“Step right this way, ladies and gentle… dragons… Step right up and see the first wonder of the scientific community! Princess Twilight Sparkle’s Superior Magic Scanner!” Little Spike bowed with a flourished hand, keeping his eyes on his audience of one dog-turned-dragon and one human-turned-pony.
Twilight Sparkle walked under the high archway and into the laboratory. It wasn’t large enough for Big Spike to fit inside, but he could poke his head in. Twilight smiled as she looked around the room, listening to the various beeps and boops of technology at work. “Now this… this I can understand just fine.”
Much like her basement back home, the walls were lined with gizmos and doohickeys all clicking away, recording one thing or another. Unlike her basement, however, the room was huge enough to house two semi-trucks with room to spare. The machines, too, were supersized; towering monstrosities that would have put the largest Space Age computer to shame. The largest sat in the center of the room, its lights dark and its graphs silent. A chair was place in front of it, over which hovered a wired helmet.
Twilight trotted up to it as Little Spike spoke: “Designed by Professor Merlot of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, it was originally created to study the amperage of magic flowing from a unicorn’s horn. Twilight Sparkle later refined the design to record the flow of magic through fairy strings, repurposing the scanner to be used by any type of pony.”
“Any type?” Twilight Sparkle circled around the chair, tapping tubes with her hoof. “You mean like those winged soldier kinds?”
“You are really new around here, aren’t you?” Little Spike held up three fingers. “Three kinds of ponies. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Horns that control magic, wings that control the weather, and legs that control nature.” He scratched his chin. “Well, those and bat ponies, crystal ponies, breezies, Arabians, Clydesdales, changelings are kinda ponies…”
He crossed his arms and let out a snort. “Huh. Why do we say there’s only three kinds of ponies?”
Twilight Sparkle sat in the seat and lowered the helmet on its crane. Its construction made sense, to a point. Wires lead from diodes on the inside of the hat and led to the main machine, where the signals would be transformed into data. Not electrical signals, though. It was all magic. Magic powered, magic sensing, magic reading…
Back home, her own magic sensor had been based around electricity, though it was designed to sense a form of energy she hadn’t truly understood. Still didn’t. That’s where Princess Twilight and Sunset would come in handy.
Spike patted the computer. “The first one was destroyed in the Tirek attacks of the year one-thousand and one. But it’s been rebuilt to be bigger and better than ever. It can sense fluctuations up to one-thousands of a tinker.”
“Tirek?” Twilight pursed her lips. “You mean Tirek Odolwa the terrorist?”
“No. Tirek the Demon King.” Little Spike glanced back at the entrance, his brow wrinkled. “You know? Centaur, eats magic, lacks a moral compass?”
“What does magic taste like?” Big Spike asked.
“Uh.” Little Spike shrugged. “I dunno. Sparkly, maybe?”
Twilight Sparkle squinted at the helmet. Copper coils surrounded two protrusions made of a material she couldn’t identify. “So what about the ponies with both horns and wings, like the princess? A Fluttercorn? An Ubersus? An Excessive-corn-asus?”
“Alicorns,” Little Spike said. “After the material unicorn horns are made of.”
“Not keratin?” Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed. She snapped the wires off of the helmet and hovered the diodes before her eyes. “Interesting.”
“Buh-wha—?” Little Spike’s jaw dropped. “You broke it!”
“I’m fixing it.” Twilight snatched a long metal rod from a work table across the room. “Improving it.”
“You tear apart the helmet and you call it fixing it?” Little Spike tapped a claw against his palm as smoke trailed out of his nose. “You just destroyed the thing that makes the entire… thing work right! If you wanted to see the parts, I got the stinking blueprints right here!”
Twilight smirked, peering over her glasses. “Then if the princess wants it back the way it was, she can go right ahead and follow those blueprints, can’t she?”
Little Spike furrowed his brow. He let his shoulders slump and looked away. “She has a name, you know.”
“Yeah, and it’s Twilight Sparkle. Same as me.” Twilight went to work twisting the copper wires up the length of the bar. Catching the smaller dragon’s dim expression, she let out a low grumble. “Yeah, yeah. Call it my way of differentiating us. Just to keep myself from going nutty with confusion.”
His mouth went from a frown to a straight line. “That’s fair. Kinda. I guess it’s better than picking out dumb nicknames for the both of you.” He snickered. “I can see it now: Feathers and Glasses. One’s sarcastic. So’s the other. They fight crime.”
Twilight tapped the side of her glasses. She licked her lips as she ran her eyes along the side of the scanner. “‘Feathers?’ I don’t get it.”
Little Spike tapped a metal panel, which popped open to reveal the inner workings of the device. He stepped back to give her full view. “The wings? She’s got ’em, you don’t.”
Big Spike smiled. “I don’t have wings either.”
“Yeah” Twilight said, “you and the little guy both—”
She jumped in her seat. Her mind went blank for a good, long moment. She looked at her back with squinted eyes, running over the fabric of her long coat. She slid it down her shoulders to expose the thinner material of her shirt. She got a glimpse at the skinny contours of her body; not a single wing-like bulge could be found.
She shrugged her coat back on and adjusted her glasses with a push. “That’s weird. What happened to the princess? How come she has wings? Some sort of genetic experiment? A mutation, maybe?”
“What? No, that’d be stupid.” Little Spike placed his hands on his hips, a far-away smile touching his face. “She learned the magic of friendship and crafted a new kind of spell. I don’t really get the specifics, but the magic that joins her and her friends together somehow combined and gave her… kinda an upgrade. A reward for doing a good job, or maybe a boost to get her through rough times ahead.”
“Yeah.” Twilight Sparkle shut one eye to look down the length of the rod. “The ‘magic of friendship’ thing is far less stupid.”
“Don’t knock it ’til you try it.” Little Spike skittered towards the scanner, feeling at the buttons with his clawtips. “You just gotta win folks over with that charming sincerity of yours.”
“Whadda yah mean ‘till you try it?’ I have lots of friends!” Twilight Sparkle rested her forehead in her hoof. “Now I’m engaged in a battle of wits with my dog from an alternate universe. Will the wonders never cease?”
Little Spike pinched a switch between his fingers. “Not so long as you keep forgetting that I’m nopony’s dog.”
He flipped the machine on. It came to life with a mechanical ka-chunk and a deep thoomp. The rod sparked in her telekinetic grasp, causing Twilight to yelp and drop it to the ground. She pulled her four legs into the chair and stared at the metal bar like it was a hissing snake.
The computer let out a whirr as it spat out paper. Little Spike ripped off a sheet and compared it to one held in his other claw. “You’ll be happy to hear that your fairy strings are operating on a level far above most unicorns. Still not quite where Twilight was… before she got her wings.”
“You mean ‘before she learned the magic of friendship’?” Twilight gave him a humorless grin. “You trying to tell me I don’t have many friends.”
“Nah, there’s a bajillion reasons you don’t have as strong of magic.” Spike counted off on his fingers. “You haven’t learned much about it, you haven’t practiced much, your body isn’t strong enough to move that much energy…”
“Practice and exercise, my two favorite words.” Twilight glared at the mess of wires inside the machine. “What’s taking them so long? I can’t rewire the scanner if I don’t know what the wires do. This is just a little bigger than the one back home. Just a little.”
Little Spike glanced at the doorway. “Twilight… Princess Twilight’s had a lot on her shoulders lately. I think she might just need a friend for a little bit.” He grinned. “You know, to talk things over.”
Twilight removed a wire with a glimmer of magic. An arc of electricity jumped across the gap with a pop. She took a step back and stuck it back in its socket. “She could do it on her own time.”
“Hay. If she needs it, she needs it.” Little Spike reached over her shoulder, twisted a dial down to zero, and removed the same wire. No zaps were forthcoming. “If you run into high-stress situations with something on your chest, it’s gonna weigh you down. You’re gonna get distracted. It’s best to get it off your chest.”
Twilight leaned her chair back, balancing it on its back legs. Her hoof touched the ground just enough to keep her from toppling over. She looked at Big Spike’s green eyes, then at her own intertwined forehooves. “Sometimes talking about it just makes it raw.”
Big Spike twiddled his thumbs.
Twilight leveled the chair with an exasperated grunt and a wooden thud. She levitated the rod off the floor and continued to wind the wires. “Besides, there’s nothing to discuss. I’ll figure it out. I’ll fix it.”
Little Spike lowered one eyebrow. He looked from Twilight to Big Spike, worrying his lower lip. “Sorry. Did I touch a nerve?”
Big Spike’s ears drooped. He tapped his claws against the crystalline floor. “It’s just… You’re not the first Spike she’s argued with today.”
“Oh.” Little Spike almost mirrored his counterpart’s pose, instead tapping his claws against each other. “I am sorry. But you guys can work it out. I mean, Twilight and I don’t always agree, but we’re still…”
Twilight stared at him over the tip of her glasses. Her lips pressed together, holding back a sarcastic quip. In the end, she wasn’t quite able to keep it in check. “I’m beginning to think that we’re a little more different than you realize.”
Little Spike set his feet shoulder-width apart. “You’re still Twilight Sparkle. I think that counts for something.” He trundled on his hind legs towards the hallway. “You guys wait here and try not to break anything. I’ll go whip up some cookies. There’ll be enough for all of us—” He glanced up at Big Spike’s house-sized belly. “—to have a taste. Later.”
Twilight Sparkle smirked when she saw Sunset Shimmer pass him on her way to the laboratory, the princess trailing slightly behind. Twilight waved her over. “Come on, let’s get the show on the road. One slightly-unhinged murderer is running amuck, just waiting for us to run her down.”
“Would that it was just one,” Sunset groaned. “We might be facing an entire cabal of siren wannabes.”
“What the—” Twilight shook her head. “It’s not just gonna be us against the world, is it?”
No. I have several guard outposts ready to assist. Princess Twilight flapped her wings and carried her to the top of her scanner. What work have you done?
“I fashioned a makeshift antenna.” Twilight held the rod in her hooves. “It won’t get much range, but it’s a start.”
The princess landed beside her and examined the device. She munched the tip of her mane. Her eyes lit up at the same moment she clapped her hooves. Aha! Just like a radio antenna! I can weld a good one together in a jiffy.
“Did she say ‘radio’?” Twilight Sparkle’s jaw dropped. “Did she just say ‘weld’?”
Princess Twilight trotted through the laboratory, gathering up bits and pieces of metal in a growing cloud of magic. They arranged themselves in a cross-pattern around the largest bar. Flashes of lightning lit up the ends where the metal met, fusing them together into a single piece. Wires wound themselves in and out of the tubes, then snaked to connect to the scanner itself.
Princess Twilight Sparkle settled the newly-crafted antenna before them with a smile. Careful. It’s still hot.
Twilight Sparkle stood up and bit her lip. “Okay. Magic is way cool again. Can you teach me that?”
Sunset bumped her shoulder. “I think we’ll have to wait for the advanced classes.”
“Spoilsport.” Twilight trotted around the branching metal pole. “Let’s get it fired up. Maybe we can start the scan before Li’l Spike gets back with the snacks.”
“You’re really new around here, aren’t you?” The dragon in question waddled back into the room, a plate balanced in one hand. “Then I guess this is your first time tasting chocolate chip cookies cooked to perfection with dragon fire?”
“Ha!” Sunset Shimmer reached across the room with a spell and snagged two cookies. “Stop snarking and start snacking.”
Big Spike sniffed the air. A tiny bit of drool was slurped up before it could hit the floor. “From what I can smell, those things kick dog treats right in the butt.”
“You don’t know the half of it, bro.” Little Spike tossed one into the air, which was quickly snatched by Big Spike’s jaws. “Enjoy your first taste of real food.”
Big Spike chewed for a brief moment, but needn’t have bothered. The chocolate chip cookie practically melted in his mouth. Tears pooled in his eyes. “Spike, you might be my new best friend. It tastes like… heaven.”
Twilight Sparkle snickered. “Hey, what does that make me? Chopped liver?”
“No! You’re way better than chopped liver.” The huge dragon shifted his body, fitting his shoulders into the archway. “He can be my pony-world best friend, but you’ll always be my SSSBFF.”
Her faint laughs died off. She swallowed hard before continuing. “What’s that mean?”
“Super-Special Spectacular Best Friend Forever.” He waved a hand. “Or something like that. I haven’t really figured it out. Been thinking about it, though.”
Twilight conjured up a tired smile. “You were always my Super-Special Dog Best Friend Forever, but that’s probably not quite right anymore.”
They stood facing each other, shuffling their feet and generally not looking at each other. Twilight at last gained the strength to speak. “I don’t want you to die, Spike.”
“I know.” He lay his chin on the ground. “Generally speaking, I don’t wanna, either.”
Twilight lifted a hoof and rubbed his nose. She turned away with an extended exhale and gave him one final pat before walking back towards the princess. “So what have we got? What sort of magical scent are we sending this technological bloodhound after?”
Sunset winked. “I was counting down the minutes until you made a dog analogy.”
“Stuff it, Shimmer.”
Princess Twilight dug through her saddlebags. She let out a snort of exasperation and dropped them to the floor to give herself a better angle. She gave a satisfied nod and lit her horn.
A red gemstone shard rose out of the bags. It twirled in the air, glinting in the bright lights of the laboratory. Princess Twilight sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly to relax her trembling knees.
It almost worked, Twilight noticed.
“Recognize it?” Sunset asked. “The sirens were the ones who finally showed you magic was real. Our battle with them, anyway. This crystal is a shard of the pendants that gave them their powers.”
“The ones you broke?” Twilight bit her lower lip as hard as she dared. A cold chill ran down her spine in the presence of the gemstone. Nerves, she assumed. Just a little memory of how she felt when she first took the readings. A little taste of the adrenaline. She took a deep breath of her own, but her knees were just as disobedient as the princess’. “It’s… something else, alright. I could almost swear it’s…”
“Chilling you to the bone?” Little Spike supplied. “Sending a creepy-crawly down your spine? Making you fear for your soul? Yeah, I’m getting that feeling, too.”
Big Spike nodded. “It feels like a stupid cat that’s just out of reach. Just taunting me with its stupid cat meows.” He rolled his eyes. “Stupid Opalescence.”
“Hey, it’s just a broken gemstone.” Sunset Shimmer took it in her glowing blue grip. She rolled it end over end in front of their faces. “It’s lost its power. It can’t do any harm or good in its current state.” She flashed an uneven smile at Princess Twilight. “Right?”
“Hand it here,” Twilight said, holding out her hoof.
Sunset froze in place. “Why?”
“So that I can finally create my doomsday device to take over both worlds.” Twilight bopped Sunset over the head. “So that I can see it, goofball.”
The glow around the object shifted from blue to lavender. Twilight Sparkle drew the shard close to her face, examining it from every angle. With a small push, she could feel pathways running through the crystal. Like wires on a circuit board, or the subway system beneath the city. She cut off her magic and let the fragment drop into the middle of her hoof. “Aria.”
“What’s that?” Sunset asked.
“I’ve seen this before. Or something very much like it.” Twilight Sparkle pushed her glasses up her snout. “When they found… At the crime scene this morning, there was debris around the body. A few pieces of glass, a couple ceramic shards… and a sliver of red gemstone.”
Sunset Shimmer sat down, a frown covering her face. “Even after all these years, they still hold on to them. Were they hoping to repair them? Maybe just keep souvenirs? Did they still hold a little power?”
Princess Twilight Sparkle scribbled down a quick note. Did Sonata still have hers?
“If she did, I didn’t notice.” Sunset shrugged. “Did you see anything, Twilight?”
“Nadda.” Twilight sat down and crossed her forelegs. She wobbled until she found her center of balance. “Which could mean anything or nothing. My question is: Do you think the pendants could be repaired?”
Princess Twilight wrinkled her nose. It would be like putting together a ten-thousand-piece puzzle with several pieces missing.
“So within the realm of possibility.”
Pretty much, yeah.
Twilight ran a hoof down her face. “Goody. Let’s track the sucker down and put an end to it. We can worry about their endgame after we’ve thwarted phase one.”
“Speaking of that,” Sunset said, “how do we plan to track them via the shard? There’s no energy emanating from the fragments, is there?”
You’re thinking of a passive scanner, Sunset. Princess Twilight Sparkle scribbled up a storm as Little Spike read over her shoulder. That’s how a normal radio works. It just picks the signals out of the air. What I’m hoping for is an active scanner. It sends out a signal and records what bounces back. Like a sonar.
“Aha!” Twilight Sparkle clapped a hoof against the floor. “So you’ll send out a magical spell that resonates with the shard and see if you can find anything that reacts in the same way. We follow the bouncing signal and voila!”
“That’s cool,” Big Spike said. “Whatever that means.”
Little Spike patted his side. “When Twi gets like this, I’ve learned to just smile, nod, and get outside the blast radius.”
You’ve got the idea. Princess Twilight gritted her teeth. There’s just one problem.
Sunset Shimmer cringed from her ears to her tail tip. “To make a spell that resonates with the shard, you’ve got to mimic the siren’s song.”
“That doesn’t sound too terrible,” Little Spike muttered. “Except for the ‘siren’ part. And the ‘song’ part. And the whole ‘using evil magic’ thing.”
Princess Twilight flashed him a grin, which faded almost instantly. She twitched her horn towards the scanner and hovered the shard at neck level, licking her dry lips.
Little Spike skittered up to the control panel and cranked a few dials to higher numbers. He held his finger above a red switch. He hesitated, his breath caught in his throat. “Are you sure about this, Twi? You can’t talk, much less sing.”
Neither could the Dazzlings, Princess Twilight wrote. Trust me, Spike.
He sighed. “You know I do, Twilight.”
The machine thrummed to life at the flick of his finger. Lights blinked and diodes buzzed as they sucked in information from the world around them. Twilight and Sunset took several steps back from the princess, their hearts in their throats.
It wouldn’t be too bad, Twilight thought to herself. Even if the princess did make the spell, she wouldn’t use it. She didn’t seem the type to use mind-altering magic to make people do things. Nah. She was nice like that. It wasn’t like anything could go wrong and totally mess up anybody’s psyche.
The magic sparks around the princess’ horn brightened to a new intensity, flaring at a renewed vigor. The color, a pretty lavender to compliment her purple coat, shifted to a sickly green. The shard shivered in her little bubble of influence. Twilight looked closely, but she couldn’t tell if it was glinting in the light or glowing all on its own.
Princess Twilight held her breath, and then breathed lightly on the siren’s pendant.
“Ahh-ah-ah, ahh-ah. Ahh-ah-ah, ahh-ah.”
The chord ended in a shriek as Princess Twilight’s eyes flashed green. She dropped the shard, which clattered to the crystal floor. It danced end over end to settle at Sunset’s hooves.
The princess stumbled back and fell to her rump. She clutched her chest, which did nothing to slow her shallow breath or thundering heart.
Twilight yelped as she noticed green fog gathering around her hooves. She jumped away and watched it drift to the red gemstone of its own accord. A hissing sound like distant, muted screams wailed out of the stone as the fog was absorbed into the magical trinket.
After a moment, the room lay still, save for the whirrs and clicks of the magic scanner.
The princess flapped a wing to cool her heated, blushing face. She let out weak coughs as she struggled to catch her breath.
“It worked.” Little Spike ran up to her and held her foreleg. He eased her gently to her hooves. “Twilight… you did it.” Wetness glistened in his eyes. “You sang again.”
Princess Twilight hiccupped. Her wide eyes jumped from the young dragon, to Twilight, to Sunset, and back again. They settled on the small shard of gemstone, lying at her friend’s feet. Her lips trembled, tears wetting her cheeks. She lifted her pen and scratched out a haphazard message.
I think I’ll just
That might be
I need to
I’ll be back.
She stampeded out of the laboratory, her flapping wings giving her an extra burst of speed.
“Shoot.” Little Spike let out a mighty, smoke-laden sigh. He twisted a knob on the machine and flicked the switch to the “off” position. “She needs somepony to talk to, Sunset. I’d go to her myself, but… I think she needs you for this one.”
Sunset Shimmer fidgeted. She flicked her tail and glanced at the scanner. “Well…”
Little Spike studied the displays. He waved her off with a flick of his wrist. “The elevator’s two lefts and a right down the hall. Bedroom’s on the sixth floor. I can get the scanner working while you guys are gone; plenty of data to work off of.” He lifted his hand towards the full-grown dragon at the entrance. “Whadda yah say, big guy? You can help me set the antenna up outside. We deserve a little guy time, right?”
“Sounds okay.” Big Spike’s tail waved in the air behind him, narrowly missing the stained-crystal windows lining the hall. “What’s guy time? I’ve heard Big Mac talking about it, but I’ve never had it before.”
“It’s a magical place, my friend.” Little Spike’s tail swayed, shooing Twilight and Sunset from the laboratory. “A magical place indeed.”
Sunset set off, first slowly, then with increasingly solid steps. Twilight trailed along behind her. “I… don’t know that I should come,” Twilight said.
Sunset raised an eyebrow and slowed her pace, coming side-by-side with her friend. “Why not? I think it’ll be fine.”
“It’s just…” Twilight hemmed and hawed. She leveled her eyebrows and let out a grunt. “I’ve never done something like this before.”
Sunset’s left ear dipped down. “Something like what?”
“I dunno. Comforting, commiserating, sympathizing, any of it! I never had the opportunity.” She gestured with a foreleg as they walked. “I grew up basically an only child, ever since Shiny joined the military. I never really had friends until I started to tutor Big Mac, and he’s not exactly emotionally unstable, you know? If I hadn’t heard the stories, I could have sworn he’d never cried a day in his life!” She let out a loud bark of laughter. “I’m the least sympathetic person I know, and I went to the same school as Suri Polomare!”
Sunset Shimmer giggled quietly. She parted her lips slightly to give Twilight a tiny grin. “I remember that you sympathized just fine when I was talking about my past.”
Twilight blinked. She frowned, shaking her head. “That’s… different. You’re my friend. I know you. I care a lot about you. It just… came easy.”
“It doesn’t have to be all that different.” Sunset rested her foreleg across Twilight’s shoulders. “Sometimes, all you have to do is be there for somebody. We can lend a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on.” She cast her eyes to the ground. “Or, in Princess Twilight’s case, a sympathetic eye.”
They walked to an elevator, which had a purple feather settled near the doors. Sunset pressed the button marked “Up.” “Empathy isn’t just something you’re born with. You have to exercise it like a muscle. You have to learn to love somebody. If you work at it, you get better at it.”
“Gee, there’s that ‘exercise’ word again.” Twilight climbed into the elevator, which was hewed from crystal like the rest of the castle. It glowed from within, powered by the fire of friendship or some such nonsense. “And you complain about me using offensive language.”
Sunset brought her forelegs up to her mane and puckered her lips. “You, too, could have a physique as stunning as mine, if only you did a few dozen sit-ups every morning.”
Twilight’s eyes jumped to Sunset’s flanks of their own accord. Her teeth snapped together in an equally-involuntary shudder. “I’ll thank you for never, ever again reminding me that you are butt-naked.”
“Ha.” Sunset let out a small breath as the elevator came to a stop. “But seriously, magic requires you to be fit in your mind, body, and soul. You’re gonna have to get some exercise if you wanna reach your potential.”
“You’re really gonna turn magic into work?” Twilight tripped over the elevator’s threshold. Her forelegs crossed to catch her, saving her from plummeting right into her nose. She smirked. “Looks like I found my sea legs. Kinda.”
Sunset Shimmer patted her shoulder. She set her eyes straight ahead, where an ornate set of double-doors hung half-open. Translucent windows of purple crystal stars sat centered in the wood, surrounded by a small cloud of silvery pinpricks. “If that room isn’t Twilight’s then it’s missing a good opportunity to be.”
“It looks fit for a princess, but so does everything in this place.” Twilight paced to the side of the hall to get a straight-on view of the design. “What sets this particular ‘too expensive’ door apart?”
Sunset shrugged. She pattered to it with a set jaw. “It’s got her cutie mark on it, of course.”
“Oh, yeah, sure.” Twilight Sparkle nodded with an earnest expression on her face. “How silly of me. Of course it has her cutie mark. Why didn’t I see it before? It’s so clear now.”
Sunset raised one eyebrow as high as it would go.
Twilight Sparkle gritted her teeth. “Do I even wanna know what a cutie mark is?”
Sunset laughed quietly. “We’ll make a pony out of you yet, Twi.”
***
Rainbow Dash lay across the couch with her hair splayed across the cushion. She wiggled her fingers in the air, playing a song on a pitch-perfect air guitar. One leg kicked into the air with the strum of a particularly awesome chord.
“When dat lighting strikes
Got you dead to rights
You know the Weather Team is on the scene!”
The wide-screen television mounted on the wall was the subject of many an argument over which one of the roommates actually owned it. Most of these discussions erupted when one of them wanted to watch something the other couldn’t stand. Rainbow Dash thought the Fashion Network was either completely boring or offensive on a personal level, while Rarity considered Adrenaline Network equally so.
“And just who would dare
To face the rainbow hair?
They’ll be beaten, bruised, and creamed!”
Rainbow Dash continued to sing as she waited for the commercial break to reach its end. She lowered her voice slightly when she heard a chair scrape across the kitchen floor. A heavy sigh accompanied the whirr of a laptop booting up.
“’Cause you know it’s
Weather Girl!
Oh yeah
Weather Girl!
She’s got the moves
“And she’s coming for you
Whether you’re ready or not
She’s the super-cool
Unbelievably hot
“Weather Girl!
No way
Weather Girl!
You’re gonna get schooled
“When that lightning strikes
You’ll know it’s Weather Girl”
Slow, steady applause reached Rainbow’s ears. She sat up in a brief approximation of a bow. “Thank you, thank you. You’re a lovely audience—”
Her stomach twisted when she caught sight of the woman sitting just a few feet away. Rarity’s face was covered in that weird green mud she swore “rejuvenated her skin.” Despite that covering, the sour expression on her face couldn’t be hidden. She ceased clapping and turned her grimy face back to her glowing screen.
“So…” Rainbow Dash wrapped her fingers over the back of the couch. “You’re still friends with the swamp monster, huh?”
Rarity didn’t look up from her work. “Make another joke about my treatment and I swear on my favorite curling iron I will shave your head while you sleep.”
“Noted.” Rainbow Dash twisted around to plant her bottom on the cushion. She fingered the hem of her favorite pajama shorts. “What’s got you up at one in the morning?”
Rarity let out a forced breath. “Trenderhoof’s latest article has so many typos and downright blatant errors that it’s taking me overtime just to get it in order. How the heck he still has a job is so far beyond me I can’t see it with a telescope.”
“Gee,” Rainbow Dash said, “it’s almost like he has somebody to cover his butt every time he makes a mistake. Who could that be?”
She could feel Rarity’s eyes burning a hole in her skull. “Trend’s articles reflect the entire magazine, Rainbow darling. If I don’t make Carousel as fabulous as possible, it would be the death of me.”
Rainbow Dash smiled as the program finally returned to the screen. “You could, I dunno, fire him.”
“The man sells magazines, unfortunately enough.” Rarity propped her cheek in her palm. “So here I am at one a.m. on a Friday night. Sitting in my bathrobe and editing an article about the Sandidry Desert Oasis Café. Listening to my roommate make up her own theme song.”
Lightning flashed outside their window. Thunder struck immediately after. Electronic noise clouded Rainbow’s screen. “Dagnabbit. It’s only supposed to storm when I’m on duty! How come Cloudkicker always gets the good weather?”
Rarity covered her eyes, getting mud all over her hands. “I’m so pathetic.”
Rainbow Dash bit her lower lip to suppress a smile. She spoke in as soft a voice as she was capable of. “Aw, come on, Rares. It’s the weekend! So what if you’ve gotta work? So what if you’ve got a crappy coworker? Seize the day and make your stand! You know you’re—”
“I’m awesome
Take caution
Look at me
I’m awesome as I wanna be!”
Rarity let out a ladylike snort. “That would be your phone, I presume? Who would be calling you at this hour?”
Rainbow jumped off the couch and scurried to her bedroom. A leap brought her belly-flopping onto her bed. She grasped the phone off her nightstand and read the caller ID. “It’s… Pinkie?”
“When it comes to making music, I’m the ruler
You wish you could be twenty-percent c—”
“Hey, it’s Dash.”
“Dashie! Oh my gosh, I’m so glad you’re still up!”
Rainbow Dash rolled onto her back. “Yeah. Having no curfew is nice like that. What’s up, Pinkie?”
“I’m so sorry.” Pinkie’s voice sounded strained even through the heavy tinny tinge added by the phone. “I just wanna say sorry in advance.”
“Uh oh.” Rainbow shook her head gently, a smile on her lips. “What’re you apologizing for this time, huh? Not enough sprinkles on the—”
“I’m serious, Dashie. This is really serious.” Pinkie’s voice fell to a hush. “I need your help.”
Rainbow’s face fell. She stood up and tucked the phone against her shoulder. She pulled jeans from her dresser and started to slip them on. “What’s wrong?”
“Sonata Dusk—you know, the Dazzling from highschool?—just showed up on my doorstep and asked for a place to spend the night.”
Rainbow cinched her belt tight. “That’s random. She just showed up out of the blue?”
“Yes, and…” Pinkie took a deep breath, which hissed loud over the speaker. “Oh, Dashie, I can’t give her a place to stay. Not now. I’ve got all the kids, and she’s an ex-villain, and it’s just not safe for her to be near them and Cheese was supposed to be home hours ago and I’m so afraid he’s gotten hurt and I don’t even know where he is and Sonata’s in the next room and I don’t know what to do!”
“Easy! Pinkie Pie! It’s okay!” Rainbow slid her jacket over her pajama top. “I’m coming over right now. Maybe she’ll agree to spend the night with Rarity and me. I’m sure we can make the couch comfy for her.” She ran one hand through her hair. “I’ll be over in, like, ten minutes—”
Rainbow’s window rattled on its hinges at the crash of another mighty bolt from the sky. She swallowed hard. “M-maybe twenty minutes. I’ll be there soon. Y-you can count on me.”
“Oh, thank you!” Pinkie nearly screeched. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just didn’t know what I was gonna do!”
“Relax, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash nudged her door open. “You got me as a friend, remember?”
Rarity turned from her laptop as Rainbow hung up. “Pinkie? What did she want?”
“One of the Dazzlings showed up and asked for a place to stay.” Rainbow flicked her hair over her shoulder as she knelt to tie her shoes. “She doesn’t wanna put the kids at risk, you know? I thought maybe we could let Sonata stay the night here.”
Rarity intertwined her fingers. “When were you going to consult me on this?”
“Just as soon as it came up.” Rainbow Dash stood tall and crossed her arms over her chest. “Pinkie needs us, Rares. She needs us to do this thing for her.”
Rarity threw her hands into the air. “Well, it’s not as if I was going to say ‘no’ to Pinkie. I’m not in the habit of kicking sweet puppies.”
Rainbow paused with her hand on the door handle. “Hey, you mind if I take your dad’s old golf club?”
“You mean my self-defense sledgehammer?” Rarity gestured vaguely off to the side. “It’s resting against the kitchen wall. If you think you might need to brain Sonata, please be my guest.”
Rainbow chuckled. She gripped the club tight between her fingers. “‘Brain.’ Heh.”
Rarity lidded her eyes. “What’s funny about that?”
“‘Brain.’ ‘Sonata.’ Kinda an oxymoron, right?” Rainbow danced her eyebrows. “Huh? Huh?”
Rarity sighed. “Oh, just be off with you and try not to kill anybody. There’s too much paperwork involved.”
Rainbow Dash glanced out the window, the club balanced on her shoulder. She skewed her mouth to the side. “Huh. Sonata. It’s been, like, ten years since we’ve seen her, right? I wonder if she’s changed at all.”
“If God grants mercy on us.” Rarity wagged her hand. “Now shoo! Pinkie’s counting on you!”
Rainbow stepped out of their apartment and into the hallway, twirling her keychain around her finger. She wouldn’t be able to take her motorcycle, but Rarity wouldn’t mind if she borrowed her car. She wasn’t going anywhere that night. Rainbow pressed the car starter on the key and followed the sounds of a revving engine through the garage.
A moment later, she was rolling through the streets, seeking out familiar sights through the blanket of water pouring out over the city. Roads flooded as drains backed up in the sewers below. Other cars were few and far between. A tree branch fell beside the car, eliciting a screech from Dash.
She gripped the steering wheel tight, humming to herself.
“When that lightning strikes
She’s got you dead to rights
You’ll know that Weather Girl is on the scene…”
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You assume I have a working memory.
I'm sure it's in there, I probably even commented on it given my ship-happy tendencies, but if it isn't the central focus of the story there's poor odds I'll remember later on.
GAH!!!
I was only tracking this, and had not faved or liked!!!
Fixed!
Exploration of the magitek lab, and some fun scenes with The Odd Couple. Good to see Snarkle learning about friendship as well.
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I love this idea as well. Either Sunset's destiny really was to be Element of Magic, and she somehow defied destiny itself by jumping through that portal and Twilight is her backup (the Neville Longbottom to her Harry Potter), or Celestia got nervous about the run-up to the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celerbration and jumped the gun, ignoring the graven image on the Tree of Harmony with disastrous consequences. Either outcome is fascinating.
Oh, he can make a living, but he can't use his party pony senses and show up for a romantic surprise stanza in the middle of "New Friends?"Sorry, ignore that, I'm just one of those cranky Amazon subscribers, thinking my shipping would get here by now but it hasn't."Snips, repeat your slavish sycophancy, and make it acceptable to a lady of my stature." "Ugh, sorry Sunset, I meant to say... we'll see those darn mother-courting Rainbooms will go to heck for defying you, Sunset, those dogs of the female persuasion are no match for you!"
Remember the Canterlot Wedding, Shining was wearing that military sash that was his uncle's? "Cadance" didn't like it one bit, and used mind control magic to get him to dump it.
Great, now I'm a series veteran with Post-Dramatic-Stress-Disorder.
Aren't Arabians and Clydesdales horses? Also, what about Mustangians? Are they just earth ponies with a separate culture or like the crystal ponies?
Hmmm. I could see magic being used to generate electricity, or vice versa, but if you're using a continuous energy feed to transmit signals and make a basic circuit, wouldn't you need electricity rather than magic? I guess to determine that, you'd have to contrast it to the flow of electrons from electricity, and that may be going way too far into the weeds.
Welllllll... I mean, if her DNA was altered by powerful magic, that does sound like it qualifies as a mutation to me.
You keep telling them that, Lil' Spike. Just don't show them your baby bed!
Her current plan is to pick a big tree branch, throw it for Big Spike to fetch, and then run through the portal while he's distracted and blow it up behind her, right?
Oh dear, not sure how many gems will be on hand to keep Big Spike full. This is why most dragons his age spend 99% of the time asleep.
Ok, I get that Princess Twilight is a genius and has access to the latest technology and equipment, but this Equestria seems only a decade or two behind earth in tech, which is surprising. I always figured the show had technology at the 1940s level, which would put it in the 1950s now, but Sonar is also a military technology, and we've seen that this is an area Equestria lags in. Kind of surprising to have sonar as a thing but also volley-guns.
I see what you did there!
This whole scene is awesome. I really hope this leads to healing Twilight's voice eventually.
That is a fantastic point! Oh man, I'm imagining Fluttershy as the Bulk Biceps of empathy, constantly working out with her animal friends 24/7. Angel really fits that metaphor as the tough personal trainer too.
Stupid sexy Sunset!
This couldn't be more hilariously Anon in Equestria if Fluttershy starts stalking Twilight.
Of course Rainbow Dash still plays, and her song is her own super-hero theme.
I knew those two would be hilarious as roommates!
Makes me wonder two things: A) if part of the reason Rarity hasn't fired him is because her childhood crush hasn't been extinguished by bad spelling and grammar. B) If this Trenderhoof ever hit on AJ.
Cheese? Cheese Sandwich? Quel Surprise! Also, good to see Pinkie thinking about her kids first, I guess she really has matured.
In closing, I hope Sonata moves in and never leaves, Rarity/Rainbow/Sonata sounds like half the cast of Friends.
Spike as Coulson confirmed,
jlnelson73.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/tumblr_inline_n10d7gus6a1soew1g.gif
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Fair enough,
Of course you do.
He's having fun with this.
Interesting.
Those are pegasi.
Because Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns are the main three, and then there are variations and subspecies.
Interesting.
Demon King Tirek. Awesome.
Good question, wanna visit Tartarus and ask him?
Very clever, I actually get that one.
You don't even know how it WORKS.
I suppose so, yes.
You can call her Princess or TS, that might help.
Spin off. Now.
No you don't.
Not really.
Considering that the magic of friendship managed to reform an insane night goddess, turn a being of chaos to stone and depower a magical demonic centaur the size of an Ursa Major when in his state from before he was so powerful that he was able to fight an enraged Twilight who had the power of the other 3 Princesses in her at the time toe to toe in a DBZ style fight, I wouldn't diss it.
This.
You know, now that I think about it, Spike is incredibly dangerous, even Little Spike, since he's practically indestructible, can survive lava, can breathe enough fire to turn a gigantic cloud of ice into rain within a few seconds, is small enough to be underestimated, and is VERY intelligent.
Impressive.
He's got a point. Also, side note, I LOVE how you write Spike here, he's witty, sarcastic, funny, but he's also not being intolerably stupid or jerkish, he's actually very competent, and he knows exactly what he's doing. And he's SMART, it'd be so easy to flanderize Spike into an idiot, but he's not. This is awesome.
I suppose.
He's right,.
Hm.
You barely know what you're doing with magic. Good luck with that.
Yeah, ya kinda did.
Perhaps.
Seriously?
Hopefully not.
I admit. I'm impressed.
Probably. Also, this is why I take issue with Spike At Your Service, throughout his appearances, he's shown to be a great cook, but in that one, he sucks as a cook. Look, the writers can write more or less what they want, but is consistency so much to ask for?
This line. All my win.
Sounds awesome.
Now you know the beauty of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie.
Some again?
That's really sweet ofhim.
Not quite, no.
I don't know why, but this made me chuckle.
And this made me lol.
Oh boy.
Heh. Must be dark magic.
Here's to hoping there ISN'T a doomsday device in Friendship Games. From what I've seen, I'm not particularly impressed, but, Rainbow Rocks was a lot better than what most people expected, so, hopefully, it'll be even better. If there's one thing MLP knows how to do, it's blow whatever it's done before out of the water.
Who knows?
So, doable, but by no means easy.
But for that, wouldn't you need to actually activate the gem? And that would require dark magic, which you've only used twice, once in The Crystal Empire, and once in Princess Twilight Sparkle. And while your mental fortitude is probably admirable, is it wise to take such a risk?
HAH!
He's got a point.
They were tone deaf without their gems, you're mute due to having your vocal chords slashed out by a time traveling Commander Hurricane. I swear if I didn't know you, I'd say that you were making that up. Well, it was a fanfic so, you technically were, whatever.
Maybe you should italicize her thoughts? Or put it in single quotations like this 'It wouldn't be too bad,' Twilight thought.
Here we go...
Lime green. The color of evil, usually. Just look at a lot of Disney villains, they have lime green in their design somewhere, or at some point they have lime green, anyway, I bhope she's OK.
Yeah.
Take whatever time you need.
This place has an elevator?
You're kidding, you're kidding right? Oh my god you are serious.
Interesting.
I suppose so, yes.
Hah!
To be fair, Sunset does do more exercise than you.
I see.
Kinda, yes.
Fair enough.
This made me laugh. A lot.
Never change, Rainbow. Never change.
Oh god my sides!
Ladies and gentlemen, Awesome Ego at work, her ego is massive, but she can very much back it up. Usually.
*applauds*
Are you TRYING to make me literally die of aughter?
My sides!
Amazing, isn't it?
And you don't just fire him, why?
It's Rainbow Dash. Did you REALLY expect anything else?
Your luck sucks? And I think it's Cloud Kicker.
Must be about Sonata.
This I like, it shows that for all her boisterousness, Rainbow is willing to take Pinkie seriously.
Basically.
Cheese huh? I'm calling it, it's Cheese Sandwich
I say this unironically: Ladies and gentlemen, the Element of Loyalty.
This. Just yes.
Hm.
So, Pinkie's a dog?
This amuses me.
Heh.
This was an excellent chapter!
And yes, I demand a TV series based on Rainbow and Rarity living together.
Again, great interactions between those five in Equestria. Bonus Points for managing not to make it confusing even when there are two pairs of alternate world characters who share the same name.
Is this suposed to be Princess Twilight?
Little Spike, heheh.
Scientific progress goes ka-chunk and thoomp.
Good plan. Why go solo when you have backup available and don't have to?
Yay, Twilight speaks again! And, er, well, it could have gone better. Makes me wonder what the unbroken siren gems were capable of, and if they might run across one as the investigation proceeds.
SciTwi, if you don't stop complaining about the nudity, this is going to be a very tiresome visit to a dimension of nudists.
The Music of Harmony clearly still exists. I wonder if Sonata is planning to use the fact the energy that the Rainbooms' music creates to try to part-charge what's left of her pendant?
As for the problem with the Princess? Well, I remember how freaked she was when she used dark magic to unlock the treasure door in The Crystal Empire. Using any kind of dark magic probably leaves you feeling dirty all over. Worse, it is insidious and tempting. I have no doubt it just offered her to restore her voice if she were to just embrace it and follow its lead, no matter what. As always, the Dark Side offers quick, easy and oh-so-seductive paths that, in fact, lead you straight to hell.
Very good story so far, loved it, keep it up!
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Sorry. I see what you mean. Never fear, for all shall be revealed next chapter!
"Hi, Twilight!"
"Hi, Twilight!"
It's time to play "Spot the Calvin and Hobbes Reference."
Because only Twilight's allowed to deliver the crystal heart, so she thinks.
I won't tell, that would be cheating!
If you really wanna see her freak out, have her visit the minotaurs. Not a scrap of clothing in all of Beefland...
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It's great to hear that you're enjoying it! I'm doing my best to ear those stars!
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The concept of dozens of potential chosen ones running around at the same time wowed me the first time I saw it used. The excitement hasn't faded, so I was sure to utilize it in an interesting way for my series, here.
Huh. I guess I can't be expected to remember everything. For now, I assume he sacrificed himself to prevent a changeling invasion somewhere around Las Pegasus.
Yep, and here come the flashbacks! I've thought of making a group (therapy session), but I figure until people start writing spin-offs, I can keep the effects of the disorder contained.
The short answer is yes, but ponies are technically horses, too. Since they're the predominant type in this world, well...
To be Mustang is to have a united culture separate from the rest of Equesteria's. To be Mustang is to have brothers and sisters no matter your species or tribe. To be Mustang is to have silly ditties written about you by famous song writers.
I am comfortable with saying that there are magic-powered devices, and there are electricity-powered devices. Beyond that, I fear, hard sci-fi treads. I do Science Fantasy at best.
The scary thing is that you aren't too far off base!
Ha! Dragons are the sloths of the Equestrian world.
It's just a matter of developing at a different pace. Technology comes and technology goes. Some goes fast and some goes slow. If you've got a different reason for doing the research, it changes how you find things.
Granted, I probably should have used the term "Echo-location" instead of "SONAR." That was a pretty hefty oversight. I might have to go back and change it when I have the time.
People are too quick to forget the Lesson Zero Incident.
"Serve me salad, tenderfoot! Serve it to me and smile! Do you wanna get pumped or not!?"
No dice. Fluttershy's stuck in pre-production for another story. She couldn't pull away to film any scenes.
A) Maybe if Rarity was still young, but she's earned a few gray hairs, so to speak. Wisdom comes at a price.
B) A terrifying prospect for both of them, I suspect, no matter which way you look at it.
Guessing at how their lives have shaped them is one of my biggest draws to this series. It's character development to the extreme. I try to show it off whenever I can.
And then they have to race to get the rest of the band back together to help a fundraiser for Fluttershy's shelter! And nobody gets along! And it's hilarious!
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Yes! I always figured Spike was a younger, scalier Son of Cole.
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Never stopped her before!
Oh yes. This is something I've been looking to explore throughout the series. He's terrifyingly powerful, but he doesn't flaunt it. He's got real humility. It has major potential for both adventure and something a little sadder.
You can't grow up around Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, and innumerable other brilliant ponies and not pick something up. From episode one he was always the voice of reason, the guy there to point things out that others miss. Add a few years of growth and development onto that, and you come out with one smart, suave guy.
I really, really like Spike.
I remain cautiously optimistic. If nothing, I can't wait to see Sunset and SciTwi interact for real on the big screen.
This is the line between desperation and dangerous.
It might be jarring, but it's a style choice, one I've been using since Fahr Drill. I don't use Italics because it would interfere with Princess Twilight's writing, and I don't use the single quotes because I, personally, would never be able to keep it straight.
It's more often used in humor stories, but I'm seeing how far I can push the envelope. I guess you could say this is part of my learning curve. I'll see what I can do to make it less painful as the story continues.
I was gonna point out Jaffar, but then I remembered that snake form. Burr.
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Thank you!
At this point, I would settle for some interaction between them in the main series.
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That is a trick and a half, let me tell you! Even after hours of editing, I still run into bits I missed!
Yes it is, and thank you for pointing it out! I'll get that fixed just as soon as I get a chance.
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Sonata might be up to something... Maybe...
Like an addiction, it is. Strong is the pull, and electric is the touch. Hate yourself, you will, even as you indulge in its power. Flee from it, you must, or be forever ensnared!
The siren pendants are not a force unto themselves, like the Inspiration Manifestation, but trinkets of power. It probably wasn't speaking directly to Twilight, but that wouldn't make the temptation any weaker.
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The thing about potential is that it's only worth a thing if you can live up to it. Thank you! I hope you keep enjoying it going forward.
This story is perfect to so many levels.
I'm interested in knowing what will happen and I love dashes theme song.