An hour or so later Arc looks down at Derpy. Seeing that she is beginning to nod off, he kisses the top of her head.
“Getting tired?”
Derp nods sheepishly. “Not sure why though. After all, it’s not like we really did anything but lie here today.”
“Well, why don’t we get some sleep? After all, we’ll want to be well rested tomorrow when Dinky and her friends come back.”
“I suppose so. But… um…”
“Something wrong, Derpy?”
Derpy appears hopeful. “Could we finish this episode first.”
Arc chuckles. “Sure.”
He leans back against the pillows as Derpy snuggles up to him again. However as they do so a small flash explodes outward above them. Looking up, Arc is just in time to see Scootaloo and Brightwing literally fall onto the end of the bed. Her frowns.
“What the…?!”
Derpy gasps. “Scootaloo?!”
Scootaloo blushes heavily as she sits up. “I’m sorry, Big Brother! You see, Brightwing and I were just…!”
Brightwing giggles and Blinks under the covers with Derpy.
“It warm under here!”
Gasping, Derpy instinctively throws the covers back.
“Aw… was warm under there. Very, VERY warm.”
Arc throws am arm over Derpy’s ample breasts as he fumbles with the other one to grab the covers.
“What are you two DOING here?!”
Scootaloo looks away respectfully. “I… I’m sorry! We just…!”
Derpy interrupts. “Wh-why don’t we put something a bit more… appropriate on before talking, Arc?!”
“Yeah. Scootaloo, take Brightwing downstairs. We’ll be down there in a few minutes.”
“Yes sir!”
Grabbing the errant creature, Scootaloo runs out the door so fast that she forgets to close it behind her. Sighing, Arc does so with a Telekinesis Spell as he looks down at Derpy.
“You okay?”
Derpy nods. “Yes, I’m… just a bit… rattled, I think.”
“Sorry about that. No idea what those two were doing with that stunt.”
“Well, let’s get dressed so we can ask them.”
“Right.”
Standing, Arc and Derpy walk over to the dressers and pull out t-shirts and shorts. Quickly putting them on they head downstairs. Finding Scootaloo and Brightwing sitting on the couch together Arc sits next to his thrall as Derpy takes her place next to Brightwing. Arc is the first to speak.
“So does one of you want to tell me what the heck that was all about?!”
Scootaloo sighs. “It was kinda my fault.”
Derpy smiles at the little girl. “Why don’t you just tell us exactly what happened? We promise not to get mad.”
“We do?”
Derpy nods soberly. “Yes… we do.”
Arc sighs. “Fine. Go ahead, Scootaloo.”
“Okay. But first I wanted to apologize again for interrupting your… um… alone time, Big Brother.”
“It’s… fine.”
Scootaloo shakes her head. “No it really isn’t. After all, you and Derpy are very much in love.”
Derpy nods. “That we are.”
Scootaloo blushes. “So it’s only natural that you two would want to expand on your... physical attraction to one another.”
Arc grimaces. “We weren’t… um…”
Brightwing grins. “The smell said otherwise.”
Derpy gasps and looks away. “Smell?”
“Yes, yes! It was coming from both of you! Smelled of hormones and…!”
Scootaloo puts a hand over Brightwing’s mouth. “In any case, what you two were doing was completely natural and appropriate given the situation. Both before and after we arrived.”
Arc’s jaw drops. “Wow.”
Derpy turns to him, confused. “Arc?”
“That’s… very impressive, Scootaloo. Given your past, I mean.”
“You mean my parent’s sexual habits, Big Brother?”
“Y-yeah.”
“That was different.”
“It was?”
Scootaloo nods. “With them it was one sided. My dad just wanted to have sex. Even when he knew my mom was hurting.”
She looks to Derpy before continuing.
“But you and Big Brother… I could tell that everything going on there was mutually agreed upon. Well, at least from what I saw as we materialized up there.”
Brightwing shakes her snout loose. “Brightwing made mistake when coming back here. Bad trip that was.”
Derpy sighs. “Mistakes happen.”
Arc shrugs. “I suppose they do.”
“Well, I’m still really sorry for dropping in like this, Big Brother. I really should have contacted you ahead of time.”
“That Brightwing’s fault! Me say it time to go and was so excited to do so that me didn’t let friend talk!”
“I was trying to get her to wait. But Brightwing was REALLY impatient back there.”
Arc frowns. “What for though?”
“It’s about an agreement she and I made a day or so ago.”
Derpy tilts her head to one side, confused. “An agreement?”
Scootaloo nods. “Brightwing was making a really interesting potion and needed something to give it a bit more kick.”
Arc nods. “Some kind of amplifier?”
“In potion making it’s called a ‘catalyst’, Big Brother.”
Brightwing giggles. “Some things work better than others though!”
Derpy looks to the little girl. “So what does that have to do with you, Scootaloo?”
“I donated some of my Crimson blood to help. But only on the condition that I could see the potion in action when it was ready.”
Brightwing nods happily. “And that why we’re here!”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “To test a potion?”
Derpy looks at the clock. “At this hour?”
“Yes, well… Brightwing didn’t exactly give me time to do or say anything in that regard. Before teleporting us into your bedroom, Big Brother.”
“Brightwing is sorry about that. But was just so excited that it was finally time!”
Arc sighs. “Well, as long as we’re all here, tell us about this potion.”
“Is very, VERY special potion! Make things right that are wrong!”
Derpy scratches her head. “I don’t get it.”
Scootaloo shrugs. “Neither do I.”
Arc looks around. “How about we take a look at this potion then?”
Brightwing grins toothlessly. “But it’s not here, friend!”
Scootaloo frowns. “Then why bring me here?”
“Because potion IS ready!”
“Where…?”
“At pretty lady’s campsite!”
Arc’s eyes grow wide. “Wait, what?!”
Scootaloo gasps. “Mio?!”
Brightwing nods. “She helped Brightwing! Brightwing very smart on her own, but pretty woman still very important to Brightwing’s success!”
Arc clenches a fist. “I knew she couldn’t be trusted!”
Derpy sighs as she sadly nods. “While I wanted to believe she was trying to do the right thing, it’s probably for the best that you head over there and stop her, Arc.”
“Yeah, I will.”
Brightwing gasps. “What?! NO!”
Scootaloo appears confused. “Brightwing?
“This has to go on! It HAS to!”
Channeling her power, Brightwing vanishes from sight. Scootaloo turns to Arc.
“She must’ve gone back to Mio’s camp, Big Brother!”
“I’m going after her!”
“Me too!”
“Fine! Transform now!”
Running over to the window, Scootaloo looks up at the moon. Changing into her Crimson form she hurries back to Arc’s side as he finishes calling forth his armor. Turning to Derpy he speaks quickly.
“We’ll be back as soon as we can!”
Derpy nods fearfully. “Is there anything I can…?!”
“Come on, Big Brother! We have to go NOW!”
Nodding, Arc motions for the filly. As she leaps into his arms he turns back to Derpy.
“Just hang tight! This won’t take long!”
Holding up his sigil gauntlet Arc opens a portal. As he lunges through it, Derpy holds up a hand toward them and sighs.
“Well… bye…”
Reappearing on the sigil outside Mio’s camp Arc turns to see a strange light emanating from the site. Tossing his thrall into the air, Scootaloo spreads her wings and takes flight as the pair hurry through the brush. Arriving at their destination they hear the device humming with a magical aura surrounding it. Brightwing stands within the aura as an emitter of some kind extends and points toward her. Arc looks around angrily as he clenches a fist and calls out loudly.
“MIO! SHOW YOURSELF!”
Scootaloo points. “I sense someone under there, Big Brother!”
Turning toward a pile of pine needles the pair hurry over to it. Arc pushes them aside to reveal an unconscious and shivering Mio. Whipping off his gauntlet he puts a hand to her cold throat. Scootaloo hovers nearby as she watches Brightwing.
“How is she, Big Brother?!”
“She’s breathing but has a weak pulse! That and she’s freezing! We need to get her out of here now!”
“But what about Brightwing?!”
“I’ll open a portal back to my place and send her through! You and Derpy take care of her while I deal with whatever it is that Brightwing did!”
Holding up a gauntlet Arc attempts to open a portal. However nothing happens. Further attempts yield no better results. Brightwing calls out as she giggles.
“Try all you like, it won’t work!”
Arc grits his teeth as he angrily turns to Brightwing. “What did you do?!”
“No magic works right now! Device absorbing it!”
Scootaloo gasps. “But… but that’s IMPOSSIBLE!”
Arc holds out a hand toward Brightwing. “What the…?!”
Brightwing smiles slyly. “Keep trying! Pretty friend’s machine needs all the energy it can get right now!”
“Brightwing! Stop this NOW!”
Scootaloo glares at her. “The Dragon Lord will punish you for this, traitor!”
Brightwing shakes her head as she puts a claw on the potion bottle next to her. “Dragon Lord not important right now! This… this all that matters!”
Arc clenches a fist. “That’s the potion?!”
Scootaloo grits her teeth and nods. “Yeah! We have to get it from her!”
They charge forward and lunge at the aura. However it does not let them pass. Shaking her head, Brightwing takes the bottle in her claws as she flutters toward the machine. Opening a port she pours the contents inside before dropping the now empty vial on the ground. It shatters against a rock as she returns to the pad and giggles uncontrollably.
“Now NOTHING can stop Brightwing!”
Arc groans. “Stop you from doing what?!”
“Brightwing has been on a very long journey for a very, VERY long time! But now… now that journey ends so that a new one can begin!”
Scootaloo frowns. “A new…?”
“You’re trying to use that machine to open a portal somewhere?!”
Brightwing shakes her head. “No, no, no! Brightwing altered it to be so much more! Now it can release that which has lain dormant within Brightwing for oh so very long!”
Scootaloo grits her teeth. “Your true power?!”
Brightwing nods excitedly. “Yes, yes!”
Arc slams a fist on the aura around the machine. “Get as powerful at you like! The others and I will come together to stop you!”
Brightwing sighs. “No, friend. Believe Brightwing when she says that this... this is the end.”
Scootaloo gasps. “But why, Brightwing?! We all trusted you!”
“Brightwing sorry. But had to do what had to do.”
As the machine gains power the emitter in front of Brightwing begins to glow with an eerie light. Arc removes his spear and dagger. Tossing the latter to Scootaloo they begin slashing at the aura before them helplessly. Brightwing watches them as the glow intensifies. Closing her eyes and bowing her head she smiles sadly as she speaks.
“Goodbye friends. Please don’t be angry with Brightwing. She only did what had to be done to finish her journey. Brightwing sorry, but… we will never… meet… again.”
With a final whine the machine’s emitter discharges a blast. It fills the dome of sorts with a swirl of magical energies so intense in both power and intensity that Arc and Scootaloo are forcefully thrown to the ground next to Mio. Arc holds up a hand to shield his eyes from the light as he and Scootaloo look on helplessly. Eventually it slowly subsides as the machine shuts down. As the air is again silent, Arc and Scootaloo slowly sit up and look around. Allowing a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the darkness again they stand and turn their attention to the machine sitting there silently. Arc calls out.
“Brightwing? Can you hear me?”
There is no response. Together he and Scootaloo slowly walk toward the device. Stepping around it to the pad which moments ago held Brightwing they stop dead in their tracks. Neither says a word as they stare at the scene before them for several seconds. Lying on the ground face down is a human. Motionless and naked, they do not stir as Arc and Scootaloo quickly approach them. Hurrying over Arc looks for a pulse as Scootaloo checks their respiration.
“They’re breathing.”
“And have a strong pulse.”
“What do we do now, Big Brother?”
“Get these two out of here, for starters.”
“Where to though?”
“My house.”
Scootaloo gasps. “But…!”
“We have no choice. Here’s to hoping the magic is back on again.”
Holding up a gauntlet Arc opens a portal as Scootaloo hurries over to Mio. Grabbing the frozen sleeping bag she drags it through the portal as Arc pulls a magic cloak from his ring and throws it over the individual on the ground before him. Picking them up, Arc turns and hurries through the swirling energies. Meanwhile, General Mustang nods approvingly as he and Diva watch from his quarters.
“Very good, my boy.”
Diva frowns. “How was that good?!”
“He completed the next step in my plan.”
“That fool completed NOTHING!”
“Are you so sure of that?”
Diva nods with conviction. “Yes! He was only able to stand there and observe as that little freak did her thing!”
Mustang smiles and looks at the device standing silently in the moonlight. “That is true, yes. However the spoils are now available for the victor.”
“Spoils?”
“Take some soldiers and secure that location. I want Doctor Rieper to go over it with a fine tooth comb before readying it for transport.”
“But why?”
Mustang smiles as he stands and puts a hand on Diva’s shoulder. “It is critical to the next phase of the plan.”
“Which is what exactly?”
“You’ll see in due time, my dear.”
Meanwhile, Arc and Scootaloo reappear in his basement. Derpy sits in a nearby chair waiting for them. Seeing the pair return with two others she hurries over to help as the portal closes behind them. Arc turns to her as he lays his ward on one of the nearby bunk beds.
“We have to help Scootaloo with Mio! Get her out of that freezing sleeping bag!”
Nodding, Derpy hurries over to Scootaloo and together they try to unzip the frozen cloth. Failing to accomplish this, Scootaloo uses the guardanium knife and begins cutting as Arc runs over to help. Together they pull the wet and partially frozen sleeping bag apart to see a soaked Mio shivering before them. Unzipping her coat Arc puts his arms around the young woman as Derpy pulls it off. Handing the dripping coat to Scootaloo, Derpy wastes no time removing Mio’s drenched shirts as Arc lays her back down. Pulling off her pants and undergarments, Arc picks Mio up and hurries toward the stairs with Scootaloo at his heels as he looks to Derpy.
“Stay with the other one!”
Derpy nods as she heads to the bedside. “Right!”
Rushing upstairs, Arc pushes his way through the Guest Room door to lay Mio on the bed. Scootaloo covers her with the blankets and puts a hoof on her forehead as Arc looks to the filly next to him.
“That should help. Scootaloo, any ideas on how to treat hypothermia?”
“We’ve done pretty much everything I can think of to help warm her up. There’s just one other thing to do.”
Walking over to the bed, Scootaloo noses her way under the covers. Pressing her furry body against the young woman she turns her head to look back at Arc.
“This should help a lot.”
“Good idea. Your body heat will make it warm under there. Mio’s body is probably too cold to do that alone.”
Scootaloo nods. “Right. Now then why don’t you check on… that other human we brought with us?”
Arc nods as he turns to leave. “Alright. I’ll lay her in my parent’s bed so we can keep an eye on both of them.”
Returning to the basement he heads for Derpy.
“How’s Brightwing doing?”
Derpy gasps. “This is HER?!”
“Yeah. Not sure exactly what she did, but when things settled down she was in that form.”
“Another mystery.”
“We can ask her to give us the details when she wakes up.”
“Shouldn’t Ember be here for that though?”
“Not sure that’s such a good idea. She’ll most likely be really mad.”
“But as the Dragon Lord she should be consulted.”
“You’re right, Derpy. I’ll go get her in a bit.”
“Good.”
Derpy pulls back the covers to look her ward over. Putting a hand on her bare shoulder, Derpy pulls her to lay on her back. The illumination from the lights overhead spill over their face for the first time. Arc’s eyes grow wide.
“What the…?!”
“Arc?”
“I need to see her in some better light to be sure!”
“Let’s get her to our bed upstairs then.”
Picking Brightwing up, covers and all, Arc hurries upstairs with Derpy in the lead. She opens the door ahead of him and pulls back the covers. Arc quickly lays his ward on the bed and frowns. Reaching over, he grabs the lamp on the nightstand and turns it on. Holding it close to the woman’s face he looks them over for a long moment. Eventually Derpy puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Arc?”
“I…”
“What’s wrong?”
“This is… this is IMPOSSIBLE!”
Derpy looks to the unconscious human in the bed. “Brightwing just turned themselves into a human. What’s so strange about that?”
“Because... this isn’t Brightwing.”
“But I thought you said earlier…”
Arc interrupts her. “I could be wrong, of course, but…”
He sighs before continuing.
“This looks exactly like the picture I saw.”
Derpy appears confused. “Picture?”
“I know this might sound absurd, but… I’m pretty sure this is…”
He looks down at the woman and sighs.
“…Auriel’s missing mother, Doctor Knowles.”