//------------------------------// // Chapter 22 - Trouble at the school // Story: Wherever the Light Shines: Part 3 // by MLPSolarDash1907 //------------------------------// It was another peaceful night in Ponyville. All ponies were sleeping soundly and hardly a sound could be heard. But that was the problem. There wasn’t any sound. Inside the School of Friendship’s dorms, the students, creatures, and ponies were fast asleep. But what neither of them knew was that something was lurking within the pipes of the school. The water flowed smoothly through them and no issues were going on, but, in the boiler room, a malicious, cloud-like Entity was casting what appeared to be smoke, black as night was being emitted into them that led into the entire school’s system. He grinned. He might have been only partially restored, and one of the first things he remembered seeing was Mystic, Starlight, and Sunset through a crystal orb. Nightfall’s work wasn’t completely in vain, the plans had only been postponed. As he finished casting all of the magic he needed, he snickered, relishing that Mystic will soon be dealt with due to the prototype artifacts she wore in the Everfree. He closed the pipe back up, and knew that come tomorrow, the school would go down for good. Mystic was up bright and early. She was in the cafeteria eating several pancakes, toast, and drinking chocolate milk. Darn it, I need to lay off the sweets, Mystic thought, but she couldn’t help herself, Pinkie made them so good. She also didn't wear her adventuring outfit, deciding to leave it off for today. Mystic took a sip of water. Due to the action yesterday, and Applejack scolding her for taking the fillies into the Everfree, she had resided to just have a quiet morning because she knew the school would be bustling with activities of all sorts. She let out a huff, not wanting to even think of the words she and the farmer had exchange. And it was only a matter of time until Twilight gave her an endless list of punishments. A little later, Mystic was walking to the students’ lounge in order to get her last bit of studying done for the week. When she was a few doors down, she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Looking down the left corridor, she saw nothing. However, she couldn’t help but wonder if somepony was there. “Hello?” she called. No answer. Quirking an eyebrow, Mystic trotted down the corridor, looking for what she thought she saw. When she came to a hallway going left and right, she thought she saw a glimpse of a shadow. “Huh?” Mystic said, loud enough for whoever was there to hear. But she saw nothing down there. “Gallus, are you pulling my leg or something?” All that greeted her was silence. Letting out an annoyed grunt, Mystic trotted down the hall. As she ventured deeper into the hall, she saw a room labeled “Boiler room” at the very end. Squinting her eyes, Mystic tried to see if anything was close. Her eyes focused to see what looked to be an unnatural shadow coming by the door. “Okay, that does it,” Mystic said. She galloped in full force, the shadow still there. When she got to the door and opened it, the shadow was gone. Mystic wildly looked around to see the machines of the boiler room that held several levers and knobs. Mystic lightly shook her head. Was she going crazy? She heard no teleportation sounds and there wasn’t any indication there was magic that could’ve gotten a supposed figure out of here in just a few seconds. “I must be hallucinating again,” Mystic thought, rubbing her head. She turned around and closed the door behind her. Annoyed that she had a little excitement, she decided to go to the gardens. After trotting back to the final place where she made her turn, she came to an abrupt stop when she nearly crashed into Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus yelped. “Sorry, Fluttershy,” said Mystic. “Oh, it’s okay,” said Fluttershy, holding her breast. She cleared her throat. “What’re you doing in this part of the school?” “I’m not sure,” Mystic furrowed her brows, “I thought I saw something go into the boiler room but there wasn’t anything there.” “Oh?” “Yeah,” said Mystic, “Maybe I’m still just waking up.” “Well, okay, just stay out of there, I’ve been asked to ensure everything in the school is doing well.” “By yourself?” “I’m the next to last one,” said Fluttershy. “All right then,” said Mystic, “See you later.” Later that morning, Mystic was gathered in the school lobby with every other student, waiting for their Headmare to announce the beginning of their fun-filled day. Mystic had tried to relax and get back to studying, but she couldn’t shake her mind if something was in that boiler room. She couldn’t help but get an uncertain feeling about all of this. At that moment, Twilight had stepped up to the stage with a bright smile on her face. A little too bright for Mystic. “Good morning, everycreature!” Twilight announced, “Today’s the day we’re going to celebrate how wonderful you and the School are!” Everycreature cheered, ponies stomped their hooves. “We have all kinds of indoor and outdoor games as well as cuisines from every kingdom that are Equestria’s allies! We’ll host different events to show off each one of our talents, creativity, and how much friendship means to all of us! Finally, we’ll have a huge dance under Luna’s sky and watch the shooting stars!” Everycreature cheered again, Mystic lightly stomped her hooves. “Let’s get--” “Let’s get this party started!” Pinkie jumped out of nowhere. The cheering was even louder. Mystic watched Twilight recover from that surprise, when she was getting down from the stage, Mystic saw the alicorn’s smile turn a little crazed. “Hey, Mystic!” a familiar blue griffon flew over to her with his friends. “Yeah, Gallus?” Mystic asked. “Smolder and I are some of the best on the buckball field and we need a unicorn to hold the basket for my side!” Gallus said, grinning widely. “No, my side!” Smolder pointed at herself. “And I’d love to show you my favorite place to leap around for no reason!” Silverstream added. “Guys,” said Sandbar, stepping forward, “I think we need to quiet down a little.” “Excuse us, we’re just wanting to hang out,” said Smolder, crossing her arms. Mystic awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. “You didn’t ask if she wanted to hang out,” said Ocellus. “She’s a good friend, is it not obvious for her?” Smolder asked, looking at Mystic. “I think I’ll consider your offer,” said Mystic, “But I just want to hang back and speak to somecreatures.” “Oh, catch up later?” Ocellus asked. “But I need somepony to hold my basket!” Gallus complained. “And there are tons of other unicorns around to ask,” said Ocellus. Over the creatures’ shoulder, Mystic saw a glimpse of a familiar purple mane with a teal streak through it. “I think I’ll go see about the restroom first,” said Mystic, walking away. “Okay, see ya!” Smolder called. By then, most of the students had parted to take part in the activities. Mystic walked past the flight of stairs and into a smaller room where she found Starlight. “Hey,” said Mystic. Starlight blinked a couple of times, “Oh, hi.” “You didn’t expect me to find you?” Mystic smirked. “I have no idea,” Starlight murmured, looking out onto the lobby. Mystic placed her hoof on Starlight’s back, “To be honest, I didn’t know if I’d see you today.” Starlight looked at her with a little glare. “Well, I’ve been seeing professionals about my obsession with a particular werehyena, so I think you should be happy.” Mystic winced, “Well, I...” “Was just trying to help?” Starlight asked, “I think I’ve received more than enough, Mystic.” She fully turned to the younger mare, “Now, I’ll be babied and looked after like never before.” “Is that why you’re here? To try and act normal again?” Mystic asked. Starlight’s eyes flew wide with fury. Mystic expected an angry outburst and almost took a step back. However, Starlight’s face fell into a frown. “I... can’t...” Starlight mumbled. “Can’t what?” Mystic asked. “I can’t be angry at you,” replied Starlight. Mystic blinked, surprised at this revelation. “I know you’ve suffered more than what I probably realize.” You have no idea, Mystic thought, almost saying it out loud. “I feel like I’ve betrayed Twilight and the others, and being here likely makes me very selfish, but I just...” Starlight wiped a tear away, “I just need this. To be with the students, even if I’m in the background.” Mystic placed her hoof under Starlight’s chin causing her to look up, “Well, if it means anything, I’ll... I’ll try to be there if you need anything.” “Y-You promise?” Starlight asked, some hope rising in her eyes. Mystic didn’t know if she would be able to keep it, “I promise.” Starlight smiled as one tear rolled down her cheek. She brought Mystic in for a hug, and Mystic returned it before they parted. “Hey, can I ask you something?” Mystic asked. “You just did,” Starlight said with a light smile. “Okay,” Mystic facehoofed, “Can I ask something else?” Starlight giggled. “You did it again.” Mystic groaned, “Is Twilight doing all right? I noticed she seemed a little off.” “Oh,” Starlight frowned, “I... she might’ve received some news.” “What kind of news?” “While I was passing by the kitchen this morning, I heard Spike calming Twilight down,” said Starlight. “Apparently, Mr. Bullion is wanting to apologize for all he had said and done.” “So? Bullion’s been evicted,” said Mystic. “Maybe, but that didn’t stop Twilight from freaking out,” Starlight sighed. “I think she fears more legal action against the school. This event is her last-ditch to appeal to the government.” Oh dear, Mystic thought, now understanding the stakes. “What can we do?” “Just enjoy yourself and show what friendship means to you as everycreature else,” said Starlight, “That’s the purpose of this, isn’t it?” Mystic nodded, “I’ll do that.” As she trotted down the hall, Mystic couldn’t help but slow down at every room she passed by. She got a look at some of the activities the students were playing. One room held students playing chess, dominoes, and playing various board games. Another held students playing charades and twister. The unicorn smiled at the four students that looked about tangled up as they tried to keep their balance. When the student on the bottom fell, everypony else did too. Mystic walked away chuckling and stepped outside to the school’s racing track. In the middle of it, were Smolder and Gallus playing buckball against each other. Several more students were racing each other around the track and in the distance were more of them playing put-put golf. This looks like a lot of fun, Mystic thought, growing a little excited, but almost paused, surprised that she was. She trotted over to Gallus’ and Smolder’s side, standing close to the yellow unicorn holding it up. When she looked up, she saw Gallus had managed to get the buckball past Smolder and into the basket. “Score!” Gallus cried. “Don’t let your ego go to your head!” Smolder shouted with a grin. “Care to let me play when you’re finished?” Mystic called. All buckball players stopped and looked at Mystic. “All right! You’re here!” Gallus said happily. “Oh, I’m not holding a basket, I’m here to actually kick the ball!” Mystic said, throwing a kick behind her. “But you’re a unicorn!” Smolder called. “Duh, that’s why Starlight gave me a magical enchanter to cancel my magic,” Mystic levitated it out for them to see and placed it on her horn. “All right!” said Gallus, “You’re on my team!” “Actually,” Mystic trotted over to Smolder’s side. “Wait!” Gallus shouted, wide-eyed. “In your face!” Smolder laughed. Mystic only smirked in response. “When do we start?” As the day went on, everycreature was blissfully unaware of the dark magic within the pipes continuing to grow. The water within it began to gurgle, causing the pipes to lightly rattle very subtlety. Even with Twilight’s careful examination, it couldn’t be detected unless a substantial bit was in one area. But it wasn’t in one area of the school. It was now in every pipe that sprawled all across the facility’s property. Mystic was in the cafeteria sampling some of the treats from the different kingdoms She levitated a scone from Griffonstone to her lips and took a bite. Wow, she thought, taking another bite. It’s a lot better than what I thought it’d be. The cakes from Yakyakistan were good, so were the kelp fritters, and the Changeling’s fruit dishes were the tastiest she’d ever had. “What you made is very pretty, Mystic,” Ocellus said from behind her. Mystic smiled and turned around. “Well, I had a changeling to inspire me some,” Mystic winked, causing Ocellus to blush. “What was your inspiration?” Ocellus asked. “Well, it was the Tree’s six-pointed star.” “And the crystalline stars on each tip?” Mystic turned to look at her art piece in the middle of the lunchroom settled on the biggest table. “They just felt right.” Both Mystic and the changeling were looking at a golden six-pointed star statue. From the top tip all the way around, it had a white crystal star, followed by others just like it that were yellow, purple, blue, green, and red. “It’s certainly attracted a lot of attention,” said Ocellus, “Let that creative noodle flow.” A loud rumble echoed through the lunchroom. Mystic and Ocellus looked at each other with uneasy looks. “What was that?” they asked in unison. A deep cracking sound came from the walls. Mystic and Ocellus looked to their left and there was a huge crack rapidly expanding. “Oh no!” Ocellus cried. Another rumble caused the ground to shake. Mystic fell onto her stomach and heard something crash nearby. Ocellus screamed. Mystic immediately shot to her hooves as nearby students began running. Mystic saw a light that had plummeted from the ceiling had knocked the changeling aside. “Come on, Ocellus!” Mystic cried, helping her up. “My leg and wing are hurt!” Ocellus whimpered. Mystic saw the pipes that were behind the wall were about to burst. She grabbed Ocellus, putting her on her back and galloping out of the lunchroom. Running down the corridors to the lobby, Mystic saw that more cracks were beginning to appear. Several students were in front of her, so she slowed down to ensure their safety. When Mystic arrived in the lobby, she saw Twilight, Sunset, Rarity, and Fluttershy with a few more students. “It’s happening again, Headmare!” a student cried. “What’re we gonna do?!” “All of the students are to head out of the school right away!” Twilight ordered, “Rainbow and the others are beginning to get--” SPLOOOSSSHHH! Mystic barely had any time to react before she and the others were swept away by a miniature tsunami. Rainbow was flying over the school. She was about to let the students know to evacuate— SPLOOOOOOOSSHH! The pipes from underneath the ground suddenly ejected a large amount of water onto the schoolyards. Everypony began panicking as it rapidly swept across the yards. To add to Rainbow’s horror, the students’ dorms were flooding as well. Not wasting any time, Rainbow swooped down to the water, looking for students to save. She saw a couple of them struggling to stay above the water. The pegasus flew over immediately, grabbing them and carrying them near Twilight’s castle. “The second floor’s flooding!” Sandbar shouted from nearby. “What?!” Rainbow cried. She whirled around to see that water was pouring out of the second floor. “That’s not happened before!” Outside of the school, a drenched Mystic had managed to get Ocellus and another pony student to safety. “Take her to the castle!” she ordered the student, “She needs some patching up!” “Yes ma’am!” replied the student. Mystic turned back to the school to see that water was flowing out of its door and windows like a river. Without any hesitation, she teleported back in and reappeared on top of the flight of stairs. She heard yelps nearby and saw Twilight and Rarity were there. “Mystic, you were supposed to head out of the School!” said Rarity. “And miss saving everycreature’s flanks?” said Mystic. “I think we need all the help we can get!” “No time to argue!” said Twilight, “We need to rescue the scattered students before things get worse!” Mystic looked down to the lower level and saw a table floating nearby. She jumped down onto it, grabbing a bust of Starswirl, using it to paddle against the water. As she did, she swore she felt her horn aching. She rubbed it but it was gone as soon as she touched it. “Watch the lights! You don’t want to fall in when they do!” Twilight called. Outside, Rainbow had managed to get about ten students to safety. She flew down the hallways fast. “Anycreature there?!” Rainbow called, to which she heard multiple cries from different rooms. She flew and turned into one of the two doors down and found a couple more students. Rainbow looked up at the lights and saw that they were flickering. Suddenly, Sunset appeared out of nowhere in a red pop, grabbing the students and teleporting out. Rainbow looked up at the light again and it fell out of place. She flew out of the room just as it hit the ground. When she got back into the hall, she saw Silverstream flying over. “The boiler room’s gone!” Silverstream called. “What did you say?!” Rainbow shouted. “It’s all gone! Water’s flowing out like crazy!” The water almost seemed like a rushing river. Mystic made her way into the library and several students were trapped on the upper level. But before she could make her way to the stairs, she saw four more students pinned up against the wall by a fallen bookcase. Mystic felt something hit her on the back of her head. She turned and saw that a bookcase was about to fall on her. Thinking fast, she jumped off the table and onto the top of another bookcase. She jumped across three of them, landing in the water and swimming over to the downed bookcase. “Don’t panic anymore!” Mystic shouted. She grabbed the bookcase with her magic, pulling it out of the way. “Swim to me!” The students did that, she grabbed one of them, carrying the others with her magic, and swam over to a window. She opened it with her magic and placed the students outside. Mystic swam over to the stairs, barely avoiding another falling bookcase. She grabbed the students with her magic and teleported outside. When she looked over them and deemed them okay, she teleported back inside. This time she reappeared in the rafters above the student’s lounge. A couple of more students were on top of floating furniture, and Mystic saw that several lights have fallen into the water. “Up here!” Mystic cried, getting their attention. Suddenly, she felt like somepony had stabbed a knife through her skull. Mystic grunted, nearly falling off into the water. She gasped when she saw sparks of red magic emit from her horn. No! No! No! No! Mystic began to panic, Not now! Not again! Memories of using the dark magic emerged in her mind and how destructive it was. She gritted her teeth, grabbing the students with her magic and teleporting out of there. She placed them where she had left the other students. “Get to Twilight’s castle!” she told them and vanished again. Mystic reappeared in her flooded dorm. The desk, bed, and dresser were beginning to float but there was her satchel right next to the bed. She levitated it, opening it, pulled out a glowing syringe, and jabbed it into her side. A loud cry escaped her throat before she placed the syringe back into the satchel and teleported herself out of the dorm. She reappeared on Twilight’s castle grounds where she could feel the aching in her horn fading away and as the syringe’s contents subdued her dark magic once again. It’s almost as if it’s becoming more frequent... she thought, not wanting to think of such a possibility. The unicorn looked up to see that the students she had rescued were nearby were heading to where the rest of the students were, safe at Twilight’s castle. To her relief, she saw Sunset and Starlight holding onto each other. Mystic looked back at the school and was mortified to see that water was coming out from every floor, window, door, and balcony of the building. She could see electrical sparks through the broken windows, no doubt making the water very dangerous. Nearby, the buckball field was flooded and she saw some trees from the gardens floating nearby. “There she is!” Applejack shouted. Mystic sat up and looked up at the distressed Mane Five. “Are you okay, Mystic?” Fluttershy asked. Mystic began to stand up, slightly hobbling until she got her hoofing. “I’m well. Is everycreature else?” “We got all of them out!” said Pinkie. “But real bummer about the school!” Behind them, she could see a disleveled mane Twilight trembling, biting her bottom lip and with a horrified gaze. “D-Don’t worry! We can still fix this!” Twilight cried desperately. “Really now?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “I agree,” said Rarity, “How could we fix this?” “L-Let’s just get back to the castle and ensure there are no injuries!” said Twilight, galloping off in that direction. Mystic stood there, unsure and astounded at the turn of events. She lifted her hoof up to her chin, looking on with worry. About ten minutes later, Mystic was relieved that nocreature was seriously injured given the circumstances. All of the students were being moved into the castle for their parents or guardians to come to pick them up. Twilight hadn’t spoken a word to any of her closest friends ever since the disaster. Mystic could see the distant look in her eyes whenever she saw them. “Uh, Headmare Twilight,” said a student. “There’re some ponies coming.” “Oh no!” Twilight cried. “Bullion is with them!” Rainbow snarled. Mystic tensed up as Twilight let out another cry of distress. Twilight’s friends rushed off to meet the four ponies out in front with several others behind them. Twilight and Sunset went off next and Mystic followed. She saw Bullion next to a grey mare, a yellow stallion with a pure black stallion. Soon, Mystic stopped right next to the Mane Six and Sunset. “What are you doing here?!” Rainbow demanded, pointing at Bullion. “It was the Congressponies that arranged this trip,” said the dark grey unicorn with a black mane. “Bullion wanted to tag along.” “W-Well, please allow me to...” “Introduce yourself? Explain things?” the mare asked, “I think I see plenty enough right now.” She pointed at the water-damaged school. “I know plenty about you Princess Twilight and your friends.” “I was hoping that everything was pulling together and I wanted to see for myself,” said Bullion, “But apparently things are even worse than what they were before!” “Are you missing a tooth?” Pinkie asked. “Pinkie!” the others cried. “Whaaaat?” “Allow me to introduce ourselves,” said the dark grey mare. “I am Shadow Prism, this is Obsidian Note and Armored Spear. All of us are Congressponies.” “Well, things got a little out of hoof,” Twilight spoke desperately, “But we’re going to find out...” “I think you know what the problems are,” Obsidian cut in. “A failing school that was nothing but a safety hazard inside and out.” “Now, that’s not...” “That’s not what?” Armored growled. “I truly believed there could be something more than what was being said about you and your school,” said Prism. She presented a scroll with the Equestrian seal. “No...” Twilight whispered. Mystic got a huge pit in her stomach. “By the order of the Canterlot supreme court and Equestrian government,” said Prism, “The School of Friendship is shut down indefinitely!” Mystic let out a gasp along with the Mane Six, Starlight, and Sunset. “Oh, that does it!” Rainbow shouted. But she was stopped by Sunset’s magic before she could do anything. “I hope you learn that there are certain things that can’t work for Equestria,” said Bullion. He turned and left soon followed by everypony else. Mystic wanted to beat all of them to pulps but she knew she couldn’t do anything. She looked to her right, and her face fell at the sight of the sobbing Twilight Sparkle. Twilight took to the air and flew back to her castle, crying all the way. That night, the school’s pumping system had managed to be put at a stable level. In the middle of its water-damaged and darkened hallways, was Chancellor Neighsay with his horn glowing orange to reveal hidden dangers. His heart was broken for Twilight and the school. He had high hopes for it, but it was now shut down for good by powers outside of his control. Keep your head, he thought, Look for anything suspicious. As he made his way down the hallways, he formed a determined look despite not finding anything that could help. Then, he flinched. It was almost as if he had hit a brick wall. What? He thought, eyes growing wide. He tapped his horn but still detected the strange energy. That’s not like anything I’d ever studied for or heard of... Slowly, he made his way down the hall looking down at the floor and up the walls. Then, he saw what looked like black-red smoke emitting from one of the damaged pipes. Quietly, he approached it, pulled out a container, and caught the mysterious substance. This must be what I’m looking for, he thought. I’ve got to get it to-- “No,” said a rough, deep voice. Suddenly, his vision was darkened by an unknown Entity. He was frozen. He couldn’t gasp or scream. Neighsay swore that he was being turned around but didn’t know as he was lifted off the ground. “You won’t remember any of this,” said the Entity. “But you will wake up in your bed and call in sick and that you were unable to look into the school situation.” Neighsay tried to get a look at his attacker but crimson filled his vision before he blacked out.