Spirit looked at Blazing Notes with an equal mix of curiosity and befuddlement, a common look for him, “Blaze? Whatcha doin?”
Blazing Notes kept his gaze moving, scanning the entire area as he slowly got of the Ponyville train station. It was nearly night now, late in the evening. The boys were on their way to Pinkie Pie’s party. “Keeping a look out,” he replied.
Bionic Force trotted past him, “I don’t blame you. There’s a monster attack here nearly every week.” He stopped and checked his hoof comp, “Although there isn't one scheduled today. What? Did you piss off a mare here?”
“No…. Maybe…. Yes, but It was Spirit’s fault!”
“Me? What did I do?”
“You told her that I wanted to hit her!”
“Ahah!”
Notes’ eyes barely had time to widen before he was tackled to the ground from behind. Rolling onto his back he looked up into the eyes of the same cyan pegasus from before.
“I knew you'd come back. Heard it loud and clear. I got you this time.”
“But I didn't say anything!”
“You just admitted that you wanted to hit her!”
“On her. I wanted to hit on her!” he pleaded.
The mare turned from angry to positively disgusted, “That’s even worse! You just show up outta nowhere and try to sweet talk the ponies living here?” She jumped away from him in disgust, “Y-you're a pervert!”
“What!? I’m no--”
“Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew. Ewwww! I touched you too!” she yelled prancing around. “I promised my parents that I’d never even be near a pervert!” She gasped loudly, “I gotta go wash my hooves!” With that, she flew off in a huff, letting a small scroll fall to the ground.
Spirit finally fell out and began pounding the ground in laughter. Blazing Notes sat there, jaw dropped, staring into space. Bionic Force was unaffected, having already known this from the beginning; picking up the scroll, he read the contents aloud.
“Dear, Rainbow Dash.
Later on, three weird ponies will get off the train station. Since they’re new, I decided to have a welcome party for them tonight. One of them is the pony you attacked this morning, and the other is the one with the cool headband thingie. They’re the guests of honor so don’t scare them off. Please wait for them and guide them to the party at Sugarcube Corner. All three of them are colts so you can’t miss them.
~Pretty Please with Pudgy pink (s)prinkles.
Pinkie Pie
“Well, that answers a few questions,” Force muttered. “However, you two came here alone and didn't mention me. How did she know there would be three of us? What if Soul came?” He began examining the letter closely. “Oh well, at least we know where to go now. I’ll simply ask her directly.”
Stowing the letter away in his Gi, Bionic Force turned to his two companions. One was still laughing, and the other was still mulling over recent events in his life. “Spirit, get off the ground. Blaze, I’ve been telling you this for years, face the truth and you’ll feel better."
“B… but,” he whimpered, “that’s the first time a mare’s called me that before.”
Sensing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with him, Force simply resorted to trying Blaze’s tail to Spirit’s. Spirit didn't mind and went about dragging his friend’s sulking form through town without a second thought. Eventually Force made his way over to the aptly named Sugarcube Corner. Each of them stopped and had a single thought when they saw the candy house.
This place better actually have some lollipops that aren't just for decoration, Force thought, looking at the house with a quizzical expression.
I really hope we get to meet a witch! Spirit thought as he stared up at the building with large sparkling eyes.
I’m not a pervert…. Am I? Sure I like to flirt, but that shouldn't label me a pervert. I’ve never even...
Just then a Pink head popped out of the door and noticed the three colts. “Oh my gosh you're here! I knew you guys would show up! Well come on and get in here!” Stretching out her hooves she pulled all three ponies into the house in one go.
Once inside, Bionic Force realized that they were in the middle of the store, a good distance away from the entrance. Four mares plus the pink one all sat around a table in front of them. He took one glance at the door behind them before turning back.
“I won’t even try to understand what just happened.”
Purple horse nodded wisely. “That’s probably for the better.” Purple horse got up and trotted over the the trio. “Hello, and welcome to--”
Pink horse jumped in front of Purple horse, “ Welcome to Ponyville!!” she yelled, tossing confetti into the air and causing the other ponies to hold their ears.
Spirit stared at her in wonder. “Oh, my goodness… where did you get this confetti!” he held one up to his face and whispered in awe. “It’s perfect…”
Pink horse giggled. “Thanks! I made it myself. My name’s Pinkie Pie! This one here is Twilight!” she said, hugging Purple horse. After letting go she pointed over to the table behind them where Yellow Horse, White Horse, and Orange Horse sat, “Over there’s Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack.” They all responded in kind.
Twilight quickly retook control of the conversation by levitating Pinkie off of her and back to the table. She gave the group a nervous smile. “Sorry about the small attendance. This was originally supposed to be a small get-together. But Pinkie wanted to turn it into a welcome party for you three. So we compromised and--”
“Yeah that’s great. Do you guys have any lollipops?” Force said, interrupting Twilight.
Twilight was taken back by the colt’s tone of voice. It sort of reminded her of Pinkie’s sister, but with slightly more expression evident on his face. “What flavor?” she asked.
“Orange,” he answered.
Using her magic she levitated a jar of lollipops from under the counter. “Would you like a blow pop? Or a regular one?”
Force narrowed his eyes and looked at her as if he were insulted. “Hell.... No,” he said simply. “Blow pops are just a stupid gimmick with nothing to offer except cheap gum stuffed down the middle. I’ll take a regular one thank you.” Finishing his rant, Bionic Force grabbed the entire jar and left only the blow pops on the ground. He then trotted up to the table where the other mares were sitting and sat down with a bored expression on his face. Even while all of the other mares stared at him with wide eyed expressions.
Deciding that she’d continue with that one later, she turned back around. Only to come face to face with a tall gray pegasus with a flirtatious expression on his face.
“Well, well, well, an alicorn princess. In this town? The honor is all mine, milady,” he said, bowing low.
Twilight blushed slightly, “Oh, no, no. Please don’t bow to me. I’m not special. Really!”
“Nonsense! You’re absolutely beautiful. You have this scholarly look about you that screams… oh, what’s the term… egghead. Yes, that’s it. My name’s Blazing Notes.” Gently, he took her hoof in his and kissed it.
“Oh…” she said blushing furiously, “Well thank you Bla--”
“My word! Your mane! It’s absolutely marvelous, like a cascade of velvet sitting upon the head of a goddess!”
Turning around, Twilight realized that he was already next to Rarity, complimenting her with the same amount of charm he had just shown her. She honestly couldn't tell if he was just a teasing flirt, or just very charming. Her thoughts were interrupted when she looked down and saw the third pony that was with him. His face was flat on the ground, as if he had been dragged somewhere.
“Sweet Celestia!” she exclaimed when she noted skid marks leading from the spot in front of her to the colt’s face. She also noticed that his tail was firmly tied to the gray stallion’s. he must have been dragged across the ground when he moved. Quickly she moved and magically untied the pegasus’ tails. “Are you alright, mister?”
Spirit lifted his head up, a bright smile still on his face. “Yeah, I’m good. I was looking around the store when I felt my head hit something. And now I’m here.” Jumping up like nothing was wrong, he began to dash around the room.
“This place is awesome! What’s that smell? Do you live here? I wish I lived here! What’s this? What’s that? Can I have that? What do you do when the store’s closed? Who owns this place? Who are they? Do you own this place? If you do, how can you stay in one place for so long? I couldn't do that because I can’t cook, Mom said so. I can fight things, though. Can you fight things? What kind of things have you guys fought? That’s so awesome, I wish I fought that! I was underground with Bi when Tirek attacked.”
Pinkie soon joined in and started pointing things out and answering his questions.
“I know right! Cupcakes! Yes! It’s awesome! “A muffin! A whisk! Sure! I hang with my best friends! The Cakes! The ponies who live here! Nope! I don’t stay, silly! I move around like we are now! That’s sad, but I can teach you! Oh yeah, we fought a meanie named Tirek this one time!”
Twilight looked from those two, to the colt with the bored expression chewing a lollipop, to the one now working his magic on AJ.
“This is gonna be a long night.”
~~~
Finally Twilight was able to round up everypony, and sit them all in one large table. Five mares on one side, three stallions on the other, and one awkward silence between them.
Finally Rarity broke the silence, “I must say, I do so adore your goggles, they complement your color scheme nicely.”
Spirit reached up and touched his headgear. “Oh! Thanks. Bi made them for me.”
“Who’s Bi?”asked AJ. She looked over to Blazing Notes almost immediately.
“Woahohohooo. No, I’m straight as a frozen arrow. You want the grumpy colt sucking the stick.”
The small colt glared at him briefly before grabbing the pop out of his mouth. “My name is Bionic Force,” he said simply.
“Oh, I think that’s a nice name.” Fluttershy said, trying hard to contribute.
“Should be. I came up with the name myself,” he muttered, shifting the lollipop around in his mouth.
Twilight looked startled for a second. “Wait, you're the Bionic Force? The famous inventor?”
Force raised a curious eyebrow. “No, I’m a mad scientist. Who told you I was an inventor?”
“You’re the one that keeps sending things to the Ministry of Science? Do you realize how much Equestrian science and magic have advanced because of you?”
“The ministry of… I thought that was a charity. I was just throwing away old prototypes and failed experiments. Mom made me. Hold on, I never put my name on anything. How did you know who it was in the first place?”
“Everything that showed up had Bionic Force written on a tag. They tried looking you up, but your name wasn't on any records so they assumed that it was a pseudonym. I never imagined that the genius inventor was, in reality, a small colt.”
“Ohh! Twily, you got some competition!” Pinkie squealed.
Bionic Force stopped listening around the part where everything had his name tagged on it. Almost like a machine, he turned to face his brother who was now sweating nervously; a guilty look plastered on his face.
“Spirit….” Forced right eye began changing over to red.
“HeymynameisSpiritShiftbbutyoucancallmeSpirit!” he blurted out, desperately trying to avoid his brother’s possibly literal fiery gaze.
Blaze glanced over toward his nervous friend, as he too didn't feel like dealing with Bionic's anger, “Hey, Spirit weren't you gonna tell us what happened at Scratch’s party?”
“Oh, yes, you all must have such interesting stories to tell. Being travelers and all,” Fluttershy added.
AJ began to look around curiously, “Hey, anypony seen Dash lately?”
“We are not done with this, Spirit.”
Not really knowing what else to do, Spirit simply opted to just go ahead and begin his tale.
~WARBLE~WARBLE~WARBLE~WARBLE~WARBLE~WARBLE~WARBLE~WARBLE~
Twilight cocked her head in confusion, “What’s he doing?”
Force sighed and sat a hoof on his face. “J-just go with it. He does this when he’s about to tell a story or have a flashback.”
“I said!” ~WARBLE~ WARBLE~ WARBLE~ WARBLE~ WARBLE~ WARBLE~
So we had just left for Scratchy’s club, right?
Um… excuse me, but who is Scratchy?
Yeah, so it turns out that numbnuts here is actually foalhood friends with bloody DJ-Pon3 herself.
Seriously?!
Darn tootin’?
Wow.
Ehh. I prefer Classical over icky wubstep anyway.
Excuse me! I’m trying to flashback here!
Sorry.(x5)
“So, which club are we headed to?” Blaze asked.
“Only the bitchinest club in all of west Canterlot!” she whooped, eagerly trotting down the busy Canterlot paths. I don’t really like crowds, so I just flew over it all. “At least that’s what I’m being paid to say. Honestly, this place just opened up not too long ago. It’s called 'Project: Rise',” she finished.
“Not very creative, is it?” asked Blaze.
Scratchy looked back at him and shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s got this feeling around it. Like, you just know it’s gonna get up there, ya know?”
“I suppose.”
“I hope they have pizza!” I said.
Scratchy just laughed, “You never change man. Always pizza with you.” She looked back at Blaze. “Whenever I wanted him to do something for me, all I ever had to do was offer him a slice. I swear, he would shun me for days if I didn't deliver.”
Blaze laughed too. “Yeah. I know what ya mean. This gob’s obsessed with the stuff. Hell, I bet he's thinking of some right now.”
“No!” I was. “And even if I am, Blaze always thinks about fillies!”
Scratchy stopped and gave him an odd look.
“Mare! Mares! For Luna’s sake, Spirit. I am not a bloody pedophile!”
“And Bi always wants lollipops!”
“Lollipops?” she asked, stopping in the middle of the street.
I shrugged, “The sugar enhances brain activity or something, I don’t know.”
“Huh, interesting.”
We kept walking for a little while. Scratchy kept talking about how cool being a DJ was, but how fun messing with her marefriend was so much funnier. I think Blaze was a little jealous about it.
Was not!
Shh! Storytime.
We made it to the club, I think around 9 at night. It was all the way across Canterlot, so it took us awhile to get there. Also, we had to stop for some food because me and Blaze were starving. Scratchy said it was alright because she didn't have to start ‘til 10.
We trotted up to the dark-colored building. It was already packed. I could hear the music coming from the place. She looked at me, confused, and said that she couldn't, and that the building was completely soundproofed. But I could still hear it. I guess I just have good ears like that. I could even feel it. I landed on the ground just to feel the ground beating under my hooves. There were lights shooting out from just about every window.
Before we went in, Scratchy turned back to me, “Hey, Spirit?”
“Yeah?”
“How’s Shift by the way.”
“He’s rattling around somewhere. Bi gave me this to keep him under control.” I said, touching my stylish headgear. A very wise stallion once said: 'Headbands and goggles, are cool.'
“How long’s it been?” she asked.
“Three months,” Blaze answered.
“Whaddya say we let the little hellion out tonight. You don’t seem like the clubbing kinda guy anyway.”
I thought about it, then nodded. It has been awhile. So I took off my goggles. Like this.
Oh, no.
Sweet!
What’s happening?
His coat!
His eyes!
His teeth!
His mane… actually looks a little nicer now.
Sup, bitches.
Sup, Shift.
*Hoofbump* Hey man, your head better yet?
Who are you? Where did Spirit go?
Shut up, Purple Horse. I’m in the middle of a story. Now where was he? Oh yes, this is the part where I show up. I guess I should detail the transformation as well.
Once he took off the goggles Spirit’s body began changing rapidly. The first thing to change was his eyes. The black pupils unwound to form spirals in his eyes. The irises themselves gained a darker red color. His coat began to drop in brightness until it became almost black, and the red in his mane overtook the blue. His voice became ever so slightly deeper and calmer. Oh, and let’s not forget the teeth. The rest of them became like his two front ones. Sharp, but not overly so. Just enough to unnerve those around me.
.
.
.
.
Yes, exactly like that.
“Oh Thank the skies. ‘Bout time I got some fresh air. Although, you would not believe the space in this dude’s head,” I said, stretching my limbs. “Still nice to get out though.”
“Nah, bro, I believe it! What up, mah pony!”
“Vinyl Scratch,” I said. Turning to face her, I gave a teasing grin. “Still alive, I see. I honestly thought you’d overdose on something by now.”
“Nah, I got a wife to nag me about that.”
I turned and hoofbumped Notes, “What took you guys so long?”
“Force didn't want you changing in public or some nonsense like that.”
“Tsk. Typical. Here hold on to these. Spirit will never shut up about it if either of us lose them,” I said, handing him the goggles. He tossed it so that they hung from the neck of his guitar.
“What about Bi?”
“What about him?”
“Enough talk! I wanna party!”
So, all three of us trotted into the den of chaos.
~~~
“The inside was actually much--”
“Hold on!” Twilight interrupted.
“What? Can’t this wait?”
Twilight shook her head, “I’m sorry, but I need to know. Who are you?”
Shift deadpanned, “I’m Shift. Spirit Shift. Don’t you pay attention?”
Fluttershy slowly raised her hoof, “Excuse me, but… I’m also a bit confused.”
Applejack leaned back in her seat a disturbed look on her face, “Frankly, ah’m a mite scared.”
Pinkie jumped in her seat. “I think it’s cool. I wish Dashie was here to see this!”
~~~
“EwEwEwEwEwEwEwEwEwEw!” Dash squealed, viciously scrubbing herself. “I’ve got pervert on me!!”
Aloe sighed heavily. “Miss Rainbow Dash. It’s past closing hours.”
Lotus followed after. “Forget that, it’s nearly midnight!”
“KEEP SCRUBBING!”
Aloe and Lotus looked at one another and sighed. Together they went back to helping Rainbow Dash scrub every inch of her body.
“I'LL NEVER BE CLEAN AGAAAAAAIN!!” she cried.
~~~
Blazing Notes felt a chill spike down his spine. There was a disturbance. He could feel it with his mare sense. However, the scene in front of him was just too interesting to turn away from.
“Transformation spell in the goggles?”
“No,”
“Magic abnormality?”
“Possibly…. But most likely no.”
Twilight slumped back down in her seat, “I give up.”
“Split-personality manifesting as an individual consciousness.” Shift smirked.
Twilight lept back up, “That was my tenth guess!”
“No, you kept adding magic for some stupid reason. Sorry, just pure psychology on this one.”
Glaring, Twilight sat back down.
“Can I continue now?”
Blaze smirked along with him, “Aww, but it was getting fun!”
Shift looked back at him, “I know but the author says we need to pick up the pace.”
~Warble warble or whatever the hell Spirit does.~