Collision Code

by SSJRandomMaster

Act 2 Chapter 18

Act II: Collision Course
Chapter 18: …To Advance
---------------
It was like the old days of last week. Each day, Corey and Twilight would retreat to that room where he’d done his studying, and she would supervise him as he floated a given object. However, that was where the similarities ended. Ever since Corey had asked to start up his magic lessons again, the speed at which they progressed was increased dramatically. Though Twilight managed to keep the required reading down to a minimum, the practical lessons had been fair game for it.

Corey stood close to the center of the room, his horn alight with a bright green glow. Cloaked in that same glow, orbiting his body in different directions, were several unlit candles. Corey’s eyes were open, and they followed the movements of candles that happened to pass through his vision.

Twilight looked on, smiling as he continued onward. Her smile faded just a little, as she reached for another candle from a small, neatly arranged pile on her right.

“Alright, one more,” she said, holding it up. Corey’s eyes focused on Twilight and the candle she was holding. The candles orbiting around him slowed in response, but remained moving. Corey’s eyebrows twitched, but he continued moving the candle from her hand.

Corey grumbled to himself. Twilight’s brow creased when she heard it, but straight away, she saw no reason for concern. That is, until she saw the candle stop about midway between the two of them. Corey was grumbling louder. The movements of the candles he was holding became erratic, and the glow on his horn fluctuated. As she looked to the candles, she realized some of them were beginning to melt. Taking a quick look at Corey, she saw a warning sign that his emotions had begun to get the better of him.

“Corey,” Twilight took one step forward as she said it. Corey’s ears twitched, and he seemed to focus on her, “Remember, don’t force the magic. Let it flow freely.”

Quickly surveying what he was doing to the candles, Corey closed his eyes. He took one slow, deep breath. The candles started to resume orbiting again, no longer melting in the magical grasp. The one Twilight had given him to add to the “solar system” of candles had joined the others, and it too begin to orbit around him.

“Pick up the pace,” Twilight said, returning to her original position, still keeping an eye on his technique, “In another three minutes, we’re adding one more!”

“Right,” Corey said. As he did as he was told, still watching each of the candles, Twilight began to think about what she was seeing.

He’s gotten much better now, she noted, The fact he can watch each of the candles go by, and talk to me while doing this proves he’s improved.
---------------
Corey wasn’t the only one who had set out to better himself before the next attack. That battle days ago awakened a desire in everyone who had taken part in it. All of them wanted to ensure that next time, it would be different. Far outside of Ponyville, even further than Corey and Shining’s training spot, the latter stood in the center of an open plain. His top was cast aside and he was panting heavily with sweat running down his brow.

Surrounding him were several unicorn guards, each of them charging up a spell, their horns alight with different colors.

“Should we stop for a break, captain?” asked one of the guards.

“No,” said Shining, standing straight up, “I’m not stopping, not until I’m satisfied.”

Shining’s horn began to glow brightly—even brighter than the guards had seen from him before. The moment his spell was cast, a large dome began to expand from him, expanding until it was several feet in radius.

“Everypony set?” he asked the waiting guards, who all gave a collective “hmph” of agreement.

“Fire!” On command, each guard fired a laser towards Shining’s shield. The force of each laser hitting the shield caused it to vibrate violently. As Shining fought to maintain his shield, visions of the battle with Lyon flashed through his mind.

His shields had been broken as though they were nothing—the shields he prided himself in—the same ones he swore would protect his loved ones, were shattered.

“Never again…” Shining grumbled, his shield beginning to glow.

“No matter what it takes, I will protect them!”
---------------
Back in the basement of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was hard at work. Her hair was held back in a ponytail—strangely, even then, her hair still seemed inflated like a balloon. There was an oil stain on her face. Her attention was completely focused on her working table, her eyes filled with determination as she worked. The whole basement was filled with even more party supplies than usual. The basement also had scorched spots in various spots on the floor.

Beside her table was a bulletin board with several blueprints nailed to it. The way they were drawn, however, did not appear to have any rhyme or reason to it. However, Pinkie Pie had no trouble reading them at all.

Pinkie continued to work on her project carefully. At least, until her ears twitched, registering a click that came from the object close to her hands, followed by a ticking sound.

“Uh-oh!” Pinkie said, diving under her work table, plugging her fingers in her ears. Eventually the ticking stopped, and there was an explosion of light and sound. Everything went silent, and the light that flooded the room faded away.

Slowly Pinkie raised her hand from under the table, both hands over her ears as she eyed the mark on her table—the same as the scorch marks on the floor. At the center was her new creation—or at least, what was left of it.

“That makes five,” Pinkie said, rubbing the back of her head, “Oh well.”

She picked up the ruined object, and tossed in the trash. In that bin were other objects similar to it, in various states of ruin.

“Trigger’s still so sensitive,” she observed, collecting more supplies, “But this one turned out better than the others. I’ll get this. I just know it!”

With no more than a skip, Pinkie went right back to work on attempt number six.
---------------
Even though the threat of another attack was close, it didn’t change the fact that Applejack had obligations to tend to. Chores still needed to be done. The farm still needed to be tended to. But that didn’t mean Applejack couldn’t use those two facts to her advantage. Applebucking was a great workout for one’s legs. However, Applejack found a way to make that workout even better. Though steel boots were out of the question when it came to the orchards, she had another idea. Bound to her calves by ropes were two sacks—one for each leg. Each weighed about thirty pounds.

Tilting her Stetson up so that she could get a better view of the tree in front of her, Applejack readied herself. Lifting one of her legs, she delivered a kick to the tree. It rattled, several apples falling off. Already dreading the final result, Applejack began to count the apples that had fallen.

“Twelve…” she grumbled in disappointment. Were this a normal day, Applejack would have been able to shake a tree dry in a single kick. But with thirty pounds on each leg, her kicks were no longer accurate. Yet, even though she was frustrated, she knew it was a necessary sacrifice. If she could strengthen her legs to a point where she could kick a tree as effectively as she could without them, then she would have considered it progress.

“Stronger,” Applejack said to herself, preparing herself to try again, “Have to get stronger…”
--------------
In Fluttershy’s backyard, not too far removed from her home, several tin cans were lined up on display. Any and all animals in the area took their position on either side of this, standing as far away from it as possible. And in the center of the two lines of watching animals was Rarity. Her eyes were locked on to the cans several yards away from her.

Her horn began to glow as she prepared herself to cast a spell. She focused her gaze on the can in the center of the lineup. It took a few seconds, but her magic eventually went to the very tip of her horn. Another second more, a brilliant, blue beam of magic shot out directly at the can she aimed for.

Or so she thought…

The beam soared towards the can, but it did not hit its mark. Instead, it listed to the left as it continued to fly, and flew between two cans, continuing onward.

“Confound it,” Rarity huffed, stomping her foot on the ground, “I can push a thread through a needle, but I cannot hit the side of a tin can?”

“Oh, but you were really close that time!” said Fluttershy from the sidelines.

“Thank you darling,” said Rarity, “But close simply will not do. I may have learned this spell, but I have not quite figured out the aim just yet. But if I keep at it, I am sure it will pan out!”

Mildly pumping her fist once, she turned to Fluttershy completely, “Thank you for allowing me to use your backyard for target practice.”

“It’s no problem at all,” Fluttershy said with a small smile. Rarity nodded to her for a moment. As Rarity turned her attention back to the cans, ready to try again, Fluttershy’s smile began to turn upside-down.

It’s not like I can help any other way…
---------------
Rainbow had come to understand that wound care was an incredibly annoying process. Not only was she still not allowed to fly, but she also had to change her bandages every few hours.

“At least the cut’s getting smaller,” she tightened the bandage around her head. It was nearly healed, so she wouldn’t be grounded for much longer. Even so, she had found a way to avoid doing nothing at all.

Rainbow’s time had previously been dumped into her wings and only her wings. Though her lifelong wing training had kept her slim, it was hardly ideal for what was going on. The rest of her body was still somewhat weak—no, not weak. She just had room to improve.

Now decked out in her training gear, Rainbow was jogging through town. With the added resistance of wrist and ankle weights (borrowed from Applejack), the run was more difficult, just as she wanted. Every now and then, Rainbow would feel a slight pulse in her hand—right on her wound. Soon after the fight, she’d remembered what happened to her, about how the broken cannon thrown at her had caused her injury.

“If I had just noticed it sooner…” Rainbow thought to herself. She could have avoided it if she had. But she didn’t notice it, a fact that bothered her even now. Every time she felt the pulse in her head, every time she remembered getting knocked down, Rainbow would just increase her speed, hoping to leave that feeling of failure behind.

Eventually, even a pony like Rainbow had to stop and catch her breath. After a long while, she’d reached that point, by which time she’d lapped the town a good few times. She didn’t lap the town as many times as she would have flying, but for a run, it was a respectable amount. Rainbow sat for a moment, slowing her breathing as she looked up to the sky. She would join it again soon, and when she did, she vowed to be better than she was.

Soon, she was rested and ready to go again. Getting up, she stretched her legs and took off. Her run went on for several minutes. She planned to lap the town several more times before she would call it a day. But she didn’t quite reach that point—something caught Rainbow’s eye.

“Huh?” she asked, stopping in her tracks, jogging in place. Off in the distance, she could see someone standing alone clear as day. Curious, she decided to see who it was. As she got closer, it became clear.

“John?” Rainbow questioned as she got close. He was standing alone in an open part of the hill. His head was tilted upward, toward the sky. She continued to move towards him, aiming to ask him what he was doing. But before she did, something else entered her view.

Descending from the sky was a pony—a bat pony, much to Rainbow’s surprise. He and John shared what looked like a greeting, before they started talking. Rainbow didn’t know what they were talking about, but she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to get some kind of insight.

“Hey!” she called out. John turned his head, seeing her. The bat pony tensed up, as though expecting an attack. John raised a hand. His new friend (as far as Rainbow knew) relaxed his stance a bit.

“Rainbow?’ John questioned, as Rainbow began to move closer.

“The heck’s going on here?” Rainbow asked, a puzzled look on her face. John looked to her for a moment. His brow twitched a bit.

“I’m, um…going somewhere,” John said.

“Where?” Of course John should have expected such a question to follow.

“I don’t know,” John answered. Rainbow stared at John for several seconds, trying to make sure he wasn’t trying to lie about what was going on.

“Okay…” Rainbow paused, “Then when will you be back?”

John looked away, rubbing the back of his head, “I don’t know that either…”

By now, Rainbow was convinced something was up. To her, it seemed likely that John was lying to her, which served to irritate her.

“So you’re going somewhere, but don’t know where, and you don’t know when you’ll be back?” she asked. John merely nodded, increasing her annoyance, “Do I look stupid?”

“We must make haste, dragon,” said the batpony; only now did Rainbow realize the kind of armor he was wearing. Instead of white and gold like the Royal Guards she’d seen, it was black and blue, “It will be a long flight.”

“Just give me a minute,” John said. The bat—no, guard, nodded his head.

“Listen,” John returned his attention to Rainbow, “I know it doesn’t sound like I’m being legit at all, but I am. I don’t know where I’m going because I wasn’t told.”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow questioned. John started to answer, his mouth opening. But it closed just as quickly. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out the parchment Spike had given him.

“This ought to explain it,” said John, passing the paper to Rainbow. Initially, she hesitated, but eventually took it from him. It took several seconds for Rainbow to unroll it and read the writing on it. It took a couple more seconds for her to understand what she’d just read. And when she did, her eyes opened wide.

“Wait, do you know who this is from?” she asked.

“I do…” John nodded. Rainbow looked down to the parchment one last time before rolling it back up.

“So you were just going to leave without saying anything?” Upon catching the look in her eyes, John felt a feeling of guilt blossom in his chest.

“I wanted to talk, I really did,” John finally spoke up, “But everyone was busy. They’re all preparing themselves. I couldn’t bring myself to bother them. So in the end, I just left a note, hoping you’d all understand.”

“Well, I guess,” Rainbow folded her arms over her chest, “But you still could have tried. Maybe then, we could have all seen you off.”

During the silence that followed, John stared back at Rainbow, a smile growing on his face.

“Well at least you’re here to see me off,” John put a hand on her shoulder, “That’s something, right?”

Rainbow looked up at John with surprise. But the eye contact they’d had was only for a moment. John soon turned around.

“I-I guess,” she stuttered, wondering why she was doing so, “S-so you don’t know when you’ll be back?”

“No, I don’t,” said John flatly, “But I promise, I’ll be back as soon as possible. I won’t leave you guys alone when the time comes.”

“You’d better keep that promise,” Rainbow warned, wagging her finger.

“Don’t worry, I intend to,” with that, John turned back towards the guard, “Alright, I’m ready!”

The guard complied quickly, his bat wings opening wide. John’s wings also opened, following close behind.

Rainbow hadn’t turned around when John and the guard flew away. If she did, however, he surely would have noticed the pink on her face.
---------------
A couple of days had passed. John was no longer around the library. Though things seemed like they had fallen back into the days before Shining arrived, with John helping around town half the day, and Corey and Twilight holed up in that room, it wasn’t the case. Twilight still wondered what John had received that made him have to leave without explaining too much, but if that was how he was to prepare for the next attack…well, he should have still told someone.

But Twilight wasn’t out and about looking for John. She had been asked to walk to the outskirts of town. She knew where she was going. Corey had been a bit too…descriptive, in telling her where he was going to be today.

Last night, during their lessons, Corey had a breakthrough. As a result, he decided to leave the library for the day. Twilight wondered what kind of magic she’d see this time. She had left the town, heading southwest.

“Let’s see,” she mumbled, pushing one finger against the bridge of her nose, “He said, ‘When I start to see rocks, turn right’. And if I keep going that way, I should find him.”

After several minutes of walking through the trees, sure enough, she encountered some small rocks, stuck in the ground. As Corey had told her, she’d turned right. As she looked to the ground, she realized there were uncountable small pebbles strewn about. Twilight continued to look around, and as she continued, she realized the pebbles weren’t randomly distributed. They seemed to form a path, same with several other pebble paths she realized were near.

Curious, Twilight drew closer to the one closest to her, and ran one finger through it, feeling nothing but coarseness as she did. Looking to it afterward, she realized it was covered with a layer of gray dust.

“I wonder…?” Twilight started. After a moment, she smiled, walking down the path she was supposed to take.

About two minutes later, she reached a clearing. Remnants of boulders and scorch marks littered the area. There were a few unbroken rocks around as well, each at least the size of a regular pony. Then, after taking a second look around, she saw him.

Corey was leaning against one of the boulders. Clearly, having his shirt off wasn’t nearly as big an issue as it once was for him. He hadn’t yet noticed she was there, his glasses off and his eyes half-closed. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen him with no top. Of course, back then he wasn’t as…fit.

Cutting herself off, hoping discussing whatever he was doing up here would distract her from those thoughts, she opened her mouth.

“There you are,” Twilight said, beginning to move closer. Corey looked up to her and gave a small smile, clearly much more comfortable with the situation.

“Okay, good,” If anything, he sounded relieved, “You found your way alright.”

“Hard to miss the dust paths coming from here,” Twilight smiled, “Those really let me know I was on the right track. But where’d they come from?” The smile faded, replaced with a puzzled glance back the way she came.

“One of the first things I did after getting set up was testing how my new control affected the spells I did know,” Corey said, “Not only did the impact spell come out faster, when it took effect, it was more concentrated into the one point.”

Twilight gave a small nod of understanding, smiling. Then, her mind rewound and repeated Corey’s statement.

“When you say ‘set up’…” Twilight trailed off, motioning to the unbroken boulders.

“Oh, yeah,” Corey said, “Right after I did the daily run. I wondered where Shining pulled these from. Didn’t take me that long to find out.”

“You moved them here?” Twilight asked, an image of Corey floating them here with his magic ingraining itself into her mind’s eye. However, she still had to be sure, “How?”

“Well,” Corey looked around, eventually turning to the boulder closest to her and walking over. Twilight watched as he crouched in front of it, “Basically…”

Runes appeared over his arms—Twilight blinked; they seemed to be writing faster now. They spread over his body, and one moment later, Corey’s body changed. His exposed muscles suddenly gained mass, and he lifted the boulder over his head with both hands.

“Just like that,” Corey said, his back still to her.

No response.

“Twilight?” Corey asked, setting the boulder back down. His muscles contracted back down to where they were before as he turned back to face Twilight.

Twilight’s eyes were wide with surprise. Her cheeks were stained with a pink color, her mouth slightly ajar. Corey tilted his head to one side.

“Twilight,” Corey took a step towards her, “Are you okay?”

Twilight blinked, one hand going to her jaw and closing it. However, her blush only grew worse as she realized what she’d been doing, “Huh—what? I-I’m sorry…Uh…w-were you still explaining?”

Something in Corey’s head clicked when he saw her reaction. Her blank, blushing expression, the fact he just lifted? It seemed too much of a coincidence. Especially when a memory passed over him—how Twilight reacted to his arm a few days ago.

“I…uh,” Corey started, glancing over to where he’d been sitting, really wishing he’d had his shirt back right now, “No, th-that was…that was pretty much it…”

There was an awkward pause. Twilight’s gaze shifted to the ground, trying to get her senses back. Corey shuffled about, kicking the dirt once lightly. Eventually, it was Twilight who found her voice.

“Y-you know, Corey,” Twilight looked back up to face him, “I…I’m impressed at how far you’ve come over the past couple of days. You’re able to control your magic so much better now…”

“I…” Corey jumped at the chance to move as far away from what had just happened, “I couldn’t have done it without you. B-besides,” He caught the return of an embarrassed look on her face, and tried to steer the conversation, “John left to get better. I couldn’t fall behind…”

“Corey…“ He kept right on going, Twilight’s voice just quiet enough to escape his notice despite the fact they weren’t too far apart.

“Next time, I…I won’t get pushed around,” Corey continued, “I want to be strong enough to stand on my own…”

Another pause. It wasn’t nearly as awkward as the previous one. Twilight looked to Corey. More accurately, her head was turned in his direction, but her eyes were closed. Her hands came together over the center of her chest.

“Twilight?” asked Corey, turning to face her completely.

“Corey, there’s something I’ve been meaning to say since the last attack...” Her eyes opened, one arm going to her side.

Had Corey still been the same brand of wimp he was when he arrived, he would have definitely taken a step back when she said that. His heart rate rose in alarm all the same, however.

“And over the past couple of days, too,” Twilight took two steps toward him, “No. Even longer, ever since you found out you were being forced to be part of some sick pony’s game. You didn’t have to be part of this fight. At any point, you could have tried to stay on the sides, and I would have understood if you did. I…I don’t know what it’s like back where you came from. But I can’t imagine it’s anything like this!”

Corey wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the words. And a small part of him urged him to keep silent.

“Instead, despite your fears, you put yourself through all this,” Twilight was another two steps closer now, “You never complained. At least, not that I’ve heard. Even when your body cried out for rest, even when your mind screamed for you to run, you kept going. You’re…you’re doing everything you can think of, just to help us in this fight.”

So is John… Corey thought.

“I…I wanted to thank you,” Twilight turned slightly away, and here, Corey could see it, glinting in the sunlight: a tear, maybe two, sliding down her cheek, “For that. You’re giving all you can give…more than that, even!”

Corey’s heart was beating a little faster than he wanted it to, but it didn’t matter. Corey took a step forward, saying the first thing that came to his mind:

“I’ll give even more than that, if it means keeping you safe!”

Corey froze immediately afterward. Twilight blinked. There were those butterflies again…

“A-and the others, too!” Corey continued, blushing furiously as he tried desperately to stutter his way out of the corner he’d talked himself into, “They mean…a lot to me too…”

“O-oh, of course!” Twilight raised a hand to her jaw, blushing just a little, “I…I thought you meant that…”

The two stood there, alone in that clearing, for a few seconds more. The sounds of nature were the only real sounds to be heard.

“Thanks,” Twilight repeated, “But…I want you to promise me something…”

“What?” Corey asked, looking away a bit.

“If…if it feels like it’s going to start overwhelming you,” Twilight said, “I…I want you to tell me—tell someone, and take a step back. I really appreciate what you’re doing, but you should know by now this isn’t fun and games…”

“O-okay…” Corey responded, more dumbfounded than anything else.

“W-well…I’ll see you later,” Twilight said, “Keep up the good work!”

“I…I will.”

Twilight walked away, one of her hands over her heart. It was still beating faster than it usually did.

What’s happening? Twilight asked herself, I...I’ve never felt this way so often…
-------------------
Corey released a sigh, alone in the clearing once more. His mind was still on what had just happened. He understood Twilight’s gratitude, at least, he thought he did. He was an alien, who had, one way or another, ultimately decided he was going to fight their battles. He had something that was worth the trouble, for sure.

Hey, you.

Corey continued to go towards an unbroken boulder, aiming to see what he could do with a strength-enhanced impact spell next. Maybe after that, he could try something new—

Don’t you ignore me…

Corey grit his teeth. What did that inner voice of his want now? It seemed to be content for a change, at least, until now…

What? Can’t you see I’m busy? Annoyed, Corey continued his path, though his pace had slowed.

Busy ignoring your own feelings, maybe… Corey paused, maybe ten steps from the boulder. You’re doing it again…

Doing what again? Corey had hoped playing innocent might get his inner voice to shut up. He was wrong.

His inner voice snarled, Cut the crap. You know damn well what. Letting your feelings for a girl just fester, and grow, while you let them carry on, blissfully unaware. You’ve done it with just about every girl you’ve ever had a crush on!

And…?

When are you going to speak up? She deserves to know how you feel!

M-maybe…But…she’s still a pon—

Look in a mirror lately? His inner voice was way ahead of him, Shouldn’t be too much of an issue…

I…I just don’t know…

Look, Corey, His inner voice sighed, You don’t have time to argue with me about this. But think about it, like you always do. But this time, do something about it!

After that, his inner voice clammed up. Corey sighed, crouching down a bit, one hand to his face. Like it or not, his inner voice was right. Both about his past with girls, and his present with Twilight. The truth couldn’t have been any more obvious.

But his inner voice was right about another thing.

“I can sort this all out later…” Corey said, “I…I have to keep my training going…”

Author's Note:

Okay, so I lied. I just wanted to get through this part of the act before I switched to biweekly. Same time, just on the 22nd of February now. 'Til then, everyone.

Comments

[SSJRandomMaster]

Whoops. Accidentally clicked "Publish" instead of "Edit" to save the changes. Oh well. Enjoy the early update, fans of the story.

[zeldawolffang]

Early update FTW!!!

[EnderHooves]

Instead of white and gold like the Royal Guards she’d seen, it was black and blue

Did you just...?
You did, didn't you?
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/The_Dress_%28viral_phenomenon%29.png
*le sigh* OK then.
If you didn't, good job at fooling me.

[dyedquartz]

THE SHIPS HAVE SAILED!

[Cozybro]

"…I don’t know what it’s like back where you came from. But I can’t imagine it’s anything like this!”

You're right, turn on the news for a couple seconds and you find it's much worse.