Pegasus Densetsu

by Wyrm

Opprimerimus

Pegasus Densetsu

MLP:FiM by Lauren Faust (Hasbro)
Angel Densetsu by Norihiro Yagi

Chapter 7: Opprimerimus

"A cold?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yeah. Even the Queens get the sniffles every once in a while," replied Firecracker. "But today is the third day Surprise has been down." The red filly frowned. "It's weird. Usually she's chock-full of stupid energy, and she bounces back so fast you'd think she's made of rubber, but this cold has really wrecked her. I'm afraid that she'll probably be out a good week."

"A week... that's a long time," murmured Fluttershy. "Wow, a week's pretty bad."

"You need to get over that sort of thing quickly, I guess," Firecracker concurred, "Still, one week is really long. She'll miss out on classes."

"Yeah... a whole week's worth..." murmured Fluttershy, her voice tinged with sadness. "I wonder if she'll be held back."

"Don't worry about that. Her attendance is actually pretty good."

"Oh, that's good," Fluttershy said with relief. "Still, she must be bored, poor thing."

"Why don't we visit then?" she suggested suddenly.

"What?" Fluttershy murmured with a blink of her beady eyes. "I can't just show up at her door unannounced!" she protested, "What if I interrupted something important?!"

"I think she'll be happy. It's not like she has anything important we could be interrupting."

"I suppose. But what if we cause her more problems?"

The red-coated pony pouted playfully. "Then you don't want to go?"

"I didn't say that."

"Relax, I was kidding," Firecracker said, her face snapping into a grin. "Well, it would be trouble if more than a few ponies visit."

A pink-coated filly with blue hair stepped into the conversation. "What are you two doing?" Firefly asked.

"We're just going to visit Surprise," Firecracker told her fellow Queen.

"Well, don't let Rainbow Dash hear about that, or she'll want to tag along," Firefly said seriously.

"So what's this I hear about visiting Surprise?"

Too late. "Speak of the Rainbow, here she is," Firefly said, turning to the voice, which she knew had come from the cerulean pegasus. She stared at Rainbow Dash for a few moments, taking in her dress. "So, Spectrum Butt, it's a jacket this week, I see. I hope to Celestia that ain't real leather." A slight disapproval had snuck into her voice.

The cocky pegasus grinned. "Nah. You can't get that for love nor money, so I had to go with vinyl. Fortunately, this was a bargain down at the thrift shop," she said to Firefly with a flippant, cheerful tone.

"Delinquency on a budget. Classy."

Rainbow Dash blew a raspberry at her. The rainbow-maned filly then turned to her boss. "So anyway, about this house visit..." she prompted.

"Surprise has caught a cold. Firecracker and I were going to visit her to cheer her up," summarized the yellow pegasus.

"Awesome! Mind if I tag along?" Rainbow Dash said in exuberance. "We can discuss stuff on making ourselves even more delinquent!"

"I'm coming along," added Firefly.

"Don't copy me, Cheap Knock-Off."

"Buck you! I'm Surprise's friend, too!"

The two fillies pressed their furrowed brows together and growled confrontationally.

To round out the current cast, a certain bone-white filly intruded into the conversation. "Hay! 'Sup?" Lightning Bolt said casually.

Fluttershy addressed the newest addition to Team Fluttershy, a team the yellow filly was wholly unaware of. "Oh, Lightning Bolt. Surprise caught a cold, and we're just going to pay a visit to cheer her up."

Lightning Bolt blinked with sudden insight. I was wondering why I hadn't seen the big cheese around these past days. Even the empress can come down with the sniffles, I guess, she wondered internally, Makes sense. At the end of the day, she is a pony, after all. "I'll tag along," she announced, "It's probably my fault she got sick anyway. What, with fighting her." Empress Surprise inspires much loyalty in her ranks. True loyalty! I'm glad to be part of this tight-knit gang!

Firecracker, on the other hand, looked on with horror at the growing fiasco taking shape before her eyes. What in... how did this happen?! I only invited Fluttershy because she was showing such concern for Surprise, and was expecting Firefly to join because we Queens are all such close friends, all because I thought it would make Surprise happy! No way would she be happy with Rainbow Dash and Lightning Bolt tagging along!

"Onwards!" bellowed Rainbow Dash, and the herd marched on toward Surprise's home.

Firecracker blinked several times as she stared at the sign. "Pala-what-what-what?"

Rainbow Dash nodded at the sign, saying, "It's latin for 'Opprimerimus's Gymnasium.' And before you ask, I saw the footnote in the directory." She gave every pony in the group a sharp glare.

Surprise's house was quite large by pegasus standards. Not only had it a house for living in, but it also had a cloudy structure attached to it, taking up a large portion of the cloud the premises rested upon. A gate opened wide, overseeing the yard and structures within, bearing the latin-bearing sign.

"A gymnasium? I didn't know her house had an attached gymnasium," Firefly remarked.

"That's because we've never been to her house before. I only know it because I know her father's name," Firecracker answered. "C'mon, time's a-wasting, and the sooner we get this fiasco over with, the better."

"'Fiasco'?" Fluttershy parroted. What does straw-jacketed bottle have to do with this situation? Are we going to drink? That's very naughty! she thought, resolving herself to keep a careful watch on her friends.

Startled, Surprise spat out the thermometer she was holding under her tongue. It clattered to the cloudy floor, but did not break. It did not fall through, either, given that it was enchanted not to go through cloud bank. "Oh, shoot!" she cursed, picking up the glass rod and placing it on the desk. She cursed again as she realized that its liquid had been shaken back down into the bulb. "Dang it. That's that wasted," she sighed.

Surprise stepped out of her room, still wearing her pink pajamas. "I wonder who that could be at the door," she murmured, her hooves clacking against the hard cloudy floor. "I'd like to pretend no one is home, but I shouldn't do that in case it's a bill collector."

A frown graced her lips as she opened the door. "If it's a salespony, I'll just dump a bucket of green slime on him."

"Hello."

Surprise smiled at the welcome sight of the red-coated filly. "Oh, hey, Firecracker," Surprise said happily, "Did you come to visit me? Thank you so much! I was bored out of my skull... come on in!"

"I didn't come by myself," said Firecracker.

"Hello, Surprise."

Surprise's heart almost lept clear out of her throat as the scary yellow filly came into view. "F-Fluttershy!" she squeaked. Was that nice-nice stuff all a ruse?! Was she just waiting until I was at my weakest before finishing me off??!

"I heard you had a cold and that put you out for three days. I'm sorry. I know this was sudden, but I'd like to pay my regards... if it's alright with you, that is..." The last part was mumbled.

Surprise calmed at Fluttershy's words. Of course, she was just worried about one of her inferiors. Well, she did call me a friend, even if qualified with 'bothersome', Surprise mused to herself. She felt... deeply moved. Putting a wide grin on her face, Surprise said as she stepped aside, "No, I don't mind. I was really bored, anyway. Come in."

"But if we all come in, it might cause some problems," came Fluttershy's worried words.

Surprise laughed it off. "Oh, don't be a silly filly. It won't be any trouble at... 'all'?" It was both a completion of her statement, and a questioning of a single word that Fluttershy had said.

"Hey-ho!" Firefly chirped.

"Greetings!" Rainbow Dash stated.

"So this is the Empress's house," Lightning Bolt wondered aloud.

"GYAH!! What?! What what what what?" Surprise had the sudden urge to cluck like a chicken, but shook it off. "What's going on here?! Why are all of you here?" she all but screeched.

"I apologize for the large group, but we were all worried about you, Surprise," Fluttershy announced.

"Huh?!" gasped Surprise.

"I'm sorry, Surprise! I only invited Fluttershy! The rest just tagged along!"

Surprise stared at the assembled group for a minute before letting out an exasperated breath. "Good grief," she murmured, under her breath. Perking up, she said, "It's okay. You can all come in. Thanks for taking the trouble coming here."

"So, we gonna see the Empress's room? Bet it's bad-flank."

"We won't all fit in my room," Surprise said, cutting off Lightning Bolt from her suggestion, adding in her mind, And I certainly don't want you in there, freaky pony! "I'll take you to the gymnasium."

Lightning Bolt grinned, surveying the wide open space of the attached gymnasium. "Sweet! This is a pretty big gym! I might start taking lessons!" she said, thuggish juices starting to flow.

"Shut your trap, Bolt!" Rainbow Dash gently chastised.

The snow-white filly ignored the two most thuggish of their group. "Sorry for the uncomfortable spot to lie down, Fluttershy," Surprise apologized.

"Oh, don't worry! I'm totally fine. Your gym is nice and clean," Fluttershy complemented.

Firecracker gave a worried glance at Surprise. "Is it okay for you to be walking around so much?" she asked.

Surprise laughed off the concern. "It's not so bad during the day; it's night when I really get it," she said, rubbing her nose with a snort. "I don't have much to do during the day. That's why I'm so glad you all came." The snow-white filly turned to Rainbow Dash, leveling a disapproving look at her. "Oh, nice leather, Rainbow."

"Don't look so impressed. It's just vinyl," Rainbow Dash said, deflecting the implied scorn. "So where's Captain Opprimerimus of the Forth Royal Honor Guard?"

"He's at the store, I think..." Surprise answered automatically, before the full weight of the words registered in her mind. "Wait, how did you know he's a captain in the Royal Guard?!" she asked, the meaning catching up to her.

The cerulean pony grinned. "I had a hunch, so I did some digging and found out that —lo and behold— he's a captain in the Royal Guard. And that he's on reserve status this year, meaning that he spends lots of time at home," she said smugly, "Your family has had members in the Royal Guard for generations, like your big sister, Compotatio, who started as a private this year. That's how you knew Field Goal was a fighter, you were able to command your squad of Queens so effectively, and how you were able to hold your own with Lightning Bolt four days ago. Some of your family 'trade' has rubbed off on ya."

Surprise frowned with a blush on her cheeks. A blush that wasn't from her sickness. "What are you, an egghead?" she groused.

Rainbow Dash reciprocated the frown, protesting, "I'm not an egghead!"

Surprise sighed. "Sorry... and you're right, I do know some of the basics, but I don't find it my calling. That's why I got a balloon cutie mark instead of one like a shield or sword or somethin'..."

Lightning Bolt threw a sidelong smile at her, a smile that made Surprise almost jump out of her hide reflexively. "You do well enough kicking flank, though. I knew strong ponies attracted each other," said the bone-white filly in renewed awe. "Though that makes me curious what your special tallent actually is. Lemme take a look at your flank, again!"

Surprise scooted away, gathering up the hem of her pajama bottoms. "No way! I'm not letting you into my pants!" shouted the snow-white filly, blushing fiercer.

"It's not like she ain't gonna see it anyway when you return to school, Surprise," Rainbow Dash pointed out. Surprise stuck out her tongue.

After a few moments, the group relaxed again, returning to more comfortable topics. Surprise supposed things were going very well, until...

"Oy, Surprise! Where are you, my cute little daughter?"

At the sound of this voice, Surprise tensed up in sudden anxiety. The moment passed, and Surprise nervously gathered herself off the floor, flashing a weak grin at her guests. "Um, just relax here for a bit." With that, she silently slipped out of the gymnasium door.

"That must have been the captain," remarked Rainbow Dash.

A white stallion with blond mane cropped short, and tail docked close met Surprise in the hall. He was a mountain of a pony, easily larger than Field Goal. His blue eyes scrutinized his daughter, coming out of their attached gymnasium. "What were you doing in there? Don't you have a cold?" Opprimerimus, Surprise's father, asked with subtle chastisement.

Surprise's smile was wide and fake. "Um... just some... friends visiting me..." she squeaked through a tight voice.

Opprimerimus raised an eyebrow, smiling a wide, great smile. "A home visit, eh?" he remarked, "How nice of them. Well, I simply must pop my head in and—"

"AH! NO, IT'S OKAY! DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!" shrieked Surprise.

If Opprimerimus noticed his daughter's tone and the suddenness of her outburst, he didn't say anything. "Oh, don't be a silly-willy filly, Surprise! Any friend visiting you when you're sick is a good friend, and I should definitely greet your dear friends and thank them for their concern."

"Um... but..." Surprise waffled.

"What are you so afraid of?" laughed Opprimerimus as he opened the door to the gymnasium, "It's not like they're a bunch of thugs!"

Cue bunch of thugs.

"Hey, that's the captain! How ya doin'?" Rainbow Dash said cheerfully.

Lightning Bolt, seeing the physique of Opprimerimus, let out an admiring whistle. "Wow, I can see where you get your large size from, Empress Surprise!"

"Nice ta meecha, Mr. Surprise's Father," said Firefly cheekily.

A stiff smile on her face, Surprise's dragged her gaze towards her father. The enormous guard pony's mouth had dropped open from shock, a stunned look on his face. "Papa?" Slowly, Opprimerimus pulled the door closed with a firm clack.

"What, Optimus? Where are those words of welcome?" asked Lighting Bolt.

"That's a pretty rude way to treat your guests!" remarked Rainbow Dash.

"Is he a barbarian or something?" asked Firefly rhetorically.

Opprimerimus stared at the closed door for five seconds in silence, quietly warring over the surprise he felt at the sight of the thuggish ponies on the other side. (Surprise knew it was five seconds; she counted.) Finally, his mouth began to work again.

"What... was that?" the off-duty captain sputtered, "SURPRISE! Since when were you making friends with hooligans like that?! And one of them called you 'Empress'! Are you the head of your own girl gang?!!"

Surprise backed up a couple of steps, a nervous smile on her face. "S... settle down, papa! It's not like I'm good friends with all of them..." she said palliatively. Her father was not happy, she could well tell.

"I saw one of them wearing a leather jacket! Another has dyed her hair blood red! They're ruffians! They're evil!" the captain growled.

At this, Surprise frowned. Nobody badmouthed her friends! (That's her job!) Not even her papa. "Hey, don't judge them by their hair! And that jacket's vinyl!" she barked back in defense, "They're not that bad!"

"What about them calling you 'Empress', young lady!?!"

"Trickster Empress!" corrected Surprise. "You know full well that playing joyful pranks is my special tallent! My position is one of jokes and fun, not violence!"

Surprise stepped towards the gym entrance again. "Anyways, they're here for my sake, so keep that negativolutely to yourself!"

Opprimerimus could only growl in impotent rage. Surprise could only seethe in impotent frustration. Why do I have to stand up for those idiots, Dash and Bolt? Especially that pervert, Bolt? thought the snow-white filly.

A faux cheerful smile pasted on her face, she opened the door again. "Sorry for the wait. Papa would like to say hello to all of you," she said in false happiness. Firecracker's shoulders slumped in embarrassment and mortification. This was going to be a disaster.

"Optimal II: Return of the Ultima!" Lightning Bolt quipped. Surprise was almost certain she was mispronouncing her papa's name on purpose.

"So, Opprimerimus knows his manners after all! Good guy!" Rainbow Dash nodded.

Opprimerimus tensed his jaw tighter. I want to slaughter those twits all! he thought. Still, he had to make an attempt to sound friendly to Surprise's friends. "Th-thank you for being such good friends... of Surprise..." he said hauntingly, "And thank you... for coming to our home..."

"Optimus is kind of stuttery," remarked Bolt.

"Hey, Oppy! Say something funny!" Dash shouted.

Opprimerimus's blood pressure soared.

"Um... sorry for the bother."

The captain's blood pressure dropped so fast he thought he might faint. He looked sidelong at Firecracker, a red-coated and black-maned filly who was wearing a pleasant smile and looking somewhat contrite.

Opprimerimus smiled back. "Oh. You must be Firecracker. Surprise has told me a lot about you. Thank you for being such a good friend," he said, good cheer returned.

Firecracker blushed. "It's nothing. I know there are a lot of us here to visit, and I'm sorry that we're causing so much trouble."

Opprimerimus laughed. "No. No, that's fine. Please keep my little darling company." In his head, Opprimerimus's thoughts were happy and cheerful again. This is more like it. This is how this kind of conversation should go. The captain cast a sidelong glance at the other ponies. Compared to her, those rogues... By Celestia's mane, they haven't shown me a smidgen of respect!

"Pardon me..."

Opprimerimus turned, prepared to find another insolent filly, but found instead something beyond his worst nightmares.

"I apologize for this sudden visit. Fluttershy, at your service."

You should know the drill by now.

Surprise gasped as she saw the familiar shrinkage of one's pupils in her father's eyes. Crabapples! Papa's gonna get killed if he messes with Fluttershy! thought the sick, pajama'ed, snow-white pony. She immediately started to defend Fluttershy, bullshitting at full tilt, "Don't worry your eensy-weensy head about her face, papa! She may look scary, but she's a good—"

Surprise broke off her whitewash as an object flew at the two. It was Opprimerimus's sharpened wing. The captain roared in anger as Surprise and Fluttershy scattered to avoid the berserk pony guard.

Meanwhile, the other four ponies watched the carnage unfold. "Oh, dear. Looks like he's gone bonkers at the sight of Fluttershy," remarked Firefly, rather dispassionately.

Firecracker snapped out of her shock as she snapped at Firefly, "You shut up! This is no time for that!"

"Papa! Calm down!" Surprise said, in as best a calming voice as she could manage considering that she was in close proximity with a ten-pound bag of violence that was Fluttershy, and Surprise's own hulking brute of a father.

Her words were for naught. Opprimerimus let out another roar and he pivoted about and bucked powerfully at Fluttershy. Surprise managed to tackle her friend out of immediate harm. "THAT'S ENOUGH!! Red dyed hair and a leather jacket are one thing, but fraternizing with the spawn of the Nightmare is quite another!!" the guard bellowed in rage.

"Buh?!" blurted Surprise.

What in the world?! What's going on?! thought Fluttershy, staring in wide-eyed bewilderment at her friend's father.

Opprimerimus continued to use his royal martial arts on this creature he knew to be utter evil. Surprise gritted her teeth, pushing Fluttershy out of harm's way as limbs of all types were thrown at the yellow pony. "GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER, YOU DEMON!!" roared the white royal guard pony, his limbs a fury of righteous anger. "YOU JUST STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER, YOU HEAR?!!"

Meanwhile, Fluttershy tried to wrap her head around what was going on. What? Who's a demon? Is this cloud house haunted? she thought in a fog of confusion. Surprise, you are a brave pony to endure such hardships!

"Aha! Numero Dos vs. the Royal Guardspony. Should be an interesting fight!" remarked Lightning Bolt from the sidelines.

Firecracker was still frozen by fear, yet livid with outrage at this point, "Don't just watch, you ninnies! Somepony stop him!"

Surprise was actually getting angry at her father. Fluttershy had called her a friend, something that was no doubt difficult for the pony who was ten pounds of violence in a one pound bag to admit. When that happened, it was the first time Surprise could be near Fluttershy without feeling fear. Not only was Opprimerimus flirting death himself tangling Fluttershy, but endangering that precious friendship.

"That's..." growled Surprise, "...enough!"

The snow-white unwound a powerful back-kick right into Opprimerimus's muzzle, sending the large stallion onto his back and into unconsciousness.

"Sweet!" Lightning Bolt cheered, excited seeing the hoofticuffs. "A reverse back-kick right to the kisser! Empress Surprise kicks ass!"

"Looked like a rolling sobat to me," Rainbow Dash commented. She took a moment to scratch her chin thoughtfully. "Funny, you'd think that a Royal Guard would be able to hold his own against his own relatively untrained daughter. Maybe he was really unsettled by Fluttershy's face."

Surprise was shocked at herself. She had actually laid out her own father, and was sick to her stomach. She felt weak. Her legs, which had felt like rubber ever since executing her last attack, finally gave out as she fainted. "Surprise! Are you okay?!" pleaded Fluttershy, catching her before she hit the hardwood floor.

"Pulling off those kinds of moves when you're sick is bound to buck anyone up," Lightning Bolt mused.

"So the father/daughter match ends with a tie," added Rainbow Dash.

For her part, Firecracker shuddered in shock and dispair. Tears danced around the corners of her eyes. "Ah... ah... Waahhhh!!! I'm so sorry, Surprise! I'm sorry I brought all these horrible ponies with me!" she bawled.

"Waddya mean 'horrible ponies,' Cracky?" asked Firefly innocently.

Fluttershy was still trying to revive Surprise. "Surprise! Surprise!"

The next day...

"Man, what an awful farce that was yesterday," remarked Rainbow Dash.

"Totally," agreed Firefly. "Fluttershy threw us all out of Surprise's home after she fainted."

"Yeah, she was all like 'Kiyeee! Kiyeee!' I figured it was time to scoot at that point," replied the rainbow filly. "I wonder how Surprise is doing now."

Firefly was standing shock-still with an unreadable look on her face, but it didn't look too pleased.

Noting the queer prickling on her crest, Rainbow Dash asked wryly and rhetorically, "She's right behind me, isn't she?"

Firefly wordlessly nodded. Rainbow Dash dared turn to regard their leader.

Fluttershy's face drooped alarmingly. Her eyes sagged in their sockets, with their rings more pronounced than usual. Instead of her usual perpetual sneer, her mouth was drawn down in a frown. She looked miserable. Still scary, but miserable. "What wonderful weather we're having. I feel like today will be a perfect day for doing anything. What a nice morning." Fluttershy said those words in a flat monotone, devoid of any joy that the words should have carried.

Without a further word, she shuffled past the two.

"What was that all about?" blurted Firefly with confusion. "I'm surprised we're still alive!"

Firecracker stepped up, following Fluttershy, and addressed the two ponies angrily. "Surprise's cold turned for the worse because of what happened yesterday. She'll be out a couple of more days. Fluttershy feels pretty bad about it."

Firefly cast her eyes down, ashamed. "I guess we were partially at fault for that."

Firecracker remained frowning, but left without saying anything. She only thought, You're wholly at fault for that!

Somewhere in the nebulous town of Cloudsdale, a certain yellow pegasus filly was completely bummed out, after her disastrous meeting with one of her friends' parents.

END CHAPTER 7.

Well, that's the first part of the parents' arc down. Next up, Fluttershy's dad. If you've read the original Angel Densetsu, you'll have a good guess to how he'll turn out.