//------------------------------// // That Lonesome Magic // Story: PONYVERSE // by TopWanted //------------------------------// That Lonesome Magic <___|=0 “So where do we start?” Applejack asked Fili-Second. The pink mare rubbed her chin in thought. “This is weird,” she muttered. “Everything we’ve all been through I would classify as a little weird,” Rainbow murmured. “No, I mean the stuff with the dome,” Fili-Second continued. “Usually the Glitch will do small things like move buildings and change the sky. Not truly malevolent things like this.” Once again Applejack felt that there was more being kept from her. “Regardless,” Mare Do-Well interjected. “We’re looking for a giant eye, right?” “No,” Fili-Second replied. “We’re looking for a pony.” Applejack saw Mare Do-Well nearly snap. “And you didn’t think this was necessary information?” she yelled. “Greetings, my subjects!” a loud voice boomed from the sky. The group looked up to see a blue unicorn mare with a gold and silver mane and large purple wizard hat and crown looking down on them with an evil grin. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Mare Do-Well muttered. “Yes, it is I, Suntrix. You’re Queen and ruler,” Suntrix proclaimed. “I saw you were able to take down the barrier I erected. Perhaps the three responsible could come out to play?” She threw her head back with an evil laugh. “She put up the barrier?” Rarity questioned. Mare Do-Well looked to Fili-Second. “Please tell me she isn’t the Glitch.” Fili-Second shook her head. “N-No. It shouldn’t be possible for somepony to access the power of the Glitch. It makes no sense.” “Like a glitch,” Mare Do-Well interjected. “You know pony?” Flutterbat asked. “At least a part of her,” Mare Do-Well muttered. “Damn it, Trixie.” ---<^^>--- Luckily for the six it appeared she hadn’t noticed them. They hid themselves in an alley and watched the events unfold. Rainbow dug her hooves into the ground like she was ready for a fight. Applejack quickly put a hoof in front of her to stop her and shook her head. This was not the time yet to get involved. “Suntrix!” a voice shouted from the gathering crowd. The six saw the ponies of the town part and three particular mares walked forward to face the self-imposed queen. One had an orange coat with fluffy pink mane. The other two were a Pegasus and unicorn. The Pegasus having a rainbow mane with yellow coat and the unicorn having a purple coat with a dark violet styled mane. The unicorn spoke with a defiant tone. “I don’t know how you got this power but the Elements will stop you!” Suntrix laughed madly again and her eyes began to spark with an ethereal energy. She lifted her left hoof and the sun obeyed her command rising into the sky. Then she lifted her right hoof and the moon rose. “You think I care about those trinkets of yours?” she chuckled. “You speak to the Queen of the Sun and Moon! Everything, light and dark, bows to my whim.” She pointed a hoof at the unicorn. “YOU will bow to my whim!” Before they could react everypony in town began to fall to the ground, including the Elements. The six did as well, Mare Do-Well feeling a crushing pressure on her back. The gravity, she realized. With a struggle Mare Do-Well looked up to see that Suntrix had pulled the sun and moon far away from the planet. No doubt she also increased the planets mass as well to restrain them all. This was the kind of power they had to deal with? Mare Do-Well watched in horror as Suntrix laughed like a madmare and reeled the moon back into the planet. Mare Do-Well closed her eyes and embraced herself for the end/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d/d………… --- “Suntrix!” a voice shouted from the gathering crowd. The six saw the ponies of the town part and three particular mares walked forward to face the self-imposed queen. Mare Do-Well looked around with slight confusion. Hadn’t she been about to die? Suntrix seemed just a little confused as well. She read her lips as she muttered something. “‘Not Again’?” she murmured. “I don’t know how you got this power but the Elements will stop you!” the purple unicorn cried out. Mare Do-Well saw how this played out and she wasn’t going to have that again. Not while she had a team at her back. She spun around. “Applejack, let Dash go!” “What?” Applejack questioned as she held the Pegasus in place. “Yeah, what?” Rainbow asked with a little surprise. “Just do it!” Mare Do-Well shouted. “Distract her!” Applejack frowned but nodded and let go of Dash. Rainbow dug her hooves into the ground once more and shot off. Suntrix didn’t expect the Pegasus projectile, so she could do nothing to stop Dash from plowing straight into her side. Flutterbat made a small growl of victory but Mare Do-Well knew this was far from over. Suntrix was still in the air. --- “What in the world?” the yellow pony with the rainbow mane below muttered. They had not been expecting a Wonderbolt here, let alone one with the same mane style as her. The Pegasus flew off to meet the mysterious pony. “Flutterdash, wait!” the purple unicorn shouted. Rainbow held herself in the air and prepared to fly into Suntrix one more time. The crazy queen was still in the air thanks to whatever spells she had in place, most of the force from Rainbow’s attack having been absorbed by some kind of force field. Still it was enough to knock the mare for a loop. Rainbow kicked off a nearby cloud and came in for another dive bomb, but a pony with a familiar rainbow mane stopped her. “Wait!” Rainbow seemed to skid to a halt in midair. “What are you doing!?” she yelled to her doppelganger. “You don’t need to attack her!” Flutterdash replied. Behind her Suntrix was beginning to come out of her daze and fixed an evil glare on the back of Flutterdash’s head. “Pretty sure, I do,” Rainbow muttered. “Get out of the way!” Rainbow blasted past Flutterdash and collided with Suntrix once more. They flew off toward the edge of town while Flutterdash flew after them. --- “We need to help,” Applejack said worriedly. Mare Do-Well agreed, Rainbow wouldn’t be able to hold off that kind of power for too long. They had to act quickly. “Flutterbat,” she pointed to the yellow bat Pegasus. “Follow after them and help Dash.” Flutterbat wasted no time in following the order as she flew off. “Fili-Second, get as many ponies away from Ponyville as you can.” Fili-Second saluted and disappeared in a flash of pink lightning. --- Rare Sparkle seemed pretty upset that her friend had just sped off without warning. Without Flutterdash they wouldn’t be able to use the Elements of Harmony. She looked around and saw that most of the other ponies in town were becoming more and more frightened. She had to do something. Then suddenly the ponies by her disappeared. Rare Sparkle blinked again and another group of ponies were gone. She looked around in shock as all the ponies in the square began to disappear more and more until it was only Apple Pie and her left. “Rare,” Apple muttered with a hint of fear, “What’s going on?” “That’d be us!” Both ponies looked up and saw three mares standing on a rooftop. The middle one with the mask spoke with authority. “Follow us if you want to save everypony.” As if to exemplify her words a flash of pink lightning cracked across the street in front of them and a pink mare in a white jumpsuit skidded to a halt. She stood up straight and gave a happy smile to the mare in the mask who nodded. “Who are you ponies?” Rare Sparkle asked. “We’re the ponies who are going to save your flanks,” she replied. ===E8DB Rainbow was lucky with that first strike. But now that Suntrix knew she was coming, the force field surrounding her was ten times as hard. Still she hit her with enough force to drive both of them into the trees on the edge of town. Rainbow stopped in the air and looked down at where the unicorn had landed, a crater having been formed from her impact and several trees uprooted. Through the dust she could make out the mare beginning to get up once more, her eyes red with anger. Rainbow prepared to attack again but was stopped once more by the same Pegasus from before who jumped in front of her. “Out of my way!” Rainbow shouted. “What are you going to do to her?” Flutterdash asked with a serious tone. “I’m gonna do what needs to be done…” Rainbow stopped as the full force of her own words hit her. Was she going to try to kill this mare? Sure she was evil but could there be another way? “If that’s what you want to do then I’ll stop you right here,” Flutterdash said resolutely. Rainbow frowned and prepared to fight her way through. Her eyes widened as she looked behind Flutterdash. “Look out!” she cried. Rainbow pushed the yellow Pegasus out of the way before a beam of magic came barreling through her. Rainbow barely avoided the blast with her wing getting slightly singed. Flutterdash turned around to face Suntrix with a new face of fear. Suntrix glared at them both with dark arcane energies flowing from her horn and eyes. “You dare to strike me?” she asked in a slightly hysterical tone. “Me? The Queen of the Sun and Moon!” Suntrix lifted her hooves and the sky began to grow dark as the moon entered the noon day sky. The two Pegasi looked up in fear but before Suntrix could do anything she was struck by a yellow blur. Her shield reacted and protected her but Suntrix’s attention was drawn from controlling the planetary bodies. She turned to the source of the attack, Rainbow and Flutterdash doing so as well. “Alright!” Rainbow shouted. Flutterbat stood in a crouched position before Suntrix and hissed at her. Suntrix narrowed her eyes at her. “Feral beast,” she muttered. Suntrix waved her hoof in front of Flutterbat and the Pegasus was changed into a literal tiny bat. Suntrix chuckled as Flutterbat looked at her new body with surprise. “Now that form suits you!” she chuckled. Flutterbat grit her teeth and charged at the unicorn. Suntrix stood with confidence but was surprised when the small bat pierced her protective field. “What? How did-” but she was cut off as the little bat flapped around her and bit into her skin. The bat must have become too small for her magic to notice her as a threat. Suntrix cried out in pain. Rainbow watched this with a laugh, Flutterdash having a hard time following the chain of events. “Just what is going on?” she asked. Rainbow stopped laughing and prepared to dive down to help her friend. “Look, you can keep on asking that or we can work together and help my friend out. We’ll figure out what to do with her later.” Flutterdash hesitated for a moment but then nodded in agreement. Rainbow smiled, the two pegasi getting into a takeoff stance. “Ready?” “Let’s do this.” Both pegasi shot off at incredible speeds, each leaving behind a sonic rainboom. Suntrix was still trying to deal with the bat in her bubble when the little creature flew away. Suntrix watched it leave her force field and laughed. “Ha! Guess you’re not all that after all!” The little bat chuckled and pointed in front of her. Suntrix turned and saw two colorful missiles speeding toward her at speeds she couldn’t hope to react to. The two pegasi plowed into Suntrix’s barrier at mach speeds. Though her magic was powerful, Suntrix had not reinforced her sphere with Mr. 4’s magic. The strain of the impact shattered the magical bubble with a large explosion, throwing the three ponies and the little bat away from the impact zone. More dust than the first crater created was thrown into the air now. Rainbow and Flutterdash groggily shook their heads and tried to get up. In the distance they could see a pile of rubble and dirt that seemed to have knocked over some trees. A blue hoof appeared crawling out of the rubble, followed by a second. The all-powerful unicorn pulled herself up out of the pit she’d made with a grunt. Her eyes were now burning with a dark fire and her hat seemed to be on fire with the ethereal flame. “I… am… the… QUEEN!!!” she screamed and let loose a torrent of the black flame. Rainbow grabbed Flutterdash and threw herself over the pony to protect her from the oncoming fire, but nothing came. Rainbow let go in confusion and both pegasi were shocked to see themselves as well as the tiny Flutterbat safely a hundred meters away from the flames on a hill. Rainbow looked to her left and smiled as she saw three familiar ponies standing by her. Applejack turned to her and winked. “Sorry about the wait,” she said. “It took a little longer to convince these two than we expected.” Two more ponies showed up behind them and Flutterdash smiled. Rare Sparkle and Apple Pie rushed over to their friend and gave her a big hug. Rainbow lifted the little Flutterbat onto her shoulder right before a streak of pink lightning appeared before them. Fili-Second turned to the three Elements. “So, you guys ready?” Rare Sparkle handed a necklace to Flutterdash, who immediately slipped it on. “Ready.” {(SxT)} Suntrix couldn’t seem to calm down as the black fire consumed everything around her. She roared with rage for a long time before she finally calmed down enough to see what her overwhelming power had done to those poor foals. The fire died down and she breathed heavily as she took a look around. Her eyes widened to see the Elements of Harmony just beyond the area of ash and burnt grass. “But… how?” she screamed. Five ponies and one bat stepped up to stand alongside the three Elements. The one in the mask was the first to talk. “It’s over. Time to take your lumps.” Suntrix narrowed her eyes at the six. “Who are… wait… you’re them, aren’t you? The ponies chasing Mr. 4.” “Mr. 4?” the masked mare asked with a raised eyebrow. “You’re responsible for all this!” Suntrix shouted, her eyes beginning to reignite. “You took away my victory!” The masked mare’s eyes widened and she turned to the Elements. “Now!” Rare Sparkle, Apple Pie, and Flutterdash’s eyes all began to glow as they were lifted into the air. Suntrix knew what was coming and she simply laughed. “You think that this can stop me?” she cackled. “I have the power of a god! I have seen the world as it truly is! I have touched the wall and lived! You think you have power?” The fire from before came back but this time her entire body was consumed and she began to expand. “You are nothing!” The six ponies all shielded their eyes as the light from the Elements and the black fire from Suntrix seemed to devour the sky. Suntrix roared with rage as the pure white light of the Elements gradually pushed back her fire until the light overpowered the darkness. ---<^^>--- When all was done the six opened their eyes and saw that everything Suntrix had burned was renewed. The self-imposed queen lay on the grass battered and bruised and barely conscious. Mare Do-Well did a quick scan of her team to see that everypony was alright. Even Flutterbat who was back to normal. She watched as the Elements of Harmony lowered themselves to the ground. “So that’s the Elements, huh?” Mare Do-Well whispered. “Yeah,” Fili-Second responded oddly cheerfully. “Pretty powerful stuff.” Mare Do-Well looked at Fili-Second and saw the pink mare seemingly trying to hold back some emotions. One of these days she was going to have to confront her about the secrets she was keeping. “Get away from her!” Mare Do-Well heard Applejack shout. She turned to see Suntrix was not as unconscious as they thought. The blue unicorn was up again and had an orange filly with a red mane locked in her hooves. “Well, well, well,” she hatefully spat out. “Look who I have here. Seems somepony was hiding just past the hill and decided now would be the perfect time to be nosy.” “Scootabloom!” Apple Pie shouted frantically. She tried to charge her but the unicorn backed up a bit and squeezed the poor thing tighter. Scootabloom let out a sharp cry of pain. “That’s right,” Suntrix chided. “This is your sister, isn’t it? Hope she doesn’t mind being a hostage while I make my exit.” Suntrix lifted her horn to the sky. Nothing happened. “…While I make my EXIT!” she repeated but nothing happened. “No. No! NO!” Suntrix turned her gaze to the Elements and the six. “My powers! What did you do to them?” “Hey.” A tap came from Suntrix shoulder and she spun around. Applejack stood behind her with a dark scowl. Mare Do-Well checked the spot next to her where the mare had just previously been. How did she do that? She seemed to be even more skilled than her in the art of sneaking. Good to keep in mind. Suntrix couldn’t even respond as Applejack immediately gave a haymaker to her jaw. The unicorn dropped the filly as she sailed through the air and landed in a heap in the grass. Scootabloom gave Applejack a look of appreciation and awe before she ran back to her sister’s arms. But Suntrix wasn’t done yet. Immediately after recovering from the punch she shot to her feet. The words of Mr. 4 still ringing in her ears. ‘Anypony creative enough can travel between worlds.’ “I can still feel it!” she cried out. “The wall is a part of everything and I can feel it!” She erected a simple magical barrier that blocked off Applejack and the others from her. Suntrix then made her horn glow and she punched through the air itself, the colors around her warping and a white tear in the sky forming as she pulled downward. Suntrix laughed hysterically at the portal she created. “See you later!” She jumped in but was stopped half way. Suntrix turned around in surprise to see Mare Do-Well in her force field bubble grabbing onto her leg and not letting go. The rest of the group rushed to the barrier but could not seem to get through. Suntrix looked at Mare Do-Well in confusion. “That’s impossible! Nopony should be able to get through my barrier! The bat was a fluke, but you!?” Mare Do-Well pulled on Suntrix’s leg again and her face came closer. “Guess I’m just that good,” she joked in a deadly serious voice. Mare Do-Well threw a punch at Suntrix nose and the unicorn’s head flew back into the portal. The unicorn’s legs began to frantically kick in retaliation as her body began to spasm. Mare Do-Well had a hard time holding onto Suntrix as she was finally forced to let go of the crazy mare. She fell backward onto her flank as Suntrix body was pulled into the tear in reality, her face reappearing through the blankness for a mere second. It was full of terror. She let out a last scream before whatever was on the other side pulled her in and the tear repaired itself. Mare Do-Well sat there for a moment in silence as the barrier disappeared around her. Her teammates and the Elements rushed in to see if she was alright but all Mare Do-Well could focus on was that last look of fear in Suntrix’s eyes, and how it reminded her of things she wished to not remember. @#$%^&(*)&^%$#@ Mr. 4 shuddered for a moment as he felt a wave of nausea hit him. He looked up from the three dimensional map he had been creating of the multiverse and squinted at the opening of the cave he was in. The world he was now on had been affected by eternal winter thanks to a spell from the late King Sombra. Nopony had survived the frost which meant no distractions. This made it a nice place to lay low while he prepared his search and plans. He grumbled to himself as he dismissed the map and walked to the edge of the cave. He could no longer feel Suntrix’s connection to the Wall. “I should have expected this,” he murmured. His ears perked up again. “Huh? No, I don’t care about her. She’s a diversionary tactic.” His ears twitched again and he clicked his tongue. “You’re right, it’s probably better to at least keep an eye on her.” He reached out with his senses a little more and saw that Suntrix was actually no longer on her home world. With her knowledge she had opened up a tear between realities. With a bit of curiosity he opened up his map again to see just what world Suntrix had sent herself to. “Oh. That’s not good.” The world she had found herself in was quite dangerous, but… He raised an eyebrow as he saw one of the magical leylines he had been charting come frightfully close to this dangerous world. Perhaps there were more roots on this world. More roots meant more leylines and the closer he would be to finding it. An idea came to him. He was quite aware of the ponies’ tracking computer they had on him. If he went to “rescue” Suntrix in the world she was sent to then no doubt they would go and investigate. With luck the world might put an end to his little nuisances. All it would take is a little visit. He wouldn’t even have to deal with the dragons. <___|=0 “I really can’t thank you enough,” Apple Pie said to Applejack as she hugged her sister close. “No need,” Applejack assured her. “It’s the least ah could do.” Applejack kind of felt like that literally. She had felt a little useless during this fight. Everypony had gathered once more on the hill where Suntrix had disappeared. Rare Sparkle spoke to Mare Do-Well and Fili-Second. “Do you think she’ll be back?” “Maybe,” Fili-Second replied with a frown. Rare Sparkle sighed and the pink mare smiled. “Look, even if she does come back, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have her powers anymore.” This didn’t seem to help Rare Sparkle’s mood. Fili-Second paused for a moment. “Was she a friend?” “No,” Rare Sparkle said. “Nothing like that. I just… I wish I could have done something to help her.” Fili-Second nodded respectfully. “I know what that’s like,” she whispered. Mare Do-Well and Applejack were the only ones who seemed to hear the pink mare’s quiet words. Both of them giving each other a look of concern. “So it’s time to say goodbye then?” Flutterdash asked the six. “Yup,” Rainbow chuckled. “But don’t worry. I have every confidence that you can take care of yourself.” Flutterdash punched her in the shoulder playfully. The six reconvened on the hill and each linked hooves with each other and Fili-Second in the center. Rare Sparkle stepped forward. “Wait! You never really gave me an answer. Who are you?” “Just some ponies trying to help,” Mare Do-Well said in her gruff mysterious voice. Every other pony seemed to nod their head in agreement. “Let’s go.” Fili-Second smiled warmly and began to vibrate. The three Elements of Harmony watched as a sonic boom echoed from where they once stood, there was nothing but grass and hill now. ---<^^>--- After a long day, Mare Do-Well had given the order for the team to go down for the night. However, two ponies weren’t sleeping. Mare Do-Well followed Fili-Second as she snuck from her room in the Veloci-Lair. The pink mare’s face looked haunted as she zipped quietly through the halls and into the main terminal with the round table and monitors. Mare Do-Well stuck to the ceiling and jumped from rafter to rafter in pursuit. She stopped at the edge of the large room as Fili-Second checked her back to make sure she wasn’t followed, not expecting to need to look up. “We finally gonna find out what she’s hidin’?” a southern voice came from Mare Do-Well’s right. Mare Do-Well honestly wasn’t surprised to see Applejack here in the rafters with her. She would seriously need to learn the samurai’s stealth skills at some point. She gave her a small “shh” and the two watched silently as Fili-Second trudged over to the wall of the room. She placed her hoof on the wall and some kind of blue light scanned her. The wall opened up and the two could see inside a small room filled with glowing computer monitors. Fili-Second entered, almost reluctantly and the wall began to slide back into place. Quickly Mare Do-Well took out an “M” shaped shuriken and threw it at the door. It stuck between the closing door and the wall, creating a tiny gap. The two ponies dismounted from their rafters and hurried over to the crack in the wall to listen in on what was on the other side. Mare Do-Well put her ear as close to the gap as possible, two voices coming through. “Nothing happened on this run,” she could hear Fili-Second say. “I don’t think that they’re compatible.” “I disagree,” came another voice, this one a little distorted but still feminine. “I saw that fight and each one performed effectively. They just need to be in the proper circumstances.” Fili-Second’s voice seemed to stutter for a moment. “I… I don’t want to do this anymore.” They could hear the sound of a chair being flipped over as the other voice lost its cool. “Do you WANT to see me unhappy!?” “N- No…” “That’s right!” the other voice became laced with a maniacal glee. “You want to see me smile, right?” “Y- Yes…” Fili-Second’s voice was barely a whisper. “Good,” the second voice said. “We can’t track Suntrix anymore but the Glitch has appeared once more. You’ll take the group to the world first thing in the morning.” There was a brief moment of silence. “Oh, and Pinkie… find some danger if you have to. Just get me some results.” “Yes…” Fili-Second replied solemnly. The two mares could hear her walking back. Mare Do-Well plucked her shuriken from the door and teleported back to the rafters, Applejack right behind her as she used her lasso to sling and climb her way up as well. Fili-Second exited the hidden room a moment later, her face holding a gaunt expression of sadness. She trudged away slower than Mare Do-Well had ever seen her go. “What do you suppose that was about?” Applejack asked. Mare Do-Well glanced at the wall with the hidden room and narrowed her eyes. “There’s definitely more to this than meets the eye.” ===SS=== Sunset lay awake in bed, her eyes fixed to the ceiling. Just what the heck was all that? “You’re asking me? You’re the voice that just said all that stuff about ponies and fourth walls and stuff!” “SHHH!” Her roommates shushed her as she hadn’t stopped talking to herself all night. Sunset put a pillow over her face and tried to drown the voices out. “Oh, come on…” she moaned woefully. “What is wrong with me?”