//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Prom and Circumstance // by TheMessenger //------------------------------// If one were to hazard a guess as to what was being taught at Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship, the safest answer would probably friendship, being that it was in the name after all, and they’d be right, for the most part. See, a subject as broad and complicated as friendship requires multiple approaches of teaching, and this can, and has, lead to overlap in other, more traditional school subjects. Learning the history of the world and its nations, for instance, provides a global perspective on friendship and relationships as well as demonstrating examples of friendships from the past in action. Given that not all friends will be of the same species or even of sapient nature, one must know the the behavioral characteristics of different creatures to better befriend them, which requires the sciences of biology and its derivatives. The importance of letters in the development of long distance relationship means having to teach and improve writing prowess and reading comprehension. Even physical education could be justified as being an application of teamwork and practice of proper sportsmanship through, well, sports. And of course, how else would one determine the minimum rate one would have to accelerate at in order to catch up to their friend who lives six and three-fifths of a kilometer away before lunch at twelve forty-five PM if their friend were to leave their home at ten in the morning at a steady pace of three point seven kilometers an hour moving west and they left their home twenty minutes after with an initial speed of two point two kilometers an hour in the same direction without the wonderful world of mathematics? There were however many a time where a disgruntled student would take a step back and question the point of learning the names of all those mystic artifacts that when brought together for a certain specific ritual could sap the land of all its magic or having to run half a dozen laps around the track or being pelleted by rubber balls. The often unsatisfactory answer provided in response to such frustration was that one day, who knows, it could be very soon, those students would find themselves in circumstances where that knowledge would prove useful, even vital. As the students in the courtyard scattered and dodged the scorched and still burning debris falling from the sky, many were becoming grateful of the laps they had to run and the games of dodgeball they had to endure, though it was doubtful any amusement was to be found at the moment in proving their teachers, namely Rainbow Dash, right. One particularly large piece crushed the bounce castle, releasing its air and setting it aflame, and out of the burning wreckage stepped out a centaur, his hooves covered in soot and ash in his beard. He turned his head and looked around the courtyard, stroking his beard as he savored the fearful features the beings before him gave in his presence. He took another step forward and the crowds flinched and took a step back. A cruel grin spread across his face at the reaction. “Why, what’s this?” he said mockingly, forcing his raspy voice over the crackling of burning wood. “A party in honor of my long-awaited return? How absolutely touching. And what’s this?” Tirek pointed a long, spidery finger at Spike, the four mares, and draconequus. “Friends of Princess Twilight Sparkle, here to greet me? What an honor indeed. Only, hmm.” His eyes lingered on the Twilight-Discord fusion. “Odd, you I don’t recognize, and I would certainly remember if there was a second draconequus.” He shrugged, not bothering to wait for a response. “Well, it doesn’t really matter.” Tirek raised a hand, and as he did so, they all rose into the air. He let out a low chuckle as he watched them struggle fruitlessly against the invisible, intangible shackles holding them in place. “Once I’ve drained all the magic this school has to offer, the rest of Equestria will soon fall,” he said, sneering. “Don’t worry, you’ll all soon join your dear princess in Tartarus once I’m through with you.” And with that declaration made, Tirek, his arms stretched out to the sides and his chest puffed up and out and open to the world, threw back his head and laughed. It made him an easy target to whomever threw the cupcake that landed squarely in his eye. There was a lull as the entire courtyard held its breath and watched the centaur scowled and slowly wipe the frosting from his face and crushed the tiny cake in his fist. “Who dares?” he growled, turning away from the ones trapped before him to face and glare at the surrounding students. The crowd stood silent, and so, receiving no answer, Tirek could only sniff and coldly flick off the frost still clinging to his fingers and shake away the sticky crumbs. “Well, no matter. There will be time to deal with the rest of you later. There are more pressing matters to—“ A second cupcake flew through the air and found a place in Tirek’s other eye. Then came a third cupcake, then a fourth followed by a tart and a couple of miniature pies. Soon, a salvo of treats, from slices of cake to bowls of salsa to piping hot cookies and brownies with melting ice cream, was raised and launched from every direction and all towards the same red and black target. Cheers, battle cries, and eventually jeers and taunts sang out from the students as their unrelenting assault continued. One of the punch bowls, the one with the purple drink, was expertly tossed onto and over Tirek’s head, covering it like a helmet as the liquid spilled over his face, neck, and shoulders. Suddenly, Spike and Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and Fluttershy and the amalgam of Twilight and Discord fell back to the ground, the spell holding them in place no longer sustained as its caster struggled to stand his ground against the barrage of refreshments. “Come get some, you party crasher!” Cheese Sandwich shouted over the din as he doused the centaur in melted cheese spraying from a hose the stallion could barely keep under control. Beside him was Pinkie Pie, firing ball after ball of cake and party favors from her borrowed cannon, each one striking true and with enough force to cause Tirek to stumble. With the back of his hand, Tirek removed the mess of frosting, cake, and fruit punch from his narrowing eyes only for the effort to be wasted as a new layer quickly formed to replace the first. The hand clenched into a fist, his jaw tightened. “Enough!” Tirek roared, rearing up and slamming both of his front hooves down. The impact of his hooves left small craters and cracks and released a shockwave that knocked everyone standing onto their backs and into walls and those who had taken flight down to ground. With eyes shining red with rage and fists shaking in anger, he glowered at the pony-pile consisting of Pinkie, Cheese Sandwich, and a mess of confetti, cake, and cheese. Tirek’s lips twisted into a snarl, and he raised his hand, palm open to the sky. A ball of fire ignited the air between the centaur’s fingertips, and it was growing larger and hotter by the second. Soon the ball reached the size of the centaur’s head, and the cool evening air had been displaced by the smothering atmosphere of a furnace. A wicked grin returned to Tirek’s face. He held the fireball up over his head, his glare still focused on Pinkie Pie and Cheese. “No!” screamed out Twilight’s voice as the draconequus body reached out with their paw. Tirek’s fireball disappeared with a blinding flash of light and a deafening bang that drowned out the cries and yelps of those caught in the flash. Slowly, the low buzzing in their ears left, their hearing returned, and the draconequus could hear the moans coming from just about every direction, left and right, back and in front, above. “Ngh, what in Equestria happened?” Applejack muttered beside them. “I don’t know,” the draconequus said in Twilight’s voice. The light was starting to fade, and they could start making out blurs and shapes. “Is everyone alright? Pinkie Pie?” “I’m okay!” the pink blur above her assured. The draconequus rubbed at Twilight’s eyes and squinted. At last, sight returned, confirming that yes, Pinkie Pie was indeed floating a couple of meters in the air along with Fluttershy, Cheese Sandwich, several students who waved, some drink cups and napkins, and the cannon Pinkie Pie had been using except now it was made out of a bunch of balloons tied and twisted together into the shape of the artillery piece. As they looked up at those floating above, they also took note of the sky, which was, quite strangely, no longer the dark blue one would expect of night but an earthy shade of green with yellow and pink spots. “Hmm,” the goat horn purred. A long white goatee had grown out of it, right below the opening that was operating as the horn’s mouth. “Not bad. Not bad at all.” “Whoa. What’s going on?” The draconequus shook their head. “I don’t know, Applejack, but at least it doesn’t look anyone was hurt from that blast.” “Um, Twilight? I’m not Applejack.” The draconequus looked down to find Rainbow Dash at her side, taking in the current condition of the courtyard. “Wow, what a mess. Wait, whoa!” Rainbow grabbed at her throat as Applejack’s voice escaped it. “Whoa,” she said again. “Whoa. Apple. Apple. Ah. Pull. Howdy howdy howdy.” “You can go ahead and knock that off right now,” came Rainbow Dash’s voice. The two turned, and before them stood Applejack frowning in annoyance. “What in tarnation is going on here?” Rainbow started to laugh. “Oh, oh. That sounds so dumb without the accent.” “Your voices, they switched!” the draconequus gasped in Twilight’s voice. “How did this happen?” “You sure?” the horn asked. It had sprouted a pair of brushy eyebrows over its eyes and was currently having one raised. “Seriously, they sound so similar, I can’t tell the difference. Does that make me a bad friend? Fluttershy, tell me that doesn’t make me a bad friend.” “I mean, you could make more of an effort to learn the differences,” said Fluttershy as she floated by. “Yeah, seriously,” Pinkie exclaimed in agreement. “It’s not that hard. That’s like saying you get me and Fluttershy’s voices mixed up.” “Hey!” Spike interjected with a shout a bit of a distance away. “Could we get some help over here?” “And please hurry,” Rarity added from the same direction. “This is becoming excruciatingly uncomfortable.” Everyone looked to Spike and Rarity in the center of the courtyard. Besides having his suit covered in dust, Spike was no worse for wear, but Rarity appeared to have been caught beneath a piece of the stone fountain. No, not caught beneath, further review revealed, but a part. Somehow, someway, Rarity’s lower half had fused with the stone, her hind legs visible on the other side of the fountain, kicking futilely as Spike tugged at her forelegs. And there, barely an arm’s length away, was Tirek slowly steadying himself as climbed back to his feet. He took a dazed step toward the trapped unicorn and the dragon trying to help her, and as the centaur took another step, Rarity began to shriek. “Spike, run!” The sight of the approaching Tirek drove a wave of desperation through Spike. Seeing that his attempts at pulling Rarity out were proving pointless and only causing her more pain than relief, he released Rarity’s hooves and changed his method. Instead, he drove fist after fist into the surrounding stone, slamming his bare knuckles that were protected only by the natural layer of dragon scales as hard as he could against the fountain. Cracks were beginning to form in the stone but too slowly and too thinly, and Spike’s claws were already starting to ache as badly as his ears from Rarity’s panicked pleas for him to flee. Exhausted, Spike let his arms, heavy from his attempts to break Rarity free, fall to his sides, and with a resigned sigh, he turned to face the approaching centaur. Spike experienced a stubborn and rather inappropriate sense of disappointment at himself when he found himself having to look up at Tirek and discovered that despite all the growing he had done these past years, the villain was still a good deal taller than him. Tirek, from his lofty stature, looked down at the young dragon facing him and smirked. He stared at Spike’s shaking fists, still dusty and sore. He raised a hand. Spike was faster. He opened his mouth, and from it a torrent of green flames was released, directed up at the centaur’s face. Tirek cried out as the emerald firestorm consumed his entire upper torso, his raised arms serving as poor shields as the flames wrapped past them. A cheer was shouted out, starting from a certain orange dragon and quickly spreading until every being in the courtyard was calling out Spike’s name, encouraging him to push forward, to release every last bit of fire his body held. All that he had learned during those fire breathing contests with Smolders, the techniques she shared and his own personal experiences, Spike put them all to the test. His chest grew tight, and his lungs started to sear, but he powered through the pain, forcing himself to maintain the flames even as his body begged him to stop. Despite everything, however, no matter how much effort he put in, the fire became weaker as he reached his limits. Desperation and the desire to protect his friends had numbed the pain but only that, and his body was suffering from such reckless disregard to its wellbeing. His lungs felt like they were about to collapse, and he was growing dizzy from the lack of oxygen. And as the flames lost intensity, becoming less and less with each passing moment, more of Tirek’s features could be seen with a disturbing lack of higher degree burns. Tirek’s mouth could now be seen, and Spike’s eyes widened at the sight of his flames being drawn into that maw as if being pulled in by a vacuum. With each green spark consumed, the centaur grew larger, his chest widening as his pectorals expanded, his arms thickening with muscles, and the difference in their heights increasing drastically. Spike shut his mouth and cut off the flow of his magic fire, but he had recognized his folly too late. Struck by a delayed wave of light-headedness, he fell to his knees and coughed up smoke. Tirek roared with laughter, the raspiness of his voice replaced with a commanding deepness that better fit his new form. Rainbow Dash leaped into the air, but before she could get any closer to Spike, Rarity, and Tirek, something clamped down onto her tail and yanked her back. “Dang it Rainbow,” Applejack called out to the pegasus lying dazed on the ground as she spat out threads of rainbow colored hair. “I get that you’re worried, but don’t go charging in like that without a plan. You’ll just end up making things worse.” Rainbow shook her head to clear it and scowled. “Well we can’t just sit here and watch. Twilight, there’s got to be something you can do. Isn’t there some spell you could use or something?” “Believe me, I wish there was, but this body’s so strange and bizarre, so chaotic, I don’t know where to even begin. It took me two whole days to figure out how to travel through chocolate milk, and Discord said that was the easiest spell he could teach me.” “Yes and you couldn’t even pull that off right,” the horn said with a sigh. “But why don’t you try anyways? The results should be amusing if what happened with Tirek’s fireball was any indication.” “Tirek’s fireball? Wait, Discord, are you saying I—“ “Tirek’s stopped laughing,” the horn interrupted with a seriousness that was chilling to hear in Discord’s voice. “Twilight, you need to do something, anything, now. No no, I know what you’re thinking. Stop it. Stop thinking about saving our friends and just do it.” The draconequus looked to Rainbow and Applejack who could only offer shrugs. “All right, here goes.” The lion’s paw was raised and pointed at Tirek. “That’s it,” the horn whispered. “Now.” The draconequus took in a deep breath. The paw’s digits pressed together. “Just do it.” Tirek took a step toward Spike and Rarity just as there was a loud snapping sound and a brief flash. The crowds stared, many blinking in disbelief at the sight they were beholding, a sight so ridiculous most would have joined the goat horn’s laugh or at least have had to try and suppress a snicker had the situation been less dire. Spike’s own jaw fell as the imposing centaur standing over him now wore a pink dress some sizes too small with puffy shoulders and lace trimming along the sleeves and skirt. With a growl, Tirek grabbed the front of the dress and ripped it off, shredding it into little more than a pile of rags before Rarity’s eyes. All those hours, all that time and effort, the sacrifice she foolishly made, now fit for little else but the mopping up of spills. She had little time to dwell on the dress’s senseless destruction as Tirek continued his march toward her and Spike, who struggled to lift himself from his knees. Rarity’s horn lit up, and a discarded ribbon came to life. It snaked around Tirek’s hind legs and tightened itself into a bow. The centaur simply stretched his legs, and the ribbon snapped apart. “Now,” Tirek grunted. “Where was I?” The centaur disappeared, and in his place was a massive saffron, scaly fist. Those nearest could still see Tirek’s hooves twitching beneath the giant closed claw, and all shuddered as a thunderous roar echoed through the town and the night sky. ”THAT WAS MINE!”