//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: Wardrobe Malfunctions. // Story: My Little Fantasy // by GuyWhoWritesThings //------------------------------// Chapter 21: Wardrobe Malfunctions. The grips the diamond dogs have on their spears tighten as they move in, a slow, militaristic advance that easily conveys their intent. My attention doesn't linger on them long, though, the quick movement of the cloaked figures making them supplant the muttlancers in importance. The robes take to the sky and approach from above, their cloaks all unfurling to unleash an attack similar to the one that nearly skewed Trixie initially. Twilight's quick use of a barrier bubble around the stage deflects the assault of arcing tendrils with resounding thuds, her expression crunching but the barrier not showing any visible damage. The creatures land and continue their dart towards the stage, slithering like shadows around anyone attempting to block their path at ground level, paying them no attention, focused solely on their goal. A goal that, for whatever reason, is apparently the little blue unicorn at my side. "Trixie would like to know why they all seem to be aiming at her!" It looks like said little blue unicorn noticed their ire hasn't changed targets. "Are you sure you didn't try performing magic in Tartarus or something, Trix?" Rainbow Dash fires at her as she enters a fighting stance in mid-air, preparing to fight them up close. "Trixie is sure! She would remember defeating the Cerberus to gain access!" She replies as she lowers her head, horn glowing with whatever spell she thinks is going to be useful. "And Trixie's name is not 'Trix', it is 'Trixie', 'The Great and Powerful Trixie', or 'Supreme Excellence' only!" "We're just gonna... all pretend you didn't say that last one." Rainbow's eyes narrow in annoyance before turning back to the incoming fight at hand. "Dusk, take note!" Trixie calls over to me. "We must weave an excellent tale of Trixie besting the Cerberus and conquering Tartarus for some heroic deed later!" "Can we please deal with the situation in front of us first!" I plead, the first of the figures close enough for a tendril to extend itself from the cloak's right sleeve and swing it down at me with an impressive amount of force. I block it with my sword, both hands gripping the hilt for stability as the stage creeks beneath my feet, threatening to give out after the beating it received initially. It's at this moment I realize how messed up the Materia in my bangle are thanks to Trixie's and Twilight's requests, and that I barely know any of the Materia lining my sword. This is going to get messy very quickly. "Oh right. Creepy demon tentacle robe monster things that want to murder Trixie!" She fires the spell from her horn, a simple beam of pink light that smashes into the thing attempting to brute force its way through my sword. It crumples back, folding as if Trixie shot an actual robe before twisting in the air to right itself. "How could she possibly forget?!" "Pretty easily, apparently!" Rainbow Dash retorts as she uses her speed to deliver a plunging kick to the head of the second approaching robe-creature, a sickly, flesh-crushing sound emitting as she delivers the blow, but the robe itself still folding down as if it's empty at the impact. I lunge forward at the remaining threats to prevent the arguing between Rainbow Dash and Trixie sending me insane, sword held in both hands as I swing it in a wide, horizontal arc. I hook the one that attacked me originally with the blade, cleaving it nearly in half as purple beams fire over my head to repel the remaining three before they can get a jump on me. The final one that Rainbow Dash kicked goes soaring over my head to pile in with the rest, given a second swift kick by the pegasus to send it off the stage. Of course, life can't be that easy, and the four 'whole' creatures rise once more, followed by the one I cut open. Tendrils form on either end of the gash I left in the robe, connecting and allowing the 'wound' to seal itself, as if I never damaged it at all. "So uh, this is bad." Rainbow Dash states the obvious. "Gee, Trixie hadn't noticed no one's attack did buck-all." The stage magician replies deadpan. "Girls, now is not the time for this!" Twilight Sparkle finally attempts to be the voice of reason. "We need a plan!" A plan. My mind clicks to the one Materia combination I know I have available, meant for a thunderstorm trick that we never reached, and I hold my palm open. After the telltale glow of green and the masked shimmers of the green and blue Materia beneath my costume, a flurry of lightning bolts arc out at the wraith-like enemies from the sky, and their forms take to the air and contort, doing everything in their power to dodge the attack despite it costing them ground. "They didn't seem to like the idea of getting hit by that." "I wonder..." Twilight muses, but Rainbow Dash seems to already have an idea, her defining rainbow trail flying high. "All that talk, and the blue pegasus ditches us!" Trixie fires another of her pink beams at the creatures as they touch back down, but one simply swats it aside. "I'm sure she has a plan, Trixie." Twilight assures her. I take the moment to look toward the 'other front', and see the remaining ponies organized under Rarity, dodging spear thrusts and using whatever they can get their hooves or magic on to try and keep the diamond dogs back. They don't seem to be losing ground, but it would only take one lucky spear thrust from a diamond dog to drop any of them and start a chain reaction. My eyes narrow, the need for dispatching these creatures quickly to prevent that scenario coming to the forefront. At that moment the sky, previous free of clouds, resounds with the crack of thunder, now containing a group of fearsome storm clouds as lightning begins raining down, trailing itself at the wraiths. They scatter again, this time all but one disappearing down alleyways and between buildings. The remaining creature is the only one not able to evade the downpour of lightning, its cloak now aflame from being struck. It flails about with a gurgling, unnatural howl, the pained cry making it obvious it's trying to douse the flames. "Who's awesome? I'm awesome!" Rainbow declares as she descends back next to us, pumping the air with her hoof. "What was that about 'inferior pegasus magic', Trixie?" "Trixie would be more impressed if you hadn't let almost all of them escape." "Oh... um, oops." Rainbow Dash laughs nervously as both their eyes begin scanning for the remaining threats. "It's not healing!" Twilight cuts in before they can continue their argument. "Something about the fire is stopping it!" The fire, huh? I quickly tear off the glove covering my bangle and begin fumbling with the Materia, finding the Elemental Materia and pulling the Fire Materia off my bangle to slot both back into my sword, slotting the removed Materia quickly into my bangle instead. I test it with a quick flourish to be sure I still get the small rush of flames along the sword's blade from the combination, then make my move, rushing from the stage to the remaining, flailing target. I kick from the ground and leap to close the distance, sword ablaze as I cleave the monster down the center with an overhead slash. The cloak crumples with a final, wretched shriek, and I look down at my 'handiwork'. The robe sits, cut cleanly in two, bits of it flaming along the slash line. Inside, however, is something that makes my stomach churn in disgust. A warped mound of flesh that almost looks like a heart sits beneath the halves of robe, also cut in two. It's still struggling to beat as blood oozes from the parts of the halves not cauterized by the flame, the flesh churning, flailing, reeking of disease. Finally, it stops moving, and I take a step back, taking slow, steady breaths and concentrating to calm my stomach, not wanting to throw up while wearing this dumb harlequin mask. "Smooth moove." Rainbow Dash compliments as the others move to catch up, not wanting to break up the group. "It's... dead." Trixie crinkles her nose up. "Ack! That smell! It makes Trixie feel ill!" "Is that a...?" Twilight moves up to get a better look at it, then quickly pulls back. "How does that even work?" I turn to answer, but before I can open my mouth I see the remaining four creatures appear from the houses' rooftops and lunge at us from behind, taking advantage at our momentary disgust at what their robes contain. "Move!" I call out as the others' heads quickly bolt around to see the incoming threat. We dodge and split up, the cloaks each choosing one of us as a target and not leaving many other options as their tendrils fire out, leaving unpleasant-to-experience-looking potmarks across the ground as their barely miss their targets. The one attacking me switches back to the thicker limbs it can call forth through the robe's sleeves, swinging them down at me like clubs as I parry them again and again with my sword. Its speed and aggression leave me little room to do anything as it forces me to lose ground, one step at a time. Its plan doesn't take long to dawn on me - its pushing me deeper into the town, while Trixie, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, in their own ways, are being slowly baited towards the line where the remaining ponies are continuing their fight against the diamond dogs. Son of a bitch... Parrying one final club-like strike, I use the momentum of the parry-swing to tackle the robe and barrel through it. I easily pass through the mostly-empty clothing and stumble, barely recovering and swinging back to face the creature, sword in front of me in what's become my default two-handed stance as it turns back to face me again. A scream suddenly cuts through the air and I whip my head around reflexively, recognizing the voice as Rarity's. Some of the left side of her coat is stained red as she backs up, cornered against a building by the trio of Beethoven, Bud, and Toto. Some of the other ponies are rushing to her aid, but it's easier to see they're not going to make it in time. Unless... I ready myself to cast the Time Materia I thankfully left in my bangle, hoping to allow her group of saviors to rush to her side, but something beats me to the punch. From the rooftop of the building behind her, another trio of diamond dogs jump down, this set wearing vests, slamming into the three on the ground and preventing them from claiming their kill. The small vested one is tossed aside easily, but the lanky one and bulky one keep Rarity's other attackers pinned as she pulls a plank from the fence of the house next door and smashes it into the head of her unpinned attacker. What the hell is... "You should know better than to get distracted during a fight... Cloud." That voice's malicious glint stops my mind cold in its wondering about the diamond dogs. It's a male voice, one I can remember all too clearly from my nightmares. I slowly turn my head back to the cloak, to see its head lowered and right arm extended. In the grip of the sleeve I see something that sends a shiver down my spine - a wicked blade, a katana of unbelievable length. My mind reels in recognition at it, the blade the voice's owner used in last night's nightmare to force me awake. I hadn't seen it... but it's like my subconscious can recognize it regardless. There's a flash of light and a cackle of thunder, likely caused by Rainbow Dash, and in that split second of extra light, the cloak stops looking like a cloak. In that one moment, I see the form of a silver haired man, bearing piercing, wavering sky-blue eyes and a dark, if bemused, scowl. Just as the rumble of the thunder ceases, the cloak makes its move, my eyes seeing it for what it is once more. It lunges and swings the down with no more elegance than its club-like apendages and I parry it easily. It responds by thrusting the sword forward, attempting to impale me in an equally clumsy strike that I dodge and capitalize on by rushing forward, impaling the creature's 'heart' with my own sword, enhanced by the power of the Elemental-Fire combination. It howls and shudders, the weapon in its grip wavering, its form becoming not unlike any of the other tendrils I've seen it use before. An illusion...? "Stand firm, my subjects!" Comes the booming voice of a second wave of reinforcements. Princess Luna, no doubt on her hunt to capture and destroy more of the strange creatures across Equestria, arrives in time to blast one of the cloaks away from Trixie as her bat-pony entourage engages with the ones attacking Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. They quickly take over the fight from said mares, engaging with the cloaks with the kind of precision born of experience. The diamond dogs that remain fighting, for their part, recoil at the sight of the night princess, her presence and the state of their allies leaving them turning to each other, clearly debating without words whether they should run away or not. Their leader, however, decides that struggle for them. "I'm not going back a failure again!" Beethoven declares, utilizing the mass confusion of the moment to bust out from under the vested diamond dog that had pinned him. He rushes not for Rarity, however, or even myself, but for... Trixie? Why? Several others, including Applejack and the red stallion, attempt to block his path, but the diamond dog's charge is feral. Beethoven either weaves around or barrels through each of the obstacles in his path with abandon, nothing seemingly able to stop him from goal. He extends the sharp claws along his paw, spear long destroyed in the fight previous, and lunges. In that moment, it feels like time stops moving, if only for just a moment, to highlight the creature hurdling itself through the air, a sentient being gone mad with whatever has driven its need for blood. Trixie stammers, eyes wide in fear at the rabid beast charging her, an uncast spell stuck on her horn. She screams. However, she's lucky. Lucky, because diamond dogs aren't the only thing that can go rabid. I don't know when my legs started moving, but I'm between them in what feels like an instant. Beethoven's blood splashes sickly against the harlequin costume as his broken form slumps to the ground. I let my eyes linger on it only enough to confirm it won't be moving anymore and cast my gaze away from it. The remaining diamond dogs sans the captured Bud and Toto quickly break and run back toward wherever they came from, seeing their leader fallen, and the two cloaks fighting against the bat-ponies follow them. The bat-ponies attempt to give chase, but a call back from Princess Luna stops them, herself seemingly satisfied with capturing the one she engaged with upon entering. I slam my sword blade-first into the ground and pull the mask off, tossing it aside as I turn to the unicorn behind me, who's now sat on her haunches and staring at the... leftovers of her attacker. I crouch down so I'm eye level with her and grasp her head in my hands, gently turning it away from that and towards me. The hat and cape Rarity made for her are stained with red flecks. "Look at me." I say firmly, angling her face to mine, the words finally getting her to break eye-contact with her previous point of interest. "Dusk... you just..." Her voice is low and quaking, words coming out between sharp breaths. She tries to look down... there, again, but I make her focus on me. "I did what I had to do." I assure her, trying to keep my voice warm and understanding, something I'm definitely not used to doing. "Only because I'm weak." She pulls her head gently out of my grasp and turns her eyes downcast. "If I were more like Twilight Sparkle, you wouldn't have had to-" "Stop it!" I pull her back to face me again. "Thinking like that doesn't help anyone." I bite the inside of my lip, trying to think of the right words to say without breaking eye contact. "It's... it's fine. It's over now, so you don't need to worry about anything." "But that's not true..." She breaks eye contact with me, glancing to the side but not shaking herself away again. "You got hurt last time because I couldn't do the shield properly... this time could've been worse... and what about the next time? I-" Not knowing what else to do, I cut off the scared unicorn by wrapping my arms around her and pulling her to my chest. I don't know what to say to her at this point, but... this should help, right? I'm not sure what else to do. I hold the shivvering mare tighter, vainly wishing for the words needed to pop into my mind the way so many of my scattered memories have felt wont to do in the past, but nothing comes. "Ah, dreamer! We meet again, do we?" Princess Luna pulls me from my thoughts as she approaches. The package in my arms doesn't react to the voice of the only being I've ever seen make her kneel. "Cleanup duty again?" I ask in reply, turning my head to face her. The midnight blue alicorn is adorned in heavy combat armor this time, unlike her previous, more regal appearance. "One might say that." She closes the distance between us, a limp robe levitating behind her. "Is it still alive?" My eyes quickly move to her 'prisoner', not wanting it to break out this close to their apparent assassination target. "Nay, its heart is crushed like fine paste." Such a blunt reply. "The remains shall be placed with other of its kind we have captured for further research." Her eyes then move from me to the unicorn I'm cradling against me. "How is the little one? Trixie, was it not?" At the sound of her name, Trixie finally shakes free of me, turning her head toward the princess. It takes her a moment to register the situation, then she bows in the same manner as the previous encounter. "Trixie is well and uninjured. You need not worry about her, Your Majesty!" "That is good, child." She gives Trixie a smile. "Now please, rise." "Do you know if anyone else was injured?" I ask, my eyes scanning the remains of the battlefield, to find everyone else, including Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, huddled around Rarity and the three vested diamond dogs, who are apparently friendly. "But scrapes and bruises from what We have surmised." The princess replies, following my eyes until hers also fall upon the other group. "Miss Rarity has a deeper cut, but it shall heal with some treatment from the local hospital, and is not fatal, thanks to the intervention of those other diamond dogs. Our Sister's Student is inquiring the intent of Miss Rarity's saviours as we speak." "I suppose that answers my next question as well." "Very well, then." The princess looks back to me. "Shall we head inside? The Golden Oak is still a public library, and We do not believe Miss Sparkle will begrudge us its use under these conditions." I turn to Trixie to see she's already eyeing the library doors through the open stage curtains. "Better than staying outside all night." I reply as I pick up my sword loosely with my left hand, the princess and I following Trixie around the stage and into the building. I take a seat at the table in the center of the library, resting my sword on the floor to my left. Trixie takes the seat to my right, while Princess Luna takes the one directly across. After a moment or two of awkward silence, the princess begins speaking. "Our Sister is to send word with Miss Sparkle's assistant tomorrow," the princess begins, "but she wishes to see thee in Canterlot tomorrow, whether thou hast decided to receive Twilight Sparkle's aide or not." That again. "Speaking of Twilight Sparkle," I say, trying to steer the conversation away from the last part of that sentence, "I believe she'd admonish you for your speech patterns right now." "Oh! Our... My, apologies, sorry," the somewhat flustered princess replies, "It is harder to resist the habit of returning to the native tongues of older Equestria lately, with the many battles against the creatures prowling beneath the moon." "I understand." I assure her. "I spend all my time with a unicorn that has a phobia of first person pronouns." "Do not mock Trixie in front of a princess, assistant." Said pronoun-phobic unicorn replies, proving my point. It lacks the forcefulness of her usual rebuttals, but it's good to see her recovering this much regardless. "Assistant, hm?" The night princess asks curiously. "I was wondering the explanation of your... interesting attire, dreamer." "Yes!" Trixie puffs herself up, but can't quite get her voice to match the proud message her body is conveying. "Dusk is an excellent assistant in The Great and Powerful Trixie's traveling magician shows!" "Dusk?" Princess Luna tilts her head. "That is the name he gave Trixie upon our first meeting, so it's the name she uses for him." She explains. "It's not Trixie's fault that every other pony in Equestria will not bear him the same respect and use the older, inferior name instead!" Her tone is still missing its usual smugness, despite the contents of her speech. "How interesting..." The princess merely nods. "Anyway." I try to steer the conversation back to a productive topic. "Why does your sister want to see me? I was pretty sure she hated me and viewed me as a threat to the country, or something." "My Sister, she..." The lunar pricess stops for a moment, before continuing. "Dear Celestia still believes that. However, I've... learned her reasons, but am ill-equipped to explain them myself, nor do I have the time to do so with the state of affairs. I do not believe she means you ill, and do believe that seeing her would give you a better grasp on the situation at hand." I nod, taking a minute to digest the information. I doubt it's a trap, given the current track record of the person giving me the message, so at worst, I'll be learning I'm some terrible universe destroying monster from another planet and forced to fight off a giant white pony, and that the monsters in the night are merely nature itself trying to quell my threat. At best, I can get some answers, without the magical interference of a certain lavender unicorn. "Miss Trixie?" Princess Luna asks, breaking the momentary silence caused as I think her proposal over. "Might you please explore Miss Sparkle's kitchen for a small snack for me? Combat leaves me quite famished." She gives the unicorn a smile, but Trixie hesitates a moment. "If Miss Sparkle is displeased by your action, do not worry, We shall take full responsibility." The slip back into the Royal 'We' by Princess Luna causes Trixie to look to me, and we lock eyes for a moment. I give her a small nod, and she slips herself from her seat at the table, quite slowly making her way to the direction of Twilight's kitchen, neither of us ignorant to the princess' true intent. "You could've just asked her to step away for a bit." I comment once Trixie is out of earshot. "Yes, but to be so forward is not how We were taught." She replies, before turning her head toward the doorway Trixie passed through and back to me. "I know you worry, but fret not, we ponies were not always the peaceful race you see today. Before Sister and I took the throne, Equestria was a land full of unrest, and even now, there are... instances, of which Sister tries her best to ensure are not popularized. They are quite rare, mind, and ponies for the most part do enjoy the land We have created, but my point is thus: Ponies are made from stronger fabric of character than one might be led to believe. That young mare, and all the ones outside, shall be fine, despite, and in one case, because of, your actions this night." I nod as the Princess finishes her little pep talk. "That's not what I'm worried about." I reply, my gaze meeting hers. "Then what is it, dreamer?" The princess asks. "Is it that the creatures are drawn to you? This too, we are aware of, though we cannot offer a solution at this time." "It would be fine if they were targeting me." I turn my gaze down to my hands. "But tonight, they didn't do that. They might have been following me, but their target wasn't me. They went after her instead." I motion my head to the kitchen to emphasize my meaning. "A ploy, but to break your spirit." The Princess nods, not wasting a moment in formulating her reply. "Do not allow it to take effect, dreamer. Even as they attack the little ones that surround you, you have proven strong. We know not the enemy's intent, but to them, it is possible that to break your mind would benefit them more than to break your body." "I... see..." It doesn't quite answer the question forming at the pit of my stomach, but it makes sense. Princess Luna stands up. "I apologize, but I must reconvene with my soldiers, and speak to Miss Sparkle about what she has learned from those vested diamond dogs." "Of course." I give her a nod, not able to think of anything else to speak of with her at this moment, allowing the alicorn to exit and check up on the other ponies. I lean back in my chair and look up at the ceiling, beginning to lose myself in my own thoughts. "Where did the Princess go?" Trixie's voice breaks me out of my stupor not long after I enter it and I turn my head back down to her, levitating a small sandwich on a plate to her side. "Trixie spent quite a bit of effort raiding that Sparkle's fridge for the finest of sandwich ingredients." "She left." I reply bluntly, but instead of the indignated reply I normally expect from Trixie, she merely sits back in the chair next to me, placing the sandwich in front of her and taking a bite. "It's quite alright, Trixie foresaw this outcome." She replies in-between bites. "As such, Trixie made her own favorite sandwich instead of trying to guess Princess Luna's dietary inclinations." She gives a small smirk and bites into her sandwich again. Who'd guess that raiding Twilight Sparkle's fridge would work so well as a depression cure for a small blue unicorn, anyway?