//------------------------------// // Mission Pony-Possible // Story: Equestria Girls: Love Is Magic // by onekface //------------------------------// Chapter 71: Mission Pony Possible (House by the hill) “Alright people, listen up.” Sunset announced as the Rainboom gathered around the living room. Normally she’d be grateful to have all her friends visit her place. But unfortunately it was not in better circumstances. “We have a mission on our hand and it’s a big one.” Rainbow Dash unsurprisingly cheered in excitement. “Yes! Finally! A new adventure for the history books. I’ve been waiting for this. What is it this time? Are we delving into another castle to fight off an ancient evil? Destroy a cursed relic from turning the world into a barren wasteland? Or are we finally going to take down Neighsay?” Twilight cocked a brow in return. “Uh… none of those.” Rainbow slumped. “In fact. This new mission will have us working together with the Order of the Black Stone.” “I still find that name rather bland.” Rarity commented. “Whoever invented it must’ve been a rather dull fellow.” “Totally!” Pinkie squealed. “Like… just because they’re from a super-old company that use these black gemstones, they should’ve chosen something more colorful. Like the Silver Swans! The Pink Piñatas! The Fluffy Wombats!” “Whoa whoa.” Applejack paused. “Hold up. Since when were we chummy with the other group? Weren’t they like… the bad guys in this story? I mean did you guys forget that they tried to mind control all the rich folks in the city?” “And Cinch tried to drain the magic off of us?” Fluttershy followed shivering. Their fears and doubts were understandable. This was a complete 180 of what they were doing after all. You can’t expect to have your enemies come for dinner and sing together after they tried to hurt you, twice now. “I know it’s a little unconventional.” Sunset nodded in agreement. “But this is an important assignment.” She signaled Twilight to bring over a blackboard plastered with photos. “According to Neighsay’s information, someone or something caused the earthquake that shook the whole city the other day. And the origins of it came from Everton Academy.” “That school Twilight never stops talking about?” Rainbow snickered. “Hey! I don’t talk about it all the time.” The accused defended. “It’s only the most advance school in the whole country with all manners of equipment and departments that allow you to do your research on every level. It even has a private lab where you can…” Trailing through their stares, she sighed. “Ok… I see it now.” “There’s a good chance that this might lead us to another magic user, but there’s also a good chance it might be a trap set up for us.” Sunset continued. “Therefore we’ll be splitting into two teams. One group will be investigating this magic anomaly while the other team keep watch over Neighsay. Tomorrow will be the school’s fundraising event. So you shouldn’t stand out too much. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack have their bake-a-thon sale so they’ll be the least suspicious.” “The secret ingredient for tomorrow’s cupcake is… edible sunscreen!” The party animal exclaimed earning a ‘bleh’ noise from her friends. “It’s both festive… and good for your skin.” “The rest of us will investigate Everton Academy.” Sunset added. “Rarity, your keen eye for details will be crucial for anything out of place.” The fashionista gave a semi-humble puff of her chest. “And Rainbow Dash. As much as I hate to admit it: Your TV knowledge of evil lairs, traps and other unexpected encounters saved us from a lot of trouble in Hoofbeard’s Castle.” “Heh. That’s natural. See? I can be both brains and brawns.” The gang rolled their eyes collectively. Rarity followed up, raising her hand. “But Everton Academy is quite a big school darling. Nearly three times as big as CHS.” “Four times actually.” Twilight corrected arrogantly. “But thankfully, we have a lead.” She pointed to a particular photo where a familiar Abacus Cinch stood by talking with an unfamiliar woman. “This lady here is Professor Chrysalis, a former associate of Professor Cinch. According to Vice-Principal Luna, she was appointed to replace the old headmaster after he retired a year ago. So she’s filling in as a temporary Headmaster. And after cross-referencing information with our club website, a number of strange occurrences has been going on around Everton Academy a few days after she came into the scene.” “Wh… what kind of strange occurrences?” The wallflower shuddered. “The strange kind. Lights going out suddenly, furniture levitating in mid-air, books flying off the shelves, weird noises from various locations. There are even video evidence in the school’s website. But unsurprisingly, people have been treating it to be nothing more than a hoax or just made up shams.” That was one advantage they had around here. Despite everything that has happened, the human world seems to have a difficult time believing in the existence of magic. Folks here would pretty much just think of strange events to be a trick of the light or maybe their own imaginations going overboard. Even Principal Celestia was in denial of the whole thing. It took the zombification of the entire school to change her mind. Sensing the silence, the human Twilight continued. “Naturally we won’t be chasing over one lead. We’ll also be placing these magic sensors I’ve developed around the school to broaden our scope. If there’s magic in Everton Academy, we’ll find it.” “Everyone good on the plan?” “Sure do.” Applejack shrugged. “But I’m still not thrilled about working for Neighsay… or the Order for that matter.” Sunset couldn’t help but nod in agreement. “Trust me Applejack. You’re not the only one. But it’s still our responsibility to look into the matter. And besides, you’ll be the one keeping watch over him until we get back. If anything goes wrong, we’ll give you a call.” xxxxxxxxxx “Hey Rarity.” Applejack called out to her best friend the moment they were in a separate room, out of earshot from the others. “You got a minute? I need some advice.” “Of course darling. You know I’m always available to help a friend in need. Though I don’t think I can do anything more than what you have.” The cowgirl gave a blank confusing stare. “Uh… what?” “That outfit of yours is already perfect as it is. Those lucky boots, that hat, and that designer blouse of yours is absolutely perfect. It brings out your eyes.” “Uh… these are the ones you gave me last summer.” “And I stand by my statement.” She gave an arrogant pose. “Though I suppose we can add a few gemstones here for dramatic flair. A few necklaces for that sheek look.” “What? N… no! Not about fashion! I need… relationship advice.” Rarity’s face deflated almost instantly when she realized what she was going for. “Oh…… that. Well… I suppose I can help out somehow. Were you looking for something in particular?” “Well… you know I had the whole afternoon with Flash today, right?” Of course she did. It was practically something she was blissfully aware and dreadfully hoping not to discuss. “I was thinking maybe you can give me some of that seduction technique you were talking about.” “Ah… ahehe… right. I did say that, didn’t I?” Rarity bit her lip. “Sorry. I have been a little busy with this whole shenanigan. But why now? Did your little outing not go so well?” “No it went… good. Great even.” She responded. Though her expression mellowed afterward. “Actually it went pretty smooth to be honest. Flash and I spent four hours together. We talked, we laughed, we cooked, and we traded our contact numbers. And after that we just hung around the farm. We even spent the latter part of it watching a movie over pies.” “Oh?” Her eyes glimmered. “It sounds like you two had a great time together. So what seems to be the problem?” “It wasn’t romantic… like… at all.” Her hands flipped over in the air. “You know those snooty love-drama movies that you make me and Rainbow watch all the time?” Of course she knows. It’s the only bit of culture these girls get exposed to. “Well… I was kind of expecting it to be something like that. You know? The kiss by the sunset, the pigeons flying in the clouds, the choir singing from nowhere. I wanted that.” Oh sweet innocent AJ. That all sounds so sweet and so… fictional at the same time. Rarity could tell where she got those ideas from. But those were added in the background for dramatic effect. “Applejack. Darling. You do know that movies are way different than that in real life, right?” “I know that. But… can a girl dream?” She sighed. “I was really hoping something would spark between us there, but all I got was just the same old thing. I want something… spicy… passionate. I want to feel like… how I felt back during the reunion. But all I got was… mediocre.” “Applejack. I know that this is your first ever crush and all. But you have to understand that love is a very complicated process. You can’t just rush it like everything else you’ve done. You have to nurture it, wait for it to bloom. Otherwise you’ll just wear yourself out.” “So… you’re saying I should wait and let it grow naturally?” Did she say that? That sounded a lot better than the metaphor she gave out. “Sure. Why not?” She shrugged. “But there are other factors too.” “There are?” “Of course. Love must come both ways darling. Otherwise you’ll be suffering a one-sided love.” Rarity added, taking a seat by her personal table. “We all know your feelings for Flash. But the question now is: Does to return those feeling? Does he blush whenever you’re around? Does he look at you funny? Does he even know that you have a crush on him?” “Uh…… none of the above?” “Exactly. This is the reason why your little get-together didn’t feel special. You, my dear girl, are blocked by what many would call… the Friend-zone.” Her hands waved around as if conjuring an imaginary rainbow. “You see, both of your perspectives are different. For you, Flash is someone who you’d like to spend time with. Someone you’d like to have a closer relationship. A love-interest. But in his point of view, you’re just another friend, a comrade in arms, a confidant. And therein lies the problem.” Applejack’s eyes snapped wide open like she had been struck by realization. “Of course.” Her hands clapped. “It all make sense now. He doesn’t see me like I see him.” Rarity nodded. “Precisely. Because of that, your dream of a love between the two of you will never come true. You need to find a way to change his perspective of you. To let him see you more than just… a friend.” “But how?” The cowgirl pleaded. How indeed. Rarity was a lot of things. But an expert on love, she was not. In fact, the only knowledge of the subject were from TV dramas and books and even she knew that most of those contents were highly exaggerated for dramatic effect. Though she would never fully admit it, she too was just as innocent and naïve as this cowgirl. In fact… you might even say that Applejack and Pinkie Pie have more experience in love than she would ever be – and that was a haunting idea itself. Oh when oh when will her Romeo finally show himself? (Flash’s house) “You sure you can do it by yourself?” “Relax Twilight. I got this.” Flash replied confidently on his phone as he walked into the vault with little trouble. “Trust me. No one will even notice. All I gotta do is put this little gizmo in the same room as the artifacts and it’ll do the rest, right?” “Technically the Magic Trap Mk. II scans its surrounding for magical energy and then absorbs it through a long process. So… yeah.” She paused. “I’m sorry I couldn’t go with you to do it myself. Something big came up and we had to reschedule.” “Hey no prob. I completely understand. You guys are off to another big adventure. Saving the world from some power-hungry goon. Nothing I haven’t seen before. Speaking of which. Now that I have this power with me, maybe I can help out more. I mean, I can defend myself if we get into a scuffle. And I don’t have to worry about others trying to brainwash me.” “I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet. Not until you got some proper control.” The girl chuckled. “But I promise. After we conduct our investigation, I’ll personally give you a special tutoring session to hone your magic. We’ll do all manner of field testing and examination. I’m also quite curious on what you can do. The implications of that scar is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” Flash could practically see her grinning on the other line trying to do what little research she could. “How does it feel by the way? Having all that power inside of you?” “Eh… nothing much.” “No pains, weird activities, or any side-effect?” “Umm… it’s a little itchy sometimes and it glows, but that’s pretty much it. I’m actually worried about using it. The last time I tried focusing the magic inside, it made Bananas float up in the air. Took me a whole hour just to get him back down.” He heard a mumbling on the other line and the word ‘Fascinating’ creep in. “Speaking of which. Are you sure this device you gave me is safe? The last time I saw this thing, we nearly burned down a whole city block.” “Technically that was your fault.” Ouch. That was painful, but not untrue. “And secondly: Don’t worry. I told you. I worked out all the chinks in the device and added extra lead density to keep everything contained. There are no risks of spontaneous combustion or explosion. Maybe.” He paused. “Uh… maybe?” “It’s not like I had a try out session here.” She defended. “As long as you don’t rattle it or toss it to a wall, it should be fine. I’ll monitor its progress from Sunset’s place.” “I’m just making sure I’m not setting a bomb at my own house.” “Since when did you become so cautious? Normally you’d be thrilled about all this magic stuff.” “I kinda had some doubts ever since that time we got teleported to the other side of the world.” The caller grunted. “Hmm. Good point. Anyway. I promise you. Nothing bad will happen with the Magic Trap Mk. II won’t malfunction one bit. And if it does, I’ll eat my own socks.” “Aha! Now I really want to see it fail.” “Oh don’t be a jerk.” She giggled cutely. “Speaking of which. Umm… are you free some time later next week?” Flash paused a second time. “I was kinda hoping we’d get together again.” “Aren’t you gonna teach me magic?” “Yes. Of course. But I was kind of hoping of something other than business. You know? Like that time we went to my favorite restaurant?” “I thought you didn’t like the food.” “Not all of it!” Her voice groaned. “Just the pickled stuff. You know how I felt about that stuff ever since we got back from the desert. Besides, you enjoyed it too.” He knew that. He just couldn’t resist teasing. “Well, I’m pretty swamped next week. With dad becoming mayor and all and this whole magical investigation you guys are doing. But if you’re not picky. I think we can go for a movie next weekend.” “Really?” “Really. It’d be nice to be just the two of us.” “Ye… yeah. Totally.” Did she stutter just now? “Oh… and speaking of the two of us. Remember the first day of school?” He raised a quizzical brow. “You asked me to meet you privately in the band room that time. But then the whole earthquake thing happened. What was it about?” Oh… that. Timber’s face suddenly popped into his mind. Memories of that fateful encounter at the Sweet Shoppe came flooding back in. The promise he made to the fella. He completely forgot about it. Ugh… and that one thing he wasn’t supposed to do? Yeah… “Oh it’s… nothing.” He said quickly, masking his awkward attitude. “It was just a school question. Nothing major.” “You sure?” “A hundred percent.” Flash coughed. “So anyway. How about I help you guys out tomorrow in your investigation? An extra pair of eyes can’t hurt.” “True. But I don’t think Sunset will like it if I asked you to tag along.” Of course she won’t. “But then again. There is something else you can do for us.”