High above a bolt of lightning zipped through the sky. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and even the Chimera looked up, hearing the sound of thunder in the distance, but not seeing a cloud in the sky.
“Thunder, but there are no ssstorm cloudsss,” said the snake head.
“It’s probably just some random storm from the Everfree Forest. That place is freaky like that,” chided the goat head.
“Sisters, can we please get back to eating these three?! I want to go and maul that blonde earth pony and the big red one before the day is done!”
After refocusing the other two, the Chimera was about ready to pounce on their prey. Apple Bloom and Sweetie held each close, eyes shut tight as tears ran down their cheeks in preparation for their death. Fluttershy continuously tried to focus her Stare ability to the Chimera, but her vision had blurred and she was only able to make out blotchy colors of where the two fillies and the monster were. Plus, the poison had nearly paralyzed her entire body, and soon, she figured, the venom would reach her vital organs and shut them down completely. Even the sounds were becoming muffled; she could barely hear Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom or the Chimera.
Just as the two fillies believed their end was here they heard the great roar of thunder, stronger than the last, rocking the entire area. They blinked once and in that instant a giant lightning bolt crashed down before them with resounding force. The entire area was bathed in light-blue as the crackling of electrical energy filled their ears. The Chimera jumped back in surprise, crouching low and preparing to run the other way. When the lightning bolt dispersed, all eyes were on the alicorn mare who now stood before them. Her wings were flared out, tail and mane waving in the cross breeze of the ionized air. Lightning arced from her horn to the rest of her body as she glared with anger at the beast before her.
Scootaloo didn’t have the time to question what happened to the Wizard, or how she got here. All that mattered now is that she was there, and she had the power (hopefully) to protect the three ponies behind her. The three heads of the Chimera didn’t know what to make of her, they were obviously threatened by her, and an alicorn suddenly descending from the sky in a flash of lightning is enough to put the fear of the divine in any creature. Normally, Scootaloo would’ve just lashed out at the beast, but her mind was thinking more clearly for some reason, more tactical. She had made the Chimera afraid of her, so she used this to her advantage.
“You don’t belong here, return from where you came and you may leave with your dignity, and limbs, intact.” Scootaloo threatened. She liked the sound of her voice, strong, but smooth.
The three Chimera heads each glanced at each other, wondering if it really was in their best interest to fight an alicorn. The started to assess their enemy, she seemed young despite her physique and height, obviously she had great power, but they sensed a hesitation to use it, otherwise she’d have already vaporized them with a spell by now. Feeling bold, the Chimera stood her ground and began to advance a little on the alicorn mare.
Scootaloo instinctively took a step back, which unfortunately was all the Chimera needed to verify their next course of action, attack. The Chimera quickly lunged for the alicorn mare, both heads baring their fangs and extending their claws to kill the mare. Scootaloo felt fear for a moment, uncertainty even, but the whimpers coming from behind her, and the fear she could feel radiating from her friends spurred her on. A wellspring of courage she never knew of before rose up from within her and, without even thinking, Scootaloo dashed forward with blinding speed, becoming a literal blur of red, gold, orange, and purple.
The result was her forelegs wrapping around the Chimera’s barrel, creating a slight concussive force that resonated within the air, and stopped the Chimera mid lunge and simultaneously knocking the air out of its lungs. Scootaloo’s eyes widened at the fact that she just stopped a beast of this size and strength, and wasn’t even feeling any strain at all. However, the Chimera was feeling strain, trying to push against the mare blocking them from their prize. They tried to wrench themselves free, but the iron grip of Scootaloo was keeping them rooted to where they were.
The snake head tail maneuvered herself so that she was in a good striking position, opening her large mouth to reveal her four, long dripping fangs. Scootaloo knew from that this head had venom in those fangs and was not about to let it bite her. With a flap of her large wings, Scootaloo propelled herself forward, but she was not prepared for the great acceleration that followed. That one flap propelled her and the Chimera like a rocket, sending them into the woods as the Chimera and Scootaloo smashed through one tree after the other.
Scootaloo angled herself down and let go of the Chimera. The beast landed hard against the ground, but Scootaloo was able to correct herself, turning around and slamming her hooves into the dirt and leaving a large trail of disturbed earth till she stopped completely. Scootaloo panted, not from exhaustion, but from the rush of going so fast, it was exhilarating.
I just…I just flew! I flew as fast as Rainbow Dash and I only flapped my wings once! Oh my Celestia! That was epic! Scootaloo thought.
The Chimera also thought it was epic, epically painful. The beast slowly rose from the small crater it created on impact, shaking off the loose dirt from its body as the three heads glared at Scootaloo with bloodlust. The alicorn mare had a cocky smile on her face, knowing that she was in dense forest made flying hard, so she opted to test her speed in running. Scootaloo got into a running stance, and the Chimera readied to charge for her. The Chimera moved first, running at Scootaloo as it roared with fury.
Scootaloo flinched like she was about to take off, but something was odd about her surroundings in that moment. The leaves from the branches seemed to be falling in slow motion, even the dust from the dirt she kicked up was lingering longer than usual. She then looked towards the charging Chimera and saw that it was moving as slow as molasses.
Okay…either I can manipulate time or I’m moving super-fast and everything else around me is moving slow compared to me.
Scootaloo decided to test her theory and ran to the Chimera; it only took her a few short steps before she was right in front of the beast. The creature had no idea she was there, or if it did, it was too slow to do anything about it. Scootaloo felt the fury in her rise at this moment, she then drew back her right hoof as electrical energy began to arc off of her limb. The energy then coalesced around her right hoof as she thrust it forward, making contact with the left cheek of the goat head. The strength of the punch knocked the Chimera right through five trees before slamming against a sixth, and the lightning that was around Scootaloo’s hoof had added an extra kick to the attack, giving it a slight paralyzing effect.
Everything went back to moving at normal speed after that. Scootaloo looked behind her and saw that a dust trail had kicked from where she ran to where she was now.
Super speed, definitely super speed! I wonder if I could do a Sonic Rainboom…?
“RAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH!!!!”
Oh right, Chimera, deadly, need to beat it.
The Chimera simply did not want to stay down. After challenging the alicorn, it was a matter of pride for them, they weren’t about to back down from her. The tiger and goat head inhaled deeply and bellowed forth a large flaming inferno. The flames jetted through trees, incinerating everything the flames touched into molten slag. Scootaloo instinctively shut her eyes and raised her forelegs up, protecting her front from the searing hellfire of the Chimera. She felt the flames hit her, but that was all. There was no heat, no pain, she was aware of something smothering her, but Scootaloo found that she could breathe and move just fine.
Either my nerves just got burned so bad that I don’t feel that I’m being burned alive or…
Scootaloo opened her eyes wide, watching as everything, including herself, was engulfed in a stream of fire. She reached out and touched the burning plasma, not feeling any heat from it. She even stuck out her tongue and caught a small ember of it like a snowflake, and still she felt nothing.
Yep, fireproof too! This just keeps getting better!
Scootaloo then focused her eyes, her vision piercing the veil of fire as she watched the Chimera advance on her while still breathing fire. Scootaloo decided to try something she’d never done before, use magic. She concentrated on the power within her, she had seen Sweetie Belle, Rarity, and even Twilight Sparkle cast numerous spells with such an appendage. Remembering some of the lessons that Twilight taught Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo channeled the great magic within her to her new horn. The lightning energy crackled as it built up quickly, encasing her horn in its brilliant, shimmering power. More and more energy built up on her horn, so much so that it was starting to get a little too big.
Whoa wait I don’t want that much magic! Stop, STOP!
Too late, the magic discharged in the form of a powerful bolt of lightning. The force generated by the attack completely destroyed the fire of the Chimera as it stared down the giant bolt with growing dread. Scootaloo angled her head up as quickly as she could and made the lightning shoot straight into the sky. Thunder roared with a powerful boom through air and in the ground when the attack ceased. Scootaloo looked upon the devastation of her spell and gasped. The bolt had turned everything in its path into charred, smoldering remains. Scootaloo then looked at the canopy of trees and saw a large hole burned right through.
Scootaloo immediately went to where the Chimera was standing, but gasped in horror at what she had done. The Chimera was gone, the only thing that managed to remain was the snake head tail, but she was dead, only half of her was left, and the slit eyes of the snake had rolled up as its mouth hung open loosely.
“I…I didn’t mean to kill it! I just wanted to give a nasty burn, at the very least singe it or electrocute it! I didn’t…” Scootaloo tried to calm down, she had never taken a life, even if it was a monster’s life it was still a living, sentient creature like her and other ponies. The alicorn mare shook her head, trying to focus on something else. “I-I need to go back to the girls! Fluttershy’s still hurt!”
Scootaloo opted to run instead of fly, afraid that she may overshoot her destination or crash through Fluttershy’s property and cause further damage to it. The run was not a long one; with her incredible speed she was able to make it to the edge of the forest in only a few short seconds. Scootaloo was about to leave the forest but stopped for a moment.
What if they’re afraid of me? What if they don’t believe it’s me? I need to hide myself, just until I can figure things out.
As if to answer her request, the living lightning from her chest arced out, forming an outline of something. The energy flashed and the light materialized into a white hooded cloak with gold trimming around the edges, and a golden clasp that kept the cloak held fast around her neck.
Guess this’ll do, hope it’s enchanted or something…
Scootaloo then used her hoof to raise the hood up, covering most of her face before she went to see her friends.
Apple Bloom had been keeping an eye out for any sign of the Chimera’s return or the mysterious alicorn mare that fought it. Sweetie Belle had stayed by Fluttershy’s side, nuzzling the side of the mare’s cheek to keep her awake and with them. Fluttershy smiled, wanting to reassure them that everything was alright, but truthfully, she knew that this was not the case, for herself at least.
The earth pony filly had been watching and listening, eyes glued to the forest as she heard multiple crashes and the saw a few trees fall in the distance. A giant bolt of lightning then roared into the sky, shooting off higher and higher into the sky until Apple Bloom was sure that it left the stratosphere and went into the deep recesses of space.
“What was that?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“Magic, really, really, really powerful magic!” Sweetie explained.
Apple Bloom was about to ask how she knew that, but saw that Sweetie Belle’s horn was glowing with her emerald green aura, possibly reacting to said powerful magic. The apple filly gulped, she didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Sweetie’s horn did that. Stuff like that didn’t happen when her sister and her friends used the Elements of Harmony, or their newly acquired and named “Rainbow Power”. Although this mare did save them from the Chimera, there was a strong possibility that she just fought the thing because it threatened her. For all she knew, this new alicorn mare was as evil as Nightmare Moon.
“Ah don’t like this. It’s way too quiet now. And who was that mare anyway, the Princess of Lightnin’ or somethin’?!”
“I don’t know, but Fluttershy needs help now! We need to get her to a hospital!”
“Ah don’t think a hospital carries stuff for curin’ Chimera venom, it may’ve been a snake, but it could be completely different! Ah remember the doctor sayin’ this one time that Big Mac got bit by one, he said ‘If you don’t know the kind of snake that bit ya, givin’ somepony the wrong anti-venom can kill’em faster’!”
“Well…What about Princess Twilight?!”
“That’s too far; even Ah can’t run that fast!”
“I could teleport!”
“The last time ya tried that you ended up with your front half on one side of the door, and your rear on the other!”
Sweetie Belle was starting to get frustrated that Apple Bloom was shooting down all her ideas. “Well then what do you think we should do! Because I’m not going to sit here and watch Fluttershy die!”
Apple Bloom didn’t mean to be negative, but she was just being practical and as level headed as she could given their situation. There was something that could save Fluttershy, and it was in her saddle bag. She was hesitant though, Apple Bloom didn’t know if the potion would cure Fluttershy, kill her, or change her into something unrecognizable. Helplessness crept into Apple Bloom’s heart, she was the leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and when her friend and their favorite foalsitter were in real trouble, she couldn’t do anything.
“Hello…?”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked in the direction of the voice. The alicorn mare from earlier was walking towards them. Her face obscured by the shadows of her hood as her cloak flapped with each step. Apple Bloom quickly put herself between Sweetie and Fluttershy, adopting an attack position and putting on the fiercest expression she could muster. The alicorn mare stopped, she almost looked hurt by the action.
“Don’t come any closer, who are ya, and what do you want?!” Apple Bloom demanded.
The alicorn mare paused, her wings fidgeted under her cloak as if thinking about the question. “My name…? My name is…is…Shazam.”
Apple Bloom looked at the mare with confusion. “‘Shazam’, that’s yer name, really?”
“Y-Yeah, it’s my name, I’m Shazam! And I just want to help, I don’t want to hurt you,” said the mare.
Apple Bloom didn’t know why, but she felt a strange familiarity with the alicorn mare, as if she knew her.
“APPLE BLOOM!”
The earth filly’s attention was drawn elsewhere as she turned her head to look at Sweetie Belle, her face filled with worry and panic. Apple Bloom, forgetting the alicorn mare, rushed back to her friend and skidded to halt.
“What’s wrong?!”
“Her breathing is getting worse, look!”
Indeed Fluttershy’s raspy breaths were becoming strained gasps for her, as if she were submerged underwater and was being held there against her will. She could not thrash around in a panic; her body was almost completely paralyzed now. Neither of them noticed till the last moment when the alicorn, Shazam, stood right beside them. They let out a surprised “eep” and jumped a bit from her sudden appearance. Shazam looked over her Fluttershy’s body, noting the puncture wound and the condition she was in.
“Can you help her?! Please help her she’s dying!” Sweetie begged.
“I…I don’t know if I can…”
“Wha’dya mean ya don’t know?! You’re an alicorn and you just fought a Chimera and came back with not a scratch on ya! You have to have some sort of spell to heal her!”
Shazam hesitated, her own inexperience with her newfound power could accidentally kill Fluttershy, the same way she obliterated the Chimera. Apple Bloom grunted in frustration and decided enough was enough.
“Buck it! We ain’t got a choice no more!” Apple Bloom knew she’d get scolded for using such language if her sister, brother, or Granny Smith found out, but this wasn’t the time to worry about that. The filly reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a vial of the potion she was going to use to help Scootaloo, now she was instead going to use it to save Fluttershy’s life, hopefully.
“Wait, you said you still needed to test it first!” Sweetie exclaimed.
“We ain’t got time for second guessin’ here! Either Ah do this and she lives, or I buck up and she dies either way!”
Apple Bloom started to think of how she was going to get the potion in Fluttershy. She couldn’t swallow with the way she was breathing. The only other way was to pour the concoction into the wound directly. Apple Bloom held the vial in the crook of her hoof as she popped the cork off of it with her teeth. She was about to pour it into the wound when the mare stopped her by putting her hoof over the opening.
“No wait minute, something’s…not right with that.”
“What, what’s wrong with it?!” Apple Bloom asked.
Shazam stared at the vial intensely, almost like she was trying to unravel the makings of the potion just by sight alone. After a few tense seconds Shazam shook her head.
“Don’t give it to her, it’s not ready,” said Shazam.
“How can you tell?” asked Sweetie Belle with suspicion.
“I can’t explain it, but…I can just tell that it isn’t. It needs something, something that will bring it together.”
Apple Bloom let out another frustrated grunt. “What else does it need?! An herb, a flower, some rock shavins’, what?!”
“It needs…” Shazam then looked down to the lightning bolt insignia on her chest, the very one that housed the living lightning. “Let me try something, and hopefully I won’t blow us all up.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing! Just hold that potion still.”
Shazam reached out and gingerly touched the vial with the tip of her hoof. The lightning in her chest streamed from the insignia and through her foreleg. When it reached the tip of her hoof a tiny bolt zapped the vial. The magical energy caused a chain reaction within the vial, energizing it and changing the color to that of a bright pink. Apple Bloom stared at the new concoction and then at Shazam. The mare nodded her okay, although weary, and with little options left open, Apple Bloom carefully administered the potion. Pouring the liquid into the open wound and making Fluttershy hiss with pain. When the vial was empty Apple Bloom tossed it to the ground, now all that was left was to wait and see.
At first nothing happened, Fluttershy’s breathing was still irregular, but that slowly changed as her strained breathing began to slowly become less labored. One of her front hooves twitched and then one of her back hooves. Steadily Fluttershy was regaining feeling in her limbs, and most importantly, in her chest. Fluttershy’s eyes slowly opened, her vision became less blurry as the world came back into focus. The first thing she did was smile at the two fillies, letting them know that she was still here with them.
“I…I’m starting to feel better girls…” Fluttershy then looked to the hooded alicorn who stood next to them. Her first instinct would be to worry and panic about a strange hooded pony, but the smile she saw on the face of this mare made her feel safe. “Were…Were you the one who helped us…?”
“Um, y-yeah, I did…”
“Thank you.”
Apple Bloom didn’t know if she saw it or not, but she could’ve sworn she saw a tear fall from under Shazam’s hood.
“One of you might want to go and find some help.”
Shazam then began to walk away, before either Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom could say anything the alicorn mare sped away, leaving behind only a dust trail in her wake.
Scootaloo was right back where she started by the time she had ended her super speed run. The cloak vanished, sensing that she was alone. Scootaloo then leaned up against the tree that supported the CMC HQ, she wasn’t tired, but she needed to get things in order.
“Okay…Fluttershy will be alright, AB and Sweetie will be too. I…I killed the Chimera…so now…now…Oh no.”
It just now dawned on Scootaloo that she never asked the Wizard if this was a permanent transformation.
“Oh crap, no! Am I going to be an alicorn for the rest of my life?! Granted that’s not a bad thing, but how am I going to explain this to everypony?! Will the Princesses be mad that I am an alicorn?! Damn it why didn’t I think to ask?!”
Scootaloo began pacing back and forth, trying to think of how she could explain this or change back. It took a while, and she knew that she would not have enough time before somepony was out looking for her. It was then that a crazy idea entered her head.
“Well, it worked to change me into this; it should turn me back right?”
Scootaloo stood away from the treehouse, not wanting the lightning bolt to come crashing down on their clubhouse. Once she was a safe distance from it, Scootaloo concentrated on the feelings she used to initiate the transformation, and when she felt it the alicorn mare spoke aloud the word.
“SHAZAM!!! ”
A lightning bolt suddenly shot down from the sky out of nowhere and struck Scootaloo. A cloud of white smoke appeared around her, obscuring the form of the super heroine. Scootaloo walked forward out of the cloud of smoke and opened her eyes. She was no longer a tall and slender alicorn mare, but merely a small, pegasus filly. Scootaloo inspected her form, checking to see if anything was amiss or permanently altered.
“Okay, it looks like everything’s back to normal. But still…”
Scootaloo’s mind briefly flashed back to the fight with the Chimera, and how she lost control of the spell and vaporized the beast and almost a good portion of the forest. Even knowing that the creature was going to kill her friends, it filled her with regret, killing wasn’t her intention, but it happened, because she had lost control of her power.
I really need to find somepony to help me out with this magic stuff.
Deciding that that was enough adventure and excitement for today, Scootaloo strapped on her helmet and made her way back to town. She’d pretend like she didn’t know what was happening, and she would also play dumb. Scootaloo needed time to break this news to those closest to her, but for now, she would pretend like it was any other day.
THE NEXT DAY…
On the outskirts of town lied the newest tourist attraction for Ponyville, Castle Concordia. The name was chosen by Twilight herself, having come across the word and learning that it meant “harmony”, “unity”, and “togetherness”. Even though she still missed the modest Golden Oaks Library, which had served as both Ponyville’s library and her home ever since she came to reside in this town, she couldn’t deny that the castle did have some benefits. The first, and most important thing as far as Twilight was concerned, was the library. Unlike Golden Oaks the library within Concordia could house thousands of books more than the old one.
Although it wasn’t as enormous as the Canterlot Royal Library, it was still big. The second was the extra guest rooms. Twilight liked the closeness of her old home, but with Spike growing up, she knew she’d have to move him out of his basket and into his own room. The young drake was elated when she presented him with his very own room, it was only a couple of doors down from Twilight’s chambers, being in the same room and sleeping just a foot away from each other didn’t really offer much in the way of privacy. This way, Twilight had her privacy and Spike had his, but both were still close enough to be reached.
The third was the finding of her personal study. A sense of nostalgia washed over Twilight when she first entered the room, remembering the days and nights when she was a filly, and she would go to Princess Celestia’s study to ask a question or to just spend time with her mentor. And, along with the study, she found ample room to have her own personal laboratory, which was housed in a sub-basement some feet below the castle, so if anything went wrong it wouldn’t affect the citizens up top.
But, with the joys of a new castle, also came the woes. Mountains of paperwork had to be signed and sent to Canterlot, classifying Ponyville as a region under Princess Twilight’s rule, officially making it a kingdom, with the small town as its capital. Nobles were in an uproar about the town becoming a kingdom, believing that there was no nobility amongst the Ponyville citizens and that they were unworthy of such an honor. Then there was the flood of construction propositions. Since Ponyville was now the Capital of Friendship, there were many ponies who arrived from different parts of Equestria, propositioning Twilight for Ponyville to expand and grow into a city.
Serene Script, also known as Mayor Mare, was given the role of Minister of Internal affairs. Which was basically a glorified title, but it allowed the earth pony mare to keep her station as the mayor of Ponyville. Twilight had no intentions of putting the ponies who ran the town out of work. So with some creative loopholes, Twilight was able to keep everypony who aided Serene Script in maintaining Ponyville’s welfare. Twilight’s friends were very helpful as well, especially during meetings that some had come to call the “Council of Friendship”. Silly little titles, but Twilight didn’t mind, she actually liked them.
Today however was not a fun day for the purple alicorn. She had been moving about the town and her castle frantically answering questions and making investigative plans. Apparently Fluttershy was attacked by a Chimera that had come to kill the Apple family. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were there, and the two almost became lunch. But according to them, a mysterious alicorn mare appeared and fought the Chimera. Subsequently, this coincided with the reports of citizens witnessing strange phenomenon in the sky.
Loud roars of thunder and lightning flashing in the sky when there wasn’t a cloud to be seen, Everfree or otherwise, and then there was the oddity of many unicorns’ horns reacting to a powerful magic that was in the area, Twilight’s included. They weren’t able to find this “Shazam” anywhere despite a wide search. Twilight had ordered the Dusk Guard to keep a close watch on the borders of the Everfree Forest, as well as set up a sentry post to monitor if any other such beasts would try and come seeking revenge.
At this moment, Twilight was lying on her queen sized bed, splayed out in exhaustion. All of today’s and yesterday’s events had taken their toll on her and she needed some rest. As Twilight’s eyelids began to lower she was roused back from the edge of sleep by a knock at her door. With an annoyed sigh, she answered.
“Come in,” she said with a slight amount of annoyance.
When the door opened Twilight craned her neck in the direction of the door, her expression softened when she saw the familiar maroon colored earth pony mare. Cheerilee entered the bedchambers and looked a bit nervous about entering.
“Sorry Princess, Spike said you’d be here and I know you’ve been busy lately but…”
“Cheery,” said Twilight, “you know my rule about my friends…and marefriends calling me ‘princess’ when it’s just us.”
Cheerilee blushed, both for forgetting the rule and because Twilight called her, her marefriend. “Sorry Twi, it’s just a habit when around royalty. And to be fair, we started dating what, like, three months before you ascended?”
“More or less, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not the same Twilight as I was when I was a unicorn. Remember that winter when I had Spike stay over at Rarity’s and we cuddled near the fireplace?”
Cheerilee started to get a dreamy look in her eyes, remembering that cold winter when she and Twilight were in her old home, the roaring of the fire, the loving nuzzles each would give, and sharing in their knowledge. There’s was a relationship of the mind as well as the heart. But as much as Cheerilee wanted to indulge in her fantasies she had to get back to the matter at hoof.
“Twilight, there was something that I wanted to talk to you about, and it is rather serious.”
The Princess of Friendship’s expression fell, worry now clouding her face. Twilight repositioned herself so that she was lying down on the bed with her legs tucked under her. She then motioned for Cheerilee to come and sit by her, an offer that the maroon mare accepted quickly. Cheerilee then began her talk, she hated burdening her marefriend with her work problems, but she knew that Twilight cared about Scootaloo and her friends, so she was the only other one (well other than Rainbow Dash, but that mare was hard to track down as fast as she was) who would understand.
She began with the incident, following into the parent-teacher conference with Filthy Rich. Cheerilee noticed Twilight furrow her brow upon mentioning how he acted and spoke about the little filly, and lastly, she expressed her concerns about how Scootaloo apparently saw herself. The words she spoke worried Twilight.
“I had no idea she thought of herself like that…”
“Don’t beat yourself up Twilight; it’s the same for me.” Cheerilee then sighed. “As great as it is that she’s willing to stick up and protect her friends, it really sounds like she doesn’t care too much about what happens to her in the process of doing so.”
Silence reigned within the room for a while, neither mare saying a word as they contemplated what to do for the young pegasus filly.
“Yes Cheery?”
“What would you say to me…adopting Scootaloo?”
Twilight’s eyes went wide as she stared at her marefriend with a gaping mouth. The alicorn princess had to shake her head and gather her thoughts before she spoke again.
“Cheery…you….you want to adopt Scootaloo!”
“Well, she is an orphan at that Wayward House, and, I am a school teacher. Plus I’m not really splurging on needless things, I mean, you’ve seen my place. I have more than enough room for Scootaloo.”
“But…are you sure about this? I mean, I have no doubts about you being a good parent or guardian for Scootaloo, but…this is a big decision.”
Cheerilee reached out her hoof and placed it over Twilight’s as she smiled at the alicorn mare. “That’s why I came here to talk to you about it. I want to, but since you’re just as much a part of my life as you are in Scootaloo’s, I wanted your opinion first. Because, let’s face it, when she finds out her teacher is dating her other teacher, it’s going to be awkward.”
The thought of being a parent sound really nice. Spike was technically a child she raised, but the young drake could more or less take care of himself most the time. Plus she saw him as more of a kid brother than her actual child, even if she was the one to hatch him. Spike hadn’t showed that much difference between treating her as his mother or like a big sister, since she did pretty much switch between roles from time to time. So she did have experience.
“Well, I’m not against it. In fact, if you’d let me, I’d like to help.”
Cheerilee leaned over and kissed Twilight softly on the lips. Twilight melted into the tender lips of the mare before her, closing her eyes to savor the moment. When they parted, Twilight and Cheerilee both had adorkable looks on their faces.
“I would love for you to, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a Princess’ recommendation to ‘speed things along’.” Cheerilee added with a sultry smirk.
“Oh, so you date me for favors? And who said you could use me as a threat anyway, granted Filthy Rich is an exception for being a total plot-head, but still?!”
“Yeah, I used you as a threat, so what are you,” Cheerilee booped Twilight on her snout, making the purple alicorn wrinkle her nose, “going to do about, Princess Twilight?”
There was another minute of silence as the two mares locked eyes with each other.
“I’ll get the skirt, shirt, and stockings,” called Cheerilee.
“And I’ll get the ruler,” said Twilight.
Did I mention privacy before? I’m pretty sure that I did.
FAR TO THE EAST…
The desert winds blustered and howled, kicking up sand and sediment into the air and creating sand twisters here and there. In the distance, within this almost vast ocean of sand, was a large fence that cordoned off a good section of the desert. There were two unicorns standing sentry at the entrance, both wore uniforms with no markings, but strapped to their sides was a long scimitar.
Within the fence, hundreds of ponies and zebras were hard at work digging into the ground. Remnants of old structures stood in a dilapidated state. Pictograph carvings were littered around different pillars and walls, each one telling a story of the history of the ancient civilization that once occupied this region. Near the center of the dig site was a large white tent, and inside was an earth pony with a five o’clock shadow, a light-brown coat, teal eyes, and a black mane with a gray streak in it. His cutie mark, a golden skull with an empty right eye and a ruby in the other, was a testament to his work and his intentions in getting at what laid beneath the ground.
Dr. Caballeron was a business stallion, and an archeologist. Of course, a certain mare by the name of Daring Do might say he disgraced the noble profession, simply calling him a lowly tomb raider. But really, was she any different? What are archeologists if not tomb raiders, off in search of ancient artifacts and treasures hidden in the earth and lost by the ravages of time. The only real difference was who got paid at the end of the day. Archeologists often got meager grants that paid for equipment that was sometimes dated or inefficient, and how many times was a project derailed because some nobles wouldn’t foot the bill just as they were on the verge of a major discovery?!
Well, the good doctor had had it with that. So he went into business for himself. Now not only was he being paid to go after and dig up ancient artifacts, but depending on what he found, he could make a good amount of money by selling them on the Black Market.
Now, Dr. Caballeron was commissioned by a new client. They apparently knew of his shady dealings, but they knew his work was thorough and excellent. That was why he was now in this Celestia forsaken desert. They wanted something that was buried underneath this sandbox, and hired him to find this certain something and in exchange he could take as much of whatever treasure he found as he and his cohorts could carry.
Currently, the good doctor was scrutinizing over an ancient map that detailed the structure that was still yet to be unearthed. Dr. Caballeron had his “assistants” go in search of somepony who knew the area. There were many nomadic tribes moving in and out of the area, and given that most of their history and legends are passed verbally, though they may be tales and legends, there was always a hint of truth to them, and some had hidden messages that could help in finding what he sought. Luna knows he had gone through quite a few “informants” before getting those other golden rings for Ahuizotl.
Caballeron heard the flapping of the tent doors opening and turned to see his thug cohorts throw in a cloaked stranger. The two stallion marehandled the stranger up roughly and drew back his hood, showing that the stranger was an elderly zebra stallion, he may’ve been old, but his long years of being a nomad had made him fit and strong. He had a black and blue bruise over his right eye, and some blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he huffed and panted in pain.
“The workers tell me that you my friend are the holder of legends amongst your tribe, a ‘shaman’, correct?”
“…………”
“Oh come now, don’t you want to tell me a little story? Perhaps about what once used to stand here?”
The old zebra remained silent.
Caballeron could see that this zebra was going to stay quiet, and it seemed that he had made his peace with whatever spirit or deity he worshipped.
“Fine then, the hard way then.” Dr. Caballeron then looked to the stallion on his left. “Did you remember to collect the members of this zebra’s tribe?”
“Yes doctor.”
“Very well, start killing them, one at time, and start with the foals. Don’t want any those little snot nosed brats coming back for revenge now do we?”
The shaman looked at Caballeron with shock; he couldn’t believe the earth pony could so easily order the murder of a foal. Caballeron noticed the expression on the shaman’s face and smirked.
“Once you’ve gone through them, start on the adults next.” Caballeron then walked up to the zebra shaman and stared him directly in the eyes. “I wonder, can you bear the burden of being responsible for the deaths of so many? How many foals will you let die before I reach somepony you actually care about? Make no mistake my friend; they will die unless you say something now that saves them.”
The shaman could see it, this stallion meant it, and he wasn’t bluffing. The shaman sighed in defeat and glared at the earth pony.
“Listen well, though your black heart I do condemn, I shall tell you the tale of Teth Adam…”