Tail 21- Coffee and Conversations
Castle of Friendship (Dining Room)
As the smell of freshly made pancakes can be heard from the kitchen, everypony soon sat down around the table and got themselves comfortable. After their… unexpected arrival, Twilight and Sun had to catch Sunset Shimmer up to speed on what had been happening over the last couple of months. Primarily because there had been some major changes ever since Sun and the others started living in Ponyville.
“So…” Twilight broke the silence, the princess clearing her throat. “What would you like to ask first?” It might not have exactly been the best of questions to start with, but at least it was a good way to begin the conversation.
“Well, I guess I’d like to ask how can Celestia move the sun seeing as it a scientific impossibility.” Unicorn Twilight began to speak as she adjusts her glasses. “I mean the sun is a star a ball of gas and plasma. I mean the amount of gravity that would be in play could throw the whole solar system out of place.”
“Twilight, I think she meant something else besides that our teachers being royalty.” Applejack spoke up as she try to pick up a fork with her hoof, but was unsuccessful. “Like how exactly do you hold things with these?”
“Who cares?” Pinkiplier asked. “This world is magic! Do not question it!” She then tried to pick up the pancake, but failed. “How the heck do you eat these?”
“To answer your first question Twilight, it’s magic.” Sun replied. “Celestia is basically a goddess here. With Immortality and everything. How else can she be alive for over 1000 years?”
“A good workout.” Pinkie Pie chuckled, smiling a little while watching her doppelganger struggle with eating breakfast.
“She's an Immortal! Duh! A Goddess would be invincible!” Pinkiplier added on, giggling a little to add to it. “No seriously, how do you eat these?”
“Anyway’s I wanted to know when this beacon place will be ready! I can’t wait to join!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed as her wings spread out randomly. “Wow, I’ve got to get control of these things.”
“By spring, so I assume a month at most.” Sun replied, in which Rainbow groaned as she put her head on the table.
“That’ll be too loooong...” Rainbow whined as she began to eat a pancake. Using her teeth and hooves to tear into the warm and fluffy meal as some syrup got stuck to her face.
“Honestly, it’s been a lot faster than originally expected.” Twilight replied as the Alicorn looked back at the pegasus, while using magic to hold a napkin as she gently wiped the maple syrup off of her face. “Again, a month is at most. The least amount of time possible might be two weeks if we don’t face any sudden dilemmas.” All seven of the new ponies in the room, including Sunset Shimmer all glanced at one another with a puzzled expression on their faces. It took a couple of moments in order for Twilight to come up with the right words to say, but soon, she explained a little further about the dilemmas that she was referring to. “Those being if we have any more people show up out of the blue or if we get reports of Grimm attacks in the Everfree Forest or outside of town.”
“What may I ask is a Grimm? They sound dreadful.” said Rarity as she looked at the Alicorn Twilight use her magic to set her napkin back down on the table.
“Twilight can you teach me magic?” Asked the unicorn Twilight as she having a hard time trying to understand her magic. Sunset just smiled at her friend.
“Of course I can. Maybe after breakfast,” The alicorn smiled as she looked to Rarity. “As for your question on the Grimm, I believe Sun can answer that one for you.” She said, looking towards the Faunus as he straightened himself up.
“Grimm are monsters. Creatures of destruction that lack a soul and are drawn to negative emotions such as hate, envy, sadness and loneliness. Often heading towards the source. There are multiple types and ancient cultures once believed that the Grimm were animals possessed by evil spirits since most forms of grimm are based on animals.” He explained, pulling out a couple of pictures. “Different ones have different capabilities and range in size. But all of them are deadly unless you know how to fight them.”
“Has anyone try talking to them?” Asked Sunset Fluttershy before the Fluttershy that Sun knew helped her eat a pancake.
“Grimm lack souls and can’t use an Aura and because of that, they can’t communicate at all. All they know is violence,” He said, dropping his head down a minute. “But some species are more… intelligent than others and are not so easily provoked…” He stopped for a minute, before looking back in the main hall. “Oh you have got to be kidding me…”
“And then BOOM! The Snake exploded into a million pieces once it ate me.”
All the ponies in the room looked at one another before Sunset spoke up. “Uhh… Who was that?”
Sun sighed deeply, almost facepalming himself. “That… would be Ruby… You know… The girl with the scythe.”
“Did someone called for me?” Ruby asked as she appeared behind Sun. “Because something tells me that you need my expertise on whatever it is you’re talking about.”
Sun just facepalmed himself, groaning a little as he looked back at her. “Says the same girl who thought that Celestia and Luna were in league with the FBI once you, Weiss, Blake and Yang ended up in Canterlot.”
“I’m still believe that they are. You never know what they might be planning.” Ruby said, causing the faunus to look back at the others as he saw the Twilight he knew plant her face into the stack of pancakes that she was going to eat.
“Wow… and I thought our Pinkie was crazy.” Said Rainbow as she licks her lips, eager to devour the pancakes in front of her.
“You don’t know crazy!” Pinkiplier shouted in anger, still trying to pick up her pancakes. “DAMN THESE FLUFFY ABOMINATIONS!!!”
“You haven’t seen the rest of her team.” The Faunus added on, looking behind Ruby as she noticed a familiar blond huntress with Ember Celica armed and ready to launch herself inside. “Ruby has a sister.”
“Incoming!” Yang yelled as she crash landed next to the group. “Ha! Guess the laws of physics doesn’t apply here either.”
“I was going to ask if she was like Maud… I guess I was wrong.” Rainbow as she found her pancakes are missing. “Hey!”
Sun chuckled at noticing that Pinkie and Nora were the ones who stole the stack of pancakes that Rainbow had in front of her before trying to gobble everything down in ten seconds flat. “Good morning to you as well Yang.”
Pinkiplier grumbled and gave Rainbow her meal. “Why am I here again?”
“Probably because Sunset wanted you to come along so you weren’t bored.” Sun spoke, just to answer her question briefly.
“I could’ve made a video… SOMA just came out…” Pinkie grumbled, crossing her hooves.
“So…” Yang asked, trying to break the silence. “Anything interesting happen while we were gone?”
“Well, just a few things and Beacon Academy might be finished sooner than we thought… Where’s Weiss and Blake?” The Faunus asked, looking around. “Knowing them, I thought they would be right behind you two.”
“They’re kinda busy at the moment…” Said Yang before noticing Nora drinking syrup and Pinkie chanting ‘chug’. “Hey are they having a syrup drinking contest?” She asked as a ka-chink sound could be heard from her gauntlets. A sound that was music to Rainbow’s ears as they perked straight upward.
“Why syrup? Whip Cream is so much sweeter…” Pinkiplier drooled.
“What was that?” Asked Rainbow as she looked to Yang.
“Ember Celica.” Sun said.
“Ember what?” Almost everypony in the room except for Ruby, Sun, Nora and Yang said. Almost simultaneously.
“Ugh, Monkey boy, explain to them what they are. Because right now I’m not in the mood to explain stuff to other people again.” She replied, taking a seat at the table next to Nora as both Pinkies were watching her drink shot glasses of maple syrup, still cheering her on. Sun himself sighed as he looked back at everypony else.
“To put it simply… They’re shotgun gauntlets.” Sun informed them. “Ember Celica is the weapons name. For mine, it’s Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, Ruby’s weapons is named Crescent Rose and Nora’s hammer is named Manghild.”
“I want one.” Said Rainbow with large eyes.
“Ditto!” Pinkiplier shouted in agreement.
“No.” Sunset deadpanned as she facehooved herself. Sun himself just deeply sighed, looking back at Nora and Yang as both of them began to inhale shot glasses filled with maple syrup like they were having a morning drinking contest. Causing him to look at Ruby as she seemed to be just inspecting the outside of her weapon… Shortly before she had it change into a scythe right in front of Rainbow’s eyes.
“Want something similar to this, but different?”
“Technically, Rainbow is eager to apply for Beacon so she can have her own.” Sun replied to Ruby. “She’s been fangirling all over the types of weapons that have been said… and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Wait til she see’s Coco’s.” Rainbow then hugged Sun’s leg, giving him puppy dog eyes.
“Uh huh…… See that empty can over there on that building over there?” Said Ruby as she points at the can she mentioned.
“Yeah, where are you going with this?” He then asked, before realizing what she meant. “Oh right, I forgot the sniper rifle part.”
“It’s also a sniper rifle!?” Rainbow gasped, looking at Ruby as she steadied her aim
“Yep.” Ruby said as she had her weapon transform before taking a shot at the can, knocking it off of the building. “Boom! Headshot.”
As the can dropped to the ground, all Rainbow did was just stare, amazed at Ruby’s feet as she was like the goddess of awesomeness. A perfect point for Sun to excuse himself and to get himself a cup of coffee. As he walked into the kitchen, he found the coffee pot brewing as he got himself a cup from the nearby cabinet and some creamer from the fridge. Once that was done and he poured himself some of the hot liquid, he mixed in the creamer and gave it a taste test.
“Ahh… may need a bit more creamer.” He said, adding a little bit more and trying not to burn himself while doing so. Taking a second sip, he found the taste this time to be… satisfactory as he continued to drink it a little more. Only to almost have himself spill the drink on himself as he heard shouting from the dining room. Curious to see what was happening, Sun peeked into the room, only to find a cyan pegasus and a yellow unicorn in a heated argument with one another over the most craziest of reasons. Even for Rainbow Dash, the idea itself had trouble written all over it and might lead to something out of the ordinary happening in town later today. Especially when you think about a Rainbow maned pegasus armed with a combat sniper rifle that could transform into a scythe almost instantly. An immediate recipe for mayhem and destruction on all levels.
“No Rainbow! I’m not letting you test out Ruby’s weapon!!” Sunset defiantly snapped as she tried to grab it with her telekinesis, only for Ruby to pull it out of her grip and give it back to the eager Rainbow Dash. “You can seriously hurt somepony with that thing!”
“Oh come on, Sunset!! This thing is Freaking awesome!!! How else am I supposed to know if it works for me if I don’t try it out?” The pegasus in the other room shot back at her friend while fumbling around with Crescent Rose and trying to not have it slip through her hooves. “Besides, it’s not like I’m going to be able to hurt anybody with this here since Ruby is helping me out.”
“Uh… Whatever, you only live once.” Pinkiplier said, trotting around.
“That’s an understatement.” Sun said to himself, rolling his eyes as he walked back into the kitchen. Only to find not just his Fluttershy, but Sunset’s as well walk over to the small table in the kitchen. “Let me guess, trying to avoid Sunset and Dashie?”
“Y-yeah… Mind if we join you?” Sun’s Fluttershy asked him.
“No, go right ahead.” He said, letting the mares pull up a chair as they set their unfinished meals on the table and sat with him. Soon though, Sunset’s Fluttershy had a few questions to ask him as she was trying to get the hang of using her new wings and having the feathers hold her knife and fork.
“I want to ask you something,” Sunset Fluttershy asked in a soft tone of voice, stopping for a minute to try and hear her own thoughts. “How did you and umm Fluttershy met?”
“Well… That may be kind of odd to say. Because when I first got to Equestria and entered the Everfree, she found me hurt and bleeding after a Grimm attack. So she did what came naturally to her and helped nurse me back to health.” Sun explained, sharing his first encounter with the pegasus to the… other Fluttershy. “Next morning, I got the chance to talk to her a little and she was comfortable with me being with her since I was… well part monkey.”
“That must of been interesting… Oh, by the way. Did you keep animals to?”
Fluttershy nodded, hearing a small yip from the other end of the room as something raced into Sun’s lap. “Well, that’s ironic. You mentioned animals and now Griff here runs up… He’s the wolf pup that Fluttershy and I have been raising.” Sun told her as he scratched Griff behind the ears.
“Awww, he’s so cute.” Said Sunset Fluttershy as she tried to pet the wolf pup. Griff himself didn’t mind and actually soon got up from where Sun was and leaped onto her chair, trying to lick the maple syrup off of the pegasus’ face.
“Well, looks like he likes you.” The Faunus commented, watching as the pup soon decided to curl up in Fluttershy’s seat. “I take that back, he definitely likes you.”
“Hello, everyone mind if we join you?” Asked Rarity as she trotted in, followed by Applejack. “Those two are arguing so much I think my ears are going to fall off.”
“Kind of figured that.” Sun replied, watching them take a seat and join them as they continued their conversation. “Plus… I think Rainbow might soon learn that trying Ruby’s weapon might not be such a good idea.”
“Why do you say that?” Asked Applejack as she raised an eyebrow.
“Well, there are two things. One, Crescent Rose itself is built and modified to accompany Ruby’s height and also strength. Meaning that it can be too tall for Rainbow or too heavy. Secondly, sniper rifles like that are known for recoil shortly after being fired. Which means-.” His sentence was soon cut short as they saw a rainbow colored blitz bolt through the wall and into the next door room, creating a huge hole in the wall. “-that might happen.”
“Ouch…” Rainbow groaned from the next room.
“And the crowd goes silent…” Pinkiplier remarks snarkily.
“Shut up!” Rainbow shouted in pain.
“How is she still alive?” Asked Rarity with large eyes.
“Well, Rainbow here is known to be a daredevil. Plus, Pegasi here like herself are known to control the weather around her. Walk on clouds, bring rain, that sort of thing. She must’ve buffered the impact with a cushion of air from her wings.” Sun hypothesized before returning back to the others. “Now, where were we in the conversation before that happened?”
“Hmm how do Twilight and I use magic?” Asked Rarity as she tapped her horn.
“That… I don’t exactly know. I think it’s more of a focus sort of thing. Like you are telling yourself to do an action. For me, I have a Semblance and that’s different.”
“Maybe you should ask Twilight with wings to help with that. By the way, what this Semblance thing? It sounds like a type of instrument.” Applejack asked, causing Sun to chuckle a little.
“Well, it works like this. All living beings instead of Grimm have an Aura, which basically represents the soul.” Sun explained, using a drawn diagram as an example. “When someone’s Aura is unlocked, it allows some special traits to happen like healing minor wounds or repelling enemy attacks. Semblances are also unlocked, which are special traits and abilities that can be used by a different person. You with me so far?”
Both Fluttershy’s, Rarity, and Applejack nodded their heads as the Faunus picked up from where he left off on his lecture. “A Semblance is like… a special talent because it relates to you. For Ruby, she can go extremely fast. Weiss can use Glyphs, which is like an exclusive form of magic. Blake can use her shadow as a doppelganger to deceive opponents and for Yang, any hits she takes allows her strength to rise even higher.”
“Wow…” Sunset’s Fluttershy replied. “D-do you have one, Mr. Sun?”
“Actually, yes and since I’ve been using it more than once, I can use it in multiple forms,” He replied, placing his hands together as two shining clones of himself stood next to him. “I call this Decoy. It works like a clone, but upon impact, it detonates. I’ve been practicing with channeling the energies used to conjure these to diversify my attacks.” As soon as he finished, he dismissed the clones and restored the energy back to himself. “So all in all, Semblances are a representation of special skills or talents. Kind of like your cutie marks.”
“What a cutie mark?” Asked the Unicorn Twilight as she trotted in join everypony else.
“I thought he said beauty mark…” Pinkiplier shrugged. “Is it that tattoo on everyone’s ass?”
“It’s a mark on a pony's flank that represents their special talent.” Sun’s Fluttershy explained, turning around to show hers. “Mine is for how I take care of injured animals in need. Which includes Angel and Henry.”
Everyone looked to their flanks to see they haven’t gotten their cutie marks yet.
“Though, when it comes to Cutie Marks, they are earned once you discover your special talent. Like what Sun said when someone like him discovers their Semblance.” Fluttershy added on. “Speaking of which, what was the name of the two who were in the courtyard training?”
Sun chuckled a little as he finished his coffee and put it in the sink. “Those two are Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc. They’re just practicing their combat techniques, even though Pyrrha might be seen as unbeatable because of her Semblance.”
“Wait does this mean that every pony with a mark can use semblance too?” Asked Twilight as she looked at Sun.
“Actually… that’s a good question. I haven’t come across a pony with a semblance before, but maybe their talents are a representation of that. My Twilight is very advanced in magic and went to a special school at a young age. But I’m not too sure.” He replied to her the best he could. He then noticed the way Twilight was looking at him behind her glasses with a smile.
“What is Pyrrha’s Semblance then?” Asked Rarity hopefully to stop her friend from guessing about the science behind the magic.
“Well, let me explain it like this… most weapons are made of metal right?” Everypony nodded, giving Sun the chance to continue. “And metal can be affected by a strong enough magnetic pull. When you have Pyrrha, her Semblance is Polarity. Or in simpler terms, magnetism.” Once he finished saying that, the look on the face of the Unicorn Twilight changed dramatically. Almost like she had just made a mind blowing discovery that could win her a Nobel Prize. “She’s a strong fighter because she uses her Semblance to not only make sure she isn’t disarmed, but to also slightly alter the flow of her opponents attacks to give herself an opening to strike.”
“I need to write this down!” Unicorn Twilight said as she scrambles to find paper and pine. That when the Twilight that Sun knew joined them and offered to help her other self as they started to work at a nearby table. Rarity soon joined them so that the Alicorn could teach them how to be familiar with their magic and how to use it properly. Leaving both Fluttershy’s and Applejack with Sun as Pinkie Pie eagerly watching Yang and Nora in a Syrup drinking contest and Rainbow still trying to convince Sunset to have a weapon like Ruby’s. Claiming that her previous injuries were… just a scratch.
“Rainbow I don’t think anything that needs for the first aid kit to be used can be classified as just a scratch.” said Sunset as she wraps up Rainbow leg.
“Yeah, it’s just a flesh wound.” Pinkiplier said, her eyebrows going up and down.
“Go to hell Pinkie…” Rainbow growled. “Oh come on. You’re only using the first aid kit because it was the closest thing nearby you can find.”
Not wanting to hear them bicker once again, Sun returned his focus to his marefriend, her doppelganger and Applejack. “So, do you two have anymore questions? Just out of curiosity?”
“Umm can we join Beacon to?” Asked Sunset’s Twilight as she played with her hooves a little to try and see how they felt.
“Sure you guys can.” Sun replied as he noticed Pinkie and Nora going back to Sugarcube corner while Pinkiplier was looking back as an exhausted Yang before watching Rainbow try to resist Sunset. “We might need to find a way to not confuse you with the Twilight and everypony we know though. I mean, you guys may look different from the ponies we know, but your names are almost exactly the same.”
“Hmmm, I guess we can try some nicknames that could help.” Said Sunset as she looked at her friends, trotting into the room as she looked at everypony else.
“Maybe. Some though might be easier than others.” The Faunus mentioned. “For example, Applejack can just as easily be called AJ and Rainbow can be called Dashie. But I’m not sure about everypony else besides Sunset.” He then started to scratch his chin, trying to think of ideas as everypony else in the room looked at one another.
“Hmmm, We could call Fluttershy Flutters for short.” Said Sunset as she tapped her chin.
“That’s a good one… Why not Twi for Twilight? Or something along those lines. All I know is that calling her Twily can go too far because only her brother is allowed to call her that.” Sun added onto what Sunset was saying earlier. “So that’s four down… What about Rarity and Pinkie?”
“Hey, let us decide our nicknames! And I’m Pinkiplier!” Pinkiplier said, slightly angry. “Also! Why are we here!? Why did Sunset come here! I’m so confused! And hungry!”
“Because Sunset wanted to know about the new academy and some things,” The faunus then used his tail to whittle the skin off an apple as he then tossed it gently to Pinkiplier. “Can this do for now?”
Pinkiplier tried to catch it but failed miserably. “I can’t hold this asshole!”
“Let me hold it for you then,” He offered, holding the apple by the stem for Pinkiplier.
Pinkiplier bit into it lazily. “This is embarrassing…”
“Why? I would think you’d love to get fed Plier!” Dash laughed. “But yeah, we should pick our own names. I don’t wanna be called ‘Dashie’ all the time.”
“Well, do you have any other suggestions?” Sun asked, waiting to hear a response.
“Hmm… Maybe… Danger! It’s my middle name, and I doubt pony me would use it.” Danger said proudly.
“Your middle name ain’t Danger!” AJ shouted, glaring.
“Actually it is, I checked her birth certificate…” Flutters added in her two cents, which surprised most of her friends. “What? I didn’t believe it either so I checked.”
“So… Danger Dash? Geez, that sounds like a superhero name.” Sun chuckled.
“Well I was a hero for awhile, and my sis thinks of me like that.” Danger said proudly again.
“I guess that works then.” The Faunus replied. “That still leaves Rarity and Twilight though. What would you two like to call yourself?”
“Hey, we’d like to pick our names too.” AJ said, gesturing to Flutters. “I could be called AJ I guess, but Fluttershy might want her own ‘codename’.”
“I kind of like Shia… It sounds pretty…” Flutters said, looking down.
“As for me I guess I could go with Sapphire.” Said Rarity as she was seen daydreaming a little to herself.
“Twi can be Twily!” Pinkiplier shouted in excitement. “Maybe…”
“Well… I guess we got ourselves a plan then…” The Faunus spoke up, straightening his clothes a little.. “You guys are free to go back whenever you wish. I say this because I believe Twi and… Sapphire are eager for Twilight to teach them some more about magic.”
“I kind of like being called Twily.” said Twi with a little blush.
“O… kay that’s a new one.” The Alicorn replied. “Sapphire… Twily. Could you follow me please? Sunset might still need to deal with Dashie so I can give you a simple introduction on magic someplace… quiet.” With that, both unicorns followed Twilight to where her personal study was, leaving two earth ponies with the monkey faunus, his marefriend and Flutters.
“So… do you have anymore questions?” Sun spoke up, looking at both Shia and AJ.
“...Is there a farm near here?” Asked AJ as she smiled a little. “We met Twilight and Pinkie Pie I kind of want to see myself. Errr I mean Applejack? Wow, that going to get confusing.”
“Yeah… I’m already getting a migraine…” Danger groaned.
“There is… but I don’t think you need to go far to see her.” Sun explained, pointing towards the main hall. From there, they could see Applejack walking alongside Applebloom and one of the members of Team CFVY right alongside them named Yatsuhashi. “They came here instead.”
“What in tarnation?” said Applejack as she stared at AJ. “Is that a changeling!?”
“Applejack, that’s not a changeling… Do you remember Twilight ever mentioning a Mirror world of some kind?” Sun asked the earth pony to see if Twilight ever mentioned such a thing to her in the first place.
“Yes, what you saying Sun?” Asked Applejack as AJ walked up to her.
“Howdy, just call me AJ. It’s a lot easier, trust me.” AJ said as the two Applejacks shook hooves.
“As I was going to say… She’s basically you… from the Mirror world.” Sun explained. “I told Sunset about Beacon opening up soon and offered them the opportunity to become students here. Sure I mean it may be confusing to see two of you, but they are eager to help us with helping the students once Beacon opens.”
“Does this mean I get two big sisters?!” asked Applebloom as she stared at AJ with big eyes.
“If I think it safe I may bring my little sister over so you two can meet.” Said AJ with a smile.
“Yay!” She cheered happily, almost leaping onto her and pulling her in for a hug. “You’re the best second big sister ever!” Sun couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched the two of them get the chance to talk with one another, along with both Fluttershy’s. But his focus though was with Yatsuhashi as he walked over to him, catching his attention as he walked up.
“Hey. How’s settling into town coming around for you?”
“Ehh, it’s alright to say the least. Fox is settling in fine, but it’s taking Coco and Velvet a bit more time to adjust than the rest of us because of Coco being separated from her family and Velvet missing her sister.”
“Well, I just hope the best for her.” Sun replied, personally surprised about the fact that Velvet had a sister. But instead of asking further, he decided to focus on something else. “Anyways, why are you here? Are you looking for someone?”
“Actually, Pyrrha invited me to the training grounds in order to help me get my mind off of all the craziness that happened when you first found us. Mind telling me where it is?” The Faunus complied, telling him that it was down the hall to the right and that he had to take a right hand turn at the end of the hallway. Yatsuhashi soon thanked him as he made his way over there, allowing for the Monkey Faunus to return to his marefriend and Shia.
“So uh… Are our homes connected?” Danger asked. “Cause I thought we were part of Asphyxious’ world…”
“Yeah, I don’t get it, Asphyxious and his Twilight came to our home to stop Sunset’s… Bad self…” AJ said, trying not to talk about Sunset’s bad past.
“Well, it may not be so simple to explain.” he said, holding out Asphyxious token, a green emerald that had a skull on it. “Have you seen this before?”
“No.” All six of the mirror six said in unison.
“Not really.” Twily added.
“Well, that rules out one possibility.” Sun said, “This is his summoning token. It’s used by Displaced like me in order to summon other Displaced. However, since you aren’t familiar with it, then that means you didn’t summon him when you met.”
“He came out of our school’s mirror.” Pinkiplier said. “Sunset stole Twilight’s crown, and… Stuff happened…”
“He came through the mirror like you guys came through mine?” The Faunus asked.
“Yeah…” Danger said.
“Well, that just makes it more of a mystery.” He replied. “So… What is this mirror world like?”
“Hey, why are you calling our home ‘the mirror world’!? It’s not a copy!” Danger said, growling a bit.
“I-i’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m just not familiar with it like how you guys are.” He said, trying to assure them with the best of intentions.
Danger narrowed her eyes, but luckily Sunset cut in. “Danger, he’s not saying our home is just a duplicate of… Equestria's.”
Danger looked away angrily. “Whatever…”
To try and lighten the mood, Shia spoke. “Uh… It’s okay. People in our school are nice.”
“Not everyone!” Pinkiplier shouted suddenly. “Cheese Sandwich is a d*ck! Trixie is a b*tch! And the Dazzlings are… Well, Sirens.”
“So… almost all people?”
“Uh… The Sirens were turned into humans, so… It’s all humans, they were just thrown into our world by Starswirl.” Sunset stated.
“And let me guess, he’s like Gandalf?”
“Who’s-” Sunset started, but was cut off by Pinkiplier.
“How would we know!? Sunset’s addicted to cartoons and animes so much she refuses to watch Lord of the Rings with me! And none of us know what Scartwirl looks like.”
“Think the wise yet old mentor kind of figure.” Sun suggested.
“He’s an elderly wizard, of course he’s wise and old!” Sunset said.
“Like Merlin or Ozpin?”
“Merlin from Sword in the Stone, but he’s usually depicted like Ozpin.” Sunset stated.
“Who cares about some geezer from a magic world!?” Danger asked, bored with the topic.
There was something in that line from Sunset though that caught the Faunus’ attention. “Wait a second, Sunset? You know who Ozpin is?”
“Uh… Yeah.” Sunset said.
“How exactly?” Sun asked. This was new information to him that just came to light. So he needed to find out some more so he didn’t feel like he was left in the dark about it. “Because honestly, out of the few months that I’ve actually been here, this is the first time that I have heard about Ozpin. So could you inform me a bit please?”
“Well, that might be a bit to explain-.” She said, before being cut off by her friend.
“Who cares!” Rainbow groaned.
“Rainbow, I do.” Sun retorted. “Now, as you were.”
“Well, when Starswirl was young, Ozpin served as his teacher and also the teacher for Celestia and her sister Luna. He was trusted amongst their parents and actually helped both sisters during the best and worst of times…” At one moment, Sunset paused, composing herself before speaking again. “However, one day… he disappeared. Nopony knows how or why, but just… disappeared. This soon lead to the events in the crystal empire, Discord and Nightmare Moon all those years ago.”
“Wow… I have no clue what you’re talking about…” Pinkiplier said breathlessly.
“I wasn’t talking to you Pinks.” Sunset grumbled.
“Different worlds, different circumstances.” The Faunus briefly replied. “Now… what was this about you stealing a crown?”
Sun then spent some more time talking to them and getting acquainted with the rest of Sunset’s friends after the original discussion with the yellow unicorn, before the seven of them soon returned through the mirror. Leaving Sun with Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Applebloom… and a passed out Yang on the table with her sister nowhere to be found.
“Damn it Ruby!” Sun mentally cursed as he facepalmed himself. He noticed that Yang this time around was wearing her “hunter” outfit… or basically her second set of clothes as her face was flat on the table. “You guys should get some rest. I can deal with Yang once she comes around.”
“Thanks Sun,” Twilight thanked her as the four ponies soon went their own separate ways. Twilight to her room, Fluttershy to her cottage and the two Apple ponies went back to Sweet Apple Acres as Sun was trying to resist the temptation to poke Yang in the head to see if she was away.
“Ugh… My head…” She moaned, slowly looking upwards. However, the next thing she did was bolt for the kitchen as Sun could hear her throw up in the sink from drinking down too much syrup. When she walked back into the room, awake this time around, the huntress noticed Sun sitting by the window as he looked at her.
“How did you sleep, Goldilocks?”
“Oh ha ha, monkey boy.” Yang rolled her eyes, looking around the room to see that no one else was around anymore. “Hey, where did everyone else go?”
“Well, after you passed out for a bit, Nora and Pinkie went back to Sugarcube Corner, Sunset and her friends went back to the mirror world, Twilight is in her room upstairs and Fluttershy went back to the cottage. I’m not sure where Ruby went though.” He told her as all she could do was raise an eyebrow.
“What the heck is a mirror world?”
“Beats me.” The Faunus shrugged his shoulders. “I honestly never got around to asking about that. Mostly because Sunset and her friends were asking questions about me… You should’ve seen though when Rainbow tried to use Crescent Rose. She got shot like a cannonball through the kitchen and ended up crashing in the laundry room.” With the last part, Sun chuckled a little as he pointed at the hole in the wall that was left behind through Rainbow’s “test round” and the damage left behind.
“Wow, I guess we should've given her something less powerful to try out.”
“Maybe. But with her being a part of Beacon, she’s going to have to build a weapon that fits to her fight style. Because I’m not sure if a Scythe and a Sniper rifle would work out for her.” Sun commented, now thinking of something while he was on the topic. “Hey Yang… I was wondering something… Family wise.”
“Is it about Ruby and my mother?”
“Well, more about Ruby… I know that she was close to your father and not on solid terms with Raven… but did she have any other family members that you two felt comfortable around?” Sun wondered this thought for a while after finding out about his mother being resurrected as a Displaced. So, given the circumstances and how diverse Ruby and Yang’s family are in the actual series, he would think the same principles applied somehow.
“Well… There was one person that both Ruby and I really liked to see when we were kids. It was my uncle on my mom’s side of the family. He liked to play games with us and tell stories, and really did not like it if we called him old.” She chuckled, looking back at Sun. “Why do you say that? Do you think he’s here too?!”
“I’m not saying anything. But given how things have been the last few weeks, I’m saying that right now, anything can happen and that all bets are off.” He said to her as he tried to lean back. “Hell, you and Weiss were there when you saw my mother there a month ago. Right now, I’m just saying we shouldn’t leave it out as a possibility.”
“… I see your point.” She said, looking back at him. “Just out of curiosity, monkey boy, what was your family like?”
“Honestly, there's not much to tell,” He replied, looking back at Yang. “Father died when I was six, my aunt died in childbirth when I was little and my uncle died nine years later because he committed Suicide. My cousin Lance is alive and he’s a Displaced as well.” With it, he got up on his feet for a minute and soon stood up. “Would you like some coffee?”
Yang took a moment to think through her response, but she soon had one for Sun as the huntress nodded her head. “I’d love some.” Sun himself went to fulfil her request as he excused himself to the kitchen, pouring her a cup and adding a couple of sugarcubes to blend in with the taste and the creamer as he brought her the drink. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” He said, looking back at her as she took her first sip. “Just out of curiosity… Where are Weiss and Blake? You didn’t mention where they went earlier. Just that they were busy.”
“Let’s just say they’re fixing something that Ruby broke in the school while she was out and about with Penny.”
“The School? What was Ruby doing there anyways?” The Faunus followed up. “Did the Cutie Mark Crusaders drag her along to a show and tell they had going on at school?”
“Well that and she raided the vending machine that they just got installed in the teacher's lounge… it didn’t go so well.”
“What happened? Did she try acting like a ninja only to get caught in the act?” Sun asked, trying to humor Yang a little as they were talking.
“No she got stuck in the machine and broke her way out of it… and taking half of the classroom with her.”
“… And just when I thought meeting Shalltear in her world was weird enough.” He groaned a little, using a napkin to clear up his face.
“Shalltear?”
“Another Displaced. An adoptive daughter of my cousin Lance who happens to be a vampire. You familiar with the Anime named Overlord?” He then asked Yang. Most of the time when meeting other Displaced that he knew the show or game they were from, he just kept it to himself unless they asked first. Since Shalltear never asked, he didn’t have to share.
“We weren’t allowed to watch that much TV….we rarely watch TV back home due to… mother.”
“Oh… Never mind then. Basically, Shalltear is a vampire who has been through some real… grim situations. No pun intended.” Sun replied back, looking back at Yang as she watched her take another drink. “Hey… You know how we have had a few teams show up out of the blue the past few weeks? How long do you think it’ll be until we get word of another team causing trouble?”
“Possibly less in a week or two given that it is Equestria after all. Stuff like this shouldn’t surprise us.”
Sun scratched his chin for a minute, thinking this through. “You make a valid point. Though… who do you think it is? I mean, it’s up in the air at this point who it might be.”
“How should I know, I’ve been locked away from the world for the past 15 years. Don’t expect me to have certain answers for you Sunny.”
“I wasn’t. I just thought it was best to hear different opinions. That’s all.” He replied as he looked out the window for a moment. For some reason… It felt like trouble was brewing somewhere in the world.
Applewood
In the movie capital of Equestria, many things happen rather frequently. Whether it was with well known actors and celebrities or if was the news on the street, many things occurred on a daily basis. However, it was within the past couple of days that there had been some strange reports of some individuals resembling some of the characteristics of the humans and faunus in Ponyville being spotted in the area. For what reason, it was unknown. But right now though, those reports were nothing of concern to the two musicians that were walking down the street.
“I’m telling you Tavi, this is going to be great!” The first one proclaimed, a unicorn with a vibrant blue mane and tail and a slick pair of shades. “I mean, I haven’t gotten the chance to be in this city for so long and I need to be ready for tonight's gig.”
“Vinyl…” The second one groaned. An earth pony that wore a bowtie around it’s neck. “You do realize that I have more… important matters right?”
“Oh come on, Tavi. You just have a practice to go too. I’m dropping audio bombs all over the city!”
“Vinyl!” The other mare snapped.
“Okay okay, geez. What’s with the hostility?” The DJ asked her friend.
“It’s because I’m going to be late for my practice if you keep this up.” The mare replied. “I need to go now. I’ll be back at the loft tonight.” With that, the earth pony cellist named Octavia Melody galloped off towards where she needed to be, leaving her friend at the street corner as the unicorn named Vinyl Scratch just looked with a puzzled look on her face.
“Geez, did you have to be so abrupt about it?” She asked as the mare turned into a back alley. However, as she was trotting, something soon crashed into her and knocked her to the ground as another THUD could be heard against the pavement.
“Hey, watch where you are going-!” Vinyl almost snapped, looking up to see a female human with light green hair and a purple hoodie hand the mare her shades that were on the ground.
Her eyes narrowed. “If you want to keep these shades intact, you won’t finish your sentence.” The human said as Vinyl noticed an earbud drop down as it was playing some electronic music loud enough to where she could hear. It sounded like a well choreographed Drum and Bass track with some interesting beats in the mix as well.
“Uh… Sorry I guess?” She replied, unsure on how to take in the fact that a human was in front of her. “I guess I wasn’t paying attention either. Must’ve been the music I was listening to… Who are you though?”
“Bli- Reese Chloris…” Reese looked around. “What kind of drug am I on?”
Vinyl herself took a sniff of the air around her and shook her head. “Nothing from what I can tell. Name’s Vinyl Scratch. You need some help?” She offered.
“Nah, I can take care of myself. Always do.” Reese pulled out her hoverboard, which started to hover. “Trippy…”
“That… you don’t see everyday.” The Dj commented. “Then again, I have a bass cannon back at my set so that’s two things.”
“A what cannon?” Reese asked, then shook her head. “Nevermind, I don’t want to know… Where am I and where’s the nearest bus station?”
“You’re in Applewood. Entertainment capital of Equestria.” Vinyl replied. “As for the second question… Right behind you…” As she turned around though, the bus filled with ponies going to work drove off.
“Okay, I’ve never been this high before…” Reese stepped closer to Vinyl and poked her. “High enough to feel fur… Hang on, what the hell!? You’re real!”
“Uhh… Yeah I am… Reese, are you okay?” Vinyl asked, using her hoof to poke her in the arm.
“I thought I was high…” Reese murmured to herself. She then growled. “It doesn’t matter… Is there a place I can stay?”
“Well, I do have a crib that’s not far from here and since I’m going to be here a few days, you can crash at my place.” Vinyl told her, “Just be prepared to meet my roommate Octavia. She… well at times, she stresses out too much over the little things. Follow me.”
“I’m not much of a problem if you don’t annoy me…” Reese grumbled as she followed Vinyl. “What are you?”
“I’m a Unicorn.” She explained, using her magic to adjust her shades as they continued to walk down the sidewalk. “You know… I gotta say this but… I’ve seen one other guy that's… well like you… Not like alike like, but like in the same situation as you.”
“Oh? And who would that be?” Reese asked. A dark part of her mind giving her a feral desire.
“Well, my memory isn’t always the best, but I remember my friend Pinkie Pie calling him Sun. And that he had a monkey tail. Kind of weird and awesome at the same time.” The unicorn explained, walking up some stairs as she used her magic to pull out the keys to the place she was staying at. “There you go, doors open.”
“Thanks… And monkey boy, got it…” Reese walked inside, grinning darkly. “I’ll be sure to meet him…”
Elsewhere… (In Applewood)
It had been almost half an hour since she had parted ways with her roommate and right now, Octavia was waiting in the lobby of the recording studio where she was to meet Noteworthy, a well known violinist who wanted her Cello to help record a duet. The appointment for the time was to be three o’clock sharp. Now it was three-fifteen with no word from the stallion. Still, the earth pony mare waited as dark clouds began to rumble outside.
“Excuse me,” a soft voice spoke up, causing Octavia to turn around. “Would you happen to be Ms. Melody?”
“Yes,” She replied, only to notice a saddened look on the mare’s face. “Is something wrong?”
The mare took a deep breath, looking back at the cellist. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Noteworthy had to immediately cancel all his appointments today. His father had suffered a heart attack and passed away in the hospital.”
That… caught Octavia completely off guard. She was feeling a mix of different emotions and right now, could not comprehend what exactly was going through her mind. Slowly though, she grabbed her Cello case and proceeded to walk out the door into the rain. Walking down the street as she turned another corner to find her way back to the home that her and Vinyl were staying in.
Only to find herself running into a completely… new face.
A dark skinned girl with blond hair, and hazel eyes. She looked miserable.
“M-miss?” Octavia asked, nudging a hoof against the figure’s shoulder. “Miss, is something wrong?”
The girl jumped slightly. She looked at Octavia closer. “Uh… Yeah… Why you ask?”
“You look… sad. Lost. Like you need some help.” The earth pony explained to her calmly, offering a hoof. “My names Octavia. What’s yours?”
The girl looked down. “I’m Aiysha… I think… I don’t know anymore… I don’t know where I am, why I… Look like this…” Aiysha sighed.
“Hey… if anything, I can try my best to get you some help.” Octavia offered. “My friend and I are staying at a home not far from here while we’re in Applewood. Maybe once we’re out of the rain, I can try to help answer any questions you might have.” She then thought for a moment, remembering something before looking back at Aiysha.
“O-okay…” Aiysha said, sniffling. Octavia herself took out a handkerchief that was inside her Cello case and handed it to the human girl. Allowing her to use it to wipe away her tears.
“Here, you should keep this. I have a spare one on me, so go ahead and use it.” The earth pony told her, catching the girl by surprise.
“Th-thank you…” Aiysha said. “H-have you seen anyone that l-looks like me?”
“Well… I remember my roommate Vinyl seeing somepony similar. She said it was a guy named… Sun I believe who had a golden monkey tail. I remembered seeing him, but that was only when he passed by us a few times in Ponyville.” She replied, looking at Aiysha. “Come on, we can talk about it more once we’re out of the rain.”
“Ok-kay…” With that, the two of them walked down a few blocks to where they were staying as the rain kept on pouring down like bullets. When Octavia reached the doorstep, she could hear music from inside. A typical sign that Vinyl was already there. But after knocking on the door, someone else answered the door in Vinyl’s place.
It swung open, and on the other side was Reese.
“Aiysha!?” Reese yelped, backtracking.
“Bliss!?” Aiysha did the same thing, almost falling down the steps.
“Aiysha, you know this… person?” Octavia asked, looking back at her.
Before Aiysha could respond, Reese punched her in the face before hopping on her hoverboard and taking off. Aiysha reacted by sending a whip chain towards the board, but didn’t think about the ramifications of being dragged across the road.
“Octavia, what the buck is going on-?” Vinyl yelled from inside, only to see what was happening. “Oh come on! It’s too early for in-line skiing!!”
“Vinyl, your friend just punched Aiysha in the face and now is trying to drag her across the road.” Octavia deadpanned.
“Chill out, Tavi. I got this.” She replied, using her magic to launch a stone in front of the hoverboard and causing Reese to fall to the ground because of the sudden shift in balance. “Reese, I allowed you to stay in here because I didn’t want you causing trouble. This fits along the line of trouble.”
“You okay, Aiysha?” Octavia asked, watching the girl slowly rise up onto her feet and pull back her chain whip.
“I am… But I’m not sure this city is!” Aiysha said, slightly panicked.
“Maybe you two can explain what you mean once we're inside.” Octavia suggested as Vinyl was seen helping Reese up on her feet. A loud crack of thunder going off in the background as the door closed behind them.
Meanwhile…
Back inside the castle, Sun was practicing his martial arts skills against a practice dummy that he constructed with the help of Yatsuhashi. He already knew how to fight with his weapons, but he wanted to keep up with his hand to hand combat skills as the faunus attacked the wooden target with both punches and kicks. He had been going at this for a while and was about to knock the head off of the self made target, but he restrained his last attack once he saw a new person walk into the training hall.
“And I can’t seem to use it as a weapon…” Velvet commented to Coco as the two entered the room. “Oh, hey Sun.”
“Hello there Velvet… Coco… How are you guys?” He asked, putting the jacket that he had on over his sweaty body as he held his staff over his shoulders in a relaxed position.
“Fine, Velvet’s trying to figure out her weapon with that camera that was in the box.” Coco started. “Also, we saw Penny run off to who knows where.”
“I see…” He said, noticing the camera that Velvet was holding before a thought came through his head. “Hmm… Hey, I have a theory on the camera if you want me to share it with you.”
“Shoot.” Velvet replied. “I’d love to know so I can help out…”
“Well, it may sound odd… But I think it involves the pictures you take,” He explained. “My thought on it is that if you take a picture on a weapon that someone or somepony has, the camera could create a… mimic of the actual one and it’s properties. I know it might sound a little odd, but that’s just my theory on it.” The Faunus’ attention though was redirected towards them. “Oh, that reminds me… what brings you to the training room?”
“We were curious about it.” Coco said. “Plus, thought you’d want to know about Penny. She seemed odd.”
“Trust me… Odd doesn’t even come close to what I have seen.” Sun chuckled a little. “When I called Weiss Ice Queen, Penny thought she was in the presence of royalty.”
“Weirder than that…” Coco stated.
“I see…” He said, looking at them before noticing something down the hall. “Hey, does anyone know why Twilight’s racing all over the place like a mare on a mission?”
“Maybe she is, moron. Try asking her.” Coco said, irritatedly. But before she could say anything, the mare soon zoomed over to them.
“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for somepony!”
“I was just training, what’s up?”
“I just got a report from the royal guard stationed in Applewood. There have been reports of human like figures in the area. Four of them.” That news got Sun to look back at Coco and Velvet, surprised.
“Another team?”
“Well the reports have been about an white haired woman with dark skin, A man in a tribal outfit, a girl with a hoverboard and another one who seemed to have some kind of ponytail.” Twilight said to them, using her magic to lift the pages as she read the report.
Coco cringed. “Uh… I think I might know them…”
The faunus looked back at them, an eyebrow slightly raised. “You do?”
“Seems so…” Coco stated. “Since I know you, I guess she was displaced with me and my team. What a coincidence.”
“You don’t think it’s Ayisha and the other ABRN cosplayers, do you?” Velvet asked Coco, who shrugged.
“They did buy from the same vendor.”
“Ayisha?” Sun asked, a little confused. “How do you know them, just out of curiosity?”
“There was this little… thing at our school.” Velvet said, looking away. “Our class were all fans of RWBY, so we dressed up before going to the convention. Ayisha was dressed as Arslan. Her and Coco go way back.”
“I see…” Sun said, folding his arms. “Well, we should get a group together to go help them. We don’t need a massive party like back in Manehattan. just probably four to five of us should do. You two and me makes three, so who do you think we could have for the last two people?” He then folded his arms, trying to think about some possibilities.
“Fox and Yatsuhashi went out to train, so I don’t think any of our teammates will help.” Velvet stated.
“Scarlett is working with Sage on the academy and Neptune is probably helping Pyrrha teaching some combat maneuvers for Jaune. The only two I can think of is Weiss or Blake since Nora would be with Pinkie Pie and Ren might be helping out around town.” He said, remembering something else before speaking up. “We should probably have a pony with us since they know more about the city than we do. You two alright with that?”
“I may hate being here, but that doesn’t mean I’ll hate the locals.” Coco said, rolling her eyes. “They’re not why I’m here.”
“She doesn’t mind.” Velvet affirmed. “I hope they can handle Penny’s odd-er behavior.”
“Well, maybe we should have her stay with you,” He suggested. “Twilight, are you up for coming along?”
“Sorry Sun, not this time. I have a presentation at Canterlot University to prepare for. But I think Applejack or Rainbow may be up for it.” She said, before excusing herself as she went back to her study.
“Okay, so it’ll be us, Penny and one of the girls… I’ll go check with Rainbow real quick.” Sun was going to get going, until he noticed a familiar pegasus swoop in from the window and approached the three of them.
“Somepony called my name?” She asked, looking at Sun before turning to Velvet and Coco.
“Yeah, do you have anything going on as of right now?” Sun asked her.
“Nah, Wonderbolt practice doesn’t start up until the spring. Why do you ask?” She replied, curious to find out their answer.
“We’re going to go to Applewood to look for a team of Displaced that ended up there a few days ago. Wanna come along?” Sun offered to her, only making the pegasus even more excited.
“Awww yeah! This is going to be fun!” She replied, hoofbumping Sun’s fist as she flew to the center of the room.
“So… Check on Penny and we leave in half an hour?” Sun asked Coco and Velvet.
“I’ll try to…” Velvet said, sounding nervous. She jogged in the direction she thought Penny was.
“If she can find Penny, what are we going to do when we find ABRN? If I’m right and these are the same kids from my class… We might not be able to reason with them.” Coco said.
Sun sighed, looking through his pockets until he found the emerald gem he put in there earlier. “Well, if we can’t reason with them… I know somebody that probably can.” With that, he put the gem in his pocket and looked back at Coco. “I can stay here with Rainbow if you want to help Velvet.”
“She’s got it, her ears are good for something.” Coco replied. “So, what do we do when we get ABRN? I think Ponyville’s running out of room for RWBY Displaced.”
“Once Beacon is open, they can sleep in the dorms along with everyone else,” Sun explained. “I convinced Twilight to add dormitories so we wouldn’t have to have that issue. Seems fair right? I mean, you and the rest of CFVY will get your own room as well.”
“Sure, but in the long run what’s the plan?”
“Let’s think about that once we’ve reached that roadblock. Right now, we should just get ready…” He suggested to her. Sun in the back of his mind, believed what Coco had told him. So for right now, they should just prepare themselves for any possible outcome.
End Tail 21