“Woah, what is that?” A scratchy, somewhat high pitched voice spoke.
Soul frowned, holding her eyes shut tighter as she tried to ignore the sound, hoping to get more sleep.
“It looks like a minotaur.” A much higher pitched yet smooth voice replied to its friend.
“No, that’s stupid. It doesn’t have horns.”
Soul groaned, turning away from the sound.
“It doesn’t have a tail!”
“What? Then how does it walk around on two legs?” Yet another high pitched voice spoke, though this one had a bit of a southern drawl to it.
“Maybe it’s some sort of alien come to suck out our brains!” The scratchy voice said.
“That’s silly. Why would ma sister let it sleep in the house than?”
“Because she already has had her brain eaten!” Scratchy gasped. “She’s become a brainless slave to the alien!”
Finally, Soul had enough, sitting up and glaring at the voices that belonged to three little fillies, one of each pony race. “Look kids, you want something?”
“Look out!” The pegasus cried out, confirming the owner of the scratchy voice. “She’s gonna eat our brains!” She tried to run only for the earth pony to grab hold of her tail with her mouth. The unicorn shook her head.
“Scootaloo, you really think this thing could eat your brains?”
Soul growled, baring her teeth. “This ‘thing’ was trying to sleep.” Scootaloo stopped running in place, glancing at her sharp teeth.
“Woah! It’s got teeth like a timberwolf!”
“Does that mean you eat meat?” The earth pony asked, a slight shake in her voice.
Soul yawned, running a hand through her bed head. “No, I don’t eat food.”
“Brains aren’t food.” Scootaloo cut in.
Soul grumbled a bit and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the earth pony stepping up. “Would you keep quiet Scoots? We’re just supposed to be asking her a question.” She turned to Soul. “Ma sister wanted to know if you were ever gonna wake up today.”
“Plus we wanted to see the pony that turned Rainbow into a chicken.” The unicorn giggled.
“Oh ya. That.” Soul yawned again, grinning a bit. “Yep, that was me. Well… Pinkie helped too.” She glanced at the earth pony. “And you can tell your sister no. I don’t care to.”
“What’s wrong with your hair?” The unicorn asked, earning a glare from Soul.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Before any reply could be given, Big Mac walked up behind the foals.
“Now now, you kids quit bothering Ms. Soul and head downstairs. I’ll let AJ know she’s up.” The foals ran off, Big Mac watching them head down the hall. Once they had turned the corner, he looked back into the room only to find that Soul had laid back in bed and already seemed to be asleep.
“Uh… Ms. Soul, aren’t you getting up?”
“Nope.”
Big Mac walked over to the window in the room before pulling open the curtains. Soul practically hissed at the sunlight that streamed in. “It’s already ten though. Don’t you wanna get up and do anything?”
“Nope.” She rolled over, turning her back to the light. Big Mac just looked at her, seeming to have a hard time understanding her.
“Didn’t you have some friend to look for?”
“I don’t remember what she looks like and Twilight’s tutoring the crusaders today so she can’t help me get my memories back.”
Big Mac sighed. “Well AJ wanted to show you around town as a sort of apology for knocking you around.”
“Don’t care.”
There was silence for a few more moments before Big Mac spoke again. “Ya sure? AJ’s real sorry ‘bout what happened.”
“Don’t care.”
“She didn’t sleep all too well last night.”
“Really? Cause I was sure I didn’t care.”
“She doesn’t get that worried about just anything, ya know?”
Soul groaned as she sat up, turning to Big Mac with a glare. “Alright! I’ll go with her into town! Just enough of the guilt trip.” He smirked a bit before stepping out of the room, leaving Soul to blearily rub her eyes.
“Mother fucking ponies and their shit. Can’t just let me be without all their bull.” She grumbled. She took a few moments before slowly pulling herself off the bed, grabbing her hair band from the nightstand. She slipped it on as she looked into a mirror hung up on the wall. Her hair was sticking up in strands, making her look prickly.
“Eh. That’ll take care of itself.” She shrugged before stepping out. When she reached the stairs, she could hear the fillies from earlier talking to Applejack and stopped.
“She seems really lazy.” The squeaky unicorn spoke.
“Ya. I ain’t never seen someone who I thought could match Rainbow in napping.” The obvious sister of Applejack spoke.
“Hey!” Scootaloo shouted.
“Well that’s insulting.” Soul muttered. “I could wipe the floor with the flying pest when it comes to sleeping.”
“Now there’s no reason to be saying those things about a guest, Applebloom.” Applejack spoke up. “And that goes for you too Sweetie Belle. I don’t think yer sister would right appreciate what you’re saying.”
“Sorry Applejack.” The two spoke in unison.
“Now, I’ll admit she is a mite bit odd, but she don’t remember what’s going on. I’d bet y’all she’s just defensive ‘cause of that. Now, you three better get off to Twilight’s fer yer lesson.”
“Okay!” All three of them seemed to jump up at the mention of Twilight before the sound of little hooves running across wood echoed out followed by a door slamming shut.
Soul waited a few more moments after that before heading down the stairs, opening up to a living room with a table and chairs. Out the window by the front door, Soul could see the fillies running off to town. “And good riddance. Never could stand kids anyway.” She sighed before turning away from the front door and dragging herself into the next room.
“Well howdy Soul!” Applejack chimed as she entered the kitchen, turning her head away from the sink where she had been cleaning dishes. “Twi mentioned you don’t eat so I didn’t make any breakfast for ya. Hope that’s alright.”
“It’s… fine.” She muttered, a bit put off by her peppiness. “Is your whole family always up this early?”
“Early?” She laughed. “Oh we’ve all been up for a few hours now. That’s farm work fer ya.” Applejack dried her hooves before turning toward Soul. “I’m guessing you ain’t never lived on one.”
“Nope, and I can’t say it sounds like something I would ever bother with.” Soul grumbled. “Now, your brother said something about checking out the town?”
“Yup! Figure since you can change how you look, it might be good fer ya to get a lay of the place.”
“Well ya, I guess.” Soul sighed. “But in case you forgot, the moment I fall over or get distracted, the pony form stops working. That and I don’t care to do that.”
Applejack looked sad for a few moments before she seemed to think of something. “Can’t you turn into anything else?”
“Well ya, a sword. But I can’t exactly walk that way.”
“Well why don’t I just carry you ‘round than?” Applejack smiled. “Ain’t like the ponies of this town are gonna look at me weird for carrying a sword.”
“They wouldn’t?” Soul perked up a bit, seemingly interested. “What the hell would happen in a town like this to make that be the norm?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say the norm, but let’s just say you showing up ain’t the first weird thing to happen ‘round Ponyville, and me, Twi, and the others are often the ones right in the middle of it.”
“Huh… I’ll admit, a town like this doesn’t look like an exciting place.”
Applejack chuckled. “You’d be surprised. Now, you wanna head out?” For a moment, Soul seemed ready to argue against heading out before sighing. Her body was coated in a white light before being engulfed and shooting over to Applejack’s back, reforming as a short sword slid underneath her saddlebag’s straps.
Applejack let out a low whistle as she glanced at her back. “Well, yer certainly a beaut of a sword, I’ll give ya that.”
‘Thanks.’ A cocky voice echoed in her head, causing her to jump.
“Wha?! Soul?! Was that you?”
‘Yes. How else was I going talk to you but through your head? Swords aren’t exactly built with mouths.’
“You got a point. Still nearly gave me a heart attack.” Applejack took a moment to make sure Soul wasn’t going to fall off before heading out the door and on the way to Ponyville.
‘Well usually, when you tell someone that the only way you’re going to speak to them is in their head, they get a bunch of ideas about just what that includes.’
“What do you mean by that?”
‘Well on the top of the list, you don’t need to speak back. I can hear you speak in your head. That fact automatically sets off signals of “I’m reading your thoughts and am intruding on your deepest, darkest secrets.”’
Applejack seemed to go silent for a moment before thinking. ‘So… you’re not reading my thoughts?’
‘Well yes, but thoughts are not an open book. Memories and personal secrets are hidden behind a sort of wall that takes actual effort to reach, and I think by now you can tell I’m not one to do so.’
‘You mean not one to pry into someone else’s dirty laundry?’
‘No, I’m not someone who is willing to put effort toward almost anything not having to do with myself. What weird, possibly horrific things you do in your spare time is none of my concern. I wouldn’t even bother to read your thoughts if projecting mine into your head didn’t open the connection both ways.’
“Huh.” Applejack muttered verbally before the two resolved to silence. It wasn’t till they actually reached the town proper that Applejack spoke again. “So, any place you wanna check out first?”
‘Not particularly. What few looks I gave the town when I was running through it with Pinkie planning pranks didn’t catch my attention. Just looks like Canterlot without the snooty unicorns.’
“Canterlot?” Applejack chuckled. “If you think this place looks like Canterlot, you might need to get your eyes checked.”
Soul hummed for a moment. ‘Sparkle mentioned something like that too. About Canterlot being not only a city, but the capital of Equestria.’ The sword on Applejack’s back seemed to shudder a bit. ‘I was really hoping that was a joke though.’
“Nope. I take it you ain’t too fond of the place?” Applejack spoke as she walked the two of them through the town.
‘Depends. Is the place still full of snot nosed unicorns who think they’re better than everyone else?’
“Well, other than a few exceptions… eeyup.”
‘Than yes, you could say I’m not a fan. Add to the fact the place is now a city and I now have even less reason to want to revisit the place.’
“I feel ya there. Never got what ponies like Rare ever saw in places like that. Other than a few events, I’ve done my best to keep away from those kinds of places.” Applejack stopped for a moment, looking up at the building next to them before smiling. “Hey, how about we stop in at Sugarcube Corner? I bet Pinkie would be happy to see you.”
‘Pinkie works here?’ Soul took a few moments to look over the shop. ‘Well… it’s got quite the stand on the roof.’
“It’s a bakery. I know you don’t eat none, but you and Pinkie seemed to get along fine.”
‘Eh, sure, though I think the place is rather busy right now.’ Applejack took another glance at the front of the shop before turning to the sword, confused.
“Uh… beg yer pardon?”
‘Check inside.’ Applejack’s confusion never left her face but she nodded nonetheless and walked up to the doors. Just as Soul had said, there was a winding line through the bakery, only just stopping by the doors. Pinkie was busy at the register, grabbing sweets for whoever was at the front at the time.
‘Told ya.’
Applejack took a few steps back. “Woowee! How’d you do that?”
‘I don’t exactly “see” like normal people or ponies do. Hell, by the literal definitions of the words, I am both blind and deaf.’
“Well for a girl who both can’t see and hear, you can certainly see and hear.”
‘Someone behind you is trying to get into the store.’
“Huh?” Applejack turned to see a mare standing there, giving her a strange look. Applejack gave her a sheepish grin before standing aside to let her through.
‘You also are basically talking to yourself, just to remind you.’
Applejack opened her mouth to speak only to quickly shut it and reply mentally. ‘R-right. Kinda forgot there. Now, what was this about you not being able to see and hear?’
‘It’s… difficult to explain, especially since it’s rather like trying to tell someone what red looks like.’ Soul went silent as she thought. ‘I could show you how I see things but I don’t know how clear it will come out. Getting on the level I am that you can use it in your everyday life took a long time.’
‘Well I’ll try it once if just to get a feel for it.’ Applejack responded confidently.
“Thing is… this also will open that connection I mentioned earlier between us a bit wider so some bits might start to leak through. It shouldn’t get to the real nasty, core stuff right away but I might start to see your thoughts on other ponies and vice versa.’ Applejack visibly winced upon hearing that. ‘Ya, figured that might be a deal breaker.’ Oddly enough, Soul spat out this last part almost angrily, as if disappointed.
‘N-now hang on! I was just a mite bit surprised is all. I ain’t gonna back out now.’ Soul was silent for long enough that Applejack actually got a bit worried and glanced back. “Er, Soul? Ya there?”
‘Why?’ She stated flatly.
‘Why what?’
‘I know you knocked me off a building and all, but I than went and threw you in a pool of applesauce before being flat out rude to your sister and her friends. And you even defended me to them. And now you’re willing to let some of your inner thoughts be known to me just so you can see what I see? By everything I know, you should hate me but instead you continue to try and be nice. So, why?’
‘Well…’ Applejack paused, coming up with the right words before continuing. ‘I’ll admit, you have been a pain of sorts, but I doubt many in your place would act much better. I guess I was hopin’ to earn yer trust so maybe you don’t feel so scared.’
‘I am not scared.’ Soul spat.
Applejack just gave a small smile. ‘Right. Not scared. I’ll remember that. Now, you wanna show me this thing or what?’
She could have sworn Soul was about ready to tell her no but after a brief pause she got another reply. ‘Alright then. Sit down. You’re gonna get some major vertigo otherwise.’ Applejack did as she asked, taking a seat on the ground outside Sugarcube Corner. ‘Close your eyes and try to ignore the sounds around you.’ She did so, her face scrunching up a bit as she did her best to pay no attention to the sounds of the market.
‘Now than, what do you see and hear?’
‘Well nuthin.’
‘Oh really? Don’t open your eyes, but try “looking” at me.’ Applejack did this, turning her head before stopping when she began to see something else. There, on her back, was a bright, glowing orb of blue fire, emanating ripples of light that stopped as if the edges of her sword form had become the sides of a pool.
‘Just… what am I lookin’ at?’
‘My soul and its wavelength. All living creatures have these. I just started you off looking at mine because mine is the strongest one around and is therefore the easiest. Try looking at yourself, but don’t turn your head.’
Applejack did this, her mind’s eye turning to scrutinize herself. She saw her own glowing ball of fire, only her’s was orange. She could even hear a faint sound as she watched the ripples flow through her body. ‘How come mine is orange and yours is blue?’
‘Blue is a sort of default color. Because you lack experience, you can’t pick apart the soul and see all the things that makes that person or pony who they are. Since this is your own soul, you can see it all because it’s you. Soul took a moment to pause before speaking again. 'Anyway, you aren't gonna see much more than that at your level so let's just-'
Applejack gasped, interrupting. ‘By Great Grandpappy’s gold plated rump.’ It took a moment for Soul to realize that Applejack was seeing the shop. Inside the shop was the line of ponies, their souls all floating as Pinkie’s bounced around the place like a firefly. The shop itself however also had ripples moving through it, though without a source these ripples often overlapped each other, making the walls look more messy than the wavelength a pony had.
‘I thought you said living things had those “soul wavelength” do-hickeys. Why’s the building got one too?’
‘Things that die, like the trees and plants that were used to build the building, lose their soul upon death, but the wavelength will continue to resonate through them for long after that. I never figured out how long, but I know it can last for several hundred years. What I want to know is how you are actually seeing it? It took me a year of having nothing better to do to even see souls other than my own.’
I dunno. Maybe I'm just good at it?' The two went silent after that, Applejack seeming to take in her surroundings through this new perspective. ‘Well, I must admit Soul. This is all rather pretty looking.’
She wasn’t sure how, but Applejack could feel Soul smirking as she spoke. ‘If you think it looks nice, hearing it will blow your mind. Unfortunately, learning that just takes time and practice, even with having me around as an amplifier.’
‘Amplifier? Ya mean I can do this without ya? Can all ponies?’
‘Well ya, anything with a soul can sense souls. It’s just rather difficult to train if you either don’t have someone to help you take the first step or you don’t have the motivation of needing to be able to see and hear things at least somewhat normally.’
Applejack was about ready to open her eyes when she saw a floating orb approaching her from behind. She turned and looked with her actual eyes to find it was Rarity. “Well hello there Applejack. I thought you might be taking a nap.”
Applejack took a few moments to stand herself up, somewhat shaken from the experience but smiling. “Nah, Soul was just showing me a trick of hers.”
“Soul? You mean the one who left me to clean glue and feathers off Rainbow Dash for three hours? Pinkie told me the prank was her idea. Where is she?”
Soul was snickering from the moment Rarity mentioned glue, though only Applejack could hear it. “She’s here Rare.” She turned her side to show the sword on her back, causing Rarity to gasp.
“Applejack! Just what are you doing carrying around something so dangerous?!”
“Rare, it’s Soul. She can change shape, remember? This one apparently is a bit easier on her than the pony though.”
“I see…” Rarity glared at the sword with this new information. “Well missy, I hope you’re happy with the mess you made.”
‘Oh you have no idea.~’ Soul chuckled.
“Rare, she can’t speak to you. She got no mouth, like any sword would.”
“She doesn’t need to speak.” Rarity stuck her nose in the air. “I simply wish to confirm that her petty revenge making is done with. It is not very lady like to act in such a garish fashion.”
‘Pffft! Please. Like I could give two shits about being “lady like”. I’d rather let Twilight do more medical examinations on me than let Ms. Pomp and Circumstance here try and put me in a dress.’
‘I’ll have to agree with ya on that one, Soul.’ Applejack replied, smiling slightly but managing to hold back any laughter. “I think she’s done Rarity. Don’t ask me how I know though. Just… trust me.”
Rarity rose an eyebrow at this but accepted it nonetheless. “Very well Applejack. I shall take your word on it. Though if I might say one more thing to her. From what I heard from my sister, she has quite the… ‘unique’ hair style. Should she like to have it changed, I would be more than happy to help.” With that, Rarity turned to leave. “Farewell Applejack.”
‘I’m going to take one guess and say that the unicorn filly from this morning was her sister?’
‘Eeyup.’
‘The resemblance is hardly noticeable.’ The two laughed a bit at that.
‘Ya, Rare can be a bit fru fru, but she’s got her heart in the right place. Though if you ain’t a fan of gettin’ yer hair done, I can give you a few of the excuses I use to avoid her.’
‘Ha! Even without an excuse, as if I’d-’ Soul suddenly stopped, causing Applejack to raise an eyebrow.
“Soul? What’s wrong?”
‘I thought I heard something… but I can’t find the source. I can’t imagine what it could have-’ In that moment, Applejack watched as Soul seemed to just wink out of existence.
“Soul!” Applejack turned around, looking about trying to find her. “She’s… she’s gone!”
* * *
Soul however, was right now going through the very dizzying experience of flying through what looked like a tunnel. Moments after she had disappeared, she had changed back into her human-esque form. “What the fuck is going on?!” A few moments later she hit what felt like hard stone, grunting on impact.
“Fucking piece of… just what the hell-” She stopped and quickly turned to look at two notably human girls who were behind her. One girl wore a red hoodie and a pair of jeans with sneakers, the other had on a leather jacket, a t-shirt, and a pair of slightly ripped jeans with combat boots. Both of them were noticeably rumpled and dirty, as if they hadn’t showered in days or weeks.
“What?”
Natsumi and Haruka backed up, not having expected a girl to just appear out of nowhere. “Who the heck are you?” Natsumi asked, hand hovering over her belt warily.
“Who am I? Who the hell are you?” Soul pointed at the two of them. “And where the hell am I?”
Natsumi coughed and elbowed Haruka in the side, the both of them standing and posing strangely while announcing, “Natsumi and Haruka Miwa! Twin Kamen Rider Sisters and Allies of Justice!” Haruka sat back down as Natsumi continued, shaking some of the dust from her hoodie, “I’m Natsumi, and that’s Haruka… and uh…. you’re in a cave somewhere. We were running from a bunch of hostile ponies earlier and then Haruka found your keychain somewhere in the back of the cave and… yeah.”
“Keychain? What keychain? Lemme see it.” Soul held out her hand.
Haruka tossed over the keychain, groaning and rubbing her back, “Man, I don’t know how we’re gonna get outta this one… the Princesses already hate us enough as it is…” Haruka didn’t however expect for Soul to completely miss the keychain, hitting her in the chest. Soul grumbled for a moment before leaning down and waving her hands along the floor before seeming to find the keychain right in front of her.
“Finally!” She ran her fingers along it as the two sisters looked at this strange behavior with raised eyebrows. “This…” Suddenly her tone of voice got more serious. “Where did you get this?”
Haruka shrugged, “Found it in a pile of sand near the entrance. Why?”
Soul growled for a moment before sighing, relaxing for a moment before throwing the keychain against the wall. “MOTHER FUCKER!!! The piece of shit continues to mess with my fucking life even over a thousand years later!”
Natsumi and Haruka blinked and stared, “.... wut.” Natsumi shook her head, “Anyway, I really hate to ask, but do you have any abilities that might make some way for us to, well, not be attacked on sight?”
“And why should I help you?” Soul glared. “You two drag me out to the middle of god knows where to deal with a bunch of ponies, when I’m not a diplomat or someone who gives a shit about them. I’m more likely to go and scare the shit of them because it would be fun to than make them your friends.” Soul crossed her arms. “What’d you even do to piss them off?”
Haruka blinked, “Uh…. be horrible, hypnotized mass murdering monsters in Discord’s army about some two thousand years ago?”
Natsumi snapped, “Well, we could use that willingness to scare the crap out of them. Kamen Riders are supposed to fight monsters, after all.”
“You want me to go out and scare them so you can attack me and look like the heroes? Do I look like I’m made of metal?” Soul deadpanned before blinking. “Actually, nevermind that question. I just realized how stupid I sounded.” She thought for a moment, glancing around at the cave before grumbling. “Fine, but I better get sent back for my trouble. Now how the hell do we get out of here?”
Haruka sweatdropped at Soul, “.... The entrance is right there….” She pointed to Soul’s left, tilting her head, “What are you, blind?”
Natsumi smacked Haruka, “Don’t just ask people that!”
“Yep. I’m blind.” Soul said rather simply before slowly walking toward the exit, shoving her hands in her pockets.
“.....Oh.” Natsumi and Haruka followed Soul, transforming as they did so.
* * *
Twilight Sparkle, recently crowned Princess of Equestria, led a group of townsponies and her friends around the arid desert wastes, her horn glowing as she searched for the two strange beings that Princess Celestia had warned her about.
“Be careful, everyone,” she called out, “we don’t know what those two beings are capable of and I’d rather not have anyone get hurt.” The ponies continued to walk about the mountains before they heard a sound echoing, metal grinding against stone. It set them on edge, causing them to look around in subtle fright for the source of the noise.
Fluttershy flinched back, slowly backing up towards a rocky outcropping, “O-oh my… w-what was t-that…?” She tried to hide, not noticing the looming shadow behind her.
“Hello~” A growling voice spoke, the sound of metal stopping as the creature that stood over her ceased grinding one of the many blades protruding from its body into the stone wall next to it. Its mouth was open in a sinister grin that dripped with drool and filled with sharp teeth. Long, white hair blocked most of its face except for one red eye that seemed to glow slightly.
Fluttershy yelped in fear, the sound alerting the rest of the ponies, making them whirl around and spot the creature. Twilight reacted immediately, calling, “Watch out Fluttershy!” and firing a pink beam of concussive energy directly at the creature. In response, it rose an arm, a blade reflecting the blast and sending it off at a random angle.
“I’m… hungry… for… SOULS!” The creature growled before swiping at Fluttershy, the little pegasus just ducking before running.
“Oi!” a voice called out dramatically, its source being a familiar green armored figure standing atop a rocky spire. “If you want souls that much, then why don’t you feast on my fighting spirit!” The creature looked up with the ponies to see the two sisters standing there. The ponies were thankfully distracted enough to not notice the deadpanned look the creature gave these two, almost as if to say “you’ve got to be kidding me.”
The armored being was joined by another familiar being, this one in brown before both of them jumped impossibly high into the air, descending upon the blade covered creature with a dual cry of, “RIDER KICK!” Their legs burst into flame as they descended, the twin drop kicks slamming into the sword creature with enough force to send it smashing through another pillar of stone and out of sight.
The green being saluted at Twilight, calling out, “Sorry about running earlier, we weren’t exactly notified of anything being in the general area.” Both beings leapt off in the direction of the creature, the sounds of combat ringing out as a cloud of dust formed, obscuring the view.
In the fight, Soul gave a less monstrous growl at the sisters as she muttered. “For fuck’s sake, you didn’t have to kick me THAT hard. I only got knocked off a building a few days ago.”
Natsumi winced slightly, “Sorry about that- we were trying to hold back as much as we could so you wouldn’t just detonate into a small fireball.” She kept up her kicking, just barely missing Soul with each kick and slamming her feet into the blades jutting from her body rather than Soul herself.
“Right, ‘holding back’.” Soul rolled her eyes, giving another swipe of her arm before tackling Natsumi, only to be thrown off by her sister. “I can’t believe I agreed to this shit.” She grumbled before jumping back to avoid another punch.
Haruka shrugged before reaching down to her waist, “We’ll try to make it up to you later. By the way, you might want to duck these next attacks.” She flipped the legs of the device on her belt, her arm starting to crackle with energy as Natsumi did the same, her leg crackling like Haruka’s arm.
“RIDER PUNCH!” “RIDER KICK!” Soul leapt to the side, an explosion going off as their blows hit the stone where she had been standing two seconds ago. This sent her flying to the edge of a nearby cliff, stopping just short of falling off.
She got up, shaking her head and cursing under her breath. “Fuck… holding back my ass.”
Natsumi held her hand out to Soul, “Yeah, when a single kick is usually capable of destroying a small house, that really is holding back. Sorry about that. But, you might wanna run before the dust clears…. I wonder how we send you back…”
Soul seemed about to say something before making another monster growl and glaring at something behind the sisters. Haruka whirled around and spotted the ponies standing there and shouted, “Get back! It’s still dangerous!”
The ponies stepped back, but kept watching wanting to see how this turned out. Natsumi looked to Soul and muttered a quick, “I am so, so sorry about this,” and kicked Soul off the cliff with a fierce kiai and a dramatic flourish.
Soul, not being able to see the actual cliff, didn’t realize the danger until she had fallen far past where the ground should have been. “Oh that bitch!” She growled, turning into her sword form before striking the ground blade end first. After a few moments she changed back, glaring upward at the two far above her.
“Really? Kicking me off a cliff?!” She sighed. “This is the last time I do a favor for some random people.” She grinned a bit. “Even if scaring the ponies was hilario- Wah!” She suddenly fell backward, flipping around in vertigo.
* * *
“Bye girls! See you again next week!” Twilight waved to the crusaders as they ran off. With their lesson over, Twilight was ready to relax, having saved the rest of the day for some peace and quiet.
“TWI!” She jumped up as Applejack ran into the library, looking like she had done three laps around Ponyville. “I can’t find Soul!”
Twilight jumped again, turning to her friend. “What?! I thought you were watching her!”
“I was! I was showin’ her ‘round town as she sat pretty in her sword form on my back and then suddenly ‘poof’, she’s gone!”
“Well she couldn’t have just-” Suddenly something dropped into her library from… who knows where, making a loud thud against the wood. Both ponies turned to see Soul there, laying face first on the floor. “Soul! Why didn’t you tell me you could teleport?!”
Soul’s response was muffled by the floor. “Because I can’t, princess pain in my ass.”
“Then how do you explain this?” She waved her hoof. “And disappearing when you were with Applejack.”
Soul pried herself off the wood, rubbing her forehead. “Easy, I don’t explain it. You know why? Cause I don’t know shit about what just happened anymore than you do. So fuck off.” Twilight seemed to have more questions but was interrupted by Applejack walking up.
“You alright sugarcube?” Soul muttered a few more curses before sighing.
“Not exactly. The people I met wherever the fuck I ended up needed help getting their ponies off their ass, so they asked me to play the villain without telling me their fists cause explosions. If I broke a few more ribs, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Applejack looked to Twilight, said pony holding up under the look for a few seconds before giving in.
“Fine! I’ll check.” Her horn lit up as a similar light scanned over Soul as she continued to speak. “But I want to know what happened when you went wherever you ended up.”
“I’ll tell ya, I’ll tell ya. I just hope it doesn’t happen again. Had enough of whatever that was to last even my extended lifetime.”