//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: The New Generation // by Autobot Lancewing //------------------------------// Chapter 7 Clover finished talking with one of the instructors and was scheduled a chance to audition. She breathed a sigh of relief after exiting the building now that that part was over. "So where do you want to go now," Meadowlark asked. “I… I don’t know.” "Would you like to find an outfit for your tryout?" “Um… Sure.” "Okay, there's a place at the mall that has some. Shall we?" “We shall," Clover grinned. ****** Garuda, Gilda, and Katsumi entered the large Crystal Castle. They were holding the bags that contained the two ponies they were after. They weren’t struggling any more after a few well placed kicks from Gilda, something Garuda wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of. "So... Cadence said she'd meet us here, right?" Garuda asked. “Yes,” Gilda said. "So...where is she?" “She’ll be here soon. Just wait…” Garuda rolled his eyes. “Don’t start.” "Your mother's right. Good things come to those who wait,” a voice said. The trio looked in the direction of that voice to see Cadence and Shining Armor. Shining was wearing a collared shirt, khaki pants, and tennis shoes. Cadence was wearing a yellow t shirt, jeans, and heels. Her hair was done up in a pony tail. "I'm sorry I'm late." Cadence apologized. "I was held up with an ambassador.” “Hey, don’t worry about it,” Gilda said, “Both of my parents were ambassadors.” "Well...these were the Canis ambassadors, and they are not easy to deal with." “Hey, try my parents. They’d crush Canis like a bug.” "Aunt Celestia told me stories about her dealings with them. She didn't learn till my dealings with you that they were married." "I understand. I had a hard time accepting it myself for a long time." “I know. Good thing Garuda came into the picture, right?” “Yeah, because it wasn’t just my being on the street with him that was on my mind; it was them. I didn’t want him to go through the same thing I did.” "I'm right here you know." Garuda pointed out. “I know. And so are your targets, Princess Cadence.” She unzipped both bags to reveal the slave traders. Shining looked at both bodies. "Was that necessary?" “They were kickin’ a while ago…” "I meant the bags." “Oh. Yes, we had to conceal them.” "Or you could just request a police transport." Gilda facepalmed. “Oh well, at least they got a taste of their own medicine…” She changed her focus to Cadence. “So, you wanted to talk about something?” “Yes, a news report came up that the sibling of one of the victims has seen Garuda in ninja form and saw a photo that one of the slave traders dropped.” Garuda suddenly said, "Really? THAT again?" “It happened,” Cadence said. “Anyway, we need you to go back to Ponyville as a student.” “You mean I have to give up homeschooling?!?!” “Only for a while.” "Terrific..." Garuda muttered. “It’s the only way you can get close to this person.” Garuda sighed. “You better not expect me to do well.” “Your father and I will,” Gilda said. “Oh boy… I really need to be more careful with sneaking around.” Katsumi gave Garuda a look. “What?” “Your mother and I expect you to behave.” “Well...it’s just kind of a big transition. And school doesn’t take me eight hours.” “That’s because they need time to walk to the different classrooms. Besides, I went to schools like that when I was your age.” Gilda explained. “But...then I can’t hang out with you guys…” Garuda tried to give his parents his best puppy dog eyes. It didn’t work. “Trust me, you’ll make new friends.” “I doubt it…” “Not with that attitude.” “Again with that?” “Well...if you TRY to make friends, then you will.” “Alright, but I won’t like it.” Shining Armor sighed. “I’ll leave this to you, Caddie. It’s your thing.” Cadence looked at Shining. “Again, you need to work on your nicknames,” she said. “Well what can I call the ‘Princess of love’?” “I don’t know, what do you call the Princess of Love?” Garuda gagged. Gilda glared at him. “What?” ****** Night had finally fallen on Ponyville, and all was quiet… Except for Sweetheart’s house. Her “End of Summer/Beginning of School” Slumber Party was starting to liven up. All seven ponies were playing a wild game of charades, and it’s Clover’s turn. She held out three fingers. “Three words,” Patch guessed. Clover nodded and stamped her foot three times. “Angry?” She shook her head. “Mad,” Bright Eyes guessed. “Patch already guess that,” Clover said. “Clover, you’re not supposed to talk,” Bon Bon pointed out. “Sorry, I forgot.” She stamped her foot again. “The number three,” Sweetheart guessed. Clover smiled and nodded. Then showed two fingers. “Second word,” Bright Eyes noted. Clover nodded, then curled up in a small ball. “Rolling,” Melody guessed. Clover shook her head and held her hand a short distance from the floor. “Short,” Bon Bon guessed. She shook her head. “Little,” Bright Eyes guessed. Clover nodded. “Three Little pigs!” Melody exclaimed. Clover’s shoulders slumped. “How did you know?” Melody smirked. “The twins LOVE that story.” “Oh yeah.” Sweetheart’s mother walked in. “So how are you girls doing?” “We’re really, truly doing well, Mom,” Sweetheart said. “That’s good to hear. So...would you girls like some popcorn?" “Oh that would be really, truly nice.” "Okay. I'll go get you some." Sweetheart's mom went into the kitchen and started making popcorn. As Clover sat down, Patch asked. "So what do you wanna do now?" “Well, I’m sure everyone has something interesting to spill,” Melody said, grinning deviously. Bright Eyes frowned. "I'd rather not gossip, Mrs. Applebloom told me a story about when she wrote gossip in her school newspaper...didn't go well." Melody looked at Bright Eyes flatly. “That’s not what I meant.” "Then what did you mean?" “Just talk about something. I mean, you seem pretty close to Lancer.” Bright Eyes' cheeks turned red. "W-we're just friends..." “Right,” Patch said, “And I’m in love with Chain Link.” “Really, we are just friends.” “So would Ms. Zecora say the same thing.” “Why are you dragging her into this debate?” "Why not?" “You are her apprentice,” Starlight added. Bright Eyes blushed even more, "She probably knows we're just friends." “Probably doesn’t say that you are.” "Girls," Sweetheart interjected, "If Bright Eyes doesn't want to say anything, then we really, truly shouldn't pressure her." “Fine,” Melody groaned. “Besides, I really, truly don’t try to do the same thing to you.” “Yeah… You’re right.” “But she does teach me some interesting things,” Bright Eyes said. "Like?" “Well, there is one potion that calls a different version of you from another dimension,” she answered, “I drank it and summoned a wolf version of me.” Melody looked at Bright Eyes. "A wolf version of you?" “Yeah, she had my fur color, cutie mark, everything. The only difference is that she was on all fours and couldn’t talk.” "Hmm...I wonder what other kinds of 'us' there are," Bon Bon pondered. “No clue, but the potion lasts for thirty minutes. After that, he or she is brought back into his own dimension.” “Okay…” “You know, it would be pretty hard to be you,” Melody said. “Want to test that theory?” “Is that a challenge?” Patch asked with a smirk on her face. “Yup.” Melody smirked. “Okay then,” Bright Eyes said, “Give me your best impression.” Patch cleared her throat, and in her best Bright Eyes imitation, said. “Hello, I’m Bright Eyes, and I think Lancer’s super cute.” “I don’t talk like that!” Bright Eyes blushed. “Well, she sounded right, at least.” Melody noted. “And she did get one thing right,” Starlight added. Bright Eyes’s blood was boiling, but she tried to calm herself down. Sweetheart’s mother came in with a large bowl of popcorn. “Here you are, girls. One big bowl of popcorn.” She handed the bowl to Sweetheart. “Thank you,” Sweetheart said. “My pleasure. As soon as you are done in here, it’s time to hit the showers.” “Okay.” Sweetheart took a piece of popcorn before placing the bowl on the floor by the rest of the girls. As the girls munched on the popcorn, Starlight asked. “So, what should we do after our showers?” “Maybe we should tell ghost stories,” Patch suggested. Melody gave Patch a strange look. “I don’t think we’re camping, Patch.” “Does it make it any less fun?” Melody paused, “I guess not…” “Good. So we’ll do it after our showers.” “Okay...then what?” Bon Bon asked. “We turn in I guess,” Clover said. “No… You’re not supposed to sleep at slumber parties.” Melody pointed out. “Yeah, and I brought over three seasons of RNIS,” Bright Eyes said. Everyone looked at her. “I don’t think we’d be able to watch that many,” Bon Bon said. “Well...we could try to watch some of them…” “Okay,” Sweetheart said. “Wait,” Melody interrupted, “It isn’t RNIS: Los Pegasus, is it?” “No,” Bright Eyes said, “it is the main series. By the way, it’s a spin-off. What did you expect?” “Apparently, too much…” Melody sighed. “I like RNIS: LA…” Patch confessed. Bright Eyes raised her hand signaling for a high-five. Patch acknowledged her request and high-fived her. Melody rolled her eyes, “Does anyone ELSE like RNIS:LA?” Sweetheart and Starlight raised their hands. Melody sighed, “There is no hope for our generation.” Everyone laughed. ****** Bright Eyes had her hand in a sock puppet that was supposed to look like their new teacher, Miss Hackney. “Alright class,” Bright Eyes said through her puppet, “Nopony will be able to hear the ghost story until everypony has finished their homework.” “But Miss Hackney,” Bon Bon’s sock puppet groaned, “Our homework isn’t due till next Friday.” “No excuse.” Bright Eyes walked over to Sweetheart. “I see you haven’t finished your homework. Naughty, naughty, naughty…” “But Miss Hackney,” Sweetheart’s sock begged, “You only gave me five minutes, and I really, truly couldn’t write about the history of Equestria in that amount of time.” “Hey Miss Hackney,” Patch said before hurling her pillow at Bright Eyes. Bright Eyes shrieked before the pillow made contact with her. “Shame on you! No RNIS for you tonight.” "It was so worth it." Patch said through fits of giggles. “We shall see,” Bright Eyes smiled deviously. Just then, Starlight walked into the room. “Hey.” Bright Eyes stuffed the sock in a pocket beneath her flank. “Hey Starlight.” "Hey...so what are you guys doing?" Starlight sat down on the couch. “Having fun with sock pockets.” "Ah... Sounds fun." “It really, truly is,” Sweetheart said. "Well...unfortunately only socks I bought are dirty. So I guess I'll have to just watch." “Or we can start the stories,” Patch said. "Sounds good to me." "Okay. I think Patch should start, since she suggested it." Clover nominated. "Uh...well, okay..." Patch started to think, then. "Anyone here heard of Squire?" “Squire?” Bon Bon asked. “Yeah, he was Celestia’s first ever student.” “Wow,” Bright Eyes said, “What happened to him.” “Well, one day, a dragon names Basil was causing trouble for Equestria.” "He was probably bigger than Mr. Spike," Melody assumed. “You got that right; he was the size of Canterlot Castle!” "Wait," Bright Eyes interjected. "The current Canterlot castle or the old one?" “The old one.” “Okay, I just needed to get that image in my head. Continue.” "Okay, well, Squire was so annoyed with this dragon that he snuck out of the castle and headed for the dragon's cave, which was smack dab in the middle of the Everfree forest." “I’m going to guess that it was a mistake,” Clover said. "Yup. There were snakes, timber wolves, fruit bats, and cockatrices." “But he made it,” Bright Eyes guessed. “Yes. In fact, it was his clever thinking that allowed him to get to the cave. What he immediately saw was the bones of the ponies who tried to tried to beat the dragon and failed.” This made Sweetheart shiver. "Did he get to the dragon?" Melody asked. “No. He fought Basil bravely, but he was consumed by the flames.” "Uh-huh...where's the 'ghost' part?" Bright Eyes asked. “His ghost continued to live on looking for Basil.” "Oh…” “Anyway, who’s up for an RNIS marathon?” Bright Eyes asked. Every girl shot her hand up. “Perfect.” Bright Eyes took one of the DVDs and inserted it into the DVD player. She took the remote and began the episodes.