//------------------------------// // Ch. 15: Joy, Sorrow, and Anger // Story: Nothing Probably Goes on Forever Too // by TundraStanza //------------------------------// And I may never know The answer to this endless mystery. Where should I go? What should I do? I don't understand what you want from me Chapter 15: Joy, Sorrow, and Anger A dark silhouette crept into the tree house via the unlocked door. Neither the librarian, nor her assistant noticed the intruder's presence. Oddly, the owl who was normally nocturnal was talking a midnight nap. This only worked to the intruder's advantage. As they slowly made their way up the stairs, the figure pulled out a disturbingly curved blade. This intruder was out for blood. They reached the top step which held the loft for the bedroom. They slowly walked toward the sleeping unicorn. The lavender unicorn was blissfully unaware of the danger that approached. The intruder's Achilles heel was their need to make lasting impressions which required their audience to be awake. This would explain why her next move was to ignite her blade in a bright, white light. The librarian shook her head in a groan at the disturbance. She opened her eyes to analyze the disruptive light source. When she saw the wielder of the light source, she let loose a yelp in shock. "Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle," whispered the intruder. "Twilight!" shouted a faint voice. This shout caught the intruder off guard. Where had that voice come from? They were quickly answered with the sound of smashing glass from the bedroom window. Another wielder's sword clashed with their own, sending the intruder tumbling to the next floor down. The intruder growled, "Who dares to interrupt the Great and Powerful Trixie?" The intruder, now clearly a female blue unicorn, looked up to see what had meddled with her show-stopping finale. She was surprised to see a black winged unicorn wielding a similarly shaped sword as her own. --- Okay, in hindsight, maybe it wasn't such a good idea crashing through the window like that, I thought as I shook some loose pieces of glass from my body. Still, I was doing what I had to do to protect Twilight. I had to keep her safe from the purple caped... wait, Trixie? "What's going on?" asked a now fully awake Twilight Sparkle. In contrast, Spike just rolled over in his sleep readjusting his blanket in the process. "Isn't it obvious?" asked the rhetorical Trixie as she stood up, "I'm here to settle things." "Settle what?" I countered. I still held my blade in an "I'm warning you" pose. "Hmph," humphed the show pony, "A stranger like you would never understand what Trixie's been through." "I know that you were practically kissing up to David over a year ago," I stated. When did I become such a jerk? "The Great and Powerful Trixie serves no pony!" she shouted. She then raised her katana high before declaring, "Shine Brightly, Nijigasumi!" Her Zanpaktou... well, shone brightly. (How else was I supposed to describe it?) I lifted the hoof with my sword in grasp to try and block some of the light from blinding me. When I could see again, Trixie had vanished from the floor below. Okay, maybe vanished was a poor word choice. She actually reappeared directly to my left side before taking a swing at me. The two katana clashed briefly before Trixie seemed to disappear again. In the next split second, she was on my right. Our swords clanged against each other again. Then she disappeared as quickly as she had appeared. What is going on? I asked myself in thought. There's no way she can possibly be this fast. A quick kick from the rear corrected my assumption as I fell to the next floor down in a somersault. Miraculously, I had managed to quickly right myself on three legs. I didn't have time to celebrate, however, as Trixie leaped down for another attack. This time, she wasn't so quick to leave visibility. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" I declared. My Zanpaktou was quickly engulfed in white as a ribbon extended from its hilt. The taller Shirayuki now had dominance of control. Upon realizing that her opponent was a taller, stronger pony, Trixie leaped out of the pushing competition and backed away. "What are you?" asked the show pony. She then slowly blinked before adding, "No, Trixie does not even care. Trixie must move you out of the way if she wants her revenge on Sparkle." Revenge for what? Twilight beat you fair and square, I fumed this time keeping the thought safely in my mind. "Flash and burn, Nijigasumi!" yelled Trixie. The entire room seemed to illuminate way too brightly for me to see anything. Shirayuki, brace yourself! I shouted in thought, She's going to make the shadows attack you in the light! "So-me-no-Mai, Tsukishiro!" declared Shirayuki hastily. A translucent pillar of ice surrounded her just in time for several black waves in the light to bash against the pillar's surface. They sounded relentless cutting against the ice. The light began to clear just as the pillar crumbled to frozen dust particles. I mentally sighed in relief. "I'm not done yet," said Trixie. She moved her Zanpaktou in a sideways U-shaped motion. In doing so, she left behind a visible path of positions where her sword had passed. These light markers suddenly launched forward like actual projectiles. Shirayuki tried raising her sword to block, but the blades of light had strength of force in numbers. She was pushed back and was lifted off her hooves into the bookshelf behind her. I felt the internal pain as Shirayuki coughed up blood. In a split second, the show pony had reappeared just in front of Shirayuki. Trixie held her lit up blade under the alicorn's head just inches away from her neck. "Tundra!" shouted Twilight from the upper floor. Unfortunately, even her fast mind couldn't keep up with the motions that this battle had taken. "So that's your name," muttered Trixie, "Very well. Now, Trixie can properly mark the land where she buries your remains." "Why are you doing this?" coughed Shirayuki. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is free from her captivity, but not from her subordination," said the blue unicorn, "To rid of the past that haunts her, Twilight Sparkle must die." She poked her sword closer. I couldn't feel it cutting skin, but the shimmering metal was definitely close enough that it could do so. "You stood in Trixie's way," continued the show pony, "So you must be ended as well. Rest in peace, Tundra." Shirayuki held Trixie in a defiant gaze until the end. "Split and deviate, Ruri'iro Kujaku," said an extra voice. Both unicorns and the alicorn in the room opened their eyes wide in surprise. Before I knew what was happening, azure tendrils reached out and pulled Trixie out of her attacking range. "What is this?" the magician yelped. "You mess with my friends," said the newcomer who stepped into the room, "and you mess with me." Shirayuki gasped, "Apple Bloom!" The blue unicorn, however, was not having it. She madly swung her brightly lit sword and slashed the tendrils off her body before they could complete their energy drain. Ironically, the fact that she did so left her blade without any of its light bending powers to use. "This isn't over," she growled. On that note, she released a small smoke bomb that barely covered her tracks as she ran down the stairs and presumably out the front door. After that, Apple Bloom's weapon returned to its original form, leaving a few lingering buds not quite fully in bloom. She took hold of one of them and held it toward the injured alicorn. "Here, Tundra," said the farmer filly, "It ain't much, but it should help in a pinch." The snowy alicorn reached down and grabbed the azure bud in her teeth before gulping it down. I wasn't sure at the time, but I think that energy healed whatever internal organ was previously bleeding. My back felt less painful too. "Thank you, Apple Bloom," said Shirayuki. "Don't mention it," smiled the filly. "Apple Bloom," said Twilight while walking down the stairs from her loft, "what are you doing here?" "I... I kind of... hm... It's hard to explain," struggled Apple Bloom, "I kind of just... felt this nagging... pressure or something coming from this direction. Without thinking about what I was doing, I ran over to see what was what and here I am." "That... sounds almost exactly like what happened to us, er me," commented Shirayuki. It's probably better if you use singular pronouns, I told Shirayuki through thoughts, After all, we share the same soul. I sensed a mental nod in reply. Then I noticed that the visibility in the room was getting a tint of orange. The three ponies in the room looked to the open window and saw the sunrise in the eastern sky. "Eh heh, um, sorry about breaking your window, Twilight," Shirayuki relayed my apologetic thought. "Oh, don't worry about that," insisted the bearer of Magic, "I've got a repair spell for just this type of occasion." She went back upstairs to put said spell into action. Meanwhile, the snowy alicorn eased herself up to a four-hoof standing position. "Come on, Apple Bloom. I'll walk you home," she said. "Okay," replied the filly in a chipper tone. She then frowned slightly before asking, "Do you think Trixie will ever get herself straightened out?" Shirayuki sighed, "I sure hope so, kid. I sure hope so." --- I guess the key to returning to my default, black and purple form was to stay out of the stress of battle for an extended period of time. By the time Apple Bloom got to the front door, I had gained dominance of my body. She looked at me expectantly and then kept moving as I followed her outside, gently closing the door behind me. "So, Tundra," inquired the filly, "If your true form is that white pony with blue hair, why do you keep changing back to your lie form?" I chuckled, "It's not a 'lie' form, Apple Bloom. This is my default form, with default meaning 'what I look like normally'." "Why don't you just stick with one form?" she asked. "Well, it's a little complicated," I said. Both of us kept a steady pace on the path to Sweet Apple Acres. "That's what you said last time I asked that," pointed out Apple Bloom, "I want more of an answer than that." I sighed, "All right, but I warned you." At least this explanation would pass the time as we walked. --- "So let me see if I got this straight," said the farmer filly, "You're made of two ponies." "Yes," I affirmed. "One of them was a human from the alternate planet Earth." "Yes." "The other was an old friend of the Princesses." "Yes." "But she was corrupted and became the Nightmare spirit." "Yes." "Then the human you and the Nightmare you came together and reunited to form the soul of the Princesses' lost friend." "Yes." "But you both still think independently from each other. The black you, 'Tundra Stanza', takes care of normal everyday stuff while the white you, 'She-ra-you-key', takes care of battles." "That about sums it up." Apple Bloom looked like she was lost in thought until she chirped, "Makes sense to me." "Wow, you're pretty quick to catch on," I commented. "I'll take that as a compliment," smiled the filly. The good mood of a child was infectious. I felt myself smile just by talking with her. Funny, I was never this open with kids before. I guess ponies did make everything better. I was half disappointed when we arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. I didn't want to leave this filly's cheerfulness so soon. In retrospect, Applejack couldn't have been more relieved to see her sister's arrival. "Apple Bloom!" she cried out, "Oh, heavens to Betsy. You're all right! Where have you been?" "I was with Tundra," replied Apple Bloom pointing a hoof to me. "Boy, howdy," muttered the orange earth pony before turning to me and saying, "I hope she didn't give you too much trouble." "No trouble at all," I said while dismissively waving a hoof, "In fact, I still have to thank her properly." "Thank me?" asked the yellow pony, "What for?" "You've saved my life twice now," I said with a sincere smile. "Oh, yeah, heh," chuckled Apple Bloom, "But you don't need to do anything. You already thanked me." "I'll find a way to pay you back," I insisted, "I mean it." "Well, all right then," she accepted, "I'll hold you to that." Applejack just looked back and forth between us in confusion, "Did I miss something?" "Don't worry about it, AJ," I told her, "Apple Bloom won't let me forget." "Eyup, don't worry, sis," reinforced the filly, "I'll let her know when she can pay me back." "Later!" I waved to both of the farmers before I opened my wings and flew away. I think I barely heard Applejack say something like, "Okay, now I know I missed something." --- The weather patrol for Ponyville must have brought in a few clouds during my walk. By the time I flew within visible distance from Carousel Boutique, they were sprinkling. The raindrops fell harder as I landed in front of the door. I think this was the first time I had ever had hair that was long enough to mop my eyes when it was wet. I made my way inside as the store's entrance bell jingled. "Welcome to-, oh my stars!" cried a voice that I assumed was Rarity. "Stand back, Rarity," I warned, "It's about to get wet." I shook myself all over to get the gist of rainwater out of my coat and mane. By the same physics that the cartoon uses, I was perfectly dry when I stopped shaking. I looked over to see the white unicorn looked rather worried. "Darling, are you all right?" asked Rarity, "Twilight told me about the whole thing and I just couldn't imagine the trauma that must have overwhelmed you...!" "Rarity, relax," I said holding up a hoof in her direction, "I'm fine. Wait, Twilight told you? When did she come over here?" "No, no, no. You misunderstand. Allow me to start from the beginning," she restarted, "Earlier this morning, Sweetie Belle and I felt this strange, nagging pressure coming from the direction of the library. But by the time we ran over there..." "... Apple Bloom and I had already left," I finished, "So you can sense spiritual pressure too?" "Spiritual pressure?" she asked with a look of confusion, "Is that what it's called?" "Yeah," I replied, "I guess you two didn't sense it as quickly as Apple Bloom because you're not quite attuned to the sensation yet." "I suppose," responded Rarity, "Wait, then where did Apple Bloom find time to get used to the feeling?" I sighed, "Let me tell you about what happened a couple months back." Expository retelling was becoming my new hobby. Maybe I should have gotten a cutie mark in that, though I have no idea what a situation explaining cutie mark would look like. --- "But how do you know if they were changelings if they never altered their appearance?" inquired the fashion pony. "Well, that's just what they looked like to me," I answered, "and I didn't exactly have an encyclopedia on hand with their picture that could tell me what their actual name was." "Apple Bloom saved your life," marveled Rarity. "Not just me, she saved her whole family," I corrected. "That's amazing," commented a third voice. "Yeah, it was," I agreed, "Wait! Who said that?" The third speaker slowly came out from behind the fitting room doors. "Sweetie Belle," said Rarity slowly, "How... long have you been listening?" "Pretty much the whole time," answered the unicorn filly just as slowly. "Oh, good," I sighed in relief, "I don't have to tell the whole story all over again." "Well... as long as you're all right with others knowing," started Rarity. "Hey, the way I see it is this: the more someone knows, the less I have to explain," I said. "Oh, by the way, Tundra," said Rarity after tapping once with her hoof, "Twilight wanted me to pass on a message to you. Apparently, you're going to help Fluttershy for a couple of days starting this evening." "Oh... thanks," I responded, "That's good to know." Twilight Sparkle, did it ever occur to you to consult me about these things before deciding them? I thought feeling mentally ticked. --- ... "Augh! Not the bees! Not the bees!" I yelled as I ran away from the swarm of the killer insects with stingers. All I knew was that one minute, I was running around trying to get a certain rabbit to eat his dinner. Next thing I knew, I had run smack into a tree and narrowly dodged a falling hive. Now, I had to get away from the plague of insects. They were closing the distance between us fairly quickly. I had to think fast. Apparently, the scenery decided my thinking wasn't fast enough and decided to change for me. The grass I was running on turned into a full body of water. This made the cursed bugs give up on their chase. The downside, however, was that I was soaking wet again (even though the rain had ended hours ago) and my dignity also suffered. Slowly, I lifted my head out of the water's surface. A frog jumped off the lily pad that had ended up on top of me. "Are you okay?" whispered a barely audible voice. I turned to the pink-maned Pegasus while I tried to cool my jets for her sake. "No, but I will be," I answered, "Don't worry, Fluttershy." "Was I worrying? I'm sorry," apologized Fluttershy. Those adorable eyes and low posture, I thought, She really is the cutest thing ever. She's certainly... delicate, Shirayuki paused while looking for the right word. --- It wasn't easy convincing Fluttershy to sleep in her own bed that night. The poor thing practically begged me to use the more comfortable mattress. But I had insisted that as the house guest, I had to make certain sacrifices to ensure the well-being of the host. She finally gave in and headed upstairs after saying good night to me. I was just about to collapse on the green couch from exhaustion when my skin suddenly started crawling. This tension... it's a spiritual pressure, I thought in realization, But why does it feel so close? My thoughts were answered by something crashing through the front door. Watching the splintering pieces fall to the sides, I barely had time to notice the gray binding that suddenly surrounded me. I opened my eyes wide as the binding pulled me out the door from which it came in. When I saw exactly what was yanking the other end, my eyes stayed wide in shock. It was a gray spider-taur of sorts. It had eight limbs in total. What was bizarrely grotesque was how humanoid its upper body and head looked. Under the moonlight, I could now distinguish the creature's structure as metallic and sturdy. The binding that held me was made of that same material. I didn't want to believe what this was, but it was exactly what I thought it was. Dalk, I thought. "Looks like I caught a big one," cackled the steel woman-spider. "Urgh," I struggled against the restraints, "Are you another one of David's creations?" "Don't know. Don't care," replied Dalk smugly, "All I care about is how much destruction I can cause." She let out a creepy laugh before adding, "Let's have some fun, shall we?" At this point, I felt the bindings slightly tighten as I was suddenly lifted beyond my normal jumping height. Just as quickly, I felt the binding loosen completely as the coil got sucked back into Dalk's body. I needed to correct my flight path before I hit the ground at a lethal force. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" I shouted bringing forth my white sword and its ribbon. In a flash, the taller white alicorn had control of the body. A few flaps from her wings quickly straightened her out. My relief was short lived as the spider below readjusted one of her arms. The underside started firing like a machine gun. Shirayuki barely managed to dive under the volley of spherical bullets and landed behind Dalk. The spider-taur just cackled madly. "Dodge this!" shouted the creature. A hidden compartment on her back opened up. It released a giant metal sphere at a breakneck speed. "So-me-no-Mai, Tsukishiro!" shouted Shirayuki. Her signature pillar of ice appeared in front of her only to be shattered in the next instant by the airborne bowling ball. She tried to fly out of the way, but the sphere banged against her back hooves upon her takeoff. Being hit at that angle spun her forward once before falling to the ground sprawling. Man, did my ankles hurt. Dalk laughed at my pain, but I refused to let her win. Shirayuki lifted up her left hoof to relay my thought. "Hado 33: Sokatsui!" the snowy alicorn shouted as a blue blast of fire was released. The metal spider-taur, however, jumped right on over it. "Ha ha, you missed!" taunted the creature, "Let's try this again." One of her arms reversed and released another round of machine gun fire. I decided to try my hoof at defensive Kido. "Bakudo 39: Enkosen!" shouted Shirayuki while raising her sword. A shimmering light that resembled a high-powered fan appeared just in front of the Zanpaktou. Unfortunately, this only blocked a few of the bullets. Soon, the fan crumbled Shirayuki was hit by the rest of the barrage. She yelled out in pain while I could only think the word "pain". --- Fluttershy opened her eyes to a place that was not her cottage. She looked around to see that she had somehow entered an amphitheater. Currently, she was on the row furthest in the back. The place looked devoid of life save for the grass growing in random patches. Upon another glance around, she saw a lone figure standing at the center stage area. Out of curiosity, she decided to trot over to the center. "Um, excuse me," whispered the Pegasus as she approached, "Do you know where we are? Um, my name is..." "... Fluttershy," finished the figure. At this the pony quietly gasped. "Um, y-yes," she stammered, "How did you...?" "There's not much time," the figure muttered loud enough for Fluttershy to hear him, "The despair of battle has almost taken another." "W-what?" stuttered Fluttershy not quite sure that she heard right. "You must stop the battle before it accelerates," said the figure, "Call on my power to make the enemy see the error of their ways." "I... I don't understand," said Fluttershy while taking a step back, "Battle? Power? What does it all mean? Who are you?" The figure sighed before slowly opening his eyes. As he said, "My name is," a bright light engulfed the entire amphitheater. "Wait!" shouted Fluttershy. --- "Wait!" cried the canary-yellow Pegasus as she jumped up into a sitting position. She looked around to find herself in her bedroom. She could feel herself covered in sweat. "Was that... just a dream?" she asked herself. But something else was unsettling. She could hear several clanging noises and they sounded faint and distant. Her ears perked up when she heard a distinctly shouted message. "Bakudo 39: Enkosen!" "Who... said that?" asked Fluttershy, "It... kind of sounded like... Tundra?" Throwing her blanket over to the bed's end, she rushed downstairs. When she saw that her door had been broken into pieces, she knew something was wrong. "Oh, no! Tundra!" she breathed. She found herself flying out the front in a dash. --- It hurt to breathe. Trying to speak resulted in me coughing up something liquid. I couldn't even move without it hurting somewhere. I was probably covered in bruises, if not potholes. Son of a gun, I thought, Why am I such a glutton for punishment? I managed to open one eye to try and look ahead. I was surprised to see not Shirayuki's white hoof, but my own black hoof. Shirayuki? I directed my thought-speech to her, Shirayuki! After a few seconds of no response I thought, Crap! She must have fallen unconscious. The sword in my right hoof's grasp had already returned to its default katana form. I grunted and tried to move, but whatever bone was broken wouldn't let me even get up. "Impressive that you're still alive," commented the stupid metallic spider, "It's unfortunate that our fun had to end so soon. Bye bye, little pony." With that, another hidden compartment opened in her body to reveal another flying, steel ball. Move, darn it, I thought to myself, Move! I closed my eyes anticipating the fatal blow. "Raise your head, Wabisuke," breathed a voice. I heard metal clang against metal. I opened my eyes wondering what could cause that sound if my sword was lying flat on the ground. I would have gasped in surprise if my back didn't hurt so much. "F-Fluttershy?" I said hoarsely. Indeed, the normally reserved Pegasus was standing in front of me. She was flapping her wings to levitate in place, but I couldn't see her face. In her front hoof, I could see that she was holding a weapon with an upside-down L-shape. The metal against metal I had heard was the giant sphere hitting that L-shaped weapon. A second later, the giant sphere crashed to the ground as Fluttershy landed standing on her hind legs. "What's this?" asked Dalk. The pieces she had shot earlier returned to her legs. Upon stepping on them, they seemed almost liquid being reabsorbed into her body. In a disgusting manner, she moved one of her arms close to her face and licked it with her steel tongue. "I'm only going to ask this once," stated Fluttershy in an authoritative motherly tone, "Please leave and stop hurting my friend." "Huh?" said the metal abomination tilting her head to the side, "Who's hurting? I'm just breaking her bones so that her nerves won't notice her dying." "I see," said the Pegasus holding her same volume and tone, "In that case, I have no choice but to remove you by force." "Ha! Big words coming from a little pony," mocked Dalk, "I wonder if you'll be more fun than she was." The half-spider opened spots in her arms to shoot a barrage of slow spheres. Miraculously, Fluttershy managed to move her weapon in just the right way to ricochet all of the bullets away from her. Each felled sphere rolled along the ground back to their shooter. But as the metal creature stepped on these, she was surprised to notice that they were no longer fusing uniformly with her legs. "Wabisuke doubles the weight of whatever it strikes," explained the Pegasus, "Your steel body has a set density and can no longer support its own weight." "I feel so heavy," moaned the spider-taur. Her physical body actually started leaning over on the disfigured limb she was standing. At first, I was worried she would get crazy like her anime counterpart and just break off her arms. She never got the chance. "Scatter, Senbonzakura." "Growl, Haineko." Upon hearing two familiar voices, I watched as gray ashes and pink petals swirled around Dalk. In the next moment, she was cut to pieces. I heard her piercing scream as she faded into the shadows. I managed to watch the ashes and flowers return to their owners' katana. Then, my pain-filled body decided to send me to the same place Shirayuki was. The realm of unconsciousness. --- One pony sat in the dark in an empty room by her lonesome. No one knew this pony's history. She wasn't entirely sure about her past either. Every pony, she thought, would be better off if I just... faded away. A circle of white surrounded this pony. She didn't scream as it dragged her to parts unknown. She accepted her emptiness.