//------------------------------// // Ch. 57 Digital World // Story: The Gaps in F r i e n d s h i p // by Arcanum -Phantasy //------------------------------// Eerie silence filled the dimly lit halls of Lily's dungeon, no sign of the girl that should be wandering them to be found. At least, none that could be seen at an initial glance. A faint shimmer could be seen peeking out from around a corner, the flowers beneath it flattening under unseen feet. It slowly moved around the corner while hugging the wall. Derpy nervously bit her lip as she tried to stay as quiet as possible while her barrier kept her body from being effected by light. While not true invisibility, it was the closest thing her magic could manage. She made sure to activate the spell the second she woke up in the labyrinth, sure that Lily would use the fact that she was alone as a way to take her out. A pretty sound strategy considering what she knew her friends were capable of. Granted, most of the information she had was based on boasts or hearsay from her friends, but even if they were half as strong as they claimed they could still do a considerable amount of damage. It also made her worry even more about them now that she wasn't there to watch their backs. Please be safe everyone, she thought, her pony ears twitching as she scanned for even the slightest sounds. Her thoughts quickly jumped to Sunset and how she was probably handling this situation. An image of the the girl turning a portion of the maze into an ocean of flames as she made walked proudly forward entered her mind. Her face turned just as hot as those flames as she gulped. It was insane to think that a girl as amazing as Sunset was her girlfriend. She was pretty, strong, talented, smart and so much more while Derpy was just...not. While she didn't think she was that bad looking, she knew that her eye was a major obstacle to get around if she was going to find anyone that would give her a chance to be more than friends. Her hacking skills were a huge point in her favor, but those could only attract certain types of people towards her. People that she didn't really want to associate with if she could help it. Aside from that, she didn't have much to offer when it came to finding a significant other. She wasn't very athletic or talented outside of a computer room and she had the fashion sense of a drunk donkey. She knew that she was more on the cute side with her messy yellow hair that refused to stay put and baby face, but that didn't get her very far when people saw her eyes. But Sunset didn't seem to care. Sure, she thought she only liked her because she helped her with the Anon-a-Miss Incident, but that changed after their first date in Equestria. She could see that the girl genuinely cared about her and Derpy wanted to do everything she could to protect that. That desire doubled when the two of them shared a very private moment the day before. Just thinking about it made her face burn even hotter, but also steeled her resolve to get back to the Equestrian. Her pace doubled as she thought back to what happened that day and the promises they made. *** "It's finally over," Sunset sighed, her stride more sluggish than usual as she plodded out of the school. "Yeah," Derpy giggled, playfully leaning into her girlfriend's side as they walked. "Now it's time for homework and then training, right?" "Yep," she weakly chuckled as she put an arm around the girl. For a long while, they walked in silence, neither of them willing to end the small moment of quite they had managed to earn. Derpy was on cloud nine to have this moment with Sunset, but the nervous tension that sat under the surface tainted it in a way. She could feel how tense Sunset was as she held her, the way her hand shook as it lightly gripped her shoulder. She understood that the girl was stressed, what with the danger looming over their heads and the CMC missing. Combine that with the "days" they each spent training with their elements to prepare for the inevitable clash to come and it was a wonder that none of them had lost their minds from the strain. It tore her apart to see her girlfriend like this, but what could she do? It wasn't as if she could pull up her computer and type the problem away. This was something that she had to wait and prepare for. A passing glance at Sunset's forced smile lit a fire in Derpy's heart. It all felt so fake, so forced. Like the girl holding her was a really convincing impostor instead of the girl she fell in love with. She wanted her Sunset back. The Sunset that was full of passion and life. The Sunset that looked so out of reach yet was right at her side. The Sunset she saw back in Equestria when they had their first date. Her body reacted faster than her mind for once as she dragged Sunset into a nearby alley and pinned her to a wall. Sunset blinked widely at the girl, the shadows of the alley hiding them from view as Derpy glared into her eyes. She was going to get her girlfriend back no matter what she had to do to do it. Before she lost her nerve, she locked lips with the stunned girl. Sunset let out a startled squeak, then moaned lightly as she leaned into the kiss. For that moment, there was no great battle or mission that they needed to prepare for. Just them and a growing fire between them. When Sunset broke the kiss, a pang of disappointment filled her only to be replaced by confusion at what she saw in the other girl's eyes. The light blue orbs shined with desire, but also fear as they locked with hers. Sunset's gasping breaths rattled with the two waring emotions just as much as her arms as they held her close. "S-Sunset?" she squeaked. "W-Why did you do that?" Sunset gasped, her jaw clenched tight as she held Derpy against her. Determination flared back into her as she leveled a glare at the fiery teen. "Because I wanted to!" Sunset blinked at that and was about to say something, but Derpy cut her off. "Everything's been so crazy lately, but I knew that would probably happen when I decided to stay with you. Hell, I knew that was a possibility when I talked my folks into letting you live with us. I went all out to save you and I knew that was going to be hard, but do you know whats harder?" Sunset shook her head, stunned into silence by the girl's nerve as she talked. A trembling smile crept onto Derpy's face as she leaned in, their noses separated by a sliver of space as the light gray teen whispered, "Seeing you so scared." Sunset's eyes widened before a defeated smile formed on her face. Derpy pressed her forehead against her's, her golden orbs lost in Sunset's light blue ones. The trembling remained, but it was more from restrained desire than fear as Sunset held her close. The half-Dragon's perpetual warmth thrummed through her lover with the beat of her heart as they held their position, the sensation filling the human girl with comfort beyond anything an electric blanket to could hope to do. Sunset let out a small chuckle and said, "So this is what its like." "Huh?" Derpy blinked. "Usually I'm the one that makes the moves. When did you get to be the bold one?" "Guess you're rubbing off on me," Derpy winked. "Tell me about it," Sunset groaned, her grip tightening slightly before quickly loosening. "You first," Derpy frowned. "What's got you so nervous?" "You mean, besides the obvious?" Sunset frowned, raising a brow. Derpy nodded slowly. Sunset sighed and said, "You know I'm half dragon, right?" "Yep!" she smirked. "Well," Sunset continued, her lips pursed and hips fidgeting as she struggled to get her words out. "One of the side effects of me taping into my new magic is that it makes me more Dragon and Dragons are really greedy." "I think you told me about that," Derpy nodded. "Does that mean you're gonna start stealing things and turn giant?" "I wish," Sunset snorted. "No. I've got enough pony in me to keep that from happening. It's a....different kind of greed." "What kind?" Sunset gulped, her arms trembling as she seemed to be fighting against them before she shakily said, "W-When Dragons find mates, they get really possessive of them. It's bad for Drakes, but its even worse for Dragonesses. W-When they get together, they try to make a nest and.....make eggs." Derpy blinked at that, then her face turned bright red as she asked, "D-D-Do you want to do that with...me?" "Well, we kind of already did that," Sunset chuckled, her shaking a little less intense. "The difference was that I had almost no magic in my system beyond what I needed to live. Now, I'm at full power and a lot stronger than I was before. I have a lot more Dragon in me and they aren't know for being gentle." "O-Oh," Derpy gulped. "H-How bad is it?" "I want to pin you to the wall, tear your clothes off, and do unspeakable things to you for hours," Sunset groaned. Derpy always wondered what she would look like if she was bright red instead of light gray, now she knew as she stared at her reflection in Sunset's eyes, a veritable hurricane of dirty thoughts running through her head. Part of her wanted to see if her girlfriend could back up that claim, but the more rational part of her mind knew that was a massively stupid idea. That went double when she remembered what apparently happened to Sunset's father. That was probably a damn good way to go, but Derpy was not in a hurry to see the afterlife quite yet. Good thing she wasn't an ordinary girl anymore. "Do you think it'd be that easy?" she smirked, nuzzling her nose against Sunset's Sunset shivered. "Th-That's not the only thing," she stammered. "I'm...worried about you." "Me?" Derpy blinked. "Why?" "We're going to be going up against some killer monster soon," Sunset sighed. "What if something happens to you? What if you get hurt? What if you d-" Derpy cut her off with another kiss, this one a lot less fierce than the first as she leaned into her. The gray teen sported an impish smile as their lips parted, a playful confidence shining in her eyes that matched the shock in Sunset's. "I won't let that happen," Derpy whispered, resting her forehead back against Sunset's. "We will get through this. No one's going to die. You got that?" Sunset gave a reluctant nod, but that wasn't good enough for her. A glint on the floor caught her attention. A quick and stupid plan entered her mind, but it was just the kind of thing she needed to get her point across. In a blur of motion, she got out of Sunset's near frantic grip, grabbed the broken knife off of the ground, and stood five feet deeper into the alley. Sunset blinked dumbly at her for a few seconds only for a look of pure terror to take its place when Derpy held the blade of the knife over her open palm. Derpy kept her confidant smile as she channeled some of her magic into the open palm. Still staring at Sunset, she jammed the knife into her hand. Sunset yelped, reaching towards the girl with the expectation of seeing blood come out of her hand. What she saw instead made her freeze. A gentle golden glow surrounded the hand, the knife's blade shattered where it made contact with it like brittle glass. Derpy giggled and threw the blade back onto the ground, hand still glowing as she casually walked back towards Sunset. "I'm not defenseless babe," Derpy smiled, gently grasping Sunset's outreached hand with her shielded one. "I can defend myself if I need to." "B-But-" Sunset stammered, only to pause as Derpy cupped her cheek with her free hand. "Tell ya what," Derpy giggled. "Let's protect each other. That way, you don't have to put all of the weight on your shoulders and I don't have to watch the most important girl in the world tear herself apart." "Th-The most important?" Sunset stammered, face turning bright red at that as she stared deeply into Derpy's eyes. "Well," Derpy giggled. "There's still Dinky sooooo." Both girls giggled at that, only to share loving smiles as it winded down. "So, do we have a deal?" Derpy asked softly. "Yeah," Sunset smiled. "You know," Sunset added. "You're kind of like a knight." "H-Huh?" Derpy blinked. A wicked smile spread across Sunset's face as she quickly pulled Derpy into her arms. "You try to help people when they need it the most and you keep jumping straight into the dragon's den." "Except the princess I'm saving is the dragon," Derpy smirked, giving Sunset a playful peck on her neck. "Yeah," Sunset shuttered. "Doesn't fix our current problem though." "True," Derpy giggled. "But I think there's a hotel not far from here." "But-" "I can make the shield cover more than just my hand," Derpy said with a hungry smile. "Now come on dragon. I wanna go for a ride." *** A pleasant chill ran down her spine, the memories of what happened that day nearly distracting her enough to dispel her barrier. That was without a doubt the most wild five hours of her life and she wondered how Sunset planned to top it in the future. Hopefully they won't have to explain why there were claw and scorch marks all over the room next time they had a moment. A bit of drool made it past her blushing smiling face before she shook her head and wiped her lip. Stay focused. You can gush about your literally smoking hot girlfriend later. Right now you need to try not to get yourself killed. Nodding to herself, she doubled her efforts to keep track of her surroundings. A wise decision as a rancid energy started to surround her. The feel of it made her sick on a level she never experienced before, almost like something was tainting something somehow sacred to her. A strange wind passed through the halls, its taint sending a slight burning sensation through her wings in spite of the barrier surrounding her. A part of her said that she should be scared, that the wind was deadly to someone like her. Instead, a great rage moved her forward, the burn in her wings guiding her towards where she needed to go. Her false eye glowed gold as the magic powering it sprang to life to reveal what she instinctively suspected. Moving like a vaporous serpent through the halls was a jet black energy riding on the breezes. It wasn't the only one of it's kind either. There were over a dozen of them, each coiling and twisting across the walls and ceiling like gaseous ivy. Eyes narrowed, she followed them further into the maze. At the same time, she mulled over what kind of spells she would need to use when she found the source. While she did have some level of offensive ability, it was far weaker than what the rest of her party were capable of. That was a fact that she didn't need her magic eye to tell her given how much magic she could sense coming off of her friends recently. This meant that she would need to focus on how she used her spells as opposed to how big she made them. Just like Kindness said, she thought as she rounded a corner. Finesse over power. After a few dozen forks she came to a long hallway that led to a brightly lit room. The trails of noxious energy writhed from the doorway like a great demonic sea anemone. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and deactivated the magic effecting her vision. When she opened her eyes again, the trails of darkness disappeared, but their presence was felt against her wings. Seeing little point, she also dispelled her stealth barrier and marched forward. Soon, she made it past the threshold into a massive arena with much brighter versions of the same flowers from the halls growing from the floor and ceiling. What she saw standing at the heart of the arena put her on high alert, at least ten different spells already prepped and ready to spring into action at a moments noticed. The creature was at least eight feet tall and humanoid in shape, but that was as far as the similarities went. It's body looked as if it was made of gray storm clouds cut into a crude female shape with long almost skeletal shaped arms and legs made from the same substance. It's hair was a constantly moving mass of black smoke that seemed to sway and shift as if it was in a constantly changing breeze. It had no mouth or visible nose with a pair of glowing blue orbs where its eyes should've been. Unless the hazy mass of cloud the made up it body was covering them, the creature lacked any kind of clothes as far as Derpy could tell. In a lot of ways the creature reminded Derpy of a scarecrow someone would put up for Halloween, a fact that brought a small smile to her lips as she imagined a cluster of birds taking roost on its arms and shoulders. The creature's eyes narrowed into glare at that before it said in an echoing and undeniably female voice, "Do you find something amusing, child?" "Maybe," she shrugged. "Names Derpy by the way." "Well Derpy," the creature chuckled. "My name is Venta." "Venta, eh?" she frowned, tilting her head. "How do you spell that?" "V-" Before she could move past the first letter, a transparent glowing wall of light fell down on her from seemingly nowhere. Derpy smiled as she cut off the magic maintaining the wall, a faint flash coloring the arena as it disappeared. "Never mind," she giggled. "I'll just Google it later." "Indeed," Venta's voice intoned, the voice seeming to come from the walls themselves. "A valiant effort child, but such tactics won't work on me." A cold breeze wafted through the arena as the same rancid energy she felt before stared to spread through it. She wasted no time activating her eye's full capabilities and what she saw put her further on edge. Dark wisps of energy flew through the room, riding the currents the seed generated with her twisted powers. As the wisps converged in the same place the seed had been a moment ago, a wild build up of her dark energy gathered above the teen. A thunderous roar filled the arena as a ferocious whirlwind dropped down on her. Venta watched her handy work with the closest thing to a smile her mouthless face was capable of. No mortal short of her mistress' nemesis could survive such a vicious attack. What appeared to be a tornado was in actuality a mass of grinding air currents spiraling into the ground. Even now, she could feel her attack tearing apart the arena's floor like a great drill. A small bit of revenge against the girl, but one best served with the kind of ruthlessness her mistress would expect from her. A small chuckle made it past her nonexistent lips as she enjoyed her victory, before an odd sensation took that sense of accomplishment away from her. She could feel a kind of resistance at the heart of her attack, like something was pushing back against it from within. Her eyes widened as a sudden surge from the heart of the tornado tore it apart from the inside out, a solid cube of transparent golden magic taking its place. At its center stood Derpy, the girl sporting a cold glare, but otherwise showing no sign that the seed's attack had any effect on her. Venta met her glare with a look of calm acceptance, the seed now seeing that this might be a more challenging fight than she initially thought. "Impressive," she intoned. "Take pride in knowing that you are the second human to ever withstand my first strike." "I'll take note of that," Derpy nodded. "Maybe I'll brag about it to my girlfriend when this is all over." "You talk as if you will win this," Venta "frowned". "Or that your lover will as well. How do you know she is not already dead?" Derpy chuckled. "Sunset's too tough to die here." Then, Derpy pointed her glowing palm at the seed and with a cold glare added, "And I'm not going to either." "What a coincidence," Venta chuckled, pointing her own palm at the girl. "I don't plan to either." https://youtu.be/z6PYAkXO-bU They stared each other down for a few long minutes, neither breaking eye-contact as they mulled over what kind of attacks they could launch. Venta was the first to test the waters as she fired a thin curved wave of dark wind at the girl. Derpy wasted no time launching her own counter attack as she conjured a pair of square gold energy walls at each Venta's sides and mentally ordered them to collide. They slammed together with a thunderous boom, but that barely registered to her as Venta's attack sliced clean through her barrier. She barely managed to duck under the attack in time. When she looked back to where the seed stood, her eyes widened at what they saw. The seed stood with the two magic walls perfectly dividing her down the middle, as if they were nothing more than holograms to her. She chuckled, then slowly stepped forward through the walls towards her opponent. "No wall can stop me," Venta said, a smile audible in her tone. "My body is the wind and the wind is free to go where it pleases." "We'll see about that," Derpy grimaced. Venta giggled, then stopped ten feet away from the girl before pointing her palm at her to release a dense swarm of air blades towards her. Prepared this time, Derpy increased the strength of her barrier and added three more reinforced layers to it just to be sure. Her efforts were not in vain, the shield's first layer easily deflecting the attack with next to no damage. Derpy smiled at that, only for it to shrink slightly as the seed resumed its slow walk. Chuckling, the wind monster raised a hand up above her head and summoned another air massive air drill onto Derpy's defenses. She grunted in pain, the strain forcing her to her knee as she fought to maintain the shield. "Poor child," Venta cooed, her form easily phasing through the wall. "Nothing can withstand the power of the wind." As she said that, she passed through Derpy's second shield. Derpy let out a pained groan as the agony of Venta's attack brought her to her hands and knees. The seed stood in the gap between the second and final barrier to watch the girl, a part of her relishing in Derpy's suffering while the other felt pity for her. Why such a young one would even try to stand against her mistress was beyond her understanding. Such a thing was impossible and foolish to the extreme. The Archwraith was ruthless, fearless, and had killed much stronger opponents dozens of times in the past. In a way, she was doing the girl a favor in ending her fruitless quest. At least she would be merciful enough to give her a swift death, a curtesy her mistress gave to none that crossed her. Slowly, the seed reached towards the girl, ready to end her with another flurry of air blades. A searing heat shot through her claws the second they touched the final barrier, forcing her to jump back. At the same time, a cubic barrier surrounded her air drill before it suddenly shrank to the size of a marble and exploded. She looked up at the display with wide eyes, only to just as quickly shift her gaze back towards Derpy as she rose to her feet with a shark-toothed grin. "My magic's pretty basic," she chuckled. "I can make barriers, so offense is a bit tricky for me to pull off, but that doesn't mean it's off of the table for me." As she said that, the barrier surrounding her took on a slightly orange tint. A sharp spike in temperature was the only other change Venta noticed before Derpy pointed a palm at her. "Type two: Fire Wall." Venta's eyes widened in realization before the wall blocking her path flew forward at breakneck speed. A pained wail shot out of the seed's nonexistent mouth, the wall searing into her body as it propelled her to the other end of the arena. Her screams tripled in volume as the wall pressed her against the wall, the flames of the shield devouring her. Derpy added more power to her attack, the wall pressing the seed even harder against the arena's perimeter wall. "No!" Venta snarled, a black crystal appearing in her hand. "This will not be my end! Cursed child! I WILL SHOW YOU THE FURY OF THE STORM!!!" With that, she rammed the crystal into her bony leg. A massive spike in power blasted the wall apart, forcing a pained scream and stagger out of Derpy. Before her eyes, the seed's body turned into jet black cloud. Bolts of lightning shot out of the shapeless mass as it quickly grew, it towering over her by a mighty twenty feet as it slowly started to take shape. The cloud matter shifted into a wispy cloak while the new creature's body was a massive skeleton made of lighting. Venta's head was the feature that stood out the most to Derpy. It was a ram's skull, hateful balls of lightning taking the place of eyes as she stared down at her with the fury of a storm demon. Derpy stared up at her, determination burning in her heart and eyes. This was the kind of world she signed up for when she became Sunset's friend. Now that she was her girlfriend, she would stand proud against this monster with no regrets. Sunset was her dragon and she her knight. No. She was Sunset's stronghold. "Come on!" Derpy yelled defiantly. "Show me what you've got!" Venta roared as she reached for the girl with a massive electric skeletal hand. As soon as it was over Derpy, a waterfall of electricity fell towards her. A cocky smile grew on the teen's face as she shifted the nature of her defenses yet again and created a new wall to replace the one she lost. A faint teal color filled her barrier as the lightning hit it, the walls absorbing it instead of facing it head on. Venta eyed her in confusion only to be met with a wider smile from the girl. "Type seven: Storm Proofing." The seed let out a furious roar as she took a swipe at the girl's barrier, the electricity in her attack mostly nullified while the force covered them with cracks. A pained grunt made it out her as she restored the shields and added power to reinforce them. Venta screamed in fury and began to pound on the shield, wild air drills and blades raining down onto the battle field in a furious dance of destruction. Derpy stood defiant of it all, her shields holding well against the brutal assault, her magic gathering inside her for one last spell. Just a bit more......GOT IT! And not a second too soon as at that exact moment Venta had just managed to break through Derpy's shields. She was instantly bombarded by the thundering roar of a raging storm, savage winds and surging lightning frizzing and battering her messy blond hair as she glared defiantly up at her opponent. Venta let out high pitched cry as she swung her fist down towards her, only to freeze as a golden glow surrounded her. Derpy smiled, the storm around her suddenly coming to an abrupt halt as its source was cut off from it. Derpy's smile grew as she felt the seed struggle against her confines. "Type zero: Straight Jacket," she giggled. "It's kind've my best attack. Instead of using a barrier to protect myself, I can trap someone in one. Don't bother trying to talk your way out this one. That barrier is completely one way. No air, sound, or light can come out, but they can go in. At least, they go in heavily coated in my magic. That way, you can't use that to get out. It's also completely inverted! That means the part of it that is meant to block stuff is on the inside instead of on the outside like a normal barrier! Pretty cool, huh?" Venta let out a nervous groan. Derpy sighed, then said, "I really didn't want to use this spell. It's kind of messed up all things considered, but I didn't have any other choice. Please, don't hold it against me." As she said that, she pointed her palm up at the restrained seed, the creature's eyes widening in horror at what she knew was coming. "I'll make it quick," Derpy frowned. "I'm sorry." She snapped her hand shut and a second later the barrier restraining the seed retracted itself out of existence, the seed vanishing along with it as she was crushed. Derpy sighed, then leveled a determined frown at the arena's exit. Hang on Sunset. I'm on my way.