#6 Things get better
"Oh, my..." said Celestia as she stared at the lifeless pony on the ground.
"Yeah." said Clear Glass as he motioned for a few cops to disperse the crowd of ponies that had gathered around the scene. He had a blue coat and a dark blue mane with sharp and experienced gray eyes. Take a guess at what his cutie mark was. He'd been Canterlot's Head Detective for years, and if there was one thing he learned in the very few homicide cases he'd worked on, it was that you didn't want ponies to see the body. It would make it hell for Luna's nightly duties, and she, in turn, made it hell for him.
"What...happened?" asked Celestia as she examined the body. It was hard for her to tell, but it appeared to be a dark-orange stallion. The body was covered from head to hoof in deep cuts she could only assume were stab wounds. One of his eyes appeared to have been gouged out while the other was swollen shut. His midsection had been cut open, revealing his intestines.
Celestia had seen worse. Much worse. Despite this, she could never get used to seeing somepony dead. It didn't matter how bad the body looked. It just made her feel sick to know that the dead pony's life was over. No more mornings. No more nights. No more chances. Just...dead. Like she had nearly been countless times.
"Witnesses say he was dropped out of the sky about seven minutes ago." said Clear Glass as he levitated a magnifying glass and steel pick out of a pouch on his back-pack. Celestia stared at the stallions face. She tried to remember him. She knew just about everypony in Canterlot. It bothered her that she couldn't recognize him. For more reasons than one.
"He was a pegasus." stated Celestia as she spotted the stump of nerve endings on his withers. It sickened her that she was relieved to see that his wings had been hacked off, not pulled. Pegasi wings were extremely tough and leathery, but the boy wouldn't need to cut them. He never did.
"Yep, but get this." Clear Glass levitated the body onto it's other side. "Whoever did it only hacked off one wing." Although broken, it was still there, lying limp and caked with blood. It was outstretched, and judging by the angle, it was broken upon impact with the ground.
"Impossible..." said Celestia. Clear Glass shook his head in bewilderment.
"Nope. Pegasi automatically flare their wings when falling, but they always go limp when they die." Clear Glass indicated this by gently wiggling the dead stallions remaining wing. "Somehow, this guy was alive before hitting the ground."
"There are deep stab wounds in his head!" said Celestia as she pointed at said wounds with her hoof. "Let's not forget the ones on his chest and throat."
"My first guess was that he was being stabbed while falling, but witnesses didn't report anypony else falling with him. My other guess is that he was-"
"Cursed..." said Celestia practically to herself. Then her eye's narrowed. "May I see a cloth?"
"Sure." Clear Glass levitated a small cloth out of his backpack and felt a strain in his horn as Celestia quickly yanked it away from him with her magic. She used the cloth to quickly wipe off the dead stallions posterior.
Celestia gasped as she stepped back, letting the cloth fall to the ground. Clear glass looked at the symbol adorning the stallions flank. His face wrinkled up in confusion.
"Odd..." he said as he got a closer look with his magnifying glass. The stallion's cutie mark was a black, spiraling, hole with a red outline. "What's this thing supposed to mean?"
He didn't receive an answer. When he turned to look at her, Celestia appeared frozen in place, her mouth hanging slightly open. Her eyes had a distant look, as if she were staring through the very fabric of time.
"Your highness?"
"Hatred?" said Celestia as she began to back even further away and shake her head in denial.
"What about hatred?" asked Clear Glass. Celestia managed to break free from her daze and looked at him before composing her self and steadying her breathing. Her father had always stressed that the second most important quality of any ruler is the ability to remain calm, no matter how in-equine it might seem to do so. Nothing meant the end was certain.
Nothing.
Celestia inwardly steeled her resolve and began concocting a game plan.
"Clear Glass?"
"Yes, your highness?"
"I want you to use as many resources as you possibly can to conduct a search throughout Canterlot for anypony or anything with this insignia. This is of the utmost importance right now."
Clear Glass gave an affirmative nod before looking back at the body.
"What about him?" he asked. Celestia walked over to the body and levitated a bloody, blue strand of hair from one of the stab wounds in the stallion's throat.
"I'm going to talk to its killer."
Without any further input, Celestia unfurled her wings and took off, motioning for the guards she'd taken with her to stay put. Clear Glass scratched his head as he watched her leave.
"It?"
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Celestia slowly glided to the ground and landed softly, her golden-clad hooves barely making a sound. The street she was on was quiet as usual, with no more then a few ponies there to stare at her like she didn't belong out of the castle. One of them had actually shivered while trotting passed her.
Celestia let out a sigh.
Why did her subjects view her as some greater-than-thou being that was always seeking to judge and punish? Luna was socially awkward, but she at least had the love and respect of the bat-ponies. Celestia had but only a handful of ponies that would often greet her as a friend rather than a ruler. She wished that her subjects would understand that ruling Equestria was only her occupation and her passion. Not who she was as a whole.
Well, they did know about her cake addiction. At least she had that going for her.
Removing the passerby's uncomfortable stares from her mind, she walked up to her destination and lightly knocked on the door. Well, no. She was about to knock on the door, but it opened right before her hoof could make contact.
"Princess Celestia!" said Minuette with a smile and gleeful attitude that rivaled the pink party-pony herself. "Nice to see you! Lovely morning we're having! What are you doing here?"
Celestia merely stared at the blue unicorn with a look completely absent of emotion.
"May I come inside?" asked Celestia calmly. Minuette seemed to pause before answering, as if she were actually contemplating whether or not the mother of her nation was allowed to come into her house.
"Of course!" said Minuette as she stepped aside. Celestia lowered her head and walked inside. She noticed how Minuette shut and locked the door behind her the moment she was out of the door's range. It was a customary thing to do, but the way Minuette did it just seemed...ominous.
"Here!" said Minuette as she walked over to her kitchen table and pulled out a chair for Celestia to sit on. It was a bit too small for her, but she had grown accustomed to sitting in small chairs over time. Minuette promptly levitated a cup of freshly brewed tea in front the alicorn and set it down onto the table. "Make yourself comfortable! I'll be right back!"
Celestia noticed Minuette's damp mane.
"Did I interrupt your shower?" asked Celestia.
"Oh, no." said Minuette with a dismissive hoof as she turned to trot away. "Just finishing up."
Celestia looked up at a clock hanging above the kitchen sink.
"It's unlike you to shower so late in the morning." said Celestia as she sipped her tea.
Minuette stopped in her tracks. It could have just been her imagination, but Celestia could've sworn she saw Minuette's body twitch.
"I...spilled something on myself." said Minuette as she continued her trot out of the room. "Yep. Had to take another shower before heading out."
"What did you spill?"
Minuette stopped again right before exiting the room. She giggled, but it wasn't natural, as if she were trying to force it down unsuccessfully.
"Oh, just some hair dye. Moon Dancer left it here the other week and forgot to put the top back on."
"Really?" said Celestia with a raised eyebrow. "I thought the company that manufactured hair dye in Canterlot made it magically removable with a simple spell found on the bottle."
"Oh?"
"Yes." said Celestia with a nod. "I'm sure Moon Dancer wouldn't allow you to dye her hair or vice-versa without informing you of it. It wouldn't be like her."
"Well..." said Minuette with another suppressed giggle. "I tried to do that, but it wouldn't work. Probably just a defective product."
"Hm. That's strange. That spell can remove just about anything...unless it's biological in nature. Like...blood for instance."
"Blood?" said Minuette, turning her head. As she said it, her smile grew slightly and her eyes lit up in fascination. She began to giggle some more, but this time it seemed deeper and even more restrained. She could barely voice her next sentence."Why...would I be covered in blood?"
There was a long silence as Celestia and Minuette stared at one another. They were a good ten feet apart, but Celestia noticed something about her. Her smile was crooked. Like a zig-zag in an up-curve.
"You can trust me Minuette."
"Oh, I know that!"
Celestia sighed in defeat. She closed her eyes slowly and concentrated. When she opened them, they were glowing a bright red, and so was her horn.
"There is one spell that removes organic matter." said Celestia darkly. Minuette felt a prickling/pulling sensation on the back of her neck. She giggled.
"That tickles!"
After a few seconds, the tingling sensation stopped. A glowing red orb floated from around Minuette up to her face. Upon closer inspection, she could see a dark-red liquid being levitated within the aura.
"Oopsie!" said Minuette cheerily. "Guess I missed a spot! Thanks for getting it."
"This is organic in origin Minuettte." said Celestia sternly. "It's not hair dye."
"Oh! That's right!" said Minuette as she scratched the back of her head and put on a pained expression. "I cut myself while I was-"
"This is also not your blood."
Minuette looked at celestia. And then back to the droplet of blood. She suddenly remembered Moon Dancer reading to her about an Alicorn's ability to conduct DNA tests using a spell thought forbidden centuries ago. As for why it was forbidden, the spell could also be used to manipulate blood. If an alicorn didn't like somepony enough, he or she could cause said pony to rapidly and explosively eject all of said pony's blood through said pony's anus.
When she'd learned about it, Minuette laughed hysterically, causing Moon Dancer to grow leary of her company.
"We've talked before, Minuette." said Celestia soothingly. "Please, just tell me what happened."
Minuette's smile didn't falter. In fact, in grew even more, becoming even more crooked. Her eye's shrank to pin-pricks and she began to giggle, getting louder with each passing second. As Celestia watched her double over in laughter, she could see a pained look on Minuettes face.
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Luna stared up at her bed-room ceiling with wide, angry eyes, She had the covers pulled over her chest and all the blinds were closed. She'd sound proofed her room a few hours before. She'd even cast a spell to make her ceiling imitate the night sky she'd grown so fond of. Despite all this, she couldn't sleep. Not even for a second.
Her body was tired, but her mind was on over-drive. She was angry. Furious. Livid. If you were to be standing next to her bed in her room, you would be able to see her glowing hot eyes twitch ever now and then. Then she'd see you and probably vaporize you thinking you were the boy coming to kill her. Or Discord peeping on her.
All she could think about was the boy. Well, actually she was thinking about ways to kill him, but that's basically the same thing. She was also thinking about the many ways he could kill her. Every time she did, her eyes would dim slightly out of fear. Unlike killing him, that was a very real possibility. Especially with him so close to her.
Why was Celestia doing this? Was it really because she wanted to give him another chance? After he'd turned all those years ago, it seemed that every day was another chance for him. Celestia would try to talk to him, to reach whatever doubled as his heart. But time and time again, she failed. No. He failed her. Many times. Far too many.
He didn't deserve any more chances. He could not be forgiven. She didn't care if he'd changed or not. He deserved death. Every second he was alive was a mockery of everything she stood for, another sliver of doubt and fear working its way into her inner being.
Her angry breathes caught in her throat when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.
Two, red, glowing, dots.
Luna's anger immediately left her, leaving her petrified and afraid.
"...N..no..." she barely choked out as she found the will to slowly begin inching away from the eyes.
They inched towards her.
Her room was pitch-black, but she was certain of who the eyes belonged to. She'd seen them many years ago in her old bed-room.
Luna gasped when she ran out of bed and fell to the floor in a mess of covers. She quickly scrambled to her hooves, throwing the covers off of her.
The eyes were gone.
She looked around her room frantically. For some odd reason, it had become even darker. So dark that even she couldn't see through it. She couldn't even see her bed anymore. When she looked up, her night sky was gone, replaced with a topless abyss.
Her heart was beginning to beat faster, making her fear escalate to panic. She didn't want to move because she didn't know where he was. Any step she took could be in his direction. But she knew she couldn't just stand there.
She tried to calm her breathing as she began to think. He was there. Somewhere. Playing with her, trying to break her spirit. She wouldn't allow him. She was the princess of the night. She entered ponies dreams and helped them conquer all of their fears. She was the master of fear. This little boy wasn't going to faze her.
All of those thoughts were nice, but there was still him. She'd have to somehow survive this encounter despite being blind with her in enfilade. He could strike at any moment. Without a plan, she wouldn't last a second. She thought against using her horn to light up the room, since she would most likely get it forcefully removed in the process.
Luna looked over to where her closet should have been. Her sister kept her armor tucked away in the castle armory where even the best thieves couldn't get to it. Luna thought herself smarter than that. She kept her armor in her closet, where she could get to it quickly. He probably didn't know it was there, so if she bumbled around to it feigning fear, he might not attack and give her a chance to put it on.
All she'd need to do was touch the armor with her horn, and it would appear on her. The flash of light resulting from it would most likely cause him to attack. Her armor could provide just enough protection for her to be badly injured, but not killed on the spot.
She began a slow trot to where her closet should've been, making sure to appear afraid. He'd never used fear tactics before though. At least not intentionally. Part of what made him him so dangerous was his lack of hesitation. He didn't care for theatrics.
The resulting struggle would cause enough confusion for her to strike back or at least put some distance between her and him. She'd escape her room and alert the guards and her sister, however pointless it may be. From that point on, she'd just have to figure out a way to get Celestia her armor. Together, she increased her feeble chances of survival by a good twenty percent.
She mentally berated herself for making such a far-fetched and desperate plan.
Her hoof tripped over something and caused her to fall forward. She caught herself just in time for her snout to hit something wooden. Her heart jumped when she heard the clanging of metal inside of what she'd hit. It was her closet, and her armor was just through the door.
She turned around. The eye's were back, just floating in the darkness motionlessly. The fear she displayed then wasn't for show, and she had to will herself to move again. Her eyes began to water as it inched closer to her. She felt her heart drop into her gut and the blood drain from her face.
No.
She was the princess of the night. She WAS a nightmare at one point.
Her hoof reached out for the door handle and hooked around it. She gulped as the thought of him reaching her wracked her mind. He was only a yard in front of her now. She steeled herself, closed her eyes, and yanked open the closet door as quickly as she could before jamming her horn inside.
*SQUISH*
She opened them again, confused. Her horn had obviously not touched her armor. It had speared through something...else.
When she looked up, she suppressed a scream.
A red light had engulfed her closet, and on the other end of her horn, was the pulverized remains of a large pony. A large, white pony.
Luna jumped back and quickly removed her horn from her sister's barely recognizable corpse, causing it to fall forwards out of the closet. She immediately noticed that her head was missing. The same red light began to engulf the rest of the room behind her.
"..L..una..."
Luna's tears began to flow freely as she turned around.
The boy was standing right in front of her now. He was looking up to her with beady red circles surrounded by blackness.
With her sister's bloody head held tightly in his hand by her mane.
"...Lun..a..." croaked Celestia's battered head as blood dribbled from it.
"NO!" shouted Luna as she backed away from the sight with panicked hooves. "GET AWAY!"
The boy continued to stare holes into her as he held Celestia's twitching head. The mutilated remains of other ponies could now be seen, littered around the room.
Cadence...
Captain Armor...
Twilight...
Applejack...
Rainbow Dash...
Rarity...
Fluttershy...
Pinkiepie...
All of them, despite being torn to pieces, were still twitching, gurgling incoherent noises.
"How...how could you DO THIS!?" shouted Luna as she broke down in tears.
The boy merely cocked his head to the side, dropped Celestia's head, and lunged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"LUNA!"
Luna woke up in a cold sweat, her stomach turning over. Her door was open, flooding her room with light. Her vision was hazy and she was trembling like she was having a seizure, but she could see Celestia by her side, trying to calm her down by shaking her.
"I'M HERE!" shouted Celestia as she stared deeply into Luna's shrunken eyes. Luna stared back, her mind fighting to get a grip on reality. There were tears flowing from her fear-stricken, blood-shot eyes. Celestia then hugged her tightly. Luna began sobbing.
"Ni-nightmare." said Luna through choked sobs. Celestia said nothing, choosing to hold her little sister tightly in response. "He...you..."
"I'm here, Luna."
Ever heard of that saying about how great power comes with great responsibility? No?
You freakin' liar.
Anyway, that applies to everything. Even talking, techni-color ponies from other worlds. What most ponies don't know about Luna is that being the princess of the night comes with a terrible catch.
Her "nightmares" were the worst. They were unlike anything anypony had ever dreamed of, spearing into her core values and violently ripping them to pieces. To make matters worse, she couldn't tell when they started. As long as fear was present within her being, they could start at anytime and anywhere.
Anypony else, perhaps even Celestia herself, would be driven mad by the condition. But Luna was stubborn and a true leader deep at her core. She knew that if she lost herself, she'd lose everyone else. For good this time. But in the end, that did next to nothing for her. What really kept her sane and away from suicidal thoughts was her sister.
Celestia gave off a kind of warmth to anypony she was around. Sometimes, it was terrifyingly hot. Especially to scum-for-suitors. Most times, it was motherly and warm, giving off the feeling of love and safety.
Luna felt this warmth as Celestia hugged her. The cold, festering, darkness within her slowly began to ebb away as it was replaced with warmth and confidence.
By this point, the guards had finally arrived at what was left of Luna's bedroom door. It appeared to have been blown off or incinerated, putting them on alert. They were then confused to see Celestia hugging her shivering sister like a mother would a child. They'd expected an assassin. The noises coming from her room seemed to be a dead giveaway. But nope. Just another one of Luna's nightmares.
"Geez..."muttered one of the guards as he exhaled. "She needs to see a doctor."
"Shut it, Cobalt!" said the other guard with a stern look.
Luna's shivering and erratic breathing finally came to a hault. Despite this, she chose to savor her sister's embrace for just a little while longer. It wasn't rare to get a hug from her sister, but it was rare not to get bear-hug. She let out a steady sigh.
"I..I'm fine now." said Luna. Celestia nodded before letting go of her. She had also been savoring the hug. Luna wasn't exactly the most huggable pony.
Ok, before I go on, I just want you Brony's to know I'm not saying Luna isn't huggable. I'm just saying that...let me rephrase that statement...
Luna thought hugs were childish, so she often avoided hugging, making her un-huggable in a physical sense.
There. I did that just to be safe. I don't want some rainbow colored dude with a tail tracking me down and walkin' up on me on the street with a shiv done up like Celestia's horn. That would be terrifying.
Ok, back to the story....
Reluctantly, Luna and Celestia broke away from each other. Luna then cleared her throat and composed herself to look as regal as she usually did.
"I apologize for the disturbance." said Luna plainly.
"It is fine Luna." said Celestia before moving off the bed. "I'll be here for you as many times as it takes."
"Thank you." said Luna as she looked over to see the guards surveying the smoldering remains of her expensive bed-room door. "Did you forget you had a key again?"
Celestia's face went pale. The last time she blew up Luna's door, she promised to pay for the next one, something she couldn't really do at the moment without cutting into her cake fund. Her mind raced.
"It was like that when I found it." said Celestia slyly. One of the guards, the aforementioned Cobalt, squinted his eyes in confusion.
"But I could've sworn I sworn I saw-"
"A monster from Tartarus blow up her door?" said Celestia as she slowly turned her head to look at Cobalt with mock surprise. "Maybe I should assign another guard to TARTARUS DUTY to help them out?"
The rookie guard was about to open his mouth when the other guard jabbed hin in the side with a hoof. Cobalt turned to see the guard shaking his head and making cutting motions on his neck Cobalt gulped in realization.
"Uh...yeah!" said Cobalt nervously. "It was a um...some thing with wings and fire breath!"
"A dragon?" said Luna with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, your majesty!" said Cobalt with a salute. Luna squinted at him long and hard without a word, making him begin to sweat. Celestia figured she'd best intervene before the young guard peed himself for the second time that week.
"Well," began Celestia as she stepped into Luna's vision to hide Cobalt's shaking. "Now that I'm here, there's something I think you need to see."
Luna considered putting it off until later so that she could get some rest, but she'd seen how that turned out. In fact, just being in her room made her feel afraid. She needed to get out of there.
"Fine." she said as she got out of bed and levitated her crown off of her dresser. "It's not like I'll be able to sleep anyway."
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Daring sat at her desk with a bored expression plastered on her face. Well, maybe not boredom. Perhaps it was hopelessness. Celestia basically told her she was fired until further notice, and considering how used to the passage of time Celestia had grown, that could mean years. DECADES even!
Then again, had she really messed up that bad? If she could remember correctly from a newspaper she'd read, seven fillies had turned up missing after venturing into the Everfree last year, and that was just one of many instances. She felt she was doing something good for pony-kind. Sure, she had a few ulterior motives, but could you blame her for wanting enough money to buy a decent security system? One get's sick of waking up to robbers and assassins in the dead of night. And she was sick of scrubbing the blood out of her carpets.
......
Daring shook the thoughts away.
She'd expected to be on a long-deserved vacation at this point, but nope. She was stuck in the big empty Castle of Friendship, in a room with nothing in it but a desk, a large window, and a simple bed. She desperately wished there was a clock. Her things were supposed to be arriving on the next train, and she couldn't tell if it was an hour away or five minutes away.
"Ms. Do?" called the muffled voice of Twilight Sparkle behind her door. "You in there?"
"Is the train almost here?" asked Daring in reply.
"Not yet." said Twilight as she opened the door to Daring's new room. "We still have another few hours."
"Fantastic."
"Something happened in Canterlot." said Twilight as she scratched the back of her head with a hoof. "But I have an Idea in mind to pass the time."
"Furnish your castle?"
"No, I tried that already. I was thinking I could introduce you to my friends."
What a splendid Idea!
Daring froze when she heard the familiar voice. When she turned around to face Twilight and discover who had spoken, she visibly jumped in her seat.
There, idly standing right next to Twilight with it's paws folded behind it's back, was the chrome draconius from the temple in the center of the Everfree.
Daring's eye's flicked from Twilight to the chrome copy, expecting an immediate explanation.
Twilight winced in suspicion and looked to her right, trying to figure out what Daring was staring at.
"Ms. Do?" said Twilight, beginning to get worried. "Is something wrong?"
Daring started to raise her hoof to point when the chrome copy raised his paw to stop her.
Ah-ah-ah! This isn't the time to appear insane. Being cooped up in Ponyville is the bee's knees compared a mental ward. Especially for ponies as dangerous as you!
Daring's eyes furrowed in confusion. She'd just seen Twilight look directly at him and then back at her. Either she really couldn't see him, or Celestia had entrusted her power to an idiot. The latter was unlikely, despite her quirks, so the only other sensible explanation was that only she could see him.
Bravo! clapped the draconius. She figured it out!
And he could read her mind. She didn't like this. She didn't like this at all.
"Hellooo~?" said Twilight, waving a hoof from side to side to get Daring's attention. Daring blinked twice before looking at Twilight again.
Go on...say something before she writes to Celestia about you blanking out on her.
"Yes?" said Daring, trying to steady her nerves.
"Are you alright?" asked Twilight apprehensively.
"Uh, yeah. Just uh...just remembered something."
"Really? What?"
Daring stared at Twilight like a deer in headlights as her mind raced.
"I..."
"Yes?"
"Need a disguise before I can leave." said Daring unsurely. Twilight looked down on the floor and almost immediately saw the disguise Daring was wearing the day before.
"You mean that one?" said Twilight as she pointed to the purple cloak and glasses. Daring looked down and feigned realization.
"Oh, there it is!" said Daring as she got up and approached it. "I've been looking for it all morning! Thanks!"
"You're...welcome?" said Twilight as she nodded unsurely. Daring could hear the chrome draconius chuckling, but didn't dare glare at him.
Maybe if she didn't look at him, he would go away.
"Aren't you going to...bathe?" said Twilight as she watched Daring put the cloak on. "There's a bathroom down the hall."
Daring froze right before she could slip on her shades. She could practically feel the draconius staring holes into her flank.
Oh goody!
"Nope." said Daring as she put on the shades and pulled the hood over her head.
"Huh? Why not?"
"Nope."
"...I can assure you that's it's very cle-"
"Nope."
"But-"
"Nope."
"..."
"Nope."
"Urgh! Fine!" said Twilight as she turned around to leave in defeat. "Who do you want to visit first?"
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So off they went to visit Fluttershy. Why? Daring had technically already met the rest of them and wanted to avoid Rainbow Dash at all cost. Twilight had insisted on her meeting them formally, but Daring thought it was stupid. Mainly because she didn't understand what a formal introduction was. Twilight had already stated her friends names, so it couldn't be just to find out who they were.
Daring obviously didn't need an introduction, since they all...well hopefully all of them but Rainbow Dash knew who she was and what she was here for. That thought scared her though. If Rainbow Dash knew she was here, wouldn't she have been the first to track her down and meet her? What if she was too nervous to approach her and was watching her from the skies?
Daring looked up.
They were walking on a path that ran through a small stretch of trees, but she could just barely make out a pink blimp far off into the distance. She saw the glint of light from a pair of binoculars peering at her from the cockpit.
It was that weird pink pony. Didn't she have a job? A life?
"Don't worry about Pinkie." said Twilight, catching Daring's attention. "Trust me. Shes an enigma without any rhyme or reason."
"Like the center of the Everfree..." said Daring thoughtfully. Twilight craned her neck to look at Daring incredulously.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't think I know yet." said Daring, shaking her head. Twilight stared at her a little longer before looking away.
"I tried to understand her once." said Twilight. "She has this...ability she calls Pinkie Sense. I tried to disprove it and failed. I then tried to understand it and failed. In the process, I nearly lost my mind."
"You read alot of history books right?" asked Daring, taking her gaze off the blimp.
"Of course. History is what all things consist of."
Especially your average, elderly, sun-butt. echoed the chrome draconious from seemingly no where. Daring ignored him.
"Have you ever read about Chaotic Fallout?"
Sounds like a sweet sequel.
"Yes." answered Twilight. "The Everfree is...was probably the best example of that."
"Have you ever read about its effects on ponies?"
Twilight shuddered.
"Yes, unfortunately. Ponies suffered terrible side effects ranging from unexplained mood-swings to horrifying mutations. All cases ended in death."
"Close." said Daring with a smirk. "Most cases. Some lived on."
Twilight looked at Daring again with piqued interest. She knew she hadn't read every book on Chaotic Fallout, but she could remember reading from several sources that all cases ended in death. She felt that her methodology for acquiring knowledge was being threatened.
"Where'd you read that?" asked Twilight skeptically.
"I didn't read it anywhere." said Daring with a curt shake of her head. "Not all knowledge is stored in a book. Actually, most of it isn't. From what I've experienced as an adventurer, real knowledge is in between the lines and more hooves on."
Twilight tilted her head to the side slightly. She was right. Twilight hadn't become the princess of friendship by reading books. In fact, reading less may have been the direct cause of it. Knowledge was everything to her, but she couldn't find any good books on friendship. She tried the Friendship for Dummies guide, but she put the book away when she went a little loco and started demanding a ponies name in order to continue the friendship making process. It was one of the few things she knew of that wasn't by the book.
"So, what does that have to do with Pinkie?"
"I don't yet." said Daring, still wishing she had her pith helm. "It's not my business to know anymore."
Twilight wanted to question her further, but she knew she'd struck a nerve and decided to let the subject drop. Still, she was curious about why Pinkie would have anything to do with Daring's occupation. Pinkie seemed to be an open book. She learned new things about her nearly everyday. The fact that she held secrets bothered her.
What secret was so bad that even Pinkie wouldn't open up to her friends about it?
-------------------------------------------------------
As usual, Fluttershy's cottage was beautiful and serene. Little woodland critters skittered about on the lush, green, grass while birds perched themselves on the various vibrant plants that hung from the cottage. There was also a chrome draconious flying around the house, scrutinizing its every detail, but unfortunately, only Daring could see that.
I don't know what it is about this cottage, but I'm digging the natural aesthetic. Very loose. Very...chaotic.
Daring's eye twitched. She did not want to get used to this.
"Whoah..." said Daring as she forced herself to ignore the hallucination. "This place is beautiful. She must really like animals."
"Yes." said Twilight as she sat on her haunches and messaged her temples with her hooves. "She LOVES animals."
"Right, I audibly noted that."
"She loves ALL animals." as Twilight said this, she gave Daring a worried look. Daring took a moment to figure out what she was implying, but didn't get it. Chrome Discord's head slowly descended between them with a giddy look. Daring's eyes veered off to him and quickly back to Twilight.
"Ok...what's with the look?" asked Daring, mentally slapping herself for asking both of them.
Twilight sighed.
"Even the animals in the Everfree."
Daring cocked an eyebrow incredulously.
"Manticores?"
"Yes."
"Ursa's?"
"Yes."
"Cockatrices?"
"Yes!"
"I guess that's a problem then."
A prolonged creaking noise was heard coming from Fluttershy's Cottage. When Twilight and Daring looked, they could see the front door of the cottage slightly open with a butter-yellow mare with a pink-blossom mane peeking through it.
Oh, how adorable!
"He-Hello?" said the timid mare, eyeing Daring like a scared filly.
"Fluttershy!" said Twilight, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. "How are you?"
"...I'm...ok?" answered Fluttershy cautiously. She kept her eye's trained on Daring before pointing her hoof. "W-Who's that?"
"Oh, sorry!" said Twilight as she turned to look at Daring. "Would you mind introducing yourself?"
Daring sighed.
"I doubt introductions are really needed." said the cloaked adventurer as she pulled back her hood and took off her shades.
"Oh!" exclaimed Fluttershy. "Ms. Do! I couldn't recognize you under-"
"My disguise?" said Daring giving a half-hearted smile. At least somepony wasn't able to call out her aesthetic fib. "It's not fun being famous. You probably already know that, what with you being a former super-model and all."
Fluttershy blushed
"Y-You remember that?"
"I do try to read the papers when Ahuizotl isn't trapping me in some dramatic torture chamber." This elicited a giggle from both Twilight and Fluttershy, easing Daring's mood. If she was able to laugh at one of her morbid jokes, she probably wasn't mad at her about the unintentionally intentional genocide of the Everfree. This also most likely meant that Fluttershy didn't know that it was Daring that had caused it, or that it had even happened at all. If this was true, it meant that the information Celestia sent to Twilight's friends didn't include anything about what happened to the Everfree, or how she may have doomed Equestria by freeing a dangerous creature. It was just Twilight, who seemed to be taking it freakishly well.
Daring loved keeping secrets.
"...So um..." began Fluttershy. "Would you like some tea?"
-------------------------------------------------------
"This is some really good tea Ms. Fluttershy." said Daring after taking a sip. She'd tasted alot of tea traveling the world, but she'd never tasted something quite so sweet and soft. It was even the perfect temperature.
"Thank you." said Fluttershy with a small smile. The three of them were sitting at a table in her living room. The various animals around them skittered about as they normally would, occasionally giving Daring a curious look. There was even a bear sitting in a corner with a jar of warm honey, happily chugging it down.
"You must REALLY love animals."
"Mhm. Said Fluttershy as she watched a blue-jay come alight on her snout, making her giggle. "I've always loved them. Why, I couldn't imagine living without them."
"I see." said Daring as her eyes surveyed her house. How did somepony live like this? Did all the animal feces grow legs and form a single file line to the toilet? Or had she personally trained them all to leave her home and do their duty outside? She couldn't smell anything unpleasant while she was there, so she clearly did something.
"Fluttershy is the best there is when it comes to taking care of animals." said Twilight proudly. "She's Ponyville's veterinarian."
"Oh, I'm not really certified or anything." said Fluttershy with a nervous guffaw. "Everypony just thinks I am."
"Well, title is given, not taken." said Daring.
"True." agreed Twilight with a smile. A silence fell over the room as the three stared into their tea-cups, trying to think of something to talk about. Trying to ignore the elephant in the room. No, not a literal one. Even Fluttershy doesn't keep elephants in her ho-
*PHWWOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU*
...My mistake.
"Oh, dear." said Fluttershy as they felt the house shake. "I think some of the mice got into Tiny's room." she got up from her pillow and began to trot toward the stairs. "I'm going to go check on him to see if he's ok. Will you two be alright? Need anything before I go?"
Daring looked above her head and envisioned herself being flattened underneath an elephant. Contrary to popular belief, having an elephant dropped on you is not "cartoony" at all. Daring would know, since she could remember dropping one on a bad guy a year before.
"No," said Daring. "I think Tiny is more important right now."
With a nod, Fluttershy headed upstairs to cater to the elephant that in my honest opinion, had no business being there. After she was out of ear-shot, Daring tapped Twilight on her shoulder as she was sipping her tea.
"Yes?"
"Does she know?" asked Daring in a hushed tone.
"Know what?"
"You know, about me."
"Oh!" said Twilight as she set down her tea cup. "Actually no. She only knows that you should be kept under supervision."
Daring let out a relieved sigh.
"So she doesn't know that I technically murdered all the creatures of the Everfree?" Twilight shook her head.
"She, along with everypony else in town, probably doesn't even know that something's happened to the Everfree at all. Celestia wants to to keep it a secret just to be safe."
"That's a relief." said Daring as she began to relax her tense muscles. "I was beginning to think that she was only being nice to me to catch me off guard and kill me later."
"What?!" exclaimed Twilight, nearly spitting out her tea. "Why would she do that?!"
"She loves animals and I kinda killed a bunch of them. She'd naturally hate me."
"Fluttershy doesn't love animals THAT much!"
Or so she said. A mongst the vast sea of knowledge and wisdom she accumulated over the years, she knew that everypony had secrets. Dark ones. For all she knew, Fluttershy had a shed somewhere filled with rotting animal heads and torture equipment.
Speaking of dark secrets, started Chrome Discord as he flew out of Daring's ear. From what I can see in your memories, you've accumulated a rather impressive death tol-
"Ok, then." said Daring as she shrugged her shoulders. "Guess that means I can drink the tea then."
"...You haven't been drinking the tea?" asked Twilight, sort of weirded out.
"No."
"But I saw you take several sips."
Daring showed Twilight her cup. It was just as full as it was when Fluttershy first poured it for her.
"So you've just been sipping it and spitting it back into the cup?"
"Yep."
"...Ew."
Yes. Disgusting.
"Look, I've had my tea spiked so many times that even I don't think it's funny."
"Right. I read about those." said Twilight, massaging her temples.
As Daring was about to explain how tea had been responsible for several government takeovers and abductions, a series of knocking came from the front door.
"TW-*gasp* TWILIGHT!" shouted the familiar voice of a cute baby dragon. "URGEN- *pant* URGENT LETTER FROM PRINCESS CELESTIA!"
Twilight's eyes widened.
"Coming!" shouted the purple alicorn as she flared her wings and zoomed towards the door. When she opened it, Spike fell face-first to the floor in an exhausted heap. Despite this, he still had his arm outstretched with the scroll in hand. The insignia found on it was the same royal seal, but it was glowing yellow, signifying that it was to be opened by Twilight as soon as possible.
Wasting no time, Twilight levitated the letter from spike's hand and opened it. Her eye's fervently scanned the words on the page like a bitter english teacher would her least favorite students book report. After finishing it, her head reeled back in shock.
"Today?! He's arriving today?! On the next train?!"
"Nice." said Daring in a bitter tone.
As if to agitate her further, Chrome Discord donned a party cap and threw streamers in Daring's face. She was unfazed by them until they hit the ground where they burst into flames with loud pops, causing her to dance around and look like an idiot.
Yes! shouted the chrome copy as he began to do a moon walk in the air. Now the fun can really begin!
Sorry this one took forever, but I did alot of reviewing and actually tried to take my time with this. I've also been working alot, so I'm not always in the mood to write. Hope you guys enjoy this one. I'm still self-teaching myself the concept of setting the stage. I REALLY want to master that down pat. Would make writing so much funner!
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This story is a mind fuck somewhere between the levels of A Series of Unfortunate Events and the most recent Doctor Who Christmas Special...
6345819 lol is that good?
6346327 yes
6346660 yay!
6348141 Related gif:
i.imgur.com/hoPWOoH.jpg
This is quite the story you're weaving. Definitely different, good character development. One criticism, though, that bit about Luna's huggability really threw off the flow and mood. One minute, it's dark and emotional, then suddenly I'm hearing Yakkety Sax playing as a Luna fanboy chases you down the street. Kinda hard to get back to the original mood you set when I'm chuckling. I'd suggest moving it to the author's note or something.
6353230 Gotcha. I was kinda thinking I may have placed that wrong.
Now I know for sure. Thanks! Appreciate the feedback man.
give
636547 I shall correct thine word!
Have at thee, grammatical error!
Man, I'm tickled by how dark you make the setting of Equestria. I don't know exactly what's up with Minuette, but between Celestia calling the pegasus stallion an 'it' and knowing Minuette was the killer, I'm guessing she's some sort of psychotic mare that Equestria decided to train to track-and-kill certain things. Luna's terrifying nightmares just about creeped me out, and Daring Do is one step away from being locked up in an asylum, if there was any asylum capable of keeping her locked up.
6397759 There's a reason, but I didn't want to make it easy to pinpoint. Regardless, I'll elaborate in the next chapter.
Well the first couple chapters were good, but the last few kind of went off the rails. You had a solid start but started making it too odd. Why bring in minuetee, the hell sing, out of no where. It's telling not showing, they could have been slowly introduced by events happening in the background instead of just shoved at us. Also, that fourth wall stuff is just not good. Sad, after the first three I was ready to fave, but for now it's just not consistent enough.
6536984 Thanks for the feedback. Problem is that everyone told me my start sucked. So I tried changing things up a bit. Now...I'm kinda confused. As for why I introduced the characters the way I did, I rushed. Was too eager to post a chapter and skimped on alot I could've done. Trying not to do that in the next chapter though, and I like your idea about introducing characters in the background. Just gotta figure out how to do that.
6536961 But...but I like referencing the audience...
6543999 you didn't really do it at first, it kind of came out of no where. You should cut some of these sub plots for the immediate future. Not saying they still can't happen but you need to let us get used to a situation before you change it otherwise their isn't any impact. I'm thinking its like daring learning how to take care of and raise this kid, so we have trials and tribulations that way. Also how does the kid fit in ponyville? He Probably has to go to school, he is that age. Maybe he gets bullied, he seems the same age as the cute mark crusaders so maybe when diamond is picking on him they stand up for him...who knows. You can build a lot of character and depth through normal stuff before we get straight into world ending plots.
6544088 Oh, ok. Someone commented earlier about me giving my characters impact. I'm slowly building up personality on each character, but I'm trying to take my time with that. Those other things weren't sub-plots though. They're going to tie in into the overall story. I wanted the reader to know these things happened on the side so that they could consider them later and put pieces together on their own. I was hoping for more of a foreshadowing effect along with some good ol' ambiguity tied into it. I wouldn't just jump it in and leave it hanging out there. That would be mean and annoying. XD No, their necessary to the main plot. I was hoping for everyone to try and conjure up their own ideas on how they would tie into it. That's the fun part of reading, or so I think so at least. Don't want to give the reader everything. Like some of the Percy Jackson books. Good reads, but he kept telling the reader what would happen during the chapter by stating it in the chapter title. Hated it. So, I'm leaving holes everywhere and slowly filling them one by one. But also trying not to forget any I like how you tried to guess how the plot was going to turn out. That's what I was aiming for. Can't say it was close though. For instance...I never specified how young the kid really was.
Regarding him though, don't worry. I'm setting things up for his stay in Ponyville in the next chapter....boy this is long. Sorry. XD
No. Bad. You completely shattered the flow and the mood. Man up and take that damn Celeshiv.
Some stuff is done really well, while others not so much. I'm still enjoying it, but moments like the one above kinda diminish the pleasure a bit.
Also, Minuette being some demon/demon-possessed thing is kinda way the heck out of left field.
6707229 Awww, I liked that bit. Considering the story, it was needed for me to stay with it honestly.