Chapter 3: Spicy Time
Spike blinked slowly, his jaw hanging slightly open while he furrowed his brow. He set Twilight Velvet's journal on the floor, his mind whirling like a pinwheel.
“What in Equestria?”
He crossed his arms, glaring down at the journal.
“There's no way...” Spike scratched his right temple. “Twilight Velvet… and Daring Do?”
Spike frowned for a long moment before a smile crept onto his face.
“Bah, what am I thinking?” Spike regained his composure and scolded himself. “This can't be real!” Spike delicately picked the journal back up, his eyes lingering on the cover. “Pretty good fanfic, though…”
Another thought wiped the smile off his face. It wouldn't be the first time Daring Do had surprised him. Why, it only seemed like yesterday when he, Twilight, and her friends thought Daring was just a fictional character. Considering their chaotic life in Ponyville, he really shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore.
Still, it was a bit of a stretch...
Part of him wanted to put the journal away and resume his search for First Edition Power Ponies, but...wasn't it his responsibility to keep reading? If there was even the slightest chance this was real, he had a duty to tell Twilight. Besides, this was already better than the last three Daring Do books of the series.
Spike figured he was going to be in the attic for quite a while—Might as well get comfortable. He dragged the lumpy pillow from near the coat hook to the light and fluffed it to remove the dust. With a reflexive lick of his claw, he flicked the journal to the beginning and settled himself on the pillow.
“All right, Twilight Velvet,” Spike said to the journal. “Entertain me.”
Dear Journal,
You know those times when you think you did something terrible in a previous life, and now the world is deliberately engineering events just to make you its bitch?
Yeah, I've had one of those moments.
Maybe I should start by recounting how today began. I was in my hotel in Vanhoover, packing my things for a trip back to Canterlot.
Okay, so that wasn't the only thing I was doing. Let's just say I was also doing some last-minute renovating…
Twilight Velvet squinted at the two exposed wires she was bringing together with her front hooves. Small arcs of purple electricity danced on her horn and floated to the copper filaments on the wires, only to dissipate without any effect.
“Come on... Come on... don't do this to me,” she grumbled.
She brought the wires closer, eventually managing to get them to spark. A muffled crackle reached her ears, a sparkle forming in her light blue eyes.
“Ha! Still got it.”
It was the last piece of her puzzle: the reason her face spent the last fifteen minutes stuffed on the back of the TV, her plump posterior sticking out and upwards in the air. Thank Celestia she was alone in her hotel room.
Velvet stood up and scoped her room. Wires snaked across the carpet at the center, and she had to be careful not to trip over any as she moved. Her saddlebag lay on a wooden table near the window—notebooks, pens, and one train ticket spilling out. Her master's thesis, ‘Laying the Groundwork for Mundane Technology in a Magical World,’ lay alongside a copy of Dual Nature's, ‘Looking to the Future: The Case for the Hybridization of Magic and Technology.’ Just glancing at the two articles caused Velvet to purse her lips. A snippet of the seminar she'd given the day before replayed in her mind like a tangled cassette tape.
"Most historians agree that technology first arose because of a sudden drop in the unicorn population. We're still trying to figure out why—could be a disease, could be the fact that this was during the Warring Tribes period. In any case, after the unification of the tribes, the unicorn artisans thought, 'Oh shit, there aren't enough of us to cast spells to make our doohickeys! Let's make stuff that'll allow us to craft more without magic. While we're at it, get the other races to help us: fun for the whole family, so to speak!”
The TV she had been working on, a flat-screen, had a black cavity in place of an actual display. The polarizing film, the liquid crystal layer, the active matrix—all the components of the screen lay scattered on the bed. Several pieces of the TV's circuit board lay on the floor, soldered to the wires with hasty heating spells. There was a full-body mirror mounted on the wall, wires soldered to its mounts with the same haphazard manner. In place of a reflection, however, was a swirling gray pattern of static, spitting out the occasional crackling sound.
Velvet took a deep breath. To her, this was a way to relieve her tinkering itch.
To other ponies, this was just an elaborate form of vandalism.
"Not my best; wish I brought my voltage regulator. But, eh, good enough. Now for the final touch."
Three thumps sounded from the ceiling. Dust fell to the floor and sprinkled around Velvet, but all she did was roll her eyes and bite her lip. That thumping noise had been going on for the past five minutes, and Velvet's left eye was starting to twitch. She grabbed a piece of metal, left over from her endeavors, and knocked it against the ceiling several times.
“If you're too excited to keep it to yourself, then you won't mind if I come join you!”
Silence…sweet silence.
Velvet's horn sputtered as it produced arcs of purple and cerise electricity that made their way to the mirror. Her mind raced through various calculations and frequencies, tailoring her magic to find the one she was looking for.
The static in the mirror began to clear. In its place, the image of a blue stallion came into view. He was resting his cheek on his hoof as he read an astronomy book, which was levitating in front of his face.
“Hey, Nachtlicht!” Velvet called out in a mangled Germane accent. The stallion jerked upwards, hooves flailing in surprise. The book he was reading got a new chapter on aviation as he turned to face Velvet. He smiled and tried to play it cool, though not without fidgeting a bit and hurriedly running a comb through his mane.
“You owe me ten bits,” said Velvet as she sat in front of the mirror.
“Well, horseapples,” Night Light said as he continued combing his mane. Then the book came back down and knocked him on the head. Velvet couldn't help but giggle while Night massaged his head with a hoof. “I was starting to think I'd won this time.”
“You almost did. The hotel uses one of those newfangled LCD TVs here. No phosphor screen to cannibalize, and a lot more prone to breaking when taken apart by magic. But I always find a way. Had to conjure up a lot more aetheric solder than I thought I needed, though.”
Night let out an annoyed huff. “I still don't see why you can't just cast a spell into the mirror like unicorns did a century ago.”
“Where's the fun in that?” Velvet said, rolling her eyes. Then she winked at Night, brushing her dusty mane back with her magic. “Besides, my way allows for longer range. Aren't you glad to see me?”
Night put the comb away and faced Velvet, chuckling to her. “Of course I am, honey. Though I seriously wish you wouldn't strain your insurance policies with your…tinkering.”
Velvet glanced at a portion of the LCD screen beside her and pushed it out of Night's view. “You know me so well.”
“Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn't have said ‘Yes.’”
“The longer we wait, the more satisfying it will be,” Velvet cooed. “And you've got a month left before the big day.”
Night blushed and chuckled in response, then cleared his throat. “So, how's Vanhoover?”
“Oh, the usual.” Velvet levitated the papers on top of the table and dumped them into the saddlebag. “Gave a lecture on the history of technology in Equestria to a bunch of college foals. Then another article for Scientific Equestrian talking about how we're getting the younger generation interested in science and all that other crap. I swear, that's all the magazine sees in me. Can't even find a—”
Two thumps interrupted Velvet, causing her to fold her ears and crease her lips.
“What's that?” Night's eyebrows furrowed in concern.
“Just some newlyweds having some spicy time. They've been like that for the past five minutes.” Velvet strapped the saddlebag onto her barrel, sucking in her love handles. The straps dug into Velvet's pudge as she grunted and wheezed.
Night smiled. “One too many éclairs?”
“You know you like it!” Velvet took a break from her grumbling to show off her jiggling pudge, causing Night Light to stifle a laugh.
“Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, that's all I am to the magazine—a loudspeaker for their platitudes.”
The buckles on the saddlebags clicked, and Velvet breathed out.
“Sounds like you're in a rut.”
“No shit. Discovery of the century right there. ‘Canterlot Astronomer Wins the Dual Nature Prize in Deduction!'” Velvet teased. “Maybe I should write an article on that.”
Another thud sounding from the ceiling as if to punctuate Velvet's sentence. Meanwhile, Night snickered, then put a hoof to his chin.
“And what are you going to do about it?”
“About the noise?” Velvet gave him a lecherous grin.
“No no no no! About your…thing…with Scientific Equestrian!”
“Oh, I dunno,” Velvet said, cracking her back as her voice adopted a slight guttural tone. “Wait for something to hit me, I guess.”
“Well, don't let it get to you, okay? If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you.”
Velvet's face reddened, and a warm smile creased on her mouth. “Aw, Nighty, there you are again. Don't get all mushy like that!”
“Admit it! You like it when I do that,” Night teased.
“Only when you do it.” Velvet glanced aside at a clock on a wall, then turned back to Night. “Hey, uh, Nachtlicht, I gotta go. The train leaves in twenty minutes.”
“Sure thing, I'll see you at the altar,” Night said. “You take care now! Oh, and one more thing…”
“Yes, honey?”
“Don't call me Nachtlicht. I hate that name.”
“Why do you think I keep using it?”
Night smirked. “Oh, so that's how you want to play, huh? How about I call you—"
Velvet yanked one of the wires from the mounts of the mirror with her magic. White noise filled the room before Night's image disappeared in a flash of white.
“Oops.” Velvet grinned.
She stood on the floor and looked over the room once again, noting the clutter on the floor and the cannibalized TV. It shouldn't take long to hide. She just had to remember how she disassembled this thing.
The circuit board sparked, eliciting a sharp squeak from Velvet. Smoke began to float from the circuit board to the ceiling as Velvet groaned. Her eyes wandered to the wall clock near the window.
11:20 am. Ten minutes to check-out time.
“Buck it to the flaming sun!”
Saddlebags in tow, Velvet walked down the hall of the hotel in brisk steps. She kept her head up and her eyes forward, her heart threatening to escape her chest.
Don't look back. Just keep trotting
She had spent the last eight minutes trying to cover her tracks: a plastic bag to mask the room's smoke detector, a small cooling spell to extinguish the circuit board, some epoxy on the screen assembly, and electrical tape on the wires she'd cut. Every bit of solder had been tossed off the balcony window; she couldn't risk the staff discovering hot metal granules in the trash can and tracing them back to her.
It was a small wonder she hadn't set her room on fire.
Da-thump. Da-thump. Da-thump.
“Damn, they're still at it?!” Velvet grumbled.
The elevators were now in sight. Velvet headed for the one nearest to the hall, pressed the down button, and stood back.
Da-thump. Da-thump. Da-thump.
This time, Velvet perked her ears up. Something was different about the sounds coming from the ceiling.
Da-THUMP. Da-THUMP. Da-THUMP.
The sounds were getting close. Velvet looked up at the ceiling, watching the dust fall as the lightbulbs shook in their sockets.
As Velvet traced the thumps with some difficulty, her head turned until she realized that she was no longer looking up, but sideways.
“What the—”
Velvet's world turned upside down.
The carpet grazed Velvet's cheek. Her vision blurred; her hearing muted. Something wide and hard had fallen onto her chest, knocking the wind out of her. As she tried to shake off her delirium, a dark blur crossed her vision.
Velvet shook her head, her ears ringing as her pupils dilated painfully. A shadowy figure slowly came into focus before her, the pony's entire body concealed by a dark cloak. The figure sprang up, darting around left and right as if in desperate search of something. Squinting hard, she tried to get a look at the pony's face, but all she could make out were the pony's rose-colored eyes.
As Velvet shifted, something solid bumped into her hooves. They picked up the thick, hard object and brought it up to view.
A notebook of sorts.
“Hey! Hey! You—”
In a single fluid motion, the cloaked pony sailed through the window, shattering it.
“—dropped...this…”
The ding of a bell told Velvet that her elevator had arrived, but it fell on deaf ears. She gaped at the broken window, a loose shard of glass falling from the top of the frame to the street below. The wind howled across Velvet's folded ears as her eyes drifted to the notebook, then back to the window, where its owner had just flown behind a skyscraper in the distance.
She'd call hotel staff to report the broken window, but decided she didn't want them discovering what she had done to their TV.
"I guess everypony is having a wild time..."
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Spicy time....
Hah
8378884
Yup.
There's probably a raunchy story with the same title out there already, detailing the time Twilight Velvet committed infidelity with Coriander Cumin. /s
8379062
You're killing me XD
Okay... first orders of business. Have a like, fave, follow, and squee.
Next order of business: this is easily one of the most under-viewed reads I have ever come across during my time on this site. Thus far, this story is fantastic. Your combat writing is to-the-point. Even in the theatrical scenes, there is great choreography, and the creed of the swift finish is noticeably, and appreciably present. The hooks with Velvet and Twilight are absolutely glee-inducing. I can see the layers already. There is so much potential with this story, and if it were not 3 AM here right now, I would probably go about leaving you a longer comment. Keep it up.
8392693
I know I'm replying to you really late, but in all honesty, your comment was one of the most heartwarming ones I've read. And that's coming from someone who's not into mushy stuff.
Oh, thank you for the kind words.
If it makes you curious, I'm planning to make some "behind-the-scenes" blog posts detailing the creation behind this fanfic. Hopefully, you'll enjoy them.
8409928
And I meant every word. :P I pretty much stopped what I was working on and threw this link at a few friends. Obviously, if I stopped what I was doing, they also had to stop stuff and read.
8409166
Because in my view, the story isn't that Dark or Gory.
"Dark" describes the story's tone. Dark stories consistently put their characters through despair, oppression, and hopelessness. Violence usually accompanies dark stories, but not always.
The tone of Spectrum of Lightning (and Daring Did as a whole) is closer to a PG-13 action-adventure movie or T video game than something like, say, Fallout Equestria. While Spectrum of Lightning has its "unfortunate" moments, I don't plan to make the whole story gritty and depressing. Thus, I opted not to put the Dark tag.
You have a point with the "Gore" tag, but I'm not going to place one because as violent as I plan Spectrum of Lightning to be, it's not going to be gory.
If you've watched gameplay from the Uncharted series; any of the Indiana Jones movies; or the Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, or Daniel Craig incarnations of James Bond, you have a good idea on what the violence in Daring Did is like. That said, none of the those movies / video games are considered "gory," one or two exemptions aside. They are violent, yes. Many people (bad guys, usually) die, yes. Blood is spilled, yes. But as far as violence goes, they don't quite make the mark for gore. There are far bloodier movies out there.
Tl;dr: If you want to know if Spectrum of Lightning is for you, watch the following scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark (the first Indiana Jones movie, rated PG). If you can stand them, then you can stand Spectrum of Lightning.
So far, so good. At first, the present Twilight Velvet seemed a little too rough and brash, compared to how her children behave. However, Twilight seeking her father sort of explained who was the one raising her, so no problem
I really like your way of writing tensed moments, as well as the detailed descriptions (including the realistic ventures into the more taboo things of ordinary life) and originality in times of relative calm. Velvet's tinkering was a great touch indeed, I like it that she's a bit of rebellious, cunning character. Also, given how much attention you put to her body physique now and then, I believe she'll have to endure a lot...
Looking forward to the next chapter!
Well, I'm certainly enjoying this and wanting to see more. I always love it when authors go that extra mile with their fics, either through art or audio/video.
Hee. At this point, though, again I'll allude to self deprecating humor. Spike here (given that we are all sitting here reading a fanfic) could just mutter instead: "This can't be real!" Spike delicately picked the journal back up, his eyes lingering on the cover. "Yeah... little too much for credibility. Probably just a below-average fanfic." (Not that I am saying this is below average, just...
)
Oh! Well, never mind then.
"if that is your real name."
Hmm. I thought Sparkle would have formed elsewhere.
Dude. We gotta talk, you and I, about this concept for world building (not for your fic, but for mine! Not a central point, but important in the world building nonetheless!).
15 years later: (Twilight) "Mom! Explain why our family is banned from staying at the Mareiott again? What did you DO?"
lol! Reminds me of the first apartment my wife and I shared... and how thin(?) the ceiling was between us and the neighbors above. Oh, goodness.
lol! Just two thumps? what the... These kinds of things are better with rhythm, ya know. You know, because... Rhythm is magic!
Ugh. I can't believe I just combined that video with that idea. And now I feel dirty
Aw. I'm really starting to like this version of Twilight Velvet now, but with her snappy personality, I wanted her to say here: "You know you like it!"
"About the noise?" Twilight Velvet gave him a lecherous grin. "No no no no! About the Scientific Equestrian folks!"
I'm still chuckling about the activities going on upstairs. Almost wishing that Velvet dug some pipework out of the ceiling, and now the ceiling is starting to crack from the vigorous activities... and how she does NOT want to stay there very much longer.
Finished the Chapter
That was... really terrific! The flow was excellent, the interplay and conversation was snappy and natural, the setting was believable, all around enjoyable. I must say... well I said it. Really, really good! Not much to criticize at all, really - strong stuff.
Quick question, I wasn't totally sure what happened there at the end. Did the ceiling cave in and Daring landed on top of Velvet? So the activities we believed were going on upstairs were instead... a brawl?
...
LOL! Okay, you got me. If I got that wrong, let me know? Or I will look ahead in the comments.
9054856
Pfft… ha ha ha!
“If that is your real name” is one of those things you say after someone’s name to instantly add gratuitous drama to any situation. Just like…
Nah, we’re going by Greek mythology rules! Did you know that Daring Do sprang to life from the spilled blood of Medusa?
I kid, I kid.
Heh, glad you like this concept!
The underlying idea behind it is simple, really: use a background detail that clues the reader in about the nature of the universe. Said detail needs to have a logical in-universe reason for being there (in this case, the reason is that Velvet used her master’s thesis to show her areas of expertise to the audience in the seminar).
Ha! I need to include a scene like this in a future Daring-Velvet fanfic.
Aw, thanks!
Also, I took your suggestions regarding Velvet’s pudge and the “what are you going to do about it?” part.
Well, that can’t really apply in this situation because Velvet doesn’t need to steal the pipework from the ceiling.
But hey, I might be able to use it in a later fanfic!
You’re…kind of close. Daring and some thugs (the same ones in Chapter 4) were fighting in the room above Velvet. When Velvet walked to the elevators, one of the thugs escaped the room, ran down the hall, went down the stairs to the floor where Velvet was located, and crashed into Velvet. The encounter will be elaborated on a little later in Chapter 10, when Daring tells her side of the story to Velvet.
Glad you liked this chapter!
I’ll get to responding to your comment on Chapter 4 in due time.
It's exactly as it looks like Spike
.
Heh. Ever since reading Mare Genius, I've been convinced that Twilight Sparkle is a spark.
Now we know who she got it from
This is quickly getting awesome
And after reading this chapter- not to mention the previous two - I can say for certain that, “Yes Spike, she did.”
lol
SASSY. I like this Velvet.