//------------------------------// // The Games // Story: And Then There Were 10...Er...67 // by Grey Ghost //------------------------------// Jason couldn’t help but pace around the train car, unable to relax. The train he and his loved ones were on was bounding through the Frozen North. The Equestria Games were starting that day and the group was going to see their hometown team. Well, that and hold the wedding. His, Chrysalis’ and Rarity’s wedding was right after the games, having been planned that way since most of the country would already be there. The actual guest list for the wedding was still going to be huge. The entire Apple family was coming, as well as the Pie family, Rarity’s family, Twilight’s family plus Jason’s family: His mothers, his sister, Fenrir, Sleipnir, Hel, Loki and someone they had refused to talk about. The weight of it all rested squarely on the young man’s shoulders, and he couldn’t stop himself from panicking rather badly. He continued to pace back and forth along the train car when something tugged at his hand. He looked up to see Chrysalis, her horn aglow, giving him a small smile. “Jason you just need to relax, alright?” she asked, her magic enveloping his hand. She pulled him over to her seat, wrapping her arms around him, giving his neck a nuzzle. “It’s just a wedding, we’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.” “Yeah I know, Chrissy,” he said, returning the embrace and kissing the base of her horn, “I just... don’t want to fuck this up, ya know?” “She’s right, you’ll be fine,” Megan said, giving her son a reassuring smile, “You know, I always pictured you settling down with some Christian girl but... I’m glad to be disappointed.” She leaned over, planting a kiss on his head. “Well... I’m glad to disappoint,” Jason said with a chuckle, his smile growing as he held Chrissy close to him, “I just hope you and Terra can get along.” he said, picturing the two women meeting in his head. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine,” Megan said with a dismissive hand wave. “Besides, even if we don’t, I promise not to cause any trouble at the wedding, okay?” she asked with a smile. “I’ll hold you to that promise, Mom.” Jason nodded, looking around the car. Twilight was busy reading, like always, Dash was in one of the other cars, giving the crusaders a pep talk with Gilda. Applejack and Pinkie were discussing cooking, the two of them in charge of the reception’s catering. Fluttershy was relaxing with Discord, her belly rather swollen. Next to them was Nightmare, whom Jason swore had hooked up with Fluttershy and Discord. Lightning Dust was at the other end of the train car, doing wing-ups. With Fluttershy’s pregnancy, she had been given the timid pegasus’s place and had been doing her best to prepare. Rarity was off in the baggage car, obsessively making sure that the wedding clothes were in order. Jason relaxed, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes. He pulled Chrysalis closer to him, the two snuggling as the train continued to chug toward its destination. Ansem-Trixie opened their eyes, a grin on their face. “Xemnas, all is ready,” they said, getting to their hooves. For the past few months, the heartless had done nothing but gather shadow energy, so much of it that every fiber of their being was saturated in it. “And all that time before now wasn’t just a waste?” Xemnas asked, leaning on the wall of their cave. He gazed at his sibling rather boredly, lazily munching on an apple. “That time was spent gathering as much energy as possible. Most of it will be used to get us past the barrier. The rest will be used to recreate your heart,” Ansem-Trixie said, looking out toward the domed city, a predatory smirk spreading across their muzzle. “Then let us away, I wish to be whole again,” Xemnas said, tossing the remains of his apple aside. He opened up a corridor of darkness, stepping through it. Ansem-Trixie looked at the portal, giving a little chuckle, “Oh you poor trusting fool, you have no idea what I have planned.” They peered back at the city. “All the world shall sink into darkness.” Jason sighed as he walked out into the VIP balcony, listening to the crowd. “At least I’m not in all that...” he said, shaking his head. He did a quick glance around, taking in the area. At the top were five thrones, each color coded to an alicorn, with their cutie mark on the back, “I swear man, it’s like they’re the freaking Power Rangers.” He moved over to his throne, taking a seat. Unlike the others, this one was cushioned, as per his request. Below the alicorn row were several smaller thrones for some of the more prominent nobles and foreign officials. Jason noted, with a twinge of guilt, that there was a seat meant for Blueblood... an empty seat. He moved on, seeing Chrysalis waving to him from her seat two rows down. He smiled, waving back at her. “So, they allowed you to choose the opening music?” Luna asked as Twilight walked out to join them. “Yup, I picked an old classic that fit quite nicely with the Games.” As if on cue, the sound of Queen filled the air as the lyrics to ‘We Are the Champions’ played over the speaker system. “Like I said, old classic.” He just smirked, watching as various teams entered the field, letting out a cheer as the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Ponyville team came out. “Ya know... next Games I’m hoping Valhalla can enter.” “Valhalla?” Cadance asked, tilting her head. “Yeah, thats what I’ve decided to name the village... town... city, whatever, around our castle. I’m going to call it Valhalla.” “Hey!” Twilight called eagerly, “Spike’s up to light the flame!” All of them turned, eyes moving to the small dragon, who stood at the cauldron, looking terrified out of his mind. He tried once to light it, but his fire just wouldn’t work. Spinning around in place, he looked out at all the ponies and other beings in the massive audience. He made one more futile effort to ignite the flame, and then just froze up. “Come on,” Jason urged, leaning forward in his seat. He had been in Spike’s place before, all the little dragon had to do was... A quick raspberry glow in the cauldron caught his attention and a moment later the torch was lit, with a very surprised Spike getting a face full of it. Jason turned to Twilight with a glare. He didn’t really pay attention to the rest of the opening ceremonies, he was too busy fuming over Twilight’s actions. When the ceremonies were finished, Jason moved out of the VIP area, letting out a calming breath... that is until Twilight walked out... and he punched her right in the horn. “Ow!” she shouted, recoiling from the blow, her wings fluffing out a bit, “What is wrong with you!? Ow!” “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you!?” he demanded, getting in her face, “Why would you do that to Spike?” “Y-you saw?” Twilight asked with a gulp, shrinking back a little. “Yes I saw, you had no right to do that,” he chastised, glaring down at her. “What was I supposed to do? Let him get embarrassed in front of the whole country?” she argued, attempting to smooth her wings. “It was something he had to overcome himself. Yggdrasil, Twilight, did you even think about this? You either tell him you did it and destroy his self confidence or you hide it and let him make an idiot of himself later. Those are your options.” “I-I didn’t...” Twilight stuttered, her eyes widening and her head dropping a little as she realized the repercussions of her actions. “No you didn’t did you? I’m going to go hit the castle’s alcohol supply, you deal with your own fuck up,” Jason said, leaving the alicorn to stew over her actions. “You could have handled that better you know,” Chrysalis commented, joining him not too far down the hall. “Yeah I could have, but that was a chance for Spike to grow and she took it from him, really pissed me off,” Jason said, letting out a deep sigh. “Hey... isn’t it bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding?” “Bah, don’t push your silly superstitions on me, changelings rarely get married anyway, so... screw the rules, I’m having fun.” With that she gave his cheek a lick, making him shudder. “Will you stop that? It’s creepy.” He made a rather disgusted face, wiping his cheek off with his sleeve. “Only when you stop having such an adorable reaction~” she responded in a sing-song voice, smirking at him. “One of these days Chrysalis... Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!” He shook his fist at her, a look of rage on his face. They stared at each other for a few moments before they both burst out laughing. “Oh... I needed that.” “Of course you did, you just punched a princess, everyone needs a laugh after being that mad,” Chrysalis said, giving him a nuzzle. “Now how about we go pillage their wine cellar? I bet they have great vintages!” “As much as I’d like to get wasted, we are getting married tomorrow... and I’d rather not be the prince that got blackout drunk during the Games. How about we just go meet up with the others?” “Oh, you're no fun,” Chrysalis said, rolling her eyes as she jabbed him in the arm. “Ow...” he said, rubbing his arm, “All you ever do is abuse me. I swear I have Stockholm syndrome.” “Such a drama queen, I swear you're worse than Rarity.” She just shook her head. “Fine, we’ll go with your boring idea and go meet with the others.” “What's got you so hyped up?” Jason asked, raising an eyebrow, “You nervous about us getting hitched?” “Hardly,” she waved her hoof dismissively. “It’s more like... well there’s so much love in the air that I can’t sit still. I’m just wired on it.” She tapped her chin in thought, “Huh... this must be what it feels like to be Pinkie Pie...” “You should save that for the honeymoon,” Jason said, strolling past her. “You’re gonna need it.” Looking back at her with a cheeky grin, he continued, “I don’t foresee us getting much sleep.” “Oh, you’re damn right we won’t.” She licked her lips, grinning. “But! We have to get hitched first. Now come on, they’re waiting for us.” He proceeded down the hallway, feeling much better than he did a few minutes ago. “This place is so pretty!” Megan gushed, looking around to the various buildings, her eyes wide in wonder. “Yes it is, it’s inspiring really,” Rarity said, taking a look around as well. Since this was Megan’s first time in the Empire, Rarity had offered to show her around. Mostly because she wouldn’t be seeing Jason until the wedding. Unlike Chrysalis, she’d be sticking with tradition. “So, are you nervous?” Megan asked as the two of them entered a small outdoor cafe. They took their seats, waiting for the waiter to get to them. “Of course I’m nervous,” Rarity said, looking through the menu, “I’m getting married and I can’t help but fret over the details. It’s like a fashion show but three times the anxiety.” “You’ll all do fine Rarity,” Megan assured her with a smile, “Plus I think I’m more nervous than you. I have to met Jason’s real family, including the woman who gave birth to him. I have no idea what I’ll do if it doesn’t work out...” She let out a sigh, thumbing through the menu, not really looking at the choices. “I’m sure you’ll get along fine,” Rarity gave her a smile. “It’s not like Jason will disown you if his family, for whatever reason, doesn’t like you. You raised him, you’re the only mother he’s ever really known.” “Thats a good point,” Megan said, taking a better look at the menu. “Now... what can I actually eat on this menu?” “Well, you could get a fruit salad,” Rarity said, showing her on her menu, “Don’t worry about the food looking like crystal, it’s completely edible.” “You ponies and your magic,” Megan chuckled, shaking her head. “You say it like it’s a bad thing...” Rarity stopped, blinking. “I think that’s Trixie,” Rarity said, getting to her hooves. “You stay here Megan, I have to see to something.” Rarity quickly excused herself, galloping off after the showmare. Trixie turned a corner, vanishing from Rarity’s sight. Rarity rounded the corner a moment later, only to find that Trixie had truly disappeared. After a few minutes of desperate searching, Rarity turned to the cafe empty hoofed. “What was that about?” Megan inquired, her voice filled with concern. “I’m sorry about that Megan, I thought I saw Trixie, a showmare the other girls and I know with a rather... sordid past. She disappeared here a few months ago.” She stopped, taking on a serious expression, “We need to tell the princesses, who knows what she’s gotten herself into.” “Well then let’s go. I’m more than willing to skip lunch if it’ll help someone.” Megan got up, pushing her chair in. “Come on,” she said, walking away. “Megan dear, do you have any idea where you're going?” “Er... no. No, I do not,” she admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. “Now I see where Jason gets it from,” Rarity said, sighing a bit. “Come on, this way.” She started to walk off in the opposite direction Megan had begun to go, trying to ignore the feeling in her gut that something very bad was about to happen. “So, he thought he could light things on fire with his mind?” Jason asked, raising his eyebrow, “Well... I suppose that’s one conclusion to spontaneous combustion...” “Yeah, it was hard to watch,” Dash said, looking over at Twilight, who was staring at the ground as they walked. “Hey now everypony, don’t be so hard on Twilight,” Fluttershy said, nestled in Discord’s arms. “She was just trying to help a friend.” “Sometimes the best way to help a friend is to let them work it out themselves,” Jason said, crossing his arms. “Little late for that now, though.” “I agree with Fluttershy, all this Twilight shaming is killing my mojo,” Chrysalis said, currently wearing Slash’s sunglasses. “Does he know you have those?” Jason asked, eyeing her questioningly. “Of course not, like he’d part with them willingly. I swiped them from his room while he was in the shower.” “He’s going to be pissed.” “Like I can’t handle that blowhard,” she said. “Oh, are we here?” Up ahead was a blue heart made of crystal... that was just floating there. “That’s the crystal heart? I imagined it would be... doing something. Even just spinning slowly or something. It’s kinda... underwhelming,” Jason said, looking at the heart with a frown. “Underwhelming? Thats not underwhelming, its a damn ripoff is what it is! I should have known it’d be more lame pony feelgood crap,” Chrysalis hissed, glaring at the heart intently. “Oh, I wouldn’t exactly say that,” two voices spoke at once. The assembled group turned, many gasping in surprise. There stood Trixie, her eyes a piercing yellow, the alicorn amulet fastened around her neck. “Trixie?!” Twilight gasped, snapping out of her funk. “You swore you’d never wear that thing again!” “Oh she did, but I didn’t,” ‘Trixie’ said, voice her voice was overlaid with a male’s voice, a smirk growing on her muzzle. “I needed its power.” “I don’t understand,” Twilight said, shaking her head in disbelief, a look of confusion on her face. “I do.” Jason stepped forward. “Ansem.” He glared at the mare. “So you’ve been hiding inside of a pony huh? Pretty low if you ask me.” “A necessary measure,” they said, still smirking. “But now, my time has come. Xemnas, get the heart!” As ordered, Xemnas leapt out of a shadow portal, nabbing the heart before any of them could stop him. “Hey! Give that back!” Dash ordered, glaring furiously at the duo. Ansem-Trixie just ignored her, their grin growing as they took the heart from Xemnas, their magic a deep black. “I’ve been planning this for months, you know,” Ansem-Trixie said with a smirk, the Crystal Heart hovering in their black magic. “Now I can finally plunge this world into everlasting darkness!” They threw their head back, laughing hysterically. Jason gulped, looking at the insane heartless. This was going to suck.