Elements of Harmony: Black Ops

by Outcast4Ever

A Problem Awakens

I looked up from my books as a snore resounded from upstairs. A small smile crept onto my lips and I sighed. Spike was up in his bed, sound asleep as I studied. I had taken it upon myself to study time spells of all kinds, vaguely remembering the day I had been visited by my future self. I stifled a laugh so as not to wake Spike up, but oh how funny that had been!

I held in a yawn, to no avail, as I turned the page of the ancient book before me. Its pages were turning yellow with age and there were small tears along the edges. I was using my magic cautiously, knowing that if I laid a hoof on a page it may crumble. As my eyes scanned the pages eagerly, they grew heavy. Another yawn managed to escape and I felt my eyes closing despite my resistance. "Alright, it's time for bed." I mumbled.

I closed the book and gently set it atop the nearest mountain of others I had yet to read. I stood and stretched out my wings before folding them against my sides once more. I had received them only a few months before after rewriting a spell created by Star Swirl the Bearded. When I had cast the spell, the Elements of Harmony had been altered, changing my friends' destinies as well. Thankfully, friendship is more powerful than even unicorn magic.

I slowly climbed the stairs to my bedroom, lifting my crown from my head as I did. Why I insisted on wearing it late at night while studying, I had no idea. Maybe it was to prove to me that these last few months were not just some crazy dream? I shrugged it off and placed the crown on my bookshelf before collapsing into bed with another loud yawn, causing Spike to stir.

"It's alright, Spike." I mumbled.

I pulled the covers over me, my wings tucked closely to my body so I didn't damage them as I slept. I yawned as my eyes slowly closed. Immediately, I was transported into a world of rest and relaxation, far from my studies for the remainder of the night. Odds are I would rise with the sun if not sooner tomorrow, but for now my thoughts were clouded with sleep and my mind was a thick, gray haze of unconsciousness. I mumbled something unintelligible before descending the final few steps into dreamland.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I groaned as sunlight streamed through my window. Wait, sunlight. No, no, no, no, no! I should already be up by now! I thought, jumping out of bed. I stood quickly and grabbed my crown, placing it atop my head. I poked Spike with a hoof frantically. "Spike! Spike, wake up!"

The purple dragon grumbled and opened his eyes just enough that he could see me. Apparently what he saw was enough to scare him, because he bolted upright and stared at me. "Twilight, are you alright?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"No, I'm not alright! I'm late!" I said, pacing around my bedroom nervously.

"Late for what?"

"Late for the sunrise! I should have been up an hour ago studying! Oh, this is not good. Now I'm going to be behind in my study schedule, which will throw off my day. And then I'll be up even later than I was last night, throwing me off even more!" I continued to pace, each step falling sooner than the last.

"Twilight, just calm down. Please?"

I stopped my pacing and turned to look at Spike. His emerald eyes had a sorrow-like shine to them that forced me to calm down. Maybe it was just a motherly instinct taking over to care for the dragon I had practically raised, but something inside made me stop and go over to him. I knelt in front of him and wrapped a wing gently around him. "What's wrong, Spike?" I asked softly.

"I don't like seeing you like this. Plus, didn't you learn anything with the whole smarty-pants debacle?"

A smile inched its way to my lips at the memory, teasing the corners of my mouth into a small grin. "Is that all, my little dragon?" I asked, straightening.

"No, what about breakfast?" asked Spike with a huge grin on his face.

I laughed and picked up the young dragon in my raspberry magic, setting him on my back between my wings. Spike now perched on my back, I trotted down the stairs to the kitchen. "And what does the little dragon want this morning?"

"Well, what do we have?"

"How about a bowl of emeralds and rubies with a cup of tea?" I said, still smiling.

"Mmm. Yes, please."

Spike hopped down from my back and put the kettle on the stove for the tea. I pulled down two bowls and two teacups from the cupboard before retrieving the dragon's favorite gems. After filling Spike's bowl with gems I filled my own with a puffed hay cereal. I set the bowls on the table and got out two pouches of mint tea, placing them in the bottom of the teacups as the kettle whistled. "Why don't you sit down and start eating, Spike? We are a little behind this morning." I said, pouring the hot water with my magic.

"Yes, Twilight."

I watched Spike as he ran over to his seat and started eating gems before he was even sitting down. Stifling a laugh, I sat down across from him and brought the tea over to the table as I started to eat my cereal. Half of Spike's gems were already gone before I even made a noticeable dent in my own breakfast. "You can slow down, Spike. Were not in that much of a hurry, you silly dragon." I said, taking another bite.

"Fyessh, Twilipht." he mumbled through a mouthful of rubies.

I simply rolled my eyes and continued to eat my puffed hay slowly. My gaze drifted to the small mirror on the wall and I straightened my crooked crown with a sigh. I placed my spoon on my napkin and used my magic to cool down my steaming tea before taking a sip, the mint awakening my senses. "What's wrong, Twilight?" asked Spike, pulling me from wherever I was.

"What do you mean, Spike?"

"Well, you seem more distracted than normal. I mean, I'm used to you staring into space while you eat breakfast or something, but you're just sitting there. So, what are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing, Spike. Just something I read last night while half-asleep. I think that's where I'll start with my studies this morning after I go see Rarity. Do you want to come with me?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I want to come! Let's go." said Spike, abandoning his half-eaten breakfast.

"Spike." I called.

"What, Twilight?"

"Finish your breakfast first. She's probably not even up yet."

"Fine." he grumbled.

He sat heavily on the chair and picked up a ruby, flicking it onto his tongue like he could care less. I just rolled my eyes and turned back to my cereal. I ate quickly, now suddenly hungrier than I had been moments before. My cereal was gone in about seven minutes flat and I sat sipping my tea as I waited for Spike to finish. He had gobbled down the remainder of his gems and was starting on his still-steaming tea, heating it to a boil with his dragon flame. He gulped down the burning liquid like it was nothing, which it truly was for a creature who breathes fire.

"All done?" I asked, polishing off my own tea.

"Yep. Can we go see Rarity now?"

"You have some chores to do first, young man. I want the windows to shine before we leave. Is that understood?"

"Sure, Twilight. They'll be spotless in no time." he replied eagerly, jumping down from his chair.

I stifled yet another burst of laughter as I watched the little purple dragon running around the library and quickly washing every window. Somehow, despite his hurried pace, he still managed to make each window shine like I had asked. He came over to me out of breath. "I'm... all... done." he panted.

"I can see that. Come on, then. If you're that eager to see Rarity we had better be off. I wouldn't want to keep a dragon waiting any longer than I have to."

"Of course you wouldn't. You may be a princess but I could still easily turn you to ash." he joked.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I bolted up in bed as an acrid smell hit my nose. Not again! I thought frantically. I lifted my face mask and checked my reflection in my bedroom mirror. My mane was a mess, but that would have to wait for a few moments. I raced down the stairs, knowing full well what was going on. "Sweetie Belle!" I screeched, coming to a halt just outside the kitchen door.

The ivory filly in question just stood at the counter, trying to clean up some gray goop that had covered it's formerly shining surface as of last night. "Yeah, sis?" she mumbled.

"Why do you continually try to make me breakfast? You know it always ends in disaster."

I had calmed down enough to control the anger in my voice, but I was still fuming. If Sweetie Belle had turned around she would have seen smoke rising from my nostrils, I was that mad. "But I'm getting better, sis." the filly protested. "At least this time it's only the counters that got covered in goop. Plus, I didn't set off the smoke alarm."

That's because I shut them off when I heard you were staying with me for a few days. I thought with a sigh. I would never say such a thing to Sweetie Belle, of course. I would never want to hurt my little sister's feelings. "True, but you did give me a terrible fright. Please, just clean this up quickly. Twilight will be coming over soon."

And she's probably bringing Spike with her. I added to myself. At this notion, my heart fluttered slightly in my chest as it did every time I thought of my little Spikey-wikey. I turned and was about to head upstairs when I heard an excited squeal from behind me.

"Why didn't you tell me Twilight was coming over? I have to hurry! I want to look presentable when the princess gets here!"

"Not before you clean up this 'toast' young lady."

I scrunched up my nose in disgust at my sister's behavior and headed upstairs. She did have a point, though. If Twilight was coming over I needed to make myself at least look presentable. I had been up late last night trying to clean up the boutique and had missed out on valuable beauty sleep.

I trotted into my bedroom and took a long look at myself in the mirror. My mane was a horrible mess and my tail was nearly as bad. I don't think I had ever looked worse, except maybe when Trixie turned my mane seaweed green, or when that Poison Joke made me look like a sheepdog. But this was just as bad. This was the worst bad mane day ever. This was "THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING." I cried.

As if on cue, Sweetie Belle rushed into my room, looking for something terrible. Then she saw my mane. "Oh, Rarity! We can't have you looking like this when Twilight comes!"

I smiled down at my younger sister with watery eyes. She was probably the only other pony in the whole world who understood just how terrible this was for me. "We've got to get this fixed, or you'll have to cancel. And you wouldn't want to cancel on a princess, even if she is one of your bestest friends."

"Come then, Sweetie. We'll get ready together."

"Alright, sis!"

I smiled as my younger sister slowly worked her emerald magic to levitate a hairbrush. She jumped up onto my bed and gestured for me to come over. I sat on the floor in front of her and let her brush out my mane, enjoying this quality sister time we rarely got to have. As she slowly brushed out my mane, I could tell it was growing smoother. Boy, could she work wonders. It would have taken me forever to brush out my mane and it definitely would have tested my patience.

When she was finished brushing the tangles out of my mane, I turned back to the mirror. My mane would need to be fluffed and curled, but at least it didn't look quite as bad as before. "Thank you, Sweetie. Now it's my turn."

I laid down on my bed and my sister curled up next to me, handing me the brush. I grabbed it with my sapphire magic and started to brush out my sister's two-toned mane. Her lavender and rosy locks were separated in perfectly equal portions and they had a natural curl that I envied so. "Sis, don't forget we have to brush out your tail and curl your mane when you're done brushing my mane."

I smiled down at Sweetie Belle. She always knew exactly what needed to be done to make one's self presentable for royalty. "Of course, dear. And I might just have a special project for you to do while I curl my mane."

My thoughts flashed to the bejeweled jewelry box that held the one gem more precious to me than even the Element of Generosity. If Spike was coming, I should wear it. Even if he wasn't, it would help me look better for a visit from Twilight. "Oooh. What is it?" my sister asked expectantly.

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

"But si-is."

"A lady does not whine. Now, hold still."

I gently pulled the brush through a knot I had found in my sister's mane, causing her to whimper slightly despite my care. I set the brush down on a side table and looked at the little filly."Are you okay, Sweetie?"

"Mhmm. But we need to get you ready for Twilight's visit, and you still need to tell me what you want me to do while you curl your mane."

"Well, it involves something extremely precious to me that is also very fragile. I'm not sure I sh-"

"Please, sis? I'll be reeeeally careful. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

I giggled slightly at the use of a Pinkie Promise. Sometimes Pinkie came up with the strangest ideas. But, sometimes they made sense. I recalled the parasprite infestation that had caused everyone but Pinkie Pie to go crazy. Well, go into a crazy panic that is. Pinkie ended up running all over town for various instruments until she was a one-mare band. "If you're that serious about it, I guess you can. After I brush out my tail."

I picked up the brush again and ran it through my tail, gently brushing out the tangles. Thankfully, it was not as tangled as I had initially thought. I was finished in a few minutes and got ready to curl my mane, also getting everything Sweetie Belle needed for the task I was about to assign her. The bejeweled jewelry box was lifted in my sapphire magic and I set it down carefully on my small worktable. "Now, Sweetie Belle, I want you to be very careful with this. Do you understand?"

My sister nodded and I sighed, opening the box and setting down my favorite piece of jewelry. She looked at it, wondering what was so special about it. "What do you want me to do with this? It's just a necklace."

"It's not just a necklace! The gem was a gift from a very special somepony. Please polish it carefully. I want it to sparkle."

"Okay. Just curl your mane and don't worry about your necklace."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sweetie Belle roll her eyes before she looked down at the fire ruby. I sighed and picked up a curling iron, starting the long process that was styling my mane. I carefully placed a section of my mane around the hot styling tool and rolled it with my magic. After letting it sit for a few seconds, I released the clip and the small perfectly curled portion of my mane fell against my face, warming my cheek.

I continued with the long process, constantly watching my sister out of the corner of my eye. She had a polishing cloth suspended from her emerald magic and she was examining the gem for any spots she might have missed. Spotting one, she moved the cloth over to it and gently rubbed it until it was clean. The slight glow from her horn caused the gem to sparkle for a few moments as she finished examining the gem.

"Done!" she called out as the last section of my mane fell from the curling iron.

"Perfect timing, Sweetie. Now, why don't you go see if Applebloom and Scootaloo are up yet? I'm sure they've got a long day of crusading planned."

"Okay, Rarity. I'm sure Applebloom could use some help with her chores." she sighed.

I watched as my sister walked slowly out of my room before looking at the necklace she had polished ever so carefully. It shone in the light streaming in from my window and I remembered the day Spike had given it to me. I lifted the necklace and clasped it around my neck, hoping Spike would be coming with Twilight.

Comments

[6flyer]

Hmm... Interesting, to say the least. Assuming from the title and description that this is a crossover with CoD: Black Ops, you have your work cut out for you. Nevertheless, it looks pretty well written at the moment. I'll be watching...

[Outcast4Ever]

2978320

Thanks!

Yeah, it's pretty much a crossover between the two. Thankfully, my brother is an expert at CoD and will be helping me fine-tune the details with that element.

[RedvsBlue327]

Oh boy.

I've never liked dark fics, so know that my displeasure shouldn't be taken into account, but let me say that I have to read this. The concept is waay unexpected to me, and that just makes this fic alluring.

[RedvsBlue327]

Using state of the art 'find on page' technology, I have found that "[space] I [space]" is used 118 times in this story. As refences, I've also found 'and' is used 62 times, and 'the' 96, give or take 1 or 2.

It seemed like a good idea at the time to go ahead and comment this... Problem is I've been staying up too long again, so mabe this is a terrible idea, I dunno.

[Doctor_Brony1234]

Are they sent to the world of BO1, or is it in the future? Like the Ghost Recon series?

[Terrorizer231]

Great start for a chapter. Not too many noticable errors. Keep up the good work!

P.S.: If you need help with the latter Black Ops parts, I have some experience.

[Xx-Sniper_Masters-xX]

YES! FINALLY A BLACK OPS CROSSOVER! YESSSS! HURRAY!

[Xx-Sniper_Masters-xX]

DANG IT NO ACTION YET! Wah.....

[Xx-Sniper_Masters-xX]

2978358 WAIT! will there be zombies in this story perhaps?

[doodlefreak]

I just really want to know, how often are you going to update this? Its really well written and I want to see more of it!

[Outcast4Ever]

2978702
I am aware that 'I', 'and' and 'the' are used frequently, but instead of writing in third-person like I usually do I wanted to challenge myself and try to write the entire story in first-person.

2979091
You'll just have to wait and see what happens after the portal closes. And as for your comment about there being no action yet, I'm trying to take this slow so the story doesn't end in a few chapters.

2979400
I haven't decided, but it will be about every week or two.

[x-Kiryu-x]

I really like this!

-Kiryu

[Xx-Sniper_Masters-xX]

Where is the next chapter? I can't wait any longer!

[Xx-Sniper_Masters-xX]

encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSlCuZTIyOEXbPVQjTQ41C-Dnf254mwk5Gl3sblM0ws0XkmFS4pMw
Why are you starting multiple stories? It's driving me to insanity!

[Outcast4Ever]

3050622
I've had them started for a while. Hopefully by working on them I'll be able to overcome writer's block. Nothing I write at the moment is all that great and I don't want to destroy a story people actually enjoy.