-----Rarity-----
Ugh. This is soooo not what I was expecting of the capitol of a kingdom! There’s debris everywhere, I’m getting dust on my clothes (No, not the good kind of Dust), and I think I have some wolf brains stuck to my handbag.
As a lady, I feel no remorse bringing an end to these foul creatures. They had the nerve to almost ruin my new clothes, not to mention the whole white on black thing was so last year. It almost seems merciful to put them out of their fashionless misery.
I’ve ended up in, of all places, the shopping district of the city, Vale, I think Twilight called it. I know I’m supposed to be going to that big castle-looking thing overlooking the city, but I’m sure the girls will understand if I take a look around first.
Unfortunately, it’s all bad. There isn’t anything in the stores; they’ve all been looted or destroyed. I gingerly step into one, making sure not to scuff my heels, and examine the remains of what must have been a beautiful red dress at some point. If they allow me, after we stop that dreadful Discord, I would love to strike up a conversation with some of these store owners, find out how they made what is probably such horte couture!
“Hey! Are you crazy? Get out of the street!” I look over to the voice, and my jaw drops in a most unladylike manner. In the case of all best possible things, this is the. Best. POSSIBLE. THING! Standing in the doorway of a mostly intact store stands a complete dreamboat of a man. Sea blue hair, red designer jacket, tan skin that’ll melt in your mouth, goggles framing that gorgeous face… ooh! I must have him!
I rush over to him, making note of the store as he helps me enter (From Dust ‘til Dawn, obviously not clothes). What greets me is row upon row of tubes stretching to the ceiling, every one filled with some kind of material, in all colors of the rainbow. Some part of the back of my mind, the part that will always agree with what Twilight says because, face it, she’s always right, fills in that this is a store for Dust, that stuff that powers all of our weapons. However, I only have eyes for Mr. Dreamboat in the middle of the store.
“So, who’re you? I wouldn’t think anyone would be crazy enough to walk the city with all those Grimm out there, Huntsman or no.” Oh, by Celestia, his voice is as smooth as Neighgyptian cotton! I struggle to form words.
“I-I’m Rarity… wh-who-who are you, Mr. H-Handsome?”
He flashes a smile with teeth as white as Celestia’s flank. “I’m Neptune. Pleased to meet you, Ms. Rarity. Now, what are you doing in Vale? The city was supposed to be evacuated; I stayed behind to look for a friend.”
I seem to have recomposed myself so as to not look like a gibbering idiot. “I’m here with my friends, Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack. We are currently trying to get to the Academy up on that hill to stop the dark thing that’s taken over.” I realize I must get him talking again, to hear that voice, so I blurt out, “Who are you looking for?”
He pauses. “Wait, you’re here with Rainbow? As in, Rainbow Dash?”
Now it’s my turn to pause. “You’ve heard of her?”
“Yeah! She and her team took on the winners of the first-year bracket of the tournament! Sun told me all about her.”
I stop. What did he just say? “I’m sorry, who?”
“My friend, Sun Wukong. He met Rainbow personally, had some high praise for her skill.”
Something isn’t adding up. We met someone in the forest when we landed, someone Rainbow addressed as Sun… then Pinkie blasted him with who-knows-what, and he turned into… Discord! I turn away from him, and examine the store. “So, he’s lost in the city, and you are looking for him? That’s very… noble.”
“Yeah, but I think I found an even better prize.” I hear a sching, like a weapon being pulled from its holster. Without thinking, I whip my bag back, and it catches around the barrel of the gun Neptune’s just pulled on me!
“What are you thinking, pulling such a vulgar tool on a lady like myself?” I flash him my most disarming smile, complete with eyelash flutter. Surprisingly, he is unaffected.
“Because Father said to be on the lookout for six girls making their way through the city, and you match the description. Now, if you’d just come with me,” he wrenches the gun out of my grasp and spins it into a deadly-looking trident, “I won’t have to cut off that pretty hair of yours.”
I feel my eye twitch. There is no way in Tartarus I would let him touch a single millimeter of my hair! Now, I hate to want to smash up such a beautiful face, but it’s obvious he won’t see reason, especially as he charges at me, trident held high. I block with my bag strap (huh, must be some kind of extremely flexible metal under the cloth), and we battle around the store. We end up shattering some of the tubes, spilling Dust and glass everywhere. I’m being extremely careful not to let him cut my clothes, while he’s being careful not to strike any of the accumulated piles of Dust.
Our dance ends, unfortunately with me on my back on the floor, Neptune holding his trident against my neck. Now, and I say this in the most ladylike way possible, I’m scared shitless.
“Now, are you going to be a good little girl and come with me to Father, or am I going to start cutting that hair?”
I feel an unbridled rage flow through me. He can beat me, take me to the floor (in a non-sexual way, obviously), he can even ruin my clothes. But nopony ever, EVER, makes a threat to my luscious mane! My hand connects with the floor, and I feel a surge of power emanate from the contact. Suddenly, all the Dust on the ground is floating through the air. Neptune looks worried.
“What are you doing?”
I look him dead in the eye, and smile. A sweet innocent smile, perfect for a lady to give somepony she knows she’s beat. “Why, I’m doing what I should have done all along, darling!”
With that, I control the Dust, and five seconds later, he is stuck to the ceiling by a large pillar of ice I created by forming the Dust, entrapping him, and then activating it. I frown, and cut some of the ice away. What is left is me, as a pony, holding him against the ceiling, the pointy point of my horn sticking dangerously close to his belly.
“Now, be a good boy and don’t struggle too much. I don’t want you cutting yourself on that sharp ice!”
He’s thrashing around, trying to get at his blade, which is stuck in Ice Rarity’s grip. “I’ll kill you! I swear by the Father, I will kill you!”
I wave him off dismissively. “Yes, yes, I’ve heard all that before. Now, I’m going to put you on the honor system. You stay here until I can come back with the proper authorities, and we might be able to consider a second date. Is that alright, darling?” He continues to thrash, shouting obscenities at me.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Ciao, Neptune!” I use my newfound power, fill my bag to full with Dust, and make for the Academy. As I leave, I experiment, and float a Dust kunai out of my bag with my power. I smile. This is going to be fun.
----------
I arrive at the plaza last, even though I believe I was the closest to it. We’re all here, making sure we are who we say we are, and Rainbow Dash is asleep underneath a tree. Applejack goes to wake her up, and Rainbow throws her through a wall. I’m shocked. Rainbow stands, but there’s something wrong. Her eyes are pure black, with red instead of magenta irises. A strange smoke is coming from them as she moves towards Twilight, gun in hand.
I levitate an ice kunai out of my bag, but even with my newfound power, it won’t make it to the gun in time. I throw anyways.
*BLAM*
-----Fluttershy-----
Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh. I’m scared, curled up in a ball near some trees, and I need the girls for support! I’m so scared!
Wait, I don’t need to be scared. I have Angel/Bunny with me! I reach, and sure enough, my fingers close around my trusty morning star. I named this mode Bunny, because of how fast I can move while swinging it around and the other Angel, because it saved my friends more times than I can count. It helps that the rocket launcher mode has a picture of my real Angel Bunny imprinted on it. With my other friend in hand, I stand and survey my surroundings. I appear to be in a park of some sort, but still within the city. I can see the Academy over the treetops.
“Oh, I hope the girls are all right. Ruby and the others too,” I find myself saying. I mean it too.
I can’t believe Discord would break his promise to me, but he’s now fused with that other him, the really mean one, and it’s changed him. I never stop loving a friend, I’m not going to stop now! We WILL help Discord, even if it means hurting him a bit.
Speaking of which, Twilight said we should make for Beacon, and avoid each other until we get there. I, for one, completely agree. I don’t remember all of what happened the last time Discord was released, but I do know he turned me into a meanie bitch. I hurt my friends, and I liked it, and I never want to feel that way again.
Suddenly, the voice of Discord shouts out across the city. Something about how this is a really dangerous place now and the Grimm are going to be hunting us, but I’m not paying attention. All I can focus on is how heartless he sounds. There is nothing of my good-natured friend left in that monstrosity. Now I am more determined than ever to separate this Grimmfather from what used to be my friend.
I hear a howl, and its close by. These creatures I meet here can’t be tamed. I can’t make friends with them, or take care of them like I do my animal friends back home. In my honest opinion, it is a kindness to kill something off that isn’t really living in the first place.
They come out of the trees, and I am ready for them. I brain one, smash the legs of another, flip away to blast a few more. This continues for a minute before the last of them are gone. I am about to head towards Beacon when a whimper makes me pause.
Secluded away by some bushes is a small Beowulf, limping away from me on one paw. I raise Bunny to end its pitiful life, but something makes me pause. It’s so young. How could I kill something so defenseless?
I lower my star, and it stops and turns to me. The Beowulf tries to stand its ground and bare its teeth at me, but falls when it puts weight on its injured paw, whimpering softly.
“Oh, you poor thing. Here, let me help you.” As I scoop it up in my arms, a strange, yet familiar feeling passes from me to it. It is the feeling I get whenever I help an injured animal; one of peace and unforgiving kindness. As the feeling fades, the Beowulf reaches up, and licks my cheek. I giggle.
I set it on the ground and whatever I did seems to have healed its paw. Instead of attacking me, it hovers near me, a happy look in its eyes. Wait, the eyes…
Its eyes are no longer black and red, but white, with soft green irises. Did… did I just give a Beowulf a soul? My theory is that the eyes are literally, not figuratively, the window to the soul, and the eyes are reflective of the pony’s soul. These Grimm’s eyes are dark, lifeless. This means that they either have no soul, or the soul is locked away behind a fog of cruelty, malice, and unemotion.
Do I have the ability to unlock a Grimm’s soul? It’s a thought I don’t want to put much thought into. Just one is enough to confirm it. Maybe, this one was too young to commit such atrocities as its older siblings. The fog around the soul was weak, and I was able to overcome it.
Any way you put it, I now have a friendly Grimm to keep me company. “Well, you want to stay with me?” A happy bark. “Okay, but I have to give you a name. How about Fluffy?” It barks, then chases its nonexistent tail in a circle. I giggle again.
“Okay, Fluffy, let’s go find my friends.”
----------
Fluffy turns out to be a fearsome fighter as well. He can smell other Grimm coming, and can defend himself admirably. One of our favorite tricks is to load him in Angel, and launch him into an unsuspecting group of Grimm, where he takes them down before they realize they have a traitor in their midst.
We found a specialty Dust shop on the edge of the park, which I used to reload both lethal and nonlethal rockets. Can’t help to be too prepared, and I would rather hit Discord with a goop rocket than an explosive one if I can help it. We also found a pet shop, which I pillaged to get a collar for Fluffy, to discern him from other Grimm, and a selection of dog treats.
With Fluffy’s help, we make it to the plaza in one piece. Rainbow’s there, sleeping as usual, and Applejack is near her. She backs up when she sees me with Fluffy, but calms down when I tell her what happened. I have to repeat the conversation three more times as the others show up, to stop them from killing Fluffy on sight.
When everyone is okay with Fluffy, Applejack goes to wake up Rainbow Dash. I freeze as Rainbow’s fist connects with Applejack, and hits her through a wall. Fluffy growls; I look at Rainbow’s eyes. Her eyes are the same as a Grimm’s! She moves towards Twilight, bringing her gun to rest near Twilight’s head.
“Don’t kill,” I tell Fluffy, and he hops into Angel. I fire; whatever is happening to Rainbow, I can’t allow her to hurt our friends, but I don’t want Fluffy killing her either!
*BLAM*