//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Make Your Mark Part 2 // Story: The Tale of Neon Light // by DeffBwade //------------------------------// The Tale of Neon Light Written by DeffBwade Chapter 13: Make Your Mark Part 2 "Good morning station!" Hitch greeted as he entered the police station, "Sheriff Hitch here, reporting for duty," he said before sitting down. He then noticed his animal crew in front of him saluting, "At ease, deputies! Sos what do you say?" he asked confidently, "Which Sheriffy things should we do today in Maretime Bay?" "Umm, are you trying to rhyme?" Zipp asked, cringing at what she just walked into. "Oh, hey, Zipp," Hitch greeted, "Yeah! What did you think?" "Way too much," Zipp said honestly. "Cool, cool. Just trying something out. Didn't work. Good feedback!" Hitch said before clearing his throat, "So, what can I do for you?" "I came by because ...well..." Zipp hesitated, trying to find the right words, "Have you seen anything strange lately?" "Strange? What do you mean?" "Well, I was on the balcony earlier when..." Zipp was about to explain what she saw, but then decided against it (for some reason). She chuckled nervously and said, "You know what? It was probably nothing. Forget it." "Wait! I know what this is about..." Hitch said with some thought. "You do?" Zipp asked in surprise, thinking that the earth pony stallion is also aware of the fact that magic has been acting funky lately. "You're...bored," Hitch answered, to which Zipp put on a deadpan face at the fact that he apparently was not aware and just thought she needed something to do. Hitch smiled and continued, "But you don't have to be shy. We're pals! We can totally hang out! I know, let's order fries from three different dinners and then decide which ones are the best! Or maybe a puzzle!" he suggested. Zipp smiled at this, thinking that it would help keep her mind off things, but then the phone rang, "A call?!" Hitch exclaimed before answering the phone, "Sheriff station... I see... Really? How strange! At the beach? Well, I'll be right there!" he assured before hanging up, "It appears we have a code 8-18 at the beach. Want to come on a trot-along with me, Zipp?" he asked, but when he turned to the pegasus in question, he just saw the front door close, "And...I'm talking to nopony." "Something strange going on the beach? Hmm..." Zipp thought before pulling out her phone. BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ "Come on," I muttered. BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ "Come on. Please pick up," I muttered again, starting to get inpatient. BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ "Crap, is she at work right now?" I asked myself as I laid down on my bed, ready to call it quits. BUZZ BUZZ BU— "Hello? Neon?" the pony on the other end called out, slightly startling me. "Yes! Hey, Mom!" I said, quickly getting up, "I'm sorry. Is this a bad time?" "No no, it's fine. I was just getting ready for my break when you called me," she explained, "How are you doing, sweetie? Making sure you eat and get plenty of rest?" "Yeah, I'm good." "And how are Pipp and Zipp doing? And those other friends of yours?" "They're doing fine. Just doing their own thing," I answered before remembering why I was calling in the first place, "Um...Mom? Can I...ask you something?" "Of course. Ask away!" "Okay...um...how should I put this? Have you seen anything...weird lately in Zephyr Heights? Like magical wise?" I asked. "I...don't think I have. Why? Is something wrong?" Mom asked with worry. "No! No!" I reassured, "At least...I don't think so. It's just...earlier today, I saw a couple of pegasi falling from the sky." "Oh my. I hope nopony got hurt." "They're fine. It's just...when I was about to go help them, they were flying away all fine and dandy," I sighed as I rubbed eyes, "I don't know. Maybe I was just seeing things. I mean, I did just do a stream a few days ago that lasted...ahem...8 hours." "Neon," Mom said sternly. "Yeah, I know. I know," I said with a bit of a roll of my eyes, knowing how she can get when I stream for long periods of time. Not that I mind, of course. She's just trying to watch out for me, "Anyways, so you haven't seen or heard anything weird?" "Hmm... No, I can't say I have." That was a shame, but in truth, I almost knew that I wasn't just seeing things. Now that I think about it, I remember seeing a similar incident outside of my window during my stream. At the time, I thought I really was just seeing things due to me being in the zone (and my brain being pretty much mush). But what I saw today really makes me question things. "...Alright," I said with a sigh before I got a text message notification. I looked at it and saw that it was from Zipp. Meet me at the beach. "Hey Mom, I gotta go. Zipp wants to meet me for...something. I don't know." Only I did know what she needed me for... Maybe. "Okay sweetie. Tell her and Pipp that I said 'hi.' And I'll see you in a few days for the festival." "Okay Mom. Love you. Bye." "Love you too. Bye," Mom said before hanging up. I tucked my phone under my wing and proceeded to exit my apartment. Upon exiting, I saw Silver levitating a package (presumably some supplies for her fabric store) into her apartment. Just when I was about to greet her, however, I saw the aura around her horn...glitch out...and was struggling to carry her package. "Whoa!" I shouted as I rushed over and caught the package before it could hit the ground. Just in case there was something fragile. "Phew. Thanks Neon," she said with a sigh of relief. "No problem, Silver," I said as I placed the package down, "What just happened with your magic?" "I don't know. It was perfectly fine, but then it just...went away," Silver answered, rubbing her head, "Oh, I hope I'm not at that age where I start to do even the simplest of tasks." "I don't think so. You still look young to me," I pointed out, noting the lack of wrinkles or other signs of age. "Don't ask her age. Don't ask her age. Don't ask her age." "Oh, thank you, Neon," she said with a smile. "Don't mention it," I said before remembered why I was leaving in the first place, "Anyways, I gotta go meet a friend for something. See ya, Silver. And you be careful now." "I will. Bye," she waved as I took the elevator down and soon took flight once I exited my apartment building. Luckily I'm a pretty decent flier thanks to that one day long flight school Zipp held sometime ago. It also helped a mare get over her fear of daisies. ... ...I'm sure there's a perfectly good and psychological reason behind that, but until I find out said reason, I'm just gonna say...weird. I arrived at the beach in just a few minutes. I looked around from above and saw Zipp laying down...and observing ponies? "Okay?" I said with a questioning gaze. I flew down and landed next to the white pegasus, "Hey, Zipp. I'm he— Whoa!" I yelped as Zipp suddenly pulled me down to the ground. "Shhh," she shushed before looking back at the ponies around a sandcastle with an umbrella impaled in it. And I'm talking about the handle facing up. "What do you mean something strange happened?" an earth pony asked before pointing an accusing hoof at a unicorn, "You did it on purpose!" "I did not!" the unicorn exclaimed. "I saw you use your magic to drop your umbrella onto my sandcastle!" "I'm telling you it wasn't me! I was just carrying it and then my magic just...went away!" "I don't believe you!" "But I'm telling the truth!" "Ahem!" Hitch cleared his throat as he walked onto the scene, "Is everypony okay over here?" "Sheriff Hitch! I promise I didn't mean to ruin anything!" the unicorn defended, "My magic! It—" "I worked on that castle all day!" "...Zipp, what's going on?" I finally asked. "Remember when we pretended to be detectives when we were foals?" Zipp asked as she looked at me with a small smile. "How could I not? I looked for the clues while you put puzzle pieces together...and looked for the clues," I said with nostalgia, remembering how Pipp and Queen used to set up fake investigations for Zipp and I to solve. Let me tell you something. While putting pieces together isn't my strong suit (because I'm dumb), growing up I've developed a keen attention to detail...although Zipp has a much better one...(perks of being a gamer, I guess), "Wait, why do you ask?" "I've been wanting to investigate the strange magical occurrences that have happening lately, and I figured why not ask my old investigation partner if he wants to help me?" she explained, "So...what do you say?" I pondered on this for a second. Literally. "I'm down," I answered almost immediately, "I have been wanting to see whether these things are actually happening or I'm just tripping," I continued before remembering something, "But I don't think I'm tripping. But I left my place to come meet you, I saw my neighbor's magic start to...glitch out." "Really?" she asked, surprised. "Yeah. Almost dropped her box of supplies levitating it," I said, "My mom said that she hasn't seen anything, but I just wanna make sure. Plus, I guess it would be nice to relive some of the good old days." "Yeah. It would be," Zipp agreed. "What about the others? Should we inform them of what we're doing?" "I wanted to, but I figured it would be best if we just let them focus on Maritime Bay Day. They seem very passionate towards making it go smoothly, and I don't wanna worry them." "Mmm," I nodded, understanding her logic and reasoning, "Makes sense. Besides, I'm sure we can handle this on our own." "Hopefully," Zipp muttered before her phone began to ring, startling us. She quickly looked to who was calling, and I didn't get to see before she decided to reject the call, "Thursday. Noon. Beach. Second magical mishap: levitation glitch," she said on what I guess is a voice recorder on her phone, "Unicorn dropped umbrella. Lots of upset ponies. Very strange. Must investigate further..." "Since when did you use a voice recorder for our little investigations?" I asked with a bit of a amused smile. "Since now," she smirked before she stood up, "Come on. Let's go see if there's any other mishaps going on in town." "Mmm," I nodded, but when I tried to fly up...I couldn't. It was as if the magic in my wings was glitching. The same could apparently be said for Zipp. We both landed on the ground and I exclaimed, "What the?!" "Oh no... Please no!" Zipp pleaded as we both tried once again, but to no avail. "First Silver's, and now ours? What's going...on...?" I asked as I looked at my wings, but paused when I saw that the light emanating from the Brighthouse...was also glitching, "Um...Zipp?" She stopped looking at wings and looked at me. She turned her attention to where I was pointing and gasped upon seeing the glitching light as well. Determination on her face, Zipp tried once more to fly, and this time it worked. Seeing this, I tried to fly as well, and succeeded. "Let's go!" I cheered, but then focused on the task at hand and the two of us proceeded to fly to the Brighthouse. We arrived pretty quickly just as Sunny opened the front door. "Zipp! Neon! There you are!" she greeted us as Izzy and Pipp came too. "Oh, hey!" Izzy greeted as well, "Coming to town with us to gather more supplies for the new-and-improved Maritime Bay Day?" "Oh. Wish we could, but—" Zipp tried to say. "Why can't you exactly?" Pipp interrupted with a frown. "Err..." "We're working on our own surprise for Maritime Bay Day," I lied with a smile that seemed sincere. Not to toot my own horn, but I can be a pretty good li— "Ah, yeah! Yeah! That's what we're doing," Zipp lied...horribly. And the nervous smile wasn't helping. Pipp and Sunny had faces that told us that they weren't buying it. Izzy was smiling, as if she did believe it, "Have fun!" Zipp said before running up the stairs, with me following behind. "No offense, but maaaybe you should let me do the lying from on," I said to her. "Yeah," Zipp sighed. We entered the elevator leading to the Crystals, expecting the worse. What will we see? The rainbow light fading away? The Crystals cracking and breaking? When we finally reached the top and the elevator doors opened, we saw that the Crystals...were perfectly fine. "Wha...?" I said as I walked up to the Unity Crystals and started to inspect them, trying to see if there's something...anything...that would indicate that there's something wrong. But no. There was nothing, "They're perfectly fine." "Maybe," Zipp muttered before pulling out her phone to record again, "Thursday. 12:15. Crystals, normal. Prisbeam energy, intact." "But how long they'll stay intact before glitching out again is the question," I stated. "Agreed. I think we should split up. You go into town to look for any more magic anomalies, and I'll stay here and watch the Crystals." "Sounds like a plan," I nodded as I started to fly, "I'll call you if anything happens." "Same here," Zipp said as I flew to Maritime Bay. "It's strange, though. Our magic started glitching out at the same time those ponies started to argue. Is there some sort of connection?" I thought. Within a couple of minutes, I landed in the middle of the town with a determined look on my face, "I guess we just have to find out. Let's get scouting for more anomalies!" "She tried to sabotage my sandcastle!" "No I didn't! My magic was just gone!" "Okay! Okay!" Hitch said, waving a hoof to calm the two arguing ponies down, "Everypony just—" "Magic shouldn't be allowed here on the beach!" the earth pony firmly suggested. "Is magic allowed here on the beach, Sheriff Hitch?" a pegasus filly shyly asked Hitch. "Oh...uh..." Hitch stammered, unsure on how to answer the filly's question, "It's not...not allowed..." he answered nervously, much to the confusion of everypony present, "You know...actually...maybe I should go back to the station and check the records to see what I could dig up. Yeah! You ponies just hang tight and I'll get back to you." And with that, Hitch proceeded to walk away, much to his slight disappointment. He always hated not being able to get a job done, especially considering that his role as Sheriff of Maritime Bay was to make sure that everypony's living in peace. As he walked away from the ponies, he noticed something in the sand. He walked closer to get a better look and discovered it to be some kind of pink colored egg. "Huh. You don't belong here, do you?" Hitch asked out of curiosity, "I've never seen an egg like this. Have you?" he asked his animal companions, only for them to gesture that they didn't, "What in Equestria are you?" he wondered, but then a tide came in and carried the egg away, "No!" he exclaimed, catching it before it at the last second before it could crash into a rock, "I'll take care of you, little one," Hitch decided with assurance, patting the egg. Once he arrived back at the station, Hitch went to a closet and put the egg inside it, on top of a red blanket for comfort and a lamp for warmth. "That's better," he said, "All roasty and toasty. I'll just keep you safe here until we can find who you belong to, okay?" Suddenly, the door opened and Posey entered the station. "Sheriff Hitch?" she asked, looking around for the stallion in question, who quickly closed the closet with the egg and his crew inside, and then ran to the side of the desk while hold a potted plant, "Who where you just talking to?" "Nopony! Nopony at all! " Hitch lied (for some reason) with a nervous smile. "How can I help you, Posey?" "I was just trotting down Mane Street when I noticed that my hooves were stuck to the sidewalk!" she explained with a frown, "I tried and tried to move, but I couldn't for like a really long time! I think somepony's pranking me. Probably one of those unicorns," she said while looking the outside with anger, "I'd like to file a complaint!" "Okay!" Hitch assured, still with an awkward and nervous smile, "The complaint box is over there on the wall," he pointed to said complaint box which was not only full, but also was dispensing some complaints into a trash can. "Well, I'd prefer if you took it down yourself," Posey stated. "I would, but I'm late for an important meeting at the Brighthouse. Duty calls!" Hitch replied before putting the plant back on the desk and then opening the closet a little bit to talk to his crew. "Keep an eye on that egg for me, would you, Deputy?" he asked, to which a bird replied with a military pose. Hitch then closed the closet, passed at Posey's side with a nervous laugh, and then got out of the station, leaving Posey confused and a bit angry that she didn't get the results she wanted. "There's literally nothing!" I thought as my eye began to twitch at the fact that everything was perfectly normal! I look over there, and there's just ponies going about their day. I look over here, and there's going about their day. I look over yonder, and there's just ponies walking around, socializing, buying stuff from the occasional store. In other words... GOING. ABOUT. THEIR. DAY. "Screw this! I'm done!" I thought before I took flight back to the Brighthouse. Flying to the balcony, I could see Zipp laying on the ground, staring at the Crystals. "Hour five and one minute. Still nothing..." she recorded into her phone with a tired voice. When I walked next to her and immediately slumped onto the ground due to exhaustion for walking and flying around town for the past 5 hours, she turned to me and asked, "I'm guessing you don't have anything?" "No. No, I do not," I reported in a calm but still clearly stressed tone, "Other than seeing Izzy rifling through a dumpster, everything was perfectly normal," I continued as my eye started to twitch again, "No falling pegasi. No levitation glitches. Nada." "Maybe I was wrong," Zipp groaned as she stood up, "Maybe there's no pattern to it. Just a glitch." "Well, better safe than sorry," I said as I too stood up, "Now I don't know about you, but I want to go home and lay down." As we turned around and were about to walk away, we heard a strange sound from behind us. We turned around and were surprised upon seeing that three auras of blue, pink, and orange...I guess powering the Crystals? I say "powering" because the Crystals were getting brighter. I think it's also important to note that the auras were coming from downstairs. Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen, the three auras were indeed coming from Izzy, Pipp, and Sunny. The three mares were having a good time, laughing as they put the miniature glimmerberry tarts boxes, and Pipp eating one because why not? The harmony between the three was apparently strong enough to power the Unity Crystals. "What in the wing feathers?" Zipp exclaimed. Suddenly, the Crystals shined bright, and then the walls of the room started to grow some plants drawings. "Woah..." I said, amazed at the site. I looked back at the Crystals and noticed that the earth pony crystal was glowing green and brighter than the other crystals, "Hey, look. The earth pony crystal is—" I tried to say, but paused when I looked over to Zipp and saw her entering the elevator. "I'll go get the others!" she exclaimed before the elevator descended. I just shrugged and turned to look back at the sight before me. Was this a natural phenomenon? Or was the first time this ever happened? Probably the latter. But what is causing this exactly? It must be those weird auras coming from downstairs. But where are they coming from? And why is the earth pony crystal specifically glowing more than usu— I winced a bit as I felt something passing over me. It didn't hurt or anything. It felt...enlightening...calming. Where have I felt this before? It was familiar, but at the same time it felt brand new to me. Does have something to do with what's going on with the Cry— My train of thought was interrupted as I saw that the plant drawings were starting to fade away. "No, don't you dare," I said, but the plants just continued to fade away, "Please don't let this be one of those moments," I pleaded, and as the plants completely faded away, the others arrived on the elevator, "I hate my life." "Wow!" Izzy shouted with a smile, "What are we looking at?" "There were all these vines growing on the wall!" Zipp said, "And they were glowing!" "And the Crystals were more glowey than usual," I added. "Glowing vines?" Pipp questioned as she and the others just had doubtful looks. "Anndd they don't believe us," I thought while I nodded, "Yep. It's one of those moments." "Okay. I have a confession. We've been monitoring the Crystals and we think something is wrong with them," Zipp confessed, to which I nodded in agreement. "What? No there isn't," Sunny assured with a smile. "What do you mean there isn't? None of you have seen the magic being...weird?" I asked. "Like it keeps switching off or something?" Zipp added. "Hmm... Nope!" Izzy said with a smile. "Me neither," Pipp replied. "Really?" Zipp asked in disbelief. "Sorry, sis," Pipp said. "Hitch?" Zipp called, looking at the stallion in question, "We saw what happened at the beach earlier! Didn't you take—" "What? I didn't take anything at the beach!" Hitch nervously denied. "...down a report?" Zipp finished as she and I looked at him with frowns because...what the heck? "Oh! Right, a report," Hitch said, a little more calmed now, but then nervously saying "Actually, that reminds me, gotta go file that report!" he excused himself, going into the elevator. "Hey, you wait a second!" Izzy complained as she and Pipp followed Hitch, "You were gonna teach us how to make life-sized gummy bunnies!" "I know it sounds weird, but we know what we saw! And what we've been seeing," Zipp told Sunny. "Like earlier today when my neighbor's levitation started to fail," I said. "And like the other day, when I was flying back from Zephyr Heights, these two pegasi crashed into each other and—" "I'm sorry, guys," Sunny apologized, interrupting Zipp, "I've been so caught up in all the festival planning. This is all my fault." "That magic is glitching?" Zipp asked with confusion "Uh, magic is not glitching!" Sunny assured once again. Now it was my turn to be confused, but this time towards Sunny's attitude and constant reassurance of magic being completely fine. She wasn't like this before. I understand if she hasn't seen anything weird, but shouldn't she at least take our words for it? Does she not trust us or something? "But you said it yourself!" Zipp pointed out, "Your alicorn magic keeps appearing randomly! You don't find that strange at all?!" "No, I-I think that's just because I'm still learning," Sunny said, but this time it sounded like she was not convinced herself. That was enough to convince me of one thing. Not heeding our words. Constantly saying that things are fine. But not even sounding sure of her own words? It wasn't she doesn't trust us or anything. It's more like she's in...denial. "But...I...you just...*sigh*...I need to clear my head," Zipp said before she flew away, presumably to walk around town. Now it was just me and Sunny. And while she claims that everything's fine, I know for a fact that everything's not fine. And the reason for her refusing to acknowledge that? "...You're scared, aren't you?" I asked, finally speaking up. "H-huh?" Sunny asked, "What are you—" "Sunny, I can hear it in your voice, and I know you do too. You know that the magic is acting all wonky, yet you say otherwise. Because all your life, you've wanted nothing more than to bring friendship and magic back to Equestria. And once that dream finally became a reality, you believed that everything will be fine," I explained with a look not of anger or disappointment, but of worry, "But when problems started to actually arise, you chose to deny it...because of what Posey said about magic. Because you don't want ponies to believe that magic really is dangerous." I'm not usually the type to be blunt like that, but I felt like I had to say it. Sunny had this whole facade of not being worried and claiming that everything's fine, but deep down I just knew that she was hoping that was the case despite what we tell her. And unbeknownst to me or Sunny, my cutie mark began to glow, but only for a few seconds. Sunny was silent for a few seconds, probably thinking about what to say next, before she sighed and looked at me. "Y-yeah," she admitted, "Ever since the incident with Posey, I've been so focused on making Maritime Bay Day a day that everypony can enjoy...and a way to prove just how wonderful magic can be. I want to believe that we're all still learning how to use magic, but..." "...I understand. Even though it's been months since magic returned, it's still kind of a mystery to me. It's just...I'm just...worried about what's been going on recently," I admitted, "But...considering that Maritime Bay Day is just in a couple of days...I suppose I can hold off on the magic investigation for now. I mean, it's just a little glitch here and there. I don't think it's that big of a deal." "...I hope... Am I a hypocrite now?"