//------------------------------// // Scenario 22: The Medium Life // Story: Reality is Magic // by ninjintonic //------------------------------// EMPTY WAREHOUSE, SOMEWHERE IN HUMANEHATTAN - 11:47 PM, MONDAY Sounds of electricity reverberated throughout the hollow, disheveled of an empty warehouse. The place was dimly lit by a single bulb that hung above where Tirek stood. With a long table that had various objects placed on top, consisting numerous beakers of different sizes and shapes with unknown chemicals that contained in them. He also had books haphazardly organized, and the ripped pages that Trenderhoof gave him when they first met at the steakhouse, each aligned neatly in front of him. Tirek engaged in his rather, horrifying ritual. It was a ritual that required concentration of the mind and energy. A door opened and then slammed supervening an echo throughout the room as Trenderhoof made his entrance to the warehouse, "Tirek, I got something to ask you." Tirek paused, and gazed at Trenderhoof from a mid-distance for a short while, then returned to his own ritual. "... I know your busy, but... This is important." Trenderhoof walked towards the table where Tirek stood, "Since you've already maxed out your power, there's only one thing to do." Tirek paused again and sneered at Trenderhoof, "What do you want, Trenderhoof... Can't you see I'm in the middle of something here?" "Well... Since you've concluded your part of the deal, have you considered unleashing it yet?" "No." Trenderhoof raised his eyebrow, "Ok... Now here's what you do next..." Trenderhoof picked up one of the ripped pages, and verbally gave him the instructions on where to proceed. Tirek interrupted Trenderhoof, "Trenderhoof, I know what I'm doing, don't you dare tell me what to do." Tirek snatched the ripped page from Trenderhoof's hands, and placed it back on the table. "... Tirek, if you don't follow through with this, you will lose all of the power you have gained at this point!" Tirek continued with his ritual, ignoring anything that came out of Trenderhoof's mouth. Trenderhoof persisted, "... Dammit, I thought we had a deal, man!" Tirek paused again, "I still kept my part of the deal, lemme just do my job, ok?.. I know what I'm doing." "No you don't!" Trenderhoof halted. Tirek let out a scornful look at Trenderhoof, followed by a raspy grunt, "... Trenderhoof, If I were you, I'd get outta here while I still can." Trenderhoof circled around Tirek with a sardonic expression, "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be where you are now... Gee Thanks Trenderhoof is all I expect to hear from you... But I got nothing..." Trenderhoof stopped circling momentarily with words again, "With all that power, but not knowing how to use it is....." Tirek suddenly grabbed Trenderhoof by his throat, lifting him up a couple of inches from the ground. Trenderhoof attempted to kick, wobbled his body for freedom, but Tirek was just too powerful. He choked and tried to grasp for air, but Tirek's tight grip was completely blocking Trenderhoof's airway. Tirek's eyes began to glow bright red in color, almost like blood that shined a light through it. Tirek in a wolfish voice, "I will tell you again, I know what I'm capable of.. Now get the hell out of my way..." Tirek drew Trenderhoof closer to him with his gaping mouth widely open, just a couple of inches away from Trenderhoof's face. Sparkling of mists, light blue in color, were being magically absorbed from Trenderhoof's. It was being sucked, directly into Tirek's mouth. When Tirek finished absorbing this mist of energy from him, his body had soften, which caused him in an unconscious state, and his body became noticeably pale. Tirek threw him effortlessly through the glass window that leads outside, causing Trenderhoof to roll through the soiled ground to his supine position. Tirek felt an increase of energy fueling inside him after having absorbed Trenderhoof's soul. He grinned evilly, slowly supervening a laugh. It was a horrific laugh that dreaded a helpless human being's soul. He muttered in a low voice, towards Trenderhoof, who laid unconscious outside in a mid-distance from where Tirek stood, "Once again... Nobody... Talks to me like that.." With his eyes that remained bloody red, combined with an evil grin, he split the table in half that was positioned in front of him, with the use of his telekinetic power. He teleported near Trenderhoof instantaneously, kneeling down on one knee to grab a hold of his cell phone from his pocket. He browsed through Trenderhoof's contact list, and placed a call to me. I answered within three rings, "Hello?.." There was no response for awhile, but an ambient noise was heard from the other side, followed by a deep, heavy breathing, then a wheezing laugh. Tirek, in a deep voice, "Hey Sunset. This is your best enemy... I'm just going to keep this short, so you better listen to me." "Tirek... What do you want.." "You know what I want... If I don't have that book in my hand, I will devour every human soul in this planet." Silence filled our phone conversation, then Tirek continued with words, "... So what's it gonna be?... Meet me outside of Canterlot High School in ten minutes, don't be late... Time is running out, Sunset." Tirek laughed loudly in horror, and hung up the phone. He propelled the phone towards Trenderhoof, who was still lying unconsciously on the ground, then casually made his exit out of the warehouse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HUMANEHATTAN BOWLING ALLEY - 3:00 PM, SATURDAY A week earlier before that night... "Strike!" Lyra hopped up in cheerfulness, and walked back towards her seat. Right after a long day of shopping at Phillyever Twenty One, I thought it would be a great idea to let off some steam and play bowling with the girls, "You go next, Pinkie." Lyra pointed at the lane. Pinkie was in the middle of fiddling with her phone. She slid her phone back in her pocket, and shook her head, "Strike?.... This is not baseball, Lyra..." She slowly stood up from her seat, and approached the lane. She picked up her bowling ball from the ball return rack, she focused on the pins, then gradually walked towards the end of the lane and rolled it. It went straight to the gutter. "Pinkie, the pins are in the middle, not on the gutter." Lyra joked that made Pinkie roll her eyes. "I don't bowl a lot, ok?.. Cut me some slack... Unlike you, you always come here with your boyfriend." "Yeah, yeah, excuses..." Lyra continued with the joke. "Girls, this is just a game, thought I remind you both.." I merged in their conversation. "I know." Pinkie disputed. Pinkie approached the lane once again for her spare shot, she rolled the ball, but this time, ended up only getting one pin down, "Arghh! I hate this game..." "Calm down.." Lyra yielded both her hands up to Pinkie, "At least you got one pin, least be thankful for that..." Followed by her thumbs up and a teeth grin. Pinkie trotted back to her seat with an attitude, arms folded and legs crossed, "Yeah, yeah... It's your go Sunset, I wanna get this game over with." I stood up from my seat, but came to mind about announcing the girls about resigning my position from my own job, and sat back down, "Girls... I've been meaning to tell you something..." Lyra and Pinkie looked at me in attentiveness. Lyra reinitialized, "What's up?" "... I didn't know how to tell you girls, but I'll be straight up at this point with you both.." I sighed and delayed in words to continue, "... I quit my job..." "What?!" Lyra and Pinkie, simultaneously in a shocking tone. "Why?" Pinkie questioned. I was hoping for Pinkie not to ask such a difficult question, but it was her nature to. I delayed a response, "... I umm... It's a big world out there. It would be a shame not to experience it.." "I thought you love your job..." Lyra with a presumable expression. "I loved my job. But I think there's even better things that life can offer.." "Have you thought this through?" Pinkie with a raised eyebrow. "... Unfortunately... Yes..." "What do you mean unfortunately?.." "I mean..." I tried not to let my mind wander off from this moment of our peak conversation, and stay in topic, "Unfortunately, I gotta leave my current career, and start off a new clean slate. Finding a new passion for things, perhaps maybe even better than what I had." Both of the girls nodded. Lyra, with a serious expression that turned into a grin, "Well Sunset, if that's what you want, then I think that's great!" "I agree with Lyra, if you feel it's time to move on to better things, then you did what you had to do... It's an adventure." Pinkie added. "But also overwhelming..." I looked down broodingly. Lyra sat on a seat next to me, and closed in a side hug, "Aw sweetie, you'll figure it out... You're Sunset Shimmer... Sunset Shimmer The Problem Solver." Pinkie, suddenly in feeling of dismay as I brought the subject of that matter. She had yet to tell us the story what happened before she was taken to the emergency room a couple of days ago. She held herself back from telling us because it frightens her whenever she thought about it. But from this moment in time, she felt she needed to confess to let the weigh off her shoulders, "Girls... I have a confession to make.." Lyra and I waited for her to continue, "... The day that I passed out and ended up in the hospital... I was at the public storage beforehand." "Really? What for?" I questioned. "Well... Ever since you mentioned about my party cannon, I had been thinking about it lately." She looked down, and continued with the same tone, "Then there was my old mirror that my mom gave long ago..." She remained silent after that, but Lyra and I urged her to continue, "Ok? What about the mirror?..." With my quizzical tone. "You guys are gon' think I'm crazy if I tell you..." Lyra placed her hand on Pinkie's, "No... Of course not... Tell us.." Pinkie sighed, and delayed a response, "It's... Nothing... Nevermind... It doesn't matter anymore." "Pinkie, I can sense the look in your eyes..." I persisted. Pinkie's expression remain the same, she was neglected to tell me and Lyra what had happened at the public storage, but her refusing to tell us, made us more curious. She knew where we were going with this. She can't hide from her truth, because we're going to keep asking endlessly until she finally reveals us the answer, "I saw a reflection of myself in the mirror..." Lyra and I nodded for her to continue, "... As I did, I saw an image of myself when I was... I guess around sixteen years old... She was ummm.. Speaking to me.. Telling me all the things I didn't want to hear. She kept telling me that we're all going to part at one point or another." Lyra and I contorted at Pinkie's words, "Really?" I asked in standardized tone. "Yeah... You girls think I'm crazy now..." Lyra halted, "Of course not!" "Tell me, are you seeing anymore of these things?" I asked. "No." "Good. You were just experiencing some temporary hallucinations, which was induced by stress. Good thing you took some vacation days from work.. You have Vinyl to thank for." "So... Just like that, huh?.." Pinkie's expression revived from her downcast emotions, with an eyebrow raised, "Is that the reason why you took us bowling?" Pinkie with a grin. "Sure, and on top of that, I was feeling up for bowling." "Ok... Anyway.." Pinkie gained her posture back from her seat, "It's still your go..." I stood up from my seat to deliver a hug to Pinkie for a short duration of time, "You'll be fine Pinkie... Trust me... Don't stress on it, lets just enjoy this moment." We liberated from our hug. I turned to Lyra's direction to grant her one as well, "And you too Lyra..." I relinquished a melancholic smile. I tried not to let my sadden emotions take over me, and focus on current moments, such as having fun bowling with my girls. But I couldn't help it. I get butterflies in my stomach, and my heart seems to beat faster whenever I think about it. I remain an upbeat attitude whenever they're around, but little did they know, I'm actually dying inside. I picked up my bowling ball from the ball return rack, approaching the lane then began focusing on the pins. As I gathered my intellect, I walked to the end of the lane, then released the ball immensely with power. A loud sound was produced as my bowling ball hit the pins, causing a clean strike. "Beer frame." Lyra and I looked at Pinkie directly with a grin. Pinkie with a puzzlement expression, "Huh? What's a beer frame?" Lyra explained, "Beer frame literally means that we all bowled a strike at that same frame, except for one particular person, and that person is you." "And that person must buy a pitcher of beer." I added. "Ohhhh Ok, gotcha, that's a good one." Lyra and I looked at Pinkie blankly, expecting her to get up, and actually buy a pitcher of beer for us. Pinkie leered at us, "Seriously?" I refuted, "Do you see us laughing?" "Ughhh! This is not fair.." Pinkie ascended from her seat, and walked the opposite direction, towards the bar to get a pitcher of cold beer for the three of us. Lyra mouth-palmed in laughter, "She'll be ok, right?" "Yeah... Of course..." I relinquished another melancholic smile. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FLUTTER SHY'S RESIDENCE, HUMANAVILLE - 3:00 PM, SAME DAY Music intro of My Little Pony played on TV. Honey Bee quickly ran, and plopped herself on the living room couch to catch the next episode of the series. She never missed one episode, and when she did, she would roll on the floor, complaining to her mother endlessly. Flutter Shy learned her lesson by peaking up the volume high enough for Honey Bee to hear, when she's rather engrossed playing with her doll house on the other end of the room. Flutter Shy, on the other hand, was prepping vegetarian dinner in the kitchen. The entrance door of the house had opened, which Double Diamond appeared from. He held a suitcase and dressed up in business attire. He entered the house, "I'm home!" In a loud tone. "Hi daddy!" Honey Bee quickly plunked herself from the couch, then ran towards her father to deliver a hug. Flutter Shy came out of the kitchen, then smiled at her husband, while holding a big bowl of salad to prepare for dinner, "Hey honey, how was work?" Honey Bee withdrew herself from the hug, then turned back to the couch to continue watching her show. "Work was usual." Double Diamond casually approached near Flutter Shy, while placing the suitcase down near the couch. Double Diamond gave her a peck kiss on the lips, "How are you?" Removing his blazer coat, then hung it inside the coat closet. Flutter Shy returned to the kitchen, "I'm good." "How was work?" Double Diamond continued, approaching the kitchen to grab a bottled water from the fridge. "Same ol', but I had a talk with Honey Bee's teacher this afternoon about her grades in school." Double Diamond, with quizzical expression, "Really?.. On a Saturday? Wow... What about her grades? Were they bad?" Double diamond leaned against the kitchen table, and took a sip of his bottled water. "No. Mrs. Cheerilee thinks Honey Bee is a high-achieving student, and that they may put her in an advanced placement." Flutter Shy paused from mixing the salad, and shifted to a different side of the kitchen table to begin molding vegetarian burger patties. "Well, that's good news. What else did she say?" "Cheerilee says that she has a mind of a thirteen year old." Double Diamond let out a bark of laughter, "She's exaggerating.." "Surprisingly not.." "Well.. She's smart, that's all... I'm so proud of her." He took another sip of his bottled water, then headed towards the living room couch to sit next to his daughter. Double Diamond, in a loud voice directed at Flutter Shy in the kitchen, "Sweetie, what time is the wedding next Saturday?" "The wedding ceremony starts at twelve, but we have to be there by eleven for photos." Flutter Shy retorted. "Right... I still have my tuxedo.. Right?" Flutter Shy exposed herself from the kitchen, with an expression of a straight face at her husband, "Honey... Your tuxedo can't grow legs and run way... It's still in the closet." "I was just askin'." Flutter Shy returned to the kitchen, "Don't worry about it, I'll handle what we need to wear that day." "Oh babe, Ya' know what just occurred to me?... It's nice of her to invite us at her wedding, considering that we never invited her to ours..." Double Diamond contorted. "Really?... If you wanna talk about it, why don't you come back here. I don't want our child to hear it..." Flutter Shy, in a loud tone from the kitchen. "Daddy look! The princess pony!" Honey Bee pointed at the TV to show her father. "Yes, yes! she's a beautiful pony princess who's going to save the world from Nightmare Moon." Double Diamond engaged in the show with her daughter. Flutter Shy lived a normal life. She's happily married for ten years to a handsome wealthy man, and have a beautiful child together. Her life was content, except for one thing, and that is reuniting with her old friends. She dreaded about going to Twilight's wedding because she wasn't sure at this point what might happen. If attending Twilight's wedding will actually open a can of worms, then she may as well not go. But that shouldn't hinder her from attending. Setting the awkwardness and the embarrassment aside, it's Twilight Sparkle's big day, and she can't miss it for the world.