In the Crystal Meeting Room of Princess Twilight’s palace sat the Princess of Friendship herself and an audience of eight. Of those eight, two had recently attempted serious bodily harm and possibly death upon three others. Of the nine in the room, six were Stand Users. Of those six, only the aforementioned Princess knew exactly how she obtained hers. To the rest, both the method and the reason were a mystery.
Tapping the table with a finger, Twilight pondered slightly on what those numbers meant. Within the last week, four attempts had been made on her friends lives; even if one had been instigated by Rainbow Dash. Two major attempts had just happened three days ago. Twilight knew it couldn't have been a coincidence that they had all manifested within the same week. The attacks were originating from one source, minus Rainbow’s excursion.One of the objectives of this meeting was to piece together clues as to what that source was.
As if either to empathize a point, or in some sort of attempt to show off, each Stand User at the table had their respective Stand manifested for the rest to see. Both Applejack and Spike confirmed that they could not see any of them, meaning they did not mysteriously develop a Stand. Nevertheless, they were adequately educated on the subject. The lesson also helped provide some explanations to those who hadn’t already heard Twilight’s lecture.
From there, information was shared among the party of what had happened the previous day. In particular, the whole table was interested in hearing the stories of Aloe and Vinyl. They had clearly not been themselves at the time and instead were controlled by some outside force. Twilight had hoped that their stories would help her figure out what that force was. But there was no such luck.
“I’m sorry,” Aloe admitted with her head held low. “But I simply cannot remember what happened between last weekend and yesterday. All I know is that it was one last customer came in right at closing. Lotus and I felt sorry for them and decided to give them a treatment. Then, the next thing I remember is thinking Princess Twilight had kidnapped Lotus. Slippery When Wet didn’t feel foreign to me, it was more like, it had always been there.”
“Pretty much the same for me too.” Bangarang projected Vinyl’s voice for all to hear. To those who couldn’t see the Stand, hearing the otherwise mute DJ have a voice was off putting. But Pinkie, who was fine aside from some bruises and bandages, had made it clear beforehand to not make a single comment about it especially with Vinyl still in casts, “Somepony came in right before I closed up and went home. We talked, and he, I’m pretty sure it was a he, felt like my best friend. Then, he gave me Bangarang and said Princess Twilight was going to take it away.”
“So whoever this pony is, they must have something against you Twilight,” Spike pointed out. Of all of them, he was probably the one who was the least off put by all of these developments. If only because he had lived his entire life with Twilight, and things like this were the norm for him.
“And a freaking coward too!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she slammed her hands on the table. “I mean, that’s the lowest of the lows you can get! Forcing other people to fight your battles for you...”
“And thanks to the information we were able to get out of Verde Chase yesterday, we now know why,” Twilight’s eyes glowed and the entire crystal round table lit up. A magical image of several figures in robes of various mismatched colors that obscured their faces appeared. Slowly they rotated so that everyone sitting around the table could see them from all angles.
“What’s with the weird fashion show?” Applejack raised her eyebrow, “Those are some fancy getups.”
“There not just for fashion,” Twilight activated her magic, magnifying the image of the robed figures, “At first, I wasn’t sure. As you all know, when Rainbow and I defeated Verde Chase, we found a chamber hidden under the Castle of the Two Sisters that contained artifacts from a very, very old group. I believe that our friend Verde was attempting to scavenge some of it.”
“Wait, he was going there just for some clothes and that weird painting and coffin?” Rainbow quickly interjected, “That sounds… well, dumb.”
“Well, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight frowned slightly, “It’s far deeper than that. In the Discordian Era, Discord’s Chaos Magic spread across the entire world, twisting and corrupting it in every conceivable way, as well as every inconceivable way. Those of a weaker mindset had their minds instantly altered into logic defying fantasies. Others who had a stronger mental constitution required some sort of psychological defeat before they were corrupted. Most who evaded corruption cowered in fear until the world was eventually liberated by Princesses Celestia and Luna.”
“Oh.. my…” Looking down, Fluttershy rubbed her hands together. She’d seen the small pocket dimension that Discord lived in, and she recalled vaguely what Ponyville had looked like after Discord had first returned. The thought of someone having to live in that permanently…
“However, there were those who went unaffected by the magic and saw it as a sign,” Sitting up, Twilight pulled up another image; this time, the robed figures were Standing in the center of a chaos magic filled Ponyville, staring up to Discord on his chaos throne and bowing to it, “To them, it was a sign that Discord had chosen them to serve some sort of higher purpose. They had been spared because Discord thought they were special. Of course, this is obviously completely untrue, but that’s what they thought. Regardless of why they started, they did start to worship Discord and his Chaos Magic, forming a cult around it.”
“Worship Discord?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “That weirdo? That just, sounds even weirder.”
“When Discord was sealed away by the Princesses, the cult swore revenge on not just them, but all of ponykind who had rejected his magic,” Twilight frowned, “For a decade or so after the Discord’s imprisonment, they caused trouble as a fanatic terrorist group. But they were too few in number and no match for the power the Princesses held. So, they were forced to quietly retreat into the shadows. It was thought that they had just faded into obscurity as the years went by, becoming nothing but footnotes in history. But, after Discord’s revival, they apparently have been gaining numbers slowly.”
“And let me guess,” Applejack sighed, “Now they’ve sworn vengeance against us for ending his magic again?”
“Pretty much,” Twilight confirmed. “And especially against me and Fluttershy because of recent developments.” She was of course, alluding the reformation of Discord.
“So, I’m assuming that this Verde Chase you and Rainbow Dash apprehended is a member of this cult?” Rarity inquired as she watched with slight amusement as her Diamond Dogs scurried around the table and fought with each other, “Are we also correct to assume that whoever put Aloe and Vinyl under the spell is a member of this cult as well?”
“Correct on both counts,” Twilight affirmed. “Unfortunately, Verde did not know anything about who this member is. He doesn’t know their name, appearance, or even what their Stand ability is. It seems he was purposefully kept in the dark in that regard “
“Are you sure he wasn’t just lying about that?” Vinyl asked.
“I’m positive. I am very thorough in my interrogations.” Twilight held up her hand and it was surrounded with a purple aura to emphasize her point, “All it took was a few spells and he was spilling everything he knew to me. That’s why I was able to learn all that I did.”
“Well if we don’t know who’s turning our friends against us, then what do we know?” Rainbow Dash was getting even more impatient.
“We know what the cult wants, besides just getting revenge on the six of us.” Twilight swished her hand and the magical image above the table changed. It was a replica of the mural her and Rainbow Dash had found at the bottom of the Old Palace. The slightly abstract art style took the table a few moments to process it.
Rarity was the one to speak up first, “What are those two figures lying beside our dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?”
“Those,” Twilight raised her finger, “Are the Stands of Celestia and Luna. Celestia’s is called Vanilla Twilight, and Luna’s is Dark Side of the Moon. What struck me as odd about this was the thing in front of Discord, which I’m assuming is his Stand.”
During the entire conversation, the voice of Pinkie Pie had been oddly silent. At that moment, however, the pink haired ball of energy suddenly teleported across the table, Standing beside Twilight to look closer at the image.
“Gah! Pinkie!” Twilight gasped in surprise, “Don’t just, use your Stand like that!”
“Sorry, still getting the hang of it!” Pinkie blinked back into her chair and pointed at the image, “If that’s Discord’s Stand, why is it he didn’t use it on us when we fought him the first time?”
The words taken right out of Twilight’s mouth, Twilight blinked slightly in annoyance, “That’s, exactly what I was wondering.”
Now fully having joined the group, Ta-Dah appeared behind Pinkie as she sat. It was at this point Twilight noticed an alarming number of snacks around her throne. While the thought of where they’d come from briefly crossed her mind, Twilight shook it off in favor of her more academic thoughts.
“As Pinkie mentioned,” Twilight magnified the image to show just the humanoid figure, “The figure is drawn in a way that appears to be a Stand. However, Discord didn’t even attempt to use it when we used the Elements of Harmony him.”
“Well,” Applejack leaned back in her seat, “He was sure full of himself when we did. I think he was honestly surprised that we did it in the first place. He might not have even had time to use it.”
“But that’s just the thing!” Twilight leaned forward, “Stands can be called out instantaneously. A Stand that would let him defeat both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia would surely be able to block the Elements. Or at least we would've felt him resisting it in some way. It just doesn't add up!”
“I think you’re giving that ruffian a bit too much credit, dearie,” Rarity pursed her lips, “He wasn’t the most… observant about our actions after he used his dreadful spell on us.”
“Yeah!” Rainbow piped up, “Plus, if that stuff is as old as you say it is, then maybe they just made that painting up!”
“No… I’ve seen Vanilla Twilight in person,” Twilight slowly began to chew her lower lip, “Even if they had made that image up, they wouldn't have been able to so accurately render the Princess’ Stands like that. Plus, in that era there were ponies who specialized in painting scenes just as they happened as a way of recording them. The level of detail in their faces and their Stands, these have to be real!”
A series of murmurs went around the table, many of which were filled with doubt. Twilight chewed her lip a bit more as she tried to think about how to phrase this in a believable way.
“Uhm,” Vinyl’s Stand-enhanced voice cut through the air directly to Twilight with slight reverb, “So, you guys keep talking about Stands, what exactly are they? And, well, do you got any ideas on how Aloe and I got ours?”
With a new topic to bank on, Twilight suddenly perked up, “Ah, that was something I wanted to talk about too! A Stand is a manifestation of your fighting spirit, that’s how Princess Celestia put it. From a scientific Standpoint, they’re a manifestation of energy tied directly to your will. The power and ability of your Stand are unique to your own spirit, and thus are linked intrinsically with you. That’s why when your Stand is hurt, you are likewise hurt; any attack on your spirit’s manifestation will link back to your own will, and as such your mind interprets this as physical damage.”
Vinyl crossed her arms and leaned back. A second later, Rainbow spoke up: “Basically it’s a cool ghost thing that you can use to defend yourself and fight back, and when it gets hurt, you do.”
“I like her explanation better,” Vinyl grinned and nodded her head, her glasses not moving even slightly.
“Well… that’s one way to put it,” Twilight’s expression fell slightly as she muttered, “But it’s not a ghost… even if it is ethereal...”
“So, uhm,” Fluttershy’s quiet voice spoke up once more, “How exactly do you, get a Stand?”
“That’s something that Equestria has yet to understand,” Twilight sat up again, “As far as science and magic are concerned, Stands are completely separate from both of them. From what I know from both firsthand experience and the Princess, there are only two ways to develop one. Either you’re born with the potential to develop it naturally, or it’s drawn out of you.”
“Drawn out of you?” Rarity furrowed her brow, “How exactly does that happen? That sounds, rather odd.”
“You’re not wrong, Rarity. So far, there is only one substance that’s been known to draw out Stands. It’s incredibly dangerous, and very rare. From what I’ve gathered, a long time ago a meteor fell to Equestria. Those who first tried to harvest it eventually got sick with a mysterious illness and died. Those who didn’t, became the first Stand users. It was later mined and turned into arrows, which were eventually scattered across Equestria, and eventually beyond.”
“Arrow..?” Rubbing her head, Aloe slowly looked at the floor. Arrow? Why did Arrow seem so familiar?
“Huh? Why an arrow?” Munching down on a cupcake, Pinkie paused when Twilight described the arrow, “Arrows sound like a strange thing to make out of a super duper cool and awesome meteor!”
“There isn’t any documentation as to why they did this,” Twilight answered, “This happened long before the age of libraries and books. All we know is that the arrow can draw a Stand out from someone if they’re pierced by it.”
“Pierced?” Fluttershy scooted back in her chair, “So, if you’re shot with an arrow, you develop a Stand?”
“Theoretically, you either do, or you don’t,” Twilight frowned, “There isn’t anything on what happens to somepony who gets pierced and doesn’t develop a Stand. Outside of the arrow, most ponies simply won’t ever develop a Stand. Only about one in every one thousand ponies has the potential to develop one, and without proper training, maybe one in ten of those will actually get it naturally. That’s partially why I was so shocked to hear a Stand user was in Ponyville.”
“Don’t even get me started on Basil Leaf…” Rainbow frowned.
“Arrow…” Aloe rubbed her temples. It was like a memory was trying to resurface, but it wouldn’t come forward. Something was blocking it…
“So how in tarnation did Rainbow, Rarity and Pinkie get one of these Stand thingies?” Applejack waved her hand, “If they’re so goshdarn rare?”
“I’m still figuring that out,” Twilight looked down at the notes she’d been looking at, “It doesn’t make sense! The odds of this happening within the same week, and with Rarity and Pinkie Pie getting their Stands at the same time, they’re so small I can’t even come up with the number.”
“Arrow…”
This time, when Aloe started to mutter, Pinkie perked up from her snacks once more. Without a moment’s notice, she was beside Aloe, cocking her head slightly. Ta-Dah Stood behind her, slightly bent over as though expecting an attack.
“You alright, Aloe?” Pinkie tilted her head the other way, “You keep muttering arrow!”
“When, Twilight said arrow it, it feels like I remembered something…” Pausing, Aloe thought for a second, “I… I noticed something yesterday…” She stared blankly towards the table, as though her memory was fighting her as she tried to call upon it.
“Remembered something? That’s great!” Pinkie grinned and took hold of Aloe’s hand, “Anything will help us get closer to this weird cult group! Just work on drawing the memory out, just like pulling a pan of cupcakes out of an ove-”
“I think I remember now, Pinkie,” Aloe slightly grunted, “Lotus, the last time I saw her, we were cleaning up some of the bottles from that day, right after the stranger left. One of the bottles was leaking, and she got a bit on her hand. She… she pulled back and I noticed she had a cut, right between her thumb and pointer finger. The shampoo had gotten into it and she left to go and clean it… but, that was the last time I saw her.”
“Wait, cut?” Immediately following this, Vinyl reached her hand not in a sling up, spreading out her thumb and pointer finger. A small cut was in the exact position that Aloe had described.
“Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, do any of you have any of these cuts?” Twilight inquired. Each of the girls shook their heads, lifting their hands up for proof. Twilight’s brow furrowed as this development was presented to her.
“I don’t either,” Aloe raised her hand, “But I still have my Slippery When Wet. If this arrow draws out Stands, where did Slippery When Wet come from?”
“I don’t know… but this is important,” Staring down at her notes, Twilight’s eyes flashed with curiosity, “It means whomever is making Stand Users is using an arrow. It’s obvious that this cult wants something, and they view us as a threat. They’re specifically using someone to turn the town against us, as evidence with Vinyl and Aloe.”
“Wait,” Applejack raised a hand slightly, “If they’re making these Stand thingies out of our friends… doesn’t that mean, anypony could be an enemy?”
“Exactly,” Twilight bent over the table, “And that means until we figure out what this cult wants… all of us in this room are targets.”
An uneasy silence filled the room. To Aloe and Vinyl, it was an uncomfortable one, and one that made them both share a look of fear. For the other five, however, it was a familiar feeling, and one that they slowly nodded their heads to.
“On that note, Twilight,” Rarity raised a hand, “I think it’s about time that Sweetie Belle should be getting done with school for the day. I think it’d be wise if I told her to be careful these next few days while we sort this out…”
“Yeah!” Rainbow quickly added, “I think I should do the same with Scoots. That squirt is tough but this is on a whole nother level! You probably should too, Applejack!”
“I know, I know,” Applejack sat up in her chair, “I’ll tell Applebloom that if she wants to meet with her friends she’ll need to have me with her. She’ll be upset, but it’s for the best.”
Pursing her lip, Twilight nodded, “Alright, Aloe and Vinyl, if you remember anything else, contact me the second you do. And girls, one last thing before you go.”
Stopping from getting up, the group turned to face Twilight. Pinkie, who had already teleported to the door, stopped and appeared beside Rainbow a second later.
“Rainbow and Pinkie already learned this, but if somepony attacks you with their Stand… don’t forget you could really hurt someone,” She gestured to Vinyl, “If you go too far, you could even kill them. So if any of you get attacked, try your hardest to subdue them. Please, don’t hurt them unless you have no other option.”
“What if we have no other choice but to hurt them?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.
“Then just remember your Stands are lethal,” Twilight’s eyes darkened, “And it isn’t just a Stand you’re beating up… it’s a pony. If you have to hurt them…”
“We’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Twilight,” Applejack cut her off, “And let y’all know if we come across anypony not acting right.”
“Thank you, Applejack,” Twilight smiled ever so slightly, “Alright girls, stay safe!”
----
“This is just the most dreadful situation…” Rarity shivered as she, Rainbow and Applejack made their way out of the massive crystal castle, “To think that someone is turning our poor town against us! It’s like something out of a movie… a horror movie no less!”
“This ain’t the first time that we’ve had this happen to us,” Applejack reminded her, “We’ve dealt with worse than just a couple of crazy ponies with weird ghost thingies.”
Rainbow opened her wings, hovering above Applejack for a moment, “Uhhh AJ, are you forgetting that you don’t have a Stand? You’re probably the one most at risk out of all of us! Only a Stand can beat another Stand!”
Applejack rolled her eyes, “I’ve dealt with worse than this before, Rainbow. If the worst these Stands do is punch me, I know how to handle that.”
The three ponies stood in front of the massive castle, the sunlight reflecting off the crystals and casting a slightly purple light in front of them. The air, however, hung with the slightest hint of dread, and the town in front of the castle looked to be far more of a hive of bees rather than the calm and friendly place to spend the day.
“Actually, Applejack,” Rarity reached down and picked up Harrison, setting him on her shoulder along with the other Diamond Dogs, “Though her wording is rather blunt, she makes a valid point. From what our friend Rainbow found, only a Stand can attack another Stand, but a Stand can still attack us. And given how… varied each of these Stands can be, it could be almost anything used to attack you before you even know what happened.”
“I already knew all that, Rarity,” Applejack furrowed her brow, “As Granny puts it, ain’t no use in worrying over nothing you can’t change. I told y’all I’d keep you posted if anything happens to me.”
“True,” Rarity raised a well manicured finger, “Yet this situation calls for the upmost caution. It would be devastating if any of us were to be hurt by these ghastly Stand users.”
“I get y’alls concerns, I really do. But right now we need to go pick up our sisters and get them home safe,” Applejack turned to them both, “Can we agree on that?”
Nodding in unison, Rarity and Rainbow Dashlooked down the path into the city. As they did so, Rainbow Dash pointed to Diamond Dogs resting on Rarity’s shoulders.
“I think we should probably put our Stands away,” Rainbow frowned, “It’s super cool to walk around with them out but if we’re as big as targets as Twilight says we are, it’s probably way smarter to keep them hidden until we need them.”
“Oh I agree Rainbow Dash, I’ve just grown slightly fond of my little Diamond Dogs since I met them. They’re rather amusing to watch,” In the short span of time that the three had been talking, Lennon had been attempting to gain control over the other three and failing miserably. As a response, the four were arguing amongst each other, knocking each other in the back of the head and yelping in pain before retaliating in kind. Rainbow had to admit they were rather funny, even if she thought her Stand was way cooler.
“Lennon, Harrison, Cartney, Starr!” Rarity spoke firmly and calmly, “I believe that we’re finished with our business for now. I will summon you again when I have need for you. Understood?”
“Yes Ma’am!” Drawing his ripper, Lennon crossed the sewing tool over his chest before bowing. The other three followed suit before Standing upright, sheathing their blades and blinking out of existence.
To Applejack, who was unable to see any of this, her eyebrow raised as her friend spoke to seemingly thin air, “If you’re quite finished, we should get going.”
With their Stands hidden, the two mares nodded, walking beside AJ as the three made their way down the road. The purple light of Twilight’s Castle left them and instead was soon replaced by the warm yellow sunshine that blanketed Ponyville as per the weather forecast that day.
Ponyville hummed and bustled with life as the three entered into the heart of the city. Flower vendors waved signs and cheered about their wares, foals getting off from school scampered about underfoot, and the steady noise of chatter and laughter filled the air. To most, it was another day in their lovely city.
Yet with Twilight’s ominous announcement, suddenly the air had taken on a much different tone. The normally pleasant background chatter became riddled with suspicion as each wondered if someone was making plans even now as they walked. The large crowd of ponies became a dangerous throng of potential watching eyes and dangerous Stands.Each corner could be hiding someone waiting to attack them; every face could be one that could turn on them.
Thankfully for the trio, while a longer walk, it was a straight shot to Cheerlie’s schoolhouse. The throng of ponies slowly began to subside, and likewise the nerves of the group, the closer they got. Rainbow Dash dropped onto her feet and folded up her wings as the sight of the cheery red building came into view, and with it a sudden loud shout.
“Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash!” The sharp and loud voice of Scootaloo came barreling towards the rainbow haired mare, to which Rainbow grinned slightly.
“Heya, Squirt!” Smirking as she got down onto a knee, Rainbow smirked to Scootaloo, “Did ya ace that test we went over?”
“Heck yeah I did!” Scootaloo reached into her backpack, pulling out a paper with a large 105 circled on top, “And that bonus question! I’m totally gonna do great in math this year at this rate!”
“That’s awesome!” Still grinning, Dash got back up onto her feet, “I told ya, once you learn how to study, you can ace anything!”
Still beaming and nodding her head, Scootaloo was quickly joined by the pink and lilac haired Sweetie Bell. Rarity likewise smiled as she greeted her sister.
“I trust your day at school went well?” Rarity smiled, but slowly raised an eyebrow at the same time.
“Yep! I passed that test too, though I didn’t get the bonus question like Scootaloo did.” Sweetie cast an appreciative glance towards her friend.
“It’s all in the multiplication!” Scootaloo beamed.
“Ah, good, our study sessions didn’t go to waste,” Rarity nodded, “Have either of you seen Applebloom?”
“Oh she went home already!” Scootaloo quickly chimed in, “Said something about needing to get some chores done before Applejack found…..”
Upon seeing Applejack, Scootaloo slowly trailed off. AJ narrowed her eyes before sighing slightly.
“Did she forget to stack the hay bales again?” Rubbing her temples, Applejack shook her head, “Guess this is where I part ways with y’all, I need to check up on her and she what she forgot to do.”
While Rarity nodded her head, Rainbow gave AJ a sideways glance for a moment. Before she could ask anything, however, AJ tipped her hat and turned towards the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, “I’ll catch y’all tomorrow, tell Twilight I’ll let her know if I see anything!”
“See anything? Are you guys doing something cool?! Oh, oh, is Twilight trying out some new spell?!” Scootaloo turned and looked up at Dash,
“Nah, nothing like that!” Rainbow Dash started to frown as she watched AJ leave, but quickly smiled again at Scootaloo, “Just Twilight asking us to watch out for anything weird. Well, excluding her that is.”
Sniggering together slightly at Rainbow’s joke, the two sisters turned back towards the main road. Rarity likewise made a small noise from her throat, to which Sweetie instantly turned on her heel to follow her.
As the four made their way back, Rainbow and Scootaloo laughed and joked about things that Scootaloo had see throughout the day, about the new way that Diamond Tiara had started to work towards helping them secure more field trips and some of the random stories that she, Sweetie and Applebloom had gotten into over the course of the week. In kind, Sweetie kept her conversations with Rarity to short and quick statements, to which Rarity responded in kind. The two had learned their differences and knew how to work around them. With less words, they held a conversation of equal importance to the loud and boisterous one between the other sisters.
Eventually, the four made their way down one of the main roads of Ponyville. Scootaloo’s house and Rarity’s Boutique were relatively close to one another, with Rarity’s shop centered just across the small river behind Town Hall for business purposes. The crowds around Town Hall were slightly thinner than normal, a fact which Rarity hypothesized might have been due to the abundance of vendors she and Dash had seen on the way over.
The four rounded their way about the Town Hall, Scootaloo’s wings excitedly buzzing as she got closer to her house. Her test had long since been crinkled up in her hand and more so in her bag, while Sweetie had held her own bookbag tightly against her back. The four continued to round their way around the front of the Town Hall, the sun coming into light from behind the large spire.
“I do believe this is where we can part ways, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity smiled, “Tell Twilight I’ll call her later tonight when I get the chance. I just need to finish up a client’s order bef-“
“HEY YOU!”
In unison, the four turned to look towards the sound of the noise. As they did, the speaker slowly rounded about the wooden railing atop the Town Hall, causing Dash to blink in confusion and Rarity to raise an eyebrow.
The speaker was none other than Twist. The filly grinned as she pushed her large purple-rimmed glasses up her face. Her scrunched red hair bounced atop her face as she looked down from the stairs of Town Hall at them. They could see her backpack nearby propped up against the front door. Most peculiarly, in her right hand was a massive rainbow swirl lollipop.
The lollipop was of a brilliant and vibrant color, one that looked like something Pinkie Pie would make. The lollipop was also incredibly large for Twist, large enough that it eclipsed almost half of her face. The entire lollipop glistened slightly at the same time, likely due to the she seemed to have been licking it.
“Can we help you, darling?” Rarity smiled gently, her lip twitching, “As you can see we’re a bit busy but we can try to hel-“
“I’m the one talking here!” Twist countered, taking a long lick of her lollipop, “You two have been doing some nasty things, and I think it’s about time that somepony teaches you a lesson!”
“A lesson?” Rarity furrowed her brow, “Darling, I’m not entirely sure who you’re confusing us with, but”
At that moment, however, Rarity turned to see that Dash had summoned 2 Minutes to Midnight. Had it not been for Sweetie Bell, she would’ve immediately scolded her for doing so.
Instead, she twitched before whispering, “Rainbow Dash, what in Celestia’s name do you think you’re doing?!”
Dash, however, was not paying attention. Instead, Rarity felt a small current flow around her, going directly towards Dash. Narrowing her eyes, Dash stared directly at Twist, one hand planted firmly on 2M2M. Within seconds, Dash immediately turned to Rarity.
“Rarity, take Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell out of here right now…” She hissed, “Get them away from here!”
“Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo looked up, “What’s going on? What’s bad? She’s in our class!”
“Yeah!” Sweetie pipped up, “Twist won’t hurt us, I’m sure she’s just pulling some sort of prank.”
“I don’t prank ponies!” Twist pouted, “I’m being serious up here! I don’t want them to have to see any of this!”
“Rainbow Dash, what exactly are you talking about?” Rarity huffed, “You’re acting very improper and you’re scaring our sisters!”
Not responding, Dash paused as she thought about how to convey this without showing their sisters. She willed 2M2M to point towards the massive lollipop Twist was spinning around in their hand, then had it point to itself.
“...Alright, come now Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo! I think Dash has a… erm, fan here! Yes, yes, a fan that wants Dash to erm… teach a lesson about, flying!” Rarity ordered quickly.
“Huh?” Sweetie blinked, “But, Twist isn’t a pegasus! I don’t even think she likes the Wonderbolts!”
“Come along now!” Without another word, Rarity took hold of Scootaloo’s and Sweetie’s arm. Giving one last look to Rainbow Dash, Rarity quickly ushered the two along, making her way towards her Boutique with haste.
“Good, I’m glad they’re taken care of!” Twist smirked and drew another long lick of her candy, “I actually like them, so I don’t wanna get them hurt with what happens next!”
Moving so that 2M2M was to her right, Dash took a step forward, “Hey look, kid, I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I can tell you right now me and my friends aren’t evil. We’re awesome, cool and maybe a bit weird, but not evil.”
“Really? Not evil?” Twist paused and tapped her chin, then crossed her arms, “Liar! I know exactly what you all are planning to do!”
“Kid, whatever you think you have against us, I can tell you it isn’t true,” Dash put her hands up slightly, “It’s just some guy getting into your head and telling you lies.”
“He wasn’t lying to me! Everypony thinks foals aren’t able to handle these things, but I’ll have you know I know exactly what Pinkie Pie is doing!” Twist snarled, “It’s hard enough running a sweet shop when Bon Bon works here, but now Pinkie is using Twilight as a Princess to buy out all of them! I worked hard to get good at my talent! If I do this to you two, then maybe she’ll back the flip off!”
“Woah, woah! Slow down kid!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t follow her logic; how exactly did she even piece any of that together in her head? “Look, I really, really don’t wanna hurt you. I’m telling you, somepony has been messing with your head. If you just put the Stand away, then we can talk like grown-ups. Okay?”
“I’ll put mine away if you put yours!”
So that confirmed it. Twist did have a Stand. And given that the only thing about her that looked out of place was the massive lollipop, that had to be it. Dash wasn’t entirely sure how it could be, but it had to be what she was rolling with.
“So you know what a Stand is?” Dash gripped one of the handles of 2M2M, “Well then, I don’t know what sort of Stand you got or who this ‘he’ is, but I’m not going to turn tail and run because some kid tells me to! In fact, I’ll give you to the count of 3 to turn around and go home. One! Tw-”
“You don’t get to tell me to go home!” Twist spat, “It’s time for you to listen to me!”
At that moment, Dash’s heightened perception from 2M2M picked up a subtle shift in the lollipop. Just as she turned to hop onto 2M2M, the lollipop suddenly glowed, the various rainbow swirls rapidly rotating about the center of the disc-shaped candy. Twist grinned widely as the swirls became faster and faster, blurring together until the colors blended together to form a single white band. And at that moment, it came out.
In a single instant, a spray of white viscous fluid shot out straight from the center of the spinning candy. Dash had just thrown her legs up onto 2M2M when the spray hit the frontside of 2M2M, splattering across the Stand’s torso. Another quick burst landed right at her Stand’s feet, pooling around it and quickly seeping underfoot.
“What the?!” Dash looked over her Stand’s shoulder to stare at the sticky substance, “Ugh! Yuck! What is that?!” The substance looked like melted taffy, the white standing out starkly against her Stand’s muted blues.
“It’s my Stand!” Twist smirked, “And it’s not gross! Just wait until you see what it can do!”
“I just did!” Dash grimaced, “Now let me show you what a real Stand looks like!”
As Dash said this, she kicked back on 2M2M, activating the jets and pointing its head up at the sky. She awaited the rush of air that came with taking off, the velocity pressing down on her from its sheer speed. Then she realized something, something very important: she wasn’t moving at all.
“Huh?” Confused, Dash tried once more, but 2M2M, while its jets hummed, didn’t budge. Dash looked down at the ground, and what she saw made her both blink and raise an eyebrow.
As Dash tried to raise 2M2M’s foot, she found the substance pulled upwards like taffy for a second before it snapped back down elastically, dragging her Stand’s foot down with it. The substance had slightly darkened, losing viscosity to become elastic. The substance that had gotten on the front of 2M2M’s chest likewise had turned into the strange sticky material, and as she willed 2M2M to scrape it off, she found it didn’t budge.
“What the heck?!” Dash growled, looking down at the ground, “What is this stuff?!”
“That’s my Stand!” Twist shouted smugly, “He showed me how to use it! It binds someone in place and prevents them from moving! Pretty cool, huh?!”
“He?! Cool?!” Dash snorted, “It’s gross! What even is this?!”
Her mind flashed to jumping off and attack Twist head on. As Dash tried to move her body, she realized she was stuck. In an instant, her mind flashed back to when Twilight had first subdued 2M2M, and her expression fell instantly.
“And since you were so mean to me, take this!!!” Extending her arm once more, Twist smirked as the Lollipop shot another long jet straight at the legs of Dash’s Stand. The spray shot straight out towards 2M2M’s legs, immediately dousing them in the stuff. In that moment, Dash felt her own legs growing warm in response.
Before Dash could react, Twist had prepared another stream of the strange substance, this time aimed at Dash’s face. With her legs bound, Dash gasped and threw her weight backwards, bending over. Her knees still glued to her Stand, the stream narrowly missed her, but meant that now Dash was hanging backwards from her Stand.
“Guh…” Her head now upside down, the blood had begun to rush into Dash’s head. The mare coughed before, now reversed, she saw another stream coming straight for her face.
Jerking her head up, and thanking the hours of curls the Wonderbolts had put her through, Dash tightened her core, lifting herself back upright. As the strain overcame her, however, she felt the tip of the stream gracing the back of her head.
“Ugh, gross! It’s in my hair!” Instinctively, Dash reached up to swipe the stuff of. As her fingers made contact with it, however, the substance hardened once more, and a quick tug made her realized her hand was stuck.
“Haha, now you look like you’re trying to think of a way out of this!” Grinning, Twist took a long lick of her lollipop, slurping on it for a long moment before she pointed it at Dash again.
This time, Dash’s eyes widened as she saw he was now aiming right at her own torso. If she was glued to her own stand… no, she wasn’t going to let that happen! As the stream flew towards her, Dash willed 2M2M to twist it’s entire body, pointing its chest straight at Twist. The stream hit her stand straight in the chest, adding to the already small amount that was already there. As it hardened, Dash peaked her head above her Stand’s shoulder, only to shout as she was forced to duck back down to avoid another shot of the sticky stuff.
“You’re fun to try to hit!” Twist giggled, “You look so silly right now!”
Dash huffed, twisting her Stand once more, bending over now so that it’s right side was facing Twist. Stream after stream of the sticky stuff flew over her sides and head, and soon Dash was sweating with the effort of contorting both her Stand and body to avoid the spray. Twist’s Stand obviously could hit Stands and ponies alike. And as she was painfully aware of now, if her stand was immobilized, that part of her would be likewise. She couldn’t get away from it!
“Hmm…” Twist thought for a moment, “I wonder if you can dodge this!”
Placing her hand on the other edge of the lollipop, Twist suddenly gave the Stand a massive spin. The colors swirled together to form a solid disc of white, all while Twist continued to spin the candy over and over again, adding momentum to it with each application. Soon, her hand had to move so fast she was rubbing the top of it. The entire thing began to vibrate and twitch in Twist’s hand, and clearly something was coming, and coming fast.
“What in Celesti-” Dash started, but then the Stand acted.
The Stand throbbed one final time. Unlike before, what came out was far, far worse. Rather than a single stream, this time a massive glob of the sugary substance came out. It built up further and further until the massive glob in front of the Stand both completely obscured Twist, and was large enough to cast a shadow over Dash.
“Dodge this!” Shouting over the sloshing of her Stand, Twist thrust the candy forward, causing the massive glob to shot straight towards Dash.
Her eyes bulging, Dash looked straight up the sky, her expression dropping as she kicked back on 2M2M again, firing its jets on full while shaking it with her hands now, “Oh Come on come on Come On Come On COME ON COME ON!!!” The glob was almost at her Stand now, and Dash stared at it with a mixture of disgust and fear.
“Miss Rarity says fly south!”
When the voice stopped, Dash felt a strange tingling in her legs and knees. Just as the sensation faded, however, 2M2M was freed, and shot straight into the sky at an extremely high velocity.
Shouting at the sudden unexpected liberation, Dash looked down just in time to see one of Rarity’s Diamond Dogs waving at her, just as the glob smashed down over it. The Diamond Dog shouted and tumbled backwards as the liquid wave washed over him, sending him splashing backwards as his mouth filled with the stuff.
With the order from the creature in mind, Dash banked hard south, going upside down as her perception fully kicked in. Now moving, she looked straight ahead, seeing Rarity behind one of the buildings across from Town Hall, her mouth covered by both hands.
Dash desummoned 2M2M, opening her wings and using the excess speed granted by her Stand to fly, touching down hard down towards Rarity. Twisting her body at the last second, she landed on her feet and quickly shifted her weight to take the impact on her knees instead.
“Ugh, oh Celestia what is this taste?!” Rarity was sputtering through her hands, “It tastes like… sugar, the most awful sugar!”
“That’s Twist’s…. Stand, it’s that lollipop!” Rainbow Dash shuddered, “...is it just sugar?”
“Not just sugar!” Rarity gagged, “It’s… it tastes like... salty sugar!”
“Uh….” Passively turning away, Rainbow leaned around the side of the building the two were in front of, looking straight down the alleyway towards the Town Hall. The building was centered on the outer edge across from Twist’s position, and Dash could just barely make out Twist looking around in confusion, likely due to Dash speeding away faster than any Pegasus could.
“Ugh, phtu!” Rarity sputtered, “Ugh this is dreadful! Why hasn’t Lennon come back yet?!”
“I dunno!” Dash huffed, “Is Lenny one of your Stands?”
“Lennon!” Rarity sharply corrected, “Wait, did Lennon get caught when I sent him out to save you?!” Rarity gasped, leaning her head out beside Dash’s, “We must rescue him!”
“Yeah!” Harrison cried out; Starr hopped over to Dash and shook his needle in turn.
“Hold on a minute!” Dash snapped, “That kid has a really fast Stand! It just kept going off at me, I barely could avoid it on 2M2M!”
Staring into the alleyway, Dash took notice of Twist’s location. Twist was staring blankly at the sky, her eyes widened and her arm still outstretched. She walked over towards the edge of the stairs of the building, but refused to leave the veranda. She began walking around the exterior to look for them.
“Then what’s the plan?” Rarity huffed, “And how are we supposed to get Lennon out of there? We have to get there quickly before she comes looking for us!”
“I don’t think she’s coming to look for us...” Summoning 2M2M once more, Dash placed her hand back onto one of the handles. Around her, the air began to rush around the two figures, covering them and swirling about them as Dash narrowed her eyes, “She hasn’t left the deck yet to come looking for us. She has to know about our Stands already… at least mine.”
“How would she know about our Stands?” Rarity leaned around, seeing Twist emerge from the side of the building to the front entrance again, “Who would’ve told her about them?”
“I dunno, but first things first, we need to get your Lenny guy out of there,” Rainbow pulled herself up onto her Stand, “Rarity, I’m going to go back in there and try to grab for her Stand. While she’s distracted, get in there and get your Lenny guy out.”
“Lennon!” Rarity snapped, “And is that the wisest move right now, Dash? She was able to trap you before I arrived! What if she does so again?”
“I’m not seriously going for it,” Rainbow shook her head, “I’m just causing a distraction!”
Rarity couldn’t respond in time before Rainbow had taken off. With her Stand’s enhanced capabilities, she knew it was roughly two hundred feet from where Rarity stood to the stairs where Twist was. 2M2M could blast there in only a couple seconds. She arched her Stand into the air, then dove straight for the veranda.
However, before Dash even had gotten a third of the way there, a shot of white goo shot straight beside her head. In another instant, a warning flashed in her head as she banked left, avoiding another long strand of Twist’s Stand. Before she’d even made it there, she was forced to bank away and make a loop just to avoid tasting defeat literally and figuratively.
Twist’s Stand was incredibly fast, and Rainbow knew 2M2M was super fast. Another arc towards the veranda hailed three more shots, making it seem she had no significant period of time between her shots. And all this while she was flying through the air on her Stand!
“I hate that lollipop!” Dash shouted in anger, growling hard as 2M2M did a massive barrel roll, making a beeline for Twist’s position. With the raw speed of 2M2M, she had to be able to get there before he could hit her… or at least not directly!
“I heard that!” Twist shouted, “I’m sure you WISH you had my Stand!”
Getting so close to the veranda meant she had to slow 2M2M’s speed down so she could bank her turn. Yet her perception kicked in: Dash suddenly realized Twist had shifted position, slightly now to the left of the front of Town Hall’s doors. Before Dash could truly figure out why she did this, she felt a massive gust of wind hitting her right side.
Ignoring it, Dash turned her Stand so it angled toward Twist. The best bet right now was to jump off and tackle her. Once she had her hands on the filly, she’d have won. The distance between them was closing rapidly, so close it would be three seconds before contact. Just as she started to extend her hand to reach out, a warning flashed in her head for a split second before 2M2M jerked upwards in her hands.
“I did it!” Twist shouted. ‘It,’ as it turned out, had been landing a shot directly on top of one of 2M2M’s two exhausts. Suddenly, her position made sense; she’d moved upwind so her shot would arc around 2M2M. She’d been so focused on getting to Twist she hadn’t considered the shots would have an arc!
“Woah woah woah woah woah!” Gasping, Dash yanked up on her Stand, only to feel she was beginning to bank right. She knew without looking her right exhaust must have been covered up. As she shot up, another stream smacked into her Stand’s left foot, dousing it in the sticky stuff.
However, Dash couldn’t think about that right now. Her Stand was now going up and right, straight towards Town Hall’s spire. Making a split decision, Dash leaned her Stand’s weight to the left, causing it to bank around the top of the spire. While she was safe now, she couldn't turn around, and quickly she realized she’d have to go around the building to make another attempt.
Yet for the moment, it took all her concentration to prevent 2M2M from diving straight into the roof. Her fingers curled frantically around the handles, yanking upwards on them with all the strength her arm possessed. It reminded her of trying to fly on a torn wing, always having to adjust for the weight and having to go at a slower speed to compensate. Yet 2M2M was still going incredibly fast, and slowing down wasn’t an option.
The wind whipping across her face, Dash forcing herself to calm down. Her enhanced perception quickly picked up she was going fast enough it’d only be a second to round the building’s spire. As the mare finally rounded the side of Town Hall, however, what she saw made her eyes widen.
In her dilemma, she’d forgotten about Rarity! In the center of the field, Rarity was crouched down, pointing towards the squirming mass in the center of Twist’s first massive glob attack. Starr and Harrison had just begun to plunge their rippers into the ground, when Dash saw Twist’s lollipop starting to twitch again.
Rarity hadn’t even seen Twist preparing her lollipop. Twitching for another moment, the lollipop jerked upwards before the long cone shaped stream came out. The massive glob grew rapidly as it approached Rarity, all while Dash was still fighting for control of her Stand.
Dash was too far away to do anything. She jerked hard on her Stand to move left, up, down, anything, but anything she’d do would be too late. The Stand wasn’t going to be moving in any direction just yet… and as she looked up, Rarity had begun to notice the blob rushing towards her. She barely had enough time to even point for one of her Diamond Dogs to react.
At that moment, 2M2M did something she didn’t expect. Extending its right arm halfway, the entire Stand vibrated underneath her as Dash noticed something about its hands she hadn’t before. In the center of its palms were small discs that were cut straight through the center, each one embedded into its palms. Extending its arm fully, the disc suddenly slid apart, retracting into either side of the Stand’s hand. And that’s when she noticed it.
In a split second, Dash knew what ‘it’ was. A small black orb had emerged from it, growing to three inches in diameter. It was a small vacuum, another fact she knew instantly. And due to the motion of 2M2M’s arm, the vacuum shot straight out into Twist’s attack.
As the vacuum came into proximity of the large glob, the glob suddenly began to contort and get dragged into the vacuum. In an instant, the glob was gone, disappeared within the black mass. The vacuum remained completely black as it fell towards the ground, resting on top of it with the blades of grass being drawn towards it. A second later, it disappeared.
While surprised, Dash couldn't rejoice yet. Just as her Stand had started to vibrate, her speed had faltered. While she hadn’t seen it, her left jet had inverted while creating the vacuum, thus cancelling out her speed. And that meant she was now going down, hard.
While Dash thought her perception would take care of it for her, it seemed to have vanished. The ground was now coming towards her faster than she could account for. So she had only enough time to brace herself as 2M2M hit the ground, slamming into the dirt and throwing Dash off. She tumbled a few feet across the grass as 2M2M faded from existence.
“What?” Twist blinked as she looked to where that strange vacuum had been, “What was that?”
As Dash groaned and looked up, seeing the lollipop filling her with adrenaline. Dash reached up, crossing her arms over her face to protect it. Thought confused, it didn’t take long for Twist to frown and launch another glob at her. 2M2M appeared in front of Dash again, preparing to take the blow head on.
Then it happened again. As Dash willed 2M2M to protect her, her Stand open its palms up and released another orb. It shot up and collected the oncoming attack, easily sucking it out of existence. Taking advantage of the brief moment, Dash scrambled up shakily onto her feet. Turning her head, Dash quickly zeroed in on Rarity’s location, seeing her several feet away to her right. Thinking quickly, Dash threw the vacuum into the air in front of her, before darting to her right towards Rarity.
“Heads up!” Shouting, Dash wrapped an arm around the startled mare, dragging her quickly towards the pavilion. Twist growled and launched another stream at the retreating mares, only for the shot to be sucked into the previously launched vacuum.
Confused and startled, Rarity didn’t fight as Dash dragged her quickly towards the pavilion. Thrusting the two of them up against the bottom of it, 2M2M climbed up onto the deck, taking a fighting stance. The Stand quickly caught the vacuum it had tossed up, hold it it out in front of them to absorb Twist’s oncoming blows.
Without a word, Dash peered up. Twist had already shot another stream directly at them, but just as she had calculated, she was focusing on 2M2M. Each attack was either sucked completely up by Dash’s vacuums, or her Stand would dodge whatever remained swiftly. Twist was too afraid to approach 2M2M head on, and thus, had backed a considerable distance away.
“What are these things?!” Twist shouted, “And why can’t I get past them?!”
Still hunkered down, Dash turned to Rarity, “Rarity, did you get Larry?!”
“LENNON!” A tiny noise spoke up. The small Diamond Dog was perfectly fine, completely separated from the goo that had encased him. He quickly scampered over to stand on Rarity’s forearm, quickly joined by his three comrades.
“Why did you think the best way to get me over here was to… to tackle me?!” Rarity huffed, “And why did you bring us closer to her?!”
“Because!” Dash pointed to him, “She won’t leave the deck! The only bit of cover in the field is the deck. I saved you from having to get it all over your face, and right now we have a shield protecting us.”
“Shield?” Rarity looked up, “Are you referring to that… black thing your Stand is holding?”
“Yeah,” Dash looked up, “They’re vacuums. I just, sorta knew what they were when I saw them. I saw her about to attack you while I was going down, and it just kinda happened. Something similar happened with that Verde guy…”
Dash peered up over the deck again. Twist had stopped firing her Stand at 2M2M. Instead, she rubbed her stand rapidly again and released a massive burst of it around the floor in front of her. The sticky substance would mean getting to her would be a task. Dash already knew that 2M2M couldn’t go too far away from her anyways, though.
Thinking for a long moment, Dash pondered as to what she could do. Twist seemed determined not to leave the pavilion, and likewise she would hit either of them if they tried to leave. They had to drive her out into the open. She had the advantage in open air. Then she could get Twist separated from her Stand and snap her out of what she though.
“Rarity, I got a plan,” Dash turned to her, “At the meeting, you said your Stand can separate stuff if they’re connected together, right?”
“We’re able to sew together any two objects or remove them if they’re joined in any way!” Starr answered, “But they must be two separate objects.”
“Good,” Dash grinned a toothy smile, “I’m going to have to use you then!”
Before Starr could protest, 2M2M leaned down from the pavilion and picked up the struggling cloth doll. Dash in the meanwhile got up onto her knees, gripping the forearm of 2M2M.
“Which one is this again?” Dash asked, casually pulling the squirming Stand to her.
“Starr!” Rarity rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation, “Starr, Harrison, Lennon and Cartney! They aren’t hard names to remember!”
“I need you to scare Twist out from under the roof,” Dash pointed towards it, “Once you drive her out, I can handle it from there. I’m gonna borrow this little guy for when you do. Got it?”
“Hey Rainbow, Rarity!” Twist called out, “I dunno what exactly you’re planning, but you can’t hide forever!”
“Alright, I know what to do,” Rarity ignored Twist and nodded, “But darling, you’ve been hit by that filly’s… sugar twice now. Are you sure you can avoid her once more?”
“Now that I figured out what 2M2M can do… yeah, I can!” Dash beamed as she hoisted herself up onto her Stand. Even as she did so, another spurt of the Stand flew towards her, narrowly missing her face. 2M2M leapt away from the pavilion and carried them out into the field. Starr yelped as he clung to 2M2M with all his might.
“Don’t hurt Starr!” Rarity called out, a loud twinge of concern in her voice, “Take care of him!”
“I will!” Dash called back. Now that she was out, she flipped her Stand up onto it’s belly. Activating the jets, she had it push off the ground, giving her a forward and upwards direction for her jets. Just as she started to take off, a massive glob of the sticky substance came flying directly towards Dash’s face.
“There you are!” Twist smirked, “I was starting to think I wouldn’t get a chance to show off my Stand again!”
Dash summoned another vacuum, sending it soaring in front of her Stand as she banked right into the air. The attack was quickly sucked into the vacuum before Dash willed it to orbit around her Stand as she flew, creating an effective shield for herself.
Now that she was airborne, Dash knew what she had to do: “Try to hit me if you can!” Dash shouted, turning her Stand upwards to form a loop-de-loop motion.
Growling, Twist swiftly raised her lollipop, gripping the edge of the disc, “I know I can hit you!” She called out, “Get ready to take my sugar!”
“Starr!” Dash turned towards the Diamond Dog, “Your job right now is to get rid of anything that hits 2M2M, got it?”
Starr tried to react, but whatever he said was lost in the wind. Dash drew 2M2M until it was flying in the edge of the field, hovering there so she could gauge the range of Twist’s Stand. Given that shots were still flying towards her, it seemed that her range was far longer than 2M2M’s personal one.
Twist, however, was far more than just range. With the vacuum that Dash had in her Stand’s arms, something became apparent to her: her perception filter was gone. She hadn’t thought about it, but now that she was in the air, she wasn’t hearing everything nearly as well, or seeing every shot nearly as quickly. Her enhanced senses still let her keep up with Twist, but having Starr now as assurance was key.
“Come on kid!” Rainbow shouted, “Hit me!”
Twist rolled her eyes, aiming her lollipop again. Dash banked around some of the buildings around the field, rolling in and out of the field to evade each of Twist’s attacks. Every shot felt far too close for comfort, and any shot that did land was being rapidly undone by Starr with ripper clutched fiercely in one hand. In the other hand, 2M2M clutched its vacuum.
Dash spun her Stand and flew low to the ground, so low she could see the flattening grass blades. Twist took this as a chance to fire a series of shots right at Dash, causing her to swerve to the left and light rapidly. Twist rubbed up another massive glob, but Dash spread her own wings and grabbed Starr in hand. She opened them hard and flew upwards, the shot passing through air. 2M2M appeared under Dash again, to which she grabbed onto it and flew quickly away.
Twist now had a little furrow in her brow. Dash was incredibly unpredictable, making this harder than it needed to be! She looked across the entirety of Dash for a moment, only to see Starr scraping off a little bit of her Stand from 2M2M’s side. Twist closed one eye and leaned her body in like she was firing a bow, holding her lollipop out and firing.
Starr, whom had just succeeded, was suddenly splattered with the goop. The force of impact sent him flying off of 2M2M. He squeaked out as he tumbled away into the sky.
“Little guy!” Dash quickly turned, her Stand now pointed to intercept his fall. He was flailing right towards the outside of the field, right where Twist could hit them. Dash tried to weave, but she had to focus on grabbing Starr, meaning Twist was free to attack.
“That’s it!” Twist beamed, “Now you’re right in my sights! Get ready to… to…”
That was when Twist heard something. Something creaking. She snapped her head to look above her, only to see the entirety of the roof collapsing! Her body froze as the entire roof seemed to be starting to slide down like a lid on a bottle! Twist rapidly turned her head to see something that made her shake.
Rarity stood on the outside of the pavilion, a glistening diamond thread in hand. Twist followed the thread with her eyes to see that the thread had been sewn through each and every pillar of the pavilion. Yet the roof was no longer connected to the pillars either! Rarity, giving Twist a long look, smirked before she let go of the thread.
“G-Gah!!!” With no other option, Twist saw the stairs to the deck, quickly rushing out and launching herself into the field. She tumbled onto the ground, landing on her belly and groaning, lollipop in hand.
As the roof began to slide down, Rarity backed away from the structure. Still in close proximity, Twist heard the loud creaking as the roof started to slide down towards her, getting on his back to see it. As she threw her hands in front of her face to shield it, Lennon and Cartney quickly jumped from Rarity’s shoulders, scattering out into the field.
At that moment, Rarity grimaced as she tugged hard on the string she was holding. The string ran through the roof and each support that’d been separated, and the tug caused the two to come back together once more. The supports quickly began to drag back outwards, scraping against the now ascending roof. Struggling to pull them together, Rarity turned to look up at Rainbow Dash, seeing Starr holding onto Rainbow’s arm.
“Go!” With the simple command, Lennon and Cartney dashed forward to where Twist had fallen to the ground. Brandishing their needles, each quickly drove them into Twist’s feet, sending their strings into the dirt. With her feet sewn, Twist looked down to see the two pin dolls, and she shouted in fear.
“A-Ahh! Get off me!” Swinging her lollipop at them, Twist quickly jerked up to his feet, only to feel she was now stuck to the ground. Stunned, Twist quickly rose his Stand into the air, aiming it at the two retreating Diamond Dogs who’d sewn her into the ground. “W-Why can’t I move?! I can’t move!”
“Yeah, you can’t!” Lennon called out from behind him, sticking his tongue out, “PHBHBHT!”
Twist heard a massive rush of air from behind her. She twisted around to see 2M2M speeding back into the air, having caught Starr before he hit the ground. The Stand quickly used its ripper to separate the goop from its body, spitting in disgust once it was sent flapping into the breeze.
“Alright Starr!” Rainbow grinned, “You ready?!” Nervously, the normally outspoken Stand timidly nodded his head, his face a bit green from the massive tumble.
“Great!” Smirking, Dash kicked 2M2M into gear, pointing it at the ground to the right of Town Halls’ entrance. She’d have to go around the building in order to gain the speed to do this, but her Stand was incredibly fast. She’d be around Town Hall before he had a chance to do anything!
While 2M2M began to bank down, however, Twist looked around in fear. Rarity was still clutching onto the string, trying desperately to hold the now collapsing roof together. Dash was outside of her field of view, and she needed to do something, something… something fast!
“I… I didn’t wanna have to use this, but you’re forcing me to!” Twist took a few deep breaths, “It’s time to show you the true power of my Stand!”
“True power huh?!” Dash’s increased hearing easily picked him up as she started to turn to go around the building, “You got a round two or something?!”
Twist slowly gripped the side of her Stand, giving it a long and slow rub before she spun the candy harder than she had before. She wasn’t rubbing it like she was before; instead, now she was more so thrusting it up against her hand to increase its speed. Stray globs before to douse the grass around her as the normally white color of the lollipop when active turned a bright rainbow.
However, just as he spun the candy a second time, a blur of blue light zoomed in front of him. Shrieking, Twist jerked backwards, nearly falling over without being able to move her feet to balance herself. She quickly resumed what she was doing.
“Come on!” Dash shouted, growling, “Rarity said you guys were fast!”
“I-I’m very fast!” Starr shouted, “But I can’t see it when we’re going THIS fast!”
Sighing, Dash quickly forced 2M2M into another loop around the building. She had to keep getting Starr close to the lollipop, but she had to avoid crashing into him too! Growling, Dash quickly throttled her Stand again, sending it zooming around the building.
“Come on, come on!” Twist nervously gasped, spinning her lollipop faster. Slowly, a cone of rainbow light started to form around it, dancing across the steps of Town Hall. Another blur in front of her, however, made her shriek and jerk back once more, almost losing her balance.
“STARR!” Rainbow shouted, “COME ON!”
As she watched, Rarity herself had backed away, seeing Dash’s form incoming and knowing she wouldn't slow down for her. She pursed her lips, wanting to try to do something. But the string was all that was holding the roof together!
Dash had just started to go in for a third pass. Twist’s hand spun faster and faster on the candy, the rainbow light growing. Finally, the candy started to jerk up in her hands. And that was when she gained a wicked grin.
“On your marks!” Twist shouted, turning her body into the direction he knew Dash would attack. Just as Dash rounded the corner, Twist spun his Stand one last time, “Get ready!” Starr extended his needle just as the two were mere feet away from the Stand.
“FOR CANDY COATED FURYYYYY!!!” Just as Starr recoiled from plunging in the needle, Twist’s Stand violently jerking in her hands. A glistening cone of rainbow light emanated from the Stand, swirling about it like something from a carnival. A second later, however, the Stand completely erupted.
Unlike the controlled and calculated shots from before, the lollipop began to shoot random and massive globs of the substance out of the center, each one arcing in every which direction. The Stand quickly coated the ground around her in its goop. The rainbow light danced about the ground, almost as though a rainbow disco light was hanging in the sky.
Rainbow Dash, having had her face directly above it, wasn’t given any time to react. A massive glob struck her directly in the face, coating it entirely and sending her and 2M2M spiraling. The two soared past Twist, heading right for the ground. The mare shirked in disgust, followed by a cry of pain as she hit the ground hard.
“MMGMH!” Shouting on the ground, Dash found her hands she’d raised to try and scrape the stuff off had now become stuck to her face. Oddly enough, the strange substance was just porous enough for her to breathe, but just like Rarity, she could taste the strange salty sweet flavor of the stuff, which had now glued her tongue to the roof of her mouth.
“AND THAT’S THE MONEYSHOT, BABY!” Twist shouted, giggling her head off as she pointed at her, “HAH!”
Her eyes widening, Rarity gasped as she tugged hard on the string, “W-Where did you learn that?!”
“He told me to say it if I hit someone in the face!” Twist grinned, “Now let’s give you one too!”
Jerking upright, Rarity was forced to leap backwards from Twist’s now geysering Stand. Looking over towards Dash, Rarity pursed her lips as she looked up to the lollipop, still holding onto the string. The Stand’s attacks hit with a massive force, enough to make her arm vibrate with the impact.
“Miss Rarity!” Gasping, Starr quickly scampered his way up Rainbow’s arm, trying to separate the substance stuck to Rainbow’s face, “You need to go!”
“I’m not… going to… let the roof collapse!” Rarity shook her head, “Property damage is not something a lady causes!” Rarity grunted, “And I’m doing just fine!”
Trading glances, Cartney and Harrison slowly nodded before the two backed up, surrounding Rarity and watching nervously. Massive globs of sticky goop had begun to pool around the ground, frothing about. Unlike before, the goop didn’t turn into taffy on contact; rather, it remained viscous and thick, only causing Rarity to gag as she leapt further and further back.
“I’m beginning to get… rather tired of that lollipop of hers!” Rarity muttered, jerking backwards as a hard glob splattered against her shield.
“You can never get tired of my lollipop!” Twist smirked, “I think Rainbow Dash already learned that!”
Turning her head, Rarity could see Starr wasn’t making any progress with Dash. The mare was hysterical, her hands stuck to her face and writhing on the ground. Starr was still holding onto his needle in one hand, and thus he couldn't steady his ripper enough to get the stuff off.
Grunting, Rarity turned and peered towards Twist. She had to do something in order to finish Starr’s string! But she also couldn't let go of the string holding the roof together just yet. Grunting, the mare looked to Twist again. She had to get Starr’s needle over to her!
However, that was when Rarity noticed it. The vacuum that Dash had been using for protection! It was still there, floating in the air above Dash!
“Harrison!” Rarity hissed, “Tell Starr to throw his needle into that vacuum!”
“What?” Harrison gasped, “But, what’ll happen to the string?!”
“Do as I say!” Rarity snapped, “And then make Rainbow Dash launch that vacuum towards me!”
With a nervous gaze, Harrison slowly nodded, turning his body and quickly rushing out into the field. The tiny Stand was forced to jump and dodge attacks, and Rarity knew just what she needed to do.
“Your Stand is awful!” Rarity shouted, “The most dreadful kind! Somepony aught to take it away from you!”
“Now you want it too?” Twist shrugged, “There is only one of me and two of you, you just gotta wait your turn! I’ll get to you when I’m done coating your friend!”
At that moment, Rarity felt the pressure on her shield increase. Twist had turned the spurting Candy directly towards her! Looking down, the pool of goo had spread to her feet, and Rarity didn’t have time to pull them up before her feet were now glued to the ground.
“Yes… you ought to learn… how to use your Stand in the proper way!” Rarity shot a glance over. Harrison had just reached Starr! “You should be punished!”
“No, you’re the ones that are getting punished!” Twist narrowed her eyes.
Pursing her lip, Rarity stole another glance over to her Stands. Rainbow had stopped writhing for a half second, and her Stand had likewise reached out to grip hold of the vacuum. Thinking fast, Rarity looked over to Twist again, smirking this time.
“You should have a Stand like mine!” Rarity called out, “Elegant, graceful, and a perfect reflection of how you should use it! Your ghastly lollipop just doesn’t even compare when put to the test!”
“My Candy Coated Fury is all I need!” Twist stuck her tongue out, “I don’t need any stupid dogs!”
Just as he said that, Rarity saw 2M2M had started up a throw. Starr gave her one last glance before he threw his needle into the vacuum, just as 2M2M threw.
“Then you’ve made a mistake!” As the vacuum came soaring at Rarity, the String connected to the lollipop began to tighten. Being yanked away from Dash had caused a large amount of slack to form, which was quickly getting pulled in. Silently, Cartney jumped onto her shoulder, getting the ripper out just as the vacuum fully approached them.
“Because with Diamond Dogs!” Cartney reached out, cutting the string going into the vacuum. Rarity reached out and took it in her other hand, giving it a hard yank. At the same time, she threw the end of the string holding up the roof into the vacuum, the string quickly disappearing into it.
“I can separate anything!” The string connecting the roof suddenly tightened due to the force of the vacuum, causing the roof to yank back together. With the string in hand, Rarity gave the string a hard yank, causing Twist’s eyes to jerk wide as her lollipop went flying from her hands.
With a few final spurts, the Stand’s ability deactivated once it was out of Twist’s hands. Twist’s eyes went wide as she realized this. Gasping hard, she cried out, trying to run towards Rarity. Yet the strings in her feet caused her to fall flat on her face.
Turning to Rainbow, Rarity quickly pointed at her face. The four dogs quickly rushed over, each gripping a corner of Dash’s face and using their rippers in tandem. With their combined strength, the now flat piece of taffy fell from Dash’s face, and another quick use freed it from her hands.
“Gah!!!” Dash spat, shaking her head, “Guh, GUH!” spitting, Dash slowly trembled as the substance began to melt in her mouth, “Ugh, there’s so much salt in this…”
“Well,” Rarity sighed, “That’s what you get for flying in without thinking.”
“I was thinking!” Dash snapped, “What part of my plan wasn’t thought out?! Starr would plant the string, then I’d shoot up and he’d plant it in the roof and yank it there! Honestly, that was a smart plan!”
“P-Please don’t hurt me!” The feeble voice of Twist came from where she lay on the ground, trembling visibly at the two mares standing near her, “I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Dont’ hurt me, and don’t take my Stand! Please!”
Staring at her, the two mares slowly stalked forward, Dash having anger shining heavily in her eyes. Twist looked up, only to see shadow covering their eyes.
“P-P-Please!” Twist clasped her hands together, “I-I promise, I wasn’t going to hurt you! I-I, he wanted me to hurt you!”
“He?” Rarity inquired, “Oh please… do go on.”
“I-I don’t know his name!” Twist babbled, “I-I met him outside of school! H-He said that he’d help me make friends, and he gave me a lollipop! I-I met him each day after school, and then he, h-he gave me a weird handshake and I developed my Stand! T-Then he told me you guys were nasty, and said my Stand was perfect for you two!”
“That’s all you know about him?” Dash asked coldly.
“Y-Yep!” Twist shouted, “I-I don’t know anything else about him, t-that’s all! I-I don’t even know his name! B-But the lollipop he gave me, t-that’s what my Stand became!”
“Alright, let her go,” Rainbow waved to Rarity.
Raising an eyebrow, Rarity slowly nodded, speaking up quietly, “Do as she says, Lennon.” The dog quickly rushed forward after nodding, undoing the strings holding Twist down.
“You… you won’t hurt me?” Twist asked as she slowly got up, pushing the hair out of her eyes.
“Nah, I won’t hurt you, kid,” Dash’s frown curled upwards, “But I think you need to be taught a lesson about using that Stand on mares.”
“Rainbow Dash?” Rarity hissed, “She’s already apologized, let’s just let her go and report this to Twilight.”
“Not yet!” Dash growled, “I wanna teach her a little lesson I learned back in the Wonderbolts Academy… a lesson about tornadoes.”
Wordlessly, Dash slowly summoned 2M2M again, turning the Stand around. Slowly, the Stand produced 6 vacuums, moving them into a column formation. The air around the three began to suck into the large orbs, causing their hair to flap in the wind.
“I don’t know much about vacuums,” Dash pointed back, “But I do know something about how we make tornadoes for our shows. It’s all about moving fast enough to create a fast enough speed around a fixed pointed. Normally tornadoes form when hot and cold air meet and swirl around each other… but if you make the air around the point colder than the air inside, you can form a small funnel. And if you turn that funnel into a cone, you get a tornado.”
2M2M suddenly pointed to the left, the vacuums sliding out to form a diagonal line. The vacuums began to rotate where the three stood, slowly at first and gaining speed. Each one lagged slightly behind the one above it, but with every rotation, the vacuums began to form a wall of air.
“Normally, I’d have to have at least four ponies with me to fly fast enough just to produce a small tornado,” Dash grinned, “But the whole reason it works is because we form a funnel of air behind us that sucks in air. That’s why they teach Wonderbolts not to fly directly behind somepony. But,” Dash pointed up, “With these vacuums, I can accelerate the process. And we’re in the eye of it!”
The vacuums by now had rotated to the point a small tornado had formed around them. Rainbow’s hair whipped backwards, sucked towards the funnel. Soon enough, the vacuums disappeared, the entire tornado turning slightly black. Rarity pressed her back up to Dash, nervously gripping her arm.
“RAINBOW DASH!” Rarity shouted over the roar of wind, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
“Like I said!” With a grin, 2M2M suddenly wrapped an arm around Twist, hoisting her into the air, “I’m teaching her a lesson about tornadoes!”
With that said, 2M2M suddenly threw Twist into the air, a scream coming from her lips. Twist was quickly sucked into the vortex, whipping around inside of it as she continued to scream. Rarity shouted something to Dash in anger, but as she turned to yell, Dash was gone.
Twist screamed in terror as she whipped around in the vortex, her body dragged around inside of the wall of the storm. She cried out in fear, throwing her arms out wide. She was unable to stop her momentum, unable to do anything but helplessly tumble about inside of the storm.
With a massive jerk, Twist suddenly realized something: she was out of the funnel. Opening her eyes, he saw the ground, specifically that she was rushing towards it. Twist let out a scream of terror, seeing the grass rushing up towards her. Shutting his eyes, she prepared herself to hit the ground with tremendous force.
Something caught her just before she hit the ground. The weight in her gut made her gag, but she wasn’t falling anymore. Twist coughed as she stared at the blades of grass tickling her face. Slowly, she looked behind his shoulder, only to see Rainbow Dash on top of 2M2M, staring at her with a smug expression.
“So?” Dash grinned, “How was that demonstration?”
Shaking, Twist looked up to Dash, her terror being filled with relief. The intense emotion caused her to start to slowly nod her head, unable to speak.
“Now,” Dash slowly laid him on the ground, “If we give you your Stand back, do you promise not to hurt anyone ever again with it?” Still terrified, Twist slowly nodded.
“And if I ask, will ya come help me prank some ponies with it?” Twist nodded a bit slower.
“Good,” Dash smirked, making 2M2M disappear and landing on her feet gracefully, “Now go get your Stand from Rarity and go home.”
With the order, Twist slowly at first but quickly broke into a run. With the vacuums gone, the tornado had disappeared, leaving a very messy Rarity in standing in confusion. As she passed Rarity, she nabbed Candy Coated Fury, quickly running off into the distance. As she did so, a small band of red around her wrist slowly shattered.
“What was all that about, Rainbow Dash?!” Rarity regained her senses enough to shout, “You just endangered the life of Sweetie Belle’s classmates for your own amusement?”
“Remember what they all said?” Dash stretched her back out, “She has to beat up Vinyl to get her out of it. I didn’t wanna hurt the kid but I had to get her out. I figured a nice little scare would do the trick.”
“That..” Rarity paused, “That’s still incredibly dangerous. Why would you pick something like that?”
“Because!” Rainbow turned towards Rarity, “Pinkie taught me sometimes the best way to get scared is to go sky high!”
---
Once more, a figure sat in a quiet room. The soft hum of a television played in the corner, yet otherwise the room was quiet. As the figure looked down at his right arm, however, his expression was anything but tranquil. His lips were quivering as the charm containing Twist’s image started to quiver, before breaking apart and fragmenting into tiny pieces, much like Aloe and Vinyl’s had.
“I… what’s going on?” Averting his gaze, the figure’s fingers started to tap against his knee, “This, shouldn't be happening! How are they getting past my friends?!”
Looking down at his wrist again, the figure thumbed through the remaining bands, narrowing his gaze onto them. As he twisted them about to show the charms, a figure stood out among the rest.
“Well… this one will do!” Pressing his fingers against it, the figure’s expression darkened, “Alright Sparkle… let’s see what you and your friends do against this one…”