//------------------------------// // A New Plan // Story: Descendants of the Isle // by Melody Song //------------------------------// Tempest lay on her bed, drawing the crown again, while Luna was at a sewing machine, designing something. Celestia was pacing around in the space between the two villain kids. Her mane flowed behind her elegantly, but she was too wrapped up in her pacing to admire it. “Mother says ‘if a boy can’t see the beauty within you then he’s not worth it’. What world does she live in?” Celestia moaned, falling onto Luna’s bed. “Equus?” Tempest suggested uninterestedly. Tempest had now moved from drawing the crown to looking at a light sketch Luna had made of Pharynx, with markings of things like his height, shoulder width, and what colors would match up best against his carapace. “Temp, do you like?” Luna held up the midnight purple dress she was sewing. “Um, yeah. It really brings out your mane.” Tempest said, glancing up briefly. “I’ll never get a boyfriend.” Celestia moaned. “Boyfriends are overrated.” Tempest said, tracing a hoof along the drawing. “And how would you know Temp? You’ve never had one.” Luna said “Neither have you, Lu.” Tempest replied, quickly shoving the sketch of Pharynx under the spellbook so Luna wouldn’t call her a hypocrite. “I don’t need one anyway. They’re just a waste of time.” “...Oh no. I forgot to do Blueblood’s homework!” Luna leapt up and levitated the saddlebags to her, opening them and pulling out the homework. “Case in point.” Tempest said, laughing slightly. The door suddenly opened, and in stepped a blue dragoness. She had blue scales and wings, red eyes, and a tail with a dark blue tuft on the end. The dragoness was holding a bag. “Hey, name’s Ember.” the dragoness, Ember, said. “Daughter of Torch, the Dragon Lord.” when there was no response, she continued. “I love what you did with Celestia’s mane and, well, I know you hate us, but I was wondering... any chance you could work something out for me?” “Why should I?” Tempest asked “I’ll give you fifty gems.” Ember said, holding up the bag. “Good answer.” Luna said, trotting over and lifting the bag from her grip. “I need more materials anyway. Let’s see... we could try some eyeliner, maybe brush up the tail tuft and some highlights on your wing scales…” “Um, no thanks.” Ember pushed her away slightly. “I want to look cool, like Tempest.” “Really? The split ends in her mane too?” Luna asked, and Tempest glared at her. Luna shook the bag, and Tempest sighed. “Fine…” Tempest lifted the spellbook, doing some rewrites on the spot. “Cast this spell, speed up time. Replace the old with cool spines.” Magic surrounded Ember’s body and suddenly, dark blue spines grew from her head, slicked back and pointy. White, curved ram horns came around her face, and diamond shapes appeared on her legs, tail, and forehead. Ember moved to the mirror and stared in shock. Luna came up behind her. “I know, it looks like you have stone scales. You know what, I can fix this. Let’s get you some eyeliner, and-” “No, no, no, no.” Ember stopped her. “I love it!” “You do?” Luna asked "You realize I just sped up what would have occurred naturally from your Molt, right?" “I don't care, it's amazing! Just…” Ember reached back and tore a piece from her tail tuft, creating a notch in it. “Now I’m cool.” “Like ice.” Tempest smirked, as Celestia walked up, then opened her wing, turned, and ripped two outer feathers out with her teeth. She gasped, spitting them onto the floor. “What did I just do? Mom’s gonna kill me!” The others laughed softly, then Ember looked at Luna and Tempest. “How do you know what stone scales and the Molt are, anyway?” “We know a dragon back on the Isle, Smolder. She’s there because her father tried to overthrow the Dragon Lord. Her brother’s a bit obnoxious but she and another friend of ours used to do my mane.” Luna said, running a hoof through her flowing midnight blue mane, lost in thought. “Oh.” Ember looked ashamed, like she hadn’t considered the prospect of dragons on the Isle. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pharynx sat beside Coach Jet Stream on the bleachers, looking through the rulebook he had held in his magic. “I could really use a tough guy like you. The team’s a bunch of princes, if you know what I mean.” Jet Stream remarked “Oh, sure. It’s all ‘oh pardon me ol’ chap’ and ‘oh, terribly sorry, did I bump into you’?” Pharynx mocked. The coach smiled and shook his head, laughing slightly. “Back on the Isle, it’s ‘prepare to die, sucker’!” Pharynx stood up, grinning wickedly. “As my mother says, the only way to win, is to make sure everyone else loses!” he announced, throwing a punch. “Pharynx, Pharynx, easy!” Coach Jet pulled him back down with a wing. “Here, let me explain. A team... it’s, well, it’s like a family.” “You do not want to be at my house at dinnertime.” Pharynx said, shaking his head. It was a struggle just to get love for himself, not to mention his siblings, with their mother eating every bit she could find. “Alright... um... you know how a body has different parts? The elbows, the legs, the ears. But they all need each other. That’s what a team is. Different parts working together to win. Make sense?” he asked, and Pharynx thought for a minute. “...Can I be the fangs?” he asked, baring his own. Coach Jet smiled, passed him a jersey, and clapped him on the shoulder. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pharynx strutted into the girl’s dorm room. Gallus was seated on the ground, Monarch curled up by his side. The griffon was occasionally reaching to stroke him. Tempest was lying on her bed flipping madly through the spellbook while Luna worked on her dress. “Eh?” Pharynx asked, turning in a circle to show off his new jersey. “Hey, nice.” Gallus said, and Pharynx smiled “So, cats ain’t that bad, huh?” Pharynx asked “He’s cute.” Gallus shrugged, stroking the cat behind the ears. “What about you Temp? Your plan with Celestia work?” Pharynx asked, walking to her. “Do you think I’d be going through every spell in this book if it did?” Tempest snapped, and Pharynx sat down beside her. “Sounds like someone’s in a bad mood.” Pharynx remarked “My dad’s counting on me! I can’t let him down!” Tempest cried. Pharynx settled down by her. “Don’t worry, we can do this.” he looked around at them all. “If we stick together.” “And we’re not going back until we do.” Tempest looked up, and they all met her gaze. “Cause we’re rotten-” “At the core.” they all said, then Luna spoke. “Oh, I found out that Rising Dawn inducts Sandbar with her crown for the coronation ceremony and we all get to go. I have nothing to wear, typical.” Luna said, looking up to find them all staring at her. “What?” Tempest was about to open her mouth and berate Luna for not mentioning it earlier, but there was a sudden knock at the door. “Hold that ridiculously delayed thought.” Tempest said, sliding off the bed and trotting to the door. She opened it to see Sandbar. “Oh, hey.” “Hey Tempest. I was actually looking for Gallus. Since he wasn’t in his room I thought he might be here…” Sandbar glanced in, and Gallus waved a wing at him. “Hey Gallus, you got back okay?” “Yeah.” Gallus said, smiling at him. “So... do you have any questions or anything?” Sandbar asked “Oh, actually we did have one.” Tempest said “Oh?” “Yeah, is it true we all get to go to your coronation?” “Of course, the whole school is invited.” Sandbar smiled “Wow, beyond exciting.” Tempest glanced around at the others, who all smiled as well. “Is there, uh, any chance we could stand up in the front row with Rising Dawn, you know, to soak up all that... goodness?” Sandbar sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish you could, really. But up front it’s just gonna be me, my folks, and my girlfriend.” “Your girlfriend?” Tempest asked, and he nodded bashfully. “Yeah. Sorry to disappoint you…” “Oh, it’s no problem, well, bye!” Tempest then shut the door in his face. “What was that for?” Gallus asked “Why, miss his face?” Pharynx asked, making Gallus blush and shake his head frantically. “Focus.” Tempest said, smirking as she lifted up her spellbook, flipped a few pages, then held it up to show them. “I think it’s time Sandy got a new girlfriend.” “Wait, you want to spell him?” Pharynx sat up “But…” “It won’t be that bad…” Tempest looked down at the book. “According to the book, the spell causes the victim to be attracted to the first creature they see, based on their sexual preferences. So that’s either me or Luna.” “I vote Luna!” Pharynx said, and they looked at him. Pharynx blushed. “I mean, because she’s the one who... uh... is more eager to date a prince…” “Sure…” Gallus snickered, and Pharynx whacked him upside the head. “Will you two focus?” Tempest asked “Come on, it’s getting late. Let’s go see if that door-unlocking spell Lu found works on the door to the kitchen.”