Chapter 10: Scar-y Stories
~The sun was melting above the horizon as the gang made a return. It wasn't as close to being night-time, as the sky was still pretty blue, it was like a late afternoon, but it faded into a bright orange the lower people looked. The farmer made his way to his house first and welcomed everyone in, as they directed the herd and returned them to their pens, where they belonged. His cottage looked old and grimy and the windows were crudely shattered. The roof was made of straw and wood but looked sturdy enough to hold on for a few more seasons.~
~Bonsai's cottage was also surrounded by lots of different crops and vegetables, but half of them were withering away, and the other half looked like they were eaten to bits. As for the inside of the building, the girls had to duck down a bit to get through the door and get in, and once they were inside, this is what they saw. A collection of tools were sleeping on a patched-up sofa, all tied together with a red, silky bandana. The old-fashioned nineteen-fifties television was on, and statically playing an old British TV show about cooking vegetables. The table, sink and floor were covered with straw and the small rubbish bin in the corner was overflowing. The old farmer stared out of his shattered window and looked at his shrivelled crops in despair.~
He released a deep sigh. "What a world…"
~Immediately, the girls got to work. Growing new crops by planting more seeds was easy as pie, and making it rain was easy too, thanks to Lightning's ice powers. Applejack and Rainbow Dash used their powers to cut down some trees for wood so the farmer can build the fences he's dreamt of. They would have chopped down more of them, but Fluttershy's scolding glare told them otherwise. Also, to take into account what happened a few days ago, the squirrels of the forest would not be happy. So, they chopped down a maximum of five trees and left it there.~
~Using the branches scattered hazily around the ground too, Twilight, Sunset, Gloriosa and Timber started a small campfire. As for Pinkie, she reached into her hair and pulled out a packet of marshmallows (Nobody didn't bother to ask how she got them). Tearing the packaging open, she stuck some marshmallows into two large sticks. Then, she jabbed the sticks into a large burlap sack full of straw so the sticks looked like arms. She added another smaller but rounder sack of straw on top of the first one next, and drew a poorly-made face on it, but that didn't matter. Finally, she tied the sacks onto a wooden pole and nailed it firmly into the ground, revealing to have been building a scarecrow. Pinkie Pie puffed and patted herself on the back after finishing, sighing in huge, overreacting relief.~
"PHEW! Done and done!" she said, clapping her hands together and swiping them across each other to wipe off the dust.
~The only person that was not helping was Rarity. This was because of the injury on her hand she got during the fight. It had gotten worse. The girls, of course, noticed but as they kept talking to her, and checking, Rarity just kept nodding and sheepishly tucking her hand away, saying she was fine. When in fact, she was less than fine. She got herself up on a deck chair to rest, but she couldn't do much else to help them or herself. She picked up a glass and went to pour out some water, dispiritedly, when the clear liquid felt her hand and stung like a bee. Travelling up through her veins, she dropped the water into the grass with a cry. She looked at her hand. Between her index finger and thumb, it began swelling, and a red throbbing dot appeared where the sharp point of the rock punctured into it. Almost blood began to show.~
~Rarity sighed, beyond the pain and suffering, when she felt someone approaching her. Thinking it was Applejack, her white face caught a deep blush, with her rosy cheeks turning from light to red. However, when she turned to greet her country-style girlfriend, she saw that it wasn't Applejack. It was Lightning. Without saying a word, the spy girl took a roll of woven white gauze out of her pocket, and swiftly applied it around Rarity's injured hand, taping some cotton wool over the dot first. There was an awkward silence, then, Lightning spoke, sitting down and slumping forwards.~
"Hiya, Rarity. How are you feeling?"
"All right," she replied sheepishly, though she knew it was not true. "Not- not great. B-but all right! N-no need to worry so much about me!" She was laughing so nervously, bullets began sweating down her head.
Lightning saw them. "I know you're fibbing. Does it hurt that much?"
Rarity sighed, knowing she can be honest with her. "Yes. And I don't understand how- I- I never had something like this before! Please, darling, do not worry about me, I am less of a concern to you right now."
"My heart disagrees. You have been so generous and helpful to me from the very beginning. Even though you've only known me for a short number of days, you never let that bother you. So, I need to return the favour, no matter what you say. After all, it's the generous thing to do."
"Thank you," Rarity rubbed her hand and smiled wanly as she slumped forward in her seat, just the same. "How long will the pain last?"
"Oh, only for a short time," said Lightning, along with a cheesy, little laugh. "D-Don't worry. You'll be fine- you'll be…j-j-just like me…"
Rarity turned pale to pink, then back to pale again. "I'll take it."
Just then, Twilight Sparkle arrived, slumping her shoulders. "I'm glad to see everything around here is growing back to normal. And I'm thankful we were able to chase those men away with our magic. I suppose you could say it's gotten alot better now, even after I was afraid."
Lightning rose from her seat zealously. "You were afraid to use your magic? Why?" she asked, puzzled.
"Midnight Sparkle, remember?" Twilight adjusted her glasses. "When I turned for the first time, I could not control myself, and was afraid I never would ever again. She haunted my dreams. I'm glad I didn't physically hurt anyone at that time, but I could have. I would have, if Sunset hadn't stopped me. I had all that power at my fingers, an access to an abundance of knowledge!" Tears streaked down her purple cheeks. "I still feel bad about it. I was prepared to tear the world apart just to know how it all worked."
Lightning jostled in her seat before tugging on the sides of her jean jacket tighter over her shoulders. She hugged the tech girl with one arm. "Well, at least you didn't kill anybody. Try to live with that for the rest of your life."
"You- You've done that?" Rarity asked in an attempt to be intrepid.
"I'm a spy. It's my job. Mostly it's just as a last resort though. It rarely happens."
"Will we have to stoop down to that level?" Twilight asked.
"That's for you to decide. I wouldn't recommend it, but only when criminals and villains are being…difficult. Just try to arrest them if you can."
"I…I see. Well, I must say, it's such an incredibility to find someone who is able to control the power Equestrian magic holds with such ease. I used to theorise that only those who originate from Equestria or have great influence and education were permitted to control a geode."
"It is supposed to be difficult then?" said Lightning.
Twilight stippled the ground with her foot. "Well, from my experience, yes. But I suppose everyone is different. You are a good person, you have no traumatic or dark past, and…I'm glad to have you and Karly as part of our team. From what happened with the Dazzlings, and Devil, up to now, if it weren't for you and Karly, I don't know what would have happened or what would have become of us. I guess what I'm trying to say is that… Thank you, Lightning… and, you have my trust. Truly."
"Mine too, darling," said Rarity softly.
~Lightning gave a weak smile. She was happy that Twilight and Rarity have gained her trust, though she was still very worried about the girls altogether. Having no experience with actual bloody pain, or death, they're basically getting a wake-up call, a hit with reality. Lightning wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She wasn't even going to mention at all that villains would probably want to kill them too. But, she figured they would find that out on their own. After all, they already experienced it earlier. Her thoughts were put on hold suddenly when Pinkie came to them, all bubbly and cheerful.~
"Hey- Hey guys! Come check out my scarecrow!" she said impatiently, basically dragging both Lightning and Twilight out of their seats and over to where it was. Rarity followed. They came face to face with the straw-filled scarecrow after a few steps of walking. It stood with a slant.
"Scary." Lightning said, grinning.
"Thanks! This is exactly what the crops need to grow!"
Rarity gazed at the scarecrow curiously. "Hmm. Mind if I add in one more thing?"
~Rarity quickly trotted off into the cottage and came back out again holding a stitched up straw hat, a red tartan scarf and a large navy pea coat. She then proceeded to decorate the scarecrow with the clothing, so it looks more human-like to fool the birds.~
"There we are." the fashion girl smiled.
"Now, it's perfect!" Pinkie Pie said as she wrapped her arm around Rarity, and the other around Lightning.
They heard Sunset's voice. "Annnnnnd- Done!"
"Campfire's ready, girls~!" Gloriosa called out.
Pinkie pulled out two large sticks from her hair. "Yayyy! S'mores time!"
~The girls gathered around the firepit as Pinkie Pie groped about in her hair for marshmallow packets, chocolate bars and biscuits. For the fifth time in a row, the night proved to still be as dark and alluring as the previous four. Only this time, the Rainbooms were enjoying themselves, averting their gazes up to the blinking stars and the moon that was outshining the rest. For once, they felt that they were at peace. Especially Lightning.~
Applejack smirked. "Hey, y'all, take a look at the fireflies."
~The cowgirl pointed up and on the tip of her finger, the fireflies of the night illuminated the sky with their flickering chartreuse lights. They danced among the patterns in the stars and mimicked their every twinkle. One of them perched itself upon Stitch's black nose and he twitched and smiled to himself. He and Spike began to follow them. They felt like dancing along with them.~
"Like a thousand lil' light bulbs." Stitch muttered.
~He rolled about in the dirt, letting the moist grass fleet against his soppy cobalt fur. Lightning watched pleasurably before her eyes saw no more beauty and instead the single flow of red liquid emerging down from her injury. She removed her bandage at once to clean up. Applejack noticed.~
"Still feelin' that annoyin' head of yours all woozy?" she chuckled almost.
"Well, it still stings, like a lot, but, it's not as bad as it was back at the start." Lightning replied.
"Well, no. But, it might still leave a mark."
"You mean like a scar?" she murmured. "Great. Another scar to add to my 'collection'."
"Another scar?" Rainbow questioned, listening in on the conversation. "What do you mean by that?"
~In response, Lightning stretched her eyebrows up, giving a full view of her forehead. After being reluctant at first to look, Applejack and Rainbow leaned in close. They squinted their eyes a bit and just in the roots of her golden hair, they could see about five cicatrices on Lightning's face. One was in between her eyes, three of them were high up on the forehead, almost covered up by her forelocks, and the last one was the largest, at about four centimetres, across Lightning's cheek, inches below her left eye.~
"Oh yeah! Huh. How come we've never noticed them before?" Rainbow inquired.
Applejack shrugged. "Iii guess we just didn't look hard enough." she said, before turning to Lightning. "However did ya get them?"
Pinkie jumped in before she could answer. "Anybody wanna 'nother smore? Dashie? AJ? Starzyyy?"
Lightning was bleary-eyed. "Did you just call me 'Starzy'?"
"Sorry, Pinkie, but Lightnin' was just 'bout to tell us how she got these here scars." Applejack stated, gesturing to Lightning, who then showed the rest her scars.
"Goodness!" Fluttershy gasped. "What happened to you?"
They expected a long story to progress, but Lightning didn't answer. She just stared at each of the seven absentmindedly. "Who has the best scary campfire story lined up!?"
It was a very peculiar and sudden change of subject, but Pinkie Pie answered. "Ooo! Ooo! I have one!"
~As Pinkie happily started with her story and everyone stopped to listen, Sunset curiously slung over her shoulder towards Lightning, whose eyes narrowed with gloom. As well as rubbing her head and scratching Stitch's back at the same time, Sunset looked with envy, and finally decided to get to the bottom of this. Without anybody knowing, she looked down upon her geode and slowly lifted it closer to her face as it began to glow red faintly. Then she looked down at Lightning's hand and slowly went to touch it. However, to her horror, Lightning noticed immediately and jumped to her feet.~
"Sunset, what are you doing?"
Sunset stuttered. "Um...I- Well…"
"Were you about to see through my memory to find out what happened to my family?"
"I…"
"Seriously?!"
"Lightning, you seem upset about it and I want to help, but if you don't tell us what is wrong, we can't help." Sunset answered calmly.
"So, you thought it would be a good idea to stick your nose in my memories?! MY privacy?! You…YOU- !"
~A thunderous wave of anger began to build inside of Lightning, marching up her chest and to her throat where literal fire bursted out on her tongue. There was a tugging feeling on either side of her head and Lightning realised in a flash of shock that she had shifted into her komodo dragon skin. Sunset sat frozen with a cold sweat running across her face. The Rainbooms' camp stories halted again, and Fluttershy rang out nervously.~
"Lightning?" she crouched beneath Rainbow and the sitting logs.
"What the- ?!"
Lightning screamed angrily. "I can't believe you have no patience, NO PATIENCE WHATSOEVER! WHAT THE HELL GIVES YOU RIGHT TO DO THAT!?"
Sunset tried to reason. "Lightning, I just- "
"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
~A strong wave of fire emitted in Lightning's eyes that traversed all the way down to her hands. Massive fireballs emerged from her palms, but she was too blinded by her rage to notice. Suddenly, she let loose, and fire sprouted everywhere. The Rainbooms landed on their stomachs, ducking out of harm's way, and while six of them succeeded, Fluttershy felt a sharp pain on her arm. She looked down. A small part of her left yellow arm had been scorched. She let out a cry. At once, Lightning's fire evaporated and she snapped back to reality, hands trembling and eyes shrinking.~
"FLUTTERSHY!" The Rainbooms chorused.
Lightning's vision swam and she refocused down onto her clenched hands slowly. "Wh…wh…what the…?"
Rainbow immediately went over to help. "Fluttershy, are you okay?"
Fluttershy straightened up, wincing from the burnmark. She spun to Lightning. "Lightning, be careful!"
"But I… I didn't mean to do that…"
"I thought you could control your magic!" said Twilight, picking herself up bodily from the ground.
"Well, I- I thought I could!"
~Lightning paused and tried to say sorry, but all that came out was a hiss. She was still in her lizard form. So, pulling together what remaining energy she had, she shifted back into a girl. Her shirt and jacket stuck to her back when the spikes retracted, and when she uncurled her fists, she saw four crescent-shaped wounds in each palm. Her lizard claws had broken the skin.~
"I-I'm so sorry, Fluttershy," Lightning's voice sounded raspy, like dry leaves. "I must've hissed my tongue by accident. Is the burn bad?"
"No…I'm fine. Don't worry." she waved her hand in persistence, letting her friends know that she was okay. But then, she turned to Lightning with her nose scrunched. "Anyways, it isn't me you should be apologising to!"
"Huh?"
"It's Sunset. You tried to hurt her!"
"I agree. You can't let your emotions get to you, Lightning. Your friendship is much more important than this." Twilight spoke with integrity.
Lightning retaliated. "Sunset and I haven't done anything worthy of friendship. Besides, why should I apologise? She was the one who was about to- "
"No!" Fluttershy interrupted boldly, much to Lightning's immense surprise. "I don't care who was about to do what! Both of you, apologise, NOW!" she calmed down to a whisper after realising she raised her voice a little too loud, even for her sensitive ears. "Please…"
~Lightning and Sunset locked into each other's eyes. Then, something began stirring inside of Lightning's heart. Was it sadness, or guilt? Whatever it was, she did not want to be thinking about that right now. She was livid at Sunset's actions, and felt assaulted. Sunset almost invaded her private thoughts, some of which nobody knows about, not even her closest friends. So, as much as she loved Fluttershy, Sunset was not someone who she trusted anymore, and her gut told her otherwise. Breathing in and out the deep smoky air with excessive force, she left the campfire in a huff.~
She whispered to Sunset underneath her breath one final time before departing: "Maybe you should watch what you do and think it through, Sunset Shimmer. Because now, it's going to take you much longer to earn my trust. If you can."
~As the spy girl disappeared back towards the tents, she pushed past Gloriosa and Timber just as they were coming up to join them for some chocolate smores. Needless to say, they were confused, and curious as to what they missed. After inspecting Fluttershy's arm, they explained what went down.~
Twilight put her arm around Sunset's neck. "Don't worry, Sunset. Lightning will come around. We all want to know what she's hiding, but we must let her decide in her own time. Just be patient." Sunset looked doubtfully at Twilight but smiled. Just a little bit.
~Sunset Shimmer was unsure what to do. She could see the first faint light of morning breaking on the horizon through the crack of her tent, but felt as if she had hardly slept at all. She rotated on the other side to see if her friends were awake when, to her alarm, Lightning was nowhere to be seen.~
"Lightning?" she spoke with a croaking gasp.
~In an instant, Sunset threw off her sleepiness, leapt to her feet and turned to see Stitch crawling towards her in his sleep. She bent down and laid her hand on his fluffy, cloud-like fur.~
"Stitch, have you seen Lightning?"
The Shiba gave out a yawn and stretched out his paws. "Not since the argument."
Sunset growled sadly. "I feel awful about what I did."
"Hey, don't be," Stitch said. "I know 'ow you feel. You just wanted to 'elp."
But Sunset didn't want to let it go. "Come on," she said, struggling to her feet. "We gotta find her."
~So together, they exited the tent and walked back towards the lake and onto the dock to stand, facing the sun rising in a blaze of golden fire. Sunset and Stitch were admiring the scenery quite fondly, when they saw her. Lightning had her arms wrapped around her knees, and stared at the view too near the dock's edge. Sunset and Stitch were unseen but crouched down behind a bench.~
"Looks like she came down for a glance too," Stitch observed. "Wonder wot she's thinkin' 'bout."
~The two of them gazed down on Lightning and were about to sit beside her, but stopped when they heard her mumbling to herself. With a solemn look, she calmly lifted the magical thread around her neck and cupped her geode in her hand.~
"I don't want to tell them just yet," her voice told herself. "I guarantee they will understand, but the memories are just too ahead of myself. And I'll keep thinking so. How will I tell them anyhow? Will they help when I have my revenge? I suppose it all counts on how I see what they are worth, and…"
~Lightning's soliloquy came to an end as she heard a low snigger, and felt the presence of two certain characters staring at her from behind. She spotted their long casting shadows darkening over her. Glancing back, she saw Sunset's face, grim and anxious.~
"How long have you been standing there?" Lightning demanded, her brow furrowing with suspicion.
"Long enough." Sunset answered. "Is this seat taken?"
~She pointed at the hard wooden patch beside her. At first, Lightning wanted to say something in regards to preventing her from sitting there, but, after a thought, and with nothing for her to say, she allowed her to sit by gesturing her hand towards it. Their legs dangled over the edge with their feet just an inch above the water. Sunset put her hand on Stitch's head as she looked at them both.~
"Lightning? Can I ask you a question? Back at the campfire, when you used your fire manipulation…can you describe to me how you were feeling?"
"How was I feeling?" she repeated. "I was feeling…angry. At you." her shoulder fell loosened. "But I really didn't mean for that to happen."
~Lightning shook her head, balling herself tightly together. She hated, absolutely HATED, having to explain to Sunset and Stitch just how much rage had got a hold of her. But it was so bad. Because, in the end, she hurt someone, and it was out of her control. Sunset sympathised, telling her that Twilight felt exactly the same. Going on about their previous adventures, and their chats about forgiveness, Lightning confessed something.~
"You know, when Karly was talking about her family in Coinky-Dink World, I'm surprised you stepped in to give her support. Normally I'm the one that does that."
First being supportive and having anger issues? Sunset was surprised. "Maybe we are more alike than we thought." she said.
"I guess." Lightning tugged on her jacket. "Still, you shouldn't have tried to force the truth out of me back there. I'm not ready to tell you all about it yet. It's…hurtful for me to say. As well as refreshing the bad memories."
"I know…"
"I mean- Weren't you also hesitant to tell Karly and I where you came from, back when we met? How is that any different?!"
"Touché."
"Touché, indeed!" Lightning sighed. "Sometimes I just don't understand anything around here at the moment. Or even…much about you still, or this Equestrian magic of Friendship or whatever. Friendship is just so hard! I'm trying my best to understand, and make everyone proud but really,... I don't know what the hell I'm doing."
~This was exactly what Twilight was telling her about. If a powerful fiery outburst happens inside her again, then it would seem like war, at least in her eyes. But she knows that she can't make any promises when it comes to controlling emotions. If she's sad, or angry, or stressed, then that's that. Lightning is unafraid of using her magic, because it's brought such beauty and wonder to her world, but now, she began to have doubts. A tear ran down her cheek. Sunset could read her thoughts.~
"...When I was Princess Celestia's student back in Equestria, I thought friendship was a waste of my time." Sunset gazed upon the lake's reflection as she began to recount her stories. "I only cared about my studies, and becoming the best. I thought that I was nothing but somepony who had power and potential. Later on, I saw that I wasn't powerful enough, I wanted more. When I found out about the crystal mirror leading to this world, I wanted to know more about it, but Celestia said I wasn't ready."
Lightning glanced at Sunset, a rueful expression on her face. "...What did you do about it?"
"I disregarded her orders, and learned about it anyway throughout the books at her library. I was enraged that she kept it from me, cause I thought I deserved to know and deserved to stand at a better, higher place. When she found out about my presence, I lashed out. She ordered to have me removed from the castle, but I got the jump on the guards before she could, and I…I went through the portal."
~Lightning stared wide-eyed upon the words 'disregarded', 'lashed', 'jump' and 'portal'. She had no idea what similar story Sunset had between Twilight's.~
"I realised that I was wrong," Sunset continued, "I should have respected her wishes, but I didn't. Now, I'm forever cursed with that guilt, and I'll never be able to make it go away."
"I just wish you realised that lesson too before you decided to try to mind read me."
"I know. I'm so, so sorry, Lightning. I feel terrible about it and I should have never done it in the first place."
~And, in that moment, Sunset said it with such sincerity, and actually had the backbone to approach her and apologise early in the morning, Lightning could not be mad at her anymore. All the hatred and grudge she had against her just dissipated afterwards, and she felt compelled to apologise back.~
"...It's okay. I accept your apology. After all, no damage was really done in the end. And…I'm sorry for getting all up and angry."
"You 'ad every right to be." Stitch piped up. "Your anger was famished and 'ad ta be fed at some point."
"Yeah." Sunset said.
Lightning frowned, her hand to her heart. "So, does this mean that there is a chance I might become my own Midnight Sparkle- or something? Because of this?"
"N-no," Sunset laughed. "Equestrian magic only takes over when the user has too much power; not how they use it. You have no greed, no desire for more strength, and that's a good thing. Back then, Twilight and I were blind-struck by the incredible power we held before our very hands, and that led to our downfalls."
"Wait, what? You too?"
"Yeah. Remember the Fall Formal?" Sunset touched her geode. "All the magic you see before you was brought to this world by me. And…it's been hard to have a normal life these days. Everyone would be having one if it weren't for me."
"You're blaming yourself for bringing magic here? D-Don't! Sure, magic has led to bad things, but from what I can tell, it's also brought good things. I mean, if it weren't for magic, we wouldn't have met. Our two worlds would not have combined." Sunset gave a hardy blink. Lightning continued. "And, isn't it also possible that the magic is keeping us together? It's become a part of us, has it not?" their fingers touched. "Sunset, what's in the past is now in the past. You've changed now, you've changed a lot. You haven't been to Equestria since, like, for a while, I take it. You've learnt so much about this world, and the magic that comes and goes. I still need to. Don't go looking to me for magical advice yet, cause I have none!"
"We'll be there for you, Lightning. Don't you worry. I know you don't trust me yet, and I know I can't change the past, but, please give me another chance…"
"I will. Thanks, Sunset."
~With that, she battered Sunset with an affectionate arm around the shoulder and ruffled Stitch. Fifteen minutes later, they watched in wonder as the sun came at its call and ascended shimmering upon the horizon in an endless flashing stream of light. Then, suddenly, abruptly, Stitch heard a noise, and the sound of several dogs growling. Stitch gazed behind his shoulder. He found himself staring at the lined up trees of the forest in the darkness of gaps. It wasn't a very comfortable sight at all. He wanted to run over there, this way and that and alert the girls by yelping with caution that something was lurking there. But, with effort, he ignored it. For now.~