//------------------------------// // Eleven: Mothers And Sisters // Story: Obsidian: Shards Of Sombra // by Randimaxis //------------------------------// Okay, let's take a guess as to what's going on, shall we? Perhaps Mica finally showed up here, and was now arguing with Cupcake after forgetting that he was supposed to be one of the calmest and wisest ponies in the entire gang? But it wasn't; in fact, it wasn't even Mica's voice... added to the fact that Clap had also just used the word 'mom'. Obsidian didn't really have any experience with mothers - she technically didn't even have one of her own, after all. It seemed that somepony finally let the elder Miss Dash know, just as Obsidian had advised. This was gonna hurt, wasn't it? Oh well - no point in prolonging this. Gloomy and anxious, Obsidian trotted into her home. When she opened the door, she saw the current scene: Cupcake was standing between the door and the couch, almost physically shielding Clap from the verbal assault that was coming at them both. His muzzle held a look of fear, but firm determination as he stood gallantly. Thunderclap was sitting upright, and looking a bit better still... but she was still sallow-cheeked, sunken-eyed and weak-looking. Now, worry and distress was quite visible as well. Rainbow Dash, bedecked in a medal-covered flight jacket stood near the center of the room, fury and indignaton writ large over her elder features. She looked about ready to lay waste to anything in her path, just to reach her precious daughter. Tourmaline was eye-to-eye with her, standing at his deceptively impressive full height, and looking just as angry as the mare he was facing seemed to be. Gypsy was not in view, except for his drooping tail that was poking out from behind the couch, shaking nervously as it lie there, not at all wagging. "We've BEEN taking CARE of her since we FOUND her! She's JUST as SAFE here as she would be ELSEwhere!" "She's not gonna BE elsewhere - she's coming home with ME!" "YOU should NOT preSUME to KNOW what's BEST for HER!" "I AM WHAT'S BEST FOR HER!" Cupcake wore a panicked look, as he tried and tried to think of something to say that would make all this better... and failing. Apparently, from what she saw, about the best thing for Madam Dash and her angry presence would be a stun spell. She clearly wasn't in the proper state of mind to discuss anything rational with them here. Oh, come on - they had a sick Thunderclap here; why was everypony doing their utmost best to disturb her? She needed some relaxation! "Silence, PLEASE," she did her best to ask as quiet as possible, though the effect was ruined by her urgency. "Just... come on now, there is really no need for behaving like this!" Dash, hearing her voice, now rounded to face Obsidian. "And YOU! You're the worst part of all this, you worthless piece of trash! If you would have NEVER come here, then my daughter wouldn't be suffering from some cockamamie curse! You're JUST as bad as your father - or maybe worse! Because she thinks the WORLD of you - and now, what does she have to show for it? Some scars, a dead aunt AJ, and now this! I wish you'd never been found, you stupid sack of shadow-shit!" Stalwart Stance lunged between Dash and Siddy, and went muzzle-to-muzzle with her! "YOU WILL DETRACT THAT STATEMENT, RIGHT NOW!" "Bite me, HALF-PINT! She's a LOSER!" And then, Wart struck her. In the stomach. The whole room gasped... but Dash just looked up with a newfound rage. "Oh, it... is... ON!" And she jumped on Wart. The two of them began exchanging blows, slamming hooves into each other as they rolled past Obsidian and out the door. "N-n-n-n-no v-v-vio-v-v-vio-l-l-len-lence!" Came the cry from behind the couch. "MOMMA!" Clap wailed, and jumped up off the couch, running for the door with a wobbling gait. "NO! WART!" Cup yelled. "YES! TEACH that BITCH a LESSON!" Tourmailne cried out with angry gusto. The fighting now outside, Cup looked at Obsidian and came to her. "She's mad, she's angry, she didn't mean it, please don't be upset, she didn't mean any of it!" Now, now, when adults were behaving like this, what were their children going to think? Sadly, Gypsy's cries for peace didn't work - as usually with pacifists, with no argument of power to back their pleas they were simply ignored. Obsidian, however, wasn't Sombra or Onyx - both of them were known for reacting rather badly to insults, while the current situation was almost making Obsidian giddy instead of upset - she wasn't angry at being insulted, but rather pleased at the prospect of actually punishing the ever-egotisical Rainbow Dash. She had to be extra careful and diligent to keep her sadism in check. "Cup, telekinesis, please... I need help to restrain them," she ordered quickly to her coltfriend as she stepped out of the house, intent on moving the two fighting ponies away from each other. Honestly, she was kind of disappointed in Clap's mother. Outside, the fighting continued for a hot minute... then, Cup's aura covered them both, and they were yanked apart quickly. Wart, to her credit, instantly stopped struggling, and even had the sense to look a bit surprised that this had happened to begin with. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was kicking and flapping her wings, fighting to get at Stalwart. "Put me down! I'm gonna MURDER that little stain! Let me GO!" "NO!" Cupcake yelled, and 'that' look crossed his features. "You're being an insipid little child, whose favorite toy has found other playmates, but you INSIST on being the only one to play with it! You come here, into OUR house, blast me with your anger, do Celestia-knows how much damage to Clap's health, and then tell the pony who's trying their hardest to help her that she's a problem!? YOU are the only problem I see here, and I think you should take your rainbow-colored butt HOME! NOW!" With that, he released Wart carefully, and dropped Dash on her face. Cupcake looked positively LIVID, and was breathing quite hard. Dash got up quickly, then pointed a hoof at the lot of them. "Twilight's gonna hear about this! Oh-ho-ho, is she gonna hear about it! And YOU" she pointed at Wart, "are gonna be busted down so low, you won't be allowed to guard a walnut! And YOU" nowpointing at Cupcake, "are gonna GET IT from your MOM when I tell her what you just said! And YOU..." Her hoof now pointed at Obsidian. "STAY THE TARTARUS AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER, YOU BLACK MAGIC BIT-" "Mom... schut up." The silence was so clear, you could hear Gypsy still whimpering inside. "I'm schtaying, Mom. You're out of your head wif worry, and I'm not a foal anymore! I'm friggin' GROWN, Mom! You need to go home, calm down, and think all disch through firscht! You know how you get when yer MAD!" Dash stared at them all for a moment... then, with hatred in her eyes, she took off like a shot into the air, flying at such speeds towards Twilight's Castle that it left a wake of wind that blew leaves down the street. The second she was gone, Thunderclap Dash burst into tears. Obsidian, as it was mentioned, was taking all of this hubbub rather well (at least as long as she wasn't being sadistic - luckily, she was a good girl and was doing her best to flat out ignore more of the stupid ideas she sometimes had), but hurting her friends was a completely different case. And it seemed as though the elder Miss Dash was doing all she could to anger Obsidian remarkably right now... But first things first. Stalwart didn't seem to be hurt, so Clap was more important right now. Obsidian quickly made her way to the pegasus and applied her emergency hug. "Here, here, Clap... no worries. She'll be fine, given time," Obsidian muttered. Stupid elder Dash. Clap just wrapped her forelegs around Siddy and bawled like a baby. Shortly, they were both embraced by Cupcake, then by Wart... then, haltingly, by Gypsy as well. The lot of them stood there, comforting Clap as best as they could. And just as the moment seemed sweet and safe... "BAH! I wanted to see the little guard imp get her block knocked off!" came the disappointed words from above them. Amethyst, leaned out of her window, made a distasteful face at the love-puddle below. Stupid Amy - she should get punished more often. "Amy, dear, you DON'T want to know what I want to see. Especially as I can quickly turn this dream of mine into a reality." Kittens. There would be little, mewling kittens everywhere.... and among them would stand Amethyst, covered in tuna. Yes, that plan would be quite entertaining... "Whatever," came from above, followed by the ungraceful slamming of a window. At least they managed to get rid of her before she said anything more. Cup chuckled. "Heh, leave it to Amy to put things in perspective, I guess. You... okay, Clap?" Clap nodded, sniffled, then looked up at them all. "I... I love you guysch." "We love you to, Clappie," Cup said as he placed a delicate kiss on top of her head. "Y-y-yes. A-al-a-al-always," Gypsy added. "Undoubtedly," Wart seconded. "You are the best Thunderclap Dash I've ever met - and regardlss of how elusive the solution is, we will help you," Obsidian added. Still, even with all of this cameraderie... there was someone missing, something lacking. "Cup, you didn't find Mica?" "Dash's mom showed up as I was rounding the bend, and asked me if I'd seen her; when I told her where she was, she made a beeline for our place - I was worried. I never got to even get off the next block." Cup stood back and gestured. "C'mon... let's go inside and get Clap out of the weather." Gypsy, Clap and Cupcake all went inside... but Wart stayed where she was. Upon closer examination, she was trembling a bit. At the door, Cup looked back at her, then at Siddy, and raised an eyebrow. Great- that foolish old pegasus didn't hurt Wart, did she? Obsidian practically jumped towards her, already worried, to examine her and apply healing magic where it was necessary. "What's wrong, Stalwart? What ails you? Ribs... chest... oh, please not the head..." "... she'll tell her... and... a-and I'll... I'll be expelled from the Royal Guard..." Stalwart looked at Siddy with fear in her eyes and blood lightly dripping from her snout. "Everything I ever wanted to be... and she'll... she'll make them take it away from me..." She shut her eyes and gave a trembling sigh. Then, just as quickly, she stopped shaking, and looked up with a fierce stare. "... but I would do it again, and again, and a thousand times again, because I will not stand for such horrible things to be said about you. Please tell me you paid her cruel words no heed, Lady Siddy." She straightened her shoulders, then began to walk (with a light limp) towards the house. "If I am destined to no longer be a guard for royalty... then I shall be a guard for my friends. And that will have to sustain me." Obsidian trotted behind Stalwart, casting magic over the obvious pains - her snout, her leg... "Stalwart, I don't pay attention to stupid things, and if anypony would try to expel you for such a triviality as that, then it would mean that these entire, mighty decrees about friendship I've heard from the local ruler are naught more than blatant lies... and I truly don't think the princess would be so dishonest and petty." Wart looked at her with a small, yet bright smile. "Thank you. You are always going to be a Princess to me... and it's times like these that affirm that in my heart." The glow of healing covered her, and Wart sighed with relief as her wounds were dealt with. Giving Obsidian a grateful smile, she held the door open for her. And inside, Cup was busily fussing over Clap, while Gypsy brought another bowl of food from the kitchen. Tourmaline, however, was busy pacing the floor and glaring at it. As if he wanted to KILL it. "Tourmaline? Uhh... maaaaaaybe you should relax a bit," Cup tried, "she's gone now, so-" "FEH!" He said as he turned and nearly bumped into Gypsy as he headed to his downstairs room, huffy and angry. "... well, that was awkward," Cup shrugged. "Obshidian?" Clap asked from where she lay, "I'm shorry about Momma; she getsch mad an' don' thin too good when sche isch." Well, everything seemed to be more or less fine... or at least normal again. "Don't worry about that, Clap; she would have to try much harder than that to make me pay attention to her raving," Obsidian waved a dismissive hoof. "Hmmmm... I do believe we still require Mica's presence, though." "This one c-could fetch him... i-i-if it would be a good id-d-dea?" Gypsy said, trying to be helpful. "Seeing as how I couldn't even get away from home, maaaaaaybe it would be a good idea," Cup nodded, "just don't forget to bring yourself back as well; we need you too, buddy." After all that had just transpired, seeing a light wag return to Gypsy's tail was a good start. He nodded and made his way outside, taking off on all fours towards where he apparently knew Mica to be. "So," Cup turned to the rest of them, "this dream-thing with Luna is gonna happen tonight?" Good thing that Gypsy offered to help - that way, they would get Mica with them sooner AND Gypsy would have something to do to stop worrying about Clap and her stupid mom. That was one thing off of her mind... "Yes, Cup - tonight. I hope she'll be able to help us with this problem..." She looked around a bit; Tourmaline was all riled up and had escaped to his basement, but she wasn't sure if she was supposed to do something about that or not - after all, maybe all he needed was some privacy for a while? "Say, shouldn't we prepare supper for our guests? I'll gladly help... aaaaas long as you'll keep me from accidentially poisoning us all, of course." That's what a proper host should do, right? Serve guests without making them sick? Cup laughed. "Siddy, lovely - I already have most of it done... but if you wanna take care of dessert, then I'd be happy for the help!" However, he also slid up next to her and slipped a foreleg around her middle, snuggling into her neck a bit. While he did, he whispered, "Of course, you might wanna check on Tourmy after you do that; being a big sister means making sure your brother is okay, too... after he cools off, of course." That done, Cup then released Siddy and trotted over to Clap, poured her another cup of tea, and began to fluff her pillows. "Cuppieeeeee," Thunderclap whined, "I'm comfy 'nuff! Leeme 'lone about all dat!" "Nonsense!" he went on, "Everyone can use fluffier pillows!" It was so very good to have a coltfriend that could both curse away a stupid rainbow-maned pegasus mare AND prepare a dinner for everypony in no time. Sometimes, Obsidian tended to feel outright lazy next to him. Wait, since when was she a big sister? The only reason why she had a dominating position in the family to begin with was that she still had her magic! Her family was so strange that the youngest daughter suddenly became a 'big sister'. Wonderful. But enough of that. She could at least check what desserts they could prepare... in fact, when was the last time when they met together, all six, in her house? Too bad that the circumstances weren't a bit happier. Here was her problem: There were a number of different sweets, as well as many, many different ingredients in the kitchen. Fruit, veggies, spices, candies, and other things that she couldn't quite identify by sight or smell alone. There was a veritable cornucopia of stuff in the pantry to make any number of desserts... IF she knew how to make desserts. Granted, Cupcake had taken time to explain and show her what he was doing in the kitchen... now, if she'd been paying enough attention, she might be able to make something after all... Nope. Nope, nope, nope - no more poisoning ponies. She had no idea how different kinds of fruits and candies ended up working with each other, what things were tasty, what was too sweet for an average pony and so on. It certainly didn't help that, until her grand awakening after a thousand-year long nap, she hadn't even eaten that many sweets. Okay - waiting for Cupcake it was, then. She was not going to risk health of her guests, especially as one of them was already sick... well, cursed... sickeningly cursed. Next time when Cup would explain things in the kitchen to her, she would make notes. That would be the easiest way to learn from him, right? The door to the attic opened, and Amethyst made her way into the kitchen. She gave Obsidian a slight look, then a wide berth as she went around her to get to the pantry, where she started rummaging around inside. "So," she spoke with her head in the cupboard, "what in Tartarus was all that about? I mean, if you feel like telling me or something..." Was this an attempt to communicate? Or was it a set-up for some sort of trap or mean joke? "As I'm certain you've noticed earlier, Thunderclap doesn't feel well - Dark Magic, as you've also no doubt noticed. Her mother apparently didn't like the fact that she was here, but instead of discussing it she went full peabrain," Obsidian explained calmly. "That already makes a second parent I'm fighting with... I do hope this won't turn into a habit," she added dryly. Maybe she could make pudding or something? The box of pudding mix had instructions on the back of the package; perhaps even Obsidian could do it without any casualties. "Yeah, I noticed. It's a Viral Curse, and it'll spread like wildfire if left unchecked." She kept rummaging in the pantry, as if she hadn't just put a name to the curse that nobody else had been able to identify. "Did Tourmaline move the jelly so I couldn't have my meat snacks the way I like? I wish I'd killed him sooner; I'd be eating in peace by now." Ha, so they were right about supressing Midnight's magic! At least one of the things they'd come up with seemed to work exactly as they thought! Considering that Amy really hadn't known that they were discussing that little detail, Obsidian would assume it was a truthful bit of advice. "No idea, as I didn't see any jelly since this morning. Besides, he had more firepower before - so it's quite possible he would kill you, not the other way around. Did you spend much time with Peridot, mayhaps?" Obsidian asked innocently. She gave Obsidian a glare for the 'more powerful' comment, but went back to searching anyway. "Peridot? Yeah, I did - we dated for a bit, but that was because he actually enjoyed my company, of course. I mean, we never did anything nasty to each other... but WOW, did we have fun with everyone else!" Standing and turning back to face Obsidian, Amy paused. "Come to think of it, that curse on Slapdash positively reeks of Peri... but he's been dead so long, it couldn't be him." She sighed wistfully, then went to the fridge and buried her head in it, probably still searching for jelly. "So who's been to the Delvar library-thing lately?" Wait. Waaaait... what did she say? They did what? "Dated?" Amy was scary, and Obsidian was still able to forget that little detail from time to time - scary in more than a single meaning. In fact, she could probably twist everything, even the most innocent thing, into its more warped, wicked version... but nope, it didn't matter how much Obsidian thought about it - it still sounded bad. She pulled her head out of the fridge just long enough to give what looked like a small, sad little smile. "Well, that's what I called it; he just humoured me, because I was his favorite sister. What it truly was happened to be more like 'we went out and killed others for fun'; I can remember it now, fondly - Rotting Lung Curses, stabbings, Blinding Curses, flayings, Insanity Curses, bloodletting..." She sighed. "Ah, the good old days are always farther away than you'd like, but still feel so close at times, right?" Catching herself, she poked her head back into the fridge again. "But that was a long time ago; before Onyx took over, before Father sent us away, and before YOU killed our family's future. Just for the record." Now seriously, where was that jelly? Tourmaline didn't have any reason to take it... unless he wanted to do something very strange with Gunther. And Amy's story still sounded rather wicked, but in a more normal sense. Obsidian felt some relief - first, dating siblings? That simply sounded wrong. Second, it could mean that Amy was possibly able to feel love, or at least some wicked version of it. "Insanity curses sound kind of interesting, but the rest probably falls under my definition of 'wasting resources'," Obsidian mused. There had been little to nothing that sounded like it would be useful for a single one of her plans. Granted, messing with minds of her enemies could come in handy... but none of the things mentioned by Amy would help Obsidian with her ambitious plans of researching life and death. "And remember that our father literally turned Onyx into a splash of color on the street; I don't think the rest of us would have a very happy ending in case of his victory. This way, you are at least alive." Hopefully Cup didn't take that jelly - after all, it had close contact with Amy's meat stick; no telling how it affected the taste. "So, how does this viral curse spread? Is it one specific type of curse, or would it be possible to modify other curses to work in this way?" That could be useful... for more than a single reason. Amy paused in her searching, then slowly extracted herself from the fridge, turned to meet Obsidian directly, and shut the fridge door. "Wait. One. Second." Amethyst had a look on her face which spoke of her usual sourness... but there was something else there that didn't quite look right. Something Obsidian couldn't quite put a name to, but it was there. "After everything that you and Tourmaline have been saying to me, and all the times nobody wanted to talk to me, and even with whatever this situation is... are you honestly telling me that, now that I have some sort of USE for you and your little gang of dumbasses, that NOW you want to talk to me?" A scowl set in place on her muzzle. "Even IF I haven't exactly been very 'friendly' to anyone, I kinda thought that either you or someone else in your little Glee Club would even TRY talking to me... but no. Since I've been here, all of you have just been ignoring me or snarking back at my snark. Not a single one of you has even asked if I'M alright after all that happened." She crossed her forelimbs over her barrel. "So, answer me this; why, after being treated like the bastard child nobody wanted, should I even bother to help YOU out... when about all you've done for ME is make sure I'm not sleeping under a bridge somewhere? You think that's fair? You think that's how families are supposed to act?" Obsidian finally figured out the look on Amy's face; it was disappointment. "And everyone says you're the good one; seems to me, you just wanna use me when it's conveinent for YOU. Guess you DO take after Father a bit, after all." Wow. Obsidian raised her hoof and opened mouth to reply, but stopped. For a moment she thought that's because her subconscious was stopping her from saying something stupid, so she tried to come up with a different reply, but still had some problems with it. You should have died instead of Ruby... Die... DIE... Obsidian heard a hateful whisper in the back of her mind. She was irritated... and that wasn't a good thing. Yes, I take after him, thank you for the compliment. Now answer my question, before I outright force you to spill all of your secrets! I could have killed you, I had so many opportunities to do it, and nopony would bat an eye at another body during Onyx's coup, so OBEY ME.... Even Stalwart told Obsidian that she was not average - then perhaps it was the right time to stop trying to act like an average mare? She defeated her father and forced two of her siblings to join her - she was practically a hero of Equestria already! She shouldn't have to deal with stupid things like elder Dash or Amy's complaining. "I don't really know how families are supposed to act - especially ours. I think that there could be an unconscious bias because you and I had a rather more violent history than the one I had with Tourmaline," Obsidian lowered her voice. After all, Tourmaline only tried to kill her... and at least had talked with her in a non-threatening manner before their father's defeat. You are the one who's behaving in a creepy way, as you didn't show a single sign that you want to do anything with us, and as far as I'm concerned, keeping you here is the kindest thing I can do with you - even it if drives me kind of CRAZY because I'm still afraid of you and each time when something bad happens I'm worried that I'll find a knife in my back, literally or metaphorically... "I'm not exactly good with other ponies, either. The fact that, as you said, everyone says I'm the good one just makes everything easy for me," It was practically cheating; sometimes she felt as if she was 'being good' only because it was the simplest way. There are times when I get thoughts, plans and ideas that really don't fit the mentality of the good pony that everypony thinks I am, but they are there and they fit ME. I'm always afraid that, just as you said, I take after Father... not just a bit, but a lot. And that one day, everypony will notice that simple fact and reveal that I'm just an impostor, a cheater that by sheer dumb luck found herself on the winning side, and that I don't deserve their trust, don't deserve their friendship - and that I won't care about it at all, because they will be RIGHT. I'm quite the accomplished actress, hm? I bet I could simply use Cupcake and leave without caring one bit about his feelings... ... sigh... "I assure you... I'm really trying to do my best, but it's apparently not enough. I'm... a damned terrible pony; I know I often make mistakes, but I can at least try to correct them, yes? Especially as you inform me about them. Incidentally, I've got a kind of... gift for you today..." And right now I'm acting as if you are right because that's how a good pony should react... "No, sister. I don't think it's fair, and I'm sorry about that. I'm simply not sure if I'll be able to fix the problem before I can stop worrying about this whole mess with Clap's curse and so on..." Amethyst stared at her for a moment... then, with a huff, her look of disappointment redoubled. "Are you serious? No angry words? No yelling? Not even a slap to my muzzle? You have GOT to be kidding me!" Now she stormed forward, and with some of the speed she'd shown before as Onyx's stooge, she was just THERE, right in front of Obsidian, almost snout to snout with her. "By Darkness, they ARE changing you! And not for the better - but for the worse! You, Obsidian, are turning into a snivelling, whining and apologetic coward! I come at you with such fierce anger, and all you can do is APOLOGIZE!? Why don't you GET MAD? Scream at me to SHUT UP? Put a hoof into my gut or my face for being such a BITCH?" She stood upright, and looked down on her. "You're supposed to be some kind of Grey Magic specialist, right? If that's so, then you're losing your Dark Side, Obsidian. You're letting all the namby-pamby Light siders swallow you up, and leaving nothing for your darkness to hold onto. Soon, you'll be just as stupid and shallow as THEY are... and when the time comes that you have to pull from the Dark Side of you, you won't be able to... and you'll fail everyone." She gave an angry huff of a sigh. "Darkness is all I have left that's completely mine anymore. You? You don't even have THAT. I pity you, because you never even realized that I've been trying to reach that delicious darkness inside you..." She turned and headed for the attic door again. "... but I think you killed it with kindness. Now, go watch your friends die because you won't force me to tell you what I know; it might even be good for you, stupid..." Obsidian decided, right then and there, that Amethyst didn't deserve any pudding. "STOP... RIGHT... THERE." Obsidian didn't play or try to be subtle - she simply lit up her horn and took firm hold of Amy's tail; she either stopped, or left without it. "Amy, dear-heart... I think you've mistaken me for somepony else. Tell me, when was the last time you ever witnessed me getting truly angry? When have I even struck anypony? Why then, praytell, should I reply to this, er... 'fierce anger' of yours with an aggressive and enraged reaction, hmmm? Even when I was still naught more than hosting Father's Dark Magic, I wasn't truly that violent. What's next - mayhaps you'll be surprised that I don't particularly like flaying others alive?" Under all the bravado and of all things that Obsidian could do, she was exceedingly afraid she would end up using others. Manipulating them. Hurting their feelings. Even at her very worst, she really wasn't all that violent... Well, okay - Onyx was an exception, but Obsidian had PLENTY of reasons to go lethal with her - including the fact she'd wanted to use so many other ponies to bring back their Father on HER terms. It eventually backfired on poor Onyx, but Obsidian had no idea about it at the time. "This anger of yours is not even worthy of me lowering myself enough to be upset in any manner over it. Right now, you have actually inadvertently cheered me up; I was afraid that soon I'd be rid of the whole annoying 'Light Magic' thing - but here you are, telling me that I'm about to lose my Dark Magic. On an average between the two states, it probably means I'll be able to maintain that unstable mishmash of Grey Magic... so thank you, Amy. It was a very..." She stepped closer to her sister. "... illuminating..." Another step. "... discussion." Right now she was practically breathing in Amethyst's face. Obsidian's horn flashed once again... and using magic, one of the copies of their 'family portrait' floated its' way over to Amy. "Here. I've made a copy of this for you; do with it whatever you want to. You're welcome, o dear sister of mine..." Get mad? Hah - good one. To get mad, she would have to stop being mad in the first place, at least for a single, solitary moment without self-deception or weak-willed acceptance! Amy's smile spread across her muzzle like a stormcloud rolling in. "Now THAT is more like it! Maybe there IS still some fire in you, as low as you've allowed it to gutter... but at least it's better than the whiny little brat seated at the table three seconds ago!" She took the drawing... and stared at it for a moment. "Hmmp. And here I thought I'd never see Diamond's work again." With a shrug, she looked back at Obsidian. "Not worth getting angry over, you say? So, even after my poking and prodding, you honestly think I'm not getting to you? That you're 'in control' of your feelings? That you just think you can maintain your 'greyness' without any problems?" Her smile turned cold. "By all means, thank you for the picture... though I prefer the look on Ruby's muzzle when I threw my blade into her, honestly." Obsidian had no idea whether she should laugh or cry at the attempt Amy just made; the poor mare tried so much that it was cute - in its' own, Amethyst-y way. She could just laugh at Amy, or perhaps facehoof... deadpan, whatever - just no reaction seemed to be similar to any emotion that Amy tried to instill in her. If not for Amy's pathetic whining just a moment before, all about how she wasn't accepted, blah blah blah and so on... maybe it would have worked. Right now, however, Obsidian faced so much internal monologue that she almost felt drained because of it, and one of the first thoughts she had was actually about Ruby... Amy couldn't possibly have seen Ruby's face when she made that throw; she was facing Obsidian and not Amy. What's more, she threw her blade at Obsidian... and it was done at no short distance. Immediately after the throw, Ruby had teleported them away. There was just no way she could have seen it. Obsidian deadpanned. "I do love you sister... and I care about you, even if sometimes I can't express that properly," she said eventually. But you reeeeeeally don't quite know how to hit my buttons yet, thank you very much. Did you think that I was so merciful that I spared you, perchance? Quite the contrary; at that moment, I was the most sadistic creature I could imagine... "Perhaps next time, we could go together to the day spa? You know, as sisters? There is no possible way you would still feel alienated afterwards, as this place is simply marvelous. And afterwards, some ice cream; there is no pony alive that doesn't like ice cream, so I think it would be the perfect way to finish this small jaunt before returning home." The smile dropped, and Amy's muzzle wrinkled in a scowl. "FEH," she said, and headed for her door again. However, when she reached it, opened it and began to step upstairs... she paused, her back to Obsidian. "Peridot's Viral Curse doesn't affect the magic of the victim... it affects their dreams. Which means that whoever the infected one dreams about, that will be who catches it next. And the process repeats every time an infected victim goes to sleep. He slaughtered an entire village with it once... it took about a month, but not a single soul was left alive. It was glorious. And FAR more fun than any 'spa day'." With that, she closed the door behind her and headed upstairs. Heh, her exclamation of sisterly affection was totally worth that look on Amy's muzzle, right here and now. The poor thing just couldn't quite get to her little sister, eh? And she even... even... uhh... Dreams. Infection. Whoever was infected, dreamt of who would catch it next... Uh-oh.