//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Sonic Wraithboom // Story: Of Archon Toilets and Bioballs // by MiniPsyker //------------------------------// "So..." Mike asked Celestia. They were both sitting on tremendously fancy chairs, in front of a tremendously fancy table inside the tremendously fancy castle. The tremendously fancy scenery, the tremendously fancy chandelier, and the tremendously fancy caprpet contrasted with his not-so-tremendously-fancy style of life. That is, living in a metallic hulk that didn't even have air conditioning. It was morning, Mike had woken up an hour ago due to his unfortunate crash with the hellion in the race a day ago, in which Celestia decided to bring him to the castle. "Why was I brought here?" He asked, staring at a tremendously fancy teacup resting over a tremendously fancy little plate. "Fancy life you got here... Huh..." "I wished to speak with you about something that'd most likely involve you in the near future." "Huh?" He raised his sight from the teacup to her eyes, seeing as this would be more important than he anticipated. "And that's...?" "There is an entity, of which I'll not discuss about so as not to risk anything. That entity may escape and wreck chaos all over Equestria, and you might influence its escape with your behaviour." "Wait, I'm to blame if things go chaotic?!" "No. Don't worry about it. You hold abilities to create armies out of nowhere, and with your arrival those... Strange crystals and geysers appeared for your benefit. Once you arrived, part of our reality was altered to fit your kind. But there's something else out there that has the power to alter reality at its will, and its name is 'Discord'... I don't know if your arrival means that this entity is close to escaping, but I have to warn you, if this entity were to escape... We'll need everything we can get and more to stop it." "So... To sum up... I arrived and you're worried about something escaping? And that that something escaping is powerful enough that I won't be able to stop it?" "Precisely." "Alright, so, what do I have to do then?" "Just be careful. I don't know what to expect." "Alright, fantastic." My little intro~ My little intro~ "Come on..." Rainbow Dash pushed her wings' strength trying to perform a Sonic Rainboom, with Fluttershy watching from below. She was already close enough to breaking the sound barrier, but a lack of strength threw her back as if the air became rubber. "Hey guys, what's going o--" Mike greeted, closing in with a Viking, only to be interrupted by Rainbow Dash impacting against his ride and sending them both flying. Meanwhile... Twilight sighed as she placed the last book on the bookcase, with Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack with her. "Last one. Thank you so much for helping me clean up all these books guys. It was a crazy week of studying." In the distance, Rainbow Dash's screams were heard getting closer and closer, until she crash-landed right through the window, making a mess of everything. "Mayday--" Mike's desperate yelling was heard right after Rainbow's landing, with a viking crash-landing right through the roof and destroying the floor. Dust engulfed the house. "I've had worse." He shrugged the damage off by getting out of the wreckage and cleaning the dust off his cloak. "Rainbow Dash, you rock! Woohoo." Fluttershy cheered through the barely intact window. Then, once she realized what happened, gasped. "Did my cheering do that?" "Hehe." Rainbow Dash gave a slight laugh. "Sorry about that ladies. THAT was a truly feeble performance." "Actually, it wasn't all bad. I particularly liked it when you made the clouds spin." "What are you two arguing about?" Twilight questioned. "Were we arguing? I'm sorry." Fluttershy apologized. Rainbow Dash sighed. "I wish you guys could come to Cloudsdale to see me compete in the Best Young Flyer Competition." "The what now?" Mike asked, seeing as he didn't leave yet. "What's that?" Twilight asked. Mike was ignored at first. "It's where all the greatest Pegasus flyers get together and show off their different flying styles! Some are fast! And some are graceful." She tried doing graceful gestures, only to lose balance by the books lying around and the debris. "Woah, woah, WooooaaAAAAHH!" "Golly. I'd love to see you strut yer stuff in that competition." Applejack said. "Yeah. I wish you guys could be there. Fluttershy's a great support, but her cheering isn't exactly inspirational." "OOH! I'd love to see you make a sonic rainboom! It's like, the most coolest thing ever! Even though I've never actually seen it, but I mean COME ON! It's a sonic rainboom! How not cool could it possibly not be?!" Pinkie Pie hyperactively stated. "The what now?" Mike asked again. "What's a sonic rainboom?" Twilight asked. "Will you guys stop ignoring me!?" "You really need to get out more." Pinkie Pie began answering. "The sonic rainboom is legendary! When a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash gets going sooo fast... BOOM! A sonic boom and a rainbow can happen all at once!" "Yeah, okay, good luck with that, I'm out." Mike sighed, losing interest before even gaining it and leaving for his base. After a few hours... Mike sighed deeply, resting on top of his command center not even being able to take a nap due to already sleeping for most of his time. "Booooriiiing..." He ranted. If any pony had heard him, they'd have evacuated the continent already. Everyone knows what happens when Mike gets bored. "I wonder what those talking ponies are doing..." He asked himself, figuring they were a rather amusing source of entertainment. He jumped off his command center and decided to walk over to Twilight's house. "Hey guys, what were you saying before about that sonic rai--" He asked as he slowly opened the door, only to figure out that there was no one inside. He sighed before closing the door and heading to the center of the town. "Knock knock." He said as he opened the door of the Sugar Cube Corner, then bell ringing. "Is Pinkie here?" He asked Mr. Cake. "Nope, she's with her friends." "Tsk." He closed the door and walked around again, he had to figure out where they were. Now he decided to head to Rarity's house. "Hey..." He caught Sweetie Belle's attention by pressing himself against the window of the second floor from outside and greeting her, almost giving the poor mini-marshmallow a heart attack, petrifying her. "Rarity's here...?" Sweetie Belle could do nothing but shake her head, staring at Mike whose breathe fogged the window. Once he received the message, he just slowly slided off the window, making that characteristic noise of skin sliding on a window as he descended. "Okay, so... Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie..." He counted. Big Mac was carrying an empty wooden basket as he walked through the forest of the Sweet Apple Acres. Once he saw a tree with several apples that were ready for picking, he placed the basket next to it, and prepared to kick it with his hind legs. "Hey, have you see--" Mike tried asking, being on top of the tree, only to fall off into the basket once Big Mac kicked the tree. "GAAAH--Ow." "What in tarnation..." "I repeat the question." Mike sighed as he threw an apple away. "Have you seen Applejack?" "Nope." "She's not here then?" "Eeyup." "She is?" "Nope." "She isn't?" "Eeyup." "Wait, you're saying 'Eeyup' to her not being here as in confirming it or saying that she actually is here?" "...What?" "Is Applejack here?" "Nope." "Got it." He said while getting out of the basket. "So you're 'Angel', huh..." Mike asked Fluttershy's bunny. The ridiculous size between the two forced Mike to actually crouch as much as he could to actually be able to talk to it. Angel nodded. It was actually quite amusing that a simply bunny was the only thing not shocked, petrified, scared, or unnerved by the Terran at first sight. "Is Fluttershy here?" Angel shook his head. "Shame. Later, then." "Where is everyone...?" He asked himself inside his command center, sitting on a chair and leaning back while drinking a soda. "Hey, Mike." An SCV pilot asked while walking up to him. "Hmm?" "Apparently a few ponies saw them going to Cloudswhateveritsnameis. Looks like Rainbow Dash also lives there." "Say what?" "That big city in the sky, made out of clouds." "Yeah?" "They're there." "What?" "They're there!!" "No, I mean, clouds?! How can they even step on clouds, let alone build a damn city in there?!" The SCV pilot just stared in annoyance, he knew too well that what Mike was capable of doing was far more mind-crushing that simply clouds being somewhat solid. "Alright, alright!" Mike said in annoyance while throwing his arms in the air. "I'll just go get a Viking." Time later... "Fillies and gentlecolts!" An announcer... Announced. "Please rise and join me in welcoming our beloved Princess Celestia!" Princess Celestia then arrived with two guards by her side, landing on a tremendously fancy seat reserved for her. "Hey guys." The voice of Mike greeted Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Twilight and Fluttershy, who just turned around in surprise and saw Mike with a viking hovering next to them. Then he began transforming his viking to land on the cloud they were sitting on. "What did I mi-- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH" He screamed as he fell right through the cloud. "What's Mike doing here?" Fluttershy asked. "Not even here we can get away from him..." Twilight sighed... "So... Did I miss something?" Mike asked once again, rising through the part of the cloud he fell through with his viking. "Twilight..." Applejack pressured her. "Fine... Mike, open up that thing." "Why?" "You'll know." Mike opened the cockpit of the viking and stepped on the wing. Then, Twilight focused and casted a spell on him. "Done." Twilight said. "Just step on the cloud, you wont fall now." "Sweet." He said as he jumped out the viking and landed on the cloud. Five seconds later the spell wore off and he fell again. "Right... I forgot he's not a pony..." Twillight sighed. "Please welcome our celebrity judges for the Best Young Flyer Competition. The Wonderbolts!" The announcer... Announced, right before the wonderbolts arrived with their trail of smoke. Right after them, another six flyers leaving a trail of fire and smoke arrived, each one of them taking their own path to enter the stadium. The six of them sat right next to Twilight and her friends, and once they stopped moving, it was revealed that they were machines. One struck the empty viking and sent it flying away. Hell knows how they could actually fit in the seats. "Who missed me?" Mike greeted from the cockpit of a wraith. "Another one of your machines?" Twilight asked. "The fastest flyer in my arsenal, this bad boy. Hey, check this out." Mike tinkered with the contorls and after a while the wraith became invisible. "He-- He disappeared?!" Applejacked asked. "And now, let's find out who will take the prize as this year's best young flyer!" The announcer announced. "Yo what's up?" Mike greeted the announcer right behind him with his wraith decloaking, scaring the poor sod enough to almost throw him off balance. Mike laughed on his way back to his friends. "Okay, so those things can turn invisible?" Twilight questioned. "You bet. Waaaaaait a second, there's a competition going on?" "Oh no..." Twilight whispered to herself, knowing that things were about to get worse and worse. "Meh, I'll just watch." Everyone was surprised to see Mike just lay back on his wraith's seat and start drinking a can of KopruColaTM. Then they saw Rarity fly out in a tremendously fancy outfit followed by Rainbow Dash. Mike spat all his drink in shock. "By the Emperor, how horrifying." Everyone cheered at what would be the last competitors of this competition. Rarity now began 'dancing' in the air while Rainbow Dash went through an obstacle course made of pillar of clouds. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash had struck the last pillar, sending her flying and crash near the seat of her bullies, who laughed and taunted her. Mike sighed and rolled his eyes, then opened the cockpit of his wraith. He stepped outside, walked to the edge of his wraith's wing, took out a blinding grenade from his pocket, tied it with a rope and lowered it at them not unlike with a fishing rod. The blinding grenade had 'Pull me' written on a paper tied to the pin. The bullies grabbed it, not knowing that Mike was a friend of hers, and pulled the pin. It's pretty obvious what happened next, with Mike laughing and returning to his wraith. After that, Rainbow Dash began spinning the clouds up above. Unfortunately another mistake caused the cloud to accidentally be sent flying towards Celestia, who barely dodged it by lowering herself. "You need to aim lower!!" Mike yelled. Now everyone looked at him with confusion. "Wait, that wasn't intentional?" Now Rarity began rising to the skies above, with Rainbow Dash following. But once Rarity reached her desired height and made a light show with her wings and the sun, the heat burnt her wings off, causing her to fall to her demise. "Oh no! Her wings evaporated into thin air!" Twilight stated. "ITS GO TIME!!" Mike yelled, throwing away his can of soda which accidentally struck one of Celestia's guards unconscious. Mike's wraith took off into the skies, with his other five wraiths behind him taking off too. Unfortunately one wraith impacted with another in the middle of taking off, tearing off their wings and making them fall in a flaming wreckage. Other 20 wraiths cloaked all over the stadium revealed themselves and took off with Mike. Even the wonderbolts joined the chase for Rarity as she fell. "Command, how are we going to stop her fall?" A wraith asked, seeing as they had no means to actually catch her. "I have no idea, keep flying!!" Mike yelled. "WR-4 reporting, the wonderbolts are reaching their target, should we disengage?" "That's a negative, WR-4." "This is WD-40, the wonderbolts were struck unconscious by Rarity, they're-- Damn, I almost hit one!!" Then, several explosions were heard, with flaming wrecks now falling from the skies with them. "WT-12 here, we've lost six wraiths already, we cannot evade at this speed!!" "Keep moving!! Keep chasing!!" Mike screamed. "Unknown object spotted behind us, speed supassing our's, should we intercept?" "Negative." Rainbow Dash was the unknown object behind them, now reaching a tremendous speed which almost breaks the sound barrier. Faster and faster she flew towards Rarity, even reaching the wraiths and evading them. And, not a moment later, the sound barrier was broken by her effort, creating a shockwave of several colours, not unlike a rainbow. A sonic rainboom. "A sonic rainboom! She did it! She did it! WOOO!" Fluttershy outright yelled. "Command, permission to speak freely?" "Permission granted." "FU--" The wraith could only say before embedding itself into the ground, with every other wraith following suit, except for Mike's due to forgetting to turn around before impacting the ground. Mike's just stopped a few millimetres from the ground, giving a warm and welcomed flip of the finger to basic physics. Rainbow Dash, however, managed to rescue the wonderbolts and Rarity right before impacting on the ground, with a trail of a rainbow following behind her. "You guys are idiots." Mike sighed before turning around and flying to Cloudsdale again. "A sonic rainboom! Wooo! YEAH!" Fluttershy cheered, with everyone in the stadium following suit. "I did it. I did it!" Rainbow Dash could barely believe herself. Rarity sighed in relief. "You sure did. Oh thank you Rainbow Dash. You saved my life!" "Oh yeah. I did that too. Ha, best day EVER!" "Another pointless day where I accomplished nothing." Mike uncaringly said, uncloaking his wraith right next to the ponies, surprising them a bit. He had his legs crossed over the controls and drinking another can of KopruColaTM. It could be said half the wraith was actually a container for those things. Rainbow Dash met the wonderbolts and won the prize, declared by Celestia herself, Rarity apologized, and Mike successfully cloaked before the guard who he accidentally knocked unconscious saw him. "So Twilight Sparkle, did you learn anything about friendship from this experience?" Celestia asked. "I did Princess, but I think Rarity learned even more than me." "I certainly did. I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground, and be there for your friends." "Excellent. Well done Rarity. Mike, I can see you." "WHAT..." He exclaimed, uncloaking again. 'Note to self...' He thought to himself. 'Celestia might be a detector...' "This really is the best day EVER!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Uhh, hey Rainbow Crash." One of the three pegasi who taunted her caught her attention. "Dash!" The other corrected. "Oh! Uhh... Sorry Rainbow Dash. Uhh, we just wanted to congratulate--" "Battlecruiser operational." "Uhhh... What was that?" The third pegasi asked, right before looking up and seeing a battlecruiser darkening the skies. "It means 'Run'." Mike added, right before a charge was shot in front of the three pegasi, scaring them away. "No one can make fun of these ponies, understood?!" He yelled. "Aww..." Twilight was touched by his generosity. "Only I can!!" Then Twilight sighed again. "Mike." Celestia called for him. "Hmm?" "I assume you remember what I told you this morning." Mike gave a thumbs up from inside the wraith.