//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Smoke and Mirrors // Story: Blood of the Sunstrikers // by Clacker Volley //------------------------------// “Huh? What the heck are you talking about?!” Joseph stared at the bejeweled amulet that Cadence was currently levitating using her magic. The emerald embedded in its golden frame caught light from a lamp above a door frame, light reflecting in Joseph’s eye. “Wear it. It can turn you into a pony as long as I’m using the right magic to charge it.” Cadence explained, hoisting it more towards Joseph. In turn, Joseph flinched backwards at the sudden thrust. “W-why in hell would I want to turn into a pony?! Do you not see this sexy face?!” Joseph whacked the amulet away only for it to swing back and whack Joseph, successfully getting its revenge. “No, I don’t. Because there isn’t one.” Cadence stated, causing Joseph clutching at his chest as if he had been stabbed. “Anyways, we’re taking the street route. Alleys cut off around here, and the streets actually have some ponies that aren’t under the regime’s influence. But having somepony-“ “Ahem!” Joseph made several coughing noises in order to interrupt Cadence. “U-um… about that…” “Okay, fine. Someone…” Cadence trailed off to guarantee Joseph’s approval. After a quick ‘Hmm’ and a nod, Cadence continued, “Someone like you would just garner attention. And we don’t want anything of the sort. It’ll be awkward, but you can take it off when we’re not safe in a relatively public place.” ‘Thank Celestia that she made Manehattan so huge. Even the villains have trouble controlling the massive amount.’ Cadence thought her relief. “W-well, a p-public place…” “…Fine.” Joseph sighed before grabbing the amulet’s chain. Inspecting the back of it, Joseph could see Cadence’s symbol (He refused to call it a cutie mark. He wasn’t a girl, dammit! …At least, most of the time.)was engraved onto it. Taking a moment of thought, Joseph detached the chain from the amulet before putting the chain in his shirt pocket. “Um, why exactly-“ Cadence attempted a question before Joseph cut her off. “Something more important could use it.” Joseph quickly interjected. Holding out the amulet, emerald side facing upward in his palm, Joseph said, “You need to charge this thing, right?” Cadence blinked before getting out of her unexpected stupor. “Yeah, yeah. Right.” Cadence’s horn began to glow, pink magic enveloping the amulet. As he held onto the emerald, Joseph could feel himself change almost immediately. He expected it to be gradual, if he expected anything, at all. Magic as a concept just kind of seemed weird to him. After his height was shortened and his hand turned into a green hoof, Joseph could see the bottom half of his vision become blocked by what he assumed to be his muzzle. At the sudden change, Joseph almost dropped the amulet altogether. He would have as well, if Cadence’s magic hadn’t acted as an adhesive. Sighing, Joseph got over his surprise and put the amulet into his jacket pocket. ‘Wait a minute…’ Joseph thought, before taking a struggle to look at his torso before realizing he could just turn his head sideways. ‘Oh my god! M-my clothes can transform, too?! Although I lost my pants altogether somehow…wait, my boxers!’ “Where did my pants go?” Joseph asked Cadence, careful to not mention his missing boxers since it was clearly a more embarrassing subject. Looking over his shoulder, Cadence confirmed that he did in fact, lose his pants. “Uh…maybe they shrunk into your pockets or something?” Cadence offered an answer, unsure of the result herself. Digging through his left jacket pocket, pushing aside the amulet, Joseph felt nothing. After an awkward fall since he thought he could stand without his fore hooves for a moment, Joseph began searching his right jacket pocket. ‘W-why the hell are they there?!’ Joseph’s face clearly became crestfallen as he felt the shrunken fabric. ‘Screw you, magic!’ “U-um maybe we shouldn’t…” Cadence, realizing that Joseph found his missing garments, began to speak. “Are you ready, then? The street’s just around the corner. Just try and blend in.” Sighing once more, Joseph nodded. “W-what’s going on here?!” Cadence yelled. “Even if it’s not an intersection…!” “Oh no…” Joseph added. “I tried to say something…I’m sorry…” Fluttershy apologized, before joining Joseph and Cadence in their consecutive head turning to the right and left. The streets, as far as all three of them could see, were empty. ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ “W-where is everypony?!” Cadence began to let the panic settle in. “I have an idea.” Cadence and Fluttershy both looked at Joseph with questioning glances. “W-what is it?” “Maybe we should ask the two guys that have been trailing us since maybe half a mile ago.” “W-what?!” Cadence said, backing away in shock, and holding up a hoof on instinct. Fluttershy’s eyes went wide as she got closer to Cadence and took a look around. Just in time to witness two figures drop from the sky into our protagonists’ sights. One was a male unicorn that had a dull olive green coat and a dirty brown mane. The other was a slim griffon female with black feathers that only began to grey out as they approached her head. Her talons could be heard scratching against the street’s asphalt. “Guess your magic wasn’t so fancy after all, huh, Army Donovan.” The griffon teased as she shot a mocking look to her partner. “I’d suggest avoiding using my full name, Bridget.” The way Donovan addressed her name could almost be seen dripping with malice. “And my magic is flawless. I doubt even Twilight Sparkle could do better. Cadence here certainly didn’t care.” “Blah blah…are you two just going to keep talking? I’d rather know how you both cleared the streets when I know you’ve been tailing us.” Joseph awkwardly pointed the tip of his hoof towards the newcomers. “A teleport here, an illusion there. And a fear spell to make everypony run.” Donovan began to laugh quietly. “I believe one elderly pony even died of a heart attack. It was quite hilarious to see the other ponies trample over his dead body.” “Y-you creep!” Cadence accused, feeling Fluttershy tug at her side. Her ear flickered as she could hear metal clang to the floor behind her. Turning around, Cadence saw the amulet rolling on the street, with Joseph Joestar standing with rage clearly on his face. Cracking his knuckles, Joseph said, “And here I thought you might actually be the good guys. Too bad you’re just a bully that’s about to get his head pounded in.” It was then that Donovan’s laugh cracked against everyone’s eardrums. “You?! You think you can beat me?! With those paltry skills you showed against Cold Blood?!” Donovan’s laugh died down as quickly as it erupted. “Don’t make me laugh. It’s not proper etiquette.” “I call Princess!” Bridget cried as she took flight. Flying faster than Joseph could react, Bridget rushed down Cadence. Cadence was brought along with the tackle, back into the alley that they came from, barely managing to push Fluttershy away from the impact. “Cadence!” Joseph yelled as his shot towards the alleyway before something blasted him straight in the chest. Stumbling back and falling onto his posterior, Joseph looked to Donovan, horn still glowing. “Weren’t you going to pound my head in? Or were you talking of your own pathetic one?” Donovan taunted. “Fluttershy.” Joseph began to stand up, his voice sounding serious for a change. “Help Cadence out. I’ve got Army Douchebag over here.” Although Joseph wasn’t looking in her direction, Fluttershy nodded and flew away from the scene, to catch up with Cadence. “Oh, are you sure of that? You’re going to need all the help you can get.” “Nah, I’m more than enough for an egotistical asshole like you.” Joseph smirked, using a finger to point towards Donovan’s glowing horn. “Maybe you’ll reconsider.” Donovan’s voice came from his left. Darting his vision, Joseph could see that Donovan made a duplicate of himself. “When you realize my practiced technique.” Donovan’s voice came from behind him. Turning, Joseph saw another Donovan standing in the gap of the alleyway, between the massive line of stores of the commercial district. “Practiced technique, huh? You do realize that the way you worded that just sounds dumb, right?” Joseph said, watching as more Donovan’s popped up around him. As one circled towards his right, Joseph quickly kicked the copy's head in, causing it to dissipate. “And another thing...I’m not that bad at fighting groups, you know!” “You’re not? I doubt it matters.” Donovan said, as the entire street began to be covered in thick fog, tinted with the olive green color that accompanied his magic. “The whole smoke and mirrors gag, huh? Guess even with actual magic, ponies still resort to the normal crap. Originality goes a long way.” Joseph said, waiting to hear a response from a direction. “Smoke and mirrors? Far from it. Each of my copies possess my exact physical dexterity and skills…you won’t be able to sense a difference.” One of the Donovan copies came from the shroud only to speak those words and stand on a single spot. When Joseph tried to kick him, the copy quickly retracted and another blast hit him from behind making him fall onto the ground, off balance from lifting his leg to kick. ‘So…he likes attacking my back, huh?’ Joseph kicked himself off the ground, jumping over a Donovan that tried to take advantage of his collapse and lunge onto him. Rather than going where that Donovan was headed, Joseph headed in a direction that seemed completely random. ‘Is he that much of a fool?! I can see through my own fog!’ The real Donovan thought as he used one of his closest copies to send another bolt straight at his back. When it hit, Joseph was in mid-air and the momentum from the attack sent him crashing into one of the stores, glass flying inwards. ‘Into a bakery! Even he can’t find solace from the fog from inside a store!’ Using one of his copies to check, Donovan began inspecting the inside of the bakery from afar. However, he couldn’t see Joseph within. ‘Is he hiding behind the shelves? I can merely send in a few copies inside to horde around him.’ However! Once the Donovan clone began to approach the window, a crouching Joseph appeared that had been using the wall under the window as a visual obstacle! “You’re not the only one who can use smoke and mirrors! Idiot!” Joseph called out as he threw two broken bags of flour around. While polluting his own vision further, Joseph was aware that Donovan could see through his smoke and so he used an artificial means! “You are the idiot here!” Donovan yelled towards the mass of flour polluting the air. “I already know where you are!” Donovan advanced two of his copies to tackle the limited space that the flour provided. When the clones landed on solid ground, Donovan clicked his tongue. Deciding to take a more direct approach, Donovan used his fog magic to disperse itself along with the clouding flour. The air around the entrance of the bakery cleared. And this was when Donovan realized he had made a crucial mistake. His clones had full vision of the interior of the bakery and there were no other doors leading to a back room. And yet, Joseph Joestar had vanished!