Episode 97: Scootaloo’s Home
Alerion was not a gentle flier, making no concessions on speed or maneuvering as he sliced across the sky with his three passengers. How something seemingly made purely of stone could fly with such swiftness and able agility Sweetie Belle didn't know, she just knew that if she hadn’t been scared of heights before, she was making great headway on developing the phobia now.
Several times she felt Applebloom’s limp body try to slip out from between her and Scootaloo, and it was only Sweetie Belle’s utter terror that lent enough strength to her limbs to keep her friend held tightly and from sliding right off into open air. Well, terror, and perhaps a small bit of unconscious Fullbring use, solidifying enough of the air around her hands and legs to keep stable, but Sweetie Belle wasn’t self-aware of such usage of her power.
She kept her eyes shut tight for most of the flight, only daring to open them a handful of times. Each time it looked like Alerion was flying south, well beyond the city limits. The Everfree Forest was to the north, whereas if one went far enough south of Canterlot City, the landscape turned mostly into steep hills, lightly forested, with a highway that snaked its way through the landscape towards other towns and the wider world. Sweetie Belle imagined that to anyone down below who looked up, Alerion probably looked like either a small plane, or just a large bird. They were so high up, it wasn’t likely anybody would be able to make out size, or details.
Without checking her phone there was no way to be sure how long the flight lasted, but if she was forced to guess, it wasn’t even half an hour before Alerion made a sudden and sharp descent. Sweetie Belle screamed, holding onto Applebloom and to the stone bird for dear life. Wind tore past her like a wall of hands, grasping, threatening to tear her off and send her tumbling to a sudden, unpleasant demise. Sweetie Belle only held on tighter, face planted into Applebloom’s back.
Then, just as suddenly as the descent began, it ended. Sweetie Belle was jostled by the feeling of a heavy impact, and she nearly tumbled off if not for Scootaloo reaching back and grabbing her arm, steadying her. Alerion had touched down in a clearing, nestled between several hills that were thick with trees. A dirt road, broad but largely unpaved, wound its way between the hills, presumably towards a more mainstream road. Before them sat a two story, steeple roofed house, painted an almost garish yellow color. A large side garage and shed could be seen on the house’s left side, while the right sported a wide wooden porch with an overhanging roof.
An old looking, beat up red and yellow ‘beetle’ car sat in the front driveway.
Alerion lowered his wing, looking back at the girls, his deep voice echoing.
“We have arrived. You can stop screaming now.”
Sweetie Belle, face red, sucked in a deep breath and let the tension inside her explode out, “Oh can I!? Gee, thanks! And here I thought I was screaming in terror for your benefit, you overgrown garden gnome!”
The bird raised a stone brow with a grinding, earthy noise. “Shall I take you back up? Show you what a rougher flight might feel like, since you appear to have enjoyed it so much?”
Before Sweetie Belle could respond, Scootaloo stood up and placed her hands on her hips, eyeing Alerion head on, “That’s enough. Thanks for the help, Alerion. I’ll bring you some nice, juicy oranges later. For now, stow the sass and stay on guard.”
“Hmph, very well...” the bird said, and waited as Scootaloo helped Sweetie Belle carefully carry Applebloom down his wing and to the ground. Applebloom was frightfully quiet, and it was starting to scare Sweetie Belle. She could still see her friend’s chest rising and falling, so she was definitely breathing, but she wasn’t stirring at all, and just hung between her and Scootaloo like a dead lump.
“S-Scootaloo, is she going to be okay?”
It was impossible to miss the fear in Scootaloo’s eyes, but the other girl took a deep breath and put on a brave smile, nodding, “Of course she will! My aunts will take care of it. You’ll see. Now c’mon, they must have heard Alerion landing...”
Sweetie Belle had dozens of questions in her mind, but stowed them for now. Applebloom needed help, and she wasn’t going to waste any time before getting her that help by grilling Scootaloo on just what in the world was going on. It bothered her that her friend had been clearly keeping a huge secret from them, but answers could wait until Applebloom was safe, and hopefully awake.
As she and Scootaloo were hauling Applebloom as gently as they could up the stairs to the porch, a white door with an odd, almost Celtic symbol woven in wood on its front, swung open. The woman who came out onto the porch looked as if she was in her mid to late twenties, with a healthy, warm yellow skin tone and soft amber eyes. Her hair was a faded orange streaked with darker orange, curling past her shoulders. She wore a purple sweater, despite the early summer heat, and long, white slacks. The moment she saw the girls, her eyes went wide, one hand going to her mouth. On her index finger she wore a surprisingly large, silver ring with a bright, oval shaped blue stone in it.
“Oh my! Scootaloo, dear, what manner of trouble have you gotten yourself into!?” The woman’s eyes swept over Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, then to the sight of Alerion standing in the driveway. Her expression visibly became tighter, yet somehow her eyes were still soft with sympathy. “Oh... Oh I see... well then, best get inside. Put your friend on the sofa, while I go fetch Lofty. Oh dear, oh dear, this is going to be a rough afternoon.”
“Yes, Aunty Holiday,” Scootaloo said, in a far more demure tone than Sweetie Belle had ever heard her use with anyone before, even the teachers at school. It wasn’t fear, exactly, just an extreme amount of deference. Even Scootaloo’s expression was subdued in a way that Sweetie Belle had never seen as they followed ‘Aunty’ Holiday into the house.
The interior of the house was brightly lit, and furnished in a manner that Sweetie Belle could only think of as ‘grandmaish’, with pleats and floral designs plastered over everything. The doorway led to a short hall, with an open archway into a long and well appointed kitchen on the right, with windows looking out onto the porch. They went down the hallway instead, where a stairwell went up to the left, where Holiday quickly took the stairs two at a time to the second floor. Meanwhile Scootaloo continued to carry Applebloom alongside Sweetie Belle, leading down the hall through a door into a large living room.
Looking around Sweetie Belle saw some things that seemed normal, like several rocking chairs, a huge and plush yellow sofa, bookshelves, pictures on the wall, and a decent sized television on one side of the room. Yet there were other things that didn’t seem normal, or at least were somewhat out of place. Several shelves had strange jars and jugs on them that looked to be filled with liquids she couldn’t identify. One shelf had a line of bird skulls of varying sizes and shapes, all neatly arranged. A basket on one end table was filled with strange stones and crystals, while on another table incense burned amid a pot marked with strange symbols like the one on the front door. An actual axe was hung on one of the walls, of some very strange and ancient design that looked less like the shiny replicas Sweetie Belle had seen and more... authentic.
Then there were the pictures themselves. They weren’t exactly ‘family photos’ of the garden variety. They showed individuals from across the world, in various places Sweetie Belle didn’t recognize, but definitely looked like other countries. There were, however, at least two people who kept appearing in more than one photo. An exceedingly tall, willow limbed woman of almost painful beauty, with long, blonde hair, and a very rugged looking, handsome man with a well muscled build, and very distinctive, purple hair.
“Scootaloo, are those...?” she began to ask, as they set Applebloom down on the sofa.
“My mom and pop,” Scootaloo said, looking at the nearest picture with an almost painful look in her eyes. It showed the pair, the tall, stunning blonde, and her rugged, purple haired husband standing in front of some kind of pyramid structure, perhaps Aztec? Sweetie Belle wasn’t sure.
“Do they, uh, travel a lot?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Always...” Scootaloo said, carefully putting a blanket from the back of the sofa and putting it over Applebloom, making sure the girl’s head was placed gently atop one of the pillows sitting on the end of the sofa. “I’ve only seen them a few times my whole life. They’re... super busy, doing important stuff for... um, well, you’ll find out, if Aunty Holiday and Aunty Lofty think it's okay to tell you.”
A moment later Sweetie Belle heard footsteps on the stairs, followed by the voice of another woman, not Holiday, but clearly this ‘Lofty’ person.
“What in blazes has gotten into that girl!? She could blow our entire cover here, Holiday! There’s plenty of nasty folks crawling around town these days, and most of them aren’t exactly on our friends list, if you catch my drift!”
“Oh I know, Lofty, but let’s not blow our stack, shall we? Clearly Scootlaloo had a good reason to do what she did.”
As Holiday walked into the living room she was preceded by another woman. This one had a lighter but similarly yellow skin tone to Holiday, although that was largely where the similarities ended. Where Holiday was rounded in figure, in a short, pleasant manner, this woman was tall and had a harsh angled face and frame. Her expression was severe, but not without a hint of kindness about her eyes, as if she wasn’t used to frowning like she was now. Well groomed, sea blue hair was striped with lighter tones and cut short and neat around her head. She wore a striking blue blouse and denim jeans.
As she entered the room, she looked to Scootaloo, then the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders, and anger warred with concern on her face as Lofty let out a heavy sigh and said, “This looks like a right mess, Scootaloo. Just what happened out there?”
“I’m sorry, Aunty Lofty, I’m really, reaaally sorry! I had no choice! My friends were gonna die!” Scootaloo cried, tearing up as she looked at the two women pleadingly.
Holiday elbowed Lofty lightly, “Let’s leave off the questions until after we ensure the child is going to be alright. If you’d go brew something for her, I’ll get to work on the injury itself.”
Lofty was still frowning, but nodded, muttering, “Brew, right. Guess they’ve already seen Alerion, no point hiding anything else. But you’re on answers duty. I got no head for explaining things.”
With that she strode back to the hall and took the turn into the kitchen. Meanwhile Holiday approached the bed and knelt next to it, examining Applebloom. Sweetie Belle, looking nervous, asked, “Are you going to be able to help her?”
Holiday turned to her with a calming smile, and pat Sweetie Belle on the head, “Not to worry, my dear. Your friend is going to be just fine. Now, you and Scootaloo stand back. I need a bit of room to work.”
Sweetie Belle was still uneasy, but Scootaloo took her hand and drew her back to one side of the living room while Holiday stood and took a step back from the sofa. Sweetie Belle watched as Holiday raised her hand, the one with the large silver ring on it, and softly chanted.
“Dampfherz... Zeige Dich.”
A second later, Sweetie Belle also heard Lofty’s voice from the kitchen.
“Kessel, Zeige Dich.”
She gave Scootaloo a questioning look, but the other girl just shook her head. Sweetie Belle went back to watching, and saw a pentagram-like symbol appear in a glow of red light on Holiday’s ring, right in the center of the blue stone embedded in it. In a swiftly expanding swirl, steam emerged from the ring, twisting about and then coalescing next to Holiday. The steam hissed as it started to take solid shape, and from within it Sweetie Belle heard the grinding and clanking of metal and gears. Suddenly one long, spindly leg of bronze and copper emerged, decked in wires and clockwork. It was followed by another, then another, until eight spidery legs of metal had emerged from the cloud of steam. Then with a metallic groan, a body pulled itself forth, and Sweetie Belle gasped.
It was like some manner of centaur-like spider made of forged, gleaming copper and bronze plates. It had the lower body of a spider, with eight long but thin legs attached to a bulbous body with small arcs of electricity blasting between four large tesla coils on its back. The top portion was human in shape, but more akin to some steamwork droid than a person, with a thick barrel chest with several open bits showing the churning clockwork beneath, and a face that was almost perfectly spherical save for its overly large metal nose, and of all things, a metal tophat! Round, bright glowing yellow eyes blinked, and a mouth fixed in a permanent, gentlemanly smile said, “How do you do, mistress Holiday!”
He was speaking like some fancy English gentleman, complete with a thick accent. At his words he raised one of the two human-like arms of his upper body, each of which ended in a robotic claw, and took off his tophat in a friendly tip. Beneath the metal hat, his ‘brain’ was a glass dome filled with flashing gizmos and churning gears.
Holiday inclined her head to the strange construct, “And a good day to you, Dampfherz. I’m sorry to impose, but we have an injured young lady here that requires your attention, if you would?”
She gestured at Applebloom, and Dampfherz tilted his upper torso over to get a better look, his glass-like eyes clicking and buzzing as their ‘lids’ rose in a robotic expression of alarm, “My word, what a dreadful conk on the noggin’! Well marms, no need to fret, I’ll have this young lass set to rights in no time at all.”
Suddenly a rough female voice, not Lofty’s but one far more gravely and punctuated by the sound of crackling flames said, “Not without my Brew you're not, you overblown tinker toy!”
Steam hissed out of Dampfherz’s mouth as he sighed, “I see you’re in a fine humor as usual, Kessel. Try not to ‘brew’ anything that’ll poison the lass, otherwise I’ll become quite cross.”
“Bite me!” came the reply from the kitchen, which was now also filled with quite the racket of banging pots and pans.
Holiday cleared her throat pointedly and Dampfherz gave a quick nod, “Yes, of course, moving right along, marm.”
With clinking taps, his spidery legs moved, and he hovered over Applebloom on the sofa. Sweetie Belle gulped, not at all certain what to make of any of what she was seeing, but fearing if she tried to start asking questions would slow things down, she kept her peace and just watched. It was hard not to shout, however, when Dampfherz made a slight ‘hmm’ sound and placed his hand-claws on either side of Applebloom’s head, and pushed them in.
However there was no blood, no cracking noise like a skull breaking. In fact it didn't seem like his claws were making ‘holes’ so much as they were passing through without harm, as if they were without substance. Only a faint mist, much like the steam that perpetually wafted around him, could be seen around the edges of his claw.
“Hmmm... hmmm...” Dampfherz nodded, as if to himself, “Ah, I see. Poor lass has quite the concussion. Could be the kind that leaves her in a bad way, if ol’ Dampfherz wasn’t here to patch her up proper.”
“How long?” asked Holiday.
“Oh, not long I suspect. Give me a good hour or so and I’ll patch what needs patching, then I suspect Kessel’s god-awful tincture will finish the job up.”
With a relieved nod, Holiday said, “Good, thank you Dampfherz. Let me know if you need anything. In the meantime I will be speaking with my niece and her friend.” She turned a steady stare to Scootaloo and Applebloom. “I suspect we both have quite a bit of explaining to do.”
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“Anything?” Sunset asked Twilight, who peered closely at the device in her hands. Nearby Clover stood with a patient but furtive glance towards shore. All three girls were quite a distance from the beach now, air walking nearly ten miles from where the battle with the Kraken had taken place.
Things weren’t exactly quiet on shore, either. Rarity had taken charge of things among Sunset’s friends, organizing a quite search for wounded among the civilians, and once it was clear that nobody was hurt, they beat a hasty retreat to Applejack’s brother’s truck to get out of the area before any authorities arrived. Meanwhile Twilight’s group of Quincy friends had exited the area via of a vehicle of their own, Twilight staying behind to help Sunset with tracking the Kraken. Some words had passed between Twilight and her fellow Quincy, but Sunset hadn’t listened in on what was said.
Posey had departed to get a Soul Reaper cleaning crew out here to deal with the civilians as best they could, although Sunset was fearful there was no way to ensure everyone’s memory was altered or that every video or picture was deleted. Honestly she was fine with that. The ‘secret’ of magic had been all but out since the fiasco with Twilight’s crown, and with the advent of further incidents beyond that it felt to her like the citizens of Canterlot City just sort of accepted the goings on in town, taking it all in stride.
Then again, kaiju sized magical squids had never entered the equation before, and some of the people on the beach might not have been ‘townies’ but been folk from other cities, vacationing.
Either way, while she suspected this incident would garner some unwanted attention, Sunset’s present priority was to deal with the very immediate issue of there being a literal sea monster on the loose. She could worry about the government knocking on her friend’s doors with uncomfortable questions later.
“I think I have a lock on it,” Twilight said, adjusting several knobs on her device, which showed a steady line of energy that Sunset assumed was the Kraken’s magical signature, moving through the ocean due north east. “It’s moving pretty fast for something so big. I estimate it’s down to a depth of around eight hundred meters, too, and gradually lowering.”
“So any idea where it’s going?” Sunset asked, “Fluttershy said it was being controlled by someone...”
That part disturbed her even more than the mere presence of a legendary Equestrian monster in the human world. From what Fluttershy explained before she and the other girls left, the Kraken’s mind was being monitored by another presence, one far more powerful. This ‘presence’ had also said something about having learned what it wanted to know already, which was why it’d had the Kraken withdraw when the fight was turning against it.
“I can’t really speculate with any accuracy,” Twilight said, frowning at the waves far below. “Most likely it’s just trying to hide for now, until whoever is controlling it gives it further orders. Going deep like it is means we can’t effectively chase it.”
“Not without the proper Kido,” Clover said, her own face thoughtful now, “There are several warding Kido that could create a space underwater that we could breath and fight in, if necessary. Might not be worth the trouble, however. Instead it’d be easier to just lure it to shore again, or wait for it to come into the shallows.”
“Who knows how long that will take?” growled Sunset, frustrated that this dangerous creature was evading them. “There’s no telling who it might hurt before we can intercept it. It could attack ships, or another coastal town! No, we have to deal with this thing as fast as possible, before it ends up hurting someone. Twilight, how far can your device track it?”
“We’ve been needing to come out this far just to keep it in range, due to its depth,” Twilight said, almost apologetically, “If it goes much deeper, I’ll lose its signal... wait...”
“What is it?” Sunset asked, looking at Twilight with a spark of hope, her hand reflexively clutching Hokori no Hikari.
Twilight’s expression turned confused and ponderous as she moved forward with a swift Hirenkyaku, appearing about a hundred yards further ahead. Sunset was impressed. She might have been able to follow the movement, but Twilight’s speed had increased exponentially since the last time she’d seen her in a fight. This wasn’t a battle now, Twilight was just moving around, apparently occupied by something her device was detecting. She kept appearing and vanishing again, covering distances of several hundred yards with each movement.
Sunset and Clover exchanged looks, shrugged, and both followed her with Flash Step.
“Twilight, slow down!” Sunset said, “What’s going on?”
Twilight stopped, her eyes glued to her device, “I don’t believe it... look at this.”
Sunset and Clover peered over Twilight’s shoulders at the screen. The Kraken’s signature was weak, around nine hundred meters deep now, eleven miles northeast of the beach. However, its magical signature was joined by a circle of magical energy that was nearly as large as the Kraken was.
“What in Celestia’s name is that?” Sunset pondered, but her brain was already moving ahead of her mouth. She’d seen circles of magical energy like that before in her studies back in Equestria. “That’s a ritual circle!”
Both Clover and Twilight looked at her with queries clear in their eyes, and Sunset cleared her throat and quickly explained, “Okay, so you both get how unicorns use magic by channeling energy through our horns and visualizing the patterns we need to form a spell?”
“Yes, I remember asking the pony me about it the one time she visited before... all this started happening, “ Twilight said, “She said a lot of spells have complex components that unicorns who specialize in magic as a talent study from books, memorizing the patterns they need to visualize. Most simple spells like light or telekinesis don’t really require that, but anything more complicated like transmutations take a lot more mental focus and drive to both visualize the patterns and channel the necessary magical force to power the spell.”
“Right, will plus mental focus equals magical force. Starswirl’s most basic principle of magic. Now, rituals are sort of a ‘cheat’ in the system. Instead of visualizing the pattern, you make a physical representation of it, and over time invest magical force into the pattern. This let’s you skip the part where you’d need a ludicrous amount of mental focus and will to pull off a BIG spell, by just taking time, like, a lot of time and invest a trickle of power into a prepared circle that gathers that power. Given days, weeks, however long you want, you’ve got a circle patterned to cast a specific spell, and suddenly you can do something much more powerful than you could on your own.”
“So you’re saying this Kraken has made such a ritual circle at the bottom of the ocean?” Clover said, shaking her head, “That strikes me as something to be concerned about.”
“No kidding. What I don’t get is how it even got here in the first place,” Sunset said, racking her brain for anything more than she could remember about the Kraken’s species from her studies. “There shouldn’t be any portals after the Friendship Games was done with. Unless...” she glanced at Twilight, “You’ve got Midnight bouncing around in your head, right? Ask her if she remembers during that whole incident if any of that insane magic she was throwing around might have opened a portal all the way out here.”
Twilight’s face flushed red, her embarrassment at remembering the incident in question written on her face, but she nodded slightly and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Sunset could only imagine what having a mental conversation with someone like ‘Midnight’ was like. Well, actually, given her experiences with Hokori, it probably wasn’t that hard to imagine.
A moment later Twilight opened her eyes, “She says while its technically possible, it isn’t very likely. All of her attention at the time was focused on the immediate area, and we weren’t sending magic this far out. Now she does say it's possible that portals besides the one in the Canterlot High statue might exist. She thinks this world’s barriers between realities have always seemed... thin. It’d be ‘foolish’ she says to assume that there aren’t other portals to other worlds besides the one we know about.”
Twilight paused, cocking her head, frowned, then added, “She also says that she isn’t even sure that Kraken is from Equestria.”
“What?” Sunset said, blinking, “But I know the legends about that beast. It fits the description! Also it was using Equestrian magic!”
“Yes, but Midnight says she was paying attention to it, and while it was definitely using Equestrian magic, its ‘reiatsu’ didn’t feel like it fit Equestria.”
“Reiatsu? I... didn’t actually pay attention to any spiritual pressure form it,” Sunset said, and glanced at Clover, “Did you?”
Clover hesitated a moment, then said, “Well, I didn't want to say anything unless I was sure, but yes, I felt spiritual energy from the Kraken. It was suppressed, however, almost as if it was trying to hide it from us.”
“Well, what does that mean?” Sunset asked, rubbing her forehead, “Is this thing from Equestria or here?”
Clover’s face seemed to light up with thought as she rubbed her chin, then said, “What if it's both?”
“Both?” Sunset and Twilight asked at once, and Clover seemed to grow more animated as she started to pace in the air in front of them.
“Yes... yes! This may just be a wild theory, but hear me out. This creature, this Kraken, has spiritual energy, and not in a small amount I suspect. It came to this world through some manner of portal most likely, but not necessarily from Equestria. However it is using Equestrian magic, and by Fluttershy’s statement is being controlled, likely by an entity fluent and powerful in Equestrian magic. What if this Kraken is a spirit entity that was granted magical power by a being from Equestria while not itself being from Equestria? What if... it’s from the Beast Realm?”
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Tea had been served and Scootaloo waited quietly as she sat at the table in the small lounge adjoining the kitchen. Applebloom was sleeping peacefully, recovering now that her Aunts Dolls had done their work to heal her wounds, but the farm girl was still unconscious. By the table, a being that looked like an iron cauldron with arms and legs made of solid red flames looked at those gathered at the table with an expectant expression on its face; a face formed in the surface of the cauldron from super-heated metal and giving it the look of an iron Jack o’ Lantern.
“Well, how’s the tea?” it, she, asked in an impatient tone, and Scootaloo swiftly sipped the tea. Next to her, Sweetie Belle did the same. It had a rich, honeyed flavor, and despite her extreme nerves at the moment she felt a warm, soothing sensation wash through her as the tea settled in her stomach. Aunty Lofty’s Doll, Kessel, could ‘Brew’ all sorts of concoctions in her head, most with miraculous effects.
That, combined with Aunty Holiday’s Doll, Dampfherz’s ability to deconstruct and reconstruct matter with its claws were what had saved Applebloom from what otherwise would have been a life threatening head injury.
“Mm, this is pretty good, actually,” Sweetie Belle said, “What’s it made from, Miss Kessel?”
Well, at least she’s adapting to this better than I expected, Scootaloo thought, glancing sidelong at her friend as Kessel puffed up her ‘chest’ and grinned.
“Bit of this and that. Herbs, spices, mildew, some chemicals I found under the sink-”
Sweetie Belle visibly paled, which was quite a feat given how pale she already was, but before she could spit the tea out, Lofty and Holiday entered the room and Lofty idly gave Kessle a kick in the cauldron’s ‘rear’.
“Stop poking fun at the girl,” Lofty said, “Why don’t you make yourself useful and go keep watch outside with Alerion? If this girls have lead any trouble our way, I want to see it coming.”
“Fine, fine. Just having some fun was all. When’s the last time I’ve gotten to screw with a normie?” Kessle said, and walked out of the room, heading for the front door. Despite her legs and feet being made of fire, they didn’t burn the floor, or even put off much heat.
Sweetie Belle’s face puffed in a frown as she set the ‘tea’ down, crossing her arms, “Who’s that pot calling a ‘normie’. I turned into a wolf today! See my magic wand!” She waved her Fullbring around, causing Lofty and Holiday to look it over, then look at each other, then at Scootaloo.
“So,” said Holiday as she took a seat at the round lounge table, Lofty instead remaining standing, “Shall you go first, Scootaloo, or should we?”
Scootaloo gulped, having dreaded this part, but there was no way around it. In quick, simple terms, she described what had happened that day. This, of course, led to further questions, in which Scootaloo had to summarize what she knew about her friend’s developing ‘Fullbring’ powers. Lofty and Holiday already knew about Sunset and the other older girls, because... well... Scoootaloo had been providing information practically since she’d arrived in Canterlot High.
Sweetie Belle looked at her askance at the admission,”Wait a minute, you mean you’ve been spying on us? On our sisters?”
“N-no! Not exactly. I mean, kinda?” Scootaloo’s face was flushed and her hands gripped the table edge nervously. Swiftly, Holiday interjected.
“Now before you think too sourly of our dear Scootlaoo, I feel its now my turn to explain ourselves, if you’ll listen, Miss Sweetie Belle?”
There was a heady storm of conflicting emotions in Sweetie Belle’s eyes, but she looked at Scootaloo with a clear desire to want to trust her friend, so she quietly gave Holiday a nod, and the woman continued.
“Thank you. You see, the day Scootaloo came to Canterlot High just this school year was also within the same time frame myself and Lofty bought and furnished this house. Before that, myself, Lofty, and Scootaloo were living in Budapest. And before that we lived in Hong Kong. Before that it was Argentina. We’ve traveled quite a lot you see, and it's been hard on Scootaloo, I’m afraid. She’s never had much chance to lay down any roots, make friends, feel like anyplace has been a home to her.”
Scootaloo swallowed dryly, and took some more tea, trying not to think too hard about the years before Canterlot City. There were times it felt like every other month it was a new apartment or cabin in some country where she didn’t know anyone or the language, and why learn when she’d probably be gone in another month anyway? She sometimes felt she spent more time packing and unpacking boxes to move than actually living somewhere.
“That was why Lofty and I were so happy when we heard she’d made such fast friends with you and young Miss Applebloom. We knew we might be here for a time longer than other circumstances allowed, so we encouraged the friendship,” Holiday said, and Lofty sighed.
“Even though I suggested it was better she keep a low profile... but yeah, it was better she made friends. Smiles a lot more than usual.”
“But why are you here and what’s with the crazy creatures you guys can summon?” asked Sweetie Belle, and Holiday chuckled in mirth.
“There’s no short answer to that, but I’ll certainly try, since I suspect you might not really understand the more lengthy version. Myself, Lofty here, little Scootlaoo and her parents, we’re not entirely human. We’re what are called ‘Bount’, a sort of accident of Soul Reaper research. Our ‘Dolls’ are our spiritual weapons, sort of like that ‘Fullbring’ you use, only with minds of their own. As to why we’re here, we’re looking for more of our own kind. You see, the Soul Reapers hunted us to near extinction for... reasons.”
Lofty made a disgusted noise at that, “Yeah, ‘reasons’.”
Holiday gave the other woman a long suffering smile, “Let’s not confuse the child with more than she needs to know. Suffice to say, Scootaloo’s parents spend much of their time traveling the world, looking for clues to the location of more Bount. Most of the time they have us move to various safehouses to keep us safe from discovery by the Soul Reapers, but in this case things kind of ended up reversed. Soul Reapers got on their trail, so my little brother Snap Shutter and his wife Mane Allgood had to ‘go to ground’ for a while to keep off their radar. In the meantime my brother sent a lead to me and asked me to investigate the possibility of a Bount here in Canterlot City. As it turned out, the lead suggested this young female Bount was posing as a student at the high school, so Scootaloo, bless her, came up with the idea of her also posing as a student so she could search for her.”
“That’s how I met you guys,” Scootaloo said, looking at Sweetie Belle, “I swear I never intended to be a spy or anything. I just wanted to make friends. My only real job was to look for the Bount who might be hiding at the school, but then all that crazy magic stuff started happening, and then your sisters and their friends got mixed up with the Soul Reapers. All I did was keep my Aunts up to date on what was going on. That’s it.”
She looked at Sweetie Belle with an apology all but swimming in her eyes. She couldn’t stand to lose her friends, the only friends she’d ever had. That was why she’d been willing to risk exposure by summoning Alerion to defend them in the first place.
Sweetie Belle’s face was unreadable for a moment, but then melted into an accepting nod, “Okay, okay, I forgive you, just stop giving me those tearful puppy dog eyes! I can’t stand feeling sad! Besides, if I’m going to be mad at you, I want Applebloom awake to be mad with me, and we can agree on your punishment together. I’m thinking buying us snacks for a week.”
Relief flooded through Scootaloo and she flung her arms around Sweetie Belle, crushing the girl in a tight hug.
“Ack! Scootaloo, be careful, my shoulder’s kinda tender from where that stupid wood wolf bite me.”
“Oh! S-sorry, I’m just...” Scootaloo wiped at her eyes, “Really, really happy you’re not going to stop being my friend.”
“Pfft, why would I do that? It’s not like you really did anything all that bad. I just wish you’d told us something was up earlier. You know you can trust me and Applebloom, right?”
“I know, I’m sorry...”
Lofty came over and patted the girl on the head with a remarkable amount of tenderness, “It’s fine, kiddo. You were only doing what me and Holiday asked you to do, and honestly it was probably dumb of us to put that much responsibility on your shoulders.”
Holiday nodded, “Indeed. What’s done is done, but we certainly have a more immediate conundrum on our hands.” She fixed Sweetie Belle with an almost frightfully frank stare, “Now that you know the truth, can we trust you to keep it a secret? Even from your family and friends?”
“Uhhh...” Sweetie Belle gulped, “Well, I mean, probably?”
The tenderness was gone from Lofty’s eyes now as she crossed her arms, “Kid, I know this might be hard for you to take in, but the bottom line is your sister and her pals are very buddy-buddy with the Soul Reapers, and we Bounts are officially ‘kill on sight’ to those black robed devils. We ain’t exactly on the top of the Quincy’s friend list either, and Hollows want to eat everything with a decent bit of spirit energy to them. We really need you and that Applebloom girl to keep hush hush on what we and Scootaloo here are. It’s going to be a world of hurt for us if you don’t, and not to be the bad guy here, but I care about protecting my family a heck of a lot more than I care about where I dump the bodies of blabbermouths.”
“Aunty!” Scootaloo shouted, and Holiday also gave Lofty a stern look.
“Let’s hear none of that talk, Lofty.”
“Sorry, just being frank here. We survive on secrecy. Secret gets out, we’re boned. So I want the importance of that made absolutely, crystal freakin’ clear, you get me?”
“I understand, but I shall firmly disagree,” said Holiday, “Secrecy may be important, and I care about our survival as much as you, but we will not be like what the Soul Reapers believe we are. We won’t make the same mistakes our clan’s former ‘leader’ made. That path only leads to destruction, Lofty.”
“Alright, alright, I take it back then,” Lofty said, then looked at Sweetie Belle, “But dang it girl, do you get why you need to make absolutely sure you don’t say anything?”
Shaking a bit, Sweetie Belle said, “I think I do. I won’t say a word. Neither will Applebloom, I promise.”
“Good... sorry kid, I...” Lofty seemed to look abruptly much older, her eyes having a look of wane, ancient exhaustion, “I sometimes forget how to be as... nice, as Holiday here is. I’ve spent a long time fearing for my family, trying to keep us safe. It hasn’t exactly been easy all these centuries.”
Sweetie Belle blinked. “Wait... what? Centuries?”
Lofty blinked as well, and Holiday chuckled dryly, “Now who’s the ‘blabbermouth’.”
Scootaloo coughed and glanced away, “So, um, yeah, I guess I might be a tad older than you and Applebloom...”
----------
Everyone had reconvened at Discord’s shop. Lieutenant Posey had reported the incident with the Kraken to her superiors, which meant Captains Celestia, Luna, and Starswirl all had been informed of what had happened. For the most part. Sunset wasn’t certain just how much Posey had actually said, but regardless it was enough to ensure that Celestia and Luna both had arrived at Discord’s shop, along with Kido Corps Chief Puddinghead, who’d actually been there to continue Clover’s lessons. The lesson was postponed so he could listen in on Clover’s notion that the Kraken was from the Beast Realm, a concept that the eccentric Kido master seemed to find fascinating.
“You know I’ve never trusted those Beasts very much,” Puddinghead said, popping a salsa dipped chip in his mouth and chewing furiously as he drummed his other hand on the table. They were all gathered in the largest room Discord had available to fit them all, the training grounds, and he’d set up a few picnic tables to make sure everyone had access to a serviceable lunch.
“What makes you say that?” Sunset asked, and the elder Soul Reaper just munched more chips before replying.
“They never let me play around with any of their fancy ju-ju, and the last time I was there they were very rude to me. Tried to bite my face off and everything!”
Luna coughed at Puddinghead’s outburst, looking severe as she pointedly ignored her sister’s offering of a slice of pie, which Celestia seemed to be relishing as she listened to the conversation.
“What Chief Puddinghead is rather inelegantly trying to convey is that even Soul Society’s contact with the Beast Realm has been... spotty, at best. To be honest, I find Third Seat Clover’s claim to be a little difficult to swallow, especially with so little direct evidence to support it.”
Clover visibly shrunk at the words, but kept her voice steady, seated at one end of one of the picnic tables with a half eaten sandwich in front of her, “I know it sounds rather far fetched, and I’m not claiming it as anything more than a basic hypothesis. However I think there is some rational logic to support it. It’s unquestionable that this ‘Kraken’ was using Equestrian magic. Sunset herself can confirm that from her own personal experiences with magic. Secondly, it's equally confirmed that while the Kraken did not utilize any obvious spiritual powers, it did put off spiritual pressure, at least enough that I and Lieutenant Posey both felt it.”
“Yet Substitute Soul Reaper Sunset Shimmer did not?” Luna inquired.
Sunset, finishing off a soda, coughed, wiped her mouth, and said, “I was mostly focused on the fight. I’m still not used to feeling out spiritual pressures mid-battle like most of you who’ve been doing this for centuries have. From what Clover says, it wasn’t very much reiatsu, otherwise I probably would’ve felt it too.”
“That’s reasonable,” Celestia said, taking another bite of pie and making a delighted ‘mmm’ sound as she glanced at Discord, “There’s no way you made this.”
“Screwball’s cooking,” Discord confirmed, and Celestia nodded.
“Of course. Ahem, at any rate, Luna, while I appreciate your skepticism, I actually believe there may be merit to Clover’s theory. While our knowledge of the Beast Realm is limited, we do know that they guard their territory fiercely, and with powers we’ve never really understood. We also know that on rare occasions, rogue elements form that realm have entered the world of the living, giving rise to myths of werewolves, sea monsters, mountain beasts, cave monsters, ect. It’s entirely plausible this Kraken is a denizen of the Beast Realm.”
“But as strange as their powers are, none of them have ever resembled magic before!” Luna protested, “Magic only appeared in this world from the Equestrian portal. How is it that this Kraken is using it now, if it’s not directly from Equestria?”
“W-well, my further theory on that front,” said Clover, “Is that it's entirely possible that entities, perhaps the very entity Fluttershy felt within the Kraken’s mind, have found ways to make portals to the Beast Realm. Or perhaps such portals naturally exist inside the Beast Realm itself. Regardless, it's clear the Kraken was taught magic, and is presently using it for some ritual of unknown purpose.”
“Yes, information gleaned from your Quincy friend, it seems,” Puddinghead said, scratching his chin, “Dodgy lot, those Quincy. Not to mention total copy-cats, what with their fancy ‘alchemy’ trying to be third-rate Kido. Just how accurate can this Twilight girl’s information be if its coming from some half-baked Quincy device?”
A hot fire rose in Sunset, entering her voice as she said, “Twilight is my friend, and I can guarantee you she’s smarter than you could ever give her credit for. Her information is accurate. And I’m telling you, that Kraken is making a magic circle for a ritual. A big one. It didn’t have a lot of energy in it yet, but I’d bet dollars to donuts that it attacked us because it sensed magic and was looking to capture it, probably to drain it from Indigo Zap’s artificial legs, or even from Twilight herself. It’ll be looking for other magic sources to fuel its ritual, whatever it is. We need to stop it before that happens.”
“Now wait a’ tic,” said Applejack, who was leaning on the other table, having polished off a plate of sandwiches herself while the others were talking, “If this critter is fuelin’ that circle whatchamacallit with magic, then where’d it get the magic it’s already got?”
“Probably fueling it from its own magic,” Sunset said, “It honestly didn’t have that much magical punch to it. It’s spells were versatile, but the Princesses back home have way more juice than what it was tossing around. So I’m guessing it’s got a start with its own magic, but it needs a lot more to fuel a circle that big.”
“Yeah but what is it even trying to pull?” asked Rainbow Dash, “It is prepping some kind of crazy magical nuke or what?”
“Honestly it could be anything, with a circle of that size,” said Sunset, turning grave eyes towards Celestia, “If a ritual circle that big is fully charged, we’re talking the kind of spell that can do just about anything short of world ending stuff. But if it was turned towards a destructive means, the whole coastline would be in danger. Or, if it’s being used for making a portal, it’d be the kind of gateway you could move an army through.”
Celestia’s own expression was no less grave than Sunset’s own and she nodded, “Then putting a stop to this has become a top priority, regardless of what the Kraken’s ultimate origins and intent turn out to be. Chief Puddinghead, I trust you are well versed in Kido spells that would allow us to reach this creature, so deep underwater?”
He huffed, making an off hand gesture, “I could do it in my sleep. I do sleepwalk, by the by, so I might even prove it to you.”
“Then I see no reason for delay,” Luna said, “This matter should be easy enough to deal with, considering our combined force-”
“Wait,” Sunset blurted, and everyone turned their eyes towards her. She tried not to look unsteady as her brain began to race a thousand miles a minute, but she’d just had an idea, and wasn’t at all sure if it was a good one, but now that it was there, the idea wouldn’t go away. “The Kraken probably knows that now that it’s made its presence known, that somebody is going to be coming after it. It’s going to be prepared for a fight on its own turf, even with Kido spells allowing us to go underwater.”
“Yes,” said Luna, “But given the strength of our combined force, I believe we can overcome any disadvantages it might stack against us.”
“I don’t doubt that. Heck, you and Celestia by yourselves would probably be enough to take it out, but what I’m saying is that if we fight it on its terms, we run into several problems. One, it might lure the fight towards a coastal town, threatening innocent lives. We have to make sure the fight is far enough offshore than nobody will get caught up in it. Two, since the Kraken was working for something else, ideally we want to capture it alive, not just kill it, so we can question it about who it’s master is and what the ritual circle is for. Three, if we try to go after it right now, there’s nothing stopping it from just fleeing into the deeper ocean, and once its that far out, I doubt any of us could track it.”
Not far off, Discord was sitting cross-legged on a small rock, enjoying a bowl of jalapeno cream cheese and chips, and Sunset saw his eyes catch hers with a knowing wink. “I think young Miss Shimmer has a point, and I believe I see where she is going with this. Do go on.”
Luna gave him a mistrustful look, but said nothing as Sunset continued, “What I’m saying is, capturing this creature is going to probably require a planned out trap, complete with bait. My friends and I, we can radiate a LOT of magic when we play music, right? That’s bait it won’t be able to resist. We can choose any isolated, far off cove we want to set the trap in, too. Pick a time, pick a place, lay the trap, and make it come to us. If Celestia and Luna are both there, together, I don’t see how the Kraken would even stand a chance.”
That, of course, was only half of Sunset’s thinking on the matter. The other half was that if she could convince Celestia and Luna that the best time to set the trap was for a week or so from now, after Adagio and Twilight had confirmed precisely where Ember was, then they could time it so that ‘Operation Kraken Trap’ and ‘Operation Rescue Ember’ happened at the same time! That way Celestia and Luna would be away from Camp Everfree, as would Sunset and the rest of the girls, and presumably at least some of the other Soul Reapers.
If things were set up correctly, it’d greatly reduce the force present to guard Ember, and make it that much easier for Adagio and Twilight’s teams to break Ember out of captivity.
If the look in Discord’s eyes was any indication, he’d guessed what Sunset was thinking, and again he nodded his approval, “That isn’t the worst plan I’ve ever heard. Could use some work. We’d need time to plan the details of course, find a good ambush point, figure out just how to go about subduing the Kraken then transport it to Soul Society. Might take a week or so to plan out, but if it works, it’d be better than just rushing off to do battle with it now, without a plan at all.”
Luna sniffed, frowning, “There’s nothing wrong with ‘rushing off’ without a plan. It worked to help me catch an Arrancar from Las Noches, didn’t it?”
Celestia chuckled, “Luna, you’re supremely skilled at improvising your plans on the fly, but perhaps this time we can try a more cautious approach. Sunset did say this magic ritual is only being charged slowly, so it's not as if we’re under a particularly harsh time limit.”
“Besides,” said Discord, “I’m rather intrigued by this angle Clover has proposed concerning the Beast Realm and would like to investigate a few things on that front myself.”
“How, exactly?” Luna asked warily, and Discord just smiled at her with a cryptic, snaggle-toothed grin and held a finger to his lips.
“That is my own secret to keep, my dear, but suffice to say that while the denizens of the Beast Realm have no love for Soul Reaper, Quincy, or Hollow alike, I am a free agent and rub shoulders with all types. I’ll see what I can learn in short order, I assure you.”
Luna rolled her eyes, “I assumed you had spies everywhere, but I had no idea they extended that far. At any rate, while I am willing to go along with this plan, shall I point out, sister, that a week from now both ourselves and this young girls will be playing cover as camp counselors at Camp Everfree? How are we going to enact this trap from there?”
It disturbed Sunset just how much Celestia’s face could mirror Discord’s own devious smile, “Oh I imagine I can think of something in a week’s time, never you worry, Lulu.”
“With you, sister, I always worry, especially when you get that look in your eye,” Luna said with a sigh.
“So it sounds like you lot have a plan all nice and conjured,” said Puddinghead, yawning as he stood up, one last handful of chips happily munched, and he went over to Clover. “That means break-time is over, and it’s time for our lesson.”
Clover perked up, despite looking rather tired from the battle that day, “Of course, sir!” She glanced back at Sunset and the girls, “I’ll catch up with you all later?”
“Of course,” said Sunset, “We were planning to hit the theater tonight, so if you’re up for it after Puddinghead puts you through the wringer, hop on over and join us.”
“Pfft, I don’t call these light exercise I’m having her do ‘putting her through the wringer’,” Puddinghead said, eyes flashing, “The REAL training hasn’t even started yet.”
Clover nervously laughed, “I’ll join you guys later, if I’m still able to move. A prospect that appears to be in question.”
Not long after Luna and Celestia left as well, although Celestia paused by Sunset and gently touched the girl’s arm with a warm but questioning look in her eyes, “Is something bothering you, Sunset?”
Suppressing a sudden, nervous gulp, Sunset said, “Not really, uh, why?”
“You just seem tense. Not that you don’t have reason to be, given all that’s happened, but I just wished you to know that if there’s anything burdening you, you can talk to me about it,” Celestia said, eyes seeming to bore into Sunset right to the heart, even though her eyes held nothing but kindness in them, “Especially concerning your friend Twilight. I know it must be very hard to hear the way many Soul Reapers speak of Quincy, while being such close friends with one. I want you to know that I don’t have any ill feelings towards Twilight at all. In fact, hearing that she and her fellow Quincy fought alongside you and your friends today, it made me quite happy. Your friendship is something I feel is very important, perhaps even the first sign of potential peace we’ve ever seen between Soul Reapers and Quincy. So please, don’t feel as if you have to hold back with me, if anything is bothering you...”
Her friends were all watching her. So was Discord. None of them said anything. Luna was at the stairs leading up out of the training room, and was glancing back at them.
Sunset froze, wishing for all the world to just tell Celestia what was really going on. She’d already betrayed the trust of one Celestia, she wasn’t eager to do it to this one. Yet there was far too much risk involved, too many ways things could go very, very wrong if Celestia knew what Twilight and Adagio planned to do.
Then again, if Celestia turned out to actually be on their side and helped, then that might make things so much easier.
But even if she decided to do that, she couldn’t do it here, right now. Not until she was certain of how Celestia and Luna might react.
She returned Celestia’s gesture, patting the woman’s arm and saying, “Thank you. I might talk to you later, just to get some things off my mind, but tonight I’m just going to relax and spend time with my friends. Dang Kraken stole half our day at the beach, so I’ve got some relaxing time to make up. But... maybe we’ll talk later?”
In that moment, she knew Celestia suspected something. Celestia might not have known what, but it was there in her eyes that she knew that Sunset and the girls were holding back something from her. It wasn’t disappointment in her eyes, either, just a sort of mature and patient understanding that seemed to say ‘when you’re ready’. But she only gave a small nod, then joined Luna in heading up the stairs.
Sunset let out a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling much more tired than she had a moment ago.
----------
The shopping square in front of the theater was largely repaired from the damage that had been done during the fight that had happened there, over a month ago now. It struck Sunset just how much longer it felt since that scrape with the “half” Arrancar that had gone after her. She and the girls were killing time around the shops until it got closer to the time for their movie to start, but Sunset was too distracted to really pay much attention, listlessly following her friends while her mind mulled over things.
She still couldn’t decide whether to tell Celestia the truth or not. It just seemed like there’d be risks and consequences no matter which way she chose.
A cone of chocolate ice cream appeared in front of her face, courtesy of a smiling Pinkie Pie, who said, “Sunnny! The Earth calls you back to enjoy this delectable ice creeeam!”
“Gah! Ah, Pinkie, what is with you and just teleporting around like that? Where... where did you even get this? There aren’t any ice cream shops around here.”
Pinkie gave her a sagely nod, eyes filled with cosmic knowledge, “When it comes to treats, I have my ways. Now c’mon Sunset, get your head out of frowny town for awhile.”
As Sunset took the offered ice cream cone of mysterious origins, her other friends took note of her expression, and it didn’t seem like any of them had trouble figuring out what was eating her.
“Can’t say I’m much happy ‘bout keepin’ our Soul Reaper pals in the dark,” Applejack admitted, “ ‘Least where the ones we like ‘r concerned.”
“Well, what’s the worst that could happen if we let them in on what’s going to go down?” asked Rainbow Dash, glancing around a bit to make sure the part of the apparel store they were wandering around in looked empty. It mostly was, save for a very bored looking clerk who was engrossed with a phone and not paying the girls any mind.
“The ‘worst’ that could happen is that they try to stop Twilight and Adagio,” said Rarity with a level tone, setting aside a slimming black dress she’d been examining, “I trust Celestia and Luna well enough, and I’m entirely certain Clover would side with us, but we’re talking about a plan that involves attacking their own people. It simply isn’t something they can readily agree to.”
“Maybe they’d understand why we’re doing it and could help us so there’s less chance anyone could get hurt,” Fluttershy suggested, but Rarity just sighed, shaking her head.
“Even if they did agree, I can’t imagine that Captain Starswirl fellow agreeing to give up someone critical to his research. I’m sorry, but while I know it may leave a foul taste in our mouths, I think it's imperative we keep our plans, and the plans of Twilight and Adagio, a secret. Revealing it now could ruin any chance that Ember girl has of being broken free.”
“I just... don’t like it,” Sunset said, “This whole situation just feels wrong. We were fighting so well together with Twilight and those Quincy girls. That felt right! Friends and allies should be working together to do something good, not going behind each other's backs because of this screwy three-way war. Adagio and Twilight aren’t our enemies, and neither are the Soul Reapers, so it feels wrong to be having to set them against each other, or keep them out of each other’s way like this, all while deceiving people we should be able to trust and should be able to trust us.”
“I hear ya,” Applejack said, looking downcast, “My own ma is still part o’’ the Gotei 13, an’ part o’ me feels downright lousy that we’re trickin’ them like this. Don’t sit well with me at all, but I also ain’t seein’ any way around it. Bottom line is, Sunset, we either gotta tell ‘em now, or not at all, ‘cause come next week it’ll be game time, one way or ‘nother.”
“AJ’s right,” said Rainbow Dash, giving Sunset a confident smirk, “I’ll back whatever play you want to make, Sunset, but you need to make the call pretty quick.”
“You guys would follow me, whatever choice I make?” Sunset asked, a little surprised, “I mean, we could put it to a vote.”
The girls exchanged looks, and Fluttershy said, “Well, we could, but I think most of us feel the same way Rainbow Dash does. We trust you, Sunset. You’ve been making all kinds of hard decisions since this all began, even before you found your Zanpaktou.”
“Yup, you rallied us against the sirens and took the lead when Twilight went bonkers,” said Pinkie Pie, winking, “You’ve basically been the party leader from the get go.”
“What I believe everyone is trying to say, Sunset darling, is that we trust you,” Rarity said with a deep sincerity, “Whatever misgivings I may have about the notion of telling Celestia or Luna the truth, I will support whatever decision you make wholeheartedly. We’re in this together, one and all.”
There were firm nods all around from the gathered girls, and Sunset rubbed at one eye where she’d felt an itch of a tear forming, “...Thanks, guys. I mean it, I think I needed to hear that, to help get my head in order. I’ll decide what we’re doing before we go to Camp Everfree.”
There was suddenly a loud throat clearing from across the store as the clerk looked up from her phone and drawled, “Are you guys, like, gonna, you know, buy something or whatever?”
Sunset the girls looked at each other, and shared an embarrassed laugh as they quickly hurried out of the store, only pausing long enough for Rarity to pick up the purchase the dress she’d been eyeing. That done, they went out in the still fairly warm summer evening, with sunlight quickly draining from the sky. The movie would be starting in about fifteen minutes, just enough time to go get tickets and get seated. If Clover showed up soon, she’d be able to make it too.
As they headed for the theater, Rarity took out her phone and dialed a number, and after about twenty seconds looked at her phone with a raised eyebrow, “Huh, that’s odd?”
“What?” asked Fluttershy.
“Sweetie Belle isn’t answering her phone,” Rarity said, and glanced over at Applejack, who without needed to be told, got out her own phone and dialed. A few moments later the farm girl was also frowning.
“Applebloom ain’t answerin’ either.”
All of the girls stopped then, each giving each other worried looks as many of them felt a sudden, uneasy chill.
“I saw them at the school earlier,” Sunset said, trying not to let her mind run wild with what might have happened, “They said they were planning to spend the day at that clubhouse near your farm, Applejack.”
“Then there ain’t no reason not ta be answerin’ their phones,” Applejack said, eyes turning steely as she turned around and started to march towards the street, “If they’ve run afloul o’ somehin’...”
“We don’t know that, Applejack,” said Rarity, “But we should probably give your grandmother a call and make sure they’re okay, if they are indeed at your farm.”
“Hold up a sec,” Rainbow Dash said, yanking out her own phone from her pants, “I got Scootaloo’s number. I’ll give her a try.”
Sunset cocked her head at Rainbow, “Why do you have Scootaloo’s number?”
Dash was already dialing, but glanced up, “Huh? Oh, she’s the ‘president’ of my fan club. We exchanged numbers in case she ever wanted to call me in for a club appearance. Hold on, it’s ringing...”
Applejack had paused in her determined march and she along with the other girls watched tensely as Rainbow Dash listened to the ringing dial on her cell phone. Then there was a general round of relieved sighs as Rainbow Dash said, “Yeah? Scoots, that you? Hey, just checking in on you, scamp. Your pals’ sisters are about this close to a full-blown freak out because Sweetie Belle and Applebloom weren’t answering their phones. What’s up? ...Yeah? ...Uh-huh. No kidding? Okay, okay, I hear you. Just remember to tell those two to pay attention to their phones. There’s still creepy critters running around out there, and remember, we’re the cavalry. Right, catch you later, squirt.”
As she hung up, everyone else looked at Rainbow Dash expectantly, especially Rarity and Applejack. Chuckling to herself, Dash said, “The kids are fine. Just got bored playing at the clubhouse and Scootaloo apparently decided it was high time her friends saw where she lived, so they went to her house. Were having so much fun over there they lost track of time, and apparently your sister’s phones were on silent or something.”
Rarity sighed with relief once more, “Well, I’ll just have to remind Sweetie Belle how important it is that she be more attentive so she can be contacted in an emergency.”
Applejack looked more thoughtful, scratching her chin, “Huh, Applebloom’s usually more responsible than that. Ya said they went ta Scootaloo’s place? Say Rarity, ya ever even heard o’ where Scootaloo lives?”
“Well, no, I can’t say I have, but that’s hardly unusual. It’s not as if I keep track of where all of my sister’s friends live,” Rarity said, raising an eyebrow at Applejack, “Why do you ask? Do you suspect something strange?”
“Dunno, just got a’ weird feelin’ ‘bout all this,” Applejack said, still rubbing her chin in thought, then turned a questioning look towards Pinkie Pie, “Don’t suppose ya felt any o’ them Pinkie Twichin’ ya sometimes get?”
“Heheh, Pinkie Twitching, that’s a good one. Um, I don’t think so? I’ve been pretty twitchy in general lately,” Pinkie Pie admitted, “They come and go so fast and often I’ve kinda started to lose track of them. Got, like, eight just today alone, and most of those happened after the giant calamari tried to squash us!”
This was news to Sunset, and she turned a serious look towards Pinkie, “Why didn’t you tell us you were having all these Pinkie Sense incidents before now?”
Pinkie Pie flinched slightly, voice becoming apologetic, “Sorry, I just... I can’t keep them straight anymore. Most of the time they’re all new, all weird twitches I don’t understand like I used to. I just figured most of them were for those random Hollows popping up around down that the Reapers are dealing with, or for when you’re apartment got exploded, or just more random stuff I can’t explain. I’m sorry, wasn’t trying to hide it, just didn’t seem like we could do anything about it, either.”
Sunset absorbed that, and nodded at last, “Yeah, you’re right. If they’re that often and random to the point that you can’t make heads or tails of them, then they wouldn’t do us much good. Still, just... let me know if you get a big one, alright? Be nice to get some forewarning before something blindsides us, for once.”
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“Interesting, most interesting,” Adagio said, giving the maps laid out before her a close look. The maps had been acquired from various park ranger and visitor center locations around the Everfree Forest, providing various views of the forest ranging from topographic to color coded. They were laid out on a procured (ie, stolen) camp site table, and Adagio had taken one of the maps to be her “primary” map where she’d drawn out a grid to represent the search areas she’d been sending Di Roy and Gaw to check. Roka remained at their cave base to keep an eye on things, while Adagio either assisted in the search of the area, or worked on coordinating plans with Twilight via their communicators.
It was getting high time she paid Sunset a visit, but just as she’d been planning to do that, Di Roy had arrived with some intriguing developments.
“And you’re certain you’ve never seen anything like either these ‘plant wolves’ or the large stone bird?” she asked, and Di Roy held up a hand in a mock salute.
“Scout’s honor, boss lady. This was all new, but I’m near dead certain it was the orange chick that summoned the bird. She and the transforming gal grabbed the yellow one, hopped on the bird after it was done turning the wolves to kindling, and they flew off due south.”
In truth, Adagio knew more than Di Roy did at this point, but she was curious if creatures such as the Timberwolves had ever appeared in this world before. She was only familiar with them because she and her sisters had spent some time traveling around Equestria’s heartland, and Timberwolves were one of the more common dangers near the wilder areas, heavy in forest. But why were they here, in this world’s version of Everfree?
It didn’t seem possible there was an active portal here, at least not naturally. She, Sonata, and Aria had searched for signs of Equestrian magic for years before they’d sniffed it out at Canterlot High, and had spent time in this very forest! They couldn’t have missed it, could they? While she couldn't discount the possibility, it seemed more likely these Timberwolves were a recent development. She wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was directly related to the experiments being conducted on Ember, a thought which made her blood start to boil. She had to rescue Ember, and promptly!
To cover more territory, Di Roy and Gaw had been conducting their searchest individually. A risk, but Adagio trusted them to know when to retreat if encountering too much danger. Gaw especially had trouble with threat recognition at first, but Adagio had seen to it the unruly young Arrancar had learned that lesson before bringing her on this operation. Right now Gaw was still out, searching a grid on the north west tip of the lake, and was due back any minute.
Looking at the maps, she dug around for one that showed a broader area around Canterlot City. “Due south... not much out in that direction,” she noted, “A few scattered cabins and other isolated homes, but there’s nothing until one hits the major highway. If the bird took those girls that way, it must have either been planning to change direction to throw off pursuit, or was aiming to land at one of those isolated homes.”
“What makes you think that?” asked Di Roy, “For all we know the thing has a nest in the hills.”
“If it is a summoned creature, as you suspect, I doubt it has a permanent home anywhere, but that child... I recall she’s friends with the sisters of two of Sunset’s allies. Her home must be one of those scattered amid the hills to the south,” Adagio tapped a finger on the map, thinking.
Was this something she could use, or was this a threat to her plans? The knowledge that Rarity and Applejack’s little sisters had developed powers similar to that of their siblings was an interesting tidbit, but she wasn’t sure how she could turn it to her favor. Perhaps if they were trying to keep it a secret, she could make use of the girls? Hold the knowledge over them as a means to coerce them to help her in some way? But by Di Roy’s description they hardly had control of their powers. And what of this other strange power possessed by the other child?
I would dearly like to know if there’s another faction out there, and whether they could be an ally, or if not, what their potential threat as an enemy may be... she thought, and considered her options while Di Roy started to shift on his feet. She glanced up at him.
“Good work. Take some time to rest, grab some food. Roka has taken the liberty of setting up an ice chest in back that is adequately stocked.”
“No need to tell me twice,” he said, grinning, but paused and looked towards the cave entrance, “Gaw ain’t back yet?”
“Not yet, but she’s got some time yet before she’s due to return,” she said, quirking an eyebrow at him with a slight, coy smile, “You’re worried about her?”
“Pfft, about that bitey little twerp? Be more worried about whoever she ran into,” he said, clearly playing off his concern as he walked away towards the back of the cave, where Roka was quietly reading a book she’d acquired from one of their ‘supply’ trips to a nearby gas station. Adagio watched him go, and pondered if she should be more worried as well.
Gaw was her strongest servant, however, so anything she ran into that might be trouble, short of a Soul Reaper Captain, ought to be something Gaw could outfight, or evade if needed. She put the thought from her mind and resumed examining the maps. They’d checked off quite a bit of territory so far, but there was still a lot of Everfree left to cover. Wherever that lab was, they’d find it, eventually.
As for what to do about the three young children who were apparently getting themselves involved in affairs, Adagio did have an idea forming in her mind, but before she could take it beyond an inklining, she noticed Gaw’s return. The short, wiry Arrancar girl appeared at the cave entrance via a Sonido, flickering into view and walking inside, and it was immediately obvious that she was agitated, and injured. Her right arm was cradled by her left, and blood trickled down her brow from a cut. Her entire stance was tight with pent up aggression.
“Gaw? What happened?” Adagio asked, and immediately Roka and Di Roy came up from the back of the cave to check on her as well.
Gaw growled, looking away from Adagio with an almost apologetic hunch to her shoulders, like an animal demurring before it’s pack leader. “I search north lake, but on way back I run into... problem.”
“What problem?” Adagio asked, but as soon as she asked it an entirely too familiar voice spoke.
“She ran into me, and despite my best attempts at courtesy, she refused to lead me to where you were until I... convinced her of the wisdom of cooperation.”
And there, standing at the entrance to her cave, was Grogar. He stood with a simple, confident poise, arms clasped behind his back as he examined the cavern with a wrinkled nose, “What a lovely little hole you’ve chosen to house yourself in, Adagio Dazzle. I do hope the accommodations are better than they appear?”
Her voice rose to a fevered, heated pitch, “What are you doing here!?” She was annoyed at how swiftly she could lose control of her voice like that, at just seeing him, but there was good reason for it! Not only was Grogar here, but as she looked at his Hollow hole, she saw something that made her blood turn to both ice and a volcanic lava flow both at the same time; as if her disgust and rage couldn't separate themselves from each other.
Pulsing in the center of his Hollow hole was an identical replica of her siren gem, bright and painfully crimson.
Never before had Adagio felt such a profane sense of self violation, seeing something so intimately a part of herself being apparently copied and used by the person she hated most. It was enough to nearly make her fire a full-powered Cero directly at his smug, arrogant face!
Yet for all that her emotions were shaken, Adagio was in control of herself and her faculties. Grogar wouldn’t have come here unless he knew he would be safe, so as much as she wanted to rip him to shreds here and now, she kept her composure and waited for his response.
The oily, chill smile he provided matched his self-pleased tone, “I’m here on Lord Tirek’s instructions to assist you and Tenth Espada Gilda in your ‘assessment’ of local defenses and in turn provide my own expert advice on how to best proceed. You may outrank me in power, which Lord Tirek acknowledges by ensure you remain in command of your forces, but I am to act in an ‘advisory’ capacity while testing my own... project.”
Di Roy looked like he wanted to spit, “Screw that noise. You can ‘advice’ my freakin’ foot up your ass.”
“Charming sentiment,” Grogar drawled, “I’m certain Lord Tirek would love to hear it repeated.”
Adagio held up a hand, forestalling any more chatter from Di Roy or the others, and she turned spear-like eyes filled with spite towards Grogar, but she forced her voice to a cool, smooth neutrality, “Far be it for me to second-guess Lord Tirek’s command. As long as you understand you’re here to advise, and nothing more.”
“Of course, I’d hate to... step on your toes, Adagio Dazzle,” Grogar said with a slime slick smile.