Magic 16: アントライオン
Hoity Toity studied his class records, comparing them to the intel gathered on their hated enemies.
"Rarity...you killed Princess Pupa..."
He smiled grimly.
"I don't care WHAT Master Centipedis says," he said to himself, "if I have a chance to trap that little human wench...I'm taking it."
Magic 16: アントライオン
After dinner, Twilight Sparkle, her mother, Spike, and Cadance sat around the living room.
"So, Celestia-sama told you about our little...problem, right?" Velvet asked.
Twilight nodded. "Hai. And...we have a theory." She frowned. "It was Fluttershy-san's suggestion."
The others looked at one another. "Oh?"
Twilight took a deep breath. "It's possible Sunset Shimmer broke the seal."
Cadance and Velvet traded a worried glance. "Celestia-sama didn't say anything about that."
"She was probably worried the three of you would try something stupid and get yourselves killed," Twilight said.
"It does make sense though," Spike said thoughtfully.
"No, it really doesn't," Twilight said. "It's completely insane. But...somehow, I can't shake the feeling that Fluttershy-san is right." She sighed. "Sunset Shimmer killed Aunt Satin to make herself immortal. If...if she thought there was something to be gained by destroying one of the Lunar Seals..."
"But what could she possibly gain by freeing...her?" Cadance asked fearfully.
Velvet frowned. "Destroying one of the Seals wouldn't free the Dark One."
"Aren't those Seals full of moonlight magic?" Spike asked. "Maybe that's what she's after."
Twilight shuddered. "Killing Sunset Shimmer is going to be hard enough as it is. If she is the one responsible...if she's somehow drained the moon magic from one of the Lunar Seals..."
"Aww...you ruined my little surprise..."
The four mages shot to their feet, looking around warily.
A silvery image of Sunset Shimmer faded into view in the middle of the living room.
"Sunset Shimmer!" Twilight cried, clenching her fists.
"Good evening, Twilight Sparkle. Hello, Aunt Velvet. I hope you're well." Sunset Shimmer smirked at all of them. "You've been keeping busy. All six of your little Elements of Harmony are finally awake."
"That's right!" Twilight said. "We're ready for you!"
Sunset Shimmer laughed. "Oh, I highly doubt it." She regarded Twilight coldly. "The only thing you're ready for is death. Not to worry...I'll be seeing you soon enough. At sunset on the night of the new moon...that's when we'll end this. Until then, dear cousin..."
Her image faded away, her laughter echoing through the room.
"The new moon...that's less than two weeks away!" Cadance exclaimed.
Twilight smiled grimly. "Good," she said. "That's plenty of time to prepare..."
"Twilight," Velvet said warily, "she...she has the power of the Lunar Seal..." Worry filled her eyes. "Even...even with the Elements of Harmony..."
"You haven't seen what my friends can do," Twilight said confidently. "It won't be an easy battle, but...with the six of us together..."
"Seven," Spike piped up. "You're not facing her without me."
Twilight smiled. "Of course not! I'm sorry...I'd never dream of leaving you out of this."
"Well...I suggest we all turn in for the night," Velvet said. "After all," she continued, looking at Twilight, "you've got school tomorrow. And so do you, for that matter," she added with a glance at Cadance.
Twilight blinked. "Oh, that's right...! I'm going back to school."
"You need to remember to act like you're still recovering," Cadance admonished.
"Hai!"
* * * * *
When Twilight entered homeroom, the entire class erupted in cheers. She blushed, ducking her head as she shuffled hurriedly to her desk.
At the front of the room, Miss Cheerilee smiled warmly. "Welcome back, Sparkle-san," she said. "How are you feeling?"
"Still sore," Twilight said. "I have to limit my physical activity...you know, until my insides heal up..."
"Did...they ever catch the..." Miss Cheerilee trailed off.
"Okaasan told me...he was found dead," Twilight said.
"I see..." Cheerilee's brow furrowed. "Well...everyone settle down...I know you want to ask Sparkle-san a lot of questions, but we do have material to cover..."
* * * * *
After homeroom, one of Rarity's classmates leaned in close. "Ne...Rarity...did Toity-sensei seem a bit...off to you this morning?"
"Now that you mention it, yes," Rarity said, frowning. "Applejack-san? What about you?"
Applejack scratched her cheek. "Ah dunno, Rarichin...this is actually only mah second day'a school here, remember?"
"Right...we've grown so close over Golden Week, I'd forgotten..."
* * * * *
The mahoushoujo gathered in a corner of the courtyard for lunch. For once, they were able to speak privately, because Spike had shown up and used his magic to conceal them from prying eyes and ears.
"We had a visit from Sunset Shimmer last night," Twilight said.
The others gasped.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Rainbow demanded.
"I wanted to tell you all at once, but not over the phone or text," Twilight said.
"How did she...what...are you alright?" Fluttershy asked.
"She wasn't...physically there," Twilight said.
"She can do that trick Celestia-sama does now," Spike said sourly. "Except at night."
Twilight looked directly at Fluttershy. "You were right, Fluttershy-san," she said. "Sunset Shimmer has absorbed the lunar magic from the broken Lunar Seal."
The others looked around worriedly.
"So...what's that mean?" Applejack asked.
"It means she's more dangerous than ever," Twilight said. "But I'm confident the seven of us can put a stop to her once and for all."
"And after that, we can finish making that idol PV!" Pinkie cheered. "Only with all of us instead of just me, Twilight-chan, and Rainbow-chan!"
"Count me out," Spike said. "I'd rather watch it than be in it."
"Hmm...yeah...you wouldn't really fit the dynamic," Pinkie agreed. "You can totally help with effects, though!"
"Idol PV?" Applejack asked.
"Before Sparkle-san was shot, the three of them were practicing for a dance video," Rarity explained. "And I was working on costumes for it."
"Huh."
"Now that we're all friends, I was thinking..." Pinkie looked around at her friends. "I was hoping maybe, once we win the battle, we could maybe all...you know...together..."
"I...I don't know," Fluttershy said, ducking her head. "I...I don't think I could..."
"Ah dunno if Ah could even dance t'...whatever," Applejack said. "Then again, Ah think Apple Bloom's a fan of yours..."
"I...wouldn't be terribly opposed to it," Rarity said.
"Well...please just think about it, okay?" Pinkie said. "It'd be...it'd mean a lot to me if we could all do it together as friends."
"I...I'll think about it," Fluttershy said.
"Heh...maybe," Applejack said, smiling.
"There's one more thing," Twilight said. "Sunset Shimmer has thrown down the gauntlet." She took a deep breath. "The night of the new moon. That's when this ends...one way or the other."
The girls looked grimly at one another.
"Right," Rarity said, nodding.
"Ah'll be ready," Applejack said, cracking her knuckles.
"That's...really soon..." Fluttershy murmured worriedly.
"Can't wait to kick her skank ass," Rainbow said with a grin.
"She's going down!" Pinkie declared. "And then we'll have a party!"
"I don't think this is really a 'party' type of...occasion," Rarity said. "More like a solemn, dignified ceremony."
"Let's worry about surviving this first," Twilight said. "We need to get in as much extra training before then as possible."
"Right," the others agreed.
* * * * *
Rarity and Applejack had classroom cleaning duty after school.
As Applejack washed down the whiteboard and Rarity polished each desk to a high shine, Mr. Toity walked into the room, smacking his paper fan into his open palm. "Excellent, girls...oh, dear me, I forgot...Applejack-san, would you mind terribly running down to the supply room? I need a fresh pack of dry erase markers."
"Sure thing, Sensei!" Applejack said, headed for the door. "Back in a jiff!"
As soon as the door closed behind her, Mr. Toity turned to Rarity, an evil smirk on his face. "Well well...alone at last," he said.
Rarity frowned. "Sensei...are you quite alright?"
With absolutely no fanfare, Hoity Toity transformed into an anthropomorphic antlion. The floor of the classroom dissolved into sand, forming a pit which began sucking Rarity toward its center.
Rarity gasped. "You...you killed Sensei?"
"Yes," the Changeling said. "And now, I'll avenge Princess Pupa." Its massive mandibles chittered. "I, Antleo, will be praised as a hero of the Changelings!"
"Oh, it is ON," Rarity said, plunging her hand down her blouse and retrieving her henshin locket. Her Element appeared in her other hand.
"Element of Harmony...GENEROSITY!"
She slammed the gemstone into her locket; in a blinding flash, her school uniform was replaced by her battle qipao, and her fan appeared in her hand.
Antleo chortled. "What an ironic choice of weapon, considering the fool I consumed and replaced..."
"Toity-sensei was a good man, and a spectacular dresser!" Rarity shouted. She coiled her leg muscles and jumped straight up; the sand trap pulled at her feet, but she just barely cleared it and managed to land on a desk that was swirling toward the vortex at the center. "FASHION WAVE!"
A blue wave of energy snapped out from Rarity's fan; Antleo blocked it with Mr. Toity's paper fan, which had transformed into a sinister thing made of bones and human flesh. The room rumbled and shook; Rarity lost her footing and skidded off the desk, landing in the sand.
"It's over now," Antleo said, diving into the heart of the vortex. His crushing maw opened wide, ready to receive his next meal.
The door exploded off its hinges. "Who locked this dang door?!" Applejack thundered, barging into the room...and nearly getting caught in the sand trap. "Whut th' heck?!"
"Applejack-san! I could use a little help here!"
Applejack stared. "Whut happened to th' classroom? An' where's Sensei?"
"That horrible Changeling killed him and replaced him! Now, if you wouldn't mind, PLEASE help me!"
"Oh, uh, right." Applejack pulled out her own henshin locket and Element.
"Element of Harmony...HONESTY!"
As soon as Applejack transformed, she looped her lasso over her head, then threw it, snagging Rarity around one flailing leg. With a mighty heave, she yanked Rarity free of the sand trap, depositing her in the hall.
Antleo leapt from the sand and snarled. "You're one of those mahoushoujo as well?! I didn't know anything about this!"
"Yeah, well...Ah'm sorta new." Applejack drew her twin revolvers. "Here's a lesson for ya, 'Sensei'! It takes three things t' make an apple tree grow: sun, soil, an' rain!"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Antleo hissed.
"Not a dang thing!" Applejack said, pointing her guns at Antleo and opening fire. "COWGIRL BARRAGE!"
Twelve glowing orange bullets ripped holes in Antleo's carapace. Thick, leafy vines grew out of each hole, wrapping around the Changeling and dragging him into the center of his own sand pit. Antleo thrashed madly as he struggled to break the vines, but they held fast.
With a grin, Applejack brought her guns together; they glowed bright orange before fusing into a huge, silver double-barreled shotgun. She pointed it right at the Changeling's head. "Say goodnight, pardner," she said.
She pulled the trigger.
Antleo's head and upper torso exploded in a shower of gore. The sand pit stopped churning, becoming a ruined spiral pattern of erupted floor tiles and smashed desks, with the gory remains of a dead Changeling at the center.
"Messy, but effective," Rarity said.
"What's going on here?!"
The two mahoushoujo turned to see two teachers and five students standing behind them, staring in shock.
"Rarity?!"
"Hey, the new girl's got a gun!"
"Whoa, what'd you do to the classroom?"
"What IS that thing?!"
The homeroom teacher of the class next door squared his jaw, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. "How dare you bring an illegal weapon into this school?"
"It ain't what you think!" Applejack said. Even as she did so, the shotgun reverted to two revolvers, which she holstered. The students around them gasped.
"Explain yourselves," the teacher demanded.
Applejack looked to Rarity. Rarity pointed into the room. "Do you see that...thing stuck in the floor?"
The teacher looked into the room. His face went pale. "What...what in blazes...?"
"That creature murdered Toity-sensei and assumed his identity," Rarity said. "It attempted to kill me moments ago. But there's no need to worry about any of this."
"No need to...what are you talking about? Why was this girl armed? We're going to have a long talk with the principal. And possibly the police!"
Rarity smiled. "Oh, I don't think so." She pointed behind the teacher. He turned.
"Nurse Cadance! Something very strange is going on here..."
"Oh, I completely agree," Cadance said. "Don't you, Twilight?"
"Hai," Twilight Sparkle said. Her eyes began to glow.
"Forget."
* * * * *
"Well, cleaning up after that Changeling attack was hard work," Twilight said as she slumped tiredly onto the living room sofa in her apartment. "Especially after Applejack-san splattered it all over the place."
"Attempting to explain the disappearance of that teacher will be a bit more difficult," Velvet said, frowning.
Twilight sighed. "I spoke with one of Celestia-sama's agents. They're handling it, but...I don't like the way they're handling it."
"Oh?"
"They could say he suddenly decided to take a vacation out of country or something," Twilight said. "Instead, they've decided to convince everybody he was murdered by some random bigot who hates homosexuals."
Velvet frowned. "He was gay?"
"According to Senpai? Incredibly gay."
"Well...I agree that's a terrible way to close the incident, but...at least it's logical."
Twilight sighed. "Pretty twisted logic if you ask me." She looked around. "Is Spike still out on patrol?"
"He's coming back in an hour," Velvet said. "I don't want him out after dark. It...it isn't safe to be out at night right now."
"No...it isn't..."
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That was messy, Applejack! Man, the girls need better ways to conceal their identities.
So, am I reading about Applejack or Xigbar?
...
Anyway, nice chapter to show off AJ's powers, even if it was a bit short. I did enjoy the use of a rather obscure insect in the antlion, and I'm glad one of the Changelings is a goddamn centipede! I thought a giant centipede would be cool to fight against.
And I couldn't help it, I read Hoity Toity's lines while thinking of Tim Gunn's voice.
Ah. Not just a gunslinger, a druidic gunslinger. I should've guessed. Nice touch with the shotgun.
Also, the funny thing is that sand traps are the province of larval antlions. No wonder Antleo attacked ahead of schedule. Blame the impetuousness of youth.
Oh, and Sunset Shimmer now has powers beyond those of mortal mages. Moreso than before, even. That's not at all good. Hopefully this is just a temporary boost and once she's run through the stolen power, she won't get any back. And maybe the other changelings will decide to live peacefully among humans for the rest of time...
Looking forward to more.
5270535
Oh well, didn't though you'd agreed in the first place. It's cool
(note, that downvote isn't mine).
5272070 There's some idiot who has nothing better to do with his or her life than go through my stories/blog posts and downvote all my comments. I don't really pay it any attention.
Nice chapter. Glad to see you're recovered enough to keep writing this one. I look forward to seeing what happens next.
5327284 Probably because it's heavily anime-inspired?
Can't believe I caught up to this in a day. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Yay! A doodlebug!
Everybody loves doodlebugs!
Well, at least this one was smart enough to try and isolate them!
Is antleo's name a pun? Because Leo is the lion constellation? And antleo is a giant ant lion?
Also, this is funny because my AOC is a changeling queen.
YOU!
She's right.
Whatever you say, ya Power Rangers Monster of the week ripoff.
As usual, Transformation is a Free Action.
Wow...
Xigbar much?
They're in weird outfits, there's sand everywhere, the corpse of a Changeling and THAT'S your concern?
Oh, he hadn't seen it yet, never mind.
Oh.
Gee, I wonder who you ship in this....