//------------------------------// // Immovable Object // Story: Chronicles of the Spectrum // by Blue_Thunder //------------------------------// The group bid their farewells to each other and departed to their various homes. Dash went to hers and dusted off the camera she'd been using. "Alright, you. Time to get to work." She quite literally wiped off the dust it had accumulated in the time she'd set it down, since Shade seemed to record the encounters himself. She made sure to check the comments of the last video that went up. "'Best fake fight I've seen all year.' 'Hey @RainbowDash20, what are your cam's specs? I wanna get into something like this for myself.' Meh, good luck. 'totally fake who this guy think he is?' Heh. You and me both. Let's see... 'Too powerful! Whats his power level at this point?'" Rainbow could barely hold herself back from laughing. "We know what his source is now, it's only a matter of time before we take him down." She closed her laptop and stretched. "If I want to pull my stunt off, I'm gonna need some peace and quiet..." Rainbow wandered to her balcony and stared out at the dimming sky. "Just a few more hours. Better bundle up..." ~~~~~~~~~ Day 1 The following day, Rainbow abducted Rarity and traveled to Sweet Apple Acres after school. Aj was already doing stretches to warm up. "Hey y'all." "Heya Aj. Feeling better, eh?" "You bet Ah am." Aj threw out several punches and kicks. "Feelin' great, now Ah got mah geode back." She patted her chest where she wore her necklace. "What've ya got planned for mah video next week?" "You're actually going to be taking your video today, then we'll work on your actual video later. For the fake one, Rarity's going to hit you with pieces of wood, and you're going to block." "I'm what?" Rarity asked. "No no no, I did not sign up for that." "I picked you because you had the least strength of all of us. Tied with Twilight, but still. At least she can draw a bow. Besides, we'll be using some older wood for this. Aj?" "Prepped a pile out back like you asked me to during lunch," Aj confirmed. "Sweet!" Dash said, readying her camera and tripod. "Let's go get set up." ~~~~~~~~~ "Alright, Applejack. I'm here as you requested of me. What is it you wanted?" Aj motioned to the scraps of wood. "That big pile o' wood there. Ah need ya to hit me with it. One piece at a time." Rarity glanced down at the pile. "And... What purpose would that serve?" "Well, Ah can't hit mahself with it, Ah need help. An' Appleboom's too young, an' Big Mac's too busy." "That wasn't my question, darling." Applejack waited, taking a slow breath. "Ah lost mah boxin' match. Not because Ah couldn't hit as hard, but because Ah just couldn't take it. This is gonna help to fix that. An' Ah aim ta be the most immovable object this side o' Canterlot." Dash gave an off-camera thumb's up. Rarity sighed, reaching down for one of the boards. A lengthy 2 by 4 with a few holes eaten away. "And, you're sure about this?" Aj nodded. "Alright, then." She stepped to Aj's side and held it firmly. Before she swung, Rarity looked at the camera dead on. "Pay attention, this is important." Rarity looked at Aj's belly and swung. The board broke cleanly over Aj's hardened abs. "Thatta swing, Rarity." Chunks of board flew every which way. Aj wiped off some wood bits from her shirt. "Got any more, or was that all ya had?" "Oh, darling. I'm just warming up." One by one, and with weakening strength, Rarity bashed the boards into Aj's body, each one just about shattering on impact. "My word, Applejack. Do you need a change of shirt? Because I brought one just in case." "Nah, Ah'm good. Ah'm at home, remember. Just gotta go get one. Ah'll be back in just a minute to help clean up." Aj walked off camera as Rainbow followed it for a bit before centering it on Rarity. "That girl's a tough customer, for sure," Rarity admitted, resting her hands on her hips with a smirk. Dash clicked it off. ~~~~~~~~~ "Excellent work, Applejack. But did any of that really hurt?" Rarity questioned. "Not one little bit." Aj looked at Rainbow. "So, if that's the fake, then what's the real deal?" "Well... We know you're strong. Really strong. But I want to find out your limits. Really test what you're capable of. You wanna find out if you're really immovable? Aj tilted her head. "What'd'ya have in mind?" Dash pointed to the hill nearby. "I can run that in just a few seconds, putting me at a real fast speed. I want to know if you can stop me if I ran into you." Applejack nodded. The two practiced their stopping method. After they agreed on a method, Dash ran off for the hills. "You two are crazy, you know that?" "Yeah, well... We're just crazy then." Aj put her leg back and braced against the ground, putting her hands out solid in front of her. "Any second now..." A faint blur of color appeared on the hillside through the trees. The next moment, Dash slammed against Aj's guard with all the power she could generate. A colorful shockwave erupted from the block as Aj's legs tensed and broke the ground beneath them. Rarity flew back and rather far away due to the shockwave. As Rainbow's momentum halted all at once, Aj relaxed, letting Dash return her feet to the ground. "Now that was something else!" Rainbow commended. "I'll come by over the next few weeks and keep up your ability. No slacking off, you hear?" "Not on your life, RD. You best give your all." Aj walked over and helped Rarity to her feet, making sure she was alright. Rarity regained her composure and gave Aj a look over. "Your clothes are absolutely torn to shreds! Inside at once!" Obliging, never really caring for her outward appearance, Aj disregarded how bad her clothes took the full speed tackle from Rainbow. ~~~~~~~~~ Day 5 That tuesday lunch break, Rainbow brought her laptop to school and made sure to upload the video of Rarity breaking boards over Aj's abs. "I tell ya, she was really swingin', even for her," Aj admitted. "Felt all o' them." "Oh, don't give me so much credit. Strength is your power, not mine. Speaking of, what will I be doing for my video?" Rarity asked. Rainbow took a moment to make sure the video was online. "Huh? Oh right. Rarity's next. Hmm... Well, you already made a lot of crystal stuff... And looking back at the comments, it was taken pretty good." "Received well," Twilight corrected. "Whatever," Rainbow scoffed. She sipped her drink and added, "If I were to have you do more... I'd ask you to make something... big. Like... Real big... Maybe... Decorate the gym with as much crystal stuff as you can? I knw it's more of the same and all, but I mean... Where do you go from making crystal things?" "I did say I could make them any color... Hmm..." Rarity thought. "But... What if I could change their hardness? Back at camp, those vines nearly broke through my shield, and it was crystal." Twilight mentioned, "Yeah, and those were just vines, right? Density should absolutely be your next step. For the real video, though. Definitely do the decorating thing for the fake one." Rainbow inquired, "Now, since Pinkie's the usual party planner, I'd want her to have a say in what goes where. Pinkie? Can you be in the gym next sunday? She's gonna need this week to train on getting the colors right first try." "No problem~" Pinkie replied. "Ooh, that means I'm after her, right? Who's gonna be my partner?"