//------------------------------// // 3: Everything Went Wrong // Story: Time Never Stops Ticking // by MaximumPartyInc //------------------------------// The pegasus stallion that greeted them was orange with a white mane and tail with a teal stripe through it. He waited for the four ponies to turn around and take in the sight of another pony before speaking again. "Well, I bet you've come a long way, huh?" Spirit rolled her eyes. "What do you think, genius?" she snarled. Pyre chuckled. "Really, dear, you should try to be a bit more polite." Onyx sighed. There was silence. Everypony turned to look at Lynx, expecting her to make some comment about seeing another stallion. She was actually staring at the stallions cutie mark, which was a pair of comedy and tragedy masks. She noticed everypony stopped talking. She glanced up to see them staring at her, especially the stallion. He smiled. Lynx's ears flattened, as his gaze sent shivers down her spine, and not the good ones either. She smiled and did the one thing she did best, flirt. "Haha, sorry buddy. I just couldn't help but notice how toned you are.I bet you work out." "Ah... thank you, miss." The stallion smiled, he seemed generally pleased. "I'm Lynx Ring, by the way." She flipped her hair, which was out and bouncing with every head movement. "Onyx flash." The unicorn mare did a little curtsy. "Spirit Rain." The dark mare grumbled. "Pyre Shine." The yellow stallion smirked. "What's your name?" Lynx asked with a wary smile. "Graceful Sin." Graceful Sin turned from the ponies and began to walk towards what the quartet could only imagine was the city they'd sought for hours. They seemed to be walking in some sort of maze with windy, hedge-like walls. The four ponies followed him, Spirit and Onyx finding various ways to keep track of where they were going, asking a whole array of questions the whole while. "So, what did you mean by, 'What took you guys so long'?" "Were you watching us?" "If you were, why didn't you help us!?" "How many ponies are here?" "Is it as safe as we think it is?" "Do you do this to all your newcomers?" "Do you have a girlfriend?" "Are you a leader of some sort?" "Do you have doctors here?" Graceful Sin chuckled. "To answer all your questions, exactly what I said, yes, I didn't feel like it, hundreds, depends on how safe you think it is, yes, no cutie, not really, and yes." The ponies glanced at each other, annoyed at his response. The stallion chuckled, finding their confused expressions funny, but began to tell them about the city before they had a chance to bombard him with more questions. "This is the Great City of Safehattan. We surround the whole thing with a magical aura and wall that keep it undetectable from the dangers of the outside world. The Peppermint Flower that attacked this lovely specimen," Graceful put a hoof under Lynx's chin and lifted her head so he could look into her eyes, "was extremely hungry, which was the reason it attacked you, and it is strictly carnivorous. That vapor it sprays merely knocks you out. The doctors here will be able to tend to your wounds, my dear." "Uhhh...okay..." Lynx jerked her chin from his hoof and backed up to stand by Pyre's side. "That's good to know." Now she knew how Pyre felt. She made a mental note to apologize to him later for being creepy about her flirting. Graceful led them through one last turn and they entered the actual city, which was a sort of oval shape but huge. On the far end of the city, there were huge plots of land where trees, bushes, and various plants that grew food were placed. On the sides, there were small, but comfy looking houses and shops. There were ponies bustling about, buying items and practicing fighting with various tactics. Various colts and fillies even played Cowponies and Buffalos on the cobble roads. To what they saw outside, to the four, this was a paradise. They passed by several groups of ponies who each gave them either looks of horror, fear, and/or hatred. The group fell into silence as they seemed to receive dirty looks from everypony, even the young ones, who stared and pointed. Whispers could be heard along with jeers and cruel laughs. A group of mares walking by spotted the other group. They watched them for a bit before cocking their heads and smiling when they checked Pyre Shine out. They whispered to each other before anypony said anything. "Oooo, who's the new stallion?" one asked. "I don't know, but he is kind of cute." a second one said, flirting, before they all trotted off giggling. Pyre stared at them in disbelief as they trotted off. He looked over to his group and smiled dumbly. He quite enjoyed the female attention, since as a royal guard on duty he was not aloud such frivolities. It was also nice to be noticed by mares he actually might have interest in and not some crazy mare. "I'm going to go scope out the rest of the city to make sure nothing's wrong. BYE!" He says excitedly, galloping in the direction of the group of mares. Lynx, Onyx, and Spirit all stared at each other for a second before Spirit started laughing, Onyx facehoofed, and Lynx rolled her eyes. "It's official, I have bad luck." Lynx declared. Graceful Sin chuckled and draped a wing over her back. She shrugged it off and glared at him, "Dude, can I please just get a proper bandage and some painkillers so I can wash my bandanna? I hate having my hair down." "I don't know why." Onyx said, "Your hair looks simply divine." "Yeah." Spirit added. "It's not half bad." Lynx ran a hoof through her long mane. Graceful Sin smiled and motioned for them to keep walking. "Yes, your hair actually complements your eyes." Lynx blushed and giggled. "I think all three of you have your charms. Miss Flash, you strike me as a mare of refined tastes. Miss Rain, you are a reserved and secretive one and Miss Ring... you are a mare of a very socialized background." "Somepony's a ladies stallion," Spirit whispered to Onyx. Onyx nodded. "And very attentive," she added. The group continued to walk and didn't stop until they finally reached a large building. They entered and two stallions and a mare greeted them. Graceful Sin explained that one of the newcomers needed medical attention. "As if they couldn't see the dried blood caked onto a bandana wrapped around my barrel." Lynx grumbled, rolling her eyes. Spirit just chuckled while Onyx shook her head and sighed. They watched as the mare ordered the first stallion to get her various tools and medicines and began to remove Lynx's bandanna. The second stallion stood by the doorway silently. The multicolored mare winced and took a peek at her wound. It wasn't bleeding anymore but there was dried blood along the edges and a slimy, clear pus oozing out of it. "Ew!" Onyx yelled and looked away. Lynx bit her bottom lip and glanced at the mare with a worried expression. "Don't fret, It's perfectly normal." The mare said to Lynx and Onyx. Onyx snorted. "Normal by what standards? No wound is supposed to ooze pus! That means it's infected!" "I'm sorry, miss. Do you have a medical degree?" The mare asked, glaring at Onyx, who shook her head. "Oh okay then. Let me do my job." Onyx huffed and watched the treatment with a worried expression. None of the mares noticed the exchange of looks between the mare and the stallions by the door. Spirit folded her forelegs and smirked. "I guess it's good we got in here, huh? Probably would've gotten infected." she said. The mare didn't turn to talk to Spirit as the stallion came back with the supplies and she began to work. She took a wet rag and began to clean the wound. Lynx shifted uncomfortably. "How long did it take for you girls to find a way in?" "About an hour. There was a manticore outside and there was this... pool of purple water-like stuff... a pond..." Spirit gestured to Lynx. "That's how this happened." The mare nodded. The second stallion eyed Lynx curiously before returning to his spot close to the door where they had seen him. "Which city did you three come from?" "Oh, there's four of us, actually. He ran off to chase some mares." "I see." "I'm from Las Pegasus. It's greatly populated city. It's the third most popular city in equestria. Second is Manehattan and first is Canterlot... but you... ah... you already knew that. Anyways, it seems like weird place for a unicorn to grow up, I know, but... I like the fact I grew up in a place you'd least expect." The mare stopped wrapping Lynx's wound to stare at Spirit. "Las Pegasus? Manehattan? Canterlot? I've never heard of these places before." Onyx, who was still looking away, jumped at the mares words. "Never heard of Manehattan? What are you talking about? Its the second biggest city in Equestria, how have you not heard about it?" she asked. The mare finished the wrapping and gave Lynx a pat on the back. Lynx sighed and sat on her haunches. "I guess you've never heard of Saddle Arabia then." she said. "Why won't you just tell us where you're really from?" the first stallion asked in a gruff voice. "We told you." Spirit said, getting irritated and confused. "Strange that you say you're from places we've never heard of." the second stallion by the door grumbled. "Okay, well have you heard of Ponyville or Appaloosa?" Lynx asked. "What are you three talking about, those places don’t exist." The mare turned away from them and walked away with the first stallion. The second stallion by the door followed them. "If you didn't want to tell me, that's all you had to say." "I think they may be hiding something." the second stallion murmured. "You think?" said the first in a hushed voice. The doctor mare shushed them before the group they were leaving behind heard them. Onyx, Lynx, and Spirit all glanced at each other and left the building. Graceful Sin was sitting right outside and chatting with one of the mares that was flirting with Pyre. She was a pale grey with a Diamond shaped patch of white fur on her head and had straight, brown mane and tail hair. "Oh, here they come now." Graceful said aloud. The mare giggled and waved. "Greetings, newcomers. My name is Caramel Rose. Call me Cara for short. My sisters and I will be hosting the welcome party this evening. The whole town knows of your presence!" "Thank you." Onyx said, glancing at the other two. "Where are your sisters? Our friend, Pyre Shine might be in their company." "Oh, yes, my sister, Laranesse, was with him when Sarana and I left." "Your sisters names are Laranesse and Sarana?" Spirit dead panned. "Oh yes. A laranesse is an extremely expensive, but soft cloth. It's silky like Velvet. A sarana is a very rare jewel. Our mother named us after the things she loves the most. Oh, and please call my sisters Sara and Lara. We're triplets and as you can imagine, we like that our nicknames conveniently rhyme." "Lucky you." The three mares mumbled. They watched as Graceful Sin sent her on her way with a wave and a smile. "Do any of you want a tour?" "I'd love one." Onyx smiled. Spirit nudged Lynx. "We should probably find your stallion." Lynx blushed, "He's not my stallion. Yet. Don't jinx it." The four split and went their separate ways. "You know, the odds that we'll find him while looking in random places are against us? And I'm not a very... lucky... pony." "Your a mare of misfortune, eh?" Spirit chuckled. Lynx smiled. "Guess so." The two mares continued to walk. "Well, I am going to split and search the alleyways, maybe if I’m lucky enough he got himself beat up and dumped." Spirit said, smiling at the thought of a beaten and bruised Pyre Shine. As much as Lynx admired Pyre she had to laugh at this. "Alright, I guess I will check the bars, I'm sure this town is bound to have one." Lynx said, also going her way. Lynx trotted down the cobble roads of the town, searching up every nook and cranny searching for a building that may resemble some sort of bar. By the time she was starting to get discouraged she felt as if she just looked through the entire city four times over. She was lost, and quite frankly a bit pissed. As she rounded the corner to yet another street she looked at a building down the street on the left of her. Just like that she had found it. No matter how pissed she was, it was a victory, so she took it for now. She trotted up to the bar, fighting the urge to buck in and yell for a hard cider. She swung open the saloon like doors and walked in. The first thing that she did when she got inside was sit down on a stool at the bar. As she waited for the bartender to swing by she couldn't help but hear the mumbling that had been going on since she walked in. It appeared that the ponies in this town weren't so excited and hospitable as the ones who greeted us were. The whispers and mumbles among the crowd were either tinted with curiosity or distrust. As Lynx slowly lost her nerves, the continued whispers and mumbles starting to get to her, the bartender final came by and greeted her. "Oh! Hey there, sorry I didn't get to ya sooner, didn't see ya come in. Oh! Wait a second, I have never seen you before, you must be one of those newcomers everypony is talking about. Gossip spreads fast round here, you see." he said, gesturing to the ponies that stared at her, curious to her intentions. "What would you like? First drink’s on the house. You’re the newbie here so it would only be fair to let you get a handle on some of the "goods" we got here." He says winking and gesturing to the racks lined with alcoholic beverages. Lynx smirked and spoke up. "The hardest cider you got, I have had one hell of a day." Lynx said, sighing exasperatedly. "One Dragons Breathe coming up, unless you want to try one of our new ones, Manticores Sting." The bartender says daringly. "Bring it on! Nothing can make this day any more crappier." She stated, accepting the challenge, as he starts pouring a bottle of the menacing looking liquor into a shot glass. She immediately hoofs the glass up and took a look at the clear liquid, before taking it all in one gulp. As the strong liquid went down it burned her throat, making her mentally wince, before setting the glass down. "Done, damn that was like, strong." She said, resisting the urge to cough. The stallion bartender looked at her with an impressed look and spoke up. "Well, you have more than earned my respect, well now that that's over and done, ponies usually like to blab me stories after their liquor. So what's up with you? What was your life before you came to Safehattan?" "Well, I was born in Stalliongrad. A lot of earth ponies there, y'know. It was so dull and boring being around the same race all the time so I moved to Los Pegasus with my dad. I like the crazy ones, you know? There are all sorts of ponies there and the action, fabulous! I decided to chill with my mom after a while, though because my dad's so boring, like home. He has some record company or whatever. I mean, he's pretty cool sometimes. He got me a poodle and I named her Kiki. My mom recently came down from wherever the hell she went when I was a teen and said hello. It... it didn't go down well. I ended up freaking her out with my special talent. I managed to get her to stay a while to catch up but then there was this flash. Then... I woke up with three ponies from other cities that I never met before and-" Lynx stopped talking, for the bartender was giving her an odd look. "Er... sorry... that's the... alcohol talking...? I... uh... totally did not wake up with... strangers... heheh." she said, steering away from the subject. "Sorry, I forgot what I actually came here for. Let's save the rest for another time... I was hoping you saw a stallion come through here? He is yellow." She asked him bluntly. "There are other yellow stallions around here, you need to be a little bit more specific than that." He said to her casually. "Oh right, of course... He has an umm, pale yellow coat. Bright, beautiful, sexy green eyes that shimmer whe- Ahem... I mean umm, and a fiery red and orange mane. You seen him pass by?" She asked him hopefully. "Oh, him, how could I miss him? He came in flaunting one of the triplets in town and ordered them a bunch of drinks, before they got a little drunk and headed out." He said rolling his eyes. "You, on the other hand, seemed a little bit more sensible so I didn't immediately throw you out," He said kindly. Lynx thought about what he said. "Why would you throw me out because of how he was before I even came in?" "Newcomers tend to stand out and stick together at the wrong times. That's why they never last long here." The bartender stopped, seeing Lynx's horrified look. "W-what do you mean by that?" "Nothing! Here, have another drink. On the house!" Lynx, still stressed, accepted the offer and waited for the drink. What she didn't see was when the bartender put a clear liquid into the drink before handing it to her. "What do you mean, though? You can tell me. Do the newcomers get kicked out or punished or something?" "Something like that." The bartender watched the multicolored mare down the drink. "Also, you better hurry. From the look in that stallions eyes, he was ready to get some action, if you know what I mean." The bartender winked. "When I find him I'm going to bash his skull in..." Lynx said, commenting on the scene he had made. "Thank you for the drink, I have a stallion to geld and then treat for a hangover..." she said simply, hopping off the stool and heading for the door she trots out waving back at the bartender. She opened the doors and stepped out, back onto the cobble roads she now hated, not noticing the bartender chuckling darkly and shaking his head. "If I were a drunken stallion where would I go? I have no clue. Well, that usually works..." she said, talking to herself. "I guess I will just go right," she stated to herself, trotting off to the right on the, surprise surprise, cobble sidewalks. "Aaahhhhh!!! What the buck!" Spirit's voice rang from an alley. Lynx quickly turned around to face the sound, it was coming from the alleyway next to the bar, ...alleyway ...Alleyway! Spirit must be in trouble! Lynx ran into the alleyway as fast as she could and found Spirit, along with some, other things… There was Pyre in a compromising position made small noises, trying to find words. There were none. Pyre and Lara stared at the two mares with a redhead. She had identical coloring to Cara besides the hair color so Lynx assumed that the mare was Lara. However, that was not on her mind at that moment. She sputtered swears in surprise. "Uhh... hey... girls." he said almost drowsily through pants. Lynx didn't say anything. She was seeing red. All she could think of was how many ways she could kill a pony painfully. "What the hell, Shine!" Spirit growled, occasionally glancing at Lynx. Pyre shifted, feeling uneasy in the awkward situation. He and Lara let out involuntary moans. "Dude! I have no words for you right now. Celestia, you smell like booze. Are you drunk!?" "Yea. That... asshole flaunted his slut... I guess he decided to claim his... trophy." Lynx said, seething from the anger. Pyre unsteadily got to his hooves and glared at the multicolored mare. Lara got to her hooves too and hiccuped. "Listen here you... you whorse... I don't like you... leave me alone already." he stumbled forward and fell flat on his face. "Damn that bad luck of yours." he groaned. Lynx's anger slowly gave way to hurt. "I am not bad luck. You are such a typical stallion." "Wouldn'tve had a problem... if I got... you..." Lynx blushed. "Believe it or not, I really wouldn't have let you bed me." She caught the look Spirit gave her. "What! I wouldn't! I'm all flirt but I still have standards!" "Mmmhmm. Okay." Spirit said, not believing a word of it. "I'm serious. Look at me. Do you see how serious I am." "While it's gross that I walked in on them, you're just jealous." "Well, maybe a little, but my point still stands. Besides, what will the other two sisters say when a newcomer bedded her sisters?" "Shit. You’re right. This could mean trouble. The welcoming thing is tonight and they’re drunk." The two mares stared at the two ponies in question. "I don't... I don't feel so good..." Lara mumbled and threw up right on the spot. Spirit wrinkled her nose and Lynx got angry again. "I'm going to kill you both!" "No! I just wanted... I just wanted a good time!" Lara stumbled backwards and fell on her flank. "Please just kill him. I... I... didn't even finish." "What the hell." Spirit facehoofed. "She did not just say that." "...Okay...?" Lynx glanced at Spirit, confused. "Y-yea and... he... he's lousy." Lara continued, seeing that her talking was working. Lynx didn't look ready to murder anymore. Pyre sat up and glared at her. "What! I... I didn’t... hear you... complaining!" "I..." Lara blushed furiously. "I was sidetracked!" "Sidetracked from my-" "OKAY, that was a fun little half-drunk argument but we... ah... have to drag you two somewhere to get un-drunk." Lynx growled. "That's not even a word." Spirit mumbled. "It's called being sober. But anyways, I can teleport us. Hold on to each other." Pyre put a hoof on Lara's flank, causing her to giggle. Lynx walked over to them and stepped on his hind hoof. Pyre let out a yelp. There was a bright flash as Spirit performed the spell. The bright light went away and when they could see again, they were in the place where Lynx had gotten her wound bandaged. Now that they were not rushing quite like before, they noticed something about it. The place was an old, abandoned building with a large doorway, possibly one that used to be double-doored, and no windows. There was dust in certain areas where ponies obviously never tread but there were three tables in a corner that were clean. It seemed like it was only a pit stop for the doctor and two stallions when they treated Lynx. There were a few rocks and pebbles and other debris that was most likely blown in from the wind scattered about. It was a wonder they'd completely overlooked it. It also brought up another question, Why treat them there? And more importantly, did the ponies know they were coming? It looked as if the door Spirit was sweating and put a hoof to her head in pain. She looked around. Onyx stood in the corner. "Ah, you're back. I looked simply everywhere and just couldn't find the darn sta- Oh.... Umm...." Onyx trailed off as she saw a pissed Lynx, a drunken Pyre, and an unsatisfied Lara teleport in. Spirit looked completely unamused, or phased at all, as usual. She decided to talk to Lynx instead. "Bad day?" Onyx asked curiously. "I am going to rip somepony's throat out at any second, I just know it..." Lynx mumbled back. "Alright then... May I ask what we are going to do with those two?" She says, turning her attention to Spirit and pointing at the two drunken ponies. "I have no idea, these idiots are drunk, obviously, so I was assuming we could come to you for help. You went to magic school didn't you? I mean, you did know how to teleport," Spirit asked hopefully. Onyx rolled her eyes and huffed. "It isn't simply called 'magic school' and if you didn't go, how did you get so good at teleporting? Some skilled mage had to have trained you." She said suspiciously. "H-hey, I know people, and... have a lot of spare time on my hooves... don't judge me." Spirit said. "Don't you have some kind of... Drunk-Be-Gone spell or something?" She asks curiously. Onyx chuckled at her lack of knowledge. "Dear, I know no such spell, and if there was one that existed it wouldn't just be as simple as 'Poof!' and they aren't drunk." She says. "Well, it looks like we aren't taking the easy way out of this then..." Spirit mumbled. "Even if their drunken state passes then they’re going to have the most massive hangover ever... this isn't good at all... damn it Pyre!" She yelled in frustration and hoof slapped said stallion upside his head. A pony or two walking by the building gave a curious glance inside before walking away. "Ow!" Pyre gripped his head and groaned. He turned to Lara for help. She shrugged and collapsed in a corner. "Imma... sleep over... here." she slurred before closing her eyes and falling asleep. Lynx frowned. "Well, she's got the right idea." Spirit turned to Pyre. "Go to sleep now." "NO." Pyre sat on his haunches and folded his forelegs. Spirit was getting ready to strangle him when Lynx pounced on him and brought her right fore hoof to his temple. Pyre let out a mare-ish shriek before her hoof connected with his head. Pyre slumped forward, out cold. Onyx gasped. Spirit blinked. "You... you knocked him out." Spirit said shocked. "He was irritating the hell out of me. She's next." Of course, Onyx stopped Lynx from going near Lara's sleeping form. "You knocked him out." "Rain, dear, while I'm sure you're surprised, I need your help keeping Lynx off of..." "Laranesse Rose!" Lynx shouted. "Wake up this instant!" "I cannot believe Lynx, of all ponies, is capable of knocking somepony out." Onyx rolled her eyes and tugged Lynx in the opposite direction of Lara, worried that her raving would alert somepony to their presence and that would be a problem. They'd only just arrived in the strange city and one of their group was drunk and a local mare, a very important mare at that, was seen drunk and had tumbled with a newcomer. How would the city folks view them now? "Lynx, I need you to hush, dear." An annoyed Onyx said , trying to calm the enraged Lynx down. "But that motherbucking bastard!" Lynx yelled with rage. Onyx's eye twitched and her horn lit up. With her anger and frustration powering her, the intensity grew and random objects and loose rocks slowly rose in the air. Lynx's eyes widened and she instinctively prepared for a fight, rage and stress taking it's toll on her mind. "Oh, so you wanna fight? Is that it?" Lynx asked challengingly. "You need to get over your foalish crush you have on apparently every stallion you see!" Onyx said, starting to get sincerely pissed. "Oh, so you're calling me a slut?" Lynx asked with venom in her voice. "You need to realize that there's more to life than colts!" Onyx continued. "And now you're calling me an idiot!" Lynx's voice went up into shrill levels and snapped Spirit out of her mumbling. She glanced between the two mares and she cocked her head, wanting to see where this was going. The two drunk, sleeping ponies only stirred once but continued to snore. "I don't have time for you to be slow! You're going to shut the hell up and we're going to sit down like civilized mares and talk about how to get out of this mess Mr. Flank-Shine has put us in!" Onyx yelled back at her. A few ponies began to gather to look and then they stayed to watch from the entrance. "Flank-Shine? Really? That's the best you could come up with?" Spirit laughed. The two arguing mares glared at her. "Quiet!" they shouted in unison. "Jeez, my bad." Spirit looked around. "Where's some popcorn when you need it?" She mumbled to herself. "It's not even that big of a deal! We can just make up a story about how he's not feeling well!" Lynx stated. "You’re so slow! Celestia, I bet you're still only thinking of how to get that lousy colt to be all yours aren't you?" Lynx's eyes narrowed and she let out an animalistic snarl. Her orange eyes took on a faint glow and her pupils dilated to the point where there was only a sliver of her irises showing. Onyx's pupils shrunk in surprise. She watched as various water droplets materialized from the air and swirled together to create a ball about the size of a watermelon. Onyx watched in amazement. She was still stunned by the fact an earth pony could do such a deed. "Shut up." Lynx said snarling. Onyx was not about to take orders from that dimwitted excuse for a mare! She narrowed her eyes too and lit her horn. This was going to end here and now. Funny, She was expecting something like this to happen between Spirit and Lynx, but she guessed that she only thought that simply because she found Lynx quite annoying and was hoping Spirit would put her in her place. Onyx cracked her neck and took on a defensive stance. "Make me, dear." This was all the coaxing Lynx needed. She was out for blood, wanting so badly to knock that snooty know-it-all down a notch. The orb of water she had managed to suck out of the air around her separated into three long strands. She concentrated on keeping one on either side of her and one behind her. The one on the left shot forward so fast, Onyx didn't have time to blink. The unicorn mare’s eyes widened and she took a step back but the water slashed at her face, grazing the skin and wetting her face. Other than the sting and the shock of the freezing water, Onyx was fine. She remembered that Lynx was an earth pony, therefore not fully in tune with her talent, and that Lynx had no practice with using her talent for long periods of time. Onyx figured she would not be able to harm her enough to gain any advantages and that she would tire, giving Onyx the upper hand. Onyx added more power to her already lit horn and fired at Lynx's chest. The earth pony quickly stepped to the side, barely dodging it and lashed out with another strand of water. It flailed around like a whip, Lynx hoping it would cause some damage. It caught Onyx on her right foreleg and her barrel. The attack left shallow slashes. Lynx realized that this wasn't going to be enough. She quickly thought of a plan. Onyx powered her horn again and rushed to Lynx's left, aiming for her bandaged wound, knowing full well that would knock the mare off her hooves. Lynx was so not so quick to dodge this one. She managed to jump to the side and roll away from the unicorn but she felt the white hot energy graze her wound. It was enough to burn her fur and make her injury start to bleed. Lynx let out a groan of pain and struggled to her hooves. She was not about to be beaten by a know-it-all, especially not one who insulted her. She glanced around for anything to use, she saw Spirit watching interested with various loose rocks around her, and grinned evilly. The strand of water she used as a whip curled around a particularly large rock and she aimed it before throwing it, trying to make it look like it came somewhat from Onyx's direction. The rock sailed over a modest amount of distance and hit Spirit right on the head. "Ow!" Seeing that the rock had come from Onyx's direction, Spirit assumed the unicorn mare decided to have a free throw. "Watch it!" She lit her own horn, it glowing black, green, and purple, telltale signs of dark magic in use, and fired a semi-damaging beam of energy at her. Onyx let out a yelp and avoided the blast but the impact of the magic with the ground threw her off her hooves and sent her flying back a few feet. Lynx chuckled, loving the feeling of playing dirty, and used her few seconds to concentrate on the two strands of water she had. She sensed water around her in various places and joined it to make one sphere. Once she decided she collected enough, she poured her whole will into making the water molecules change. The water changed from water to ice and back again in a matter of seconds. Hoping she had it, she aimed and the all the water shot forward. Onyx looked up in surprise and the water transformed into ice, made contact with her body, and sent her flying. "What the-" "Thought that you could keep me down with that cheap shot, huh?" Lynx rasped, her breathing heavy and blood seeping through the bandages and dripping down her legs. "Aiming for my open wound, how cute!" "Well, I see you've got more brain than I thought if you managed to change water molecules." Lynx paused, unsure if Onyx was about to apologize or not, and Onyx continued, "But you’re still shallow. I mean, come on, that fool over there is obviously-" "GAH! STOP JUDGING PONIES!" Lynx shrieked. Pyre and Lara, both sleeping all this time, woke up with a start and stared at the scene before them. Lara's pupils shrunk and she cowered in her corner. Pyre was wondering what the tartarus was going on. Lynx summoned up her now ice-turned water and it stretched, becoming blunt and thick on one end and continuing before curving sharply and becoming thinner, flatter towards the other end. Pyre, Spirit, Lara, and Onyx's eyes widened. Lynx had just formed a sword out of ice! Blood trickled from Lynx's nose and she suddenly felt light headed. She stumbled back a bit before swinging her ice sword in Onyx's general direction. Onyx took advantage of this and sent several rocks sailing towards Lynx via telekinesis. Lynx let out a yelp as she as the rocks made contact to her body. There was a loud shriek and the ice blade sliced through her flesh and reached the bone. Blood welled up and gushed out of the new, open wound. The horizontal gash throbbed with excruciating pain and all Onyx could think about was the horror that her fur was stained and that her hoof was shattered. Lynx decided to use some of her remaining strength to swing at Onyx freely and aggressively. Onyx was able to dodge a few of those swings despite her quite battered up condition but eventually it caught her in her legs and side. She was overwhelmed by the shock that she underestimated Lynx and the multiple, nonstop blows that she tripped over her own hooves and landed on her back. The sword came down and Onyx had no choice but to block with her hoof. e sword raised again and Onyx closed her eyes, waiting for the fatal blow, but as a few tense seconds passed she opened her eyes to find the ice sword hovering. There was a hoof connected to it. She looked up further to see none other than Pyre Shine gripping the hilt of the weapon with his hooves, preventing it from doing her any more harm. "What... what the hell are you guys doing...?!" He looked at the mares dazedly. "...Onyx?...Lynx?" He couldn't seem to put the question together. Spirit simply shrugged. "You thought Lynx and I would fight right? I thought so too but I guess life is full of surprises." She said grunting in pain. "B-but why? you... didn't s-s-stop the-em?" Pyre said, pointing an accusing hoof at Spirit for letting such a horrible scene unfold. That action, however, wasn't taken as seriously since his hoof wasn't actually pointing at her and he was wobbling a bit. "It was interesting." Spirit said casually. Pyre seemed to turn in slow motion and flashed Spirit a look. "I didn't know it was going to go this far. Jeez, get off my back. I can stop it now since you're so upset." Spirit said annoyed. "You're not going to stop anything! I'm going to finish this!" Onyx hollered. She pushed Pyre out of they way and stood, wobbly, on three of her good hooves, her left forehoof dripping blood. She crouched and leapt on Lynx, who was shaking badly from the blood loss and strain. The earth pony mare gave way to the unicorns mass and they tumbled to the ground together. Spirit watched with minor annoyance as Pyre somewhat separated the mares by stumbling between them and staying there to keep them apart. She found this extremely boring and grinned as a dark thought, with adrenaline and rage, the mare continued to fight, but with hoof to hoof combat. Comically weak kicks to the ribs and sloppy punches to faces were made. There was a cloud of dust and a series of grunts and snarls as the mares fought. Pyre couldn't stand watching it anymore and wanted to intervene but thinking too much in his state made his throb. Both mares needed medical attention and fast. He was somewhat slow, however, due to his staggering and tripping over nothing. A thought came into Spirit's mind. Her horn lit, glowing the same colors as before, and she giggled. Pyre looked up at her, horror shown on his face as he recognized the colors of her magic from his years of experience as a royal guard. "S-spirit, whatever yerrr about to do... d-don't you dare." Spirit merely cocked her head and smiled, accepting his words as a challenge. She fired a shot right into his chest, sending him flying across the room flailing like a rag doll, a drunken ragdoll. Lara yelped from her corner, trembling in fear. She covered her face with her red hair, hoping that no attention would be drawn to her. Lynx, unable to throw anymore hits, jumped on Onyx's back and tried to overwhelm her. Onyx was less injured than her, however and flipped over onto her back with force. This knocked the wind out of Lynx and caused her to loosen her grip. Onyx took this chance to shift her weight to her forehoof and delivered a swift kick to Lynx's chest before she toppled due to the lack of balance. Lynx flew across the room and slammed into the wall. She landed right on top of Pyre, who groaned in pain and eyed her. "Dammit, Spirit! Lynx?" he said out loud. Lynx groaned softly. She groaned in pain and proceeded to stop moving or talking. "Oh no, no no no!" Pyre said in drunken panic. Spirit rolled her eyes at his exaggerated panic attack. She felt for her heart beat and immediately felt it, she inwardly sighed in relief. "Whew, she's just unconscious. Wouldn't want her to die so early in the day." She said after hearing her breaths. Pyre looked over to Onyx, who was on the ground in pain. "Sweet Celestia... Spirit!" He said pointing another accusing hoof at her again. "U-use that dark... fucked up magic o' yerrs that occupies your mind to do some good for once and help me get them to th-*Hic*!... clinic!" He ordered, as she immediately obeyed, not wanting to piss him off any further and since the end result was partly her fault. "I am not, going anywhere!... U-until that bitch is pulp!" Said Onyx, who was getting up and staggering around, almost as if she was drunk. By now, there was a small group of curious city folk trying to see what the ruckus was about. Some whispered to each other about bets and some murmured in disapproval. One stallion even asked for popcorn. ---------------------- "Spirit... you need to... uh... sedate her..." Pyre said to Spirit as authoritatively as possible in his current state. She scowled but quietly nodded as she sedated Onyx and proceeded to help them both to the clinic with Pyre, as he gave her shifty looks from time to time, expecting her to blast him from ordering her around. "What?" she demanded. Pyre's frown deepened. "What!?" She said again, more angrily. Pyre began to go on about a list of things that had nothing to do with the question..."And six- w-wait... what was six again... err... never mind. So yeah, incase that's enough, that's wh- ... And oh horse apples, we forgot Lara..." He said, not pausing from his drunken rant at the realization. Spirit looked behind her, not feeling like heading back. "You forgot meeeeee!" a female voice yelled. A figure, most likely Lara, bolted from the building staggering like a drunken madmare and ran faster to catch up to them. She couldn't run in a straight line and she realized she was coming in too fast and slid to a stop, barely keeping herself from accidentally knocking Spirit down. The dark unicorn mare scowled at the redhead triplet. "S-sorry." Lara said meekly and crawled over by Pyre. Pyre laughed and wobbled slightly. Lara smiled and giggled a little. "Oooh, your girlfriend got hurt?" Spirit let out a guffaw of laughter and stomped her hoof. Pyre gritted his teeth. "No!" "Ooookaaaay. If you saaaay so." she sang a little too loudly. Various ponies walking by gave her odd looks. Pyres face contorted in anger. He then turned to Spirit and grumbled at her about nonsense. Lara gave a defensive look for Pyre, defending her drunken 'friend'. "You want me to make you another target for this dark magic of mine?" At this statement, Spirit laughed to herself at her cruelness and nodded but Lara's eyes grew wide with fear and she hid behind Pyre. "N-noo, i'm completely fine being off that list, thank you though alway nice to see people care, but we have to prepare for this one gurrlls wedding, oh- wait no it was your there's ceremony! Haha!" Lara said chuckling at her own drunken non-sense. It appeared she had much more to drink then Pyre, or she just doesn't hold her alcohol nearly as well. "L-laraaa, don't tell anypony about w-what happened, alright. It would be much appreciated." Pyre slurred. "I don't know about you but those twee- uh I mean three are dangerous!" She says blabbing. "Please. I can k-keep this one in check." Pyre gave Spirit an angered glance. "These two aren't normally like this." Pyre gestured to the two unconscious mares and scowled unnecessarily. Spirit laughed to herself again. Pyre was an angry drunk, apparently. "Oh, so you know them, right *Hic*? What makes them tick? I wouldn't want what happened back there to happen again." Lara laughed, despite the seriousness of her own, quite drunken, statement. "Uhh, No. I-I met them all..." there was a pause as he staggered a bit. "J-just this morning." Pyre said sheepishly. Spirit facehoofed. Lara's ears flattened against her skull, "Oh. Well, that changes everything. You can't assure me or *Hic* anypony else here what they will or will not do. You don't even know them." Pyre and Spirit glanced at each other. Lara was going to spill the beans and it wasn't going to be good for any of them. Spirit raised an eyebrow and Pyre gave a single, curt nod and a giggle. Spirit grinned, it was all she needed. She cracked her neck and lit her horn. Lara's pupils shrunk and she put up her hooves. "W-wait! Don't shoot!" "Too late." Pyre snorted with a hint of annoyance in his voice, the day and alcohol had exhausted him to limit. "Go on, Rain. Whatcha waiting for?" "Don't rush me." She cast a quick and effective memory spell after knocking the mare out with a shot to the head. "There. She's out cold and her memory of the past couple of hours is erased." Pyre stared at her for a second, pupils the size of pinpricks. "Would've made... Onyx proud." Pyre laughed nervously and gestured to the mare on Spirit’s back. Spirit smiled, glad that her magic surpassed a normal unicorns strength. Pyre began to think of the heavy mare on his back and this brought another question to his mind, "Why the hell... Why the hell w-were they... fighting, anyway?" he asked, lifting Lara onto his back and grunting from the extra weight. He and Spirit walked further but he was starting to get annoyed due to his growing headache and the load on his back. He continued to stagger while carrying them along, trying to avoid looking any passerby's in the eye. "Well, Lynx was raving about you sleeping with Lara and then Onyx started raving about how she was foolish and then one thing lead to another and, yeah, that happened." She said chuckling. "Wait, so... they nearly killed themselves... because of me?" He asked curiously, as they continued along to the clinic. He barked out an unnecessary laugh and then stumbled over nothing. Again. "Yep, that about sums it up." She stated casually, watching the bumbling fool. "You m-mares are insane." said Pyre, shaking his head. They continued to walk for a good half an hour. They didn't stop to ask anypony for directions in fear that it might cause suspicion but they also had to remember that they had two injured mares that needed doctors. It seemed like Spirit would have to ask for directions but miraculously, she saw the huge, white building with a sign on it. Pyre, grumbling nonsense in pain from his headache, suddenly perked up when Spirit said, "Hey look, the clinic's up ahead! Come on, hurry! Hustle! faster!" Pyre and Spirit picked up the pace and reached the clinic. Pyre tried to concentrate on running in a straight line and not tripping. He, of course did not succeed and had an even bigger headache that was starting to make itself known. Spirit rolled her eyes and hoped Lara and Lynx didn't get injured... well more injured in Lynx's case. Spirit found it kind of odd that the clinic was not close to the room where Lynx had been bandaged up. It was almost like they expected them to arrive and set up right in that very room that the two mares fought in. How did they know they would find a way in? Did they deliberately make a hole the wall just to cover it up to leave some kind of doorway? Spirit shook her head and wondered if Lynx's odd behavior when they arrived was because she noticed something wrong as well. Something was not right, not right at all... "Welcome to the Safehattan Health Clinic. How can I help you?" a cheery female voice said. Spirit looked up and raised a brow. The mare was identical to Cara and Lara's coloring but with shiny, blonde hair. "I assume you're Sara." she deadpanned. The blonde mare smiled awkwardly. She motioned for Pyre and Spirit to put the three mares on the cots lined up in a corner. Once that was done, she inspected the mares. Her left eye twitched a little as she glimpsed her sister but she said nothing about her. "What in Equestria happened to them?! We have to get them into medical care immediately! Surely you newcomers haven't caused trouble already?" Sara gave them a look. Pyre rubbed his neck sheepishly and blushed. "Uhh..." "Tsk, tsk. This won't do. This won't do at all. I'll keep quiet about this one but that mare that treated your friend earlier, don't let her see you guys with anymore injuries." "How do you know about our friend being treated?" Spirit demanded. "I'm a doctor here. Do you remember that stallion that was supposedly guarding the door when she treated you?" Spirit nodded. "Let's just say, he wasn't guarding you." "Wait, you mean h-he was there just in case w-we... we gave him a surprise hug?" Pyre gasped and staggered back, falling on his flank. "No, silly. That medicine that they dab on the wounds-" Sara was cut off by the stern-looking mare that treated Lynx earlier. She eyed the group and stared daggers and Sara. Sara smiled and waved but the mare only snorted and continued to walk by. "I can't really talk now but make sure you keep a close eye on your injured friends." Spirit had a genuinely confused look as the blonde mare trotted away. What did she mean?!