Spectacular Seven

by Albi


10. A Night in the Woods

Dinner consisted of pre-made sandwiches, canned ravioli, and chips. Having enjoyed Selena’s cooking for the better part of seven months now, Sunset couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed. It was also nostalgic since she had lived off of simple meals prior to moving in with the Lulamoons.

Twilight had defrosted more after eating, though she refused to find any amusement in Pinkie and the Sirens’ antics. Likewise, Adagio still wore her sour expression as she sat alone on the bottom step of the grand staircase. Sunset wondered if she could get Twilight and Adagio to bond over their mutual disgruntlement, but knew better than to try and push that.

A few moths found their way to the kerosene lamp in the middle of the room. With the dim lighting and their own shadows creeping over them on the walls, Pinkie decided to double-down on her scare tactics and recount the full story of the chateau she had read online in her own Pinkie fashion.

“So! In the secret basement hidden beneath the normal basement, the family of this chateau sacrificed the young virgin on the altar to appease the spirit of the forest!” Pinkie raised her hands over her head, curling her fingers in dramatic fashion. “But, while the forest spirit left them alone, the virgin’s spirit was left restless and angry! To get revenge on those who killed her, she drifted through these very halls, taking on different forms and tricking the family members in following her to their dooms! One-by-one, they were dragged screaming into the netherworld to be tormented for all eternity!”

Fluttershy had zipped herself shut in her sleeping bag. Sunset could see it trembling in the flickering light. Other than Sonata, who hung onto every word, no one else seemed particularly impressed by Pinkie. Still, the Spectacular Seven clapped in good nature, and Pinkie took a bow.

“They say she still haunts the forest in search of more victims,” Pinkie concluded, dropping onto her sleeping bag. 

“Particularly virgins,” Adagio said. She looked in Sunset and Twilight’s direction and wiggled her eyebrows.

Sunset rolled her eyes as hard as she could. “Can we drop the virgin thing? It’s gotten old real fast.”

Aria loudly bit into a potato chip. “Anyone else got any more lame scary stories?”

“Oooh, oooh, Sunset, tell the one about Nightmare Moon,” Pinkie said.

Sonata cocked her head. “What’s a Nightmare Moon?”

“Yes, Pinkie,” Sunset said, giving her a steely look. “What’s a Nightmare Moon?”

“It’s that one story you told us on Halloween about Equestria and their spooky—ow! What?” She looked at Applejack who had jabbed her in the side.

Adagio pointed at Sunset. “I knew it was you! You’re the one from Equestria!”

Sunset facepalmed. “Dammit, Pinkie.”

“What’s Equestria?” Soarin asked. Nobody answered him.

“How did you get here?” Adagio asked.

“And why are you here?” Aria asked.

“The how doesn’t matter, because there’s no way to get back,” Sunset said. “As for the why, call it self-exile.”

“You exiled yourself to this disgusting world of all places?” Adagio asked, unconvinced.

“I didn’t know I was going to get sent here specifically when I left.”

“No, seriously, what are we talking about?” Soarin asked, a little louder.

Rainbow patted his shoulder. “Heh, uh, it’s really not important. Sunset’s just from a really far away country.”

Sunset didn’t really care if Soarin knew about her identity, her focus was on Adagio. The two girls stared at each other from across the room, Adagio’s face stoic and her eyes inscrutable. They may have been without magic, but Sunset still didn’t trust the Sirens with the knowledge that she was also from Equestria. If the Sirens thought they had any chance of returning, they now knew Sunset was tied to it.

Adagio looked away first. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter anyway. Who knows what going home would do to us without our gems.”

Sunset wanted to ask what she meant, but Soarin looked vastly confused already and she didn’t want any more interruptions from him. 

“Maybe we should call it a night,” Applejack said. “There’s not much we can do now anyhow.”

“Pffft, says you.” Aria got up and grabbed her flashlight. “I’m gonna go explore some more. I bet the house is cooler at night.”

No one stopped her from marching up the stairs. Sunset thought to give a cautionary warning, but if there was something there, Aria could probably handle it.

Everyone else changed into their pajamas and slipped into their sleeping bags. Tucked away in the corner, Twilight scooted her sleeping bag as close to Sunset as she could. Sunset was about to offer to just share one but realized it was far too warm for that.

“I still don’t know what a Nightmare Moon is,” Sonata commented from across the room. 

“I’ll tell you later,” Sunset said, resting her head next to Twilight’s. She also didn’t think Fluttershy could handle another scary story. The poor girl had barely opened her sleeping bag, probably for air more than anything.

“G’night, y’all,” Applejack said, turning the kerosene lamp down to a dull glow. 

Sunset could just make out Twilight’s starry eyes in the darkness. They were the last thing she saw before closing  her own eyes and getting comfortable against her pillow. Her sleeping bag wasn’t very thick, so she could feel the wood beneath her, hard and cold. It took a while, but she finally got into a position where she could fall asleep. Her mind wandered off, touching the neverland between reality and dreams.

She couldn’t have been asleep long before her ears picked up the creaking of wood. Sunset thought it was Aria coming back downstairs, but when she opened an eye, she caught a shaft of silver light stretching across the floor before disappearing with another faint creak. 

Sunset lifted her head and glanced about. She counted all of her friends tucked away safely, Applejack with her hat over her face, Rarity wearing a sleeping mask and snoring softly. Aria was still absent, and now, Adagio was gone as well.

Curiosity more than concern drove Sunset to shuffle from her sleeping bag and sneak toward the door. She looked over her shoulder, making sure Twilight hadn’t been roused. She still slumbered, a hand stretched out, no doubt looking for Sunset’s.

Sunset smiled to herself and slipped out the door. Adagio sat on the bottom porch step, a bottle of beer in her hand with another one resting beside her. Sunset approached, stepping carefully to avoid getting a splinter. Adagio didn’t acknowledge Sunset’s presence until she sat down beside her.

“Is this the part where you lecture me about drinking?” Adagio asked dryly. She kept her head tilted back, eyes up at the canvas of stars. With no city lights to drown them out, they glittered in abundance.

“No, I don’t care as long as you don’t do anything stupid. Though I will ask you don’t go stealing anymore.”

“I make no promises.” 

Sunset crossed her arms. “You know, for someone claiming they wanted to change, you have a funny way of showing it.”

“Well, none of you are lying in a puddle of your own blood, so I would say I’ve already changed a lot.” Adagio took a long sip of her drink. 

Sunset breathed deep through her nose. “What exactly is your deal here? You say you want to be friends, yet you spend half the time antagonizing mine and the other half sulking.” She breathed out again, already drawing parallels to herself.

Adagio took another sip. “It’s not my fault your friends are thin-skinned and boring. This has been the most exciting thing that’s happened with you girls and it was mostly due to Aria and Sonata being stupid.”

“Maybe if you actually engaged with them instead of riling them up you might have a better time. Look at Sonata.”

“Sonata will make conversation with homeless men on the streets, so forgive me if I don’t follow her example.”

Sunset chewed her tongue for a moment. “Okay, I’ll level with you. When I first started learning friendship, I acted a lot like how you did.”

Adagio raised an eyebrow. “You mean you weren’t always pals with the goodie-two-shoes group?”

“No, I wasn’t. I spent two years making their lives hell and one night trying to murder them.” The usual feeling of guilt was still there, but it persisted for a far shorter time than it used to. 

Adagio turned her body to Sunset, eyes wide with interest. “I mean, I pegged you for a rebel, but never to that extreme. You just get more interesting by the day. Though that begs the question of how and why you’re friends with them.” She jerked her head toward the door. “Or why you’re dating the shut-in.”

“She’s not a shut-in!” Sunset winced and brought her voice back down. “It’s a long story. But I used to be just like you and your sisters: power-hungry, vindictive, and not caring about who I hurt to get what I want. And, like you, I lost.” 

Sunset looked down and pressed her hands together. “I was furious at first. I was so close to getting what I wanted only for it to backfire and then get beaten by some sappy girls and their friendship powers. To add insult to injury, I had to be friends with them, or at least, become a better person, and they were the only ones willing to give me a chance. And yeah, I snarked and yelled and insulted them every chance I got, but it didn’t help in the end.”

“Well, you’re buddy-buddy with them now, so clearly, something went right,” Adagio said. She finished her beer, tossed the bottle aside, and reached for the second one.

“Yeah, I realized they were the only people in the world willing to put up with me, despite everything I did to them. It started off because of a promise they made to someone else, but they genuinely started to care about me. I thought it was pity at first, but I used to think anyone showing any sympathy to me was pity. I decided that, if they were going to try and be my friends, the least I could do was meet them halfway.”

Adagio absently nodded her head. “Cute story. Real heartwarming. I’m guessing the moral here is you want me to try harder at friendship?”

“That would be a nice start.” It was hard for Sunset to keep the bite out of her voice. “I get where you’re coming from, it’s hard to let go of your pride and adjust to a new way of thinking. But fighting it is just making it harder on yourself and wearing everyone’s patience thin. I’m the one who vouched for you three because I see myself in you. I think the three of you can become better people. But if you keep making this more difficult than it needs to be, I’m not afraid to kick you to the curb for my friends’ sake.”

 Adagio swished her bottle, an oddly bemused look on her face. “That sounds like an ultimatum.”

“It is. I want to help you, Adagio, but you have to meet me halfway.”

She tilted her head back to the stars, quiet as she mulled over Sunset’s words. “I loathe having to rely on someone else for my survival. I was taught that the only thing creatures respect in the world is power. Either you had it and you ruled, or you didn’t and you groveled. I was promised power and had it denied to me again and again. So yes, Sunset, adjusting to this disgusting new way of life is hard. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not chomping at the bit to get to know you and your ring of rainbow airheads.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes and cleared her throat.

Adagio tilted her head toward her, nonplussed. “I just said it was hard. What do you want from me?”

“An effort!” Sunset shouted, clenching a fist.

Adagio inhaled deeply then let out an irritable sigh. “Fine, I’ll try to play nice, if only so you won’t lecture me again. Really killing my buzz.” She took a long sip of her beer.

Sunset leaned back on her arms and looked at the line of trees surrounding them on all sides, stretching on into the dark of night. “Believe me, this isn’t fun for either of us.” Anytime Sunset had to get preachy, she remembered Princess Twilight standing over her in the crater, lecturing in that condescending tone. Friendship advocate she may be now, Sunset tried to take as few pages from the princess’s book as possible.

“How long did it take for you to stop being a jerk to your friends?”

“About a month? I’m trying to speed up the process a little for everyone’s sake.”

Adagio scoffed. “I think—” She paused and straightened up, looking around and running her tongue over her lips. “There’s magic…”

Sunset rolled her shoulders. “Well, yeah, my friends are sleeping in the—”

“No.” Adagio stood up, leaving her bottle on the step. “Your magic tastes like sugar and rainbows. This is… different.”

A scream tore through the night, making Sunset jump to her feet. But unlike the previous screams that faded out, this one was cut short after scant seconds. 

Adagio spun toward the house. “Aria!” She sprinted up the steps and threw the door open, Sunset right on her heels. Everyone was up, looking groggy or annoyed.

“It wasn’t funny the first time and it’s not funny now!” Twilight shouted, groping for her glasses.

“Seriously, Pinkie, I wanna sleep,” Rainbow said.

Pinkie put her hands up. “Don’t look at me. I only knew about the first prank.”

“Sonata?” Rarity asked with a warning tone.

“I mean, I was gonna put someone’s hand in warm water so they’d wet themselves, but that’s it.”

“And I’ve been with Adagio this whole time,” Sunset said, a knot of fear tightening in her stomach.

Twilight arched her eyebrows high. “Why were you with Adagio?”

“Oh, don’t get your panties in a twist, we were just talking,” Adagio snapped.

“What did I just say about antagonizing my friends?” Sunset snapped back.

“People, focus!” Applejack shouted. “If this isn’t a prank, then Aria might be in serious trouble.”

Soarin yawned. “Once again, I seriously doubt—”

The howl of a wolf drifted through the front doors, making Soarin pale. “Okay… we might have a problem.”

Rainbow crossed her arms. “You’re scared of a wolf but not blood-curdling screams?”

Sunset snapped her fingers. “Get your shoes on and grab your flashlights. We’re only making two teams this time.” Everyone broke away to grab their things. Sunset slipped her boots on and checked her phone, seeing it was just after midnight.

The two teams consisted of Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, Soarin, and Fluttershy who would search the bottom level of the mansion and the grounds, and Sunset, Twilight, Adagio, Pinkie, and Sonata, who were tasked with the upper floors.

“Phones on at all times, don’t stray from your group, watch your backs,” Sunset said firmly. “Last chance to admit this is a prank, because if it is, Twilight gets to skewer you.”

Twilight fidgeted with her schiavona, trying to clip it to her pajamas. In the end, she decided to just hold onto it. When no one spoke up, Sunset bid the other party farewell and led her group up into the shadows of the second floor.

Déjà freaking Vu. She flipped her flashlight on and roved it around the hall, four other lights mimicking her movements behind her. “Aria, come out or say something. Otherwise, if this is a prank—”

“I’m going to beat you within an inch of your life!” Adagio shouted down the corridor.

“Are you always violent with them?” Twilight asked, aghast.

“Fear and violence are the best way to keep subordinates in check,” Adagio replied like it was an obvious fact.

Sunset held a hand up. “As much as I’d love to point out how wrong you are, stop talking. I think I hear something…”

The girls held their breath, embracing the eerie silence of the dark house. From just beyond the range of their lights came a rough shuffling noise, like something heavy was being dragged across the carpet. It carried on, growing fainter until it was replaced by the brief low hum of static. 

Twilight huddled closer to Sunset, her flashlight hand trembling. “A-Aria… was that you?” 

Nothing responded.

Sunset crept forward, Twilight glued to her side. The darkness continued to yield, but aside from the moth-eaten curtains and graffitied portraits, their lights revealed nothing that could have made that dragging and humming noise.

“Wait!” Sunset’s flashlight shone over a silver object lying in the middle of the hall. She stepped closer to pick it up and held it out for everyone to see. “It’s Aria’s flashlight.”

Adagio snatched it from her and examined it, then turned it on. The light shone up and illuminated the ceiling. “Well, it still works…”

“Umm, guys?” Pinkie asked in a higher-pitched voice than normal. “What do you call a male lamia?”

“You don’t,” Adagio said, casting her light deeper down the hall. “They don’t exist.”

“Oh….Well, you might want to tell him that.”

A cold wind brushed the back of Sunset’s neck, and she debated if it was worth turning around to see what Pinkie was talking about. An unintelligible babble from Sonata tipped the scales in curiosity’s favor, and Sunset swiveled around and shone her flashlight forward.

Fear and confusion mingled together, creating static in Sunset’s brain as she tried to make sense of the creature twenty paces from her. From the waist down, it was a black snake with white stripes and a smooth underbelly. The top half, however, was that of a well-toned man, completely bald and lacking ears. He had red reptilian eyes and sharp fangs protruding from his upper lip.

“Sn… sna…. sna…” Twilight shook like a leaf, her eyes fixated on the monster’s lower half.

“I have… so many questions,” Adagio said in a shaky whisper.

The snake man let out a cross between a hiss and a roar, jumpstarting everyone else’s reaction of screaming. It propelled itself across the ground faster than Sunset would have thought possible, sliding its bottom half back and forth. As it drew near, Adagio’s scream shot up several decibels, forcing the girls to cover their ears. Her voice cracked and warbled and distorted, becoming the antithesis of anything that could be considered pleasant sounding. Even with her hands squeezed against her skull, Sunset could still hear the wail piercing her eardrums and making her light-headed. At this point, she would take a drowning cat over Adagio’s scream.

The caterwaul drew the snake man to a halt as well. It let out a hiss that was lost in the din before retreating and turning toward the outside wall. Its entire body became translucent, leaving only a white outline of its figure. With another silent hiss, it flew into the wall, vanishing like the wind.

Adagio took a breath and doubled-over, coughing and hacking. Sunset slowly removed her hands from her ears, thoughts swimming as fast as the room around her. She held onto Twilight, who looked equally stunned and terrified.

Sonata rubbed her ears like she was trying to get dirt free. “Ow. Dagi, why didn’t you warn me you were gonna do that?”

Adagio straightened up and glared at her. “Why didn’t you help?”

“Hold up!” Sunset said loudly, her ears still ringing. “What the hell just happened?”

“The house is haunted by a ghost snake man!” Pinkie yelled, her eyes slowly coming back into focus.

“Even by our logic, that doesn’t make sense!”

“Yeah, well it still happened,” Adagio snapped. “And I bet that thing did something to Aria!”

“Which means, we have to hunt it down. Great,” Sunset said listlessly.

“We h-have to hunt d-down a sn-snake monster? At night?” Twilight asked in a mousy voice. Her face was unusually pale.

Adagio glared at her. “What, you bring a sword with you to fend us off, but now you’re scared to fight a real monster?”

“N-no!” Twilight clenched a fist, but the show of determination didn’t reach her eyes. 

Sunset stepped between them. “Not the time, Adagio,” she said with a cold warning. “And after we find Aria, we are going to talk about that scream of yours. For now, Pinkie, call Applejack and tell her we saw… whatever we just saw.”

Pinkie nodded and pulled her cellphone out of her hair. As she dialed up the other party, Sunset scooted Twilight away a few paces and said in a hushed tone, “You okay? You seem a little more shaken than the rest of us.”

Twilight tried to smile in a vain attempt to brush it off, but she quit halfway, slumping her shoulders instead and running a thumb over her sword hilt. “I… umm… I’m…” She mumbled something and looked down at her shoes.

“What?”

“I’m scared of snakes,” she said louder, face pink.

Sunset blinked. “Oh. I mean, that makes sense. A lot of people are—”

“No, I’m terrified of them. It’s… it’s borderline phobia.” Twilight’s shoulders shook as she spoke, starting slow, but picking up into a breathless pace. “I… we went to the zoo for my sixth birthday and there was an incident in the reptile room—my mom told me not to lean on the glass but I didn’t listen—it fell and the snake got out and jumped at me—”

Sunset put a gentle arm around Twilight as she hyperventilated, fanning her face. “Okay, it’s okay. I get it. Seeing a half-snake monster must have been… uncomfortable at the least. But we won’t let it get to you. We’re all here, together.” Sunset wasn’t sure what else to say in a situation like this. Having fears was one thing; she didn’t know what it was like to harbor a crippling phobia. 

She disliked spiders. Vehemently. She did not have a phobia of them.

Twilight got her breathing under control and ran a hand across her eyes. “No, I can do this. It’s… it’s not even a full snake. I’m not going to let it scare me.”

“Guys,” Pinkie piped up. “Applejack’s not answering.”

Before her words could set in, a resounding bang could be heard from outside.

*******

Applejack opened the door from the kitchen to the garden and led her group out into a mild night. A light breeze wafted over them, keeping them cool as they searched the dark grounds. Crumbling marble pillars lined the middle of the garden, leading to a dried fountain filled with dead leaves. Broken cherub statues littered the grass, and whatever had been growing in the planters and dirt patches were now strangled by weeds. The door to the cellar sat tucked away adjacent to the back door, its dark green paint peeling. 

“I swear, she better not be in the basement plotting something again,” Rainbow grumbled.

They had searched all the rooms on the ground floor before stepping outside. Rarity called Aria’s name, but no one responded. An old oak tree loomed over the group, blocking most of the moonlight. Even with their flashlights, there were plenty of tight, dark spaces for someone to lurk in.

Soarin approached an old, dilapidated shed. The wood was rotted and stained from being exposed to the elements. He reached out and grabbed the handle, hesitating and looking off to the distance before wrenching it open. The rotting wood made a teeth-grinding screech as it flew open, and Soarin let out a cough, waving his hand to clear the wood dust.

Rarity looked away from the thick bushes lining the garden walls. “Anything in there we should be worried about?”

“Nope,” Soarin said, sticking his head in. “Just some old tools and fertilizer.”

Applejack huffed and adjusted her hat. “Well, Ah hate to say it, but it looks like someone’s gonna have to go into the basement again.” She paused at the howl of a nearby wolf, which, when she thought about it, was odd. Wolves weren’t known to live in Everfree Forest. Odder still was the way Soarin grew tense and frantically looked around.

Rainbow took notice as well and gave him an unimpressed look. “Dude, it’s just a wolf. Calm down.”

Soarin shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch. “Yeah… just, uh… be careful. Watch where you step.”

Applejack was too tired to deliver her signature skeptical eyebrow raise. Even rolling her eyes felt like a chore. She knelt by the cellar door and gave the thick padlock binding the handles a tug. Despite the years, the metal and chains proved to be pretty sturdy. If she was in her ponied-up state, Applejack was sure she could tear the lock off. In the meantime, they’d have to retreat to the dumbwaiter.

An ear-splitting scream made everyone jump and Fluttershy shriek in turn, though hers was drowned out by the prolonged wail. It came from the upper floors of the old house, but even through the walls, it pounded against Applejack’s head.

It finally petered out. Everyone stood rooted in place until Rainbow shouted, “The heck was that?”

Soarin rubbed his ears. “It sounded like someone trying to murder a drowning cat.”

Applejack tightened her grip on her flashlight. She took a deep breath to settle her heart and shake out her nerves. “Come on, y’all,” she said, moving back to the kitchen door, “let’s check in with the others and—” 

Her breath caught in her throat as she opened the door straight into a pair of bloody red eyes looking down at her. A forked tongue flicked out between a set of long, pointed teeth, dripping with a purple liquid. Applejack took in the humanoid top half and the serpentine bottom and decided, it didn’t need to make sense, she just needed to get as far away as possible.

A ball-peen hammer flew past her head and struck the snake man in the chest. It barely flinched, letting out an annoyed hiss instead, but it allowed Applejack to restart her fight or flight commands and jump back with a cry of, “What in tarnation is that thing?”

It lunged at her, and Applejack threw herself out of the way, crashing onto the ground before scrambling next to Fluttershy, hiding behind one of the pillars. The snake man twisted its body toward them and rose to lunge again, but Soarin threw a rusty screwdriver at it, nailing it in the head. The beast hissed and changed directions, raising its clawed hands as it slithered toward Soarin.

A loud snarl preceded a glowing body of light as it leaped over the garden wall and straight into the snake monster. There was a short tussle before their new ally pinned the snake to the ground, and Applejack got a good look at it. 

Its entire body shone a pearly white, like it was made from the purest snow. Its eyes were a piercing blue and narrowed at the monster pinned under its paw. The white wolf snarled, bristling its fur and keeping its teeth an inch from the snake man’s neck.

Fluttershy and Applejack gasped at the same time. “It’s the wolf from the mountains!” Fluttershy said in awe.

“The heck is it doin’ here?” Applejack asked.

“Harbinger, its tail!” Soarin yelled.

Too late. The snake’s tail reached up behind the wolf and grabbed its hind leg. Harbinger tried to snap its head forward to bite into the snake’s neck, but its tail proved faster, yanking the wolf away and throwing it against a pillar.

Just as the snake man pulled itself up, a lightning blue blur smashed into its chest, sending it flying into the cellar door with a mighty crash. Amazingly, the lock was still intact. The snake got up again, hissed at the party, then sank through the door, turning a ghostly sheen as it melted away.

Rainbow hovered over the spot it had vanished, fists clenched. She spun in midair and looked at the group. “You guys okay?”

“I think so?” Rarity said, looking dazed. “I’m still trying to process what happened.”

“I’m still hoping I’m in a really bad dream,” Fluttershy whimpered.

Soarin knelt next to the white wolf, stroking its back as it got back to its feet. “You okay?” He smiled in relief when Harbinger let out a short bark and straightened its back.

Rainbow zipped over to him, pointing accusingly. “You have magic!”

Soarin whipped around and looked at her floating in the air. “You have magic! And wings!”

You have a ghost wolf!

Applejack walked between them. “Okay, there’s clearly a lot goin’ on here. And as curious as Ah am mahself, explanations can wait. We gotta find Aria, quick!”

“Wh-what if the snake man has her?” Fluttershy asked, eyeing the cellar door.

Soarin put a hand on Harbinger’s head, and for a moment, his eyes glowed the same piercing blue as the wolf’s. “She says Aria is somewhere below us. Alive, or she was when Harbinger saw her.”

Applejack grit her teeth. She wouldn’t lie: she still had a sore spot with the Sirens; they had nearly torn her friends and family apart. 

None of them need to die for it though. ‘Specially by some snake freak. Applejack squared her shoulders. Her grudge could wait until after Aria was safe.

A warmth blossomed in her chest and spread outward, engulfing her entire body. Her pony ears sprouted on top of her head, and her ponytail doubled in length. She also felt an amazing surge of strength flood her arms and legs. Without a word, she strolled over to the cellar door, grabbed the padlock, and yanked it off with a hearty tug, her fingers making indents in the metal.

She heard Soarin whistle behind her. “I know you said your friends were cool, but this is on a whole new level.”

Applejack ignored him and reached for the phone in her pocket, hesitating as her finger brushed against it. She had just destroyed a metal lock with ease, who’s to say she wouldn’t accidentally crush her phone? This was only the third time she had used her super-strength. “Somebody call Sunset and make sure they’re all right.”

“No need,” Sunset’s voice came from the chateau door. She led her group of five out into the garden and stared at the shining wolf, Rainbow hovering in the air, and Applejack holding the manhandled lock. “What happened?”

“Some snake dude appeared and tried to kill us!” Rainbow shouted.

“You guys saw him too?” Sonata asked.

“What the hell is going on in this house?” Adagio yelled, turning her head skyward. 

“Ah don’t know, and Ah don’t wanna stick around long enough to find out.” Applejack pointed to the cellar. “Aria’s somewhere down there. Let’s find her and get the heck outta dodge.”

*******

Nine girls, one boy, and a spirit wolf filed down the steps into the basement. With ten flashlights and a luminescent wolf, it was almost daytime in the crowded space. Even then, with all their lights and eyes, they saw no sign of Aria or the monster.

Sunset navigated them around the maze of discarded furniture and kegs. What the hell is going on? With all the questions buzzing in her head, that one made a prominent recurrence. Though they can wait until we get Aria back and get the heck out of here.

It didn’t stop the tirade of questions, but having that singular goal made it easier to concentrate. 

The group stopped in front of the metal door, sealed into the wall with thick rivets. “If Aria’s down here, this is the only place left to check,” Sunset said. She tried the handle, unsurprised to find it locked.

“‘Scuse me, sugarcube,” Applejack said, squeezing down the line that had formed. She stretched her leg out, raised her boot, then slammed it against the door, leaving a sizable dent. She shifted her feet and kicked again, letting out a loud, “Ha!” as she did.

The door weakly swung open, letting an eerily chilly draft brush over the group. Beyond the threshold was a dark and flat earthen tunnel.

“Does anyone else wanna ask why there’s an underground tunnel beneath an old mansion in the middle of the woods?” Rainbow asked.

“I have an ever-growing list of questions to ask when this is over,” Twilight said.

Sunset looked up and saw a string of mining lights hanging from the ceiling. Reaching just past the door, her hand found a light switch and she flicked it on. Several pops ran down the corridor, and only the lamp hanging over them flickered to life.

“These had to have been installed later than the rest of the house,” Twilight mused. “These lights are more modern. Not by much, but still.”

A warm tingle washed over Sunset’s leg. She looked down to see Harbinger strut forward out of the ring of light. She looked back at the group with a scrutinizing glare, then resumed her stride.

“She wants us to follow,” Soarin said.

“Yeah, I picked up on that,” Sunset said, following after the wolf. The tunnel was narrow and dipped occasionally, forcing everyone to walk in a careful single-file. They followed Harbinger’s glowing form down the twisting corridors, turning corner after corner. When they came to a branch in the pathway Harbinger continued on without hesitation. 

“Who dug out these tunnels and why?” Rarity asked, keeping her voice to a hushed whisper. 

“And where the heck do they lead?” Rainbow asked as they turned left at an intersection. 

“You know,” Pinkie said in her nervous, higher-pitch, “I was just kidding about the secret basement and the virgin sacrifices… but maybe this really leads to some dark altar to the netherworld.”

Sunset would have told her to stop being ridiculous, but since they had all come in contact with a phantom snake hybrid, anything seemed possible at the moment. The chill down her spine and the goosebumps rising on her skin told Sunset their weird night was far from over.

While she needed everyone to be as quiet as possible to keep an ear out for anything suspicious, Sunset hated the smothering silence the tunnels gave. Even their shoes against the gravel sounded muffled. Though their abundance of light kept the darkness at bay, Sunset had to brace herself every time they turned a corner, half expecting to find the snake… or something worse.

Harbinger stopped and took an aggressive stance, a growl rising from her throat. Sunset looked ahead, trying to see beyond the range of her flashlight. When she squinted, she could faintly make out the outline of a man with an elongated torso. A single hiss was enough to make the hairs on Sunset’s neck stand at attention.

With a snarl, Harbinger charged forward and pounced, slamming into her prey. Both her and the snake took on a translucent sheen and sunk into the floor, yet Sunset could still hear their barking and hissing.

Soarin ran to the spot Harbinger had vanished and tapped the ground. “Har?” He twisted around as a short howl came from within the walls.

Fluttershy yelped as a loud hiss came from the other wall. She pressed her fingers to her mouth and chattered her teeth. “Wh-what do we do now?”

“The wolf seemed to know where it was goin’,” Applejack said. “Ah guess we keep followin’ the path.”

A task easier said than done. Sunset took two steps forward then jumped when her flashlight sputtered and died. Soarin’s quickly followed suit, then one-by-one, every other light flickered and faded out, leaving only the soft, radiant glows from Rainbow and Applejack. It wasn’t much, but it beat being plunged into darkness.

“Oh, this just keeps getting better!” Adagio snarked.

“No one panic,” Sunset said, feeling Twilight tighten her grip on her arm. Another hiss and snarl came from the walls, and Sunset caught a glance of an incorporeal tail.

Rainbow moved up front, keeping an arm extended to give a few extra inches of illumination. Applejack took up the rear, constantly looking over her shoulder. The rest of the party packed themselves together, shuffling down the tunnel and flinching at every sound coming from just beyond their sight. 

Harbinger dropped from the ceiling a few scant inches from Rainbow’s face and fell through the floor, chased by the snake man with its fangs on full display. Sunset saw Soarin wince and move a hand over his heart. 

“Augh!” Rainbow snorted. “I hate that we can’t do anything! Stupid ghost… spirit… thing!”

“Ah just wanna get Aria and get out,” Applejack said from the back. “Magic-powered humans Ah can handle. Ghosts are on a different level of weird.”

Soarin took a sharp intake of breath and doubled over, putting his hands on his knees. Rainbow dropped to his side. 

“Hey, you okay?”

He shook his head. “I’ll be fine, but I think Harbinger is hurt.” He saw the confused look on Rainbow’s face and said, “Long story short, she’s tied to my spirit. I feel her pain, but I don’t think it physically hurts me.”

Rarity made a nervous gulp. “But, if your wolf friend is hurt, that means…”

Soarin straightened up and continued forward. “We should get out of here as fast as—”

The lamia flew from the wall, turning solid just long enough to slam into Soarin before turning ghostly again and carrying him through the opposite wall, all before Soarin could even scream. Rainbow pounced and slammed her fist into the spot they had disappeared.

Soarin!” she screeched over everyone else’s gasps and swears.

Sunset saw a flash of light go off behind her, and a dome of interlocked diamond shields rose from the ground and encircled the girls. She turned and looked at Rarity, now sporting her pony ears and horn, and looking very nervous. 

She looked at the wall of diamonds and poked her horn. “I… didn’t intend to do that.”

Rainbow punched the shimmering wall. “Turn it off! We have to save Soarin!”

“And Aria!” Adagio shouted, shooting Rainbow a venomous glare.

Rainbow ignored her, too busy pushing against the barrier. Rarity squeezed her eyes shut and thrust her hands out. One-by-one, the diamonds melted away, and Rainbow tore down the hall at supersonic speed.

“Rainbow, wait!” Sunset called after her. She got an impassioned yell in response. Muttering a curse under her breath, Sunset ran forward, tugging Twilight along. Through the darkness, Sunset could just make out Rainbow’s glowing outline. 

It grew brighter as Sunset ran closer, darting and weaving around a foe Sunset couldn’t make out yet. The tunnel finally came to an end and opened up into a circular den that deepened the chill running through Sunset.

Melted candle wicks sat on rocks lining the perimeter of the room. Numerous faded spell circles were etched into the hard-packed dirt and filled with strange symbols and letters Sunset had never seen. What ominously looked like old bloodstains took up the center of many of the circles. In the back was a slightly raised dais of black stone, whereupon Aria sat slumped against the wall, eyes closed. Soarin sat next to her, still awake but teeth grit together in pain.

Rainbow threw a flurry of punches at the snake monster, yelling as her rapid-fire fists either went through it or missed entirely. The lamia snatched her by the wrists and flung her toward the wall. Rainbow hit it with a painful thud and slid down to the ground, but jumped back to her feet and charged again. The snake dove into the floor, and Rainbow, riding her momentum, sped into the opposite wall and collapsed to the floor.

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy sprinted toward her, sprouting ears and wings as she moved. 

Sunset, meanwhile, ran over and knelt beside Soarin. “You all right?”

Soarin grimaced. “Thing… bit me. Poison numbed… everything. Can’t move.”

“Horsefeathers,” Sunset said under her breath. She looked at Fluttershy, holding her hands over Rainbow, a pink glow enveloping both of them. Sunset chewed the inside of her cheek as she pondered. “Hang on, Soarin, I might have an idea.”

Rainbow grunted as Fluttershy pulled her to her feet. “Thanks, ‘Shy.” She rubbed the blood off her nose and looked around. “Where’d that stupid ghost snake go?”

The rest of their friends had circled up in the center of the room, backs pressed tightly together. Beyond their collective breathing, the room was silent, devoid of any hissing or slithering.

“Let’s get out of here before it decides to come back,” Sunset said. “Fluttershy, I need you to heal Aria and Soarin of their poison.”

“Oh, um, well…” Fluttershy looked at her hands. “I can try, but I don’t know if it’ll work.”

Sunset watched her approach the two unconscious teenagers. Cuts and broken bones were one thing, but if Fluttershy couldn’t neutralize the poison, Sunset didn’t think they could make it back to civilization before the unthinkable happened.

Fluttershy looked between Aria and Soarin, biting her lip before turning and placing her hands on Aria. A pink glow emanated from her palms and flowed over the Siren until her entire body was bathed in the light. Fluttershy pulled her hands away; the glow lingered for a few seconds before absorbing into Aria’s skin. 

She remained still, her breath labored and uneven. Fluttershy clasped her hands to her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. 

Then, Aria gave a wet cough. She rolled onto her side, lifted her head, and spat out a mouthful of purplish fluid. She coughed and spat some more before sitting up, and resting a hand against her head.

“That sucked.”

“Aria!” Sonata cheered, breaking the circle to run toward her.

The lamia burst from the ground and loomed over Sonata, fangs bared. She froze, eyes wide as the snake struck at her.

Twilight shoved her out of the way and held her sword up in a parallel block. The snake clamped down on the blade and ripped it from Twilight’s hands, tossing it toward the wall.

“Twilight!” Sunset yelled, feeling a warm wave roll through her body, and her pony ears sprout atop her head.

It was Twilight’s turn to freeze up, eyes quivering in horror, failing to even blink. A small whimper escaped her open mouth. Yet, the snake didn’t strike. It looked down at Twilight, drops of blood falling from the roof of its mouth.

Every muscle in the room tensed, waiting for a move to be made. Rainbow broke first, charging and leaping at the monster with her shoulder. She caught it in the side with enough force to bowl it over and snap Twilight out of her trance. She backpedaled into Rarity who held her up when her legs buckled.

The snake coiled up and glared at Rainbow. Undaunted, Rainbow raised her fists and widened her stance. The snake leaned back to strike, but Pinkie reacted first, bouncing into the air with her pony assets on display and a ball of swirling colors in her hand.  With a powerful pitch, it whizzed through the air, whistling like a firecracker and detonating against the monster’s head with a bang and a pop. There was a flash of colors, and the snake man collided against the wall, rolled onto the floor, and ceased to move.

The den fell silent again as everyone waited for the snake to move or sink into the floor. When it remained still for half a minute, Adagio let out a loud sigh and pressed a hand to her eyes. “I was not prepared for today.”

“None of us were,” Applejack said.

Soarin coughed and every eye fell on him. “Uhh, Fluttershy, could you do that healing thing, please?” 

Fluttershy jumped and gasped. “Oh, um, right! S-sorry!” She knelt by his side and placed her hands on his shoulder. A pink glow washed over him and sank into his skin. Then, like Aria, he turned his head away and spat up the toxin.

Sunset walked over to Twilight, still being held by Rarity. “You okay?”

Twilight shook her head and pushed herself into Sunset’s embrace, burying her face in Sunset’s shoulder. The instant Sunset had wrapped her arms around Twilight, a burst of heat hit her chest then concentrated in her soul. It thrummed, and Sunset saw the cave disappear in a flash of white.

“Twily, please don’t lean against the glass like that,” her mother warned. But she couldn’t help it! She couldn’t see the northern water snake from all the way back there! The enclosure was so small and dark; she couldn’t even find it with its camouflage.  

She pressed her nose against the glass, fogging it and her glasses up with her breathing. She could still barely see the snake. If only she could get just a little closer—

There was a lurch and scraping noise, and the panel of glass fell forward into the small, marshy space. She heard an angry hiss as the snake slithered into view, rapidly flicking its tongue. She backed up a few paces, but that didn’t stop the snake from rearing up and bearing its fangs. She turned on her heel to run just as the snake sprung out of its pen.

Then, she stood in front of the half-man, half-snake monstrosity, disarmed and now helpless to fight back. She couldn’t decide which emotion had more control, fear or shame. All that training had been for nothing. She was going to get killed by her worst nightmare because she tried to save one of the people she hated the most.

Sunset blinked, tearing herself free of the vision. The heat in her chest vanished and her soul stopped thrumming. She was back in the cave, Twilight still pressed into her shoulder. Rarity and Adagio both stared at her, opening their mouths to pelt her with questions. Sunset threw a finger up to her lip. If Twilight hadn’t noticed, it was better she stayed blissfully unaware for now.

Soarin climbed to his feet and dusted his pants off. “Okay, so I’ve got like, a million questions to ask. The first being, what should we do with that?” He nodded at the unmoving snake.

Adagio jerked a thumb to Twilight’s discarded sword. “Stab it through the heart and hope it's not immortal.”

Rainbow raised her hand. “I second that!”

“Thirded!” Applejack said.

“Dibs.” Aria stood up and approached the sword. A loud bark froze her in place.

Sunset looked down the corridor. Harbinger padded forward, looking no worse for wear. Sunset wondered if it was because she was a spirit wolf or because Fluttershy had healed Soarin. She brushed past the group, leaving a trail of warm air in her wake. 

Harbinger stopped at the body of the snake and sniffed it. Her ears flicked twice and she turned her head to fix Soarin with her piercing gaze. 

“I mean, yeah, it’s not normal, just look at it,” he said.

Harbinger growled.

“Ooooh. That makes more sense. Kinda.”

Sunset felt a burst of hot air as Twilight sighed into her. “He talks to a ghost wolf. Of course he can.”

“She’s a spirit, not a ghost,” Soarin gently corrected. “And she says this thing isn’t supposed to look like this. There’s some serious black magic on it.”

Applejack looked dubiously at it. “Ah mean, that’s bad, but what does she want us to do about it?”

Soarin exchanged a look with Harbinger. “She says one of you can fix it.”

Rainbow looked from Fluttershy to Sunset. “Uhh, can you heal black magic?”

Sunset creased her brow. “Well, first of all, that would open up the age-old topic of what is considered to be ‘black magic’, as opposed to just normal magic used for bad purposes. Secondly, if we did classify this as ‘black magic’, we’d be trying to purify it, not heal it—and Fluttershy already has her hands on it.”

Fluttershy leaned over the creature, gingerly laying her fingers on its arm. She shuddered, but the pink glow spread from her fingertips and across the snake’s form. She pulled away, watching with everyone on bated breath. The glow faded out. Seconds passed, but nothing seemed to happen.

Something tugged at Sunset’s soul, a feeling not unlike when she had gone into her trances. When Fluttershy reached toward the creature and her hands began to glow again, Sunset felt the warmth in her chest pulse and swell. 

She gently tapped Twilight’s back and slowly pulled away from her. Behind her smudged glasses, Twilight’s eyes were red and bleary. 

“I’ll be back in a sec, okay?” Sunset said softly. She pecked Twilight on the nose and backed away. Twilight didn’t protest, but she looked far from okay with the idea.

Sunset spun on her heel as she approached Fluttershy. Standing before the snake, she could indeed feel a magical presence coming off it. It felt sickly and slimy, and made Sunset want to take a hot shower.

Fluttershy looked up at Sunset. “Harbinger is right. I… I felt something when I touched it. It’s in pain. But, I don’t know how to help.”

Sunset placed a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “It’s okay. Maybe we can—”

Fluttershy let out a gasp, and the magical aura surrounding her flared intensely, forcing Sunset to look away. When the light dimmed and the spots left her eyes, Sunset peeked them open to see… Fluttershy looking exactly the same. She had a look of awe on her face as she flexed her fingers.

“Sunset, I feel… really good! I don’t know what you did, but I feel incredible!”

Sunset looked down at her own hand, still aglow from her own powers. “Umm, you’re welcome? I don’t think I did anything though.”

But Fluttershy had turned her focus back to the snake. She placed both her hands on his arm and closed her eyes. The usual pink glow spread over him, brighter than before. Then, it turned a luminescent white, nearly blinding Sunset again. The light covered the snake’s entire body, turning it into a white silhouette. 

The entire room gasped as the monster began to shrink down. It’s arms faded away, its torso shrank, its head reshaped itself. Fluttershy kept her hands on it the entire time, smiling as it returned to its original shape.

When the light faded away, gone was the hybrid ghost that had terrorized them. In its place was a sleeping snake, black with white stripes running across its back. It was still four feet long and looked like it could strangle any of them if it really wanted to, but it was a far cry from its previous monstrous form.

“I was gonna suggest we try the rainbow, but that works too,” Sunset said.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Fluttershy cooed. “Who would do this to you?”

“More importantly, why?” Sunset asked under her breath.

Aria leaned in, Twilight’s sword hanging lazily in one hand. “Sonata, does that snake look familiar to you?”

Sonata eased forward and looked over Aria’s shoulder. She gasped. “That’s the snake that tried to bite us when we went to steal the Crystal Heart!”

Sunset’s eyes flew open as she took a second look at the snake. She had only seen it once, but it had been coiled around the same heart the Sirens has desired. “Jörmungandr!”

“Bless you!” Sonata said.

“You know this snake?” Aria asked.

“You could say I’m familiar with its owner.”

Aria growled. “It’s owner stopped us from getting the Crystal Heart.”

“Which we can all agree was for the best,” Applejack said loudly. 

“More importantly,” Rarity said even louder before Aria could retort, “why was it turned into some monster hiding under the chateau?”

“Maybe it was the spirit of the forest demanding more sacrifices, so it tried to kidnap us poor virgins to place on the altar of the netherworld!” Pinkie cried.

“Bold of you to assume we’re all virgins,” Adagio said.

Rainbow opened her mouth, no doubt to quip, but Sunset raised her voice over her. “Ignoring the fact that Pinkie’s story might have some validity seeing as we’re standing in some occult cave, I say we get the heck out of here before any more weird things happen.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Applejack said, turning for the tunnel. Harbinger overtook her, sparing a single glance over her shoulder before forging ahead.

Fluttershy gently picked up Jörmungandr, draping him over her shoulders and supporting his head.

Aria gave her an incredulous stare. “You’re seriously taking that thing with you?”

“It doesn’t deserve to stay down here where it could starve. And I’m sure it’s owner misses it terribly.”

Actually, she does, Sunset wordlessly remarked. As Fluttershy moved to join the precession, Sunset plucked the sword from Aria’s grasp. Aria shoved her hands into her pockets and sulked away.

Sunset handed the sword to Twilight who eyed it with dejection before taking and sheathing it. Sunset almost pulled Twilight into a hug but remembered her powers were still active and had no desire to breach Twilight’s soul or do whatever she did to Fluttershy on her.

She settled for simply asking, “How are you doing?” 

Twilight shook her head. “I just want to go home and sleep.”

“Yeah, I understand.” A flash of light came from atop Sunset’s head, and a wave of exhaustion hit her, causing her to stagger. Twilight caught her by the arm and kept her upright. “Whoa… yeah, sleep sounds really good right now.”

Twilight leaned on her arm as they followed everyone out of the cavern, taking up the rear and separating themselves from Fluttershy and Jörmungandr by at least three people.

“All right, snow boy,” Rainbow said, hovering next to Soarin. “How do you have magic?”

“I could be asking you that same question. More importantly, why do you have horse ears and bird wings?”

“They’re pegasus wings, and I asked you first.”

Soarin put his hands up in a nonchalant shrug. “Don’t know if I’d call it magic, but Harbinger’s been following my family around for generations. We all have some kinda connection to her. She looks out for us and makes sure we stay safe. I guess she was pretty worried about me if she followed me down the mountain.”

“Aww, I wish I had a spirit animal,” Pinkie whined. “I love Gummy, but he never fights evil ghosts to keep me safe. Or does he…?”

“All right, your turn,” Soarin said. “There has to be a rad story behind the glowing and the superpowers.”

Rainbow looked back at Sunset. Sunset rolled her eyes and nodded her head. No point in keeping secrets now.

“It’s kinda a long story,” Rainbow said. “Basically, Sunset came from another world and brought magic here, and now we all have it because we’re awesome and represent the aspects of friendship! I mean, the superpowers are still kinda new. Before, we could just get together and shoot a super rainbow laser.”

“Man, that has my story beat by a mile,” Soarin said with a grin. “I’m guessing the monster attacks are new too?”

“Seriously, the hell was up with that?” Aria asked. “One second, I’m minding my own business, the next thing I know, snake boy has his fangs in me!”

“I don’t know,” Sunset said with a frown. “Someone with access to a lot of dark magic corrupted a snake of all things and left it here. More importantly, it’s a snake some of us are familiar with.”

“And didn’t Tempest have it last?” Twilight asked. Her voice was low and tired, but everyone heard her question clear as day.

Rarity looked over her shoulder. “You think Tempest set this up as a sort of trap? How would she know we were going to be out here in the first place?”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the Sirens.

Adagio didn’t bother looking back at her. “Get off our case! We told you before, we don’t even know who Tempest is!” 

“Call it a magical feeling,” Applejack said, “but I’m near positive she’s telling the truth.”

Sunset slowly exhaled. If anything, that only concerned her more.

*******

Moondancer gently rolled the crystal sphere in the palm of her hand. It had gone dark after Pinkie Pie flung what looked like a firework straight into Jörmungandr’s face and cut the connection.

“Oh well,” she sighed, idly kicking her feet against the chateau’s chimney. She had done what she had been told. She had gathered data and more from this excursion. A boy with a spirit animal and the Sirens were now allied with the Spectacular Seven.

They certainly grew more interesting by the day. Their magic was not of earth’s, so how was it steadily growing stronger? If they continued to grow, could they possibly…?

Moondancer shook her head. No, they were far too inexperienced. And if the Sirens were still walking about scot-free, the rainbow Moondancer has seen at the Battle of the Bands was no better than the fabled Rainbow of Light. 

Besides, if they fought Tirek, Twilight would get involved, and Moondancer still wanted to believe she could avoid that future.

“I’m sorry to give you such a fright, Twily,” she said, remembering the abject terror in Twilight’s eyes when Jörmungandr stared her down. “Though, you already hate me, don’t you? What does it matter now?”

She looked up to the moon and stars twinkling overhead. “So, this is what I do now? Hide in the shadows and spy on would-be heroes?” She shook her head. At least she got to get some fresh air outside the manor. She supposed she ought to enjoy it. Who knew when Tempest would return.