Spy trotted leisurely toward Rarity’s boutique, paying little attention to the area around him as he was mentally finishing up the vests he had almost finished for each of the stallions. After five long days of taking on the most difficult revisions and alterations it would finally be an easy day; with only the most basic fixes left to take care of. As he found himself lost in though it dawned on him how five years had gone by in a blink. His job as an ambassador to the lands outside Equestria’s domain had been a bit less exciting as of late, and last month Celestia had sent him back to Ponyville while she settled a more delicate political situation; leaving him with little to do otherwise.. He let out a heavy sigh, while it was nice seeing his friends again in such a casual lifestyle he missed the intrigue if foreign nations, and the many friends he had made across the world.
So very much had changed since Spy took his first steps as a pony; In that time Scout had both been hired and maintained a job as a mailpony, Soldier had been gracefully retired from being a drill sergeant, Pyro’s skills with pyrotechnics had been very lucrative for the fireworks business. Demoman and Heavy had made their own diner an extremely popular spot in Ponyville, Engineer’s inventions had been improving small parts of everyone’s routines. Medic’s experience in medical practice had gotten him a rather well paying surgeon position, though Spy admitted that most surgeries were purely elective in a world like this.. Sniper’s career wasn’t quite applicable here so he turned to working alongside Fluttershy, being good at rooting out the ground animals, all while Miss Pauling had become Twilight Sparkle’s most trusted assistant, giving the princess of friendship some much needed breathing room on a daily basis.
All his musings made him smirk a little. “When we first got here, I admit I wasn’t a fan.” He thought to himself, “But now… being here is idyllic.” As he looked up from his wandering thoughts, he saw Starlight Glimmer and Trixie talking, just a little up the road from him. As he got closer he noticed they looked slightly worried. “Miss Trixie, Miss Glimmer!” He called, hastening his approach.
“Spy, oh thank goodness. You haven’t seen Pyro, have you?” Starlight asked, the slight nervousness of her voice spoke volumes of the situation.
“Nopony has seen her all day, and The Great and Powerful Trixie is in desperate need of fireworks for the party!” Trixie was obviously worried, but mostly annoyed.
“That’s odd indeed. I saw her earlier this week, albeit briefly. It did appear as though something was bothering her.” He explained with a scrunched look to his face.
Starlight paced in place before beginning to head toward the hotel, where Pyro lived. “Maybe the restaurant crew knows where she is?” Trixie and Spy followed closely as Starlight pondered aloud,. “Has she been doing anything out of the ordinary?”
“Haven’t talked to her much, though she was out and about on Monday speaking to the team about a problem of hers; since she did not ask me I did not pry.” He admitted, feeling a bit guilty about not keeping tabs on his friends. As they trotted towards the hotel he looked around for anypony who might know Pyro’s whereabouts. In the sky he spotted a gray mare, in the midst of her deliveries, that would be the most likely of anypony to have a lead.“Miss Hooves!” He yelled, getting her attention; Derpy swooped down and hovered in front of the group.
“Oh hey Spy, did you need something? I’m a little behind on my route again.” She seemed distracted based on the tone of her voice, maybe even a little upset.
“We’ll make it quick, have you seen Pyro recently?” Starlight asked, her brow furrows. Derpy looked a little hurt by that, but then dejectedly shook her head.
“Not since we got fitted at Rarity’s. It’s like she’s been avoiding me, and I don’t know why.” Derpy huffed , but shook her head to try and get her mind off it. “I gotta get back to my route, good luck. If you see her, tell her I wanna talk,” Derpy raced off much faster than she had been flying a moment ago. The trio exchanged worried glances.
“Let’s get to the hotel, on the double.” Trixie started running, now showing some visible concern.
The three of them walked into Heavy’s restaurant and didn’t bother greeting any of the patrons, their focus was elsewhere.Songbird noticed the three of them in such a rush and trotted over, “Hey guys, I know this place is popular but the lunch rush isn’t for a few hours. Why the hurry?””
“We’re actually looking for Pyro, has she been through here?” Starlight looked around for signs of the firebug.
“Not since Monday, as far as I know at least.” The waitress looked at the area that had a large double door cordoning off the sleeping areas, meant only for the residents. “Maybe check her room? Demo threw a fit over the inventory being one bottle short until Medic pointed out that Pyro took it, something about having a few drinks and the topic getting sort of...personal.””
The three of them once again exchanged worried glances, but none more worried than Spy’s. “Thank you Songbird, we’ll go check her room.” Starlight responded, giving her a polite nod.
Spy walked through the dusty halls, noting that the state of things had really fallen apart since a majority of them moved out into their own homes.. After passing by a handful of vacated rooms they came across Pyro’s door. She had decorated it herself with a woodburning kit; making a crude logo across the entire lower section of the door that resembled her class emblem. Singed flecks covered the rest of the door. Spy knocked on the door and asked politely. “Pyro, are you in there? It’s Spy.”
“And if you are in there, the Great and Powerful Trixie...could really use some fireworks!” Trixie added with her usual level of self-importance, earning her an aggravated look from Starlight.
No answer came from behind the door, though it sounded as if there was someone talking on the other side along with the creaking of floorboards.. Starlight tried the handle, but it wouldn’t give. “She’s locked herself inside. On a scale of one to ten, how bad is that, Spy?”
“An eleven.” He quipped, a stern look across his face.
“Leave it to me, the Great and Powerful Trixie can not be stopped by mere locks!.” She boasted as her umbral magic lifted her hat and revealed a pair of metal tools from under her hat; which Spy quickly recognized as lockpicks, and high quality ones at that. The two others exchanged glances; Starlight’s was more judgemental while Spy seemed decently impressed, with Trixie giving her slightly incredulous looks. “What?” She asked defensively. “I’m a stage magician ,locks are filly’s play” Trixie used her magic to fiddle with the tools, and after a satisfying click the door to Pyro’s room swung open. The group gasped in unison, shocked at the sight before them.
Pyro sat upon her ashen bed with her back to them, wings fidgeting like an injured animal in its death throes. Around her were multiple pieces of paper, all smoldering and scorched black. A pile of spent matches sat in a corner, slightly singing the concrete floor, the carpet in the area had burned completely away and filled the room with a putrid smelling smoke. The pegasi rocked back and forth slightly, humming something to herself, though the tune seemed familiar but it sounded wrong the way she was humming it.
“P...Pyro?” Starlight called out cautiously.
“I distinctly remember Miss Pauling taking away your matches. Where in Equestria did you get new ones?” Spy looked around as he took a single step into the room, noticing the overturned open diary in the corner. Since it was his first time in her room, he also noticed how little there actually was in here. No shelves, no portraits, no real decorum of any kind save for the gala dress she wore from the first year they were here.
“The… flowers… are blooming…” Pyro muttered to herself as she took a match. As she cradled it in the crook of her hoof and struck it, the small fire illuminated the dimly lit room. All the while she simply watched the match, entranced by it as though it was a captivating display of beauty.
“Alright, this is about to get out of hoof. Ladies, stand back and do not do anything unless I tell you to” Spy walked across the room slowly, making his way to the other side of Pyro’s bed. After getting onto the bed, he sat across from her and looked into her eyes.
She looked back, though her gaze seemed to go right through the finely dressed colt rather than meet his. Her big red eyes looked almost glassy. “Spy, look at all the flowers. They all keep saying ‘Loves-me-not’ but surely they can’t all be.” She grabbed at the flame with her free hoof. Spy noticed minor burns on that hoof. “Loves me… loves me not… loves me…”
“I’m going to hope you don’t murder me at the end of this.” Spy’s horn lit up and his appearance began to change. The fur around his face became white, his mane becoming unkempt and going a gaudy neon green, and then a large red nose appeared on his muzzle. “Pyro, look at me.”
Pyro looked up from her matches and looked at Spy, her eyes went wide. The ridiculous visage seemed to calm her down long enough for Spy to get a chance at snapping her back to reality. For a brief moment Spy closed his eyes and inhaled sharply, holding in his breath for a second before he let out an abrupt shout. “Peekaboo!”. Caught off guard and sufficiently startled, Pyro dropped the match,though Spy caught it with his magic before it hit the floor. “CLOWN!” The firebug shrieked as she scrambled backwards, falling off her bed and landing on her back. She seemed to be slightly dazed from the fall, as she looked up at Starlight and Trixie with a rather goofy look on her face. “Guys… why are you standing on the ceiling?”
“You uh… had an episode, right Spy?” Trixie remarked, deferring an answer to the suave colt.
Spy’s magic dissipated, dropping his clown disguise. “I had to take a bit of a drastic measure to snap you out of it. I did not wish to take any chances since it had been so long since your last ‘episode’.” He explained as he stepped down from the bed and walked across the room.
“Episode? You mean I… went back?” Pyro quietly muttered, sitting up hastily. The three ponies in her room exchanged concerned looks before they all nodded. “No… no that can’t…” She looked over at the pile of matches and became acutely aware of the pain in her left foreleg; inspecting it she saw several burns. From a glance none of them looked to be too serious but were quite painful regardless. “I… oh… dang it.” She groaned.
Trixie stepped into the room and removed her hat with a swift flash of magic. “Why don’t you tell us what happened?”
Pyro sniffled loudly, and tears started flowing. “I’m a monster again…” Pyro seemed to ignore Trixie’s words but that didn’t stop the cerulean mare from comforting the firebug; sitting beside Pyro and placing a hoof around her.
“What does she mean, went back?” Starlight quietly asked Spy, looking away.
“Pyro’s had a rough life. Fire had taken many people from her when she was young, first her parents, then the people who took her in. By the time she joined us as mercenaries, she had long since gone over the edge. She saw a different world than we did, where fire was flowers and rainbows. Called it Pyroland. We didn’t know about it until we came here, and we’ve been trying to help her stay out of it.” Spy sighed. “Seems all this recent stress made her… lose her head.”
“You’re not a monster, Pyro.” Trixie tried to calm her down. “Manticores, Ursa Majors, and Parasprites. Those are monsters.”
“All it takes is some stress and I break? How long has it been?” She looked up at Spy with tears still sliding down her cheeks.
“You disappeared about 4 days ago.” He trotted forward. “Look, I know this is about the upcoming festivities and Miss Hooves.”
“Why do you say that? Have you been spying on me?” Pyro inquired accusingly, but from the tone of her voice, it was clear he had hit the nail on the head.
“We have faced dark wizards, hoards of rampaging machines, a literal pumpkin headed monster, all sorts of things worthy of being afraid of. Why would this be the tipping point?” He continued.
“There’s just so many things that could go wrong!” Pyro exclaimed, “First Scout tried to ask out Miss Pauling and she exploded at him then Medic brought up that I have no control of the situation...What if she says no, then won’t I lose my best friend? Maybe AJ and Engi have it right, I mean, just staying friends is probably better, right?” She asked in hopes of reassurance, not sure what to expect.
“If you wanted to just stay friends with her you wouldn’t be looking for comfort at the bottom of a bottle of brandy.” Spy quipped as he disdainfully kicked the bottle on the ground away. As the bottle rolled across the floor it bumped into Pyro’s diary, catching Spy’s attention. He picked it up with a bit of magic and flipped through the pages, seeing what Pyro had been keeping private for so long.
day ???: some weird colored horse things just appeared in the respawn room; they don’t look like they’re from Mannco but we don’t know where else they could have come from. Kind of pretty though.
day2: we decided to split the labor; each of us is taking care of one. I chose the grey one, she looked like she could use a friend. Sometimes I could swear I hear her crying or something, but I thought horses couldn’t cry. It’s strange.
New Day 25: Turns out this horse is really smart! I have no idea why this horse had a diary but she says I can borrow it if I want. According to some older entries she has a kid back home she really misses. I’m going to do my best to reunite the two of them, let this written word be my promise. Her name’s Derpy. Bit of an odd name if you ask me but it is kind of cute, in a silly way
With an eyebrow raised in curiosity, Spy skipped through the pages until he found the last entry pertaining to Teufort.
New Day 90: We’re leaving it all behind. Twilight knows a spell that can transform us into horses like them, it’s not where I thought things would lead but we don’t have much of a choice. We’re refugees. She said I could stay with her when we get there and she’ll even help me get settled in. It’s really nice of her to do this for me. I mean, the other mercs have been pretty nice since I got out of Pyroland but she makes me feel special. Is this what having a best friend feels like? If it is, I never want this feeling to stop. I’m going to do my best to make her as happy as she has made me. Because that’s what friends do, right?
Spy cleared his throat with a loud ‘ahem’ to get Pyro’s attention “Miss Pyro… I think there’s somepony that can help you with your predicament. Before we go you need to get those burns treated, take a shower, and put one a friendly face. We’ll be headed for the cottage on the edge of Ponyville.” He explained as his magic closed the diary and placed it back upon her shelf.
“What, Fluttershy? I’m nothing like her. What could she possibly know that’ll help me?”She moped.
“Something you need to learn.”
--------------------------------------------------
The distinct sound of birds chirping a lovely song helped lead Pyro to the cottage by the forest. It appeared to be a particularly active day from what she could see, as tons of birds and small critters were running around. She rapped on the door and waited patiently; being outside and patched up lifted her spirits a little bit at least. On the long trot from Ponyville to the cottage she had resolved to learn whatever it was Spy thought Fluttershy had to teach. Waiting outside the cottage was almost as pleasant as the walk here as the cute animals playing in the grass took Pyro’s mind off her recent relapse into Pyroland.
Eventually Sniper answered the door. “Ah, Pyro, good timing, I could use some wings.” He said with a smile as he led her inside.
“ Fluttershy not here?” Pyro asked.
“She’s here, but uh…” He glanced over towards a side room; where Soldier stood with Angel perched on his head. “She’s a bit busy.”
In this small side room was a small wooden hoofrest that was being used as a makeshift medical bed, where a sickly looking raccoon was lying down. The little trash panda was letting out pained groans as it clutched its stomach, while Fluttershy tried her best to make the poor thing comfortable.“So tell me again what he ate?” Fluttershy asked as she turned to face Soldier, her brows furrowed.
“I can only assume 3 cans of beans and a can of pudding.” Soldier said bluntly.
“What… kind of pudding," She asked, concerned.
“You should know, it was in your trash. To think you would throw away perfectly serviceable rations.”
“I haven’t had pudding in ages," She said, clearly growing upset.
“I noticed. I dug these rations out almost ten months ago and decided these poor, hungry troops needed them more than I." Soldier explained. “No need to thank me, ma’am. His pained groans of gratitude are more than enough.”
“Soldier,” Fluttershy took a deep breath before showing a great deal of anger, just barely refraining from shouting “It’s almost fall! That pudding likely had mold all over it, the poor thing could have been poisoned!” Fluttershy got in Soldier’s face for a second, staring him down. After a brief moment she took a deep breath and returned her attention to the raccoon, her anger washing away, being replaced with concern.
“So it’s fatal. It’s been an honor serving with you, Rear Admiral Gnaw.” Soldier removed his helmet while the raccoon on the table groaned. “You may have the honor of putting him out of his misery, Fluttershy. I can’t say I’m not envious.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He won’t be dying but he’s certainly going to have a tummy ache for the next few days. You really need to be more careful about what they eat. Canned beans and soup aren’t a healthy diet for anybody; pony or raccoon.” Fluttershy tried to reason with Soldier, but the look on his face made it seem like what she had just said had been in a foreign language.
“I see.” Pyro snorted. “What do you need wings for though?”
Sniper lifted a bag of seed off the floor and held it between his teeth. “Feedin time.” He set it down and pointed. “Get the birds up there while I get the rabbit hutches filled, if ya would.”
Pyro nodded as she took the bag, fluttered up to the birdhouses, and then poured a bit of seed into the multiple feeders up in the rafters. The birds scattered each time she approached, landing as soon as she would finish a bowl. “Flutters got you doin chores, huh? Must owe her a favor.” Pyro said.
Sniper cocked a brow, looking a little confused. “Nah, not in particular. They’re chores that gotta be done around here.” He quipped as he filled up a hutch with some leafy greens, one bowl in particular clearly belonging to Angel
“Well yeah, but it’s not like you live here.”
“...Pyro I’ve lived here forabout 7 months now.” He looked at her, completely dumbfounded.
“What? No, you’re still at the hotel aren’t you?” She inquired, “I thought we all still lived there?”
“Half of us moved out!” Sniper explained, his tone seemed slightly annoyed. “Engi’s living at his workshop near Sweet Apple Acres, Spy has a condo in Canterlot, Miss Pauling’s got a place here in Ponyville, Soldier hides in her attic, and I’m out here living with Fluttershy. Have you been sleeping under a rock, mate?”
Pyro hovered in the air, her mouth agape as she neglected to stop seed into one lucky bird’s feeder until it began to overflow. “Y-you’re screwing with me.” She dropped the bag of seed, barely missing Sniper, and turned to the kitchen. “Fluttershy, tell me Sniper’s joking!”
Fluttershy looked away from the raccoon, flashing a polite smile. “Oh, hello Pyro, didn’t hear you come in. Did he tell you the one about the ten inch pianist?”
“He’s saying he moved here seven months ago but that can’t be right, I would have definitely noticed.” She shouted.
“Uh… I mean…” Fluttershy was clearly flustered, but shrugged it off. “It felt like time, we had been going steady for three months when he moved in.”
“Going steady?”
An awkward silence took over the room; Soldier stood there dumbstruck, Sniper was speechless, and Angel was getting hungry. Fluttershy poked her head out from the kitchen and looked at Pyro, her brows furrowed. She and Sniper exchanged confused glances with one another. “Since… we started dating?” She said with a very flat tone. There was another extremely long pause as they waited for Pyro’s response.
Pyro simply laughed out loud. “Oh I get it, this is some super elaborate prank, good one guys!” She held a hoof to her belly as she chortled, though her laughter began to subside when she noticed only her and Soldier were laughing. “Soldier, why are you laughing? They’re pranking me.”
“Prank?” He kept chuckling between his words. “I thought the nerve agent was finally setting in.”
“So it… it’s not…” Pyro was silent for a moment before finally putting it together, at which point she let out an extraordinarily loud gasp. “YOU TWO ARE DATING!? That’s why Spy told me to come here!”
“You really didn't notice?” Fluttershy asked, she looked to be just as amused as she was confused.
“So that’s why you’re out here.” Sniper said, seemingly having a lightbulb moment. “You’re having stallion troubles.”
“I’m not having stallion troubles!” Pyro protested.
“Ah, it must be a mare then.” Soldier shouted from the kitchen. “She’s clearly in love, and everyone knows romance is the most distracting thing that the British ever used against the thirteen colonies.”
“Go ahead Soldier, just yell everything private out into the open. Let’s just air it all out!” Pyro’s face went bright red as she felt her hooves getting hot and sweaty. A few animals scattered at the shouting, but Angel Bunny simply shot Pyro a dirty look.
“Your shoe size is nine, you stole Scout’s lunch every day last month, and on your way here you scratched your rear on the spa building when you thought no one was looking.” Soldier sounded muffled, clearly chewing something. “You’re also deathly afraid of clowns.”
“Soldier, are you eating those beans again?” Fluttershy asked accusingly as she went back into the kitchen to scold him.
Sniper waited until Fluttershy had closed the door to the kitchen before continuing the conversation with Pyro, hoping to spare her from any further embarrassment. Once he was certain the two of them had a bit of privacy however, he spoke quite casually about the matter.“So… mare troubles? It’s Miss Hooves, isn’t it?”
“N...n...yeah.” She wanted to deny but it was clearly pointless. “I'm not good at all this dumb romance stuff. I have no idea how you ponies pick up on this subtle nonsense,” Pyro huffed, laying down on the floor.
“Clearly.” Sniper mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, just relax Pyro, you'll figure it out.” Sniper said reassuringly before he returned to filling the feeders.
Fluttershy cracked the kitchen door open and peeked out, looking at Pyro with a concerned expression. “You’ve got some really intense feelings if you’re going around asking us, huh?”
“I do…” Pyro admitted as she looked at her burned hoof. “And it’s killing me not knowing.”
“I may give you the business now and then but I think you’re smart enough to figure this out, Pyro.” Sniper said as he closed a feeder. “You won’t know unless you ask her.”
Pyro shot him a doubtful look, but knew he was right. With nothing truly gained from this encounter save for the realization of how detached she had been from reality without even being in Pyroland, she gave a sigh and stood up from the floor. With a friendly smile and wave she bid them goodbye and walked down the path back into Ponyville, where Spy, Starlight, and Trixie awaited.
“So did that clear anything up?” Spy asked.
“Yep.” Pyro sat down and sulked. “Everyone else already knows about my crush so Derpy definitely knows about it which means that she’s not interested and asking her will only get me shot down and..and...” Her words became incomprehensible babbling as tears began to well up in her eyes.
“Pyro, stop-” Starlight tried to interrupt but Spy put a hoof up to her muzzle.
Spy trotted over and looked down at the tearful firebug, unamused. “If all you got out of your conversation with them is that, you may actually be dumber than Scout.”
She stood up furiously. “What do you want from me you snooty french pain in the flank!? I’m doing the best I can!”
“Are you? It looks to me like you’ve already decided you’re going to fail, and you’re using that as an excuse not to try..” He said with an unflinching stare.
“And what happens when she flips out when I-”
“If you think she will act like Miss Pauling rightfully did, let me ask you: What is her full name?” Spy interjected.
“Derpy Hooves, duh, what kind of dumb question is tha” Pyro stopped herself, recalling how Scout could not even recall Miss Pauling’s name. “Oh I see what you’re getting at.” She felt a bit relieved at first, but her anger was still present.
“So you’re already ahead of Scout’s position and therefore should disregard him and his many shortcomings.”
“Alright fine, she probably won’t get mad but still, what if I make it weird and we can’t be comfortable around ea-”
“Democolt and Berry Punch aren’t having any such issues.” Spy interrupted.
“Yeah, but Demo said he wasn’t interested in her.”
“She was interested in him though. She asked, he said no, but they’re still drinking buddies and good friends.”
Pyro shook her head. Demo hadn’t told her that. But Spy had nothing to gain by lying about it.
“Okay fine, but still...isn’t it easier for the two of us to just be friends?”
“Oh certainly, if you want to take the southern pony approach by pretending that dating is too arduous or that you don’t have time. They’re definitely happy.” He rolled his eyes, voice drenched in sarcasm. “And after years of letting those feelings fester you can be just like Medic, who is so bitter,alone, and angry all because Heavy, the second least socially-intelligent stallion I know, won’t pick up on subtle cues. But you’re right, that’s probably better.”
“You… sh-shut up.” Pyro sputtered as she became more and more flustered.
“Or, you could follow Fluttershy and Sniper’s example. She asked him out, they gave it a shot, and now they’re a couple. No mess and no trouble. If Miss Hooves says no, which I wagered is as likely as Miss Pauling saying yes to Scout then you can repair that bridge if you just act like an adult.”
She couldn’t think of a rebuttal to that, there was nothing she could say at this point to dissuade herself from it. Yet as she stood silent she felt the clouds in her head start to clear, and she realized she was tearing up. “Why is this so hard?”
“Love is complicated. You either deal with it or feel like this until you do. So are you going to spend the rest of your life not knowing or are you going to hoof it over there and finally confess? I would hurry up and choose, you only have two days left before the festivities..”
“And I really need those fireworks.” Trixie interjected. Starlight gave her a sharp glare and scowl, disappointed. Trixie shrinked back with a sheepish grin.
“Right… you’re right!” Pyro’s ears perked up, she stood up and puffed out her chest with renewed vigor. “I will do this… And when I’m done,” She shifted her focus to Trixie, putting a hoof to her chest, “I’ll get you fireworks by the flankload! The highest yield I can manage!” With her head held high, Pyro eagerly marched towards the home of Ponyville’s favorite mailmare.
Starlight and Trixie turned to Spy, both rather impressed with his motivational speech. “That was… well done.” Starlight remarked, brows raised. “I always got the impression you two didn’t get along.”
“We don’t usually. But one: I like her better when she isn’t behaving like a psychotic arsonist.. Two: she needed the push, and somepony had to give it to her.” He adjusted his tie with a twinge of magic, “And three: Pinkie Pie has been taking bets and I stand to win a decent amount if Miss Pyro ends up with Miss Hooves.” He smirked.
Pinkie rose from the bushes, wearing a translucent green visor and carrying a notepad. “Y’know tampering with the betting pool is preeeetty unethical.”
“Betting on our friend’s love life is also pretty unethical.” Starlight quipped as she raised an eyebrow.
Curious, Trixie snuck over while Pinkie Pie was distracted and peered into the notebook. Surprised by its contents, Trixie read aloud. “Scout has 20 bits on nopony asking either out, 3 bets of 15 on Derpy asking Pyro first, 2 Bets on Pyro asking Derpy. Heavy bet Pyro will explode, Medic put money on her burning a building to the ground…and Soldier put 200 bits down on Spy exploding?” They all turned to the Frenchcolt with varying degrees of concern, who let out a nervous chuckle as he suddenly felt a cold sweat along with the distinct feeling of someone watching him.
“I think… I should be going.” Spy looked to his left and right, searching for Soldier’s hiding spot before turning invisible and bolting from the scene.
------------
Riding high off the unlikely support from an old friend and feeling the nervous skips of her heart turn to excitement, Pyro trotted toward Derpy’s house. Okay… alright you can do this. Party’s right around the corner, there’s no time for me to wait any longer. She repeated to herself like a mantra. After a few minutes she reached the small, rustic cottage where Derpy lived. Disorganized flowers were hung around the windows, a lightly dented green mailbox behind the chest high white picket fence gate. Just being here, knowing what she was about to do, filled Pyro with a rush of pleasant memories along with thoughts of what might lie ahead.
Pyro swallowed her nerves and walked up to the door, heart thumping against her ribcage. She lifted a hoof to the door and hesitated. “Just… do it you idiot.” She muttered to herself before tapping her hoof against the door.
“One minute!” She heard somepony yell inside. After a few minutes, Dinky opened the door and smiled. “Auntie Pyro!” said the young filly before she gave Pyro a hug. Dinky had grown quite a bit, now being only a few inches shorter than Pyro herself.
Pyro returned the hug with a giggle. “Dinks, you better stop all that growing or you’re gonna make me feel short.” Pyro said as she ruffled the filly’s hair. “Is your mom home?”
“She popped off to the store but oughta be back soon, come on in.” Dinky replied, motioning an inviting wave of her hoof. Pyro walked in and took a look around. She had been inside a few times for small get togethers, but never really paid much attention to the decor. A handful of pictures were hung, but most were of Dinky and Derpy on vacations. On a shelf, just below a group picture of Derpy and her friends, was the respirator that Derpy wore back in Teufort beside a stack of several books.
“Your mom kept that mask?” Pyro asked, walking over to take a closer look at it.
“Oh yeah, she talks about Teufort all the time.” Dinky replied with a smile. “I can't believe you never noticed with how often you're over here. Oh, would you like something to drink?”
“Just some water, please.” She said absentmindedly as she took a seat, looking over the place. It was so… normal, like something out of a magazine. There was a slight mess however, some pointless looking knick-knacks Pyro literally couldn’t understand, it was what she would picture when someone would describe a normal home. Thinking about her room, Pyro realized how sparse her decorating was; no pictures, no posters, no mementos. Her bedroom was nothing more than a bed, a window, and a shelf of old books.
Dinky returned carrying a tray with two glasses; a water for Pyro, and a lemonade for herself. “So what brings you by? Mom said you’ve been missing for a few days. Is everything alright?” She asked, setting down the tray on a coffee table in the center of the living room.
“Yeah, everything’s alright.” Pyro said, taking a nervous sip of her water. “Just had to ask Derpy some questions about the party.”
“Oh yeah! That’s like, tomorrow isn’t it?” Dinky took a sip of her lemonade. “Mom is letting me sleep over at Scootaloo’s house since it’s apparently a ‘grown-up’ party” She made air quotes with her hooves. They exchanged amused glances and then both laughed.
“Yeah, sorry about that Dinks. We have a lot of drinking, dancing, singing, and ritualistic sacrificing to do.”
“Aww, come on.You could at least let me be the sacrifice. I’ll be a great one, see?” She poured a splash of lemonade on herself to imitate a smear of blood, giving a happy smile as she feigned death.
“Well Derpy’s the one doing the stabbing so I don’t think it would go ever well.”
“I’m doing the what now?” Derpy asked aloud from the doorway, an amused smirk across her muzzle. The two sarcastic mares in her living room turned to face her, then burst out into laughter. “Rarity and Spy spent far too much time on such nice clothes for us to go and get them all dirty with stabbing, how in Equestria would we clean the stains?.” She walked inside, chuckling.
“I mean Spy is pretty good at getting blood stains out of his suits.” Pyro joked, smiling nervously.
Derpy shook her head, carrying a wingful of bags into her kitchen. “Dinky, I know we have company but have you finished that project yet?”
Dinky looked away from the kitchen and replied. “Y-yeah, just one page to go.” Pyro raised an eyebrow, not very convinced. The filly shook her head and motioned a hoof across her muzzle, pantomiming silence. Pyro snickered and returned the gesture.
“Well go do it, you know it’s due next week.” Derpy called back, seeing through her daughters’ lies with ease.
“Fiiiiine,” Dinky loudly sighed, letting out a huff as she went to her room. Pyro gulped a little nervously as she watched Dinky run upstairs. It meant that there was nopony left to deflect to when Derpy finally came into the room. Contrasting her happy demeanor when she walked in, Derpy now had a heavy scowl across her muzzle.
After several seconds of an unbearable silence, Pyro nervously spoke up. “H-hey…”
“Have you been avoiding me?” Derpy asked with a harsh tone.
The armor-piercing question caught Pyro off guard, and she sputtered out a mess of words in a failed attempt to explain herself. “I… w-well… I didn’t…” Guilt washed over her as she realized that was exactly what she had done, intentionally or not.
“What’s going on? I talked to Demo, I spoke to Medic and Heavy, I even asked Scout for Celestia’s sake! I was worried!” Derpy’s brow furrowed, her anger masking the great pain she felt. “You’re supposed to be my best friend but ever since they announced that stupid party you won’t even talk to me...I don’t even feel like going at this point.”
“I… I can explain…” Pyro said, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat.
“Can you? Did I do something? Was it something I said?” It was at this moment Pyro noticed Derpy had stopped speaking,instead the necklace she wore was transmitting everything in its slightly monotonous static speech. With her lower lip trembling, Derpy merely stared at Pyro angrily as tears welled up in the corner of her golden eyes. “I would have thought you’d talk to me first instead of just hiding away when all I’ve been trying to do is talk to you!”
“Derpy...I-I know. I’m a mess. I screwed up really bad and I… I’m sorry.” Pyro looked away from the mailmare as she felt herself tearing up. “Look… I uh... “ She took a deep breath and took a chance. “I want to go the party with you.”
“If you wanted that why-” The transmitter began to sound off, but Pyro placed a hoof over the speaker to muffle it.
“Lemme finish, please, this isn't easy.” She took another deep breath while Derpy took a seat beside her, brows furrowed anxiously. “I don’t mean as friends. I… mean as a date.” Feeling a weight begin to lift from her chest, she continued. “A few days ago I realized how much you mean to me and I was terrified of what could go wrong...afraid that everything would go wrong. A-and I didn’t take that well. I freaked out and I… I went back to Pyroland for a few days.”
Derpy sat silently, but her angry expression changed to concern and confusion; made all the more apparent as her scowl began to change.
“Spy snapped me out of it, talked some sense into me...and now I can finally say that I…” Pyro turned to face Derpy with a heartfelt smile as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I really like you, there’s nopony I would rather spend my time with than you. I-If you can’t forgive me, I understand but...I’m so sorry I hurt you, I just was so afraid that if I said how I felt I could lose you…and...and I-” Pyro began to ramble incoherently as tears blinded her, forcing her eyes shut.
Yet Pyro felt a pair of hooves wrap around the nape of her neck and pull her into a soft embrace. It was Derpy quietly shushing her, her expression changed to a tearful smile. “You silly mare, that’s what I was trying to talk to you about all week...Of course I would love to be your date.” Her soft tone sounded like a chorus of angels to Pyro’s ears.
Pyro sniffled and buried her head in Derpy’s chest. She laughed, feeling her damp cheeks soak into the fluff. “Y-you mean it? A-Aren’t you mad at me? Are you sure you don’t h-hate me?”
“I’m… still upset,” Derpy admitted, her smile breaking for a moment “but you weren’t thinking clearly at the time. And if I can help you stay grounded and out of that nasty place, I’ll help however I can.” The two mares shared a long embrace, complete with nuzzles and sealed with a pat on the back. “Now, help me make some dinner for the three of us. Dinky is going to build quite the appetite doing all that homework, don’t you think Ro?.”
The nickname made Pyro’s heart flutter, her cheeks turned a rosy red. “S-sure thing.” The pair got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen, spending the next half hour cooking up a delicious dish while enjoying a more-than-friendly conversation. When dinner finally came and they were all seated, Pyro and Derpy avoided bringing up the topic with Dinky; using clever metaphors and euphemisms to keep what happened a secret. Once the meal was finished, Pyro gave them both a parting hug and trotted back to her home with a joy in her heart she had not felt before, along with the drive to make the greatest fireworks show that Equestria had ever seen.
-------------------------------
Since Pyro had never bothered wearing any of the fancy clothes provided by Rarity before, she found it astoundingly difficult to get on the dress that was made for her. Rarity seemed to have gone over the top on this one though, as there were zippers to keep everything in place. Her normally unkempt mane had been brushed to a smooth copper luster, a price she had to pay to keep Rarity from doing her makeup. Pyro was already out of her element enough without needing to worry about eyeliner or blush.
“This stuff is fireproof right? I’m manning some pretty heavy duty fireworks later tonight and I would hate to burn up all your hard work.” She looked at herself in the mirror, barely recognizing herself in this ensemble. It wasn’t a bad feeling however, she quite liked how pretty it made her look and feel.. Growing up Pyro had never been partial towards the more ‘girly’ expectations those around her had, but she always had a soft spot for the flowers she would see. Having noticed this particular fondness, Rarity had used some textured fabrics to craft several red roses along the chest of Pyro’s dress.
“Technically? Yes, but I wouldn’t get too close.” Rarity remarked with a partial smile, but it quickly devolved into an excited squeal,“Ooooh I’m so excited for you!”. Pyro could only roll her eyes as Rarity wrapped up the finishing touches. “You’re ready darling. Now get out there, get your date, and head to the town square.” Rarity opened the door for Pyro with a flourish of magic, throwing open and missing Miss Pauling by mere inches as she walked in.
“Oh, so sorry darling!” Rarity apologized, “I take it you’re here for your dress as well, yes? I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere!” She trotted towards the backroom to retrieve Miss Pauling’s dress.
“It’s alright, thank you, Rarity. I really apprec-and she’s already gone...” Miss Pauling said huffingly, “Oh, hey Pyro. Are you feeling okay? I didn’t see you around after that whole… incident between me and Scout.” Miss Pauling rubbed the back of her neck, giving a half-hearted chuckle to hide her embarrassment.
“I uh… Had a few bad days.” Pyro admitted with a smile. “Everything turned out alright though.”
“I’m glad to hear that. See you at the party, I’m hoping I can get through this soiree without Scout bugging me too badly.” Miss Pauling joked.
Pyro stepped out of Carousel Boutique and onto the streets of Ponyville, she could feel the afternoon sun’s warmth shine through her mane. With a great deal of excitement carrying her along, she trotted towards the edge of town where everyone was; every last one of them helping with the final preparations for the party. Applejack, Heavy, and Pinkie laid out a smorgasbord of food; ranging from cupcakes, to apple tarts, sandviches, and more. Democolt set up both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks while Sniper and Fluttershy worked on a few last minute decorations. Engineer was busy finishing up the DJ booth for Vinyl Scratch, an extravagant setup in front of a large dance floor, one big enough almost fifty ponies. The clearing chosen for the party was massive, the perfect size for everyone in Ponyville. Pyro looked high and low for Derpy, but didn’t see her. “Must be taking care of Dinks.” she muttered to herself.
Pyro eventually took a break from searching for her date and milled around to Demoman, gliding behind the bar. “Sorry miss, but no drinks til the party starts.” Demcolt said firmly, turning around to face whoever was so eager to start drinking. He bit his lip to suppress a chuckle as soon as he realized just who it was. “Cripes, you uh… actually look like a girl fer a change.” He teased.
She furrowed her brows and looked at him with venom in her eyes. “You can either give me a drink as an apology, or you can say it through a hole in your neck.”
“Ahahaha, of course, no need ta git nasty with me.” He laughed, sliding her a shot of scotch. “Ay, sorry to hear what happened, if I’d known I woulda been there to lend a hoof.” He poured himself a glass and the two clinked them together before taking a sip.
“I appreciate it. I really wish the others had any sort of romantic advice though. Seems like you, Sniper and Spy are the only ones with any clue of what to do.”
He nodded. “Love bites, lass. Now get out there, I really do need ta get stuff cleaned and ready. Trixie’s waitin’ by the dance floor for ya.”
Pyro downed the rest of her drink and trotted towards the stage, where Trixie seemed to be going over a setlist with Vinyl Scratch.
“That’s a terrible finale song, I’m telling you,” Trixie complained. “You need to change it!”
“I am not altering my setlist 20 minutes before the party starts. No substitutions, no refunds. Either deal with it or I’m walking.” Vinyl went back to her turntables and started setting up records, visibly annoyed.
Trixie huffed and moved to Pyro. “At least somepony here can appreciate my work. Please tell you got everything I wanted done.”
“I got everything you wanted done.” Pyro said, avoiding eye contact with Trixie as she tried to bluff the stage magician.
“So you didn’t get everything I wanted done then?”
Pyro smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that… I got like, 65% of it done. The finale is complete but I only have a bundle or two of the smaller ones for throughout the party. I’m sorry, Trix, I just ran out of time.”
Trixie gave a disappointed sigh, but quickly shifted to a friendly smile. “No worries, I can work with it and the few I have in my cart still. It’s okay Pyro.”
“I stashed them behind your cart, there’s a piece of paper attached to it that tells you what each one will look like when it goes off.”
“I appreciate it Pyro...and I think she would appreciate it if you would turn around.”
Pyro raised an eyebrow at the odd suggestion but did so, her breath hitched in her throat once she caught sight of Derpy Hooves across the dance floor. The gray coated mare looked lovely as the luminous golden glow from the setting sun cast across her, complimenting her equally golden eyes. It was not as though Derpy did not have her own charm to her, but the ensemble she had on made it into something greater to behold. The silver dress she wore, much like the one Pyro had seen her in during the fittings, but the additional flourishes seemed to give her an almost radiant quality. Her hair had been brushed straight, being free of its usual messy look allowed the golden locks to frame her cute face perfectly.
“...and I’ve got the bits, so I’ll pay you after the party, sound good?” Trixie’s voice faded in, breaking Pyro out of her dazed state.
Pyro shook her head in an attempt to clear her foggy thoughts. “Huh?”
“I was talking to you about payment but somepony seemed to distract you.” Trixie said with a wry smile, glancing at Derpy before returning her focus to the flustered firebug. “Go get her. But if I were you I would get my wings under control first.”
Pyro’s cheeks turned a bright red once she realized how stiff her wings were, she quickly tucked them back against her body and gave a nervous laugh. She called out to her date and quickly trotted over, “Derpy! I’m over here!”
Derpy turned to Pyro and her a heart melting smile, complete with blush. “Ro, you look… wow,” She giggled happily.
Pyro did her best to think of something flattering or flirtatious to say. Instead all she managed to do was sloppily stammer out "Nice."
That trainwreck of a compliment earned a giggle off Derpy. Pyro giggled in turn, and suddenly the two were loudly laughing together as the party began.
The crowd gathered as Twilight’s voice came through the speakers, she began to clear her throat. Everypony simmered down into a quiet chatter, eager for the festivities to start. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, thank you all for coming. Five years ago we welcomed a group of rather unusual ponies into our community. It was thanks to their brave actions and loving hearts that me and my friends were kept safe in those months we disappeared. And on this day, five years after stepping back on Equestrian soil, we honor them.” Twilight motioned to the group of ten, whose attired seemed to stand out amongst even the most finely dressed.. The large crowd began stomping their hooves in applause. The band of ex-mercs walked forward; some basked in the attention like Scout and Demoman while others merely gave an honored bow such as Spy and Medic. Pyro however felt exposed in front of everyone, her cheeks flushing a twinge pink. “Tonight, these ten are our honored guests. Spy, would you care to do the honors?”
“Certainly. Let us begi-” Spy was immediately cut off by Scout who dashed to the edge of the stage and leapt into the air.
As Scout flew up he loudly and excitedly shouted, “Let’s get this freakin’ party started!” Scout’s voice was immediately followed by the sound of a heavy bass kick of the musical set, which drowned out the numerous expletives Spy uttered after that disrespectful stunt.
As the sound of everypony speaking was drowned out by the intense bass line, it took a moment for Pyro to notice Derpy tapping on her shoulder.“Care to dance?” Derpy asked Pyro, offering a hoof. Pyro nervously looked behind her, only to spot Democolt nodding at her over and over while waving a hoof at her, shooing her towards the mailmare. Pyro swallowed her nerves and took Derpy’s hoof, and immediately the two were swept into the crowd. After a short while they found a space on the dance floor and started moving.
The two of them quickly realized just how uncoordinated they were, almost stepping one one another’s hooves. Pyro had not attempted to dance as a pony before and found herself falling over herself and onto her back. Watching her date dance so poorly had Derpy laughing, but her laughter turned to an embarrassed chuckled after her own failed efforts nearly knocked over a stallion just a bit too close to her. As they struggled to bust any sort of move they had the time of their lives together, retiring from the dance floor once the high energy song ended. Settling down by the snack table, the two mares began some idle chit-chat to pass the time.
Eventually the conversation between them led to Pyro noting how easy it was to talk to her new marefriend, even after all the fears she felt a mere day ago. It had become so easy in fact that neither Pyro or Derpy were keeping an eye on the time, as before they knew it it was past sunset, with the moon shining overhead.
With the moonlight casting its glow upon the dance floor Vinyl grabbed the mike. “Alright guys, let’s get some slow songs going.” Vinyl put on a popular love song and several couples seemed to make their way to the dance floor
Hearing those wistful chords made Pyro feel a sudden nervousness wash over her. “I’m parched, are you parched? L-lemme get us something to drink,” She stammered out before quickly trotting over to the crowded bar. Various ponies were mingling with one another while Demo shook a cocktail between his hooves.
“So how’s it goin, lass. I take it ya need a little something ta take the edge off?” He laughed, using his magic to pull a pair of mugs out from under the counter.
“First of all it’s going very well, so you can shove it. And secondly yes. Very, very badly.” She admitted.
Demo poured two drinks; a fiery red rum cocktail and whiskey lemonade. He placed the two glasses onto a silver tray and scooted it across the counter. Pyro took the tray began to walk back to the table where her date waited.up “Now don’t go spilling that, I would hate ta see those fine drinks ruined by Rarity’s dresses!” He chuckled at his own joke and got back to work, making small talk with the other patrons as he made more beverages
Once Pyro got back to the table and set down the tray of drinks, she turned to face Derpy, whose eyes locked with hers, a wry smile across the mare’s muzzle. The slow song finally came to an end and a new melodic one began, soft electronic beats washing over the floor as the couples grew close. Derpy nodded her head towards the nearby woods, gave Pyro a knowing wink, and began walking towards the trees as she whipped her tail invitingly.
Feeling a wave of excitement as her face turned positively pink, Pyro followed her date into the forest and away from the party. There were several moments where Derpy was out of view, but her quiet hum helped to guide the lovestruck firebug. It was not often that her natural voice graced Pyro’s ears, in truth she had never heard her sing, but it was a truly enthralling sound.
The clearing that Derpy had led her to could only be described as picturesque; the leaves upon the trees were a lovely shade of green that accented the violet sky above, vines growing across the many trees were gently draped across like festive banners, and a hole in the canopy let the luminous moonlight above shine. In the middle lay a glistening pond lit up by the moonlight, the slight movements of the water tossing soft reflections upon everything, including the gold maned beauty that stood at the other side of it. Taking in the breathtaking sight had Pyro’s heart thumping against her chest, yet she walked around the softly rippling water as if entranced by it all.
“It...it’s beautiful.” Pyro managed to whisper as she felt herself become overwhelmed with a flurry of emotions that were strange to her, but not at all unpleasant.. Even though they were away from the party and all alone, the could still here a soft song start up, echoing through the trees and carried across the wind.
Derpy smiled as her eyes locked with Pyro’s, her gray coat lit from all angles by the full moon above.. “Wanna try that dance again?” She asked with a soft, genuine smile.
Pyro stepped forward and put her neck against Derpy’s in a tender embrace, placing a hoof around her, and spinning in pace to the soft, slow music. Lyrics about moonlight and dreams caressed her ears as she felt her mane brush against her date’s. Pyro felt as if she was on cloud nine, her wings spread wide and brushed against Derpy’s grey wings as they danced alone together.
The pair put their foreheads together, slowing their movements as the song began to near its end. Derpy’s eyes focused onto Pyro’s, and vice versa. As the song launched into the final chorus the two could not take their eyes off one another. All the sounds that echoed around them seemed to turn to static as Pyro could hear nothing more than the intense beating of her heart. “Do it…” Pyro thought to herself,” just… take your chance.” She wanted to lean in, to kiss the love of her life and bask in this sweet embrace until the sun rose. Her heart ached wantingly as the song finished, a final chord that seemed to drag on forever.
Meanwhile, in another plane of existence, a draconequus was grinning ear to ear as he blew his nose into a handkerchief. “I do so love a happy ending” Discord sighed, his goat leg kicked up under his lizard claw on a toadstool as big as a footstool. He tossed the handkerchief aside and the scrap of cloth grew a pair of legs, ran into the kitchen, and leapt into a trash bin.
The CRT television he watched started to hiccup; displaying a slight static image. In response Discord popped his griffin claw off and sent it to adjust the rabbit ears sitting atop the device. Soon the claws were going to work in a mindless effort to fix the reception, bending the wires into folds and bends that more closely resembled knots.
There was a loud and sudden sound of a braying donkey that shook his walls, Discord quickly recognized it as his door bell. He snapped the fingers on his lion paw in a flash his front door appeared next to his couch. Discord swung the door open to reveal a tall, cloak wearing man that seemed to be standing on the ceiling.
“Oh Merasmus, you’re just in time! Derpy and her Pyro paramour just snuck off into the forest. I don’t think it’s going to stay TV-PG for long,” He chuckled as he elbowed the wizard in the side. The claw finished playing with the ears, making them resemble a classic pretzel, and the picture came back into focus; displaying the two mares moments away from a passionate kiss.
Merasmus seemed to grimace. “Watching your silly little ponies again? Discord, what say you to us giving them a visit?” He pointed at the TV. “I have some unfinished business with them.”
“Oh don’t tell me you’re still bent out of shape because Soldier stiffed you ten dollars!” Discord reattached his griffin hand and leaned back, purposefully contorting himself in a seemingly impossible manner. “You go on and on about it, just try to relax a little, we’ll have a few hands of cards and you’ll be back to conjuring ducks, skeletons, and more just like old times.” He fanned a deck of cards extravagantly, all of them jokers and sporting Discord’s smiling face.
“No cards tonight.” The wizard replied, causing the cards to frown in response. “Wouldn’t you rather attend the party? We will have quite a bit of fun, two masters of chaos crashing such an event would surely be more enjoyable than another night of texas hold ‘em.”
“Fine, we can go and enjoy the party.” Discord snapped his lion fingers and in a burst of magic light his best suit appeared on him; a finely pressed black suit with a white undershirt that bore cufflinks resembling the suits from your typical set of playing cards. “I promised Fluttershy I wouldn’t but she promised Sniper and her were just friends, so what’s the harm in just dropping by for a spell?” He dusted his suit off, his tone was as excited as it was bitter.
Merasmus smiled and adjusted his hood slightly. “Lead the way then.” The ominous wizard stepped onto an unusually large floating orb he’d left parked outside Discord’s chunk of suspended land. “I would hate to miss the grand finale.”
“Pushy tonight, aren’t we?” Discord groaned as he rolled his eyes and snapped his leonin fingers; the two of them and the floating orb disappearing in a blinding flash of magic light.
As the music began to fade out they stopped dancing, eyes lowering, heads moving closer. Pyro could feel her breath hitching, lower lip quivering, hairs standing on end, everything leading to the perfect moment until...
KraKOOOOOM
The loudest clap of thunder Pyro had ever heard sounded off in the distance. Derpy broke the embrace and moved to get a better look toward the source, Pyro lost her balance and wound up planting a kiss on the ground in front of her.
“Thunder?” Derpy asked aloud.
“Dash was pretty adamant that the weather would be clear though…” Pyro said, her voice partially muffled by the ground. “Maybe Trixie set off some fireworks.”
“I didn’t see any color though… Maybe we should go back and check.” Derpy said as she helped Pyro up. The firebug grumbled in agreement, well aware that the moment was dead and this curious noise required investigation. The pair ran out of the woods and back to the party, where Dash and Rarity were engaged in a heated argument.
“You said that you had it taken care of, Rainbow Dash! That does not look taken care of to me!” Rarity shouted.
“My guys not only cleared the storm cloud schedule for the next three days, we don’t even have any storms in stock right now! That’s not one of ours!” Dash shouted right back, brow furrowed.
Pyro looked at the pitch black storm cloud occluding the moon, crackling bursts of lightning moving through it. She gave it a careful look and, if only for a moment, saw something that appeared to be moving inside the cloud. Something unnaturally large. “Guys?”
“Well it belongs to someone!” The pair kept arguing, neither one looking at the cloud. Meanwhile the crowd around the dance floor paid more attention to the argument than the encroaching storm. Yet the normally serene blue sky was slowly turning a dull and sickly green, as though it were radiating from the cloud. The longer Pyro stared at this enormous cloud of smog and lightning, the more movement she saw inside it.
“GUYS!” Pyro shouted at the top of her lungs, getting everypony to look at her. “I don’t think that’s a storm cloud...”
Something started to emerge from the billowing black clouds; a brown sphere massive in size, easily thirty feet across. As it broke through the storm clouds it seemed to eclipse the what little bits of the moon were still visible. The object finally fully emerged from the cloud, revealing itself to be a disembodied eye, blood vessels still dripping as they hung from the back of it. The ghastly sight had everypony in a panic, all talking at a million miles an hour. As the floating eye gazed upon the masses it felt as if it was scanning over them, searching for someone. Its gaze darted around the crowd for a moment before eventually fixating upon the ex-mercs, pupil dilating.
“I… recognize that eye.” Democolt said, fear rattling his voice. The eye kept growing until finally it fully eclipsed the moon, causing the sky to turn an eerie grey. Riding on top was a strange figure, humanoid in nature. It appeared to be a man holding a gnarled staff, a withered ram’s skull atop his head, and an unflattering robe. “Cower, fools!” He shouted from atop the beast.
The crowd grew silent, save for a few scare murmurs. “What is that? It looks like a giant eyeball.” “It looks angry...where did it come from?” “I think something’s riding it!” “IT’S A HUMAN!!” “A what?” “Lyra, hush, those don’t exist!” “This is just like one of my draconian animes!”
“I recognize that hat, no matter how tiny it is!” Soldier exclaimed, pointing a hoof skyward. “Merasmus! Get your dress-wearing ass down here so I can kick it!”
“Honestly Merasmus, are such theatrics necessary?” Discord flew out from betwixt the clouds, buffing his claws on his suit. “We’re trying to crash the party, not ruin it.”
“Discord, I thought you promised not to come!” Sniper yelled, confused. The former mercenaries’ eyes darted between the draconequus and the wizard.
“Don’t get me started on promises, mister just-a-friend.” Discord pouted, crossing his arms. “Besides, Merasmus here just so desperately wanted to come to your party that it would have been even worse had I turned down such a heartfelt, albeit pushy, request.” He flashed a snide look at Sniper, “It’s called being a good friend, something you would know nothing about you little backstabber.”
“You’ll never get my rent Merasmus!” Soldier yelled. “I don’t even know the exchange rate between bits and dollars, but you’ll have to pry any form of payment from my cold, dead hands! Which I don’t have!”
“Money is not exactly the payment I’m looking for…I have little interest is monetary gain.” The wizard began a deep laugh, tilting his head back as his laugh grew louder and more unhinged. “I finally found you… after years of searching, I can finally even the score…” He looked at the group with a wicked smile and pointed the staff downwards. From the tip of the gnarled staff a sickly green beam fired out and flew towards Fluttershy. The group screamed as Sniper pulled her out of the way. As the blast hit the ground a chunk of earth disappeared, smoking with a putrid sulfuric smell and leaving only a crater behind.
“What do you think you’re doing, Merasmus!?” Discord flew between the group and the wizard. Discord appeared behind Merasmus and placed a pair of groucho-marx novelty glasses over the wizard’s face “You could have killed someone! Did you forget you prescription lenses at home or did you just blow a fuse in the past minute and a half?!” The draconequus’ tone was largely unamused and just barely containing the anger he felt.
The wizard clutched his staff and held his face as soft yet strange sounds started escaping his throat. After a few seconds it grew louder and louder, and they realized it was not the usual crazed laughter of Merasmus. “Oh death would be a pleasure.” As the human pulled his hand away from his face, a paper mask fell off and began to flutter in the wind. The visage of the wizard began to fade and in its place was a man wearing a torn, bloodied balaclava. “They’re going to wish they had died back in Teufort when I’m done.” He gripped the gnarled staff of the late wizard in his tattered gloves and continued his maniacal laughter, “For tonight, I will be repaid what I am owed! Not through petty cash, but through the one thing you bastards truly understand! Blood!.”