//------------------------------// // Destiny's Child // Story: Care Root's Bizarre Adventure // by Ditherer the Fussbudget //------------------------------// Silver Spoon You're Silver Spoon, walking to lunch with your very best friend, Diamond Tiara. Who’s in a huff. ”Civics is such a snoozefest!” You giggle. She’s only saying that because Ms. Harshwhinny caught her whispering to you and held her fifteen minutes after for a second offense. You hid and waited outside for her, of course. She doesn’t notice your laughing, or pretends. ”I bet I could get her removed from her position if I wanted to.” “Yeah.” You can’t help but smile when you’re around Diamond. She’s so... honest. Not in front of anyone who could hurt her over it, of course. But there’s no nonsense to her, she does what she likes and gets what she wants. She’s even carrying a handbag instead of a backpack, which is totally off-code. Sometimes you wish you were like her. Or… were her. You’re so ratchet, and not in a cool way. When you bring up rappers, your Mom still talks about Soulja Boi. She even does the dance. You know it’s just to make you uncomfortable! Once at a slumber party, Diamond left because the butler didn’t bring food to her room. For a little while you were all alone, and it felt like it was your room. You jumped on her bed, but it was a waterbed so it wasn’t very exciting. That's your secret! You, Silver Spoon, are the CHS student who wanted to be another student! You wonder how other teens would feel if they had to go through that. The hallway’s nearly empty already, so you better hurry. Then something brushes up against you and cuts cuts like a big splinter and you turn to see it’s like rock then it stops hurting but it’s swimming up your shoulder like a worm! You shriek, turn to catch a face and Diamond’s handbag explodes. Care Root Lunch just finished, and now you're walking back to class, standing in the back of the throng. There's no rush; you’ve had a hell of a weekend. With your car totaled, you’re going to bleeding money for insurance soon. Plus you’re taking the schoolbus, which only reminds you of your pain. But you guess that driving to school got sacrificed somewhere along the way. Not knowing where you’re paying for all of this makes it even more insidious. You could only really be sure that everything was happening normally if you didn’t use your Stand. Which you’re trying to, this time. First, you have to learn to spend wisely instead of overpowering opponents with attacks. Second, you have to learn how to stop having opponents. Which may be working out, for now. Derpy asked at lunch if anyone else had been lurking or following you, but they weren’t. Not even Trixie, who you were sure you’d have to refuse soon. You wonder if there’s something going on - is there a regional test coming up you forgot about, or a big backroom deal thing? You realize Derpy hasn’t said anything, and steal a glance at her. She’s not there. She’s twenty feet back, bent over and listening to a Freshman waving her arms. It’s the kid whose watch you returned, in fact. Whatever Derpy hears, she looks grave. It’s exactly the sort of face you dreaded she’d make when she learned how your Stand worked. In seconds she breaks into a run, grabbing your hand on the way past. Stumbling, you almost trip her, but you right yourself. There’s nowhere to run, though, except into the sea of jostling students ahead. “What’s-” ”Silver’s in trouble! She’s being attacked by a Stand in front of the side-entrance!” “Which-” ”The auditorium one! There’s some kind of commotion over it, they’ll do something to her if I don’t get there!” With that, your goals crystallize. You’re trying to reach the other side of this floor of the school, through a crowd of high-schoolers. Groovy. You head up to the first corner when a pair of grey-skinned thugs step out. They look like the deformed cousins of the last guy you fought - one’s built like a trashcan and the other’s Quasimodo with eye contact. They speak before you can react, like they rehearsed. ”Where do you two lovebirds think you’re going?” ”Think you can slap one of us around and get away with it?” You both slide to a halt, still connected at the wrists. It’s not something you want to do, but you break contact and bring your fists up. “｢Timbuk-” ”｢Spinal Tap!｣” Derpy smashes a tiny china teacup on the floor. Then she turns to you as her Stand appears and put hers hands on your shoulders. ”You can do more than I can. Do whatever you need to.” You gulp, then nod. And her Stand grabs you by the arm and darts you past the two. There’s a split second of wind in your ears and your arms cracks a little, but you’re on solid ground on the other side. By the time they’ve blinked the dust out of their eyes, it’s back. You round the corner at a run and see the crowd ahead, but behind, you hear her shouting, ”This is what you get for standing between me and my SISTER!” You didn’t spend much time around Silver last night. She stayed in her room the whole time you were at her house. You knew her, of course, mostly Diamond Tiara’s toadie. Not that you’d say that to Derpy, of course. You’re sure she’s a great kid! Or she’ll grow up and turn out to be one. You just don’t know anything about this scenario, and the crowd isn’t helping! It’s more like a concert crowd than a bunch of students. Everyone’s trying to get a better look in the distance. It’s a long hallway, stretching the length of the school. If Silver Spoon’s in trouble, it’s on the direct other end of these people. Your Stand’s already out, so you make a platform under your feet. Effortlessly, it sails you over the sea of heads, although you have to duck not to hit the ceiling or the lights. It's not stylish, but it's cheap. The crowd becomes more defined with height, and it’s taking up every tile of the floor. There are little pockets where a teacher stands, making placating gestures and saying things you can’t make out. From your vantage, you can definitely see her down the hallway. The crowd stops mingling before they reach her, though. A good deal before, in fact. You become aware that your fellow students are pointing you out to each other. There are the clicks of pictures being taken. And shouting. The crowd’s rambunctious, but it’s not violent; you scan the crowd for the source. ”Let me through, you cattle! You’re all going to share an ER if you don’t move!” There she is, pushed up against a locker on the outskirts of this headless moshpit. Golden Harvest. You make another platform underneath of her, and she wobbles as she notices you. Everyone sees her rise into the air, and they all stare up at you. She doesn’t pay attention except to catch her balance. ”Silver’s in trouble!” “I know, she’s been attacked by a Stand.” ”No, she’s got a Stand of her own!” ...What? “What?” ”She’s not strong enough to have a Stand! It’s going to overpower her!” You’d never heard of that before. How’d you get a Stand this strong, then? She looks around wildly. ”Where’s Dernier? She’s always been able to calm Silver down.” “She stayed behind so one of us would make it-” Golden swears. ”Fine, we’ll improvise for her! Move!” You nod, and the pair of you zoom over the remaining students, heading straight for Silver. And... there’s something next to her, on the ground. You really hope that's not a body, but before you can get a closer look, Golden's platform gives out. That doesn’t make sense, there was still time left-- So does yours. You tumble to the floor, in front of a sea of onlookers. Carrot lands on her feet, and sounds relieved. ”Thank goodness you’re here. Silver’s my sister. If we can get through to her we can take care of-” A Southern accent cuts in. ”I’m sorry, but no can do.” It’s one of the Rainbooms, the rural one. Looking up, you see Rainbow Dash next to her, wearing a big overcoat. Then you pick yourself up,  ignoring the smudges and dirt all over you while Golden frets. “What’s going on?” ”It’s too dangerous for anyone to go in there right now. We’re here to manage everyone to keep anything reckless from happening.” ”But if you break up these people and let my little sister through, she can-” ”I’m afraid we can’t try something that risky. We don’t know what could happen, and we don’t want anyone else hurt.” You can see past them easily, and yeah, there’s a body. Diamond Tiara, scourge of the lowerclassmen. The Southern one pulls a quarter out of her pocket, turns and tosses it into the hallway. Hanging in the air, it tumbles end over end longer than it ought to, oxidizing in front of you with layers and layers of rust. You check Diamond to make sure she's not rusting away too, and by the time you look back the last bits of the coin are crumbling away into dust. Then a small explosion, bursting outwards just enough to startle you and let you feel the wind on your face. Golden keeps talking. ”I know she isn’t trying to do whatever’s happening. She’s just afraid. I have to be there for my sister!” Rainbow, silent until now, steps forward. ”Look. We’re the experts on this kind of stuff, we’ve got it handled. Until the others get here, we can’t let anyone through.” “Says who?” They all realize you’re here. Rainbow’s face darkens. With the coat’s help, she looks like a hitman for a moment. ”Says Principal Celestia.” Whose office is just past them. She turns back to Golden. ”Is he also related?” Golden’s getting frustrated. ”No, but he can help! His powers are good for-” “I think they know what my powers are.” Rainbow looks at you. It’s like she’s challenging you to make a scene. Then there comes a flash of movement behind her, another shade of blue. You break eye contact for a moment and make out several more. Trixie, paused in a creeping motion, half-crouched and exiting the Principal’s Office. A flash of red disappears up her sleeve, or maybe your eyes moved too quickly and you imagined it, and hers turn wide as she realizes the hallway's completely full. No one makes a move from the crowd to point her out, and you realize that she's behind the two Rainbooms, and all eyes are on you. The Principal's not in at lunch, and whatever she was doing, she looks like she really doesn't want to get caught. Rainbow’s eyes move to follow yours. You return your glance to her, hard-set. “You’ve been following me, haven’t you?” She humphs, but her attention’s back to you. ”Why would I do that?” Trixie looks down the hallway at Silver, realizes that something's up, and turns back to you, looking for some code or gesture. Unfortunately for her, you never learned any hand-signs, and using your Stand here would only draw attention to whatever message you were sending. “You tell me. You’re the one who’s blocking my way right now.” A week ago, those words would never have come out of your mouth. Rainbow snorts. ”You think you can get past me?” You sense her power. It’s like the potential to summon a Stand, and something else… Something under the coat... Southern steps in. ”Hey, now, no need for violence.” She puts a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder and turns to you. “We had to keep an eye on you to make sure you didn’t go around punching people through walls, that’s all. We didn’t mean to upset you by it.” You’re almost certain that’s not true, but you don’t have time to rebut it. Derpy's little sister needs you, and that means all three of the sisters need you, and there's just not time for this. “Fine. No promises, no threats.” You stare ahead, and ｢Timbuk Three｣ appears beside you, making the two tense up. “I just need to get to Silver Spoon! Just make me a path! Make me a way through!” All eyes are on you, and none at all are on Trixie. The smokebomb hits, and at the same time Rainbow and her friend disappear. No, that's not right, they shift! They’re both on opposite sides of the hall now! You run into the smoke before they can register what’s happened, Golden following behind you. The hallways passes by you, and you're relieved to find that your body doesn't start to rust away into nothing. No one's rushed to follow you, which is also the best you can hope for. By the time the smoke’s cleared, you’re most of the way through! Plus Trixie’s gone, but you were expecting that. And there’s Silver, sitting with her head in her hands and shaking, oblivious to most of this. There's not enough noise in the hallway for words to reach her. Suddenly, a coin sails through the air next to you, layers of brown growing over its surface. You turn your head, but despite the commotion behind you no one's close enough to have thrown it. In fact, as it comes closer it looks like... the same coin from before! ｢Timbuk Three｣ bats it away with a single, decisive chop, and it explodes against a locker. The metal surface isn’t damaged, and there’s no heat, but the shockwave manhandles you. Then the element of surprise runs out Rainbooms are running after you. Behind them, the crowd’s wondering whether it can inch forward or not. ”｢Fineshrine｣!” Golden summons her tree, and a dozen creatures flap off of it. Then she’s slowed down and wheeled around, directing black birds with serrated wings. She looks at you and shouts, ”Help her!” You’re about to say “I don’t know how!” But all she would say is, “Figure something out!” or, “I can’t hold them off for much longer!” Up ahead, there are only the two girls. The air distorts around Diamond for a moment, and then a pink purse appears. It hangs there, in mid-air, like some sort of guardian. You approach the pained Freshman. Silver Spoon One minute you were waiting outside Ms. Harshwhinny’s door for Diamond. The next you’re in the middle of the hall alone, and she’s not moving. You can’t remember anything before that, there’s just an extra pain draped on top of your mind, and the harder you try to think about it the harder it gets. You did something wrong, and you don’t know what. Or you know what, but not how, why. Why did you hurt her? Were you trying to take her place in a moment of weakness? Would you really go that far...? ”Silver! You need to calm down, something’s going on and it’s not your fault!” It’s your sister’s boyfriend. You can’t see him, your eyes are closed, and he's miles away. The police are going to come for you, aren’t they? ”I need you to talk to me, Silver. Tell me you can hear me!” “Wh-h,” you sniffle, and when his voice doesn't return, “Where’s Der-erpy?” The gross sob-hiccup halfway through her name only plunges more shame on you. You’d die of embarrassment if you had to look at yourself right now. ”She’s… she’s on her way," he lies. “I-I want to go home.” There’s another explosion, and you cower. So much is happening in the distance, and it's all you, isn't it? ”S-Silver, you have to calm down.” You want to go home. This isn't a freak accident, you know this is one of those powers, but you feel like you could just get away from it. Was it waiting in you, all this time…? You try to take a deep breath, and your heart hammers at you with your own guilt. There's nothing you can do about it, you deserve to feel this way. Derpy would know what to say to stop you feeling like that, at least with time, or to make you feel like the whole world didn't feel the same way. What would she say here? ...Nothing comes to you. You lower your head back down to your knees and keep crying. The hallway fills with a brief whooshing sound as he talks again, ”Your sister will be here in just a minute, you just have to-” Another explosion cuts him off, the same as the one that hurt Diamond. No, who are you kidding? It is the one that hurt Diamond. ...Is he dead, too? ”Silver, I need you to stay calm. Do anything that will make you feel calm.” “St-stay away. I’ll just h-hurt you if you don’t run away from me.” There’s a pause where he hesitates, and all you need to do is push him a little further. “If you stay here, there’ll be another explosion. It’ll kill you. I know it will.” It's the truth. ”Open your eyes, Silver.” You shake your head. “If she’s not there, I don’t- I don’t know what could…” Don’t even look. ”Open your eyes and I can guarantee everything will be fine. 100%.” The explosion’s coming any second now. You lift your head slightly and open them. It’s brighter than when you closed them, a lot brighter, but shapes fall into place automatically. This is your living room. And in the middle of it, standing and smiling, Derpy. Was this just a dream? Is everything really okay? You stand up and stagger toward her. She smiles. You’re okay. Everything’s okay... Care Root Silver drops to a knee and slumps, exhausted, into unconsciousness. The purse, hovering in the air a couple feet from you, doesn’t detonate again. After a moment, the life leaves it, and it drops limply to the tile. The pounding in your head lightens. You take a look at Derpy, the living room, and Silver in the middle of it, admiring your own handiwork for the next few seconds. Then another future moment burns out, and the hologram disintegrates. Then noise comes back to the world. Golden rushes up to you, with the Rainbooms in tow, and jumps straight past you to pick her sister up. ”We need to get them both to a hospital, now!” Rainbow zips past you and grabs Diamond. She doesn’t even look at you. Maybe she’s not an awful person after all. ”Care!” Derpy's voice comes as she shoves her way through the congestion of the crowd. She sees Golden and Rainbow carrying the girls outside, while the other Rainboom holds the door open. ”Is she okay?!” You throw her a thumbs up. ”She passed out from exhaustion. I think she’ll be okay now that you’re here.” She processes the words while she's still en route, and bridges the distance at doubletime. You take a step out of the center strip of tile so she can blow past you, and moves like a homing missile to match you. Before you can respond, her arms are around you, squeezing almost painfully, and her eyes are closed. Everything in the world feels right again. It takes a couple hours to get word from the hospital: Silver’s already up. Not happy, but… functional. Derpy leaves early to be with her. You wonder how all of this happened so suddenly. It was too bizarre to be an accident, wasn’t it? Maybe you're being paranoid, but... why did it all happen this way? ??? ”It didn’t work.” Defeat. ”It wasn’t supposed to work, you dunderhead! We were only supposed to slow him down.” Annoyance, unrest in the ranks. The other two keep going at it. ”Don’t call me a dunderhead! We didn’t slow him down at all! Something got in the way!” ”What could get in the way? We made sure the entire hallway was packed!” ”Someone broke up Applejack and Rainbow. They got right through!” ”Well, how was I supposed to know that would happen?” ”Did you check?” ”Did you?!” “Girls! That's enough! ｢Steam Powered Giraffe｣ won’t work if we aren’t in sync with each other!” You have to raise your voice to maintain order, but you at least calm them down. ”Sorry.” ”...Yeah. Sorry.” Both of them turn to you, and you think out loud, “The important thing is that we still have the element of surprise. We can prepare better next time without worrying about him responding to us. So long as we keep up our defenses, it won't be possible for him to come after us.” They get very serious. ”Okay.” ”Let’s get to work.” Filthy Rich Her friend was discharged from the hospital almost as soon as she entered, but Diamond’s still not awake. She's breathing, her blood's pumping, but she's not awake. Nobody home. You thought you were a normal father, at least in the ways that mattered. Diamond had some problems, but she was never going to be hurt on school grounds, and nothing would be able to touch her with anyone in your employ around, and that was more than most parents could say about their children. You would cry, but you’re not a crying man. Since your youth you've taken to closing your eyes and rubbing your temples. This time, when you open them, there’s a get-well card on the table next to her. You step closer and pick it up, to make sure you're not seeing things. It’s generic, and not a gift from the nurses. Inside, there’s no writing, just… an arrowhead, pushing out of the paper. It glows gold and extends outward, wriggling like a living thing, and the only thing that you can think about is that you really haven't had enough sleep lately. You reach out to touch it, not knowing why, and it breaks free, flying into your arm. There's something like pain, like listening to a hurricane through a bunker door or hearing about a crash in a market you've put only a little inside, but a sweeping feeling heads upwards from it until it cracks against your spine. Something new courses inside you. ”You can use it.” The voice comes from the doorway, but your eyes are glued to this card. ”They have powers. You can get back at them for doing this to her, and then maybe she’ll wake up.” It solidifies. You understand what your daughter must have felt. ”She's the most precious thing in your life and you didn't protect her, Mr. Rich. Can you make up for that?” “Yes! Yes!” You shout to the ceiling, not exhilarated but burning energy. Something takes root inside of you, and as you feel its name impress itself into your mind, you call it out. ”｢Johnny Cash｣!” The voice goes silent, and you're alone again. And for a moment, in the light and madness, you think you see worry flicker over your daughter’s face. But it’s just your imagination. ｢To Be Continued｣ Stand: ｢Tin Cup Chalice｣ User: Silver Spoon Ability: Exists only in half of one hallway of Canterlot High School. Inside this hallway, large objects, and items which aren’t directly touching a person’s skin, quickly degrade into nothing and reassemble themselves like new, creating shockwaves of psychic energy that explode outward and pull inward again during each cycle. This power is magnified by the user’s fear or willpower, and they can un-target any item in range at will.