Princess Celestia paced into her chambers after a long day of work, letting out a tired shrug as she tested her limbs and stretched out any joints before plopping down onto a couch. Silently however, a pair of eyes glowing blue like stars in the night appeared from the shadow in the corner. As if melting out from the darkness, Princess Luna quickly shut the door with a wave of telekinesis and loomed over the impostor.
No sooner than she was about to make contact, however, did the fake Princess Celestia spring off the couch and all but tackle her. Both grunted as they rustled across the floor, wings flapping about as parts of the cushions were thrown away. Getting thrown onto and then rolling across the bed, Princess Luna's horn lit up with a sparking light before loosing a small blast of magic that resembled two prongs leading lines. The fake Princess Celestia was certainly nimble given she ducked under the attack by dropping to the floor and rolling, but even then she just barely avoided it. Fortunately for the actual Celestia, her sister's choice in spell wasn't a concussive blast that might have otherwise ended up shooting a hole through the wall, but instead sparked and oscillated with a facsimile of an electrical charge. One could compare it to a taser.
The fake Princess Celestia looked between the actual alicorn and the attack several times with a sort of realization dawning upon her. She started to say something, but Luna had already launched herself at the intruder before any please or falsehoods could be uttered. Before she could get anything out, Luna had her pinned securely underhoof and was drawing over a strange object. It was small, about the size of a hanging lantern. In fact, after a moment where the air about it seemed to waver, it shifted from a typical wall lamp and revealed itself to be a sort of dark iron-grey lantern with four glass panels. A green candle was set in the center, with a blackened wick. The iron itself was ensorcelled with runes, and the candle was obviously enchanted given the greenish colored flame and the fact it wasn’t burning down or melting any despite the lit fire. Luna shown its light upon the fake Princess Celestia, who bore an expression that changed from shocked to bemused.
“Reveal thyself, changeling!” Luna bellowed as… nothing happened.
She paused for a moment, not taking her focus on her pinned foe but glancing briefly at the lantern. She giggled it up and down in her telekinesis momentarily, as if to make sure the anti-changeling ward was ‘on’ in the way one might check a buggy flashlight. She directed the shine again, this time directly into the imposter’s face.
‘Celestia’ squinted at the light and groaned, “Ah’ would ye’ stop that foolishness with mah’ own ward, it’s me Lulu!”
Princess Luna paused, looking between the ward that should have dispelled any changeling disguise and the one she thought was some changeling trying to disguise her way in. Her face paled and her ears flopped down to the sides of her head from embarrassment as she scampered off the fake Celestia and helped her up. The one pretending to be the Solar Alicorn grunted as she was helped up by the hoof, dusting herself off and standing up straight. Clicking her hooves together and patting a near invisible satchel on her flank, a glamour spell was turned off and Captain Blueberry Frost appeared where the diarch’s image once stood.
“Just’in case it goes a'stray,” Captain Frost hummed as she put the lantern to what had been disguised as a satchel under a similar glamour spell, in reality being her collapsed lance.
Emerging as the same glamor spell that was used to disguise Blueberry Frost as Celestia, for the spell was locked to the weapon itself, the lance seemed to spark briefly. It flickered with a spell that very clearly indicated the otherwise mundane weapon passed down for decades was enchanted in some form or another, fed magic by Captain Frost like charging a battery. In this case, a spell working in tandem with the anti-changeling wards to replicate the ability of a fully realized changeling queen to a limited extent. Chrysalis' ancient bloodstain, her very magic embedded into the lance, with a lot of magic pumped through it, exuding what could have been a command from her. In this case, wording with the wards to create an area where the compelling command of a queen to 'remove disguise' was in place. The lance had, in effect, become a key to the ward’s lock; two parts to a whole. It was on closer inspection one might pick up on finer details on both items. Like how the faint image of a liquid splash might be outlined in magic at the lance’s tip, an old blood stain. Or how the lantern’s darker portions looked less like metal and more like chitin, the same hue as a changeling’s.
“We- I am surprised you can take on a glamor spell so effectively with a ward present. Seems like funneling even more magic to make it all work would be taxing,” Luna muttered as she tried to wipe off her embarrassment.
Captain Frost giggled as she hoofed the ward, her own creation, back to Princess Luna, “Hey, ‘Ah did invent it after all. Glamor spell 'ah built into this lance to fool 'em is not as good as changeling magic but it works different. Got experience ‘nuff to know what will and won’t work within the ward's fields anywho. Had to be careful with a few given Mothra Lea’s move to disguise herself as an alicorn to avoid public worries.”
“Sometimes I presume that gesture of hers is overthought,” Luna noted, “She’s already foreign and under an assumed form given the changes in this world. The alicorn disguise was an extra burden.”
Blueberry Frost shrugged, “Eh, all about image. She wanted to look her best. Godzilla’s a nice sort but he’s not the best at public articulation… Didn’t mind turning a few of them off briefly to let her through even if they been acting funny lately, but I didn’t go to all the trouble of inventing these wards and placin’ them around Canterlot after the wedding shenanigans to be careless.”
Princess Luna instantly keyed in on the sag in Captain Frost’s shoulders at the mention of that event, especially given how Blueberry followed it up by pacing over to a cabinet to fetch herself a strong bottle of wine. She put a hoof on the Captain’s shoulder, frowning more so at feeling Frost flinch.
“You know you weren’t responsible for that attack,” Princess Luna whispered, telekinetically lifting the bottle to tilt it back so the ‘strong glass’ wasn’t also a ‘big glass’, “A lot of us were caught unawares by that attack from Chrysalis. Do you think I was happy to learn what transpired while I was away dealing with foreign guests? I even got into another squabble with Maui before I received word of what happened.”
Blueberry Frost sighed, pouring Luna a glass as well, “Shining was on my team through the academy, me, him, and Blades. I shoulda been-... If I’d been scoping out, it never woulda happened. No one knows changelings like me.”
Princess Luna shrugged but accepted the glass, but only as she telekinetically lifted a bemused Captain Frost up with her magic and set her on a couch to relax, “Well, few know what you do. You are wise in many things, it's only right that you use that wisdom.”
Blueberry Frost sighed but sipped her drink while rubbing at a headache the magic usage had given her, “Wise in things like Celly’s inflections enough to pass as her. Figured with her going on an adventure you could use a hoof, so ‘ah stepped in.”
“Of which I am,” Luna sucked in a breath and let it out with exasperation, her poise dissipating instantly, “Most grateful! The stress of a double shift is torture!”
Frost perked an eyebrow, “That why you nearly conked me on the head with my own ward?”
Luna shot her a look after taking a shot of her drink, “I remembered you’d told me about fiddling with the wards on account of Lady Lea and last time you held up the glamor illusion you were Celestia, it was only with you right next to me and it broke the instant Tempest Shadow went on the attack. With tampering to the wards lately and all the chaos, I was on edge with all that is going on. Seems I became a bit stir crazy after being alone in the castle for too long. The last time this happened, Godzilla came crashing through the roof.”
“Aaand what a day that was,” Blueberry chuckled, “Do get it though, ye’ were worried a changeling slipped through and wanted to be sure.”
Princess Luna nodded, “You appearing when you did as Celestia no less after the last time a changeling impersonated an alicorn, frayed nerves. Not that I am unappreciative of you doing it.”
“Heeey, somepony had to stand in for Celestia. If you think it’s a crazy day in court today, imagine how Equestria might react if they knew she was in another dimension? Princess Celestia Alexandria Alicor is a paragon and needs to be seen to be one. Besides, it’s still a card only you and I know of. Nobody noticed when my disguise dropped during Tempest’s attack when I stood in for her last time,” Frost snickered, “Gonna have to thank Xenilla for being such a wonderful distraction.”
“Given how it took you a moment to switch over as layering a glamor can be tricky, it was a blessing in disguise nopony noticed I suppose,” Princess Luna muttered as she thought back to that chaotic day, “Glamor spells are good for disguises, but anchoring it to your lance for use can make it unreliable. Which was why I was so surprised to see somepony standing in for Princess Celestia so brazenly. Got suspicious.”
“Again, with Chrysalis’ hive one can’t afford to not be careful,” Blueberry Frost growled with a very, very serious expression crossing her usually jovial face, “... Now that I got you alone, I wanted to give you the heads up.”
Princess Luna instantly perked her attention at the summon and regarded the mare staring out the window intently.
“It’s almost to the day now…”
Princess Luna gulped a rock in her throat and leaned in, “Are you sure?”
Captain Frost nodded, “Call it sentiments, call it something on my mind, but it’s been a long, long time. I didn’t go on the originally anniversary a few decades back because it was only me and Celestia then. But now we've got her, you, the Element Bearers, and a whole new group of powerful allies we’re close to….”
She gave Princess Luna a teasing side-eye, “Some of us closer to some of them than others.”
The alicorn’s face flushed a bit as she cleared her throat, indicating her host to continue and she did thusly, “Point is for reasons beyond me something or someone has kept this conflict going for far longer than it should have.
“Equestria has more defenders than it ever had before, no sign Chrysalis has been acting up, and… Well,” She took a deep breath and held it for a moment for contemplation, “I think 'ah need some sort of visit for closure. Not now but sometime this year before things get too intense.”
“You think things will get worse?”
Blueberry Frost shrugged, “Suppose so, probably an’ hopefully not. But the last time someone like chrysalis wasn’t outwardly up to something, she suddenly came up on Trot and Timbucktu. And we all know what happened then from the history books.”
The captain of the guard looked at the lance she always carried around and pondered at it, perhaps gazing upon the faint remnant of a magical blood stain born from the only time a normal pony managed to physically go hoof-to-hoof with that monster. Cold Hurricane certainly earned his retirement as much as Ardent Sentry earned her position. Captain Frost let out a tired shrug.
“Look ‘ah ain’t trying to be a downer. Probably nothin’ gonna happen, especially in light of how word has gotten out what happen’d to a heavily armed raiding armada trying to storm Canterlot while the brother of a certain ‘foreign royalty’ was around,” She noted while downing last of her drink, “Guess some events got it on mah’ mind and ‘ah just want to set things square. You know, visit the old place.”
Princess Luna nodded knowing, regal, but not unapproachable mass of contemplation. She wasn’t just thinking of some decree for a subject but also one for a friend. She sighed at having reached an understanding.
“First sign of trouble, you come get help,” Luna whispered with a slight frown, “Not like I could stop you if I wanted to.”
"Sure ye’ could! Put me in that headlock well enough!” Frost laughed as she weather expertly diminished some of the tension in the air, “But ‘ah do appreciate you voicing no desire to do so. Besides it won’t be till everyone is back from that human world unless things really go sideways.”
“Well let’s hope not,” Luna smirked as she poured herself and her friend another glass, though not of anything with alcohol but some childish drink a youth might indulge in; flavored by running some of her magic through the anti-changeling ward. Captain Frost nodded thankfully and took it.
“MMPH!” she internally jolted from the impact, taking in the magic, “Aaah strong stuff that one! Should’a taken more wine to prepare for it!”
“Well you might indulge in one more glass,” Princess Luna hummed as she shot Frost a devious, jesting look, “After all, ‘Princess Celestia, the revered and respected’ might need to help me with Night Court duties as her wise, patient sister oh so graciously assisted with her Day Court!”
Captain Blueberry Frost shot her a look and sighed, resigned to her fate. The glamour spell kicked back on and Princess Celestia stood ready to both tend to courtly matters as well as plot her revenge. Last time she did Luna a good deed. That night out she was planning for her and Junior was gonna be rife with pranks now!
===============================
The Night Prior to Part 1, Canterlot City
=================================
The form, deceptive in sound given the size of their body, silently crept around the premises of the house in a very orderly manner. Sometimes having a base species that was an apex predator had its benefits, as many a kaiju could attest to him sneaking up on them with many of his foes completely unawares until a surprisingly stealthy 60,000 tons of angry dinosaur bulldozed into them. Honestly, at this point Godzilla had lost count of how many Anteverse behemoths their creators sent through a rift only to find themselves blindsided when he came shooting out of the dark depths.
In this state he was by no means a ninja, a topic Chibi had babbled to him about in length, but when you were in no particular rush and were an insomniac, one could get around reasonably well without making much noise in the middle of the night. Stick to the more shadowed areas and move very slowly and he fit the bill as a piece of scenery, as he found out more than subtly when an owl opted to try and perch on his head earlier. Having just glanced through the second story window to confirm all was well, he made his way across the roof step by step towards the back. The humans, plus Peachy Keen, were dozed off in Sunset’s room and hall with Anguirus crashed on a chair leading upstairs in a way any intruder coming up them was sure to rouse the Guardian Beast.
After the first group spent the better of several hours talking magic, they needed the rest. Originally he planned to let Anguirus take a shift on watch, but when he returned from his trek clearly roughed up, it had been an order to sleep. He was sporting several cuts and bruises still, clothes were torn in multiple spots, and based off the dampness across his form until he was dried off; Anguirus had been submerged in water despite the chilly night. His story of having to dive off the side of the road to avoid hitting an oncoming truck and falling into a drainage ditch was plausible, if… convenient.
Doing so would also wash off any scents that may have been on him if he was diligent about it, and Anguirus knew his comrade had a sharp sense of smell. And he looked like he’d taken a beating from more than just falling into water or rolling down a hill. Maybe there was…
Godzilla Junior shook his head, pushing that thought aside. He didn’t know everything, and he didn’t need to know everything. If Anguirus trusted him with running off to pursue a lead, even if it resulted in nothing, he’d trust his friend that if it was crucial and important enough to be concerned with, he’d be told.
-Life’s too complicated as it is, even without needless suspicion.-
He was a simple type, preferring to pursue simple questions. Like which one of the girls might be missing at the moment, he couldn’t quite tell from peeping through the window and he heard movement at the patio.
His pace had been slow, until he heard a sharp exhale followed by a loud ‘Crawk!’ and groan of timbers. He probably knocked a few shingles loose when he launched himself off the roof to pounce at the patio area and drop down, but his haste was due to pumping blood and frayed nerves. When he whipped around, relieved to see no one fleeing off into the night, alone or with a captive, he was half-expecting an intruder in need of getting tackled.
Instead, he eased when his eyes locked upon those dimly glowing green-blue orbs that looked back at him from inside the house, behind the patio. Only to begin to feel a telltale tingle in the back of his mind the more the staring continued, right up until the looker-on stalked back into the shadows. Familiarity had been replaced by… something else, something unconsciously registering that made his muscles not relax and fight-or-flight stop activating. There were tinges of orange present amidst the rest of the color.
They disappeared back into the house and he was left in the otherwise silent night, save for the noise of someone running upstairs. He stepped forward, to close the opened patio door when his thick boot made an audible creak on a particular plank underfoot. Glancing down to inspect the cause, Junior removed his foot to find he’d stepped on an already-broken, thick plank of wood that had been snapped by some force.
That explained the crack he’d heard but… something wasn’t right. He lifted the snapped-off-plank to his face and sniffed at it, puzzling. Godzilla took a glance to the upstairs where the girls were.
==================================
The Next Morning, Sunset’s residence
==================================
“Again.”
Applejack cringed from the astute tone, already winded slightly in her breath from what they’d been up to constantly for the past hour.
“You sure about this?” she muttered, still testing a fist.
“If your hand is up to it, otherwise use your other one,” Godzilla Junior notedly calmly as he stood a few meters away from the highschooler, feet shoulder width apart in a hidden ready stance with one arms raised and his forearm crossed over his chest so the opened palm faced Applejack, “Last time you hurt your hand punching Monster X’s fist. We’ve spent the last hour learning how to block, so now you need to learn how to hit.”
“Not about me worrying about getting hurt,” Applejack grumbled as she tested her good fist and braced to sprint, feeling like being honest, “It’s you getting hurt. You sure um… Senshe?”
“Sensei, and yes,” he made absolutely no motion to move away, “I am.”
Applejack shrugged and at the death of a second, kicked off the ground. It was a harder motion than she thought it would be, as it was at times difficult to calculate just when the surges of strength would activate. Usually, unless it was in an adrenaline rush, it was only when she homed in on a sense of something deep within, often when touching the ground. Peachy Keen told her she had an equivalent in Equestria called an Earth Pony. At first she felt it was a cop-out, even slightly insulted at not getting some spell spewing unicorn or high flying pegasus, but upon reflection it seemed to be something that fit her.
Be it when she came within a hair’s breadth of roughing up Sunset Shimmer a year back for what she did to Rarity and Flash or the near panic attack she once got on a plane, Jackelyn Susan Apple knew she was somebody who liked to go for the simple solutions and keep their feet on the ground. Not complicate things that can be straightforward by overthinking a spell and going through specifics of aim and direction or fiddling with letting things go by too fast like having your head in the clouds might do.
Following prior advice as she sprinted forward, Applejack had to briefly close her eyes and home in. A memory was supposed to be a catalyst and in that she had a good enough one to draw upon she supposed. Classic childhood blunder of a certain 2nd grader who had neither earned her hat nor gotten tall enough to see over the table coming home with a big red mark on her pop quiz with her mother asking how it went, if she aced it she got a treat and her mother always trusted her to say what happened without needing look. It would have been so simple to lie, get away with it at least for a long while.
But there was that slightest of sensation that spurred her to fess up about the ‘F’, even if it meant sticking with extra study hours.
It was there now, if extremely faint. She fell through the mental movements Peachy walked her through, getting the sensation she was almost inverting her limbs to reach inside to what was within and stretch it over herself. It was extremely slapdash and she knew it well enough, like trying to hold onto smoke and veil yourself in it.
And she was trying to do so while actively moving and throwing a punch.
Meaning the big problem was that she was used to throwing about 4 kilograms of arm mass with enough force to knock someone over. She wasn’t used to sporadic moments where she might throw that 4 kilos of arm hard enough to clobber a cow, or have it take that kind of force, when it happened on accident and when she tried to do so on command it was barely any better. Like right about now, as was demonstrated when her fist struck home and hit Godzilla’s palm dead center and he promptly grabbed onto it. With only a few inches to slow down her acceleration and tank her momentum, Applejack ended up whipping back hard enough her feet shot out from what had been behind her and she completely lost her footing.
Thankfully her instructor’s grip on her arm was tight enough he was able to hang on enough to sweep his other arm around and catch her around her back.
“Good force, but you threw your weight too much. Meant you couldn’t take the blowback,” Junior noted as he staggered them both back to proper footing.
“Well, Bill Nye did say every action has an equal and opposite reaction,” Applejack shrugged as she shook out her arm.
Junior pursed his lips for a moment in contemplation before nodding, “Sounds about right. Exactly what I was getting at, in fact.”
He looked down and glanced at her footprints in the sandy soil, seeing how they weren’t especially deep, “Peachy told you Earth Ponies don’t have a focal point for their magic like how Pegasi have it in their eyes, hooves, and wings; and Unicorns have it almost all in their horn and head.”
Applejack nodded and rolled her tightened shoulder as he continued.
“Earth Ponies don’t have a focal point because their whole body is a focal point,” he tapped at his own chest and nodded to her, “I’m much the same, even if it’s not magic. Part of the reason I’m as strong as I am is because all of my body is equally enhanced. What happens if you get the arms to lift something really heavy, but your back is weak?”
Rainbow Dash, sitting on a plastic chair behind them while still in her track clothes, gave them both the answer when she held up an arm with her hand held out straight with the fingers extended.
“Crrrrrrrrrick!” She snipped while clicking her tongue, making a jolt of motion with her now limp hand to simulate a break.
Godzilla gave her a glance and shrugged while motioning to the relatively shallow footprints in the sod and dirt, “Yes, that. See how your prints aren’t deep? Tells me you weren’t putting strength into your legs like you were your arm.”
Applejack felt at her wrist as she puzzled, recalling the sensations going through her when she tried to ‘dig in’ as Peachy talked with them all about doing.
The blonde sighed as she shook her head, “Ah’ tried that memory thing Peachy told us about, recallin’ a time ah’ had to be honest. But... I dunno. Felt like ah’ was tryin’ to draw up a swimmin’ pool with an eyedropper or get a wad of smoke with my bare hands. Only got a bit so I guess I just defaulted to puttin’ it all up top.”
“Even if you can only draw up a bit, distributing it will be key.”
“Get that but, without the light show when we use music it’s tricky,” Applejack muttered, still rolling her shoulder to try and work out a kink in it.
Junior rubbed at his chin, trying to think over this little ordeal that had only been more and more meddlesome since he asked for these two away from the core group. He turned aside to peruse through some thoughts. Rainbow Dash meanwhile had hopped up and gave Applejack some whacks on the shoulder after signalling her.
“You sure this all will help? Not that I’m not happy about it, but you yourself said you don’t even use magic,” the cyan dame grumbled with an eye roll, “So wouldn’t Cele- Peachy and Sunset be better at this?”
“First, Sunset Shimmer is or was a unicorn. Her magic works differently than what your counterparts have. Peachy, as an alicorn, would know pegasus and earth magic, but she seems unable to call upon it in this state. For the magic you'll need in performance of the counter-spell, you'll seek her for that but she herself wanted me to run you through these drills. You two have physical-based powers which could be dangerous,” His tone grew noticeably sharper at that last word while keeping his back turned, speaking in that way one could just feel his eyes narrowing, “That.. is my specialty, magic or not.”
Rainbow Dash pushed her fits to her hips and shrugged, “Yeah I get the similar concepts and all, use power responsibly, yadayada, I get that from my Power Ponies comics. But I just think we’re better off with erm… well, ‘The Greatest Magic Teacher Ever’, you know?”
He looked back and shot her a glance he could tell elicited a hidden flinch. Mouthy, confident one, the cyan woman. Which meant either she was extremely cocky, or trying to cover something. Given her first contact with the enemy but her counterpart’s personality, he suspected it was both.
Godzilla reached down to behind the gym bag Rainbow Dash had set down and drew something up. The two young women cringed when they saw what, especially when he loomed forward slightly and turned the side of his face towards them as he held up a snapped hardboard panel about half a meter long.
When he looked at them in a manner one would expect of a bird or alligator rather than a man, an uncanniness that spurred the skin to crawl, “Which one of you got spooked and busted this floorboard last night?”
The pin drop could be heard as he waited several long seconds for the answer, opting to break the silence himself. Bringing the sun-worn wood up, he audibly sniffed at it and clicked his teeth together.
“I can smell a faint hint of sweat on this. Female, human,” He grunted while tilting his head towards the house, “I was checking around last night when I found it like this. First I thought it was an intruder, but no one was about and Anguirus recalled seeing both of you go downstairs at different points.”
“Y-You ehehe, lurk around ey?” Rainbow Dash cringed while rubbing at the back of her head, “Diiid you look into the second story window a few times?”
Godzilla shrugged, “Once or twice. I was making sure you were all safe.”
Safe, sleeping soundly in a sleepover, and now knowing someone who was a head and shoulders taller than Big Mac managed to climb up to the window multiple times without them ever noticing them. And they’d left the drapes open last night too.
“Point is, surges of powers like yours could seriously hurt yourselves or others if you can’t keep control of it. A reason Peachy entrusted me with running you two through some works was because few know that lesson more than I do,” For a split second his eyes averted before recofusing, “That’s why I just want to know: whose super-strong leg stomped the floor hard enough to crack hardwood like this?”
They were both silent, perhaps occasionally glancing at each other or off to the side but nothing concrete. And no one was saying a word. As the seconds passed, Godzilla’s expression steeled itself and his brow lowered.
The girls both flinched when his eyes turned to Applejack’s hand.
“Your hand might need an infusion to heal faster,” he grunted calmly with a nod, earning a briefly confused perk-of-the-brow by Applejack.
Applejack tilted her head, “But, ‘ah thought you said you can’t use magic?”
Godzilla shook his head, “Technically I can, at least as a unicorn, but I’m well below novice. But I know someone with magic.”
He turned and started for the backdoor, “Stay here, I’m going to get an expert.”
“Sunset?”
“Peachy?”
“Another magical expert,” Godzilla grunted as he waved them off, “The best on Terra. If you’re so insistent you don’t think I can help, she can probably offer better advice; better than I can at least.”
Even with his back turned, he could smell the way the air shifted. A slight hitch in a breath he heard behind him, likely no doubt accompanying tensed muscles and widened eyes.
Applejack was stammering, “W-Wait my hand is just- Um!”
“H-H-Hey! Hey don’t get-” Rainbow Dash’s confidence was wavering.
Godzilla bided his time, continuing to retreat.
-Three… Two… One...-
“I DID IT!” a voice very decidedly not the tone of the farm girl he was expecting shouted out.
Junior was puzzled, and in some ways hurt. He was expecting this in some regard but not too pleased about it being confirmed.
He had to be sure.
He didn’t stop his march for the backdoor to go and fetch the Mothra. He took another step, just to be sure, but suddenly everything shifted. Magic user he was not, but he was a kaiju, which meant he could practically smell spikes of energy when they fired off. Like fifteen paces right behind him, although in the span of a second it was now a pace in front of him; for in that moment of time Rainbow Dash had gone from behind him and flinching to standing before him with her hands pressed onto his shoulders.
“I did it, okay?!” she yelled out.
Her confidence hadn’t melted, it had evaporated to leave not a trace. Everything in her demeanor screamed of panic. Dilation of the eyes, tightened limbs, standing on her tip-toes, sucked in and flexed gut like she was bracing for impact, and constant shakes.
“I stomped the floor when I got a little jumpy last night okay?” She grimaced, “I mean, super-speed kinda needs strong legs right? I was surprised when I snapped the darn thing and ran back inside.”
“And... what is it that made you so jumpy?” Godzilla grunted lowly.
Whether she’d realized it or not, she’d grabbed onto his top with hands clenching to fists, like she was expecting a confrontation. Something he noticed and hid his frown.
Rainbow snipped at the giant, “I-I was hearing what must have been you lurking around, alright?! Not used to that sort of thing!”
The head tilt and unflinching, studious look she wasn't human. Oddly enough, the best comparison she could make was to a predatory bird Fluttershy once took care of. The unnerve made her spine tingle, “You were thinking something was stalking the house… and so you went outside alone? After the last time you were alone, you were attacked?”
The blunt tone he gave was somehow sharp and Rainbow Dash flinched up like she was frozen stiff. A set of large, calloused, scarred hands setting on one of her hands and her shoulder. With a surprising degree of gentleness, he pulled her off him and set her back down on her whole foot. Perhaps realizing the attempt at a calming gesture, even before he patted the top of her collar and shoulder, Rainbow Dash simmered down as she frowned.
Junior sighed as he shook his head, “Ever the loyal one, as your magic shows. But not the truthful one.”
He crouched down slightly to get more on her eye level, causing her to look back up briefly before casting her glance aside. Junior puzzled before smiling.
“It’s good you are so loyal to your friend. I’m sorry I had to scare you both, I’m not mad or disappointed,” He looked back at Applejack, chancing a small smile, “Accidents happen. That’s why we learn.”
Junior picked himself up and walked back into the yard again, decidedly away from the house where Lea dwelt with a question still burning. His choice clearly put his two students at ease as they followed along. The observation Rainbow put herself between him and Applejack was bittersweet at first.
As if sensing his slight frown, Rainbow Dash chuckled lightly and glanced back at him.
“Sorry about the attitude earlier, big guy, just- nooo… school of panic attacks okay?”
Applejack paced backwards and shrugged her shoulders, “Yeah you’re doing just fine. Guess we’re just uppidty. ‘M-Mah hands’re fine, just a bit numb… You um, gonna have me explain why I snapped the board? Hammer home how it could be dangerous if I kicked somebody?”
Junior’s prior feelings on Rainbow putting herself between him and Applejack wavered when he noticed how the cyan girl turned her back to him. It confirmed something he wasn’t sure what to make of.
It meant she wasn’t trying to get between him and someone else. It meant she was trying to put him between her and something behind him. Something, or someone in the house was cause to make the athlete consider the kaiju she’d only known a few days a safety assurance between her and someone beyond. And he’d smelled no intruders as of late…
More and more, as Captain Frost taught him in manners of speech, red flags were showing up.
Junior shook his head at Applejack, already guessing whom she might have been startled by last night to stomp the board like that, “Won’t be needed. Weird as this teaching method was, it did show some success. After all-”
He patted a pouting Rainbow Dash’s head, “Never seen the namesake of the Rainbooms move so fast. How’s about we focus on what she felt and thought next to see if we can get a... repeat performance?”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack blinked for several seconds, looking to one another before the latter sniggered. The former, shorter cyan girl tilted her head.
“Did-... did the giant dinosaur just make a pun?”
Junior shrugged, “Situationally.”
“....PPwwaAHAHAhAHAHA!” Rainbow Dash grabbed at her stomach and doubled over to fall on her back, kicking her legs.
==============
“Alright, concentrate and go,” Peachy Keen quipped as she stood back.
Even with everything in the room cleared out as much as possible, everyone present from Fluttershy to Sunset Shimmer stepped back to get against the wall. Peachy however noticed how Flash Sentry seemed consciously keen on putting himself between Rarity and the alicorn’s former student, the young man probably not catching her noticing his aside glance. She noted it and focused instead on what was before her. Standing in the middle of the room, with a plugged-in-keyboard set up a few feet away, Rarity rolled her shoulders and tested her fingers. Blowing her on her hands and rubbing them together, she took in a deep breath and focused.
Memory was put to use, in this case anything dealing with what an alternate universe version of her school principal told her the other Rarity embodied; the same one Princess Twilight told her she stood for. Despite some worries she was being asked to live up to another perso- pony, the feelings she got from her first school play to spending her time helping Fluttershy at the shelter to giving away so much time and effort she spent on a dress so Sweetie Belle could have something extra nice to wear to a chorus event. Generosity was something that came naturally when she put her mind to it.
And it had the effect of creating a glowing construct of a diamond to float above her head.
“Wahahaaah!” Rarity shrieked, still startled despite this not being the first time this sort of thing happened.
Eyes around the room lit up and smiles soon split faces. Peachy Keen, fearless of magic after a thousand of years of practice, didn’t wait to close the distance. She paced up and circled the young woman with a studious expression with one eye opened wider and her head tilted slightly as her nose scrunched. And she wasn’t alone, for despite him very briefly stepping in front of her, Sunset Shimmer got around Flash Sentry and joined her mentor while sporting an identical expression. Now Flash and Fluttershy knew where she got ‘that look’ from.
“I’ve seen some magic demonstrations by Mothra Lea and to an extent Princess Twilight Sparkle. Their Terran spells are markedly different from Equestrian magic,” Peachy hummed while drumming at her chin.
Sunset Shimmer piped up, “Yes but this looks no different than stuff from back home, even if the format is a bit different.”
Peachy Keen returned the statement with a nod, “No doubt about it, this is indeed Equestrian magic.”
“Could it be magic leaked here after I used the crown and Twilight and company stopped me?” Sunset Shimmer muttered as she poked at the diamond barrier Rarity formed, noting the size of which was comparable to school desk space.
Peachy Keen stood up on her tippy-toes and put her hand between Rarity and the diamond, like she was checking temperature… Or possibly flavor given she licked her finger after, “Nope, this is all coming from young miss Rarity here. Are you feeling okay?”
Rarity, chuckling away a bit of awkwardness given how she felt like she was being inspected for auction or asked to be a model for art class, “Ehe, um… yes? I… Well, don’t feel any different. Is that a good thing?”
“Actually, it is. It confirms that this is your magic and not something just grafted onto you or that you’re using. Trying to force someone else’s magic to work for you can function, but Equestrian magic comes from the personality, the soul if you will. Using someone else’s magic forcefully without them having gifted it to you can cause some… ugly side effects,” Peachy Keen said with a grimace.
Sunset Shimmer knew exactly what she was talking about and lowered her neck into her shoulders some, “Yyeeah… like, she-demon side effects.”
Peachy Keen opted not to tell the audience who or what Nightmare Godzilla or Rarity was as well, even if she felt a pull to comfort Sunset that her mistakes were not a single event. Evidently however, she wasn’t the only one as Fluttershy was keen to reach over and pat her friend upon the shoulder. And she wasn’t alone as an orange hand from the sole male present joined the other one. To Fluttershy, Sunset seemed calm and cracked a slight smile after a sigh. One that widened slightly when she looked the other way at Flash Sentry, before some sort of realization seemed to dawn upon them both.
Peachy Keen’s brow perked again as Sunset and Flash pursed their lips and seemingly awkwardly looked away, splitting contact.
-Seems some reactions are unconscious even if the conscious thinks for the contrary… Back to business, however.-
She turned back to Rarity, “Now you said the diamond you made when the Ghidorah attacked you all was bigger however?”
Rarity puzzled but nodded, “Almost door-sized I would say.”
Peachy Keen hummed, “And have you ever made one that big elsewhere?”
“Only when I played with the band once, blasted beautiful thing just appeared and nearly wrecked my keyboard set-up!”
Peachy Keen tapped at her chin, “Well that further confirms it is your magic after all. Magic can exert in pulses just like how muscles can overexert in stressful situations, fight or flight. You were afraid for your life and those of others so your magic supercharged briefly as a defense mechanism.”
Rarity felt at her head, feeling no change in her ears as well as checking her hair with a downwards glance to confirm so, “Yet both times I wasn’t ‘Pony’d Up’ as Rainbow has dubbed it? What’s the difference?”
“Given Princess Twilight confirmed you five embody Elements in tandem with your Equestrian counterparts, I suspect that state is tied to the Elements themselves. Be it the ones in Equestria or maybe some unknown equivalent here,” Peachy explained astutely in a manner unbecoming of a young teenager, and yet all were entrapped in any teaching she was doling out.
“You… think this world might have Elements of Harmony too?” Sunset Shimmer tilted her head at the notion, “... Then again weirder things have happened. You once fought an evil mirror version of yourself while on fire, I’m a talking equine in a world surrounded by talking apes; and while I was away, Canterlot was attacked by a big flock of angry bat monsters that got defeated by a dinosaur… Yeah nevermind, anything so weird probably is true.”
Peachy Keen humored a snicker as she continued, “Regardless, the Pony’d Up form and your magic can be tied together as parts of you all; but they are independent. It is akin to how my world’s Rarity still had all of her unicorn magic even before her calling as an Element Bearer was enacted. Still, the form could bolster your magic which could be quite useful for the counter spell we need for the Sirens.”
“Well then, seems like the next test is in order then, Fluttershy?” Rarity hummed as she cracked her fingers and paced to her keyboard.
Fluttershy looked to Peachy Keen and got an approving nod as she pulled out a page from the magical song they’d been working on together, putting it on a stand for Rarity to see.
“Oh, it’s still a rough draft but this is part of your tune for the counterspell. Still an early effort so I'm sorry if it's not up to par just yet.”
Rarity smirked and winked, “Not to worry, let’s give it a go! I'm sure it'll be lovely.”
Her fingers crisscrossed the keys and a new, but fairly catchy melody started to course through the room. The change was obvious after about a minute of playing, especially when Rarity hit a reprise and looped back. Her body started to glow, her grin widened from the energetic rush coursing through her, and just as she felt like she was about to pull herself up to the top of some peak!-.... It just stayed there.
She bit her tongue briefly and concentrated just like she had before. A full reprise was played and while it was lovely, leaving her audience bobbing or swaying to the tune, no transformation took place.
Rarity stopped playing and put a disgruntled hand on her hip as she tapped her foot, “My word, this is getting frustrating!”
Fluttershy’s head lowered into her shoulders, “Oh no, i-is it my song? Is it bad?”
“Perish the thought, darling! It is nothing of the sort!” Rarity quickly piped back as she looked over the piece, “It’s a lovely tune and we all experienced spontaneous changes with less!”
“Everything’s set up equipment-wise,” Flash Sentry chimed in as he looked it all over, “I was there when we picked you out that very same keyboard. Heck, we had even less set-up when Dash first changed in my garage.”
Peachy Keen shot him an inquisitive look and Flash shrugged, “I was already musically inclined so I helped out, guitar remember? ‘Sides, I’m not in the band but I’ve known some of the gang since Kindergarten.”
“Well what all happened in those instances where the 'Pony Up' change occurred?” Peachy Keen noted as she crossed her arms and studied the scene.
“Well… Hm,” Rarity muttered as she drummed her fingers on her hip, “Either we were all present, like when we picked out our instruments or… Rainbow usually was singing along.”
After a bit of pondering, Peachy Keen thought she hit upon a solution that dawned upon her like a lit lightbulb, “Well Element Magic, just like a band, works best when in tandem. Each Element feeds off of and emboldens the others. Being honest improves loyalty, being kind improves generosity, etcetera. Sooo, maybe you just need someone singing along like how instrumental music goes best with vocals?”
Rarity nodded along to the logic. If having all the band present at once may not be do-able given Pinkie Pie was still away and Twilight was… unavailable, this made sense to get the best tandem they could with who they had on hand.
“Alrighty then, well RD is practicing out in the back with Applejack and Mr. Gojo but I guess we could steal her-”
“I can do it!”
A pause settled over the room as all eyes looked to Sunset Shimmer, who’d stepped forward perhaps unconsciously but was now frozen mid-step with a small sense of awkwardness. Peachy Keen had the same expression Rarity and Fluttershy had. Not quite skepticism, but more so surprise. From what the former alicorn could gather, Sunset had shown the same public display of any singing talent to her friends here as she had in Equestria. Which was to say, none she was aware of. Clearly steeling herself for another statement, Sunset was thankfully aided by a simple statement by one who had chanced a look between her and Rarity.
Confirming he saw no fear or reservation in his old purple-haired friend, Flash Sentry repeated himself, “What…? She can do it. Guitar? I’m game. Bass? I can manage. Keyboard? I’m not incompetent but I hope you like hearing Hot-Cross-Buns. Singing? Nada. Sunset is a way better vocalist than I ever could be… And-”
He glanced about the room, “Not seeing anyone else volunteering. Unless Fluttershy wants to give it a go as she’s pretty good too.”
Fluttershy reclined back from the compliment well, shyly, but smiled even as she shook her head, “Oh, well if Sunset wants to try, sure!”
Peachy Keen held out the vocal sheet for the song they’d written so far, but was keen to notice how Sunset’s focus was less on her and more on who’d vouched for her. For a moment she looked dumbstruck until she forced herself to pay attention to the paper she was handed. Shaking her head, as if to clear a thought or two, Sunset mumbled the lyrics to herself as she took up a point beside Rarity. The two looked between their respective papers, muttering between themselves on how to synch up. With Sunset tapping her foot as a metronome, they soon started bobbing their heads slightly in synchronization.
“~The one and only thing, that we are here to bring~!”
Peachy Keen and Fluttershy’s eyes widened in brief surprise when Sunset opened her mouth and started singing. And not just singing, but singing very well. It took a moment to adjust her speed to Rarity’s music, as one would expect for a duo just starting up; but she was settled and locked in by the fifth word. Flash Sentry just shrugged contentedly and leaned back on a chair, closing his eyes as he listened almost nostalgically.
“~Is muuusic, is the music- Is the music in our soul!~”
The song, Sunset’s vocals and Rarity’s keystrokes were having an obvious effect. The glowing aura around Rarity was intensifying far more than it had before. Both young women flashed each other a grin.
“~Gonna break out! Seeet myself free! Let! it! Aaall go, just let it bee-eee!~”
Rarity squealed as she felt the power surge greater and greater. Eyes in the room lit up as her body flashed with light and a dazzling transformation took place. The aura oscillated in power and intensity. A diamond-shaped emblem seemed to glow around her neck and collar. When the light glowed brighter from that point, her body changed. Now sporting much longer hair, a taller frame, and the trademark pointed ears. Vitalized and grinning, Rarity skillfully took over performing the next section of the keyboard piece with one hand. With her other she held it aloft and pumped magic into it, which radiated through the room in tandem with Sunset’s singing melody. Clearly, the counter spell had an enchantment to it and the transformation worked to bolster Rarity’s own magic. This time when she made a diamond shield, it was easily double her size and wide enough it’s edges could be touched by a giddy Peachy Keen.
Sunset Shimmer grinned as she kept singing.
“~Find the music, the muusiiic in your heart, let the music make you start!~”
She was peaking for her week so far. Not only for hope this magic trial meant they were one step closer to seeing Twilight again, but the sheer joy she could feel across the room. It was almost like she was feeling what everyone else could. Even more so than the small burst she got when she was comforting Rainbow Dash after her attack. She could feel how thrilled Rarity was as she marveled at her own works and magical prowess, as well as how eager Fluttershy was that both her songwriting was working beautifully and even being potent enough the typically shy woman was wanting to try it herself.
And from the other two, she could feel the pride, feel the elation. For different reasons between her first friend and ex alongside her once-former and now-current teacher, but in some ways they both bore a potent impact. The prideful smiles on their faces were infectious.
For all the worries, all the strain, all the fretting Sunset had ranging from worrying about Twilight to being confused and fretting over Irys’ group; this… The warmth it washed her in was like the sweetest daydream. She couldn’t resist pumping a cheeky fist and grinning as she finished it off.
“~To set yourself apaaaaart!~”
There was a flash of light and jaws dropped. Even with her eyes closed, her ability to feel what others were made Sunset Shimmer instantly aware how they were dumbstruck. Slowly she peeked an eye open and bore witness to their slack-jawed expressions and tilted heads.
“Um… hey? What are you...?” she grimaced as she glanced about, trying to not pay attention to the fact she was glowing.
Peachy Keen adjusted her fake glasses and steeled herself. It was then Sunset noticed how she, unlike the surprised others, was instead grinning so wide it split her face. Her shrunken teacher tapped at her forehead and then her left ear. Sunset Shimmer blinked and followed along, her eyes instantly contorting to one of confusion upon feeling something both there and not sticking out of her noggin before caressing velvety covered, pointed ears in place of her rounded, human ones. Her eyes slowly traveled down to the blinking glow on her sternum, but wasn’t quite able to pitch her head down enough.
“Ahem, allow me darling,” Rarity, regaining her composure, hummed as she tilted the magical diamond over to use it as a sort of mirror.
Staring back at Sunset Shimmer was a powered-up, ‘pony’d up’ young woman with a blinking indicator of embodying some sort of element; as the light around her collar was forming the shape of some kind of necklace she didn’t have.
“H-How in the?!” Sunset Shimmer stammered, feeling at her head again to confirm.
Indeed, the glowing, magically constructed horn sticking out from her forehead wasn’t quite a physical part of her body; but it was plenty tangible and indeed there.
“Well, this is new,” Sunset tapped at her magical horn, “Or, rather familiar.”
Across the room was a mix of surprise to shock, save for one. A slow, squeaking squee uttered out.
Peachy Keen had her hands clasped in front of her face, wearing a grin so wide it seemed ear to ear as she beamed with pride whilst bouncing up and down on her toes so much she was practically vibrating. She knew, she knew what this meant and was keen to voice it.
“Sunset Shimmer!” she yelped out in what almost seemed like a higher pitched, voice-cracking, youthful version of the Royal Canterlot voice, “You’re an Element of Harmony! YES YES YES YES YES YES!”
She rapidly bounced up and down, practically prancing in a circle. Suddenly, some onlookers might know where Princess Twilight Sparkle got it from even if she didn’t directly see her mentor like this. The mental image of the regal poise belonging to the strongest equine in history being giddy and hopping about like a school filly made part of Sunset’s brain hurt. Seeing a tiny version of their so mature and admirable principle do the same was drawing raised brows from the humans.
Sunset Shimmer’s eyes widened to dumbstruck surprised, “… W-What?! How? Who? Why?!”
Flash Sentry swallowed and rapidly looked between his ex and the smaller, more adorable version of his school principal, “Eeehehe, um, are you sure? I mean, magic and all-“
“I~ know what Element Magic looks like, I practically co-invented it!” Peachy Keen squealed as she held aloft a finger astutely with the other hand on her hip, “I had the other potential Element Bearers pegged years before Twilight met them.”
“Um, how? Didn’t Twilight Sparkle meet them, and they got their Elements all in the same day?” Sunset Shimmer, still glancing up at her horn, piped up.
Peachy Keen started pacing around her and Rarity, marching with her head high and pride in both of them, “I knew when Nightmare Moon would return and had prepared. Long story but I had been keeping tabs on many for a long time. Many could potentially be an Element Bearer, sometimes more than one per Element could exist. Nothing is predetermined. Case in point, young Miss Rarity here-“
Peachy Keen spun on her heel and motioned to a slightly awkward Rarity, who was still holding up the giant diamond construct, “She embodies Generosity as her counterpart does, but she doesn’t do so because they are both Rarity. Rather, it’s because their experiences shaped both of them in similar ways even in vastly different worlds. Had things been a bit different, different personality or experiences to express one's self, someone of her moral character could have been a completely different Element like Honesty or Kindness. But it's never to say more than one person couldn't have the potential. After all, her not being the Bearer of Kindness doesn’t make her unkind now does it?”
Rarity paused but shook her head in understanding, “Just as Fluttershy not being what I am as an Element of Generosity doesn’t make her not generous.”
“That’s right!” Peachy winked to her and a flushed but smiling Fluttershy.
“Soooo which Element did I get saddled with?” Sunset Shimmer mused as she looked at her magical aura.
Peachy Keen spun on her heels to say something but paused, letting her mouth hang open for a hot minute. She tilted her head and squinted, stepping closer. She leaned in and poked at the magical aura, biting her tongue as she felt at it.
“Huh… Unusual type,” the former alicorn noted.
“Aaaany of your ancient wisdom able to test it?” Sunset grimaced.
“Well, there is the Starswirl Method #84, used this one on Catrina’s enchantments-“
“Oookay what does that entail-uuuuuurrrrrgl!” Sunset Shimmer shivered in confusion and bemusement when Peachy Keen picked up her hand and started sniffing it, then running a finger across it and tasting the finger.
Peachy Keen smacked her lips, puzzling. She glanced about in thought before sticking out her tongue and bringing Sunset’s hand closer. Her student promptly yanked the hand away.
“Yeah let’s um- let’s say my magic is weird okay,” Sunset stammered.
Peachy Keen frowned but shrugged, “Fair enough.”
“So-so um,” Fluttershy muttered while coughing into her hand, perhaps trying to derail the subject, “Why exactly do you know so much about the Elements Miss- Your Majesty-… Peachy… Ma’am?”
Poor girl didn’t know how to address someone who was 1,000 years old, looked like a principal who was aging well enough to look like she could be her mother, and was in the shape of someone she’d expect to be in a grade lower than Applejack’s kid sister.
“Yes we got the cliff notes of Equestria from Twilight but she didn’t get everything out about your history with the Elements,” Rarity verbally swooped in to save her shy friend from attention.
Peachy Keen nodded her head to the side, “Sensible, as time was of the essence. Plus, the Elements were unusable for so much of Equestrian history that they practically became myth. I still do not quite know where they came from, other than a place that’s an even longer story, but I was the first Bearer of three of them”
“Three?” Flash Sentry hummed as he sat up a bit more, “I was under the impression one could only embody a single Element.”
Peachy Keen shrugged, “Usually, but my sister and I are most unusual. Perhaps it might be that we're exaggerated versions of the three core races, so we count for three ponies apiece? We’ll save the theories for later, though.”
She paced with her hands behind her back, looking out a window almost nostalgically, “I bore the Elements of Magic, Kindness, and Generosity for quite a time.”
“Oh, so you bore my, Fluttershy, and Twilight’s Elements?” Rarity hummed impressively.
Peachy Keen shot her and Fluttershy a wink, “That I did, and I can see my successors are quite up to par in both worlds.”
She then seemed to remember the rest of her history with the relics, “In a more... critical situation, I even managed to use all six if-…”
Her shoulders sagged as she turned away, “...Somewhat incompletely. Then again, it was a very unusual situation for the Elements of Harmony to be used against another bearer of harmony… Such disharmony might explain what happened.”
She sighed, lowered her head. After a moment she sensed Sunset Shimmer’s approach after a series of exchanged glances amongst the humans.
“Princess Celestia… You feeling okay?”
Peachy Keen did feel an old, a wretched cold creeping in… but quickly shoved it aside. She spun on her heels to smile at them.
“No need to worry about me, my little primates,” she quipped, not noticing the slight confusion the term garnered, “Just an old soul having some long memory. But, let us go back to the subject at ho-er hand. Sunset Shimmer’s element. And precisely which is it.”
Sunset Shimmer bit her lip a bit as she thought of the possibilities, “Gonna be honest, I’m not even sure I deserve this. Like, very sure I don’t deserve this. Why me? I mean- name someone in the room who’s screwed up more times than I have?”
Sunset Shimmer lowered her neck into her collar and tried to make herself smaller, as if looking at the missing Element mark would make it go away. She grimaced with nagging senses of objection ripped into her. After all she’d done, after all she’d hid, after the bridges she’d nearly burned to a crisp why did this come to her? Passively she noted how the others were clearly saddened by her word. Rarity was apprehensively reaching out, perhaps while trying to articulate. Fluttershy was clearly in thought, and given her nature Sunset had no doubt she was formulating some objection. Flash Sentry shot up out of his seat and was about to say something-
“Me.”
Peachy Keen’s single word silenced the room. Sunset Shimmer paused and slowly looked to the source, shying back a bit when she saw the pouting face of her tiny mentor as close as it could get to her. In her natural state, she had little to wonder how Celestia would have looked. Regal, controlled, mature, motherly. Only problem was at a whole head shorter, with a youthful voice crack, and an almost comedically pouting expression with her cheeks puffed out with air; she would have reacted with laughter had the situation been less mentally taxing. Her teacher looked adorable.
Peachy Keen poked at Sunset Shimmer’s collar, “The Elements are extensions of the best emotions and sensations out there, and benevolence doesn't care what you’ve done prior. I’ve done a lot of things I regretted, minor and major, before and after I bore my Elements. If anything, your worrying that you’re not up to task shows you don’t see this as pride or a boast like you once would have.”
She indicated towards the glowing patch that seemed to almost be like a slot for a missing piece of necklace, “This just means you’ve done some acts that made you worthy.”
“W-Why me though? I mean, surely someone else around has done things worthy of being a Bearer?” Sunset Shimmer muttered as she thought up several names or faces.
Peachy Keen nodded, “Quite likely actually. Take for example this world’s equivalent to Cheerilee. If she’s at all like her counterpart, she is also likely kind, generous, or honest. It’s possible she could have been a Bearer. Perhaps it’s close proximity that helped swing fate’s vote by wanting all the Bearers to be close to one another and strengthen that bond, perhaps it's a random chance. The only thing we can’t argue is the result. Perhaps you bear the Element of Magic, which embodies friendship itself. Given Twilight Sparkle is not from around here, the magic might have sought a native replacement.”
“But, I’m not exactly a professional at that sort of thing. I was once the opposite of what someone would consider a good friend,” Sunset muttered as she pursed her lips.
Peachy Keen only shrugged, “Neither was Twilight Sparkle an expert at first, far from it in fact! It took others to realize it for her and perhaps you’ve learned more than you’d think. Maybe something that helped swing the vote was your growing tie to the others? After all, you once had magic and your friendship with them would only serve to strengthen it. As a unicorn, spells and magic fueled by such positive emotions would come naturally to you once you had the bonds to fuel them. In effect, the growing bond of friendship has awakened your literal magic as a unicorn.”
Flash Sentry had been listening in and perked up at the reminder his ex was once a magical equine, half wondering if he had some sort of jinx on him for such things. After a moment of thought he snapped his fingers and held up a hand, perhaps on instinct given Peachy Keen’s resemblance to the principal.
“Hm? Yes, young Sentry?”
“I remember earlier you said magic was spreading and reawakening in this world, so to speak. And if Sunset’s Element was awakened by the others’ and friendship is key to this type of Equestrian magic, could it,” he motioned with his hands while forming the thought, “Maybe ‘rub off’ on others? Cuz I’ve been spending the most time with the Rainbooms since before this whole thing started and after.”
Peachy Keen paused and pondered it before glancing back, “You’re musically inclined right?”
Rarity giggled, “Ever since he tried and mostly failed to play banjo at Sweetie Belle's 5th birthday party.”
"Heeey she liked it well enough," Flash sniped back jestingly before looking back at Peachy Keen.
Peachy Keen smirked, “Well, have you metamorphosed any of the times you might have played with the girls?”
Flash Sentry shook his head, “Nnnnope, not that I can recall. Guess I’m not cut out to be a Bearer, hehe.”
“Humble like his other self, same as always,” Peachy Keen muttered to herself with a humored chuckle, “Or what you’d have stood for most is merely already accounted for. No shame in that, however. But I take it you’re also asking in case the magic starts ‘rubbing off’ on yourself?”
Flash Sentry hummed and nodded, “Well would it be fair to say the magic awakened, meaning it was here already and was not entirely brought here from the Elements themselves, but they roused it?”
Peach Keen nodded as she glanced at Rarity’s construct, “Indeed, the new powers appear to be based on your counterparts. The Elements just serve as a sort of booster alongside their own powers for those who already have some magic. It's why Rarity here's magic got much stronger when the music helped her activate part of her Element.”
“So if we develop magic, it'll be like what our pony-selves are in some form or another. And given how much I’ve been around the girls, it might show up with me at some point to some lesser extent,” Flash hummed while thinking, not with any frown so thankfully Peachy Keen and Sunset Shimmer could see that he wasn’t about to freak out about this sort of thing, “Sooooo... what’s the other me like? Just so I could be on the lookout for any changes.”
Sunset Shimmer combed through her memories and tried to dimly recall if she ever heard the name ‘Flash Sentry’ before bailing through the mirror the first time. There was an odd recollection of maybe seeing the name or face in passing at Canterlot, perhaps around the guard. The image seemed to be of a pegasus but she wasn’t able to pin down just whom exactly, a lot of Sentries had been in the guard. An aside look to her teacher was cast, thinking that the near-photographic memory and long life of Princess Celestia would no doubt sort this out.
She was very slightly taken aback when she noticed Peachy Keen…. stiffen? She was just about to raise an eyebrow when her mentor muttered out.
“…. Pegasus,” with a plain smile and wink that perfectly masked what everyone but Sunset missed, “A bit of a klutz with timing, but a good heart. I see my students and her friends were keeping good company as I see some resemblance.”
Peachy Keen snickered and Flash Sentry rubbed the back of his head as Rarity started ribbing him about some tale of him taking hours on an errand because he felt compelled to help Sweetie Belle with a kite stuck in a tree that kept getting re-stuck the moment she flew it again. Everyone else had a chuckle and laugh, aside from Sunset Shimmer. She wanted to raise an eyebrow at the odd inflection Celestia had taken, but opted against it when Peachy Keen’s side eye met her’s.
Well if she was hiding things, she supposed her mentor could too. Besides, the details surrounding other incarnations of Flash Sentry weren’t any of her business, right?
They had their laugh, but Rarity thankfully took the reigns of the matter.
“Well now darling, I do say you have an excellent skill as a vocalist. On par with Rainbow Dash I’d say. Care to join in on the fun?”
Sunset Shimmer’s neck craned around to her, “… Eh?”
“Well I mean with Pinkie tending to family and poor Twilight out of hand, I’d say we’re a bit short handed.”
Sunset Shimmer blinked in mild befuddlement, “Um… Would- Rainbow Dash and Jack-“
“Do you really think they’d turn you down after you’ve turned over this new leaf? We’re your friends, Sunset Shimmer, even without the Element,” Rarity beamed as she offered a hand to Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset Shimmer felt the rollercoaster as she looked at the hand. The owner of it was tied to… She wanted to frown, not at all liking that awful memory. She got flashes of a sobbing face and ruined dress running out of the dance hall as the future Rainbooms took off after Rarity; and phantom sensations in her hand from an impact. Her rise to power at Canterlot High had come at a very heavy cost for which she’d want nothing more than to smack her old self.
Sunset Shimmer twitched and wanted to grab her own wrist.
-Oh right.. ‘Smack’… good choice word there Sunny…-
She felt a tremor go up and down her arm, a dive on the rollercoaster rushing through her head. Part of her wanted to say no, despite another part begging to say yes. But, a split-second mistake got her into this mess, and a split second choice was cast to hopefully bury it for good. She accepted the hand and touched palms with Rarity.
The magic she’d gotten an inkling of before fired up again. Sunset Shimmer still didn’t understand it, as the first time it just happened unintentionally. Back then it gave her a vision of a waking nightmare, of a terrifying-looking man with glowing red eyes chasing and holding aloft Rainbow Dash from Dash’s point of view. When she touched hands with and felt Rarity’s mind she briefly dreaded seeing a memory from years ago.
Instead, she was treated to the sound of her own voice singing. The room was the same, it all taking place only minutes ago. It was her and Rarity performing the spell together, but from Rarity’s point of view seeing her singing. Sunset could feel the warmth, the joy, the triumph, even Rarity’s smile. She felt a bond of friendship, a genuine one in spite of the past.
As soon as it came, it left. For a split second Rarity looked at her and almost seemed poised to ask something, perhaps about the sensation she’d just felt when Sunset’s empathy power worked onto her. She was cut off by Sunset sniffled and yanking her into a hug with a beaming smile.
“Thank you,” Sunset Shimmer whispered.
Rarity, at the quietest tone she could speak in, whispered while patting her back, “All is forgiven, Darling.”
They stayed so for a moment before Sunset Shimmer separated, feeling a dampness in her eye. She took in a breath and shifted her expression from joyfully thankful to sly.
“O-Okay, you got me recruited. I... do almost play guitar,” She snickered, “Buuut on one condition.”
Rarity and Fluttershy’s brow perked, “Hm?”
Sunset Shimmer whirled around and pointed to a surprised Peachy Keen, “Sssiiiince we’re experimenting with magic, we gotta test her first.”
Peachy Keen blinked and glanced about, “Uh, but. I don’t have my magic back yet. Aaand my connection to the Elements suffered damage.”
“A long time ago maybe, but I’m curious!” Sunset Shimmer winked.
Peachy Keen’s cheek flushed in embarrassment, “S-Sunset, I doubt this is necessary. After all I’m a bit outdated with some of these more modern instruments if music helps bring the magic out!”
Sunset Shimmer shot a glance at their compatriot, “Hey Flash, remember that ancient third-hand piano board we found as a steal and fixed up?”
Flash Sentry’s surprise was palpable, “You… kept it?”
Sunset Shimmer smirked, “Mmmmhm, that thing's old enough to have been made when your great-great-grandmother was a kid. Wanna help me cart it in? It’s in the hall closet.”
His surprise morphed slowly into an old, much welcomed snicker as he got up and left the room with Sunset in tow. They returned a moment later with a venerable antique. Not quite a full piano, not quite a modern keyboard like what Rarity used. By old design or modification it had several adaptors fitted to it that were plugged into the small speakers Rarity’s keyboard had used and a test of a key rang out with a soft ‘F’ tone.
Peachy Keen sucked in a breath and rubbed at the back of her head, looking at the eager faces of her student and the young humans, each with a varying degree of humored interest or giddiness at the jest.
“Well,” She hummed as she paced around to stand behind the keyboard, “I’m far from a professional, but Smart Cookie taught me as a means of improving coordination. Same key arrangement?”
“Tried and true since olden times that are ancient to even this antique,” Flash Sentry noted.
“Going to take a moment to get my fingers used to it, tried this out when I first came with Starswirl,” Peachy Keen grunted with some apprehension.
The instrument did indeed look familiar, similar to what she’d learned on and used a few times. The aged wood was nicked in a few spots and was dotted with stains or wear that had been patched back up over time. A few initials were scratched into the top, likely of past owners. B-F., A-S., C-H., S-S., and the like with S-S. being the most recent. She took in a deep breath as she was handed the music sheet for Rarity’s keyboard melody as penned by Fluttershy and herself, setting and studying it.
And then, muscle memory kicked in.
==================
Over twenty years worth of knowledge led Lea to instantly know who was behind her, despite the former guardian moth visibly mulling over thoughts as she crouched on her perch at the top of a fence and Junior made no effort to give away his position as he walked up on her.
The Monster King of Terra said nothing as he paced over, crossing his arms and leaning back on the 4x4 post Lea was perched upon. Several minutes passed before he was the one to break the silence.
“Got Rainbow and Jack running through some practice maneuvers before they rejoined the others inside, they seem to be having success with the music,” Junior grunted calmly.
“Where is Anguirus?” Her tone was quieted, neither harsh nor soft; and she didn’t bother to look at her oldest friend.
“Patrol, he asked me to earlier.”
She didn’t budge, only kept looking out as if searching for something, “You didn’t ask him about why he smelled like fire when he came back last time?”
Junior shrugged, “Practicing powers and accidentally caused some grounds to ignite before he could put it out. No reports of house fires so I had no reason to worry about what he’d been in.”
Lea muttered under her breath morosely, “He’s hiding something...”
She tensed at the indication of movement, and Godzilla Junior frowned when he felt her shiver when he pushed the side of his head, neck, and shoulder up against her leg. One might have expected him to investigate with his hand, but months as an equine and years as a dinosaur weren’t to be completely overridden by human tendencies. She was shivering.
“Yes, yes he is,” Junior maintained his calm poise in his voice, “And so are you, Lele.”
Lea shivered more and made a few small, quiet rasps in her throat like she was trying to articulate something. After several failures, Junior let out a very slow, low, almost purring-like rumble from the back of his throat; a sound Lea knew very well ever since they met. It helped to silence but also comfort her, and she leaned in closer to his head and shoulders. Another few minutes passed before the conversation finally resumed.
“There’s something up with each of you, but Anguirus isn’t the one concerning me. I know about the snapped board,” Junior whispered quietly as he rubbed up against Lea slightly.
Lea’s hands, which had been resting on her friend’s head curled a bit to hold on just a bit tighter, “The Honesty Element can’t fully control her strength. I startled her and-”
“You were lurking about on the bottom floor all night despite sleeping a lot and a guest bed upstairs going unused.”
Lea flinched, “I was guarding the house from that floor.”
“And you couldn’t guard the humans and Celestia in their midst. Wouldn’t it be safer to do it from the room they were in too? You being down below constantly is what required me to climb up on the roof to keep an eye on the upstairs bedroom they were all in,” Junior shrugged as he glanced up at her out of the corner of his eye, “And between the two of us, who has a better track record at getting high up?”
“I… didn’t want to upset them,” Lea muttered with the slightest of a sad whimper in her tone.
Junior’s eyes sought her’s and he took in her gaze and attention as he frowned, “They’re afraid of you.”
“I’m more afraid for them,” Lea sighed with obvious remorse, “They shouldn’t have the powers they do and it didn’t have a say in having it. The… snapped floorboard isn’t- wasn’t the only accident. I tried to keep them calm, tried to maybe help when some of them were biting at the bit to get Twilight back with any asset they had. Maybe I rushed them, maybe they rushed me, but it just didn’t work out and we all ended up worse for it.”
“Right after Twilight was taken, the magic here, with them, seemed to surge even more than it had been… like it was reacting to something,” Lea whispered, hearing the echoes of music being made in the top floor, at the top floor. Her glance at the house narrowed her eyes slightly as she felt something had changed in the air, “Or some things.”
===========
Inside the home, a pair of pale pink hands pressed upon the keys to a keyboard. They held themselves with the fingers mostly together, pressing one key at a time as if they were hooves before they split apart upon reaching their comfort. It was no grand piano and she was still a bit out of practice on having a human body, as the last time before the current week had been centuries ago, but raw experience of age helped make up for lack of recent exposure.
And when Peachy Keen started to quietly sing a soft, lullaby-like melody her work-in-progress counterspell was set to, it was no surprise all in the room smiled with an eased visage. Peachy Keen, Princess Celestia, wasn’t a master maestro or pianist, but she had a very sharp memory. Something required for her long rule after all. A Kind act of Generosity to show the others the way to the Magic needed for the counterspell. It wasn’t so hard, as she knew exactly what calming, loving sound to emulate with the melody of her voice, for she had the memory of the most beautiful voice she’d ever heard.
One that sounded like a windchime.
A sideways glance to her student, especially a smirk at noticing how she and young Sentry had unconsciously seated themselves together, was capped off with a wink. With only a moment more of apprehension, Sunset Shimmer sat up and took in a deep breath; matching the melody of the song with her singing voice.
A great distance away and just after Adagio Dazzle found out about the dissonance of time, a surge of energy crackled out of a purple gemstone embedded within a vine-wrapped necklace. Its wearer looked to it with renewed interest, having felt the energizing aura it was giving off before the glow belonging to the Element of Magic shone brighter. Eventide Hymn, standing with the cyborg she'd gone to fetch to help with the siren, shivered from the sensations flowing over her. So much so Gigan had to grip her shoulder or else she might topple over. The energy filtered out of the violet gem borne on her necklace, inspecting the crystal before looking to the others. Gloriosa Daisy let her fingers drift over the presented pink and purple gems, intrigued at how they were acting up all of the sudden.
===============
Lea and Junior didn’t need to see or hear much of anything, they could feel it. Magic was moving through the air, even more so than it had been before. The sensations were near and very far away with them in the middle, in a manner one might compare to two loud noises on opposite sides vibrating the air of whomever was in the middle. Almost like the session inside was calling out to something and getting a response.
“I don’t like it,” Lea muttered with obvious sadness in her voice, “It could draw the other kaiju in, could attract the sirens, could-”
“Or it could be great for the humans,” Junior noted bluntly, “Do... you remember what I told you Ghidorah said to me?”
Lea shivered again, her face growing more morose. The Kaiju King felt her grip on him tighten and a frown crossed his features in the knowledge he’d managed to bring more distress, necessary as it might be.
Lea swallowed a lump in her throat, “That... he tried to kill you because you confused him.”
Her oldest friend nodded, “Because I was unexpected. No prophecy, no intended design, no familial ties. I am who I am by a string of accidents more or less.”
He brushed up against Lea more to tilt them towards the house, “If it was Princess Twilight and Sunset Shimmer bringing the Magic Element crown here that brought magic in full, something that was already here to begin with, or some other catalyst or not; that doesn't matter. What matters is it happened. They have magic.”
“And so far it’s only put them in danger… Goji, they threw themselves at a Ghidorah. If it wasn’t, somehow, Monster X… They’d have died. And that’s not even counting this world’s Rainbow Dash getting ambushed which could have-'' her tone grew louder and louder, her eyes dampening as her back arched forward.
Junior knew the signs to be read, “Lele…”
“-It’s only painted a target on them! And who knows who else it could have spread to!-”
“Lele...”
“And all of them have displayed uncontrollable powers that could seriously hurt themselves or others, even this world’s Fluttershy-”
“Lele.”
“-could end up calling up dangerous animals in the midst of others or completely replace her ability to talk to humans like it did when I tried to help her. And it took just one jolt of her leg for Applejack to stomp with enough force to shatter someone’s ribs-”
“Lele!”
“I-I tried to draw from my memories but I keep just seeing- I couldn’t! In the end I just gave up and barred them from trying to practice but they wouldn’t listen! We brought our monsters here and they're hunting these humans. It's all the fault of others they're in danger and I just-”
The roar behind the voice wasn’t fully human, “LEA!”
The darkened woman froze up, shivering and holding at her sides. She crumbled forward and would have fallen off her perch had Junior not caught her and held her tight against him. The once titanic moth seemed so small, as she curled up and shivered as if caught in a blizzard. The wind seemed unnaturally cold and something about it didn't smell at all right to Godzilla. It seemed to grow in intensity, bringing on the feeling that someone was watching them. Between his friend’s obvious unease, the uncanny feeling he was getting out here, and not wanting any possible observer to see someone he respected so heavily like this, Junior scooped one arm around Lea’s back and the other under her legs to carry her back inside at a brisk pace. The former Mothra held at her face, trying to keep all the fears, worries, and nightmares she’d endured alone all this time at bay to little effect.
Every gust of the cold wind brought another terror.
Of an alicorn she regarded like a little sister, captive, alone, and in danger.
Of invading magic growing and festering her, poisoning the people and bringing danger.
And of a time, in a bygone era, a guardian moth bore witness to humanity ruining their world with the abuse of magic they shouldn’t have been given. Only, that memory wasn’t from her foremothers.
More and more of those old sights came to mind. Of ruination of mana to create a spiked fire beast, leading to mass extinctions of fae beast and folk and chaos in the environment. Of laying waste to Shambhala, only to find others were foolishly copying this grevious abuse; leading to ravenous hordes in Atlantis that resulted in a sunken continent. And the sight of a mothra, from the view of another firing prism beams from his hateful eyes.
Lea almost screamed if she hadn’t jammed her mouth shut, covering her eyes frantically as purple colored light flashed behind her eyelids. The roaring wind seemed to laugh in glee at the torment.
Junior all but kicked the door open to get inside and quickly shut it behind him, bridal carrying his friend while trying to avoid getting kneed in the gut with her squirming like she was having a seizure. He had to hold in a grunt when Lea, oblivious in her pain, shared the feeling and one of her legs slid down and swung up between his. He bit his tongue while getting her onto the couch, even as he doubled over slightly from taking a shot down below.
Thankfully just before he thought he’d have to try and hold her down, Lea stopped thrashing.
“Hnngm, paah!” Junior gasped as he bent over slightly, sitting on one of his knees to keep at her level and stop the world from tilting.
His haggard breathes were only matched by his compatriot, and haggard was an apt way to describe her. Lea, once a peak of natural beauty, was ragged and looked exhausted despite sleeping much of the day. Her skin was both darkened and yet paled in many spots, covered in a layer of sweat. Several of her long, green hairs had fallen out in clumps. And she was crying while desperately trying not to.
After several minutes and slowly cycling down, he finally heard her voice.
“Th-This world is… wrong,” Lea choked while rubbing at her face, “It’s.. doing something.. Huhhik... To me.”
The cold wind buffeted outside, but seemed to slow as the music from the room above grew in volume. Evidently, the others had joined Peachy Keen in her song. Junior noted it, knowing so readily something was very wrong with this world indeed, but he had to keep focused and thus he did on the form before him. He drew closer, having previously given Lea a half step of space to not crowd her.
“Le-... Lele,” his pitch and tone were quiet, just loud enough to hear as he put the edge of his head near her’s, “We’re taking you back to Equestria.”
Lea flinched, no, froze. So still she went cold.
“There’s still the question about the portal, given what it did to Celestia. But we’ll make do. Maybe if Anguirus and I need backup we can send Rodan over or…” he hesitated at the option but given the situation, “Have Xenilla or Destroyah arrive. But Moll and Lora are on the other side, they can help you better than anyone else can.”
“N-... No.”
Junior didn’t drop his train of thought, “Or maybe bring them here.”
“NO!” Lea snapped up and looked at him, water still running from her puffy, reddened eyes, “Never.. Never put them at risk.”
He growled lightly before softening his tone considerably, “Then you are going back to them, in Equestria.”
“I-I can’t!”
Junior’s face hardened, trying to apply some more authority in his tone in emulation of Luna or Celestia. While in their faction he was co-leaders with the Mothra, he knew he’d have to put his foot down to override her, “Yes. You. Are. We’ll have Sunset write to Xenilla and his company, get them to make sure the portal is safe as possible before you go through. They’re already trying to see what went wrong with Celestia. You are losing yourself to something an-”
“They took Twilight right in front of me Goji!” Lea grabbed her friend by the shoulders, quivering with a horrified visage about her face, ghastly pale from ear to ear. Clearly, she was reliving it with every word spoken.
Lea swallowed to clear her throat and shook, “Just like Ghidorah and Glimmer took Chibi from you… Or with the Trespasser nearly did to your mother.”
That detail, something only Lea was ever privy to, stopped Junior cold. He paused, took in a breath to collect himself, and placed a hand upon her own.
“And I nearly lost it when it did. I did lose it when I thought I failed Chibi. I turned into something horrible, Lele,” Junior frowned as he looked directly at her, leaving no question as to his subject focus, “And I worry I’m seeing it happen again.”
“You nearly lost your mother by no fault of your own… I saw mine die in front of me because of what I did,” Lea whimpered as she leaned in closer, “Because I rushed off to help her, and got her hurt saving me. Sh-She died because I failed… I can’t fail anyone else, not even a risk…. Not Twily, not this world.”
She was shivering again, both in recollections of the past and worries for the future. The music from upstairs was slowly filtering in, and either the magic within it or the sound alone shifting the mood exacerbated the yearning for calm in this storm.
She got some of it when a roughened, scarred line of skin rubbed against her head, forcing her eyes to look at his when their foreheads touched.
“Remember, after we first met?”
The world for Lea slowed down. Calm from that voice.
“We were both battered from Ghidorah, you took the worst of it when you saved me from that onslaught. You were out of action, you needed to heal and mend the mana on your island after you were forced to grow up so fast to stop a different Ghidorah...”
Her hands slid from his shoulders to his head, running over a divot in his cheek from an old wound.
“You had to trust me to protect the world until you got better… I know it was a big deal to you, after what my father did to your parents. I know you still sometimes flinch up at seeing me because you remember him through them.”
She didn’t now. She only felt guilt now. How could she be so ungrateful?... The wind outside was finally shouted out by the music and her best friend’s voice.
“I didn’t think I could see a whole planet as my home, I’d never even seen just a single ocean as that before. You opened my eyes when you trusted me with that mission…” He sighed and smiled slightly, “And I never quit on it or you… We’re here, we're friends, and I owe the life I've had because you trusted me.”
Junior took in a deep breath to collect himself, weakened more and more seeing someone so admirable so miserable like this. The choice twisted like a writing eel within him, and strangled at his gut. It was wrong, it was a horrible idea. It put so much at risk.
But, if he was asking her to accept the risks regarding the magic, he had to be fair. Or, he was just being biased towards the being who helped redefine him long before he came to Equestria to be defined again.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and dreaded the pain in his gut, “You can stay, we’ll save her. Stop what’s here. I just… need you to trust me about the humans. Like you trusted me before.”
Lea sniffled, wetness leaking from her eyes and nose. She quivered, distracting herself by using her thumb to wipe some blood, the result of his bitten tongue, off his lip. She looked at it a bit longer after it was cleaned and shifted hers.
“I-If...” she closed her eyes and drew in a breath and all the strength it would give her, “If… you can trust me… even if I lose it, and to stop me if I do. You're the best one to do it if it has to be done.”
He sighed and chuckled, “... Lele, I’ve always trusted you.”
An anchor in a storming sea of bygone memories from the dead, worries about what could be yet to come, and strain in the present. The echoes of Shambala, the sleepless days and nights desperately guarding uncooperative charges against surefire death that might come crashing through the door, the torment of knowing who had Twilight better than anyone here ever could and not knowing how long it would last. And the increasingly chaotic escape that was her changing, sleep deprived, horrifying mind every time the winds howled.
She saw her anchor and she clung to it. Junior held his best friend close and patted her back as the frustration and stress leaked from her eyes.
=================
Crystal City Outskirts
=================
Anguirus hadn’t even really noticed just how far he’d gotten from Sunset’s dwelling, his mind wandering too far. Trains were constantly moving back and forth, and he’d grabbed onto one to see where it led after confirming a return trip was assured to get him back by nightfall. Thinking back to it all as the wind blew past his face, a pang of both guilt and regret struck home.
They knew, they both had to have known. Godzilla and Mothra knew him too well not to notice something was very markedly off about him ever since he came back from a ‘patrol’ jaunt with his clothes messy and torn in several places. Lea was a subject he didn’t want to confront, that was best left to the most capable. Godzilla, Junior… had only given him a slight pause when I Anguirus had told him he was going out on patrol again. Almost like he was expecting the spikeback-turned-man to say more…
He felt a bit cold at having to keep this, ineffectual as his secrecy was. At this point he could only hope his old friend and ally trusted his judgment and that Anguirus would never do anything that would endanger his friends or his charges.
- But doesn’t that also mean you don’t trust him, don’t trust anyone to not kill your sibling?-
the treacherous thought stabbed in deep, and no armor was a defense. This was troublesome, a strenuous situation in an already strenuous situation.
-What rotten luck, figures for me….-
Still, he was driven. He had to find her before anyone else did. She was clearly confused and startled, and with that kind of power she was as much a threat to herself as she might be anyone around her. So many questions so little answers.
How in the realms did she even get here? Why was she out in the forest? Was she alone?
Had it been months ago his only questions regarding a gyaos would have been the likes of “How many are there and how quickly can we put them down?”
The gyaos, large born of his blood in a bastardization of his and his family’s purpose. There was a reason his clan, the Guardian beasts, never hesitated to put a stop to them permanently any chance they got. Maybe on some level it felt personal, he knew it certainly did for him because that kind of horror existed in the world because he existed. It was his and his family’s responsibility…
Anguirus steeled himself, as he had so frequently. He never did voice how much he regretted not joining Lea and Junior in battle against them when they first defended the equestrians from a nightmare born of Terra. Any wounds they got were on him…
And yet… so many other questions were brewing. Perhaps, because it was the first time he’d ever heard a gyaos talk, ever heard them say they were family. Anguirus pitched his head up across the passing streets to look downhill, scanning for any slight trace of pale hair with a purple stripe. He was… fretting.
The albino? Was she safe? Was she alone? Was anyone helping her? Was she scared of him still? Where was his… little sister?
He sent out another alpha call, a deep, low reverberation that carried so far amidst even other noise with only one possible recipient. He threw out a simple plea, sounding like a chaperon whose charge had disappeared into a crowd.
-“Where are you?....”-
After a time, he heard a response. Not even hesitating, Anguirus kicked off the train and ran down the street to barrel towards it. He had arrived in the next-closest civilized hub to Canterlot, a place called Crystal City. Only giving the sign a fleeting glance so he could find his way back, he dashed for the warehouses as fast as possible.
Irys let the seconds tick by as her call to Anguirus echoed in the distance. He'd heard it and no doubt was sprinting as fast as he could to get here. To catch her? Take her back by force? Ask her to join her blood family? Or rush to her aid if she was in danger? She couldn't say nor know. A year ago he, her... 'brother', had nearly killed her. To be fair, she'd been trying to kill him as well. But now? Such a change....
She shivered from the lingering cold of the dark magic, backing away from the disgusting mass with contempt. Even without knowing the full details she could tell full well it was a thing of evil. None were aware however, that the cold winds carried the runoff dark magic far from Crystal City, to something siphoning it, trickle by trickle, far in the Everfree. In undetectable amounts, like the slightest flow of water, towards Sonata's cabin.
It only took Anguirus a couple of minutes to sprint the whole distance, a feat that frankly surprised himself. And when he got there, he was soon to realize the return call didn’t really need much subject matter. There was a lot to dissect from him being summoned like this. There was no trap, there was no scheme to get him when he was vulnerable, his sibling didn’t even make herself immediately present. She didn’t want him to see her, but she wanted him to see something alright… and he knew exactly what when he was beholden to a ruin.
Whatever this warehouse was for it could never be used for most anything again. The ceiling was ripped open like tin can, split by a lance of ice forming a spire that shot upwards before seemingly reaching around with talons that ripped the structure apart. The only thing keeping it remotely resembling a warehouse was the fact the walls and roof were still frozen into the icy formations themselves. All around were waves and geysers of ice that were renting and gouging into anything around them. And amidst them all was a haze, a cold, ugly veil of several chunks of debris, floating icicles, and loose objects were dangling in midair.
In their number was a reddish mass that dangled a meter off the ground. Curious, if apprehensive, Anguirus stuck a hand out and touched it. It was liquid, mostly. A thick, viscous mass with several strands of clothing attached. Confusion grew as did some concern. How else can one react to a floating mass of blood?
Anguirus tensed as he pulled away and shook. He wasn’t magically inclined, be it by a choice of his own even if he’d have desired otherwise. But even with the difference between Terra’s mana-infused spells and lifeforce and Equestria’s mental-based hexes, he could immediately pick up on an uncanny wrongness this place permeated. It choked the air, making it thick and heavy.
Dark thoughts crept in, before being pushed out by hardened resolve. Anguirus shook his head in utter disgust.
-No… no messing with my head…-
Anguirus backed away from this place which offered nothing and only took. Equestrian or Terran, he knew a place of evil. All the more reason he was quick to spin around when a quiet whisper on the frequency only a Guardian Beast could speak in came to him.
For a moment, he thought it was coming from the tainted ruin and was about to charge in with concern overriding preference for comfort. It was no small relief when the whisper came again, above and at an angle he could tell indicated it was past the warehouses. Uphill, back near the train tracks.
Standing on an outbound, slow moving train, was the gyaos. Across the distance their eyes met and even from the span he knew she was frowning. Undeterred to the foolhardiness of trying to catch up to her escape as the train was starting to speed up, he returned from whence he came at a similar pace.
-“Wait!”- He cried out, not caring whom might had wondered why was there some crazy man running past them like his life depended on it while apparently shouting absolutely nothing they could hear.
Her frown was deepening, and not because he was running after her. The train she’d take to get back to where she could hop off and get back to Everfree had too much of a head-start. Irys was frowning because of why she had summoned him…
She didn’t have the nerve for a confrontation, only perhaps foolishly hoping they would never have one as inevitable as it was. That is why she snuck around him as soon as she saw he had come running to her call. His haste ached her heart and part of her wanted to jump off and confront Anguirus, to do or possibly say what she could never know for sure.
She held her ground and sniffled, shaking her head.
Anguirus stopped, standing in the train tracks.
Slowly, both Guardian Beasts looked to the ruins. To Irys’ warning to her family.
-“… Be careful.”- she whispered before turning away.
Anguirus watched on as she left, shivering slightly from a chill in the air moving past him. Drawn far away towards the Everfree park. An almost invisible trail of green mist, condensed dark magic born of the worst emotions. It was drawn to the camp, carried by cold wind. To the cabins. Mixing with the despair engendered by Adagio Dazzle and Mothra Lea that had hung across the land. It was siphoned away, bit by bit, into the sleeping form of Sonata Dusk; sucked into the empty cavity left by her removed siren heart.
Cautiously with night fallen, the door to the cabin had been opened. Two forms, unbeknownst to the dark magic hanging in the air beyond some vibes of fear pricking at their minds, looked out cautiously. Pinkie Pie was hiding behind Megalon, who's cybernetic eyes were perked at the hidden cameras and sensors his brother had scattered across the camp for safety, increasingly so after the human's arrival. Megalon grimaced, both from realization and the cold as she backed them into the cabin.
"Brother's got the entire place bugged, and more than I am a bug," he whispered to his compatriot.
Pinkie Pie nodded and eyed the trap door, "Think you can dig me a way out?"
Megalon hummed and tapped at his chin, pulling off a glove to expose one of his robotic hands and spinning it into drill configuration, "I mean, I could!... But then he'd reprimand me to making the dirt under the cabin unstable... And see why I'd do something so dumb."
"You sure he'd investigate?"
"I am the dirt king, he'd know something was up if I was making mistakes. I could get you out, but I'm not sure if I could leave a tunnel for you to get back," Megalon frowned as he walked to the trapdoor.
Having another friend around was a grand help, to be honest he was increasingly fretting over how poor Sonata wasn't getting any better. Company, if only for moral support, helped. In fact he'd almost thought she was doing something intangible to help out. Sonata wasn't improving, but she wasn't getting worse like she had so far. At least not as much. In some ways he wanted her to protest and the puzzling grimace on Pinkie Pie's face spoke of how she was.
She puzzled, considering and contemplating. She'd learned some, but not much from this jaunt here. She'd figured out whatever it was these interdimensional monsters and ancient sea witches were after, it wasn't her or her friends. Twilight Sparkle, someone she knew was around but hadn't seen or spoken to yet, was safe. But the situation was dire. These kaiju and the nice Ms. Lea were enemies, dire enemies. If she ran off to blow the whistle, who knows what kind of fight might break out? Especially if poor Sonata got worse and the sirens with their allies got desperate.
And, the notion of abandoning Sonata really didn't sit well with her. Even for a friend who couldn't laugh, seemed criminal and against her nature for Pinkie Pie to deny a hurting soul a chuckle. Comedy could hurt trying to keep being entertaining and keeping company for someone so downtrodden. But, Pinkemina Diane Pie was no quitter! And if it took her experience as an entertainer to manage to cook up cupcakes in a sink or her sisterly experience of how to fluff up a sick gal's pillow just right; she was gonna do it gosh darn it!
Pinkie Pie stomped her foot and opened her mouth.
She was just about to say something to Megalon, something in protest to leaving-... when fate gave her cause to act without words.
The sleeping Sonata Dusk recoiled up from her bed, choking and gasping as she convulsed. The poor gal sounded like she was gagging on her own breath, unable to keep any air in. Before Megalon could even turn around, Pinkie Pie was upon her. She gripped the siren and-
"Argphm!" Pinkie Pie bit back a shout of pain, feeling like she just grabbed onto something scalding.
The stinging shifted into gnashing, gnawing numbness. Sonata was so cold she felt like she burned! Megalon stammered over to try and pull Pinkie Pie away but the Element of Laughter was undeterred for all but a moment. Clearly cringing from the pain, Pinkie Pie gently embraced the scared siren, ignoring how Sonata's brief flailing whacked her in the gut with adrenaline strength. Despite the cold, despite the pain, despite how horrid it seemed to feel just being around the siren; as if she had some sort of aura about her, Pinkie Pie would not. let. go.
Cradling Sonata to her collar and chest, Pinkie Pie fished for her hand and held it, while rubbing her other hand across her sweaty back. Sonata gagged, messing-up Pinkie shirt with tears, sweat, and mucus. But, as the seconds ticked by and Pinkie Pie gently patted at her back to massage at her diaphragm, her choking gasps slowed. Pinkie Pie didn't force the small smile on her face, holding her closer like she once did Marble when her little sister would have a nightmare. Slowly but surely, with a dim flicker of a pinkish glow dancing across her skin, Pinkie Pie held onto Sonata Dusk as the siren calmed. The flickers of magic coming from her collar, the slot for a missing gem, seeming to jump into the scar covered cavity on Sonata's neck and chest.
The chills, the convulsions, the shorted breath, all slowly went away. After a few moments, Pinkie Pie slowly laid the sleeping-again siren down on her bed. She sighed, looking back and seeing the cyborg behind her. Megalon's face was one of honest awe, in a way that made Pinkie Pie let out a tired giggle. Her eyes half lidded, her hair seemingly deflated, and looking exhausted beyond what should be possible, Pinkie Pie shook her head.
"Mind... setting me up my bed Megs? Think I need to nod off... Hehe."
=================
Camp Everfree
=================
Aria Blaze felt a bead of sweat run down her forehead, careful to tilt her head and let it run back across her cheek and into her hair to keep it from her eyes. Keeping up a glamorous, enthralling look according to Adagio’s instruction and keeping sweat out of her eye in case of an attack; sometimes her musical mentor and combat mentor’s advice crossed over when she followed it.
It was interesting when X and Adagio’s instruction colluded given how different they were, but on some level she could suppose it fit her track record of teachers who drove her up a wall at first before she wanted to embrace them; for different reasons, granted.
True, Adagio’s instruction had its downward spiral for a time. She always knew her cousin just wanted to ensure the best for them all, and at the time they took Canterlot it seemed like the best option on the path to power. Aria’s knowledge of Mako Island was limited to what her mother and aunt told her, between venomous spite regarding the traitorous inhabitants who exiled them for bearing their daughters, but it seemed only right they retake it. No more wandering for a place to be, no more worrying if those monsters that destroyed their mothers’ lives would find them, and rules of inheritance dictated that what belonged to their grandmother should have passed to their mothers and onto them.
Not that Aria wanted to be a queen, really. She was content with Adagio taking that role, but it seemed like the right path. Power for safety and security, something they needed after Hymnia passed into the abyss. Which led them to Equestria to seek power, eventually leading them to Canterlot, and then bumping into Starswirl and-....
Aria realized she’d been clenching a fist, a feeling that had become second nature despite her only having fingers to clench since coming here some years back. She breathed and released, instead taking in the adoration of the cheering crowd, the red smoke that was invisible to them invigorating her and her cousins.
Okay, maybe Adagio’s recklessness resulted in a banishment. Maybe she grew resentful as they seemed to slip apart. Maybe she, the pangs of guilt cutting into her back at the memory, imagined her cousin’s face on the target when she took up kickboxing. Maybe she, if it meant getting the point across, took up the spiteful subordinate role and trained up to overthrow her cousin as pod alpha. She wasn’t proud of it…
But, it led to her growing a bigger spine. And stronger muscles. Both needed to get the gall to want to punch the next monster that chased her right in his masked face, and even demand he train her more when another monster came after them all. With every intention of using the newfound power to exact revenge on him and Adagio if need and chance came afterwards. And after a series of stressful, nightmarish events that stung at her mind every other night, it all ended for the better…
The weight was gone, but she could still feel its impression on her shoulders at times.
Knowing when you are wronged is easy. Knowing when you were wrong for wanting to do foolish or bad things wasn’t always.
Aria Blaze let a smile cross her face as she took it all in. A successful performance with her cousins. Basking in the glow of a joyous crowd with Adagio taking a bow while Sonata giggled and waved at a pair, a green-skinned young man and a pink-colored young woman, who were whistling for her. They’d won. They killed the monster. Adagio owned up and they embraced. Her views of her other guide became things she never expected or regretted.
The performance went great. The crowd was giddy. Her cousins were well. And she saw a pair of red eyes behind a white mask watching from a rooftop she’d been throwing her voice at. Even at a distance, with a scarf covering his face, Aria knew when X was smiling.
Oh after this she felt like asking him for a quick spar. Get him nice and sweaty. And then she’d tackle him into the nearest private space and reward both of them like they-.....
The world seemed to slow to a crawl. The chills gnawed at her arms and hair, giving her goosebumps. Everything was growing cold. All brought on by a sudden realization:
Her significant other hadn't returned to them until after Sonata was ravaged and scarred. Something… something wasn’t right.
Something was…
Aria’s eyes widened as she beheld the innocent scene turn to pure horror. The ground split at the back of the hall, a shadowy mass tearing its way through the pavement and tile, until a black fist with recurved, fiery spines tipping a fist burst through the floor.
The sound in the hall became a cacophony of blasting roars and bellows, one she had heard before from both the outside when she shattered a monster’s mask and from the inside when the horror stuffed her into its chest. Someone who spent time at zoos might compare it to a gorilla’s bellowing mixed with a mass of monkeys or humans shrieking. Someone who was on Terra during the Paleozoic might call it Enjin.
She knew neither of these things. She could only feel it as a night terror.
It ripped itself from the ground and began stalking forward towards the crowd, towards her cousins, towards her. The blaring sting and sundering blast of mental alarm sirens blared within her mind, almost making Aria crumble to her knees. The feeling, not just being held or contained within, as she was in Enjin’s chest. It was being consumed, an essence violated as she was run through by a thousand spears to drain away.
She wobbled and a knee fell.
And her white knuckles gripped the microphone stand.
“G-GET OUT OF THE WAY! GET AWAY!” she screamed to everyone but her stalker, as Enjin advanced.
The dark mass stepped onto and through a woman in the back. She seemed oblivious, face twisting into a visage both horrified at the end and joyous at the concert while Enjin’s foot split her skull. All the crowds, all the cheering, all turned into a raucous symphony of primate shrieks and apish roars. It all blurred together to the bellow that came from all sides, as overpowering and thundering as an exploding volcano.
“GO! GO, GET OUT OF HERE!” She cried out, lashing to her sides and trying to shove Adagio and Sonata aside to get them away from the front of the stage. She’d made no effort to get any distance herself.
But her hands hit something wet and sticky, warm and yet cold.
Hands gripped hers. Aria looked aside and yet somehow, saw them both. Adagio and Sonata, pale as sheets with specks of ice forming across their skin to explain the cold. But the warmth…
Aria felt like she wanted to vomit with the convulsion in her chest.
Both were missing their necklaces, their hearts; what made them siren and like their mother’s race. Instead, ugly, ragged marks scarred the upper chest while leaking sticky, aged-to-blacken, tar-like bloody scabs. The eyes were the same color, virtually black.
Both disgusted, horrified, and terrified, she kicked back and tried to wrench her hands free. But, either by unnatural strength, or the stabbing pains she felt upon seeing her family weeping blood from the ice forming around their eyes, she couldn’t. She could only struggle and sob as the flashes came back.
The sight of two mermare princesses appeared behind the pair. Far from the regal, strong, healthy forms one would expect of the warrior crown princess and her magician little sister; they were gaunt, scarred, and emaciated. Melpomene, her loving aunt and mother of her cousins, was completely silent. All her strength gone, most of her will broken; the color drained from her blue and yellow form. Corpse-like, as Aria had glimpsed on an isolated reef when Sonata was born. It was the first time she saw anyone die, despite Adagio’s best effort to hide her from it.
“Aria…”
That voice, it made her freeze up even more than the embodiment of her fears did when Enjin’s tendrils slithered and constricted her throat.
The mermare beside Melpomene, the one who’s colors were a near perfect inversion of her’s. Hymnia slowly started to turn her head.
Echoes of past damnations flew past her ears. The mermares who chased them away from Mako. The sailors they met at sea. All pointing out the same thing.
“You’re not something that should exist,” Hymnia whimpered as she faced her daughter. It was only now, with her features gaunt and visage mortified, did Aria truly grasp how derelict her beloved mother looked.
Part of Hymnia’s face was pristine, flawless. Perhaps it was what Aria imagined she looked like in her prime, perhaps it was what her mind's eye made her remember her mother as. But the left side, the left side was the reality.
Paled, frayed, numerous lines of stress wrinkles, scars, and marred by old wounds. Given how some were around her wrists and stomach, like a pair of talons had gripped her; one could imagine something held her down; violently. Those on her face and neck looked almost like teeth marks. From the same jagged, ice coated, broken fangs Sonata and Adagio bore.
Hymnia sobbed, perhaps witnessing the being that was resultant from her destruction, “... This couldn’t last… I-”
Aria didn’t know what made her sob more. The fact Enjin had begun engulfing her again and she wasn’t fighting back; or the thought she didn’t know if her own mother, whose entire tragedy Aria was a byproduct and living reminder of, was about to say ‘I hate you’...
It was all black.. And cold… She didn’t know if she was floating, falling, or standing. Just, cold. The only break from the deprivation was the temperature and uncanny sense of company. Of something near. Or someone.
Then it all came at her in a flurry of motion. Aria gasped as she was thrown against a wall and pinned to it by her shoulders. Hands, frigid beyond all belief with sharp points that stabbed into flesh, stabbing into her wrists. Frost coated, jagged broken fangs clicked before her face. Voids for eyes, weeping dark, tarry liquid, gazed upon the siren who opened her mouth but couldn’t scream.
It wasn’t Hymnia’s voice that said, “Hello daughter.”
Aria Blaze jammed her eyes shut, trying to blot everything else out. The cold, the terror, the voice, everything and anything. This had to be a dream, a horrific dream that was a manifestation of all her combined doubts and fears, past and present. But, that meant she had means to take control and fight back. The effort however was like shoving a boulder uphill. The crushing agony, sadness, and apathy was like a blizzard crushing in from all angles.
She was confronted with her mind’s manifestation of a being of which she had never seen nor knew the name of, and had destroyed her mother’s life in the process of giving her existence. A profound impact to be sure… There was only one non-family member who could compare to that scale. A saver and giver of life, meaningful life, against the taker of it.
A swell of memories was used as fuel for a well of strength, set to the melody of her mother’s love song. Aria knew, through all the doubt and guilt of how her existence affected Hymnia, that the lost mermare princess would approve.
The imaginary tendrils of Enjin were snapped from a golden shockwave that coursed through Aria’s body. The cold air that threatened to chew into her flesh was blown away by the force of a shout that could rival the mightiest wave crash. The doubt and fears would find no easy prey here.
Skin blackened to a beautiful ebony cast with a violet tint, the teal in her hair replaced with a streak of gold, stature growing several inches along with broadening of muscle. Red eyes, surrounded by blackness as deep as the ocean’s trench snapped open below a crown of twin horns, as shimmering scales were regalial to her form.
This state, feeling even stronger than it had when she took it to save her future lover, wasn’t her strongest because of X. It was strong because it was born out of Hymnia’s song and pushed into existence by whom the song made her feel for. As bizarre it seemed and she intended to ask X more about his other self to find out why, Kaizer Aria was made out of the antithesis of the nightmares, love.
She drew her wings in around her to collect the magic composing her state, feeling every sensation of it. Being cradled by her mother, hugged by her cousins, held by her lover. Success in shows, achievements in training, and hope for the return of Sonata’s birthright.
It all came out in a wave of light that crashed into the night terror like a tidal wave.
Enjin was banished and torn asunder, Adagio was restored and Sonata would soon follow, and the dead eyes of Hymnia’s echo were replaced with the same warmth that inspired the melody of love.
Kaizer Aria smiled as she bowed her head, feeling a warmth.
And Aria Blaze awakened passively to that same warmth wrapped around her, specifically across her back and around her middle. Usually they slept back to back if they were splitting a bed, covering the blind spots as he said. In fact they had gone as far as to sleep without contact at first after barely speaking the rest of the day after training. He'd moved and, unconscious in her rest, she'd moved in for comfort. Still, the gesture brought some much loved heat across Aria’s face.
She frowned briefly, remembering how she’d given X the cold shoulder after sparring practice. And how she’d nearly lost all of her nerve when doing so. So much so she almost used the gravity scream, a gift from him made by amassing the power he’d let her siphon from him for her protection. It was supposed to be used in a dire situation. Used on one foe in particular… Slowly, reluctant as she might be to rouse him, the siren turned about to face the dark-hued man who’d been spooning her. Red eyes looking upon her showed he was already awake.
“You’re holding on pretty tight,” Aria whispered, though not in a tone that indicated she objected.
X kept similarly quiet as his face, bare of any mask, was felt at, “Felt you squirming while I was still out so I acted on impulse. Just now woke and realized you were having a nightmare… was it That Thing again?”
Aria frowned, only partially so given the negativity couldn’t clench her form anymore. Not with her own efforts and not with who was with her, “Part of it. It... wasn’t like the time between Sonata’s attack and your return. But it was...”
“What you were thinking of earlier?” he interrupted, calm as it was and plainly like he was stating water was wet.
Her words paused, not for lack of articulation but the need to collect herself. Bits of pride festered like a cold gouge to her back, the classic stage persona of a tough-as-nails diva whom was above such problems and mixing with her empowered status as a combatant that should handle the problems herself was a bit of an uphill swing for her to overcome. But the warmer, calloused hands on her bare back were even stronger than a pinprick of cold. Her siren heart pulsed with a red glow, open.
“I ran myself ragged once trying to hunt down Sonata’s attacker solo before. Nearly evaporated myself out to nothing and got paranoid. When.. you came back I-... Oye, sorry for being a stubborn idiot at first,” she grumbled while burying her forehead into the crook of his neck and collar, grumbling something inarticulate into his shoulder, “And again today…”
X, having picked up the motion from Aria herself, just rolled his eyes and tightened his hold on her slightly, shaking his head all the while slightly, “Hush. You were the strongest of your lot for confrontation, you were just trying to put it to use helping your cousins. Just trying to protect them.”
Aria whined from embarrassment before taking in a deep breath to collect herself, pushing off his chest to get some space, “Point… is… As you said, working on a team is always better. First it was just us, but with your whole team here.”
Her eyes returned to his, gleaming mutually in the low light, “Even with the other kaiju appearing out of the kelpcraft and those humans developing magic of their own, I feel like it might just be at the concert in a few days we might get a hold of that bitch that stole Sonata’s necklace.”
“A confrontation is drawing close,” X nodded slightly, “Gigan would have succeeded had he not gotten blindsided. The other Twilight Sparkle certainly has Sonata’s necklace on and is working with our quarry. We also now know whatever it is certainly uses dark magic.”
“Adagio says she’s going to continue reviewing the footage he got after doing some more training with Eventide. Either she hasn’t figured anything out yet or...,” Aria frowned as the thoughts, perhaps a very distant flicker of a horrific chance spurred by her nightmare, crossed her mind before being banished, “She doesn’t want to talk about what she might be thinking either… Oye, seems to be a shared family quirk of us sirens.”
She collected herself and shrugged, “Twilight will come for us. That means you should be extra close to us. Only way to cancel out dark magic is with light magic, like with my mother’s song.”
“Which, given what Gigan said about the man who blindsided him, whatever it is the other Twilight is working with can possess people. And possibly us if we’re not careful.”
“Dark magic can do that to the weak-minded or susceptible. You’re not like that, and neither are your team,” Aria whispered as she drew in a breath, “Not while we’re all focused and full of something else.”
X’s hand slid across her side and towards a very restricted, cautious place. A year ago, Aria would have bit, kicked, shrieked, and fought to keep anything or anyone from touching the red gem nestled on her necklace. But when the same slate-hued skin that she once loathed touched her heart and held it oh so gently, she couldn’t resist a sigh of contentment like she was getting a massage.
“I’ll stay near you then,” X chuckled lightly, “For my safety.”
“Who’s protecting who here?” Aria grunted while poking his nose, “But, we’re prepared. We’re ready. Next time we do something big in public, I know Twilight will come running.”
“What makes you sure of that?”
“She’d been stalking us after Sonata’s violation, had the gall to ambush my cousin right after seeing her use magic on stage, and then came to the school that’s the freakiness magnet in this state. Given she made it out in one piece, I don’t think the one Adagio affectionately calls Bolts-For-Brains is going to scare her off.”
Monster X raised his brow slightly, “Affectionately?”
Aria was now the one rolling her eyes, “She snarks like that when she likes you. Does it to both him and her latest protege. But between the guy with metal thumbs and the gal with green thumbs, I don’t know what’s going on nor do I wish to. Back to business however, Twilight will react but she won’t stop.”
“Well, the point of you two, and Eventide, performing is to draw attention isn’t it? Draw her out? There’s nothing linking my team and yours publicly, and we’ve taken caution to not be seen together outside of camp. so she might even take Gigan showing up during the song as a sign we’re hunting you,” X noted rather matter-a-factly.
Aria Blaze glowered at her significant, getting brief flashbacks to malls, high speed chases, and punches to the face, in that order, “Gee, thanks for that nostalgia trip. But…”
X noticed how she hung on her own words, slipping a bit closer until their breaths mixed, “Aria?”
Her subtle shuddering was calmed by his presence and the siren embraced him a bit tighter, lightly digging her fingers into his back, “About earlier. When we were sparring I wasn’t fighting you or Kaizer, I was fighting her... I want to-... need to take a shot at ending this. Myself. Twilight is waking up some old fears I thought dead and buried, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to put them to rest unless I handle her myself on some level.”
Now it was her who was held a bit tighter, a frown crossing her significant other’s scarred lips, “You know I won’t let you do it alone.”
It wasn’t a ‘no’. X wasn’t pretending to like this option, he never would one that put Aria at risk, but he could understand. Call it pride, call it confidence, call it revenge due to family being involved. Call it anything one wanted, he wouldn’t deny the siren that. As long as she didn’t deny him his ability to stand by her side.
Aria countered his frown with a smile, brushing his cheek with her thumb while bringing him in closer. Their foreheads pressed together, followed by tilting of their heads to match up their lips. All the while, her necklace glimmered with warm, red hues of loved based light magic.
They separated, eyes still in a glaze.
Aria whispered to him, “I’ll tell you in the morning, then the others.”
“I trusted you to tell me what was wrong at the sparring, I can trust you past dawn, little sea witch,” the Xilian kaijin replied as a bang of her violet hair was pushed aside. Aria beamed as an idea crossed her mind.
The thought made her cheeks flush and Aria bit her lip. After that last dream and past days, a little emotional assurance never hurt to stave off the dark thoughts and feelings. Not like he wouldn’t enjoy it either.
“Mind if we?” she picked at their covers slightly while tapping at his shirt to give a subtle signal.
Her smile grew when his muscular form laid back on the bed. Cast in the silvery moonlight from the window as well as the red brilliance from her necklace, X had never seen a more beautiful sight than he did as Aria beamed down at him. Hands clasped and didn’t let go.
===========================
Two groups made their way towards the erected concert stand, towards a musical showcase. A previous band was already playing, getting the growing crowd’s interest. It was the intent of the two groups approaching to leave their mark on the day and excel; but for two different reasons.
One group, comprised of four gifted humans, a former wayward student, and a thousand-year mentor under the guard of a monster king and thousands year old guardian with additional motives. The intent, to figure out what sort of threats existed, confront them, and reclaim their friend.
The other group, comprised of two sirens and a pretender shadowed by two beings from the depths of space and the latest result of that same ancient gambit. The intent, to hunt and draw out the one who’d been hunting them.
And with Equestrians from the present and past, exiled monsters from their history, humans caught up in the fray, and opposing kaiju who’d need no prompting to see the other as a threat save for two of them; conflict was inevitable. Exactly as Zephyrus wanted…
