//------------------------------// // Strike up the Sands // Story: Equestria Girls: The Rubicon // by Jongoji245 //------------------------------// Inside Canterlot High, the Crusaders sat in the chairs next to Principal Celestia's office. They shuffled their hands around, tapping their pants (or in Sweetie Belle’s case, skirt). Scootaloo got up and paced around, stopping a moment or two to look at the office door, watching the silhouettes of the people conversing inside. Scootaloo’s pacing stopped at the clicking of the doorknob. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood up as Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Celestia, and Luna walked out of the office. The two tall women looked down at the three Sophomores with crossed arms. “To be fair, what you three have done was inexcusable.” Celestia raised a brow “But, in light of recent events, your punishment has been lifted.” Sweetie Belle was about to cheer when Apple Bloom placed a hand on her, shaking her head. “But,” Luna raised her arm, waving her finger at them “should you ever post information like that again, you will be expelled. Is that understood?” A moment of silence, the Crusaders took a deep breath. “Yes, M'am.” they answered The two principals watched as their students left the office. The taller of the two turned back to the office door when she heard cheering outside. She shook her head in amusement before returning to her work. Back outside, Applejack picked up her phone, dialing the number to the HUB. “We got the Crusaders back.” Applejack winced back at Pinkie’s loud cheering blaring from the other side of the line. Sunset drove around town looking around for any signs of their new enemies. “That’s great.” - Sunset released the left handlebar pressing into a comlink in her helmet - “Any sign of them?” Zipper, once again soaring on leather wings, looking down at the overhead of the city. No sign of burning buildings or any hybrid creatures. “I’vegotnothing.” - He answered - “Gotanythingdownthere, Cosgrove?” Standing at the edge of the city, Cosgrove watched for any suspicious vehicles. Not even an unmarked eighteen wheeler. “No one has shown up yet.” “Really,” - Rainbow Dash walked over to her motorcycle - “I’ve been itching for another fight with Darksteel all day.” Rarity and Sweetie Belle rode in their car, the former listening via a car phone option on the radio. “What is with you wanting to fight Darksteel, Rainbow?” “Hey, anyone with a sense of determination, I can respect.” The athlete hopped onto her motorcycle, revving it up before riding away. Back at the HUB, Twilight watched the radar, no magical presence outside of the city either. If they, for the most part, have magic coming out of them, it would be seen in the warehouse. “Either they have made some kind of jammer or that is some part of their manufactured ability, we’ll never know until they make a move.” “And when they do,” - Chelsey rang from another comlink as she fed Tex a slice of Zap Apple, regaining his broken limb as he chewed on the morsel - “We’ll be ready. Back underground, Sadira and Trixie, now joined by Snips and Snails, traverse through the now damaged tunnels. “Ugh, Great and Powerful Trixie?” - Asked Snails, curling back his skinny body as the darkness of the tunnels became ever darker - “Shouldn’t we even be here?” “Yeah,” - Snips added, lifting up the collar of his scissor adorned shirt around his nose - “the stench is a little much.” “Rest assured, faithful friends” - Trixie addressed, turning her upper body to address her closest friends - “When we acquire the knowledge of magic, then we shall be as powerful as Rainboom and Maximal combined.” “Okay, let’s get something straight” - Sadira turned her head, looking a little peeved - “this kind of magic is not the same as from the ones you call ‘Rainbooms’ or ‘Maximals.’ It won’t give you wings or horns, not even make your ears larger.” Trixie paused, squinting one of her eyes as she took in the talk. “Then what magic is it?” Sadira poured a small amount of sand into her hand, wiggling her her fingers to combine the loose grains of sand into a solid cube. “Sand?” - Trixie’s squinted eye began to twitch as had her upper lip, showing a small sliver of her teeth - “So, Trixie just fell into the sewer, released you, came back down” - She turned to her side, showing off the stitches on her blue leg - “had one of those things scratch my leg just to learn how to make a sandcastle?!” The yell echoed across the damaged tunnels, Snips and Snails curled back as Trixie stood straight up, looking furious at the sand witch. Sadira expected this much. After all, her first attempt at getting Aladdin to fall for her ended in disappointment (and almost got them killed). “After we gather the remaining scrolls, if you want to back away now, be my guest.” Sadira continued down the tunnels, ignoring the magician cursing under her own breath before she and her accomplices joined her. The chamber has been damaged as well due to the vibrations of the explosion, but not so bad as to bury it completely under rubble. Storing the remaining scrolls in a satchel, the four made their journey back to the exit when four spires blocked the passageway. “Hello, deary…” Sadira turned at the hauntingly familiar voice, finding the same three people she had fought for several centuries, two of whom bared their sharp teeth. “But, it can’t be!” - Sadira pointed to the lid to the Realm of Mists - “The portal-!” “The seal of the lid takes time to gain strength” - with a wave of their hands, Risley and Furrita encased the four visitors in solidified sand “The Staff of Doom has been broken,” - Shakata turned over, holding the two ends of the skeletal staff - “our magic alone will not repair it fully.” - The lead Hecate turned to Trixie, intrigued by her blue skin as well as that of Snips and Snails - “Perhaps your modern friend has the means.” “Great and Powerful as she is, Trixie lacks the skills necessary skills to repair this.” The magician watches Shikata relax her eyelids and lips, turning around to leave her captives to their fate “But she knows who else might.” Trixie looks at Snips and Snails “But you will need a little more help.” A few hours later, a large boom is heard from the foothills of the plaza. Near his car, Cosgrove turned his police scanner to related news. “Breaker, breaker! We got a confirmation of an explosion at the Plaza Playground.” Without a moment too soon, now in full force once more, a majority of our heroes ran through a Ground Bridge portal to the park. Several spires of solid sand darted across the area, destroying a few of the attractions and one commissioned sculpture. The people responsible continued their rampage when a series of opal and blue blasts rained down, getting their attention. “Well, well,” - Risley turned around, baring her teeth - “it appears that our enemies have taken the bait.” Furrita chuckled as she also turned to the avenging heroes, “Shall we, sister?” With a hideous cackle, the two witches spread their arms, building up sand to form a two-headed serpent. While the Maximals in the field fought the non-living being, the Rainbooms focused their attention on the witches. Rainbow Dash ascended as high as she could in the air before clasping her wings to her side and diving towards them, arms stretched forward as she readied to grab the two witches off the ground and cutting them off from their power. Rarity showered a few blasts up above, a mistake that ruined the athlete’s opportunity when Risley and Furrita shielded themselves from the above blasts. But trying to control a sand beast and protecting themselves left an opening that was quickly exploited with Pinkie Pie’s Party Cannon. A distance away, a Changeling drone was spying on them from the branches of a tree before lighting his horn. “Drone 64302 to Chrysalis.” Inside an empty cave, their new base of operations, Chrysalis heard her beckon and answered with a glow of her crooked horn. “Chrysalis answers your call.” “Our enemies are engaged with another using an unknown type of magic. What are your orders?” Intrigued by the mentioning of an unknown magic, Chrysalis tapped her chin. “Continue the investigation, report back to me at sundown.” Back at the HUB, Twilight Sparkle, The Crusaders, and Dapplewood stood by, hearing the grunts and yelps of their companions as the dueled with the Witches of the Sand. “Go get ‘em, Rainbow Dash!” Shouted Scootaloo as she made a few jabbing motions. The intercom “coughed” a little before announcing, “Twilight, prepare the Ground Bridge.” Hearing his brother's voice, Dapplewood triumphantly shot a fist into the air. With our heroes in full force, nothing can stop them now. As Twilight punched the coordinates for a new ground bridge, Apple Bloom spotted the doors of the HUB open on their own before the front end was lifted up and shaken rapidly, forcing them off. “What in the” - Apple Bloom’s eyes widened as a pair of gigantic shadows loomed over them - “Criminently…” Before them stood a pair of mutates. To their right was a golden brown werewolf with blue hair on his head. To their left was a snapping turtle two-thirds the size of his partner. Both had a small horn on their animal heads. Towering over them, the colors and their proportions rang a few bells. “Snips, Snails?” Sweetie Belle looked at the two mutates as they looked at them with sorrowful eyes “Not you too!” “Sorry,” Snails said in a deep voice “but it was that or Trixie would get it.” Though she learned the common knowledge that Trixie gets into trouble, Twilight nonetheless asked, “What’s wrong with her?” Snips prepares to answer them when a loud ringing noise blared in their heads. Their cries of pain soon muted before lifting their heads at them, eyes glowing red as they snarled. Dapplewood was quick to put on the shades, for without warning the two beasts came charging at them. Dodging the strike of Snails’ claws, the Maximal rammed the wolf in the knee. Snails yelped as he held his leg, leaving the other leg to be lassoed by Apple Bloom. With a quick tug, the werewolf was brought down. “Hello? Hello!?” - Far away again, Sunset’s attempt at contacting them resulted in static. Taking her finger off the comlink, she groaned - “Looks like we walk.” “Heh, heh!” Risley chuckled, getting their attention before she and her sister turned into sand, disappearing with a gust of wind. Realizing they have been played, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Zipper took to the skies. Back at the HUB, the feral Snips jumped into the air, retracting his arms, legs, and head as he slammed his spiky carapace onto the ground. Being anthropomorphic, the snapping turtle drew out his arms and pushed himself out of the ground. Sweetie Belle fired a few quick blasts singing parts of his blue skin, a testament to a few months of practice. Snips lit up his horn before retracting his limbs and head, flopping down on the plastron before shooting out light violet-gray streams and spinning around wildly. Snails jumped onto the spinning terrapin, using his claws to swipe at the Crusaders and Dapplewood, knocking them out cold. In the madness, the werewolf spotted Twilight communicating with the others. “Guys! Snips and Snails, they’re- Agh!” The last words she said before she was swept up by Snails and carried away, joined up with Snips. A long moment of darkness before a sliver of light entered a person’s world. “Follow the light,” Sunset asked as she held a flashlight at Scootaloo. The Crusader turned her eyes to the other three children knocked out. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom did a few minor exercises to recover their wounds. Pinkie Pie teased the unconscious Dapplewood into waking up with the smelling salt, getting a slap from his brother and a glare from the awoken Maximal. “Not the best words to say…” Scootaloo groaned as she stood up, holding her stomach before being given a slice of zap apple. Dapplewood waved his arms around, illustrating the slim and bulky proportions of Snails and Snips respectively before circling placing his hands on his eyes. “Mind controlled?” - Chelsey wrapped her index finger around her mouth - “Must it be something to do with those witches?” “Quite so.” - Rarity answered with a snap of her fingers - “Their magic style is completely different from ours.” “Snips and Snails mentioned Trixie being in some kind of trouble.” Added Apple Bloom as she was given another slice of Zap Apple - “They never told us where she was before they gone rabid.” - Applejack gave her sister a glare, making her bow droop - “So to speak.” “Then we split into two teams.” - Sunset pointed to Fluttershy - “Fluttershy, you, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Chelsey, and Tex search Trixie’s home. The rest of you, with me.” “You have an idea where she could be, boss?” Asked Cosgrove Sunset turns to the general direction of the town bazaar, a finger on her chin. “Possibly.” Shakata held Twilight in a hardened shell of sand as she held the broken Staff of Doom. The scientist awoke, seeing Trixie and Sadira in another cage. Looking the other way, Twilight found Risley toying with her glasses. “Now, child.” Shikata approached Twilight “I have been told of your curiosity of magic.” She drew a nail at the scientist’s throat “Perhaps you can put your skill to the test when you restore the staff.” Remembering about what her curiosity has done, Twilight sputtered, “no.” The Hecate lowered her eyes again, fondling Twilight’s Crystal Prep uniform. “These modern times have softened the magic users of today.” Shikata snapped her fingers, releasing Twilight, Sadira, and Trixie from their holds, lifting up the second by her neck. “Then I suggest you supervise her the entire way.” Back down at the sewers, half of the squad walked down the sewers. Cosgrove looked to his right to find the destroyed tunnels. “So this is where it happened? The Predacons and all?” “It was really one hell of a fight.” Answered Rainbow Dash as she made a few jabbing motions. Sunset’s comlink buzzed, “Sunset, darling. We have found something that may pique your interest.” The leader of the party placed her pointer finger on the comlink. “Fire away.” Back at Trixie’s establishment, Rarity's team held several scrolls in their arms. The fashionista herself held one, reading the unfamiliar dialect. “These appear to be of Arabic origin.” Hearing this in the comms, Applejack added, “And the one who has the highest grade in that class…” “Trixie Lulamoon.” They all said, the echo concealing the echoing steps of a mutate mammal. “More of a reason to help her, Twilight-” Diver’s comment was interrupted when Snips burst out of the sewer water, roaring at his enemies. Snails dropped from the ceiling of the tunnel behind them, the echo of his howl reaching the chamber of the witches. “We have company.” Said Furrita, emphasizing with a massive smile. “Looks like we’ll have to do this the hard way.” Said Rainbow Dash as she led Cosgrove, Diver, and Zipper against the controlled Snips and Snails. “Ponying up”, Cosgrove arched himself against the werewolf, gnashing his ape-like teeth on Snail's scruff. Snails, have a more suitable set of teeth crunched on the Maximal’s shoulder, flipping his ears to his screams of pain. Rainbow Dash was quick enough to pull Snails away, leaving a set of teeth marks on Cosgrove's shoulder. The werewolf grabbed Rainbow’s leg, pulling her to the ground. Before Snails could sink his teeth into her wing, Cosgrove turned into his more feral state, slapping his spiny tail on the beast and sensing crashing along the wall. Snips and Diver took to the water, splashing about as their similar sized armored bodies met with teeth and claws. In one blow, Snips swatted Diver into the water. Zipper hovered over the honorary Illusion, dragging the snapping turtle and scraping his head long enough for Diver to clutch her jaws around his leg. With a mild version of the death roll, Snips was sent into the water. Sunset and Applejack used the opportunity to reach the chamber, finding Twilight working with “witch-crafted” welding equipment as she fused the Staff of Doom. Trixie, reciting an incantation, helped contain the staff together. Sunset looked down, noticing the sandy floor. With their foes being sand based, stepping on it would trigger their presence. “I can’t use my lasso on them again,” Applejack whispered, pointing a finger at the witches “they’ll just become sand again.” Sunset rubbed her chin, trying to come up with a plan. The witches are sand based, that’s one fact. Sand is silica based; when wet, it can be stuck together. When heated up…. Sunset immediately snapped her fingers. A dreaded mistake. The echo ringing in the chamber alerted the witches, turning their attention to the intruders at the entrance. “Damn.” Sunset muttered before a pair of makeshift limbs grabbed her and Applejack, pulling them before Shikata. “It was only a matter of time before you would come for your violet and blue friends.” - Shikata waves her hand over to her slaves - “You are in our home, in our element.” Twilight looked back, seeing her captive rescuers. Beneath the bound arms, Sunset motioned Twilight to get ready. “You are forgetting one thing,” - Sunset shifted her eyes a little, finding Twilight motioning Sadira to change the welding torch to a blowtorch - “you’re all way out of your time.” Twilight aimed the tool at the witches, burning parts of their clothes. Reeling in pain, Sunset and Applejack were released before the former drew out her magic, firing at the displaced grains of sand around them at such a heat that the silica became fused and translucent. “No! You fools!” Drawing as much unscathed sand they have left, Risley and Furrita lashed out tendrils of sand before Twilight aimed the blowtorch, solidifying them into glass. One such tendril got just close enough to touch a lock of Applejack’s hair. “Insolent cur!” Shikata slapped Twilight away, drawing as much sand as she could to form a spear. Back to Trixie and Sadira, the former’s incantation managed to complete the Staff of Doom. Grabbing it, the latter ran to the closed portal. “Seal to the Realm of Mists, I bid you open!” The seal disappeared once more, releasing red smoke as it seeped through the seemingly bottomless pit. Trixie and Sadira then turned to Shikata, seeing her aim her spear at Twilight. The young witch ran up to her, swinging her staff and sending her down the pit. This time, she wasn’t caught by the foot and hanging for her life. Furrita and Risley, having just seen their leader fallen, began to retaliate when a sea green aura wrapped around the two witches. Applejack ponied up, lifted the witches up and threw them down the pit. Furrita grabbed Applejack by her extended ponytail, landing her back on the glass floor. Sunset and Twilight pinned themselves onto her. “Applejack, call off your powers!” Said Sunset as she struggled to keep a foothold. Doing just that, the witch’s grip fell through the disappearing hair, sending her back into the abyss once more. “Portal, Close!” Shouted Sadira, sealing the portal again before snapping the staff in two once more. In the sewers, Snails had Rainbow Dash pinned against the wall, beak dripping in salive as he inches to her throat. As the athlete prepared for the worst, she felt the hot breath becoming less before opening an eye. The werewolf’s eyes were no longer glowing, feeling remorse as he let her go. Snails turned to the water, finding Snips in a similar predicament before Diver got the jump on him. A while later, Sadira and Trixie were reading the scrolls. “These aren’t spells, but riddles to the locations of magical artifacts.” Sadira pointed over to the Ground Bridge “I’m certain such travel can be done with that.” “I’ll have to make some tweaks, though. That little fight on the highway was the farthest I have gotten a bridge.” - Said Twilight as she also looked at the ground bridge - “And since we haven’t found any Predacon signatures…” Chelsey looked around suspiciously, “They’ll want one of those relics as well.” True to her hunch, the Changeling that was spying on them reported back to Chrysalis, saying every single detail to Chrysalis. “Then, we have a hunt to do.” - Chrysalis turned to her pet - “Continue to spy on them, we will need to make similar travel arrangements.” Chrysalis walked further down the cave, stopping at the sight of a much larger cocoon. Inside was a much larger man. Like the Predacons, he too is growing animal features, in this case, a mountain goat. Chrysalis turned around to address her team, entering the darkening cave. Back at the cocoon, the germinating subject’s eyes opened, glowing red.