//------------------------------// // Contrast // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -- Off The Record // by The King of Hearts //------------------------------// //// Contrast //// Twilight and her friends had all awoken but were all still confused. Some of them didn’t even know Discord had been released. They had just been thrown to some room, having no idea where they had been placed, or for what reason. “What happened, Twily?” Shining Armor asked, having gotten back into his right mind, “All I remember is being locked out the room where you were meeting with Princess Celestia and Luna.” “Discord got in,” Twilight said solemnly, “And he plans to take control of Equestria back.” “How?” He asked instantly, panic covering his face, “And what about the Princesses?” “They’ve been turned to stone,” She sighed, feeling herself start to cry, “They didn’t stand a chance.” Shining Armor was in shock. His job was to make sure that the royalty of Canterlot was kept safe. And yet, somehow, they had gone from enjoying themselves at the annual Grand Galloping Gala, to being encased in stone. “We need to storm the castle!” Shining said, standing up straight, “We’ll take it back from him, plain and simple.” “It ain’t simple at all!” Applejack spoke up, joining them, “Celestia and Luna were both powerless! How do you expect to stop him?” “I’d find a way,” He nodded, “It’s my job to save them!” “Celestia wouldn’t have sent you out here if she didn’t think it was for the best,” Spike said, walking beside Twilight, “If she could have told you, she would have ordered you to help us.” Shining Armor was surprised that Spike had such sound logic. Whatever made him a pony, really did the trick catching him up in maturity. “Then what IS the mission?” He asked, “We have to strike back one way or another.” “Well, I think we need to get out Elements of Harmony!” Pinkie said, standing on the large table in the middle of the room, “Then we kick him in the rump with them!” “But we’re missing Rainbow Dash and Alex,” Rarity added, “How do we use them if we’re missing a piece of our team?” “Well, you know… We could always live here,” Fluttershy whimpered, obviously shook up more than everypony else. “I wouldn’t be against that one,” Comet slipped in. “Shhh,” Ramsley said to her, not wanting to interrupt an obvious important conversation. “No, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, “We can’t sit back and let Discord take over Equestria.” “But what do we do, darling?” Rarity asked, “Do we obtain the Elements of Harmony, and hope that they simply work?” Nopony had an answer for her. Well, almost nopony. “Listen up!” Scootaloo said, jumping beside Pinkie on the table, “I’m the closest thing we have to a Princess, so I think I should be calling the shots!” “Scootaloo, this is no time fer’ games!” Applejack scolded. “Hear me out!” She begged, “I have a plan!” Since nopony seemed to have come up with anything themselves, they simply let her speak. “You all need to go get your Elements!” She said sternly, “Princess Celestia said that they were drawn to you, right?” “How did you hear that?” Twilight asked, remembering Celestia only said that when they were face-to-face with Discord. “I was listening in!” She admitted, with no hint of shame, “But am I right?” “Yes you are,” Twilight nodded. “So, you find them, and then you try to find a way to make them work!” She continued. Twilight wasn’t sure that she had said anything that hadn’t already been said. Except for the ‘Elements finding them’ part. “Even without Rainbow Dash, there must be a loyal pony somewhere here!” She explained, “The Elements will go to the pony they find most suitable!” “And how do we know what counts as loyal?” Shining asked. “We don’t know!” She said, rolling her eyes, “We just need to hope it works! It’s better than doing nothing, right?” “You tell ‘em Scoots!” Apple Bloom said. “Yeah! You sound so grown up!” Sweetie giggled. “She’s right,” Shining admitted, “We need to do something, and that ‘something’ starts with us getting the Elements!” “But how do we find them?” Pinkie said, “They could be anywhere!” Looking around their shelter idly, Twilight noticed a winding staircase on the far side of the room. Leaving the group, she approached it, and looked to see how high it went. And, to her surprise, it went up extraordinarily high. “One sec, I’m going to see if I can an idea where we are.” She said to them before teleporting herself to the to top. When she appeared, she was greeted with a circular room that had an entirely glass ceiling, that revealed just how high in the air they were. She could see Canterlot, Ponyville, and all surrounding areas. This bunker had been built on a mountain and was virtually perfectly blended in with it. Somepony would need to walk right up to the windows to be able to tell that they were windows at all. Looking to Canterlot, she saw that it was pretty lit up for so early in the morning. She guessed Discord had something to do with it. Getting a strange feeling, Twilight looked toward Ponyville, feeling some kind of energy coming from the town. It was something she recognized… But wasn’t exactly familiar with. Like she was being called to it. Then, like switching on a light bulb, she realized what it was. “My Element! I can feel it!” She said to herself, “It must be in Ponyville!” Teleporting herself back to the bottom, Twilight looked to the group of ponies, “We’re inside of a mountain east of Canterlot, and we have a view of everything around us.” “What…?” Spike said, a bit overwhelmed with that news. “Celestia must have had this bunker built to house somepony important,” Twilight explained, “It had a massive view of the entire area around us.” “We can use that,” Shining said, “A large view will allow us to see the progression of Discords control.” “There’s something else,” She said, hoping her friends would have a similar experience as her when it came to her Element, “I think my Element of Harmony is in Ponyville.” “How do you know?” Spike asked. “I could just… feel it,” She said vaguely, “You guys need to go up and see for yourselves.” The four girls looked to each other, before simply nodding, and heading up the staircase, with Spike in tow. “Could you catch us up, by any chance?” Ramsley asked, knowing that he and Comet were both very behind on this, story-wise, “I’m afraid I’m missing some information.” “More than a little,” Shining Armor sighed, “I’ll catch you up. Twilight, why don’t you go with your friends?” She nodded, and headed back to the stairs, where trotted up behind her friends, all of them reaching the top a few moments before her. “You were right, Twilight,” Rarity said, focusing on the town so far away from them, “I can feel something… calling to me.” “Me too!” Applejack nodded, “It’s comin’ from right there!” Applejack pointed toward the barely visible Sweet Apple Acres. “What about you, Pinkie?” Twilight asked, “Where do you feel it coming from?” “Right in the middle!” She said, “I can tell!” “Fluttershy?” She asked. “Um… Near the Everfree forest,” She said quietly. “Mine is coming from the center of town as well,” Rarity said, figuring it was her turn, “Most likely the Carousel Boutique.” “That’s what I was thinking,” Twilight said, “They must all be at our homes.” “Why would he do that?” Spike asked, “He must know that we could find them there.” “Something tells me that he isn’t going to make it easy for us,” Twilight sighed, looking between her friends, “But we need them back, regardless.” “What about Rainbow Dash’s Element of Loyalty?” Spike asked, hoping that Twilight had come up with some kind of answer since that question was last asked. “It must be in her house,” Twilight answered, “We’ll figure out what to do with it when we get our hooves on it.” “Got it,” Spike nodded, exhaling, and looking around the room, “I think I need a bit more sleep.” “Spike, how could you sleep at a time like this?” Rarity asked, shaking her head. “I would have slept after the gala, but somepony was keeping me up,” Spike said, eyeing her. She just turned away, not wanting to have a fight at a time like this. “Spike is right,” Twilight said, surprising her friends, “We need to rest a bit. It’ll clear our minds a bit.” “Is there even anywhere tuh’ sleep here?” Applejack asked. “I don’t know,” Twilight said, looking down the hole, and recalling the size of the bunker, “This place was meant to be some kind of protected command center, I’m sure there are quarters of some kind.” “Ooh!” Pinkie said, “I wanna go find them! Can I? Can I? Can I? It’ll be so much fun!” “Sure, Pinkie,” Twilight nodded, smiling, happy that somepony was still in a good mood after all that had happened. “Woo!” She shouted, bouncing down the staircase she had just ascended, “Is anypony coming?” “Heck, ah need sumthin’ to keep me goin’ here,” Applejack said, catching up to Pinkie, “Let’s go!” “Wait for me!” Fluttershy called, running to them, “I’m actually pretty hungry.” “If there’s bedrooms, there’ll be a kitchen,” Spike added, “I’d love to grab something to eat.” “Well, I won’t be the only one left out!” Rarity laughed, smiling for the first time since she had woken up, “I’ll join you all.” And, for a moment, they all had fun exploring the surprisingly complex base together. It would be some of the only fun they had in a while. //// Alex and Dash walked down the near-empty hallway, pulling glances from the few people around them. They were either surprised to see him, or shocked that he had a rainbow colored bombshell with him. The more Alex thought about it, it was probably the latter. “Do you mind if I use the bathroom?” Dash asked, “Humans have no room in their bladders!” “I noticed that too,” Alex nodded, missing the days of being able to go hours and hours without having to worry about peeing, “Those are the bathrooms right there.” Nodding, she jogged over to one labeled ‘Girls,’ and went inside. Alex stood outside the bathroom, waiting patiently, but knew she would probably be a while. Pants and belts were still pretty tricky to her, and he knew that it would look odd if he went in there to dress her. “Alex?” A familiar voice said from down the hallway, “Is that you?!” Alex looked toward the voice and felt his heart sink. “It’s me! Courtney!” She smiled, “Oh my god, how have you been?” The girl that had dumped him on the same night his parents died was now approaching him. She had blonde hair, a few freckles, and a very cute face. He had considered himself lucky to have had anything to do with her. But, since she had broken up with him, and started dating a football player instantly, he didn’t have many positive feels toward her anymore. “Fine,” He said simply. “I’m so sorry about your parents too,” She whispered, “Do you want to go get something to drink? That thing between Chris and I didn’t last long.” “I’ll pass,” He said, looking toward the bathroom, waiting for Dash to come and save him. “Come on, Alex,” She said, grinning slyly at him, “Don’t be a baby over that whole breakup thing.” “I’m REALLY not interested,” Alex said seriously, “I’ve got—“ “You’re not interested?” She laughed, “Did my breakup with you hurt that bad?” “Not in comparison to the rest of that day,” He said smiling inwardly, immediately making her feel bad. “Look, I’m sorry, but can’t we look past this?” Courtney asked, frowning in frustration, “I feel really bad.” Alex wondered why she was trying to be so nice to him. She wasn’t the apologizing type. But then, it came to him. “You need a date for tonight, don’t you?” Alex smiled, as she gave him a dirty look. “Maybe that’s part of it, but I really want to spend some more time with you!” She huffed, “I feel bad for—“ “Hey Alex! I have more trouble getting these clothes off than putting them back on!” Dash laughed, walking out of the bathroom, “You’re going to have to take them off of me slowly next time, so I can see the right way to do it.” Courtney’s jaw dropped. “Hey!” Dash smiled, having no idea what she had just implied to this girl, “I’m Sarah!” “Are you with him?” Courtney asked, looking the girl up and down and being utterly jealous. “Yep! He’s my baby boo,” She joked, extending a hand, “What’s your name?” “Courtney.” She frowned, not shaking her hand. “Oh!” Dash said, thinking to herself, “You’re the one that broke up with him, right?” “You told her about me?” She asked, feeling like she had been betrayed somehow. “She asked about my previous girlfriends, that’s all.” Alex said, loving the reaction she was giving him. Seeing that Alex was enjoying the way this girl was reacting to her, Dash decided to make it even worse for his ex. “I get jealous easily,” Dash lied, “But don’t worry, he’s promised me that he’s not interested in you anymore.” Courtney gasped loudly, before turning around, and storming off. “You’re so, so awesome,” Alex said, just feeling fantastic at the job Dash had done. “Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of her,” Dash said as she watched her turn the corner in a fit of teenage rage, “I hope I wasn’t like that when I was her age.” “She’s eighteen,” Alex said, laughing, as they continued their walk, “You’re like, twenty.” “And I hope I wasn’t like her!” Dash said again, “I’ve matured a lot in the past two years.” “Oh yeah?” Alex asked, thinking back to when he first met her a year ago, “I guess you don’t cry about people forgetting your name as much.” “Hey!” She argued, “I thought you were cute, and all you did was forget my name!” “But look at us now,” He grinned, “You get to sleep next to me every night.” “Wonderful,” She said, rolling her eyes, “Because it’s not like you hog the covers or anything.” “Well, that’s because I’m so cool,” He said, wiggling his eyebrows, loving puns. “And now you’re a huge loser.” He said, walking off in front of him. “Hey! Where are you going?” Alex called. “I’m going to find somepony- Er, someone that isn’t a colossal lame-o!” She said, turning the corner at the end of the hall, and waiting for him to come running. Smiling to himself, Alex decided to play a little joke on her, and turned around to walk away in the other direction. After reaching about half way down the hall, he heard the shout he had been expecting. “Alex!” She called, “You jerk!” Looking back, he gave her a wave, and started running away. “Don’t make me chase you down, Spot!” She shouted, puffing her cheeks out. Seeing that he wasn’t going to slow down, she started jogging after him since she had never gone faster than that in this form. However, she quickly decided to throw caution to the wind, and speed herself up. Worst case she fell over and got back up, right? Wrong. She had little idea how to pace herself properly, and her legs were too far apart between each step. It was only a matter of time… Finally, her back leg slipped under the pressure of her legs, and she fell flat on her face, making the empty hallway echo with a sound similar to a raw steak being slapped against linoleum. Stopping, Alex turned around, and forced himself to not laugh at her. “Oh, Dashie,” He said as a small giggled escaped his throat. Running back to her, he knelt down next to her and rubbed her back. “You okay, sweetheart?” He asked, a smile still plastered on his face. “Don’t ‘sweetheart’ me,” She grumbled into the floor. Rolling over, she looked up at him as his expression changed from a faint smile, to a worried look. “What’s wrong?” She asked, touching a hand to her face, and feeling some kind of wetness, “Is this blood?” She had obviously hit her nose, and started bleeding. Something Alex felt infinitely guilty for. “Crap, I’m sorry Dash,” He said, putting an arm under her back, and lifting her up, “Here, let me help you with that.” Brushing her hair out of her face, he placed a hand on her cheek, and closed his eyes, focusing the weakest healing spell he could into it. The magic poured out of his hand, and passed into her, hopefully fixing the damage he had accidentally caused. It gave him a splitting headache, but it was worth it. “Does that feel better?” He asked. “Yeah,” She nodded, wiping the trail of blood from her nose on to her arm, making it smear from her elbow to her hand, “Ew…” Alex suddenly felt his own nose start running, as he touched a knuckle to it, seeing that he too had started bleeding, obviously from the spell. “Well, better you than me,” Dash smirked, having a hard time staying mad at him, before feeling a bit bad herself, “Are you okay?” “Yeah,” He nodded, inhaling through his nose in an effort to slow the flow, “I just need to get to the bathroom.” “Me too,” She nodded, showing him her blood covered arm. “I hope everypony in Equestria is doing better than us,” Alex laughed as he helped Dash to her feet, and walked with her to the bathroom she had just come from. Alex wouldn’t have said that, had he known just how bad things were there. But, that was the contrast between his world, and Equestria.