(***AN: Well, now that the madness that is university life has ended for the year I can get back to what I've wanted to do for months now. Focus on THIS lovely work of art I have forming. That is of course if my younger sister will allow me the use of my own laptop from time to time. For now, here. Have a good Shadow branded dose of hilarity as an apology for taking such a long time to update. Over 30,000 words in one chapter, you might want to take a bathroom break now so you don't wet yourselves reading this.***)
How I Became An Alicorn
Chapter 12: You, Me, and Italy Part 2
Angelo looked up over his cup of spiced herbal tea at the two girls across from him. “That’s amazing… and this spell that you found is what gave you those wings Twilight…?” he asked looking at the girl who had altered the tale slightly to protect the true secret.
“Yes, although it had different effects on my other friends and my brother. He looks all grown up now and he’s only eight years old!” she chuckled as she finished drinking her own drink her meal having been completed a while ago. Pinkie was on her fifth helping of dessert, which Twilight had let her have after she had eaten real food first.
“That’s an amazing work of magic… my grandfather would most likely use it to gift his followers or something in the like… But um… what exactly did the spell do to you Pinkie…?” he asked the girl who was currently devouring a bowl of gelato. She looked up licking the remnants from her face.
“It gave me a super dose of Pinkie sense. I can feel the entire universe around me shifting and changing. Past, present, and future are as easy to see as the broad side of a barn. It basically made me a time lord.” She explained with a happy giggle. Two drinks were spat out simultaneously as they stared at the girl in shock. “I’m just kidding you two! Jeesh… where’s you sense of humor…?” she mused rolling her eyes and avoiding the spray of tea that came at her. “But seriously, it did give me a super charge on my Pinkie Sense. It’s like I can feel what’s gonna happen all over the city… example, in three seconds that waiter is going to trip over his shoe lace and his tray of food is going to go flying.” She stated pointing at a waiter that had just come out of the kitchen with a tray of hot food. Sure enough three seconds passed and the waiter tripped over his loose laces sending the food flying in their direction. Pinkie reached out her hand catching the tray and then each dish on it perfectly, even the drinks which never spilt a drop. She smiled at the waiter as applause broke out and she bowed a little at it as she handed the waiter back the tray. She giggled when he thanked her and then sat back down at the table.
Angelo stared in shock at her and Twilight just smiled. “H-how in the Creator’s holy name did you do that…?” he asked the pink haired girl who just giggled at his wide eyed stare.
“Earth-bound’s are naturally better at things that are physical so my reflexes are reallllllly sharp and I used to balance rocks for fun when I was finished with my chores back on our rock farm. I beat my sister’s every time.” She boasted with a wink. Angelo was still a little astonished by the stunt as he looked back down at his steaming spiced tea.
“Wait… excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is a rock farm…?” He asked the girl before she could resume eating. She looked up at him her own bright blue eyes wide in surprise.
“You don’t- Oh, right… never left the church. Umm, it’s a farm that cultures minerals and gemstones. Ours is in the middle of a really big mountain range that’s super famous for its mineral reserves. Which is why Granny Pie and Grampy Pie settled there so long ago!” she explained making little pictures in her ice cream with her spoon to give examples.
“Ohhhh… I suppose that does make sense… wait… don’t minerals take thousands of years to form? How can you possibly culture them if they take so long to form…?” he asked his interest in the matter shocking both girls opposite him.
“Well that’s… again Earth-bound related… we have our own magic after all. We grow plants much better than others, we never get lost because we’re tied in with the earth’s inner magnet so we have like built in compasses, and the earth itself tends to obey our desires… so what takes a few thousand years to form normally only takes a year or so with our methods… it’s why Equestria is one of the leading producers of gems.” Pinkie continued explaining further after that and all the while Angelo looked honestly fascinated with learning all about it. He even got Twilight to start talking about the magical abilities of the unicorn race as well. And one can only guess how long THAT conversation lasted.
It wasn’t until one that they paid their bill (again with a single gold coin which probably made the waiter’s head implode) and they continued conversing as they walked through the city. Within half an hour they had him speaking and laughing like he was just completely normal. They stopped and stared at many of the cities sights and at one thirty exactly the group found themselves in front of the Trevi fountain yet again. Twilight smiled as she stared up at the crystal clear waters and the coins that littered bottom of the deep pool. She closed her eyes as she felt the cool wind wash over her. Beside her Angelo sat in a similar position his wings unfurled slightly as he let the wind currents ruffle his feathers. Pinkie was of course hopping around the fountain people watching as well as making friendly conversation with anyone who happened to talk to her.
Angelo opened one ice blue eye and glanced over at the black garbed girl beside him. Her outfit no longer disturbed him at all. Actually it calmed him a little as it now seemed to suit her odd personality that set her so far away from her bright bubbly companion. She also came from the same sheltered background he did. Well… partially. She understood what it meant to be in a hierarchy and could associate with the pampering that came with it. Although hers was not even as close to how bad his was. She at least knew how to take care of herself, and her parents weren’t even nobles. They just worked in the castle as scholars and advisors. But she had been raised around Alicorn’s, she was taught by one, and one had been her babysitter when she was younger and was still very close to her family. He again fingered the crest on his forehead.
‘Would she understand if she knew the truth…?’ he asked himself.
Behind him he didn’t see Pinkie frown a little as she was chatting up a red and yellow haired woman who wanted her to take a picture of her and her friends sitting on the fountain. She held the camera in her hands and absently took the picture as requested. Her actual focus was on the boy who was, for what had to be the hundredth time that day, running his fingers along his forehead that was covered by his bangs. Her eyes saddened slightly but brightened when she turned to return the camera to the woman who thanked her for the help. When her gaze fell back on the boy his hand had dropped to his lap and he had turned to face Twilight opening his mouth to speak.
‘Come on Gelo… you can do it…’ she silently encouraged the boy. The action however was stopped when the three heard the approaching sound of sirens coming towards the plaza. And the distinct sound of a musical horn as well. “Oh no…” Pinkie groaned facepalming just as the moped sped over the hill and skidded to a stop only a few feet in front of them. The illusion Pinkie winked at the real one before all three faded leaving behind two cardboard cut outs and a single white feather behind. Pinkie acted fast shoving the cardboard look-alike’s in her bag and hoping on the scooter dawning her helmet just as the officers screeched to a halt on the outer rim of the plaza. “Get on the scooter if you want to make it out of this country without a criminal record!” Pinkie shouted at Twilight. The magic user hopped onto the moped without another word and Pinkie quickly sped off with Angelo soaring right beside them.
“Twilight! Reach into my back pocket and call Rippy! Tell him that I have the Dove and the Cannoli’s are on our tail! Then text everyone else to meet us at the docks ASAP!!” She ordered to the girl. Twilight didn’t bother to ask why she just did as instructed. Beside them Angelo roared with laughter.
“You know, when I woke up this morning the last thing I imagined doing was running through the city in street clothes from the entire armed forces. And now that I am… I love it!” he laughed throwing his head back in laughter. Behind them the group heard something else. It sounded like… an angry mob…?
“Oh great… Twilight! When you get Rippy on the phone just give it to me!” she called. Twilight quickly placed the phone against the girl’s ear and she heard Riptide’s voice speak to her.
“Pinkie…? What’s happening? Is that sirens I hear in the back ground?!” he asked his voice raising in an attempt to speak over them.
“Yes! I have the Dove and the Cannoli’s are on our tail, but it looks like the Puppy and the Freckle Show brought their fans with them!” she shouted into the phone.
“Oh for the love of… I’ll be in position. Just get here, and FAST.” He ordered before the connection went dead. Pinkie’s eyes narrowed on the road ahead of them and zoomed around a corner so fast they could almost taste pavement.
“Twilight, text the girls quickly, I’m going to try and shake the cops off our trail!” she called over her shoulder. Twilight quickly started tapping away on the phone and Pinkie threw her purse at the flying boy beside her. “There should be a ton of water balloons in there! Throw them back at the patrol cars to throw them off course!” she ordered. They boy saluted her still laughing as he maneuvered to be flying backwards now as he pelted the cars with water balloons.
“Take that over bearing protectors! And send it to my grandfather too!” he laughed as the onslaught continued. Pinkie felt a smile cross her face as his laughter was contagious and his sudden shift in behavior was hilarious.
“Oh this is going to be one hell of a story to tell the Princesses later…!” Pinkie mused as she revved the engine and honked her musical horn as she flew over a particularly large hill.
***
Applejack and Rainbow Dash had just finished watching the older adults fight while they were practicing in the training room. They were now walking back to the arena where all the first round winners were supposed to be meeting for the announcement of the second round competition. Their silver armor glinted in the midday sun as they stepped out into the arena with the remainder of their age group behind them. The huge raised platform was gone and instead the announcer’s table was now raised up and Cas stood at the head of it holding a microphone.
“And now joining is the last group, our fiery spirited teens!” he announced. The crowd showed their approval with a deafening roar. The group merged with the already present crowd of people in the arena. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood side by side staring up at him each with a look that could have killed if either of them were magic users. “And with their entrance we can now select this year’s second round special theme!” he announced his golden armor glinting in the sunlight as he held up a similarly colored remote. When he pressed the button the large screen that acted like a scoreboard flashed prismatic colors and then a spinning roulette wheel appeared on the screen. It took off in a spin the pointer making a noise as it turned and when it finally settled on a number Cas beamed.
“Alright, that’s set number four, according to my chart that’s the Partner Round! Meaning you’ll all be paired up and you’ll be facing opposite teams. You’ll have to have working coordination with your partners for this to work!” Ultime announced as he read off his prompt sheet. “Whoa, not so easy to form a dynamic like THAT when all your potential partners just tried to knock you off a platform to get into this!” he laughed. Cas laughed with him grinning.
“Yes my friend but that is what makes this particular event my favorite. It’s a true challenge to trust someone to watch your back, I myself first won this competition with this type of challenge. Now my partner is still a very close friend of mine, he’s retired now but he still comes every year. Actually his daughter won the children’s cup. They’re sitting right there in the front row, can I get a round of applause for my old friend Skull Smasher?!” he asked the crowd who roared in response as the camera was now focused on a very large man whose rippling biceps alone were larger than Applejack’s entire body. He had a rugged red beard but was bald on top and had a large scar over his left eye which was covered by an eye patch… but despite the look he was grinning and waving at the camera with his daughter on his shoulder waving as well while his rather attractive wife leaned on his other side smiling at the camera.
“Whoa nelly… that guy looks like he eats nails for breakfast… without any milk.” Applejack commented.
“That guy looks like Nick Fury and Juggernaut’s love child.” Rainbow added.
“That guy looks like he could go toe to toe with an Ursa Major and it’d run away screaming for its mommy.” Applejack countered grinning. Rainbow grinned back.
“He’s so buff he could take both Princesses in an arm wrestle… at ONCE.” She sneered.
“He’s so buff he could walk up to Discord’s statue, crack him open like and egg, and then punch him so hard his crooked grin turns STRAIGHT.” Applejack chuckled. Their back and forth banter however was cut off when Cas continued to speak.
“Alright, with the type of competition selected we will now randomly select the pairs and matches. Ultime…?” he prompted turning to his co-host and handing him the remote.
“Right then, here are the pairs!” he called pressing the button on the remote and making the ninety individual faces appear on the screen. They stacked together like playing cards and then were dispensed in pairs. Rainbow and Applejack were both praying to the creator that they ended up together and not against one another. Their prayers apparently were heard. Rainbow cheered waging her tail as she hovered midair and high fived Applejack. “Annnd now here’s the matches.” He continued pressing the button and bringing up a branching tree chart that matched one pair up against another. The pair they were up against both looked like older adults. Applejack spotted them in the crowd that surrounded them and so did Dash. Applejack cracked her knuckles together and Dash flexed her grip on her dual blades as she grinned wickedly. The two older men swallowed hard at the sight.
“Now in true tradition of the Gladiator Spirit this is how the fights will work, the arena will be dived into individual sections, each section with its own match inside it, when one side loses they will be escorted out and replaced with a team that has already won their match, the further into the competition you get the more room you’ll have to fight in. When we’ve reached the semifinals we’ll take a short break so that our medical staff can recover you and then the battle will commence. The winning team will of course face off against the king, that’s me, in the finals. Are we ready to duel?!” he called. There was a draw of weapons as the fighters all cheered along with the crowd. With the air around for miles shaking with their show of excitement tall walls of white stone rose from the dirt ground sectioning off the matches.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked around at the rather cramped space. Applejack tightened her grip on her hammer as she stared around at the walls. She frowned slightly.
“Ah’m not likin’ the change in scenery so much… how about you RD?” She asked the pegasus. Rainbow had already drawn her blades and was running them along the wall nearest to her. It left a groove in its wake.
“They made a big mistake… they didn’t enchant these walls. There’s going to be an awful lot of rubble when we’re done here.” She chuckled side glancing at the much older men across from them who wielded a shield and spear combo along with a cross bow. The two girls only smiled and go back to back just as the silver haired old timer with the cross bow fired off a wave of arrows. In a flash Rainbow drew her swords and deflected the arrows with a swift whirlwind of movement. The arrows lay useless and sliced evenly in half on the dirt floor and Applejack rushed forward from behind her hammer drawn. The sword wielder came up blocking the blow with his broad sword and he grit his teeth before managing to push her back. While he was distracted by the hammer Applejack swiftly faltered and buckled and rolled under him popping up behind him and delivering a swift chop to the back of his neck causing him to cripple to the ground unconscious, seconds later his darker haired partner met the same fate when Dash hit him in the back of his head with the handle of one of her blades. She ‘tsked’ as she shook her head.
“I really hope the next batch is better than that, I thought elders were supposed to be more experienced than us young shits.” Rainbow sighed as she watched the walls around them lower to reveal a rather slimy looking pair, one magic user with throwing knives the another with an axe slung over his shoulder. “Oh. That’s much better." She flicked her wrist to flip her swords to face outwards and then grinned at the pair and outstretched a finger beckoning to them. “Let’s dance boys.”
Applejack laughed when she saw them redden in the face and their eyes harden. She put down her hammer in the dirt and braced herself when the one with the axe came at her. “Ya’ll weren’t payin’ much attention to our round were you…?” she asked the much taller male. He growled and spat a little in her face.
“Filthy little mud walkers like you aren’t worth watching.” The magic user snarled. Applejack frowned and used her free hand to wipe the spittle from her face and she stared at it for a few seconds before her sharp green eyes came back to his own steel grey ones. She grabbed the axe from him and tossed it into the wall before smashing her head into his causing his crest to spark as he roared in pain. She reached behind her and grabbed his partner from where he was watching in astonishment at her brash movement. She hoisted the pair up in the air by their chest plates and snarled.
“Let me teach ya’ll one important lesson about earth-bounds.” She spun around in a tight circle and released them sending them flying towards the wall, she picked up her hammer from beside herand threw it in the same direction. The pair of magic users slammed against the wall hard and then when the hammer connected with them they smashed through it and were laying groaning on the pile of ruble that remained of the wall. “We’re not any better or worse off than any other race. And we don’t take kindly to ya’ll flauntin’ your stuff like you’re the bee’s knee’s.” she snarled as she removed the hammer from their dented armor. Even with the enchantments on them it had still but a thick dent in it. The sight made the audience go silent. “RD, finish these two off, Ah’ll do something Ah’ll regret later if Ah do it.” She snarled. Rainbow Dash sprinted over to both of them her rose colored eyes glaring at them.
“Not cool you guys.” She huffed before knocking them both on the helm and rendering them unconscious. When the medics came over to take them away and the crumbling walls were being lowered into the ground RD walked over to her partner placing a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Applejack, you okay pal? Those jerks aren’t even worth being mad at.” She sneered glancing back at the pair that were being loaded onto stretchers.
“Ah know Dash… they just… UGH! Ah just hate it when people look down on mah race like we’re back in the pre-Discord era… it’s just aggravating.” Applejack growled slamming her fist into the nearest wall causing it to crack a little under her fist. She lowered her arm letting the stone’s dust slide off the gauntlets. Rainbow glanced up and saw that their new opponents were coming up behind them.
“Well in the words of coach, channel that anger Apple, we’ve got company.” She grunted turning to face the pair and looking around to realize she now had enough room to properly use her dual swords. Rainbow Dash was behind one of them just as he reached for her and when he noticed her absence he reflexively raised a hand behind his head to block the blow she would have delivered. His partner leaped away just in time to avoid what would have been a devastating kick to his lower jaw courteously of Applejack. The blonde righted herself as she turned around and released a breath.
“Yer right RD… No sense in lettin’ it get ta me now… now hold still sir, Ah promise Ah’ll make this as quick and painless as possible.” She said grabbing her hammer and slinging it over her shoulder. The brown haired man’s eyes widened as he raised a circular shield in defense against her as she rushed at him.
The pair of girls faced off against six more teams with moderate ease, they got a few scratches and bruises in the process when their opponents managed to get a few lucky shots in but other than that they were more just winded from rushing around so much. According to the match up board this would be the last battle for them before the semifinal match. Lucky for them cold water was available to them any time they asked one of the medics for some so they could at least cool down a bit. Applejack was currently draining one such bottle when the walls were falling to reveal their next opponents. She tossed the bottle back over her shoulder when she was finished with it one of the medics catching it out of reflex.
Across from them two pretty tall men stood, one with long blue hair that was partially tied up wielding a claymore in his hands and the other with long spikey red hair that seemed to have the motto of ‘Screw gravity, I do what I want.’ He wielded a pair of circular bladed weapons that Applejack didn’t know the name of. The red head was a magic user but his blue haired companion was an earth-bound like her. Applejack nudged her partner with her elbow.
“Hey, RD, what are those wheel things in his hands…?” she asked Rainbow glanced over and her eyebrows raised a little in surprise.
“Whoa, those are pretty rare. They’re chakrams, an Indian weapon… they’re like Japanese shuriken’s, or my Hurricane Blades, throwing weapons meant to do devastating damage… those ones look different though… and since he’s a magic user I bet he has them enchanted somehow.” She reported as his emerald eyes watched them with amusement glinting in them. Apparently they had sharp ears.
“Oh, impressive. Not many people know much about my babies. You’re right on your assessment kid, these were custom made for me, they’re my favorite set and I only use them at big events like this, right Isa?” he asked his blue haired partner. He sighed rubbing his brow.
“Please leave me out of your stupid weapon rants. I’ve already had to listen to you explain about them six times today.” He grunted his yellow eyes showing signs of disdain at his partner.
“Awwww, you’re just grumpy because someone scratched your long sword in the last battle…”
“IT’S A CLAYMORE AND YOU KNOW THAT DAMN WELL LEA!!!” He shouted back at the red head as he swung said weapon at his partner who ducked and was still laughing at him.
“Awww, did I get little Isa mad…? Well look, there’s a little blue puppy for you to play with right over there.” He said pointing at the hovering pegasus who still had her ears and tail. “Impressive by the way, are you cosplaying or something…?” he asked the girl who glared at him.
“No, my friend was practicing a spell and it had some weird side effects that aren’t gonna wear off for a few more hours. Can we fight now?!” she called across the field.
“Ohhh, spunky, I like that in girls. Come at me brah!” he mused motioning with his hands for her to in fact ‘come at him’. Rainbow’s eye twitched and she rushed at him blades drawn. The other pair sighed shaking their heads and leapt towards one another sword and hammer clashing as they pushed against one another.
“Is your partner always that hot headed…?” Isa asked the blonde.
“Is yours always that annoying?” she countered.
“Touché.” He shrugged.
Now that she was up close she could see that the man had an X-shaped scar across his face. She pushed him back and struck at him again only for him to dodge her blows with ease. “How’d you get them scars on yer face…?” she asked like she was making pleasant conversation.
“Training accident with my idiot brother over there when we were teenagers. How’d you learn to fight like this?” he asked back.
“Ah’ve got a brother of mah own, and he’s a lot bulkier than you and twice as strong as me.” She replied simply as she slammed her hammer down on the ground where he had just been leaving a large crater in its wake.
“Well I would hate to be in a match against him…” Isa commented as he swung his sword against her again. She ducked under it and kicked him in his stomach knocking the wind out of him.
“Yeah, but he’s a lot gentler than Ah am.” She chuckled. He looked up grinning a little at her.
“Mercy is for the weak, if you’re not prepared to go full out in a battle you’re going to get hurt.” He commented before he rushed at her a blur of blue. She barely had time to jump out of the way before his sword sliced right past her face.
“Heh… Ah think you need ta be taught a little lesson mister, something mah Granny taught me when Ah was little…” She smirked as she set down her hammer letting it rest on the dirt. He rushed at her yellow eyes almost glowing as he swung his sword repeatedly. She dodged each one nimbly and spoke in between them. “When you’re in a fight and you know you’re going to win, you don’t flaunt yourself, you don’t toy with them, and you don’t just unleash everything you have at them. You act with dignity, you’re compassionate when it calls for it, and most importantly you serve them a heaping helping of whoop-ass.” She stated before catching the blade mid swing letting the vibrations of it push her back in the dirt a little before she brought her hand up and under it and used it like a levy sending him flying him flat on his back a few meters away. She chuckled walking over and sticking the sword in the ground next to his groaning form. He quickly lashed out to try and knock her off her feet but she leapt up and balanced on the handle of the sword with one hand smiling down at him. “Ah hope ya take mah words ta heart Mr. Isa, ‘cause it looks like ya could use them.” She laughed before she flipped down bringing her feet together to strike him in the dead center of his back just as he was struggling to stand up. He fell back to the ground and didn’t move again other than ragged breathing. Applejack righted herself and looked over to the other battle between her pegasus friend and the red head.
***
Rainbow unleashed a flurry of blows at the spikey haired red head who simply blocked them using one of his chakrams. He yawned a little using his free hand to cover his mouth before he pushed her back. She slid along the ground for a few feet never taking her eyes off him. She breathed in and out trying to cool her jets. She had lectured Applejack earlier about keeping her head and here she was lashing out at this guy without a second thought. She blew a strand of her hair out of her face as she stood up and chuckled.
“You really got me riled up there for a second Guy. I don’t really like being taunted, I’ve had enough of that crap already.” She stated flicking off some dust that had settled on her blades. The red head laughed again and smiled at her.
“Let me guess, a lot of comments about you hair? I got those a lot when I was your age.” He chuckled. Rainbow frowned at him.
“You mean it’s that bright normally…? Not that I’m one to talk but can that happen…?” she asked confused. She had never seen anyone with fire engine red hair.
“Yeah, it can. And it’s naturally this spikey too. The marks under my eyes are tattoo’s though.” He said pointing at the black triangles under his eyes. And my name isn’t ‘Guy’ by the way, it’s Lea. Got it memorized?”
“’Got it memorized’…? What kind of lame catch phrase is THAT?!” Rainbow laughed. Lea frowned at her.
“It isn’t lame! And I’d like to see what you think is SO much better!” he snarled back his green eyes sharpening at her. She grinned and jabbed a thumb at her chest.
“I could knock you out in ten seconds flat and look 20% cooler than you while doing it!” She sneered. He smirked a little.
“Cooler you say…? If you’re so cool maybe I should warm you up a little. Let’s see how you handle this.” He chuckled grinning a little bit as something touched his eyes. His hands glowed the same red as his hair and then he spun the chakrams round and round in his hands Rainbow watched them carefully and then in a burst the circular blades became coated in flames as he spun them up and over his head and then launched them towards her at once. Rainbow’s eyes widened but she acted quickly and spread her wings launching right through them and narrowly avoiding the searing flames that almost burned off her rainbow Mohawk that popped out of her helm. The then turned ninety degrees as they boomeranged back to their wielder nearly clipping her wing in the process. She landed still holding her blades in both her hands as she was now on the defensive against him. The chakrams continued to spin in his hands and the flames turned into twin vortexes that were aimed at her and chased after her as she flew in circles around him.
Lea growled as he chased her with his flames and kept them coming searing the walls as she did laps around him slowly getting faster and faster. Rainbow smirked. ‘That’s right… keep chasing the birdy little hot head…’ she thought with a smirk.
“Stop running and fight me kid!” he roared intensifying the heat of the flames by pouring more magic into it. He aimed them at the ground now so that he was propelled into the air by the force and it bathed the surface in the searing flames turning it into burning coals under his power.
‘Whoa… not gonna lie, that’s some pretty wicked power he’s got… too bad it’s all going to be for nothing.’ She mused as she picked up speed even more causing the vortex to start forming properly and for the flames to start licking after her. She grit her teeth bearing the heat as the cyclone formed.
“You think a little wind is going to blow out my flames?! Typical pegasus, relying on their ability to manipulate the weather to win a fight…!” he snarled as he channeled more juice into the flames making them start to grow in size and intensifying the heat. “You know another one of my favorite sayings?! If you can’t stand the heat, GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!!!” He roared making the flames rise with his every word. Rainbow grit her teeth as the heat got worse and she could feel the metal beginning to heat up against her skin.
‘Just a little more Dash… come on… close the top up… there!’ she cheered when she saw the vortex’s top close in on itself creating a vacuum effect on the air inside it. Dash grinned as her memory of having science with Pinkie came back to her.
~~~
“So you’re saying that pegisai use these vacuum’s to smother out fires…? How are they gonna do that? I thought they just sucked up dirt and stuff around the house…?” Dash asked as she stood over a lit Bunsen burner with Pinkie beside her. Pinkie giggled and shook her head.
“Not that kind of vacuum Dashie! But it uses the same concept. A vacuum sucks in everything and spits it out of the top. Tornadoes are like incomplete vacuums.” She said as she put the burner inside a wind tunnel simulator and shut the glass pane back over it turning it on and letting the wind pick up before she moved a few dials on it. The cyclone that had been created inside it began to close at the top. “But when you seal up the top of it, like this, it creates a void that sucks out all the air. No air means no oxygen, and without oxygen…” the flame flickered out of life and Pinkie killed the wind tunnel and opened up the pane once again to shut off the gas fueling the burner. “Means no flame.” She giggled holding up the device. Rainbow’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Could one pegasus do that on their own…?” she asked putting her safety goggles on her head.
“Hmmmm, if they were going fast enough I guess. But the bigger the flames are the harder it would be to close the top. All that hot air makes it really hard to control… let’s see… I had to crank those winds up to a hundred scale miles per hour to smother that one… that takes about 8 or 10 wing power… if it was something big like a house fire you’d need an entire team of pegisai to put it out! So… it depends I guess… ow… my head hurts from thinking so much… I need a smart cookie.” She whined before pulling a sugar cookie with a brain drawn on it in frosting out of her lab coat and eating it quickly and sighing a little as the sugar fueled her.
Dash was already deep in thought herself starting to crunch numbers in her head as she walked back to her desk. If there was one thing she’d willingly go into formula’s and extensive mathematics for it was anything involving weather or wing power. And with something as great as extinguishing flames without water on the table it would be worth the headache.
~~~
Rainbow watched as the flames started to recede. Her grin grew as she realized her brain child had grown into a successful battle plan. Lea’s breath began to get weaker as he collapsed to his knees. “What… what are you doing to me?!” he screamed out his breath horse.
Rainbow laughed as she kept up her flight pattern. “Didn’t they teach you about vacuums in school hot head…? They suck out oxygen, no oxygen means no fire… and no oxygen also means you’ll be taking a nice little nap until you cool off.” She called her voice all around him as the last of his flames receding as his vision started to go black.
“Heh… egg head…” he muttered before he passed out cold on the ground. Rainbow let her speed drop until she landed neatly on the ground in front of the unconscious red head. She grinned down at him.
“Sometimes you have to let your brain take over in a fight… I still don’t like it but if it lets me win I can deal with the headache.” She chuckled before turning to see her partner walking towards her smiling.
“Impressive show there partner, where’d you pick up that little trick…?” she asked bumping fists with the girl at their win.
“Believe it or not, Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow replied grinning at her friends shocked face. “I know, it threw me for a loop too but that girl knows her science just as well as the egg head.” She explained with a shrug as the medics came by to pick up the unconscious duo. “Hey, you, yeah you with the nurses cap, get me like four bottles of water. That heat was intense.” She ordered. The capped man nodded at her once carting off Lea on a stretcher and speaking with one of the other medics who had an ice chest which he toted over to them. While she and Applejack drank their water Cas’s voice filled the stadium.
“How was THAT for a show folks…?! A vacuum of fire and a crushing blow that would make my old pal Skull Crusher wince from our two favorite teenage competitors and a flashy show of moves from our two mystery competitors as they move on to the semifinals!” he called. The two teenagers arched their eyebrows and turned their attention to the screen to see who they’d be up against. All they saw from the photos were two feminine faces mostly covered by black and white robes that shielded their faces from the camera. The only thing visible was the slightest strand of white hair over the black cloaked one and black hair over the white cloaked one. Both had vibrant blue eyes that looked like they were made of blue electricity and made Pinkie Pie’s eyes look dull by comparison.
“Whoa… those two look intense… can you see what kind of weapons they have RD…?” Applejack asked the pegasus as the last of the walls fell and they could see across the arena. Rainbow having the sharpest eyes looked the pair up and down. They were definitely both female just like them since their cloaks were parted to reveal what looked like latex suits under that matched their cloaks perfectly in color and the belts around their hips that matched their hair. But she didn’t see any weapons on them at all.
“No, unless they have them under those cloaks… it doesn’t look like they have any weapons at all AJ…” She replied her eyes widening in shock. Applejack cocked an eyebrow in disbelief slinging her hammer across her back.
“No weapons…? No armor either…? How are those two still standing…?” she asked staring at the opposing pair in disbelief. A voice came up behind them laughing as a hand touched each of their shoulders making them stiffen.
“I believe I can answer that little question…” Cas sneered as he bent down to their height. The two girls quickly maneuvered out of his hold and glared at him drawing their weapons and pointing them at him.
“Oh put those away you two, you’re on break while we prep the stage remember…?” he sighed rolling his eyes. “I’m not going to fight you.” He added slowly like they were five year olds making fisticuffs at him. They both frowned but put their weapons away all the same.
“You said you know them…?” Applejack prompted looking up at the gladiator incarnate.
“Oh yes, they’ve been coming here for a few years now those two. We just call them the Ghost Twins… because they’ve never given us any kind of name and no one has ever been able to land a single blow on them. Not even me. But they always back out of the fight after they win the semifinals… they’ve never fought me formally but last year I caught them on their way out of the coliseum and challenged them to a fight… it was incredible. They move too fast for normal people to even see and they disabled me and had my own sword pressed against my throat within seconds of the fight starting. They’re something out of this world. There’s been rumors that they might be the Daughter’s in disguise.” He chuckled. Rainbow only laughed at that though.
“Well I can personally prove that wrong right now then. Celly and Lulu were sipping cocktails on a beach when we left this morning. The chances of them moving at all today are about as likely as Applejack here moving to the big city and changing her name to Prissy Missy.” Rainbow laughed. Cas looked mortified at her words and looked to Applejack for an explanation.
“We’re close personal friends with Celestia’s personal student Twilight Sparkle. They brought us and a few of our other friends to their private island for spring break. We had a rather taxing adventure yesterday so they decided to stay on the island for the day while we visit Rome for the day.” Applejack quickly explained to the confused man.
“You… both are friends with the great Goddesses’ daughters…??! And you refer to them by such silly nicknames…?!” Cas asked in disbelief.
“Actually they asked us to call them that… well, by name at least. They really hate it when they’re treated like deities. Said something about it getting tiring after a few thousand years… didn’t really get it. I’d love for millions of people to be cheering my name when I went out in public!” Dash snickered her rose colored eyes gleaming. Cas frowned a little at the girl.
“Well at least this explains why you two are so odd… I’ve heard that the Daughter’s tend to keep company that have natural abilities that are considered scary by normal standards… that student of Celestia’s is the perfect example… even I have heard of the magical storm she caused eight years ago. Hatching a hybrid egg and growing it into a full adult form just because she was startled…? It IS terrifying to imagine…” he shuddered. Applejack and Rainbow frowned at him.
“Hey! Twilight’s our friend! Don’t talk about her like she’s some kind of freak!” Rainbow hissed at him her hands instantly going to the handles of her swords and her wings flaring defensively. Cas just chuckled and shook his head.
“Forgive me but it is in my nature to speak as such… especially under such suspicious circumstances…” He added a small glint in his eye.
“Suspicious circumstances…? What in the Sam Hill are you-“ Applejack was cut off by Ultime’s voice filling the arena.
“Will our dueling partners please walk to the center of the arena to begin the semifinals?!” he called. There was a roar of approval form the crowd and Cas chuckled nudging them both forward.
“Make you a deal Equestrians, you beat those two and make it to my stage and I’ll explain myself.” He whispered as he walked them to the center and patted them both on the shoulders smiling and waving to the crowd before he walked back to his spot on the announcing platform and took his seat on his throne.
Rainbow and Applejack were staring into the stunning and memorizing eyes of the two shady women in front of them when they heard the starting horn sound and in an instant they were both sent flying into the opposite wall creating craters of their own before they could even so much as blink. Rainbow fell to the ground and wheezing as she tried to recover the air that had been knocked out of her and Applejack stumbled but landed on her knees doing the same. Like twin snakes the two women stood side by side making mirrored motions as they spread their legs in a fighting stance and beckoned to the younger girls. Rainbow grit her teeth and spread her wings.
“Rainbow don’t-!” Applejack’s warning was cut off when her friend zoomed forward only to be ricocheted back into the crater in the wall just as it was reforming. A dent in the center of her chest plate was now forming as she coughed up some spit that was lightly colored with blood. She glanced up at the two figures her eyes narrowing.
‘What are they…? Two hits and I’m already coughing up blood… maybe they ARE Celestia and Luna… but they wouldn’t fight like this… they would be trying to teach us a lesson… not beating the shit out of us… who the hell are they?’ she wondered as she pushed herself back to her feet and then felt something connect with her chin and send her flying high into the air. A dark figure appeared over her and she stared into those blue eyes for a split second before she was sent flying with an astonishing show of strength towards the ground below. ‘This isn’t right… none of this is right. It shouldn’t be possible for anyone to make it up this high… or to move that fast… or to be that strong. None of this… none of this can be real.’ She thought as she fell back to the ground letting her eyes shut as she fell. In her fading vision she saw the figure above her flicker ever so slightly.
Her eyes flared open when she was only mere inches away from the ground and her wings spread making her soar quickly to her partner and grab her before zooming straight up into the air. Applejack was shocked by the sudden action and screamed at her partner.
“Rainbow Dash, have you lost yer ever lovin’ mind?! Put me back on the ground! Earth-bound are called that fer a reason ya know! We’re not supposed ta fly!” she protested.
“Shut up Hayseed! I’m testing something!” she yelled back as she leveled out at almost a thousand feet above the arena. Applejack looked down and turned a little green.
“Oh Ah think Ah’m gonna be sick…” she groaned not used to the altitude or liking the height much.
“Well then the screaming you’re about to do should get rid of that bile.” Rainbow chuckled with a big grin spreading across her face.
“Rainbow, what are you… Why are ya grinnin’ like Pinkie…?” Rainbow looked from the ground and then back to her and Applejack’s face paled her dancing freckles coming to a complete halt. “No… don’t do it Dash… DO. NOT. DO IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT-!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She screamed just as Rainbow folded her wings back and let a free fall over take them. Dash shut her eyes and prayed that she wasn’t wrong. Prayed that her eyes and mind weren’t just laying tricks on her and that she wasn’t as crazy as she thought she was. That the familiar feeling she felt in the air through her wings wasn’t lying to her. As they fell a cone of air formed around their bodies but they kept going Dash pushing harder and harder until she felt the wind whipping tears from her eyes and Applejack’s screams became no more than a distant background noise. Just when the pressure of the air started to close in around her she felt it.
Like a bubble popping her entire world exploded and she opened her eyes again to see herself and Applejack standing across from the pair just as they had been before the horn had sounded. Beside her Applejack stirred her eyes fluttering open and looking around confused. Rainbow smiled and slowly started to laugh. The crowd was dead silent and Applejack just stared at the scene confused. Moments ago the pair had been hurtling towards the earth and in an instant they were standing completely un harmed on the ground like the match had never even started. Rainbow stopped laughing and just smiled.
“Applejack… do you remember what happened to you and Rare back on the plane…?” Rainbow asked as she drew one of her blades.
“Wha…? Rainbow… did ya hit yer head on somethin’…? What does any of that have ta do with this match…?” she asked the pegasus.
Magenta eyes slid sideways as Rainbow’s smile only grew. “You can’t tell me you didn’t feel it. I felt it in my wings because I’m a pegasus… but didn’t you feel something off before…? Something weird about the earth?” she asked the girl.
“Well… now that you mention it… Yeah. It felt… like it was moving… like I was standing on water.” She explained scratching her head a little.
“Can you think of another time it felt like that…? When nothing made sense at all, where reality itself was warped…?” she asked like it was the simplest thing in the world.
“Well… only in dreams… or when Luna put us in that pocket-“ it struck her like a lightning bolt as she looked across at the twin figures across from her. ‘They put us in a dream state just like Luna did when me and Rare needed to make up!" She exclaimed in realization. Then a look of puzzlement filled her features as she stared at the ground in thought. 'But the only ones with that ability besides the princess herself are her most trusted advisors and the captains of Celestia’s-‘ “MOONDANCER, SHADOWSTREAK WHAT IN FAUST’S HOLY MOTHER FUCKING CREATION DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING OUT HERE IN ROME?!?!” She roared at the pair. The pair looked at each other before they lowered their masks and pulled back their hoods to reveal two identical women with shoulder length white and black hair that had a stripe of the opposite color running through on the sides of their heads. When the masks were removed from their faces their eyes faded into golden and silver colors instead of the electric blue. The shared the same smirk as they looked across the arena at the angered farmer.
“Awww, we missed you too Abby.” They chimed in unison. Applejack’s helm was tossed to the ground as she rushed at them teeth grit as she pinned them to the ground growling.
“Ah swear on mah Ma’s grave if ya’ll weren’t Celestia’s favorite guards Ah’d have pounded ya into next week just fer callin’ me that in public…” she snarled. The twins just laughed and pushed her off of them as Rainbow walked over and the crowd just stared on confusion spread across their faces. Cas was most shocked by the turn of events and his jaw hung open as he watched it play out.
“AJ, you know these two…?” Rainbow asked her friend.
“Unfortunately… They’re the Co-captains of Celestia’s personal guard… they’re trained in advanced combat magic but when Luna came back she taught them about her magic and they took to it like flies to dung… they also used to come with Celestia whenever she would visit us on the farm when I was younger… they’re nothing but a pair of scheming pranksters and raise hell wherever they go just for the laugh!” she grumbled. The twins bowed grinning proudly at the accusations.
“MoonDancer and ShadowStreak Queen’s of Prank and Duchesses of the art of Trolling at your service.” They announced in unison.
“We’re also pretty good at Pottery making.” The black haired and golden eyed ShadowStreak added.
“Oh, and Karaoke, but we don’t really get to do that much anymore.” MoonDancer added with a sad sigh her silver eyes looking out into the distance longingly.
“Whoa… wait, so all those fights beforehand were just fake…?! Even the one you both had with me last year?!” Cas shouted at the pair. They looked up at him with bored expressions.
“No, all of them were quite real.” They responded in unison.
“When you go into a dream state your body stays behind frozen in place…”
“But your mind is what controls everything so if it thinks you’re being hurt, then you’re going to get hurt.”
“Eventually the pain is too much for you to bear anymore and you pass out, then we drop the spell and move on.”
“Since magic is just as allowed as flying is it’s perfectly fair that we used it like this.”
“Besides, Luna was the one who taught ancient romans to use mind tricks on their opponents to throw them off. Gladiators who used magic like ours in battle rose through the ranks faster than the others because of it.”
“If they used it…”
“And it isn’t against the rules…”
“Then we won all those matches fairly and closer to the real historical tactics than throwing spears and swords at each other ever has been.” They finished in unison. They then turned to the athletes and smiled.
“But you two broke our spell. You beat us fair and square.” Moondancer announced with a smile.
“And that means you two advance into the finals~!” Shadow added with a chuckle and what looked like a sadistic grin. The crowd seemed to have heard them and slowly started to mutter before the clapping slowly started. All around them it evolved into a roaring applause that could be heard from miles away. Cas slowly let a smile cross his face as he straightened up and slowly started to clap along with the crowd.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack slowly looked around at the crowd and a smile grew on each of their faces and Dash shot up into the air absorbing the crowd’s cheers. They were even chanting hers and Applejack’s name now. It felt like she was getting her Cutiemark all over again. She saw something gold out of the corner of her eye and seconds later Casco 'oro, The Golden Helm of Rome stood in the center of it all holding the microphone and grinning his tanned skin slightly sleeked with sweat from watching the match and his sleek black hair falling to his shoulders as he removed his helm and his eyes now shone the same bright metallic gold as his armor as he drew his sword and pointed it at the pair.
“Let it be heard from my home to yours girls! I, Casco 'oro Champion Gladiator of Rome for ten years running, hereby issue a challenge of battle! You two against me at exactly 1:30! That gives you one half hour to prepare yourselves! Go back to your chamber to be outfitted with the armor of champions, and then when you are ready meet me here in the arena so that we can have a TRUE warriors battle!” he proclaimed his fiery golden eyes locked into the pair of emerald and magenta across from him.
The pair in silver armor exchanged a look before glancing back at him and grinning as the twins came up behind them and placed a hand on both of their shoulders grinning as well. They drew their weapons and pointed them at the golden armored man in return.
“We accept your challenge and await the coming battle with a warriors fire!” They chanted. He grinned happy they knew the proper way to accept a fight challenge. The crowd showed their approval as the three sheathed their weapons at once and turned on a dime to walk into opposite tunnels. When they were clear of the crowd Rainbow went into hysterics.
“DidyouseethatAJthecrowdwascheeringournames!!!!Andyoutwo!Youwerelikepowpowwe’rebadassroyalgaurdswithsuperpowersandthenwewerelike’Noyouain’tfakers’AndIbrokethespellwiththatsuperawesomenosediveandthenwegotchallengedtoabattlewiththeCHAMPIONofGladiators!!!!AndwegettowearthatSICKarmor!!!!!ApplejackIcan’tbreathe!!!Ineedwater!!!!” She screamed without breathing once. Applejack quickly brought her friend over to a bench just as the medics swarmed them all with water bottles and oxygen masks in their hands. Applejack took one of the oxygen masks and shoved it on Dash’s face.
“Breathe partner. In and out. When ya’ve calmed down Ah’ll give ya some water.” Applejack ordered taking a bottle off of the nearest medic and shooing them all away to give Dash some space. When the pegasus had gotten her breath back she removed the oxygen mask and took the bottle from Applejack. When it was gone an armor outfitter came over with two sets of golden armor that looked like they were made just for them.
“Miss Apple and Dash? These are your armor sets. The armory chief also wanted me to tell you to head back into the training grounds so that he could clean your weapons before the match.” The thick built older man told them with a small nod. Surprisingly he had an Equestrian accent instead of a foreign one.
“Whoa, you from Equestria too partner?” Applejack asked as she started to unstrap the silver armor from her body.
“Yup, moved her to Rome for my wife about ten years ago. I’m the one who made all this armor, and my brother-in-law is the armory master. He made the weapons you’re holding.” He chuckled as he took the armor sets from the two girls and hung them up on the racks in place of the golden armor that they were putting on.
“He MADE these Hurricane blades?! No one but the best can make these right! I should know, my family’s a big collector.” Rainbow asked the bulky man. Again he grinned and pounded his chest with his fist.
“Yup! Fondere il Ferro is the best blacksmith in Italy! There’s been a rumor since he was a kid that he’s secretly part Minotaur, between you and me I think those are true. Guy makes me look like a kid… well, you’ll see him soon enough.” He chuckled with a grin as Applejack helped Dash with her back plate again. They were now fully armored minus the helmets. Dash grinned as she flew up to look the man eye.
“I like you big guy, you remind me of my friend’s dad. But he probably makes that brother in law of yours look like a little kid. The guy’s 7’4 and weighs 300 pounds of lean mean muscle. And he’s still a damn good flier even with all that weight. But enough chit chat, you said he wants to polish our weapons…?”
“Yup, sure does. Tell him Bronze, that’s me by the way Bronze Armor, says to be home by seven. My wife is making her home made spaghetti and meatballs tonight!” he boasted grinning his copper hair streaked with bits of grey being pushed out of his bronze eyes. AJ chuckled and started to walk towards the training hall.
“Will do big fella! Come on RD, let’s hurry on. All this talk of food’s makin’ me hungry.” Applejack added as she felt her stomach rumbling in protest. Rainbow flew beside her feeling her own stomach contracting and rumbling.
“Ugh… I know what you mean. Couldn’t they have passed out something more than water for us…? Seriously we skipped lunch…” Dash groaned as they made their way down the long stone tunnel into the open mini arena. There was a single man in the center of it with his bare back to them. Even from behind they could tell he was built like a tank. Every inch of him was bulky muscle that was tensed as he held a powerful looking broad sword in each hand. He spun around in a blur of motion and sliced each and every practice dummy within his swords reach right in half. Now that he was facing them they could see that he had jet black hair that was cut in a tight crew cut and a beard that put Chuck Norris and Mr. T’s to shame. His steely cold blue eyes looked down at them as he un crossed his arms from his rippling chest that honestly made Big Macintosh look like a scrawny teenager. In the center of his chest was a large scar that exploded outwards like a sunburst and at the top of his bulging bicep was a cutiemark fitting for a blacksmith, a sword of steel over a hammer with raging flames behind it.
“Whoa… Applejack, get me a picture with this guy!” Rainbow ordered shoving her phone in her friends hand the camera already enabled. She flew over and stood flat beside him on the ground. He looked down at her confused as Applejack took the picture when Dash cracked a huge grin. With the memory secure she grabbed her phone back and saved it.
The man finally grunted his voice deep and fitting for someone with such a body. “You two are finalists…?” he asked raising an eyebrow curiously.
“Eeyup… sorry ‘bout mah friend here. She’s got a thing for people who could crush skulls with their pinky finger.” Applejack explained as Dash flew around him to inspect him further. The man simply watched her with a neutral face until his eyebrow finally twitched in irritation and he grabbed her by the head forcing her back to the ground.
“No time for, how do you Equestrians say it…? ‘Fangirling’ I think; I need to clean your weapons.” He explained holding out his hand to them. Dash composed herself and unhooked the swords sheath and all from her hips and placed them in his outstretched oversized palm. Applejack did the same with her hammer. He walked over to the service bar and went to work. Applejack leaned over chuckling at her friend.
“Ah think Ah still see some drool on your chin RD… Ah think you’re making ‘Shy jealous.” Applejack teased. Rainbow gave her a sharp glare.
“A.) We’re not a thing. B.) You can’t tell me seeing that guy doesn’t make you seriously want to arm wrestle him.” She countered. Applejack looked back at the man rubbing her chin in thought and nodded.
“Ah think he’d break mah arm in two if Ah tried.” She concluded. “His beard alone could probably take Mac head on. And that Skull Crusher fella would probably be punched through a wall by him… hey, Ah think we have the Italian equivalent of Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee under one roof!” Applejack laughed. Rainbow rubbed her chin in thought and nodded.
“This guy is Chuck though. Skull didn’t have a sick enough beard to be Chuck. Oh wait, speaking of which. Hey big guy! You’re Fondere il Ferro right…?” Rainbow called over to the blacksmith. He glanced up from the sword he was currently polishing with some kind of golden glowing rag.
“Yes… that is my name… Why do you ask signora…?” he asked as he carefully polished the blade.
“Yer Brother in law wanted us ta tell ya Howdy. And that ya have to be home by seven ‘cause yer sister is making spaghetti and meatballs tonight.” Applejack reported. The man let the sword clatter to the ground and he looked up at the pair his steel blue eyes no longer steely but alit with something they couldn’t identify.
“He said… that my sister is making spaghetti and meatballs…?” Fondere asked to confirm what he had heard. When they looked at one another and nodded he got a smile across his face. “Chi avrebbe pensato che sarebbe stato questi due...” he whispered so low even Applejack’s tuned ears couldn’t hear it. (Who would have thought it’d be these two…) “I look forward to it!” he said much louder with a hearty chuckle and the two saw a real smile form on his face. “My sister has not made her special dish for quite some time! Ten years in fact… she only does it on very special occasions…” he explained as he quickly started to polish the other sword. When both were done he set them down on the counter and polished Applejack’s hammer next. Rainbow flew over and picked up her swords from the counter to examine them.
“Whoa! These things are like GLOWING! What kind of polish are you using there…?” she asked looking at the swords which seemed to reflect a white aura around them.
“Oh it is a very special polish we only use for the championship round… we have not had one for quite a bit since that shady pair started participating. So I wanted to be sure that your weapons were in prime condition. I have seen the way you both handle yourselves out there; quite impressive for ones so young.” He reported as he took some extra time with the ridged side of the hammer.
“Well it looks mighty impressive if Ah do say so myself… and Ah do.” Applejack mused as he finished the cleaning and handed the hammer back to her. She stared at it being able to see herself in the polished iron surface now.
From a nearby loudspeaker built into the wall they heard their names being paged to the main arena and they smiled at the man as they sheathed their weapons. Rainbow grinned at him as they walked towards the door. “Thanks for cleaning the weapons up Fondere!” she called.
“Wait!!” he called making them halt in their steps. He reached under the table and then tossed two objects at them. They caught them and opened their hands to see two granola bars in their hands. “I could hear your stomachs from all the way down the hall! Eat those before you pass out!” he ordered before waving them off with his meaty arm. They grinned at him ripping the wrappers with their teeth and chomping into it waving him goodbye as they walked back towards the main arena. They were done with the bars and downed it with a little swish of water before they entered the arena’s main hall. With their heads free of hunger’s painful hold they could now focus on the bright light at the end of the tunnel ahead of them. They both put on the golden helmets but were stopped before they could step any further along the hall they were halted by the whinny of two horses.
A golden chariot with two golden armored horses stood waiting for them and beside it a small looking teenager with soft mint green hair and deep blue eyes looked over at them his mark of a horseshoe over grown with ivy visible on his neck.
“Oh! You must be the challengers, this is your chariot into the arena. You go in after the champion so we’re just waiting for you cue now.” He explained his voice soft much like a certain butter yellow pegasus’ but distinctly male instead. Rainbow grinned as she climbed up into the chariot and squealed a little.
“This is SO AWESOME!!!!” She exclaimed as she leaned down to look at the chariot which looked to be hade of nothing but gold and a white painted metal. The horses were pure white with bright yellow manes that were cut short to fit through the helms that they wore. They looked like real war horses! Which of course only sent Dash into a further dizzy fit as Applejack climbed up beside her gently patting the horses on the backs and receiving happy whinny’s in response. The boy looked up at her in wonder.
“They never respond to anyone but me like that… they’re trained to be aggressive!” he exclaimed in disbelief. Applejack smiled at him and winked.
“Ah grew up on a farm partner. If Ah didn’t get along with horses Ah’d have had mah face bucked in by now.” She explained as she stroked the horses gently under their golden armor that matched theirs so well.
The boy was about to say something more when a loud horn sounded through the arena. He quickly looked back to them. “That’s your cue! If you’re a farmer like you say you are take the reigns! Three laps around the platform and then go up the ramp onto it and dismount! The horses will take off on their own after that.” He instructed quickly as the horn sounded again. On the third horn blare Applejack cracked the reigns and the horses gallantly reared back on their hind legs before speeding off into the arena pulling the chariot with them.
Dash spread her wings proudly as the crowd again erupted into cheers at their entrance. She and Applejack both waved smiling in response, Applejack with a slight nervous twitch on her lips but she was more focused on the horses than the crowd. Rainbow however absorbed their energy and cheers like a sponge. When the third lap was completed they sped up the ramp onto the platform that was once again raised about ten feet into the air. The horses caught some air as the ramp leveled out and the two dismounted perfectly landing side by side, Applejack crouched with her hand on her hammer and Rainbow Dash with her swords drawn and held in an X over her chest as her wings were spread out behind her. No one could say they didn’t make an impressive entrance.
Across from them Cas stood at his full height armor gleaming more than it had before and his sword drawn and pointed in their direction a full grin that showed his perfect white teeth that looked too bright compared to his darker complexion. His bright golden eyes seemed to burn with a passion that both girls across from him could only describe as a warriors fire.
“Rainbow Dash, Applejack Apple, I do not normally mince words on a battle field but I did promise something to you if you made it this far and I am nothing if not a man of my word.” He explained as he sheathed his sword across his back and looked them both dead in the eye as they sheathed their own weapons and watched him intently. They didn't notice the area around them become surrounded in a light shimmering gold aura. “You asked me about what I meant when I said that the Sun had suspicious reasons for taking the girl under her wing… tell me, does it not strike you odd at all? What do you two know about your leader?” He asked the pair.
“We know she isn’t as shady as you make her out to be and that she thinks of nothing but the countries best interest at all times!” Dash snapped back quickly defending her ruler with the loyalty of a trained service dog.
Cas chuckled a little bit and smiled. “Of course she does, she is a Daughter after all. Her heart is as pure as they come. But tell me, if you were an all-powerful ruler like her, one who was immortal and had lived so long that she has seen countless generations born, grow old, and die right before her eyes, would you not do anything to save the one person who shares your fate?” he asked carefully.
“What’re you getting’ at ya golden armored varmint?!” Applejack hissed glaring daggers at him.
“Oh come now signora’s you can’t tell me you are that ignorant… what do you know about the Moon’s imprisonment?” he asked the girls like he was talking to a pair of children.
“The same as every Equestrian! Luna was possessed and she couldn’t be free until the stars aided in her escape! Which was almost-“
“15 years ago…? Tell me, how old are you two? You don’t look like you could be much older than that yourselves.” Cas reasoned that sneaky smile never leaving his features. Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged looks and nodded.
“Yeah… we’re 14… why do YOU want to know…?” Rainbow asked still glaring daggers.
“And what about Twilight…?” he prompted further.
“She’s… just turned 14.” Applejack replied. A look of confusion crossed his face for a second but he didn’t break stride.
“So all of you were born before the Moon’s return then…?”
“Well… Our friend Pinkie was actually born on the day she came back but I don’t see how any of that-“ Rainbow was interrupted by him plunging his sword into the ground.
His smile only grew at that. “And she’s the youngest out of all of you yes…?” he asked leaning on his sword and grinning at them.
“Yes…” both girls responded getting rather tired of his questions. They came for a battle, not an interrogation.
“Did you ever hear the Poem that was made about Luna’s banishment…?” Both of the girls looked at him with a confused glance and he cleared his throat and his golden eyes met theirs once again. "The Moon, Calm and Serene as the night that she wields, grows tired of the people she shields. She thinks that her subjects fear her, and reject her beautiful night by sleeping through it instead of enjoying it like her sister’s light. The Shadow whispers in her ears, promising her to make her subjects happy for many years, if only she gave in and let that Shadow become her puppeteer. The Moon foolishly gave into the Shadow’s demand, and she watched as the kingdom she and her sister had forged together became the furthest thing from a Holy Land. The Sun saw her sister transformed before her, and shed tears as she realized what had to occur. She gathered the Stones of Harmony, a cherished from her great mother, and with a great cry of war ended her sister’s disharmony. But this came at a great cost, for despite saving her kingdom from the terrible plight, it was her sister that she had lost. But there was hope you see, for moments after her sister left her, The Stones vanished before her eyes and she could hear the voice of her Great Mother.
‘Daughter that I love so dearly and cherish so sincerely, do not cry for there is hope. In time the Harmony will be born again, and when they do it will be your sister that they return to you. But be cautioned my daughter, for on the one thousandth year of her imprisonment the Shadow will return, and with her so will her yearn. Your sister will be consumed just as before, this much I know, but this time no longer will it be ignored, instead The Six will bring forth the light that will once and for all make sure Harmony is restored!’
“With her Mother’s words fresh in her mind The Sun began to unwind, promising herself that as long as she lived never again would she be so blind.”
“It was originally intended to be a lesson for the people not to turn a blind eye. But it was also part of a prophecy. A prophecy that has already partially come true. Tell me, Applejack the Honest and Dependable, and Rainbow Dash, the Swift and Loyal, how do you think a little girl with parents no more gifted in the magical arts than any other Mage in Canterlot was able to get magic so powerful that when she had a surge the pope himself here in our country felt it…?” he asked the two girls his sickening grin never leaving his face.
That tore it for Rainbow Dash. She lunged at him fast enough that most of the crowd couldn’t see her move. But something stopped her. And it wasn’t solid. She just froze, midair and then was slammed into the ground by an unseen force. She slowly got up on her hands and knees her eyes filled with the fire of rage. But her voice taking on a rather refined tone that seemed to mock him. “You’re an outright bore when you talk so much Casco 'oro… I really hate people that talk too much.” She snarled spitting out some blood as she stood once more on two legs. Behind her back Rainbow made a signal to Applejack and the farmer saw it her green eyes only briefly flickering to it before Rainbow took off at him again. Once again she was halted midair but this time the crowd could see a distinct golden aura surrounding her form as Cas held out his hand his hand surrounded by the very same aura.
“The twins weren’t the only ones hiding a few secrets my dear. I’ve never had to use my magic in a duel before but you two cause me far too much trouble for me not to.” He explained as a crest slowly seemed to burn onto his forehead. He reached around with speed that made Dash’s head spin and grabbed the handle of the hammer Applejack was about to bring down on his head and quickly turned it on her using it to slam her into the platform leaving a crater in its wake. Rainbow’s eyes widened at the sight and the crowd gasped to show their shock at the sudden turn in events. Even the normally chatty announcer was speechless at the development."What is this?! You two who caught so valiantly in the face of danger before my very eyes have grown so weakened with only a fraction of my power?! Where is that fiery sense of spirit now girls?! I may have been b,Essex by powers beyond your understanding but a warrior fights to their last breath! NOW STAND UP AND FIGHT ME LIKE REAL WARRIORS!" He ordered his voice itself reminding the girls of the royal Canterlot voice. They both shook the plaster from their bodies and stared him dead in the eyes. There was something off about him, and the way he spoke was like he wasn’t human. It sounded like he was something of a demigod, like Cadence. It however didn’t intimidate either of them. Applejack had arm wrestled the princess before and even from a young age she had to actually put forth an effort. Rainbow Dash had flown with Luna on multiple occasions and the Princess of the Night often got winded from trying to catch her in the air. They already played with real Gods, a mortal impersonating one was likely a lot easier.
Rainbow quickly drew her swords up and Applejack used her hammer to come to her feet. When both stood on their feet once more Cas grinned and brew his sword from the ground and struck a battle stance before they lunged at him again their fire returned full force.
Dodge, Block, Sidestep, Swing, and Throw. Cas repeated these actions multiple times his sword moving not as a weapon but as an extension of his body. No matter what tactic the two tried, be it separately or as a pair they couldn’t land a single blow on him. And he wasn’t using shield magic either! He was just that good. Even with Dash’s mastery with weapons and her speed she couldn’t catch him with her blade. And Applejack even with her wits and brute strength couldn’t overcome his blocks. It was infuriating, and exhausting as well.
Applejack landed with a thud while Rainbow skidded to a halt crouched after he had just pushed both of them back with a single stroke of his sword and he was grinning down at them his entire body still glowing with his golden aura.
“Is that all you have to offer me?! Where is that spirit I saw in your semifinals?! The wit you both displayed, the pure harmony you have on the battlefield! Is it you who needs to be taught the lesson in battle now?!” he asked his voice still shrouded with the air of power. Both of them grit their teeth and Rainbow Dash looked up to the skies and spotted a collection of clouds passing over the coliseum. She felt her wings quiver and an idea formed in her head.
“Hey, hayseed. You ever heard of Thor’s hammer before?” She whispered to the girl beside her. Applejack looked confused before she saw her friends wings start to glow slightly with the familiar presence of a Pegasai’s magic flowing into them. Her eyes glanced from her to the skies above them and then at the hammer she wielded. A smile crossed her face and she nodded.
“Do it. Ah’ll keep him occupied.” AJ replied with a grunt before she lunged at the man more force behind her strike this time. Rainbow launched from the ground leaving her prismatic after pattern in her wake. Cas of course met Applejack’s parry but didn’t miss when the Rainbow haired pegasus had flown up to the clouds that were her element.
He snickered a little. “Trying to use a little lightning on me are you…? I’ll have you know I’ve been struck by lightning many times in my lifetime and it starts to lose its effect after the tenth or so time.” He mused as he pushed against the hammer wielder that was a whole head shorter than him.
“Ah don’t think you exactly realize how powerful RD can be when ya push her enough… Or when ya’ve got an entire city’s worth of clouds congregating over one area. Tell me partner, would you like ta know a little secret about us earthbound…?” she asked the man with a small chuckle. He cocked an eyebrow at her just as the sky started to darken and he could hear claps of thunder rolling above his head. He looked up to see a hurricane’s worth of dark ominous clouds gathering over the arena as strong winds started to whip around them and blow a few spectator’s hats right off their heads. Bolts of different colored electricity courses through it and his eyes widened. Most of the spectators were now ducking for cover as they foresaw what was about to happen just as well as he did. “We’re as immune to lightning as the earth itself.” She explained as she flipped away from him and rose her hammer high into the air. It would later be told in the history of Rome that on that day the world’s first Rainbow Bolt was seen right there in the coliseum.
A bolt that was later measured by the local weather station to have more power than the entire famed lightning storm of Chicago combined. And it was also be told for generations to come exactly how even despite being struck with such a bolt Applejack simply raised the weapon that had been struck with the bolt and used it to throw that godly power right at her opponent. Who by the way, to his credit, should have been vaporized by the bolt and was simply forced unconscious with third degree burns covering his body and his golden armor melted right off him body as well. His sword was plunged into the ground as he fell face first into the dirt. In his fading consciousness he chuckled and raised his head slightly to look at the pair as Rainbow landed back on the ground.
“Maybe you two DO have some potential after all…” he mused before his head fell to the ground and a golden light enveloped him. In a flash all that remained of him was the melted golden armor and the sword that still stood where he once lay.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s eyes both widened as the realization of what they had just done hit them. The crowd seemed to realize it too as shouts began to fill the arena.
“They killed him!”
“Those girls killed the Great Golden Helm!”
“Murderers!”
“Savages!”
“ARREST THEM!!!”
“Sugar Cube…” Applejack whispered to her friend still standing beside her.
“Yeah AJ…?” Rainbow whispered back.
“Now would be a really great time ta come up with one of those on the spot plans you’re good at.” She breathed as guards and police men started to surround them. Dash looked around panicked holding her blades in front of her as a defense and she tried to piece together some way they could get out of this. Luckily, someone else did instead.
A loud whistle brought the attention of the guards and policemen and they turned their heads to see Moondancer and Shadow Streak standing shoulder to shoulder with their hands surrounded in a magical aura. Suddenly guards started to fly off the platform left and right and then they heard the clopping of hooves in the distance along with two loud battle cries. From the tunnel behind them Bronze Armor and Fondere il Ferro came charging in knocking away guards that had started to surround the twins. Behind them the golden chariot being driven by the horse care giver before leapt over the brawl that was starting and it landed on the platform skidding to a halt in front of them and making the remaining guards jump out of the way. He looked down at them his deep blue eyes serious and firm so unlike they had been before.
“Get in the chariot if you want to live!” he ordered. Applejack quickly obliged but Rainbow hesitated looking back at the sword that stood where Cas once did. She quickly drew it from the ground and then took it with her as she jumped onto the chariot and the boy cracked the reigns making the horses take off down the opposite hall way they had entered from. Beside them the twins were flying using a spell that created wings made of pure magic and were firing projectiles made of magic back at their pursuers. The two brothers brought up the rear and were using various throwing weapons and a few smoke bombs to aid in the escape.
'AJ, Rainbow! We’re using magic to communicate with you so don’t panic. Listen, we’re going to stay here to fend off most of the officers while we can, but they’ve already called in the forces outside to come after you. You have to make it to the dock before they catch you! From there you can find haven in Pompeii until we settle everything down here. Cas isn’t dead. He’s still very much alive and the only way you’re going to be able to prove that is if you bring him back! In the city there’s a very large museum built into the volcano side. In the very back of the museum behind a statue of Jupiter you’ll find a slot carved into it. Plunge the sword inside it. When the path is opened follow it to the volcano’s heart and then throw the sword into it. It’s the only way you’ll be able to bring him back. The sword was forged in the volcano and he was born in it as well. If you succeed he can explain everything to you himself. But be careful, that path to the volcano is treacherous, much like the cursed temple you faced yesterday.' They warned the pair as they continued to fight back the guards and policemen. Applejack and Rainbow were thoroughly confused by what was going on but they listened to the twin’s every word and nodded when they finished to show that they understood. 'Good, now get ready to take the reigns Applejack, we're close to the exit and Pales has to stay here with us, we'll keep as much of the force here as we can and then we'll meet you at the docks as soon as we can!' They explained. Wordlessly the boy, apparently named Pales, handed the reigns to Applejack as the light at the end of the tunnel grew closer. When they emerged into the light he slapped the flank of each horse before dismounting off the chariot.
The two girls saw a blockade in front of them made of police cars and men all with guns aimed at them. But when Pales had slapped them they effortlessly leapt over them and dashed down the street many a car honking at them. Pales grinned as they were off and the police men now had their attention on the four figures that had emerged from the tunnel. The small built fifth landed gracefully in front of them and gave another loud whistle that seemed to reverberate through the city. In an instant from the coliseum horses, sheep, and many very angry looking bulls emerged from their pens and charged out to join them knocking men out of the way as they let out battle cries of their own. Bronze laughed and nudged Shadow with his elbow.
“Hey, this reminds me of that time in Madrid when with Ol’ Riptide. Remember how he came in from the sea with that entire fleet of pissed off whales? They body slammed like half the force we were fighting!” he laughed. Shadow giggled in response but her sister rolled her eyes.
“If I recall correctly Bronze YOU and your brother there were chained to posts two hundred feet under the waves while we were up there trying to fight. It wasn’t until Pales called in that heard of fighting bulls out of the arena that we even pushed them back enough to save your sorry asses from being fish food!” Dancer growled as she used a long tendril of magic to whip back a line of police men that had charged at them.
“Yeah, but it was so much fun!” He laughed. Fondere rolled his eyes as he knocked out a group of men that had been trying to taze him.
“Brother, your sense of humor is not the best…” he commented.
“You’re no fun either Fondere!” he whined as he round house kicked a few more policemen out of the way.
“Children, please, can we just get in a brawl without the four of you bickering back and forth every single time?!” the boy shouted back at the group his blue eyes glaring them down.
“Y-yes boss!” they all replied saluting him before returning to their brawls. Pales sighed and shook his head. He swore on the creator’s name he was forced to work with these people for another year he was going to rip his hair out.
***
Rainbow was holding on for dear life as Applejack raced through the city drove the chariot through the city with policemen and every one of their fellow competitors hot on their tail. After they took a particularly sharp turn they came to the startling sight of many officers on foot and in cars chasing after a pink moped that had a white speck flying beside it. The white speck was throwing what looked like water balloons at the cars and Applejack and Rainbow Dash would have had to be blind to not recognize the mess of pink hair that flew in the wind and in the face of the rider behind it. Pinkie and Twilight were on the moped… being chased by what looked like the entirety of the private police force of Rome. And they had the remaining force on their tail.
Both heard two jingles from the bottom of the chariot and while AJ kept her eyes on the road RD fished down and pulled out the back packs they had both brought with them. Pales must have put them there. RD pulled out her phone and saw that she had a message from Pinkie on it. She opened it and read it aloud.
“‘Change of plans, meet us by the docks ASAP instead, the boat will be waiting just get on it and it wait for us. ~Pinkie’… Well at least we already know why that is.” Rainbow commented dryly as they came up beside them. “Pinkie!” Rainbow called over to the girl. She looked over through the visor of the pink helmet she wore and beamed when she saw Rainbow and Applejack.
“Hey girls! Whoa, snazzy armor! Is that from that competition you were entering?” she asked.
“Yes, it is. But we’d kind like to know why you have the other half of the police force chasin’ after ya.” Applejack called back.
“Long story. Wait, other half…?” Twilight asked before looking back behind them at the group that now had even more police cars AND an angry mob wearing the same type of armor but with different colors of silver and bronze as AJ and Dash. She hesitated a second but sighed and shook her head. “Look, we’ll all spill the beans once we’re on the boat. For now, just focus on getting there.” She ordered taking her natural role as team leader back on. Both athletes nodded in response before Pinkie revved the engine of the scooter harder and sped off faster catapulting herself off and over a hill blaring a musical horn as she went. Applejack and Rainbow Dash watched her in astonishment but not one to be out done in a race Applejack cracked the reins and the horses sped off over the hill as well. In slow motion both of them sensed someone staring at them and turned their heads to their left to see Fluttershy and Rarity staring at them from the sidewalk mouths slightly hung open. The chariot jarred as it hit the ground and they sped off taking a sharp corner just after Pinkie. They heard the sirens and crowd roaring in hot pursuit seconds later.
Applejack didn’t turn around to face her partner just stared at the road ahead of them blankly. “RD… Tell me ya didn’t jus’ see our crushes standin’ on the side walk starin’ at us while we’re runnin’ from the law…” She deadpanned a look of dread slowly filling her expression.
“Sorry Jack… I really wish I could lie to you like that.” Rainbow responded a similar look of dread filling her features.
“She’s gonna murder me…” Applejack groaned.
“Like ‘Shy isn’t gonna stare me into the next century?! I’m so screwed… Mom always made jokes about me getting arrested but now that she finally let me travel on my own it only took me a few hours to get an entire city’s police force to place me on their most wanted list…! She’s going to trap me inside the house chained in the basement until I’m forty!” Rainbow Dash wailed dragging her hands down her face in terror.
“. . . Wait, how in the hay do you have a basement if you live in the clouds…?” Applejack asked after listening to her friend’s panicked statement.
“The same way you have a basement on the ground. Those clouds up there aren’t thin you know. They can’t be if people live on them.” Rainbow answered with a roll of her eyes like it was obvious.
“Oh… Ah suppose that makes some sense.” Applejack muttered as they continued through the city. A gentle breeze blew through and whipped gently past her face and she felt her long blonde hair whip past her now that she had freed it from the helm. “Ya know… if we weren’t bein’ chased fer supposedly murderin’ a city’s hero by the entire police force and an angry mob… this would be a really nice day.” She commented off handedly. Rainbow stared at her funny for a second before she looked out at the city and let the gentle breeze carry her wings slightly.
“You know what hayseed? You’re right… it is really nice out… I can actually feel the sea air from here too… and those sounds aren’t too bad either… all these cars and cycles rolling around reminds me of the time my dad first took me here… there was a really sweet Ducati the hotel manager owned… he let me ride it with him once. I can still hear that beautiful piece of machinery now…” she mused closing her eyes and listening to the city drowning out the sounds of police sirens and angry shouts. Her ears perked slightly. “Wait a second. That isn’t a memory, I can really hear a Ducati.” She exclaimed turning around to look behind them. She saw the sleek black form of a brand new Ducati straight off the market weaving through the police cars and then driving along an empty sidewalk to catch up and meet beside them. It bore two riders, the back one who was clutching on for dear life had long billowing soft pink hair that matched the helmet she wore glanced sideways at them. But the driver never took her eyes off the road and all they could see behind the curtain of styled curled purple locks was three shining blue gemstones along her neck line.
Applejack had seen this too and her jaw hung open in shock. “Rarity?! When’d ya get a motorcycle?! Scratch that, when the hell did ya learn to DRIVE a motorcycle?!?!” She asked still keeping an eye on where she was going. A blue aura surrounded the cover of the helmet she wore and the face of it lifted off to reveal a set of deep blue irises.
“I don’t think that’s much of a concern right now darling, I’d focus more on the fact you’re being chased through the most cultured city in Italy by the entire police force and what looks like a very angry mob.” She shouted back weaving through a few cars that blocked their way.
“Hey! To be completely fair most of those police cars are chasing Pinkie and Twilight! We just brought the bigger SUV’s and that mob with us.” Rainbow offered with a halfhearted laugh. That earned a slow sideways turn of the head from Fluttershy and a lifting of her own glass to properly stare Dash down.
“And WHY are you being chased by armored trucks and an angry mob Dashington…?” she asked her voice still calm like it usually was but it had a bite to it that made Rainbow feel like there was a hand made of ice choking her. Fluttershy never called her by her full last name unless she was serious.
“Look, we can all very well discuss this later. But for now may we PLEASE focus on getting out of this city ALIVE and not in handcuffs?!” Applejack asked her dialect switching to show her growing irritation as she weaved around a car that was just pulling to the curb to let them pass.
There was a mutter of agreement before they heard a megaphone issue a warning. “Halt in the name of Pope Benedict XVI!! This is your one and only warning before we will be forced to use force in your capture!” The male voice warned. In response Pinkie, who was a good few cars ahead of them stood up driving with her feet and raised her helmet off her head so they could see her face then proceeded to stick her tongue out and raise out her left arm placing her right hand just in the crook of her arm. Many of the angry crowd gasped as did Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Satisfied with herself Pinkie put her helmet back on and sat back down to drive with her hands once more.
“Twilight, you’re gonna wanna put a shield up around us.” Pinkie giggled.
“Why would I need to do that…? Pinkie… what did that gesture mean?!” Twilight asked frantically. Angelo, who’s face had paled slightly before he burst out laughing couldn’t answer her question and Pinkie was now just grinning wildly.
Five car lengths back Applejack had just asked a similar question to Rainbow Dash since she and Fluttershy had seemed just as shocked by it as the local Leo’s.
“Um… well… you see… she said…-“ Fluttershy stuttered her face blushing terribly.
“She just told the entire police force of Rome to go fuck themselves.” Rainbow Dash deadpanned. Applejack almost ran into a pole and Rarity almost hit a little puppy that had come too close to the street when they swerved at the little translation Rainbow had given them.
“SHE DID WHAT?!?!” They screamed in unison. Seconds later bullets started whizzing past their heads. One of them grazed Rarity’s hair leaving a clean bullet hole in the biggest curl. Seconds later a magenta magical shield was put up around them blocking the bullets from entering their airspace. They saw Twilight turned around on the scooter hands glowing as she weaved her magic into the air.
There was a trill of evil laughter that filled the air as they finally left the city limits, and to their great surprise, it wasn’t from Pinkie Pie. Rarity’s helmet became shrouded in her blue magic aura as it lifted off her head and then the handlebars of the bike became covered in it as well as she stood up just like Pinkie had but this time she drew the hidden pistol from the leg strap she had on her upper thigh that was visible through the long slit that ran up her beautiful white dress.
“NOBODY FUCKS WITH MY HAIR PISS ANTS!!!” She shouted as she fire off a wave of shots that hit the tires of the cars that were shooting them. The police vehicles were forced to stop when their tires all blew out from the seamstresses expert shot leaving just a handful of police on motorcycles and smaller cars and the angry mob coming after them. She snarled as she pushed the helmet in Fluttershy’s hands and turned to sit in the driver’s seat again letting her hands take the handles again.
Rainbow slowly leaned over to Applejack her eyes wide in terror. “I see why you love her now…” Rainbow whispered. The farmer had a dreamy look in her eyes as she smiled and giggled a little like she was drunk.
“Ah know… ain’t she great~?” she mused as continued to somehow drive through the busy street. Twilight noticed all this and couldn’t help but gag a little.
“Pinkie… if I ever fall in love and act like THAT I want you to find the biggest frying pan you can and smack me over the head with it. Repeat that until the goofy grin falls off my face.” She ordered the pink haired girl. Just said friend turned around to face her grinning with a two finger salute.
“As you wish my oh so wise leader~!” she cheered before her face wrinkled as she sniffed the air. “You smell that Twiley…?” she asked turning back to face where she was driving once more. Twilight smelled the air and got the strong tang of salt almost right away.
“The sea…?” she offered to the other girl.
“No, that’s the smell of our sweet escape!” Pinkie shouted excitedly as she revved the engine of the scooter even further and sped off down the long stretch of road. How that little scooter was managing to out speed a Ducati and two well-trained war horses was well beyond anyone’s comprehension, but it’s driver was probably a pretty big factor.
“Twilight! Estimated time to arrival!” Pinkie shouted back at her riding partner.
“At the speed we’re going?! Ten minutes thirteen seconds!” She replied doing the calculatios in her head almost instantaneously.
“That’s too long! They’re going to have the air squadrons here in five minutes!” Angelo warned them. Pinkie grit her teeth and quickly pulled out her cell phone and redialed Riptide.
“Pinkie? Where are you?! You should have been on deck ten minutes ago!” he called into her ear as he answered the phone.
“Yeah, I know that Rippy! We’ve got a little bit of an issue now. It looks like we’ve got an A. class Italian riot on our hands. We’ve got gladiators and everything on our tail! We’ve only just gotten out of the city and we won’t make it to the pier for another ten minutes, and we have half that until the air force makes it to us.” She explained as more armored trucks came out onto the highway and started opening fire on them again. Twilights shield blocked it all but a few of them were enchanted bullets and whizzed right through the shield. “And now they have their Mage forces on us.” She added nervously looking behind her.
A groan came from the other line. “Okay Pinkie. Take the next exit. I’ll be waiting at the end of it.” He sighed before he ended the conversation with a click of his phone. Pinkie stored the phone in her purse once more and revved the engine throwing her head around to shout at her friends.
“Follow me guys! Rippy says he’ll meet us half way!” she announced as she took a sharp right effectively smashing through an exit that was boarded up and blocked off. The others followed with anxious faces but usually no matter how harebrained it seemed Pinkie’s plans worked.
The highway lead up and up crawling into heights that towered over the rest of the highways and quite frankly were making Fluttershy very nervous. “Um, Rarity… why do you think this section of the highway was blocked off…?” she asked her friend.
“I honestly don’t know darling… but I’m going to trust my instincts here and say you should probably keep your eyes closed.” She reasoned as she could start to see the point where the street ahead of them peaked. She could also see that it had many warning signs lining up to it and that it was taped off with wooden barriers just like the entrance had been.
Beside them Rainbow Dash and Applejack were slowly removing their helms to see it properly. And a properly gauged reaction was given when they saw that the highway came to a very abrupt end right there. “Well… shit.” They both said in unison as Pinkie didn’t hesitate to again smash through the barrier and fly off the end of it, with no time to stop so did her friends.
“Twilight! Quickly attach one of these hooks to each of the girls and hold the vehicles and horses in your magic!” Pinkie shouted handing a handful of hooks that were attached by some kind of thick rope to something in Pinkie’s bag.
Twilight bit back her panic and did as instructed and as they were falling she felt the air tingle with more than just her magic. Below them she saw a huge vortex of spinning blue magic starting to form as she attached the last hook onto her screaming friends and took hold of the chariot(and the horses that were in a full panic), the Ducati, and the scooter straining her magic more than it had been strained since she had since she had first started training under Celestia. In the panic however Pinkie kept a clear head and released what she had in her bag by unclasping it causing a huge bright pink parachute to unfold and catch them in the air just as the large form of the S.S Equestria appeared right underneath them.
Pinkie grinned as she heard her friends stop screaming when the parachute slowed their decent into a gentle fall. “And you mocked me for bringing the parachute.” She sneered at Twilight. Twilight looked over her eyes now glowing with the power she was using.
“Yes Pinkie, you were very well prepared and I shouldn’t have questioned you. Now can we please focus on landing and getting the heck out of this country?!” She snapped back irritated from the strain she was under.
“Yeesh, and I thought Dashie was the grouchy one.” She muttered as she helped steer the parachute down to the ship where the crew was waiting with one exhausted looking Riptide being supported by Wave Crasher whose wings looked ready to leap up into the air to help them in their decent. When they landed on the deck of the ship Rainbow Dash was the first to move, before the parachute could cover them she was at Fluttershy’s side.
“Flutters? You okay? We’re good now. You can open your eyes.” Rainbow soothed stroking the balled up girl’s hair gently in an attempt to quell the fear she could feel rolling off her in waves. Fluttershy meekly unfurled looking around slowly and seeing Dash kneeled beside her in shining golden armor. Her gaze softened and she even giggled a little. “What…? What’s so funny?” Dash asked confused by her friend’s sudden shift in behavior.
“Oh, it’s um… nothing. Just… that you really do look like a knight in shining armor this time.” She mused pointing at the armor Rainbow still wore. Dash looked down and laughed a little herself when she realized the way she looked right now.
“Yeah, I guess that IS pretty funny.” She chuckled before standing up and helping Fluttershy to her feet too. Behind them Applejack was talking to Brise at the moment.
“Tell the Captain to set a course fer Pompeii, we’ve got some business to take care of there if we want to get those cops off our tail fer good. We’ll explain more on the way but fer now we just really need to get going.” AJ urged pushing the first mate towards the control booth. When Brise walked off on her own she turned around only to come nose to nose with a rather intimidating looking fashionista with long curled purple hair and two blue eyes that froze her in place instantly.
“Applejack, you have one minute to explain to me why we just had to vacate the beautiful city of Rome with the entire police force, a brutish group of armored thugs, and the military on our tails.” She growled grabbing the girl by the front of her armor and cocking her pistol in her other hand.
“Well Uh… Ah… Ah can’t speak fer Pinkie and them but me and Dash got ourselves in a bit of a pickle down at the coliseum… ya see we were in the finals and our opponent was this really sleezy guy named Casco somethin’ or another and he was openin’ up a real big can of whoop-ass on us so me an’ Dash pulled out all the stops and uh…” she trailed off muttering the rest under her breath so that Rarity wouldn’t hear her.
“I’m sorry darling, the giant hole in my precious coiffure is making me a little wound up and I don’t think I can hear you properly, could repeat that last sentence a little louder…?” Rarity asked running her gun through the bullet hole in her hair for emphasis. Applejack went straight as a board and spat out the rest in a jumbled loud mess.
“WEVAPORIZEDHIMUSINGDASH’SLIGHTNINGANDMAHHAMMERASACHANNELPLEASEDON’TKILLME!!!!” Applejack shouted curling her lips inwards and shutting her eyes so that she wouldn’t see her end coming. When she didn’t feel the cold bite of a bullet she peeked open an eye to see Rarity slowly backing away from her eyes wide and now terrified.
“Y-you… killed someone?!” she exclaimed horrified by the revelation.
“N-no! The twin’s told us he ain’t dead! He’s just… out of commission right now!” Applejack explained frantically after realizing her wording mistake. Rarity’s horrified face slackened slightly turning into confusion.
“Twins…? What twins…?” she asked the farmer.
“Welllllllll…” she started scratching the back of her head and reaching for her hat only to realize she had left it back at the arena. “Aw damn it all… Ah left mah hat back there!” She hissed. There was a loud thud behind her and she turned to see a sight she honestly hadn’t expected. Bronze, Fondere, Dancer, and Shadow all stood behind her looking quite battle ridden and slightly charred. In front of them landed the petite form of the shepherd boy Pales. He held out a worn and familiar looking stenson to Applejack.
“Perhaps we can help in explaining Miss Apple…? By the way, you left your hat.” He added handing the hat to her. She placed on her loose blonde hair and all felt right again to her as her shoulders reflexively loosened at the feeling of it on her head.
“Thank ya kindly Pales. Ah don’t know what Ah’d have done if Ah lost it.” She sighed running her hand along the rim of it and tipping it at him. “Rarity, these are the kind folk who helped me and Dash get out of there alive, the two big guys in the back are Fondere ‘il Ferro and Bronze Armor. The two mirrored looking gal’s in front of them are the twins Ah mentioned before their names are Moondancer and Shadow Streak, and this sweet little guy is Pales.” She mused ruffling the slightly shorter boy’s hair playfully. He didn’t stop her but he did shy away a little when he heard snickering behind him. A sharp glare back at his comrades stopped the laughter and he turned to address the girls again. He bowed at his waist to Rarity.
“It’s is a pleasure to meet you.” He stated simply. Rarity smiled at his manners and curtsied a little back.
“As it is you, Pales. I’m Rarity Belle, a classmate of Applejack and as of late her acting warden while she’s away from her grandmother…” she stated with a bite of bitterness thrown at Applejack who winced in response. Bronze chuckled and scooped the farmer up to look at her properly.
“Warden huh kid? You as much of a trouble maker back home as you are here…?” he asked snickering.
“No Ah am not! Ah’m one of the most well behaved gal’s ya’ll will ever know! The trouble maker in our group is-“ she was interrupted by a pink blur barreling into her knocking her out of his hold and flattening her on her back with Pinkie pinning her.
“Hi AJ~! I came over to make sure you were okay and then I saw this super duper cool looking group of people drop in out of no where and I was like ‘who are these guys?!’ but then you started talking to them like they were friends and you know what I say, any friend of my friends is a friend of mine so I just HAD to come over and throw a super duper totally awesome ‘New friend’s’ party but then that big guy picked you up and I got worried that maybe they were actually meanie pants so I rushed over and got you away from them before they could hurt you! Are you alright by the way?” she asked her usual energy making her words speed by Applejack’s ears so fast she could hardly comprehend much other than there was now a Pinkie on top of her.
“Yeah… Ah’m fine. An’ don’t you worry none sugarcube these lot are friendly folk. Like Ah was just tellin’ Rare they’re the ones that helped us get away in the first place.” She explained motioning to the group that now hesitantly waved at them. Pinkie let out a large gasp when she saw turned her head and saw the boy in front of them all her eyes wider than dinner plates. She pointed at him with an accusing finger.
“You’re the-!!!” her mouth was shut thanks to a conjured zipper made of deep blue magic. Riptide smiled as he walked over to them his hand still glowing with the aura.
“Now now Pinkie, it’s not polite to point. Especially when you yourself have so much explaining to do. You WERE being chased pretty heavily yourself weren’t you…?” Riptide asked carefully maneuvering away from the subject. Pinkie blushed a little as she unzipped her mouth and scratched the back of her head.
“Yeah, I guess I kinda do… Come on girls, let’s go talk in the observation room.” Pinkie sighed pushing Rarity and Applejack towards the manhole in the center of the deck. She pushed them in and then pushed the remainder of her friends down in it as well. Angelo took one look at her and didn’t question it just jumped into the hole before she could push him. Pinkie smiled at that. He had come a long way in just a few short hours, it made her wonder what she could with a few days. She leapt into her hole like Alice down the rabbit hole and closed the latch behind her.
Riptide smiled as he watched her go and beside him Pales did as well. “Those girls are quite something to be able to change him like this… and to be able to take down Cas too… then of course that idiot has always managed to get himself in the worst of trouble. How many times have we had to perform this ceremony now…?” he asked the boy.
“If my memory isn’t failing me this is the 17th time.” He responded plainly. “Do you think he will be alright with them…? You know our Lord can be very… impressionable and I fear that your subordinate isn’t the best influence on him…” Pales pointed out to the taller man.
“Oh relax Pally, you know she’s harmless and she only means the best for him. Besides, I know you’ve seen it in them. They’re special.” He chuckled with a sly grin down at the boy who winced at the name.
“How many times must I tell you not to call me by that ridiculous name…?” Pales asked gritting his teeth together and clenching his fists.
“I’ll stop doing it when you stop reacting so cutely to it.” Riptide chuckled reaching down to pinch his cheek teasingly. He released it and walked off laughing motioning for the others to follow. “Come on you guys, they’re going to need our explanation before we can head for the bar.” He mused as he walked towards the hatch again. The others all followed without question, even Pales though he was muttering something about trampling Riptide to death under his breath.
***
Meanwhile in Canterlot in the castle proper:
There was a warp of solid blue energy and a small pop before a thickly built college aged teenager stood in a red and gold military uniform his two toned blue hair hanging partially in his face covering one of his light blue eyes. He stood up straight when the guard captain, Ivory Spear, addressed him.
“Shining Armor… did I interrupt something important?” he asked the younger man.
“Sir no sir! Only a training session for a ceremony my platoon is overseeing sir!” he explained his salute holding. The tall man in front of him with mostly white hair and a single streak of lavender down the middle of his long hair smiled at the young man with soft lavender eyes that matched his streak almost perfectly.
“Shiny, we’re alone you don’t have to use formalities.” He chuckled. Shining let his stance drop as he looked around to see that they were in fact in the captains quarters alone. Shining grinned and hugged the man in front of him laughing. The man was his mother’s only brother and his favorite Uncle, he had taught Shining everything he knew about fighting, duty, and the honor that came with being a member of the guard. The pendant of a magenta colored magic burst on his chest was not only his prized possession but the family crest as well.
“It’s great to see you again Uncle Ivory!” Shining exclaimed as the man playfully ruffled his hair. “But you don’t normally call me out of school unless something big has gone wrong, what’s up?” he asked pulling away a bit. Ivory sighed and slouched slightly showing his age with a weary look out the window.
“You always were a smart one… Just, go look down into the city, you’ll see the problem right away.” He stated gesturing to his window. The Captain of the Guard’s personal home and office was situated right near the front gate of the castle and built into the inner wall of it as well, as such the office was in a pillar like guard tower that could overlook the entirety of the city it protected. So it was very easy to see the love sick population that meandered through the streets a familiar pink aura surrounding them all as they literally went head over heels for the first person they laid eyes on, gender, age, and previous relations be damned.
“Oh for the love of…” he facepalmed and dragged his hand down his face. “What happened this time…?” he groaned.
“Well, from what Samuel has told me there was a petitioner who went in to see her today, she’s filling in for her Aunt while she’s out of the country, and he proposed a bill that would tax people on their love. She grew outraged and threw him from the throne room window. I have reports that say he landed somewhere in the bad lands. After that she marched out of the throne room yelling that she was going to remind the kingdom what it meant to be in love.” He explained shaking his head and sighing. “ this actually reminds me of when you two were thirteen, do you remember how we had to have half the guard hold her down while you and Twilight calmed her down…? Being childhood friends you’re about the only person who’s ever been able to calm her down. And nothing’s changed since you’ve started dating. By the way, have you told Twilight that yet…?” he asked giving the teenager a sideways knowing smirk that made him cringe.
“S-sooooo, all I have to do is go in and calm her down?” he asked quickly avoiding the topic. Ivory chuckled more and nodded.
“Yes, and if you could talk her into fixing the damage she’s done that would save us a lot of work too.” He replied still grinning. “Your shields are the only one’s strong enough that her magic won’t have any effect on you. Everyone else that tried to leave the castle is pretty much instantly swept into the spell’s effect. I’ve already lost three squadrons to it… last I heard they had all turned on each other and dropped their shorts to-“
“That’s enough Uncle Ivory, I get the picture.” Shining interrupted quickly his cheeks reddening at the image. “I’ll go calm her down, and I think I can see where she’s made her throne from up here… she hasn’t changed since the day I met her…” he sighed shaking his head in exasperation. “If I’m not back in an hour, please tell Twilight I loved her.” He stated before hefting himself out the window and leaping from the tower and sliding down a fabric over hang that covered the front entrance onto the ground below before putting up a shield of strong magenta magic and running headlong into the city pushing through the crowd of love infested citizens. Ivory chuckled as he watched his nephew go.
“That boy will never change… even after 14 years of knowing her he still charges head first after her when she’s throwing a tantrum in town square…” he chuckled watching the pink colored bubble that contained his nephew run through the city.
Shining Armor was many things; Strong, smart, incredibly good looking according to many of the love letters he’d gotten from anonymous admirers over the years. But the one thing he was not, was a patient person when it came to the populace of Canterlot. Children he had eternal patience for, his family and close friends too, but if you surround him with thousands of normally stuck up and prissy nobles, upper class, and all around citizens that just think they’re better than everyone else just because of where they live then you get the current Shining Armor that was shoving through bodies without so much as a single apology for any of it. That and he was trying to help all of them and all they did was get in his way while they tried to suck the face off the closest body with a pulse. It was quite disgusting but he wasn’t doing it for them. He was doing it for the tri hair colored girl that was brain washing them all with her emotions alone that sat in a throne made at the top of the great Canterlot Fountain of the Regal Sisters that stood in the very heart of the city.
Her slender form was radiating the power only an Alicorn could draw forth, one that was feared by mortals because of the things it could do just when they had mood swings like this. The first time Cadence had done this was when she was five and she had been moved from the small town she was born in to Canterlot to live in the castle with her Aunt Celestia and her newly returned Aunt Luna. He remembered the day very well.
Shining Armor had been playing with his just born baby sister and was showing her a shield spell he had learned in class that day when the spell washed over the city. His parents started acting weird and even his baby sister didn’t want to let go of him. He had run out of his house looking for where the blast had come from and discovered a crying little girl with the prettiest colored pink and purple wings he’d ever seen sitting on the throne at the top of the fountain in the center of the city not far from where he lived. She was surrounded by the pink aura that had blasted through the town, it was clear she was the source.
“Um… hello…? Are you okay?” he had asked the girl as he slowly walked towards her his magic keeping the shield up around him if only out of fear for what would happen if it fell. The girl’s crying stopped and she glanced over at him her hair obscuring most of her face but he could barely see a light purple eye peeking out at him.
“Go away! I want to be alone!” she shouted at him.
“You don’t sound like it… Papa says people when people cry they need someone more than ever. You look like you really need someone’s help… why are you crying? Did someone hurt you? My Uncle says if someone hit’s a girl it’s okay for boys to beat them up, so I could beat them up if you want!” he explained inching a little closer to her. Her crying had stopped but she didn’t look up from where she was curled up on the throne high above him. The fountain had turned off so he could climb up the steps that were carved into the grand statue. “Or… if you want I could just play with you! I don’t really have anyone to play with. The kids at my school don’t really like me much and I don’t have any cousins my age, and my little sister was just born so there’s no one to really play with me. But I could play with you if you want! I know playing with my Uncle always cheers me up, Oh! We could build a pillow fort!” he exclaimed excitedly as he continued to climb the spiraling set of stairs occasionally tripping on the slippery steps.
“A… blanket fort? What’s that?” her small voice asked from above his head.
“You’ve never made a blanket fort?! Well no wonder you’re so sad! Next thing you’re going to tell me is that you’ve never had ice cream!” he laughed. A silence that followed made him hesitate. “Wait… you have had ice cream right?” he asked hesitantly.
“N-no… my mom always said sugar’s really bad for you so she never let me have any…” she responded her voice sounding embarrassed.
“Well then you and me are going to the ice cream shop right away! And then we’re going to my house to make a blanket fort!” he announced as he reached the top and stood in front of the stone throne. “I’m Shining Armor by the way, what’s your name…?” he asked holding out his hand to her. She slowly un curled herself from the ball she was in and her face came up to look at the small boy that couldn’t have been more than a month older than her if that. At the center of her forehead above a beautiful pair of lavender eyes was a magical crest just like the one on his forehead. A small crystal blue hear could be seen on her upper thigh through the slit in her pink dress.
“P-princess Mi Amore Cadenzea Equestria…” she responded. He looked to her left hand and saw a small golden tiara clutched in it as her hand trembled slightly. He didn’t miss a beat and lowered the shield around himself and smiled as he calmly took the crown from her and put it in a pocket on the side of his tan shorts.
“That’s a grown up’s name, and too much of a hassle to keep calling you Princess all the time. I’ll just call you Cadence instead!” he said with a wide grin that seemed infectious. It was. A smile found it’s way onto her face as her body’s pink glow began to recede.
“You don’t think it’ll be weird playing with a princess…?” she asked the boy.
“Why would it be…?” he asked looking at her curiously. “You’re still a kid just like me! And kid’s need to play with other kids! Having wings AND magic doesn’t change that!” he laughed before holding out a hand to her. “But if you really want to be a princess then I’ll just have to be a knight right? You’re knight in Shining Armor? Get it? Because that’s my name?” he grinned. The newly named Cadence had to hold back a fit of giggles at the silly pun. Shining caught it and grinned even more. “Ha! I made you laugh and you stopped crying now too! Guess that means we get to go for ice cream now to celebrate!” he cheered before jumping down into the fountain and making a big splash in the water. “Come on! Jump down with me!” he called up to her.
“But my dress will get wet!” she whined back eyeing the water like it was a pit of acid.
“So?! Normal Kid Rule #1, we don’t CARE if we ruin our clothes! That’s what washers and dryers are for!” he called back up to her. She bit her lip and her purple tipped pink wings fluttered nervously before she stepped back a little and leapt off the ledge she landed in a splash effectively soaking Shining Armor and when she came back up she took in a big gasp of air as both of their hair was now slicked wet and covering their eyes. They parted it so they could see each other and then burst out laughing at the sight of one another. There was a small glow of light under the water on Shining’s arm but neither of them had noticed the appearance of the purple shield with the familiar pink magic burst in its center, they were having far too much fun together for that.
Shining came to a stop in the town square to see the familiar figure of the very same girl he had met those 14 years ago glowing with the same pink energy as she watched the citizens around her go crazed with her emotional influence. Her glowing eyes darted to him as he came into view panting from his run through the city.
“Shining…?” she asked her voice double toning slightly from her power that dulled slightly upon seeing him. “What are you doing in Canterlot?! You’re supposed to be at school all the way in Buckingham…!!!” she exclaimed standing up and staring down at him in shock. He ran over creating a set of stairs from the same magic he used for his shields so that he could climb up to the fountain.
“Yeah well, funny story. I was in the middle of drilling my team for an upcoming ceremony we’re performing at and suddenly I get called into the Principals office! Then I get teleported back home after a less than satisfactory explanation from a frantic guard that had come from Canterlot, then I get here and find that this crazy Princess had shrouded the entire city in some kind of love sickness that has a platoon of my Uncle’s finest men playing hanky panky in some random building just outside the castle walls. Along with the entire city populace of an appropriate age I’m sure. So I rushed out here like the knight I am to quell the Princess just like I always do.” He explained as he reached the top of the fountain where she stood. The aura had receded and her eyes were turning back to normal.
“Shining I- I don’t know what came over me… No… that’s… that’s not an excuse. I DO know what came over me but I shouldn’t have let it escalate this far… I was just so… FRUSTRATED! That fat bastard actually wanted me to TAX love Shining! Like it wasn’t a right people should just have! It made my blood boil…” she growled her wings itching in agitation feathers spread to show her irritation. He smiled and reached over gently stroking the appendages until he saw her visibly unravel beneath his touch.
“I know dear… Uncle told me everything. Nice throw this time by the way, they said he landed in the badlands.” He chuckled as he pulled her into a hug and started stroking her hair as well. Cadence sighed and let her head rest on his chest inhaling his scent and letting it calm her as she closed her eyes and let the spell dissolve with her emotions. Around the city the citizens slowly came out of their stupor and found themselves in very awkward situations. More especially the squad that was quite busy in the back of a little warehouse just near the castle entrance.
“Really? Damn. I was trying to see if I could make it all the way to Aunty’s island so she could teach the bastard a lesson.” She giggled with a slightly mischievous smile. Shining laughed as well and kissed her forehead gently.
“Well I’m sure your Aunt wouldn’t have appreciated having her vacation interrupted anyways. Now, what do you say we get down from here and go over to Malty’s shop to get ice cream before we have to arrange a press conference to apologize to the citizens… again.” He added with an amused smile when pink tinted her cheeks.
“Can we… build a blanket fort again too…?” she asked looking up at him hopefully as they climbed down the steps he created.
“After the press conference.” He responded simply.
“Awwww, but Shiny…!” she whined tugging on his uniform in protest.
“Nope, not gonna happen. If we don’t wait until after you’ll just hole yourself in there like Twilight did with that book fort when Celestia gave her her first exam and she was too nervous to take it.” He responded ignoring her tugs.
Cadence giggled at that. “I remember that. It took us six hours to convince her that Aunty WASN’T going to send her to the moon if she failed.” She laughed. “Those moon rumors get more and more ridiculous every time I hear them. But Aunty always takes them with her usual sense of humor.”
“Meaning she teleports them to the moon room to freak them out…?” he asked.
“Eeeeeeexactly.” Cadence giggled.
He rolled his eyes. “Your family has a twisted sense of humor you know that…?” he asked.
“Oh like you don’t?” she asked as they walked along the main boulevard to their favorite ice cream shop that they’d been going to since that first day they met.
“Oh come on! You play ONE prank on your senior class during graduation and no one ever lets you live it down!” he complained throwing his hands in the air for emphasis.
“You unleashed a magical sneeze that put everyone in the stadium in their underwear!” she countered with a cocked eyebrow. He smirked a little at that.
“Still mad you chose that day not to wear any…?” he asked with a sneaky grin.
“THE DRESS I WAS WEARING CALLED FOR IT!!!” She protested smacking the back of his head as she did so.
“Riiiiiiiiight, it totally wasn’t because you were planning on jumping me after the ceremony to-“
“Shining Norbert Armor Sparkle I swear on the Creator’s name that if you finish that sentence I will end you here and now.” Cadence stated simply using her Aunt’s lessons of keeping a poker face to not show her emotions. His jaw clenched shut teeth rattling together as it did so. She grinned like a cat as she ran a finger under his chin. “Such a smart man you’ve grown into. Now get the door.” She ordered simply as they came to the small shop.
“Y-yes Princess…” he stuttered as he quickly held open the door for her. When his full name was used is was best to straighten up and do as she said, otherwise you ended up waking in a hospital the next day after having surgery to save your man hood from dropping off dead after one of her infamous Alicorn kicks, a combination of Earth bound strength, and both Unicorn and Pegasus magic powering the shock that went through your body once it made contact. He still remembered that little lesson quite well.
***
Applejack and Rainbow Dash had already told their side of the story and Pinkie and Twilight just finished telling theirs as well. The group was now staring at the winged boy in shock.
“So… let me see if I’ve got this right…” Rainbow started holding up her hand to pause the conversation where it was. She pointed at the boy siting in between Pinkie and Twilight. “This kid with the mop of white hair that looks like it could really use a trim is the Pope’s grandson…?” she asked.
“Yuppers~!” Pinkie replied grinning.
“An’ ya’ll took ‘im outta his chapel ta show him how ta have fun…?” Applejack prompted further.
“That’s the gist of it, yes.” Twilight responded simply.
“And because of that we now have the military and the entire Italian police force chasing after us with the attachment of ‘Dead or Alive’ added to our wanted status…?” Rarity inquired her face paler than usual.
“Seems that way.” Angelo hummed staring at the group of adults at the other end of the table they sat at. He had been quiet through most of it only adding in a few details here and there.
“Well… that’s just fucking fantabulous!” Rainbow hissed throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. Fluttershy gasped.
“Rainbow Dash! Language!” she scolded.
“Sorry Flutters but it’s appropriate for the situation! Look, if we didn’t need to get to that Volcano and fast I’d totally be all for going straight to the princesses to get this sorted out but for now me and Applejack NEED to get there to clear our names! You all can go once you drop us off if you want.”
“Not a chance in hell.” The other four responded at once. Rainbow’s jaw dropped in shock when she realized Fluttershy had said it too. Fluttershy to this day had only cursed once; and she was in too much pain to be any kind of rational so it was excused.
“Flutters you-“
“Don’t start Dashie. I went through a cursed temple yesterday and I was perfectly fine. I think I can handle a little volcano.” She stated firmly tucking her pink strands behind her ear and looking Dash full in the eye.
“And you know full well I’ll not be leaving you to charge head long into a boiling pit of lava by yourself Applejack. You’d never come back and then I’d be stuck with explaining to Granny Smith why I let you do something so stupid.” Rarity explained to the blonde farmer who was staring at her green eyes wide as dinner plates. ‘That and I’d probably slit my wrists if I let her go and she never came back…’ she added mentally.
“And you both KNOW me and Twiley would never abandon you guys like that! What kind of friends would we be?!” Pinkie asked pouting her lip slightly. Twilight nodded in confirmation. Angelo smiled at the sight of all of them. Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged a look and then couldn’t help but smile.
“Alright then… not like we can stop ya’ll when you’re like this anyhow.” Applejack chuckled.
“Yeah, and I couldn’t ask for better adventure groupies anyhow!” Rainbow added rubbing her nose and scratching the back of her head as she grinned. She looked up when she heard a chair push away from the table and saw Angelo standing with a smile on his face.
“Then I will be joining your excursion as well.” He stated simply. There was a clatter of chairs as the adults all stood up instantly, but Pales was the first to speak.
“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen Sir. You know full well we couldn’t let you go on such an excursion into such a-“
“Pales. How many years have you known me…?” Angelo interrupted the other boy before he could finish.
The light haired boy blinked in surprise his deep blue eyes confused. “For many years, since you were first brought to the chapel and placed under our watch, but what does-“ again Angelo interrupted.
“And of all the time you’ve known me have you ever seen me ASK for something…?” he asked his sharp golden eyes meeting his deep blue eyes to emphasize his point.
“No… no sir you have not. But sir you must understand that your grandfather would not approve if-“
“Pales, if I cared at all what grandfather says I would still be in that room and Miss Pie would have been arrested within seconds of her attempting to kidnap me. I went WILLINGLY. I followed her WILLINGLY. And now she is WILLINGLY putting her neck on the line to help her friends. Is it not fair to ask, that I be allowed to do the same?” he asked folding his hands in front of him as he sat back down in his chair. Pales bit his lip and clenched his fist tensing his body as he fought an internal battle. Angelo sighed and stood up walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not asking you this as Angelo Adalricus Cælestis Rogatus Ratzinger, I’m asking you as Angelo, your friend.” He urged smiling at him slightly. “Please, let me do this.”
Pales groaned and slammed his head into the table. “Fine! Dive into the volcano for all I care! In fact let’s ALL go lava diving!” he exclaimed throwing his hands up in defeat. Angelo smiled patting his shoulder gently and then he noticed the girls staring at him and another thought occurred to him. He leaned up a little to whisper in Pales ear and seconds later the mint haired boy shot up his blue eyes wide in distress. “NON ASSOLUTAMENTE mio Signore, io lo proibisco!!” He shouted at the smaller boy. (Absolutely not my lord, I forbid it)
Angelo hissed through his teeth speaking in Italian now as well. “Keep down your voice you fool, the Rainbow haired one knows our language just as much as we do.” He growled through his teeth.
“Angelo, I can’t let you do that, risking yourself is one thing but this is a secret that’s bigger than just you! What makes them so special that you’d want to divulge such information…?!” Pales hissed in response his blue eyes narrowing at the six girls who were now staring curiously at them as they huddled close together and whispered to one another.
“They are Her messengers just as I am…” he responded simply. Pales froze his eyes looking over at the girls.
“You are sure…?” Pales asked his blue eyes scanning them while he addressed the boy beside him.
“Have I ever been wrong about these kinds of things?” Angelo countered motioning towards his upper thigh for emphasis.
“No… no you haven’t… but I don’t really think that’s enough to-“
“The mage, Twilight Sparkle is the Sun’s personal student and grew up in the castle. Her friends are also very close with the sisters. They are accustom to such things already.” He explained with a small smile when he saw the shocked look cross the older boy’s face.
“Are they aware of their positions…?” Pales asked quickly. Angelo shook his head and then Pales thought carefully for a minute before he gave in and sighed turning to the twins at either side of him.
“Put up a silencing barrier around this room and bolt the doors. I want no chance of anything that’s about to be said to be heard by anyone who isn’t supposed to hear it.” He ordered. The twins both combined their magic shrouding the room for a second before it vanished from sight and the door became bolted shut. The six girls looked very confused now and slightly panicked as the actions took place. Rainbow Dash, who had been changed out of her armor along with Applejack, quickly flew up now feeling trapped inside of the room.
“Pales! What’s going on?!” she asked her voice cracking a little in her panic.
“Please, relax Miss Dash, you’re not being trapped. This is simply a necessary precaution. For reasons I’m unable to say my Lord has chosen to share one of our government’s biggest secrets with you six and because of that it is imperative that the necessary precautions be taken.” He explained. Rainbow landed back on the metal floor now thoroughly confused by the situation. Pinkie and Twilight were especially confused.
“Gelo…? What’s wrong?” Pinkie asked worried for her newest friend who now looked very nervous with all eyes on him.
“You look like you’re going to be sick!” Twilight noted walking over and placing a hand on his arm to feel his temperature since he didn’t like having his forehead touched. “And you’re starting to feel clammy too! Are you getting sick?” she asked the boy.
“No… it’s just… Twilight, Pinkie… and you four as well. You have to understand something about me before I show you what I need to.” He urged looking at all of the girls who now gave him their full attention. “I-I never wanted this… I never wanted any of this. I don’t like being different and treated like I’m someone special. I just wanted to be like everyone else. And until today I never knew just how badly I wanted that, or just how different I actually was from everyone else! My grandfather has always said it… and I didn’t want to believe it but… I AM different. Not just because I have no idea how to dress myself either…” he explained rubbing his arm nervously. Pinkie smiled bouncing over to him.
“You’re not weird Gelo! You’re just you! Just because you’re way sheltered doesn’t make you a freak!” she exclaimed patting him on the head. He shied away a little and that made her pause and her smile faded into worry. “Gelo…?”
“I’m sorry Pinkie… I just… you have to understand this is difficult for me to say. Hehe… even after psyching myself up for this I’m still hesitating. Okay…” he took in a deep breath and his golden eyes closed before opening back up determined. “You… all of you. You would say you’re familiar with the Princesses of your nation yes…? So much so that they willingly brought you here with them?” he asked the girls.
“Well, yeah. Luna’s super cool to hang with and Celestia is hilarious with pranks and the like! Sometimes it’s like they’re not even royalty.” Rainbow explained.
“Mah family’s been close ta them for decades, Celestia was more like an Aunt ta me when Ah was little.” Applejack nodded setting her hat on the table in front of her.
“And they both are wonderful conservationists over tea. They’re very friendly towards most anyone and very easy to get along with once you sit down with them and talk for a bit. They’re also wonderful sources for the finest castle gossip.” Rarity mused with a small wink Fluttershy nodding in agreement. Twilight smiled seeming to stare at the air with fond admiration.
“The Princess… Celestia I mean. She’s like a second mother to me. She’s taught me so much in my time with her, and Luna… she’s very shy and when you first meet her you’d think she’s cold and distant. But she’s actually really talkative under that, and if you get her under a night sky she’ll open up like a well-read book. And that’s a very poetic book let me tell you…” she mused with a small giggle. “And the third Princess, you know her as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but to me she’s just Cadence. She was just as much a part of my childhood as Celestia and Luna. She’s a childhood friend of my older brother and she babysat me and Spike from very early on. She’s just like a big sister to me.” She explained to the boy her smile never fading and a small glow filling her eyes when she spoke of the Alicorn’s.
Angelo smiled and closed his eyes. “So you’d all say you’re very close with the Alicorns…?” the question was rhetorical since he continued speaking before they could answer. “Good, that makes this much easier to ask then. Twilight, you’re the expert. Tell me what you know about Alicorns.” He prompted.
“Well… Not much was known until almost twenty years ago when Cadence was born… but studying her genetics opened up new windows for scientists to look through. New discoveries popped up every day. Like that the Alicorn gene was present in humans for millennia. But it’s highly recessive and on top of that it’s linked specifically to females. That was the part I found most fascinating. I actually wrote a paper in fifth grade about the similarities between Alicorns and Calico cats.” She giggled with a fond smile at the memory.
He perked up at that factoid. “And those were the two biggest discoveries right…? And since then there’s been no recorded births of Alicorns…?” he asked.
“Of course not. If there had been the Princesses would have known about it and the child would have been brought to be raised in the castle just like Cadence was.” She responded quickly. She looked confused for a second. “Why are you so curious about the Alicorns Angelo…?” she asked the younger boy.
His smile only grew. “The records are wrong.” He stated simply. Before she could open her mouth to ask what he meant a spark in her eye lit up as he continued. “Thirteen years ago there was one child, a child who was born to a dying woman. The woman in her dying breath gave the order to the boy who over saw her birth and who held the child in his arms to take the child to the Pope and that he would know how to take care of the child. The child was special you see, it was like your rulers, an Alicorn. Gifted with the magic of a Unicorn and the flight of a Pegasus, along with the strong body of an Earthbound. The woman died there that night but the boy who had heard her last wish obeyed.
“He made his way to St. Peter’s and quickly requested an audience with the Pope saying it was a grave matter of holy importance. They granted his request and he was quickly seen to the Pope’s bed chambers where he had been getting ready for bed. When shown the child the Pope became frantic questioning the boy for everything he knew about the origins of the child. But he knew little to nothing. He had come across the woman when she was already in labor in a back alleyway and helped her through the birth as he knew through his work as a shepherd’s boy. He had come fulfilling her dying request. That the pope take the child in and raise him keeping him safe from those who would seek to take him from his home. The infant boy, with hair as white as snow and wings to match opened his eyes for the first time. And when he did he gazed upon the pope, when their eyes met the infant had a magical surge that nearly made the entire chapel come down around them. When it ended the boy who had brought him to the pope was changed, in years to come they would find he did not age. He stayed in the body of a 14 year old child, and he had gained a whole new set of skills much like an Alicorn; the strength and healthy body of of an earth bound, the swiftness and dexterity of a Pegasus and even a little bit of magic from the Unicorns. The infant itself who was still glowing with magic as golden as the sun itself now had a mark on his upper thigh. A mark known to the pope himself as the mark of the Messenger, a single feather inlaid over the Creator’s crest.
“To him this was the final sign. He took the child and asked the boy one more question, ‘What did she name him…?’”
“Angelo Adalricus Cælestis Rogatus… The pope saw it fit to add his own last name onto it to make the adoption go smoother with the public. After that Angelo was raised in secrecy to make sure his mother’s wish be fulfilled. Rome is his true home and she didn’t want him to be forcefully taken from it. And being an Alicorn, and a Male at that, would have ensured that he would have never lived a peaceful life. So now he has to hide who he is so that he can live a normal life. But I’m beginning to see now that what he had… is very far from a normal life.” Pales explained looking a little bit guilty as he spoke. “For that I apologize my Lord.” He stated kneeling a little to the boy.
“Pales if you do not get off your knee right now I’m going to use that nickname that Bronze so creatively came up with.” He threatened. The older boy quickly rose to his feet. He smiled and then turned to the girls once more. “You’ll have to forgive him. He’s got this sense of duty in him that could make your royal guard envious. My grandfather wanted him trained after he insisted on staying with me. So they trained him as a military operative. During his training he met Bronze and Fondere and brought them back with him. Shortly after that they met Moon and Shadow too. Riptide too. They sort of formed a team after that, sometimes going out of the country on missions. Pales would always come back and tell me all about it. He was like my Cadence if that makes any sense.” He explained facing Twilight with a small smile. But the purple haired magic user was long gone. Her mind lost in the depths of everything she had just been told. But Pinkie, always the eccentric one bounced right up to him crushing him in a death hug that would have put a bear to shame.
“That’s Super Duper totally awesome Gelo!!! I knew you were special because my Pinkie sense said so but I never would have guessed you were the same kind of special as the Princesses!” she let out a large gasp of realization. “That totally means you’re a Prince! Ohmaigosh I totally have to through you a Prince Party now!!!” she exclaimed pulling her prototype party canon from her bag. “IT’S PARTY TIME PEOPLE!!!!” She exclaimed grabbing onto the string. Before she could pull it she was tackled by Rainbow Dash to the ground and the canon was wheeled away by Applejack.
“Pinkie, the last time you fired that canon it broke through a wall. We’re in a room made of mostly glass and about two hundred feet under the ocean. You’re good at science, you tell me what will happen if you so much as crack that glass.” She hissed at the girl. Pinkie’s eyes darted to the glass wall and gave Dash a nervous grin when she realized what she had almost done.
“Whoopsies… guess I could save the party until I get the bugs out of my canon… or we’re somewhere where it’s okay to do a little damage.” She reasoned. Rainbow gave her a firm glare before she let her up and then turned to the white haired boy.
“So, Alicorn huh…? Let’s see it then, your crest.” Dash stated poking the boy lightly in the chest as she hovered a few inches off the ground.
“My crest…? Oh! Yeah, easy. Now I can finally part my hair back to normal.” He muttered as he divided his hair so that the right side of his medium length white hair was tucked behind his ear and the left side remained mostly covering his eye, but it was now pretty easily seen that there was an archaically styled crest inlaid on his forehead more complicatedly weaved than a simple Unicorn’s. Something any magic user would be able to see plain as day if they ever saw it. It was not a wonder why he chose to reveal his wings instead, they may have been larger than normal for a pegasus but that could have been genetics. But the pattern of the crest symbolized just how powerful the bearer’s magic was. Twilight’s for example was almost just as intricate as an Alicorn’s and it had brought up many questions to many of the head scholars at the top schools in the country. And of course the press had spread rumors about her secretly being an Alicorn and Celestia’s love child. She scoffed at that particular implication. They had dispelled that little rumor with pictures and one rather loud video of her birth that her father had taken before her mother had blown up the camera in his face.
“You… HOW…? I’ve read thousands of papers on the subject and even studied samples I snuck from Cadence! The Alicorn gene is only supposed to be active in females!” Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.
Angel smiled and simply and pulled a hair from his head before it became surrounded in a golden aura channeled through his finger tips that held it in place. The golden aura projected up from the strand forming a screen that showed what everyone recognized as a DNA strand. It broke down into a bunch of letters that made no sense until it came down to a narrowed point that they all recognized from their biology classes. “My personal genetics. I’m sure you can see it as well as we all did. I have an extra X chromosome in my gender slot. Now normally this causes an odd mutation in the infant, like growing extra limbs or in the worst case scenario it can cause tumors that usually kill the infant before it can properly form. But in my case…” he stated pressing on the extra X that was tagged onto the end of it. A glowing golden strand came onto the screen and seemed to radiate power.
“The Alicorn gene…” Twilight breathed pressing her fingers to the screen in disbelief. “This is amazing… but. Wait. The extra X… the only way male calico’s can exist… in almost every case the calico’s were-“
“Sterile, yes you’re correct. And if I was a cat I can assure you I would be. But I’m not a cat. I’m an Alicorn. And thanks to my body being as blessed as an Earthbound I also get their famed health and fertility. Believe me, Grandfather invested in the very best doctors to test me. I’m as healthy and my growth rates are all completely normal for a thirteen year old boy. Whether or not my aging will slow when I get older is still a mystery though.” He explained. Twilight blinked in surprise and went into her usual thinker’s position with her hand rubbing her chin as she paced the room back and forth. Fluttershy was just as curious but not quite as frantic as Twilight.
“This is quite interesting Angelo… excuse me for asking but, well… you see my special talent is very involved with animals so I’m a bit of a biology fanatic myself. You say your growth rates are all on par with a normal boy’s rates…? But um, Cadence always showed above average developments for normal girls. So, shouldn’t yours be too…?” she asked the boy. He smiled at her and nodded.
“You’re right about that Fluttershy, Cadence DID show above average growth, always being a little taller and more advanced in things like magic and flying than her classmates. But she’s also female. And you know as well as I do that females mature differently than males. Girls tend to start maturing early and do so at a steady pace from then into their late teens or very early twenties. Males however usually begin maturing in small amounts at first but then it escalates quickly once they enter their mid to late teens. Right now I’ve just started the beginning stages of my growth. I’ve actually grown three inches in the last four months and I’m starting to outgrow my shoes quite rapidly. If the pattern stays I won’t begin to show any big growth cycles until I’m at least sixteen.” He explained doing the math on the screen he projected with his magic showing her the equations.
“Fascinating…” Twilight and Fluttershy muttered at the same time. Behind them the other four girls were staring at them with blank stares.
“Okay… I think we’ve lost them. AJ, you’re smart. You got any idea what they’re saying…?” Rainbow asked the farmer.
“Nah, maybe if they were talking about Shakespeare or some big Equestrian war. Ah’m good with that kind of stuff. Pinkie?” she asked the science loving girl.
“Nope, only every other word or so. I’m a physics nut remember…?” she explained with a shrug.
Rarity rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “They’re saying that because he’s a boy he isn’t going to begin to get super powerful like the Princesses until he’s older.” She translated for them. They stared at the fashion lover curiously.
“Unlike YOU Rainbow Dash I actually listen when Fluttershy talks about her hobby.” Rarity explained with a roll of her eyes. “And as such I’m above average in my knowledge of Biology.” Rainbow Dash was red in the face as she jabbed a finger at Rarity and was about to let loose on her when she was swept away by Fluttershy gently pulling on her arm to bring her over to where they were talking.
“Rainbow Dash listen to this, he says his wings have shed their down and grown into fully mature feathers in less than a month!” she exclaimed. Rainbow blinked in surprise at that and she stared at the white haired boy that was only an inch or two shorter than her.
“Seriously…? It took ME three months and I do everything faster than normal!” Dash exclaimed her jaw hanging slightly.
“Except ya know, actually growin’ a bit…” Applejack whispered to Pinkie who snorted and had to quickly cover her mouth so she wouldn’t burst out into a fit of laughter after the comment. Dash quirked an eyebrow back at them but shrugged it off as Pinkie just being Pinkie.
He chuckled and smiled at her. “I have my medical records to prove it. Though the way the feathers dropped off me so fast my Grandfather almost had a heart attack right on the spot when he came in and saw my wings completely bare except for very few under down feathers…! I don’t think I’ve EVER seen him run so fast to get the doctors!” he laughed. “Thankfully they grew back pretty fast too. This is actually the first time in a few months I’ve been allowed to fly. I had to wait for the feathers to set first.” He explained to the non-fliers in the group.
“Ugh… I hated that. Seriously I thought I was going to DIE from boredom. My talent is focused on flying and I lived in Cloudsdale. You know what it’s like having a special talent for flight and being flightless in a city where flying is the main form of transportation…? Hell.” She responded before he could guess. “No offense Flutters.” She added quickly.
“None taken…” the quiet girl breathed playing with her own wings a little as they spoke.
Angelo stared at the girl in disbelief. “You can’t fly…?” he asked curiously.
“Oh, um… no I can… just not very well. And for most of my childhood I could only hover…” she explained toying with her hands and the skirt of her dress. Rainbow grinned and hooked Fluttershy’s neck in her arm and brought her into a half hug.
“But now she’s bouncing back and flying better than ever! Right Flutters?” Dash chided her proud grin making the timid girl blush even more than she had been. The proximity wasn’t helping either.
“U-um… yes… but uh… Rainbow could you please let me go…? You’re crushing me.” She choked through the hold.
“Oh! Sorry ‘Shy. I forget I’m shorter than you sometimes.” Rainbow apologized as she released the girl from her chokehold. “You okay…?” she asked in a much softer tone laced with concern as she tried to hide it from the watching boy. Fluttershy smiled at her and nodded in response her face still a light shade of pink that matched her hair. Angelo leaned over to Pinkie who was just taking a drink of a soda and whispered in her ear, without his knowledge the two pegisai could still hear him just fine.
“Pinkie… are those two… oh how do you Equestrians put it, playing the bouncy bed game…?” Pinkie promptly spat her soda out both through her nose and mouth all over her two friends soaking them in it. Rainbow Dash groaned and glared at the girl.
“Piiiiiiiiiinkiiiiiiiie!!!!!!” she roared towering over the girl intimidatingly.
“It wasn’t my fault Dashie!!! Gelo asked a really shocking question!!!!” she complained trying to stop the burning in her nasal passages by cupping her hand over it and rubbing it as she tried to expel the trapped carbonation. The chilling glare was shifted to the boy had shrunk back and hidden himself under the table his white wings sticking out from under the table cloth. She was about to march over and rip him out of the hiding hole to give him a piece of her mind when she felt a tug on her soaked shirt and she turned to see Fluttershy looking at her gently shaking her head.
“Don’t Dashie. He didn’t mean it anyhow. Let’s just go get cleaned up.” She urged. Dash bit her lip before she could snap at her and then grit her teeth casting glances at the cowering boy before she let out a sigh and sharply turned to the steps that lead up to the upper levels of the ship where the suites were and the bathrooms as well. When she was sure Fluttershy couldn’t see her face she let the crimson blush cover it as his words rang in her ears.
‘That twerp…! I can’t believe he thought that we-! It’s FLUTTERSHY for Faust’s sake!!! And we’re freaking fourteen years old!!! Who DOES that at our age?!’ she shouted internally. ‘Okay, besides like most of our old middle school… but they’re just… weird. And totally not as cool as me and Flutters. That stuff is nasty anyways.’ She concluded with a huff. ‘Although if it was with Fluttershy I’m sure I’d be more than happy to-‘ “SHUT THE FUCK UP SCUMBAG BRAIN!!!” She roared out loud not realizing that Fluttershy was right behind her until she heard a ‘Meep!’ and then something rustle in the hallway. She turned around and groaned as she facepalmed when she saw Fluttershy peeking out from behind a fern. “Sorry ‘Shy… my head’s just a little jumbled right now. I just need to get out of these clothes-“ ‘I’d like to get HER out of those clothes’ “And shower a bit-“ ‘Preferably a hot one with her’ “And then I’ll be chill again.” ‘After I spend a little time playing the bouncy bed game with that fine piece of-‘ Rainbow Dash slammed her head into the nearest wall shattering the concrete and plaster and bursting her head through to the guest room inside it.
“D-Dash?! Are you okay?!” she asked rushing over to her friend who looked like a startled ostrich who had chosen to stick its head in a concrete wall instead of the sandy ground.
“Yup, totally fine Flutters…! Just uh… saw a spider. Got a bit carried away. I’ll uh, just get myself out of this. You go ahead and clean up in the next room over.” Dash explained quickly and nervously. Fluttershy hesitated wanting to make sure her friend was okay, but if she was still talking after that she was probably alright… and the soda was starting to get sticky.
“Alright… just call if you need me okay…?” she offered to her friend. She got a thumbs-up in response as Rainbow started to try and pull her head of the wall. When Dash heard the door down the hall open and then click shut she quickly pulled her head out of the hole shaking the plaster from her hair and then slouching against the wall staring at her hands horrified with herself.
“What. The. Fuck.”
Meanwhile in Fluttershy’s room she had pulled out her phone and was typing something into the search bar. “Bouncy, bed, game… and search… Oh… my…” she stated as her face heated up and she promptly fainted on the floor.
***
An hour later the group was arriving on the island of Pompeii and just stepping off the dock with Angelo’s team walking behind him and his own form being hidden under a white cloak. Fluttershy and Applejack had mounted the horses and were riding them as they trotted into the city. They must have been quite the sight. Six girls, each with an oddity about them ranging from animal ears to skin that shone like the prettiest of diamonds, two of them riding pure white horses, two grown men that looked like that ATE horses for breakfast, a pair of identical women with the only difference between them being their hair color, and two boys cloaked with white and black cloaks of their own hiding their identities. Oh, and let’s not forget the weapons attached to the girl with prismatic hair and a set of cyan wings, wolf ears, and a wolf’s tail to match.
All heads were on them as they marched right into the city and straight towards the towering volcano that it surrounded passing many beautiful almond trees that were blossoming. Twilight was hovering down the broad sidewalk scribbling down notes while her fairy like wings shimmered lightly in the afternoon sun.
“Hey, kid. You know I’ve had a question itching at the back of my head since I found out about your… condition.” Rainbow started landing back on the earth and walking beside the white cloaked boy who was keeping the hood pulled almost all the way over his head.
“Yes…?” he prompted further.
“Well, we’re going to a volcano… to restore a guy that we vaporized with a lightning bolt that would have made Faust’s hair frizz. And we’re supposed to be doing that by throwing THIS,” she tapped the hilt of the golden sword strapped across her back. “Into a lava pit at the heart of said volcano. I’d like to know about this weird as fuck ceremony we’re going through with here. Just who is this Cas guy anyways…?” she asked the boy. He however merely laughed at her.
“Well… you see Cas has quite the interesting back story to him. Moon, Shadow, would you mind linking us all up so I can talk without being overheard…?” he asked the pair of identical faces behind him. The two women’s eyes glowed and then the crest on their foreheads swirled with magic as a mental chat room was opened between the group. ‘Everyone hearing me fine…?’ he asked through the connection. There was a wave of acknowledgement sent his direction and he took it as his sign to continue speaking. ‘Good, well the first thing you should know about Cas is that he isn’t exactly ALIVE per say.’ He stated gaging their shocked reactions. ‘Yes, I know. That isn’t even the best part either. Cas’s true form is actually being carried by Rainbow right now. He’s in the sword.’ He explained further.
‘Oh gross! I’m giving that sicko a piggy back ride all the way through this place?!’ Rainbow protested.
‘If it’s any consolation you get to throw me into a pit of lava.’ Cas’s voice interjected. Rainbow squeaked in shock and flew up in the air out of reflex looking around for the source of the voice. ‘Well, that was quite the interesting noise signora.’ He snickered.
‘Ah, I see being on the island has already brought back some of your strength Cas.’ Bronze commented off handedly.
‘That it has. And I see that you didn’t end up swimming with the fishes when you fought the local government this time. You don’t know how much I wished for Rainbow here to just leave me with you guys so I could have watched those slugs our city calls policemen get pummeled by farm animals.’
‘Dude, do you WANT us to save you or are you content with staying as a sharp piece of metal for all eternity…?’ Dash growled at him.
‘That depends, are you content with being charged as a murderer under Italian law…?’ he countered. She swore she could hear him sneer.
‘May the Lord continue his story or are you all going to bicker like children on a playground all day…?’ Pales asked his tone flat and losing its patience. Silence followed after his interjection.
‘Thank you Pales, as I was saying before Cas first came to us when a team of archeologists uncovered a sight in the catacombs of Old Pompeii, towards the base of the volcano. They had uncovered the cave and all they found in it was that sword. It had been the only thing that wasn’t encased in the volcanic remains. It was unscathed, not scratched or scuffed, and unmarked by the hands of time. It was a magical mystery so naturally they brought it to our country’s greatest mage, my grandfather. At the time I will remind you I was little more than a year old. Well long story short my Grandfather accidently left the sword on the ground with me in the room and of course I got curious so I went over and touched it. But when I did I actually ended up cutting my hand on it.’ He stated showing his palm to them to reveal a neatly healed white line across the center of his right palm.
‘When my blood touched the sword it started to glow and shake violently. Grandfather grabbed me and shielded me as the magical shockwave shook the entire city. Most passed it off as an earthquake but any magical user would have been able to sense the power that was released in the air that day. When the tremors stopped and the golden light had faded Cas was laying on the floor with the golden armor on and the sword gripped firmly in his hand. When he came to he spoke in a dialect that my grandfather identified as ancient Latin. As it turns out Cas was once a proud member of the Roman forces that had invaded the land over six thousand years ago. He was one of their best generals but his mind was… corrupted. By what he still doesn’t know but whatever it was sealed him away inside that sword and through him into the volcano. The sword became his body and didn’t resurface from the volcano until it erupted during the great tragedy of Pompeii. There it laid in the ruins until the team found him and my blood restored him. Turns out an Alicorn’s blood is a pretty potent curse breaker. You can understand his confusion when he woke up six thousand years in the future where the only people who would understand him were thousands of miles away sitting on Equestria’s thrones. When he was brought up to speed and taught the language we learned that he adjusted quickly, and that being sealed away for so long had mellowed him to the point of only being mildly aggravating.’
‘Ah probably would have seriously murdered ya before if THIS is the way ya act after bein’ put in time out fer so long.' Applejack stated as she trotted through the town on the horse’s back.
‘Well it isn’t like they trained us to be very NICE warriors in the ROMAN army Applejack.’ Cas shot back.
‘My point is proven.’ Angelo stated simply.
‘Angellllllllo…! You’re supposed to be on MY side not theirs! You know I’m not THAT bad anymore…!’ Cas complained.
‘I think a couple hundred more years would have sapped the annoying right out of him… perhaps we should leave him like this for a bit…’ Moon offered. There was a few nods of agreement around the others and Cas started to panic.
‘Dancer?! Oh come on you’re not still mad about that night in Paris are you…?’
In response Moondancer grabbed the sword off of Dash’s back and slammed it into the nearest metal telephone pole using its flat side so it would send vibrations through the sword instead of just slicing through the metal. When Cas spoke again he sounded queasy.
‘I see that killer back swing you have hasn’t dulled…’ he commented as he was handed back to Rainbow while Moon walked ahead of the group nose raised in the air.
‘Dude, what the hell did you to her in Paris…?’ Rainbow asked. ‘No, wait, I retract that question. I’ve already had one too many scarring implications today.’ She added with a quick glare sent at Angelo. The boy stiffened like a board. He couldn’t see her but he could feel her glare as they walked.
‘Smart choice, I’m her twin and I don’t want to know what happened in Paris.’ Shadow put in with a small shudder of her own.
‘Well, the point of the story is that the volcano is like a reset button for him. If his human form is weakened enough it gets sucked back into the sword to preserve his essence. The only way to bring him back is to toss the sword into the volcano which the sword was forged from. Another fun fact about it: It’s original name is Ludicium Aureos which from ancient Latin to English translates to-‘
‘Golden Judgment’ Twilight interrupted Pales who, along with most of the group who didn’t already know her well, stared at her shocked. ‘My uh… studies have given me a pretty good understanding of ancient languages… Latin being a big one since many of our spells and magic are Latin origin.’ She explained with a small smile of embarrassment at her outburst.
‘I sometimes worry about what Celestia has planned for you with all that she teaches you… I’d guess an Arch Mage with your studies.’ Pales commented his eyes looking up to the fluffy white clouds.
‘An Arch Mage?! I-… I would be honored of course but Arch Mage’s are THE source of all magical knowledge in pretty much the entire world… they’re right on par with the Pope in many people’s eyes! I don’t think I’m cut out for that kind of work… perhaps the keeper of the Canterlot archives instead! Oh now THERE’S a job that I would love! Forever surrounded by books containing everything from noble tales of ancient warriors to in depth magical formula’s that would make Celestia pause! It sounds like paradise to me~!’ Twilight gushed her eyes glazing over and a skip and a flutter of her fairy like wings finding their way in her step.
Angelo blinked and leaned over to the girl closest to him, which happened to be Rarity. “Your friend is the most terrifyingly obsessed bibliophile I’ve ever met…” he commented. Pinkie Pie over heard and giggled.
“Oh you have NO idea~!” Pinkie sang as they started to march up the steps to the great museum that many tourists were filing in and out of. When they came to the ticket counter to get into the place Twilight reached for her purse but Pales stopped her by placing a hand on hers and shaking his head. He then looked at the woman managing the ticket booth who was an aged woman well past her prime who honestly looked like she should be a part of the exhibits on display. She took one glance at the boy and at the group he was with. Her eyes stopped on Rainbow Dash who still had the sword strapped to her back. She looked back at Pales and nodded.
“Nice to see you again Pales.” She stated simply.
“Always a pleasure Raimonda.” He responded in turn. With a curt bow he motioned for the others to follow him into the building. They did with a small glance at the ancient woman who was tending the ticket booth. When they entered the building they were greeted by a cheerful elderly man who looked to be the same age as the woman they had just left only with ten times the energy and with pale green eyes still as bright and vibrant as a child’s. The crest in the middle of his forehead also placed him as a magic user instead of an earthbound like she was.
“Ah! Pales and company! So nice to see you all again! But I see you bring some new faces with you this time, would you like to introduce me?” he asked the mint haired boy.
“Yes, everyone this is Custode Prezioso, He’s the head curator here at the museum, you’ve already met his wife Raimonda.” Pales started. “Prez, these are my brother’s newest friends, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity Belle, Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle. And I’ve already told you much about Angelo here.” He stated with a small smile on his face as he placed a hand on Angelo’s shoulder.
“Ahhhh, very nice to meet all of you. Especially you Angelo, with your… condition I didn’t think I’d ever be able to meet you in person.” Prez chuckled shaking all of their hands in turn.
“Well… It wasn’t by my own power believe me. Pinkie and Twilight have everything to do with why I’m here right now… Well actually why I’m HERE right now has a lot more to do with Rainbow Dash and Applejack.” He stated with a polite smile as he removed his hood just as Pales had done and shook the elder’s hand. He was still casting curious glances at his ‘Brother’.
“Oh…? Well I can guess half of the story just by a missing member of the party, but my question would be what these lovely young ladies have to do with that.” Prez inquired casting a curious glance from the blonde and her prismatic haired friend. The girls scratched the back of their heads nervously staring at their feet while Moondancer walked over and whispered something in the old man’s ear. His light green eyes widened in shock.
“You’re kidding me! He- Oh dear, you’re not are you…? He was really… by them?!” he asked a snicker finding its way into his voice before he burst out laughing. “Oh he must feel terrible! While I admit they look like they could hold their own the fact remains that they’re children in comparison to him!” he laughed drawing a few stares from the people that flooded the museum. His laughter eventually stopped and wiped a tear from his eye. On her back Rainbow felt the sword quiver and in the still open mind chat room she heard him roaring.
'KEEP LAUGHING AT ME YOU OLD HACK! WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS PRISION YOU AND ME ARE TAKING THIS TO THE FIELD!!!!' He shouted enraged by the old man’s outburst. A sly smile crossed the old man’s face as he stood up straight once more and his green eyes glinted a little as the crest on his forehead glowed with a light orange aura.
‘And what pray tell dearest Cas would you gain from having your hide handed to you by an elder such as myself… again?’ he asked calmly which only seemed to enrage the sword bound entity even more.
‘I SWEAR ON FAUST’S HOLY LIGHT THAT IF YOU MOCK ME AGAIN I WILL USE THIS FORM TO SLICE YOUR HEAD FROM YOUR SHOULDERS!!!!’ He roared.
‘Oh promises promises poor boy. You really need to keep that temper of yours under control.’ He chastised in a perfectly calm tone that everyone could feel only made his blood boil even hotter. Only after this did Prez speak out loud once again. “Well, as it is I see you’ll be needing access to THAT again, follow me everyone.” He chuckled as he strided off down one of the many grand white hallways that were all lined with precious and priceless artifacts and paintings from generations long past.
Twilight was having a blast zipping from piece to piece her eyes wide as she scribbled down notes in her journal her pencil almost burning the paper with how fast it moved. Applejack watched this with unease.
“That girl is more knowledge hungry than Pinkie is party crazed…” she commented to Rainbow who simply shrugged.
“Let her be an egghead. It’s pretty much the entire reason she wanted to come here anyways. It IS a museum.” Dash commented. AJ laughed a little watching the dark haired magic user zip about her gothic style making others stare at her funny when she displayed her knowledge driven energy. She wished she had a video camera. Wait.
“Hey Dash, get this on film with yer fancy schmancy camera phone.” AJ ordered nudging her friend with her elbow.
“Okay first off, it’s not fancy, your phone is just thirty years old and in comparison it LOOKS fancy. Second, Pinkie’s already ahead of you on that.” She stated pointing at the pink haired girl who was giggling along with Rarity and Fluttershy as she filmed the scene that was unfolding and they watched over her shoulder at the phone’s screen as Twilight interrogated a tour guide on the origins of the piece she was currently examining. It was very clear he didn’t know much else than what was written on the plaque.
Applejack frowned at Rainbow Dash. “Mah phone is NOT thirty years old Dash! It’s only five!” she protested.
“It has an antenna. And it’s a flip phone! No one’s had one of those in forever! It’s all about touch screen’s now! You’re lucky that thing still gets texts!” she commented pointing at the rather bulky looking orange phone clipped to Applejack’s side. She pulled it out and crooned over it a bright red apple sticker on the back of it.
“Ah’m offended by that remark! Mah phone is reliable and does exactly what it needs to! It makes calls and keeps me in touch with mah family and friends! And if Ah drop it from the top of mah barn into a barrel filled with electric eels and nails it’ll come out without so much as a scratch!” Applejack boasted puffing her chest out a little in pride. “Yer little flimsy thing’d be busted if ya dropped it on a mattress from three feet up!” AJ informed her with a nod.
“Okay, two more things. One, let me see that thing.” She said snatching the device from Applejack’s hold as they continued walking. Applejack tried to grab it back while Dash pushed her back with one hand while the other turned the phone around examining it. She found what she was looking for and laughed handing the phone back to her friend and then taking out her own sleek cyan blue phone that had a smooth black screen on the front of it. She tapped the top of it and then tapped the back of AJ’s phone. “Two, these phone’s are BOTH Nokia. They’re pretty much the Chuck Norris of phones and as proof, I want you to try and break my phone.” She stated handing the device to Applejack to grab.
“Ya… WANT me ta break yer phone…?” She asked taking the phone from her and staring at it incredulously. Rainbow grinned and nodded. Applejack shrugged and then took the phone in her hand and tried to crush it between them. When she looked at it again it didn’t have so much as a crack on it. She threw it against the ground. Nothing. She proceeded to stomp on it with the heel of her boot. Nothing. She looked over at the large pair of brothers behind her.
“Bronze, Fondere smash this thing for me.” She said tossing the phone at them. Bronze caught it an took one look at it before laughing and tossing it back to her.
“Sorry hun, there’s thing’s even we can’t do. Breaking one of those fancy Nokia phones is pretty high on the list.” He explained. Applejack’s jaw dropped as she caught it again and handed it back to Dash.
“There, you see? No excuse. When we get back to Equestria I’ll even go out and get you a new phone myself. Nokia of course.” She chuckled patting her friend on the shoulder. “You can get on the internet on it and check all your accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr if you’re into that. Or you can just watch something on YouTube if you’re bored.” Dash stated as she flipped through her phone’s apps for the farmer to see.
“Ah have a question. What in hay’s name is a Facebook and Twitter…? Is that like a scrap booking and bird watching site…?” She asked with a genuine look of confusion on her face.
Rainbow Dash halted in place giving her friend an incredulous look. “You’re kidding me right…? You can’t be THAT much of a hick can you…?” she asked slowly as if doubting her friend.
“What…? Are they some kind of big thing? We only just got internet at the farm like a year ago Dash. And none of us ‘cept Bloom are too big on using it fer much else than email and checkin’ on business type stuff.” She explained with a frown. Dash and some of the others who had overheard this stared at her with deadpanned looks.
“She’s not kidding… by Celestia’s gold encrusted sandals SHE’S NOT KIDDING!!!” Rarity exclaimed almost fainting on the spot. Angelo looked up from something he was doing on his own phone while he walked.
“What…? What’d I miss? I was updating my Twitter.” He asked looking around confused by the girl’s stares. He heard Applejack slap her hand against her forehead.
“Great… the preteen that hasn’t left his room since he was born knows more about this stuff than Ah do…” she groaned.
From ahead of them Pales called back at them. “As entertaining as your technophobia is you should all probably get over here. We need everyone present when we open the path.” He called. It was only then that they all noticed they were now in an abandoned part of the museum where there was nothing more than sheet covered artifacts that looked like they had decade’s worth of dust piled on top of them. Where the adults all stood was at the foot of a grand statue that stopped only mere inches before the ceiling which was saying something considering the grandeur style of the hall.
“Whoa… how’d we miss that thing…?” RD breathed as they walked towards it.
“The same way you missed the section we passed on pegisai history here in Pompeii.” Pinkie hummed as she bounced past them cheerfully. Rainbow froze and quickly turned on heel to run back to where they had come from. Applejack caught her by the strap of the sword’s holster and dragged her towards the statue.
“Ya can have yer spaz attack over your ancestor’s later RD. Fer now we need ta get that jerk out of that damn sword so he can tell the government we’re NOT murderer’s.”
‘A rather brutal accusation by the way. You two aren’t cut out to be killers. Too emotional and you let those friends of yours hold you back… or are they MORE than just friends hm~?’ Cas asked teasingly. Rainbow swore she could HEAR his eyebrows waggling at her. She took out the sword and slammed it’s flat side against a metal beam that she was passing while her eyebrow twitched in frustration. ‘Oww…! Why do you women always have to hurt me when I try and throw some humor into the mix?!’ he shouted.
‘Because you’re a might stupid fer someone who’s lived fer so long partner.’ Applejack responded simply as Dash sheathed the sword on her back again. In front of them Prez was feeling around the back of the statue’s large base for something. At last his hand sunk into a small square tile and he smiled.
“Ah! There it is.” He stated as he pushed it in further his hand starting to glow with orange magic as a large pentagram laced with thousands of runes started to reveal itself with the glow of the aura pulsing in its form. The runes seemed to spin about before they formed a solid pattern of stairs that seemed to lead down forever. “There we go. One path to the volcano heart granted. Do try and not to stir up any big explosions this time Pales, I’d rather hate to have to evacuate the island again.” He stated with a wayward sigh as the mint haired boy passed him and stepped into the entrance that still had runes dancing along the outside of the circular opening.
“We’ll be careful Custode, I promise. I don’t really have much choice seeing as I have my liege with me this time.” He commented pointing back at the white haired boy who was following in behind him a beefy body guard and a twin on either side of him.
“True enough child, good luck, and remember don’t throw ANYTHING into the volcano accept the sword.” He reminded the group as they descended the seemingly infinite stairway.
“Yes sir.” Came the chanted reply. He smiled and closed the portal behind them and took up a seat that was nearby leaning back in it until the back of the chair nested nicely against the wall behind him. He lowered his head and began to drift off thinking all about the odd girls he had just met and how they’d fair in what was considered one of the world’s deadliest mazes.