Apple Bloom ½: Mirror's Multiplied
Chapter 2
The Brocade Butterfly Effect / You had your chance, Mister P is my boyfriend now.
Once again on the trail of the elusive Saotomes shortly after finding himself cursed at Jusenkeyo, the hopping mad skip tracer [Ryoga Hibiki] managed to track them through a remote chinese village where he witnessed a barbarian of a girl, dressed modestly in chinese silks, with purple hair, and carrying a similarly colored mace, chasing a yellow filly with a red mane through the streets like she was a cat chasing the last mouse on the planet. After reaching a dead end, Ryoga returned to Japan only to find himself in search of his prey once more. He had a lead on a magical sword known as the manganmaru, guaranteed to grant the wielder several wishes provided he could complete the scavenger hunt, and pull the sword from a sorcerer's stone, before the blue blunder of Furinkan High. As far as he knew, Tatawaki Kuno was his only real competition for the sword at the moment. Given the nature of the contest required dumb luck, in addition to the physical and mental fortitude of a brick outhouse, it was only a matter of time before the two came to blows. Plus, how hard could it really be to get a cow as white as snow, a bow as red as blood, hair as blue as corn, a slipper as black as pitch and... it was at that moment Ryoga realized he should have written down the full list of items he had gone into the woods to find on a paper fan or something. Still, it should be an interesting couple of days all the same. Ryoga's stomach rumbled, he could really go for some carrots right about now. Oh well, if he didn't get the sword there was always the booby prize, and a pheonix egg was one hell of a booby.
Elsewhere in Nermia one could find Gosunkugi Hikaru working out the final stages of his plan to break Akane Tendo of her poor habits in tasteless fashion. In a world without fashion police, for indeed there were no true crimes against fashion, Gosunkugi was a ner-do-well and master of disguise who, on the internet, went by the spirit name of Voodoo Spike. A cosplayer with a hard sell fetish, and an amateur hairstylist obsessed with ponytails, and celebrity makeovers who had developed quite the reputation in three school districts as The Furinkan Stalker, Wondercolt Guildy, and the Fumoffu Pony of Jindai High. He had personally destroyed the reputations of Souske Sagara, Flash Sentry, and (if he'd played his cards right) Tatewaki Kuno as well. The only reason Gosunkugi hadn't been arrested for assault yet, in pursuit of his personal cause against fashion sense and sensibility, was because he had successfully convinced his parents that if he transferred school districts he would have more friends.
Surprisingly, his relationship with Nabiki Tendo had turned into quite the partnership. After all, you get what you pay for; and helping her lay odds on when, where, and who the villainous Furinkan Stalker would strike next was quite lucrative. Plus, because friendship has become an indicator of pathology, assuming it wasn't a pathology in and of itself, his parents more than willingly agreed to front him the money for his own personal bodyguard from China. Neglecting to research the fact that only girls, with exception to Ukyo Kuonji, were generally the ones targeted or at risk for the stalker's ire, and simply not given the fact he could only pass for Akane's twin if he were wearing a schoolgirls uniform. Neverminding the fact that he actually 'was' the evil stalker that stalks at midnight, and his new bodyguard was a master of the dark arts for which the young resurrectionist was in desperate need of instruction. Once [Voodoo] Spike had learned the ancient Chinese secrets behind the the hidden weapons technique's of prestidigitation, specifically the dance of the great fire dragon, the super phoenix fire dance, and the fist of the white swan, he would no longer have need his mentor. Then he could finally use his allowance for something useful, like that one punch armor he'd been drooling over in the nifty nickel back pages of his latest comic book. To be fair, he was also interested in the glazed McGuffins, the sea monkeys, the legendary Dr. Decker growth formula, and the Charles Atlas body kit. But, after purchasing the celluloid billiard balls passing themselves off as kryptonite rocks, snake eggs, and a swazzle that was part of a ventriloquist kit he had to question the sincerity of what they were offering.
Tatawaki Kuno, son to the principal of Furinkan high (who himself was obsessed with the science of cosmetology, hair, and hairstyling), was currently out of town pursuing something known as the manganmaru in order to prove his innocence and win the heart of his beloved Akane. Which, of course, made this the perfect opportunity to frame him for the assault of Akane Tendo. At the moment, however, Akane and her luscious locks of bright blue hair were on their way home. She was currently mewling, if not out right sulking, over social problems of her own. Yuka, Sayuri, and the girls of the school gymnastics club recently recruited her (that is to say drafted her) into accepting a martial arts gymnastics challenge against the reining queen of mean at St. Bacchus school for girls. Apparently, martial arts gymnastics was an actual thing and there was an ongoing three way battle between Canterlot, St. Bacchus, and Furinkan. Which, mostly, consisted of dirty underhanded tricks to eliminate the competition from the running before the finals against some unknown private school, known only as the seisyun academy of dance.
The ideal of a catholic school girl (attending a middle school named after the patron saint of winebibbers and hippies) being obsessed with winning at any cost against high schoolers, while simultaneously precocious and momentarily amusing for Akane to entertain, was actually kind of scary. Between the threat of the Furinkan Stalker and the mad ribbon dancer known as the black rose, she was already on the bleeding edge of anxiety. Akane knew it was only a matter of time before she was kidnapped and subjected to the tortures of hallucinogens and paralytics one often finds hidden in the local rose bushes, or worse yet, the unknown wiles and predilections of someone Akane was sure was definitely not Tatawaki Kuno. A person whom, she instinctually knew, was incapable of understanding human motivation even if he could inspire others to action and quote Shakespeare like it no one's business. The only way this situation could possibly be any worse would be if her father snapped out of his latest depressive episode over the loss Kasumi's innocence just long enough to inform her he had arranged a marriage between her and a tack horse.
The only reason she knew Kuno wasn't behind the kidnaping and deranged hairstyling faux pas of the Furinkan Stalker was kind of obvious. To the shock of Akane, and most of the girls at Furinkan who didn't even know, it was discovered Ukyo Kuonji was actually a girl. And, Shockingly, no one noticed until after the fabulous makeover given to her by the Furinkan Stalker. Even a broken clock is right two times a day, and if Tatawaki actually _was_ the stalker, his declaration of love for the bodacious red bowed ponytailed girl, and insistence that he would free her from the mechanizations of the foul sorcerer Kuonji, when confronted with the truth that they were the same person in body and soul, just about cleared him of everything short of being psychotic and delusional. Not only that, worst of all, If it weren't for the fact that she personally hated boys, mostly because she was already beating down most of the athletics club with a stick every morning, the two of them (her and Ukyo that is) might have been considered an item... Obviously, she was interested in men, not love sick hound dogs chasing her like she was the last fox on the planet. And, realistically, it was only a matter of time before Dr. Tofu noticed her affections as more than a bout of puppy love. Still, if she had to date one of the boys at her school then Ukyo was definitely still on the short list even of she was a girl. Of course, with her immediate concern being the upcoming engagement with the ribbon dancer from hell, Akane really didn't think it prudent to worry whether or not she managed to get one bible thumper to question her stance on marriage or romance. Besides, with Kuno insisting that he was going to rescue Ukyo from roaming the streets, as if she were a common hooker using the vending cart as a front to sell services above and beyond mere catering, it was only a matter of time before the two of them would have to team up on morning brawls. In fact, Akane had already worked out the kinks for a combo attack known as the dual jet stream waterboard attack that would put the legendary iron lotus and couple cleaver to shame.
There was also the issue of _'how'_ the perverted assailant known as the Furinkan Stalker incapacitated his victims through using their phobias. Anything that could be used to make the girls squeal in abject terror, or bring their nightmares to life until they fainted into unconsciousness, was used against them. Which meant the Furinkan Stalker either had access to the student counselors office, which was unlikely, or he had to have been stalking his victims for several days or more completely unnoticed. Given the nature of the recent attack on Ukyo however, the most likely suspect was Tsubasa Kurenai, a lover of ponytails and known cross dresser. Of course, since everyone knew Akane had some measure of hydrophobia due to her inability to swim, many were wondering when he would strike and how. Akane's sister Nabiki had even started a betting pool and had been brainstorming with Gosunkugi Hikaru different ways the Furinkin Stalker could not only strike, but catch her unawares.
In much the same way one wouldn't want to be in the same room with a group of idiots playing with a spirit board if you knew demons were real, and the only way to stop them from making contact was to either drain all the spiritual energy in the room (like Ms. Hinako), or devour the demon yourself and risk becoming a greater evil than the thing that you initially feared. The latest proposal for her capture bordered on the absurd and simultaneously came with a plausible risk. Gosunkugi had even gone through the trouble of hiring a mercenary from China. Then insisted that the Tendo's would be much safer if this bodyguard stayed at their Dojo during his off hours. So far, all their visitor from China had done was tape a bunch spirit wards all over the place and reveal that Kasumi had been possessed by an evil Oni (as if there was any other kind). That, and polish his collection of shiny weapons, which he and Kasumi had taken to sparing with early in the mornings as well. By God, she didn't know someone could use that many weapons and still specialize in aerial combat. He must have had the strength of a horse. Between the impressive display of amazon wushu and the raking hawk techniques it was clear he had the stamina to match.
In an effort to avoid the two predatory sociopaths laying in wait for her blood; at least the ones who weren't living with her, and assuming a third or fourth didn't come crawling out of the woodwork like that frog mouthed Frenchman that had tried to abduct Kasumi to parts of Europe unknown (only to discover she was possessed by a vicious oni obviously) _not to mention the mad ventriloquist that challenged Nabiki to a duel this Sunday past_; Akane had taken to avoiding any roads along the river, being alone in the school locker room, or going home along the same route on a daily basis. Of course, today was the exception. There were only three routes from the nearest grocery store to her house and barring a small corridor along the river, which she traveled everyday on her way to school with her sister, there was really no where for someone to hide except in a small alleyway between Wacdonalds and the local Remedy's Tavern.
In the weeks since Kasumi had been possessed by the demonic entity known as Lum, a being who Akane suspected was really Mousse's familiar, the Tendo's had been ordering take out. And, since Akane was certain that the meals were over processed, adulterated with chemical preservatives, and unhealthy for them in the long run, she insisted on helping Kasumi in the Kitchen. Unfortunately, Nabiki, her father, and their foreign house guest refused to eat anything that wasn't a sinful delight. So, being ever the conscientious observer, Akane reasoned if she skipped her home economics class today, and went shopping, she could get home and finish cooking dinner before Nabiki considered ordering pizza again. Akane reasoned it would be a bit difficult for the Black Rose or the pervert extraordinare to track her movements if she wasn't at school, and there was nothing as safe as houses. Of course, she didn't really need luck at the moment. Being that she was never one to tempt fate with something as appealing as a banana, with Akane's current disguise no body on the street would recognize her.
Granted, there was the risk of being home alone with Kasumi for three hours. But, for some reason, Akane didn't really see her as much of a threat (passive aggressive or otherwise). Besides, Kasumi only seemed interested in teaching Akane how to cook a proper meal. Which is why she had to stop by the secondary store, and her chemistry class, to pick up a few extra special ingredients Kasumi insisted would literally make Akane's cooking to die for. Apparently, they were going to be making chocolate curry, with dazzle surprise cupcakes and rainbow sprinkles, among other things. Akane still didn't quite understand why she had to pick up a gorilla costume, or why Kasumi suddenly seemed interested in having several dozen cans of whipped topping at the ready all of a sudden. But, so long as Kasumi wasn't trying to kill her, it didn't really matter. Of course, since you have to be a legal adult to buy whipped topping (because they're an inhalant that's totally more dangerous than helium and appear to be the leading cause of brain huffing injury among 40 something year old celebrities) Akane had to convince Dr. Tofu that Kasumi was planning something 'extra' special for his birthday before he was willing to break the law and Hippocratic oath just to help her get a quick fix... and it was a good thing too, Akane heard that the corner store had been ravaged by a humanoid typhoon (or some other such natural disaster) shortly after he left.
It was then that Akane noticed the sound of a garbage can being knocked over, the sound of a wind chime, and a rolling bottle coming from the alley to her right. All of which interrupted her concerns about Dr. Tofu needing a new pair of glasses. Akane stopped for a moment, grounded herself, and short of dropping the plastic grocery bags she was carrying filled mostly with whipped cream, dried goods, and few knick knacks, prepared herself for a fight. What the high school student, dressed in a gorilla suit, saw was hardly what she expected to see. Rummaging through the trash, next to the dumpster, was something she wouldn't expect to see playing street angel outside of her wildest fantasies.
In theory, a pony with vanilla colored fur and a mane of crimson, pink, or magenta was exotic, but not altogether unexpected outside of a bar. After all, the monk they had hired to exorcise the oni demon from Kasumi, when Mousse's efforts proved useless, had mentioned that fairy spirits were quite real and usually very large in contrast to what she had learned of them from television. If what she was seeing were accurate, then the creature was roughly the size of a large dog. Supposedly, the fae were fond of rumpots, crackpots, and damsels in distress. Often spiriting them away to lands of enchantment that were nowhere near the Caribbean. And, at the moment, being among the population at the greatest risk for distress, especially considering her family support system currently consisted of a megalomaniac, a sociopath, a crybaby, and a succubus, she definitely felt she qualified for the later category. Either that, or, becoming paranoid with the constant threat of death from above, and the heat from the poorly ventilated costume she found herself wearing at the moment, was causing her to develop a psychotic breakdown disorder of her own.
Of course, practically everything she knew about fairies she learned from watching cartoons, all she got out of the monk was the insistence that if she ever found the godfather of a snake tailed minotaur, a diminutive gnome, or a happy troll she should chain it up and demand to know what it was planning on doing with all the underpants and silky darlings...Obviously, he was drunk at the time, so Akane had initially dismissed half of what he said as the delirious ramblings of an wild eyed old man. But, that was no reason to completely dismiss everything he said. Especially since he seemed rather ineffective as an exorcist and wound up getting temporarily possessed by the oni himself.
Akane's first indication that the creature was a fairy was the unusually high volume of stuff saddled to her with a rucksack and tarp that has seen better days. The creature smelled of sake and rum, furthermore there were indications that the filly was carrying several raffia bottle baskets of alcohol in addition to more than a few weaved paracord bottle holders filled with broken remains of sake bottles, along with encumbrance that looked to be fashioned of toad leather, and more than a few herbal supplements in clear plastic baggies. If this creature wasn't on a spiritual journey, with all the alchohol, wacky weed, magic mushrooms, and first edition copies of lovecraft novels in her possession, it soon would be. Unusual coloring aside, and besides the fact that the creature was clearly female, the second clue she was dealing with a magical critter of some sort was the lack of a visible anus or genitalia. Akane went to some dark places on the internet, and when she looked up Monsieur Cheeks from her favorite childhood show 'Ultimate Muscle' in idle curiosity one evening...the filter bubble used by her search engine, specifically the giggle auto complete feature being just one of those things that made web searches interesting, included a direct link to the THPPPT Project.
Finding an unusual website dedicated to the idea of making sure the horsies from 'Starla and the Jewel Riders' were all anatomically correct was, to say the least, unexpected. Anyway, It was thanks to this website operated by a group of religiously fanatic pokeymaniacs and gumbyphiles, offering what they believed was a public service, and the creature's striking resemblance to her childhood friend Sunny Muffins, that she knew exactly what to look for. And, It was thanks to this diligent study of bizarre anatomy she was able to clearly discern this creature was altogether lacking a visible poopoolater and googie. The only possible explanation for this oddity was that the creature was either a tulpa of magical origin or a fairy spirit of some kind... and if it was a spirit creature she'd probably live a little bit longer than Sunny Muffins did under Nabiki's care.
Of course, to be fair, Sunny Muffins just kept insisting his real name was Ace Swift no matter how many times Nabiki whipped him. Eventually the poor creature just started rambling and confessed that some evil unicorn, or siren, named Sonata had teleported him to this horrible land of hairless monkey demons, that he was super sorry, and that he would do anything if she could just make the hurting stop, before he just sort of broke down and incoherently insisted he was Rainbow Dash, then Twilight Sparkle, then Gilda Somethingorother, and who knows how many other names he belted off that were most definitely not Sunny Muffins in delirium. Eventually, Nabiki just got tired of beating him whenever she got bored. And then, she started using him as a makeshift beanbag chair on the dojo floor while she played Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney on her 3ds.
"Hey, Listen!" *thck* the pony expertly using her right arm, prodded at a can from pastem to hoof "You won't get away from me that easily Mister P!" The words spoken by the odd creature once again drew Akane's attention to the present moment. The pony glared indignantly as she pounced at the shadows behind an overturned garbage can. She did this while simultaneously flipping 180 degrees on a lateral axis only to catch a pillow that had immediately lost some of its stuffing. What such an item was doing between a bar, and a burger joint, amongst abandoned forklift loading palettes, keggers, wine barrels, and broken stools, among other things waiting for the devils cut, could only be answered by the man who decided to sleep off whatever he'd drunk the night before in a pool of his own vomit.
When the unseelie creature spoke it had sealed away any doubts for Akane that the creature was some sort of spiritual apparition cooked up in the darker corners of her mind. And, it was definitely a girl. One thing she knew for certain at that moment was the gender of the mystery creature (that may have well have been a unicorn) for all she knew of the taxonomy of magical horses (and the green bendy straw that had conveniently lodged itself into the rat's nest of the critter's hair along with a few discolored jawbreaker sized gum balls, animal crackers, and a lolipop). Sunny muffins, in contrast, was clearly a pegasus pony of some kind and much cleaner. She knew that much because Nabiki had the wings bronzed and mounted on her bedroom wall for some odd reason, along with the pair of hedge clippers, whip, and a bear trap she used to tame her imaginary friend into submission.
"U-um Hello?" Akane asked tentatively as she approached the entrance to the alley. Resting her hand on the frame of a Caterpillar fork lift not entirely sure what she was seeing (much less hearing), probably because two thirds of her vision was blocked out by the mesh coated eyelets of the mask she was wearing. And, mostly unsure if the magical creature presented before her was completely real. After all, if she didn't know better, the creatures horn looked like the rough approximation of a tool often used to measure the quality of one's spit. All the filly needed now was a toilet paper spoolie rolled into her hair to complete the illusion of a really hot mess.
Just then, while attempting to steady the balance of her currently barrel chested frame, Akane noticed a small white rabbit as it careered towards her in a disorganized facsimile of a straight line. This allowed the the pony to chase after the small rabbit, who was wearing a digital/camo patterned yellow polka dot bandanna, as the filly just sort of danced around unsure of which foot to stomp the dodgy little rodent with, and with exactly how much force to use.
"Back off! Mister P is my boyfriend now, and I'm going to marry him." The little pony made this statement after she had pounced upon the rabbit with a hop, skip, an a jump. The fairy was now holding onto the rabbit, clutching it tightly, having successfully pinned it to the ground with her two front hooves. Struggling as the rabbit was, the filly was bound and determined to keep her prey in line, similar to the way a toddler would hold onto their woobie or a dog would guard a bit of teary cloth.
"Ooh- Kay then. Do you have a name?" Akane asked. The pony sort of looked up and cocked its head as if seeing the gorilla in a blue grass tutu, with matching coconut brasserie, and blue Hawaiian lei made of carnations for the first time, then noticed the baggies filled with whipped topping after questioning the significance of the red camilla behind the great ape's right ear, and immediately perked up.
"Awe Sweet! You making ice cream!? Can I have some? Ah'Really, really, really like ice cream... an apple fritters, but mostly ice cream a la mode with apple pie and-"
"I-What!?" Akane was a bit displaced by the odd response to her question.
"Well, why you got all 'em cans of whip cream for if you ain't making ice cream?" The filly asked.
"ice cream?" Was that what Kasumi/Lum needed all the cans of whipped topping, grenadine, chocolate, and cherries for? Akane briefly wondered why she thought it would be used for something a bit more kinky.
In yet another time and place... (but, more than likely a few hours after the arrival of some important dignitary from Canterlot to check up on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville. A celebration haunted by the return of Nightmare Moon... )
Naturally, it was a dark and gloomy night, made more miserable by the approaching thunderhead that threatened to escape the everfree forest. If the gloom and misery had left behind more than just a cold feeling of someone walking over a grave attached to it, then it would be the feeling of a slick wet cough, and provide a blood curdling, or draining, if not a numbing, effect at the extremities. Having returned from exile Luna, that is to say Nightmare Moon, wasn't sure if she should pity the creature before her or pray to the celestial temple it wasn't just an apparition of her overworked imagination. Then, there was a matter of which creature she should feel greatest sympathy for, the feral kirin who had apparently just cleared the avatar state, or the mangled body of the manticore she was feeding off of. Coated in blood, the fanged creature tore through the connective muscle tissues that remained of the manticore's lung and ribcage. With about as much effort expended by a foal when it tears through the tissue wrapping paper of its presents on Hearth's Warming Eve, the kirin ripped through blood and bone to reveal the manticore's heart.
The creature continued engorge herself on the manticores internal organs as Nightmare Moon approached. It was dark, so beyond shades of red and hints of creamy or sandy yellow fur Luna couldn't genuinely make out the true colors of the Kirin before her, even with the faint glow of the creatures battle aura. There was also the matter of the creatures preference for silk, black kevlar, and mythril which was evident from the torn wraps, sleeves, and brustpanzer in which the creature was adorned. Black, blue, silver, and white gold, it was more than luck that they ran into each other on this eve of destruction it was kismet. The creature before her was already wearing her team colors. Feral, yes, but she had need of a guard dog to protect the elements of harmony anyway. What better tool than the one before her. But, that left the question of who, or more specifically where, the creature's handler was. Dragon or filly, even with the avaricious growth spurt dragons were known for, it was obviously too young, and altogether lacking in insight or the level of consciousness needed to be wandering the woods alone without a guardian or foal sitter. Powerful, yes, capable of identifying threats to self and others, maybe, able to survive long enough to develop her talents and be of any real use to Nightmare Moon, no. Considering someone, or something, went through the trouble of marking her with brocade butterfly ink, even without the mark of the battling god, it was clear the child before her was something special.
As she approached the creature Luna observed other details beyond that of spectral, stygian, and etherial. The creature was glowing with a tainted green aura of magic that changelings were fond of, but there could be no doubt as to the species of her query. This creature had a taint of the familiar about her, and it wasn't the influence of the magical artifacts, nor the brocade butterfly ink the critter adorned herself with. Although, that would certainly make influencing the creature before her that much easier. If she didn't know better she might have assumed this was one of Discord's pawns given the amount of chaos energy, dark magics, and the tantalizing amount killer intent encompassing a perfect elemental golem. Even as she approached the Kirin downwind it immediately stopped what it was doing, which consisted mostly of lapping up, and slurping down, the blood and amino acids of her prey's stomach like it was gourmet soup. That is, before the aggro alarm triggered. Immediately alarm bells went off in Luna's mind as if a snake was about to jump out and bite her when the kirin's ears folded back, its hair stood on end, and in almost the same instant she found herself knocked over breathless before she noticed the low growl. With the kirin hissing at her, ready to tear into her with what appeared to be etherial blades of ice and fog... if the tantibus energy in her mane hadn't reacted in time, and were it anyone else attempting to restrain the feral beast before her, she probably would have found herself sliced into a dozen pieces or waiting for the helhest of dullahan.
"N-nice kirin-kitty. Pretty kirin-kitty" Nightmare moon smiled in relief as the adrenalin washed through her system and she rolled onto her side. "How would you like to help mommy with some skanks?" This, was of course, a rhetorical question. Because, the kirin lacked both the capacity to understand what Luna was saying at the moment, and was altogether lacking in conscious choice of her immediate and impulsive actions.