The top third of the sun was a burning disc on the horizon, swimming in a field of orange and red; above it, the sky had already deepened into a hazy lavender twilight. Thunderlane, a senior at Umadakara High School, pounded purposefully down the school's track.
His watch beeped, and he slowed from a sprint to a brisk jog. Sweat plastered his normally stiff bangs, striped charcoal grey and pale silver, to his forehead; his thin tank top stuck to his broad chest like a second skin. His shoes left the blacktop as he trotted over to the bench where he'd left his bag; he skidded to a halt, grabbing his towel and wiping his face, hair, and neck. Slinging the towel around his neck, he picked up his water bottle and took a deep swig. Scrubbing his head again, he sat down on the bench, pulling his phone out of the pocket of his bag. A text message awaited him; he grimaced as he glanced at it.
Message from: Rainbow Dash
U R LATE! Move your butt!
"I am NOT late," he growled as he stuffed his phone into his bag along with his towel and water. He paused, pulled it back out, and fired off a reply.
Message to: Rainbow Dash
It's 5:30 & U said meet at 6! I'll be there when I get there!
With that, he put the phone back in his bag and zipped it up, then headed for the locker room.
When he walked in, a pair of slim, strong arms wrapped themselves around him from behind. "Mmmm...hello there, handsome," a female voice purred.
Thunderlane broke out of the grip and whirled around, eyes wide. A girl with raspberry eyes, wearing a bluish-grey tracksuit and a big pink bow in her long, wavy pale green hair, smiled seductively at him.
"Flitter?!" he asked, staring. "Wh-what are you doing here?! In the men's locker room?"
"Looking for you," Flitter said. Her usual light, slightly vapid voice had become rich and seductive, and her posture was completely different from the girl he was used to, the girl he'd known since third grade. With a sultry smile, she shed her track suit.
She wasn't wearing anything underneath.
Thunderlane's jaw dropped. "F-Flitter?! What—?!"
"Shhh," she said, placing a finger on his lips. "You're all sweaty. You could use a shower." She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the shower room. He followed numbly, his conscious mind having taken a vacation.
Four kilometers away, violet eyes watched from the shadows of an apartment mansion's entrance as the body of a teenage girl was zipped up in a body bag and loaded into the back of an ambulance. A woman with fading green hair stood with a police detective, sobbing into her hands. She clutched a tattered pink hair bow as though it were a life preserver.
The eyes narrowed and faded from existence.
Magic 1: サッキュバス
Rainbow Dash punched the concrete post. Then kicked it. Then punched it again. Then threw her head back and cried out in frustration.
"Aaa, mou!"
She looked down at her knuckles and sighed. She'd managed to scratch herself up. Sighing, she pulled her handkerchief out of the back pocket of her indigo jeans, wet it with the bottled water she carried in her bag, and dabbed at her scratched hands.
She leaned against the post and slid to the ground, drawing her knees up to her chest. Her miserable expression, combined with the oversized cyan-and-white T-shirt she wore which made her look even more underdeveloped than she was, gave her the overall appearance of a pitiful waif. She scrubbed her hands through her multihued bangs and sighed. "Where is that jerk?" she muttered. She'd only been dating Thunderlane for two weeks, and they weren't official yet, but she admired his earnestness, his dedication to the track team, and his easygoing sense of humor. Still, he had a habit of being late meeting up with her, and it was beginning to get on her nerves.
"Hey, Rainbow, sorry I'm late."
Rainbow looked up to see Thunderlane approaching, hands in his pockets. He was dressed in black slacks and a charcoal button-down shirt, and his spiky hair glistened with hair gel. She stared at him. "Uhh...what's with the getup? Little fancy for pizza night, don't you think?"
"Oh, I thought we might do something different tonight," he said.
Rainbow stood up, arms folded. "Oh yeah? Like what?"
Thunderlane closed the distance between them, seizing Rainbow's chin with a hand. Leaning closer, he tilted her face up. Rainbow's rose-hued eyes widened as Thunderlane seized her lips in a kiss. Her heart raced. *I'm not ready for this...!*
Rainbow felt a firm, rough hand seize her bottom. Immediately, she broke the kiss, kicking Thunderlane hard in the shin and pushing him away. "JERK!"
Thunderlane grinned lazily at her. "Oh, come on. You know you want it."
"No I don't!" Rainbow said, eyes wide and fists clenched. "I've been going out with you because you're fun to hang out with and you're not a total douchebag! I never wanted to do anything like that with you!" She snatched up her bag, turned, and stalked away.
Thunderlane seized her around the upper arm and pulled her roughly around. His eyes shone with a feverish light, and a terrible, uncharacteristic leer warped his face. "You don't understand," he said. "I'm taking what I want from you, and I'm taking it right now."
"Like HELL you are!" Rainbow shouted, punching him in the face. She followed with a kick to the groin, then wrenched her arm free and ran. Being the star of the track team, she was three blocks away before Thunderlane recovered from her kick.
Or at least, that was the plan. Panic gripped her heart as Thunderlane's manic eyes filled her vision. Somehow, not only was he in front of her, but he was running backwards at full speed. "What the—?!"
Thunderlane grinned. "Surprise!"
"There's no way...!" Rainbow broke right, sprinting across the street. Mercifully, there was little traffic; she ran to the next corner and dashed across the street there, racing up the block. She ran faster than she'd ever run in her life. Five minutes later, her burning lungs and throbbing legs forced her to stop and rest. She leaned against the front of a book store, gasping for air.
Rough fingers seized her face. "You can't get away from me that easily," Thunderlane said. His voice held contempt and menace that sent chills down Rainbow's spine.
"Please...leave me alone..." Rainbow said. "Why are you doing this? HOW are you doing this?"
Thunderlane tilted her chin up; she stared into eyes that were literally glowing. "I'm going to take everything you have," he said. "Your body, your soul, your life."
Rainbow let out a quiet gasp. "What..."
"Barrier."
A glowing violet circle, covered in strange symbols, snapped into existence between Rainbow and Thunderlane. Thunderlane hissed as he staggered away. He turned. "Who dares?!" he roared.
"You're not taking any more innocent lives today," a hard female voice said. Rainbow looked past the glowing circle, and stared, slack-jawed.
A girl, perhaps her own age, stood on the other side of the street. She had violet eyes, graceful features, and straight violet hair that fell midway down her back, with razor-straight bangs and a vertical dark pink streak. She wore the most peculiar costume Rainbow had ever seen: a lavender corset with violet trim along the sides, with five small, white six-pointed stars arranged in a 'belt' across her waist; knee-high lavender boots with gold trim at the top, inset with tiny six-pointed pink gems; elbow-length lavender gloves with ribbed violet cuffs. A violet choker adorned with a large pink gem in the shape of a six-pointed star graced her throat, and matching six-pointed earrings dangled from her earlobes. She held a slim, meter-long lavender baton in her right hand; one end was capped with a small gold six-pointed star, while the other end sported an ornate golden unicorn head with a long, tapered horn and sparkling garnet chips for eyes.
"When I'm done with this girl, I think I'll have you too!" Thunderlane snarled.
"Let's see what you really look like," the girl said. "Reveal!" She spun her baton, from which twisted ribbons of violet light streamed out, wrapping themselves around Thunderlane. He screamed, his voice becoming inhuman as the light enveloped him.
When the light faded, Thunderlane was no more. Rainbow stared in disbelief and horror at what had taken his place.
The creature was almost twice as tall as Rainbow, twisted and gnarled and covered in glittering black chitin. Its sinewy black arms and legs were disproportionate, ending in thick, sharp claws, and shot through with unsettling holes. Veined insect wings buzzed on its back. Its flat, insectlike head had large, glowing green eyes and jagged mandibles.
"What the HELL IS THAT?!" Rainbow cried, pressing herself against the wall.
"The last thing you'll ever see," the creature hissed. It rounded on her, giving a screeching cry as it opened its maw...
"CONTAIN!"
A sphere of light surrounded the charging creature, holding it in place. It spun around angrily, screeching at the lavender girl. "WHO ARE YOU?! HOW DO YOU HAVE THIS POWER?!"
"You won't live long enough for that information to do you any good," the girl said. She held her baton before her in both hands, parallel to the ground. A sudden breeze picked at her hair. "Transfigure," she whispered. Her baton glowed violet and changed shape, becoming a tapered golden rapier with a pink six-pointed star gem set in its lavender hilt.
The sphere of light warped and flickered, fading away. The creature leapt at the girl, who leapt quickly to the side. As it landed where she had been standing, she darted back in, thrusting with her rapier. It pierced the creature's abdomen; the creature roared in pain and swiped with a claw. The girl ducked, pulling her rapier out of her foe's body and using it to parry. A quick series of thrusts sent green blood splattering on the sidewalk.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" the creature roared.
"I was thinking the same thing," the girl said. Her sword began to glow. "Specimen pin!" With a quick sweep of the blade, she sent a series of golden needles flashing toward the creature. The needles pinned its hole-pocked limbs to the street; it thrashed and screeched. The girl brought her rapier over her head, glaring coldly down at the creature. "And now to put an end to this," she said.
"ERASE MAGIC!"
She brought her rapier down in a quick, whipping motion, pointing it at the creature. A wave of dazzling golden light studded with violet sparkles poured forth from the blade, enveloping the creature. It screamed and writhed in agony. Rainbow had to squeeze her eyes shut against the terrible blinding light.
When it was over, the creature was gone, leaving only a small pile of black soot. The girl sighed; her sword glowed briefly and reverted to its earlier baton form.
Rainbow stared at her. "What was that thing? What just happened?" She stepped forward shakily. "Who...who are you?" she whispered.
The girl smiled and shook her head. "This never happened. You never saw me. When you wake up tomorrow, you won't remember any of this."
"The hell I won't!" Rainbow retorted. "My boyfriend just tried to rape me, then turned into a monster, and you...whatever you are...there's no way I'm just pretending this never happened!"
The girl pointed her baton at Rainbow.
"Forget."
* * * * *
Rainbow Dash yawned as she trudged into the classroom, straightening her grey uniform blouse and weaving through her classmates until she got to her desk. She sat down, propping her head in her hands. Her head felt more full of fuzz and fog than usual for a school day, and she wanted nothing more than to be back home in her nice, warm bed...
"Do you think she knows yet?" one of her classmates whispered.
"I don't think she does. How would she, anyway? They only found him an hour ago."
"Should we tell her?"
"No...let the teachers tell her..."
Whatever they were whispering about didn't concern Rainbow, so she laid her head down for a quick nap before the teacher showed up.
A hand prodded her awake, and she looked up to see the homeroom teacher, Cheerilee, standing at the podium. "Good morning, class! We have a new student today."
Rainbow looked up detachedly as a girl walked into the room and stood beside the teacher. Her long, straight violet hair was almost the same color as her short uniform skirt, save for a dark pink streak. She wore rimless glasses and had sharp violet eyes. The only deviation from the school's uniform code were her black thigh-high stockings.
A tingling broke through the haze in Rainbow's brain. Something about this girl seemed familiar...
"Introduce yourself to the class," Cheerilee said.
"Hai," the girl replied, bowing. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm pleased to meet you."