//------------------------------// // 86. Tough mornings // Story: Rebirth of the Damned // by Borsuq //------------------------------// A yawn escaped Spike as he made his way downstairs. He would much more prefer to sleep through the rest of the morning, but he had to make a breakfast for six mares. He was actually kind of surprised that Twilight didn’t wake him up sooner, but... That question was answered for him when he reached the main room of the library. All six of his friends were deep in sleep. “Gee, what they were doing all night?” Spike wondered, as he headed quietly towards the kitchen, careful to not disturb them.   A hollow pain in the head and scorching light of the day were the first things Rainbow Dash recorded when she opened her eyes, after which she immediately closed them. “Seriously, what did Pinkie add to those drinks!?” she wondered as she grabbed her head, in a futile attempt to case this pounding. However, in doing so, her hoof punched something warm and furred, causing it to yelp in surprise. “Wha...?” The pegasus opened her eyes again, and to her shock she realised that she was staring at uncomfortably close eyes of equally shocked Applejack. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Rainbow Dash murmured as she realized that they were in the same sleeping bag, and the memories of last night began to resurface. “Wait... what is that taste?!” she wondered suddenly, only now noticing the strange taste that she had in her mouth. It kinda reminded her a scent of... Her eyes widened as she looked down.     “Once again.” Sir Lightbringer ordered, without any hint of sympathy in his voice. Serenity rose from the ground again, picking up her mace and shield. She tried not to show how much pain the strikes from last bound caused her. Being a crystal pony, it was rare for her to experience any kind of physical pain, as their crystal coats protected them, while at the same time allowing them to still feel warmth and pleasure as other ponies’ coats did. Only when King Sombra came to the Crystal Empire and used his dark magic to strip them off their crystal forms did they get to know pain. Sir Lightbringer, however, somehow managed to cause her hurt, despite him using a wooden sword, and while she was wearing a training gear no less. Each of his strikes was aimed at strategic spots such as joints or head. And it wasn’t just that, he also put a lot of strength into them, and as such that she felt pain regardless of all her protection. “Pain is part of battle training, Serenity.” he told her as if reading her mind. “That’s why, due to your crystal coat, I need to be a bit tougher with you than with the rest.” A snort escaped from one of the stallions that stood nearby. Tucker, as well as Storm and Guard, had already went through their battle training. All three of them performed much better than Serenity, which was to be expected, but it still sting her a little. As for why Tucker had snorted, it was due to Sir Lightbringer’s comment about being ‘a bit tougher’ with her than with the rest. Earlier, after having finished with Storm and Guard - both of them, despite being well versed in combat, couldn’t overpower him - came turn for the unicorn. Lightbringer attacked him almost immediately, and with much more fervor than the he did the other two. Despite Tucker’s valiant efforts, it didn’t take too long for him to be disarmed and shoved head-first into the ground. And after that, his comment about him usually shoving others into ground (‘others’ defaultly being females) didn’t do much to make Sir Lightbringer’s ease his strikes. At one point, Tucker, again disarmed, decided that he had enough and used that strange ability of his to create this... energy sword, and cut effortlessly through the other stallion’s wooden sword. Lightbringer, however, quickly summoned his own sword she saw when he battled King Sombra, the Holy Avenger, and shoved Tucker’s away, giving him chance to punch him in the face. Which he did. Telling the unicorn to do ten laps around the Abbey for destroying the training gear, the paladin then called for Serenity... and here she was, trying for the fourth time to not get beaten too easily. Recalling some of the tricks her brother showed her, the crystal pony jumped at sir Lightbringer. Instead of using her mace, however, she charged at him with the shield. He proved too fast for that to work, and swiftly moved out of the way. Serenity saw him approached her from the right, his sword raised and ready to strike. She lifted up her mace hoping to deflect it, but at the last moment sir Lightbringer changed the course of the sword to hit her on the hoof, causing her to drop her weapon. The paladin caught it with his free hoof and bashed her chest with it, sending her flying once again. A blunt weapon had much bigger effect on her than cutting weapon like sword had. The strike caused the air to escape from her lungs. As she gasped, lying on the ground, she noticed after few deep breaths an extended hoof. Looking up, Serenity saw Sir Lightbringer, not gazing at her with disappointment as she expected, but smiling with encouragement instead. “You did better than I did during my first weapon training.” he told her as she accepted his help. “Although,” he added, smirking, “I was but a foal back then. Still, give it time of intense practice, and you should be fine.” Serenity winced inwardly at the words ‘intense practice’, but she nodded nonetheless. She wanted to help and protect other ponies, so she would bear with it. “Thank you, sir.” she said, saluting. “As for the rest of you,” Lightbringer told the others, “I hope you paid attention as to how I fought her. While the Crystal Empire are very close allies of Equestria, there are beings other than crystal ponies with extremely hard coat or skin, that could be less... friendly.” “Actually, sir...” Serenity spoke before she could help herself. As the stallion looked her way, she continued: “I think Diamond Dogs were once... well, made out of diamonds.” seeing the confused stairs, she explained: “There are stories about them in Crystal Empire. You would have to ask one of the ponies that work in the Imperial Library, but I think somewhere around.... two thou- um, sorry, I meant three thousand years ago. The Diamond Dogs, who by then lived in an underground Diamond Empire - under today’s Equestria - lost their diamond forms and became what they are today.” “I do recall hearing about Diamond Dogs having an Empire once.” Sir Lightbringer said. “But this is the first time I hear about them being ‘made out of diamonds’. How do you know that?” “The Crystal Empire is much older than Equestria, sir. And while we didn’t pay much attention to what was happening outside our borders, even trying to ignore the Equestrian-Griffonian War until griffons pulled us into it, our historians make records of them. And the Diamond Empire was supposedly our ally at some point, before they turned into those barely intelligent beasts.” “Considering what I read about Diamond Dogs, I find it hard to believe that they were anything else.” Sir Lightbringer commented humorously, and indicated that this discussion was over. “Anyway, when I mentioned beings of extremely hard exterior, I was referring to the elementals.” “Ele-what?” Tucker asked, and he wasn’t the only one confused. “Elementals are potent and volatile beings of pure elemental energies of earth, water, wind, or fire.” the paladin explained. “Zebra’s shamans can tap into the powers of those elements, and even usher those beings that I just told you about into Equestria. Also, during the Equestrian-Griffonian War, the griffons somehow managed to include the help of earth elementals, to counter Equestria’s spellcasters, although how they did that remains a mystery. The secret behind that was lost with the Sundering of Griffonia.” Serenity shrugged as she recalled how back in school she heard about it. A violent and mysterious cataclysm had struck the continent on the other side of East Sea, home to the griffon kingdom. It struck them barely two decades after the birth of their nation, and killed nearly ninety percent of their population. The continent sundered, creating cracks in earth that were filled by sea, in some cases creating new islands, and in others - causing landmasses to disappear beneath the waves. Some said it was a natural disaster, some that it was a righteous punishment for starting the war. Serenity was inclined to believe the former, as the cataclysm also harmed Equestria in the aftermath: a good southern portion of the East Coast, now called Horseshoe Bay, was destroyed by a hurricane, and within Macintosh Hills, where once was a proud unicorn city of New Unicolt, a barren waste named Badlands was now. But, like out of every tragedy, something good came out of it. The griffons, nearly extinct, were accepted with open hooves by ponies of Equestria, and Queen Platinum, despite her personal loss in the aftermath of the cataclysm (the death of her husbands, Prince Gembold), went into great efforts to help griffons. It was even further astonishing, considering the rather - as history books stated - ‘gruesome’ death of one of her close friends and fellow Founder of Equestria, Private Pansy, during the war. Some historians wondered how would Commander Hurricane react to her helping griffons, if he had not died some time prior to the Sundering of Griffonia during what was known as Dragon Hunt. But nonetheless, Platinum’s efforts enabled her country’s old enemies to survive, slowly repopulate their home, and build new capital, Griffenhalla (as New Griffenburg was completely destroyed, and Friedrich’s Fall Lake was now in its place). The relationships between two nations were further warmed by friendship that began in Canterlot Castle of Adolf, last surviving legitimate heir of King Friedrich, and Platinum’s son, Comet Wind, born two months after the Sundering. “So... are the phoenixes elementals, too?” Storm Clash question pulled Serenity back into reality. She glanced at the roof of the Chapel, where they could all see Al’ar, watching them intensively. “Phoenixes are... something in between.” sir Lightbringer replied somewhat uncomfortably. “But let’s leave that matter - for now, let’s return to practice-” “Hey, what’s that kid doing there?” Tucker Out asked, pointing at the direction of the barracks. Following his gaze, Serenity saw a small, orange filly, that had just came out of the barracks’ doors and was heading towards the Abbey’s entrance, traveling by scooter instead of trotting or flying - as Serenity noticed two small wings propelling her. “Going to school, I presume.” Sir Lightbringer replied with a shrug, as if it was obvious. “Well, it kinda is...” crossed Serenity’s mind, as a saddleback was visible on the filly and it was around the time classes normally started. “... but, what was she doing in the Abbey in the first place?” “Um, sir, I believe Tucker was asking as to what she was specifically doing here.” Guard Shield told their mentor. “Oh.” the paladin exclaimed in shock; now Serenity knew he was pretending. “Scootaloo is going to live in the Abbey for the time being.” Serenity looked at him in confusion, and in the corner of the eye saw that the other did so as well. “Um, sir, why-” Storm began, but was cut off. “It’s not my place to answer that question.” Lightbringer told him, and the tone of his voice made it clear that he wished this discussion to end. “What’s going on?” Serenity wondered. “She can’t be a relative of his; he lived far away from Equestria. And why doesn’t he explain this to us? Why would the parents of-” as that thought appeared in her head, a suspicion came to her as to what could be a reason for her living her - a suspicion that created more questions. “Why would Sir Lightbringer say that ‘it’s not his place to answer that’? And how come he didn't mention to us about this... Scootaloo, yesterday?” As compassionate as she was, the crystal pony planned to approach the filly later and have a little talk with her... “Let’s get back to training, shall we?” Sir Lightbringer returned to what he wanted to say earlier. “Serenity, Storm Clash, I would like you two to have a practice fight now.” … provided she survives that long.     “Ah am not speakin’ to ya!” Applejack said angrily as she stomped the floor. “Why are you acting as if this is all my fault?!” Rainbow Dash replied, equally angry. Twilight was thankful that before they really went on it, she sent Spike away on an errand. She didn’t like this argument between her friends one bit. The others also appeared troubled by it, and the pounding in their heads - a reminiscence of the previous night - wasn’t helping. “You’ve heard what the others said.” Dash continued, rather oblivious to the fact that her argument wasn’t going to help here. “We were both going at each other; I didn’t make you do anything.” “Well, Ah am not the one that has rumors about ‘er being a dyke!” If she had struck her, she would have caused a lesser reaction out of her. “What did you say?!” Rainbow screeched, her face now of pure fury instead of annoyance. “Girls!” Twilight shouted, hoping to interrupt them before this would get ugly. “Are you suggesting I enjoyed licking a cunt of a smelly, country bumpkin cowmare?!” “Ya filthy little-” Applejack growled, raising up from across the table and preparing to leap at the pegasus. Twilight didn’t give her a chance to do that. She lifted both of them into the air (a rather straining thing considering her state), and kept them away from each other’s reach. “Enough, both of you!” she told both of them. “Friends do not talk like that to each other!” “Friends also don’t take advantage of ya when ya’r drunk!” Applejack retorted, waving her hooves angrily in a feeble attempt of escaping her magic. “Or let them be used when they just watch and laugh!” she added with venom in voice and ice in eyes. “We were all very drunk,” Twilight said calmly; although she made a mental note to never let Pinkie Pie (who was currently pounding her head against the table for accidentally causing all of this) add anything to any drink. “you included, Applejack, and at the time both of you enjoyed it.” Twilight hoped her face didn’t show how she would currently reacted if she saw that scene again. Things were as uncomfortable as it were. Granted, she had nothing against fillyfoolers, so if one of her friends turned out to be one (while sober), she would be okay with it, but it didn’t mean she wanted to watch that (again, while sober). “Rainbow Dash didn’t take advantage of you, so-” “Easy for ya to say that, Twilight!” the angry mare interrupted her. “How would ya feel if ya lose yar virginity to a mare?!” Twilight blinked. “This is what all of this is about?” “Applejack,” she said, rolling her eyes, “you can’t lose your virginity-” “-from a tongue moving up your twat!” Rainbow Dash, equally surprised as everypony that this was the reason Applejack was so angry. “-from an oral intercourse.” Twilight finished, dismayed at Rainbow’s choice of words. “What?” Applejack asked, now calm and dumbfounded. She blinked. “Ya can’t?” “Do you remember feeling any pain?” Dash asked, a bit more gentler. “Because trust me, this hurts like a bitch.” Twilight glared at the pegasus, deciding to turn her mouth into a zipper if she cursed again. “Well...” the earth pony mare mumbled as she searched her memories. “No...” “Then your hymen is not broken, and you’re still a virgin.” Twilight told her. She dropped both of them on the ground, sensing that the storm was averted. Neither of them was angry anymore: rather, both were ashamed and sorry for the things they said, and avoided looking at each other. “Ah... guess Ah might have overreacted a bit...” Applejack murmured. “Especially since Ah enjoyed it... But it still not okay!” she added more sharply. “Ditto on that.” Dash said. “While I might have enjoyed it also, I do not like mares that way.” “Ah, now, sorry about-” “That’s okay.” the pegasus interrupted her. “Let’s not make it sappier that it should be.” Applejack smiled shyly hearing that, but next second her sight turned to Pinkie Pie. “Now, what about-” “I’m sorryyy!!!” Pinkie exclaimed, rivers of tears pouring from her eyes as she jumped to her and Rainbow Dash and pulled both of them into a hug. “I didn’t know this would happen, I swear! I wouldn’t want you two to be so angry, I’m...” As Pinkie Pie’s next words turned into incoherent cry, Twilight noticed that the two mares being crushed in the hug exchanged uncomfortable look and sighed. “Its alright, sugarcube.” Applejack said, panting the pink pony on the back. “We’re not angry at each other or you.” “R-really?” Pinkie Pie asked, and stopped crying. “Yeah.” Rainbow replied, cheerfully. “Who could be angry with you, Pinkie?” “Well, that’s true.” Twilight thought with amusement.