//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Two Legends // Story: Cracking Dawn // by Didily Winkles //------------------------------// Chapter Twelve "Alright, Miss Pie." Twilight said in a studious manner. "OKAY!" Pinkie Pie was jumping in place in anticipation, getting ready for her duty. Dawn cast a spell on Twilight, letting a glowing orb orbit closely around her neck. Pinkie Pie was ready. "Remember you must remain silent." Dawn repeated. "We got it already!" Rainbow Dash yelled, earning a glare from the rest of the group. Twilight summoned some heavy duty tape from behind her and flung it around Rainbow's mouth several times. "There, you 'Need' to stay quiet. We only get one chance at this." Twilight said, satisfied with the stifled pegasus. "Well I got some bomb shells I can drop on my parents if we need to do further testing." Dawn admitted to Twilight. "Well after two months developing this stupid thing I hope we won't need it." Twilight said, pointing to the thing still orbiting her neck. "All you Pinkie." Dawn nodded. Pinkie Pie approached the group of her friends, looking them straight in the eyes. "Twilight 'is' dating The Great and Powerful Trixie and 'has' been for almost two years!" Pinkie blurted out with the grace only Pinkie could manage. The group of friends stood mouthing the questions they wanted to ask, remembering their promise to stay quiet. Hearing her queue, Trixie walked out of Twilight's room and down stairs to nuzzle her fillyfriend in front of the group, earning a small gasp. The orb around Twilight's neck started to hum a low groan as it turned blue. "Ha! It is awkward!" Dawn chirped. "Yes... I should say so..." Trixie said, rolling her eyes. She was against coming out to Twilight's friends in an experiment. "Yah, I was worried. This didn't feel awkward at all." Twilight said from behind the scroll she was writing notes on. She turned to Trixie and pecked her on the lips. "Thanks Trix this was a lot of help." Trixie's face met with her hoof as she attempted to fully grasp the situation she was in. "Yes, yes. I am glad to have helped." She turned to Twilight's group of friends. They were all still quite silent. Rainbow was wrestling with the tape around her muzzle. "Can they talk yet? I would prefer to knock out their questions before they fester in place." Trixie asked Dawn, who was behind a scroll of her own, scribbling down her own notes of the experiment. "Huh? Oh, yes. You can talk now." Dawn said, turning to the still stunned group of mares. Applejack was the first to collect her thoughts into coherent sentences. "What in tar-nation is goin on? Ya mean to tell me..." Rarity interrupted with a hoof in Applejack's mouth. "TWO YEARS?" She screamed. Fluttershy was hiding behind her bangs while sitting on her quarters twirling her hooves. "How... why would you want to... I mean why would you keep..." She lost the will to continue or finish any of those questions. Rainbow Dash was having no problem saying paragraphs behind her tape. Her wings flared about in exacerbated movements as she orchestrated a wide array of emotions on her face ranging from surprise to disappointment. Dislodging the hoof in her mouth, Applejack walked over to Twilight, pushing away her floating scroll. "Why would ya keep something like this from us?" "Well... I..." Twilight stammered. The orb around her neck got louder in between her mumbled words. Awkwardness has variants? "After I made a complete fool of myself Oh so long ago, she thought you guys would not approve." Trixie said, swooping in to Twilight's rescue. "I'm more impressed by Twilight's level of cunning to be able to keep something like this a secret. It's awe inspiring." Dawn chimed in, earning a few glares from Twilight and Trixie. "Ahh, not that impressive then, my bad..." Dawn recanted as she hid behind her scroll. "No, I'm with you Dawn. That is impressive." Rarity said, looking almost angry. "How did you keep it a secret for so long?" Fluttershy walked up behind Rarity as if reinforcing the question. Rainbow nudged Twilight with her elbow, using expressive wing movements to show her approval. She then turned to Trixie and gripped her face in her hooves forcing their eyes to lock. Rainbow talked through the muffling tape with a stern voice then hugged Trixie with coos of approval. "Uhh... Thanks... let me get that tape off you..." Trixie said, confused by what had just transpired. With a flick of her magic, the tape reeled off Rainbow with a snap, pulling a few hairs of her coat with it. "Thanks." Rainbow said, rubbing the back of hear head feeling for any possible bald spots. There were none. "Like I was saying, Twilight likes her so, so do I." She said, flaring her wings framing Trixie and Twilight as she brought them in for a hug. "Well how charming." Dawn said plainly, popping the lovey-dovey feeling in the air. "Twilight I'm off. Promised April and the family we would go apartment shopping..." Dawn admitted, slipping a fair amount of dread into her voice. Twilight perked up at the farewell. "Don't forget our double date tomorrow." Twilight reminded. "Ugh." Trixie and Dawn groaned in unison. Rarity cooed at the notion. "Yes, yes. Fine." Dawn said as dark smoke swirled around her, letting her traverse the void. As soon as her hooves found new ground, she was in a deep embrace with who she recognized as April before she could even open her eyes. "You are late." April whispered into Dawn's ear. "Yes..." April was hovering near Dawn's ear, breathing ever so subtly into her neck making words near impossible to form. "Well..." April bent forward a little to nibble on the base of Dawn's ear, rolling the flesh gently with her teeth. Dawn let out a small groan of pleasure as her thoughts melted away. Reality snapped back when April broke her embrace to look Dawn in the eyes. Such a cruel pony. Dawn's backlogged words in her mouth flooded out with a slur. "The statue ponies are hard to gather in one place in the morning." April looked confused. "The statue ponies?" With months of practiced analysis, April followed Dawn's thought process. "Oh... Did you ever find out what they did to get that statue?" "Ha, no." Dawn laughed. "Something to do with metaphysical aspects of emotion and magic... I don't know... Sounded very fantastical." "I guess I'll ask Twilight tomorrow." April reconciled. Dawn rolled her eyes. "I don't know how you get along with everypony so well." Mind control. Maybe blackmail. "It's like you have super powers or something." Dawn concluded. April took a hoof up to her chin to consider the possibility. "It just takes practice." She donned a cunning grin. "Plus it 'is' the best defense to make sure she doesn't steal you from me." She said, before breaking into a mock maniacal cackle. Satisfied with the surprised look on Dawn's face, April broke the façade and moved to Dawn's side. "Let's go get your parents. Grab those brochures for me, will you?" She asked, pointing a hoof to her desk. Without a second thought Dawn obeyed. She willed her magic into lifting the papers and conjuring the void itself to pull her, April and the papers to her parents. Both mares opened their eyes to Dawn's backyard. The garden she had worked so hard on since she was a filly was dead. Her parents, unaware of their presence, were basking in the sun next to each other, enjoying the grass that had survived in her absence. "You are so useful." April pecked Dawn's cheek before skipping merrily over to Dawn's parents. "How are you two doing today? Eve, Stu?" April asked casually. Both of the pegasi perked up to April's voice. The black mare that was Dawn's mother jumped up immediately and charged into Dawn, bypassing April, taking her into a gruesome hug. "Dawn!" She cried out in excitement, nuzzling her daughter. "Ready?" Dawn asked, apathetic to the vice grip her mother had her in. "Ahh good you're bringing the brochures. Let me go get my saddle bag." Dawn's father got up to go inside. "Clearly you're not visiting your mom enough." April said plainly. "Please..." Dawn managed to pull her overly affectionate mother off her with a small nuzzle back to seal the deal. "I get this treatment every week." "Yes, well... You can not help that your mother loves you too much." Dawn's mother inspected her daughter. "You are thin, are you eating?" "It's kind of hard to stop her from eating." April answered. "Alright let's go." Her father exited the house with two giant empty saddle bags on his back. Dawn, knowing these would never be filled, shoved in the flyers she had been carrying. "Umm Stu, what are you going to use those for?" April asked, poking the large bags once in range. Dad's nickname still seems so wrong on April's lips for some reason. "You can never have too big of bags." Dawn's father said, giving a little grandiose pose at his own proclamation. "I would argue that you have found the contradiction to that statement." Dawn teased. "If that is how you feel Dawn, you can carry your own flyers." He replied in kind. "No thank you." She said as she pulled the void around her loved ones. When she opened her eyes they were in front of the castle gates. Where she hoped their search would end quickly. At the sudden appearance of Dawn the guards gave crisp salute making a bit of a scene for on lookers and tourists of the city. She looked to her parents. Her father was just opening his eyes as the black smoke that had enveloped them, dissipated. Dawn's father was the first to make sense of his senses. "Well I certainly don't care for that feeling." He concluded. "You get used to it." April shrugged, bumping Dawn's flank with hers. Dawn's mother was just opening her eyes to the new light of Canterlot. "Is that what it always feels like? It was so cold... and dark..." She said, giving a little shiver at the recollection of the brief experience. "Silent..." Dawn's father added. "It's called the void." Dawn said, turning to her parents. "As the name implies it is the absence of everything including space which is why I can go anywhere I please." "Oh..." They both said in unison as if understanding. In one ear and out the other... Dawn rolled her eyes, remembering who she was talking to, then turned to April. April was deep in thought, likely recalling the maps she had memorized during her and Dawn's dates and explorations. "Come on let's get going. The first apartment I want to check out is over here." April pointed down one of the five streets that met up with the castle gates. The street April guided them down was as oriental as all the others. Alabaster walls with lavender and gold colored roofs. April and Dawn, tail's entwined, walked down the streets of Canterlot with Dawn's parents in tow to their first destination. "Lady Dawn." A voice called out from behind them. Dawn groaned at the call. Only the guard calls me that now... Dawn turned around to see a large unicorn stallion in full guard armor followed by two other mares both pegasi. Dawn looked at them expectantly. "Lady..." Dawn's parents giggled to each other. "Milady." The guards gave a quick synchronous bow. "We are your city escort. Sergeant Aegis, Private Ward and Martial reporting for duty." He said, giving a disciplined salute. "Oh my." Dawn's mother said in a sultry tone. "That will not be necessary." Dawn deadpanned. I swear, I think Luna thinks it's funny to keep this as a standing order. "This is by orders of Captain Shining Armor, milady." The large unicorn informed. "The captain also told me to give you a message. He said 'If you attempt to escape our escort he will alert the entire city watch to assure your safety." Dawn groaned in desperation for them to go away. "Maybe I should just go hide in my tower until you guys are done." "Not a chance." April laughed. Both of Dawn's parents stepped up in front of Dawn, flaring their wings the way pegasi do when they brag. "I got to say I'm pretty insulted. Are we not enough to protect our daughter?" Dawn's mother asked incredulously. "Uhhh..." The Sergeant was nervous. He shrunk into the two pegesi's shadow. "Holy Celestia's meadow muffin!" One of the privates gasped. "WHAT WAS THAT PRIVATE?" The Sergeant regained what little composure he had to scold the youngling under his charge. "Sir, that's 'the' Sturdy Shield and Ever Watch!" The private chirped in excitement, pulling back behind her partner. "They're totally legends." She added. "I am well aware private. You will know your place and watch your tongue." The sergeant turned around to Dawn. "Please excuse the young private, milady." "Uhh, no problem." I will defiantly need to use that one... "Ahem." Dawn's father grabbed the sergeant's attention. He stood at a towering attention, flaring his wings up even higher to emphasis the importance of his words. "Since Dawn has two 'Legends', as the private put it, with her. I am sure you can go tell your captain she is in safe hooves right?" He said in an authoritative voice that was typically reserved for fresh Wonderbolt recruits. If the guard were allowed to cower, the unicorn that almost rivaled Dawn's father's stature would have. Instead he was just at a loss for words until his voice found him, which took awhile. "No." He said shakily. The sergeant attempted to regain his lost confidence. "Sir..." He gave small salute of respect out of instinct if nothing else. "I have strict orders. Lady Dawn has eluded us many times and has endangered herself in the process. Sir." Dawn's mother stepped forward, taking a similar posture as her husband but some how it was more intimating despite her smaller size. Something about the stance of the black mare made Dawn shiver for her life. It was aggressive, nay deadly. Her wings were tilted slightly forward and her stance on the ground suggested a lethal strike was well with the realm of possibility. "Well my young friend..." She began in a deceptively affable tone. "I'm sure you can stay back a comfortable distance then. Out of sight? Yes?" Something about the way her mother asked made Dawn wish for their lives to answer properly. "Errr..." The sergeant stammered a few words nothing decipherable. The guards were cowering by this point. They were in a low bow deserving of the princesses. "I think we can arrange something to that effect." The sergeant managed to say after a moment dedicated to his composure. "As long as we can keep watch over your daughter." "Good." Both of Dawn's parents sheathed their aggressive postures along with their wings, returning to the loving parents Dawn had always known them to be. They turned around to two mares, whose mouths were agape. "Shall we?" Dawn's mother asked nonchalantly. Both of Dawn's parents gave an innocent grin as the guards did as they promised and disappeared. Dawn's curiosity, the most powerful force in her being, sprang forward. "What was that?" "What was what?" Her mother asked, tipping her head to the side in confusion. "That." Dawn pointed behind her parents. April just nodded behind Dawn as her mind searched desperately for an answer too. "What you did to those guards... They nearly peed themselves." Both her parents looked authentically surprised but than donned small smiles of virtue. "Oh, you give them too little credit. They are nice ponies." Her mother said, maintaining her façade. Dawn face hoofed. Wow that does hurt. "Alright..." I need a question they can not dance around. "Mom, what did you guys do to become 'legends'?" Dawn asked as if wishing to a star for an answer. "That kind of stuff is in the past dear. Don't worry about it." Dawn's mother answered, waving a hoof to clear away all Dawn's concerns. They never talk about their pasts. Dawn groaned. She only knew them as a coach and a weather pony. Dawn was getting frustrated, she needed answers. "You know I deal with guards all day. I'll just ask them." "I'm sure you will get a fantastic story pasted down through hear-say. That is if you can get any of them to talk about it at all." Dawn's father said as he rested a hoof on Dawn's shoulder, which was growing colder by the second. Dawn deadpanned as she looked at her parents straight in the eyes. "You would prefer 'that' over the truth? You know I have the same imagination as you do. I can also jump to crazy conclusions." Little salt in a wound will loosen their tongues. Both her parents let out heavy sighs of defeat. "How about we tell you over lunch Honey Buns." Dawn face hoofed. Yah I really shouldn't hit myself like that. "Fine whatever..." She admitted defeat after all. Dawn's parents lead the way to the first few apartments they checked out, letting the two astonished mares trail behind with their thoughts. Eventually April put those thoughts on to the back burner and started to lead the way, pulling Dawn from apartment to apartment. Each apartment had some 'flaw' with one of her parents or with April. 'Bathroom is too small.' was a common complaint or 'That rent is horrendous for what you get.' and plenty of 'There are not enough this or that.' Dawn was taking notes of the flaws, prices and location on a levitating piece of paper. "Dawn what do you think of this one?" April asked, seemingly for the thousandth time. Dawn looked around. It was a nice apartment, as nice as all the other ones they had looked at. It was Canterlot, it was all nice. "It has four plus walls and a roof. Has a bathroom, kitchen, and room for a bed..." April cut her off with a raised hoof. "You are no help." "Yah, I figured I would be since you turned down the most ideal choice as soon as it was offered." Dawn said, letting annoyance slip through her teeth. "Oh you mean one of the first apartments? Wait..." April asked, only to reel back in what she just cast. She started tracing back Dawn's thought process with practiced analytics. "We talked about that." "Yes, yes." Dawn said, waving her hoof to shoo the words away. "I say we get lunch after you reject this one." She added, letting her displeasure guide her voice. April groaned. "You could help a little..." "That sounds like a good idea." Dawn's mother interrupted. As predicted, they left the apartment naming off its many miniscule flaws that make it absolutely unlivable. They ended up taking seats outside at restaurant they just stumbled upon. After their order was taken, Dawn remembered what had daunted her just hours ago. "So legends..." Dawn said with a grin. Her parents winced with her voice. "Tell us a story." Dawn and April's tails whipped in anticipation. "We were hoping you would just let that slide." Dawn's father said while studiously looking at the ground under the table. "That's a shame... So do go on." Dawn was not about to go and give this up. "Well it is a thrilling tale of love, plenty of action and..." Dawn's mother started to say. She was getting into a story telling mood like she had done when Dawn was a filly. "...Lust." She gave a sultry gaze at her husband who was sitting silently, looking down at the floor. Dawn's stomach churned in disgust. "Never mind I don't want to hear it." Dawn said with an absolute finality. April sprang up, wings fully extended above her. "What! Why?" She was flabbergasted by the change in her partners tone. "No. I want to hear it. Please." She said with a pleading voice. "I do not." Dawn said with a strong certitude in her voice. Dawn's mother turned back to Dawn, releasing her sultry look. "Well if you insist Dawn..." April leaned over the table using her forelegs to prop up her head. "No, ignore her. Please tell us the story." Her tail flailed about uncontrollably. "Well Dawn doesn't want to hear it." Dawn's mother pouted, disappointed at being unable to tell her story. "Yep, I do 'not' want to hear it. You can keep your secrets. All of them." Dawn agreed. April turned her attention to Dawn. Coming in real close. Close enough that April knew she could get her way. She whispered, "Come on Dawn." Going in for a small peck in that one spot on her neck below her ear, that one spot that has won her way time and time again. "Nope." Dawn was melting inside but her resolve was absolute. Evil Mare. So cunning. Celestia as my witness I love her. April's ears fell in defeat as she retreated from the battle of wills. Dawn was the victor. She had lost. She rested her head on the table as she glowered. Likely in hopes of changing the mood in the air and the subject, Dawn's mother searched through the giant saddle bags of her husband. She pulled out a stack of flyers with her teeth and set them on the table. "Where should we go once we're done eating?" She asked, spreading the flyers on the table. Dawn's father visibly relaxed from what Dawn could tell was a very strained posture. "Yes, Where should we go. Why not this neighborhood next?" He suggested pointing a hoof at a flyer. "Might as well try some apartments in Cloudsdale too." Dawn said sarcastically. "They would be cheaper." Her mother said. Swing and a miss. "No, one of these apartments will do." April concluded, rising her head from the table to look at the flyers. Dawn snickered. "I don't know. Canterlot might not have enough windows and big enough bathrooms for this city to livable. We may have to inform Princess Celestia so the city can evacuate." April delivered a burning glare at the pink unicorn. "Can I see your list?" She asked. Dawn willed the rolled up paper from her father's bags and spread it in front of April for her to scrutinize. April bent over the table to read the entire list. Each property had notes of what they had said about the property. "I didn't know you were taking notes..." April turned to Dawn thinking hard. "What one would you pick?" She asked after some reluctance. The least objectionable one at this rate. "That one." Dawn pointed to a property on the list. One of the first ones they visited. April raised an eye brow at the quick answer. "Why?" She asked while looking at Dawn, trying to read her mind. "Closest to origin." Dawn replied confidently. April face hoofed. She should stop doing that it can't be healthy. "You made a graph in your head..." She mumbled. "Fine." She concluded, sliding her hoof down her face in defeat. "Tell me if that property is ever beaten. If we don't find one... That one will be it." Happy days! "Really?" Dawn asked, skeptically, tail dragging side to side on the ground expressing her gratitude that there was an end in sight. "Might as well." April said, while looking at the sky for any other answer. "I need to live near school and I can't live in a cloud."