//------------------------------// // How Far We've Come // Story: Care Root's Bizarre Adventure // by Ditherer the Fussbudget //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer You're standing in the back rooms of Canterlot High. Twilight's with you, looking as nervous as she's been the last week. Both of you know that this has to work. You stare down at the arrow on the desk. Gold, intricate, and just as bright in the dark as in the light. You try to concentrate on what you need: a way back, a way home and out of here... Your mind fills with idyllic scenes. Leisurely reading with Celestia. Autumn visits to the smaller principalities. The fireworks displays that lit up the Canterlot sky in time with each holiday... Why leave? Stubbornness, arrogance, maybe pride. Not any longer. You've moved past what you were. You've become someone worthy of the high path! Which is why you're going to get this on your first try! You smack a hand down right on the metal shaft. Immediately, something gets pushed onto you. Through you. The arrow's almost impatient, offloading its magic onto you, and it comes with an identity, a name. "H-hey, I think this is going to work!" You flash Twilight a smile, and she leans forward with eager eyes. Okay. Now, how do you make it work? Well, you have what sounds like the name, so maybe it's like a spellcasting measure. You turn away from Twilight just in case and speak to the empty hallway. "｢Boulevard of Broken Dreams｣...?" The air hangs still. Hmmph. Your mouth sets in a line. "I'm missing something." "A volunteer?" Twilight's eagerness has burnt off a little, now replaced with abstraction. You haven't failed yet. This arrow's the best chance, the only chance that's going to come. Unless you can marry technology and magic that neither world's even seen! You kill your frown and nod to her. "Maybe. I'm not sure. It feels kind of... prickly." She studies you for a moment, and then speaks, helpfully. "Maybe the teleportation's defensive." "Yeah, maybe. I just get a bad feeling about all of this. I know it has to happen, but it just feels... off." To your credit, you do have some real experience with negative magics. This isn't black magic, it's not even outside harmony's wheelhouse, but still... it has the potential to get pretty nasty. She seems to mirror your expression. "I know what you mean. But if it's the only way, it's the only way." She has a point. "Fine. Just stand there and let me focus on you for a minute." She does, silently, hands clasped in front of her. "｢Boulevard of Broken Dreams｣!" You snap your wrist forward to accompany it, trying to fling your power out and onto her. Something works, and you feel the world lurch around the both of you for a second. Everything's moving! And then there are three people. "You..." A face you remember too clearly for your own liking stares at you. Adagio Dazzle, the leader of the Dazzlings, looking steaming mad. She's not even looking at you, but it feels like she is. Like you both have to be aware of each other. Did you pull her in from... wherever she was and then anchor her to yourself? Either way, her expression remains absolutely furious! "So you found another way to cheat!" Twilight answers her, hands unclasping, a little nervous. "...Would you mind telling us where you just came from?" Adagio doesn't answer. Instead, her eyes glaze over with a soft red light. And wait... she has her pendant on, the one that powered her magic by making the school fight! How could that have happened? This is all too freaky, and not what you needed to happen. You snap your hand out again, hoping to dismiss it all. "｢Boulevard of Broken Dreams｣!" But Adagio doesn't react. At least, not to you. She stalks closer to Twilight, and then pounces. Sour Sweet For some reason, Lemon does this best, so you leave her in there and stand guard. ｢Message Man｣ would protect you, naturally, but... well, some things take a little finesse and niceness. You just aren't feeling it right now. It's been hours since Sugarcoat's last update, it's late afternoon and you're starting to get worried. Filthy Rich didn't sound like an easy Stand user to go toe-to-toe with. But it might just be that Sugarcoat's got so much vinegar in her blood that she couldn't be bothered to send you a message, or she had to get a third phone this week! You turn to the door to the crate. "What's taking so long?!" Lemon's voice comes back, both loud and good-natured. "We're just talking for a few minutes!" ...You cross your arms and look out onto the horizon. The sun's behind a building now, but judging by the color it won't set for another hour or two. It's getting dark out earlier, now. Soon it'll have been twenty four hours. You notice your teeth grinding, slightly. Really, what the fuck happened back there? You haven't seen hide or hair of Sunset, Flash is gone, Sugarcoat's voted herself into power, and now you're left scrounging for... anything. Gems, your teammates... anything. Sunset told you what positions to take, she should've known. You arrived on time, you did everything you could. You even helped knock out one of the Sirens, or so Sugarcoat tells you. But why didn't you wipe the floor with them? Maybe Sunset had some bad information, somehow. The plan just didn't fit the situation. Or maybe it was exactly what she'd been expecting. You saw the way she was around the rest of the Rainbooms. There was genuine feeling there. With you, all of you, it was business, like fulfilling a contract. Maybe that's the right way to think about it. And after all, if someone falls off the roof and cracks their skull open before the job's done, you just put someone else up there, right? You try to be better than this. It's a strain. You can feel the current of this emotion, and where it'll take you. First some more pounding on the door, hurrying things along, becoming antagonistic... Let them have a minute to talk. You know that what you're fighting for is more important than one person's life - that was how every battle worth fighting was. And she gave all of you every chance to back out before you touched that arrow. You look out onto that horizon, at the still-steady traffic of cars heading home. They all have their headlights on already, even though it's not even close to dark yet. You hate people like that. But above them, a plane whistling through the air - a big diagonal contrail against the clear sky. You think of the words burnt into the sky two nights ago. Your fists tighten in your armpits like the knots of muscle in your legs. These things you've been saying... they're all the kinds of things she'd say if you tried to argue it with her. You feel like you're just making excuses. Fake compassion leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. You don't feel bad for Sunset. You don't feel bad for anyone involved, really. And what's wrong with that? You're in this to get better. You were all pretty private about whatever it was they were paying you with, but of course everyone could guess. A lifetime without stumbling over yourself. Dignity without anger, control without fear. You felt insulted when they first offered it to you, and even more insulted when you learned that they were just doing it to save the world. But it was smart. No one else has worked out the threats buried in those promises.'We can keep you like this forever if you don't help us.' ...Your parents would tell you to cheer up right now, probably. You imagine using ｢Message Man｣ to cut off the start of a conversation like that. You could do it, if you seized the exact moment the decision formed in their head - that little bit of electricity would do it. 'But we sent you to the best school we could find, we made sure you kept in touch with your friends, your father works extra hours to pay your prescriptions, not that you should feel guilty-' Extra hours, extra hours. You shake your head. You hate psychology. That and the city. One day you're going to go live in the woods somewhere no one goes. Or, you don't know, be a camp counselor or something. There has to be a market for that in the summer. You remember Sugarcoat trying to make you read some book about that. "Waldo"? She never really offered things to anyone, but you had a bad spot one night and tore half the pages out. Didn't have the heart to tell her afterwards, not that she'd have cared. ...You really need to get out of your head. So you turn back to the only entrance to the crate. It's a huge shipping container, the kind that mostly gets turned into an eighteen-wheeler. Metal ribbed with copper or brass, something that looked half-rusted coming off of the production line. You step closer. The door locks from the outside with a sturdy, thick bolt of iron. It's jammed into place now, more symbolically than anything. Anyone in their right mind would think of this as a prison, but it's willing. Even all your Stands combined wouldn't be able to trap her here. Not that you're really afraid of her or anything, it's just the truth. If you press an ear up to the door, you might make out the conversation inside. Don't old ladies do this with glass cups, or is that just in sitcoms? You debate whether it matters, and whether you should be more careful as a guard, but the truth is that it doesn't matter who shows up here or tries to get in. You're only now facing the part that's actually in need of security. So, bored, you try. It's grimy and freezing, and you take extra care not to get any part of your mouth stuck to it. Lemon's voice comes through more clearly, being a lot higher-pitched and closer-by. It doesn't have its usual squeal energy, though. "...t's not your fault, really. Everyone else is fine." "B-but i...een there I could've - no, yo..." So she sounds the same... The one time it was your turn, she'd been sleeping. "It can't be any fun being here. ...It's not gonna be for much longer." "-don't know if I can...uch longer. It's jus..." "Two months. And everyone's hurting, believe me. We all thought it was gonna be over last night, but things got way too hot too fast." You can't hear any part of the next reply, but the inflection tells you it's a question. Lemon listens to it without interrupting. "No, they're totally fine. So are their little sisters, and believe me, they helped out big time. It was just Adagio - do you know Adagio?" Mumble mumble something something? So just news of the world beyond. You stop listening. Lemon gets along with her, although you have no idea why someone like Sunny or Sugarcoat didn't do it even better. That, and she has ｢Lemon Demon｣, which nearly guarantees her safety in a one-on-one. You need to head out before the sun starts to set. You're finding your way to Flash, tonight. If they planned this out, the Sirens will already have some of the gems collected. Two birds with one stone. But in the dark, the purple one will have an even bigger advantage. It took the most savage attacks you had to hurt her last time, and she'll expect you. No more fighting fair, or pulling punches. Two knocks from the inside of the crate. You nod your head, and ｢Message Man｣ undoes the bolt. A distinct chemical smell washes out into the lot, along with the breathy hum of a whispery generator. Lemon steps out, and then nods to the side. Her Stand closes the door faster than you could open it, and smacks the bolt back into place. "Come on, we've got a couple of places to search while everywhere's still open." The way you say it makes it sound like you're trying to hurt someone. She nods and lets you lead the way. Derpy It's the end of the school day and things aren't any worse. Time keeps slipping ahead, leaving dark patches you barely remember. Class, hallway, class. Care didn't come in today. You're taking the bus home, but knowing your mom, she'll want to drive you here and back from now on. "Are you feeling okay?" Twilight's voice comes from beside you. You haven't really talked much, only in the hallways, but she's been around you all day. It feels like she really doesn't know where else to be. The teachers don't know about anything yet, people will probably find out on the news. Will they say her name? You blink. "No." She adjusts her glasses and looks apologetic. "I... I honestly didn't know--" "I believe you." The words grind out on autopilot. You're not angry with her, but you clearly haven't conveyed that. Just, what else could they throw at you? You're both standing under a barren flagpole in the cold as the others file onto buses. Half-pint Freshmen mingle with the upperclassmen, hurrying for the doors as if nothing's wrong. How many directions do you have to protect your family from? Is there some trapdoor in your power, too, that Sunset can use whenever she feels like it? Twilight might know. "What is that arrow? Where did Sunset get it from?" She hesitates, now, making an effort to choose her words. Or her apology was rehearsed a few times. "It's some kind of a magical relic, like the Dazzlings' gems. I don't know for sure, but I think she might have brought it from Equestria? It has a lot of magical power in it, so it works weirdly around Stands." "Like forcing them to activate?" "Uh, well, I didn't know it could do that until last night, but it does seem good at supercharging any Equestrian magic that already exists." Of course - that's probably where Fido got his special upgrade from. But why would this impossible-to-go-to land of talking horses need something that beefed people up like that? In fact... "Is there Earth magic?" She watches a bus leave, and lets the answer sit on her palate for a while. "Hm... I don't think so. If there is, there's never been very good evidence for it. But I'll admit I haven't done a lot of deep studying into it." Even she seems kind of... untouched. It all just rolls off the rest of the world. The riptides come for everyone, one person at a time... You don't like thoughts like that. "Why do you say 'Equestrian magic', then?" That perturbs her. "What do you mean?" "Isn't it just 'magic'?" She opens her mouth, and then closes it. "I... guess it is." Your bus shows up, and Silver gets onto it. There were rumors running around that she hurt someone today, maybe multiple someones. You don't know what to say to her, and her attitude doesn't give you a chance. She just bustles into the bus and lurks in the back, staring intensely into the middle distance, tasting the air - she doesn't even have her backpack. Twilight sits down next to you, and you look at her, curious. She's definitely never taken this bus before. "My house is actually pretty close to yours. I can make the walk afterwards," she says. You smile a little, on the inside. She lowers her voice as the doors close and the whole contraption takes off. "I've got a question for you, too, actually." "What?" "Well, just... what's next?" No one's bothering Silver, and she doesn't seem to notice your glance to check. Across the bus other conversations are popping up, and hidden handheld games and music players are being produced in droves from deep pockets. "Next?" You ask without looking at her, and then catch with one eye the plaintiveness on her face. "Yes, are you going to... keep up the fight with Sunset, or just let her do what she wants and try to, uh... get away from it?" Oh. She feels a little conflicted about your burgeoning feud with her sister-killing former friend. You look at her firmly. "I have to stop her." "But... wouldn't it be safer for you to just let her be? N-not that I'm saying it would be ideal, but couldn't we just call the police on her or something?" You feel your normal kindness drain out of you. "All of those girls have families. The Shadowbolts, the Crusaders, even Anonymous. It could've been any of them last night." Twilight remembers the sight of that one body, unplaceable for you, and she shudders. From the little she's told you, she used to hang out with the Crystal Prep girls. You go on. "All of them had families, and all of them were fighting because they were brought to that place and forced to. She knew what was happening. As long as she uses them as pawns in some game to jump between the universes, I'll never forgive her for any of the pain she's caused." She looks kind of taken aback, and you have to make sure that you didn't put so much feeling into your voice that the entire bus heard it. "But... how are you going to find her? And if she has the arrow, how are you going to stop her from using it on you?" "Care and I will think of something." Her eyes go wide with shock and she almost splutters, before she remembers to keep her voice down. "C-Care? Isn't he the reason that all of this happened to you?" Then she sees the expression on your face. "Well, I'm not saying that it's his fault, but-" "Care's done everything he can for me. He's given up everything else he could be. If Sunset grabbed his arm and hit me with it, I wouldn't hate the arm. That's exactly what Sunset would be looking for, anyway, a chance to demoralize us and keep us from gathering the gems together." Golden wouldn't let that happen, and she wouldn't rest well if you let it happen either. You won't let that passion die inside of you, not when her body isn't even cold yet! Twilight listens to you. She looks nervous, but not about you. Then you remember that she doesn't even have a Stand, the way she stood in the background in that room, saying nothing. Her cry for help just before you escaped. Your demeanor gets a little gentler. "Sunset was really close to you, wasn't she?" She nods. "I never got a good chance to know the rest of the Rainbooms the way I got to know her. She's... a good friend." "Then why? Why would she do this?" "I... I don't know. I really don't think she meant for anyone to get hurt. I'd never seen that green man before, when I was with her or anywhere." Anonymous. If what Twilight said to you last night was true, that Sunset had made it impossible for Care to have happy memories, maybe she didn't control how they became unhappy, like making a wish to the monkey's paw... But she could have asked. She took the risk, she had the accident, and now someone's missing from the world. That's not just some mistake. Not with the way she was acting, the way she'd planned everything. Wherever she got that arrow from, she must have known how dangerous it was. Twilight's turned inward, and the frost on the glass across the aisle blocks your view of the trees. Your voice draws her back out. "What are you going to do, now?" She makes eye contact with you, looking kind of glum. "I-I don't know if there's anything I can do, Derpy. I don't have a Stand or much special information, I can't fight, and I messed things up so badly that all of this started in the first place." Yes, she said something about that, but you missed it. "What do you mean?" "During the Friendship Games, I took all of the Rainbooms' magic and turned into a monster called Midnight Sparkle. It took them and the Shadowbolts to stop me from breaking open our universe and the one Sunset came from, but once it was over I'd done enough damage that I... uncoupled them." That gives you a strange mental image. "Like train cars?" She nods, looking a little guilty. "If we could just create a bridge between the universes again, there must be a way to make it stronger. That's what Sunset's been trying to do. Without it, she can't go home, and there won't be any more Equestrian magic in the whole world." It surprises you how passionately she talks about Sunset's mission, but you remember the Friendship Games, vaguely. You didn't participate much past the chemistry section of the decathlon, and you were really only let on because a few Freshmen voted you in. But at the end, things did go really wonky. There were no big announcements or anything, but huge holes did start to appear. Bright lights in the sky, big pulses of energy. It wasn't normal, but it was like a fire, you knew to get to cover. No one really talked about what happened afterward. Did the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts just keep it to themselves? They must have been willing to help Sunset afterwards, but why? Did she really befriend them that quickly? Another important question comes to mind. "You said that there couldn't be any more magic after the portal got lost, but the Dazzlings said that Care's Stand was Equestrian magic, and so is that arrow. How could that happen?" She opens her mouth to recite something, stops herself, closes it, and thinks. Finally she answers you. "...I don't know. I think the amount of magic in the world has to stay about the same. We're still running on whatever was leftover from all the trips people made back and forth to Equestria. When it runs out, this will be all we have." "Then couldn't you use it to turn into Midnight Sparkle again and fix everything?" She winces. "That's... not a good idea. We tried it, before she used the arrow. I'm not even strong enough to use a Stand, I don't have that kind of willpower." Now she's just being self-deprecating. You can't stand to see someone like this; the opposite of Sunset, a person whose mistakes were bad, but who tried to make them better. Someone who thinks that she might as well stay out of the way instead of getting too involved. "You know, you can always come help us the same way you helped her." She looks a more than a little surprised. "But... all I really did for her was track your phones and mix some chemicals now and then." "Didn't you build those gem trackers the Shadowbolts had?" "Yes, they were modified from the one I used to take the magic from the Rainbooms." "We could definitely use those, if we're going to get back the gems and keep them out of anyone else's hands. ｢Spinal Tap｣ is bringing them to me twice a day already, but it's still going to take a couple weeks to get them that way, and that makes me a big target. I don't want to take any more chances." She absorbs that. "But... why?" You blink, and refocus your eyes on her. Why? "What do you mean?" "What are you going to do with them once you assemble them?" The question seems to echo in the noise of the bus. It comes to a stop, and the first herd of kids shuffles forward. "Well, we'll keep anyone else from having them." Twilight looks horrified. "For how long? The Dazzlings are indestructible Stand users. They might really be able to wait until you die to take them back! And Sunset's never going to give up unless you find some way to destroy Equestrian magic completely!" Yes, destroy Equestrian magic... that, or her hope. You are, very often, a woman of common sense, and here it leads you to a single conclusion. "Then we'll use them to help Care, or break them all the way." She shakes her head. "The last time they were even shattered it took a pulse of harmonic magic so powerful that I was still measuring it for days after! Even Care's power wouldn't be able to destroy them for good! The only way to stop anyone from getting to them would be using more Equestrian magic to push them out of the universe, and that's exactly what they want anyway!" You suddenly feel like you've wandered into an argument. The busgoers have cast you a few glances, although most of them are at the back of Twilight's head. None of their eyes seem to glint with malicious understanding, and they move on as soon as they come. On instinct, you take a deep breath. "Twilight..." You wish Care were here. He convinced Trixie so easily, when she had been the one out to recruit him! Maybe it was because he knew where he was going. He had such a sense of direction, a tie to destiny... "I know that there are a lot of details that we haven't figured out yet. I... I don't like knowing the whole future in advance. We've done too much of that already, and it's only hurt us." She's listening to you intently, waiting for some moment to interrupt. You keep up the pace enough to not give her a chance. "I don't know what we're going to do once we get all of these gems. But we don't know everything about them. Maybe there is a way to destroy them, or use them up. If we drained them of all their magic, or hid them away somewhere no one else would find them..." She really, really wants to interrupt you, but you plow on. "No matter what we really can and can't do, I know for sure that I can't just leave Sunset to gather them on her own. I can't let her have what she's going after, or the Dazzlings, or anybody else who's fighting these battles. Once we have them we can decide what to do with them, but that's the only acceptable ending." The solitary, crooked path to the base of that ｢lemon tree of the future｣... "But I need your help to do it. Care won't be able to do much for the next two weeks, and that might be all the time we get before things come back to a head. Without you, we're going to be in the dark completely, and we'll only be able to grab the gems by taking on other Stand users." You've realized something, now that you've been through that dark night. A strategic line of thought has sprouted in your mind. The more fights you have, the more risk, so any situation that you can get through without a direct conflict is an automatic victory! Besides Care, none of your Stands are suited for direct combat, and if it's true that the gems are unbreakable, it's wasting your offensive to gather them with your Stand. You're still safe in that area, you have a small stockpile, but that's for emergencies only. For everything awful that happened last night - Golden's death flashes through your mind, in a way you realize it will for the rest of your life, in happy moments and sad - You've seen who your enemies are, and you know you can't win by relying on just your own Stand. The Crusaders had a Stand powerful enough that they could take yours head-on. Sunset's was unpredictable, and you couldn't even tell what Flash's was. With the Shadowbolts on their side, you can't just charge in. Twilight speaks again, and you struggle to center your eyes on her again after this torrent of planning. "...If that's really how you feel, then I'll do my best to help you. You got me out of a bad situation, and you didn't leave me behind even though I'd been helping to make your life harder..." Okay! Maybe you're a bit better at this than you thought! You smile at her, and then put an arm around her shoulder in a light sideways hug. And to your credit, she even returns it! "Aww, I knew from when I saw you that you didn't have anything bad in mind." Yes, some people in the world are evil, but some don't have a drop of it in them. Their aura seems to radiate goodness. However she acted in the past, that's the kind of feeling that you get from being around Twilight. To someone else that might be a mystery of its own, but it's the kind you kinda like having in your life. There are enough bad ones on your plate to last you the rest of it. The bus stops at your street soon enough. Twilight and you discuss plans for the rest of your short time together. Silver brushes past you with her head down on her phone, and you don't call out to her. The back of her head reminds you... You're doing something about it now. You and Twilight, your newest friend. You're not finished with this war yet! Anon ”Do you know why Dagi and I have different eyes than Aria?” That question echoes in the room. Sometimes Sonata will say things that only make sense a lot later. Jokes, sometimes. It makes her pretty amazing at breaking up a boring, samey conversation. Even though you don't understand all of the things she says, you can always talk with her about something. Before her, you could count the number of girls you had an extended conversation with pretty easily. It was one conversation each, typically. A girl on a train who started one out of the blue about television... None of them were like her, which was why you missed her dearly whenever she was gone. You nearly couldn't stand it. It's like you're the main character in some awful romance novel - of which, again, you've only experienced a handful. Right now it's getting particularly bad. She patted you on the head before she left, telling you to make sure to keep your leg up. Of course, you do. She also made you conserve ｢Nowhere Man｣'s ability, to help your recovery. You really don't know if you'll be able to walk again, but that's okay. Once you go back to where they all live, you'll just learn how to swim. 'Anon the Mermaid.' Or maybe the portal will fix you, or they'll find a way with their own magic. Sonata didn't seem too worried about your injuries once you came to. The girls have a lot of medical experience, apparently. Frankly, nothing about them should really surprise you any more. You always assumed that if you were dying, no one would come for you. That was the fate of Anonymous; you would break off from people, losing more and more along the way, and eventually leave the world alone. And who knows, you guess there's still time for that, but the idea that someone would save you from those bullet wounds... (Or that she would get her sisters to smuggle high-powered painkillers for you.) It's incredible. Your leg's currently splinted and bandaged, with the bullet removed. You kind of wish they'd kept it. The reason was originally that it would've been cool to show off, but you realized that everyone you would show it to had already seen it. Now, you'd just like to have touched it, understood it. What happened to make all of that possible last night? Were those girls really going easy on you until the end? According to Sonata, this was how the night happened: She locked out the back doors, and things were calm. Adagio signaled in Siren for her to come to where everything was happening. But before she could do that, one of them was back there. She ran away after a lot of rigmarole, and Sonata lost her, and then when she came up on the group, things were already in chaos. She came in finally, just as things were really getting heated up, and she got Flash Sentry knocked out and away from where anyone would find him. But before she could go for seconds, ｢Listening Chair｣ alerted her about you. She broke off from terrorizing Shimmer's squad and ran to where you were with all her power. And oh, Nonny, you looked like the biggest mess. You smile to yourself, staring at the ceiling. Fuck, you miss her. Apart from Aria being in an especially bad snit, the other two haven't said anything about what happened yesterday except about the gems. Which are now an academic point to you, because of your other responsibility. Flash Sentry groans and chuffles a bit before he wakes up completely, so you have time to look stern. Mister Rockstar's not hurt too badly, but you've figured out how to keep him unconscious. If ｢Nowhere Man｣ summons a ghost and makes it stay still on something, it becomes almost impossible to muster new energy in it. Stands, which are like constant ups and downs of energy, get shorted out. Hearts, which work the same way but much faster, give out completely, and sleeping people, who have low levels of frontal lobe activity, stay sleeping. The last two combined make it possible to put anyone you want in a coma, as long as you have the hands to spare. In this case, you released him from your thrall about an hour ago. When he comes awake, he's always aware and ready before he opens his eyes. Doing what he thinks, in rockstar land, is a subtle test of his bonds. You hope they chafe. He's on the couch, and you're splayed out on a big comfy loveseat. Still has enough mobility to put a hand to his face, by design. Sonata looked at you while she and Adagio did the ropework and winked, and you don't know what to feel about that. You reach down into a thin slit of cardboard at your side, and your target crackles and bumps under your fingers. Then you produce it. "Hey, catch." Flash's eyes open and adjust just as the cereal bar flies through the air. It tastes sugary as hell and leaves a nasty dust in your mouth, but the Sirens have very picky palates and don't care much about human tastes. Besides, she thought you'd like them; there's a smiley face sun in the corner of the box. Flash's hand reaches out to the maximum slack of the rope and catches the bar like a fastball. Damn it. Game for anything, he reinspects the room while his hands Houdini open the food. This is his second time awake, and he seems kind of disappointed. "You haven't moved me yet?" The room you're in clearly doesn't belong to any of you. There's a clunky, decently old TV in the center, in one of those cabinets you can close up, and a big black shelving unit of mostly boring DVDs, which you've already amused yourself with by having ｢Nowhere Man｣ bring to you. A lot of bric-a-brac, a piano in the far corner, good carpeting worn with age and bumps in the walls around the light fixtures. Wisps of yellow curtain block any view of the backyard, and the hallway blocks any hint of the front door. It was the best they had on standby. There were a couple buildings like this that Adagio convinced people to leave, just in case things went south. That lady sure bounces back. The fact that the owners haven't come back yet, now that the power's worn off, is a relief to all of you. "No reason to," you respond. You almost add 'None of your people are going to find you here,' but that would be too thick. Never argue with someone from a position of authority. Flash keeps scanning the room. Your ghost is underneath of him on the couch, waiting to grab him. For the second time his eyes rest on your bandaged leg, laying out on the table. "We don't have to keep you alive. If you throw that thing at my broken leg, I'm just going to kill you." He doesn't look scared, but he does work the bar down to his mouth and take a bite off of it. "So how long until you interrogate me?" You chuckle. He really thinks he's a captured spy, doesn't he? "We don't need to. We'll use you as a hostage while the girls sniff out the shards again. Once we have one, whoever gets it will just force you to tell us anything we don't know anyway." He maintains his expression. "You don't really think it'll be that easy, do you?" "Yes, it will. Now that we don't have to worry about being secretive, the Dazzlings can just find their pendants by being close to them. No one can take them on in a straight fight." He mulls on that, and then he asks something completely unrelated. "Why are you working with them?" Your shoulders set. "Because they deserve better than what your little friends did to them. They deserve to go home, instead of being trapped in a shithole of a universe like this one." He looks at you, calmly. Searching, almost. His voice is low, curious. "You're really not being controlled by them, are you?" Your blood boils, but your face doesn't change. "No, I'm not. It doesn't take brainwashing to see the world as it really is. You just have to get the right perspective." A perspective someone like Flash Sentry wouldn't have in a million years. You can tell you're not getting through to him, but it doesn't matter. He used to be "nice" to you, is all, back... well, it feels like a long time ago, now. Walking up behind you and smacking you on the shoulder, ignoring how you flinched every time. Asking you about what you were doing on the weekend. Implying you should come along to some awful football party or something, like you'd never watched Carrie. It was only a few days before he left you alone again, thankfully. You hardly remembered it, and you'd hoped he didn't either. "I'm... not sure what to say to that." At least he's being honest, and not hurling some new reason to be all daisies about life at you. All of that bullshit only serves to make you angry now. If people tell you enough times to take deep breaths when you're ready to hurt someone, the thought of actually doing it starts to piss you off even more. It's a web of bad expectations, ready to snare you the second you speak to the wrong person. And you already know whose expectations you care about, so let the whole web burn, and the rest of them with it. Flash has eaten now, it's about time to put him back under. He'll start planning something otherwise, he's not stupid. You wish he was stupid, it would make it easier to just write him off. "Anon?" he asks. "What?" "What made you give up?" Ohh, of fucking course you spoke too soon. The soft self-righteousness is what gets you the worst. You don't keep the edge out of your voice this time. "What, on being happy?" You all but spit on the carpet. "On the world." The world? That prison built by the people, for the people? "When I found something better." You feel yourself almost smirk. It's the closest you can get to smiling, normally, without looking like you're in pain. He doesn't give you a reaction. "You want it for one of them, don't you? No bullshit?" So he really could tell you weren't being controlled. You consider him for a moment. "Yeah. I do." You don't dare say which one, just in case he figures out some way to hold one of the girls hostage. Not that you wouldn't risk yourself for Aria or Adagio - Sonata would feel awful if they weren't around. "I know the feeling." "Tch." You doubt it. He goes on anyway. "You want her to get back home, no matter what you have to do. So long as she isn't miserable and trapped, everything else can work itself out. And when it's all over, whatever still needs to be taken care of, she'll be able to take care of it herself." You nod, despite yourself. You didn't realize he was a... kindred spirit? "Is it Shimmer for you?" He doesn't answer the question. "That kind of thinking is going to kill all of us." You don't have anything to say back to him that isn't overly aggressive. Sonata will be back, soon, and you won't have to keep company with his thoughts after that. Her eyes come back to you. Why are they different? What's so important about that, anyway? Suddenly you feel something shift, and the coffee table is gone from under your foot. Not slid out, like your brain tells you it must have, just vanished completely. Your dead-weight leg hits the carpet, and sings out in pain as you slip down the chair. St-Stand attack! Flash is already up, the ropes completely gone. How did he-- He looks at you with some kind of pity in his eyes, an angel staring down on a demon as he pierces its side. Your hand's already at your side in the cushion, going for your second gun. Then the loveseat disappears, and the rest of you falls, destroying your balance again. You feel like you're being shot again. He heads out into the hallway, straight for the door. You still pick the metal up, and fire through the wall. The shot's silenced, but it slices through the front door, and it does what you intend it to. He stops before he can get outside. Now he's frozen, thinking - trying to determine where you're likely to fire next. He could come in here, or run for the alcove the door's in. Either way, he won't make it. Fucking good-at-everything Stand prick... You fire a second shot at the door while he makes whatever decision he's going to. "I can see where you are!" you shout to taunt him. He doesn't answer, trying to keep his position secret. Bad listener. You've decided he doesn't understand what it means to fight for someone you love. He used to date Shimmer, but it was a high school relationship. He's not equipped to know the difference. If he wasn't just trying to distract you, which of course he was. Pushing buttons, same as always, same as anyone trying to get something from you. He doesn't have anything that was on him when he came in, and he must be realizing that now. The ghost originally under his couch rushes down the same path he took, ready to stop his heart. It motivates him, footfalls coming from the hallway, and there's no doubt that he has an advantage. A track star like Flash Sentry could 100% win a straight sprint against your Stand. Even in unusual, foreign terrain, or a place with a lot of rough turns, you don't doubt that he'd pull through on adrenaline alone. He turns the corner to the alcove, and you don't shoot him, because he sees her. Standing in the entryway, Flitter. And as he tries to push his way past her glowing green eyes and realizes why you can see him, your ghost catches up. So do the other two, coming right out of the wall. He slumps to the ground, the blue light representing him falling and dimming. After a moment it goes out completely. You can suddenly hear yourself breathing, hard, and the gun drops out of your fingers. Okay. Now, what are you going to do about your furniture? Lavender Lace Knock knock! Late in the night, you hear it downstairs. You're Lavender Lace, unassuming blonde-haired CHS girl, watching some TV and avoiding your homework, and your parents are still supposed to be gone. Maybe they'll go away... The knocking doesn't stop, or even slow down. It turns mechanical, like a four-year-old looking for attention. Knock knock knock knock-- Fine, fine! You get up off of your couch, passing by your phone. Just a glance through the glass eyehole thing, and then you can pretend you're not home. Just so long as you know it's not Sunset Shimmer coming to give you new orders, or some other super popular girl... You look through, and it's Snips and Snails. Something important. Snips is the one who won't stop banging on the door like a police officer. You take a moment to fiddle with the locks and then throw it open. Behind them is Fuchsia Blush - your old bandmate - and someone else... Mystery Mint, with that purple scarf matched by a coat! Your anger at the two boys shuffles into warmth, and then confusion. It must be something important, to bring all of the gang together like this. You hold open the door so they can file in and no one reports this to your mom. "Is this over Trixie?" Snips asks, the first one of you to speak. "We haven't been able to find her ever since she got out of Canterlot General," Snails adds. You shrug your shoulders nice and wide for them, but they don't look any less confused. Shouldn't one of your bosses have shown up with them? Or do they just like making you sweat? You realize the TV is the only light in the building right now, and you turn on a couple others in the living room, leaving just the kitchen in darkness. "Yeah, what's this about?" Mystery asks, in her casual way. Her arms are crossed, and her eyes move from you to the rest of the group, looking for any answer. She, you and Fuchsia haven't been asked to do much of anything, except stay out of the way and give up a little information. "I don't know," you say, after no one else pipes up. "They didn't tell you?" She looks skeptical. "Why would they?" "Well, you are the one who called all of us here." "Yeah." Snips chimes. "What? No I didn't. I haven't talked to any of you in a week!" Fuchsia holds her phone out to you while the others are still bringing it up on theirs. You lean in and see the group texts... sent from your phone and no one else's. You gasp. That can't really be you! You rush over to your phone and pick it up, checking. Yes, they were sent from yours only forty minutes ago. 'Come urgently. Need to talk about our next steps.' 'Come to my house. Front door will be unlocked.' In fact, half an hour ago you got some fresh air and found it was unlocked! You thought that was just your being forgetful! "Someone's really trying to mess us up. They really want us to get scared." You say, looking at the other four. None of them know anything about hacking, and besides, you don't even think that's how it works. The texts would have to come from... Inside the house. "Ah-hem." The voice doesn't belong to any of you. It comes from the kitchen, the dark. You rush over and flip on the lightswitch, only for it to flip on by itself just before your fingers can make it. While the light burns your eyes, you can see her. Trixie, sitting there on a stool at your parents' marbled island, eating a pack of cheesy peanut butter crackers from out of your pantry. She looks up at the five of you. "So this is what happens to Trixie's teammates when someone puts a little pressure on them. I can see why you weren't told about the big showdown in the factory now." She crinkles the edge of the packaging absentmindedly. "Trixie thought she taught you better." Ambush! Your ｢Two Door Cinema Club｣ flies out to hit her straight across the face, but ｢Busdriver｣ beats you to it. Snails' Stand is seriously beefy, and Snips is already leaping into action, too. The rest of you, the older girls, forget to move for a moment. ｢Busdriver｣ punches her straight in the head-- and then suddenly its fist jumps to the side, going straight past her. It doesn't even muss her hair. Fuchsia looks for an opening to use ｢Bike Thief｣, but doesn't find one, and Mystery Mint acts next, sinking into the floor. But she doesn't make it. The ceiling suddenly fills your vision up, like a close up in a movie, and you realize you're falling, backwards, towards the ground. Then, suddenly you're further away. The concomitant crashes sound out as you all scatter, and you wind up in front of the front door. How is she--?! Your vision settles back on Snips, the closest one to her. She gets up off the stool, and her boots click against the floor. Snails is already up on his feet and bridging the distance, but with a flourish of her cape, he missteps and trips over again. Then she does something you've never seen her do, and throws a punch at Snips. Even you can tell it's, what, 'choreographed'? He ducks it easily, is the point - but then he's back up in the air! Her fist connects with him, and he falls awkwardly, hitting his face against your countertop. Ouch. You've got to do something! Snails' Stand rushes to throw another punch, before she can turn back to the rest of the group, and you run behind it. Then Snails' body shifts, tripping you, and his Stand halts. Floating in front of Trixie, caught in the blue mist of ｢Abracadabra｣, is Snips. Her hand holds him by the back of his collar, and ｢Busdriver｣ retreats. "Is this the kind of teamwork you decided on?" she scoffs, and drops Snips straight down. He falls over among the rest of you. She snaps your fingers and you're - - Mid-air - On your couch. There are just barely enough seats here to squeeze all of you onto them, and she stands there, surveying all of you. "That was almost exercise. Now..." She waves an arm expansively at all of you, and you and Mystery flinch, expecting to hit another wall. "All of you were turned against Trixie in this little conflict. You were all willing to turn your back on the one who gave you a chance at everything." She sounds completely deluded. It's almost funny how scary someone like her gets once they've broken into your home. "Trixie is not yet willing to forgive you for that kind of heinous trespass against her and her livelihood. But as treacherous as you are, you are still pawns in this game, and she cannot stand to see her own students aiding a cabal of murderers and monsters." Murderers and monsters? Mystery opens her mouth to say something, and thinks better of it. "Now, before you decide your final placements on this big chessboard city, let Trixie explain what it is she wants from you..." ｢To Be Continued｣ Stand: ｢Two Door Cinema Club｣ User: Lavender Lace Ability: ??? Stand: ｢Bike Thief｣ User: Fuchsia Blush Ability: ??? Stand: ??? User: Mystery Mint Ability: ???