• Published 27th Mar 2015
  • 8,440 Views, 1,350 Comments

The Poisoned Barb's Tale - ManlyDerp



[Sequel Story] A mother, reborn into the mirrored world of her daughter's bygone years, desperately tries to find purpose in her second childhood. This is Barbara's diary.

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Entry 9, Part 4 (Look Before You Seer)

Click click click click

Mister Crow was reduced to an infant.

Click click click click

Twinkle Scout The Rhino was wearing ill-fitting pony armor.

Click click click click

The rookie guard who yelled at me was rocking a highly muted color palette.

Click click click click

Age alteration, species changing, personality tampering… Chaos.

Chaos has come to Canterlot.

Click click click cli-

No.

No no no.

This can’t be happening.

It just... can’t!

We’re not in season two! We’re nowhere near season two! Eris can’t have broken free already, can she?! How would that even be possible; the group who woke up Discord originally, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, hasn’t even formed yet in this world!

If the foals destined to release her are nowhere to be seen, and if her stone prison was set to be moved out of the public's eye, then how in the fresh hell did she manage to… to… Ugh!

As if my plate wasn't full enough as is!

Clickclickclickclickclick

My sharp toes tap loudly against the marble floor as I resume my mad dash towards the throne room. Gotta see Solaris.

Gotta see him now.

Clickclickclickclick

Clickclickclickclick

Clickclickcli-

Ah.

Here we go.

With no guards around to stop me, and no time left to lose, I push up against the double doors with all my dragon strength until they fly open with a satisfying bang.

"Prince Solar-” I start to cry out...

FUMP

FLING

… which results in me getting launched into the air for my insolence.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

It’s only at the last possible second, right before I’m sent hurtling out of a stained glass window, that my assailant sees fit to re-grip me with his golden aura and yank me back towards his side.

Prince Solaris furrows his brow crossly.

I, in turn, quiver before him.

M-maybe I should have knocked first.

Gulp

“...”

“...”

And then, just like that…

“Barbara!”

… the Prince's mood switches from angry to jovial.

“My dear, dear little friend!” my ‘companion’ beams brightly, as if he hadn’t almost tossed me off the mountainside. "You are truly a sight for sore eyes! Or, in my case, sore eye, hah!”

“H-haha,” I laugh weakly at what I can only assume/pray was supposed to be a joke.

Glomp~

For his next trick, Solaris completely disregards my personal space by hugging me tightly; cutting off my oxygen in the process.

“Oh, I can’t begin to express how overjoyed I am to see you again!” he chortles on, unaware of my slow suffocation. Curse my permanently purple face. “I haven’t been granted nearly enough time to write to you as I would have liked! How has Ponyville been treating you and my student so far? Have the ponies been polite? Do you feel welcomed there, has Dusk done anything embarrassing and or amusing yet, have you experienced any new visions, have the visions you’ve already experienced come to pass, any major deviations beyond what you mentioned in your letter, what made Dusk decide to tackle the dragon issue without consulting me first, does Bubble Berry know any interesting cake recipes, how are Applejack’s apples compared to the ones that grow up here on the mountain, does Butterscotch lift? He looks like he lifts… Oh! Was Elusive the one who made that lovely looking tail-bow you’re wearing?”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

"Hoho, silly me,” the Prince mercifully eases up on the crushing embrace, laughing maniacally all the while. "This is clearly not the best place for such talks.”

His organic, non-fake eye then darts back and forth, as if searching for something.

"The walls might have ears," he whispers ominously to my levitated form. "Literally.”

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

“It’s not safe to speak here,” the disheveled redhead reports between random chuckles, and disconcerting twitches. Lifting me off the ground and plopping me onto his back, he continues to prattle on and on. "Besides, it’s too gorgeous of a day this, er, day, for us to be cooped up inside! Hahah!”

“U-ummm… Sir?” I try to speak up.

Clipclopclipclopclipclop

Fump

With the extending of his large wings, however, and the pounding of his hooves, Prince Solaris of Equestria carries me off towards an open balcony before I can finish my question.

“Come, Barbara! Let’s fly away from the castle!”

“W-wait!” I scream…

Clipclopclipclo-

Fling~!

far too late for it to make a difference.

The profanity of my tongue never reaches my lips as Canterlot’s skyline rapidly overtakes my vision. Castle towers, looping walls, ant-sized ponies; high above it all, I’m reminded of my stint as a giant from way back during my hatching... Whether I’m recalling this memory due to the similarity of the sight, or simply because my life is flashing before my eyes, is up to debate.

Fump

Flap flap flap flap

Thankfully Solaris’ wings catch us both just in the nick of time.

"Hold on tight!” he cries back loooong after the fact. "Wouldn't want you to fall off, haha!”

"R-right,” I stutter, now far more traumatized than I already was.

Didn’t think such a thing was even possible at this point, but there it is.

From the snowy northern planes, to storm soaked Ponyville below; much like my first time in the sky, rising up above Canterlot is once again granting me the opportunity to see Equestria in all its beautiful entirety...

... The breathtaking expanse fails to calm me though as the rushing air, tinted ever so slightly with the chill of the coming mini-winter, begins to freeze me solid.

With teeth chattering wildly in my mouth, and flames unable to burn in my chest, I hug my steed in a desperate bid to syphon some of his warmth. “D-dragon’s aren’t m-meant for this k-kind of weather, jerk.”

"Hmm?” Solaris tilts his ears back my way. "Did you say something, dear?”

"C-c-cold,” I whimper through chapping lips. “T-t-too c-c-cold…”

Vision blurring, grip loosening, thoughts dimming.

Death by hypothermia.

How anticlimactic.

Twinkle twinkle twinkle

Suddenly the chill leaves my body.

At first I thought I had a crafted spell to thank for the delaying of my inevitable re-demise, but the lack of tingling on my scales ruled that possibility out pretty quickly. To be this close to the magic slinger and not feel anything, it could have only been the work of a low mana Talent Spell...

… A Talent Spell…

… from the Day Prince…

… I crane my neck upwards.

The very sun itself bares down to greet me.

“Is that better, dear?”

I turn to my ride and proceed to stare at him in abject horror.

“Yes, no?”

"..."

Slowly I shake my head ‘yes’.

"Lovely!” the clearly mad stallion cheers back in high spirits, not granting my reaction even a passing mention. Turning away from me now in order to scan the area, Solaris then hums himself as he searches for lord knows what. "With setting determined, and temperature settled, all that remains now is… Aha! Seating! Perfect!”

Not granting me the opportunity to do, well, anything, his highness starts to position himself into a tight nosedive.

At this point I have no more breath to scream with.

Twinkletwinkletwinkle

Fump

Landing face first upon a fluffy white cloud, it takes a good minute for me to realize that not only have I just been flung off of my steed's back, but that the act had been done mere nanoseconds after he coated my body in what I can only assume to be a Cloud Walking spell.

The novelty of laying on pure cumulus is lost on my terrified self as I rise onto unsteady legs, and as I gaze fearfully upon Prince Solaris’ visage.

The big guy is starting to look unsettlingly similar to how Twilight Sparkle did in that one particular episode of the show; the one involving deadlines that made me question its age rating. His one good peeper is crazed and twitching, the makeup hiding his scar is running, both his mane and beard are full of split ends, and his smile is large and undeniably creepy… In short, he looks like an absolute wreck.

Considering the state of his castle’s faculty, this revelation is only semi-shocking to me.

"My apologies that there won’t be any tea served this time, dear Barbara,” the Prince laughs brashly, teetering on the edge of sanity and… well, you know. “I seem to have misplaced my favorite kettle somewhere in the chao- CASTLE!” He squawks hurriedly, correcting himself with shifty eyes. "I-I mean I've misplaced it somewhere in the castle, h-heh."

"..."

"..."

... This dude just tossed me into the air, lowered the sun in my face, and trapped me up here in the clouds all within the span of a single minute.

Considering that he's Prince Flipping Solaris, I’m willing to bet that every motion was a deliberate, calculated affair.

"T-that’s okay, you’re highness,” I reply bravely, swallowing my fear; denying my adversary his prize.

Me being afraid is exactly what he wants.

I'm sure of it.

He wants me to be a nervous mess for this meeting, he wants me to be easily molded. I’ve seen him turn entire conversations around simply by manipulating his opponent's emotions; by calling out or invoking their fears, only to then offer a wing to lean on out of 'support'. It's a powerful strat, and one I've fallen for more than once.

It's strange that he's resorting to intimidation tactics to get the ball rolling though. Acting anxious, pretending to be unhinged; by jumping into his power plays so early, he's skipping almost half of his usual routine. Jolly banter, followed by false calm, followed by a devious swerve, followed by net profits... Why skip the tried and true formula? I don't understand what he could be thinking.

The situation in Canterlot must be more dire than I thought...

… Inhale… Exhale...

"... Honestly, sir, I’m more of a coffee girl these days anyways.”

But there’s no time left to be scared.

There’s no time left to back down either! If Solaris wants my secrets, then he’s going to have to work for them just as hard as I work to hide them!

As Prince Artemis will attest, I'm not so easily broken.

“Oh you wound me so!” the Prince reels dramatically at my defiance, as if I had slapped him across the face. "I never had much of a taste for the dirt personally, but if that is your preference then I will gladly supply you a cup at the next opportune, haha!”

“You’re too kind, Prince Solaris,” I bow mockingly with a rolling of my wrist, and the lowering of my head. Tit for tat; fake pleasantry for fake pleasantry.

'Dear little friend'?

Hah!

Yeah right.

What we share isn't friendship, and it never has been. Just like Artemis said, I'm nothing more than Solaris' unwitting student and pawn. My tactics, my decisions, even my very thoughts have been compromised thanks to this ancient flankhole. He trained me without my say, and now I couldn't be further removed from the woman I once was if I tried… Though, admittedly, I'm no saint either.

If I was, I would have already confessed to mutilating his baby brother.

Solaris and I are both in the wrong here in our own special way; whether it be due to lies of omission, or lies in general, doesn't really matter. That does beg the question though, are we both in the dark as well? Are we both lacking key information that only the other can provide? Are we both playing this game of ours with an even hand of cards?

Are we both, at long last, on equal footing...?

Guess there's only one way to find out.

Let the battle of Seers commence.

“Please, Barbara, I thought we were far past such formalities at this point,” Solaris chuckles over my flashy display, but I can tell that his tone is now more strained compared to how it was earlier.

It seems I’ve wounded him for real with my impersonal mannerisms...

… Good.

Now for the counterattack:

"Well I thought we were too, Prince Solaris," I pause for emphasis, highlighting my usage of his full title. "but your lack of letters lately kinda painted me a different picture. Friends keep friends in the loop, after all.”

Though he remains smiling, Solaris winces ever so slightly thanks to my second verbal slapping.

"A-as I stated earlier,” he backs down, ears half-wilted. “I’ve not been granted nearly as much time to write to you as I would have liked. The… er… P… P-preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala have dominated much of my free time, you see!”

"The Grand Galloping Gala?” I deadpan, not buying his BS.

"Indeed,” he nods back with grinning lips, and a sweaty forehead.

Hmm.

It seems he’s trying to hide Eris' chaos from me... But… why? What does he stand to gain by keeping that info to himself…?

"...”

"...”

"..."

Ugh, I recognize this intentional, awkward silence; it's a trick I utilize often in my day to day. He's baiting me into continuing the conversation on my lonesome, meaning he's already two steps ahead.

This won’t do at all. If I call the Prince out on hiding information from me, I can easily see him throwing the accusation right back in my face. 'I’m hiding something? No, little girl, you’re hiding something from me.’ Bleh. Asking him why he brought me up into the sky is probably a loaded question too. ‘Oh? Is there something unnerving about this setting, dear? Does it make you anxious?’ Going straight into my report about Dusk doesn’t work either, as Solaris will instantly realize that I’m sidestepping around his rough treatment if I do. ‘Hmm? No comment on this lovely arrangement? You’re being awfully guarded with me today, child!’ I can't let him know that I know that he's trying to bully me for a favorable interrogation. Even mentioning his brother, a seemingly neutral topic, is straight suicide until I can get a read on just how much of that particular car crash he's already aware of. 'I was wondering when you were going to bring up Archie! I'm curious as to where he is, and why he felt the need to leave all of a sudden.'

Using chess terms, I guess you could say that I’m currently in Check here...

… I’d like to take this moment to remind you that I don't actually know how to play chess in the slightest.

“I got harassed by a guard on my way into Canterlot today, sir.”

“You got what?!”

What I do know how to play is my audience.

"H-he asked me for my papers before lifting me off my feet with his magic,” I sniffle lightly, deliberately allowing a little bit of my inner fear to show. "It was p-pretty scary.”

My skills in manipulation may be raw and unhoned when compared to Solaris' own, but I’m not going to get anywhere if I continue to play this game on his terms. I have to take the risk in switching topics, lest he trap me again like he just did. Control the flow of the conversation and you'll control the flow of the information; that's Tea Parties 101, folks.

That's what it means to be a Prince's Squire.

"My word!” the alicorn's hoof rises to his lips to smother a gasp. A sense of real concern is entering his voice as a result of my words. "Did you by chance happen to catch their armor number? I assure you this troublemaker will not go unpunished!”

"Sorry, I-I didn’t,” I bow my head, crafting my appearance to match that of a scared child. "B-but I don’t think he deserves to be punished for what he did.”

My cloud buddy's response doesn't come right away.

"... What?” he eventually asks me flatly, his confusion becoming genuine. "Surely you’re not suggesting that such poor behavior is acceptable?!”

"Oh goodness no,” I wave him off, not humoring the thought. "It totally isn’t for somepony in his position. But... I don’t know; something about the way he acted just made me think that he wasn’t quite himself today… In fact, if I had to describe him, sir, I’d say that he was more or less…"

I look the horse directly in the eyes.

"... the complete opposite of who he really is,” I finish, my gaze piercing.

And again Solaris winces.

Bullseye.

Looks like my assumption was right. Mister Guard did get Discorded... or, in this case, Eriscorded. This at least explains how Gleam hasn't gotten around to firing him yet; that mare has dropped ponies from the position for less before, even those who came from prestigious guarding households like the Amicitia family.

Her remaining tight-lipped makes zero sense under scrutiny unless there were other forces at work here; I.E., Eris...

… Still doesn’t explain why Solaris is being tight-lipped though.

"Any thoughts on that, your majesty?” I inquire sweetly with judging eyes.

"W-well, um,” the Prince struggles to respond to my accusation. "He… H... H-hehe!” he then spouts another disarming snicker, concealing his nervousness. "If I had to wager a guess, Barbara, I’d say that the upcoming seasonal shift is to blame! A decent number of the castle’s faculty has been reported as being a bit moody lately by visitors, so perhaps more paid time off is in order.”

More lies, more secrets.

But not for much longer.

"That’s a really good idea,” I agree to his suggestion with a tiny bob of my head. Have to push my initiative before he has the chance to counter me. "Everypony deserves a break from time to time.”

"I’m glad you think so!” the big pony unwittingly triggers my trap. "Like I always say, a healthy work-life balance is the key to a healthy workforce.”

"Liar" I groan in my head, swallowing a sudden spike of frustration. "I've never heard him utter those words before in my life."

Ignoring the stallion's hypocrisy, I instead offer up to him a suggestion of my own:

"You should totally give that nice Twinkle Scout lady by the front gate some extra vacation time while you're at it. She’s earned it.”

"I couldn’t agree more,” his highness grins cluelessly.

… Three… Two...

"... Wait Twinkle Scout is stationed by the front gate?!”

One.

Another direct hit.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” I drill my gaze harder into the guilty, oversized colt; pushing him further against the metaphorical wall. "Thought you of all ponies would have.”

"And I thought I had asked for her to be placed inside the castle until further notice,” Solaris spits heatedly to himself, thinking I can’t hear him. "Should have given the order directly to Gleaming Shield instead… T-thank you for bringing this to my attention, child,” he then turns back to me, smirk haggard. "With a staff as large as Canterlot Castle’s, little details like guard placement tend to slip through the cracks from time to time, you see. H-haha…”

“I don’t think that qualifies as a little slip up though, Solaris,” I push forward, ready to strike. "I think that’s just been one of many.” Almost got him right where I want him.

My reward for my efforts is the sight of an alicorn wincing for the third time today.

"That… T-that is quite the bold claim!” the Prince's wings rise fully in shock, taken aback. "Whatever is making you assume something so baseless?”

“It’s not baseless,” I argue, defending myself. “It’s not by a long shot!"

Raising three talons and presenting them forward, I ready myself to fire off my ammunition; my truth bullets.

Time to get to the bottom of this.

"You’ve got guards harassing citizens in the streets," I list, lowering one 'finger'. "You’ve got an honest to goodness rhino guarding the gates like it’s her job," another one drops, leaving behind my ace in the hole. "And, no offense, but I have a sinking suspicion that not everpony on your payroll is currently potty trained!”

“CROW IS TRYING HIS BEST!! ” Prince Solaris startles me greatly with the sudden, furious usage of the Royal Canterlot voice. "THREE RAINY CLOUD STICKERS VERSES YESTERDAY’S TEN IS A CLEAR SIGN OF IMPROVEMENT, YOUNG LADY!! NEED I REMIND YOU THAT YOUR SCORECARD WAS WORSE AT THAT AGE?!”

Frozen in place, unable to respond in any meaningful way beyond blinking blankly, I watch quietly as the grown stallion then goes from panting…

… to whimpering laughter…

… and then, finally, to depressed silence.

The buzzing of everyday Canterlot below us, and the sizzling sun above, is the only sound present as we stand adjacent from one another in the awkward fallout.

Neither of us dared move.

“...”

“...”

“... My schedule for today was written up in crayon,” a defeated Solaris shares sorrowfully, his head held low; his misting eyes hidden. "Mister Inkwell was too young to be trusted with his namesake... He actually had to hoofpaint his first draft... Hah... HAHA… Hahaha… Hah… h-hah… sniff… h-h-h-heee… I-I’m so sorry, Crow… I failed you... I-I failed everypony...

… I...

… I think I might have overestimated my opponent just a tad.

Openly weeping in front of one's opposition, and curling up into a tiny shame-ball, doesn't really scream 'Epic Chess Master Maneuver' to me; nor does begging phantoms for forgiveness... Granting me the chance to start the meeting on my own terms instead of his also seems more gentlecolty than maleficent in hindsight, now that I think about it.

Outside of bringing me up into the sky without my permission, which was likely done to discreetly get me out of the chaos' range, Prince Solaris has been nothing but a polite host so far. He complimented my bow, offered me coffee, called me his 'dear little friend'...

Kiiinnnddaaa feeling like a big draconic flankhole, if I'm being honest.

Becoming self-conscious of my status as the only (somewhat) stable person left up here in the clouds, I switch gears from accusatory to supportive as I take a cautious step closer.

"What happened to Crow Inkwell, Solaris?,” I quietly ask the distraught Prince, gently placing a claw on one of his bent knees as I do. "What happened to Twinkle Scout? Was… w-was it, gulp, Eri-”

"Don’t utter that monster’s fake name,” Solaris angrily snaps at me, though his head remains lowered. "Don’t play his cruel game by honoring it.”

“But this is all her-, er, his fault though, right?” I push forward, halting only briefly to mentally cross off Eris’ name so I can replace it with his true one: Discord.

I completely forgot that Discord isn’t gender flipped here like most everyone else in this dimension is! He’s only remembered as Eris throughout Solaris’ Equestria because he mockingly changed his appearance shortly before getting turned to stone. Transgender he is not; if anything, he’s probably the most nonbinary/gender fluid creature I’ll ever meet in my lifetime... if I actually meet him, that is. Crossing my talons here hoping that this will never be the case, because if it turns out I’m using the wrong pronouns they’ll likely be chaotic hell to pay...

… But I guess that will all depend on what the answer to this next question is:

“Is he... free?”

Please say no please say no please say no please say-

"No!” Solaris quickly replies, disturbing the clouds around us as he flinches away from my touch. "Thank the stars no… But… Sigh… you are correct. Everything that has been happening here recently, and everything you've observed so far today has, indeed, been his doing all along.”

Okay… Okay that’s…

… That’s slightly better.

Discord isn’t free.

He isn’t free.

Only his magic is… But… how...?

"Did moving the statue do this?" I throw my guess out there, it being what makes the most sense with what little information I have.

"Hmph. I wouldn't have taken the risk if I thought that were possible," my suddenly more talkative host huffs back, as if I had insulted him.

"Hey it was a fair enough question, jerk," I bite my tongue, complaining only in my head. "The pony who keeps me in the dark all the gosh darn time has no right to get huffy."

"No, Barbara," Solaris resumes, regaining my attention. "The truth is that Discord’s seal simply weakened a few days ago, completely out of the blue!” he finally explains fully, and at last looks me in the eyes. "It wasn’t dispelled entirely, thank goodness, but I lack the means to reinforce it now that my brother and I are no longer connected to the Elements.”

… A…

… A few days ago?

Only a few days...?

That’s…

… confusing.

For a moment there I was thinking this might have been the explanation behind why Solaris never wrote to me while I was in Ponyville, but that doesn’t mesh well with what I now know. This might, however, justify his lack of letters during Dragonshy, and Celestia’s too… if this happened in canon Equestria, that is. There's not a whole lot of evidence to support that hypothesis though.

A few days ago… A few days ago… What the heck could have happened a few days ago that could have led to… to...

… Artemis.

Artemis happened a few days ago.

… How was canon Discord sealed away again?

It was through the combined efforts of Princess Celestia and Luna, right? They used the Elements of Harmony to petrify him, and the only reason the CMC accidentally broke the seal was because the sisters were no longer connected to the Elements; the mane six were. By that train of logic, the mana holding the whole thing together was already starting to fade shortly after Nightmare Moon’s defeat. Celestia and Luna were the sole ponies keeping him at bay then, meaning it’s the same case here with Solaris and Artemis.

I’m no magic expert like Dusk is, but if I were to hazard a guess I’d say that the brothers’ and sisters’ harmonic strike must have been a passive spell of some sort. Powerful enough to last throughout Nightterror's and Nightmare's banishment, yet uneeding of refueling; that would go a long way towards explaining Princess Celestia’s surprise when Discord DID manage to break free in the cartoon. Maybe the seal even works like a pocket dimension spell in that it can endure even if the caster is incapacitated or cut off from their magic...

… But Artemis is a pegasus pony now.

He doesn’t have access to magic.

He can’t cast spells.

He can’t fuel spells.

And he certainly can’t maintain spells if the violent destruction of his pocket dimension was any indication. That must mean that all of his controlled magic vanished the moment he lost his horn...

Including his half of Discord’s seal.

Oh god.

This is my fault.

I did this.

~At the Same Time, Underneath the Same Sky~

Rainbow Dash was miffed.

Rainbow Dash was frustrated.

Rainbow Dash was…

… conflicted.

Red Gala's generous account had provided plenty for the pigtailed pegasus to digest, to contemplate... yet it wasn’t enough to satisfy him, nor enough to quell his worried thoughts.

"Property…"

If anything, it had only served to multiply them exponentially.

"Dusk... owns… Barb?"

Even hours later, Rainbow Dash was still struggling to comprehend what he had learned. Just as a storm raged in the physical realm so too did one in the mental, as the stallion was forced to split his attention evenly between flying, storm crafting, and the reevaluation of his once clear loyalties.

"Can a pony really do that?” he continued to ponder. “Can you really own sompony?” Though his hooves preoccupied themselves with the moving of grey thunderclouds, his mind was somewhere else entirely. "You can own stuff like a book, or a trophy, or a dress… but a person? Nopony would want to do that...

“... Right?"

Kaboom~!

Lightning flashed, and rain fell, but the weatherpony cared not. What mattered to him now more than anything was the deciphering of this disconcerting riddle.

It needed to be solved so he could understand it.

It needed to be solved so he could do the right thing.

"Applejack doesn’t own the cows on his farm, Solaris doesn’t own the subjects in his kingdom, and Goldy Digger doesn’t own the employees working at Barnyard Bargains… though she probably would if she could… What does it really mean to own somepony?”

And then there was the matter of... the word.

The word Dash had never heard uttered before.

The word Red Gala had used to describe Barbara's situation with...

… The word that started with an ‘S’.

...

… Despite his best efforts, Rainbow Dash remained conflicted.

"Dusk is my friend,” the saddened pony had to remind himself, as his thoughts continued to spiral. "He’s dorky, awesome, and too smart to do something so... super villain-y like this...

"... B-but Barb is my friend too!” he again stated what little was obvious, confounding himself further. "She’s nice, and helpful, and wouldn’t lie about something as serious as this to Red…

“... Right?”

Kaboom~!

Again the overcast skies offered Rainbow Dash nothing in reply but faint rumbling, and distant crackling.

“...”

Seeing that no answer was forthcoming, the speedster sighed.

"All I wanted was to know why Barb’s lady training was so intense,” he spoke quietly to the staticky air, as if it could respond. Still fighting to make sense of the shocking reveal, speaking with himself was the only tool he had left in his arsenal. "If I hadn’t asked anything, I probably would have never learned that she’s hated in Canterlot for not being a pony, or that she spent her whole foalhood learning how to be an assistant instead of a kid, or that she isn’t even considered a person by the entitled flankholes up the mountainside.

“Now that I do know though... w-why hasn’t Dusk said anything about this? Why hasn’t Barb said anything either…?”

"Ah don’t rightfully know what she gets out of the whole arrangement, Dash,” Red Gala’s last, carefully chosen words echoed loudly in Rainbow’s mind. "Barb loves Dusk like family, and Dusk cares about Barb like a friend; that’s about the extent ah understand of it, eeyup. If ah was forced to explain the why… well ah have mah theories, but that’s about it... Whichever way it be though, ah don’t particularly think either party is completely free of sin. It’s negligence, plain and simple.”

"On whose part though?” Dash asked the fading memory. "On whose part…?

"... Whose side am I supposed to be on?”

Kaboom~!

Whoosh~

This time, the storm provided an answer.

A small gust of breeze, generated by a distant pegasus’ wings, had moved the cloud covering slightly to the side; revealing Ponyville below.

Specifically, Golden Oaks Library.

Candle lights brightened the structure from within, allowing it to shine out in the darkness like a holy beacon. Though wind battered the treehouse fiercely, its branches remained tightly attached through means either mundane or magical; Dash cared not for the explanation.

What he did care about was the silhouettes of ponies entering the domicile.

"... Studying at the library, huh?” RD stole Barbara’s words, recalling what he had been told prior. "Looks more like a party from up here…”

… Flap flap flap

The pegasus readied himself to dive.

"Guess this makes me Rainbow ‘Party-Crasher’ Dash then,” he grinned mirthlessly, psyching himself for what needed to be done. "Nopony hurts my friends, even if they are my friends…

“... Please have a good excuse, Dusk. Please please please…”

… The pegasus dived forwa-

Flapflapflapflap

A sudden shadow upon the clouds halted him in place.

"What the?” Dash asked aloud, as he turned back towards the growing storm. To anypony else, the shadow would have remained nothing more than a featureless blob.

To Rainbow’s keen eyes, however...

"Was that… a bird?"

… the image was crystal clear.

“What the hay kind of bird flies in wind this strong?” he further inquired, as he scanned every which way through the rain and the lightning for the elusive avian. When it did not reappear to him, even after a minute was spent searching above and below the clouds, Rainbow offered the oddity nothing more than a defeated shrug. "Trivia question for Butters, I guess.”

Rainbow Dash aimed his sight back towards Golden Oa-

Kazap~!

"Whoa!” he dodged the lightning bolt at the last possible second, resulting in his tail only getting lightly singed instead of completely. "Oh for the love of- Hey watch it up there, Derpy!”

“Sorry, Rainbow Dash,” a pegasus mare cried back from the edge of a cloud. "I just don’t know what wen-”

“Yeah yeah I’ve heard it before,” Dash grunted in an frustrated reply. "Just be more careful! You don’t want to hit somepony’s home, or knock down a tree or something, do ya’?!”

“That can happen?!”

"Solaris give me strength… Yes, Derpy. That can happen. Not everypony in Ponyville has a magic lightning rod like the ponies in Cloudsdale and Canterlot do.”

“Why not?”

“Does nopony read the flipping fliers before volunteering for these storm-” Dash stopped himself with a facehoof before he could get any angrier.

Casting his eyes over towards Golden Oaks one final time, he debated for a moment…

… before reluctantly choosing to stick with his commitments.

Again.

"Later,” Rainbow Dash reassured himself. "I’ll talk to Dusk later… Hang tight for a second there, Derps. Let me show you how to properly move one of these darn things.”

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” bubbly cheered Derpy Hooves. “I like your pigtails, by the way! You should totally keep them!”

"Hah!” Rainbow laughed good-naturedly, no longer upset. "You’re only saying that because I’m not ‘copying’ your doo anymore when I wear my mane this way."

"..."

The grey mare blushed red.

"I-I’m that easy to read, huh?”

“Like an open book, Derps; like an open book.”

High above Ponyville, a pair of pegasi giggled lightly amongst themselves.

Down below, a beaked creature stared out indecipherably.

“...”

… Flapflapflapflap

Powerful wings struck the air, launching the bird towards the Everfree Forest with reckless abandon.

Luminescent feathers trailed behind in her wake, glowing faintly in the darkness of the raging storm… before fading out of existence completely.

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