Back in the Peisistratos, the sound of heavy swearing proclaimed the arrival of a very pissed off pegasus. She was covered head to hoof in blood, making her actual colors practically impossible for another person to discern without taking a hose to her. Seeing as this was a library, that route of investigation was impossible for several reasons. Even an eldritch, practically infinite library has its limits.
For the pegasus’ part, her eyes began widening in surprise as she took in her surroundings and she began hovering, uncertainty flashing over her muzzle. “What the flock…”
The spell was broken the second her gaze passed over the first pegasus who had came through the Door. The new pegasus’ face twisted in utter fury, snarled viciously, and shot towards the other pegasus. The orange coated, lavender maned filly had wisely bolted the second the blood-soaked pony’s eyes met hers, and was attempting to lose her elder by weaving in between the various bookshelves.
Rainbow Dash, staring after them, asked a deceptively simple question. “Who was that chasing Scootaloo?”
“Someone whose voice is quite similar to yours,” The Beast said, also following their progress with his faceless visage. “Tell me, do you have any sisters?”
Rainbow Dash’s gaze flicked over to the Fear. “No, but someone looks up to me like one.”
After a moment of watching the frenzied (but ultimately repetitive) chase, The Beast went over to Lee. “Silvertongue, do you have any idea as to what is going on here?” he asked in low, rumbling tones.
Lee snapped to attention. “Erm, let’s see…” He racked his brain, trying to remember the events of Rainbow Factory. “There was the Spectra harvesting scene we witnessed,” shuddering at the memory, “…if what happened next kept close to the events of the story, there was an uprising among the enslaved pegasus fillies…”
He failed to notice Rainbow Dash paying attention, as he continued unabated.
“Then Scootaloo and – I’m pretty sure the other one was named Aurora Dawn – try to escape the facility through the hallways, only for Aurora to pull a Gandalf while Scootaloo escapes.” Lee paused. “Oh, that means she held the exit at the expense of her life, in case you didn’t get the reference.”
“I have read the Lord of the Rings, Silvertongue,” The Beast said, noting Rainbow Dash’s staring. “Please continue.”
There was an almost polite knocking coming from the nearby Door. “Anyway, that story’s Rainbow Dash, who is revealed to be a Class S psychopath as well as the manager of the Rainbow Factory, chases Scootaloo through the hallways with the single thought of bumping her off occupying her mind.” Lee continued, walking over to answer the Door. “Hang on,” Lee said, opening the Door for a pegasus with a taser in his hoof, who in turn lunged forwards with his weapon –
“…that was AFTER she brutally slaughtered the fillies who formed a living barrier between the goons and Scoots, and had tossed Aurora into the Spectra machine – thus killing her – and coating her and her suit with blood in the process.” Lee said, slamming the Door in the guard’s face without pausing or changing his tone.
On the other side of the Door, the guard let out a drunken cackle before falling onto another fallen guard, who grunted once in his own painful response.
Back in the Peisistratos, Silias noticed the Rainbow Dash on the ground had begun trembling. “Uh, Lee?”
Lee obliviously continued his retelling. “Anyway, she chases the filly through the halls until she reaches a chute in the wall, which Scootaloo follows and ends up back where she started. The original story would have Scootaloo surrounded and stunned by the guards, before Manager Dash (I’ll just refer to her as that for continuity purposes) prepares to send her into the machine, and the story ends on Scootaloo’s final words:
“‘You have beautiful eyes.’”
An angry tear fell to the floor. Silias could have sworn he heard something shattering.
Lee looked up to consider the rapidly appearing and disappearing forms of the pegasi above him, ignorant of the emotional turmoil he had just sown. “At least, that’s how the timeline progressed in the original story’s universe. In this instance, it appears that sometime during the chase sequence they managed to find the Door that led from their universe to here, and are currently stuck in an aerial pursuit.”
The Beast mulled over this information. “So we cut the casualties to a minimum by stopping them.” He looked towards the rapidly shrinking forms of the pegasi and managed to frown. “I think the first step should be to send them back our way.”
“What are you…” Lee muttered as he peered off to the distance. While the area they were in was still brightly lit, there was an abrupt shift to utter darkness a fair but clearly visible distance away. “Oh, right. I nearly forgot your presence did that.”
“So to be clear, the one chasing Scootaloo is an evil Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow asked in a deceptively calm voice.
Lee was still tracking the aerial chase, now headed towards them. “That’s the gist of it.”
“Then I’m going to personally rip off her cutie mark and feed it to her.”
Lee’s eyes widened for four reasons. The first was because he registered Rainbow Dash as the one who had just spoke. The second was because of what she just said. The third was because lightning was violently arcing between her wings like they were feathery Tesla coils. The fourth reason came on the heels of the third as Lee recognized the very real possibility of being struck by one of those bolts by accident. The fifth?
“Rainbow Dash!”
Dash whipped her head around just in time to see Scootaloo barreling towards her. The lightning that had begun crackling between Rainbow’s wings fizzled out into sparks seconds before Scootaloo plowed into her in a tackle-hug. “Thank Celestia you’re here,” the filly cried into the blue coat, darkening with tears. She drew her head up to look at Rainbow in the eyes. “There’s a Changeling or-or something in a disguise, and it…it…”
Scootaloo sank her face into Rainbow’s chest, sobs of terror, horror, and relief flowing freely. “I just knew it wasn’t you doing those things. I knew you’d never hate me that much.”
Rainbow Dash simply stared down at the filly in her embrace.
Stunned silence.
“Scoots,” Rainbow finally managed. “What happened to the…thing that was chasing you?”
“She’s fast, but her cornering is terrible,” Scootaloo said, sniffling a bit. “She went into this weird wall of darkness and I…I think I lost her.”
“You didn’t.”
Rainbow slowly lifted her head to regard the manager, who was hovering seven feet above the ground and covered in dried blood.
“I don’t know who you think you are,” Manager Dash snarled, “but that failure’s mine. Hand it over.”
Silias reached into his coat slowly, his hands slowly grasping the pair of pistols he carried on him at all times. He started to draw them out, but The Beast simply shook his head.
Silias ever so gingerly put the guns back in the coat.
Without taking her eyes off of Manager Dash, Rainbow gestured for Scootaloo to get up. The filly ducked behind a nearby bookcase, which would prove a very wise course of action. “She’s not a failure you pelican-brained nag!” Rainbow shouted at Manager Dash, her wings sparking once more. “And you’re not going to touch so much as a feather on her, or so help me I’m going to make you eat your primaries.”
“Oh yeah? Then come up and make me, whore!” Manager Dash snarled.
Rainbow launched herself into the air and towards Manager Dash, screaming in unbridled fury.
On the sidelines of the epic battle that followed, Lee had pulled out his paperback copy of Changes and had opened it to a section near the back of the book. He was attempting to use another of Dresden’s spells to resolve the situation, but the ridiculous amount of wind generated by the fight was threatening to tear the book apart in his hands. The Silvertongue closed the book, wondering what the hell he was going to do.
Rainbow Dash and her counterpart were really going at it, punching hard enough to crack stone, kicking with the speed of a hundred Shaolin monks, biting with the ferocity of wolves, and throwing lightning like a hung-over Zeus at his thrice-damned alarm clock.
An idea struck him, unlike the stray lightning that scorched the spines of some nearby books. He pulled out one of the leather gloves he had packed – the right one – and dug an etching tool out of his things. Making sure he had a good grip on Changes, which was currently under his arm as he worked, Lee placed the glove on his hand and carved a single word onto the back of the glove. Inspecting his handiwork, Lee had a good feeling it would work the way he intended it to.
Aiming his gloved right hand like a cannon at the battling mares, Lee began the nerve-wracking process of waiting until he had a clear shot…which Rainbow gladly provided by kicking Manager Dash in the face, sending the latter spinning away for a precious few seconds.
“Arctis!”
Manager Dash whipped her head towards Lee, her eyes suddenly widening in surprise. Before she could get out of the way, ice began consuming her body and paralyzing her limbs. She managed to let out a single, terrifying (or perhaps it was just terrified) scream before the frigid, crystalline coffin enveloped her entirely.
Well, almost entirely. Her nose was the only part that was exposed to the air, allowing the mare to breathe.
Rainbow looked over at Lee, who was doing his best to stay upright. “Hey, are you feeling okay?” she asked, frowning.
Lee winced. “I’m…really out of practice,” he said, trembling slightly. “I should take it easy for a few to get my stamina back.” Lee put his back to the bookcase after lowering himself to a sitting position on the floor. Reaching over his shoulder for his backpack, he paused. He had his toolbox strapped there, which meant Setton still had their supplies. Mentally kicking himself, he shifted his hand to rub the back of his neck.
The Beast stared intently at the Silvertongue, quietly filing this information away for later. It seems his abilities do have limits. Or at least, this is it when he hasn’t used any of his power for a while. Assuming he is not actually a Fear, his accomplishments over the past few hours are astonishing. First he brings a ‘fictional’ entity into his world from another universe, then he created living instruments with that same power. He has also unleashed a blast of raw force strong enough to fling a creature cross a room, outran a quadruped in territory familiar to her while carrying another on his back, and now he has encased a living creature in a prison of ice several feet in diameter.
If this is his power when he is ‘really out of practice,’ what can he manage at his full potential?
Lee stared back at The Beast, getting a little unnerved by the intensity of his gaze. Is he…inner monologing about me? I wonder if this is going to end up like that episode of Yu-Gi-Oh abridged, and we’re going to end up inner monologing together in a surreal example of meta humor.
What do you mean by that?
Oh, we’re going to end up just staring into space not doing anything but thinking to ourselves while everyone else is wondering what the hell we’re doing. It’s kind of the same as regular inner monologuing, actually.
I understand what you’re saying, and that is not so – oh.
Are we actually -?
It would appear so.
Huh. So…while we have this thing going on, what brought you here, anyway? I haven’t been able to take my mind off that hole in the plot for a while now.
There was a mental image of a blushing purple – sorry, lavender – unicorn in response to that double entendre.
What the fuck?
Was that you?
Of course it was not me. Was that you?
No. Wait, is that Twilight?
Um…hi?
Ah, now I remember you. You are the unicorn, correct? How did you get in our shared inner monlogue?
I-I’m like Superman – I know when I’m needed?
…okay, first off, are you seriously making a reference to Red Vs Blue? Second, aren’t you supposed to be with Setton? Last, but far from least, how long have you been there?
Well, I haven’t been listening to you two for very long…
…okay, now how do you know about Superman? Or Red Vs Blue. Either one.
She jumps into an inner monologing session that we are sharing, and you want to know how she knows about Superman?
Don’t question my priorities! Wait, how do YOU know about Superman?
I read.
…point granted, but that still doesn’t explain–
Okay, okay! I…might be wandering around Setton’s mind a little while making sure he is okay.
…come again?
Well, I saw some mental representations of memories pertaining to human culture and I couldn’t resist taking a liiiittle peek at this box of reels labeled ‘Favorite Video Series’–
Twilight. What the hell happened to Setton?
As far as I know, he’s fine! Nothing to worry about here. Nope, not at all. I’m just delving into his mindscape to rule out the possibility of a very mild case of serious brain damage, and it’s a bit of a long story why I’m doing it, but I need to ask you two something. Now, I know this might sound weird, but did a homicidal version of Rainbow Dash make it through on your end? I never thought I’d have to ask that question, but here I am.
Yeah, actually. I just encased her in ice a few moments ago using magic.
Is she…?
Dead? No, she can still breathe.
Oh, that’s good.
Speaking of that pegasus, where did she go?
What do you mean, she’s right ~
Lee turned to look at where he had left the psychotic pegasus, and he froze. No, not literally like Manager Dash had, but in the metaphorical sense. That would be ridiculous and convince Silias to start making terrible ice puns, and no one wants that. But back to the actual story…
“Silias – what happened to Manager Dash?”
Scootaloo turned around at the same time Rainbow did. Sure enough, there was a conspicuously empty space where the Dashcicle had been, with only a chilly section of floor to prove she was even there. Well, that and my narration of it being a thing that was real, but that doesn’t count to them and their perceptions of reality.
“Someone from her story – or universe, I suppose – came through looking for her.” Silias produced a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “She also left a note for you.”
Lee took the paper cautiously. “She did?”
“Her exact words were to give it to ‘the cute patootie after he finishes sharing an inner monologue with the faceless guy.’” Silias shrugged. “She even pointed at you to make sure I knew who she was talking about.”
Lee raised an eyebrow at this, but unfolded the note. In addition to few bloodstains, it was covered in glitter and doodles of hearts, confetti, balloons, a smiling pony with poofy hair, and heart shaped balloons.
Anatomically correct heart shaped balloons.
Hi there, cutie! Before you get all nervous for the wrong reasons, I’m not mad about anything you did. It was really super exciting, and I’d LOVE to throw you a special surprise. I won’t say what it is – that wouldn’t make it a surprise any more, silly! – but I reeeeeeeeally hope you haven’t eaten for a few hours. I’ll be waiting for you at Sugarcube Corner!
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention this in this note! You DID say you’d help me make cupcakes when I wasn’t baking with my friends. Well, I’m not baking with my friends tonight. After all, this Rainbow Dash isn’t my friend, is she? Nope, nope, nope – and that means she’s fair game, right? RIGHT?
Hee hee, I can’t wait! See you soon!
Love,
Pinkie Pie
P.S. I saw you eating that cupcake earlier, and I get why you threw half of it away. I bet it was because I made it from the last of the foal haunch I had on hoof, and that batch was getting stale. Well don’t worry your fluffy little head – tonight’s batch will be extra fresh!!!
P.P.S. Would it still count if you became my friend while I was baking with you?
Lee put down the note, blinking several times. This was…
Well, it was one of the weirdest things he had ever read. A part of him was terrified by its contents and its implications, while another part was excited about this turn of events. In the totally platonic, ‘oh how the plot thickens’ kind of rush he got whenever a twist came up in a narrative.
Thanks to the curious mix of emotions and the associated chemical reactions in his body it had inspired, that simple note had done wonders for getting him up and moving again.
“…did she look like a pegasus?” Lee asked after a beat of silence.
Silias shifted a bit. “She had wings, yeah.”
“…and did they match her coat’s color?”
Awkward silence. “They did not.”
Lee facepalmed. “Holy motherfuck. How didn’t that set off any alarm bells?”
Silias raised his arms defensively. “Hey, I’m not that familiar with how pony wings are supposed to work. How the hell was I supposed to know whether she was legit or not?”
“That’s a fair point,” Lee sighed. “Well, things just got a whole lot more complicated.”
The Beast regarded him curiously. “What do you intend to do?”
Lee crossed his arms. “Well, I’m going into what’s most likely a trap, set by someone I’m fairly certain has experience killing people she lures inside. While I’m there, I’m going to save Manager D–” Lee cut himself off, coughing abruptly. “The Factory’s Manager,” he corrected, “from dying a horrible death at the trap-setter’s hooves.”
Scootaloo’s eyes practically popped out of her skull. “Are you insane?! She’s a murderous, cold-blooded –”
“Living. Being,” Lee said, tone colder than the ice he had conjured earlier. “And she doesn’t deserve to die that way.”
Rainbow snatched the note from Lee, eyes narrowed as she went over its contents. Her expression became unreadable, apart from a dangerous, determined look in her eye.
“Be that as it may…” Silias said as he took the note from Rainbow’s hooves. If she were allowed to stare at it any more intensely, Silias wouldn’t have been surprised if the note caught fire. “It doesn’t say anything about you having to come alone, Lee, so I’m not letting you go alone.”
“Of course he won’t,” The Beast said, laying a hand on Lee’s shoulder. “I shall come with you.”
“Count me in, too,” Rainbow said. “She doesn’t deserve to die like that.”
Scootaloo stared at Rainbow Dash, jaw dropping in utter shock.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” Rainbow said as she looked up at Lee. “I’m going to help you save her, but only because I call dibs on making her life a living Tartarus before I send her there myself on a silver flocking platter.” Rainbow paused for a second. “Except the platter would also have a lot of painful things on it…and it’s all on fire. The point is, I’m no biology expert, but I’m pretty sure that can’t happen if she’s already dead.”
Scootaloo closed her jaw. Morbid promises aside, that made a lot more sense.
Silias glanced at Rainbow. “Okay, I get you’ve got an axe to grind –”
“Maybe on her vertebrae,” Rainbow cut in, as she mimed swinging an axe. “As, you know, it imbeds itself in her stupid spine or something.”
“– and I get that as a valid reason for wanting to go.” Silias continued without missing a beat. He then glared at The Beast. “But why you? You’ve done things that make her look like a saint.”
Both pegasi present looked at The Beast.
“That is probably true,” The Beast admitted.
Silias’ scowl lightened a bit. “Even if we decide to hand-wave that, your presence causes visibility to become nonexistent outside of the ‘eye of the storm’ that spans several meters around you. How the hell would that help in this situation?”
“Barring the obvious use it would have in covering a hasty retreat,” The Beast said as he cocked his head to one side. “You do realize that I can turn that off, right? In fact, since we started looking in the Doors, I made sure that it was ‘normal’ by most mortal standards.”
Scootaloo blinked. “Wait, so you were behind that wall of darkness?”
The Beast nodded. “Of course I was.”
“Why?”
“You would have probably kept flying away into the Peisistratos. Considering the practically limitless expanse of this library, and the way you both were expending your energy, you might have starved to death if you managed to stray too far on your own.”
Scootaloo looked around for a moment. “…okay, with that really creepy fact aside, I bet Twilight would have a field day with this place.”
“Once she finally accepts this place’s actual size, I wouldn’t be surprised if she demanded to have a summer home here made entirely of books,” Lee said, smirking. “Especially considering how most of the ones here are the direct product of a staggering number of otherworldly cultures.”
Rainbow laughed at that. “Oh, that so sounds like something Twilight would do.”
Scootaloo laughed along before she paid closer attention to what Lee had said. “Hang on. You’re saying that Twilight’s here?”
Lee waved his hand in a so-so manner. “Basically speaking, she is and isn’t close by. I’m pretty sure she’s behind the Door you took to get in here.”
Scootaloo looked at the Door in question. “What’s up with that, anyway? Is this place a part of the weather factory, or is the factory a part of this place, or –”
Lee, as much as he wanted to explain, had to cut her off. “I could tell you, but I think we shouldn’t keep P-the kidnapper waiting.”
The Beast nodded. “Quite right. I will be right behind you.”
“Seriously though,” Silias said, setting his jaw in frustration. “Me and Lee made it through five months of the freaking Rapture together, or Pre-Rapture if you wanted to get specific. That means – and this is just the highlights reel – we survived fighting a shit-ton of assorted monstrosities out for our blood, the destruction brought down by the Fears flipping out, and seven trips through Dogscape. If anyone should go with him, it’s me.”
Lee shook his head. “Silias, you know that most of those things were feral, mindless creatures looking for a meal. This is going against a slightly feral, intelligent creature looking for a meal. I’d rather have him by my side than you for this one – for one, he’s much harder to kill. Second, he and Dash volunteered before you did.”
Lee crossed his arms. “Then there’s reason number three: you’re already underestimating her far too much. You remember what happened when you underestimated spidercats.”
Silias shivered. “Don’t remind me.”
Rainbow looked Scootaloo right in the eyes. “You’re staying here too, Scoots,” she stated.
Scootaloo looked over at Silias, then back at Rainbow. “Why can’t I go with you? I can help!”
“You just got done with a high-speed aerial chase,” Lee cut in. “I don’t know much about pegasi, but I’m pretty sure the chase you were just in left you feeling tired and sore. No offense, but you’d be more of a liability in your condition.”
Rainbow gestured to Lee with a hoof. “What he said, and there’s no way I’m going to let you get hurt. Especially when we’re trying to save the mange-brained jerk who tried to kill you.” She then looked up at Silias. “That’s why I’m counting on you to stay with her.”
Scootaloo looked back at Silias. “But why him?”
Lee decided to just come out and say it. “Silias is currently standing in the middle of his freaking domain, with a swarm of bone spiders at his beck and call.” He looked at Silias. “You and I both know you’re virtually untouchable here, which means that Scootaloo would be safest here under your protection out of anyone available.”
Silias stared at Lee for a moment, while everyone else was staring at Silias. He then started laughing. “You really haven’t changed, have you? I admit, I’ve missed this side of you.”
Shaking his head, he turned to The Beast. “Can you make sure he doesn’t get himself killed?”
The Fear nodded briefly, and Rainbow crossed her forelegs as she hovered in the air. “The fastest flier in Equestria’s watching their backs. Both of these guys are in good hooves.”
Silias sighed. “Alright. Just be careful.” He watched as they went over to the Door and went through before he looked over at Scootaloo. “Well kid, since you’re staying here with me...” Silias gestured to the forms of Setton and Twilight on the catwalk below. “…want to help me hoist those two up here?”
Scootaloo looked down. “Oh, sure,” she said, clearly uneasy. “They…look really unconscious. And a lot less bloody than anything else in the room.” There was a very tense silence between the two as they descended, Scootaloo on her wings and Silias seemingly floating down to the metal catwalk. “Hey, maybe you can tell me about those what happened with those spidercat things so we can focus on anything but this hellish scene in front of us?”
Silias took in their surroundings. He hardly blamed her. “…just so you know, spidercats look like average everyday cats, except they have eight legs, a set of mandibles, and four eyes like a spider would. Well, except that the eyes look like a regular cat’s eyes. Kinda adorable in a strange kind of way, which is why when I saw my first one… ”
That’s enough of that for now. Adjusting our perspective to center on the mission to save Manager Dash, three figures emerged into Golden Oaks Library with determination set into their features. Or at least, as many of the features The Beast actually had, given he only had a mouth between his hat and scarf.
Rainbow looked at the now closed Door, blinking several times. “Okay, I’m just going to say this now. These Door things are really weird.”
Lee nodded. “That’s only the tip of the weirdness iceberg. Trust me, things are only going to get weirder from here on out.”
Rainbow flew over to him and looked him straight in the eyes. “I just went through a Door that links between universes on a mission to stop Pinkie Pie of all ponies from torturing slash butchering an alternate version of myself to death. Oh, and that alternate me’s apparently a child-killing psychopath bent on killing Scootaloo.”
Lee averted his gaze slightly to look at her forehead. “Don’t forget you went on this mission alongside a human with the power to bend reality by reading aloud,” he said, placing a hand on his chest, “and a faceless, slender man wearing a scarf made of blood, as well as hat made of flipping shadows, and carrying the ultimate defensive god-weapon in the shape of a plastic toy guitar.”
The Beast waved. “Hello.”
Rainbow processed this information for a moment. “To be completely honest, that doesn’t sound weird…actually, that sounds pretty flocking awesome!”
The Beast smiled at this. “I am glad you think so highly of us.” He then turned his head from side to side. “However, I must remind you that a life hangs in the balance, and that we should probably get moving. Where is the little amateur, anyway?”
Lee just stared at him for a second before he remembered who he was looking at. When he reflected a bit on The Beast’s words, though, Lee’s mind began racing. What the hell am I actually going to do when we get there? I don’t think a smash and grab would be a good idea. She knows how to get into the Peisistratos, so she could just hunt down some other Rainbow Dash, and that isn’t an option. Besides, someone’s likely to die in that scenario. Should I try and negotiate for her release instead? Well, I read the story, and that…didn’t work well, but maybe it was just because it was with her intended victim?
What if…what if I try to change her at the meta level? What if I used my power to remove the whole murder compulsion from her mind? If it came to it, Silias would have come in handy for such a plan. Or at least, a copy of Cupcakes so I’d be able to do it properly.
…no, I’ve read enough of the Dresden Files to know what a shitty plan that is. I’d be more likely to break her in an even worse way than actually help. Even if it weren’t a shitty plan, I’d probably need a version that had my involvement written in.
Fuck it. I’m just going to try diplomacy.
“Where else would she be? She has to be in Sugarcube Corner,” Rainbow said, waving the note around. “It’s not that far from here.” She caught a glimpse of the nearby window, and did a double take. “What the – why is it sunset already? I was only in that ‘Peisistratos’ place for, like, fifteen minutes!”
The Beast stalked over to the door. “If we are going to speak, can we do so while walking?”
Someone else spoke up near Lee. “Yes, let’s hurry this along. After all, we know someone’s dying to see you.”
Lee instinctively responded with, “Shut up, Mokuba!”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “What the –”
“Who is that?” The Beast asked.
“I call it my inner smartass,” Lee said, pulling his Book of Memories from his satchel. “Although, him being able to speak through my Book is completely novel.”
The Beast stared at Lee. “Now is not the time for such terrible puns. However, it is the time to exit this library.”
Lee looked at the Book and began muttering as he walked. “Perhaps this has something to do with how I can hear regular books speaking?”
Rainbow Dash blinked a few times, but she went through the front door all the same.
“Since when did he have his own voice?” The Beast asked once Lee had exited the building.
“Since the last time I was here,” Lee said. “The bastard wouldn’t shut up the entire time.”
“That’s not true!” the voice coming from the book said, his tone indignant. “I have been rather quiet, and let you do your own thing as of late…for the most part. Also, that ‘baking with your friends’ line was all you, Casanova, not me!”
“Are you seriously arguing with a figment of your conscious mind?”
“…yes,” Lee said. “Yes I am.”
“…you weren’t kidding about things getting weirder,” Rainbow said with a straight face.
“Oh, my sweet summer child.”
“Whatever the flock that is, he sounds really familiar,” Rainbow said, eyes narrowing at the Book in suspicion. “Are you sure his name’s supposed to be ‘Mokuba?’”
Lee idly tapped the spine of the Book. “Well, I could have called him Carlos, but that was out because it’s also the name of one of my favorite podcast characters. Why?”
Rainbow stared at the Book a bit more. “…no reason,” she finally said.
There was a moment of profound silence between them as they continued to walk through Ponyville’s streets towards their objective. However, they became more and more aware about how silent the rest of the town was, only echoing their footfalls as they progressed. There were no movements in any windows, no passerby on the street, not even a trace of wildlife could be seen or heard. The empty city did not hold its breath as they passed, for there was no breath to give.
Lee decided to break this silence himself. “Hey, Beast? What were you doing in the Peisistratos before we found you?”
The Beast let out a soft (but still bass) ‘hmn.’ “On my travels throughout Existence, I came across a self-righteous bitch and her army of thralls. I was able to fight her without outside intervention, but the moment I went to drive the thralls back…he appeared.”
Lee wondered why The Beast specifically chose those words, and was virtually praying his suspicions on the subject were false, but a more pressing question left his lips. “He?”
“A figure clothed entirely in red drove me back, wielding a peculiar white sword that radiated musical notes from the blade.”
Lee pondered this, and thought back to the notes. “Did he introduce himself as The Red Bard, by any chance?”
“…how did you know that?” The Beast asked.
Call it a lucky guess, Lee mused, before he briefly went over what he knew of The Red Bard from the notes he had left.
The Beast considered this information, rolling it around in his mind for a moment. “Peculiar. He looked quite young, appearing less than two decades old. At least, as far as I could tell.”
“Did he say anything to you?”
“Yes, but not much,” The Beast admitted. “He had told me that my continued presence would wreak havoc with the ‘Alpha Timeline,’ and that for now I had to leave as soon as possible.”
“So you just listened to him?” Rainbow cut in.
The Beast tilted his head slightly. “I was a bit preoccupied with wondering how he managed to parry one of my strikes with Aniland without any sign of physical strain, as well as the strange power I could feel radiating from his being. It felt…almost familiar, that energy, but not quite so. Then there was the fact that he managed to create a Door to the Peisistratos and force me through it a full attosecond before it closed behind me.”
“Hang on – why couldn’t you just reopen it?” Rainbow asked, pointing at the Silvertongue with a hoof. “Lee closed the Door we came through earlier, and we just came back with no problems at all.”
“The Red Bard apparently knows how to erase Doors from existence as well as create them. To a Fear on such a level as my own, that amount of power is incredibly disconcerting. At the very least, it implies his power rivals mine.”
“What’s so disconcerting about that?” she asked.
“I am the physical embodiment of Fear itself.”
Rainbow Dash swallowed audibly. “Not gonna lie, that sounds pretty flocking terrifying.”
“Which part – the one about The Beast being the physical embodiment of Fear, or the part where the Red Bard’s power rivals his power?” Lee paused a beat. “Sorry, I mean: the Red Bard.”
“The second bit, actually,” Rainbow clarified. “The Beast’s actually a pretty chill guy.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Hooray! You’re already becoming friends!”
“I guess we are, Pinkie,” Rainbow said with a smile, which quickly froze on her face.
Full stop.
“Um…how long have you been listening in?” Lee asked.
“As long as the writer allowed me to.”
“And…how long was that?” The Voice From Lee’s Book asked, sounding more than a bit disturbed.
“Pretty much the whole thing!” Pinkie said, giggling a bit near the end. “Also, it was really interesting listening to an inner monologuing session that wasn’t my own, let alone a three-way, and you’d have to be CRAZY to pass that opportunity up.”
Lee looked around them. They had managed to get to Sugarcube Corner during the conversation, and there was no sign of any other ponies apart from Rainbow Dash hovering nearby and Pinkie Pie grinning at them from the window.
Also, Pinkie Pie was grinning at them from the window.
She noticed Lee noticing her, and Lee noticing her noticing him noticing her, so she waved before ducking out of sight. Seeing no other logical course of action, Lee opened the door and stepped inside, promptly followed by Rainbow Dash, The Beast, and a loud explosion.
“Surprise!”
Lee flinched as confetti and streamers collided with him at high speeds. None of it actually hurt him, but it was still surprising as hell to him. He then paused and considered the wording of that last thought. Well played. Well played.
The Beast barely flinched. “You call that a jumpscare?” he muttered.
Pinkie bounded over to them, hair poofed to its normal state and a giant smile on her face. “Hello, again!” she said, tackling Rainbow Dash to the ground. The latter’s response quickly shifted from surprised to comically confused when she registered Pinkie was only hugging her.
She then suddenly tackled Lee, knocking the wind from the Silvertongue, wrapping her hooves around him in a similar, slightly longer hug.
The Beast then found the pink pony staring at him. “…what is the matter?”
“Oh, nothing,” Pinkie said, waving a hoof. “I was just wondering if you could eat. I really like the mouth you made, with it’s big, goofy smile and all, but do you actually have a digestive tract to go along with it?”
The Beast would have raised one of his brows if he had a pair, and after a moment’s consideration used a pair of his branches to simulate the motion. “Not in the sense that it is necessary to my survival, but I eat ‘normally’ now. Why do you ask?”
Pinkie Pie smiled widely. “I wanted to know if you wanted to have dinner, of course!”