Shining Armor slowly got out of his torpor. He remembered seeing his strongest barrier being shattered by Vinyl's spell. He also remembered being impacted by the huge beam of light casted by his opponent, as well as the shaking that accompanied it. He had felt his magic armor breaking apart under the vibrations that had destroyed his barrier before they reached him. He had quickly passed out as the pain was too much to handle.
He could feel it now, all his muscles were sore. Like they would have after an intense working out session, except that, unlike when it occurred, it was affecting all his muscles and with a tension that he never felt before. He tried to move his fingers, wincing internally at the pain he felt when the muscles from his fingers contracted. It was painful, but not like when he had broken his fingers during his days at the academy.
He tried to move his arms, toes, legs, and so on. Feeling the pain from his sore muscles but he also felt happily that none of his bones seemed to be broken. Vinyl's spell had roughed him up a lot, a huge lot to be specific, but it looked like a great deal of TLC and proper bed rest would be enough to get through it. He slowly opened his eyes.
The first things he saw were two familiar feminine faces. He recognized the chocolate-milk like tone of his younger sister's face along with her purple hair and the paler visage of his wife with her multicolored hair. He realized he had been put in a sitting position, his back leaning on one of the fence delimiting the arena. His eyes scanned around him and spotted that Spitfire and Soarin were both standing next to him along with his sister and wife. All four of them were looking at him with evident worry and concern, not having noticed that he had his eyes open.
Hey, guys. What's with the six foot long faces?
He had thought these words. He had moved his lips and tongue to pronounce them. If the fact that his wife, sister and teammates' faces lit up like it was Hearth Warming Eve was of any indication, they seemed to have heard him saying them. But, why didn't he? Twilight and Cadence's lips moved incredibly fast, probably voicing their relief as they were beaming at him, but no sounds came. He tried to listen around, but nothing could be heard. Not the wind. Not the crowd. Nothing.
I...I can't hear you.
Twilight's lips opened swiftly, probably saying "What?".
I can't hear a thing... Shining probably had a panicked voice at that moment, but he couldn't hear it.
Cadence and Twilight's expressions quickly fell at what he had just said. His sister started to panic, her lips moving at a frantic speed as she was probably rambling at all the things that might be done in such a case. Cadence simply let her mouth open in shock before slowly turning her head away, looking behind her and allowing Shining to see the scenery.
Shining spotted Vinyl trying to stand up with the help of Cloud Kicker and Applejack, under the supervision of Ponyville Team's nurse. Vinyl's forearms were both heavily band-aided and she was struggling lightly to even walk, showing the first signs of magic exhaustion. Cadence got up rapidly before nearly running at her husband's former opponent before slapping her.
It probably escalated in a loud shouting match as the ponyvillian nurse mutedly yelled at Cadence who was being restrained by Spitfire while Applejack was held back by the combine effort of Soarin and other members of Ponyville Team. Vinyl looked at Cadence in disbelief and confusion while Cloud Kicker was still supporting her. When Cadence yelled something at her, she gasped before turning her face toward Shining Armor. Vinyl's lips moved slowly, probably to apologize, as she looked at the ground in shame while Cadence was still shouting at her.
Shining Armor would have normally frowned at his wife's behavior. Despite being a fighter by profession, he was convinced that any argument could be resolved without any use of violence, be it verbal or physical. But right now, it was the last thing on his mind.
Vinyl had deafened him. The information took its time to sink in, but it still happened. That meant that he couldn't do his job anymore. What's the use of a Royal Guard Captain who can't hear a thing. He let his head drop with a defeated sigh. Twilight was still at his side, holding his hand firmly with small tears in her eyes. Shining looked up and noticed Cloud Kicker walking toward him with a soft concerned expression.
She kneeled next to him, opposite from where Twilight was. She moved her lips, asking something to his sister. Shining wasn't an expert at reading lips but he recognized that Cloud Kicker had said the words 'may' and 'check'. Twilight seemed to scowl Cloud Kicker and sort of shouted at her angrily. Shining made out the words 'dare', 'ask' and 'check' out of Twilight's sentence.
He understood what Cloud Kicker had asked and why she asked it. Cloud Kicker had to see before believing, especially if one of her friend was concerned like this case. Cloud Kicker presumably explained to Twilight why she asked. Twilight snapped angrily at the blonde. Cloud Kicker turned her face away from Twilight and extended her hand to Shining's head, despite Shining's sister trying to stop her. The Guard pushed her Captain's hair to reveal his left ear.
Cloud Kicker blinked a couple of times before rolling her eyes with an annoyed frown on her face. Shining felt two fingertips inside of his auricle, they pinched on something inside his auditory canal and pulled.
"....Leave him alone, Cloud Kicker!" Shining heard Twilight say angrily.
"I swear...." Cloud Kicker sighed, ignoring Twilight. "Boss, you're probably the only man in the land who can't realize he has earplugs in his ears!" Cloud Kicker chastised loudly, showing the earplug to Twilight.
"..WHAT?" Twilight shouted in disbelief, looking at her brother's face.
"Huuuuuuh...." Shining let out with an embarrassed growing blush. "..Oops!"
"You're....not deaf..." Twilight let out in a whisper.
"Apparently not anymore...." Shining chuckled awkwardly as Cloud Kicker extracted the other earplug from his right ear.
"How?" Cloud Kicker asked in complete disbelief and annoyance. "Seriously, how didn't you feel them?"
"Well, I must have put them in by instinct..." Shining pondered. "...And when I woke up, I was all sore so I didn't really pay attention to my ears."
"...You had earplugs all along..." Twilight whispered to herself as tufts of her usually straightened hair rebelled themselves.
"And when you thought you were deaf, you didn't think about checking your ears?" Cloud Kicker asked with a crooked eyebrow.
"I...panicked?" Shining suggested hopefully.
"....I worried for nothing..." Twilight whispered again, her right eye slightly twitching.
Cloud Kicker sighed. "You're quite a handful some times, Boss." She said slowly while face-palming herself.
"Hehehe! Sorry." He chuckled awkwardly.
"Never mind that." Cloud Kicker said abruptly when she looked back at Cadence. "You might want to call your wife back, before Applejack creates a diplomatic accident." She added as she noticed that Applejack looked ready to assault the shouting Princess.
"....Help!.....Help!" The voice of Shining Armor choked, making Cloud Kicker look back.
"I was worried about your safety. I shed tears for you, thinking there was nothing left to do." Twilight said in a shaken voice, her hands firmly pressed around Shining's throat. "And, you just had earplugs stuck in your ears and forgot about them!" Twilight growled, strangling her brother with more strength than before.
"...Twily....stop...I'm gonna die...." Shining's face became blue as he was starting to suffocate.
"Of course....I'm the one who's going to kill you!" Twilight said with a barely concealed anger.
"Twilight, no!" Cloud Kicker shouted, before pulling Twilight away from her attempted fratricide. "I know you must be upset, but that's not the solution."
"You're right.... That's so not like me..." Twilight whispered with a shocked expression. Cloud Kicker sighed in relief. "I have no strength in my arms at all! That'll work better." She roared before strangling Shining with her magic.
Cloud Kicker face-palmed again. "Sweet Faust, what did I do to deserve that?" She muttered before getting her mouth closer to Twilight's ear. "Twilight, honey, if you ever want me to do the thing you liked so much yesterday ...You know the thing with my wings... ever again, you'll stop trying to murder your brother, right now!" She threatened in a whisper.
Twilight's face became bright red as she stopped her magic instantly. Shining started to catch his breath again. He had no idea about what Cloud Kicker had done or said to his sister to make her stop, as being nearly choked to death tended to distract him from his surroundings, and he wasn't paying much attention to what his sister and subordinate were saying, much too happy to feel the air going back to his lungs.
"I'll be nice, I promise!" Twilight whispered, looking at Cloud Kicker with big puppy eyes.
"Atta girl!" Cloud Kicker grinned softly. "Now, If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna save your sister-in-law!" Cloud Kicker walked away to stop the argument with Cadence from escalating further into the path of violence.
"Wow!" Spike let out in surprise. "What happened to your eye, Cadence?" He asked softly when Cadence sat at the table the Princesses had reserved for themselves and the Council of Harmony, her right eye hidden by a small patch of gauze.
"I took an eponian punch in the face." Cadence explained grimly.
"No offense Cadence, but you sort of had it coming when you slapped Vinyl." Fluttershy said quietly. "I mean, did you really think she wouldn't react badly to that?"
"Not really." Cadence admitted. "I still wouldn't have thought she'd really hit me."
"You did say pretty mean things to Vinyl, Cadence." Twilight said softly.
"She can be very protective, you know?" Rarity chimed in. "It's not something only Shining Armor suffers from."
"Still, it wasn't a reason for this Applejack to punch Cadence like that." Spike said angrily. "That's totally uncouth and nasty of her." 'Maybe Rarity will see that she's not meant for that woman.' He thought happily.
Everyone at the table turned their faces toward the young boy with raised eyebrows.
"What?" He asked in confusion.
"Spike, it was Octavia who punched me, not Applejack." Cadence said.
"Really?" Spike asked, completely taken aback by that statement.
Cadence nodded. "Yes, really. Never thought she had so much strength." Cadence pondered, wincing a bit at the memory.
"Probably from lifting that cello of hers." Rarity said matter-of-factly. "Oh, by the way Spike! Do not speak ill about Applejack like that." She chastised sternly. "Especially when she's about to join us for lunch."
"Huh...Ok, sorry." Spike said with uneasiness. "So, where's she?"
"Cloud Kicker and she are taking Vinyl to Octavia's hotel room." Twilight explained. "They should be back any minutes now."
"Why to Octavia's suite and not her home?" Spike asked with curiosity.
"Ms Apple seems to suffer from magic exhaustion." Celestia explained softly before taking her seat at the end of the table. "She needs proper bed rest and Octavia's suite is much closer than Sweet Apple Acres, not to mention more comfortable than the Coliseum's infirmaries."
"Where's Shining by the way?"
"He's in his team's infirmary." Cadence said slowly. "His team's doctor want him to move the slightest possible for a couple of hours. In his opinion, Vinyl's spell didn't seem to have caused severe damages, but better safe than sorry he said."
"That spell was truly a work of art!" Luna commented happily. "To think that someone other than Twilight would be the first Titanian to break Shining's Adamant Wall barrier! Truly magnificent!"
"Luna!" Celestia chastised softly when she noticed Twilight's expression fall, nearly literally, on the ground.
"It's ok, Princess Celestia." Twilight said slowly. "I still don't understand how her spell worked.... I mean, I was there when you tested Shining's barrier. I saw how much magic power you used to break it, Princess Luna!" Twilight explained. "Vinyl's magic couldn't even compare to the amount of power you displayed back then." Twilight nearly freaked out. "How could she have broken it? It doesn't make any sense."
"You only say that because you don't have a clue about what Vinyl's magic exactly does, Lady Sparkle!" Cloud Kicker said happily as she walked into the private room where the Princesses usually eat at Coliseum, with Applejack in tow.
"Because you're the expert in Titanian magic now, Lieutenant Kicker?" Twilight snapped coldly.
True, Twilight had said to Cloud Kicker they might have to be less familiar with each other because of Cadence and the other Princesses' presence. But the guard was still rather surprised by the icy tone Twilight had spoken with and the glare her lover was casting at her. Cloud Kicker was about to frown at that comment when she remembered who Twilight was.
Twilight was the representative of the Magical Arts in the Council of Harmony and a real genius in that matter. Not being able to understand how a spell had worked at something she had thought impossible must be a real sensitive topic for her. Knowing all that, Cloud Kicker decided to let it slide. After all, she could get a good hearted apology for it later.
"Titanian magic? No!" Cloud Kicker admitted with a shrug. "But, I've been enough time on the wrong side of Vinyl's applebucking spell to have a decent share of knowledge about what it does."
"What?" Twilight asked slowly, concern rapidly making its way through her anger. "What do you mean by that?"
"The Boss isn't the only protective sibling I know, Twilight." Cloud Kicker said with a small smile. "Right, Applejack?" She asked her friend who had sat next to Rarity, much to Spike's annoyance.
"Are ya refferin' to that incident?" Applejack asked with a crooked eyebrow.
"Yes!" Cloud Kicker deadpanned her.
"Oh, good! Because Ah wasn't sure." Applejack chuckled slowly. "Beside, ya had it comin' that day!"
"Yeah-yeah, I know." Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes. "You and Vinyl double tagged me because I was in the wrong...."
"For what happened, ya should consider yerself lucky it ain't Granny Smith who found ya before us."
Twilight and the others blinked in surprise when they saw Cloud Kicker shivering with an expression of pure terror at the mention of the Apple matriarch.
"...Thank you for finding me first, back then." Cloud Kicker said slowly as Applejack grinned victoriously.
"Anyway, Lieutenant Kicker, please have a seat." Luna said warmly, offering the seat next to her to guard.
"Thank you, your Highness." Cloud Kicker said with a small bow before taking the offered seat.
"So, Ms Kicker, you were about to explain to the girls how Ms Apple's spell works." Celestia said softly with a mysterious smile.
"Pardon me your Highness, but I get the feeling that you already know how it works." Cloud Kicker said with a reflective frown. "Am I right in that assumption?"
"Indeed, you are!" Celestia nodded, much to Twilight's shock.
"What? You know how it works!" Twilight asked. "When did you find out? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Ms Apple explained it to me the day after Cadence's wedding at breakfast." Celestia said casually. "As for why I didn't tell you, you never asked." She added with a chuckle. "More seriously though, I think it's a great lesson for you to know that, sometimes, the answers might come from everywhere other than the obvious, even from the most unexpected place." The monarch designated Cloud Kicker with a small nod.
"I...I've never thought of that before..." Twilight said slowly.
"Twilight, you've got to keep an open mind." Celestia said with wisdom.
"All right, your Highness." Twilight said with nod before facing Cloud Kicker. "Could you explain it to me, Lieutenant Kicker?"
"I'll even make a small demonstration." Cloud Kicker nodded happily with a wink.
Cloud Kicker lifted her fore-finger which was surrounded by a small white fog before making it spin softly. A small patch of steam appeared a few feet above the table.
"Now, the steam is just there to make it easier to see." Cloud Kicker commented. "The air around us moves at each movement we make." She blew gently at the puff of steam which distorted softly and moved opposite from her. "Kinda like that."
"What does it got to do with Vinyl's spell?" Spike asked with curiosity.
"I'm getting to that." Cloud Kicker answered. "Now, look at what happens when it's moved by two opposite forces. AJ, on three. One, two, three." She and AJ, who was sitting on the exact opposite of her on the other side of the puff of steam, blew together at the steam which kind of retract on itself a bit before gaining its original width. "See? The air compacted on itself before growing back to its original size." Cloud Kicker said slowly. "That's the fundamental behind Vinyl's spell."
"That's still doesn't explain how it broke through Shining's barrier." Cadence noted with a small frown.
"Well, put an air volume of about twenty-one cubic meters in place of that small puff of steam and maybe hundreds of magic strings, which can vibrate at a frequency that allows them to cut through rocks, instead of AJ and me blowing at the thingumajig." Cloud Kicker explained abruptly. "And, you can probably figure it out how much power her spell had in reserve before entering in contact with the boss' barrier, despite using, relatively speaking, little magic power."
"So, she can create a destructive power on par with the Princesses' by using a lot less magic?" Twilight asked in disbelief.
"I wouldn't go that far!" Cloud Kicker shook her head. "It's more the nature of Vinyl and Shining's spells that are in cause, power put aside naturally."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked in confusion.
"She means that Vinyl's spell ain't just about power output." Applejack explained before Cloud Kicker could answer. "What makes her spells so strong is that they involve vibrations!"
Everyone, including Luna and Celestia, looked at the farmer with a gasp that was the expression of a mix between shock, surprise and total disbelief.
"What?" Applejack asked with a lifted eyebrow. "Ah may not have gone to University to study magic like Vinyl did, but Ah sure as sugar know what ma sis' is been doing in the field of magic since her first surge..... Boy howdy, Ma and Pa really had it hard that day." She sighed with a chuckle at the memory.
"What do you mean by involving vibrations, Darling?" Rarity asked curiously.
"When Vinyl uses her Applebucking spell, it ain't a blast of air." Applejack explained. "When them spheres break, they let out small earthquakes. Everythin' within range resonates, sometimes to the point of breakin'."
"That pretty much tells everything, Ms Apple." Celestia nodded with a small smile.
"Thank ya kindly, Princess!"
"I still don't get how it could break Shining's barrier..." Cadence let out slowly.
"I do." Twilight whispered in realization. "If it's the same as an earthquake, then it's fairly logical that Shining's barrier gave away. Shining's Adamant Wall is a spell that creates an incredibly solid barrier, but it's just like a standard wall. You can punch at the wall all you want, it would only get damaged where you hit it. Well in most cases, it's the fist that would get damaged, but that's not important." Twilight said quickly before going back to her explanations.
"In case of an earthquake, structures that aren't built to adapt to the tremors always end up collapsing at some point, no matter how resilient they are. Shining's barrier is incredibly strong, but also too immovable to face Vinyl's magic. It makes perfect sense!" Twilight said cheerfully, happy to have finally understood Vinyl's spell.
"Anyway, how about we have lunch?" Luna asked hopefully. "All those talks about magic made me hungry."
"Oh, sure." Twilight nodded. "Spike, I trust you know what to order for all of us?"
"Basically!" Spike nodded happily. "But I don't know what our two guests want for lunch."
"I'm fine with just a sandwich, thank you." Cloud Kicker shrugged.
"Same here, as long as it doesn't have sea food in it." Applejack answered casually. "Ah can't stand sea food."
"Ok, be right back." Spike said cheerfully before going to the small kitchen where the chefs were awaiting the Princesses' table's orders. 'She doesn't like sea food, huh? Good to know!'
Magic exhaustion was something really obnoxious for Titanians. Magic being an essential part of them, suffering from said exhaustion left them in a state where even walking was considered as one of the most tiring things to do. The only thing left to do in that case was to rest long enough, not even sleeping, just staying there without moving.
Vinyl never enjoyed doing nothing, especially when her mind was too awake to go to sleep. She was lying on Octavia's bed, pondering about the final she had just won while the cellist was busy in the bathroom.
'That spell was way more taxing than I thought.' Vinyl thought. 'I shouldn't use it too frequently from now-on... I got lucky Shining didn't teleport out of the way. He would have won for sure if he had.'
"Vinyl." Octavia called as she got out of the bathroom. "I've started a bath for you."
"Do I stink that much?" Vinyl asked with a small chuckle, before exhaustingly getting up from the bed and walking toward the bathroom.
"Hardly more than after a day of work at the farm." Octavia casually said. "I just thought you might want to relax and that a nice hot bath might do the trick."
"Thanks for that, Octavia." Vinyl gave a small peck on Octavia's lips. "You're going to join me in it?" She asked with hope.
"Redheart said that you need to rest, so that means no." Octavia said sternly, not without a growing blush and a pinch of disappointment in her voice.
"Awww!" Vinyl sighed. "Where are you going?" She asked when Octavia made her way to the suite's door.
"I'm just going downstairs to order us something for lunch." Octavia explained. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes."
As Octavia left the room, Vinyl entered in the bathroom, a large bubble bath waiting for her. She undo the bandaids around her arms and put them in the trashcan. She examined her fore-arms, the cuts from the fight were still visible but they were of a pinkish color instead of blood red as the skin started to grow back to close the wounds.
"Thank Zecora and her special ointment." Vinyl whispered with a smile.
She took her t-shirt off and noticed in the mirror that she had two small patches of purple bruised skin on her abs. Right where Shining had double-punched her after escaping from her magic net. She gave them a light touch, wincing a bit as she did. But she shrugged it off as she didn't even feel them before. She took the rest of her clothes off and entered the bath.
The water was at the perfect temperature. She was immersed to her neck when she smelled the lilac essence and felt the effect of the bath salts Octavia had poured in the water along with the foam bath. She sighed happily, her body relaxing instantly, before letting her head go underwater. She remained underwater for a couple of seconds before hearing the suite's door opening.
"How's your bath going, Vinyl?"
"Fantastic, Octavia." Vinyl said happily after emerging from the water. "Could you please come inside the bathroom? I'd like some company."
"Sure thing!" Octavia walked into the bathroom before kneeling next to the bathtub, her head at the level of Vinyl's. "Are your arms ok? The soap doesn't sting?" She asked with worry as she caught a glance of Vinyl's wounded arms.
"Eeenooope!" Vinyl chuckled. "Doesn't hurt one bit." Octavia let out a relieved sigh.
"You were great back then, you know that?" Octavia said slowly in a amorous tone.
"You weren't too bad yourself as well." Vinyl replied softly, her tone matching Octavia's. "Cadence didn't see it coming."
"There are many things that I can take, Vinyl." Octavia said firmly. "But, watching you being assaulted and shouted at while you're in an exhausted state isn't one of them."
"Awww, that's so sweet of you to come to my rescue." Vinyl kissed Octavia gently. "Don't get used to it though. I'm the strong one in this relationship."
"My dear Vinyl, it's not because you've just won this that you're the one in charge here." Octavia said with a smile, showing a gold medal in front of Vinyl's face. "Beside, you suffer from magic exhaustion, I can easily take you on in that state." She added playfully.
"Is that so?" Vinyl asked with a suspicious grin. "Octavia, how long has it been since the end of the fight?"
"I'll say about forty-five, maybe fifty minutes. Why?"
"Do you have any idea of how long does the toughest part of magic exhaustion last?" Vinyl asked slowly. "The part during which I'm totally spent and I'm nearly totally helpless."
"Not a single idea." Octavia said, tilting her head in confusion.
"It takes about thirty-five minutes..."
Vinyl suddenly grabbed Octavia by both her shoulders before pulling the cellist in the bathtub. Octavia was about to shout in panic when she realized that it would only make her swallow bubbly and soaped water. Octavia fell in the water with a loud splash. She leaned on the bathtub bottom with her hands before emerging from the water, her hair in front of her eyes.
"VINYL! I'M ....."
Octavia got interrupted by Vinyl locking lips with her. Her anger was washed away at her lover's gesture. She felt her clothes being taken off. But Octavia had no idea about how, as Vinyl had both her hands on Octavia's cheeks. She was half-undressed when Vinyl parted lips with a small pained grunt.
"Gaaa.. Maybe I did overestimate myself..." Vinyl groaned as Octavia's clothes she had been levitating fell loudly on the bathroom floor. "I shouldn't have tried any spell so early."
"I told you that I could take you on in your current state."
"May I remind you that I used no magic to get you in?" Vinyl asked slowly.
"Just shut up and let me go so that I can take the rest of my clothes off."
"So you're finally joining me?" Vinyl asked with a playful smirk as Octavia took the rest of her clothes off, not without some difficulties.
"I don't have any other choice since I'm completely soaked."
"You know you're cute when you try to be angry when you're really happy about the current situation?" Vinyl giggled.
"I hate you...."
Vinyl kissed her lover passionately. Octavia immediately returned the kiss with gusto.
"Forget what I just said..." Octavia said in a whisper with a soft, loving smile after breaking kiss.
"Atta girl!" Vinyl whispered before leaning in again.