Certamen

by DarkBunny91

Bump in the Night

_____________

"Trixie hates boats. That three-day boat ride was stupid and..." I was whining before being caught by another wave of nausea. My normally beautiful blue coat had taken on a slightly sickly-green tinge during the accursed sea trip, and to be frank, I was sick of getting sick and ending up covered in vomit.

"Ah, lighten up, Trixie, you pompous landlubber; it wasn't that bad," Lyra laughed. At some point during the first day at sea she had started wearing a ridiculous black bandana with a jolly roger on it and talking like a pirate. "Ye did make it ashore, didn't ye?"

She pat me on the back incredibly hard causing my stomach to lurch. I made it to a garbage can and deposited the contents of my stomach in one solid retch. I was starting to think the musician didn't like me.

"Shush, I'm trying to hear the rules, dudes, and Lyra, drop the accent it sucks," Vinyl scorned, her expression unreadable behind her signature glasses.

"Okay, fine, but I'm keeping the colors," Lyra spoke with a defeated yet defiant huff.

"...And furthermore, each team will be responsible for setting up their own shelter and finding food and water. This is a tropical island, so you should be able to accommodate yourselves pretty well. Also, remember, the camera staff are not allowed to help you in any way, so please do not harass them. If you see any of them doing their jobs let them be. Most of the filming is done via mechanical drones and fixed cameras, so that shouldn't be too big a problem," the handsome stallion who was acting as the show's host continued.

I had not been paying too close attention to the details having spent much of my time face down in a trash bin, but I got the jist of it. Survive, find food, find shelter, and something about cameras, but that seemed pretty inconsequential except that my magnificence would be on camera.

"And remember: there will be a challenge at the end of each week, resulting in one of the teams being eliminated from the running. The last team standing will have each member be awarded one million bits. This amount might seem like a lot, but you will need to overcome every obstacle the island has, as well as triumph over the other teams in the challenges. Play fair, and don't kill one another please. The competition will begin when the siren sounds in one hour. Until then, feel free to eat at the buffet, and get to know the competition. I will see you all in a week," and with that the host walked towards the docks, signaling some of the crew back with him.

I gazed around the clearing we were in, scoping out the competition - there seemed to be a pretty obvious pattern to each team. Only one type of pony comprised each one. In total there were two earth pony teams, two pegasi teams, and one other team of unicorns. I didn't really see any challenge among the competition however, as without unicorn magic, the two inferior races would have no chance. I noticed one member of the other unicorn team, though, one who might be a problem. Lyra had said she was a friend of hers while she was a student at Celestia's school as well, so that definitely meant she was very talented with magic.

I walked over to the mare in question. She was blue with a multicolored blue mane. An hourglass cutiemark rested upon her flank, signifying some sort of talent with time.

"Hello friend of Lyra’s; it seems we are to be competition on this show, but I really hope we can get along. You know between us as ponies. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

"My name is Minuette, and I don't suppose you are the Great and Powerful Trixie, are you?" she asked, a bright look settling across her visage.

"Why yes, behold! I am the Great and Powerful Trixie," I proudly declared. I stood up onto my hind legs, summoning up some illusory pyrotechnics with my magic.

"Well, Trixie," she spat, and her entire demeanor flipped a one-eighty, "your behavior in Ponyville was appalling; my cousin Time Turner witnessed all of your actions when you had that Celestia damned Alicorn Amulet. Mares like you disgust me. Not only are you not great, but you need talismans and trickery to give you any kind of power you nag. My temporemancy will allow me to speed my way to victory, and I’ll have fun squashing you for good measure."

"Trixie thinks you have fat flanks," I stated.

"Augh, you are so pretentious. I'm getting nauseous just listening to the horse apples falling from your mouth!" she exclaimed.

"And your fat flanks and loud mouth are giving Trixie a headache." I rebuked.

Well that could have gone better, Lyra’s friends suck, maybe I should just keep quiet and allow my teammates to make friends.

I sauntered over to the buffet, clopping away from the seething time mage and a little eager to put something substantial into my stomach. I grabbed a strawberry and daisy salad, the bleu cheese and walnut garnish had captivated me like a siren's song. To round out my meal, I also picked up a cranberry and orange muffin. No need to start eating like a savage yet when there was real food to be had after all.

Heading back to my team's table, I indulged in the aroma of my masterfully crafted salad. As I sat down, I poured some vinaigrette onto my salad to spice it up a little bit, a nice hint of raspberry to both compliment and contrast the other flavors. I arranged my plate between my silverware before starting in on my meal; daintily, of course. After all, I must keep my composure after that fat flank insulted me. One does not simply become a successful showmare by letting her audience visibly anger her.

I sat in relative peace, enjoying my meal. I pulled my flask of bourbon from the extradimensional space in my hat for a solid shot of liquid confidence and grabbed a quick swallow. After finishing my meal, I set the dinnerware in a tub near the tables. I promptly returned to my seat, and leaned forward resting my head on the table. I enjoyed the relative solitude while observing my teammates interact with the others.

It seemed that Lyra, true to her profession as a bard, was a very adept speaker. Anypony she talked to walked away in a pleasant mood, even if going into the conversation they were nervous, or even skeptical of the green mare.

Vinyl for the most part, however, seemed more interested in what was playing on her music device. I never saw her remove her headphones once, but she was able to respond to ponies who talked to her head on. She can read lips?! I need to learn more about this DJ. This Vinyl Scratch, she is definitely more than she appears.

Suddenly a loud siren blared out, sounding its klaxon call. All the meandering ponies quickly sprinted back to their respective groups and we all scattered into the woods. Lyra, Vinyl, and I made good time rushing ahead of all but one of the pegasus teams. I turned my head to say something, when I noticed Lyra casting a spell. Being unfamiliar with the magic of the bardic traditions, I made a mental note to ask her what that was later.

"Trixie, Vinyl, follow me, I just divined an optimal spot with water and shelter. It is just over that ridge," Lyra yelled, making sure that the still-headphoned unicorn could hear her as well.

She led us over a hill, and then through about a half mile of heavy underbrush before we set sight upon the shelter in question. It was a cave, set into a small cliff face; the interior was dark, but after illuminating my horn I could see that the path led a fair way in, outside of the light range of my magic.

"There is a spring in the back of the cave, as well as several edible plants in the area. I was able to locate the nearest habitable location, and I believe this will fit our needs quite nicely. Can you mares find some firewood so I can start a fire? It is going to be cold tonight, colder than I trust my coat to protect me from; so I am going to set up some leaf weave blankets." Vinyl and I both stood there jaws agape for a moment as we tried to comprehend what was just said. "I'm a bard, guys. I used to travel. You pick up some things," she finished sheepishly.

Not wanting to argue, Vinyl and I set out into the woods to gather supplies. I feel like I have underestimated both of these ponies. I need to find out more, but I feel like there is no way we can lose. But wait... If my companions are as skilled as they are, then what is our competition really like?

_____________

It was cold, but I decided to go for a walk to clear my head. I am not sure how much good that was doing me however, for as I walked I noticed the trees were starting to take on a very frightening appearance. It was eerie, and it seemed like trees were reaching down for me; the gnarled knots that adorned their sides seemed to transform into monstrous faces. Wow Vinyl, you really have an overactive imagination tonight. Look out, the boogeymare is going to get you. Wait... Did I really just think to myself in the thirdpony, really? I am going to hit that Trixie with a brick or something.

I continued on, an encroaching feeling of dread coming over me as I continued to trot through the underbrush. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a flash; it had a light blue quality to it, and I thought I could vaguely sense unicorn magic. I wonder who that could be?

With my curiosity outweighing my uneasiness, I slowly made my way toward where I saw the flash. Before too long I stumbled across a clearing, and in the center a jasmine yellow pegasus was performing kicks and jabs. Every so often when she would let loose an attack, an energy pulse would form at her wings, and an aura of light would flash around her eyes; the odd light blue hue matching her mane and tail. This pegasus can focus her magic?

I sat and watched for several minutes before I noticed her attacks starting to slow down in speed. The shimmer of sweat clung to her lithe form. I watched until her conclusion, and as she slumped down against a tree to catch her breath, I started to clap my hooves. It's one pony. I can talk to her, and the less enemies we have on the other teams; the less they may try to hinder us early on. I walked into the clearing, pulling my headphones down to my neck and stopping the small flow of magic to the spell matrix powering my media player.

"What's up? That performance was amazing! Pretty mare like you hiding all that talent; I've never seen anything quite like that. What's your name? Because I bet it's as lovely as your eyes." Wow, do I really default to trying to pick somepony up when I act as Pon3?

"Um," the mare stammered, a blush overcoming her face, "my name is Raindrops, I uh..." she just trailed off and started looking at the ground, probably looking for what to say.

"-Can move with more grace than any dancer?" I suggested.

"Um, I'm not really good at..." she started before trailing off.

I'm making her uncomfortable, she is tongue tied as all Tartarus.

"You're DJ Pon3, right? I saw you perform at the wedding," she finally said.

"Yeah, my friend Pinkie got me that gig. Shame I didn't get to meet you there," I said seductively.

Her face turned a dark shade of crimson, as she attempted to avoid eye contact. I started to feel a little uneasy as I realized what I was doing, so I just sat down, leaning against a tree. I was really glad my magic sunglasses allowed me to hide my eyes, because there was no way they matched the confidence of my grin.

She walked over and sat down next to me. Horse apples.

"Do you want to, um... Talk?" she asked, hesitation in her voice.

"Yeah, I mean there is not a whole lot else for me to do on this island but wait for the challenges, so I might as well have somepony to keep me company."

We sat there for hours, talking about our lives, I skipped over a lot of the compromising stuff. No need to expose my weakness in front of the competition, but still it was nice to talk to somepony who wasn't Trixie.

"Hey, Raindrops," I started hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to head on back to my camp, but how would you like to do this again?"

"I would like that," she replied with a little giggle.

Celestia, she's hot. But I can't drop my guard now, I need to be careful, she can be really dangerous in a fight.

I gave her a small peck on the cheek causing her to blush uncontrollably and make a little mewling sound. I helped her up, and walked her to the edge of the clearing.

"See you tomorrow night?" I asked.

"Yeah," she sighed.

After she left, I waited a few minutes until the sound of her wings flapping faded away before I flopped down. Visibly shaken, I retreated into myself, unsure of what to do.

I think that mare likes me, she is cute, but I don't want to hurt her or something. If this were some random thing at a club, there would have been some cheap meaningless sex, followed by me going home. But I actually think I felt something for her, just the concept caused me to shake a little bit as I thought about all the possibilities. Or, maybe she was just trying to get me to drop my guard so in the some contest I would hold back or something. I've always been good at reading ponies, comes with being able to play a crowd, but this Raindrops mare was an enigma to me. Is it possible she really likes me?

After a while of contemplating the possibilities, I got up and started to re-trace my steps, walking back into the creepy woods to find my way home. The reaching branches and the snarled knots played back burner to my thoughts about that magical, alluring pegasus. Trying to escape the confusion of my emotions, I reactivated the spell matrix for my mp3 player. I lifted the headphones from around my neck to my ears, but paused halfway through as I heard a loud, audible snap, like a branch behind me breaking.

I turned to look, but shadows pervaded my vision, even through the light-amplifying lenses I wore. "Raindrops, is that you?" I asked the darkness, which had turned an eerie quiet. There was nothing that I could see, but the silence was making my skin crawl. I started to stumble backwards, intending to sprint back to the cave as fast as I could go once my legs moved properly again. In a vain attempt to console myself, I squeaked out, "R...Raindrops?"

A very deep voice answered me from above. "Most definitely not," it snickered.

Before I had a chance to look, something dropped on me from above, a solid cold mass colliding into my back. I screamed in agonizing pain. I could hear my bones popping, and a sharp pain tore into my neck. As the darkness began to take over I noticed a pair of glowing red dots reflecting in the slowly spreading pool of blood, which I had yet to realize was my own. The sound of heavy laughter rang as both a lullaby and a soliloquy as I blacked out, my last conscious sensation being the flesh on my barrel being rended open.

_____________

The sun shone brightly overhead as Bon Bon and I strolled through Ponyville Park. Our tails tightly entwined, and after a few minutes when our eyes met, we paused to embrace one another. Gazing lovingly at one another, we slowly inched closer until our lips locked together. THe taste of her tongue gently feeling its way around the inside of my mouth was pure bliss.

A few passing fillies that I couldn't quite remember the names of blushed as they turned the corner by some bushes and caught us in our scandalous romance. As the fillies bolted off in the other direction, I pulled away from Bon Bon for just a moment.

She started to tear up a little bit, but I quickly put my hoof up to her mouth. Surprised by the gesture, she gulped quickly but quietly.

Leaning in close, I whispered, "Hey, why don't we head somewhere a little more secluded, like maybe that shady tree thicket?"

Grasping her hoof, I led her to a particularly dark part of the park, near to where I first made camp when I came to town. With no chance of interlopers, I turned back toward Bon Bon, a predatory look crossing my face. Her eyes, large and full of understanding, pleaded for me to continue.

Leaping toward my marefriend, I pinned her down, planting kiss after kiss on her lips. I slowly began to work my way down, planting kisses and nibbles on her neck. I rubbed my hoof on her cutie mark in slow circles as I continued to nibble lower and lower.

Suddenly, a loud crash from behind me snapped my attention from the task at hoof. I slowly turned my head to see an imposingly tall, white alicorn. Her multihued pastel mane billowing as if caught in some sort of cosmic wind.

As she started to approach me, her horn started to glow a bright golden color; not quite unlike my own magic's aura.

A look of pure disdain crossed her face as she ripped me from the sweet embrace of my lover. "Lyra Heartstrings, you deserve no happiness in this life for all the crimes you have committed against my little ponies, and I will be damned if you don't die a slow agonizing death."

I tried to scream, but her magic was tightening around my throat, and only a faint raspy whimper escaped my lips.

"Lyra, you can't possibly think my sister is out to get you," a serene voice called out to me.

The solar princess froze, her magical grasp abruptly ended. I hit the ground with a small thud, grateful that I wasn't higher in the air. Looking around, I noticed that Bon Bon was also frozen, a silent scream etched into her features. As I stared at my paralyzed marefriend, I noticed movement behind her.

Quickly dispelling the images around us, a tall, dark-blue alicorn approached me. A ripple effect formed around her hooves, much like displacement on a placid lake. Her long, starry ethereal mane flowing much like her imagined sister's, the regal princess of the night magestically walked up to me.

Slowly, she sat down next to me, draping one wing over me in a comforting gesture. She nuzzled against me, a warmth filling me up from the inside, fighting back the crippling fear the nightmare had induced in me.

"But Princess Luna, even all long past occurrences aside; look at the evidence. In just one day, I got my flank kicked, what, two times? And I got nearly killed by falling luggage," I replied.

"Your fault and happenstance, no more. Celestia is too busy running the country to pick on one pony."

"But you can take time from yours to help one?"

"Indeed. Do you honestly know how long it has been since somepony prayed to me for something besides a good night’s rest?" she asked.

"Too long, clearly, but hay, are you really going to argue if I decided to respect you over your sister? I'm a bard; some of us remember the old stories."

"That is... a fair point actually. I will continue to listen to your prayers, and offer my advice to you if you need it. Mother only knows what you might do next," Luna sighed.

Suddenly the princess of the night stiffened, removing her hoof from her brow where it had rest for the majority of the conversation.

"Lyra, you need to wake up right now; your friend Vinyl just entered the world of dreams in pain, and I can feel her lifeforce ebbing!" Luna exclaimed.

"What? How?!"

"WAKE UP!"

I bolted upright, adrenaline fueling my body. I threw off my covers, casting a light spell as I did. I ran over to Trixie, and bucked her in the ribs to make sure she woke up swiftly.

"Trixie was sleeping. Somepony better be dying." The showmare grumbled.

Pulling her to her hooves, I yelled "Vinyl is in trouble; we need to move now!"

"What, where?" Actual concern from Trixie? Amazing.

I cast a tracking spell, trying to find her music player’s magic frequency. It pinged about a quarter mile from our camp. I took off at a gallop, gesturing to Trixie to follow me. We ran for about a minute before coming across a large, pale pony stooped over what had to be Vinyl. I cast a daylight spell illuminate the clearing. The figure fled the radius of the light faster than my eyes could follow, and honestly, that terrified me.

I ran over to Vinyl, and the first thing I notice was the blood. She had several lacerations to her chest and neck, and was bleeding severely.

"Trixie, take control of my light spell. I need full focus for what I am about to do, and I can't risk that thing coming back!"

"Trixie is not certain how to do that; she is mostly self-taught!"

"Match the magical wavelength of my spell, and focus on keeping the light glowing!"

"Trixie will try," she sounded uncertain, but I had to believe it could be done; that she could do it.

I watched as Trixie lit up her horn, it glowed a viciously bright, but unstable pink. Assured that she would be able to maintain it, I dropped the spell and set to work on healing Vinyl.

The first thing I did was set up a spell to monitor her condition, to make sure she didn't die while in my care. At the same time I used my magic to re-tether her severed blood vessels. Once that was finished, I began clumsily stitching together the muscles that had been damaged in the attack. Finally, after satisfied that it had been done so to the best of my abilities, I started sealing up the flesh. I worried that my fear of what had done this being still out there had hastened my work, and not for the better, but there was nothing to be done now. We had to get back.

Satisfied that the physical damage was mended to the best of my ability under the circumstances, I cast a spell to stimulate growth of cells. I focused primarially on her marrow to create new red blood cells, if the red tarnished leaves and dirt were to be believed, that's where it was needed most to replace all the blood she had lost.

Panting from all the exertion, I nearly collapsed, the numbness of overchanneling spreading from my from my horn to my hooves. My weight began shifting and I could feel my footing give way when suddenly a shoulder propped itself up to my side to steady me. Thanks Trixie, I owe you one.

"Vinyl's condition is as stable as I can get right now, but I need to get her back to shelter. If that thing comes back we may all be done for," I strained out, barely a whisper.

I began to ignite my horn for telekinesis, but Trixie cut me off with a mildly painful tap to the tip. "Lyra, Trixie does not need you over-channeling more and hurting yourself. Look at you; you're spent. Allow Trixie to carry the DJ. Just lead the way; Trixie doesn't deal with woods very often."

"I can do it. You are not properly trained, and I have the magic for this..."

Trixie cut me off abruptly with a genuine confident smile and a small cough, and not that cocky-flank grin she normally wore, "Trixie is a stage performer, an illusionist at that, she weaves together complex illusions from multiple spells. She may not be 'properly trained' but she is a master at multi-spell casting. So shut up; Trixie is helping now."

She is stubborn, but she sounds confident in what she is doing.

Trixie levitated Vinyl very carefully while maintaining my light spell; a second aura of magic began to surround her horn, expanding and pulsing, but never losing its luster. She started sweating from the exertion, but at the same time that smile never wavered, so I simply started to lead the way back.

After a few minutes of a half-sprint, half-stumble, the cave came into sight. Relief at last from the darkness-enshrouded woods! Hesitating for a minute to catch my breath, I set out to relight our campfire, casting wary glances back towards the trees. After the sparks took and the fire was roaring fiercely, I grabbed a large bowl I had carved from a stump earlier in the day and ran to the spring in the back of the cave. Filling it up with fresh water and pulling some moss off of the rocks with my teeth, I trotted over to Vinyl with the bowl balanced precariously on my head to see to her.

I checked her over; the wounds were going to scar pretty bad, because I was by no means a doctor, but she would survive. However, she had a slight fever, and that worried me. Taking the moss, I dipped it into the water and laid it across her forehead to help cool her down before laying down next to her and wiping the injury sites with my bandana.

I needed to get some rest, as well as a solid breakfast. I was spent physically and magically, and unfortunatefully I had over-channeled. The last thing we needed was two members of our team down with that... Thing out there.

Unable to stave off the fatigue any more, I closed my eyes and crawled over to where I had laid my mat for the night. Satisfied that the immediate danger to Vinyl was gone, I was finally able to start dozing off to sleep again. Princess Luna, I need to know: will she be alright?

I sat up in the cave, panicking at first before a familiar voice said, "Relax, Lyra, you are merely asleep again. Vinyl will awake in the morning; you rescued her, but all is not well. That creature that attacked you, neither my sister or I have seen anything like that for over a thousand years. I had thought them to have been eradicated after my banishment, but some must have survived. Vinyl will be alright, but I may need to come to her myself if she starts to exhibit any strange behaviors."

"What was that thing?"

"A monster. The name does not have a translation in modern Equish, but before my banishment they were called Vampir, and they are dangerous. Be careful, but fear not, my sister and I will hunt it down. I am not missing this season for a monster."

"Wow," I deadpanned.

"What? I like the show," Luna replied sheepishly.

With a flourish of her wings, Luna exploded into a large swarm of bats. The swarm flew up towards the moon, and as I watched, the all-too-familiar image of the the mare in the moon appeared upon its surface.

"Remember, Lyra, if you need me, I will always be here in the world of dreams. Simply ask for guidance, and I will see to you here."

She's going to keep watching me in my sleep?! Creepy... but romantic I suppose. I wonder what BonBon will think?

After Luna's departure, I dreamed about BonBon, a slightly more pleasant reprise of my earlier night-terror. Following that, though, my dreams just got weird. Wow, thanks, brain.

Comments

[Mooncalf]

Interesting story. Survivor, but with more likeable characters. And also a vampire who doesn't seem to sparkle. Promising.

Though I'm a bit concerned that you're severely downplaying Trixie's capabilities here. She's a traveling performer, so she'd be very used to camping in the wilderness, and have a wide variety of minor spells to get by on. (In fact, she'd probably have a lot in common with Lyra in that way; a good point for them to bond over, maybe?) Also, any unicorn with basic training can make their horn light up (Snails could, and he's not exactly the brightest gem), so Trixie having to take over Lyra's light spell with some overcomplicated magibabble seems both redundant and insulting to her skill.

All things considered, promising. Hope to see more. Nice cover art, too.

[DarkBunny91]

4269707 I will keep that in mind for the future, I got the next chapter mostly finished, just need to clean up and run by my editorial staff again.

[The Spy of the Tiger]

Good. Now the action is starting. There was so much I forgot about this since I last read the thing.