the waitress came back asking for our orders.
I couldn't really decide on what I wanted when Trixie spoke up, "Vegetarian pasta for us, we suppose. We'd risk meatballs, but we didn't really enjoy the prospect of sausages for my first breakfast... As for the drink, ice tea please."
Under the reasoning of 'fuck it,' I decided to just get the same thing Trixie ordered. "What she said, and a diet coke."
Zecora glanced up at the waitress, "I guess a salad will do for me, along with umm... uhh sweet tea?"
The waitress nodded, then inclined her head to Serah, who didn't really bother looking at the menu. "I'll just take a salad as well. With a glass of water."
After getting all of our orders, the waitress headed to the kitchen to tell the chef to begin cooking our meals.
Without looking at me, Trixie put both hooves on the table and said, "We suppose you are owed an apology."
I rubbed a hoof on the back of my head as I said, "Ditto. We did get way too out of hand... er well, hoof now, I guess."
Trixie stayed still as she replied, "Agreed."
The waitress came back with our drinks, sweet tea for Zecora, ice tea for Trixie, water for Serah, and diet coke for me.
I began to lift my drink up with magic to take a sip when I heard a gasp, then the clink of glass on the table. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"
Trixie let out a yelp as water spilled off of the table and onto her. Serah's glass was spilled on the side, completely empty now.
After cleaning up the contents of Serah's glass by levitating many napkins onto the spill, Trixie turned to Serah. "You ask for the refill; we'd probably be rejected."
After giving a silent nod, she walked to the waitress who had served our drinks to get a refill. I soon turned to Trixie and asked, "You know, we'll probably be travelling with each other's company for a while. How about we take the time to get to know each other better?"
Soon Serah returned, with a full glass in her mouth. This time, there was a straw in the cup. The waitress soon followed, with our meals balanced on a tray. Setting us up, the waitress smiled at us, then went to the other booth. "I'll get your meals in just a minute," she said to Luis, Merille, Pablo, and Enrique.
"Very well, we shall start. We woke up like this two days ago, and began our travel to New York since yesterday. That was when we met with..." Trixie tilted her head to the other booth and nodded towards the others. "Them. Enrique was still human, but halfway through the trip he fell asleep at the wheel, crashed the car, and turned into a pony." When she said it like that, it sounded like one of those B-rated comedy movies. "Then we had to march through some backwater town, contacted Zecora, and the rest..." She leaned back in her seat for a dramatic pause. "Is history."
That story did raise a few questions. I had to ask her why Enrique suddenly went comatose like that. "Is there a reason that Enrique fell asleep at the wheel? Was he narcoleptic or something? Or does becoming a pony suddenly make someone sleepy?"
"Were we to hazard a guess," Trixie responded between wads of noodles in her mouth, "we would say that it was the latter. Particularly considering that just after, Discord showed up."
Upon hearing that, I was absolutely shocked. So shocked that it caused me to do a classic spit-take as I was drinking my diet coke at the time, "Discord!? He's here!?"
The drink I spat out flew in Trixie's direction. She dabbed more napkins to dry herself off again. "Well, here in the relative sense, we suppose, here on Earth," she answered. "He's in all likelihood responsible for this whole mess, unless some poor sod woke up as him and couldn't handle it." she finished cleaning her face, and turned to Zecora. "What about you? Anything else to make the musical blowhard spoil my cape some more?" she asked in a total deadpan.
Zecora turned to face Trixie after a distracted glance "Oh me?" She asked before waving her hoof, "Well, there is not that much at all to say. I woke up like this the other day. I only set off this morning, by bus; I'll admit it was boring."
Well that was very anti-climatic. I took a few more big sips from my drink as I began to tell Zecora and Trixie the epic tale of my journey. "I guess it's my turn. Well, to begin, before I became Vinyl this morning, I had actually just graduated from high school, and was working a dead-end job as a cashier. I became Vinyl this morning, actually." It was then I realized that I said the same sentence twice. I then pointed to Merille and Luis. "The two humans behind me, lifelong friends who helped since this crazy adventure began. I ran into Serah here at Wal-Mart this morning, only to be chased out by that crazy extremist group against ponies. I was in Mississippi when I was caught up in a gas station holdup and was in a laser tag tournament that I lost in. Also, I actually met Zecora on Facebook then. Then we got lost and by chance, met you guys at the station."
Trixie simply, and slightly sarcastically, said, "Right."
I could tell she still didn't believe me. I always hated that about myself, when I could tell the solid truth, it'd get written off as a lie. Yet when I lie, most people believed it as the truth.
I simply looked back at my food a bit dejectedly and said, "I remember how you basically called BS on my story back at the station when arguing, but I'm dead serious. In fact, if you want me to, I could show you the news report that was made on it."
"I'll wait for the security footage to show up on Spike TV one of these days," she answered.
"Well, I guess it's my turn now." Redheart giggled a bit, "I worked at a local hospital back in Louisiana. I was more of a paperwork person, but I did see a patient or two now and again. It was actually pretty early in the morning when I became Nurse Redheart, as Vinyl had stated. So, from the hospital, I travelled on hoof to Wal-Mart, since I didn't have a car. It was Vinyl who came across me in the Pharmacy section, and well... You know the rest from Vinyl."
I noticed that Zecora glanced at the fork placed in front of her by the waitress with a confused look on her face. The fork was then surrounded by a light blue glow, and it lifted up to Zecora's mouth. I glanced over and saw Trixie's horn glowing the same color.
Zecora glanced at the fork surrounded in the light blue aura before glancing back to Trixie. "Oh, um thank you," she said embarrassingly. It was probably a bit diffident for her.
I couldn't suppress my laughter at the sight as I said, "... Gallons of shipping fuel right there."
Trixie glared daggers at me when Serah tapped me on the shoulder and gestured to her fork. I felt like life just slapped me across the face. "Sometimes, I really hate you Karma..."
As I used my magic to lift up the fork, it began to envelop in a sky blue aura. I guided the fork to pick up a few leaves of lettuce and over to her mouth. I heard Pablo say, "Gracias!" before immediately hearing the sound of his muzzle slamming into what to me sounded like soup.
Trixie looked over to the duo of colts and said to me, "If that's what happens to you for teasing us, imagine what we had to do to get that guy."
I chuckled at the statement before trying to get a few sips from my drink, only to find out that it was empty. "Damn. My drink is empty already. Need a refill."
Zecora stared at the empty cup as Vinyl placed it back on the table before she pulled it back over to herself. "I don't think there's need for distress," she commented as she placed her hoof on top of the lid, "It just requires a bit of finesse." The sound of ice in liquid being shaken suddenly returned to the cup. Zecora tilted her head, and her eyes widened at the sight of what she had done.
The second I saw that, I squeed an inhuman squee. "Zecora, I now officially love you forever!"
"What was that about shipping fuel again?" Trixie interjected. Lifting up her cup of ice tea, she shook it in front of Zecora. "Don't suppose you could fill it up with Bailey's?"
I shrugged off her retort as I laughed a bit before saying, "Oh shut up Trixie."
Zecora chuckled hesitantly as she took Trixie's cup, "Oh.. uhh well I suppose its worth a try," There was no sound this time though as she looked back to it sadly "Or... well... fie."
We continued to eat in silence as I enjoyed the relative peace. After what had happened to all of us today, it looks like fate was throwing us a bone and letting us have a night of laughter and merriment. |
Guided Rhythm | Realizations | Chapter 8: Realizations
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There wasn't much else interesting that happened as we finished our meals rather quickly. We soon all piled back into the car, and began to find the nearest hotel.
"I don't know about you guys, but that was one of the best meals I had in a long while!" I said as I continued to clean my teeth out with a toothpick.
"Indeed," Trixie agreed, "we had become quite famished from the day's exertions. It was quite refreshing, some incidents aside."
"Again," Serah spoke up, sounding apologetic, "Sorry for spilling my drink all over the table."
"Your apology is suitable," The show mare replied casually.
"I'm still sorry for not being very skilled, it would've easy to get your cups refilled." Zecora said while looking over in Trixie's direction. I did feel a bit bad that I got a free drink, and she didn't... But on the bright side, free drink!
"And I'm sorry for not respecting you as a person, Zecora," A voice from the back announced.
"Yeah, what Enrique said, but to Nurse Red--Serah," Pablo was quick to respond to Snip's apology.
Serah gave a sincere smile and said, "Apology accepted. Just don't go doing that again. Okay?"
I heard some muffled whispering in the trunk, then Pablo asked, "Never again?" Trixie turned her head to stare daggers at him, and he cowered. "Okay," he said.
Well, now that the apology war was finally over, Luis had turned into the parking lot for a local Holiday Inn.
Luis looked to all of us. "Hey, we're here. Merille and I will go in and pay for all eight of us, then we'll come back and help everyone with their stuff."
Trixie opened the door with a quick spell once the car came to a complete stop, and we got out of the car. Looking over to Luis and Merille as the headed for the lobby. "Two rooms!" Trixie called.
Luis looked back over to me and gave a quick nod before heading inside the lobby. I soon began to wonder why we would waste more money and get two rooms.
"Wait. Why would we need to get two... OH! Now I get why!" I said as it suddenly came to me.
"Correct, this isn't Europe," Trixie said. "Don't need four folks piling into the same bed. Eight into one Prius is quite enough. The question remains, who goes to which room?"
Completely clueless to Trixie's saying, I wondered... What does Europe have to do with that? Oh well, I'd just Google it later, as she did bring up a point. Who gets which room?
Snips and Snails ground their hooves into the pavement, looking at it intently. "We'll stick to one room," they said.
Trixie sneaked a quick glance to the lobby, from which Luis and Merille were coming back to us, Merille twirling two sets of key's on his finger. "Got the rooms, right beside each other as well," Merille said. He stopped by one door as Luis grabbed all of the bags from the trunk.
Merille opened the first door and held it open as Luis dragged the stage magician's bag from the car to the room. They didn't even have to ask which room we were taking. Trixie looked over to Pablo and Enrique. I guessed that they had come to an agreement prior to brief trip to the motel.
Luis rubbed his shoulder as he walked up to Merille, "Care to handle your bag and mine?" he asked. Merille nodded, handing him the keys, then heading to the car while Luis opened the other door. He held it open, and Pablo and Enrique stepped inside as Merille brought his own bags.
Trixie walked over to the other room and poked her head inside, spying the two colts. "Anything either of you are going to need from the suitcase?"
Enrique shook his head. "No, we'll be fine, thanks for asking though."
After being sure that they had everything they needed, she quickly followed us into the hotel room.
It was your usual setup for a motel room. Two double beds with a night stand between them on the right side of the room, and the bathroom past that. On the left side of the room there was, from closest to the door to farthest, a desk with a chair and phone, a dresser with a television on it, and a table with a coffee maker on it. The carpet was a light brown, no doubt to hide dirt, if the feeling on my hooves was anything to go by. The walls were painted beige, and the window was covered with a dark forest green set of curtains.
I was exhausted from today's events, so I quickly wanted to get sleeping arrangements out of the way. "Alrighty then! How about this, me and Zeccy got dibs on the bed next to the window, while Trix and Serah get the other bed!"
Everyone seemed to be okay with it as they all nodded. "Very well." I walked past us before looking at Serah. "Just... no drinking in bed... please." She looked at her while chuckling nervously.
I trotted over to where my bed is and inspected my glasses. Before all of this, they were prescription glasses that I needed to see with, as my vision was horrid without them. It also made me think of a few things... We all were headed to New York simply because of one statement from someone we didn't even know personally. We all had different reasonings, but I was curious as to why they were headed there as well.
I looked over to Trixie and the others and said, "We're all going to the same place, yet none of us even know our reasonings behind it. We could have all just stayed put and not do anything, yet here we are. So, I just gotta ask, what's your reasoning for going on this trip?"
"And leave solving this situation to that foolish filly, Twilight Sparkle?" Trixie quipped as she shut her eyes and turned her nose to the air, "Please, Trixie does not leave such things to chance."
I guessed Trixie was refusing to let bygones be bygones.
Zecora took a moment before she finally spoke up. "I don't know if I have a part to play." She looked idly at the rings on her foreleg. "I just want to know why I became this way. How this form I had come to obtain, and what must be done to go back again."
Trixie was still laying on the bed, not even bothering to pick her head up. "What about you, Serah? Sounded to me like you just ended up being dragged along by Vinyl."
She shrugged and said, "Well, I before I met Vinyl, I was in a position where I had almost nowhere to go... And I when I told her that I was curious about the whole New York situation, she offered to let me go with them. So, with nothing else to do, I took up on that offer."
"Y tú, Vinyl?" Trixie asked. "What made you decide to travel across the country?"
I had laid down on the bed as I answered honestly. "To get some answers to my questions. 'Why was it me that transformed?' 'Why into Vinyl Scratch of all ponies?' and 'How the hell do I change back, if I can at all?'"
At that moment, my cell phone began to ring.
I looked at who was calling me. My eyes went wide when I saw who it was. No amount of preparing would ready me for this. It was my mother. The one whom I abandoned when I began the journey. I knew it was wrong of me to do, but I didn't want them to get involved in this. Besides, I needed to go. I had to get answers, something I would have never gotten if I stayed home.
I quickly turned to the ponies in front of me, "Sorry... But I have to take this call."
I trotted out the door to answer the call. It was always a habit of mine, I would stay outside for the duration of a call, no matter the weather or temperature. I galloped to the far end of the building, to make sure nobody was in earshot.
I pressed the answer button as I brought the phone to my head. "H-Hello?"
The response on the other end of the line sounded shocked, "Who is this? Why do you have my son's phone?"
I figured it would be best to just be blunt about it. "That's because this is your son. You remember on the news how people were becoming those technicolor horses? Yeah, it happened to me."
I could tell by her tone that she was surprised, "It happened to you? Then where are you?"
I cringed a bit, I had to tell her the truth, there was no denying it, "I'm with a couple of friends, but I'm not at their house right now..." I hesitated a bit, it was now or never, "I... I'm... I'm not even in Louisiana..."
I could tell that she was getting angry with me, "You mean to tell me you aren't even in the state!? Where are you!?"
I gulped audibly at this. I didn't want them to get involved at all. No matter what. "I... Can't tell you, but all you need to know is that I'm safe."
"Why can't you tell me? Why do you have to keep it a secret from me?" she asked with both anger and worry in her voice.
I stood there in silence, her voice asking me why. "Because... I didn't want to drag you into this, okay!?"
I knew I was going about this the wrong way. I knew I could have just stayed there at home, and everything would have been fine, but I didn't. I left home. I ran away from everything that made me feel safe. Now, I was too afraid to confront my own mother behind my admittedly terrible choice. Without thinking, I used my magic and flung my phone as far away from me as possible.
I don't know where it landed, but I heard an audible crash when it hit the pavement. I stood there in total silence, reflecting on what I had done. I put my friends and people in danger, just for my own selfish needs. Needless to say, I felt terrible. I remembered back at Wal-Mart, I had gotten my friends in near-mortal danger just because I had the nerve to confront terrible people directly. In Mississippi, we were almost killed by a robber, and now when confronted myself with my choices, I instead ran away from them.
I sat down on the stairway, glasses to the side of me as I cried. The realizations finally hit home. I ran away from everything, and when faced with it directly, I couldn't handle it, so I continued to run. The cool night air only made me feel worse as I stayed there, unable to move. If I just stayed home, none of this would have happened. Most likely, we would have all been at home, being bored, but safe and sound. I don't know how long I sat there, as the moon was covered by clouds. Though during that time, I did something I hadn't done in many, many years...
I prayed.
"Please God... I beg you... When this is all over, let me be able to right my wrongs... Please let me have some sort of redemption..."
I picked up my glasses and headed back inside the hotel room. I had started to feel really sleepy. I assumed all of that sobbing really took it out of me. Though I took one last stop to stare at the moon. I made one last promise to myself that I would make things better tomorrow. Then, I'd start to face my problems directly, no matter how tough.
When I walked in the room, I took notice of the duo in front of me. "Hey Zecora, Redheart. Don't bother me. I'm going to sleep."
I soon climbed into the bed and put my glasses on the end table next to a lamp. When I covered myself up, I got comfortable and soon let myself drift off to sleep.
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I awoke to the sound of snoring. Lifting my head off of my pillow, I took a look around at my surroundings. Zecora was fast asleep next to me. Trixie was sprawled out on the bed, and Redheart on the floor, apparently having been kicked off of the bed by Trixie. I took a look at the clock beside me.
"One thirty-five... Perfect... Just enough time to get my work done."
After ninjaing my way out of the bed, I immediately grabbed the small clock radio that laid on the end table. Thankfully technology here is similar to tech back in Equestria. Using my magic to rip open the contraption, I carefully began to rewire and reshape the system to make it look more like a cannon. Using my magic, I began to supercharge the wires and hardware to be amplified. So far, it was coming out great. My jerry rigging was turning out to make the radio look like the way I planned it to be. I couldn't help but bask in my glory.
I think I basked too much though as I began to hear hoofsteps from the direction of the bed.
"Vinyl... its so late, why are you awake?" Zecora groaned as I turned to face her. I could tell from her eyes she still seemed half asleep.
I chuckled a bit to myself, "Well sleepy zebra, I'm crafting a portable Bass Cannon from that old clock radio that was on the night stand."
Zecora's eyes furrowed as I explained as if she had never heard of a Bass Cannon before. "A... Bass Cannon?" she asked in a deadpanned tone. Guess that earned enough for even a break in rhyme.
I cocked my head to the side and gave her a grin. "It was an old trick of mine that I cooked up by accident back in my days as a freelance DJ. Back in Ponyville, I was trying to amplify my stereo system to create a light show to go with my concerts. They were supposed to make sound waves that move to the rhythm, but what came out was a blast that blew a hole in my wall."
Zecora just seemed to stare at me glass eyed for some reason. "But, what you are saying certainly can not be right... Red..." She caught herself before saying the rest of the nurse's name "Your home was in Louisiana before tonight."
That's when it hit me. She thought I was still Gage! "Nah, dude. You're not talking to Gage. He's not here right now. You're talking to DJ Pon-3 herself." I raised a hoof to Zecora, "Vinyl Scratch. Nice to meet ya'."
The now fully awake Zebra didn't return my hoof bump. Odd, it was highly unusual for anypony to turn one down from the wubmaster herself. "What do you mean he's not here? Did..." Zecora paused for a moment as her voice shook slightly. " Did he just disappear?"
I looked at her with confusion. "He's not here, as in. Not taking part of this conversation. Don't worry. He'll be back in the morning."
Zeccy's face didn't seem to inspire reassurance. "This seems all too premature... but he is safe, you are sure?" she spoke with a bit of a stutter in her voice. Geez, I'd seen some pretty insecure ponies before but this zebra seemed to take the cake.
I waved my hoof and said, "Of course I'm sure. What? You thought he was vanishing or something?"
"I... didn't mean to make such a suggestion..." Zecora trailed off as she let out a hesitant chuckle. "I suppose it was a silly question."
I chuckled and soon returned to work on the mini-cannon. After reshaping a few parts of the speaker and using the glass parts that were for the clock to act as magnifiers, I was finally finished with it. It was a really quick job, but one that would pay off in the near-future.
I quickly shoved the thing in Zecora's face as I said in a loud whisper, "Look! My creation is complete! Time to test this thing!"
I quickly grabbed Zecora by her hoof and quite literally dragged her outside into the parking lot of the hotel.
"GAH!" Zecora yelped in surprise as I began to drag her to the door with my masterpiece. She quickly quieted down as I brought a hoof to my mouth to shush her from waking the others.
I quickly, but quietly, opened the door to the hotel room and brought Zecora with me to the parking lot outside. I found a spot that had no cars in the surrounding area as I began to show the finished product once again to the zebra.
"Check it out. If made right, this thing has enough power to blast any threat back at least thirty feet. It should knock the wind right out of them!" I quickly handed the mini Bass Cannon to Zecora. "Go on! Give it a try. Aim for the trees over there and press the button on top of the cannon."
Zecora looked at the device with doubtful eyes. "I don't know Vinyl. I don't have much faith, that this is very safe." She paused as she looked at the speaker, staring it down as if it was some sort of alien artifact. "All these wires are thrown to nether, it all just seem so thrown together."
I waved my hoof and gave her a nonchalant look, "Don't worry. It'll work fine. There's nothing that can go wrong."
She stared at the device a moment more before she hovered her hoof over the large button I added on the top of it before looking back at me for a bit of reassurance. I simply waved a hoof at her before pressing her hoof against the button.
The blast that ensued was magnificent. The sound that emerged was perfect for something so great. It was a blue beam that shot out of the speaker, past the trees that we were aiming at. Instead, it hit a car parked at the nearby building. It shattered the window, which caused the car alarm to go off.
I brought my hooves up in the air in a victory cheer. "It works!"
I glanced back to Zecora, who was covering her ears with surprise. At first her expression was of utter confusion, but quickly turned into a grin as she looked towards me when she realized it had worked. "Wow..." was all she managed to say. "but... owee..." she spoke as she rubbed her ears again.
After we basked in the glory of a successful Bass Cannon, I picked up the mini-cannon and quickly began leading Zecora back to the hotel room. "We need to hurry back inside. The cops are probably going to be here soon with that car alarm going off like that and I don't want to spend a night in a jail cell!"
"No need to say those words twice, just once is enough to suffice." Zecora spoke quickly as her expression changed. Even in the night I could tell she seemed about ready to panic as she shuffled on her hooves as she looked to the Camaro still going off loudly.
When we got back to the hotel room, we couldn't help but giggle at the escapade we got into. I took another quick look at the mini-cannon before stuffing it in Zecora's gourd-bag.
I gave her a wink as I said, "Here, you keep it for now. Don't tell the others about it just yet. Let's keep the thing a secret between us until you need to use it."
Zecora gave me her now trademark confused stare as I spoke to her and tilted her head slightly. It had become almost a natural thing every time I spoke to the mare so far. "Alright...?" She spoke distantly as she bit her lip. "But why would you give this to me to protect? Wouldn't Gage be a better choice to select?"
I put a hoof on her shoulder and solemnly said, "Because he isn't ready yet. He's still a kid fresh out of school, so he's the youngest out of the entire group. Minus only Snails, as Snips may be young now physically, but before that, he was an adult. I'm scared that he might be reckless with it, and bring more harm than good."
I took my hooves off of her as I took the glasses off of my head. "He still has much to learn about responsibility... Something he can learn from you and Trixie. Only when I give you permission, then you can hand it over to him. Until then, make sure he doesn't know of its existence."
Zecora just stared at me and then back to Trixie's bed. "Why not Trixie or even Redheart?" Guess she gave up on the names. "They've both been trusting and rather smart... I don't believe-"
I sighed and put my hoof to her mouth before she could finish. "Trixie..." I gestured to the two sleeping forms in the other bed. "To tell you the truth, I don't completely trust her yet. As for Redheart, she seems to have a problem with keeping secrets." I looked back to Zecora, "Since you're hiding a bunch of stuff already, I know you can be the one to keep that hidden as well... Also, you were already awake."
"I, err, don't know what you're trying to convey, I've had nothing I've tried to hide away," She lied quite obviously. Whatever the zebra was hiding she was doing a horrible job at it. I mean really, her entire face changed and she immediately looked away from me. "But... if you want me to keep it secure... your secret I shall try to endure." Well, at least I could count on her to keep a secret.
I smiled at her as I hopped back in the bed. "Thanks. Anyway, you should head back to bed, since from what I heard, a holiday is tomorrow... Well, today... You get my meaning."
The zebra simply nodded hesitantly as I laid my head back on the pillow and fell back asleep. |
Guided Rhythm | Small, White, and Can't Fight | Chapter 9: Small, White, and Can't Fight
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I drifted into the place between sleep and wakefulness to someone yelling, but in my half-asleep state, I decided to just keep my eyes closed. I wanted to sleep for about another fifteen minutes. Then I heard the clopping of hooves heading towards the door, but soon heard a startled yelp as I heard Merille's voice.
"Hey, everyone else is up already. We were wondering if you wanted to come get some breakfast with us."
Since I figured I wasn't going to get any more sleep, I decided to wake up. Also, my stomach was growling now, and the mention of breakfast made me excited. "Breakfast! So, where we going? Waffle House? IHOP?"
"Gah!' I heard a startled voice shout beside me. I quickly turned to see that Zecora was trying to regain her composure. "I'm glad you are now awake, but must every morning start with a headache."
When she asked if every morning would start with a headache, an idea came to me. It's not everyday you would wake up as a talking technicolor horse that can use magic. I thought that an event like this deserved to be immortalized in an epic photo album. Ideas come to me at the weirdest of times. "Hey... I just got a great idea. How about we start taking pictures while we're on this road trip! Breakfast can wait a bit."
Zecora put a hoof to her chin as she began to speak her thoughts. "Pictures of all four of us? I guess its not too much of a fuss."
Serah clopped her hooves together, "That sounds like a fun idea! It isn't often that someone goes across the country."
"I have journeyed across the country plenty of times," said Trixie, "though I suppose a record of our exploits would do no harm."
I had quickly turned to Merille and asked, "You got your phone with you, right?"He nodded a bit, "Could you take a photo of us four sitting on the bed?" I quickly got up on the bed and took a seat.
Serah giggled a bit as she happily climbed up on the bed, back legs kicking for a few moments as she pulled herself up from the edge.
"So, if I may?" Zecora asked aloud, "Is this spot ok?" Redheart simply nodded and grinned.
"On the bed?" Trixie asked, raising a hoof and scrunching up her face.
I rolled my eyes a bit as I grabbed her with my magic. "Yes, on the bed!"
"Aye!" yipped Trixie as she bounced onto the mattress, landing softly next to me.
Taking a quick glance at Trixie, I threw a hoof over her shoulder. "Come on, Trixie, smile for the camera!"
There was a quick flash as Merille snapped the picture. He took a quick look at it and said, "It came out good, but for some reason, the colors of the room changed to blue." He flipped the phone over to show us, and, true to his word, the colors of the picture were quite different from that of the actual room.
"Well, we are all travelling to New York to stop Discord, maybe he thought such a simple parlour trick would frighten us?" Trixie suggested, pulling herself out of my grip and hopping off the bed.
It sounded reasonable, knowing Discord, he'd do anything from small pranks to worldwide catastrophes. Though he would have to do a lot more to scare us off, like a producing a group of insane bikers. Something like that might deter us, but the chances of that happening were pretty damn low.
I hopped off of the bed and started to head towards the door. "Now, with that out of the way, how's about we get some food?"
"Hmmm..." Trixie smacked her lips together. "Breakfast does sound like an amazing idea right now." She stretched, yawned, then tensed as she glanced over at the night stand. "What time is it? The clock appears to be missing."
Everyone else looked at to where the clock once was.That was odd, what could have happened to it? I pondered it for a bit before my stomach reminded me that I was hungry. "That's weird. Oh well. I'm too hungry to care."
Zecora looked right at me and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm.? Don't you recall? The changes you installed..." She trailed off for some reason.
I just continued to look at her confused, "What are you talking about? I don't know how to install anything unless it deals with a computer." I giggled a bit as she was stumbling a bit on her words, "You must have had one odd dream."
"Oh...." Zecora made a faux grin and rubbed the back of her head. "I guess that's easier to accept. I... might have broken it as I slept..."
Hearing that made me laugh a bit, the thought of the sage-like Zecora kicking things in her sleep sounded hilarious to me. "Wow Zeccy, I had no idea you would break things as you sleep. Anyway, let's get some breakfast. I'm starving!"
It wasn't long afterwards that we found ourselves packing our things and making our way back to Luis' Prius. We needed to get to New York as soon as possible, so we rushed a lot of things headed off to the car with bags not fully zipped.
Standing next to the Prius was Luis, Snips, and Snails. Luis was putting the two colts in the trunk as we arrived. He looked over to us and asked, "You all ready to go? We're going to head over to the nearby Waffle House."
"I am prepared!" Trixie shouted from inside the car. "Onward, driver!"
A quick drive across the two city lights and we found ourselves at the small diner. As I stepped out of the car, I took a look at the sign. The "W" and "U" were broken off, so it made it look like it said "Affle Hose." I thought that was kind of funny. It gave the place character. Overall, I had a good feeling about this place. I giggled at the sign a bit before Trixie magicked the door open. The moment I stepped through the door people stared at us. I gave a friendly wave to the other customers.
Trixie stepped up to the counter, stares following her intently as she reared up and leaned her fore hooves against the counter. "Ahem," yes, she actually said 'ahem'. She floated her hat above the counter and waved it at one of the cashiers. "Excuse me, I'd like to order some food."
The cashier looked down to see who or what waved the hat. I guessed by his surprised look, he had never seen a pony yet. "Uh, Sure ma'am. Is the others behind you with you as well?"
"Yes, they are," Trixie answered, ignoring the confused overtones of the cashier. "I'll have a double waffle and some apple juice."
I hurried next to Trixie and placed my order, "Cheese omelette, with toast and hash browns! And some good ol' fashioned OJ as my drink!"
I took a quick look at Zecora, who was kind of frozen in place. With my magic, I dragged her to the cashier's counter. She began to look at the menu and cringed each time in which (I assumed) a meat-based product appeared.
After looking through it for about a minute, she said quietly,"I think, just... some pecan pancakes would be fine? That is, if no one would mind."
The cashier gave me a funny look before he added it all into the register. The rest of the group ordered, and we seated ourselves in two adjacent booths. Merille, myself, Redheart and Zecora sat at one while Trixie, Snips, Snails, and Luis sat at the other. In a few minutes our orders were brought to us, and I was left to stare at my plate of the cheese omelette, toast, hash browns, and bacon. Oh bacon, how I missed thee so. Sadly, with mine newest form, I shan't be able to taste what was once the sweet nectar of the gods.
"Why would they give me meat, that I can't even eat." Zecora groaned as she pushed the plate away.
With a forlorn feel, I handed my side dish of bacon to Merille. "Here, you'll love it more than I will."
When everyone handed Merille the bacon, he looked at the food with a disgusted look. That was odd of him, as two of his favorite foods were bacon and nutella. "Hey, Merille, you don't feel too good? You look like you're about to--" That's when I saw it... His hair, which was formerly blonde, was now navy blue. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR!?"
After cringing a bit at my sudden amplification of the volume of my voice, Zecora looked at Merille and gawked at his hair. "I.. er.. don't mean to stare, but why'd you dye your hair?"
Merille continued to look at us with a confused expression when Trixie's head poked over the edge of her booth, head hovering over his hair. She nodded at the hair and smiled. "Excellent choice in hair color if I do say so myself," she said, pointing at her cornflower coat as she spoke.
Snips poked his head out from the edge of the booth, and as he saw Merille's abnormal color change, he visibly paled. "El Discord ha llegado para ti!"
The smile on Trixie's face fell off as her pupils narrowed. "We need to go, now."
Sure, Discord might have had something to do with a hair dye, but I was still hungry. "But I'm still eating here!"
Trixie jumped out of her booth seat. Horn glowing, a levitated Snails floated behind her as she stared daggers at me. "Now!"
Well, I didn't want to start another fight, so I gave in. I took the food in a magic grip, not the dishes, just the food, and hopped out of the booth.
Zecora looked at Trixie, confused by the show mare's panic. "But its barely even noon." She asked lightly. "Why must we leave so soon?"
Merille took a quick look at his reflection in the window, and immediately started to freak out. "What the... WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!? We're definitely leaving. Now that I'm turning into Sonic the Hedgehog."
I giggled to myself a bit. That was pretty funny. Of course he'd crack some joke out of it.
Zecora covered her ears at the now blue-haired human's outburst. "Ok, ok we'll go." She mumbled. "Just please, enough yelling though." She sighed as she left the waffles behind and followed Trixie towards the door.
I watched the show mare curiously as she walked towards the front door. Something definitely had spooked her bad, and it didn't seem to be Merille's hair. What was it that spooked her so badly?
Snips, still floating in Trixie's magic, turned to look at Merille. "Madre de dios..."
"Pablo, not helping," Trixie hissed. Her face brightened, smiling to all the people in the Waffle House staring at the spectacle. "Hello, good morning, wonderfully humid this morning, isn't it?" She put Snips on the ground and braced her hooves against the door, pushing it open. She held it open, waving her hoof to usher us back towards the car.
After signaling us to follow, I took a quick glance to Serah, who shrugged. Though after following me out, she shouted, "The car! It's being vandalized by thugs!"
I quickly turned to see who was trying to destroy the Prius.
And then my food fell from my magical grip.
There were five masked men relieving their pent up anger on our car. I watched as one of them took a metal bat and swung it at a window, shattering it. Even though they wore masks, the group still had the hats which identified what hate group they belonged to.
PAPA
Zecora took cover behind me as I began to seethe with anger. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to just stay out of trouble today, on Halloween no less! I was just about ready to lunge at them, when I heard a voice in my head.
"Hey, those guys look dangerous. Let me take over, I'll be able to take them down." It was Vinyl, who was able to hear and see the chaos.
I just got angrier the more those vandals were messing up the car, one of them taking out Luis's GPS and promptly breaking it.
I started growling now, that was the last straw. "No Vinyl. This is personal now."
One of the humans, a skinny and spry-looking goon with gaunt features, went slack-jawed as his eyes passed over us. "Holy! You weren't kidding! It's a swarm of them! A pack!"
"Uh..." Snails stepped forward, holding a hoof to his chin. "Actually, we're more of a herd?"
I suddenly heard Vinyl make a gagging sound, probably slack-jawed now, "Please tell me that I didn't hear what I think I heard."
The PAPA goon stepped forward, leaning down towards Snails. A light-blue glow surrounded his tail, and he was pulled back with a yelp as the human tried to snatch him up.
Snails floated mid-air beside Trixie, who scowled. "Hands off the crazed fanboy!" she called.
That guy was about to hurt a kid. Add to the fact that they are causing a shit-ton of damage to the car, our only means of transportation, made me go straight to attack mode. "You fuckers are gonna pay for messing up my friend's car!"
I was just about to grab him, but then one of those guys grabbed me mid-step. I tried to think fast, but all I got was a quick hoof to the forehead as he quickly flung me to the now-broken car door. I felt my head smash whatever glass was left on the window before hitting the ground.
"You see what happened!? If only you let me take over, you wouldn't have gotten your ass kicked so badly!" yelled Vinyl. In hindsight, I should have listened to her, but I let my anger get the best of me.
And right then and there, I learned my lesson that I should never count my chickens before they hatch, as the metal bat rolled off of the car and hit me right on the horn and temple."Less okay..."
"Vinyl!" I heard a voice call out. I couldn't tell who yelled it, as there was now a constant ringing sound in my head and because my glasses fell off of my face, everything was a bit blurry.
I soon felt myself being dragged behind the car, and I see a white and pink blur standing right in front of me. I rubbed my eyes and everything started to clear up a bit. Serah was standing before me, the trunk was now open as she grabbed a small first-aid kit.
I could hear screaming and yelling as Serah began to tend to my wounds. She looked at me with a worried expression. "Never do something as stupid as that again! You had us all scared!"
My head was spinning as I tried to make sense of what had happened. One moment, I was with the group staring in horror. The next, I was now behind the car with a possible concussion. Serah quickly galloped towards Merille, whom she told to put me in the car. As I was lifted up and placed in the back seat, I heard yelling and screaming from quite a bit of people and ponies, though I couldn't see what was going on.
When I was placed in the car, Serah followed me inside with my glasses placed on her head. She brought the small first-aid kit with her as well as she continued to check my head.
"You have a small cut right here next to your horn. Luckily it isn't anything major. You got really lucky, as that impact looked very scary. Though don't do anything rash, as you might have a concussion."
I couldn't look Serah in the eyes, as I knew I had screwed up badly. I shouldn't have acted so rash, and there I was paying the price with a head injury.
Soon, we heard a roar of a car as Luis pumped his fist in triumph. "Yes! Got it running, now let's get the rest of the group and floor it out of here."
He ran off and signaled for everyone else. He pointed to the Prius and said, "We got the car ready to go. Redheart's looking over Vinyl's injury. Just pile in the back seat, we don't have time to put everyone where they're supposed to be."
After we all quickly piled into the car, positioning ourselves amongst the torn cushions, Luis almost floored it as we left the Waffle House, though it took a few tries. The damage must have been really bad. It was a miracle that the car even started up.
Snails was pressed right next to Trixie, examining her hoof. "Is there a chip? I need to know if there's a chip. What about my horn? If I damaged my horn protecting you..." She turned to Serah, who was applying a small bandage to my head. "Is it alright?"
Serah took a quick once-over at Trixie and said, "Yes. You're alright. I can tell just by looking at you."
All of that whining was really making my head hurt. She really needed to shut up for a bit. "Could you can it, Trixie? My head's already hurting as it is."
"No talent you said. Hmph!" Trixie turned her nose up. "Went charging into a fight and got knocked out instantly!"
I had opened my mouth to respond, but was quickly cut off by Merille. "Something's really bothering my rump. I just can't seem to get comfortable." He kept on shifting around, trying to get comfortable, but each position only made him look even more uncomfortable. "God damn. Did those guys mess up the seats that bad?"
"It was totally awesome!" Snails yelled, pressing towards myself and Redheart. "The PAPA hit you like 'Busch!' Then Zecora was like 'Dios es mio!' but then she totally kicked their flanks!"
Zecora blushed deeply at the praise, then quickly turned away. "All I did was a buck, it was just simple luck."
Really? So the once timid Zecora actually kicked some ass? I thought to myself as I looked over to her.
Soon enough, Merille kept complaining, "Really man this is very aggravating I..." He stopped for a moment as he stared slack-jawed at something, "have a tail now..."
Trixie's ears twitched for a moment. "What!? That's impossible, you're awake!"
Merille simply held up a fluff of his tail to show it to us. "It's Discord. You think he'd have a set of rules to go by? Ever thought he's doing this just to fuck with us?"
Trixie stared, slack-jawed as the coarse, navy-blue hairs swayed a bit as Merille moved the tail. "It's a-a... It's a-it's a-it's a..." Her mouth flexed up and down as she kept mouthing the two words silently.
If Merille was transforming, then I guessed it spread like a virus. A sickness that causes people to turn into pastel colored talking horses. That caused me to chuckle a bit. "So, Merille caught a case of the pony, eh? Not really all that surprising to be honest. I kinda saw it coming."
"Well, it could be worse," piped up Trixie.
"How could this become any worse?" Zecora asked, her voice full of wonder and some frustration. "It's starting to look more like a curse..."
It was then that I heard Vinyl's voice in my head, "Now why do I think that something cliche is going to happen now?"
"No, a curse would be turning into short, white, and Little-Miss Can't Fight here," Trixie replied, pointing a hoof at me. There was a choking sound from the engine as Luis pulled to into a parking lot. Trixie winced. "Or that could happen."
"Called it," said Vinyl while laughing.
I looked out the window to see where we stopped at. It was a run-down bar full of Harleys in the front lot. To sum it up real quick, it was a real life Salty Spitoon.
Luis put both hands on his forehead in frustration. "Looks like she's dead. Guess we have no choice but to ask for help. If it wasn't for those damn vandals, we'd be halfway to Tennessee by now."
"What!?" came a simultaneous exclamation from both myself and Serah.
With some protest from Serah, I climbed over to face Luis, "So you mean we're stuck here!?" I pointed my hoof out of the window. "Here!? At a run-down bar?"
Zecora peered out the smashed car window at the bar. "Can't you try starting it up again? Surely we can't stop at this bikers' den."
The door opened and Trixie squeezed past Zecora. "Come on, one of us needs to call for a tow truck or taxi."
Luis stepped out of the Prius before pulling a cell phone out of his pocket, "No worries. I'll just make the call for a tow truck."
He held the phone to his ear as he waited for a few moments. Not much longer later, he held the phone away from his ear as he turned towards us. "Damn. No signal."
Zecora gave an audible sigh as she hopped out shortly behind Trixie. "This may be hard to construe, but what is it you plan to do?"
"Well," said Trixie, "We'll just have to hope there's a phone..." She pointed to the bar with a hoof. "In there."
Luis nodded his head in agreement as he turned towards the bar, but soon went wide-eyed as he said, "Hey Merille! Don't go in just yet!"
Trixie face-hoofed and sighed. "Alright, we need to get this done soon." She trotted past me and towards the door. "Luis, Zecora, find Merille while I get a phone. Redheart, make sure Vinyl doesn't hurt herself anymore."
The gravel crunched as Snips and Snails walked by Trixie, hooves moving in controlled motion in an attempt at stealth to no doubt follow their idol.
Trixie spun on her hooves and looked at the two colts. "You two," she said to them. They perked up, listening attentively. Trixie's head bobbed slightly as her face scrunched up in thought. "Keep watch."
Both the brothers' ears visibly drooped as they heard Trixie's command, but they obeyed as they sulked back to mine and Serah's side by the broken down car. I watched as the group of Zecora, Trixie, and Luis entered the bar.
After they entered the bar, I turned to Serah and said, "Hopefully, they won't have any problems in there."
She nodded as she hopped out of the car. "Yeah. We've all had enough drama for one day, even though it's still morning."
I followed her as I felt my hooves touch the gravel. I lifted my hoof up to head to prod a bit at my injury, but was quickly stopped by Serah. "Don't do that, it won't help your wound."
I giggled a bit as I quickly brought my hoof back down. "Sorry. Sometimes, I just can't help it."
As Serah finished scolding me a bit, I heard a groan coming from behind me. I turned around to see Snails whining.
"What's taking them so long?" Snails said, spinning around in circles.
"Easy brother," responded Snips.
"But what if something happened to them? We should check." Snails started for the door but Snips clamped down on the orange colt's tail.
"Mm mm," Snips grunted. "You're not going in the bar, too young." He spat out the tail. "Besides, we're supposed to keep watch, right?" Snips was left with a light cloud of dust as Snails trotted to the door and used his mouth to open the door, leaving a drop of saliva on it.
Snips moaned in agitation and followed suit, sliding in through the door just as it swung shut. After seeing that, I tried to hurry and follow them inside, but I heard the roar of an engine pull in to the lot. I turned around to see a biker park an old van. He opened the back doors, pulled out a Harley, placed it next to the long row of other bikes, and start walking towards the bar door, but he stopped and stared right at me.
"Just what in the bloody hell are you supposed to be?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
I gave a nervous laugh and weak smile as I said, "Well. Where do I begin? As you can see, I am a talking, oddly colored horse who happens to be associated with electronica music."
I looked behind the guy and saw Serah frozen in place, apparently stymied by the appearance of the biker. He saw me turn my head towards Serah and the now broken Prius.
He gestured towards Serah and asked, "She with you?"
I nodded nervously. "Yeah, so is the Prius. But it got fucked up this morning. Some thugs messed it up pretty badly."
He put a hand to his chin before asking, "Wait... So that's why news reporters are swarming the Waffle House right now? Because those dudes that got arrested messed up a car? That ain't cool man."
Something told me that this guy wasn't going to kill us, in fact, something told me that he actually might help us. It was the same feeling that I got with Tom Baker and Jonathan back in Mississippi.
I calmed down as I approached the Prius, signaling the biker to follow. "Yeah man, I mean, look at this. Though here's what I don't get... They said they want to stop the ponies from spreading, yet we're going to New York to stop a guy named Discord, who is the one behind all of this."
He took a look at the car before looking to his van. "You know, I can help you with that." He broke the lock on the trunk of the Prius. "Let's put all of your stuff in my van."
Serah, who had finally broke from her trance grabbed me by the shoulders and yelled, "Are you insane!? You trust some random biker..."
She was cut off by the biker, who was putting some bags in the van. "Just sayin'... My name's George."
Serah gave an annoyed grunt before continuing, "You trust George to help us out? Someone whom you met for a total of three minutes!?"
I shrugged her off as I said, "Don't worry. I got a good feeling about him. I don't think that he'll hurt us at all. Besides, it's a free ride. Better than being stuck paying an unknown amount of money for a trashed Prius and be stranded here in Alabama."
She groaned in agreement as she picked up a couple of bags with her mouth and dropped it in the van. As we finished putting the bags in the van, a biker burst from the bar doors and ran to George.
"Dude, there are some horse freaks in there causing a riot!" He looked past George and saw us. "What are those things doing with you?"
George looked back to myself and Redheart, "These two? Don't worry. They're cool. Believe it or not, they actually used to ride with us." I saw the look on his face, he was obviously lying, just to try and make sure that this second biker wouldn't hurt us.
The second biker's jaw dropped, obviously buying it. "So that's what happened to--"
He was cut off as Zecora, Luis, and Merille burst through the doors. Zecora was being carried by Luis and Merille now sported feathery pegasus wings.
Zecora fidgeted around as she asked, "What happened to our friends? I thought they were on our back end." She kept glancing back to the bar doors with a frightened look on her face.
The door burst open again, and Snips and Snail tumbled out end-over-end as Trixie galloped out behind them. As the bar door slammed shut, she immediately glared over at Merille. "What were you thinking!? You just plunked us right into the middle of a bar brawl!"
Before Merille could even have a chance to respond, the second biker banged a metal pipe against the van to get their attention. "I hope you know you've just been green-lighted. You know what that means?" He said in a menacing tone.
Before he could say another word, George punched that second biker dead on in the face. The guy was down in a single hit. George turned back to me and gave me a thumbs up.
Zecora stared wide-eyed at me. "What in Equestria was that about?"
I hopped over the downed biker and looked up to George. "Thanks George. Now, how about helping us with getting out of here?"
The biker shook his head and reached into his pocket. "No, I gotta stay here and try to keep them from following right away." He pulled out a set of keys and tossed them to me, which I caught with my magic.
I looked at Luis with a huge grin on my face and tossed the keys to him, "I'll tell you all the story later, but for now, we need you to drive as fast as possible."
Luis slid the door open, and we clambered inside, grateful for the extra room that it provided. As Luis turned the key in the ignition, bringing the engine to a roaring start, George yelled out. "Go, little ponies! This is no place for you." We sped out of the driveway, several of us still panting from the excitement.
Not long after we were back on the road, we heard Luis say, "Hey guys, looks like we're getting one more surprise today. Looks like we now finally know who the hell Merille became."
We all looked over the seat and found what was once Merille, now fast-asleep in the passenger seat. His pants were now way too baggy for him, and his shoes now lay on the floor of the van. His skin was now covered with blue fur, and was now the size of the rest of us. Sure enough, sitting in the passenger seat was now a pegasus pony who looked very familiar.
"Uhhh..." Snails worked his jaw for a moment, no doubt contemplating the situation for all it was worth. "Soarin?" |
Guided Rhythm | Rising Concerns | Chapter 10: Rising Concerns
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Holy-fucking-shit. The very person who I've known for years was now no longer the blonde jackass that I knew as my best friend. What now sat in the front seat of the van was the famed Wonderbolt, Soarin. His body splayed over the seat with his back hooves resting on the center console and his front hoofs dangling off the front seat. His head swayed with the movements of the car as he snored. A rivulet of spittle flowed down on a string of spit. His right wing was stretched up the backrest, with his left folded, the feathers rustling as the fan blew air on him.
This was so strange, seeing this change occur basically right in front of my eyes. He was sleeping right there on the seat as if nothing happened at all. What I'm wondering is how the hell he didn't feel the transformation from human to talking horse.
"Trixie," Zecora asked hesitantly. "From your words last night, you've seen this before, right?"
Trixie's lips worked over her teeth for a moment before she gulped, as if she was trying to form a response. "Yes... Enrique changed into Snips while he was driving; we crashed into a swamp. But this... But that was like in an instant, he was out like a light, then the change came. It wasn't over the course of a morning like this." She leaned forward a little, looking to Luis. "He was right: Discord did it to mess with us."
Snips and Snails nodded, lips turned downward as they shuffled towards the back.
Both myself and Redheart leaned forward to take a look at Soarin--formerly Merille. Neither of us could form any words at what laid before us. However, as Redheart continued to look over him, she turned to Luis and asked, "Luis, could you pull over for a moment? I need to get a better look at this."
What she just said was pure madness. There was no way she could have been serious, "You mean you want to pull over now? When there's a group of murderous bikers chasing after us!?"
Trixie jumped in between us and pointed up the road. "There's a side road up there, go down it, should lead us to the main highway, we'll travel faster once we're on it, the bikers will keep following the road we're on, and have less to worry about."
I crossed my hooves as I gave it some thought. We had to get away fast, but going to an out-of-the-way road would be smart, "Well... Alright then, but make it real quick!"
Luis, who had nodded towards us, slowed down a bit as he turned into a side road. It was a bumpy road, as we felt the van bounce up multiple times. Snails, being so light, was actually bounced into the air as we kept going down the street.
Wooden telephone poles guided wires down the left side of the road with aspens and poplar trees flanking us on the steep hill to our right. Luis pulled into an overgrown driveway leading to an empty lot, and put the van in park. "Okay," he said, "let's move Merille."
He got out of the van and opened the back for all of us. Trixie and Redheart hopped out of the back and walked to the front passenger seat where Soarin' still slept. As the passenger door opened, Trixie asked, "Alright, what do you need me to do?"
Redheart pointed at Soarin' and said in a commanding tone, "Use your magic to lift Soarin from the passenger seat. Luis and I will then lay him down in the back."
"I ran myself into the ground hauling a colt around a parking lot, do you really think I'm going to be able to lift a star-athlete of the Wonderbolts through a van without bashing him into something?" Trixie deadpanned.
Redheart facehoofed as she glared daggers at Trixie, "Fine then... Drape him over my back while I carry him to the back of the van. Just make sure he doesn't fall off."
"That I should be able to do," Trixie answered, horn glowing as light enveloped Soarin'. He floated out of the seat, his body had not shifted position at all until he was lowered onto Redheart's back while a glow of magic kept his head cradled as Redheart made her way to the back of the van. They deposited Soarin' next to Zecora, and clambered in themselves. As soon as Soarin was put in the back of the van, a glow of magic shut the van doors behind him.
Trixie tapped Luis on the shoulder and gave a smirk. "We're good; let's go."
As Soarin' now lay in the back, Redheart made a quick examination of him. She lifted his head up and turned his head to the side, lifted his eyelid and took a look at his eyes, and even examined his wings on his back.
"I don't know what to say about this. He's completely changed. No sign of his human part remains... Well physically at least. We just have to wait until he wakes up and hopefully not startle him."
Snails approached Soarin' and prodded him with a hoof, jabbing just underneath his wing. Trixie batted the colt's hoof as he prepared to test Soarin's wing.
"No poking."
Tired of listening to just the sounds of the road bumps that the van travels over occasionally and Merille's snoring, I began to search through the CD cases that were strewn about the back. Although George's van had many mix CD's, they were all of a similar genre, which was country.
Hearing the snoring get slightly louder, I turned to everyone and asked, "So, how much longer do you think it'll be until he wakes up?"
Snips sat by Merille's head. "Eh, I think I've got an idea of how to wake him up." Snips, took a deep breath, and then shouted in the van, "Come and get your freshly-baked apple pie!"
I don't think Zecora could have rolled her eyes any harder. She looked towards the chubby pony and said, "Snips,To trick Merille with desert, won't make him awake and alert."
"Mmmmm... Pie..." Soarin mumbled in his sleep while mimicking a chewing motion.
Zecora let out a sigh and mumbled, "Though I've been wrong before..."
An evil thought passed through my head as I grinned grinned, "Well, it seemed to work a bit." I lowered my head to Soarin's ear and said, "There's a sale on pies at the local bakery."
Soarin continued to mumble more about pie as he shifted even more in his sleep. Seeing that, I laughed a bit harder.
Trixie stepped beside Snips and lowered her muzzle in front of Soarin's. "Delicious... piieee!" she proclaimed before lifting her head up and giggling. Soarin's wing fluttered briefly as he tossed his head about. Bringing a hoof to her mouth, Trixie whispered to Zecora, "Go on, do it, Zecora, it's funny!"
"I, well..." She looked back and forth between us and shifted a bit. She seemed to be a bit unsure about it until she finally caved in, "Oh alright."
Zecora scooted forward towards the sleeping Pegasus and whispered into his ear, "A delicious dutch pie, with glorious apple filling, and cinnamon." The words seemed to make the stallion begin to drool. "Wouldn't it sound lovely to eat?" She said with a bit of a giggle.
Suddenly, as if to answer her question, Soarin leaned his head forward towards Zecora. Getting up so quickly didn't give Zecora any time to reach as his muzzle slammed right to hers. It looked as if they were kissing each other.
To say I laughed would be the understatement of the century.
Soarin's slowly opened his eyes and as soon as he saw what happened, his pupils immediately turned to pinpricks. Startled, he jumped back as his wings fluttered in response which caused him to hit his head on the roof of the van. He fell back down rubbing his head and turning away in embarrassment.
Zecora immediately fell over backwards as she wasn't sure what just had happened. All she could do was stutter out, "I... They... It... Them!"
I was bowling over in laughter as tears began to form, "If I had a camera, that would've SO been posted to Facebook!" Zecora glared daggers at me for that, but it couldn't calm me down.
Trixie sat there, smirking as she looked between the stuttering Zebra and the freshly-awakened pegasus. "Come on, it's not everyday you get to wake up with a kiss!"
Soarin', who was trying not to make eye-contact with Zecora, muttered, "Just... What exactly happened?"
"They asked me to do it!" She blurted as she looked back to the confused stallion before looking back down again in embarrassment. The way she looked, it was as if she never kissed someone before.
"What are you going on about?" Trixie elbowed Snails. "I distinctly recall Zecora wanting him to wake up to a mare with her own racing stripes! Isn't that right Snails?"
The colt nodded mutely before adding, "Uh huh!"
She huffed as her face reddened, "It was merely a mistake! A silly little prank!"
Suddenly, Redheart approached Zecora and laid a hoof on her shoulder, "Don't worry. It's alright we all know that it was unintentional," She said as she glared daggers at all of us and said with venom in her voice, "RIGHT?"
Snails cowed under Redheart's eyes, but Trixie kept her wan smile on her face.
I quickly looked away from Redheart and scratched the back of my head before giving a motion like a thumb up, giving my best Larry Butz impersonation, "Yeah! Just an accident!"
Soarin, who was now looking over his new form, turned to us with wonder on his face, "So, who exactly am I now?"
"You are the flying ace, and pie-loving Wonderbolt, Soarin'," Trixie stated. "So all in all, you shouldn't be feeling too blue about who you became."
"Soooo..." Merille asked, "That's a guy character right?"
Deciding to save my friend the horror of the gender check, I said, "Yes Merille. Soarin's a guy. There, I saved you from the gender check." Afterwards, I resumed searching through the countless amounts of CDs.
Merille took another once-over of himself and said enthusiastically, "Well, at least I didn't go through the unexpected gender swap. So I dodged that bullet and... Wait," Soarin quickly stared at his wings with amazement, "I can fly!"
He flapped his wings in excitement as he jumped up and, once again, hit his head on the roof of the van. "Ow!"
Luis, who was eyeing the road quickly turned his head around and scolded Soarin, "Hey! You might want to quit hitting the top before you break through the van or give yourself a minor case of serious brain damage."
Trixie turned around and poked her head into the front compartment. "How're we doing for time?" she asked.
Luis, who finally turned on the main highway, took a quick look at the road signs and said, "We're actually getting close to Chattanooga, Tennessee. So, we're making good time."
"We should be able to make Knoxville before too long. Keep it up, you're the only one whose face matches their license now." Trixie turned back to us and sighed. "Well, that was hectic. Anybody else feel like leading us into a biker bar? Maybe we can go roast marshmallows at a Klan meeting? Pilfer some donuts from Westboro?" As she spoke, her look slowly centered on Soarin'.
Soarin' noticed Trixie's angry glare and shuffled around a bit, "I honestly don't know what came over me. Before then I never even cared that much for a pie."
Trixie closed her eyes, sagged down, then dragged herself past us towards the back. "I-I'm beat... If something important comes up..." She hit the carpeted floor with a thump. "You know where I am."
After a few minutes of looking, I found a few good discs, so I pulled out a few and said, "Hey, how about we listen to some music while we ride? Who here's a fan of Johnny Cash? All I found was country stuff. It's a mix CD of a bunch of his and other artists' stuff."
Trixie's tail thumped against the carpet, accompanied by a muffled "Me."
I reached over and levitated the CD into the CD player and hit play. A solo guitar began to play from the van's speakers, soon followed by a Johnny Cash's voice. Zecora's ears perked up as she listened to the song, apparently being unfamiliar to her. It didn't sound too bad actually, dated, but it was easy on the ears.
"Western Vinyl?" Zecora asked as she looked toward me. "I didn't think you the type."
I rolled my eyes a bit, "I'm not. But listening to something is better than listening to nothing. Besides, I recognize this song. It's a cover of Soundgarden's 'Rusty Cage.'" An thought came to me and I said, "You know, this song is like the theme for our van here. The title fits so well!"
Zecora took a glance around the van and noticed the interior walls had tons of rust around the doors and edges. "Is it because it is old, and covered with rust and mold?"
I yawned a bit and said, "Exactly. You know...Trixie has the right idea. I'm going to catch some Z's. Wake me up when we get to a pit stop."
I took a quick once around and saw a backpack filled with clothing. It looked soft enough, so I grabbed it and placed it under my head as I slowly began to feel the hold of sleep get the better of me.
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I saw myself in an unfamiliar place once more. I began to wonder to myself if every time I sleep will be like this. All of these weird lucid dreams were getting tiring. I just wished I would have a normal dream... Like fighting zombies... Or being in Minecraft. I took a look at myself and gave a dejected sigh. Now even in my dreams I was now ponified. I took my shades off of me and took a look at my face through the reflection. I looked exactly like Vinyl now, save for a few details which made me look slightly more masculine. Everywhere around me was foggy until I began to walk forward. With each step I took, the fog began to clear and soon enough, I found myself inside of a nightclub.
The entire place was lit up and colorful lasers were flashing about. Speakers were set up on a stage where an empty DJ booth sat. In front of it was a dance floor which was lit up with many colors and effects. As I continued to walk forward onto the dance floor, a heard a fog machine go off and a silhouette form behind the DJ booth. The shape was of the figure was Vinyl, no doubt about it. She lit up her horn and placed the needle on the vinyl disc and soon enough, I started to hear techno music.
The fog around the stage soon cleared up and Vinyl was now clearly visible on stage. She let the DJ booth continue to play as she approached me. She slowly stepped off the stage and stepped closer to me. Soon, she stood less than a foot from me.
She leaned her head close and just when her face was just inches from mine, the music suddenly stopped and yelled in my face, "Just what the hell was that back at the diner!?"
I flinched at the tone and volume of her voice. I tried to regain my composure to say something, but it was all for naught as no words left my mouth. I was suddenly struck with Silent Protagonist Syndrome.
She lifted her shades over her eyes and I was now able to see the anger in her. "That was the stupidest thing you could have ever done! I mean, I can be reckless at times, but never something as stupid as that!"
All I could do was hold my head in shame. I fucked up badly back at the Waffle House. I had let my emotions get the better of me. I recklessly charged at a group of armed thugs and almost gotten myself seriously injured.There really was no excuse for my stupid behavior.
I held my head down and finally said, "Yeah, I know... I screwed up badly. But I learned my lesson."
I looked at her in the eyes while lifting my head slightly, "I know now to not be a hero like in any of the Elder Scrolls or Kingdom Hearts games I've played. Teamwork is important... And necessary for survival."
She gave me a confused look, "Like in what now? Kingdom... Scrolls and Elder... Wha?" She asked aloud, wondering what Kingdom Hearts and Elder Scrolls were.
I lifted my head a bit, "They're video games... But the lesson I learned though is still true!"
She gave me the stink eye for at least five seconds before giving a smirk and lightly bonking me on the head, "Alright, I believe ya, knucklehead!"
After that little bonk, I couldn't help but laugh a bit. She really knew how to lighten up a mood. However, when the laughter finally died down, I had realized something. This dream is different from the others I've had. Before, my dreams were of something I was familiar with. Mainly the Stations of Awakening from the Kingdom Hearts series. Now, it's a nightclub that was obviously made with ponies in mind. It was a place I had absolutely no familiarity with.
I assumed Vinyl must have noticed me taking a look all over the place, as she said, "This place was the start of my career... The place where I had my very first gig."
She had mumbled something else to herself, but I couldn't hear it clear enough to understand. We both began to head to the backstage area and approached a door with a sign that said "Vinyl Arpeggio Scratch A.K.A. DJ Pon-3." When we walked into Vinyl's room, the place was a mess. There were papers and trash strewn about, and speaker cases being used as makeshift tables. On one table-case was a pizza box with the brand name "Little Celestia's." Vinyl had taken a seat on the worn couch and grabbed a slice.
She levitated a slice towards me and said in a teasing tone, "You know you want one." She then waved it around and said in a sing-song voice, "It's supreeeeme!"
After sitting on the opposite end of the couch, I took the slice she levitated at me. Though when I looked down at the slice, I noticed something that I thought, at the time, shouldn't have been there.
"There's meat on this slice."
Vinyl looked at me and said in the most sarcastic tone ever, "You don't say?"
That was probably the funniest thing I've seen since, well ten minutes ago, but still... I had completely lost it. I laughed so hard I actually fell off the chair. When I hit the floor, I had hurt my head a bit, but I soon regained my composure.
After dusting myself off, I sat back down on the couch and said, "But I thought equines couldn't eat meat. I had gotten sick after that sandwich, which was loaded with meat products."
She shook her head, "Well, there's your problem. It was overloaded with stuff like beef, pork, and things. Ponies can indeed eat meat, but not in abundance like you humans. You'd have no problem eating a chicken salad, as long as there's not too much chicken. Just don't try eating a steak covered in gravy."
I facehoofed. That was why I felt so nauseated after that sandwich. After wolfing down the slice, I remembered why we came in here in the first place, "So... You said this was your first gig?"
She nodded and pointed to a calendar on the wall, "Yeah. It was eight years ago today, if this calendar in the room is correct."
I lifted another slice of pizza in the air, "Happy eighth then."
She giggled a bit and lifted her second slice in the air, mimicking what fancy people would do when they give a toast, "Happy eighth."
As I began to munch on that slice, I realized that if one were not to count fanon, I knew nothing about Vinyl. In the show, she only had a few one-second appearances. I decided to use this opportunity to get to know just who's mind I'm sharing.
"Hey Vinyl, I was wondering... Mind telling me more about yourself? I mean, we're sharing a body and yet, I still know very little about you. Like, your parents and stuff."
"Well shit. You're actually right. I guess we never really had the chance to chat, you know... With all of that stuff happening... And then me teaching you basic magic things. I guess now's a better time than ever!" she said excitedly.
My voice went to inhuman high pitches, "Really!?" Out of all of the people in the world, I got to be the one to learn about Vinyl's actual backstory! To say I was excited would be the understatement of the century.
She saw my silly reaction and said with a smile, "Yeah, really."
I soon calmed down on the outside, but I was fanboying like crazy internally.
She relaxed on the couch and began to tell her tale, "Well, as you saw on the sign, my full name is 'Vinyl Arpeggio Scratch.' My father was a local radio DJ while my mother was a pianist for the Canterlot Orchestra. Yeah. They were total opposites, yet at the same time, they were head-over-hooves in love with each other. Her yin to his yang, ya' know? Well anyway, my mother wanted me to try out for piano classes. Well, I'm pretty sure you know how that turned out."
I leaned back on the arm of the couch, "You couldn't stay still for long enough and were bored way too easily?"
She flicked her hoof mid-air, "Bingo. I just found piano to be way too boring! I guess it didn't help that most of those students were stuck-up pricks. I dropped the classes altogether a few weeks later. After that, I really had no direction. I mean, I already had my cutie mark for making music, but I still had no idea what instrument I would play."
When she said that, I was confused, "Then how'd you get your mark then?"
She waved her hoof dismissively, "School play. Wrote the songs for it. Anyway, after I dropped the piano classes, my dad offered me the chance to help him out at the radio station. When I began working the turntables for the first time, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. So, after working there for a while, I bought my own set and the rest is history... And if it weren't for my friend Neon Lights giving me the chance and gave me my first gig here, then I don't think I would've gotten as famous as I did... Though I think he's a bit jealous of me since I was considered by magazines somewhat of a prodigy."
Hearing Vinyl's history was awesome. It wasn't much, but it was enough for me. Besides, I wasn't asking for an autobiography. We continued to make small talk until Vinyl asked about me, "Well, you know about me, but I don't know much about you."
I sat up on the couch and began to explain a bit about my life, "Well, my life is pretty uneventful. My mother's an assistant director of a daycare. I'm a high school graduate, having graduated just a few months ago. I've worked at the local supermarket as a cashier. Though I've had a few experiences there. In fact, it was working there in where I encountered ponykind for the first time."
Vinyl raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Mind telling me?"
I shrugged and said, "Alright then. Well, it was a few days before I transformed into you. It was during my shift when I met a mother whose son had turned into a griffon. It was a pretty short time period, all I did was ask a few generic questions and took a picture."
"Sounds like it was a pretty cool thing to see." Vinyl said while smirking, "But I'm curious, what do you plan to do after all of this is over?"
I shrugged once more and told her, "I always wanted to go to college to become a game designer. But, as you can see, I don't think I can attend any college while looking... Y'know, like this. Honestly, I'm surprised that I didn't just hide until this blew over. And here's the thing... I don't regret leaving home. Usually, I'd turn tail and head back."
Vinyl gave me an approving look, "Good for you. Just keep in mind that in this little trip, you're not alone. Just keep your head up, and keep looking toward the future."
I flashed a smile her way as I felt my vision blurring, "I think I'm gonna wake up soon. It was nice to just sit and chat, y'know?"
The last thing I remember doing before finally blacking out was giving her a single hoof bump.
_______________________________________________________
I felt myself being woken by the bumps in the road. In my half-asleep state, I heard a muffled voice.
"We need more gas if we want to make it to New York. Might as well wake everyone up to see if they want anything to snack on."
As I began to wake up more, I heard Trixie's voice.
"Mmm, a meal does sound wonderful right now."
Now finally awake, I rolled onto my stomach, stood up, and stretch, "Mmm, where'd we stop at?"
Zecora looked out the window once more as the van came to a slow stop underneath a large roof, beside two large pumps. "It appears to be a gas station by my guess, but it will give us a chance to leave this small recess."
I looked at the sign and immediately recognized it. It was one of the best convenience stores ever! I didn't even wait. I used my magic to quickly open the back doors and hop out into the fresh daylight.
I quickly turned to my now-ponified friend, "Hey Merille, it's a RaceTrac! Remember the last time we were at one? Those cups of ice cream were delicious!"
Soarin' laughed a bit as he said, "Well, I told you that they had some good ice cream."
"Ice cream, nachos, cheese puffs, soda; I'm just about willing to eat anything so long as it doesn't dirty my appearance!" Trixie declared, walking with Zecora and poking her head out the door. While Zecora joined Merille and I, Trixie withdrew her head and went to her own bag, pulling out her laptop. "Luis, go get us food while I see what the situation is abroad. There are people outside, and I will not go before my audience with a rumbling belly."
Redheart, who had been talking with Luis through the door, finally hopped out of the van, "So... Trixie, Snips, Snails... Want anything in particular while we're inside?"
Looking up from the laptop, Trixie nodded. "A large slushie for each of us, a large bottle of water, and cheese puffs." She turned to Snips. "Root-beer flavor?" Snips nodded, and Trixie turned to Snails, who was already nodding himself. "All root-beer flavor, please."
Zecora nodded and made a mental note of it, "Alright, I'll keep it all in mind, just tell us what you happen to find."
I turned to Luis who beckoned for us to follow him. We made our way to the front doors and upon entering the convenience store, saw an astonishingly clean interior. The brown false-stone linoleum stretched past several shelves filled with junk foods to the coffee and baked-goods bars at the back. Along the right side of the store were the frozen yogurt and slushie dispensers. At the back left were two cash registers, working through a small line of people.
Before walking off on my own, I turned to the others and said, "If anyone needs me, I'll be making the ultimate ice-cream sundae."
I walked over to the frozen yogurt dispensers and grabbed the large cup. The place had multiple flavors ranging from vanilla to chocolate to mango to pineapple and everything in between. The moment I went to put my cup on the mango flavor dispenser I heard a fangirl squeal.
"OH! MY! GOD! It's DJ PON-3!"
I barely had time to register where the voice came from before I got surprise-hugged, "Wait, what?"
Suddenly, I felt myself squeezed between a torso and two arms. I almost couldn't breathe as she squeezed the life out of me, "Ugh! Can't... breathe..."
"Oh! Sorry!" she said as she released me from her vice grip. "It's just that... Well... You're Vinyl herself! The best electronica artist ever!"
I laughed a bit and said, "Well, thanks. Though, just don't crush me to death like you did just now."
I took a look around, and it seemed that the girl's squeal garnered some attention. Soon, others were looking in my direction. Some looked at me with indifference while some looked at me with pure glee on their faces. Soon I saw the flash of a camera and quickly turned to the source. It was from some guy's camera phone from across the bar that had all of the ice cream toppings. Not long after that flash went off, more people started taking out their phones and snapping pictures.
Before anymore pictures can be snapped, I signaled for them to stop, "Look, if you want pictures, then just one at a time, and let me actually be ready for the pic, okay?"
The fans complied and began to ask to pose with them in pictures with them. I must have been really in the moment, as when I turned around, I saw two things. The first thing was that one of the fans had made my frozen yogurt for me and had put everything on it; just how I liked it. The second thing was that Zecora was now standing in front of the bathroom door with a very confused look on her face.
Deciding that it would be nice to give everyone an extra picture I called over to her, "Hey Zecora! Come over here and take a picture or two with me!"
"I... a-alright." she stuttered a bit, but agreed to it.
She was really taking her time getting to the group, so I walked over and pushed her forward, "Come on, it's just a few pictures."
Zecora mumbled something, but I didn't hear her as I draped my foreleg over her, "Smile!".
Zecora flinched slightly, but still had a grin on her face, "Has this happened everywhere you've gone?" she asked me as the crowd started to disperse. "You seem rather content about it."
I gave her a playful noogie and said, "Actually, no. This is the first time that's happened since my little change. But it feels just like the times when I was at anime conventions, and people stopped me for pictures of my cosplay."
"Cos...play conventions?" she repeated back. Soon, all of the crowd was now gone and we headed our way back to Luis. She gave me a confused look and said, "Sometimes you say the strangest things."
We soon made our way back to Luis, who had a bunch of snacks for the road. He looked over to Zecora and said, "Anything you want to get before we head out?"
"If there are any zeb-" She stopped herself mid sentence, "Umm, I think I'll be fine, perhaps just a drink for the road?"
She tried to make sure no one heard her begin to say "zebra cakes," but I heard it. Remembering the little picture I saw on Facebook yesterday, I said from behind her, "Hey! How's about some zebra cakes for Zecora?" The look she gave me was priceless. It was hard for me not to laugh, "I saw that picture on Facebook by the way."
I tossed Zecora a box and heard her say followed by a weak chuckle, "Oh, right. How could I forget those."
__________________________________________________________________
Shortly Luis and the rest of us made our way hastily out of the convenience store and back towards the van, juggling a few bags of road snacks between us.
For the most part it fell to the only two that either still had hands or capable of magic to carry the drinks, but the rest weren't completely useless.Redheart and Zecora each carried a bag in their mouths, much to the amusement of the store clerk and a few other customers.
Trixie quickly put down her laptop to help the moment we began piling the supplies into the van.
After that, Luis drove us out of Tennessee and down single lane road. Just past a bridge, we pulled out to a rest area, a simple gravel lot with a building for washrooms. A short path off to led to the shore of the river, burbling over the smooth stones. After everything that has happened these past two days, it was nice to finally have a short reprieve away from it all.
"Well, this is as good a place as any on the road, I suppose," said Trixie.
Zecora nodded in agreement as she took a look around the area, "That, I do agree, it is quite homely."
While munching on my frozen yogurt, I raised an eyebrow in Trixie's direction, "Something on your mind?"
She nodded. "Indeed, the brothers and I were looking on the web while at the gas station, trying to find out if anything new has occurred, what people's opinions are..."
Redheart also eyed Trixie curiously, "What people's opinions are?"
"Well, there are still a lot of people asking that we wear clothes, and somebody has been photoshopping pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin fist-fighting Princess Celestia... That's about it besides the lurid comments and insults." Trixie removed her hat and cleared her throat. "But that's all less significant. I went on Facebook as well, and some stranger commented on the group picture of us in the motel, saying, 'Take care of my son.'" Reaching to her neck, Trixie rubbed it as she looked between Snips and Snails. "Now these two tell me it wasn't their mother, the username didn't match up, and I know it isn't mine. So I'm wondering, which of you has a mother named Karen Banner?"
Although I was laughing internally about the mental image of Vladimir Putin and Celestia, the more important issue was who this mysterious woman was, "Nah. It couldn't be mine. I could bring up my Facebook to prove it."
Redheart, who grabbed a tube of Pringles out from a bag, turned to Trixie and said, "It said, 'Take care of my son.' I believe that should be enough to clear me. Besides, I'm twenty-five. The last thing my mother thinks about is my well-being."
Snips recoiled slightly. "What kind of mother doesn't care about their child?"
Redheart waved a hoof in response, "Mine, for starters. But that's beside the point. Anyway, could it be the Wonderbolt's mother? Or the only bipedal person among us?"
"Luis and Merille weren't in the picture, so it's doubtful it was one of theirs," said Trixie Vinyl, care to confirm?"
I took another spoonful of ice cream and said, "Definitely not Merille or Luis' mother. For one, Merille's mother is named Kim. And another thing is that Luis here was born in Mexico, so I'm pretty sure you wouldn't find anyone really named 'Karen' down there."
Trixie's horn glowed with a click-clacking of her laptop, along with a few tones from her phone. She turned each one over and showed the contact information labeled 'mom' and a picture of one on the computer, a portly mid-western woman. "My mother, Brigette Krimm. So it isn't mine either."
Turning to the two colt brothers, Trixie asked, "I'm guessing it isn't the case for you either?"
Both colts shook their head. "Our mother is Clarisa," said Snips.
Trixie floated over her laptop, along with a pen. "Mind finding a picture of her or something else to go on? Just to be certain?"
Taking the pen in his mouth, Snips said, "Alright, would you like a birth certificate, passport, and social security number as well?" He then started typing into the computer with the pen, grumbling all the while.
I quickly grabbed my laptop from its case, and began typing in the password to unlock it. As soon as it did, I opened up my Facebook profile and picked out a photo, turning it around to show the others. It was a picture of a short, thin woman with black hair.
I pointed my hoof to the screen and said, "Well. Here's a picture of my mother, Leanna Richman."
Snails leaned forward to look at my laptop as Snips showed their own picture of a woman of slight build, but dark complexion.
"W-wow! Nice picture!" exclaimed Snails. The collective thud of Trixie and Snips' smacking their hooves to their faces let me know what disappointment sounded like in stereo.
Shutting down her laptop's browser as she floated it to Soarin', Trixie said, "Here, mind showing us so we can be sure?" She looked over to Redheart. "You too?"
I floated my laptop over to Redheart for her to use. She had grabbed a pen from her bag and opened up Twitter. Looking through old tweets, she found the photo she was looking for. It was a picture of two people, the one on the left being a young redhead woman and the other being an older brunette with brown hair.
She turned the laptop to show everyone, "That's me on the left, and my mother, Rose Valentine, on the right."
There was a momentary silence after Snails had given a cat call whistle at the name 'Rose Valentine'.
Now this time, it was me who smacked my hoof to my face, as I gave a groan, "You might not want to do that again."
Merille, who was having some difficulty typing, eventually found the picture he was looking for, a picture of a southern portly woman with blonde hair, "Alright! Found it! Here's a pic of my mom, Kim Robichaux."
"Well..." Trixie floated her laptop from Soarin' and towards Zecora. "That just leaves you, Zecora."
Trixie turned around to look at the zebra before putting her laptop to the side. Unfortunately, Zecora seemed to have completely zoned out the rest of the world, "Zecora? Hello? ... ZECORA!" yelled Trixie, waving a hoof in front of her face. "We're waiting for an answer, you, Karen Banner, connection?"
"Huh?"Zecora was quickly brought back to reality as she scrambled a bit, accidentally knocking over her drink. "What a waste of a fine treat... I'm sorry, could you please repeat?"
Trixie, obviously frustrated now looked at her dead-center in the eyes, "Zecora, I just asked the group if any of them knew a Karen Banner, and if they were her son. Vinyl said no, Redheart said no, even Soarin' said no, and he wasn't even in the picture. That just leaves you. Is your mom Karen Banner? The others had pictures and phone contacts showing who their mothers were."
Zecora shook her head quickly, "I, well, of course not." She was obviously trying to avoid the question, and she was doing a horrible job of it.
She was looking between all of us, her head constantly switching back and forth. She took a deep breath and tried to come up with an excuse.
"Well, before any questions have begun, they told you to take care of their son." she said as calmly as she could, "As you can see, that can't be me."
"Both Vinyl and myself switched genders when we transformed, and there are stories all over the place of that happening to others," Trixie retorted.
Shaking her head as she got up, she began to speak up once again in her defense, "I, never have transformed, this has always been my norm."
There was a quick moment of shock amongst everyone. Everything suddenly went quiet after her declaration. Things were so silent, you could hear a pin drop or, in our case, my spoon falling from my mouth and into the cup of ice cream. This was a huge revelation, and I don't think the severity of the situation never really sunk in until that point.
"Well... shit," said Trixie.
"Well, at least now we know who's mother it is that commented on the picture," I said in the most somber tone I've ever spoken in.
"Woah woah woah, uno momento," said Snails, holding his hooves outwards. "That's not right, you don't remember being human? Nothing? Nada? Las luces están encendidas pero no hay nadie en casa?" Snails clutched his head, bending it at a sharp angle, Zecora's statement obviously scaring him to his wit's end. "What if I forget being human? Days at the beach, grandma's stories... Todas las chicas hermosas que quería besar!"
I seriously felt bad for the kid. He was only in middle school after all. Honestly, I was able to relate to him. It scared me too.
I was about to get up to comfort him, but Redheart beat me to the punch, going over and giving him a big hug "Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen to you!"
Snails' forelegs wrapped around Redheart's neck, taking in a shuddering breath. "Ah, la chica hermosa."
Zecora arched her eyebrow at Snail's panicking, as if she said nothing out of the ordinary, "I, don't understand, I'm still me. Why is it such a big deal?"
"How do you know that if you don't even remember what you were like before? Or without anyone who knew what you were like before?" asked Trixie. "Aren't you even able to pluck through your brain to figure out what's old and what's new?"
"Yeah! You're forgetting who you even are!" I shouted in a panicky tone. "This just provides more reason for us to get to New York ASAP!"
"Yes! We should go to New York now, come on!" Snails walked over to the front, poking his head beside Luis. "Let's go!"
Luis yawned a bit and said, "Yeah, I know, but I've been at the wheel all day. We need to make a pit stop somewhere."
Snails sagged a bit and turned as I opened the van door. Luis, Redheart, Merille, and the two young ones followed me out, leaving Zecora alone.
We headed towards the small building that wasn't too far from the van. Nearby was a small park bench which I had sat down on.
Looking towards the others, I asked, "So, do you think the same could happen to us? You know, forgetting our human selves completely?"
"I don't know, I haven't noticed any signs. I mean, I'm not getting dreams or flashbacks or particularly vivid thoughts," said Snips. "Don't think mi hermano here has either. Just an old waifu crush on Trixie, but that was even before all of this."
Snails nodded emphatically. "Uh-huh!"
Redheart shrugged and said, "I'm not too sure either. I mean, I have been getting some vivid thoughts, but it doesn't seem like anything bad is going to happen to me."
When I leaned back on the park bench, a thought came to my head, "Hey, what are we going to do if Luis transforms along the way? Like, what if he's driving and BAM! He becomes a pony."
"Hope a rubber duck materializes when we crash?" offered Snails.
"It was a Gummy Bear, brother." Snips glanced at the orange colt and shook his head.
"Oh, right."
Soarin had a look of confusion on his face, "A Gummy Bear?"
"Yep! And then Discord came and started taunting Trixie and the rest of us, then she had to use her magic to get us out of the swamp." Snails nodded, his mane flailing wildly with the motions of his head. His eyes were shut tight the entire time. It was probably for the best, as it spared in the confused looks from everyone but his brother.
I stared blankly as he explained the Gummy Bear thing, "Well then, that was... Interesting, but the point still stands. What if Luis becomes a pony before we reach New York? Last I checked, ponies can't look over the steering wheel while pressing a hoof down on the gas pedal."
Luis shrugged and said, "Well, if that were to happen, we'd probably walk a bit, then call for a cab or a bus. There, problem solved, since money isn't really an issue now."
I heard a couple of giggles from Luis' blunt answer. Even though it was very simple, it was a solid enough plan for it to be a backup. Though, when New York was mentioned, I remembered the friend I made back in Mississippi. I remembered getting him as a friend on Skype, and then add to the fact that he lived in New York, we would have an advantage over most people headed to the Big Apple. We could be better prepared over others.
After telling the others that I'd be right back, I headed for the van to grab my laptop. When I opened the van door, I noticed both Zecora and Trixie were absent. Figuring that they would be fine, I opened up my case and immediately signed in to Skype. A couple of seconds passed as I found my friend's Skype name. Hooking up my mouse, I used my magic to move it to the "Call" selection.
I heard the monotone beeps as the call tried to connect, and it wasn't long before I heard a voice on the other end, "Hey Vinyl!"
I sighed in relief, being thankful that the internet was surprisingly good here, "Hey Tom. How's it going?"
I heard a small groan before he said, "Not too good actually. Well, where I'm at is fine, but closer towards the city is pretty bad."
Wondering just how bad it could be, I asked, "How bad is it? I mean, it can't be too bad."
"I really hope you didn't just jinx the situation," he said in a worried tone.
I arched an eyebrow at the screen, "How could I jinx it?"
"Remember your tropes. What you had just said is a classic example of Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." After that, he quickly went back on topic, "Anyway, things in New York City have gotten pretty bad. Protests have been on the rise, lately. It's almost always between the supporters of ponies versus the anti-ponies. If you were to hear their arguments, it's pretty cringeworthy on both sides."
I began to think a bit, wondering what would be the best course of action when we actually get there, "So, I guess when we get there, we're going to have to stick to the back roads and alleys."
Tom seemed to have agreed with me to an extent, "Yeah, but New York is pretty much a time bomb waiting to go off now. Oh, and before you head in the city, my parents agreed to let your group use our place as a bit of a safe house."
I pumped a hoof in the air to cheer a bit, "Thanks, man. Now, we'll have at least some form of shelter over there. Anyway, I have to go now. Talk to ya later."
I ended the call right after and closed my laptop. Putting it back in the case, I left it in the van as I hopped back out, closing the doors behind me. I quickly returned to my friends back at the rest stop.
"Hey, I just news on how the situation is over in New York City!" I exclaimed in an excited tone.
"Really?" Snips inquired. "How is it? Are they plastering pictures of Barack Obama fighting Luna all over Times Square?"
"As funny as that would be," I said, "It turns out that there's massive protesting all over the city, almost all of it being Pro-Ponies versus those Anti-Ponies. From what I heard, both sides are acting pretty stupid."
Redheart, who was visibly bothered by the level of tension in the city, asked, "By the sound of that, it seems like things are just deteriorating."
I shrugged and said, "Yeah, it's pretty much a time bomb just waiting to explode."
Luis put his hand to his chin and began to wonder aloud, "So driving on the main roads in New York City would pretty much mean suicide if things get bad enough."
Merille, who stole my spot on the bench, said, "So we're probably going to have to keep to the back roads, right?"
I let my eyes wander from here and there, "Pretty much. Oh, and my friend said that we can use his place to prepare should we need it."
After I said that, I heard the sound of hooves walking across the gravel. I quickly turned and saw the signature blue unicorn approaching us, "Oh. Hey Trixie. Where were you?"
The mare finished walking towards me. She lifted up her chin as her haunches hit the ground. Her eyes passed over the rest of us, her brow arched. Then she sagged. "I was talking to Zecora, and I need to explain some things about her... and me." |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | pre | They saw Flash in slow motion looking at his watch and said something and quickly ran for it.
"Uhh, what did he say?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, it sounded like a pound of meat!" Pinkie Pie said.
"No, he is going to the party! Principal Celestia is going to the gym! It's about to start! To the gym, quick!"
Then the 4 made a madder dash than Rainbow Dash since they're in the higher sugar plane and it moves 5 times faster than Rainbow Dash when she's in the normal world and left with a trail of red streak in the normal world.
"We're gonna make it!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Rainbow Dash! Put the donuts down!" Sunset told her.
Rainbow Dash put the donuts down on the food table and opened it up and there are no more donuts.
"Ahh! There aren't donuts left!"
"Principal Celestia is not going to like this..."
"But at least we have the cake." Pinkie Pie said.
"We have to go back to Sugarcube Corner!" Twilight said.
The 4 made a super mad dash back to Sugarcube Corner, and bought another whole wheat donut and other donuts instead of the double gazed and hurried back to CHS.
Rarity in slow motion, escorts Principal Celestia to the doors of the gym. And they have 6 steps until they step foot in the gym. The 4 even went through an epic run where they had to go through traffic, a subway train almost hit them, and bridges. They went through traffic with Rainbow Dash almost getting run over by a car.
Fortunately, they arrived on time and Rainbow Dash dived forwards, throwing the donuts to the donut box that was placed on the table.
"They're in!" She exclaimed.
"Everyone, eat the rest of the whole wheat donut!" Twilight instructed.
The gang eats the last piece and now they are teleported back to the normal world with its normal time speed.
"Principal Celestia is coming!" Applejack exclaimed. Attracting everyone's attention. "Everyone hide!"
Everyone, including the 4, hid behind their hiding positions and once Rarity and Celestia entered, everyone popped out of their hiding spots and shouted, "SURPRISE!"
2 hours later, the 3 (Except Pinkie Pie) were sitting on the benches, holding their stomachs and haven't eaten anything for the past two hours...
"No more sugar..." Sunset said weakly.
"'Ya sure 'ya three don't want anything?" Applejack asked.
"Nope. We're good. For real...Except Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash said. Pointing at Pinkie Pie, who is eating the chocolate cake she baked before she took a bite of one of the double-glazed.
"If a situation like this happens again...eat healthy meals like the whole wheat donut." Twilight said.
"I'll take your word for it." Sunset said.
"At least it has nothing to do with Equestrian magic. Since that night me, Sunset and Timber used your time machine and went through time." Rainbow Dash said.
"What what?"
"Nothing..."
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | Rainbow Skunk | It begins with the students at Camp Everfree, each pair of students assigned with different tasks assigned by Gloriosa Daisy. Both Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer were assigned to pick up dead animals while holding a dead animal bingo card.
Rainbow Dash found another dead animal and marked a square on the bingo card.
"Now this is more like it," Rainbow Dash says, "Just a few more and we got a bingo!"
"This is totally gross, you know," Sunset complained. "I can't believe Gloriosa made a dead animal bingo card to have us pick up these poor animals. If Fluttershy sees this, then she would seriously be going to kill us."
"So what? We have to pick dead animals in Everfree anyway, that's how we make the camp more awesome. We might as well try to work for a little. Besides, Gloriosa said that we'll stop once we get a bingo." Rainbow said.
"Fine but I still think you're enjoying this too much."
Then they spent the rest of the day picking up roadkill. (Of course, while making sure that Fluttershy didn't see what they were doing) And after about 7 hours, the girls were looking for one last dead animal.
Then Rainbow Dash sniffed something. "Ah, Sunset, if you're gonna use it, you could at least warn me!"
"It's not me!" She then points at a skunk. "Look!"
They then slowly approach a big skunk in the road.
"Aw, skunk!" Sunset says. "If I was Fluttershy, I would definitely take this skunk home.
"Wait, skunk?" She looks at the bingo card, seeing the skunk marked on it.
"Sunset, we got bingo!"
"We did?"
"We did! Come on, let's get this skunk in the bag!" Rainbow Dash tries to pick up the skunk, but the skunk sprays her right in the face. Sunset backed away and covered her nose.
"Hey, hey, hey!" The skunk shouted. "What is that for?!"
"This is so gross! What did I do to you?!"
"You girls think you can just pick up a guy in broad daylight and mug him in the middle of the woods?!"
"We're not mugging you! We thought you were dead!"
"I was sleeping!"
"In the middle of the streets?" She asked.
"Oh, who are you, the queen of sleep, telling people where they can and cannot go to sleep?!"
"We're sorry, we thought you were dead. We were just doing our task. We thought we had bingo."
"So, because you thought I was dead, you thought you got bingo? What kind of terrible game is that?!"
"Our...director of the camp-Gloriosa Daisy assigned us to do this. No Bingo." Sunset replied.
"Hey, are we missing something here?!" Rainbow chimes in. "I can't go back to the campsite when I smell like this!"
The skunk laughed. "You think you just turn it off? No, I'm stuck with it, and so were you."
"Come on, don't be a wuss and tell me how to get rid of this!"
"Did you just call me a wuss?"
"Yeah, what else should I call you?"
Then the skunk grows into a giant monster and grabs Rainbow Dash. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM! LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE WHEN YOU CAN'T TURN IT OFF!"
"Let her go!" Sunset comes back with a shovel. "Let her go or I'm gonna make you wish you were a dead animal!" The skunk lets her go. "Now get lost!"
"You girls are disgusting! I'm outta here!" He then walks off, but Rainbow Dash stops him.
"Wait; at least tell me how to get rid of this smell!"
"Yeah right." He yelled. "Figure it out yourself!" Then he left.
"What do we do now?!"
"We should head back to the camp." Sunset suggested.
When they returned to the camp, they saw Applejack who had just finished her task with Rarity.
"Howdy ya'll. How's that-Ew! Something stinks around here!" She then covers her nose.
"Rainbow Dash got sprayed by a skunk," Sunset explained. "And that skunk can even turn into a monster and nearly kill her!"
"Yeah! And I can't continue the day like this! Everyone will avoid me forever!"
"Don't worry, Sugarcube," Applejack assured her. "We better get that smell off of you immediately. It stinks more than your dirty hands 'cause you didn't wash your hands every day!"
"Did you just insult me?!" Rainbow Dash gets really mad and shapeshifts into a monster and grabs Applejack. "DON'T TELL ME HOW STINKY MY HANDS ARE! WHAT, YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST INSULT ME LIKE THAT, HUH?! WHAT ARE YOU?! A COWGIRL?! FARMGIRL?! OR A POOR LITTLE GIRL?!" She then throws Applejack to a branch of a tree. When she sees this Rainbow Dash realized what she just did and slowly turned back to normal. "Oh my god, Applejack! I am so sorry! I don't know what came over me!"
"It's alright, but what was that for?"
"I said I don't know what came over me! I just became mad all of a sudden and then-I'm so sorry, Applejack!"
"Girls, maybe we should talk to Twilight."
The girls were inside Sunset and Sci-Twi's tent. Sci-Twi examines Rainbow Dash and finally figures out what's with her.
"That was a were-skunk." Sci-Twi said.
"What?"
"Yeah. Whoever got sprayed by one will be cursed and turned into one by nightfall."
"What?! What am I going to do?!" Rainbow panicked.
"This is bad. This isn't an ordinary skunk. You could take a shower, and if that doesn't work, try coffee because it will dehydrate you and draw some of the smell out."
"A bath? Hot coffee? Is that the best thing you could ever think of?!" She then transforms into a ferocious monster again. "OH, YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SMART ARE YOU?! I'M TWILIGHT SPARKLE, I'M SO SMART THAT I DON'T KNOW THE STRANGE ENERGIES CAME FROM OUR SCHOOL AND UNINTENTIONALLY STOLE OUR MAGIC DURING THE FRIENDSHIP GAMES! WELL GUESS WHAT?! I AM GOING TO MAKE SURE YOU STOPPED MAKING INVENTIONS THAT WOULD KILL US OR WORSE!" She then throws Sci-Twi's book of invention into the ground and destroys it. She realized what she just did and slowly turned back to normal.
"Oh no! What should I do?! I'm so sorry Twilight!"
"What's gotten into you?" Applejack asked.
"I don't know! But I can't control it! Twilight I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay I got copies, but you should find a better way to get rid of the smell, because once the transformation is complete, you'll never want to be normal again."
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash takes a shower at the girl's shower room that Gloriosa had provided. Sunset then knocks on her door. "Rainbow Dash, I looked all over the internet. We should probably try the hot coffee idea if the shower doesn't work. Are you done? Did it work?"
The door opens and Rainbow Dash steps out of the shower, wearing a towel. But she still smells like skunk, so clearly it doesn't work. "I tried everything Sunset. I used soap, shampoo, conditioner, cologne, perfume and deodorant."
"But I thought the soap would do the trick. Did you try to lather, rinse and repeat?"
"Yeah, I did lather, rinse and repeat, and I used everything here!" She then transforms again and grabs Sunset. "WHAT, YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW HOW TO KEEP MY BODY CLEAN?!" She then throws Sunset on the ground hard. Really, really hard. Rainbow Dash realized what she just did and slowly turned back to normal.
"Sunset, I'm terribly sorry!"
"Just try to keep calm, okay?"
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright, let's get you some coffee."
Then they sat down on a log.
"Just relax. I'll go get you that coffee, okay? Relax."
Then Sunset quickly ran and went to Flash Sentry. Who was with Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.
"Hey Flash," Sunset greeted. "May I have that coffee you packed? Rainbow Dash needs it, quick."
"What's wrong, Sunset?" Flash asked.
"She got sprayed by a were-skunk." Sunset replied.
"Then how's coffee going to fix this?"
"We thought it might cure her. Maybe."
"Oh, poor darling," Rarity says in despair. "I hope this will work."
"It'll work Rarity. Probably."
Then Flash quickly brought out his mug and made a hot coffee and gave it to Sunset. "Here you go, Sunset."
She took the mug of coffee and gave it to Rainbow Dash. "I hope this works."
She then drinks the coffee. "Well did it work?"
Rainbow Dash sniffs herself and the smell is still in her. "No."
"Can you try pouring it at yourself?" Sci-Twi asked.
"Fine." She pours the coffee at her but it's so hot that she screams and flies out of her seat.
"Did it work?"
"No! It was really hot!" She then hears Snips and Snails laughing a few feet away from her. She then becomes furious. "You think this is funny?!" She then changes and grabs the two former henchmen by their shirts. "WELL DON'T THINK THIS IS FUNNY, THIS IS ME YOU'RE LAUGHING AT!"
"Rainbow Dash!" Sunset shouted. "This isn't you, STOP!"
Rainbow Dash sees a shock, scared of students and scared Snips and Snails.
"Woah, you're scaring me!" Snips said.
"Please let me go! I'll do anything for you! Please!" Snails begged.
Rainbow Dash felt guilty and put them down gently and turned back to normal.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!" She then runs back to her tent she shared with Fluttershy.
"Rainbow Dash, wait!"
Rainbow Dash lays down on her bed and starts sobbing. The Equestria Girls come and speak to her. "Rainbow Dash?"
"Go away!"
"We're here to help you, darling." Rarity said.
"Just stay away from me!"
"But we just want to talk to ya' Sugarcube."
"AJ, stay back! I nearly hurt them! I'm a monster!"
"Rainbow Dash, you're our friend, not a monster."
"But didn't you guys see what I did?! I would never hurt anyone! I represent the element of Loyalty and I will never dare to hurt anyone I know and cared for! But if I keep hurting everyone I know, then I don't deserve to be one of the elements of harmony anymore!" She curls up like a ball and starts crying.
The girls sat down next to her and comforted her.
"But Rainbow Dash, you're not a monster." Sunset said. "Well, I did turn into one since the Fall Formal, but this is different than that. And so does Twilight since the Friendship Games. But what I'm going to say is that we've come so far together and went through difficult challenges together. And you're the only one we can help."
"But how? There's no cure for me."
"But there's still time to cure you. No matter what happens, you'll always be our friend, even if you did turn into a monster, we still love you."
"You are?"
"Of course, darling, we will help you no matter what happens to you." Rarity assured her.
"I would also make you feel home if you ever did turn into a skunk monster." Fluttershy said.
"But we're still going to find a way to change you back." Sci-Twi said. "Even if it means if you turn into a monster like you guys turned Sunset back to normal and she changed me back to normal as well."
"It may seem that hope is lost but that doesn't mean we will lose a friend like you!" Pinkie Pie said.
"Listen Rainbow Dash, if me and Twilight changed back to normal after we turned into monsters, and you'll be changed back too." Sunset said. "Right now, we must find a way immediately."
"We will always be with you when you needin'n us the most." Applejack said.
Rainbow Dash felt a bit better and wiped her tears away. "Thanks guys. How could I do without you?"
"Hey, it's what friends do for each other. And I just told you the same advice you gave me ever since the Fall Formal." Sunset said.
Rainbow Dash smiled and stood up. "Okay. If we're going to find a way to cure me, then we need answers from that skunk!"
"How are we going to find that darn thing?" AJ asked.
"And Fluttershy's power doesn't seem to have any effect on him."
"Well since Sunset and Rainbow found him somewhere around the woods, so he could be anywhere around here." Sci-Twi said.
"Then I have to look for him by myself." Rainbow said determinedly. Channeling her geodes powers and running off with her super speed.
Rainbow Dash runs her way to the hills and sees a house. Assuming that the skunk must have lived there, she ran to the door and bang on it.
"Skunk, come out!" She continues banging on the door. "I know you're in there!"
The door opens and the skunk comes out. "What? Oh, it's you. What do you want, a rainbow haired tramp?" (No pun intended)
"You darn know why I'm here! I need you to tell me to get rid of this smell!"
"And why is that? You called me a wuss, remember?"
"Okay, I'm sorry but you could please tell me let this be bygones be bygones?"
"The thing is, I'm sick of being disrespected. Always getting dirty looks, people yelling at you, people hating you all the time. With you as a skunk, things won't go so bad. All that negative attention won't fall just on me. It'll fall on you too. We'll split fifty, fifty, partner."
Rainbow Dash was enraged, turned into a monster and tackled the skunk and rapidly punched him. "TELL ME NOW HOW TO GET RID OF THIS STUPID SMELL OF YOURS?! TELL ME! TELL ME!"
"It's orange juice! But it's too late anyway. The transformation's already started, friend!"
Rainbow Dash activates her super speed and runs her way back to town. She started to grow skunk fur all over but after a few seconds, she was back at town and made it to her house and went to the kitchen and opened every cabinet and saw the can of orange juice. She grabs a can opener and pours orange juice on herself, but it has no effect. "Why is it not working?!"
"Come on, you didn't think that was the real cure, didn't you? It's not orange juice, I was just stalling you, so you'd run out of time. Don't worry-once you'll become like me-you'll never want to be normal again!"
Rainbow Dash knelt down and screams in anguish as the transformation continues.
"Rainbow Dash!"
The skunk looks through the window and sees Rarity's limo pulled over and the girls were seen exiting the limo from the back. They tried to open the door, but the skunk locked it before they touched the doorknob.
"Hey, open the door!" Sunset shouted. "We're getting our friend back!"
"It's too late- she's my friend now!"
"We're going to get our Dashie back, you big stinky meanie!" Pinkie shouted.
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack shouted through the door. "We figured it out: Tomato paste! The cure is tomato paste!"
Rainbow Dash goes over to the cabinet and sees the can of tomato paste but the skunk knocks her door and starts beating her.
"Oh, that does it!" Applejack activates her super strength and ponies up and breaks through the door with her fist as if it was nothing.
"It looks like someone wants to fight." Skunk said as he stood up and held up his fists.
Then the fight broke out between Applejack and the skunk and Applejack landed a few punches on him, sending him to hit a wall a few times, thus enraging him. Applejack used her instincts to avoid getting sprayed, so she won't end up in the same situation as Rainbow Dash and begin landing another punch on the head thus knocking him on the ground hard. The skunk became super furious and landed multiple punches on her and she was unable to dodge all of his attacks. The girls gasped and Pinkie Pie ran to help her but ended up in the crossfire as a result.
He then grabs both of the girls and hardly throws them at the others thus knocking them really, really hard on the wall. Feeling weak and in pain.
"You think you can stop me from sharing my pain to your friend? You're just like everyone else in this stupid group you called friends. You can't stop it. You can't stop anything!"
"You're right, we can't stop it." Sunset said, but then held out the can of tomato paste. "But Rainbow Dash can."
She then throws the can at Rainbow Dash; her transformation is almost complete. "Split this!"
She then smashes the can with her baseball bat and splatters tomato paste all over the kitchen. Rainbow Dash looks at her reflection and sees that she's in her old self again. "It worked! I didn't think it would work but it works! YES!" She then approaches her friends. "Guys I am so sorry about the way I acted back at the camp. I didn't mean it!"
"It's alright Sugarcube," Applejack told her. "We're just glad to have you back."
Then the other skunk was a human all along and surprised that he wasn't a skunk anymore. "Am I human, again? I am!" He then approaches Rainbow Dash. "Oh, thank you so much rainbow haired kid! You have no idea I had to live being a stinky skunk for so long!"
"Uh...you're welcome?"
"Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta take a hike!" He then left the house as if it was nothing.
"He still counts as a skunk, right?" Rainbow asked her.
"Totally counts as a skunk," Sunset replied.
Rainbow Dash fills out the bingo card. "Alright Sunset, we got bingo! Wait until Gloriosa and Timber hears about this!"
"But first, we gotta clean up all of this mess first." Applejack said.
"Oh right, let's get to cleaning!
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | Applejack vs. Error 230 | A montage begins with Applejack, fixing her truck, the dinner table, and the television. She is shown to drive her way to CHS until she sees her friend Fluttershy and her car up ahead. She stopped and saw her car's tire was flat. Few minutes later, her tire was back in good shape with Fluttershy thanking her and driving off. Applejack followed suit with her truck.
When she arrived and parked her truck in the parking lot. She was met with Flash whose locker was jammed to open. Luckily, Applejack uses her hammer and bangs his locker, thus his locker is no longer jammed. He thanked her and she happily walked through the hallways.
"Nothing's broken when ya' need'n tools to fix it." She said,
She then passed by the library and stopped when she heard one of her friends talking.
"I think it's broken, Rainbow Dash." Sunset said.
"Here, try this." Rainbow Dash said.
"Hey, something needs to be fixed here?" She asked.
"Applejack, come help us." Sunset said.
"Yeah, she can fix anything."
She then walked towards them.
"So, what's the problem ya'll have here?'
"Well, we were working on a report on history, but we forgot to do it yesterday. So, we have 6 hours left before history class and we decided to use the library computer." Sunset said.
"Yeah, we tried printing it, but it gave us an error 229."
"Uh huh..."
"We double checked and the driver is already installed..." Unfortunately, from AJ's point of view, she was zoned out as she doesn't know how to fix an issue that involves computers and such.
"So can you fix it?"
Feeling unsure, she insisted. "Sure..." She then taps a key with her hammer, causing the screen to be filled with pop-ups.
She gasped and grabbed her sledgehammer. "We got to smash this darn thing!"
"No! Stop!"
But Sunset and Rainbow Dash stopped her from doing it.
"Applejack, it's just a computer!" Rainbow said.
"Put it down, AJ!"
"Fellas, ah' know this school and ma' home. There's something evil in that computer, we have to smash it!'
"No, stop!" Sunset protested.
She stopped as the two panted.
"You don't know how to fix this, do you?" She asked.
"What?"
"Wait? You don't even know how to fix a computer?" Rainbow asked.
"AJ, it's okay." Sunset said. "You don't have to know how to fix everything. Don't worry, we'll take care of it."
"Ah' can fix everything, ya know?"
"Yes. We know, Applejack. We know."
When she left the library, she could hear her friends talking again.
"Sunset, I thought Applejack could fix everything." Rainbow said.
"Well, yeah, but not on computers. C'mon on, let's just figure this out ourselves."
She sat at one of the seats inside the band room. She sighed and took a drink of a bottle of water. Then her friend, Rarity came to her and sat down beside her.
"Darling, is anything alright?" Rarity asked.
"It's just that ah' don't know how to fix an error 229, Sugarcube. Yep, sure ah' can fix everything but not on computers. Sunset and Rainbow Dash can't continue their report on history if that issue can't be resolved." Applejack answered.
"Hmm...Now that makes sense. Maybe, try to study about an error 229. I have that book inside my locker. I'll lend it to you then you can help them out with that issue so they can continue their report." Rarity said.
"Ah' suppose that could help. Thanks, Sugarcube. Ah' know I can still fix it." Applejack said.
"Why, it's my pleasure darling. I'll be right back."
After 3 minutes, she came back with a book and gave it to her.
"Oh, I borrowed that book 3 days ago. You can take it back to the library when you're done." Rarity said.
"Thanks again, Rarity."
Once she left, Applejack flipped all pages until she turned to the page about error 229. This is exactly what she needed.
Montage began with Applejack studying more about the error 229. And after like 10 to 15 minutes, she's finished. And walked back to the library and returned the book as well.
"Fellas, ah' know how to fix an error 229." She said, But then, none of them were there but the computer was still on.
Applejack studied the screen cautiously, and slowly tapped a key on the keyboard. However, this caused the computer screen to pop out more pop-ups, which made it unstable. The printer also explodes and shoots out more paper out of it. Sunset and Rainbow Dash returned and only saw the commotion happening.
"Applejack, what are you doing?!"
"Ah' just tryin'n to fix an error 229!" She answered.
"But it's not error 229 anymore!" Rainbow groaned.
"Yeah," Sunset elaborated. "While you were gone, we messed it up, and now its error 230!"
"And it's even worse now!"
"Look, AJ. It's fine. We asked someone to fix it."
"But fellas, "Applejack begged. "Ah had to fix this! Ah' just want to fix so ya'll continue your report! Please, give me a chance!"
"Look, I know you want to help. But I don't want you to be so worked up. Please, let us handle this."
"Ya'll say what you want. But ah ain't stopping until I fix it! I just need more time to help ya'll out on this!"
"You're just saying this because you're not admitting that you can't fix computers." Rainbow said.
"Ah' know ah' can't fix a darn computer, but ah still want to help out!"
"Applejack, please-"
"Say all ya' want Sunset. But ah'm telling ya. Ah' ain't stopping. When will this fella show up?"
"She'll be here for an hour." Sunset answered.
"Okay, ah' can do this. Just stall her until ah' get back."
"Why?"
"Just do it!"
"Okay, okay! Geez!"
When she left, she heard them talking again.
"Sunset, what's AJ's problem?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I don't know." She said, "She needs to realize that there are some things she just can't fix."
Luckily, she asked permission from Celestia saying she needs to leave the school grounds to learn how to fix an error 230. After finishing her story, even the principal doesn't know how to fix that kind of error, she happily allows her to leave, but she needs to return within 30 minutes.
She arrived at the mall and went to the electronic store and saw two employees there.
"Ah' need to fix an issue on a computer." Applejack said.
"Guh, we don't know." The employee said.
"I don't know how to fix an error 230." She answered.
When they gave her the computer, Applejack was confused at first. "Why in tarnation this thing look different?"
"That's a 1995 model computer," The employee answered." Now open the internet. You see those icons? Now open the internet."
But due to the poor quality of the computer because it's old, Applejack can't tell which icon is the internet. Instead, she clicked random icons causing it to crash.
"What did you do?! You can't just open a lot of icons at once! It will only make it worse! Ugh! Maybe our magical intern will do better than us! I bet she's your friend from school!"
The two employees left her alone and she was met with a familiar face.
"Hey Applejack, aren't you supposed to be at school?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, hey Twilight, ah' forgot ya worked here. Well, what are you doing here?"
"Hmm... yesterday I told Principal Celestia that I had duty today, so she allowed me to have a day off from school while I'm doing my job here. So, as I was asking what you are doing here?"
"Ah need to know how to fix an error 230." She answered.
"Oh, that's easy. Just hold the power button, and wait for 5 seconds, and after 5 seconds press print. Got it?"
"Ah' still don't get it."
"Oh. It's okay. I will help." But then her phone buzzed as if she received a message. "I just got a text, saying they had a problem on a computer. Hey, why don't you come along? I'll help you out."
"Umm...Sure...Ah guess..."
"Great. Let's go."
When they returned to Canterlot High, Applejack sighed and face palm.
"Ya'r emergency call came from our school?"
"Well didn't Principal Celestia tell you to be back here within 30 minutes? Besides, when I'm done, my shift is over." Twilight said.
When they went into the library, they saw Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash pressing the keys while the printer shot out more paper rapidly and luckily, no one, not even the whole staff members, saw the commotion.
"Rainbow Dash, you're making it worse!" Sunset shouts.
"Well, you keep on pressing things!" Rainbow argues back.
"What did you guys do?!"
"Twilight! Come quick!" As soon as she stepped in, Applejack followed suit and she was not pleased. Her arms crossed and tapped her foot. "Oh. Hey, Applejack. How's it going?"
"Really ya'll? Thanks for stalling."
"Sunset, tell me what's going on."
"It still won't print our file!" Rainbow exclaimed. "The monitor just started flashing."
Sunset gave Twilight a piece of paper. "And about twenty minutes ago, these started coming out of the printer!"
The paper says; You will never find error 230/ Printing a file? Is that all you can do?
"A threatening haiku? This is really worse than I could ever imagine!" She said, Then she brings out her homemade holographic purple keyboard. "Don't worry. I'm going to sort this out."
"Wow! Twilight, you made that?" Rainbow asked.
"Yep, and this one has a hologram. Elevate keyboard!"
Then a hologram version of her keyboard appeared above the real one.
"Awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"I never thought you could make holographic inventions!" Sunset said.
"My time at Crystal Prep really helped a lot." Twilight said. "Error 230, let's dance.
Twilight used her scientific keyboard in order to remove all pop-ups and defeat error 230 but it was still there. Twilight tries it again, but it backfires.
"Elevate Keyboard!"
Then a third holographic keyboard appears. Twilight taps both of the holograms but Error 230 is still there, and it backfires.
"Can someone tell me what in tarnations going on?! Or we're still trying to print something?!"
"This is the worst error 230 I've ever seen! I'm going in!" She brings out her high-tech helmet.
"Can't we just smash the darn thing?"
"AJ, just let Twilight do her thing."
"Here I go!" Once she wears her high-tech helmet, she is now inside the computer. And saw Error 230 not very far. "I'm in! Error 230, prepare to be eradicated!"
But then, Error 230 rises up. "Error 230?"
"The error rubbed him off revealing the words from 'Error 230' to 'Deadmageddon' "No young child. It is I. Deadmageddon. And now thanks to you, we will digitize the whole world."
"Did you say 'we'?"
"Prepare to be assimilated!" Then it started to attack Twilight and took control of her.
Back in the real world, Twilight is glitching like crazy.
"Twilight, are you okay?!" Sunset asked in a panic.
"Applejack! Remember I told you not to destroy a computer?! Well...I was wrong after all!"
Twilight collapses but now rises up, being possessed by Deadmaggedon.
"Thank you for releasing the Deadmaggedon virus. Goodbye."
Then she shoots wires out and digitizes everything it touches. That includes the bookshelf.
"Ah' knew that darn thing is too evil! We have to destroy it!"
"What just happened to Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Ah' don't know. But I think that darn virus must have possessed her! That virus ain't error 230, but it's Deadmaggedon!"
"Well, that makes sense." Sunset said. The trio ducked underneath the table as more stuff also got digitized.
"We're going to fight this thing!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Wait! We can't fight it! If we fight back, we'll hurt Twilight as well!"
"Then we have to go to the computer!" AJ said.
Applejack runs for the computer, but the wires stopped her from doing so.
"Don't worry Applejack, I got this!" She activates her super speed and runs for the computer but Deadmaggedon stopped her on time.
"Rainbow Dash, look out!" Sunset shouted. "Twilight, stop!"
"There is no Twilight Sparkle anymore, Only Deadmaggedon." She then summons a giant cursor and sends them to the trio. "Now die!"
The trio luckily dodged her attack and regrouped back to Sunset who is still hiding behind the table.
"She's just too fast!"
This gives the farm girl a brainstorm. "Too fast?"
"What do we do?"
She glanced at Twilight's keyboard still plugged into the computer. And saw all the programs on the computer screen. This gives her an idea.
"On the count of three, ya'll make a break for the keyboard and keep opening programs as much as you can!
"Okay, got it?"
"But what are you gonna do?"
"Me?" She picked up her sledgehammer and activated her geode's powers. "I'm going to fix it. Okay, one...two...three!"
Sunset and Rainbow Dash run to the keyboard and press random keypads while Applejack is busy fighting, Deadmaggedon makes her own sledgehammer and blocks Applejack's attack with her weapon.
"A sledgehammer, is that all you can do? An analogue digital world," She pushes Applejack. "Ironic, really, that a teenage girl like you will be the first thing to be digitized. Goodbye."
Just as she was about to be digitized, Deadmaggedon freezes. Showing the two girls had completely added more programs.
"What did you do?!"
"Don't ya' get it? It's common sense. If ya' open a lot of programs, you'll slow down. Applejack said. Then she threw her sledgehammer at the computer, destroying it completely. And defeat Deadmaggedon.
After that, Twilight returns to normal. Sunset quickly ran to her and checked on her. "Twilight, twilight, are you okay?!"
"Sunset...Shimmer...?" She opened her eyes and saw her friend. "What happened...?"
"Well duh, that virus possessed you and tried to kill us." Rainbow Dash answered.
"Are ya' alright Sugarcube?" AJ asked. Help Twilight get up on her feet.
"Applejack, I gotta say, my time at Crystal Prep granted me higher intelligence of science and technology. But none of them have defeated Deadmaggedon! For that, I thank you." Twilight said.
Then a piece of paper came out of the printer. Twilight walks over to it, and grabs and gives it to Applejack.
"What's this?"
"It is an appreciation for not just saving me but all of us." Twilight answered.
The paper says; Thanks for your handy hard work, Applejack. Sincerely Twilight Sparkle.
"Wow. Thanks Twilight."
Then they heard another paper coming out of the printer. "No!"
But Sunset stopped her. "Applejack, it's okay! This is our history report we've been trying to print all along!"
Rainbow Dash took the paper with all of her and Sunset's hard work in it.
"Oh, sorry guys..."
"Oh man. If Principal Celestia sees this, we'll be in a whole lot of trouble!"
"What if we just bury everything in the yard, she'll never know!" Rainbow Dash suggested.
"And ah' could use a lot of help to fix the whole place. Class starts in 10 minutes."
"Sure. We can help out." Twilight said.
"Alright, let's get going! Sunset, get the tools at my truck outside! Rainbow Dash, get some construction hats! Twilight, get some drinks for us!"
When they part ways until they got back, Applejack started placed some tables and chairs back to its proper position.
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | A Very Realistic Movie Night | It begins at Principal Celestia's office who is still thinking of ideas to raise money to support education at her school. Her sister Vice Principal Luna entered her office and gave her a soft smile.
"Still thinking what the students should do for school fundraising?"
"Yes." She replied. "The science lab is destroyed. And I had no idea how that happened since no one here has ever had a single accident. And some parts of this school also needed repairs and I still have no idea how we get enough money to fix it and support education here."
Luna put a hand on her chin. "Well, some students have their own ideas by the way. Rainbow Dash has sports equipment and suggests for a sports tournament, Pinkie Pie suggested for bake sale while Flash suggests for a concert."
"Hmm, those could work but I'm not sure how..." Then they heard a soft knock on the door. "Come in."
The door opened and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, (Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo) entered.
"Yes? What can I help you three with?"
"We should have a scary movie night!" Scootaloo suggested.
"That's right, at the school gym." Sweetie Belle added.
"You girls want to shoot a movie night there?"
"Yes."
Celestia liked the idea and agreed. "You know what? That could actually work. That's not a bad idea at all!"
"Yeah," Luna added. "We did have a movie night there 4 years ago, it was a great success!"
"Okay, then it settled then. I'll be making an announcement saying that we'll be taking your idea for tonight. So, you three will be picking up that movie, right?"
"That sounds 'bout right." Apple Bloom said.
"Okay, time to let the student body know about this." She picked up the P.A microphone and pressed the button to turn it on. "Attention all students, I know that all of you are struggling to come up with ideas for the school fundraising and what I'm going to announce is that we'll be taking the Cutie Mark Crusaders' idea about having a scary movie night at the gym. So please don't be late and we'll be all there tonight! Have a great day!"
After the announcement, all of the students seem to agree with their idea of a movie night at the gym. The girls exit the office and go outside since the final bell already rang 12 minutes ago.
"So, whaddaya say, shall we get the movie?"
"I'm always ready like Rainbow Dash."
"I would like to get that movie."
Then they went inside the movie store where they are looking at any case of a horror movie. Scootaloo pointed at a movie case. "We got to take this one!" She picks up the case and reads the title. "Canterlot Hell: Death Sin."
"Applejack said that a book is better." She puts it back on the shelf.
Then Scootaloo sees another VHS case and picks it up. "This is maturity! "The Monster and the Girl: Sex is Fetish!"
"Scoots, what is with you? Clearly, we're not shooting an un-ladylike movie night." Sweetie Belle said.
"Oh, so you kids know about horror movies?" The employee asked. "Come into my lair."
They walk up to the counter, and he shows them a VHS. "This is from my personal stash. Check it; Cantercalypse 3D!"
"Oh yeah, I saw this few years ago."
"No, you didn't." He replied.
"Huh?"
"This is a foreign boot-leg director's cut. 3 hours and 30 minutes of remastered, it should scare you out of your twits for life!"
"Hold on a minute." Apple Bloom picks up a tape. "What kind of thing do you call that tape?"
"It's Zetamax 3D, it's the only way to truly experience this movie. It makes you feel like you're in an actual zombie movie. And it also includes 3D glasses to back that up. And don't forget to include this!" He then picks up a heavy projector. "This should help to pop out the zombies."
"We'll take it!" Scootaloo said.
"Wise choice," he said and gave a few boxes of 3D glasses. "And don't forget these as well."
Apple Bloom tried to carry the projector, but it was way heavier than she thought. Then the employee helped by lifting it back to the counter. "Do you need some help to carry this thing?"
She shook her head. "No thanks. I'm going to call my sister to help lift it."
Meanwhile, back at CHS the Equestria Girls are helping to set up for the movie night. Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash are setting up the chairs and split each row into two, giving more space in the center. Twilight helps the three girls to set up the projector while Applejack and Pinkie Pie are setting out posters to see the movie while Rarity sat by the outside of the gym sitting on a chair with a box waiting for someone to come by and pay to see the movie.
"I never thought that having a movie night here in this school could help raise enough money." Sunset said as she placed another chair down to its position.
'Well pony-girl, we did this a long time ago and it was a huge success." Rainbow Dash replied.
"Where was I when that happened?"
"I dunno. Since you're a bad girl around that time, you didn't get invited. But now you do."
Then Applejack came by with Pinkie. "Alright, quit talkin' and let's get this thing going! Our tasks with the posters are already takin'n care of and we both need some help with the decorations!"
"I can help you with the decorations, AJ." Dash said. "Right after I finished helping Sunset to set up these chairs."
Then Applejack walks up to the Crusaders and Twilight. "How's that projector thing going?"
"It's doing well AJ," Apple Bloom replied. "And with these 3D glasses, it would be even more awesome!"
"Are ya' sure about this? Because the last time we watched a scary movie, you became traumatized by it."
"Don't worry Applejack. I learned my lesson that day and conquered my fear."
Applejack was still unsure about it but shrugged it off.
"So what movie are we supposed to watch?" Sunset asked.
Scootaloo brought out a tape from her bag and showed it to her. "Cantercalypse 3D; this movie is so scary that everyone will be scared out of their twits!"
Rainbow Dash can't help but chuckle. "Good one scoots."
Then the night finally arrived, the gym was dark but not that dark. All students were sitting on their chairs and two rows were separated. The box was now filled with a huge pile of money under Celestia's hands and each of the students was given 3D glasses while some were given popcorn or chili dogs.
Sweetie Belle presses the button on the projector to start the movie and the light from the projector beams to the movie screen and shows the prologue of the movie and the crowd cheers.
Then the movie begins with a man walking in an empty city. The buildings were already destroyed, destroyed cars were scattered around and flames were scattered around the burning buildings.
"I was your average kind of guy before it all happened. Before an experiment gone wrong at a science lab triggered a pandemic and it took everything I knew." Then a zombie jumps up from behind, but he reacts quickly and brings out his spear. "Batter up!"
He hits the zombie, and it spatters blood and it shows the title; Cantercalopyse 3D!
Then the prologue ends with the man and his girlfriend being surrounded by zombies out of his house.
"Don't worry baby, get these suckers taken care of. Baby?"
He then looks back at his girlfriend and she turns into a zombie. "Aw, great." The zombie tackled him and made zombie noises and the crowd gasped while Apple Bloom was shaking.
"Baby, you let yourself go really bad."
Scootaloo grabs Apple Bloom by the hand, making her scream and knocks the projector over and the tape pops out of it and causes the film to stop. Everyone began to boo in frustration while Apple Bloom gasps and checks on the projector.
"Scootalo, what the apples is that for?!"
"I didn't think you could freak out that bad. Honest!" She defended.
"Are you bucking kidding me?!" One student shouted and the rest began to boo even louder.
The Equestria Girls removed their 3D glasses and stood up and helped the Crusaders to put the movie back into use. Applejack puts the projector to its steady position and Scootaloo picks up the tape and blows on it a few times to remove the dust but accidentally spits on it. She exclaimed, "Oh god!"
"Ugh! What the buck?! Why did you spit on it?" Rainbow asked.
Scootaloo tries to wipe it off with her arm. "I didn't mean it!" She puts it back but nothing's working.
"Why is it not working?"
Scootaloo tries to shake the projector but it causes rays to go out and it hits the screen. Twilight takes the tape out and it is placed backwards. "You put it backwards. That's why it's not working." She then puts it back in the right way.
Then the movie continues and the crowd cheers again. The group sighs in relief and enjoys the movie.
"Well, that was close." Sweetie Belle said.
"Yes. There's no way we're letting this idea go down. But if this doesn't work, then I always got my backup plan." She then shows her sports equipment behind them. "Just in case, you all can thank me later if this goes down."
"You know we're watching a movie, right?" Fluttershy asked.
Then a zombie from the movie comes out of the screen. The cause was more likely by Scootaloo spits on the tape by accident and puts it back in backwards. Since the crowd were wearing 3D glasses, they had no idea that a real zombie just popped out of the screen.
"Wow!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "That zombie does pop out on you!"
"Totally," Rainbow agreed. "That one is coming really far off the screen."
But then, Sunset realized something was going on. "Wait. Guys, we're not wearing 3D glasses!"
The zombie walks up to Mr. Cranky and grabs his arm. "Hey, check this one out!"
The girls gasp and Applejack exclaimed. "That's a real zombie!"
"This is just great. Why does every kind of situation like this always happen to us?" Rainbow asked.
Then in a movie, the man grabs a chainsaw blade while a zombie walks to him.
"Hey, queer!" He throws it at the zombie and decapitates it. "Heads up."
The crowd cheers and seeing this scene gave the young daredevil an idea. "Rainbow Dash, that's it! You're sporting stuff!"
Scootaloo quickly picks up discusses and throws it in a similar fashion the man did in the movie and decapitates the zombie as result.
Rarity gasps and faints alongside Fluttershy but Applejack quickly holds them before they hit the ground.
"Wow, nice shot scoots." Then the ground started shaking. "What the buck is happening now?!"
"Okay, genius, let me put this in terms that you'll understand." While that scene plays, more zombies from the movie popped out of the screen. "The things you did, it woke up the dead- and they're ticked off!" Then the zombies let out their hands to everyone who was still wearing 3D glasses.
"Guys, if anyone gets hurt, then the world will turn into an apocalypse! We got to keep these zombies away from our friends!"
She then grabs javelins and Sunset decides to help and grab discussion. And Rainbow Dash began to yell the SpongeBob victory screech and they both ran towards the zombies.
Then a student reaches his hand out to a zombie while wearing his 3D glasses. "Oh cool." Then Sunset throws a javelin at the zombie, piercing it to death. "Aw man, that zombie just took a hit!"
Then Both Sunset and Rainbow Dash kill every single zombie around them and keep them away from their schoolmates.
"Holy freak!" Sandalwood exclaimed. "Did you see that zombie get a discussion to the face?"
The crowd cheers again and Rainbow Dash backs off of the zombies in the similar way the man does in the movie at the same time. And began to kill all of them off. She sees another behind and before she kills it, Applejack throws a javelin at the zombie's back.
"Ya' know I ain't leaving both of you hanging like that!" Then more zombies magically popped out of the screen. Applejack picks up another javelin. She screams and runs towards the zombies while the man in the movie does the same thing at the same time. She stabs a few zombies and crushes their necks.
"Better fire up the grill, 'cause I got me a zombie-kabob!"
Their schoolmates cheered again, and Pinkie Pie finally arrived with a tray of cupcakes.
"Hello everyone, I got all of these cupcakes that all of us are going to eat while watching the movie!" She exclaimed and a few zombies approached her.
"Pinks look out!" Rainbow shouted and threw another discuss to the zombies' necks thus decapitating them. Then another Zombie touched her by the shoulder and screamed when she saw a zombie in front of her.
Rarity and Fluttershy woke up and saw a zombie that was about to eat Pinkie Pie and she gasped.
"You leave darling alone!" She summons a big diamond and throws it at a zombie and crushing it against the wall.
Sunset looks back at the crowd and sees a zombie approaching Flash. "Woah, this is freaking awesome!"
"Flash!" She throws discusses and decapitates the zombie and its head falls on Flash's head.
Then those who were fighting were still busy holding them off and the big zombie from the final scene of the movie pops out and screams.
"Applejack, look out!" Sunset shouted.
The big Zombie growls and Applejack pony-ups and kicks it on the nuts but it only turns into dust.
"Oh, apple fudge..." The Zombie grabs her by the collar and throws her away, but she was saved by Twilight's telekinesis powers and safely put her down.
Sunset and Rainbow Dash throw javelins at the zombie but he quickly catches them with both of his hands and throws it back at them. Twilight uses her powers and catches them on time before they've been pierced.
"We really do need to beat the thing."
Then Rainbow glanced at MicroChips' newest invention, the futuristic go-kart. She ran towards it and sat on it and started the engine. The main character of the movie was inside a car.
"Okay, you big freaking creep-"
"You've taken a lot from me. But if you think that you're gonna deprive me of my-"
"-the money for our school's fundraising problem-"
"You're sorely mistaken!"
Both of them step on it and drive towards the zombie, Rainbow Dash was close enough and quickly leapt out of the go-kart. The go-kart hits the big zombie, and it explodes with him in it. And at the same time, the movie ends with flames burning the movie screen. Then the crowd cheered and clapped their hands.
Meanwhile, everyone else was going home and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were talking with Principal Celestia who was holding the box full of money.
"That idea was great, girls! I never thought the other students would be in that movie!" She said, "Anyway, it's getting late. We should all go home and go to sleep. And enjoy your weekend!"
When the Principal left, they regrouped with the Equestria Girls who were talking with Flash, and he seemed in a happy mood.
"I cannot believe this!" He exclaimed. "I actually thought I was in a real horror movie but man that was sure awesome!"
"Well Flash the truth is-"
But he interrupted her." Say no more, Sunset. We're all having a good time there and got to hit the road. See ya!" He then went inside his car and drove off.
"Should we tell everyone that those zombies they saw are real zombies we're fighting off?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well since they were wearing 3D glasses and thought that zombies are fake it's best not for them not to know that those were real zombies." Rainbow Dash suggested.
"Given what we all just went through, ah' to agree with Dash that no one else should know about this." AJ added.
"I'm sorry for letting that happen." Scootaloo said and his head down in guilt. Rainbow knelt down to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, now scoots. Yes, you accidentally caused it but it's not your fault that it happened. It was an accident and look how good it came to them."
She felt a bit better and looked at her with a smile. "Thanks Rainbow Dash."
"Now let's go home and get some sleep. Because tomorrow you're going to be adopted and be part of my family."
The girls were surprised by this, and Apple Bloom asked. "Hold on a minute. You're getting adopted?"
"Yeah, I always want Rainbow Dash to be my big sister."
"This is so fantastic!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I should throw a welcome-to-the-Dash-Family party!"
Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Now come on, scoots. Let's get you home."
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | Dump Wheel | Meanwhile at Sunset's house, the former pony-turned-human was busy watching her favorite guitarists on T.V
"I'm here with Canterlot's greatest guitarist of all time, the skull. You're at the top of your game right now. What's the secret to your success?" The announcer asked.
"Two words: Name change. I love my mom and all, but the name she originally gave me-not so awesome. So I changed my name to the skull. Just rolls off the tongue better."
"Fascinating. How do you come up with it?"
"I simply took two words and put them together. Picked "The" and "Skull". The skull. And I became the coolest woman in the world!"
Sunset was amaze. "Cool, I'm gonna change my name to two completely random words! But what words should I pick?"
She then took notice of her trashcan which was close to the refrigerator and looked through the window and she could only see there is her motorcycle she gets to keep after the Friendship Games.
Then Sunset got an idea.
Meanwhile at Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash was busy drinking her favorite smoothie. Sunset walked up to her with her left hand behind her back.
"Hey Rainbow Dash," She greeted. "What would you say if I changed my name into...Dump Wheel?"
Rainbow Dash went silent for 3 seconds. "I'd say you're a complete wuss."
"You wouldn't say it was cool?"
"Dude, it totally sounded like a tire taking a dump. Plus, I'm pretty sure that's not how being awesome works. Not when you're changing your name into Dump Wheel...wait, you're not actually considering changing your name, are you?"
"What? Nah, I was just joking."
But her friend became more suspicious. "Then what are you hiding behind your back?"
"Nothing, it's not important."
But before she could make a break for it, Rainbow Dash used her super speed and took something from Sunset's hand.
She takes a good look at the frame. "Certificate of Name Change?! You actually did?!" She then burst into laughter.
"Give me that!"
"Oh, man; wait until everybody hears this!" She then runs off with her super speed. "Hey, guys, Sunset just legally changed her name into Dump Wheel!"
"I gotta change my name back."
Sunset went to the Canterlot Courthouse and walked up to the counter.
"How may I help you?" The lady asked.
"I want to change my name back to Sunset Shimmer."
"That'll be five-hundred dollars."
"What? But I don't have five-hundred dollars."
"Then I guess our time is up here. Now move along, kid."
Sunset groaned and walked away. Then a man walked up to the counter.
"Uh, I'd like to change my name back to Johnny."
"That'll be five-hundred dollars, Mr. Lamebrain."
Back at Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash was looking through the binoculars and saw Sunset walking her way to the cafe.
"Hey, girls, Dump Wheel is back!"
Then the rest of her friends walked outside and greeted her.
"Oh, Dump Wheel!" Fluttershy greeted.
"Howdy, Dump Wheel." AJ greeted me.
"Dump Wheel!" Rainbow sang.
"Hey, Dump Wheel!" Indigo was heard taunting her.
Sunset pointed at her rainbow haired friend. "Did you have to tell everyone?"
"Yes. It's that funny." She tried holding her laughter. "Dump Wheel!"
"When Dashie told us," Pinkie explained. "We thought it was only right to welcome you back as a new friend-a new friend named Dump Wheel." She then laughed and gave her a nametag with Dump Wheel written on it. "Here, welcome back to our group and we can all be best friends!"
"Yeah, thanks. Look, are there errands I can do?"
"Whoa-ho! Errands? You really are a new friend, Dump Wheel." She laughed again.
"Seriously, I need five-hundred bucks so I can change my name back." Sunset said.
"Well, I'm sorry to say that the wheel has been rolled. One of my old schoolmates from Crystal Prep had done all of the errands for us in return for treating me dirt before the Friendship Games."
"Yeah, loser, don't come begging us for money. Sunny Flare and I already spent it all on those sweet new shoes." Indigo said.
"But aren't those really cheap?"
"Not when you're buying a new pair of glasses." Sunny Flare said.
"Guys, please! She begged. "I needed five-hundred bucks to change my name back!"
"There is one thing you can do." AJ said.
The scene transitions to the Sweet Apple Acres where Sunset helps the Apples to rake the leaves. Then the Dazzlings walk by and throw their litter on the ground.
"Hey Dazzlings! No littering! If you have a dump, use a trash can!"
Then Adagio Dazzle looks at Sunset's name tag with her new name on it.
"Well, why throw it in a trash can when I got Dump Wheel to take care of it?" Adagio taunted.
Then the Dazzlings burst into laughter and walked off.
"Ugh! This name sucks!" She throws her nametag on the ground.
Then Applejack's granny shows up and sees what she just did.
"Hey, Dump Wheel; your job is to rake the leaves. Now pick it up."
"But nametags are only for new people."
"Exactly. New name, new friend! Now put it back on or you'll regret it."
She sighs and puts her name tag back on.
"Never get old." She then walks off.
The scene transitions to Rainbow Dash and her little sister, Scootaloo as the two were in a line at the ice cream truck.
Then Sunset runs up to her. "Rainbow Dash, I can't take this anymore. I want to change my name back. Could you please be a good friend and lend me five-hundred bucks?"
"Five-hundred bucks? I'm not too sure about that. What do you think scoots?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't think you should do it, Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo replied. "It's not a good idea to lend money to people you don't know."
"Please, Dash." She begged. "I need 500 bucks to have my name back."
"I don't know dude; I usually lend money to my awesome friends including Sunset Shimmer. But I've only known Dump Wheel for a day. So, I don't think it's a good idea."
"Please! I can't live in this stupid name anymore!" Sunset begged again.
"Well sorry but the Sunset Shimmer I know works at a Sushi restaurant." Rainbow said.
"You know what? I'll just go back to my workplace and get the five-hundred dollars by myself!" Sunset said and ran off.
Unfortunately, she just lost her part-time job because of her new name. And she was forced to find another part-time job. No matter where she goes, people will always make fun of her because of her name. And what's worse is that she was on the news, newspapers and billboards because of her new name Dump Wheel, and she became a laughingstock worldwide.
Then Sunset quickly hid in a dark alley and stopped and caught her breath.
"How could I have been so stupid? Well, this is it, first; Raging She-Demon, second; Anon-a-miss, and now; Dump Wheel? I will never change my name back."
Before she started sobbing, she heard a faint voice giving her the feeling that she wasn't alone.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" She demanded.
Then the figure stepped out of the bodies of the shadows and wore a purple bulletproof suit packed with heavy weaponry.
"Dump Wheel. We meet at last."
Sunset became nervous and scared at the same time. "Why do you look familiar?"
"I am...the skull."
"What happened to you?"
"You happened! I was the most famous guitarist until that fateful moment you took it all away with your horrible name, Dump Wheel. You've robbed me of my fame and glory! I've even tried to change the name to Skull Wheel, but it didn't do anything! My life was ruined. That's when I realized I had to take matters into my own hands using all of the skills my dad taught me when we're hunting deer together when I was little! And what I mean by that, I'm going to kill you!" She then brings out her shotgun and loads it up.
Sunset nervously back away in a few steps. "Woah, look, let's not make this go out of control! I'm sorry I ruined everything for you."
"Sorry isn't gonna cut it, bacon head!" Then pointed her shotgun at Sunset. "Now die!"
She fired the bullet, but Sunset quickly dodged it on time, and quickly ran for it and even climbed over the fence. The skull shot down the fence and started chasing her.
"Wait, please! I'm going to change my name back!"
"Talk is cheap, Dump Wheel!"
Meanwhile at CHS, the girls were relaxing in front of the entrance while Rainbow Dash was reading a newspaper. As you'd guess, Sunset was in it.
"Wait til' Dump Wheel sees this!"
Then they heard the sounds of gunshots and explosions getting closer and they saw Sunset in panic running towards them.
"Wow, what's going on?"
"No time to explain, get inside!"
Without thinking twice, the girls quickly followed Sunset inside the school without even knocking the door.
"Twilight put some heavy things here and make sure it's barricaded!" She ordered.
"What why?"
"Just do it!"
Without hesitation, Twilight used her telekinetic powers and placed a few chairs, fire extinguisher, and the lunch table from the cafeteria to the door.
"Hey, show yourself Dump Wheel!" The skull's voice was heard outside.
In panic, Sunset made a mad dash to the second floor leaving her friends in confusion. Feeling worried, the girls quickly run after her as well. They all went up to the second floor and looked for their friend.
"Where were you Sugarcube?"
"Dump Wheel, darling, is everything alright?" Rarity asked.
"Yo Dump Wheel, what the heck is going on?"
"Dump Wheel, come out, come out wherever you are." Pinkie called out.
Then they checked the math classroom and found Sunset hiding underneath the table.
"There you are," says Rainbow Dash. "So, what the heck is going on?"
Then Pinkie Pie knew why and started to speak rapidly. "Oh, I know why, as we all know, Sunset Shimmer changes her name into Dump Wheel, and what we also heard is that she became a laughingstock worldwide, and it seems that one of Canterlot's greatest guitarists were going to kill her because of her new name that makes her famous than her. And now that she's looking around if Sunset was here, then we're going to help our friend to change her name back to Sunset Shimmer!" She then let out a squee, and a big grin on her face.
"Are you a coward, Dump Wheel?" Sunset's hands were shaking upon hearing her killer's voice. Rainbow Dash looks through the window and sees the skull shooting everything with her assault rifle. "I'm ready for you, Dump Wheel!"
"This is really terrible, girls! One of the greatest guitarists is going to kill me because of my stupid name change!"
Then they heard an explosion meaning that the skull had blown up a car with a grenade launcher. Fluttershy slowly and carefully peeked and asked. "Is she looking for us too?"
"There's no way she's going to hunt us down too. It's not like she knows about her having us as her friends and having magic and all that." Twilight said.
"And I'm going to kill your friends as well! And none of your magic is no match for the skull!"
"Oh, I guess that's a yes."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's fight her!" Rainbow said, cracking her knuckles.
"Like I have to face someone with guns trying to kill me? No way, I don't want to die like this."
"I'm too shy to die." Fluttershy said.
"The courthouse is going to close at any minute. Some of you have five-hundred bucks."
But her friends shook their heads.
"But I spent it all for that new dress I really wanted." Rarity said.
"And I even spent it all to replace my sports equipment." Rainbow said.
"But I can help you with that." A voice came from the principal of their school.
"But Principal Celestia, are you sure?"
"I hear everything. If it's the only way to get you girls out of this mess, I'll help. As the principal of this school, I'll do anything to keep my students from fatal harm." Celestia said.
She leads her students to her office and brings out five-hundred bucks from her purse and gives it to Sunset.
"It took me 2 months but at least it's worth it."
"But Princes- I mean, Principal Celestia, you've been saving this money for that new video game you're planning to buy." Sunset states,
"Well, I'm making an exception. Now go and change your name back." She ordered. "And I'm calling the police as well."
"Now come on, there's no time to waste!" Rainbow claims.
"Don't worry ya'll," Applejack assured. "Ah even upgraded my granny's truck that should get us all to the courthouse in no time!"
"Alright guys, while the skull's looking at the front, we should head to the parking lot! Let's go!" Twilight ordered.
The Equestria Girls made a dash towards the parking and went to the truck. Rainbow, Sunset and AJ were at the front seat, while the rest were at the back of the truck.
The skull sees them and brings out her rocker launcher and points at the group. Applejack quickly started up the engine and drove off and missed the rocket missile. Then the skull sees Flash Sentry in his car, she quickly dragged him out of the car, thus high jacking it. And make a hot pursuit of the Equestria Girls.
Then Rarity saw the skull inside Flash's car chasing them and panicked.
"Darling, that madwoman is catching up to us!"
The skull brings out her SMG and shoots through the wing shield, but Rarity quickly summons a big diamond, blocking his shots.
"She's shooting guns at us!" Rainbow exclaimed. "We need to lose her!"
"Hold on ya'll! We're taking a shortcut!"
Applejack hardly steps on the gas making the truck faster than ever, and went a sharp turn, drove through the alleyways, went to the freeway, and took off road routes. And makes sure she doesn't hit any other traffic cars.
Finally, they arrived at the courthouse.
"Alright, we're at the courthouse!"
But then, one of the tires popped out but Applejack tried her best to safely park the truck at a nearby parking lot. The girls ran straight towards the entrance and burst through. Twilight used her telekinetic powers to put all the railing stands to barricade the door. A sound of gunshots was heard, much to Sunset's horror.
"Just go, Sugarcube! Change ya' name back!"
"But what about you guys?"
"Just don't worry about us!" Rainbow Dash assured. "We have your back. So go and if he does go through, we'll hold her off!"
Sunset runs to the lady and gives her the money. "I want to change my name back!"
And while the lady is working on it, Twilight felt her arms about gave away.
"Hurry up, Sunset!"
"I'm trying!"
Just then, the skull uses a rocket launcher and explodes the door, knocking the girls out. Twilight slides next to Sunset when she hits the wall.
"Twilight?" She tried to wake her up, but she was unconscious.
Then the skull walked towards Sunset, laughing maniacally and aimed her shotgun at her head.
"Any last words...Dump Wheel....?" Before she pulls the trigger and kills Sunset, the lady finally stamps Sunset's Certificate of name change.
"Your name change is complete: Sunset Shimmer." The lady announced.
Twilight slowly regains her consciousness and sees Sunset's Certificate of name change fall on Sunset.
"Huh? Wait. What did you say your name was?"
"Sunset! My name is Sunset Shimmer!"
"Woooohoooo! The skull is back! Now if you'll excuse me, I got what I wanted, so I best be on my way. No hard feelings."
She then walks off leaving the Equestria Girls dumbfounded by what they just saw.
"Well, that came out of nowhere." Rainbow said.
As soon as the skull went outside, she was met with a punch on her face by a swat member. And another swat officer quickly disarmed all of her weapons and handcuffed her.
"Is this the madwoman Miss Celestia?" The officer asked.
"Yes. That was her. Not only did she pack illegal weaponry, but she tried to kill my dear students and also hijack one of my student's Cars!" Celestia told him.
"Very well, Skull, you're under arrest for hijacking, attempted child murder. Anything you say will be against you at court!"
When the policemen leave with the skull in their custody, Celestia and Luna check on their students.
"Are you girls okay?" Luna asked.
"We're good vice-principal Luna, it's finally over now." Rainbow replied.
"And Sunset finally changes her name back." Twilight said.
"Well, I'm glad to hear it." Celestia said, and then turned her attention to Sunset. "Well, I hope you learned something from all of this Sunset Shimmer."
"That's right Principal Celestia and thank you guys for helping me to change my name back."
"What are friends for, Sugarcube? Friends always helped each other no matter what." AJ said.
"Oh, and Sunset, we're sorry we didn't help you to change your name back in the first place. We're just teaching you a lesson after we heard the news about you changing your name." Twilight said.
"It's okay Twilight. I learned my lesson now." Sunset said.
"And if you want to be awesome like me, you could just ask." Rainbow Dash said.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"And next time if you think changing your name is a good idea, don't. End of story." Celestia Said.
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | The Graffiti Vandal | It was morning at CHS and it's only been a week since Sunset Shimmer changed her name into Dump Wheel but later changed back to her real name. We see all door lockers and walls being covered with graffiti, which is vandalism.
Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna had sent Sunset Shimmer and Applejack to clean up the graffiti as they gave them a bucket filled with soapy water and two sponges on it. They were in a hallway which the lockers around them were covered with graffiti too.
"Alright, while we're looking for the real culprit, we need you girls to clean the graffiti on the locker doors. Just make sure you clean all of it." Celestia instructed.
"Clean all of it?" Sunset asked lazily.
"That's right, Sunset Shimmer. All of it now cleans it all while we're finding the real culprit."
Then the two Principals left, leaving the two girls with the bucket they gave them.
"Alright Sugacube, let's get to cleaning." She then sees Sunset slowly doze off, but she clapped her hands to startle her awake. "Yer' shouldn't playin' video games all night, Sugarcube. That ain't healthy."
"I wouldn't mind going back to sleep." Sunset lazily said.
The scene transitions to Sunset Shimmer and Applejack cleaning up the door lockers and walls.
"Ya know what, Sugarcube? If ah find whoever did this and just-AARRGGHH!" Applejack said.
"I know AJ, they're probably sitting around somewhere just laughing at us."
Then Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo came by while Rainbow's hands were covered with orange sauce and her shirt was also stained too.
"Sooo...I heard you guys are cleaning even if you two didn't do it." She said,
The girls turned around and faced her and Sunset said, "Yeah, this is sooo tiring. I'd rather take Pinkie Pie's advice and eat all of the sugar, so I'll be energized to do this until they find the culprit."
"Well, she may be Pinkie Pie but eating that much sugar for breakfast ain't healthy and the best option. Remember what happened last time while we're at the Starswirl festival?" Applejack said. "Plus, ya' shouldn't be up all-night playing video games."
"Don't worry, I'll just go ask the others and see if they can help us find the culprit." Dash said. "It's going to be an easy cake if we stick together. He just got to be around this school."
Applejack noticed Rainbow Dash's stained shirt and her hands were covered with orange sauce.
"Wait a gosh darn minute!" She exclaimed. "Did ya paint this graffiti, Rainbow Dash?"
"Wait, you can't blame it on me! I may be an artist when it comes to art class, but I am no graffiti artist."
Then they became more suspicious when they saw orange stuff on her hands and on her sleeves.
"What is that?"
"What is what?"
"The orange paints on your hands!" Sunset replied.
"This isn't paint, Sunset. It's from the nachos we just had for lunch." She answered.
"How would ah know yer' lyin' or not?"
"Haven't you ever tried nachos? They always hook you up with the extra cheese."
"I reckon ya did this."
"You better watch who you're accusing, AJ. Remember the Anon-A-Miss incident?"
"Hey, this is different from the Anon-A-Miss." Sunset said.
"Well, then don't put the blame on me, I didn't do it!" She said,
"Ah'm sorry Dash, but you did this." Applejack said.
"Girls, what's going on?" A voice came from their Vice-Principal as she and her sister returned to the scene.
"Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna, we know who did the graffiti." Sunset said.
"What? Who?"
She made a gesture towards Rainbow Dash.
"But Principal Celestia, its cheese for those nachos, smells like it!"
"We're not going to smell your fingers, Rainbow Dash. Just tell us the truth, and I'll take your word for it." Celestia calmly said.
"But I am telling you the truth! Principal Celestia, I can't believe all of you to think that the criminal is me!" She spoke. "Sunset, you have mind-reading powers, back me up!"
But before she could use her empathy powers on her, a can of spray paint fell from her pocket.
"Look, it does spray-paint!" AJ exclaimed.
"Nachos, you say, hmm?" VP Luna asked.
Rainbow Dash became nervous. "Uh...um...that's not mine!"
"Yeah, right, it was in your pocket!" Sunset scolded.
"Uh...okay, alright. I was spray painting, okay? But-"
"But what?"
"But I didn't do the graffiti! I was painting Scootaloo's scooter orange!"
"Really?" Scootaloo asked.
"Then why did you lie about the paint?" Celestia asked.
"Because it was supposed to be a surprise until someone has to be dumb enough and paint all of this!" Rainbow Dash said.
"She's lying!" Another student said,
"No, I'm not!" Rainbow defended.
"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash. I'm gonna have to suspend you for the whole month."
"What?" She asked in shock.
"You heard me." Celestia replied.
"Are you suspending me, ma'am?!"
"Yes. I mean it."
"If she goes, I go too." Scootaloo intervened.
"What? You're also behind this scheme?"
"Never mind."
"That was really cool, scoots. You want me to stay out for a whole month, Principal Celestia?! Fine!" She threw her school stuff on the ground. "But I'm just going to do something else outside of school! So, I'm not coming back, no matter how much you begged!" She shouted and walked away. "I'll see you later scoots..."
When she walks away, Principal Celestia glanced at the girls.
"Girls, I know it is hard to believe that your friend did this. Believe I know. Right now, you both finished cleaning all of it and have your classes." Celestia ordered.
When the two principals walked away, the girls stood there in shock.
"I cannot believe Rainbow Dash would do this!" Sunset said.
"Neither did I."
Then they heard the sounds of a spray being used and turned around and saw the real culprit wearing a black hoodie with his face being covered and made a run for it.
"What the-Hey! Stop!"
They chased the culprit throughout the hallways, and even shoving many people on his way. Then the culprit jumped through the window and when the girls checked, he was nowhere to be found. Not even on the ground.
"That ain't like Rainbow Dash."
"No Applejack, that's because it wasn't Rainbow Dash." She then let out a big sigh of guilt.
"Oh, man. That do we do?"
"We have to tell Principal Celestia and get her name cleared." Sunset suggested.
Then the girls arrived at her office. "Principal Celestia! It wasn't Rainbow Dash!"
"What are you talking about?" Celestia asked.
"It was this hooded guy! We didn't see that culprit's face, but-"
"Girls, I get it. You two feel bad for Rainbow Dash because she's your friend and I suspended her. I feel bad too."
"Principal Celestia, we're serious. She's innocent!" Sunset said.
"Can ya' check the cameras or something?"
"Hmm...You're absolutely right about that Applejack. But all of the school cameras have been destroyed since this morning."
"Look, we saw the real culprit, but he got away. If you please give us a chance to find him and prove Rainbow Dash's innocence, you cleared her name."
Celestia thought about it for a moment and said, "Okay, I suppose I should give you girls a chance since I assume that you both were telling the truth."
"Thanks Principal Celestia. We'll do what we can!"
When they left the office, Applejack asked; "So what are we going to do?"
"We're going to ask plenty of witnesses in school if they ever know his whereabouts around here." Sunset suggested.
"You got it, Sugarcube."
Then they started to ask each person in the school if they ever witnessed the vandal.
"The great and powerful Trixie has not witnessed a graffiti vandal vandalizing our school!" Trixie said.
"Yep, that's the culprit but I don't know what he looked like." Flash said.
"I believe the last time I saw that mysterious culprit that he was spray-painting in the library." Micro Chips said.
"That no good vandal even sprayed me at ma' face but luckily, I covered my eyes on time!" Apple Bloom said.
After asking people who were witnesses, they decided to find Wallflower to ask one more question if she knows about the culprit. They visited her at the garden of the school and saw watering the plants.
"Hey, Wallflower." Sunset greeted.
"What? Are you coming to have me meet Principal Celestia too?" She asked.
"That ain't it, Sugarcube." Applejack replied.
"Good. Because my lunch for today is just nachos and extra cheese that kid named Scootaloo gave to me after you both accused Rainbow Dash of being the graffiti vandal." Wallflower said.
"About that, do you know anything about who did the graffiti?"
"It could be a townie." She answered.
"Townie?"
"A man who used to rule the school like a tyrant and got expelled before Sunset came to our world." She replied.
"That's probably the guy we saw!" Sunset exclaimed.
"Then I guess you guys have to deal with him. But it's not going to be easy. He strikes without a warning, and he vanishes into thin air. Say, what happened to Rainbow Dash?"
Later at night, we saw Rainbow Dash at Sugarcube Corner, on stage wearing a suit.
"And now for the comedian I know you're gonna like; Rainbow Dash!" The announcer said.
"Good evening, everyone! I have a very important question to all of you; why did a chicken cross the road? It's because that chicken is so dumb that he doesn't watch where he's going!"
But the crowd got bored and none of them were laughing.
"I said, it's because-"
"Get off the stage!" Someone yelled.
Then they started throwing tomatoes at Rainbow Dash and quickly made a run for it.
"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Scootaloo shouted.
Scene transitions to the next day at school, as the Equestria Girls (Except Rainbow Dash) helped clean up the graffiti being marked everywhere around them.
"Thanks for helping us out, guys." Sunset said.
"Oh, no worries darling," Rarity said. "You don't need to mention it."
"So, what are going to do about that mysterious vandal?" Fluttershy asked.
"We find him, catch him, and Rainbow's name is cleared." Sunset replied.
"But what Wallflower warned us yesterday, it's that it ain't goin' to be easy to catch that vandal. Considering he used to enroll in this school and later got expelled before Sunset came to our lives." AJ said.
"You're right. After this, we take action immediately." Twilight said.
Then the townie quickly sprayed paint on a door locker Sunset just cleaned and ran away. And it shows a sloppy portrait of Sunset's face.
"Why is it on me?"
"Let's just say that I'm clueless as you." Twilight said.
"But it doesn't even look like me!"
"Sunset, it's like you're looking into your human counterpart if she's here!" Pinkie Pie said.
Then they hear spray painting sounds, seeing the townie make an offensive portrait of Rarity's face on a wall and quickly run away.
"Excuse me?!" Rarity asked, very offended.
"Come on, let's go!" Applejack says.
A montage begins with the Equestria Girls chasing the townie, but he quickly got away, every time they attempt to catch him red handed.
The chase lasted for 10 minutes, and the girls decided to rest at the band room.
"How does he keep getting away from us?" Twilight asked. Sitting down and letting out a huge sigh.
"I don't know." Applejack replied. "It's like he's just messing with us or something."
Then Scootaloo came by, holding a scooter which was painted orange like Rainbow Dash talked about.
"Hey, Scootaloo, what's up?" Sunset asked.
"Not much." She answered. "I heard you guys tried to catch the graffiti culprit, but I assume it's not very easy for you all."
"You think? We got powers! Ah, I want to use our powers!" Applejack said.
"Well, if we did, then we'll scare him away and he'll never come back and prove that Rainbow's innocent." Fluttershy said.
Then Sunset thought hard enough until she finally got a better solution. She turned her focus to Pinkie Pie and asked; "Pinkie Pie, can you bring at least 4 buckets filled with orange paint?"
The scene cuts to the very same spot where the situation began. And the entire wall was covered with orange paint while the townie pulled out his spray can.
No class..." He groaned.
When he began painting, Sunset and Applejack opened their eyes.
"Class this!"
Then they tackled him, and the rest of their friends charged from their hiding spots and helped pinning him down on the ground. And when Sunset flipped the townie's hoodie off, his head revealed to be the top of a spray can.
"WHAT THE HECK?!"
Then, the townie pushed the girls off of him as if it was nothing and sprayed at a wall with his head, making a portal.
"Come on. Let's go!"
Then both Sunset and Applejack manage to go through the portal, but the rest didn't make it as the portal shortly shrinks, leaving Pinkie Pie to bump into the wall to where the portal was opened.
"Bummer..." Pinkie Pie said.
Meanwhile, the two girls ended up in a dark room filled with graffiti marks. Then they see the townie on the far side.
"There he is!"
"It ends now!" The townie said, pulling a lever, causing all of his graffiti to come to life.
"Get rid of those girls!" Then he goes inside a white door.
While a weird looking creature was charging towards them.
"Sunset, give ma' the paint brushes!"
She gave Applejack the paint brush and she quickly painted something. But only painted a horrific stickman figure.
"That's a lot harder than it looks..."
The green monster stomps on her painting, and Both Sunset Shimmer and Applejack run for their lives to the white door while avoiding getting killed by those creatures or worse.
"We gotta get to that door!" But then a monster with red arms and its hands has teeth blocked the way and grabbed Applejack.
"APPLEJACK!"
Applejack quickly channeled her geode and used her super strength to resist the grip of the monster and landed on her feet.
"Are you okay, AJ?" She asked, helping her to get on her feet and saw the door. "Look! There it is! C'mon!"
Luckily, Sunset and AJ outrun the monster as they get inside the white door. And all they could see there was nothing but all white.
"Where...are we?"
"It's some sort of white room or something. Just like last time when Vignette trapped us all in that white room together." AJ said.
"But I feel like this is different." Sunset said.
They hit their bellies, feet, and head on something which frustrates them.
"Arrgh, what the heck is all this?! AJ, give me the paint brush!"
Applejack gave her the paintbrush and Sunset painted something that hit her head belly just now, and it reveals to be a T.V
"Sugarcube, that's a T.V."
She turns around and paints another object.
"That looks like a futon!"
"I reckon someone must have lived here."
But before Sunset continued painting, they heard a voice, shouting at them.
"Hey, you, stop it!" Then the townie appears behind the door. "C'mon man! Not the coffee table!"
"Keep painting Sunset!" AJ ordered.
"Don't! What's the matter with you?!"
Sunset stopped painting. "You painted all over the whole school!"
"Ya, but it's different, ya know! It's what I do! My stuff looks good! You, you're just making a mess!" Then Sunset starts painting again. "Alright! Alright! Alright! Take it easy! Take it easy! I'll quit painting your stupid school! Also, I'm from Equestria!"
"Well guess what, townie?" Sunset asked. "I'm from Equestria too! And you gotta admit to our school's principal that it was you!"
"Why?!"
"Cause our friend got suspended for the whole month for what you did!"
"So what?!" Sunset began painting again. "Okay, okay, okay, I'll admit it!"
"And you're going back to Equestria where you'll be behind bars in Princess Celestia's castle dungeons for the rest of your life!"
The scene cuts at the front of CHS, where the Equestria Girls were gathering with the townie, confessing to the school's principals.
"Yeah! That's right! I'm the one who did all of this! I am the graffiti artist!" The townie confessed.
"And I am telling Princess Twilight Sparkle about this!" Sunset said.
"Tough chance!" He then sprays the ground, creating a portal but gets stuck halfway through. "Aw man..."
Then she and Applejack turned their attention to Rainbow Dash.
"We're really sorry that we got you suspended, Rainbow Dash." Sunset apologized.
"Nah, it's alright guys. I'm cool with it." Rainbow Dash replied.
"Well, since the real culprit was caught, I'd like to say that your suspension has been revoked!" Principal Celestia said. "I'll see you back here tomorrow Mrs. Dash!"
"Thanks Principal Celestia." Rainbow said. "But I'll just spend the rest of the day here and help my friends to clean up all of the graffiti that guy made."
"You got it, sugarcube!"
The scene cuts to the Equestria Girls, using their powers in helping to clean up all the locker doors and walls that were painted with graffiti and stuff.
"Sooo, that's got to be one of your craziest adventures, Sunset." Rainbow Dash said.
"You said it, Dash." Sunset replied.
"So, guys, want to eat some nachos for lunch?"
Then each of their responses is either, "Sure," "Why not?" "Okay," "Okey, dokey," "Alright,"
"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | The Master of Laughs | The story begins with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo are watching a prank call video in the library in CHS. Watching their prank call idol known as the, "Master of Laughs".
In the video, an old woman's cell phone rings and she picks it up.
"Hello?"
"Oh, yes, this is I-fell tower." (Almost sounded like, "Eiffel tower)
"I-fell tower who?"
"I-fell-tower she-fell tower!" Then Rainbow and Scoots laughed at his prank call. "Oh, yeah! You just got pranked by the master of laughs!"
"Isn't Pinkie Pie the master of laughs?" Scootaloo asked.
"Well she represents the element of laughter." Rainbow Dash replied.
"The Master of Laughs is the funniest thing on the internet, right, Dash?"
"I guess he's pretty funny. But you know what's even funnier than watching prank phone call videos?" She held out her phone from her pocket.
Scootaloo gasped. "Wait! You don't mean...?"
"Oh, I mean it, scoots."
Then the girls rushed to the girl's restroom with Rainbow Dash locking the door and Scootaloo made sure that one other than them was inside.
Rainbow Dash begins to dial Pinkie Pie's number. Pinkie Pie was at the soccer field, doing the "Pinkie Pie way," but stopped when her phone rang and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Pinkie Pie."
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo started to snicker.
"Do you know anything about cupcake guy?"
"Ooh! Is he coming?! Is he coming?!"
"Yes. Just hold on for a collect from...Cupcake guy!"
Sci-Twi is doing some chemical experiment inside the chemistry lab until her phone picks it up.
"Hey, Twi, do you have any friends named; four-eye wonder?"
"Excuse me?"
Rainbow and Scoots laughed again. Sci-Twi hangs up with an angry look on her face.
Cuts to Principal Celestia's office where she was doing her computer work, and her phone rang and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Principal Celestia, you got any books by Yo dada?!"
"Who is this?!"
The two girls laughed at their hardest while Celestia's voice was heard through the phone.
"Whoever you are, I will find you and you'll be serving a whole month of suspension with extra homework!"
"She's still on the phone!" Rainbow laughed.
"She's still on the phone?!"
"She's still on the phone!" Then they laughed like never before and then Rainbow hangs up.
"Oh, Dash, we're the best prank callers ever, aren't we?"
"Yeah, second best." Rainbow Dash replied.
"What? Did you not hear what we just did? We were hilarious!"
"Yeah, we were. But that's just the beginning. There's this someone we haven't prank call on."
Scootaloo gasped. "You don't mean him. Do you?"
"That's right, scoots. Let's do this."
Then they heard someone unlocking the restroom door and it revealed to be none other than Principal Celestia. Giving the two girls a stern glare making them gulp.
"My. Office. Now."
The girls were inside her office with Vice Principal Luna. Principal Celestia shook her head and sigh.
"Look, Principal Celestia, we're really sorry." Rainbow said.
"Yeah, we're just joking." Scootaloo said.
"Well, prank calling a Principal of this school is an offense to this. So instead of giving you two a whole month of suspension and extra homework, you two will be given a week of suspension." Celestia said. "And your suspension starts once the final bell rings. You two are dismissed."
"And before you go," VP Luna added. "We also confiscated your phones so none of you will prank call anyone again. And you'll have them back by the time your suspension is over."
When the girls exit the office, Scootaloo groaned.
"Well how do we suppose to prank the master of laughs, now?"
"Well, let's ask Pinkie Pie for a phone." Rainbow suggested.
Then they found Pinkie Pie on the soccer field still untouched while holding her phone. Believing she's receiving a collect call from, "Cupcake guy."
"Hey, Pie, can we borrow your phone?"
"Oh I would but I'm holding to talk with Cupcake Guy!" Pinkie Pie replied.
"Oh. Well, Pinkie, the truth is we-"
"You can use some phones Twilight had in her locker!"
"Okay. Come on, scoots. Let's go."
Then they found Sci-Twi who's still doing her chemistry experiment in the chemistry room.
"Oh. Hey guys." Sci-Twi said, not amused.
"Hey, Sparkle. Look, if you're angry, then we're sorry about that."
Sci-Twi sighed. "It's fine. So, what are you guys doing here?"
"We would like to use some phones you had in your locker. Like Pinkie Pie tells us about." Scootaloo replied.
"Okay. Here are my keys to my locker." She then throws her locker keys to Rainbow Dash.
"Thanks, Twilight. Catch you later!"
She and Scootaloo rushed away from the room. They went to Sci-Twi's locker with Scoots unlocking it with Sci-Twi's keys and saw two old cell phones.
"We hit the jackpot! 70's cellphones are perfect!" Rainbow asked.
"How are a few decades old phones going to help us?"
"Think about it, Scoots. With these babies, no one will ever track us down with their phones!"
"Cool."
"Now C'mon, let's prank the Master of Laughs."
The girls went to the park and wore tinfoil on their heads. "Okay," Scootaloo said. "Let's do this."
"Alright, here we go!"
Then Rainbow Dash dialed the number, and the Master of Laughs picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Yeah, this is, uh, the pizza delivery guy." Rainbow Dash said. "I have 50 pizzas you ordered."
"Sounds great. Bring them over."
"Uh, you ordered 50 pizzas?"
"Yeah, and hot wings. Get here quick, okay? Your mom's totally starving."
"Yeah, uh, I got to go." She hung up.
"You need to do better than that, Dash. I got this." Scoots said. Dialing his number and phone rings again.
"Hello?"
"Hi." Scootaloo said in idiotic voice. "This is john."
"John who?"
"Uh...John...Johninson...?"
"Your name is John Johninson?"
"Uh...yep."
"Well, congrats. That's the stupidest fake name I've ever heard. And what happened to your unfunny fake voice?"
Scootaloo said nothing but went silent.
"Now listen up, stop calling here or I'm going to make you sorry!" Then the MOL hangs up the phone.
"This guy is good. I don't know scoots. I don't think we should do this."
"Oh C'mon, Dash. We got to prank this guy! Do you want to be this guy's daughter, or do you want to be a winner?"
"Okay. Let's do it." She then dials the phone. "Hey, Master of Laughs, this is..."
"Get it." He hung up.
Scootaloo dials the number. "Hey, this is-"
"Heard it." He hangs up again.
RD dials the number again.
"Yeah, hello..."
"Do you get anything original?" He hung up.
"That's it!" Scootaloo dials it again. "It's time to put an end to this junk fest!"
But he hung up.
"Looks like the junk fest got a new number." Rainbow said.
"Yeah right, like your 50 pizzas thing was way better!"
"Whatever, John Johninson, john."
Then the phone suddenly rings.
"Pff, nice try, scoots. I know it's you."
"Uh...it's not me, Dash."
She picks it up and they both listen.
"Is this the Pizza Guy or John Johninson?"
"Uh... both."
"I warned you to leave me alone. Now I'm gonna prank you so hard, you'll be pranked out of your twits! The 1970's called: "They want their cell phones back!"
Then they are sucked into the phones and tumbling through the tunnel of phone cables in space with year numbers floating around. Suddenly, they found themselves where before they started to prank call him.
"Where are we?"
"Scoots, I think we're back in the park."
"Are we?"
"What do you mean?"
"Dash, all the trees are short, and look at the park bench, it's so new looking. I'm telling you, something's not right here." Scootaloo said.
"How can you tell?"
"Well..." She then noticed a familiar figure. "Hey, that's Apple Bloom's granny, let's go ask her."
The girls walked up to Granny Smith, who's facing in the opposite direction.
"Hey Mrs. Smith. Can please tell Scoots that everything is fine."
"What now?" Then Granny Smith turns around and appears to be much younger. The girls are shocked to see this.
"Why does Granny Smith look so young?" She whispered to her.
"Now then, who are two young women? How do you know my name?"
"Smith. It's us! Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo."
"But I've never met any of you in my entire life."
"Okay, Scoots. You got a point. Something is going on around here."
"That's not the only thing. Look!" She then points to their surroundings that are 1970s related and such. "We're in the 70's Dash! Mrs. Smith, what year is this?"
"Why, it's 1978, of course." Granny Smith replied.
"See?"
"Scoots, this is bad."
"I know. I don't even like the 70's that much!"
"The only way we're going back is that we prank him harder than he pranks us!"
"Let's do it."
Rainbow Dash dials the phone.
"Hello?"
"The 60's called, they want their-"
"What did I tell you about calling me?!" A bright yellow sparkling cloud comes out of the phone and it morphs into a giant 1970's cell phone with arms and legs. "You couldn't leave me alone. Now you're gonna pay!"
"Hey look, let's not make this go out of control."
"It's too late for that, Rainbow punk!"
"Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah scoots?"
"Can we run for our lives, now?"
"As much as I'd have to keep you away from danger, let's roll."
The girls began running away from him. Rainbow Dash decided it's not the time to use her super speed since she doesn't want to leave Scootaloo behind. The Master of Laughs is still chasing them and the phone rings and Scootaloo answers. "Hello?"
"The 70's called: They still need more!"
Then their clothes suddenly switched with 70's clothes.
"This sucks!" Rainbow complained. "These clothes are not even cool anymore!"
"How would you know?" Scootaloo argued. "We're not even born yet!"
"Rarity knows a ton of 70's clothing style! It's boring when she's talking about them!"
The phone rings again and Scootaloo picks it up. "Look, we'll do whatever you want! Please leave us alone!"
"Don't ever hang up on me!"
More clothes appeared on the girls and their hairstyle changed. "Scoots!" Rainbow panicked. "Call somebody to help prank this guy!"
"Like who?!"
"Just call somebody!"
Back in the present, the girls were at the park and the 70's phone rang. Pinkie Pie picks it up and answers.
"Hello?"
Pinkie, you gotta help us, we're stuck in the 70s!"
"Who are you talking to?" Sci-Twi asked.
"It's Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. They're stuck in the 1970s." Pinkie replied.
"Oh, really?" She takes the phone from Pinkie Pie. "Hello?"
"Twilight, we need your help! We're stuck in 1978!"
Sci-Twi was not amused. "Very funny, Rainbow Dash."
"Oh man, she thinks we're messing with her!"
"What gives me that?!" She takes the phone from her hands. "The 70's called, they want their cell phones back!"
Then the Equestria Girls are sucked into the phone and later appear to be running with the two girls.
"Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo what in tarnation is going on?!" Applejack asked.
"And why are you two wearing those?" Rarity asked. "They're so out-of-fashion."
"No time to explain!" Rainbow Dash replied.
Then a truck pulled over and it turns out to be young Granny Smith, driving it. "Need a right?"
"Hold on a minute. It's that Granny Smith?" AJ asked.
"No time! Hop in!"
The girls quickly get inside with Rainbow and scoots ride shotgun. And Granny Smith stepped on the gas harder to make a quick getaway.
"Okay. We need your help to prank the Master of Laughs!"
"Who?"
"Why did you prank him?" Fluttershy asked.
"And he does sound like a 2nd Pinkie Pie." Sunset said. But then realized what she just said. "No offense, Pinkie."
"None taken." Pinkie said. "But that title stealer is still going to get it for stealing my title!"
The phone rings and Sci-Twi picks it up.
"I'll take care of this." She answers the call. "Hello?"
"Nice ride... But mine is better."
The Master of Laughs summons a limousine, and he is catching up to them.
"Ah' got no time to get chased by a darn limousine again!" Applejack shouted. "Lose him, Granny!"
"Hold on tight, ya'll! This ride is getting bumpy!" Granny Smith shouted.
"Uhh, has this reminded you all the last time you gave us a road trip?" Sunset asked.
"Yes." Rainbow replied.
Granny Smith stepped on the gas, and went into the grass, shortcuts and offroads in hopes of losing him. After they lost sight of him, they stopped by the 70's electronic store.
"Ah' bet we lose him." Applejack said. "How are we supposed to deal with him?"
"I got an idea." Rainbow Dash said.
The girls are back to the park with Rainbow Dash setting up the phone and answering machine on the field and they hide separately.
"Ya' better be sure this works, Rainbow Dash." AJ said.
"It will work, AJ. Trust me. All part of the plan."
Young Granny Smith turned her attention to Applejack. "You seem not too bad. Oh, I wish I could have a granddaughter like you."
"Oh ah' have a strong feeling you will, Granny Smith. Me, Big Mac and Apple Bloom." Applejack said.
The phone rings. The tape recorder turns on with only Rainbow Dash's voice can be heard. "Hello?"
"This is the Master of Laughs telling you-"
"Hello?"
"I said this is the Master of Laughs!"
"Hello, hello, are you there?"
The Master of Laughs appears next to the phone. "I SAID-"But then he realized that he had been psyched.
"Ha, ha! Just kidding. You just got pranked, loser!"
"NOOOOOOO!"
"Now!"
Then the Equestria Girls pinned him down hard enough for him unable to escape their hold.
"Scootaloo hit the power button!"
"Who's the best Master of Laughs now, jerk-dish?!" She climbs up and presses the power button.
Then the Master of Laughs shuts down and becomes lifeless.
"Now who's the Master of Laughs now, you loser?!" Both Rainbow and Scoots said. But I realized what they just said. "No offense, Pinkie Pie."
"Eh, none taken. But we should all know that the Master of Laughs is me!" Pinkie Pie said.
Then the light shines from the Master of Laughs' speaker. "Hey guys, this could be the way back."
"Wait. That was it?" They turn around and see Young Granny Smith standing there. "Well I guess this is goodbye. I really hope to see you all again."
"Oh you'll see us all in the future." Applejack said.
They wave goodbye and it is about time that the girls went inside the speaker. They're inside a hallway with doors that each have a different year on them.
"One of these doors leads us back to the present."
Sci-Twi noticed on the door that says, 2020. "There it is."
When the rest of the girls went through the door, the true identity of the Master of Laughs attracted Rainbow and Scootalo's attention.
"Wait." The Master of Laughs turns out to be an undead-looking man. "You girls were better than me today, but you can't leave me here. All I ever wanted to do is to make prank calls like you. Was that so wrong?"
"What do you think scoots?"
"I don't know, Rainbow Dash. He tried to kill us."
"Yes. But Sunset turned into a demon but we defeated her and we forgave her, Sci-Twi turned into one as well until Sunset changed her back and forgave her. So, he just got his just desserts but it's time to do the same. Forgiveness is friendship." Rainbow Dash said.
Cut to Sunset's house as she is sitting on her couch playing video games. Her phone rang and she picked it up after she paused the game.
"Hello?"
"1, 2, 3! The 70s called: "They want their couch back!" Then Sunset's couch disappeared. Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and the Master of Laughs are seen laughing outside of Rainbow's house.
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | Celestia Be Gone | It was afternoon at CHS where the school Superintendent Strom Storm was inside Principal Celestia's office, looking over the reports that have been happening at CHS lately.
"Destruction during the Fall Formal," He read the reports. "Destruction during the Friendship Games, graffiti marks around the halls, and $500 worth of prank phone calls, it's ridiculous! What are you doing to your school, Celestia?"
"But sir, none of these incidents is my fault." Principal Celestia said. Pointing at one of her reports, "It's right here in my report."
"Are you the school's Principal, Celestia?"
"Yes sir." She replied.
"Then everything that happens around here is entirely your fault!"
"But sir-"
"Say it."
She went silent for a moment and spoke. "Everything that happens around here is my fault."
Then suddenly, Sunset's car crashed into her office.
"Goodness gracious!" He exclaimed.
She lowered her tint window. "I'm so sorry Principal Celestia. When Twilight modified my car and made some upgrades on the stick shift, well I'm really excited."
"I already told Sunset to take it easy on the stick shift." Twilight said.
"Why do these students purposely crash into your office like it was not a big deal?!"
"But sir I have faith in my students that they never intended to cause vandalism such as what Sunset just did. But she didn't mean to do that when she's already changed since the Fall Formal."
The girls went silent for a moment and Sunset spoke, "This is getting awkward. So, we're going to take off."
"Sunset is careful with the stick shift!" Twilight shouted. But it's too late, as Sunset firmly pulled the stick shift to reverse. Her car flew backwards as if it's being thrown away and later hit a school bus causing it to flip sideways.
"That's it! Tomorrow the entire school is going to have an important meeting at the auditorium! Things will be changed around here!"
The next day, the entire school was sitting at the audience seats as the staff members and the school superintendent Strom storm were on stage with him holding the microphone.
"Okay, I know you're wondering why we're having an important meeting here today. So, this meeting will be short and nothing else after this. So, your school's former Principal, Celestia, is being demoted."
"Say what?!" Snips asked in surprise.
"Everyone, I would like you to meet Discord. He'll be taking over Celestia's duties as the principal of this school."
Then a man shows himself, wearing a black suit. (You know that this is his counterpart. So, you all get the picture) Taking the microphone from the Superintendent's hand.
"Thank you, Mr. Superintendent Strom Storm, first I like to thank Celesta for agreeing to step down from her position."
"What?"
"I know this school has many umm, supernatural occurrences but we're here now, and we're going to make this school a better place with the Discord way! Well. I would like to call myself, Principal Discord of Canterlot High."
"And Celestia will be a teacher for advanced physics class as well." Strom storm added.
"Wait, what?"
Meanwhile, the meeting was over, and the students were continuing their normal day at school. Well...let's just say that Principal Celestia is quite shocked of being demoted as she was standing there in the advanced physics classroom for almost an hour. Her students were watching her, but none of them ever dared to speak or raise their hand for permission to use the restrooms. But then, Rainbow Dash decides to break the silence.
"Umm, Mrs. Celestia, are you standing there or what?"
"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity scolds. "Clearly, the poor woman must have disliked the decision of being demoted!"
"But Celestia really missed the old days of being a teacher." Twilight said.
"Well maybe being the principal of this school meant so much more to her." Fluttershy said.
"I...I can't do this." She finally spoke.
Then the bell rang, and the students silently went outside except for her and the Equestria Girls.
"Look, we know you're bummed out about getting demoted, but if you give it a chance then you'll see it's not that bad." Sunset offered.
"Thanks Sunset but...I don't know what to think."
"You're just in a bad mood. Look, how about a teacher/student bonding to get your mind off of it."
"Yeah, we'll just chill and have some fun around here!" Rainbow added.
"Like going to the library, reading books, doing history reports." Twilight suggested.
"Or feeding the animals outside," She suggested. "You'd like to give her a treat."
"Besides, we only got 2 hours before our next class starts. You go back to teaching after we have a great time." AJ said.
Celestia thought about it for a moment and finally she looked at the girls and gave them a smile. "I guess we'll give it a try. As long as there is no other equestrian magic involved as a threat or something."
The montage begins with the woman hanging out with her magical students doing the things they'd like to do. That includes doing a chemistry experiment with Twilight, beating Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash in a game of stick hockey table (Which was owned by Mr. Cranky) And so one. The montage ends with Celestia in a good mood and having a great time.
"So how do you feel?"
"I feel great!" She replied.
"Now that you're in a good mood and give it a chance, does that mean you'll be teaching advanced physics now?"
Celestia laughed. "No."
The girls were surprised by her reply.
"Wait, what?" Twilight asked. "But you need to get back to teaching eventually."
"Yeah right, I'm never going to teach again."
"No seriously, you need to start teaching. Principal Discord's coming!" Then Discord approaches the group.
"Ha, what's he going to do?"
"Girls, the bell rings in a few minutes and I'm expecting you all to be in your next class." Discord said sternly.
"Oh uh, we're just about to!" Sunset replied. "Umm, Mrs. Celestia, I think it's time to be in the advanced physics classroom right now!"
But she didn't listen as she leaned against the wall. "I'm not teaching anything."
"Celestia, why did you not wish to teach the youth?"
"Cause I don't feel like it."
"Get back to work or I'll fire you!"
"Yeah? Do it!"
Discord was taken by this. "Excuse me?!"
"I've wasted my whole life dealing with troublemakers in this school. So, I'm not wasting another second of work from you." She then shrugs. "So go ahead and fire me."
"Okay Celestia, you're fired!"
Then Celestia shouted. "Oooohh!" not like the Celestia they knew. "Well girls, this is it! Thank you all for everything!"
"But wait, this is not what it's supposed to be like!"
"Well suit yourselves I guess."
When she's gone, her expression becomes a somewhat evil look and looks at the girls. "Go to class!" Then the girls rushed to their next class and turned her attention to Flash. "You with the blue hair put that guitar down and go to class!" She then points at Trixie. "And you! Go to class and stop slacking off!" She runs off to her classroom. "GO TO CLASS! GO TO CLASS! GOT TO CLASS!"
Then the entire school is being told as they now feared him, especially the Equestria Girls.
"I don't want to study under Principal Discord anymore!" Rainbow Dash said.
Then Sunset somehow grows Discords hair. "Yeah, I know."
They noticed that her hair had changed.
"Sunset?" Applejack asked.
The scene transitions to outside of CHS where Celestia was sitting by the destroyed Wondercolt statue.
"Ah, jobless. Not a worry in the world." Then a piece of paper landed on her. "Take that piece of trash for example. Normally, I do my duty as the principal of this school and pick it up, but I say I like to be someone else's problem, like nature's."
She blew the piece of paper away as she sighs. Then she sees a hobo sitting next to her.
"You said it sister. Who needs something like a job?"
"Right."
"What does a job get to ya? Some lousy money so you can buy things?"
"Yes."
"My name is Roxanne by the way." She introduced herself.
"And I'm-"
"I know who you are, Celestia. Former school's Principal, now full-time slacker."
"How did you know?"
"Used to be a school's Principal somewhere at Canterlot West High, and just like you, I gave it up for a life of slacking. The garbage compost is my pillow, the grease on my face is my shower." Celestia realized that she'll be a hobo without a job. "Yes, ma'am can't beat the life of a slacker, I'm proud to be the one to welcome you to your new life." But then Celestia runs off. "Hey! Where are you going?"
"I gotta get my old job back!"
She went back inside and walked to the hall to the office and stopped when she saw Discord's back.
"Discord, I need my old job back." Then he turns around and it shows that Sunset Shimmer has turned into a Discord look-alike and so does Pinkie Pie.
"Celestia, you're here!" She exclaimed.
"What did she do to you?" She asked, walking towards them.
"Well, the more we do what she says, the more we turn into her and now we're all Principal Discords!" Pinkie explained.
"He must've been corrupted by Equestrian magic, and he uses it on all of us!"
"Well can't you all change back to normal?"
"We can't. Our geodes powers can't be activated like this!"
"Then you two needed to stop doing what he says!"
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"It happened." Discord's voice was heard behind her back. "And why on earth did you come back here?"
"You're turning them into you, you can't do that! And because of you, they can't use their geodes powers to free themselves! And this is not how you manage students!"
"Well, it's too late now!" He hissed. "As long as these magical girls can't use their magic, nothing can stop me!"
"You're right. They may not use their geodes like this, but there's one true magic that still remains in them. The Magic of Friendship!" She then gave them their instruments. "Girls, I want you two to play your instruments!"
"But we're supposed to go to class!" They argued.
"Play your instruments, now!"
Then the girls are playing their instruments and it's working, as the magic of friendship slowly changes back to normal. "Play harder! Come on!" Then for the most part, they finally morph back into their normal selves and at the same time, they transform into their pony-up forms. Discord was not pleased seeing this.
"That's it! Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie, go back to class!"
"No, you don't, keep playing and embrace your magic inside you!"
Then all students went to see the commotion and they're all Discord-ized.
"Look!" Sunset pointed out as she looked at all of her friends In Discord form. "Flash, Wallflower, Trixie, Micro Chips, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Derpy, and our friends too! Discord must've turned them into Discords too!"
"Turn that off and go to class!" Derpy commanded.
"I don't think so." Celestia said. "Equestria Girls get your instruments now and start playing!"
Then the girl's despite in their Discord forms pick up their respective instruments and start playing and their magic helps morph back into normal and change into their pony-up forms.
"Okay girls, time to change them back to normal as well!" Sunset said.
The rest nodded and faced the crowd and blasts a wave of the magic of friendship to all of them as it turned them back to normal.
"Hey, they did! We're back to normal!" Flash shouted. Then the rest of the crowd shouted and cheered at the Equestria Girls. But the moment was ruined as Discord growled like a monster and flew upwards above the building and then formed into a more monstrous demon than Sunset, Twilight's demon form.
"GO TO CLASS!" He shouted.
Celestia shielded all of her students. "Don't listen to him!"
"NOOO! THERE IS ONE WAY TO DEAL WITH STUDENTS LIKE YOU!" She walks back and later comes back and holds a house. "IMMEDIATE EXPULSION!"
"He's going to kill us all!" Scootaloo shouted.
Celestia then turned her attention to the girls. "Girls, you know what to do."
"You got it!" Rainbow said.
Then the Equestria Girls joined hands and their geodes vibrated and transformed into their crystal guardian forms and used the Magic of Friendship to defeat demon Discord once and for all.
Few moments later, they found Discord sitting outside of CHS with everyone looking at him and Celestia up front. He looked up with tears streaming from his eyes.
"I'm so sorry." He spoke. "I just want to be a principal of a school and manage students with discipline...but I didn't mean to go this far..."
Celestia firmly pulled him up and gave him a smile. "It's okay. Two of my students have been where you are. Going by their experiences, they'll forgive you."
Then Superintendent Strom storm who saw the whole thing and approached them.
"I saw everything." He spoke. Then he looked at Celestia. "Maybe demoting you didn't seem to fix this school as well."
"Hey, everything that happens here is my fault before I get demoted." She replied. "But that's all in the past. It's best we move on and keep on making this school a better place."
"Hmm, I suppose you're right." He spoke.
"So does that mean I-"
"Yes. You can have your old job back as the principal of this school." He turned his attention to Discord. "And as for you Discord, you can be as strict as Celestia and her sister but using magic is not the answer. So, instead of firing you, I'm demoting you to be an advanced physics teacher. How's that sounds."
He thought about it for a moment. "Well...Advanced physics is my favorite subject, and it will always be!"
"Group hug!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"Glad that things turned back the way they used to be." Sunset said.
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | Rainbow Dash's Body | Applejack and Rainbow Dash were walking around the streets holding a box of candy and more sugar treats. The farm girl was not very happy about this.
"This is boring." She complains.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow asked.
"It means that the next time we get to do something for our family's debt problems, 'ah get to choose, why did ya picked the candy selling task? This is like the worst errand ever, Rainbow Dash!"
"I think it's the funnest errand ever." Rainbow Dash defends.
"Ya don't really think that. Ya just don't want to admit that you're wrong."
"Why would I admit something I'm not?"
"Rainbow, seriously, this is more boring than watching 'ya trying to read fandom." Applejack said.
"Is it more boring than your face?"
"Ah don't know, is it more boring than my fist in your face, ya' noob!"
"You're the noob!"
"No, ya' a noob!"
The two began fighting until Pinkie Pie shows up and sees the commotion. "Applejack, Rainbow Dash, stop," She pleaded. "We can all be noobs!"
They quickly let go of each other dust themselves off. "Oh, hey Pinkie Pie."
"So, how do you like being the guardians of the sweets?" She asked with an excitement.
"Oh, it's awesome!" Rainbow claims.
"This errand is boring." Applejack disagreed.
The two began fighting again, but not until Pinkie Pie caught their attention. "But Applejack, don't you like free sweets?"
She stops fighting with Rainbow Dash upon hearing the question what Pinkie just asked her. "What?"
"When I do this errand, all the sweets are free! Bye, bye!" She then walks off.
They looked at the boxes their carrying, and quickly take them to Rainbow's house too far from where they are just now. And placed on the table and started shoving sweets into their mouths.
"I guess this means I was right about this errand." Rainbow said.
A montage began, with the duo eating a variety of sweets and sugar and desserts. At the end, the living room was mess, both Applejack and Rainbow Dash is sick from overeating.
"Ah' need to eat something healthy, like salad or something."
"What?! Are you kidding? AJ, all these treats are free, Applejack." Rainbow said, stopping her from vomiting. "Trust me. If we keep eating, we'll feel better in no time."
"Oh, if we eat more, we'll feel better. Rainbow Dash, think 'bout this for a just a minute."
"Think? I'm not listening to a cowgirl who was wrong about that errand being cool. No, I think I'd rather listen to an awesome who's right all the time. Me." she said. Holding a donut mixed with sugar dust, chocolate sauce and strawberry sauce, and coffee dust. And eat it.
Meanwhile, the Rainbooms just finishing practicing at Rainbow's garage and ready to hit the road. While Applejack decided to stay and eat some salad inside the dining room. "Ahh. Ah' feel so much better."
"So do I." Rainbow said. Put a donut with other biscuits inside the blender and starts to blender, grinding all the food into juice. She drinks it, causing her stomach to grumble.
"Rainbow, I'm telling 'ya. If 'ya keep eating like that, 'ya body is goin' to abandon ya'."
"Shut up!"
"Whatever. 'Ah just trying to help. Don't say 'ah didn't warn 'ya." Applejack said, as she packed her guitar and leave.
"I showed her." Rainbow Dash said, putting a donut in her mouth.
A split second later, Rainbow Dash is rolling on the floor in pain. "Why isn't more food working?!" Her stomach growled again, causing her to scream in agony. She tries to pick the same donut she hadn't took a bite. "One more should do it..."
She then loses control of her hands, and it was pulling her face. Pull her to her feet, pulling her around the dining room. Her hands were pulling really hard, and her pupils disappeared. "What are you doing?!" Her hands keep pulling, thus injecting Rainbow Dash as a light blue blob of consciousness.
"Aww, let me back in!" She begged.
But her body shoves and runs off.
"Wait! Come back!"
She tries to go after her body, but stumble into a bucket on the floor. "Oh well. I'm just going to chill in this bucket!"
The next morning, Applejack visited Rainbow Dash's house and look around for Rainbow Dash. While hearing voices from the dining room.
"Hello? Hello?"
She sees a light blue blob inside the bucket. "Aw gross! What the apples is that?!"
"Ha, ha! Who's the loser now, Applejack?"
She then realized that light blue blob was her friend. "Wait...Rainbow Dash?!"
"AJ, in your face! I was right! My stomach doesn't even hurt anymore!"
"That's because 'ya don't even have a body anymore! Rainbow, this is bad!"
"Yeah, if by bad you mean awesome like me! Now dump some cheese puffs into the trash can! I'm starving!"
Applejack carried the bucket with Rainbow Dash in it. "Let's get you to Twilight. She'll know how to fix this."
Meanwhile at Twilight's house, she was examining Rainbow Dash as a light blue blob.
"What happened to her body?" She asked.
"Ah don't know. It like, ditched her or something from eating too much junk food." Applejack answered.
"Well, it looks like it's not that big deal, if she doesn't mind being a bodiless consciousness for the rest of her life."
"It's cool. I don't mind."
"What?! No! Rainbow Dash, please think 'bout this!"
"Since when does being a right make you a-"
But Applejack puts a lid on the bucket. "Twilight, what do we do? We can't let her leave like this."
"I saw this happened to someone back at Crystal Prep. You have till sunset to get it back. You know where it is?" She asked.
"No."
"Then we have to go find it. Let's go."
The duo walked towards to the door leaving Rainbow Dash. "We'll be right back Rainbow Dash, just stay put." Then they left.
"What? Where you guys going? At least shove some nachos into my trash hole. Guys?"
Few minutes later, Rainbow Dash used all her might to get the lid off of the bucket she was in. "I guess it's kinda hard to move without my body." She then sees a hockey stick and roller blades (The one she gave to Twilight on her birthday) then, she comes up a better idea.
Applejack and Twilight hid behind the bushes and saw Rainbow Dash's body eating a plate full of salad.
"What's it doing?"
"Eating a salad." Twilight answered. "Rush her on a count of three. 1, 2, 3-"
Rainbow Dash arrives with the tape from the hockey stick strapped to the roller skates and her bucket. "Hey, guys! What's up?"
Rainbow's body stops eating the salad and runs off.
"No!" Applejack and Twilight shout.
"We told you to stay put!" Twilight scolds.
"Rainbow Dash, ya scared it away!" Applejack shouts.
"Oh, don't worry about that." Rainbow said. "Remember how I said I didn't need it? Well, I was right again! Check it!"
She then wheels forward and backward much to Applejack's horror.
"Ah can't believe you! Just stay put!" She then storms off.
When they left, Rainbow Dash gets bored. "All this being right is making me hungry."
Meanwhile, the Canterlot Movie Club, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are relaxing in Sugarcube Corner.
"Nothing starts the break without some refreshing beverage. Ain't that right fellas?" Apple Bloom asked with her friends nodded in agreement.
Scootaloo then hear something. "Wait. What was that?"
Through the window, they saw Rainbow Dash as blue blob in a bucket, skating to the front entrance. And slams the doors.
"Give me some snacks!" Rainbow shouted.
"What are you?!" Sweetie Belle asked terrified.
"It looks like bucket of blue goo." Scootaloo observes.
"What?! It's me, Rainbow Dash!"
"Oh, man! That boot with wheels stole my sister's voice!"
"No, I didn't steal anything."
"You're not stealing these voices. C'mon guys, let's bail!"
The Canterlot Movie Club members quickly made a run for it from Sugarcube Corner.
"It's me, Rainbow Dash! Aww, man."
Meanwhile, Twilight picks up the eaten salad. "She's close. I'll take care of the body. You go find Rainbow Dash; we don't have much time." She then looks up the sky and the sun were slowly setting.
Applejack walked past by Sugercube Corner while looking for Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Where is she?" She then sees her little sister along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle carrying weapons; Apple Bloom is carrying a small wooden plank, Scootaloo holds a paddle and wears a helmet, and Sweetie Belle holds Rarity's mirror as a shield.
"Hey, have ya'll seen Rainbow Dash?"
"No," Scootaloo Answered. "Have you seen a magic garbage can? We need to beat the living-"
"Magic garbage can? That was Rainbow Dash! Your sister!"
"Wait, what?"
"Oh, so I guess that makes sense." Sweetie Belle said.
"So ya saying that blue goo Rainbow Dash? Big sister, what's going on?" Apple Bloom asked.
"No time to explain! Which way did she go?"
They hear Rainbow's scream few feet away as a trash collector dumped Rainbow Dash into a garbage truck. "RAINBOW DASH!"
Then Rainbow Dash was stuck inside a garbage truck.
"Augh! This is not what I want to give myself some time!" She said and starts to scream for help. "Help!"
"No-one can hear you."
"Who's there?"
Then she sees a talking basketball coming out from the darkness. "Don't worry; just another bodiless consciousness. Whoa! Hey, did you work way too hard too?"
"No. I ate too much junk food."
"Yep, that'll do it. Me? I was a female triad member. I could have gone pro. My boss keeps on telling me, "If you kept on pumping miniguns like that, your body is going to abandon you!" I told him she was full of it! But I didn't get my body back in time and now look at me; stuck with a basketball for a body."
"Well, my body is still good."
"Wait, your body is still good? Then what are you doing here, dummy?"
"Hey! Who you calling a-"
"You must not want it. May I take it?"
"No way, bro!"
But the basketball runs away. Don't worry, I'll find it. So long sucker!"
"No!" Rainbow was upset. But then the trash door opens and reveals to be Applejack.
"Applejack! You were right and I was wrong! I'm sorry for being so stubborn please helped me get my body back!" She begged.
"Don't worry, Rainbow. We can still get it back on time. Even if we mess up, ya always got this!" Applejack said, holding her skate-can.
"But seriously, I need my body back."
Applejack pulled out her phone and called Twilight. "Twilight, I found Rainbow Dash."
"I found the body, but you better come quickly. We'd got a problem."
The scene cuts to the front of Canterlot High, where Rainbow's body, in a triad outfit, tries to lift a dumbbell. But immediately drops the weight. The triad's essence ejects from Rainbow's body. "Body, you're worthless! I can't believe you can't even lift a single dumbbell!"
"Hey! What are you doing with my body?" Rainbow asked. With Applejack and Twilight on her side.
"Oh, it's you!" Morphs back into Rainbow's body. "What do you think? Pretty cool, right?"
"No, not pretty cool. You dressed me up like a loser!"
"Aw, no wonder your body left you. Look, I've been tired of using that basketball for the rest of my life. There's got to be purpose on this body."
"Give me back my body!"
"Finders keepers, losers weepers."
"Applejack!" Twilight shouts.
"We tried in a nice way." Applejack intervenes. "Now we do it in the apples way."
The triad member looked at her nervously and run off. "So long suckers!"
The girls chased the member down through town and with her being inside Rainbow's body she uses her super speed to get away from them.
"I forgot that her geode is still with her so she's too fast." Twilight says.
Then, Sunset, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity pull alongside in Sunset's car. "Are you having a game, noobs?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"I really wish you wouldn't teach her those words." Rarity said.
They then jumped into the car, with Twilight at the back, holding Rainbow Dash, while Applejack took over the wheel and hit the gas hardly.
Then the chase continues downhill. And they are getting closer and closer to her body.
"I'll take it from here!" Rainbow said.
"Rainbow Dash, no!"
But it's too late. She dived forwards to her body, tumbling downside of the road. "It's too steep. We'll have to go around!" Twilight says.
Further down the road, they emerge from the bushes and started fighting.
"Give me back my body!" Rainbow shouted.
"No! Get off me!"
She somehow merged back into her body. "Get out of my body!"
The two essence pops out of her body and continue to wrestle her. "No! You get out of my body, America!" The triad's essence throw's Rainbow's essence at the car, hitting the windshield. Applejack blindly runs into Rainbow's body, sending the triad's essence flying to the sky to a nearby playground, where lands on the seat of the swings and becomes one with it. A fat child walks to it and sit on it. "Aww, dang it!"
"Guys, we did it! Rainbow Dash cheered. "I got my body back!"
"Are you sure you still want it?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know, it looks pretty beaten up." Pinkie Pie said.
"I'm so sorry body me, I promise I will never treat you like that again." Rainbow Dash said to her body.
"Quick! Before the sun sets!" Twilight warns.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and morphs back into her body. And her pupils appeared again.
"Rainbow Dash?" Sunset asked. "Are you alright?"
Then Rainbow Dash screamed in pain.
Meanwhile at CHS, the Equestria Girls were relaxing at the band room after what happened yesterday. With Rainbow Dash sitting on a wheelchair and cast on her left arm and her right leg.
"You're right Applejack the candy selling errand is pretty lame after all." She spoke.
"Oh. About that. Those sweets aren't free." Applejack informs.
"What?"
"Turns out only Pinkie Pie gives them away for free."
"Pinkie Pie?"
"Yeah. And I guess we're supposed to do odd jobs for the next six weeks just to pay it all."
"Aww, noob!"
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | Ello Los'er | The story begins at a movie store, where an employee is dancing around the front entrance. Wearing an Eiffel tower outfit.
"Movies!" The employee said. "Rent your movies!"
Then Apple Bloom comes out of the store, holding a movie case and accidentally bumps into him.
"Oh, ah'm sorry 'bout that mister." Apple Bloom said. "And what's wit' that outfit?"
"It's a costume." He replied. "They make me wear it."
Meanwhile at the Sweet Apple Acres, it was nighttime. The apples are preparing for a movie night in the living room.
"All right ya'll, ah' got the popcorn!" Applejack said.
"And ah' got the movie!" Apple Bloom said, showing the movie case.
"Wait, I thought we were watching cowgirls in the west." Big Mac said.
"C'mon ya'll so that movie a lot of times. Ah' got something better, look." She then shows the movie for Applejack to read the title of the movie case.
"Ello Los'er?" She read.
"Yeah sis, it's Japanese. Check it." She then reads the back of the movie case. "A Japanese limousine (Known as the Toyota Century) is possessed by the soul of its driver, seeking revenge on the lowly rich people who murdered him. Get a ride...or be roadkill."
"No sis, not another horror movie! Last ah' had to walk ya' to the bathroom every night for a week!" Applejack said.
"Besides, that movie is too much for you to handle." Granny Smith said.
"C'mon ya'll, it'll be different. This one is old and cheesy. It's quite funny!"
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Big Mac asked.
"It's black and white color. Come on." She replied.
"Hmm...Alright."
Then Applejack closed the lights and Apple Bloom put the tape into the VCR. And the movie started.
"See, ain't this fun?"
"Ah gotta admit, this movie ain't half bad." Applejack said.
In the black and white movie, we see a rich boy inside a classroom, focusing on his textbook. When he flips the page, he could see a tire print engraved in it.
He then gasps and hears a sound of an engine of the Toyota Century, and he looks at the window and sees the Toyota Century.
"Ello, Los'er!"
Then the Toyota Century drives through the window and killing every single person in the classroom instantly.
Applejack just laughed at it while Granny Smith and Big Mac felt a bit tired. But for Apple Bloom, she began to feel scared. The next scene is a woman inside the bathroom as she closes the cabinet, she sees the Toyota Century through the reflection of the mirror.
"Ello, Los'er!" Then the Japanese Limo killed her on-screen.
Then the apples (except Apple Bloom) yawned in boredom while Apple Bloom became really scared and hugged a pillow.
In the movie, an old man was walking in the streets alone at night and heard the limo's engine.
"Ello, Los'er!"
The man tries to get away, but the Toyota Century eats him and spits out bones from the engine. And then kill more people.
All she could hear is screams of people dying under the hands of the Toyota Century and witnessing the people in the movie dying horribly with gruesome violence. This goes for like two hours until the movie's story comes to an end. The rest of her family were sleeping the entire time, so they missed the whole movie.
As the movie finished, Applejack was startled to awake.
"Huh? Is it over?" She then turns off the TV. "Sis, that was so cheesy. I mean, what was up with the limo? Ma' friend Rarity had one of those, but not how it behaves in the movie. Was it supposed to be evil or normal but haunted by a ghost controlling the limo or what?"
Meanwhile, Applejack is sleeping in her room while Apple Bloom tries to sleep but quickly stands up and looks at the window and sees no Limo there. But when she takes a look again it's there.
"Applejack!"
She runs out of her room to her sister's and quickly opens the door and sees Applejack sleeping on her bed. She runs to her and shakes her to wake her up.
"Applejack! Wake up! Wake up!"
Applejack sits up and the Toyota Century comes out of her body and comes towards Apple Bloom.
"Ello, Los'er!"
Then Apple Bloom wakes up screaming at the top of her lungs. Applejack quickly opened her door and turned on the lights.
"Apple Bloom, are ya' alright?!"
"Ah'm having nightmares big sis!" Apple Bloom replied.
"Applejack sighs and said, "the only thing ah' could tell you is to dream of something else. Dream of ya'r a cowgirl or something, okay?"
"Okay, thanks big sis."
"Don't mention it. Goodnight, Apple Bloom."
Applejack turned off the lights and went back to her own room to sleep. Apple Bloom laid down drifting into a deep sleep while murmuring "I'm a cowgirl," or anything like that.
In Apple Bloom's dream, she was wearing a cowgirl sheriff's outfit, walking around a ghost town area in the middle of the desert.
"They say this desert's tough. But ah'm tougher." She then walks to a dead-end alleyway, and an outlaw follows her while holding a knife.
"You walked down the wrong alley, copper!"
Then Apple Bloom pins him against the wall.
"You fought the law...and the law won!" When she's about to punch him, headlights flashed both of them and the source of these lights came from the Toyota Century.
"Ello, Los'er!"
"Oh no, please don't!" She begged.
"I'm going to bite you on the neck!"
Then the Japanese Limo drives towards her and runs over her, startling her from her nightmare.
Apple Bloom woke up and screamed again, and Applejack quickly opened her door.
"Apple Bloom, what's wrong?!"
"It's that stupid Japanese Limo!" She replied. "It's all up inside ma' head!"
AJ groaned. "Ah knew it. Ah knew this would happen! Ah told ya we shouldn't watch that horror movie!"
"Ah' know. I'm sorry, big sis."
"It's alright, sis. For the rest of the night, ah'm going to sleep with you to assured you that no darn Japanese limousines are comin' after ya." She then sat down beside her sister and lie down with her. She wrapped her arms around her to make her feel comfortable and they fall asleep.
However, this didn't work, every minute Apple Bloom would just wake up screaming. This continued until morning came. Then Apple Bloom screamed again as she woke up, this time her scream attracted the rest of her family's attention. As Granny Smith opened the door with an irritating look.
"What sweet apples are going on here?"
Applejack yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Apple Bloom's was just freaked out by this darn Japanese movie we watched last night."
"Well, Apple Bloom you better get ready for today because it's Scootaloo's soccer match against the opposition from another country at CHS soccer field! And you're going to support her and her team!"
"Wait, ain't their opposition is some Japanese soccer team?"
"The opposite team from Japan is called "Ninjitsu FC". They're pretty tough because they're ninjas."
Applejack gasps as she gets an idea. "Will Japanese people be there too?"
"Ah just said it's a soccer match between Scootaloo's team and Ninjitsu FC." She replied.
The scene transitions to CHS soccer field. Scootaloo's team were struggling much because the away team are basically ninjas and they are too OP, and the scoreboard is 5 for Ninjitsu FC and 0 for Scootaloo's team.
Sure enough, Japanese people are there too.
"See AB, there's nothing to be afraid of. AJ said. "See how calm and confident these Japanese people are? Even if they're overpowering Scoots and her team?"
Then the Japanese people came to the apple sisters and Apple Bloom became scared because of their way of greeting her. Suddenly, the Toyota Century appears.
"Ello, Los'er!"
Apple Bloom screamed and ran away as fast as she could. While in reality, it's still normal and the away team scored another goal.
"Apple Bloom! APPLE BLOOM!" But it's too late. She's no longer in her sight. Rarity and Rainbow Dash walk up to Applejack. "Ah' knew we shouldn't watch that darn car movie!"
"She's scared of cars now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"No, just Japanese limos." She replied.
"A Japanese limo?" Rarity asked. "Oh darling, what a silly notion, my Toyota Century isn't frightening at all."
"Wait, Sugarcube, you own a Toyota Century?"
"Of course, darling!" Rarity replied.
Meanwhile, Apple Bloom was with her sister and Rarity. Standing in front of her house.
"What are we standing here for?" She asked.
"Something that is going to get rid of ya' fears." AJ replied.
"Oh, my driver is here!" Rarity said. A limousine pulled over but it's not the same exact limo Applejack was expecting. "Here she is! Isn't she a beauty?"
Applejack whispered to her. "What the heck is that, Rarity? Ah thought ya' said you had a Japanese Limo!"
"A Japanese Limo? Oh darling, I thought you said a long-stretched limo!"
"But that Limo ain't Japanese."
"Japanese? My Limo is no coward, I guarantee you that!" She said,
AJ sighs. "Never mind. So, Apple Bloom, ready to go for a ride?"
"In that thing?! No way!"
It's not even a Japanese Limousine! Come on!"
"I don't care! A limo is a limo!"
"It'll be fun. We all just go for a ride!" AJ said.
"Uhh, Rarity may ah' used your bathroom?"
"Why of course, Darling. But be back in a minute, dear."
Cuts to the bathroom where Apple Bloom is washing her hands and pulls out a toilet paper and stops when she sees a tire print on it. She looks up to the mirror and sees the Toyota Century.
"Ello, Los'er!"
She gasps and quickly runs from the bathroom and her phone rings. She picked it up and answered whoever was calling her.
"Ello, Los'er!"
She screams and throws her phone on the ground and quickly runs back outside and goes into the back of the limo.
"Let's go, let's go! Drive!"
Then the two girls went inside and sat beside her while Rarity's driver drove them away.
"What?! What is it?!"
"That Toyota Century, sis! It's following me!"
"Sis, come on! Yer' just seeing things!"
"No!" Apple Bloom argued. "It was the Japanese Limo, and it was real!"
"So, it came out from the horror movie then?"
"Ah' don't know! Maybe!"
"Alright, alright. Yer' safe for now. Rarity's driver will just drive us around for a bit." Applejack said.
"Oh, indeed." Rarity agreed.
Sometime later, the driver is driving into the woods at nighttime. Applejack falls asleep, while Rarity is busy brushing her hair.
"Wait, where are we going?!" Apple Bloom asked.
"Now, now Darling. My driver always drives deep into the woods only if I want to clear my mind. Fluttershy must love this scenery." Rarity said.
During the rest of the drive, Apple Bloom could only see that the trees are giving her the evil look and it is scary. What scares her is that she caught the small appearances of the Toyota Century. And after a minute, the limousine stopped working.
"Why are we stopping?! What's going on?!"
"Mrs. Rarity," Rarity's driver said. "It seems that we've run out of gasoline."
"Oh no, oh no, this isn't good!" Apple Bloom shouted. "He's coming and we're stuck here! Applejack!"
Applejack screams as she wakes up. "What, what is it?!"
"We ran out of gas, and he's coming after me!" She ducks on the ground.
"Come on Sugarcube, we gotta get out and push." Applejack said.
"No! I'm staying here!" Apple Bloom shouted.
"Alright, Rarity, her driver and I will push you back to town then." Then she and Rarity exit the limo, same goes for the driver as the three of them push the limo back from the front.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, not back this way!" She then sees the headlights from the Toyota Century driving towards them. This time, it was real. "No, no, no, no, no!"
Then the three saw the headlights but didn't see what car it was.
"All right, help!" AJ exclaimed.
"About time." Rarity said.
Then Apple Bloom exits the limo running away and screaming.
"Apple Bloom!" She looks back and it turns out that it was the real Japanese Limo. The Toyota Century.
"Ello, Los'er!"
"OH, MY SWEET APPLES, IT'S REAL!" She shouted. "RUN RARITY!"
The two girls ran away but the driver was left behind, as he nearly got run over by the Toyota Century and began chasing the three girls.
They tried to lose the Toyota Century on foot but it's still on their tail. The Toyota Century drives faster, and Applejack looks back while running and sees the Japanese Limo was about to hit Rarity.
"Rarity, look out!" She drags Rarity out of the way in the nick of time. But the Japanese Limo is still going as it's chasing Apple Bloom. "Oh no! It's going after Apple Bloom! We gotta help her!"
"Apple Bloom!"
Apple Bloom, still running for her life. While running she could hear the voices from the Toyota Century. "I'LL END YOU!"
Apple Bloom ends up in a dead end and the Japanese Limo corners her. "WHERE YOU ARE FREAKING GOING?!"
The limo corners her to a tree.
"Ello, Los'er!"
Apple Bloom screams in fear. Applejack and Rarity finally arrived.
But before they rescue her, they get hit by the limo's doors, knocking them out cold.
"Ello, Los'er!"
"I'm no Los'er!" She shouted.
She tried to run without looking and bumped into a tree and fell on her back. She opens her eyes and sees the Limo was about to run over her. "Ello, Los'er!"
Then Apple Bloom became furious and stood and faced the limo. "You fought the law and the law....won!" She began punching the limo's headlights, shattering them into pieces, pulls the limos' door and breaks the wind shield with one punch. She even punched the rearview mirrors. "Leave me alone!" She then rips off the roof. "I hate you!" She then runs off but comes back and holds a minigun and begins firing bullets at the Japanese Limo. "Stop following me around!"
The scene cuts to reality where Applejack holds her down on the ground while Apple Bloom is still squirming with her eyes shut. "Apple Bloom! Wake up! Apple Bloom, stop it!"
"Stop..."She opens her eyes and sees her big sister. "Applejack?"
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright, darling." Rarity said.
"Ah did it, ah conquer my fear. I cleaned that darn Limo's steering wheel, with ma' fists!"
"Kind of," AJ said. "You hit your head and started going crazy on the Limo. But actually, that limousine was just someone."
The Limo unfolds itself to reveal to be the same person from the video store.
"You?!" She asked in surprise.
"Yeah, what's your problem?"
"Why were ya' following and scaring me in that limo suit?"
The employee sighs and holds a paper. "My boss made me wear this. I'm from the video store. Your rental is overdue."
"Why didn't ya' just call or something?" Applejack asked.
"I did, and I sent a fax!" He replied.
"That was you?!"
"Yes! So can you just return the video, please?"
"How 'bout tomorrow? 'Cause ma' sister had been through a lot tonight."
"Okay, but you better return it tomorrow." He spoke.
Then he left the three girls behind.
Back at Sweet Apple acres, Apple Bloom is getting ready for bed but sees her sister walking passed by her room. "Hey, Applejack?"
"What is it, sis?"
"Ah'm not scared anymore. Thanks, sis. For helping me out with my fears and stuff."
"No problem, sis. Goodnight, Apple Bloom."
"Good night, Applejack."
And when she fell asleep on her bed, she started dreaming again. But this time, this dream is good as she was riding the exact same Toyota Century in the midnight sky while wearing her sheriff outfit.
"They say this desert's tough. But ah'm tougher."
Then the limo flies off towards the sky as Apple Bloom was riding it.
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | Memory Eraser | It all started at the park where Rainbow Dash was kicking and keeping the ball in the air as she was counting how many times she kicked it in the air.
"96, 97, 98, 98, and 100!" She then performed a bicycle kick and the ball shot to the nearby goal net. "And I score!" Her own celebration was cut short when she saw Sunset walking by, holding a guitar.
"Yo Sunset, nice guitar you have there." She complimented.
Sunset stopped walking and smiled at her. "Actually, this guitar is not mine. I promise Flash to buy him a new one after the last one broke. Anyway, what were you doing?"
"Oh you know? Practicing for our game against Crystal Prep at Crystal Prep Academy? I'm totally going to show them in their place!"
Sunset chuckled. "Let's just hope you are, Dash."
"Hey. Mind if I tag along? I could use a break for a while."
"Sure."
The two walked to Flash's house and rang the doorbell. "The door is open." His mother's voice was heard.
The girls went inside, and they were greeted by Flash's mother who was holding a tray of chocolate chip cookies.
"Hello, Mrs. Sentry, we're here to give Flash this new guitar." Sunset said.
"Oh, he's in his room." She replied.
Rainbow Dash picks one cookie and takes a bite. "I'll just stay put and dig my face into these cookies." Sunset stared at her. "What? I'll share them. Don't worry."
Sunset rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Sure, you are."
Sunset went inside Flash's bedroom and the water was heard running inside the bathroom.
"Flash. Yo, Flash. I bought you that new guitar I promised." She placed the guitar on the bed and turned around and only saw Flash coming out of the shower and he wasn't even wearing a towel!
"Aaaaaaagh!
"Aaaaaaaagh!
"Aaaaaaaagh!
She catches a glimpse of his "Junk mail" and Sunset quickly runs out of the room while Flash runs back to the bathroom. Sunset ran downstairs in panic and went out of the house.
Sunset ran away as fast as she could but was stopped by Rainbow Dash who just caught up with her with the help of her super speed.
"Geez, it looks like you saw a ghost. What happened back there?"
"When I went upstairs, Flash was getting out of the shower."
"Yeah, so?"
"And he didn't have a towel."
RD cringed.
"I tried not to look and just give him a new guitar, but I saw his..."
"His junk mail?" She began to laugh.
"No, Dash, I'm mentally scarred. I've never been this scarred ever since the Fall Formal and the Anon-A-Miss incident! The image is glued inside my eye contacts. Every saggy, wrinkled, shriveled, pasty...
"Hey, hey, don't put that in my head!"
"I need help, Rainbow Dash! You have to help me."
"As a loyal friend, I'll do anything to help one of my awesome friends."
"Thanks."
The girls were at the arcade at the mall and they're standing in front of the Tyrek's revenge arcade game machine.
"What you need is some Tyrek's revenge!"
"Let's do it.
The girls were about to pass Level 1 but then Sunset saw the characters in the game were turned into versions of naked Flash. She shrieked and ran away.
"Sunset, wait!"
The girls were at Sugarcube Corner where they're having coffee.
"If this doesn't take your mind off of Flash, then nothing will."
"What, coffee? Thanks, Dash, but I don't see how this is going to work."
"Well, drinking one of your favorite coffees here should take your mind off of him."
"I don't see how this'll work."
"It will work. Just trust me."
Then Sunset can smell the scent of the drinks, especially her favorite on the human world.
"Okay. It worked."
"It's nice to see you girls again." Mrs. Cake's voice was heard, and her face looked like Flash's when Sunset looked up to her. "Can I get you something to drink, Sunset?"
Sunset screams again and runs away.
Cuts to the movie store where they'll be checking movies to watch that'll Sunset. When Sunset looks at all of the movies on the shelf, most of them are covered with Flash naked. She covered her eyes and groaned.
"See anything you like?" She asked.
"No!"
"Okay. I'll go see if they have good girls, bad girls." Rainbow Dash went to the checkout counter and the employee is watching something and he looks like he just came back from the dead or something. "Hey, man, do you have any copies of Good Girl, Bad Girl?"
"Sure. Just let me check for you." He then searches for copies of that said movie.
"So, it's a no?"
"Oh, yeah. No." He replied.
"Okay. Just these and whatever my friend's getting."
Cuts to Sunset looking at the Daring-Do poster and covers her eyes and groans like she saw a naked Flash instead.
"I guess just these." She puts them on the counter and sees what the employee is watching. "What are you watching?"
"Galaxy Chasers: Moonlight incredible." He said.
"Is it anything good?"
"I watch Galaxy Chasers: Moonlight incredible. All day, everyday, all day, everyday,"
"Aw, how do you watch that? It sucks!"
"I watch Galaxy Chasers: Moonlight Incredible. All day, everyday,
"You already said that." Rainbow said.
"I watch it all day, every day."
"Dude, you just said that. Don't you remember?"
"All day, every day."
"What?!"
Rainbow Dash looked at the video again and found it was a shot to help her friend. She ejects the tape and grabs it.
"I'm just going to borrow this."
At Sunset's house, Rainbow Dash puts the tape in the VCR.
"Trust me, Sunset. This will make you forget."
Sunset still covers her eyes. "No, no. I'm not looking at anything ever again. Every time I open my eyes, I only see Flash naked."
"Just give it a chance." She insisted.
"No!"
She grabs her arms. "Just look at it!"
"Let go! I'm not looking at a stupid-"Her eyes widened when she saw Galaxy Chasers: Moonlight Incredible and its outstanding content of the film.
"I told you!"
Then rolls of films fly out of Sunset's eyes and it was sent to the T.V screen.
The film reel shows each piece of Sunset's memories that includes her good times with her friends, her back-story at Equestria and her darker days were being taken to the movie as the film ended.
"Sunset! Do you remember seeing Flash naked?" She doesn't reply to her. "Flash naked? Nude? In the buff? Naked Flash, Naked Flash, Naked Flash!" She still doesn't respond. "Awesome! Dude, it totally worked! Up high!" But Sunset doesn't give her a high-five. "Let's...get you some coffee."
The girls were back at Sugarcube Corner and they're usual seats.
"Mrs. Cake, the usual two coffees, please. Better make that expresso."
Then Mrs. Cake came by. "Hey Sunset, dear, you're back! Feeling any better?"
Sunset groans.
"Dear?"
Sunset groans again.
She nervously walks away to her husband.
"Is anything alright dear?" He asked.
"I don't know. She looks like she's been working out."
"Sunset snap out of it, we're finally gonna have some fun stuff! Just two friends hanging out, letting the good times roll! Like old times!"
The montage begins with the Rainbow Dash doing fun stuff with Sunset. But Sunset just stayed still in her empty expression since she watched the video and much to her frustration and yells.
"Give me back my friend!"
Rainbow Dash called their friends for an emergency meeting at Sunset's place as the fiery haired girl unconsciously sits down on the couch while Rainbow Dash explains the situation to them.
"She's been like this ever since she watched the video." Rainbow Dash said. "Now she doesn't remember anything at all. She doesn't even remember who she used to be and her old life at Equestria."
Twilight suddenly figured what's going on. "I saw the same thing that happened to Sunset before back at Crystal Prep. That video was Galaxy Chasers: Moonlight Incredible, was it?"
"That's the video."
"Okay. When Sunset watched the video, all of her memories and her own mind and consciousness were inside that video tape. Which means Sunset was in that tape."
"Then I reckon we should break that darn thing to get her out of there." Applejack suggested.
"No, we can't do that! We might hurt Sunset as well so that's not an option."
"What are we going to do?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's simple." Twilight replied. "We have to watch the tape. Once we're in there, we find Sunset and get her out of there."
Twilight presses the remote button and the music plays. The girls are pulled into the T.V via film reels on their eyes. They finally landed on an empty dark void of nowhere.
"Alright, we're here!"
"But where are we? This place looks scary." Fluttershy said.
"You girls are in the tape." Sunset's voice was heard behind them.
"Sunset Shimmer," Twilight exclaimed, hugging her friend and Sunset hugs back. "We're so glad you're okay. We're here to rescue you!"
They let go of each other as Rarity stepped towards her. "You are alright, Darling?"
"Never better," She replied.
"Alright," Rainbow Dash took 2 steps forward. "Before we leave and destroy the tape, I'm going to ask; Sunset Shimmer, do you still remember what you see?"
Sunset sighs and shows an emotionless expression. "Whether I'm here or out there, I can't forget about seeing Flash naked."
Rainbow groaned. "You're still thinking about that? Just get over it already. What happened to "My Past is not Today"?"
"You don't get it, Dash! It's not something you can just un-see."
"But you had a dark past and you got over it. But how can you get over what you saw this morning?" Twilight asked.
"I'm mentally scarred by that, Twilight. I've never been this scarred since you girls defeated me. It's everywhere every time I see!"
"So that's what started this whole mess." Applejack said.
"Freaky-deaky!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
Then Twilight got an idea. "I got it! We're going to change your memory."
"What do you mean?"
"If we find your memory of Flash and cover it, you won't remember seeing naked at all."
"At least that suggestion is much better than the memory stone." Rarity said.
"Where do we start?"
"Your memories are over there." She gestured towards a lot of doors of other people's memories and once a door that says, "Sunset Shimmer's memories," they went through the door and found themselves back in CHS.
In there, they see different Sunset Shimmers in her old bully attire, formal attire and her current attire. It also shows the memories of Sunset's time at Canterlot High. Like one memory shows Sunset giving the Dazzlings a tour around the school, and another memory shows Sunset wearing earmuffs while walking through the halls when their geodes are getting overpowered, another one shows Sunset confronting Trixie about the memory stone.
"Why are they in CHS?" AJ asked.
"These are her memories." Twilight replied.
Then Rainbow Dash sees the memory of Sunset and friends being laughed at by the entire school when they were making their way to the picture taking room while wearing vegetables and fruits. "Hey, hey, I remember that!"
"I still remember how corny my jokes were that time!" Pinkie said.
"This isn't the memory we need."
"Yes. We need to find Flash's room."
"Easy: Let's get to his house. There's the exit."
They went through the exit door and they're inside the video store and see the employee watching Galaxy Chasers: Moonlight Incredible.
"All day, every day, all day, every day,"
"Memory isn't logical. We'll have to keep looking."
Then through the door was the way to Flash's house.
"We're getting closer."
The girls entered the house, and the stairs grew to a lot of times higher than its normal length. The girls ascend their way up to his room and after for like 3 minutes. They're standing in front of the door which is Flash's room.
"This is his room." Rainbow said.
They open the door, and they see Flash naked in front of them. The girls except Sunset blushed and covered their eyes while Rainbow Dash was grossed out.
"Aw, sick! I need to get that out of my head too!"
Twilight took a glimpse on the blanket. "Quick! Cover him with that blanket!"
Sunset and Rainbow Dash grab the blanket and attempt to cover Flash, but he leaps onto the roof and crawls on like a spider and jumps away.
"Get him!"
The girls give an epic chase on Flash through the door; they fell and later landed safely on the ground. The chase continues as they chase him through a crowd of Sunset's friends being at her when they believe her to be Anon-A-Miss.
"You secret Stealer!"
"You're not our friend!"
"How could you do this? After all we've been through together?"
"I'm sorry but you did this to us. Tell whatever secrets you want. But we don't have to listen."
The girls flinched when they said those things to her during that time.
"I really regret turning your back on that, Sunset." Fluttershy said.
"I know. But we have a problem right now, Fluttershy."
Flash escapes through an exit door and the Equestria Girls follow suit. They emerged from a chair inside the classroom with all other chairs. Big and small and they chase Flashback in the tape as he is still running. Rainbow Dash tried to catch up with him with her super speed, but he was surprisingly faster than her anyway.
"Flash isn't really like this. Not even the other Flash Sentry at Equestria. How can he be so faster than I am?"
"It's Sunset's memories!" Twilight said. "She remembers everything so fast even though she remembers what started this mess in the first place!" Then Flash's new guitar fell on the ground. "Okay. If we're going to catch up with Flash, you use your memories to catch him."
"Okay!" Pinkie tried to remember something, but nothing was working.
"What she meant was that Sunset's memories were to our advantage to catch him!" Applejack said.
"Think of something!" Rainbow ordered.
Sunset tries to remember something, and Rarity's limo appears, but it was half.
"Have you forgotten what her limo looks like?"
"I'm trying!"
She remembers again and the limo was complete.
Sunset, Rainbow and Twilight took the front seat with Sunset taking the wheel while the rest were at the back. Sunset steps on it and drives towards Flash.
"He's still too fast!"
"Remember something to block his path!"
"I can't!"
Then Rainbow Dash remembered something. "Sunset, remember that day when we're at the yacht and the storm king attacked our friends?"
"Yeah, and if you hadn't run off then we wouldn't have what we need to stop Storm King."
Then Storm King appears in the sky and tries to strike lightning on Flash, but he dodges it.
"I remember my She-Demon form after I put on Princess Twilight's crown during the Fall Formal!"
Then her Demon form appears up in the sky and breathes fire on Flash in which he is fast enough to dodge that. Sunset tried to her best not to get burned alive by her own Demon form along with her friends as they safely passed by the Demon.
"I may have a dark past, but my past is not today."
"We have to cut his path!"
"Uhh..." Then a memory came back to her. "I remember that bumpy route that Granny Smith drove us to!" Then that said route appeared on their path. "Ha, ah, now he's got nowhere to run."
But Flash is still not slowing down.
"I don't think he's slowing down."
Flash gracefully dives off of the edge and Sunset hits the brakes and she and the rest step out of the limo and see him fall. Sunset had this determined look on her face and pulled out the blanket.
"Let me do it, Sunset." Rainbow Insisted. "I'm the one who got you in this mess, so let me do it."
"Thanks, Rainbow Dash but let me do it. But let me do it." Then Sunset runs towards the edge much to their shock.
"Sunset, darling, what in the name of heavens are you doing?!"
"I'm getting rid of that memory."
Then Sunset leaps and went closer to Flash as they were falling, Sunset covered him with the blanket. Then the blanket was found empty, and she realized that's in grave danger and began to scream in fright. But as she was about to hit the ground, Sunset found herself a height from herself to the ground. She's being carried by Twilight's telekinesis power as Twilight gently puts her down on her feet. And her friends gathered around her.
"Oh Darling, we may face a lot of danger many times, but don't you ever do such a stunt again!" Rarity scolded.
Sunset sheepishly scratches her head. "I'm sorry guys. I'm just trying to get rid of it."
"So did it work?"
"Well, it did work. So how do we get out of here, Twilight?"
Twilight just shrugged.
"Seriously, you know how we're getting in here, but you don't even know how to get out of here?"
"How should I know? I didn't get inside this tape by myself."
"I think I can help."
They turn around and it was none other than that guy from the store.
"It's the guy from the video store!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"There's a tape sticking out of that wall over there. Grab onto it you should be home free."
"Don't you wanna leave, too?"
"Nah, I'm kinda into not having to work for the rest of my life."
"Well suit you ah' guess." AJ said.
The girls walked to a massive video tape and T.V screen as the employee waves goodbye to them. They grab onto the tape feeling a bit nervous.
"Well, here goes nothing..."
Then the Galaxy Chasers: Moonlight Incredible music plays in reverse and the tape reels flies out of the T.V and back to their bodies.
"It's gone!" Sunset exclaimed. "Naked Flash is gone! I don't remember it anymore!"
"Well, ah'm glad ya' don't remember it anymore, Sugarcube."
"Oh, and Sunset, I'm so sorry that I got you- or should I say all of us into this mess together."
"It's okay Rainbow Dash. You're just helping me and that shows how loyal you can be to all of us."
"Well, what matters the most is that we're all okay."
"Then this calls for a party!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"Um...maybe later Pinks."
THE END |
The Irregular Misadventures of the Equestria Girls (Volume 1) | Luna's Secrets | It all started with Sunset Shimmer, Snips and Snails were at Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna's house to water Luna's plants. The two boys were stubborn because of this.
"Can't we just water the plants later?" Snips asked.
"Yeah, in fact, we didn't even get paid for this!" Snails said.
"No, we're watering her plants now!" Sunset said sternly.
"I still can't believe she just tasked you to water the plants." Snips said.
"Well, I hadn't seen anyone asking you two to water the plants."
"Whatever!" Snails said. "Can we just get this over with so we can leave?"
"Chill snails, you both should be glad that you two were doing something good for once. Not to mention that you two almost screwed up the school play last school year."
"That's not my fault!" Snips defended himself.
"And it's not mine either!"
Sunset sighs annoyed. "Will you two knock it off and help me find the watering can?"
Then for the next few minutes, they were finding the watering can around the house but nothing. The last thing they checked was Luna's bedroom but it was locked.
"Agh, the bedroom doors are locked!" Snips said.
"It wouldn't be in her bedroom!" Sunset's voice was heard from the living room. "Stay out of there!"
"Hey Snips, check out this hat!" Snails then put on a hat and began to intimidate Luna. "It's not like my sister Celestia was adopting Sunset or anything. I just let her come over and water my plants."
The two boys snickered, and Snips wanted to try. "Ooh, ooh, let me try!"
But Snails slapped his hand. "No. I want to wear it while I water the plants!"
"Just let me put it on!"
"No way, I want to put this on while I'm watering!"
Then Snips attempted to snatch the hat from his but Snails quickly grabbed his hands, and they began fighting.
"Get off me! I wanna wear it while I water the plants!"
Then Snails headfirst to a bookshelf knocking out a book and ripped its lock. Sunset came by and was annoyed by their antics.
"What in Celestia is going on here?"
The two boys pointed at each other at the same time. "It was him!"
Sunset sighs again. "Guys, for once, don't do anything rash here!" Then she noticed a book lying on the ground and it had a lock much to her horror. "Oh no! What did you guys do?!" She picks up the book.
"What do you mean, what did we do?! Snips pushed me!"
"Guys, you broke it!"
"Yeah right," Snips said. "You can't break books! And besides, even if it did break, just put it back and don't say anything!"
"Guys, you totally broke it! Look, this thing has a lock on it."
"What kind of book has a lock?"
"I don't know." She then opens the first page, and the text says, "LUNA'S DIARY" she quickly closes the diary.
"Oh no."
"What?"
"This is Vice-Principal Luna's diary! Guys, she's gonna be reading her diary! This is bad!"
"Sunset, what's the big deal?" Snips asked.
"Yeah, it's just some same old diary! I mean, why do people even need to keep their secrets anyway?"
"I don't care!" Sunset replied. "We'll be in big trouble if she finds this thing broken, we gotta fix this before she gets back!"
Then we see the three in the living room and Sunset tries to put the broken lock back on, but it won't work.
"Sunset, you need to stick with glue." Snails said as he brought out the "Supa Glue" from his pocket.
"Okay Snails, just a drop."
"I know."
"Just a drop!"
I know!" He accidentally squirts a lot of glue on the diary.
"Snails, I said Just a drop!"
"You were making me nervous!"
"Why don't we just tell them the truth?" Snips asked.
"And she won't be pleased and will not give us a chance to explain what happened!" She replied. Takes the glue from Snail's hands and reads the back. "Ok. It says here we can remove the glue with heat."
"I got a solution." Snails grab the diary and put it inside the microwave. Just was he about to turn it on, Sunset stopped him by grabbing his hand.
"Wait, we're not putting anything in the microwave."
The scene transitions to the balcony and Sunset turns on the grill to heat up the glue.
"Sunset, it's working!" Snails exclaimed.
"Yeah, it is."
The glue drips to the fire causing it to explode, and the diary on fire. Sunset tries to use the towel to put the fire out and Snips and Snails comes out with a lighter fluid.
"We got it!"
"Snips, snails, that's not-!" But then they squirt the fluid on the burning diary causing it to explode again.
Sunset rushes to the bathroom and throws the diary to the toilet.
"You think she'll notice?" Snips asked.
Sunset sighs, feeling frustrated as she grabs the Diary. "I think you two helped enough." She walked away.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"I'm going to find a way to fix this diary with the help from my friends. Just find the watering can and water the plants. I'll be back."
When she left the house, Snips and Snails looked at each other feeling guilty.
"Snails, I think we messed it up."
"I know. We need to do something about this, but Sunset told us to water the plants while she fixes the diary."
Sunset meets her friends at Sugarcube Corner and tells them what happened.
"So, you're saying that you and those guys were told by VP Luna to water her plants at her house and they both screwed up by breaking Luna's diary by accident and you're seeking Twilight's help to fix it?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That sounds about right." She looks at Twilight. "Besides, even though you are smart and can create any invention, you somewhat knew a lot of answers much like Princess Twilight in Equestria. You know everything about the double glaze donuts, body essences, that tape that traps me in, so you got to know something about this."
Luckily for her, Twilight smiled, meaning that she knows how to fix a diary. "Once again, I do have the answers for that. And surprisingly, I knew the possible, existing ways that could end the universe without a shadow of a doubt."
"Umm...Yer' may be smart and all but how do ya' know this kind of stuff aside from science and other subjects?" Applejack asked.
"As I said, my time at Crystal Prep paid off." Twilight replied.
"So can you fix it?"
"There is one way; I can transfer the secrets to the new diary using a magic quill pen I found back 2 years ago. But in order for this to work, we have to be in the same place where the diary was open."
"Principal Celestia's house," Sunset answered.
"But first, I want all of you to know that diaries are a serious business, because they can contain secrets."
"And if we mucked it up by exposing secrets it would destroy the entire universe or something if I'm, correct?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, something worse than that but yeah. But secrets are a force to be reckoned with."
The girls went back to the sister's place with Twilight, placing Luna's diary with a different journal.
"Wait. That doesn't even look like VP Luna's diary." Fluttershy said.
"As in written content, so too physical appearance, will the books become identical. Girls, join hands."
The girls joined hands as told by Twilight.
"Okay, it's time to begin. Now, no matter what you hear, you must not look at Luna's secrets as the quill transfers her personal privacies.
Twilight opens the box with the magic quill inside as the quill makes a strong wind and it levitates.
"Now we must close our eyes."
The girls closed their eyes. Through Rainbow Dash's POV, they hear ghosts' sounds, whispers and strange laughs while keeping their eyes shut.
"I'm beginning to feel scared!" Fluttershy said, while her eyes were shut.
"Just keep your eyes closed and ignore them."
There are still more whispers that were heard.
"HOW MUCH LONGER IS THIS GOING TO TAKE?!" Rarity asked in fright while her eyes were closed.
"It should be any minute now, just keep your eyes closed!"
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and saw ghosts, pages from the broken diary being transferred to another journal and her friends were still holding onto each other while keeping their eyes shut.
"Cool." That's all she just said.
The progress was replaced by Luna's face appearing and later morphing into the living room and the table drop on the floor. Twilight opened her eyes and was surprised that the process didn't work.
"The transfer is incomplete. Did everyone keep their eyes shut?"
"I kept mine shut!" Sunset replied.
"Same here," Applejack said.
"Ditto!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"Mine is closed as well, Darling."
"Mine was close. Honest."
They all looked at Rainbow Dash, waiting for her answer. She nervously scratches the back of her head.
"Well...there's a chance I might've taken a small peek... maybe."
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight scolded. "Do you have any idea what you have done?!"
Then they heard stomping and screaming.
"What was that?" Fluttershy asked, feeling scared.
"It's coming from outside."
The girls came out of the backyard and saw a gigantic, VP Luna in a warrior dress. And she was coming straight towards the Equestria Girls.
"Vice Principal Luna?!" Sunset exclaimed.
"That's not her." Twilight said. "When Rainbow Dash looked..."
"I said maybe looked, maybe!"
"She released a guardian of Vice Principal Luna's secrets."
The guardian still proceeds.
"She'll kill us because we looked into her secrets!"
"Then ah' say we fight her!" Applejack said. "Everyone, time to pony-up!"
"I'm afraid our powers won't do us any favors, Applejack."
"Huh?"
"She's a guardian of secrets, and nothing can stop a kind of guardian like her!"
"Then if our powers won't work, what do we do?!" Sunset asked.
"There's only one way we can stop this. Each of us has to reveal a secret of our own, or we're dead!"
The guardian still stomps towards them.
"Alright, I'll go first." Twilight took a deep breath and revealed her deepest secret. "My time at Crystal Prep was exactly healthy, physically, emotionally and verbally at the same time. Everyone there kept on beating me up and wishing that I should be dead and saying that no one would want to be friends with me. And when Sunset Shimmer saved me after I was corrupted by magic during the Friendship Games, I decided to enroll in CHS and learn more about friendship and hang out with you girls and Sunset, so I'll never forget what Sunset did for me that day."
Then her fire stops for a second but later restarts.
"Wow Twilight," Sunset said. "I am so sorry to hear how tough your time at Crystal Prep was."
"Yeah, we had no idea you suffered so much." Rarity said.
"I appreciate your concern, but we have a problem on the matter right now! You guys reveal your secrets!"
"Uh, okay," Sunset spoke. "Sometimes, when I was helping Rainbow Dash to clean out the gutters, we went to Sugarcube corner instead."
"Yeah, good one," Rainbow Dash said. "And a lot of times, I don't even need to eat anything, I Just don't like cleaning out the gutters!"
But their secrets are not working.
"No, it has to be something meaningful!" Twilight clarified. "Unless you tell your personal privacy, we're dead!"
"All right I'll do it! I like to sing along to really bad pop music!" Sunset admitted.
"I ate a donut out of the trash can!" Rainbow confessed.
"Ah' like to wear a bodybuilder suit...a lot!" AJ exclaimed.
"I actually like the taste of donuts better when they're from the trash!" Pinkie said.
"Applejack, remember that day when I went to your house while I was building for the school play and saw your diary open, and I said I didn't read it? I lied! I read your diary page by page, especially your most private ones! I'm sorry AJ! Your secrets are just too jucy!"
"Are you serious?" Her flame goes out again and restarts. "Ah' forgive you Rainbow Dash and ah' had something to say too, I've been pumping weights at the school gym with ma' super strength so I'll be prepared for extra battles!" Her secret works as the flame goes out and later proceeds. "Everyone! Say something!"
"I sometimes eat sugar from a dumpster!" Pinkie Pie confessed.
"Sometimes!" Fluttershy adds. "I smuggled one of my pets to school!"
"It has to be something deep!" Twilight clarified.
"Very well," Rarity said. "This would scare me the most but okay, whenever I fall asleep, I always drool from my mouth with my hair being a mess!"
"I have a big problem that I can't control my act while I'm partying like an out-of-control party animal!" Pinkie Pie admitted.
"Every night, I sneak into the zoo and feed the animals there even though the rules say don't feed them!" Fluttershy confessed.
All their secrets seemed to work but there's one person left to say, and AJ spoke, "Sunset, it's up to you now Sugarcube!"
"What can I say?"
"Say anything Darling!" Rarity told her.
"The Canterlot illegal street-artist Flanksy is me!" She admitted that it's not working.
"It has to be something deeper than that!" Twilight cried.
"I became arrogant and obsessed with power, so I turned my back on Princess Celestia! I bullied everyone mercilessly at school and broke my friend's friendship once before! I stole Princess Twilight's crown and turned into a raging she-demon when I put it on during the Fall Formal! I'm a heartless person back then! I lied about being on the cheerleader team! I AM ATTRACTED TO MY SPECIES IN THIS WORLD!"
Then the guardian disappears and the destruction she caused turns back to normal. And so, the secret transfer process proceeds as it's finally transferred the secrets to the new journal and that journal turned into the same diary before it was broken.
"Woah, it looks exactly like her diary!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Twilight, you're so awesome! And I'm sorry I looked; I was just too curious."
"It's fine, Rainbow Dash." Twilight replied. "At least we stopped this together."
Rainbow turned to Sunset and snickered. "And you who knew that you have a thing for horses in this, Sunset?"
Sunset blushed. "Okay Rainbow Dash, stop it."
The next day at CHS, the girls were gathered at the band room.
"I can't believe we got the diary back together!" Pinkie Pie said.
"Yes. And thanks to my help." Twilight said.
Then Applejack realized something and turned to Sunset. "Wait a minute. Ya' forgot to water her plants do you?"
"Don't worry I just got a call from Snips and Snails saying that they indeed water the plants."
"So, what do ya'll want to do next after class?"
"I say we crash at my place for a sleepover!" Rainbow suggested.
"Sounds like a plan to me."
"Oh, a sleepover would be lovely, darling." Rarity said.
"Group hug!" Pinkie exclaimed, hugging her friends.
THE END |
A Para-military Paranoid in Equestria 2 | pre | I kicked in the door. " TWILIGHT! GET OVER HERE!" I screamed out as she ran in.
" What happened?" She questioned.
" I don't know! Get her to the Hospital! Now! I think I know who did this!" I ran out.
I was headed for Kyle and saw him outside Sugarcube corner talking to Fluttershy.
I think I made my point when I landed.
" You son of a bitch!" I grabbed him by the throat and smashed him into the wall.
" I'm gonna stick a fucking grenade down your throat and watch you explode!" I Screamed in his face. I was in pure rage at this point.
" Jack! What are you doing?" Fluttershy... Screamed? At me.
" He might've killed Rainbow!" I smashed his head into the wall again.
He grabbed my arms and started fighting back.
" I'll fucking kill you! And then I'm gonna chop off your fucking head, you son of a bitch!" I shouted at him.
After a minute of battling I grabbed my choking stick I carry around and hit him across the head as hard as possible, knocking him out instantly.
I had the heart to take the scumbag to the hospital where I met with Twilight.
" What happened?" She asked me.
" He did it. I know he did. I beat his face in with this." I took out the bloody stick and showed it to her.
" How's Rainbow?" I added.
" Don't know. The doctors are checking her now." I saw some doctors cart Kyle into a room and I sat down, arms folded.
It was about an hour before the doctor came back.
" She'll be heal over time, but for now she has to stay here." I nodded.
" And Kyle?" Twilight asked.
" You really hit him hard. He's awake if you want to see him."
We both nodded and walked into the room where Kyle was.
My hands and feet hurt like hell from landing so hard. I didn't care. I stared at him for a while. I don't think I was this pissed off in... Ever.
" Kyle. I know you did it." I stated, with absolutely no emotion.
" You're right." He coughed out.
" Kyle, I fucking hate you. I brought you here for one reason. A lot of people wanted you dead. I saved you, and you hurt me. I could kill you right now. But I won't. I want to see you suffer. This is why they called me Psycho."
" They also call me." I started, removing the sunglasses I was wearing to reveal red eyes. " Vengeance. I do to others what they did to a friend. I don't care what happens to me. As long as I avenge that person." I lowered my head and stared at the floor.
I slowly began walking out the door after I put my shades back on and walked into the room where Rainbow was.
I pulled up a chair and fell asleep in it.
* A week later. *
I visited the Hospital every day. It wasn't a week until she started waking up.
" Ungh." I woke up to see Rainbow waking up. " Doc! She's waking up!" A doctor ran into the room and I got out of his way.
" Jack?" She asked.
" I'm here." I grabbed her hoof. " How do you feel?"
" Who did this?" She asked.
" Kyle. I beat him until my arms got tired." I said.
" Why do you always wear those glasses?" She questioned.
' Ah shit' I thought to myself.
" I never got to see your eyes. I want to see them." I looked at her in confusion.
I tilted my hat down to cover my eyes as I took the glasses off. I closed my eyes.
" Because I'm not normal. I've always" I started, tilting my hat back up and opening my eyes.
" Had red eyes. Nobody else has red eyes on Earth. And I like to wear these glasses. Make me look cooler." I finished.
We're talking red like, bright red.
" I always thought of myself as normal but, I knew I never was. I was labeled as crazy, insane, or as the Marine Corp. named me, Psycho. Kyle was always normal, my team was normal. I was Insane. Didn't care who I killed. The red eyes are because I was always the one guy who Avenged friendly deaths. Or at least, that's what I think it is." I calmly said.
" You know, you're always too calm." She told me.
"Heh." I laughed. " I know. Years of craziness, you learn to keep calm."
I put my glasses back on and sat back in the chair.
It was a long time until Dash came back home.
* 3 Months Later *
Today was the day Dash came back.
" Ready to go?" She nodded at me.
" I'll carry you back" I said as I lifted her onto my back.
I walked out side and took off towards home, where there was a 'Welcome back party' Hosted by, who else, Pinkie Pie.
I landed and helped Rainbow inside.
" Surprise!" A bunch of ponies rose up.
I did a little half-smile.
" I got something to do. I'll be back, you enjoy the party." I started walking to Fluttershy's place, where Kyle moved in.
I knocked on the door and Kyle let me in.
" What do you want?" He angrily asked me.
" Come on. Party at my place. You hurt anypony there, I will kill you. Don't think I won't" He followed me back to my house.
" So. Anyway, how's Mystic?" I asked him about his foal.
" She's fine." He tripped over a rock.
I burst out laughing.
" Damn you're clumsy!" I helped him up.
We got back to my place at, what I could tell was, Noon.
Kyle started talking to ponies as I went over to Dash.
" How you feeling?"
" It's good to be home. I missed this place." I smiled at her.
" I haven't been here in days. Stayed in a tent outside the hospital." I said as I cracked my back. " Much better. You know why Kyle attacked you?" She shook her head.
I got up and walked over to my bar where some ponies were waiting.
" Cider." They said one after another.
"Cider coming up." I turned and poured some cider for them, and some vodka for me.
"Here you go." I took a drink from my shot glass.
" Russians know how make a drink, I'll give them that."
Four hours and some random music later, I went to Kyle.
" Why'd you do it?" I asked him.
To which he replied. " To hurt you."
I turned to him, completely calm, I told him " You smell, you are not a good person, you are a traitor, you are a worthless piece of crap." I looked into his eyes. " And I don't like you. Plain as that."
I felt a small pain in my chest. A knife.
" You're gonna need to do better than that." He looked down at the knife angrily.
" What the fu-" I put my hand on his mouth.
" There are small ponies present." He looked around and punched me in the face.
He then ran onto the stage where he challenged me to a fight.
" Come on, I put you in the hospital for two months, I can do it again."
I saw him run towards Rainbow with the knife.
' Wrong move bitch' I smirked.
Royal Guards knocked him to the ground where they arrested him.
" I WILL KILL YOU JACK! I WILL KILL YOU!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
" Have a nice trip! Hope the court case goes well!" I laughed.
I walked back to Rainbow who was confused at what just happened.
" Don't worry. He's been arrested. " She started crying. "What's wrong?" I asked, confused as all hell.
" It's just... I feel like I'm always being saved by you. I used to be able to defend myself. Now I can't."
I lightly punched her fore leg. " Come on. I'll teach you some things." I signaled for her to follow me downstairs. " Plus I saved you only twice."
" I can't fly down." She had a point. Her wing was hurt pretty bad and hadn't fully healed.
" Climb on." I helped her onto my back and I flew down the hole.
I lead her to an empty room.
" Alright, first try- " I trailed off until half an hour later.
" Now for a last resort. Hit me decently hard right here." I pointed to my jugular vein.
And she did, I was out for five minutes.
" Nice work. That can be used if Kyle ever gets to you. Speaking of, I think he's a little... Mentally unsafe."
I can't much remember much more of the day until around 8 P.M. when I woke up on the floor with Rainbow eating dinner.
" What happened?" I looked around. The place was cleaner than I left it.
" You passed out with a bottle of something." I looked at my hand and there was an empty Mountain Dew bottle.
" How the hell did I get this?"
I heard a pistol load.
" I'm back." It was Kyle. " Killed the Guards and grabbed one of your friends from Earth." He laughed insanely.
" Jack..." A voice called out from behind Kyle.
It was Axel.
" How the fuck?" I saw Axel reach for a nearby revolver and slide it to me.
" What the?" He pointed the gun at me.
I quickly picked up the gun and shot Kyle in the head. I got up and walked to my friend.
" Ax. You okay? How did you get here?"
" I'm good. I've really been here a while. A month I think, in a town far from here."
" So you know what's happening?" I helped him up.
" Yeah. Nice to see you." He hugged me. "Nice to see I'm also not the only brony in the team too." He whispered.
" Anyway, Rainbow, This is a good friend of mine, Axel. We fought side by side for years." She waved.
" Nice to meet you. So, Jack. Mind telling me what just happened?" She asked, in shock from the killing.
I took off my blood splattered glasses, Axel looking into my eyes.
" I never seen your eyes before."
" I'll explain over dinner."
We talked and talked. Rainbow got to know Ax too.
" You can take Kyle's old room. I got to report this to Celestia." I walked outside and took to the skies.
* The Castle *
" Celestia. I need to talk to you." She flew down to where I was standing.
" What is it?"
" First, Kyle killed some Guards. I had to use deadly force. Second, one of my friends back home on Earth is here." I explained to her.
" I know. I heard he was in Equestria. He arrived a month ago. As for Kyle. You said deadly force?" I sighed.
" I killed him, I had to. My old friend Axel is here now though. You want me to bring him here in the morning?" She nodded.
" I'll see you then." I took off again.
Back home. Finally I can sleep.
" I'm back. Good night." I noticed Kyle's body was gone.
" They took his body to be buried in two days." He told me.
"Hey. You know what happened to Ryder?"
" Mmhmm. He got married and... That's all I really know." He explained.
" You know I'm married?" He looked at me questioningly " Yeah. Married Rainbow a few months back."
" Wait wait wait wait. A few months? Is that where you where? Here?" I nodded.
" Anyways, Night Ax." I headed down to the bedroom where Rainbow was sound asleep.
I slipped under the blanket and fell asleep pretty fast. |
A Para-military Paranoid in Equestria 2 | I can't think of a good chapter name so... Bacon. | I woke up at 6:30 in the morning, earlier than I normally would. Truth is, my birthday was coming up in two weeks. I cracked my back and went downstairs to hear Axel talking.
" Hey." I waved to him. " What do you want for breakfast?"
He thought for a minute. " How about we go out? Rainbow already left for work." He got up from his chair and handed me something metal and I put it in one of my pockets.
" By the way, Celestia wants to see you. Let's go." I put my sunglasses on and we left.
" Heh. Remember that time those guys from Russia wanted to talk to you?" He asked me as I checked the mail.
" Yeah. They wanted me to get on a plane and meet up with them. Anyways, what are we going to do about the whole Kyle situation?" He didn't reply until later.
We got to Sugarcube Corner quickly, probably because we were in a hurry.
" Hey Pinkie." I waved at him.
" Oh! A new face! You're one of those humans too aren't you?" Ax nodded. Fucking Pinkie man. Something wrong with her.
" This is Axel. An old friend of mine. Found his way to Equestria a month ago. Listen. I got some bad news. Kyle's dead, I shot him." He hair straightened, which sort of freaked me out.
" Is that like, mood or something?" She looked at me and nodded. Damn she freaks me out! " Sorta like my eyes. They change color based on how I'm feeling. That's why I wear these." I took my shades back off.
" I can tell what color they are though. Right now they're Silver. Here." I took out a paper and pen and charted what my eye color means.
" It's a chart of the colors and what they mean. Anyway, I'll have a salad."
"Same here." Ax added. He was the kind of guy you just wanted to be around, while I was the guy who will rip your throat out if you hurt my friends.
" What are going to wear?" I sighed and looked out the window.
" I guess you could say I'd look like a Government agent just without the ear piece. Fancy suit, maybe a hat, and one of these." I smiled and took out a compact pistol.
" Whoa. You got weapons?" I started laughing my ass off, putting the gun back in my holster.
" Oh. You're serious. Yeah. I got plenty. And I mean Plenty" Pinkie came back with our salads and ate breakfast.
" Come on. We're going to be late at this rate!" I took off running, Ax following a bit back. He wasn't really a running person.
" Alright. We're here. Follow me." He followed close behind, out of breath.
A Guard escorted us to a large wooden door.
" You'll have to stay here." He told me as my friend walked in. I leaned up against a wall and grabbed the metal item he handed me.
Dog tags. Ingraved in them were the words ' Ryder Marshall ' I clenched my fist and frowned. " Goodbye friend. "
Axel came back out a minute later.
" Give me a SitRep."
" She gave me privileges of a normal citizen. Can we head home now?" I put the tags in my pocket and reached into another, grabbing my tags and putting them around my neck.
We headed home, getting a lot of looks on the way. " Ignore them. Some ponies don't really like humans it seems."
I closed the door behind me, grabbed a chair and went out back to take nap.
* A few hours later *
I felt a bucket of water splash on to me.
" You got m-" I stopped. I was in a room with Axel, not in my house I know that much.
" Good. You are up." A voice said. We were strapped down to chairs.
I looked around. A pitch black room, luckily for me, the robotic eye I have has night vision.
" Do not resist. You can not escape." The voice told me.
" Who are you?" Axel asked. At least he's awake.
" Do not resist. You can not escape." It repeated.
Me and Axel looked at each other.
" Who are you?" He asked louder.
" Do not resist. You can not escape." It just kept repeating.
" You got a plan?" I looked around again and came up with one.
" Air vent. I can feel my..." My ropes came lose as we heard a scream.
I quickly grabbed my knife and cut our ropes.
" Come on!" I handed him my knife and took out a pistol.
Axel climbed up the vent and helped me up.
" We have to get to the scream. This could be a Search and Rescue now. " I put a clip into my gun and readied it.
" There." Ax whispered, pointing under him.
What he saw terrified him.
A pony strapped to a table being slowly killed.
" Go go go!" I punched down the vent and dropped down, looking around slowly.
Axel dropped down and we saw another pony, masked this time. " Get down!" He yelled out, to no effect. The pony kept torturing the prisoner.
I sprinted towards the torturer and tackled him as my friend released the prisoner.
" What is this place?" I put the gun to the pony's head.
" Tell me or I blow your brains out!" No reply.
I noticed he was quietly muttering " Do not resist. You can not escape."
Just then I heard a scream and I woke up on a mountain.
" What the hell?"
" You have terrible dreams, you know." A voice replied to me. I recognized it as Luna's.
I looked around and saw her.
" Where am I and what's happening?" I looked around and saw nothing but snow.
She disappeared into a black smoke.
I blinked and I was back on my chair, in my backyard.
" That... was weird."
I got up and walked back inside to find Axel sitting in a chair.
" I just had the weirdest dream. You and me were strapped to chairs and-"
" Yeah. I had it too. Strange."
I walked downstairs to the barracks.
" How are you all?" They all saluted me. " At ease. As you may know, your Lieutenant is dead. I had to shoot him. Funeral is in six days. Anyways, take a week off, go home, anything. Come back in a week." I heard a door open upstairs and asking for me.
I flew up the hole that connects the underground and the main building, and saw AppleJack.
" Hey AJ. What is it?" I put my shades on and landed.
" Ah just got a big order that needs to be delivered. Can ya pick up Applebloom for me?"
" I don't see why not. I'll drop her off at the farm." I began walking out the door and stuffed my hands into pants pockets.
" Thanks partner!" She quickly went out the door.
I started whistling a tune I learned in the Marines.
Since there was a few minutes left in the class, I decided to slow down and walk there.
I felt a pain in my chest. " Dammit. Fucking flare ups." It was caused by the "Incident" with Twilight a few months back. I'd been getting chest pains recently because of it.
I don't blame her when she hit me with the magic bolt. She didn't do it on purpose. Kyle on the other hand, he got what was coming to him. He almost killed Rainbow and hurt Axel.
" So much for walking." I took off from the ground, faster than normal.
I got to the schoolyard and waited on a bench near the main exit.
Not even a minute later, Applebloom came out.
" Hey Applebloom. Applejack told me to pick you up." I got up and another pain in my chest.
I walked her home, but the real pains started on the way back to my place.
" Fuuuck..." I was limping by this time, and my wings were to tired to fly. I knew something was wrong here.
Next thing I know I'm propped up against a tree, passed out.
" I WILL KILL YOU!" I heard Kyle shout in my head.
I woke up against the same tree at night time. I began limping back home. I like this night vision mode. It's helpful.
It wasn't easy getting back though. I kept falling over.
I Stumbled through the door, Axel getting up to help me.
" Get me to the table." He helped me get to the dinner table and sat down.
" What's wrong?" He asked me, sitting down across from me.
" I don't know. I'm having trouble walking and I got chest pain." I got up and went over to my bed where Rainbow was sleeping.
I laid down and went to sleep. I have to get this checked out. |
A Para-military Paranoid in Equestria 2 | Another Shitty chapter. | * 6 Days later *
I was sleeping when Axel smacked me in the face. " I'm up! I'm up!" I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up.
" You sure you can go? You look like you're really hurting."
" I have to. Kyle may have been a traitor, but we still served together." I grabbed a tissue and coughed up some blood. " And yes. I am hurting badly." He helped me to the bathroom and handed me the suit Rarity made me a few days ago.
I put on the fancy suit and my shades. 'How long have I had these? Five years? Then again, why am I talking to myself? Oooh... Chest, fuck you!' I said in my head.
I went out the door and Ax helped me downstairs to the funeral.
It was only ponies Kyle and I really knew.
" You okay?" Rainbow asked me as I sat down.
" Yeah. No. I'm doing terrible. I'm in a lot of pain. Problem is, I don't know what's causing it, though it might be an old injury or the Twilight incident."
Since Axel and I were the only ones who really knew Kyle, we were the only ones who went up to talk.
I mostly toned out the whole place until the Axel asked me to come up.
He went over to my seat and helped me over to speak.
" Kyle was always the one to help you out, though he never actually helped around town. We served together for about four years, until he got shot pretty bad, the General told him to go home and he did. Even though he was on the enemies side, we didn't want him to know the we were fully aware." I talked for a few minutes before it was time to bury him.
The plan was to bury him a bit inside of the Everfree forest, not too deep, just to where you could go and visit the grave site.
* 20 Minutes later *
Axel helped me back inside and sat me down in my chair.
" Is he going to be alright? " I heard Rainbow quietly ask him.
" I don't know. I never seen him this bad. I know for a fact he'll die before you. Humans normally live for around Eighty years. Seeing how he's turning Thirty-Six next week, I'd say he'll live maybe another Forty-Four years. Just saying." I chuckled and turned to face him.
" I'll tell you one thing, I'm not going down without a fight. No matter what, I'll always be in your heart." Just then, Twilight came through the door.
" Jack, Princess Celestia wants to see you. " I sighed and got up from my chair slowly.
" This better be important." Twilight quickly saw I was in pain.
" You okay? "
" No." I simply replied. Then, a flash of light, and we were in the Castle.
" Jack, You're here. I need your help." I sighed again and waited.
" We think the Diamond Dogs are planning something." Shining Armor spoke up.
I waited a few seconds before replying. " What do want me to do?"
" You have experience in fighting." Celestia said.
" That I do. Quite a bit. Now, What do you want me to do?" I repeated myself.
" You also have highly trained soldiers. You need to send th-" I shushed him.
" They are for defence." I waited a second and leaned towards Shining. " Me and Axel are for offence." I slowly walked to a nearby map where Shining was.
" Where are they?" He pointed to a spot a few miles from Ponyville. " You can send in some extra Guards if you'd like, but we'll head over stealthily. Celestia, I need your help too." I turned to face her.
" Help with what?"
" I constantly have really bad pain in my chest, any way you can help?" She nodded her head and came close to me.
" I can dull it, if that helps." She put her hoof on my chest and some magic hit me and dulled the pain.
" Thanks. Now, I have a plan to make. Twilight, mind taking us home?"
" Before you go," Shining stopped me. " Good luck."
" Won't need it." We hoof-bumped and I turned back to Celestia.
" Get ready to see Twilight a bunch too." I added.
" Also, Shining, meet me here." I pointed to the base of a ridge and we teleported back to my place.
" Axel, follow me." He followed me downstairs to a room that had a map, and two chairs. We both sat down as Dash and Twilight came through the doors.
" Mind if we watch? I want to see how humans do things related to war." I nodded and they came close to the table.
** Warning, The following is not necessary to read, as it just contains dialogue and battle planning and other stupid bullshit. **
" We can have my team set up a defensive line here to here," I pointed to two spots on the map. " While me and you head up this ridge. Now Twilight, I need you to relay information to Celestia. First, I need to now if Celestia wants these Diamond Dogs killed, or captured."
" You're in command." She told me before teleporting off.
" Rainbow, I need you as Recon, meaning you go high up and scout, then come back to me with what you saw alright?" I asked her.
" Sure." She replied
" What about terrain?" Axel asked me. " We don't know if we'll be above or below them."
" We'll cross that bridge went we come to it." I told him as Twilight came back.
" She said it's up to you."
" Then we'll also need Tranquilizer rounds. I want to capture some of them for Interrogation at the Castle.
Twilight, You know any invisibility spells?" She nodded. " Good, because you'll be close behind us so we can report to the Princesses. Sound like a plan team?"
" Sure." They all replied.
" Axel, what weapons? I got plenty." He scratched his chin.
" M16 Scoped and a side arm?"
" You got it. Tell my Team I'll be down in five." He ran out the door and I headed to the armory.
" M16 with scope, and an M9 for Axel, for me an ACR with duel range scope, and M82 loaded with Tranq darts." I spoke to myself, grabbing weapons off the wall.
" 440 rounds of Thirty round STANAG, Sixty rounds of 9MM, and 20 Tranq darts." I grabbed the ammo and put it in ammo boxes.
" I have to get changed out of this suit, I'll be right back." I went back upstairs and changed into a more suitable outfit and came back to the armory.
" Alright, follow me." I lead Rainbow and Twilight to the barracks where I handed an outfit to Axel.
I explained the situation and where they would form the line. " Cloud Chaser, You're leading the defence team."
We headed out to the base of the ridge with Rainbow and Twilight and met with Shining again.
" Alright. Rainbow, get up there and tell me what you see. Shining, we leave at night, you can tag along if you'd like, see how we humans do things."
We waited around a fire as night approched.
Shining decided to stick with us too.
* Midnight *
" Shh... Hear that?" I heard a howl.
" Yeah, what was that?" Twilight Asked.
" Diamond dogs, they're coming towards us, put out the fire." Axel put out the fire as we heard another howl.
" Quickly, get under my wings. They won't be able to see you." I laid face down on the ground and spread my wings to hide them.
" They're going away. Come on, We're going stealth." We started crawling towards the top of the ridge.
" I know it's not comfortable, but we have to do it."
We soon reached the top of the ridge and I could now see our situation.
" Okay, looks like we have a height advantage. Ax, silencers." I reached in my pocket and pulled out Two weapon silencers and fitted them on to our weapons.
" You spot, I shoot." I told him as he grabbed binoculars and began spotting.
" Isolated target, Five-Zero-Eight. Fire." I took a shot and hit the Dog in the head.
" Good hit good hit. Group of Five, Four-Zero-Zero. Fire." Five hits, five kills.
" Five down, Looks like the head-honcho, Group of... Eight it looks like. Fire."
" No, we'll need that group alive. Good thing there aren't many Dogs here. Rainbow, how many did you see?" I asked her.
" Fifteen."
" That was only fourteen, where's the last one?" I Looked around a bit and saw it. " I see it, taking the shot." Hit.
" Okay, Shining, get your Guards over there."
" They're already moving."
" Let's go!" We got up and started running towards the last few Dogs.
" Reloadin'!" I yelled out as I saw Shining's squad heading to attack
" Get down or I will kill you!" We slowed down and raised our weapons.
The lead Diamond Dog snarled and swatted the gun out of my hands. What happened next was normal for me.
It was like the entire world stopped.
" You couldn't do it. You could never do it. You are defenceless, now you will die." A voice I knew told me.
" General, what a pleasant surprise. How are you today? Like I've said before, No can do." It was the General I had killed years ago.
Time came back to normal as the Diamond Dog swatted at me again.
I grabbed the Magnum from my pocket.
" Eat lead you oversized Bulldog!" I yelled as I blew a hole in his head.
I holstered the gun and grabbed my Rifle loaded with Tranq rounds and took a shot, hitting the lead Dog in the chest and knocking him out.
Axel and Shining's soldiers killed the rest of the Diamond Dogs and Twilight got ready to teleport us all the the castle, where Guards were waiting to take the dog.
" Ready?"
" Ready." I said as we teleported out.
I was pushed over and hit the ground hard, knocking me out.
" Well, that can't be good."
" Ah, he'll be fine." I heard faint voices say.
** Pointless Bullshit over. **
I woke up in the morning, sitting in my chair next to Axel, who was sleeping on the floor.
" You're up. Finally. You had me worried." A voice said to me.
" Luna? What are doing here?"
" You were out for almost a week. You must've hit the ground pretty hard. We stayed and watched you." I got up and noticed something.
" I'm not in pain..." I examined my body. Nothing was missing.
" What happened?" Luna came over and hugged me.
" Twilight Sparkle took you to her library and saved you." She sniffled, almost as if she was crying.
She broke off the hug.
" It was a day long operation. When she hit you with that magic bolt, It began slowly killing you. She nearly killed you, but in return, saved you from her own magic." I saw Twilight sleeping on the floor, along with Spike, AJ, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, and even Celestia.
" We stayed here for the whole time, hoping you would wake up."
" It'll take more than that to bring me down." I sat back down in the chair.
" You keep saying that Jack. You worry me." I saw Twilight start waking up.
" I have a song from back on Earth. I'd like for you to hear it. It's not made by me, It's a song about war. I'll put it on tomorrow, which is my birthday. Sound like a plan?" She nodded at me.
" I'd like to hear it."
* The next day, Jack's 36th birthday. *
I stood outside my front door, ready to walk into a surprise party.
' Pinkie Pie, what have done for my birthday?' I asked myself as I opened the door.
" SURPRISE!" A bunch of ponies popped up from hiding.
I smiled and walked to Pinkie. " You did this in a day? Impressive."
" Yep! So, how are you feeling?" She asked, just as crazy as ever.
" Much better. Though, I will say, it's not the first time I nearly died. Let's see, it's the... Fifteenth time. It is the first time someone ever threw me a birthday party though." I went over to Luna.
" You said you had a song?" Luna asked.
" Indeed I do." I slammed my hand on the nearby table and a song started playing.
I saw the whole house, including my entire squad, look over to a large stereo system.
" Never know when your going need that. " I said myself as the song came on.
" This is called Warriors of the World by Manowar. I like it. Thought I'd share it with all of you." I walked over to where Axel was sitting.
" How you feeling?" He asked.
" Been worse. " I replied.
" I know you have." He hugged me.
" Awkward." I broke off from the hug and dusted myself off.
" I really thought we lost you. You scare me."
I let out a laugh. " I don't got time to die. Too important for that shit."
Then Rainbow came over to us.
" Jack, I need to talk to you." Rainbow told me. " In private."
We went downstairs so she could talk to me.
" Promise not to be angry?" I nodded.
" Well... I'm pregnant." I stared at her. Nothing more.
" Why would I be angry about that?" I smiled, then it hit me. " Right... Human-pony hybrid... I'll ask Twilight." But she stopped me before I could get back up.
" Rainbow, they're your best friends. They have to find out sooner or later."
She sighed. " I guess."
I headed back upstairs.
" Twilight. I need your help. Any chance of a human-pony hybrid occurring? "
" No way." I smiled.
" She is, and we need to know."
" I'll research it and get back to you tomorrow!" Twilight quickly headed home to research it.
" What did she say?"
" She'll get back to us tomorrow." I turned around and went back to where Axel was sitting.
AJ came up as I sat in a chair.
" Rainbow told me yer gonna be a father."
" You heard right." I hoof bumped her.
Nothing else really happened the rest of the day. I just waited around, some ponies asked questions while I answered them.
Night came, all the ponies left, Rainbow was in bed, Axel was passed out on the floor.
" Damn I'm tired." I slowly walked to the bed and fell asleep.
* Next Morning. *
I was the first to wake up today and I made breakfast as Axel woke up.
" How's it feel to be Thirty Six? " He asked me.
" Same as being Thirty Five." I shook my head.
" So. Jack is going to be a dad."
" Indeed I am." Just then, Twilight came through the door.
" Whoa. Jack, you need to comb your mane." Ax sat down and grabbed a plate of food and wolfed it down.
" You know." I wiped some blood off of my forehead. Wait, blood? " With the whole mane thing, Rainbow and I are completely opposite. She likes to have it look nice, I like to have the " Don't mess with my friends or I'll rip out your throat." Look." I got up and grabbed a mirror to check out where the blood was from.
" Meh." I shrugged. " So, give me news." I combed the hair off away from my eyes.
" It's a really low chance that it could happen, but it's still a chance."
I put the mirror down as Rainbow came down.
" You know, there's one thing I miss about Earth."
" What's that?" Axel grabbed a cup and filled it with coffee.
" I know I shouldn't miss it but, I miss the wars there. It's all I had in life." Just then, Luna came through the door.
" We need you at the Castle. I heard you miss the wars. "
Back at the Castle, it was everything but calm.
" This way!" I sprinted after Luna to try to keep up.
I saw Guards suiting up for battle everywhere.
" We cleared a room for you to lay plans down. " I slowed down as I saw the large room, filled with maps and Guarded by four ponies. " Manehatten has been half destroyed by our enemies. We don't know what they are, but we need your experience in wars."
" Leave me to it." I said as large doors closed behind me.
" Take a seat." A voice told me.
" Welcome to SBC Captain. SBC means Strategic Battle Command. " I took a seat and got the run down of the war.
From what I understand, we are now at war with an unknown enemy. That's about all the Information they had. Because I was skilled in combat planning, they let me into the Castle's Defence program.
" Leave me alone to deal with this. " I commanded them.
Rainbow and her friends came through the doors to figure out the situation.
" I have some bad news. We are at war with an unknown enemy. They put me in command of the allies. " I think they almost past out at that point. " I'm going to be in this one room, or on the battle field. Here. Wear these. They'll allow you to talk with me remotely." I handed them all radios to communicate with me.
I spent days in that room, sometimes Rainbow and her friends would come and visit me. I never left that room though, except to go the the bathroom, to eat, or to sleep.
* A month later *
I headed home for the first time to spend some time with Rainbow and others. The past month was a tough time to cope with, for all of us.
" I don't know. The outcome doesn't look too good at this point. "
" Don't say that. " Rainbow asked me.
" It's the truth. I know you're afraid of losing me, but I have to do this. I think I can change this war though. I know what they want Dash. It's not about control or anything like that. They want me. It's just like Earth, I'm the enemies worst nightmare. They want to kill me and Axel." I tried to reassure her everything was going to be fine.
" I don't want you to die. "
" Rainbow, I'm not going to die! You know I'm not scared of many things. They don't scare me. I will fight to the death, and dammit!" I shot up from my chair and took out my gun. " We aren't going to lose this war! I won't allow it! We have a damn good army!" Axel slapped me across the face and looked into my eyes.
" And what if we lose?!" I saw tears forming in Rainbows eyes and looked back at my old friend.
" And you're doubting me? How many times have I saved the U.S.? Many! And you listen to me. I have to run an extremely important operation. It could change the tide of this war. I'm going to need all the help I can get."
I saw all of my teammates get up. " We're in this together." Rainbow told me.
" Rainbow, you can't go. You have another life in you. I can't risk losing you."
" And what about them?!" She pointed at the ponies beside her and tears began falling from her eyes.
" They don't have to go! I'm not forcing them to go! I need to protect you and the rest of Equestria! You think this is easy for me to do? It's not, you don't know how much I have resting on my shoulders! " She opened her mouth to try and talk, but I didn't let her. " No! You don't! I need to get this operation underway ASAP. I have to go." I stormed out of the house and flew as fast as I could back to the war room to plan it out.
I pushed the doors open and sat down.
' They don't know how much I have sitting on my shoulders.' I covered my face and sat there for a minute.
* The next Morning *
The council came in early today to plan.
" I know what I need to do. " I looked up at the council members. " Get me my Tank Armor. They want me, they're going to get me."
I got suited up in my heaviest armor I had and contacted the house.
" Rainbow, everypony else, they're going to get a present from me. A present of death." I put my hat and shades on as Axel came on.
" Jack, I'm going with you. We fought together before."
" This is different Axel." I walked outside to see the bright sun and my teammates.
" How is that?" My team followed close behind. They knew what they were in for.
" This is personal." My third in command handed me a long steel sword and I put it on my back.
" Jack I'm not letting you go out there alone. I'll be right there."
Axel came and I got him a suit of Tank Armor.
" Let's do this. Hold on tight, I can handle this. "
We all flew together into Manehatten to see the commander of the enemy.
We landed and instantly started fighting. While Axel and I went for the leader, my team went to help the local forces.
I was carrying an Equestrian Flag and an ACR on my back and Axel had, Ironicly, a War Axe and a Sword.
" Targets fifty feet ahead! Charge!" I yelled and ran towards the leader.
* A Month Later *
The leader got away, and since the war was early on, plus they only captured Manehatten, which meant with their small force they were all in one place. We spent a month fighting and we now had all of the city except one place.
" All of you, finish their army. I will take out the commander! " I sprinted into the building and went to the leader who was at the roof of the building.
" We're in this together!" Axel yelled at my side. We fought our way to the roof and Axel stayed behind.
" I See hi-Ugh!" I was hit in the head with a blunt object and was knocked down.
" Any last words? " The leader came towards me. I got up slowly and removed my damaged helmet to reveal blood running down my head.
" Yeah." I grabbed the Sword off my back and Impaled him through the lower chest with it. " Don't fuck with me. " I felt a knife go into my chest and I looked him in his eyes. " Nngh." I grunted as the Sword came out his back and he stopped breathing.
I fell to the ground and crawled to the front of the roof, knife still in my chest. Thoughts swirled in my head about Rainbow.
' You just stormed out like that. Now you're going to die with a knife in your chest.' I reached the front and planted the flag as Axel got to me.
" Jack!" I heard him yell faintly. He threw me over my shoulders and I passed out.
I woke up in the hospital a week later, Rainbow sitting next to me and a doctor checking on me.
" Did we win?" She nodded and smiled. " Damn right we did."
* Another Fucking Month Later *
I was back home and Celestia came by with a little surprise.
" We wanted to give you this." She floated a shining medal to me. " Axel helped us with it. Told us it was the highest prestige medal on Earth. I think he called it the Medal of Honor."
" Thank you but," I handed the Medal back to her. " I don't think I deserve this."
" What do you mean? You fully deserve it. No living thing in all of Equestria has ever come close to what you did. Jack, you need to give yourself credit. You ended the war." I Got up and looked her in the eyes.
" I am giving myself credit. For your information, I didn't win the war. We won the war. I just planted a flag and added another kill to my name." I saw Dash get up and tend to Star Fire, Our new colt.
" Those ponies had the power to cripple us. They just needed the numbers to do it. Take the Medal. " I sighed and put the Medal of Honor on the table.
" You've done Equestria a favor. How can we repay you?" I smiled and came up with an idea.
" How about this, you talk to Dash and see what she wants. Sound good?" I did Equestria a favor? I call bullshit. Celestia went to talk to Rainbow and I sat down in my chair.
" When I'm buried they better have Two F-35s doing barrel rolls overhead and a 17 gun salute. " I said to myself as another pony came through the door.
" You must be Jack." I saluted her and nodded. " I'm the Mayor of Manehatten and I just wanted to say thank you. For everything."
" It's nothing. I'm just doing what I do best." After that, Celestia and the mayor both left and I went into a flashback.
* Flashback *
" Echo 1, where are you?" My team and I were heading to rendezvous with an Army team who were waiting near an enemy encampment where the Russians were holding civilians and a British SAS team hostage.
" Hold your asses, we're pulling up now." The plan was for me and Ryder to take out Two targets stealthily and take their clothing to infiltrate.
" Glad you could make it Captain. What's the plan?" I didn't reply, So he got worried. " You... have a plan right?"
" Of course I have a plan. If that doesn't work, we always have plan B. Ryder, let's move." We got a spot where three men were standing.
" You take the left." I took a large rock and threw it at a Guards head, knocking him out. For the other man, I stabbed him in the back.
Five minutes later we moved into the base dressed as the enemy with AK-47s. We blended right in.
" Follow my lead, and let me do the talking." I walked past the checkpoint and saw the target as a few men stopped us.
" Павел, ты где был? Получить больше на заключенных и допрашивать их!"
" Да, сэр! " ' Interrogate them, right. A.K.A. Bust them out.' I signaled for Cliff to follow me
" They want us to Interrogate the team. Let's go break them out." I saw the Army team taking positions for sniper support.
" What do you want from me?" We walked into a small green tent that smelled like dead people covered in shit.
" We're here to bust you out. Looks like we're just in time too. " I threw my AK to him and heard sirens outside. " Go go go!" Ryder unlocked the medal gate as I took place at the tent flap.
" Echo 1, tangos heading your way!" Bullets ripped by, one of them hitting me in the arm.
" I'm hit! Get them out of here! I'll be fine!" I grabbed the Colt 1911 from my pocket and covered them while they escaped. " Plan B gentlemen." An explosion nearby.
" Fuck! Echo 1 get out of there!" I sprinted out of the tent to the helicopter.
" Get us out of here!" The pilot tried to take off but couldn't.
" We're too heavy! They'll tear us apart!" I nodded and me and Ryder jumped back off to get to the ground Exfil point.
Another bullet ripped through my body. " That's it! You're starting to piss me off! PLAN C MOTHERFUCKER!" A large truck pulled up behind me with the back covered.
" I think." I climbed up and slipped under the tarp. " That you picked the wrong side." The passenger pulled down the tarp to reveal my Baby. A 50. Caliber Anti Aircraft gun and I started firing.
A few hundred rounds later I hopped out and high fived the driver. " Nice job Jack. "
" Always a pleasure. Before we go," I pulled out my Colt and fired a bullet into the base. " Leave them a reminder who they're fucking with." We started walking to the Exfil as planned.
" Jack, I think you missed with that last shot." Ryder looked back at the base.
" No I didn't." I adjusted my hat as the base exploded.
* Present day. *
"Ngh!" I shot up from my chair to see Applejack. " Oh. Hey AJ. What's up?" I yawned.
" Ah heard you got a Medal a some sort for what ya did at Manehatten."
" Oh, yeah. The Medal of Honor. I gotta say, I really don't think I deserve it." I showed her the shiny Medal and handed it to her.
" Captain Jack Fire fought through many ponies ta raise a flag and take out the enemy commander, and almost the entire enemy army to reclaim the city of Manehatten."
" It was nothing. I did what I do best. I've seen worse." She placed the Medal back down on the table and turned to me.
" Ah came because the Princess wanted to talk to ya. She's waiting outside." I sighed and walked outside to see Celestia waiting for me.
" I asked your friend Axel about Earth Military ranks. I wanted to promote you to Major." My eyebrow shot up like a rocket. " I believe you have earned this promotion based on what he has told me." She handed me a Major rank pin.
" Fine. I'll take it. I'm now Major Jack Fire." I smiled. " Sweet. Anything else?" I put my Captain one in my pocket and attached the Major one on.
" Yes. Could you demonstrate those weapons you have?" We headed down to the Firing Range and demonstrated some weaponry.
" What do you think? "
" I don't know. You said they are made for killing." I could tell she was a bit worried.
" Yeah. It's all we really did on Earth. There wasn't complete peace like there is here. We killed for it. These are just for war situations. Though, I do always carry one with me. You never know when your going to need it."
Not much happened for a while. I mostly stayed home for a week until we got together for lunch at Sugarcube Corner.
" So what's happening?" We sat down at the table and I unwrapped an MRE.
" Not much. Winters coming soon."
The waiter came by took their orders, of course since they don't sell meat, I gave Ax one too.
" Rainbow, remember how I told you about the trapdoor under our bed?"
" Yeah, what about it?"
" Inside of that room is a box. Inside of that box, is the most powerful weapon in the universe. It can destroy worlds. It got past down from my father to me, trusted to protect it with my life. The worst part is knowing the war that took place Two months ago was caused my me. Those ponies wanted me on their side in order to destroy the world. I made this," I grabbed an odd looking medal piece from under my shirt and showed it to them.
" To stop me if I ever tried to use that weapon. It would inject a special made poison that my father created into my bloodstream, traveling to my head, and overriding my brain to destroy the weapon. I want all of you to promise me that if the poison failed, you would kill me and destroy that weapon." I attached the injector back onto my chest.
" Why would ya ever use it though?" Applejack asked me.
I sighed and told her " Anger can take over your body sometimes. Would you kill me if I tried to use it?"
" Ah guess..." I stared her in the eyes and frowned. " Fine. Ah would."
" I need to tell you all something else. This is the one place I've ever been happy in life. Earth can explode for all I care. I just want one more thing. And that is for these damn spies to stop watching me!" A pony jumped down from a tree outside and ran as fast as possible away.
" What are greatest secrets you have ever wanted to know? Because I can tell you the truth of them."
" Aliens." I put my hand on Axel's head and focused.
" Aliens crashed in Roswell New Mexico, 1947. Two bodies found and transported to Groom Lake Nevada, also known as Area 51, I know everything man. Want to know how you die? If you stayed on Earth a man by the name of John Smith would have killed you. Anyone else? Ask me anything."
" Will I ever be famous?" Rainbow asked me.
" In the future you become known all around Equestria for your sonic rainboom, Fluttershy becomes the best vet for injured animals, Twilight becomes a famous Scientist working in the Castle, Rarity becomes a famous tailor, Applejack becomes a famous cook, Pinkie... I really don't know which is odd, and I become a semi-known war hero. Basically, all of you become famous, including you Axel. You become famous for something. I don't know what. I'm the only one who doesn't become known pretty much. I just get known for war. Interesting isn't it?"
" You don't get famous? You really should." Twilight told me.
I chuckled lightly and looked at her. " For what? Killing?"
" There's got to be something."
" That's the thing Twilight. I don't ever become famous. I shouldn't be either. Who wants to be known for killing? Best thing I get even close to famous is known for being related to the Princesses. Nothing else."
Then I heard a banging on the door so I looked through the hole.
" No. No no no NO! This is bad!"
" What's happening?" Axel asked me
" A very bad thing, worse than you can imagine. All of you, barricade the doors!"
" What's happening?!" He asked again.
" The real question is, can I save you?! Because yes! I can! For a price!"
" What price?!" I stopped in my tracks.
" The ultimate price. The price of me. Those things are here to take me." The doors exploded, and before you knew it, I was gone. I left a note on the ground for them.
" Jack here, I'll be gone for a long time. They've taken me away to a place no living thing has ever escaped. I might be back in a week, I might be back in a few years, I don't know. You should know this though, I am fine. I'm not dead, I'll be back. Know that, and you will be fine. " Rainbow read out loud. " He's... gone." She began to cry as her friends comforted her.
It would be a long time before I saw her face again.
* 7 months later. *
I knocked on the front door to see Rainbow open it and her face light up.
" You're alive!" She shouted and the rest of the Mane Six saw me. " Where were you?"
" Away. I'm here now. That's all that matters. How's Star?"
" He's in school right now. He's going to get a surprise."
An hour of chatting later, Star came through the door.
" Dad! What happened? Where'd you go?" He gave me a big hug and smiled.
" There's something you should know about humans. Humans are a tough species to beat. If I were a pony, what happened that day would have killed me. If I were normal it would have killed me." |
All Quiet on the Equestrian Front | pre | Inside the medical tent smelt of blood and death so repugnant that Cheerilee nearly stopped dead in her tracks as she walked in the large, hastily raised tent, Ditzy's urging the only thing pushing her forward. Injured and dying ponies on makeshift stretchers took up nearly the entirety of the tent, save the ramshackle operating table in the middle, with the Company's Triage Nurse, "Doc" Red Heart leaning over- and midway through amputating the leg of- a wounded earth pony. A pile of discarded morphine syringe on a bloody tray next to her operating area told Cheerilee that this was not a good day to be an Equestrian soldier, doubly so not one wounded in action.
Red Heart spared the two a glance as they entered, then nodded to Cheerilee, before going back to her work. "Sarge."
Cheerilee returned the nod, whether she was paying any attention or not. "Doc Heart. When you've got a moment, I need a check on my leg. Shrapnel I think. Not life threatening."
"Right. Not life threatening, wait outside. I'll get to you when I can spare the time."
"Yes ma'am, Doc. I'll be right outside." ---
Cheerilee winced, as Red Heart roughly raised her hoof to eye level, her clearly exhausted gaze still sharp like a hawk- necessary for her line of work, no matter how much or little sleep she'd gotten the night before.
"Right. Definitely signs of shrapnel gouging and shock trauma, here. Not much I can do for the shock, except a half dose morphine to keep the pain down- and you still coherent- and I can dig the shrapnel out. It'll sting like a bitch, but it's better to get it out and wrapped than let it fester and get infected."
"Let's get it done then, doc. Got any anesthetics besides morphine?"
"I've got a belt, Sergeant. Open wide." ---
Cheerilee sat in the open field, idly rubbing her now wrapped forehoof. The leg still sent up radiating stabs of pain if she leaned too heavily on it, as she'd expected, but it was, at least, no longer at risk of infection, nor was it an open, festering wound. That'd just have to be good enough for now.
More important were the ponies assembled in front of her.
Originally, her Company had been privy to a hundred and thirty some-odd fighting ponies, along with their support units and whatnot. Thirteen had been flat out killed by artillery fire, another twenty were not expected to survive the night, and about ten were in no shape to go anywhere or do anything.
She'd already spoken to Said ten. They'd remain behind, and see if they could recover amidst the fort ruins for as long as there were food and water supplies. After that, they didn't know.
"Alright." She began, as the ninety-two remaining ponies- a mixture of luckily unharmed and walking wounded- listened intently, in mixed stages of readiness and fitness. "We've been attacked. Probably by the Changelings. That was.... several hours ago. I don't know for certain how long. Maybe a day. Point being that we are not the front line. Nor anywhere near the front line."
The Noncommissioned officer paused, licking her dry lips. "So we've got four choices, basically. One, we find the nearest Changeling rear guard unit, assuming they even have one, and surrender." Cheerilee waited to let the thought sink in, before continuing. "I won't be doing that. Fuck Changelings, fuck being a prisoner of war. They attacked us without warning, and I'm pissed as all Tartarus."
After waiting a minute for a response, and getting none, she continued. "Secondly we stay here, and hold out until the Equestrian army retakes Vanhoover. Then we.. link back up with them I guess. But I won't be doing that. I have no idea how long it'll take for Equestria to get back here. By that time for all I know we'll have starved to death." She paused again, throat suddenly rather dry. "So I won't be doing that. Thirdly... we take to the hills and mountains, and fight a Guerilla war. And that's tempting. Gods that's tempting. But I won't be doing that, either."
She paused again, gauging the crowd. They were exhausted, battered... some still shell shocked. Possibly permanently so. But she owed it to tell them what her plans were anyways. They'd been through enough that they deserved the chance to disagree and say no. "I plan on marching through the mountains, as long as I have to, until I hit Equestrian lines. After that.. I'll regroup with the army and.. go from there. You're welcome to join me, or not, at your leisure. There's no guarantee I'll make it, or anyone else. And I won't force anyone to join me. I'll be heading out tonight, after I gather up what I can carry with me."
Having said her piece, the mare sat back on her haunches, and waited to see what the general response would be to her plans. The ponies to her front- the battered, worn survivors, who'd been forgotten by the changelings- looked quietly amongst themselves. For a minute or so, dead silence reigned in the fortress.
Ditzy spat on the ground, to her own front, and snagged up a type K rifle, before slinging it over one shoulder. "What the hell, Sarge. Let's go hiking." The mare practically growled, reseating her helmet. "I'm not stayin' here on my ass for a year plus."
The pegasus trotted her way over to Cheerilee's side. After a few seconds, a couple more followed. After that, Red Heart followed, bringing her medical kit- or whatever remained of it- with her. For the better part of a few minutes, most of the ponies moved over to Cheerilee's side.
Private Steel Edge met Cheerilee's gaze, with a nod, as he looked to the four or so other ponies that had elected to stay behind. With a grim, but determined nod, he gave Cheerilee one last salute. "We'll keep the wounded safe, ma'am. After that, we'll bugger off to the foothills... Just... Don't forget us, ma'am."
Cheerilee nodded, just as grimly, if not as determinedly. "Stay safe, Edge. I'll find you, if it takes two months, or two years. Godspeed."
Steel chuckled, dryly. "You'll need it more than we will, ma'am. Let's get you supplied and ready to go." ---
The Eighty-so odd ponies that left Fort Vanhoover spared one last glance at the ruined fort, from the nearby foothills.
"Almost looks peaceful from here." Ditzy muttered, using her good wing to retrieve a cigarette from her overcoat. Lighting it with the same wing, the mare placed her cigarette in her mouth, before re-pocketing her lighter.
"Yeah, it Almost does, I suppose. Artillery holes and tank treads sorta ruin that." Cheerilee replied, bringing forth a snort from the Corporal.
"Pft, yeah. Guess we gotta keep moving... You uh.. You think Edge and them'll be okay?"
He'd have made a good Corporal.
Cheerilee looked over the now decaying fort for another long moment, then turned about and took the cigarette from Ditzy's mouth, taking a quick drag on it before replacing it in the mailmare's mouth.
"Let's get moving, Ditzy. I've... Got a company of lead."
"Lead to where, Cheers? No telling where our ponies are, now."
"Wherever the goddamn they happen to be. If we have to march to fucking Tartarus, we'll march to Tartarus, and I'll sing Minstrel Colt the whole goddamned march. We'll march until we can't march anymore. Whatever that ends up meaning."
Ditzy waited for a moment or two, as the Sergeant began making her way to the front of the marching column, taking a long drag on her cigarette. She took one last look back at the fort, shrugged her shoulders, and got to moving, flicking the cigarette away into the bushes, after stamping it out. "Off to hell we go, then. Singin' and cheerin' like proper damn soldiers." |
All Quiet on the Equestrian Front | Frost | There's something about being amid the chaos and the horror of a war that makes you appreciate all you don't have - and all you may lose forever. --- Six
Frost
The snow fell down, wordlessly, amidst the just as silent ponies, marching stalwartly on through the onset winter. Cheerilee tugged her own combat uniform closer to her barrel, after taking a moment to adjust the Type L light machine gun she was toting. The Type L- a holdover from 997, was light enough for an Earth pony like her to lug solo, as compared to a Vickers Gun, and it's horizontal pan magazine wasn't too horribly awkward to carry- and easier to load than an ammunition belt.
It'd been a couple hours since the understrength company had begun it's trek through the foothills. The higher they went, the more the snow fell. Cheerilee halted, at her spot near the front of the battered column. The mare patiently waited, as the forward team helped up one of the group members, who'd tripped on a particularly slick patch of ice.
A Private shivered next to her, sticking close to one of his squadmates for warmth. Barely into the mountain range itself and they were already frigid. It didn't bode well with the Sergeant, but she'd made her choice, and they'd chosen to follow through with it.
After an agonizingly slow few seconds- each of which bit at Cheerilee like a frozen hound of hell- the fallen pony was planted firmly on their hooves, and the ragged column continued on, deeper into the mountains East of Vanhoover. ---
"Alright, ponies, we're stopping here for the night. Let's try and get some fires lit, so we don't freeze tonight. keep them as low as possible. The less attention, the better."
"Aye Sarge." Came a couple muttered replies, though most of the ponies present simply found a place to sit down, sheltering themselves as well as possible from the frosty wind and it's chill.
"First day, and I can't see Vanhoover anymore." Ditzy mumbled, as she sat down next to Cheerilee, who was busy lighting a fire of her own.
"Better get used to it Corporal. Not much between us and wherever the front line is. We could detour down to Applewood, but something in my gut says that's a bad idea."
"What about Whitebell, farther north?" Ditzy questioned, holding her forehooves near the glowing fire.
"If Vanhoover fell to the Changelings that fast, you can bet your flank that Whitebell did, too." Cheerilee shook her head in response, holding a pack of Strikes in her hooves, as she debated lighting one.
"Mm. Fair point, Sarge. I just... I dunno. Guess I'm too hopeful."
"Hey. Hope's not a bad thing, Corporal. Just... trying to think realistically here. I don't want to march us down into a town and be surrounded by bugs. I'm thinking the Shire river area, myself."
"That's a long walk, ma'am."
"Then let's hope we run into them before then, Corporal." ---
"General, sir, ah, what are you looking at?"
"Hush, Colonel Falks. See these tracks, here?"
"Yessir, General Opteris, sir."
"Do you see how they are hoofprints, Colonel?"
"Erm.. Yes, General, sir."
"Good, for a minute, I was worried you were going blind. Tell, me Colonel, if our troops are all riding trucks und Hanomags, why are there hoofprints in the snow?"
"I... Understand, General. I will assign a kompanie to track them down."
"Good, Colonel. Report back to me when you're done. We've got prisoners to deal with after this hunt. Dismissed." ---
Cheerilee shakily stood to her four hooves, as Ditzy scattered the ashes of the fire they'd fallen asleep by, as the two readied their kits and gear. "Well, that's one day down. A fair few to go. Let's get everypony up and moving, Ditz. Short brekkers, then we're off."
"Aye Sarge, I'll help you get everypony up and going."
"Good mare. Have Ink Pen and Bright Eye move a few yards ahead as scouts, and skirmishers if it comes to it. Get Light Step and Arrow Fletching to pull up our rear."
"You got it, Sarge. I'll make sure everypony has their marching orders."
"Good mare. Let's get this show on the road." ---
The group continued on throughout the day, as they picked and crawled their way across the mountain pass, doing their best to keep away the building blizzard. The night passed much the same as the previous, as did the following day.
As did the next, and the next, and the next. In fact, so did the week. The week passed in monotony, the only constants being hardtack rations, frozen solid water, and frozen solid weather. Thus began the second week; Frozen in the midst of the mountains East of Vanhoover.
Cheerilee was shaken awoke, in the early hours of dawn, and groggily rolled about on the half-frosted over, and horridly uneven ground. "M'mup. Whozzat?"
"It's, uh, it's me, Light Step, Sarge. You... need to see this." The fairly thin Unicorn mare whispered, her Scoped Type K rifle slung across one shoulder, and wrapped in tattered bits of uniform- probably to keep the cold out of her hooves when she held the gun.
The Sergeant frowned, blinking herself awake, and grunted affirmative, snagging her Type L, as she pulled herself up, then followed the scout.
Step brought her over to a low-burning campfire, where Cheerilee stopped, and let her breath hang heavy with a deep sigh.
"How long's Cobble been dead?" She questioned dryly, taking stock of the painfully thin- and equally painfully dead- Earth pony stallion. He was nineteen.
"I dunno, ma'am. He went to sleep, with me... Then he never woke up."
Cheerilee inhaled, then exhaled again, taking a seat in the snow, across from the permanently asleep pony. "Alright. Go... Go find Ditzy, and see if you can get a burial detail going. After that... Have her report back to me."
"Yes ma'am." ---
"You wanted to see me, Cheers?" Ditzy inquired as she sat down next to Cheerilee, a cigarette hanging loosely from her lips, and sweat pouring from her forehead, despite the cold.
"Yeah. We lost a pony, you know. Redheart says it was frostbite... gods, how many more am I going to get killed up here?"
"Hey, you're the one who took to the mountains. Us crazy bastards are the ones who followed you." Ditzy shrugged, as she jammed a cigarette in Cheerilee's mouth, before lighting it. The former schoolmarm did nothing to stop the pegasus, simply staring into the smouldering campfire before her.
"Gods, I'm going to get us all killed up here."
"Hey, enough of that." Ditzy scowled, lightly shoving her friend. "Look, Cheerilee. We followed you because we wanted you. Not because you ordered us, but 'cuz you said you were going, and asked if anypony was coming with you. We figured, 'hey, what the hell, beats staying here'. You can't blame yourself for this."
Cheerilee snorted, spitting the cigarette out, and stamping it down with a forehoof. "Dammit Ditzy, I'm the one in charge here. If no one else is going to take responsibility for anything then I'm going to, because god dammit someone has to."
The corner of the pegasus' mouth twitched, and her eyes narrowed for half a second, before returning to their normal wide, and somewhat off-kilter, gaze. "Look, Cheers. You're doing your best. And by Celestia's sun-bedazzled butt, that's pretty damn good. We aren't all going to make it back. We're at war. We get shot at, we're going to lose more than one pony. You cannot kill yourself over this."
The earth pony was silent, for several seconds, before exhaling, softly. "You're right. I just... I dunno. I just..." She shook her head, standing up from the fire. "That was a... wakeup call, I guess."
"Mhn. Alright. Keep it together, Cheers. You've got a company to lead."
"Yeah. Alright. Let's get supplies sorted. Nopony sleeps alone, it's getting too cold. Pairs or more, and have the scouts keep eyes forward for anywhere out of the weather when it starts getting late."
"Yes ma'am. Anything else?"
"Yeah. Gimme a goddamn cigarette." ---
Cheerilee halted in her tracks as a rifle shot rang out to their rear, midway through the next day. Ponies immediately went for cover, weapons at the ready, as Light Step came running for her life, helmet gone and rifle strap held in her teeth, the weapon itself trailing smoke behind her, as heat from the freshly fired rifle's barrel wafted off into the frosty air.
"Changelings! Changelings rear!" The unicorn mare barked, as she slid behind a rock nearby, rifle dropping to flop around her barrel as she spat out the strap.
Cheerilee's breath caught in her throat. "Shit." Ditzy whispered loudly to her left, readying her own rifle.
"Battle line!" Cheerilee barked, setting up her machine gun, after checking to make sure the magazine was seated properly after the day's march. Satisfied with the weapon, she rested it against a rock to her front, barrel pointed down the mountain trail. The ponies waited in tense silent for a few moments, until a changeling poked its helmeted head into view, holding a rifle in front of it.
A gun cracked, and the battle began in earnest. ---
Cheerilee ducked behind her rock, tugging the empty magazine pan free of the Type L, as she rooted around in her pack for a fresh pan. Ditzy, off to her left, shouldered her freshly reloaded rifle, stood for a moment, and let loose a shot, before ducking back behind a rock. A Changeling grenade found its way to her hooves, as the walleyed mare stared momentarily in shock.
Dropping her Type L, Cheerilee snagged the live explosive in her mouth, and flung it forward, back towards the changelings, before dropping back behind cover, as the grenade detonated amongst the bugs, a couple screeches bringing a grim smile to the schoolmarm's face.
"You good, Ditz?"
"Y-yeah, Cheers. Just fine! Thanks for the save."
"Just keep that gun firing; we've got bugs to kill, still!" ---
Light's rifle barked one last time, as the mare racked the bolt, nodding in satisfaction. "I think that's all of them, ma'am."
"Right. Casualties!"
"Brass Pipe is dead!"
"We lost Four Leaf!"
A few more names filtered in, as Cheerilee waited quietly, keeping her gaze on the trail behind them, that the bugs had arrived from. They were being followed.
She'd lost fourteen.
With the couple of ponies that had died from the frigid mountain weather during the journey, that brought her original group from eighty or so down to about sixty four.
Damn.
"Alright!" She barked, after the reports faltered off. "Weapons and ammo... Strip what you can from the dead, they.. They won't need it anymore, and we've got a hard trip ahead of us, still. Five minutes, ponies!" ---
Exactly five minutes later, the survivors were on the move again, now on edge and angrily aware that they were being followed. The ponies of the company continued to march onwards for the rest of the day, not running into any more Changelings, until the evening, at which point they bedded down for the night, again underneath the stars. ---
A rifle bark lit up the dark night, followed by the screeching of a sentry, followed by more rifle fire and a very un-equestrian machine gun roared through the night, the tell-tale rippling of a Changeling Spandau gun rousing Cheerilee from her shallow slumber immediately. Rolling over to her hooves, she immediately pulled up her gun, took aim at a Changeling not four feet from her, holding a bayoneted rifle, and pulled the trigger.
A cold feeling bloomed in her gut as the gun clicked. Jammed.
Thinking quickly, the mare threw the moderately heavy gun forward, smacking the bug square in the jaw. Closing the distance whilst the Changeling reeled, she threw a hoof forward, decking the changeling. As he fell, she ripped it's rifle from it's grip, before repeatedly slamming it down into its face. Sitting on top of the Changeling, the battle all around her a distant cry and deluge of chaos, Cheerilee shrieked at the top of her lungs, repeatedly jamming the rifle stock downwards, then back up again, then immediately back down again.
Something splattered against her barrel and face, yet she kept thwacking the rifle downwards, until finally, it broke in her hooves.
The roar of combat returned to the mare's ears. Her chest heaved with exertion, as rifle fire echoed around her for minutes longer, before fading into the night. ---
Cheerilee flipped about, hoof at the ready, as something rested a hoof on her shoulder. "Woah Cheers, it's just-"
Whatever Ditzy was going to say faltered with the bubbly mare's voice.
"It's not mine." Cheerilee mumbled, slumping her shoulders, as she shakily stood from the decimated corpse , half-dragging herself away. The broken rifle and Type L lay discarded nearby, the enemy combatant's face crushed to a pulpy mess.
Ditzy swallowed, her gaze racing back and forth between the dead Changeling and her exhausted Sergeant. "I-I can... I can see that, Cheers..." After a moment's hesitation, almost fearful of touching the Sergeant again, Ditzy rested a wing on the other pony's withers. "Let's just... go find RedHeart, yeah?"
"....Okay, Ditzy."
"Okay. Just... Just follow me, Cheers." ---
Cheerilee shakily lit a cigarette, as Red Heart- a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around her own forehead, worriedly checked her over.
"Alright, Sarge... looks like you're ok... you still with us?"
Cheerilee sat in silence, for a second, as snow fell down about them, and the winter wind carried the howling wrath of Jack Frost. "Yeah." She finally replied, mutely, taking a long, shaky drag on the cigarette. "M'still here... how many'd we lose?"
Red Heart paused, biting her lip. "A lot, Cheers. We lost a lot."
"Dammit. Fucking bugs." The Sergeant spat, standing to her hooves. "How many are still up and going. We're leaving soon as we're able."
"Maybe thirty, ma'am. Are you-"
"Absolutely, Doc. We need to put as much distance between us and them as possible."
"Right. Ok. You're good to go. Do what you need to, Sarge. I'll be ready when everypony else is." ---
It'd been three weeks. Nearly four. Mid December. Hell, Hearth's Warming was next week.
Cheerilee paused for a moment, her legs stiff and neck unwilling to bend easily. Her group of thirty had fallen to twenty two, today, including herself. They were all starving. They'd ran out of food the day before last. Water was still in ample supply, at least.
"What's that down there, Sarge?" Light Step wheezed out. The poor mare was ramrod thin, having lost a fair amount of weight during the three week journey.
Cheerilee looked ahead again, scarcely believing her eyes. "It's... it's..."
"It's the Shire-fucking-River." Ditzy nearly cheered in joy, her exhausted smile telling enough.
"Look down there along the river line." Doc Redheart warned, as she re-tied the bandage around her forehead again, with a freshly torn strip from her uniform, having run out of bandages long before. "Changelings."
"Dug in Changelings." Light Step added, gazing through her rifle scope. The weapon itself was empty, but still in serviceable condition. "Ma'am that's gotta be the front line."
"Which means that our guys and gals are on the other side of the river?" Ditzy nearly screamed in joy, again, barely able to contain her happiness.
"Has to be." Cheerilee nodded. "Girls... we made it." She smiled, for the first time in weeks, before the fleeting moment passed. "Right. We'll ditch unnecessary gear here. No fires tonight. Soon as it gets dark, we'll sneak across the river. The Shire river is frozen solid this time of year. Ponies, we're heading home." ---
Under cover of darkness, Cheerilee took a deep breath, gazing about her. Yards away, to either side, rested Changeling tanks or machine guns, trained on the opposite banks, as the night sentries swept the hopefully Equestrian side of the river.
They'd done well to get this far.
Cheerilee took the first step onto the ice. It held. Another step. Then another. Finally, she was fully onto the ice. Staying as low as possible, she began to creep her way across, doing her best to avoid the ire of the Changelings.
Without much thought, more focused on silence, she found herself across the river- and staring down the barrel of a Type K rifle.
"What's the password?" Came the hissed, Quiet reply.
Cheerilee blinked. "Password? Gods, I don't know, we're from Vanhoover."
"Bullshit."
The rebuttal stung, but it was warranted. But Cheerilee couldn't just well turn around and walk away.
"Look, I've got twenty more ponies across the river trying to get past bug lines, soldier. I don't know a fucking password, we've crossed the goddamn mountains to get here. Hell most of us aren't even armed. Please, let us get across."
The plea quieted the Pony for several moments, before the rifle was lowered away from her face.
"Stay here. I'm going to go get my Captain. If you move, you're dead." ---
The Pony returned a few minutes later with the aforementioned officer, who took one look at Cheerilee, and thanked the private. "Good job, kid, but they're the real deal by the looks of things. Spell's not picking up any disguises." He then turned to Cheerilee. "Bring you and yours across, we'll cover you if it goes tits-up."
Cheerilee nodded, wordlessly, and began the crawl back across. ---
The exhausted mare sunk into a cot in the rear line aid station, as a nurse doted over her. Ditzy was across the room, having her wing looked at. Red Heart was being rushed off to a doctor somewhere for triage, and Light Step was sleeping off to her left. The rest of her ponies that had survived the trip were around, resting, being treated, or doing the best they could to stay calm.
They were home.
They'd made it.
Cheerilee looked at the ceiling, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.
She'd made it.
Three grueling weeks in the midst of a terrible blizzard, and while being hunted by a ruthless enemy.
But she was home. |
All Quiet on the Equestrian Front | C.A.P | The engine is the heart of an aeroplane, but the pilot is its soul.
Chapter Seven
(You're welcome, Cyrus. :) )
Combat Air Patrol
"Oh~ it's a loong way, t' Tipperary, 's a lon' way ta' go. 's a Long waay t' Tipperary, t' th' sweetest Gal I know~."
"Ahhh, Stick a sock innit, Wizard. I'm try'na nap 'ere." A fairly grumpy voice growled out across the spacious hangar, to the rest of the squadron's cheer, as Wizard halted her ditty- and her maintenance work- to put a hoof on her hip.
"Oi, I dinna' mak' fun of the Stallski's singin'."
"That's because Scroupy-gal can keep on tune." Came a third voice, that of another squadron member, as they sat on a box, flicking idly through a newspaper. "Besides, you're a better singer smashed, Wizard."
"Oh feck off, Lightning." The Unicorn mare- Wizard- snorted, waggling a levitated ratchet towards the opal pegasus mare. "At least I kno' a few good ditties. You jus' stare a'-"
"Ey, that's enough of that you crass children." Another, more authoritative voice, spoke up, as the hangar's side door swung open for a few moments, letting in a rush of frigid winter air, before slamming shut behind the intruder.
"Brigh' an' early to ya, Night Queen. I wunnit gonna say nothin'." Wizard replied, pouting momentarily, before placing the ratchet back in her toolbox. Gazing over the box itself, she leisurely traded it for a buffing kit.
"Sure, Sunset. The sky's also upside down, and the sea is made of salsa."
"If'n ya dinni' ken what th' ocean's made outta, I ken you outta go back ta' flight school, laddie-boy."
"Thunderlane, Sunset, that's enough, both of you." The Night Queen griped, tapping her aviator's goggles idly against her own barrel with a wing. "Everypony get prepped for a CAP. Words of wisdom from Command is that the Bugs have a flight of bombers heading towards the Shire, if partisan reports are moderately accurate."
"With all due respect, ma'am," Lightning Dust began, as she packed up her newspaper and swiped her skullcap and giggles from a nearby crate, "Sounds like a wild goose chase. Changelings would be crazy to fly in a damn blizzard."
"Agreed, Airpony Dust, but command's spooked anyhow, so... we're on CAP. Wings up in ten." ---
The frosted over hangar doors grumbled open, letting in the frigid air and wind from outside. Inside, the six planes of Blue Squadron were already spun up, their engines warm and propellers cycling happily.
"Night Queen" Night Glider's Supermarine Spitfire- so named after the famed wonderbolt Captain who designed it- rolled easily out onto the runway in the lead position, followed by the rest of the Squadron. Sunset "Wizard" Shimmer was to her back and right, in Wingpony's position. Behind her back and right sat Thunderlane, a newcomer to the Squadron, and Lightning "Gutsy" Dust, who'd been in the squadron longest out of all present. Across from them were the other two members of the flight, "Bolty" Bolterdash, and Scroup- a Stalliongradian Volunteer.
"Check one." Night Queen began, as she tested her aileron flaps, the marginally snowed-over taxiway lit brightly by several fog lanterns, well visible despite the veritable blizzard.
"Seiceáil dhá." Wizard's reply followed, as she fell into her native brogue- something Night Glider never could pry the origin of, out of the mare. It sounded fairly similar to Shireish, but there were clear dialectical differences. Wizard, however, didn't like talking about home much. Still, Glider was glad to have her as a wingpony regardless.
"Ugh, Wizard's at it again. Check Three." Thunderlane griped, as he tested his own ailerons.
"Ya get used to it, 'Lane. Check four." Gutsy snarked back goodnaturedly.
"Aye, it grows on you after a while. Check five." Bolty chuckled in bemusement, as his ailerons waggled. "Nix that, left is a bit touchy."
"Copy that. See if you can get it to unthaw. Otherwise you're grounded unless we've got a backup plane." Glider nodded, from her cockpit.
"Aye, ma'am. Give me five."
"Check six." Scroup finished, watching Bolty hop out with a rubber mallet and wrench. The Stalliongradian mare never spoke much, and had never given her real name, but insisted that everyone just call her Scroup. Whatever that meant.
"Why can't the Wonderbolts get the bum jobs? Seems like we always get the shit end of the stick." Thunderlane griped, rubbing his hooves together, in an attempt to stay warm. "Bet they ain't flying in a blizzard."
"Cos' the Wonderbolts aren't nutty enough to fly CAP in a blizzard. Why are we nutty enough?" Bolty snorted, as he hopped back into his Spitfire. "Check Five, my ailerons are good now."
"Copy that, Bolty. And I prefer the term 'brilliant, sexy aces'." Night Glider chuckled. "Tower, this is the Night Queen. Blue Squad's ready for takeoff."
"I'd drink t' that."
"You'd drink to a lot of things."
"Bugger off ya lickarse." ---
The blizzard howled about the six pony squadron, as snow flew by, overtaken easily by the powerful motors of the blue-winged Spitfires. The six aircraft stuck to a close formation, doing their best to maintain visibility despite the thick snowstorm.
"Ca-- that we're-------ing in th-- sort--- weather."
Night Glider frowned, as she looked down, flicking the switch on her radio. "Repeat that, Bolty, you're cutting out."
Bolty repeated what he'd said, just as garbled as before.
"Right." Night Glider shook her head. "Everypony switch to one-five-five point two-zero."
"One-five-five dot two-zero." Came somepony's reply, as the squadron changed frequencies.
"Go for Night Queen."
"This is Queen. I read you, Bolty."
"A-firm, Ma'am. I was just complaining about the weather."
"Right, well, stop that. We've work to do. By my mark we should be..." Glider paused, to double check her map and her stopwatch. "Should be clearing the town of Shire now."
"Tha's 'n aff'rm'tive." Sunset chimed in, a few seconds later. "I've got the clock tower down there. River should be just ahead of us."
"Wonder what it's like, down there."
"S' hell." Sunset Shot Back, nearly immediately. "Ought-ta be damn glad ye'er op 'ere, Thunderlane."
Nopony really said much, after that.
The flight cleared the Shire River, spotted by Lightning, and began their patrol of the area, remaining in a somewhat more spread- though not far due to the weather- formation. --
"Gutsy here, I've got some shapes!"
"Shapes? The hell's that supposed to-"
"Confirmed, we have Changeling Bombers." Thunderlane cut Bolterdash off, supporting his wingpony.
"Shit, okay, we're forming on you. Squadron! Combat formation!"
The six planes formed back up on the edge of their patrol zone, letting Lightning and Thunderlane take spearhead, since they'd spotted the enemy flight.
Within a minute, they'd located the flight of Heinkel bombers, alone.
"Whot the hell, no escorts?" Sunset muttered, her voice only vaguely audible over the radio and the snowstorm.
"Yeah that's weird. Eyes and ears open everypony. Let's go hunting."
The six fighters split into a wide combat formation, each of the three pairs of lead and wingpony splitting off towards a different bomber in the moderate formation.
Sunset followed Night Glider up and over, then down into, one of the Heinkel bombers, their wing armaments- eight .303 machine guns each- blazing to life amidst the heavy snowfall, as the two pounced on the Changeling bomber.
Night Glider's tracers stitched along the Wing-mounted engines, as Sunset drug hers across the dorsal turret towards the back of the plane, as the pair dodged the frantic Spandau return fire.
The engines on the left wing detonated, as the wing itself sheared off, and the bomber began to fall towards the earth.
The two came about for another pass on a second bomber, when Night Glider's breath hitched in her throat. "Wizard, we've got a problem!"
"What sorta problem are we lookin' at 'ere, Queenie?" Sunset replied over the radio, her voice Heavy with static from the storm's interference.
"Looking at nine BF109's worth of problems. Whole ruddy squadron."
"Bollocks. Prolly tha' escorts f'r yonder bombers, aye?"
"Aye." Night Glider frowned, gazing over and down at the nine BF109 flight. "Bugger, those are twenty-mils under the wings, I think."
"Ruddy bugs and their ruddy cannons. Feckless arses, th' lot of em."
"Easy, Wizard. Squadron can take them." Night Glider twisted her head to view the rest of the six pony squadron, who were still engaging the bombers. "Blue Squadron, form on Lead! We've some bug fighters to squash before the bombers are taken care of!"
She waited a couple seconds. "Blue Squadron this is Blue Leader? Do you read me, over?"
"Bloddy 'ell, I dinnae think they're readin' us over th' storm Queenie."
"Damn... Right. Guess we're up then."
"Eh, we ken at least buy the Langer's some time. Up an' o'er?"
"Spot on. Taking the lead fighter."
"Peckin' the pox on 'is asshole."
And without further retort, the two Spitfires, .303s primed and gunsights at the ready, jerked upwards for height, before twisting back downwards moments later, on an intercepting course with the nine Changeling flight.
The one thing the two Spitfires had going for them was the blizzard, at least, as they roared downward towards the enemy formation. Their engines drowned out by the roaring winds and their blue and white paint masked by the snow itself, the two pilots watched their gauges warily, hooves grasping their controls in anticipation.
"Hold.."
Twenty thousand feet, and dropping like a brick. The wingtips Of Wizard's Spitfire shuddered with the anticipation of it's pilot, as she forced herself to take deep, deliberate breaths.
"Hold..."
Fifteen thousand. They were probably down at ten, level with the bombers.
Fourteen thousand.
"Clip their Wings!" Glider barked, as her .303s echoed over the blizzard, stitching across the sky, and along the engine block and canopy. Pitch black smoke flared out of the Messerschmidt, as Sunset emptied her own machine guns into her designated fighter, shearing it's Wing off, as it toppled from the sky end over end.
"Well there's two of the Dry Shites!" Sunset shouted, as the Spitfires passed the Messerschmitts in a downward descent.
"Quite! Seven to go." Glider replied, whilst the two pilots leveled off and shot back up into an ascent, Sunset returning to Wingpony's position, to the rear and left of Night Glider.
"Ach, Shooty now, numbers later." Wizard snarked back, checking her gauges once more. Back up to twenty thousand.
The two wheeled about their fighters, searching for the enemy flight amidst the tempestuous weather.
"There." Sunset waggled her wingtips, as Night Glider allowed her to take lead. "Looks like they're searchin' fir us'n now."
"Mhn, I see them. We'll smash them from above again. Probably get stuck in after that though, they'll chase."
"Aye, an' those damn messers are tit fir' tat on our Spitties. Rolls-Royce b'damned."
"Yes. I just hope the others are having better luck that we are."
"We better well 'ope so." --
Sunset gazed down at the control yoke, blinking as her thoughts shifted momentarily.
"Wha' a perfect storm."
"Hm? Come again, Merlin?"
"Oh, nottin', Arthur. Jes' thinking about the weather we'er having. Think them Fokker Tris ken fly in this? I'd love ta' 'ave another go at tha' red-winged bollix."
"Soon, Merlin. Soon." --
"Earth to Wizard. Are you still with me?" Sunset blinked, letting her breath return to normal as she relaxed her Iron grip on her controls, leaning back in her cockpit.
"Aye, Queenie. Ah'm still 'ere. Just lost m'self for a moment. Solid now."
"Stay with me, Sunset." Night Glider warned, as the two Spitfires finalized their attack run, beginning to dive back down towards the Changeling Messerschmitts.
The 109s split up nearly immediately as the Spitfires came into view through the snowstorm, and Night Glider and Sunset pursued their two marks.
A few machine gun bursts and some simple maneuvers later, and two more Changelings fell from the sky, pouring coal-black smoke from their diesel engines.
Five more to go.
Sunset split left as Night Glider split right, wheeling about in a large circle. Two of the five remaining planes were on their tails, whilst one dove low, another went high, and the pair lost track of the last one.
Finishing their loops, Sunset jinked right and started hammering away with her machine guns, as Night Glider tugged in the opposite direction and matched her.
The 109 on Night Glider's tail fell from the air as green splotches smashed against the ruined cockpit glass, Sunset's guns ventilating it front to back. The one on Sunset's tail, having anticipated the move, stuck close to her rear, as Sunset dived low, attempting to shake the pilot.
"Any day now, Queen!" Sunset complained, as she twitched her controls back and forth, attempting to dodge the cannon fire of the 20 millimeters on the 109's wings.
"Patience is a virtue Wizard!"
"Yah well, mebbe I'd be a tad mair patient if'n i wuddn't gettin' me feckless arse shot off!" The pilot snarked, as she twisted her Spitfire about, cannon shells bursting in the sky to and fro, and Spandaus occasionally perforating holes in her aircraft's Wing. "Any feggin' dae now!"
"Yes, yes I'm on it!" Night Glider growled, as she finished sliding behind the enemy fighter, shredding its tail with .303 caliber bullets until it sheared off and fell earthwards. "There you go, you wanker."
"Much obliged, ma'rm." Sunset snorted, slowing to return to formation. That made... Three more. One high, one low, one... somewhere.
"Right... Fuel and ammunition check?"
"Solid on fuel. Less on 'munitions. Down to about.... Guessin' two hundred."
"Copy and similar. Buggery, wish these things held a couple more belts."
"We'el make it work, Queenie, gel." --
The two circled back about, as the two fighters that'd gone high and low attempted to sandwich them from said directions. Sunset flicked right, as Night Glider tugged left, before the two dove after the groundwards directed fighter. Working together, the two easily tore the enemy fighter apart, before pulling upwards, and pursuing the other fighter- also short work. Which, just left-
Sunset immediately shoved her Spitfire into a panic dive, as cannon fire flared past the pair of pilots, and the Changeling fighter homed in on her tail. "Hurray suas agus a fháil ar an hoor seo!" The mare raged, slipping back into her brogue mid-sentence, as she bobbed and weaved away from the markedly better pilot, who stuck to her tail like a dog chasing a cat.
Diving low, and cursing the enemy ace's name as Night Glider attempted to keep up and spray him down- to no avail, Sunset pulled herself level with the shoreline, her Spitfire nearly skimming the tops of the Changeling AA guns on the western bank of the Shire, noting in idle panic as the shocked Changelings watched the Spitfires and Messerschmitt dance a deadly tango, precious feet from the ground below.
"Fuck, Sunset, I'm outta ammunition!" Glider cursed, as her guns clicked empty, the three planes continuing to barrel down the frozen river.
"Are ye focken shitting mae?!" The unicorn practically screeched, as she huddled as low as she could in her cockpit, machine gun bullets and sporadic cannon fire tracing past her head.
"Just keep flying, dammit!" Night Glider barked, remaining on the Changeling pilot's tail as closely as possible. "Fucking hell, this bastard's good. Regular bloody Baron."
Baron.
Sunset took a deep breath.
A baron she could deal with. A baron she had dealt with.
Granted, that was from a Sopwith Camel, which had a good tendency to fall... apart.. If you turned the wrong...
"Night Glider, pull off. I've an idea."
"What, are you crazy?!"
"Le do thoil eisteacht liom ceart go leor?!"
Night Glider stopped her retort. Please listen to me. The Pegasus bit her lip, her gun sights trained on the Changeling fighter, and her ammunition belts spitefully empty.
"Aaaaah, fuck! Fine! I'm pullin' back to the others. Gods-fucking-speed, you loon!"
"Eh, buy me a drink an' a kiss on th' pecker whaen we get back." Sunset joked, grimly, as she flipped fully over the Frozen river, the Changeling ace following her closely, as Night Glider ascended back into the blizzard.
Sunset sat back in her cockpit, gazing out at the falling snow, and the howling winds. At the Ponies dug in along the bank to her left, and the Changelings dug in to her right. Shocked. Amazed, incredulous. How ridiculous, right? A dogfight in a snowstorm.
One hundred feet.
Bullets echoed, snapping by her face. One grazed her skull cap, narrowly scraping her left ear.
Seventy-five feet. Glass shattered around her.
Fifty feet. With her magic, she levitated a pocket-sized photograph from her pilot's coat. Three humans- not ponies.
Twenty-five. Cork, Ireland. Happier times. Back before the Great War. Summer, 1913. Out on a Sunday morning picnic.
Ten feet.
Five.
She could almost reach out and touch the water. Her hoof tensed against a switch on her dashboard.
The pilot gazed back at the Changeling behind her. She'd begun her flight with two kills to her name in the Supermarine Spitfire. Who knew how many he'd shot down. He flew like an ace.
Had the killer instinct of the ace.
Five feet.
Lightning flashed in her mind's eye. She'd been here before. Different rivers, different years. Different wars.
Different planes, different nations. Different reasons.
But she knew this place.
The Spitfire dipped to a dangerous two feet, and Sunset flicked the switch.
The landing gear shot down from the Spitfire automatically, hit the frozen river at an odd angle as Sunset's wingtip slid across the ice, and snapped off.
With a smash of glass, the landing gear flew back, through the Messerschmitt's cockpit, as it jerked upwards momentarily, then smashed down into and through the ice, into the frigid Shire.
Wizard exhaled, as she leaned back in her cockpit, exhausted, but alive. Pulling the abused Spitfire into a gradual ascent, as she twisted over the Equestrian side of the river, she smiled tiredly, at the cheering ponies below her, as she passed by.
Time to head home. --
Night Glider sat, quietly, on the side of the Runway.
It was below freezing, probably, but the pegasus didn't allow that to bother her. She was looking for Wizard. For Sunset.
It'd been nearly an hour. She should have been home by now. If Glider hadn't been leaking fuel...
Ifs, ifs, and more damn ifs. If she had more ammunition. If she had been a better shot. If-
She was shaken from her thoughts by a steaming cup of coffee, as Lightning held it on an outstretched wing, sipping at her own.
The mare sat down next to her Squadron lead, wordlessly, as the two waited in the gloomy night.
Then it came. The low, rumbling sound of a Rolls Royce. Audible and easy to pick out, even amongst the snow storm.
The pair shot to their feet, all drinks and other thoughts forgotten.
"There she is!" Lighting pointed out with a hoof, as Night Glider just managed to make out the incoming fighter plane. Low and slow, light gray smoke trailing from the engine itself. She'd taken a few knocks it looked like, but she was back in one piece.
"Something's wrong- look- oh, shit."
"Fuck." Night Glider swore, watching the incoming Spitfire. "She's got no gear."
"C'mon Sunny, nice and gentle..." Lighting muttered worriedly under her breath, as the two watched uselessly.
The Spitfire finally slapped down onto the ground, trailing sparks from the bottom of the fuselage as the engine sputtered and died, finally slowing to a halt as the engine burst into flames. The two rushed over, as Sunset ripped herself out of her belt straps, and leapt from the burning plane, and as far away from the burning plane as possible. The three pilots reunited on the edge of the runway, as a firetruck raced across the runway to take care of the wreck.
"Cutting it a bit close, Sunset?" Lightning whooped, as Night Glider squeezed the mare tightly, wrapping her wings about her wingmare.
"Too bloody close, Wiz! Too bloody close!" Glider chuckled weakly, as Sunset snorted tiredly into the pegasus' shoulder.
"Aye, aye.... tá tú ina aingeal. Tá a fhios agat sin?"
"I.... have no idea what the hell you just said."
"Well.... Buy you a drink, an' I'll teech ye?"
"Several. And, assuming you got that kill... Welcome to the Aces club."
"Thanks for the stellar feckin' welcome." |
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