//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 – Preparation // Story: The Fall of Canterlot Kingdom // by JzanderN //------------------------------// “Twilight Sparkle wants to be your Fall Formal Princess.” Sunset’s voice played over a girl sitting at a computer, mashing the keyboard with her fists and making an odd face. She was light purple, her hair dark blue with a pink highlight running through it. The video showed her doing more weird things with emphasised faces. Some of the things she did, or how she did them, made Devon wonder if she was set up by Sunset or if she really was that weird. Neither option would cast a good light on her. “But what does it say about our school if we give someone like this such an important honour?” Hana shut down the computer, looking pale and uneasy, though Devon didn’t think it was at the content of the film. The three had taken a small break, specifically to watch a new video by Sunset everyone was talking about. Strangely, no-one was looking at them when they talked about it, so it couldn’t have been about them. But if not them, then who was it about, and why? “Twilight Sparkle,” Alec said. “She must be new here. No-one runs against Sunset.” “I can’t believe I used to help make those,” Devon heard Hana mutter. “I’d still vote for her over Sunset,” Alec said. “Hopefully this means Sunset’s attention is off us for now, at least.” “I don’t care,” Hana said. “I’d rather Sunset do this to us than anyone else, especially someone who has no idea what she’s like.” She sighed and leaned back into her chair. “So how are we coming along?” she asked, clearly looking to change the subject. Devon dropped his pen and let his head rest in his hand. “How do you expect? This isn’t exactly the easiest writing assignment I’ve been given. I don’t even know how to start it.” “How about ‘Dear Sunset Shimmer?’” Alec suggested. “I’m writing a calling card, not a letter, and to her Shadow specifically” Devon said. Maybe, if I write it as if she were a Queen, he then thought. “What about you, Alec? How’s the design coming along?” “I have a few ideas, but nothing on the logo,” he said. “I think it should really fit who we are, or at least who we’re saying we are.” “That’s a good point, actually. We never did figure out what we’d call ourselves,” Hana said. “We should figure that out before doing anything else.” They all thought for a moment, and Alec was the first to speak. “How about the Heart Burglars? Heart Thieves? Heart Confiscators?” “Why are they all about hearts?” Devon asked. “Well, that’s what we’re doing, isn’t it? Stealing their hearts.” “I like the idea,” Hana said, “but it needs to be worded differently. Like ‘The Thieves of Hearts’.” “‘The Thieves of Hearts.’” Devon mulled over the name. “I kind of like that, but it needs something else before it. Just one more word to sum up who we are and what we do.” “Who are we, then? What do we do?” she asked. He thought for a moment. “Well, we definitely steal hearts, or at least we’re going to, but we’re also rebelling against Sunset, we fight Shadows, we go to another universe to do it…” “Rebellious Thieves?” Alec suggested. “Fighting Thieves? Alternate Thieves? Actually, forget Alternate Thieves. It sounds like some sort of hipster crime movement.” Devon chuckled. “Yeah, we’re not your regular thieves, we’re, like, Alternate Thieves. We don’t go around stealing people’s property because that’s, like, outdated and illegal and just not our style, so we steal symbolic stuff to show our discontent with society and elites and stuff.” Alec laughed, and Hana giggled too. “I don’t know,” he continued. “I mean, what we do would be hard to track and even harder to prove, even if you followed us into the Metaverse. It’s like we’re illusions that turn out to be real, or ghosts, or… phantoms. Phantom Thieves.” “Phantom Thieves of Hearts,” Alec said. “I like it. I could work with that.” “I agree,” Hana said. “Phantom Thieves sounds good. We are the Phantom Thieves and we’re going to take your heart!” Devon snapped his fingers. “Take your heart. Could you write that underneath the logo, Alec?” He gave a thumbs up. “And what about you, Hana? Do you have any idea of where to put it?” Alec looked away, probably groaning inside. He wasn’t a fan of letting her choose where to place the cards, but Devon had outvoted him. She shook her head. “No, I can’t think of anywhere. There aren’t too many places she’ll definitely see it, and less where we could get away with it.” “How about her locker?” Devon suggested, but she shook her head again. “By the time we can put it up without anyone noticing, it’ll be too late. She’ll see it tomorrow morning, but I really think we need to do this tonight.” “What about her house?” She gave an unpleasant face. “I’d like to keep that as a last option. Even if she doesn’t know it’s me, I’ll be her prime suspect because she knows I know where she lives. I don’t want to face that situation any more than you two would.” She sat for a moment in silence before standing up. “Where are you going?” Alec asked. “For a walk,” she said. “I’ll figure this out better if I look around than if I just sit around thinking.” “I’ll come with you,” Devon said, starting to put his things in his bag, save for a pen and notebook. “It’s okay. I can do it by myself.” “I can write notes on the move. In fact, I might think better while I walk. Besides, we’re teammates; it’ll be best to stick together until we’re done.” Alec also stood up, mumbling about being left alone. “Alright then. If you insist,” she said. She waited for the two to pack their things before leaving the library together. The three wandered the halls, Alec boring his gaze into Hana’s back. She barely seemed to look around, mainly keeping her eyes facing forwards. He seemed to notice and wasn’t happy about it, though Devon didn’t think Sunset would likely bother with most of the places she passed without a glance. She seemed to keep most of her efforts to the big places such as the cafeteria, the school entrance, or even the school gym – temporarily the Fall Formal Hall – though she didn’t have to look long in there to find something new. Everything was broken and thrown across the floor, save for the party streamers, which hung from the ceiling, torn and useless. But everything else was scattered across the room. Tables, decorations, even the disco ball was split into two. “Look at all the punch and cider on the floor,” Hana said. “It’s wet, not sticky. This wasn’t long ago.” “Who did this?” Alec asked. “Who do you think? Probably Sunset.” “Why would she destroy the prom she wants to win so much?” “I guess this Twilight’s more of a threat than she expected, so rather than possibly losing to her, she made sure the Fall Formal didn’t happen.” Devon wondered why Sunset would see Twilight as a threat after the video. As if reading his mind, she said, “Twilight must have made a counterattack. Even if it wasn’t effective, it would show she’s a fighter, and not one to go down easy.” “I’m starting to like this Twilight already,” Devon mumbled. Hana continued. “With so little time left, I could imagine Sunset resorting to postponing the Fall Formal until she could take care of her properly. And probably blaming it on her while she’s at it.” “Well, that’s going to be hard for her to do,” Alec said, pointing at Twilight and five other girls cleaning everything and putting it all back up again. “She must want to win as much as Sunset to fix it herself,” Hana said. She smiled. “I like her too..” Devon looked at Alec, who had hidden himself behind the wall. “Pinkie Pie’s in there,” he whispered. “I can’t let her see me or she’ll drag me in there to help.” Devon nodded. “Right. In that case, we’ll move on. Hana?” Hana was staring into the room. He could have sworn he could see the cogs turning in her head as she did. “That’s it,” she eventually said. “That’s where we’ll put the calling card. The one place where we can put it up without anyone noticing and Sunset will definitely see it tonight.” “Where?” Alec asked. “Isn’t it obvious?” She asked before turning to Devon and Alec. “We’re going to need a lot of calling cards. As many as you can make.” “We’ll photocopy it and print out more,” Devon said. “We’ll have to come in after school,” she continued. “She won’t see them for a while, but she will see them tonight, and that’s when we’ll strike.” She and Devon looked to Alec, who gave a reluctant nod. “Come on, then. Let’s get to work.”