//------------------------------// // Day Three, Evening: A Star Fall, A Phone Call // Story: The Golden Age of Apocalypse, Book II: Synchronicity // by Shinzakura //------------------------------// The foals came back to consciousness at the bottom of the gulch. They weren’t sure how long they’d all been out, but the afternoon sun was setting, and the shadows were starting to stretch. “Where are we?” Silver asked, shakily. Her glasses were broken and from the look in her eyes, she was at a severe disadvantage with her sight. She also had a gash on the top of her right ear that was bleeding profusely. “I…I don’t know.” That response came from Sweetie Belle, who was rubbing her horn. It looked seriously bruised, and that meant that she wasn’t likely to be able to cast any spells anytime soon. “We need to get out of here!” That came from Whitewater, who was standing on unsteady legs and looking into the distance. On either side of the gulch, the near-vertical walls were honeycombed with holes – the telltale burrows of quarray eels. He didn’t know much about them other than that he was told to stay as far away from the gulch as possible or he’d be in serious trouble. And now, here he was, caught right in the center of the place. If he managed to make it home alive, he knew he was grounded at least forever. Maybe even past the day he got his cutie mark! “Calm down, okay?” Diamond told him with a confidence she didn’t entirely feel. “We’ll be okay, alright? We can’t be in any worse case than this.” “I can’t move my wing.” They all turned to see Scootaloo, her eyes filled with stinging tears, trying desperately to dislodge herself from a pair of rocks that had pinned her left wing. Given her handicap, it was already bad enough, but this made things so much worse. Even more troubling was that Sweetie, with a horn bruise, couldn’t even try to move it with magic. The three earth ponies looked at each other and immediately tried to push the top boulder, but to no avail. Instead, the movement scraped against Scootaloo’s damaged wing, causing her to scream. From above, the distant rumble of quarray eels in their habitats stirred, with one lazily poking its head out at the sound. At that, Silver quickly clamped down over the yelping filly’s mouth, muffling it until Scootaloo calmed down and the immediate danger had passed. “We can’t do this on our own,” Silver told them all. “We need to get help! Find a grownup!” “Are you crazy? We’ll get in trouble!” Whitewater whined. “Trouble is better than the alternative!” Silver spat at him. “Look, we’re getting nowhere, it’s getting dark and we need to find help!” Diamond told him. “You, Sweetie and I are the only ones that can make it to town in time.” She looked at Silver. “Silvy, you need to stay with Scoot. Otherwise, she’s a dead duck.” “I hate being called that,” the filly in question grumbled, but said nothing further. “Are you sure it’s safe?” Silver asked nervously. “You can’t climb without your glasses,” Diamond reminded her friend. “And Scoot needs somepony to stay with her in case things get worse.” “I’ll stay as well,” Sweetie said, still rubbing her injured horn. “I can’t help much, but I can probably create a light spell in case things get too bad.” “Good thinking.” Diamond looked at Whitewater. “C’mon, we’ve got a long way to town and not a lot of time to do it.” “Why’s that?” “Because if I remember Miss Cheerilee’s lecture on quarray eels, they hunt at night and that could be really bad for us.” Sweetie gave Scootaloo a smirk. “See? And you call me a dictionary.” “Now is not the time!” To make up from this morning’s earlier events, Fluttershy had decided to take her counterpart out to dinner that night. Carefully, she’d chosen an out of the way restaurant on the far side of Ponyville, a nice little place that she always went to in the past. It was nice and quiet and not frequented often; plus, it was one of the few restaurants outside of Canterlot that specialized in Ponjabi cuisine. Lastly, the owner, Ginger Cumin, was a dear friend of Fluttershy’s, having befriended her when she first opened up her restaurant and understood the pegasus’ need for peaceful solitude. So typically Ginger’s Bamboo Platter was an exotic yet not-too exotic place that was just perfect for Fluttershy on many an occasion. Unfortunately, tonight was not going to be one of them. For the moment the citizens of Ponyville had spotted their new superstar heading to the out-of-the-way restaurant, the place had suddenly become an unwelcome riot of ponies seeking photos and autographs with the human musical sensation. “I’m sorry,” the older Fluttershy stated, as the younger one signed an autograph for a particularly gleeful teenage filly. “I had hoped to have a pleasant dinner tonight to make up for what Discord did this morning, and now it’s been ruined.” “It’s okay, really,” the teen told her friend. “I’m used to this. Sorta.” “Sorta?” Fluttershy nodded. “Usually it’s my dad signing the autographs, not me, although I have done more than my share as of late. Maybe it’s just something I need to get used to.” She gave a smile, and then paused to take a picture with a particularly bouncy young pegasus colt who seemed as though he was having the moment of his life. Once that was done, the teen turned back to her dinner companion. “If there’s one thing that Dad’s taught me, is that being a celebrity means that your life isn’t exactly your own anymore, and you need to find those little moments when it still can be.” The pegasus recalled that. “So that was your father earlier?” “Yeah.” The teenager blushed furiously. “Although I’m usually used to seeing him with more clothing on.” Large cyan eyes winced in sympathy; she’d been told by Princess Twilight repeatedly that human nudity was a huge taboo for them, though she really didn’t understand why. “I’m sorry both of you had to go through that. Discord – well, my Discord – was just trying to make friends in his own way.” “It’s okay, Shy. You don’t have to keep apologizing about it,” Fluttershy insisted. “In fact, I think Dad would find it all funny after he got over the sheer confusion and mortification – though I’m sure not telling him that it really happened. Part of me still wonders myself if it did.” The butter-yellow pony giggled. “Oh, it did. And again—” “Shy, you really don’t have to keep apologizing! I’ll get over it.” Knowing her counterpart wasn’t going to let it go until she changed the subject, Fluttershy asked, “So, have you thought about my proposal?” The topic switch had the desired effect, though not exactly as the teen wanted it. “I…I don’t know,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I don’t know how you do it. I mean, I did some modeling, and the girls tell me I’m not as standoffish as I used to be…” Could’ve fooled me, the human thought, though she didn’t voice it. A second later, she mentally admonished herself: before Sunset had become her friend, she was likely just as bad as her counterpart, and it was honestly due to Sunset’s direct and indirect influence in her life that had brought about the change. “…but I don’t know if I’m brave enough to sing on stage with you,” the pegasus continued, unaware of her companion’s internal debate. “That’s not to say I wouldn’t, Flutters, but, well….” “I’ll be right there with you, and nothing’s going to happen, I promise.” The teen paused for another autograph, this time from the owner of Guitars and Endtables, who had been present for her first performance and had given her a brand-new Everfree oak (certified Timberwolf-Free!™) acoustic guitar in appreciation for her skills. “But how do you do it? I’m…I’m not comfortable with crowds.” The look in the pegasus’ large cyan eyes radiated fright. “I’m…not as brave as you are.” Fluttershy gave her friend a comforting smile. “Yes you are – more than you know, in fact. Certainly braver than I am!” “That’s not true at all! You’re out here performing and wowing the crowds! And Sunny told me that last time you played in front of millions of people!” The girl giggled. “It’s because I was letting the music guide me, and I got lost in the melody – I forgot where I was. I’m a lot better about being in public than I used to be, and that’s due a lot to Sunny’s influence. But I’m not brave enough to face monsters and all the problems here that you have. You say that I’m brave, Shy, but I promise you, you’re far more courageous than you give yourself credit for.” “But that’s different than performing in front of everypony. I know I couldn’t do that,” the pegasus insisted, “and I’m amazed that you can.” “Yeah, too bad she’s not any good at it!” Everyone in the restaurant turned in the direction of the accuser, to see Gracenote standing there, indignation in her eyes and a snarl on her face. “Yeah, I said it! All of you are just fascinated because she’s some weirdo alien, but we all know that when it comes to real music, she can’t handle anything like the average pony, much less a superstar like me!” The human looked at the newcomer. “Can I help you?” she asked. “Yeah – I challenge you! I’m tired of you stealing the spotlight, and so I’m going to show this town who the real star is! So I’m challenging you to a battle of the bands on Friday!” She looked around the room. “And all of you better be there to see who the best mare is!” “Grace, why don’t you stop making a foal of yourself?” The pegasus turned to see Drop Leaves, the owner of Guitars and Endtables, look at her with disappointment. “You don’t have to hog all the limelight all the time.” “Shut up! At least I work for my fame! I don’t have to just be some exotic freak like her!” Grace accused. “That’s not nice!” Retiring or not, Fluttershy was not about to let her counterpart be picked on just because she wasn’t a pony. “You should apologize for what you said and—” “Oh, shut up, you little squeaktoy,” Gracenote seethed. “We all know the only reason you even come out of your cottage is because you’re friends with the Princess. And nopony’s talking to you, anyway, so butt out of this conversa—” “Apologize!” Gracenote turned to see the human glaring at her with burning irritation. “Excuse me?” “No, I don’t think there is one. An excuse for you, that is.” Fluttershy stood up and stared down at the pegasus, who was now realizing just how tall humans were compared to ponies. “I don’t care what you say about me,” Fluttershy stated coolly, “but I won’t put up with you saying anything unkind about anyone here. They’re here to enjoy dinner and I appreciate that they enjoy my music. As a musician, that’s the important thing: bringing joy and happiness to others, not basking in the limelight. That’s an important lesson I’ve learned from my father, and I take that to heart.” The teen took a step forward and said, “Furthermore, you insulted Shy. She’s a dear friend and I expect that you will apologize to her.” Gracenote nervously took a step backwards instinctively before she realized this must be some sort of human effect at work; the myths ponies had of that species said they were fearsome monsters after all. Plus, she was the human counterpart of Fluttershy – the only pony with the particular ability to Stare a target into submission. But Gracenote refused to be intimidated. “I will…if you give up your performances and admit who the better musician is!” The pegasus looked at the teen and said, “Flutters, you don’t have to do this for me. I can deal with it.” “No. It’s not fair to all those who came here to express their heartfelt thanks for my performances,” Fluttershy said softly. “Furthermore, you’re the Element of Kindness, and you least of all deserve to be treated like that.” Crossing her arms, the teen turned back to the offending pegasus and said, “You want the challenge? I accept.” Gracenote gave a wolfish smile. “Oh, so at least you have a bit more of a backbone than your counterpart here. I’m surprised. You think you can be ready on Friday?” Fluttershy gave a small smirk that would have looked more common on the face of a girl with ruby-and-gold hair instead. “Oh, I’m ready now.” She turned to the crowd. “Does anyone, uh, anypony know how to do a sound amplification spell?” As Grace watched on with complete confusion, a thin unicorn with a soft voice raised his hoof. “I, um, do.” Fluttershy gestured to her phone. “Would you cast it on this, please?” A pumpkin-orange glow surrounded Fluttershy’s iPhone and as it did, she pressed play on her iTunes app. After a second, a jaunty, psychedelic tune began to play over the phone’s speakers, and as it did, Fluttershy sang, each word dripping with meaning towards her target: Gracenote. “Kid, stay and snip your cord off, talk and let your mind loose Can’t all think like Checkout but you’ll be okay Kid, is this your first time here? Some can’t stand the beauty So they cut off one ear, but you’ll be okay “Welcome to the Garden of Earthly Delights… Welcome to a billion Arabian nights This is your life and you do what you want to do This is your life and you spend it all This is your life and you do what you want to do Just don’t hurt nobody… And the big reward’s here…in the Garden of Earthly Delights… “Kid, pick up with another, some will even drop you But hearts are built like rubber, so you'll be alright Kid, swallow but believe us, you won’t die of boredom Should you have to leave us, it'll be alright… “Welcome to the Garden of Earthly Delights… Welcome to a billion Arabian nights This is your life and you be what you want to be This is your life and you try it all This is your life and you be what you want to be Just don’t hurt nobody (‘less, of course, they ask you)… in the Garden of Earthly Delights…” As the song hit the bridge and Fluttershy danced around, lost in the song, two things happened. First, a green glow surrounded the girl’s body, and the pegasus of the same name instantly knew what that was: somehow, the other Fluttershy had command of the powers of the Element of Kindness as well, though it seemed that the abilities were manifesting differently, as was how she used them. The second thing was that Gracenote, realizing that she’d just be subtly insulted, stormed out of the building, angry as could be. Seeing her depart, pegasus Fluttershy looked sad. There was probably a good reason for Gracenote to have done what she did, but unless she explained, that answer would never come. It was a tragic situation; she knew the other pegasus was relatively new to Ponyville, and she probably just wanted to fit in, but really didn’t know how. To the Element of Kindness, situations like that were incredibly sad. She suddenly felt herself scooped up in a hug and, unsurprisingly, it was her fellow Element of Kindness. “You shouldn’t worry about things like that,” the teen told her. “I know you’re worried about her and that’s very kind of you. But we make our own paths in life, and until we learn how to move beyond it, we’re doomed to repeat the cycle.” “I wish I could break it for her,” the pegasus told the human. “I know you do,” Fluttershy responded to Fluttershy. “But speaking from personal experience: unless they’re willing to change…you really can’t.” Sunset looked at her two employees. “Thank you for taking the time out to have dinner with me.” Currently in her alicorn form for what she felt was a need to be formal, she looked at both Softwing and then Jewel. “I wanted to discuss things this evening because we still have many things we need to complete before my coronation on Sunday and if we knock our heads together, we should figure out how to evenly divide the potential problems coming our way.” “Knock our heads together?” Softwing asked curiously. “Human figure of speech – it means to share ideas,” Sunset clarified. “In any case, do either of you have any questions?” Jewel began immediately. “Are…you single, Your Highness?” “Not that it should matter, but yes, I am. Why?” Before Jewel could ask further, Softwing stated, “But I thought the other girl in here was—” “Pinkie?” Sunset blushed, but said, “Ah, no, Pinkie’s a very good friend of mine, but we’re not…you know.” She flushed once more, but the look in Softwing’s eyes made it clear that she didn’t believe a word of it. “So, ah, not seeing anypony,” Jewel stated, swirling her wineglass in her magic field as if thinking of what to say next. “Ladies, we really should focus on work right now,” Sunset stated, trying to get control of the situation. “We can talk about our personal lives later, especially if we’re going to be working together.” “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, Sunny,” Softwing apologized. “It’s okay. We’re probably going to be working together for a while, so we have plenty of time to do that. And speaking of which, after dinner tonight, I’ll sit down and teach you both the amniomorphic spell so you can turn human as need be.” She then turned to Jewel. “Although you don’t have to learn it if you don’t want to, given that you’re temporarily on loan from Kibbitz’ office….” Jewel hadn’t thought of that. No! If I’m going to be her special somepony, I need to be around all the time! “About that, Your Highness,” the unicorn began. “Lord Kibbitz has plenty of accomplished ponies who can work for him and do what needs to be done there. You, on the other hoof, don’t have anyone but Lady Softwing. Thus, I must insist that I come work for you full time, so that you have the same quality of office care that your fellow princesses do.” Sunset smiled widely. “In that case, I will contact Kibbitz and have him transfer you to Softwing’s supervision. Will that be a problem for you, Softwing?” The griffoness shook her head. “Not at all – in fact, given the increased load that hit us today, I would recommend seeing if we can hire a few more people. I’m going to be very busy otherwise, especially if I need to look for a home on Earth and the like.” “Home? On Earth? I’ll have to move to your world, Princess?” Jewel asked. Thinking about it, she didn’t mind, especially since that meant they could set up a cozy little home for the two of them. As much as Jewel knew she was destined to be the spouse of a princess or prince, she really wasn’t a fan of large homes. She wanted something where she could live in paradise with her sweetie. “I don’t know yet. I know the bulk of the office’s needs will be here in Equestria, but that I’m leaving up to Softwing to decide,” Sunset said, nodding at her subordinate. “I’m sure that you’ll probably have to travel to Earth once in a while, though; plus, having the extra experience will make you all the more well-rounded of an employee and a valued asset.” I hope you’ll get to value all my assets soon, Jewel thought. She knew that she was now firmly ensconced in Sunset’s workplace. Now, all she needed was time alone with her to explain just how they were perfect together and – easy-peasy, smiley breezy! I guess I should read that Karmare Sutra book I borrowed from Silver, she thought, making a plan to do so that evening. Music playing at full blast, Rainbow jogged down the path that Princess Twilight had recommended for her after having had a pretty decent meal. As much as she wanted to sit around and talk with her friends, she knew she had to get a workout done. After all, this morning’s PE session with the kidlets certainly didn’t count, as fun as it was. Sure, teaching the colts and fillies how to play soccer was cool and such, and probably just like human kids, pony kids getting their exercise was necessary, but it really wasn’t doing much for her. After all, she was an athlete, and while she was comfortable with teaching others how to play, in the end, she was made for competition. You couldn’t be the best at soccer if you were just teaching four-legged kids how to punt a ball around. You needed to push yourself on a regular basis. And since sitting around grading papers like the Twilight she knew wasn’t something she wanted to do, Fluttershy was probably off communing with nature and her counterpart or some shit, she didn’t have the luck that Applejack and Pinkie did and could do those karate moves or whatever the hell it was they did, and there was no way in hell that she was going to hang out with Rarity and her counterpart, that pretty much left one single option left. Thankfully, as an athlete, she knew that meant staying in shape, and staying in shape meant working out. That much she could do. It wasn’t as though she was going to run into cotton-candy clouds or chocolate rain or any kind of weird shit; so far she was finding that Equestria was…a little out there, but not that much. If anything, it was like living at Disneyland 24/7: not something she’d want to do permanently, but it was okay for a week or so. So, having thrown on her favorite MP3 mix – she’d rather have listened to her account on Pandora, but Twilight was holding onto the wi-fi password like it was worth more than gold – she jogged down the trail, waving hello to the occasional gawker. Fortunately, there weren’t many, as it was getting towards sunset, or at least what probably passed for that around here; the fact that the sun was literally controlled by Sunset’s biological mother was weird as fuck, as far as Rainbow was concerned. It made her wonder if Sunset, due to her new power, had some measure of control over their sun back home. Not that she’d figure her friend would abuse said skills if she did; Rainbow trusted her dear friend completely and utterly. She finally hit her stride as “Sirius Wishes” by Discord came thundering over her headphones. She was still weirding out that her favorite rock star of all time was the father of one of her best friends, but Fluttershy seemed to have taken it in stride, and was even now changing her plans from a career in animal care to one in music, like her old man. Rainbow grinned; if it meant that she got free concert tickets and advance copies of Fluttershy’s albums, then she’d be there for her friend – even if she probably wasn’t going to be the kind of musician that rocked as hard as her old man did. …to say nothing of what Freebass had told her the previous month about all those uncool things that bands had to do for business’ sake. As she rounded a bend and passed by what looked to be the edge of the pony Applejack’s farm, Rainbow had a weird thought: what would Discord do if he found himself here in Equestria? It was clearly weird as hell, but in that “looks like a toy company’s wet dream” way, completely with Princess Twilight’s “crystal ass-plosion” castle. Rainbow mentally shrugged; he probably would get a kick out of the place if he showed up and then would have used it as inspiration for those experimental Explosive Chocolate albums of his, she figured. “HELP!” The shout was loud enough to hear over the headphones, and that made Rainbow pause. If someone needed help, well, that was her calling to do so. Plus, it would probably make her look totally cool in the eyes of the ponies here, but that was second to the fact that someone was in need of help. She raced in the direction of the shouting, where she saw two of the students from this morning. She couldn’t remember their names, but it was clear that they had seen better days; they were soaking wet and looked as though they’d been roughed up somehow. “HELP!” the filly screamed, looking worried. Her friend shouted as well, but his voice wasn’t carrying as far – female lungs for the win, Rainbow guessed. Moving up right next to them, she looked at them and said, “What’s up?” Their lung power increased slightly, as, both of them, clearly jittery, screamed in fright and only Rainbow’s earbuds managed to block the aural assault. She looked at them both and, mindful that they were kids, bent down to look at them at eye level. “What’s wrong?” “Oh, it’s you, Miss Human!” the pink filly said. “The other Rainbow Dash!” “Well, I don’t know if I’m the other, but I am me,” she said with a brief grin before looking at them. “What’s wrong?” The next few seconds were spent with the two foals explaining to her what happened and what they did. Rainbow was about to write it off as a stupid stunt gone wrong, until the next couple of words chilled her soul: “And Scootaloo got hurt!” Whitewater said, trying not to panic. “One of her wings is stuck between two stones and we couldn’t get her out!” “And you just left her there?” Rainbow snarled, her anger momentarily rising as she suddenly worried about her sister. A split-second after that she realized that no, it wasn’t her sister, but the Scootaloo of this world. A second after that she decided it didn’t matter; A trio of kids – Scootaloo included – needed help and there was no way that Rainbow was going to back out of this. “Okay, lead the way,” she told them. “We’re going to rescue them.” “Um…shouldn’t we get an adult?” Whitewater asked. “I mean, they’re in the middle of quarray eel country, and that’s bad enough!” “Look, by the time we get there, it might be too late already!” Rainbow told the two of them. “I’m not going to let some kids get hurt because we took too long to get to them, got it? Let’s get over there, pronto!” “And I thought you’d want to be made aware of it as soon as we could confirm it,” Divine told Princess Twilight a few minutes later. “Sorry for not telling you sooner, Twi, but I know you’ve been busy and I’ve been trying to take care of it as much as I could.” “No, Div, I appreciate you looking out for our ponies,” the alicorn told him. “Will Dry Sands recover?” “He’s in critical healing right now, but he should make a full recovery,” the unicorn told him, “though some of his bones are broken well beyond the safety threshold to heal via magic, so they’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. I sent out my best troops to the location where the attack occurred to make sure that the Bete Goson was contained, but it was already gone by the time they arrived.” “I’m not surprised,” the princess responded. “The Bete Goson might be superficially related to ursas, but it’s a lot smarter. It pretty much has a pony-level intellect, and that kind of nature, combined with its strength, might be a bit much.” “Think we should contact Fort Berryville for backup? They are on standby,” he reminded her. Princess Twilight shook her head. “I’ll leave that up to you, but I think you’re more than capable of protecting all of us, Div,” she said with a smile. “I know you can do it.” Despite everything, he gave her a warm nod in return. “I’ll do my best,” he assured her. “I just hope it’s good enough.” “I’ll take your ‘good enough’ over somepony else’s perfection,” she assured him. The two looked at each other awkwardly for a few more minutes, as if there were a dozen unspoken things between the two. Fortunately, the moment was broken by the appearance of the princess’ counterpart, the human Twilight Sparkle. “Twi? I think we might have a bigger problem on our hands – or hooves, I suppose – than you think.” The two ponies turned to look at her and the teen continued. “I did some quick reading up on the situation myself, and I’ve put together a preliminary psychological profile of the thing.” Divine blinked. “Forgive me, Lady Twilight,” he told her, “but…you’re not from this world. How could you accomplish that?” Princess Twilight grinned. “I’m not surprised. Go ahead, Twily.” “Thanks. Well, Captain, for starters, my mother is a trained child psychologist, so I picked up some of those skills from her. Additionally, I’m the counterpart of Twi here, so it’s reasonable that outside of magic, anything she can do I should be able to. And with that in mind, based on the attacks and the nature of what has been written about the Bete Goson, I was able to hammer out something fairly quick. And if I’m right, we have some serious problems…and I don’t mean just ponies. I mean us humans as well.” “What?” “Think about it: we humans are significantly taller than ponies. The Bete Goson is looking for a fight and though it’s ultimately going to choose its targets based on aggressiveness, it’s also going to choose potential adversaries based on similar characteristics. Based on the picture in the book, I did some quick math and figured that it’s well within the norms for human height, which means that it would probably try to pick a fight with us. As I understand it, minotaurs are roughly around the same height as humans as well and several known Bete Goson incidents have involved minotaurs being mauled, am I correct?” Divine blinked as the realization hit him. “Extra targets, and the kind the Bete Goson would want. That is not a good thing at all,” he commented. “I’ll contact the major in charge of Fort Berryville and tell her to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.” “Let me know whatever paperwork you need drafted up and I’ll take care of it,” Twilight told him. “Also, have one of your ponies contact Fluttershy and tell her that I need her and her counterpart to stay here at the castle right now. I know she’ll worry about her animals, but the bigger concern at the moment is both of them, especially human Fluttershy. The others are staying in town, so they should be relatively safe for the moment.” “Fair enough. What about the Apples?” “You know they won’t leave the farm unless there’s no alternative,” Princess Twilight reminded him. “Send a small team out there to watch unobtrusively. I’m more worried about Fluttershy and her counterpart right now, but there’s no sense in risking the others if we can avoid it.” “I’ll get right on that, Twi.” He then looked at her counterpart. “Would you be able to get your profile down on paper for us? I’d like to pass this out to my cadre so that they’ll know what to look out for.” “Fortunately, I brought enough printer paper to take care of that,” Twilight insisted. “And if that doesn’t work, I can always email your folks PDFs.” When the stallion looked at her oddly, she blushed. “Right – no technology.” The princess giggled. “Don’t worry, we’ll get this taken care of, Div.” Pinkie sent out another text again. She’d tried calling earlier, but…no answer. She’d also called Octavia and the triplets, individually, who all promised that they would get in touch with Sunset for her, but given how busy they were, it might not happen immediately. And so she sat on the bed in the guest room, holding her knees and not knowing what to do. Every fiber of her being screamed for her to get on the next train to Canterlot and to tell that Prince Fujifilm or whatever his name was that Sunset was taken. To tell that stupid little unicorn that someone already had Sunset’s lips and heart, and that person was none other than her. But was that really true? If Sunset loved her as much as she loved Sunset, why didn’t she tell everyone that she was taken? Was it because she couldn’t? Did she know that she would have to choose someone else as a lifemate, even though she and Pinkie belonged together? On Earth, royalty was allowed to choose who they wished to marry and love conquered all – but that wasn’t the case in the past. And given how close to the absolute monarchies of the past that Equestria seemed to emulate…. A jag of fear, disgust and indignation went through Pinkie’s body at once. Her love, being sacrificed as a pawn by her own mother for the sake of the kingdom. What kind of parent would do that? But at the same time, if Princess Celestia didn’t have a choice…. The dark thoughts continued to swirl around Pinkie’s mind, giving her no peace of mind. How could she have any? There was a knock on the door. “Pinkie? It’s me, Pinkie. Can I come in?” A pause. “I brought dinner.” Pinkie heard her stomach growl, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want anything or anyone except for the one person in her world that brought her joy. The one person in the world she wasn’t hearing from. Because she didn’t answer, the pony opened the door. Her mane had straightened out, and she looked sad. Pinkie knew that look instinctively; strangely enough, her hair did the same thing and she saw that look in the mirror more times than she can count. “Are you okay?” the mare asked the teen. “No. Sunny’s not answering my calls or texts, and though I asked the others to contact her for me, they’re not saying anything, either,” she said sadly. “Do you want me to go get Twi? Or the other Twi?” “No,” Pinkie replied. “Seeing Twily right now would just break my heart even further. And I don’t want to hear platitudes that her sister loves me.” The mare just went up then and put her forelegs around the forlorn girl, and the two sat that way for an unknown time until the human fell asleep. As Pinkie came down with the uneaten meal, Mr. and Mrs. Cake looked at her. “Is she okay?” Pinkie shook her head and lied. “I’m sure it’s due to the medicine she has to take. I’m sure she’ll be okay soon.” “Well, I do hope she gets well soon,” Mrs. Cake said. “She’s a sweet young mare and I hate to see anypony like this.” “Yeah,” Pinkie said cheerlessly as she held the uneaten food and watched as the Cakes went back to finishing up closing the shop for the evening. “Me too.” When Rainbow and the foals arrived on the scene, help had already come in the form of the other Rainbow Dash…such as it was. Unfortunately, the pegasus, even with her speed, was being overwhelmed by the sheer number of quarray eels that had settled in the gorge. The last time she’d been here, it had been a significant number, but now, it looked like a breeding season or two had multiplied the numbers and any attempt to rush down to save the fillies met with a dozen snarling teeth snapping at her, causing her to barely dodge out of the way in time. “RAINBOW DASH!” Scootaloo screamed from below, her voice echoing through the canyon. “HELP!” However, the pained pleas only served to enrage the serpentine monsters all the more and they reached down to snap at the foals, causing them to scream all the louder. For now, they were safe, but it was only going to be a matter of time before one or more of the predacious eels decided to get wise enough to burrow down to their level and it would all be over for them. The human looked at the situation and the setting sun and said, “Shit, this is not going to be good.” “What are you doing here?” Rainbow turned to look at her counterpart, still in the air and dodging and weaving around the forest of living teeth with surprising grace and agility. Unfortunately, there were still far too many for her to get down to save the foals, and time was running out, both in terms of daylight and the pegasus’ own stamina – sooner or later, she was going to tire and with that, she would likely end up as much in danger as the ponies she was attempting to rescue. “I’m here to help!” the teenager shouted back to her counterpart. “Sorry, don’t need help, I got things well in hoof—” She never finished the sentence as a last-second dodge away from one eel ended up getting her swatted by a second one that was attempting to bite her. The impact, while not doing damage, ended up sending Rainbow spinning out of control and out of the gorge, to crash painfully against a rock. “Okay, okay, maybe I do need a little help!” she called back. “But you don’t have magic! What can you do?” “I don’t know, but I know I’m not going to let Scootaloo or those other kids get hurt!” was the response. Wine-hued eyes gazed into wine-hued eyes from afar, and both of them burned with an intense understanding. The teen broke the look off first, turning back to her junior charges. “Run back to town,” she ordered, “find the authorities and tell them what’s going on. Then don’t come back here, understand?” “But what about—” “Leave that to me,” Rainbow said, hooking a thumb back at herself. She looked down at the footpath down into the gorge. Bathed in the setting sun, it looked like it would be a challenge for bipedals like herself, much less an adult quadruped. And she had the ability to run down the slope, where an adult pony might need to navigate and could get caught by these giant weird-ass moray eels. “Whatever you’re going to do, hurry!” That last came from the pegasus, who looked as though she was starting to tire. She’d apparently switched tactics from a rescue to distracting them long enough to let her counterpart make it to the canyon floor. However, that meant completely pissing off the eels, and that was a no-win tactic that would end up with the pegasus becoming monster chow, if she wasn’t careful. But it did mean that they would be distracted enough not to attack Rainbow while she raced to the aid of the others. “Good luck!” Diamond said, as she and Whitewater turned to run back to town. “I don’t need luck,” she said with a proud smirk. “I’m Rainbow Dash, after all.” The three foals looked at the figure flying down the path, moving at a speed they hadn’t expected of the human that had taught them that “sock-ker” game earlier. She finally came to a stop in front of them, a proud smile on her face. “Hey kids,” she said, “I’m here to save the day.” The smirk completely vanished from her face as she saw the strained look on Scootaloo’s face, as the trapped wing continued to be utter agony for the young pegasus. The swimming pain in those eyes was a perfect match for all the times she’d seen her sister in distress: all the bruised knees, the times she’d been made fun of because she still had minor issues dating back to her childhood, the cuts and scrapes and arrows of life. Rainbow loved her little sister too much to see that look last long on the young face and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let it remain on her sister’s counterpart. Moving over to where the boulders were, she said, “I can move these, but it’s going to hurt until I do. Can you hold out?” “I don’t know!” Scootaloo sobbed. “It hurts!” Rainbow bent down and wiped a tear from the pony’s large eyes. “Hey, be brave for me, okay? My kid sister Scootaloo is one of the bravest kids I know.” “Wait, your sister’s name is Scootaloo?” the filly asked. Rainbow nodded. “Yup. She’s absolutely fearless. Wants to be a fighter pilot when she grows up. Don’t know where she got that idea, but I know that someday, she’ll probably end up in a cockpit and Top Gun all over the Goddamn place. Anyway, she wouldn’t let a little thing like this stop her. Can you do the same?” “I’ll try,” Scootaloo replied. Rainbow reached over to the top rock and knew it was going to be a challenge; the top rock pinning the filly’s wing down was easily the size of a car tire and looked like it weighed a hell of a lot. “On the count of three, I’m going to lift,” she instructed. “I want you to grit your teeth and not scream, okay? Be fearless.” She then turned to the other two fillies and added, “And I need you two to be the same. We’re going to get out of this, but we can only do it if we’re brave, ¿sobres?” Neither Silver nor Sweetie were familiar with that word, but coming from the human Rainbow, it had to be something cool. Cautiously, they nodded their heads silently. “One…two…three!” Putting her muscles into it, Rainbow started to lift, even as Scootaloo bit down on her lip and tried not to yelp in pain. Silver and Sweetie each took a hoof in theirs, rubbing it and letting her know that her friends were there. The boulder was exceedingly heavy and Rainbow grunted; she could feel her muscles strain at the heft, but she wasn’t going to give up. Maybe Applejack or Pinkie or one of the triplets could have taken care of this easily, but they weren’t here and even if they were, Rainbow was not going to let Scootaloo down. At all. Period. From above, Rainbow watched as her counterpart struggled with the boulder. It certainly looked heavy enough that Big Mac might have had problems with it, but there was nothing she could do other than to trust the strange human that was the her from another world. It was out of Rainbow’s hooves, and in the noodly hoof things – hands, whatever – of the other Rainbow Dash. Still, after Rainbow chewed out Scootaloo, she was going to hug her and never let her go. Scootaloo’s parents were on an extended trip, and they would likely be gone for the next six months, so they trusted Rainbow to look after her. And without a doubt, Rainbow loved the little filly to death and to do nothing more than to sit up here and play dodge-the-bite with these annoying quarray eels while her pseudo-little sister was down there suffering broke her heart. And that was when she heard the loud rumble and watched the trees in the distance – the trees that led towards the path to Ponyville – began to topple as something massive burrowed beneath the surface. Her eyes widened in shock. “Oh, shit,” she said to nopony in particular. With a final teeth-gnashing snarl, Rainbow finally lifted the boulder off of the wing. She took two steps past it before tossing it down into the water, where it sank instantly. She went back and looked at Scootaloo’s mangled wing; hopefully a doctor would be able to do something for it. Reaching down to pick the filly up, Rainbow held her close and said, “You did good, kid. I’m proud of you. Good job.” “Thanks, Rainbow,” Scootaloo said, reaching forward despite the pain and nuzzling the tan, bare skin of the human. It didn’t matter to her that this wasn’t the Rainbow she was usually used to, only that it was somepony – or rather, somehuman – who had been there when she needed them. “YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THERE!” a voice screamed from above, and just as the pegasus Rainbow’s warning came from on-high, the three fillies and the teen could suddenly feel the rumble of the ground as if an earthquake had just started. “What the hell? This isn’t LA!” Rainbow said, making sure to hold Scootaloo tight so she wouldn’t fall. Looking down at the other two, she asked, “Is this normal?” Before that answer could come, the side of the canyon, as well as the pathway Rainbow had taken just minutes before, exploded into rocks and dirt as a massive quarray eel, bigger than any of those before, popped out of a newly-made burrow. With thicker scales, sharper teeth and what appeared to be a nastier disposition, it looked right at the teen and the three fillies before letting out a fetid, feral roar. “RUN!” a voice shouted from above. Rainbow didn’t need any further prodding. She immediately bent down, grabbed the other two fillies and started to run as fast as she could, down the canyon floor, away from the snarling, massive beast that had begun to snake its way towards them. “It’s following!” Sweetie shrieked. “I can’t see anything – don’t tell me so I don’t have to know!” Silver shouted back. Scootaloo, jostled by the movement, merely whimpered in pain. Rainbow, on the other hand, focused on two things: running towards the other end of the gorge, and holding on to the three lives in her arms. She wasn’t a runner; her body wasn’t built for the same things that her cousin Spitfire did. She could move in bursts with no problem, given her natural skill at soccer, but sustained, constant movement, whether a four-hundred-meter dash or a cross-country marathon, wasn’t something that she was gifted to do. That wasn’t her thing. But now, with three lives as well as her own in the balance, she was going to make it her thing tonight. With the last dying rays of the sun flitting over the horizon and dark, sinuous shapes starting to crawl out from holes that dotted both the walls and some of the floor of the gorge, Rainbow didn’t have any other choice but to push harder than she’d ever done before. The lives of three innocents, as well as her own, hung in the balance. The life of Scootaloo hung in the balance. And sister or not, Rainbow Dash simply did not let Scootaloo down. Wasn’t going to fucking happen – no way, no how. Red began to course through her like blood – like fire. Red seemed to be all she could see, and as she took each step, she somehow felt lighter. She wasn’t sure why, but she was pushing and her body moved right along with it. It was like she was soaring, flying, even though she knew somehow that wasn’t the case. Somehow step by step, the other side of the gorge, which should have been miles away, now seemed like mere yards, and growing closer every moment. Unfortunately, it was a near-solid vertical wall, with no place for her to run. Behind her, despite the panicked screams of the three fillies she held, she could hear the thundering movements of the quarray eels as they rushed to try to claim her and her precious cargo as their morsels. That wasn’t going to happen. With two more steps, somehow, Rainbow reached the wall. Still feeling as though she was burning with energy, she turned towards the monsters and screamed. The world went ruby. At Fluttershy’s cottage, the guard delivered the sobering news. “I guess we should pack then,” the pegasus said. “I’ve been ordered to wait here for you, milady,” the guardspony said. “But if the Bete Goson is an animal, has anypony reached out to it? It might just need a friend, or somepony to understand it.” “Shy, I don’t think that’s the case.” Fluttershy approached, carrying her phone as if she was reading something off it. “According to this PDF that Twily just mailed me, it’s not really an animal. And if she’s right, this thing has…well, a very human mindset, I’d argue. And we’re not going to be able to talk it down.” “Oh, my, that doesn’t sound good at all,” the pegasus stated. Looking at the guardspony, she added, “Let me talk to some of my friends quickly and let them know that they’ll have to take care of themselves for a couple of days and we’ll be right there.” The guard nodded, and took up a position where he could see the majority of Fluttershy’s property. Meanwhile, the human Fluttershy went back into the guestroom and started to pack her clothing. She didn’t have much unpacked, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that in the past couple of days, she really enjoyed staying here – and now, like so many other things in her life, outside forces had ruined it. It was getting to be too much of a common refrain for her life. “Good, she’s awake!” Rainbow opened her eyes, staring at a ceiling. This was definitely not where she’d been earlier. A brown stallion with a long, curly carrot-colored mane looked over her, his glasses comically perched on his muzzle. “Yes,” he said in a nasal tone, “definitely awake. She should be fine now, just fine indeed.” “Thank you, Doctor,” Princess Twilight said as she approached. “No thanks needed, Your Highness, just doing my job,” he said, waving at both as he departed. Rainbow sat up, looking around. “A hospital?” “Yeah. They brought you here after you passed out.” Rainbow looked in the direction of the voice, finding Twilight – the one she knew – standing there. “You went in and saved a bunch of fillies from being attacked – or worse – by quarray eels. But that’s not all you did.” Rainbow’s head swam with pain, like a bad hangover. But one thing came above it all. “Scootaloo – is she…?” “She’ll be fine, Rainbow.” Princess Twilight spoke again, a proud smile on her face. “Her wing is going to be in a cast for a month, since the injury was bad enough that we couldn’t use healing magic, but she’ll be fine, thanks to you. If you hadn’t shown up, the damage could have been terminal.” “Terminal?” “She might have never been able to use that wing ever again,” the princess explained. “But thankfully, you came in and saved the day. Same with Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle – they’ve got cuts and bruises, but they’ll be fine because of your actions. You’re a hero, Rainbow. I want you to know I’m proud of you for that.” “Same here – we wanted to show the best that humanity could be, and you risked yourself to save some foals from being attacked,” Twilight said, reaching over to hug her friend. “Sunset will be proud of you when she hears about this. I wish I could tell your parents and your sister; I think they would be too.” “What happened?” “That’s what we want to know. Your counterpart saw everything from above, but we’re not sure of what she’s saying and Div wants to talk to you tomorrow about it, if you’re up to it.” Rainbow started to get out of bed. “I can talk to him right now, if you want.” “No, Nurse Redheart is insisting that you stay overnight here in the hospital,” Princess Twilight cautioned. “They say you’re fine, but they want to keep you under observation because you were slightly dehydrated when they brought you here.” “Twi, we should let her rest,” Twilight suggested. “We can talk about things tomorrow, and besides, she’ll probably want to see Scootaloo and the others then.” The alicorn nodded. “Besides, there’s one last visitor that wants to see her before Visiting Hours are up, and I think we owe that to her.” Turning back to Rainbow, Princess Twilight said, “You’ll be out tomorrow, but until then, you just get some rest, okay?” “Yeah, sure,” Rainbow said as the two departed. Rainbow yawned and looked over at the nearby nightstand for her phone. If she was going to be here overnight, she might as well get caught up on the rest of Aldanoah Zero, so she could get started on her next anime. “Um…can we talk?” The teen looked up to see her counterpart standing there, wearing a blue jacket that she assumed was part of the pegasus’ Wonderbolts uniform. Rainbow put down her phone. “Sure, I guess.” Rainbow looked at Rainbow, and then the pegasus sighed. “Look, I want to thank you for saving Scoots. I know she’s not your sister…heck, she’s not really mine, either, but I love her like one and I was worried half to death that something was going to happen to her as well as the other kidlets. And I, uh….” She paused for words. “I didn’t have any way to save them. With all my ability, even with my combat magic, if I’d cut loose, I could have seriously hurt them. And here you come in with that lightning bolts of yours – hell, I thought humans didn’t have magic!” The Latina blinked. “Lightning magic?” “Yeah! You were moving like you were Filli-second!” “Who?” “You know – Filli-second! From The Power Ponies?” “Not a clue,” the teenager replied. “Not a clue?” The pegasus was fit to be tied. “You did that! You were moving like a red blur of lightning, dodging all kinds of quarray eel attacks like it was nothing, then you turned and unleashed some kind of red lightning attack against them! You burnt their tails to the point that when we go back there tomorrow the eels might actually leave the Ghastly Gorge for the first time in…well, I dunno, but a long time! How’d you do that?” “Look, I don’t even know what you’re talking about, okay?” the teen said to the mare. “You make me sound like I’m some sort of cross between the Flash and Alisia Dragoon!” “Who?” “One’s a DC character, and the other’s from a retro video game I have on my phone. And before you ask, retro is supposed to mean ‘old but cool’, I guess.” Rainbow wordlessly shrugged her wings, as if having no idea what her younger counterpart was saying; given that said counterpart had no idea who the Power Ponies were, the world she came from was already tragically bereft of good comic books, it seemed. She then scratched her mane, trying to figure out what to say next, then it came to her. “Look, I don’t know any other way to say this, so I’m just going to spell it out: thanks. I thought I was going to lose Scoot, and you saved her. Maybe you were doing it just to make humans look good, or maybe because it’s the right thing to do, I dunno. But I owe you, mare, and if there’s anything I can do to make up for it, you don’t even have to ask – just tell me.” “I did it because I love my sister,” the teenage Rainbow said to her older counterpart. “I couldn’t picture anything happening to my Scoots. I can’t imagine you would do anything different.” The two Rainbows looked at one another, as if something wordlessly was said, and an understanding was reached. Finally, the mare shook her head and chuckled. “Yeah, I guess that’s just proof that any Rainbow Dash is just the coolest there is, whether it’s you or me.” The teen laughed. “Preachin’ to the choir, sister. Preachin’ to the choir.” After having spent some time talking to friends in Cloudsdale – I should really move there; it’s the only place where I have real friends! – Gracenote headed back to her home. Said home was a former flour mill that had been converted into her personal studio. Ultimately, she wanted to turn it into a nightclub where she could kick out the banging beats and have the crowd revel in her greatness, but that two-bit nag Vinyl had built her Wubsarena first and unfortunately, this town wasn’t big enough to support two venues of that nature just yet. So she was forced to slum there until the world just acknowledged she was the best there was, until she could earn enough money to make sure that Gracenote’s Grand Venue was going to be the destination when it came to Ponyville’s nightlife! Unfortunately, that seemed like it was going to be a longer haul than she’d preferred. So as she came into a landing by her home, she looked at the grove of trees that was just by the mill, she was going to have to tear those down in order to eventually plan the outdoor performance area. If her plan was to make the Grand Venue better than the Wubsarena, it couldn’t go with just the safe same old same old. No, it had to be better in every possible way there was, and Gracenote was going to be sure that would be the case. As she opened the door to her home, she heard a growl and saw a tall figure in the trees; with it being a cloudy night, much of the light from Luna’s moon was obscured and so she couldn’t see things clearly. However, Gracenote wasn’t stupid: there were only a hoofful of creatures that size and only one that she challenged. “So,” she boasted, “come to give up? I’m not going to give you the pleasure! You ruined my plans and so I’m going to make sure I completely get back what’s mine, you get that? I don’t care if you’re the personal friend of the princesses and the Bearers; to me you’re just an obstacle and one that I’m going to fly over and buzz right on by!” The figure in the trees made a low growl. “What, too awed to say anything? Not surprised. But I don’t care.” The pony mustered up the nastiest, most threatening look she could. “Now get off my property and go crawl back to human land!” The response came a second later. Gracenote’s scream came a second after that.