//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 (26) // Story: Millennium Wake: Part II // by notMurphy //------------------------------//    "Now!" cried the white unicorn, sending another surge of magic into her telekinesis, willing it to go down Firefly's esophagus. She wondered if enjoying this made her a bad pony. Oh, not force-feeding magic plant medicine of dubious origin to one of her friends, the teamwork – specifically the satisfaction of seeing a plan come together.    It was rather heady, she wished it was possible to ask Twilight how she had managed it. On top of all her other reasons for missing her unicorn friend, the rest of her friends, her family, her home, Ponyville… the train of thought rather took the edge off her excitement, leveling her out if not bringing her low outright.    Megan snapped her fingers and the pegasus with an aggressive split personality disorder rejoined the timestream, already in progress.    As momentum was released, the blue-ish/pinkish pegasus rocketed forward, finishing her taunt. "Suckers! –*urk*–" The walnut-sized lump had made it past her mouth, now it was a battle between the Rainbow Impression's desire to spit the object out and the body's instinct to swallow. From the way Firefly's body began to spasm and jerk, one could tell her native personality was fighting to regain control as well. With nopony keeping her in the air, Firefly fell.    Surprise swiftly snatched the plummeting pegasus pronto. "Easy does it … huh, I never gave you a nickname, did I?" The blonde pegasus contemplated the oversight as she brought the two of them back to the ground. "Firey? Fly-girl? FF? Ummm, nope. Sheesh, this is embarrassing. I even gave Meggers a nickna–"    "Don't ever call me that, Surprise." The human growled.    Rarity smiled. Even the bickering reminded her of– she lost the smile, trotting forward to watch Firefly for any signs of complications. The good news was that the pegasus had stopped choking, yet the seed couldn't be seen anywhere. The mare out of time frowned when she realized that the pegasus wasn't making any noise. While Rarity tried to remember what little she'd learned about artificial respiration, Firefly violently jerked upright, coughing forth a cloud of glittering particles that shimmered in all the colors of the rainbow before evaporating.    "Firefly?" Rarity asked, hoping against hope that everything had worked correctly.    The (formerly?) split pony turned, tears streaming from her eyes, "it's … it's gone, my head is clear, I can–"    The others rushed over as Firefly began screaming and thrashing about. A blue liquid dripped from her pores, leaving behind only pale pink fur. With a *thunk* her prosthetic rainbow-tech wings fell from her body.    Megan gasped, "Is she falling apart? Is… is she dying?" She knew that if Firefly died, the curse of the 'Peacemaker' meant the human was sure to follow soon after.    The unicorn mare frowned, "no… I don't think she is… everything she's losing – I think the seed is purging all the modifications Rainbow Industries made to remake Firefly in Rainbow Dash's image." Rarity shuddered, remembering the revelation of how twisted her acrobatic friend's imprint had turned out to be. Had they already foalnapped another filly to torture and mould into an imitation Rainbow Dash? Her frown intensified to a glare… she and her friends had already taken one imprint down, and surely the sins of Rainbow Industries were as unforgivable as those of Fluttershy Fabrications… it was up to her to clean up the legacies of her friends, to prevent the perversion of their visions.    "Hey, Sapph, why aren't these jokers dead yet?"    Heads turned to note the new arrivals, two half-dragon and half unicorns; like chromatically shifted reflections of Sapphire, the self-proclaimed genetic offspring of Rarity and Spike's DNA. These were his siblings, whom she and her friends had last left beaten and disabled… was it only an hour ago? It felt like months had passed.    "Wait, Emerald, you don't understand– " Sapphire began.    "You're darn right I don't understand. They killed Fluttershy, after they killed you." The green one snarled.    "Sapphy was crushed." Confirmed the Red drake.    "No, you're missing the point. Rarity is our mother–"    "Really? Because from my memories, if we had anything like a mother, it was the CEO of Fluttershy Fabrications. You know, the one whose heart they blew up?" Emerald snarled, nose to nose with Sapphire.    The blue hybrid lowered his eyes. "Rarity didn't do that."    Emerald rolled her eyes, "I don't care which one of them di–"    "I did it. The Fluttertree was lying to us, manipulating us. She wanted to make us torture our own mother."    "Stop calling her that!" Shouted the green sibling; its a voice, Rarity noted, was an octave higher than the other two.    The third one, Ruby, caught up with the argument. "Sapphire, you killed Fluttershy?"    "Ruby, look at Rarity. Look at her… can't you tell?" Sapphire pleaded. There was no way he could take on both of his siblings if they attacked at the same time, and he wouldn't have the heart to hurt them even one on one.    Rarity did her best to hold still as the red half-dragon circled her, peering at her and sniffing the air. Up close, she began to see the subtle differences there hadn't been time to notice before. She almost choked when she realized this 'Ruby' had her father's solid frame, and a touch of the innocence she remembered in Sweetie Belle's eyes.    Emerald scowled, "Rube, you can't be falling for this, can you? It's. A. Trick. It, it has to be."    Ruby slowly shook his head back and forth, "Same smell."    Rarity choked back any number of retorts… blushing as she heard Surprise muffling laughter behind a hoof.    The green semi-drake tossed her head, "W-well it doesn't matter, even if she did donate genetic material. She's still not my mother."    As a sister, daughter, friend, businessmare, and salespony, Rarity recognized the turning point in an argument. "Well now – Emerald, was it– that is a matter of perspective, is it not? Would you, for example, discount Spike being your father?"    The half-pony reacted as though struck, "That is not the sa…" The retort died in her throat 'but it is, isn't it?' She shook her head. Was this the realization that had shaken Sapphire – was this what had driven him to switch sides, to betray everything he had been created for – to betray his own siblings? She turned to her errant brother, hissing. "When did you realize?" The answer would not please her, but she had to ask, had to know.    Sapphire hung his head, "Fluttershy's Imprint told me shortly before we were sent out." He hunched his shoulders at the outtake of breath from his siblings, eyes resolutely on the ground before him. "She told me not to tell you, that it would only confuse you and make the mission harder. I…" his voice caught, "it was foolish – but I thought I could at least spare you the–"    "The pain of finding out our entire existence is a lie? A gambit to unnerve an unwitting target – and one we failed at, to boot?" The gorge rose in the back of Emerald's throat, a feeling she associated with a message about to be delivered – except this time the only message was that her previous meal wanted to come back out the way it had entered.    "So what would have been a good time, Emerald?" Sapphire asked taking a step.    "How about right after that you found out?" Emerald raised her wings, the tips of her teeth showing.    "You mean after I was ordered not to tell you?" The blue dragonoid rubbed his chin, looking off.      "Considering you later decided to murder our creator, I don't see why that would have stopped you!"    Ruby's head swung back and forth, loyalties straining between his siblings. "Please, don't fight."    Both his blue and green siblings glared, "We're not fighting!" both blurted.    "Excuse me," Megan spoke up, eyes fixed on the horizon. "I'm really not one to interrupt a good family scuffle, but…" The others started turning their heads in sympathy, "Um, is that gigantic rhino-piranha-plant thing supposed to be eating all the other monsters?" She pointed.    Emerald, Ruby, and Sapphire all looked at each other – there didn't seem to be anyone else left to keep the other chimeras in order during the confusion. Recriminations and mourning would have to wait. Turning, Sapphire looked at Rarity, she shook her head and pointed, 'go', she mouthed.    "How rude of that pirhanocerros to interrupt Rarity's not-family non-reunion." Surprise wiped her brow of imaginary sweat.    "Surprise!" Megan scolded the pegasus, pausing as she realized the laughter she heard was coming from...    Rarity was doubled over, laughing so hard tear were squeezed from her eyes. That was certainly the case, no other possible explanation, certainly. "Ahahahaha… hahh, oh dear, heh, I must be in trouble if Surprise's jokes are becoming amusing." She sniffed once and summoned a cloth to wipe her face… eyes turning back to the unconscious member of their band.    "We need–" The unicorn began, stopped before she started.    "We," Surprise pointed her forehoof between the human and herself, "Need to look after Firey, sure. Youuu," the blonde pony once again demonstrated her lack of respect for personal space, resting her forehead against Rarity's. "Need." She reached into her bags, "To," tossing out several items, including a pineapple, rubber chicken, and a boomerang,"READ." She pushed something into Rarity's muzzle, "THIS." Something very … pink.    Rarity caught the heavy object in her magic, and started. It felt … not heavy,per se… but at the same time it had weight. "W–" but she knew what it was, the Pink Book. She eyed the prancing pegasus pony's perambulations. "Can I trust you to look after Firefly?"    Surprise grinned, vigorously shaking her head back and forth, "Nope, but Megan will, as though her life depended on it."    The human rubbed the back of her neck, "She's … heh, I suppose Surprise has got me there."    Casting one last worried glance at Firefly, who had at least quieted, she turned her attention to the tome. It was certainly ... pink. Frowning, she pulled the cover open and began to read...    A blue pegasus mare gazed out over a city of clouds. Pristine and sparkling white, several dropping streams of concentrated liquid rainbow. Some of the furthest buildings looked transparent. "You know, I used to have friends like that. Hay, Rarity used to be my friend."    Firefly scoffed, "You mean Rainbow Dash was one of Rarity's friends, don't you?"    The copy hung its head, "Hey, c'mon, I'm the one dying, can't you at least let me keep a few illusions?" Thunder sounded in the distance.    The pink pegasus snarled, "You wanted to destroy me, to take over my very being, I don't owe you a thing."    The copy's rainbow-hued mane shook as she laughed, "Yeah, and you were just as willing to destroy me back… you just had better backup."    Firefly nodded, watching the ancient city crumble to clouds and then vapor. "So what happens now?"    The dashiform eyed the young mare, "No idea, I thought this was your show."    Shaking her head, Firefly considered the matter. "I think… the seed was supposed to remove all foreign elements. So the enchantment that was imprinting you on my mind was broken. So… I guess my mind is repairing itself?"    "Good," The copy nodded sharply. When the pink pony eyed her skeptically she shrugged, "I lost, that doesn't mean I have'ta be a spoilsport about it." Her voice held a vibrato that questioned her bravado.    "Can... Then can I ask you a question, before… ?" Firefly felt simultaneously guilty and resentful, 'This is ridiculous! I didn't even take the seed on purpose; and, need I remind myself, she was willing to erase me?' It didn't help.    "Sure kid, shoot." The Rainbow imprint made the same gesture as the trigger function on an RI Spectrum Blaster.    The pink pony searched for the right words, "Do you really have all of Rainbow Dash's memories? Are you a complete imprint?"    The blue pony shrugged, "Far as I know. I remember all the radical things she did, have all of the memories I can remember. Anything I'm missing is an unknown unknown."    Firefly had to be sure, "Even, even the … not good stuff?"    Frowning, the copy answered, "Yeah, I remember a bunch of stuff I wouldn't be proud of, if I weren't only a copy, as you keep reminding me."    'So close… c'mon...' "Ssso, you remember the uh…" Firefly wracked her brains, "Um, 'Young Fliers' Contest' ?"    The mental mare grinned, "Do I? Hay, that wasn't a bad memory, that's a darn good one." She frowned again, " All those... moments... will be lost in time, like tears... in…"    The pink pegasus grit her teeth, head lowered, "They… they don't have to be."    The Imprint looked at the young mare, "I … look, thanks for trying to cheer me up, but it's over. Even if you were insane enough to want to give me your spot, you couldn–"    "Heh. See, that was Rainbow Dash's problem. No ability to think laterally. Everything has to be straightforward or she couldn't even conceive of it." Firefly looked up, grinning. "My mind is reknitting itself right now. Rejecting what's foreign and restoring ME."    The rainbow-maned pony nodded slowly, mostly lost.    "I'm sure I could spare a chunk of my mind to keep you around, as a passive voice in my head. It would be survival of a sort." The pink mare's confidence began to solidify, her idea made sense, "IF I can trust you."     Water brimmed at the edge of the imprint's eyes, "Wwhy would you do that?"    "Two–" Firefly shook her head, "Three reasons. First, I think we both got a raw deal from Rainbow's Impression… you didn't ask for this any more than I did. This is all my head now, so I know what you thought and felt before… calm down, I'm letting you have your privacy right now, but the fact is, I know you didn't exactly feel great about it when you were winning."    The imprint avoided eye contact while nodding.    "On top of that, killing you would only be a question of survival. That occupied so many of my thoughts these last few years, became all I could worry about… I don't want to just survive." She stomped on the cloud, which was now the only 'ground' visible. In the distance the sun set, stars already visible on the far side of the horizon. Firefly frowned, "I-I'm not saying I won't ever take a life… but if I do.. it's going to be my choice."    The visage of Rainbow Dash shivered, "A-and the third thing?"    The pink mare grinned, head canted forward until her blue bangs covered her eyes, "You have knowledge that can help me achieve something … radical." As the imaginary moon rose, the dreamscape vanished. ...and thus was the land blighted, not even a blade of grass would rise from that fallow earth for a span of a hundred generations. It is unwise to spend long in such places, though it should be noted that yeast cultures seem to react positively to the residual energy. See Rolls, Cinnamon (pg 413)–     "Hey Rarity, double-good news!" Surprise wiped the side of her barrel; she grinned, fit to split her head in half.    The unicorn raised an ear, not looking up from the tome which stubbornly refused to make any simple sort of sense, "Yes, darling?". Her nostrils wrinkled, something acrid at the edge of her awareness.    "Well, first of all, Firefly's awake again..." The blonde pegasus jumped in place, wings fluttering.    Rarity and Megan both looked up, standing to get a better view–    "Aaand I think she's done throwing up as well!" Surprise chirped, pulling a towel out of her saddlebags.    The white mare blanched, "How, er, wonderful…"    The pink pegasus groaned, bleary eyes focusing on her gathered friends. "Ugh, hi."    "Firefly?" Rarity asked, not quite willing to accept good news at face value. Not in the ULE.    "Yeah, the one and … only." Firefly smiled, weakly but fully. Tears brimmed in her eyes, "It's finally over, the whole nightmare." She reached to wipe her eyes, Megan intercepted the hoof and applied a kerchief. The pink pony glanced at her leg, more interested in the pinkish color of her fur than the accumulated effluvia.    The moment Firefly seemed to be considering it, Surprise pushed the other two into a group hug. Rarity was surprised to discover that under the circumstances she was so relieved that everything seemed okay for the moment that she was almost okay with the yuck. Almost. 'Well, for a few minutes, anyway.'    The moment passed in silence, save a sniffle or two. Finally Rarity had to speak, "Firefly, we are all so very happy for you. But… perhaps we could celebrate by getting clean?"    Firefly relaxed out of the hug, taking a chance to examine herself, and immediately wrinkled her muzzle. "Ugh, yeah. That sounds like a really good idea." "There's a stream over that way," Surprise pointed, hovering a few feet in the air, her coat as sparkling clean as usual.    Rarity frowned, "Ah, thank you, Darling. But tell me, just a moment ago, weren't you–"    "Oh yes," the blonde flier nodded solemnly, "I've been around for a whooole lot of moments. Whole minutes even, and bunches of those too."    The unicorn eyed her frizzy friend, nodding, as she turned to accompany her other two friends in the odd era as they went to wash.    Surprise's left ear twitched to the sound of three pairs of leathery wings cutting through the breeze. She rolled over on her back, waving hooves errantly in the sunlight.    The basso rumble of a deep laugh followed, vague sounds of conversation coming clearer. Surprise's other ear joined in, her aural orientation fixing the location of the three noisemakers.    "...then the acid spitter tried to eat your head, that was awesome."    "Uh, yeah, I remember that, I was there after all."    "I know, the look on your face before I slammed the little twerp into the ground was priceless."    "Ha hah, prizeless."    "Ruby, that's not what…" Sapphire sighed, landing with a clomp. "Ok, I guess it was pretty funny."    The ground shook as the red draconid landed; the green sibling circling for a smoother, more controlled landing still chuckling.    Sapphire was startled when the blonde pegasus pushed herself into the air with her wings and rolled to a standing position in midair. "You're back!" She cried, grinning at the three hybrids.    The blue draconid scratched his neck scales, "Um, are you one of Rarity's friends? Can y–"    "Why she's only my bestest and most long-lastingest living friend in the whole wide United Lands of Equestria." A wide grin seemed to follow the trio wherever they moved.    Sapphire looked for support from his siblings, but they seemed content to let him deal with the madmare. "I don't…" He shook his head, "May we please talk to Rarity?"    "Sure!" Surprise nodded, frizzy hair exaggerating the motion. She stopped, frowning, "Thought ya might want to wait 'til she gets back." Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, "A lot of ponies think it's weird if you talk to someone who isn't there."    The red pony-dragon rubbed his horn ridges, "Uh, where is she, if she's not here?"    "Washing up," The pegasus arched her back, stretching vigorously enough to audibly pop several joints. "She'll be back pretty soon, in the meantime you don't need to worry your scaly head, Auntie Surprise'll take care of you."    "Who?" Emerald asked flatly, dreading the answer.    "Why, me, you silly filly!" The mare hugged the green-scaled hybrid, lifting her off the ground and causing the dragoness to squeal in a rather undignified manner. Moments later she was released, and wasted no time turning around, snarling bloody murder… only to find nopony there. "Over here, dear." Came a call from all the way over where Surprise had been seen when they first landed.    'How the… oh,' Emerald's eyes narrowed, 'I've got your number now, just try that agai–'    "Hey look, here they come!" The blonde mare chirped, hopping toward her friends as they returned, damp but clean. "Rarity, the children that it would have been genetically impossible for you and … uh, Spike to have had are here again!"    Rarity had just about decoded the comment when she caught sight of the trio. Apprehension and optimism formed a brittle balance in her heart. "W-well, fancy meeting you again, so soon."    The green hybrid turned her glare to the unicorn, "Save it. How soon are you leaving?" She saw    "I was hoping to–" Rarity found herself interrupted, again.    "We kind-of need to get back to … uh…" Megan scratched her forehead, "Just what is the name of the continent we came here from? The only thing I can think of is 'Equestria'."    Firefly nodded, "That's right."    "Hold on, the continent is called 'Equestria'? I thought that was the name of the Country."    "It's that, too." The pink pegasus frowned, was she explaining this badly?    "... ok, what do you call the planet?" The human frowned at the blank stares she was receiving from all around. "Um, the 'world'?"    "Oh, oh, oh!" Surprise chirped, "I know this one, it's …" she leaned in close, "Equestria!"    I was the last straw. "You can't DO that!" Megan didn't realize she had stomped her foot until she felt it jar against the ground. "It makes no sense to use the same name for everything."    Firefly frowned, "But there aren't any cities called Equestria. And besides, we know what we mean when we say it."    "Well that's smurfing smurfy, but how do you smurfing smurf to smurf a smurf to a smurf-smurfed non-Equestrian?" The human rubbed her temples.    Ruby frowned, "What's a smurf?" It sounded tasty.    Emerald rolled her eyes, "It doesn't matter. If the alien is done criticizing Equestrian culture, we're trying to help– er, to get rid of you lot."    She tried to let the statement go without commenting on it, but… "Why are you willing to help us, to help me?" Rarity just couldn't let it pass.    Sapphire grinned as Emerald tried to avoid eye contact with the perplexed purple-maned pony, "I… guess I don't completely hate your guts." Mumbled the dragon-mare.    Rarity didn't say anything, but she couldn't help smiling. 'Maybe… maybe if there is an after I can come back here and truly get to know these lost children.' The thought tempered her smile, but didn't kill it.    Firefly spoke up, "Um, for my part I'm willing to accept help." She flexed her wings… her natural, completely non-cybernetic wings. She shied away from examining the idea too deeply. Eventually it would be necessary to exercise them, but starting with a trans-continental flight didn't sound like a good first step.    "If you're headed back to Equestria," Sapphire pointedly ignored the biped's grumbling in the background. "We can arrange a ride for you."    Surprise's eyes lit up, her mouth curling into another enormous smile, and she bounced up and down, giggling while hugging herself.    Ruby smiled, "Can I do it?"    Sapphire opened his mouth, closed it again, and then nodded. "Sure, Ruby, go ahead."    The pegasus's smile continued to widen.    The red dragon/pony drew in a deep breath, and continued inhaling for several seconds. He held the breath for a moment, straightening out his back, and partially unfurling his wings. For a moment it looked like he was simply standing with his mouth agape, but then the ponies and human began to feel their ribcages resonating, and a deep rumbling noise became audible as Ruby's call swept up the scale. The sound dipped back into subsonics to more times, rising and falling like the waves of an invisible sea.    The red hybrid's chest swelled as he inhaled, wings beating  once, twice, just enough to lift his front paws off the ground. As he returned to a standing Ruby hunched his shoulders and brought his head down. Eyes closed the drake began to exhale, mouth wide open. Nothing could be heard at first, but everyone could feel a deep vibration in their ribcages. Finally they heard a low droning that rose in pitch to a roar which echoed through the forest. Rarity imagined she could even hear the sound echoed back from the clouds above.    Surprise flew in a tight circle over the unicorn's head, laughing aloud, "That's not an echo, silly filly. There's whale of a difference."    'Does she mean skywhales?' Rarity wondered, disturbed to be gaining insight into the mad mare's musings.    "Correctamundo mi amiga." The white pegasus pony preened.    "Stop doing that." the unique unicorn ululated.    "What, speaking in a foreign lang–"    "No, stop reading my mind." Rarity huffed. "It's … rude."    The green drake looked over, "Wait, what?"    Further discussion was tabled by the arrival of immense flying cetaceans. Megan reached up to shade her eyes and realized it wasn't necessary, the flock – 'pod? Eh, who knows.' – blocked out the sunlight, turning noon to dusk. She whistled, lips curling in a grin as she changed pitch. 'Re, Mi, Do, do, S...'    "Please do not do that." Sapphire interrupted the human's recital. "If you get them started, the best you can hope for is to be stuck here for several hours."    The human hunched her shoulders, her grin becoming a wince. When her gaze fell on Firefly, Megan's expression became more thoughtful. "Hey, Firefly. Um, are you going to be ok… ah, flying up to those thi–" She caught sight of the drakes and Surprise frowning, "...the sky… whales?"    The pink pegasus stretched her wings, flapping them several times before donning a cocky grin. "I haven't felt this good in years." She wobbled slightly getting airborne. "Buuut, I probably shouldn't try to carry anyone until I've gotten a little remedial practice in."    "Not a problem." Megan replied, calling on her computer to lift her off the ground.    The finality of their departure caught in Rarity's throat as she tried to find something to say to Sapphire, Emerald, and Ruby, 'Those are even names I would have considered...' The unicorn lifted her chin, determined to say something. "Thank you… I wish…" it was difficult to find words to describe–    Surprise laid a hoof on the unicorn's horn and hissed in her ear, "Don't. Wishing is a terrible habit. And-hay, ee've-way ot-gay oo-tay am-scray."    Sapphire frowned, "What?"    "They need to scram, Sapphy." Ruby replied, nodding sagaciously as he waved at the receding white ponies.    The three siblings watched the skywhales vanish into the distance.    Emerald eyed her brothers, "So what happened to F– ... to the Director's remains?"    Sapphire shrugged, "They collapsed into dust. There's nothing to get sentimental about."    The green pony-dragon smacked him upside the head, "I meant where is it. Ruby and I never got to see." After a moment's consideration she smacked him again, "And where do you get off calling me sentimental, you goof?"    Sighing, Sapphire surrendered to the inevitable, leading his siblings to the depression near the river where Fluttershy's imprint had passed away. A brittle and withered sapling lay surrounded by a thick layer of yellowed loam. If one squinted very hard it was almost possible to see the branches of the tree as the skeleton of a pony–    "What's she hidin?" Ruby asked, frowning. He glanced at his siblings, who didn't seem to know what he meant. Frowning, the larger hybrid carefully reached into the dusty duffy detritus. "Looks like she was protecting… um," he focused on his claw-tips, feeling around, before suddenly withdrawing his paw and backing away, surprise writ large on his muzzle.    "Ruby, what are you…" Emerald's curiosity got the better of her and she reached in where her brother had been rooting around in… roots. There was a hard object, mostly oval-shaped and about as long as her foreleg. She pulled it out of the pile and gasped.    It had the wooden consistency of a seed, but its shape suggested a foal curled upon itself, with just the hint of  a wing nub visible.    The travelers spent much of the trip lost in their own worlds. Rarity continue to read the Pink Book with an intensity her purple friend would have approved of, determined to tease out some manner of sense from Pinkie Pie's random rambling writings. Meanwhile, Firefly had convinced Megan to summon up a stack of blank paper and a pencil, and had begun her own scribblings.    The human, for her part, had despaired of finding any source of distraction… until Surprise had offered to point out some of the constellations of the Equestrian sky.    "Those three over there used to be the center of Porko the Boar, umm… I thiiink that one there, no, the blue-ish one, to the left. Yeah, that used to be the start of Carrotus Majoris. And is there still… oh, nope, none of the stars are left'a the little carrot, sorry." The pegasus became increasingly quiet as she scanned the sky for more stars.    Megan bit her lip, "Um, hey, that's … uh, it's ok. Why don't we … er … do … something else?"    Surprise nodded, "Y-yeah. Tell you what, you start and I'll catch up, kay?" and turned back to the sky.    Rarity turned back to the Pink Book, feeling vaguely voyeuristic for having watched. ...by tightly wrapping mana flows of opposing spin around a subject, their connection to gravity can be lessened. Side effects can include nausea and acrophobia. Ginger may help alleviate the prior. Unfortunately you're not going to have much time to practice this one before you need it, so just give it a shot. Remember, the trick is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.    Rarity frowned, closing the book. 'Really, these pranks are getting to be too much. Why would I–'    "There are fewer stars..." Surprise commented, sounding agitated.    Rarity regarded the sky, a deep velvet cast with far fewer of the beautiful sparkling lights she remembered from her own time. "Yes, they are terribly depleted, aren't they?" she sighed.    "N-well yes, but NO, that's not what I was… WATCH OUT!" The white pegasus shouted as bright light filled the sky and a crackling roar could be heard.   Alerted, everyone looked up as four blazing orbs shot out of the sky, the arc of their descent intercepting the skywhales' flight path.    The first star fell twenty yards to their left, its own passage making remarkably little noise, but the ear shattering scream of the whale, combined with the scent of burning flesh and the concussive 'pop' as its ballast burst distracted from that.    By the time the group had stumbled to their feet, two more stars had fallen, one missing the whales entirely, though it badly startled a cow and calf. The other struck directly amidships on one of the largest of the beasts, and the burning orb seemed to explode outward, shattered fragments of the creature shooting in every direction.    What Rarity would remember most about the moment was the peculiar squeaking quality of its death scream as the cry was cut off by the destruction of its lungs. That really seemed to be the moment the unicorn realized this was truly happening, and that she and her friends were in grave dang–    "INCOMING!" Megan cried, diving to knock both Rarity and Firefly off the back of the whale they had been standing on, stupefied. The ground, which had looked so far away a moment before, came rushing up to greet them with alarming speed.    It took Rarity several moments to realize the screaming she heard was her own.