//------------------------------// // Loyalty 10: リフレッシ // Story: 友達は魔法少女 ~FRIENDSHIP IS MAGICAL GIRLS~ // by MythrilMoth //------------------------------// Five men of varying ages sat in a room decorated entirely in black and dark blue. "Flash Sentry, are you making progress with Twilight Sparkle?" Flash Sentry shrugged. "She's a bit of a challenge. I'll have to take it nice and slow." The oldest man present harrumphed. "You should just kill her and have done with it." "We don't want the girl dead, Blood Fang!" a man with short, stiff spiky blue hair and a scar over one eye said. "She's dangerous to our cause," Blood Fang replied, stroking his grizzled white beard. "No, she's essential to our cause," a man with long grey hair said. The scarred man turned to the fifth man. "Do you have anything to say about all this?" The fifth man leaned forward, his choppy, greasy black hair hanging over his eyes. "It's just as Night Wind said," he answered in a gravelly voice. "The whole point of having Flash Sentry approach and seduce Twilight Sparkle is to corrupt her...to turn her away from the Sun." He took in the entire assembly with a slow turn of his head. "Our Goddess' return is coming soon. Already one of the Seals binding her has been shattered. Another has weakened." "Yes...these so-called Shadowbolts," Night Wind said thoughtfully. "They're a complication. They need to be dealt with." "That's...going to be a problem," Flash said. "They're using pure silver to channel the Goddess' wrath." He shrugged helplessly. "Even if you order me to go after them, I'm staying as far away from those girls as possible. I'm no use to the Goddess dead." "Then we'll have to trust in the mahoushoujo to—" "No," Blood Fang said. "If the agents of the Sun are able to secure the second Seal, they could ruin everything!" "Actually, I have a better idea," Night Wind said. He turned to Flash. "Think you can corrupt the Lulamoon girl? The one who still holds the power from the first Seal?" Flash snorted. "What, and two-time Twilight Sparkle?" Night Wind glared at him. Flash grinned. "Just kidding, Oyaji. Leave it to me. I'll do what I do best." Blood Fang grunted. "Lucky for us we have a young, overeager pup around to rut every little bitch that comes sniffing..." "Alright, that's enough," the grey-haired man said. "Night Wind, Flash Sentry...we leave it to you. Whatever it takes to bring about the return of the Moon Goddess." The five men threw their heads back and howled in tribute to their Goddess. Loyalty 10: リフレッシ The mahoushoujo stayed home from school the next day. With Applejack still in the hospital and everyone else still tired and sore from the battle, nobody had any energy to do anything. Twilight and Cadance were at the hospital with Applejack. Velvet was downstairs tending the book store. That left Spike and Silver Spoon alone in the apartment. "Shouldn't we be...I don't know, doing something?" Silver Spoon asked, frowning. Spike shrugged. "I'm out of power," he said. "And I'm honestly still too sore and tired to go out and recharge." He popped the tab on a cola and chugged it. "The Shadowbolts aren't any better off. There's...not really anything to do. I mean, Celestia-sama's got people watching the hospitals in case, y'know, a girl shows up missing a hand..." Silver Spoon shuddered. "You really...you really mutilated someone?" Spike sighed. "I had to. She tore a hole in Applejack." Silver Spoon turned green. "This is why I avoid the vice clans," she said. "No offense, but...you're all a bit...well...violent." Spike shrugged. "Eh. I'm too tired to be mad. Besides, you got a point. This whole mess is my clan's fault." He stretched. "Hey...how about tomorrow, I take you on a tour of the city? You'll need to know your way around, especially since they'll probably make you go to school while you're here." He rolled his eyes. "Man am I ever glad I can move around without anybody seeing me..." Silver Spoon frowned. "How am I going to help with the mission here if I'm stuck in some outside world school?" "Eh. Neechan and the others manage just fine." Spike scowled. "Even if school is where she met that asshole Flash Sentry." He sighed. "I wish Neechan would believe me about him. He's bad news." "How so?" Silver Spoon asked. "He...he just..." Spike sighed. "He's just wrong. And I know it doesn't make sense, but he's gotta be the one that..." He looked down at his can. "That totally kicked my ass," he said quietly. Silver Spoon blinked, then snickered. "A normal outside boy beat you up? You, a vice clan mage?" "Yeah yeah, rub it in," Spike said sourly. "But that guy's not normal. I just..." He sighed. "I just wish I could figure out what he is." "So you're...worried about Twilight-san spending time with this Neighponese boy?" Silver Spoon smiled. "That's sweet." She toyed with her pigtail. "I'm surprised..." "Huh? What do you mean?" Spike asked. "Well..." Silver Spoon fidgeted. "Otousama doesn't think much of the Emerald Flame Dragons," she said quietly. "He hates...the attitude your clan has toward the works we produce." Spike frowned. "How so?" "Well..." Silver Spoon's brow furrowed. "Our silverworks...we create tools for the mages to use, works of art and beauty to be treasured...a lot of care and attention goes into making even the most mundane magical tool as beautiful and appealing as we can. "But your clan...they don't care about that," Silver Spoon said. "To them, anything silver is just something to hoard. When an Emerald Flame Dragon gets hold of one of our silverworks, it...it disappears from the world. It gets locked away..." Spike looked down. "Oh." He sighed. "I never thought of it that way." Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses. "Well...next time you put some random thing in your hoard, you should take time to appreciate the work that went into—" "I don't have a hoard," Spike said. Silver Spoon blinked at him, brow wrinkling in confusion. "Huh?" "Well, not that kind of hoard anyway," Spike amended. He tilted his head at her. "You don't know?" "Know what?" Silver Spoon asked. "I mean, we just met the other day..." "Oh yeah," Spike said, scratching his head. "I'm the only Emerald Flame Dragon without a hoard." "An Emerald Flame Dragon without a hoard?" Silver Spoon echoed, blinking. "But..." She shook her head. "You're...you're a full mage, right? I...I've even heard you're the most powerful vice mage of your generation." She blushed. "I mean, from friends back home." Spike grinned. "I have a reputation? Sweet!" "But how can you not...? I don't understand..." "Greed isn't my vice," Spike said. "I'm the only member of my clan who uses a different vice." "Oh," Silver Spoon said. "Umm...so what vice...do you use then?" "Lust," Spike replied. "Eep!" Silver Spoon squeaked, blushing furiously. "That's even worse! Why would you—" "Because I'm more interested in girls than gold," Spike replied with a shrug. "Anyway, that's why I'm the most powerful vice mage of my generation. Turns out lust is the strongest vice." He grinned lazily. "And the easiest to indulge." Despite herself, Silver Spoon thought about that. Her blush intensified. "I...I suppose so," she said. "Anou...that's a little creepy actually," she said quietly. A long, awkward silence fell. "Anou..." Silver Spoon said hesitantly, ducking her head. "How...how exactly do you...I mean what do you do to..." "To charge up my magic?" "Yeah." "You really wanna know?" Silver Spoon tugged at her pigtail. "I'm...just curious," she said. Spike chuckled. "Mostly I just ogle hot girls. Sometimes I steal underwear. Being around girls in tight clothes or swimsuits or in their underwear or...y'know...naked. That'll do it." He smirked. "If I need a huge charge all at once, I can get it from groping, but I only do that when I absolutely have to." At Silver Spoon's nauseated look, he added, "Hey, I only grope Neechan, and only with her permission." Silver Spoon blinked. "Twilight-san...lets you...touch her body?" "Only when it's an emergency." "I see..." * * * * * Once again, the Mayor of Pony City, the Superintendent of Police, and the Prime Minister met in an emergency council to discuss events related to Pony City's resident mahoushoujo. Rather than the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Education, the Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Foreign Affairs sat in attendance. The Empress did not favor this meeting with her presence. However, a representative of Sun Island was present. And her presence was causing some stir, as her connection to the mysterious phantom nation had only recently come to light within the upper eschelons of the Neighponese government. Outside of this chamber, Lady Fleur was known only as an extremely popular and high-profile model, businesswoman, and philanthropist. It had come as a shock to the Neighponese government to learn she was an agent of the same island nation the enigmatic Twilight Sparkle hailed from, and had been conducting covert observation of Pony City for years. The Mayor adjusted her glasses. "Fleur-san, would you care to explain why one of my city's major rail stations is in ruins? What sort of trouble have your people brought into Neighpon now?" Fleur frowned. "Madame Mayor, I do apologize on behalf of Sun Island for what has happened, and rest assured, our investigations are continuing. This situation is more...complicated than the Sunset Shimmer incident and the multiple Changeling incursions which occurred through the months of April and May." "Everything that has anything to do with these 'mahoushoujo' is complicated," the Superintendent grumbled. "Why we continue to allow this...this nonsense is—" "With respect, sir, you lack the means to prevent us from being here," Fleur said. "It is unfortunate that some of our less sociable people have caused so much damage and loss of life in Neighpon, but..." She gave him a hard stare. "Not to put too fine a point on it, but would you want your entire nation and its people looked down upon for one of your citizens, say, going to another country and going on a shooting spree?" The Prime Minister visibly winced. "I see you keep up with the news," he said. "Of course I do," Fleur said. "I've lived in Neighpon most of my life. I consider myself Neighponese." She straightened some papers in a folder that lay before her. "There are more of us in Neighpon than you know. We're not here to cause trouble or corrupt your culture or anything sinister, we're just people, living life like everybody else." She frowned. "Rogue elements such as these...they're very much an anomaly. Violence and terror of this nature is abhorrent to every principle of life the people of Sun Island value. Our defensive arts are more a matter of tradition and discipline than of necessity. Whenever a violent, dark act is perpetrated on Sun Island or by one of our residents elsehwere, it's...it's shocking to us. Our island does have dark chapters in its history, as any other nation does, but..." She shrugged. "This just doesn't happen. Not like this. Especially not this frequently and this openly." The Minister of Foreign Affairs cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should return the focus of this meeting to the matter at hand," he said. "Right," Fleur agreed. "The three agitators who, according to my reports, call themselves 'Shadowbolts'. First, I must stress that only one of these Shadowbolts is known to be from Sun Island. Their apparent leader is a mage, from a clan thought to be extinct. A second member of the Shadowbolts has been identified as a native to Neighpon." She studied her files. "Lightning Dust-san, age sixteen, who based on the information we have once attended school with Rainbow Dash-san in Pony City, moved away, dropped out of high school, and has been a part-timer ever since." "And the third?" the Prime Minister asked. Fleur shrugged. "We have no information on the third. We don't know who she is or where she's from. The abilities she's displayed don't conform to any known type of magic. Even our High Sages, even the Great Sage herself, can't figure out what she is." The Superintendent frowned. "You claim this Lightning Dust girl is one of our people, and yet...all evidence suggests she possesses the same unnatural abilities—" "Five of the mahoushoujo that defeated Sunset Shimmer are Neighponese," Fleur said. "They had no magic whatsoever until their contact with Twilight Sparkle-san. We suspect something similar has happened here." Seeing the Superintendent gearing for another question, she raised a hand to forestall him. "It is very much an exceptional circumstance when a non-mage acquires magical abilities. There simply aren't very many methods of making this happen." She sighed. "Based on the information provided to my office by Celestia-sama, the situation with the Shadowbolts falls under the heading of classified state secrets. And, frankly, even if I were to divulge what I know, it might be...difficult for you to believe." "I'd believe anything at this point," the Mayor said. "After what we've all seen the last couple of months, there's very little that would surprise me anymore." "What do you mean, 'state secrets'?" the Superintendent asked. "I mean that there are matters I am not at liberty to discuss with outsiders," Fleur said primly. "The Shadowbolts will be dealt with. Hopefully without further mass destruction of property. I can't promise that, because they seem to have an appetite for mayhem. For now, simply trust in the mahoushoujo. They will protect this city and its people to the best of their abilities." The Prime Minister sighed. "In the end, I suppose that's our only option..." * * * * * Applejack frowned at the small bowl of applesauce on her tray. "Now that's jes' sad," she said. "Ah gotta have me a talk with th' hospital folk, git 'em t' buy their applesauce from Sweet Apple Acres." She looked up. "When th' hell can Ah git outta this bed? Ah gotta check on mah li'l sis." "Apple Bloom is fine," Twilight said. "She's staying over at her friend Sweetie Belle's place." "I want you to rest in the hospital over the weekend, Applejack," Cadance said. "It's true that I've completely healed your wounds, but...your body suffered horrific damage, and it'll take some time for you to replenish all the blood you lost. There's only so much my healing magic is meant to do. You still have to rest and let your body recover." Applejack sighed. "Alright." "So..." Twilight said, shifting. "Oneesama, did you find out...anything about...?" Cadance shook her head and sighed. "Dreadwing hasn't turned up in any hospital or clinic in Pony City," she said. "Based on Spike-kun's account of her injuries, she should be dead." "We ain't that lucky," Applejack muttered. "Even so...I can't imagine she didn't get medical attention somewhere. Not after being burned alive and having a hand cut off." Twilight shuddered. "My studies never prepared me for things like this," she said. "These last few months..." "I know," Cadance said. "First Sunset Shimmer, now this...and all connected to the Lunar Seals..." She rubbed her arms. "I can't help but feel like...something bad's coming..." "Don't say things like that," Twilight said. "Just...don't." * * * * * Rainbow Dash sat on the railing of a bridge overlooking a narrow river. The sun sparkled on the water like scattered diamonds. Pinkie leaned against the rail beside her. "I'm sorry about your friend," she said. "She's not my friend," Rainbow said. "Not anymore." "Yeah..." Pinkie sighed. "Yesterday was super-unsmile." Rainbow let out a scream of frustration. "DAMMIT! Why's this kinda shit happening? All this magic shit fallin' on us, takin' away people we care about...fuckin' up our city..." She looked down. "I should be thinkin' about track meets an' practice schedules and trainin' and..." She shook her head. "Not...not fightin' old friends with freaky magic powers and savin' the world from supervillains!" Pinkie wrapped an arm around her. "You don't mean that," she said softly. "You're...you're just upset right now. And angry. And...and frustrated." She looked down. "I'm upset too. Now that I have real friends...I don't like seeing them get hurt, or...or being sad or scared. But I don't regret anything that's happened. Even with all the scary stuff that's happened and all the people that have gotten hurt or worse...I don't regret meeting you and Twilight-chan and the others." Rainbow sighed. "Yeah..." * * * * * Gilda frowned as she wrapped her silver hand in bandages. "Walking around like this is gonna suck ass," she said. Starscream shrugged. "A scary-looking girl with her arm all bandaged up draws less attention than one walking around wearing gloves in the middle of summer. Or...you know...with a metal hand." Gilda snorted. "It wouldn't be a problem if Lightning Dust hadn't BLOWN HER COVER and made herself a wanted criminal," she snarled. "Screw you," Lightning Dust snorted as she threw a rapid series of jabs at a punching bag. "Anyway, next time I see that Emerald Flame brat, I'm gonna cut his dick off and make him eat it," Gilda said. "It'll have to wait," Starscream said. "I don't want us to go up against those girls again until I've finished draining the Seal." "Why bother?" Lightning Dust asked. "We have enough power. All we need to do is practice using it, and we can finish those little girls off whenever we want." "They still have a power they haven't shown us," Starscream said. "The power that defeated the sorceress who destroyed Kirin Tower. Now that we have this new power, they'll come at us with everything they've got." Lightning Dust snorted. "What, you're saying they were holding back yesterday?" "They were." Starscream adjusted her glasses. "So I'm going to give us an edge." "Oh yeah? How?" Gilda asked. "By creating some new silver weapons and infusing them with Seal magic," Starscream said. Lightning Dust looked up. "You can do that?" "We'll know soon enough..." * * * * * Trixie sighed wearily as she left the studio. The sun had still been in the sky when she'd arrived; now it was dark, and thin, wispy clouds drifted across the moon. She'd spent two weeks working on a new PV, and it still wasn't quite right... "Oi." Trixie turned and frowned at the blue-haired boy wearing black jeans and a leather jacket who was leaning against the wall outside the studio. "Yes?" "You're Trixie Lulamoon, also known as the Net Idol G.P.T, right?" Trixie frowned. "Are you a stalker?" The boy shrugged. "Nah. Just an admirer." He grinned. "I think you're so much better than that ditzy Smile bimbo." Trixie blinked. "Well...it's true," she said. "I also know you're from Sun Island," he said. Trixie was immediately on alert. "Really?" she asked. "Then you must know I'm capable of ending you in a second if you get on my bad side." "Yeah, yeah," the boy said with a rogueish smirk. "My name's Flash Sentry. I'm someone you wanna know," he said. "Come on, let me buy you some yakitori..." Trixie raised an eyebrow. "You're quite bold and forward." Flash grinned lazily. "I'm pretty sure I'm the man you've been looking for your entire life..."