The next day Rapid and Little Snack were still staying at Rapid's childhood home. When Rapid's Mother informed her that she was able to get in contact with her grandmother, Rapid felt nothing but joy!
Yes! This a good step in the right direction, as soon as the dark magic that Little Snacks under gets broken I'll proceed with going to the Head Guardian and telling him or her everything I know about what Phantasia's planning. Last time I checked the Head Guardian was a mare? I'll ask grandma about it since she's staying at the village where the retired Guardian lives. Rapid's thoughts were racing as she rode in a carriage to the village where her grandmother lived.
She didn't notice that the carriage had stopped until the door was opened and the driver announced that they were at their destination. After she stepped out of the carriage she turned to Little Snack who was sitting on the seat next to her and said, "Come on Little Snack, I have someone I'd like you to meet. She'll make you feel better."
Little Snack nodded and said in zombie-like fashion, "Yes Rapid…"
Rapid always seems to cringe and die a little on the inside ever since Little Snack began talking like a zombie because of being put under dark magic. This time around was no different. Rapid didn't say anything in response because instead of speaking she cringed.
After paying the driver Rapid and Little Snack went up to the house where her grandmother lives and Rapid rang the doorbell.
Rapid tried not to laugh when she heard an elderly mare's voice humming to the tune of her doorbell. "Ding, ding, ding, ding! Ding, ding, ding, ding!' The elderly mare kept humming the tune over and over again; it almost sounded like a chant which made it harder for Rapid to keep her composure and not burst out laughing because of that.
Once the door was opened Rapid was greeted by her grandmother. "Hello dear, how can I help you?"
"Oh uh, my name is Rapid Chaser," Rapid said.
Rapids's Grandmother tilted her head. "Rapid darling that's you?"
Rapid nodded. "Yes it's me."
Rapid's Grandmother hugged her and squealed, "Oh Rapid my dear! Cloudy said you were coming! I haven't seen you in ages!"
Rapid smiled. "Yes I know and it's good to see you again! Did mom by chance tell you why I wanted to see you?"
She nodded. "Oh yes she did." She looked behind Rapid and spotted Little Snack standing there with a blank look on her face. "I'm going to assume based on the expression on that pony's face, this is Little Snack?"
Rapid had a somber look on her face as she slowly nodded. "Yes Grandma. This is Little Snack and she's under the dark magic that my ex-boyfriend Phantasia put her under."
Rapid's Grandma gasped, "Why that little- I swear if I ever see that pony again he's as good as dead in my book!"
Rapid laughed, "It's not that simple Grandma because Phantasia knows better. He won't come after me when he's an enemy of Equestria! Honestly, I'm surprised you even let me in the house because of being his ex-girlfriend!"
She nodded again and motioned for Rapid and Little Snack to follow her. "Well don't just stand there at my doorstep! Come on in!"
Rapid and Little Snack followed Rapid's Grandma into the living room and sat down on the couch. Rapid's Grandma got up and went over to the kitchen and made some tea for them.
"Tell me exactly what happened," She said after she placed the tray with three cups of tea on it on the coffee table.
Rapid sighed and launched into the story about how Little Snack got to work for Phantasia. She left out a lot of details about what happened when she was dating Phantasia because she wanted to save those details for when she talked to the Head Guardian.
"I see," Rapid's Grandma said after Rapid told her the full story. She stood up and went over to Little Snack and looked her in the eyes. "Hmmm, hmm, mhmmm…" She mumbled to herself.
"Well?" Rapid said with a look of worry.
Her Grandma sighed, "I'm afraid this type of dark magic can only be broken by the Head Guardian herself!"
"But I thought you knew how to break all types of dark magic!" Rapid whined.
"Is that what Cloudy told you?" She chuckled, "Well I'm glad she thinks that highly of me but I was only trained to break four different levels of dark magic."
Rapid tilted her head. "Huh?"
Her Grandma nodded and began to explain what she knew about dark magic and what types of dark magic she could break and what types of dark magic she couldn't break.
Rapid sighed, "Is there any way I can get in touch with the Head Guardian?"
She frowned. "Well I can try and get in contact with Head Guardian Sapphire's assistant Tumble but that's the best I can do because there's no guarantee that Head Guardian Sapphire will agree to meet with you. And you do realize that even if Head Guardian Sapphire agrees to meet with you that there might be a chance that because you're Phantasia's ex she might put you in a dungeon right?"
Rapid slowly nodded and said, "Yes I do realize that. And that's a risk I'm willing to take to get my friend back."
Rapid's Grandma shook her head in dismay. "You're such a good mare you know. I hope that whoever you date in the future can be as strong as you are! Phantasia doesn't deserve you because of what he did to Little Snack!"
"Yeah he even fired all of the mares in his army because he couldn't stomach the idea of having a mare fight for him!" Rapid said.
She gasped, "Really? Phantasia's nuts! There are mares out there that are twice as- no three times stronger than any stallion he'll have working for him! As a matter of fact, one of the Gate Guardians is a mare and she's blind and boy you don't want to challenge her to fight because she will give you a run for your money!"
Rapid's jaw dropped. "Seriously? There's a Gate Guardian who's blind? Man, I would love to meet her!"
Rapid's Grandma shook her head. "That's not going to be possible because knowing Head Guardian Sapphire when she finds out who you are she won't let you anywhere near the Gate Guardians and rightfully so!"
Rapid sighed, "Yeah I know."
"Anyway, you and Little Snack can stay here for a little bit until I can figure out if I can ask for an audience with Head Guardian Sapphire," She said.
"Alright then," Rapid said.
Little did Rapid know that she would have to wait at least a week before she could get an audience with Head Guardian Sapphire.
***
Melody rolled her eyes at Apple Bloom who was busy helping her get ready for her date with Fancy Mark.
“You know Applejack has been talking my ear off about this date ever since she found out about it!” Apple Bloom whined.
Melody remained silent as she listened to Apple Bloom complaining about Applejack. Wow, she thinks she’s got it bad! At least she doesn’t have to get a lecture from Mom about what to do on a date with etiquette.
Melody thought of saying something about that to Apple Bloom but she didn’t feel like arguing about it. As a matter of fact, Melody wasn’t really feeling anything much by the way of emotions about going on this date with Fancy. To her this “date” was nothing but a means to an end so to speak. She had to keep an eye on him, (no pun intended) so she could gather evidence about Fancy's plan to leave and go serve Phantasia.
In all honesty, Melody doesn't really like Fancy as a love interest but since she agreed to this "date" he will now be considered her first boyfriend. But to Melody she was only going to let him have the title and nothing else. She wasn't going to fall in love with him because she was in love with Aether.
Melody could've said something to Apple Bloom about her complaining and she could tell her to shut up but she didn't. She decided to stay silent because she had started planning on how she would deal with Fancy. She knew that she would have to be on her toes when it came down to him.
When Melody finally finished getting ready for her date she sighed.
Apple Bloom paused and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
Melody shook her head. “It’s nothing, I’m just a little bit nervous about this date that’s all.”
What Melody just said wasn’t a lie. The main reason she was nervous about the date was because she hoped that things went well so she could gather as much information as she needed in order to tell Head Guardian Sapphire about what Fancy was planning.
Apple Bloom nodded. “Oh I totally understand! First dates are always nerve wracking! I know because I’ve been on a couple of dates before but I never really liked the stallion I went out with so nothing ever came of it.”
Melody tilted her head. “If you didn’t like the guy then why did you go out with him?”
Apple Bloom snorted. “It was a sympathy date. I had been friends with the guy and we were very close. When he asked me out on a date, I felt bad about letting him down so I went out with him.”
“Oh really? Does Applejack know about this?” Melody asked.
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nope! And I would like for it to stay that way because Applejack would do the same thing to me that she’s doing to you about this date.”
“Oh,” Melody said.
“Why do you want to go out with Fancy? I hope you’re not doing a sympathy date with him,” Apple Bloom questioned.
“Oh no, it’s nothing like that,” Melody answered. “I like Fancy and I also liked Aether. I was torn between which one I like more. When I asked Aether out, he said no so that made up my mind for me.”
Apple Bloom gave her a skeptical look. “Alright then, if you say so. I’m just surprised that’s all. I always thought Aether would be your first boyfriend and not Fancy!”
Melody nodded. “Yeah I know.”
Apple Bloom looked up at the clock on a nearby wall in Melody’s bedroom and nodded. “Okay Melody it’s almost time for your date! You don’t want to be late for your first date now do you?”
Melody laughed and Apple Bloom escorted her out of the bedroom to the carriage that was waiting outside her house to drive her to date. Before Melody got into the carriage Apple Bloom hugged her and said, “Have fun on your date!”
“Thanks sis,” Melody said.
“No problem!” Apple Bloom said.
With that Melody got into the carriage and went on her date.
***
Once Melody got to the restaurant where her date was going to be she was greeted by Fancy and he looked fancy dressed up in a black suit jacket with a white shirt underneath it and a black tie. His hair was slicked back and it made him look very handsome.
Fancy gave a short bow to Melody. As soon as they got settled at their table they ordered their food. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Melody saw them. Well because she’s blind didn’t really see them, she felt them. Mostly because Melody’s magic was synced with Aether’s magic and she wasn’t too happy with what she felt.
As she felt Aether’s magic standing next to another mare as if he was on a date with her, she excused herself from the table.
Melody managed to get Aether’s attention and he excused himself to go talk to her.
“So you’re already dating someone?” Melody said.
Aether's eyes went wide and he was taken aback by that statement. Before Aether could say something the young mare who was with him walked up behind him and nudged him on the shoulder. "Is this the mare you told me about who dumped you for another stallion?"
"What? Oh.. yeah, she is.." Aether responded.
Melody stomped her hoof frustrated as to why Aether would do this to her. I thought Aether agreed with this plan for me to go out with Fancy to gather information on him! I guess he changed his mind?
Melody frowned and shook her head. "Nevermind, have fun on your date!"
She walked off as fast as she could without running. Aether just stood there with his jaw dropped. The only reason he acted this way with his cousin was because he wanted to make the idea that Melody chose Fancy over him more believable. Now he stood there wondering if he made the right call.
Aether looked at his cousin who was named Lily and sighed, "You know something Lily? I'm not hungry anymore, I just want to go home."
"What's wrong? What I said was the truth wasn't it? Look, I understand that it hurts to not be with someone that you like, but it happens and the sooner you get over it, the sooner you can move on from it," Lily said.
Aether knew what Lily said was right but Lily didn't understand exactly what was going on and he wasn't about to tell her anytime soon. He would never betray a friend, especially a pony that had feelings for real. It was a fake betrayal and he thought Melody would understand that. At the moment, he felt as if he screwed up his relationship with Melody big time. He didn't know how to go about fixing things since this was a secret plan and he didn't want anything to jeopardize this plan that Melody cooked up.
Aether sighed again, "Like I said I'm not hungry, let's go back to Grandma's house. I only have two more days off and I have to report back to work after that."
"Well even if you're not hungry I am!" Lily chirped, "I'm gonna order some food and then we can head back."
So that's what they did. They ordered some food and went back to their Grandmother's house. The reason they were able to go out was because Head Guardian Sapphire lifted the punishment of house arrest but she said that the Guardian's could only get to the village by way of a special portal that nobody but the Guardian's would be able to find. Not to mention the village was where only authorized former Guardian's and their families live.
Little did Aether and the other Guardian's know, something would happen that would give Equestria a great advantage against Phantasia.